I have no qualms about voting for Clinton, Ask Me Anything

[Rerun]

Rerun, I don't think Shak is expressing worry about his own legal status, rather, he is expressing anxiety about how Trump has so divided this nation.

Obama divided the nation.  Let's get that straight. 

[kickingandscreaming]

Obama divided the nation.  Let's get that straight. 

No.  Let's really get this straight..  You racists and white supremacists divided this nation. And your man, Trump, with his unrelenting Birtherism played a big role in demeaning a man who happened to be a very decent president (not perfect) of mixed race.  People are responsible for HOW they REACT to events and that's how your team CHOSE to REACT.  Besides this, there are many other things that divide our nation besides being a loose confederation of unrelated states with different histories and different characters.

[Michael Murphy]

The Republicans refused for 8 years to treat Obama as President, almost every norm of behavior was broken by the bigots in the Republican Party.  From yelling out he was a liar during the State of the Nation speech to blocking a majority of his nominations the republicans waged war against the presidency of Obama.  Now that the right of the country bought the line of a snake oil salesman and made the Buffoons president you expect four years of glorious republican suppression.  What you will get is 4 years of political war that will make the last 8 look like a snowball fight. Except for nominations and budget reconciliations the Democrats have enough votes to road block all other legislation in the senate.   Four years of every comedian in the US land possibly the world making fun of "Drumph the Idiot" .  Respect is earned and the respect shown the office of the President for the La's two centuries is gone, killed by the Current Moron elect treatment  of the last president.  The new "Liar in Chief" will spend the next 4 years slowly going crazy as SNL uses him as a dunce prop in every show.  He's so stupid he think that SNL owes him equal time.  I have never made fun of any other  president even the second Bush.  I thought most of his actions moronic but since he was President I at least always referred to him with respect during his Presidency, Drumph the Idiot should be treated the same way he treated  Obama.  It will not be enough to point out the Emperor has no close, but that the Emperor has no brain or morals.






sp mod Cas

[MooseMom]

How EXACTLY did Obama divide this nation?

Obama was elected TWICE by campaigning on the idea of bi-partisanship.  Despite the electorate TWICE showing their support for this idea and despite the public's agreement that Congress was possibly the worst performing elected body this nation has ever seen, Congress persisted on blocking everything that President Obama wanted to do.  Even some Democrats admonished him for being too soft on the GOP and for being too conciliatory.  How many times do I have to say that the likes of Mitch McConnell, the man who declared that his goal was to make Obama a one term president, are the true architects of this division?

But no.  Some right wing sites bang on and on about how President Obama single handedly broke our country, and people believe it without a second thought.

But I will concede that I made an error in stating that Trump has divided the nation.  No, it was already divided, and Trump has now seized his opportunity.  It has been Congress, Fox News and the Alex Jones type people who have divided this nation along with the help of those who are seeking to privatize all federal services like healthcare and education.

So, there are people who feel they've been left behind?  And they are angry?  How are they feeling now that Trump has populated his cabinet choices with the very people who have stripped the nation economically?  You know those damned elitists and billionaires who are getting rich off the forgotten people?  Well, guess what.  They're going to be in the Cabinet.

Please.  Someone, anyone, please give me a list of 5 ways in which President Obama has divided this nation all by himself.  (Something other than "He's a secret Muslim." or "He wasn't born here." or "He's not actually a human.")

In the popular vote, Clinton leads now by over 2,600,000 votes.  So,

1.  When Trump says he won by "a landslide", he is lying.

2.  When Trump says 3m illegal immigrants voted for Clinton, thus explaining this popular vote result, he is lying.

But no one cares, do they?






sp mod Cas

[MooseMom]

Despite the fact that Trump is not a Christian, he should still be thanking God every day that President Obama has enough grace and love for this nation that he is actually willing to speak to and offer guidance to him during this transition period.  That Obama will even consent to be in the same room with Trump is a miracle.  Oh, but I forgot.  Obama hates white people, and he hates America, so this is all probably some sort of plot to get back at Trump.  Yes, that must be it.

[Simon Dog]

When Trump says he won by "a landslide", he is lying.

1. He won by a landslide according to rules of the election

2. We do not know how he would have done in a popular vote election.    If the election were popular vote, campaigning strategy on both sides would have been different (for example, CA, MA, NY and TX would not have been ignored in the campaigning).   Trump may have still lost the popular vote under a popular vote rule, but we will never know.

The result is the winners think he was elected fairly and the losers do not.    If Clinton had won the electoral but lost the popular, the roles of those two camps would be reversed, and existing opinions inverted.

As to bipartisanship - all too often it means "the minority side will go along with the winner" - as in "elections have consequences".   No difference there no matter who wins.

