Bloomberg Politics

Pulte’s Spy Agency Role Seen Undercutting Trump Housing Agenda

6 hours agoCenter

President Donald Trump’s decision to tap his top housing regulator to also serve as acting Director of National Intelligence threatens to sideline an already-sputtering home affordability agenda five months before the US midterm elections.

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'Something is wrong': James Carville goes after Trump's mysterious Walter Reed visits

Raw Story

1 hour ago

'Something is wrong': James Carville goes after Trump's mysterious Walter Reed visits

Legendary Democratic strategist James Carville took a few swings at President Donald Trump on Tuesday's edition of Ari Melber's "The Beat," pointing out his health decline — as he has done on prior occasions — but also his total lack of interest in working on major policy issues that are rapidly beginning to define his second term.Nothing better exemplifies this, he and Melber agreed, than Trump's repeated recent claims that he doesn't care about Americans' financial situation because the Iran war is more important. When a reporter asked Trump to what extent Americans' financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran, Trump was blunt: "Not even a little bit. I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.""He may not care because he doesn't care whether other House Republicans who tried to back him up every which way, whether they lose their seat," said Melber. "So that's part of that message, whether that works." He then played a number of clips of Republicans, including one featuring Trump's now-infamous comment about Americans' financial situation. Carville had a field day with the line."That's a new message," he said. "I've never in all my years in politics — I've never heard the leader of a political party say, I don't care if we win the election or not, matters nothing to me. And maybe he is so self-absorbed that that's true."Ultimately, Carville said, "something is wrong here. This guy goes to Walter Reed more than I go to the bathroom. I mean, there's something here that's just not adding up. And I'm not sure that we know what it is, but I suspect at some point we will know."The problem, he said, is that Trump may find all of this boring in his current mental state, "but I'll tell you who's not bored: our people on the Gerald R. Ford that were deployed for nine months, I guarantee you they're not bored. I guarantee you, the pilots that are flying these missions or ships that are guarding these things, they're not bored at all."For a president to say something like that, Carville added, is "almost impossible to digest." - YouTube youtu.be

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Blanche says Garland ‘didn’t own up’ to involvement in Trump cases

Washington Examiner

2 hours ago

Blanche says Garland ‘didn’t own up’ to involvement in Trump cases

President Donald Trump‘s acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said former Attorney General Merrick Garland failed to be transparent about his role in major investigations targeting Trump, pointing to several pieces of evidence showing Garland personally approved key steps in those investigations. Speaking Tuesday on Hang Out with Sean Hannity from Fox News, Blanche said he […]

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Second Lady Usha Vance distances herself from Trump's attack on the high court

Raw Story

2 hours ago

Second Lady Usha Vance distances herself from Trump's attack on the high court

Second Lady Usha Vance defended Supreme Court Justices during an ABC interview Monday night.The Daily Beast reports Vance urged viewers to treat the Justices with respect, amid President Donald Trump's continued attacks on the high court. Vance, who previously clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, said justices face challenging public roles and deserve humanity. "I think that there has been a lot of personalization of feelings towards judges and the courts across the country that probably didn’t exist, you know, 150 years ago when they were less in the public eye," Vance said.Without naming Trump, she added, "So I’m hopeful that people will continue to treat them with a sense of humanity and, you know, without the kind of anger that’s led to some attacks on judges." Chief Justice Roberts has expressed concerns about Trump's personal attacks, particularly following the February ruling striking down Trump's tariff policy. Trump called those justices "disloyal," "unpatriotic," and "fools."The President has specifically targeted Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett for having ruled against his wishes on major decisions.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.

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Trump under fire in court as judge strips down his order to restrict mail voting

Raw Story

2 hours ago

Trump under fire in court as judge strips down his order to restrict mail voting

President Donald Trump's executive order seizing federal control of mail-in voting is in peril after a federal judge in Massachusetts gave it a cold reception in court this week.According to Bloomberg Law, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani "pressed the Justice Department on the president’s order for the Department of Homeland Security to draw up a list of confirmed citizens, which states could use in creating a list of eligible mail-in voters to provide to the US Postal Service," sounding skeptical that this was a valid exercise."You'll have a small list," said Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.Under Trump's executive order, states would have to provide these lists within 30 days of an election, and the Postal Service would directly block sending ballots to anyone not on these lists — a requirement and timeline which could trigger logistical chaos if allowed to go into effect immediately.This comes just a week after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, an appointee of Trump, declined to block the order, reasoning that it was only initiating a rulemaking process and hadn't yet caused anything illegal to happen.It also comes as the Supreme Court considers a case that could make it vastly more difficult for mail ballots to be counted in some states.

