The National Circus

Absolute proof that Trump is neither a racist nor a misogynist

Bradley Moss did a good post Monday for Politico, Trump’s Purge of the FBI Is Complete.

The announcement Monday morning that former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok had been fired likely brings to a conclusion the personnel debate within the bureau regarding the behaviors of certain high-profile officials during the 2016 campaign cycle. Agent Strzok—a counterintelligence expert with particular expertise on Russia—played a significant role not only in parts of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server but also—in his role as deputy assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division—in the initiation of the still-ongoing probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. He also committed the serious political sin of exchanging private text messages (at least some on a government phone) with Lisa Page, an FBI attorney with whom he was having an affair, in which the two officials expressed their severe distaste for President Trump personally (as well as other candidates). Like former Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe before him, Agent Strzok was terminated in the midst of a highly politicized environment in which the president of the United States has repeatedly attacked FBI officials by name and denounced the probe of his campaign as a “witch hunt.

...With the firing of Peter Strzok, the president’s purge of senior FBI leadership who helped launch that investigation is now complete. For those wondering whether Trump would allow the bureau to do its job without political interference from the White House, I think we have our answer.

If Trump-world weren't so topsy turvy, someone someone might be tempted to think that all the hubbub about Omarosa is just to distract people away from the FBI story. Or maybe Trump gave Alaska back to Russia and he's trying to distract from that. But no... Trump-world is topsy turvy and his war with Omarosa is more real than the things that real presidents take seriously. She's in his head and she's winning... and he's going bonkers. She's part of the real Donald Trump world, not the fake presidency world that he's mucking up so badly. So first the loony NDAs that Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker explained so well for Washington Post readers Monday. Señor Trumpanzee's "bitter fight with a former top White House aide," they wrote, "has highlighted his aggressive and unconventional use of nondisclosure agreements to prevent current and former government employees from revealing secrets or disparaging him or his family." The Trumpists tried to get Omarosa to sign one for $15,000/month and she refused, although she had signed one for her campaign job.

Dozens of White House aides have signed NDAs in exchange for working for Trump, who has long relied on such agreements in his business career, according to current and former administration employees. But NDAs have not been widely used by past administrations outside the transition time between presidents, in part because most legal experts believe such agreements are not legally enforceable for public employees.

Copies of Trump NDAs obtained by the Washington Post or described by current and former aides lay out breathtakingly broad prohibitions on behavior and appear to be drawn heavily from similar contracts used in the past by the Trump Organization, the president's family firm.

Under one agreement from the 2016 campaign, signers promised not to "demean or disparage publicly" Trump, his company or any member of his family-- and also not to assist any other politician exploring a federal or state office.

An agreement circulated in the White House last year barred signers from sharing any information they had learned in the building, according to several aides who signed the document.

And the agreement proposed to Manigault Newman after her firing from the White House would have forbidden her from releasing derogatory information not only about Trump and his family, but about Vice President Mike Pence and his family as well.

The rampant use of such nondisclosure agreements underscores a culture-- fostered by Trump himself-- of paranoia, leaks, audio recordings and infighting that has pervaded his dealings for decades and continues into his presidency, according to current and former aides.

...The NDA that she declined to sign prohibited sharing information "including but not limited to the assets, investments, revenue, expenses, taxes, financial statements, actual or prospective business ventures, contracts, alliances, affiliations, relationships, affiliated entities, bids, letters of intent, term sheets, decisions, strategies, techniques, methods, projections, forecasts, customers, clients, contacts, customer lists, contact lists, schedules, appointments, meetings, conversations, notes and other communications" of "Trump, Pence, any Trump or Pence Family member, any Trump or Pence company, or any Trump or Pence Family Member Company."

The proposed agreement also said her nondisclosure promise would last forever, even if the agreement and payments did not.

So two questions arise: 1- you're not even allowed to disparage Fuck-Up, Jr?

And 2- What do people have on Pence?

Aside from a series of deranged tweets from the Asshole-in-Chief yesterday (and Omarosa referring to Trump's Education Secretary as "Ditzy" DeVos), the big news was that the Trumpanzee campaign is trying to get "millions" out of Omarosa through arbitration. That should be an exciting episode. Yeah, so they filed for arbitration "claiming that she broke a 2016 nondisclosure contract by disparaging the president in her new book and revealing private talks from the ultra-secret White House Situation Room." But the NDA was for the campaign, long before anyone ever imagined either of them would ever be allowed to step foot in the Situation Room.

While Manigault Newman has claimed that she did not sign a nondisclosure as part of her White House work or in exchange for a 2020 campaign job that did not materialize, her signing of the agreement during her 2016 campaign work remains in force because it is with the same campaign organization and never went out of force, said the campaign.

