Pretty much

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And yet...

...I can't feel sorry for Mitch McConnell.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Why Mitch was so quiet about Trump's abuses

Mrs. Mitch (like most of the Trump administration) was cashing in.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Mitch's wife resigned

Deconstructing America

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous

That's odd.  I thought Bezos was Trump's nemesis.  What are all the Trump gang doing there?

Senator Mitt Romney, who was the keynote speaker at the Alfalfa dinner, was also spotted

[...]

Bezos invited his high-flying friends to his home after they attended the annual, exclusive Alafalfa Club Dinner in DC.

[...]

The group had attended the Alfalfa Club dinner, a club that holds an annual black tie banquet and political roast on the last Saturday of January every year. The event is only open to the 200 members of the club and has an invitation system. The exclusive event is not open to the press.

[...]

Guests arrived in elegant suits and floor-length dresses for the swanky affair Saturday evening, but Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were nowhere to be seen at the entrance to the 11-bedroom, 25-bathroom grand mansion.

  Daily Mail

What? Did they turn on the spy cameras and go to the basement monitoring room?

While several presidents have been members and former presidents including George W Bush and Barack Obama spoke at the Alfalfa banquets in the past, Donald Trump is yet to be invited.

Oh my.

I don't know if this guy is with Kellyanne, but he's not her husband George.

Roy Blunt was there. And Fed chair Jerome Powell. As was Ben Stiller, who was a guest of Mitt Romney.  Strange bedfellows.

Elaine Chao went, apparently without her husband, Mitch the Bitch McConnell.

You can get a fuller accounting in the article here.

On Friday federal prosecutors in Manhattan revealed they have evidence indicating that Bezos' girlfriend Sanchez provided dirty text messages with Bezos to her brother that he then sold to the National Enquirer for an explosive story on the Amazon founder's affair.

[...]

The Enquirer claims that Michael Sanchez was their source for the bombshell story that revealed Bezos' affair, while Michael Sanchez denies he had anything to do with it.

[...]

Prosecutors have obtained documents including a May 10, 2018 text message sent from the phone of Bezos' girlfriend Lauren Sanchez to her brother Michael Sanchez, containing her intimates texts with Bezos, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal said it had reviewed the text messages as well as a $200,000 payment Michael Sanchez received from the Enquirer under an October 2018 contract.

How is she still his girlfriend?

Prosecutors obtained the documents in an ongoing investigation into Bezos' allegation that the Enquirer tried to extort him by threatening to publish his nude pictures, as well as whether his phone was hacked. Bezos himself has long pushed the suggestion that Saudi Arabia was involved as the Enquirer's source.

Is that what she told him?

In addition to the photo and text-leaking scandal, Bezos' investigators said this week that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia had sent malicious code in a WhatsApp message that compromised the cell phone of Bezos.

Whatever.

So what was the $200,000 contract for?

Ditch Mitch

While Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao strongly denies showing any favoritism to the state represented by her husband, Mitch McConnell, his Senate re-election campaign has a different idea: “Team Mitch” on Tuesday morning tweeted out POLITICO’s report showing Chao’s record of granting meetings to Kentuckians over other local officials as a sign of his ability to deliver for his constituents.


  Politico

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ditch Mitch

Now go ask his wife the same question.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

I didn't realize Mitch McConnell's wife was born in Taiwan

Her and Melania.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Corruption is the byword of the Trump adminsitration

The email arrived in Washington before dawn. An official at the American Embassy in Beijing was urgently seeking advice from the State Department about an “ethics question.”

“I am writing you because Mission China is in the midst of preparing for a visit from Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao,” the official wrote in October 2017.

Ms. Chao’s office had made a series of unorthodox requests related to her first scheduled visit to China as a Trump cabinet member, according to people with knowledge of the email. Among them: asking federal officials to help coordinate travel arrangements for at least one family member and include relatives in meetings with government officials.

[...]

In China, the Chaos are no ordinary family. They run an American shipping company with deep ties to the economic and political elite in China, where most of the company’s business is centered. The trip was abruptly canceled by Ms. Chao after the ethics question was referred to officials in the State and Transportation Departments and, separately, after The New York Times and others made inquiries about her itinerary and companions.

[...]

“Their business interests were potentially affected by meetings.”

  NYT

Elaine Chao, as you know, is Mitch McConnell's wife.

The move to notify Washington was unusual and a sign of how concerned members of the State Department were, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency.

David H. Rank, another State Department official, learned of the matter after he stepped down as deputy chief of mission in Beijing earlier in 2017. “This was alarmingly inappropriate,” he said of the requests.

The Transportation Department did not provide a reason for the trip’s cancellation, though a spokesman later cited a cabinet meeting President Trump had called at the time.

[...]

vMs. Chao has no formal affiliation or stake in her family’s shipping business, Foremost Group. But she and her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have received millions of dollars in gifts from her father, James, who ran the company until last year. And Mr. McConnell’s re-election campaigns have received more than $1 million in contributions from Ms. Chao’s extended family, including from her father and her sister Angela, now Foremost’s chief executive, who were both subjects of the State Department’s ethics question.

