Mueller

Damn, It’s Good To Be A White Gangster. Cartoon for CNN

CNN03102019

This was drawn for CNN’s weekly opinion newsletter, Provoke/Persuade which you should sign up for. 

Judge T.S. Ellis ignored sentencing guidelines and only gave former Trump Campaign manager Paul Manafort 47 months in prison. If you’re a Republican, that’s a little less than four years. Manafort committed several crimes, deliberately over several years, and the judge ignored that too. He was also ordered to pay $25 million in restitution and received a $50,000 fine.

Manafort stole millions of dollars from the US government to support his absurdly lavish lifestyle. You remember the Ostrich jacket, right? Manafort hid millions of dollars of income in overseas accounts and lied to banks to obtain millions more in loans.

Manafort gave the finger to the criminal justice system at every step and still got an enormous break. Manafort was tried in two courts, the Eastern District of Virginia and in Washington, DC. It was the DC judge, Amy Berman Jackson who revoked his bail after he was caught trying to tamper with witnesses. He was found guilty on eight counts in Virginia. He pleaded guilty to more crimes in a plea agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but that was a ruse. He told more lies and may have been feeding information to Donald Trump’s legal team.

Manfort whined at the sentencing about how inconvenienced he’s been over getting caught and the judge recognized he wasn’t accepting his guilt. There was no contrition, remorse, or apology. But, then the judge complained about the sentencing guidelines and said the guy who built a career lobbying for dictators had led a “blameless life” before he got into trouble, and gave him a sentence that fell more than 15 years below the bottom of the guidelines range.

Manafort received about the same sentence, and in many cases, less than a typical low-level, nonviolent, first-time drug offender in the federal system.

Manafort faces another sentencing next week in the Washington court and the judge is expected to add to his sentence. The sentence he received last week could end in 2020, given the standard 15% reduction for good behavior in prison and deducting the approximately nine months he has already has served.

Manafort may not have been speaking to the judge during his statement, and instead may have been performing for an audience of one. His lawyers did the same thing after the hearing in citing how the case didn’t have anything to do with Russian collusion.

Donald Trump praised the sentencing and said it was “vindication” and tweeted, “Both the Judge and the lawyer in the Paul Manafort case stated loudly and for the world to hear that there was NO COLLUSION with Russia.” No, the judge did not say there was “no collusion.” He didn’t say it quietly, loudly, or in all caps. In case you’re new around here, Donald Trump lies.

It may not matter what sentence Manafort receives in DC next week. Trump, being an idiot and a guy who flaunts pardons like shiny objects will probably pardon Manafort, right after the 2020 presidential election. Trump said he feels bad for Manafort, taking the side of the crook.

That would be another injustice of the American justice system. Basically, rich white guys receive light sentences. If you’re black, they might kill you on the street for selling loose cigarettes.

Here are the roughs.

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As you can see, I changed the text in the speech balloon. CNN didn’t see the cartoon until it was done and they picked it.  But…

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They almost picked this one. I’m glad they didn’t.

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I came up with this idea while drawing the CNN cartoon. I roughed it out and sent this to them along with the Manafort cartoon. I liked this one enough to draw it for my clients on Friday night.

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I had this Nickelback idea before I got the other one. I didn’t like it as much.

CNNrough19

My editor originally had the idea that I do something on Sherrod Brown and the large field of Democratic candidates. Our conversation was before the Manafort sentencing was announced. I knew our direction would change. I kinda like this one.

CNNrough16

I’ve had this idea for over a week and I still might draw it.

CNNrough15

I like the point of this one but I’m not crazy about the cartoon. I’ve already seen a clown car cartoon from a Republican cartoonist.

CNNrough14

I liked this one. I added color to the rough for obvious reasons. I might draw this one too…maybe.

CNNrough13

This was my first idea and I don’t like it at all. So, which one’s your favorite?

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch the video.

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Heed The Tramp Stamp

cjones01302019

As I was wrapping up this cartoon, Trump was on TV surrendering to Nancy Pelosi, thus proving this entire Trump shutdown was a huge waste of time over his ego. In fact, he’s still ranting as I’m writing this. I don’t think he can rant his ass out of eating shit today.