“The campaign is holding her accountable for the 2016 nondisclosure,” said a Trump ally.

An official said on background that Manigault Newman has made “egregious” violations of the agreement and as a result they are seeking millions of dollars in retaliation. As the case unfolds, they might also seek any “ill-gotten profits” she has received from the book, including her fee for writing it.

In an arbitration, which both sides agreed to in the nondisclosure agreement, each agree to an arbitrator, often a retired judge, who will hold a hearing and consider evidence. In the end the arbitrator will dismiss the case or issue a penalty. It has the full force of law. Typically the arbitration process moves faster than in a court.

Manigault Newman has 14 days to respond to the Trump campaign’s demand for arbitration.

The media has noted that nondisclosure agreements were common in the Trump organization, as they are in many businesses. And administration aides said that White House officials were also required to sign one.

Often described as the “villain” on Trump’s TV show, The Apprentice, Manigault Newman has remained part of the president’s world for years. She was in the first season of the show. He brought her into the White House as a community liaison but several aides said she was a disruptive force who did not help the president much.

She drew controversy when she brought her bridal party into the White House for a tour. Axios called her time inside the West Wing a “reign of terror.”

Has no one ever noticed that Trump always seems to pick high profile media fights with black celebrities? It sure excites his racist base. He's far worse than even Nixon in this regard. Now, how about introducing a new character into the season? "My name is Lynne Patton and I am a senior official in the Trump Administration." She was the event planner who Trump appointed to head Region II (New York and New Jersey) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She did the planning for Eric Trump's wedding, worked in casting for The Apprentice in 2012, and also claimed, on her Facebook page, that she went to Yale, which Yale denies. The Trumps always roll her out when they need a black person to say they're not racists. I don't know if she gets paid extra for that or not. Remember when someone from the Trumpanzee Regime called April Ryan, the White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, "Miss Piggy?" That wast Trump had her put out yesterday:

White House leadership, both past and present, can confirm that I was the closest confidante & friend to Ms. Manigault-Newman during her tenure at the White House, Transition and Campaign-- texting and speaking multiple times per day.

To that end, Omarosa attempted to contact me just two days ago, but I refused to accept her call.

Like Ms. Manigault-Newman, I have also known and worked for both the President and his family for over a decade and am confident that they would collectively confirm that I know them far better than she.

To be clear, at no time did I participate in a conference call with Katrina Pierson advising me, Jason Miller and Omarosa Manigault-Newman that Frank Luntz had heard President Donald J. Trump use a derogatory racial term-- a claim that Luntz himself has also denied.

What I can confirm is the following:

On December 12, 2017, at approximately 11:30PM (EST)-- a date I now know to be the evening Omarosa was relieved of her official duties by General Kelly-- I received a telephone call from her informing me that she had personally heard a second-hand recording of President Trump using the “N-word” in a derogatory fashion.

She proceeded to tell me the full name of the individual who played this second-hand tape for her, from whom the primary audio tape had originated, as well as the specific context of the President’s usage of this term and to whom the derogatory term was allegedly directed.

Omarosa also proceeded to inform me that she had officially submitted her resignation to General Kelly and that I should promptly do the same before the audio surfaced.

The next morning, I immediately notified senior communications officials and a Trump family member of the same, only to discover the true nature of her departure was termination.

Today, the individual who Omarosa confirmed to me as having played the second-hand audio recording to her last year confirmed that they have no tape, never had possession of a tape, never claimed to have possession of a tape and never played such a tape for Ms. Manigault-Newman.

Tonight, on the MSNBC program, Hardball, Omarosa revealed to the general public what she had told me last December: That former Apprentice producer, Bill Pruitt, was the original source of the “N-word” tape. Bill Pruitt is a mutual friend.

I just spoke to Bill Pruitt tonight before releasing this statement.

He confirmed to me (before Hardball had even gone off the air) that he does NOT have an audio tape of President Trump using the “N-word” and has NEVER had an audio tape of President Trump using the “N-word.” Period.

Suffice it to say that the past few weeks have been wrought with disappointment, immense sadness, anger and outright disgust.

Based upon her conflicting accounts and the newfound information revealed in my statement, it should be abundantly clear to everyone that not only is her book a complete work of fiction, but that the existence of this elusive “N-word” tape is a figment of her imagination and merely a destructive tool of manipulation applied only when it best serves her interests.

Like countless other minorities and women, the President has given me the opportunity of a lifetime to rise up through the ranks of The Trump Organization and now proudly serve this country.

Therefore, unless directed otherwise, this will be my only statement on this baseless accusation and imaginary audio tape, as falsely claimed by a former friend.

My primary and sole focus remains the low-income and public housing residents of New York & New Jersey, as the President would expect it to be-- and as the President has hired me to do.

Thank you. 🇺🇸 #MAGA