Liz Cheney called out Republican party members who continue to defend Donald Trump.
Speaking at Texas Tribune Fest, Cheney said members of the GOP are “going through contortions.”
Cheney said it shows how “fundamentally destructive Donald Trump has been.”
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said Republicans continuing to defend Donald Trump in the midst of his storing highly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate shows how “fundamentally destructive” the former president has been to the GOP.
Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Cheney called out senior members of the GOP who are “going through contortions” to support Trump, such as those who slammed federal agents who executed a search warrant at his Florida residence on August 8.
“I think it’s the latest example of how fundamentally destructive Donald Trump has been and part of the destruction that he’s caused is the behavior that my party apparently now will accept,” she told Evan Smith, CEO of The Texas Tribune.
The vice chair of the Jan 6 committee has been one of the few outspoken GOP critics of Trump. In August, she lot her congressional seat to Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman.
During the interview, Cheney hinted that new information and evidence will be heard during the televised meeting on Wednesday in Washington, DC.
When asked by Smith whether former Vice President Mike Pence would testify, Cheney said she is hopeful.
“The vice president played a crucial role that day,” she said, referring to the events of January 6, in which Pence resisted pressure from Trump to reverse the outcome of the election: “What Donald Trump was pressuring Mike Pence to do was illegal and was unconstitutional and Mike Pence refused to do that and so we owe him a huge gratitude because he did the right thing that day.”
The US has 30 days to request the extradition of the former military contractor.
Venezuelan President Maduro may use Leonard as a bargaining chip for US recognition, AP reported.
The capture of a fugitive former military contractor who escaped to Venezuela may be a key to Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to win official recognition from the Biden administration.
With his capture, experts are speculating whether disputed Venezuelan President Maduro will use the prisoner as a bargaining chip to win recognition from US President Joe Biden’s administration, AP reported.
Francis, a 350-pound man nicknamed ‘Fat Leonard,’ was arrested by Venezuelan police while trying to board a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, AP reported. US authorities now have 30 days to formally request his extradition.
Prosecutors argued Francis tried to bribe Navy officials with hundreds of thousands of dollars — as well as Cuban cigars, Spanish suckling pigs, tickets to Lady Gaga concerts, and “a rotating carousel of prostitutes” — in exchange for classified information and work opportunities for his firm, The Guardian reported.
He also overcharged the Navy by over $35 million for services, NBC reported,
With his arrest, experts told AP Francis’ conditional return may be used as leverage to prompt official recognition from the Biden administration.
“I have no doubt the Venezuelans will make hay of (Francis’ arrest), especially because they have felt the effects of the long arm of the U.S. justice system,” David Smilde, a longtime expert on Venezuela who teaches at Tulane University, told AP.
A law enforcement official in Venezuela told AP the extradition is seen as unlikely because the Biden administration recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaidó — not Maduro — as the country’s legitimate ruler.
Today we will test and discuss a little bit further about the new Poly Voyager 4245 Office Convertible Bluetooth Headset and we will compare it against its siblings from Poly, formerly known as Plantronics.
When Plantronics introduced its CS540 headset, they made a complete hit as people loved the versatility of being able to switch the wearing style of the headset, in either over the ear thanks to the included ear hook or over the head with the so included neck band or behind the neck thanks to the optional neckband. And as today the old venerable CS540 keeps running strong against more and more headsets on the market.
The Plantronics CS540 Wireless Headset is our base for this study, we have a well known design and a wireless DECT frequency, this headset is the most reliable unit on the market, easy to use and fully compatible with virtually any office desk phone. Thanks to its hot pairing, if you need to replace your headset because got lost or damaged, simply get a replacement and it will pair directly by simply putting the headset on the base. The DECT frequency of the CS540 offers a range of up to 350 feet on line of sight, and thanks to that you can go thru walls without cutting in and out while in a call.
Thanks to this design Plantronics back on the days decided to create the Savi 8240 Office, this particular model allows the user to use this headset with virtually any desk phone, with the computer and with a Bluetooth enable devices, thanks to the built in Bluetooth on the base of the Savi 8240. For the same reason if the user wants to get the best performance of the headset while using it with the cell phone for example, the cell phone needs to be the closer to the base as if the user takes the headset and the cell phone and walks around the office, the probability of disconnecting is higher. However this unit is still a solid contender in the race for a one headset for multiple devices and that allows to be worn in different ways thanks to the included ear hook, head band and neck band. Order yours HERE.
