Democrats Enact Historic Party Change

Yesterday, Democrats enacted a landmark change in their party by diluting the power of superdelegates. This change came on the heels of nationwide outrage surrounding the 2016 primaries between Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton and the ensuing fallout. At a party meeting in Chicago, party leaders voted overwhelmingly to reduce the power of superdelegates, party bosses, and other insiders who are traditionally given a lot of sway in the nominating process. The new rules take away their vote in the first round of the nomination process. This means that these individuals only get to vote if the first round of ballots ends in a contested convention.

Jeff Cohen, co-founder of the online activist group RootsAction.org, said, “It’s a big victory for the base of the party.” Cohen went on to say, “Tom Perez realizes that he’d rather lose 10 dead-enders in the DNC than a couple million activists,” he said about the party chairman.

“We voted today to return power to the grassroots,” the DNC chairman, Tom Perez, wrote on Twitter following the vote. “Our North Star from the beginning of this process has been to grow our party, unite our party, and earn voters’ trust.”

Others, like former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile, were less pleased with the new rules saying, “This vote to strip superdelegates, unpledged delegates, automatic delegates, whatever you want to call us of our voice on the first ballot is inconsistent with our charter.” However, it’s understandable why voters would find Brazile’s remarks questionable when she was caught giving debate questions to the Clinton campaign during the 2016 primaries and was forced to step down from her position as DNC Chairwoman last year.

Brazile isn’t the only Democrat to have soiled the DNC image last year. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, former head of the DNC, had her own IT scandal that marred the Democrats for months. She was then forced to resign after WikiLeaks published emails from Schultz and other top ranking Democrats voicing support for the Clinton and openly bad mouthing the Sanders campaign in internal documents.

When the public learned of the inside lean Clinton had on the DNC, people began to question the authenticity of the primaries themselves. It wasn’t long before people realized that the majority of superdelegates had committed to Clinton before she announced her bid. Eventually Clinton easily wrapped up almost all of the superdelegates, making it a very one sided race.

Former Vermont Gov. and former DNC chairman, Howard Dean, cast the measure as an urgent response “to the will of grassroots voters.”Dean went on to say that many young voters, “have lost faith in our party’s nominating process, and make no mistake, this is a perception that’s cost us at the ballot box.” Yet, this change coupled with the current administration makes it hard to think a blue wave isn’t right around the corner.

Why One Hold Out Juror May Have In Fact Saved Democracy

Over the last few days the internet has been ablaze with revel and outrage over the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s trial. It was reported that one hold out juror kept Paul Manafort from being convicted of all 18 counts brought against him by the Mueller team. Instead the jury found Manafort guilty on eight financial crime counts and the remaining ten ended in a mistrial.

When the report first broke the internet lit up with excitement and concern. Some were overjoyed that the former Trump campaign chairman would likely flip on the President as a result of the ruling, others were concerned that Trump would inevitably pardon Manafort as a reward for his silence. However, a day later more news broke and the public learned that one stand alone juror had caused the overall mistrial. The reviews we’re mixed.

“I did not want Paul Manafort to be guilty, but he was, and no one’s above the law. So it was our obligation to look through all the evidence,” said Paula Duncan, a member of the Manafort jury who is also a Trump supporter.  “We didn’t want it to be hung, so we tried for an extended period of time to convince her, but in the end she held out and that’s why we have ten counts that did not get a verdict,” Duncan said on “Fox News at Night.” Duncan claims the lone juror did not give a reason for her action, or rather inaction, but one thing is clear; without this juror, America would have been less safe.

Let’s imagine for a moment that Manafort had been convicted on all 18 counts of financial crimes, what would likely happen? Well, it is safe to assume Trump would pardon Manafort. With Manafort pardoned and no more legal action to be brought against him. There is also little reason to think he would work with the Russian investigation, let alone stay in the country. This means that a massive piece of the Russian investigation’s puzzle would be missing. This would definitely slow down Mueller and his team, making it easier for Trump and Russia to subvert and pervert democracy even longer, putting America even more at risk of outside attack and influence. Thankfully though, that is not what happened. One lone juror, of unknown intent, has allowed states to go after Manafort, even if Trump does pardon him. But “how and why,” you may be thinking.

