Monday, May 18, 2026

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Diana Ross

Music grab bag.  Starting with Aidin Vaziri (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) reports:


Buffy Sainte-Marie has lost another major honor after an investigation challenged the Oscar-winning folk singer's long-standing claims of Indigenous ancestry.

The University of Toronto has rescinded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree it awarded Sainte-Marie in 2019, according to the university's governing council. The school said it received a petition in February 2025 seeking to revoke the degree, and its Governing Council approved the rescission on May 13.
The university did not publicly state a reason for the decision.

But the move follows a series of revoked Canadian honors since CBC News' 2023 investigation reported that records and family accounts contradicted Sainte-Marie's public account of being born Cree on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan and adopted by a white family in the United States.

Sainte-Marie has disputed the CBC report, saying she has never lied about her identity.

In a previous statement to the Canadian Press, she acknowledged she is American, not Canadian, and said she was adopted as a young adult by a Cree family in Saskatchewan.


Poor Buffy.  If she lied about her heritage, two things.  One, she was sexually assaulted as a child by a family member and that could cause anyone to wish they were someone else.  Two, Bob Dylan and others from that period of folk music lied repeatedly about who they were.  It's a shame Buffy's the only one being called out.



Jennifer Lopez has become synonymous with her voluminous, bouncy curls in a stunning caramel hue, often seen performing on stage in a dazzling bodysuit. Her hair typically cascades past her mid-back, completing her signature superstar look.

However, that hitmaker traded her long locks in favour of a more natural, shorter look this week. In an Instagram post shared by her Office Romance co-star Tony Plana, Jennifer posed alongside Tony and Brett Goldstein. The singer wore an olive-hued sweater that featured a high neckline and fuzzy detailing with a matching silk skirt. The garment boasted a daring thigh-high slit. 
All eyes were on Jennifer's notably shorter hair that was cut to the center of her chest and left down in a sleek, straight style.

So a new look for J-Lo?  Danni Scott (METRO) reports:

The lineup for the first-ever FIFA World Cup Halftime Show has been revealed but it seems football fans are still not impressed.

Until now, details have been kept under wraps about plans for the final, which is set to take place on July 19 at New York’s MetLife Stadium.

Hoping to rival the NFL’s famed Super Bowl Halftime Show, curator Chris Martin has roped in BTS, Shakira, and Madonna to take to the stage.
Not to mention, The Muppets and Sesame Street are ‘invited’, revealed in a rare crossover video to promote the show’s fundraising for children’s education.

Despite landing huge global artists, fans of the beautiful game aren’t convinced that the show is worth putting on at all.

This historic moment for the game, which is likely partly a bid to bring in new viewers, mimics that of the already popular NFL Super Bowl halftime show, which saw Bad Bunny take the stage this year.

Part of it, I'm sure, is the usual carping that accompanies any such announcement. 

Shari Reed (PARAE) reports:

After watching the 1988 animated classic The Land Before Time, puffy-eyed audiences sat in their movie theater seats, wiping away tears and trying get it together. But seconds later, the end credits started rolling, along with the heartbreaking 1988 Diana Ross hit “If We Hold on Together.” The combined sadness of the popular dinosaur movie and Ms. Ross’s moving ballad left rows of late ’80s kids and their parents emotionally wrecked. 

[. . .]

So yeah, after sitting through this particularly sad movie, the raw power of Diana Ross’s vocals and the poignant “If We Hold on Together” lyrics cut deep. “If we hold on together / I know our dreams will never die,” Ross sings. “Dreams see us through to forever / Where clouds roll by / For you and I.”

Even though the song, like Ross’s voice and the film, holds a subtle shimmer of hope, there’s still an incredible emotional wasteland to wade through. At best, “If We Hold on Together” helps move the feeling-o-meter from “sad” to “sad but comforting.” 


Here's Diana performing the song.




Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot"


Monday, May 18, 2026.  Chump remain buried in the polling, Michael Banks skips out the door with few remqrking on why, Chump's still eyeing Greenland, and much more.



Let's kick things off with Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) 






Most voters think President Trump made the wrong decision to go to war with Iran, a New York Times/Siena poll found, leaving the Republican Party on rocky political footing heading into the midterm elections as his approval rating sinks and economic concerns rise.

Majorities of voters said that the war was not worth the costs and held deeply pessimistic views about the economy.

Mr. Trump’s approval rating — a key historical predictor of how a president’s party will fare in an election — has sunk to a second-term low in Times/Siena polls of 37 percent amid the deeply unpopular Middle East conflict.

Nearly two-thirds of voters said that going to war had been the wrong decision, including almost three-quarters of politically crucial independents. Less than a quarter of all voters thought the conflict had been worth the costs.




Donald Chump's war of choice has sent prices soaring and increased inflation.  He had hoped, leading up to the visit to China, that the visit would garner good press and enhance his fading image.  

As we noted Friday, Chump crashed and burned in China.  He walked away with nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  He folded and cowered and was meek and pretty much played.  On the world stage.  Among others, he let down US farmers.  Myriam Toua (THE MIRROR) reports:


Donald Trump has, all of a sudden, announced a total U-turn on his campaign promise to American farmers he would intervene on Chinese nationals buying up land in the US, which has been met with fury by his once-loyal MAGA voter base.

[. . .]

But in Beijing, Trump was arguing that going ahead with his campaign pledge would suddenly hurt farmers instead of help them, and asserted pulling out the external investment [by Chinese buyers] would dramatically drive down the price of land.

He sang a very different tune, however, on his campaign trail in 2024 as he pledged to protect farmland “by saying you can’t come” in response to a reporter’s queries about Chinese-owned land at a Pennsylvania event.


