As in the beginning, with Mueller, so in the end, with the Southern District of NY Federal Proseutor, the ultimate source of so many of these contributions seem to lead to Vladimir Putin.


"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted on Thursday that President Donald Trump withheld foreign aid in order to get Ukraine's help in the U.S. election.

"We do that all the time with foreign policy," Mulvaney responded when ABC News reporter Jon Karl pointed out that withholding funding from Ukraine "unless the investigation into the Democrats' server happens" is a "quid pro quo."

The latest University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll fielded by Nielsen Scarborough finds this could spell major trouble for the president's public standing ahead, including among Republicans: We asked: "In general, do you believe it is an impeachable offense if the president of the United States invites foreign leaders/entities to interfere in U.S. elections?" Two thirds of respondents, including 46 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Independents said yes.

Before Mulvaney's statement this week, the president appeared to have succeeded in persuading many, including a majority of Republicans, that there was no such quid pro quo. In a follow up we asked: "Do you believe that President Trump has invited foreign interference into a U.S. election?" A slight majority, 52 percent, said yes, but 79 percent of Republicans said no....

So, while two thirds of respondents say the offense of asking foreign leaders to intervene in our election is impeachable, only 52 percent agree the president committed such an offense. But there is reason to believe this gap will continue to narrow, including among Republicans and Independents. In fact, Independents are more than four times as likely as partisans to express uncertainty about whether the president invited foreign interference into a U.S. election.

As multiple polls have shown since the revelation about Trump's conversation with Ukraine's president, there is a steady shift in opinion toward supporting impeachment. In our poll, we probed this shift directly, asking respondents how the revelations shifted their attitudes on impeachment. Overall, 16 percent of respondents said they changed their position from opposing impeachment or being unsure, to supporting it. Importantly, this includes 8 percent of Republicans, suggesting that the controversy over Ukraine is much more parsimonious and salient than other scandals that have embroiled President Trump and his administration during the past two years.

....Therefore, based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020. We will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2019

Impeaching Donald Trump is now more popular than ever, just a month after Democrats announced the inquiry into the president. A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows support for impeachment rising to 55 per cent of Americans, with 43 per cent disapproving. That marks a jump even from a week prior, when 51 per cent of Americans approved impeachment, while 45 per cent disapproved.
....
Beyond impeachment, Mr Trump's job approval dropped in the latest poll to 38 per cent, the first time it has dipped below 40 per cent since the inquiry began. His handling of the economy is split among Americans, with 48 per cent saying they approve of his handling of the economy while 48 per cent say they do not.

And, as the conflict in Syria has dominated most national coverage in the United States, the new poll shows just 35 per cent of Americans approve of his foreign policy efforts, and 60 per cent of voters disapprove of his decision to remove American troops from northern Syria -- leaving US-allied Kurds in jeopardy.

Retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey condemned the White House for canceling subscriptions to the Washington Post and the New York Times.

On Wednesday, President Trump directed the White House to cancel subscriptions to the publications due to their coverage of his administration. "All these people doing it for the New York Times, which is a fake newspaper, we don't even want it in the White House anymore. We're gonna probably terminate that and the Washington Post. They're fake," Trump said. On Thursday, Trump instructed other federal agencies to follow suit and terminate their subscriptions to the two newspapers as well.

McCaffrey called Trump's decision a "watershed moment" for the United States and compared the president to Benito Mussolini, saying, "This is deadly serious. This is Mussolini."

Mussolini, a fascist, used the press to push propaganda and censored unflattering reports while leading Italy prior to World War II.