PRESS SUPPRESS 2

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">capt 618, 619</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SEE PRESS SUPRESS 3 premature?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">two-fer activist and press suppress</font></div><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="incidenttitle" source="Source" serif="serif" pro="Pro" georgia="Georgia" font-weight="font-weight" normal="normal" margin="margin" px="px" line-height="line-height" font-size="font-size" em="em" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S.</span>&nbsp;Capitol Police order journalists to delete photos,&nbsp;videos</font></h2><div class="incidentdate" source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" calibri="Calibri" gil="Gil" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">August 2, 2017</font></div><div class="incident__description" source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" calibri="Calibri" gil="Gil" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><section style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="rich-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Andrew Desiderio, a Congressional reporter for The Daily Beast, was covering the arrest of protests in a Senate hallway on July 25, 2017, when he was reportedly ordered by a&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S.</span>&nbsp;Capitol Police officer to delete a video that he had&nbsp;filmed.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other journalists in attendance, such as Gabby Morongiello of the&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">D.C.</span>&nbsp;Examiner, reported that a Senate press gallery staffer told journalists not to take any photos or video of the protesters being arrested.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to Jonathan Peters, the Columbia Journalism Review’s press freedom correspondent, journalists are generally prohibited from taking photos and videos in the Senate’s second and third-floor hallways — but that doesn’t give the&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S.</span>&nbsp;Capitol Police the right to force journalists to delete photos and videos that have already been&nbsp;captured.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“</span>Journalists have Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons and equipment, and they have rights under the Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that generally requires law enforcement officers to get a subpoena to search or seize a journalist’s documentary or work-product materials,” Peters writes. “That includes photos and videos.&nbsp;Police may not delete footage, photographs, or social media posts from a journalist’s device, nor can police force a journalist to do those&nbsp;things.”</font></p></div></section></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/trump-says-the-reporting-of-the-mainstream-media-should-not-be-considered-free-speech/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/trump-says-the-reporting-of-the-mainstream-media-should-not-be-considered-free-speech/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cody f</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At a White House event ostensibly organized to celebrate the value of free speech, President Donald Trump declared that one of the central pillars of the First Amendment should not actually be covered by the Constitution’s protections.</font></div><div class="p1_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Social Media Summit was convened, it seems, to gather some of the most absurd right-wing trolls who claim they are victims of companies like Facebook and Twitter who undermine free speech. These private companies, in fact, have no legal obligation to follow the principles of free speech, and many of the claims that conservatives are being suppressed on social media are baseless or patently false.</font></p><div class="p2_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But in comments that couldn’t have been better scripted to reveal the utter hypocrisy of the right-wing on the topic of free speech, Trump said that the mainstream media coverage isn’t protected by the concept.</b></font></p><div class="p3_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“They’re not using that brilliance and they’re not using what we gave them fairly,” he said of the social media companies. “And they have to do that. And we don’t want to stifle anything — we don’t want to stifle free speech —<b>&nbsp;but that’s no longer free speech. See, I don’t think that the mainstream media is free speech, either. Because it’s so crooked, so dishonest. So to me, free speech is not when you see something good and then you write something bad. To me, that’s very dangerous speech. And you become very angry at it</b>. But that’s not free speech.”</font></p><div class="p4_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fact, protections for the media are embedded in the fundamental right to free speech as outlined in the Constitution. The First Amendment prevents the government from “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” The principle of free speech doesn’t just cover the press when the president likes what reporters say. Indeed, reporting that public figures and government officials don’t like is the&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">paradigmatic</em>&nbsp;example of protected free speech in the United States.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/08/us-mexico-border-journalists-harassment/">https://theintercept.com/2019/02/08/us-mexico-border-journalists-harassment/</a></div><div>
</div><div>press supp wyden</div><div>...</div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency responsible for U.S. ports of entry, has denied responsibility for the immigration attorneys’ denied entry into Mexico. The Intercept sent CBP a series of questions on Monday regarding the targeting of journalists, lawyers, and immigration advocates. The agency did not provide responses on the record. The Mexican government did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">Responding to The Intercept’s findings, Alex Ellerbeck, North America program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, and lead author of a recent report on&nbsp;CBP searches involving journalists, said that while “CPJ has documented dozens of cases of journalists asked about their work in secondary screening or asked to hand over their devices … the sheer number of cases back to back in a single point of entry and the incredibly blatant attempts to get journalists to act as informants for the government stand out as an escalation.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">“The government can’t use the border to&nbsp;prevent journalists from gathering information, especially on issues it would rather they not report on,” Hugh Handeyside, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, told The Intercept. “If CBP is interfering with or retaliating against journalists, that raises serious constitutional questions and bears further investigation.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">At least one U.S. lawmaker is already investigating.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">Sen. Ron Wyden’s office confirmed to The Intercept the opening of an investigation into CBP’s newly revealed border crackdown, including specifically the barring of an American journalist’s re-entry into Mexico to continue her work.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SwiftNeueLTW01, Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 20px;">“These are extremely disturbing reports,” Wyden said in a statement to The Intercept. “It would be an outrageous abuse of power for the Trump Administration and CBP to target people for searches based on their political beliefs or because they are journalists. CBP needs to explain exactly what happened in these cases, and whether this was an aberration, or a coordinated effort to punish political opponents.”</p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://theintercept.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=43fc0c0fce9292d8bed09ca27&id=085d2e2654&e=613b87ca24" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Attacks on Border Journalists and Human Rights Defenders</a></strong><br style="font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /><span style="font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" font-size="font-size" px="px">Ryan Devereaux</span><span style="font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">A new Amnesty International report details a two-yearlong attack on human rights defenders, attorneys, and journalists working along the U.S.-Mexico border.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://theintercept.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=43fc0c0fce9292d8bed09ca27&id=f799ac6f1f&e=613b87ca24" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.6px;">READ MORE →</a></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">
</p><div data-reactid="207" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 1px 0px, rgb(17, 17, 17) 0px 4px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">THE SHAPE OF</span>&nbsp;the Trump administration’s approach to policing immigration is at this point familiar. Since January 2017, federal agents and officers have been under orders to enforce&nbsp;a harsh interpretation of immigration&nbsp;laws without restraint. The result has most infamously manifested in the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children and, more recently, a series of horrific reports detailing conditions in border-area detention centers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Though undocumented people have always been the core target of this campaign, the blast radius of the government’s hyper-politicized crackdown has steadily expanded over the years. A new report published by Amnesty International on Tuesday details a two-yearlong attack on human rights defenders, attorneys, and journalists working along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling out a pattern of escalating enforcement in violation of domestic and international law.</p><p class="p1" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" /></div><p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Arial, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><a class="InstreamPromo InstreamPromo--promo" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/the-war-on-immigrants/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); display: block; margin: 40px 0px 40px -20px; padding: 20px 0px; width: auto !important;">
<span class="InstreamPromo-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 420px; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; max-width: 420px;"><span class="InstreamPromo-text-callout" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; text-transform: capitalize;">Read Our Complete Coverage</span><span class="InstreamPromo-text-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; line-height: 20px;">The War on Immigrants</span></span></a></p><div data-reactid="209" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">The U.S. “government has executed an unlawful and politically motivated campaign of intimidation, threats, harassment, and criminal investigations against people who defend the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,” the report said, adding that both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice “have increasingly misused and leveraged the criminal justice system to deter and punish those individuals for challenging — or even simply documenting — the systematic human rights violations by US authorities against migrants and asylum seekers.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Brian Griffey, a lead researcher on the report,&nbsp;wrote to The Intercept: “These attacks on human rights defenders are an integral part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign of human rights violations against people seeking asylum on the U.S.-Mexico border.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">“The Trump administration’s contempt for lawyers<b>, journalists</b>, and good Samaritans shows its greater contempt for the rule of law and the judiciary, as it continues to apply human rights-violating policies broadly and as quickly as it can, to do maximum damage to vulnerable communities,” before courts are able to rein them in and restore order, he added.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Based on nearly two dozen interviews, the report drew on dozens of cases in Texas, Arizona, and California from 2018 to 2019, in which immigration advocates, attorneys, and journalists were targeted by law enforcement with actions ranging from surveillance and prolonged detention to the charging of serious felonies. The human rights organization argued that by unlawfully choking off asylum access at ports of entry and dumping asylum seekers who have made it to U.S. soil back into dangerous Mexican border towns, U.S. officials and their Mexican counterparts first manufactured a crisis, then criminalized the civilian response to it.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">“By discriminatorily targeting human rights defenders — most of them US citizens — based solely on their political or other opinions, speech and activities, the Trump administration has violated international law, the US Constitution, US laws, and corresponding DHS policies that acknowledge those legally binding civil liberties protections,” the report said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Amnesty specifically pointed to violations of “freedom of expression; right to privacy; equality under the law; and freedom from discrimination, including on the basis of political or other opinion” by U.S. law enforcement under international law. In the domestic context, the organization said the administration’s crackdown violated “constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech under the First Amendment; and equal protection under the law, without discrimination, under the Fourteenth Amendment.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Two episodes documented by Amnesty, and previously exposed by The Intercept, have emerged as the clearest examples of law enforcement targeting people whose work does not align with the Trump administration’s border and immigration agenda: an expansive, binational, multi-agency,&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/08/us-mexico-border-journalists-harassment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">intelligence-gathering operation</a>&nbsp;focused on migrant caravan-related advocacy and journalism in the Tijuana-San Diego area, and the criminal prosecution of&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/23/no-more-deaths-arizona-border-littering-charges-immigration/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">nine human aid volunteers</a>&nbsp;working with migrants crossing the Arizona desert. In both cases, Amnesty found that law enforcement leaned heavily on a portion of the U.S. criminal code — known as 1324 — to justify its targeting of advocates in the borderlands. Noting that&nbsp;“a federal appellate court struck down the human smuggling crime being applied by DHS to justify its politically motivated surveillance,” Griffey, the Amnesty researcher, said the “laws being applied by US authorities are vague and inconsistent with international standards.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><b>The best known Trump administration smuggling prosecution is the case of&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/04/no-more-deaths-scott-warren-migrants-border-arizona/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Warren</a>, an Arizona-based humanitarian aid volunteer who was arrested in January 2018 </b>and accused of providing two undocumented men with food, water, and a place to sleep over two days. Charged with two counts of harboring and one count of conspiracy, Warren faced up to 20 years in prison. In June, a federal judge declared a&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/12/felony-trial-of-no-more-deaths-volunteer-scott-warren-ends-in-mistrial/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">mistrial</a>&nbsp;in Warren’s case.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Describing his arrest as a “retaliatory attack” — Warren was arrested hours after a group he volunteers with published a report implicating the Border Patrol in the destruction of thousands of gallons of water left for migrants in the desert — Amnesty spearheaded an international campaign calling for the charges against Warren to be dropped.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">“If Dr. Warren were convicted and imprisoned on these absurd charges, Amnesty International would recognize him as a prisoner of conscience — detained for his volunteer activities motivated by humanitarian principles and his religious beliefs — and would continue to campaign for his immediate and unconditional release, and for his criminal record to be expunged,” the report noted.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Warren and his attorneys, along with the government’s prosecutors, were back in court Tuesday, just as the Amnesty report&nbsp;was made public.</p></div><div data-reactid="219" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Two DHS officials who spoke to Amnesty on the condition of anonymity questioned the propriety of using smuggling statutes against individuals involved in humanitarian aid or asylum advocacy. In May, The Intercept&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/09/asylum-border-humanitarian-aid/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a>&nbsp;on the case of Ana Adlerstein, who was detained by Customs and Border Protection officials and threatened with smuggling charges after she accompanied an asylum seeker to an Arizona port of entry. “That’s not the purpose of 1324, and no US Attorney would prosecute that,” a CBP investigator told Amnesty. “The purpose of that is if 10 people sneak across the border, and there’s someone waiting on the other side with a car.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">A special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative wing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Amnesty that their agency takes an interest in cases when there’s a profit motive involved. “We would be interested if it is profit-based, and that is our entire interest in the caravans: Is there a connection to organized crime, and is there exploitation occurring?” the agent said. “Otherwise there’s a concern for immigration law, but HSI doesn’t get involved unless there’s an organized breach of law that involves crossing the border.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">“It’s really subject to the prosecutors, and when you call them on the phone, you describe to them the circumstances,” the agent went on to say. “And they would be hard pressed to make a 1324 ‘aiding and abetting’ claim against people just for providing advice and assistance to asylum seekers.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">In spite of the crackdown, Griffey argued that humanitarian work and advocacy for immigrants on the border will continue.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">“No matter how much the U.S. and Mexican governments neglect or abuse people in need on the border,” he said, “we’ve seen how NGOs, border communities, and communities of faith have all stood up and provided care to migrants and asylum seekers, when the governments have failed to do so.”</p></div></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oppo res // atz</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/this-devastating-political-cartoon-made-a-powerful-point-about-trump-then-the-cartoonist-got-fired/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/this-devastating-political-cartoon-made-a-powerful-point-about-trump-then-the-cartoonist-got-fired/</font></a></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">djt tells press his talks w/ putin "none of your business"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">jokes to vlad stop mess in our elections</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump came in for the opening group photo of the G-20 meeting in Japan walking along with Vladimir Putin. However, he couldn’t get next to Putin in the shot, so instead he<b>&nbsp;snuggled up next to noted bone-saw fan&nbsp;Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman.</b>&nbsp;But if that seemed disrespectful to those who are actually concerned about the dismemberment and murder of&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em>&nbsp;columnist Jamal Khashoggi …&nbsp;it was only a warm-up.</font></p><div class="p1_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the public part of his get-together with Vladimir Putin, Trump was apparently miffed that a reporter dared to ask about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Following his snickering response to that question, Trump&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1144523828921372672" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">gestured to the assembled&nbsp;</a>press.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Get rid of them,” said Trump. “Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.”</font></p><div class="p3_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We also have,” Putin replied. “It’s the same.”</font></p><div class="p4_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s hilarious because over 200 journalists have been murdered in Russia under Putin, while dozens more&nbsp;have simply disappeared. And yes,&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia#Under_Putin(incl.2nd_Chechen_conflict)" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">they do have names</a>. In 2018 alone, that includes a journalist&nbsp;who died after being hurled from an apartment window after reporting on corruption in the Russian government; a television journalist&nbsp;stabbed in the street after a commentary; a newspaper reporter&nbsp;missing for two weeks before his body was left for his friends; and an evening news host who mysteriously fell in a river and&nbsp;drowned on his way home from work.</font></p><div class="p5_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s not clear if Trump shared his same concerns about pesky journalists with Mohammed bin Salman. But considering the level of the jokes&nbsp;he delivered in the opening day of the G-20, it seems entirely possible. On Monday,&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/24/1866862/-Trump-says-Middle-East-is-a-hostile-vicious-place-no-point-in-investigating-murder-of-journalist" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Trump declared</a>&nbsp;that the Middle East is a “hostile, vicious place” and<b> announced that he would not ask the FBI to investigate the murder of Khashoggi, while touting&nbsp;his relationship with MBS.</b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/trump-tells-the-journalist-murdering-putin-that-they-should-get-rid-of-the-press/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/trump-tells-the-journalist-murdering-putin-that-they-should-get-rid-of-the-press/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from nyt518</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the paper of record? thus biggest prize of escalator effect</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump has managed to imprint "failing" in from of its name/brand, even in my brain?!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/what-the-media-should-learn-from-trumps-latest-new-york-times-attack/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/what-the-media-should-learn-from-trumps-latest-new-york-times-attack/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>What the media should learn from Trump’s latest New York Times attack</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>&nbsp;no lnx</div><div>
</div><div>written by Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>June 21, 2019</div><div>19</div><div>In March of 2017, the Senate Intelligence Committee wanted to question Jared Kushner about the meetings he arranged with the Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak during the transition period. During the course of writing that story, New York Times reporters learned that, in addition to a meeting with Kislyak, Kushner met with Sergey N. Gorkov, the chief of Vnesheconombank, something that hadn’t been reported at the time.</div><div>
</div><div>As is clear from the article they published, the NYT reporters contacted the White House, Sergey Gorkov, and the FBI for comment prior to publishing their story. Hope Hicks, who was then serving as the communications director for Trump, confirmed that the meeting between Kushner and Gorkov had taken place.</div><div>
</div><div>Judicial Watch has obtained Justice Department emails via a FOIA request that apparently document one of the reporter’s contacts with FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Michael Kortan. In an effort to suggest that there is something nefarious about the standard practice of running stories by those involved for comment prior to publication, the title of the Judicial Watch article references “FBI-Media Collusion.”</div><div>
</div><div>Picking up on the inference of something nefarious, Daniel Chaitin at the Washington Examiner published a story titled, “NYT reporter flagged Jared Kushner meetings with Russians to FBI.” The opening line of the piece states that the reporter “fed information about Jared Kushner meeting with Russians to the FBI.”</div><div>
</div><div>It won’t surprise you to learn that Donald Trump took if from there.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Donald J. Trump</div><div>?</div><div>@realDonaldTrump</div><div>&nbsp;· Jun 21, 2019</div><div>&nbsp;Just revealed that the Failing and Desperate New York Times was feeding false stories about me, & those associated with me, to the FBI. This shows the kind of unprecedented hatred I have been putting up with for years with this Crooked newspaper. Is what they have done legal?...</div><div>
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</div><div>Donald J. Trump</div><div>?</div><div>@realDonaldTrump</div><div>....”This Russia Collusion Hoax was perpetrated in part by people inside the government, and in part by a compliant (Fake News) media.” Mollie Hemingway.&nbsp; @TuckerCarlson @foxandfriends&nbsp; The facts are starting to pour out. Stay tuned!</div><div>
</div><div>...</div><div><b>First of all, let’s note that what was reported by the NYT wasn’t a “false story.” Hope Hicks corroborated the meeting.</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The president also picked up on Chaitin’s framing by saying that the reporters were “feeding” stories to the FBI and questioned whether that is legal.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Let’s assume for a moment that the framing b<b>y Judicial Watch&nbsp;</b>and the president is accurate: that the New York Times reporters learned about an unknown meeting between Kushner and Gorkov and reported that information to the FBI. That is exactly the kind of thing law enforcement relies on during investigations—members of the public (perhaps even reporters) passing on information that might be pertinent to an investigation.</div><div>
</div><div>The fact that Trump questions the legality of reporting information about crimes to law enforcement speaks volumes, and is further corroborated by his comments to George Stephanopoulos about having never contacted the FBI in his life. The inference from the president is that people who report information to the FBI are engaging in behavior that might be illegal. That is what the guy who calls himself a “stable genius” is suggesting.</div><div>
</div><div><b>But of course, the reporters weren’t “feeding” information to the FBI. They were engaging in the standard practice of running a story by those involved prior to publication, which is why they contacted the FBI’s assistant director for public affairs.</b></div><div>
</div><div>The reason this story caught Trump’s eye is that it has been twisted to demonize the two institutions he has accused of treason: the FBI and the New York Times. None of this would have any salience if he and his enablers hadn’t spent months attacking them.</div><div>
</div><div>Beyond that awareness, one of the reasons why this story is important is that it demonstrates how, as Maggie Haberman suggested, “routine process [can be] ripped from context and made to sound bad.” That has been, and will continue to be, standard practice for Trump and his enablers.</div><div>
</div><div>One place I expect that practice to be employed is with the material Attorney General Barr decides to selectively declassify about the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. In the case of this story about the New York Times and the FBI, credible reporters will know from the outset that the framing has been fabricated. But when Barr releases information about routine processes for the CIA and makes them sound bad, that will be more difficult to track down and expose as propaganda. Let’s hope that people like Maggie Haberman and her colleagues at the New York Times learn a lesson from this experience and approach Barr’s framing with similar skepticism.</div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-wheeler-tells-agency-science-advisors-not-to-believe-the-media-a9d8587fc5f5/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://thinkprogress.org/epa-wheeler-tells-agency-science-advisors-not-to-believe-the-media-a9d8587fc5f5/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Andrew Wheeler, chose to go “off script” Wednesday morning when he warned the agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) against trusting the media.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I caution you to be careful what you read in the media,” Wheeler said, concluding his remarks to the public meeting — the first time the SAB has meet in a year.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wheeler was specifically referring to a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/alexnazaryan/status/1135646520601120768" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">tweet by Yahoo News journalist Alexander Nazaryan</a>&nbsp;on Monday which quoted Wheeler telling the National Press Club, “‘The media does a disservice to the American public’ by reporting on global warming, says EPA head Andrew Wheeler. Wants more positive coverage.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>And indeed, on Monday, Wheeler did take time to list five things he believes the press “consistently gets wrong” — this included reporting that the environment is getting worse. Instead, the press should be talking more about how it’s been getting better since the 1970s, Wheeler argued.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Nazaryan’s tweet was quickly circulated around the internet, including by a New York Times journalist and the Sierra Club. In response, the EPA sent out a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/national-correspondent-misleads-wheelers-remarks" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">press release</a>&nbsp;stating that the tweet was “misleading,” and accused the Yahoo journalist of choosing to “deliberately spread false information on Twitter.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This argument was reiterated on Wednesday by Wheeler, who said the fact that the Sierra Club started promoting the tweet made him wonder whether the media and environmental groups were “colluding” for fundraising purposes.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under the Trump administration, however, the EPA has actively worked to rollback environmental protections, often in line with fossil fuel or other industry interests. Most recently this includes challenging the underlying risk calculations that support clean air rules.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The media has played a critical role in reporting on, and investigating, not just these various policy decisions but also potential ethics controversies and conflicts of interest plaguing the agency.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Wheeler urged scientists not to trust the media and come to him or other top EPA officials if they had questions or concerns.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This isn’t the first time that the Trump administration’s EPA has “fact-checked” the media or been antagonistic toward reporters. Last year, reporters from major news outlets, including the Associated Press and CNN, were&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-bans-reporters-chemical-summit-38df2278334a/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">banned</a>&nbsp;from attending a summit on harmful chemicals; one journalist was even forcibly removed by security.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And in September 2017, the EPA’s press office&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-response-aps-misleading-story" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">sent out a press release</a>&nbsp;titled “EPA Response To The AP’s Misleading Story,” which accused AP reporter Michael Biesecker of writing an “incredibly misleading story” about Superfund sites and Hurricane Harvey. (The EPA did not, however, contradict any facts in Biesecker’s story.)</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the EPA has used articles&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/under-scott-pruitt-epa-uses-editorials-as-press-releases-4d7d9b88d685/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">written by climate science deniers</a>, including the Heartland Institute and the Daily Caller, as their own press releases rather than citing expert staff members — a move which the National Association of Science Writers labeled “unprofessional” and “unethical.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All of this is part of the larger confrontational relationship with the press promoted by President Donald Trump, who consistently calls media “fake news” and has&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump-sarah-sanders-violence-media-christopher-paul-hasson-coast-guard-0c2a21b9d24a/" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">repeatedly encouraged</a>&nbsp;violence against the media.</font></p></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/france-probes-alleged-monsanto-files-opinion-makers-215448544.html"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.yahoo.com/news/france-probes-alleged-monsanto-files-opinion-makers-215448544.html</font></a></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">oppo</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">p</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px">aris (AFP) - France has opened an preliminary enquiry into alleged illegal files put together for US pesticides maker Monsanto on the views and pliability of hundreds of high-profile figures and media outlets.</span></font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="Paris judicial police will carry out the probe following a complaint by the daily Le Monde and one of its journalists, whose names appear on the list, the Paris prosecutors office said." data-reactid="23" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paris judicial police will carry out the probe following a complaint by the daily Le Monde and one of its journalists, whose names appear on the list, the Paris prosecutors office said.</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="Two anti-pesticide NGOs -- Foodwatch and Generations Futures -- are also preparing to lodge legal complaints over the alleged lists." data-reactid="24" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two anti-pesticide NGOs -- Foodwatch and Generations Futures -- are also preparing to lodge legal complaints over the alleged lists.</font></b></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="The investigators will look into the possible " collection="collection" of="of" personal="personal" information="information" by="by" fraudulent="fraudulent" unfair="unfair" or="or" illicit="illicit" means="means" data-reactid="25" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The investigators will look into the possible "collection of personal information by fraudulent, unfair or illicit means".</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="US giant Monsanto allegedly had public relations agency Fleishman Hillard draw up the files on the opinions of the targeted people and media bodies on the controversial weedkiller glyphosate and on genetically modified crops as well as their propensity to be influenced in their opinions." data-reactid="26" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">US giant Monsanto allegedly had public relations agency Fleishman Hillard draw up the files on the opinions of the targeted people and media bodies on the controversial weedkiller glyphosate and on genetically modified crops as well as their propensity to be influenced in their opinions.</font></span></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="Figuring on the list are politicians, scientists, journalists -- including four from AFP (Agence France-Presse). Information was collected on their views on pesticides and on Monsanto as well as their leisure pursuits, addresses and phone numbers, according to the France 2 public television channel." data-reactid="27" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Figuring on the list are politicians, scientists, journalists -- including four from AFP (Agence France-Presse). Information was collected on their views on pesticides and on Monsanto as well as their leisure pursuits, addresses and phone numbers, according to the France 2 public television channel.</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="Some of the names were listed under categories such as " priority="priority" targets="targets" and="and" potential="potential" allies="allies" to="to" recruit="recruit" according="according" reports="reports" data-reactid="28" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the names were listed under categories such as "priority targets" and "potential allies to recruit", according to reports.</font></b></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="France's former environment minister Segolene Royal, whose name was said to appear on the lists, said the allegation " says="says" a="a" lot="lot" about="about" the="the" methods="methods" of="of" lobbyists="lobbyists" they="they" carry="carry" out="out" spying="spying" infiltration="infiltration" seek="seek" to="to" influence="influence" sometimes="sometimes" financially="financially" i="I" imagine="imagine" adding="adding" that="that" other="other" companies="companies" are="are" likely="likely" indulge="indulge" in="in" similar="similar" practices="practices" data-reactid="29" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">France's former environment minister Segolene Royal, whose name was said to appear on the lists, said the allegation "says a lot about the methods of lobbyists... they carry out spying, infiltration, seek to influence, sometimes financially I imagine", adding that other companies are likely to indulge in similar practices.</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="Glyphosate developer Monsanto was convicted in the United States in 2018 and 2019 of not taking necessary steps to warn of the potential risks of Roundup -- their weed killer containing the chemical, which two California juries found caused cancer in two users." data-reactid="30" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Glyphosate developer Monsanto was convicted in the United States in 2018 and 2019 of not taking necessary steps to warn of the potential risks of Roundup -- their weed killer containing the chemical, which two California juries found caused cancer in two users.</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="German pharmaceutical firm Bayer, which bought Monsanto last year, announced last month that over 13,000 lawsuits related to the weed killer have been launched in the US." data-reactid="31" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">German pharmaceutical firm Bayer, which bought Monsanto last year, announced last month that over 13,000 lawsuits related to the weed killer have been launched in the US.</font></p><p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm" type="text" content="There was no reaction late Friday from Bayer or Fleishman Hillard to the opening of the French investigation." data-reactid="32" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-family: Georgia, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There was no reaction late Friday from Bayer or Fleishman Hillard to the opening of the French investigation.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">--</font></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bayer-secret-list-of-monsanto-critics-2636999291.html"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.ecowatch.com/bayer-secret-list-of-monsanto-critics-2636999291.html</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/the-white-house-enacts-a-mass-purge-against-journalists-access-and-subjects-reporters-to-sarah-sanderss-whims-report"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/the-white-house-enacts-a-mass-purge-against-journalists-access-and-subjects-reporters-to-sarah-sanderss-whims-report</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Sarah+Sanders" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders</a></span>&nbsp;has quietly implemented a new standard that has resulted in what one journalist calls “a mass purge” of “almost the entire White House press corps.”</b></font></p><div class="p1_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Huckabee Sanders revoked the press credentials, known as a “hard pass,” for all Washington Post reporters assigned to cover the White House, and many others.</b> That would be six correspondents, and Dana Milbank, a veteran journalist who writes an opinion column at the Washington Post, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-white-house-has-revoked-my-press-pass-its-not-just-me--its-curtailing-access-for-all-journalists/2019/05/08/bb9794b4-71c0-11e9-8be0-ca575670e91c_story.html?utm_term=.309f72f2c67d" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">is the first to report this story</a>.</font></p><div class="p2_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“After covering four presidents, I received an email informing me that Trump’s press office had revoked my White House credential,” Milbank writes in The Washington Post Wednesday evening.</font></p><div class="p3_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It was part of a mass purge of ‘hard pass’ holders after the White House implemented a new standard that designated as unqualified almost the entire White House press corps, including all six of The Post’s White House correspondents,” Milbank continues. “White House officials then chose which journalists would be granted ‘exceptions.’ It did this over objections from news organizations and the White House Correspondents’ Association.”</font></p><div class="p4_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is not known which reporters or news outlets were granted exceptions.</font></p><div class="p5_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Post requested exceptions for its six White House reporters and for me, saying that this access is essential to our work,” Milbank adds. “The White House press office granted exceptions to the other six, but not to me. I strongly suspect it’s because I’m a Trump critic. The move is perfectly in line with Trump’s banning of certain news organizations, including The Post, from his campaign events, and his threats to revoke White House credentials of journalists he doesn’t like."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What is this new standard the White House has concocted?</font></p><div class="p7_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Milbank reports it is “a clear — if nearly impossible — standard: No credentials to any journalist who is not in the building on at least 90 out of the previous 180 days — in other words, seven of every 10 workdays. The White House wouldn’t provide numbers, but it appears most of the White House press corps didn’t qualify for credentials under the new standard, including regulars for The Post and the Associated Press.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/trump_students_press_media.php">https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/trump_students_press_media.php</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1/17 peters</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
<strong> Trump were elected</strong>, what could he do to change US

