The
Drumpfster Fire
chronicles Week
4
The
Drumpfster Fire
chronicles Week
4
A Tallbot‑‑Heindl Experience LLC Zine By: Chris Tallbot‑‑Heindl
February
1 2017
he Drumpf Administration released a statement about the Ukrainian conflict that gave the impression that they don’t actually know where it is taking place. Drumpf promised to work with Ukraine and Russia adding, “and all other parties involved to help them restore peace along the border.” There’s one small problem with that sentiment. The conflict isn’t taking place along the border, it’s taking place along a 250-mile front inside eastern Ukraine.
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rumpf was entertaining Prime Minister Abe at his Mar-a-Lago estate (ahem...Winter White House™), when the news that North Korea had launched a ballastic missile. At that point, Drumpf conducted a national security meeting at the dinner table in public as guests gawked, waiters served food, and aides used their phone camera lights to illuminate documents on the table. One guest, Richard DeAgazio posted pictures on Facebook of the total security nightmare.
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February
12 2017
hite House senior policy advisor, Stephen Miller, who penned the Muslim Ban Executive Order appeared on several news stations, and called the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling not to reinstate it a “judicial usurpation of power.” He then stated that they would fight it by either having an emergency hearing, an emergency stay at the Supreme Court, taking the case to trial at the district level, or writing a new Executive Order for Drumpf to sign. He added, “The power of the President to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.”
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tephen Miller, continued the #altfact declarations that busloads of Massachusetts residents were voting in New Hampshire, that 3-5 million illegal immigrants voted, and that dead people and people registered in two states voted in both states. Drumpf congratulated him on a job well done tweeting: “Congratulations Stephen Miller- on representing me this morning on the varous Sunday morning shows. Great job!”
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he GOP’s official twitter account celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s birthday with a fake quote. Researchers have found that the quote actually comes from ads for Edward Stieglitz’s 1946 book on aging.
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February
13 2017
othing was starker in contrast than the answers from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Drumpf during their press conference. Trudeau answered with specifics and with compassion and care while Drumpf bumbled through answers that were empty rhetoric, emphasizing “bad guy” refugees. Although the questions were specific to the US and Canadian border, Drump continued to talk about “bad guys” from Mexico.
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hen asked specifically what Drumpf planned to do about North Korea, advisor Stephen Miller stated that Drumpf woud begin the “great rebuilding of the armed forces of the United States... so that we will once again have unquestioned military strength beyond anything anyone can imagine.”
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vanka Drumpf took to twitter after Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to post a picture of herself, her father, and PM Trudeau in the Oval Office with the description: “A great discussion with two world leaders about the importance of women having a seat at the table.” The tweet was somewhat tone deaf since PM Trudeau’s table is 50% women while her father, Drumpf, scheduled two men to advise him on women in the workplace, and signed an Executive Order to limit women’s health care with an entire table consisting of white men.
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ational Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, famous for starting the Hilary chant “Lock Her Up,” and for possible treason with Russia, resigned. In his letter, he tried to frame it as a big whoops, stating he “inadvertently briefed the vice-president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador” despite denying it outright last Wednesday and saying he “may have” talked about sanctions a day later, he couldn’t recall.
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report came out that the Justice Department had warned that Michael Flynn had misled senior officials and could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. The warning came from Sally Yates, the very same Attorney General fired by Drumpf for telling the truth and opposing the Muslim Ban.
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he Senate confirmed Steve Mnuchin, another former Goldman Sachs banker, to be Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin was wellknown as the “foreclosure king” for prematurely foreclosing on thousands of families in California and contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. But he was also Drumpf’s top campaign fundraiser, so it came as no surprise when Senate GOP members voted him right in.
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n Okalahoma Republican, Representative Justin Humphrey had this to say about a woman’s right to choose: “I understand that they feel that is their body. I feel like it is a separate - what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant. This genius and obvious expert on women’s health has authored a bill that would require a woman to get permission from her sexual partner before obtaining an abortion, no matter the circumstances of the pregnancy.
