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During his chaotic 77-minute press conference on Thursday, President Donald Trump was on the defensive about his relationship with Russia. One key point he made, attempting to prove that that he wasnt soft on Moscow, was to paint the previous administration as weak in handling the Kremlin by claiming again that Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 percent of our uranium as secretary of state.

Heres what he actually said during a rambling attempt to convince reporters that his Russia strategy was sound and not the product of some covert relationship that compromises the integrity of his policies:

By the way, it would be great if we could get along with Russia. Just so you understand that. Tomorrow, you will say, "Donald Trump wants to get along with Russia; this is terrible." It is not terrible.

It is good. We had Hillary Clinton try to do a reset. We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country. You know what uranium is, right? Its this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.

But nobody talks about that. I did not do anything for Russia. I've done nothing for Russia. Hillary Clinton gave them 20 percent of our uranium. Hillary Clinton did a reset, remember, with the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch of jerks?

The very first part of what Trump said, about it being desirable to get along with Russia, makes sense. It might seem counterintuitive during a time when much of the American public is enraged at Russia for allegedly engaging in election-related cyberattacks and finds the idea of cooperating with its authoritarian government to be distasteful. But powerful countries getting along as well as they can with their powerful rivals can be a good thing, as it makes it less likely that they'll end up in costly conflict with each other, even if their interests are at odds on many matters. And that is indeed why, as he points out, the Obama administration made serious attempts to try to improve US-Russian ties.

But the claim that Clinton gave 20 percent of Americas uranium to Russia is incorrect and clearly misleading. Trump is referring to Russias nuclear power agency purchasing a majority stake in a Toronto-based energy company between 2009 and 2013. The company had mines and land in a number of US states with huge uranium production capacity a move the US State Department signed off on. But PolitiFact did a thorough fact-check of the claim last year when Trump first made it on the campaign trail, and found the following faults with it:

The general inaccuracy of Trumps claim isnt surprising; at this point, it would be more shocking if he strung together five minutes worth of sentences that werent packed with falsehoods and lies.

But his misleading comments are in service of a broader goal: to push back against the notion that hes at Vladimir Putins beck and call. Trump wants to make the case that the Obama administration is the real culprit when it comes to being too easy on the Kremlin by catering to its geopolitical interests for little in exchange. And hes exaggerating points about uranium to make that case.

By contrast, Trump vows that hes done nothing for Russia. Thats not really true. Trump has constantly pushed back against the intelligence communitys claims about Russias interference with the US election, and said that even if theyre true, he doesnt understand all the fuss about it making it less likely that the GOP will investigate Russias conduct rigorously. And his open embrace of Putin in the public sphere for many years has helped boost the Russian leaders stature among the nationalist right in the US and Europe as a strong leader and a vital ally against Islamist terrorism around the world.

Theres also the possibility that Trumps team has in fact floated concrete gifts to Putin. We know that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, spoke about sanctions with the Russian ambassador on the phone the very day that Obama slapped new sanctions on Russian intelligence agencies for their role in using cyberattacks to interfere with the presidential election. While we cant confirm the substance of the call, two government officials claimed in interviews with the Washington Post that Flynn cautioned Russia against reciprocating Obamas sanctions because Trump would be in a position to lift them when he entered office. If thats true, that might in part explain why Putin overrode his own foreign minister in declaring that hed wait for the next administration before reacting to sanctions.

Theres plenty of evidence that suggests Trump simply really likes Russia. Hell use whatever points he can to distract from it.

Originally posted here:
No, Hillary Clinton did not "give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in the US - Vox

February 20 House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) announced today that the impeachment proceeding against President Hillary Clinton would proceed directly to a vote of the full House.

We know everything we need to know, said Goodlatte. This woman belongs in prison, or worse, for the high crime of treason.

House Speaker Paul Ryan added, We knew Hillary Clinton was incompetent and we knew she was corrupt. But trading favors with Vladimir Putin to throw the election, and to enrich the Clinton business interests, is a new low, even for the Clintons.

I dont want to pre-judge this, since the Senate still needs to vote to convict, added Senate leader Mitch McConnell, but her behavior makes Benedict Arnold look like a patriot.

We now know, said Goodlatte, citing the bill of impeachment, that the Clinton campaign did the following:

Several senior aides in the campaign were in regular contact with Russian intelligence. They signaled the Russian leadership that a Clinton administration would give the Russians a freer hand to pursue expansionary objectives. In return, the Russians hacked into the Trump campaigns confidential internal communications. All this while the Clintons had extensive business interests in Russia.