Another broken promise from Chump.  Another time when he could have stood strong for America but revealed himself to be a weak, inept and cowardly character.  After his state visit to China where he met with President Xi Jinping,  

With the trip to China ended -- and so clearly having been a failure -- many are weighing in.  Anton Troianovski (NEW YORK TIMES) offers:

There was a vague agreement that China would purchase Boeing jets and more American soybeans. There was discussion about Iran and opening the Strait of Hormuz, and a nod to other issues, like cracking down on chemicals used to make fentanyl.

But President Trump departed Beijing on Friday with almost nothing concrete to show for his two-day summit with President Xi Jinping of China. After months of buildup and a delay necessitated by Mr. Trump’s difficulty in extricating the United States from the war with Iran, the summit ended with no major public progress on the Middle East, trade, Taiwan, nuclear proliferation, artificial intelligence or any of the other myriad issues that are sources of friction between the world’s two superpowers.


Michael Tomasky (THE NEW REPUBLIC) registers with:

Donald Trump says China agreed to buy 200 jets from Boeing. He crowed about it on Fox News Thursday night. But funny thing: A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked specifically about the jet deal after Trump spoke, and he said nothing about any such agreement. Wanna take bets on whether it actually happened?

Three points here. First of all, we should stop quickly to note that it’s sad that it’s come to pass that we just automatically believe a foreign government—and China’s no less—over the president of the United States (sad about him, that is, not us). Second, let’s remember that Boeing is an American company in a deep and sustained crisis that was brought on by basic greed: As David Goldstein explained in Democracy journal in 2024, after its acquisition of McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, the historically proud engineering culture at Boeing was destroyed as the company became more anti-union and outsourced more of its production.

And third, assuming that Trump is lying or at least exaggerating, well, we’ve just learned again for the jillionth time that Mr. Art of the Deal is a total fraud. Let’s review.

  • Remember how, in his first term, Trump was going to bring North Korea to its knees? Remember how he consistently heaped praise on Kim Jong Un and his “beautiful vision for his country”? Well, it’s not a “beautiful country” to the people who live there, and meanwhile, its nuclear progress has been steady over the last decade—during most of which, of course, Mr. Art of the Deal has been the president of the United States. Experts think the nation has assembled about 50 warheads.
  • Remember also that he was going to solve the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day back in office? In late March, a UN expert testified that the violence was “worse than ever.” We—that is, most decent people—are heartened by Ukraine’s resilience and wowed by its innovative drone technology. But that “we” doesn’t include the president of the United States, who obviously is cheering for his pal Putin—over whom he has zero leverage.
  • The 2025 tariff war on China totally backfired. China responded to Trump’s tariffs by limiting exports of rare-earth metals, and Trump backed down. Today, U.S. soybean exports to China are down (they peaked during Sleepy Joe’s “disastrous” presidency), as are auto exports. The first Chinese EVs are landing in Canada even as we speak. These are ultra-luxury cars that sell for $10,000 or even $20,000 less than their American equivalents.
  • Speaking of Canada, why isn’t it the 51st state yet? And speaking of Northern annexation, why isn’t Greenland part of the United States yet?
  • How’s that world-class Gaza resort coming along?
  • U.S. relations with Europe are at an all-time low. And it isn’t because of anything Europe did. Last December, the Trump administration released a security strategy paper calling Europe a bigger threat to the United States than Russia or China because of its progressive social and immigration policies, which threatened the continent with “civilizational erasure.”  
  • And finally, of course, there is Iran. The economic impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will be felt for months ahead. The latest wrinkle? In India, where they apparently lap up Diet Coke, there’s a shortage of the beloved elixir because there’s an aluminum shortage (Diet Coke is sold only in cans there). The Middle East accounts for 98 percent of the global aluminum supply. Stock up on that Reynolds Wrap. Joking aside: There are and will be dozens of such shortages, some far more serious than Diet Coke. A UN official told AFP in Paris this week that up to 45 million people in the developing world could face hunger or even starvation because of the global fertilizer shortage.   


And at WSWS, Andre Damon weighs in:


US President Donald Trump returned to Washington Friday from a two-day state visit to China—the first by an American president in nearly a decade—that offered no let-up in the global eruption of American imperialism. The trip produced no easing of the US blockade of Iran, no halt to the US arming of Taiwan, no reduction of Trump’s anti-China tariffs and no communiqué.

The meeting took place in the shadow of the US attack on Iran that was launched less than three months earlier. Despite the brutality of the US onslaught, the Trump administration has failed to achieve its aims of overthrowing the Iranian government, destroying its military and gaining control of the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump hoped to arrive in Beijing as the conqueror of Iran, ready to dictate terms to China with a stranglehold on its energy supplies. Instead, he was facing a geopolitical disaster, and he sought Xi’s aid in resolving the crisis created by the war.


Chump flamed out.  As usual, his self-promoting created hype and expectations that his mediocre abilities were never going to delier on.  Putin will be in China on Tuesday -- presumably showing Chump how a nation negotiates with China.


China showed him up.  Iran's giving him a real run for the money.  And yet Chump's still go his eye on Greenland.  Jeffrey Gettleman, Maya Tekeli, Anton Troianovski and Eric Schmitt (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

With the conflict in Iran still smoldering, President Trump’s obsession with Greenland seems like a forgotten sideshow.

But for the past four months, negotiators from the United States, Greenland and Denmark, which controls Greenland’s foreign affairs, have been holding confidential talks in Washington about Greenland’s future.

The talks were meant to give Mr. Trump an offramp to his threats of a military takeover of Greenland and to scale back a crisis that risked breaking apart the NATO alliance. But Greenlandic leaders are worried about what is being proposed, which is a much larger U.S. role on the Arctic island. And they fear that if the conflict with Iran winds down, the president will swing his aggression back on them.

Some Greenlandic politicians say they have even circled a date on their calendars to be wary: June 14, Mr. Trump’s birthday.