[Michael Murphy]

If the losers went along with the winners Obama would have had a easier time during his tenure, I believe Trump won, mainly by lieing hid butt off, and I do think it's time for payback for the last 8 years of disrespect and lies by the republican right.  Just look at the case of the poor fool that believed the lies from the alt right web about Hilary involved sex trade at some pizza joint,.  The fool believed this trash and shot up the pizza place with a AR-15.  My hope is that between the Senate Democrats SNL Trump is made miserable enough ro resign.

[MooseMom]

Well, it's now official.

Russian hackers and Putin personally interfered in our election in order to ensure that Trump was elected.

Oh.  My.  God.

I never thought I'd see the day when a foreign hostile nation would successfully rig our election.

[kickingandscreaming]

If ever there were grounds for an election do-over, this is it.  Now, if only they can find Trump's or one of his team's fingerprints on the hack, that would be curtains.  Here's hoping.

[Rerun]

Let's remember what was uncovered?  Lies and corruptness.  We should be glad the truth was uncovered.

[Simon Dog]

If ever there were grounds for an election do-over, this is it.  Now, if only they can find Trump's or one of his team's fingerprints on the hack, that would be curtains.  Here's hoping.

Not a pro-Trump comment, but an observation of the legal system.  Other than recounts, there is no provision in law for a re-do of an election even if one side is caught cheating.  Under the law, I don't think finding a Trump operative's fingerprint in the hack would bring anything except criminal prosecution of that person.

Recounts are dirty business.   The Democrats only need look to the Bush/Gore election where the supremes vote on the non-political merits of the Florida case and then just happened to vote along party lines.    The Republicans can look at the Washington governor's election where the courts supported recounts (3 of them), ordering them stopped as soon as they got a count where the Democrat won.

The sad reality is that in politics, morality and fair play are irrelevant ... the only thing that matters in the end is who wins.

[MooseMom]

But Simon Dog, there is the recourse of impeachment.

This is an unprecedented circumstance.  Morality and fair play may be non-existent in politics, but that doesn't mean we should just throw up our hands and declare that foreign meddling happens, and oh well, so who cares, because all that matters is who wins.  That's un-American and unconstitutional.

Here's the irony.  Trump worked hard to invalidate Obama's presidency.  Now, Trump won the presidency with a minority of the electorate's votes, with the lowest approval rating of any President elect in this nation's history and with the possible help of the dictator of an adversarial nation.

Trump's presidency is invalid in the minds of many people before he ever takes the Oath.  The "legal system" is beside the point. 

[Simon Dog]

But Simon Dog, there is the recourse of impeachment.

True, but irrelevant with a R majority in house and senate.  The Republicans cheapened the concept of impeachment when they used it to go after Bill Clinton for political rather than treasonous to the country reasons.  It's been denigrated from a tool for criminal acts to just another political instrumentality.

so who cares, because all that matters is who wins.  That's un-American and unconstitutional

Read The Prince by Machiavelli.  He explains it all nicely.   When you are done, read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinski.    The first has been described as a book discussing how the haves work to keep what the get and take more, and the later a  book about how the have nots can work to take it from the haves.   What they have in common is they both deal with "how things actually work", not an abstract sense of fair play (they both consider that irrelevant).

[PrimeTimer]

so who cares, because all that matters is who wins.  That's un-American and unconstitutional

quote Simon Dog: Read The Prince by Machiavelli.  He explains it all nicely.   When you are done, read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinski.    The first has been described as a book discussing how the haves work to keep what the get and take more, and the later a  book about how the have nots can work to take it from the haves.   What they have in common is they both deal with "how things actually work", not an abstract sense of fair play (they both consider that irrelevant).
[/quote]

This is from another good book "Barack Obama's Rules For Revolution The Alinsky Model written by David Horowitz: (from page 22) "As an organizer I start from the world as it is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be -it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system."

And similarly, from Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic convention in 2008: "And Barack stood up that day and he said spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about the world as it should be."

Both Obama and Hillary are Alinsky-ites.

[PrimeTimer]

Remember the Leftist organization ACORN and how they were convicted of election fraud?    See page 33 of "Barack Obama's Rules For Revolution The Alinsky Model". They had contempt for the election process because they didn't believe in the electoral system as it is "constituted in a capitalist democracy".  oops....    

[Simon Dog]

Remember the Leftist organization ACORN and how they were convicted of election fraud?    See page 33 of "Barack Obama's Rules For Revolution The Alinsky Model". They had contempt for the election process because they didn't believe in the electoral system as it is "constituted in a capitalist democracy".  oops....

Each side has a sense of morality and fair play only when protesting the actions of the other side and will lie through it's teeth until caught (for example, the Donna Braizle pre-briefing of Clinton on orchestrated town meeting questions ... something she directly denied until proof surfaced).  I do not doubt that the R's would resort to similar chicanery given the opportunity.

[MooseMom]

Let's remember what was uncovered?  Lies and corruptness.  We should be glad the truth was uncovered.

