Trump Supporters

[readerc54]

A jury in Portland (OR) has delivered verdict that stunned prosecutors and defendants alike, and giving the pro-Trump militia movement a boost in a case it was believed destined to lose.

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-stando ... aj-story-1

[Captain Kirk]

Trump closing the gap with gamblers. 1/4 Clinton and 7/2 Trump.

Just as an aside, this is a huge betting event. On one website alone here - Betfair - £80million has already been staked. Even as I write the odds have tightened further. What's going on over there? Hilary running naked along the streets or what?
The Donald now closing down to 3/1 with Hillary 1/3. All good news, keep it up you nutter.

[Gaybutton]

What's going on over there?

Maybe this has something to do with it - and Trump, of course, is having a jubilee:
______________________________________________________________________

FBI reopening investigation of Hillary Clinton email server

By Theodore Schleifer, CNN

October 28, 2016

(CNN) - FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers Friday the bureau is reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's personal email server, a surprise development 11 days ahead of the election.

After recommending earlier this year that the Department of Justice not press charges against the former secretary of state, Comey said in a letter to eight congressional committee chairmen that "recent developments" urged him to take another look.

"In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote the chairmen. "I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."

Comey said that he was not sure how long the additional review would take and said the FBI "cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant."

Law enforcement sources say the newly discovered emails are not related to WikiLeaks or the Clinton Foundation. They would not describe in further detail the content of the emails. It's also unclear whether the emails in question are from Clinton herself.

Clinton's campaign learned of the news while they were aboard a flight to Iowa.

"We're learning about this just like you all are," a Clinton aide told CNN.

The surprising news jolts a presidential race that had largely settled as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump struggled in national and key battleground polls. Now, Clinton will be placed back on the defensive and forced to confront yet again questions about her trustworthiness.
Trump pounced on the news at the opening of his Friday afternoon rally in Manchester, New Hampshire.

"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we've never seen before," Trump said. "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the oval office."
Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted after the news broke, "A great day in our campaign just got even better."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that Clinton betrayed Americans' trust for handling "the nation's most important secrets."

"This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators," Ryan said in a statement. "I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved."

The Department of Justice declined to comment Friday.

Despite lashing Clinton's email practices as "extremely careless," Comey declined earlier this summer to suggest prosecution. That move was instantly was lambasted by Republicans -- some of whom decried the department's politicization. Comey eventually was called to Capitol Hill to testify and defend the FBI's integrity and decision process.

http://us.cnn.com/2016/10/28/politics/f ... index.html

[readerc54]

Keep an eye on the currency markets for a clue of how serious this event is being perceived across the globe.

[Alex]

It's not only the email issue, there have also been new reports on the Clinton Foundation (though funnily enough, also thanks to leaked/hacked emails). The line between the Clintons' charity work and their moneymaking business seems quite blurred. Nothing really new, but the extent and nonchalance displayed still has the potential to influence voters.

[thaiworthy]

DOJ Complaint Filed Against FBI Director James Comey For Interfering In Presidential Election

By Jason Easley on Fri, Oct 28th, 2016 at 4:35 pm

A complaint has been filed against FBI Director James Comey with Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility that accuses him of interfering in a presidential election.

The Democratic Coalition Against Trump released a statement announcing their complaint:

The Democratic Coalition Against Trump filed a complaint with the Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility on Friday against FBI Director James Comey for interfering in the Presidential election, following the FBI’s decision to open up an investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails this close to Election Day. Federal employees are forbidden from participating in political activities under the Hatch Act.

“It is absolutely absurd that FBI Director Comey would support Donald Trump like this with only 11 days to go before the election,” said Scott Dworkin, Senior Advisor to the Democratic Coalition Against Trump. “It is an obvious attack from a lifelong Republican who used to serve in the Bush White House, just to undermine her campaign. Comey needs to focus on stopping terrorists and protecting America, not investigating our soon to be President-Elect Hillary Clinton.”

Outrage is growing over Comey’s actions as details about the FBI investigation have revealed that it has nothing to do with Clinton, her emails, or her server.

Director Comey’s motives for sending the letter 11 days before a presidential election have been questioned by both Republicans and Democrats.

If Comey’s actions were politically motivated, he would be in violation of the Hatch Act.

What Republicans initially viewed as a new hope in the presidential election has quickly been exposed as a desperately political ploy.

The American people deserve a full explanation from Director Comey, because the letter that was released today raises more questions than answers.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/10/28/ ... ction.html

[thaiworthy]

Revived Clinton Email Scandal Killed By A Slew Of New Facts In Record Time

By Jason Easley on Fri, Oct 28th, 2016 at 3:00 pm

The revived Hillary Clinton email investigation story that gave Republicans some brief hope has been killed by a slew of new facts.

