The latest news…

Sat

25

Jan

2020

Pompeo Unloads on NPR's Mary Louise Kelly

Being a journalist in the Age of Trump poses unique challenges.

 

Most of the time, Trump’s second Secretary of State, former Wichita Tea Party Congressman Mike Pompeo, manages to keep a lid on.

 

Pompeo is planning to run to succeed Trump, but only after Trump completes his third term in the White House.

 

On Thursday, NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly was granted a ten minute interview with Pompeo, and the subject was Iran, but Ukraine had been included in the agenda (can such weighty subjects really be dealt with in a mere ten minutes?)

 

Kelly politely asked Pompeo if he thinks he owes former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch an apology, because she was summarily fired just because Rudy Giuliani didn’t like her. Pompeo is well known for not supporting his diplomats.

 

Know what? He wouldn’t answer her question.

 

He got mad. 

 

And that’s putting it mildly.

 

Read all about it at https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/24/politics/mike-pompeo-interview-ukraine/index.html (note that this link did not come from NPR, but from the one media outlelt —CNN — that Trump hates

the most — and why is that?

 

The answer’s simple: because CNN tells the truth.

 

Turning to other matters, all our associate solitary reporters have told us that they don’t want to cover today’s Impeachment Trial proceedings, but we may be able to persuade them that their nation needs them now more than ever.

Fri

24

Jan

2020

Why Republican Senators Will Have to Hear Former National Security Advisor John Bolton's Testimony

Pat Cipollone is Donald Trump’s White House Counsel, but we here at AP don’t feel sorry for him, because it’s a job which he relishes.
Together with grizzled Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz; Failed Bill Clinton Prosecutor Ken Starr; and Jay Sekulow —  Cipollone, although a smooth talker, is (before the end of this post yet!) about to get his comeuppance from Chief Justice John Roberts.
That’s because the very eloquent and always persuasive Congressman Adam Schiff and his colleague from the Centennial State, Congressman Jason Crow, are getting right down to the nitty-gritty in courtroom tactics as they stay highly focused on removing Donald Trump from office if enough Republican senators are willing to adhere to the oath they took to be impartial jurors. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that any
deal — under which the Senators could hear witnesses if such a deal were to include Hunter Biden — is totally and completely “off the table.” 
But Congressman Crow, who is younger than Schumer by far, with much more recent courtroom experience, knows full well that Donald Trump’s Acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, if he were to testify truthfully, would undoubtedly provide much testimony highly damaging to Trump.
So, we sent associate solitary reporter Melissa Smith, who covers Congress for us, to speak with Congressman Crow.
“Melissa,” Crow began, “Mulvaney is totally loyal to Trump, and he wants his boss to remove that nasty word ‘Acting' from his title, so Mulvaney’s not my first choice for somebody to grill.”
“But John Bolton, who used to be Trump’s National Security Advisor, wants very badly to testify.”
“And,” Crow continued, "since Bolton’s always been a national security hawk, who was let go by Team Trump, that means he disagrees with Trump; so I’ve persuaded Schumer to let me and Adam make a Perfect Deal with Trump’s lawyers, under which we get to question Bolton and they get to question Hunter Biden, because what the Republican National Committe desperately wants to do, is to use anything that Hunter will say against his father, who looks as though he’ll be our nominee — as we all know, that’s what landed Trump in this Swamp which he, and only he, created.”
“And I know that Hunter’s perfectly willing to endure withering questioning from Dershowitz, Starr, Sekulow, or whoever, so we could hear Bolton -- and so, if we convince Senators Collins, Murkowski, Alexander, and Gardner to let us question Bolton, no Republican Senator with any integrity could avoid voting to convict and remove Trump."
“As Adam has been saying today, if Cipollone wants to argue about Executive Privilege, just let the Chief Justice rule on those points!” 
(That link will tell you, first, that Senator Lindsey
Graham (R-Palmetto State) has been, in his own words, “sick as a dog” while he's been a juror; and, second, why Chief Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff knows full well that Chief Justice Roberts would be a fair judge on any spurious claims that Trump’s lawyers would raise having to do with executive privilege.)
Only one minute ago, ASR Smith watched, with great exuberance, as Chief Justice Roberts told Cippolone and Company that, late today, Bolton is required to testify.