Chump is deranged.  And he's surrounding by the worst of the worst.  One less creep is Mike Banks.  He was Chief of United States Border Patrol -- Chump having named him to that position last year.  But last week, he announced he was stepping down.  NYT's Ashley Ayn missed the story writing fluff like: 

“It’s just time,” Michael Banks, who worked for Border Patrol for over 20 years, said in an interview with Fox News. “I feel like I got the ship back on course,” he added, referring to immigration enforcement at the southern border. “It’s time to enjoy the family and life.”

 

January 16, 2025, he was put in the position by Chump.  What changed?  At the start of last month, Ana Giaritelli (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reported:


The national chief of the Border Patrol, Michael Banks, was known among colleagues for taking regular trips abroad to engage in sex with prostitutes, according to six current and former Border Patrol employees who spoke with the Washington Examiner.

Banks “bragged” to colleagues while in his previous management role at Border Patrol about paying for sex with prostitutes while traveling in Colombia and Thailand over the course of a decade. Banks’ behavior was said to have been investigated by Customs and Border Protection officials twice, including last year, but the investigation ended abruptly while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office, leading to more questions.

“I don’t know how he became the chief of the Border Patrol with his character,” a former Border Patrol agent told the Washington Examiner in a phone call, adding that now-53-year-old Banks had personally pushed him to come along on one of the trips. “He’s going to third-world countries to take advantage of poor f***ing women, which disgusts the hell out of me.”

Four others said Banks talked freely with his subordinates about his travels and that it was known why he went, making his promotion to the top of the agency last year that much more flabbergasting.

“He would tell people that’s why he was going on these trips — he would go there to engage in activities with prostitutes,” a second person said. “So I think those stories are out everywhere, and you can’t put them away or not give it attention because he was the one telling people about these trips.


The day after NYT did their bury their head in the sand post, THE SPECTATOR noted:


Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks has resigned, ostensibly “to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.” Banks served under President Biden but quit in frustration over the administration’s lax border policies. When Trump returned to office, Banks took up his old job again: like Cincinnatus, he came out of retirement to serve, and will now return to his plow.

Perhaps “plow” is the operative word here. It’s widely speculated that Banks is in fact resigning because of a Washington Examiner investigation, which claims that he was a sex tourist who made regular trips to Colombia and Thailand while in post. According to six current and former Border Patrol employees, Banks used to boast of his sexual exploits to colleagues, and would be remarkably upfront about the purpose of these trips to anyone who asked. It ought to be said that prostitution is legal in both those countries, but that using the services of ladies (or gentlemen!) of the night is against agency policy.


Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

But Banks’s sudden departure comes at a curious time, as reports circulate about his penchant for sex workers. Border Patrol employees told the Washington Examiner last month that Banks was “known among colleagues for taking regular trips abroad to engage in sex with prostitutes.”

Banks even “bragged” about his deviant habits with colleagues while in his previous role in Border Patrol, and allegedly paid for sex with prostitutes while travelling across Colombia and Thailand over the course of a decade. CBP reportedly investigated his behavior twice, including last year, but the probe was squashed by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.


The paper of record, THE NEW YORK TIMES, is going to let this pass without comment?  And you wonder how Jeffrey Epstein or, for that matter, Harvey Weinstein got away with so much for so long.  It's right there in the 'report' by Ashley Ayn.  


And not only does the record need to reflect these allegations against Banks to be accurate regarding Banks, it also needs to reflect the allegations to be accurate regarding Donald Chump.  Yet again, Chump's surrounded himself with people who never should have been appointed by him.  Did Chump know about the allegations before he appointed Banks to the job?  If not, when did Chump find out?


Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


FDA approved mifepristone for use over two decades ago

Supreme Court set to rule on right-wing extremist attempt to roll back access to medication abortion

“Law and policy governing access to lifesaving, time-sensitive medication abortion care in the United States should be equitable, transparent, and based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence-based science.”

Text of Resolution (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in reintroducing a resolution affirming that the abortion medication mifepristone is safe and effective, and underscoring that law and policy related to the medication must be equitable, transparent, and based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence-based science.

The resolution comes hours before the Supreme Court’s administrative stay in Louisiana v. FDA is set to expire — which, without action, would uphold the Fifth Circuit’s ruling threatening millions of women’s access to mifepristone, even in states where abortion is legal.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The resolution was endorsed by the following organizations: All* Above All, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Reproductive Rights, EMAA Project, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Abortion Federation, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Council of Jewish Women, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Network of Abortion Funds, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women's Law Center Action Fund, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Power to Decide, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), and URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity.

“Abortion opponents nationwide continue to push their politically motivated attacks on mifepristone and medication abortion to make it harder for everyone, everywhere to get care. That’s despite decades of research and millions of people using mifepristone to safely and effectively end a pregnancy,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “In the face of these attacks, we are grateful to Senator Warren, Sen. Baldwin, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, Sen. Wyden, Sen. Murray, and Sen. Smith for reaffirming that science-based policies must govern access to mifepristone.”

“Mifepristone continues to be crucial to our ability to access abortion care— and that is precisely why abortion opponents have been relentless in their efforts to restrict it nationwide, including in states where abortion is legally protected,” said Jessica Arons, director of the Liberty Division for Policy and Government Affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “As this resolution affirms, millions of people have used mifepristone to safely end pregnancies and treat miscarriages for more than 25 years, including by telemedicine. We thank Senator Warren for introducing legislation to set the record straight and push back on anti-abortion propaganda, and we call on Congress to protect the right to abortion and end this political interference with our personal healthcare decisions once and for all.”

'“For decades, the science has been overwhelmingly clear: mifepristone is safe and effective. Millions of Americans have relied on this critical medication, which revolutionized access to care. We’re grateful to Senator Warren, Sen. Baldwin, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, Sen. Wyden, Sen. Murray, and Sen. Smith for their ongoing efforts to ensure the critical decisions about necessary—and sometimes life-saving— healthcare are based in science, not ideology,” said Rachana Desai Martin, Chief U.S. Program Officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The lawmakers first introduced this resolution in 2023, following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which sparked attacks on reproductive rights across the country. Since then, 20 states have banned or restricted access to abortion care.

