Senate Democrats say they can find NO credible evidence that EPA chief Scott Pruitt received threats that justify his unprecedented security expenses.

Courtesy of the AP:  

Confidential security assessments in the Environmental Protection Agency show no evidence of specific, credible, physical threats against Administrator Scott Pruitt, despite claims that an “unprecedented” number of death threats justify his outsized security spending, according to a review by Senate Democrats. 

Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee wrote in a letter Tuesday that they have reviewed security assessments describing 16 purported threats against Pruitt. They include public protests, criticism of Pruitt’s policies and other activities protected by the First Amendment. 

The letter from Sens. Tom Carper of Delaware and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island urged the committee’s Republican chairman to begin oversight hearings into Pruitt’s unusual security precautions. 

The Associated Press reported Friday that EPA has spent about $3 million on Pruitt’s security measures, which included flying first-class and using a full-time security detail of 20 armed officers.

Here are some of the "threats" that have been identified by HuffPo:

Here are some alleged threats against Pruitt that were investigated, according to reports: 

― The EPA inspector general in March 2017 investigated a postcard sent to the EPA that said: “Get out while you still can, Scott,” “You ignorant fuck,” and “You are evil incarnite,” according to a report obtained by E&E. EPA investigators discussed the message with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. But they couldn’t identify the author and concluded the message “lacked a clear threat.”

 ― Another postcard included “an implied threat that contained obscene language,” Sullivan told E&E. “It was not a direct threat.” The U.S. attorney’s office declined to prosecute, and the writer of the message apologized when contacted by federal officials, said Sullivan. 

― “Threatening tweets” against Pruitt and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were investigated in April 2017. The writer told investigators he wrote the “flippant comments” while drinking and watching “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and had no intention of hurting anyone. He apologized, and a U.S. attorney’s office declined to press charges. 

― The EPA launched a criminal probe in April 2017 into two female protesters who interrupted a speech by Pruitt. Officials submitted information for misdemeanor charges, but no action was taken. 

― The head of the EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement told Politico in February that Pruitt’s safety was threatened when people yelled obscenities at him.

Jesus, I never realized it before but perhaps I need a bullet proof desk, because I have received way more aggressive threats than these.

By the way as it turns out Pruitt's predecessor, Gina McCarthy, received some ACTUAL threats of harm.

One of which said, “We will hurt you and your family.”

And yet she did not even bother to ask for a bullet proof desk, or even around the clock security.

Go figure. 

One of Steve Bannon's Navy Seal security guards attempts to intimidate 5 ft 2 mother and author on elevator.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

One of Steve Bannon's Navy Seal security guards lost his cool after a 5ft 2in woman made a snide comment towards the former Trump strategist in a hotel elevator, it has been revealed. 

Samantha Ettus found herself in the same elevator as Bannon and his two security guards at Manhattan's Regency Hotel on Tuesday. 

Unable to resist the urge to skewer Bannon, who was part of President Trump's original West Wing team before being ousted earlier this year, Ettus told him: 'I hope you get what you deserve.' 

Furious, one of Bannon's two former Navy Seal security guards moved towards her as if he were about to 'pounce'. 

DailyMail.com understands the veteran was only settled when Bannon told him: 'Let it go, Major Chief.' 

According to Ettus the other security guard restrained the man until Bannon called him off, but that she was left shaken.

Here is a picture of the author and mother so you can see for yourself how intimidating she could be.

But let's face it we should not be surprised.

After all Bannon, Donald Trump, and even Vladimir Putin are all terrified of women.

That is why they worked so aggressively to keep one of them out of the White House.

Sadly for them that just seems to have made them stronger and more determined. 

Jared Kushner is likely working for foreign intelligence agencies whether he knows it or not.

Courtesy of Politico: 

The officials said White House aides also were told they should assume that foreign cyberspies had already penetrated their personal email systems to some degree and used that access to vacuum up everything not just on their own computers and phones but those of their contacts. 

The NSA briefers told the Trump aides that using their personal devices for work, including passing files and emails from one system to the other, could give cyberspies access to their work computers and email, too, the officials said. 

If Kushner did not adhere to the security precautions, it could lead to a significant security breach, the officials said, given his access to President Donald Trump and unique portfolio of responsibilities. Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, is the president’s point man on China, Syria, Middle East peace, and Afghanistan, along with innovation, infrastructure and other issues. 