Plantronics then noticed something interesting that people wanted and they were scared of getting a wireless headset, and you will ask: What is that? The simple answer is the battery talk time. In a really busy office space environment or call center with high grade of incoming or outgoing calls, having the best talk time life on a headset is extremely important. For the same reason Plantronics brought the Savi 8245 Office Wireless Headset Unlimited Talk. The model is similar to the sibling 8240, however as you can see, it has a tiny gate that opens and allows to have a secondary batter that is included charging all the time and the reason of that is if the user is on a call and start to run out of power, the battery on the headset can be replaced with the fully charged one, even in the middle of a call! The trustworthy DECT frequency is found here as well as the versatility of be worn on different styles. Get yours HERE.
Bothe of the Savi 8240/8245 bases offer dedicated keys to select device to use with, either with the desk phone, or computer or Bluetooth enable device and the base offers a discrete red light that allows the user to know when the headset is on mute.
Now on the new era and after finally merging together from Plantronics and Polycom as now Poly, they made a mix of all the previous headset and they took the best of each one of them and made it in a all new and improved family of headsets, this is the new Poly Voyager 4200 Office Series Family.
This new unit is a Bluetooth Class 1 headset, thanks to that the headset has a similar range as the CS540, and as you can see, the design of this headset is pretty similar to the previous mentioned headsets. It allows you to use it with your desk phone, with your computer and with your cell phone, but he main difference here is that instead of pairing the cell phone to the base and leaving close to it as on the 8240/8245, you just pair it directly to the headset! Meaning that you can take the headset out of the office and keep using it with your Bluetooth enable devices out at home or on the road. A nice value of the Voyager 4245 headset is that as the sibling 8245, it’s considered a Unlimited Talk time headset with a hot swappable battery, so it is included an extra battery and a separate charger so you can charge the battery anywhere you take the headset as it’s not required to charge it on the base as the 8245. Get yours HERE.
headset, the base and the included accessories are identical to the ones of the previous 4245, so you would wonder what is the difference?
The short answer to this is that the 4245-M has a dedicated Microsoft Teams key on the base as you can see in the picture, this key allows the user to launch Teams from the base, so no need to use the keyboard or mouse for those remote workers that
have their Teams meetings. Another feature is that it has a specific light color on that key and on the headset that will alert the user if they got a missing call or a message on Teams. The same range of up to 300 feet is found here and as it is a Bluetooth Class 1 headset, you can take it outside of the office and keep using it with a Bluetooth enable device. We have the extra battery and charger that keeps the headset with enough battery charge for all day of being on calls if needed. Get yours HERE.
Both of the 4245 bases have a new interface with touch screen style keys for selecting either desk phone use or computer, this makes it a nicer touch compared with the outdated keys of the Savi 8240/8245.
Donald Trump was once paid in gold bars for the lease of a parking garage, per a new book.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that the gold bars were sent to Trump Tower.
Trump didn’t know how to handle the bars and it is unclear what happened to them, per Haberman.
During his days as a businessman in New York, former President Donald Trump was once paid with a pile of gold bars in lieu of cash.
This anecdote was shared in a new book by New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman titled “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.” According to an excerpt provided exclusively to CNN, this odd form of payment was given to Trump to cover the price of leasing a garage at the General Motors building in New York, which Trump bought in 1998.
Per CNN, Haberman wrote that Trump didn’t know how to handle the dozens of gold bars sent to him. They were eventually wheeled up to his apartment at Trump Tower, though it’s unclear what happened with the gold bars afterward.
Haberman also recalled in the excerpt seen by CNN that Trump was asked about the gold bars and responded by calling it a “fantasy question.”
A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The account from Haberman adds to the list of odd revelations about Trump’s past business dealings that have emerged in recent months.
According to Enrich, Trump — who was then a real-estate businessman — had failed to pay his bills. When confronted by his irate lawyer, Trump t pulled out a “deed to a horse” and told the lawyer that it was “more valuable” than the fees he owed.
The Fed raised interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, marking its third straight rate hike.
It signaled more hikes ahead to tame inflation, but the move risks tipping the economy into recession.
El-Erian said higher, faster hikes and elevated recession risks could have been avoided.
Higher interest rates that rise faster and last longer, as well as the elevated risk of an economic recession, could have been avoided if the Federal Reserve had acted sooner to curb inflation, top economist Mohamed El-Erian said on Wednesday.
His comments came after the Fed on Wednesday hiked interest rates by 0.75 percentage points for the third time in a row to tame rising prices. Higher interest rates discourage borrowing, thus cooling demand throughout the economy, but the move risks slowing growth so much the economy could slide into a recession.
