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Reuters: Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sues Trump administration over firing
Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over her abrupt July firing, court records showed on Monday.
Comey, the eldest daughter of former FBI director and longtime Trump adversary James Comey, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court against the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President that she was not provided any cause for her removal.
“Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey,” Maurene Comey’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comey’s lawsuit could test the administration’s ability to swiftly fire line prosecutors, as the Republican president’s critics warn that he is seeking to politicize the Justice Department.
The Justice Department has been firing prosecutors who have worked on cases involving Trump or his political allies. Trump and his allies say the Justice Department was “weaponized” against conservatives during Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration.
It could also test whether the administration can take action against line prosecutors who are not politically appointed and whose careers with the Justice Department frequently span both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Comey is asking a judge to reinstate her into her former role as a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which has long enjoyed an unusual degree of independence from Justice Department officials in D.C.
Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sues Trump administration over firing
Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over her abrupt July firing, court records showed on Monday.
Metro: Donald Trump’s warrior image ‘is hiding his war draft dodging past’
Donald Trump’s ‘warrior ethos’ masks his repeated avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War, commentators have suggested.
The US President ‘s record has come under scrutiny after he renamed the Department of Defense as the Department of War to expel ‘wokism’.
He previously claimed the old name was ‘too defensive’ while the new title, last used in 1947, reverted to a time when ‘we won everything’ in wars.
The move drew criticism from Navy veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, who said: ‘Only someone who avoided the draft would want to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War.’
The historical evidence appears to back up Capt Kelly’s claim that the commander in chief avoided the draft in the 1960s.
Documents held in US archives show that he received student deferments while in college, followed by a medical exemption after graduating.
Trump, now 79, was assessed eight times for military service but was never enlisted, and was disqualified as a result of an armed forces physical examination, one of the records shows.
Although the exact reason is not stated, Trump has previously said that a bone spur — either on one or both of his heels — was the reason.
Another document only deepens the question marks over why he was not called up — referring to birth marks on both of his heels.
Professor David Dunn, chair in international politics at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘Trump refuses to release his medical records and he’s never had an operation to remove the bone spur, which suggests that it’s spurious.
‘His former lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump told him, “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.”
‘The other aspect of this is the contempt Trump has shown to the military, such as his comment about the former Navy pilot John McCain, who was held in a prisoner of war camp, when he said, “I like people who weren’t captured.”
‘There’s a long history of Trump having a fraught relationship with the military and we can see within this his contempt of the notion of military service.’
Then US President Harry Truman established the agency’s name as the Department of Defense in 1949.
Although the current stamp is set out in law, the executive order introduces a ‘secondary title’, according to a White House document.
The Trump administration wants a ‘warrior ethos’ at the Pentagon and is ‘not interested in woke garbage or political correctness’, according to the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, whose title has accordingly changed from Secretary of Defense.
US Presidents who avoided the draft?
Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush all avoided service in Vietnam. Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was studying in England and W. Bush got a coveted spot in the 147th Texas Air National Guard as a pilot and was not eligible for the draft. Biden received student draft deferments and a ‘1-Y’, meaning he could only be drafted in a national emergency.
Dr Laura Smith, a specialist in American presidential history at the University of Oxford, told Metro: ‘While being labeled a “draft dodger” was once seen as political dynamite, the ability of politicians to become commander in chief regardless of their service seems to have become a trend, one that is likely to continue considering the unpopularity of America’s foreign interventions.
‘Trump justified his recent decision to return to the War label as somehow a return to glory days. However, the Defense Department has existed since the end of WWII – the entirety of the period of America’s existence as the global superpower.
‘The War Department existed from George Washington’s cabinet and oversaw the long period up until the end of the 19th Century, when America did not have the power to engage or effectively challenge Old World powers on the global stage as Britain still ruled the waves.
‘It seems that once again, this executive decision is made upon a rhetorical concept of history, rather than the facts.’
In addition to the rebranding — a costly endeavour involving changing signs and websites worldwide — Trump has promised to bring one-on-one combat to the White House next year in the shape of a UFC event.
For Dunn, there is a disconnect between the warrior image and reality contained in the service record documents.
‘We have to ask what Trump’s service record tells us about modern politics or modern America more broadly,’ he said.
‘It tells us that someone shown to have dodged the draft can be elected president, that it’s no block to service.
‘It’s about performativity; it seems Americans prefer candidates, or presidents, who are performative rather than substantive.
