The Commentariat -- September 21, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "President Trump began his weekend defending his 'perfectly fine and routine' conversation with the Ukrainian president in which he reportedly asked the foreign leader to investigate former vice president Joe Biden. In his tweets, Trump references his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but makes no mention of whether he brought up Biden during the conversation. Instead, he blames the news media for its coverage of the story.... He later tweeted that the news was an extension of the 'witch hunt' carried out by Democrats, his frequent reference to the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and firing of James B. Comey as FBI director.... Trump's comments echo a defense first laid out Thursday night by his personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani, who argued that the president could ask a foreign leader anything he wanted and that the real story was related to Biden's pressuring the Ukrainian government in 2016 to fire its top prosecutor who at the time happened to be investigating a company in which Biden's son, Hunter, had a stake." ~~~

     ~~~ There are Hill stories here and here.

Tom Nichols in the Atlantic: "The president of the United States reportedly sought the help of a foreign government against an American citizen who might challenge him for his office. This is the single most important revelation in a scoop by The Wall Street Journal, and if it is true, then ... Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office immediately.... If this in itself is not impeachable, then the concept [of impeachment] has no meaning. Trump's grubby commandeering of the presidency's fearsome and nearly uncheckable powers in foreign policy for his own ends is a gross abuse of power and an affront both to our constitutional order and to the integrity of our elections.... The story may even be worse than we know. If Trump tried to use military aid to Ukraine as leverage, as reporters are now investigating, then he held Ukrainian and American security hostage to his political vendettas.... There is no spin, no deflection, no alternative theory of the case that can get around the central fact that President Trump reportedly attempted to use his office for his own gain, and that he put the foreign policy and the national security of the United States at risk while doing so."

Mark Chediak & Brian Eckhouse of Bloomberg: "Today, renewable energy is so cheap that the handouts they once needed are disappearing.... Electricity generation and heating account for 25% of global greenhouse gases. As wind and solar demonstrate they can compete on their own against coal- and natural gas-fired plants, the economic and political arguments in favor of carbon-free power become harder and harder to refute. 'The training wheels are off,' said Joe Osha, an equity analyst at JMP Securities. 'Prices have declined enough for both solar and wind that there's a path toward continued deployment in a post-subsidy world.'... The cost of wind power has fallen about 50% since 2010. Solar has dropped 85%. That makes them cheaper than new coal and gas plants in two-thirds of the world, according to BloombergNEF." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

"Treason, Bribery, or Other High Crimes," Ctd.

** Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump repeatedly pressed his Ukrainian counterpart in a call to talk with his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had been urging the government in Kiev for months to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family, according to people briefed on the call. Mr. Trump's desire for a Ukrainian investigation of Mr. Biden ... is part of the secret whistle-blower complaint that is said to be about Mr. Trump and at least in part about his dealings with Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Mr. Trump ... has made no secret of his desire for Kiev to investigate the Bidens, repeatedly raising it publicly. But questions have emerged about whether Mr. Trump's push for an inquiry into the Bidens was behind a weekslong White House hold on military aid for Ukraine. The United States suspended the military aid to Ukraine in early July, according to a former American official. Mr. Trump did not discuss the aid in the July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and Kiev did not learn of the suspension until August...." (Also linked yesterday.)

... the revelation that Trump pressured a foreign government to investigate one of his political rivals appears to be a textbook abuse of power. -- Aaron Rupar of Vox (linked below)

** Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden in a call between the two leaders that is at the center of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint, according to two people familiar with the matter. Trump used the July 25 conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure the recently elected leader to more aggressively pursue an investigation that Trump believed would deliver potential political dirt against one of the president's political adversaries, the people said. One source familiar with the contents of the exchange said that Trump did not raise the issue of American military and intelligence aid that had been pledged to Ukraine, indicating there was not an explicit quid pro quo in that call.... The revelation that Trump pushed Zelensky to pursue the Biden probe, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, represents the most detailed account so far of the president's conduct that prompted a U.S. intelligence official to file a whistleblower action against the president." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump reportedly pressured the president of Ukraine during a July phone call to investigate the son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky roughly eight times to work with his personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on the matter. The president's contacts with Ukraine have come under intense scrutiny after a whistleblower filed a complaint related to Trump's communications with Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.)

John Haltiwanger of Business Insider, citing the WSJ story: "'He told him that he should work with [Mr. Giuliani] on Biden, and that people in Washington wanted to know' whether there was any basis to allegations the former vice president worked to protect a Ukraine-based gas company with ties to his son, Hunter Biden, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The assertion that Trump pressured Zelensky "roughly eight times" suggests to me that the reporters' source was working off a transcript of the Trump/Zelensky conversation. This also suggests that the source may hold a high-level job.

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "When President Trump spoke on the telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late July, the Ukrainians ... were waiting on millions in stalled military aid from the United States, and Zelensky was seeking a high-priority White House meeting with Trump. Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart that his country could improve its image if it completed corruption cases that have 'inhibited the interaction between Ukraine and the USA,' according to a readout of the call released by Kiev. What neither government said publicly at the time was that Trump went even further -- specifically pressing Ukraine's president to reopen a corruption investigation involving former vice president Joe Biden's son, according to two people familiar with the call.... Days after the two presidents spoke..., Rudolph W. Giuliani met with an aide to the Ukrainian president in Madrid and spelled out two specific cases he believed Ukraine should pursue. One was a probe of a Ukrainian gas tycoon who had Biden's son Hunter on his board. Another was an allegation that Democrats colluded with Ukraine to release information on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort during the 2016 election.... New revelations about the dual channels of pressure on Ukraine -- one from the president and one from his personal attorney -- are fueling questions about whether Trump used his office to try to force a foreign country to take actions damaging to his political opponents." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Ukraine had already "investigated" & rejected claims that then-Vice President Biden had acted improperly in regard to his son's business interests there, so Trump's repeatedly pressuring President Zelensky to "work with Giuliani" was a transparent attempt to get Zelensky to authorize a fake investigation that drew conclusions coinciding with Rudy's false condemnation of Biden. P.S. Trump called Zelensky on July 25, 2019. That was the day after Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Apparently Trump thought the 2016 "Russia thing" was over & now he could start seeking foreign assistance in his 2020 campaign. And even though the source for the WSJ & WashPo stories claims Trump offered no quid pro quo, Trump had put a hold on U.S. aid to Ukraine, Trump also repeatedly told Zelensky that a successful Ukrainian investigation of "corruption"/Biden would improve U.S.-Ukraine relations. IOW, "Nice little country you got there, Zelensky. Wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump declined to say Friday whether he had discussed Joe Biden or his family during a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has drawn intense scrutiny, but he told reporters that 'someone ought to look into' the former vice president.... Asked Friday if he had discussed Biden with Zelensky, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 'It doesn't matter what I discussed.'... 'I don't know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it's a partisan person, meaning it comes out from another party,' Trump said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Trump's latest comments are also likely to heighten speculation that the conversation reportedly detailed in the complaint referred to his July 25 phone call with recently elected Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump told reporters he did not know whether that call was the subject of the whistleblower complaint." (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... Donald Trump's initial public comments about revelations that his conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are the subject of a whistleblower complaint regarding possible abuse of power were incoherent in multiple respects.... He attempted to suggest that the whistleblower in question had political motives by describing them as 'a partisan' -- even though he later said he doesn't know who he or she is. He insisted the conversations he had with Ukrainian officials that are now under scrutiny were 'totally appropriate' and 'beautiful,' and later said he can't remember them. He said he hadn't read the whistleblower complaint, but then in the next breath claimed 'everybody's read it, they laugh at it.' And [he] ... said 'it doesn't matter what I discuss' with foreign leaders.... Trump then turned his fire on ... the media. 'Our media has become the laughingstock of the world,' Trump said, before going on downplay the entire scandal as 'another media disaster' and insulting the assembled reporters. 'The media of our country is laughed at all over the world now. You're a joke, he said."

If these reports are true, then ... It means that he [Trump] used the power and resources of the United States to pressure a sovereign nation -- a partner that is still under direct assault from Russia -- pushing Ukraine to subvert the rule of law in the express hope of extracting a political favor.... Such clear-cut corruption damages and diminishes our institutions of government by making them tools of a personal political vendetta. At minimum, Donald Trump should immediately release the transcript of the call in question, so that the American people can judge for themselves, and direct the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to stop stonewalling and release the whistleblower notification to the Congress. -- Joe Biden, in a statement, Friday

Tal Axelrod & Juliegrace Brufke of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urged the Trump administration on Friday to release a whistleblower complaint..., saying the complaint raises 'grave, urgent concerns for our national security.' 'We must be sure that the President and his Administration are conducting our national security and foreign policy in the best interest of the American people, not the President's personal interest,' Pelosi said in a statement." Mrs. McC: Pelosi does not mention impeachment in her statement. ~~~

~~~ ** Tom Scocca of Slate: "Someone should do something." In which the author suggests what someone might write to point "out the terrifying mismatch between the ever-increasing speed with which our political system is falling apart and the slow trudge toward November 2020, when the Democratic Party hopes that voters will do what current elected Democratic officials will not do and take action to remove our visibly degenerating president from office." ~~~

Many people including me are frustrated by the timidity of the Democrats. This is a smoking gun, people. If this doesn't warrant an impeachment inquiry, nothing does. But ... Timidity is bad, but it pales compared with the outright corruption of Republicans, who are clearly OK with actions that are precisely what the founding fathers feared, and the reason impeachment is possible[.] -- Paul Krugman, in tweets, Friday

~~~ George Conway & Neal Katyal in a Washington Post op-ed: The framers "believed that a president would break his oath if he engaged in self-dealing -- if he used his powers to put his own interests above the nation's. That would be the paradigmatic case for impeachment. That's exactly what appears to be at issue today.... It appears that the president might have used his official powers -- in particular, perhaps the threat of withholding a quarter-billion dollars in military aid -- to leverage a foreign government into helping him defeat a potential political opponent in the United States. If Trump did that, it would be the ultimate impeachable act. Trump has already done more than enough to warrant impeachment and removal with his relentless attempts, on multiple fronts, to sabotage the counterintelligence and criminal investigation by then-special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and to conceal evidence of those attempts.... The current whistleblowing allegations, however, are even worse.... It is high time for Congress to do its duty, in the manner the framers intended.... Congressional procrastination has probably emboldened Trump, and it risks emboldening future presidents...." The Raw Story has a summary of the op-ed here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Nancy: Wouldn't it be ironic -- and not in a good way -- if the House refused to impeach Trump for abuse of office, and he won re-election because he used his office to force so many countries or domestic entities to "find" and publicize all kinds of fake improprieties the Democratic presidential nominee was supposed to have committed.

