Sunday, September 16, 2018

Stephen Miller May Be the Only Staffer Trump Trusts Now - Daily Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

SEPT. 13, 2018
Stephen Miller May Be the Only Staffer Trump Trusts Now
By Ed Kilgore

Is the extremist Stephen Miller now Donald Trump’s closest adviser? Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
There have been a remarkable array of theories about the identity of the person or persons who penned the anonymous New York Times op-ed confessing to a intra-administration plot to keep the president from running the country into the ground. But there is general agreement on one point: if the author was trying to further the cause of Trump Control by going public, it was a major miscalculation, as Politico reported last week:

What this person did is badly hurt the effort to rein in Trump … and it will make him crazy,” said a Republican close to the White House. “Now, if you say to the president, ‘I see where you’re heading, but I’m not sure about that’ — he’s going to think, ‘Ah, you wrote that.’”

And now, sure enough, Gabriel Sherman reports that the op-ed has compounded the already high levels of presidential paranoia created by Bob Woodward’s scathing insider book about life in this White House:

Sources told me Trump is “obsessed,” “lathered,” and “freaked out” that the leaker is still in his midst. His son Don Jr. has told people he’s worried Trump isn’t sleeping because of it, a source said. Meetings have been derailed by Trump’s suspicion. “If you look at him the wrong way, he’ll spend the next hour thinking you wrote it,” a Republican close to the White House said.

But even in a place as demon-infested as Donald Trump’s mind, nature abhors a vacuum. And so the president’s withdrawal of trust from most of the people around him has a beneficiary:

Besides family, one of the only people Trump continues to trust is Stephen Miller. “The op-ed has validated Miller’s view, which was also Steve Bannon’s, that there’s an ‘administrative state’ out to get Trump,” a Republican close to the White House said. “There is a coup, and it’s not slow-rolling or concealed,” Bannon told me. “Trump believes there’s a coup,” a person familiar with his thinking said.

Miller has already distinguished himself by his ability to keep his head down and avoid the many power struggles and personality conflicts in the Trump White House — while protecting and expanding his own influence over policy matters, particularly (though not limited to) his signature issue of immigration. But it is more than a little scary to think of one of the most powerful people on earth placing so much of his trust in a young man who cut his teeth in politics as a professional right-wing troll before beginning his official career with the hyperextremist Michele Bachmann. If Trump ignores all the advice he has been given by his fellow Republicans and lurches into a border wall or “criminal aliens” frenzy right before the midterms, we will know that it is finally and surely Miller Time in the Trump administration.

F.B.I. Arrests California Man After Threats to Kill Boston Globe Employees - New York Times

F.B.I. Arrests California Man After Threats to Kill Boston Globe Employees

By Adam Goldman
Aug. 30, 2018

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. said on Thursday that it charged a California man who threatened to kill employees of The Boston Globe after calling them the “enemy of the people” in a series of menacing phone calls.

Robert D. Chain, 68, was arrested on Thursday at his home in Encino, Calif. The F.B.I. said Mr. Chain owned several firearms and had recently purchased a small-caliber rifle.

According to federal documents, Mr. Chain began calling The Boston Globe immediately after the newspaper announced on Aug. 10 that it would publish a coordinated editorial response to political attacks on the media. Prosecutors said the threats were in retaliation for The Globe’s leadership in the editorial campaign.

In one call to the paper’s newsroom, Mr. Chain threatened to shoot the newspaper’s employees in the head, the F.B.I. said. Three days later, in another call, Mr. Chain said: “You’re the enemy of the people.” Using profane language, he threatened to kill “every” Globe employee.

Mr. Trump has embraced the phrase “enemy of the people.” Media executives have decried the expression, believing it a dangerous assault on the First Amendment, warning that it could incite acts of violence among the president’s most ardent supporters in the United States and embolden authoritarian political movements overseas.

On Thursday, the president once again used the phrase.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is. Truth doesn’t matter to them, they only have their hatred & agenda. This includes fake books, which come out about me all the time, always anonymous sources, and are pure fiction. Enemy of the People!

9:11 PM - Aug 30, 2018

The F.B.I. said there were about 12 threatening calls made to the paper.

“Why don’t you call Mueller, maybe he can help you out, buddy,” Mr. Chain said, referring to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Again using profane language, he threatened to shoot Globe employees in the head.

That threat prompted The Boston Globe to contract with a private security firm, and officers with the Boston Police Department were dispatched to the newspaper’s office.

A statement released by Jane Bowman, a Boston Globe spokeswoman, said, “We are grateful to the F.B.I., the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Boston Police, and local authorities in California for the work they did in protecting the Globe while threats were coming in, for investigating the source, and for making this arrest. We couldn’t have asked for a stronger response.” She added that, “while it was unsettling for many of our staffers to be threatened in such a way, nobody — really, nobody — let it get in the way of the important work of this institution.”


According to the F.B.I., Mr. Chain promised to keep harassing the paper as long as it kept “attacking the president, the duly elected president of the United States, in the continuation of your treasonous and seditious acts.”

