Amid continued internal turmoil, plummeting ad revenues, and despite the election of Donald Trump, which the outlet hoped would spark its big comeback, ThinkProgress, an independent project of the Democratic Party&#8217;s Center for American Progress, shut its doors Friday.
In a report published Friday, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/thinkprogress-a-top-progressive-news-site-is-shutting-down">The Daily Beast</a> announced the not-unexpected news that after reaching out to over a dozen news publishers to try to stave off the site&#8217;s demise, Center for American Progress Action Fund Executive Director Navin Nayak was forced to tell the already depleted staff of ThinkProgress that the project was officially defunct.
&#8220;Given that we could find no new publisher, we have no other real option but to fold the ThinkProgress website back into CAP&#8217;s broader online presence with a focus on analysis of policy, politics, and news events through the lens of existing CAP and CAP Action staff experts,&#8221; said Nayak in a statement reported by The Daily Beast&#8217;s Sam Stein and Gideon Resnick. &#8220;Conversations on how to do so are just beginning, but we will seek to reinvent it as a different platform for progressive change.&#8221;
Founded during the George W. Bush administration and maintaining prominence as one of the top progressive sites during the Obama era, ThinkProgress operated as an editorially independent project of CAP. Now, Nayak said, it would be folded back into the Democratic action fund.
While thinkprogress.org will continue to exist, Stein and Resnick explain, &#8220;it will no longer function as an independent enterprise focused on original reporting.&#8221; Future contributions to the site will come from the group&#8217;s various scholars promoting the progressive agenda, while the ClimateProgress blog will be taken back over by founder Joe Romm.
Stein and Resnick provide a summary of some of the reasons ThinkProgress ultimately failed to stay afloat (formatting adjusted):
<blockquote>&#8230;the site suffered from editorial frictions during the Obama years, when the visions of some of the staff clashed with the larger political demands of CAP and its donors. At one point, CAP’s then-CEO Jen Palmieri <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/regarding-thinkprogresss-editorial-independence-f4ce69cd2c71/">wrote a guest post</a> on Yglesias’ ThinkProgress blog to issue a defense of Third Way after Yglesias had criticized the centrist-Democratic group. Elsewhere, there were <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/11/05/leaked-emails-from-pro-clinton-group-reveal-censorship-of-staff-on-israel-aipac-pandering-warped-militarism/">rifts and tensions</a> over ThinkProgress posts that were critical of Israel.
In the fall of 2015, staffers at ThinkProgress unionized, in part as a means of formalizing editorial independence from CAP brass. And there was a sense that the election of Donald Trump in 2016 would spark a boomlet in material for staff to investigate and cover. In 2018, the site brought on board Jodi Enda, an alum of CNN, to serve as editor in chief, in what was presented as a movement towards more original reporting. But editorial tensions have lingered.</blockquote>
The site&#8217;s unionized staff reportedly turned on CNN alum Enda, particularly over her handling of a piece that was critical of Bernie Sanders. The site&#8217;s publication of the piece resulted in backlash from the democratic socialist, who accused CAP of doing the bidding of corporate donors.
But what appears to have been the biggest factor was the site&#8217;s deepening financial woes. The Daily Beast obtained a document showing the site &#8220;facing a $3-million delta between revenues and expenses in 2019, of which $350,000 had come via a shortfall in ad revenue.&#8221; (<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/thinkprogress-a-top-progressive-news-site-is-shutting-down">Read the full report here</a>.)
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50728/leaked-transcript-nyt-staff-meeting-reveals-james-barrett">Leaked Transcript Of NYT Staff Meeting Reveals Leadership’s Plan For Reporting On Trump For Next Two Years</a>

Top Progressive Site Thought Trump’s Election Would Spark Comeback; Now It’s Closing Up Shop

