Archives

Tape Made Public of Trump Discussing Ukraine With Donors

For more than an hour one evening in 2018, President Trump sat around a dinner table in a private suite in his Washington hotel with a group of donors, including two men at the center of the impeachment inquiry, talking about golf, trade, politics — and removing the United States ambassador to Ukraine. The conversation, […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 1-24-20 Jonathan Del Arco & Tara Karsian

Stephcast 1-24-20

Trump complains about his legal team’s ‘Death Valley’ impeachment time slot

President Donald Trump, flashing the fixation of a former reality television showman, lamented Friday that his impeachment defense team was being forced to present its case during the “Death Valley” of broadcast time slots. “After having been treated unbelievably unfairly in the House, and then having to endure hour after hour of lies, fraud & […]

Lindsey Graham Bizarrely Defends Trump: ‘He Did Nothing Wrong In His Mind’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday came up with a bizarre explanation for why President Donald Trump shouldn’t be removed from office: He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. “If thought he was doing something wrong, he would probably shut up about it,” Graham told reporters. Read the rest of the story at HuffPost.

Prince Charles snubs US Vice-President Mike Pence

The Prince of Wales was greeting dignitaries, including world leaders, at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz – but seemed to ignore US Vice-President Mike Pence. A Buckingham Palace official has denied this was a snub, telling the BBC that the prince and Mr Pence had a “long and […]

Trump’s Senate impeachment trial: What happened on Day Three

Democrats on Thursday homed in on their charge that President Donald Trump abused his power, turning to past statements from some of the president’s top allies to help make their case on the third day of his Senate impeachment trial. House prosecutors used old comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Attorney General William Barr and […]

Stephcast 1-23-20

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy slams Trump for downplaying injuries in Iran attack

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut accused the president of misleading the American public for weeks by denying any U.S. personnel were injured in an Iranian missile strike earlier this month and downplaying the severity of their injuries once they became public. Before leaving the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Mr. Trump […]

Trump sets new Twitter record for presidency

President Donald Trump posted more than 140 times on Twitter on Wednesday, surpassing his mid-December record for the most daily tweets and retweets during his presidency. The president flooded his Twitter account during the second day of the Senate’s impeachment trial, with 41 posts hitting the internet between 12 and 1 a.m., or one every […]

Trump’s Senate impeachment trial: What happened on Day Two

Opening arguments began in President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday, with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., telling senators they need to remove Trump from office because he’s shown he’s ready and willing to cheat in the 2020 election. “The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box because we cannot be assured the […]

Stephcast 1-22-20

John Roberts scolds legal teams after tense exchange: ‘Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are’

Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, scolded both the Democratic House managers and the President’s defense team early Wednesday morning after a contentious exchange on the Senate floor. “I think it is appropriate for me to admonish both the House managers and the President’s counsel in equal terms to […]

Senate passes McConnell impeachment rules after nearly 13 hours of debate

The Senate passed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution laying out a blueprint for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial along party lines early Wednesday after a day of back and forth between House prosecutors and attorneys for the White House. The Republican majority had voted down several amendments proposed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena documents and call […]

Bob Cesca: No one weeps for the talls, I get it… But in air travel’s legroom wars, we suffer

No one weeps for tall people. I get it. You’ll never see tear-jerker television commercials scored with Sarah McLachlan music, lamenting the plight of tall people — our long-endured suffering due to possessing genetically larger frames than average humans. No one sees a tall person and chokes up at the sad spectacle: I bet she […]

Stephcast 1-21-20

Voters give Trump’s job performance low marks

On the third anniversary of his inauguration and on the brink of a historic Senate impeachment trial, voters are still giving President Donald Trump low marks on his third-quarter report card. According to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, just over two-in-10 voters — 21 percent of respondents — give Trump an “A” grade for the […]

New CNN Poll: 69 Percent of Respondents Support Additional Witnesses at Senate Impeachment Trial

CNN tonight released new polling on the impeachment of President Donald Trump ahead of the Senate trial. The poll finds that 51 percent support the Senate convicting and removing Trump from office. Along political lines, that’s 89 percent of Democrats, 8 percent of Republicans, and 48 percent of independents. Read the rest of the story at Mediaite.

Trump impeachment trial: The rules and everything else you need to know

The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump — only the third in U.S. history — is scheduled to get fully underway Tuesday, with Democrats and Republicans potentially clashing over whether to call witnesses. The proposed rules for the trial, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., released Monday evening, are similar but not identical to the format of […]

Charlie Pierce: Of Course Trump’s Impeachment Defense Features Alan Dershowitz and…Ken Starr

History, Mark Twain is said to have commented, doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (There’s no real proof he said it, but it sounds like him, so we should let him have it.) However, occasionally, history does put on a fake mustache and head to a comedy club for open mic night. Read the […]

Thousands Of Pro-Gun Activists And Far-Right Extremists Swarm Richmond, Virginia

Thousands of pro-gun protesters, along with extremist factions from all over the country, crowded in and around Capitol Square on Monday for a pro-gun rally that for weeks has stoked fears of violence that reached the highest levels of Virginia government. Three neo-Nazis associated with a violent white supremacist group called The Base were arrested […]

McConnell’s impeachment resolution shortens trial’s opening arguments to two days per side

The impeachment organizing resolution text from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gives House impeachment managers and the President’s legal team 24 hours each to make their opening arguments over two days. The resolution raises the prospect that the trial will have 12-hour days and go late into the night, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by CNN. […]

Stephcast 1-20-20

Alan Dershowitz’s Old Comments About Impeachment Come Back To Haunt Him

Some old comments about impeachment made by attorney Alan Dershowitz are starting to look awkward in light of his current position in defense of President Donald Trump.  Dershowitz was added to Trump’s legal team last week and claimed he would present a constitutional case against impeachment. Specifically, he said he planned to argue that “abuse […]

New York Times editorial board endorses Warren AND Klobuchar

The New York Times’ editorial board endorsed two female senators for the Democratic nomination for president Sunday: Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. The Times’ editorial board sat with nine leading candidates last month for on-the-record interviews, transcripts of which were later annotated and published in full. Read the rest of the story at Politico.

Top Democrats push for Senate impeachment trial witnesses and criticize Trump’s brief

Several of the House impeachment managers who will serve as prosecutors in the Senate trial appeared on Sunday shows to call on the chamber to approve witnesses and deride the Saturday night filing from the President’s legal team which called the two articles of impeachment “constitutionally invalid on their face.” House Intelligence chairman and lead impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff […]

Trump’s Defense Team Calls Impeachment Charges ‘Brazen’ as Democrats Make Legal Case

President Trump’s legal defense team strenuously denied on Saturday that he had committed impeachable acts, denouncing the charges against him as a “brazen and unlawful” attempt to cost him re-election as House Democrats laid out in meticulous detail their case that he should be removed from office. In the first legal filings for the Senate […]

Eric Boehlert: How 2016 Failures Keep Haunting The Beltway Media

The Hillary Clinton exoneration tour continues, and with it comes the deafening silence from news organization that gleefully bought into GOP attacks on her during the 2016 campaign. Determined to never acknowledge their sweeping failures during the last presidential cycle, the Beltway media show no signs of having learned anything over the last four years. Indeed, newsrooms […]

The Rude Pundit: Trump Loses Any Time He’s Judged Objectively

This week, the Government Accountability Office, essentially the federal government’s rule enforcer and auditor, located in the Legislative branch, put out a decision that the Trump administration violated the law when it withheld funds from Ukraine that Congress had appropriated for that country. The law that was broken is the Impoundment Control Act, which says that the president can […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 1-18-20 Richard Marx

Stephcast 1-17-20

11 Americans Were Hurt in Iranian Strike, Military Says, Contradicting Trump

Eleven American troops were treated for concussions after Iranian missiles struck two Iraqi bases where the servicemembers were stationed, the military said on Thursday, contradicting earlier statements by President Trump that no Americans had been injured. The Jan. 8 attack on bases near Baghdad and Erbil, Iraq, were launched in retaliation for the killing of […]

Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr to Join Trump’s Impeachment Defense — And Dershowitz Will Argue in Senate Trial

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former independent counsel lawyers Ken Starr and Robert Ray are expected to join President Donald Trump’s legal team ahead of the Senate impeachment trial, CNN reported Friday. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Pamela Brown reported that the pair will join Trump’s defense team, which already includes lead lawyers Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow. Read the rest of the story at Mediaite.

Trump impeachment trial begins as Chief Justice Roberts, senators sworn in

The Senate formally accepted the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump shortly after noon on Thursday, officially triggering only the third trial of a president in U.S. history. House managers, who will act as prosecutors, arrived on the Senate floor after walking silently across the Capitol to present the articles, with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff […]

Stephcast 1-16-20

Trump administration violated the law by withholding Ukraine aid, Government Accountability Office says

The Trump administration violated the law by withholding military aid to Ukraine, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a decision released Thursday. “In the summer of 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withheld from obligation funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) for security assistance to Ukraine,” the government watchdog’s ruling […]

Ukraine Investigates Reports of Surveillance of Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

The police in Ukraine have opened a criminal investigation into whether allies of President Trump had the United States ambassador to the country under surveillance while she was stationed in Kyiv, the Ukrainian government said on Thursday. Democrats in the House of Representative on Tuesday revealed text messages to and from Lev Parnas — an […]

New lawsuit claims Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to US Virgin Islands as recently as 2018

A new lawsuit filed Wednesday by the attorney general of the Virgin Islands claims that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to his estate on his private island as recently as 2018, as first reported by The New York Times. The lawsuit against the wealthy investor’s estate accuses him of sexually abusing young women and girls in the Caribbean, including […]

Fmr Senior CIA Official Says Trump ‘Obsessed’ With Killing ‘Celebrity’ Targets, Failed to Understand Real Threats to U.S.