Senator Warren has led the charge to protect reproductive freedom:

  • In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments.
  • In March 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee; and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 23 colleagues in publishing a new report revealing the harm Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have caused to Americans in the six months since their dangerous provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood, buried in their Big, Beautiful Bill, went into effect. The report reveals that, in addition to acting as a backdoor abortion ban, the “defund” provision has ripped away Americans’ access to essential services — including primary care, birth control, cancer screenings, and wellness exams — and raised health care costs.
  • In November 2025, ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell’s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views.
  • In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Michael Stuart, nominee for General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on his dangerous anti-vaccine views, staunch anti-abortion advocacy, and more. Ahead of his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee later today — at which Senator Warren will question Stuart — Senator Warren sent Stuart a letter outlining her key concerns with his nomination.
  • In February 2025, Senators Warren and Duckworth pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s then-nominee for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on his hostile anti-abortion record.
  • In December 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information.
  • In September 2024, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the dangerous consequences women faced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

###


Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Susie Wiles Frets Over Mike Banks" went up Friday.  The following sites updated:




Posted by at

Friday, May 15, 2026

Chump hangs around with a lot of sexual predators

wiles banks

 

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Susie Wiles Frets Over Mike Banks." Mike Banks has stepped down.  And why?  A sex scandal.  Chump had made him US Border Patrol Chief.  But he resigned.  As Susie Wiles notes in Isaiah's comic "Please don't let him be another Epstein that Chump cozied up to."  



U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks abruptly resigned Thursday, telling Fox News, “It’s just time.”

Banks reportedly told Fox News that he believed he “got the ship back on course” during his tenure.
His departure, effective immediately, comes amid allegations he regularly traveled abroad to solicit *** workers, reportedly bragging about the conduct to Border Patrol colleagues, according to a Washington Examiner report.

An investigation into his alleged conduct was terminated while Kristi Noem oversaw the Department of Homeland Security.

The Washington Examiner spoke with six current and former Border Patrol employees who said Banks traveled to Colombia and Thailand to solicit *** workers there.

“I don’t know how he became the chief of the Border Patrol with his character,” one agent told the outlet on condition of anonymity. “He’s going to third-world countries to take advantage of poor ******* women, which disgusts the hell out of me.”


So Kristi Noem covered for him?  Stopped the investigation into him?  We always knew she was trash.

On January 16, 2025, Banks was named by President-elect Donald Trump to be the Chief of the United States Border Patrol.[7] The position does not require Senate confirmation, and he was sworn in on January 22, 2025.[8]

In April 2026, the Washington Examiner reported according to former Border Patrol employees that Banks had engaged in sex tourism in Colombia and Thailand from the early to mid 2010s until his retirement in 2023.[9]

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Friday, May 15, 2026.  Chump underwhelms in China, Todd Blanche was told to recuse himself from cases involving Chump (but didn't do that), US House Rep Dan Goldman questions what Chump and the Justice Dept are hiding from The Epstein Files, and much more. 

Midterms are in November and Convicted Felon Donald Chump does not believe in democracy or rule of law, he's now plotting ways to steal the 2026 mid-terms.  Thom Hartmann notes:

We have shocking news this week from CNN: Trump is preparing to illegally purge tens of millions of Democratic voters from voter rolls nationally, just in time for the election. Just like Modi did to win overwhelmingly in India, following the GOP’s playbook.

This follows John Roberts and Sam Alito blatantly using phony, cooked numbers to justify eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, lying to our faces and then laughing at us like they did with the Dobbs decision and Citizens United.
Russian dictator Joseph Stalin is often quoted (perhaps apocryphally) as saying:

“It’s not the people who vote that count, it’s the people who count the votes.”

Today’s GOP version of that could be:

“It’s not the people who vote that count, it’s how many people we can remove from the voting rolls that will decide the election.”

In this year’s iteration, the Trump Department of Justice has demanded that all states turn over their voting rolls, complete with names, addresses, driver’s license and social security numbers, voting history, and date of birth.

They’re also requiring states to sign a “Memorandum of Understanding” that says the states will then purge from their voting rolls anybody who Republican partisans within the Trump administration — once they’ve dug into the state’s voter data — find to be a “concern”:

Robert Davis (RAW STORY) points to another alarming potential development:

President Donald Trump may be laying the groundwork to deploy secret presidential directives that no court has ever reviewed, no Congress has ever examined, and that any sitting president can rewrite at will to interfere in the midterm elections, a State Department insider warned on Wednesday.

Known as Presidential Emergency Action Documents, or PEADs, the directives were designed to bypass traditional Congressional authorization during national emergencies. They were initially contemplated as a way to ensure continuity of government during a crisis, and documents authorized actions like seizing private property or arresting citizens that would face legal challenge only after they had already been carried out.
Jonathan Winer, a former U.S. special envoy during the Obama administration who reviewed declassified materials at the National Archives, warned during an interview on the podcast "The Court of History" that Trump may try to use them to stifle the upcoming elections.

"The key thing about PEADs is they've never been reviewed by Congress or anyone outside administration," Winer said. "They can be rewritten based on any administration's point of view as to what's necessary in an emergency. And they would be tested legally and constitutionally only after they're used."

Meanwhile, Chump has completed his trip to China.  It was underwhelming as was he.  

The signs were there early on.  Bennito L. Kelty (RAW STORY) notes:

CNN anchor Erin Burnett was stunned to see the level of uninhibited mockery China has been hurling at Trump during his visit.

"Trump is about to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping tonight, a high-stakes meeting which is being mocked across China," Burnett explained. "Beijing's strict censors are letting the ridicule go viral, which is a statement in and of itself."
"America has lost its swagger. They're nothing but a paper tiger," one of those viral posts read. "The U.S. economy is in bad shape. Trump has been blustering Iran for so long."

