ARSB touchdown! First NFL TD of the season. Fight on!

Prosecutors Slam Trump’s Demand for D.C. Judge’s Recusal​

CHERRY-PICKED

Isabella Ramirez​

Breaking News Intern
Published Sep. 15, 2023 11:58AM EDT

Scott Olson/Getty Images​

Special counsel Jack Smith’s office filed a 20-page motion Thursday strongly opposing former President Donald Trump’s attempts to have a U.S. District judge recuse herself from his federal election interference case.

While Trump has claimed Judge Tanya Chutkan’s previous harsh statements about Jan. 6 rioters in other D.C. cases proves bias against him, prosecutors said there was absolutely “no valid basis” to have Chutkan disqualify herself. Instead, prosecutors said Trump “cherry-picks” from Chutkan’s quotes and failed to show “the deep-seated antagonism required for recusal.” Trump had cited two sentencing hearings for Capitol rioters in which the defendants had tried to argue they were just following Trump’s lead, which led Chutkan to allude to the ex-president not yet being held accountable.

However, prosecutors said Chutkun never said Trump was was “legally or morally culpable” for Jan. 6 or that he “deserved punishment.” They added, “Tellingly, [Trump] does not cite a single case in which recusal has been warranted on remotely similar facts.”

This is pretty extensive, hope you enjoy. I'll have the defense done Monday.

Devon Archer’s Full Biden Story​

VP Biden mixed the family business with his Ukraine diplomacy.​

The WSJ Editorial Board

Mr. Archer is a former business partner of Hunter Biden and served with him on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma. Mr. Archer described the value-added that Hunter brought to the business as the “brand,” which was the Biden name. When Hunter put his father on speakerphone with his business clients, “there was [a] brand being delivered.”

He further clarified that it was Joe Biden “that brought the most value to the brand.” In other words, Hunter was selling his father’s power in Washington.

That is what Burisma was paying for, and it looks like it got its money’s worth. “Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn’t have the brand attached to it,” Mr. Archer said.​

Joe Biden famously bragged of his role in using $1 billion in U.S. aid to get Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired during his December 2015 visit to Kyiv. Mr. Archer says Mr. Shokin, who was investigating Burisma, was not “specifically on my radar,” and that he was spun a tale how of Mr. Shokin was actually “good for Burisma.” But he also said he wasn’t on the phone with Hunter, Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky and Burisma exec Vadym Pozharski when they “called D.C.” after a meeting in Dubai to discuss how Washington might alleviate the pressure on them.

All of this underscores Joe Biden’s horrendous judgment in blending his son’s business with his duties as Vice President. Mr. Biden was the Obama Administration’s point man for Ukraine, which was fighting Russia’s first invasion, and he can’t claim ignorance about his son’s dealings.

Amos Hochstein, a senior energy official in the Obama Administration, warned the Vice President in 2015 that Russia-backed media were using Hunter’s presence on the Burisma board to “undermine” the U.S. anti-corruption message. The following year a top diplomat in Kyiv, George Kent, was even more blunt in a message to State.

“Ukrainians,” Mr. Kent said, “heard one message from us and then saw another set of behavior, with the family association with a known corrupt figure whose company was known for not playing by the rules in the oil/gas sector.”

Mr. Archer also explained how Hunter received $142,300 from Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishevto buy an “expensive car”—either a Fisker or a Porsche. Mr. Rakishev attended a spring 2014 business dinner at Washington’s Cafe Milano with the Vice President and his son. Also in attendance was Elena Baturina, the wife of Moscow’s mayor, who wired $3.5 million to a company linked to Mr. Archer. The House Committee says it will provide more details when it releases its next tranche of related financial documents.


When the public first learned of Hunter’s sleazy deals, Joe Biden denied ever discussing his son’s business with him. But Mr. Archer has also released a letter from Mr. Biden—on official vice presidential stationery—saying how “happy” he was that Mr. Archer was in business with his son. The letter was written right after a lunch he and Mr. Archer attended with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao.

***​

It’s one thing to develop relationships in office that turn into business opportunities later, the way Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, did in the Middle East. It’s another to leverage the office while in office to promote the family business. As Mr. Archer said, the advantage of the Biden brand is that legally “people would be intimidated to mess with them.”