Former senior CIA official Douglas London claimed in an article on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is “obsessed” with killing celebrity targets for the “immediate gratification” of media headlines while ignoring “important threats” and long-term interests. “When it comes to intelligence, like with so much else, President Donald Trump likes big names. It’s this focus on celebrity, headlines, and […]

Senate to accept articles today as Trump impeachment trial set to begin

The Senate is expected to officially accept the articles of impeachment Thursday, after they were handed off by key members of the House late Wednesday, officially triggering the third presidential impeachment trial in presidential history. House managers, who were officially revealed on Wednesday, will read the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in the Senate chamber sometime in […]

Lev Parnas Says Trump Knew Everything In Ukraine Scandal

Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani at the center of the Ukraine scandal that led to President Donald Trump’s impeachment, said both men were fully aware “of all my movements” and that the president knew “exactly what was going on” as he waged a pressure campaign to dig up dirt on a presidential campaign […]

Stephcast 1-15-20

Russian government resigns after Putin proposes constitutional shake-up

The Russian government resigned on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes affecting the balance of power in the country. During his annual state of the nation speech, Putin proposed shifting power from the president to the prime minister and parliament, according to Reuters, by giving the lower house the power to choose the prime […]

Pelosi appoints impeachment managers for Trump’s Senate trial

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed a team of seven House Democrats to serve as prosecutors in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. She named Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) as managers. Read the rest of the story at […]

Neal Katyal: Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani have demolished Trump’s claims of innocence

Americans who have been wondering why President Trump has taken the extraordinary step of trying to block every document from being released to Congress in his impeachment inquiry need wonder no longer. The new documents released Tuesday evening by the House Intelligence Committee were devastating to Trump’s continuing — if shifting — defense of his Ukraine extortion scandal, just […]

Senate resolution to limit Trump’s military authority on Iran has enough GOP votes to pass, key Democrats say

A resolution to curb President Trump’s military authority in Iran has enough votes to pass the Senate, leading Democrats announced Tuesday, stating that Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins will join three other members of the GOP who had previously announced their support for the measure to invoke Congress’ war powers. Read the rest of the […]

Charlie Pierce: Russian Hackers Targeting Burisma Are Once Again Doing Trump’s Dirty Work For Him

It is happening again. It will continue to happen again. And the administration* and its pet majority in the U.S. Senate doesn’t give a damn whether it happens again or not. Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire.

House Votes Today To Send Impeachment Articles To Senate

The House is preparing to vote today to send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate to start the historic trial, several people told The Associated Press. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting privately Tuesday at the Capitol with House Democrats about next steps, ending her blockade almost a month after they […]

Giuliani sought private meeting with Ukrainian president, documents show

Rudy Giuliani wrote a letter requesting a private meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, then the president-elect of Ukraine, with President Donald Trump’s “knowledge and consent,” according to records released Tuesday by House Democrats. The letter was part of the evidence turned over to the House impeachment investigators by lawyers for Lev Parnas, the Giuliani associate who is awaiting trial […]

What we learned about the Democratic field from Tuesday’s debate

This was not the debate anyone expected, but it was perhaps the debate that voters needed. Democratic voters, especially those who don’t have the time to pay close attention to politics, in polls and interviews have consistently been bewildered by the size of the field and turned off by petty fights between candidates that do […]

Stephcast 1-14-20 (fixed)

9 things to watch in Tuesday night’s Democratic debate

The final debate before the Iowa caucuses brings new challenges for the Democratic presidential field. In the Middle East, a crisis is rising, with President Donald Trump increasingly at odds with Iran. In Washington, the looming Senate’s impeachment trial could soon command the national spotlight.   Read the rest of the story at CNN

Charlie Pierce: Democrats Express Shock That Actual Politics Have Broken Out in a Primary Campaign

For the life of me, I’ll never understand why Cory Booker’s presidential campaign never even made it to the pad, let alone why it never achieved liftoff. He began with as large a national profile as any of them except, possibly, Joe Biden. He had solid debate performances. He has a large and expansive personality. […]

McConnell afraid GOP doesn’t have enough votes to dismiss impeachment charges against Trump

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was once confident he could get rid of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. As more information becomes available, however, that doesn’t appear to be the case. A CNN report explained Monday that despite Trump’s urging, forcing senators to vote against a fair trial would put Republicans up for reelection […]

Trump authorized Soleimani’s killing 7 months ago, with conditions

President Donald Trump authorized the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani seven months ago if Iran’s increased aggression resulted in the death of an American, according to five current and former senior administration officials. The presidential directive in June came with the condition that Trump would have final signoff on any specific operation to kill Soleimani, officials […]

Russians Hacked Ukrainian Gas Company at Center of Impeachment In November

With President Trump facing an impeachment trial over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, Russian military hackers have been boring into the Ukrainian gas company at the center of the affair, according to security experts. The hacking attempts against Burisma, the Ukrainian […]

Stephcast 1-13-20

Cory Booker Drops Out of Presidential Race

Senator Cory Booker announced the suspension of  his presidential campaign on Twitter Monday. Booker tweeted a video announcing his suspension, with the following comment: “It’s with a full heart that I share this news—I’m suspending my campaign for president. To my team, supporters, and everyone who gave me a shot—thank you. I am so proud of what […]

Nancy Pelosi To Send Articles Of Impeachment To The Senate This Week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that the House will move to send the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate this week, signaling an end to a weekslong standoff with Senate Republicans over the rules governing the impeachment trial. In a letter to colleagues, Pelosi said she had instructed […]

Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) Blasts Trump For ‘Selling’ American Troops To Saudis

Conservative Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) accused Donald Trump Saturday of “selling” American troops to Saudi Arabia after the president boasted that the nation has deposited $1 billion into a bank he did not identify for “more troops.” “He sells troops,” Amash tersely noted in a tweet.   Other critics erupted on Twitter over a possible future in which U.S. soldiers could […]

The Rude Pundit: This Cowardly Nation Has Learned Nothing Since the Iraq War

Donald Trump is a coward. This much we must agree on before moving on. Everything he does, everything he has done, is based on his soul-draining fears. He fears that he will not be perceived as a success, a tough guy, a charmer, a winner of everything. He lashes out at anyone who foments those […]

DefSec Mark Esper: Iran ‘Probably’ Planned to Attack U.S. Embassies, but I ‘Didn’t See’ Evidence of Threats to Four

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says he “didn’t see” any evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was planning an “imminent” attack on multiple U.S. embassies. During an interview on Sunday with CBS’ Margaret Brennan, Esper stood by Trump’s assessment that there “could’ve been” attacks against America’s embassies, which is why he dispatched U.S. forces to the Middle East […]

Eric Boehlert: Did American Media Learn Anything From The Iraq Debacle?

The press sure seems to love glorifying Republican presidents against the backdrop of possible war.  Rushing in to get the behind-the-scenes telling of how Donald Trump decided to approve the drone killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed while traveling in a convoy near the Baghdad International Airport on January 2, CNN collected pleasing […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 1-10-20 Dr. Wanda Von Kleist

Stephcast 1-10-20

Jailers failed to preserve security video linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s 1st suicide attempt: Officials

Security video purportedly showing the outside of millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s New York jail cell at the time of his attempted suicide in July has been lost, federal prosecutors claim. The five hours of footage taken by a camera outside of Epstein’s cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan between 11 p.m. […]

Poll: By 2-1 Margin, Public Says Trump’s Killing of Soleimani Made Americans ‘Less Safe,’ Majority Say Strike Was ‘Reckless’

The American public is highly skeptical of the benefits of President Donald Trump’s latest actions against Iran, and most fear that his decision to kill Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani will have dangerous unintended consequences. That’s according to a USA Today/Ipsos poll, which found 55% of Americans think the fatal airstrike on Soleimani last week made the country “less safe,” […]

Iran denies shooting down Ukrainian passenger jet

Iranian officials have denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed early Wednesday morning soon after takeoff from Tehran’s airport, killing everyone on board. CBS News has learned that U.S. officials are confident Iran shot down the jetliner in the hours after the Iranian missile attack on U.S. targets earlier this […]

House passes measure seeking to limit Trump’s military actions against Iran

The House adopted a war powers resolution Thursday with the aim of limiting President Donald Trump’s military actions against Iran. The adoption of the measure on a largely party-line vote of 224-194 came amid heightened tension between the two countries after the United States killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile […]

Stephcast 1-9-20

In Iran Plane Crash, Ukraine Will Investigate Possible Missile Strike

Investigators will look into the possibility that a missile shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed in Iran, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday, but he did not rule out a range of other possibilities for the disaster that killed at least 176 people. The official, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security […]

Pence says sharing intel with Congress on assassination incident could ‘compromise’ sources

Vice President Mike Pence responded Thursday to lawmakers, including Republicans, who criticized the lack of information shared by the Trump administration during classified congressional briefings on the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, saying the intelligence was too sensitive to share. Read the rest of the story at NBC News.

