Author: John Hanno

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.

President Trump will not answer any more questions from Mueller

Reuters

 By Karen Freifeld, Reuters      January 9, 2018

By Karen Freifeld

(Reuters) – Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump have told special counsel Robert Mueller that he will not answer any more questions in the probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Reuters on Wednesday.

Trump submitted written answers to questions from Mueller in late November. In an interview with Reuters, Giuliani said Mueller raised the possibility of follow-up questions but that the president’s outside legal team told the special counsel before Christmas that Trump would not respond.

Trump’s lawyers and Mueller’s team have had no contact since then, Giuliani said.

“As far as we’re concerned, everything is over,” Giuliani told Reuters. “We weren’t convinced they had any questions they don’t know the answer to.”

Giuliani said the ball was now in the special counsel’s court. “They could try to subpoena him if they want,” he said. “But they know we could fight that like hell.”

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to try to help Trump win.

Trump has denied any collusion with Moscow and Russia has said it did not meddle in the election.

Mueller was appointed in May 2017 to investigate the Russian interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. It is unclear when the probe, which has clouded Trump’s first two years in office, will end.

Trump answered Mueller’s campaign-related questions focused on Russia in November. However, Giuliani told Reuters at the time, he would not answer questions on whether he tried to obstruct the investigation once he won office, such as by firing former FBI Director James Comey.

In his latest interview, the president’s lawyer said it was time for the special counsel to issue his report. “Put up or shut up,” Giuliani said. “We challenge you to do it.”

When Mueller ends his investigation, he will send a report on his findings to the Justice Department. It is unclear if the report will be made public.

Since at least last summer, Trump’s legal team has been drafting a rebuttal in preparation for Mueller’s report. Giuliani said the team also was ready to respond to legal issues raised by the hush money paid to an adult film star and a former Playboy playmate before the 2016 election.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced last month to three years in prison for crimes including orchestrating the payments in violation of campaign finance laws. When he pleaded guilty, Cohen said he was directed by Trump.

“We have a memo from a number of campaign finance experts that paying what they call hush money, since it has a personal purpose, is not considered a campaign contribution,” Giuliani said. “Therefore it’s not a violation of the campaign finance law.”

Giuliani said it is unclear to the legal team whether acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is now in charge of the investigation.

Rosenstein, who is preparing to leave his job soon after attorney general nominee William Barr takes office, has overseen the Mueller probe since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in 2017.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

To understand Trump’s speech, look at the US-Mexico border as it exists today

 

Donald Trump delivered a statement last night from the oval office, laying out his argument for funding a wall along the US’s southern border with Mexico. Funding for a wall has been the sticking point in federal budget negotiations and has led to the government being shut down for the past few weeks.

Rhetoric from the Trump administration around “border issues” has been growing more more dire and fearsome in recent weeks, despite a lack of factual basis for the supposed concerns. While it is true some people entering the country illegally climb over current fencing, sometimes in full view of photojournalists, the amount of crossings has been on the decline for years.  That’s why Trump opponents have become louder and louder in pointing out the sheer ludicrousness of the wall. Even Trump’s visions for his proposed wall have changed over time. From the monolithic concrete vision he commissioned prototypes for, just last week the phrasing had shifted to, in his words, “a see-through wall made out of steel.” Those are often called “fences”—which already exist across much of America’s southern border.

The network of border barriers in its current incarnation covers over 650 miles of the U.S, stretching in portions through desert, towns, and ending in the sea.

REUTERS/EDGARD GARRIDO
A house stands next to a section of the border fence separating Mexico and the US, in Tijuana, Mexico in 2017.
AP PHOTO/RUSSELL CONTRERAS
A US Border Patrol agent drives near the US-Mexico border fence in Sunland Park, New Mexico in 2016.
AP PHOTO/CHRISTIAN TORRES
Sunland Park, New Mexico, is seen over the US border fence as a protestor finishes painting the Spanish slogan “Neither delinquents nor illegals, we are international workers” on the Anapra, Mexico side of the fence in 2016.
AP PHOTO/RODRIGO ABD
A farm located adjacent to the fence at the US-Mexico border in the Juarez valley, Mexico in 2017.
AP PHOTO/BRIAN SKOLOFF
An aerial photo of the border fence along the edge of Nogales, Arizona.
AP PHOTO/RODRIGO ABD
The border fence that divides Mexico and the US is seen in Tecate, Mexico in 2018.
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
US Border Patrol supervisor Robert Stine looks out over the border wall from the top of a hill near Jacumba, California in 2016.
AP PHOTO/DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
Migrants looks for a place to jump the border fence to get into the US side to San Diego, California from Tijuana, Mexico in December of 2018.
AP PHOTO/DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
Tijuana, Mexico, left, and San Diego, California, right, are seen separated by the US border fence.
AP PHOTO/REBECCA BLACKWELL
US Border Patrol vehicles are parked along a secondary fence as they respond to a group of Central American migrants crossing the border wall illegally, seen from across the wall in Tijuana, Mexico in 2018.
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
US border patrol agents on horseback patrol along the US Mexico border fence near San Diego, California in 2016.
REUTERS/JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ
A section of the US-Mexico border wall at Sunland Park, taken from the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, in 2016.
REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE
Three men jump the fence from Mexico and give themselves up to US border patrol agents in Calexico, California in 2017.
AP PHOTO/DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
The border fence that extends onto the beach between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico is reflected on a puddle of sea water as seen from Mexico on Jan. 3, 2019.
AP PHOTO/DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
A bird stands on top of the border fence between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico on Jan 3, 2019.

