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Without evidence and against the wishes of the family, Fox News Sean Hannity continues to push a discredited conspiracy about the murder of Seth Rich. On his TV show and other platforms, Hannity is using the deceased DNC staffer as part of a desperate attempt to discredit t the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusion that Russian hackers sought to bolster Donald Trumps presidential bid.

Hannitys exploitation a young mans murder has caused some advertisers to sever ties with him. But Hannity, notwithstanding his pledge to stop talking about Rich, has pressed forward. As recently as Tuesday night told his viewers hed have a lot more coming probably sooner than later about Rich.

Vice President Mike Pence rewarded Hannitys conduct with an appearance on his show Thursday night. The vice president came on to talk about Trumps decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord following an opening monologue where Hannitywho has been working with a new right-wing group targeting liberal TV hosts advertisers for no particular reasonissued a thinly veiled threat to other hosts.

Tonight, it is time to fight fire with fire, Hannity said. Where are the so-called champions of civil rights and freedom of speech on the left? Why arent liberal commentators like Bill Maher and Steve Colbert, why arent they speaking out defending freedom of speech? And by the way, why has not one liberal cable news host stood up for me and my right to freedom of speech?

Hannity obliquely referred to the Rich situation during his interview with Pence.

Ive actually really be fighting for my career lately so Ive been a little busy with other topics, Hannity said, while introducing a fawning question to Pence.

I think this is really the only show in America that has listed the presidents accomplishments, and I noticed when he was in the Rose Garden today that he went through part of that list that never seem to get reported, Hannity continued. What are you most proud of and what do you see coming?

Hannitys approach to interviewing Pence is in line with how hes treated Trump. Hannity and Trump used a White House interview conducted the week after the inauguration to discredit other media outlets and uncritically restate Trump administration talking points.

After Hannity broached the topic of how other outlets have covered President Trump by saying, the New York Times, CNN, ABCthey use the word liar to describe you, Trump interjected with, these are very hostile, angry people the media is very dishonest. They are very dishonest people.

I said journalism is dead, so we agree, Hannity replied. He also said the media colluded against you on the campaign.

During the Republican primaries, Hannity interviewed Trump 41 times without ever coming even close to making news. He asked questions like, Im sure you wish you were wrong, Mr. Trump, but you were right. What did you see that maybe others didnt see about what was happening in Brussels and Belgium?

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With Hannity under fire, Mike Pence comes to the rescue - ThinkProgress

Vice President Mike Pence went beyond the usual Republican argument against combating climate change, and instead foolishly claimed that he has no idea why the world, which he characterized as the left, is concerned about climate change.

Video of Pence on Fox and Friends:

Pence said, Weve demonstrated real leadership. Weve demonstrated real progress, but for some reason or another, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left in this country and around the world. Through Kyoto through President Obamas cap and trade agenda, and then in the last year of his administration have America saddled in an international agreement in the Paris accord, I think put a real burden on our economy and our people.

The Paris agreement was signed by every country but war-torn Syria, and Nicaragua, who believed that the agreement didnt go far enough.

Paris isnt an agreement of the left. It is an agreement of the entire world, so Pence was not honest. The goals for the United States in the Paris accord were voluntary, so Trump could have lowered them to zero if he wanted to, and still stayed in the deal. America was never saddled with anything. Obama never had a cap and trade agenda, and the economy grew at record levels under Obama with solar energy jobs doubling, and more people employed in solar than are employed in oil and gas.

Pence made a fool out of himself as he tried to defend a decision that only benefits polluters with nonsense.

Nothing that Vice President said was true. His defense didnt make sense. There is a reason why Pence is only appearing on conservative media to defend Trump. What this president did was indefensible.

He abandoned US global leadership.

In moments like these, it is easy to see that Pence has completely tied his future to Trump. When Trump goes down, Mike Pence is going with him.

Fox and Friends, Mike Pence, Pence defends Trump for leaving Paris accord, Pence humiliates himself, Pence on Fox and Friends

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Mike Pence Makes A Fool Out Of Himself Trying To Defend Trump's Paris Agreement Decision - PoliticusUSA

The first three phrases there are more significant than the fourth. Being under federal investigation and having sub-Nixon approval ratings and an "agenda" so unpopular that even the worst Republican Congress in a half-century is looking at it like something the dog deposited on the living room rug are, indeed, fine ways to lose an election regardless of what the opposition does.

