The Commentariat -- January 18, 2020

Late Morning Update:

BBC News: "Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles and will not receive public funds for royal duties, Buckingham Palace has said. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also said they intend to repay £2.4m of taxpayer money for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home. The couple will also no longer formally represent The Queen. The new arrangement will come into effect in spring this year. It comes after the couple earlier this month said they wanted to step back as senior royals. A statement from the Queen said following 'many months of conversations and more recent discussions' she was 'pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family'. 'Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,' the statement continued."

Edward Moreno of the Hill: "Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he made the call to release to the media hundreds of text messages between two high-ranking FBI employees after they criticized then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, according to new court filings the Justice Department released late Friday night. In the messages, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page insulted Trump as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), expressing a preference for Hillary Clinton in the election. The messages, which were exchanged on government cellphones, also revealed that the two were engaged in an extramarital affair, which has made them the subject of public harassment as well as ridicule from the president."

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian: "The FBI believes the Saudi Arabian government 'almost certainly' helps its citizens flee the country after they are accused of serious crimes, 'undermining the US judicial process,' according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. The surreptitious action is done, in part, to spare the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdom embarrassment, the FBI said. Intelligence officials believe the flights from justice will continue without intervention by the American authorities." --s

Breakfast at Cipriani's. Mrs. McCrabbie: Although Donald Trump repeatedly asserts he doesn't know Lev Parnas and has never spoken to him, it has become clear these are lies. There are of course all those two-shots of Trump and Parnas that keep cropping up. But Trump is right that a high-profile person doesn't necessarily "know" many of the people with whom he appears in posed photos. But besides Lev's assertions in his interviews this week, Lev brought receipts. For instance, his day calendar includes a September 2019 entry, "Breakfast with President Trump in NYC." According to Joy Reid of MSNBC, Trump's official schedule showed he had a breakfast at Cipriani's NYC the same day at about the same time. NBC News notes that the breakfast took place "just days before Parnas was indicted." Could Lev have consulted Trump's schedule, then penciled in the breakfast after the fact? Maybe. Also is the latest docudump of Lev's files, there a photo of some other event in which printed place cards for "President Donald Trump" and "Lev Parnas" are placed next to each other at a table. Could Lev have mocked up the table setting? Possibly. But I doubt it.

~~~~~~~~~~

They're trying to impeach the son of a bitch. -- Donald Trump, referring to himself, at an event with Louisiana State football champs yesterday, nearly a month after he was impeached

It's almost as if he's obsessing over something he doesn't understand at all. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Show Trial of the Century. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump plans on adding former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr and the defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz to his legal team for his trial by the Senate, a person briefed on the plan said Friday. Mr. Starr, whose investigation into President Bill Clinton's sexual relationships led to his impeachment, will be joined by Robert Ray, who succeeded Mr. Starr as independent counsel and wrote the final report on Mr. Clinton, the person said. Rounding out the team will be Mr. Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus who became famous as a defense counsel for high-profile defendants like O.J. Simpson. The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and Mr. Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, will lead the legal team." CNN's story is here. No mention of whether or not there will be dogs & ponies. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Emily Shugerman of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump is lawyering up for his impeachment trial with a team that looks surprisingly similar to that of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The president bolstered his legal team Friday with attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, who helped Epstein evade prison time in a now infamously lenient plea deal with Palm Beach prosecutors. Epstein originally faced multiple charges of soliciting and trafficking underage girls, but escaped with just 13 months of house arrest in a deal that caused Trump's Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to resign under pressure last year. A suit unveiled by Virgin Islands prosecutors this week alleges Epstein continued to traffic and abuse girls as young as 12 on his private islands until 2018, a decade after Starr and Dershowitz helped him walk free." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Dershowitz Tries to Distance Himself from Trump. Aris Folley of the Hill: "Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Friday night that he will not be pocketing any money for his work on President Trump's impeachment defense team. During an appearance on 'Anderson Cooper 360,' the attorney said that the details of his payment arrangement haven't 'been discussed' yet, but added: 'If I were to be paid, all the money would go to charity...,' he said. 'I'm doing this because I strongly believe in the Constitution. I strongly oppose the impeachment. I worry about the weaponization of impeachment and it could be used in other cases.... But I'm not part of the regular team that will be making strategic decisions and participating in questions about whether there should be witnesses or not,' Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor who also opposed former President Clinton's impeachment, also clarified. 'That's going to be left to others.'"

Pompeo Speaks. Matthew Lee of the AP: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In interviews with conservative radio hosts, Pompeo said he had no knowledge of the allegations until earlier this week when congressional Democrats released documents from an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal attorney suggesting that Marie Yovanovitch was being watched. He also said he did not know and had never met Lev Parnas...." Mrs. McC: I suspect Pompeo chose these venues because (a) no tough questions and (b) harder to tell someone is lying if you can't see his face. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Also, nice work, Mikey, in predicting the outcome of your fake investigation. No doubt the fake investigators who report to you will know on Day 1 what their "findings" will be. ~~~

~~~ Kate Riga of TPM: "Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, demanded Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's presence at an Iran hearing on Jan. 29 after America's top diplomat skipped the last one.... Engel wrote to Pompeo in a letter dated Thursday. '... I consider your testimony to be of extremely high importance and am prepared to use all legal means to ensure your attendance. I trust, however, that this will not be necessary.'" --s

Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "House Democrats on Friday released new documents from ... Lev Parnas ahead of the Senate trial that includes new information about the apparent surveillance of former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and additional contacts between Parnas and an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes of California.... The new documents include screenshots of undated text messages that appear to show Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut, messaging with a foreign number from Belgium, which appear to describe efforts to surveil Yovanovitch.... The Belgian country-code number sends Hyde a screenshot of an official photo of Yovanovitch. The Belgium number, whose identity is not known, writes 'My contacts are checking,' adding, 'I will give you the address next week.'... In another series of texts, the Belgian number tells Hyde..., 'Nothing has changed she is still not moving they check today again,' shortly adding, 'It's confirmed we have a person inside.' 'She had visitors,' the Belgian number texted in another exchange. The messages come after an earlier document release showed Hyde texting with Parnas about the apparent surveillance." The story contains more info on Parnas' interactions with Derek Harvey, an aide to Nunes. ~~~

~~~ Devin Nunes Must Be Having Another Cow. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House impeachment investigators sought Friday to pull Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, deeper into the Ukraine scandal at the center of ... Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial. A set of text messages released Friday evening by the Intelligence Committee show a top Nunes aide, Derek Harvey [Mrs. McC: who earlier worked in Trump's White House], in frequent contact with Lev Parnas.... The text messages, provided to investigators by Parnas, show Harvey in contact with Parnas throughout the spring of 2019 -- the same time Parnas was working with [Rudy] Giuliani and other Trump allies to remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.... The newly released text messages show Harvey asking Parnas to pursue several lines of inquiry with his Ukrainian contacts, including one regarding what Harvey calls 'rumors' about coordination between the 2016 campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort.... The new text messages add another layer to Nunes' potential involvement in the Giuliani-led effort to oust Yovanovitch and push the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation targeting Biden." ~~~