Small rockets land near Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone

The US-led coalition to fight ISIS confirmed small rockets landed near the the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Wednesday afternoon without causing any damage to coalition troops or facilities. Col. Myles B. Caggins, a spokesperson for the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, said in a tweet that small “rockets impacted near Baghdad’s International Zone, Jan. 8 at […]

Trump says Iran ‘appears to be standing down,’ vows new sanctions

President Donald Trump seemed to seek a de-escalation Wednesday in the rising military conflict with Iran, saying Tehran “appears to be standing down” after its missile attack on U.S. targets in Iraq. In a 10-minute White House speech, Trump vowed to keep up the pressure on Iran with “punishing” new sanctions on top of the […]

GOP Sen. Mike Lee RAGES at ‘Insulting’ Military Briefing on Iran Crisis: ‘Probably the Worst’ I’ve Ever Seen

Members of Congress were briefed today on Iran, and Senator Mike Lee (R- UT) wanted to make it clear to reporters afterwards that he was pissed off. Lee erupted on what he called an “insulting and demeaning” briefing that he deemed “probably the worst briefing at least on a military issue I’ve seen.” He said the briefing was […]

McConnell Refuses to Negotiate With Pelosi on Impeachment Trial Terms

 Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, flatly refused on Wednesday to negotiate with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the terms of the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Trump, and accused the speaker of playing politics with a solemn process at a time of possible war. A day after he announced that he had the votes to […]

Stephcast 1-8-20

Ukrainian Airplane Crashes Just After Takeoff from Iran’s Tehran Airport, Killing as Many as 170 People

A Ukraine International Airlines 737-800 crashed just minutes after takeoff from the Tehran airport in Iran on Wednesday morning; there were nearly 180 people on board and reportedly no survivors of the crash. According to the Associated Press, the plane took off and then stopped sending flight data almost immediately after becoming airborne. The crash came […]

‘All is well,’ Trump tweets after Iran targets U.S. forces in missile attack in Iraq

“All is well!” and “so far, so good,” President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday night after Iran launched ballistic missiles at U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. The president also said he would make a statement Wednesday morning. “Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So […]

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) resigns from Congress

Rep. Duncan Hunter will officially step down from Congress next week, more than a month after the California Republican pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds. Hunter had previously said he would leave Congress after the holidays. His resignation will take effect Jan. 13, according to a copy of the letter he sent to […]

Bob Cesca: Donald Trump’s new “fire and fury”… More madman cosplay, with no exit strategy

Niccolò Machiavelli wrote in 1517 that it’s “a very wise thing to simulate madness.” In other words, behaving like an unpredictable, bug-eyed maniac might scare enemies enough to force them to back down.  Whether intentional or a simulation, plenty of despots and strongmen since then have engaged in this “madman theory,” too often with terrifying […]

U.S. base in Iraq comes under attack from missiles, Iran claims credit

A U.S. military air base in Iraq’s Al Anbar province was hit by more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iran on Wednesday local time, according to the Department of Defense. “It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel […]

Stephcast 1-7-2020

Stephanie Miller Lands On Talk Stream Live’s The Power 50 Most Influential Talk Streams

The ranks were produced by a sampled 36 million listener sessions — a record — during 2019. The TSL Power 50 Report tracks streaming talk shows through its platform of online website, channels, apps and gadgets. See the list at Radio-Online.

Charlie Pierce: I Don’t Trust Bolton as Far as the Car Threw Me

Forgive me if I don’t turn handsprings. –The House has concluded its Constitutional responsibility by adopting Articles of Impeachment related to the Ukraine matter. It now falls to the Senate to fulfill its Constitutional obligation to try impeachments, and it does not appear possible that a final judicial resolution of the still-unanswered Constitutional questions can be […]

OOPS! U.S. Military Letter Announcing Potential Iraq Withdrawal ‘Was A Mistake,’ General Says

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper disputed a U.S. military letter announcing that troops would be repositioned within Iraq in advance of a potential pullout. Esper claimed he didn’t know where the letter came from and that it was “inconsistent with where we are right now.” There has been “no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq,” Esper […]

Defense Sec Esper Breaks With Trump Threats to Bomb Iranian Cultural Sites: US Military Will ‘Follow the Laws of Armed Conflict’

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper directly pushed back on President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to bomb Iranian cultural sites, telling the press that the US military “will follow the laws of armed conflict” that prohibit attacking civilian, cultural, and religious sites that have no military value. In comments to CNN, Esper on Monday not so subtly contradicted Trump’s Twitter brinkmanship, […]

Iranian Americans say they were questioned and held by immigration officials

Mona Zabihian, an Iranian American, attempted to return to Washington state from Canada late Saturday after attending a concert — a trip she said she makes several times a year with no issues. This time was different, Zabihian said, as she and dozens of others were questioned and held for hours. “We went inside, we […]

Bolton willing to testify in Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed

John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, said Monday he is willing to testify in the Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed. In a statement posted Monday, Bolton wrote, “I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify.” Read the rest of the story […]

Stephcast 1-6-20

Iran pulling out of nuclear deal commitment after U.S. strike that killed Soleimani

Iran said Sunday that it was ending its commitment to limit enrichment of uranium as part of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, more fallout from the U.S. strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018, renewing tensions that reached new heights after Friday’s air strike. […]

Glenn Kirschner: Trump tweets that impeachment is a ‘coup.’ He’s almost right — but not in the way he thinks

President Donald Trump has taken to referring to his impeachment as a “coup.” In October, for example, he tweeted: “As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP intended to take away the power of the……..People.” (That tweet is copied […]

Random Mar-a-Lago Guests Were Told More About Plan to Kill Soleimani Than Congress: Report

The death of Iran’s top military general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a drone strike authorized by President Donald Trump Thursday evening, came as news to many in Congress who were not informed of the administration’s planned military attack. However, that was not the case for several random members of the president’s private south Florida golf resort, Mar-a-Lago. […]

Schumer ‘hopeful’ some Republicans will join calls for witnesses and documents

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he remains “hopeful” that enough Republicans senators will join Democratic calls for witnesses and documents in the forthcoming Senate impeachment trial. “I hope, pray and believe there’s a decent chance that four Republicans will join us — if they do we will have a fair trial,” […]

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) says Trump administration must produce evidence that led to Soleimani strike

Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Sunday asserted that the Trump administration was obligated to “present the evidence” that justified an U.S. airstrike against Iran’s top military commander, which has inflamed regional tensions and heightened the potential for further conflict between Washington and Tehran. “I think we learned the hard way, Chris, in Iraq, in the […]

Pompeo backs Trump’s threats to Iran as US braces for possible retaliation

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday backed President Donald Trump’s strong threats to Iran as the US braces for potential retaliatory actions by the country following an attack last week by US forces that killed Iran’s top military leader. “The American people should know that we will not waver. We will be bold in protecting American interests […]

Eric Boehlert: 2019, the year the press tried—and failed—to stand up to Trump

With Donald Trump becoming the first American president to be impeached in his first term, while holed up in the White House tweeting endless attacks around the clock like some internet troll, 2019 should have been the year the Beltway media finally shed its signature timidity and forcefully stood up to him. This should have been […]

The Rude Pundit: Haiku Review of 2019… Out of the Blue and Into the Black

This fucked-up year is going to seem like an amuse-bouche of insanity by the time 2020’s shit fight in a monkey house is over. As both impeachment and election pressure amps up for President Dumbfuck McRageface, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see even more violence against racial and ethnic groups, against trans people and […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 1-3-20

Stephcast 01-03-20

Republican senators and congressmen ask Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade

Over 200 members of Congress asked the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, which guarantees the right to an abortion, in a brief urging the court to uphold a Louisiana law severely restricting abortion. The 39 senators and 168 House members submitted the amicus brief in the case of June Medical Services LLC v. Gee, […]

Pentagon Confirms Leading Iran Gen. Soleimani Was Killed at Trump’s Direction

The Pentagon has confirmed that leading Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has been killed as part of an airstrike in Baghdad, which was directed by President Donald Trump. In a statement, the Pentagon confirmed U.S. involvement in the strikes, as directed by Trump. Read the statement and the rest of the story at Mediaite.

StephCast 1-2-20

Stephcast 12-30-19

Biden reiterates that he won’t testify in a Senate impeachment trial

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reiterated Friday that he would not comply with a subpoena to testify in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in a new interview with the Des Moines Register’s editorial board. His comments come as Republicans have threatened to call Democrats — including Biden and his son, Hunter — to testify in […]

Trump Pushes Out Tweet Naming Alleged Whistleblower

On Thursday evening, Donald Trump pushed out on Twitter the name of the alleged whistleblower whose complaint led to the president’s impeachment. Trump’s personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, retweeted a post by the re-election campaign’s official “war room” account that was aimed at the whistleblower’s attorney Mark Zaid. “It’s pretty simple. The CIA ‘whistleblower’ is not a real […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 12-27-19 (Vintage) Remembering Allee Willis

Trump obsesses over Pelosi as sting of impeachment spoils his holiday break

President Donald Trump can’t seem to get Nancy Pelosi out of his head, even as most of the rest of the nation enjoys a holiday halftime break from the impeachment drama. His anger is boiling as the politics of impeachment evolve in a slow burn over the Christmas and New Year break, with pressure rising on senators […]

Charlie Pierce: I’m a Lucky Motherf*cker. We All Are.

As you may have noticed, the shebeen has been disarranged for the past couple of weeks. The sudden intervention of an automobile into my affairs—and, it must be said, into my lower back—has kept me watching the considerable landfill of recent news from the sidelines—often, I must admit, severely hopped up on goofballs, as Joe […]

The Rude Pundit: Christmas Nativities 2019… Now with Zombies (Because Sure, Why Not?)

Like movies about suicidal snowmen and tortured ghosts and pole-frozen tongues, some things are a tradition around the rude house. Beloved reruns are good for the soul. My favorites to trot out this week are the Invader Zim Christmas episode and Olive the Other Reindeer. Even here, in Left Blogsylvania, we can indulge in revisiting old posts. Read […]

Trump Tweets About California Homelessness, Threatens to Intervene if Gov. Newsom ‘Can’t Fix Problem’

President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to get the federal government involved in “taking care of the homeless population in California” if Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom “can’t fix the problem” soon. In response to a video of Newsom criticizing the Trump administration for failing to solve homelessness, President Trump posted on Twitter, “Governor Gavin N has done a really […]

Christmas Day passes with no sign of ‘gift’ that North Korea warned of

Christmas Day came and went with no sign of the “gift” that North Korea warned could come. Earlier this month, Pyongyang set an year-end deadline for the U.S. to make new concessions in talks over the country’s nuclear arsenal. And amid fears that North Korea was expanding a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear […]

GOP Sen. Murkowski ‘disturbed’ by McConnell comments about impeachment trial

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Tuesday she was “disturbed” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would engage in “total coordination” with the White House regarding the upcoming Senate trial of President Donald Trump. In an interview with Anchorage’s local NBC affiliate KTUU broadcast Tuesday, Murkowski — who earlier in the year refused to defend Trump from the Democrats’ […]

Trump Blasts ‘Crazy Nancy Pelosi,’ ‘Scam Impeachment’ Following Christmas Call for Unity

Hours after President Donald Trump asked Americans to unify and embrace, he got on Twitter to launch new attacks on his political foes and the House Democrats’ effort to impeach him. See his tweets and read the rest of the story at Mediaite.

