FBI Should RAID The Swamp Criminals
Apr 30, 2018 19:40:56 #
The Swamp is there, bigger and better than ever.
The EPA does a lucrative favor for Carl Icahn, a key Trump ally
04/30/18 12:53 PM
By Steve Benen
The Rachel Maddow Show, 4/5/18, 9:00 PM ET
Icahn role shows common thread in Pruitt ethics, policy scandals
At last count, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has found himself at the middle of 13 separate investigations. New reporting from Reuters points to a controversy that should probably become the 14th.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter.
The waiver enables Icahn’s CVR Energy Inc to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The regulation is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel each year.
The company sought a waiver from the Obama administration, which rejected the request. Trump’s EPA appears to have reached the opposite conclusion.
Brooke Coleman, head of the Advanced Biofuels Business Council industry group, told Reuters, in reference to the EPA’s scandal-plagued chief, “This one’s going to be hard for Pruitt to explain.”
That’s true. After all, Reuters’ report noted that Icahn is currently facing a Justice Department investigation for his role in “influencing biofuels policy” while serving as Donald Trump’s special adviser to the president on regulatory reform. Now Trump’s EPA is reportedly giving a waiver to one of Icahn’s companies, allowing him to sidestep regulations on biofuels policy.
And if all of this sounds a little familiar, there’s a very good reason for that.
Rachel put all of this in context on the show a few weeks ago. Indeed, this New Yorker piece was published last summer on Carl Icahn allegedly using his influence with the president, and leveraging his role as a White House adviser on regulations, to benefit his investment.
Icahn resigned from his position on Trump’s team the day the New Yorker piece was published. (Because this White House is often ridiculous, Trump World then pretended Icahn had never actually served as the president’s regulatory czar, which was demonstrably absurd.)
And just in case this story weren’t quite troubling enough, let’s also not forget that Scott Pruitt may have his job at the EPA in part because of Icahn. From the aforementioned New Yorker piece:
When potential Cabinet secretaries visited Trump Tower to meet with the President-elect, they were sometimes sent for a second interview – with Icahn…. When Scott Pruitt visited Trump Tower to discuss the top job at the E.P.A., the President-elect concluded the interview by instructing him to walk two blocks uptown to meet with Icahn. Trump, according to a Bloomberg News account, told him, “He has some questions for you.” Pruitt was precisely the sort of candidate that Icahn might favor. A fierce opponent of environmental regulation, Pruitt had spent years, as the attorney general of Oklahoma, suing the agency that he was now in talks to oversee. Even so, Pruitt knew that Icahn would likely want to discuss one particular issue – RIN credits – and as Pruitt and an aide headed up Fifth Avenue they searched the Internet for information on the credits system and its impact on Icahn’s refiner.
Pruitt was nominated on December 8th. The next day, Icahn said in an interview with Bloomberg News, “I’ve spoken to Scott Pruitt four or five times. I told Donald that he is somebody who will do away with many of the problems at the E.P.A.”
It’s Pruitt’s EPA that just gave Icahn’s company a waiver that may be worth tens of millions of dollars, which brings me back to that “This one’s going to be hard for Pruitt to explain” quote.
How many investigations is the EPA’s Pruitt currently facing?
04/30/18 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
At face value, it’s awfully difficult to defend EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s $50-per-night living arrangement at the Capitol Hill condo of a lobbyist with business before the EPA. And if you’re thinking that someone really ought to investigate what transpired, I have some good news for you.
EPA’s watchdog has opened an investigation into Administrator Scott Pruitt’s rent deal with the wife of an energy lobbyist.
In letters sent [last week] to Democratic Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia and Ted Lieu of California, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins confirmed that his office would look into a lease Pruitt signed to rent a room on Capitol Hill for $50 a night.
Time will tell, of course, what that investigation turns up, but with a new investigation underway into the scandal-plagued EPA chief, this seemed like a good time to take stock. Just how many investigations is Scott Pruitt currently facing?
I’m pretty sure the new total recently reached double digits, so let’s count them up:
1. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s controversial travel habits.
2. The House Oversight Committee is also exploring the EPA chief’s use of public funds for first-class travel.
3. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s behind-the-scenes talks with the National Mining Association.
4. Pruitt’s exorbitant spending on an around-the-clock security detail is the subject of three inspector general investigations.
5. The House Oversight Committee is also examining the EPA chief’s security expenditures.
6. The Government Accountability Office has already investigated Pruitt for exceeding federal spending limits when he bought a $43,000 phone booth for his office.
7. The White House Office of Management and Budget is also investigating the phone booth.
8. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s use of funds set aside for the Safe Drinking Water Act and diverting the money to give generous raises to two of his top aides.
9. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s four-day trip to Morocco late last year.
10. The Government Accountability Office is investigating Pruitt’s ouster of scientists from the EPA’s science advisory committee.
11. The Government Accountability Office is investigating whether Pruitt broke lobbying laws with comments he made to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association.
12. The House Oversight Committee is investigating Pruitt’s living arrangement at a lobbyist’s condo.
13. And as noted above, the EPA’s inspector general is now also taking a closer look at Pruitt’s time at that condo.
While that’s an extraordinary number of investigations into one official’s on-the-job activities – remember, Pruitt has only been on the job about 14 months – this list may yet grow. Congressional Democrats, for example, have requested an investigation into Pruitt’s use of four separate email accounts, some of which may not have been fully disclosed or included in public-records searches
The EPA does a lucrative favor for Carl Icahn, a key Trump ally
04/30/18 12:53 PM
By Steve Benen
The Rachel Maddow Show, 4/5/18, 9:00 PM ET
Icahn role shows common thread in Pruitt ethics, policy scandals
At last count, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has found himself at the middle of 13 separate investigations. New reporting from Reuters points to a controversy that should probably become the 14th.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter.
The waiver enables Icahn’s CVR Energy Inc to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The regulation is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel each year.
The company sought a waiver from the Obama administration, which rejected the request. Trump’s EPA appears to have reached the opposite conclusion.
Brooke Coleman, head of the Advanced Biofuels Business Council industry group, told Reuters, in reference to the EPA’s scandal-plagued chief, “This one’s going to be hard for Pruitt to explain.”
That’s true. After all, Reuters’ report noted that Icahn is currently facing a Justice Department investigation for his role in “influencing biofuels policy” while serving as Donald Trump’s special adviser to the president on regulatory reform. Now Trump’s EPA is reportedly giving a waiver to one of Icahn’s companies, allowing him to sidestep regulations on biofuels policy.
And if all of this sounds a little familiar, there’s a very good reason for that.
Rachel put all of this in context on the show a few weeks ago. Indeed, this New Yorker piece was published last summer on Carl Icahn allegedly using his influence with the president, and leveraging his role as a White House adviser on regulations, to benefit his investment.
Icahn resigned from his position on Trump’s team the day the New Yorker piece was published. (Because this White House is often ridiculous, Trump World then pretended Icahn had never actually served as the president’s regulatory czar, which was demonstrably absurd.)
And just in case this story weren’t quite troubling enough, let’s also not forget that Scott Pruitt may have his job at the EPA in part because of Icahn. From the aforementioned New Yorker piece:
When potential Cabinet secretaries visited Trump Tower to meet with the President-elect, they were sometimes sent for a second interview – with Icahn…. When Scott Pruitt visited Trump Tower to discuss the top job at the E.P.A., the President-elect concluded the interview by instructing him to walk two blocks uptown to meet with Icahn. Trump, according to a Bloomberg News account, told him, “He has some questions for you.” Pruitt was precisely the sort of candidate that Icahn might favor. A fierce opponent of environmental regulation, Pruitt had spent years, as the attorney general of Oklahoma, suing the agency that he was now in talks to oversee. Even so, Pruitt knew that Icahn would likely want to discuss one particular issue – RIN credits – and as Pruitt and an aide headed up Fifth Avenue they searched the Internet for information on the credits system and its impact on Icahn’s refiner.
Pruitt was nominated on December 8th. The next day, Icahn said in an interview with Bloomberg News, “I’ve spoken to Scott Pruitt four or five times. I told Donald that he is somebody who will do away with many of the problems at the E.P.A.”
It’s Pruitt’s EPA that just gave Icahn’s company a waiver that may be worth tens of millions of dollars, which brings me back to that “This one’s going to be hard for Pruitt to explain” quote.
How many investigations is the EPA’s Pruitt currently facing?
04/30/18 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
At face value, it’s awfully difficult to defend EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s $50-per-night living arrangement at the Capitol Hill condo of a lobbyist with business before the EPA. And if you’re thinking that someone really ought to investigate what transpired, I have some good news for you.
EPA’s watchdog has opened an investigation into Administrator Scott Pruitt’s rent deal with the wife of an energy lobbyist.
In letters sent [last week] to Democratic Reps. Don Beyer of Virginia and Ted Lieu of California, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins confirmed that his office would look into a lease Pruitt signed to rent a room on Capitol Hill for $50 a night.
Time will tell, of course, what that investigation turns up, but with a new investigation underway into the scandal-plagued EPA chief, this seemed like a good time to take stock. Just how many investigations is Scott Pruitt currently facing?