He incorrectly stated that The New York Times owned The Boston Globe. The Times sold the Boston newspaper in 2013.

Authorities said that Mr. Chain faces one felony count of making threatening communications in interstate commerce. He is slated to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday and then be transferred to Boston, where he was charged.

Follow Adam Goldman on Twitter: @adamgoldmanNYT.

'A Bully and a Bigot.' Trump Draws Fire From Democrats at Annual LGBT Dinner - TIME

'A Bully and a Bigot.' Trump Draws Fire From Democrats at Annual LGBT Dinner
 Joe Biden speaks at the 21st Annual Research!America Advocacy Awards Dinner at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on March 15, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Joe Biden speaks at the 21st Annual Research!America Advocacy Awards Dinner at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on March 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Paul Morigi/Getty Images
By ABBY VESOULIS 2:19 AM EDT
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to be an LGBT-friendly president, featured an openly gay speaker on stage at the Republican convention and tweeted that he would be better on gay rights issues than Hillary Clinton.

But when the nation’s leading LGBT civil rights group met Saturday night for an annual dinner, a running theme for the night was that they could not imagine a president more hostile to their concerns.

Speaker after speaker referred to Trump as a “bully and a bigot,” referencing his Administration’s policies on transgender individuals serving in the military, decreasing funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and removing a line about sexual orientation and gender identity from the 2020 Census.

“I don’t have to tell any of you that we are living through truly frightening times. Day after day, we’ve seen our most fundamental rights under attack by the highest levels of government, and the headlines couldn’t be any worse,” said President Chad Griffin.

The event came with just over 50 days to the midterm elections, the first Trump has faced as President.

President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder, “Crazy Rich Asians” star Awkwafina, Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway and Olympic figure skating medalist Adam Rippon all held the microphone at some point in the night, but the speaker who was received most warmly was former Vice President Joe Biden, who became the highest-ranking official at that point to endorse same-sex marriage in an interview in 2012, which he referenced in his speech.

“I would not affirmatively make the case, but if I was asked, I would not remain silent,” he said of his decision to speak up before Obama did on the issue.

Biden, who is on most lists of potential presidential contenders in 2020, compared the cancer that led to the death of his son, Beau Biden, to the “disease of homophobia.”

“We can end it,” he said.

His wife, Jill, introduced him, telling the story of a bully who threw worms at her 9-year-old sister when they were growing up. “He was a serial offender, and I was tired of it,” she said. “So I punched him right in the face.”

“I hate bullies,” she said, vehemently.

Joe spoke of what he called a bully too. But he wasn’t referring to one from his childhood.

Instead of using the full might of the executive branch for security, dignity and safety for all, “the President uses the White House as a literal bully pulpit,” he said.

As he spoke, audience members were chanting, “Run Joe Run!”

Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, who are also on a short list of expected 2020 candidates, made appearances too.

Paul Manafort pleads guilty, agrees to cooperate in deal with Mueller team - Fox News

Sept. 15, 2018.

Paul Manafort pleads guilty, agrees to cooperate in deal with Mueller team
Alex Pappas By Alex Pappas, Jake Gibson | Fox News

Manafort to plead guilty in deal with the special counsel
Paul Manafort is expected to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the special counsel. He is facing seven counts of foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering in federal court.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty in federal court Friday as part of a plea agreement that involves cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and allows him to avoid a second trial.

“I plead guilty," Manafort, 69, told U.S. District Judge Amy Berman in Washington.

Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told the judge that Manafort's deal includes a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, who are investigating whether any Trump associates played a role in Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. That could include interviews with prosecutors and testifying in court.


A defense attorney for Manafort told Fox News the deal includes "full cooperation."

But the president's team downplayed the significance of Manafort's plea.

“Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign," Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in a statement to Fox News. "The reason: the president did nothing wrong."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday that Manafort's decision is "totally unrelated" to the president.

Manafort, in a trial set to begin Sept. 24, had been facing seven counts of foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering in federal court in Washington.

In August, in a separate trial in Virginia, a federal jury found Manafort guilty on eight counts of federal tax and banking crimes.

Manafort faces up to 10 years on these charges in Washington. He still faces sentencing for his guilty verdict in Virginia.

As part of this agreement, Manafort has forfeited multiple bank accounts and several properties in New York. However, he will keep his properties in Florida and Virginia, where his family live.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” - make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!

11:21 PM - Aug 22, 2018

Manafort attorney Kevin Downing told reporters after the court hearing it was a “tough day” for his client, “who has accepted responsibility.” He said Manafort “wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life.”

The case was brought by Mueller's team, which is probing potential crimes related to the 2016 election. But Manafort has not been charged with anything related to the campaign.

In August, Manafort’s bank and tax fraud conviction made him the first campaign associate of Trump found guilty by a jury as part of Mueller’s probe.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort,” Trump told reporters after the August verdict, adding that it had "nothing to do with Russian collusion." The president has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt."
Trump also said he had “such respect” for Manafort and called him a “brave man.” In comments interpreted to mean he was open to pardoning Manafort, Trump commended Manafort, saying he “refused to break” and “make up stories in order to get a deal.”