“Jared is probably one of the top five or 10 targets in the U.S. government because of his access to the president and because of the portfolios he’s been given,” said Richard Clarke, a former top cybersecurity advisor to three presidents. “It’s a pretty safe bet that his personal devices have been compromised by foreign intelligence services. And therefore there is some risk that meetings he attends are compromised too.”

We now know, of course, that Kushner has been using a private email account, and since it was clearly to bypass security, it is almost guaranteed that the device is no secure.

Of course I am of the mind that Kushner, and various other administration and White House personnel, are actively working with foreign intelligence agencies.

For example.

But even if they are not, their Keystone Kop approach to security likely means that they may actually know more about what goes on in the White House than the American public. 

Donald Trump Jr. dismisses his Secret Service detail, wants more privacy.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, has elected to forgo protection by the Secret Service, according to a senior administration official, and another top White House official is losing hers. 

The agency ceased protecting Mr. Trump, who lives in New York City and is an executive at the Trump Organization, last week. Mr. Trump, an avid camper and hunter, was said to be seeking more privacy than he can expect with a contingent of agents accompanying him everywhere. 

It was not immediately clear whether the decision applied to his family; he and his wife, Vanessa, have five children. Mr. Trump could not be reached, and the White House did not return a message seeking comment. 

Now we know that Junior is not going to walk around with no security because he is a high value target for kidnappers, and there are a whole lot of people who hate his daddy.

Which means that he is switching to his father's private security team. 

Folks directly paid by his father to help keep the family secrets.

It is almost like the Trump family has decided to no longer even pretend that they are not guilty anymore.

Also contained in this article, but apparently unrelated (Or is it?), is this tidbit.

Additionally, Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to President Trump, will no longer be covered by agents, according to an administration official briefed on the matter.

Well I am not going to go all Alex Jones with a conspiracy theory here, and I am pleased that our tax dollars will no longer go to protect his harpy, but isn't this all just a little TOO coincidental?

I'm just saying.

While most states agree that they need to prepare for more cyber attacks in the coming election cycles, few are ready to spend the money necessary for increased security.

Courtesy of Politico:  

The U.S. needs hundreds of millions of dollars to protect future elections from hackers — but neither the states nor Congress is rushing to fill the gap. 

Instead, a nation still squabbling over the role Russian cyberattacks played in the 2016 presidential campaign is fractured about how to pay for the steps needed to prevent repeats in 2018 and 2020, according to interviews with dozens of state election officials, federal lawmakers, current and former Department of Homeland Security staffers and leading election security experts.

These people agree that digital meddlers threaten the public’s confidence in America’s democratic process. And nearly everyone believes that the danger calls for collective action — from replacing the voting equipment at tens of thousands of polling places to strengthening state voter databases, training election workers and systematically conducting post-election audits. 

But those steps would require major spending, and only a handful of states’ legislatures are boosting their election security budgets, according to a POLITICO survey of state election agencies. And leaders in Congress are showing no eagerness to help them out. 

Not only are they showing "no eagerness to help them out," they are actively cutting funding from the agencies that currently DO help out.

In fact, some in the Capitol are trying to defund the 15-year-old federal agency that helps states and counties administer elections. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has three full-time staffers examining elections, would also see budget cuts in the pending congressional spending bills.

“We just don’t fund elections,” said Lawrence Norden, deputy director of the Democracy Program at New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice, who co-wrote a recent report on digitally securing America's elections. “Nobody’s really sure who’s responsible for this.”

“Nobody’s really sure who’s responsible for this?" Well that is certainly comforting.

I'm just going to say it, because it needs to be said.

The Republicans don't WANT to secure our voting systems because they habitually take advantage of the lack of security and if the Russians hacking helps to put THEIR guy in office they see no reason to do anything about it.

And that leaves the rest of us, you know the people who believe in free and fair elections, simply pondering a future where we will never be able to completely trust the outcome of any election in America for the foreseeable future.

Even Tiffany Trump is draining this country dry of funds.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:

Official government records show three payments were made by the State Department to a car rental agency in Rome on July 18 totaling $117,489.44.

That pales in comparison to the $1,956,949.73 that was spent at the same agency back in May during President Trump's 48-hour trip to Italy.