If anything, Roger Stone’s arrest and indictment this morning forced Trump to end the shutdown just as much as the potential of planes crashing into each other. He needed a distraction. If anything, we have Robert Mueller to thank for ending the shutdown.

No big blog for this. I’m tired.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Trippy Testimony

cjones01292019

Donald Trump has either lived a life dreaming of being a third-rate mobster or he actually is a third-rate mobster. But, you can’t be a mobster without goons, and guess what. Trump has goons. Enter Rudy Giuliani (among others).

When the Special Counsel Robert Mueller finally issues his report, obstruction of justice will surely be one of the many charges against Donald Trump.

Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, then told Russians and Lester Holt that he did it to end the Russia investigation. Instead, it got him a Special Counsel investigation. Yes, Donald Trump is really that stupid. When you commit a crime, don’t go on national television and brag about it…or tweet it.

Trump has been sending tweets that are attempting to obstruct justice. Part of his obstruction will be witness tampering.

Reportedly, Trump’s team, or Trump himself, was in contact with Paul Manafort’s people after Manafort struck a deal with Mueller’s team. According to Buzzfeed, Trump ordered his former lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project. While Mueller’s office issued a statement saying the Buzzfeed story was inaccurate, they didn’t specify which part wasn’t correct.

Donald Trump has also engaged in intimidating a witness. Cohen has struck a plea agreement with Mueller and had volunteered to testify before Congress, again. This time, before a Democrat-controlled committee and not one run by Republican sycophants.

Using mobster language, Trump called Cohen a “rat” for cooperating with law enforcement. Trump praised Roger Stone (another goon) for not cooperating. Think about it. This is a president of the United States attacking people for cooperating with the law and praising others for fighting law enforcement.

After the Buzzfeed story broke, Trump started threatening Cohen by bringing up his father-in-law. Trump tweeted, “Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!” Trump has also claimed Cohen’s wife is involved in crime. Trump might have a point as the daddy-in-law; Fima Shusterman once owned three apartments in Trump Tower, which is a real popular investment for money launderers.

Trump called sycophant Jeanine Pirro on Trump TV (Fox News) and said, “In order to get his sentence reduced, he says, ‘I have an idea. I’ll tell — I’ll give you some information on the president.’ Well, there is no information.”

Trump continued ranting like a lunatic who had just snorted five pounds of Adderall at a bus station, “But he should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that’s the one that people want to look at. Because where does that money — that’s the money in the family. And I guess he didn’t want to talk about his father-in-law. He’s trying to get his sentence reduced. So it’s pretty sad. You know, it’s weak. And it’s very sad to watch a thing like that. I couldn’t care less.”

Obviously, Trump couldn’t care less.

Giuliani went on CNN and said that Cohen’s father-in-law “may have ties to something called organized crime,” without mentioning any details. It’s getting harder and harder to believe the former mayor of New York City was once a respected federal prosecutor.

On Wednesday, Cohen announced he was withdrawing his commitment to appear because, his lawyer said, of “threats against his family” from Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Three House committee chairs, Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff, and Jerrold Nadler released a joint statement saying, “Our nation’s laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress. The President should make no statement or take any action to obstruct Congress’ independent oversight and investigative efforts, including by seeking to discourage any witness from testifying in response to a duly authorized request from Congress.”

At the White House, Trump said, “He’s only been threatened by the truth,” which sounds more like projecting.

What Trump doesn’t sound like is an innocent person.

Now, the Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena for Cohen to testify next month. Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer a Putin-inspired accident along the way.

Just as I was finishing up this blog, breaking news was reported that Trump goon Roger Stone has been arrested and indicted on charges including obstruction, false statements, and witness tampering. This is one I have been expecting, along with a few of Trump’s kids. Let’s hope he has company in the very near future.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Individual One

cjones12142018

Federal prosecutors have now accused Donald Trump, who is still president of the United States by some bad joke perpetrated by the universe, of committing two felonies.

What Trump did was direct his lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen to make illegal payments to a porn star and a Playmate who were threatening his presidential campaign in 2016. Trump initially denied any knowledge of the payments to the public, as though Cohen took it upon himself out of the goodness of his heart. Later, one of Trump’s mouthpieces, Rudy Giuliani, said that Trump paid Cohen back. Then, a recording was released of Trump discussing the payments with Cohen, and how it would be operated.