Tell us exactly what corruption was found.

[MooseMom]

Some of you are comparing Putin with Saul Alinski?  Nope, we are not going to be distracted by that old Saul Alinski nonsense.  And Acorn isn,t in the same universe as Vlad.  Is that really the best defense you can come up with?  Alinski and Acorn?  Lol.

[Michael Murphy]

What's funny is how every democratic scandal is remembered by the republicans but their scanalls are never mentioned. Watergate,  Iran Contra, Hasert in jail involved in cover up of his pedophilia,.  The list is endless.

[Simon Dog]

What's funny is how every democratic scandal is remembered by the republicans but their scanalls are never mentioned. Watergate,  Iran Contra, Hasert in jail involved in cover up of his pedophilia,.  The list is endless.

Scadals in which someone pays a price (resignation from the presidency or vice presidency, going to jail, etc.) tend to be less mentioned since they have been "paid in full".   Those in which the person escapes any consequences tend to get rehashed.

Here in MA, the last three speakers of the house were convicted of felonies (only the last one did time in the big house for it).   These scandals by Democrats tend not to get rehashed a lot because they were convicted and the books balanced. 

[Michael Murphy]

Here is a full list of the last 16 years.  Note the number of republican involved.

2009–2017 Barack Obama Administration
Edit
Executive Branch
Edit
* Katherine Archuleta, who was the director of the Office of Personnel Management, was forced to resign on July 10, 2015 after the data theft of information on 22 million people who had applied for security clearances.[1]
* Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014 - It was discovered that officials in the Phoenix VA hospital lied about how long the wait times were for veterans to see a doctor.[2] An investigation of delays is being conducted by the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.[3][4] The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, General Eric Shinseki, voluntarily resigned.[5]
* 2013 IRS scandal - IRS admitted to inappropriate investigation of conservative political groups associated with the Tea Party that may not have met the criteria for certain tax exemptions.[6] Later, it was found that the IRS investigated liberal and progressive groups as well.[7][8][9][10][11] The president demanded and accepted the resignation of Steven T. Miller Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Other actions arising from the scandal included:
1. Lois Lerner, head of the IRS Office of Exempt Organizations, stated she had not done anything wrong and then took the Fifth before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.[12] She retired in 2013 after an internal investigation found that she neglected her duties and was going to call for her ouster.[13]
2. Joseph H. Grant, commissioner of the IRS Tax-exempt and Government entities division, resigned on May 16, 2013.[14]
* ATF gunwalking scandal – Attorney General Eric Holder was held in Contempt of Congress after refusing to release all documents which the House of Representatives had demanded concerning the Fast and Furious gun walking operation. (2012)[15]
* Terence Flynn, an appointee of Barack Obama to the National Labor Relations Board, resigned in May 2012 after being accused of serious ethical violations by leaking information to the National Association of Manufacturers.[16]
* Martha N. Johnson, head of the General Services Administration, fired two top GSA officials and then resigned herself after it was revealed that $822,000 had been spent in Las Vegas on a four-day training conference for 300 GSA employees. (2010)[17][18][19][20]
Legislative
Edit
* Chris Lee (R-NY) for New York's 26th congressional district resigned after he solicited a woman on Craigslist and emailed a shirtless photo of himself.(2011)[21]
* Dennis Hastert (R-IL) pleaded guilty to charges that he violated banking rules and lied to the FBI in a scheme to pay $3.5 million in hush money to conceal sexual misconduct with an under age boy from his days as a high school wrestling coach, from 1965 to 1981.(2015)[22][23][24]
* Aaron Schock (R-IL) resigned from office after evidence surfaced that he used campaign funds for travel, redecorated his office with taxpayer funds to resemble the sets of the Downton Abbey TV series, and otherwise spent campaign and/or taxpayer money on other questionable personal uses.(2015)[25]
    * Schock's senior adviser Benjamin Cole had resigned earlier after he allegedly condemned "hood rats" and "black miscreants" in internet posts. Schock's office stated, "I am extremely disappointed by the inexcusable and offensive online comments made by a member of my staff."[26]
* Brett O'Donnell Communications Director for Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) plead guilty to lying to investigators from the House Office of Congressional Ethics about working for Rodgers while being paid with campaign money, thus becoming the first person ever to be convicted of lying to the House OCE.[27]
* Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) resigned his Congressional seat. Four of his staff were convicted by the state of Michigan of falsifying signatures on McCotter's reelection petitions for the 2012 elections. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) blamed McCotter for running a slipshod, leaderless operation. "The congressman has resigned in disgrace", Schuette said, though McCotter was not charged.[28]
1. Paul Seewald worked for McCotter as his District Director of the Michigan's 11th congressional district. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of falsely signing a nominating petition as circulator. He was sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, and ordered to pay court costs and fees.[29]
2. Don Yowchuang worked for McCotter as Deputy District Director of the Michigan 11th Congressional District. He pleaded guilty to ten counts of forgery and six counts of falsely signing a nominating petition and was sentenced to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service, court costs and fees.[30]
3. Mary M. Turnbull was McCotter's Representative to the Michigan 11th Congressional District. She was convicted of conspiring to commit a legal act in an illegal manner and falsely signing a nominating petition. She was sentenced to two years of probation, a day in jail, and 200 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay a $1,440 fine. In addition, she is forbidden from any participation in elections or the political process.[31]
4. Lorianne O'Brady worked as a scheduler for McCotter in the Michigan 11th Congressional District. She pleaded no contest to charges that she falsely claimed to have legally collected signatures to get McCotter on the ballot when she actually had not. She was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a work program plus $2,625 in fines and court costs.[32]
