Crime

(Tomdispatch.com) – President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency if Congress refuses to pony up $5.7 billion to build the “great, great wall” he promised his base during the 2016 election campaign. In an apocalyptic televised address early in January, he even warned — falsely, as fact checkers revealed during the […]

Corruption

If Cohen and Pecker are Guilty of Campaign Finance Felonies, isn’t Trump?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The special counsel’s investigation into hush money Trump paid to a Playboy model and a porn star turns out so far to be much more significant than Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s collusion with Russia in 2016. The law on campaign finance violations, while not air tight, is far clearer […]

Corruption

Trump is now an Unindicted Felon: US Att’y for Southern District of New York

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Mueller sentencing document for Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, is not nearly as important as that from the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Robert Khuzami, Thomas McKay and their colleagues not only laid out 5 major crimes committed […]

Sexual Assault

Trump tries but fails to block UN #MeToo Resolution against Sexual Harassment

AFP

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The United States failed on Monday to water down a UN resolution on combatting sexual harassment and violence against women despite backing from Russia, China, India, several Muslim countries and the Vatican. President Donald Trump’s administration sought to scrap language in the non-binding resolution on access to reproductive health […]

Corruption

Top 5 Mistakes GOP’s Wohl Made in allegedly framing Mueller for Sex Charges

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) | – 1. Republican activist Jacob Wohl allegedly set up a phony company called “Surefire Intelligence,” charged with paying supposed women victims of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to allege sexual abuse. Wohl used his own email address to set up the site, and give his mother’s telephone number as the contact. […]

Corruption

Trump Clan Accused of Enticing the Poor to Invest in Sham Business

AFP

New York (AFP) – A lawsuit filed Monday accuses President Donald Trump, his three eldest children and his eponymous company of seeking to entice people to invest in sham business opportunities. The four complainants, whose names were anonymized, asked the federal court in Manhattan to grant a class action lawsuit so others can join the […]

Featured

If Brett Kavanaugh were African-American, Would he be Going to Jail instead of to SCOTUS?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Brett Kavanaugh may or may not be an attempted rapist, but one thing is clear. The Republican senators are according him all the honors of white privilege. That includes a presumption of innocence that statistically speaking, white juries do not accord African-American defendants. One in every six women in the […]

Sexual Assault

Why Powerful Men can Roar, but Rape Victims are Discounted as “too” Emotional or “Calm”

Gail Ukockis

Like many others, I was struck by the restraint and professionalism of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as she told her wrenching story last week. Her composure reflected the calmness of Dr. Anita Hill, another alleged victim of a Supreme Court nominee. The contrast between Ford’s conciliatory manner and Brett Kavanaugh’s aggressive demeanor also struck me […]

Rape

But He Doesn’t Look Like a Rapist

Gail Ukockis

(Informed Comment) – The uproar over Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged attack of a 15-year-old has resulted in many irrational reactions, which even included a bizarre conspiracy theory created (and later retracted) by a respected lawyer. When considering the picture of Kavanaugh, I had to wonder if the allegation would have stirred up as many heated denials […]