A court filing by federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Cohen “acted in coordination and at the direction of” an unnamed individual, clearly referring to Donald Trump.

A separate filing by the Special Counsel investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 campaign said an unnamed Russian offered Cohen “government level” synergy between Russia and the Trump campaign in November 2015. While Trump argued Saturday that he didn’t want Russia’s help, fourteen people in his campaign had contact with Russia. Keep that in mind the next time you hear a Trump sycophant argue there’s no evidence of collusion.

In a separate case on Friday, the Special Counsel accused Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, of lying about his contacts with an individual they accuse of having ties to Russian intelligence, and about his interactions with Trump administration officials after he was indicted on criminal charges.

So, how did Trump interpret all of this? He tweeted, “Totally clears the President. Thank you!” That is the correct way to interpret it if he was talking about any of the 44 presidents before him (I was worried about Chester A. Arthur). As for him, no. He’s standing directly in the center of the bulls eye. Also, who the hell is he “thanking?”

As Michael Che said on Saturday Night Live, Trump can’t tweet something and magically make it true.  Maybe Trump can buy some ruby slippers, click them three times, and say “there’s no place like no collusion.”

How do fourteen people communicate with Russia without colluding? How do fourteen people in the Trump campaign talk to Russians without Donald Trump ever knowing? How do Republicans ignore a president who commits felonies? Keep in mind; this is the stuff that’s NOT redacted. These two felonies are being called out by the Southern District of New York. Robert Mueller’s office hasn’t released their findings yet, so we can expect even more to pile up. Finally, Trump will be able to brag about having more of something than any other president, in addition to lies, wives, and sexually-transmitted diseases.

We’ve had three presidents accused of high crimes. Two were impeached and the third resigned in disgrace. Are we going to ignore the fourth? I think the House will impeach Trump, and the Senate, needing just 20 Republicans to do the right thing, will protect Trump. There are not 20 Republicans in the Senate who will put their nation before their party or a stupid cult of personality.

The American president operated his campaign with assistance by a hostile foreign power. This is as close to treason as one can get without being at war. Donald Trump is a traitor. The presidency should not be occupied by a traitor.

It’s bad enough it’s occupied by a dumbass with comprehension problems.

Be Complicit

What kind of person would want to be part of something that disparages, slanders, and disrespects Dear Leader and his sycophantic followers? Hopefully, you. 
Making a contribution supports my work and keeps the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. My income is from newspapers that subscribe to my work and small contributors. George Soros hasn’t sent me a million dollar check in weeks. Making a contribution of any amount, or buying a print for $40.00, makes you part of this specific resistance, and a member of Team Claytoonz (we’re still working on the name). You are complicit, an accomplice, and in cahoots (and whatever gangster terms we can think of) with this political satire pointing out that the stupid emperor has no clothes. Contributions can be made through PayPal, checks, and wads of cash exchanged in back alleys.
Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!! 

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Manafort Flips

cjones09212018

Last August, Donald Trump tweeted, “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ – make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!” And, right on cue, Manafort “broke.”

Manafort, who has already been convicted in a Virginia court and was set to face trial in Washington, has flipped and will now cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. In doing so, Manafort has admitted guilt to all the things he and his lawyers previously said he was innocent of.

In addition to all the dirt he can provide to Mueller, he also kills one of the GOP’s arguments against the investigation, and that’s the cost of it. So far, the investigation has cost the U.S. government $7 million. Now, with Manafort surrendering property as well as the contents of three bank accounts, the investigation has made money. The New York real estate the government has acquired is estimated to be worth $22 million.

Manafort is giving up a home in the Hamptons, a Brooklyn townhouse, and three Manhattan apartments, including one in Trump Tower. The Justice Department now owns a chunk of Trump Tower and may be the only tenant not using the building for money laundering. Now, if anyone sees Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein sporting an ostrich jacket, can you please let me know?

