2018 - Page 26 of 64

Manafort’s Lawyers’ Hail Mary — Gates’ Affairs

August 10, 2018 Buck Banks

4

“Lawyers for Paul Manafort accused his longtime deputy Rick Gates of having four extramarital affairs and lying about them, a last attempt by the defense to undermine the credibility of the government’s star witness at the fraud trial of Mr. Manafort on Wednesday,” the New York Times reports.

Rand Paul Gets a (‘nother) Smack-Down

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 Buck Banks

“Many folks think that Rand Paul can’t be beat, they’re worried he might be too well-liked. I don’t buy that. Just ask his neighbor. He can be beaten.”

— Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes (D), quoted by WHAS-TV.

Desperate Cruz Calls on Trump for Help in Texas

August 10, 2018 Buck Banks

“I would certainly welcome his support, and I hope to see him in Texas. I think we are likely to see the president down in Texas before the election.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), telling the Houston Chronicle that he asked President Trump to assist him in his re-election efforts.

Democrats Riding a Green Wave of Money Toward Midterms

August 2, 2018 Buck Banks

$151,000

Joshua Green: “They’ve caught a green wave of cash— the torrent of money pouring into Democratic campaign coffers helped 73 House candidates out-raise Republican incumbents and opponents in races for open seats in the second quarter, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission data shows. … In the second quarter of this year, non-incumbent Democratic House candidates raised more than three times the amount they did in the same period in 2014. That works out to an average of $151,000 per candidate, compared with $101,000 in 2014.”

Trump: You Need an ID to Buy Groceries

August 2, 2018 Buck Banks

“If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture.”

— In an attempt to defend voter ID laws, President Trump “wrongly claimed that shoppers need to show photo identification to buy groceries,” the AP reports.

Biden Leads Trump by 7 Points in 2020 Matchup

August 1, 2018 Buck Banks

44% to 37%

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in a possible presidential race, 44% to 37%.

Republicans OK with Russian Attempts to Meddle in U.S. Elections

August 1, 2018 Buck Banks

11%

A Yahoo Finance/SurveyMonkey poll finds that 11% of Republican or GOP-leaning voters surveyed said it is “appropriate” for Russia to try to help Republicans in the midterm elections, while 29% said it’s “not appropriate, but wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Bannon Puts Midterms in Perspective

August 1, 2018 Buck Banks

“This election is very simple. It’s an up-or-down vote on impeachment.”

— Stephen Bannon, quoted by Vanity Fair.

Five-Thirty-Eight Releases 3 Million Russian Tweets

August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 Buck Banks

3 million

“FiveThirtyEight has obtained nearly 3 million tweets from accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency. To our knowledge, it’s the fullest empirical record to date of Russian trolls’ actions on social media, showing a relentless and systematic onslaught.” They’re uploaded to Github so that anyone can explore the data for themselves.

Makin’ Some Copies …

August 1, 2018 Buck Banks

That 3D printing sure looks like fun.
In fact, I think I’m going to get me one.
I could print up some car parts
Or even little works of art,
And the Trump administration says I can even print me a gun.

4

“Lawyers for Paul Manafort accused his longtime deputy Rick Gates of having four extramarital affairs and lying about them, a last attempt by the defense to undermine the credibility of the government’s star witness at the fraud trial of Mr. Manafort on Wednesday,” the New York Times reports.

“Many folks think that Rand Paul can’t be beat, they’re worried he might be too well-liked. I don’t buy that. Just ask his neighbor. He can be beaten.”

— Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes (D), quoted by WHAS-TV.

“I would certainly welcome his support, and I hope to see him in Texas. I think we are likely to see the president down in Texas before the election.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), telling the Houston Chronicle that he asked President Trump to assist him in his re-election efforts.

$151,000

“If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture.”

— In an attempt to defend voter ID laws, President Trump “wrongly claimed that shoppers need to show photo identification to buy groceries,” the AP reports.

44% to 37%

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in a possible presidential race, 44% to 37%.

11%

A Yahoo Finance/SurveyMonkey poll finds that 11% of Republican or GOP-leaning voters surveyed said it is “appropriate” for Russia to try to help Republicans in the midterm elections, while 29% said it’s “not appropriate, but wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“This election is very simple. It’s an up-or-down vote on impeachment.”

— Stephen Bannon, quoted by Vanity Fair.

3 million

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.