Whether or not Joe Biden took a dime from these dealings, this is a form of political corruption. Covered up by the press in 2020, it will be an issue in 2024. Democrats should worry that as more facts emerge about the Biden mix of politics and business, it could help Mr. Trump neutralize his many legal vulnerabilities.​

College football Power Rankings: Did Florida State fall after close call?

ESPN writers rank the best teams in college football after Week 3 of the 2023 season.

www.espn.com

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No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)​

The Bulldogs' first real test of the season (sorry UT Martin and Ball State, but it's true) was a little dicey. South Carolina jumped out to a lead thanks to the strong play of Spencer Rattler, throwing and running the football. And the Georgia offense couldn't get anything going in the passing or the running game. Then came the second half. It was as if Kirby Smart's squad remembered they're the defending national champions. Suddenly the defense was stifling, and the offense was owning the line of scrimmage. Twenty-one unanswered points later and Georgia cruised to victory. Quarterback Carson Beck was once again solid, but you have to wonder if he'll have a breakout game at some point, whether it's at home against UAB next week or the week after when the Bulldogs go on the road for the first time this season at Auburn. -- Alex Scarborough

Up next: vs. UAB (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

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No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (3-0)​

The team's third and final game without coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline was messier than the others. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who had not thrown an interception in the first two contests and had just three outside of last season's CFP loss to TCU, was picked off three times by Bowling Green. McCarthy finished with only 143 passing yards. Michigan committed four turnovers and converted only 1 of 5 third-down chances. The Wolverines will need to be sharper against an improved Rutgers team next week. Their defense remained stellar, holding Bowling Green to 205 yards and collecting a season-best three takeaways, three sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins had an interception and a tackle for loss, and cornerback Mike Sainristil had a sack and two tackles for loss as Michigan did not allow a touchdown. -- Adam Rittenberg

Up next: vs. Rutgers (noon ET, Big Ten Network)

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No. 3 Florida State Seminoles (3-0)​

A win is a win, but the truth is the Seminoles are lucky to have left Boston College with a victory. Boston College outplayed Florida State for wide stretches -- controlling the ball and the clock on offense, while quarterback Thomas Castellanos gave the FSU defense fits. Though Florida State built a 31-10 lead in the third quarter, two costly fumbles -- including a scoop and score, kept the Eagles in the game until the final minute. BC ended up outgaining Florida State 457 to 340 in yards in the 31-29 loss. The Seminoles dropped a spot in the power rankings. There will be plenty for the Seminoles to clean up before a huge ACC showdown next week at Clemson. -- Andrea Adelson

Up next: at Clemson (noon ET, ABC)

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No. 4 USC Trojans (3-0)​

Having played in Week 0, the Trojans got an early bye week before they head to Arizona State for their first road game of the season and the start of the true test of their schedule. The Sun Devils could present a trap game of sorts for USC, but even if Lincoln Riley's team steps over ASU with ease, what awaits them is a daunting set of matchups against Colorado, Utah, Notre Dame, Washington and Oregon. The first three games of the season showed USC has one of the best offenses in the nation and improved defense. The rest of the season will show if that will be enough to take them to the playoff and beyond. -- Paolo Uggetti

Up next: at Arizona State (9:30 p.m. ET)

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No. 5 Texas Longhorns (3-0)​

Texas has a history of showing up for big games, then suffering letdowns. When Wyoming tied the Longhorns after a 17-play, 10-minute field goal drive in the third quarter, it looked like another lull was well underway. Instead, Texas responded brilliantly. Xavier Worthy scored on a 44-yard catch-and-run, kick-starting a 21-0 run over four minutes early in the fourth quarter, and the Horns cruised 31-10. Quinn Ewers had a quiet day (11-for-21 for 131 yards and two scores), but Jonathon Brooks rushed for 164 yards on 21 carries, and despite a major time-of-possession disadvantage -- Wyoming had the ball for 38:47 -- this one ended up comfortable. It's on to Big 12 play for the Horns. -- Bill Connelly

Up next: at Baylor (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

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No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0)​