"They will look up to us from now on," read another post that Burnett shared. "Trump came to China! We won the tariff war!" read another.


And Xi Jinping made it clear to Chump that Taiwan wasn't even to be discussed.  Troy Matthews (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) reports:

Donald Trump looked visibly shaken and rattled after emerging from a two-hour meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a historic China visit on Wednesday. When asked by reporters how the meeting went, Trump only responded "China is beautiful." Trump was then asked twice if he and Xi had discussed Taiwan, and refused to respond both times.
According to Chinese media, Xi warned Trump in the meeting not to interfere with Chinese policy towards Taiwan—which Beijing considers a renegade province, but who has a close economic relationship with the United States—saying that such an intervention could lead to "clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy."


Donald Trump refused to say whether he had spoken to Xi Jinping about Taiwan when repeatedly asked by a reporter during his trip to China on Thursday.

"How were your talks, sir?" one reporter asked as Trump, whose worrying three-word confession about his son was exposed by a lip reader, wrapped up his tour of the Temple of Heaven following his talks with Xi. The US president hesitated before responding: "Great - a great place. Incredible. China is beautiful."
Another reporter could then be heard asking Trump, "Did you talk about Taiwan Mr President?" He did not respond. Trump was asked the same question twice more, but continued to ignore it. After posing for photos with Xi, he turned to walk away, and security personnel ushered the press away. 

That's right, big mouth had nothing to say.  The man who can't stop yammering had nothing to say about Taiwan.  He shut up on the topic like it was Epstein related.   He grew smaller on the world stage and everyone saw it.   At THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Jackie Calmes offers:


However the Trump-Xi meeting ends, Trump is no Achilles going into this match. In fact, in the six decades of U.S.-China relations, perhaps no American president has entered the summit arena in a weaker position than Trump, the would-be strongman and artiste of the deal. Worse, his weakness — and by extension his country’s — is mostly self-inflicted.

Trump had postponed what was intended as an early April meeting in hopes of striding triumphantly into Beijing as the conqueror of Iran, a China ally. Instead China is receiving him as a “giant with a limp,” in the phrase of its Communist Party-controlled Global Times newspaper.

Trump’s Mideast war, the sort he’d promised never to start, lingers for a third month in a costly stalemate — $29 billion and counting — that has humiliated the president in the public words of Germany’s chancellor and the private thoughts of many more global leaders, Xi likely among them. Trump can’t “project the same arrogance” as he did visiting China in 2017, a former Chinese army officer, Yue Gang, told the New York Times.

At home, the conflict has caused gasoline prices and inflation to spike while tanking Trump’s already depressed polls. A newly released CNN poll conducted April 30 to May 4 had 65% of Americans disapproving of his overall job performance and a whopping 70% against his handling of the economy — the issue that arguably got him elected. With experience, American consumers and soybean farmers now know that they, not the Chinese, have paid for Trump’s beloved tariffs.
The president’s standing at home could hardly have been helped by his parting words to reporters at the White House. Asked “to what extent are Americans’ financial situation motivating you to make a deal” with Iran, Trump blithely replied, "Not even a little bit.” He added, in the sort of political gaffe that journalist Michael Kinsley defined as telling the truth: “I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody.”

And while Chump was meek and acquiescent to  Xi Jinping's face and after in his remarks to FOX "NEWS," Xi and China are dismissing Chump and the US.  Ewan Palmer (DAILY BEAST) notes:


A damning leaked intelligence report has revealed the extent to which China is using Donald Trump’s war in Iran to try to diminish the U.S.’s standing on the world stage.

The confidential Pentagon report, which two U.S. officials relayed to The Washington Post, reveals how Beijing is exploiting the deeply unpopular Middle East conflict to its advantage on key issues such as diplomacy, its economy, and plotting potential future military endeavors.
This includes portraying the U.S. as an increasingly weakened global power, forming stronger ties with other countries affected by the Strait of Hormuz crisis, and planning how the war may impact China’s own future military operations.

The leaked intel arrives at a particularly sensitive time, with Trump meeting for crunch talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where hot-button issues such as Iran, trade, and Taiwan are taking center stage.









He looks weak and corrupt.  And that's how he appears in the US as well.  Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) reports:

The Department of Justice is dropping Biden-era bribery charges against an Indian billionaire after he hired one of President Donald Trump's personal lawyers.

Gautam Adani was indicted weeks before the end of Joe Biden's presidency for his alleged role in what prosecutors described as an “elaborate” bribery scheme involving “corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors."
But the New York Times reported that the case may be dismissed after he hired attorney Robert J. Giuffra Jr. and made an offer to the government.

"Mr. Giuffra’s efforts on Mr. Adani’s behalf culminated in a previously unreported meeting last month at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, according to people familiar with the meeting," the Times reported. "Mr. Giuffra ticked through about 100 slides outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case, one of the people said."
"Another slide also offered the government a sweetener: If prosecutors dropped the charges, Mr. Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, echoing a pledge he made in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election," the report added.


Under Todd Blanche, justice is for sale.  You just offer a pay off and you can skate on any charge.  Provided you align yourself with Convicted Felon Donald Chump.  The hypocrisy is so thick around the White House, it's surprising everyone's not gasping for air as they choke on the sanctimony wafting out from the Oval Office. 


Todd Blanche does not follow the law which makes him a lousy 'acting' Attorney General.  He lies.  He's corrupt.  And he's forever working not for the US government but instead for Citizen Chump.  And that's a problem. But it's even more of a problem when he's been ordered to stop doing that.  Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz (CNN) report:

It was less than two weeks after Todd Blanche took on his role of deputy attorney general in March 2025 when the Justice Department’s top ethics lawyer delivered some straightforward yet inconvenient news: His recusal from legal cases that involved President Donald Trump in his personal capacity was necessary.