HH Videocast 12-20-19 A.G. from Mueller, She Wrote

Stephcast 12-20-19

Stephcast 12-19-19

Democratic debate to go on tonight as planned after labor dispute tentatively resolved

The Democratic primary debate scheduled for Thursday will go on as planned, after a labor dispute between a California union and a catering provider that threatened to derail the high-profile event was resolved. All seven Democratic presidential candidates who met the qualifications to participate in the debate declared their support last week for Unite Here Local 11 […]

Trump, Unbowed, Uses Rally to Strike Back Against Impeachment Vote

President Trump angrily responded to the impeachment he had long been dreading on Wednesday, lashing out at his Democratic accusers in a rambling two-hour speech and calling for their defeat in November. Moments after the House passed two articles of impeachment against him, he told a campaign rally in a state he won in 2016 that is […]

Pelosi says House will wait to send impeachment articles to Senate for clarity on rules

The House will delay sending the articles of impeachment it approved to the Senate until rules are established for the trial of President Donald Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday night. Pelosi, D-Calif., excoriated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for saying he would coordinate with the White House counsel during the coming trial, which she likened […]

Trump is impeached by the House, creating an indelible mark on his presidency

The House of Representatives voted late Wednesday to impeach President Trump on charges that he abused his office and obstructed Congress, with Democrats declaring him a threat to the nation and branding an indelible mark on the most turbulent presidency of modern times. After 11 hours of fierce argument on the House floor between Democrats […]

Stephcast 12-18-19

Rules Committee agrees to six hours of debate before Trump impeachment vote

The House Rules Committee voted along party lines to approve six hours of debate on the House floor Wednesday as lawmakers vote on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Democrats and Republicans will have three hours apiece to make their case ahead of votes. Read the rest of the story at NBC News.

Bob Cesca: Donald Trump is being impeached — and then Democrats can finish him off

Donald Trump can throw the world’s most dramatic “Real Housewives” hissy fit. He can ceaselessly whine like the entitled Frank Burns knockoff he is until even the bots and trolls stop following his tweets. He can shout “perfect call!” until the words lose all meaning. No matter what he does, no matter how loudly he […]

Trump Decries Impeachment in Unhinged Letter to Nancy Pelosi

President Donald Trump sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a fiery letter on Tuesday railing against the impeachment process ahead of an expected vote this week, calling it “an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power” by Democrats. “You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment!” Trump declared, accusing Democrats with “violating your oaths of office” with their […]

Stephcast 12-17-19

Dems Tell Federal Court Mueller’s Secret Grand Jury Materials Could Lead to Second Impeachment

House Democrats told a federal court on Monday that they will continue impeachment investigations into President Donald Trump after the scheduled vote on articles of impeachment later this week. In a 66-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, attorneys for congressional investigators led by House General Counsel Douglas N. Letter vowed that Democrats on the […]

Giuliani Provides Details of What Trump Knew About Ambassador’s Removal

Rudolph W. Giuliani said on Monday that he provided President Trump with detailed information this year about how the United States ambassador to Ukraine was, in Mr. Giuliani’s view, impeding investigations that could benefit Mr. Trump, setting in motion the ambassador’s recall from her post. In an interview, Mr. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, described […]

Moderate Democrats Back Impeachment of Trump as House Vote Nears

Democratic lawmakers representing conservative-leaning districts announced one by one on Monday that they would cast votes this week to impeach President Trump, signaling that a critical bloc of the most politically vulnerable Democrats is pulling together behind the party’s effort to seek his removal from office. Ahead of a historic vote on two articles of impeachment, […]

House inches closer to historic impeachment vote with Rules Committee hearing

As the House prepares to bring impeachment articles to the floor against the president for just the third time in American history, more than half of the Democrats from districts won by President Donald Trump in 2016 are planning to back impeachment. At least 17 Trump-district House Democrats have announced plans to vote for articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power […]

Charlie Pierce: Only One American Political Organization Can Save the Republic Now

The way I look at things these days—which is to say, largely prone—we all have to come to face one big, hairy, honking, ugly fact about the situation in the country. There is only one organized political entity in the country right now capable of arresting the republic’s slide toward the boneyard wherein presently reside […]

Eric Boehlert: The New York Times’ impeachment coverage devolves into Republican talking points

Firmly adopting Republican spin as the best way to view the House impeachment of Donald Trump, The New York Times in recent days appears to have forfeited much of its news coverage to the GOP. Adopting Republican talking points that impeachment is “a political plus” for Trump; “risky” for Democrats; that the White House’s impeachment war room is humming on all cylinders; Democrats […]

Stephcast 12-16-19

The Rude Pundit: A Few Questions for Enraged Republicans

In the wake of Democrats finally loading the cannon on actual articles of impeachment, Republicans are somewhere between frantic denial and explosive apoplexy as they insist that Donald Trump did nothing wrong in his dealings with Ukraine and Congress. So I have a few questions for ’em. Read The Rude Pundit’s questions at his blog.

House Judiciary Committee releases report explaining impeachment charges

The House Judiciary Committee early Monday morning released its impeachment report to accompany the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump that will be on the House floor this week. The 658-page report explains the decision to charge Trump with two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of justice, and also includes the committee reports previously issued […]

Hallmark wants to reinstate same-sex marriage ad after pulling it

The Hallmark Channel said Sunday that it would “re-establish” its relationship with the wedding company behind a same-sex commercial, just days after Hallmark pulled the ad amid pressure from a conservative advocacy group. In a statement Sunday, the president of Hallmark Cards, Mike Perry, said Hallmark’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks, had been “agonizing” over […]

Trump Rants Against Speaker Nancy Pelosi: ‘Teeth Were Falling Out of Her Mouth!’

President Donald Trump went on a rant attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats over his likely impeachment. “Nancy’s teeth were falling out of her mouth, and she didn’t have time to think!” Trump said Sunday evening in response to a tweet from GOP Rep. Mark Meadows criticizing Pelosi’s answer on dropping bribery as a potential article of impeachment. Read the […]

Schumer proposes that Bolton and Mulvaney testify in Senate impeachment trial

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed calling former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney as witnesses at an impeachment trial for President Donald Trump in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday. The offer is intended as a signal that Democrats are seeking an evidentiary trial, not intending to simply […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 12-12-19 Dr Niccoli

Stephcast 12-13-19

House Judiciary Committee Approves Articles of Impeachment Against Trump

By votes of 23-17, the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The vote came immediately after Friday morning’s proceeding was gaveled into session by committee chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). The vote came after a marathon session Thursday evening was adjourned prior to the vote by Nadler — over Republican opposition. Read […]

McConnell: ‘There’s no chance’ Trump is removed from office

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that there was “no chance” that President Donald Trump would be removed from office in any impeachment trial and that it “wouldn’t surprise” him if some Democrats split from their party and voted in the president’s favor. “The case is so darn weak coming from the House,” McConnell said in […]

Boris Johnson’s Conservatives win decisive victory in crucial UK election

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II so she could formally invite him to form a new government on Friday in the wake of his Conservative Party’s resounding election victory. Johnson, the 14th prime minister since the queen took the throne in 1952, promised to “get Brexit done,” […]

In a surprise move infuriating Republicans, Judiciary Committee delays impeachment vote until Friday

After a grueling 14-hour meeting, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee suddenly announced that the panel would not vote as planned late Thursday night on two articles of impeachment, angering Republicans. Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said shortly after 11 p.m. that the committee would instead vote on the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Friday at 10:00 a.m. […]

Stephcast 12-12-19

Senate Republicans increasingly favor short impeachment trial with no witnesses

There’s a growing consensus among Senate Republicans that President Donald Trump’s all-but-certain impeachment trial should be shorter rather than longer, lasting roughly 10 days to two weeks, with no witnesses called by either side. One senior GOP senator told reporters that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell favors a shorter trial with a vote on impeachment articles soon after arguments are made […]

Trump tweets at Greta Thunberg to ‘chill’ following person of the year announcement

President Donald Trump tweeted telling Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, to “chill.” Trump wrote “so ridiculous” in response to a tweet from actress and producer Roma Downey congratulating Thunberg on being named Time magazine’s 2019 person of the year. “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned […]

Democrats, Republicans offer stark contrasts as House Judiciary Committee debates articles of impeachment

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler gaveled in a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, kicking off the committee’s marathon session to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump for debate and approval, holding a “markup” — a public meeting where members can debate and offer amendments to the charges — ahead […]

Stephcast 12-11-19

Read the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Tuesday announced the introduction of two articles of impeachment — one for abuse of power, the other for obstruction of Congress — against President Donald Trump. Read the full text of the articles here:

Senate likely to take up impeachment trial after holiday recess, McConnell says

Senate Republicans on Tuesday suggested that they may not call up live witnesses to testify as part of a likely impeachment trial slated to begin in January — a move that pits the Republican-led Senate against the desires of President Donald Trump. “I think the prospect of calling witnesses, in my view, seems unlikely, as much as some […]

Barr thinks FBI may have acted in ‘bad faith’ in probing Trump campaign’s links to Russia

Attorney General William Barr said he still believes the FBI may have operated out of “bad faith” when it investigated whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and he contends the FBI acted improperly by continuing the investigation after Donald Trump took office. In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Barr essentially dismissed the findings of […]

Trump slams ‘flimsy, pathetic, ridiculous articles of impeachment’

President Donald Trump bashed the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday just hours after House Democrats introduced two articles of impeachment, calling them “flimsy, pathetic, ridiculous articles of impeachment.” “They are now admitting that there was no collusion, no obstruction of justice, there are no crimes,” Trump told a crowd of thousands of supporters at the Giant Center. “They are […]

Bob Cesca: What civil liberties? Kentucky’s medieval abortion law amounts to state-sanctioned rape

Anti-choice conservatives aren’t big fans of science, but the decision this week by the Supreme Court to uphold a Kentucky law mandating transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortion procedures isn’t just anti-science, it’s medieval. It’s state-sanctioned rape. And it’s not the first time the Court has steamrolled both civil rights for women and science fact in lieu […]