media law and/or restrict journalism practice? That was the question I

sought to answer in an October<a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/donald_trump_lawsuits_press_freedom.php"> </a><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/donald_trump_lawsuits_press_freedom.php?link" target="_blank">CJR piece</a>. I recounted the former reality TV star’s numerous threats to sue the press: <em>The Washington Post</em>, The Daily Beast, <em>The New York Times</em>,

The Associated Press, and so on. I noted his promises to “[bring] more

libel suits” and “open up our libel laws,” and I nodded to the Committee

to Protect Journalists, which <a href="https://cpj.org/2016/10/cpj-chairman-says-trump-is-threat-to-press-freedom.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had called Trump</a> an “unprecedented threat” to press freedom.&nbsp;

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All that was before the election. On his first full day in office, Trump <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/21/politics/trump-presidency-day-two/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>

he’s in a “running war with the media,” calling journalists “the most

dishonest human beings on Earth,” and his press secretary <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/sean-spicer-inauguration-statement-lies" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> later that day, in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html?r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">briefing</a>

that featured more bad lies than one of my Sunday golf outings, that

the administration would “hold the press accountable.” In recent weeks,

too, Trump’s aides have<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-white-house-reporters_us_587b82e5e4b0e58057ff43a5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-white-house-reporters_us_587b82e5e4b0e58057ff43a5" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> press briefings may be moved out of the White House, and Trump <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-fake-news_us_58765d29e4b05b7a465cd876" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called</a> BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage” during a press conference, in which he also<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-fake-news_us_58765d29e4b05b7a465cd876" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-fake-news_us_58765d29e4b05b7a465cd876" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called</a> CNN “fake news.” He<a href="http://deadline.com/2016/11/donald-trump-tweets-60-minutes-lesley-stahl-video-1201853616/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://deadline.com/2016/11/donald-trump-tweets-60-minutes-lesley-stahl-video-1201853616/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>60 Minutes</em> he’d use Twitter to “[fight] back” whenever a news outlet published “a bad story” about him. He<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-twitter-231220" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-twitter-231220" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">accused</a> the press of inciting protests and<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/17/media/nytimes-subscription-rise/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/17/media/nytimes-subscription-rise/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweeted</a> (untruthfully) that <em>The New York Times</em> was losing subscribers because of its “very poor and highly inaccurate coverage.” And he<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-ditches-media-obama-meeting-20161110-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-ditches-media-obama-meeting-20161110-story.html" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rejected</a> requests to allow a press pool to accompany him to meet with Obama and congressional leaders, all before<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/trump-ditches-his-press-pool-heads-to-the-21-club.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/trump-ditches-his-press-pool-heads-to-the-21-club.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ditching</a>

his pool days later for dinner at the 21 Club. In short, Trump has the

same regard for the press that my dog has for my backyard flower garden.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Journalists, scholars, lawyers, and others have all taken up these

issues, and a reader recently emailed CJR about a variation on them:

What about student journalists? How will they likely fare during a Trump

presidency?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In some ways, student journalists will face the same challenges as

professionals. First, through executive orders and the Department of

Justice, Trump will be able to shape the Freedom of Information Act’s

implementation and the substantive arguments the government makes in

FOIA litigation. Professionals may be heavier FOIA users than students,

but the burdens of any FOIA changes will fall on both groups.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Second, Trump could crack down on public affairs reporting, most

likely in the national security area—if the DOJ, for example, prosecuted

leakers under the Espionage Act and subpoenaed journalists to supply

information. This would disparately impact professional journalists,

easily the primary source of US national security reporting. But these

efforts, along with Trump’s ceaseless condemnation of the press as the

enemy, could create or feed an environment in which press and speech

restrictions are seen as acceptable or even desirable, eroding the legal

and cultural independence the press needs to play its democratic role.&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The student press is especially vulnerable to that kind of erosion.

In public schools at the K-12 level, it’s settled law that student

journalists have lesser First Amendment protection than, say, adults in

non-school settings. The 1988 case<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1987/86-836" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1987/86-836" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier</em></a><em> </em>is the main reason. The Supreme Court ruled in <em>Hazelwood</em>

that a school newspaper produced as part of a class may be regulated by

administrators if three conditions are met: the regulation is neutral

with regard to viewpoint, there is a reasonable educational

justification for it, and there’s no policy/practice establishing the

paper as a public forum for student expression, which effectively <a href="https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/hazelwood-decision-and-student-press/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">means</a> that administrators have allowed students to make unrestricted use of the paper for journalistic and expressive purposes.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since <em>Hazelwood</em>

was handed down, schools have used it to legitimize all manner of press

restrictions, and it’s not hard at all to imagine an administrator

finding inspiration in Trump’s anti-press rhetoric—and lo, here’s a case

readymade to restrict student press coverage of controversial issues.

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That’s a big problem because student journalists have <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/college-journalists-need-free-speech-more-than-ever/273634/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">filled in gaps</a>

created by the traditional media’s decline, playing a vital role in

meeting their communities’ news needs. Just last week, Michigan high

schoolers <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2017/01/high_school_reporter_presses_gov_snyder_about_betsy_devos_endorsement.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pressed</a>

Gov. Rick Snyder about his endorsement of Betsy DeVos for education

secretary. And looking back, to note a few other examples, New Jersey

high schoolers once <a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_voices_campaign.php?link">revealed</a> serious misconduct complaints against a superintendent, and national outlets at first<a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_voices_campaign.php"> </a><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_voices_campaign.php?link" target="_blank">relied on</a> coverage by student journalists during the Mizzou protests.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the college level, the headache here is that as student

journalists are making increasingly important contributions through

their reporting (<a href="http://www.splc.org/article/2015/03/under-the-dome" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank">in</a><a href="http://www.splc.org/article/2015/03/under-the-dome" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> at least four states</a>,

there are more students covering state legislatures than

professionals), the federal courts are curtailing their speech and press

rights. And, once again, <em>Hazelwood </em>is the main reason.<em> </em>Although it involved high school student speech, recently it has<strong> </strong>been applied to college student speech as well.<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/college-journalists-need-free-speech-more-than-ever/273634/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/college-journalists-need-free-speech-more-than-ever/273634/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Four</a> federal appeals<strong> </strong>courts, covering 16 states, have extended <em>Hazelwood</em> to college campuses.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hasn’t clarified whether it’s proper to apply <em>Hazelwood</em>

to college journalists, and it’s unclear how Trump’s yet-to-be-named

nominee, expected to be highly conservative, will affect the vote in

student-speech cases generally. On the one hand, the nominee will

replace Scalia, who supported school authority in such cases, and the

rest of the conservative bloc is unchanged from the court’s last

student-speech <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/06-278" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">case</a>,

in 2007, in which the bloc voted together. On the other hand, that case

involved speech at a school-supervised event that allegedly promoted

the use of illegal drugs. In a case involving speech of a higher order,

there’s a chance of winning over certain justices, perhaps Roberts,

whose free speech record is otherwise strong, or Alito, who wrote a

concurring opinion in the 2007 case stressing that it didn’t apply to

broader social or political speech. The same thinking would apply to the

court’s new member, who might be reachable in the right case.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At any rate, fulfilling a community’s news needs means covering a

range of public issues that might upset university administrators, and<strong> </strong><em>Hazelwood </em>is

a complicating factor. The case says that administrators may censor

articles that “associate the school with any position other than

neutrality on matters of political controversy.” That’s clearly

irreconcilable with much of public affairs reporting and commentary.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the problems don’t stop with <em>Hazelwood</em>. There’s another reason the student press is especially vulnerable to erosions of<strong> </strong>independence: the reporter’s privilege. A<strong> </strong>recent <a href="http://news.ku.edu/2016/11/07/journalism-professors-argue-extending-shield-laws-protect-student-journalists" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> I conducted with my University of Kansas colleagues<a href="http://journalism.ku.edu/genelle-belmas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://journalism.ku.edu/genelle-belmas" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genelle Belmas</a> and<a href="http://journalism.ku.edu/peter-bobkowski" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://journalism.ku.edu/peter-bobkowski" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peter Bobkowski</a> found that most states <em>do</em>

allow journalists to shield confidential sources and unpublished

information in some circumstances, but those protections usually <em>do not</em>

apply to student journalists—either because students don’t qualify for

them, or because the qualifying criteria are unclear enough that student

journalists couldn’t claim protection<strong> </strong>with any confidence.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All told, we have a student press being asked to do more with less—to

produce stories that inform their communities, while hamstrung by <em>Hazelwood</em> and lacking privilege protections—at a time when the president talks about journalists as if they’re incarnations of<a href="http://www.starwars.com/databank/kylo-ren" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.starwars.com/databank/kylo-ren" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank">Kylo Ren</a>. That’s untenable, but what can be done?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If student journalists are to continue making significant

contributions, federal courts must stop curtailing their First Amendment

rights, and state legislatures need to repair damage already<strong> </strong>done

by the courts. They should follow the lead of states that have enacted

laws, some of them long ago, to protect student journalists by granting

them rights beyond those guaranteed in <em>Hazelwood</em>. Right now, in fact, the Student Press Law Center campaign<a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_voices_campaign.php"> </a><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/new_voices_campaign.php" target="blank">New Voices USA</a> is lobbying nationwide for such legislation, and four state bills have been<a href="http://www.splc.org/section/news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank"> </a><a href="http://www.splc.org/section/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">filed just</a>

since the start of 2017. (Disclosure: I occasionally represent student

journalists through the SPLC, but I’m not involved in the New Voices

campaign.)&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bills vary from state to state, but they mostly track the SPLC’s model legislation, which repudiates <em>Hazelwood</em> and replaces it with the standard articulated in the 1969 case <em>Tinker v. Des Moines</em>.

It protects student expression unless it creates liability for

defamation or privacy, or a “clear and present danger” of a “material

and substantial disruption” of school activities. The model legislation

and bills also protect public college and university students from court

decisions applying <em>Hazelwood</em> in the higher-education context and extend speech and press rights to student journalists at private colleges and universities.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those protections would be significant for student journalists, who