MEANWHILE. Rachel Bade, et al., of the Washington Post: "Republicans responded with a collective shrug to explosive news that an intelligence official had lodged a complaint with the inspector general about President Trump's communications with a foreign leader, the latest example of GOP lawmakers falling in line. Rank-and-file Republicans on Friday repeatedly dodged questions about a whistleblower allegation that a 'promise' Trump made to a foreign leader jeopardized national security. Some even went so far as to dismiss the complaint as politically motivated -- even though they hadn't seen the full details of the allegation. 'It's not like we haven't seen this movie before: Democrats come out, they're all spun up, [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff makes all kinds of statements, and then when the facts come out, whoa, different story!" said Trump-ally Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He compared the latest allegations to claims that Trump worked with Russia to win in 2016. 'This seems to be the same kind of deal.'" Mrs. McC: Yes, Jimbo, yes it does. ~~~

You will never see the attacks stopped. The left will not give up because they cannot even accept the fact that they lost. -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), on Fox "News," Friday ~~~

~~~ Darren Samuelsohn, et al., of Politico: "To the president's defenders, [the scandal is] just another case of media bias and an angry anti-Trump cabal inside the government lashing out -- what's the whistleblower's agenda? And so what if the president pressured foreign leaders to root out potential corruption? 'It looks to me like another deep state attack,' Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a top Trump booster, said Friday morning on Fox News. 'We have seen this over and over and over in this administration from anonymous sources deep inside the bureaucracy.'... Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) suggested in an interview Thursday on C-SPAN that the entire claim could be fake.... Almost every time a controversy emerges that seemingly imperils Trump's presidency, the same playbook unfolds. Amid angry calls for impeachment, Trump’s allies largely sidestep a debate over the event itself, cast blame elsewhere and start rationalizing the president's behavior. Countless times already, it's worked as an effective counterattack that gives Trump cover as he defends his norm-busting behavior."

We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet Wednesday night

Step 1. "Learning to which leader Trump talked." This is only a half-check, because we don't know the promise Trump made & we're not sure Zelensky was the only foreign leader to whom Trump made inappropriate overtures.

Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours.

Step 5. "The GOP falling into line" (it seems they have skipped right over Step 3 -- "being 'troubled'" -- & gone directly to Step 5

Anna Nemtsova of the Daily Beast: "Ukraine is ready to investigate the connections Joe Biden's son Hunter had with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings, according to Anton Geraschenko, a senior adviser to the country's interior minister who would oversee such an inquiry. Geraschenko told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview that 'as soon as there is an official request' Ukraine will look into the case, but 'currently there is no open investigation.' 'Clearly,' said Geraschenko, 'Trump is now looking for kompromat to discredit his opponent Biden, to take revenge for his friend Paul Manafort, who is serving seven years in prison.'... But Geraschenko spoke [last week,] before the appearance of a Washington Post story on Thursday that implied that an intelligence-community whistleblower may have reported the untoward quid pro quo was put forth directly by Trump in a phone call with Ukraine's recently elected president last July." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Kramer of the New York Times has background from Ukraine's POV. "... for months now in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the government of the neophyte president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been grappling with unwelcome political pressure by associates of Mr. Trump.... A former adviser to Mr. Zelensky, Serhiy Leshchenko, said in an interview. 'It was clear that the Zelensky team doesn't want to interfere in American politics,' Mr. Leshchenko said. 'They were very angry about this issue.' Mr. Leshchenko and two other Ukrainians, all of them young, Western-leaning politicians and veterans of the 2014 revolution, said in interviews that Mr. Giuliani's efforts created the impression that the Trump administration's willingness to back Mr. Zelensky was linked to his government's readiness to pursue the investigations sought by Mr. Trump's allies." (Also linked yesterday.)

Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In a television appearance on CNN Thursday night, Rudolph W. Giuliani ... appeared to acknowledge that Mr. Trump had tried to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joseph R. Biden, Jr.... During the exchange, Mr. Giuliani said he had no idea whether Mr. Trump spoke with the Ukrainian president about Mr. Biden, or Mr. Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. But if he did, Mr. Giuliani said, 'he had every right to do it.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Karni & Haberman discuss whether Giuliani's off-the-wall appearance was part of a strategy or just crazy-talk. I'm going with "strategy" based on Giuliani's assertion -- one he trots out for every Trump scandal -- that "he had every right to do it." Giuliani is a lawyer; his assertions therefore -- at least to Trumpbots -- carry the weight of law. If a member of the bar asserts that Trump was within his rights, then either he is correct or he has a valid argument he is right. Giuliani would say the same thing if Trump shot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and Trumpbots would see that as permission to embrace Trump's right to premeditated or indiscriminate murder. "He has every right to do it" is akin to the argument Trump's other lawyers made this week in the the New York tax records case: Trump cannot be investigated. He is above the law. They will make the same arguments should Trump leave office alive: he cannot be investigated or indicted for crimes committed while in office.

AND Tom Llamas & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News review Trump & Rudy Giuliani's efforts to smear Joe Biden regarding Biden's effort to actually reduce corruption in Ukraine. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And remember this flashback to June 2019. ABC News: "Asked by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether his campaign would accept [damaging] information [about a political opponent] from foreigners -- such as China or Russia -- or hand it over the FBI, Trump said, "I think maybe you do both.' 'I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening,' Trump continued. 'If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] "we have information on your opponent" -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "... the whole plot has been sitting in plain sight, a gigantic scandal that has confounded the media and the opposition in part through its very nakedness. In recent days, a seemingly new scandal materialized: reports of an intelligence whistle-blower encountering disturbing conduct by President Trump, and having his complaint quashed in apparent violation of the law. The complaint turns out to be related to the Ukraine scandal.... We have known since last spring that Trump, working through Giuliani, is pressuring Ukraine to supply dirt on Joe Biden.... The allegation against Biden is totally baseless." Chait lays out the evidence hiding in plain site, including earlier insane admissions from Giuliani & a more oblique one from pence.

** Pankaj Mishra in a Guardian op-ed: "Anglo-American lamentations about the state of democracy have been especially loud ever since Boris Johnson joined Donald Trump in the leadership of the free world. For a very long time, Britain and the United States styled themselves as the custodians and promoters of democracy globally, fighting a great moral battle against its foreign enemies. From the cold war through to the 'war on terror', the Caesarism that afflicted other nations was seen as peculiar to Asian and African peoples, or blamed on the despotic traditions of Russians or Chinese, on African tribalism, Islam, or the 'Arab mind'. But this analysis ... did not prepare its audience for the sight of blond bullies perched atop the world's greatest democracies. The barbarians, it turns out, were never at the gate; they have been ruling us for some time." Read on. Here's a pithy observation: "In the next few days, [India's PM Narendra] Modi will address thousands of affluent Indian-Americans in the company of Trump in Houston, Texas. While his government builds detention camps for hundreds of thousands Muslims it has abruptly rendered stateless, he will receive a commendation from Bill Gates for building toilets." (Also linked yesterday.)

Let's Go to the Videotape. Rosalind Helderman & Colby itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A New York City judge has ordered that President Trump sit for videotaped testimony in a lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were assaulted by Trump's security guards during the 2016 campaign. The Bronx-based judge, Doris M. Gonzalez, wrote that Trump's testimony is 'indispensable' to the trial, which is scheduled to begin Thursday. She wrote he must therefore be examined by videotape before then, though Trump is likely to ask for a delay. The protesters argue Trump, his campaign and business should be held liable for the actions of security guards who were working for the company. They say, even if Trump didn't directly order the guards to act, he had control over their actions because they were his employees and his campaign trail rhetoric gave them the impression that violence would be condoned." The NBC News story is here.

Lolita Baldor & Robert Burns of the AP: "The Pentagon on Friday announced it will deploy additional U.S. troops and missile defense equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as President Donald Trump has at least for now put off any immediate military strike on Iran in response to the attack on the Saudi oil industry. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Pentagon reporters this is a first step to beef up security and he would not rule out additional moves down the road. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more details about the deployment will be determined in the coming days, but it would not involve thousands of U.S. troops." ~~~

~~~ Scott Horsley of NPR: "The Trump administration ordered new economic sanctions against Iran Friday in response to the attack last weekend in Saudi Arabia. The sanctions target Iran's central bank and its sovereign wealth fund. 'This is very big,' said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 'We've now cut off all sources of funds to Iran.' The move comes less than a week after an attack on a Saudi oil facility that temporarily cut off nearly 6% of the world's oil supply. While Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for that attack, the administration suspects Iran was behind it."

Another Step Forward in the Trump "Screw the Refugees" Program. Colleen Long & Astrid Galvan of the AP: "The United States on Friday signed an agreement that paves the way for the U.S. to send many asylum-seekers to one of the world's most violent countries, El Salvador. But both countries must first take necessary legal actions and implement major border security and asylum procedures before it would go into effect, according to a draft copy of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press. The deal is the latest ambitious step taken by the Trump administration to lean on other nations -- many of them notoriously violent -- to take in immigrants to stop the flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border." Mrs. McC: Accompanying the story is a photo of acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan cooly signing the agreement condemning untold numbers of would-be refugees. His heart is made of stone.

Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Anxious about their future on a hotter planet and angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis, masses of young people poured into the streets on every continent on Friday for a day of global climate protests. Organizers estimated the turnout to be around four million in thousands of cities and towns worldwide. It was the first time that children and young people had demonstrated to demand climate action in so many places and in such numbers around the world. They turned out in force in Berlin, where the police estimated 100,000 participants, with similar numbers in Melbourne and London. In New York City, the mayor's office estimated that 60,000 people marched through the narrow streets of Lower Manhattan, while organizers put the total at 250,000. By the dozens in some places, and by the tens of thousands in others, young people demonstrated in cities like Manila, Kampala and Rio de Janeiro. A group of scientists rallied in Antarctica.... Demonstrations in North and South America will be the culmination of a day of global strikes that began almost 24 hours earlier as morning broke in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 100,000 protested in Melbourne as the protests began, in what organizers said was the largest climate action in Australia's history.... In Mumbai, children in oversize raincoats marched in the rain. Thousands turned out in Warsaw, the capital of coal-reliant Poland.... Roughly 100,000 demonstrators showed around the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on a bright but unseasonably chilly day in Berlin.... Rarely, if ever, has the modern world witnessed a youth movement so large and wide, spanning across societies rich and poor, tied together by a common if inchoate sense of rage." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Guardian has a liveblog here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan De Luce & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops, according to five people familiar with the plan. In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program, the sources told NBC News. Defense officials also proposed setting aside about 6,000 slots specifically for Iraqi applicants who worked for U.S. troops as interpreters or in other jobs.... The Pentagon has emerged as the lone voice in internal debates defending the traditional role of a refugee program overseen by the State Department, an unusual twist that reflects the administration's aggressive stance on immigration and refugees. The Pentagon's stance is at odds with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller -- the architect of the president's sweeping crackdown on immigration -- and his allies at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who are all proposing deep cuts or even a halt to refugee admissions for the next fiscal year starting in October." (Also linked yesterday.)

Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate [Mrs. McC: that is, Senate Republicans] is essentially outsourcing its legislative duties to a divided White House and the whims of ... Donald Trump, as it makes its first sustained attempt at overhauling gun laws in years.... 'First time ever in history when the president sets the agenda every day when he tweets at 4 in the morning,' said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who is retiring at the end of the year and saw his work on an immigration bill fall apart last year after Trump came out against it.... The new reality also underscores how cautious the Republican-controlled Senate is under Trump, particularly as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks to defend his majority and a presidential election approaches." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

It should be noted that many of the linked stories filed under "'Treason, Bribery, or Other High Crimes,' Ctd." are also about the 2020 presidential race.

A Fine Coda. Joe Anuta of Politico: "Mayor Bill de Blasio's presidential campaign is over, but concerns over his fundraising practices linger on. An official with the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to the mayor's presidential campaign, which ended Friday, highlighting a problem that has been the subject of multiple Politico reports and two formal complaints from watchdog groups. In a July public filing, the de Blasio camp noted a $52,852 debt owed to the NY Fairness PAC, a state political action committee controlled by the mayor. The campaign had argued that this was a permissible loan from one organization to another. But the FEC's senior campaign finance analyst, Robin Kelly, wrote this week that the practice is not allowed by campaign finance rules. Such transfers are capped at $5,000 per election cycle, Kelly's letter said, meaning the campaign took more than ten times the permissible amount from the state PAC and spent it on travel and advertising. Kelly mandated that the campaign refile an amended report by late October that corrects the transfer, and noted that an audit of the campaign may follow. The campaign repaid the loan Thursday, the day it received the FEC's letter, spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg said."

The Commentariat -- September 20, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times now has the story the WashPo & WSJ published a short while ago:

~~~ Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump repeatedly pressed his Ukrainian counterpart in a call to talk with his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had been urging the government in Kiev for months to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family, according to people briefed on the call. Mr. Trump's desire for a Ukrainian investigation of Mr. Biden ... is part of the secret whistle-blower complaint that is said to be about Mr. Trump and at least in part about his dealings with Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Mr. Trump ... has made no secret of his desire for Kiev to investigate the Bidens, repeatedly raising it publicly. But questions have emerged about whether Mr. Trump's push for an inquiry into the Bidens was behind a weekslong White House hold on military aid for Ukraine. The United States suspended the military aid to Ukraine in early July, according to a former American official. Mr. Trump did not discuss the aid in the July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and Kiev did not learn of the suspension until August...." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post now has the story the WSJ reported about an hour earlier:

~~~ Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden in a call between the two leaders that is at the center of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint, according to two people familiar with the matter. Trump used the July 25 conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure the recently elected leader to more aggressively pursue an investigation that Trump believed would deliver potential political dirt against one of the president's political adversaries, the people said. One source familiar with the contents of the exchange said that Trump did not raise the issue of American military and intelligence aid that had been pledged to Ukraine, indicating there was not an explicit quid pro quo in that call.... The revelation that Trump pushed Zelensky to pursue the Biden probe, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, represents the most detailed account so far of the president's conduct that prompted a U.S. intelligence official to file a whistleblower action against the president." ~~~

~~~ ** Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump reportedly pressured the president of Ukraine during a July phone call to investigate the son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky roughly eight times to work with his personal attorney, former New York Mayor >Rudy Giuliani, on the matter. The president's contacts with Ukraine have come under intense scrutiny after a whistleblower filed a complaint related to Trump's communications with Ukraine." ~~~

~~~ John Haltiwanger of Business Insider, citing the WSJ story: "'He told him that he should work with [Mr. Giuliani] on Biden, and that people in Washington wanted to know' whether there was any basis to allegations the former vice president worked to protect a Ukraine-based gas company with ties to his son, Hunter Biden, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal."~~~

~~~ Andrew Kirell of the Daily Beast: "'Mr. Trump didn't mention a provision of foreign aid to Ukraine on the call, said this person, who didn't believe Mr. Trump offered the Ukrainian president any quid-pro-quo for his cooperation on an investigation,' the Journal added." This story just broke in the WSJ. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie P.S.: Trump called Zelensky on July 25, 2019. That was the day after Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Apparently Trump thought the 2016 "Russia thing" was over & now he could start seeking foreign assistance in his 2020 campaign. And even though the source for the WSJ & WashPo stories claims Trump offered no quid pro quo, Trump had put a hold on U.S. aid to Ukraine, so perhaps the "promise" (or quid) was to lift the hold.

We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet Wednesday night

Step 1. "To which leader." This is really a half-check, because we don't know the promise Trump made.

Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump declined to say Friday whether he had discussed Joe Biden or his family during a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has drawn intense scrutiny, but he told reporters that 'someone ought to look into' the former vice president.... Asked Friday if he had discussed Biden with Zelensky, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 'It doesn't matter what I discussed.'... 'I don't know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it's a partisan person, meaning it comes out from another party,' Trump said." ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "Trump's latest comments are also likely to heighten speculation that the conversation reportedly detailed in the complaint referred to his July 25 phone call with recently elected Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump told reporters he did not know whether that call was the subject of the whistleblower complaint." ~~~

~~~ Anna Nemtsova of the Daily Beast: "Ukraine is ready to investigate the connections Joe Biden's son Hunter had with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings, according to Anton Geraschenko, a senior adviser to the country's interior minister who would oversee such an inquiry. Geraschenko told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview that 'as soon as there is an official request' Ukraine will look into the case, but 'currently there is no open investigation.' 'Clearly,' said Geraschenko, 'Trump is now looking for kompromat to discredit his opponent Biden, to take revenge for his friend Paul Manafort, who is serving seven years in prison.'... But Geraschenko spoke [last week,] before the appearance of a Washington Post story on Thursday that implied that an intelligence-community whistleblower may have reported the untoward quid pro quo was put forth directly by Trump in a phone call with Ukraine's recently elected president last July." ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Kramer of the New York Times has background from Ukraine's POV. "... for months now in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the government of the neophyte president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been grappling with unwelcome political pressure by associates of Mr. Trump.... A former adviser to Mr. Zelensky, Serhiy Leshchenko, said in an interview. 'It was clear that the Zelensky team doesn't want to interfere in American politics,' Mr. Leshchenko said. 'They were very angry about this issue.' Mr. Leshchenko and two other Ukrainians, all of them young, Western-leaning politicians and veterans of the 2014 revolution, said in interviews that Mr. Giuliani's efforts created the impression that the Trump administration's willingness to back Mr. Zelensky was linked to his government's readiness to pursue the investigations sought by Mr. Trump's allies." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And remember this flashback to June 2019. ABC News: "Asked by ... George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether his campaign would accept [damaging] information [about a political opponent] from foreigners -- such as China or Russia -- or hand it over the FBI, Trump said, 'I think maybe you do both.' 'I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening,' Trump continued. 'If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] "we have information on your opponent" -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it."

New York Times: "Anxious about their future on a hotter planet, angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis, thousands of young people began pouring into the streets on Friday for a day of global climate protest. In New York the main demonstration was scheduled for midday, but participants began assembling early and it appeared that turnout would be large.... Demonstrations in North and South America will be the culmination of a day of global strikes that began almost 24 hours earlier as morning broke in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 100,000 protested in Melbourne as the protests began, in what organizers said was the largest climate action in Australia's history.... In Mumbai, children in oversize raincoats marched in the rain. Thousands turned out in Warsaw, the capital of coal-reliant Poland.... Roughly 100,000 demonstrators showed around the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on a bright but unseasonably chilly day in Berlin.... Rarely, if ever, has the modern world witnessed a youth movement so large and wide, spanning across societies rich and poor, tied together by a common if inchoate sense of rage." ~~~

~~~ The Guardian has a liveblog here.

Dan De Luce & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops, according to five people familiar with the plan. In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program, the sources told NBC News. Defense officials also proposed setting aside about 6,000 slots specifically for Iraqi applicants who worked for U.S. troops as interpreters or in other jobs.... The Pentagon has emerged as the lone voice in internal debates defending the traditional role of a refugee program overseen by the State Department, an unusual twist that reflects the administration's aggressive stance on immigration and refugees. The Pentagon's stance is at odds with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller -- the architect of the president's sweeping crackdown on immigration -- and his allies at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who are all proposing deep cuts or even a halt to refugee admissions for the next fiscal year starting in October."

Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate [Mrs. McC: that is, Senate Republicans] is essentially outsourcing its legislative duties to a divided White House and the whims of ... Donald Trump, as it makes its first sustained attempt at overhauling gun laws in years.... 'First time ever in history when the president sets the agenda every day when he tweets at 4 in the morning,' said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who is retiring at the end of the year and saw his work on an immigration bill fall apart last year after Trump came out against it.... The new reality also underscores how cautious the Republican-controlled Senate is under Trump, particularly as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks to defend his majority and a presidential election approaches."

** Pankaj Mishra in a Guardian op-ed: "Anglo-American lamentations about the state of democracy have been especially loud ever since Boris Johnson joined Donald Trump in the leadership of the free world. For a very long time, Britain and the United States styled themselves as the custodians and promoters of democracy globally, fighting a great moral battle against its foreign enemies. From the cold war through to the 'war on terror', the Caesarism that afflicted other nations was seen as peculiar to Asian and African peoples, or blamed on the despotic traditions of Russians or Chinese, on African tribalism, Islam, or the 'Arab mind'. But this analysis ... did not prepare its audience for the sight of blond bullies perched atop the world's greatest democracies. The barbarians, it turns out, were never at the gate; they have been ruling us for some time." Read on. Here's a pithy observation: "In the next few days, [India's PM Narendra] Modi will address thousands of affluent Indian-Americans in the company of Trump in Houston, Texas. While his government builds detention camps for hundreds of thousands Muslims it has abruptly rendered stateless, he will receive a commendation from Bill Gates for building toilets."

~~~~~~~~~~

Then I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President. -- Donald Trump, July 2019, in a speech to teenagers

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: 9/19/19 may be a day we remember as one of great awakening: a realization that the Trump Regime had wrenched from its citizens a once-great nation that for more than 200 years, to one degree and another, operated under a system of government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Lawyers for President Trump argued in a lawsuit filed on Thursday that he could not be criminally investigated while in office, as they sought to block a subpoena from state prosecutors in Manhattan demanding eight years of his tax returns. Taking a broad position that the lawyers acknowledged had not been tested, the president's legal team argued in the complaint that the Constitution effectively makes sitting presidents immune from all criminal inquiries until they leave the White House." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump sued Thursday to block Manhattan's top prosecutor from obtaining his tax returns as part of a wide-ranging investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit filed in federal district court in New York is an attempt to fight a subpoena filed late last month from District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office seeking eight years of Trump's personal and corporate tax returns.... Attorneys for Vance and Trump met Thursday with a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, the Bill Clinton-appointee assigned the case, to go over logistics in the new lawsuit. There, they agreed to a rapid-fire briefing schedule that will culminate with oral arguments Wednesday morning. In the meantime, Vance consented to stay enforcement and compliance with the subpoena until after next week's court hearing." (Also linked yesterday.)

