Of course, this isn’t just any Fox News executive. Former co-president of Fox News Bill Shine was ousted from the conservative network in May 2017 after becoming embroiled in the high-profile sexual harassment scandal that had enveloped the outlet.

Shine oversaw the departure of former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, who was forced to resign after a 20-year career after former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed suit against him – and ultimately joined by others – who alleged sexual misconduct. He died shortly thereafter. Shine, for his part, remained a staunch defender of the serial abuser.

The move is yet another shameful indication of Fox News’ entrenchment in this administration. A network that once billed itself as “fair and balanced” – a title that it finally shed in a rare glimpse of self-acknowledgment – is not only serving as a mouthpiece for the administration, but staffing it. It’s American state propaganda.

Sadly, the move is not surprising either. Trump adding another unqualified shill whose shameful failure to protect women amid the #MeToo movement is par for the course in a White House that operates more like a C-grade reality show than the respected institution that it once was.

Follow Brian Tyler Cohen on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Trump just hired a man famous for covering up sexual abuse to a top White House job appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

Guccifer 2.0 had spent much of the election pretending to be a Romanian hacker who just so happened to have hacked the DNC simply because he could, even openly communicating with longtime Trump political advisor and notorious GOP political hitman Roger Stone.

By the time the dust had settled and Trump was in the Oval Office, it was fairly clear to the intelligence community and to international cybersecurity experts that Guccifer was not who he said he was – but it wasn’t until the hacker made a crucial mistake that his true identity was confirmed.

Guccifer used a virtual private network (VPN) to cloak his whereabouts and hide his digital tracks, but one day he simply forgot to turn it on before going online – and left a trail to a Moscow-based IP address – which was just the breadcrumb we needed to find.

The Daily Beast reports that “working off the IP address, U.S. investigators identified Guccifer 2.0 as a particular GRU officer working out of the agency’s headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow.”

Take action now to demand Congress stop Trump from firing Special Prosecutor Mueller!

The GRU, or General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate in English, is the Russian military’s intelligence agency.

This is obviously a monumental development that is the first concrete link between the Trump campaign, by way of campaign adviser Roger Stone, to the hacked emails from Wikileaks, to agents of the Russian Federation.

Not a Russian aluminum magnate, not an Azerbaijani pop star, not some ex-con real estate thug, nor a Belorussian sex worker, but a member of the Russian military establishment who takes orders directly from President Vladimir Putin.

Needless to say, things are about to get very interesting in Washington. 

Original reporting by Spencer Akerman and Kevin Poulsen @ Daily Beast

The post Reports just revealed the first concrete link between Trump campaign and Russian military intelligence appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

Among the performers at the concert was Luke Combs, a featured artist of “NRA Country,” an arm of the gun rights organization that has partnered with the country music industry for the past several years in effort to reach younger audiences.

NRA Country sponsored Luke Combs as their “Featured Artist” for November, and he conducted a promotion with the gun lobby’s group, whose infamous insistence of absolute gun rights has long been the most feared voice in the Republican political universe.

Combs’ sponsorship is part of the NRA’s outreach to young people, who they desperately need to persuade that America’s hideous gun violence is normal in the face of every other civilized country in the world having sensible gun laws. The NRA’s website explains:

NRA Country is a celebration of American values. Respect. Honor. Freedom. It’s a lifestyle and a bond between the best and brightest in country music and hard-working Americans.

NRA Country will be involved in causes that defend our values and it will empower our artist friends who promote these values to encourage our next generation of leaders.

Shamefully, Combs has posted multiple messages on social media about his own safety, yet steadfastly refuses to speak to his 700,000 social media followers about the lax gun laws that permit literally anyone off the street to buy high-volume magazines and assault-style rifles, which ultimately led to the mass murder of his fans at a show.

Luke Combs has taken to social media three times since the Las Vegas massacre. hasn’t once addressed the root cause of the murder of 58 of his fans and injury to over 400 people, which is about 1 of every 50 people who paid to see his act.

He hasn’t once addressed the root cause of the murder of 58 of his fans and injury to over 400 people, which is about 1 of every 50 people who paid to see his act.