~~~ Take This Suit & Shove It. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "Rep. Ted Lieu (D) alleged in December that fellow California Rep. Devin Nunes (R) conspired with Lev Parnas ... to undermine the United States. Parnas has pleaded not guilty to violating campaign finance laws. Then a lawyer for Nunes, who is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, sent a multi-page missive threatening to sue for damage to Nunes's reputation, Lieu tweeted. The Democratic congressman replied with a letter of his own and posted a photo of the document online. 'I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes,' he wrote. 'Or, you can take your letter and shove it.' On MSNBC's 'Hardball' on Friday, Lieu doubled down. 'It turns out that based on text messages in the record and the amazing interview on [MSNBC's] Rachel Maddow Show that I'm right,' he said. 'Truth is a defense.'"~~~

~~~ David Knowles of Yahoo! News: "... Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump's attempts to convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr.... Trump, Parnas said [to Rachel Maddow], was made more powerful 'when he got William Barr.'... On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also criticized Barr in harsh terms. 'Does anyone think that the rogue AG is going to appoint a special prosecutor?' Pelosi said in Washington in reference to the revelations stemming from Maddow's interview with Barr. 'No, because he's implicated in all of this. This is an example of all of the president's henchmen. And I hope that the senators do not become part of the president's henchmen.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's easy to think of Parnas as Rudy's goon or Trump's goon. But in fact, especially in understanding the structure of power, he is -- in his own way -- just as smart about it as Jonathan Chait, and Chait, IMO, is a very smart guy. ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan of the Daily Beast: Lev "Parnas told The Daily Beast that his former friends' reaction to his arrest has strengthened his resolve to speak out. Parnas said that after he and his associate Igor Fruman were arrested at Dulles Airport on Oct. 9 and charged with campaign-finance violations, he was disappointed with [Rudy] Giuliani's silence. He said Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing -- a Trump-friendly husband-and-wife legal team with deep and longstanding ties in Washington's conservative legal world -- also kept mum about their relationship with him. That silence, he said, left him feeling betrayed.... He noted that the trio rarely shy away from defending controversial clients and allies on TV. But in his case, Parnas said, they were silent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Swan: "A dinner with Jared and Ivanka about cannabis, a phone call from Trump Hotel with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and a whole lot of theorizing about George Soros. Lev Parnas' interactions with Trumpworld, in his words, went way beyond the Ukraine influence effort. The former ally of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani spent more than a year embedded with some of the president's close outside allies.... He described several of them in an interview with The Daily Beast from his lawyer's office in Midtown Manhattan." --s

Michelle Goldberg: "One good thing about surrounding yourself with tawdry gangsters and grifters is that if they flip on you, you can claim they have no credibility because they're criminals.... A willingness to associate with Trump is a sign of moral turpitude, so most witnesses to his venal schemes will necessarily be compromised.... [Lev] Parnas is worth paying attention to because he's shown us, once again, what Trumpism looks like from the inside. It's part 'The Sopranos' and part, as he put it to [Rachel] Maddow, a 'cult.' The qualities that discredit Parnas are the same ones that let him fit right in."

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "One of Paul Manafort's clients in Ukraine appears to have laid the foundation for theories of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election that are now at the heart of President Trump's pressure campaign on Kyiv, according to an FBI interview released on Friday. The interview notes say that Ukrainian politician Serhiy Lyovochkin -- Manafort's longtime client in Kyiv -- told the former Trump campaign chairman that the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv had demanded information about Manafort from a specialized anti-corruption law enforcement body. The notes came out in FOIA litigation pursued by Buzzfeed and CNN...." --s

Evan Perez & David Shortell of CNN: "Attorney General William Barr briefly attended a meeting at the Justice Department last fall between top criminal prosecutors and ... Rudy Giuliani, a department official said Friday. The meeting reveals a previously undisclosed interaction between two men the President depends on to defend him. Justice officials have sought to distance the department and Barr from Giuliani since it became clear in recent months that the former New York mayor is the subject of an investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors. Giuliani was a part of a team of defense attorneys representing a Venezuelan client when they met with Justice Department officials."

Trump's Enemies List Is Bill Barr's To-Do List. Jonathan Chait: "No single case is egregious enough to prove bias on its own. The pattern of selective prosecution under Trump's Department of Justice, and his fanatically partisan Attorney General William Barr, has become evident in a series of cases that all resemble [the probe of Jim Comey's possible leaks, NYT story linked below]. The connecting thread is that Trump's enemies are scoured for any violation that can be found, and held to the strictest letter of the law, while his allies are given broad latitude.... In theory, there would be nothing wrong with the Department of Justice tightening up its standards of conduct. But all the evidence points to the conclusion those standards are being raised only for Trump's political enemies.... The flagrant nature of the 2016 anti-Clinton [emails!] leaks show just how unseriously the bureau has taken its rules on leaking.... The message Trump has sent to his bureaucracy is unmistakable. Political loyalists will be granted broad latitude, and displays of troublesome independence will be held to the strictest accountability." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jason Leopold, et al. of Buzzfeed: "BuzzFeed News has obtained another set of secret FBI documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe that reveals what key Trump administration officials and other witnesses told investigators about Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the president's attempts to obstruct the inquiry.... Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, said he had his lawyer speak with Fox News host Sean Hannity in January 2018 because he saw Hannity as an 'outlet to the public and the White House.'... Denis Klimentov, who is associated with the New Economic School in Russia, said that when Russians learned that Carter Page ... was involved 'in the Trump campaign in July 2016, the excitement was palpable.'... Interviewing Anatoli Samochornov, the Russian translator at the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, an FBI agent asked 'if he noticed anything odd with the Russian linguists working at' the United Nations or US State Department. Samochornov 'mentioned a few individuals.' Their names are redacted." --s

Trump Cares Deeply about Your Healthcare Costs (to the Extent they Affect His Polling Numbers). Josh Dawsey & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "President Trump lashed out at Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for not doing enough on health care and drug pricing during a campaign meeting this week after he was briefed on polling that showed the public trusted Democrats more than Republicans on the issue, according to four people present at or briefed about the meeting." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan & Caitlin Owens of Axios: "President Trump told his health secretary yesterday that he regrets getting involved in the administration's policy on vaping, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. "I should never have done that f[uck]ing vaping thing," Trump said during an impromptu call on speakerphone in an Oval Office meeting.... The administration's ban on flavored vapes is one of its most prominent health policy decisions, but trying to find a compromise between public health groups and the pro-vaping community caused massive political headaches.... The administration hasn't accomplished much on health care. Congress did not repeal the Affordable Care Act -- Trump's top priority -- and it did not address surprise medical bills, either. The administration has done very little on drug prices, and is urging the courts to throw out protections for pre-existing conditions." A New York Times story is here.

Make a Big Donation, Get a Debriefing. Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Trump recounted minute-by-minute details of the US strike that killed Iran's top military commander during remarks to high-dollar Republican donors at his South Florida estate, according to audio obtained by CNN. Trump, speaking at a GOP fundraising dinner Friday evening, offered new details about the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.... In his speech -- held inside the gilded ballroom on his Mar-a-Lago property -- he claimed that Soleimani was 'saying bad things about our country' before the strike, which led to his decision to authorize his killing. 'How much of this shit do we have to listen to?' Trump asked.... Trump did not describe an 'imminent threat' that led to his decision to kill Soleimani, the justification used by administration officials in the aftermath of the attack.... Trump described in detail watching remotely as Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport, where he was met by Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of Kata'ib Hezbollah. Trump claimed erroneously that Soleimani was meeting "the head of Hezbollah" (the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group is separate from group led by ... al-Muhandis)." Mrs. McC: There were a lot of "sir"s in Trump's description, so we know he made up those parts.

Elizabeth McLaughlin & Mark Osborne of ABC News: "The U.S. military confirmed late Thursday that some American troops were evacuated for blast injuries sustained in Iran's ballistic missile attacks on bases in Iraq last week. Ten service members injured at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq were flown out of the country on Wednesday, and another service member was flown out on Jan. 10. 'While no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,' said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.... In the wake of the attack, which was done in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani..., Donald Trump said no one was injured.... TBI [traumatic brain injury] would not meet the threshold for the Pentagon to be notified of the injuries, and that's why the department was only told on Thursday [about the injuries], officials said." Mrs. McC: So one of the few times Trump has made an untrue statement that wasn't his fault. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "The Trump administration moved on Friday to roll back school nutrition standards championed by Michelle Obama, an effort long sought by food manufacturers and some school districts that have chafed at the cost of Mrs. Obama's prescriptions for fresh fruit and vegetables. The proposed rule by the Agriculture Department, coming on the former first lady's birthday, would give schools more latitude to decide how much fruit to offer during breakfast and what types of vegetables to include in meals. It would also broaden what counts as a snack." The Hill's story is here. Mrs. McC: Having wrecked nearly everything President Obama did, they're going after his wife now. Anyhow, Happy Birthday, Michelle! Can I treat you to a Big Mac & fries with a sugary drink to wash 'em down?

** In a History Exhibit, National Archives Erases Women's History. Joe Heim of the Washington Post: "The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women's suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump's inauguration.... Viewed from one perspective, it shows the 2017 march. Viewed from another angle, it shifts to show a 1913 black-and-white image of a women's suffrage march also on Pennsylvania Avenue. The display links momentous demonstrations for women's rights more than a century apart on the same stretch of pavement. But a closer look reveals a different story. The Archives acknowledged in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women's March showcased at the museum, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump. Words on signs that referenced women's anatomy were also blurred." Mrs. McC: I find this reprehensible. No sex words. No negativity about our Dear Leader. You girls should be more ladylike. How's "Fuck you, Archives!"? ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's a Hill story.

Another Trumpie Goes to Jail. Caroline Kelly & Sheena Jones of CNN: "Former New York [Congressman] Chris Collins [R] was sentenced to 26 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to federal charges in an insider trading case. The sentence from Judge Vernon Broderick in a New York federal court comes after Collins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements in October. Federal prosecutors on Monday recommended that Collins be sentenced to nearly five years in prison. 'You had a duty and you betrayed that duty,' Broderick said, additionally slapping Collins with a $200,000 fine and a year of supervised probation upon his release.... Collins, who was the first sitting congressman to support ... Donald Trump's bid for the White House, resigned from Congress ahead of the guilty plea. By pleading guilty, Collins avoided a broader set of charges from the superseding indictment, including securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud."

Presidential Election

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday accused Democrats of trying to sabotage Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential bid, echoing allegations from Sanders supporters during the 2016 primary. 'They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously,' Trump said in a pair of tweets, claiming that Democrats were using his impeachment trial beginning next week to keep Sanders off the campaign trail in the critical final weeks before the Iowa caucuses. 'They are bringing him out of so important Iowa in order that, as a Senator, he sit through the Impeachment Hoax Trial,' he continued, using derisive nicknames to accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- without evidence -- of orchestrating the timing of the trial to give former Vice President Joe Biden a boost. 'Crazy Nancy thereby gives the strong edge to Sleepy Joe Biden, and Bernie is shut out again. Very unfair, but that's the way the Democrats play the game. Anyway, it's a lot of fun to watch!'" ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The first version of the conspiracy theory was hatched on Twitter last Friday, Jan. 10. 'Don't rule out that the reason Pelosi hasn't sent impeachment to the Senate is to hurt Warren and Sanders, and to help Biden,' Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, tapped out on his iPad. 'By timing the trial so it takes place during the Iowa lead-up, she has leverage over the liberals.'... Seven days later, Mr. Fleischer's theory ... -- for which there is no evidence -- was being promulgated by President Trump.... The evolution from online conspiracy theory to Fox News fodder to presidential talking point demonstrated how a world of conservative influencers, Republican lawmakers and online media outlets can drive disinformation through repetition and amplification. Two days after Mr. Fleischer's tweet, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, repeated it" on Fox News twice.... "His television commentary was then written up by Breitbart News' and the confederate Website the Federalist ran an article touting it. Then Trump tweeted it out.

Pete Williams of NBC News: "The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up an issue that could change a key element of the system America uses to elect its president, with a decision likely in the spring just as the campaign heats up. The answer to the question could be a decisive one: Are the electors who cast the actual Electoral College ballots for president and vice president required to follow the results of the popular vote in their states? Or are they free to vote as they wish?... 'It's not hard to imagine how a single "faithless elector," voting differently than his or her state did, could swing a close presidential election,' said Mark Murray, NBC News senior political editor.... The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in ... said electors can vote for any legitimate candidate.... States are free to choose their electors however they want, the court said, and can even require electors to pledge their loyalty to their political parties. But once the electors are chosen and report in December to cast their votes as members of the electoral college, they are fulfilling a federal function, and a state's authority has ended." The New York Times story, by Adam Liptak, is here.

Susannah Luthi of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Friday said it will revisit whether employers must guarantee free birth control coverage for their workers. It marks the third high court review of the contraception mandate stemming from Obamacare -- and the first since Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court. The provision requires employer-sponsored health plans to provide their enrollees with contraceptive coverage at no extra personal cost. Both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh considered similar cases while appellate court judges, and both showed sympathy for religious groups seeking exemptions from the requirement on moral grounds. Justices this time will review whether the birth control mandate violates religious freedom laws and whether proposed exemptions pushed by the Trump administration that have so far been blocked by lower courts can stand."

Cleve Wootson, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a Washington Post-Ipsos poll of African Americans nationwide ... [found that] while personally optimistic about their own lives, [they] today offer a bleaker view about their community as a whole. They also express determination to try to limit Trump to a single term in office. More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall. The pessimism goes well beyond assessments of the president. A 65 percent majority of African Americans say it is a 'bad time' to be a black person in America." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Balsamo & Jeff Martin of the AP: "Three men linked to a violent white supremacist group known as The Base were charged with conspiring to kill members of a militant anti-fascist group, police in Georgia announced Friday, a day after three other members were arrested on federal charges in Maryland and Delaware. A senior FBI national security official said police and federal agents intentionally moved to arrest the men ahead of Monday's rally because they believed some of them intended to commit violence there. It was unknown if the men arrested in Georgia planned to attend the rally in Richmond. The Base, a collective of hardcore neo-Nazis that operate as a paramilitary organization, has proclaimed war against minority communities within the United States and abroad, the FBI has said. Unlike other extremist groups, it's not focused on promulgating propaganda -- instead the group aims to bring together highly skilled members to train them for acts of violence."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. AP: "A computer security expert says he found that a forensic image of the election server central to a legal battle over the integrity of Georgia elections showed signs that the original server was hacked. The server was left exposed to the open internet for at least six months, a problem the same expert discovered in August 2016. It was subsequently wiped clean in mid-2017 with no notice, just days after election integrity activists filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of what they called the state's unreliable and negligently run election system. In late December 2019, the plaintiffs were finally able to obtain a copy of the server's contents that the FBI made in March 2017 and retained. State officials have said they've seen no evidence that any election-related data was compromised. But they also long refused to submit the server image for an independent examination." Mrs. McC: So this is Republican election officials trying to hide a hack or hacks of their system. If you're still thinking maybe Stacey Abrams really got more votes in the 2018 gubernatorial election -- an election in which her opponent Brian Kemp was "managing" the vote count -- keep on thinking. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kansas. Steve Vockrodt of The Kansas City Star: "A Kansas City area radio station can broadcast Russian state-owned media programming, the type that U.S. intelligence called a 'propaganda machine,' for six hours a day through a lease agreement struck by a local radio operator. RM Broadcasting LLC, a Florida-based company that has agreements to broadcast the Russian state media program Radio Sputnik, reached a deal on Jan. 1...The lease agreement lets RM Broadcasting air its programming from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. seven days a week. KCXL's website, which says that it's the radio station that will 'tell you the things that the liberal media wont (sic) tell you,' lists Radio Sputnik in its morning programming." --s

The Commentariat -- January 17, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Show Trial of the Century. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump plans on adding former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr and the defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz to his legal team for his trial by the Senate, a person briefed on the plan said Friday. Mr. Starr, whose investigation into President Bill Clinton's sexual relationships led to his impeachment, will be joined by Robert Ray, who succeeded Mr. Starr as independent counsel and wrote the final report on Mr. Clinton, the person said. Rounding out the team will be Mr. Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus who became famous as a defense counsel for high-profile defendants like O.J. Simpson. The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and Mr. Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, will lead the legal team." CNN's story is here. No mention of whether or not there will be dogs & ponies. ~~~