The Buckeyes are still a bit of a mystery as they gear up for a Week 4 clash at Notre Dame, but they should feel better about their offense and quarterback Kyle McCord after a 63-point performance against Western Kentucky. McCord, officially named the starter on Tuesday, completed 19 of 23 pass attempts for 318 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, finding Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 75-yard score. Ohio State's 35-point second quarter marked its highest since 2019 and its second-highest in the past 20 seasons. "We needed to take the next step," coach Ryan Day said of his offense. The defense overcame a leaky first half to shut out Austin Reed and Western Kentucky in the final 30 minutes and hold the Hilltoppers to 284 total yards. Linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers led the defense, but Ohio State still needs much more from a talent-stocked line going forward, beginning next week against Sam Hartman and the Irish. -- Rittenberg

Up next: at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

​

But SC has the #1 defense...hahaha

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Lol.

All the Biggest Revelations From Sen. Mitt Romney’s New Book Extract​

The Utah senator, who announced his retirement this week, has spent two years working with a biographer to unravel exactly how he became “the turd in the punch bowl” of the GOP.

AJ McDougall​

Breaking News Reporter
Updated Sep. 13, 2023 7:41PM EDT / Published Sep. 13, 2023 7:23PM EDT

​

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) began telling his inner circle that he was weighing retirement earlier this year. On Wednesday, he told the rest of the world, saying he would not run for re-election and calling for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump to make way for a “new generation of leaders.”

Hours after Romney’s announcement, The Atlantic dropped a bombshell of its own: One of the magazine’s journalists, McKay Coppins, has been working with the Utah senator to chronicle his political life for the last two years. Romney gave Coppins superlative access to both his public and private life, turning over hundreds of pages’ worth of emails, texts, and personal journals. In one case, Romney literally took a crowbar to a locked filing cabinet to get at records for the reporter’s use.

The result is his forthcoming biography, Romney: A Reckoning, a portion of which was published in The Atlantic on Wednesday afternoon. The nearly 10,000-word extract reveals how Romney’s high hopes for his time in the Senate turned into disillusionment and eventual ostracizing from his own party.

It also paints a portrait of a deeply isolated, existentially drained lawmaker who watched with disgust as his colleagues groveled to Trump’s face while laughing behind his back—before Jan. 6, 2021 changed everything.

And, as it turns out, Romney is as good at brutally calling out two-faced legislators as he is at bearing witness. Here are all the most revelatory—and juiciest—tidbits from the excerpted story of a man who, in his own estimation, became “the turd in the punchbowl” of the Republican Party.

‘Almost without exception,’ Senate Republicans rolled their eyes at Trump ahead of the 2020 election​

So many Republican senators privately expressed their support for Romney’s public criticism of Trump that the Utahn began keeping count, telling staffers he’d had more than a dozen nearly identical exchanges. He recalled one senior lawmaker complaining to him: “[Trump] has none of the qualities you would want in a president, and all of the qualities you wouldn’t

“Almost without exception,” Romney told Coppins, “they shared my view of the president.”

In March 2019, Trump descended on the GOP senators’ weekly caucus lunch to wax lyrical about his recent victories.
The senators broke into “a standing ovation fit for a conquering hero,” Coppins writes, before settling in to listen politely as the then-president jabbered almost incoherently. The minute Trump left the room, according to Romney, the entire caucus burst into laughter.

That includes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell​

Some of Romney’s most withering observations in the extract are reserved for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who served as Senate Majority Leader until 2021. The McConnell that Romney saw behind the scenes was very different from the one who played Trump’s toady in public. In private conversations, McConnell called Trump an “idiot” and told Romney he was “lucky” for being able “say the things that we all think” about him. (A McConnell spokesperson disputed this.)

McConnell’s alleged distaste for Trump came out in full force during the first impeachment trial. After the trial’s impeachment managers had finished their presentation, Romney walked past McConnell. “They nailed him,” McConnell remarked, according to Romney.

Romney, taken aback, said that Trump’s team could spin his misconduct to make it appear as though he was just investigating the Biden family’s corruption.

“If you believe that,” McConnell reportedly replied, “I’ve got a bridge I can sell you.” The Senate leader told Coppins that he did not recall this exchange, and it did not match his thinking at the time.

Romney messaged McConnell to warn him about the Jan. 6 attacks. McConnell didn’t reply​

On Jan. 2, 2021, Romney got a heads-up from another senator who’d spoken to a senior Pentagon official, warning him about extremist threats that law enforcement had been tracking in connection to protests planned for Jan. 6.