Active shooter at @Route91Harvest in Vegas. We're safe. Love you guys.

— Luke Combs (@LukeCombsMusic) October 2, 2017

Me, the band, and crew are all safe. Been a long night, gonna try to get some sleep. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

— Luke Combs (@LukeCombsMusic) October 2, 2017

As the NRA’s top performer at the Route 91 Country Music festival tragedy, Luke Combs is in a unique position to speak out against the gun laws that led to his fans being murdered, virtually in front of his eyes.

Combs could tell his fans that the only way they’ll truly be safe from mass murder at his shows is if laws are passed to restrict the casual ownership, purchase, and resale of high-powered AR-15-style weapons and expanded magazines.

But Luke Combs hasn’t said a single word about the NRA’s tragic gun laws which culminated in last night’s outrageous tragedy.

The NRA has politicized country music, their pro-gun laws have wounded country music fans, so now is the time to speak about America’s problem with gun violence and the terrible laws that enable mass murder.

The post An NRA-Sponsored Band Played At The Las Vegas Music Festival Right Before The Shooting appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

“More than 50 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in modern American history when a “lone wolf” gunman opened fire into an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night, police said.

More than 200 people were injured in the mass shooting as performer Jason Aldean was on the stage, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference.

The gunman was identified by law enforcement officials as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nevada.”

Add your name to demand Trump & Congress act to prevent gun violence. THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE NOT ENOUGH!

According to CNN:

“Authorities believe they have found the woman who was traveling with the suspect.

The post The Deadliest Mass Shooting In U.S. History Just Happened In Vegas, Suspect Identified appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

The Senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, is understandably infuriated by the news and voiced her displeasure with our cruel president on Twitter (below).

Senator McCain cast the 51st and deciding vote against the Senate’s original Trumpcare bill this summer with a dramatic and unexpected thumb-down toward Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Axios reports that Trump has been mimicking and mocking the gesture from McCain who has limited use of his arms due to his years locked in a Vietnamese torture cell. During the campaign, Trump ridiculed McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, saying “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Certainly, we can and should have political disagreements with McCain, but respect for his service should be a given. It takes a special kind of hypocrisy to simultaneously denigrate black athletes for kneeling during the National Anthem and ridicule the disabilities that a war hero incurred in his service to our country. 

Once again, Trump’s actions are truly shameful. Today, Meghan McCain speaks for all of us.

What more must my family be put through right now? This is abhorrent. https://t.co/xJmFdh93xL

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) September 27, 2017

The post Meghan McCain Responds To Reports Trump Made Fun Of Her Father’s Physicality appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

He opened his morning tirade with some extremely unsubtle shots at Senate Republicans for failing three times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Trump promised to do on his first day in office,  demanding that they repeal the filibuster rule even though they couldn’t even reach the necessary 50 votes before the end of the reconciliation period, meaning that it wouldn’t have helped anyway.

With one Yes vote in hospital & very positive signs from Alaska and two others (McCain is out), we have the HCare Vote, but not for Friday!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

We will have the votes for Healthcare but not for the reconciliation deadline of Friday, after which we need 60. Get rid of Filibuster Rule!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

In dire need of a target to blame for his historically unproductive first eight months in office, he turned back to his favorite whipping boy to blame for his laziness and incompetence, the mainstream media, accusing them of being in “collusion” with… who or what, exactly, is unclear.

He targeted Facebook for the first time as well, even though one of the biggest stories in the news these days is about how Facebook sold advertisements to Russians, who used the ads to flood social media with pro-Trump messages. 

Facebook was always anti-Trump.The Networks were always anti-Trump hence,Fake News, @nytimes(apologized) & @WaPo were anti-Trump. Collusion?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

..But the people were Pro-Trump! Virtually no President has accomplished what we have accomplished in the first 9 months-and economy roaring

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

The only President to have accomplished less in his first nine months in office was William Henry Harrison, who caught pneumonia at his inauguration and died a month into his term.

