Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Omarosa, Trump's communications official, is now stating that her boss has collected dossiers on several journalists full of "negative information." Can you say suppression of the First Amendment?

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Conflict and controversy seem to follow Omarosa Manigault, who stirred up plenty of both as a reality-TV star and a longtime associate of President Trump. 

Manigault, who is now a communications official in the Trump administration, got into a heated argument with a White House reporter just steps from the Oval Office last week, according to witnesses. The reporter, April Ryan, said Manigault “physically intimidated” her in a manner that could have warranted intervention by the Secret Service. 

Ryan also said Manigault made verbal threats, including the assertion that Ryan was among several journalists on whom Trump officials had collected “dossiers” of negative information. 

Manigault, a onetime friend of Ryan’s, declined to address Ryan’s accusations on the record, offering only this emailed statement: “My comment: Fake news!” She did not specify what she considered false. 

This account follows a Politico report that state sponsored hackers, ie Russians, have been targeting journalists: 

Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine said he received several messages from Google warning him about an attack from a government-backed hacker starting shortly after the election. He said the most recent warning came two to three weeks ago. 

Julia Ioffe, who recently started at The Atlantic and has covered Russia for years, said she got warnings as recently as two weeks ago. 

Ezra Klein, the founder of Vox, said he had received the warning as recently as a few days back. CNN senior media reporter Brian Stelter said he has been getting the alerts for the past few months. 

Other journalists who confirmed they’ve recently gotten the warnings include New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger, Times columnist Paul Krugman and Yahoo Washington bureau chief Garance Franke-Ruta. 

GQ special contributor Keith Olbermann said the warnings started a few weeks after the election, and he received the most recent alert earlier this week, a “big bright red bar” across the top of his Gmail. Some of the reporters say they are tightening up their email security to try to prevent the hackers from getting in.

There are other journalists listed in the Politico article, but you get the drift.

Most, if not all, of these reporters are also convinced that the attempts are coming from Russia.

So now that Putin has helped Trump get elected he is going to use the same technique to protect him from criticism by America's free press.

Is there ANYBODY still not convinced that Donald Trump is a tool of Russia?

47 comments:

  1. In news conference today, this incident with Omarosa was brought up re: dossier. Spicer denied dossiers existed.

    I do believe Tom Delay had put some great dossiers together...Omarosa shoud ask him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:55 PM

      LOCK HER UP!

      (Omarosa that is!)

      Delete
  2. Leave it to the Russians to get stuck with bent rusty dull tools.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:56 PM

      Don't get drunk before the draft!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous11:48 AM

    I understand that Omarosa was on one of Trump's television shows. Other than that, what are her qualifications to have any sort of position in the White House? Does she have a law degree? Or at least a political science degree? Where did she work before - as a staff person for a legislator or a governor? In other words, who is she to question the integrity of reporters or anyone? Being an African American and willing to grovel at Trump's feet should not be an adequate qualification for work in the White House.
    Beaglemom

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    Replies
    1. She has a PhD and previously worked as assistant to Al Gore during the Clinton presidency. So she has some experience/familiarity with politics. All in all she seems to have more qualifications for her position than the majority of the Trump staff.

      Delete
    2. Omarosa was one of contestants in very first season of Apprentice. It was an entertaining show then.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:07 PM

      @12:38 -- Omarosa was the most loathed contestant of any season, by far...and she absolutely loved the attention. She is toxic.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous1:18 PM

      @ 12:30 -- She was the kind who say, with a straight face, "It's not cheating, if you don't get caught." Horrible, horrible person all the way through. Trump loved her.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous1:48 PM

      I watched half of the first season of The Apprentice, but I couldn't stand all that sucking up to an intellectual midget like Trump and all the dumb things they had to do. It's a show for stupid people that don't know any better- perfect for Trump voters.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous2:57 PM

      She's like if Sarah Palin was smart and educated, but still her toxic self!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous6:03 PM

      I can't believe ANYONE actually even turns on the TV to watch that kind of crap. Explains a lot about the IQ level around here....