Bluefin tuna auctioned for $3 million at Tokyo market

What America should have learned from the 2008 financial crisis

NowThis Politics

January 6, 2019

Here’s what America should’ve learned from the 2008 financial crisis, according to Robert Reich

What America Should've Learned from the 2008 Financial Crisis

Here's what America should've learned from the 2008 financial crisis, according to Robert Reich

Posted by NowThis Politics on Saturday, January 5, 2019

War With Iran?

Colonel Wilkerson on George W. Bush’s Iraq War and Trump’s Possible Iran War

Colonel Wilkerson on George W. Bush's Iraq War and Trump's Possible Iran War

This former official says the Trump admin is priming Americans for war with Iran — and he would know, since he helped George W. Bush do the same for Iraq

Posted by NowThis Opinions on Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Complaints about fake Social Security Scam calls up 1,000 percent

Chicago Sun – Times

Complaints about fake Social Security calls up 1,000 percent

By Stephanie Zimmermann           January 1, 2019

Federal officials report that at least $10 million has been stolen in 2018 by scammers posing as Social Security Administration employees. Shauna Bittle/Sun-Times.

About 35,000 consumers reported getting Social Security scam calls in 2018, up from 3,200 reports the previous year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC released audio of one of the scam calls, in which a computer-generated voice claims a person’s Social Security account will be suspended “on an immediate basis as we have received suspicious trails of information in your name.”

It directs the victim to call a toll-free number immediately or face arrest.

In some versions of this scam, the con artist claims the person’s Social Security number has been linked to a drug or money laundering crime, or claims someone else has used the number to apply for a credit card.

The scammers ask the victim to confirm the number and send a fee to supposedly reactivate it or get a new number. Sometimes, the caller says the person’s bank account will be seized and offers instructions on how to withdraw the money and supposedly keep it safe.

Victims lose millions

As improbable as the scam may sound, the FTC says panicked victims have already lost $10 million just this year.

The scammers often spoof the real Social Security Administration’s phone number on the victim’s caller ID to make the con more believable, the FTC says.

The Social Security scam is similar to the fake IRS agent scam, which has hit taxpayers in recent years. In that scam, callers pretend they are from the IRS and say they need to collect back taxes.

The IRS says it will never call a taxpayer to demand immediate payment via a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer – and it won’t threaten to have you arrested or deported, or have your driver’s license or business licenses taken away. If you owe taxes, the IRS will mail you a bill.

The FTC offers these tips:

  • Ignore the calls. Your Social Security number is not about to be suspended, and your bank accounts won’t be seized.
  • The Social Security Administration does not call people to threaten their benefits or demand money be wired or sent via cash or gift cards. Any such demand is a scam.
  • If you would like to speak to the Social Security Administration, you should make the call yourself to their real number, (800) 772-1213. (Be aware that scammers calling you can spoof this number on your caller ID.)
  • Never give out your Social Security number (even the last four digits) or your bank account number or your credit card number to someone who contacts you out of the blue.
  • Report scam calls to FTC.gov/complaint

Unexpected climate change consequences

DeSmog
January 3, 2019

Researchers have found another unexpected climate change consequence: rivers and lakes are drying up despite increased rain fall.

Unexpected Climate Change Consequences: Rivers & Lakes Drying Up DESPITE More Rain Fall

Researchers have found another unexpected climate change consequence: rivers and lakes are drying up despite increased rain fall.

Posted by DeSmog on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

This town was poisoned by coal for decades

EcoWatch

January 3, 2019

This town was poisoned by coal for decades. Then, the town decided to fight back. #YEARSproject

via We Can Solve This

Fighting The Power

This town was poisoned by coal for decades. Then, the town decided to fight back. #YEARSprojectvia We Can Solve This

Posted by EcoWatch on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Sharice Davids is in the U.S. House of Represenatives!

NDNCollective

January 3, 2019

Watch out, world. Sharice Davids is in the House!

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, text
MoveOn
January 3, 2019

The Blue Wave was just sworn into Congress. Meet the most diverse and most progressive House of Representatives in history!

Blue Wave Democrats Take the House

The Blue Wave was just sworn into Congress. Meet the most diverse and most progressive House of Representatives in history!

Posted by MoveOn on Thursday, January 3, 2019

The 7 economic fundamentals in our economy.

Robert Reich

January 3, 2019

It’s time to face the truth about our economy. Here’s are 7 economic fundamentals to remember in 2019.

7 Economic Fundamentals

It's time to face the truth about our economy. Here's are 7 economic fundamentals to remember in 2019.

Posted by Robert Reich on Tuesday, January 1, 2019