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February
14 2017
rumpf and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos held a “parentteacher conference” listening session in which Drumpf spoke his usual incoherent “English.” “I want every child also to have a safe community, and we’re going to do that very much.” At one point during the conference, he tried to diagnose the cause of autism with a Principle of a school for autistic children. “Well, maybe we can do something.” Drumpf of course believes the #altfact that vaccines cause autism and autism is on the rise, rather than we just understand the spectrum better, so more children are being diagnosed.
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fficials released info such as records and intercepted calls that prove Drumpf’s aides had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officers during his 2016 campaign. Drumpf’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was one of the advisors on the call. He responded to the proof with “This is absurd...” and claimed not to know what calls were being referred to. “It’s not like these people wear badges that say, ‘I’m a Russian intelligence officer.’”
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hroughout the White House daily briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer kept going to conservative “journalists” not in the room via Skype. One of the questions he took was from The Federalist Papers Project, a crazy right-wing website that prints insane clickbait, racism, and fake news with titles such as “Best Tweet OF ALL TIME Explains The Clinton Murder List...” and “Kaine: White People Need to Be Minority.”
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uring the White House daily briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that because of the eroding trust between Drumpf and General Flynn, Drumpf asked for his resignation. He went on to imply that because it was Sally Yates who provided the intel, and because he “did not have his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who he trusts immensely, approved by the Senate” he “instinctively thought” that General Flynn didn’t do anything wrong.
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hen pressed about General Flynn and at what level of distrust and legality his actions were, Spicer got frustrated. He insisted that Flynn had not violated any law and was well within his job duties. When asked if Drumpf had instructed Flynn to talk about the sanctions, he responded, “No, absolutely not. No, no, no. But that - no. And there’s no - that’s never - “
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hen asked why there was not immediate action when the White House was informed about General Flynn, Spicer passed the buck. He indicated that people should be concerned that the investigation started on January 13, but the Department of Justice didn’t make a conclusion and notify the White House Counsel’s Office until January 26. The question shouldn’t be why it took Drumpf until February 13 to ask for Flynn’s resignation. Full stop.
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February
14 2017
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ress Secretary Sean Spicer was asked by a SCIF wasn’t used at the Mar-a-Lago estate (ahem...Winter White House™) when Prime Minister Abe and Drumpf learned of the North Korea ballistic missile launch. Spicer told another #altfact. Despite photographic evidence of the timeline, he said that Drumpf was briefed before dinner in a SCIF, then ate dinner, and went back to the SCIF to get further information. He claimed that the pictures of everyone scrambling with their phone flashlights was “simply a discussion about press logistics, where to host the event.”
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ussia deployed cruise missiles, which violated the treaty that ended the Cold War. Instead of publicly commenting on the attacks, Drumpf, who has routinely praised Putin, took to twitter to slam Obama’s foreign policy, the “fake news” media, and leaks. “The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American.” He blamed The “failing” New York Times, The Washington Post, NSA, and FBI personally.
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February
15 2017
rumpf held a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Among other things, he non-chalantly stated, “I’m looking at two-state and one-state. I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.” This effectively threw out the policy that has been the pinnacle of peacemaking in the Middle East since the Clinton Administration and it showed just how much Drumpf doesn’t understand the complexity of the situation.
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he comments may have started an international incident. Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinians said in a news conference that the “apartheid” vision of PM Netanyahu was not something they could live with and called for an alternative of “one single secular and democratic state with equal rights for everyone, Christian, Muslims, and Jews, on all of historic Palestine. But many Israelis want Israel to remain a Jewish state.
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azim Kassim, a spokesman for Hamas, reacted to Drumpf’s one-state comment as well, “It is now clear that the US had provided a cover for aggression, occupation, and the confiscation of Palestinian land. The US is never serious when it comes to Palestinians’ human rights.”
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rumpf was asked about the sharp rise of anti-Semitic incidents around the US following his election and what he would say to peope who may believe that his administration “is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones.” Drumpf answered by bragging about his Electoral College votes and then pointed out some Jewish people in his family tree without answering the question. He concluded by saying, “I think a lot of good things are happening and you’re going to see a lot of love. You’re going to see a lot of love. Okay?”
