Trump and the First Amendment

This is a baldfaced admission that Trump attacks the press solely for political gain. There is no better illustration of his disdain for the First Amendment. https://t.co/ftMHwEI3Rq

— ACLU (@ACLU) May 23, 2018

EPA vs. journalists

The EPA barred journalists from three news organizations from attending a summit on water contamination. One was allegedly shoved.

"Myself and my producer … we were also told, Erin, that we were not allowed to be in there." – @Rene_MarshCNN was one of several journalists blocked from attending an EPA summit where Agency Chief @EPAScottPruitt was speaking https://t.co/QtJBnH2y0A pic.twitter.com/NEGSBC7mfX

— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) May 23, 2018

Here is a photo showing some of the open seats at the beginning EPA’s chemicals summit today, where some reporters were turned away. pic.twitter.com/sOKRI2ZEKl

— Emily Holden (@emilyhholden) May 22, 2018

Why were reporters banned?

Sad!

Update:

They did something similar today (5/23).

Unacceptable. Everywhere you turn, there's another scandal involving the EPA. And the agency is shutting the door on accountability. https://t.co/1wqIENy7es

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 23, 2018

TV is helping Trump by putting his lying supporters on

I completely agree – the media is spreading lies by letting these people on TV:

Been saying this for a few years and said again a few days ago, but it bears repeating after today’s sunday shows. News programs should not be giving people platforms who consistently lie and mislead the public. Benefits no one but dishonesty. https://t.co/JwHW9GlpTd

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) May 20, 2018

All Trump, all the time

I watch a lot of CNN and this article is right on the money. The media only wants Democrats to talk about Trump, not their policies.

Sad!

What is Trump up to?

Trump’s latest unhinged tweet demands that the Department of Justice look into whether or not they infiltrated the Trump campaign for political purposes. Notice his tweetstorm today did not deal with the substance of the New York Times story that his campaign met with other foreign countries in addition to Russia.

Trump’s request is wrong and unreasonable. I hope that the DOJ doesn’t cave in. I think he is doing this as an excuse to fire Sessions, Rosenstein, and/or Wray if they don’t do what he wants. If he gets rid of Rosenstein, he can put someone in who will fire Mueller.

What happens if he does any or all of this? The Democrats will get upset but they have no power. The cowardly Republicans will do nothing; they have not stopped Trump before. The Mueller investigation will continue even if Mueller is gone – this happened in Watergate after Cox was fired.

Trump is doing damage to the country that will take decades to repair. We are all less safe because of his efforts to unmask the informant – why would anyone give confidential information to US intelligence agencies if they know they can be exposed? The bottom line is there would be no informant if the Trump campaign did not have many contacts with Russians, enemies of the US.

The president is making “official” demands about the conduct of an investigation into his own campaign. pic.twitter.com/9yKDzfg88u

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 20, 2018

Reactions to Trump’s tweets:

Senator McConnell & Speaker Ryan: If Mr. Trump continues along this disastrous path, you will bear major responsibility for the harm done to our democracy. You do a great disservice to our Nation & the Republican Party if you continue to enable Mr. Trump’s self-serving actions. https://t.co/uAhgL6wfIC

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) May 20, 2018

I would caution people who say they’re waiting for someone to finally quit. At the DOJ and associated law enforcement and intelligence agencies, having someone quit is likely not at all a good thing right now.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 20, 2018

I was just thinking this. Worse even if this a ploy to try to trigger resignations. https://t.co/iwTXxv4HdL

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 20, 2018

All prosecutors know that when the evidence is solidly against a defendant, his only option is to put the police on trial. This is what Trump seems to be doing. It’s a strategy used by the clearly guilty. https://t.co/4wrLCke3f4

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 20, 2018

Trump’s latest tweets are a joke. Be smarter than this America. Donald Trump and his campaign are under investigation because it is a CRIME to conspire with a foreign government to win an American election and it is also a CRIME to obstruct justice to cover it up.

— Ryan Knight 🌊 (@ProudResister) May 20, 2018

Trump’s most consequential interference in our system of justice since he fired the FBI director who was investigating him https://t.co/Q5SL8kTNMv

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 20, 2018

This is a demand by the head of the Trump administration to open an investigation for political purposes. The point, yet again, is to create enough ambiguity to give Republicans an excuse to do nothing while Trump shatters norms. https://t.co/5rX7zCRbnW

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 20, 2018

This is very Putinesque. https://t.co/x2wZdD2Hiv

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) May 20, 2018

Two worthwhile points from @benjaminwittes: Trump doesn’t do a lot of things he threatens to do, but this threat is serious. pic.twitter.com/BS2cJvOOgx

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 20, 2018

Trump hinted yesterday he’d seek the release of documents about the FBI informant and potentially about the scope of the Mueller investigation. If he follows through and issues and order for either one, it would provoke the riskiest confrontation yet with DOJ. https://t.co/FFacnOFrP8

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 20, 2018

It's important to be clear on 2 points right now:

1) The informant wasn't "planted" in the Trump campaign as part of a criminal probe to investigate Trump/associates.

2) The informant was there to protect Trump b/c the FBI believed Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) May 20, 2018

President Trump has been talking with Giuliani all weekend about next steps on DOJ/secret FBI source, Giuliani tells WashPost just now. Long chat by phone Sat night, another convo 6:30 a.m. Sunday…

— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 20, 2018

Trump called some illegal immigrants “animals”

This opinion column on Trump’s “animals” comment puts in the contest of prior Trump statements.

The White House justifies his comment:

.@PressSec: "The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally… Frankly I think that the term 'animal' doesn't go far enough."

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 17, 2018

“…doesn’t go far enough” is a startling justification for dehumanizing. https://t.co/2OBs2zaLJ2

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) May 17, 2018

Nobody wants to defend MS-13!

Sarah Huckabee Sanders from the White House podium: "If the media and liberals wanna defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to."

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) May 17, 2018

Fox coverage of the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem

From this column: “President Trump’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem is a classic in the genre: narrowly self-serving, completely ignorant of history and context, and liable to unleash mayhem as a result.”

Fox was outraged by the coverage given to the protests and the killings by Isrealis. Sad!

Great Der Spiegel cover and editorial

The new cover from Der Spiegel, one of the most respected publications in Germany. This is how our friends in Europe see Trump’s America. This matters. When America First actually means America Alone, the United States is significantly weaker. pic.twitter.com/kRWYvxdQ81

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 11, 2018

Read this Der Spiegel editorial from Germany. America’s closest allies have lost faith in the United States because of Trump’s bullying & disrespect. Putin’s biggest foreign policy goal has been achieved: to weaken the West by splintering the NATO alliance https://t.co/Kp6zIuVC5S pic.twitter.com/bOgPxAuXdt

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 11, 2018

A great column on our addiction to Trump

This is one of the best columns I have read this year. It points out the media obsession with Trump. It states:

“Yet I worry that our national nonstop focus on Trump is helping to usher America into a hole: a Trump obsession. The danger is that Trump sucks up all the oxygen, so that other issues don’t get adequate attention.”

Kristof is 100% right. The media does not focus enough on other issues. The panel discussions are all in Washington and New York and don’t discuss the rest of the country enough.

Trump followers don’t like the truth

There is no reason for anyone to speak to a reporter this way. Trump’s “enemy of the people” nonsense has encouraged this disgusting behavior. Sad!

A guest at the White House for the National Day of Prayer event tells me I am “pitiful and disgusting” for reporting that President Trump reimbursed his attorney for the $130,000 he paid a porn actress. I think you’re gonna have to take that up with Trump, sir.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 3, 2018