“Rates that go higher, faster and stay there longer” and the elevated risk of a recession could have been avoided had the Fed responded in a timely fashion to cool inflation, El-Erian wrote in a tweet on Wednesday after the Fed’s rate decision announcement.
The Fed has already hiked rates five times this year, with larger increases taking place at a faster pace over the months, as it races to quell inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in June. Inflation cooled in the months following, but was still high at 8.3% in August.
“Rather than lead markets in battling inflation, the Fed has been forced to follow them,” El-Erian wrote in a separate opinion piece for CNN published on Wednesday ahead of the central bank’s rate announcement. “Yet, because it has been so late in responding, the Fed will be aggressively hiking into a weakening domestic and global economy.”
The situation has caused many to lose faith in the central bank, and there is risk that politicians, companies, and households could think of the Fed “as part of the problem and not part of the solution,” added El-Erian, who is the chief advisor to Allianz and the president of Queens’ College at Cambridge University in the UK. He was previously the CEO of US bond-fund giant Pimco.
“There is an increasing number of economists warning that the Fed will tip the US into recession; and a growing number of foreign policymakers complaining that the world’s most powerful and systemically important central bank is pulling the rug out from under an already fragile global economy,” he wrote on CNN.
Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, admitted in a congressional hearing in March that the central bank should have acted earlier.
“Hindsight says we should have moved earlier,” Powell said, per Bloomberg. “It’s just taking so much longer for the supply side to heal than we thought.”
Last month, Powell warned that cooling inflation “will bring some pain to households and businesses.”
The Fed did not respond to Insider’s request for comment that was sent outside regular business hours.
Some people close to Trump are confused as to why he is suddenly leaning hard towards QAnon.
Some sources suggested to Rolling Stone that Trump was trolling for likes among his supporters.
Other sources told the outlet that Trump was amused by the QAnon memes and images he reposted.
Allies of former President Donald Trump are baffled as to why he is leaning harder than ever into his support of QAnon — a conspiracy-theory-led movement that baselessly claims Trump is fighting a deep-state cabal of pedophiles.
Rolling Stone spoke to several people close to Trump, some of whom expressed confusion as to why the former president was suddenly so vocal with promoting QAnon-related messages.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that music sounding like a QAnon song had been played at a Trump rally in Youngstown, Ohio. During the rally, the former president’s supporters were also seen pointing their fingers to the sky in a one-finger salute, which experts said might have been a nod to the movement’s slogan, “Where we go one, we go all.”
“Fuck if I know,” an unnamed Trump ally told Rolling Stone when asked about the former president’s apparent support for the fringe group.
The outlet also spoke to other people close to the former president, some of whom theorized that Trump was trolling for likes from his supporters.
“He’s said that he thinks some of their memes and images are ‘funny,’” a source close to Trump said, per Rolling Stone. The same source said Trump also thought it was “hilarious” that the media would get “so mad” whenever the former president would “touch the Q shit.”
Another Rolling Stone source, described as a former White House official, said that Trump sometimes thought his QAnon-linked followers had “the right idea” regarding their hatred for the “deep state,” a term used in the movement to refer to shady, secret networks and alliances influencing power at the highest echelons of government.
“I do not remember his exact words, but [Trump’s response] was along the lines of: There are plenty of bad and sick people in Hollywood” and among the “liberal elite,” the source told Rolling Stone.
A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Following the FBI’s raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8, Trump — who previously flirted with the idea of QAnon — has started referencing the movement far more intensely than before.
Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi said this week that Trump’s embracing of QAnon could be “the last act of a desperate man.” Speaking to Insider on Monday, Figliuzzi said Trump’s support of QAnon was indicative of “increasing desperation,” which could lead to violence within the movement.
Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi said Trump is drawn to QAnon like a moth to a flame.
Figliuzzi said Trump is embracing the movement because he feels “increasingly cornered.”
Figliuzzi warned that violence could ensue if the QAnon movement felt threats to its leader.
A former FBI official said former President Donald Trump is likely feeling cornered and embracing the QAnon movement out of desperation.
Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director, was weighing in on Trump’s links to the QAnon movement during a Monday appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House.” Host Nicolle Wallace asked Figliuzzi if he thinks Trump knows just how dangerous the movement is to the US.
“Oh, not only do I think he knows it, but I think that’s what attracts him to this. It’s like a moth to the flame,” Figliuzzi said.
“And the thing is, he knows that he’s increasingly cornered,” Figliuzzi added. “He’s in trouble on so many legal fronts, even criminal fronts now, that this is, kind of, the almost last act of a desperate man.”
