The Commentariat -- May 1, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

It's Only Tuesday. Kevin Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "A controversial trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who accompanied Pruitt and his entourage at multiple stops and served as an informal liaison at both official and social events during the visit. Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist who has known the EPA administrator for years, worked for months with Pruitt's aides to hammer out logistics, according to four individuals familiar with those preparations. In April, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the Moroccan government to promote the kingdom's cultural and economic interests. He recently registered as a foreign agent representing that government.... The visit's cost exceeded $100,000, more than twice what has been previously reported -- including $16,217 for Pruitt’s Delta airfare and $494 for him to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris. He was accompanied by eight staffers and his round-the-clock security detail." ...

... Carol Davenport of the New York Times: "Two top aides to Scott Pruitt, the chief of the Environmental Protection Agency who is facing an array of questions related to his spending and management of the agency, have resigned under increased scrutiny over their roles at the E.P.A. The departures include Albert Kelly, who ran the agency's Superfund program..., and Pasquale Perrotta, who served as the chief of security for Mr. Pruitt and helped build an unusual and costly protective apparatus around him. Mr. Kelly, widely known as Kell, was a longtime business associate of Mr. Pruitt's in his home state of Oklahoma who previously had a banking career before being barred from working in the finance industry. Before joining the E.P.A. Mr. Kelly led an Oklahoma bank that issued a mortgage for a home purchased by Mr. Pruitt through a shell company registered to another business partner of Mr. Pruitt's, Kenneth Wagner. Mr. Wagner now holds a senior position at the E.P.A.... Officially, Mr. Perrotta..., known as Nino..., led Mr. Pruitt's protective detail, but he played a larger role at the E.P.A. by arguing that the security needs of the agency justified some management, personnel and spending decisions at the agency. Mr. Perrotta's influence placed him at the center of inquiries by the E.P.A. inspector general"s office...."

Eric Tucker of the AP: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is defending himself following a report that some House Republicans have drafted articles of impeachment against him. At a Newseum event Tuesday, Rosenstein took aim at allies of ... Donald Trump who drafted the document." ...

Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "Eighteen states on Tuesday sued President Trump's administration over its push to 'reconsider' greenhouse gas emission rules for the nation's auto fleet, launching a legal battle over one of President Barack Obama's most significant efforts to address climate change. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in April said he would revisit the Obama-era rules, which aim to raise efficiency requirements to about 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Pruitt's agency said that the standards are 'based on outdated information' and that new data suggests 'the current standards may be too stringent.' But in the lawsuit, the states contend that the EPA acted 'arbitrarily and capriciously' in changing course on the greenhouse gas regulations."

Anna R. Schecter of NBC News: "In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump's longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump's New York doctor without notice and took all the president's medical records. The incident, which Dr. Harold Bornstein described as a 'raid,' took place two days after Bornstein told a newspaper that he had prescribed a hair growth medicine for the president for years. In an exclusive interview in his Park Avenue office, Bornstein told NBC News that he felt 'raped, frightened and sad' when Keith Schiller and another 'large man' came to his office to collect the president's records on the morning of Feb. 3, 2017. At the time, Schiller, who had long worked as Trump's bodyguard, was serving as director of Oval Office operations at the White House."

Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the 466 days since he took the oath of office, President Trump is now averaging nearly 6.5 false or misleading claims a day -- a number that keeps creeping up. He also has a proclivity to repeat, over and over, many of his statements, according to a Post analysis.... [He] has made 3,001 false or misleading claims as president." ...

... Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Criminal convictions, once seen as career-enders [for politicians], are no longer disqualifying [Republican candidates]. In the era of President Trump, even time spent in prison can be turned into a positive talking point, demonstrating a candidate's battle scars in a broader fight against what he perceives as liberal corruption. In a startling shift from 'law-and-order Republicans,' Trump has attacked some branches of law enforcement, especially those pursuing white-collar malfeasance, as his allies and former campaign officials are ensnared in various investigations. Following his lead, Republican Senate candidates with criminal convictions in West Virginia and Arizona have cast themselves as victims of the Obama administration's legal overreach. Another former Trump adviser who has pleaded guilty to a felony has also become an in-demand surrogate, as Republicans jump at the chance to show their opposition to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.... Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a felony count of lying to the FBI, has become an unexpected star on the Republican campaign trail...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is where Democrats are screwing up again. Instead of recruiting all these goody-two-shoes reformist ladies, Democratic recruiters should be standing at the prison gates beckoning the newly-released. I mean, think how good a guy who had kited a lot of checks or actually robbed a bank at gunpoint would be at fundraising? ...

... When Is a Typo Not Just a Typo? Daniel Drezner of the Washington Post has a great column on the Trump White House's unpresidented sloppiness. Drezner cites Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution: "The correction to today's White House statement on Iran is not a typo; it's an error of unimaginable incompetence. It reflects lack of capacity at the highest levels of this administration to vet information, accurately identify real-time challenges, and devise serious responses."