Over the years, Ms. Chao has repeatedly used her connections and celebrity status in China to boost the profile of the company, which benefits handsomely from the expansive industrial policies in Beijing that are at the heart of diplomatic tensions with the United States.

[...]

Now, Ms. Chao is the top Trump official overseeing the American shipping industry, which is in steep decline and overshadowed by its Chinese competitors.

Her efforts on behalf of the family business — appearing at promotional events, joining her father in interviews with Chinese-language media — have come as Foremost has interacted with the Chinese state to a remarkable degree for an American company.

Hahaha.

In a rarity for foreigners, Angela and James Chao have served on the board of the holding company for China State Shipbuilding, a state-owned enterprise that makes ships for the Chinese military, along with Foremost and other customers. Angela Chao is also on the board at the Bank of China, a top lender to the shipbuilder, and a former vice chairman of the Council of China’s Foreign Trade, a promotional group created by the Chinese government.

Angela Chao, speaking in an interview in New York on Friday, said that her board positions were unremarkable, emphasizing that Foremost did business around the world. She denied that the company had a “China focus” beyond what most dry bulk carriers have in a world dominated by Chinese manufacturing. “We are an international shipping company, and I’m an American,” she said, adding, “I don’t think that, if I didn’t have a Chinese face, there would be any of this focus on China.”

[...]

Since Elaine Chao became transportation secretary, records show, the agency budget has repeatedly called to cut programs intended to stabilize the financially troubled maritime industry in the United States, moving to cut new funding for federal grants to small commercial shipyards and federal loan guarantees to domestic shipbuilders.

Her agency’s budget has also tried to slash spending for a grant program that helps keep 60 American-flagged ships in service, and has tried to scale back plans to buy new ships that would train Americans as crew members.

Congress, in bipartisan votes, has rejected the budget cuts, some of which have been offered up again for next year.

[...]

The Times found that the Chaos had an extraordinary proximity to power in China for an American family, marked not only by board memberships in state companies, but also by multiple meetings with the country’s former top leader, including one at his villa. That makes the Chaos stand out on both sides of the Pacific, with sterling political connections going to the pinnacle of power in the world’s two biggest economies.

[...]

Though Ms. Chao’s financial disclosure statements indicate she receives no income from Foremost, she made at least four trips to China with the company in the eight years between her job as labor secretary during the George W. Bush administration and her confirmation as transportation secretary in January 2017. And her father accompanied her on at least one trip that she took as labor secretary, in 2008, sitting in on meetings, including with China’s premier, one of the country’s top officials.

Public records show that she has benefited from the company’s success. A gift to Ms. Chao and Mr. McConnell from her father in 2008 helped make Mr. McConnell, the Republican majority leader, one of the richest members of the Senate. And three decades worth of political donations have made the extended family a top contributor to the Republican Party of Kentucky, a wellspring of Mr. McConnell’s power.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Of course she does

What else would you expect from the Trump administration?  And, she is Mrs. Mitch McConell.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ditch Mitch AND his crooked wife

A trove of more than 800 pages of emails sheds new light on the working relationship between Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the most potent power couples in Washington — including their dealings with McConnell supporters from their home state of Kentucky.

Chao has met at least 10 times with politicians and business leaders from the state in response to requests from McConnell’s office, according to documents provided to Politico by the watchdog group American Oversight. In some cases, those people later received what they were hoping for from Chao’s department, including infrastructure grants, the designation of an interstate highway and assistance in getting state funds for a highway project — although the documents don’t indicate that the meetings led to those outcomes.

  Politico

Did anyone imagine this WASN'T happening?

The records also do not show how frequently Chao has met with people from outside Kentucky, a state her husband has represented in the Senate since 1985, or how readily she has responded to similar requests from other lawmakers. But at least a dozen of the emails show McConnell’s staff acting as a conduit between Chao and Kentucky political figures or business leaders, some of whom previously have had relationships with the couple.

[...]

American Oversight obtained the emails under the Freedom of Information Act. The group’s founder and executive director , Austin Evers, said they show an unusually close relationship between a Senate leader and a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet —

Duh. They're married.

— and that “Secretary Chao built a political operation in her office to favor Kentucky.”

“We launched this investigation because we were intrigued by the president’s selection of Elaine Chao as Transportation secretary,” Evers said. “The media and political class identified it as a savvy move to hire the spouse of the majority leader of the Senate."

[...]

Oversight groups aren’t just worried about the meetings Chao is granting, however. A previously unreleased report from the watchdog group Restore Public Trust questions the 2018 choice of a town of about 25,000 residents situated near the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers, as the site of a new DOT maritime gateway office intended to help coordinate between port operators and government bodies to help improve freight movement on inland waterways.

Paducah is the smallest city to host one of DOT’s 10 maritime gateway offices. The nine other such offices are in major cities such as New York, Chicago and Miami.

[...]