Stephcast 12-10-19

House Democrats Unveil Two Articles Of Impeachment Against Donald Trump

Top House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump on Tuesday, laying the foundation for a vote that could see the president become just the third American leader in history to be impeached. The articles of impeachment relate to two actions by Trump: One is abuse of power linked to his demand that […]

Democrats Signal Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress Charges Against Trump Today

House Democrats signaled that they would unveil articles of impeachment on Tuesday morning that charge President Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for conduct they called a “clear and present danger” to the 2020 election and national security. The House Judiciary Committee was expected to work through the night on Monday readying […]

Supreme Court leaves in place Kentucky abortion law mandating ultrasounds

The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a Kentucky law, mandating doctors perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients before they can perform abortions. The high court declined, without comment, to hear an appeal brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the state’s lone abortion clinic. Read the rest of the story […]

Internal Justice watchdog finds that Russia probe was justified, not biased against Trump

The FBI mishandled parts of its application to monitor a Trump campaign aide as it was probing possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, but the overall investigation was justified, according to a long-awaited report by the Justice Department’s watchdog that rebuts the president’s depiction of a politically biased plot against him. Read the rest of […]

Stephcast 12-9-19

Bill Barr Reportedly Advising Trump to Dump Rudy Giuliani Amidst Impeachment Proceedings

Attorney General Bill Barr has reportedly counseled President Donald Trump that Rudy Giuliani has become a “liability” for the administration. The Washington Post reported Sunday that Trump has been advised by Barr “in general terms” to stop relying on Giuliani, who has made multiple trips to Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden’s family – including one this week to make a documentary. Read […]

Nadler: Trump showed ‘pattern’ that poses ‘danger’ to elections

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that President Donald Trump has shown “a pattern” of seeking foreign interference in U.S. elections but stopped short of saying that obstruction charges would be included in articles of impeachment. “The central allegation is that the president put himself above his country several times, that he sought […]

White House: Pensacola shooting ‘appears to be a terrorist attack’

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday that the recent shooting at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., appears to be an act of terrorism. “To me, it appears to be a terrorist attack,” O’Brien said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”. “I don’t want to prejudge the investigation, but it appears that this may […]

Democrats start impeachment homestretch with rising stakes on Capitol Hill today

Democrats are heading into a momentous impeachment finale as they set the pace and scope of their charges against President Donald Trump — prompting Republicans to escalate their effort to swamp the historic process in disinformation and partisanship. Majority members of the House Judiciary Committee spent the weekend mapping out a critical hearing Monday at which […]

Eric Boehlert: The press doesn’t have—or won’t use—the proper language to describe today’s radical Republican Party

Extreme times call for extreme measures, but the Beltway press just isn’t willing to make that move in the Trump era. As a consequence, the news media fail to accurately capture the radical changes now underway in the country, and how today’s Republican Party has become purposefully untethered from reality.  Donald Trump remains a resolutely radical […]

The Rude Pundit: Nikki Haley Said One of the Stupidest F***ing Things I’ve Heard a Politician Say in a Long Time

Former South Carolina governor, former UN ambassador, and the hope of every Republican who believes their party is so much more than Trump (“See? A woman! And she’s not white! We’re not racist or sexist now!”) Nikki Haley was talking to Glenn “Fooled you with that brief bout of sanity” Beck on his internet concern, The […]

House impeachment report looks at abuse, bribery, corruption

Previewing potential articles of impeachment, the House Democrats on Saturday issued a lengthy report drawing on history and the Founding Fathers to lay out the legal argument over the case against President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. The findings from the House Judiciary Committee do not spell out the formal charges against the president, which […]

The Peloton actress has traded a bike for a cocktail in new Ryan Reynolds commercial

It’s a new beginning for the Peloton woman. When last we saw her, she was celebrating her yearlong fitness journey and thanking her husband for giving her an exercise bike for Christmas. Both the bike and the husband were nowhere to be found on Friday. In a video posted to his Twitter, Actor Ryan Reynolds seemed […]

Supreme Court puts temporary hold on House subpoenas to banks for Trump’s financial documents

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday put a temporary hold on House subpoenas requesting President Donald Trump’s financial documents from two banks. In a brief order, Ginsburg said a lower court opinion that allowed the subpoenas to proceed would go on hold until December 13. Earlier in the day, Trump had asked the justices to freeze […]

Suspected shooter at Naval Air Station Pensacola was Saudi Air Force member

The suspect in a shooting that killed three people and injured several others at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday morning was a member of the Saudi Air Force who was in the U.S. for training, officials said. Several law enforcement sources identified the gunman, who was killed in the incident, as Mohammed […]

House passes voting rights package aimed at restoring protections

The House on Friday passed a package of bills aimed at restoring protections of the Voting Rights Act rolled back by a key Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling. The Voting Rights Advancement Act would, among other things, update the formula used to determine which states must preclear their voter registration practices, require public notice for voting […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 12-6-19 Charisma Carpenter

Stephcast 12-6-19

Nancy Pelosi Takes Donald Trump’s Insult, Fires It Right Back At Him

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday night hit back at Donald Trump’s claim on Twitter that she’d “had a nervous fit” reportedly after she rebuked a journalist for asking if she “hated” the president. Pelosi, who earlier in the day called on House Democratic leaders to begin drafting articles of impeachment against Trump, told a televised CNN […]

Congressional Aides Tell Washington Post Trump Will Face Obstruction, Bribery Charges in Impeachment, But Not ‘Treason’

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump is set to face obstruction and bribery impeachment charges, but not “treason” – though the situation could change at any moment. Citing unnamed “congressional aides,” the Post reported Democrats in the House of Representatives “are considering articles of impeachment against President Trump that include obstruction and bribery but are unlikely to […]

Trump sets his sights on Senate as he comes to grips with impeachment

With his impeachment now all-but-certain, President Donald Trump and his allies are beginning to look past the House of Representatives, shifting their sights to the Republican-led Senate where the President will face trial. Trump, who as recently as Wednesday lamented impeachment as a “dirty word,” has struggled to accept the prospect of becoming the third President in […]

Pelosi announces full speed ahead with articles of impeachment against Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday that she was asking the House Judiciary Committee and chairmen of other committees to proceed with drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, saying “the president leaves us no choice but to act.” “Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and our heart full of […]

Stephcast 12-5-19

Trump: I was asking Zelensky to help America, not me

It depends upon what the meaning of the word “us” is . As the impeachment inquiries against President Donald Trump rocket forward, Trump tried Wednesday night to reframe the context of the phone call that sparked House Democrats’ impeachment investigation. Rather than asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on his domestic political rivals, […]

3 dead, including gunman, in shooting at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard

An armed, active-duty sailor opened fire on three civilian employees, killing two, before he fatally shot himself at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard near Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon. Three civilian Department of Defense workers were found shot in the vicinity of the base’s Dry Dock 2. Two died and a third is in the hospital […]

Barr’s handpicked prosecutor tells inspector general he can’t back right-wing theory that Russia case was U.S. intelligence setup

The prosecutor handpicked by Attorney General William P. Barr to scrutinize how U.S. agencies investigated President Trump’s 2016 campaign said he could not offer evidence to the Justice Department’s inspector general to support the suspicions of some conservatives that the case was a setup by American intelligence, people familiar with the matter said. Read the […]

Legal scholars: Conduct like Trump’s is the reason Congress has impeachment power

There’s no question that President Donald Trump violated the Constitution’s limits on his power or that the House should respond by impeaching him, three legal scholars told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. That’s exactly what majority Democrats were hoping to hear, and it’s the testimony they will cite as the House moves toward drafting articles of impeachment against […]

Stephcast 12-4-19

Trump impeachment case enters historic next phase today in House Judiciary Committee

The investigation into President Donald Trump enters a historic next phase on Wednesday as the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the constitutional grounds for drafting articles of impeachment. The process of drawing up any articles, now becoming increasingly likely, could begin shortly after members question legal and constitutional experts about what the Constitution requires. Read the rest of the story […]

World leaders caught on camera appearing to joke about Trump

World leaders at the NATO summit in London were caught on camera appearing to joke about US President Donald Trump during a reception at Buckingham Palace Tuesday evening. The video appears to show British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte having a laugh about […]

Giuliani mystery phone calls, texts uncovered by Democrats’ impeachment report

Who in the White House budget office called Rudy Giuliani on an August afternoon, and what did they have to talk about for 13 minutes? House impeachment investigators were unable to answer either question in their report released Tuesday by Democrats on the Intelligence Committee. But the call — and more than a dozen others and texts […]

Bob Cesca: Trump’s “I want nothing!” defense was always stupid. Now it just went down in flames

There’s a myth going around that says goldfish only have memories lasting three seconds. The myth was busted long ago, with studies showing goldfish memories last closer to five months. But as we observe Donald Trump’s defense strategy against impeachment, he appears to believe his supporters possess even shorter memories than the mythical fish.  As more and […]

Kamala Harris Dropping Out Of Presidential Race

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is dropping her presidential bid. She informed her staff on Tuesday.  Harris held a call with her team in Iowa on Tuesday, saying that she had made the decision because of financial struggles experienced by the campaign.   “I don’t think anyone on my team was expecting this,” said one staffer, […]

Democrats’ impeachment report cites Trump obstruction and withholding aid, warns of ‘grave harm’

The Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee released a report Tuesday containing a summary of the evidence it has collected in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The 300-page report cited two instances of improper conduct: obstruction of the House inquiry and withholding an official White House meeting and military aid from Ukraine on the condition of investigating […]

Stephcast 12-3-19

House report due today will outline evidence for Trump impeachment

The House is poised to release a landmark impeachment report outlining evidence of what it calls Donald Trump’s wrongdoing toward Ukraine, findings that will push Congress toward a debate over whether the 45th president should be removed from office. Democrats on the Intelligence Committee are making the case that Trump engaged in behavior violating his […]