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday dismissed the growing furor surrounding a whistleblower complaint that he had an inappropriate conversation with a foreign leader, insisting that the interaction in question was a 'perfectly fine and respectful conversation.' The president once again took to Twitter to defend his conduct as new details emerged about the complaint, which came from a member of the intelligence community. 'The Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again!' Trump tweeted, referring to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). 'They think I may have had a "dicey" conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a "highly partisan" whistleblowers statement,' he added. 'Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!'" ~~~

~~~ ** Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May. That call is already under investigation by House Democrats who are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump's reelection campaign. Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.... [During a House Intelligence Committee hearing held behind closed doors, intelligence inspector general Michael] Atkinson made clear that he disagreed with a lawyer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who had contradicted the inspector general and found that the whistleblower complaint did not meet the statutory definition of an urgent concern because it involved a matter not under the DNI's jurisdiction. Atkinson told lawmakers that he disagreed with that analysis -- meaning he felt the matter was under the DNI's purview -- and also that it was urgent 'in the common understanding of the word,' the person said." ~~~

~~~ ** Manu Raju of CNN: "The intelligence inspector general told the House intelligence committee today that the whistleblower complaint raised issues with multiple instances involving President Trump, sources tell CNN. Inspector General Michael Atkinson did not get into the substance of the complaint, the source said. CNN had earlier reported, citing a source familiar, that the complaint dealt with a phone call between the President and a foreign leader but the inspector general suggested there was more than one action. Atkinson was pressed for details but was mostly resistant to the queries, saying he is not allowed to provide details of the substance of the complaint because he was not authorized to do so...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "The White House and the Justice Department have advised the nation's top intelligence agency that the controversial complaint is outside intelligence activities as covered by laws governing intelligence whistleblowers, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The revelation is the first known evidence of the White House's involvement. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said he didn't know whether the White House was involved." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The internal watchdog for American spy agencies declined repeatedly in a briefing on Thursday to disclose to lawmakers the content of a potentially explosive whistle-blower complaint that is said to involve a discussion between President Trump and a foreign leader, according to two people familiar with the briefing. During a private session on Capitol Hill, Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, told lawmakers he was unable to confirm or deny anything about the substance of the complaint, including whether it involved the president, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door conversation. The meeting was still underway." Update: Here's the Hill's story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story has been updated. New Lede: "A potentially explosive complaint by a whistle-blower in the intelligence community said to involve President Trump was related to a series of actions that goes beyond any single discussion with a foreign leader, according to interviews on Thursday." ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story was updated again, with Julian Barnes as the lead reporter. It now matches the WashPo's reporting re: Ukraine: "hile the [whistleblower's] allegation remains shrouded in mystery, it involves at least one instance of Mr. Trump making an unspecified commitment to a foreign leader and includes other actions, according to interviews. At least part of the allegation deals with Ukraine, two people familiar with it said.... Questions have [previously] emerged about Mr. Trump's dealings with its government. In late July, he told the country's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Ukraine could improve its reputation and its 'interaction' with the United States by investigating corruption, according to a Ukrainian government summary of the call. Some of Mr. Trump's close allies were also urging the Ukrainian government to investigate matters that could hurt the president's political rivals, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family.... Last week..., Mr. Schiff and two other Democratic House committee chairmen requested the transcript of Mr. Trump's call with Mr. Zelensky from the State Department and the White House.... The Democrats indicated they planned to examine whether the delay in the assistance 'is part of President Trump's effort to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing politically motivated investigations.' The next day, Mr. Schiff wrote to [acting DNI Joseph] Maguire seeking information about the whistle-blower complaint. And the following day, the White House released the military assistance to Ukraine, with little explanation." ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani acknowledged on Thursday that he had asked top Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, an admission that comes as Capitol Hill Democrats investigate whether ... Donald Trump and his personal lawyer are pressuring Ukraine's government to dig up dirt on a 2020 election rival. 'So you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?' CNN's Chris Cuomo asked Giuliani in an interview on Thursday evening. 'Of course I did,' Giuliani shot back.... Giuliani has for months encouraged Ukrainians to advance investigations into whether Biden's diplomatic work with Ukraine intersected with his son's role in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Because I find Chris Cuomo obnoxious, I never watch his show, but I accidentally hit the wrong button on my remote & heard the tail end of Cuomo's "interview" of Giuliani. Giuliani was screaming at Cuomo, berating him and CNN. He seemed downright insane. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Rudy Giuliani on Thursday denied asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden moments before admitting that he had done just that.... Giuliani has repeatedly pointed to the event as a scandal, even as other Western governments also called for that prosecutor's dismissal and no evidence has indicated Biden's move was inappropriate. That prosecutor was replaced by Yuriy Lutsenko, who would later drop an investigation into a company in which Hunter Biden was involved." ~~~

     ~~~ Sam Brodey, et al., of the Daily Beast provide some background on the Trump-Giuliani effort to intimidate Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into digging up dirt on Joe Biden's family. ~~~

~~~ AND There's This. Viola Gienger of Just Security (Sept. 10th): "Vice President Mike Pence was about to finish a routine joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw last week, when he got two astutely specific questions about his meeting the previous day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: 'Number one, did you discuss Joe Biden at all during that meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President? And number two, can you assure Ukraine that the hold-up of [U.S. security assistance] has absolutely nothing to do with efforts, including by Rudy Giuliani, to try to dig up dirt on the Biden family?' Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin asked. Pence answered the first question directly: 'Well, on the first question, the answer is no.' His response to the second question ... could be seen as an implied confirmation.... '... as President Trump had me make clear, we have great concerns about issues of corruption.'... The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, which broke the original 'Panama Papers' stories, reported that two Soviet-born Florida businessmen Giuliani has publicly identified as his clients, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are 'at the center of Giuliani's back-channel diplomacy.'" --s ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday threatened legal action against the Trump administration over its refusal to turn over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly involves President Donald Trump's interactions with a foreign leader.... Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire's refusal to turn over the complaint to the panel prompted Schiff to threaten to go to court or even withhold funding from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McC: So the subject of the complaint is of "urgent concern," & the House is going to wave a broken plastic knife at the army of "locked & loaded" stonewallers for the next several years while this "urgent" matters wends its way through the courts? The House should withhold all funding for the entire "administration" until the Trumpies comply with the laws & answer subpoenas. Get those tax returns; get credible testimony from witnesses. Get documents. Until those things happen, no salaries for most political appointees, no DOJ money, no White House Secret Service money, no money to pay the light bills. Don't shut down the government; shut down Trump. You people are the Article I body. Start acting like it. ~~~

~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios publishes the September 9 letter from IG Michael Atkinson to Intelligence Committee Chair Schiff & Ranking Member Devin Nunes advising them of the whistleblower's complaint. ~~~

~~~ Nothing to See Here, Folks! Another Fake News story out there - It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem! ....Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially 'heavily populated' call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets Thursday morning ~~~

Mrs. McCrabbie: If Trump didn't say anything "inappropriate with a foreign leader," why is the White House forbidding the DNI & inspector general from delivering the whistleblower complaint to Congress? If Trump is telling the truth (hahahaha), this should be another Trump battle that for him is "easy to win." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet Wednesday night

Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

~~~ Adam Silverman in Balloon Juice: "The President's unconventional approach to communicating with foreign leaders, outside advisors, and others, and his opposition to having these communications memorialized creates a counterintelligence problem for him and for the United States. This counterintelligence problem exists regardless [of] what he may or may not have promised a foreign leader.... By getting rid of note takers, getting rid of readouts and summaries, either eliminating or extremely restricting transcripts of his phone calls and meetings, and by often using an unsecured cell phone, the President has made it all but impossible for officials in his own administration to actually document and know what he is saying to and hearing from the foreign leaders he is interacting with. This places the President, and by extension the United States, at the mercy of these foreign leaders.... It would be a safe assumption that the foreign leader was making a recording of the call.... This provides that foreign leader with leverage over the President and the United States should he or she choose to use it because they can disclose as much or as little of the conversations and spin them however they want, while the United States' government has limited, at best, information about the conversations and is therefore operating at an asymmetric disadvantage." ~~~

~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "Under the circumstances, which literally get worse every single day, not impeaching Trump is becoming a monument to a kind of exaggerated prudence which becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from simple cowardice. The tiebreaker, if that's what you want to think of it as being, should be principle, not practicality. If Trump doesn't warrant impeachment, then it's almost impossible to even imagine what president would deserve that fate.... At least go down fighting. Make every Republican senator defend Trump, in detail and at length, on the floor and on the street Bombard the federal courts with subpoenas. Use the media to leak every bit of damaging information you uncover. Fight fire with fire. Donald Trump, and the corrupt and increasingly fascistic Republican party that is now wholly his creature, will both do anything to hold onto power: act accordingly." ~~~

~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: "Foreign corruption inducing treason was the core impeachable offense in the eyes of the authors of the Constitution. Which is why a whistle-blower report filed with the inspector general for the intelligence community, reportedly concerning an improper 'promise' by ... Donald Trump to a foreign leader, has jolted Congress.... Trump has been engaged in improper contacts with foreign governments for years, and built deep business relationships with foreign nationals.... Again and again, Trump has acted in ways that align with the interests of foreign states, raising questions about his motives." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The number of complaints made to a confidential hotline designed to allow the reporting of waste, fraud and abuse in the intelligence community has skyrocketed since Donald Trump took office, government records show. According to the latest public report by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, the hotline received 563 contacts last year, up from 251 in 2016 and 369 in 2017. The numbers for the latest fiscal year are on pace to be even higher: There were 297 complaints in just the first six months -- from October 2018 through last March, according to the report." ~~~

~~~ So, With All That ... Jessica Kwong of Newsweek: "... Donald Trump's job approval rating this week averaged across major polls surpassed that of his predecessor President Barack Obama at the same time eight years ago.... Trump's approval rating on Wednesday was 44.3 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics average of more than a half-dozen major polls. That is higher than Obama's average approval rating of 43.9 percent on September 18, 2011, by the same measure."

Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Senior Trump administration officials are considering a plan to again divert billions of dollars in military funding to pay for border barrier construction next year, a way to circumvent congressional opposition to putting more taxpayer money toward the president's signature project, according to three administration officials. The president has pledged to complete nearly 500 miles of new barrier by the 2020 election -- stirring chants of 'Build the Wall!' at his campaign rallies. But that construction goal will require a total of $18.4 billion in funding through 2020, far more than the administration has publicly disclosed, the administration's latest internal projections show. Planning documents obtained by The Washington Post show the cost of building 509 miles of barriers averages out to more than $36 million per mile. The documents also show that the government would need to obtain -- either by eminent-domain claims or purchases -- land that lies under nearly 200 miles of proposed barrier." Emphasis added. CNN's story is here.

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from far more companies than previously disclosed, newly released documents show. The requests, which the F.B.I. says are critical to its counterterrorism efforts, have raised privacy concerns for years but have been associated mainly with tech companies. Now, records show how far beyond Silicon Valley the practice extends -- encompassing scores of banks, credit agencies, cellphone carriers and even universities. The demands can scoop up a variety of information, including usernames, locations, IP addresses and records of purchases. They don't require a judge's approval and usually come with a gag order, leaving them shrouded in secrecy.... The documents provide information on about 750 of the subpoenas -- representing a small but telling fraction of the half-million issued since 2001, when the Patriot Act expanded their powers."

