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Friday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said President Donald Trump’s rhetoric was “a factor” in the mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques that left 49 dead. Partial transcript as follows: BLUMENTHAL: A heartbreaking day, and of course our prayers go out to the people of New Zealand, particularly the loved ones and survivors and victims. But words do have consequences and we know that at the very pinnacle of power in our own country people are talking about good people on both sides. CAMEROTA: You mean the president talking about it. I mean I know it’s...

NEWS FROM THE UNITED STATES SENATE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2019 Udall, Heinrich, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Prevent President From Using Emergency Declaration to Raid Funds for Border Wall RAIDER Act of 2019 stops President Trump from bypassing Congress and raiding as much as $35 billion from military construction and disaster response funds for land acquisition or construction of his wall WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein...

Most of the 800,000 federal workers, who were not paid during the partial government shutdown, are starting to receive back pay but there are potentially millions of government contractors who may never see a dime. For single mom Loniece Hamilton, the shutdown isn't over. "It's really hard," Hamilton said. "I'm definitely scared of being evicted … I'm scared of my car being repo'd. Scared of my lights getting turned off. Scared of my gas being turned off." And scared she won't see any back pay for four weeks of missed work at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum where she's...

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants the DOJ inspector general to investigate President Trump's relationship and correspondence with Matthew Whitaker in the wake of his appointment to acting attorney general. Trump gave Whitaker the role after ousting former AG Jeff Sessions. Democrats are outraged for at least two reasons. One, that Whitaker has publicly criticized Robert Mueller's Russia probe and two, that Whitaker did not get Senate approval for the new position. They argue that under the succession statute, the role of acting AG rightfully belongs to Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein. Schumer adds that if Whitaker remains in the role, he...

Three Democratic senators on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general. Whitaker was appointed by Trump to lead the Justice Department after Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced out of the role earlier this month. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono filed the complaint against Whitaker in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. All three issues fiery statements. “Installing Matthew Whitaker so flagrantly defies constitutional law that any viewer of School House Rock...

Facebook is being hit with fresh criticism from Capitol Hill as lawmakers reacted harshly Thursday to a New York Times investigation that detailed the company’s efforts to wield influence in Washington after becoming aware of Russia-linked activity on its platform during the 2016 presidential campaign. The explosive article laid out how Facebook’s leadership was reluctant to confront the Russian efforts on its platform and was unprepared for the subsequent firestorm and fallout, which involved the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Specifically, the Times reported that the tech giant used a Republican opposition research firm called Definers Public Affairs to accuse liberal financier...

A former British spy has vanished after being named as the author of a ‘dirty’ file smearing Donald Trump and fled his £1.5million mansion in fear telling his neighbour: ‘Look after my cat.’ Ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele has been named as the author of the salacious Russian dossier containing outlandish claims about Donald Trump’s sex life and bizarre footage allegedly held by the Kremlin’s blackmail unit. The 35-page briefing, which is littered with spelling mistakes, includes an unsubstantiated and far-fetched claim Trump watched prostitutes perform a ‘golden shower (urination) show’ in the Presidential Suite of a Moscow hotel. Mr Trump...

There are a lot of reasons I’m not a Democrat. For example, I believe that… 1. Jesus, America, and capitalism have been the three greatest forces of good in world history. 2. An attractive woman posing with an AR-15 beats a screaming feminist in a pussy hat 10 times out of 10. 3. You can’t #believeallwomen or #believeallmen; you have to #believetheevidence. 4. It’s wrong and disgusting to harass people in restaurants and at their home just because you disagree with them politically. Also if you block traffic to get attention for your cause, whatever it may be, I am...

Full title: Trump’s attacks on Sen. Blumenthal are actually more absurd than Blumenthal’s lies about serving ‘in’ Vietnam It’s always sad when one privileged Ivy Leaguer with five Vietnam deferments attacks another privileged Ivy Leaguer with five Vietnam deferments. President Trump went after Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., this week with an absurd retelling of how the senator once fabricated stories about serving in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine. To be clear, Trump isn’t wrong in calling Blumenthal a liar. The senator most absolutely embellished his record years ago, making it sound as if he served in Vietnam. Blumenthal never served...

