Judge orders Paul Manafort to be transferred to New York City’s notorious Rikers Island

Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was sentenced earlier this year to four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, will be transferred later this week from a minimum security facility in Pennsylvania to New York City’s Rikers Island, a source close to Manafort told Fox News.
Rikers Island is the famous jail in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport. It has been the temporary home of some of the most high-profile violent criminals in the city, including  David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam; and Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon.
"He’s not a mob boss," the source close to Manafort said.
A New York State judge ordered the transfer at the request of New York City District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. He will be held in solitary confinement for his own protection, the source said. The move is expected to happen as early as Thursday.
Vance, a Democrat, said in March that a New York grand jury charged Manafort with 16 counts including residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and other charges. He said at the time that “no one is beyond the law in New York.” Manafort cannot be pardoned by President Trump for state crimes.
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News late Monday. Manafort’s defense team is planning an appeal, according to the source.
Manafort’s conviction in August made him the first campaign associate of President Trump found guilty by a jury as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis emphasized ahead of sentencing that the Manafort case was not about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ellis said that the guidelines of sentencing Manafort to between 19 and 24 years in prison were "excessive for this case." Manafort will receive credit for the nine months he's already served. Manafort was also hit with a $50,000 fine.
Prosecutors said Manafort, 69, hid income earned from political work overseas from the IRS while fraudulently obtaining millions in bank loans. Manafort had pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts in the case.
He is still facing additional years in prison from another case: After his conviction in Virginia, Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington to foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He has not yet been sentenced in that case, and Mueller’s team recently asked a federal judge to sentence him to 24 years in prison and order him to pay as much as a $24 million fine.
Fox News' Alex Pappas and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report

Mayor Bill de Blasio Cartoons

Trump calls London’s mayor ‘the twin of de Blasio, except shorter’

President Trump landed in the U.K. on Monday for the start of a weeklong journey that is largely ceremonial and continued his barrage of criticism for London Mayor Sadiq Khan who recently penned a critical column of the president he sees as a "global threat."
Prior to departing from Washington on Sunday, Trump called Khan the "twin" of New York City’s liberal Mayor Bill deBlasio “except shorter.”
The New York mayor, a Trump critic himself, is 6'5. Khan is 5'6, according to reports.
The London mayor recently said Trump was not in the “same class” as his predecessors. Prior to Trump’s visit, Khan wrote a column titled, “It’s un-British to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump.”
Khan pointed out Trump’s most controversial policy initiatives and likened them to the actions of European dictators of the 1930s and 40s.
“Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat,” Khan wrote. “The far right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than seventy years.”
Trump told reporters that he does not give Khan much thought, but went on to compare him to de Blasio, who announced his bid for president. Trump has called de Blasio “the worst mayor in the history of New York City,” according to The New York Post.
Despite playing down how much thought he gives Khan, Trump continued the attack Monday and said on Twitter that Khan reminds him of "our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC." He called Khan a "stone cold loser."
Trump attempted to clarify that he would not let Khan dampen his trip and said he looks forward to the visit, which includes a state visit and an audience with Queen Elizabeth II in London
Trump will be in the U.K. from Monday to Wednesday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, which comes at a tumultuous time in British politics, with Prime Minister Theresa May due to step down on Friday.
Trump has weighed into the debate on who should replace May and threw his support behind former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report

Roger Stone post calls for former CIA Director John Brennan to be 'hung for treason': report

John Brennan

Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone reportedly called for former CIA Director John Brennan to be “hung for treason” in a now-deleted social media message posted Saturday night.
Stone, a veteran Republican political consultant, called out Brennan in a series of Instagram videos and posts, Newsweek reported.
One post featured an image of Brennan with the caption: “This psycho must be charged, tried, convicted...and hung for treason,” according to a screenshot published by the outlet.
It was reportedly deleted an hour later. Robert Buschel, Stone's attorney, did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News for comment.
Brennan, who served as former President Barack Obama’s CIA director, has been accused by Republicans–along with former FBI Director James Comey—of relying too heavily on the much reported dossier, compiled by British intelligence official Christopher Steele, to launch the Justice Department’s investigation into the Trump campaign and its suspected ties to Russia.
Brennan has denied that the dossier played a role in the intelligence community’s surveillance program.
Stone, who briefly worked for Trump’s presidential campaign, has been charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller with witness tampering, obstruction and making false statements. He entered a plea of not guilty.

Russia withdraws key defense advisers support to Maduro, seen as major setback

Russia has withdrawn key defense advisers from Venezuela, an embarrassment for President Nicolás Maduro as Moscow weighs the leader’s political and economic resilience against growing U.S. pressure.
Russian state defense contractor Rostec, which has trained Venezuelan troops and advised on securing arms contracts, has cut its staff in Venezuela to just a few dozen, from about 1,000 at the height of cooperation between Moscow and Caracas several years ago, said a person close to the Russian defense ministry.
The gradual pullout, which has escalated over the last several months, according to people familiar with the situation, is due to a lack of new contracts and the acceptance that Mr. Maduro’s regime no longer has the cash to continue to pay for other Rostec services associated with past contracts.
Russia has been among Maduro’s biggest international supporters, but the winding down of Rostec’s presence shows the limits of Russia’s reach in the South American country at a time when Moscow is facing economic difficulties—in part due to the impact of U.S. sanctions—at home. Venezuela has been one of Moscow’s largest customers in South America.
Rostec’s withdrawal of permanent and temporary employees is a major setback for Maduro, who has frequently touted assistance support from Russia and China as a sign that other global powers are willing to assist him in his bitter standoff against the U.S. Russian military support has been central to Mr. Maduro’s pledge to defend Venezuela from any foreign invasion.
His government’s inability to pay Rostec also reflects the economic calamity gripping the country. The Maduro government didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Ocasio-Cortez tells Democratic hopeful Delaney to 'sashay away' after Medicare-for-All comment

