The Ledes

Monday, October 7, 2024

Weather Channel: “H​urricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a Category 3 and hurricane and storm surge watches are now posted along Florida's western Gulf Coast, where the storm poses threats of life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall by midweek. 'Milton will be a historic storm for the west coast of Florida,' the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said in a briefing Monday morning.” ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times live updates are here for what is now a Cat 5 hurricane. 

CNN: “This year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated. Their research revealed how genes give rise to different cells within the human body, a process known as gene regulation. Gene regulation by microRNA – a family of molecules that helps cells control the sort of proteins they make – ... was first revealed by Ambros and Ruvkun. The Nobel Prize committee announced the prestigious honor ... in Sweden on Monday.... Ambros, a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, conducted the research that earned him the prize at Harvard University. Ruvkun conducted his research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Sunday, October 6, 2024

New York Times: “Two boys have been arrested and charged in a street attack on David A. Paterson, a former governor of New York, and his stepson, the police said. One boy, who is 12, was charged with second-degree gang assault, and the other, a 13-year-old, was charged with third-degree gang assault, the police said on Saturday night. Both boys, accompanied by their parents, turned themselves in to the police, according to Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson. A third person, also a minor, went to the police but was not charged in the Friday night attack in Manhattan, according to an internal police report.... Two other people, both adults, were involved in the attack, according to the police. They fled on foot and have not been caught, the police said. The former governor was not believed to have been targeted in the assault....”

Weather Channel: “Tropical Storm Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, is expected to become a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. The storm is expected to pose a major hurricane threat to Florida by midweek, just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. The National Hurricane Center says that 'there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.'”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Tuesday
Sep102019

The Commentariat -- September 11, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The Plot Thickens. Mulvaney's Fingerprints Found at the Scene. Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House was directly involved in pressing a federal scientific agency to repudiate the weather forecasters who contradicted President Trump's claim that Hurricane Dorian would probably strike Alabama, according to several people familiar with the events. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, told Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, to have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publicly disavow the forecasters] position that Alabama was not at risk. NOAA, which is part of the Commerce Department, issued an unsigned statement last Friday in response, saying that the Birmingham, Ala., office was wrong to dispute the president's warning.... The White House had no immediate comment on Wednesday, but [a] senior administration official said Mr. Mulvaney was interested in having the record corrected because, in his view, the Birmingham forecasters had gone too far and the president was right to suggest there had been forecasts showing possible impact on Alabama." The Hill summarizes the NYT story. ~~~

     ~~~ Suspected "Mastermind" Professes Innocence. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump denied that his chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was acting on his orders when Mulvaney reportedly directed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to pressure a federal agency to rebuke scientists who had contradicted Trump's hurricane claims. 'No, I never did that -- I never did that,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, dismissing the entire scandal as 'a hoax by the fake news media.'... On Wednesday, House Democrats piled on when they announced an investigation into reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had come under pressure by Ross to issue a statement disavowing the NWS Birmingham tweet. Democrats on the House Science Committee and its oversight subcommittee on Wednesday demanded the White House and Commerce Department turn over any documents relating to an unattributed Sept. 6 statement put out by NOAA in which the agency chastised NWS Birmingham...." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update. "Mastermind" Nabbed! Andrew Freedman, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump told his staff that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needed to deal with a tweet that seemed to contradict his statement that Hurricane Dorian posed a significant threat to Alabama as of Sept. 1, in contrast to what the agency's forecasters were predicting at the time, senior administration officials said. This led chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to call Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to tell him to fix the issue, the officials said.... Mulvaney then called Ross but did not instruct him to threaten any firings or make any punitive threats, officials said. He simply told Ross that the agency needed to fix the matter immediately, leading to a new statement that was issued Friday, Sept. 6. The New York Times reported some elements of these events earlier Wednesday."

Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump drew ire on Twitter Wednesday morning with the way he marked the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Trump shared a photograph of himself and first lady Melania Trump, their backs to the camera, with the caption: 'We Will Never Forget.' However, it wasn't his first post of the day. That honor went to a rant about China and his trade war. Critics on Twitter also called out Trump's now-canceled plan to meet with Taliban leaders close to the anniversary of 9/11, and recalled his history of making insensitive and untruthful statements about the attacks. 'Except when we invited the Taliban over for a photo op,' tweeted attorney George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and a frequent Trump critic."

Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Purdue Pharma and its owners, members of the Sackler family, have tentatively reached the first comprehensive settlement with lawyers representing thousands of municipal governments, tribes and states nationwide that are suing the pharmaceutical industry for the devastation resulting from the opioid epidemic. The company is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy imminently. The settlement, which was described by two people involved in the negotiations, involves the dissolution of Purdue Pharma as it now exists, the formation of a new company that will continue to sell its signature opioid, OxyContin, with the proceeds going to a public beneficiary company that will pay the plaintiffs. Purdue Pharma also will donate 'rescue' drugs, several of which are in development, for addiction treatment and overdose reversal. The Sackler family will pay $3 billion in cash over seven years. The settlement does not include a statement of wrongdoing." The Washington Post story is here. Mrs. McC: This is a breaking story, and I can't find a firewall-free story but will look again later.

Brandon Ambrosino in Politico Magazine: "One day after Politico published a piece in which Jerry Falwell Jr. denied visiting a Miami Beach nightclub in July 2014 and alleged that any images showing such were 'photo-shopped,' a new trove of photos showing Falwell at the club has been released. Seth Browarnik, the owner of World Red Eye, a photography company that documents Miami's bustling nightlife scene, says he was unaware how many photos he had of Falwell until Falwell alleged that his site's images were manipulated -- prompting Browarnik to explore his photo archive to prove otherwise. On Tuesday, Browarnik published the newly unearthed photos on his website, WorldRedEye.com, along with a strongly worded 'rebuke' of Falwell's claim of photoshopping."

CBS 17 Raleigh-Durham: "North Carolina House Republicans called a surprise vote and overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's budget veto on Wednesday morning, Cooper said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The vote was taken while Cooper was at a 9/11 memorial event. According to a tweet by State Sen. Jeff Jackson (D-Mecklenburg), almost half of the House members were absent when the vote was taken, which resulted in a 55-9 tally. Jackson said Democrats were specifically told by Republicans that no votes would be held in Wednesday's morning session." Emphasis added.

Morgan Winsor of ABC News: "In commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., the victims and survivors, as well as the first responders and volunteers who risked their lives to save others, will be honored Wednesday at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which was built where the twin towers once stood. All those who lost their lives in the attacks will have their names read starting around 8:40 a.m. local time during a ceremony at the museum that is only open to victims' families but will be streamed online. There will also be six moments of silence throughout the ceremony: two for the moments when the planes hit each tower, two for when each tower collapsed, one for the moment when a third hijacked plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and another for when a fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania."

Matthew Chapman of RawStory: "On Tuesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) discovered, via a search of government records, that the government spent nearly $600,000 in limousines to ferry Vice President Mike Pence and his fellow travelers across Ireland. The cost was so expensive because although Pence was officially visiting Dublin, he insisted on staying at President Donald Trump's property in Doonbeg -- on the other side of the island." --s

Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast: "During a Monday morning Fox News appearance, former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland reacted to the Trump administration's scuttled peace talks with the Taliban by suggesting the United States shouldn't be concerned with 'civilian deaths' in Afghanistan in the future, calling for a large-scale bombing campaign if any Americans are killed 'anywhere in the world.'... McFarland's desire to see Afghanistan civilian deaths comes on the heels of Fox News contributor Joey Jones calling for the execution of detainees any time an American soldier is killed overseas. 'The first thing I would do today, is every time one of our soldiers dies overseas during these talks, I would go down to Guantanamo and I would execute a Taliban captive,' he said during a Fox & Friends appearance on Saturday." --s

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "Where in the world is Rudy Giuliani? With news that three House Committees are investigating the Trump attorney's efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to look for dirt on Joe Biden, it's a question worth asking.... TPM has gathered reporting on Giuliani's foreign adventures since taking office, consolidating them in one map that reveals the extent of his global peddling." Includes map. --s

Lee Fang of The Intercept: "In recent years, Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist megadonor to Republicans and libertarian causes, has carefully recalibrated his public image, releasing a variety of statements to assert that he supports immigration and opposes President Donald Trump's blatant scapegoating of undocumented immigrants and foreigners. At the same time, however, Koch's sprawling political network's in-house technology company has mined consumer data to motivate Republican voters with dehumanizing messages that depict immigrants as an invading army of criminals and potential terrorists." --s

David Kay Johnston: "While White House reporters investigate who added a Sharpie line to a hurricane map, a huge global story is developing that bodes badly for the economic welfare of Americans for decades to come. China is using Trump's gratuitous trade war to expand its economic, diplomatic and military influence. And it is succeeding, diminishing America's influence, especially in the Western Pacific and India. The long-term cost to America in lost opportunities and ultimately diminished economic growth will be catastrophic.... Trumpian efforts to decouple the world's two largest economies has become a hot topic in Asia. The simple truth is that China no longer needs America to buy its goods." --s

Emanuel Stoakes of the Guardian: "Leaked communications suggest that the UN's migration agency is censoring itself on the climate crisis and the global compact on migration, following pressure from the US government." --s

Justin McCurry of the Guardian: "The operator of the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will have to dump huge quantities of contaminated water from the site directly into the Pacific Ocean, Japan's environment minister has said -- a move that would enrage local fishermen. More than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water has accumulated at the plant since it was struck by a tsunami in March 2011[.]" --s