Trump Blasts Macron For ‘Very Nasty Statement’ On NATO

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that French President Emmanuel Macron had been “very insulting” by describing NATO as “brain dead” as the two leaders prepared to attend a NATO summit. “It’s a tough statement, though, when you make a statement like that, that is a very, very nasty statement to essentially 28, including them, […]

GOP Intelligence Committee Chairman Refuses To Knock Down Ukraine Conspiracy Theory

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) on Monday refused to say whether he’s seen evidence that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election, declining to directly rebut a debunked conspiracy theory floated by some of his fellow GOP lawmakers and President Donald Trump. Burr, the chairman of the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee, instead played a game of […]

Charlie Pierce: Trump Has Begun the Process of Selling Out Rudy Giuliani

And, right before the holiday season officially begins, the last piece of the puzzle locks into place, and the last alibi falls apart like an overcooked turkey. From The New York Times: Lawyers from the White House counsel’s office told Mr. Trump in late August about the complaint, explaining that they were trying to determine whether […]

Natasha Bertrand: Senate panel look into Ukraine interference comes up short

With the impeachment inquiry charging forward, President Donald Trump’s allies have defended his demand for political investigations from Ukraine by claiming that the government in Kyiv tried to sabotage his candidacy and boost Hillary Clinton in 2016. “Russia was very aggressive and they’re much more sophisticated, but the fact that Russia was so aggressive does […]

Jennifer Rubin: Nadler calls Trump’s bluff

When the House Intelligence Committee held depositions of key witnesses, President Trump’s lawyers cried: “Unfair! Secret hearings!” In fact, a slew of Republicans had the right to ask questions, though some chose not to attend. When the hearings moved to a public phase, the White House hollered: “Unfair! Trump’s lawyer isn’t present!” When the House […]

Duncan Hunter Says He is Leaving Congress, Pleading Guilty to Misusing Campaign Funds

Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter says he will leave Congress and will plead guilty to charges that he misused campaign funds. Hunter said he is pleading guilty to spare his children from a public trial which was scheduled to begin next month. He told KUSI News that “not a single dime of taxpayer money is involved in this … I […]

Stephcast 12-02-19

Eric Boehlert: Why is the press so obsessed with what Wall Street and billionaires think of Elizabeth Warren?

It turns out the media’s obsession with the superrich isn’t confined to the world of celebrity and entertainment. In politics, the press also seems utterly fascinated with how the 0.1% live, and especially what their political leanings are. For the 2020 campaign, that means a barrage of coverage about what Wall Street bankers and billionaires think about […]

Lisa Page Speaks: ‘No Fathomable Way I Committed Any Crime’

It’s not often that you interview a subject who has no interest in being famous. But recently, I did just that when I sat down with Lisa Page the week before Thanksgiving in my hotel room in Washington, D.C. Page, of course, is the former FBI lawyer whose text-message exchanges with agent Peter Strzok that […]

Trump’s Lawyers Won’t Participate in Impeachment Hearing on Wednesday

Lawyers for President Trump said on Sunday that they would not participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday, airing a long list of complaints that they said prevented “any semblance of a fair process.” Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and the chairman of the committee, had given the White […]

Harry Litman: The wait to see Trump’s taxes may have just gotten a lot longer

The chances just dramatically increased that President Trump will be able to keep his tax records secret through the 2020 election. The Supreme Court’s move Monday to grant a stay in one case involving the president’s returns means that neither members of Congress nor prosecutors — specifically, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. — may not be […]

The Rude Pundit: Note to Democrats… Call the GOP’s Bluff

Oh, it would be a shit show of open sewer proportions, for sure. It would be a scuzzy circus on top of a cheap zoo covered with crazy sauce. But House Democrats should call the bluff of the increasingly divorced-from-reality Republicans and hold hearings on all the fuckery they claim has been going on. Like […]

House GOP members are ‘absolutely disgusted and exhausted’ by Trump’s behavior, former GOP congressman says

Former Republican congressman Charlie Dent said Thursday some of his former colleagues in the House of Representatives have privately told him they are “absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the President’s behavior.” Dent told CNN’s Ana Cabrera on “Newsroom” that House Republicans are standing with the President at the moment because of base pressure, but said “they resent […]

Intelligence Committee members can review impeachment report on Monday

The House Intelligence Committee is expected to allow members to review the committee’s impeachment report Monday ahead of a vote scheduled on Tuesday to approve the report, which details the committee’s findings from the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The report is a chance for Democrats […]

London Bridge attack threatens to recast U.K.’s ‘Brexit election’ with focus on terror

A deadly terror attack struck at the heart of the British capital just weeks before a crucial national election, refocusing the campaign on security issues as voters were set to head to the polls. That was 2017. But two years later London Bridge was again the scene of tragedy, bravery and the center of national debate in the […]

House Judiciary Panel Asks Trump if He Will Present Impeachment Defense

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee asked President Trump on Friday whether he intends to mount a defense during the committee’s consideration of impeachment articles, setting a deadline of next Friday for Mr. Trump and his lawyers to decide if they will present evidence or call witnesses. In a letter to the president, Representative […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 11-29-19 Family Show with John Fugelsang and Dana Godlberg

Stephcast 11-27-19

Bob Cesca: Russian trolls are back for the 2020 election — and they won’t be easy to spot

We don’t hear this too often so it bears repeating: The ongoing Russian attack against the United States would’ve ultimately failed were it not for millions of unwitting American foot soldiers who helped it succeed. As accomplices, way too many of us were easily — willingly, in many cases — hoodwinked into sharing and retweeting […]

House impeachment inquiry releases transcripts of OMB and Pentagon officials’ depositions

House impeachment investigators released the final closed-door deposition transcripts from the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday with the interviews of State Department official Philip Reeker and Office of Management and Budget official Mark Sandy. Sandy is a career official at OMB who was part of the freezing of the $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine, before the […]

House Judiciary Committee announces first impeachment hearing, invites Trump to attend

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday announced it will hold its first public impeachment hearing next week, and invited President Donald Trump and his lawyers “to participate.” “I am hopeful that you and your counsel will opt to participate in the Committee’s hearing, consistent with the rules of decorum and with the solemn nature before us,” Judiciary […]

Stephcast 11-26-19

New CNN Poll Shows 50% of Americans Support Removing Trump From Office

While President Donald Trump and his media surrogates are busy proclaiming that House Democrat impeachment efforts are backfiring and public support is flagging, a new CNN poll reveals that half of Americans are in support of the impeachment and removal from office the embattled commander in chief. In what is the first poll taken after two weeks […]

Ousted Navy Chief: Trump Meddling In SEAL’s Case Shows ‘You Can Get Away With Things’

Richard Spencer, the Navy secretary who resigned just a day ago, said Monday that President Donald Trump’s decision to block the Pentagon’s review of convicted war criminal and Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher sends a message “that you can get away with things.” Spencer defended his handling of Chief Petty Officer Gallagher’s controversial case in a […]

Lindsey Graham Refuses To Back Down On Investigating Bidens

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) defended his move to investigate Joe Biden and his son, days after the former vice president said he was disappointed and angered by his old friend. “I love Joe Biden as a person but we are not going to give a pass to what is obviously a conflict of interest,” Graham tweeted […]

Charlie Pierce: Rudy Giuliani Is Feelin’ Fine. It’s You Who’s Losing It, According to Rudy Giuliani.

Rudy Giuliani would like you all to relax. He’s fine. He’s just sailing along. And, despite the evidence of your own senses, he is not at all three sandwiches short of a picnic. From New York: When reached for comment, Giuliani replied: “Garbage your publication cannot be counted on to report fairly on this salacious stupidity […]

Supreme Court blocks House from receiving Trump financial records for now

The House of Representatives will not get President Donald Trump’s financial records for now, the Supreme Court said on Monday. The ruling is a win for Trump, who is fighting on several fronts to shield the records from becoming public.   Read the rest of the story at CNN.

Former White House counsel Donald McGahn must comply with House subpoena, judge rules

Former Trump White House counsel Donald McGahn must comply with a House subpoena, a federal court ruled Monday, finding that top presidential advisers cannot ignore congressional demands for information and raising the possibility that McGahn could be forced to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry. U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of Washington, found […]

Stephcast 11-25-19

Eric Boehlert: It’s almost 2020 and New York Times editors are still debating if Trump’s a racist

Wasting untold time and energy, New York Times newsroom leaders continue to struggle with the not-very-difficult question of whether they ought to refer to Donald Trump as a racist. More than four years after Trump entered our national political conversation by announcing his candidacy for president, the Times still can’t figure out if the paper should accurately label him for […]

The Rude Pundit: Impeachment Hearings…Random Observations on Republicans Getting Kicked in the Taint

1. At some point in the future, barring democracy’s end, a Democrat will be president. Let’s say for shits and giggles that it’s, oh, hell, how about Alyssa Milano? Sure. Why not. Let’s say that it’s election time and Donald Trump, Jr. decides it’s time to throw his dumpy ass into the mix. And let’s […]

Devin Nunes Dodges Questions About Whether He Met With Ukrainians For Dirt On Biden

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) dodged questions on Sunday from a Fox News host asking whether he met with a former Ukrainian official in 2018 to acquire dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. The lawyer for Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, told CNN that Parnas is prepared to tell Congress […]

Bloomberg officially joins 2020 Democratic field

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has launched his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination by spending $37 million on television advertising over the next two weeks, more than the entire field has spent on TV ads so far. Read the rest of the story at ABC News.