Romney passed on the concerns to McConnell, texting him, “There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigator—the President—is the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require.”

McConnell never wrote back, according to Coppins.

Romney really, really hates Josh Hawley and J.D. Vance​

Over his four years in the Senate, Romney accrued a special kind of loathing for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). During the Capitol riots, while huddled in the Senate chamber with his colleagues, Romney recalled whirling on Hawley to yell at him that this was his fault.

“They know better!” he told Coppins of his far-right colleagues. Granting that Hawley was “one of the smartest people in the Senate, if not the smartest,” Romney speculated that the Missouri lawmaker had made “a calculation” that ended up putting “politics above the interests of liberal democracy and the Constitution.”

Having lost the stomach for collaborating with his more Machiavellian counterparts, Romney at one point over the last two years outright told Coppins that he doubted he would ever “work with Josh Hawley on anything.”

Last year, Vance similarly stoked Romney’s ire. Initially a fan of Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Romney turned on Vance after his “MAGA makeover,” as Coppins put it. Watching Vance rail against Biden and the woke left on the campaign trail, Romney said, he wanted to grab the younger man and scream in his face that debasing himself like this wasn’t worth it.

“It’s not like you’re going to be famous and powerful because you became a United States senator,” Romney said. “It’s like, really? You sell yourself so cheap?”

Romney approached Joe Manchin about forming a new party​

In April 2023, Romney went to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), one of his few allies, with a pitch to form a more centrist party. He didn’t have a name yet, but he did have a slogan: “Stop the stupid.” His idea wasn’t to run a candidate themselves, but to endorse the least objectionable of the candidates already shooting for the White House.

“We’d say, ‘This party’s going to endorse whichever party’s nominee isn’t stupid,’ ” Romney told Coppins.

It was not immediately clear from the extract how far they got; Coppins writes that the last time he spoke to the Utah senator about the idea, he was “still in the brainstorming stage.”

​

Big win for FLA and esp. Billy Napier….

Democrats signal support to auto workers after Biden says carmakers must improve offers

President Biden came out in strong support of the striking auto workers, declaring that "auto companies have seen record profits, including the last few years, because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices of the UAW workers. Those record profits have not been shared fairly!" He was joined en masse by other Democrats expressing their support for the strike, which hopefully should send a message to the auto companies that the writing is on the wall and their years of rampant exploitation are soon to be over.

With the commencement of an impeachment inquiry this week, the House of Representatives is moving the Biden corruption scandal into the highest level of constitutional inquiry. After stonewalling by the Bidens and federal agencies investigating various allegations, the move for a House inquiry was expected if not inevitable.

An impeachment inquiry does not mean that an impeachment itself is inevitable. But it dramatically increases the chances of finally forcing answers to troubling questions of influence-peddling and corruption.

As expected, many House Democrats — who impeached Donald Trump after only one hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, based on his phone call to Ukraine’s president — oppose any such inquiry into President Biden. House Republicans could have chosen to forego any hearings and use what I called a “snap impeachment,” as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did with the second Trump impeachment in January 2021.

Instead, they have methodically investigated the corruption scandal for months and only now are moving to a heightened inquiry. The House has established a labyrinth of dozens of shell companies and accounts allegedly used to transfer millions of dollars to Biden family members. There is now undeniable evidence to support influence-peddling by Hunter Biden and some of his associates — with Joe Biden, to quote Hunter’s business partner Devon Archer, being “the brand” they were selling.

The suggestion that this evidence does not meet the standard for an inquiry into impeachable offenses is an example of willful blindness. It also is starkly different from the standard applied by congressional Democrats during the Trump and Nixon impeachment efforts.

The Nixon impeachment began on Oct. 30, 1973, just after President Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor looking into the Watergate allegations. The vote in the judiciary committee was along party lines. The House was correct to start that impeachment inquiry, although House leaders stressed that they were not prejudging the existence of impeachable offenses. The inquiry started roughly eight months before any indictments of defendants linked to the Watergate break-in. It was many months before clear evidence established connections to Nixon, who denied any wrongdoing or involvement.