~~~ Emily Shugerman of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump is lawyering up for his impeachment trial with a team that looks surprisingly similar to that of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The president bolstered his legal team Friday with attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, who helped Epstein evade prison time in a now infamously lenient plea deal with Palm Beach prosecutors. Epstein originally faced multiple charges of soliciting and trafficking underage girls, but escaped with just 13 months of house arrest in a deal that caused Trump's Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to resign under pressure last year. A suit unveiled by Virgin Islands prosecutors this week alleges Epstein continued to traffic and abuse girls as young as 12 on his private islands until 2018, a decade after Starr and Dershowitz helped him walk free." Read on.

Pompeo Speaks. Matthew Lee of the AP: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In interviews with conservative radio hosts, Pompeo said he had no knowledge of the allegations until earlier this week when congressional Democrats released documents from an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal attorney suggesting that Marie Yovanovitch was being watched. He also said he did not know and had never met Lev Parnas...." Mrs. McC: I suspect Pompeo chose these venues because (a) no tough questions and (b) harder to tell someone is lying if you can't see his face.

Trump's Enemies List Is Bill Barr's To-Do List. Jonathan Chait: "No single case is egregious enough to prove bias on its own. The pattern of selective prosecution under Trump's Department of Justice, and his fanatically partisan Attorney General William Barr, has become evident in a series of cases that all resemble [the probe of Jim Comey's possible leaks, NYT story linked below]. The connecting thread is that Trump's enemies are scoured for any violation that can be found, and held to the strictest letter of the law, while his allies are given broad latitude.... In theory, there would be nothing wrong with the Department of Justice tightening up its standards of conduct. But all the evidence points to the conclusion those standards are being raised only for Trump's political enemies.... The flagrant nature of the 2016 anti-Clinton [emails!] leaks show just how unseriously the bureau has taken its rules on leaking.... The message Trump has sent to his bureaucracy is unmistakable. Political loyalists will be granted broad latitude, and displays of troublesome independence will be held to the strictest accountability." ~~~

~~~ David Knowles of Yahoo! News: "... Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump's attempts to convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr.... Trump, Parnas said [to Rachel Maddow], was made more powerful 'when he got William Barr.'... On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also criticized Barr in harsh terms. 'Does anyone think that the rogue AG is going to appoint a special prosecutor?' Pelosi said ... in reference to the revelations stemming from Maddow's interview with Barr. 'No, because he's implicated in all of this. This is an example of all of the president's henchmen. And I hope that the senators do not become part of the president's henchmen.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's easy to think of Parnas as Rudy's goon or Trump's goon. But in fact, especially in understanding the structure of power, he is -- in his own way -- just as smart about it as Jonathan Chait, and Chait, IMO, is a very smart guy. ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan of the Daily Beast: Lev "Parnas told The Daily Beast that his former friends' reaction to his arrest has strengthened his resolve to speak out. Parnas said that after he and his associate Igor Fruman were arrested at Dulles Airport on Oct. 9 and charged with campaign-finance violations, he was disappointed with [Rudy] Giuliani's silence. He said Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing -- a Trump-friendly husband-and-wife legal team with deep and longstanding ties in Washington's conservative legal world -- also kept mum about their relationship with him. That silence, he said, left him feeling betrayed.... He noted that the trio rarely shy away from defending controversial clients and allies on TV. But in his case, Parnas said, they were silent."

Elizabeth McLaughlin & Mark Osborne of ABC News: "The U.S. military confirmed late Thursday that some American troops were evacuated for blast injuries sustained in Iran's ballistic missile attacks on bases in Iraq last week. Ten service members injured at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq were flown out of the country on Wednesday, and another service member was flown out on Jan. 10. 'While no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,' said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.... In the wake of the attack, which was done in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani..., Donald Trump said no one was injured.... TBI [traumatic brain injury] would not meet the threshold for the Pentagon to be notified of the injuries, and that's why the department was only told on Thursday [about the injuries], officials said." Mrs. McC: So one of the few times Trump has made an untrue statement that wasn't his fault.

Cleve Wootson, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a Washington Post-Ipsos poll of African Americans nationwide ... [found that] while personally optimistic about their own lives, [they] today offer a bleaker view about their community as a whole. They also express determination to try to limit Trump to a single term in office. More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall. The pessimism goes well beyond assessments of the president. A 65 percent majority of African Americans say it is a 'bad time' to be a black person in America."

Georgia. AP: "A computer security expert says he found that a forensic image of the election server central to a legal battle over the integrity of Georgia elections showed signs that the original server was hacked. The server was left exposed to the open internet for at least six months, a problem the same expert discovered in August 2016. It was subsequently wiped clean in mid-2017 with no notice, just days after election integrity activists filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of what they called the state's unreliable and negligently run election system. In late December 2019, the plaintiffs were finally able to obtain a copy of the server's contents that the FBI made in March 2017 and retained. State officials have said they've seen no evidence that any election-related data was compromised. But they also long refused to submit the server image for an independent examination." Mrs. McC: So this is Republican election officials trying to hide a hack or hacks of their system. If you're still thinking maybe Stacey Abrams really got more votes in the 2018 gubernatorial election -- an election in which her opponent Brian Kemp was "managing" the vote count -- keep on thinking.

