Mueller Report Filed but is Not the End (Updated) 3/27/19

While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.
Robert Mueller on Obstruction of Justice Charges

Robert Mueller has finished it’s report and openly stated that the President has not Conspired with Russia, a relief to many Republicans on the Hill [1].

What the report did not outline however, and actually avoided concluding on, was if Trump had committed Obstruction of Justice in trying to prevent the investigation, which the House Judiciary Committee is currently looking into and actively investigating [2].

The current best case situation is that Trump committed no discernible crime.

The worst case is that he did and the Department of Justice will refuse to act upon it, setting precedent that a President is more than a man of the people, the very thing the founders wanted to avoid by beginning this country [3].

We won’t know which is true until the majority or entirety of the report is obtained, as William Barr doesn’t believe a President can be indicted especially on Obstruction of Justice charges [4], which Trump has already openly admitted to attempting when he fired James Comey and said it was for the Russia Investigation [5], as well as when he asked Russia to hack the DNC and they did so within hours [6].

This is why the Democratic leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, are trying to ensure that Congress gets a more thorough view of Mueller’s Report [7].

Let us also not assume that the case is closed, as even though Mueller has stated his team will serve no more indictments [8], he has handed off many cases to Federal and State prosecutors.

The still-live investigations range from an expansive probe into the Trump inaugural committee, to various investigations relating to former top Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, to tips that stemmed from Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen’s experience with Trump and his family’s company. It’s possible other investigations are being conducted quietly, as well. [9]

For a good summation on the possible legal implications, please look at THIS DISCUSSION about US Attorney General Barr’s Summary of the Mueller Report to listen to this clip of a discussion between former US Attorney for SDNY, Preet Bharara, and former AG of NJ, Anne Milgram, on what they’ve read so far [10].

Sources

Source 1: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/24/mueller-report-donald-trump-barr-congress-russia

Source 2: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/26/mueller-obstruction-of-justice-legislation-1237498

Source 3: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-america-has-president-instead-exalted-highness-180961841/

Source 4: http://time.com/5505438/wiliam-barr-confirmation-hearing-attorney-general/

Source 5: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-he-didn-t-fire-comey-because-russia-contradicting-n878836

Source 6: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/us/politics/trump-russia-clinton-emails.html

Source 7: https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/32419/

Source 8: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/03/25/trump-russia-mueller-evidence-danger-even-without-indictments-column/3268632002/

Source 9: https://wtvr.com/2019/03/24/investigations-will-continue-despite-end-of-mueller-report/

Source 10: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stay-tuned-with-preet/e/59625778?autoplay=true

Congress Attempts to Override Trump’s Emergency Declaration 3/19/19

Beginning on February 26th, the House passed a measure to overturn Trump’s Emergency Declaration, voting 245-182, just 11 days after the declaration was made [1].

Eventually, the measure was moved to the Senate, where on March 14th, 12 Republicans voted for the measure to be moved forward, with a vote of 59-41, passing the Senate but not within a veto-proof majority [2].

From there, Trump announced his intentions of Vetoing the measure, and did so the following day [3].

Now, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, is expected to challenge his Veto in the House, publicly stating that she’d do so by having an override vote take place on March 26th [4].

In this instance, Nancy Pelosi’s vote on March 26th is unlikely to pass, as a Supermajority of 2/3 is needed to override a Presidential Veto, meaning 67 members of the Senate or 290 members of the House, which neither Congressional House met during the vote.

The Emergency on the Southern Border, however, isn’t an emergency at all [5], and will inevitably be forgotten after Trump leaves office.

There is a long process needed to get the land on the southern border, requiring Eminent Domain utilization by the Federal Government, in which the government can seize private land for their own use. This was done during the W. Bush and Obama Presidencies to allow for the Secure Fence Act, against the wishes of many who owned the land, which put the current Border Fence we have lining the most accessible portions of the United State’s Southern Border that is there today [6].