BBC News: "Boris Johnson's suspension of the UK Parliament is unlawful, Scotland's highest civil court has ruled. A panel of three judges at the Court of Session found in favour of a cross-party group of politicians who were challenging the prime minister's move. The judges said the PM was attempting to prevent Parliament holding the government to account ahead of Brexit. A UK government appeal against the ruling will be heard by the Supreme Court in London next week."

~~~~~~~~~~

Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post: "After hosting a rally in North Carolina with Vice President Pence earlier this week and then blasting out endorsements for two GOP candidates running in special elections there, President Trump closely tracked the returns on Tuesday night. When it became clear that both men vying for open House seats had won, the president took to Twitter in triumph. In a flurry of tweets sent well into early Wednesday morning, Trump celebrated the 'TWO BIG VICTORIES' and boasted about his influence on the results -- while also taking time to bash the 'Fake News' and share a photo suggesting a third term for himself." The Hill's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Oops! I didn't know there were two open House seats in North Carolina to be decided Tuesday. Washington Post: "Two special elections [were] held Tuesday in North Carolina to fill the state's vacant U.S. House seats -- one in North Carolina's 3rd District, the other in the 9th District. The 3rd District covers most of North Carolina's coastline, including the Outer Banks. The 9th District stretches along the South Carolina border, including portions of the Charlotte and Fayetteville metro areas. Both districts voted for Donald Trump in 2016." Results are on the linked page. Politico has the results here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The Republican Dan Bishop is the winner in the 9th District. The AP has declared Republican Greg Murphy the winner in the 3rd District. WashPo: "The 3rd District seat became vacant in February, when Rep. Walter Jones (R) died at age 76. He had represented the state since 1995; his father, Walter B. Jones Sr., was a House member from North Carolina from 1966 until his death in 1992." Jones Sr. was a Democrat. ~~~

     ~~~ Richard Fausset & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Dan Bishop, a Republican state senator, scored a narrow victory on Tuesday in a special House election in North Carolina that demonstrated President Trump's appeal with his political base but also highlighted his party's deepening unpopularity with suburban voters. Mr. Bishop defeated Dan McCready, a moderate Democrat, one day after Mr. Trump made a full-throated plea for support for the Republican at a rally on the conservative end of a Charlotte-to-Fayetteville district, which the president carried by nearly 12 points in 2016. With most votes counted on Tuesday night, Mr. Bishop was ahead by about two percentage points, according to The Associated Press.... Mr. Bishop's win came only after outside Republican groups poured over $5 million into the district.... Mr. Bishop, 55, a Charlotte lawyer, is perhaps best known statewide for sponsoring the so-called bathroom bill that required transgender people to use restrooms that corresponded with the gender on their birth certificate. He boasted of his ndorsement from the National Rifle Association, and he repeatedly attacked Mr. McCready by lumping him with the more left-leaning elements of the Democratic Party." The Charlotte Observer story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Republican state Rep. Greg Murphy is projected to win the special election Tuesday in North Carolina's 3rd District for a seat vacated following the death of Republican Rep. Walter Jones Jr. earlier this year. Murphy bested Democrat Allen Thomas, the former mayor of Greenville, in the coastal North Carolina district by about 20 points with 75 percent of the district's precincts reporting. The district, which backed President Trump over Hillary Clinton by over 23 points in 2016, was expected to remain in Republican hands."


You Can't Fire Me; I Quit. As the Mustache Curls ... Trump Lies Again. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Tuesday that he had fired John R. Bolton, his third national security adviser, amid fundamental disagreements over how to handle major foreign policy challenges like Iran, North Korea and most recently Afghanistan. 'I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service.' Mr. Bolton offered a different version of how the end came in his own message on Twitter shortly afterward. 'I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow,"' Mr. Bolton wrote, without elaborating. Responding to a question from The New York Times via text message, Mr. Bolton said it was his initiative. 'Offered last night without his asking,' he wrote. 'Slept on it and gave it to him this morning.'" The NPR report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... two key things call into question [Trump's] version of how it went down.... Just an hour before the announcement, the White House announced that Bolton would be appearing at a 1:30 p.m. news conference alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. If Bolton was on his way out as of Monday night, why did the White House press office not seem to know about it at 11 a.m. Tuesday? [Bolton's] tweets Monday night and Tuesday didn't indicate anything had changed, and shortly after Trump's tweets, he chimed in by saying, 'I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."'... After [the Daily Beast] quoted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who backed up Trump's account, Bolton responded in a text: '[White House] press secretary statement is flatly incorrect.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Brian Bennett of Time: "As ... Donald Trump prepared in recent weeks to meet in person with Taliban negotiators at Camp David and with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in New York later this month, National Security Advisor John Bolton grew increasingly frustrated. And on Monday, during a conversation between Bolton and the President, the two men reached their limit with one another.... Bolton, a life-long hawk, had tried to steer the President toward a hard-line foreign policy. As Trump embraced the idea of meeting with two of America's most ardent adversaries, Bolton objected increasingly vocally, according to several administration sources familiar with their discussions. Then on Monday, Trump and Bolton spoke to try to clear the air. Bolton brought up the fact that he was left out of a meeting on the Afghanistan negotiations.... As the discussion progressed, it began to spiral outward into Bolton's broader questions about Trump's willingness to meet with Iran's president." ~~~

~~~ John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The ouster of national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday removes a hawkish ideologue whose mastery of bureaucracy and disdain for the foreign policy establishment empowered President Trump to make some of his most dramatic policy shifts and undo President Barack Obama's most prized national security achievements.... When it came to unwinding previous U.S. policies Trump viewed as a nuisance, Bolton eagerly executed for the president over the objections of career diplomats and defense officials.... But ... Bolton's appetite for military confrontation and regime change clashed repeatedly with the views of Trump.... During Bolton's tenure, Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and held a high-profile summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.... But the president's desire to end America's long-standing military conflicts and strike deals with longtime U.S. adversaries ... exposed sharp differences between the two men.... In June, following Trump's decision not to order a military attack on Iran after it downed an unmanned U.S. drone, Bolton was 'devastated,' said one U.S. official familiar with the matter.... Days before his resignation, Bolton had argued harshly against an emerging deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops in exchange for a promise that the militant group would not allow the country to become a staging ground for terrorist attacks on the United States." ~~~

~~~ When Outsized Egos Collide. Eliana Johnson of Politico: "Ultimately, it was hearing media accounts about how Bolton had advised the president to scuttle a meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David that proved a breaking point for Trump, according to sources in and out of the administration. In the president's telling, he had taken his own counsel in arriving at the decision to call off the meeting and end the negotiations, and he was infuriated to hear Bolton credited with influencing his decision." ~~~

~~~ Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "As ... Donald Trump began losing confidence in national security adviser John Bolton, whom he fired on Tuesday, he reached out to the man he had fired to give Bolton the job: retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. In phone calls to McMaster -- the first of which took place last fall -- Trump told his second national security adviser that he missed him, according to two people familiar with the conversations. It's a sentiment the president has also expressed to White House aides, they said. Trump has solicited McMaster's advice on various national security challenges, even asking McMaster whom he should nominate to lead the Pentagon, they said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "Regardless of who has advised Mr. Trump on foreign affairs ... all have proved powerless before a zest for chaos.... Even when Mr. Trump has pursued worthy goals -- trying to persuade North Korea's dictator to give up his nuclear weapons, negotiating with the Taliban so American troops can leave Afghanistan -- his mercurial, impatient, crisis-driven approach has often backfired, no matter who was advising him.... Mr. Boltons departure seems unlikely to make the American national security apparatus any less dysfunctional, with many top positions vacant and allies confused about whom to deal with.... The White House may be in turmoil, alliances may be trembling and adversaries may be seeking advantage, but that all just amounts to more drama, more suspense, more television coverage -- all of it with Donald Trump at the center." ~~~

~~~ Tucker Unmasks Bolton! Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "Fox News' Tucker Carlson has been publicly critical of John Bolton on numerous occasions, so it's no surprise that he opened his show [Tuesday] night declaring that his leaving the White House is 'great news for America.'" At some point during his monologue, Carlson said, "... Bolton himself fundamentally was a man of the left. There was not a human problem John Bolton wasn't totally convinced could be solved with the brute force of government. That's an assumption of the left, not the right. Don't let the mustache fool you. John Bolton was one of the most progressive people in the Trump administration. By the way, naturally, once he was ensconced there, Bolton promoted Obama loyalists within the National Security Council...." Thanks to Ken W. for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Hard to know if this is just plain ole Charles Boyer gaslighting or if Tucker is delusional & thinks everyone who disagrees with him must be a leftist or if he is knowingly trying to erase the meanings of common political labels.

~~~ MEANWHILE.... Robert Legare of CBS News: "Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI..., was back in federal court Tuesday, with his legal team accusing federal prosecutors of engaging in 'egregious government misconduct' that warranted their dismissal from his case.... Against the wishes of Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell, Judge Emmet Sullivan set a sentencing date for December 18, exactly a year after Sullivan first delayed Flynn's sentencing to allow for further cooperation with the government." ~~~

     ~~~ Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has more on Tuesday's court proceedings.