The official conducting the briefing, Joseph Tirrell, handed Blanche and his then-top deputy Emil Bove, who was also in the conference room, a printed PowerPoint presentation on ethics, according to a former senior Justice ethics official who described the meeting to CNN.

The meeting, which hasn’t previously been reported, is the first time Blanche was formally informed he would need to recuse himself from cases involving Trump. Around the same time, the department’s top career lawyer advised that Bove potentially had a conflict of interest by being involved in firings of DOJ lawyers.
Recusal, however, is a word that comes with treacherous consequences in the Trump era — including in the case of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions who Trump tormented after he recused himself from overseeing what eventually became the Mueller investigation. Blanche’s choice is either to oversee investigations the president cares deeply about but risk damaging their viability in court or to recuse himself and risk incurring the president’s wrath.

Now serving as acting attorney general, Blanche finds himself in an ethical quandary. His previous role representing Trump in criminal prosecutions brought by the Justice Department means that he is switching sides, overseeing the department’s investigation of the former government officials whom Trump claims unfairly used the criminal justice system to target him.
That includes some who were connected to the prosecutions of Trump for mishandling classified records in Florida after his first term, and allegedly conspiring to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Blanche was Trump’s primary defense lawyer in both federal court cases, which were dismissed prior to being fully resolved in court.

Blanche signed the department’s ethics pledge laid out to him by Tirrell, according to the former ethics official who spoke to CNN and a document submitted to the Office of Government Ethics. That pledge included requirements for Blanche to not participate for at least a year in any of the department’s matters involving past clients of the Blanche Law Group, the small private law firm Blanche used to represent Trump in the criminal cases. The department’s regulations also prohibit his participation “in any criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship” with anyone who was involved in or has an interest in that investigation or prosecution.


Joseph Tirrell was fired.  Guess what?  CNN reports:

Two weeks after the firing of Tirrell, Blanche took the unusual step of interviewing convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, a former partner of the late Jeffrey Epstein, while she serves time in prison. In that interview, Blanche asked Maxwell about her interactions with Trump many years before he became president, and she said Trump had done no wrong.



On Ghislaine Maxwell, we noted Erin Burnett's interview with Noella Turnage who worked at the prison Ghislaine is now at.  FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE notes:


Turnage shared the emails with CNN. In an interview with anchor Erin Burnett, Turnage stated, “What I can tell you is that the things that were being done for her were not common for any of the other inmates, not even the other high-profile inmates.” According to Turnage, Maxwell wrote an email to her brother shortly after being transferred to FPC.

In the message, she expressed happiness over the facilities available to her in the prison. “The food is legions better. The place is clean. The staff is responsive and polite. I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderland's looking glass. I am much happier here and more importantly, safe,” the email read.

In another email to her brother, Maxwell said he would also receive special treatment when he visits her in prison. “I believe they will provide some water, coffee and snack. You will not go without anything after flying all the way from the UK. Also, you will arrive at the front like everyone else. But there will be a corn off area for you. Only you will go there. They will be waiting for you from 8 AM,” she allegedly wrote.

Turnage highlighted that none of the other inmates’ visitors were provided with coffee or snacks in prison. “The only option the other inmates or their visitors had were the overpriced vending machines and visitation. They weren't given anything,” she told Burnett.

The emails also disclosed that Maxwell was constantly in touch with the prison warden, which is highly unlikely for other inmates. “I checked with the warden, and she would rather that I send all the updates through her,” Maxwell wrote to her lawyer.

The Committee has released testimony it took from Gateway's Ted Waitt.  Anna Betts (GUARDIAN) reports: 

“I never would’ve spent six years in a romantic relationship with her,” Waitt said in his opening statement before the committee on 30 April, according to the transcript released on Wednesday. His testimony provided new details about his relationship with Maxwell, and he also disputed Maxwell’s previous statements that their relationship ended after a mysterious blackmail attempt related to Epstein’s civil cases.

The two split in 2010 and Ghislaine is a tacky whore who took over $7 million from him.  They were not married but that's the bill for her services.  In fact, she complained that he wasn't giving her more money when he broke up with her.  

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick remains in the administration because he's a liar and corrupt.  But people are paying attention.  Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports that former US Attorney Joyce Vance discussed Lutnick's recent appearance before the House Oversight Committee yesterday on MS NOW with anchor Erielle Reshef: 



“Lutnick now says that he was only speculating when he suggested that Epstein blackmailed people,” Reshef prompted her guest. “What did you make of that part of his testimony, and how does that fit into the larger investigation here?”

“Well, let me put my prosecutor hat on, my former prosecutor hat on, and talk about how I would deal with a witness like Lutnick during a criminal investigation, which I think is a pretty good approach here,” Vance began. “When someone tells multiple inconsistent stories, you sit them down, hopefully just during an interview, but if necessary, under oath in front of a grand jury, and you get them to explain the lie. People don't lie for no reason. You know, here there are a lot of plausible excuses. Lutnick could have just been trying to avoid embarrassment telling convenient stories, and this would have been an appropriate opportunity for him to say that — to say that he was trying to soften it. He never did anything wrong, but he now is embarrassed.”
“In hindsight, the fact that that wasn't the testimony I think is telling,” she cautioned. “And the reality is that because this is happening in a formal oversight hearing setting where you don't get that sort of a grilling, that one gets in a prosecutorial setting, he's never been confronted squarely and forced to concede the lie.”

“I think that there's still more miles to go with Mr. Lutnick,” she suggested. “This is in many ways unsatisfying testimony. As you say, there's no insinuation that he committed crimes, but he appears to be part of this larger cover-up that permitted Epstein to continue to operate unchallenged.”

She then added, “The final telling point about Lutnick is that the relationship continues after Epstein's conviction in Florida — after he's a registered sex offender — he's still, you know, it's not just a lunch that he attends on Epstein's island. He puts his family in a boat to get there. So I think all in all, this is very telling that this is not the final act here.”