Figliuzzi referenced Trump’s rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where a QAnon song played during Trump’s speech. During the rally, Trump’s supporters were seen pointing their fingers to the sky in a strange, one-finger salute, which experts say might have been a nod to the movement’s slogan, “where we go one we go all.”
While the stadium in Ohio was not fully filled, and thus a sign that Trump may be losing support from his base, Figliuzzi said there’s still a significant threat from Trump and the QAnon movement.
“What is extremely dangerous based on past histories of cults, is that as they come near the end, as the leader is threatened, they get more and more dangerous,” Figliuzzi said. “And they do something cult experts call ‘forcing the end.’”
This could happen if the movement’s leader “calls for the violence” or is “taken out,” Figliuzzi said.
“The members take a step up and force the ending — whatever that could be,” Figliuzzi said. “That’s what concerns me and we’ve learned from January 6, it only takes a small number of people to do that.”
The Trump rally in Ohio is just one of many recent instances in which the former president appeared to embrace QAnon — a movement that claims without basis that Trump is fighting a deep-state cabal of pedophiles. In a stream of messages after the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, Trump shared over a dozen posts on his Truth Social account, some of which referenced QAnon and contained baseless conspiracy theories about the FBI. Other posts by the former president on the Truth Social platform in September included a reposted image of himself sporting a “Q” lapel pin, along with the movement’s “where we go one we go all” slogan.
Figliuzzi and a representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
The 2022 F1 Singapore Grand Prix is taking place from September 30 to October 2.
It’s the biggest party weekend of the year in Singapore.
A three-day luxury ticket package to catch the race costs $9,898 Singapore dollars, or $7,036.
The F1 Singapore Grand Prix is back after a two-year pandemic hiatus, and the city is gearing up for its biggest weekend — think parties, fast cars, and global music acts converging all in one spot.
Home to the first Grand Prix night race, the country shuts down public roads in the city center and transforms them into a brightly lit track known as the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Around 268,000 fans attended the 2019 F1 Singapore Grand Prix — the second-highest on record since the 2008 inaugural race, race organizer Singapore GP told local news outlet The Straits Times. This year’s race, held from September 30 to October 2, is expected to draw a similar turnout, Singapore GP told local news outlet Today.
Those without tickets can catch the action on two of the country’s major pay-TV broadcasters. It’s a big, celebratory event — even non-F1 fans will head out to the clubs for a slice of the action.
Want in? Get ready to pay up. Here’s how much it’ll cost you to party big during F1 weekend in Singapore.
Public roads in the city center are shut down and transformed into the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
fototrav / Getty Images
Ticket prices start at 98 Singapore dollars, or $70, for the practice race on Friday and go as high as S$988 for the race on Sunday. Three-day tickets will set you back as much as S$1,288.
There are also three-day hospitality packages, which include free-flow drinks and access to viewing galleries for prices ranging from S$1,605 to S$9,898.
The S$9,898 package — the Formula 1 Paddock Club — lets attendees watch the race from an air-conditioned suite above the pit garages. They also get access to walk down the pit lane and check out the cars and the race crew.
Concert tickets: Only for those who hold race tickets
The F1 concert lineup this year includes Westlife, Green Day, and Marshmello. To catch the concert, you’ll need to have tickets to the race first.
Prices for top hotels: Upwards of S$1,700 a night
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is surrounded by some of the largest hotels in the city.
A representative for the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore told Insider that room prices during the F1 weekend were around S$1,700 to S$2,000 per night. In contrast, rooms on a non-F1 weekend at the Ritz start from S$650 a night, per the hotel’s website.
There are still rooms available at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay hotel, where the Singapore Night Race (Track View) package costs S$2,500 per night. A representative for the company told Insider a minimum stay of three nights is required during that period.
Hotel room rates in Singapore are almost reaching a 10-year high, based on data from the Singapore Tourism Board. In July, the average room cost was S$259 — the highest since prices peaked at S$261.66 a decade ago in September 2012.
Rooms at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore are completely sold out for F1 weekend.
Chris McGrath / Staff / Getty Images
Big-name parties: Upwards of S$80
Of course, the party doesn’t end when the race ends.
Amber Lounge is one of Singapore’s biggest F1 after-parties, which is also held in Monaco and Abu Dhabi. This year’s party will be held at The Fullerton Bay Hotel and touts “immersive theatrical cabaret,” “cirque-themed performances,” and lots of Champagne.