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February
15 2017
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o far ICE agents have detained 600 people in the past week, including a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, a victim of abuse seeking help, and have targeted homeless and warming shelters. The DACA recipient was approved to stay in the US after he filed the appropriate paperwork, paid a fee to register with the government, underwent an extensive background check, and was granted a work permit. The victim of abuse was detained after her abuser tipped law enforcement as she was attempting to seek help and court protection.
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n immigrant mother was forced to take refuge in a church in Denver, one of the few places ICE agents don’t go. She worked for 20 years in the US, and has been granted at least five postponements of deportation due to her work and her children. Her last request for postponement was not granted. She was due for a check-in at the local ICE office, but feared being separated from her four children, ages 6, 10, 12, and 26. She took residence in the Denver church, in a room she helped prepare three years ago as a safe space for people facing deportation.
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ouse Oversight Committee Chairman, Representative Jason Chaffetz, asked the Department of Justice to investigate the leaks that released the information about National Security Advisor Flyn instead of the conversations that Flynn had with the Russian ambassador about sanctions, claiming, “I think that situation has taken care of itself...No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you cannot have classified information migrating out into a non-classified setting.
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ast-food executive - known for low wages, employment of an undocumented worker, opposing the Affordable Care Act, supporting automation to replace workers, sexist advertisements, and spousal abuse - Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination to be Labor Secretary after it was clear that he did not have the support from even the Senate Republicans (the same folks who confirmed Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education). Senator Chuck Schumer had this to say about his nomination: “The fact that someone so anti-labor was even nominated shows how far President Trump is from where he campaigned.�
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February
16 2017
rumpf walked into the Oval Office in the morning and announced that he wanted to hold a press conference instead of Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s usual briefing. Reporters were given 45 minute notice of the change. The press conference was called ot announce the nomination of his new pick for Labor Secretary, Alex Acosta, but instead it was all over the place - complaining about grievances, talking about the “mess” he inherited, breaking down into random rants, and calling everything he didn’t like “fake.”
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rumpf began the presser by congratulating himself on a job well done. “We have made incredible progress. I don’t think there’s ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done...A new Rasmussen poll, in fact - because the peope get it - much of the media doesn’t get it. They actually get it, but they don’t write it...” He eventually stated that the Rasmussen poll has him rated at 55% approval. What he failed to mention is that all other polls have his approval rating between 39-48%.
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rumpf spoke about ISIS and how great he will be in defeating it with Secretary Mattis. “He’s over there now working very hard to submit a plan for the defeat of ISIS...They’ve spread like cancer. ISIS has spread like cancer - another mess I inherited.” He did not mention any specifics of the plan to defeat ISIS.
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rumpf spoke about how he planned to “build and rebuild” the “depleted” military to develop “peace through strength.” He claimed, “But our country will never have had a military like the military we’re about to build and rebuild.” He then defensively reiterated that these were campaign promises he made. “One promise after another after years of politicians lying to you to get elected. They lied to the American people in order to get elected.”
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e, of course, took time again to brag about the Electoral College votes he received. “I wasn’t supposed to get 222. They said there’s no way to get 222, 230’s impossible. 270 which you need, that was laughable. We got 306 because people came out and voted like they’ve never seen before so that’s the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.” Later in the presser, NBC reporter Peter Alexander informed him of the larger EC wins of Obama and George H.W. Bush and asked how the American people were supposed to trust Drumpf if he didn’t have his information correct. Drumpf passed it off saying that these were facts he was told. In truth, Drumpf received a smaller share of the Electoral College votes than H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton (both times), and Barack Obama (both times). Drumpf actually ranks in the bottom third in terms of the size of his Electoral College win and 47 out of 49 for popular vote.
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rumpf talked about how he ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to make a plan to “destroy criminal cartels coming into the United States with drugs...Drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars,” he announced.
