Trump’s ambassador to Germany accused of meddling in their domestic politics

The Trump administration has upset many US allies. Do we have any left?

German politicians are calling for Donald Trump’s ambassador to Berlin to be expelled after he was accused of meddling in domestic politics https://t.co/OP7n0x5I3N

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 5, 2018

“If a German ambassador were to say in Washington that he is there to boost the Democrats, he would have been kicked out immediately” https://t.co/bbp2elXXGE

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) June 5, 2018

Bombshell interview to Breitbart by Ric Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany. He says he will personally intervene in internal politics of Europe to empower anti-establishment conservatives. Directly contradicts State Dept line that Trump admin is neutral https://t.co/PJDagay9YQ

— Tom Wright (@thomaswright08) June 3, 2018

Think Progress

CNN

update 1/11/19

Trump's ambassador to Germany, Rick Grenell, is a "vain, narcissistic person, who dishes out aggressively, but can barely handle criticism", says @DerSPIEGEL Shunned by most of Berlin except the far-right AfD. Can't put my finger on who he reminds me of.. https://t.co/01ziLFJnO3

— Edward Luce (@EdwardGLuce) January 11, 2019

My 16th roundup of Pruitt articles (new stuff since 5/11/18)

Pruitt must go! I still can’t believe he has a job.

News: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt asked a senior EPA aide to contact Chick-Fil-A's CEO in a bid to secure a restaurant franchise for his wife. He later met with the CEO about the matter. w/@eilperin & @brady_dennis: https://t.co/pwpiiwFeE0

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) June 5, 2018

Pruitt has had biometric locks installed on his office doors for $5,700 – and that’s just the start. https://t.co/pJPtzn77VM

— POLITICO (@politico) June 2, 2018

Since Pruitt ignores ethics rules to live lifestyle he thinks he's entitled to, his using govt employee as personal aide is not surprising. What is surprising is trying to get used mattress from Trump hotel. Is he that desperate to pay tribute to the boss? https://t.co/VSQZSzxLV7

— Larry Noble (@LarryNoble_DC) June 4, 2018

The #Sinclair TV empire provides #ScottPruitt with a friendly platform from which to push back against scandals. @mmfa https://t.co/si5W42or8j

— Environmental Health News (@EHNewsroom) June 1, 2018

JUST POSTED: There is more lobbying of EPA by Steve Hart, whose wife rented Pruitt his now-famous $50 a night condo. Drip, drip, drip. New clients included Coca Cola in appeal to Pruitt Chief of Staff. https://t.co/Z8mplYzYcI

— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) June 1, 2018

This is not a lot of money but boy is it symbolic :#EPA’s #Pruitt spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens from Washington jewelry store @brady_dennis @eilperin https://t.co/Gj7Thz7bqR

— Lisa Rein | Flare Network Guardian☀️ (@Reinlwapo) June 1, 2018

Pruitt plans to regulate methylene chloride, even after meeting with the mothers of two men killed by the chemical https://t.co/dGr9Y3zzNO

— Salon (@Salon) May 28, 2018

Pruitt aides at EPA celebrate when a reporter leaves NYT and await departures from AP and Wash Post. See end of story. https://t.co/pN6DkbEA1H

— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) May 26, 2018

Scott Pruitt’s security detail cost about $3.5 million for his first year in office, more than twice what his predecessor spent in the final year of the Obama administration https://t.co/GWAnwUyPKO

— POLITICO (@politico) May 25, 2018

Remember this is the guy who LIED to the Senate about his misuse of emails as OK AG. He is a congrnital liar and corrupt scoundrel. Senate GOP confirmed knowing he lied. EVERY Republican voted to confirm. #moralcowardice https://t.co/OylOttcHG5

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) May 16, 2018

News: Scott Pruitt now faces a 12th federal investigation—this one of his undisclosed EPA email addresses.

Here’s the always-up-to-date Pruitt investigation guide, by @LFFriedman: https://t.co/otjbTDEAO1

— Jesse Pesta (@JessePesta) May 16, 2018

Manafort accused of witness tampering

Mueller Accuses Paul Manafort of Attempted Witness Tampering via @NYTimes https://t.co/meD3K60Oof

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 5, 2018

Disastrous decision by Paul Manafort. This will be used against Manafort at trial and will also be considered by the judge at sentencing. https://t.co/WpLBiVHfNA

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) June 5, 2018

New filing: Mueller's team says there's "probable cause to believe that Manafort has violated 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b) by attempting to tamper with potential witnesses while on pretrial release and, accordingly, has violated the conditions of his release."https://t.co/qKYaCdarwO

— Ellis Kim (@elliskkim) June 5, 2018

Paul Manafort now has two options. Keep fighting the government & spend the rest of his life in prison. Cooperate with the government & spend part of his life in prison.