Ahmad Sultan & Abdul Qadir Sediqi of Reuters: "A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers.... Scores of local men joined a protest against the attack on Thursday morning as they helped carry the victims' bodies to Jalalabad city and then to the burial site.... In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul." --s

Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to ... Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia's oil industry. In a White House meeting, the Republican president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity." ~~~/p>

~~~ Nick Walsh of CNN: "Iran's foreign minister has warned of 'all-out war' in the event of US or Saudi military strikes against his country, and questioned whether Saudi Arabia was prepared to fight 'to the last American soldier.' Javad Zarif told CNN that Iran hoped to avoid conflict, adding that the country was willing to talk to its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But Iran would not hold talks with the US unless Washington provided full relief from sanctions as promised under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran's top diplomat said. He again denied that Iran was involved in weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, which dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region." (Also linked yesterday.)

Christina Pazzanese of The Harvard Gazette: "[Rex] Tillerson ... visited Harvard Tuesday for a private talk about his time as the nation's top diplomat.... Tillerson said despite Israel's closeness with the U.S., 'In dealing with Bibi, it's always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,' recounting that Israel would share 'misinformation' to persuade the U.S. of something if necessary. 'They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that "We're the good guys, they're the bad guys." We later exposed it to the president so he understood, "You've been played,"' said Tillerson. 'It bothers me that an ally that's that close and important to us would do that to us.'" --s

Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News: "In a rare policy reversal, the Trump administration on Thursday announced it will reinstate a program granting temporary reprieve from deportation for immigrants facing life-threatening medical conditions and other humanitarian circumstances, undoing a decision that sparked widespread condemnation. The Department of Homeland Security notified Congress that Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume considering all applications for deferred action, as the relief is officially known. Without notifying the public or Congress, the administration had stopped granting non-military requests for this relief from deportation, a policy shift that quietly went into effect on August 7. After massive public uproar, officials partly reversed course earlier this month, saying they would reopen cases that were pending on the date the change was instituted. But Thursday's announcement appeared to be a full reversal...."

Tom Philpott of Mother Jones: "Back in 2010, then-first lady Michelle Obama launched ... the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a law ... that gave the National School Lunch Program its first nutritional update in more than 15 years.... Of the nearly 30 million kids who eat school lunches every day, 20 million qualify for free lunch -- and another 1.8 million receive it at a reduced price.... Just before Donald Trump took office, the far-right House Freedom Caucus released a hit list of more than 300 rules and regulations that urgently needed to be revoked or examined in his first 100 days. First on the list: the Obama lunch reforms.... [A] USDA study compared school years before and after the Obama reforms. It turns out that serving healthier food did not result in significantly higher costs for cafeterias or mean more food going into the garbage. The reforms did, however, result in healthier lunches [and] importantly, the cafeterias that delivered higher healthy-food scores also had significantly higher rates of students choosing to eat the lunches." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The most shocking part of Philpott's story: 2/3rds of U.S. children who opt for school lunches qualify for free meals. According to Feeding America, "Children in households with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level or those receiving SNAP or TANF qualify for free meals." Even given that some 45 percent of students who attend schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program either bring their own lunch or don't eat lunch, this is a stunning indicator of just how poor American families are.

Tracy Jan & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson expressed concern about 'big, hairy men' trying to infiltrate women's homeless shelters during an internal meeting, according to three people present who interpreted the remarks as an attack on transgender women. While visiting HUD's San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said. Carson's remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesday's meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said. Carson has a history of making dismissive comments about transgender people. While running for president, he referred to transgender people as 'abnormal' and said they should not be in the military. As HUD Secretary, he weakened Obama-era protections for transgender people, saying he believes in equal rights, not 'special rights.'" The Hill's story, by Rachel Frazin, is here. --s

Nicole Lafond of TPM: "The Interior Department is transferring about 500 acres of public land to the Pentagon in order to construct about 70 miles of President Trump's border wall, the Wall Street Journal reported. The land was previously monitored by the Bureau of Land Management and will now be overseen by the U.S. Army. The 560 acre expanse includes 213 acres in New Mexico, 301 acres in Arizona and 44 acres in San Diego, California. The move is all part of Trump's efforts to expedite the construction of his border wall before the 2020 election." (Also linked yesterday.)

Helena Evich of Politico: "Senate Democrats released on Thursday a report outlining dozens of times the Trump administration has censored or minimized climate science across the federal government at agencies including the EPA and the Department of Homeland Security. [The report is here.] Sen. Debbie Stabenow, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also publicly released a list of more than 1,400 climate studies that Department of Agriculture researchers have published during the current administration after Politico reported that USDA buried its own research and failed to release its plan to study the issue. The matter is increasingly urgent for farmers and ranchers dealing with erratic and extreme weather. The trove of studies by USDA researchers carry warnings about climate change that the government is largely not communicating to farmers and ranchers or the public. The list published includes research showing that climate change is likely to drive down yields for some crops, harm milk production, and lead to a drop in nutrient density for key crops like rice and wheat."

Maureen Groppe of USA Today: "A GOP group critical of ... Donald Trump is now targeting Vice President Mike Pence to call out what it considers corruption in the administration. An ad that [was to] air on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Thursday accuses Pence of hypocrisy for not objecting to foreign governments' spending at Trump hotels after having criticized the Clinton Foundation for accepting donations from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was secretary of State. The group, Republicans for the Rule of Law, is directed by Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator who worked for Vice President Dan Quayle but is a vocal critic of Trump and Pence. One of the group's board members is Peter Rusthoven, a Republican from Pence's home state of Indiana who has known and liked the vice president for decades. Pence officiated at his remarriage." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Nehamas & Tara Copp of The Miami Herald: "At a time when taxpayer and foreign-government spending at Trump Organization properties is fueling political battles, a U.S. Marine Corps reserve unit stationed in South Florida hopes to hold an annual ball at ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach on Nov. 16, according to a posting on the events website Evensi.... The balls have two parts: an official ceremony, which can use government equipment and taxpayer dollars, and a social function paid for by private fundraising associations." --s

Manu Raju of CNN: "The House Judiciary Committee is preparing to take initial steps to potentially hold former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in contempt over his refusal to answer questions at this week's hearing before the panel, multiple sources tell CNN. But it is a process that could take weeks: First, a letter is expected to be sent to Lewandowski asking him to answer questions and warning him he can be held in contempt if he doesn't answer. Then, they may offer a contempt resolution, officially notice a committee vote and then hold a vote in committee before any floor action.... The fight over what to do after Lewandowski's testimony showcases the tensions that have been building within the Democratic caucus over the committee's handling of impeachment, with members of the party again at odds over their messaging and strategy...."

All the Best People, Ctd.

Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: “Flattery will get you everywhere with Donald Trump. The President demonstrated this powerfully on Wednesday, when he named the State Department's little-known hostage negotiator, Robert O'Brien, to be his latest national-security adviser, despite O'Brien having less relevant experience than anyone who's held the post in the nearly seven decades since it was created. In O'Brien's case, his ability to lavish praise on the boss was explicitly cited by the President as a factor in his appointment to one of the most powerful unelected positions in the world. There wasn't anything subtle about it. On Tuesday, speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that O'Brien was one of five finalists, then quoted O'Brien as having told him, 'Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States.' 'He happens to be right,' Trump added.... 'Nice guy, but in way, way over his head,' [a] Republican, a former senior Bush Administration official, [said of O'Brien]. '... he's not qualified to be national-security adviser,' he added.... The Republican said that ... he just wished [O'Brien] had said no to the President, predicting, 'I don't think this will end well.'"

Rachel Oswald of Roll Call: "A confirmation hearing for former Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, who was nominated to a key trade post, was interrupted and then delayed on Thursday as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee fought over information in Issa's FBI file that could be potentially disqualifying. Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, had decided to hold confirmation hearings for two nominees whose FBI background files contained classified and potentially disqualifying information that the White House declined to release to anyone other than Risch and ranking Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey. In going forward with the hearing, Risch broke with decades of bipartisan tradition in the committee, which normally would not schedule confirmation hearings without the agreement of the ranking member of the opposing party. Menendez had opposed the scheduling of the hearing. The confirmation hearing for the second nominee, Marshall Billingslea, who has been tapped to lead the State Department's human rights activities, did take place despite Menendez's concerns with document holes in his background file from his days working for the George W. Bush administration on detainee torture polices. Both Issa and Billingslea were formally nominated in January, but their confirmation hearings were held up by Menendez as he sought to gain access to more of the memos written by Billingslea for then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the post-9/11 period. The memos encourage interrogation practices that have since been deemed to constitute torture and made illegal by Congress."

The Senate is pretty dysfunctional. I served 18 years in the House so I (have) first-hand knowledge that the Senate is where things go to die. -- Darrell Issa, after a Senate committee confirmation hearing ~~~