Devastating point number one to Republicans. The emails aren’t about Clinton withholding, receiving, or sending emails . . .

This might be a record for the fastest death of a Republican scandal. Trump and Republicans made a number of assumptions that turned out not to be true. It looks like the FBI is only trying to be careful in their review. Since the emails have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton, the State Department, emails sent or received by Clinton or the Clinton Foundation, Republicans were wrong on all fronts.

Facts won’t stop Republicans from trying to make something out of nothing, but the Comey letter is not the campaign changer that Trump and the Republicans were hoping for. The weakness of this story means that should play well in the conservative media echo chamber, but by Monday, it will be forgotten by the rest of the country.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/10/28/ ... -time.html

[thaiworthy]

What the FBI Director’s letter about the Clinton emails really says

It’s a good idea to read the letter before you report on it.

Oy.

As of this writing, all three cable news networks are in a frenzy. FBI Director James Comey just sent a letter to Republican congressional committee chairs announcing that he’s taking a new look into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Another investigation! And right before the election! She could be indicted! Well, probably not. Indeed, almost definitely not. Here’s what the letter actually says:



The relevant paragraph in this brief letter is the middle one, where Comey writes that the FBI “has learned of the existence” of emails that it previously did not review. In response to this new information, the FBI will now “allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information.”

The FBI, in other words, is not reexamining its previous findings. It is not questioning its previous legal conclusion that “no reasonable prosecutor” could determine that charges are warranted. Based on the letter, it appears that the FBI will simply provide the same scrutiny to these newly uncovered emails as it previously applied to the emails it already reviewed when it determined that criminal charges are not warranted. Though the initial narrative to emerge from this new letter — a narrative pushed by Republican House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz — is that the FBI has “reopened” the case against Clinton, several reporters did acknowledge on Twitter that this narrative is not true.

Obviously, this letter raises many questions — not the least of which is why the Republican FBI Director decided to release such an inflammatory letter immediately before the election rather than waiting two weeks. Indeed, even Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the number two Republican in the Senate, appeared surprised by Comey’s timing.

Based on the letter’s actual content, however, there is no reason to believe that the FBI will change its ultimate conclusion that no reasonable prosecutor could bring charges against Clinton.

UPDATE: Additional details have leaked out about the facts underlying Comey’s vague letter.

SECOND UPDATE: Newsweek reports some helpful details about why Comey wrote this letter so close to an election:

Why did FBI Director James Comey shock Washington on Friday with an announcement that the FBI “has learned of the existence of emails” related to Hillary Clinton’s private email server, and what does it mean?

The truth is Comey didn’t have a choice. Because the new information followed his sworn testimony about the case, Comey was obligated by Department of Justice rules to keep the relevant committees apprised. Under oath Comey had stated that the bureau had completed its review. Once he learned that there were new emails that required examination, Comey had to notify Congress that he had to amend his testimony because it was no longer true. So what we now know is that Comey delivered this letter, not because the FBI uncovered some new bombshell, but because he was under a legal obligation to do so. We also know that the emails were not from Clinton. Additionally, the AP reports that the emails “did not come from her private server.”

Despite the explosiveness of the initial headlines regarding this letter, the actual substance of the story appears to be shrinking with each new revelation.

https://thinkprogress.org/the-fbi-direc ... .rnpqkyj8f

[thaiworthy]

Trump’s Immigrant Grandfather Made His Money From Prostitution, Booze and Stealing Land (DETAILS)

BY IVANA M ON OCTOBER 28, 2016

Canadians amused by the improbable U.S. presidential run of Donald Trump might be surprised to learn the role their own country played in shaping his story.

Trump’s grandfather started the family fortune in an adventure that involved the Klondike gold rush, the Mounties, prostitution and twists of fate that pushed him to New York City.

Friedrich Trump had been in North America a few years when he set out for the Yukon, says an author who’s just completed a new edition of her multi-generational family biography.

That Canadian chapter proved pivotal for the entrepreneurial German immigrant, says Gwenda Blair, author of “The Trumps: Three Generations That Built An Empire.”

“It allowed him to get together the nest egg he’d come to the United States for,” the author and Columbia University journalism professor said in an interview.

“Whether he could’ve accumulated that much money somewhere else, in that short a period of time, as a young man with no connections, and initially not even English, is certainly … unlikely.”

He’d left Europe in 1885 at age 16, a barber’s apprentice whose father died young.