Kirk Semple of the New York Times: "Several members of the Latin American migrant caravan that has enraged President Trump were allowed to step onto United States territory to apply for asylum late Monday, ending a border standoff that had lasted more than a day and marking the beginning of the final chapter of the group's monthlong odyssey. Shortly after 7 p.m. local time, eight migrants who, like most of the caravan's participants, said they were fleeing violence in their homeland, passed through the metal gate separating Tijuana from San Diego, entered the immigration checkpoint and began the process to petition for sanctuary, caravan organizers said."

Adam Baidawi of the New York Times: "Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's third-highest-ranking official, must stand trial on several charges of sexual abuse, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, promising to prolong a case that has already dragged on for months, and which many see as a moment of reckoning for a church racked by scandal. Belinda Wallington, a Melbourne magistrate, found there was sufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring the cardinal's case to trial, ending a two-month pretrial hearing, in which witnesses described abuse they said took place decades ago."

*****

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were 'leaked' to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning ...

It's hard to guess what Trump thinks "collusion" is. By my cursory count, the Times report lists 13 questions that directly address collusion & others that touch upon it. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...

... ** Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Robert S. Mueller III ... has at least four dozen questions on an exhaustive array of subjects he wants to ask President Trump to learn more about his ties to Russia and determine whether he obstructed the inquiry itself, according to a list of the questions obtained by The New York Times.... They deal chiefly with the president's high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. But they also touch on the president's businesses; any discussions with his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about a Moscow real estate deal; whether the president knew of any attempt by Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel to Russia during the transition; any contacts he had with Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser who claimed to have inside information about Democratic email hackings; and what happened during Mr. Trump's 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant." ...

     ... ** Here's the list of Mueller's questions. Matt Apuzzo & Michael Schimidt of the NYT analyze the questions. ...

... Margaret Hartmann runs down the theories as to why someone on Trump's side leaked Mueller's questions. (As Apuzzo & Schmidt write, the questions were "read by the special counsel investigators to the president's lawyers, who compiled them into a list. That document was provided to The Times by a person outside Mr. Trump's legal team." So the (valid) theories Hartmann suggests are "to convince Trump not to do the interview..., to convince the public that Mueller is biased..., [and] to convince Congress to stop Mueller." Hartmann elaborates. ...

This New York Times thing, put it in your fireplace and burn it, because we have sources that say -- half of these questions are dumb anyway. Oh, what was in your mind at the time? You don't punish people or charge people -- not that you can charge a sitting president, and the president has every right to fire anybody he wants -- for the thoughts they have in their head. -- Sean Hannity, on his teevee show last night

You might think Hannity doesn't understand the legal concept of intent. If I accidentally step on your foot while we're dancing, I have not committed a crime. If I purposely dig my heel into your instep because I want to hurt you, I've committed assault & battery. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for ... Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the payments tell ABC News, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws. Federal Election Commission records show three payments made from the Trump campaign to a firm representing Cohen. The 'legal consulting' payments were made to McDermott Will and Emery -- a law firm where Cohen's attorney Stephen Ryan is a partner -- between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen has said that he did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign, and it is illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use -- defined by the FEC as payments for expenses 'that would exist irrespective of the candidate's campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder.'... In 2017, the Trump campaign also paid legal fees to the attorneys representing top aides -- and family members -- tangled in the ongoing Russia probes. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee paid $514,000 in legal fees for Donald Trump Jr, and in January, the Trump campaign paid more than $66,000 to the law firm representing former Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jonathan Chait: Michael "Cohen is not, as I assumed..., an unethical lawyer who enjoys acting like a goon. He is (almost certainly) a crook who happens to have a law degree.... What adds an extra layer of danger to Trump is that the alleged crimes with which Cohen could be charged are all state crimes. That is important because Trump can only pardon people for federal crimes.... In that case, the best defense Trump has left is to discredit Cohen altogether, and make the case that he is fabricating evidence against the president to save his own skin.... [A negative story about Cohen that is hyped on the front page of the most recent] National Enquirer is an indication that Trump is seriously desperate. Discrediting Cohen is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency move that makes no sense unless Cohen has already flipped." ...

... Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen was in communication with the then-presidential candidate the day Cohen wired hush money to Stormy Daniels, according to previously unreported tweets." Woodruff provides the evidence, which are tweets that have nothing to do with Daniels but indicate Trump had given Cohen the task of helping a homeless woman who had made the news after she "was assaulted while trying to keep vandals from defacing Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." ...

... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... we're primarily talking about people who are potential witnesses against the president. When he pays their legal bills, that gives them an incentive to shade their testimony. The lawyers and courts can sort out what's legal and what's a violation of campaign finance laws, but there's a bigger ethical issue here."

Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "Conservative House allies of President Trump have drafted articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the ongoing special counsel probe, setting up a possible GOP showdown over the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The document, which was obtained by The Washington Post, underscores the growing chasm between congressional Republican leaders, who have maintained for months that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III should be allowed to proceed, and rank-and-file GOP lawmakers who have repeatedly battled the Justice Department during the past year. The draft articles, which one of its authors called a 'last resort,' would be unlikely to garner significant support in Congress. But the document could serve as a provocative political weapon for conservatives in their standoff with Mueller and the Justice Department."

