Trump's quest for vengeance against John Brennan

Source: Politico

resident Donald Trump’s obsession with former CIA director John Brennan could be on a collision course with an ongoing Justice Department probe as Attorney General Bill Barr takes a more hands-on approach to examining the intelligence community’s actions in 2016.

Barr has been meeting with the U.S.’ closest foreign intelligence allies in recent months, making repeated overseas trips as part of an investigation he is overseeing into the origins of the Russia probe and whether any inappropriate “spying” occurred on Trump’s campaign.

As part of that investigation, Barr and John Durham, the federal prosecutor he appointed to conduct it, have been probing a conspiracy theory for which there is little if any evidence, according to several people with knowledge of the matter: that a key player in the Russia probe, a professor named Joseph Mifsud, was actually a Western intelligence asset sent to discredit the Trump campaign — and that the CIA, under Brennan, was somehow involved.

Trump, meanwhile, has become “obsessed” with Brennan, who frequently gets under the president’s skin by publicly questioning his mental acuity and fitness for office, according to a former White House official. On Brennan, “it was always, ‘he’s an idiot, he’s a crook, we ought to investigate him,’” this person said, characterizing Trump’s outbursts.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/22/trump-vengeance-john-brennan-russia-053970

Facebook and Amazon Set Lobbying Records Amid Washington Scrutiny

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. set federal lobbying records in the third quarter as Washington ramps up oversight of the tech giants’ business practices.

Facebook spent $4.8 million, an increase of almost 70% from the same period the year before. The world’s largest social-media company is grappling with a mushrooming list of challenges, including federal and state antitrust investigations and criticism over its handling of users’ personal information and its treatment of political content.

Amazon spent $4 million on lobbying, the most the e-commerce giant has ever spent in a single quarter. The online retail giant, which runs a diverse set of businesses, is fending off criticism from policy makers over its acquisitions and its bid for a highly lucrative Pentagon cloud contract.

Spending by Alphabet Inc.’s Google dropped almost 50% to $2.8 million from $5.5 million during the same period last year as it reshuffles its Washington lobbying operations under Karan Bhatia, the global policy chief who joined the company last year. In September, Google hired former Republican Senate aide Mark Isakowitz to head up its operations in the capital, replacing Susan Molinari. During the second quarter, Google ended its relationship with more than a dozen lobbyists at six outside firms.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-22/facebook-amazon-set-lobbying-records-amid-washington-scrutiny?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=business

NEW: "We got a QUEER running for President... the white man has very few rights."

Despite reversal, Trump's Doral promotion will now be used against him in court

Source: McClatchy

Congressional Democrats will file a legal brief in federal court on Tuesday asserting that President Trump’s promotion of his Doral resort for the G-7 summit was further evidence he has violated the Emoluments Clause, despite his decision to reverse course.

The initial announcement last week — from Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, as he stood behind the official White House podium — provided the president’s personal property with “invaluable publicity” that in and of itself may amount to an emolument, a House Democratic source said.

Democratic lawmakers and their aides debated how to proceed over the weekend, after the president tweeted that he had reversed the decision and would not hold the G-7 summit at his Florida resort, only three days after Mulvaney’s announcement.

The office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, confirmed to McClatchy its plans to file the brief to the District of Columbia District Court on Tuesday, explicitly citing the selection of Trump National Doral Miami as evidence that Trump is profiting off the presidency. Blumenthal is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Trump by 30 Democratic senators and 166 House members in 2017.

Read more: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article236501638.html

Jimmy Carter hospitalized after fall at Georgia home

Source: AP

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized after a fall at his home in Plains, Georgia.

A statement from The Carter Center says Jimmy suffered “a minor pelvic fracture” on Monday, but remains in good spirits and looks forward to recovering at home.

Carter Center spokeswoman Deanne Congileo told The Associated Press that she had nothing more to add to the statement.

Carter already fell once at his home earlier this month, leaving the 95-year-old with 14 stitches and bruising around his left eye. Despite that, he still showed up to help build a home with Habitat for Humanity the next day in Nashville, Tennessee. He used a cane when he rallied volunteers that morning.

Read more: https://apnews.com/99a4a1adae0746a2ad06137e62e4266f?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

Paris 2024 Olympic Games emblem:

Singer Brandi Carlile drops out of Fortune event over Kirstjen Nielsen's appearance

Source: The Hill

Singer Brandi Carlile says she also won't participate in a Washington, D.C., conference featuring former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The "Joke" singer was poised to perform at Fortune's Most Powerful Women summit on Tuesday. But on Monday, Carlile said she was nixing her appearance because Nielsen was one of the featured speakers.

"I don't think that human rights violators and merit-based abusers of displaced people should be given a platform to 'reimagine' history," Carlile wrote to her more than 100,000 followers on Twitter.

"The atrocity of family separation at our Southern border needs to go down in history as one of the United States of America's most merciless acts," the Grammy Award-winner wrote.

Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/466711-singer-brandi-carlile-drops-out-of-fortune-event-due-to

The Best of the Edward Gorey Envelope Art Contest

...

The Edward Gorey House, a beloved Cape Cod residence turned museum, has been keeping the tradition alive with its annual Halloween Envelope Art Contest.

Competitors of all ages vie for the opportunity to have their winning (and runners up and “very-close-to-being-runners-up”) Gorey-inspired entries displayed in the Gorey House and its digital extensions.

2019’s theme is the highly evocative “Uncomfortable Creatures” … and depending on the speed with which you can execute a brilliant idea and deliver it to the post office, you may still have a shot—entries must be postmarked by Monday, October 21, with winners to be announced on Halloween.











http://www.openculture.com/2019/10/the-best-of-the-edward-gorey-envelope-art-contest.html

Well, the Cabinet meeting is going swimmingly:

Inside Trump's First Pentagon Briefing