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has ordered White House officials to conduct a sweeping crackdown on homelessness in California, citing the state's growing crisis, according to four government officials aware of the effort. The talks have intensified in recent weeks. Administration officials have discussed using the federal government to get homeless people off the streets of Los Angeles and other areas and into new government-backed facilities, according to two officials briefed on the planning. But it is unclear how they could accomplish this and what legal authority they would use. It is also unclear whether the state's Democratic politicians would cooperate with Trump, who has sought to embarrass them over the homeless crisis with repeated attacks on their competency." The CBS Los Angeles story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Charles Pierce of Esquire: "First of all, there is absolutely no way this is a federal issue. As the Post points out, this is part of the administration*'s re-election strategy to delegitimize those places guaranteed to vote against him in 2020. The rubes at the rallies love horror stories about The Big Bad Cities and The Big Bad People who live there.... The administration* is putting together a re-election strategy aimed at convincing people that large portions of this country should not count, and many of those people do not need much convincing. It is developing a list of Shithole Cities and Shithole States that it can use to scare the good country people out of their votes, their health care, and, ultimately, the money. The cynicism of this is almost breathtaking." ~~~

~~~ digby has an excellent post in which she reminds us of the history of Trump's impetus -- Tucker Carlson! -- to clean up the "filth" in U.S. cities. digby predicted a few months back that Trump would demonize the urban "liberal establishment" to frighten his base voters. In case you weren't aware of it, "Trump cleaned up homelessness in Washington, D.C." Just ask him.

Weird News. Jim Sciutto & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump has privately and repeatedly expressed opposition to the use of foreign intelligence from covert sources, including overseas spies who provide the US government with crucial information about hostile countries, according to multiple senior officials who served under Trump. Trump has privately said that foreign spies can damage relations with their host countries and undermine his personal relationships with their leaders, the sources said. The President 'believes we shouldn't be doing that to each other,' one former Trump administration official told CNN. In addition to his fear such foreign intelligence sources will damage his relationship with foreign leaders, Trump has expressed doubts about the credibility of the information they provide. Another former senior intelligence official told CNN that Trump 'believes they're people who are selling out their country.' Even in public, Trump has looked down on these foreign assets, as they are known in the intelligence community. Responding to reports that the CIA recruited Kim Jong Un's brother as a spy, Trump said he 'wouldn't let that happen under my auspices.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. See also Ken's comment in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose this is reflects Trump's disdain for the U.S. intelligence community, but it could be something more sinister: he doesn't want U.S. spies to find out what he is doing to curry favor with strongmen around the world -- shades of Christopher Steele. As Ken suggests, it's a head-scratcher.

Marc Bennetts, et al., of the Guardian: "The CIA Russian spy drama currently gripping Washington has taken a new turn as Russian media reported that a suspected US mole inside the Kremlin was a member of Vladimir Putin's administration who disappeared in 2017 and was initially thought to have been murdered. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed the man, Oleg Smolenkov, had worked for the Kremlin but played down his importance, insisting he was a low-level employee who had been fired two years ago."

The Trump White House Screws up Everything. Alanda Goodman & Steven Nelson of the Washington Examiner: "One of the people President Trump honored for his heroism during a mass shooting in an El Paso Walmart last month was arrested by the Secret Service during his visit to the White House on Monday due to an outstanding criminal warrant, law enforcement officials told the Washington Examiner. Police say his tale of heroics does not match video evidence. Chris Grant, 50, was shot in the ribs and a kidney during the Aug. 3 rampage that claimed 22 lives. He was not present for a White House ceremony Monday, but his mother Minnie Grant, 82, accepted a signed certificate on his behalf. Grant said in a series of interviews that he sought to spare fellow shoppers by picking up bottles and throwing them at the gunman, with at least one hitting or nearly striking him. A Gofundme account raised $16,917 on his behalf.... 'Nobody bothered to check with us,' said El Paso police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo. 'They would have been informed, as I am telling you now, that our detectives reviewed hours of video and his actions did not match his account.... His statements were inconsistent with what was revealed on video,' Carrill said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Patricia Mazzei & Frances Robles of the New York Times: "A former top administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was arrested on Tuesday in a major federal corruption investigation that found that the official took bribes from the president of a company that secured $1.8 billion in federal contracts to repair Puerto Rico's shredded electrical grid after Hurricane Maria. Federal authorities arrested Ahsha Tribble, FEMA's former deputy administrator for the region that includes Puerto Rico, and Donald Keith Ellison, the former president of Cobra Acquisitions, prosecutors in Puerto Rico announced. They were accused of conspiring to defraud the federal government, among other charges. A second FEMA employee, Jovanda R. Patterson, who worked as a deputy chief of staff in Puerto Rico under Ms. Tribble and was later hired by Cobra, was also arrested, said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez, the United States attorney for Puerto Rico. Ms. Tribble and Mr. Ellison had a 'close personal relationship,' Ms. Rodríguez Vélez said, in which Mr. Ellison lavished Ms. Tribble with gifts in exchange for her to use her influence inside FEMA to give Cobra an advantage.... Mr. Ellison and Ms. Tribble traveled together and stayed in the same room, Ms. Rodríguez Vélez said.... President Trump has repeatedly cast Puerto Rico's leaders as incompetent and corrupt. Tuesday's arrests, however, did not involve any Puerto Ricans, but rather a longtime federal employee now serving under the Trump administration." The Hill has a summary of the Times report here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

AP: "The head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) appeared close to tears on Tuesday, as he both defended the administration and thanked a local weather office that contradicted Donald Trump's [Mrs. McC: false] claims about Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama. Neil Jacobs, the acting administrator, told a meteorology group a Noaa statement that criticized the Birmingham-area forecast office after it disagreed with the president was meant to clarify 'technical aspects' about Dorian's potential impact. 'What it did not say, however, was that we understood and fully support the good intent of the weather office, which was to calm fears in support of public safety,' said Jacobs.... 'This is hard for me,' said Jacobs, his voice choked." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Since Jacobs chose not to resign, he at least should have included his support for fellow meteoroligists in his initial statement. Instead, he knocked them: "The Birmingham National Weather Service's Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time."

Last year, Matt Ford of the New Republic suggested that the Trump Organization be nationalized: "Only by placing the Trump family business in public hands, I argued, could lawmakers restore some confidence in the integrity of American governance." Alas, it turns out that here in Upside-down World, the Trumpies more or less turned Ford's suggestion on its head: "Trump's business properties now operate as de facto outposts of the U.S. government.... The Trump Organization and the federal government blend together in some sort of unholy corporate merger. It may be the most successful hostile takeover in history."

Rick Newman of Yahoo! Finance: "President Trump says he is 'winning big time, against China.' But his trade war is causing measurable damage to the U.S. economy, with the pain likely to worsen. Forecasting firm Moody's Analytics estimates that Trump's trade war with China has already reduced U.S. employment by 300,000 jobs, compared with likely employment levels absent the trade war. That's a combination of jobs eliminated by firms struggling with tariffs and other elements of the trade war, and jobs that would have been created but haven't because of reduced economic activity. The firm's chief economist, Mark Zandi, told Yahoo Finance that the job toll from the trade war will hit about 450,000 by the end of the year, if there's no change in policy. By the end of 2020, the trade war will have killed 900,000 jobs, on its current course. The hardest-hit sectors are manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and retail."

As a group, the smartest political observers in the U.S. are black women. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

>Trump's approval rating among black women in today's new @CNNpoll is 3% (!) -- Ryan Struyk, in a tweet

#MoscowMitch. Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last month blocked a measure that would have used Treasury Department funds marked for Appalachian development to help pay for coal miners' health care and pensions in his home state of Kentucky. But just a few months earlier, McConnell successfully steered near-identical Treasury funds for Appalachia to bankroll a Kentucky aluminum plant connected to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.... [That is,] McConnell worked to keep money out of coal miners' hands -- even as h maneuvered to steer federal funds to the Russian-linked plant."

Presidential Race 2020. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing him trailing five Democratic presidential candidates, dismissing it as a 'phony suppression poll.' The president sent three tweets complaining about the poll just minutes before he was scheduled to participate in a moment of silence marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.... The president also claimed he 'hasn't even started campaigning yet,' despite the fact that he's held several rallies in recent months in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina and elsewhere and officially launched his reelection with a rally in Florida in June.... Wednesday's poll showed former Vice President Joe Biden leading Trump in a hypothetical matchup by 16 percentage points among adults surveyed. It also showed Trump trailing Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) by 12 points, 11 points and 10 points, respectively. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) leads Trump by 6 percentage points, according to the poll."

Congressional Race 2020. Griffin Connolly of Roll Call: "Former Rep. Darrell Issa signaled over the weekend that he intends to run for Congress in Rep. Duncan Hunter's district if he is not confirmed to a position in the Trump administration by winter. Issa and Hunter are both Republican. Issa, 65, represented San Diego County for 18 years before retiring at the end of his ninth term earlier this year. His 49th District seat flipped to the Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections, with Rep. Mike Levin handing GOP candidate Diane Harkey a 12 percentage point loss. With Hunter facing trial in January on federal corruption and campaign finance crimes just weeks before the California primaries, Issa has told the California Report that he intends to run for Hunter's seat in the 50th District to prevent the Democrats from picking up another longtime GOP stronghold in Southern California. 'There's nothing wrong with his voting,' Issa said of Hunter. 'But he is injured in a way that, according to most polls I've seen -- all polls I've seen -- he cannot win reelection. And as a Republican, I don't want to lose a seat that is clearly a seat that we need to have to get back in the majority.'..."

Rachana Pradhan of Politico: "The number of Americans lacking health insurance ticked up slightly last year, marking the first annual increase in the uninsured rate in nearly a decade, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The uninsured rate rose from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 8.5 percent last year, as experts said the Trump administration's efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act were partly to blame." Thanks, Trump! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

It's a Conspiracy! Hill: "Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. told Hill.TV on Tuesday that he has begun sharing information with the FBI in what he alleged was a criminal conspiracy against him by former board members at the school. Falwell said ... that in the coming days the FBI will review university documents at the Lynchburg, Va., campus. He accused former colleagues of stealing school property in the form of emails and then sharing them with reporters in an effort to damage his reputation. 'Our attorneys have determined that this small group of former board members and employees, they're involved in a criminal conspiracy, are working together to steal Liberty property in the form of emails and provided them to reporters,' Falwell Jr. said. The accusation follows a Politico story published Monday that detailed a 'culture of fear and self-dealing at the largest Christian college in the world.' The story cited internal Liberty University emails, which Falwell Jr. and his attorney's allege were stolen in a coordinated effort."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Kate Conger & Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "California legislators approved a landmark bill on Tuesday that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees, a move that could reshape the gig economy and that adds fuel to a yearslong debate over whether the nature of work has become too insecure. The bill passed in a 29 to 11 vote in the State Senate and will apply to app-based companies, despite their efforts to negotiate an exemption. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, endorsed the bill this month and is expected to sign it after it goes through the State Assembly, in what is expected to be a formality. Under the measure, which would go into effect Jan. 1, workers must be designated as employees instead of contractors if a company exerts control over how they perform their tasks or if their work is part of a company's regular business. The bill may influence other states." The Business Insider story is here.

Way Beyond

Israel/Palestine. David Halbfinger of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Tuesday that he would move swiftly to annex nearly a third of the occupied West Bank if voters returned him to power in the election next week, seizing what he called a historic opportunity from a sympathetic White House to give Israel 'secure, permanent borders.' His plan to annex territory along the Jordan River would reshape the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would reduce any future Palestinian state to an enclave encircled by Israel. Mr Netanyahu's rivals on the left and right largely greeted the announcement, made in the heat of a campaign in which he is battling for survival, as a transparent political ploy." CNN's story is here.

News Lede

Dallas Morning News: "T. Boone Pickens, legendary energy executive, philanthropist, ardent Oklahoma State University supporter and one of America's most famous entrepreneurs, died peacefully Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Dallas. He was 91." Pickens' New York Times obituary is here.

Comments Off
Monday
Sep092019

The Commentariat -- September 10, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

You Can't Fire Me; I Quit. As the Mustache Curls ... Trump Lies Again. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Tuesday that he had fired John R. Bolton, his third national security adviser, amid fundamental disagreements over how to handle major foreign policy challenges like Iran, North Korea and most recently Afghanistan. 'I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service.' Mr. Bolton offered a different version of how the end came in his own message on Twitter shortly afterward. 'I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow,"' Mr. Bolton wrote, without elaborating. Responding to a question from The New York Times via text message, Mr. Bolton said it was his initiative. 'Offered last night without his asking,' he wrote. 'Slept on it and gave it to him this morning.'" The NPR report is here. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... two key things call into question [Trump's] version of how it went down.... Just an hour before the announcement, the White House announced that Bolton would be appearing at a 1:30 p.m. news conference alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. If Bolton was on his way out as of Monday night, why did the White House press office not seem to know about it at 11 a.m. Tuesday? [Bolton's] tweets Monday night and Tuesday didn't indicate anything had changed, and shortly after Trump's tweets, he chimed in by saying, 'I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."'... After [the Daily Beast] quoted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who backed up Trump's account, Bolton responded in a text: '[White House] press secretary statement is flatly incorrect.'" ~~~

