monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

It's gonna take at least a decade to do away with trumps legacy of hate

It's the first condition of being a fascist.

Federal agents raid office of lawyer who previously did tax work for Trump

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that federal agents removed everyone from the office of
Chicago Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke on Thursday morning, covering the
floor-to-ceiling windows with brown paper.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment when contacted by the
Sun-Times. A man who answered the door of the office when a reporter knocked also
declined to comment.

Burke's office did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Burke worked for Trump for more than a decade doing property tax work.

Burke’s law firm of Klafter & Burke has worked with Trump’s companies repeatedly to
reduce the property tax that Trump Tower and his other properties in Chicago have had
to pay, according to the Sun-Times.

Over his 12 years working for Trump, Burke was allegedly able to cut the property taxes
on the downtown tower by more than $14 million.

Burke stopped working for Trump this summer, citing “irreconcilable differences” in
letters filed with the Illinois State Property Tax Appeal Board.

Dershowitz Slams CNN’s ‘Absolute Bigot’ After Anti-Semitic Comments

“He has said it is OK for Palestinians to blow up pizza parlors, to blow up buses, to kill mothers and children, and he has also said that the only nation-state of the Jewish people should no longer be allowed to survive.”

“There’s no way that he should be allowed to be a commentator on any kind of network,” Dershowitz also declared, calling Hill “the David Duke of the hard-Left on anti-Israel groups.”

Without a more complete picture about the puzzle Mueller is trying to assemble, it's difficult to assess how much longer it might take him to finish building it. All the same, Cohen's plea on Thursday underscored the special counsel's capacity to keep secrets and unleash surprises.

Cohen’s plea deal for lying to Congress increases the legal peril faced by Jerome Corsi, a conservative activist currently under the special counsel’s scrutiny. Corsi rose to fame in the 2000s by smearing John Kerry’s military service during the 2004 and spreading racist conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s citizenship throughout his presidency. During the 2016 election, he communicated with veteran political operative Roger Stone about obtaining hacked Clinton campaign emails from WikiLeaks—one of the events some believe may have involved cooperation between Russians and the Trump campaign.

Corsi, who is 72 years old, acknowledged in a TV interview on Wednesday that he misled Congress about his actions during the 2016 election and that he may die in prison as a result. But he also distanced himself from the prospect of accepting a similar plea deal and cooperating with Mueller’s inquiry, telling MSNBC’s Ari Melber that he believed “in his heart” that he didn’t intend to deceive Congress. Corsi’s lawyers have signed a joint defense agreement with Trump’s legal team, indicating that their legal interests are currently aligned.

Mueller’s overall silence, coupled with his office’s apparent lack of leaks, makes it hard to gauge where he’s going next in the Russia investigation. Whether intentionally or not, the timing of Cohen’s plea deal will likely send a few signals to the president, other witnesses, and the public. The federal investigation into Trump’s connections with Russia isn’t over. Lying to Congress about those connections will result in criminal charges. Mueller’s office is still willing to cooperate with witnesses who tell the truth. And it’s unwilling to brook witnesses who don’t.

Cohen’s plea deal for lying to Congress increases the legal peril faced by Jerome Corsi,

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said that Congress should pass a stopgap spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if President Trump won't agree to the proposed $1.6 billion for border security.
Schumer said Trump had "two good bipartisan options" to avoid a shutdown - the Senate's DHS bill or a continuing resolution - both of which, he predicted, would get more than the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.

"If the president doesn't want to agree to the bipartisan bill, we could avoid a shutdown by passing a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security. We think it should be for the whole year. It would keep the government open and still provide another $1.3 billion for border security," Schumer said from the Senate floor.

Congress has until Dec. 7 to pass seven of 12 appropriations bills, including DHS, and avoid a partial government shutdown. But talks have been snarled by a months-long fight over Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Both sides have stepped up their public posturing as lawmakers eye next week's deadline.

Schumer, during his floor speech, pointed the blame for a potential shutdown directly at the president, saying if they had a lapse in funding for part of the government the president would be entirely responsible.

Schumer said the seven appropriations bills are "hanging in the balance for one reason and one reason only - President Trump."

"If President Trump wants to throw a temper tantrum and shut down some departments and agencies over Christmas, that's certainly within his power, but he has two more sensible options available to him. It would be a shame if the country suffered because of a Trump temper tantrum. It's the president's choice," Schumer added.

Meghan Burris, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, quickly fired back saying a potential lapse in funding would lead to a "Schumer shutdown"

"Democrats would rather shut the government down and leave millions of Americans less secure than work with the administration to solve this unchecked crisis. It is evident there is a need to secure the nation's borders and the president has made it clear that is his number one priority," she said.

Trump has refused to take a shutdown off the table, saying on Wednesday that he would be "totally willing" to force a shut down if he doesn't get the $5 billion.

"We're in negotiation. If we don't get border security, possible shutdown," Trump told reporters at the White House separately on Thursday.

Both sides remain far apart over the amount of border money to include in the December bill, raising the prospects of a short-term stopgap measure.

Republicans have floated a two-year plan that would meet Trump's demand for $5 billion for border security.

The Republican offer would have secured $2.5 billion in funding for barriers and border security for both 2019 and 2020. That would be a $900 million increase over the $1.6 billion the Senate already approved for 65 miles of pedestrian fencing earlier in the year, but less than the $5 billion the House approved, in line with Trump's demands.

Part of the funding, according to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), would have come from a combination of the already-passed $1.6 billion, unspent funds that were previously approved and potential cuts from other spending in the bills.

Shelby told reporters this week that Trump has threatened to veto the funding bill if it only included $1.6 billion for border security and Congress would not have the votes to override a veto.

But Democrats have rejected the Republicans offer of $5 billion over two years, stressing that the administration hasn't been able to spend the border money Congress has already agreed to.

"No matter how many years you spread it over, $5 billion for President Trump's wasteful wall is too much money," said Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), the top Democratic appropriator in the House. "We will never support wasting tax dollars on a wall designed to gin up the Republican base."

Schumer echoed that sentiment, saying that drawing a red line at $5 billion Trump was "trying to manufacture a shutdown to fire up his base."

Apparently Cohen values his family more than he values Trumps' idiot vapid ego.

‘Individual 1’: Trump emerges as a central subject of Mueller probe

Cohen has credibility,