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The first statements from Donald Trumps defense team in the impeachment trial in the Senate on Tuesday included multiple big, instantly refutable lies, such as White House counsel Pat Cipollones claim that no Republicans were allowed into the secret hearings held in the House, orthat Republicans werent allowed to call witnesses. But among a laundry list of talking points disconnected from reality, there was one that stood out: the claim that Trump did nothing wrong because President Barack Obama also withheld funds, from Egypt.

Obama did withhold funds. He did so when, between the time Congress allocated funds and the time the Pentagon approved their release, military forces in Egypt mounted a coup. Not only were those funds not approved to be sent, not only did Obama notify Congress that they were being withheld, but members of Congress insisted that the funds not be turned over. That included pleas from Sen. Lindsey Graham to hold the funds. But as the House team continues to lay out its case, and Republicans wait for their chance, it appears that Obama did it too is going to be the go-to argument from Team Trump.

Overnight, Sen. Marsha Blackburntweeted out a listof supposed holds placed by Obama (not all of which appear to be real). Then Sen. John Cornyn joined in, bothon Twitterand in an interview, to expand the claimnot just to Obama, but to administrations going back to Nixon. Neither Cornyn nor Blackburn claimed that Obama withheld funds so that he could twist the armof a foreign leader so hed give him a personal political advantage. So far.But it seems likely that they will, as the Obama-did-it-too meme becomes the latest attempt from the Republican side to distract from Trumps crimes.

Of course, theres more that Blackburn and Cornyn are ignoring than just the lack of a quid pro quo in any of Obamas foreign assistance delays. Every aid package has qualifications that have to be met in order for the aid to be approved. Legislation authorizing foreign assistance routinely includes review by agencies that have to sign off that goals have been achieved in advance of the release. In the case of 2019 assistance to Ukraine, that responsibility was assigned to the Department of Defense, which completed its review on May 23 with a conclusion that Ukraine had met required goals on both fighting corruption and promoting democracy.

What happened in past delays was often simply that the certifying agencies found issues, or that, as in the case of Egypt, conditions on the ground had changed significantly between the time the legislation was passed and the time the funds were slated to go out. In some cases, the result was further review before funds were eventually released. In some cases, the result was a more prolonged delay: Egypt didnt get any funds from the U.S. for almost two years, until the State Department was satisfied that the new president wasnt just a puppet of the military. In every case, both Congress and the public were aware not just that there was a delay, but of the reasons for the delay.

In the case of Trump and Ukraine, the assistance was approved by the Department of Defense just two months after the election of a new Ukrainian president who ran on an anticorruption platform. Then Trump placed a hold on the fundsin secret. He provided no reason for the delay. The DOD was instructed not to talk about the delay. Congress was not informed of the delay. No reason was ever given for the delay. And the delay remained in place until 1) the delay wasnt just obvious, but also the subject of public articles, 2) multiple senators contacted the White House expressing concern, 3) three separate House investigations were opened, 4) the White House counsel informed Trump that the whistleblower report was circulating, and 5) the intelligence community inspector general determined that the whistleblower report was urgent. Then Trump released the funds, and Republicans began to make up explanationsfor the holdexplanations that shifted on a nearly daily basis during the House impeachment hearings.

Other foreign assistance packages have been delayed. For good reasons. With notification of and cooperation from Congress.

Try again, Republicans. Try again.

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Republicans play the Obama did it too card on military assistance and of course theyre lying - AlterNet

Its been said that behind every great man is a great woman. In Prince Harrys case, its three wealthy and media-savvy women.

On Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced a deal had been reached for Harry and Meghan Markle to relinquish their official duties as members of the British royal family. They have agreed not to use His/Her Royal Highness, and will repay the state the costs of renovating their U.K. base, Frogmore Cottage. But theyre now free to pursue their own business opportunities overseas.

In a statement, Queen Elizabeth said she was proud of how quickly Meghan had become one of the family, adding: Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family.

Last week, the couple announced they work to become financially independent and live between U.K. and North America. Free from the ribbon-cutting duties of royal life, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on the brink of becoming a global-media power couple, with or without their royal titles. Their Instagram FB, +0.69% account has 10.9 million followers, adding 700,000 in one week.

Pearson said that the couple stripped of their ability to use HRH on their website and products will do their best to leverage their fame and royal connections in the U.S. to build a personal brand much like Gwyneth Paltrows Goop, and as Markle previously did with TIG. (Forbes recently named reality TV star Kylie Jenner, 22, the youngest self-made billionaire ever.)

