Lt. Col. Vindman is up for promotion, but everyone is presuming Trump will just be corrupt again

Most Americans last heard of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman when Donald Trump had both him and his uninvolved twin brother forcibly escorted out of the White House in overt retaliation for Vindman's testimony to House impeachment investigators. Vindman spoke of what he personally witnessed in the Trump White House's effort to extort the Ukrainian government into producing "dirt" on Trump's election opponent before releasing congressionally mandated aid for the war-torn country. It was one of Trump's first acts of vengeance against those that testified against him, after being immunized from lawbreaking by the Republican-led Senate.

Now Lt. Col. Vindman is up for promotion, to full colonel, and according to The Washington Post the question hanging over the Pentagon is whether Trump will once again reach down to retaliate against Vindman, turning the usual promotion process into yet another example of the fascist man-child's use of government as a tool to protect and enable his own lawbreaking.

The Post's article is mostly speculative, with senior officials and the Pentagon expressing concern that once the normally noncontroversial list of hundreds of promotions hits the White House and Senate for confirmation, Trump will create new military controversy by making the move. Nobody believes Trump to be above it. Nobody is seriously pretending, at this point, that Trump has not been using his office to personally retaliate against impeachment witnesses, whistleblowers, investigators, and anyone else who he believes has improperly challenged his absolute authority to do crimes.

Everybody knows Trump is a sack of crap. Everybody knows he has no impulse control to call on, even if it would be in his interest to not do the overly corrupt thing. It's a given. The question, then, is whether his staff can perhaps jingle some keys or whatnot for long enough for the promotion process to go by as it normally does, unimpeded. Perhaps show him a new “antifa" mug, get him riled about that. Perhaps tell him that a fictitious world leader from a fictitious country called him a “poopyhead,” something sure to set him off for two weeks and render him unable to function as anything but short-thumbed tweet machine.

But this seems unlikely, and the subtext of the Post's speculation and sources is that all involved are so dreading having this battle that the promotion roster itself miiiight have been delayed while everyone involved steeled themselves for it, or might have only been delayed for the more prosaic reason of, you know, Trump so f--king up the response to a worldwide pandemic that even the United States military is unable to perform its usual functions at full capacity, while a "senior defense official" tells the Post that actually there was no delay at all, which doesn't seem like the kind of assertion you'd normally insist on being anonymous to pipe up with.

So we'll see. Will Trump take the opportunity to avoid even one new clusterf--k, even as the military reels from what was very close to a direct order to attack American citizens in Washington, D.C. streets? The odds say ... no.

Everybody in Washington hates John Bolton

John Bolton has few friends left in D.C.

A day after excerpts from his bombshell new book emerged excoriating the President Donald Trump, the former national security adviser has managed to turn everyone against him.

Republicans say he’s a disgruntled sensationalist who’s merely trying to make money off his book. And Democrats, once buoyed by Bolton’s turn against Trump, now say he is “unpatriotic” for documenting his claims in a book rather than testifying to Congress during Trump’s impeachment inquiry.

Several Republicans this week took direct shots at Bolton, a neoconservative once heralded as the gold standard for the GOP on foreign policy and national security issues.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Bolton is “somebody who thought he was being hired to be the commander-in-chief, and he wasn’t.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he found it hard to take seriously “anyone who claims to have witnessed treason and obstruction of justice and tells about it in a book.”

“Every meeting I’ve been in with John Bolton, he views himself as the smartest person in the room,” added Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP leader. “He thinks he should be president, speaker of the House and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court all at the same time.”

Barrasso also accused Bolton of becoming “the darling of the liberal left.” But that’s not exactly true, either. Despite producing several new vivid anecdotes that could launch new congressional investigations targeting the Trump administration, Bolton has few friends in the opposition party.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Bolton “cares more about his book than he did public service.” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Bolton is “obviously interested in making money, not saving the Republic.”

On the House side, Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday criticized Bolton for not testifying during the impeachment trial and said she’ll meet with committee chairs to discuss whether to haul him in to speak to lawmakers.