don’t have it easy. They face a steep learning curve and typically don’t

have the resources of their professional counterparts, either to

produce news or defend themselves from legal threats. Add the reality of

inferior legal protections and a president who regularly disparages the

press, and you have an environment in which it’s difficult for student

journalists to do their jobs—and less likely for their communities to be

informed.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/trump-uses-limbaughs-deface-the-nation-line-during-ohio-speech/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/trump-uses-limbaughs-deface-the-nation-line-during-ohio-speech/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">coast guard mass shooter chris hayes</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/what-happens-in-a-totalitarian-regime-capitol-police-slammed-for-disturbing-physical-attacks-on-reporters/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/what-happens-in-a-totalitarian-regime-capitol-police-slammed-for-disturbing-physical-attacks-on-reporters/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twit</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>'What happens in a totalitarian regime’: Capitol Police slammed for ‘disturbing’ physical attacks on reporters</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>&nbsp;‘What happens in a totalitarian regime’: Capitol Police slammed for ‘disturbing’ physical attacks on reporters</div><div>written by Julia Conley<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>February 17, 2019</div><div>28</div><div>Press freedom advocates and journalists described a Friday report of Capitol Police manhandling and shoving reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building as “bizarre” and “disturbing,” with some calling the…</div><div>Press freedom advocates and journalists described a Friday report of Capitol Police manhandling and shoving reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building as “bizarre” and “disturbing,” with some calling the altercation an incident far more likely to take place in a totalitarian regime than in a democracy.</div><div>
</div><div>As Roll Call reported Friday, Capitol Police pushed and “slammed into” reporters on Thursday afternoon around the time that senators were voting on the spending bill. The police attempted to prevent reporters from speaking to lawmakers—a practice that is common in the Senate basement, where the incident took place.</div><div>
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</div><div>rjbrennan</div><div>?</div><div>@rjbrennan</div><div>&nbsp;It's what happens in totalitarian regime.</div><div>
</div><div>Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation … via @RollCall</div><div>
</div><div>24</div><div>6:46 AM - Feb 16, 2019 · Burlington, Ontario</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation</div><div>A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to...</div><div>
</div><div>rollcall.com</div><div>24 people are talking about this</div><div>
</div><div>Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, called Roll Call’s report a “disturbing account,” while the National Press Club said in a statement that Capitol Police’s actions “contravened the chamber’s long-standing bipartisan practice of supporting journalists’ access to lawmakers.”</div><div>?</div><div>@SuzanneNossel</div><div>&nbsp;Disturbing account of Capitol police manhandling @NBCNews' @LACaldwellDC and another reporter as they tried to question Senators about the purported national emergency #pressfreedom https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/capitol-police-attack-pregnant-reporter-shield-senators-answering-questions-state-emergency-report/ …</div><div>
</div><div>54</div><div>2:22 PM - Feb 14, 2019</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Capitol police attack pregnant reporter to shield senators from answering questions on state of...</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Capitol Police officers reportedly battered multiple journalists on Thursday to protect senators from being asked questions about President Donald Trump's plan to declare a state of emergency for his...</span></div><div>
</div><div>rawstory.com</div><div>74 people are talking about this</div><div>
</div><div>According to Roll Call, some reporters believed the Sergeant-at-Arms had made more Capitol Police available in the Senate building because of the suspected presence of an independent reporter without credentials who had approached senators in the past. But journalists denounced the Capitol Police for handling the situation by assaulting reporters.</div><div>
</div><div>“Capitol Police dramatically over-reacted on Thursday and did more harm than good when they prevented accredited reporters from doing their job and further obstructed senators from communicating with the press. There was no call for the police to shove or place their hands on the reporters,” said Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, president of the National Press Club.</div><div>
</div><div><b>According to an audio recording provided to Roll Call, an officer pushed a pregnant reporter and “slammed into” NBC journalist Leigh Anne Caldwell as she was trying to interview Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.).</b> The Capitol Police also repeatedly told reporters that attempting to speak with senators as they walked down the hallway—a common practice on the Hill—was a “violation” and something people “get locked up” for doing. Washington Post congressional reporter Paul Kane disputed the claim on social media.</div><div>
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</div><div>Paul Kane</div><div>?</div><div>@pkcapitol</div><div>&nbsp;This is a really good, detailed, thoughtful, measured @ktullymcmanus story about Thursday's bizarre Capitol Police behavior around reporters.&nbsp;</div><div>And the police quotes are, let's just say, bonkers: "We lock people up for that."</div><div>No, no you don't.https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation/ …</div><div>
</div><div>984</div><div>9:00 AM - Feb 15, 2019</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation</div><div>A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to...</div><div>
</div><div>rollcall.com</div><div>800 people are talking about this</div><div>
</div><div>“It was insane, people were getting shoved into walls,” Paul McLeod, a BuzzFeed reporter, told Roll Call. “It was unsustainable. It was violent.”</div><div>
</div><div>Kane shared an image of the Capitol Police attempting to block the press from reaching senators.</div><div>
</div><div>View image on Twitter</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Paul Kane</div><div>?</div><div>@pkcapitol</div><div>&nbsp;Very odd security setup on Senate side of Capitol. Police setting up security line and guarding every senator within a half foot, trying to block press on an orltherwise normal size press crowd.</div><div>
</div><div>71</div><div>1:05 PM - Feb 14, 2019 · Washington, DC</div><div>87 people are talking about this</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo told Roll Call that senators including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) appeared taken aback by the officers’ behavior, as well.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Feinstein was doing an interview with one reporter, and she just stopped and her jaw just dropped,” he told the outlet. “She was confused. She was just unable to keep doing an interview that she wanted to do because the officers were creating such a mess.”</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Other journalists wrote that the altercation was the latest evidence that Capitol Police have grown “increasingly aggressive” toward the press recently.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>Joe Perticone</div><div>?</div><div>@JoePerticone</div><div>&nbsp;Capitol Police on the Senate side have been increasingly aggressive with press for awhile now. It's completely unacceptable. http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation …</div><div>
</div><div>70</div><div>9:34 AM - Feb 15, 2019</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Capitol Police crackdown on press escalates to physical altercation</div><div>A Capitol Police crackdown turned physical Thursday afternoon, when officers clashed with reporters attempting to speak with senators in a location known as key territory for lawmakers and media to...</div><div>
</div><div>rollcall.com</div><div>58 people are talking about this</div><div>
</div><div>Press freedom advocates have accused President Donald Trump of creating an increasingly hostile environment for the press due to his disdain for journalists who report on his administration and deeply unpopular policies. The altercation took place days after a BBC journalist was physically attacked at Trump’s rally in El Paso, Texas, by a man yelling, “Fuck the media!” The National Press Club also stated that journalists’ access to reporting on Capitol Hill must be protected.</div><div>
</div><div>“At a time when we have seen the press’ physical access around Washington reduced—including through fewer White House, State Department and Pentagon news briefings—Capitol Hill remains one of the few bright spots for reporters,” said Barbara Cochran, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. “We call upon the Sergeant-at-Arms to continue the office’s long-standing practice of working with the standing committees in devising access protocols for those times when heightened-security is warranted.”</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" text-align="text-align" center="center" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><li class="hidden-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 23px; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a data-ga-action="Home Headlines: Headline" href="https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/13/headlines/philippines_journalist_and_rappler_founder_maria_ressa_arrested" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; border: 0px;">Philippines: Journalist and Rappler Founder Maria Ressa Arrested</a></font></li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/fck-the-media-trump-supporter-goes-berserk-and-attacks-bbc-cameraman-at-el-paso-rally/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/fck-the-media-trump-supporter-goes-berserk-and-attacks-bbc-cameraman-at-el-paso-rally/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A raving Trump supporter wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat attacked a BBC cameraman during the president’s rally in El Paso.</font></p><div class="p1_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BBC’s Ron Skeans was recording video of President Donald Trump speaking about immigration when he was knocked off balance by a man in the crowd, who can be seen moments later being restrained by another man wearing a red MAGA hat.</font></p><div class="p2_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The alleged assailant screams “fck the media” as he’s pulled away from Skeans, and the crowd begins to chant “let him go” as they become aware of the disturbance.</font></p><div class="p3_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Skeans later told the BBC that the man, who has not been identified, shoved him hard from his blind side, and the cameraman was not sure what had happened at first.</font></p><div class="p4_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BBC Washington editor Eleanor Montague, who was at the event with Skeans, tweeted out footage of the incident, which she blamed on the president’s hostile rhetoric.</font></p><div class="p5_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by Trump and other speakers all night,” Montague tweeted...</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">not a dissident,&nbsp; MBS&nbsp;</font></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><li class="hidden-xs" style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 23px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.33;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a data-ga-action="Home Headlines: Headline" href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/8/headlines/turkey_believes_missing_saudi_journalist_jamal_khashoggi_was_murdered" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px; border: 0px;">Turkey Believes Missing Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Was Murdered</a>&nbsp;DN</font></li></ul></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After hundreds of BuzzFeed and HuffPost employees&nbsp;lost their jobs last week as both media companies made steep cuts to their staff, a 4chan campaign organized around the phrase "learn to code"&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=2c87fd1c3c4a2175a1285492d390f8421b207a780309152ded51e90fe97891c10cca6362189943e4d4adb9ee677e18e17605694be9bfae97" title="How a myth about journalists telling miners to “learn to code” helped people justify harassment" style="">targeted</a>&nbsp;newly unemployed journalists on Twitter.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Learn to code" gained traction on the right from the widespread impression that journalists are elitists who treat layoffs that hit working-class Americans with disdain. Tweeting the phrase at newly laid off journalists was a coordinated campaign to give them a taste of their own medicine.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Oh the sweet, sweet taste of victory and justice. These vile, soulless pieces of shit are going to have to find actual work now," wrote one 4chan user. "Making them a hero is the goal," wrote another, referencing slang for committing suicide.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ben Collins, author of&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=5785cb8985a64aecbf7af205661dd7121db30895a00cefcbcd089e1469b4f586440a741a3fb3874510a722e3cdb8781c9405bc446c79baf2" title="an NBC report on the harassment campaign" style="">an NBC report on the harassment campaign</a>, shared his thoughts on why some conservatives build on these myths: "It...feeds into this larger narrative that 'the news' is one homogeneous organism that is all writing the same thing, that we're all one sentient blob."'</font></p></div><div style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The endgame of these online harassment campaigns generated by the far right is to convey very real threats of violence while convincing outside observers that the victims are weak, overreacting, or deserving of the threats they receive.&nbsp;</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/the-western-media-is-ignoring-a-powerful-uprising-where-citizens-are-resisting-tyranny-and-russian-interference/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/the-western-media-is-ignoring-a-powerful-uprising-where-citizens-are-resisting-tyranny-and-russian-interference/</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN 119</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The story of the world today is the rise of right-wing populism, or so we are told. It’s the story of Donald Trump, of Brexit, of rising nationalism in continental Europe — especially in the east — as well as almost all of the former Soviet Union. But stories can change quickly. Whatever happened to “The End of History”? Or the War on Terror? The Great Recession? Or the Arab Spring? Who knows what the story will be next? Perhaps it’s already being written in&nbsp;<b>Sudan,</b>&nbsp;with echoes of so many other stories folded into it.</font></p><div class="p1_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almost eight years to the day after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia with the startling overthrow of the 23-year regime of President Ben Ali, the current Sudan uprising began in the city of Atbara, a railroad union stronghold. That was on Dec. 19, and protests quickly spread nationwide. A month later, Sudan’s 29-year ruler, President Omar al-Bashir&nbsp;—&nbsp;<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashirhttps:/www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">who has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court</a>&nbsp;— is barely clinging to power, while American media, not to mention the U.S. government, has largely ignored the entire situation.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“All residents of Atbara are now on the streets,” one eyewitness, Adel Abdel-Latif,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66796" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told Sudan Tribune</a>&nbsp;last month as the uprising began. “He pointed out that the demonstrators chanted slogans such as ‘Peaceful, Peaceful against the Thieves,’ saying the police and army didn’t interfere to disperse or arrest the protestors,” the publication reported.</font></p><div class="p3_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The story we’re missing is historic, according to J</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">onathan Hutson, who helped expose mass human rights violations in Sudan from 2010 to 2014 — documenting 46 village burnings and locating eight apparent mass graves — as the architect of George Clooney’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.satsentinel.org/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Satellite Sentinel Project</a>.</span></font></p><div class="p4_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What we have is the Western media largely misunderstanding or ignoring a revolution in a Putin-aligned African country, ruled by an Islamic theocracy, where the resistance is committed to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion,” &nbsp;Hutson told Salon. Reports of food riots vastly understate the seriousness of events, and Russian involvement with paramilitary troops (reportedly under the direction of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/putin-chef-yevgeny-prigozhin-is-now-meddling-in-africa" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Yevgeny Prigozhin, aka “Putin’s chef”</a>)&nbsp;has failed to register as echoing the predatory pattern already seen in the Ukraine, Crimea and Syria.</font></p><div class="p5_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“News reporting on Sudan has finally begun to highlight the ongoing economic collapse of the past seven years,” veteran Sudan observer&nbsp;<a href="https://sudanreeves.org/2018/12/24/the-failure-of-international-news-reporting-on-sudans-economy-2011-2018/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Eric Reeves wrote on Dec. 24,</a>&nbsp;but even so “there is remarkable superficiality and failure to look with any historical depth at how the present catastrophe began. … Priorities in the national budget have been wildly skewed for decades toward the military and security services, with only very small amounts devoted to health, education, and the crucial agricultural sector. Arable land has been sold or leased for decades in order to raise cash for a kleptocratic regime.” In short, al-Bashir’s political affinity to Putin’s Russia are profound.</font></p><div class="p6_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">As for the Sudanese people, it’s not that they’re imitating the Arab Spring — it’s really the other way around: Civil uprisings in Sudan have&nbsp;<a href="https://africanarguments.org/2014/10/20/50-years-on-remembering-sudans-october-revolution-by-willow-berridge/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">twice toppled dictatorships</a>, first in 1964 and again in 1985. “The popular uprising has become one of the political norms that Sudanese resort to in redefining their social contract with the state,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66944" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">noted Luka Kuol</a>, a Sudanese professor of security studies.</font></p><div class="p7_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sudan escaped the first wave of Arab Spring uprisings in part because the government learned from those previous examples:</b>&nbsp;It exploited regional, racial, ethnic and religious divisions, broke the power of professional unions and keeping the army dispersed outside Khartoum, the capital city, among other measures. But the government’s continued kleptocratic misrule has pushed Sudan past the breaking point, and al-Bashir’s old tricks no longer seem to work.</font></p><div class="p8_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Atbara demonstrations spread quickly despite a sometimes violent response. “The numbers of peaceful demonstrators in Atbara are increasing dramatically and the city is in full civil disobedience,” the opposition youth group Sudan Change Now&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Sudanchangenow/status/1075362750279376897" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">tweeted</a>&nbsp;on Dec. 19, along with a 57-second video of a loud but peaceful march. Sudan Tribune reported that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66800" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">eight people were killed</a>&nbsp;on the second day of protests. Barely a month later, the al-Bashir regime appears doomed. The more demonstrators have been killed, injured or arrested, the more the movement has swelled, and al-Bashir’s attempts to divide it along racial and ethnic lines have failed.</font></p><div class="p9_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an inspiring and informative overview, “<a href="https://500wordsmag.com/sudan-news/the-chants-of-sudan-uprising/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The Chants of the Sudan Uprising</a>,” Wa’el Jubara writes about the regime’s “sick and naive divide-and-conquer attempt” to blame the protests “on one of the armed rebel movements in the West,” conflating them with “peaceful, unorganised (politically) citizens” from Darfur in the West, whom they arrested. “The next day, Sudanese people from all walks of life and origins went out again, calling out the regime on its poor racist tactics,” Jubara wrote. “They called out the failed conspiracy of Al Bashir and said, ‘<b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">يا عنصري مغرور كل البلد دارفور</b>‘, loosely translated to&nbsp;‘You [Al Bashir] are racist and arrogant, we are all Darfur.’”</font></p><div class="p10_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The current demonstrations are unprecedented, in terms of scale, persistence, intensity, and geographical reach,” Adil Babikir, a U.K.-based Sudanese translator,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66930" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote in Sudan Tribune</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 18. “The momentum is building up, with simultaneous rallies staged in many cities across the country. The revolutionary mood is at its peak. New patriotic songs are hitting the social media platforms every day. Some of these are originally folkloric wedding songs reworded with the themes of the revolution.”</font></p><div class="p11_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the midst of all this, on Dec. 31, Hutson posted a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JonHutson/status/1079952769178632193" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">33-tweet thread</a>&nbsp;exposing the Russian presence in Sudan with photos and information provided by activists on the ground.&nbsp;This information on the “illegal” Russian incursion was information further&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Amjedfarid/status/1080900965941813253" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">developed and promoted by Sudan Change Now</a>,&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://citeam.org/are-ru-mercenaries-suppressing-the-sudan-protests/?lang=en" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">by the Russia-based Conflict Intelligence Team</a>.</font></p><div class="p12_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Russian forces in Sudan are apparently or probably there in the guise of&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Prigozhin</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">’s paramilitary Wagner Group (aka PMC Wagner), which was&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/sm0114.aspx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2017</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;for its involvement in Ukraine</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Prigozhin, the now-infamous Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg and two related firms he controls&nbsp;</span><a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0312" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">were also sanctioned in March 2018</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;for their role in 2016 election interference on behalf of Donald Trump.</span></font></p><div class="p13_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As police fired tear gas and live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators in Khartoum, wounding at least four people, Sudanese observers on the ground wondered about the significance of Russian military trucks spotted in the capital,” Hutson began.</font></p><div class="p14_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hutson initially stopped short of definitively identifying PMC Wagner. But the group’s presence in Sudan and elsewhere in Africa was already known, if not commonly discussed. In November,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/putin-chef-yevgeny-prigozhin-is-now-meddling-in-africa" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Bloomberg reported</a>&nbsp;that<b>&nbsp;Prigozhin was “already active in or moving into 10 countries that Russia’s military already has relationships with: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Libya, Madagascar, Angola, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic</b>.”</font></p><div class="p15_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-journalists-editor-says-killed-for-investigating-wagner-group-2018-8" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Last summer</a>,<b> three Russian journalists were killed while investigating Wagner in the Central African Republic on behalf of exiled Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky.</b> A week after Hutson’s tweet-storm,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66883" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Sudan Times confirmed Wagner’s presence</a>&nbsp;in the current conflict, citing a source within Sudan’s security force.</font></p><div class="p16_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hutson noted that Wagner “guards Sudanese gold, uranium, and diamond mines, as well as atomic energy facilities. Russian media have reported that Wagner trains Sudanese armed forces.” He identified Wagner’s typical vehicle as “a light-brown, Ural-4320, all-wheel-drive, two-door cab, 6×6 truck in troop transport mode, similar to trucks used by the Russian military, and by Russian private military contractors.” (In a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JonHutson/status/1083480882957205504" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">later thread</a>, he explained in detail how he identified the trucks.)</font></p><div class="p17_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hutson provided some background on Sudan’s Russia connection, noting that on Nov. 23, 2017, al-Bashir met with Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Reportedly “Bashir asked Putin to protect Sudan from ‘aggressive acts of the United States.’ In return, Bashir promised Putin that Sudan could serve as Russia’s ‘key to Africa.’”</font></p><div class="p18_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hutson also described some earlier activity in Sudan. “Radio Dabanga (<a href="https://twitter.com/Radiodabanga" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">@RadioDabanga</a>) reported in March 2018 that about 500 Russian armed forces appeared in the Um Dafug area of South Darfur, which borders on the Central African Republic.” At the same time, “across the border in CAR, the Wagner Group was defending mining interests.”</font></p><div class="p19_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Four months after that, the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> three Russian journalists working for Khodorkovsky were killed,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;amid disputed claims of who was responsible. Ten days after Hutson’s tweet,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/10/report-links-journalists-murder-africa-russian-mercenaries-investigating1/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Telegraph reported damning evidence that Wagner itself was responsible</a>, based on findings from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.khodorkovsky.com/dossier-center/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Khodorkovsky’s Dossier Center</a>, including cell phone records and other documents connecting the driver to Prigozhin. “The journalists were under the control of people from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s structures starting from the preparation stage,” according to the Dossier Center.</span></font></p><div class="p20_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Hutson has speculated that “the relationships between Putin,&nbsp;Prigozhin,&nbsp;the Internet Research Agency, the Wagner Group and Trump” could help explain the U.S. government’s relative silence on the Sudan uprising.&nbsp;</b>More recently, on Jan. 23, the State Department finally issued a three-paragraph&nbsp;<a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2019/01/288533.htm" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">statement of “concern,”</a>&nbsp;stating that “A new, more positive relationship between the United States and Sudan requires meaningful political reform and clear, sustained progress on respect for human rights.”</font></p><div class="p21_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In fairness, America’s hands-off attitude might not have much to do with Putin. Like al-Bashir and the Sudanese regime, the Russian president may simply be taking advantage of long-standing pernicious habits and attitudes. That’s the picture suggested by Justin Lynch at the Daily Beast, in a recent article asking“</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-is-sudans-genocidal-regime-a-cia-favorite" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Why is Sudan’s Genocidal Regime a CIA Favorite?</a>”:</span></font></p><div class="p22_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although Sudan has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-sponsors-sudan" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">listed</a>&nbsp;as a state sponsor of terror since 1993 and the U.S. has accused al-Bashir more than once of genocide for his government’s actions in Darfur, cooperation between the two countries has been close on particular issues that Washington sees as a priority, particularly the fight against terrorist jihadis.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This remained true, Lynch reports, even after Sudan dramatically reduced its counterterrorism collaboration in 2015.</font></p><div class="p24_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As one of the last acts of the Obama administration in January 2017, the United States began a five-track process to restore relations that depend on humanitarian access, stopping violence and counter-terrorism collaboration. That process has expanded under the Trump administration, and in late-October the United States entered a second re-engagement with Sudan.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A few weeks later, the Sudan uprising began. And America has watched from the sidelines.</font></p><div class="p26_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For all the talk about how disruptive and anomalous Trump’s presidency is, and for all the justified concern about how compromised he might be by his Russian entanglements, the main impediment to America doing the right thing to support the people of Sudan may simply be short-sighted, sclerotic institutional continuity, just as it was during the Arab Spring.</font></p><div class="p27_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We are right to worry about the future of democracy at home. But the Sudan uprising should remind us that we live in a larger world that we have often carelessly misshaped with our misguided actions and misplaced fears, even as we have also helped shape it with our ideals. In his famous 1967 address “<a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/beyond-vietnam" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Beyond Vietnam</a>,” explaining his opposition to the war, Martin Luther King Jr. said that “our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice.” The same could be said about the various threats facing us today — and that’s what the Sudan uprising is calling on us to do.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/election-03918/cnn-andrew-kaczynski-lawsuit-jason-lewis">https://www.alternet.org/election-03918/cnn-andrew-kaczynski-lawsuit-jason-lewis</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">T<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">his week, a new</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/19/politics/kfile-jason-lewis-radio-comments-sexual-harassment/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">report</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">from<b>&nbsp;Andrew Kaczynski of CNN's KFile revealed yet another round of shocking comments made by Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN) during his days as a right-wing talk radio host. I</b>n the clips, from a show in&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">November 2011</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lewis mocked women who feel traumatized by sexual harassment in the workplace.</span></b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I don't want to be callous here, but how traumatizing was it?" said Lewis, his voice breaking at times into a mocking pitch. "How many women at some point in their life have a man come on to them, place their hand on their shoulder or maybe even their thigh, kiss them, and they would rather not have it happen, but is that really something that's going to be seared in your memory that you'll need therapy for? You'll never get over? It was the most traumatizing experience? Come on! She wasn't raped." He also argued that sexual harassment law was a<b>&nbsp;violation of the First Amendment.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Incredibly, the story has now drawn a legal threat. On Thursday, Lewis' former broadcaster, Genesis Communications Network, sent a "cease and desist" letter to CNN, threatening a copyright infringement lawsuit for use of material from Lewis' old shows.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For their part, neither CNN nor Kaczynski are backing down, and nor do they have any reason to. The threat is completely baseless;&nbsp;<a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"fair use" law</a>&nbsp;in the United States allows the use of snippets of copyrighted work without the permission of the owner, in the context of commentary, criticism, or parody.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lewis' campaign has declined to comment on the matter.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The radio program, in which Lewis styled himself "<a href="https://blogs.twincities.com/politics/2015/10/12/mr-right-jason-lewis-running-second-district/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">America's Mr. Right</a>," was a known part of his resume when he was first elected to Congress in 2016 — he used the show to help launch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/01/17/jason-lewis-ditches-talk-radio-past-in-congress" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Michele Bachmann's failed presidential bid</a>. But the show has become a matter of increased controversy as journalists have gone back through his commentary, which is full of toxic and inflammatory rhetoric.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As a talk radio host, Lewis&nbsp;<a href="https://m.startribune.com/lewis-facing-strong-criticism-for-past-comments-about-women/368885181/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">complained</a>&nbsp;that single women are "simply ignorant of the important issues in life,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/meet-minnesotas-mini-trump/495641/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">compared</a>&nbsp;gay marriage and taxing the rich to slavery, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/18/politics/kfile-jason-lewis/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">bemoaned</a>&nbsp;the fact that it's not socially acceptable to call women "sluts" anymore.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, which Lewis represents, covers the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, and while voters there have consistently elected Republicans for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/meet-minnesotas-mini-trump/495641/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">over a decade</a>, they also&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VfkHtzBTP5gf4jAu8tcVQgsBJ1IDvXEHjuMqYlOgYbA/edit#gid=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;">voted for President Barack Obama twice</a>. Lewis' Democratic opponent is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.angiecraig.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Angie Craig</a>, an openly gay former newspaper reporter and human resources director best known for winning a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.twincities.com/2016/10/07/angie-craig-2nd-congressional-district/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">landmark case</a>&nbsp;in Tennessee that made her and her partner the first lesbian couple to adopt in the state. She previously ran against Lewis in 2016, losing by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/minnesota-house-district-2-craig-lewis" style="text-decoration-line: none;">less than 2 points</a>, and is ready for a rematch.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ecowatch.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=214ab5fbb3f6015d74ffab4ec&id=6433e4b89d&e=c2e8fdabfa" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Journalist Dies in Clash Over Dirty Coal in Germany</a>&nbsp;ew</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><li class="hidden-xs" style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 23px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a data-ga-action="Home Headlines: Headline" href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/8/headlines/bulgaria_journalist_viktoria_marinova_found_raped_and_murdered" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px; border: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bulgaria: Journalist Viktoria Marinova Found Raped and Murdered</font></a></font></li></ul></div><div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Karen Savage, an&nbsp;<a href="http://karensavage.net/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">award-winning</a>&nbsp;investigative reporter, did not expect to be arrested as she covered Energy Transfer Partners’ controversial construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline through Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin, a river swamp bigger than the Florida&nbsp;Everglades.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>We were on land that the pipeline company doesn’t even claim to have,” she said, adding that she had permission in writing from the property owner to be there. “I didn’t think there was really any risk at&nbsp;all.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Savage, a freelance reporter who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/faculty/karen-savage/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">teaches</a>&nbsp;at the City University of New York’s graduate school of journalism, has&nbsp;<a href="http://karensavage.net/about/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">previously covered</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<span class="caps">BP</span>&nbsp;oil spill and&nbsp;<a href="https://jjie.org/2016/07/11/savage-arrested/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">environmental justice</a>&nbsp;issues. Truthout describes her as “embedded” with L’eau Est La Vie protest camp, which opposes the&nbsp;pipeline.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>She now faces “critical infrastructure” trespass charges, as do over half a dozen others recently arrested near Bayou Bridge construction. These felony charges come under a newly minted Louisiana law modeled after “critical infrastructure” laws&nbsp;in other states, which have been&nbsp;criticized as&nbsp;efforts to criminalize oil and gas pipeline&nbsp;protests</b>.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Louisiana’s first felony trespass arrests came on August 9, when three people&nbsp;<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/water-protectors-charged-with-felonies-under-louisianas-anti-protest-law/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">kayaking</a>&nbsp;through waters adjoining Bayou Bridge construction were charged under the new law,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/10/anti-pipeline-kayaktivists-hit-felony-charges-under-louisianas-new-alec-inspired-law" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">according to pipeline opponents</a>&nbsp;who said the kayakers were paddling in public waterways. And three more people were arrested the same day as Savage,&nbsp;<a href="http://truthout.org/articles/water-protectors-charged-with-felonies-under-louisianas-anti-protest-law/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">according to Truthout</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Early Monday morning, a Bayou Bridge activist who identifies as a “water protector” was&nbsp;<a href="https://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2018/08/21/louisiana-water-protector-tased-after-life-line-to-skypod-cut-by-bayou-bridge-workers/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">tased</a>&nbsp;and arrested after being forced from a “skypod,” a device similar to the tripods sometimes used in civil disobedience campaigns. That person was charged and held on $10,000 bail, according to a statement put out by local&nbsp;activists.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like many who opposed Energy Transfer Partners’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/energy-transfer-partners-bakken-oil-pipeline-through-iowa" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota</a>, Bayou Bridge opponents identify themselves as water protectors. Some of those opposed to Bayou Bridge have engaged in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insidesources.com/protesters-in-louisiana-take-to-treesitting-kayaks-to-stop-bayou-bridge-pipeline/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">tree-sits</a>&nbsp;as a form of civil&nbsp;disobedience.</font></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trespassing Near 'Critical&nbsp;Infrastructure'</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Traditionally, trespass charges are relatively low-level crimes often punishable by little more than a&nbsp;fine.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/03/30/tigerswan-lisa-smith-security-license-louisiana-bayou-bridge-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">law turning trespassing</a>&nbsp;— if it’s near “critical infrastructure”&nbsp;or construction sites for critical infrastructure — into a felony carrying a sentence of up to five years went into effect on August 1. It specifically amended the Louisiana criminal code to include oil and gas pipelines under the definition of “critical infrastructure,” and included “conspiracy” charges to enter or damage these sites with harsh penalties both in terms of prison time and&nbsp;fines.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Bayou Bridge pipeline, supported the bill elevating “critical infrastructure” trespassing to a felony</b>, a&nbsp;<a href="http://katc.com/news/2018/04/24/house-bill-that-criminalizes-conspiracy-to-trespass-at-pipeline-other-infrastructure-sites-headed-to-full-senate/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">local&nbsp;<span class="caps">ABC</span>&nbsp;News affiliate reported in April</a>.</font></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another&nbsp;<span class="caps">ALEC</span>&nbsp;Bill Now&nbsp;Law</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Louisiana law is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/11/alec-model-bill-pipeline-protesters" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">similar to a bill</a>&nbsp;pushed nationwide by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-legislative-exchange-council" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council (<span class="caps">ALEC</span>)</a>, a corporate-funded bill mill whose members include oil and gas companies like Chesapeake Energy and Continental Resources. Energy Transfer Partners has twice supported&nbsp;<span class="caps">ALEC</span>’s annual conferences,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations#cite_note-155" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">according to</a>&nbsp;Sourcewatch.