~~~~~~~~~~

I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, yesterday

It's almost as if he's obsessing over something he doesn't understand at all. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Senate formally opened the impeachment trial of President Trump on Thursday, bracing for a grave and deeply divisive debate over his fate as senators swore to deliver' impartial justice' and installed Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to preside over a proceeding with little precedent. In a somber ceremony that initiated only the third presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history, Chief Justice Roberts vowed to act 'according to the Constitution and the laws.' He then administered the same, 222-year-old oath of impartiality to the senators, setting in motion the final stage of a process that has roiled a polarized Congress, and could shape the outcome of the 2020 elections, along with Mr. Trump's legacy."

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Sadly, Roberts -- as expected -- wore a plain judicial robe, unlike his predecessor William Renquist, who had gold stripes sewed to sleeves of his robe. His inspiration: "one worn by the Lord Chancellor in a local production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe,: which Renquist had seen. Of his experience in overseeing the impeachment trial, Renquist riffed on a line from "When Britain Really Ruled the Waves" in Iolanthe: "I did nothing in particular, and I did it very well." One might think Renquist thought the Clinton impeachment and trial amounted to a grand farce -- one that unfortunately lacked appropriate musical accompaniment. ~~~

~~~ AP: "The Senate is one man short on the opening day of ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Republican James Inhofe is back in Oklahoma 'to be with a family member facing a medical issue,' his office says. Inhofe says he'll return to Washington in time for the start of opening arguments on Tuesday."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... as senators formally convened on Thursday as a court of impeachment in the case of Donald John Trump, new revelations were still emerging and important questions remained unanswered. The latest interviews by Lev Parnas..., as well as documents released by House investigators, only reinforced the reality that there is more still to be learned.... Underscoring the fluidity of the story was the release on Thursday of a damning new report by the independent Government Accountability Office. [story & document linked below]... And the recent offer to testify by John R. Bolton, the president's former national security adviser who privately denounced the geopolitical 'drug deal' orchestrated by Mr. Trump's other advisers, only underlines that many of the key players in the tale of intrigue have yet to publicly disclose what they know.... It is clear the Senate is opening a trial in a far different position than it did in 1868 when it determined [Andrew] Johnson's fate or in 1999 when it considered charges against [Bill] Clinton...."

~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times with live updates (Thursday): "For the second time in two days, the seven House members who will serve as prosecutors made a solemn march through the Capitol to the Senate chamber, this time to formally announce the charges against President Trump and initiate only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history....

"Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead impeachment manager, said his team would consider whether to press the Senate to call Lev Parnas to testify once the trial begins.... Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who says President Trump was fully aware of efforts to dig up damaging information that would help him in the 2020 election, would be 'a credible witness'during the impeachment trial, though she stopped short of saying he should testify.

"It was a straightforward question being put to nearly every Republican senator in the Capitol on Thursday: Should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial? But when Manu Raju of CNN, a well-respected congressional reporter, put it to Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, the first-term Republican who is up for re-election this fall went on the attack. 'You're a liberal hack,' she said. 'I'm not talking to you. You're a liberal hack.'" Mrs. McC: I've seen Raju on CNN many times. He's a straight reporter, not a "liberal hack." (Also linked yesterday. There are numerous updates to liveblog since first linked.) ~~~

~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer condemned Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) for calling CNN senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju a 'liberal hack' on Thursday -- describing the attack as 'disgusting.'... [Blizter said to Raju on air,] 'Instead of answering a fair question, she simply called you a "liberal hack." It was disgusting, it was awful. She should know better. Certainly, you're one of the most respected congressional reporters up on Capitol Hill.'" ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Instead of being ashamed and embarrassed that she snapped at Raju without cause, McSally is fundraising off video of the incident. Sargent calls this "beyond pathetic. Note that it is now seen as 'liberal' to merely ask a Republican senator whether she feels any obligation to consider the full set of facts...."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Thursday that it's 'likely' she would support calling witnesses after the initial phase of the impeachment trial but has not yet made a decision on any particular individual. 'While I need to hear the case argued and the questions answered, I tend to believe having additional information would be helpful. It is likely that I would support a motion to call witnesses at that point in the trial just as I did in 1999,' Collins said in a statement, referring to the Clinton impeachment trial." ~~~

     ~~~ Ed Kilgore of New York: "As the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins, a lot of attention is being paid to Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who has made a lot of ambivalent noise about possibly cooperating with Democrats on allowing new evidence and witnesses to appear during the trial, against the wishes of her party leader, Mitch McConnell. Now comes news from Morning Consult that as her moment of truth approaches, Collins has displaced McConnell as the senator with the highest disapproval rating back home[.]" As Kilgore points out, Collins is losing ground from all sides, so no matter what she does re: impeachment, she can't please everyone.

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate assesses Republican Senators' approach to impeachment. She focuses on McConnell & Collins, but she doesn't let others off the hook.

Animal House. I smell a rat here. The guy is crooked as a snake. -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Trump), commenting on new evidence provided by Lev Parnas, yesterday on Fox "News"

"But He Didn't Commit a Crime!" -- Another Faulty Trump Defense Topples. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Trump administration violated the law in withholding security assistance aid to Ukraine, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency said on Thursday.... The Government Accountability Office said the White House&'s Office of Management and Budget violated the Impoundment Control Act when it withheld nearly $400 million for 'a policy reason,' even though the funds had been allocated by Congress. The decision was directed by the president himself, and during the House impeachment inquiry, administration officials testified that they had raised concerns about its legality to no avail.... The White House budget office promptly rejected the report's conclusions.... Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland..., on Thursday called the G.A.O. report a 'bombshell legal opinion.' It 'demonstrates, without a doubt, that the Trump Administration illegally withheld assistance from Ukraine and the public evidence shows that the president himself ordered this illegal act,' he wrote on Twitter." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The GAO's decision report is here, via Politico. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The GOP has made the idea there was no crime a central argument in its impeachment defense of President Trump. The articles of impeachment, Republicans argue, don't actually accuse Trump of a specific, statutory criminal act, so the process is illegitimate. This, of course, ignores that you don't need a crime to impeach. But that strained argument was just severely undermined. The Government Accountability Office ruled Thursday the Trump administration's withholding of aid to Ukraine violated the law, because Trump can't use his policy priorities to supersede the constitutional power of the purse that Congress enjoys.... [In his decision,] GAO general counsel Thomas H. Armstrong delivers rebukes to Trump and his administration, saying it has failed to abide by the law, failed to substantiate its actions and failed to cooperate by providing the necessary documentation.... Now [impeachment managers] can plausibly argue Trump took an illegal action here as part of his pressure campaign on Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The rapid sequence of events in mid-May marks one of the earliest known moments when [Rudy] Guiliani's shadow campaign to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations that would benefit Trump inextricably merged with official U.S. foreign policy -- and, if [Lev] Parnas's account is accurate, appeared to move the levers of the American government. In the process, the vice president was dangled as a bargaining chip -- perhaps unwittingly -- to exert leverage over a foreign government, according to Parnas.... Text messages and other documents released by the House this week, as well as congressional testimony during the impeachment inquiry, corroborate the timeline that Parnas detailed in interviews with MSNBC and CNN about the episode -- and show how a rogue operation engineered by Giuliani began subsuming official U.S. policy.... While Giuliani emphasized his Ukraine trip was intended for Trump' personal benefit, Parnas said he went to Ukraine empowered to invoke core powers of the U.S. government -- military aid, official travel, a White House visit -- to force the Ukrainians' hand.... [Parnas told Giuliani he had failed in his attempt to get a commitment from a top Zelensky aide to get a statement that Ukraine would investigate Biden.] Pence's top Russia adviser, Jennifer Williams, said she was surprised the following morning to receive a call from an assistant to Pence's chief of staff informing her that preliminary plans for Pence to travel to Ukraine for the inauguration had been canceled, she later testified to Congress." ~~~

~~~ Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, told CNN that he witnessed ... Donald Trump telling a top aide that the US ambassador to Ukraine should be fired.... 'In the conversation, the subject of Ukraine was brought up,' Parnas said. 'And I told the President that our opinion that (Ambassador Yovanovitch) is badmouthing him -- and that she said that he's gonna get impeached -- something like that....' Parnas continued, 'and his reaction was, he looked at me, like, got very angry, and basically turned around to (then-White House aide) John DeStefano, and said, "Fire her. Get rid of her."' It was of several instances when Trump attempted to fire then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Parnas told CNN's Anderson Cooper in the latest installment of a wide-ranging interview that aired Thursday night." Mrs. McC: Here are the videos of the interviews CNN has made available:

