Trump finally asked about his foundation scandal, descends into complete incoherence

By Judd Legum/Think Progress 

The Donald J. Trump foundation is supposed to be a charity.

But reporting by the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold has revealed that it frequently acted as Trump’s personal piggy bank.

Charities are prohibited from making political contributions or self-dealing. Trump, however, used his foundation’s cash to make an illegal $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Through his foundation he also purchased two large portraits of himself for $30,000 and a Tim Tebow helmet for for $12,000.

Trump spent another $120,000 from the foundation to purchase a luxury trip to France, including a dinner with actor Salma Hayek. (An aide told BuzzFeed he never went on the trip.)

The lastest report detailed $250,000 in foundation assets Trump used to settle legal disputes involving his for-profit business ventures.

Trump has not held a press conference since July. But he was finally askedabout the misuse of his foundation’s cash by a local reporter in Columbus, Ohio.

It did not go well.

Trump was asked to “explain to people why you may have used some charitable donations for personal uses.”

“The foundation is really rare. It gives money to vets. It’s really been doing a good job,” Trump replied.

He added that “we put that to sleep just by putting out the last report.”

That was his entire response.

It’s unclear what “report” Trump is referencing and how it put the controversy “to sleep.” But Trump has not responded substantively to the controversy, which may have involved multiple violations of tax laws.

His campaign did issue a rambling statement dismissing the reports on the foundation as “peppered with inaccuracies and omissions from a biased reporter.”

Rachel Maddow: Wisconsin GOP senator hid alleged sexual misconduct by party ‘rising star’

By Arturo Garcia/Raw Story

While a Wisconsin Republican faces allegations of sexual misconduct, it is the way some of those allegations were kept secret by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) that is really rocking the state, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow says on her show Tuesday.

The alleged victim worked on Johnson’s staff when state Rep. Bill Kramer allegedly assaulted her in 2011. At the time, the woman declined to press charges, saying she did not want to cause “embarassment” to herself or the party. But she did inform both Johnson and his chief of staff, Tony Blando.

Maddow explained that the woman and her lawyer sent Kramer a letter warning him that if he was accused of similar behavior in the future, that she would alert the authorities. Kramer, who became majority leader in September 2013, was stripped of his powers after being accused of fondling and harassing two different women during a party fundraiser in Washington D.C. this past February.

“In the interim, he has risen steadily through the ranks of Wisconsin Republicans,” Maddow said. “He was elected majority leader for the Republicans. And in all that time, neither Senator Johnson nor his chief of staff apparently said ‘beep’ to anyone about this guy maybe being a bad choice he was for leadership.”

Johnson’s association with the alleged victim, Maddow said, came to light because of what she described as a shoddy attempt by authorities to redact the police report related to the incident with “magic marker.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Johnson’s office failed to inform either Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) or former speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R), who was serving in that position at the time of the alleged attack.

“She requested that Senator Johnson and Mr. Blando keep the matter confidential and take no further action,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “Senator Johnson and Mr. Blando fully honored her request.”

Kramer has been charged with two counts of felony sexual assault following the alleged victim’s statement to the authorities. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

“From the start of this story to the present of this story, it has never felt like this story was under control,” Maddow said. “And on Monday, it will go to court. But in Wisconsin politics, it is officially out of control entirely.”

Watch Madddow’s commentary, as aired on Tuesday, below.

GOP Gov McDonnell trying to barter his resignation in return of no prosecution for Virginia’s first couple

By Anomaly/Freak Out Nation

Governor ‘Transvaginal Ultrasound’ McDonnell is learning what karma is and it’s going to hurt.  MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Showobtained financial disclosure statements filed by Virginia GOP Governor Bob McDonnell for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Mr. ‘fiscally Conservative’ has been spending taxpayer dollars on himself and receiving lavish gifts in exchange for favors.

And now Republican Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen are facing one or two felonies so McDonnell is attempting to barter his resignation in exchange for no prosecution of Virginia’s first couple, according to sources.

Our friends at The Political Carnival have been following the story closely.

A list of items that the Governor and his wife felt so compelled to buy with our tax dollars include, dog vitamins, breath freshening strips, deodorant, body wash, energy drinks, dry cleaning for the McDonnell children’s clothing and a digestive system detox cleanse. He and his wife solicited gifts in exchange for favors such as a $15,000 wedding an a Rolex watch. There is a lot more on the list here. 

Karma’s a bitch. Behold:

Multiple sources in Richmond’s legal community have confirmed to me that the investigation of Star Scientific by state and federal prosecutors turned up what they feel is sufficient evidence to charge Virginia’s Republican Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen with one or more felonies and in consequence, McDonnell is attempting to negotiate his resignation in exchange for no prosecution of Virginia’s first couple.

Governor, you’ve been probed.

Catholic League: Church Abuse Scandal Is A Crisis Of ‘Homosexuality,’ Not ‘Pedophilia’

By Igor Volsky

Recently, the Catholic Church — and even the Pope himself — have been coming under increasing criticism for failing to appropriately discipline church officials who had sexually abused thousands of children. On March 24th, the New York Times characterized “Pope Benedict XVI’s latest apology for the emerging global scandal of child abuse by predatory priests,” as inadequate, noting that Benedict “made no mention of the need to discipline diocesan leaders most responsible for shielding hundreds of priests from criminal penalties by moving them from parish to parish to continue their crimes.”

The Catholic League responded the op-ed by running an ad in the New York Times criticizing the paper for its editorial and blaming the scandal on homosexuality:

The argument itself is confusing and contradictory. If “homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior” then why is is the “pedophilia crisis” a “homosexual crisis”? Most of the molesters were also over the age 30 but the Catholic League does not rename the “pedophilia crisis” an “older man crisis” or an “white older man” crisis or anything of the sort. But all this misses the point. What the Catholic League is trying to do is imply that there is a connection between homosexuality and molestation, just like segregationists once accused African Americans of raping white women, and Jews were accused of murdering Christian babies.

In reality, pedophilia has little to do with the gender of the child or the orientation of the molester; pedophiles are attracted to youth and control. “Accessibility is more the factor in who a pedophile abuses,” psychotherapist Joe Kort writes. “This may explain the high incidence of children molested in church communities and fraternal organizations, where the pedophile may more easily have access to children.”

Last night on Larry King Live, Catholic League President Bill Donahue tried to dismiss this argument by claiming that “it’s not a pedophilia” because “most of the victims were post pubescent,” as old as 12 or 13 years of age. Anything older than that is the fault of gays.

Update Maureen Dowd writes, "Donohue is still talking about the problem as an indiscretion rather than a crime. If it mostly involves men and boys, that’s partly because priests for many years had unquestioned access to boys."

Update The Interfaith Alliance strongly denounced the ad today. "I find [Donahue's] reasoning repugnant. To claim this is a ‘homosexual crisis’ rather than a ‘pedophilia crisis’ is a misguided insult to the millions of gay men and women who find this scandal as devastating as their heterosexual counterparts," the group's President, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, said in a statement. "Rather than pointlessly pointing fingers, Mr. Donahue should start focusing on the need for accountability and transparency," Gaddy added.