Trump Staff Picks, Co-Conspirators and the Revolving Door of Departures

[KaraBulut]

Good riddance.

Past leader of anti-immigration group resigns from Trump administration [Politico]

A former chief of an anti-immigration group who was once a leading candidate for the top slot at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has resigned.

In an email to staff today, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Julie Kirchner, the USCIS ombudsman, offered her resignation to President Donald Trump. McAleenan’s message did not say why Kirchner resigned; a senior DHS official told POLITICO that she left voluntarily for family reasons.

Kirchner is the former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which pushes for lower levels of immigration. She joined the Trump administration shortly after the president took office as USCIS ombudsman, a position tasked with resolving problems with pending cases.

 

[rareboy]

I am getting the sense that the air is slowly escaping from the balloon.

These days, the anti-immigration thing seems tired and worn out. It has lost the punch it used to have. I suspect that a lot of the people in Trump's administration must now be seeing the writing on the wall and will be quietly making plans to distance themselves from his administration after he is impeached.

 

[KaraBulut]

I am getting the sense that the air is slowly escaping from the balloon.

These days, the anti-immigration thing seems tired and worn out. It has lost the punch it used to have. I suspect that a lot of the people in Trump's administration must now be seeing the writing on the wall and will be quietly making plans to distance themselves from his administration after he is impeached.

Yesterday, I read part of an article about small towns in the Southwest who built prisons during the 2000s to house inmates from the War on Drugs, many by issuing bonds. After the prison populations started dropping during the 2010s, those prisons began closing, leaving small towns with debt, unemployed prison workers and a large unsightly prison on their city's edge.

With Trump's mass incarceration of immigrants, those cities are opening their shuttered prisons and taking in funds from the federal government to pay for prison worker's salaries. The billions of dollars that Trump is wasting on his border follies is also creating a boom for the privately-owned prison companies and the small towns where those prisons are located.

This is where we are- decrepit infrastructure, failing bridges, overcrowded highways, a third world rail system and airports that were built 60 years ago. But we have great prisons!

Louisiana becomes new hub in immigrant detention under Trump [AP]

Detention Inc.: Trump’s Immigrant Crackdown Means Big Money for Private Prisons, Including Three in San Antonio’s Backyard [SACurrent]

Refugees Locked Up In Mississippi: ‘Where Are the Family Values?’ [Jackson Free Press]

 

[rareboy]

WAZZUP?

Another departure. This one didn't even break in his office chair.

Tim Morrison, the top Russia official on President Trump's National Security Council, who is scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry on Thursday, is expected to leave his White House post imminently, three sources familiar with the plan told NPR.

Morrison had alerted NSC lawyers about alleged demands being placed on the Ukrainian government to investigate a company where the son of former Vice President Joe Biden sat on the board, according to testimony earlier this month from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/7748...R1am6Q6MdOsOFY5Qcba1O2Ax8bLcKX-Mk0Ur995XiVtoI

Guess who probably knows too much.

And he is a hawk.

 

[TX-Beau]

WAZZUP?

Another departure. This one didn't even break in his office chair.





https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/7748...R1am6Q6MdOsOFY5Qcba1O2Ax8bLcKX-Mk0Ur995XiVtoI

Guess who probably knows too much.

And he is a hawk.

Because he knows what anyone in the firing line is going to get from his Pettiness in Chief.

- - - Updated - - -

Why do you think they want to know who the whistleblower was? They want to ruin him for daring to tell the truth.

 

[KaraBulut]

All these people lining up to testify... it's not clear whether the line is for the confessional or a Silkwood shower. They want to get the stench of this President off, so that they can get back to their careers.

 

[KaraBulut]

More of "the best people": The ABA rated Lawrence VanDyke, one of Trump's nominees for the Federal Appeals Court, as " unqualified". The ABA letter said that VanDyke was, an "arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice".

Judicial nominee breaks down amid question about attitude toward LGBT people [The Hill]

A nominee for a federal appeals court broke down Wednesday while defending his record during his confirmation hearing. The emotional outburst came after he was hit with questions surrounding a negative report of his career.

Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump nominee for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, was asked about concerns that the American Bar Association (ABA) brought forth about his treatment of LGBT people. The group told lawmakers that VanDyke would not say whether he would be fair to LGBT litigants who appeared before him.

“I did not say that,” he said, fighting through tears. “I do not believe that. It is a fundamental belief of mine that all people are created in the image of God, and they should all be treated with dignity and respect.”

 

[rareboy]

You know he was lying to the Committee.

He will regain his determination and arrogance once he has the job.

And you know that the GOP will confirm him. He has all the credentials they are looking for.

 

[gsdx]

^ Wasn't it Barr who couldn't answer simple and basic law questions?

