Trump administration negotiated with the payday loan industry before rolling back regulations

Another lie from a dishonest administration

in offhand comment, payday loan industry exec acknowledges holding negotiations with CFPB before the agency rolled back a key reg slated to take effect this year. This directly contradicts a CFPB official statement made to WaPo earlier this week. https://t.co/keK1BqHzrj
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) February 28, 2019

THIS IS HOW PAYDAY LENDING WORKS-
the industry has a very powerful lobby
the borrowers can’t afford to get out of mountains of personal debt-they certainly don’t have a lobby
I invite anyone from CFPB to explain WHY regulations are being rolled backhttps://t.co/eyzrTH4Ek1
— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) February 8, 2019

If you care more about reality than rhetoric, you ought to be focused on the huge win Trump handed PAYDAY LENDERS yesterday. It could hurt millions of low-income Americans each year. It's a much bigger deal than most of the cheap talk in #SOTU. https://t.co/y7UyHiAxmL
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) February 7, 2019

Payday lenders won a major victory after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved to gut tougher restrictions that were to take effect later this year https://t.co/Kk7fwlJn86
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 7, 2019

AOC was excellent yesterday

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) did a great job at the Cohen hearing. She asked probing questions, didn’t grandstand and followed up on issues raised by other Democrats. (Republicans only emphasized that Cohen was a liar and felon – they had no issues with Trump’s behavior.)

Sure, she has made some mistakes in her discussions of taxes and the green new deal. Not everything she proposes is easy to achieve but she is right to aim high. However, she does now have people discussing the right issues and that is commendable. Notice how often Republicans attack her for her background, clothes, etc. instead of the issues..

Allow me a note of appreciation for AOC. She routinely tries to steer the debate back to ideas. I disagree with some (green new deal, opposition to tax abatement for job creators) and agree with others (drivers licenses for illegal immigrants). But at least we’re debating ideas.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) February 28, 2019

This was a good use of the time allotted. @RepAOC not only asked Cohen questions that revealed newsworthy information which merit further investigation, but ones pertinent to her district. If you missed it live, as I did, this is her questioning in full. pic.twitter.com/fUxgq4e5BN
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 27, 2019

.@AOC is a pistol. Focused dynamite. Trumplandia and the GOP underestimate her at their peril. https://t.co/C3vBUHX823
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 28, 2019

Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Just Lay Groundwork for Democrats to Subpoena Trump's Tax Returns? https://t.co/tH5QCIaA8z
— Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) February 28, 2019

WATCH: Complete exchange between @RepAOC @AOC and Michael Cohen. pic.twitter.com/dBpwzeEYRY
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 27, 2019

.@AOC: Would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company?

Michael Cohen: I believe so.

Ocasio-Cortez is really good at this. pic.twitter.com/75wCOt5xeX
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) February 27, 2019

“At the end of the day, people here think that their intentions are gonna save them, but the actual decisions you make matter.

We’re not gonna get out of this through incrementalism. We need moonshots.” https://t.co/0pdMlV1Smk
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2019

Opinion | Kurt Bardella: Why AOC's questions for Cohen — and his answers — signal big trouble for President Trump. https://t.co/ALcZhpxkhA – @NBCNewsTHINK
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 28, 2019

I guess WSJ Editorial Page takes pride in their ignorance of our nation’s history of slavery, Jim Crow, & mass incarceration; willful doubt on the decades of science on climate change; targeting of indigenous peoples, and the classist, punitive agenda targeting working families. https://t.co/pT4hLhSZiX
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2019

The poignant thing here is that there are so many people in @AOC's generation, also extremely talented but still toiling in the service industry and crushed with debt. It's an indictment of our economy that it condemns so many to so little — our loss and theirs https://t.co/13NPuz0DGc
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) February 28, 2019

Trump is a racist. Meadows is a racist.

They’re both racist birther movement believers. I don’t care that Trump has a black employee, I’m sure lots of racists do.

To be clear, telling a black person to go back to Africa is one of the oldest and most well-known racist tropes in this county’s history. https://t.co/hV3TcVpjCI
— Kimberly Atkins (@KimberlyEAtkins) February 28, 2019

It’s really worth watching this entire video. It’s a reminder of what birtherism looked like and how the president got his political start by questioning whether President Obama was born in the United States. It’s definitely worth pressing Mark Meadows to comment today. https://t.co/osb0ZmkI5w
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 28, 2019

It’s morning & I still can’t believe that Rep. Mark Meadows ran the full playbook of most insulting racism defenses. 1. Used the “Black friend” defense as proof a white person could not be racist. Actually physically presented the Black friend (which is unusual).
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) February 28, 2019

Meadows tells CNN's @SunlenSerfaty "anyone who knows me knows that there is not a racial bone in my body" in response to questions about his Obama birther comments in 2012. Note: Obama had been president for 4 years at that point and Meadows said he should go "back to Kenya."
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) February 28, 2019