Sources

Source 1: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431722-house-votes-to-overturn-trump-emergency-declaration

Source 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-renews-veto-threat-as-senate-prepares-to-rebuke-him-on-national-emergency/2019/03/14/2efbea36-4647-11e9-aaf8-4512a6fe3439_story.html

Source 3: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/us/politics/trump-veto-national-emergency.html

Source 4: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/03/16/pelosi-override-trump-vetos-congressional-national-emergency/

Source 5: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/13/donald-trump-national-emergency-border-225781

Source 6: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/12/14/border-land-grab-government-abused-power-seize-property-fence/

New Statehood Proposal for D.C. and a possible Future for Puerto Rico 3/14/19

Washington D.C. is an area that denies a common American Tenet:
No Taxation Without Representation.

Democrats want to change that.

A new Bill, H.R. 51, is a Bill advocating for the addition of Washington D.C. as a new, 51st state, giving the population of somewhere around 715,000 people the right to have Representatives and Congresspersons, thus giving them a voice in the Nation through representation [1].

The full process requires a Joint Resolution after the writing of a new State Constitution, then the signature of the President [2], which is unlikely to happen unless there is a new Democratic President in the Oval Office come 2021, as the state will almost certainly vote Democratic.

When it comes to Puerto Rico, it seems likely that Statehood will also be on the table in 2020. It’s been a point to visit the island for a few 2020 Democratic Candidates, such as Julian Castro and Elizabeth Warren, while Bernie Sanders named Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, as a co-chair to his campaign [3].

It seems the 2020 election will majorly dictate the future of America and who is in it.

Sources

Source 1: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/democrats-push-to-make-washington-dc-the-fifty-first-state

Source 2: https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/how-do-new-states-become-part-of-the-us/103-448157125

Source 3: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-puertorico/puerto-rico-governor-says-2020-democrats-must-support-statehood-idUSKCN1QB2A4

Senate Votes to End Support in Yemen 3/13/19

The Senate has voted to end support of the Saudi’s coalition in the war in Yemen, for the first time invoking the War Powers Resolution to stop a foreign conflict.

The Trump White House has threatened to veto the resolution, which passed the Senate 54-46, a number that is not enough to override a veto, meaning there is still an uphill battle to ensure it’s passage.

This is not the first time that the Senate has passed a bill to end the US’ involvement in Yemen, having taken a vote and passing it in December before it was blocked from being voted on in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives [1].

This is a positive move by the United States, not just for removing their support of the Saudi family who killed Jamal Khashoggi [2], focusing on moving away from the need to be involved in every global conflict via military might.

In the words of the former Deputy and Acting Secretary of State Bill Burns, who served during both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, from his book (as summarized by Tommy Vietor of Pod Save the World):

Foreign Service Examiner – “What’s the biggest challenge in American Foreign Policy Today”
Bill Burns – “I think it’s us. After Vietnam (and now Iraq and the Middle East) I think we need to do a better job of determining what we can solve, and what we can manage.” [3]

Sources

Source 1: https://www.apnews.com/784139fedb1f4940bc39f33b5ffa2930

Source 2: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/13/state-department-calls-jamal-khashoggis-death-human-rights-violation.html

Source 3: https://crooked.com/podcast/antisemitism-the-nsa-khashoggi-then-fmr-dep-secretary-of-state-bill-burns/

Massive Election Law Will be Blocked by Republicans 3/11/19

The Democrats passed H.R. 1, also known as the ‘For the People Act’, a massive bill that attempts to clean up our voting structure in the US. The Bill was passed on party lines, with none of the Republicans in the House voting for the Bill.
by doing the following:

A Constitutional Amendment to end Citizens United, which funnels in massive amounts of Corporate Money into politics.
Disclose Dark Money donors that invest in Political Campaigns.
Pass the Honest Ads Act, which forces tech companies to disclose where the money for the ads on their sites came from.
Require those running for President and Vice President (including Trump as it works retroactively) to reveal their past 10 years of Tax Return Documents.
Prohibiting Voter Purging from voter rolls (as we’ve seen recently).
Force States to use Independent Commissions to Redistrict the State, to end Gerrymandering for Racist or Political reasons.
Automatic Voter Registration for citizens.
Making Election Day a Federal Holiday across the country.
Require Poll Workers give the public a weeks notice for all Changes to Polling Locations.
Make Colleges and DMV places to Register to Vote.
Adding more Poll Workers for Polling Stations.
Increase Election Security Funding.
Allows for Matching funds from Small Donors for Congressional and Presidential Candidates.
Bars members of Congress from serving on Corporate Boards.
Restructures the Federal Election Commission, which oversees money in politics.
Allows citizens to Register to Vote Online.

