Richard W. Painter
@RWPUSA
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Law Professor. Former chief White House ethics lawyer 2005-07. Independent. @RWPMinnesota
Joined November 2014
In a democracy there must be limits on what a president can get away with. My book with E. Thomas Sullivan, The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability, will be released later this year:.
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Millions of us in the Republican Party miss you. And that is an understatement.
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. "
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This Tweet alone is grounds for removal from office under the 25th Amendment. This man should not have nukes.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!.
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The Governor of Michigan had better get her phone calls returned and the federal aid had better arrive in Michigan within 24 hours or the House within 48 hours should impeach both @realDonaldTrump and @VP. We've had enough of this extortion racket.
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A president who threatens civil war if the political process does not support him cannot be allowed to command the United States military. He should be removed from office immediately.
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I am a political independent who left the Republican Party. Tomorrow I will not vote for a single Republican. I will vote for their Democratic opponents. Many Americans will join me. On Wednesday morning the Republican Party can blame two men: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
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Franken asked the right questions. Sessions lied. Franken then called out Sessions on his lies. Sessions then recused. Without Franken, Mueller probably wouldn’t be doing what he is doing today. Good senators make a difference.
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The United States will go down in human history as a country that impeached a president for lying about a fully consensual affair with an intern but would not impeach a president who, in two separate elections, colluded with a foreign power against a political opponent. Pathetic.
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College admissions officers take note. Any high school student with this three day suspension on the record should get special consideration and some extra college credits for public service.
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BREAKING NEWS:.@senatemajldr Mitch McConnell has scheduled a full impeachment trial, with witnesses, to take place immediately after the confirmation hearing for Judge Merrick Garland.
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No US president before has called the press the enemy of the people. Dictators have said that, but no US president.
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This is disgusting. Never once did I hear President Bush refer to a Member of Congress with such offensive language in private, much less in public. Decent people simply don't behave this way.
Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!.
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"Made in America" theme week at the White House? Are they kidding? Their own election wasn't even made in America.
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Justice Alito says he doesn't see a woman's right to choose in the Constitution. I do. What I don't see in the Constitution is the number nine. .
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If you lost money today trading in Amazon stock or any other security, and you know of anyone who knowingly or recklessly made a false public statement about that company or its stock, causing your losses, you should contact a securities lawyer today.
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Kellyanne wants lie detectors in the White House? Try one on the press secretary podium. The place will light up like a disco!.
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NO new Supreme Court nominations by Trump to replace Justice Kennedy. NONE. He is in blatant violation of the Constitution and must be impeached. Senate and House Judiciary Committee hearings are way past due. I have had it with appeasement of aspiring dictators.
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Just got a "stand or kneel" email from POTUS with a push poll and ask for support. He's using our national anthem to raise cash. Disrespect.
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Excellent idea. Subpoena Ivanka for testimony under oath about Trump finances, foreign emoluments, financial conflicts of interest in Turkey and China, and a lot more. Since Republicans want Hunter Biden to testify, Democrats should call Ivanka Trump.
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When a Russian agent calls to offer dirt on a political opponent, a loyal American will call the FBI.
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As I pointed out here, Kushner got a $2 billion business deal with the Saudis six months after he left the White House, where he had personally shepherded $110 billion in arms sales to the Saudis. Sure looks like a payoff. DOJ should investigate.
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Enough BS. For thoughts and prayers call a priest or rabbi. For decent gun laws call a congressman, and if he doesn't DO anything, sack him.
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This is how a gentleman who wins an election talks about his opponent.
I'm grateful to @SenJohnMcCain for his lifetime of service to our country. Congratulations, John, on receiving this year's Liberty Medal.
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The senators are the judges in an impeachment trial. They vote after they hear the evidence. @senatemajldr is pledging his vote and votes of other senators for an acquittal in advance — in exchange for money. A JUDGE WHO DID THIS WOULD GO TO JAIL.
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This is an official interview. She has violated the Hatch Act by using her position to take sides in a partisan election. That is a firing offense. And for her this is strike two.
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Don't act stupid. Opposition reasearch paid for by Americans is legal. Opposition research paid for by the Russians is not.
No one had the courage to tell the truth?