Michelle Goldberg: "Under Trump, the central battle in our culture is between truth and power. The truth hidden among the propaganda in the House Intelligence Committee's majority report is that power is winning."

Emma Loop of BuzzFeed: "Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says she and her campaign have finished turning over hundreds of documents to the top congressional committee investigating Russian election interference in 2016 -- but she is refusing to hand over some documents that she argues are protected by the Constitution." The documents Stein is withholding regard "communications with 'Russian persons,' while the other asked for 'all communications related to the campaign's policy discussions regarding Russia.'... Stein ... says she did turn over materials related to her 2015 trip to Moscow to attend a conference, where she was photographed sitting at the same dinner table as Russian President Vladimir Putin and future White House national security adviser Michael Flynn."

Sarah Fitzpatrick & Tracy Connor of NBC News: "Adult film star Stormy Daniels has filed a defamation suit against ... Donald Trump for a tweet that said a forensic sketch of a man who allegedly threatened her in 2011 was 'a total con job.'"

Steven Mufson & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "President Trump at the last minute on Monday evening announced he would again postpone imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, pushing off a key economic decision while he tries to prod foreign leaders into making trade-related concessions. The White House said in a statement the administration had reached agreements on metals imports with Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, saying more details would be finalized shortly."

John Bolton Fucks Up Daily

** Cody Fenwick of AlterNet: "MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell looked absolutely flabbergasted Monday night as she read the latest statement from the White House on Iran's nuclear capabilities, a statement she told viewers was essentially a flat-out lie.... The White House released the following statement: 'The United States is aware of the information just released by Israel and continues to examine it carefully. This information provides new and compelling details about Iran's efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons. These facts are consistent with what the United States has long known: Iran has a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program that it has tried and failed to hide from the world and from its own people. The Iranian regime has shown it will use destructive weapons against its neighbors and others. Iran must never have nuclear weapons.' Mitchell ... noted that it contradicts what former CIA Director Mike Pompeo testified to before Congress earlier this month.... [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu's presentation ... did not include any evidence that the country has violated the deal, and it does not suggest that the country has a 'robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program.' 'This is basically a lie about US intelligence,' Mitchell said of the White House statement. 'It's stunning.'" Emphasis added. ...

... SO THEN. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "The White House made a pretty massive correction to one of its statements on Monday, after falsely claiming Iran 'has' a nuclear weapons program, in response to Israel's announcement on the country's alleged development of nuclear weapons.... As pointed out by a number of stunned reporters on Twitter, a fairly significant correction was made to the statement posted on the White House website. 'Iran has a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program,' was changed to 'Iran had a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program.'" ...

... Mitchell was still aghast: "They say it was a 'clerical' error. How does a statement of this import, putting the White House at odds with the entire U.S. intelligence community, get sent out so carelessly? And why did they correct it on the website but not issue a new statement?" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Some outlets are blaming Mrs. Huckleberry for the screw-up. But Huckleberry doesn't initiate policy statements. And she should not be the final proofreader on something of such international importance. This has to be Bolton's handiwork, IMO. As Mitchell pointed out on MSNBC, the statement could not have come from Pompeo, who was in the air at the time. Thank the Fates we're not dead yet.

** John Kelly Calls Trump an "Idiot"; Denies It. Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "White House chief of staff John Kelly has eroded morale in the West Wing in recent months with comments to aides that include insulting the president's intelligence and casting himself as the savior of the country, according to eight current and former White House officials. The officials said Kelly portrays himself to Trump administration aides as the lone bulwark against catastrophe, curbing the erratic urges of a president who has a questionable grasp on policy issues and the functions of government. He has referred to Trump as 'an idiot' multiple times to underscore his point, according to four officials who say they've witnessed the comments. Kelly called the allegations 'total BS.'" Read on. Kelly is quite proud of killing DACA relief, for instance. ...

... The Idiot Replies. The White House is running very smoothly despite phony Witch Hunts etc. There is great Energy and unending Stamina, both necessary to get things done. We are accomplishing the unthinkable and setting positive records while doing so! Fake News is going 'bonkers!' -- Donald Trump, in a tweet last night

