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May 2017

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 17, 2017 33 Comments
I can't recall a media feeding frenzy quite like has been directed at Donald Trump. What's remarkable about this frenzy is that it takes place in the absence -- as of now -- of any actual evidence of Trump wrongdoing, much less illegality. More on that later in the post. Sometimes I think it resembles how the media swarmed all over Mitt Romney after Benghazi in September 2012, accusing him of politicizing the deaths of four Americans. The media purpose plainly was to help Obama escape political damage by making the story about Romney. I wrote about it at the time, Dead Ambassador dragged through streets, MSM furious at Romney criticism of Obama:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 17, 2017 15 Comments
Earlier this month, President Trump fired FBI director James Comey.  Since then, a number of people of have withdrawn their names from consideration for the post, with the latest being Former Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. The Hill reports:
A former Justice Department official has withdrawn her name from consideration to replace former FBI Director James Comey, according to multiple reports.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 30 Comments
The Department of Justice has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller III as special counsel to its investigation into possible Russian interference in our presidential election. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the appointment because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigation related to the 2016 race. Mr. Rosenstein said in a statement that “I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility of this matter.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 17, 2017 12 Comments
The Arab world's most-watched TV network, MBC 1, will air a prime-time TV drama depicting life under ISIS. The 30-part series will debut during Ramadan. “Black Crows", "paints a picture of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, as a brutal criminal organization run by corrupt and hypocritical leaders. But recruits are depicted as victims, and women who challenge the militants’ control are heroes," reports the New York Times.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 5 Comments
The world faced a massive ransomware attack using WannaCry, an NSA hacking tool last week, which affected 150 countries. While investigating the WannaCry attack, experts found another ongoing cyber attack. The cybersecurity firm Proofpoint said the newly discovered attack, using Adylkuzz, is a lot quieter than WannaCry, but "has likely generated millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for the unknown attackers." ABC News continued:
According to Ryan Kalember, the senior vice president for cybersecurity at Proofpoint, the attack employed the same hacking tools developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and leaked to the public by the hacker group Shadow Brokers in April to exploit vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 17, 2017 11 Comments
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai has been targeted by radical leftists for his stance on net neutrality. Seemingly unfazed by the hate, Pai joined IJR to read nasty tweets lobbed at him by anonymous internet trolls...and it's wonderful:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 17, 2017 12 Comments
The most egregious part of the Trump administration is the media's coverage of the Trump administration. Dating back to campaign season Trump, political media disproportionately focused on Trump's every coming, going, meal, and insignificant oddity. Not much has changed post-election.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 10 Comments
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has accused Anheuser-Busch InBev of handing out incentives to retailers and bars in the state to push Budweiser beer over other brands. The Wall Street Journal reported:
The state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission has issued a report detailing investigators’ findings and set a June hearing in Boston on the matter. The report alleges a subsidiary of AB InBev gave out bar equipment as incentives to hundreds of Massachusetts businesses in violation of a state law meant to keep beer companies from squeezing out competitors.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 17, 2017 25 Comments
Joe Scarborough likes to make himself out to be a simple country lawyer. But on today's Morning Joe, he ran afoul of a cardinal lawyering rule: never ask a witness a question to which you don't know the answer. Scarborough laid out a lengthy timeline for the purpose of teeing up law professor Jonathan Turley to agree with Joe's conclusion that there was a prosecutable, federal case of obstruction of justice against President Trump. But Turley hit Joe between the eyes with his response:

"This isn't going to be real popular, but I don't think so . . . The fact is, I don't think this makes out an obstruction case."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 17 Comments
President Donald Trump welcomed Turkish dictator president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House Tuesday. A group of protesters outside of the Turkish Embassy showed support for the groups that Erdogan regularly cracks down on in Turkey. Erdogan's bodyguards did not appreciate this move and decided to pummel the protesters in broad daylight...on Embassy Row.
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