Mrs. McCrabbie: In yesterday's Comments, I noted that Lev was following the old mob script of retaining a lawyer "recommended" by the boss -- in this case, John Dowd, who represented Trump during Mueller's investigation -- and that this arrangement usually did not work out well for the accused. In the second part of his interview with Rachel Maddow, which aired Thursday night, Lev elaborates on this. The full episode is here, though unavailable @5:45 am. (You have to have a cable teevee "subscription" to view it.) The Hill has an abbreviated report on Parnas' description of Parnas' relationship with Dowd. It supports my supposition. In the interview (but not in the Hill report), Parnas said that Dowd called Jay Secolow, another of Trump's personal attorneys, while at a meeting with Parnas, and they told him not to testify to the House Intel Committee because Parnas had "three-way [attorney-client] privilege" regarding his interactions with Trump via Giuliani. Former prosecutor Barbara McQuade, appearing on Lawrence O'Donnell's show said that was plausible, just as prosecutors could not force a lawyer's secretary to testify about what he knew about the lawyer's client. ~~~

~~~ Here is video of Parnas explaining to Maddow how Trump kept trying to fire Yovanovitch. Yes, yes, it's a comic horror story (thanks for the phrase to Dwight Garner's review of the Rucker-Leonnig book, linked below).

American Oversight (via digby): "We lined up the newly released Parnas messages with the records we obtained from the State Department through FOIA litigation, as well as other records and reports. The timeline is troubling.... Many of the messages between [Lev] Parnas and Robert Hyde, a Trump donor who was apparently assisting Parnas in Ukraine, were sent in late March 2019 -- dates when [Rudy] Giuliani was in touch with Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, according to records we obtained." The report includes the details. (Also linked yesterday.)

I don't know him at all, don't know what he's about, don't know where he comes from. -- Donald Trump, regarding Lev Parnas, to reporters, Thursday ~~~

~~~ David Jackson of USA Today: "... Donald Trump and aides sought Thursday to distance him from a Soviet-born businessman who said Trump knew all about efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating U.S. political rival Joe Biden.... 'I don't believe I've ever spoken to him,' Trump told reporters about Lev Parnas.... In an interview with CNN, Parnas said that every time Trump denies knowing him, 'I'll show him another picture. He's lying.'"

Stephen Colbert's monologue is not only funny but helpful as he includes tidbits of impeachment news I haven't linked:

** Where's Mikey? Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has maintained a persistent silence as stunning new evidence has emerged suggesting the former ambassador to Ukraine may have been illegally surveilled before she was forced out of her job by ... Donald Trump. The State Department has not publicly commented on any developments in the more than 36 hours since a new tranche of documents revealed that former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch may have been monitored at the behest of associates of ... Rudy Giuliani. The lack of a response is even more striking following a Thursday morning announcement that Ukrainian authorities have launched a criminal probe into that potential surveillance -- before any such announcement from the US government." ~~~

~~~ There's This. Allan Smith & Tom Winter of NBC News: "The FBI paid visits to Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde's Connecticut home and business on Thursday, a senior law enforcement official said. The agent's visits came days after the House Intelligence Committee released texts Hyde sent an associate of Rudy Giuliani..., suggesting that he had Marie Yovanovitch, then the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, under surveillance.... Connecticut Republican Party Chairman J.R. Romano asked Hyde to end his campaign, saying his 'antics' were a distraction."

MEANWHILE, at "Justice." Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry. The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a 'leaker.' Mr. Trump recently suggested without evidence that Mr. Comey should be prosecuted for 'unlawful conduct' and spend years in prison. The timing of the investigation could raise questions about whether it was motivated at least in part by politics.... Mr. Trump has repeatedly pressured the Justice Department to investigate his perceived enemies. In 2018, he told the White House counsel at the time, Donald F. McGahn II, to prosecute [Hillary] Clinton and Mr. Comey. Mr. McGahn refused...." TPM has a summary report here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That "could raise questions" construction, which reporters commonly use, is a cop-out. Obviously, the matter does raise questions, or the report probably would not have made the front page of the New York Times. Indeed, Goldman goes on to name some of the questions the investigation raises.

Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post in a WashPo excerpt from their new book A Very Stable Genius, describe a July 2017 meeting with Trump at the Pentagon that did not go as planned. The meeting was supposed to be a tutorial on U.S. foreign relations for the stunningly ignorant, impulsive & brash president*: "Rather than getting him to appreciate America's traditional role and alliances, Trump began to tune out and eventually push away the experts who believed their duty was to protect the country by restraining his more dangerous impulses." By the end of the meeting, Trump had worked himself up into "one of his rages. He was so angry that he wasn't taking many breaths. All morning, he had been coarse and cavalier, but the next several things he bellowed went beyond that description. They stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them.... 'I wouldn't go to war with you people,' Trump told the assembled brass.... 'You're a bunch of dopes and babies.'" ~~~

~~~ Dwight Garner of the New York Times reviews A Very Stable Genius: "... this taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump's shambolic tenure in office to date.... It reads like a horror story, an almost comic immorality tale.... Throughout he is misinformed and confused while at the same time utterly certain of himself."

Spencer Ackerman & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "More than a month after requesting information from the Department of Justice about the president's decision to give clemency to convicted or accused war criminals, two Senate Democrats [-- Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) --] continue to be stonewalled by the administration.... The lack of answers from the Justice Department, which is supposed to play a key role in pardon reviews, is likely to fuel allegations that Trump recklessly decided on a round of clemency that has disgusted many in the military community.... The two senators cited a department manual instructing the pardon office to review 'all petitions' for clemency and 'in every case' prepare recommendations. They referred to the pardon office as an 'institutional safeguard' against abuse of a broad presidential authority."

Ryan Browne & Geneva Sands of CNN: "The Pentagon received a Department of Homeland Security request Wednesday to build and pay for hundreds of additional miles of border wall on the southwest border, according to the Department of Defense. The request is for roughly 270 miles of border barrier and other infrastructure to be built in areas that are considered drug corridors, a mix of rural and urban areas, a senior Department of Defense official told CNN. Because the request is to ostensibly help combat drug smuggling, the Pentagon will be allowed to construct these barriers under its pre-existing '284' counter drug authority, which allows the Defense Department to build barriers, lighting and roads for the purpose of countering drug trafficking, according to the official.... In order to pay for hundreds of miles of additional border wall, the Defense Department will likely have to divert funds from other military accounts in order to provide adequate funding, something it did previously to pay for $2.5 billion of wall that was authorized via the counter drug account.... The reprogramming of money from various military accounts into the counter-drug account to fund the border wall proved controversial among many lawmakers on Capitol Hill who threatened to strip the Pentagon of its ability to move money in the future."

Sabrina Rodriguez of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed ... Donald Trump's signature trade deal with Mexico and Canada, helping him fulfill a 2016 campaign promise in a rare bipartisan vote. It's a big win for the president going into his reelection campaign, as he seeks to prove that his disruptive trade agenda is delivering results. But it'll take years of costly work before American workers and businesses begin to benefit from the new trade pact with Mexico and Canada, which passed the Senate in a 89-10 vote.... Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, voted against the pact for not doing enough to protect American jobs or address environmental issues.... The USMCA will not go into full effect until Canada approves the pact when its House of Commons reconvenes in late January." (Also linked yesterday.)

Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "Virginia on Wednesday became the 38th state to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, a symbolic victory for those who for generations have been pushing for a constitutional guarantee of legal rights regardless of sex. Virginia's decision does not seal the amendment's addition to the United States Constitution. A deadline for three-quarters, or 38, of the 50 states to approve the E.R.A. expired in 1982, so the future of the measure is uncertain, and experts said the issue would likely be tied up in the courts and in the political sphere for years. But the symbolism of the action in Virginia was significant after a struggle that had been raised, hard fought and, at times, forgotten over nearly 100 years.... Women packed the galleries of the State Capitol as the debate unfolded.... Some members of the House of Delegates, which for the first time in its 401-year history is led by a woman, Eileen Filler-Corn, brought their young daughters to witness the vote." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Virginia. Timothy Williams, et al., of the New York Times: "A sense of crisis enveloped the capital of Virginia on Thursday, with the police on heightened alert and Richmond bracing for possible violence ahead of a gun rally next week that is expected to draw white supremacists and other anti-government extremists. Members of numerous armed militias and white power proponents vowed to converge on the city despite the state of emergency declared by Gov. Ralph Northam [D], who temporarily banned weapons from the grounds of the State Capitol.... The unease increased after the F.B.I. announced the arrest on Thursday of three armed men suspected of being members of a neo-Nazi hate group, including a former Canadian Army reservist, who had obtained weapons and discussed participating in the Richmond rally. The men were linked to The Base, a group that aims to create a white ethnostate, according to the F.B.I." Mrs. McC: Um, the "gun-rights" rally is scheduled for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. Just a coincidence, I guess. The Daily Beast has a story about the arrests.

The Commentariat -- January 16, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Chief Justice, Senators Take the Impeachment Oath:

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sadly, Roberts -- as expected -- wore a plain judicial robe, unlike his predecessor William Renquist, who had gold stripes sewed to sleeves of his robe. His inspiration: "one worn by the Lord Chancellor in a local production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe," which Renquist had seen. Of his experience in overseeing the impeachment trial, Renquist riffed on a line from "When Britain Really Ruled the Waves" in Iolanthe: "I did nothing in particular, and I did it very well." One might think Renquist thought the Clinton impeachment and trial amounted to a grand farce -- one that unfortunately lacked appropriate musical accompaniment.