Then US President Harry Truman established the agency’s name as the Department of Defense in 1949.
Although the current stamp is set out in law, the executive order introduces a ‘secondary title’, according to a White House document.
The Trump administration wants a ‘warrior ethos’ at the Pentagon and is ‘not interested in woke garbage or political correctness’, according to the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, whose title has accordingly changed from Secretary of Defense.
In addition to the rebranding — a costly endeavour involving changing signs and websites worldwide — Trump has promised to bring one-on-one combat to the White House next year in the shape of a UFC event.
For Dunn, there is a disconnect between the warrior image and reality contained in the service record documents.
‘We have to ask what Trump’s service record tells us about modern politics or modern America more broadly,’ he said.
‘It tells us that someone shown to have dodged the draft can be elected president, that it’s no block to service.
‘It’s about performativity; it seems Americans prefer candidates, or presidents, who are performative rather than substantive.
‘What we have now with the Department of War is in marked contrast to the fact that Trump is appeasing Vladimir Putin, who is the enemy of human rights, international law and is wanted for war crimes.
‘It’s sacrificed for the performativity of Trump cos-playing Ronald Reagan and pretending to be this grand statesman on the world stage.’
Trump had five deferments: four times as a student and once for medical reasons, assumed to be because of one or more bone spurs.
In 2018, the daughters of New York foot doctor Dr Larry Braunstein said that he had diagnosed the future president with the condition to help him avoid the draft as a ‘favour’ to his property mogul father, Fred Trump.
The podiatrist is said to have made the diagnosis in the 1960s while he was working out of an office owned by the Trump family.
Trump Jnr, who graduated from New York Military Academy, would say many years later that a doctor provided a ‘very strong letter’ about the condition, but that he could not recall the person’s name.
Bone spurs are bony lumps that grow around joints and can affect movement or put pressure on nerves.
As far as high school went, they did not seem to have stopped Trump playing sports including baseball, football and soccer.
He also studied at Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania, with the medical disqualification covering him after he graduated.
Seasoned White House watcher Mike Tappin was in the US in 1968 during the nation’s bloodiest year in Vietnam, when it lost almost 17,000 personnel.
Trump’s record at the time shows he was only classified as being available for service for four months before being marked 1-Y — which is only given to men deemed to qualify for national service ‘in times of national emergency.’
In 1972, he was finally marked 4-F, which means not qualified, an amendment that may have been caused by the abolition of the 1-Y category.
‘Trump graduated in 1968 when the war in Vietnam was at its height, so he should have been eligible for military service as were other men of his age,’ Tappin said.
‘But of course, the history of American politics shows rich people got out of it. Another famous example of a president who avoided the draft is Bill Clinton.
‘Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Congressional Medal of Honor holder who was seriously injured in Iraq, publicly called Trump “cadet bone spurs” and a draft dodger.
‘So one could make an argument that Michael Cohen’s words in the Senate were true; Trump did not want to go to Vietnam.’
Tappin, honorary fellow at Keele University and co-author of American Politics Today, is among the commentators who believe that Trump’s avoidance of the draft was down to his multi-millionaire father.
‘One can draw the conclusion that his father Fred bought him the deferment,’ he said.
Tappin also defended Truman’s original emphasis on defence, not war.
‘Trump has said that the Defense Department “went woke”,’ he said.
‘Truman was anything but woke.
‘He served in the military in the First World War, he was a major, and he was a solid American president. He would be turning in his grave if he knew what Trump has said about his decision.’
Trump has said in an interview that he had ‘spurs’ in the back of his feet, which at the time ‘prevented me from walking long distances.’
He has also said that he had a ‘very, very high draft number’ in 1969 which the military draft lottery did not get near to, apparently as it worked in ascending order through a list of eligible men.
In 2019, Trump told Piers Morgan he was ‘never a fan’ of the Vietnam War but would have been happy and honoured to have served.
US Presidents who avoided the draft?
Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush all avoided service in Vietnam. Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was studying in England and W. Bush got a coveted spot in the 147th Texas Air National Guard as a pilot and was not eligible for the draft. Biden received student draft deferments and a ‘1-Y’, meaning he could only be drafted in a national emergency.
Dr Laura Smith, a specialist in American presidential history at the University of Oxford, told Metro: ‘While being labeled a “draft dodger” was once seen as political dynamite, the ability of politicians to become commander in chief regardless of their service seems to have become a trend, one that is likely to continue considering the unpopularity of America’s foreign interventions.