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rumpf then began babbling about his wall. “And the wall is going to be a great wall and it’s going to be a wall negotiated by me. The price is going to come down just like it has on everything else I’ve negotiated for the government. And we’re going to have a wall that works, no gonna have a wall like they have now which is either non-existent or a joke.”
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e went on to talk about how he’s created a special office in Homeland Security “dedicated to the forgotten American victims of illegal immigrant violence, which there are many.”
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February
16 2017
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rumpf slammed the Ninth Circuit Court that refused to lift the stay on his Muslim Ban. “In fact, wehad to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit court that has been overturned a record number. I have heard 80 percent, I find that hard to believe, that is just a number I heard, that they are overturned 80 percent of the time. I think that circuit is - that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. While his figures aren’t wrong, the Supreme Court generally reverses more cases than it affirms because it wouldn’t usually take a case that it agreed with unless there was a pressing reason to do so. Circuit courts generally have a high overturn rate, and the Ninth does not hold the “record.”
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rumpf then slammed Obamacare. “Obamacare is a disaster, folks. It’s a disaster. I know you can say, oh, Obamacare. I mean, they fill up our rallies with people that you wonder how they get there, but they are not the Republican people our that representatives are representing.” While the incoherent babble is hard to decipher, I think this either means that he isn’t aware that Republican representatives have to represent all their constituents or he is pointing to the #altfact that all the people who disagree with him are paid protestors.
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rumpf then congratulated himself on keeping jobs in the US. He listed the #altfacts that his negotiating skills kept Ford, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Walmart, and Intel from going overseas. He then added, “And if I didn’t get elected, believe me, they would have left.” Ford said they never planned to shut down the factory; Fiat Chrysler said that they made their decision back in 2015; Intel’s Arizona factory had been announced in 2011, but was delayed until now. Walmart and GM announced they were adding new jobs shortly after both companies had recently cut jobs. The hiring would represent a very small increase in their total workforce, and were previously announced.
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hen asked if Drumpf had fired Flynn, Drumpf went into how great Flynn was and how the real problem were the leaks. He said, “And, you know, you can talk all you want about Russia, which was all a, you know, fake news, fabricated deal, to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats and the press plays right into it.” He concluded that the press and the leaks should be ashamed of themselves.
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hen asked if he had known about the communications from his staff to the Russian government, Drumpf rambled incoherently about the “failing” New York Times and Wall Street Journal. “The failing New York Times wrote a big, long front-page story yesterday. And it was very much discredited, as you know. It was - it’s a joke. And the people mentioned in the story, I notice they were on television today syaing they never spoke to Russia. They weren’t even a part, really - I mean, they were such a minor part. They - I hadn’t spoken to them.”
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February
16 2017
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rumpf was asked what information or proof he saw in regards to General Flyn that made him think there was no wrongdoing. Drumpf said he watched some “programs” and “read some articles” and since it was brought to him by Sally Yates, he decided Flynn didn’t do anything wrong.
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reporter asked if the leaks were real or if they were fake news. Drumpf admitted that the leakes were real, but the news was fake. Which is clear as mud. He was later asked to expound on what he meant by that. He all but said that the fake part was that he wasn’t praised like he is on Fox News and any journalist that doesn’t give him the praise he deserves are “dishonest people.”
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hen asked by a reporter if there were any facts that Drumpf could point to that would assure the American public that the things he was claiming were fake were actually fake, he instead began talking about Hillary Clinton giving Russia 20% of the uranium in our country. This is another #altfact. Russia’s nuclear power agency bought a controlling interest in a Toronto-based company that mines in the US, with mines that have about 20% of the US uranium production capacity. This happened while Clinton was Secretary of State, but she didn’t have the power to approve or reject it.
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hen a reporter asked a straight forward question about what the provocations from Russia might mean in the larger picture and what Drumpf planned to do about them, Drumpf started rambling about how bombing the ship 30 miles outside of the border would be easier, how both countries are nuclear countries and “nuclear holocaust would be like no other,” and repeated the lie that Clinton gave uranium to Russia. He concluded, “I don’t have to tell you what I’m doing in North Korea. And I don’t have to tell you what I’m doing with Iran. You know why? Because they shouldn’t know. And eventually, you guys are going to get tired of asking that question.”
