Such… an embarrassment.
Trump’s actual response:
Mike Pompeo doesn’t understand “hypothetical.”
The Trump regime is a constant cavalcade of clownish buffoonery and half-century old allusions.
“You people with this phony Emoluments Clause,” Trump
I’ve had to write this thread because the Lev Parnas letter has people noticing Melania’s signature again:
Buckle down it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. You may now put your trays in the upright position. 
Wow – and there’s this, too:
Almost a decade ago, Warren Buffett made a claim that would become famous. He said that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary, thanks to the many loopholes and deductions that benefit the wealthy.
His claim sparked a debate about the fairness of the tax system. In the end, the expert consensus was that, whatever Buffett’s specific situation, most wealthy Americans did not actually pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. “Is it the norm?” the fact-checking outfit Politifact asked. “No.”
Time for an update: It’s the norm now.
For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate — spanning federal, state and local taxes — than any other income group, according to newly released data.
The Republican Study Committee in the House unveiled its replacement for Obamacare today.
They worked 9 months on it. It’s everything they failed to pass in 2017.
You’re allowed to point and laugh.
I have no words for how utterly stupid Trump is, but if New Mexico is suddenly annexed by Mexico via sharpie, this is why:
I don’t know who did this, but it fits.
Imagine a world without T’s coterie of fantastical proponents and a time when reason/common sense may prevail in our expectations of a decent President.
#FamilyIsProfitDriven. #TrumpDoenNotGiveA-#$$p
#ReliousZealotryMixesInMessianicLeaders/losersToTheMix
Thx @rusticgorilla
Donald Trump’s most senior executive in the UK has said the Trump family is feeling frustrated at being unable to pursue “foreign investments” and overseas business opportunities, while also revealing that “everybody in the Trump Organisation is going to write a book.”
Sarah Malone, executive vice president of Trump International Scotland, suggested that since assuming the presidency, Mr Trump’s personal “liberties and freedoms” have been curtailed because he cannot visit his Scottish properties to play golf as and when he pleases.
Ms Malone, who is overseeing a major £150m expansion of Mr Trump’s inaugural resort in the north east of Scotland, made the comments at a rare public speaking engagement at a controversial evangelical church with ties to Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), a US broadcaster which claims to be the world’s biggest Christian television network.
…The event also saw Ms Malone’s husband, Damian Bates, claim Mr Trump had turned down a $65m (£50m) offer to film another series of The Apprentice in order to pursue his political career.
Mr Bates, a former newspaper editor who dined with Mr Trump numerous times at the White House and his US golf resorts while co-authoring a book on the Trump Organisation’s Scottish developments, also lashed out at the media coverage of the Trump administration, urging people to tune in to RT, the Russian government-funded broadcaster.
…Ms Malone, who is referred to by Mr Trump as the “Queen of Scotland,” told the Thursday evening gathering she was looking after £750m worth of business at the Aberdeenshire golf resort and hotel, which has yet to turn a profit since opening in 2012. Its most recent accounts filed with Companies House show its total assets are valued at £31.8m. The firm is also reliant on an interest free loan from Mr Trump worth £40.6m.
Obviously as a paid executive I have to be careful,” she said. “The reality is, because of the emoluments act, many of the foreign investments and opportunities - and there’s lots of stuff in the business proper, as it were, across the globe - everything was put on hold.”She said those who claim Mr Trump is profiting from his presidency had a “very crude,” “overly simplistic,” and “ridiculous” mindset.
“It’s frustrating for the family, because they’re business people, so the presidency is, is … and also his liberties and his freedoms to be able to come and play golf when he wants,” she explained.
“And I for one, having spoken to him about it, know that he’d love to come to Aberdeen, but where do you fit that into your schedule?”
Ms Malone said after Mr Trump promised there would be no new Trump Organisation deals during his presidency, the Aberdeenshire resort was “one of the only projects that we can continue developing, because we were already underway.”
Everybody in the Trump Organisation is going to write a book,” she said. “Everybody’s writing a book. Everybody’s writing a book about Trump whether they’re in the organisation or not.”
In light of the venue hosting the event, Ms Malone also reflected on the importance of her faith (“the single most important thing in life and business”), stating: “When you give yourself over to the Lord, he takes you down paths that are often daunting.
“My journey has been a sequence of going down doors and paths that get bigger and more daunting, and here I am today, and I work for one of the most formidable … he’s no longer just a formidable business man, he’s a history maker, a game changer, he’s an incredible human being who defied all predictions.”
She said she prayed for Mr Trump, a man who “is not inhibited by anything - rules, laws, policies, ways of working,” and that he would “receive that” and thank her.
Somehow I do not pity Ol’ Mafia Don and his extended crime family.
Maria Butina is a convicted spy and provocateur whom the Trump regime couldn’t get out of this country swiftly enough.
She received a hero’s welcome in Moscow and has served less time in prison than whistleblower Reality Winner. Let that sink in.
Oh dear! How sad! Never mind.
Love it. Too funny!
Aw, it’s a Belgium Malinois. My Major Tom is maligator too, nobody fucks with us on the trails.
Here’s another ‘genius’ political stunt by the Republicans, who decided that playing a little tit-for-tat with the Dems who moved the Impeachment process along yesterday to the chagrin of the R’s. Getting a visual ‘gag’ to be talked about in the news, ie sending moving boxes to the Dems because R’s feel they are going to be out of Congress shortly, became a Capitol police nightmare. Any suspicious box has to be reviewed.
What have we come to with this idiocy?
An unfortunate part of work on Capitol Hill is learning to be cautious about suspicious packages. This has been true for a while, but congressional aides were reminded of the threat around this time last year when a deranged Donald Trump supporter targeted lawmakers and prominent journalists with pipe bombs.
With this in mind, Roll Call reported yesterday on an unfortunate and ill-considered Republican stunt.
Several House Democrats in battleground districts complained Thursday that a political stunt by Republicans intended to warn them they would not be in office long because of impeachment instead ended up wasting the time of Capitol Police after aides complained of receiving suspicious packages.
The National Republican Congressional Committee sent packing boxes to the Capitol Hill offices of the Democrats, most of whom flipped Republican districts in 2018 and are expected to have competitive campaigns to keep them next year.
The suspicious packages were supposed to represent “moving boxes,” which the NRCC found amusing. Others were far less entertained: Aaron Fritschner, who works for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), explained that he heard members of the U.S. Capitol Police, whose time Republicans wasted, tell staffers, “Do not touch a package like that, call us first.”
The sunshine state is in for a dark makeover.
Well, darker.
It’s Florida.
Palm Beach will never be the same.
#FLORIDAMAN BEGINS.
All joking aside, Trump’s been making moves toward this for a while. For instance, there’s this article from May:
