| Week #23: April 23, 2017 |
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As the 100-day mark approaches, Trump has no legislative accomplishments and his foreign policy can best be described as an embarrassing mess. Instead, Trump seems focused on enriching himself, his regime, and his business contacts. The pace and boldness of corruption whiff of a man who is aware his days in this gig are numbered.
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| 1. | Seven weeks have passed since Trump's tweet accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. He has yet to offer any evidence or apologize. |
| 2. |
American Oversight, a group of liberal lawyers, is suing the DOJ and FBI seeking proof for Trump's wiretapping claim. Read More About This |
| 3. | Trump has yet to offer any evidence or apologize for his accusations that Susan Rice committed a crime by spying on his campaign. |
| 4. |
The New Yorker reported not only did bi-partisan members of the House find nothing in the Rice intercepts, but also the rationale came clear: per an intelligence source, the White House said, "We are going to mobilize to find something to justify the President's tweet that he was being surveilled.' Read More About This |
| 5. |
Trump hosted a disastrous Easter Egg Roll, including telling the children, "We will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before," and forgetting to lift his hand to his heart during the National Anthem. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 6. |
NYT reported on violations and a raft of potential conflicts-of-interest as Trump appoints former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants to craft policies in industries where they formerly worked. Read More About This |
| 7. |
OGE director Shaub noted that Trump rolled back an Obama requirement that appointees not accept jobs in agencies they recently lobbied, and that Trump has granted waivers allowing appointees to take up matters which benefit their former clients. Read More About This |
| 8. |
WAPO reported 168 corporate interests have made requests to Trump for regulatory relief, all likely to be granted, "especially those designed to advance environmental protection and safeguard worker rights." Read More About This |
| 9. | On Tax Day, breaking precedent with every modern-day president, Trump did not release his tax returns, nor explain why. |
| 10. |
WSJ reported that in the first quarter, Trump's campaign funds paid $500k to Trump's companies including hotels, golf clubs and restaurants. Read More About This |
| 11. |
Trump raised $107mm for his inaugural, doubling Obama, although Trump's crowds and festivities were markedly smaller. It's unclear where unspent money has gone, while numerous "pay-to-play" stories emerge. Read More About This |
| 12. |
For example, Rachel Maddow reported on a $666,ooo gift from a businessman named R. W. Habboush, which led to a meetings between his son and both an NSC official and Bannon to discuss how to open up business with Venezuela, which is heavily sanctioned by the US. Read More About This |
| 13. |
Trump dropped his campaign promise to let Medicare negotiate bulk discounts on prescription drugs after meeting with pharma lobbyists. Read More About This |
| 14. |
Ivanka was granted China trademarks during dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-A-Lago. As reported in Week 22, Trump also changed his position saying China does not manipulate its currency. Read More About This |
| 15. |
FT reported Manafort stepped in to the China action, advising Chinese billionaire Jiehe on how to access to Trump's $1tn infrastructure plan. Read More About This |
| 16. |
CREW filed an amended complaint to its emoluments challenge against Trump in federal court, adding new plaintiffs who claim they've been "directly harmed by a loss of business and wages." Read More About This |
| 17. |
Dow Chemical donated $1mm to Trump's inauguration, then asked the regime to ignore a study on its pesticide which was "originally derived from a nerve gas developed by Nazi Germany," Read More About This |
| 18. |
Trump billionaire outside adviser, Steve Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone which has significant holdings in China, stands to gain from US-China policies he helped to shape. Read More About This |
| 19. |
USA Today reporters pieced together that Trump companies own 400+ luxury condos and homes worth $250mm up for sale or rent presenting people, corporations or foreign interests an opportunity gain influence through purchases. Read More About This |
| 20. |
Further, since Trump launched his presidential bid, Trump companies have sold at least 58 units for $90mm -- almost half to LLCs. Since Election Day, 14 units have been sold for $23mm -- half to LLCs. Read More About This |
| 21. |
The House Oversight Committee sent a letter asking Trump for details on how and when the Trump will donate profits made from foreign government officials. Reps Cummings and Chaffetz signed the letter. Read More About This |
| 22. |
Two days earlier, without explanation, Chaffetz said he would not run for re-election in 2018, and that he may leave office early to return to the private sector. Read More About This |
| 23. |
Despite denials by the Trump, Erik Prince's had close ties to the Trump regime, including riding the Acela with Conway, providing advice to Trump's inner-circle including Flynn, and entering Trump Tower through the back entrance. Read More About This |
| 24. | As mentioned in Week 21, Prince had a one-on-one meeting with a Putin insider in Seychelles on January 11. He is also Betsy DeVos's brother. |
| 25. |
Without explanation, the national security official leading the DOJ investigation into whether the Trump regime colluded with Russia, abruptly resigned. Read More About This |
| 26. |
CNN reported that the FBI used information in the Steele dossier, which they independently confirmed, for their FISA warrant against Page. Read More About This |
| 27. |
CNN reported Russia tried to use Trump advisers, including Page, to infiltrate the campaign. Page is one of several advisers US and European intel found to be in contact with Russian officials during the campaign. Read More About This |
| 28. |
The DOJ said is it preparing charges against WikiLeaks founder Assange, with Sessions saying Assange's arrest is a priority. Strangely, the Trump regime has turned on Assange, after lauding him during the campaign. Read More About This |
| 29. |
Sessions left open the possibility of prosecuting US news organizationsfor publishing leaked information, and stories on the Trump-Russia scandal continue to pour out. Read More About This |
| 30. |
As part of a custody battle, InfoWars' Alex Jones said he is a "performance artist." As noted in Week 19, InfoWars and Breitbart are under FBI investigation for their roles in Russian hacking of our election. Read More About This |
| 31. |
NBC compiled a seating chart of attendees at Putin's December 2015 RT celebration dinner. Other than Flynn seated next to Putin, Stein was also at Putin's table and Assange appeared via satellite. NBC also reported on efforts by RT to promote Stein (and hurt Hillary) in the primary. Read More About This |
| 32. |
The House Intel Committee announced it will reopen its Trump-Russia probe ex Nunes. Yates, Comey, Rogers, Brennan and Clapper have all been invited to testify. Read More About This |
| 33. |
Nikolai Andrushchenko, a Russian journalist and Putin critic, was beaten to death by strangers. He is the 12th "mysterious" Russian death in recent months. Read More About This |
| 34. |
Like their interference in the US, Russian sources are flooding French social media with fake news ahead of France's election. Read More About This |
| 35. |
Reuters reported on a Putin-linked think tank that very purposefully and carefully orchestrated an attack on the US election. Fake news, pro-Kremlin bloggers and cyber-attacks were all part of the plan. Read More About This |
| 36. |
Exxon sought a US waiver to resume drilling in their Russian jv with Rosneft -- a deal forged by Tillerson, who is ring fenced from Exxon for only one year. Amid outcry, permission was denied by the Treasury Dept. Read More About This |
| 37. |
The UK Election Commission has launched an investigation of Farage's Leave.EU for its funding. The involvement of Cambridge Analytica -- which also allegedly has ties to Bannon and the Mercers and the Russian hacking of the US election -- was not declared to the election watchdog. Read More About This |
| 38. |
Sessions said he was "amazed" that a US judge "on an Island in the Pacific" (aka Hawaii) could block Trump's Muslim Ban. Read More About This |
| 39. |
Sessions took a fact-free swipe at another ethnically diverse city, saying New York City was soft on crime and plagued by gangs murders. Read More About This |
| 40. |
ICE immigrant arrests were up 33% in the first two months of the Trumpregime, including a doubling of noncriminal arrests. Read More About This |
| 41. |
The first protected DREAMer, Juan Manuel Montes, who is 23 and have lived here since age 9, was deported by Trump. Read More About This |
| 42. |
Trump ally Rep. Steve King celebrated the deportation by tweeting a photo of a frosty beer mug with the words, "First non-valedictorian DREAMer deported. Border Patrol, this one's for you." Read More About This |
| 43. |
Ironically, a federal lawsuit brought on behalf of Montes has been assigned to Judge Curiel, the jurist infamously attacked by Trump for his Mexican heritage during the Trump University case. Read More About This |
| 44. |
Trump signed an executive order to review high-skilled H-1B immigration visas. Read More About This |
| 45. |
Trump's order does not, however, impact low-skilled H2A or H2B visas. According to CNN, Trump businesses have received 1,024 H-2B visas since 2000, and Trump Vineyards has received 64 H-2A permits since 2006 Read More About This |
| 46. |
In a troubling provocation, Russian aircraft were spotted flying off the coast of Alaska four times in four day this week. Read More About This |
| 47. |
Amidst silence from Trump and our State Department, pogroms of gay men in Russia's Chechnya region escalated. Russia also banned Jehovah's Witnesses, claiming "extremist activities." Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 48. |
Trump shocked US and international officials when he called Turkey's Erdogan to congratulate him on passage of a referendum which allows Erdogan to further consolidate power as an autocrat. International monitors have said the vote was not "genuinely democratic." Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 49. |
Trump held a secret meeting at Mar-A-Lago with former presidents of Colombia, threatening to undermine the country's peace agreement with rebel leaders. The meeting was arranged by Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and was not on Trump's schedule. Read More About This |
| 50. |
Meanwhile, at a speech in WI, Trump called some of Canada's trade practices a "disgrace" and claimed NAFTA is "a disaster for our country." Read More About This |
| 51. |
In another embarrassment of US foreign policy, Trump promised "we are sending an armada"- the USS Carl Vinson carrier group was being deployed to waters off the Korean Peninsula. This was not true. Read More About This |
| 52. |
Mattis and McMaster also made similar misstatement about the USS Carl Vinson's location. While traveling in the region, Pence assured our allies the misstatements were "not made intentionally." Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 53. |
On Wednesday, Tillerson said that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal. On Thursday, Trump said Iran was not in complaint. Read More About This |
| 54. |
Trump offended our S. Korea allies with a claim that the country "actually used to be part of China." Trump apparently gleaned this "knowledge" from his conversation with Xi Jinping. Read More About This |
| 55. |
For his upcoming visit to London, Trump demanded a carriage ride with Queen Elizabeth II down a strip that leads to Buckingham Palace. Read More About This |
| 56. |
Three month in, Trump has only filled 4% of key roles in the executive branch. And with all the international hot spots and conflicts, the State Department remains largely vacant, including Deputy Secretary. Read More About This |
| 57. |
A State Department official who helped shape the Iran nuclear deal was summarily reassigned for criticizing Conservative Review and Breitbart. Read More About This |
| 58. |
The Surgeon General was also quietly dismissed on Friday evening, without explanation or a full-time replacement. Read More About This |
| 59. |
DeVos's pick to head the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights said she faced discrimination for being white. Read More About This |
| 60. |
In his first three months of office, Trump has made 417 false or misleading claims. Read More About This |
| 61. |
Trump first quarter job approval stood at 41%, the lowest of any modern day president by 14 points in Gallup polling. Read More About This |
| 62. |
The Resistance claimed a major victory, bringing down FoxNews icon Bill O'Reilly. Some speculated that the rise of Trump, and his backing of O'Reilly after recent allegations, laid the groundwork for O'Reilly's fall. Read More About This |
| 63. |
Hundreds of thousands are expected to march on Earth Day in the global March for Science in DC and at 609 satellite locations. Read More About This |
Replicated from: https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-23-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-3cd5704e674a
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