Zelenskyy explained, “I told him that if he gave us the weapons we need and stopped supporting Putin, we would let him build Trump-branded hotels and other Trump-branded buildings in Ukraine’s ten largest cities, as well as Trump golf courses in the countryside. He was quite excited.”   read more

Tillerson's ExxonMobil cut a deal with Russia in 2011 for a joint venture to explore for oil in the Russian Arctic. But in 2014, the collaboration ended due to sanctions the U.S. put into place after Russia invaded Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Tillerson opposed the sanctions. Russia wasn’t the only place where Tillerson’s company acted in opposition to U.S. interests. It also signed an oil deal with the Kurds who control Iraq’s northern region. That agreement cut out the Iraqi central government.   read more

These are the seven countries from which President Donald Trump halted entry to the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Including all terrorist acts committed by terrorists who were foreign-born or whose parents were born abroad, the total number of Americans killed by terrorists from the Trump 7 is…zero. On the other hand, terrorists from other countries have killed 2, 689 Americans. Here are some examples.   read more

A member of the American Psychological Association, Kane is a recognized authority on the subjects of psychology, criminology and corrections. He joined the Bureau in 1977 as a social science research analyst, focusing on such issues as prison-based sexual assaults and violence, and inmate management. In 2012, Kane was named deputy director of the agency, taking on responsibilities that included oversight of restrictive prison housing, labor-management initiatives and staff safety.   read more

What are the 15 biggest imports from Mexico to the United States?   read more

Linda McMahon helped make WWE hugely profitable, but some of that came from keeping costs low, especially when it came to paying the wrestlers. She sought exemptions that would allow WWE to be treated as entertainment instead of a sport, thus relieving it of the burden of drug testing. WWE is not forced to provide health insurance for wrestlers, nor does it pay into Social Security or unemployment insurance for them. Running for the Senate in 2012, McMahon called for the SBA to be abolished.   read more

Then governor of Iowa, Branstad first met Xi Jinping, now president of China, during Xi's stay there in 1985. Xi returned to the town in 2012 as China’s vice-president. An early Trump supporter, Branstad was mentioned after the election as a likely candidate for the Beijing post, even drawing supportive comments from the Chinese. "Mr. Branstad is an old friend of the Chinese people and we welcome him to play a greater role in promoting Sino-U.S. relations,” said a Chinese government spokesman.   read more

After having been in the Coast Guard only three years, Zukunft commanded a 95-foot boat, the Cape Upright, as the Mariel boatlift was going on. Zukunft and his crew took 200 people off a leaky 60-foot boat making its way to Florida. During his career, Zukunft was Chief of Operations for the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Chief of Operations Oversight for the Coast Guard Atlantic Area. In 2010, he was made federal on-scene coordinator of the BP oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico.   read more

As a 2015 presidential candidate, Carson took on the agency he would eventually run. He called HUD's new fair housing policies “government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality.” His other positions included a 10% flat tax based on the Biblical reference to tithing; that being gay could be “cured”; that Obama was a “psychopath”; the Holocaust happened because of gun control; and that the Egyptian pyramids were built as grain-storage facilities. He also compared Obamacare to slavery.   read more

Kelly’s appointment drew approval from Democrats as well as Republicans. But some civil libertarians are concerned about some stances Kelly has taken. He has been reluctant to support the idea of opening all military jobs to women. And he was critical of President Obama’s efforts to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, saying that human rights concerns about the prisoners in Guantánamo were “foolishness.” Like his new boss, Donald Trump, Kelly has railed against the media.   read more

In contrast to Trump, who said he’ll reinstitute waterboarding, Mattis gained a reputation for not tolerating the torture of prisoners. But Mattis isn’t shy about his love of battle. In 2005, he said about fighting the Taliban: “Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people... I like brawling.” Some say his conduct in Iraq amounted to war crimes. In 2004, he ordered an attack on what turned out to be a wedding party, killing 42 people.   read more

At Booz Allen Hamilton, Durkovich worked on pandemic flu continuity of operations plan for FEMA and security for the IRS. In 2011, she was chief of staff in DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate. As director of OIP, Durkovich is in charge of tasks such as teaching schoolchildren how to survive a mass shooting and stopping ISIS attempts to hack the U.S. power grid. She also testified to Congress on the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, in which 12 people were killed.   read more

In 2001, Brasure was made director of the Air Force’s High Power Microwave Program at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. In 2006, he became chief of the Stockpile Systems Division of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency there. In 2008, he moved to the Dept of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Two years later, he became executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at the Kirtland Base.   read more

In 2005, Enomoto worked on mental health issues related to Hurricane Katrina. That year she was made the principal senior adviser to the SAMHSA administrator, a job she held through 2009. She was named deputy assistant secretary and principal adviser to the assistant secretary in August 2011, duties she performed until taking over SAMHSA. Since her appointment, Enomoto has prioritized spreading information to help slow overdoses of opioid drugs and worked to cut the suicide rate.   read more

In the 72 years since Harry Truman became President and Gallup began asking about presidential approval, Donald Trump is the only President to start his term with a majority of Americans disapproving of his job performance. Trump’s numbers at his inauguration—usually one of the high points of a president’s popularity—are closer to those of a failing president than a newly minted one. In fact, Trump’s inaugural job disapproval numbers are nearly off the charts.   read more

In 2007, Smith joined Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. After Obama won the presidency, Smith was named to the Dept of Justice transition team, then nominated as Assistant Attorney General in charge of tax issues. However, Senate Republicans blocked her appointment. She worked as a counselor in the Justice Department’s civil division until 2011, when her nomination was turned down. Smith returned to the Obama administration in 2015, this time to the Indian Health Service.   read more

Bindman has done several studies on healthcare involving those in poverty. He has also investigated the link between access to care and preventable hospitalizations. Bindman was named San Francisco General’s chief of general internal medicine in 1996. In 1999 and 2000, he served as visiting professor at University College London, then from 2009 to 2010 he worked on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, helping draft language for the Affordable Care Act.   read more