* Senator Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) campaign manager Jesse Benton (R) resigned when details of a bribery scandal from Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign came to light. (2014).[33]
* David Rivera (R-FL) was indicted as a co-conspirator with Campaign Manager Ana Alliegro who pleaded guilty to violation of US campaign laws in an $81,000 campaign-finance scheme to prop up a little-known Democratic candidate who used the illegal cash to trash Rivera's rival in the 2012 Democratic primary.[34][35]
* Rick Renzi (R-AZ) on June 12, 2013, was found guilty of 17 counts against him, which included wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion, racketeering, money laundering, and making false statements to insurance regulators.[36]
* Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) was arrested on December 23, 2012, and later pleaded guilty to drinking and driving in a Virginia court. The court fined him 250 dollars. He was sentenced to 180 days in prison, but served no time.[37][38][39]
* Trey Radel (R-FL) was arrested on October 29, 2013, in Washington, D.C. for possession of cocaine after purchasing the drug from an undercover law enforcement officer. As a first-time offender, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a Washington, D.C. court, and was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250. Radel took a leave of absence from office to undergo substance abuse treatment following his conviction. Following treatment, he initially returned to office with the intent of finishing his term, but eventually resigned on January 27, 2014.[40][41][42]
* Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-IL) pleaded guilty to one felony count of fraud for using $750,000 of campaign money to buy personal items such as stuffed animals, elk heads and fur capes.[43]
* Laura Richardson (D-CA) was found guilty on seven counts of violating US House rules by improperly using her staff to campaign for her, destroying the evidence and tampering with witness testimony. The House Ethics Committee ordered Richardson to pay a fine of $10,000. (2012)[44][45]
* John Ensign (R-NV) resigned his Senate seat on May 3, 2011, just before the Senate Ethics Committee could examine possible fiscal violations in connection with his extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton. (2011)[46][47][48][49] (see Federal sex scandals) In May 2012, aide Doug Hampton (R) in what became the John Ensign scandal reached a plea deal with prosecutors, the details of which have not yet been released.[50]
* Michael Grimm (R-NY) pleaded guilty to tax fraud on December 23, 2014, and was sentenced to eight months in federal prison.[51]
* Ron Paul (R-TX) Deputy Campaign Manager Dimitri Kesari was convicted of causing false records concerning charges of buying an Iowa State Senator's endorsement during the 2012 presidential campaign.(2012)[52]
* Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), while running for re-election on a pro-life platform, it was discovered that he had made his wife have two abortions, and tried to persuade his mistress (who was also his patient), to have one as well. He also admitted under oath that while a married physician at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, TN, he had six affairs with three co-workers, two patients and a drug representative. He was investigated by the Tennessee Board of Health, pleaded guilty and was fined.(2012) [53][54]
Judicial Branch
Edit
* G. Thomas Porteous Federal Judge for Eastern Louisiana was unanimously impeached by the US House of Representatives on charges of bribery and perjury in March 2010. He was convicted by the US Senate and removed from office. He had been appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton. (2010)[55][56]
* Samuel B. Kent (R) Federal District Judge of Galveston, Texas, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for lying about sexually harassing two female employees. He had been appointed to office by President George H. W. Bush in 1990. (2009)[57][58][59]
* Jack T. Camp Senior Federal U.S. District Court Judge was appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan and again by George W. Bush, was arrested in an undercover drug bust while trying to purchase cocaine from an FBI agent. Judge Camp resigned after pleading guilty to three criminal charges. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 400 community service hours and fined.[60][61][62]
2001–2009 George W. Bush Administration
Edit
Executive Branch
Edit
* Joseph E. Schmitz (R) was nominated by President George W. Bush (R) to be Defense Department Inspector General on June 18, 2001. He resigned on September 9, 2005 in the wake of several allegations by Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) including that he had obstructed the FBI investigation of John A. Shaw.[63][64][65][66][67]
* Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal
* Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey (R) abruptly resigned over substandard conditions for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center including long delays in treatment, rodent infestation and outbreaks of mold. Harvey had been appointed to the position by George W. Bush.(2007)[68]
1. Maj. Gen. George Weightman, was fired for failures linked to the scandal.(2007) [69]
2. Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley resigned for failures linked to the scandal.[70]
* Felipe Sixto was appointed by President George W. Bush to be his Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs as well as Duty Director at the Office of Public Liaison. He resigned a few weeks later on March 20, 2008 because of his misuse of grant money from the U.S. Agency for International Development when he had worked for the Center for a Free Cuba.[71] He was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing almost $600,000 for personal use.[72]
* Timothy Goeglein, Special Assistant to President Bush resigned when it was discovered that more than 20 of his columns had been plagiarized from an Indiana newspaper. (2008)[73]
* Scott Bloch was appointed by President George W. Bush to head the United States Office of Special Counsel. On April 27, 2010 Bloch pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for "willfully and unlawfully withholding pertinent information from a House committee investigating his decision to have several government computers wiped ...."[74] On February 2, Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson ruled that Bloch faces a mandatory sentence of at least one month in prison.[75][76]