~~~ Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "As ... Donald Trump began losing confidence in national security adviser John Bolton, whom he fired on Tuesday, he reached out to the man he had fired to give Bolton the job: retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. In phone calls to McMaster -- the first of which took place last fall -- Trump told his second national security adviser that he missed him, according to two people familiar with the conversations. It's a sentiment the president has also expressed to White House aides, they said. Trump has solicited McMaster's advice on various national security challenges, even asking McMaster whom he should nominate to lead the Pentagon, they said."

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has ordered White House officials to conduct a sweeping crackdown on homelessness in California, citing the state's growing crisis, according to four government officials aware of the effort. The talks have intensified in recent weeks. Administration officials have discussed using the federal government to get homeless people off the streets of Los Angeles and other areas and into new government-backed facilities, according to two officials briefed on the planning. But it is unclear how they could accomplish this and what legal authority they would use. It is also unclear whether the state's Democratic politicians would cooperate with Trump, who has sought to embarrass them over the homeless crisis with repeated attacks on their competency." The CBS Los Angeles story is here.

Weird News. Jim Sciutto & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump has privately and repeatedly expressed opposition to the use of foreign intelligence from covert sources, including overseas spies who provide the US government with crucial information about hostile countries, according to multiple senior officials who served under Trump. Trump has privately said that foreign spies can damage relations with their host countries and undermine his personal relationships with their leaders, the sources said. The President 'believes we shouldn't be doing that to each other,' one former Trump administration official told CNN. In addition to his fear such foreign intelligence sources will damage his relationship with foreign leaders, Trump has expressed doubts about the credibility of the information they provide. Another former senior intelligence official told CNN that Trump 'believes they're people who are selling out their country.' Even in public, Trump has looked down on these foreign assets, as they are known in the intelligence community. Responding to reports that the CIA recruited Kim Jong Un's brother as a spy, Trump said he 'wouldn't let that happen under my auspices.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. See also Ken's comment in today's thread. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose this is a reflection of Trump's disdain for our intelligence community, but it could be something more sinister: he doesn't want U.S. spies to find out what he is doing to curry favor with strongmen around the world -- shades of Christopher Steele. As Ken suggests, it's a head-scratcher.

The Trump White House Screws up Everything. Alanda Goodman & Steven Nelson of the Washington Examiner: "One of the people President Trump honored for his heroism during a mass shooting in an El Paso Walmart last month was arrested by the Secret Service during his visit to the White House on Monday due to an outstanding criminal warrant, law enforcement officials told the Washington Examiner. Police say his tale of heroics does not match video evidence. Chris Grant, 50, was shot in the ribs and a kidney during the Aug. 3 rampage that claimed 22 lives. He was not present for a White House ceremony Monday, but his mother Minnie Grant, 82, accepted a signed certificate on his behalf. Grant said in a series of interviews that he sought to spare fellow shoppers by picking up bottles and throwing them at the gunman, with at least one hitting or nearly striking him. A Gofundme account raised $16,917 on his behalf.... 'Nobody bothered to check with us,' said El Paso police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo. 'They would have been informed, as I am telling you now, that our detectives reviewed hours of video and his actions did not match his account.... His statements were inconsistent with what was revealed on video,' Carrillo said."

Patricia Mazzei & Frances Robles of the New York Times: "A former top administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was arrested on Tuesday in a major federal corruption investigation that found that the official took bribes from the president of a company that secured $1.8 billion in federal contracts to repair Puerto Rico's shredded electrical grid after Hurricane Maria. Federal authorities arrested Ahsha Tribble, FEMA's former deputy administrator for the region that includes Puerto Rico, and Donald Keith Ellison, the former president of Cobra Acquisitions, prosecutors in Puerto Rico announced. They were accused of conspiring to defraud the federal government, among other charges. A second FEMA employee, Jovanda R. Patterson, who worked as a deputy chief of staff in Puerto Rico under Ms. Tribble and was later hired by Cobra, was also arrested, said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Vélez, the United States attorney for Puerto Rico. Ms. Tribble and Mr. Ellison had a 'close personal relationship,' Ms. Rodríguez Vélez said, in which Mr. Ellison lavished Ms. Tribble with gifts in exchange for her to use her influence inside FEMA to give Cobra an advantage.... Mr. Ellison and Ms. Tribble traveled together and stayed in the same room, Ms. Rodríguez Vélez said.... President Trump has repeatedly cast Puerto Rico's leaders as incompetent and corrupt. Tuesday's arrests, however, did not involve any Puerto Ricans, but rather a longtime federal employee now serving under the Trump administration." The Hill has a summary of the Times report here.

Rachana Pradhan of Politico: "The number of Americans lacking health insurance ticked up slightly last year, marking the first annual increase in the uninsured rate in nearly a decade, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The uninsured rate rose from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 8.5 percent last year, as experts said the Trump administration's efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act were partly to blame." Thanks, Trump!

~~~~~~~~~~

Congressional Race 2019. If you live in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, vote today. ~~~

~~~ Steven Shepard & Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump traveled [to Fayetteville, N.C.] on Monday for an election-eve rescue mission in a neck-and-neck congressional race -- and to boost his own standing in a key 2020 swing state. Trump touted Republican Dan Bishop, the party's nominee in Tuesday's do-over election in the state's 9th District, calling on residents to vote 'to stop the radical left.'... 'We had a very, very special day in 2016,' he told the crowd of thousands early in a speech that lasted well over an hour. 'It was very special, very special. ... 2020 is essentially just as important, because they'll try to take it away.' Bishop, a GOP state senator, is tied in the polls with Democrat Dan McCready in Tuesday's race."

Lies of the Grifter

I know nothing about an Air Force plane landing at an airport (which I do not own and have nothing to do with*) near Turnberry Resort (which I do own) in Scotland, and filling up with fuel, with the crew staying overnight at Turnberry (they have good taste!). NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Monday

I had nothing to do with the decision of our great @VP Mike Pence to stay overnight at one of the Trump owned resorts in Doonbeg, Ireland. Mike's family has lived in Doonbeg for many years, and he thought that during his very busy European visit, he would stop and see his family! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Monday

How to tell Trump is lying: he says he knows nothing about either grift.* -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

* Update. Another Way We Know Trump Is Lying. Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "But documents obtained from Scottish government agencies show that the Trump Organization, and Mr. Trump himself, played a direct role in setting up an arrangement between the Turnberry resort and officials at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. The government records, released through Scottish Freedom of Information law, show that the Trump organization, starting in 2014, entered a partnership with the airport to try to increase private and commercial air traffic to the region. As part of that arrangement, the Trump Organization worked to get Trump Turnberry added to a list of hotels that the airport would routinely send aircrews to, even though the Turnberry resort is 20 miles from the airport, farther away than many other hotels, and has higher advertised prices."

* Martyn McLaughlin of the Scotsman: "As previously detailed by The Scotsman's sister title, Scotland on Sunday, the Trump Organisation formed what it described as an 'official partnership' and 'strategic alliance' with the airport in 2014 - two years before Mr Trump became president - with the two parties holding unminuted discussions over 'potential partnership opportunities' and the 'integration' of their businesses.... A spokesman for the Scottish Government-owned airport said [Mon]day that it regularly arranges overnight accommodation for visiting aircrew at Turnberry.... A new extended deal between Prestwick's parent company and the [US Defence Logistics Agency], known as a EUCOM Into-Plane contract, will come into force next month and last until September 2024. It will allow for the supply of around 12.4 million gallons of aviation fuel, approximately three million more than the current arrangement."