~~~ Alex Rogers of CNN: "A year after ... Donald Trump picked former California Rep. Darrell Issa to run the US Trade and Development Agency, a Senate hearing to consider the nomination was postponed over how to handle questions raised in his FBI file. In front of Issa, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, pushed for the public hearing to turn to a private session in which every member on the panel could learn of confidential information that only he and chairman Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, knew to save Issa from any 'embarrassment or harm.'" Risch broke an 11-11 tie by agreeing to postpone the hearing to allow senators to privately review the file. According to Issa, "Menendez's concerns with his file regard conduct from long ago that's already public. 'Senator Menendez has only brought up -- and perhaps it's anecdotal but it's what he chose to bring up -- my being disciplined for false ID when I was 17,' Issa said.... Menendez 'willfully obstructed the hearing, forced it to an end,' added Issa. 'Sen. Risch, quite frankly, caved when there was no reason to cave. I was happy to answer any and all questions.'" ~~~

~~~ ** Rob Berschinski & Benjamin Haas of Human Rights First in a Politico Magazine opinion piece (Sept. 17): "Donald Trump has made no secret of his penchant for torture.... Trump has repeatedly nominated figures involved in or supportive of Bush-era torture for positions in both his administration and the federal judiciary. Now, the president has nominated yet another official with a pro-torture background — Marshall Billingslea, who serves as assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing. This time, however, the nomination contains a particularly searing irony. If confirmed, Billingslea would become the top U.S. executive branch official directly responsible for human rights policy: undersecretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights. Billingslea's involvement in Bush-era torture should be disqualifying." Read on.

Moscow Mitch Caves. Sort of. Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "In a surprise development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his support on Thursday for additional money to bolster the country's election system ahead of the 2020 vote, a move that counters his earlier position resisting calls for more funding. McConnell, R-Ky., said he is co-sponsoring an amendment to an appropriations bill that would provide $250 million for election security.... McConnell's backing comes after Democrats have been putting political pressure on him and Republicans for more than a year to get behind additional provisions, including new funding, to protect against hacking and interference in the elections.... The House passed a bill that would give states nearly three times more -- $600 million.... A Republican Senator on background acknowledges that this $250 million is a fig leaf, Republicans' attempt to keep Democrats from obtaining the hundreds of millions more they want for election security."

Presidential Race 2020

Sad News. Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio exited the 2020 presidential race on Friday.... He failed to gain traction in the crowded Democratic primary despite his high profile as the mayor of New York City. A Sienna College poll released earlier this week showed the mayor clocking in at zero percent support in New York City and New York State. Moreover, a RealClearPolitics average of polls had him at less than 1 percent." The New York Times story is here.

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against a California state law that requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. President Trump''s lawyers had challenged the law, which was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). U.S. District Judge Morrison England, Jr., a George W. Bush appointee on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, said there would be 'irreparable harm without temporary relief' for Trump and other candidates if he did not make the rare temporary decision to block, The Los Angeles Times reported." (Also linked yesterday.)

Pat Eaton-Robb of the AP: "Gun-maker Colt is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15, the company said Thursday in a shift it attributed to changes in consumer demand and a market already saturated with similar weapons. The company said it will focus instead on fulfilling contracts with military and police customers for rifles." Mrs. McC: Gee, it would be something if Colt had ended production of "civilian" AR-15s for safety & moral reasons rather than for market considerations. But no.

"You Can Interview Me if You Lie about It." -- Bart O'Kavanaugh. Carla Herreria of the Huffington Post: "New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly said that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed to let them interview him for their upcoming book ― as long as they would publicly lie about it. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday, Kelly and Pogrebin said that Kavanaugh said he would talk to the reporters to provide them with background information as long as they falsely noted in the book that he declined to be interviewed.... Kelly and Pogrebin said they couldn't agree to the justice's terms, so they couldn't conduct the interview." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Canada. Justin Trudeau and His One-Man Minstrel Show. Rebekah Riess, et al., of CNN: "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized again on Thursday for wearing blackface in three separate incidents and said he did not know how many times he had put on racist makeup. 'What I did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn't have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. This is something I deeply, deeply regret,' he said. Darkening your face, he added, 'is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.' Trudeau still insisted he was an ally in the fight for social justice and highlighted his administration's actions to fight racism and intolerance.... In his apology, Trudeau admitted he had put on dark makeup when he was in high school as part of a talent show in which he sang the traditional Jamaican folk song 'Day-O.'... On Thursday, Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson obtained video of Trudeau in blackface from a Conservative Party of Canada source. The source told her the video was shot in the early '90s...." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

CNN: "Hundreds of cars were left on Houston freeways Thursday as flooding made the highways and many other roads impassable. As officials watched waters recede late Thursday, tow truck drivers removed 200 of the vehicles that were in the roadways and waited to remove hundreds more, Police Chief Art Acevedo said. Many of the bayous or creeks were returning to normal, officials said at a nighttime news conference. The San Jacinto River wasn't and is expected to crest around 5 a.m. CT.... At least one death is storm related, officials said. A man who was in a van that drove into deep water Thursday died.... The storm brought intense rain to southeastern Texas over three days.Some areas have received more than 30 inches, and one spot in Jefferson County got 43.15 inches, according to the National Weather Service office in Houston."

The Commentariat -- September 19, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Maybe you noticed. There is no one connected to the Trump regime who isn't a devious, lying, corrupt scumbag. Or worse. The explosion of scandals is like nothing we've ever seen in U.S. history.

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against a California state law that requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. President Trump's lawyers had challenged the law, which was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). U.S. District Judge Morrison England, Jr., a George W. Bush appointee on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, said there would be 'irreparable harm without temporary relief' for Trump and other candidates if he did not make the rare temporary decision to block, The Los Angeles Times reported."

Justin Trudeau and His One-Man Minstrel Show. Rebekah Riess, et al., of CNN: "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized again on Thursday for wearing blackface in three separate incidents and said he did not know how many times he had put on racist makeup. 'What I did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn't have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. This is something I deeply, deeply regret,' he said. Darkening your face, he added, 'is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.' Trudeau still insisted he was an ally in the fight for social justice and highlighted his administration's actions to fight racism and intolerance.... In his apology, Trudeau admitted he had put on dark makeup when he was in high school as part of a talent show in which he sang the traditional Jamaican folk song 'Day-O.'... On Thursday, Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson obtained video of Trudeau in blackface from a Conservative Party of Canada source. The source told her the video was shot in the early '90s...."

** Manu Raju of CNN: "The intelligence inspector general told the House intelligence committee today that the whistleblower complaint raised issues with multiple instances involving President Trump, sources tell CNN. Inspector General Michael Atkinson did not get into the substance of the complaint, the source said. CNN had earlier reported, citing a source familiar, that the complaint dealt with a phone call between the President and a foreign leader but the inspector general suggested there was more than one action. Atkinson was pressed for details but was mostly resistant to the queries, saying he is not allowed to provide details of the substance of the complaint because he was not authorized to do so...." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday threatened legal action against the Trump administration over its refusal to turn over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly involves President Donald Trump's interactions with a foreign leader.... Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire's refusal to turn over the complaint to the panel prompted Schiff to threaten to go to court or even withhold funding from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence." ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McC: So the subject of the complaint is of "urgent concern," & the House is going to wave a broken plastic knife at the army of "locked & loaded" stonewallers for the next several years while this "urgent" matters wends its way through the courts? The House should withhold all funding for the entire "administration" until the Trumpies comply with the laws & answer subpoenas. Get those tax returns; get credible testimony from witnesses. Get documents. Until those things happen, no salaries for most political appointees, no DOJ money, no White House Secret Service money, no money to pay the light bills. Don't shut down the government; shut down Trump. You people are the Article I body. Start acting like it. ~~~

~~~ Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "The White House and the Justice Department have advised the nation's top intelligence agency that the controversial complaint is outside intelligence activities as covered by laws governing intelligence whistleblowers, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The revelation is the first known evidence of the White House's involvement. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said he didn't know whether the White House was involved." ~~~

~~~ Nothing to See Here, Folks! Another Fake News story out there - It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem! ....Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially 'heavily populated' call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets this morning ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The internal watchdog for American spy agencies declined repeatedly in a briefing on Thursday to disclose to lawmakers the content of a potentially explosive whistle-blower complaint that is said to involve a discussion between President Trump and a foreign leader, according to two people familiar with the briefing. During a private session on Capitol Hill, Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, told lawmakers he was unable to confirm or deny anything about the substance of the complaint, including whether it involved the president, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door conversation. The meeting was still underway." Update: Here's the Hill's story. ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story has been updated. New Lede: "A potentially explosive complaint by a whistle-blower in the intelligence community said to involve President Trump was related to a series of actions that goes beyond any single discussion with a foreign leader, according to interviews on Thursday."

~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: "Foreign corruption inducing treason was the core impeachable offense in the eyes of the authors of the Constitution. Which is why a whistle-blower report filed with the inspector general for the intelligence community, reportedly concerning an improper 'promise' by ... Donald Trump to a foreign leader, has jolted Congress.... Trump has been engaged in improper contacts with foreign governments for years, and built deep business relationships with foreign nationals.... Again and again, Trump has acted in ways that align with the interests of foreign states, raising questions about his motives." ~~~

We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet last night

Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump sued Thursday to block Manhattan's top prosecutor from obtaining his tax returns as part of a wide-ranging investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit filed in federal district court in New York is an attempt to fight a subpoena filed late last month from District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office seeking eight years of Trump's personal and corporate tax returns."

Nick Walsh of CNN: "Iran's foreign minister has warned of 'all-out war' in the event of US or Saudi military strikes against his country, and questioned whether Saudi Arabia was prepared to fight 'to the last American soldier.' Javad Zarif told CNN that Iran hoped to avoid conflict, adding that the country was willing to talk to its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But Iran would not hold talks with the US unless Washington provided full relief from sanctions as promised under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran's top diplomat said. He again denied that Iran was involved in weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, which dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region."

Maureen Groppe of USA Today: "A GOP group critical of ... Donald Trump is now targeting Vice President Mike Pence to call out what it considers corruption in the administration. An ad that [was to] air on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Thursday accuses Pence of hypocrisy for not objecting to foreign governments' spending at Trump hotels after having criticized the Clinton Foundation for accepting donations from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was secretary of State. The group, Republicans for the Rule of Law, is directed by Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator who worked for Vice President Dan Quayle but is a vocal critic of Trump and Pence. One of the group's board members is Peter Rusthoven, a Republican from Pence's home state of Indiana who has known and liked the vice president for decades. Pence officiated at his remarriage."

Nicole Lafond of TPM: "The Interior Department is transferring about 500 acres of public land to the Pentagon in order to construct about 70 miles of President Trump's border wall, the Wall Street Journal reported. The land was previously monitored by the Bureau of Land Management and will now be overseen by the U.S. Army. The 560 acre expanse includes 213 acres in New Mexico, 301 acres in Arizona and 44 acres in San Diego, California. The move is all part of Trump's efforts to expedite the construction of his border wall before the 2020 election."

"You Can Interview Me if You Lie about It." -- Bart O'Kavanaugh. Carla Herreria of the Huffington Post: "New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly said that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed to let them interview him for their upcoming book ― as long as they would publicly lie about it. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday, Kelly and Pogrebin said that Kavanaugh said he would talk to the reporters to provide them with background information as long as they falsely noted in the book that he declined to be interviewed.... Kelly and Pogrebin said they couldn't agree to the justice's terms, so they couldn't conduct the interview."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump's communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Trump's interaction with the foreign leader included a 'promise' that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity.... It was not immediately clear which foreign leader Trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver.... It raises new questions about the president's handling of sensitive information and may further strain his relationship with U.S. spy agencies. One former official said the communication was a phone call.... Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of 'urgent concern,' a legal threshold that ordinarily requires notification of congressional oversight committees. But acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to share details about Trump's alleged transgression with lawmakers, touching off a legal and political dispute that has spilled into public and prompted speculation that the spy chief is improperly protecting the president." Update: LG&$ has a long excerpt from the WashPo report here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "A whistleblower complaint by an intelligence official about a private presidential phone call would be an extraordinary development, likely without precedent in U.S. history.... The matter burst into public view Friday, when Schiff disclosed that an unspecified whistleblower complaint had been filed with the inspector general of the intelligence community, but was being withheld from his committee. That independent watchdog deemed the matter an 'urgent concern' that he was required by law to turn over to the congressional intelligence committees. But Maguire, after consulting with the Justice Department, overruled him.... Jason Klitenic, the DNI general counsel, said in a letter to congressional leaders on Tuesday that the activity covered in the complaint 'involves confidential and potentially privileged communications.'" ~~~

~~~ Zachary Cohen of CNN: Joseph "Maguire has agreed to testify next week in an open session before the committee after refusing to comply with Tuesday's deadline to hand over the whistleblower complaint, which had been deemed by the intelligence community inspector general to be 'credible and urgent.' The committee's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, announced Wednesday that Maguire will appear at 9 a.m. on September 26. The California Democrat also announced that the intelligence community inspector general will brief the House committee Thursday behind closed doors about how it handled the whistleblower complaint." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Unless the whistlerblower & the IG are a couple of silly sky-is-falling Chicken Littles, both acting DNI Maguire & acting Trump attorney Bill Barr -- as well as unknown other top officials -- have been willing both to cover up what could be an act of treason committed by the POTUS* AND to let that would-be treasonous act go forward. It isn't just that "the guard rails are off"; it's that what we call the "administration" is actually a dangerous, crime family conspiring against the United States. (Again, that's assuming Trump's secret "promise" was not a nothingburger.)