‘Trump justified his recent decision to return to the War label as somehow a return to glory days. However, the Defense Department has existed since the end of WWII – the entirety of the period of America’s existence as the global superpower.
‘The War Department existed from George Washington’s cabinet and oversaw the long period up until the end of the 19th Century, when America did not have the power to engage or effectively challenge Old World powers on the global stage as Britain still ruled the waves.
‘It seems that once again, this executive decision is made upon a rhetorical concept of history, rather than the facts.’
Donald Trump’s warrior image ‘is hiding a not-so-secret secret’ from his past
The US President avoided active duty in Vietnam due to ‘bone spurs’.
Alternet: Revealed: Trump letter to UCLA littered with grammatical and factual errors
The Los Angeles Times has reviewed a previously unreleased 28-page letter from the Trump administration to UCLA demanding an overhaul to adhere to a more conservative agenda and it’s littered with grammatical and factual errors.
These demands, which include $1.2 billion fine over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations, also calls on the California university “to make public declarations that it has agreed to significant elements of President Trump’s vision of higher education.”
The president, who has previously said he “loves the poorly educated,” doubled down on that sentiment Sunday, saying, “smart people don’t like me.”
Adding fuel to that fire is the UCLA document, which, the LAT reports, “shows signs of being hastily put together.”
Some of the more egregious errors besides the grammatical ones in which “nouns and verbs occasionally do not match in tense,” are more factual, or, rather, lack thereof.
“There are references to the “president” of UCLA, but the top campus administrator, Julio Frenk, is a “chancellor,” the LAT notes.
“A sentence about medical facilities references the “Feinberg School of Medicine,” which is at Northwestern University“, not UCLA.
This isn’t the first time the administration has shown why grammar and fact-checking matter.
In letters posted to his Truth Social account in July demanding world leaders sign on to his tariffs, Trump made an embarrassing error, according to the Daily Beast.
” Despite correctly referring to Željka Cvijanović, the Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as “Her Excellency,” the letter to her begins with “Dear Mr President.”
In another Truth Social post in which he thanked the B-2 pilots who took part in the attack on Iran, Trump, in all caps, misspelled his own name as, ” “DONAKD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!”
More concerning that garden variety typos, however, is what The Guardian calls “governing by mistake.”
“Have we ever seen a more error-prone, incompetent and fumbling presidency? In their rush to implement a barely concealed authoritarian agenda, this administration is producing a litany of blunders, gaffes and slip-ups. At times, they’ll seek to hide those mistakes by projecting a shield of authoritarianism. At other times, they’ll claim the mistake as a method of walking back an unpopular authoritarian agenda item. Either way, it’s a unique style of rule, one that I call “rule by error,” says The Guardian’s Moustafa Bayoumi.
USA Today: National Guard asks DC leaders for ‘beautification’ projects as Trump says crime is gone
Matthew Cohen couldn’t believe the DC National Guard was offering up its soldiers to help with a neighborhood clean-up.
“To have the National Guard come to our neighborhood to help pick up litter is absurd,” said Cohen, an advisory neighborhood commissioner, one of Washington’s hyper-local elected officials in the city’s low crime Northwest.
But he could use the help.
So long as thousands of soldiers had standing orders from President Donald Trump to remain on duty in the capital, Cohen wondered, what was the harm if his community took them up on the offer?
Troops that deployed to the city in August were meant to combat what Trump called a crime emergency. Groups of camouflage-clad soldiers have since become a familiar presence, pacing the underground platforms of Metro stations in the city’s downtown, along the marble halls of Union Station and at the National Mall, home to the Washington’s popular monuments.
Soldiers have also been spotted in parks carrying out tasks typically assigned to gardeners and landscapers – shoveling mulch, blowing leaves and scooping up trash.
Now, the DC National Guard is asking city leaders if they might help with local “beautification” projects. This tender offer comes amid protests against Trump’s takeover of the city under the banner of “Free DC” and the Guard’s own assessments that its deployment prompted “alarm and indignation” among residents.
The Guard may have worn out its welcome, but soldiers were still assigned to the region.
Trump has said the ongoing military presence in the capital – coupled with his takeover of the local police force and surge of immigration agents – has made crime in the city a thing of the past.
“Over the last year, it was a very unsafe place. Over the last 20 years, actually, it was very unsafe, and now it’s got virtually no crime,” Trump said of Washington as he stood on a corner of the city’s downtown on Sept. 9. “We call it crime-free.”
