The following was originally written for and published by Revolution Now Magazine.
The United States Federal Government entered a partial shutdown early Saturday morning as talks over funding for president Donald Trump's southern border wall reached a stalemate. So what does this mean, and who does it affect? A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to reach an agreement on an appropriations bill (a a piece of legislation that allocates funding to different parts of the government). Since this shutdown is only a partial one, employees from seven government agencies will be granted a leave of absence, while essential personnel will continue to work without pay. An estimated 380,000 federal workers will be sent home, while 420,000 more will go without payment. Employees from the Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, and Treasury will be impacted by this shutdown. The House and Senate held a meeting at noon, but they did not plan any votes. According to the House GOP leaders, lawmakers will be told of a scheduled vote a day beforehand. This is the third government shutdown in Donald Trump's administration, with the first one running from January 20-22 of this year, and the second taking place on February 9, 2018. The shutdown appears to be in response to an argument between president Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The two Democrat leaders told him they would not approve a $5 billion dollar fund towards the barrier. Then, Schumer accused Trump of threatening a government shutdown over his wall ‘20 times.’ In response, Trump said, “if we don’t get what we want, one way or the other, whether it’s through you, through the military, through anything you want to call, I will shutdown the government.” He then stated that he would be proud to order a government shutdown if it was for ‘border security.’ Later, Pelosi tweeted, “Democrats are for real border security solutions, not for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on an immoral, ineffective & expensive wall.”
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The following was originally written for and published by Revolution Now Magazine.
As the Mueller investigation progresses, the focus has shifted to president Donald Trump's former lawyer, Micheal Cohen. On Friday, December 7th, 2018, sentencing memos were released by both the offices of the United States District Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In these memos, Cohen is recommended for 51-63 months of federal prison time after he pled guilty to charges including tax evasion, making false statements to Congress, and making an excessive campaign contribution. The Special Counsel investigation (also called the Mueller investigation) is an ongoing effort by United States intelligence agencies to examine Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This investigation is headed by Robert Mueller, a former FBI director. So far, the investigation has produced dozens of indictments for federal crimes, and at least eight guilty pleas or convictions on a variety of charges. These convictions range from financial crimes to making false statements to Congress. Cohen lied to Congress about the “Moscow Project.” This project aimed at creating a Trump Tower in Russia and took place during Trump’s 2016 candidacy for president. Cohen admitted that negotiations had gone on for six months after the time he told Congress they had concluded. He also stated that he discussed the project with Donald Trump three more times than he had originally stated. This deal not only creates a conflict of interest between Trump’s business and candidacy, but also provides a motive for the Russians to interfere in the election. Ultimately, Cohen said that he lied in order to “minimize links between the project and Trump as his campaign was gaining steam.” In addition to this, he also paid adult film actress Stephanie Clifford $130,000 to ensure confidentiality over an affair with then candidate Donald Trump. Playboy model Karen McDougal received a similar payment of $150,000. This amount far exceed the limit of $2,700 set for personal campaign contributions to a single candidate. Cohen, in a sentencing appearance on December 7, 2018, stated that these payments were made on the orders of Trump. On December 12, Micheal Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, and will begin his sentence in March of 2019. Cohen joins the growing list of people who have received prison due to the findings of the Mueller investigation. He joins George Papadopoulos, Micheal Flynn, Alex van der Zwaan, both sentenced for lying about their Russian contacts, and Richard Pinedo, sentenced for identity fraud in connection with the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump claims that Cohen lied to decrease his jail time. “He was convicted of various things unrelated to us,” Trump said, “He’s a weak person and what he’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence.” |