Jill Colvin of the AP: "More than a year has passed since ... Donald Trump held the only solo news conference of his administration -- a rollicking, hastily arranged, 77-minute free-for-all during which he railed against the media, defended his fired national security adviser and insisted nobody who advised his campaign had had contacts with Russia. 'President Trump is more accessible than most modern presidents and frequently takes questions from the press,' says White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The president often answers shouted questions at so-called pool sprays, in which a small group of rotating reporters is given access to events such as bill signings and Cabinet lunches. Trump has also taken to answering shouted questions on the White House lawn as he arrives at and departs the White House.... But the format also gives the president far more control than he would have during a traditional question-and-answer session. Trump can easily ignore questions he doesn't like and dodge follow-ups in a way that would be glaring in a traditional news conference." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Politi of Slate: "Guns will be banned from the premises when Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. Before and during the speech, attendees are prohibited from bringing 'firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind,' the NRA wrote as it announced Pence's presence at the conference. The NRA is blaming the Secret Service.... 'Wait wait wait wait wait wait you're telling me to make the VP safe there aren't any weapons around but when it comes to children they want guns everywhere?' asked Matt Deitsch, a Parkland student who helped organize the March for Our Lives rally." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. AP: "... Donald Trump will be at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend the group's annual meeting." Mrs. McC: No guns again, I guess. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maya Averbuch & Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "A group of Central American asylum seekers spent Monday languishing on the ground outside a border crossing after U.S. officials said they did not have space to process them, in what has become a high-profile test of Trump administration immigration policies. On one side of the standoff are about 150 migrants who cite their right to seek shelter from persecution back home and have traveled through Mexico in a caravan to highlight the suffering of asylum seekers. On the other side is the Trump administration, which is trying to crack down on illegal immigration and says many asylum claims are fraudulent. President Trump tweeted last week that he had ordered the secretary of homeland security 'not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country,' adding, 'It is a disgrace.' But under international treaties it has signed, the U.S. government is obliged to allow foreigners to apply for asylum." This was a breaking story when I linked it, & it will be updated.

Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "Thomas Homan, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is retiring, he announced on Monday. Since taking over ICE last year, Homan has become the face of Trump's immigration crackdown and made headlines for saying that all undocumented immigrants 'should be uncomfortable.'... In 2017, ICE arrests increased by 41 percent, while arrests of people without criminal records nearly tripled, from 17,000 to 46,000.... Donald Trump nominated Homan to be ICE's permanent director in November. Mother Jones reported earlier this month that the Senate Homeland Security Committee had still not received the biographical information needed to advance his nomination. Last week, 17 Democratic senators called on DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to provide the missing documents. An ICE official told Mother Jones that Homan informed DHS leadership earlier this year that he planned to retire in the summer due to family considerations.... During the Obama administration, Homan was seen as a loyal civil servant who was willing to compromise. Some of his former colleagues have been shocked by his rhetoric under Trump...."

... Anita Kumar & Franco Ordoñez of McClatchy News: "The acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, announced his retirement on Monday, and his departure was driven in part out of frustration that his agency was cut out of negotiations with Congress over protecting so-called Dreamers, two people familiar with the situation told McClatchy. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted on negotiating with members of Congress herself and would not allow Homan ... [and other ICE officials] to be involved, the two people said.... An ICE official disputed that the Dreamer negotiations prompted Homan's departure."

Manu Raju of CNN: "Vice President Mike Pence's physician privately raised alarms within the White House last fall that ... Donald Trump's doctor may have violated federal privacy protections for a key patient -- Pence's wife, Karen -- and intimidated the vice president's doctor during angry confrontations over the episode. The previously unreported incident is the first sign that serious concerns about Ronny Jackson's conduct had reached the highest levels of the White House as far back as September -- months before White House aides furiously defended Jackson's professionalism, insisted he had been thoroughly vetted and argued allegations of misconduct amounted to unsubstantiated rumors. The episode -- detailed in three memos by Pence's physician -- is also the first documentation that has surfaced involving a specific allegation of medical misconduct by Jackson.... Karen Pence asked her physician to direct the vice president's top aide, Nick Ayers, to inform White House chief of staff John Kelly about the matter. Subsequent memos from Pence's doctor suggested Kelly was aware of the episode." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: See the NBC story about Kelly, linked above. This is another instance where Kelly took the side of a man over the rights of a woman -- the wife of the Vice President. ...

... Seung Min Kim & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon's investigative arm has started to examine the matter involving Ronny L. Jackson, the Navy rear admiral whose nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs collapsed last week amid allegations he mistreated White House medical staffers and improperly dispensed medications, among other accusations. Tom Crosson, a Defense Department spokesman, said Monday that the Pentagon's inspector general has received the allegations and is looking into the issue further to see if a formal probe is necessary.... 'The Inspector General's office will determine what investigations or actions are warranted regarding these allegations and complaints,' Crosson said." ...

... Ted Barrett of CNN: "The chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee refused Monday to agree with ... Donald Trump's criticism of the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, nor the President's call for the Montana Democrat to resign in the wake of the Dr. Ronny Jackson scandal. 'I'm not in the critiquing business,' Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, told reporters in the Capitol.... Isakson defended Tester's decision to publicly release the allegations against Jackson, saying that 'every senator has the right to exercise their options' and 'that's the way it should be.'"

Jarrett Renshaw & Chris Prentice of Reuters: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to ... Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter. The waiver enables Icahn's CVR Energy Inc ... to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The regulation is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's gasoline and diesel each year.... But the exemption for CVR's Wynnewood, Oklahoma plant prompted criticism from a corn state lawmaker and the powerful corn lobby, which has already accused Trump's EPA of overusing the hardship waiver program in a way that hurts demand for ethanol."