In any event, Mike Pence is headed for Iowa. And Georgia. And appears to be the stand-in for Republican donors and groups who can't stomach being associated with the idiot man-child himself but are perfectly happy to shell out cash for the Trump agenda, no matter how unpopular it may be. Somebody's got to make sure impoverished children aren't getting food on the government dime, after all.

Nothing could be further from the truth, says the Pence team, [...]

Which would be a truly important statement if Mike Pence's team hadn't been caught in just as many lies as the rest of Team Tire Fire. So let's just bask in that a little, because even speculation that Mike Pence is trying to inflate his own brand in anticipation of a Trump crash would absolutely infuriate the forever-twitchy Donald. He's making a move, Donny. Look out for that Pence guy, he's trouble.

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Mike Pence is hitting the campaign trail, perhaps with an eye on a Trumpless White House - Daily Kos

The planet doesn't care about Donald Trump's bluster

As it turns out, Earth doesn't care about Trump. It's operating by the laws of science, which show that climate change is real, we are causing it, and there are potentially disastrous consequences if we continue polluting at this rate.

Every second, humans pump 1,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Those gases trap heat. The consequences of global warming are staring us in the face.

Few would predict the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet would disappear this decade or even this century. But a third of the ice mass could go in as soon as 100 or 200 years, said Rignot, the NASA scientist. And if that happens, he said, the collapse of the rest of the sheet would be inevitable.

"We're not looking at something that will start in the future," he told me. "We are looking at something that is ongoing already."

It's "already on the trajectory of collapse," he said.

It should be abundantly clear that we are gambling with the future.

Trump won't admit any of this. Neither will Scott Pruitt, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Of course it is. It is exactly about that.

But it's time to refocus: In the wake of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, it's no longer enough to push back on Trump and Pruitt and their parade of falsehoods. The international community, as well as American states and cities and business leaders around the world, must work swiftly to ensure that this administration is irrelevant on climate.

The world must redouble efforts to fix climate change -- in spite of Trump.

But the Trump administration is steering so wide of fact and reason that it risks losing relevance.

Global winds shifted Thursday when Trump bailed on Paris.

China and the European Union already are trying to take the lead on climate change.

There are bright spots within the United States, too.

It is amoral to continue with pro-fossil fuel policies in 2017.

But the ice sheets aren't listening to Trump.

And perhaps neither should we.

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What if Donald Trump doesn't matter? - CNN

A tearful Kathy Griffin spoke out in response to backlash after she posted a short video of herself holding a decapitated likeness of Donald Trump's head -- saying that the president "broke me" by calling her stunt "sick."

The photo that Griffin posted sparked an immediate and widespread backlash as well as condemnation from the president, who called her actions "sick" in a tweet. First lady Melania Trump called the image "disturbing" and said it makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it."

"I'm gonna be honest, he broke me," Griffin said today of Trump's response. "I may get arrested today, I dont know."

The comedian said she is also getting "detailed death threats."

"This is America, you shouldn't have to die" over comedy, she added.

In the photo, which Griffin tweeted on May 30, then took down, she captioned herself holding up a fake Trump head, covered in fake blood, "I caption this 'there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his ... wherever,'" referring to an exchange between Donald Trump and former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during the presidential primary season.

Griffin's First Amendment lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said that the Secret Service reached out to her and that she had to retain a criminal attorney as well. Griffin maintains she was not threatening the president.

Griffin explained that her and photographer Tyler Shields only spent five minutes coming up with the idea and that the pictures were part of a larger photo shoot that didn't include Trump.

The picture was never meant as anything malicious and that it was supposed to be interpreted in different ways, she added.

"I have no desire to threaten him," she said. "I made a horrible mistake and made a horrible call."

When talking about the aftermath of the pictures, Griffin said "I dont think I have a career after this." She was recently let go from CNN's New Years Eve special and added today that five concert venues have already canceled some of her shows.

The 56-year-old comedian also spoke about the tweets in response from Trump himself, calling the act "sick" and from the President's wife Melania, which focused on their son Baron's well-being.

"Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!" Trump wrote the morning after the picture started trending on the internet.

Bloom said that Griffin couldn't have imagined that her stunt would be misinterpreted and that other artists have done worse.

"I'm not afraid of Donald Trump ... I'm gonna make fun of him more now," she said Friday.

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Kathy Griffin breaks down, says Donald Trump 'broke me' - ABC News