And it’s not just Capitol Hill Democrats who once tried to subpoena Bolton and Republicans who feel like he’s turned on the party to juice his book sales. The Trump administration is suing him in an attempt to block publication of the book even as it’s set to be released in the coming days.

Asked about the timing of Bolton’s book and his credibility, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) declared: “Nothing about that smells right. The House is frustrated by it, we are frustrated about it.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., listens to testimony from Secretary of State-designate Mike Pompeo during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Pompeo's nomination Thursday, April 12, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In his forthcoming memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” Bolton makes a series of explosive claims and argues that House Democrats focused their impeachment investigation too narrowly on the president’s posture toward Ukraine and suggests Trump may have committed multiple impeachable offenses.

Bolton alleges that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy American agricultural products to help him win reelection, and that the president encouraged Xi to continue building concentration camps for the Uighurs, a religious minority in the country’s Xinjiang region.

Several senior Republicans indicated they had no interest in discussing Bolton’s bombshell claims, questioning both his credibility and his motivations. It’s a somewhat painful moment for the hawkish Republican Party, which once found itself in lockstep with Bolton on many issues.

“I don’t have anything to say about it, because he’s selling books,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. He also downplayed any suggestion that Bolton should testify.

“I have no ill feeling towards John Bolton. Do you want to ask me about any policy questions?” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

In January, Bolton said he would be willing to testify as part of the Senate impeachment trial under subpoena; but just two Republicans Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — joined Democrats in the failed effort to hear from additional witnesses. Several Republicans said they didn’t need to hear from Bolton in order to conclude that Trump did, in fact, solicit Ukraine’s help in the 2020 presidential election, even as they determined that it was not impeachable.

“The question for me was, did I need to hear more evidence to prove that the president did what the Democrats accused him of doing. And I said no because I’m convinced he did it,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who was essentially the deciding vote on the witness question.

Still, Bolton resisted efforts to testify before House impeachment investigators — even threatening to challenge a subpoena in court if Democrats issued one to him, citing directives from the White House.

“He did it to maximize book sales. He felt like if he gave away information before, it would hurt his book sales,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said. “And so he held back even when it would be valuable to the nation.”

Democrats also took issue with Bolton’s criticisms of the impeachment inquiry, arguing that he should have testified if he felt that he had relevant information to share.

“Bolton himself says if the Democrats just asked the right questions the impeachment might have turned differently,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). “Mr. Bolton, why didn’t you come forward and testify to this effect while we were conducting an impeachment trial?”

Members of Bolton’s staff, however, testified voluntarily during the impeachment inquiry, something that Democrats regularly pointed out as they decried Bolton’s “unpatriotic” refusal, as House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) put it in statements filled with criticism.

“For the first time in my 14-year political career I agree with Adam Schiff,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). He said of Bolton’s book: “I got a long reading list ahead of me and it’s not going to go to the top of the stack.”

But Democrats may find Bolton’s book more enticing. And they were quick to not dismiss Bolton’s claims outright, saying that many of them fit into a pattern for Trump. Both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said they found Bolton credible, while Brown said Bolton likely had documents to back himself up.

“I understand that given his motivations, people might question what he’s written. That’s a logical skepticism,” Murphy said. “But what he’s written seems consistent with everything we’ve watched Trump do publicly for the past three years.”

Senate Democrats are pushing for additional information on many of Bolton’s assertions, most notably his allegations involving Trump’s conversations with Xi.

“Regardless of whether you believe it or not, it needs to be tested because some of the issues presented in the book, if true, in my view undermine the interests of the United States,” said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22:  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) talks about bipartisan legislation to create

The GOP-controlled Senate, though, is unlikely to pursue Bolton’s account of working at the White House.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the interim chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, demurred on whether he was interested in bringing Bolton before the panel to question him about the classified aspects of his memoir. Rubio declined to take sides in the battle between Bolton and Trump, who has repeatedly accused Bolton of lying.

Bolton doesn’t seem to have many friends left within the Trump administration, either. Hours after explosive details from the manuscript emerged, the Justice Department asked a federal judge for an emergency order to block publication of Bolton’s book, which is slated for public release on Tuesday and has already been shipped to some sellers.