Entry passes for the party cost between S$800 and S$1,200. Groups of 10 who are looking to party in a VIP suite and have S$45,000 to burn can buy a package that includes vodka, caviar, and yes, Champagne.
Marquee Singapore, a nightclub at the Marina Bay Sands, or MBS, is celebrating race weekend with DJ Steve Aoki on September 30 and Afrojack on October 1. General admission tickets start from S$80, while express entry tickets start from S$250.
There’s also the Mandala Weekender party happening at the MBS convention center for all three nights of the race weekend. The party costs upwards of S$148 a head and and features artists such as Kelis, Rae Sremmurd, and Rudimental.
Special F1-related food deals: Upwards of S$200
Restaurants around the city are catching F1 fever, too.
Perched 57 stories above the ground, right at the top of the iconic MBS, is Cé La Vi Singapore. The rooftop restaurant opens up to views of the city-state on one side and the open sea on the other. It has a four-course F1 set menu: For S$300, you can feast on dishes like Boston lobster and Japanese king crab.
The Marina Bay skyline as viewed from Marina Bay Sands.
4FR/Getty Images
LAVO, an Italian restaurant also on the MBS rooftop, is holding a Race Weekend Party Brunch. For S$248, diners get to enjoy their food with free-flow drinks while Swiss DJ Gil Glaze spins his beats.
Alternatively, diners can indulge in some French food over at La Brasserie’s Winning Formula Brunch, which costs S$238 with free-flow Champagne and house wines.
Former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden for lowering gas prices.
Trump claimed the decrease was a politically motivated scheme.
“Right after the election, it’s going to double up and go higher than anybody ever believed,” Trump claimed.
Former President Donald Trump, while in Ohio to rally support for Republican Senate candidate JD Vance, slammed President Joe Biden for the recent decline in national gas prices.
In a tweet, the White House recognized Saturday as the 95th day in which gas prices have steadily declined since reaching record highs earlier this year. According to the White House, the national average for a gallon of gas sits at $3.68.
The administration — and Biden himself — have claimed that the drop in prices is the steepest decline in more than a decade. Insider was unable to independently verify the claim.
Trump slammed Biden for going into the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to release crude in an effort to ease overpriced gas despite the reserve being “only for war.” But Trump did the same during his administration when Saudi Arabia’s crude production drastically decreased following attacks on its production facilities, per CNBC.
“He’s using that to keep prices down as much as he can just before the election and right after the election, it’s going to double up and go higher than anybody ever believed,” Trump claimed at the rally on Saturday.
Trump claimed the current average is still “double and triple” what it was during his administration.
The Associated Press reported the national average was as low as $1.87 per gallon during May 2020, but the outlet attributed the low cost mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
While the crowd cheered during Trump’s rant on the current status of gas prices, some supporters didn’t seem too bothered.
When an interviewer from Right Side Broadcasting Network pushed a woman clad in a pro-Trump hat to say the gas prices for her 5.5-hour drive were bad, the woman didn’t agree.
“Wasn’t too bad,” the supporter said of the gas prices.
Trump put down a $3 million retainer for attorney Christopher M. Kise, a sum that The New York Times called “unusually high.”
The retainer was reportedly paid for through his Save America PAC.
The competency of Trump’s current legal team has been questioned by his advisors and others.
After having been rejected by several other attorneys, former President Donald Trump ended up paying an exceptionally large retainer for a well-known lawyer.
Christopher M. Kise, formerly the solicitor general of Florida, agreed to defend Trump with an “unusually high” $3 million retainer, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The former president reportedly struggled with finding a credible defense attorney recently, a problem he’d faced before.
As Trump continues to face legal peril, his advisors and former attorneys have pointed out that the quality of his legal team has taken a turn for the worst. Outside of Kise, Trump’s previous legal team includes “a Florida insurance lawyer who’s never had a federal case, a past general counsel for a parking-garage company, and a former host from a propagandistic cable outlet,” MSNBC reported, citing The Washington Post.
Kise has appeared before the Supreme Court on four cases and has previously worked with Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, CNN reported in August after Kise was confirmed to be a part of the legal team. He will take on BOTH Trump’s classified documents case and the January 6th case.
Kise has been credited with helping DeSantis become governor in 2018 after publicizing that his opponent, Andrew Gillum, purchased tickets to see “Hamilton” from an undercover FBI agent, according to Law and Crime.
A former Trump attorney, Eric Herschmann, has called into question the competency of some attorneys on the team, The Times reported. Law enforcement officials have scrutinized two of Trump’s lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb, after they claimed the former president didn’t have access to classified documents, The Times reported.