I’m pretty sure the new total recently reached double digits, so let’s count them up:
1. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s controversial travel habits.
2. The House Oversight Committee is also exploring the EPA chief’s use of public funds for first-class travel.
3. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s behind-the-scenes talks with the National Mining Association.
4. Pruitt’s exorbitant spending on an around-the-clock security detail is the subject of three inspector general investigations.
5. The House Oversight Committee is also examining the EPA chief’s security expenditures.
6. The Government Accountability Office has already investigated Pruitt for exceeding federal spending limits when he bought a $43,000 phone booth for his office.
7. The White House Office of Management and Budget is also investigating the phone booth.
8. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s use of funds set aside for the Safe Drinking Water Act and diverting the money to give generous raises to two of his top aides.
9. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating Pruitt’s four-day trip to Morocco late last year.
10. The Government Accountability Office is investigating Pruitt’s ouster of scientists from the EPA’s science advisory committee.
11. The Government Accountability Office is investigating whether Pruitt broke lobbying laws with comments he made to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association.
12. The House Oversight Committee is investigating Pruitt’s living arrangement at a lobbyist’s condo.
13. And as noted above, the EPA’s inspector general is now also taking a closer look at Pruitt’s time at that condo.
While that’s an extraordinary number of investigations into one official’s on-the-job activities – remember, Pruitt has only been on the job about 14 months – this list may yet grow. Congressional Democrats, for example, have requested an investigation into Pruitt’s use of four separate email accounts, some of which may not have been fully disclosed or included in public-records searches
Apr 30, 2018 19:54:05 #
Sicilianthing wrote:
>>>>>
WRONG Answer,
the FBI can no longer be trusted and they are part of the Swamp like the CIA and other rogue agencies that should never have been created and are factually Unconstitutional.
These agencies need to be dismantled FLAT OUT
Trump knows it too... but he’s scared and lost his balls.
WRONG Answer,
the FBI can no longer be trusted and they are part of the Swamp like the CIA and other rogue agencies that should never have been created and are factually Unconstitutional.
These agencies need to be dismantled FLAT OUT
Trump knows it too... but he’s scared and lost his balls.
Obama weaponized EVERY government agency, from the Social Security Administration, to the EPA, the IRS, to the intelligence agencies, and it will take a monumental effort to fix this mess
Apr 30, 2018 21:05:03 #
Ricktloml wrote:
Congress should send federal marshals to raid the FBI offices to get the documents they have subpoenaed for their legitimate oversight. The stonewalling and deceit needs to stop.
Congress is or has lost it's right to get classified information, they immediately leak or take information to the white house because Nunes thinks the president should know what's up with the investigation. Congress doesn't want to get to the bottom of anything, they are trying to make a case that undermines anything against the president.
The FBI has every reason to refuse to give them anything.
Apr 30, 2018 21:51:37 #
woodguru wrote:
Congress is or has lost it's right to get classified information, they immediately leak or take information to the white house because Nunes thinks the president should know what's up with the investigation. Congress doesn't want to get to the bottom of anything, they are trying to make a case that undermines anything against the president.
The FBI has every reason to refuse to give them anything.
The FBI has every reason to refuse to give them anything.
Total nonsense. Congress has the CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY of oversight. The FBI has no legal excuse to withhold these documents. And so far EVERY document that Congress has pried out of these agencies, (after they stonewalled for months) turns out it EMBARRASSES, (highlights lies, misinformation, corruption and abuse of power,) the agency in question. I guess all this is fine as long as you hate President Trump.
Apr 30, 2018 21:59:22 #
JFlorio
Loc: Seminole Florida
Ricktloml wrote:
Total nonsense. Congress has the CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY of oversight. The FBI has no legal excuse to withhold these documents. And so far EVERY document that Congress has pried out of these agencies, (after they stonewalled for months) turns out it EMBARRASSES, (highlights lies, misinformation, corruption and abuse of power,) the agency in question. I guess all this is fine as long as you hate President Trump.
You took the argument right out of my mouth. It’s already been proven that Nunes did not give Trump classified information. However; he is the President. He can see anything. Woodtroll is nothing but a huge liar. I noticed on OPP the more Trump accomplishes the more these snowflakes lie, become unhinged, and insult. Hell moldytroll actually called me apiece of crap. I’m so hurt. Wonder if he’ll let me borrow his crying room?
Apr 30, 2018 22:14:26 #
JFlorio wrote:
You took the argument right out of my mouth. It’s already been proven that Nunes did not give Trump classified information. However; he is the President. He can see anything. Woodtroll is nothing but a huge liar. I noticed on OPP the more Trump accomplishes the more these snowflakes lie, become unhinged, and insult. Hell moldytroll actually called me apiece of crap. I’m so hurt. Wonder if he’ll let me borrow his crying room?