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hen a BBC reporter asked about the roll out of the Muslim Ban, Drumpf first picked at BBC before answering that the Ban had a smooth roll out and hte problem was “a bad court. Got a bad decision. We had a court that’s been overturned. Again, may be wrong. But I think it’s 80 percent of the time, a lot.”
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rumpf then requested a “friendly” question. A reporter informed Drumpf that 48 bomb threats had been made against Jewish centers in the last few weeks and asked what Drumpf was going to do about the increase of Anti-Semitism. Drumpf interrupted him, ridiculed him, called him a liar, claimed the question was “not a fair question,” and told him to sit down. His answer was a claim that he was the least anti-semitic person and the least racist person “you’ve ever seen in your entire life.” He then chastised the reporter and said he shouldn’t have asked “a very insulting question like that” and that he found his question “repulsive.”
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pril Ryan asked what Drumpf was going to do to fix the inner cities and instead of answering the question at all Drumpf went on another congratulatory spiel about how many African Americans, “including the Hispanic vote, “ and “if I might add, including the women’s vote” he received.
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he asked the follow up question, if Drumpf would set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus to fulfill his promise to revitalize urban centers. Drumpf asked her to set it up. “Are they friends of yours?” She answered, “I’m just a reporter.” Later in the day, the CBC sent out the tweet: “Hi, @ realDonaldTrump. We’re the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad!” and attached a link to the letter.
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February
16 2017
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hile answering the question about contacting the Congressional Black Caucus, Drumpf segued into a tangent about Congressman Elijah Cummings skipping meetings with him because of advice from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “or another light-weight like that” said that it might be bad politics to be seen with him. Representative Cummings responded later, “I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today. Of course, Senator Schumer...never told me to skip a meeting with the President.”
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reporter attempted to follow up on the quesiton of antiSemitism and Drumpf evaded the question claiming that the violence being done was not done by his supporters but instead by his opponents. “Some of the signs you’ll see are not put up by the people that love or like Donald Trump, they’re put up by the other side and you think it’s like playing it straight?”
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fter about 79 minutes of berating the “dishonest” and “fake” media, Clinton, Obama, and Democrats, Drumpf ended his surreal press conference saying that he inherited a divided nation. “I didn’t come along and divide this country... but this isn’t Donald Trump that divided a nation...We lived in a divided nation. And I’m going to try - I will do everything within my power to fix that.”
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ater in the day, John Roberts, Fox News Chief White House Correspondent reported that Drumpf was in fact fully briefed on the content of the conversations with General Flynn and the Russian ambassador.
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fter weeks of harping on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department announced that it would not seek a rehearing on the decision to shut down Drumpf’s Muslim Ban. Instead, the administration would just write a new Executive Order. In a condescending brief, it stated, “the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised executive order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns.”
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he retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL Drumpf wanted to relace Flynn as National Security Advisor, Robert Hayward, turned down the position citing family and financial reasons. But National Security officials confirmed that Harward had reservations due to Drumpf’s chaotic administration and unpredictability.
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February
17 2017
cott Pruitt was recently forced, due to an Open Records Act request, to release thousands of pieces of correspondence between himself and oil and gas companies that could shed a light on his dealings, favors, and interests. A reporter asked Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell why he would not delay the vote of Pruitt’s nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency until those records could be delivered. McConnell’s smug answer: “Because I choose not to.”
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n a vote mostly on party lines, the Senate confirmed Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Many times throughout his career, Pruitt had sued the EPA on behalf of energy companies and he has publicly stated that he does not believe in climate change or that the EPA should do anything about it.
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he Drumpf administration denied a leaked memo that it had considered using 100,000 National Guard troops to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. The official word from the Department of Homland Security was that the memo leaked to The Associated Press was an early draft plan...which means it was in fact considered.
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he White House budget office released a list of programs Drumpf has decided to eliminate to fix our budget - including Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Legal Services Corporation, AmeriCorps, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Never mind that the budgets for all these groups are negligible.
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