 

Wed

22

Jan

2020

Damn! Another Totally Boring Day at the US Capitol; Klobuchar's Pick for AG; Why We're Alarmed About Trump; Umpire-in-Chief Chastises Counsel and McConnell

George Conway, a SuperLawyer who’s never been in the SuperBowl, is married to Donald Trump’s Sychophant-in-Chief, Kellyanne Conway.

 

Before he married Kellyanne, he dated Laura Ingraham (why would he want do that?)

 

Yesterday, Kellyanne was asked how Trump celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

 

She said that he was preparing for his trip to Davos.

 

She also said that MLK would not have approved of the impeachment of Trump.

 

Yet another totally outrageous statement from Trump’s Counselor.

 

Though her husband, George, is a Republican and a conservative, we here at AP have often applauded him for his candor in calling out Trump & Co.

 

Which is what he did today, when he said that Trump is “virtually incapable of telling the truth" (https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/01/22/george-conway-intv-trump-lies-impeachment-tapper-sot-vpx.cnn).

 

Associate solitary reporter Johanna Jones was with Trump and associate solitary reporter Eddie Cook, Trump’s advance man for the Davos trip (see yesterday’s post, https://www.apocryphalpress.com/2020/01/21/trump-is-denied-entrance-to-switzerland-to-attend-the-world-economic-forum-in-davos/).

 

There, we reported that Prince Albert II of Monaco had offered political asylum to Trump as long as Trump would spend millions losing money in the Prince’s casinos.

 

When Bush Two nominated Judge Roberts to be our Chief Justice, at his confirmation, the good Judge said he views the role of Judge as being an Umpire.

 

Which is what he got to do yesterday as he presided at Trump’s Impeachment trial.

 

He chided counsel for Trump and for the House, reminded the Senators that the Senate is supposed to maintain its Tradition of being “the world’s most deliberative body,” but that to maintain its reputation, Senators must be civil to each other (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/22/politics/john-roberts-scolds-legal-teams-senate-trial-chief-justice/index.html).

 

He advised counsel to avoid being Pettifoggers. But Moscow Mitch had to look up what that is, and, it took him a long time, but eventually McConnell realized that the Chief Justice was chiding him as well as counsel.

 

But Moscow Mitch McConnell is never civil to Democrats.

 

He’s grossly betrayed his oath to do impartial justice in Trump’s impeachment trial, where the Senators are sequestered and where the media have very limited access to the Senators (all because of Moscow Mitch).

 

But Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Cal.), the Chair of the House Intel Committee, is a really good lawyer.

 

Which is why our Chief Congressional Correspondent, associate solitary reporter Melissa Smith, asked Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) whom she plans to appoint as her Attorney General after she is inaugurated as our President on January 21,  2021.

 

“Melissa,” Klobuchar said, “that’s easy. Of course it’ll be Schiff!”

 

While in Davos, Trump blustered, hollered, and, once again, whined against people such as courageous climate change activist Greta Thunberg. He called them “alarmists” (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/21/donald-trump-davos-climate-change-101327).

 

Which makes us here at AP all the more alarmed.

 

 

 

Tue

21

Jan

2020

Trump Is Denied Entrance to Switzerland to Attend the World Economic Forum in Davos

We always thought that Donald Trump loves nothing better than to lash out at anyone who disagrees with him.

 

And that he goes to extraordinary lengths to have multiple opportunities to do so.

 

Which is why we can’t understand why he’s not in our Nation’s Capital today, anywhere near Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bunker in the Capitol, preparing to defend himself against well-justified Articles of Impeachment.

 

Instead, he’s about to arrive in Davos, in eastern Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum.

