ProPublica has caught the Trump Organization ordering dozens of Presidential Seals to be used as…wait for it…tee markers for his golf courses.  Eagle Sign company (which makes tee markers) had posted a photo on Facebook showing the dozens markers in production. It has since been deleted.  And, yes, using the presidential seal for a commercial purpose is against federal law, exactly like you think it would be.  There’s simply no limit to Trump’s rude, crude, and crass use of the US government and the trappings of the presidency to make a buck.  Here’s the photo captured by ProPublica.

During a congressional hearing yesterday, director of national intelligence Dan Coats testified that the “United States is under attack by the Russians to meddle in the 2018 elections after their successful meddling in the 2016 election.  The White House and congressional Republicans are silent on any action that could prevent (or at least disrupt) these efforts.  Why?  That’s easy.  The Russians are working to help the Republicans stay in power even though their voter base is shrinking.  You can be sure that if a foreign country, say Kenya, was conducting regular cyber attacks on the US to help Barack Obama stay in office, we would be bombing Nairobi right now.  Since this unprecedented attack on US sovereignty is helping them, Trump and Republicans are more than happy to allow it to continue.

That’s called, at the minimum gross negligence.  What it really is? Treason.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, has now admitted that he indeed paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000.  He’s just not saying for what, except that he paid it out of his own pocket and was not reimbursed.  Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, had previously claimed to have had an affair with Trump, then denied it, and now refuses to answer any direct questions about it.  Cohen has also denied the affair and now won’t answer questions about it.  So…

1. We can assume the obvious which is right in front of us where Trump had an affair with a porn star; when she threatened to go public during the campaign, Trump had his lawyer do the dirty work to shut her up.  Or…
2. Cohen just decided to give the porn star $130,000 just because she has a nice pair….uh, never mind; he was just being nice to her.
3. They’re all lying and you just have to make your own assumptions.

One has to ask – Why in the world would a New York lawyer with a celebrity client who’s famous for sexual escapades just give $130,000 to a porn star, who just happened to claim she had an affair with said celebrity client?  Oh, and why would he pay that out of his own pocket without reimbursement?  The answer is obvious, and Cohen’s explanation of the whole sordid episode doesn’t pass the straight-faced test.  He claims the “transaction” was legal and had nothing to do with Trump’s campaign.  I wish him luck with that argument in court over the complaint filed with the FEC that the $130,000 was not an in-kind donation to the Trump campaign.  I can’t wait to hear the reason he paid a porn start that kind of cash if it wasn’t for the obvious reason.

Next, Cohen must think his audience is stupid.  He paid for the bribe legal transaction out of his own pocket? Right.  Money is fungible.  Here’s the definition of fungible:

Last week, the Trump administration allowed Russian spy chief Sergey Naryshkin, who has been banned from entering the US since 2014 sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, to enter our country.  To make matters worse, Naryshkin reportedly met with Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats.  So, let’s be clear…Trump refuses publicly to implement the sanctions ordered by Congress in 2017 for meddling in our 2016 elections; THEN, he allowed the head of Russian intelligence to illegally enter the US to meet with government intelligence officials.

You just can’t make this up.

If there was any shred of doubt about Donald Trump’s utter and total corruption, this story will disabuse any belief to the contrary. Today, Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director of the FBI and acting director after Comey was fired last year, abruptly announced his retirement 2 months early.  Sarah Sanders, in a statement of the If My Lips Are Moving That Means I’m Lying category, denied (on national television) any involvement of the White House in McCabe’s leaving today.  As we already knew, that was yet another whopper of a lie, and it’s now been confirmed that he was forced out by Trump appointee Christopher Wray and put on leave until his official retirement in March.

The takeover of the leadership and politicization of the FBI is now complete, and the only thing that stands between us and fascism are the remaining honest agents within the agency, and the courts, which are also being rapidly politicized.

I fear our republic won’t last until January 20, 2021.

Yesterday, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Justice Department calling for an investigation of Trump’s attorney’s payment of $130,000 in hush money to porn star, Stormy Daniels as an unreported campaign contribution.  It makes sense, since the payment was made to help Trump win the election.  I think I start popping popcorn.