Harry receives an income from his father Prince Charles. Harry, who is already worth several million dollars, owes his fortune to three famous women: his mother, the late Princess Diana, who became a global superstar; his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who steered the royals into the 20th and 21s Centuries, and his wife, Meghan Markle, an American-born self-made former actress.

Also see: Queen Elizabeths statement on Harry and Meghan: We would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family

Multiple newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph in the U.K., have reported that the queen was disappointed with the surprise announcement, and had asked the Sussexes to hold off on issuing a statement. When The Sun newspaper published a front-page story that the couple was contemplating a move to Canada, the Sussexes pushed the button on their statement.

Questions now linger over whether they will qualify for armed security if they live in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth, or the U.S. Markle previously lived in Toronto, where she still has a home, and Los Angeles. Their HRH titles would certainly have burnished their personal brands and commercial appeal, but they will remain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Ted Sarandos, Netflixs chief content officer, said he would be interested in speaking to the Sussexes about working together. Speaking at an event in Los Angeles over the weekend, he told the Press Association: Who wouldnt be interested? Yes, sure. Harry and Meghan will no longer be working members of the royal family after April, and will split their time between the U.K. and North America.

Harry is friends with former U.S. president Barack Obama, and will consider adopting the Obamas post-White House career model, some royal observers say. Barack and Michelle Obama reportedly signed an eight-figure deal with Netflix NFLX, +0.97% to produce high-brow historical, biographical and social-justice programming with their company, Higher Ground Productions.

Netflix would give the Sussexes a platform of 158 million paid subscribers and be a coup for the streaming service, which won critical praise for, The Crown, chronicling the life of Queen Elizabeth. (Netflix did not respond to request for comment.) Harry has already participated in a documentary on mental health with Oprah Winfrey, a friend of the couple, for Apple TV AAPL, +0.68%.

The media mogul responded to reports that she had helped the Sussexes navigate and negotiate their #Megxit as the royal scandal has been described in the U.K. press, a riff on #Brexit, the U.K.s protracted exit from the European Union. Meg and Harry do not need my help figuring out what is best for them, Oprah said in a statement, according to The New York Post.

Ashley Pearson, an American-born writer based in London who has been a royal commentator for two decades, said their powerful political and media connections will serve them well. She sees them leveraging their circle of boldfaced names: Their kind of lifestyle costs a fortune. However, one of the reasons they broke off from the royals is, in part, because they want to build their own brand.

Pearson believes Markle is the driving force to break free from the House of Windsor, suggesting that despite the privileges of royal life the negative press coverage was too much to bear. She had no idea how un-glamorous it really is to be a royal and, when she found out she would be a civil servant in a tiara she was, like, No way. The couples website is similar in tone to Obama.org.

The Sussexes have already cut their teeth in broadcast media. In 2017, Harry interviewed Barack Obama when he was the guest editor of BBC Radio 4s Today program and, last year, ITV in the U.K. broadcast Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, which aired in the U.S. on ABC DIS, -0.46% Another route: The Obamas reportedly inked a book deal for more than $65 million.

In a recently resurfaced video, as Meghan greeted Beyonce and Jay Z in a line at the opening of the movie The Lion King in London last July, Prince Harry told Disney chairman and chief executive Bob Iger, You know she does voiceovers? Iger responded, Oh, really? Ah, I did not know that, and laughed. Harry responded, You seem surprised. But, yeah, shes really interested.

Netflix is broadly unchanged at $339.7 over the last 12 months. However, Disney rose by 30% to $144.5 and Apple is up 103% at $318.5 over the same period, both outperforming the overall market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.38% is up 18.8% at 29,348.10 over the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.14% increased 24.7% at 3,329.62.

While the couples break for the border releases them from the drab ribbon-cutting, handshaking daily duties of royal life in the U.K., and should better shield themselves from the jaundiced coverage they have received at the hands of the British tabloids, their bid for financial independence is somewhat more complicated and will not require them to take up full-time jobs.

For a start, they will keep their U.K. base, Frogmore Cottage, their historic Grade II-listed house in Windsor, which was renovated for 2.4 British pounds ($3 million) by the British taxpayer. They have already built a strong royal/celebrity personal brand, breaking the traditional mold of the royal family. Their 2018 wedding was an unusual mixture of Hollywood and English aristocracy.