Every impeachment inquiry is different, of course. In this case, there is a considerable amount of evidence gathered over months of methodical investigations by three different committees.

It’s always the ones who insist that marriage is “a special, God-given union between one man and one woman” that forget how to count.

The Daily Mail has published an explosive report that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, a former Donald Trump aide, have been having a secret affair “for years”—at least since 2019. Noem’s spokesperson told the tabloid, “This is so predictable that you would attack Governor Noem less than a week after she endorsed Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States.” Neither have denied the Daily Mail’s reporting, and Vanity Fair has reached out to both of them for further comment.

A “family values” Republican, Noem has three children with her husband, Bryon. They’ve been married for over 30 years. Lewandowski married his wife, Alison, in 2005, and they have four children.

Lewandowski has a reputation of being just one of the many characters that Trump can’t quit. Trump’s original campaign manager, Lewandowski was fired in June 2016 after “a series of incidents that the Trump family worried had cast the candidate in a negative light.” These may have included, but were not limited to, aggressively handling a reporter and protester, reportedly calling a coworker a “****ing bitch,” and reportedly calling a staffer to yell at him as the staffer’s grandmother was having her Last Rites read. Soon, though, Trump brought Lewandowski back in the fold.

Noem stoked speculation that she’s angling to be Trump’s running mate for 2024 with an early endorsement of the indicted man for president. Trump received her endorsement onstage in North Dakota last week, where a Trump-Noem 2024 graphic reportedly appeared on a screen behind them. “I will do everything I can to help him win and save this country,” Noem said when introducing the former president.

The Daily Mail claimed it has a long list of receipts including “stays at luxury resorts where their intimacy was observed and noted.” They allegedly took private planes on donors’ dimes, and would disappear frequently. Rumors of their alleged affair surfaced briefly in 2021, via far-right conservative website American Greatness, but Noem issued a strong rebuke of the story. She said it was “total garbage and a disgusting lie,” and she was “proud of the God-fearing family” that she raised with her husband. Lawyers for Lewandowski dismissed the allegations as “rumors.”

Lewandowski became a key adviser to Noem by 2019, and they would travel frequently together. Per the Daily Mail, “In the months leading up to the 2020 election, Noem and Lewandowski became virtually inseparable companions on the Trump campaign trail. By then, their relationship was an open secret at the White House and among high-level GOP lobbyists and political consultants.”

However, after a scandal in which Lewandowski allegedly propositioned a donor’s wife at a Benihana, he was supposedly cut loose from Noem’s team. “Corey was always a volunteer, never paid a dime (campaign or official),” Ian Fury, Noem’s communications director, said in a statement at the time. “He will not be advising the governor in regard to the campaign or official office.” The Daily Mail claimed this was not true. Lewandowski continued working for Noem, and she would, according to a source, “make excuses for his behavior and apologize to staffers for him.”

WTF!!!

Louisiana Republican Party endorses candidate charged with criminal cruelty to children

John Raymond was arrested twice on juvenile cruelty charges for abusing kids at a school he was the headmaster at — including whipping a 4-year-old on his buttocks — but that hasn't stopped the children-obsessed GOP from giving him a glowing endorsement. The hypocrisy BURNS like the mouth of a thirteen-year-old after having duct tape ripped off of it, like John Raymond did to his students.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said he was "happy" to hear Trump's promise to "resolve all burning issues within several days" — including the war in Ukraine.

Sept. 15, 2023, 3:00 PM CDT
By Phil McCausland

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he appreciated recent praise from Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In an exclusive interview with NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump said it meant "what I'm saying is right," referring to his positions on the war in Ukraine.

Trump readily claimed in the interview that if re-elected president, he would resolve the war within 24 hours, though he provided few details about how he would end a conflict that has dragged on for more than 18 months. The former president has asserted several times that he could quickly end the war.

"If I tell you exactly, I lose all my bargaining chips. I mean, you can’t really say exactly what you’re going to do. But I would say certain things to Putin. I would say certain things to Zelenskyy," he said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin, Russia's longtime leader, said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, last week that he had heard "that Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it."

Then-President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in 2017.Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images file

Trump said he was pleased by Putin's comments.

"I like that he said that," he told Welker. "Because that means what I’m saying is right. I would get him into a room. I’d get Zelenskyy into a room. Then I’d bring them together. And I’d have a deal worked out."