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Senators Thune and Cotton React to Pulte as Acting ODNI

The Last Refuge

2 hours ago

Senators Thune and Cotton React to Pulte as Acting ODNI

Thune defers to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton, who, obviously, wants maximum control returned to the Central Intelligence Agency, and it is a little funny; visibly funny. Because in the background -much to the angst of the SSCI- people are starting to realize how this dysfunctional Intelligence Community apparatus actually works. With […] The post Senators Thune and Cotton React to Pulte as Acting ODNI appeared first on The Last Refuge.

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'My God!' Fireworks as Todd Blanche confronted over Trump family IRS immunity order

Raw Story

2 hours ago

'My God!' Fireworks as Todd Blanche confronted over Trump family IRS immunity order

A Democratic lawmaker blasted Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday and called out the immunity order issued by the Justice Department that granted President Donald Trump, his family and associates immunity from any future IRS investigations.Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) pressed Blanche — Trump's former personal lawyer — to answer questions about the decision during the House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Justice Department. Blanche admitted during the Capitol Hill hearing that the Justice Department would not move forward with its "anti-weaponization fund" following outcry from both lawmakers and the public.And in DeLauro's line of questioning, she expressed frustration towards Blanche, shaking her head and scoffing at his responses after he said the order was "not blanket immunity." Then she read the order directly to him."United States releases, waives, acquits and forever discharges each of the plaintiffs from and is hereby forever barred and precluded from prosecuting or pursuing any and all claims, counterclaims, causes of actions, appeals, requests for any reliefs," DeLauro read. "I mean, this is an order from you, but you're not prepared," she said. "You are prepared to say that the president and his family will be, are barred, are immune. That's a yes.""No, it was not a yes. I had not answered the question. I can't answer if you want me to," Blanche said. Blanche argued that the Justice Department and Trump administration would not move forward with the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund." But DeLauro wanted answers — and not just about the fund."OK. But you are moving forward with this second order," DeLauro pushed back."It's not moving forward. There's a settlement," Blanche said. "There's a settlement that the IRS entered into with President Trump and others, his family and his companies as part of that settlement. As is customary in IRS settlements. There's a separate AG order," Blanche said.DeLauro was stunned by Blanche's comments and made it known."Friends, listen to what is being said here today here," she said. "This is really pretty extraordinary, that we are going to forever barred and precluded from examining or prosecuting the president, his sons and the Trump organization's current tax filings. Simply put, you just gave the president's family a tax immunity to the tune of about $100 million." "Not true," Blanche said. "Well, yes, you have, my friend," DeLauro said.She called out Blanche's conflict of interest."The Save America PAC paid you nearly $10 million in 2024 to serve as President Trump's personal defense attorney! My God, do you not find there's any conflict of interest in what you are doing here as the acting attorney general of the US?" DeLauro asked.

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Trump finally removes his name from the Kennedy Center

Raw Story

2 hours ago

Trump finally removes his name from the Kennedy Center

Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.

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Fiery clash breaks out as Trump DHS chief cornered on 'pattern' of mistruths

Raw Story

3 hours ago

Fiery clash breaks out as Trump DHS chief cornered on 'pattern' of mistruths

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) clashed with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing over what Van Hollen described as a "pattern" of mistruths from DHS. Van Hollen challenged Mullin about previous statements former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem made about cases involving Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, an immigrant in Maryland who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last year, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was shot and killed by immigration agents during a confrontation with Border Patrol agents amid protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this year. Van Hollen claimed there was a "pattern" of untruths offered by the previous DHS administration. Things got heated when Mullin attempted to refute Van Hollen's claim. "I do want to say something to you," Mullin said to Van Hollen as his time for questions expired. "We arrest about 1,900 people a day ..."Van Hollen interrupted Mullin and asked the committee chair, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), if she would allow more time for questions so the two could finish their conversation. Mullin continued uninterrupted."I was answering what you said was a pattern!" Mullin said. "You made an accusation that there was a pattern ...""Mr. Secretary, I went on! There was a pattern," Van Hollen shot back. Mullin and Van Hollen then got into a heated back-and-forth about the definition of a pattern."Let's get out the dictionary!" Van Hollen said amid the crosstalk.

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