* Lewis Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney (R). 'Scooter' was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Plame Affair on March 6, 2007. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. The sentence was commuted by George W. Bush on July 1, 2007. The felony remains on Libby's record, though the jail time and fine were commuted.[77][78]
* Alphonso Jackson The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development resigned while under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged cronyism and favoritism [79]
* Karl Rove Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush was investigated by the Office of Special Counsel for "improper political influence over government decision-making", as well as for his involvement in several other scandals such as Lawyergate, Bush White House e-mail controversy and Plame affair. He resigned in April 2007. (See Karl Rove in the George W. Bush administration)[80]
* Richard J. Griffin Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security appointed by George W. Bush who made key decisions regarding the department's oversight of private security contractor Blackwater USA, resigned in November 2007, after a critical review by the House Oversight Committee found that his office had failed to adequately supervise private contractors during the Blackwater Baghdad shootings protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.[81]
* Howard Krongard, Republican contributor[82] was appointed Inspector General of the US State Department by President George W. Bush in 2005.[83] After he was accused by the House Oversight Committee of improperly interfering with investigations into private security contractor Blackwater USA, concerning the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. Krongard resigned in December 2007.[84][85]
* "Lawyergate"[86] Or the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy refers to President Bush firing, without explanation, eleven Republican federal prosecutors whom he himself had appointed. It is alleged they were fired for prosecuting Republicans and not prosecuting Democrats.[87][88] When Congressional hearings were called, a number of senior Justice Departmentofficials cited executive privilege and refused to testify under oath and instead resigned, including:
1. Alberto Gonzales Attorney General of the United States[89]
2. Karl Rove Advisor to President Bush[90]
3. Harriet Miers Legal Counsel to President Bush, was found in Contempt of Congress[91]
4. Michael A. Battle Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys in the Justice Department.[92]
5. Bradley Schlozman Director of Executive Office of US Attorneys who replaced Battle[93]
6. Michael Elston Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty[94]
7. Paul McNulty Deputy Attorney General to William Mercer[95]
8. William W. Mercer Associate Attorney General to Alberto Gonzales[96]
9. Kyle Sampson Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales[92]
10. Monica Goodling Liaison between President Bush and the Justice Department[97]
11. Joshua Bolten Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush was found in Contempt of Congress[91]
12. Sara M. Taylor Aide to Presidential Advisor Karl Rove[98]
* Bush White House e-mail controversy – During the Lawyergate investigation it was discovered that the Bush administration used Republican National Committee (RNC) web servers for millions of emails which were then destroyed, lost or deleted in possible violation of the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Andrew Card, Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings all used RNC webservers for the majority of their emails. Of 88 officials investigated, 51 showed no emails at all.[99] As many as 5 million e-mails requested by Congressional investigators were therefore unavailable, lost, or deleted.[100]
* Lurita Alexis Doan Resigned as head of the General Services Administration. She was under scrutiny for conflict of interest and violations of the Hatch Act.[101] Among other things she asked GSA employees how they could "help Republican candidates".[102]
* John Korsmo chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board pleaded guilty to lying to congress and sentenced to 18 months of unsupervised probation and fined $5,000. (2005)[103]
* Darleen A. Druyun was Principal Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force nominated by George W. Bush.[104] She pleaded guilty to inflating the price of contracts to favor her future employer, Boeing. In October 2004, she was sentenced to nine months in jail for corruption, fined $5,000, given three years of supervised release and 150 hours of community service. She began her prison term on January 5, 2005.[105] CBS News called it "the biggest Pentagon scandal in 20 years" and said that she pleaded guilty to a felony.[106]
* Philip Cooney Bush appointee to chair the Council on Environmental Quality was accused of editing government climate reports to emphasize doubts about global warming.[107] Two days later, Cooney announced his resignation[108] and later conceded his role in altering reports. Stating "My sole loyalty was to the President and advancing the policies of his administration," .[109][110]
* Jack Abramoff Scandal in which the prominent lobbyist with close ties to Republican administration officials and legislators offered bribes as part of his lobbying efforts. Abramoff was sentenced to 4 years in prison.[111][112] See Legislative scandals.
1. Tom DeLay (R-TX) The House Majority Leader was reprimanded twice by the House Ethics Committee and his aides indicted (2004–2005); eventually DeLay himself was investigated in October 2005 in connection with the Abramoff scandal, but not indicted. DeLay resigned from the House 9 June 2006.[113] DeLay was found to have illegally channeled funds from Americans for a Republican Majority to Republican state legislator campaigns. He was convicted of two counts of money laundering and conspiracy in 2010.[114]
2. David Safavian GSA (General Services Administration) Chief of Staff,[115] found guilty of blocking justice and lying,[116]and sentenced to 18 months[117]
3. Roger Stillwell Staff in the Department of the Interior under President George W. Bush (R). Pleaded guilty and received two years suspended sentence.[118]
4. Susan B. Ralston Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to Karl Rove, resigned October 6, 2006, after it became known that she accepted gifts and passed information to her former boss Jack Abramoff.[119]
5. J. Steven Griles former Deputy to the Secretary of the Interior pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 10 months.[120]
6. Italia Federici staff to the Secretary of the Interior, and President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to four years probation.[121][122][123]
7. Jared Carpenter Vice-President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, was discovered during the Abramoff investigation and pled guilty to income tax evasion. He got 45 days, plus 4 years probation.[124]