~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times with live updates: "For the second time in two days, the seven House members who will serve as prosecutors made a solemn march through the Capitol to the Senate chamber, this time to formally announce the charges against President Trump and initiate only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history....

"Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead impeachment manager, said his team would consider whether to press the Senate to call Lev Parnas to testify once the trial begins.... Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who says President Trump was fully aware of efforts to dig up damaging information that would help him in the 2020 election, would be 'a credible witness'during the impeachment trial, though she stopped short of saying he should testify.

"It was a straightforward question being put to nearly every Republican senator in the Capitol on Thursday: Should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial? But when Manu Raju of CNN, a well-respected congressional reporter, put it to Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, the first-term Republican who is up for re-election this fall went on the attack. 'You're a liberal hack,' she said. 'I'm not talking to you. You're a liberal hack.'" Mrs. McC: I've seen Raju on CNN many times. He's a straight reporter, not a "liberal hack." ~~~

"But He Didn't Commit a Crime!" -- Another Faulty Trump Defense Topples. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Trump administration violated the law in withholding security assistance aid to Ukraine, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency said on Thursday.... The Government Accountability Office said the White House's Office of Management and Budget violated the Impoundment Control Act when it withheld nearly $400 million for 'a policy reason,' even though the funds had been allocated by Congress. The decision was directed by the president himself, and during the House impeachment inquiry, administration officials testified that they had raised concerns about its legality to no avail.... The White House budget office promptly rejected the report's conclusions.... Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland..., on Thursday called the G.A.O. report a 'bombshell legal opinion.' It 'demonstrates, without a doubt, that the Trump Administration illegally withheld assistance from Ukraine and the public evidence shows that the president himself ordered this illegal act,' he wrote on Twitter." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The GAO's decision report is here, via Politico. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The GOP has made the idea there was no crime a central argument in its impeachment defense of President Trump. The articles of impeachment, Republicans argue, don't actually accuse Trump of a specific, statutory criminal act, so the process is illegitimate. This, of course, ignores that you don't need a crime to impeach. But that strained argument was just severely undermined. The Government Accountability Office ruled Thursday the Trump administration's withholding of aid to Ukraine violated the law, because Trump can't use his policy priorities to supersede the constitutional power of the purse that Congress enjoys.... [In his decision,] GAO general counsel Thomas H. Armstrong delivers rebukes to Trump and his administration, saying it has failed to abide by the law, failed to substantiate its actions and failed to cooperate by providing the necessary documentation.... Now [impeachment managers] can plausibly argue Trump took an illegal action here as part of his pressure campaign on Ukraine."

American Oversight (via digby): "We lined up the newly released Parnas messages with the records we obtained from the State Department through FOIA litigation, as well as other records and reports. The timeline is troubling.... Many of the messages between [Lev] Parnas and Robert Hyde, a Trump donor who was apparently assisting Parnas in Ukraine, were sent in late March 2019 -- dates when [Rudy] Giuliani was in touch with Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, according to records we obtained." The report includes the details.

Sabrina Rodriguez of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed ... Donald Trump's signature trade deal with Mexico and Canada, helping him fulfill a 2016 campaign promise in a rare bipartisan vote. It's a big win for the president going into his reelection campaign, as he seeks to prove that his disruptive trade agenda is delivering results. But it'll take years of costly work before American workers and businesses begin to benefit from the new trade pact with Mexico and Canada, which passed the Senate in a 89-10 vote.... Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, voted against the pact for not doing enough to protect American jobs or address environmental issues.... The USMCA will not go into full effect until Canada approves the pact when its House of Commons reconvenes in late January."

Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "Virginia on Wednesday became the 38th state to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, a symbolic victory for those who for generations have been pushing for a constitutional guarantee of legal rights regardless of sex. Virginia's decision does not seal the amendment's addition to the United States Constitution. A deadline for three-quarters, or 38, of the 50 states to approve the E.R.A. expired in 1982, so the future of the measure is uncertain, and experts said the issue would likely be tied up in the courts and in the political sphere for years. But the symbolism of the action in Virginia was significant after a struggle that had been raised, hard fought and, at times, forgotten over nearly 100 years.... Women packed the galleries of the State Capitol as the debate unfolded.... Some members of the House of Delegates, which for the first time in its 401-year history is led by a woman, Eileen Filler-Corn, brought their young daughters to witness the vote." The Hill's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times: Today, "the seven House managers will return to the Senate chamber to read aloud the articles of impeachment. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will make the trip across the street to the Capitol from the Supreme Court to be sworn in as the presiding officer of the trial and administer oaths to all 100 senators, who will raise their hands and swear to do 'impartial justice,' then take turns signing a book attesting to their oath.... The managers are expected to arrive for the reading at noon, and Chief Justice Roberts is expected around 2 p.m. The oath-taking and book-signing will follow.... By Senate rules, once Chief Justice Roberts is sworn in, a summons is to be issued to the president, who will have the opportunity to address the charges laid out in the articles of impeachment. The Senate is also expected on Thursday to set due dates for trial briefs from the House managers and the president's counsel, providing some clarity on when initial filings must be submitted. Once summoned, Mr. Trump is expected to respond in written form. The response may be read out over the course of several days."

House managers deliver Articles of Impeachment to the Senate:

Nicholas Fandos & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to send the Senate two articles of impeachment against President Trump, appointing seven Democrats to prosecute the case and initiating only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history.... Only one Democrat, Representative Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota, joined every Republican in voting 'no.'... The [impeachent] managers are scheduled to reconvene in the Capitol at 5 p.m. to finalize the articles with Ms. Pelosi in a formal 'engrossment ceremony' that will mark the beginning of an elaborate, and highly orchestrated, ritual. From there, accompanied by the House clerk and sergeant-at-arms, the managers will file from the House, through the old House chamber and the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate, where Democrats will present the articles to the secretary of the Senate. But the trial itself is not expected to start until Thursday, when the managers will most likely exhibit the articles inside the Senate chamber. Once they do so, the Senate will summon Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to preside and all senators will take an oath to administer 'impartial justice.' The Senate must promptly issue a summons to Mr. Trump informing him of the charges and requesting a response. Republican leaders have said the proceeding will not begin in earnest until next Tuesday, after the long holiday weekend." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Olivia Beavers & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tapped seven impeachment managers on Tuesday.... Some members who the Speaker tapped were considered shoo-ins, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who both had leadership roles during the impeachment inquiry into Trump's contacts with Ukraine. Others picked for the high-profile role of managers include Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Val Demings (Fla.), Sylvia Garcia (Texas), and Jason Crow (Colo.)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named the lawmakers who will prosecute the case in a Senate trial that will begin in earnest next week. In impeachment parlance, they are known as managers. They are tasked with persuading 67 senators to convict Trump and remove him from office on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 'The emphasis is on litigators, the emphasis is on comfort in the courtroom,' Pelosi said of her selections. Here's who they are and why Pelosi probably picked them for the most consequential part of the entire impeachment process." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' liveblog on impeachment for Wednesday is here. The Washington Post's liveblog is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Impartial Jury Foreman. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday ripped House Democrats and made the case for the upper chamber acquitting President Trump as he waits for the articles of impeachment to be transmitted. McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, did not directly call for senators to vote to acquit Trump but argued that senators cannot follow the House's lead and agree that the president deserves to be impeached and ultimately removed from office. '... If the Senate blesses this unprecedented and dangerous House process by agreeing that an incomplete case and subjective basis are enough to impeach a president, we will almost guarantee the impeachment of every future president,' McConnell said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Emma Dumain & Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald: Rep. Val Demings, a "Florida congresswoman who on Wednesday became an impeachment manager in ... Donald Trump's upcoming Senate trial, wants to remove the lead juror: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.... Her opposition to McConnell's participation in the Senate trial that is set to start next week stems from the Kentucky Republican boasting that he won't be impartial in deciding whether Trump should be acquitted or convicted. 'I'm not an impartial juror,' McConnell said at a press conference in December. 'This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision.' Demings released a statement on Dec. 13 declaring McConnell unfit to vote in Trump's impeachment trial after Senate leader went on Fox News to further detail his coordination with the White House on impeachment strategy."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Senate is still discussing whether it will hear witness testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who has said he would comply with a subpoena during the impeachment trial. But he's planning to reveal some of what he saw regarding the Ukraine matter in his upcoming book, according to people familiar with the plan. Mr. Bolton's book, due to be published by Simon and Schuster, is almost finished, according to people familiar with his plans, and is set to be on sale well ahead of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this summer. The book is going to ... expand on at least some of what he saw regarding Mr. Trump's efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials into announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden...." Mediaite has a summary report here.

Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate is prepared to enforce strict measures on reporters' access during ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial.... The Senate sergeant-at-arms and U.S. Capitol Police are looking to drastically curtail press access to lawmakers.... Among the potential restrictions, according to aletter sent to Senate leadership from the Standing Committee of Correspondents, are confining reporters to a press pen on the second floor of the Capitol and limiting their ability to walk with senators from the Senate subways.... But not all Republicans are on board. Some pushed back Wednesday, following news that access to senators will be significantly limited during the Senate impeachment proceedings. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, known for his folksy style and colorful quotes, complained that the restrictions send the 'wrong message.'"