Peter Baker & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "In the space of seven minutes on an airport tarmac on Wednesday, President Trump captured the thorny decision he faces as he once again straddles the edge of war and peace. One moment, he threatened to order 'the ultimate option' of a strike on Iran in retaliation for attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. The next he ruminated about what a mistake it had been for the United States to get entangled in Middle East wars and welcomed Iran's president to visit. To help sort through the alternatives, Mr. Trump on Wednesday named a hawkish new national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, the State Department's chief hostage negotiator. But as Mr. Trump spoke with reporters, shouting to be heard over the roar of Air Force One engines, Mr. Trump sounded like a commander in chief searching for a way to be tough without pulling the trigger." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. Here's the top of the story as it appeared yesterday: ~~~

     ~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump on Wednesday selected Robert C. O'Brien, the State Department's chief hostage negotiator, to become his national security adviser, moving to reconstitute his foreign policy staff even as he faces rising tension with Iran. In choosing Mr. O’Brien to replace John R. Bolton..., the president chose a Los Angeles lawyer who had impressed him with his work to extricate Americans detained by countries like North Korea and Turkey. But it is not clear how different his advice will be from his predecessor given that Mr. O'Brien previously worked for Mr. Bolton and has cited his hawkish views in the past. Mr. Trump announced the selection on Twitter shortly after saying he would also 'substantially increase Sanctions' on Iran after weekend attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that officials in Washington and the region have blamed on the Tehran government." CNN's story is here. Mrs. McC: Yes, because "substantially increasing sanctions" (or "Sanctions") on Iran has been such an effective strategy. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Richard Pérez-Peña & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran on Wednesday of having carried out an 'act of war' with aerial strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia last weekend, and he said the United States was working to build a coalition to deter further attacks.... Despite Mr. Pompeo's statement, President Trump pushed back against another American military entanglement in the Middle East, speaking only of unspecified new sanctions on Iran. Asked about a possible American attack on Iran, Mr. Trump told reporters in Los Angeles: 'There are many options. There's the ultimate option and there are options a lot less than that.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ All the Best People, Ctd.

Jonathan Stevenson in a New York Times op-ed: "Setting aside the brief, disastrous tenure of Michael Flynn, two men have held the role of national security adviser under Donald Trump, and they could not be more different. H.R. McMaster was a pragmatic stickler who valued the customary interagency deliberations that shaped decision making at the National Security Council, and which President Trump found tedious and distracting. The president let him go in favor of his diametric opposite, John Bolton, a notoriously hawkish and obstreperous ideologue who was happy to let the council's customs wither -- the better to speak his truth to the president directly. His ideological maneuvering eventually got him fired, though he lasted an improbable 17 months. In Robert O'Brien, chosen Wednesday as Mr. Bolton's replacement, the president seems to have found a compliant, behind-the-scenes worker bee better suited to Mr. Trump's domineering temperament. His appointment may signal the death knell of any hope to check the president's worst foreign-policy impulses.... Mr. O'Brien's appointment is likely to mean that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will continue to be the president's chief foreign policy adviser.... Pompeo has succeeded precisely because he seems to have few if any principles that he won't suppress for the sake of holding and wielding executive power." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Daniel Lippman of the Washington Post: "John Bolton..., Donald Trump's fired national security adviser, harshly criticized Trump's foreign policy on Wednesday at a private lunch, saying that inviting the Taliban to Camp David sent a 'terrible signal' and that it was 'disrespectful' to the victims of 9/11 because the Taliban had harbored al Qaeda. Bolton also said that any negotiations with North Korea and Iran were 'doomed to failure,' according to two attendees."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "The White House will pull the nomination of Jeffrey Byard to be the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after a federal inquiry into a possible barroom altercation involving Mr. Byard prompted concern in Congress and the White House, according to federal officials familiar with the investigation. While the F.B.I. determined that the allegations facing Mr. Byard were unsubstantiated, the White House is expected to nominate the current acting administrator of FEMA, Peter T. Gaynor, to lead the agency instead.... President Trump said in February that he would nominate Mr. Byard after Brock Long resigned as the chief of the agency. Mr. Long left after the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, found he had improperly used government vehicles to travel between work and his home in North Carolina.... The inquiry into the allegation of Mr. Byard's inappropriate conduct began after the [Senate Homeland Security C]ommittee held a hearing and voted in June to send his nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.... Last week, a former top administrator of agency was arrested in a major federal corruption investigation that found that the official had taken bribes from the president of a company that secured $1.8 billion in federal contracts to repair Puerto Rico's shredded electrical grid after the hurricane." Politico has a story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: According to Rachel Maddow, Byard had a "coordinating" role in overseeing Ahsha Tribble, the administrator arrested for 10 felony counts of massive malfeasance on the job. (Her deputy, BTW, was a suspended Navy commander at loose ends & looking for a job on account of being suspected of bribery in the unrelated "Fat Leonard" Navy scandal. He, too, has recently been arrested.) While Tribble was allegedly committing her crimes, Byard was FEMA's "point of contact" for Tribble, according to a FEMA org chart. Video of the Maddow segment is here. Anyhow, a bar fight that maybe didn't happen is hardly the only matter that disqualifies Byard. Will we be seeing him in handcuffs, too?

Katy O'Donnell of Politico: "The Office of Special Counsel has reprimanded Lynne Patton, a top Department of Housing and Urban Development official with ties to ... Donald Trump's family, for making political statements on the job. Patton, a HUD regional administrator for New York and New Jersey, used her official government Twitter account to promote political tweets and displayed a red 'USA' hat sold by the Trump campaign in her office. The OSC issued Patton a warning letter after determining that both activities violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch officials from certain political activity while on duty. But the office cleared her of two other alleged violations, involving a tweet defending HUD Secretary Ben Carson and an appearance at an oversight hearing featuring Michael Cohen.... Patton, who previously worked as the vice president of the Eric Trump Foundation and reportedly planned Eric Trump's wedding before her appointment to the senior post at HUD, earlier this year said that she didn't care whether she violated the Hatch Act.... Patton is not the first Trump administration official to land in trouble over Hatch Act violations. In June, OSC recommended that ... Kellyanne Conway be removed from her job for multiple violations of the law. Conway had previously dismissed questions about her alleged violations." Mrs. McC: Trump, of course, refused to fire Mrs. Scofflaw because he is delighted by her unlawful political activities. ~~~

     ~~~ Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "Noah Bookbinder, executive director of CREW, noted that Patton is the 13th Trump official to be reprimanded for a Hatch Act violation."

Donnie Dumps on Loser Bibi. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump appeared to distance himself from embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, declining to offer either encouragement or praise to his most enthusiastically loyal foreign ally now that he faces potential electoral defeat. Speaking a day after Israeli elections that at best leave Netanyahu weakened, Trump seemed cool to the Israeli conservative who has touted his ideological lockstep with Trump as a chief reelection credential. Trump said he had not spoken to Netanyahu, a man he has described as a close friend. He then noted that the election is close while playing down Netanyahu's importance to the alliance between the United States and Israel. 'Our relations are with Israel, so we'll see what happens,' Trump told reporters traveling with him in California.... Trump's comments Wednesday showed that he smelled weakness and wanted to give himself some insulation from Netanyahu, said Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. Trump, Shapiro said, wants little to do with a 'loser.'" Axios has a related short piece here.

Donald Trump, Environmentalist. Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump said late Wednesday that his administration would issue a notice of environmental violation against the city of San Francisco because of what he described as its homelessness problem. Traveling aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a three-day trip to California and New Mexico, Mr. Trump told reporters that San Francisco was in 'total violation' of environmental rules because of used needles that were ending up in the ocean. 'They're in total violation -- we're going to be giving them a notice very soon,' the president said, indicating that the city could be put on notice by the Environmental Protection Agency within a week that its homelessness problem was causing environmental damage."

Trump Really Loves Divulging State Secrets. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: '... Donald Trump on Wednesday showed off a swath of his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, boasting about its impenetrability for the cameras to the point that he was gently reprimanded by his hosts in charge of construction. The president diverted from a fundraising swing through California to pay a visit to San Diego and view progress nearby on his long-promised wall aimed at severely curtailing illegal border crossings by migrants. He showed off a portion of the 30-foot-tall bollard wall.... [blah, blah, blah] 'One thing we haven't mentioned is technology,' Trump said. 'They're wired so that we will know if somebody's trying to break through.' He then offered the floor to Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, acting head of the Army Corps, who quickly answered: 'Sir, there could be some merit in not discussing that.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So Trump has diverted billions to build a border wall because national security; then he announces to all the invading terrorists, rapists & druglords what-all the pitfalls are they have to evade. Um, who is the national security risk?

Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve Fail Again. No 'guts,' no sense, no vision! A terrible communicator! -- President* Tweetle-Dee-Dee, shortly after the Fed's announcement it would cut rates by a quarter point ~~~

~~ Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve approved a much-anticipated quarter-point interest rate cut Wednesday but offered few indications that further reductions are ahead as members split on what to do next. Following its two-day policy meeting, the central bank announced that it would take down its benchmark overnight lending rate to a target range of 1.75% to 2%. That comes nearly two months after the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee went ahead with its first cut in 11 years.... Donald Trump, who has called Fed policymakers 'boneheads' for not cutting rates enough, tore into Wednesday's decision, saying Chairman Jay Powell and his colleagues have 'no guts.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, speaking at a news conference said that the United States economy remains strong and unemployment is low but that' there are risks to this positive outlook.' If the economy weakens, a 'more extensive' series of rate cuts would be appropriate, he said.... Mr. Powell said trade uncertainty and geopolitical tensions necessitated action." Mrs. McC: IOW, Thanks, Trump! (Also linked yesterday.)

Natasha Bertrand & Bryan Bender of Politico: "Since Donald Trump took office, the U.S. military has spent nearly $200,000 at the president's luxury Scotland resort, according to figures and documents the Pentagon provided to the House Oversight Committee. The spending, which has all occurred since August 2017, paid for the equivalent of hundreds of nights of rooms at the Turnberry resort over approximately three dozen separate stays, the committee said.... Nearly three dozen Democratic senators this week co-sponsored a bill that would make it illegal for the federal government to spend taxpayer dollars at properties owned by the president, vice president or members of the Cabinet." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The State Department has separately spent tens of thousands of dollars since 2017 at Trump Turnberry, associated with a visit last year by Mr. Trump to the resort and most likely tied to visits by his son Eric Trump, who travels with Secret Service protection, to the resort, which he helps manage for the family."