Two days later Secret Service agents arrived in Portofino to meet Tiffany Trump as she disembarked from a two-week yacht trip on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Well that certainly helps to explain why the Secret Service is going broke.

Not sure why the Secret Service has to spend so many resources to protect Tiffany Trump.

I don't think that even her father cares enough about her to have any concerns for her welfare. 

And if he does, then let HIM foot the bill for her protection. 

The Secret Service is going broke trying to protect Trump and his family, and keep up with their extravagant lifestyle.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission – in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump's family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast. 

Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex'' Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year. 

The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first seven months of the administration. Agents must protect Trump – who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia – and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas. 

"The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,'' Alles said. "I can't change that. I have no flexibility.'' 

Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That's up from 31 during the Obama administration. 

It is not just the large number of Trump family members and associates that is draining resources, it is also the number of locations the Secret Service is expected to cover and the amount of traveling they are required to do.

In response a number of agents are leaving the agency.

And that situation does not appear to be changing anytime soon:

The compensation crunch is so serious that the director has begun discussions with key lawmakers to raise the combined salary and overtime cap for agents, from $160,000 per year to $187,000 for at least the duration of Trump's first term. 

But even if such a proposal was approved, about 130 veteran agents would not be fully compensated for hundreds of hours already amassed, according to the agency. 

"I don't see this changing in the near term,'' Alles said. 

So not only do you have to protect Cheeto Hitler, but you may have to do it on your own time without any hope of compensation. 

I don't know why anybody should be surprised. After all this is EXACTLY how Trump treated contractors that worked for him in the past.

Militias and Right Wing "patriot" groups are now providing security for certain pro-Trump politicians. Oh, I have a bad feeling.

Courtesy of The Trace:  

Energized by Donald Trump’s coarsely confrontational nationalism, the armed right-wing fringe is doing more than stepping out of the shadows in 2017. Detachments of armed men in fatigues have become fixtures at liberal protests, forming the vanguard of what’s become known in some quarters as the “counter-resistance.” 

Now, in a smattering of states with histories of right-wing extremism, chapters of groups like the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters may be emerging as even more direct political players, providing security for local pro-Trump politicians and Republican organizations. In one case, a Three Percenter was found to be employed on a state lawmaker’s staff. 

When self-designated patriot groups first emerged during the early ‘90s, they identified as enemies of the “New World Order” heralded by George H.W. Bush, and tended to oppose the government, regardless of which party was in power. But experts say that the recent activity of some militia members could be evidence of a greater shift in political allegiances.

“You can’t be anti-government if your guy has the top job,” said Mark Pitcavage, who researches far-right extremism for the Anti-Defamation League. 

With right-wing extremists who venerate the president looking for new enemies, some state and local politicians who are remaking partisanship in Trump’s image may see militias as a way to tighten their grip on power. The brash political style and “America First” agenda ushered into the Republican Party by Trump appeals to people in the militia movement, drawing them toward the political mainstream, said Amy Cooter, a sociologist at Vanderbilt University. Just as important, Cooter said, groups like the Three Percenters are eager for confrontation with anti-Trump liberals, who are themselves taking to the streets. “On the local level, some Republicans appear to be tapping into that agenda.”

Yep, having armed Right Wing extremists managing crowds during political events and responding to protesters. Nothing about that seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Some of you might remember that I wrote about this early last month.

However at the time it seemed to be happening only in Oregon.

Apparently in the era of Trump bad ideas spread like herpes. 

According to Russian news agency Trump Administration and Kremlin continue plans to form joint cyber security unit.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Moscow and Washington are in talks to create a joint cyber security working group, Russia's RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing Andrey Krutskikh, a special presidential envoy on cybersecurity. 

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month he had discussed the idea of creating such a group with President Vladimir Putin at a summit of the Group of 20 nations in Hamburg, Germany. 

But the idea was greeted with incredulity by some senior Republicans who said Moscow could not be trusted - and the U.S. president later tweeted that he did not think it could happen. 

"The talks are underway ... different proposals are being exchanged, nobody denies the necessity of holding the talks and of having such contacts," Krutskikh said, according to RIA. 

Svetlana Lukash, a Russian official who was at the Hamburg summit, said earlier this month that the two presidents had agreed to discuss cyber security questions, either via the United Nations or as part of a working group.