8. Mark Zachares staff in the Department of Labor, bribed by Abramoff, guilty of conspiracy to defraud.[112]
9. Robert E. Coughlin Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division of the Justice Department pleaded guilty to conflict of interest after accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff. (2008)[122]
* Kyle Foggo Executive director of the CIA was convicted of honest services fraud in the awarding of a government contract and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison at Pine Knot, Kentucky. On September 29, 2008, Foggo pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment, admitting that while he was the CIA executive director, he acted to steer a CIA contract to the firm of his lifelong friend, Brent R. Wilkes.[125]
* Julie MacDonald Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, resigned May 1, 2007, after giving government documents to developers (2007)[126]
* Claude Allen Appointed as an advisor by President George W. Bush (R) on Domestic Policy, Allen was arrested for a series of felony thefts in retail stores. He was convicted on one count and resigned soon after.[127]
* Lester Crawford Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, resigned after 2 months. pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and received 3 years suspended sentence and fined $90,000 (2006)[128]
* 2003 Invasion of Iraq depended on intelligence that Saddam Hussein was developing "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs) meaning nuclear, chemical and/or biological weapons for offensive use. As revealed by The (British) Downing Street memo "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy" The press called this the 'smoking gun."(2005)[129]
* Yellowcake forgery: Just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration presented evidence to the UN that Iraq was seeking material (yellowcake uranium) in Africa for making nuclear weapons. Though presented as true, it was later found to be not only dubious, but outright false.[130][131]
* Coalition Provisional Authority Cash Payment Scandal: On June 20, 2005, the staff of the Committee on Government Reform prepared a report for Congressman Henry Waxman.[132] It was revealed that $12 billion in cash had been delivered to Iraq by C-130 planes, on shrinkwrapped pallets of US $100 bills.[133] The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, concluded that "Many of the funds appear to have been lost to corruption and waste.... Some of the funds could have enriched both criminals and insurgents...." Henry Waxman, commented, "Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone?" A single flight to Iraq on December 12, 2003, which contained $1.5 billion in cash is said to be the largest single Federal Reserve payout in US history according to Henry Waxman.[134][135]
* Bush administration payment of columnists with federal funds to say nice things about Republican policies. Illegal payments were made to journalists Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus (2004–2005)[136]
* John A. Shaw (R) was appointed by George W. Bush as Under Secretary of Defense [137] He was investigated on corruption although charges were never filed against him, he was asked to resign in 2004.[138] When he refused to resign, he was fired by the Bush administration on December 10, 2004.[139][140][141]
* Bernard Kerik nomination in 2004 as Secretary of Homeland Security was derailed by past employment of an illegal alien as a nanny, and other improprieties. On Nov 4, 2009, he pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud and five counts of lying to the federal government and was sentenced to four years in prison.[142]
* Plame affair (2004), in which CIA agent Valerie Plame's name was leaked by Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, to the press in retaliation for her husband's criticism of the reports used by George W. Bush to legitimize the Iraq war.[143]Armitage admitted he was the leak[144] but no wrongdoing was found.
* Thomas A. Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), withheld information from Congress about the projected cost of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, and allegedly threatened to fire Medicare's chief actuary, Richard Foster, if Foster provided the data to Congress. (2003)[145] Scully resigned on December 16, 2003.
* NSA warrantless surveillance – Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, President George W. Bush (R) implemented a secret program by the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on domestic telephone calls by American citizens without warrants, thus by-passing the FISA court which must approve all such actions. (2002)[146] In 2010, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled this practice to be illegal.[147]
* Janet Rehnquist (daughter of former Chief Justice William Rehnquist) appointed Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services by George W. Bush. In 2002, Governor Jeb Bush's (R-FL) Chief of Staff Kathleen Shanahan asked Rehnquist to delay auditing a $571 million federal overpayment to the State of Florida. Rehnquist ordered her staff to delay the investigation for five months until after the Florida elections. When Congress began an investigation into the matter, Rehnquist resigned in March 2003, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.[148][149][150][150][151][152]
* John Yoo An attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel inside the Justice Department who, working closely with vice president Dick Cheney and The Bush Six,[153] wrote memos stating the right of the president to –
1. suspend sections of the ABM Treaty without informing Congress[154]
2. bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allowing warrantless wiretapping of US Citizens within the United States by the National Security Agency.[154]
3. state that the First Amendment and Fourth Amendments and the Takings Clause do not apply to the president in time of war as defined in the USA PATRIOT Act[154]
4. allow Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (torture) because provisions of the War Crimes Act, the Third Geneva Convention, and the Torture convention do not apply.[154]
Many of his memos have since been repudiated and reversed.[154][155] Later review by the Justice Department reported that Yoo and Jay Bybee used "poor judgement" in the memos, but no charges were filed.[156]
* Carl Truscott Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms appointed in 2004 but was soon under investigation for his management style and allegations of lavish spending and misuse of resources, including requiring a large number of agents as personal security, allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars of expensive upgrades to the ATF HQ building, adding a new garage to his house, detailing 20 agents to help with his nephew's high school project and other examples of poor financial judgment. Truscott resigned as the ATF Director on August 4, 2006.[157][158]
