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- On March 9th, 2017, the ACLU filed an ethics complaint against noted racist and perjurer Attorney General Jeff Sessions for lying under oath at his congressional confirmation hearing about meeting with the Russian ambassador twice during the campaign.
- On March 10th, 2017, a Florida man set fire to a a convenience store to try to "run the Arabs out of our country" because of "what they are doing in the Middle East." The owner of the store is of Indian descent. The fire was quickly put out and the damage to the store was minimal. The man, Richard Lloyd, had attempted to buy juice earlier that week and had been told they did not carry the specific juice he wanted, and he became angry and convinced the store employee was a Muslim Arab.
- On March 10th, 2017, multiple outlets reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is being shut out of key meetings on everything from the massive military efforts ramping up in the Middle East to meeting with Mexican diplomats in Washington (who are instead meeting with DT and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner). While none of the 3 people I just mentioned has any government experience at all, as Secretary of State Tillerson seems to have no influence on foreign policy and DT seems not to have articulated one.
- On March 11th, 2017, CNN reported that a human rights lawyer in Ukraine is calling for an investigation into Paul Manafort, a former DT campaign manager, after text messages from his daughter's hacked phone were released on the dark web. Manafort's daughter, in an exchange with her sister, says some pretty damning and horrifying things, including: "Remember when there were all those deaths taking place. A while back. About a year ago. Revolts and what not. Do you know whose strategy that was to cause that, to send those people out and get them slaughtered," "He has no moral or legal compass," and "I was there when it happened. I saw him on his shady email. They don't write emails. They log on and write in the drafts So it's never transmitted over any servers."
- On March 11th, 2017, the Washington Post reported that neo-Nazi and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon may have maintained an address in Florida to avoid paying state taxes while living, for the most part, in California.
- On March 11th, 2017, NPR reported that Mike Pence's investigation into DT's claims of massive, wide spread voter fraud of 3 million illegal votes (coincidentally, a number that would have given him the popular vote rather than opponent Secretary Hillary Clinton) is... not going anywhere. Most "experts" who have been contacted to participate have been very vague about whether or not they will commit to the investigation, probably because it's nonsense.
- On March 11th, 2017, NPR also reported that a Federal Judge had ruled that 3 of Texas's congressional districts had been gerrymandered illegally according to race. Shocker.
- On March 11th, 2017, the New York Times reported that Muslim migrants are using a loophole in an agreement between the US and Canada that any person crossing the border legally claiming refugee status will be returned by crossing the border irregularly, instead. Around 2,000 people with legal American immigration status have fled the US to enter Canada to go to JAIL rather than stay here.
- On March 12th, 2017, Kellyanne Conway went on national television and suggested that the CIA is using microwaves as a surveillance tool when asked about whether DT had lied when he said he had "learned" that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign. To a list of items that had recently been disclosed by a hack of CIA documents that could be commandeered to surveil private citizens, including phones and Samsung televisions, Conway said, "microwaves that turn into cameras," and then capped it off by saying, "We know this is a fact in modern life." Not sure who "we" is, but maybe these are the same people who had no idea how complicated health care legislation is.
- On March 12th, 2017, New York Magazine reported that DT's firing of District Attorney of the District of Southern New York Preet Bharara may be a kick back to Fox News Executive Chairman and workplace sexual harasser Roger Ailes. The DA's office under Bharara is in the midst of a federal investigation into Fox News for a host of illegal activities, including illegally obtaining journalists' phone records and committing wire fraud to pay off women who accused Ailes of sexual harassment. On DT's short list to fill the DA position? Marc Mukasey... Ailes's personal lawyer.
- On March 12th, 2017, NBC News reported that DT's promise to either donate his salary back to the US Treasury or to charity has (SURPRISE!) gone unfulfilled. When asked to provide any information into the promised donations, the White House, Treasury Department, and Office of Personnel Management "all declined to say whether Trump has donated any of his salary to date." DT's lawyer had also "unveiled a plan to 'donate all profits from foreign governments' patronage of his hotels and similar businesses' to the Treasury Department," but there is also no record of these donations or a discussion of the system put in place to track them.