Now, the fun begins. Manafort knows all the details of the Trump Tower meeting with Russians which not only puts pressure on Donald Trump, but also on egghead son number one, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Manafort can also reveal the reasons why the Trump campaign removed language from the GOP’s platform concerning arms for Ukraine.

Manafort was a tool for Ukraine’s former president, who was a puppet for Putin (like Trump). He’s also indebted to Russian oligarchs (also like Trump).

Manafort joins the other Trump flippers, Michael Cohen, George Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, and the publisher of the National Enquirer. For a witch hunt, that’s a lot of witches. Surely, between them, Mueller is going to discover where the bodies are buried.

The one thing that is for certain is Mueller isn’t going away empty-handed from the Manafort flip. There will be more indictments, but who? Don Junior and Jared? I believe so. They will probably receive the pardons Manafort gave up on. If Junior gets indicted, his father’s hissy fit will be of epic proportions. I will need lots of popcorn.

There is another certainty. Donald Trump is going to be impeached. What’s uncertain is if he’ll be convicted and tossed from office by the cowardly Republican and Trump sycophant Senate.

In the meantime, we can look forward to Trump and Rudy Giuliani telling us how horrible of a person Manafort is and that he never could be trusted. Why won’t they? They said the same thing about Cohen after boasting what a wonderful person and great lawyer he was.

They do have a point though. All these flippers are vile, horrible, and disgusting people. After all, They did work for Donald Trump.

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.

Strzok Gets Struck

cjones08192018

Peter Strzok was an FBI agent with 22 years experience who had investigated Russian spies, defense officials accused of selling secrets to China and other assorted cases of extreme importance. He was also the agent in charge of investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State and the Russia case.

During his investigation of Clinton’s server, Strzok exchanged texts with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with who he was having an affair. The texts were discovered while he was the lead investigator for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who swiftly removed him from the investigation of Russiagate.

The director of the FBI office that usually handles employee discipline had decided that Strzok should be demoted for having a rational viewpoint and suspended for 60 days. The Deputy Director of the FBI ignored that advice and decided to fire Strzok on Monday.

The text Republicans keep clinging to is one where Strzok was replying to Page’s concern about Trump being elected. Strzok texted, “we’ll stop him.” Republicans claim this is proof of conspiracy within the agency to destroy Trump and not a comment from a regular citizen referencing the voters of America. The Trump campaign was under investigation by the FBI for colluding with Russia before the election, but Strzok never leaked or made the investigation public knowledge, though the FBI held press conferences and leaked information about investigating Hillary Clinton. Oddly enough, those leaks went straight to Rudy Giuliani who is now campaigning to end the Russia investigation because of FBI bias.

Trump and his sycophants are using Strzok’s text as proof that Mueller’s Russia investigation is a hoax and should be shut down, the dossier is fake, Hillary Clinton should be re-investigated and thrown into prison, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be fired, everyone should vote Republican, Donald Trump isn’t a racist, and he only weighs 239 pounds.

What this really proves is that each day of the Trump administration brings us one step closer to an authoritarian government. People have literally been fired for expressing a negative viewpoint about Donald Trump (and this one’s not a political cartoonist in Pittsburgh).

When assigning agents to investigate politicians, is it now mandatory that they not have any political opinions about anything? Or, are they allowed to have them just so long as they favor Trump? The problem with this is how does anyone who familiarizes himself with a subject not have an opinion about that person? Are cops required to have neutral feelings about the people they’re in a shoot-out with? When they encounter pedophiles, do they not have any negative views about them until they’re convicted?

If this is the new standard in today’s chaotic new normal, we’re going to encounter problems finding people competent enough to do their jobs. Any professional who is educated, intelligent, rational, with half a brain, and not in a coma is going to have a negative viewpoint of Donald Trump. Have you seen and heard Donald Trump? Currently, only about 39% of Americans have a favorable view of Donald Trump, and they’re all Nazis. OK, maybe they’re not all Nazis, but they’re OK with a guy who is OK with Nazis. Do we really want Nazi sympathizers in charge of investigations? We can’t have everything run like Congressional committees.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing about this (other than there is a sex scandal connected to Trump where you don’t have to get a mental image of Trump boinking playmates, raw dogging porn stars, being spanked with a Forbes magazine with his daughter on the cover, or engaging in a pee-pee contest with Russian hookers) is that between Trump and Strzok, one has testified in front of Congress and the other refused to answer questions to Robert Mueller.

