Eric Boehlert

Trump plots despotic move to bypass democracy and install new, loyalist attorney general

Boxed in and desperate for a reprieve from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, Donald Trump is reportedly gaming out ways he could install a new loyalist attorney general without the Senate being allowed to confirm the top cop. The wild, what-if scenarios, which revolve around Trump making an unprecedented recess appointment to replace Attorney […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 27, 2017

New White House comms chief completely loses it less than one week on the job

Just five days into his job as communications director, the White House message guru has spiraled out of control. Making an unhinged, fearful claim on Twitter Wednesday night, which he quickly deleted, Anthony Scaramucci opened yet another front in the GOP’s civil war. Brought in by Donald Trump to improve the White House’s communications, Scaramucci […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 27, 2017

Reporter nails Trump for hypocritical donation to department he’s trying to cut

Donald Trump’s proposed budget includes massive cuts to the Department of Education, which he apparently thinks he can offset with a comparatively minuscule donation. As the Washington Post reported in May, the stark proposal includes “a $27 million arts education program; two programs targeting Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, totaling $65 million; two international […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 26, 2017

Trump “blindsided the Pentagon” with new military policy he got watching Fox News

Twelve hours after one of Donald Trump’s TV favorites, Tucker Carlson, hosted a representative from an anti- LGBTQ hate group on Fox News to spew “junk science” about transgender people, Trump announced on his personal Twitter account the unilateral move to ban transgender people from the U.S. military. The sudden change in policy also comes just […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 26, 2017

Trump personally attacks female senator he’s too afraid to negotiate with

Having lost the support of key Republican women senators on the health care debate, Donald Trump, in his typical cowardly manner, has set out to bully and mock them in public. Using his Twitter account to try to personally shame U.S. senators, Trump this morning attempted to belittle Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) after she, along […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 26, 2017

Trump is losing the GOP war over Jeff Sessions

In what’s shaping up to be perhaps the first organized effort this year within the Republican Party, and the conservative movement, to push back against Donald Trump, “beleaguered” Attorney General Jeff Sessions has emerged as the unlikely flashpoint for the mini-rebellion. Turning his own Department of Justice chief into the latest target of White House […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 25, 2017

Angry parents pull their kids from Boy Scouts after Trump’s vindictive, creepy speech

Boy Scouts parents are expressing their shock and disgust in the wake of Donald Trump’s rambling, weirdly incoherent and divisive speech Monday night at the group’s annual National Boy Scout Jamboree. By tradition, U.S. presidents are invited to address the boyhood gathering. But obviously none have used that occasion to wallow in ego-stroking and score-settling […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 25, 2017

Trump’s unhinged Twitter rant exposes covert operation and threatens national security

In his latest bout of angry, early morning Tweets that once again left political observers stunned, Donald Trump continued to wage war on his own attorney general today for refusing to prosecute Trump’s political foes. But Trump’s reckless tweets do more than sabotage his political enemies. They can also undermine American security. On Monday, Trump […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 25, 2017

AWOL: Trump’s EPA chief spends nearly half his time on vacation

It appears the head of the Environmental Protection Agency is following his boss’s lead and scheduling plenty of downtime for himself. While scores of key EPA positions remain unfilled, Reuters reports that Donald Trump’s EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, has spent nearly half the spring months taking extended weekend trips to and from his home state […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 24, 2017

“This makes my stomach turn.” Steve Scalise’s chief of staff slams GOP ad using shooting

In a stunning move that has even some Republicans shaking their heads in disbelief, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) debuted a campaign ad on Monday that features the audio of the gunshots that erupted last month while Republican congressmen, including Brooks, were holding a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The 30-second ad, as part of Brooks’ […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 24, 2017

Republicans allow Jared Kushner to spin his Russia defense without going under oath

Adhering to his strange habit of refusing to speak in public, senior White House aide Jared Kushner will meet in private with the Senate Intelligence Committee Monday to discuss allegations that he and the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during last year’s election. Kushner then meets in private with the House Intelligence Committee […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 24, 2017

Carrier embarrasses Trump and Pence: More layoffs on their 6 month anniversary in office

Six months into office and not only is Donald Trump’s ledger of presidential accomplishments a slight one, but parts of it are now evaporating in plain sight. This week marks the half-year anniversary of Trump and Mike Pence being sworn into office, and on Wednesday, Carrier Corp., the air conditioner manufacturer, is laying off more […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 19, 2017

Dems launch unprecedented voter protection efforts to fight Trump’s “propaganda factory”

Denouncing the White House’s newly created voter suppression commission as “a propaganda factory,” Democratic leaders are detailing the multi-pronged attack they’re mounting to beat back the “voter fraud” initiative. The Democratic National Committee has “taken the unprecedented action of creating a special DNC commission” to specifically counter and fact check Trump’s commission, announced DNC chair […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 19, 2017

Trump’s golf tournament draws record-low ratings, embarrassingly small crowds

Donald Trump spent the weekend promoting this year’s women’s U.S. Open golf championship as it unfolded at the Trump-owned National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. On Twitter, he crowed about what a huge success it was shaping up to be. I will be at the @USGA #USWomensOpen in Bedminster, NJ tomorrow. Big crowds expected […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 19, 2017

Trump’s voter suppression commission gets hit with third major lawsuit in eight days

Alleging that the White House’s “voter fraud commission” was formed as a way to discriminate against voters of color and suppress participation, the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, along with Ordinary People Society, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court. The suit argues that the so-called “Election Integrity Commission” is unconstitutional because it was created […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 18, 2017