      Delete
  4. Trump is and has been covered in Russian affiliations for years. Here is another one.This cardiologist turned fertilizer king happened to fly to Palm beach this weekend. Perhaps to meet with Flynn? This guy bought a 95 million dollar mansion from Trump a few years ago.

    https://www.palmerreport.com/opinion/why-were-donald-trump-michael-flynn-and-a-russian-oligarch-all-in-palm-beach-this-weekend/1517/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:58 PM

      The fertilizer dude might be trying to figure out why there is a sudden worldwide glut of BULLSHIT!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous12:17 PM

    Blackmail, pure and simple.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:20 PM

    Manigault then said Ryan and several African American journalists were the subjects of White House "dossiers," according to Ryan.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/omarosa-manigault-trump-admin-is-compiling-dossiers-on-journalists-2017-2

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:23 PM

    After Michael Flynn resignation, Russia scandal is closing in on Trump

    https://www.palmerreport.com/category/politics/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:01 PM

      http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/02/14/conservative_media_covered_mike_flynn_s_resignation_from_every_angle_today.html

      http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/02/kellyanne_conway_s_clarifying_response_to_the_flynn_debacle.html

      Delete
  8. Anonymous12:26 PM

    World Laughs As Sean Spicer Says Trump 'Has Been Incredibly Tough On Russia'

    ...Russia is helping Assad and not fighting ISIS in Syria, Spicey! But neither your base nor your president knows that, so you're good?

    Warning to the press corp: The fake news is coming from inside the White House.

    http://crooksandliars.com/2017/02/spicer-trump-tough-russia-ha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:43 PM

      Can I call You Joe? Sara Pee on ME Oh Canada!
      http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/14/sean-spicer-embarrases-america-canadian-pm-justin-trudeaus-wrong.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:47 PM

      http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/14/white-house-posts-wrong-versions-trumps-orders-its-website/97845888/

      "Warning to the press corp: The fake news is coming from inside the White House."

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:01 PM

      Don't worry Spicer. If hear they can feed you with an enema when you are ARRESTED AND INTERROGATED! And Donald ensures us that enhanced interrogations are NOT torture! HU HA!

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:50 PM

    ‘They have him by the balls’: The internet pours mockery on Sean Spicer’s claim that Trump is ‘tough’ on Russia

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/they-have-him-by-the-balls-the-internet-pours-mockery-on-sean-spicers-claim-that-trump-is-tough-on-russia/

    Trump said Friday he knew nothing about Flynn/Russia. DOJ revealed the info pre-inauguration. Either Trump lied or he is not in charge.

    https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald

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    1. Anonymous3:59 PM

      http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/14/jason-chaffetz-asks-white-house-provide-info-mar-a-lago-security-breach.html

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:53 PM

    Sean Spicer Claims Trump Acted Decisively on Flynn – 17 Days After Being Told

    ...The fact is, almost three weeks passed before Trump took action and it beggars belief that this is in any way justified by any of the lies Spicer told today.

    Spicer claimed that talking about a 17-day delay “assumes a lot of things that aren’t true,” but what it actually involves are Kellyanne Conway’s alternative facts and a suspension of reality. What to the rest of us seems an obvious attempt to ignore the problem until it went away, Spicer claims was a “deliberative process” and review.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/14/sean-spicer-claims-trump-acted-decisively-flynn-17-days-told.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:57 PM

    America Is in Distress

    ..It is beyond comprehension that the intelligence community would ever distrust the White House to the extent that it withheld critical intelligence from the current occupant, but that is precisely what is happening and it signals that this nation is in a state of distress. When the intelligence community, all 16 entities, cannot trust the man serving as president or his trusted advisors to protect national secrets every American alive should be terrified and demand corrective action immediately, no matter what that action entails or no matter who is “corrected” out of their unwarranted positions of power.

    As this column has stated several times before, and echoed by real American spies, “Declaring war on the spooks is always a bad idea,” and yet since before being officially inaugurated, Trump took the unprecedented step of attacking the IC including comparing them to “Nazis” because they were doing their jobs. Part of their jobs is briefing Trump daily, but he can’t even be bothered to pay attention to information crucial to America’s national security. Trump further antagonized the IC declaring that their reports and intel briefings were “ridiculous” and “unbelievable;” something he knew to be true because “I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.”