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Part of the reason that trespass charges are rarely serious is that it can be a complex legal issue to sift out who exactly owns a piece of land, especially if ownership is disputed.&nbsp;<b>The owners of land where Bayou Bridge construction is currently underway have said that the company never obtained an easement or seized their property through eminent domain, meaning that they believe the construction is&nbsp;illegal</b>.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bayou Bridge opponents predicted that the bill would be used to target their campaigns — particularly if there’s a risk of being arrested for a felony even when you reasonably believe you are not&nbsp;trespassing.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>Clearly the purpose is to chill lawful dissent,” New Orleans-based environmental activist Meg Logue&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_4e66771a-47fb-11e8-8200-6f137b5783f1.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">told The Advocate</a>in&nbsp;April.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other reports of police misconduct and the blurring of the lines between public officials and private security at Bayou Bridge sites drew a warning from lawyers from three prominent civil liberties organizations in late&nbsp;July.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Police stood by while company “[c]onstruction workers [used] chainsaws on the very trees these individuals are sitting in,” William P. Quigley, law professor and director of the Loyola Law Clinic;&nbsp;Pam Spees, senior staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights;&nbsp;and Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://cldc.org/news/lawyer-response-to-etps-reckless-mistreatment-of-protesters-at-the-leau-est-la-vie-pipeline-resistance-camp/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">July 28 letter</a>&nbsp;to Louisiana’s governor. “We also have reports that various state employees from the Department of Public Safety, Corrections, and Probation and Parole are working as private security in this&nbsp;matter.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeSmog has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/02/21/wyoming-alec-model-bill-pipeline-protests" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">previously reported</a>&nbsp;that legislatures in at least three other states have begun considering laws similar to&nbsp;<span class="caps">ALEC</span>’s model bill. So far this year, “critical infrastructure” bills have passed either the state House or Senate in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/21/bill-banning-pipeline-sabotage-critical-infrastructure-passes-iowa-senate/354510002/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Iowa</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pasenategop.com/blog/senate-approves-regan-critical-infrastructure-trespass-bill/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Pennsylvania</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2017/03/02/oklahoma-bill-to-protect-critical-infrastructure-could-curb-public-protest-critics-say/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Oklahoma</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/this_just_in/article_b83cf275-c9be-5385-b981-12595601bb54.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Wyoming</a>. Similar bills have also been introduced in states including&nbsp;<a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+SB828" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Virginia</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A03987&term=0&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Committee%26nbspVotes=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">New York</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.billtrack50.com/BillDetail/934991" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Ohio</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kare11.com/article/news/mn-bill-to-penalize-protesters-clears-hurdle/89-532933032" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Minnesota</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/02/ohio-iowa-pipeline-protest-critical-infrastructure-bills/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Colorado and Washington</a>&nbsp;state have also considered related&nbsp;measures.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) has repeatedly gone to bat to block investigation of President Donald Trump's ties to Russia, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-nunes-memo-continues-to-backfire/2018/02/26/6647de50-1b2d-11e8-b2d9-08e748f892c0_story.html?utm_term=.2a063e1ea62e" style="text-decoration-line: none;">target</a>&nbsp;anyone outside his committee who is doing so.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He also appears to be adopting one of Trump's favorite tactics: call any media criticism "fake news." And his crusade against a local paper in his district, the<em>&nbsp;Fresno Bee</em>, has had consequences.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<em>Bee</em>&nbsp;has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/marek-warszawski/article216739445.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">endorsed</a>&nbsp;Nunes in every election he has run in since his first bid for Congress in 2002. Nonetheless, the paper has increasingly published criticisms of his conduct in the Trump years, culminating in a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/article212299034.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">exposé</a>&nbsp;of a Napa Valley winery Nunes invested in, which reportedly had drugs and sex workers onboard its yacht at a charity event.</font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 20px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After the paper ran editorials criticizing Nunes for not answering questions about his link to the winery, he took out a lengthy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article213209074.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">campaign ad</a>&nbsp;attacking the newspaper. "Sadly, since the last election, the&nbsp;<b><em>Fresno Bee</em>&nbsp;has worked closely with radical left-wing groups to promote numerous fake news stories about me," he proclaimed in the ad.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ad worked all too well, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjkazq/devin-nunes-is-using-trump-like-fake-news-attacks-on-the-fresno-bee-and-its-working?utm_campaign=sharebutton" style="text-decoration-line: none;">VICE News</a>:</font></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was a rare campaign expenditure for Nunes, who isn’t seen as particularly vulnerable in his deep-red Central Valley district. But it was heard by enough voters in the district that Fresno Bee reporters received an uptick in hate mail, angry social media posts and voicemails denouncing their reporting and the paper.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mackenzie Mays was the Fresno Bee reporter who wrote the original story on the winery controversy. In response to Nunes’ ad, she received voicemails calling her and her colleagues "corrupt bastards" — but she said it wasn’t the first time she’s gotten hate from readers, and their attacks have only gotten more vicious recently — since Trump was elected.</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nunes is not unique. Numerous Republicans now reflexively attack the press, from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) shouting "<a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/gosar-claims-fake-news-about-previous-charlottesville-claims" style="text-decoration-line: none;">fake news</a>" at a CNN reporter for challenging his claim that the Charlottesville riots were a false flag, to Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY)&nbsp;<a href="https://shareblue.com/claudia-tenney-house-republican-new-york-fake-news/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">doing the same</a>&nbsp;at reporters questioning her claim that mass shooters are mostly Democrats, to the incident last year in which Greg Gianforte&nbsp;body-slammed a&nbsp;<u>Guardian</u>&nbsp;reporter&nbsp;yyy one night before being elected to Montana's congressional seat.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the Trump era, GOP lawmakers seem increasingly emboldened to treat the press itself as a political enemy. And the damage that does could long outlast Trump.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://time.com/4544562/donald-trump-supporters-lugenpresse/">http://time.com/4544562/donald-trump-supporters-lugenpresse/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nesbit poison tea quayle&nbsp;</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">upporters of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump have begun to use an old German word—<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/10/24/the-ugly-history-of-luegenpresse-a-nazi-slur-shouted-at-a-trump-rally/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">once invoked by Nazis</a>&nbsp;and now currently in vogue with far-right political activists in Germany—to attack American media covering his campaign.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The phrase is “<b>Lügenpresse,</b>” which means “lying press.” The phrase rose to infamy during the Nazi era and was resurrected in 2014 as a watchword with Germany’s anti-immigrant activists who wanted the media to “tell the truth” about refugees in their country—most of whom were Muslim refugees fleeing from war-torn areas caught in the middle of the ISIS conflict.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, Lügenpresse has traveled across the ocean to Trump rallies and social media posts from Trump’s legion of alt right supporters, and it’s being aimed at both the media and the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buzzfeed’s Rosie Gray, one of the first reporters to chronicle Trump’s rise alongside core elements of the alt right movement, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/789985264282271744" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">tweeted</a>&nbsp;a video that captured two Trump supporters shouting the phrase at the members of the media covering the Republican Party’s presidential nominee at a convention center in Cleveland, Ohio.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" lang="en"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Friendly interaction outside the press pen. "Lugenpresse!"&nbsp;<a href="https://t.co/MWUZynJ8jx" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">pic.twitter.com/MWUZynJ8jx</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/789985264282271744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">October 23, 2016</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the video, one of Trump’s supporters coaches another supporter on the proper use and pronunciation of the phrase as they shout at members of the media contained inside a pen at the Trump rally. Journalists covering Trump’s campaign are confined to pens at the back of rallies and have been constantly harassed in recent weeks by Trump supporters.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Lügenpresse! That’s what you are,” one of the Trump supporters shouts. “What?” the second supporter asks? “Lügenpresse!” he shouts, and then asks whether he was pronouncing it right. “You said it right,” the first supporter confirms. “You’re all in bed with the Clintons. You’re all bought and paid for, every one of you” the second shouts.&nbsp; Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedBen/status/790002903641681920" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">retweeted her video</a>, adding “Word is popular right now on the German far right.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lügenpresse was used so much in Germany by far-right protesters in recent years, in fact, that the revived Nazi-era phrase became the dubious winner of the “non-word of the year” competition created by a panel of German linguists in 2015.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“‘Lugenpresse’ is a word contaminated by the Nazis,” Nina Janich, a professor at the Technical University Darmstadt and head of the six-member jury of linguists who selected the winner,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-islam-protests-idUSKBN0KM21F20150113" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">told Reuters</a>. “It’s used deliberately in the (anti-immigrant) movement to steer it against those (in the media) who criticize their movement.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s antipathy toward the media has become especially pronounced in recent weeks as journalists have covered the stories of nearly a dozen women who have come forward to&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/4541780/donald-trump-threatens-lawsuit-against-accusers/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">accuse</a>&nbsp;him of improper sexual misconduct and stories raising questions surrounding the financial dealings of his business organization and foundation.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump routinely shouts at the media during his speeches, calling them “dishonest” and responsible—along with international elites, the Clinton campaign and various global forces aligned against him—for “<a href="http://time.com/4533254/donald-trump-rigged-election-voter-suppression/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">rigging</a>” the election and spurring anticipated voter fraud (which is almost non-existent now in the U.S.).</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump supporters have picked up on the cue. Besides its use at Trump rallies, the Twitter hashtag #Lugenpresse has begun to show up in alt right and Trump supporter social media posts.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The #Lugenpresse wants us to believe (Clinton) is ‘leading’ in the “polls”? Barring skullduggery #HillaryClinton will lose big time to #Trump,”&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TrusteeSam/status/788062969951318016" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">tweeted</a>one Trump supporter. “The media is literally interviewing every woman Trump has come into contact with in order to find one to make up allegations. #lugenpresse,”&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/damueller99/status/787118014504194048" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">tweeted</a>&nbsp;another. “We all see the constant, coordinated attacks,” a third&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/frye92gunner/status/787946350491144192" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">tweeted</a>. “Even D’s see your bias. Destroyed your credibility to prop up Hillary. #Lugenpresse.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The constant refrain about the “dishonest press” may explain what Trump might move toward if he loses the election. If Trump genuinely believes that the “lying press” cost him the election, he could decide to create his own media effort alongside Breitbart News (the media arm that, in its own words, has served as “<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/11/breitbart-boss-stephen-bannon-bragged-in-2015-i-m-trump-s-campaign-manager.html" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Trump central</a>” for the better part of a year and whose former chairman, Steve Bannon, serves as Trump’s campaign CEO).</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There is also the fear that such talk could lead to confrontations during and after the election.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 28px; line-height: 28px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; max-width: 640px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump said at the close of the third and final presidential debate that he may not accept the results of the presidential election. It is a stance that has clearly hurt him in recent polling—an ABC News tracking poll Sunday found that Trump now trails Clinton by&nbsp;<a href="http://abc7ny.com/politics/clinton-up-by-12-points-over-trump-in-abc-news-tracking-poll/1568931/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgb(233, 6, 6) 0px -2px 0px inset; padding: 1px 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">12 points</a>&nbsp;nationally. The question now is whether his supporters will pick up on his cues and take “Lügenpresse” beyond the confines of the rally media pens and social media—and into the streets.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/carl-bernstein-details-trumps-demonstrable-russia-cover-he-wants-our-credibility-destroyed-because">https://www.alternet.org/carl-bernstein-details-trumps-demonstrable-russia-cover-he-wants-our-credibility-destroyed-because</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/mike-pence-we-support-free-press-unless-reporters-fail-maintain-decorum-due-white-house">https://www.alternet.org/mike-pence-we-support-free-press-unless-reporters-fail-maintain-decorum-due-white-house</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div class="a-section a-spacing-none" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 id="title" class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin-bottom: 0px !important; line-height: 1.3 !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; line-height: 1.3 !important;">The Marginalized Majority: Claiming Our Power in a Post-Truth America</span>&nbsp;<span class="a-size-medium a-color-secondary a-text-normal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; line-height: 1.255 !important; font-weight: 400 !important;">Paperback</span>&nbsp;<span class="a-size-medium a-color-secondary a-text-normal" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; line-height: 1.255 !important; font-weight: 400 !important;">– July 10, 2018</span></font></h1></div><div id="bylineInfo" class="a-section a-spacing-micro bylineHidden feature" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by&nbsp;<span class="author notFaded" data-width="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a class="a-link-normal" href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Onnesha+Roychoudhuri&search-alias=books&field-author=Onnesha+Roychoudhuri&sort=relevancerank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Onnesha Roychoudhuri</a>&nbsp;</span></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">reporters not allowed to attend protests, no allowed to post on social media even under own pvt acct; no link between protest and policy outcome, sometimes b/c of lag time; balacing norms; "objectivity" is tone, repeat status quo;&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-august-2-2018/">https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-august-2-2018/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marginalized-Majority-Claiming-Post-Truth-America/dp/1612196993">https://www.amazon.com/Marginalized-Majority-Claiming-Post-Truth-America/dp/1612196993</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/these-people-shouting-questions-are-worst-new-report-says-trump-routinely-seeks">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/these-people-shouting-questions-are-worst-new-report-says-trump-routinely-seeks</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Media&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">outlets objected this week when the White House barred a CNN reporter from attending a press event with President Donald Trump because she had earlier called out questions Trump didn't like at an Oval Office meeting.</span></b></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">And according to a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/venting-about-press-trump-has-repeatedly-sought-to-ban-reporters-over-questions/2018/07/27/0e73a068-91a9-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cf967e3edfcd" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><em>Washington Post</em></a>&nbsp;report published Friday, Trump's urge to punish reporters is nothing new — what has changed is that his staffers are now giving in to his retaliatory urge.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"At various moments throughout his presidency, Trump has vented angrily to aides about what he considers disrespectful behavior and impertinent questions from reporters in the Oval Office and in other venues. He has also asked that retaliatory action be taken against them," the report said. "Until this week, the officials said, Trump’s senior aides have resisted carrying out his directives.'&nbsp; This suggests that the White House's relationship with the press corps is poised to worsen from its already dire state.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the most recent changes to the White House communications shop is the hiring of Bill Shine, the former president of Fox News who was accused of covering up sexual misconduct at the network. He serves as the deputy chief of staff. Shine, along with press secretary Sarah Sanders, told the CNN reporter not to come to the press event.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“These people shouting questions are the worst,” Trump once said, according to the report. “Why do we have them in here?”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One former White House official told the&nbsp;<em>Post</em>&nbsp;that<b> Trump has previously complained about aggressive reporters, saying, "Is there nothing that we could do?”</b></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/msnbcs-rachel-maddow-reveals-white-houses-bizarre-machinations-concealing-putins">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/msnbcs-rachel-maddow-reveals-white-houses-bizarre-machinations-concealing-putins</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a key point in President Donald Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin in</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Helsinki last week, a reporter asked the Russian president if he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election. For the first time, Putin admitted that he did.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But according to the White House's official records, that didn't happen, as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reported Tuesday night.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other outlets have noted that in the&nbsp;<b>White House's transcript of the press conference, the reporter's question about whether Putin had wanted Trump to win was suspiciously left out. And even after news outlets picked up the story, the transcript wasn't corrected....</b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/democracy-now-july-17-2018-2/">https://kpfa.org/episode/democracy-now-july-17-2018-2/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Meet the Reporter Dragged from Trump-Putin Press Conference for Trying to Ask About Nuclear Treaty;&nbsp;</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OMFG</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/accused-annapolis-mass-shooter-left-trail-evidence-ties-him-alt-right">https://www.alternet.org/accused-annapolis-mass-shooter-left-trail-evidence-ties-him-alt-right</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When the identity of the apparent&nbsp;<b>gunman in the massacre of five journalists in Annapolis, Maryland,</b>&nbsp;was revealed, area resident John Hutson,&nbsp;a retired Navy admiral who is now a prominent consultant and writer, had a shock of recognition. The suspect,<b>&nbsp;Jarrod Ramos</b>, had&nbsp;contacted Hutson in March 2015, taunting him about his role in alerting law enforcement and thwarting a potential mass killer who threatened schoolchildren and Jews in far-away Montana.</span></font></p><p class="c5" id="h.gjdgxs" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That first individual in Montana, David Lenio, overflowed with hyperbolic threats, and Hutson’s efforts to stop him succeeded, as I reported&nbsp;<a class="c7" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.salon.com/2015/02/28/dozens_of_threats_to_execute_grade_school_kids_madness_of_a_911_truther/&sa=D&ust=1530346461839000" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">at Salon</a>, just after it happened. Ramos was more cryptic less overtly demonstrative—but in the end, far more deadlier.<b>&nbsp;Both were somewhat enigmatic, angry loners, with an unmistakable affinity for the racist alt-right.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article originally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/06/30/exclusive-accused-annapolis-shooter-had-deep-dark-links-to-the-alt-right/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">appeared in Salon</a>.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Jarrod Ramos was a lone nut who was not politically motivated, but he was politically influenced by the alt-right,” Hutson told Salon.&nbsp; Researcher Fred Clarkson agrees.&nbsp;“Ramos and David Lenio seem to have been drawn into the orbit of far-right visions of anti-democratic violence, even as they seem to have ultimately acted on their own,” said Clarkson, a senior research analyst with&nbsp;<a class="c7" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.politicalresearch.org/&sa=D&ust=1530346461840000" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Political Research Associates</a>, a progressive think tank in Somerville, Massachusetts.&nbsp;</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The only two politicians Ramos had tweeted about, according to Hutson, were Donald Trump and&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Michael Peroutka,&nbsp;a wealthy neo-Confederate funder</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;turned Maryland county councilman. Hutson has written about Peroutka, as have I. Peroutka had major funding&nbsp;ties to&nbsp;former Alabama judge and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, as well to the</span><b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">League of the South, whose leader, Michael Hill</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, had&nbsp;<a class="c7" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=//leagueofthesouth.com/a-bazooka-in-every-pot/&sa=D&ust=1530346461841000" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">written approvingly</a>&nbsp;about plans to form paramilitary groups to fight a militarized “fourth generation” culture war, one of whose targets would be the media.</span></font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“To oversimplify, the primary targets will not be enemy soldiers;” Hill wrote, “instead, they will be political leaders, members of the hostile media, cultural icons, bureaucrats, and other of the managerial elite without whom the engines of tyranny don’t run.”&nbsp;</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramos first contacted Hutson through Twitter, the latter recalls, after "the Capital Gazette&nbsp;<a class="c7" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=//www.capitalgazette.com/news/for_the_record/ph-ac-cn-shooting-thwarted-0302-20150301-story.html&sa=D&ust=1530346461843000" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">published a piece</a>&nbsp;about how I had alerted the FBI about mass shooting threat suspect David Lenio,” Hutson said.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After Hutson tweeted about the story, Ramos tweeted a couple of disturbing responses, first asking “Were any school children intimidated?” then claiming that Lenio “had won”:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The piece highlighted the fact that I was also researching and writing about Michael Peroutka, for example, in the pages of Huffington Post,” Hutson noted. “I documented Michael Peroutka’s support for the League of the South [here], a right-wing group that advocated death squads, assassinating journalists, elected officials, and other members of the elite,” he explained. He questioned and challenged Peroutka "about his support for the League of the South, and that led to a lot of public attention,” which he also wrote about for Huffington Post.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although Ramos didn’t contact Hutson at the time, he was clearly not pleased with the critical coverage of Peroutka, fusing his own lawsuit-fueled enmity toward the Capital Gazette with his enthusiasm for the pro-Confederate candidate:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ramos was also given to self-inflation, putting on both literary and moralistic airs.&nbsp;</b>In court documents, Hutson noted, he referred to himself as a crusader. Like his hero, Peroutka, this would effectively place himself above ordinary human law.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“His defense of Michael Peroutka is particularly interesting, since his views seem to echo Peroutka, a local politician and think tank leader, and other elements of the theocratic far right,” Clarkson added.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>When Peroutka did manage a narrow victory that November — with signs that illegal robocalls helped put him over the top</b>, Ramos’s tweet seemed over the top as well:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fairness, none of Ramos' tweets overtly screams “potential mass murderer.” They’re indicative of someone stewing in resentment, but that’s hardly unusual in this day and age. Except for his Twitter avatar — that’s a whole different story.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“The image used in Ramos' Twitter profile is an image not of himself," Hutson observes, but of former Capital Gazette columnist Eric Hartley, against whom Ramos held a grudge against.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“He placed a symbol on Hartley’s forehead and the symbol is a brand of sacrifice, marking a target for ritual murder,” Hutson explained. “It may have Celtic origins, but it is used in a Japanese manga series, called ‘Berserk,’ and it’s called ‘the brand of sacrifice.’</span></font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“For years Ramos stewed in his embitterment, over the newspaper's coverage of his unsuccessful defamation case and the newspaper's coverage of his stalking by Facebook of a woman with whom he had&nbsp; gone to high school. But he didn't act,” Huston summed up. “So the question is, what triggered him?”</b></font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Several things are worth considering, Hutson suggested. “Ramos tweeted about only two political figures, Trump and Michael Peroutka -- but he also tweeted to me after the Capital Gazette had written about me.”</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The content of that story was significant. That was when Hutson wrote about&nbsp;<b>Peroutka's ties to the League of the South,</b>&nbsp;and its&nbsp;<b>support of "death squads to assassinate journalists."&nbsp;</b>These were all pieces of a puzzle Ramos had been playing around with for years, Hutson believes.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“So what happened this past week?” Hutson asked. “On June 25,&nbsp;<b>Trump – at his South Carolina rally – pointed to members of the media, and called them the enemy of the people.&nbsp; This is a phrase that throughout history has been used by autocrats to incite violence,” from ancient Rome to the French Revolution to Nazi Germany.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That's not all that occurred last week, Hutson noted.&nbsp;<b>On Tuesday, Peroutka, an Anne Arundel County councilman, was defeated for re-election, losing in the Republican primary to a female challenger. That may not be coincidental, Hutson suspects</b>.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are also darker long-simmering elements that may have helped prepare the way. Hutson sees an “overall pattern" of "homicidal ideation," starting with Ramous replacing the bloody severed head in a famous Charlie Hebdo cartoon with the face of Garrett Hartley, the Capital Gazette columnist:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramos was actually recycling an even earlier image, which was even less coherent:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramos also tweeted at Capital Gazette editor Rick Hutzell, criticizing him for relegating coverage of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris to page 2. Then he wrote, “je suis CapGazNews.” a direct reference to the hashtag that followed the Charlie Hebdo massacre. As Hutson reads this, Ramos was already thinking of a mass shooting at Capital Gazette in the context of his reflections on Charlie Hebdo:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These aren’t the only such messages, either. As early as September 2014, there’s this one, citing the Capital Gazette's Annapolis address:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But after the Charlie Hebdo attack, Ramos' obsession appeared to become more intense, combining political and religious overtones. “Ramos had a website in which he published court documents from his unsuccessful defamation suit,” Hutson said, and the material reads more like psychodrama than legal briefs:</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the court documents Ramos referred to himself as an agent of the Inquisition, and a crusader who cannot be killed.</b>&nbsp;The Inquisition was a holy inquiry, where church authority superseded that of the civil authority. A crusader is the hand of God, waging a holy war, in the same way that the Charlie Hebdo massacres were. [In the documents] Ramos appeals to "higher authority," and he capitalizes "Higher Authority." This is similar to the way that the violent wing of the anti-abortion movement has appealed to "Higher Law," which they capitalize, to justify homicide against providers of safe, legal abortion, as well as judges and political figures who support the right.</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clarkson sees this tying back to Peroutka’s old allies at the League of the South. “Ramos came to see himself as some kind of vigilante for righteousness, casting himself for example as a 'crusader' and gunning down innocent people in a newsroom," Clarkson said, which "is not unlike the militaristic, millennial vision of Michael Hill, president of the League of the South.” Clarkson said. “Last year [Hill] rallied what he calls the&nbsp;<b>Southern Defense Force</b>, which he envisions as not just a modern Confederate army but the ‘Army of the True Living God.’ This is the group that played a prominent role in the<b>&nbsp;Unite the Right march on Charlottesville.”&nbsp;</b></font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hutson links these violent longings to Ramos' aristocratic pretensions. “His writing style is very arch. He appears to be writing what he conceives of as literature. His speech is highly stylized and idiosyncratic, and uses the metaphors of a holy war. A sense of embitterment and homicidal ideation comes through clearly. He writes about literal carnage, making clear that ... he means this in a literal sense. So it's not for nothing that you think about people like the Army of God.”</font></p><p class="c5" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramos wasn’t acting on anyone’s orders, and despite his apparent linkages to white supremacy never expressed any clear political ideology. But there's little doubt he was influenced and shaped by some of the darkest forces in our society.&nbsp;</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/watch-federal-agents-interrupt-cbs-interview-former-ice-spokesperson-who-says-he-was-told-lie">https://www.alternet.org/watch-federal-agents-interrupt-cbs-interview-former-ice-spokesperson-who-says-he-was-told-lie</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a nationally televised incident that "</span><a href="https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1012324250550538240" style="text-decoration-line: none;">should disturb every single person living in the United States</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">," agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General's Office on Wednesday interrupted an interview with former ICE spokesperson James Schwab, who resigned from his position in March after he was&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/13/i-didnt-feel-fabricating-truth-ice-spokesperson-quits-over-agency-falsehoods" style="text-decoration-line: none;">asked to perpetuate lies</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;on behalf of the Trump administration.</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is intimidation," Schwab told&nbsp;<em>CBS</em>&nbsp;reporter Jamie Yuccas after the agents left his doorstep. "And this is why people won't come out and speak against the government."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watch:</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...This Award-Winning Cartoonist Was Just Fired After 25 Years Because of Political Cartoons Critical of Trump</font><div class="teaser" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 15px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="field field-name-field-teaser field-type-text-long field-label-hidden" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New 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New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The newspaper has become a propaganda rag for the Trump administration.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></div><div class="byline news-politics" style="margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 350px; float: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>By</em>&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.alternet.org/authors/walter-einenkel" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Walter Einenkel</a></em>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<span class="field field-name-field-sources field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><span class="field-items"><span class="field-item even"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Daily Kos</a></span></span></span></font></div><div class="clear-divider" style="clear: both; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 1px; margin: 15px 0px;"><div class="the_body body_news-politics clearfix" style="line-height: 25px;"><div class="story_images" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 15px; width: 310px;"><div class="field field-name-field-story-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.alternet.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/screen_shot_2018-06-15_at_10.54.43_am.png?itok=MraytrWC" style="border: none; margin: 3px; padding: 0px; display: block;" /></font></div></div></div><div class="story-image-sourcing" style="margin: 0px 5px;"><div class="story-image-source" style="margin: 3px; width: 310px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite style="line-height: 1.5em;">Photo Credit: Rob Rogers</cite></font></p></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rob Rogers has been working as the editorial&nbsp;cartoonist at the&nbsp;<em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette&nbsp;</em>for the past&nbsp;25 years. On Thursday, he was fired.
</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><twitterwidget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" data-tweet-id="1007308171315220480" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div data-twitter-event-id="0" class="SandboxRoot env-bp-350" style="direction: ltr; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.4; white-space: initial; position: relative;"><div class="EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--edge js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent" data-click-to-open-target="https://twitter.com/Rob_Rogers/status/1007308171315220480" data-iframe-title="Twitter Tweet" data-dt-full="%{hours12}:%{minutes} %{amPm} - %{day} %{month} %{year}" data-dt-explicit-timestamp="10:05 AM - Jun 14, 2018" data-dt-months="Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec" data-dt-am="AM" data-dt-pm="PM" data-dt-now="now" data-dt-s="s" data-dt-m="m" data-dt-h="h" data-dt-second="second" data-dt-seconds="seconds" data-dt-minute="minute" data-dt-minutes="minutes" data-dt-hour="hour" data-dt-hours="hours" data-dt-abbr="%{number}%{symbol}" data-dt-short="%{day} %{month}" data-dt-long="%{day} %{month} %{year}" data-scribe="page:tweet" id="twitter-widget-0" data-twitter-event-id="13" style="overflow: hidden; cursor: pointer; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(225, 232, 237); border-radius: 5px; max-width: 520px; position: relative;" lang="en"><div class="tweet-InformationCircle--bottom tweet-InformationCircle" data-scribe="element:notice" style="position: absolute; right: 0px; bottom: 3px; margin: 10px 18px 8px;"><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; height: 1px !important; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 1px !important; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" charset="utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2072%2072%22%3E%3Cg%20transform%3D%22translate(8%208)%22%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23657786%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.8%22%20d%3D%22M28%203.11C14.278%203.11%203.11%2014.276%203.11%2028c0%2013.723%2011.166%2024.887%2024.89%2024.887S52.89%2041.723%2052.89%2028C52.89%2014.274%2041.724%203.11%2028%203.11z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2044.593c-1.718%200-3.11-1.393-3.11-3.112V30.076c0-1.718%201.392-3.11%203.11-3.11s3.11%201.392%203.11%203.11V41.48c0%201.72-1.392%203.113-3.11%203.113z%22%2F%3E%3Ccircle%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20cx%3D%2228%22%20cy%3D%2218.148%22%20r%3D%224.667%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2056C12.56%2056%200%2043.44%200%2028S12.56%200%2028%200s28%2012.56%2028%2028-12.56%2028-28%2028zm0-49.778C15.99%206.222%206.222%2015.992%206.222%2028S15.992%2049.778%2028%2049.778c12.01%200%2021.778-9.77%2021.778-21.778S40.008%206.222%2028%206.222z%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" outline="outline" px="px" position="position" absolute="absolute" important="important" overflow="overflow" padding="padding" border="border" clip="clip" rect="rect" hidden="hidden" xmlns:data="data"><a href="https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256" class="Icon Icon--informationCircleWhite js-inViewportScribingTarget" title="Twitter Ads info and privacy" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; height: 18px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; vertical-align: text-bottom; width: 18px; background-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" charset="utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2072%2072%22%3E%3Cg%20transform%3D%22translate(8%208)%22%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23657786%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.8%22%20d%3D%22M28%203.11C14.278%203.11%203.11%2014.276%203.11%2028c0%2013.723%2011.166%2024.887%2024.89%2024.887S52.89%2041.723%2052.89%2028C52.89%2014.274%2041.724%203.11%2028%203.11z%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2044.593c-1.718%200-3.11-1.393-3.11-3.112V30.076c0-1.718%201.392-3.11%203.11-3.11s3.11%201.392%203.11%203.11V41.48c0%201.72-1.392%203.113-3.11%203.113z%22%2F%3E%3Ccircle%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20cx%3D%2228%22%20cy%3D%2218.148%22%20r%3D%224.667%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23FFF%22%20d%3D%22M28%2056C12.56%2056%200%2043.44%200%2028S12.56%200%2028%200s28%2012.56%2028%2028-12.56%2028-28%2028zm0-49.778C15.99%206.222%206.222%2015.992%206.222%2028S15.992%2049.778%2028%2049.778c12.01%200%2021.778-9.77%2021.778-21.778S40.008%206.222%2028%206.222z%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" outline="outline" px="px" xmlns:data="data">Twitter Ads info and privac</a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;little less than&nbsp;two weeks ago, the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/news/donald-trump-political-cartoons-pittsburgh-post-gazette-rob-rogers-20180604.html" target="blank" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none"><em>The Inquirer&nbsp;</em></a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">ran a story about how the&nbsp;</span><em style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Post-Gazette</em><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;had been shutting down Rogers’ cartoons since March, when Keith Burris took over as editorial director in a merger with the&nbsp;</span><em style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Toledo Bla</em></span></div></div></div></twitterwidget></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/award-winning-cartoonist-was-just-fired-after-25-years-because-political-cartoons">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/award-winning-cartoonist-was-just-fired-after-25-years-because-political-cartoons</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Security Guards 'Forcibly' Prevent Reporters From Attending EPA Hearing</b> — And Shove One Out of The Building</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>An EPA spokesman claimed the room had reached capacity.</div><div>
