;)
The Commentariat -- January 23, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday she will block President Trump from delivering the State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government reopens, rejecting the president's demand to deliver the speech on Jan. 29. In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said she would not move forward with the legislative steps needed for the address to take place. 'The House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the president's State of the Union address in the House chamber until government has opened,' she wrote. By refusing to schedule a vote on the resolution, Pelosi is preventing Congress from meeting in a joint session for the purpose of hearing Trump's address.... [The letter] comes just hours after Trump informed her in a letter that he would move ahead and deliver the address at the Capitol on the 29th, essentially daring the Speaker to scrap his plans."
Darren Samuelsohn & Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen is trying to delay his public testimony before the House Oversight Committee, with Cohen's lawyer citing 'ongoing threats against his family' and his continued cooperation with investigators. Cohen had been scheduled to testify on Feb. 7 at the highly anticipated hearing, which his attorney Lanny Davis noted he had voluntarily agreed to. But because of the threats, which Davis alleges came from Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani 'as recently as this weekend,' and because of Cohen's 'continued cooperation with ongoing investigations, by advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen's appearance will be postponed to a later date,' he said."
Mariana Zuñiga, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Nicolás Maduro [of Venezuela] on Wednesday faced the gravest challenge to his authority since assuming power in 2013, as the U.S.-backed opposition claimed the legitimate mantle of leadership, and President Trump promptly recognized him as Venezuela's interim president.... Subsequently, Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Democrats are prepared to support new levels of border security funding, but not a wall, if President Trump agrees to reopen the government first, lawmakers and aides said Wednesday. The proposal, which Democrats plan to put into a formal letter to Trump, will include border security improvements such as retrofitting ports of entry, new sensors and drones, more immigration judges and border patrol agents, and additional technology, among other measures. The letter was not final and the exact figure Democrats will suggest was not yet determined, but aides said it would be higher than the levels Democrats have supported in the past, which have ranged from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion." ... ... A Fence by Any Other Name Is Still a Fence. Jose Del Real of the New York Times: "For nearly a year, President Trump has pointed with pride to a renovation project replacing two miles of border fencing in Calexico[, California]. He hailed it as 'the start of our Southern Border WALL!' -- to the great consternation of many of the town's residents, who are wary of becoming the public face of a hard-line immigration policy that most here do not agree with. The attention the president's tweet brought was surreal, in part because the construction replaced an unsightly stretch of steel fencing that was already there.... For many [Calexico residents], a sense of apprehension turned to anger when the military installed barbed wire on top of older border fencing, which runs through downtown. 'This community is basically being used for political purposes,' said [Maritza] Hurtado, who served as the town's mayor until December. 'And it's happening throughout these border cities that are just like ours.'" Hurtado said the Border Patrol came to the town three times to explain that the replace fence was not "the wall." "And then here comes Trump and says, 'It's the wall!'"... ... Aris Folley of the Hill: "A man from San Antonio [-- Manuel Lopez, Jr.,] has organized a 'search party' dedicated to finding a wall in the city that President Trump referenced over the weekend. While speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump boasted about the effectiveness of border walls while specifically mentioning San Antonio. 'Everybody knows that walls work,' Trump said at the time. 'You look at San Antonio, you look at so many different places. They go from one of the most unsafe cities in the country to one of the safest cities, immediately.' The Houston Chronicle points out that while San Antonio's overall crime rate has gone down in recent years, it cannot be attributed to any type of border wall. The city is roughly 150 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As I recall, there is a wall around the Alamo, which is kind of fitting inasmuch as Trump is treating his stupid wall as if he were Davy Crockett making a last stand at the Alamo. ... ... Matthew Choi of Politico: "One of ... Donald Trump's top advisers said on Wednesday that the partial government shutdown could suffocate the economy this quarter if it persists, leading to zero percent growth. As the shutdown stretches into the 33rd day and roughly 800,000 federal employees are poised to miss a second paycheck, Kevin Hassett told CNN that the shutdown could contribute to a dramatic drop in gross domestic product growth." Mrs. McC: Yes, but it's nice to know that as the economy tanks, so many federal employees are enjoying the vacation Hassett was touting a few weeks back. Rachel Bade of Politico: "House Democratic investigators launched a probe on Wednesday into the Trump administration's use of security clearances and temporary security clearances, accusing the White House of playing fast and loose with the nation's most guarded secrets. Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings laid out several lines of inquiry on the matter in a letter to the White House, naming former national security adviser Michael Flynn and top officials who he wrote should have raised red flags. The panel will press the White House to provide Congress with information about how and why it issued some security clearances, which Democrats note is required under federal law. Democrats have said the White House has so far refused to provide that information." ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: And while they're at it, they should look into Trump's use of unsecured phones, including the device he calls "the flat one," which might have a phone app." Mrs. McCrabbie: Here are a couple of things you probably didn't know about Pat Cipollone, the new White House counsel: he's a graduate of Covington High School, "Fox News' Laura Ingraham has called Cipollone her 'godfather' and 'spiritual mentor' because he helped the conservative commentator convert to Catholicism in 2002, according to The Post." ... ... Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "A gay student who [as class valedictorian] was barred by the Covington diocese from speaking at his 2018 graduation [from Holy Cross High], is 'not surprised' by the Covington Catholic High School video.... 'It was only a matter of time that something this school community did would blow up to this degree, and I think they need to be held accountable,' [Christian Bales said.]" ***** "Resign." Heather Long of the Washington Post: "When asked Tuesday what he would say to President Trump if he were seated across from him, former U.S. secretary of state John F. Kerry ... gave a one-word answer: 'Resign.' Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, made the remark while speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum [in Davos, Switzerland]. The audience of mostly elite business, academic and government leaders from around the world initially laughed at Kerry's comment, and then many clapped and cheered.... 'He doesn't take any of this seriously,' Kerry said on the panel, adding that he doesn't think Trump has the 'ability' to have deep conversations." The Trump Shutdown, Ctd. Sheryl Stolberg & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The Senate will hold competing votes Thursday on President Trump's proposal to spend $5.7 billion on a border wall and on a Democratic bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8 without a wall, marking the first time the Senate has stepped off the sidelines to try to end the monthlong government shutdown. The procedural move by Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, is the first time the parties have agreed to do virtually anything since the shutdown began Dec. 23. With most Republicans united behind Mr. Trump's insistence that any legislation to reopen the government include money for a border wall and most Democrats opposed to the linkage, neither measure might draw the 60 votes required to advance." ... ... Matt Ford of the New Republic: "A breakthrough ... this is not. That would require a good-faith proposal from the president. Instead, he has put forth a lopsided deal that was reportedly crafted in negotiations between Vice President Mike Pence, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell -- hardly a stirring example of bipartisanship.... It was Trump himself who, over the last two years, ordered an end to DACA and placed TPS recipients at risk for deportation, so his shutdown offer amounts to a hostage-taking. Since the extensions would be temporary, he wouldn't even be releasing the hostages. But Trump still pitched his proposal as a moderate, sensible solution to the deadlock.... When Senate Republicans published the full legislative text of the proposal on Monday night, it soon became clear that their bargain had no hope of becoming law. Immigration lawyers and experts quickly discovered that the proposal would rewrite the DACA and the TPS programs to water down both their scope and their protections. The bill would also impose onerous new restrictions on some asylum applications that, if enacted, may violate U.S. humanitarian treaty commitments." Mrs. McC: Ford forgets co-authors Donald Trump & Stephen Miller. ... ... Greg Sargent: "President Trump and his allies have spent days talking up the idea that his new proposal to reopen the government constitutes a 'compromise.'... But on Monday night, Senate Republicans released the bill text.... Surprise: It has been so loaded up with poison pills that it looks as if it was deliberately constructed to make it impossible for Democrats to support. If so, that would be perfectly in keeping with the M.O. that we've already seen from top adviser Stephen Miller, who appears devoted to scuttling any and all policies that could actually prompt compromises.... The proposal on the dreamers was whittled down to the point where it only undoes the disaster Trump himself is orchestrating.... The new proposal is much worse on asylum seekers than advertised.... There is no way this offer represents a compromise, if we conventionally understand a 'compromise' to be an agreement in which both sides secure meaningful concessions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ... ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's idea of a "compromise" seems to be to ask for more stuff he wants. Then back out of his "compromise" and ask for more. Without saying please. ... ... Trump the Possessed. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "As the partial government shutdown enters its 33rd day, Democrats accuse Mr. Trump of hostage-taking tactics, but among the hostages has been his own presidency. Other than his single-minded pursuit of a border wall, Mr. Trump has all but put on hold advancing the rest of his agenda. It has become, as one administration official put it, a one-issue White House." Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Tuesday passed a measure that would temporarily extend a key federal welfare program, days after a group of governors warned that states were on the verge of exhausting their funding amid the ongoing government shutdown. The measure, which was approved unanimously by the Senate and had already passed the House, would extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program through June 30. It now heads to President Trump's desk." Mrs. McC: It's not clear from the report that the federal workers who have to distribute the funds will be paid. This looks like opening the government, program-by-program, perhaps on the backs of forced laborers. Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: Problems are piling up at the nation's airports as workers affected by the government shutdown are poised to miss another paycheck.... Federal employees were set to go another pay cycle without compensation, giving them four weeks without pay.... A large number of [TSA] agents failed to show up to work, causing longer waits at security lines.... A report from the FBI Agents Association on Tuesday said the shutdown is making the country less safe.... A spokeswoman for the federal court system, meanwhile, said officials had been able to save enough money to keep the courts operating until Jan. 31.... Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced he was reopening Farm Service Agency offices nationwide.... The agency's 9,700 workers won't get paid until the shutdown is over." ... ... Daniel Paquette, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees have received permission to skip work during the partial government shutdown due to financial hardship, and union leaders said Tuesday that they expected absences to surge as part of a coordinated protest that could hamper the government's ability to process taxpayer refunds on time. The Trump administration last week ordered at least 30,000 IRS workers back to their offices, where they have been working to process refunds without pay. It was one of the biggest steps the government has taken to mitigate the shutdown's impact on Americans' lives. But IRS employees across the country -- some in coordinated protest, others out of financial necessity -- won't be clocking in, according to Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, and several local union officials. The work action is widespread and includes employees from a processing center in Ogden, Utah, to the Brookhaven campus on New York's Long Island." ... ... You People Need to Sacrifice. Nicole Goodkind of Newsweek: "The 800,000 furloughed federal employees and 400,000 working without pay due to the government shutdown ... are going through 'a little bit of pain,' but 'this is so much bigger than any one person' said Lara Trump, campaign adviser and daughter-in-law to ... Donald Trump and wife to Eric Trump, to right-leaning web show Bold TV on Monday. 'We get that this is unfair to you, but this is so much bigger than any one person. It is a little bit of pain, but it's going to be for the future of our country and their children and their grandchildren and generations after that will thank them for their sacrifice right now,' said Trump." ... ... Ian Kullgren of Politico: "Despite not working or getting paid for the past month, federal employees furloughed by the government won't be counted as unemployed in the January jobs report next week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." Mrs. McC: Hey, those who have had to take temporary jobs (you know, where they get paychecks) might be counted twice. Theoretically, the unemployment rate could drop into negative territory. Avery Anapol of the Hill: "Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday introduced legislation to prevent future government shutdowns in the event of funding lapses. The Stop Stupidity (Shutdowns Transferring Unnecessary Pain and Inflicting Damage In The Coming Years) Act would automatically renew funding for all aspects of government, besides the legislative branch and president's office, at the same level as the previous year. A press release about the legislation said that such a policy would keep the government running in the event that lawmakers are not able to pass a funding bill due to policy differences.... Warner said in the release that the Stop Stupidity Act would 'protect federal government workers from being used as pawns in policy negotiations.'" Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The 10 weeks of testimony at the trial of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug lord known as El Chapo, have revealed that his innovative smuggling network typically went through legal checkpoints — not isolated stretches of the border where a wall might be an obstacle. President Trump's plan to build a wall along the southwestern border has not been mentioned at the trial, but it has lurked in the background of Mr. Guzmán's prosecution, a watershed moment in America's war on drugs." Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is preparing for two different State of the Union speeches -- one a more traditional address delivered to Congress in the House chamber or some other location in D.C., the other prepared for a political rally at a location outside of Washington, D.C. that has yet to be determined, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning.... As part of the ongoing political tit-for-tat between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Republicans are encouraging Trump to force Pelosi to officially disinvite him, by suggesting the president announce he still intends to deliver the State of the Union from the House chamber, according to Republican sources involved in the discussions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ... ... "Trump Threatens to Crash Congress." Tina Nguyen of Vanity Fair: "Beyond putting her in her place,' it's still unclear what Donald Trump hoped to achieve by canceling Nancy Pelosi's 'public-relations event' to a war zone in Afghanistan last week. If he thought the move would inspire the House Speaker to re-extend her invitation to the president to deliver a State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on January 29, he was sadly mistaken.... And so, with Democrats aligned against him, Trump is reportedly considering a new stratagem to get his urgent message to the American people: ignoring Pelosi's letter barring him from Congress, and giving his SOTU speech anyway. It's unclear whether the White House is bluffing. According to Fox News' John Roberts, the White House sent a letter to the House Sergeant at Arms to schedule a walk-through of the House chamber to ensure its security in advance of the speech.... The president cannot speak in front of Congress unless the Senate and the House approve a concurrent resolution allowing him to address a joint session -- a move that Pelosi will likely refuse to entertain as long as the government remains closed." This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. Azeen Ghorayshi of BuzzFeed News: "Rudy Giuliani claims the Moscow tower was barely more than a notion. 'There were no drafts. Nothing in the file.' Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News tell a different story.... The plan was dazzling: a glass skyscraper that would stretch higher than any other building in Europe, offering ultra-luxury residences and hotel rooms and bearing a famous name. Trump Tower Moscow, conceived as a partnership between Donald Trump's company and a Russian real estate developer, looked likely to yield profits in excess of $300 million.... Hundreds of pages of business documents, emails, text messages, and architectural plans, obtained by BuzzFeed News over a year of reporting..., [show] Trump Tower Moscow was a richly imagined vision of upscale splendor on the banks of the Moscow River." ... ... digby: "The idea that Michael Cohen not only did the deal on his own, but actually drew up architectural plans without Trump's input --- while Trump was inexplicably licking Putin's boots with energetic gusto ... [is] utterly ridiculous. The Moscow Tower was Trump's holy grail for decades. And he's a control freak who didn't even allow anyone but himself to sign checks in the Trump Organization. Please." Washington Post Editors: "For most of the time he was running for president, Mr. Trump was also encouraging negotiations that would have put his name on a 100-plus-story tower in Moscow and yielded tens of millions of dollars in revenue for his company. He did this secretly, while publicly defending Russian President Vladimir Putin and arguing against sanctions against Russia. And he repeatedly deceived U.S. voters by saying he had no business in the country.... It was a profound betrayal of the voters.... Would voters have interpreted the praise he heaped on Mr. Putin differently had they known he was secretly trying to cut his own deal with the regime? The answer seems obvious." ... ... USA Today Editors: "During much, if not all, of Trump's campaign he sought to enrich himself by pursuing a luxury hotel-condominium-office deal in Russia known as Trump Tower Moscow. And as a candidate, Trump repeatedly misled or lied to voters about his business with Russia.... The truth is, Trump had coveted a lucrative hotel project in Russia -- whether to build one or license his name to be emblazoned on a skyscraper -- for decades.... As a presidential candidate, he secretly signed an 18-page letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow on Oct. 28, 2015, the day of the third Republican presidential debate.... The electorate certainly was robbed of knowing about this crucial information at a time when: There were news reports that Russia was interfering in the election. Trump was expressing praise and admiration for President Vladimir Putin, even as he was insulting hundreds of other people, places and things on Twitter. The candidate said that, as president, he would consider easing sanctions placed against Russia for its violent seizure of Crimea. Trump was questioning America's continued role in NATO, a bulwark against Russian aggression that Putin has historically despised. A plank in the GOP platform regarding U.S. support for Ukraine was watered down. Trump challenged Moscow to release Democratic emails that Russians were reported to have hacked." No Country for an Old Man. Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "Every time Rudy Giuliani opens his mouth in front of a reporter, something bad seems to happen. Donald Trump's beleaguered lawyer has, over the past few weeks, given one disastrous interview after another.... Trump is 'furious' with Giuliani's recent botched press appearances, two Republicans briefed on the president's thinking told me.... According to sources, a debate is playing out inside the West Wing over Giuliani's future.... 