Harry, 35, on the other hand, inherited a sizable fortune after the death of his mother. He inherited approximately 7 million British pounds ($9.2 million) from his mothers estate, the BBC estimated. His father's side of the family is far richer worth more than $88 billion, according to Forbes including investments, properties, castles and land.

Harry, 35, on the other hand, inherited a sizable fortune after the death of his mother. He inherited approximately 7 million British pounds ($9.2 million) from his mothers estate, the BBC estimated. His father's side of the family is far richer worth more than $88 billion, according to Forbes including investments, properties, castles and land.

To be fair, Harry also reportedly earned an annual salary of $45,000 when he served as an officer in the Army Air Corps and approximately $52,000 a year while working as a helicopter pilot for the Army Air Corps, according to separate estimates by Forbes and Fortune magazines based on publicly available figures for salaries in the U.K. army.

Harry also has had a military career on the front lines. Prince Harry served in the Army for ten years, rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan, according to Buckingham Palace. He continues to work in support of his fellow servicemen, promoting support for wounded men and women as they adapt to life post-injury.

Also see: This entrepreneur landed funding from a male venture capitalist but she told him to take a hike after he texted her nude selfies

The Sussexes rely on Prince Charles first in line to the British throne for approximately 95% of their income. Prince Charles earns $23 million a year from the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate with more than $1.3 billion in assets. The Duchys financial accounts reveal a total income for fiscal 2017 of 37.2 million British pounds ($48.7 million), up 2.5% on the previous year.

Choosing Toronto or Vancouver as their overseas residence may make more financial sense than, say, L.A. or New York. In Canada, they are close enough to the U.S. without becoming embroiled in complex web of American tax law. Canada, for instance, does not impose a capital gains tax for homes that increase in value.

Markle lived there while filming Suits, and the couple spent the holidays in Canada, reportedly at a waterfront mansion on Vancouver Island. As Canada is part of the U.K. Commonwealth, it may be required to pay for security for the couple and their son, Archie. (Of possible interest for other couples moving there: Canadian divorce law generally splits all new marital wealth equally.)

Harrys late mother, Princess Diana who died at 36 in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by photographers had long battled the relentless, prying eyes of the British red tops, which dissected her every move in the years following her 1981 marriage to Prince Charles, and 1996 divorce. She had reportedly long dreamed of starting a new life in the U.S.

In a widely circulated article, Ellie Hall, a Buzzfeed reporter, compared Kates morning sickness cure? Prince William gifted with an avocado for pregnant Duchess with Meghan Markles beloved avocado linked to human rights abuse and drought, millennial shame, in the Express. The contrasting headlines appeared in the same papers and, sometimes, with the same bylines.

Two more appearing in the Daily Mail went thus, Hall reported. Kate and Wills Inc: Duke and Duchess secretly set up companies to protect their brand just like the Beckhams and, A right royal cash in! How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle trademarked over 100 items from hoodies to socks SIX MONTHS before split with monarchy with new empire worth up to 400m.

Markle flew back to Canada earlier this month amid reports she was driven out by, among other things, press coverage regarded as both overtly and covertly racist. Highlighting 20 headlines, Buzzfeed pointed to the different standards used to report on Kate Middleton wife of Prince William, second in line to the British throne and Markle, from child-rearing to eating avocado.

Markle acknowledged that she had a difficult time adapting to life with the often critical media attention in the U.K. Ive really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. Ive tried, Ive really tried, I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging, she said. The biggest thing that I know is that I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair.

The Queen acknowledged the difficulties in her statement Saturday: I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life, her statement read, adding, It is my whole familys hope that todays agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.

There appears to push back from Harrys circle to the avalanche of press in the U.K. criticizing the couples decision. Writing in The Sunday Times, Tom Bradby, a friend of Harrys who directed a documentary about the couple in Africa last year, said Buckingham Palace claimed to be blindsided by the couples announcement, but Bradby threw doubt on the palace line.

Bradby wrote that Harry was asked by senior members of the royal family to write a plan to move away. He was reluctant, on the grounds that such documents normally leak, Bradby wrote in a 1,600-word essay, Escape from the poisonous palace. He was persuaded and did as he was asked. (Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment from MarketWatch.)

The document, or its details, was shortly afterwards leaked to The Sun, Bradby added. He said the Sussexes had long faced unpleasantness from the family, saying some members were jealous and, at times, unfriendly, although excluded Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh from that assessment. The fallout began at the time of the wedding in 2018.