CNN’s @SunlenSerfaty spoke to Meadows who says he has apologized for the comments from 2012 he made about then-candidate Obama, saying he has “addressed it a dozen times.” https://t.co/yWEyGJnEC3
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 28, 2019

let’s see proof of the apology

Blow up Twitter: Meadows and Tlaib just hugged on House floor and are engaged in a long, cordial talk.
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) February 28, 2019

Tlaib/Meadows thing is a great example of the plight of the minority professional in majority white spaces (like Congress!). A colleague did something racist. Tlaib politely pointed it out – and has now had to spend 24 hours reassuring her white colleague that's not a bad person
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) February 28, 2019

Rep. Mark Meadows invited Lynne Patton to Michael Cohen's hearing on Wednesday. Her appearance ignited a heated exchange about race, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib calling the act “insensitive” and possibly racist “to use a black woman as a prop.” https://t.co/VTSQgU2UXR
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 28, 2019

Analysis: Having a black friend doesn’t mean you’re not racist. https://t.co/em5C1HTqmc
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 28, 2019

I need you to see the longer version of this bigoted video from Congressman @MarkMeadows. It's 4 minutes of pure bigotry. Not only was the question disgusting, but @RepMarkMeadows relished in the bigotry from his fellow panelist, Vance Patterson, then joined in himself. pic.twitter.com/I8F3L27giM
— Shaun King (@shaunking) February 28, 2019

Keep the indictment talk coming

If they can do it in Israel, we should be able to do it here and indict Trump if he has committed crimes (which seems obvious to me). Lock him up!

I’ve never agreed that a sitting president can’t be indicted. Given the fraught politics of impeachment, that policy all but puts every American president above the law. If Israel can indict a corrupt PM, we should be able to indict a criminal POTUS.https://t.co/RsOxsPKOsi
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 28, 2019

Trump again believes a dictator

He accepts Kim’s story on the death of Otto Warmbier. Trump loves dictators. Sad!

I know I shouldn't be but I am shocked at what Trump said about Otto Warmbier before leaving Vietnamhttps://t.co/R2HbJ3l43x
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 28, 2019

Those who Trump takes at their word: Vladimir Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, Kim Jong Un

Those who Trump does not take at their word: Journalists, scientists, the intelligence community https://t.co/nUcG52Em4r
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) February 28, 2019

A new low. https://t.co/xPNvtKQ91o
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 28, 2019

Trump took Vladimir Putin at his word on Russian election interference.

He took MBS at his word over the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

And today in Hanoi he took Kim Jong Un at his word over the death of Otto Warmbier.https://t.co/VNnJezJa0L
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) February 28, 2019

This is stunning. I ran against a GOP incumbent who raised money off of how much he was personally standing up for Otto Warmbier. I’d be shocked if he said anything about this now because it would contradict his own @GOP dear leader. https://t.co/9nvmZPaR9M
— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) February 28, 2019

Trump on Kim Jong Un: I believe him

Trump on Putin: I believe him

Trump on MBS: I believe him

Trump on Michael Cohen: Dirty liar who can't be trusted
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) February 28, 2019

Republicans push back on Trump’s trust of Kim on the death of Otto Warmbier https://t.co/UePnGM3j0p
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 28, 2019

Republicans trash blue slip tradition

The blue slip is a Senate tradition which enables a Senator to block a judicial appointment for their state. Obama and his predecessors honored it. Republicans just trashed it. McConnell will do anything to confirm extremist judges.

Senate voting now to confirm Eric Miller to the Ninth Circuit in the state of Washington — who’ll be the first judge ever confirmed (either circuit or district) with both blue slips missing (in other words, over the objections of both home-state senators)
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) February 26, 2019

Grassley started it. Lindsey Graham, dropping the last vestiges of his decency, completed it. All at McConnell’s direction. https://t.co/9ugDt1IRZL
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) February 28, 2019

Could not agree more with @WeDemandJustice righteous analysis of blue slips. When only one party follows a norm, that norm is no longer a norm, and the party who fails to realize that is a sucker. https://t.co/XxAfzLyDO1
— Aaron Belkin (@AaronBelkin) January 12, 2022

Some of these vacancies are in states where GOP senators refused to return a "blue slip"-an arcane Senate procedure-& prevented highly qualified judicial & US Atty nominees from confirmation. Time for the WH to ignore this political obstruction & get these nominees a vote. https://t.co/SD92SBMxdp
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) November 13, 2022

Totally agree w/@JoyceWhiteVance, but the biggest issue is the Blue Slip tradition of the Judiciary Committee which allows a Senator to block a nominee from their state, thus the lack of US Attys in the South. It’s time to get rid of the damn Blue Slip for US Attys & US Marshalls https://t.co/5xUS8e8THf
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) November 20, 2022

Cohen testimony overviews

Summaries and opinions

Categorized every word offered by House Oversight Republicans in the Cohen hearing.