</div><div>By Elizabeth Preza / AlterNet May 22, 2018, 7:02 AM GMT</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The Environmental Protection Agency “forcibly” blocked reporters form attending a Tuesday summit with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, at one point grabbing a “reporter by the shoulders” and shoving her out of the building.</div><div>
</div><div>As the Associated Press reports, the EPA blocked news organizations including the AP and CNN from attending the heading on contaminated drinking water.</div><div>
</div><div>“Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building,” the AP reports. “When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>In a statement, EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox said the reporters weren’t invited because there wasn’t enough space.</div><div>
</div><div>“This was simply an issue of the room reaching capacity, which reporters were aware of prior to the event,” he said. "We were able to accommodate 10 reporters, provided a livestream for those we could not accommodate and were unaware of the individual situation that has been reported</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">dem in chains</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6bca0d28-1307-3636-2c8d-0cc71a2142f0">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">koch network spy on jrnl" upping the transaction costs for the other side" 232</span></p><div><span style="" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-variant-numeric="font-variant-numeric" normal="normal" font-variant-east-asian="font-variant-east-asian" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap">
</span></div></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">frum trump bk:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">press: hannity and new say no indep media eg CNN</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>local fox crew said gianforte guilty, but not asked to be on nat'l; rush applaid, 116K$ ON election day 113</div><div>
</div><div>russian dis-info 400 ppl, 20m ri8bles (400K$ per mo; 40 rooms0 russian version of FB, made fake ppl on US soc media 115; 100K ads; target 10 m ppl in slected districts and states; msg reached 126M FB users 116.</div><div>
</div><div>russia ~ Fr Macron, so vidfeo ell cut hand wash inverted; rebel media posobiec got adv notce of email dump; big overlap betw anti-marcon and pro djt, 18K bots; 118</div><div>
</div><div>cernovich pizzagate guy got WH leaks (susan rice unmasked)</div><div>
</div><div>trad media tried to be balaced, so any crumb or djt normalcy touted 120</div><div>
</div><div>media restriction 1st sign of decline of democ 122</div><div>
</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">-</font></div><div><p class="yiv3668632623headline3" style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=91f6fbf68f&e=4da1f92934" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Ukraine Says It Staged Anti-Kremlin Journalist Babchenko's Death to Save His Life from Russian Hired Gun</a></font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; font-style: italic;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Chris Sosa,&nbsp;AlterNet</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The journalist appeared unharmed at a press conference.&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=afe60121f5&e=4da1f92934" class="yiv3668632623readmore" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; letter-spacing: 0.1em;">READ MORE»</a></font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/media/reporter-suri-crowe-told-truth-about-climate-change-so-right-wing-sinclair-broadcasting-showed">https://www.alternet.org/media/reporter-suri-crowe-told-truth-about-climate-change-so-right-wing-sinclair-broadcasting-showed</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>B<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">uzzfeed&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/stevenperlberg/sinclair-climate-change?utm_term=.xwnwNV7Ea&utm_source=CNN%2BMedia%3A%2BReliable%2BSources&utm_campaign=3abb90ccd7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_06&utm_medium=email#.otRnrz5Nq" target="blank" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">has the story</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;of Suri Crowe, a Virginia reporter who dared to tell the truth about the human cause behind climate change. After her report aired, Crowe was criticized by management and ordered to “balance” her reporting.</span></b></font></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In one 2015 instance, the former news director of WSET-TV in Lynchburg, Virginia, Len Stevens, criticized reporter Suri Crowe because she “clearly laid out the argument that human activities cause global warming, but had nothing from the side that questions the science behind such claims and points to more natural causes for such warming.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The truth is that the groups questioning the science behind such claims have no science to back them up. What they have is a network of “institutes” that consist of nothing but publicity offices funded by fossil fuel companies. Many of them from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/13/peabody-energy-coal-mining-climate-change-denial-funding" target="blank" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">one single source</a>.</font></p><div id="TeadsNative"><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Peabody Energy, America’s biggest coal mining company,&nbsp;</b>has funded at least two dozen groups that cast doubt on man made climate change and oppose environment regulations, analysis by the Guardian reveals.</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crowe bravely, and correctly, replied that there was no need to provide balance by including false information in her reporting. Which resulted in a demand that she&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/stevenperlberg/sinclair-climate-change?utm_term=.xwnwNV7Ea&utm_source=CNN%2BMedia%3A%2BReliable%2BSources&utm_campaign=3abb90ccd7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_06&utm_medium=email#.otRnrz5Nq" target="blank" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">include the views of that notable expert, Donald Trump</a>, who was not even the Republican nominee at that point.</font></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crowe told BuzzFeed News that before the October 2015 climate change segment aired, she was ordered by Stevens to include Donald Trump’s opinion on the matter.&nbsp;</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Eventually, Crowe was forced to read the “balanced” view on-air, including the Trump-favored lies. And after that, she was fired.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate change wasn’t the only reporting done by Crowe were she ruffled the feathers at Sinclair. But in her mind, the story she reported was simply factual, with no reason to inject unsupported opinions.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theweek.com/articles/766230/homeland-security-wants-monitor-journalists-time-sound-alarm">https://theweek.com/articles/766230/homeland-security-wants-monitor-journalists-time-sound-alarm</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Department of Homeland Security intends to&nbsp;<a href="http://theweek.com/speedreads/765665/homeland-security-start-collecting-data-hundreds-thousands-journalists" style="text-decoration-line: none;">list and track</a>&nbsp;hundreds of thousands of news outlets, journalists, bloggers, and "influencers" in traditional and new media alike. Its plan is to analyze targets' "sentiment," monitor "any and all" coverage of select news stories, and possibly share data with "federal, state, local, tribal, and private partners."</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you find yourself skeptical of this proposal of mass state monitoring of the press, consider yourself a bonafide member of the "tinfoil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists," DHS representative Tyler Houlton&nbsp;<a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/04/dhs-defends-media-monitoring-database-calls-critics-conspiracy-theorists/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">said Friday</a>. It's all very routine, he argued, casting the project as an innocent means of "monitoring current events."&nbsp;<em>Just shut up and let us do this, crackpots.</em></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet I am bareheaded, untroubled by black whirlybirds, and utterly unconvinced.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consider the practical incongruities. While a database of the sort DHS wants&nbsp;<em>could</em>&nbsp;be used to follow news stories, it isn't necessary for the job. From basic Google News alerts to subscription services&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5822-google-alerts-alternatives.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">with more</a>&nbsp;robust analytic functionality, news tracking programs already exist. Likewise, if DHS needs "to build media lists based on beat, location, outlet type/size, and journalist role," as its specs&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=22aa793f75ce05efd160cfa36d7a8acc&tab=core&cview=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;">document says</a>, an existent public relations service would easily do the trick. The Department of Homeland Security in the Year of Our Lord 2018 is&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;the first entity to realize this information might be valuable to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/solutions/Media--Monitoring.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">collect and analyze</a>&nbsp;for more successful press release distribution.</font></p><div class="mobads" id="mob-ads-1" style="text-align: center; line-height: 0; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DHS is surely aware media services are available, which raises the question of why it did not elect to use one. If the aim here, as Houlton claims, is</font></p><p style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=&nbsp;</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">huffpo</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MEDIA 04/06/2018 11:39 pm ET Updated Apr 10, 2018</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b>Homeland Security To Compile A Database Of Journalists, Bloggers And Influencers</b></div><div><b>Many in the media industry did *not like the implications</b>.</div><div>
</div><div>By Carla Herreria</div><div>
</div><div>Wanted: A contractor to create a database of journalists, bloggers and influencers for the Department of Homeland Security.</div><div>
</div><div>The Department of Homeland Security sparked concerns among media circles after news spread that the agency was creating an online database to monitor journalists, bloggers, social media influencers and others.</div><div>
</div><div>Word got out after Bloomberg Government surfaced a job posting from DHS seeking a contractor for a “media monitoring services” project. The job entails creating a searchable database that has the ability to track about 290,000 news sources, both foreign and domestic, according to the DHS’s statement of work.</div><div>
</div><div>The contractor will help DHS monitor “traditional news sources as well as social media, identify any and all media coverage related to the Department of Homeland Security or a particular event,” the job description reads.</div><div>
</div><div>“Services shall provide media comparison tools, design and rebranding tools, communication tools, and the ability to identify top media influencers.”</div><div>
</div><div>The online platform should also be able to instantly translate media from 100 languages, including Chinese and Russian, into English. It should also be able to analyze the coverage’s “sentiment” and “momentum.”&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>With President Donald Trump’s aggressive rhetoric against the mainstream news ? he once labeled journalists as the “enemy of the people” ? many in the media industry saw the database as yet another attack on the free press.</div><div>
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</div><div>Dr. DaShanne Stokes</div><div>?</div><div>@DaShanneStokes</div><div>&nbsp;I've gotten threats of violence & death from Trump supporters. Am I to be put on the Department of Homeland Security's list now, too, for having the audacity to criticize @realDonaldTrump in the media and my published work?https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellefabio/2018/04/06/department-of-homeland-security-compiling-database-of-journalists-and-media-influencers/#368323c86121 …#resist #trump #FridayFeeling</div><div>
</div><div>2:38 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>
</div><div>Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And 'Media Influencers'</div><div>Homeland Security is seeking a contractor to compile a list of both professional journalists and "top media influencers," which would likely include bloggers and podcasters, and monitor the "sentim...</div><div>
</div><div>forbes.com</div><div>268</div><div>221 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Dr. DaShanne Stokes</div><div>?</div><div>@DaShanneStokes</div><div>&nbsp;Maybe the Trump Homeland "Security" forces would like dissidents to wear monitoring bracelets and submit themselves for tattoos, too.https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellefabio/2018/04/06/department-of-homeland-security-compiling-database-of-journalists-and-media-influencers/#5d17a2226121 …#resist #trump #impeachtrump #fridayfeeling #homelandsecurity</div><div>
</div><div>3:30 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>
</div><div>Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And 'Media Influencers'</div><div>Homeland Security is seeking a contractor to compile a list of both professional journalists and "top media influencers," which would likely include bloggers and podcasters, and monitor the "sentim...</div><div>
</div><div>forbes.com</div><div>63</div><div>45 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Kyle Anderson</div><div>?</div><div>@FunctionalNerd</div><div>&nbsp;Cool, the office of Homeland Security wants to dox all the journalists in the country. This isn't bad at all.</div><div>
</div><div>2:57 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>20</div><div>19 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Leah McElrath</div><div>@leahmcelrath</div><div>&nbsp;I have friends who have been prohibited from leaving their countries, exiled from their countries with their citizenship stripped, detained and questioned by authorities, tortured, and/or imprisoned for years because of their social media commentary.</div><div>
</div><div>This is dangerous.</div><div>
</div><div>?????? https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/982369182929973249 …</div><div>
</div><div>2:52 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>549</div><div>493 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Maressa Brown</div><div>?</div><div>@MaressaSylvie</div><div>&nbsp;Well, this isn't freaking terrifying or anything. Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And 'Media Influencers' via @forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellefabio/2018/04/06/department-of-homeland-security-compiling-database-of-journalists-and-media-influencers/#4287f7f66121 …</div><div>
</div><div>3:53 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>
</div><div>Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And 'Media Influencers'</div><div>Homeland Security is seeking a contractor to compile a list of both professional journalists and "top media influencers," which would likely include bloggers and podcasters, and monitor the "sentim...</div><div>
</div><div>forbes.com</div><div>23</div><div>16 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>When asked for comment on the purpose of the database, Homeland Security press secretary Tyler Houlton sent HuffPost a link to a tweet he published Friday afternoon.</div><div>
</div><div>In his tweet, Houlton maintains that the database of journalists is “standard practice of monitoring current events” and suggests that those suspicious of its purpose are “tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists.”</div><div>
</div><div>Houlton did not respond to HuffPost’s follow-up questions on whether a similar database had already existed within the Department of Homeland Security and what the agency intends to do with the information.</div><div>
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</div><div>Tyler Q. Houlton</div><div>?</div><div>@SpoxDHS</div><div>&nbsp;Despite what some reporters may suggest, this is nothing more than the standard practice of monitoring current events in the media. Any suggestion otherwise is fit for tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists. https://twitter.com/pressfreedom/status/982366421849202690 …</div><div>
</div><div>...</div><div>While many people ? journalists and social media influencers especially ? were worried about Homeland Security monitoring them, others argued that press-tracking databases are commonplace in the world of public relations.</div><div>
</div><div>HuffPost Streamline</div><div>Wondering what to watch tonight? Subscribe to our Streamline email.</div><div>
</div><div>address@email.com</div><div>&nbsp;PR agencies and communication firms often keep their own databases of journalists and various media outlets, with notes for each. PR professionals also often use programs that track how their clients are being discussed in the media.</div><div>
</div><div>For example, communication firms and public relation agencies use similar databases to find contact information for media outlets and journalists. Public relations professionals also use different programs that monitor news stories and how their clients are being discussed in the media.</div><div>
</div><div>And Homeland Security isn’t the only federal agency to monitor the media, according to CNN military and diplomatic analyst John Kirby.</div><div>
</div><div>“Given this administration’s denigration of most media outlets, I understand why the timing of this bid might look suspicious,” Kirby told CNN Politics. “But from what I can tell, this is nothing more than an attempt at media analysis.</div><div>
</div><div>“It’s not at all different from what I have seen other agencies undertake to better understand the communication landscape. In fact, it would be PR malpractice not to put something like this together.”</div><div>
</div><div>Susan Hennessy, a governance studies fellow at the Brookings Institution, also agreed that a database that tracks and monitors the media industry shouldn’t be of any concern.</div><div>
</div><div>She discussed the issue on Twitter with Garrett Graff, the executive director of the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity and technology program.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Garrett M. Graff</div><div>?</div><div>@vermontgmg</div><div>&nbsp;This strikes me as a totally routine and smart thing for DHS to do, and not at all Orwellian. https://twitter.com/maureenshaw/status/982359172581871618 …</div><div>
</div><div>2:52 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>1,172</div><div>410 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Garrett M. Graff</div><div>?</div><div>@vermontgmg</div><div>Replying to @vermontgmg</div><div>I really mean this. NPPD's trying to figure out what's going on in the world. Stop freaking out.</div><div>
</div><div>3:06 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>37</div><div>25 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>
</div><div>Susan Hennessey</div><div>?</div><div>@Susan_Hennessey</div><div>&nbsp;Agreed. Appears to be a normal PR strategy, not the beginning of the end of free press. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/982375435479781377 …</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Susan Hennessey</div><div>?</div><div>@Susan_Hennessey</div><div>Replying to @SemprePhi @vermontgmg</div><div>No, I really honestly think this kind of media tracking is a normal and common thing that both private companies and federal agencies do, and it doesn't alarm me. Sincerely.</div><div>
</div><div>5:49 PM - Apr 6, 2018</div><div>30</div><div>27 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>Read a draft of the Department of Homeland Security’s job listing below.</div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-history-libel-and-defamation-lawsuits-silence-critics" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-history-libel-and-defamation-lawsuits-silence-critics</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>&nbsp;Trump has vowed to seek revenge on BuzzFeed for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia?utm_term=.hbWjOVoBo#.jo4VnOzxz" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">publishing the Steele Dossier</a>&nbsp;almost a year ago. Now, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is suing BuzzFeed for defamation.</b></font></p><div id="TeadsNative" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BuzzFeed stands by its decision to publish the dossier. Katie Rayford, a BuzzFeed spokesperson, told AlterNet: "The dossier is, and continues to be, the subject of active investigations by Congress and intelligence agencies. It was presented to two successive presidents, and has been described in detail by news outlets around the world. Its interest to the public is obvious. This is not the first time Trump's personal lawyer has attacked the free press, and we look forward to defending our First Amendment rights in court."</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no link</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump loves both suing and threatening lawsuits over any perceived slight, whether it’s an artist who depicted the president nude with a micropenis, or an analyst who (correctly) predicted the Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino would fail. The president has a long history of using bogus claims of libel and defamation to bully opponents and tie them up in court. The American Bar Association has called him a "libel bully," but was afraid to make the claim public because its lawyers feared Trump might sue in retaliation. There’s even a nifty online counter tracking the number of hours since Trump last threatened a journalist or critic. According to the makers of the counter, he’s threatened to sue at least 45 times since the 1980s.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As outrageous as some of Trump’s claims are, being sued for defamation or libel is no laughing matter. It can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention the opportunity cost of time spent in court, plus the emotional strain and reputation damage that can occur during a complicated lawsuit. For someone as powerful as Trump, who can hand these burdens off to someone else, lawsuits are an easy way to threaten anyone who challenges him.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Here are some of the least credible and most obnoxious lawsuits Trump has followed through on in an effort to silence his opponents.</b></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1. The Chicago Tribune</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Back in 1984, Trump sued Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Gapp for a staggering $500 million after the writer mocked a proposed Trump building in the New York financial district. Gapp called the building plan unrealistic and “one of the silliest things anyone could inflict on New York or any other city”—and Trump was not having it.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The case was tossed out by a particularly sardonic judge, whose full statement is a delight to read. In Gapp’s defense, the building design was totally silly, as you can see below.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. Trump biographer Timothy O’Brien</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2005, Trump sued his own biographer, Timothy O’Brien, for writing in TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald that the real estate mogul was worth only $150 to $250 million. Trump insisted he was worth at least $5 billion, and took the case to court. Seriously. A judge ultimately dismissed the case. After he lost, Trump bragged to the Washington Post: "I spent a couple of bucks on legal fees but they spent a whole lot more. I did it to make [O’Brien’s] life miserable, which I’m happy about."</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3. Miss USA contestant Sheena Monnin&nbsp;</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2012, pageant contestant Sheena Monnin complained on Facebook that the Miss USA contest Trump oversaw was "fraudulent," "trashy" and "rigged.” Trump sued her for $5 million in response and won an arbitration award. Trump attorney Michael Cohen later bragged that he and Trump had “destroyed” Monnin’s life.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4. The Daily Beast</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s team sued the Daily Beast in 2015 after it published an article about Ivana Trump’s accusations of rape against her ex-husband. On that occasion, attorney Cohen, who headed many of these lawsuits, made it perfectly clear that the suit was intended to punish anyone who smeared Trump’s name.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen told the Daily Beast. “So I’m warning you, tread very f---ing lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f---ing disgusting. You understand me?”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up…for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet…you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it,” he said.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5. Union workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2015, Trump sued the Culinary Union and Bartenders Union at his own Las Vegas hotel for printing “misleading” flyers that suggested Trump himself did not stay at Trump Hotel Las Vegas because the rooms weren’t luxurious enough. At the time, employees at the hotel were in the midst of efforts to unionize.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A union spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter: "This lawsuit is an effort to distract from the unionizing effort...There are over 500 workers who are fighting for justice and respect at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">6. Univision</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump's long and well-publicized feud with Univision has resulted in threats of several lawsuits, including one against programming chief Alberto Ciurana for posting an Instagram with Trump’s face spliced next to Dylann Roof’s. So basically, Trump threatened to sue over a meme calling out his blatant racism.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's no wonder Univision's lawyers called Trump "thin-skinned" in response. Their memorandum to dismiss the suit nails Trump's tactics of intimidation perfectly: "There is a rich irony to Trump’s cry that he is the target of an effort to 'suppress [his] right to free speech,' when it is Trump himself—a candidate for president—who is attempting to invoke the coercive power of the courts to punish a citizen’s speech."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/now-far-right-pundits-are-calling-death-trumps-opponents">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/now-far-right-pundits-are-calling-death-trumps-opponents</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">W<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hile he is notoriously stubborn and self-assured, President Donald Trump is also famous for being&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2017/04/14/want-change-trump-mind-policy-last-one-who-talks-him/jYYJg0UhOu0y9FB044wCIN/story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">susceptible to the power of suggestion</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump demonstrates how easily persuadable he is by responding via Twitter to “Fox & Friends"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/05/trump-media-feedback-loop-216248" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">almost every day</a>. His campaign and White House staffers have admitted to this several times, albeit not on the record. But their actions have made clear they believe this: White House chief of staff John Kelly has reportedly prohibited staff members from giving Trump reading materials. More recently, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer asked that presidential aide and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/politics/schumer-trump-meeting/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">kept out of an immigration meeting</a>, lest he shape the president's thinking too much. Even Russian-controlled Twitter accounts have apparently been set to&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2017/03/30/how-russian-bots-try-to-sucker-trump-on-twitter/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">tweet at Trump</a>&nbsp;during times he’s habitually online.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the relationship between Trump and his admirers goes both ways. It has been observed that the people who have worked closely with the president, either in private or public life, eventually start&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/01/23/stephen-miller-isnt-pulling-trumps-strings-hes-mirroring-his-deepest-desires/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">behaving like him</a>, even when he’s not around. Longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz certainly demonstrated that when he threatened to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/07/13/trump-lawyer-marc-kasowitz-threatens-stranger-in-emails-watch-your-back-bitch_partner/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">stalk a "bitch" emailer</a>. Trump’s personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trumps-physician-says-his-health-astonishingly-excellent-n479786" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">waxed Trumpian</a>&nbsp;at times, describing his patient’s health as “extraordinary” and “astonishingly excellent.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given how the president and his close admirers tend to bring out the worst in each other, it’s particularly concerning how the most vehemently pro-Trump media outlets are going far beyond the sycophantic blather of “Fox & Friends” to outright calls for the president to jail or even execute people he doesn’t like -- particularly if they happen to be investigating connections between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In December, Fox News pundit and Trump ally Jeanine Pirro called on the president to implement a massive purge of officials who are not totally loyal.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There is a cleansing needed in our FBI and Department of Justice — it needs to be cleansed of individuals who should not just be fired, but who need to be taken out in cuffs!”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/12/10/its-time-to-take-them-out-in-cuffs-foxs-jeanine-pirro-calls-for-a-purge-of-the-fbi/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Pirro ranted</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The alleged need for large-scale firings and arrests within America’s intelligence agencies is a subject on which Pirro and her fellow Fox News Trump commentators&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/01/26/hannity-repeatedly-called-special-counsels-removal-june-2017-when-trump-attempted-fire-mueller/219178" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Sean Hannity</a>&nbsp;and Tucker Carlson have opined for many months now.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Trump did not need months of persuasion to respond, however. As the New York Times reported on Thursday,&nbsp;<a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-mueller-special-counsel-russia.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the president ordered the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller</a>&nbsp;in June, just a few weeks after he had been appointed. Luckily for Trump, White House counsel Don McGahn and other staffers reportedly declined to carry out the order.</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the president’s Fox fans not have been the only right-wing media figures urging Trump to jail various Democrats and government investigators.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Tuesday<b>, John Guandolo, a&nbsp;<a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/the-strange-case-of-the-philandering-muslim-threat-hyping-fbi-agent" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">disgraced</a>&nbsp;former FBI agent&nbsp;</b>who has made a second career as an anti-Muslim and pro-Trump commentator, repeatedly told viewers of the Christian television station theDove that anyone who had allegedly promoted the famous “Steele dossier” as a justification for wiretapping Trump campaign officials was guilty of “sedition and treason” and must be given the death penalty.</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“People need to be tried, convicted and executed for treason,” Guandolo said, in remarks that were first reported by the blog&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/john-guandolo-the-people-behind-the-russia-investigation-must-be-executed-for-treason/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Right Wing Watch</a>. “They are conspiring to overthrow the government … they need to be charged, sent to jail, executed, etc., if the republic is to survive.”</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though Guandolo is a relatively obscure pundit, he is apparently respected by a number of federal law enforcement agencies who have repeatedly paid for his&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/05/25/anti-muslim-conspiracy-theorist-trained-senior-u-s-marshal-national-guard-members-documents-show/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">anti-Muslim training programs</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox News viewers have also been introduced to the idea of capital punishment for Trump's critics. In October, Sebastian Gorka, the former White House adviser who is now a “national security strategist” at Fox News, invoked a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2017/10/facts-uranium-one/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">conspiracy theory</a>&nbsp;about former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's supposed approved of a deal for a Canadian uranium company that was working with a Russian firm.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If this had happened in the 1950s, there would be people up on treason charges right now. The Rosenbergs, OK?” Gorka&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/oct/27/sebastian-gorka-suggests-hillary-clinton-is-tried-/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">told a rapturous Sean Hannity</a>. “This is equivalent to what the Rosenbergs did, and those people got the chair. Think about it. Giving away nuclear capability to our enemies, that’s what we’re talking about.”According to Gorka, American officials who approved the sale are the equivalent of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the American couple executed for selling nuclear&nbsp;secrets to the Soviet Union.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Russia investigation has continued to heat up,&nbsp;<b>Alex Jones&nbsp;</b>— the conspiracy radio host who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2016/12/09/how-the-alt-right-became-racist-part-2-long-before-trump-white-nationalists-flocked-to-ron-paul/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">shifted</a>&nbsp;from commentary about gay frogs, Ron Paul, and space aliens to spittle-flecked pro-Trump bombast — has begun increasing his own rhetorical vehemence against law enforcement officials.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even before he became devoted to Trump, Jones had a long history of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZJNbn241I" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">proclaiming violent fantasies on the air</a>, such as warning actor Robert DeNiro that he wanted to “tear his nose completely off his face” and threatening to break the jaws of various other people he dislikes.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(While some observers of his program have argued Jones is just acting, during an April episode, he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/04/19/alex-jones-denies-lawyers-claims-hes-doing-performance-art-were-the-most-bonafide-hardcore-real-mccoy-thing-there-is/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">denied that his harangues are purely theatrical</a>. “We’re the most bona fide, hard-core, real McCoy thing there is,” he told listeners.)</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Mueller investigation has gotten two guilty pleas and numerous indictments against former Trump associates, Jones’ violent outbursts have only increased. He has apparently absorbed every unhinged conspiracy theory about treasonous “Deep State” elites and the ways they are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/01/25/a-perfect-storm-the-far-rights-latest-pro-trump-conspiracy-theory-explains-everything/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">using their supposedly limitless power to overthrow the president</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the Jan. 19 episode of his program, Jones went on an&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/YctNLO-uTBo?t=1240" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">extended-length rant</a>, saying that&nbsp;Clinton, former president Barack Obama, former FBI director James Comey and a host of others were accusing Trump of acting like a dictator. Jones' suggested remedy: Trump should start doing just that.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mr. President, they’re not going to stop, they’ve already started a civil war! They’ve all got to go to prison!” Jones raged in a segment discussing CNN host Anderson Cooper and New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg. “They’re saying you’re a dictator, we all need to be shut down, take our free speech, and then say you’re doing that. They’ve already launched their operations!"</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Infowars founder then alluded to Phil Mudd, a former FBI and CIA official who now is a commentator at CNN who said last August that Trump’s antagonistic remarks about career intelligence officials could result in them wanting to “kill this guy.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/08/12/former_mueller_deputy_phil_mudd_trump_deep_state_government_kill_this_guy.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">It was clearly a metaphor</a>, as host Jake Tapper and Mudd were quick to point out, for the idea that Trump might be inspiring government officials to leak disparaging information about the president.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Jones, however, Mudd had instead publicly stated that American intelligence agencies are planning to assassinate Trump.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Because of that, Jones suggested, the president needs to begin physically rounding up his political opponents and treating them like violent traitors:</span></font></p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Phil Mudd is on TV saying he’s going to kill you! All you need to do is go after them now! Turn the dogs loose! They started it! They did it! They’re the foreign power! They’re the enemy! They’re the traitors!”</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Get ’em! Get ’em!” Jones screamed as he pointed at an image of Cooper and Rosenberg on his studio screen.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://youtu.be/YctNLO-uTBo?t=3518" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Later on in the episode</a>, Jones revisited the topic of the Trump-Russia investigation, claiming that Obama “needs to go to prison” because “these people aren’t above the law.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“These aren’t Americans,” Jones continued. “They’re globalists.”</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He then tried to answer listeners and viewers who might believe that Trump imprisoning Clinton and Obama could lead to civil war.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“They’re already trying to cause one,” Jones replied. “Justice be done, may the heavens fall,” he said, alluding to the famous Latin phrase that is also a line in Oliver Stone's conspiracy film “JFK.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Infowars chief then compared government officials and liberal political figures to the Japanese and German armies America fought in World War II.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We have to attack them legally and lawfully. ...We have to defeat them all. They’re not going to stop,” Jones continued. “Like World War II, you don’t just kick Hitler back into Germany, he’s going to reconstitute and attack again. You don’t just kick the Japanese out of the Pacific Islands, you’ve gotta go all the way to Tokyo. They started it!”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As he continued, Jones suggested that because of their “treason,” Trump needs to “go all the way” against his opponents.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Whatever has to happen is going to happen. We’re going all the way against these people, period. We have to do it. There’s no other choice. They’ve all got to politically hang for their crimes,” he said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Incidentally,” Jones said as he looked deep into the camera and drummed his fingers to accentuate the dramatic pause. “You know what the punishment for treason is.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He continued: “These are the foreign individuals that took our country over. They’re the ones who corrupted everything almost to the point of the country’s death. And they’re still trying to strangle the country today. We must stand against them.”</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before the rise of Trump, Jones was an irrelevant conspiracy radio host whose ravings were listened to by a small number of deranged core fans and hipsters with eccentric senses of humor. All of that changed after Jones latched on to Trump during his campaign.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump returned the favor, saying publicly that Jones has an “amazing” reputation during his campaign. As president, he has given Jones and his Infowars colleagues prime access to White House officials. According to Jones, Trump has&nbsp;<a href="https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/alex-jones-trump-has-called-three-times-in-recent-months.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">called him multiple times at home</a>&nbsp;during the past few months. The host has also claimed that he knows several personal phone numbers for Trump, including the president’s private suite at Mar-a-Lago.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nor Jones is the only person associated with Infowars who has deep connections inside the administration.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump’s longtime friend and unofficial political adviser Roger Stone is now the host of an Infowars show of his own.</b>&nbsp;Donald Trump Jr., the president's oldest son, posted on Twitter last April that Infowars correspondent and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/849240401974308864" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">deserved a Pulitzer Prize</a>&nbsp;after an administration source fed him a scoop days before the mainstream press. It was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/pro-trump-media-is-getting-harder-to-ignore-1513304539-0fc00f1b-eb46-4f3b-bbcc-bcb298c4d909.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">one of several important stories</a>&nbsp;the two have broken ahead of legitimate news outlets. Cernovich has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/08/25/the-infowar-for-donald-trumps-mind/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">boasted</a>&nbsp;that Donald Jr. and other Trump family members personally give the president printouts of stories from Infowars and other dubious websites.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given the many strictures on the commander in chief's authority, it is unlikely that Trump could start imprisoning his political opponents even if he wanted to. But the president is far from the only person exposed to a constant diet of violent rhetoric against Democrats, journalists and law enforcement officers. Many disturbed people who voted for him are as well.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last week, a Michigan man named Brandon Griesemer was arrested for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/01/23/fake-news-fallout-michigan-man-arrested-after-threats-of-a-mass-shooting-at-cnn/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">threatening to kill CNN’s “fake news” anchors</a>.