 

[KaraBulut]

^ Wasn't it Barr who couldn't answer simple and basic law questions?

Barr is a good attorney and he knows the law. Whether he follows and upholds the law is another question. He has a dodgy interpretation of executive power- which is why Trump's team selected him for the position. Unlike his predecessor, Sessions, he has chosen to allow his personal interpretation of executive power override his good judgment and the judgment of the actual legal experts inside the DOJ. Barr could end up being impeached or possibly in prison if it is discovered that he was an accessory to the high crimes and misdemeanors.

If past is prologue, it's work remembering that in the Nixon proceedings, many of the henchmen who were the accessories to the break-in at the DNC ended up in prison while Nixon was pardoned and retired to California.

 

[gsdx]

^ Now that I think of it, I don't believe it was Barr. There was a video posted here of someone being interviewed for a position and couldn't answer even very basic law questions. And he still got the position.

 

[KaraBulut]

^ Now that I think of it, I don't believe it was Barr. There was a video posted here of someone being interviewed for a position and couldn't answer even very basic law questions. And he still got the position.

There have been several, sadly.

This was the most infamous but he withdrew his nomination:

And some others...

Trump Picks More ‘Not Qualified’ Judges [Bloomberg Legal]

And in keeping with tradition, the Republicans claim that the ABA has "liberal bias".

 

[gsdx]

^ That was him. Thanks. I remember how much he didn't want to be there.

 

[KaraBulut]

Not The Onion. And not an April Fool's joke. No word on whether he plans to grab her by the pussy.

Televangelist Paula White joins White House staff [The Hill]

Televangelist Paula White, President Trump’s spiritual adviser, is reportedly joining the White House staff.

White, who has known Trump since 2002 and who has visited the White House several times, will work in the Office of Public Liaison, which oversees outreach to groups that help organize parts of the president’s base, The New York Times reports.

Her specific role will reportedly be advising the Trump administration’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative that aims to boost the voice of religious groups in certain government programs, The Times notes.

 

[rareboy]

^ This is pure obscenity.

 

[frankfrank]

Yesterday, I read part of an article about small towns in the Southwest who built prisons during the 2000s to house inmates from the War on Drugs, many by issuing bonds. After the prison populations started dropping during the 2010s, those prisons began closing, leaving small towns with debt, unemployed prison workers and a large unsightly prison on their city's edge.

With Trump's mass incarceration of immigrants, those cities are opening their shuttered prisons and taking in funds from the federal government to pay for prison worker's salaries...

Incarcerations "R" Us.

I'm actually visiting a friend this morning who lives in a prison town: Florence, Arizona. Their "Big House." He lives outside the bars, fortunately (and I don't even think he goes to the bars to buy bloody marys lol).

 

[KaraBulut]

Trump might have accidentally nominated a competent person to head the FDA.

Trump bets on Washington outsider to lead FDA amid political battles [Politico]

President Donald Trump is betting on a Washington outsider to navigate a series of hot-button health care issues at the center of his 2020 campaign: a vaping crisis, an ambitious plan to import drugs and a raging opioid epidemic.

Stephen Hahn, a longtime cancer researcher and Trump’s new pick to lead the FDA, would be thrust into the middle of high-profile debates that have riven the administration and stoked outrage on Capitol Hill if he is confirmed. The political stakes are high for Trump, who’s sought to claim health care as a top reelection issue...

Hahn has not worked in Washington since leaving the National Cancer Institute nearly a quarter-century ago, and instead climbed the ranks as an academic and hospital administrator at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Though a longtime GOP donor, he has largely steered clear of politics, and has no direct ties to a Trump White House that has often stocked its ranks with loyalists.

 

[TX-Beau]

That pic is frightening, no doubt it will surface that he's experimenting on babies or something. I have no faith until I see actions. Even if he's currently a decent guy, no doubt Trump will end up ordering him to harvest organs from migrant children.

 

[rareboy]

Pretty much all of this.

 

[KaraBulut]

Someone else in the Trump Administration could be orange...

Is Betsy DeVos Going To Jail? [Forbes]

A federal judge says someone could go to jail over this.

Here’s what you need to know.

Student Loan Debt Case

U.S. Magistrate Sallie Kim told U.S. Department of Education attorneys that she is “astounded” that the Education Department violated her court order and still collected on student loan debt from students who were allegedly defrauded by Corinthian Colleges, a large for-profit college that closed on April 27, 2015, according to reporting from Bloomberg.

“At best it is gross negligence, at worst it’s an intentional flouting of my order,” Kim said. Kim then threatened DeVos with possible jail: “"I'm not sure if this is contempt or sanctions. I'm not sending anyone to jail yet, but it’s good to know I have that ability."