 

After all, brave climate activist Greta Thunberg is there, where she challenged the 3,000 world leaders in atendance to do something significant about our very serious climate crisis (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/business/greta-thunberg-davos/index.html)

 

But associate solitary reporter and Denver GOP Chairman Eddie Cook knows why Trump is not on his way to Switzerland.

 

Cook was part of the advance team preparing luxury accomodations for Trump.

 

“As soon as I arrived at the airport in Geneva,” Cook texted us, “I was met by Ueli Maurer, the President of the Federal Council of Switzerland.”

 

“I have to say, Herr Maurer was polite, but he very firmly told me that Mr. Trump is not allowed to enter his country.”

 

“So, being equally polite, I asked him why.”

 

“Then,” Cook continued, "President Maurer said that he had carefully read Nancy Pelosi’s charge to her Impeachment Mangers; then he listened to Ms. Thunberg, who moved him to tears; and then he convened an emergency meeting of the Swiss Federal Council, which unanimously voted to deny My Hero entrance.”

 

“But then he graciously, and most diplomatically, told me that he had made special arrangements, with Prince Albert II of Monaco, for Mr. Trump to stay there for several days, until he is removed from office, before he can retire in comfort to Mar-a-Lago.”

 

“Oh, one more thing,” Cook said. “He said that Prince Albert is doing this for Mr. Trump because he, the Prince, is a distant cousin of Prince Albert Kenwood, a prominent citizen of Lakewood, Colorado, who is a past recipient of a MacArthur Genius Award for his expertise in computer science."

Sun

19

Jan

2020

Pence Gets JFK Completely Wrong; We Celebrate Colorado's Democratic Secretary of State; More on "The Crown"

 

So much to report on.

 

CNN is obsessed with the Sussexes, a/k/a Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle. They got tired of being Royals (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/19/uk/harry-meghan-royal-explainer-gbr-scli-intl/index.html).

 

Meghan, who is (who woulda thought it? an American) and (who woulda thought it? biracial), has a gorgeous smile.

 

In the UK, racism seems rampant. Something about the British press it seems.

 

Peter Morgan is the brilliant creator of Netflik's The Crown, about Queen Elizabeth II and her Family. The Fourth Season is in production.

 

Our London-based associate solitary reporter, Danielle Packwood, spoke with Morgan today. 

 

"Danielle,” Morgan said, “With all this To Do about Harry and Meghan, I think we’re heading into a Tenth Season, eventually.”

 

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As a ten-year old boy, your solitary reporter leafletted for John F. Kennedy when he successfully ran for the United States Senate in 1952 to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

 

He’s only voted for a Republican once, when he voted for Republican Mary Estill Buchanan for Colorado Secretary of State, in 1974.

 

Serious mistake.

 

But the Centennial State now has a superb Secretary of State, Democrat Jena Griswold, 35, a Rising Star in the Democratic Party. 

 

-----------

 

In his desperation to please Donald Trump, former Indiana conservative radio talk show host Mike Pence has gone after the fabled President Kennedy.

 

In JFK’s award-winning 1957 book, Profiles in Courage, he mentioned a Senator who may have tipped the scales in President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment acquittal in 1868.

 

Based on that, Pence incorrectly says that Senate Democrats should vote to acquit the most corrupt man ever to sit in the Oval Office.

 

Enter Jack Schlossberg, grandson of JFK, who rightly shreds Pence’s spurious argument (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/politics/jfk-grandson-pence-profiles-in-courage/index.html).

 

Associate soiltary reporter Johanna Jones asked Pence why he did that, and Pence responded to her in the same rude way that Arizona’s Republican junior senator, Martha McSally, spoke to CNN’s Manu Raju when he politely asked her why she doesn’t think witnesses should be called in Trump’s impeachment trial: McSally called Raju a “liberal hack" (https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/01/16/martha-mcsally-manu-raju-liberal-hack-tsr-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/).

 

Pence called ASR Jones a liberal hack and slammed the door in her face.