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In December of 2016, North Carolina resident Edgar Maddison Welch burst into a pizza restaurant near Washington with a rifle and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2016/12/05/armed-gunman-investigates-d-c-pizzeria-comet-ping-pong-because-of-bogus-hoax-perpetrated-by-donald-trump-fans/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">fired off three rounds</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, in part because&nbsp;Jones and his staff had spent hours telling their followers the place was the center of a global child-sex ring.</span></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Following Welch’s guilty plea last March, Jones&nbsp;<a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/03/30/media/alex-jones-apology-pizzagate-james-alefantis/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">begrudgingly and partially</a>&nbsp;retracted his support for the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. His actions since, however, suggest he has no legitimate intention of cleaning up his act.</font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">People have mocked the idea that Trump could become a dictator. What's clear is that many people he likes are telling him to become one.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Matthew Sheffield&nbsp;</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/human-rights/least-81-journalists-were-killed-2017">https://www.alternet.org/human-rights/least-81-journalists-were-killed-2017</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/12/29/as_trump_attacks_media_with_fake">https://www.democracynow.org/2017/12/29/as_trump_attacks_media_with_fake</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;Committee to Protect Journalists has published its 25th annual survey of journalists killed and jailed around the world. This year, the list of those killed included 42 journalists and four media workers. <b>A record 262 journalists were imprisoned around the world, with Turkey, China and Egypt topping the list for the second year in a row. Mexico reached an historic high in journalists killed this year, and the country leads the world in journalists killed in a non-conflict zone.</b> This comes as President Donald Trump has waged a relentless campaign to discredit journalists in the United States, often with rhetoric that could potentially incite his followers to violence. We speak with María Salazar-Ferro, the director of the Emergencies Department of the Committee to Protect Journalists.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></div><div><div id="cke_pastebin" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div id="cke_pastebin" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/the-epa-hired-a-major-republican-opposition-research-firm-to-track-press-activity/">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/the-epa-hired-a-major-republican-opposition-research-firm-to-track-press-activity/</a></font></div><div id="cke_pastebin" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Using taxpayer dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency has hired a cutting-edge Republican PR firm that specializes in digging up opposition research to help Administrator Scott Pruitt’s office track and shape press coverage of the agency.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to federal contracting records, earlier this month Pruitt’s office</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;inked&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/transparency/Pages/TransactionDetails.aspx?RecordID=53D2AF0E-B566-47BB-8EB4-728DAC00CEB7&AwardID=59978626&AwardType=C" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">a no-bid&nbsp;$120,000</a>&nbsp;contract with Definers Corp., a Virginia-based public relations firm founded by Matt Rhoades</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Following Romney’s defeat, Rhoades established America Rising, an ostensibly independent political action committee that works closely with the Republican National Committee and Republican candidates to mine damning information on opponents. Other higher-ups at Definers include former&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">RNC research director Joe Pounder, who’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.definersdc.com/joe-pounder" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">been described</a>&nbsp;as “a master of opposition research,” and senior vice president&nbsp;Colin Reed,&nbsp;an oppo-research guru&nbsp;<a href="https://www.definersdc.com/colin-reed" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">billed</a>&nbsp;as “among the leaders of the war on [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This for-profit consulting firm offers a variety of public relations services such as digital strategy, political consulting, and media relations. According to its website, Definers’ clients include Fortune 500 corporations, political groups, and nonprofits.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;In the past,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&vendor=Definers+Corp" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">both Marco Rubio and John McCain</a>&nbsp;used their services, and since the 2016 election so has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&vendor=Definers+Corp" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Rep. Diane Black</a>&nbsp;(R-Tenn.). The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&vendor=America+Rising" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">client list</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;America Rising includes&nbsp;the RNC, Republican candidates such as Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), and super-PACs such as the Mitch McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund and Karl Rove’s American Crossroads.&nbsp;</span></font></p><div id="InContent_Banner_1" data-adunit="InContent_Banner_1" data-size-mapping="InContent" class="dfw-unit display-none" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1em; text-align: center; position: relative; z-index: 2000;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The company&nbsp;also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.definersdc.com/services" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">specializes</a>&nbsp;in using the press and social media to “validate your narrative.</b>” According to the company’s website, one of the tools to help do this is&nbsp;its&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3d6ea3_39967c97020043f58795c3bbf924f3bf.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">“Definers Console”</a>&nbsp;media-tracking technology.&nbsp;Reed said his firm contracted with Pruitt’s office at the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;EPA,&nbsp;which&nbsp;is the first governmental client to pay for&nbsp;the Definers Console. The technology promises “war room”-style media monitoring, analysis, and advice, according to marketing materials. A brochure for the Console assures users that they will be able to “monitor for potential crises, as well as to track their message dissemination, relevant responses to their messaging, and what competitors’ actions have been.”</span></font></p><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Definers has been contracted to provide media monitoring services through our Console by the EPA,” Reed says. “We provide the same service to a number of corporate and non-profit organizations.” Besides monitoring media, users will get analysis and input from their employees whose experience in political campaigns and the business world helps create a unique approach “to intelligence gathering and opposition work. This experience informs the way we gather, synthesize, and disseminate information.”</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;">In response to&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mother Jones’</em>&nbsp;questions about the Definers contract,&nbsp;<b>EPA spokesperson Nancy Grantham&nbsp;</b>said, “The Definers contract is for media monitoring/newsclip compilation.” To a question on how the contract came about, she said, “The contract award was handled through the EPA Office of Acquisition Management.”</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>USASpending.gov, a website that tracks federal spending</b>, shows that in early 2016 the EPA signed a&nbsp;$207,000&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/transparency/Pages/TransactionDetails.aspx?RecordID=3B728BF9-DC6E-45F1-BF65-BA5E42ACFE4C&AwardID=49688963&AwardType=C" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">contract&nbsp;</a>with a firm called Bulletin Intelligence, requesting similar&nbsp;services.&nbsp;Bulletin is owned by public relations giant Cision, a well-known international PR firm. According to OpenSecrets.org’s expenditure data, Bulletin&nbsp;is not political and has not done any recent work for any candidates or PACs. The contract expired in February.</span></p><div id="InContent_Banner_2" data-adunit="InContent_Banner_2" data-size-mapping="InContent" class="dfw-unit display-none" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1em; position: relative; z-index: 2000;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Definers also recently launched a new venture with the&nbsp;<b>global law firm Dentons</b>, which describes itself as combining “political intelligence, legal advisors, campaign-style tactics, lobbying, governmental affairs, research, and communications into one unique offering” to help clients.</span>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The career of at least one of Pruitt’s staffers has overlapped with the Republican operatives at Definers. Jahan Wilcox, who&nbsp;previously worked for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign and in&nbsp;rapid response for the Republican National Committee, is now a spokesperson for the EPA.</span></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wilcox, along with other political staff in Pruitt’s EPA press shop, has had some contentious interactions with the press.&nbsp;In one case,&nbsp;when&nbsp;<b>Eric&nbsp;Lipton&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/27/you-avoid-fake-news-that-way-new-york-times-reporter-socks-it-to-epa-press-office/?utm_term=.11d8913dcb3c" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">New York Times</a>&nbsp;</em>was confirming facts for an investigation into the EPA’s industry-friendly approach to chemical regulation, EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman&nbsp;diverted the discussion to other&nbsp;outlets’ reporting rather than confirming his questions. Wilcox&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/27/you-avoid-fake-news-that-way-new-york-times-reporter-socks-it-to-epa-press-office/?utm_term=.cbd62893c0f5" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">added,</a>&nbsp;“If you want to steal work from other outlets and pretend like it’s your own reporting that is your decision.”</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On another occasion, shortly after the Associated Press&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/27796dd13b9549b0ac76aded58a15122" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">reported</a>&nbsp;on the Superfund sites affected by Hurricane Harvey, the EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/03/trump-epa-reporter-attacked-hurricane-242300" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">went after</a>&nbsp;one of the bylined reporters in a statement,&nbsp;and an unnamed official later&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/09/07/what-prompted-the-epa-to-attack-an-ap-reporter-over-his-accurate-harvey-reporting/?utm_term=.7ceb90d30e34" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">admitted</a>&nbsp;to removing one of the bylined AP&nbsp;reporters from the agency’s press list,&nbsp;saying, “We don’t think he’s a trustworthy reporter.”&nbsp; When Pruitt has faced criticism, the EPA&nbsp;<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/07/scott-pruitt-desperately-wants-to-be-loved/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">highlights</a>&nbsp;friendlier stories from conservative outlets—<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/heres-what-trumps-epa-boss-was-up-to-while-disasters-struck/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">including&nbsp;<b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Breitbart.</span>&nbsp;</b></a></span></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;">Pruitt has come under fire for a general lack of transparency at the EPA. The latest example is his trip promoting natural gas in Morocco. The public&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/13/scott-pruitt-and-a-crew-of-epa-aides-just-spent-four-days-in-morocco-promoting-natural-gas/?utm_term=.ab243c0ee689" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">learned</a>&nbsp;of his travels when his office posted a media release, causing confusion over why the EPA would not notify reporters ahead of time<b>. This means that information on Pruitt’s activities in Morocco will be restricted to the EPA’s own spin.</b><del style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></p><div id="InContent_Banner_3" data-adunit="InContent_Banner_3" data-size-mapping="InContent" class="dfw-unit display-none" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1em; position: relative; z-index: 2000;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The EPA’s work with groups affiliated with Pounder predate this contract. On a handful of occasions, the EPA has promoted positive coverage of Pruitt’s actions from the news-aggregation website&nbsp;Need To Know Network<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">.&nbsp;</em>Earlier this year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://ntknetwork.com/how-scott-pruitt-is-reshaping-the-epa-in-the-first-100-days/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">website</a>wrote a series of stories designed to shed positive light on the controversial administrator.&nbsp;In one story, the site&nbsp;describes&nbsp;Pruitt&nbsp;as “busy racking up accomplishments that both protect Americans and save millions in taxpayer dollars.” Another&nbsp;congratulated Pruitt for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/climate/in-reversal-epa-eases-path-for-a-mine-near-alaskas-bristol-bay.html?r=0" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">moving ahead</a>&nbsp;with plans to open Alaska’s Bristol Bay to mining,&nbsp;<a href="https://ntknetwork.com/pebble-mine-settlement-huge-win-for-jobs-trump-and-pruitt/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=politics" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">writing</a>&nbsp;it was “a move that will prove to be a massive job creator for President Trump and Pruitt.”</span></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box;">The&nbsp;Need to Know Network was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-score/2016/10/gop-researchers-get-into-the-news-business-216706" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">started by</a>&nbsp;Pounder and other operatives connected to America Rising and Definers Corp.&nbsp;</p></div><div id="cke_pastebin" style="text-align: left;">
</div><div id="cke_pastebin" style="text-align: left;"></div></div></div></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24102017/trump-pruitt-epa-press-office-attacked-reporter-lipton-ap-harvey">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24102017/trump-pruitt-epa-press-office-attacked-reporter-lipton-ap-harvey</a></font></p><div class="content" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As The New York Times readied&nbsp;<span id="docs-internal-guid-08269471-4f2a-b89b-9ac1-220e64a0976f" style="box-sizing: inherit;">a story on the Environmental Protection Agency for last weekend's front page, an agency</span>&nbsp;spokeswoman ignored the reporter's questions and accused him of writing "elitist clickbait."</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The jab, in an email that the newspaper quoted in its story, was just the latest in a series of attempts by the agency's press office to thwart reporters or attack their work—a strategy it appears to have adopted from&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/donald-trump" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Donald Trump</a>'s White House.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The approach is a "sharp departure" from past practice, said Dan Fiorino, who worked for the agency for more than 30 years and is now director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's trying to manipulate journalists and favor those who say the right things," Fiorino said. "Now, what we're seeing from EPA is pretty much what we're seeing from the administration. The press people are there to sell a very particular point of view. They'll limit access."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Regardless of whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat, or whether his regulatory agenda was friendly to environmentalists or to business interests, the agency's press office generally tried to appear neutral.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the EPA was still relatively young, its administrator—William Ruckelshaus, who was on a mission to rescue the agency from its own missteps—issued what's become known as the "fishbowl memo."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 1983&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/ruckelshaus-takes-steps-improve-flow-agency-information-fishbowl-policy.html#memo" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Reagan-era memo</a>&nbsp;said the agency, long in the crosshairs of conservatives and regulated industries, would operate with as much transparency as it could to steer clear of controversy: "EPA will not accord privileged status to any special interest group, nor will it accept any recommendation without careful examination."&nbsp;</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the frontline of that effort was the agency's press office. But today, former employees say, that press office handles an agency that's less like a fishbowl than a dark-windowed SUV.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Attempts to Stem Information Flow</font></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The agency's brass-knuckle style comes at a time when it is under intense scrutiny for changing environmental and climate regulations in ways that favor coal and other fossil fuels. Among other things, it is swamped with demands for access to internal communications and other records.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From its first days in office, the Trump administration has tried to stem the flow of information from the agency to the public. The blockades began right away in January, with reports that EPA employees were being told to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bmd8ym/trump-has-barred-epa-staff-from-talking-to-the-press-vgtrn" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">stop talking to the press</a>. Reporters have been&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/346458-gop-senator-criticizes-pruitts-closed-door-meeting-in-north-dakota" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">barred from events</a>, and the agency has attacked journalists through press releases, while at the same time using press releases to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/morewhat-they-are-saying-about-administrator-pruitt-0" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">promote its administrator</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"If you care at all about how the public views your work, you would try to communicate with the reporters, who are largely in charge of disseminating the information," said Monica Lee, a former spokesperson during the Obama administration.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Instead, this press office relies on [EPA Administrator Scott] Pruitt's comments, made to a very specific audience or to very friendly reporters."</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This press office's efforts accompany a broader attempt at tamping down the work of&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/climate-change" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">climate</a>&nbsp;scientists at the agency and stripping mentions of their work and of climate change&nbsp;<a href="https://envirodatagov.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/AAR-5-EPA-State-Local-Climate-Energy-171018.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">from EPA websites</a>. Earlier this year, the agency&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08052017/epa-science-advisory-board-dismissed-scott-pruitt-donald-trump" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">dismissed members</a>&nbsp;of its Board of Science Counselors, and last week&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/scott-pruitt" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Pruitt</a>&nbsp;said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/17/scott-pruitt-suggests-he-will-restrict-scientists-who-get-epa-grants-from-advising-the-agency/?utm_term=.3eb69e6c0d37" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">he would issue a directive</a>&nbsp;to bar scientists who received EPA grants from serving on EPA advisory boards because he believed the grants represent conflicts of interest.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Personal Attacks on Reporters</font></h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The latest in a string of controversies came this weekend when The Times ran a<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/us/trump-epa-chemicals-regulations.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;front-page story</a>&nbsp;chronicling efforts by a top-level EPA appointee to downplay the risks of toxic chemicals. Before taking the job in May,&nbsp;<b>the appointee, Nancy Beck, had been an executive for five years at the American Chemistry Council,&nbsp;</b>which provides policy, communications and research for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/Membership/MemberCompanies/#Regular%20Members" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">major chemical companies</a>, including Arkema, DuPont and Monsanto.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Times reporter Eric Lipton asked the EPA and Beck for responses to a list of questions.<b>&nbsp;EPA spokeswoman&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/epas-top-staff-filled-with-coal-and-oil-industry-connections-2017-6" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">Liz Bowman</a>—who also worked at the American Chemistry Council,&nbsp;as director of issue and advocacy communications,&nbsp;before joining Pruitt's EPA</b>—replied in an email: "No matter how much information we give you, you would never write a fair piece. The only thing inappropriate and biased is your continued fixation on writing elitist clickbait trying to attack qualified professionals committed to serving their country."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The response has shocked former press officers.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Blatantly attacking reporters and giving responses that are incredibly critical personally—it may help your base and it may fire them up, but it in no way serves the broader American people," said Liz Purchia, who ran the press office under Obama.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">A month earlier, the agency tore into an Associated Press reporter, Michael Biesecker, for a story he and a colleague wrote about Superfund sites being under water in Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Biesecker, the agency said in an official&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-response-aps-misleading-story" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">press release</a>, "has a history of not letting the facts get in the way of his story." The story, written by reporters who visited the sites after the hurricane, was correct, and the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/after-slamming-ap-reporter-toxic-waste-story-epa-finds-damage-site-674789" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">EPA later acknowledged damage there.</a></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The press office under Obama hewed to standards outlined in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-02/documents/scientific_integrity_policy_2012.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">scientific integrity policy</a>, which refers to the "fishbowl memo," which has essentially guided conduct since its release 34 years ago.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"That is the ethos," Fiorini said.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What's Required by Law?</font></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By law, the EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bQA7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=%22office+of+public+affairs%22+epa+public+procedure&source=bl&ots=tGQrNUNMta&sig=wghapCNbK1xXEwHWDeh3dPbTzW0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA9ZaPlofXAhVs5IMKHS6CCH8Q6AEIWDAJ#v=onepage&q=%22office%20of%20public%20affairs%22%20epa%20public%20procedure&f=false" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">is required to have</a>&nbsp;an Office of Public Affairs, which is "responsible for providing newsworthy information to the various communications media." Beyond that, an administration can release information how it wants, although it has to respond to requests for information by Congress or under the Freedom of Information Act.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I'm not aware of any legal issues," Fiorino said, referring to the current press office. "But certainly, ethically and in terms of what you'd expect in a democracy, there are some real problems. This is a real sharp departure from what we've seen in the past."</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Obama administration's EPA press office got a rap on the knuckles from the Government Accountability Office in 2015&nbsp;<a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/B-326944" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">for a social media campaign</a>&nbsp;to drum up support for a Clean Water Act rule. It was accused of violating propaganda and anti-lobbying rules.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Historically, the press office at EPA, the public information people, get the information out there, and to some degree you want to put the administration, the people making decisions, in a good light," Fiorino said. "This administration is trying to create reality in a way that fits its view. That's really scary."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA did not respond to questions for this story.</font></p></div></div></div></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/world/right-wing-assault-truth-india-claims-life-another-journalist">https://www.alternet.org/world/right-wing-assault-truth-india-claims-life-another-journalist</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/11/trump-nbc-broadcast-license-243667">http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/11/trump-nbc-broadcast-license-243667</a></span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump suggests challenging NBC's broadcast license</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The veiled threat opens a new front in the president's feud with the media</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By LOUIS NELSON and MARGARET HARDING MCGILL 10/11/2017 10:37 AM EDT Updated 10/11/2017 02:51 PM EDT</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Share on Facebook Share on Twitter</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that NBC’s broadcast license should be pulled as punishment for the network's reporting on his national security meetings, opening a new front in the president’s long-running battle with the press.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NBC News published a report Wednesday morning stating that Trump had surprised his national security advisers by proposing a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a July meeting. The meeting was what allegedly led Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to call Trump a “moron” — a comment that NBC first reported last week.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump lashed out at NBC, appearing to make a threat that is not even possible, given that the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t directly license networks.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a ‘tenfold’ increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!” Trump wrote on Twitter, equating the two TV news outlets he has most often lashed out against. “With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FCC had no immediate comment.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"That was just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news lately," Trump said Wednesday during a brief interaction with the White House press pool ahead of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump also insisted that he had never sought an increase in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, only that the arsenal be kept in "perfect condition, perfect shape." Defense Secretary James Mattis, in a statement released minutes after Trump's media availability ended, said "recent reports that the President called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The press should speak more honestly. I mean, I've seen tremendously dishonest press. It's not even a question of distortion," Trump added. "And then they have their sources that don't exist, in my opinion, they don't exist. They make up the sources. There are no sources."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The president’s willingness to potentially challenge the broadcast licenses of a media outlet whose coverage he objects to marked an escalation in rhetoric for Trump. The president has regularly complained about coverage he views as unfairly critical, labeling stories, reporters and entire outlets “fake news.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As a candidate, Trump threatened to "open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles,</b> we can sue them and win lots of money." He repeated that threat in a post to Twitter in March. He also floated the idea of canceling the long-held tradition of White House press briefings, which were moved mostly off-camera for weeks last summer.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is the second time in as many weeks that Trump has attacked NBC News. The earlier attack came after the “moron” report, which also said Tillerson had been on the verge of quitting over the summer.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tillerson has denied that he ever considered resigning, and a State Department spokeswoman later said the secretary doesn’t use language like “moron.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump, meanwhile, said the network’s news division “is so knowingly inaccurate with their reporting” and had “low news and reporting standards.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Oct. 4.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s unclear exactly how Trump could directly challenge a media outlet’s broadcasting license, if he chose to follow through on his veiled threat.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues broadcast licenses to stations and oversees license holders. It does not license networks. NBC is owned by Comcast, which holds broadcast licenses for several stations. NBC also airs on affiliate stations owned by other companies.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Local residents or competitors can file a challenge to a station’s license renewal, but the basis for such a challenge is extremely limited — it must be a case where the station systematically violated the FCC’s rules or lacked the requisite “character” to hold the license. That is usually defined as a felony conviction, said Andrew Schwartzman, a communications lawyer with the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It’s an empty threat. The last thing that NBC is going to worry about is whether its broadcast licenses are in jeopardy," Schwartzman said.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Schwartzman said the only time he could remember a large broadcaster losing its license was in the 1970s, after a New York station's management was convicted of bribery. The license renewal issue surfaced in 2012, when Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. was facing controversy over a phone-hacking scandal in Britain, but Fox’s U.S. television licenses were not revoked over the issue.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although NBC is currently in Trump’s cross hairs, CNN has most often been the target of Trump's anger with the media. The president has sought to turn the network into something of a foil for him and his supporters, who have chanted "CNN sucks" at rallies. Trump has shared images viewed by some as encouraging violence against CNN, including a professional wrestling clip that shows the president attacking a man with a CNN logo superimposed over his head and a cartoon with a "Trump" train running over a man covered by a CNN logo.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The cable network's White House reporters have sparred often with White House press secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders during briefings, while the administration has, at times, refused to put its spokespeople and surrogates on CNN.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" /></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump has lobbed insults and threats at newspapers, too, most often targeting the "money losing" New York Times and The Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, the owner of online retail giant Amazon.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">=</span></font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump angrily lashed out at NBC News over its report that he wanted to dramatically increase the United States’ nuclear arsenal by threatening to go after the network’s broadcasting license.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning. “Bad for country!”</font></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p dir="ltr" xml:lang="en" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;" lang="en" xmlns:xml="xml"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918112884630093825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration-line: none;">October 11, 2017</a></font></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The president also said that NBC “made up a story that I wanted a ‘tenfold” increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal,” which he described as “pure fiction, made up to demean.”</font></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p dir="ltr" xml:lang="en" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;" lang="en" xmlns:xml="xml"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fake&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration-line: none;">@NBCNews</a>&nbsp;made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918110279367643137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration-line: none;">October 11, 2017</a></font></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the original NBC report, Trump “said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation’s highest ranking national security leaders.” The president was reportedly incensed by a chart showing that the U.S. has actually been reducing its nuclear arsenal since the late 1960s.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to NBC’s sources, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron” after this particular meeting. Additionally, the sources claim both Tillerson and the joint chiefs of staff pushed back against Trump, and told him why it would be unwise to start a massive nuclear arms race.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trump-wants-revoke-nbc-license</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507514541119_27729" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507514541119_27728" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">Trump calls for investigation of news outlets</span></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507514541119_27711" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">After congressional investigators spoke about Russia's attempt to influence the 2016 election, Donald Trump&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2017%2F10%2F05%2Fauthoritarian-watch-trump-calls-congressional-investigation-us-news-outlets%2F218139&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=108weekly&n=33" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; outline: none;">called for</a>&nbsp;a Congressional investigation into news outlets. This also came shortly after reports that Trump's own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called him a "fucking moron," which Trump&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2017%2F10%2F04%2FTrump-calls-report-that-he-is-considered-a-fucking-moron-fake-news%2F218135&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=108weekly&n=34" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; outline: none;">called</a>&nbsp;fake news. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2017%2F10%2F05%2Fwhite-house-press-secretary-equates-unflattering-press-accounts-trump-fake-news-peddled-russians%2F218145&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=108weekly&n=35" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; outline: none;">equated</a>&nbsp;unflattering portrayals of Trump to Russian propaganda. In the face of this threat to the First Amendment, Fox News completely caved. A Fox News anchor&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2017%2F10%2F04%2Ffox-host-scrambles-excuse-rex-tillerson-reportedly-calling-trump-moron%2F218132&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=108weekly&n=36" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; outline: none;">scrambled</a>&nbsp;to clean up Tillerson's remark, and a Fox News contributor&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2017%2F10%2F08%2Ffox-contributor-equates-fake-news-farms-us-media-outlets-while-defending-trumps-call-investigate%2F218175&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=108weekly&n=37" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; outline: none;">endorsed</a>&nbsp;Trump's call for a congressional investigation, saying that since Congress was already investigating Russian fake news farms they may as well investigate American media companies as well.</p></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">update:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/business/media/tom-price-journalist-arrest.html?mcubz=1">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/business/media/tom-price-journalist-arrest.html?mcubz=1</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no links</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Charge Dropped Against Reporter Who Questioned Tom Price</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By MATT STEVENS SEPT. 6, 2017</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dan Heyman, a journalist who aggressively asked a question to Tom Price, the health secretary, being taken into custody at the State Capitol in West Virginia in May. Credit Valerie Woody/West Virginia Citizen Action Group</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A reporter in West Virginia who was arrested four months ago after he aggressively questioned Tom Price, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, will not be prosecuted, officials announced Wednesday.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The May 9 arrest of the reporter, Dan Heyman, had stoked concerns about possible efforts to stymie the free press.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a joint statement released by the Kanawha County prosecutor’s office and Mr. Heyman’s legal team said that the State had determined “after a careful review” that Mr. Heyman had not acted unlawfully. He had been charged with a misdemeanor count of willful disruption of governmental processes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Heyman, a reporter for the Public News Service, has maintained that he was simply asking questions of a federal official as that official walked through the West Virginia State Capitol. In another statement released Wednesday, Mr. Heyman said he was “very relieved” by the state’s decision.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Facing six months of jail time for asking a question as a journalist was pretty troubling,” he said.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reporter Arrested in West Virginia After Persistently Asking Questions of Tom Price MAY 10, 2017</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We all need to keep asking the tough questions of elected officials,” he continued. “The intense response to my arrest gives me confidence that people will defend the free press, because they believe in it.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Photo</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Facing six months of jail time for asking a question as a journalist was pretty troubling,” Mr. Heyman said. Credit via Dan Heyman</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a statement, the secretary of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, which oversees the Capitol Police, said the department “respects the prosecutor’s decision.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Heyman was trailing Mr. Price on May 9 as he headed to a meeting at the West Virginia State Capitol. Mr. Heyman wanted to ask Mr. Price about health care legislation the House had passed earlier that month to replace the Affordable Care Act.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a previous interview with The New York Times, Mr. Heyman said he had reached over some of the staff and security members surrounding Mr. Price during the incident.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to an audio recording Mr. Heyman provided at the time, he called out a question about pre-existing conditions several times but got no response. At one point in the recording, a man’s <b>voice is heard warning the reporter not to “get close” to Kellyanne Conway,</b> counselor to President Trump, who was with Mr. Price at the time.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">After persisting with his questions for nearly a minute, Mr. Heyman was pulled to the side by officers of the West Virginia Division of Protective Services, also known as the Capitol Police, handcuffed and charged with the misdemeanor. He spent eight hours in a local jail before the news service posted $5,000 bail for his release.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A criminal complaint released later said he had “tried aggressively to breach the security of the Secret Service” and was “causing a disturbance by yelling questions.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the arrest quickly stirred suspicions that officers were trying to thwart a journalistic effort to ask questions. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia called Mr. Heyman’s arrest “a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press.”</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Heyman, 54, who has written freelance articles for The New York Times and who previously worked in public radio, has been a correspondent for the Public News Service since 2009</span>. The service distributes public interest news to media outlets.</font></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-fake-news-government">http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-fake-news-government</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Pruitt </b>appears to be the most Trump-like member of Donald Trump’s cabinet, and now the federal agency he is tasked with leading, the Environmental Protection Agency, has officially adopted the president’s most pernicious habit.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Trump recently visited hurricane-ravaged Houston he praised the Coast Guard while knocking the journalists tasked with covering the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. &nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Think of it, almost 11,000 people by going into winds that the media would not go into . . . unless it’s a really good story,” Trump said, before gesturing toward the media.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">That same day, the Associated Press published a story about the flooding of toxic waste sites in Houston, noting that Scott Pruitt’s EPA was still not on the ground. The agency responded in Trump-like fashion,<b>&nbsp;attacking the press&nbsp;</b>to distract from legitimate questions.