Hoping @realDonaldTrump would try to pardon him went away this weekend when Trump threw him under the bus. https://t.co/SMh21W7EIH

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 5, 2018

Let me get this straight: you’re facing trial in 2 states, wearing ankle bracelets courtesy of Robert Mueller and allegedly try to suborn perjury from potential witnesses emailing on encrypted apps thinking Mueller won’t find out?

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) June 5, 2018

Everything you need to know about Paul Manafort, in one convenient package, thanks to @FranklinFoer :https://t.co/jsr409pcVY

— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) June 5, 2018

Trump canceled the Eagles visit

Trump canceled the Super Bowl Champion Eagles visit to the White House tomorrow because not all players were going to attend.

This is strictly a political move to appeal to his base.

Here are tweets from Eagles player Torrey Smith.

So many lies smh
Here are some facts
1. Not many people were going to go
2. No one refused to go simply because Trump “insists” folks stand for the anthem
3. The President continues to spread the false narrative that players are anti military pic.twitter.com/89GUNhJ4eE

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) June 4, 2018

There are a lot of people on the team that have plenty of different views. The men and women that wanted to go should’ve been able to go. It’s a cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don’t want to see you. To make it about the anthem is foolish

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) June 4, 2018

If you are going to tweet…tweet facts…no one on the Eagles took a knee last season………. https://t.co/7aiTuvVKe8

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) June 5, 2018

Trump’s statement says “They disagree with their President because he insists they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military…”

That’s not why they disagree. They don’t want to go because Trump is a racist. The players were protesting against racial injustice. It had nothing to do with the military. Trump disregarded the reason for the protest and warped it into an anti-military protest. We all support the military. Unfortunately, Trump got the NFL to cave in. The league didn’t even consult with the players which is certainly wrong.

Public opinion is divided. Notice the big difference depending on your party affiliation:

ICYMI
Do you think professional football athletes playing in the Super Bowl should be required to stand for the national anthem, or should they be allowed to kneel if they choose?https://t.co/8i7xKmzvv0 pic.twitter.com/TnPj8MZo19

— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) June 4, 2018

Making it an anti-military protest also means that Trump does not have to deal with the real issues raised by the players. Many of his supporters are racists so they too prefer not to deal with the valid concerns raised by the players. This is just one more way Trump is dividing the country instead of unifying it. He only cares about his base. He won the election but I don’t think of him as my president. My president is not a liar or a bigot. My president cares about all Americans.

Trump thinks of everything in terms of winning and losing instead of trying to compromise or see someone else’s point of view. This article discussed what he told Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: ““This is a very winning, strong issue for me,” the President told Jones, according to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal. “Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.””

Trump supporters will say that players went to see Obama even if they disagreed with him. However, there’s a difference. Trump is a bigot and Obama is not. It’s not just disagreeing on political issues like taxes. This is much more important and fundamental. I would not want my picture taken with a racist and I wouldn’t go to see Trump.

from the mayor of Philadelphia:

.@PhillyMayor releases statement after @realDonaldTrump cancels @Eagles visit to the White House pic.twitter.com/4RLEOZTCjR

— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) June 5, 2018

Tough to call these particular critics ‘losers’ https://t.co/1AYCiWuXwL

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) June 4, 2018

NFL source notes that not one of the players on the Super Bowl-winning Eagles took a knee all regular and post-season.

Until November, Malcolm Jenkins raised his fist during the anthem to protest racial injustice. In pre-season Ron Brooks took a knee but he was cut.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 5, 2018

Looks like @realDonaldTrump may never meet another championship sports team. And I think most of the players are okay with that.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 4, 2018

Here’s an excellent column by a former NFL player critical of the NFL policy.

Here are some good tweets on the new NFL policy:

The difference, of course, is that Trump has said a rally chock-full of Nazi saluters included “very fine people” but NFL players who protest are “sons of bitches” who should “leave the country.” https://t.co/rPaYPtN4gt

— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 26, 2018

There is no anthem protest @NFL. There are police brutality protests. Until you accept that fact you co-sign racism.

— Nelson George (@nelsongeorge) May 27, 2018

The NFL anthem protest decision is not honoring America, it is an affront to our proud legacy of athletes and others taking a stand to call to the conscience of our country to live up to her ideals. pic.twitter.com/EFDvCRg4ri

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 24, 2018

DeMaurice Smith: Anthem rule is about exerting control over players https://t.co/FUlFwUWIVq

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 25, 2018

.@RealDonaldTrump told Fox News that NFL athletes who kneel during the anthem should leave the country.