The most hypocritical aspect is that Strzok was fired for texting a viewpoint while Trump has been tweeting that Strzok should be fired, thus muddying up the entire review process at the FBI with his idiotic viewpoints. If that’s not meddling in an investigation or with the Justice Department, then I don’t know what is.

We can’t conduct a bloodletting in government agencies of those who harbor negative views of Trump. We need competent people serving our nation. If we only hire people who respect Trump, then we’re going to have a government staffed with the likes of Michael Cohens and Omarosas.

This is truly ironic because it might be Michael Cohen and Omarosa who bring down the Trump administration.

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!

Watch me draw.

Wonderful Son

cjones08112018

The Donald Trump presidential campaign did not have any contacts with anyone from the Russian government. OK, they did but it wasn’t anything significant. Except, it was in Trump Tower which was the campaign headquarters for the Trump campaign. Oh, and the meeting was attended by Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. But, it was a total waste of everyone’s time as it was about Russian adoptions. Though, the Russian was promising dirt on Hillary Clinton and Jr. replied in an email before the meeting “I love it.” But, here’s a statement that definitely wasn’t written by the president that the meeting was only about adoptions. OK, the statement was written by the president, but he didn’t know anything about the meeting and it was still only about adoptions. OK, it wasn’t about adoptions and was totally to gain dirt on Clinton, which they didn’t get. Now, it wasn’t illegal and everybody does it.

Did I miss anything? Probably. At this point, even Nixon would be confused with the explanations.

Donald Trump is reportedly very concerned that his “wonderful” son, Donald Trump Jr., may be in legal peril over that Russian meeting in Trump Tower. He should be concerned. Jr. most likely broke the law, he can’t keep his mouth shut, neither can his old man, and they’re both idiots. They should be very concerned.

They argue that collusion isn’t a crime. That depends on a lot of factors. What is a crime is engaging in a conspiracy with a foreign power to benefit your American election. Even if it’s not illegal, it’s treasonous. You don’t even have to get anything out of it to break the law. You just have to try. It’s like arguing that you failed to kill someone, so it’s only attempted murder. No big deal. Everyone does it.

You wonder how concerned Trump is for his son since his latest tweet about the meeting suggests his son committed perjury before Congress.

Trump tweeted, “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”

He’s so concerned for his son that he threw him under the bus while making it clear that he himself had no involvement or knowledge about the meeting. Thanks, Dad!

The thing is, it’s not done all the time in politics. Yes, campaigns get dirt on political opponents. Was the Clinton campaign colluding with Russia by paying a former British agent to investigate Trump? No. They did not work or seek help from a foreign government. The Trump campaign did. Trump and his sycophants don’t understand the difference. But, maybe they’ll have a lot of time to think about it.

Here’s the other thing; Trump lied about the meeting. Trump Jr. lied about the meeting. Trump tried to cover it up. Since they’re on the record lying about it multiple times in the past, how can we believe anything they’re saying to explain it now? Why should we believe Trump didn’t know about it? Why should we believe they didn’t get any information from Russia? Why should we believe there weren’t more contacts.

I have a not-so-bold prediction. This long national nightmare of Watergate with stupid people won’t end without someone named Trump receiving a presidential pardon. A much bolder prediction would be; who and how many?

Your support in the form of donations is appreciated. I am fully independent as I’m not employed by a newspaper or with a major syndicate (leaving one to be independent). It does take a lot of work to provide you with cartoons, columns, and videos almost every day (more than any other political cartoonist), and I don’t charge my clients much at all. If you can, please consider making a financial contribution to keep the fun flowing, or purchase a signed print for $40. Whether you can help support, can’t, or just choose not to, please continue to enjoy and keep reading my work. Thank you!!!

Watch me draw.

Sorry Giuliani

cjones05242018

I think the most amazing thing about the current Rudy Giuliani disaster tour is that it’s still going. Doesn’t a tire fire eventually burn out?