The Justice Department argued that Bolton’s book contains classified information — an apparent acknowledgment that many of the details in the book are true. Yet Trump and his allies have dubbed Bolton a liar, saying he fabricated the anecdotes included in the book.

“Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!”

Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.

Posted in Uncategorized

McEnany Crushes Bolton: Takes The Title Of ‘Most Disliked Man In America’ From Comey

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized former National Security Adviser John Bolton, saying he had self-debunked his own book and was quickly becoming the most disliked man in America.

Bolton’s memoir, titled “The Room Where It Happened,” makes many dubious claims, including allegations that President Trump asked for help with his election from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In an interview with “Fox & Friends,” McEnany said previous claims by Bolton that the President was “perfectly prepared” and that he “understands President Reagan’s peace through strength” mantra, render his new allegations weak.

In fact, she expanded on that theme attacking Bolton’s reputation as a war hawk.

“He is a misguided hawk on foreign policy and a weak dove of an author,” Trump’s press secretary claimed.

RELATED: Trey Gowdy Mocks Bolton: Pecking Away In His Pajamas, Saving the Country For Only $29.95

Worse Than Comey?

McEnany pointed out that one simply needs to peruse past comments by Bolton prior to being fired that show his new bitter words can’t be trusted.

“This man is someone who praised President Trump as being strong on foreign policy, for not making the mistakes of previous administrations,” she said.

Now he’s going to claim the President sold America out to Xi?

McEnany proceeded to tackle the disdain on both sides of the aisle for Bolton, suggesting he had supplanted another universally despised figure.

“He’s discredited on both sides of the aisle and if you thought James Comey was the most disliked man in America,” she fired off, “I think John Bolton has taken that title.”

RELATED: Trump Slams Supreme Court DACA Ruling As ‘Shotgun Blast’ To The Face Of Conservatives

Disliked Man

The thing is, McEnany is right.

Sure, once Democrats subpoena him and he provides some glimmer of hope for a new impeachment hoax, he’ll be heralded as courageous and noble.

But for now, even the likes of one Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been highly disdainful toward Bolton.

“When Bolton was asked [to testify], he refused, and said he’d sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book,” Schiff whined. “Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot.”

Even that was too much for former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who said his literary skills were suspect since he was “sitting in his pajamas pecking away on his iPad” rather than facing scrutiny before Congress.

The post McEnany Crushes Bolton: Takes The Title Of ‘Most Disliked Man In America’ From Comey appeared first on The Political Insider.

As we near November’s election, Facebook, Instagram to let users turn off political ads in the U.S.

Facebook and Instagram will allow users in the United States to turn off political ads paid for by a politician or political entity, like a political action committee (PAC), as reported by CNN. The ads may be about political and social issues and display a “paid for by” tag. The onus is then on the users to block ads they don’t want to see. The bigger matter, of course, is that Facebook continues to stick by its allowance of misinformation from politicians in paid ads on its platform.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared the news in an op-ed published on Tuesday. "For those of you who've already made up your minds and just want the election to be over, we hear you,” he wrote. But when it comes to transparency, accountability, and making sure users get a fair shot at receiving accurate information, being heard remains to be seen.

Twitter recently began using labels to fact-check tweets. Of course some of Trump’s tweets were flagged, including as “glorifying violence.” And on that subject, Zuckerberg argued that Facebook shouldn’t be the “arbiter of truth” for what people say online. If anything reinforces that sentiment, it’s probably the incident from last October in which Facebook refused to pull a Trump ad filled with lies about Joe Biden and Ukraine, even though the information was blatantly false. In terms of Trump posts, he spread misinformation about voting by mail on the platform in early June. 

You might remember last October, for example, when Sen. Elizabeth Warren played by Facebook’s rules and bought a Facebook ad claiming that Zuckerberg endorsed Trump for president. This move hit especially heavily as we know that the Trump campaign historically spends a load of money on Facebook advertising. Overall, Warren wanted more accountability and transparency and used this loophole in Facebook’s regulations to make her point.