More than two-thirds of the questioning — 69 percent — was focused on attacking or impugning Cohen himself. Eight percent was aimed at his testimony. https://t.co/spIiRpWCM8
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 28, 2019

For those who are saying Cohen’s revelation about the campaign finance crimes are no big deal, I wrote this @nytimes piece explaining why they are looking at the wrong crime. The crime of Conspiracy is a very very big deal & poses a serious danger to Trump https://t.co/Za0k7saLT9
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) February 28, 2019

Excellent summary by @MaxBoot of today’s appearance of #MichealCohen before Congress focusing on five felonies Trump is implicated in by Cohen’s testimony https://t.co/X2EKovc8qu
— Fátima Ptacek (@FatimaPtacek) February 27, 2019

Michael Cohen "lays out a damning series of allegations" against Trump

"If this had happened in the middle of the Bush admin or the Obama admin…. America would have a full meltdown" – @AriMelber pic.twitter.com/QIH0VAWUj5
— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) February 27, 2019

4 big takeaways from the Cohen hearing/testimony:

– There are additional ongoing criminal investigations into Trump

– Buzzfeed story makes more sense

– Trump alleged to have talked to Roger Stone about Wikileaks

– Don Jr alleged to have alerted Trump about Trump Tower meeting pic.twitter.com/B7Q0ugIsKR
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 27, 2019

Here are some of the most consequential lines from Michael Cohen's testimony | Analysis by CNN's Chris Cillizza https://t.co/Q36Aph6W7n pic.twitter.com/bBVIM2HUkD
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 27, 2019

"Cohen’s testimony provided one of those interludes of clarity that violently dislodges the tendency towards normalization," argues @FranklinFoer: https://t.co/mYSvEQCHp1
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) February 27, 2019

.@kurtbardella writes for @usatodayopinion on Cohen's testimony: "Democrats asked Cohen surgically targeted questions designed to move their Trump investigations forward. Republicans decided to just make loud noise." https://t.co/XQm8W9hwLw
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 27, 2019

The Cohen hearing was the start of a reconstruction of the American republic: https://t.co/6542dqKTtW pic.twitter.com/NRJaqm0iHP
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 28, 2019

8 things I learned from Michael Cohen today | Analysis by CNN's Chris Cillizza https://t.co/4W931saxpz pic.twitter.com/Y2HaK8CWhj
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 28, 2019

Let’s look at evidence.

1. Stone talked to Trump about WikiLeaks? I’m dubious.

2. Trump knew about Don Jr’s infamous meeting? I’m very skeptical

3. Trump directed hush money payments? Yup.

4. Trump gave implied directions to lie? Maybe.

The analysis: https://t.co/GesqmJfDgy
— David French (@DavidAFrench) February 28, 2019

conservative perspective

EPA update 2/27/19

Wheeler’s EPA Keeps Brain-Damaging Chlorpyrifos in Food https://t.co/PiaxaTPD7N
— Moze Jacobs (@MozeMJacobs) February 22, 2019

EPA scientists: The toxic chemicals our agency won't regulate are definitely in our drinking water https://t.co/yJEZUcKO7o
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 26, 2019

The nation’s biggest coal-burning power companies paid a top lobbying firm millions of dollars to fight a wide range of Obama-era environmental rules — shortly before one of the firm’s partners became Trump’s top air pollution regulator https://t.co/DfLBEOJeQv
— POLITICO (@politico) February 24, 2019

“Scientists just became irrelevant at the agency,” said Elizabeth Southerland, who resigned in 2017 after 33 years at the EPA, “because we were not allowed in the room where the decisions were being made” https://t.co/lJ2JeXiU6C
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) February 21, 2019

this scientist Ed Calabrese, who's behind the "little bit of pollution is good for you" argument taking hold at the EPA, was the center of a big story I did in the fall, which was getting almost no attention at the time https://t.co/4KUudnRB2h
— Rebecca Leber (@rebleber) February 19, 2019

The fight is a preview of the kind of battles that the advocates of a Green New Deal will have as they take on entrenched incumbent industries who have been spending heavily, for years, to generate government favors they are loathe to see disappear. https://t.co/u8K1oQcak3
— The Intercept (@theintercept) February 19, 2019

EPA returns to bullying tactics against news orgs: https://t.co/ekIsXUDqAv
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) February 5, 2019

Indict, don’t impeach

I want to Trump to be indicted, not impeached. Impeachment will fail in the Senate. Enough Republicans will not vote to remove Trump regardless of the evidence. I think it’s clear by now he committed crimes. The most obvious one is election fraud over the payments to the mistresses. Cohen is going to jail for this. Trump should, too. I am glad to see some people say that Trump can be indicted. I am also glad to see people pushing for release of the Mueller report, even if DOJ won’t indict Trump. He’s not above the law and we should see the evidence of his actions.