Trump hasn’t appeared publicly on American soil in a month

If Americans want to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump in person, the golf course is probably their only chance, as he has dramatically curtailed his stateside public appearances in recent weeks. As the Russia scandal continues to entangle the White House and the GOP’s effort to repeal Obamacare implodes, Trump is essentially refusing to […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 18, 2017

New GOP plan: Just destroy Medicare

One day after the Republican Party’s ill-fated effort to repeal and replace Obamacare collapsed in the Senate, an initiative that would have gutted spending for Medicaid support, Republicans in the House unveiled a new budget outline that would drastically reduce Medicare spending if passed into law. The House outline is just the latest in the […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 18, 2017

Russia demands Trump return U.S.-soil “spy compounds” with no strings attached

The Russian government has picked a strange time to start issuing ultimatums to the United States. But that’s what Moscow has done in recent days, demanding that control of two large, Russian-owned compounds in the United States be returned to the Russian government immediately, and that no conditions be attached to their return. The fenced-off […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 17, 2017

News anchor destroys Trump apologist’s Russia spin: “That never happened”

The White House’s Russian collusion cover stories are quickly unraveling, which means Republicans and their media supporters keep trying to play the “both sides” game by claiming Democrats were guilty of the similar dirty campaign deed last year. But CNN’s Poppy Harlow put the brakes on that Monday morning when Republican Rep. Scott Taylor brought […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 17, 2017

Al Gore on America’s Trump crisis: “We’ve got to get through this”

Stressing that “The climate crisis is by far the most serious challenge we face,” former Vice President Al Gore on the “Today” show Monday and lamented how Donald Trump is doing great damage to that cause, and to the larger America cause. “We’ve never had a president who’s deliberately made decisions… to tear down America’s […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 17, 2017

New poll: Even one-third of Trump voters don’t support GOP’s health care repeal

Just as Republican leaders feared, sending senators home for the July 4th recess without having voted on the Republican health care bill did nothing to improve the image of the controversial legislation currently pending in the Senate. In fact, Americans think less of it now. Republican lawmakers were confronted at every turn over the July break […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 15, 2017

Top Democrat investigating Russia: Trump might pardon everybody

As the fast-moving Russia scandal escalates and the White House’s attempted coverup continues to unravel, fears are mounting that Donald Trump will take extraordinary action to protect the players involved, including his son and son-in-law who last year attended a meeting with a “Russian government” attorney in hopes of collecting dirt on Hillary Clinton. That […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 14, 2017

Desperate McConnell resorts to Alaska bribe to save GOP health care vote

Desperate at this point to collect enough support to even get the Republican Party’s health care bill to the Senate floor for a vote, let alone with enough backing to pass it, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is using billions in funds to try to win over reluctant GOP senators. Even if that means writing […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 13, 2017

Newly released security document confirms Jeff Sessions “successfully misled the FBI”

The White House’s Russia scandal continues to encompass all corners of the administration. In recent days, Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law, and his former campaign manager have emerged as central players in the collusion controversy. Now Trump’s Justice Department, once again, finds itself at the forefront of the controversy. Belatedly responding to a court order […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 13, 2017

Humiliated Trump admits “the Russians must be laughing” at us

Doubling down on his defense that nobody connected to his campaign, including his son or son-in-law, did anything wrong in meeting with Russian operatives last year, Donald Trump continues to insist that the unfolding scandal is a non-story and that “the Russians must be laughing” at us. Asked specifically if his son Donald Jr. should […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 13, 2017

Paul Ryan refuses to say whether he’d take help from Russia to win an election

One year ago, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) used documents stolen by Russian hackers to attack Democratic congressional candidates. But on Wednesday, the Republican congressman refused to say whether he’d be willing to take a meeting with foreign operatives promising to deliver opposition research on his political opponents. In the wake […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 12, 2017

FBI nominee: If Russia contacts you and offers campaign dirt, “the FBI would want to know”

Pressing Christopher Wray as he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination to be the next FBI director, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham urged him to make to clear to all American politicians that if the Russian government offers to deliver dirt on your political opponent, the first call should be to the FBI. […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 12, 2017

Trump goes AWOL, hasn’t shown up to work all week

Donald Trump’s public schedule has gone blank once again, as the amorphous Republican retreats behind the walls of the White House. His strange disappearing act comes as Trump’s family becomes deeply embroiled in the Russia collusion story, and while the Republican Party is trying to generate momentum to pass its health care bill. Instead of […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 12, 2017

Democratic lawmaker: “Speaker Ryan needs to find his backbone to stand up to” Trump

The White House’s new attempt to blockade a nearly unanimous Senate sanctions bill that aims to punish Russia for interfering in last year’s election is infuriating Democrats. And they’re demanding House Speaker Paul Ryan finally stand up to Donald Trump, as his administration becomes further embroiled in its own Russia scandal. “Speaker Ryan needs to […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 11, 2017

Stunned veteran reporter: “I would be lying … if I said I could explain almost any of this”

Flabbergasted and amazed. That may be the best way to describe the collective response to Tuesday’s chaotic scandal developments, with Donald Trump Jr. being forced to release a 2016 email chain that confirmed he met with a “Russian government” attorney last June under the guise of obtaining damaging information about Hillary Clinton. On CNN’s “Inside […]

By Eric Boehlert - July 11, 2017