Even now, an unrepentant Clinton has doubled down on her disgusting habit of selling out the security of the United States for the business interests of her family. China. After feigning a tougher on Chinese, Clinton abruptly backed down and confirmed Americas One China policy and the Chinese government suddenly violated its own laws to resolve a long-blocked trademark dispute in the Clintons favor.

McConnell added, Pathetically, the Democrats have focused on the leaks, by patriotic members of the intelligence community. They liked the leaks just fine when they were coming from Putin. During the campaign, candidate Clinton even urged Putin to provide more leaks of confidential Republic campaign conversations.

This is far worse than Watergate, said Ryan, Because it involved meddling by Americas most treacherous global rival; and because unlike in 1972, it actually altered the election results. I cant believe that only a handful of Democrats are concerned about this.

Okay, the shoe is on the other foot. Most Republicans have reversed their longstanding view of the Russian threat rather than embarrass Donald Trump. Its breathtaking. Theyre okay with having Putin be the dominant world leader as long as Republicans get their tax cuts, deregulation, Supreme Court, and dismantling of government.

With a handful of exceptions, the Republicans already concluded that selling out America in exchange for partisan goals is an acceptable deal. Hypocrisy is rampant in politics, but this takes it to an unimagined extreme.

A curious question for this Republic is whether its better or worse that our would-be dictator is so thoroughly incompetent and disorganized. You might say that a more competent demagogue would do even more damage. By now, he would have a fully staffed administration in place. There would be less chaos, less infighting, and a more consistent game plan.

At the same time, Trumps very weirdness makes him that much more dangerous. Trumps approval ratings keep dropping, but its a long way to 2018. The question is which pays the price first the Republicans or the Republic.

Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis Universitys Heller School. His latest book is Debtors Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility. http://www.amazon.com/Debtors-Prison-Politics-Austerity-Possibility/dp/0307959805

Like Robert Kuttner on Facebook: http://facebook.com/RobertKuttner

Originally posted here:
The Impeachment Of Hillary Clinton - Huffington Post

WASHINGTON Zac Petkanas thought he was done with politics after the 2016 election. He was ready to move into the private sector or maybe chase a dream job in the art world.

Then his boss, Hillary Clinton, lost.

Within 48 hours infuriated by the Cabinet prospects being floated by Donald Trumps transition team, like Wisconsin sheriff David Clarke for homeland security secretary Petkanas had decided he couldnt change careers yet.

Tuesday was the election. Wednesday I was sleepless and tired and very sad, he said. And Thursday I got extremely angry.

Petkanas quickly transitioned from Clintons director of rapid response a role that made him the campaigns chief Trump hit man to director of the Democratic National Committees war room, where hed lead the partys resistance to Trumps actions.

The signals that were coming out of the White House lit a fire under a lot of people, Petkanas said. He re-engaged a whole slew of people, talented people, driven people, to stay in the fight.

In the three months since her defeat, Clinton has mostly faded from the political stage. She has tweeted support for the Womens March last month and criticized Trumps moves to limit immigration.

But many of her former staffers especially mid-level Brooklyn veterans are now on the front lines of the lefts anti-Trump resistance.

Many say theyre apoplectic over revelations that top Trump advisers were in constant contact with Russians known to US intelligence during the campaign.

Some ex-Clinton staffers have moved into Democratic organizations that are shifting their focus to opposing Trump such as Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon, now a senior adviser to Priorities USA; policy adviser Corey Ciorciari, now helming the Center for American Progress war rooms policy and research efforts; and Cristobal Alex, Clintons national deputy director of voter outreach and mobilization, who is now the president of the Latino Victory Fund.

Others are racing to fill the holes in the Democratic Party exposed by Novembers results, in an effort to help activists newly energized by Trumps victory strike back in upcoming elections, at congressional town halls and more.

Clinton veterans new projects

One example many Clinton veterans point to: Run for Something, which launched on Trumps Inauguration Day with the goal of recruiting, training and funding first-time candidates for office.

It was co-founded by Amanda Litman, the Clinton campaigns email director, who said in the immediate aftermath of the election, she was looking for a new challenge after several years in online fundraising.

After the election, though, she said she and other Clinton staffers felt like they had failed.

Once we got over the shock and the sadness and the heavy drinking catching up on sleep, cleaning my apartment for the first time in six months a bunch of us were talking about different things, she said. Do you stay in politics because its incredibly important? Do you leave because youre so cynical and jaded and feel like the work weve been doing doesnt matter?