Okay so this is a Russian news agency so the first thing you think is "take it with a grain of salt."

And that is always a good idea, however also keep in mind that the Russian news agencies have reported on a number of things kept from the US press, such as that meeting with the Russian agents in the White House for instance.

Besides Trump seemed to be perfectly fine with the idea before he was lambasted by his fellow conservatives. But seriously, why would we think that any of that would have changed his mind?

Speaking of news coming out of Russia, there is also a report that Trump had more meetings with Putin than the two we have learned of thus far: 

President Trump may have held more meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit earlier this month, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Friday. (Lavrov you might remember was one of the Russian agents that Trump invited into the White House.)

“They might have met even much more than just three times,” Lavrov told NBC News. 

Lavrov did not deny the possibility of additional meetings but did dismiss the importance of the encounters, comparing it to children interacting at a kindergarten. 

“When you are bought by your parents to a kindergarten do you mix with the people who are waiting in the same room to start going to a classroom?” he asked.

Wait, "There might have been much more than three?" When did we hear there were three?

So the American media was left in the dark about multiple meetings, but the Russians know all about them?

Well that certainly does not give you any confidence that the idea of a joint cyber security unit is out of the question, now does it?

Now that Putin's puppet is in place America is busy jumping through Russia's hoops.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials. 

The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside, but even its backers have questioned its efficacy since Russia deployed forces in Syria two years later. Officials said the phasing out of the secret program reflects Trump’s interest in finding ways to work with Russia, which saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. 

The shuttering of the program is also an acknowledgment of Washington’s limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power.

Officials said Trump made the decision to scrap the CIA program nearly a month ago, after an Oval Office meeting with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster ahead of a July 7 meeting in Germany with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

If that were not troubling enough, we also have this bit of troubling news, courtesy of Bloomberg: 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is shutting down an office that coordinates cyber issues with other countries, according to two people familiar with the plan, in a move that critics said will diminish the U.S. voice in confronting hackers. 

The Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, established under President Barack Obama in 2011, will be folded into the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, according to the people, who asked not to be identified in advance of an announcement. The coordinator will no longer report directly to the secretary of state, going instead through the bureau’s chain of command as Tillerson pushes ahead with a department-wide reorganization, they said. 

“It’s taking an issue that’s preeminent and putting it inside a backwater within the State Department,” said Robert Knake, a senior fellow for cybersecurity at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington who was director of cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council under Obama. “Position to power matters both within the U.S. government and within the international community.”

If somebody actually believe this move will help protect us from the next cyber attack, or that it is NOT playing right into the hands of the Kremlin, then they have not been paying attention at all.

As far as I am concerned Tillerson is likely just as compromised as Donald Trump and allowing him oversight of this crucial government department is like putting the fox in charge of guarding the door to the hen house.

These are of course only a few of the things that Putin clearly demanded of Trump, and the Russian government has now become so used to getting their way in Washington that when there is a hiccup they get pissed off.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

Russia said Tuesday that it is losing patience over the return of properties that the United States seized as penalty for Moscow's election interference, as tense talks between the two countries have yielded no resolution. 

In Moscow, officials threatened to take "retaliatory measures" if the United States continued to "hinder" their government's diplomatic mission, and the spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin's patience "is expiring." 

"We are still counting on the reasonableness of our American counterparts to at least bring the situation into the legal framework in accordance with the international law," said the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

To be clear the Russian government has done NOTHING to deserve the return of these compounds, which were taken from them in response to their very aggressive interference in our last presidential election, for which they have not yet even admitted responsibility, and yet they feel empowered to make threats? 

Let's face it if America were one of Trump's casinos the roulette wheel would be rigged to land on whatever number Putin picked and the slot machine would pay off for every Russian's pull of handle.

Donald Trump announces a joint cyber security unit with Russia, before retracting it, on the same day.

Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017

So that was Trump's unbelievable announcement yesterday.

Which as we know received an incredulous response from the media and an angry backlash from many Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

So then in response Trump tweeted this out later in the evening.

The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't-but a ceasefire can,& did!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017

So wait, Trump announced the creation of a cyber security unit that he always knew could never happen?

Do the Russians know this can never happen?