New York Times photo by Doug Mills.~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The photograph has all the trappings of a Renaissance painting -- crowded with characters, action and emotion -- only this one is set in a congressional hearing room and features figures frequently found on C-Span. It captures a small moment in a big event: The first hearing by the House Judiciary Committee officially called to determine whether to impeach President Trump. But to look at the frame, captured on Tuesday by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, is to understand something deeper about the forces at play as the House grapples with the prospect of trying to remove Mr. Trump." Fandos goes on to describe who the people in the photo are & what they're doing. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I saw the picture more as one of those Dutch Masters paintings, a gathering of burghers:

~~~ Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of lawmakers Wednesday evening that Corey Lewandowski should have been held in contempt 'right then and there' when he talked over members, dodged their questions and promoted his Senate campaign from a House hearing. In a small huddle with lawmakers from across the caucus, Pelosi (D-Calif.) complained that no witness should be able to treat members of Congress like President Trump's former campaign manager did during a Tuesday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, according to three people familiar with the exchange.... Several lawmakers in the room took her remarks as a dig at House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chose not to hold Lewandowski in contempt for his defiant behavior on Tuesday.... The panel ... could choose to move forward with contempt at a later day.... Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne confirmed the exchange, saying in a statement that ... 'Her comments were a critique of the witnesses's behavior, not the handling of these hearings.'.... Etienne went on to say that Pelosi 'also added that she felt the same way about [Supreme Court nominee Brett M.] Kavanaugh's behavior during his confirmation hearing.'" Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "... Corey Lewandowski's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee ... was a strutting spectacle of contempt for democratic processes worthy of President Trump himself.... He worked to make a mockery of the proceedings, prove his devotion to the president and gin up attention for a possible Senate run, which he teased on Twitter at one point.... It is not a coincidence that the illuminating part of Mr. Lewandowski's burlesque came once Democratic committee members turned things over to their majority counsel, Barry Berke." Cottle makes several suggests on what could improve the effectiveness of Congressional hearings.

Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: "The White House this week began circulating a much-anticipated gun background check proposal to Republicans on Capitol Hill, though it's unclear if ... Donald Trump supports it. The White House's plan would expand background checks to all commercial gun sales, including gun show sales, according to a document obtained by Politico and first reported by The Daily Caller. It's similar to a proposal from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Another Presidential* Tweet from the Very Stable Genius*. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Wednesday admonished 'Dummy Beto' O'Rourke for impassioned remarks on gun reform he made at last week's primary debate, charging that they complicated the path toward a bipartisan agreement. 'Dummy Beto made it much harder to make a deal,' Trump tweeted. 'Convinced many that Dems just want to take your guns away. Will continue forward!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's the Grim Reality Trump Ignores. Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Gun violence hits America's youth and rural states the hardest and has reached the highest levels in decades, a report released Wednesday by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee has found. U.S. teens and young adults, ages 15-24, are 50 times more likely to die by gun violence than they are in other economically advanced countries according to the 50-state breakdown. In 2017 -- the year of a mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 and injured hundreds -- nearly 40,000 people died from gun-related injuries, including 2,500 school children, the report said, noting that six in 10 gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides. That year marked the first time firearms killed more people than motor vehicle accidents, the report said."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate spending talks hit another roadblock on Wednesday amid an entrenched fight over funding for President Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall. Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a bill to fund most of the federal government, marking the latest setback for spending talks with days to go until the Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a shutdown. Senators voted 51-44 on taking up a House-passed bill that was expected to be the vehicle for any Senate funding action, depriving it of the 60 votes needed to overcome the initial hurdle.... Democrats objected to the top-line spending figures over concerns that Republicans were padding extra funding in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill, legislation that has emerged as a perennial point of conflict.... Democratic senators also balked at supporting the defense spending bill because Republicans rejected including an amendment that would have prevented Trump from shifting funding from the military to the border wall without congressional sign-off." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Jonathan Chait: "Elizabeth Warren is not leading the polls (yet), but she is on a trajectory to win the Democratic presidential nomination. She is well-liked by supporters of other candidates, giving her room to grow. And the sequence of votes gives her an enormous advantage over Joe Biden; the first two states are heavily white, giving her a chance to build momentum before Biden's minority-heavy support base has its say.... At the moment, I'd feel very nervous betting the future of American democracy on Warren's ability to defeat Trump. But a lot can change in a year, and it's not hard to imagine the Warren of 2020 as a potent challenger." Chait assesses Warren's pluses & minuses re: electability. (Also linked yesterday.)

Elena Schneider of Politico: "Fifty-eight U.S. mayors announced their endorsements of Pete Buttigieg, giving the South Bend, Ind., mayor a boost of institutional support for his presidential campaign. In a USA Today op-ed, the current and former mayors, including some who have already publicly backed Buttigieg, called for 'a great mayor in the White House.' The column -- written by Mayors Steve Adler of Austin, Texas; Christopher Cabaldon of West Sacramento, Calif.; and Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio -- emphasizes Buttigieg's bipartisan credentials and executive experience." Here's the op-ed. (Also linked yesterday.)

Senate Races 2020

Arizona. Philip Wegmann of Real Clear Politics: "... the wealthy owner of a cosmetics company, Daniel McCarthy, is challenging incumbent Sen. Martha McSally in the Republican primary. His platform? So far it includes annexing Mexico. 'There is a process to become states for the United States,' McCarthy said Tuesday morning on an Arizona radio station. 'Clearly 30 million Mexican illegal immigrants want to be United States citizens, probably half the country wants to be United States citizens.'... The aspiring lawmaker ... would like the citizens of Mexico to turn their attention to Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution. It stipulates that 'new states may be admitted by the Congress into this union.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Greenland, No. Centroamérica Si. Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, this is a half-assed idea. The U.S. should annex all of Central America. The border between the U.S. & Mexico is nearly 2,000 miles. That's a lot of Big, Beautiful Wall. The border between Mexico & Guatemala/Belize is 700 miles, so a border wall would be a lot cheaper there. BUT we taxpayers could save so much money if Trump could only ding us for a wall between Panama & Colombia, a distance of only 139 miles. AND we'll get the Panama Canal back!

Massachusetts. CBS/AP: "Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy III ... will run against Sen. Ed Markey in the upcoming primary race. Kennedy will announce his plans during a Saturday event in East Boston, a source close to Kennedy told WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller."

Doha Madani & AP: "A Miami aircraft maintenance worker who allegedly tampered with an American Airlines plane over the summer has possible terrorist ties with the Islamic State, prosecutors said in court Wednesday. Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, is being held without bond after a judge ruled that Alani posed a flight risk after prosecutors argued that the mechanic had a brother who was a member of ISIS. Alani, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Iraq who has worked as an airline mechanic for 30 years, allegedly had ISIS propaganda on his phone, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Medetis said. A video depicting people being shot was allegedly sent from his phone. Alani also told the individual he sent the video to that he wanted Allah to cause harm to non-Muslims, prosecutors say."

Ari Breland of Mother Jones: "Anti-Semitic trolls are creating an online list of Jewish people who are critical of white nationalism. Since its creation almost a month ago, it has become the fastest-growing alt-right group on the popular Telegram chat service. The list is mostly made of archived tweets from individuals criticizing white supremacy, misogyny, and other types of bigotry. Each profile includes a tweet in which the person in question describes themselves as Jewish. The first post on the list singled out Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), but posters quickly moved to documenting far less prominent people that they believe are Jewish." Mrs. McC: All of the Trumpy shenanigans notwithstanding, this may be the most chilling report in today's news. This is a public list. An expert believes the creators are neo-Nazis. What are these neo-Nazis planning to do with the list?

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. There's Corruption & There's "Corruption." digby points out that the New York Times' headline writer doesn't know the difference. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link, and see his commentary below. As Akhilleus suggests, when we get into general-election mode, watch the "elite liberal media" spill buckets of ink on all the faults, or "faults" of the Democratic nominee. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Marcus Dorsey of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Kentucky State Police seized a computer Tuesday from the Office of the Secretary of State as part of an ongoing investigation into how Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and her aides used voter data. In a motion filed in Franklin Circuit Court Tuesday, attorneys for Grimes disclosed that Mark Metcalf, the commonwealth's attorney appointed by Attorney General Andy Beshear to spearhead a state investigation into her office, 'caused state police officers to seize, with no warrant or subpoena, the computer of the individual in the Office of the Secretary of State who created and maintained the VRS (voter registration system).' The motion was filed in Grimes' ongoing legal challenge to a law enacted earlier this year that stripped some of her powers as secretary of state over the Kentucky Board of Elections.... The seizure ... [occurred] a week after her father, Jerry Lundergan, was convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to her 2014 campaign for U.S. Senate against U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. There was no evidence that Grimes was aware of the contributions in that case."

New Mexico. All Things Are Possible. Simon Romero & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "In one of the boldest state-led efforts to expand access to higher education, New Mexico is unveiling a plan on Wednesday to make tuition at its public colleges and universities free for all state residents, regardless of family income." Here's a Slate story. (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Canada. Caroline Linton of CBS News: "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire after a photo emerged of him wearing brownface to a party at a school where he was a teacher nearly 20 years ago. Trudeau, who faces re-election next month, said Wednesday night he 'regrets it deeply.' 'I should have known better,' Trudeau told reporters. 'It was a dumb thing to do. I apologize for it.' Trudeau was a 29-year-old teacher at West Point Grey Academy when the picture was taken, Liberal Party spokesperson Zita Astravas said in a statement to CBS News. The photo, first published by Time magazine Wednesday, was taken at an annual dinner, which had an 'Arabian Nights' theme. Astravas said Trudeau was dressed as a character from Aladdin." Update: The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you're shocked by Trudeau's make-up blunder, allow me to remind you that Donald Trump appears in orangeface every damned day. Update: See Patrick's comment below, which adds context to the story.

Israel. Jeffrey Heller & Dan Williams of Reuters: "Israel's weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited his main political rival, Benny Gantz, on Thursday to join him in a broad coalition government but was immediately rebuffed by the former general's party. Netanyahu's surprise offer of a power share was an abrupt change of strategy after failing to win a ruling majority in two elections this year.... Gantz's centrist Blue and White party emerged from Tuesday's ballot slightly ahead of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, with a final tally expected within days. In his first remarks since Netanyahu's call, Gantz made no mention of the prime minister and said he himself would head a 'liberal' unity government, shorthand for one that excludes the Israeli leader's long-time ultra-Orthodox allies."

News Lede

CNN: "An unrelenting Tropical Depression Imelda is causing serious flash flooding in parts of southeastern Texas on Thursday morning, covering roads, trapping people in vehicles and homes, and sending rescuers scrambling to get to those most in need. Flooding is most serious in counties just to the north and east of Houston -- in places like Chambers and Jefferson counties, and its communities such as Beaumont and Winnie. Thursday is the third straight day Imelda is deluging the region. Floodwaters intruded onto Interstate 10 early Thursday near Winnie east of Houston...."