WTF Community

Day 924

General Discussion
#1

1/ Trump unexpectedly announced that he will impose a new 10% tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports – effectively taxing every product that Americans buy from China – after China failed to begin buying more American agricultural products as they had promised. The new tariffs would go into effect on Sept. 1st and would be in addition to the 25% tariff that has already been imposed on $250 billion of imports. The announcement came a day after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wrapped up talks in Shanghai on a comprehensive trade deal. The negotiations reportedly ended early and without a deal. A new meeting is set up for September. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Associated Press)

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/08/01/day-924/
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#2

Breaking :smirk:

State prosecutors in Manhattan subpoenaed President Trump’s family business on Thursday, reviving an investigation into the company’s role in hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people briefed on the matter.

The subpoena, issued by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, demanded the Trump Organization provide documents related to money that had been used to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

The inquiry from the district attorney’s office, which is in early stages, is examining whether any senior executives at the company filed false business records about the hush money, which would be a state crime, the people said.

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#3

Texas Rep. Hurd, lone black Republican in House, won’t seek reelection

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/texas-rep-hurd-lone-black-republican-in-house-wont-seek-reelection/2019/08/01/0927745c-b487-11e9-8949-5f36ff92706e_story.html?utm_term=.9c6c2d07afde

Rep. Will Hurd, the lone black Republican in the House and the rare GOP lawmaker to criticize President Trump at times, will not seek reelection, he told The Washington Post.

Hurd’s retirement is the third by a Texas Republican in the past week and the ninth by a party incumbent, dealing a blow to GOP efforts to regain control of the House in next year’s election.

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#4

Great…Rep Hurd has been critical of T’s policy and as the pundits are saying, he is not about to carry water for the President in front of his frustrated constituency.

As an ex-CIA agent, it was notable to hear how much criticism Hurd had for the US’s lackadaisical approach to keeping our elections safe and protected from Russian influences.

His retirement marks the third Representative from TX who will not play ball as it were.
And with Beto’s rise in the state, you wonder how blue the state may become.

Hurd has been talking about the threat of foreign interference in elections recently, making similar comments on ABC News’ “The Briefing Room” Thursday and voting for an intelligence authorization act that requires the FBI to notify congressional intelligence committees when they open an investigation into a campaign for federal office. However, he voted against the Securing America’s Elections Act, which ultimately passed the House in late June.

On “This Week,” Hurd called for people to pay as much attention to the threat of foreign interference in elections as they paid to Mueller.

(MORE: Mueller sounds alarm for 2020 election threats from Russia, others)

“When we don’t focus on dealing with the strategy on how to prevent that, then we are letting Vladimir Putin win and so that’s why we should be talking about how do we fix it,” he said.

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#5

This is alarming…more threats coming from domestic terrorism.

The FBI for the first time has identified fringe conspiracy theories as a domestic terrorist threat, according to a previously unpublicized document obtained by Yahoo News. (Read the document below.)

The FBI intelligence bulletin from the bureau’s Phoenix field office, dated May 30, 2019, describes “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists,” as a growing threat, and notes that it is the first such report to do so. It lists a number of arrests, including some that haven’t been publicized, related to violent incidents motivated by fringe beliefs.

The document specifically mentions QjAnon, a shadowy network that believes in a deep state conspiracy against President Trump, and Pizzagate, the theory that a pedophile ring including Clinton associates was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant (which didn’t actually have a basement).

“The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts,” the document states. It also goes on to say the FBI believes conspiracy theory-driven extremists are likely to increase during the 2020 presidential election cycle.

https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-conspiracy-theories-terrorism-160000507.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw

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#6

Ratcliffe is out as possible DNI

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#10

This topic was automatically closed 15 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

#7

@dragonfly9
How did I miss this nonsense yesterday and your post? Curiouser and curiouser… :exploding_head:

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#8

The FBI Said Conspiracy Theories Like QAnon And Pizzagate Are Domestic Terrorism Threats

“Identity based, and fringe political conspiracy theories” are very likely to motivate some domestic terrorists to “commit criminal and sometimes violent activity,” the memo warns.

Trump’s Encouraging QAnon May Result in Violence—Just ask the FBI

Newly revealed FBI memo warns about conspiracy theories’ causal connection to extremist violence

Hours after an FBI warning about QAnon is published, a QAnon slogan turns up at Trump’s rally

How QAnon, the conspiracy theory spawned by a Trump quip, got so big and scary

And for back story, here is my thread on past QAnon antics.

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#9

Example of T’s words inciting racial and terrorist crimes…opinion piece.

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