The louder he boasts about his accomplishments, the more hollow they ring and the more pathetic he looks. At this point, no matter how hard the mainstream media tries to will a Trump pivot into reality, it’s obvious that Trump has no interest in governance and no interest in actually doing anything.

The post Trump Just Made Bizarre Collusion Accusations In This Morning’s Twitter Rant appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

Federal law makes it a crime for the President to wrongfully influence a private entity’s employment decisions, such as calling for a reporter to be fired for speaking out for partisan political reasons. In fact, the President is expressly included in the ethics law Congress set forth to prevent Presidents from using the “bully pulpit” in a fascist manner to direct the efforts of private businesses.

Our Constitution’s First Amendment protects the right to free speech and no public servant, not even the President, is allowed to tell an American citizen what they may or may not say. The Democratic Coalition released this statement along with the complaint:

Here's my full statement regarding Trump's #TakeAKnee comments, which led to the ethics complaint filed against him by @TheDemCoalition. pic.twitter.com/G79NeP25Ix

— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) September 25, 2017

Today’s criminal ethics complaint against Trump is punishable by fines, and up to 15 years in prison if the President is ultimately charged, tried and convicted of the crime.

The relevant part of the federal law 18 USC 227 (a)2 reads:

Whoever, being a covered government person, with the intent to influence, solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation, an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity influences, or offers or threatens to influence, the official act of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 15 years, or both, and may be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

In this section, the term “covered government person” means the President, Vice President, an employee of the United States Postal Service…

President Trump’s comments also raise the specter of abusing his powers of office to retaliate against the NFL for his past business mismanagement problems.

Trump famously sued the NFL under anti-trust laws in the 1980s as part of the competing USFL, and the jury even found in favor of his then-defunct league.

Trump won an embarrassingly pyrrhic victory in court when the jury found in his favor, but only awarded him a penalty of $3 after the jury noted his partners described the league’s problem as “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

The USFL promptly folded, like most of Trump’s business ventures.

President Trump just spent his entire weekend flying to Alabama to attack an African-American athlete, and then followed it up with a hail of official statements on Twitter going after multiple athletes and urging sports leagues to fire them.

Yet, he defended the Nazis in Charlottesville multiple times; those who participated in events leading to Heather Hayer’s bloody murder on the streets, in broad daylight.

But this latest Democratic Coalition complaint points out that President Trump’s actions aren’t just the acts of a plain and open white supremacist; Trump’s racist statements are being made for partisan political reasons and are therefore illegal.

In America, nobody is above the law, especially not laws explicitly written by Congress to keep the President’s stubby, meddling hands out of private business decisions.

The post Trump Was Just Slapped With A Criminal Ethics Complaint Over His Attacks On Black Athletes appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

The Trump campaign and Republican party spent literally two entire years propagandizing their voters about the terrors of Hillary Clinton legal use of private email systems, yet this marks the second private email scandal in as many days for President’s two senior advisors bratty children, whom he nepotistically hired to run America.

Watchdog group American Oversight found the emails by using a Freedom of Information Act request and it turns out that for the purpose of secretly emailing Trump’s former donors about official business, Ivanka uses her married name, Kushner. Newsweek reports:

Ivanka Trump, the first daughter and adviser to the president, used a personal email address to communicate with a government official after her father took office, according to documents that the nonprofit American Oversight obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and shared exclusively with Newsweek.

The documents show that on February 28, Trump—identifying herself as Ivanka Kushner—emailed Linda McMahon, the administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, from a personal domain. At the time, Trump was operating inside the White House in a nonofficial capacity.

She wrote that she wanted McMahon’s agency and her staff to “explore opportunities to collaborate” on issues related to “women’s entrepreneurship.” She copied on the correspondence the government email addresses of two other federal employees, Dina Powell and Julie Radford.

When Clinton was Secretary of State, her private email server was allowed, but the Obama Administration ended the practice after she left office.

Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump advised her daddy, the racist President, from virtually day one in the White House and as a member of the First Family was entitled to an official email account right away. She met Canadian President Justin Trudeau and attended other White House events while scribbling away secret notes to the taxpayers’ public servants her daddy’s cronies.