Well not exactly:  

Asked about Trump’s comments, a Russian official told reporters on Monday that while there might not be a formal task force, the two leaders “reached an agreement” to coordinate more on cybersecurity.

Okay so no task force, but we are still coordinating with the Russians on cyber security?

Does that seem like a distinction without a difference to anybody else?

Oregon county Republican party to use militia members for security, because nothing can go wrong there.

Courtesy of The Portland Mercury:  

The Multnomah County Republican Party (MCRP) has formally decided to pair up with right-wing militia groups to run security at local events. 

The formal resolution was passed on on Monday and its text was leaked to the Mercury Friday morning. MCRP Chairman James Buchal, despite being displeased with the leak, confirmed his group approved pairing up with the Oregon Three Percenters and Oath Keepers via a resolution earlier this week: 

Proposed Resolution of Chairman Buchal: Resolve that the MCRP may utilize volunteers from the Oregon Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other security groups. To provide security where such volunteers are certified to provide private security service by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Kay Bridges moved and Janice Dysinger seconded. Resolution passed. 

Such arrangements have already caused uproar. At the June 4 rally, a militia member was spotted helping a federal cop detain and arrest a protester. The Department of Justice announced it would investigate the incident. 

Militia groups have also previously volunteered as security at pro-Donald Trump rallies in Lake Oswego in March and at Patriot Prayer's Vancouver, WA, rally in April. 

Sure nothing like having a bunch of Rambo wannabes running around with automatic weapons, to "keep the peace."

Perfectly safe, if you're not an immigrant, Muslim, or minority that is.

The Chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party cannot understand what all of the fuss is about:

"I don't understand how it's a whole hell of a lot different than rich people hiring private security guards," explained Buchal about the volunteer militias. "I don't understand why it's so different."

Well maybe it's due to the fact that typically private security personnel are ex-cops, or ex-military, with years of training who are not spending their weekends dressing up like GI Joe and pretending to kill Nazis, ISIS terrorists, or, in more southern states, union soldiers.

I'm just saying.

Many American companies are bowing to pressure from Russia to give up their cyber security secrets. They do realize that Russia used stolen data to hack the election right?

Courtesy of Reuters:  

Western technology companies, including Cisco, IBM and SAP, are acceding to demands by Moscow for access to closely guarded product security secrets, at a time when Russia has been accused of a growing number of cyber attacks on the West, a Reuters investigation has found. 

Russian authorities are asking Western tech companies to allow them to review source code for security products such as firewalls, anti-virus applications and software containing encryption before permitting the products to be imported and sold in the country. The requests, which have increased since 2014, are ostensibly done to ensure foreign spy agencies have not hidden any "backdoors" that would allow them to burrow into Russian systems. 

But those inspections also provide the Russians an opportunity to find vulnerabilities in the products' source code - instructions that control the basic operations of computer equipment - current and former U.S. officials and security experts said.

U.S. officials say they have warned firms about the risks of allowing the Russians to review their products' source code, because of fears it could be used in cyber attacks. But they say they have no legal authority to stop the practice unless the technology has restricted military applications or violates U.S. sanctions.

Look I understand that businesses are concerned about their bottom line, and opening up new opportunities in new markets is very seductive, but based on what just happened in 2016 this seems incredibly naive.  

I'm sorry let me take that back because naive simply does not cover it.

Volunteering this information is FUCKING STUPID!

The Russians are clearly collecting information in order to find weaknesses in America's cyber security systems, and these companies are simply handing it over to them without a fight.

Donald Trump feigns ignorance in allowing photographer from Russian news service access to the White House, while former intelligence officials warn it was a potential breach of security.

Ambassador Kislyak and President Trump / Посол С.Кисляк и Президент Д.Трамп pic.twitter.com/Ckkx2YL9KX

— Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) May 10, 2017

Courtesy of WaPo:

A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office on Wednesday during President Trump’s meeting with Russian diplomats, a level of access that was criticized by former U.S. intelligence officials as a potential security breach. 

The officials cited the danger that a listening device or other surveillance equipment could have been brought into the Oval Office while hidden in cameras or other electronics. Former U.S. intelligence officials raised questions after photos of Trump’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were posted online by the Tass news agency. 

Among those commenting on the issue was former deputy CIA director David S. Cohen. Responding to a question posed online about whether it was a sound decision to allow the photographer into the Oval Office, Cohen replied on Twitter: “No it was not.” He declined to elaborate when reached by phone.