President Trump singled out Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., as one of the Democrats who most mistreated Brett Kavanaugh during Supreme Court confirmation hearings, branding him a hypocrite and launching into an extended tirade lampooning him making false claims about Vietnam. . . . "I just can't believe, it's because of the media, they've taken so much of it all, " Trump said. "But he, apologized like Jimmy Swaggart. Crying, bawling, because he conned the public when he was Attorney General of Connecticut for 15 years, talking about, 'As I went to Da Nang, bullets left and right. My friends going...

A top lawyer working with the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign contacted the FBI’s general counsel in late 2016 and provided documents for the Russia probe as federal investigators prepared a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign aide Carter Page, sources close to a congressional investigation told Fox News, citing new testimony. The FBI official who was contacted, James Baker, revealed the exchange to congressional investigators during a closed-door deposition Wednesday. He said Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann initiated contact with him and provided documents as well as computer storage devices on Russian hacking. The sources said Baker described the...

Tweets at link. On Monday, President Trump defended Brett Kavanaugh in part by tearing apart the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He had particularly choice words for Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who claimed that placing Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court would forever be a "stain" on the institution. He has also stated that Trump's prior reluctance to call an FBI probe into the allegations against the nominee was "tantamount to a cover-up." So, Trump took that as an opportunity to zing Blumenthal this week for fabricating his military service back in 2010. In a campaign speech Monday, Trump gave...

A pair of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's former classmates at Yale Law on Tuesday withdrew their support of him after previously endorsements. Michael Proctor and Mark Osler wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that they can no longer support Kavanaugh's confirmation because of the "nature" of his testimonty in front of the committee last week while addressing accusations of sexual misconduct. “In our view that testimony was partisan, and not judicious, and inconsistent with what we expect from a Justice of the Supreme Court, particularly dealing with...

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) said Tuesday that Brett Kavanaugh’s temperament disqualifies him from the Supreme Court and that Democrats should teach Americans to think likewise. . . . Preventing Kavanaugh from getting onto the Court is a question of "core principles," according to Blumenthal. "I think our core principles and values would be violated," Blumenthal said.

President Donald Trump hit senators on the left for their hypocrisy over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s use of alcohol in college and high school on Monday. “I happen to know some United States senators,” Trump said. “One on the other side, who is pretty aggressive, I’ve seen that person in very bad situations … somewhat compromising.” The president commented on the sudden focus on Kavanaugh’s testimony on his drinking habits during a press conference at the Rose Garden at the White House. “I watched the senators on the Democrat side and I thought it was a disgrace,” Trump said. “Partially because...

The Michigan Wolverines, the Florida Gators, the LSU Tigers and the North Dakota Bison (no ‘s’ – see I do learning!) all won yesterday. Hope I didn’t miss anyone’s favorite team. But yes, we are still winning despite repeated fumbles, turnovers, mistakes, rain delays and plain bad calls. It ain’t always pretty but a win’s a win. Sometimes the suspense nearly kills you.So as a potential stress reliever I thought maybe we should do Sunday comics, like everyone did once upon a time in America.You know, back before the advertising industry determined that the country was predominantly minority, and possibly...

When you turn a Supreme Court confirmation into a national political campaign don’t be surprised when a circus breaks out. Circus MaximusA few random thoughts from yesterday’s performance:Poor, poor Christine Blasey, I believe that something happened to her sometime, somewhere; perhaps that explains why she seems such a seriously disturbed woman for her age. But those bleary glasses can’t possibly help her see the truth any better. I don’t think she should be teaching college at all let alone psychology. Sheesh. Fog of whores?And everyone seemed surprised that a righteous man unjustly accused of despicable acts could get righteously angry....

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer thinks it’s time for Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw from the Supreme Court confirmation process. If he won’t, Schumer called for Republicans to press pause on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in the wake of explosive new allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged against him on Wednesday. “I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration. If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these allegations,” said Schumer in a statement released on Wednesday. “If our Republican colleagues proceed without an investigation, it would...

Thinking back, James Comey clearly said he took notes during all his meetings with President Trump, and he gave them to a friend to leak to the media. Comey was a leaker, and, of course, President Trump fired him as he should have. But how many more were there – I mean Clinton loyalists all looking for a place in her Presidency? There were so many Clinton plants within the U.S. government, we will never be able to expose them all. Now we learn the lovebird FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who was constantly texting and conspiring with FBI Agent Peter...