Center for American Progress

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

ThinkProgress

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) may not have Hillary Clinton to contend with in this Democratic nomination process, but he&#8217;s not about to let Clinton allies who are still active in the Democratic Party jump on the bandwagon of his success.
Over the weekend, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/online/bernie-sanders-writes-complaint-letter-because-thinkprogress-criticized-him-for-being-a-millionaire/">Mediaite reports</a>, Sanders&#8217; campaign &#8220;fired off an angry letter to [the] liberal think tank&#8221; Center for American Progress, now run by a longtime Clinton fan, Neera Tanden. The letter excoriated the Center for American Progress and it&#8217;s 501(c)(4) offshoot, CAP Action Fund, for allowing an affiliated website, Think Progress, to attack Sanders for his &#8220;appearance&#8221; and for having earned more than a million dollars per year in 2017 and 2018, in part because of a bestselling book.
&#8220;Last week,&#8221; Bernie and his team fumed, &#8220;you published an article on ThinkProgress criticizing me for my appearance and for the income I earned from writing a book. Then, a day later, you published a video that dishonestly attacked me for hypocrisy in my effort to address income inequality in America &#8211; a video that was excitedly discussed on many conservative websites.&#8221;
As Mediaite notes, the piece doesn&#8217;t exactly call Sanders a hypocrite, though he&#8217;s responded with a temper tantrum nearly every time he&#8217;s asked about his newfound wealth, but it does point out that Sanders, once a millionaire, quickly went from decrying the greed of &#8220;millionaires&#8221; and &#8220;billionaires&#8221; to decrying the greed of &#8220;multi-millionaires&#8221; and &#8220;billionaires,&#8221; conveniently exempting himself from his own criticism.
The author also pointed out that it seems Sanders feels his wealth is &#8220;very off-brand and embarrassing,&#8221; and that he and his campaign have taken pains to hide his status not just as a millionaire, but as the owner of three houses and other trappings of wealth, even though Sanders defends his own riches by saying he still supports a &#8220;progressive tax system which demands that the wealthiest people in this country finally start paying their fair share in taxes.&#8221;
In his letter, Sanders called out Tanden specifically &#8212; one of Clinton&#8217;s top staffers on her 2008 campaign &#8212; for &#8220;maligning my staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas.&#8221;
Center for American Progress is, of course, no conservative outlet and neither is Think Progress. To suggest that either group is even close to the middle is downright outrageous. It&#8217;s also not directly affiliated with Think Progress, CAP claims, which they consider an &#8220;editorially independent&#8221; outlet under the umbrella of the 501(c)(4) but not directly related to it.
Center for American Progress is a generous donor to both progressive and moderate Democratic campaigns as well as to left-leaning PACs and organizations. They&#8217;re not a particularly good enemy to have, either, since they control a <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/center-for-american-progress-cap/">large donor and influencer network</a> that includes billionaire George Soros, the powerful Tides Foundation, and the always-flush-with-cash Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They partner with no less than the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations.
CAP also has direct links to the Podesta group, founded by John Podesta, a longtime Hillary Clinton ally and her 2016 campaign director.
So why is Bernie so desperate to earn their ire? It&#8217;s possible that Bernie is sore about an article and that he&#8217;s particularly vulnerable to attacks on his wealth coming from the Left. But more likely, Bernie Sanders&#8217; war with former Clinton allies is strategic. He did well, in 2016 and after, reminding his core followers that they were hated by &#8220;Establishment Democrats,&#8221; and who better to represent that bogeyman in the 2020 contest than an organization led by recognizable Clinton-era names?
It keeps the wounds of 2016 fresh.
It seems to be working. In the last week, Sanders has gone from second place to first in the Emerson presidential poll, and he&#8217;s the only candidate on the trail drawing significant crowds in early primary states. If he and his staff successfully reframe his candidacy as anti-Establishment (even though he&#8217;s been in the Senate several decades), it could propel him to the nomination.