Once Litman chose the first option, she leaned heavily on Clinton campaign staffers.

She said Run for Something was built through volunteer efforts of Clinton veterans: The campaigns website director built Run for Somethings website for free; Clintons finance team helped Litman figure out how to raise money. Many of its 1,000 operatives who have volunteered to help future candidates are Clinton alumni.

Litman said friends asked her why she wasnt spending more time going out and relaxing after the election. But she came to feel like she had two options: working, or yelling at the television as news of Trumps transition moves came in.

One is productive and one scares my dog, she said.

Fueling the Trump resistance

Litman met her co-founder, Ross Morales Rocketto, through his wife, former Clinton digital staffer Jess Morales Rocketto who is now organizing airport protests and consulting for United We Dream and the National Domestic Workers Alliance in fighting Trumps executive order banning immigration from seven majority Muslim countries.

Other Clinton staffers are filling out the offices of rising Democratic stars like California Sen. Kamala Harris who hired ex-Clinton aides Lily Adams and Tyrone Gayle to lead her communications shop. Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal hired Clinton veteran Omer Farooque as communications director.

Clinton campaign rapid response team veteran Jesse Lehrich is leading communications for Organizing for Action, while Clinton rapid response spokeswoman Adrienne Watson is the Democratic National Committees national press secretary.

Another former Clinton communications staffer, Xochitl Hinojosa, is advising former Labor Secretary Tom Perez who has called on party members to treat Trump as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell treated Obama, opposing him at every turn in his bid for Democratic National Committee chairman.

Jimmy Dahman, a Clinton field organizer in Iowa and then Ohio, has launched TownHallProject.com where he and a team of volunteers have made a point of tracking every town hall, coffee meeting or other opportunity for constituents to reach their congressional delegation.

His sites database of upcoming meetings has served as a crucial tool for progressives to identify upcoming events to attend and protest.

Dahman decided to launch the volunteer-driven project after watching a crowd of 100 spontaneously show up at a town hall held by Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, to protest his support for repealing Obamacare.

I thought, I wonder how many people feel the same way but didnt know the event exists, he said.

Former Clinton deputy national press secretary Jesse Ferguson, senior adviser Leslie Dach and communications department chief of staff Lori Lodes are all consulting for Protect Our Care, the coalition fighting Trump and congressional Republicans over the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Ferguson cited Clintons oft-repeated Methodist creed do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.

Its one that many of us took to heart, he said. Theres no better example for the idea that you get knocked down, you have to pick yourself back up. She taught us that and, for a lot of the staff, theyre going to go and live that idea.

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What Hillary Clinton's staffers are doing after election loss - wtvr.com

When Hillary Clinton conceded the presidential race to Donald Trump, her speech was dignified, but also tinged with a little sadness at the fact that the U.S. would have to keep waiting for its first female president.

However, a group of young women in California seized upon her words of hope for women everywhere and adapted parts of her Clintons speech into a heart-rending anthem.

To All the Little Girls was composed by 13-year-old Isolde Fair who, along with her all-girls music theory class at Sol La Music Academy in Santa Monica, performed the song and posted the performance on YouTube.

The message is that all girls (and women) should never doubt that they are valuable and powerful and can have their dreams come true, Fair wrote in the description.

The song samples the following passage from Clintons concession speech, along with some original lyrics by Fair:

And to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.

The dramatic yet stripped down performance is really incredible for someone so young, and Clinton herself congratulated the girls on the songs.

Watch the full performance below.

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Teenage Singer Adapts Hillary Clinton's Concession Speech into Powerful Anthem - Out Magazine

Lesli Margherita always has something amazing up her sleeve and this time she has pulled together a scathing and hilarious re-write of HAMILTON's "You'll Be Back". Addressed to Trump supporters feeling that buyer's remorse as the presidential administration draws constant attention for gaffs and bumps, Margherita as Hillary Clinton lounges in a pantsuit and fuzzy hot pink slippers and reminds the country what could have been.

Prior to a return to Matilda, to Margherita most recently starred as Mona Kent in the Broadway premiere of Dames at Sea. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Zorro the Musical in London's West End. Fancy. Go to leslimargherita.com to see her other fancy jobs, like starring opposite Taye Diggs & Topher Grace in the upcoming feature Opening Night. She wrote a book, Neckpunch and Carry On (available on iTunes) and her cabaret shows continue to be performed across the country.

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STAGE TUBE: Margherita's Hillary Clinton Sends Out a Message to Trump Supporters: 'You'll Be Back' - Broadway World