Mitch McConnell, however, has stated he will refuse to let the Bill come for a vote in the Senate, effectively killing the Bill.

Republicans also had complained about wanting the bill to state only Citizens would be allowed to vote, a non-issue, since it’s already illegal for anyone but Citizens of the United States to vote in Federal Elections due to the Federal Voting Rights Act, and only Green Card holders are allowed to vote in State and Local elections, and even then, depending on the State laws in which they reside.

Sources

Source 1: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/08/701455283/house-passes-extensive-election-and-campaign-finance-overhaul-bill

Source 2: https://www.axios.com/house-hr1-anti-corruption-package-vote-a5ce4105-1684-458e-b1b9-4e41cdad70c1.html

Source 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBClMces-HE

Source 4: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/08/701455283/house-passes-extensive-election-and-campaign-finance-overhaul-bill

Source 5: https://www.thoughtco.com/can-i-vote-1951751

Senate Passes Massive Public Lands Package 2/12/2019

The Senate on Tuesday passed the most sweeping conservation legislation in a decade, protecting millions of acres of land and hundreds of miles of wild rivers across the country and establishing four new national monuments honoring heroes including Civil War soldiers and a civil rights icon.
The 662-page measure, which passed 92 to 8, represented an old-fashioned approach to dealmaking that has largely disappeared on Capitol Hill. Senators from across the ideological spectrum celebrated home-state gains and congratulated each other for bridging the partisan divide.
…
Perhaps the most significant change the legislation would make is permanently authorizing a federal program that funnels offshore drilling revenue to conserve a spread of sites that includes major national parks and wildlife preserves, as well as local baseball diamonds and basketball courts. Authorization for the popular program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), lapsed months ago due to the partial government shutdown and other disputes. Liberals like the fact that the money allows agencies to set aside land for wildlife habitat. Conservatives like the fact that taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill for it.
…
The bill reauthorizes and funds the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act through 2022, which provides habitat protection for more than 380 bird species, and codifies a signature program of President Barack Obama’s. That program, the Every Kid Outdoors Act, allows U.S. fourth-graders and their families to visit national parks free.
The measure also expands the boundaries of more than a half-dozen national parks and adds three units, including two Civil War sites in Kentucky, the Mill Springs Battlefield and Camp Nelson.
The package adds acreage to Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks while protecting 350,000 acres of public lands between Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley, increasing the connectivity of the three sites. “This is one of the missing pieces in the landscape connection puzzle in the California desert,” said David Lamfrom, director of California Desert and Wildlife Programs at the National Parks Conservation Association.
The bill would also be a boon for another constituency — hunters and anglers.
Bow hunters would be allowed to bring their weapons through national parks when trying to reach areas where it is legal to hunt. More important, it makes all federal lands open to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting unless otherwise specified.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said in an interview that expanding wilderness in his state will be a powerful lure for hunters seeking bighorn sheep, mule deer, quail and other animals. “People will travel to these places to pursue game in this wild, untamed habitat.”
The public lands package would also protect nearly 620 miles of rivers across seven states from damming and other development, often delegating management of the waterways to local authorities. It includes safeguards for a variety of rivers — everywhere from the tributaries for the wild Rogue River in Oregon, known for its vibrant salmon populations, to the once heavily polluted Nashua River that flows from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and is popular with kayakers.
In many cases, locals have been asking Washington for years for these protections to bolster tourism.
Montana’s entire congressional delegation — two Republicans and one Democrat — pressed for the permanent withdrawal of mineral rights of roughly 30,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service lands near Yellowstone National Park. Another provision in the bill would keep lands in Washington’s Upper Methow Valley from mineral entry and exploration, to protect North Cascades National Park.