Trump’s emergency declaration allowing him to seize control of police expired Sept. 10, but the National Guard deployment won’t wrap up until Nov. 30, and it could be extended further.
The takeover remains widely unpopular among Washington residents – some 80% oppose it, according to a Washington Post poll.
DC Guard accepting pitches for ‘beautification’ projects
What else could the soldiers do?
In a letter sent to local leaders Sept. 8, Marcus Hunt, the director of the DC National Guard, asked for “help in identifying projects or initiatives” where guardsmen can pitch in on “neighborhood beautification efforts.”
“While our ability to support painting is limited, our teams are well positioned to contribute manpower for clean-up and improvement projects,” Hunt wrote, according to a copy obtained by USA TODAY.
“Most importantly, we want to do this together with the community – building relationships and strengthening the bond between the guard and the community we proudly serve.”
Hunt told USA TODAY the response to the email had been “positive.”
However, local leaders in Washington said they felt torn between their constituents’ opposition to the deployment and the opportunity to recruit military help with sometimes long-neglected community projects.
Cohen, who represents a neighborhoods near American University, decided it would be OK to engage with the soldiers: “If the National Guard wants to clean graffiti or beautify federal parks in our neighborhood, I don’t think anybody is going to oppose that, even if we think it’s a silly way to get that job done and an unwise use of taxpayer dollars.”
Others were reluctant to accept help.
“Our DC National Guard should return back to their families, back to their full-time jobs. This show of force is unnecessary,” said Tom Donohue, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for part of southeastern Anacostia.
But he added, “I’d rather them do something if they’re required to be here, than stand around and do nothing.”
Anacostia, where Donohue is based, is statistically one of the highest-crime areas in Washington – roughly one-third of homicides in the past year occurred in Ward 8, which encompasses part of his region. He said National Guardsmen were nowhere to be found in his district.
National Guard sees ‘alarm and indignation’ on social media
The DC National Guard’s own assessment of social media posts about the deployment also found that relationships with community members have been rocky.
An internal media review by the DC National Guard and sent accidentally to USA TODAY and other outlets found that social media discussions of the deployment mentioned “Fatigue, confusion, and demoralization – ‘just gardening,’ unclear mission, wedge between citizens and the military.” The assessment was first reported by the Washington Post.
According to the Army, the media review emails were mistakenly sent to reporters, but the information in them is publicly available.More: War on weeds? Leaf-blowing, mulch-shoveling National Guard get green thumbs in DC parks
“Trending videos show residents reacting with alarm and indignation,” according to the assessment. It says “self-identified veterans and active-duty commenters expressed shame and alarm” about the reactions.
One DC National Guard member told USA TODAY that frustration is growing among their ranks. As a resident of the city, he sees the deployment as unnecessary, but he is compelled by lawful orders to stay the course, the soldier said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When it came to beautification efforts, some leaders warmly welcomed the help. John Adams, a commissioner for a district in Ward 7, on the eastern side of the city, said the community would “invite and embrace” help with beautification. “We appreciate the support,” he said.
In Ward 8, which encompasses Donohue’s district, troops have already been assigned to help with food distribution at a soup kitchen, according to Donohue and a National Guard member with knowledge of the deployment.
For Donohue, a one-on-one discussion with Hunt and a later meeting with his constituents further complicated his decision. The community is “very split” on whether to accept the help, he said.
“They are our neighbors,” he said. “If they have to be here, why not utilize them?”
After all, was a helping hand so different if it came from a soldier?
Slingshot News: ‘Obviously It’s Not Working’: Trump Scrambles To Justify His Plan To Dismantle The Department Of Education During Cabinet Meeting
During his remarks in a cabinet meeting this month, President Trump scrambled to justify his plan to dismantle the Department of Education. Trump stated, “Obviously, it’s not working.”
News Nation: Trump’s new tariff rules bring surprise charges for consumers
President Trump’s new tariff rules are causing chaos for consumers in the United States.
Shoppers are reporting they were hit with surprise charges from international shipping carriers, resulting from the expiration of the exemption on import duties for items under $800.
“It’s maximum chaos,” said Nick Baker, co-lead of the trade and customs practice at Kroll.American farmers say Trump’s trade agenda is killing sales
At the end of August, de minimis goods (small-dollar items) began facing import duties when being shipped into the U.S., meaning personalized small orders are now facing sizable tariffs from its trading partners.