Speaking to Bradby for his documentary last year, she thanked him for asking how she was, and said not many people had asked if she were OK. In his essay Sunday, Bradby wrote that some members of the family (with the exception of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh) were jealous and, at times, unfriendly: Really damaging things were said and done. The atmosphere soured hard and early.

(This story was originally published on Jan. 8 and was updated on Jan. 19.)

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She found out she would be a civil servant in a tiara. Even without HRH titles, Meghan and Harrys #Megxit will make them rich beyond their wildest...

The Barack Obama year-end list extravaganza continued (ended?) on Monday, as the former president tweeted his favourite songs of the year. In the previous two days, hed posted his favourite books and movies, and were probably not getting a standalone TV list, since he already added a few shows to his movie list that he said he considered as powerful as movies. By now the annual tradition is expected, and in the replies to Obamas tweets any number of expressions of longing for the return of his cool-guy tastes to the White House can be found. Last week the New York Times published an op-ed titled In Praise of Barack Obama, Music Critic.

This year Obama seemed to signal his attunement to the diffuse state of popular music, where genre-agnosticism is often a virtue, by noting that his picks ranged from hip-hop to country to The Boss. He included American breakouts Lizzo and DaBaby, Nigerian artists Burna Boy and Rema, and Rosala and J Balvins 'Con Altura', although he omitted Balvins credit on the song. He said he was listening to this years folk rock darling Big Thief, and Indian artist Prateek Kuhad made it to his list with his popular heartbreak ditty, 'cold/mess'. He was well aware of 'Old Town Road', a song at the centre of all sorts of playlists, streaming records, and conversations this year but not quite as ubiquitous in the flurry of year-end lists. And he even waited until Kaytranada released a new album on December 13 to solidify his choices.

As ever, theres the sourcing question. What Spotify playlists, and which music advisers are involved here? Obamas book list raised some eyebrows, with its inclusion of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff, which, as the reporter and researcher Avi Ascher-Schapiro pointed out on Twitter, argues that the revolving door of personnel who migrated between Google & the Obama admin...helped fortify the surveillance capitalism business model.

Or is it more of a family matter? Back in Obamas second term, it didnt escape notice that his daughter Malia wore a Pro Era T-shirt.

Whatever the case, there are some relatively under-the-radar picks and opportunities for discovery here. Angelica Garcia put on a quiet, wonderful show in New York a few months ago in a 250-capacity room. On Monday she tweeted, I am tearing up right now. My grandma has kept your picture on her piano for 5 years. Thank you for listening @BarackObama.

Prateek Kuhad wrote on Instagram, "This just happened and I dont think Ill sleep tonight. Totally flipping out. I have no idea how cold/mess even reached him but thank you @barackobama, thank you universe I didnt think 2019 couldve gotten better, but damn was I wrong. What an honour."

Heres his full list:

A version of this article originally appeared on Vanityfair.com

Excerpt from:
Barack Obama Likes All Kinds of Music Too - VOGUE India

A former top official at the State Department wrote Thursday that violent protests that targeted the U.S. Embassy in Iraq were the result of President TrumpDonald John TrumpFive environmental fights to watch in 2020 Lawmakers close to finalizing federal strategy to defend against cyberattacks The 7 big Supreme Court cases to watch in 2020 MORE's foreign policies.

Wendy Sherman, former under secretary for political affairs during the Obama administration, wrote for USA Today thatTrump's failed attempts to deal with Iran and his withdrawal from the nucleardeal with Tehran resulted ina "combustible moment."

"It is President Donald Trumps failed policy toward Iran that has brought us to this combustible moment," she wrote.

"Even as the United States was confronting Iran over its nuclear program and malign behavior elsewhere, we maintained an uneasy coexistence in Iraq, where Tehran holds considerable sway," Sherman continued, adding that the coexistence"was destroyed when Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran nuclear deal."

Sherman went on to fault Trump for "diminishing" the State Department and other agencies she said the Obama administration relied on for diplomacy in such regions.

"Three years into his presidency, Donald Trump owns the events and outcomes in Iraq and Iran, as he does in North Korea, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Middle East, Russia, China and Hong Kong. Having diminished our State Department, intelligence agencies and military, the very institutions that could have helped him construct an effective national security and foreign policy, he is now on his own," she wrote.

Protesters at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad reportedly withdrew and claimed victory on Wednesday after camping outside the compound the previous night.

The protesters are now calling for the nation's parliament to push for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, according to The Washington Post.

On Tuesday, demonstrators stormed the embassy, setting fires and trashing furniture, in response to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq that targeted the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah. Those airstrikes, which killed 25 people over the weekend, followed the death of a U.S. contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.