The White House downplayed the danger saying that the photographer was screened just like any US journalist would be when entering the White House.

However the intelligence officials suggest that such a screening would not be adequate to locate any kind of sophisticated listening device that the photographer might have smuggled in.

What is perhaps equally troubling is that the White House did not seem to be aware that the photographer was working for the Russia news outlet.

The administration official also said the White House had been misled about the role of the Russian photographer. Russian officials had described the individual as Lavrov’s official photographer without disclosing that he also worked for Tass. 

“We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency,” the administration official said. 

As a result, White House officials said they were surprised to see photos posted online showing Trump not only with Lavrov but also smiling and shaking hands with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

It should be noted that while the Russian news photographer seemed to have complete access to Donald Trump and his visitors, there were NO American journalists allowed to document the event.

In any other administration this would be considered shocking.

Another reason for concern is that apparently Putin himself instructed Donald Trump to take this meeting with Lavrov.

Courtesy of The Hill:  

A White House spokesman told Politico that Putin requested the two meet during Trump’s last phone call with the foreign leader. 

“He chose to receive him because Putin asked him to,” the spokesman said. “Putin did specifically ask on the call when they last talked.”

Just another reminder that for all intents and purposes Russia is now calling the shots.  

Donald Trump's constant tweeting is making the Secret Service's job near impossible.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Trump’s free-flowing tweets have invited more threats than his security detail can keep pace to investigate. On top of that, he’s been telegraphing his movements for the bad guys by establishing regular travel patterns in his first 100 days in office. And his very famous family is jetting around the world, draining the resources of a bureau still gasping from the frenzied pace of the 2016 campaign. 

All presidents live in a target-rich environment — agents often talk of mentally-ill people approaching the White House gates making threats against long-gone leaders like Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan. But law enforcement experts say the new Republican president has particularly upped his exposure levels through Twitter, with the missives emanating from his phone giving the masses the impression they can correspond directly with Trump. 

“The Twitter thing is creating a lot of hassles,” said Dan Bongino, a former protective detail agent for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “It’s generated a tidal wave of threats that the Secret Service can’t ignore.”

I know what most of you are going to say, "Well fuck it then, if he wants to invite those kinds of threats then the Secret Service should just take a long lunch break and let events play out as they will."

However I think we all know they cannot do that, nor deep down would we really want them to.

Nor it seems can anybody pry that damn phone out of Trump's hand, which means that we are left watching millions of taxpayer dollars burned up in trying to keep Trump and his misfit family alive until at least the end of his first term.

That is of course unless one of these many investigations finally comes up the smoking gun to get this POS hauled out of the White House in chains and thrown into prison where he clearly belongs.

One can only hope. 

Donald Trump demands the right to ride in the Queen of England's golden carriage despite the security risks.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

US President Donald Trump is keen to use the Queen's royal carriage to travel down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. 

According to officials, the White House views the carriage procession as an important part of Trump's itinerary for his visit scheduled for the second week in October.

UK security sources have warned that it poses a "monster" security operation, according to a Times report, leading to a lockdown of areas in central London. 

The Metropolitan Police are preparing for one of the largest public order operations in years, as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to come to Westminster to protest at Trump's state visit, which was postponed from earlier this year.

The article goes on to point out that the carriage is a flimsy affair which does not offer the same protection that the a president's reinforced car does against possible attack.

So why, considering the fact that Trump is reviled by many of the people in England, would he so keen on taking such a big security risk?

Ah, well I guess that more or less explains it right there.

Trump's ego demands that he receive the same treatment as his puppet master. 

Personally I don't think that the Queen of England responds well to the demands of bullies sand I hope she refuses Orange Hitler's demand.

Just like the Secretary of Education, the new head of the EPA is demanding additional security.

Okay was that a gunshot? Did anybody else hear a gunshot? I need some more damn security.

Courtesy of Quartz:

The administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, historically, has had some measure of government-funded personal security detail. Agents routinely picked Gina McCarthy from the airport, for example, or accompanied her on site visits during her time as EPA administrator from July 2013 to Jan 2017. But Scott Pruitt, the new EPA chief, wishes to be guarded 24/7. 