This is Welker’s first interview as moderator of “Meet the Press,” and it will air in full Sunday on NBC stations nationwide. Welker, who covered Trump in the White House, pressed the former president several times to clearly explain how he would end the war.
Tune into “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” this Sunday for more from Welker’s exclusive interview with former President Donald Trump. Check local listings.

Trump continued to avoid an explanation of what his plan would entail, though he claimed he would "make a fair deal for everybody" when asked if he would allow the Kremlin to keep Ukrainian territory that Russian forces had illegally seized by force.

Trump remains the front-runner in the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Some of his competitors have criticized him for de-emphasizing the war in Ukraine as a U.S. national security interest, while others — such as Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — have adopted his denunciations of the contributions made by American allies, especially compared to those by NATO.

Though Trump did not make clear what he would do in office regarding the conflict, he frequently argued during the interview that there would not have been a war if he had remained president.


Former President Donald Trump speaks with Kristen Welker in Bedminster, N.J., on Thursday.William B. Plowman / Meet The Press


"There was nobody tougher than me with Russia," he said. "And yet I got along with Putin. Let me tell you, I got along with him really well. And that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. He’s got 1,700 nuclear missiles. And so do we."

The former president did not have much to add when Welker pressed him about the Kremlin’s brutality in Ukraine, however. She noted that Russian forces had bombed maternity wards, buried Ukrainian civilians in mass graves and kidnapped children in the occupied territory.

“It’s all terrible,” Trump said in response.

It is not the first time that he has declined to be overly critical of Putin, whom most American allies and members of the U.S. national security community consider an antagonist.

And Trump's track record in supporting Ukraine, a U.S. partner, has been spotty.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Trump praised Putin as “a guy who is very savvy” and the invasion of Ukraine as “genius” in an interview with a conservative podcaster.

Trump’s first impeachment in December 2019 came after a daylong debate in Congress about whether the then-president had violated his oath by pressuring Ukraine to damage a political opponent — Joe Biden — by withholding nearly $400 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine.

He also said he took the Russian president at his word at a summit in Helsinki in 2018 and dismissed U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusions that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.

“President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump said at the time. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

Days later, the former president claimed he had misspoken.

Trump criticizes UAW leadership amid strike, warns autoworkers’ jobs are moving to China​

PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 15 202312:30 PM EDTUPDATED FRI, SEP 15 20234:16 PM EDT

Amanda Macias@AMANDA_M_MACIAS



Former President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Sept. 14, 2023.
Meet the Press | NBCU

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump warned that U.S. autoworkers’ jobs will move to China and accused the United Auto Workers’ leadership of failing its members, thousands of whom went on strike Friday against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

“The autoworkers will not have any jobs, Kristen, because all of these cars are going to be made in China. The electric cars, automatically, are going to be made in China,” Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview set to air Sunday on “Meet the Press.”

“The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” added the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.


Approximately 13,000 U.S. autoworkers stopped making vehicles and went on strike following failed negotiations on a slew of issues, including higher pay.

The strike marked the first time the United Auto Workers union targeted the three automaker titans simultaneously.

Workers walked out at GM’s midsize truck and full-size van assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.

Trump specifically criticized UAW President Shawn Fain. “I think he’s not doing a good job in representing his union, because he’s not going to have a union in three years from now. Those jobs are all going to be gone, because all of those electric cars are going to be made in China. That’s what’s happening,” Trump said.

Fain has previously said that a second Trump presidency would be a “disaster.” But he has also withheld his endorsement of President Joe Biden.


United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain speaks with the media and union members outside the UAW Local 900 headquarters across the street from the Ford Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2023.
Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images

Speaking from the White House on Friday, Biden said he hopes all parties are able to strike “a win-win agreement.”

“The companies have made some significant offers,” Biden said, adding “But I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.”

Biden said he also respects the right of workers to “use their options under the collective bargaining system.”

Trump has sought to seize the mantle of most fervent China hawk in the U.S. presidential election. He also tried to make Biden’s electric vehicle push a key part of his case against the president.

The crumbling relationship between Washington and Beijing, the world’s two largest economies, intensified under the Trump administration.