Originally posted here:
Top Obama official: Trump to blame for attack on US Embassy in Iraq | TheHill - The Hill

Story Highlights

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Barack Obama and Donald Trump are tied this year as the most admired man. It is Obama's 12th time in the top spot versus the first for Trump. Michelle Obama is the most admired woman for the second year in a row.

Each year since 1948, Gallup has asked Americans to name, in an open-ended fashion, which man and woman living anywhere in the world they admire most. This year's results are based on a Dec. 2-15 poll.

Americans' choice for most admired man this year is sharply divided along party lines: 41% of Democrats name Obama, while 45% of Republicans choose Trump. Relatively few Democrats choose Trump and relatively few Republicans pick Obama, while independents' choices are divided about equally between the two men.

Most Admired Man, 2019, Overall and by Party

What man that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most?

After Obama and Trump, no other man was mentioned by more than 2% of respondents. The remainder of the top 10 for men this year includes former President Jimmy Carter, businessman Elon Musk, philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Pope Francis, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Dalai Lama, and investor Warren Buffett.

Eleven percent of Americans named a relative or friend as the man they admire most; 18% named some other living man; and 25% did not name anyone.

The incumbent president has typically been Americans' choice as the most admired man, having earned the distinction in 58 of the 72 prior Gallup polls. When the incumbent president is not the choice, it is usually because he is unpopular politically, which was the case for Trump in 2017 (36% approval rating) and 2018 (40%).

Trump is more popular now than he was in the past two years, with a 45% job approval rating, among his best as president. Coincident with the rise in his job approval rating, the 18% of Americans currently naming Trump as the most admired man is also up, from 13% in 2018 and 14% in 2017. Increased mentions of Trump as the most admired man have come almost exclusively among his fellow Republicans -- 32% of Republicans named Trump in 2018 and 35% did so in 2017.

Obama's 18% mentions among U.S. adults as the most admired man are in line with his 2018 (19%) and 2017 (17%) figures, all of which are high for a former president. Dwight Eisenhower is the only other former president who received double-digit mentions at any point after leaving office.

The post-presidency popularity for Obama and Eisenhower allowed each to finish first a record 12 times. Each man was named most admired man in the year he was elected president and all eight years he was in office, plus three additional years. Obama has finished first during the first three years after he left office, while Eisenhower won once before he ran for president (1950) and twice after leaving office (1967 and 1968).

Historically, it has been more common for a former first lady to be named the most admired woman than for a former president to be named most admired man. Michelle Obama is the sixth former first lady to win, along with Eleanor Roosevelt (1948-1950 and 1952-1961), Jacqueline Kennedy (1963-1966), Mamie Eisenhower (1969-1970), Betty Ford (1978) and Hillary Clinton (2002-2017).

The 10% naming Obama this year is down from 15% last year. The 2018 poll was conducted shortly after she released her bestselling autobiography.

Current first lady Melania Trump finished second this year, mentioned by 5%, with former talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Clinton and teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg named by 3% of U.S. adults each. The remainder of the top 10 for women includes Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Queen Elizabeth finished in the top 10 for the 51st time, more than any other woman. Winfrey (32 times) and Clinton (28) have also made regular appearances in the top 10. The Rev. Billy Graham has the most top 10 finishes for either gender: a total of 61 between 1955 and 2017 before his death last year.

Most Top 10 Finishes, Gallup Most Admired Poll

Sixteen percent of U.S. adults said they admire a female relative or friend most, while 21% mentioned another woman (outside the top 10) and 27% did not have an opinion.

As with the most admired man list, there are party differences in choice of most admired woman, though not to the same extreme. Michelle Obama was the choice of 23% of Democrats, 7% of independents and 2% of Republicans. Melania Trump was the top vote-getter among Republicans, at 11%.

Trump's popularity grew enough this year to allow him to tie Barack Obama as the most admired man, but not to end Obama's streak of 12 first-place finishes. The results reflect the significant party divide in the U.S., with Republicans overwhelmingly naming Trump and Democrats Obama, and few other men garnering significant mention.

Meanwhile, Obama's wife Michelle has been named as the most admired woman the past two years after 25 years that saw Hillary Clinton finish first 22 times. In fact, Obama has had stronger finishes in the past two years than during her eight years as first lady, when no more than 8% of Americans named her.

View complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

Link:
Obama, Trump Tie as Most Admired Man in 2019 - Gallup