In the Virginia trial, prosecutors said Manafort hid income earned from political work overseas from the IRS while fraudulently obtaining millions in bank loans. Manafort had pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The prosecution’s star witness, Rick Gates – Manafort’s former business partner who struck a plea deal to cooperate with the government -- testified during the trial that he and Manafort committed bank and tax fraud together.

Downing, Manafort's attorney, suggested after the guilty verdict in August that Manafort was open to striking a deal before the second trial.

“He is evaluating all of his options at this point,” Downing said of Manafort.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge, John Roberts and NuNu Japaridze contributed to this report.

US stock market mixed as trade worries return - Fox News


US stock market mixed as trade worries return
By Ken MartinPublished September 14, 2018MarketsFOXBusiness

Stocks down as Trump gives green light to $200B in tariffs on China
Nuveen Asset Management's Bob Doll on the market impact from mounting trade tensions with China.

The stock market posted mixed results Friday after a report that President Trump has told aides to go ahead with tariffs on about $200 billion in additional Chinese goods.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased its initial losses following the news, closing 8.68 points higher, or 0.03 percent, at 26,154.67. The S&P 500 rose less than one point to 2,904.98. The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 8,010.04.

The Bloomberg News report surfaced as the market was posting modest gains earlier in the day's session. Shares had been climbing on expectations that trade tensions between the U.S. and China were easing and consumer sentiment surged to a six-month high.

But those expectations were dashed and the Dow, which had been up about 65 points, dropped approximately 120 points immediately after the report.


Ticker Security Last Change %Chg
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 26154.67 +8.68 +0.03%
SP500 S&P 500 2904.98 +0.80 +0.03%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 8010.0437 -3.67 -0.05%
“When the headlines hit, the knee-jerk reaction in the market is to either sell off or gain immediately,” Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial said to Bloomberg. “The president has had a couple of tweets suggesting he’s in no hurry to craft an agreement, but despite this, talks are apparently going to resume. And the question will be whether or not that leads to more negotiations.”

Shares of technology companies were leading the stock market lower.

Meanwhile, Wall Street was also paying attention to Hurricane Florence, which made landfall near Cape Fear, N.C., on Friday morning. Florence was downgraded to a Category 1 storm with winds of 90 mph moving west at only 6 mph. Heavy rain, gusting winds and rising floodwaters hammered the Carolinas, threatening millions of people in its path with torrential rainfall and widespread flooding.

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In Asian markets on Friday, Japan's Nikkei average rallied to over a seven-month high as sentiment improved on signs China and the United States could set aside their differences and resolve a heated trade dispute.

The Nikkei ended the day up 1 percent and higher by 3.5 percent for the week, the best weekly performance in two months. China’s Shanghai Composite ended Friday down 0.2 percent and down 0.8 percent for the week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished the day1 percent higher.

In European trading, London’s FTSE trade up by 0.24 percent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.29 percent and France’s CAC rose 0.32 percent.

US 'serial killer' border agent arrested in Texas - BBC News

Sept. 16, 2018.

US 'serial killer' border agent arrested in Texas

A US Border Patrol agent has been arrested in the state of Texas on suspicion of killing four women.

Officers began looking for Juan David Ortiz in the city of Laredo after a fifth woman allegedly escaped from him and got help from local police.

Mr Ortiz, who has worked for the force for a decade, initially fled but was later arrested in a hotel parking lot.

The names of the four victims have not been revealed. Police said they had been working as prostitutes.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said police believed Mr Ortiz had acted alone.

"The county, the city can rest assured we have the serial killer in custody," Sheriff Cuellar said, in quotes reported by the Laredo Times newspaper.

1:07 PM - Sep 16, 2018 · Laredo, TX

Two of the victims were found earlier this month in a rural area by the Interstate 35 road, and the third and fourth victims were found in the same area in recent days, according to local reports.

Why were there so many serial killers in the 1980s?
Golden State Killer suspect traced
A 42-year-old woman had been found injured on Thursday but died in hospital.

'Horrific case'
District Attorney Isidro Alaniz described the killings as a "horrific case" and confirmed Mr Ortiz was set to face four charges of murder and one of aggravated kidnapping.

He said the cause of death was similar for all four women who, authorities believe, were killed over two weeks.

He said all of the victims had worked as prostitutes and that investigators were trying to find a motive for the killings.

Two of the victims were US citizens and one was a transgender woman, he added. Few other details have been released.

The Texas Tribune reports the fifth woman fled from a petrol station after Mr Ortiz allegedly pointed a gun at her when she tried to get out of his vehicle.

Andrew Meehan, assistant commissioner for public affairs for US Customs and Border Protection, confirmed in a statement that the agency was co-operating with police.

"Our sincerest condolences go out to the victims' family and friends," he said.