SCHISM: Bernie Sanders And Staff Declare Open War On Clinton Allies

Bernie Sanders

Hillary Clinton

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been out of a job less than 24 hours, but leftist, pro-immigration groups are already moving to make sure she never finds gainful employment ever again.
Over the weekend, a group calling itself &#8220;Restore Public Trust&#8221; issued an open letter to corporations across the country and took out a full-page ad in The New York Times begging companies who might hire former Trump administration officials to reconsider, particularly if those officials were involved in formulating or carrying out the administration&#8217;s &#8220;family separation&#8221; policy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
We&#8217;re carrying a simple message in today&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>:
Corporate America should not allow administration officials responsible for Trump&#8217;s family separation policy to seek refuge in their corner offices or boardrooms.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FamiliesBelongTogether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FamiliesBelongTogether</a><a href="https://t.co/J0CZcUpklk">https://t.co/J0CZcUpklk</a> <a href="https://t.co/KMveqNPb52">pic.twitter.com/KMveqNPb52</a>
&#8212; Restore Public Trust (@RestoreTrustOrg) <a href="https://twitter.com/RestoreTrustOrg/status/1114977603646042112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
In their letter, the group warned that fired and resigned officials might try to &#8220;seek refuge in their corner offices or boardrooms,&#8221; and that any company that hires them for administrative roles, should know they&#8217;ll be subject to boycotts and &#8220;oversight.&#8221;
&#8220;We call on you to make it clear that you will not hire for employment, contract for consulting, or seat on your boards, anyone involved in the development or implementation of the Trump administration&#8217;s family separation immigration policy,&#8221; Restore Public Trust says in its statement. &#8220;Furthermore, you should make it clear to the lobbying shops and consulting firms you hire and the think tanks, political committees, and candidates you fund &#8212; that you will not work with or support them if they hire these individuals.&#8221;
&#8220;There are some lines that simply cannot be crossed,&#8221; the letter concludes.
Along with the letter, Restore Public Trust issued a list of administration officials they feel don&#8217;t deserve to work in the private sector. That list includes now former-DHS Secretary Nielsen.
The group claims to be &#8220;non-partisan,&#8221; but the letter is co-signed by a number of far-left organizations including the Democratic opposition research outlet, American Bridge, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has recently become embroiled in sexism and racism scandals of its own.
Restore Public Trust itself <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-progressive-oversight-group-wants-to-make-trumps-cabinet-miserable">told the Daily Beast</a> at its inception that it is an organization made up of &#8220;top Democratic operatives and open-government activists&#8221; who have dedicated themselves &#8220;to make[ing] life miserable for Trump Cabinet officials&#8221; by &#8220;unearth[ing] and publiciz[ing] instances of corruption&#8212;or ethically dubious behavior&#8212;by members of the president&#8217;s team who [thus far] have largely avoided public scrutiny.&#8221;
Unsurprisingly, it is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) that also funds the far left &#8220;watchdog&#8221; website Media Matters and the uber-progressive action group, Center for American Progress.
Nielsen probably has little to worry about, however. Restore Public Trust does not have a track record of much success, aside from paying for ads in mainstream newspapers.
It&#8217;s also not clear Restore Public Trust seems willing to execute their plan consistently; although the family separation policy came to light under President Donald Trump, the policy itself is a product of Obama administration-era border control. Many of the incendiary photos used to indict Trump&#8217;s policy dated back to the late 2000s, when the Obama White House was struggling, also, to contend with a court decision that would not allow full illegal immigrant families to be kept in detention together for more than a few weeks.
Nielsen resigned (or was forced to resign), reportedly, in part, because she was unable to formulate a coherent policy that would allow the Trump administration to challenge or skirt the same Flores decision.

Immigration Activists Move To Blacklist Former Trump Administration Officials, Keep Them From Getting Jobs

Kirstjen Nielsen

Media Matters For America

Trump Administration

Billionaire political activist George Soros complained to The Washington Post this weekend that people across the globe are now turning their backs on his global campaign to force them into a Leftist utopia.
“Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong,&#8221; he told WaPo, according to the <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/09/george-soros-go-wrong/">Daily Caller</a>. His plan to control countries, promote &#8220;open borders&#8221;-style immigration, and saddle Western countries with dramatic environmental restrictions has been met with a resounding chorus of boos.
Soros seems to believe that the rise of anti-establishment leaders like President Donald Trump and far-right politicians in Europe isn&#8217;t the result of widespread dissatisfaction with the results of lenient immigration policies or concerns for western civilization, but, instead, the result of Soros simply being ahead of his time, and far too forward-thinking for the rest of us rubes.
“Apparently, I was living in my own bubble,&#8221; he said.
Soros&#8217; new fear, he told The Washington Post, is that Donald Trump is “willing to destroy the world&#8221; — something Soros himself has tried for decades to do, pumping millions into progressive NGOs and backing far-left candidates in Europe.
In 2017, Soros ramped up spending in the United States, giving millions to anti-Trump &#8220;resistance&#8221; groups, many of whom have either fizzled out or failed to accomplish objectives. The waste of money must be eating at him.