Kyra Phillips, et al., of ABC News: "A whistleblower from the Environmental Protection Agency says that Administrator Scott Pruitt was 'bold-faced' lying when he told members of Congress that no EPA employees were retaliated against for raising concerns about his spending decisions.... Former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski said he was '100 percent' forced out after raising concerns about Pruitt's spending on first-class travel. Chmielewski said chief of staff Ryan Jackson called him into his office and said: 'Hey -- Administrator Pruitt either wants me to fire you or put you in an office so that he doesn't have to see you again,' Chmielewski told ABC News, adding that 'And in addition to that, he wants to put Millan (Hupp) in your spot, as your title and your pay grade.'... Hupp was one of the aides that was granted a controversial raise that Pruitt said he reversed and that he didn't know the specific amount. Chmielewski said the raise was '100 percent Pruitt.'"

Arthur Allen of Politico: "A West Palm Beach doctor's ties to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago social circle have enabled him to hold up the biggest health information technology project in history -- the transformation of the VA's digital records system. Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, who advises the president informally on vet issues, objected to the $16 billion Department of Veterans Affairs project because he doesn't like the Cerner Corp. software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials. Cerner technology is a cornerstone of the VA project.... IT specialists at the VA felt that [Moskowitz] was out of his league in evaluating the Cerner deal.... [A source] said Moskowitz's involvement was one of the irritants in [former VA Secretary David] Shulkin's dealings with other White House-appointed officials, which contributed to his being fired March 28." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marco's Major Gaffe. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "'There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they're going to take the money they're saving and reinvest it in American workers, ... '[Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)] told the Economist in a recent interview. 'In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sometimes, especially right around election time & when no actual Senate votes depend upon it, Marco sounds remarkably like a Democrat. Not to worry, Mitch, when you need Marco's vote, you've got it. ...

... Matt Phillips & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Republicans sold the 2017 tax law as 'rocket fuel' for American investment and growth, saying that corporations -- flush with cash from lower tax rates -- would channel money back into the economy by building factories and offices and investing in equipment, which would help companies grow and provide winnings for workers.... But, so far, hard evidence of such an acceleration has yet to appear in economic data, which show more of a steady investment roll than a rapid escalation."

Senate Race. Paul Walsh of the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: "Richard Painter, a longtime Republican who was chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush's White House, intends to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year as a Democrat, according to a filing he made recently with federal elections officials. Painter, a persistent and frequent critic of ... Donald Trump on national cable TV news appearances and on Twitter, is expected to announce his candidacy at a Monday news conference. He's running for Democrat Al Franken's former seat. Franken resigned Jan. 2 in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations. Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to be his successor. That seat is up this fall in a special election, and Smith has said she intends to run for the right to finish the term through 2020." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adding Insult to Injury. Amir Vera of CNN: "Failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore says the women who accused him of sexual assault were part of a political conspiracy, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. The suit was jointly filed with his wife, Kayla, about an hour before the two held a news conference. It was Moore's first public appearance since election night in December, when Moore, a Republican, was upset by Democrat Doug Jones. The defendants include three women who made accusations against Moore as well as two other people."

Annals of "Education." Matthew Barakat of the AP: "Virginia's largest public university granted the conservative Charles Koch Foundation a say in the hiring and firing of professors in exchange for millions of dollars in donations, according to newly released documents. The release of donor agreements between George Mason University and the foundation follows years of denials by university administrators that Koch foundation donations inhibit academic freedom. University President Angel Cabrera wrote a note to faculty Friday night saying the agreements 'fall short of the standards of academic independence I expect any gift to meet.' The admission came three days after a judge scrutinized the university's earlier refusal to release any documents.... Cabrera's admission that the agreements fall short of standards for academic independence is a stark departure from his earlier statements on the issue."

Masha Gessen of the New Yorker: Michelle "Wolf's monologue [at the White House Correspondents' dinner] -- sharp, unflinching, and pointedly unfunny in places -- called bullshit on the role laughter has been performing in Trump's America.... I recognize laughter in the age of Trump as though it were a cousin of anti-totalitarian laughter.... Political satire in less troubled times exaggerates existing facts, pointing out the absurdities inherent in all ideologies, or playing up smaller disagreements and failures for bigger laughs. But Trump is hard to exaggerate -- it is enough, it seems, merely to mirror him.... Wolf's routine burst the bubbles of civility and performance, and of the separation of media and comedy." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The real trouble with Wolf's performance is that she didn't know where she was. What if the eulogists at Barbara Bush's funeral had got up & said what a horrible person she was? That she was mean to her children -- she was -- that she made cutting remarks -- she did -- and that she said racist things -- she did. At a social event like the correspondents' dinner or a cocktail party, one is supposed to observe the conventions of civility. Wolf was confrontational, which is fine and necessary in other contexts, but a party is not the appropriate place for a fight. Jon Stewart mercilessly mocked Bill O'Reilly almost nightly -- except when Stewart had O'Reilly as a guest on his show. Oddly, even Donald Trump knows how to behave in social situations. He's been nice to Dreamers, polite to Nancy Pelosi & Chuck Schumer, and pleasant to Muhammadu Buhari, the president of a "shithole country," etc. It's not till his guests leave that Trump trashes them. There was little wrong with what Wolf said; it was where she said it. Conventions of civility are not for nothing. ...

