January 1, Bloomberg is All In 2020

This Day in History | 1986

President Reagan’s Attorney General Edwin Meese confirms a Lebanese newspaper report that claims the US has been selling weapons to Iran and using the proceeds to fund an anti-communist army in Nicaragua known as the Contras. The scandal would become known as the Iran-Contra affair.

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Hello Middle Americans!

Happy Monday.  So he’s gone an done it. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has entered the 2020 presidential race. Why? It’s certainly not because the the field of presidential contenders is missing a 70-plus year old white dude. There are several of those in the race already. The field also has at least two billionaires right now. (Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schutlz, also a billionaire, never official got it.)Bloomberg would be the third, along with Tom Steyer and President Trump. So what is that Bloomberg brings to the race that no one else has? That’s a fair question.  Bloomberg has already started running TV ads for his campaign following the biggest advertising buy in the history of American presidential politics. 

Also today, we have a story for you about the drama at the Navy over SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher’s disciplinary action.  Let’s just say the Sec. of the Navy and President Trump had a difference of opinion about the way the situation is being handled. The heat has been turned up on the Navy’s top SEAL Rear Admiral Collin Green, who’s seeming had it out for Gallagher ever since he took over command of the Navy’s Special Warfare Division. 

Finally, it might be THE ugly Christmas Sweater of the year. The one that says ‘Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself’. There’s also a beer company printing that on the bottom of their cans. And  despite the fact that Attorney General William Barr, no fan of the deep state himself, has come out to try and squash the rumors of Epstein’s murder – he’s failed to do so. 

Read all about it. 

– Fraser Dixon

Bloomberg Enters Crowded Democratic Race

(Wall Street Journal) – Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s essentially limitless budget for his Democratic presidential bid adds uncertainty to an already crowded and unsettled race while increasing the odds of a prolonged nominating battle in a contest that has yet to produce a definitive front-runner.

The 77-year-old former New York City mayor announced his bid on Sunday after indicating earlier this month he might enter the race. Mr. Bloomberg faces a tough path to the nomination given his late entry and lack of a campaign apparatus, though he will try to start to overcome that using a national-television ad campaign this week with a price tag that would be high even for a presidential nominee the week before a general election.

Read more about Bloomberg’s run here

Defense Secretary Fires Navy Secretary Over SEAL’s Case

(Bloomberg) – Defense Secretary Mark Esper asked and received the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq that angered President Donald Trump.

“I was not pleased with the way that Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s trial was handled by the Navy,” Trump said in a series of tweets after Spencer’s ouster was announced by the Pentagon. Trump confirmed that Kenneth Braithwaite, the U.S. Ambassador to Norway since 2018, will be nominated as his replacement.

Esper acted after learning Spencer had approached White House officials privately about the case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher. The request was first reported by the Washington Post.

Read more about the change of command at the Navy here

Feds Fight Back Against Epstein Conspiracy Theories

(AP) – At another time in history, the indictment of two jail guards responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself might have served as an emphatic rebuttal to suspicions that the wealthy sex offender was actually murdered.

Not in 2019.

Conspiracy theories continued to flourish, even after prosecutors took pains to point out the ample evidence backing a medical examiner’s determination that Epstein hanged himself.

Video surveillance confirmed, they said in a news release and an indictment, that nobody had entered the area where Epstein was locked in his cell.

The locked door to the unit, they said, could only be opened remotely by an officer in the jail’s control center, plus there was a second locked door to which only correctional officers assigned to the high-security housing unit had the key. Epstein had no roommate, they said, and had died alone.

No matter. Social media buzzed with “Epstein didn’t kill himself” memes, fueled by the financier’s past associations with Britain’s Prince Andrew and U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

Read more from the Associated Press here