Schiff says House will move forward with impeachment inquiry after ‘overwhelming’ evidence from hearings

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that the two weeks of public hearings produced “overwhelming evidence” that President Donald Trump conditioned official acts for favors from Ukraine that would benefit his re-election bid, arguing that it’s “urgent” for the House to move forward with its impeachment inquiry. In an interview on “Meet the Press,” Schiff, the […]

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer fired in dispute with Trump over discipline of SEAL

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired Sunday by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who ordered that a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of murder be allowed to remain in the elite commando corps, the Defense Department said. Esper asked for Spencer’s resignation after President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher would retain the […]

Fox 11 LA: The Issue Is… Stephanie Miller, Michael Reagan, Gianno Caldwell

After the House Intelligence Committee wraps up a week of dramatic testimony, what happens next? Joining us: progressive radio talk show host Stephanie Miller & conservative commentator Michael Reagan.  We also discuss the most recent Democratic debate, including insight from our focus group of undecided voters.  See the video and read the rest of the […]

Everything we learned from the Trump impeachment hearings

From Wednesday Nov. 13 to Thursday Nov. 21, Americans were glued to their televisions, computers and streaming devices, as the House Intelligence Committee held a series of long public hearings as part of a broader Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Read the list at NBC News.

Documents released to ethics group show Giuliani, Pompeo contacts before Ukraine ambassador ousted

An ethics group late Friday published nearly 100 pages of previously unreleased State Department documents that the group says shows “a clear paper trail” between President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before a Ukraine ambassador was abruptly recalled. The documents were published by American Oversight, which calls itself a non-partisan and […]

Giuliani Crony Can Detail Nunes’ Meeting With Ex-Ukraine Official To Get Biden Dirt: Report

Rudy Giuliani’s indicted associate Lev Parnas is prepared to tell Congress that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) met with a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was ousted over corruption concerns in a bid to get dirt on Joe Biden, CNN reported Friday. A lawyer for Parnas, a Soviet-born American who has been indicted on federal campaign finance […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 11-22-19 Tim Bagley

Stephcast 11-22-19

Stephcast 11-21-19

Stephcast 11-20-19

Volker admits he was wrong to view Biden and Burisma separately

Kurt Volker told lawmakers that he drew a “sharp distinction” between Burisma and Biden, but admits that he was wrong to view them separately. “In hindsight, I now understand that others saw the idea of investigating possible corruption involving the Ukrainian company, “Burisma,” as equivalent to investigating former Vice President Biden. I saw them as […]

Stephen Miller planted anti-Rubio stories in Breitbart during 2016 campaign, leaked emails show

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller had more editorial influence over the right-wing news website Breitbart during the 2016 presidential campaign than previously known and attempted to push articles attacking then-presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., according to a new batch of leaked emails shared with NBC News. Read the rest of the story at […]

6 things we learned from Vindman’s and Williams’ impeachment testimony

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams — who both listened in on the July 25 call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy at the center of the House’s impeachment inquiry — spent more than four hours testifying before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Read the story at NBC News.

Stephcast 11-19-19

Impeachment inquiry enters most crucial stage with top witnesses on deck

Democrats who want to oust President Donald Trump and Republicans battling to save him are braced for the most momentous phase yet in the battle of impeachment that is rocking Washington. The showdown that could result in Trump becoming only the third US president to suffer such a fate will resume in the House Intelligence Committee at 9 […]

Bob Cesca: Trump’s still pushing the CrowdStrike conspiracy theory… But why, and where did it come from?

Last week, the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee shoehorned into the permanent record of the impeachment inquiry a conspiracy theory about the “real” attackers against the 2016 election. This defiant linkage to agitprop of dubious origin was yet another chapter in the GOP’s hopeless descent into complete make-believe. Before we dig into the madness, […]

Milwaukee’s progressive talk radio station adds FM outlet

Milwaukee’s only progressive talk radio station is now available round-the-clock on the FM broadcast band.  WRRD announced on its Facebook page the launch of “Talk 101.7 FM” in Milwaukee. Previously, 24-7 programming was available only through the station’s internet audio stream. Read the rest of the story at The Milwaukee Business Journal.

House Investigating Whether Trump Lied To Mueller In U.S. Russia Probe

The U.S. House of Representatives is probing whether President Donald Trump lied in his written testimony submitted to then-U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of the completed federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, CNN said on Monday. A House lawyer told a federal appeals court in Washington on Monday that lawmakers were examining whether Trump’s […]

Oklahoma Walmart shooting leaves three dead, including suspect

A shooting outside a Walmart store in Oklahoma on Monday morning left at least three people dead, including the suspected gunman, officials said. A woman and a man were fatally shot in a car, and another man was fatally shot outside of the car in the parking lot of the store in Duncan, about 80 […]

Trump says he will ‘strongly consider’ testifying in House impeachment probe

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is “strongly” considering testifying before the impeachment probe in light of recent comments from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who said he is more than welcome to present his case personally before the House Intelligence Committee. Read the rest of the story at NBC News.

Stephcast 11-18-19

Trump attacks another witness as his impeachment defense faces new tests

President Donald Trump’s impeachment angst led him to fire off a new attack on a key witness and threatens to deepen in the frenetic week ahead with crucial testimony scheduled from officials caught in the middle of the Ukraine storm. But as is perpetually the case with the President, a brew of competing scandals and controversies […]

Trump’s impeachment ire turns on Pompeo amid diplomats’ starring roles

The Ukraine impeachment inquiry has created the first rift between President Donald Trump and the Cabinet member who has been his closest ally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to four current and former senior administration officials. Trump has fumed for weeks that Pompeo is responsible for hiring State Department officials whose congressional testimony threatens to bring down his […]

White House defends Trump’s surprise medical exam amid skepticism online

The White House said there was nothing unusual about President Donald Trump making a surprise trip to Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday to undergo what he called “phase one” of his annual physical. But the ordeal was met with skepticism online, where some felt the White House and the president weren’t being upfront about […]

Eric Boehlert: Impeachment hearings confirm Republican Party is detached from reality. What does the press do now?

Republicans proudly advertised their radical ways during Wednesday’s impeachment hearings into Donald Trump, wallowing in conspiracies and embracing debunked claims. The question now: How does the Beltway media cover a party that has aggressively removed itself from reality? How does the news business describe and treat a political party that routinely echoes the most unbelievable claims from Fox […]

The Rude Pundit: Impeachment Hearings… Yovanovitch Kicks Trump’s Ass

Apparently, President Donald Trump, who is just large sack of yams mashed with sadness, decided that he would try to distract from the impeachment hearings today. He first tried by releasing the pseudo-transcript of a phone call between him and Ukrainian President Zelensky that occurred before the one where he pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son. […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 11-15-19 Pete Dominick

Stephcast 11-15-19

Trump asks Supreme Court to keep his tax returns away from prosecutors

Lawyers for President Donald Trump want the Supreme Court to block New York prosecutors from obtaining his tax returns. “We have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the 2nd Circuit decision regarding a subpoena issued by the New York County District Attorney. The 2nd Circuit decision is wrong and should be reversed,” […]

Santa Clarita, California, high school shooting leaves 2 students dead, multiple injured

A teenage gunman opened fire at a Southern California high school Thursday morning, killing two students and wounding three others, before shooting himself in the head, officials said. The suspect, whom authorities described as an Asian male who turned 16 on Thursday, was in critical condition at a hospital, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department […]

Trump: Impeachment has been ‘very hard on my family’

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the impeachment process was taking a personal toll, calling impeachment a “problem” that had been “very hard on my family.” “I have one problem. And it has been very hard on my family,” he said at a campaign rally in Louisiana, adding that “impeachment, to me, is a dirty […]

Who is Marie Yovanovitch? Ambassador testifying at today’s impeachment hearing

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — who is testifying in the House impeachment inquiry on Friday — was derided by President Donald Trump as “bad news” in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart. “She’s going to go through some things,” Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a phone conversation that’s at the […]

Stephcast 11-14-19

Trump DC hotel sales pitch boasts of millions to be made from foreign governments

In its effort to sell off the lease to the Trump International Hotel in Washington the Trump Organization has put together a glossy investor brochure complete with pictures showcasing the hotel’s grandiose architecture, its central location and its spa’s Himalayan salt chamber. The hotel’s biggest selling point though, according to a copy of the brochure seen by […]

Appeals court hands Trump another loss, saying Congress can seek his tax returns

An appeals court has denied for the second time President Donald Trump’s attempt to stop an accounting firm from turning over his financial documents to the House, making it the second tax case Trump’s lawyers say they are taking to the Supreme Court. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said on Wednesday that a panel of eight […]

Trump welcomes Turkey’s leader to White House weeks after Syria invasion

In a news conference in the Oval Office, President Trump said he and Turkish President Erdogan are “very good friends” and said the ceasefire in Syria is “holding very well.” Trump had faced bipartisan calls to rescind the invitation to Erdogan, from lawmakers who say the Turkish leader should not have been honored with a […]

7 Key Takeaways From The First Public Impeachment Hearing

The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday held the first televised hearing of its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Democrats are investigating his attempt to withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine until the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bill Taylor, the acting […]

Stephcast 11-13-19

House Dems Announce More Impeachment Hearings Set for Next Week, Including Vindman, Sondland, Volker, and More

Ahead of the first round of impeachment hearings tomorrow, House Intel Committee chairman Adam Schiff has announced multiple additional hearings set for next week. Next Tuesday, the committee will hear from Pence aide Jennifer Williams, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker, and NSC official Tim Morrison. Read the rest of the story at Mediaite.