Ken Vogel & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals of President Trump, completed his break with the White House on Wednesday, asserting for the first time in public that the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf. In an interview with The New York Times on the day the House transmitted articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump to the Senate, Mr. Parnas also expressed regret for having trusted Mr. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani.... Mr. Parnas made his remarks as House impeachment investigators released more material he had turned over to them. The material ... provided additional evidence that the effort to win political advantage for Mr. Trump was widely known among his allies, showing that Mr. Parnas communicated regularly with two top Republican fund-raisers about what he was up to. Text messages and call logs show that Mr. Parnas was in contact with Tom Hicks Jr., a donor and Trump family friend, and Joseph Ahearn, who raised money for pro-Trump political groups, about developments in the Ukraine pressure campaign.... The records seem to expand the circle of people around Mr. Trump who were aware in real time of the pressure campaign.... When asked by The Times how he knew that Mr. Trump was aware of the pressure campaign, he said that Mr. Giuliani assured him that was the case." ~~~

~~~ Phil Helsel of NBC News: "Lev Parnas..., says, 'President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials,' Parnas, who faces campaign finance charges, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in an interview set to air Wednesday night. 'I mean, they have no reason to speak to me. Why would President Zelenskiy's inner circle or Minister Avakov or all these people or President Poroshenko meet with me? Who am I? They were told to meet with me. And that's the secret that they're trying to keep. I was on the ground doing their work,' Parnas said.... Asked whether Trump specifically was aware that he and Giuliani were working on the effort in Ukraine specifically to hurt Joe Biden, Parnas said yes. 'Yeah, it was all about Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and also Rudy had a personal thing with the Manafort stuff. The black ledger,' Parnas said." Mrs. McC: There's a lot more, and it's explosive. Here's a small portion of the interview:

~~~ Jeffery Martin of Newsweek: "In an interview with Rachel Maddow Wednesday night, Lev Parnas said that Vice President Mike Pence was given the task of telling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that if he did not announce his government's investigation into the Bidens, the U.S. would not provide any military aid. When asked if Pence was aware of the quid pro quo, Parnas said, 'I'm going to use a famous quote from [Ambassador Gordon] Sondland. Everybody was in the loop.' Parnas said that Pence was scheduled to be a guest at Zelenskiy's inauguration.... But Parnas told Zelenskiy's senior aide Sergei Schaffer that if the investigation were not announced, then the relationship between Ukraine and the U.S. would become 'sour.' 'The announcement was the key at that time because of the inauguration and I told him Pence would not show up, nobody would show up to his inauguration,' Parnas said. 'It was particularly Vice President Mike Pence.' Pence's visit to the inauguration was canceled the day after Parnas met with Schafer.... To my awareness, Trump called to say "Make sure Pence doesn't go [to the inauguration]."' Parnas said he was positive Pence canceled his trip to the inauguration because of the disagreement between the U.S. and Ukraine." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I've joked about President Pelosi, but what a responsible Congress would do now is (1) remove Trump from office, (2) investigate the veracity of Parnas' claim about pence and impeach pence if verified, and (3) swear in either Pelosi or, if there is one, president* pence's appointed veep. Of course, none of this will happen because that "if" clause depends upon "responsible."

     ~~~ Right now, you can watch the full interview here. The full show will be here (@6:15 am ET, it's not up yet); however, to watch it here, you have to have access through your cable network & sign in, which is kind of a pain. More of the interview will air on Maddow's show tonight. ~~~

     ~~~ Justine Coleman of the Hill has a summary report.

~~~ Devin Nunes Tries out the "I Forgot" Defense. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Moments after [Lev] Parnas told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that the president 'knew exactly what was going on' with Ukraine, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked [Rep. Dennis] Nunes about phone records that show he spoke to Parnas, noting he previously said he couldn't 'recall' having a phone conversation with the Giuliani henchman. Claiming that the information was 'brand new' at the time and he just didn't 'recognize the name Parnas,' the pro-Trump congressman added that he was able to recall 'where he was at the time' and now 'remembered that call, which was very odd and random.' Asked whether or not they spoke about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Nunes asserted that the first time he 'heard the name Yovanovitch was not until this impeachment sham started.'" Mrs. McC: Nunes, you recall, sat through the House Intel Committee hearings as ranking member, never letting on that he himself had been in on the Ukraine scheme.

Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House impeachment investigators released a new set of evidence that was obtained from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of ... Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani -- including voicemails, photos, and text messages between Parnas and high-level figures within Trump's orbit. The material includes voicemail messages Parnas received from Giuliani and Victoria Toensing, a prominent Trump-aligned lawyer, both of whom have been identified as players in an effort to force the removal of the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, during the spring."

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "New materials released by House Democrats appear to show Ukraine's top prosecutor offering an associate of ... Rudolph W. Giuliani damaging information related to former vice president Joe Biden if the Trump administration recalled the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.... Among the revelations in the documents released Tuesday: a message from Giuliani to [Lev] Parnas saying he had involved a person he called 'no 1' -- possibly Trump himself -- in an effort to lift a U.S. visa ban on a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was planning to come to the United States to make claims about Biden.... The materials show that Parnas, a Russian-speaker who helped coordinate Giuliani's outreach to Ukrainian sources, was directly communicating with an array of top Ukrainian officials. Among them was Yuri Lutsenko, at the time Ukraine's top prosecutor and a close political ally of then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was running for reelection. Lutsenko wanted to get rid of Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador, in part because she had been critical of his office and supported a quasi-independent anti-corruption bureau he despised.... The newly released documents also detail Giuliani's involvement in trying to secure a U.S. visa for Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, who has alleged that Biden asked Poroshenko to fire him because he was investigating the owner of Burisma at the time."

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The previously untold story of how Giuliani and his associates reached out to ... Ukrainian tycoon [Dmytro Firtash] -- whom the former New York mayor had previously blasted publicly for alleged ties to organized crime -- shows the lengths Giuliani went to in his campaign to defend Trump in the Russia investigation and undermine former vice president Joe Biden.... The Firtash executive who met with Giuliani in Paris was an aspiring Ukrainian politician named Dmitry Torner, later accused by Ukrainian authorities of escaping incarceration in Moldova and living under a new name. The following month, Giuliani sat down in London with other Firtash representatives.... Later that summer, Firtash's attorneys filed a court document that Giuliani touted publicly as support for his claims about Biden. In a statement, Giuliani said he did not remember meeting Torner or details of his meetings in Paris and London and had limited interest in Firtash. 'I never met him. I never did business with him,' he said of Firtash. He did not respond to follow-up questions after The Post obtained photos of [Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman & Torner together in a Paris cigar bar].

Philip Bump of the Washington Post highlights a letter from Rudy Giuliani to Volodymyr Zelensky that makes it fairly impossible for Trump to throw Giuliani under the bus, as Trump attempted to do in an interview with Bill O'Reilly. In the letter, which is reproduced with the post, Giuliani writes, "I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump. Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.... In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nahal Toosi & Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Democrats are vowing to investigate allegations that people linked to ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer had placed the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance. Documents released by House impeachment investigators late Tuesday indicate that Lev Parnas ... corresponded with Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde about tracking the movements of the ex-envoy, Marie Yovanovitch. In often coarse terms, the pair nodded to an effort to oust her from the role.... Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter Wednesday to the State Department seeking records related to Hyde, Parnas and Yovanovitch. Engel wrote that he was especially alarmed by messages in which Hyde suggested he had 'a person inside' who could offer information on the ambassador; Engel questioned whether that person could be based at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.... New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote his own letter to the State Department demanding 'an immediate briefing and accounting' by officials in the diplomatic security division and others about what they knew and did to protect Yovanovitch."

~~~ Jonathan Chait: In "a series of messages between [Lev] Parnas, who met with Trump on several occasions and claims the president personally directed his mission in Ukraine, and Robert Hyde..., Hyde made several chilling remarks that seemed to indicate that he was surveilling Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and prepared to do something to her. Reading these messages makes clear Hyde was planning to do something unpleasant to Yovanovitch, apparently in tandem with some kind of security personnel he contacted, perhaps Russian ones[.]... Several months later, even after she had been removed from her post, President Trump appeared intent on doing some kind of harm to Yovanovitch. 'Well, she's going to go through some things,' he told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his July 25 phone call.... The Parnas-Hyde texts are evidence of how the whole scheme played out on the ground, which is basically as an episode of The Sopranos. And as the sordid evidence of the scheme continues to pour out, it remains the position of the Trump administration and nearly every elected Republican that Congress is not entitled to to any additional testimony or documents." Worth reading for the thread of Hyde's messages. Chait also goes into the evidence in the letter from Giuliani to Zelensky. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Lee Fang of the Intercept: "The man who relayed information about Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch's location to Rudy Giuliani's Ukrainian associates was a known stalker with mental health issues. Newly released private WhatsApp messages between Lev Parnas ... and Robert F. Hyde, a donor to ... Donald Trump's campaign and aspiring GOP lawmaker, reveal what appears to be an effort to surveil the former ambassador to Ukraine.... The messages, released Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee relating to its ongoing impeachment inquiry, show Hyde claiming to know Yovanovitch's location and movements in Kyiv, while implying that he was in contact with local security services in Ukraine who could be paid to go after the ambassador. The startling messages show the extent to which the Giuliani associates were willing to at least entertain extreme tactics.... The Intercept obtained police records showing that Hyde violated a restraining order issued by a Washington, D.C., Superior Court judge at the request of a Republican consultant who says that Hyde stalked her and intimidated her family over the last year. In one of the reports, an officer disclosed that Connecticut police confiscated Hyde's firearms in connection to his violation of the restraining order. Hyde was reported to authorities for 'unsettling behavior' and trespassing at a church in Connecticut, according to a separate police report last summer.... Hyde publicized that he was placed in a psychiatric facility in Florida last May, following an incident at the Trump National Doral Miami resort." There's more. ~~~