Legislative Branch
Edit
* James W. Treffinger (R-NJ) the US senatorial candidate pleaded guilty in 2003 to corruption and fraud as Chief Executive of Essex County and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and serve 13 months in jail.[159]
* Ted Stevens Senator (R-AK) was convicted of seven counts of bribery and tax evasion October 27, 2008. He then lost re-election. Newly appointed US Attorney General Eric Holder dismissed the charges "in the interest of justice" stating that the Justice Department had illegally withheld evidence from defense counsel.[160]
* Charles Rangel (D-NY) failed to report $75,000 income from the rental of his villa in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and was forced to pay $11,000 in back taxes.(September 2008)[161]
* Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Announced he would not seek another term.[162]* He was later sentenced to three years in prison after conviction on federal corruption charges of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering related to a 2005 money-laundering scheme that netted the Flagstaff Republican more than $700,000. (2005) [163]
* Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned on September 29, 2006 after sending sexually explicit messages to former Congressional pages.[164]
* Frank Ballance (D-NC) admitted to a federal charge of money laundering and mail fraud in October 2005 and sentenced to 4 years in prison.[165]
* Tom DeLay (R-TX) and House Majority Leader served from 1985 to 2006 when he resigned his position to undergo trial for conspiring to launder corporate money into political donations and money laundering during the 2002 elections. On November 24, 2010, DeLay was found guilty[166] and was sentenced to three years in prison and 10 years' probation respectively.[167] On September 19, 2013, the conviction was overturned.[168]
* Jack Abramoff Scandal, (R) lobbyist found guilty of conspiracy, tax evasion and corruption of public officials in three different courts in a wide ranging investigation. Currently serving 70 months and fined $24.7 million.[169] See Scandals, Executive Branch. The following were also implicated:
1. Tom DeLay (R-TX) The House Majority Leader was reprimanded twice by the House Ethics Committee and his aides indicted (2004–2005); eventually DeLay himself was investigated in October 2005 in connection with the Abramoff scandal, but not indicted. DeLay resigned from the House 9 June 2006.[113] DeLay was found to have illegally channeled funds from Americans for a Republican Majority to Republican state legislator campaigns. He was convicted of two counts of money laundering and conspiracy in 2010.[114]
2. Michael Scanlon (R) former staff to Tom DeLay: working for Abramoff, pled guilty to bribery.[111][112]
3. Tony Rudy (R) former staff to Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy.[112]
4. James W. Ellis executive director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority(ARMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money laundering.[170]
5. John Colyandro executive director of Tom DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority(TRMPAC), was indicted by Texas for money laundering[170]
6. Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements as a result of his receiving trips from Abramoff in exchange for legislative favors. Ney received 30 months in prison.[112][171]
7. William Heaton (R) Chief of Staff for Bob Ney pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud[172] admitting to conspiring with Ney, Jack Abramoff and others to accept vacations, meals, tickets, and contributions to Ney's campaign in exchange for Ney benefitting Abramoff's clients.(2006)[173]
8. Neil Volz former staff to Robert Ney, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in 2006 charges stemming from his work for Bob Ney. In 2007 he was sentenced to two years probation, 100 hours community service, and a fine of $2,000.[174]
9. William Heaton, former chief of staff for Bob Ney (R), pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge involving a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping Abramoff's clients.[175]
10. John Albaugh, former chief of staff to Ernest Istook (R-OK), pled guilty to accepting bribes connected to the Federal Highway Bill. Istook was not charged. (2008)[176]
11. James Hirni, former staff to Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), was charged with wire fraud for giving a staffer for Don Young (R) of Alaska a bribe in exchange for amendments to the Federal Highway Bill. (2008)[177]
12. Kevin A. Ring (R) former staff to John Doolittle (R-CA) was convicted of five charges of corruption.[178][179]
* John Doolittle (R-CA) both he and his wife were under investigation (January 2008). Under this cloud, Doolittle decided not to run for re-election in November 2008. The Justice Department announced in June 2010 they had terminated the investigation and found no wrongdoing.[180]
* Randy Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty on November 28, 2005, to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion in what came to be called the Cunningham scandal. Sentenced to over eight years.[181]
* Tan Nguyen (R-CA) congressional candidate for the 47th District was convicted of voter intimidation. He lost the election and was sentenced to one year in prison and six months in a halfway house. (2006)[182]
* Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) struck a U.S. Capitol Police officer in the chest after he attempted to stop her from going around a security checkpoint. McKinney apologized on the floor of the House and no charges were filed (March 29, 2006)[183]
* William J. Jefferson (D-LA) in August 2005 the FBI seized $90,000 in cash from Jefferson's home freezer. He was re-elected anyway, but lost in 2008. Jefferson was convicted of 11 counts of bribery and sentenced to 13 years on November 13, 2009, and his chief of staff Brett Pfeffer was sentenced to 84 months in a related case.[184][185]
* Bill Janklow (R-SD) convicted of second-degree manslaughter for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. Resigned from the House and given 100 days in the county jail and three years (2003)[186]
* Robert Torricelli Senator (D-NJ) after 14 years in the House and one term in the Senate, Torricelli declined to run again when accused of taking illegal contributions from Korean businessman David Chang. (2002)[187]
* Jim Traficant (D-OH) found guilty on 10 felony counts of financial corruption, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison and expelled from the House (2002)[188]