Ironically, her husband Jared Kushner was also caught using a private email account just this weekend, which he used to secretly communicate with Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Gary Cohn amongst others, after the election and early in the Administration.

Newsweek has consistently been a leader in seeking out the secretive private email accounts our (heretofore all) Republican elected officials are abusing in the White House.

They caught the Bush Administration deleting evidence of their war crimes and must more, when they exposed 22 million emails were deleted, including many about their big lies deployed to urge America into a perpetual war in Iraq.

Infamous Republican strategist Karl “Bush’s Brain” Rove used private email accounts from the Republican National Committee to run his culture wars from the White House in complete secret.

This past December, one of their reports busted the Trump transition team working directly with the very same Republican National Committee to create a secret email system to avoid detection, which they shut down after the news broke.

Today’s news that Ivanka Trump is abusing the use of private email – long after the practice has been banned in the executive branch – shows utter contempt for the American people and is part of the Trump regime’s earnest attempts to be the least transparent administration in American history.

If not for courageous government watchdogs like American Oversight – who Rachel Maddow featured on MSNBC just two weeks ago – we would never know about the Executive Branch’s stunning abuse of power and secrecy to cover it all up.

The post Newsweek Just Caught Ivanka Trump Using Personal Email For Federal Business appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

Jordon once, according to reports that were never verified, refused to endorse a black candidate in a North Carolina Senate race against a long time racist, Jesse Helms, with the quip: “Republicans buy sneakers too.”

These days in his retirement Jordon is the managing partner of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team – in North Carolina, where the far right wing controls most political offices – and he has once again tried to stay away from sensitive political issues.

Until now.

This weekend, even Jordon spoke out after President Trump at a rally in Alabama on Friday that owners of NFL teams should take action against player’s peaceful protests – including taking a knee when the national anthem is played – by having the team owner say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. He’s fire. He’s fired.”

Trump may be recycling his line from his days on The Apprentice, but Jordon made clear that this time the president is not the boss.

On Sunday evening, Jordon told the Charlotte Observer newspaper that athletes who protest, taking a knee or otherwise carrying out peaceful protests, should not be “demonized.”

“One of the fundamental rights this country is founded on was freedom of speech,” said Jordon, “and we have a long tradition of nonviolent, peaceful protest. Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized.”

“At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country,” added Jordon, “we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division.”

“I support Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA, its players and all those who wish to exercise their right to free speech,” concluded Jordon.

Jordon’s reference to the professional basketball league, which obviously also applied to pro football, put him on record along with other NBA team owners, players, and even the league’s commissioner, as rejecting Trump’s call to treat protesters as pariahs.

The NBA was drawn into Trump’s tirade last week after Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry – arguably the greatest player active in the game today – said he would not go to the White House to meet with Trump, who was to honor him and his team for winning the world championship of pro basketball last season.

In response, Trump withdrew his offer for a visit to the entire team n a tweet.

Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

Trump’s withdrawal of an invitation – which had actually not yet been formalized – came shortly after Curry’s position was discussed on the morning show Fox & Friends, which Trump is known to frequently watch.

Fox & Friends, 20 minutes before Trump's tweet pic.twitter.com/vyGKjQtgxZ

— Stefan Becket (@becket) September 23, 2017

“Visiting the president in D.C. is customary for American championship teams,” reported Sports Illustrated online. “Curry, head coach Steve Kerr and other members of the Warriors have been outspoken against president Donald Trump, his policies and his stances on social issues in the past, and Curry’s comments then come as little surprise after he said the same thing in June.”

The Warriors responded in a statement: “We accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited. We believe there is nothing more American that our citizens having the right to express themselves freely on matters important to them. We’re disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have an open dialogue no issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise.”

The Warriors announced that the team would still visit Washington, D.C. but this time it would be to “celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion – the values that we embrace as an organization.”

On Saturday, Warriors General Manager Bob Myers told ESPN that the team was considering a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture while in the nation’s capital.

Curry had set the tone on Friday when he responded to Trump’s comments in Alabama, where he had gone to support a candidate in a close special election for the Senate.