“We encourage customers to take note of the shipping policies of the brands they shop with and to also remember that tariffs are payable to the U.S. government,” said a DHL representative.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection made it clear that the logistics industry has continued to operate without a problem since the new de minimis rules took effect.
“Foreign carriers and postal operators were given clear timelines, detailed guidance, and multiple options to comply. The only thing ending on August 29 is the pathway that has been used by criminals to exploit America’s borders,” acknowledged Susan S. Thomas, CBP.
The Trump administration has made billions in revenue from the tariff rules implemented in recent months.
Mediaite: The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill Says She’s ‘Insulted’ That Charlie Kirk’s ‘White Supremacist’ Beliefs Are Being Reduced to a ‘Difference of Opinion’
The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill blasted conservative media star Charlie Kirk as a white supremacist whose “influence was dangerous” and said the outpouring of support for Kirk, just days after he was murdered, was insulting.
Hill made those scathing remarks, among others, on a special live episode of her Spolitics podcast on Friday. Several parts of Hill’s rant — in which she said she was fighting the “counter narrative” forming about Kirk by pointing out his “entire purpose” was making non-whites feel inferior — were clipped and shared to X over the weekend.
“I’m tired of white supremacist beliefs being considered a difference of opinion,” Hill declared at one point. “Im really sick of that!”
At another point, Hill said she was “paying attention to how people are talking about and memorializing Charlie Kirk. I’m insulted by the fact that they think his beliefs are just about a difference of opinion.” Kirk, she claimed, felt “because you’re Black then you don’t deserve the same treatment,” which she said was a “different conversation,” not just a different view.
Hill’s claims are contradicted by several statements made by Kirk, including one video from the Turning Points USA YouTube account where Kirk said he “repudiates” white supremacy.
At other points in her rant, the ex-ESPN star said examples of Kirk’s racism include him having the audacity to question the “brain processing of brilliant minds” like Joy Reid and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Ultimately, Kirk “made a living off questioning the humanity and dignity” of non-whites, Reid said, and that is why he does not deserve the outpouring of support he has received. The 31-year-old influencer, who helped play a critical role in helping President Donald Trump win millions of young voters, was shot and killed during a questions-and-answers session at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Kirk’s suspected assassin, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had reportedly told family members recently that he hated Kirk’s conservative views.
You can watch Hill’s full video podcast via YouTube above. The comments mentioned above come around he 22:00 minute mark.
Jemele Hill Is ‘Insulted’ That Charlie Kirk’s ‘White Supremacist’ Views Are ‘Being Considered’
The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill blasted conservative media star Charlie Kirk as a white supremacist whose “influence was dangerous” and said the outpouring of support for him post-death was insulting.
Slingshot News: ‘You Should Never Run For Another Office’: Trump Goes On Tangent, Belittles Member Of His Own Cabinet During Remarks At The White House
During his remarks in a cabinet meeting this month, President Trump belittled Marco Rubio, stating, “You should never run for another office.”
Knewz: MAGA fumes as Newsom mocks Trump with Bibles
Gavin Newsom has once again gotten under the skin of conservatives, this time by selling signed copies of Bibles on his merchandise site, Knewz.com can reveal. The California governor’s team has been mimicking Donald Trump for weeks, leaving his supporters raging and failing to see the irony of it all.
This time, Newsom and his handlers took it up a notch by listing Bibles for sale on his website. (The Bibles were marked as sold out.) The site also includes several other items mocking Trump slogans like a “Newsom Was Right About Everything” cap, a “Trump Is Not Hot” tank top and a T-shirt labeled “The Chosen One” featuring an image of Kid Rock, Tucker Carlson and the late Hulk Hogan with a halo looking over Newsom. There’s at least one person who will not be purchasing any of these items: Fox News personality Will Cain. On an episode of The Will Cain Show, the host went off on Newsom for purportedly selling Bibles. “He seems to have found ground, legs with the left by mocking President Trump,” Cain cried on TV. “Like the ChatGPT personality, he’s just borrowing now from President Trump, copying his style with X posts, now he’s even going for his own MAGA style merch.”
…
Newsom’s antics have already reached the White House, as earlier this month, Trump took to Truth Social to call out his fellow politician. He raged, “Gavin Newscum is way down in the polls. He is viewed as the man who is destroying the once Great State of California. I will save California!!! President DJT.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/maga-fumes-as-newsom-mocks-trump-with-bibles/ss-AA1MxApp