Kerry Eleveld’s Posts for Daily Kos

• 'He's gonna kill us,' says a Nebraska soybean farmer as Trump offers, 'Don't blame me'
  The question facing many soybean farmers these days relating to Donald Trump's trade war with China is: "How long can I hold out?" That's exactly what Nebraska farmer Doug Saathoff told the Los Angeles Times about his dilemma over the falling price of soybeans and whether his business could absorb the financial blow. For now, Saathoff […]
• Manafort update: Jury asks for four clarifications, deliberations to continue Friday
  After deliberating for some seven hours Thursday, the jury in the ongoing fraud trial of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort submitted four clarification questions to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. xThe jury has proposed these 4 questions: Q: Is one required to file an FBAR if they own less than 50% of the […]
• Impeachment: Some Republicans brace for it, others invite it, all are obsessed with it
  Impeachment has become such an important topic on the right that competing theories are emerging. One line of magical thinking holds that a House Democratic majority and Donald Trump's eventual impeachment by it (potentially doomed in the Senate) would be a boon for Republicans and Trump in 2020. “If they take the House, he wins big,” […]
• Manafort trial closing arguments: 'The star witness in this case is the documents'
  In the final hours of the bank and tax fraud trial of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, the prosecution's closing argument boiled down to one key point. “Ladies and gentlemen, the star witness in this case is the documents,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres told the 12 jurors seated in the Alexandria, Virginia, federal […]
• Democrats have nothing to fear but fear itself
  The results of an Ohio special election last week that many viewed as a harbinger for November—and that should have been a gimme for Republicans—aren't even final yet. And yet even as the GOP candidate in Ohio's 12th congressional district, Troy Balderson, clings to a lead of less than one percent over Democrat Danny O'Connor, a […]
• Trump's immigration chief strikes 'nation of immigrants' from immigration agency's mission statement
  While the mission statement for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) used to be focused on ensuring "America’s promise as a nation of immigrants," it has now replaced that pledge with the lofty goal of administering "the nation’s lawful immigration system," among other things. But none of those things include the agency's commitment to serving […]
• Most voters want to know what Mueller knows before they vote in November
  More than two-thirds of Americans want Special Counsel Robert Mueller to finish his Russia inquiry before Election Day, according to a new CNN/SSRS poll.  66% say they think he should try to complete his investigation before this November's congressional elections, while just 26% say that shouldn't be his goal. Republicans are more eager for Mueller […]
• White House spokesperson 'can't guarantee' Americans will never hear Trump utter n-word on tape
  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders couldn't guarantee reporters on Tuesday that the American people would never hear Donald Trump say the n-word on tape. "I can't guarantee anything," Sanders said in response to persistent questioning from NBC's Kristen Welker during the White House briefing. Sanders repeatedly said Trump had answered the question "directly" […]
• Manafort defense team rests without calling witnesses, closing arguments Wednesday
  The defense team for former campaign chair Paul Manafort rested its case Tuesday in Alexandria without calling any witnesses in his ongoing bank and tax fraud trial. It is not an unexpected move in white collar cases. In Manafort's case, the defense was choosing between calling several witnesses and potentially revisiting the minutia of a rather incriminating […]
• Manafort trial Day 10: 'A red flag,' prosecution rests, defense moves to acquit
  First, the move to acquit Monday by Paul Manafort's lawyers in his ongoing trial for bank and tax fraud is apparently a standard action taken by the defense once the prosecution rests its case, which it did Monday afternoon after calling 27 witnesses over the course of 10 days. "Typically the judge denies them or defers ruling on […]