Trump wanted a life outside the barber shop, far from the family-owned vineyards his ancestors had been working since they’d settled in Germany’s Kallstadt region in the 1600s carrying the soon-altered surname Drumpf.

He sailed in steerage to join his sister in New York.

Within five years he’d anglicized his name to Frederick; moved to the young timber town of Seattle; and amassed enough cash to buy tables and chairs for a restaurant.

His next big move was heralded by the front page of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of July 17, 1897, and its exclamatory headline: “Gold! Gold! Gold!”

It described a resplendent scene at the port involving mountains of yellow metal and men returning from the “New Eldorado” with fortunes as high as $100,000.

Trump sold everything and headed north.

The move to Canada spared him financial disaster. He not only sold off two Seattle eateries, but also land in nearby Monte Cristo, Wash. — right before floods and avalanches destroyed the nearby railroad and development plans for the town were scrapped.

Blair describes his perilous northward journey in early 1898.

After boarding a crowded ship to Alaska, Trump trekked over mountains, through Canadian customs, and to the Yukon River where he had to build a boat from scratch and transport a year’s worth of personal supplies.

The worst was a notorious mountain pass. The U.S. National Park Service estimates 3,000 animals died on the White Pass, with many bones still visible today in its so-called Dead Horse Gulch.

“Owners whipped horses, donkeys, mules, oxen, and dogs until they dropped. The bodies were not buried or even moved,” Blair writes.

“Travellers … had no choice but to walk over the remains. As the months went by, the walls of the pass were stained dark red from the blood.”

Trump smelled opportunity.

He opened a canteen along the route, Blair says, where weary travellers likely stopped for a bite of Arctic roadkill. There are records for similar establishments along the route, Blair writes: “A frequent dish was fresh-slaughtered, quick-frozen horse.”

This established a pattern for Trump’s Canadian business model.

It’s summed up in one chapter title: “Mining the Miners.”

Unlike other gold-crazed migrants, Blair wrote, “(Trump) realized that the best way to get (rich) was to lay down his pick and shovel and pick up his accounting ledger.”

In his three years in Canada, Trump opened the Arctic Restaurant and Hotel in two locations with a partner — first on Bennett Lake in northern B.C., and then moving it to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Their two-storey wood-framed establishment gained a reputation as the finest eatery in the area, Blair said — offering salmon, duck, caribou, and oysters.

It offered more than food.

“The bulk of the cash flow came from the sale of liquor and sex,” Blair wrote. She cited newspaper ads referring obliquely to prostitution — mentioning private suites for ladies, and scales in the rooms so patrons could weigh gold if they preferred to pay for services that way.

One Yukon Sun writer moralized about the backroom goings-on: “For single men the Arctic has the best restaurant,” he wrote, “but I would not advise respectable women to go there to sleep as they are liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex.”

The Mounties initially tolerated the rowdiness. There were exceptions, according to the legendary Canadian writer Pierre Berton. People faced forced labour or banishment from town if they cheated at cards; made a public ruckus; or partied on the Lord’s Day.

“Saloons and dance halls, theatres and business houses were shut tight one minute before midnight on Saturday,” Berton wrote in “Klondike Fever.”

“Two minutes before twelve the lookout at the faro table would take his watch from his pocket and call out: ‘The last turn, boys!'”

Trump acted as cook, bouncer, waiter.

But Blair cautions: “I wouldn’t call him a pimp.”

She said backroom ribaldry was part of the restaurant package in those towns, and it’s not clear how the arrangement worked: “As somebody trying to attract business to his restaurant, of course he would have liquor. Of course he would arrange easy access to women. A pimp is, I think, a different business model.”

By early 1901, trouble was brewing.

The Mounties announced plans to banish prostitution, and curb gambling and liquor. Trump quarrelled with his partner. Gold strikes were getting scarcer.

“The boom was over, Frederick Trump realized,” Blair wrote. “He had made money; perhaps even more unusual in the Yukon, he had also kept it and departed with a substantial nest-egg.”

He returned to Germany with US$582,000 in today’s currency, and found a wife. But he was greeted as a draft-dodger for being away and becoming a U.S. citizen during his military years.

So he was deported from his own country. He boarded a ship for New York, his wife pregnant with Donald’s dad.

The elder Trump died of pneumonia in 1918, leaving behind some real estate. His son built the empire, his grandson the global brand.

http://proudemocrat.com/trumps-immigran ... d-details/

[Smiles]

The optics on this rigmarole are really really bad.
Trump has a much better chance of winning the election than he did just yesterday.