[Discussion] Hope to Remember The Trump Administration Thread as being 'transparent and honest'

Let's follow and discuss what our newest presidential administration gets up to, the good, the bad, the lawsuits, and the many many indictments.

Bezos' phone hacked by Saudi Arabia

Now the buttery males part

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cCBIadq.png)

Also it's not a huge leap that Saudi Arabia hacked to Bezos to try and do Trump a favor by blackmailing Bezos. In exchange Trump would look the other way at the murder of Khashoggi.

DSGamer wrote:

Also it's not a huge leap that Saudi Arabia hacked to Bezos to try and do Trump a favor by blackmailing Bezos. In exchange Trump would look the other way at the murder of Khashoggi.

was this the same incident from a few month ago where someone tried to blackmail Bezos and he just released the photos publicly and said he was being blackmailed?

thrawn82 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Also it's not a huge leap that Saudi Arabia hacked to Bezos to try and do Trump a favor by blackmailing Bezos. In exchange Trump would look the other way at the murder of Khashoggi.

was this the same incident from a few month ago where someone tried to blackmail Bezos and he just released the photos publicly and said he was being blackmailed?

Yeah. Apparently the hacker was literally the crown prince.

thrawn82 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Also it's not a huge leap that Saudi Arabia hacked to Bezos to try and do Trump a favor by blackmailing Bezos. In exchange Trump would look the other way at the murder of Khashoggi.

was this the same incident from a few month ago where someone tried to blackmail Bezos and he just released the photos publicly and said he was being blackmailed?

They're almost certainly linked.

Mohammed bin Salman sent Bezos a WhatsApp message containing an infected video file on May 1, 2018. According to The Guardian, "Large amounts of data were exfiltrated from Bezos’s phone within hours, according to a person familiar with the matter."

In January 2019 National Enquirer ran a story about Bezos having an affair with Lauren Sanchez and included several private text messages. AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, said they paid Sanchez's brother $200,000 for the texts, something he denied.

Bezos then had security experts try and figure out how the texts were leaked.

In early February Bezos published a story on Medium alleging that AMI found out about his security investigation and threatened to release more texts and nude selfies unless Bezos made a statement that he had “no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.” Bezos' Medium article had linked Pecker with Saudi Arabia.

AMI's CEO, David Pecker, is a long-standing friend of Trump and was rumored to have a safe full of stories about Trump's affairs and dalliances that he bought and buried. In August 2018 the federal prosecutors granted Pecker immunity for his "Catch and Kill" policy to build their case against Michael Cohen.

Pecker used his relationship with Trump to get in with the Saudi Royal family in 2017. In July Trump invited Pecker to the White House along with Kacy Grine, a French businessman who advises one of Saudi Arabia’s richest men and sometimes acts as an intermediary between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Western businesses. They met with Trump and Kushner, took pictures, and had dinner.

Two months later Pecker was in Saudi Arabia meeting with the crown prince and discussing business opportunities. By January 2018 Pecker was asking the crown prince to help him buy Time magazine.

Pecker met with Mohammed bin Salman again in March 2018, this time in New York (Salman was touring America). Ahead of his visit AMI published a 97-page pro-Saudi, pro-Salman propaganda magazine called "The New Kingdom." AMI claimed it received no editorial guidance or funding from Saudi Arabia and it contained no advertising so either AMI lied or they ate the cost of producing and publishing the piece.

OG_slinger wrote:

Pecker met with Mohammed bin Salman again in March 2018, this time in New York (Salman was touring America). Ahead of his visit AMI published a 97-page pro-Saudi, pro-Salman propaganda magazine called "The New Kingdom." AMI claimed it received no editorial guidance or funding from Saudi Arabia and it contained no advertising so either AMI lied or they ate the cost of producing and publishing the piece.

Well that definitely sounds like a "quid-" if I've ever heard one.

That sounds like millions of quid to me

I'm honestly not trying to diminish it, but these days that TruNews credentials thing doesn't even break the top 500 most reckless, cruel, outrageous, and/or asinine things Individual 1 has done while in office.

Archangel wrote:

I'm honestly not trying to diminish it, but these days that TruNews credentials thing doesn't even break the top 500 most reckless, cruel, outrageous, and/or asinine things Individual 1 has done while in office this week.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NerdPyle/...

Swell, now taxpayers get to pay for lawyers when you're sued by Paramount and the Roddenberry estate...

Maybe Trump was pissed Bloomberg bought ad time during the Picard show.

Another tidbit to add to the "best people" file.

Mike Pompeo cursed out NPR reporter for asking about removal of Ukraine ambassador, she says

NPR reported that “immediately after the questions on Ukraine, the interview concluded. Pompeo stood, leaned in and silently glared at Kelly for a period of several seconds before leaving the room.”
An aide to the Cabinet official asked Kelly to follow Pompeo to his living quarters at the State Department without a recording device but did not specify that the ensuing exchange would be off the record, according to NPR.

“Inside the room, Pompeo shouted his displeasure at being questioned about Ukraine,” NPR reported. “He used repeated expletives, according to Kelly, and asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’”

On a radio program for NPR that aired Friday, Kelly provided more details about her unrecorded exchange with Pompeo.
“I was taken to the Secretary’s private living room, where he was waiting, and where he shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself had lasted,” Kelly said.
“He used the F word in that sentence, and many others. He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked,” Kelly said.
“I pointed to Ukraine,” she said. “He put the map away. He said, ‘People will hear about this,’ and then he turned and said he had things to do, and I thanked him again for his time and left.”