    As an aside, Trump is dreaming if he thinks the IC will be talking to him for eight years; unless it is waterboarding him daily until he confesses that he is a know-nothing con man financially indebted to Russian crime bosses who bailed him out of bankruptcy.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/14/opinion-intelligence-community-cant-trust-white-house-america-distress.html

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous1:11 PM

      I vote for daily waterboarding! Sean Hannity certainly couldn't object, seeing as he's a huge proponent, now could he.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous1:09 PM

    Kellyanne Conway tweets ‘Love you back’ to white nationalist — and then quickly deletes it

    President Donald Trump’s White House adviser, Kellyanne Conway, retweeted a Valentine’s Day note from a white supremacist on Tuesday. The user, whose name is “Lib Hypocrisy” with a frog meme — now recognized by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol of the alt-right white supremacist movement — wrote, “Your strength & resiliency in face of vile hatred, bigotry, & sexism of the unhinged Left is a daily inspiration! Love you!”

    Conway retweeted the user, writing “Love you back. Happy Day to the Hapless Haters.” Her tweet has since been removed.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/kellyanne-conway-tweets-love-you-back-to-white-nationalist-and-then-quickly-deletes-it/

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous1:11 PM

    Trump furious at SNL sketch that portrayed Steve Bannon as the real president: report

    President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with how he and his administration are portrayed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live every week — and there’s apparently a sketch he hates more than Melissa McCarthy roasting Sean Spicer.

    A new report claims that the president is particularly furious over a recent sketch that portrayed top political strategist Steve Bannon as the real political force in the White House.

    According to the Washington Post, Trump was recently “especially upset by a sketch that cast White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon as the Grim Reaper manipulating the president — who was ultimately relegated to a miniature desk, playing dolefully with an expandable toy.”

    Trump has been defensive about his relationship with Bannon, as he angrily insisted earlier this month that he “calls his own shots” shortly after MSNBC’s Morning Joe had a panel discussion that pondered whether Bannon was the man “calling the shots” in the Oval Office.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/trump-furious-at-snl-sketch-that-portrayed-steve-bannon-as-the-real-president-report/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:37 PM

      He's still mad at that! What did he think of last Saturday's portrayal of him and his staff? We, the people, loved it!
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  14. Anonymous1:13 PM

    Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) used the word “treason” when describing Gen. Michael Flynn’s actions. However, his concern is not Flynn but the role the president played in these series of Russian scandals.

    “The bigger problem, the scandal of the century, not the scandal of the week, is this ongoing relationship with Russia,” the former Marine told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday. “There is no question it’s the unequivocal conclusion of all our intelligence agencies that Russia wanted Donald Trump to be elected president. Either that’s just because they think Trump is Putin’s buddy and he is going to do his bidding or because they have material they can use against the administration. We don’t need to just know what Flynn knew or when his associates in the White House knew, we need to know what Russia knows and what they still hold over the heads of the people in the White House.”

    Moulton said he doesn’t believe anything in Washington happens in a vacuum, whether it’s a meeting or a phone call.

    “Let’s not lose perspective on exactly who we’re talking about here,” he continued. “If members of the administration are essentially conspiring with Russia, either through the campaign earlier, now than the — look, Wolf, that’s the definition of treason. This is a very, very serious affair. We all have to understand what’s going on with Michael Flynn, but we can’t let this little scandal or perhaps a big scandal at the moment let us lose sight of the much bigger scandal, which is what is the overall connection between Russia and the Trump administration.”

    Moulton now serves on the House Armed Services Committee and served in the Iraq War. You can watch the full interview below:

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/thats-the-definition-of-treason-democratic-lawmaker-levels-serious-charge-against-trump-administration/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:21 PM

    Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL who is reportedly in the running to be the next White House press secretary, asserted on Tuesday that career government employees had a duty not to leak information damaging to Trump — even if they witness violations of the U.S. Constitution.

    Following the news that Gen. Michael Flynn stepped down as Trump’s national security adviser, Higbie told MSNBC that the larger problem was government leakers damaging Trump’s agenda.

    “More importantly, why is our own government leaking stuff to the press that is patently — they shouldn’t,” he insisted to MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.

    “Carl,” Ruhle interrupted. “Maybe our own government is leaking because of all this confusion, because possibly [former acting Attorney General] Sally Yates warned the White House counsel a month ago about the risk of blackmail, possibly because you have someone like Kellyanne Conway speak of alternative truths, Sean Spicer is potentially put in a situation where he’s like a human shield speaking before the press. And the story keeps having to change.”