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Mike Pompeo has zero credibility in the world. He has now been exposed as an accessory to extortion. He should resign.
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I just received an email from POTUS calling CNN the "Fake News Network". I have never seen a president behave this way. Something is wrong.
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Just got off a MSNBC panel in which Alan Dershowitz argued it is not a crime to lie to the FBI about a meeting with the Russians if the meeting itself was not a crime. Sheer nonsense. Lying to the FBI is a crime.
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A subpoena with no penalty for ignoring it isn’t a subpoena. That’s basic Latin. Sub: under.Poena: penalty .As Mnuchin and Barr flip their middle fingers at subpoenas they ask “what’s the penalty?”.It’s time to show them.
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Bloomberg should buy Fox News in time for the impeachment trial. @realDonaldTrump will have a massive fit. Fun!. George Conway Joins Others in Calling for Michael Bloomberg to Buy Fox News
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Americans are sick of political hacks talking about condolences and sympathy while stuffing NRA blood money in their pockets. Do sonething.
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Article 2, Section 4 provides for impeachment for “Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”.What would the founders have said about a president doing all three and Congress doing nothing about it?.Do we value democracy or not?.Now is the moment to decide.
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Welcome to 2018 — this year Americans will make it very clear that we do not tolerate corruption of our elected officials or their collusion with foreign adversaries, that we do not tolerate cover ups and we do not tolerate those who defend corruption, collusion and cover ups.
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If Obama had been bugging the Trump Tower they all would have been arrested last summer.
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I just filed as a candidate for U.S. Congress! We are going to flip Minnesota’s First Congressional District from red to blue!
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Congress wasted millions of dollars going through HRC emails. But Mueller isn't supposed to get Trump transition emails that were sent on a government server?.Nope -it doesn't work that way. Enough BS!.
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Bill Barr lied to Congress. He falsely accused the FBI of spying that did not occur. That's a felony. He needs to be impeached, removed from office and prosecuted.
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A president who stays married for a quarter century and doesn't carry on with porn stars. A president chosen by Americans, not by the Russians. A president who respects the Constitution. It all seems like ancient history now, but it's been less than three years.
Like the Beatles said: It’s getting better all the time. Thanks, babe, for 27 amazing years!
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Intel 101.When the FBI learns that a man is contacting Russian agents, the issue isn’t who told the FBI. It could be a mob boss or it could be Stormy Daniels. What we care about is that the FBI get a warrant and do it’s job of finding out why the man is contacting Russian agents.
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The President on Twitter implies that one senator is a whore and calls another "Pocahontas". A-OK with Congress. Two FBI and DOJ employees sent personal texts criticizing Trump as a candidate. Congress wants a special prosecutor. I say fire Congress!.
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Bye-bye GOP. You can follow Trump off the cliff but you are not taking our democracy with you. Millions of Americans will vote Democratic this November and both the Senate and House in January will start doing their job.
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And, finally, I have the privilege of being blocked on Twitter just today by White House faith based advisor Paula White after I re-Tweeted her Black Friday sale offering a 50% discount on personal salvation -- credit or debit card accepted. Whatever .
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The Boy Scouts must distance themselves from that offensive attempt to politicize scouting and turn them into a Trump youth organization.
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Corey Lewandowski refuses to answer questions under subpoena?.Put him in the slammer.
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I’ve never heard of an elected judge sending out a fundraising email saying how he will vote on a case that hasn’t yet been tried. U.S. senators are judges in an impeachment trial and vote guilty/not guilty. Asking for money in connection with that vote is SOLICITING A BRIBE,.
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What BS. Kellyanne constantly attacked Hillary Clinton over the indiscretions of Bill Clinton. And now she objects when people ask her about her own husband’s Tweets. Laughable.
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Senate Republicans apparently threatened to use the filibuster to stop all other senate business -- including COVID19 relief for desperate American families -- if this trial were to continue and hear witnesses. Never before has the GOP stooped so low to defend Donald Trump.
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The Alt Right is a terrorist movement. Steve Bannon and Breitbart gave it a platform which is now in the White House. They must go now!.
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Knowingly drafting a false statement for a person who is a witness in a criminal investigation is itself a crime. Obstruction of justice.