You also may remember that in February, when then-presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg was still in the race, the Bloomberg campaign “contracted” influencers to post wry memes about the Democrat to Instagram. These sorts of posts used to be banned from Facebook and Instagram as a rule, but the platform changed its policy to allow “branded content” from politicians as long as it’s explicitly marked as such. Posts will appear with the tag “Paid Partnership with” as a disclosure. 

Former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden launched a campaign asking Facebook to implement a two-week period prior to the election in which all political ads could be fact-checked before appearing on the site. The campaign also asks Facebook to add rules that ban lies about voting.

As a response to Biden’s open letter, Facebook wrote that it would “protect political speech, even when we strongly disagree with it.”

House Dems weigh new push for Bolton testimony

Democrats spent months pretending John Bolton didn't exist after he snubbed their efforts to testify during the impeachment investigation and trial of President Donald Trump.

But not anymore.

Top House Democrats say they're seriously considering whether Bolton should appear before them — either voluntarily or under subpoena — to testify about explosive allegations contained in his new book, including that Trump encouraged China to construct internment camps for Uighurs, urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to purchase American agricultural products in order to help his reelection bid and promised autocrats like Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would do legal favors for an ally facing a U.S. indictment.

"We’ll make a judgment," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a Capitol press conference Thursday. "I’ll be meeting with the chairs to make a judgment."

Pelosi slammed Bolton's refusal to testify previously, saving his most damaging evidence for his book, as "a con." But she said the allegations nevertheless dovetail with the House's impeachment charges that Trump was unfit for office. "We’ll be discussing how the American people are best served by oversight," Pelosi said. "The public has a right to know."

Pelosi's comments followed Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 House Democrat, who told CNN Thursday morning that the House "ought to consider" subpoenaing Bolton to hear his allegations under oath.

"I really believe that we may need to get to the bottom of this. Not so much for impeachment. I don't care about impeachment," Clyburn said. "It's for preserving this electoral process that we have, because this president is doing everything he can to undermine fair and unfettered elections in this country. And so I believe John Bolton can do a great service if he were to come now and let the American people know that this election this year is under threat of being invaded once again by a foreign power."

Clyburn's comments came as House Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel (D.N.Y.) and House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) indicated there are revived discussions about "next steps" related to Bolton, now that his book, which the Justice Department is attempting to block from publication, is scheduled to hit the shelves within days.

“We will continue to hold Trump accountable, and work to expose his abuses and corruption. In the coming days, we will be consulting with the speaker and other chairs on next steps," Schiff said of the Bolton revelations.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans were quick to downplay suggestions that Bolton should be called to testify about his allegations, even those indicating Trump is seeking foreign assistance in his reelection.

"He's trying to sell a book, and we've got so many things that are more important to do that that would not be my priority," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters. Cornyn said Trump denied the suggestion he sought China's help. "With everything else we have to do, whether it's police reform or Covid-19, I just think those are more important."

On CNBC, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Oval Office conversations should "remain confidential" so they're able to be "open and candid."

"So I have concerns about ... the way in which this is unfolding," Portman said.

Democrats had largely resigned themselves to ignoring Bolton after he blew off their requests for his testimony during impeachment. Bolton, reportedly, will needle the House in his book for failing to expand the scope of its impeachment probe beyond allegations that Trump abused his power to pressure Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals. Though Bolton's book is expected to affirm the Democrats' case, he also indicates other potential foreign policy transgressions that could have been part of the impeachment case.

Democrats never subpoenaed Bolton during the impeachment process, but they did briefly subpoena his former deputy, Charles Kupperman, who shares an attorney with Bolton. But Kupperman fought the subpoena in court, suggesting he was torn between the obligation to speak to Congress and an order from Trump not to testify.

His attorney, Chuck Cooper, made clear that Bolton shared the same view and would similarly fight a subpoena. Ultimately, the House dropped its effort as its case proceeded to impeachment and trial. Other members of Bolton's National Security Council testified willingly under subpoena, a fact that House Democrats repeatedly pointed out amid Bolton's resistance.