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/ex-navy-officer-serves-epic-ass-whoopin-to-carl-higbie-for-placing-trump-loyalty-over-constitution/

    CNN: Trump administration leaks are ‘cries for help’ from panicked officials

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/cnn-trump-administration-leaks-are-cries-for-help-from-panicked-officials/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous1:23 PM

    SOMEBODY GET THAT A$$HOLE OUT OF THE OVAL OFFICE

    WHITE HOUSE
    Trump's border wall could face a geology problem

    ....Citing everything from bedrock depth to soil chemistry, experts say building a wall spanning the 2,000-mile border will be much tougher than erecting one of Trump's trademark skyscrapers.

    “Earth doesn’t forgive sloppy,” field geologist Mika McKinnon warned in a tweet following Trump’s directive last month to design and construct the wall.

    The southern border between the U.S. and Mexico is made up of wetlands, grasslands, desert, rivers, mountains and forests – all of which could pose pitfalls for builders.

    Swaths of the area also feature a thick layer of loose sediment – like dirt, sand and soil – on top. Some spots are packed with hydrophilic clay soil, which swells, moves and could destroy the foundation.

    “In some places the bedrock will be too deep – you’ll never be able to reach the bedrock in an affordable fashion,” McKinnon told Smithsonian Magazine....

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/14/trumps-border-wall-could-face-geology-problem.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:30 PM

      Send the Trump Organization the bill

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:54 PM

      And that's from Fox News! I'm sure the new administration doesn't care about geological opinions; there science-y, aren't they?
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  17. Anonymous1:27 PM

    ‘You lied to us’: The internet hammers Trump for complaining about leaks in Flynn scandal

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/you-lied-to-us-the-internet-hammers-trump-for-complaining-about-leaks-in-flynn-scandal/

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous1:49 PM


    Veteran White House Reporter Says Omarosa Manigault ‘Bullied’ Her
    The former “Apprentice” contestant, who now works in the White House, reportedly said the administration is keeping “dossiers” on black reporters.

    ...“She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,” Ryan told the Post. “I said, ‘You better back up.’ … She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/omarosa-intimidating-journalists_us_58a362d7e4b03df370daf5e9?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Chaffetz’s sudden lack of zeal is noteworthy. While he’s griping these days about people calling for “fishing expeditions,” it wasn’t long ago that he was telling anyone who’d listen that he was hard at work prepping his lures. Back when it seemed certain that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would become president ― and during those few hours that Chaffetz had “unendorsed” Trump, citing his daughter’s honor ― the Oversight chairman was loudly bragging about his plans to pepper the Clinton White House with investigations. As The Washington Post’s David Weigel reported in October:

    Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressman wrapping up his first term atop the powerful House Oversight Committee, unendorsed Donald Trump weeks ago. That freed him up to prepare for something else: spending years, come January, probing the record of a President Hillary Clinton.

    “It’s a target-rich environment,” the Republican said in an interview in Salt Lake City’s suburbs. “Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up. She has four years of history at the State Department, and it ain’t good.”

    And during the Obama administration, Chaffetz was more than willing to escalate the threat level where the White House was concerned. As CNN reported in May 2013:

    Rep. Jason Chaffetz reiterated Tuesday that the impeachment of President Barack Obama is possible as the White House faces scrutiny over its role in responding to the terror attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-trump_us_58a36191e4b03df370daf09d?v2cjru53lx6pkqpvi&

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous1:53 PM

    M.M.
    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/vacate-the-white-house-russian-traitor-michael-moore-blasts-trump-over-flynn-debacle/

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous1:54 PM

    Michael Flynn may have lied to FBI about Russia – a felony – which could make him flip on Trump

    Flynn may have to flip on Donald Trump to avoid jail time

    ...Around the time that Michael Flynn lied about the nature of his Russian phone calls to Mike Pence, Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and other key figures in the Trump administration, he was also interviewed by FBI over the matter. What did he say to FBI agents? Did he lie to them as well? That’s not yet been disclosed. But by that time Flynn was already so far down the rabbit hole that he was lying to everyone involved.

    Real News. Fake President.