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Then Musk is subject to the criminal financial conflict of interest statute, 18 U.S.C. § 208 which prohibits him from participating in any government matter that could affect his own financial interest.
Elon Musk is officially a "special government employee," White House official confirms to @AP. His status has been a source of mystery even as he moves swiftly to overhaul and downsize the federal government.
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The circumstances of Justice Kennedy’s resignation must be investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee before any replacement is considered. The Constitution does not give Trump the power to use underhanded means to induce Supreme Court resignations.
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If during the Cold War the Soviets had been able to sell this “deep state” baloney to Americans, to sow distrust of our own FBI and CIA, we would all be speaking Russian by now. The collaborators in Congress must be voted out now!.
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I didn’t catch the names of the turkeys he pardoned. The last two were named Arpaio and D’Souza.
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If Bannon, Miller and Gorka aren't out by Friday, Congress must impeach and remove Trump. If Pence hires any Alt Right staff he goes too.
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Retaliation against whistle blowers is ILLEGAL. And this is retaliation.
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You can treat a fallen soldier's family like dirt so long as you "respect" the flag by standing for the national anthem at a football game.
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Hello Mr. Treasury Secretary. It’s our money. He’s blowing it playing golf. We have a right to know how much BEFORE the election. Mnuchin wants to delay Trump's Secret Service travel spending report till after election
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They came as children, attended schools, befriended our children, cheered our teams while their parents worked for us. They are Americans.
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Over and over again they promise that small donors will enter a lottery for a lunch or dinner with Trump. Apparently there is no lottery. There is no lunch or dinner. That's fraud. Mail fraud. Wire fraud. Go to jail fraud.
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Congress spent two years investigating a former Secretary of State for using the wrong email server and tried unsuccessfully to make that into a federal crime, but now ignores open and notorious evidence of foreign governments bribing the President. Corrupt. Fire Congress now!.
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Robert Mueller injured his knee so badly playing hockey and lacrosse at St. Paul’s that he was rejected for military service. So he saw a doctor, got it fixed and applied again. Meanwhile in Queens, New York doctors were fabricating bone spurs .
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1998: The House impeaches a President for lying about a consensual affair with a White House intern. 2018: Congress does nothing when the President colludes with foreign adversaries, takes illegal emoluments, obstructs justice, and urges DOJ to prosecute his enemies. Disgusting.
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What kind of country do we live in where even a military officer has to worry about the safety of his family because he told the truth?.
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Papadopolous is the big one - lesser charges but it is about collusion. And he is cooperating. Bad news for Trump.
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I am a liberal on individual liberty (abortion, marriage, end of life decisions, marijuana laws, etc) and a conservative about conserving the environment and spending money (single payer health care would save a huge amount and I hate bloated taxpayer funded NFL stadium deals).
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Good bye Scott Pruitt, the worst Administrator in EPA history and perhaps the word cabinet member ever. Fake science, fake ethics and fake religion (complete with a cultish theology of planet destruction) all rolled into one. Good bye.
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Perhaps if we call an AR-15 an involuntarily postnatal abortion device we might get a bill out this Congress. Or do these “pro-lifers” just want to regulate what goes on in doctors’ offices and leave the school kids to fend for themselves?.
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Thinking of quitting the GOP. Any party that has a “zero tolerance” policy toward sexual misconduct but that tolerates evidence of bribery and uses Super PACs to win elections is corrupt. Voters are disgusted.
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Compare side by side. Starr:.Cost: $50 million. Findings: two adulterers who lied about their affair. Mueller:.Cost: $10 million plus?.Findings: Money laundering, false statements about meetings with Russian agents, more Russians . .
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Bottom line: If Trump and @senatemajldr even try to install an ideologically polarizing nominee in RBGs seat, the Republicans will lose the Senate, House and Presidency, and there could easily be 13 justices on the Supreme Court by the end of 2021. So, go ahead and try . .
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Finally. Evangelical Christians are rejecting the immorality of Donald Trump. This is it. He's finished.
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Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Karin Housley blocked me on Twitter. She’s upset that I asked her to talk about serious issues rather than blame 20 minute lines at DMV on her opponent Tina Smith. For example that wait at DMV is 20 minutes more than it takes to register an AR-15.