While the draft budget for the EPA obtained by the Washington Post this month shows massive cuts to environment, health, and climate change programs—including the elimination of a program to prevent childhood exposure to lead paint—it also includes a request to hire 10 additional security guards to create an around-the-clock personal security detail for Pruitt, the New York Times reports. 

The Times calls it a first for an EPA chief, and notes that the 10 additional agents would more than double the agency’s current security staff, which has hovered between six and eight agents in recent years. Similarly, security detail for education secretary Betsy DeVos has reached unprecedented levels: Typically, the secretary of education is guarded by about six agents from within the Department of Education. Since her contentious confirmation, DeVos has been under the protection of the US Marshals Service, costing $8 million over eight months.

So we reported earlier on the request from Betsy DeVos for additional security after she was blocked by a protester from entering a school, which seems completely unnecessary, but what in the hell does an EPA chief have to fear?

This just makes me wonder at the severity of the policies that Betsy DeVos and Scott Pruitt are planning for their agencies.

If they believe they will result in attempts on their lives, that should give all of us pause.

Additional security for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may cost as much as 8 million dollars, and she is charging the Education Department for it.

Courtesy of the MSN: 

Government officials said Friday that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos requires additional security detail due to a threat to her safety and that it may cost up to $7.8 million through September to protect her. 

The U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement that a threat assessment was conducted in February and DeVos was put under additional protection. 

The statement did not provide details on the threat or the number of personnel assigned to her. The agency said it will be reimbursed $7.78 million from the Education Department for services from February through September. 

The Education Department said that's a projected, not a final figure. The move comes amid a proposal by the Trump administration to cut the department's budget by 13 percent. 

The evaluation of DeVos' safety took place after a protester briefly blocked her from entering a public school in the nation's capital.

Okay seriously WTF?

The Education Department needs to shell out as much as eight million dollars because this precious snowflake had never seen protesters before?

Here is video of that protest.

You will notice that nobody touched her, or threatened to harm her in any way.

They simply blocked her from entering the building and shouted "shame" at her.

I am sure that was humiliating, but should her humiliation cost the taxpayers 8 million dollars?

And remember this is on top of all of the money being spent to protect the Trump family and all of Trump's associates. 

Secret Service requests 60 million more dollars to protect Donald Trump and his family.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

The U.S. Secret Service requested $60 million in additional funding for the next year, offering the most precise estimate yet of the escalating costs for travel and protection resulting from the unusually complicated lifestyle of the Trump family, according to internal agency documents reviewed by The Washington Post. 

Nearly half of the additional money, $26.8 million, would pay to protect President Trump’s family and private home in New York’s Trump Tower, the documents show, while $33 million would be spent on travel costs incurred by “the president, vice president and other visiting heads of state.” 

The documents, part of the Secret Service’s request for the fiscal 2018 budget, reflect the costly surprise facing Secret Service agents tasked with guarding the president’s large and far-flung family, accommodating their ambitious travel schedules and fortifying the three-floor Manhattan penthouse where first lady Melania Trump and son Barron live. 

Trump has spent most of his weekends since the inauguration at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and his sons have traveled the world to promote Trump properties with Secret Service agents in tow.

I know what we are all thinking but let's not make any comments which could be misconstrued as threats on this blog.

Having said that I really think this is money that could be better spent elsewhere.

ANYWHERE in fact. 

Trump's constant trips to Mar-a-Lago have Palm Beach mayor thinking of raising taxes to cover costs.

Courtesy of Fortune:

Palm Beach, Fla. Mayor Paulette Burdick says that using local law enforcement to protect President Donald Trump during his frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate "means the local taxpayers will have to bear the added burden of being part of the security for the president of the United States," according to CNN. 

"It will either be cuts or increase in taxes," Burdick told the network. Palm Beach's sheriff's department told CNN that it costs roughly $60,000 in overtime per day when the president is in town, even with a Secret Service detail. CBS reports, based off figures from a similar trip by former President Barack Obama, that Trump's first three visits to Mar-a-Lago cost about $10 million in total.

We of course have also sen reports that protecting Trump's family still living in New York is costing that city as much as one million dollars a day. So I guess we might expect taxes to increase in that city as well.

So much for cutting taxes and putting money back into the pockets of Americans.

Unless of course those Americans are members of the Trump family that is.