Month: February 2018

Senator John McCain’s response to GOP attacks on the FBI and DOJ

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Arizona’s Senator John McCain responded to the release of the controversial Nunes Memo in a statement. STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON PARTISAN ATTACKS ON THE FBI & DOJ: Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on partisan attacks on the FBI and … Read more

House Intelligence Committee releases controversial Nunes Memo – and an analysis that destroys it

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House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes never reviewed the supporting classified intelligence in the FISA Court warrant for Carter Page — a Russian agent the Trump White House has gone to great lengths to distance from the Trump campaign to the point of  erasing him from memory — from which Nunes and his staff members, and several other GOP members of his committee, have concocted the “Nunes Memo” asserting the FBI violated Carter Page’s civil liberties allegedly motivated by partisan bias against the Trump campaign. The New York Times reports:

Mr. Nunes has not read the warrant from which the memo is said to be drawn. The Justice Department considers such warrants extremely sensitive and allowed only one Democrat and one Republican from the committee, plus staff, to view it. Rather than do so himself, Mr. Nunes designated Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina to be the Republican reader.

Ranking minority member Adam Schiff of California was the Democratic reader.

President Trump was only vaguely aware of the Nunes Memo until two GOP House Freedom Caucus members brought it to his attention in a Jan. 18 phone call. ‘Never any hesitation’: Trump was quickly persuaded to support memo’s release:

Over the next two weeks, according to interviews with eight senior administration officials and other advisers to the president, he tuned in to [FAUX News aka Trump TV] segments about the memo. He talked to friends and advisers about it. And, before he had even read it, Trump became absolutely convinced of one thing: The memo needed to come out.

Sean Hannity has been flogging this FBI conspiracy theory on his program every night for weeks now, and Donald Trump takes his cues from FAUX & Friends and Sean Hannity.

Sean Hannity denied a Daily Beast report that he personally advised President Trump regarding the Nunes Memo, but this is really beside the point: Trump watches FAUX News and does as he is told (just follow his tweets).

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January jobs report holds steady, but trouble is on the horizon

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The first jobs report of 2018 looks an awful lot like the jobs reports from the last several years. Steve Benen has the January jobs report, Job growth stays on course as 2018 gets underway:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the economy added 200,000 jobs in January, up a bit from December’s totals. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, which is very low.

January Jobs

Perhaps the most notable development in the report was the increase in hourly wage growth. Expect a spirited debate over the possible explanations for this, including the inevitable result of low unemployment, the Republican tax cuts, and the minimum-wage hikes that recently kicked in across much of the country.

Also note, once a year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes revised month-to-month job data for the previous year, and that’s reflected in today’s report. We now know that in 2017, the U.S. economy generated 2.17 million jobs – which is a pretty healthy number, though it’s lower than what Americans have seen in recent years.

The economy added 2.3 million in 2013, 2.99 million in 2014, 2.71 million in 2015, and 2.24 million in 2016, making 2017 the worst for job growth since 2012, when the economy added 2.17 million jobs.

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Bob Stump is dead, this guy is a poseur playing low information GOP voters for fools

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Bob Stump is the name of a longtime politician who represented Arizona’s 3rd district in Congress for 26 years and earned a reputation as one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives. He died in 2003.

The “Bob” Stump running in the CD 8 special election primary race to fill the congressional seat vacated by disgraced Arizona Republican Trent Franks is NOT that Bob Stump. He is a poseur hoping to play low information GOP voters into thinking he is that Bob Stump, as he has done throughout his political career.

The Washington Post reports, ‘There is only one Bob Stump’: Arizona politicians’ families spar over same name:

“Bob” Stump happens to be the chosen name of Christopher Robert Stump, a 46-year-old politician who is no relation to the late Bob Stump. He is, however, running alongside 11 other Republicans to replace Franks, who resigned last year amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Christopher Robert Stump was, until 2002, known as Christopher Stump. He started calling himself Bob Stump shortly before his first bid for public office.

The use of the name Bob Stump by Christopher Robert Stump is causing some consternation.

The late congressman’s widow says candidate Stump’s decision to go by Bob is a cheap and deceitful attempt to trade on her late husband’s name. On Sunday, she released a sharply worded letter calling on him to make clear that the two men are not related.

“I want to set the record straight: There is only one Bob Stump and that was my late husband,” Nancy Stump wrote. “Christopher Robert Stump is not related to my late husband or to our family in any way, shape or form. I would ask that he publicly acknowledge that he is not related to our family and stop this charade. The voters deserve to know the truth.”

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Arizona House votes to expel Rep. Don ‘Tequila’ Shooter

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I’m glad if I helped to advance this story to its proper conclusion, for what it’s worth. Arizona House expels Rep. Don Shooter, citing ‘dishonorable’ pattern of workplace harassment:

House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said earlier this week that he would hold a vote Thursday to censure Shooter, a reprimand that would be part of the chamber’s historical record.

But moments before the House session Thursday, Mesnard issued a statement saying he would push for Shooter’s expulsion instead. The change was due to a letter sent by Shooter to his House colleagues challenging portions of the investigation.

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The Arizona House of Representatives voted Thursday to expel Rep. Don Shooter from office over complaints that he that he sexually harassed women.

The vote comes after an investigation into sexual-harassment allegations against Shooter found “credible evidence” that he behaved inappropriately toward multiple women.

An explosive report from the investigation graphically details lewd language and actions from Shooter, a powerful Republican lawmaker from Yuma, who has openly behaved in a crass manner, but did so unchecked by his peers for years.

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