Source

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/02/12/senate-just-passed-decades-biggest-public-lands-package-heres-whats-it/?utm_term=.91262bdee7be

This Weeks News 2/11/2019

Ted Cruz came to the Defense of Trump’s DC Court of Appeals judge Neomi Rao’s past statement that intoxicated women were partially responsible for being raped. He did so by relating a story of a student who drank to excess and electrocuted himself to women who were raped.when drunk [1].

The Trump Administration are STILL seperating children at the border and is actually causing longer periods of separation due to sharing sponsors of these children with ICE. This, even after last month finding out that there were 2,737 more separations than the administration had previously admitted and after they had admitted they were not keeping track of the children [2].

Democrats have united in the focus to protect pre-existing conditions. This is key, as the Trump administration and 20 Republican-based states have already been hard at work to revoke this requirement (no matter what lies he stated in the State of the Union) [3].

Trump made a blatant joke with Elizabeth Warren referencing the Trail of Tears on Twitter [4]. This is, not surprisingly, not his first racist statement against Native Americans, having referenced Pocahontas frequently when attacking Warren, revering Andrew Jackson (the president who enacted the Trail of Tears), even to the point of having a photo added in the background when honoring Native American Veterans.

Virginia Governor Justin Fairfax has called on the FBI to investigate the claims that he had committed sexual assaults, one in 2000 and one in 2004 [5]. This can be seen as an immediate contrast to the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, who was immediately against an investigation and whose subsequent investigation was done on a shortened timeline, narrow scope, and with limited witnesses allowed to be questioned.

With 18,565 victims who have come forward and more keeping quiet [6], the Catholic Church has had more sexual assault allegations come forward, this time including nuns being used as sex slaves in at least two reported countries as of now [7].

A study shows that the 400 Richest people in America own more money than the bottom 150 Million Americans. These 400 people “ have seen their share of America’s national wealth triple since the 1980s, while the wealth of much of the U.S. population has stagnated or declined. ” [8] Wealth inequality in the US is at an all time high, and the tax bill has actually grown it by giving breaks to the richest Americans and either increasing or keeping the rates of middle and lower class Americans [9].

After the US, under Trump’s discretion, broke down a Cold War era pact that was created to keep nuclear proliferation in both countries down, Putin has now announced a revamping of Russia’s nuclear arms to compete with the US by 2021 [10].

The US is unquestionably nearing another recession, one that will possibly hit similar to the great recession due to the likelihood of not having bailouts given by the government [11].

Democracy across the world has now begun to see a decline, with many countries inviting Nationalist leadership and human rights being removed in many areas [12].

Insect populations across the globe are dying at an unprecedented rate due to pathogens, use of pesticides, habitat loss due to human involvement, and climate change. These insects are necessary for the earth to remain have hospitable, yet “ The total biomass of insects is also declining at the rate of 2.5 per cent globally, the review of 73 historical reports found. ” [13]

Sources

Source 1: https://theweek.com/speedreads/821962/ted-cruz-just-compared-rape-victims-man-who-climbed-train-electrocuted-himself

Source 2: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/07/bethany-christian-services-family-separation-hearing/2798007002/

Source 3: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/us/politics/democrats-pre-existing-condition-coverage.html

Source 4: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-genocide-warren-792627/

Source 5: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/429298-fairfax-calls-on-fbi-to-investigate-sexual-assault-allegations-against

Source 6: https://www.axios.com/catholic-church-faces-ominous-decline-5cc11529-860d-470d-a2e2-5fe12b89ad81.html

Source 7: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-priests-nuns-sexual-slavery-abuse-saint-jean-order-france/

Source 8: http://papers.nber.org/tmp/38195-w25462.pdf

Source 9: https://www.yahoo.com/news/average-tax-refunds-down-8-054836423.html

Source 10: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-to-build-new-missile-systems-after-breakdown-of-u-s-nuclear-pact-11549383167

Source 11: https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-u-s-is-in-the-late-stages-of-expansion-data-show-51549642305