A combative Trump and his White House brace for first public impeachment hearings

President Donald Trump has long criticized Democrats for conducting the impeachment inquiry behind closed doors. This week, he and his advisers are bracing for impact as those doors are thrown open and the cameras roll on the first public presidential impeachment hearings in over 20 years. As the hearings on Wednesday have approached, Trump’s mood has veered between relishing […]

Democrats warn State Department not to retaliate against testifying diplomats

Senate Democrats are warning State Department leaders not to retaliate against U.S. diplomats testifying publicly this week as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. In a letter dated Tuesday, the Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also demand that the State Department issue statements of support for the diplomats soon to take […]

In private speech, Bolton suggests some of Trump’s foreign policy decisions are guided by personal interest

Former national security adviser John Bolton derided President Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law during a private speech last week and suggested his former boss’ approach to U.S. policy on Turkey is motivated by personal or financial interests, several people who were present for the remarks told NBC News. According to six people who were there, Bolton also […]

Supreme Court’s Conservatives Seem To Back Trump On Ending DACA

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seems prepared to allow the Trump administration to end a program that allows some immigrants to work legally in the United States and protects them from deportation. There did not appear to be any support among the five conservatives in extended arguments Tuesday for blocking the administration’s decision to wind […]

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller pushed white nationalism in a series of leaked emails

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller in a series of leaked emails pushed white nationalism, bemoaned opposition to Confederate symbols following a mass shooting at a Black church in South Carolina and embraced immigration policies once lauded by Adolf Hitler. On Tuesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights advocacy group, published an […]

Bob Cesca: Send in the clowns… Impeachment is serious stuff, but GOP wants a circus

The impeachment of Donald Trump is not just a matter of holding the president accountable for his confessed plot to extort Ukraine at a time when Russia is engaged in both an invasion of that country and a cyber-invasion of the United States. This impeachment is also a mandatory warning to myriad potential Trump copycats […]

Stephcast 11-12-19

Jimmy Carter Hospitalized for Brain Procedure

Former President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized in Atlanta on Monday night to undergo a procedure intended to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from recent falls, his office said. Mr. Carter will have the procedure performed on Tuesday morning. “President Carter is resting comfortably and his wife, Rosalynn, is with him,” Deanna Congileo, […]

Judge shuts out public from Mick Mulvaney hearing on House impeachment subpoena

The public couldn’t listen to a public court hearing Monday night over acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s House impeachment subpoena, a federal judge in Washington said. Court security told three reporters from CNN, Bloomberg and The Washington Post to leave the DC federal courthouse minutes before the 5 p.m. ET start time for […]

Pentagon official testifies Trump directed freeze on aid to Ukraine

Laura Cooper, the top Pentagon official overseeing U.S. policy regarding Ukraine, told House impeachment investigators last month that President Donald Trump directed the relevant agencies to freeze aid to Ukraine over the summer, according to a transcript of her testimony released Monday. Cooper, during Oct. 23 testimony before the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s Ukraine dealings, […]

Joel Stein: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Elite

I am carrying a bottle of 2012 Trump Winery Sparkling Blanc de Blanc. I received the bottle ironically, and I am regifting it even more ironically to liberal radio talk-show host Stephanie Miller for the election party she’s throwing four houses up from mine in the Hollywood Hills. We shall toast Donald Trump’s concession speech […]

Trump can’t sue New York state in DC federal court to stop release of tax returns, judge says

A Trump-appointed federal judge decided Monday that President Donald Trump can’t sue New York state officials in a Washington, DC, court at this time to stop the release of his tax returns to Congress. The case is one of many where the President or his administration have asked federal judges to intervene before House Democrats obtain Trump’s […]

Trump Met With ‘Lock Him Up’ Chants, ‘Impeach’ Signs At NYC Veterans Day Parade

President Donald Trump may have been a lifelong New Yorker until recently, but the city he once called home didn’t quite welcome him with open arms on Monday. For the first few minutes of Trump’s speech in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park ahead of the 100th annual Veterans Day Parade, attendees could hear protesters outside the ceremony chanting “lock him […]

Charlie Pierce: Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan Just Debuted the Trump Circus Defense

Friday’s Transcripts of the Day were those of Fiona Hill and Colonel Alexander Vindland, and, yes, they pretty much prove that the president* is as guilty as sin, even as his own sins, which are considerable. But the most entertaining parts of the new transcripts, and the sections that give us some kind of indication […]

Eric Boehlert: Ukraine floodgates open and Fox News tries to discredit everyone—but it won’t work

Will playing whac-a-mole help save the Trump presidency? That’s what Fox News and Donald Trump defenders have been reduced to in recent weeks as the White House and its media allies scramble to try to find a coherent defense for his admitted campaign collusion with a foreign power. (This time, it’s attempted collusion with Ukraine.) […]

Stephcast 11-11-19

Giuliani Associate Says He Told Ukraine That Aid Was Contingent On Biden Probe: Report

Lev Parnas, one of Rudy Giuliani’s two indicted business associates, reportedly said that he told incoming Ukrainian leadership earlier this year to announce an investigation into the Bidens in exchange for U.S. military aid. Parnas allegedly traveled to Kyiv just before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was inaugurated in May and told the incoming government to […]

Donald Trump Jr. Ends Book Event Abruptly After Being Heckled By Far-Right Supporters

Donald Trump Jr ventured on to the University of California’s overwhelmingly liberal Los Angeles campus on Sunday, hoping to prove what he had just argued in his book – that a hate-filled American left was hell-bent on silencing him and anyone else who supported the Trump presidency. But the appearance backfired when his own supporters, diehard […]

Nikki Haley says Kelly, Tillerson tried to get her to resist Trump to ‘save the country’

Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, claims in a new book that two of his top advisers tried to “undermine” the president to “save the country.” Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, was asked by “CBS Evening News” about a passage from her new book, “With All Due Respect,” in which […]

Trump Wants Republicans to Stop Using the ‘Bad But Not Impeachable’ Defense: The Call Was ‘PERFECT’

Some Republicans have started defending President Donald Trump on the impeachment issue by gravitating towards the “bad but not impeachable” argument. A GOP congressman said this morning, for example, his call with the president of Ukraine was “inappropriate” but not impeachable. But the president is clearly frustrated and would like Republicans to stop criticizing his […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump’s reelection campaign spreads lies online—and the press touts it as savvy

It’s gone from bad to worse: After spending years refusing to call Donald Trump a liar, the press is now toasting his reelection campaign, which is built on lies. “That campaigns are now being fought largely online is hardly a revelation, yet only one political party seems to have gotten the message,” The New York Times recently reported […]

The Rude Pundit: Impeachment Transcripts Reveal That Republicans Continue to Be Utter D***s

Yes, there are a whole bunch of fascinating things in the transcripts of witness testimony that have been released by the House joint committee looking into whether or not to impeach President Trump. From the unending obsession with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to the mistreatment of people who gave their entire careers to serving […]

Schiff says whistleblower testimony is ‘redundant and unnecessary’

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff made clear on Saturday that the Ukraine whistleblower won’t be testifying in the impeachment inquiry, arguing that the individual’s testimony would be “redundant and unnecessary.” House Republicans earlier Saturday had submitted a list of witnesses to Democrats that they’d like to testify as part of the chamber’s impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and […]

Mulvaney attempts to join lawsuit over House subpoena, sidestepping scheduled testimony

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is attempting to join a lawsuit testing House subpoena power, which, if allowed, could effectively derail him from giving testimony in the impeachment inquiry until a federal court decides the case. Mulvaney did not appear for his scheduled testimony Friday morning despite him receiving a subpoena, because the White House told […]

Vindman testified there was ‘no doubt’ Trump was seeking investigations from Ukraine

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators “there was no doubt” what President Donald Trump was demanding during his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During that conversation, now central to House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, Trump pressed Zelenskiy to launch investigations involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his […]

John Bolton Knows Of ‘Many Relevant’ Conversations About Ukraine, Lawyer Says

President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton knows about “many relevant meetings and conversations” surrounding Trump’s communications with Ukraine, Bolton’s lawyer told lawmakers Friday. Bolton has information that House impeachment investigators do not know about yet, his lawyer Charles Cooper said in a letter to the chief House lawyer, which was first reported by The New […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 11-8-19 Mink Stole

Stephcast 11-8-19

Book by ‘Anonymous’ describes Trump as cruel, inept and a danger to the nation

Senior Trump administration officials considered resigning en masse last year in a “midnight self-massacre” to sound a public alarm about President Trump’s conduct, but rejected the idea because they believed it would further destabilize an already teetering government, according to a new book by an unnamed author. In “A Warning” by Anonymous, obtained by The […]

Michael Bloomberg, billionaire and former NYC mayor, prepares for a presidential bid

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is positioning himself to enter the Democratic presidential primary, a longtime Bloomberg adviser confirmed to NBC News Thursday, though he has not yet made a final decision. “Yes and yes,” Kevin Sheekey wrote in an email responding to the questions about whether Bloomberg, 77, a billionaire businessman, was preparing […]

State Dept. official believed Trump-Ukraine conduct was ‘injurious to the rule of law,’ transcripts show

State Department official George Kent, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, told House investigators last month he created contemporaneous memos of specific conversations he’d witnessed related to the White House’s attempted quid pro quo that he said were “injurious to the rule of law, both in Ukraine and the U.S,” according to a […]

John Bolton Willing to Testify in Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry With Federal Court Clearance

A new report says that if former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton can get clearance from a federal court, he’ll be prepared to defy the Donald Trump administration’s orders and testify before the Ukraine impeachment inquiry. Washington Post reports that Bolton wants a court ruling on the dispute between the Trump administration and Congress about the impeachment investigation’s subpoenas. […]

Trump Ordered to Pay $2 Million Settlement For Misusing Charity Funds From His Dissolved Foundation

A New York judge has ruled that President Donald Trump must pay a $2 million settlement for using his charity organization to advance his 2016 campaign. The settlement brings an end to the lawsuit the New York attorney general’s office filed against the Trump Foundation, claiming the president and his children repeatedly used the charity’s funds to […]

Stephcast 11-7-19

Attorney General Barr Declined Trump’s Request to Declare There Was Nothing Illegal in Ukraine Call

President Trump asked that Attorney General William P. Barr hold a news conference to declare that he had broken no laws in a telephone call with Ukraine’s president that is now at the heart of the Democratic impeachment inquiry, but Mr. Barr declined, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Read the rest […]

Kentucky Gov. Bevin calls for vote recanvass as he refuses to concede

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin on Wednesday filed a formal request for a recanvass of the vote in his bid for re-election, a day after he appeared to come up roughly 5,150 votes short. NBC News declared his Democratic opponent, Andy Beshear, the state attorney general, the apparent winner of the race. “The people of Kentucky deserve a […]

Top diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor directly ties Trump to quid pro quo

The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, told House impeachment investigators last month that President Donald Trump directed officials to tie military aid to Ukraine to demands that the country open political advantageous probes, according to a transcript of his testimony made public Wednesday. The transcript of Taylor’s closed-door testimony before the three House committees leading the […]