Robert Reich | Why Trump's Private Transactions Are Terrifying

20 December 18 AM It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News GREAT READERSHIP, HORRIBLE SUPPORT - We have a wonderful day of readership underway - Thank You! Unfortunately, once again, people are ignoring funding. Won’t work, can’t work … never did work. Regardless of what they tell you. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Robert Reich | Why Trump's Private Transactions Are Terrifying  Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog Reich writes: "Trump has described the payments his bag man, Michael Cohen, made to two women during the 2016 campaign so they wouldn't discuss their alleged affairs with him, as 'a simple private transaction.'" READ MORE Hurried discussions continued Wednesday about the timing and pace of the troop withdrawal, which the White House said has already begun. (photo: Hussein Malla/AP) ALSO SEE: White House Struggles to Defend Trump's Syria Withdrawal Plan US Announces Withdrawal From Syria as Trump Declares Islamic State Defeated Middle East Eye Excerpt: "US forces have started to withdraw from northeastern Syria, the White House and Pentagon said on Wednesday, in an unexpected move ahead of an anticipated Turkish offensive east of the Euphrates River against the United States' pro-Kurdish allies." READ MORE Democratic Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Nanette Barragan. (photo: Rep. Jimmy Gomez/Twitter) Members of Congress Caged at the Border While Standing With Asylum Seekers Rebekah Entralgo, ThinkProgress Entralgo writes: "Two members of Congress, along with 15 asylum seekers and leaders from immigrant activist group Families Belong Together, were caged together overnight at the Otay Mesa port of entry near San Diego." READ MORE Senator Kamala Harris. (photo: Irfan Khan/Getty) After Over 200 Tries, the Senate Unanimously Passes Anti-Lynching Bill Jack Crosbie, Splinter News Crosbie writes: "It took over 200 attempts and well over 100 years, but the Senate partially passed a bill today to make lynching - lynching - a federal crime under U.S. law." READ MORE A sign in a New York market window advertises that it accepts food stamps. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Trump Administration Puts Squeeze on Food Stamps Recipients Tami Luhby, CNN Luhby writes: "If Congress won't make more food stamp recipients work for their benefits, the Trump administration will." READ MORE Annie Nalula, 38, and her seven-year-old son, Roger, at a mobile clinic in Cianciamka, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's East Kasai province. (photo: Jason Burke/Guardian UK) 'This Is Hell': Devastated Congolese Village Embodies Country's Crisis Jason Burke, Guardian UK Burke writes: "There was little warning, just shouts and shots shortly after dawn. Most of the thousand or so inhabitants of Cianciamka grabbed their children, a spoon and a cooking pot and escaped into the forest. Some were too slow and were killed, or forcibly enlisted as fighters and porters." READ MORE Bernard McNamee. (photo: LC) Calls Mount for Trump's Newest Energy Regulator to Recuse Himself Over Conflicts of Interest Mark Hand, ThinkProgress Hand writes: "Even before he participates in his first public meeting on Thursday, Bernard McNamee, the newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is facing multiple calls for his recusal from cases related to the resilience of the electric power grid." READ MORE Contribute to RSN Become a Fan of RSN on Facebook and Twitter Update My Monthly Donation