POOR SOROS: Progressive Billionaire Complains That ‘Everything That Could Go Wrong Has Gone Wrong’

George Soros

Leftism

Hillary Clinton tweeted support for a new &#8220;media platform&#8221; named Verrit &#8212; founded by Democrat political advisor <a href="https://peterdaou.com/">Peter Daou</a> &#8212; on Sunday:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
I&#8217;m excited to sign up for <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a>, a media platform for the 65.8 million! Will you join me and sign up too? <a href="https://t.co/bOLSMyk6bG">https://t.co/bOLSMyk6bG</a>
&#8212; Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/904484186291089408">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
Via Twitter, Daou claimed that &#8220;Hillary Clinton&#8217;s voters &#8230; are underrepresented in the media,&#8221; prompting a necessity for an alternative online space where they can congregate.
<div class="embed tweet">
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
1. THREAD&#8212;EXCITING NEWS!! Hillary Clinton endorses <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a>, the media platform we&#8217;re building for the 65.8 million! <a href="https://t.co/NDk4A5Xi81">https://t.co/NDk4A5Xi81</a>
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904484791604707328">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
2. <a href="https://twitter.com/leeladaou">@LeelaDaou</a> and I founded <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a> because Hillary Clinton&#8217;s voters &#8211; an inspiringly diverse coalition &#8211; are unrepresented in the media. <a href="https://t.co/OYN9IMvbft">pic.twitter.com/OYN9IMvbft</a>
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904484890418307072">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
Daou also described &#8220;misogyny, sexism, and racism&#8221; as widespread American pathologies:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
3. <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a> is necessary because we need to talk about how misogyny, sexism, and racism plague our politics and impact our elections.
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904484970839846912">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
4. <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a> is necessary because if you&#8217;re <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StillWithHer?src=hash">#StillWithHer</a>, you endure constant harassment and bullying from the radical right and fringe left.
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904485027278413824">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
5. <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a> is necessary because 65.8 million people who cast a patriotic vote when democracy was on the line have the right to be heard. <a href="https://t.co/GddcT6zdY0">pic.twitter.com/GddcT6zdY0</a>
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904485130684772352">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
6. <a href="https://twitter.com/verrit">@Verrit</a> is necessary because future generations deserve to know the FACTS about how we got here, or the same injustices will be repeated.
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904485248980967425">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
Daou expressed hope that Verrit will be profitable:
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
8. Our plan: Daily, rigorously-verified info and analysis. Weekly Daou podcast this fall. Premium version and VerritTV on YouTube in 2018.
&#8212; Peter Daou (@peterdaou) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/904485411963142144">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
Daou joined forces with David Brock &#8212; founder of Media Matters for America and Clinton operative &#8212; in founding <a href="https://shareblue.com/">ShareBlue</a>, a media outlet billing itself as producing &#8220;factual content to delegitimize Trump&#8217;s presidency.&#8221;
Prior to ShareBlue&#8217;s launch, Brock <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/20/media/true-blue-media-david-sirota/index.html">described</a> the nascent media operation as &#8220;an answer to Breitbart on the left.&#8221;
ShareBlue&#8217;s staffers&#8217; professional descriptions include leftist terms such as &#8220;progressive,&#8221; &#8220;feminist,&#8221; and &#8220;LGBTQ rights.&#8221;
The Center for American Progress &#8212; a neo-Marxist, Democrat-aligned and George Soros-funded non-profit organization &#8212; was founded by Clinton ally John Podesta.
Political organizations orbiting the Clintons include the non-profit organization bearing their family namesake: The Clinton Foundation; the Clinton Global Initiative, ostensibly an international philanthropic operation, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/us/hillary-bill-clinton-foundation.html?mcubz=3">shut down</a> earlier this year.
Clinton and her surrogates have repeatedly described the news media landscape as broadly hostile toward her presidential campaigns, both in 2008 and 2016. Across the Clinton administration, both Bill and Hillary Clinton &#8212; as well as their political allies &#8212; framed the news media as broadly hostile toward them.
Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