But a DOT spokesperson who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the department chose Paducah because it’s “always been a natural hub for regional inland waterway traffic,” given its proximity to four major rivers and the presence of “more U.S.-flag inland waterway operators than anywhere else in the nation.” The low cost of living also made it attractive, the spokesperson said.

The Department of Transportation Secretary (or head of any other government agency) should not be married - or related to - any Congress person.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another case of misuse of government transportation

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao flew on Federal Aviation Administration planes rather than commercial flights on seven occasions between January and August 2017, newly released records show — including one flight to and around Europe that cost taxpayers an estimated $68,892 for her and five staffers.

All told, Chao's flights on the FAA planes cost an estimated $93,977.84, the records show.

She appears to have halted the practice just as one of her fellow Cabinet members, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, was facing increasing scrutiny over his use of private and military flights. Price resigned in September 2017 after POLITICO raised questions about the flight expenses, which totaled about $1.2 million.

[...]

A DOT spokeswoman said all of Chao's travel was approved by the agency's ethics officer, and that she only used the FAA's planes in instances where it was cheaper or for extenuating circumstances, such as when security required its use. Chao's spokeswoman also noted that Chao "routinely flies commercial" and has taken 100 commercial flights since February 2017.

[...]

According to the cost-justification materials for the flight, Chao flew on the FAA's jet rather than a commercial plane for security reasons. Those included the need to "store weapons" on board the plane and to ensure DOT maintained "effective communications" with Chao throughout.

  Politico

Why did the Secretary of Transportation need to "store weapons" on board the plane? Other flight justifications include "security reasons." We could imagine that all her justifications were legitimate, except for one thing: "she appears to have halted the practice just as [Tom Price] was facing increasing scrutiny over his use of private and military flights." If she could justify the flights, why be afraid of scrutiny?

The newly released records do not indicate that anyone has raised red flags over Chao's use of the FAA aircraft.

And they wouldn't, would they? Because we know Elaine Chao by another name, don't we?

Mrs. Mitch McConnell.

The rabble is roused

A group of protesters confronted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday evening over the Trump administration's border policies.

McConnell was leaving a dinner at Georgetown University with business executives from the group Cambia Health Solutions, accompanied by his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The protesters played audio first obtained by ProPublica of crying children who had been separated from their families because of the so-called zero tolerance border policy.

On the video, Chao is heard responding to the protesters.

“Why don’t you leave my husband alone?” she says, pointing at the protesters.

  The Hill

Because he's an evil Nazi who shouldn't be allowed in public? Or maybe they just don't know WHO your husband IS, eh?

Protesters chanted slogans at Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen while she was having dinner in a Mexican restaurant last week. Nielsen eventually left the restaurant.

In a separate incident, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller was called a "fascist" while dining at another Mexican restaurant last week.

And over the weekend, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was refused service at a restaurant in Lexington, Va.

I'm with Maxine; none of these Nazis should be allowed to go about in public without confrontation.  The soul of the country is at stake, and it's in grave danger.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Come out fighting

Speaking at a panel with other U.S. government officials during the World Economic Forum in Davos, [Transportation Secretary and Mitch McConnell's wife Elaine Chao] praised the president for engaging with global leaders on economic policy by becoming the first sitting president in nearly two decades to attend the annual gathering of the world's wealthy elite.

“Davos should feel very flattered that he has chosen this as a forum,” Chao said during a session moderated by The Wall Street Journal. “Those who don’t want to listen to him can leave.”

  Politico

Like it or lump it, peasants.  Nothing like going to a forum for global elite economic unification with your back up before it even gets started.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump railed against free-trade agreements supported by many global economic leaders, a message he has reiterated as president.

Chao, speaking alongside House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, also brushed aside claims that Trump entering the White House has diminished the U.S. standing as a global leader.

[...]

The transportation secretary also addressed the importance of the United States' diplomatic relationship with China. Borrowing the term “frenemy” to characterize the dynamic, Chao said while there were ample opportunities for the two countries to cooperate, they remain competitors in many other regards.

“There are issues that we can work with them on. There are issues that we need their help on. And we all know what those issues are,” she said. “And there will be other issues that we will be in competition.

Chao added: “With this major player transforming itself, it is creating tensions, and we have to readjust as to how we interact with one another.”

There are those who think Elaine Chao is a Chinese plant, and I have to say, I could easily be convinced of it. After all, who else would marry Mitch McConnell?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

It appears that indeed some attendees - members of the Business Leadership of  South Africa -have already stated they would boycott Trump's address on Friday to protest his remarks about "shithole countries."  Why do I think Elaine Chao would particularly be happy to have Africans "leave"?

It would actually be pretty awesome if the entire forum met elsewhere during that time period without telling the Americans.  Some day.  After we've completely destroyed our standing in the world and reduced ourselves to the equivalent of today's North Korea.

The Privileged Bunch

Good lord, there's another one.

They figured it was a perk. If Trump can weekend at his golf courses and resorts, why can't they have a little luxury? I'm guessing we haven't seen the last.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.