Also Fox News adds this additional line that is somehow missing from the other reports I'm seeing of the exchange:

A State Department official disputed Kelly's claim, telling Fox News that she was not able to identify Ukraine on the map and that she was wrong.

Did she know where Ukraine is? Who to trust?

"A State Department official"?

Or a renowned journalist with years of national security and foreign affairs reporting experience? A magna cum laude Harvard graduate with a Masters Degree in European Studies from Cambridge? Someone who's probably been talking about Ukraine specifically on a regular basis for the past few years as host of All Things Considered on NPR?

I dunno. Tough call.

Of course I guess there's option C- that Fox News just pulled that out of their ass.

The Worst Year Ever episode covering the Virginia gun rally has a brief segment exploring how the elder Trump sons, and to an extent Trump himself, have a direct tie to an extremist white nationalist group that’s trying to establish theocracy in the US. Fun listen. Fun fun fun. Cool.

gewy wrote:

Another tidbit to add to the "best people" file.

Mike Pompeo cursed out NPR reporter for asking about removal of Ukraine ambassador, she says

NPR reported that “immediately after the questions on Ukraine, the interview concluded. Pompeo stood, leaned in and silently glared at Kelly for a period of several seconds before leaving the room.”
An aide to the Cabinet official asked Kelly to follow Pompeo to his living quarters at the State Department without a recording device but did not specify that the ensuing exchange would be off the record, according to NPR.

“Inside the room, Pompeo shouted his displeasure at being questioned about Ukraine,” NPR reported. “He used repeated expletives, according to Kelly, and asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’”

On a radio program for NPR that aired Friday, Kelly provided more details about her unrecorded exchange with Pompeo.
“I was taken to the Secretary’s private living room, where he was waiting, and where he shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself had lasted,” Kelly said.
“He used the F word in that sentence, and many others. He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map. I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked,” Kelly said.
“I pointed to Ukraine,” she said. “He put the map away. He said, ‘People will hear about this,’ and then he turned and said he had things to do, and I thanked him again for his time and left.”

Also Fox News adds this additional line that is somehow missing from the other reports I'm seeing of the exchange:

A State Department official disputed Kelly's claim, telling Fox News that she was not able to identify Ukraine on the map and that she was wrong.

Did she know where Ukraine is? Who to trust?

"A State Department official"?

Or a renowned journalist with years of national security and foreign affairs reporting experience? A magna cum laude Harvard graduate with a Masters Degree in European Studies from Cambridge? Someone who's probably been talking about Ukraine specifically on a regular basis for the past few years as host of All Things Considered on NPR?

I dunno. Tough call.

Of course I guess there's option C- that Fox News just pulled that out of their ass.

She pointed to Crimea, so they think she got it wrong.

They're cracking under the pressure which doesn't bode well for anybody if there still here a year from now.

Well, of course she got it wrong. Crimea is Russia. Always has been, ever since the war with EastAsia started.

The wheels on the bus fall off, off, off...

Robear wrote:

Well, of course she got it wrong. Crimea is Russia. Always has been, ever since the war with EastAsia started.

2 + 2 = 5, Big Brother loves me.

And just to follow up on this. Pompeo released a statement accusing Kelly of lying, and violating journalistic ethics and decency by asking him questions about Ukraine and reporting on an off the record conversation. However, e-mails between NPR and Pompeo's staff refuted any notion that Kelly agreed to restrict her questions to just Iran.

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

This morning I was playing Warioware on the way into work and I had the thought, "I wonder if anyone else has made the connection that Trump is like President Wario come to life". Quick google image search and...

IMAGE(https://cdn.drawception.com/drawings/kAxT5OyBxm.png)

gewy wrote:

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

He probably has Belarus and Bangladesh confused.

imbiginjapan wrote:
gewy wrote:

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

He probably has Belarus and Bangladesh confused.

Can he show us on a map?

lunchbox12682 wrote:
imbiginjapan wrote:
gewy wrote:

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

He probably has Belarus and Bangladesh confused.

Can he show us on a map?

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our I education like such as, South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.

cheeze_pavilion wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:
imbiginjapan wrote:
gewy wrote:

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

He probably has Belarus and Bangladesh confused.

Can he show us on a map?

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our I education like such as, South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.

I.. what?

lunchbox12682 wrote:
cheeze_pavilion wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:
imbiginjapan wrote:
gewy wrote:

He ended the statement with this gem: "It's worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," obviously implying that she had pointed at Bangladesh instead of Ukraine, which is patently ridiculous since they're not even in the same continent. Conveniently worded however, in that he's not technically lying, since he's not actually stating that she pointed at Bangladesh.

He probably has Belarus and Bangladesh confused.

Can he show us on a map?

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our I education like such as, South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.

I.. what?

He's speaking Trumpanese.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

I.. what?

If only you knew how to use a map, you wouldn't need to ask!

Totally unrelated Female Doggoing on my part.

Tomorrow I am taking my dog to Ankeny, IA for surgery at a vet friends practice. The dog has to stay for several hours and I was expecting to just tootle around Des Moines. Perhaps go to the big mall, or take in a movie, etc.

Now I found out trump will be holding a cult rally in Des Moines. So traffic will be annoying, and there will be a lot of nuts in town. I wonder who much it will tie up the eastern interstate? The airport in Des Moines is on the south side so hopefully they won't have to close any of the roads I will be taking.