If only Trump cared as much about why players are kneeling as he does about the fact that they’re kneeling.

This is @MsPackyetti’s latest. pic.twitter.com/X2jlun0LKl

— Mic (@mic) May 26, 2018

Saints linebacker. https://t.co/JUAmPfPfTA

— stan verrett (@stanverrett) May 25, 2018

Players react to Trump's comments; linebacker Marshall calls them 'disgusting' https://t.co/q02faBjjzV pic.twitter.com/c8GHoUSyGG

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) May 25, 2018

Our ancestors had the right priorities

pic.twitter.com/7ESC7PFfeY

— Mental Floss (@mental_floss) June 2, 2018

These Republican senators voted to impeach Clinton

This is something to keep in mind if the Senate has to vote on a Trump impeachment. Certainly, Clinton lying about a blow job is less serious than the Trump/Russia obstruction.

Sitting GOP senators who voted to toss President Clinton from office for obstruction of justice:
BLUNT
BURR
CRAPO
ENZI
GRASSLEY
GRAHAM
HATCH
INHOFE
MCCAIN
MCCONNELL
MORAN
PORTMAN
ROBERTS
SHELBY
THUNE
WICKER
***
SESSIONS also voted to remove Clinton for obstruction.

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 3, 2018

The estate tax scam

The estate tax cut is benefitting the extremely wealthy, just as predicted. Down the road, it will certainly benefit the Trump family. This was a poor decision and I hope the tax rate is restored in the future.

The estate tax cut buried in the tax cut gives a $4.4 million break to the 1,800 richest estate heirs in America, per @CenterOnBudget https://t.co/XBNX38El33

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) June 3, 2018

10/23/18 Trump still lies about it

Trump, as usual, lies that he's eliminated the estate tax – the tax law merely raised the threshold – and misleadingly suggests the tax has a big impact on family farms and small businesses; they represented a tiny fraction of the estate tax-payers.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 23, 2018

Trump never accepts responsibility

….Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him, and he wouldn’t have been hired!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2018

having said Obama should have stopped Russia from helping his campaign, Trump now says Justice Dept should have stopped him from hiring Manafort to run his campaign https://t.co/2ADg76MVn7

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 3, 2018

Look who’s talking about ethics

Jared Kushner’s father

Charlie Kushner went to prison for hiring a prostitute to sleep with his brother-in-law, filming the encounter in a roadside New Jersey motel and sending the tape to the family for blackmail. Because he was being investigated — and they were cooperating. https://t.co/Nr6MQFAgmQ

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) June 1, 2018

Jared Kushner’s father says ethics watchdogs are “jerks” who “can’t get a real job” and want to “assure that poor, not successful people go into government” https://t.co/c6PMCMQVkH

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) June 1, 2018

Trump may have violated a federal rule

Trump hinted at a good jobs report in a tweet this morning before the stock market opened.

The article linked to in the tweet below states: “President Trump broke years of presidential protocol on Friday morning with a tweet that signaled a strong jobs report was on its way from the Labor Department, an hour before the report was released.
While the White House brushed off any notion that Mr. Trump had crossed a line, legal experts said the tweet raised possible insider trading concerns and economists said it was a blatant misuse of presidential power.”

President Trump’s tweet may have violated a federal rule, issued in 1985, governing the release of embargoed federal data like the jobs report https://t.co/G5yVlHx29j pic.twitter.com/N7gv2bwibt

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 1, 2018

Former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers on another breach of norms by a president who fails to grasp the fundamental concept that public service is about serving the public. Processes for orderly release were established because this information can move markets. https://t.co/HW4OUDNWKO

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 1, 2018

You should have gotten the employment numbers from the Council of Economic Advisers yesterday.

And if this tweet is conveying inside information about a particularly good jobs number you should never get them in advance from the Council of Economic Advisers again. https://t.co/Qd3ig89onT

— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) June 1, 2018

If during the Clinton or Obama Administrations there had been a statement from @POTUS or anyone senior official in the morning before the Employment Report it would have been a major scandal—with all sorts of investigations following on.

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) June 1, 2018

Congress has the constitutional authority to investigate. https://t.co/QsgtZEa2E4

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) June 1, 2018

“Gary Cohn would withhold jobs report data from President Trump until shortly before their release because he was worried the president couldn’t help but say something about them.” https://t.co/V8exEn7VNI via @politico

— Sarah Boxer (@Sarah_Boxer) June 4, 2018

and there’s this:

By the way, since Trump is tweeting ahead of time about the unemployment numbers, are we confident he isn't also privately telling family and friends about them ahead of time so they can front run the market?

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 1, 2018

Sad!