Clinton Tweets Support For Anti-Trump Online Safe Space

David Brock

Twitter

On Wednesday, Center for Medical Progress (CMP) <a href="http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/">released</a> new horrifying undercover video footage exposing the gruesome abortion practices at abortion giant Planned Parenthood. 
In 2015, investigative journalists at CMP <a href="http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/">uncovered</a> Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the prices of dead baby body parts. It&#8217;s <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/289g-2">illegal</a> to profit off of fetal remains. 
The new footage, which shows investigative work from the National Abortion Federation conventions in 2014 and 2015, is equally shocking. 
Watch: 
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sq1ycCmX3uU" width="560"></iframe></div>
Here are some of the most disturbing moments from the conventions (partial transcript <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447939/undercover-video-center-medical-progress-exposes-gruesome-abortion-practices?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=desanctis&amp;utm_content=abortion-video">via</a> National Review). 
&#8220;I&#8217;m like &#8212; Oh my God! I get it! When the skull is broken, that&#8217;s really sharp! I get it! I understand why people are talking about getting that skull out, that calvarium,&#8221; said deputy director of ACLU&#8217;s Reproductive Health Freedom Project Talcott Camp. 
Amid hearty laughs from her audience, Planned Parenthood Federation of America&#8217;s Dr. Uta Landy, recalls, &#8220;An eyeball just fell down into my lap, and that is gross!&#8221;
&#8220;If I&#8217;m doing a procedure, and I&#8217;m seeing that I&#8217;m in fear that it&#8217;s about to come to the umbilicus [navel], I might ask for a second set of forceps to hold the body at the cervix and pull off a leg or two, so it&#8217;s not PBA [partial-birth abortion],&#8221; explained Dr. Ann Schutt-Aine, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast director of abortion services. 
Planned Parenthood of Michigan&#8217;s Dr. Lisa Harris admitted that abortion is in fact the violent murder of a person, and even suggests that this point be conceded to the pro-life crowd.
&#8220;Given that we actually see the fetus the same way, and given that we might actually both agree that there&#8217;s violence in here&#8230;&#8221; said Dr. Harris, &#8220;Let&#8217;s just give them all the violence, it&#8217;s a person, it&#8217;s killing, let&#8217;s just give them all that.&#8221;
Lastly, Deb VanDerhei, a top official for PPFA, admits that Planned Parenthood illegally sells fetal remains for profit: &#8220;But the truth is that some might want to do it to increase their revenues. And we can&#8217;t stop them,&#8221; she said. 
 
<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447939/undercover-video-center-medical-progress-exposes-gruesome-abortion-practices?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=desanctis&amp;utm_content=abortion-video">H/T</a> National Review

WATCH: Undercover Video Exposes Horrifying Truth About Abortion Industry

Abortion

Planned Parenthood

A <a href="http://bellvisuals.com/About">self-described</a> &#8220;video journalist&#8221; projected varying images on the entrance of Trump International Hotel in the nation&#8217;s capital, <a href="https://twitter.com/bellvisuals/status/864316849726554112/photo/1">taking to Twitter</a> to share his antic:

<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt height="515" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/trump_international_hotel_emoluments_projection.jpg" width="780" /></div>
Robin Bell, who claims to have orchestrated the projection, shared various images of his projections on <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ethd794pdx60utl/AAA8sbAV8IvAVJ2b5wzeEVw5a?dl=0">Dropbox</a>.

Igor Volsky, an operative of the socialist and Clinton-aligned Center for American Progress (CAP), <a href="https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/864306427720085504">hyped the projection stunt</a> on Twitter without any sense of irony given his employer:

<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt height="636" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/igor_volsky_tweet_trump_international_hotel_projection.jpg" width="631" /></div>

Bell&#8217;s projection feeds on a narrative framing President Donald Trump as monetizing the presidency. Assorted Left-wing and Democrat-aligned news media outlets and persons have suggested that the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. amounts to a money laundering vehicle through which political interests &#8212; both foreign and domestic &#8212; can purchase political influence from the president. Given the Trump International Hotel&#8217;s provision of services to foreign interests, including foreign diplomats and dignitaries, such news media outlets and persons allege that Trump is in violation of the Constitution&#8217;s foreign emoluments clause.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a Left-wing and Democrat-aligned lawfare organization, <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/crew-sues-trump-emoluments/">filed a lawsuit</a> against Trump in January alleging violations of the Constitution&#8217;s foreign emoluments clause. The lawsuit is being assisted by law professors Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California and Laurence Tribe of Harvard University.

Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

trump_international_hotel_emoluments_projection

Trump Enemies Troll His Hotel With Spotlighted Bribery Offer

Bill Clinton

Chelsea Clinton

Constitution

Trump Organization

Washington D.C.

Left-wing Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/democrats-real-people-lessons-234198">reported</a> that Senate Democrats will &#8220;hold lessons on how to talk to real people,&#8221; in an article published on Wednesday.

In an event hosted by David Brock &#8211; a Clinton loyalist and founder of Media Matters for America &#8211; entitled &#8220;Hold Trump Accountable,&#8221; Democrats will attend political strategy seminars hosted by Center for American Progress (CAP) CEO Neera Tanden and Priorities USA CEO Guy Cecil.

The event included political strategy segments on &#8220;speaking to those who feel invisible in rural America&#8221; and &#8220;listening to those who feel unheard.&#8221; 

Senate Democrats will also be advised by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) on how to &#8220;go around Republicans by trying to work with [President Donald Trump]&#8221; in a seminar entitled &#8220;Triangulating Trump.&#8221;

Sen. Dianne Feinsten (D-CA) will &#8220;prep Democrats on how to engage against Republicans over Trump&#8217;s Supreme Court pick.&#8221;

Reporters were not allowed to attend the event.

In December, Brock <a href="https://americanbridgepac.org/david-brock-announces-american-bridge-trump-administration-accountability-war-room/">announced a project</a> with American Bridge 21st Century &#8211; a leftist political agitation organ of the Democrat Party &#8211; to presumably ensure that the Trump administration would be &#8220;accountable, transparent, and held in check.&#8221;

Describing the project as the formation of a political &#8220;war room,&#8221; Brock warned of the Trump administration having &#8220;a minister of disinformation operating from the West Wing with ties to a proto-fascist media empire that is nothing more than a pro-Trump propaganda machine.&#8221; 

Brock promised to combat &#8220;Trump&#8217;s unprecedented willingness to lie and his infrastructure to propagate those lies.&#8221; The political &#8220;war room,&#8221; he added, would &#8220;fact-check administration statements in real-time.&#8221;

Despite being a neo-Marxist and Democrat-aligned agitation outlet, CAP <a href="https://ssl1.americanprogress.org/o/507/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=1818">enjoys nonprofit status</a> as a 501(c)(3) charity. Donations to such charities offer tax deductions to donors.

H/T <a href="https://twitter.com/burgessev">Burgess Everett</a> at <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/democrats-real-people-lessons-234198">Politico</a>

Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

Politico: Democrats Studying ‘How To Talk To Real People’

Elizabeth Warren

Tim Kaine

On Sunday, Clinton loyalist Neera Tanden pushed the narrative of 2016&#8217;s presidential election being compromised by Russian interference in order to undermine the legitimacy of President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s pending presidency.

Joining left-wing CNN as a panelist on State of the Union, Tanden claimed that Russia &#8220;hacked [the] election&#8221; for Trump&#8217;s benefit:

<blockquote>
&#8220;I want [Trump] to state clearly what the intelligence agencies have now said to him to his face, which is that Russia hacked this election in order to get him elected; help him win. I don&#8217;t understand why he cannot simply acknowledge that fact. He had his intelligence briefings. He&#8217;s still misstating facts. He said they only went after Democrats. They never went after Republicans. They did go after the Republicans. They haven&#8217;t released that information and so I have to say I do not understand why he will not basically state these facts, and the fact that he won&#8217;t makes me worried and that&#8217;s why I think that it&#8217;s a little ridiculous we haven&#8217;t had a single investigation out of the House.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Tanden&#8217;s claim that the election had been &#8220;hacked&#8221; received no pushback from left-wing CNN Democrat and State of the Union anchor Jake Tapper. Tapper presents himself as an objective, good faith, non-partisan journalist.

As head of the Center for American Progress (CAP) &#8211; a neo-Marxist agitation outlet and political arm of the Clinton family &#8211; Tanden spoke without irony about &#8220;fake news&#8221; directed to &#8220;undermine our democracy.&#8221; Founded by John Podesta in 2003, CAP operated as a de facto political action committee of Hillary Clinton&#8217;s two failed presidential campaigns.