... So You Think You Want to Be Famous?

Steve M. (April 28): "Whether or not you liked Michelle Wolf's comedy routine at [the] White House Correspondents' Dinner, give her credit for this: The president held one of his Nuremberg rallies last night, but everyone in the media is talking about Wolf's jokes instead. She upstaged Donald Trump! The press found her more fascinating! Since 2015, how many people have been able to say that? Of course, the attention was mostly negative[.]" ...

... THEN. Steve M. (April 30): "In the comments to my post about Michelle Wolf and the White House Correspondents' Dinner, a troll made a claim I'd previously seen on Twitter: ... 'And the Trump effect hits again: a mere 24 hours after Wolf's failed dinner routine, her 2009 arrest record for beastiality is exposed.' Wolf was arrested for bestiality? Not only is this boob-bait for morons, it's the most transparently fake boob-bait imaginable. Snopes explains: ... 'This image [of a fake bestiality 'newspaper' story about Wolf] was created with a fake newspaper clip generator which allows users to make their own realistic headlines in just a few minutes.'... How stupid do you have to be to fall for this? Unfortunately for America, not too stupid to vote."

The Commentariat -- April 30, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for ... Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the payments tell ABC News, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws. Federal Election Commission records show three payments made from the Trump campaign to a fir representing Cohen. The 'legal consulting' payments were made to McDermott Will and Emery -- a law firm where Cohen's attorney Stephen Ryan is a partner -- between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen has said that he did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign, and it is illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use -- defined by the FEC as payments for expenses 'that would exist irrespective of the candidate's campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder.'"

Marco's Major Gaffe. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "'There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they're going to take the money they're saving and reinvest it in American workers, ... '[Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)] told the Economist in a recent interview. 'In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sometimes, especially right around election time & when no actual Senate votes depend upon it, Marco sounds remarkably like a Democrat. Not to worry, Mitch, when you need Marco's vote, you've got it.

Jill Colvin of the AP: "More than a year has passed since ... Donald Trump held the only solo news conference of his administration -- a rollicking, hastily arranged, 77-minute free-for-all during which he railed against the media, defended his fired national security adviser and insisted nobody who advised his campaign had had contacts with Russia. 'President Trump is more accessible than most modern presidents and frequently takes questions from the press,' says White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The president often answers shouted questions at so-called pool sprays, in which a small group of rotating reporters is given access to events such as bill signings and Cabinet lunches. Trump has also taken to answering shouted questions on the White House lawn as he arrives at and departs the White House.... But the format also gives the president far more control than he would have during a traditional question-and-answer session. Trump can easily ignore questions he doesn't like and dodge follow-ups in a way that would be glaring in a traditional news conference."

Arthur Allen of Politico: "A West Palm Beach doctor's ties to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago social circle have enabled him to hold up the biggest health information technology project in history -- the transformation of the VA's digital records system. Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, who advises the president informally on vet issues, objected to the $16 billion Department of Veterans Affairs project because he doesn't like the Cerner Corp. software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials. Cerner technology is a cornerstone of the VA project.... IT specialists at the VA felt that [Moskowitz] was out of his league in evaluating the Cerner deal.... [A source] said Moskowitz's involvement was one of the irritants in [former VA Secretary David] Shulkin's dealings with other White House-appointed officials, which contributed to his being fired March 28."

Daniel Politi of Slate: "Guns will be banned from the premises when Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. Before and during the speech, attendees are prohibited from bringing 'firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind,' the NRA wrote as it announced Pence's presence at the conference. The NRA is blaming the Secret Service.... 'Wait wait wait wait wait wait you're telling me to make the VP safe there aren't any weapons around but when it comes to children they want guns everywhere?' asked Matt Deitsch, a Parkland student who helped organize the March for Our Lives rally." ...

     ... Update. AP: "... Donald Trump will be at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend the group's annual meeting." Mrs. McC: No guns again, I guess.

Paul Walsh of the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: "Richard Painter, a longtime Republican who was chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush's White House, intends to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year as a Democrat, according to a filing he made recently with federal elections officials. Painter, a persistent and frequent critic of ... Donald Trump on national cable TV news appearances and on Twitter, is expected to announce his candidacy at a Monday news conference. He's running for Democrat Al Franken's former seat. Franken resigned Jan. 2 in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations. Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to be his successor. That seat is up this fall in a special election, and Smith has said she intends to run for the right to finish the term through 2020."

*****

Today in Government by Malevolent Ignoramus

Jack Ewing & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "What began as a way to protect American steel and aluminum jobs has since become a cudgel that the Trump administration is using to extract concessions in other areas, including car exports to Europe or negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. As a May 1 deadline looms, the decision on whether to grant permanent exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs, and to whom, appears likely to come down to the whims of President Trump, who has seesawed between scrapping and rejoining global trade deals.... The German government said in a statement that Ms. Merkel, Mr. Macron and Ms. May agreed that if the tariffs go into force, 'The European Union should be ready to decisively defend its interests within the framework of multilateral trade rules.' The uncertainty is sowing chaos in international supply networks." ...

... Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "China will refuse to discuss President Trump's two toughest trade demands ... -- a mandatory $100 billion cut in America's $375 billion annual trade deficit with China and curbs on Beijing's $300 billion plan to bankroll the country's industrial upgrade into advanced technologies -- ... when American negotiators arrive in Beijing this week, people involved in Chinese policymaking say, potentially forcing Washington to escalate the dispute or back down.... Beijing feels its economy has become big enough and resilient enough to stand up to the United States." Mrs. McC: Do notice how brilliantly Trump timed his trade wars to coincide with his Nobel Peace Prize plans. Maybe somebody should have told him that angering his "good friend Xi" is not a great way to achieve international goals re: North Korean nuclear capabilities."

Michael Hayden, in a New York Times op-ed, on how Trump's apparent inability to distinguish between truth & fiction stresses intelligence agencies. "To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas." Mrs. McC: Interesting, because Hayden suggests, without directly saying so, that Trump is a medieval man, unfettered by external realities & dependent instead upon some sort of metaphysical momentary, mutable "knowledge." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Former FBI director James B. Comey on Sunday called the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election 'a wreck' and deemed its report a 'political document.' In a conversation about his book, 'A Higher Loyalty,' on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Comey said the report, released by House Republicans on Friday, did not represent his 'understanding of what the facts were' before he left the FBI." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "The dueling House Intelligence Committee reports on Russian election interference, released on Friday, provide new information that adds significantly to a picture of obstruction of justice and abuse of power on the part of ... Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.... The information is provided only in the Minority report, and the bulk of these revelations depend on testimony by former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, whose credibility as a witness in some respects may be under a cloud.... The FBI General Counsel and FBI Director's chief of staff listened in on James Comey's side of at least some phone conversations with the president, in which Mr. Trump reportedly engaged in efforts to alter the course of the Russia investigation.... Both the FBI Director and Deputy Director interpreted one of the president's phone calls as threatening Comey if he did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The FBI Director and Deputy Director were also concerned that the president was threatening to take action against McCabe if the FBI Director did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The Minority report ... ties the specific timing of McCabe's testimony to Mr. Trump's going after not only McCabe but also the FBI's General Counsel [James Baker]. (Emphasis removed.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed: "Since the fall, the US Department of Justice has been overhauling its manual for federal prosecutors. In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions' tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled 'Need for Free Press and Public Trial.' References to the department's work on racial gerrymandering are gone. Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down. The changes include new sections that underscore Sessions' focus on religious liberty and the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on government leaks -- there is new language admonishing prosecutors not to share classified information and directing them to report contacts with the media."

Eliana Johnson of Politico: "White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his role as the president's personal physician, according to two senior administration officials, after a string of allegations caused the Navy rear admiral to withdraw his nomination last week to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sean Conley, a Navy officer who took over Jackson's role as the president's personal doctor last month, will continue in the role, the officials said.... Jackson has denied the allegations and has returned to work in the White House Medical Unit." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Just can't figure out why that is, what with Trump claiming Jackson is one of the finest men he's ever met & Sen. Jon Tester should resign for bringing forward serious allegations against him. You might just conclude Trump's repeated expressions of "outrage" are "fake." ...

     ... Update. Nicholas Fandos & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "It was unclear if Dr. Jackson ... would remain in the White House in any capacity or if he would retire from the military."

... White House Vetting = Loyalty Oath to Trump. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: In order to secure a job as spokeswoman for Jeff Sessions, Sarah Isgur Flores had to "kowtow to Trump.... The early 2017 episode ... underscores the extent to which Trump demands loyalty in vetting administration officials -- even well-qualified Republicans like Flores seeking jobs on the personal staffs of Cabinet secretaries, who historically have had considerable leeway to do their own hiring. Credentialed candidates have had to prove loyalty to the president, with many still being blocked for previous anti-Trump statements. Hundreds of national security officials, for example, were nixed from consideration because they spoke out against Trump during the campaign. But for longtime Trump loyalists, their fidelity to the president is often sufficient, obscuring what in a more traditional administration would be red flags."

Kirk Semple of the New York Times: "A long, grueling journey gave way to what could be a long, uncertain asylum process Sunday as a caravan of immigrants finally reached the border between the United States and Mexico, setting up a dramatic moment and a test of President Trump's anti-immigrant politics. More than 150 migrants, part of a caravan that once numbered about 1,200 and headed north in March from Mexico's border with Guatemala, were prepared to seek asylum from United States immigration officials. But in what was likely to be one of many curves on the road, the migrants were told Sunday afternoon that the immigration officials could not process their claims, and they would have to spend the night on the Mexican side of the border.... With the migrants on the doorstep of the United States, Mr. Trump, in a tweet last week, ratcheted up his rhetoric, vowing 'not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.'... Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the caravan 'a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Ya know, JeffBo, these people are obeying U.S. & international law in seeking asylum. Moreover, if 150 people would "overwhelm our system," then it's a piss-poor system. Since your boss has been bellyaching about these asylum-seekers for at least a month, it's not exactly as if you didn't know they were coming. Thanks for making the U.S. look feeble & inept, not to mention mean & xenophobic.

