Lisa Bloom Pays Women Accusing President Trump of Sexual Misconduct

In a report that was released on Friday, Lisa Bloom, an attorney in Los Angeles, had offered big money to women who would publicly accuse Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual misdeeds. In one case, she offered a woman $750,000, and in another case Bloom arranged to pay off the woman’s mortgage. Where the money came from is unknown. Bill is calling for a U.S. attorney to investigate this because Bloom could be facing criminal charges.

Bloom denies claims asserting her moves to fund accusers of the President. According to Bloom, the money was supposed to provide protection to alleged victims who feared for their safety after sharing their accounts. Bloom also stated that when her clients’ stories are shared by the media, they must pay her a 33% commission fee for her services. 

“Our standard pro bono agreement for legal services provides that if a media entity offers to compensate a client for sharing his or her story we receive a percentage of those fees. This rarely happens. But, on occasion, a case generates media interest and sometimes (not always) a client may receive an appearance fee,” Bloom explained. 

“As a private law firm, we have significant payroll, rent, taxes, insurance and other expenses every week, so an arrangement where we might receive some compensation to defray our costs seems reasonable to us and is agreed to by our clients.”

Pope to focus on “fake news” in message for World Communications Day 2018‎

Pope Francis met with representatives from Catholic media outlets at a meeting in the Vatican on Saturday. At the meeting, the Pope called on media outlets to deliver the world from misinformation.

"We must not fall prey to the 'sins of communication:' disinformation – that is, giving just one side of the argument – slander, which is sensationalistic, or defamation, looking for outdated and old things, and bringing them to light today; they are very grave sins, which damage the heart of the journalist and harm people." 

Pope Francis will focus on the harmful effects of fake news in his message for peace during World Communications Day next year which will take place on May 13, 2018. 

“The truth will set you free. Fake news and journalism for peace,” is the theme of the annual Catholic Church observance that the Pope announced on Twitter.

Tax Reform Vote

House Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican lawmakers that the House will vote on the tax reform bill on Tuesday. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill shortly after in hopes of getting the bill to President Trump before Christmas. 

More changes to the bill were announced Friday. The corporate tax rate will be reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent instead of 20 percent; the child tax credit will be increased to $2,000 from $1,000; and it would allow deductions up to $10,000 in state and local taxes, including property, income and sales taxes (previous versions limited the deductions to property taxes).

Now, the polls say that a lot of Americans don't like the tax plan, but no one should be complaining about it because if it works all Americans will benefit. There will be more jobs, salaries will increase, and the working and poor people will receive most of the cuts.

Prosecutors Treat Opioid Overdoses as Homicides

U.S. drug deaths have hit record levels so prosecutors and police are trying a new tactic that echoes tough-on-crime theories of the 1990s. Around the country, prosecutors are arresting and charging low-level dealers who are addicts themselves, as well as friends and relatives of overdose victims who bought or shared drugs with the deceased, and charging them with involuntary manslaughter.

At least 86 people received federal prison sentences in 2016 for distributing drugs that resulted in death or serious injury. That number is up 16% from 2012. 

Prior to the current national opioid-addiction crisis, law enforcement had limited involvement with drug related deaths. Now, detectives are allowed to question witnesses and obtain search warrants in efforts to hold someone accountable.

Nationally, some 64,000 Americans died from overdoses last year, up 86% from 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Bill says that the 64,000 number is in inaccurate, in actuality it’s closer to 500,000 deaths. Why? Because of disease. AIDS, heart disease, etc., if you take those hard drugs, you’ll likely get seriously ill and possibly die. 

Officials say this new aggressive tactic that they’re using is a desperate attempt to stanch the rising tide of overdose deaths. 

Since 2013, Kansas and Delaware have passed laws that punish dealers for distributing drugs that result in death, and 13 state legislatures have introduced bills that would do the same, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.

The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program

The Pentagon, at the direction of Congress, a decade ago quietly set up a multimillion-dollar program to investigate UFOs. The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, whose existence was not classified but operated with the knowledge of an extremely limited number of officials, was the brainchild of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

One possible theory behind the unexplained incidents, according to a former congressional staffer who described the motivations behind the program, was that a foreign power perhaps the Chinese or the Russians had developed next-generation technologies that could threaten the United States. 

According to a Pentagon official, the AATIP program was ended “in the 2012 time frame,” but it has recently attracted attention because of the resignation in early October of Luis Elizondo, the career intelligence officer who ran the initiative.

In his resignation letter, addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Elizondo said the efforts of his program were not being taken sufficiently seriously. The Pentagon official could not confirm Mattis had actually seen the letter.

Mail Time!

• "Hey Bill, I'm a longtime fan but I think your catchphrase 'take your country back' makes you sound like an angry guy with an axe to grind. I believe that it sets a wrong tone for the BillOReilly.com program. It takes away from your audience perception that you're providing a fair analysis of the issue."
• Very interesting letter. All right, take your country back. Number one, I am an angry guy. I don't like the direction of the country. I don't like a lot of the corruption, particularly in the media. It makes me mad. I confess. Number two, take your country back is a rallying cry to people who believe traditional America was and is noble. Because the progressives, who are making giant strides, believe we're a bad country. So I want to take the noble country back. You gotta fight it. There's a social civil war. But I liked your letter and I hope you understand why I think that slogan is important. 

• "O'Reilly, thanks for your brilliant idea of a cease fire in the political combat between President Trump and a media. I only hope the president would initiate the action."
• I don't think he's going to do that but maybe. Maybe. It would be nice to have a Christmas cease fire between the media and the president. 

• "As the story of Attorney Lisa Bloom breaks, I'm looking for it in the mainstream media. I can't find it. This bias by silence," I like that, bias by silence, "is a powerful media tool."
• Absolutely, no doubt about it. The media is as corrupt as it's ever been in the history of this republic.

Word of the Day: Troglodyte