Lutnick needs to be placed under oath and he needs to answer serious questions.  He has misled the public repeatedly.  He should have been forced to resign as Commerce Secretary over this. 


Democrats on the House Oversight Committee went to Florida on Tuesday and held a hearing with those who survived the assault of Epstein and Maxwell.  ATLANTA BLACK STAR NEWS reports:


In a searing hearing held this week in West Palm Beach, Florida, by House Oversight Committee Democrats, Rep. Lois Frankel condemned the systemic failures that allowed Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes to continue for years — calling the handling of the case “an abomination.”

The seven-term Florida congresswoman opened her remarks on May 12 by acknowledging the Epstein survivors who attended the session.
“Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your resilience, and thank you for your determination to tell the truth, even when the system failed you,” she said, her voice heavy with emotion. “This hearing is long overdue.”

Frankel, who once served as mayor of West Palm Beach, recounted how the first Epstein investigation collapsed under the weight of influence and negligence.
“It is right here, folks, right here in Palm Beach County more than 20 years ago that the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific crimes were first denied justice,” she said, referencing the work of then–Police Chief Michael Reiter.

“The police did their job. They listened to the survivors. They built a serious case. Then they brought it to then–State Attorney Barry Krischer… But instead of filing charges—” she paused, “was it overwhelmed by the power, by the wealth?”

Frankel’s criticism grew sharper as she detailed how prosecutors “shockingly minimized the abuse, limited the witnesses, and treated vulnerable young girls as if they were criminals.”

The result, she said, was “jaw dropping — solicitation of prostitution, punishable by up to 60 days in jail. How crazy and wrong, an abomination if you ask me.”

She then turned her fire on federal authorities, citing former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alexander Acosta’s 2008 “secret” and “shameful” non-prosecution deal with the financier.

Lutnick is only one connection that Chump shares with Epstein.  Chump was his friend from the 80s forward.  He and Epstein shared so much and partied together all the time.  Now let's talk David Venturella.  Who?  Alex Reimer (QUEERTY) explains:


The sleazy tentacles of D*nald Tr*mp’s close association with Jeffrey Epstein now reach the agency that most reflects his administration’s gross authoritarianism. It appears David Venturella, who was just named the new director of ICE, reportedly played a key role in orchestrating the deportation of a model who was brought to the U.S. by Epstein himself.
Now back in her native Brazil, the woman is threatening to expose what Melania knew and when.

Last month, the enigmatic First Lady made a rare public appearance and addressed her relationship with Epstein. The statement came out of nowhere: with Tr*mp’s illegal war brewing in Iran, the Epstein story had been shifted to the back burner. Despite Melania’s social ties to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, she was always a side character in the sordid story, anyway.

That is, until she spoke at the White House in April and denounced the lies “linking” her to the “disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein.” She said the falsehoods needed to “end today,” though she didn’t offer specifics.
In the aftermath of Melania’s random statement, observes were left with a single question: why? (No, seriously, why?!)

The explanation appears to be Melania’s relationship with the aforementioned Brazilian model. Epstein brought Amanda Ungaro to the U.S. on his plane when she was 17. Later that year, Ungaro met the man who brought Melania stateside when she was a model in Slovenia. They wound up dating for decades and having a kid together before an ugly separation that ended with her deportation, which we’ll get to!


And another Epstein mutual friend was partying with Chump last weekend.  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) explains:

Jeffrey Epstein associate and former child actor Brock Pierce was a guest at one of Donald Trump’s Florida golf courses last week, helping to unveil a golden statue of the president.

Pierce was a business partner and friend to Epstein for nearly a decade, helping him invest in the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase while emailing him about women. In 2012 Pierce told Epstein, “I had a great time with the girls. Hope they had fun too. Thanks.”

[. . .]

This is the man who was cutting the ribbon for the golden statue at the president’s resort last week. 


Meanwhile Charlie Nash (MEDIAITE) reports US House Rep Dan Goldman went on THE DAILY BEAST podcast and questioned the Justice Dept's release of documents:

I want to know what’s in those 2.5 million files that have not been released. Based on the way that they released and poorly and illegally redacted, as well as what they covered up even within those documents, it is clear that the Department of Justice is covering up for Donald Trump.

I went to the House floor and exposed one document in particular that they claimed was privileged, and they redacted it from the public, but then they allowed Congress– members of Congress who went to see the files to actually see it, and there was nothing in there that should have been redacted. They made up some bogus explanation of attorney-client privilege. It is not anything approximating attorney-client privilege, and instead it’s using these privileges, using the various different mechanisms that they are falsely using, to cover up.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

ICYMI: Senator Murray on President Trump’s FY27 Budget Request

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full questioning***

Washington, D.C. — Today—at a Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the FY27 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pressed Secretary Scott Turner on his efforts to dismantle key homelessness programs and the president’s request to gut funding to increase housing supply and keep Americans housed while seeking a half trillion dollar increase in defense funding.

[CONTINUUM OF CARE]

Senator Murray began by pressing Secretary Turner on when HUD will renew Continuum of Care grants that expire this year, as required by the FY26 funding bill. Thousands of organizations across the country rely on the grants to help reduce homelessness.  

MURRAY: Mr. Secretary, you know, addressing the homeless crisis is a top priority for my state and for many states across the country. And I am really concerned because your department has ignored the law and done the opposite. HUD is required to prioritize proven strategies to reduce homelessness, including permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing.

But last year, you limited our local governments’ use of federal grants for those exact proven solutions—at least until a federal judge and Congress stopped you. And, in my state, you could have cut the federal funding to house people who are homeless by more than half! Nationwide, your changes could have put more than 170,000 households on the streets. So, we required you to renew grants and get this money out the door, and I have to tell you communities are still waiting far too long.

Can you commit to us that you will move quickly to renew every Continuum of Care grant that expires this year as required by the language in our [FY]26 appropriations bill?