- On March 13th, 2017, Sean Spicer told the press at the daily briefing that when DT said President Barack Obama had engaged in wire tapping during the campaign, he didn't mean wire tapping. This was also the deadline for the Department of Justice to submit evidence to the House Intelligence Committee to back up his claims.
- On March 13th, 2017, the Department of Justice asked for an extension on Monday's deadline to provide the House Intelligence Committee with evidence to back up DT's claim that President Barack Obama had Trump Tower under surveillance during the campaign.
- On March 13th, 2017, Kellyanne Conway attempted to walk back her suggestion that DT was surveilled through a microwave that could turn into a camera on Chris Cuomo's New Day show, stating, "Chris, I'm not Inspector Gadget. I don't believe people are using the microwave to spy on the Trump campaign," and "I'm not in the job of having evidence. That's what investigations are for."
- Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/intelligence-deadline-wiretaps/index.html
- Source: http://wjla.com/news/nation-world/kellyanne-conway-im-not-in-the-job-of-having-evidence
- Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/national-govt--politics/kellyanne-conway-walks-back-spying-microwave-claim-not-inspector-gadget/CNoFYWaQxsU9W5Y0yFJoGI/
- On March 13th, 2017, following Conway's ludicrous remarks about microwaves, Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe reconfirmed that Kellyanne Conway was still banned from appearing on the show.
- On March 13th, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office's report assessed that the Affordable Care Act replacement would result in 14 million Americans losing their health insurance as early as next year and 24 million would be uninsured by 2026. According to the CBO report, "A 64-year-old making $26,500 would pay $1,700 for coverage in 2026 under Obamacare, thanks to its subsidies. But under the Ryan plan, that person would get hit with a annual premium bill of $14,600." The US government would save $337B (three hundred thirty-seven billion dollars) by not covering subsidies, which would allow for the $287B (two hundred eight-seven billion) in tax breaks for the richest top 2%. The CBO report shows that Trumpcare would not only not fulfill DT's 3 major campaign promises about healthcare but would actually wildly exacerbate the issues white working class voters already dislike about the ACA (other than that it's associated with the name of the first and only Black president).
- Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/cbo-report-health-care/index.html
- Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/us/politics/affordable-care-act-health-congressional-budget-office.html
- Source: http://time.com/4700200/donald-trump-cbo-healthcare-obamare/
- Source, the full CBO report: https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/americanhealthcareact_0.pdf
- On March 13th, 2017, DT said that House Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it will "implode" on its own. His statements come on the heels of outrage in the hyper-right wing sector, including Steve Bannon's crew at Breitbart, over the introduced Trumpcare replacement.
- On March 13th, 2017, Breitbart released audio of callous, greedy, invertebrate and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan saying, back in October, to a phone call with major Republicans, “There are basically two things that I want to make really clear, as for myself as your speaker. I am not going to defend Donald Trump — not now, not in the future. As you probably heard, I disinvited him from my first congressional district GOP event this weekend — a thing I do every year. And I’m not going to be campaigning with him over the next 30 days.” Breitbart has published a number of op-eds (if you can call them that) disparaging the House ACA replacement or Trumpcare, so this is likely an attempt to distance Ryan and the bill he is selling from DT to keep DT supporters from turning on him as a result of their anger about the bill. (Note: none of the sources are from Breitbart, so don't worry about giving them clicks!)
- On March 13th, 2017, the state of Tennessee sued the federal government for "forcing" them to accept and pay for the resettlement of refugees in the state, asking the court to block the sending of refugees to the state until the federal government pays for all costs associated with their resettlement. The heartlessness of my home state is truly astounding. For some background, I encourage you to read this in depth article from last year about how Tennessee was once a haven for Muslim refugees and immigrants who lived happily side by side with their neighbors and has now become a horror show.
- On March 13th, 2017, DT signed an executive order tasking Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to investigate federal agencies to see where costs can be cut. Each agency has 180 days to submit a plan to cut costs with their "recommendations to eliminate unnecessary agencies, components of agencies, agency programs and to merge functions" or, in laymen's terms, how they can fire people.
- Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-to-cut-costs-of-federal-government/
- Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/13/trump-to-sign-executive-order-aiming-to-see-where-money-is-being-wasted-in-government-spicer-says.html
- Source, full text of the executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/13/presidential-executive-order-comprehensive-plan-reorganizing-executive