Martyn McLaughlin (Sept. 7): "... The Scotsman detailed how Prestwick's parent company had received more than £9.02m for 644 orders to refuel US Armed Forces aircraft between October 2017 and March 2019. Scotland on Sunday can reveal that in the six months since, further refuelling orders have netted Prestwick another £4.8m. The deal with the US Defence Logistics Agency, which manages the supply chain for the US armed forces, is by far the airport's biggest revenue stream." ~~~

~~~ Conor O'Brien of Politico: "Democrats in the House are doubling down on proposed legislation to block military funds from being spent at properties owned by ... Donald Trump, following reports that Air Force personnel stayed at the president's Turnberry resort in Scotland. The House voted in July to bar the Defense Department from spending money at nearly five dozen Trump properties worldwide -- including Trump Turnberry -- as part of annual defense policy legislation.... The provision blocks the Pentagon from spending money at 57 specific Trump properties. Under the provision, Trump could waive the ban if he reimburses the Treasury Department for the expenses.... The leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are poised hammer out a compromise defense bill later this month."

AlabamaGate, Ctd.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: On September 7, I wrote, "NOAA is an agency within the Commerce Department. I'd say Wilbur Ross bowed to His Dimwittedness." Not exactly an oracular prophecy, BUT ~~~

~~~ Christopher Flavelle, et al., of the New York Times: "The Secretary of Commerce [Wilbur Ross] threatened to fire top employees at NOAA on Friday after the agency's Birmingham office contradicted President Trump's claim that Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama, according to three people familiar with the discussion. That threat led to an unusual, unsigned statement later that Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disavowing the office's own position that Alabama was not at risk. The reversal caused widespread anger within the agency and drew criticism from the scientific community that NOAA, a division of the Commerce Department, had been bent to political purposes.... Mr. Ross ... intervened ... early last Friday, according to the three people familiar with his actions. Mr. Ross phoned Neil Jacobs, the acting administrator of NOAA, from Greece where the secretary was traveling for meetings and instructed Dr. Jacobs to fix the agency's perceived contradiction of the president. Dr. Jacobs objected to the demand and was told that the political staff at NOAA would be fired if the situation was not fixed, according to the three individuals.... On Monday, the National Weather Service director, Louis W. Uccellini, got a standing ovation from [weather industry] conference attendees when he praised the work of the Birmingham office and said staff members there had acted' with one thing in mind, public safety' when they contradicted Mr. Trump's claim that Alabama was at risk." digby republishes much of the NYT story. ~~~

~~~ Samantha Grasso of Splinter: NWS Director Louis "Uccellini said at Monday's meeting that the Birmingham forecasters didn't know Trump had been behind the report of Dorian heading for Alabama when they had tweeted out the alert. He also said the forecasters used 'an emphasis they deemed essential to shut down what they thought were rumors.... Only later, when the retweets and politically based comments started coming to their office, did they learn the sources of this information.'" ~~~

~~~ Kayla Epstein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's acting chief scientist said in an email to colleagues Sunday that he is investigating whether the agency's response to President Trump's Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics. Also on Monday, the director of the National Weather Service broke with NOAA leadership over its handling of President Trump's Dorian tweets and statements[.] In an email to NOAA staff that was obtained by The Washington Post, the official, Craig McLean, called the agency's response 'political' and a 'danger to public health and safety.'" The Hill's summary of the WashPo report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The full text of McLean's email is here, via TPM. Thanks to Keith H. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "The US secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, is facing calls for his resignation after it was reported that he had threatened to fire senior staff at a federal agency unless they sided publicly with Donald Trump in the rumbling dispute dubbed 'Sharpiegate'.... The head of the environmental group the Sierra Club, Michael Brune, called on Ross to resign to 'maintain the dignity of the federal government'.... And late on Monday, the New York Times amended its story to report that the commerce department's own Office of Inspector General has launched an inquiry into that official statement and whether it breached departmental rules."

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday claimed he plans on releasing an 'extremely complete' report of his financial record, but he offered no specifics and a murky timeline. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, Trump suggested that the promised release would dispel the notion that his real estate empire is in need of the taxpayer money and business driven there throughout his presidency." Here's a sneak-peak:

Claudia Grisales of NPR: "Signaling a widening gap between Democratic leadership and the House Judiciary Committee, the panel will vote this week on whether to install new procedures for its impeachment inquiry and illustrate its intensifying efforts in the probe. The move -- which will culminate in a vote before the committee on Thursday -- will allow staff to question witnesses for extended periods and let the panel accept evidence behind closed doors to further protect sources, among other changes. It also shows the growing divide between progressives pushing for impeachment and moderate Democrats in the House and their leadership, which is largely opposed to any formal action now. Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's public comments supporting the panel's investigation, privately she has told members that the issue is a loser without strong public sentiment. On Monday, Pelosi downplayed the move, saying the committee's investigation has been ongoing for 'a very long time,' and expressed support. She also said other legislation is a top priority, such as approving new gun restrictions." ~~~

~~~ Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "House Democrats are launching a broad investigation into whether President Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others sought to exert pressure on the Ukrainian government to help Trump get reelected in 2020 by targeting a possible political opponent, former vice president Joe Biden. Three House committees -- Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs -- sent joint letters to the White House and State Department demanding documents related to whether Trump and Giuliani sought to pressure Ukraine to target Biden, a 2020 Democratic White House hopeful. 'A growing public record indicates that, for nearly two years, the President and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, appear to have acted outside legitimate law enforcement and diplomatic channels to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing two politically-motivated investigations under the guise of anti-corruption activity,' the committee's chairmen wrote in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ ** Jonathan Chait: Donald Trump "is slowly learning how to control the [bureaucratic] machine that has stymied him. is slowly learning how to control the machine that has stymied him." Chait links Trump's "persuading" NOAA to issue a statement covering for his "Alabama hurricane" flub, the DOJ's "preposterous" antitrust investigation into automakers negotiating to meet California's emission standards, his extortion of Ukraine to pressure the country into "investigating" Joe Biden; and Republicans "boasting of the quid pro quo arrangement" they have with Trump & his businesses. "A corrupt miasma has slowly enveloped Washington.... The norm of bureaucratic professionalism and fairness is a pillar of the political legitimacy and economic strength of the American system, the thing that separates countries like the U.S. from countries like Russia. The decay of that culture is difficult to quantify, but the signs are everywhere. Trump's stench is slowly seeping into every corner of government." (Also linked yesterday.)

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Monday that negotiations with the Taliban 'are dead' and indicated that he had no further interest in meeting with the group over an end to the Afghanistan war. 'I'm not looking to discuss it,' he said. 'I'm not discussing anything.' Trump appeared to provide the definitive response to at least one question officials across his administration were struggling to answer in the wake of his abrupt cancellation, by way of Twitter on Saturday evening, of a Camp David meeting with Taliban and Afghan government leaders to finalize an agreement. The meeting had been scheduled for the next day. Before Trump's comments, made to reporters as he left for a campaign rally in North Carolina, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was said to be hopeful that there was still a flicker of life in the Taliban talks and that a way to restart them would emerge. In Sunday talk show interviews, Pompeo said the negotiations were off 'for the time being' but emphasized the progress that had been made." The Reuters story is here. ~~~

~~~ Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Even opposition from within his own national security team, including Vice President Mike Pence, could not deter Trump from pressing forward with his plan to host Taliban leaders at [Camp David]....Trump eventually scrapped the event after a Taliban car bomb killed a US soldier and 11 others last week. But that decision came after heated debate within the administration over the venue for the summit -- an outgrowth of larger, more substantial disagreements over the wisdom of negotiating with the Taliban at all. The talks have pitted Trump's hawkish national security adviser John Bolton against the nation's chief diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Robin Wright of the New Yorker: SFC Elis Angel Barreto Ortiz's "death may have served as a face-saving excuse [for Trump's cancelling Camp David talks with the Taliban]. Fifteen other Americans have been killed this year, during nine rounds of the most serious diplomacy between the U.S. and the Taliban since 2001. Both sides have used military pressure as leverage in the final run-up to a deal -- and both sides expected it. In the previous ten days, the United States had killed more than a thousand Taliban, [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo boasted on a round of Sunday talk shows."

Brett Samuels & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Monday that the United States needs to be 'careful' in making sure everyone entering the country from the Bahamas has proper documentation, suggesting dangerous individuals could sneak into the U.S. along with those seeking refuge following Hurricane Dorian. 'We have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation. Because look, the Bahamas has some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas who weren't supposed to be there,' Trump told reporters on the South Lawn at the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Uh, how many people who have lost everything from their toothbrushes to their livelihoods to their entire community managed to grab "totally proper documentation" commonly used to travel abroad? ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Early Monday afternoon, acting Customs and Border Protection head Mark Morgan offered some peace of mind to Bahamians seeking humanitarian relief in the United States in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, following the news that some were turned away for not having visas. 'This is a humanitarian mission,' Morgan assured. 'If your life is in jeopardy and you're in the Bahamas .. you're going to be allowed to come to the United States, whether you have travel documents or not.' He said the processing would be handled expeditiously. Then President Trump offered a very different message. In a later Q&A with reporters, Trump emphasized that 'very bad people ... and very bad gang members' ... could exploit the process and warned against welcoming Bahamians.... So, shortly after Morgan said people didn't need to have documents, Trump said they did. And shortly after Morgan emphasized a quick process, Trump suggested it would need to be very thorough.... The Bahamas, notably, contain many people of Haitian descent -- as many as 1 in 10 residents -- and they tend to be among the island nation's poorest residents. Trump has in the past privately referred to Haiti as a 'shithole country' while deriding protections for immigrants from it." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: What did Trump mean when he said he "doesn't want to let people who weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas come into the US"? Ali Velshi of MSNBC offered a helpful translation: "dark-skinned people from Haiti."

Dear-Leader-for-Life. Arren Kimbel-Sannit of Politico: Trump joked -- again -- about extending his term of office beyond eight years. Mrs. McC: Oh, he's serious. Come to think of it, President Obama should have declared a national emergency on November 9, 2016 & extended his own term while we figured out a way to get a real president.