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Echoing Trump’s longstanding habit of singling out specific reporters for attacks, the EPA called out one reporter on the story by name in a news release&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-response-aps-misleading-story" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">titled</a>&nbsp;“EPA Response to the AP’s Misleading Story.” Remarkably, the statement starts with a personal attack on Washington-based AP reporter Michael Biesecker:</font></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite reporting from the comfort of Washington, Biesecker had the audacity to imply that agencies aren’t being responsive to the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. Not only is this inaccurate, but it creates panic and politicizes the hard work of first responders who are actually in the affected area.</font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Biesecker’s AP colleague Jason Dearen, however, visited seven toxic sites known as “Superfund sites,” the most contaminated toxic waste sites in the country, in and around Houston — by boat, vehicle and on foot.&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After the waters receded in the town of Crosby, Texas, situated between two Superfund sites, “a sinkhole the size of a swimming pool had opened up and swallowed two cars,” Biesecker wrote. “The acrid smell of creosote filled the air.” The Saturday report also noted that the “EPA had not yet been able to physically visit the Houston-area sites.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In its unprecedented attack, the EPA accused the AP of leaving out information about the EPA’s other efforts to monitor the toxic land sites.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Once again, in an attempt to mislead Americans, the Associated Press is cherry-picking facts, as EPA is monitoring Superfund sites around Houston and we have a team of experts on the ground working with our state and local counterparts responding to Hurricane Harvey,”&nbsp;EPA associate administrator Liz Bowman wrote in a statement. “Anything to the contrary is yellow journalism.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The release went on to criticize past reporting by Biesecker</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;arguing that he has a “history of not letting the facts get in the way of his story.” To illustrate this, the EPA linked to a sensational Breitbart story that claimed the AP faced a “CNN-like scandal” after a July story Biesecker wrote inaccurately characterized an interaction between Pruitt and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris. Biesecker’s story, based on EPA schedules, initially said the two met for half an hour at a Houston hotel. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2350d7be5e24469ab445089bf663cdcb" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">AP’s<b>story</b></a><b>&nbsp;turned out to be wrong because they were reporting on inaccurate meeting schedules provided by the EPA</b>. The AP corrected its story when the formal meeting was canceled.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Besides the personal criticisms it leveled against the report’s author, the EPA’s statement did not point to any specific factual inaccuracies in the AP’s story. The report’s co-author, who reported from on the ground in Texas, was not singled out by the EPA statement. In fact, the EPA appeared to confirm the AP’s report overall, noting that more than a dozen sites have been flooded and that EPA has not investigated them in person — only monitoring the waste sites by plane until the floodwaters receded.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When pressed by reporters about the aggressive statement, agency officials continued their attack on the media.</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-fake-news-government?akid=16059.1076705.uCWa-1&rd=1&src=newsletter1082180&t=22#report-ad" data-aid="proper-ad-alternet_content_2" class="call-modal report-ad" style="text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none; left: 0px; right: 0px; line-height: 23px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box !important; position: absolute !important; display: inline !important;">t</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We understand you are very focused on our press release; we hope you will apply the same focus to the facts, which include that a national reporter from a wire service publishing [sic] inaccurate and misleading stories about the agency and it’s [sic] staff on the ground,” Bowman&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/03/trump-epa-reporter-attacked-hurricane-242300" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">wrote</a>&nbsp;in an email to Politico over the weekend. “We think that is more important than who drafted a press release.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Earlier this year Trump called the press the “enemy of the American people.”&nbsp;Beyond the damage of his rhetoric, however, Trump’s war on so-called fake news through the official channels of the federal government can only have a chilling effect.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For its part, the AP&nbsp;standing by its story and its reporters.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“AP’s exclusive story was the result of on the ground reporting at Superfund sites in and around Houston, as well as AP’s strong knowledge of these sites and EPA practices,” AP’s executive editor Sally Buzbee said in a statement. “We object to the EPA’s attempts to discredit that reporting by suggesting it was completed solely from ‘the comforts of Washington’ and stand by the work of both journalists who jointly reported and wrote the story.”&nbsp;</font></p><div wibbitz="embed-main-player" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="bio-new body_news-politics" style="width: 630px; line-height: 22px; height: auto; border-top: 3px solid rgb(223, 223, 218); clear: both;"><div class="author-bio"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sophia Tesfaye is Salon's deputy politics editor</font></p></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-ap-houston-2481736139.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-ap-houston-2481736139.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) directly attacked the Associated Press this weekend for accurate reporting around Houston's toxic cleanup.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/27796dd13b9549b0ac76aded58a15122" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">AP exclusive</a>&nbsp;posted Saturday reported that AP reporters had been able to access seven flooded Superfund sites in the Houston area, despite the EPA's claims that several of the sites were inaccessible to agency personnel.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-response-aps-misleading-story" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">news release</a>&nbsp;posted Sunday, the EPA personally blasted reporter Michael Biesecker for reporting an "incredibly misleading story ... from the comfort of Washington," citing a story Biesecker wrote earlier this summer on EPA Administrator&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt</a>&nbsp;that merited a later correction. The news release did not deny the AP's assertion that EPA personnel had not visited the sites in question, or note that reporter Jason Dearen, who shared the story's byline, was on the ground in Houston.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The agency would not confirm to Politico which staffer wrote the release.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"AP's exclusive story was the result of on the ground reporting at Superfund sites in and around Houston, as well as AP's strong knowledge of these sites and EPA practices," AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said in a statement Sunday.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We object to the EPA's attempts to discredit that reporting by suggesting it was completed solely from 'the comforts of Washington' and stand by the work of both journalists who jointly reported and wrote the story."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As reported by&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-attacks-news-agency-reporter-for-coverage-of-flooded-texas-hazardous-waste-sites-33f6d0a4a17b/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ThinkProgress</a>:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is notorious for attacking individual reporters in his speeches and tweets as part of an effort to generate distrust of the news media among the American public. But it is very rare, if not unprecedented, for a federal agency to specifically target an individual reporter in a press release."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/03/trump-epa-reporter-attacked-hurricane-242300" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Politico</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-slams-reporter-over-story-on-flooded-toxic-waste-sites-in-houston/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">CBS</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/09/epa-denies-houston-superfund-sites-being-neglected.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">NY Magazine</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/349094-ap-stands-by-report-after-epa-attack" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Hill</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/are-government-agencies-taking-their-lead-trump-and-going-after-journalists-659205" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Newsweek</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/epa-lashes-out-at-associated-press-reporter-for-story-on-flooded-toxic-land-sites-in-texas/article/2633310" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Washington Examiner</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-attacks-news-agency-reporter-for-coverage-of-flooded-texas-hazardous-waste-sites-33f6d0a4a17b/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ThinkProgress</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chron.com/technology/businessinsider/article/EPA-blasts-Associated-Press-journalist-over-12170978.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Business Insider</a></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">motley fool?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://whotrades.com/feed/3956716</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word; margin-top: 0px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Disney</span>&nbsp;(NYSE: DIS)&nbsp;has managed to avoid&nbsp;<noindex><a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/14/pink-slime-lawsuit-against-disney-heralded-trend-a.aspx?&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=feed&uuid=d1b1b406-80f3-11e7-9f06-0050569d32b9&utm_source=whotrades" target="blank" rel="nofollow" style="">getting slimed</a></noindex>. The entertainment giant was potentially on the hook for a legal tab that approached $6 billion, but after a settlement with Beef Products Inc. (BPI) for a report on so-called pink slime by its ABC News division, Disney will only fork over $177 million.</font></p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 1.2em;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A slippery slope</font></h2><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The infamous news broadcast five years ago featured a former U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist referring to a ground-beef additive as "pink slime." The news channel's report on lean finely textured beef (LFTB) also said it previously was&nbsp;used only in dog food or cooking oil. The program created an instant uproar, and as a result, major supermarket chains announced they would drop from their meat cases any ground beef that contained the additive, while&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 600;">Wal-Mart</span>,&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: 600;">Kroger</span>, and others began offering shoppers ground-beef choices without it....Producer BPI says it saw its business disappear, losing 80% of its sales and incurring some $400 million in losses over five years. It shut three of its four facilities and was forced to fire hundreds of employees.</font></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFA Foods, another LFTB producer, found itself in an even worse situation as it was the supplier to Safeway and Wal-Mart, as well as to various fast-food chains. It ended up seeking bankruptcy protection within weeks of the program's airing, saying "an immediate and unanticipated liquidity crisis" left it unable to pay vendors.</font></p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 1.2em;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Where's the beef?</font></h2><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lean finely textured beef is, well, beef. Because of advances in processing technology, butchers are able to more efficiently trim fat from meat, meaning that LFTB is simply what's left over after carcasses are cut up into steaks, roasts, and other cuts. It's also been given the stamp of approval by the USDA, which has said&nbsp;for over two decades that it is safe for human consumption.</font></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BPI sued ABC News under South Dakota's Agricultural Food Products Disparagement Act, pushing the possible total amount Disney was liable for to almost $6 billion, with the potential for punitive damages to be added on top. But Disney investors got good news in the recent quarterly report....</font></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/06/22/coal_baron_robert_murray_is_suing_john_oliver_over_his_segment_featuring.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/06/22/coal_baron_robert_murray_is_suing_john_oliver_over_his_segment_featuring.html</a></b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A Coal Baron Is Suing John Oliver for “Character Assassination” Over Last Week Tonight’s Talking Squirrel Segment</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Marissa Martinelli</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Sunday, John Oliver predicted that his Last Week Tonight segment on the coal industry would probably result in a lawsuit, and voilà: His Last Week Tonight segment on the coal industry has resulted in a lawsuit. Robert Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, is suing Oliver and others after Oliver used Murray as an example of “the divide that can exist between a coal company’s interests and those of its workers” during Sunday night’s show.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the segment, which was critical of the coal industry and Donald Trump’s promises to revive it, Oliver explained that Last Week Tonight had contacted Murray Energy for comment—and received the show’s first ever cease-and-desist letter in reply. In response, Oliver doubled down on criticism of Murray and his company, even seizing on a satirical article in the United Mine Workers of America journal, which attributed Murray’s inspiration to a conversation he held with a squirrel—yes, a squirrel. (Murray Energy denies this.) At the very end of the segment, Oliver brought out a giant talking squirrel of his own. “Hey, Bob! Just wanted to say, if you plan on suing, I do not have a billion dollars,” said the aptly named Mr. Nutterbutter. “But I do have a check for three acorns and 18 cents.” The check was then revealed to be made out to “Eat Shit, Bob!”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Murray Energy is now making good on its threat to sue, filing a defamation lawsuit that stresses Murray’s ill health, calling him<b>&nbsp;“a man who needs a lung transplant</b>, a man who does not expect to live to see the end of this case” and claiming that Oliver’s segment has been detrimental to both his business and his physical condition.</span>&nbsp;While the meat of the lawsuit regards Oliver’s claims about the collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine in 2007—Murray claims it was the result of an earthquake, Oliver says there’s no evidence to support that claim—fans of general absurdity will be thrilled to learn that this legal document also addresses that very important squirrel incident.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">51. Instead, Defendants continued their ruthless character assassination and attack on Plaintiffs’ business reputations by describing Mr. Murray as someone who “looks like a geriatric Dr. Evil” and arranging for a staff member to dress up in a squirrel costume and deliver the message “Eat Shit, Bob!” to Mr. Murray.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">52. If that were not enough, after the live taping, Defendant Oliver exclaimed to the audience that having someone in a squirrel costume tell Mr. Murray to “Eat Shit” was a “dream come true.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suit also alleges that Murray Energy’s website was “hacked and inundated with the message incited by Defendants: ‘Eat Shit Bob.’ ”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Murray Energy has a long track record of suing outlets critical of the coal industry.</b>&nbsp;The company is currently suing the New York Times over claims similar to Oliver’s (minus the squirrel part, of course). In addition to naming Oliver, his production company, and Time Warner, Inc., the lawsuit also names a number of fictitious defendants, who are basically participants that the plaintiffs can’t immediately identify. In this case, these could conceivably include the segment’s writers, or even Mr. Nutterbutter himself.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last Week Tonight ? @LastWeekTonight</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Replying to @LastWeekTonight</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Welcome, welcome, welcome to Last Week To-nut, I'm Mr. Nutterbutter. Just time for a quick recap of the week..."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10:39 AM - Jun 19, 2017</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;177 177 Replies &nbsp; 1,111 1,111 Retweets &nbsp; 5,646 5,646 likes</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HBO is standing by the segment, with a representative telling the Daily Beast, which first reported the lawsuit: “While we have not seen the complaint, we have confidence in the staff of Last Week Tonight and do not believe anything in the show this week violated Mr. Murray’s or Murray Energy’s rights.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b></b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/26/headlines/id_rather_go_to_jail_than_die_without_medicaid_nearly_100_arrested_as_senate_debates_healthcare">https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/26/headlines/id_rather_go_to_jail_than_die_without_medicaid_nearly_100_arrested_as_senate_debates_healthcare</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: top;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then, around 2:30 p.m., as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for a vote to proceed to a debate on the healthcare bill, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">19 activists were arrested in the Senate chamber, as they shouted "Kill the bill! Kill the bill!"</span></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); vertical-align: top;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; vertical-align: top;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: top;">Protesters</strong>: "Kill the bill! Don’t kill us! Kill the bill! Don’t kill us! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!"</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: top;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reporters say they were ordered by Capitol Police to delete photos and videos of the arrests from their phones. Senate lawmakers will resume debating and voting on the healthcare bill today.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/confusion-over-potential-restrictions-for-reporters-on-capitol-hill/530148/">https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/confusion-over-potential-restrictions-for-reporters-on-capitol-hill/530148/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bewilderment and alarm rippled across U.S. newsrooms on Tuesday afternoon as reporters tried to figure out what, exactly, the Senate Rules Committee was attempting to prevent them from doing on Capitol Hill.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Reporters at Capitol have been told they are<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> not allow to film interviews with senators in hallways</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,</span> contrary to years of precedent,” Kasie Hunt, a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News tweeted. “Conditions for any interview: Previously granted permission from senator and Rules Committee of Senate.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A staffer with the Senate Radio and Television Correspondents Gallery, who told me repeatedly he couldn’t comment on the matter, confirmed that the gallery director was “roaming the halls” telling reporters about the new rules. (What those rules were, exactly, he wouldn’t say.) Staffers in the Senate Periodical Press Gallery told me that their colleagues were in a meeting trying to figure out the origin and extent of the new rules.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">My repeated calls and emails to the Senate Rules Committee, where the rule apparently originated, yielded little additional information. A call to Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican and the chair of the committee, went directly to voicemail. But in a statement, Shelby later insisted that “the Rules Committee has made no changes to the existing rules,” but had been “working with the various galleries to ensure compliance with existing rules.” Those existing rules had, in practice, not always been enforced.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“As ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee I call on the majority to allow reporting in the Capitol to proceed as usual,” tweeted Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat. </span>She later told reporters that “this was just some arbitrary enforcement of a rule that was against common practice on the very day that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was set to testify.” Klobuchar promised to work with other senators to make things “work more smoothly.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the news business as competitive as the political environment is chaotic these days, a pack of reporters scrambling for a post-hearing comment can be an overwhelming presence. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the rules were a targeted effort to keep hallways clear of bulky camera crews—which could create traffic jams outside of already-packed high-profile hearings that seem to happen on a weekly basis these days—or part of a broader crackdown. But to journalists, the distinction didn’t much matter. The notion that a reporter would need to seek approval for an interview from a reluctant lawmaker—essentially giving that elected official a clear path to evade questions—is absurd. As National Journal’s Ben Geman wrote in 2015, “impromptu one-on-one interviews, quick exchanges by the elevator, and longer pop-up press conferences happen constantly—and they're extremely valuable, not just to individual reporters but also to the wider cause of good journalism.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">And at a time when the<b> president of the United States is hostile to the press—he’s called American citizens who work as reporters “the enemy of the people,”</b> among other insults—even the possibility of heightened restrictions against reporters provoked alarm. Antagonism toward the press is common among Trump’s supporters, too.<b> Forty-two percent of Trump voters said it was “appropriate for Republican politicians to body-slam members of the media,” according to a Public Policy Polling survey released on Monday; 45 percent said that was inappropriate.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Senate officials scrambled to figure out what was happening on Tuesday, reporters were already encountering the new restrictions. “I was just told I cannot stand outside of the Budget Committee hearing room to interview lawmakers,” Kevin Cirilli?, Bloomberg TV’s chief Washington correspondent wrote.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some lawmakers chimed in with support for reporters.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Maybe not the right moment to lower the secrecy veil on Congress,” wrote Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. &nbsp;“To whoever is trying to protect Senators - we can fend for ourselves.” And Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse tweeted, “This is a bad idea.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” one Senate staffer told me. “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="37" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQglKAAwAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/06/13/capitol-reporters-new-rules-cameras-239495" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Reporters protest new restrictions on TV interviews in Capitol - Politico</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/.../capitol-reporters-new-rules-cameras-239495</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:X_Yw3UYOPRAJ:www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/06/13/capitol-reporters-new-rules-cameras-239495+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">1 hour ago -&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reporters</span>&nbsp;expressed opposition to the move, saying the new&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">rules</span>&nbsp;...&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallways</span>, streets, sidewalks, etc. and comply with applicable&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">law</span>,&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">rule</span>,&nbsp;...</span></a></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="43" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQgrKAEwAQ"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/television-reporters-told-to-stop-filming-in-senate-hallways-prompting-outcry/2017/06/13/a9861d4e-5053-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Television reporters told to stop filming in Senate hallways, prompting ...</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/...reporters...hallways.../a9861d4e-5053-11e7-91eb-96...</cite></font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">2 hours ago -&nbsp;</span>Television&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporters</span>&nbsp;told to stop filming in Senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallways</span>, prompting ... the ranking Democrat on the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Rules</span>&nbsp;Committee, told&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporters</span>&nbsp;the policy&nbsp;...</span></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="46" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQguKAIwAg"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/10/west-virginia-journalist-arrested-after-asking-hhs-secretary-tom-price-a-question/" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">in arresting a West Virginia journalist - Washington Post</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../west-virginia-journalist-arrested-after-asking-hhs-se...</cite></font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">May 10, 2017 -&nbsp;</span>West Virginia&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporter</span>&nbsp;arrested after trying to ask Tom Price a question ... had been walking through a&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallway</span>&nbsp;in the West Virginia state capitol when veteran&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporter</span>&nbsp;Heyman began following ... “But the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">rule</span>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">law</span>&nbsp;will prevail.</span></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="49" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQgxKAMwAw"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/confusion-over-potential-restrictions-for-reporters-on-capitol-hill/530148/" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">A Fight Over Reporters' Access on Capitol Hill - The Atlantic</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/...over...reporters.../530148/</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2G3YiEwUdE4J:https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/confusion-over-potential-restrictions-for-reporters-on-capitol-hill/530148/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">3 hours ago -&nbsp;</span>Senator John McCain speaks with&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporters</span>&nbsp;on Capitol Hill in ... film interviews with senators in&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallways</span>, contrary to years of precedent,” Kasie ... My repeated calls and emails to the Senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Rules</span>&nbsp;Committee, ... It was a serious omission, especially for the nation's top&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">law</span>-enforcement officer, and one who is&nbsp;...</span></a></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="55" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQg3KAQwBA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/senate-reporters-film-interviews-in-hallways-2017-6" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Reporters in Senate are told they can't record interviews in hallways ...</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">www.businessinsider.com/senate-reporters-film-interviews-in-hallways-2017-6</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GBUjwdxP4bYJ:www.businessinsider.com/senate-reporters-film-interviews-in-hallways-2017-6+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">1 hour ago -&nbsp;</span>Senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">rules</span>&nbsp;became a source of confusion after many&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporters</span>&nbsp;learned ... no longer be able to record video and audio in the senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallways</span>.</span></a></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="61" data-ved="0ahUKEwiDg92Py7vUAhVh6YMKHTWEAzgQFQg9KAUwBQ"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Senate Republicans are cracking down on TV interviews in ... - Vox</a></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/.../senate-republicans-resist-press</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; 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</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zj5QDv_w20EJ:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f">2 hours ago -&nbsp;</span>Republican senators and Senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">law</span>&nbsp;enforcement officials seem to ... Multiple broadcast<span style="font-weight: bold;">reporters</span>&nbsp;indicated that the Republican-controlled Senate&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Rules</span>&nbsp;... committee rooms without permission and cannot film in the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">hallways</span>.</span></a></font></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zj5QDv_w20EJ:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zj5QDv_w20EJ:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-longs-lock-journalists-and-sooner-or-later-hes-going-try</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zj5QDv_w20EJ:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Zj5QDv_w20EJ:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/13/15793172/senate-republicans-resist-press+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Trump had a news conference with the Colombian president Thursday in which&nbsp;</a><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/18/trump-no-collusion-with-russia-238571" style="text-decoration-line: none;">he said</a>, among other things, “There is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but I can always speak for myself — and the Russians, zero.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No, those are not remarks translated into Spanish by Colombian reporters and then back again. He actually said that.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To be fair, what Trump seems to have meant was that he and his campaign had not colluded with the Russians. And for the first time he appears to have made a disclaimer that he is only speaking for himself. Still, it’s so garbled that he could have meant almost anything, including that he literally always speaks for himself and the Russians.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the past few days, Trump’s persecution complex has reached new heights. At the commencement address&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/05/17/remarks-president-trump-united-states-coast-guard-academy-commencement&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNFR9r-jsDQKr9sElI_o4h636GGieA" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/05/17/remarks-president-trump-united-states-coast-guard-academy-commencement" style="text-decoration-line: none;">to the Coast Guard Academy</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday&nbsp;he lamented, “Look at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media.<b> No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly.</b>” He has taken to calling the Russia investigations a “witch hunt,” even going so far as to boast about it on Twitter Thursday morning:</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><twitterwidget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" data-tweet-id="865173176854204416" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Naturally he thinks he’s got the biggest and greatest witch hunt ever. Apparently, he doesn’t know that there were&nbsp;<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-single-greatest-witch-hunt-in-american-history-for-real" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">real witch hunts</a>&nbsp;where people were killed and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-mccarthyism/484/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">political witch hunts</a>&nbsp;that destroyed the lives of many innocent people. He is certainly unaware that there were leaders who suffered at the hands of political opponents in ways that Trump in his golden palaces eating his&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/politics/trump-time-magazine-ice-cream/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">two scoops of ice cream</a>&nbsp;and extra sauce every night can only imagine.</p><twitterwidget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-1" data-tweet-id="865227627648479233" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">I have never seen a more whiny, petulant 70-year-old in my life. In that one respect Donald Trump may indeed hold the title of “the greatest.”</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">You will notice that Trump’s main nemesis is still the press, which he has villainized since he began his campaign. One suspects that this started out as shtick, building on the thousands of hours of talk-radio research that his lieutenant at the time, Sam Nunberg,&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/inside-the-donald-trump-presidential-campaign.html&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNFjoEKswJwlrY_G-XyAJZVDXoo11A" href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/inside-the-donald-trump-presidential-campaign.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">provided to him</a>. Beating up on the press is a staple of right-wing media and it gets a huge response from conservative crowds. But up until he started the campaign Trump had always reveled in media attention and went to great lengths to draw it. In fact, he considered himself a member of the club. But over the course of time the hatred has obviously become very real and very personal. He loathes the press and considers it the source of all of his problems.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Obviously, he isn’t the first president to feel this way. Richard Nixon famously kept an enemies list that included a large number of journalists. But Trump is taking this in a dangerous direction. The&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNFfy3p1_ZgguGdsnAlMemwRkDUkIA" href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">New York Times story</a>&nbsp;about James Comey’s memo rightly focused on the fact that the president may have tried to obstruct justice by taking the FBI director aside privately to ask him to let Trump’s disgraced former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, off the hook.&nbsp;But Trump said something else in that meeting which has received less attention:</p><div data-toggle-group="story-14768596" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">First of all, the FBI doesn’t put people in prison. Trump seems confused about how the justice system works in general, so he probably didn’t know that. One only hopes that he doesn’t figure it out because when he does he’ll realize that his most loyal collaborator, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is the man to talk to about that. It’s true that Sessions is busy at the moment ramping up the drug war and making life miserable for people of color, but he could probably find time to put a few journalists in jail if it would make the boss happy.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Trump’s warm affinity for strongmen like Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is not a good omen in this regard. Every one of those leaders have jailed journalists and worse for being critical of their leadership. Obviously, the U.S. has not yet gone nearly as far as they have, but there are some alarming examples of press harassment since Trump took office.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Just last week a&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-west-virginia-journalist-idUSKBN1862B6&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNHQO76SK901dihzGAcMS3aCxdGUVQ" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-west-virginia-journalist-idUSKBN1862B6" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">West Virginia journalist</a>&nbsp;was arrested and jailed after following Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price down a hallway asking him about health care policy. On Thursday,<b>&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/reporter-manhandled-fcc-guards-because-he-asked-question&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNFfuPm9fGseKQN3ni8f6tIzMChYWQ" href="https://www.press.org/news-multimedia/news/reporter-manhandled-fcc-guards-because-he-asked-question" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">John Donnelly,a reporter for Roll Call</a>, was manhandled and escorted out of the building by security guards for asking questions of the FCC commissioners. (Ironically, Donnelly is chairman of the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Team.)</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">This is not normal. Neither is it normal for State Department officials to speak to reporters the way communications adviser R.C. Hammond spoke to CNN’s White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, who reported&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/michelle.kosinski.14?fref%3Dnf%26pnref%3Dstory&source=gmail&ust=1495279727434000&usg=AFQjCNEZqCdfuyAVhVkeRl7NejUOUGS04w" href="https://www.facebook.com/michelle.kosinski.14?fref=nf&pnref=story" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">this exchange</a>&nbsp;on her Facebook page:</p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Monday&nbsp;night, as the story of the President giving classified information to the Russians was in full evolution, I get a call from … RC Hammond, the State Department’s communications advisor, who had his facts wrong about what was reported and by whom.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">But he kicked off the conversation with a venomously irate “What the hell are you doing??!!” Followed up with full-on DEMANDS — over and over, and over again — to tell him who my sources were. He kept pushing, as if he thought this was ample reason. Then, “Why won’t you tell me who they are?” he bellowed repeatedly, again demanding I at least tell him what jobs they held at State, or in what areas.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">I had to explain to him that wasn’t how it worked.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">It got worse from there.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Granted, the Trump administration is obviously under tremendous stress. But these three random incidents don’t reflect the administration alone. They also reflect an attitude on the part of law enforcement and security officials toward the media that is becoming increasingly hostile. People in authority are taking their cues from the president and that’s disturbing.</p></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">&nbsp;</p><div wibbitz="embed-main-player" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="bio-new body_news-politics" style="width: 630px; line-height: 22px; height: auto; border-top: 3px solid rgb(223, 223, 218); clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="author-bio" style=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="">Heather Digby Parton,</font></p></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">dn</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">an award-winning reporter is speaking out after he was attacked and forced to leave the Federal Communications Commission headquarters Thursday—all for trying to ask a question. <b>John Donnelly of CQ Roll Call said he tried to ask&nbsp;</b></span><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>FCC</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Commissioner Michael O’Rielly </b>a question after a press conference had ended. But two&nbsp;</span><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FCC</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;security guards reportedly pinned Donnelly against the wall until O’Rielly had passed. Donnelly said O’Rielly witnessed the incident and kept walking. Donnelly is chair of the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Team and president of the Military Reporters & Editors association. He issued a statement after the attack, saying, "I have been working as a reporter in this town for years and dealing with the top leaders in our government every day and in the hustle and bustle of press scrums. I’ve never been in a situation where simply asking a question was treated as a crime."</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">mexico</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/18/saying_no_to_silence_hear_murdered">https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/18/saying_no_to_silence_hear_murdered</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/reporter-arrested-for-asking-tom-price-if-domestic-violence-is-a-pre-existing-condition-under-59ec774321d2">https://thinkprogress.org/reporter-arrested-for-asking-tom-price-if-domestic-violence-is-a-pre-existing-condition-under-59ec774321d2</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em">reporter has been arrested for pressing Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to say whether or not the Trump health care bill would make it harder for domestic violence survivors to obtain insurance.</span></div><p name="891d" id="891d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">West Virginia police arrested Dan Heyman at the state capitol Tuesday as he walked with Price and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, holding a recorder out and asking Price repeatedly about claims that insurers could refuse to serve survivors of familial abuse. That claim is based on inference from the bill’s provision allowing states to abandon consumer protections from Obamacare with federal permission.</p><p name="c449" id="c449" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Heyman had sought out Price on his way into the capitol.</p><p name="4ba2" id="4ba2" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" text-indent="text-indent" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“At some point, I think [they]&nbsp;<a href="http://wvmetronews.com/2017/05/10/reporter-arrested-at-capitol-after-trying-to-ask-u-s-health-secretary-questions/" data-href="http://wvmetronews.com/2017/05/10/reporter-arrested-at-capitol-after-trying-to-ask-u-s-health-secretary-questions/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">decided I was too persistent</a>&nbsp;in asking this question and trying to do my job, so they arrested me,” Heyman told West Virginia Metro News. Heyman was later charged with “willful disruption of a governmental process,” according to the news service.</p><p name="99fa" id="99fa" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">A police report justifying the charge said the reporter “was aggressively breaching the Secret Service agents” and “causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price,” the West Virginia Metro News reported. Heyman was only released after someone from his news agency posted a $5,000 bond. He faces a $100 fine and up to six months in jail under state law.