“You can talk about all the different personalities that has said things and done things – from Kaepernick to what happened with Michael Bennett to all sorts of examples of what has gone on in our country that has led to change,” Curry told reporters on Friday.

“We’re all trying to do what we can using our platforms, using our opportunities to shed light on that,” added Curry. “That’s kind of where I stand on that. I don’t think us going to the White House will miraculously make everything better, but this is my opportunity to voice that.”

Curry was referring in his comments to Colin Kaepernick, who as a member of the San Francisco 49ers last season, kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem, evoking a blast of criticism and an equal amount of support. Kaepernick, despite an outstanding record as a quarterback, has been frozen out of football this season.

His other reference is to Michael Bennet Jr., a defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, who in August sat down on the bench when others stood for the playing of the national anthem.

Both Kaepernick and Bennett were protesting the racism in American society and what they see as unequal opportunities based on race among Americans.

When he protested, Bennett told ESPN “It would take a white player to really get things changed because when somebody from the other side understands and they step up and they speak up about it – it would change the whole conversation.”

Thanks to the racist comments by Trump, Bennett’s wish came true this past weekend, as white athletes on many NFL teams joined in the protests. 

This is fostering many more conversations about racism, but also about the right of athletes – often highly paid – to use their sports platform to share their political views.

Trump has also managed to upset many in his base who are avid sports fans and bring forth comments from some who agree with him.

In his bluster and efforts to paint sports stars who protest peacefully as unAmerican, what Trump has really done is show the huge divide in America which has only grown since he became president.

Trump’s actions and those of his Justice Department and others in his administration have had the effect of rolling back generations of efforts to enforce civil rights laws so that all people, regardless of their color, religion or where they were born, can feel they have an equal opportunity in America.

Instead, Trump has started a race and class battle that is poisoning the atmosphere but is also firing up a new level of activism among many Americans who have just shrugged in the past about the inequalities in our society.

So Trump, by attacking peaceful protest, by his racist actions (even as he denies he is a racist), has done what politicians, money, and media have not been able to do – get people talking about equality, getting citizens fired up to speak out and hopefully in the future to vote in those who do believe America is for everyone, no matter their color or religion. 

And if that happens then the voters will have the final say to Trump, and the final words will be, “President Trump, you are fired.”

Wow thank you Michael Jordon!!! “Michael Jordan weighs in on athlete protests”https://t.co/f8UdA7EMzQ

— Michael Do (@mikedo2007) September 25, 2017

The post Michael Jordan Just Gave A Powerful Response To Trump’s Attacks On Black Athletes appeared first on Occupy Democrats.

“I salute Colin Kaepernick for being as powerful as he was, and being the one that had to fall on the sword unfortunately, and I hate that … I wish I owned an NFL team right now, I’d sign him today.”

He didn’t shy away from addressing the President again, just two days after calling him a “bum” in a viral Twitter post:

“It wasn’t a name call … it was like ‘You bum!’ Me and my friends call each other that all the time. I’m not his friend though.

The thing that frustrated me and pissed me off is that he used the sports platform to divide us. Sport and sports is so amazing, what sports can do for everyone, no matter the shape, or size, or race, or ethnicity, or religion — or whatever. People find teams, people find payers, people find colors because of sport and they just gravitate toward that and it makes people so happy. And it brings people together like none other.

But James saved his most powerful condemnation for last, calling out the President for failing to rise to the responsibilities of the office and for failing to adequately govern this nation.

“He doesn’t understand the power that he has for being the leader of this beautiful country. He doesn’t understand how many kids, no matter the race, look up to the President of the United States for guidance, for leadership, for words of encouragement.

The people run this country, not one individual — and damn sure not him.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Watch his remarks here:

LeBron James w/ no regrets about his "U Bum" tweet towards president Donald Trump: "He doesn't understand the power that he has." pic.twitter.com/Ibv3y2kfLN

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 25, 2017

The post LeBron James Just Torched Trump Over His Attacks On Black NFL Players appeared first on Occupy Democrats.