** Jim Sciutto of CNN: "In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN. A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that ... Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy. The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.... The secret removal of the high-level Russian asset has left the US without one of its key sources on the inner workings of the Kremlin and the plans and thinking of the Russian president." The CIA had considered the "exfiltration" of the asset prior to Trump's blabbing, but did not remove him/her until "wide concern [grew] in the intelligence community about mishandling of intelligence by Trump and his administration." It appears Mike Pompeo, then CIA director, approved the operation. "White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said, 'CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update: Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "As American officials began to realize that Russia was trying to sabotage the 2016 presidential election, [a Russian] informant [the CIA had cultivated for decades] became one of the C.I.A.'s most important -- and highly protected -- assets. But when intelligence officials revealed the severity of Russia's election interference with unusual detail later that year, the news media picked up on details about the C.I.A.'s Kremlin sources.... [Extracting the informant from Russia] brought to an end the career of one of the C.I.A.'s most important sources. It also effectively blinded American intelligence officials to the view from inside Russia as they sought clues about Kremlin interference in the 2018 midterm elections and next year's presidential contest.... The Moscow informant was instrumental to the C.I.A.'s most explosive conclusion about Russia's interference campaign: that President Vladimir V. Putin ordered and orchestrated it himself.... The source was also key to the C.I.A.'s assessment that he affirmatively favored Donald J. Trump's election and personally ordered the hacking of the Democratic National Committee.... Former intelligence officials said there was no public evidence that Mr. Trump directly endangered the source.... Some former intelligence officials said the president's closed-door meetings with Mr. Putin and other Russian officials, along with Twitter posts about delicate intelligence matters, have sown concern among overseas sources." ~~~

~~~ Shane Harris & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The exfiltration [of the CIA source] took place sometime after an Oval Office meeting in May 2017, when President Trump revealed highly classified counterterrorism information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, said the current and former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation. That disclosure alarmed U.S. national security officials, but it was not the reason for the decision to remove the CIA asset, who had provided information to the United States for more than a decade, according to the current and former officials. U.S. officials had been concerned that Russian sources could be at risk of exposure as early as the fall of 2016, when the Obama administration first confirmed that Russia had stolen and publicly disclosed emails from the Democratic National Committee and the account of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta." ~~~

     ~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "A former senior Russian official is living in the Washington area under U.S. government protection, current and former government officials tell NBC News. NBC News is withholding the man's name and other key details at the request of U.S. officials, who say reporting the information could endanger his life. Yet the former Russian government official, who had a job with access to secrets, was living openly under his true name. An NBC News correspondent [Mrs. McC: that was Dilanian] went to the man's house in the Washington area and rang the doorbell. Five minutes later, two young men in an SUV came racing up the street and parked immediately adjacent to the correspondent's car. The men, who identified themselves only as friends of the Russian, asked the correspondent what he was doing there. A former senior national security official said the men were likely U.S. government agents monitoring the Russian's house." Mrs. McC: Dilanian reported later in the day, on air, that the CIA was moving the informant from his current residence. He said he was not reporting that the asset he approached was the same individual cited in the CNN report. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So the CIA's idea of "protecting" a vulnerable Russian defector is to move him & his family to a D.C.-area home under his own name, to the point that a reporter can more or less look him/her up in the phone book & stop by the person's house for a chat.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and members of his caucus are tiptoeing toward legislation addressing gun violence amid deep anxiety over eroding GOP support in suburbs across the country. Expanded background checks and other modest proposals to address gun violence have strong support among swing voters in the suburbs, whom McConnell sees as crucial to keeping control of Republican-held swing Senate seats. Republican sources close to McConnell say he sees a political benefit to moving a bipartisan measure in response to a spate of mass shootings this year, and that he acknowledges the politics surrounding expanded background checks have shifted in recent months."

Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "A federal judge in California on Monday reinstated a ban on a Trump administration policy that would restrict migrants' ability to apply for asylum at the southern border. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar had issued a nationwide injunction in July blocking the rule, which would make most asylum-seekers who pass through another country before reaching the U.S. ineligible for asylum, with exceptions for victims of trafficking and migrants who have been denied asylum in the countries they traveled through. The rule would primarily effect Central American immigrants crossing through Mexico. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tigar's initial ruling but narrowed the injunction to only border states within its jurisdiction -- California and Arizona -- before sending the question back to Tigar. Tigar said Monday that the injunction should apply nationwide because the asylum rule represents a case where 'such breadth is necessary to remedy a plaintiffs harm.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday dismissed his trio of challengers for the Republican presidential nomination as 'a laughingstock,' and defended the decisions by GOP leaders in a handful of states to scrap their 2020 primaries and caucuses. 'The three people are a total joke. They're a joke. They're a laughingstock,' Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for a rally in North Carolina.... Asked whether he was willing to debate the Republicans running against him, Trump responded, 'I don't know them' --; going on to mock their polling numbers and tout his significant support among GOP voters. 'I guess it's a publicity stunt,' Trump said of his rivals' campaigns, adding: 'To be honest, I'm not looking to give them any credibility. They have no credibility.' Trump also contended he had 'nothing to do with' Republican officials in Arizona, Kansas, Nevada and South Carolina moving in recent days to abandon their nominating contests next year, which he criticized as 'very expensive' for state parties."

Congressional Races 2020

Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Former congressional candidate Jon Ossoff said he will challenge Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and 'mount a ruthless assault on corruption in our political system' that's prevented Congress from addressing urgent issues. The Democrat told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he would 'raise a grassroots army unlike any this state has ever seen' by expanding the network of supporters who helped him raise roughly $30 million in a 2017 special election he narrowly lost."

This is a real campaign ad for Valerie Plame. She's running in the primary for New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District:


Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Attorneys general for 50 U.S. states and territories on Monday officially announced an antitrust investigation of Google, embarking on a wide-ranging review of a tech giant that Democrats and Republicans said may threaten competition, consumers and the continued growth of the web.... Only California and Alabama have not signed onto the probe[.]" The CNBC story is here.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Maxwell Tani of the Daily Beast: "Disgraced political pundit Mark Halperin was very unhappy when MSNBC brass nixed his attempt to repair his career through a possible collaboration with the stars of Morning Joe. So he picked up the phone and called network chief Phil Griffin. It did not go well. Multiple sources tell The Daily Beast that the conversation earlier this year became acrimonious, with Halperin dishing up vague threats against his former boss.... MSNBC insiders said Griffin was furious about the conversation and wouldn't likely take Halperin's calls in the future. The hostile exchange was a sign of Halperin's frustration that his dream of returning to the punditry business -- almost two years after numerous women came forward with stories of sexual misconduct -- has been thwarted at each turn.... The Game Change author has privately told friends that he wants to return to cable news, and he has lobbied various media outlets for a second chance." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose this advice will be lost on the arrogant Mr. Halperin, but usually threatening the guy you're asking for a job is a poor interview technique. Wilbur Ross, who is trying to keep his gig, has a better method: threaten the jobs of the guys who cross the boss.

Beyond the Beltway

Alaska. Surprisingly, it appears This Marriage Cannot Be Saved. Michelle Boots of the Anchorage Daily News: "Todd Palin appears to have filed for divorce from former Alaska governor and one-time vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, his wife of 31 years. In a document filed Friday in Anchorage Superior Court, Todd Palin, 55, asked to dissolve the marriage, citing an 'incompatibility of temperament between the parties such that they find it impossible to live together as husband and wife.' The divorce filing uses initials rather than full names, but identifies the couple's marriage date and the birth date of their only child who is a minor, Trig Palin. The filing asks for joint legal custody of the child."

Way Beyond

~~~ U.K. Another Bad Hair Day for Boris. Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson shut down parliament amid chaotic scenes in the early hours of Tuesday following his sixth parliamentary defeat in six days, as MPs voted to block a snap election and to force the publication of No 10's secret preparations for a no-deal Brexit. MPs on the opposition benches shouted: 'Shame on you' at Conservative MPs as they filed out behind the Speaker, John Bercow, during the start of proceedings to prorogue parliament until 14 October, while others held up signs saying 'silenced'. Renditions of Red Flag, Jerusalem, Flower of Scotland and Bread of Heaven were also sung. Bercow told the Commons 'this is not a standard or normal prorogation' and that the move represented 'an act of executive fiat'. Opposition MPs tried to physically stop Bercow from leaving his chair to go to the House of Lords to finish the prorogation formalities."

~~~ Rowena Mason: "John Bercow has said he will step down as the Speaker of the House of Commons after a decade in the job in which he has handed more power to backbench MPs, including moves that allowed parliament to block a no-deal Brexit. Bercow said he would leave his role by 31 October at the latest, but he could stand down sooner if MPs vote for an early election." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Sunday
Sep082019

The Commentariat -- September 9, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Even opposition from within his own national security team, including Vice President Mike Pence, could not deter Trump from pressing forward with his plan to host Taliban leaders at [Camp David].... Trump eventually scrapped the event after a Taliban car bomb killed a US soldier and 11 others last week. But that decision came after heated debate within the administration over the venue for the summit -- an outgrowth of larger, more substantial disagreements over the wisdom of negotiating with the Taliban at all. The talks have pitted Trump's hawkish national security adviser John Bolton against the nation's chief diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...."

Lies of the Grifter

I know nothing about an Air Force plane landing at an airport (which I do not own and have nothing to do with) near Turnberry Resort (which I do own) in Scotland, and filling up with fuel, with the crew staying overnight at Turnberry (they have good taste!). NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Monday

I had nothing to do with the decision of our great @VP Mike Pence to stay overnight at one of the Trump owned resorts in Doonbeg, Ireland. Mike's family has lived in Doonbeg for many years, and he thought that during his very busy European visit, he would stop and see his family! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Monday

How to tell Trump is lying: he says he knows nothing about either grift. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

** Jim Sciutto of CNN: "In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN. A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that ... Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy. The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.... The secret removal of the high-level Russian asset has left the US without one of its key sources on the inner workings of the Kremlin and the plans and thinking of the Russian president." The CIA considered the 'exfiltration' of the asset prior to Trump's blabbing, but did not remove him/her until "wide concern [grew] in the intelligence community about mishandling of intelligence by Trump and his administration." It appears Mike Pompeo, then CIA director, approved the operation. "White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said, 'CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger.'" Mrs. McC: Right. CNN is the problem.

Kayla Epstein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's acting chief scientist said in an email to colleagues Sunday that he is investigating whether the agency's response to President Trump's Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics. Also on Monday, the director of the National Weather Service broke with NOAA leadership over its handling of President Trump's Dorian tweets and statements[.] In an email to NOAA staff that was obtained by The Washington Post, the official, Craig McLean, called the agency's response 'political' and a 'danger to public health and safety.'" The Hill's summary of the WashPo report is here. ~~~

     ... Update: The full text of McLean's email is here, via TPM. Thanks to Keith H. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "House Democrats are launching a broad investigation into whether President Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others sought to exert pressure on the Ukrainian government to help Trump get reelected in 2020 by targeting a possible political opponent, former vice president Joe Biden. Three House committees -- Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs -- sent joint letters to the White House and State Department demanding documents related to whether Trump and Giuliani sought to pressure Ukraine to target Biden, a 2020 Democratic White House hopeful. 'A growing public record indicates that, for nearly two years, the President and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, appear to have acted outside legitimate law enforcement and diplomatic channels to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing two politically-motivated investigations under the guise of anti-corruption activity,' the committee's chairmen wrote in a statement." ~~~

~~~ ** Jonathan Chait: Donald Trump "is slowly learning how to control the [bureaucratic] machine that has stymied him. is slowly learning how to control the machine that has stymied him." Chait links Trump's "persuading" NOAA to issue a statement covering for his "Alabama hurricane" flub, the DOJ's "preposterous" antitrust investigation into automakers negotiating to meet California's emission standards, his extortion of Ukraine to pressure the country into "investigating" Joe Biden; and Republicans "boasting of the quid pro quo arrangement" they have with Trump & his businesses. "A corrupt miasma has slowly enveloped Washington.... The norm of bureaucratic professionalism and fairness is a pillar of the political legitimacy and economic strength of the American system, the thing that separates countries like the U.S. from countries like Russia. The decay of that culture is difficult to quantify, but the signs are everywhere. Trump's stench is slowly seeping into every corner of government."

Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "A federal judge in California on Monday reinstated a ban on a Trump administration policy that would restrict migrants' ability to apply for asylum at the southern border. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar had issued a nationwide injunction in July blocking the rule, which would make most asylum-seekers who pass through another country before reaching the U.S. ineligible for asylum, with exceptions for victims of trafficking and migrants who have been denied asylum in the countries they traveled through. The rule would primarily effect Central American immigrants crossing through Mexico. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tigar's initial ruling but narrowed the injunction to only border states within its jurisdiction -- California and Arizona -- before sending the question back to Tigar. Tigar said Monday that the injunction should apply nationwide because the asylum rule represents a case where 'such breadth is necessary to remedy a plaintiffs harm.'"

U.K. Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "John Bercow has said he will step down as the Speaker of the House of Commons after a decade in the job in which he has handed more power to backbench MPs, including moves that allowed parliament to block a no-deal Brexit. Bercow said he would leave his role by 31 October at the latest, but he could stand down sooner if MPs vote for an early election."

~~~~~~~~~~

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "House Democrats return to Washington this week poised to significantly broaden their nascent impeachment inquiry into President Trump beyond the findings of the Russia investigation, but they will confront a fast-dwindling political clock. Undeterred by lackluster public support for impeachment, Democratic lawmakers and aides have sketched out a robust four-month itinerary of hearings and court arguments that they hope will provide the evidence they need to credibly portray Mr. Trump as corrupt and abusing his power. Beyond the president's efforts to impede the special counsel's investigation, Democrats also plan to scrutinize his role in hush payments to two women who said they had affairs with him and reports that he dangled pardons to officials willing to break the law to implement his immigration policies. Democrats also demanded documents last week related to whether his resort properties illegally profited from government business." ...

... Jonathan Alter of the Daily Beast argues for impeachment & trial. digby largely reproduces Alter's column, which is firewalled in the Beast. Alter: "... the trial in the well of the Senate would be presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts, who ... would run it like a quasi-trial, with evidence, witnesses (who would likely appear in person) and summations. Nadler and others from the House Judiciary Committee would serve as prosecutors. Trump would have private lawyers defending him. The senators would be the jury.... With the exception of Reps. John Ratcliffe and Louie Gohmert, no Republicans tried to claim Trump did not commit obstruction of justice. Instead, they changed the subject to Fusion GPS, the Steele dossier, and other counter-charges irrelevant to what would be at issue in a Senate trial.... [Trump's] trial lawyers would have the unenviable task of shooting down at least eight clear examples of obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller Report, plus explain why Trump did not abuse and disgrace his office and obstruct Congress (other likely articles of impeachment). They would have to explain why it was perfectly okay for Trump to feather his own nest by directing his people to stay at Trump hotels, after promising he would not tend to his businesses in the White House." Read on. ...

... digby: "And consider that Trump won't be able to resist screeching 'witch hunt!' every single day, remin[d]ing everyone in the country that he is running as president who was impeached and protected from conviction by his accomplices in the Senate. Is it risky? Sure, anything can happen. But I have never understood this notion that Trump will gain power from being impeached. It's ridiculous. I realize that a lot of the media have simply assumed that since [President Bill] Clinton was acquitted and remained popular that it's a losing strategy. But this isn't about a couple of furtive blow jobs.... The sheer volume of impeachable offenses is enormous."

Nahal Toosi, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump's boasts about his dealmaking skills may have helped him win in 2016. But after this weekend's events, he has little to back up those claims on the world stage heading into 2020. Trump announced Saturday on Twitter that he was canceling ongoing U.S. peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including scrapping a secret meeting with the Islamist militia's leaders and the Afghan president at the Camp David presidential retreat outside of Washington. The decision has imperiled what was, in the scope of Trump's presidency, a relatively successful diplomatic effort so far to bring an end to the 18-year war in Afghanistan. It also adds to a growing list of Trump's negotiating shortfalls -- from Iran to North Korea to China -- that gives ammunition to Democrats seeking to unseat him. The fact that the meeting could have happened the same week as the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks especially outraged Trump critics." ~~~

... My blood is boiling over this. And I'm left wondering: what was the plan here? How was the Taliban going to get to U.S. soil? Was the U.SW aircraft going to ferry them over? would the U.S. military going to give them a ride? What was the purpose of this, so President Trump could announce some kind of fake peace plan the day of 9/11 without any preconditions, without a day of cease-fire? -- CNN Republican analyst Amanda Carpenter, Sunday ~~~

~~~ Mujib Mashal of the New York Times: "Even as President Trump blamed a recent Taliban attack for his decision to call off nearly yearlong negotiations with the insurgents, officials suggested on Sunday it had more to do with the Taliban's resistance to the American terms for a peace deal, and a rushed plan for a Camp David summit meeting. Talks that once seemed on the verge of a breakthrough had hit a wall over how the deal should be finalized and announced, they said." ~~~

~~~ ** Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "What would have been one of the biggest headline-grabbing moments of his tenure was put together on the spur of the moment and then canceled on the spur of the moment. The usual National Security Council process was dispensed with; only a small circle of advisers was even clued in. And even after it fell apart, Mr. Trump took it upon himself to disclose the secret machinations in a string of Saturday night Twitter messages that surprised not only many national security officials across the government but even some of the few who were part of the deliberations." ~~~

~~~ Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Plans for U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, in keeping with President Trump's pledge to end the war there, were thrown into confusion Sunday, following Trump's decision to call off a secret meeting he planned with Afghan and Taliban leaders to secure a peace deal. Competing versions of what led to the cancellation of the meeting and, at least temporarily, any further U.S.-Taliban negotiations, exposed internal administration tensions that have flared as a deal seemed near in recent weeks. Those tensions have pitted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said a week ago that agreement 'in principle' had been reached after 10 months of talks with the militants, and Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who opposed the talks." ~~~

~~~ Michael Safi of the Guardian: Trump's "revelation of the planned talks and their abrupt cancellation leave a question mark over the future of peace talks intended to bring American involvement in Afghanistan to an end, an early and regularly recited Trump campaign pledge. The Taliban warned on Sunday that the cancellation meant more American lives would be lost, while the United States promised to keep up military pressure on the militants. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, criticized Trump for calling off the dialogue and said US forces have been pounding Afghanistan with attacks at the same time.... Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, a ... Republican, wrote on Twitter: 'Never should leaders of a terrorist organisation that hasn't renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER. Full stop.'" ~~~

~~~ Mr. Waffle. Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump is a chronic waffler. As such, the American public would do well to stay vigilant about what his administration is up to -- and not be shy about applying pressure. It has long been clear that Mr. Trump is not the decisive, resolute leader he imagines himself to be. His presidency is littered with plans and pronouncements that were walked back or abandoned.... On occasion, Mr. Trump will move to reverse his reversals -- or at least find a creative work around.... There are issues on which the president feels compelled to hold his ground.... When it comes to protecting his fragile ego [-- as in SharpieGate --] Mr. Trump can be quite firm in his convictions. The rest is subject to influence." ~~~

~~~ Chas Danner of New York: "The Camp David meeting -- according to Afghan, Taliban, and Western officials -- was actually a failed gamble by the Trump administration. The summit, which the Trump team proposed late last month, was an attempt rush a conclusion to the negotiations by flying Taliban and Afghan leaders to the U.S. so that the parties could iron out the remaining details and conclude with a big peace-deal announcement and photo op.... It's entirely possible the Trump administration, unable to close the peace deal, planned to wing it and hope the summit led to a big, popular finish. That would be the strategy most consistent with President Trump's track record of impulsive, spectacle-over-substance foreign-policy decisions.... Last week's deadly suicide bombing was not some final straw for Trump, as he and Pompeo have claimed, but rather a politically palatable excuse to save face after the administration's plan for a peacemaking grand finale fell apart."

Bryan Bender & Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "The U.S. Air Force has ordered a world-wide review of how it chooses overnight accommodations on long flights following revelations that air crews had occasionally stayed at ... Donald Trump's Scotland resort while refueling at a small commercial airport nearby.... The review, ordered by Acting Air Force Secretary Matthew Donovan and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, covers the active-duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.... The Air Force on Sunday insisted, however, that the use of the Prestwick airport -- which it said dates back to 2015 -- along with the Trump hotel appears to have adhered to proper procedures.... The Air Force's use of the Prestwick airport has ... steadily grown. Indeed, the use of the facility has nearly tripled -- and overnights in the area increased more than five-fold, the Air Force acknowledged Sunday. From 2015 to 2019, they said, Air Mobility Command aircraft stopped at the civil airport 936 times. Of those, crews stayed overnight in the area 659 times. The frequency of the stops and overnight stays has increased steadily each year, from 95 stops and 40 overnights in 2015; 145 and 75 in 2016; 180 and 116 in 2017; 257 and 208 in 2018; and 259 stops and 220 overnights through August 2019." ...

     ... Power of the Press. Mrs. McCrabbie: So when the House made official inquiries in June as to why military personnel were staying at Trump Turnberry, the Pentagon didn't bother to write back with even a lame excuse. But when Politico published its report Friday & major newspapers followed up, the Turnberry Grift became an urgent issue.

How Trump's Border-Wall Diversion Is Helping Putin. Sam Brodey of the Daily Beast: "The Trump administration's move to divert billions of dollars intended for military construction projects in order to finance a border wall with Mexico sparked outrage last week, with cuts to things like funding Army base elementary schools on U.S. soil dominating the discussion and prompting sharp criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. But what went relatively unnoticed was the equally large pot of Pentagon cash that will be diverted away from construction projects at U.S. military facilities overseas.... National security experts believe it could be a gut punch to U.S. diplomatic and security interests in a part of the world that has been a particular sore spot for the president: Europe. The Trump administration is set to move $771 million worth of funding away from projects earmarked to the European Deterrence Initiative, a program created by the Obama administration that was designed to reassure anxious European allies that the U.S. would back them up in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea.... Deferred cash from the program accounts for two out of every five dollars that the administration is diverting to the wall from overseas -- raising more questions about Trump's inconsistent posture on the threat posed by Russia, along with his willingness to support NATO, which he has characterized as a financial burden on the U.S."