Trump placed blame squarely on China for a wide range of grievances, including intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden has sought to work consistently with allies in order to mount a more united pushback against China.

Biden has also previously said that during his political career, he has spent more time with Chinese President Xi Jinping than he has with any other world leader.

Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978​

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. ß2201-2209, governs the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents that were created or received after January 20, 1981 (i.e., beginning with the Reagan Administration). The PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents, and subsequently NARA, must manage the records of their Administrations. The PRA was amended in 2014, which established several new provisions.

Specifically, the PRA:

• Establishes public ownership of all Presidential records and defines the term Presidential records.
• Requires that Vice-Presidential records be treated in the same way as Presidential records.
• Places the responsibility for the custody and management of incumbent Presidential records with the President.
• Requires that the President and his staff take all practical steps to file personal records separately from Presidential records.
• Allows the incumbent President to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once the views of the Archivist of the United States on the proposed disposal have been obtained in writing.
• Establishes in law that any incumbent Presidential records (whether textual or electronic) held on courtesy storage by the Archivist remain in the exclusive legal custody of the President and that any request or order for access to such records must be made to the President, not NARA.
• Establishes that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.
• Establishes a process by which the President may restrict and the public may obtain access to these records after the President leaves office; specifically, the PRA allows for public access to Presidential records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) beginning five years after the end of the Administration, but allows the President to invoke as many as six specific restrictions to public access for up to twelve years.
• Codifies the process by which former and incumbent Presidents conduct reviews for executive privilege prior to public release of records by NARA (which had formerly been governed by Executive order 13489).
• Establishes procedures for Congress, courts, and subsequent Administrations to obtain “special access” to records from NARA that remain closed to the public, following a privilege review period by the former and incumbent Presidents; the procedures governing such special access requests continue to be governed by the relevant provisions of E.O. 13489.
• Establishes preservation requirements for official business conducted using non-official electronic messaging accounts: any individual creating Presidential records must not use non-official electronic messaging accounts unless that individual copies an official account as the message is created or forwards a complete copy of the record to an official messaging account. (A similar provision in the Federal Records Act applies to federal agencies.)
• Prevents an individual who has been convicted of a crime related to the review, retention, removal, or destruction of records from being given access to any original records.

Prosecutors ring the alarm: Trump could trigger ‘violence’​

The new filings are part of a months long legal battle between the company now called X and the special counsel’s team.

By KYLE CHENEY
09/15/2023 12:40 PM EDT

Federal prosecutors secretly argued in April that if Donald Trump learned of their efforts to access his Twitter account, his public disclosure of the development could “precipitate violence.”

Newly unsealed court filings show that attorneys working for special counsel Jack Smith worried that Trump would publicly announce the search warrant of his Twitter feed just like he announced on Truth Social when his Mar-a-Lago estate was searched by the FBI last year. That announcement was followed by a surge in threats against federal law enforcement, culminating in the fatal shooting of a man who had attempted to breach an FBI building in Cincinnati.

Informing Trump about the Twitter search warrant “could precipitate violence as occurred following the public disclosure of the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago,” the prosecutors warned.

The new filings, part of a monthslong legal battle between Twitter, now called X, and the special counsel’s team over whether the social media company, newly purchased by Elon Musk, could inform Trump about the search warrant the investigators had obtained before it complied with its directives. The company suggested that some of Trump’s private communications on the platform could be subject to executive privilege and wanted to afford him to opportunity to assert it.

But prosecutors — and ultimately U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell — scoffed at that suggestion and sharply rejected Twitter’s notion that Trump’s account might contain privileged material. Howell held Twitter in contempt in February and fined the company $350,000 for missing court-ordered deadlines to comply with the prosecutors’ search warrant. Ultimately, the company provided the documents Smith’s prosecutors demanded.

In the new filings, Smith’s team revealed that Trump’s account included just 32 direct messages, “a minuscule” proportion of the overall data it had obtained. Prosecutors also obtained data that could show Trump’s location at the time certain tweets were sent or whether anyone else was accessing his account.

But the newly unsealed filings provide new details Smith’s arguments for keeping Trump in the dark about the search warrant — primarily that Trump presents a “significant risk of tampering with evidence, seeking to influence or intimidate potential witnesses, and ‘otherwise seriously jeopardizing’ the Government’s ongoing investigations.”