A sitting President can be indicted. https://t.co/JECqQ1YqD1
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) February 27, 2019

Many people say that Mueller’s report should be made public because Trump isn’t indictable as a sitting president. But this is an incomplete argument — for one thing, that might not be why Mueller doesn’t indict him. 1/
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) February 26, 2019

another view

1 Trump’s is unique. He isn’t cleared of criminal liability if DOJ doesn’t indict him, because DOJ policy doesn’t permit his indictment. The public interest in Mueller’s findings means DOJ shouldn’t decline to discuss them like it would for someone who is cleared if not indicted. https://t.co/zANIpZAq2L
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 25, 2019

The Justice Department cannot take the position that a sitting president can’t be indicted, and at the same time withhold evidence of any wrongdoing.

That would amount to immunity.

We will do what is necessary to make sure Mueller’s report is made public. https://t.co/EE1qjQ2iQk
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) February 24, 2019

The DOJ policy of no public details when there’s no indictment can’t apply when DOJ policy FORBIDS indictment! Unless the details are revealed to the public for possible impeachment when POTUS isn’t indicted, he gets total immunity and is above the law — thus, a dictator.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 25, 2019

The flaw in this argument is that POTUS is the one citizen in the entire country who is publicly accountable *even for *NON-CRIMINAL conduct* through the Impeachment Clause. Therefore, the privacy interests behind not releasing derogatory info doesn't apply in his case. https://t.co/HtPziDYVhQ
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 24, 2019

The summit is just a photo op and a distraction

Trump won’t get anything from Kim. It’s horrible that he is sucking up to a dictator. The only question is how much he will give away so he can have a photo op for a deal.

I just can't. This is the mirror image of the Cohen testimony. Everything Trump does is a fraudulent PR stunt. It is one thing when that's a TV show or corrupt building project. It is quite another when it involves nuclear weapons and selling out to a US adversary for a photo op. https://t.co/NvODTkri79
— Max Bergmann (@maxbergmann) February 27, 2019

1/ 🚨THREAD: the fact that Trump wants a deal so bad and is such a terrible negotiator should scare us all heading into the summit with Kim. So here’s a rundown of what Trump should be asking for from the North Koreans if we want a good deal.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 27, 2019

Dear @realDonaldTrump: I hope you do "it." But as of right now, here are the facts.

North Korea has NOT:
-Eliminated any nukes
-Eliminated any missiles

North Korea HAS:
-Increased nuclear fuel production
-Gotten you to stop US joint military readiness exercises#FactsMatter https://t.co/rg3KXybSX0
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 27, 2019

Who can come up with anything comparable to “my friend Kim Jong Un”?

-FDR allied w Stalin but didn’t truckle to him.
-US prez’s have allied w Marcos, Batista, Shah, a string of Saudi rulers, etc—but as a matter of national interest vs “friendship.”

-Dennis Rodman, OK. A prez? https://t.co/zQSlAiUzgF
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) February 27, 2019

Prepping with Putin? Putin doesn’t share the same goals as we do. Our IC is unbiased – Putin is not. Why does @POTUS believe him over the US IC?
Putin does have more first hand experience w NK but his biggest goal is to keep us down, even if that means more NO nukes https://t.co/yCVcGx7AuG
— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) February 26, 2019

The Trump administration softens its hard line on a North Korea deal https://t.co/YUCqByEGTa
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) February 26, 2019

Once again Russians speak for Trump, reminding him and the world that they own him. The pic of Lavrov in the Oval Office made me deeply sad, as does this. https://t.co/KbDm1eXi4k
— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) February 26, 2019

An important, under-appreciated point:

In normal circs, head-of-state summit happens only *after* the deal has been (nearly) worked out, not when there’s no deal in prospect.

And that’s w leaders both better informed on details, and less vain about claiming “wins,” than Trump. https://t.co/Az3P6dXXOc
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) February 26, 2019

Trump is the perfect “useful idiot” — utterly ignorant about adversary, gullible to the point of blindness and desperate to be seen as a dealmaker. The intelligence community knows it. The Senate knows it. Worst of all, Kim knows it. https://t.co/FOxpuwESYS
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 25, 2019

Trump has abandoned human rights in North Korea https://t.co/IFXSET5cIu
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 25, 2019

He literally starves his people to death and executes dissidents https://t.co/qX7zFwTa0V
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 24, 2019

.@jaketapper: Do you still think North Korea is a nuclear threat despite President Trump saying they are not?@SecPompeo: Yes. And he didn’t say that. @jaketapper: Yes he tweeted it. It’s a direct quote. #CNNSOTU
— Amanda Golden (@amandawgolden) February 24, 2019