~~~ Kat Tenbarge of Business Insider: "... Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign manager ... says [the Trump family will become 'a dynasty that will last for decades, propelling the Republican Party into a new party.' Brad Parscale made the predication Saturday at a Republican Party convention in Indian Wells, California, where members of the party gathered to discuss strategy for the GOP to make strides in the overwhelmingly blue state." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Mr. Parscale declined to comment to The New York Times. But a campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and without official authorization to discuss the speech, said that Mr. Parscale was referring less to possible candidacies in the future and more to activities such as political speeches and fund-raising." ~~~

~~~ ** McKay Coppins of the Atlantic: The Trump dynasty began with a brothel in the Yukon, owned & run by Donald's grandfather Friedrich. "Friedrich's widow, Elizabeth, assigns each of her children a job in their fledgling real-estate business. But it's Fred, the middle child who has a knack for building, both houses and empires, and he takes charge shortly after high school.... infamy attends each new triumph. By the 1950s, he has built thousands of houses and apartments, and become the kind of landlord Woody Guthrie writes songs about.... [When Fred eldest son fails to met muster, Fred eventually chooses Donald as his successor.] The [Manhattan] market on the island is crowded and hostile, but Fred and Donald work closely to plot their invasion. Together, they cook books, fleece investors, and fool one regulator after another. Some of the scion's schemes pay off.... And while the president writes his chapter in history, the next generation waits in the wings, jockeying for position, feuding over status, knowing only one of them can be the heir.... Like a fun-house-mirror version of the Kennedys, they reel across the national stage swapping the language of duty and sacrifice for that of grievance and quid pro quo. Ask not what your country can do for you, they seem to say; ask what your country can do for the Trumps."

Conservative Peter Wehner of the Atlantic: "Donald Trump's disordered personality -- his unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behaving -- has become the defining characteristic of his presidency. It manifests itself in multiple ways: his extreme narcissism; his addiction to lying about things large and small, including his finances and bullying and silencing those who could expose them; his detachment from reality, including denying things he said even when there is video evidence to the contrary; his affinity for conspiracy theories; his demand for total loyalty from others while showing none to others; and his self-aggrandizement and petty cheating. It manifests itself in Trump's impulsiveness and vindictiveness; his craving for adulation; his misogyny, predatory sexual behavior, and sexualization of his daughters; his open admiration for brutal dictators; his remorselessness; and his lack of empathy and sympathy, including attacking a family whose son died while fighting for this country, mocking a reporter with a disability, and ridiculing a former POW."

Danny Sjursen in TruthDig: "The fallacy that [former Defense Secretary Jim] Mattis and other generals were the voice of reason in the Trump White House, the so-called 'adults in the room,' has precluded any serious critique of their actual strategy and advice.... The wildly unpopular, if not forbidden-to-be-uttered, truth is that Mattis, while an admittedly decorated Marine and a military strategist, was an abject failure. Despite being hailed as a 'warrior monk,' he was and remains a conventional interventionist figure -- prisoner to the tired old militarist ideas of the necessity for U.S. military forward deployment, counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, and the perpetual need to balance or 'contain' Russia and China." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. Mrs. McC: Sjursen doesn't mention it, but I've always sorta figured Trump hired Mattis because President Obama fired him.

Presidential Race 2020

Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Tom Steyer, the billionaire and former hedge fund investor turned impeachment activist, became the 11th Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the October debates on Sunday after a new poll showed him with 2 percent support in Nevada.... With 11 candidates now qualified for the October event, the D.N.C. may split that debate across two nights, as it did for the first two sets of debates in June and July. The committee has not yet indicated whether it will do so."

Caitlin Byrd of the [Charleston, S.C.] Post & Courier: "Facing monumentally longshot odds, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced Sunday he will challenge fellow Republican ... Donald Trump for the White House, launching a campaign centered on Washington spending but also on where the party is headed.The announcement came during a nationally televised in-studio appearance on 'Fox News Sunday'...."

Congressional Race 2019. Steven Shepard of Politico: "The last, lingering piece of the 2018 election is about to preview the fundamental dynamic shaping the fight for the White House in 2020. Tuesday's do-over election for a congressional seat marred by allegations of fraud last year, taking place in a Republican-leaning slice of North Carolina, exemplifies the key push-pull of politics in the Trump era: Cities and suburbs racing away from the GOP and toward Democrats -- and rural and exurban voters roaring back in the other direction, propelled by ... Donald Trump's appeal. The battle to maximize those trends will shape the 2020 campaign between Trump and his Democratic opponent in virtually every important swing state.... The president will hold a rally for Republican nominee Dan Bishop on Monday night in Fayetteville, seeking to boost GOP turnout on one end of the district and outdo Charlotte and its immediate suburbs on the opposite end, where Democrats in Mecklenburg County are in ascendance."

~~~ Senate Race 2020. Mrs. McCrabbie: In case you thought Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) -- who is up for re-election in 2020 -- spent last week back home appearing in photo ops where he pretended to be helping residents sandbag their homes against the impending hurricane, or tried to look concerned & empathetic while surveying storm-damaged properties, or in some other craven acts of retail politics that we think of as inevitable during election season, you would be wrong. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) appeared in a photo with Geert Wilders, a controversial Dutch parliamentary leader with anti-Islam and anti-immigrant views, while both attended a European security conference in Italy. Graham and Wilders, leader of the Party of Freedom in the Netherlands, were seen smiling together Saturday night at the Ambrosetti Forum on Italy's Lake Como." Mrs. McC: No doubt the weather was fine, the accommodations superb & the cuisine divine at beautiful Lago di Como.

Brandon Ambrosino, a Liberty U. graduate, in Politico Magazine: "In interviews ... [of] ore than two dozen current and former high-ranking Liberty University officials and close associates of [Jerry] Falwell[, Jr.] over the past eight months, they depicted how Falwell and his wife, Becki, consolidated power at Liberty University and how Falwell presides over a culture of self-dealing, directing university resources into projects and real estate deals in which his friends and family have stood to make personal financial gains. Among the previously unreported revelations are Falwell's decision to hire his son Trey's company to manage a shopping center owned by the university, Falwell's advocacy for loans given by the university to his friends, and Falwell's awarding university contracts to businesses owned by his friends. 'We're not a school; we're a real estate hedge fund,' said a senior university official with inside knowledge of Liberty's finances. 'We're not educating; we're buying real estate every year and taking students' money to do it.'"

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hong Kong. Eileen Ng of the AP: "Thousands of students formed human chains outside schools across Hong Kong on Monday to show solidarity after violent weekend clashes between police and activists pushing for democratic reforms in the semiautonomous Chinese territory. The silent protest came as the Hong Kong government condemned the 'illegal behavior of radical protesters' and warned the U.S. to stay out of its affairs. Thousands of demonstrators held a peaceful march Sunday to the U.S. Consulate to seek Washington's support, but violence erupted hours later in a business and retail district as protesters vandalized subway stations, set fires and blocked traffic, prompting police to fire tear gas. Hong Kong's government agreed last week to withdraw an extradition bill that sparked a summer of protests, but demonstrators want other demands to be met, including direct elections of city leaders and an independent inquiry into police actions. Protesters in their Sunday march appealed to ... Donald Trump to 'stand with Hong Kong' and ensure Congress passes a bill that would impose economic sanctions and penalties on Hong Kong and mainland China officials found to suppress democracy and human rights in the city."

News Ledes

NBC News: "Rescue teams made contact on Monday with four crew members still inside the Golden Ray, the cargo ship that capsized off the coast of Georgia, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The crew members on the ship were trapped in the engine room of the massive vessel that overturned and caught fire on the St. Simons Sound off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia, on Sunday. On Sunday, South Korea's foreign ministry said that the Hyundai Glovis cargo ship Golden Ray, which was transporting automobiles, had begun listing and then capsized in the early morning hours Sunday." ~~~

~~~ NPR Update: "The U.S. Coast Guard says it has rescued the fourth and final crew member from an overturned car carrier vessel in waters off the coast of Brunswick, Ga., after reporting earlier in the day that all but one had been pulled to safety.... Rescue crews had been working since Sunday to locate the missing crew members after the Golden Ray became disabled and eventually overturned in St. Simons Sound, about 80 miles south of Savannah, Ga."

A Hurricane by Any Other Name. Japan Times: "A powerful typhoon landed near Tokyo early Monday morning, killing at least three people and injuring about 40 as well as affecting hundreds of thousands of rush-hour commuters in the metropolitan area at the start of the week. East Japan Railway Co., also known as JR East, had suspended all lines in the greater Tokyo area as Typhoon Faxai made landfall near the city of Chiba, shortly before 5 a.m., as one of the strongest typhoons on record in the Kanto region.... Some 934,900 households in seven prefectures including Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka were believed to have been temporarily without power during the course of the storm, and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said power would be unlikely to return Monday in some areas, including south of Chiba prefecture where typhoon damage is extensive."

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