After the House's impeachment, Bolton reversed himself and promised to testify during the Senate trial if subpoenaed. Ultimately, Senate Republicans refused to subpoena him, with only Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) joining all Democrats in favor.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that even though Bolton blew off calls to testify during impeachment, his allegations — particularly those about Trump's effort to get Xi to purchase American agricultural products — are credible.

“It fits. Right after Trump signed the deal I was critical of him and ... said it seems that he sold out for a bunch of soy beans which our farmers will never see purchased," Schumer said. "Bolton indicates that that was true, that Trump turned his back on American workers, on American strength, all to help his reelection. And the farmers aren’t even getting helped. Xi played him like a fool."

After Trump's acquittal, Democrats mulled calling Bolton again, but within weeks, the coronavirus pandemic overtook the congressional agenda, and matters related to investigating Trump appeared to move to the back burner.

The House's interest may extend beyond Bolton himself and to the White House's role in trying to suppress his book. Top Trump-appointed intelligence officials intervened in the process and accused Bolton of rushing to print his book without removing highly sensitive classified information. But their intervention came after the official tasked with reviewing his book, Ellen Knight, concluded that it had been scrubbed of classified details.

In a late Wednesday court filing, the Justice Department sought a restraining order to enjoin the book from being printed, even though copies have been distributed and many of its revelations had been obtained and printed by reporters. The court filing included affidavits from Trump's top intelligence and national security officials asserting that Bolton's book was still replete with sensitive intelligence and would harm national security if printed.

Posted in Uncategorized

Trey Gowdy Mocks Bolton: Pecking Away In His Pajamas, Saving the Country For Only $29.95

Former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy thoroughly shredded the integrity of John Bolton for thinking his book was a means to save the country from President Donald Trump.

Gowdy, with his usual rapier wit, pointed out what is true of most former administration members who are fired by the President – that he is seemingly only a threat when they’ve left the administration and have a book to sell.

James Comey and Omarosa come to mind.

Now Bolton joins the ranks of those former White House employees who have a story to tell, a story tainted by bitterness and the opportunity to make a quick buck.

RELATED: CNN Contributor Van Jones on Trump’s Police Reform Order – ‘Good Stuff’

Calls Bolton Out

In an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Gowdy was asked just how ‘damning’ he thought revelations from Bolton’s book might be to the President.

He essentially called Bolton a coward.

“If you really think he’s unfit to be the leader of the free world, why didn’t you say anything?” he pointed out.

“John Bolton’s argument now is that Trump is unfit for office and should be removed, that he’s committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” Gowdy continued.

The former Rep. explained that Bolton had opportunities to testify before the House, the Senate, or to even tell his story long ago to the mainstream media.

“But no, for $29.95, he’s going to save you from this existential threat to our republic,” derided Gowdy.

RELATED: Tim Scott Rips Dick Durbin To Pieces After He Calls Republican Police Reform Bill A ‘Token’ Approach

Gowdy Continues Hammering Away

Gowdy proceeded to explain why it was an easier route for Bolton to publish a book rather than go before Congress and be hailed a hero by the left for his ‘courage’ in trying to take down the President.

And he did so with his usual sense of humor.

“He ain’t being cross-examined, he’s sitting in his pajamas pecking away on his iPad,” Gowdy ripped. “The power of cross-examination is you actually have to withstand the cauldron, withstand the heat of being questioned on it.”

“Anybody can write a book and make assertions,” he added.

In the book, Bolton, the former National Security Adviser, alleges that President Trump asked for help with his election from Chinese President Xi Jinping, that he was okay with him building concentration camps, and that he wanted to jail CNN reporters.

Again, if he honestly believed these things – why didn’t Bolton immediately resign and insist on testifying before Congress to save the country?

Even Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who wouldn’t dare turn his nose up at anything that he could possibly use to create another impeachment witch hunt wasn’t exactly praising Bolton.

“Bolton’s staff were asked to testify before the House to Trump’s abuses, and did. They had a lot to lose and showed real courage,” Schiff pecked away on his iPad.

“When Bolton was asked, he refused, and said he’d sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book,” he continued. “Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot.”

The post Trey Gowdy Mocks Bolton: Pecking Away In His Pajamas, Saving the Country For Only $29.95 appeared first on The Political Insider.