'Trump is screaming. He's so mad at Rudy,' one of the sources said. ('No, he's not pissed. He just wants it clarified,' Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash on Tuesday, when asked about the president's response to the interviews.)... Giuliani has said privately that he 'hates the job' and that Mueller's final report will be 'horrific' for Trump.... The media environment has become vastly more complicated than it was a decade ago, the last time Giuliani was on the national stage, and he has struggled to adapt." ... ... Eliana Johnson & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani has a growing list of enemies in the White House -- which now includes his boss..., Donald Trump. Trump was apoplectic after a pair of weekend media interviews by his personal lawyer, in which Giuliani said that the president had been involved in discussions to build a Trump Tower in Moscow through the end of the 2016 campaign -- a statement that enraged Trump because it contradicted his own public position, according to two sources close to the president. Giuliani's statement was the latest in a series of remarks over several months that has required walk-backs or reversals, and Trump spent much of Sunday and Monday fuming to aides and friends about his lawyer's missteps. Most of those people share Trump's frustration, noting that the former New York mayor often appears to lack a mastery of the facts of Trump's legal headaches.... Asked who in the White House is responsible for handling Giuliani's missteps, a White House aide said, 'Handling Rudy's f[uck] ups takes more than one man.'" ... ... Jonathan Chait: "Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's attorney-of-sorts, is either a blithering imbecile, or a subtle genius carrying out a brilliant defense strategy on his client's behalf. The middle ground between these two alternatives is increasingly untenable. Oddly enough, even though the two theories are mutually exclusive, Giuliani's performance over the last two days provides some basis of support for both." Funny post, but Chait nails Giuliani." Mrs. McC: Chait doesn't mention it, but on the "brilliant" side, Rudy's two-step does one thing remarkably well: it makes his own antics & lies the story, when of course the real scandal is Trump's antics & lies. Sara Murray of CNN: "... Robert Mueller's team has expressed interest in the Trump campaign's relationship with the National Rifle Association during the 2016 campaign. 'When I was interviewed by the special counsel's office, I was asked about the Trump campaign and our dealings with the NRA,' Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, told CNN. The special counsel's team was curious to learn more about how Donald Trump and his operatives first formed a relationship with the NRA and how Trump wound up speaking at the group's annual meeting in 2015, just months before announcing his presidential bid, Nunberg said. Nunberg's interview with Mueller's team in February 2018 offers the first indication that the special counsel has been probing the Trump campaign's ties to the powerful gun-rights group." Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "Michael Cohen's congressional testimony next month will exclude any topic that's 'under investigation,' Republicans say they were told by Cohen's lawyer, which could mean Cohen won't discuss lying to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project or the payments made to women during the 2016 campaign for their silence. Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows, senior Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, released a letter to Cohen's attorney Guy Petrillo discussing their conversation with another Cohen attorney, Lanny Davis. In the letter, Jordan and Meadows write that Davis told them Cohen's testimony was likely to be 'unsatisfying' and 'frustrating' because of the topics that would be off limits." ... OR Maybe It's Just Another Case of White House Chaos. Kaitlan Collins & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "White House press briefings, in steady decline even before the partial government shutdown, have now ground to a halt as a prolonged power struggle among ... Donald Trump's aides leads to a muddled messaging strategy, people familiar with the matter say.... In the 32 days since the government partially shut down, the lack of a cohesive strategy emanating from the White House communications team has frustrated people throughout the West Wing who have deemed the press shop 'irrelevant.'... On Tuesday [the lack of press briefings] drew the ire of the White House Correspondents' Association, whose president [Oliver Knox] said in a statement the decline in briefings amounted to a 'retreat from transparency and accountability' that 'sets a terrible precedent.'" Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "A. Wess Mitchell, the top diplomat in charge of European affairs, will resign from the State Department next month, creating a key vacancy at a time when European leaders are questioning President Trump's commitment to historic alliances.... In an interview, Mitchell said his resignation is not a protest of the administration's policies or the direction of foreign policy, and he praised Pompeo's leadership and vision." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Dan Diamond of Politico: "HHS Secretary Alex Azar has declined a request to testify on the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the border, angering House Democrats who accused the administration of 'stonewalling' their investigation into the controversial practice. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who announced earlier this month plans to hold a hearing on the administration's separation policy, had personally asked Azar to testify.... Azar's office declined the request Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson said.... '[W]e are going to get him here at some point one way or another,' [Pallone said]." Presidential Race 2020. Michelle Goldberg: "America has never before seen a presidential primary in which this many women compete against one another. It could help to normalize female political ambition, allowing the candidates to be individuals rather than archetypes.... But if and when the best woman wins, she is going to face off against Trump in yet another battle royal over patriarchy. The Trump presidency has been a brutal, boot-on-the-neck insult to many women, a daily reminder of how far away gender equality remains. To see Trump vanquished by a woman would start to heal the injury of his repulsive reign. Yet there's an awful possibility to consider: If sexism helped elect him, might it help re-elect him, too?" Election 2018. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A state judge in North Carolina has declined to certify election results in the 9th Congressional District, citing state election officials' authority to delay certification while they continue to investigate allegations of election fraud. In a court hearing in Raleigh on Tuesday, Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ruled against Republican Mark Harris, who leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in unofficial results from the Nov. 6 election. 'Asking this court to step in and exert extraordinary power to declare the victor in an election that is clearly a purview of other branches of government' would be 'highly unusual,' Ridgeway said." Presidential Election 2016. Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "The Iowa senator Joni Ernst has stated she turned down the opportunity to be Donald Trump's vice-president because she believed her husband Gail 'hated any successes I have'. In an affidavit filed as part of divorce proceedings with her husband of 26 years, Ernst states: 'in the summer of 2016, I was interviewed by Candidate Trump to be vice president of the United States. I turned Candidate Trump down, knowing it wasn't the right thing for me or my family. 'I continued to make sacrifices and not soar higher out of concern for Gail and our family,' she added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ... ... #SheToo. Luke Nozicka & Linh Ta of the Des Moines Register: "Years before her divorce, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst was assaulted by her husband after she confronted him about his relationship with their daughter's babysitter, she wrote in court filings. Ernst, a Republican who represents Iowa, said that during her 26-year marriage with Gail Ernst, she was the victim of verbal and mental abuse and a physical assault after which a victim's advocate wanted to take her to a hospital, she wrote in public records connected to their divorce." Stupid Supreme Court Ruling. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the Trump administration's policy of barring most transgender people from serving in the military. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices temporarily allowed the ban to go into effect while cases challenging it move forward. The vote was 5 to 4, with the court's five conservative members in the majority and its four liberal members in dissent. The administration had also asked the justices to hear immediate appeals from trial court rulings blocking the policy. The court turned down those requests without comment. The policy, announced on Twitter by President Trump and refined by the defense secretary at the time, Jim Mattis, generally prohibits people identifying with a gender different from their biological sex from military service. It makes exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly and for those willing to serve 'in their biological sex.'" (Also linked yesterday.) Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court took no action on Tuesday on the Trump administration's plans to shut down a program that shields some 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The court's inaction almost certainly means it will not hear the administration's challenge in its current term, which ends in June. The justices' next private conference to consider petitions seeking review is scheduled for Feb. 15. Even were they to agree to hear the case then, it would not be argued until after the next term starts in October. The move left the program in place and denied negotiating leverage to Mr. Trump, who has said he wanted to use a Supreme Court victory in the case in negotiations with Democrats over immigration issues." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Shoot-'em-up Brett. Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would review a New York City gun law that limits residents from transporting their guns outside their homes, its first Second Amendment case in nearly a decade and a test of the court's approach to gun rights after the arrival of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in October. Justice Kavanaugh, who replaced the more moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and created a reliable five-member conservative majority, has an expansive view of gun rights. His presence most likely means that the Supreme Court will start exploring and perhaps expanding the scope of the Second Amendment." Donie O'Sullivan of CNN: "Twitter suspended an account on Monday afternoon that helped spread a controversial encounter between a Native American elder and a group of high school students wearing Make America Great Again hats. The account claimed to belong to a California schoolteacher. Its profile photo was not of a schoolteacher, but of a blogger based in Brazil, CNN Business found. Twitter suspended the account soon after CNN Business asked about it.The account, with the username @2020fight, was set up in December 2016 and appeared to be the tweets of a woman named Talia living in California. 