I know I'm repeating myself, but it just struck me the other day how HATE-FILLED ALL these leftist are. Yes, they hate President Trump, but they hate his supporters as well. It is sick and twisted. I guess if you build your belief system on Democrat and media propaganda, then their narrative starts to fall apart, you do become unhinged. The blatant corruption and abuse of power committed by Obama, Hillary, the Democrat Party and the media should appall EVERY American. The fact that these leftists are perfectly fine with this horrible activity speaks volumes
Apr 30, 2018 22:22:39 #
Apr 30, 2018 23:18:29 #
Apr 30, 2018 23:19:34 #
Ricktloml wrote:
Obama weaponized EVERY government agency, from the Social Security Administration, to the EPA, the IRS, to the intelligence agencies, and it will take a monumental effort to fix this mess
>>>>
Dismantle them end of the problem
May 1, 2018 04:18:48 #
old marine
Loc: America home of the brave
Ricktloml wrote:
Total nonsense. Congress has the CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY of oversight. The FBI has no legal excuse to withhold these documents. And so far EVERY document that Congress has pried out of these agencies, (after they stonewalled for months) turns out it EMBARRASSES, (highlights lies, misinformation, corruption and abuse of power,) the agency in question. I guess all this is fine as long as you hate President Trump.
Amen
Semper Fi
God bless America and President Trump
May 1, 2018 04:24:12 #
old marine
Loc: America home of the brave
Ricktloml wrote:
I know I'm repeating myself, but it just struck me... (show quote)
The Demon-crat hate anything or anybody that keeps their greedy hands out of the taxpayers cookie jar and following the law.
Semper Fi
God bless America and President Trump for continued swamp draining
May 1, 2018 09:08:10 #
May 1, 2018 09:14:50 #
old marine wrote:
It takes time to get all the swamp creatures out.
Semper Fi
God bless America and President Trump for continued swamp draining
Semper Fi
God bless America and President Trump for continued swamp draining
That it does!! Perhaps a fast forward button is in order??? Lolol
All kidding aside, didn’t get that swamp in a day and won’t rid it in one either..
So many resisting out of fear they are next!!
May 1, 2018 11:09:44 #
Geo wrote:
The Swamp is there, bigger and better than ever. b... (show quote)
I looked up the Bloomberg account of the Icahn Pruitt meeting and this is what I found "“He has some questions for you,” Trump told Pruitt, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting." This information came from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-16/trump-adviser-carl-icahn-lobbies-for-rule-change-that-benefits-icahn.
You will note that this is an anonymous someone who was privy to Trump's dealings in his own home, if it is true. Frankly, I don't believe it.
While it is true that Icahn influenced the removal of the biofuel requirements, to benefit his refinery there are many facets to this story. Biofuels were introduced initially not to assist farmers but to satisfy a green agenda. It was bad science since biofuels are less energy dense and thus more fuel is required to move the vehicle a given distance. There is evidence that the use of biofuels has increased the amount of pollutants the engine produces for a given distance. The additional cost for such fuel mixtures, as usual, ends up in the lap of the consumer.
The farmers had an huge increase in demand because American agricultural products were needed on the export market to supply foreign adverse weather shortfalls as well as supplying domestic requirements. This caused a shortfall in domestic corn production which resulted in increased prices for animal feed and other direct human foods. These increased basic agricultural fuel and food costs ended up raising the prices of fuel, meats and grains across the board. Thus, the claim that biofuels were a means of supporting American Farmers is so much hot air. They didn't need it and if aid was required, it could have been provided as a direct subsidy instead of twisting so many areas of the economy. This was another ill-thought, feel-good Green effort in service to Gaia.
Ichan evaded some of the costs associated with biofuels but the requirement is still there and if my understanding is correct it will appear as a cost to some other element in the fuel production/consumption chain. My suspicion is that the public consumer will see no reduction in price from the new EPA ruling but instead will have some sort of surcharge added to the price of a gallon of gas. We are at a stage where inflation has so eroded the value of a dollar that any reduction in costs will be retained by the producers while the current price levels will become the basis for new cost driven price increases.
May 1, 2018 12:56:38 #
old marine
Loc: America home of the brave
lindajoy wrote:
That it does!! Perhaps a fast forward button is in order??? Lolol
All kidding aside, didn’t get that swamp in a day and won’t rid it in one either..
So many resisting out of fear they are next!!
All kidding aside, didn’t get that swamp in a day and won’t rid it in one either..
So many resisting out of fear they are next!!
how right you are.Semper Fi Sister
God bless America and President Trump
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