Well, California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have laws that protect against double jeopardy in state/federal lawsuits. However, each of these states only protect against double jeopardy in cases where the defendant is found guilty or acquitted. Manafort had ten counts that ended in mistrials, which opens him up to legal action at the state level. This is important because Presidential pardons only apply to federal criminals. So, even if Trump tries to pardon Manafort, he will be going to prison, and not “Club Fed,” a state prison.

The same is being done to long time Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen recently plead guilty to eight federal crimes, including tax evasion and making false statements to a bank. This brings to the end a months long investigation into Cohen’s personal business dealings and work done as Trump’s personal lawyer. It’s important to keep in mind here that even though Cohen has plead guilty to eight federal crimes he has also gone on record as saying he will fully cooperate with the Mueller investigation as well as reject all pardon offers the President may attempt.

To insure this, New York’s Attorney General is looking to open a criminal investigation into whether Michael Cohen violated state tax law. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood recently requested a criminal referral from the state tax department to investigate and potentially file charges against Cohen. New York state has also subpoenaed Cohen in connection to their Trump Foundation probe. This would mean that even if Trump offered a pardon to Cohen and he were to take it, there is little either man could do to avoid Cohen winding up in state prison.

For now, Trump is still undecided as to whether or not he will pardon Manafort. As the Democrats begin to call for Trump’s impeachment, it will be interesting to see how Republicans respond. Especially considering, Congress only needs one brave Republican in order to disclose Trump’s tax returns, and Trump, after a long week of betrayal, wants to make witness flipping “illegal.” As America braces for what may be the most important midterm elections since the founding of our country, we should all give thanks for the one lone juror who, whether she knew it or not, saved Americans from the tyranny of Trump.

Manafort Convictions and Cohen Cooperation Spell Trouble for Trump.

On Tuesday, Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, was found guilty on 8 counts of financial crimes, including tax fraud, hiding foreign bank accounts and bank fraud and a mistrial was declared on the remaining 10 charges; meanwhile, long time Trump lawyer Michael Cohen announced he has fully flipped and is cooperating with the Mueller investigation. Trump’s disastrous Tuesday is now followed by a rough Wednesday as Congressional Democrats call for the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to be postponed. Sen. Mazie Hinoro went as far as to say, “…I choose not to extend a courtesy to this president who is an un-indicted co-conspirator … of meeting with his nominee.”

With Trump’s personal lawyer cooperating with the Mueller investigation and Paul Manafort effectively behind bars, it’s a Trump miracle Congress hasn’t began impeachment hearings. This is, after-all, about the same point where Nixon was faced with resignation or impeachment, and yet, nothing. It makes one curious if there will ever be a point where the Republican controlled congress flips on Trump, or will we continue to see indictments rattle the Republican party, as we did with Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins? Others, like Rep. Devin Nunes and Rep. Jim Jordan, have actively tried to slow the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of  Trump’s misconduct and soon too may face legal ramifications. There is also House Speaker Paul Ryan who is able to utilize Nunes and ultimately block the release of Trump’s tax returns. Ryan may not end up being legally guilty of any crimes but it’s hard to believe this once principled man could morally bankrupt himself and cower away from the likes of Donald Trump. With Ryan retiring and Trump on thin ice, it’s absolutely certain that both men, and potentially the entire GOP, will have scarred legacies after all is said and done.

Omarosa offered $15K a month to be “positive.”