Tanden also called on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to initiate congressional investigations into Russian political influence operations while questioning Ryan&#8217;s patriotism:

<blockquote>
&#8220;[Russia] tried to get Donald Trump elected. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s a big deal. When the Russians come into the United States, steal data and &#8212; it&#8217;s not only that. The intelligence agencies talked about fake news, it&#8217;s a whole array of forces to undermine our democracy. I just &#8212; I can&#8217;t understand why people who have been claiming to be patriots and putting our country first won&#8217;t take action. Why won&#8217;t Speaker Ryan take action?&#8221;
</blockquote>
At no point did Tapper offer discussion of the Clintons&#8217; financial connections to foreign governments, businesses, or organizations.
In a later segment, Tanden described Clinton as committed to helping &#8220;kids and families:&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;I think [Clinton&#8217;s] gonna figure out ways to help kids and families. That&#8217;s been what she&#8217;s been focused on her whole life&#8230; I think her job is to, what she&#8217;s thinking about right now is how to help serve kids and families as she has her whole life.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Watch the segment below.

<div class="media_embed"><iframe loading="lazy" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="480px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P7D54Mhkb_s" width="854px"></iframe></div>


Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

Tanden: Russia ‘Hacked This Election… To Get [Trump] Elected’

Jake Tapper

Media

Media Bias

Neera Tanden

Hillary Clinton&#8217;s campaign chair John Podesta &#8211; a long-term Clinton loyalist and political operative &#8211; criticized then President Barack Obama&#8217;s top advisor David Axelrod as insufficiently committed to left-wing redistributionist economic doctrines in <a href="https://foia.state.gov/searchapp/DOCUMENTS/Nov03_2016/F-2016-07895_1-15A/DOC_0C06131230/C06131230.pdf">a 2010 email</a>.
<div> </div>
Following the congressional elections of November 2010 in which Republicans wrested a majority in the House of Representatives from Democrats, Axelrod spoke with neo-Marxist news outlet <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/10/white-house-gives-in-on-bush-tax-cuts_n_781992.html">The Huffington Post</a>.
<div> </div>
According to The Huffington Post, Axelrod suggested that the White House would be open to extending &#8220;across-the-board&#8230; steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.&#8221; Debt reduction measures attributed to Republicans were described by The Huffington Post as &#8220;controversial.&#8221;
<div> </div>
Podesta wrote to Clinton loyalists Cheryl Mills, Neera Tanden and Doug Band: &#8220;At least David has his principles in tact (sic) like he won&#8217;t be for small things like school uniforms&#8211;only big things like totally caving in to right wing economics. Unbelievable.&#8221;

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt class="media-element file-default" data-fid="13581" data-media-element="1" height="1951" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/gettyimages-454641752.jpg" width="3000" />LAS VEGAS, NV &#8211; SEPTEMBER 04: Counselor to President Barack Obama, John Podesta (L) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend the National Clean Energy Summit 7.0 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on September 4, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Political and economic leaders are attending the summit to discuss a domestic policy agenda to advance alternative energy for the country&#8217;s future. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A screenshot of the aforementioed email is below.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt class="media-element file-default" data-fid="13582" data-media-element="1" height="1505" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/clinton_email1.jpg" width="1537" /></div>
<div> </div>
In 2010, Podesta was still heading the neo-Marxist <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/">Center for American Progress</a> (CAP), an operation closely aligned with the Clintons. CAP now informally operates as an arm of Clinton&#8217;s presidential campaign while enjoying non-profit status.