[PrimeTimer]

  He's making a list  he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's been naughty or nice! Santa Claus is coming to town! 


Here's a list that Hillary NEVER likes to talk about:

US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens
US Foreign Service Information Mgmt Officer Sean Smith
CIA contractor Tyrone S. Woods
CIA contractor Glen Doherty

[MooseMom]

He's making a list  he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's been naughty or nice! Santa Claus is coming to town! 


Here's a list that Hillary NEVER likes to talk about:

US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens
US Foreign Service Information Mgmt Officer Sean Smith
CIA contractor Tyrone S. Woods
CIA contractor Glen Doherty

No, you're mistaken.  That's Gen. Betrayus' list.

[SutureSelf]

 Now, Trump won the presidency with a minority of the electorate's votes,

Wrong.  Trump had 306 Electoral Votes to Clinton's 232.  It takes 270 to win so Trump had far more than a minority.  Plus, Trump won 31 states in popular vote while Hillary took just 19 and D.C.

...with the lowest approval rating of any President elect in this nation's history

So what?  If Clinton had won, she would have done so with the second worst approval rating in history.  Not much better than Trump's.   What Trump's win says, voters at least trusted him and his agenda more than Hillary's and Obama's.

and with the possible help of the dictator of an adversarial nation.

And what "help" would that be?  NO allegations of tampering with voting machines or voting outcomes.  Maybe helping Wikileaks?  If so, that was all TRUE FACTS released to the public - no changing of emails.  If anything, just a leveling of the playing field since the liberal media was in Clinton's pocket and doing everything possible to sabotage Trump's campaign by only reporting neative stories on him and positive for Hillary.  MSM lost all sense of propriety and even admitted so.  Oh, Obama knew of the hacking months ago, why did he wait until now to start making a stink?

Trump's presidency is invalid in the minds of many people before he ever takes the Oath.  The "legal system" is beside the point.

Only to those who do not understand our country is a representative republic, not a democracy and/or are whiners and bad losers.  All the rest is just noise.

[Michael Murphy]

The Libya fiasco was a CIA blunder not a State Department blunder.  What was seized in Benghazi was a CIA facility hidden as a State Department location.
The Ambasador was visiting a CIA  Building.  The CIA was responsible for security not State.  Funding for security at that location was. CIA  responcibity.
This is just another example of the Repupublican lie machine bending the facts till they become some thing they like but are not the truth