Yet another Omarosa tape has been released, this time seeming to show Lara Trump offering the former “Apprentice” star $15,000 a month to “be positive” after her firing late last year. This is a massive confirmation in the latest of the Omarosa leaks. This confirmation shows that figures like Sean Spicer, who remains a strong supporter of Trump despite the attacks against his character by the Trump administration, may not be sincere supporters of the President after all. As for the payment, the recording shows that Lara Trump, wife of Eric Trump, offered Omarosa a job. However, the job wouldn’t require her to report to any particular office or have a specific set of duties, other than to speak positively on Trump’s behalf as part of his re-election campaign. Lara Trump goes on to say, “It sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you’ve got in the back pocket to pull out.”

“Clearly, if you come on board the campaign, like, we can’t have, we got to … ”

Omarosa interjects: “Oh, God no.”

“Everything, everybody, positive, right?” asks Lara Trump.

The former “Apprentice” star was one of Trump’s most prominent African American supporters during the campaign, before being hired on as a White House Assistant earning $179,000 per year. Since then, Manigault Newman alleges there is a tape of Trump using a racial slur while working on “The Apprentice.” Trump has since denied this, and has lashed out at his former aide on Twitter, calling her “wacky and deranged,” ”not smart,” and a “dog.” Leaving only one question, if Omarosa is a “not smart,” “wacky and deranged…dog,” why would Trump hire her for 3 stints on “The Apprentice” and to work as director of communications for the White House office of public liaison?

Twitter bans InfoWars, Alex Jones for seven days.

Update: As of 8 PM EST The Hill reports that the FCC has temporarily pulled Alex Jones’ flagship radio station from the airwaves and hit him with a $15,000 fine for functioning without a license since at least 2013.

Alex Jones and his media company InfoWars have been having a rough month. In recent weeks Alex Jones, as well as his overall media group InfoWars, has been effectively scrubbed off of all major social media platforms from Facebook to Apple.  Most of these social sites have completely banned Jones and InfoWars from posting on their platform due to consistent violations to the terms of service for each site. This has greatly reduced their circulation of videos and, as a result, will ultimately impact their overall ad revenue. However until recently, Twitter had been the last remaining major social site of which InfoWars could spread their conspiracy theories. It seems Twitter has now suspended Jones and InfoWars for seven days for violating the terms of service regarding abusive behavior. With so many major Alt-right figures being pushed off of major social media platforms it has forced many of them into tough times financially. This years Unite the Right 2 rally organizer, Jordan Kessler, was recently heckled by his own father while live streaming. Many other supporters have lost their jobs after attending rallies. Chris Cantwell was also a major Alt-right leader last year, following the  Charlottesville riot. Since then he’s been banned from Virginia for five years as well as lifetime bans from all the major social sites, even the major crowdfunding sites like PayPal and Stripe. While some Alt-right members claim this is a violation of free speech, others, including the companies involved, say they have a right as a private company to dictate who uses their site and services. For now only one thing is clear, this will make it very hard for the Alt-right to grow in the future.

Omarosa’s Roasting Continues

omarosa-manigault

On the heels of the recent Omarosa tapes, President Trump took to twitter and stated that Omarosa Manigualt Newman “…fully signed…” a Non-Disclosure Agreement, (NDA) which the President feels was violated by publishing the recordings. However, Omarosa claims she never signed her agreement and legal experts contest that the NDAs may not be enforceable at all, after the Washington Post published the purposed consulting agreement and companion agreement given to Omarosa by the Trump administration. When asked about the legality of political NDAs Heidi Kitrosser, a law professor at the University of Minnesota Law, said “Based on the one NDA that I’ve seen, the provisions are incredibly broad. Among other things, signers must promise never, during or after their service, to say anything disparaging about Trump, Pence, any Trump family member, etc.” This brings in obvious questions about the constitutional violations that may arise out of the NDA, as well as why tax payer dollars are being spent on keeping people quiet. Even former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said, “You do have the right to free speech, you have the right to talk to people, publish a book, say what you want, or pen an article. I don’t know how you can stop that from happening.” One thing is for certain, it’s not normal for a White House to have staff with little to no security clearance signing NDAs.