After joining Trump’s legal defense team, Rudy went on Hannity’s show on Trump TV and threw their entire strategy out the window. For the rest of Trump’s legal team, it was like coming to work the next morning to discover a dead raccoon in the copier. It really stunk up the place and nobody wanted to touch it.

Rudy told Hannity that Trump knew about the payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that was made through fixer/lawyer Michael Cohen, that Trump had paid Cohen back, that Trump lied about knowing of the payment, that Trump helped commit a campaign finance violation, and that the president of the United States raw-dogged a porn star while his wife was home with a newborn baby. Even Hannity, the guy who washes Trump’s feet with his tongue, couldn’t bail out the Trump team during that performance. I’m surprised Rudy didn’t say, “of course there’s no pee-pee tape with Russian hookers. Don’t be ridiculous. We destroyed that months ago.”

Trump later said Rudy was new on the job and still learning the details of everything. So what do they do? They send him back out to talk to the media. Again. And again.

Now Rudy says the Special Counsel team told him they’re not going to indict the president, and they’re willing to conduct a short interview with Trump where they will not bring up anything to do with obstruction. What? The Special Counsel was created because Trump fired the director of the FBI, and they’re not going to want to talk about that?

Rudy also thinks James Comey is a liar, that stormtroopers raided Cohen’s office, and that Martha Stewart went to jail for testifying and not for the lies she told. So, maybe when he talked to the Special Counsel’s office his problem with comprehension was a factor.

What was very enjoyable was watching Giuliani’s meltdown on CNN when Chris Cuomo asked him why he believes the president can’t be forced to testify, but in 1998 he argued the opposite. Rudy denied ever saying that and when Cuomo showed him a clip of it, Rudy shouted throughout it, said “aw c’mon,” that it’s not relevant and the interview was being unfair. If only he was on Fox & Friends where they don’t unfairly hold you accountable for your own words.

It gets better. A lot better. Rudy says Trump is owed an apology for the Russia investigation. How would that work? Are we sorry you’re a traitor? Are we sorry you hired Russians to work on your campaign? Are we sorry your campaign manager was indicted? Are we sorry the Justice Department isn’t working as your personal protection agency? Are we sorry your fixer is as stupid as he looks?

Personally, I’m sorry I can’t draw Rudy Giuliani every day.

Watch me draw.

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Spies Like Us

cjones05222018

The priorities for the Trump administration and the entire Republican Party are seriously messed up. When the press reports that a White House staffer dissed Senator and Vietnam veteran John McCain by saying, “he’s dying anyway,” the outrage isn’t directed at the staffer, who still has her job, but at the leaker.

Now it’s reported that the FBI may have had an informant following the moles Russia had in the Trump campaign. Is Trump’s outrage directed toward Russia? Of course not. It’s toward the agency that’s trying to protect our nation from interference from a hostile foreign power.

Trump tweeted, “Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI “SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.” Andrew McCarthy says, “There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.” If so, this is bigger than Watergate!”

Trump has to say “Obama’s FBI” so it’ll gin up his base with outrage. But he is right about one thing. If Donald Trump allowed Russian spies into his campaign, it’s bigger than Watergate.

And Trump did allow Russians into his campaign headquarters. When the Russians contacted them claiming they had dirt on Hillary Clinton, did Donald Trump Jr say “no thanks?” Did he report it to the FBI? No. That treasonous trust-fund baby said, “I love it!” If the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia, it’s not for lack of trying.

While the campaign was ongoing, Trump was trying to work out a business deal with Russia. When Trump says he doesn’t have any business with Russia, again, it’s not for lack of trying. And on that issue, he’s probably lying.

While the FBI was secretly following Trump’s Russians around, they announced to the world that they were investigating Hillary Clinton, and then they weren’t, and then they were. The FBI was also leaking information about the investigation into Clinton to Rudy Giuliani, who is now complaining about the bias at the FBI. I’m a cartoonist and even I can’t make this stuff up.

Trump sycophants who parrot his claim of the investigation as a “witch hunt” and “no collusion” don’t stop for a second and ask, but why were there so many people with Russian connections in your campaign? What sort of organization was Trump running that let spies in to sit at the big table with Trump?

