Putin rejects Donald Trump’s criticism of Biden family business

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden’s past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking out his disagreement with one of Donald Trump’s attack lines in the U.S. presidential election.

Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Trump, who is trailing in opinion polls, has used the debates to make accusations that Biden and his son Hunter engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, and Joe Biden has called them false and discredited. Continue reading.

American companies challenge Trump’s tariff narrative

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On September 10, an American company went to court to get a tariff refund. It argues that some of Trump’s tariffs against China are illegal, and that these duties have cost it dearly. The case, filed by HMTX, a vinyl tile maker, is at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT). Win or lose, HMTX has challenged Trump’s narrative about tariffs. Some 3,500 companies are now in the litigation. Congress should pay attention.

HTMX’s complaint calls Trump’s Section 301 tariffs an “unprecedented, unbounded and unlimited trade war.” It says the third and fourth rounds of these tariffs are “untethered to the unfair intellectual property policies” that gave rise to them. Quoting Trump’s tweets, HTMX has a paper trail linking these tariffs to the U.S. “trade imbalance,” China’s “currency manipulation” and the flow of fentanyl from China. HTMX insists these motives were never part of the original Section 301 investigation, are unrelated to China’s theft of intellectual property and don’t offer a legal basis for Trump to have “wildly expanded the scope of tariffs.” The company thus feels it is owed a refund.

HTMX has to like the fact that the CIT ruled in July for Transpacific Steel. That case was triggered by Trump’s national security tariffs. Transpacific imports Turkish steel, which was hit by a higher tariff than steel from other countries targeted by Section 232. Transpacific insisted Turkey’s higher tariff lacked any “nexus to national security.” The CIT didn’t go this far, but did rule there was “no procedurally proper” finding of Turkey’s greater threat to the United States.  Continue reading.

The RNC has spent nearly $1 million making Sean Hannity’s book a bestseller

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The Republican National Committee continues to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for copies of the latest book by Fox News personality Sean Hannity, which was published in August These efforts have helped boost the book up bestseller lists, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

This week the RNC reported $492,308 in expenditures on “donor mementos” at book retailers, all of it spent on Sept. 16. Salon has confirmed that at least $159,000 of that amount went for bulk retail purchases of Hannity’s book, “Live Free or Die,” which have been offered to GOP donors who gave $75 or more.

Additionally, a retail representative told Salon that the RNC placed at least one more recent order for the book, on Oct. 22: an additional 1,500 copies for $26,100. That purchase will not appear in public filings until after the election. Continue reading.

GOP clears key hurdle on Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, setting up Monday confirmation

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Republicans cleared a key hurdle Sunday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, paving the way for her confirmation on Monday.

Senators voted 51-48 to begin winding down debate on Barrett’s nomination. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted with Democrats against moving forward.

A final vote to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court is expected to take place by Monday evening, roughly a month after President Trumpannounced his intention to nominate her to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Continue reading.

Fox News report crushes Hunter Biden smear after network investigation ‘found no role for Joe Biden’

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A Fox News investigation “found no role for Joe Biden” in the business dealing of his son, Hunter, the network said on Sunday.

The admission was made by Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins.

Jenkins explained that the news organization had been provided documents by Tony Bobulinski, Hunter Biden’s former business partner. Continue reading.

In the Know: October 27, 2020

Days to the November Election: 7

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Agriculture
USDA’S HARVEST NUMBERS COME IN AS EXPECTED BY THE TRADESuccessful Farming
Researchers reveal US corn crop’s growing sensitivity to droughtPhys.Org
MORE THAN $7 BILLION PAID TO FARMERS FOR SECOND ROUND OF CFAPSuccessful Farming

Continue reading “In the Know: October 27, 2020”

The Memo: Five reasons why Trump could upset the odds

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President Trump is up against the odds heading toward Election Day, but he is not out of hope.

Trump has lagged Democratic nominee Joe Biden in polling throughout the campaign, and his last obvious opportunity to change the shape of the race — Thursday’s debate in Nashville, Tenn. — passed by without great drama.

The president’s backers cite some factors that could deliver another shock upset like the victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Democrats, traumatized by the 2016 result, are not counting Trump out, either. Continue reading.

Reps. Phillips and Gonzalez sign Braver Angels letter committing to bipartisan support for a fair and nonviolent election

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) came together in a show of bipartisanship today to sign the Braver Angels “What we will do to hold America together” public letter, promoting bipartisanship in the lead-up and following this year’s Presidential election.

“…In this season of intense and legitimate partisanship, we the undersigned commit ourselves also to a higher partisanship – for the maintenance of our Union; for the importance of our shared civic life; and for those feelings of goodwill that Lincoln called the better angels of our nature,” reads the letter. “We the undersigned will work separately for what each of us believes is right, but we will also work together to protect the land we all love – to lift up American citizenship and the American promise in a time of peril and to find in ourselves the understanding that our differences don’t simply divide us, but can strengthen and complete us.”

The Braver Angels “Holding America Together” campaign calls upon Americans to embrace a higher partisanship and disavow all election related violence. The public letter, which has over 5,000 signatories to date — including elected officials and media figures across the political spectrum — resolves that should a consensus not be reached on who is the legitimately elected president following the election, the signers will work in a bipartisan manner for solutions grounded in the Constitution and guided by democratic and non-violent traditions. The campaign has also recruited thousands of Americans, and hundreds of institutions — including colleges, churches, and civic groups — to commit to holding post-election gatherings designed to help Americans hold their families, friendships, and communities together in the wake of the election, or during an ongoing election crisis.

Continue reading “Reps. Phillips and Gonzalez sign Braver Angels letter committing to bipartisan support for a fair and nonviolent election”

New Study Shows Spread Of Virus Infection Following Trump Rallies

An investigation into the latest accelerated spread of coronavirus in multiple states appears to be linked to President Donald Trump’s string of campaign rallies over the last several weeks.

As coronavirus plagues states all across America, Trump continues to blatantly disregard how dangerous his campaign rallies are for his campaign staff, White House advisors and aides, and everyone who attends his political events. Now, USA Today has explained the extent of the spreads in several counties following the president’s rallies.

According to the analysis released by USA Today, case rates in at least five counties—Blue Earth, Minnesota; Lackawanna, Pennsylvania; Marathon, Wisconsin; Dauphin, Pennsylvania; and Beltrami, Minnesota—increased at a faster pace after Trump’s rallies. Collectively, these counties reported 1,500 additional new cases in the two weeks after Trump’s campaign rallies. The previous number of 8,069 jumped to 9,647 cases. Continue reading.