TURNER: Well, thank you, Senator Murray, Vice Chair Murray, it’s good to see you again. And as you know we have got quarter one and quarter two funds out, and quarter three and quarter four funds also will go out. But I will say–

MURRAY: From last year?

TURNER: Yes ma’am. I will say that we do have a different approach to this, and I believe that the housing first model is a failed model. I believe that the housing first model, part of it—to house people—is important but we can’t stop there. We have to get the root of housing and homelessness, and that is mental addiction, drug addiction, domestic violence, and things of this nature. So, I believe we have to treat people, get them transformed and back out to a life of self-sustainability.

MURRAY: Well, Mr. Secretary, our bill requires you to get this money out, and I’ll just tell you—all of the data, all of the research shows that economic factors are driving homelessness. It’s not because of housing first. If every American is feeling the strain on housing, it’s really hard to believe that those with the least, struggle the most, which is what’s happening.

And housing first isn’t housing only. There’s case management, there is substance use, there is mental health, there’s employment services. That’s all part of the housing first model too, which you’re ignoring. So, I think it’s really important that we don’t demonize the people who are struggling today in this country for very real reason and work on building more housing.

[ILLEGAL FUNDING DELAYS]

Senator Murray continued by questioning Secretary Turner about HUD’s compliance with court orders to stop requiring local governments and non-profits to comply with unacceptable grant conditions.

MURRAY: So let me move on, because I want to ask you about another thing. Under your leadership, local governments, and non-profits in my state and actually in the country have been left to navigate illegal, and in many cases, really bizarre new grant conditions, like requiring a housing provider to say they don’t believe trans people exist. Last year, as you know, a federal court prohibited you from requiring or enforcing the grant conditions. But you are continuing to insert illegal conditions into every grant agreement and entities cannot access these grant funds until agreeing to illegal terms.

So, how exactly is that complying with the court’s order?

TURNER: At HUD ma’am we will be in accordance with every order from the court, we will enforce and uphold the law, we will work with Congress, but we also will enforce the Fair Housing Act in the way we’ve been called to enforce it, as the laws are written on the book. And that’s my job as secretary to ensure we are enforcing the Fair Housing Act.

MURRAY: Well, I just have to tell you, I don’t see how these conditions are complying with the court order, so I have a big disagreement with that. But I also want you to know that our nonprofits who are trying to serve these communities, it is their goal, are wasting a lot of time trying to understand the shifting legal landscape and the bizarre requirements out there.

And, you have refused to sign agreements or release notices of funding opportunities for funds that expire five months from now, running down the clock is what it feels like to everybody out there. And all of this comes after you pushed out over a third of the HUD employees last year so there’s less people to be able to get these grants out. It appears to a lot of people who are talking to me that you’re breaking the department, not making sure that people get housing.

TURNER: Well, if I may ma’am, and I have to correct you. We did not push out anyone, we had volunteers–

MURRAY: Okay we’re going into semantics. Okay, a lot of people left your department, we’ll disagree about why.

TURNER: It was voluntarily, the DRP program, and people took it. The people that want to be at HUD, are at HUD and I’m happy to have them–

MURRAY: Would you agree that you have a loss quite a few people at HUD to do the work?

TURNER: But also, the government shutdown has kept us from getting these NOFOs out. Our team is working tirelessly every day to get these NOFOs out and we will get them out. And we have an adequate, sufficient well-working team at HUD across our agency–

MURRAY: We have a lot fewer people at your department for whatever reason you want to talk about, Mr. Secretary and that is causing a lot of people to not get their grants along with all this confusing language.

TURNER: No ma’am, it’s not because our people. We have the right people in the right place doing the right thing.

MURRAY: Okay, we have a disagreement.

TURNER: Okay.  

[COST OF WAR]

Senator Murray then addressed President Trump’s proposal to blow $1.5 trillion on his war budget instead of helping families afford housing.

MURRAY: You said in your opening statement that: “taxpayer dollars are finite.” But President Trump’s budget, his whole budget, actually sends war funding through the roof as we all know.

So instead of blowing a half a trillion dollars more on war funding, I want to ask you, if we weren’t doing that how many more units of housing could we build?

TURNER: Vice Chair Murray, the president is very intentional and very precise on what his national security directors are – my job is to run HUD–

MURRAY: No, yes, I know I just–

TURNER: That’s what I’m focused on is housing affordability. With all due respect, the president is clear on what he wants to do, my job is to run HUD and to take down the regulatory environment, which I hear from the industry experts as I travel, the regulatory environment are crippling building in our country.

MURRAY: You have a different view than I do, and I just want you to know that if we use that money for housing, we could build 1.1 million affordable housing units. That is a huge dent in the seven million units of housing that you yourself say that our country needs. But your budget actually cuts housing. So, let me ask it a different way, can you help more families with housing with $84 billion or with $73.5 billion?

TURNER: Here’s what I’ll say—here’s what I say—in the previous years before we got here, housing affordability was not at an all-time high. Mortgage rates–

MURRAY: This is the go-to answer for every secretary, is go back to Biden – and I’m asking you about your administration, sir.

TURNER: It’s not the go-to answer, as the secretary, I’m just giving you the facts. Mortgage rates were up, interest rates were up, inflation was up, the regulatory environment was crippling. It doesn’t matter the administration, these are the facts, ma’am. And I’ve been dealing with these facts, ma’am, to bring mortgage rates down, interest rates down, to build affordable housing.  

MURRAY: You can go back to the Biden administration—it’s the go to answer for every secretary—I’m asking you about your administration. I’m asking you about what you could do with this housing and how we address the number one issue facing many of my constituents and many people in the country. And the answer is you could do a lot more work and help families with funding that went to housing and not $1.5 trillion for a war.

###





The following sites -- plus Mike's "Chump and his gang lie about a judge" --  updated:

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