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday used her formidable social media presence to play 2020 Democratic gatekeeper and told John Delaney, the former governor of Maryland, to "please sashay away" after he labeled Medicare for All “not good policy.”
Delaney, who was addressing the California Democratic Convention, was overwhelmingly booed when he raised concerns about the policy that would kick "150 million Americans off their health care." He said the initiative may sound good but “it’s actually not good policy, nor good politics.”
Medicare for All is a proposal that would put the government in charge of most health benefits. The AP recently reported that polls suggest that Democrats approve the idea, but many are hesitant about an abrupt shift from private insurance. Some are calling on a more incremental approach toward single-payer health care.
Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand have voiced their support for single-payer but have room for private insurance companies to still play a role in the system.
Warren told a voter at a Virginia town hall last month that it’s not “inconsistent” to pursue Medicare for All as well as smaller steps to get there, such as lowering the age for Medicare eligibility.
Some estimates put the 10-year cost of the plan at more than $32 trillion. Sen. Bernie Sanders said at a Fox News town hall that it would mean many Americans would "pay more in taxes." But he also argued the plan's costs would replace premiums and deductibles already being paid by American families, claiming many would pay less in the end.
Delaney was booed for his comments at the convention and tried to clarify that he is in favor of universal health care. But the crowd continued to boo.
“We should have universal health care,” he said. “We should have universal health care. We should have universal health care, but it shouldn’t be a kind of health care that kicks 150 million Americans off their health care. That’s not smart policy.”
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to call on Delaney to step aside.
“Since there’s so many people running for President (& not enough for Senate), instead of obsessing over who‘s a “frontrunner,” maybe we can start w some general eliminations. This awful, untrue line got boo’ed for a full minute. John Delaney, thank you but please sashay away,” she posted.
Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Cartoons, Kamala Harris Cartoons

Veterans walk out on Ocasio-Cortez after she bashes Trump, US foreign policy

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bashed US foreign policy during a private meeting with Bronx community leaders, prompting two military veterans to storm out.
“She knocks the country, she knocks the president. And that’s not what America is about,” said Silvio Mazzella, a Vietnam War vet and treasurer of Community Board 11.
Anthony Vitaliano — an Army veteran who worked in the NYPD for 38 years, and commanded the Bronx’s homicide detectives — was sitting between Ocasio-Cortez and a staffer for the freshman Dem.

“She knocks the country, she knocks the president. And that’s not what America is about.”
— Silvio Mazzella, Vietnam War vet

“I just couldn’t hear her BS anymore,” the former CB11 chairman said. “I just got up, got my umbrella in my hand and walked right out.”

“I just couldn’t hear her BS anymore. I just got up, got my umbrella in my hand and walked right out.”
— Anthony Vitaliano, Army veteran who worked in the NYPD for 38 years

AOC held the closed-door meeting with about a dozen members of the board on Wednesday night, marking a rare visit to the Bronx part of her district.
One Middle Eastern board member raised the issue of the conflict in Yemen.
The progressive firebrand slammed the US policy of providing bombs to Saudi Arabia, which has supported Yemen’s government in a brutal civil war, according to attendees. Some blamed her for not including the roles of other nations in explaining the volatile region’s violence.
“Talking about America, that really turned me off completely,” said Mazzella, 74, who said he fought in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.
When Israel came up later in the meeting, Ocasio-Cortez suggested President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are autocrats, according to a person at the meeting.
“I was revolted,” said the attendee, who didn’t want his name published.
He, Mazzella and Vitaliano said they all walked out in disgust before the end of the session.
Earlier, board members complained about problems with the US Postal Service, which regularly misses mail deliveries and a local Amtrak property that is a magnet for graffiti vandals. CB 11 is a working-class neighborhood on the eastern side of the Bronx covering Allerton, Morris Park, Pelham Gardens and Van Nest. In addition to parts of the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez’s district includes north-central Queens.
“Did she care about the issues? She wrote them down,” said Vitaliano, 78. “The jury will be out on the local issues.”
She “danced around the whole” question of Columbus Day, for which the neighborhood holds a parade every year, said Vitaliano, who supports creating a day for indigenous people but wants to preserve the treasured Italian-American tradition.
AOC’s office denied that anyone stormed out of the meeting.
“The only person that left the meeting while it was underway was someone who had to go pick up their children,” said AOC spokesman Corbin Trent.
Asked about Trent’s comment, Vitaliano said, “That’s bulls–t. Everybody that was there knows I walked out.”