<div> </div>
Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

Government Leaders Attend Clean Energy Summit In Las Vegas

Clinton Emails: Podesta Disses Axelrod From The Left

David Axelrod

Huffington Post

John Podesta

Clinton loyalist and Democrat operative Neera Tanden recommended the usage of politically aligned non-white and female news media personalities to &#8220;shame&#8221; The New York Times to avoid anything damaging to Hillary Clinton&#8217;s presidential campaign. She also advised for Hillary Clinton to reach out directly to the publisher of The New York Times to direct the left-wing newspaper&#8217;s coverage to be even friendlier to the former secretary of state&#8217;s presidential campaign.
<div> </div>
Tanden, who currently heads the Center For American Progress &#8211; a neo-Marxist and Democrat agitation group that enjoys tax exemption as a 501(c)(s) nonprofit which was founded by Clinton loyalist and current Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in 2003 &#8211; made her media communications strategy recommendation last summer.
<div> </div>
Tanden wrote to Podesta on July 9, 2015 via <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/31954">email</a> (emphasis added):
<div> </div>
<blockquote>
when bloomberg was having problems w the times he called Arthur 
schulzburger and asked for coffee. He made the case that they were 
treating him like a billionaire dilettante instead of Third term mayor. It 
changed the coverage moderately but also aired the issues in the newsroom 
so people were more conscious of it. But Arthur is a pretty big wuss so 
he&#8217;s not going to do a lot more than that.
Hillary would have to be the one to call.
He also thinks the brown and women pundits can shame the times and 
others on social media. So cultivating Joan Walsh, Yglesias, Allen, perry 
bacon, Greg Sargent, to defend her is helpful. They can be emboldened. Fwiw 
&#8211; I pushed pir to do this a yr ago.
</blockquote>
<div> </div>
Tanden advised for the use of anti-American identity politicking along the lines of race, ethnicity, and sex in order to pressure an already left-wing and Democrat aligned newspaper further into her campaign&#8217;s orbit.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt class="media-element file-default" data-fid="13188" data-media-element="1" height="1956" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/tanden2.jpg" width="3000" />WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; SEPTEMBER 18: Secretary Hillary Clinton (L) and CAP President Neera Tanden attend the &#8216;Why Women&#8217;s Economic Security Matters For All&#8217; panel discussion at The Center For American Progress on September 18, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage)
<div> </div>
Illustrating collusion with media allies, Tanden&#8217;s email advised &#8220;cultivating&#8221; Salon&#8217;s Joan Walsh, Vox&#8217;s Matt Yglesias, NBC&#8217;s Perry Bacon, and The Washington Post&#8217;s Greg Sargent to chastise The New York Times over anything deemed damaging to Clinton&#8217;s ambitions.
<div> </div>
Tanden advised for Clinton to personally call The New York Times Company&#8217;s board chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. to make her case.

H/T <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/clinton-allys-advice-meet-with-nyt-publisher-to-try-to-improve-coverage-230332">Kelsey Sutten</a> at Politico
<div> </div>
Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.

Why Women’s Economic Security Matters For All Discussion With Hillary Clinton

Tanden: Use ‘Brown And Women’ Pundits To ‘Shame’ The NYT

Matt Yglesias

New York Times

Race

Washington Post

WikiLeaks

In an April 2015, in an email exchange with John Podesta, Hillary Clinton&#8217;s campaign chairman, Clinton&#8217;s campaign finance director, Dennis Cheng, reflected his ignorance of the laws against using the offices of an advocacy group by asking if the campaign could use the offices of the Center for American Progress (CAP), for a finance briefing. Podesta, who founded CAP, a 501c3 organization, ignored the fact that campaign laws prohibit such an action, only replying, &#8220;Too small.&#8221;
<div class="media_embed">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Not exactly comforting that Hillary&#8217;s finance director doesn&#8217;t realize you can&#8217;t do campaign events at a C3&#8217;s office <a href="https://t.co/TVQt9VkvNN">pic.twitter.com/TVQt9VkvNN</a>
&#8212; Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) <a href="https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/789477607284826112">October 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
</div>
The Center For American Progress, a leftist public policy research and advocacy organization which fights on the behalf of the Democratic Party and leftist causes, was founded in 2003 by Podesta. On its website, the organization <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/about/mission/">states</a>: &#8220;The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code.&#8221;
The organization has been <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/secret-donors-behind-center-american-progress-and-other-think-tanks-updated-524/">accused</a> in the past of taking money from corporate donors without disclosing it.
CAP, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, cannot engage in political campaigning. An organization violating this law could lead the IRS to completely <a href="http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/nonprofit-lose-tax-exempt-status-32391.html">revoke the organization&#8217;s tax-exempt status</a> or impose excise taxes on the organization. As the IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of-political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501-c-3-tax-exempt-organizations">states</a>:
<blockquote>
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. 
Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.
On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
</blockquote>

Clinton Campaign Officials Don’t (Or Won’t) Understand Campaign Finance Laws

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