monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Consider this exchange between Trump and Fox News' Bret Baier, aired last night:

Quote:

BAIER: You know you call people sometimes 'killers.' [Kim] is a killer. I mean he's clearly executing people.

TRUMP: He is a tough guy. Hey when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people and you take it over from your father. I don't care who you are, what you are. How much of an advantage you have. If you can do that at 27 years old you, I mean, that's one in 10, 000 that could do that. So he is a very smart guy. He is a great negotiator, but I think we understand each other.

BAIER: But he's still has done some really bad things.

TRUMP: Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things.

Yes, we've reached the point in history at which the president of the United States is offering public excuses for a communist dictator's barbaric crimes.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, a son of the famed evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham and an outspoken defender of President Trump, said in an interview on Tuesday on the Christian Broadcasting Network, “I think it’s disgraceful, it’s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don’t support that one bit.”

He quickly made it clear that this had not dimmed his enthusiasm for Mr. Trump, adding, “I blame the politicians for the last 20, 30 years that have allowed this to escalate to where it is today.”

New York State Attorney General

And unfortunately the Almighty President can't and couldn't stop it?

Bloomberg) -- Former FBI Director James Comey “deviated” from FBI and Justice Department procedures in handling the probe into Hillary Clinton, damaging the law enforcement agencies’ image of impartiality even though he wasn’t motivated by political bias, the department’s watchdog found in a highly anticipated report.

“While we did not find that these decisions were the result of political bias on Comey’s part, we nevertheless concluded that by departing so clearly and dramatically from FBI and department norms, the decisions negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in the report’s conclusions, which were obtained Thursday by Bloomberg News.

President Trump reportedly questioned the reasoning behind NATO's opposition to Russia's annexation of Crimea and appeared to defend Russia's explanation for the move during conversations with world leaders at the G-7 last weekend.

Two diplomatic sources told BuzzFeed News that Trump told world leaders over dinner that Crimea was part of Russia because most of its population speaks the Russian language, adding that the president appeared to question why world leaders had sided with Ukraine over Russia.

"Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world," the president said, according to one source.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on BuzzFeed's reporting.

Trump made headlines and sparked criticism from Congress at the G-7 summit in Canada last weekend when he called for Russia to be reinstated to the group. Russia's membership from what was then the G-8 was suspended in 2014 following its invasion and annexation of Crimea.

"This used to be the G-8, not the G-7," Trump said Saturday. "Something happened a while ago where Russia is no longer in."

During a later interview with Fox News, Trump doubled down on his comments, pointing out that he could ask Russia's Vladimir Putin to withdraw from Crimea if the nation was readmitted to the G-7.

New York attorney general sues Trump Foundation

The New York attorney general on Thursday sued President Donald Trump's
charitable foundation along with its directors -- the President, his sons Eric
and Donald Jr. and daughter Ivanka, alleging they violated state and federal
charities law.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood alleges a pattern of persistent illegal
conduct over more than a decade that includes extensive unlawful political
coordination with the Trump presidential campaign. Underwood
is asking a court to dissolve the Trump Foundation and wants $2.8 million
in restitution plus additional penalties.

Underwood is asking a court to dissolve the Trump Foundation and wants $2.8 million
in restitution plus additional penalties.

Not to worry, all the usual mouthpieces including the biggest mouth of all will find a way to spin it.

Peanuts for Trump. That aint to say he's gunna pay a nickel, of course, but, still.....

“While we did not find that these decisions were the result of political bias on Comey’s part, we nevertheless concluded that by departing so clearly and dramatically from FBI and department norms, the decisions negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in the report’s conclusions, which were obtained by Bloomberg News.

FBI agent Strzok reportedly texted 'we'll stop' Trump from becoming president

The Washington Post reported that Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report includes an August 2016 text message exchange between Strzok and then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page about Trump’s chance of being elected president.

“[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Page texted Strzok.

“No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it,” Strzok responded.

"Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world," the president said, according to one source.

In other news, the IG found no evidence of political bias in this exchange.

Bloomberg News, which also reported the new Strzok message, said Horowitz’s report says investigators “did not find documentary or testimonial evidence [in the Clinton case] that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative actions we reviewed.”