'Teacher & Advocate. Fighting for 2020,' its Twitter bio read. Since the beginning of this year, the account had tweeted on average 130 times a day and had more than 40,000 followers.... Rob McDonagh, an assistant editor at Storyful..., said he found the account suspicious due to its 'high follower count, highly polarized and yet inconsistent political messaging, the unusually high rate of tweets, and the use of someone else's image in the profile photo.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Beyond the Beltway California. Howard Blume & Sonali Kohli of the Los Angeles Times: "The Los Angeles teachers union ended its strike Tuesday night, based on overwhelming support for a contract agreement with the school district, union leaders said. Teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians will be back in their classrooms Wednesday.... The strike was an undeniable victory in terms of public attention and support and political momentum, but the contract that emerged was mixed when it comes to the changes that students, teachers and parents will see at schools next year. And the vote was not the 'no concessions' agreement that the union called it in a news release. The tentative deal includes what amounts to a 6% raise for teachers -- with a 3% raise for the last school year and a 3% raise for this school year." Kansas. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "... four state lawmakers in Kansas ... switched allegiances last month, walking away from the Republican Party that has controlled this state's Capitol and dominated its politics for years. The defections won't affect control of the Legislature -- Republicans have plenty of votes to spare in Topeka -- but they reveal a larger problem for the party as 2020 approaches, and one that reaches well beyond Kansas. The departures reflect a political shift in suburban areas of Kansas, a state that surprised political experts by electing a Democrat as governor in November. That shift is part of a larger realignment in traditionally Republican suburbs across the country, where long-marginalized Democrats are now ascendant and where voters who are upset with President Trump, especially women, have punished some moderate Republican candidates." New York. Good Ole Boy Scout Terrorists. Jeff Pegues of CBS News: "Police in New York Tuesday announced the arrest of four suspects in an alleged terror plot. They described the plan to attack a group of Muslims in central New York state as serious and real. Brian Colaneri, 20; Vincent Vetromile, 19; Andrew Crysel, 18; and a 16-year-old suspect whose name is being withheld, were arrested Friday in the town Greece. 'If they had carried out this plot, which every indication is that they were going to, people would've died,' said Chief Patrick Phelan. Investigators said the suspects, who knew each other from the Boy Scouts, were targeting Islamberg, a rural community that's home to several hundred Muslims and the headquarters for The Muslims of America organization. According to court papers, the suspects had built three improvised explosive devices 'in the shape of a mason jar wrapped in duct tape.' Investigators said they had access to 23 rifles and shotguns." News Ledes New York Times: "Five people are dead after a gunman fired shots inside a bank on Wednesday in Sebring, Fla., about 80 miles south of Orlando, the authorities said. Shortly after noon, a man contacted emergency dispatchers and reported that he had fired shots inside a SunTrust Bank branch on a strip of U.S. Route 27 between Lake Jackson and Little Lake Jackson. The Sebring Police Department and the Highlands County Sheriff's Office responded, according to a statement. The officers tried to persuade the man to exit the bank. When that was unsuccessful, the sheriff's SWAT team entered the bank and the person surrendered. By midafternoon on Wednesday, the police said there was no longer any danger to the area. [Sebring's chief of police] identified the man in custody as Zephen Xaver, 21, a resident of Sebring." New York Times: "Russell Baker, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose whimsical, irreverent 'Observer' column appeared in The New York Times and hundreds of other newspapers for 36 years and turned a backwoods-born Virginian into one of America's most celebrated writers, died on Monday at his home in Leesburg, Va. He was 93."
Trump/Sanders Afraid of Daily Press Briefings. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Tuesday that he directed White House press secretary Sarah Sanders 'not to bother' with press briefings because he believes that reporters are rude to her and that most members of the media will not cover the administration fairly. Press briefings, which used to be a near-daily occurrence, have become a rarity in the Trump White House. Sanders has not provided an on-camera briefing for more than a month, including the duration of the partial government shutdown. 'The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the "podium" much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press,' Trump said on Twitter. 'I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
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