“These are not hypothetical considerations in this case,” the prosecutors wrote in a 71-page brief dated April 21. “Following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, the former President propagated false claims of fraud (including swearing to false allegations in a federal court filing), pressured state and federal officials to violate their legal duties, and retaliated against those who did not comply with his demands, culminating in violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.”

Smith’s team also cited the charges against Trump for seeking to “undermine or otherwise influence the investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information following the end of his presidency, including publicizing the existence of the Mar-a-Lago warrant.”

“The former President’s obstructive efforts continue unabated with respect to this investigation here, in which he has determined to pay the legal fees of potential witnesses against him and repeatedly disparaged the lead prosecutor on his Truth Social platform,” the prosecutors added. “[T]his pattern of obstructive conduct amply supports the district court’s conclusion that the former President presents a significant risk of tampering with evidence, seeking to influence or intimidate potential witnesses, and ‘otherwise seriously jeopardizing’ the Government’s ongoing investigations.”

Twitter’s response to the prosecutors described the prospect of violence as “facially implausible” and contended that Trump already knew many details about Smith’s investigation into his conduct leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His knowledge of the search warrant, the company contended, would not alter that equation.

But both Howell and a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately rejected Twitter’s arguments. The company is now seeking review by the full bench of the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the panel, as well as Howell, failed to consider alternatives to demanding full compliance with the search warrant before giving Trump a chance to assert any privileges. The company says one option would have been to inform a representative for Trump about the warrant, while still keeping its details secret from the former president.
Prosecutors and Howell called such a proposal unworkable.

A little fat….
A little happy…..
(Maybe more than a little hungover)

and their new QB has that deer in the headlights look…..

Calling It Now:
NO 3PEAT

Mizzou hits the 61 yard FG as time expires…..
30-27

This is the annual Red Bandana game for BC….a 25 pt underdog today.
held in memory of Welles Crowther, a BC alum (and volunteer firefighter) who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11, at the age of 24.

Up to 18 survivors of the day credited a young man wearing a red bandana with saving their lives.
that young man was later determined to be Crowther.

BC players today wear no names on their jerseys only “For Welles” on the back, and a red bandana trim…..

this became an annual event in 2014….when BC upset Sark & USC.

This map scares the hell out of Democrats:​

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Winning!​

This was an elaborate edit as I had to adjust some audio levels and learn some new tricks. It came out well, though!

My interview with USC five-star QB commit Julian Lewis, his HS coach Joey King (who previously coached Trevor Lawrence), Rivals analyst John Garcia Jr., and then Max Browne and I pick our top five early-season USC MVPs not named Caleb Williams.

LISTEN HERE

I'm off to Lewis' game momentarily ...

HOW BIG CAN TRUMP'S LEAD GET? If you thought former President Donald Trump's lead over the Republican field in national polls could not get any bigger — you thought wrong. The three most recent major polls, conducted in the last 10 days, show Trump with a lead of 47, 48, and 50 points, respectively. In the RealClearPolitics average of all polls, his lead is 43.9 points — higher than it has ever been.

One of the new polls is from Fox News, and it shows Trump with 60% support, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in second place, at 13%, 47 points behind Trump. DeSantis is barely ahead of entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, at 11%. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is at 5%, and former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) are tied at 3%. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is last with 2%. (The three also-rans, Burgum, Elder, and Hutchinson, are at 0%.)

So just counting the candidates who register any support at all, it's a seven-candidate field. And for one candidate to hit 60% support in a seven-candidate field is remarkable. It's just not done. But it is a good illustration of Trump's special status as a former president in a field of never-been-presidents and never-will-be-presidents.

Ryan,
I just saw that Aydin Breland narrowed his schools down to 3, Georgia, Oregon and Miami, we were left off it.
That is now about 6-Mater Dei players in the same recruiting class that USC would have love to take any of, yet we whiffed on all of them. In my opinion, the worst of all the losses were on the defensive side of the ball then the O-linemen. Anyhow, can you ask the tough question about what happened to the Mater Dei HS players, none looking to come to USC. I get some like to leave the city and state but all 6-players, none of them? Perhaps either coach Riley or any of the coordinators would be good to hear from as to why or what they think.