~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones: "Robert F. Hyde, a former landscape company owner and the latest oddball figure to enter the Trump-Ukraine scandal, has attempted to ride the Trump presidency into a new career as a lobbyist, public affairs operative, and all-around GOP player.... [T]here was one real connection Hyde did make -- and it was with a mysterious Chinese immigrant named Cheng Gao who donated almost a quarter of a million dollars to Trump and the GOP.... Hyde posted a video on his Twitter feed showing how in April 2019 he managed to introduce Gao to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.... In May, not long after he scored that Trump handshake for Gao, Hyde was taken into police custody at the Trump National Doral in Miami and involuntarily confined to a medical facility.... Hyde, according to a police report, said to the cops that 'e-mails he sent ... may have placed his life in jeopardy.'... The night before this incident, Hyde sent Mother Jones a long, rambling text message in which he boasted of his role in helping Trump during the 2016 campaign and implied that his life was at risk." --s<

AP: "Ukrainian police say they have opened an investigation into the possibility that the former U.S. ambassador came under illegal surveillance before she was recalled from her post. The announcement Thursday came two days after Democratic lawmakers in the United States released a trove of documents that showed Lev Parnas, an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, communicating about the removal of Marie Yovanovitch as the ambassador to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry, which runs the police forces, said in a statement that Ukrainian police 'are not interfering in the internal political affairs of the United States. However, the published messages contain facts of possible violations of Ukrainian law and of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which protect the rights of diplomats on the territory of another state,' the statement continued. The Interior Ministry also said it has invited the FBI to take part in the investigation."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Aaron Rupar of Vox has a good post on how the mainstream media in general, and in this case, NPR in particular, sanitize and normalize Trump's wild, incoherent rants. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Mrs. McC: During the first year-plus of his term, almost all major-media outlets labored to "interpret" Trump's rants by making some sense of what he was saying, which of course had the effect of normalizing his speeches and remarks. But I have noticed that, after maybe two years, reporters at some major outlets, including the NYT, finally started writing about Trump's "disjointed rambling" and "anger" and so forth even in straight news reports. Too little, too late. (Also linked yesterday.)

"He Was at Times Dangerously Uninformed." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post reviews a new book -- A Very Stable Genius -- by WashPo reporters Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig that reports on incidents and remarks showing what an ignoramus Trump is -- and how this affects U.S. foreign policy. ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Ward of Vox has a summary report. He zeroes in on Trump's wish to repeal the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, inasmuch as the act makes it more problematic for Trump's companies to bribe foreign officials.

Nahal Toosi of Politico: "The State Department abruptly canceled two classified congressional briefings Wednesday that were supposed to focus on embassy security and the U.S. relationship with Iran, Capitol Hill aides said, infuriating lawmakers and staffers seeking answers on the fallout from ... Donald Trump's decision to kill a senior Iranian general. The cancellations also coincide with the release of documents suggesting that associates of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had put the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance -- an issue that touches on both embassy security and the president's impeachment. 'Staff are furious,' a House aide said about the scuttled embassy security session. 'This briefing is required by law every month, and today's was the most important we've had scheduled in a long time. The State Department has given us no explanation whatsoever.'"

Ana Swanson & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "President Trump signed an initial trade deal with China on Wednesday, bringing the first chapter of a protracted and economically damaging fight with one of the world's largest economies to a close. The pact is intended to open Chinese markets to more American companies, increase farm and energy exports and provide greater protection for American technology and trade secrets. China has committed to buying an additional $200 billion worth of American goods and services by 2021 and is expected to ease some of the tariffs it has placed on American products. But the agreement preserves the bulk of the tariffs that Mr. Trump has placed on $360 billion worth of Chinese goods, and it maintains the threat of additional punishment if Beijing does not live up to the terms of the deal." A CNN report is here.

Extorting Allies. Reuters: "The Trump administration has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on European automobile imports if Britain, France and Germany do not formally accuse Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed European officials. The three European countries triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement on Tuesday, amounting to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms and could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions lifted under the accord.... It was not clear if the threat was necessary since the Europeans had signaled an intention to trigger the dispute mechanism for weeks, the newspaper reported." --s ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Katrin Bennhold & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: As the U.S. pressures Germany to ostracize China's tech giant Huawei, China is pressuring Germany to use Huawei technology in its autos. "VW, Daimler and BMW sell more cars in China than anywhere else and many already cooperate with Huawei...."

Leo Hindery, Jr., in The (Iowa) Gazette: "[T]he dirty secret of the economy under Trump is that while major corporations have had reasons to celebrate, rural communities in the heartlands have gotten stiffed. Case in point: Iowa. Research shows that in the state the bulk of the economy's benefits are being enjoyed by the richest one percent of Iowans, and much less so by the state's small businesses and farmers who are fighting for scraps.... This pattern could not be starker: The President and his supporters in Congress continually promise a lifeboat to those struggling to stay afloat but then they barely throw them a line.... Democratic candidates must be laser-focused on the rural economy as they look to persuade Iowa voters. They must connect with the Iowans who continue to be left behind -- not for the sake of scoring political points, but because the state's local farmers and small businesses deserve so much better." --s

Katy O'Donnell of Politico: "The Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow Puerto Rico to access more than $8 billion in blocked disaster aid funding, ending a monthslong hold by the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter. Puerto Rico, which suffered devastating losses from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, has received just $1.5 billion of the roughly $20 billion in congressionally authorized disaster funds that HUD is supposed to administer. The delay in receiving the additional funds had incensed both U.S. lawmakers and commonwealth officials.... Democrats had cranked up the pressure on the White House to release the money in the wake of the earthquakes, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Thursday calling on administration officials to 'cease and desist that illegal activity.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Kyle Blaine, et al., of CNN: "In a tense and dramatic exchange in the moments after the Democratic debate Tuesday night, Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar on national television. Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar and said they should not talk about it right then.... Sound of the moment was caught by CNN's microphones and found Wednesday." The story includes a transcript of the exchange. ~~~

Washington "Post Opinions invited the Democratic presidential candidates not on the stage in Des Moines on Tuesday to add their thoughts to a key exchange in the debate. Here are the responses from five of them." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Donors to President Trump's reelection are now permitted to give nearly $600,000 per year, boosting the president's ability to raise money from wealthy supporters months before the general election contest begins in earnest. Under an agreement announced Wednesday by Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, a single donor can give as much as $580,600 this year to support Trump's reelection -- higher than the committee's previous caps on contributions.... It is the latest example of the dramatically expanding fundraising power of national party committees, made possible through pivotal legal changes in 2014 that loosened restrictions on individual contributions. While a person can give a maximum of $5,600 to Trump's campaign committee, a donor can legally give 103 times more in support of Trump's reelection through the new joint fundraising arrangement.... But because there is no nominee yet, none of the current Democratic candidates can benefit from [a joint] fundraising [agreement]." The DNC, though, has been raising money through a joint agreement, as did Hillary Clinton in 2016. Via safari. A Raw Story summary report is here.

Jason McGahan of the Daily Beast: "Ex-Stormy Daniels lawyer and Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti was led out of the State Bar Court in Los Angeles by federal agents on Tuesday evening. The arrest occurred outside the disciplinary hearing in which the State Bar of California has accused the hard-charging, tough-talking attorney of using a doctored document to scam a client out of nearly $840,000, funneling money from a lawsuit settlement fund to his own personal use. The State Bar of California, the official attorney licensing agency, has sought to put Avenatti on 'involuntary inactive status,' setting in motion a timeline for disbarment proceedings. During a break in testimony, members of the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, who are prosecuting Avenatti in a separate criminal matter in Orange County, parleyed with Avenatti's team of lawyers and took the lawyer into custody." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Virginia. Tess Owen of Vice News: "In response to what he described as 'credible intelligence' of threats of violence at an upcoming gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency and will temporarily ban individuals from carrying firearms on Capitol grounds. The governor said at a press conference Wednesday that authorities believe 'armed militia groups plan to storm the Capitol' during the January 20 rally." --s ~~~

~~~ Timothy Johnson of Media Matters: "Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars outlet have been hyping the prospect of violence in Virginia, particularly at an upcoming pro-gun rally, as the commonwealth considers passing stronger gun laws. Jones and his associates are also preemptively claiming that any violence that does occur at the rally, planned for January 20 outside the Virginia Capitol, will be a 'false flag,' a similar claim to what he's said about violence that occurred at the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Jones said that he and 'dozens of our people' will be at the January 20 rally, and he has invited white nationalist Richard Spencer to join him. One of Jones' other rally invitees, conspiracy theorist Matt Bracken, has made frequent appearances on Jones' outlet Infowars to espouse violent rhetoric while discussing Virginia's gun laws and has even showed people how to best equip their assault weapons for battle."

Way Beyond

Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia abruptly resigned on Wednesday, shortly after his political patron, President Vladimir V. Putin, sent the country's political elite into a swirl with proposals for sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his hold on power for many years. Mr. Medvedev's cabinet also resigned. In a statement issued by the Russian news agency Tass, Mr. Medvedev, a lawyer who has known Mr. Putin since they worked together in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Mr. Putin." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)