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Intel. 101:.Whose job is it to detect and to remove a Russian mole?.The F.B.I. Who is paranoid about the F.B.I.?.A Russian mole.
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The Bush and Obama White Houses both would have fired someone for making a Pocahontas crack about Senator Warren. Bigotry is unAmerican.
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Why would we let him spend billions on a border wall when he can't even keep Russian agents out of the Trump Tower?.
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This man is either crazy or he wants to be a dictator. Or both. House and Senate Members who don’t even try to impeach and remove him are taking a huge risk for our Country. @realDonaldTrump is out of control. He must go.
I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is. Truth doesn’t matter to them, they only have their hatred & agenda. This includes fake books, which come out about me all the time, always anonymous sources, and are pure fiction. Enemy of the People!.
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A left wing nut with a gun is as dangerous as a right wing nut with a gun. But mental health coverage is harder for him to get than a gun?.
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Enough nonsense about right vs. left. This is about right vs. wrong. A politician who says he would have done the same thing should be gone.
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Secretary of the Interior Zinke should be removed from office NOW for threatening to abuse his agency's statutory mandate to hurt Alaska.
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It’s happening. GOP senators are talking — privately — about abandoning @realDonaldTrump. All it takes is 20. Dem senator says he knows 'handful' of GOP colleagues considering vote to remove Trump
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Only in a banana republic does a former federal prosecutor talk about the President killing a top law enforcement officer and getting away with it. The time has come for Americans to decide what kind of country we want to live in.
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Every time soneone high up in his organization is caught doing something illegal, POTUS Tweets about Hillary's emails. This is getting old.
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Using Twitter on Christmas Eve to intimidate a witness (McCabe) in a criminal investigation is not a very Christian way to celebrate the holiday. But it does make Mr. Mueller’s job easier and that’s a nice thing to do. Merry Christmas!.
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Ann Coulter is now calling me a "lunatic." Best news I've had all day! She's lost it.
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You have the right to support a pedophile for Senate on your own time on your own lawn. But the Hatch Act says you can't support him -- or trash his opponent - in your official capacity at the White House. Get it?
What @POTUS says below = what I said yesterday on @foxandfriends. I addressed Doug Jones. I did not address Roy Moore. Let Alabama choose its representatives. Let taxpayers know who uses our money to settle sexual harassment suits & why. #MeToo . #HappyThanksgiving
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Use of antitrust enforcement power to punish CNN for exercise of First Amendment rights is an impeachable offense. The time is now.
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So, who in the White House went short on stocks last week before Trump started this latest round in the U.S.-China trade war?.The SEC had better find out.
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I was a Republican for 30 years but the GOP is now a sea of corruption. As an independent I look forward to voting for @ewarren in Minnesota's open primary. Her focus on corruption in Washington and on Wall Street is what our Country needs right now. No more politics as usual.
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Hello @realDonaldTrump:.Retaliation against witnesses is a felony. 18 U.S. Code § 1513 - Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant
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Danger signs in any presidency: lots of generals in civilian posts, authoritarian rhetoric, disdain for judges. Bigger risk in time of war.
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Amendment 25 is the “I am a very stable genius” clause of the Constitution.
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This has nothing to do with the USPS and everything to do with Trump’s anger at Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post. Abuse of power yet again.
Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!.
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"Many years ago, Barr's father hired Epstein to teach at the private Dalton school, with no college degree." .So, a top New York school hired an unqualified teacher who was also a pervert. This is another case in which AG Barr should recuse.
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When is Congress going to investigate this? .Jared Kushner got a $2 billion deal from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund only six months after he left the White House and spearheaded a $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. This sure looks like a payoff.
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IQ test for Tillerson and the rest of the cabinet: how do you use the number 25 to change the number 45 into 46? This is a timed test.
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Just announced my candidacy for United States Senate. I will be running in the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. Join me in standing up for our democracy! .
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This White House is creating more jobs for criminal defense lawyers in Washington than it will ever create for steel workers in Pittsburgh.
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Americans are sick and tired of hearing from FOX and other networks about 20 year old Clinton sex scandals and Hillary’s email. What is Congress going to do about the traitorous buffoon in the White House? Time is running out.
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