Now, Trump, Republicans in Congress, the idiots in conservative media like Breitbart and Sean Hannity, are screaming for the FBI to publicly identify the informant. What happened to protecting sources? Why would they want to give someone up, not just for the conservative base to chew apart, but for Vladimir Putin? People who anger Putin have a tendency to suffer accidents, like falling off buildings and walking face-first into a batch of Russian-made nerve agent.

This is another instance of Republicans putting sycophancy over country. They worship at the altar of a stupid, racist, snake-oil selling conman complicit with Russia, and their love for their deity is stronger than their love for the country.

You know what they say runs downhill. You know who’s on top of that hill. Trump’s leadership has set an example of the corruption rampant throughout his cabinet. His leadership encourages leaks from the White House. And, it was his leadership that invited Russians into his campaign. This is a man who didn’t devote himself entirely to his country while seeking to be its leader, as he was working business deals with Moscow at the same time while also asking for them to hack his opponent’s campaign.

We need to leave the informant alone. Quite frankly, Melania’s been through enough this week.

Here’s the video.

Please consider making a donation to keep the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. Reader contributions, small and large, really do help and are appreciated in a time of dwindling revenue for political cartoonists. You will also be supporting free speech and liberty while those in power are doing all they can to suppress it. You can also support by purchasing a signed print for $40.00. Just look at the right of this page and click the PayPal button, or you can email and make other arrangements. Thank you!

Butt No Collusion

cjones05092018

Trump lies. According to one count in the media (yeah, fake news), he averages six and a half lies a day. It’s been said that the one person you don’t lie to is your lawyer. But what happens when you not only lie to your lawyers but you ignore their advice and torpedo your own case?

Some lawyers quit, as John Dowd and Ty Cobb have done. There’s talk that White House Counsel Don McGahn wants out and expects the newly hired white-shoe lawyer Emmet Flood to take over. Unfortunately for Mr. Flood, his shoes won’t remain white for long because Trump’s other new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is as much of a lying, corrupt, narcissistic dumbass as the client.

Without any consultation with the other members of his legal team, Trump sent Rudy out to tell Sean Hannity that he knew about the payment to Stormy Daniels. He also changed the reasoning Trump fired James Comey, called the FBI “stormtroopers,” and threw Jared under the bus as being disposable.

They were mopping up the next day and Trump excused Rudy’s performance by saying he just started, he’s learning the subject matter, and he’ll get his facts straight. OK. So if he just started and doesn’t know shit then why did you send him out to talk about the subject matter? And why did you send him out again the next day to vomit-puke on Fox & Friends?

Sure, this entire matter is about a porn star Trump slept with before he was president, but when you lie every day, revise your story with another lie, deny your past statements which have been recorded, and send your minions and goons like Giuliani and Sarah Huckabee Sanders to lie, then why should anyone ever believe anything coming out of your administration? How are we supposed to have confidence in your ability to do, well, anything?

Now it has come out that Trump knew about the payment to Stormy Daniels months before he denied it. No shit. You don’t have $130,000 deducted from your bank account and just wonder where it went. According to Rudy, when Trump recently learned what it was for he acted as though a mystery was solved. Most people go nuts with a mystery deduction of ten bucks from their bank account. Even a billionaire, if Trump really is one, would question $130,000. We all know how cheap Trump is. None of the stories coming from Cohen, Trump, Giuliani or any of their other idiots are believable.

To Trump’s new lawyer, and his future new lawyers, have fun. You’re going to need a mop. Also, take one good look at Rudy Giuliani. That’s your future.

Creative notes: I had this idea earlier in the week but put it on hold the night Rudy went on Fox. Yeah, I drew a similar disgusting pose a couple cartoons ago, but I liked this idea too much not to do it. Also, sorry for your eyes.

Here’s the video.

Please consider making a donation to keep the cartoons, columns, and videos coming. Reader contributions, small and large, really do help and are appreciated in a time of dwindling revenue for political cartoonists. You will also be supporting free speech and liberty while those in power are doing all they can to suppress it. You can also support by purchasing a signed print for $40.00. Just look at the right of this page and click the PayPal button, or you can email and make other arrangements. Thank you!