    And if you’re assuming Flynn would be too wise to lie to the FBI, knowing that doing is a felony, keep in mind that Flynn had already become so sloppy by that time that he had forgotten the calls he was making to the Russian ambassador were being monitored. So if Flynn did lie to the FBI about Russia in a way that the FBI can factually prove was a lie, then he’s sunk legally – and his only way out will be to spill everything.

    What’s less clear is how strenuously the FBI will pursue this matter. FBI Director James Comey bent over backward to publicly tip the scales against Hillary Clinton during the election. But the mere fact that his FBI was investigating Michael Flynn after the election, as revealed the New York Times, suggests that Comey is willing to pursue the Russia scandal this even though Trump is now his boss. And if the FBI tells Flynn that his only way to avoid jail time is to spill what he knows about Donald Trump’s role in Russian collusion, that would flatly be the end of Trump.

    https://www.palmerreport.com/opinion/michael-flynn-may-have-lied-to-fbi-about-russia-a-felony-which-could-make-him-flip-on-trump/1541/

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous1:56 PM

    Viagra junkie daddy drumpf @60 years old when he fathered Barron? GUILTY!

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/trump-promoted-dangerous-anti-vaxxer-myth-while-discussing-autism-with-educators/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous2:03 PM

    "Uncle Omarosa", nuff' said.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous2:07 PM

    This is nothing different than when Ezra Klein was pressured by the Journolist members to shut down the talk about Trig Palin's origins.

    Same thing. Powerful people always shut down reporters and bury their skeletons, same as with Trig same as with this Administration and the Russia shit and squelching the media.

    Expect nothing from the media because they stopped digging and doing investigative journalism a long, long time ago.

    This entire incident will be forgotten, as with all the others, in a few days when the media grabs onto a new bone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:35 PM

      NOT Dan the Man Rather: journalist!
      http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/damn-the-lies-dan-rather-unleashes-on-trump-administration-and-compares-flynn-scandal-to-watergate/

      FB"Watergate is the biggest political scandal of my lifetime, until maybe now. It was the closest we came to a debilitating Constitutional crisis, until maybe now. On a 10 scale of armageddon for our form of government, I would put Watergate at a 9. This Russia scandal is currently somewhere around a 5 or 6, in my opinion, but it is cascading in intensity seemingly by the hour. And we may look back and see, in the end, that it is at least as big as Watergate. It may become the measure by which all future scandals are judged. It has all the necessary ingredients, and that is chilling.
      When we look back at Watergate, we remember the end of the Nixon Presidency. It came with an avalanche, but for most of the time my fellow reporters and I were chasing down the story as it rumbled along with a low-grade intensity. We never were quite sure how much we would find out about what really happened. In the end, the truth emerged into the light, and President Nixon descended into infamy.
      This Russia story started out with an avalanche and where we go from here no one really knows. Each piece of news demands new questions. We are still less than a month into the Trump Presidency, and many are asking that question made famous by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker those many years ago: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" New reporting suggests that Mr. Trump knew for weeks. We can all remember the General Michael Flynn's speech from the Republican National Convention - "Lock her up!" in regards to Hillary Clinton. If Hillary Clinton had done one tenth of what Mr. Flynn had done, she likely would be in jail. And it isn't just Mr. Flynn, how far does this go?
      The White House has no credibility on this issue. Their spigot of lies - can't we finally all agree to call them lies - long ago lost them any semblance of credibility. I would also extend that to the Republican Congress, who has excused away the Trump Administration's assertions for far too long.
      We need an independent investigation. Damn the lies, full throttle forward on the truth. If a scriptwriter had approached Hollywood with what we are witnessing, he or she would probably have been told it was way too far-fetched for even a summer blockbuster. But this is not fiction. It is real and it is serious. Deadly serious. We deserve answers and those who are complicit in this scandal need to feel the full force of justice."

      Delete
  25. Anonymous2:51 PM

    OT? "Warren Buffett just dropped Walmart, and signaled the death of retail as we know it" HELL YES!

    http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-drops-walmart-stock-2017-2

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous4:49 PM

    How does Omarosa know about dossiers, she is the one collecting the info.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous9:52 AM

    This is all tied to the exact same thing that Todd Palin was and is doing for BP and independently for his organization. They are all connected, part of the same thing.

    ReplyDelete

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