...

The traveling press corps who followed Trump’s campaign were frequently turned into a side show at his rallies, kept inside a tight and prominently placed cordon where Trump himself would typically point them out as enemies to his supporters. He also occasionally remarked that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866" data-href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">America should “open up our libel laws”</a>&nbsp;to make it easier to sue reporters who enjoy First Amendment protections.</p><p name="6462" id="6462" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">In one high-profile incident, a senior campaign aide&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/despite-audio-bruises-and-witnesses-trump-denies-that-his-campaign-manager-assaulted-reporter-ad84237f933a" data-href="https://thinkprogress.org/despite-audio-bruises-and-witnesses-trump-denies-that-his-campaign-manager-assaulted-reporter-ad84237f933a" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">grabbed a reporter by the arm hard enough to leave bruises</a> — an incident the campaign denied despite video evidence. Trump’s political persona frequently relies on cherry-picking media reports he likes and deeming all others “fake news.”</p><p name="7f8d" id="7f8d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">But journalists can handle being presented as a political enemy to the public. The use of state power to physically detain them and then pursue criminal penalties against them for doing their jobs is something different.</p><p name="0e38" id="0e38" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Attorney General Jeff Sessions wouldn’t rule out the idea of using cops and prosecutors to go after the press back in January. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked him to commit to “not put reporters in jail for doing their jobs” during his confirmation hearing, and he responded that “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-comments-jailing-journalists_us_58753d8ee4b02b5f858ba2a2" data-href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-comments-jailing-journalists_us_58753d8ee4b02b5f858ba2a2" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">I’m not sure</a>.” Subsequent reports that Sessions is considering criminal charges against Wikileaks&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-comments-jailing-journalists_us_58753d8ee4b02b5f858ba2a2" data-href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-comments-jailing-journalists_us_58753d8ee4b02b5f858ba2a2" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.44); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">revived deep concerns about press freedom</a>&nbsp;under Trump.</span></font></p><p name="d7e5" id="d7e5" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Both Sessions’ exchange with Klobuchar and the reports of a potential Wikileaks prosecution primarily relate to issues of leaked information and source protection. Heyman’s detention and misdemeanor charge are obviously a different beast, pertaining to reporters’ physical and verbal conduct around the public officials they cover.</p><p name="3adb" id="3adb" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Heyman is not the first journalist to experience such rough handling by the legal system in the newly dawned Trump era. Several journalists were detained and charged with felony rioting at a mass roundup in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day. Their charges were eventually dropped.</p><p name="3a77" id="3a77" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">But Heyman’s case is very different even from that mass-arrest sweep. He was solo, in a public building, repeatedly asking a public official for an answer on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.snopes.com/sexual-assault-pre-existing/" data-href="http://www.snopes.com/sexual-assault-pre-existing/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">a matter of some controversy and great public interest</a>.</p><p name="b532" id="b532" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Republicans and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/us/politics/pre-existing-conditions-health-care.html" data-href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/us/politics/pre-existing-conditions-health-care.html" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">some reporters</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/05/05/rape-not-preexisting-condition-in-acha" data-href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/05/05/rape-not-preexisting-condition-in-acha" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">scoffed at the idea</a>&nbsp;that Trumpcare would treat domestic violence and rape as pre-existing conditions because&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/05/new-healthcare-bill-ahca-sexual-assault.html" data-href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/05/new-healthcare-bill-ahca-sexual-assault.html" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">the bill does not explicitly do so</a>. But it is not difficult to infer that by allowing states to seek waivers to dump the most expensive health care patients into high-risk pools rather than requiring insurers to cover them at the same price as everyone else, those who suffer ongoing psychological or physiological effects from trauma could quickly be priced out of insurance coverage.</p><p name="5413" id="5413" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Price may not want to answer questions like Heyman’s. He may not appreciate being bird-dogged by a reporter rather than addressing the media through the controlled environment of a press conference.</p><p name="22db" id="22db" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span class="markup--quote markup--p-quote is-other" name="anon_8d56476f7708" data-creator-ids="anon" style="transition: background-color 0.2s; cursor: pointer; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: linear-gradient(rgb(244, 235, 255), rgb(244, 235, 255));">But it’s hard to reconcile Heyman’s status as a member of the constitutionally-protected free press with the West Virginia capitol police’s decision that “yelling questions at” public officials in a hallway constitutes an illegal “willful disruption of governmental processes.”</span></p><h4 name="0f01" id="0f01" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p" lucida="Lucida" grande="Grande" sans="Sans" unicode="Unicode" geneva="Geneva" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" margin="margin" px="px" color="color" rgba="rgba" baseline-multiplier:0.157="baseline-multiplier:0.157" font-size="font-size" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" xmlns:baseline-multiplier="baseline-multiplier">UPDATE</h4><p name="0444" id="0444" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 6px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Price addressed the West Virginia episode the following day in New Hampshire. The secretary “commended police in West Virginia for ‘<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/10/tom-price-reporter-arrest/" data-href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/10/tom-price-reporter-arrest/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6) 50%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 50%); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 0.1em; background-position: 0px 1.07em;">doing what they thought was appropriate</a>’,” according to health care news site STAT.</p><p name="b068" id="b068" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Price did not say whether or not he shared the officers’ view of the propriety of Heyman’s arrest. “That’s not my decision to make,” he said.</p><p name="3e92" id="3e92" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p graf--trailing" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 29px 0px 0px; --baseline-multiplier:0.179;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" em="em" text-indent="text-indent" color="color" rgba="rgba" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“That gentleman was not in a press conference,” Price said.</p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bannon-makes-stunning-threat-media-were-going-make-it-worse-you-every-day">http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bannon-makes-stunning-threat-media-were-going-make-it-worse-you-every-day</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon</b> shockingly admitted Donald Trump’s goal</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><i>(Bannon’s goal)</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in appointing new precarious cabinet members to head protective government agencies like the EPA — is to dismantle and “deconstruct” those organizations altogether. You can read that Daily Kos story by Dartagnan</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/23/1637009/-Bannon-Reveals-His-Intention-To-Deconstruct-The-Administrative-State-i-e-Destroy-The-Country" style="text-decoration: none;">here.</a></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">On the<i>&nbsp;same&nbsp;</i>day, during a joint CPAC press conference with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Bannon threatened the media with a quote that is undeniably one of the most odious and perilous public statements made against the free press by a White House official, on record. Chris Cillizza with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/23/steve-bannons-not-so-subtle-threat-to-the-media/?utm_term=.6661bf6d8a1f" style="text-decoration: none;">The Washington Post</a>&nbsp;cites Bannon.</p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><b>“It's going to get worse every day for the media,”</b>&nbsp;Bannon said, insisting that the “corporatist” media would continue to see Trump pursue exactly the sort of economic nationalism that journalism allegedly despises. Then he added this call to arms:<b>“If you think they are giving you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken.”</b></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Cillizza says the message from Bannon was unmistakable: The enemy of Donald Trump and his team, is not really the Democratic Party, it’s the media. He adds that presidential administrations and the press have often experienced adversarial positions.</p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">But what Bannon and, by extension, Trump are up to is something very different than simply an adversarial working relationship with the media. Bannon doesn't want to change the media.&nbsp;<b>He wants to totally dismantle the media. He wants to break its back and leave it for dead</b>&nbsp;by the side of the road.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">What is somewhat ironic, more than disturbing, and almost comical, is that Bannon is telling reputable reporters, including those at the Washington Post, that the White House plans to destroy them. And rather than stand up to him, reporters rush back to their laptops to write up the story, staying respectfully neutral, while indirectly serving as a right wing echo chamber.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Bannon and Trump are using the press to threaten and berate —&nbsp;<i>the press.&nbsp;</i>When will the press, in unity, tell Bannon and Trump, to respectfully go fuck themselves? It’s obvious Bannon and Trump&nbsp;desperately&nbsp;<i>need the press to survive.</i>&nbsp;The mobster-like headman&nbsp;incessantly use the press every day, and seem to forget that it was the media that held their hands throughout the 2016 campaign&nbsp;and essentially walked them into the Oval Office.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">So&nbsp;why do&nbsp;most of the press/media accept the degradation, which&nbsp;has&nbsp;become constant,&nbsp;and why do they keep going back for more? Something has to give, because Trump and his&nbsp;cast of&nbsp;hate-filled, lying&nbsp;fear mongers, should not be allowed to use American media as a beacon for tyranny. What’s that saying Dr. Phil likes to use?</p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">"We teach people how to treat us."</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;">Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, the man who&nbsp;<i>Time Magazine</i>&nbsp;labels the “The Great&nbsp;Manipulator,” is living up to that name as he&nbsp;continues to feed, build, and control conservative extremist news rags like Breitbart. Most everything that goes out to Donald Trump’s base of fanatics is calculated,&nbsp;right-wing,&nbsp;and dangerously anger-provoking insidious information....</p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div></twitterwidget></twitterwidget></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>