Gardiner Harris & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Israel Sunday in the midst of the worst crisis in relations between Israelis and Palestinians in years, but he did not meet a single Palestinian representative and mentioned them publicly once. For decades, American diplomats saw themselves as brokers between the two sides, and secretaries of state typically met Palestinian representatives on regional tours like this one. When relations between the two sides deteriorated, the United States sought to bridge the divide. No more." ...

... But John Bolton Is a Great Diplomat! Chas Danner of New York: On "Fox 'News' Sunday" & "Face the Nation," "President Trump's new national security adviser, John Bolton, floated the idea of using the 'Libya model' to denuclearize the Korean peninsula on Sunday, despite the fact that North Korea has previously cited Libya's disarmament and subsequent destabilization as a reason to distrust the U.S.... Bolton ... did not acknowledge what happened in Libya after it gave up its weapons of mass destruction. Several years later, in 2011, the country was destabilized by a civil war, during which the U.S. and its allies intervened militarily against [Muammar] Gaddafi, directly leading to the end of his 42-year rule as well as his capture, beating, and death and hands of rebel fighters. And the country has been in crisis ever since." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Why am I thinking that Bolton's gaffe -- along with Trump's plans to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal AND his threat to walk out of the Korea talks in a tantrum -- are kinda disincentives for Li'l Kim to denuke North Korea? Move over, Larry, Moe & Curly. It's Donnie, Mike & Johnnie now. And nastier. ...

     ... Update. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Kim and his father built a nuclear arsenal for the very purpose of ensuring the security of their state against the kind of [U.S.] intervention that happened in Libya...." Mrs. McC: Ah, I guess that answers my question.

... MEANWHILE. Hyonhee Shin of Reuters: "In initial small steps toward reconciliation, South Korea said on Monday it would remove loudspeakers that blared propaganda across the border, while North Korea said it would shift its clocks to align with its southern neighbor." Which calls for this:

     ... Also significant is this represents the second time in history Trump has been known to laugh & the first time it wasn't at someone else's expense.

** Frank Rich writes a feature piece on Roy Cohn & Donald Trump & New York City's version of the self-anointed mob of crass hustlers & transactional barbarians. If you just loved those Barbara Walters specials & think Diane Sawyer (not to mention Hillary Clinton) is so classy, this is a must-read. When the story of the 2016 election is written, the author will be Rich or someone with his talent & clear-eyed worldview. All the rest is crap -- Brokawesque pablum for the clueless devotees of popular yarns.

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The sapling gifted to President Trump by French President Emmanuel Macron has disappeared from the White House lawn less than a week after the two men planted it there, according to multiple media reports.... HuffPost, quoting an unnamed source, reported that the tree is intact and was under quarantine rules imposed by U.S. Customs. The policy requires that plants imported into the U.S. be quarantined for a period of time to avoid spreading diseases or importing species of invasive insects." Mrs. McC: My first guess would have been Trump did it with his widdle hatchet but is claiming Obama did it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

What We're Missing. E.J. Dionne: "In a normal environment, the Republican Congress's assault on food-stamp recipients, the administration's waivers allowing states to erode Medicaid coverage, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson's proposed rent increases for some of the country's poorest people would be front and center in the news. But poor people lack the media cachet of Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen or a president who rants uncontrollably over the phone to his favorite Fox News show or to a crowd of enthusiasts, as he did Saturday night in Washington Township, Mich.... And governing? It seems almost beside the point. Thus does the unraveling of regulatory protections for workers, the environment and the users of financial services rush forward with little notice. This is where the Trumpian circus benefits the Trumpian project."

GOP Reps. Have Problems Chaplain Couldn't Fix. (No Kidding.) Melanie Zanona & Scott Wong of the Hill: "Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told the House Republican Conference Friday morning that he fired Chaplain Patrick Conroy because members felt like their 'pastoral needs' were not being met and not for a political reason, according to several Republicans inside the room. Ryan told members his decision to ask Conroy to step aside had nothing to do with politics, a policy conflict or a prayer. A number of lawmakers had approached Ryan and told him they needed someone in the chaplain's role who could offer more 'spiritual counseling,' according to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who attended the meeting. Ryan agreed, he told the members."

Jen Chaney of Vulture: "As soon as Michelle Wolf finished delivering her blistering White House Correspondents' Dinner roast of the Trump administration and the members of the press that cover it, she was, not surprisingly, criticized for much of what she said. Oddly, however, a lot of that criticism zeroed in on something that Michelle Wolf did not actually say: a joke about Sarah Huckabee Sanders's appearance." Among the crack journalists who objected to remarks never made were Maggie Haberman of the New York Times (Mrs. McC: who got an award at the ceremony for the "nuance" & "context" she applies to her reporting about the White House) & Mika Brzezinski, both of whom were the subjects of Wolf jokes. Mrs. McC: Guess you can't get all that much nuance into a tweet. ...

... Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones reprints some more outraged reactions to Wolf's routine & a couple of apt defenses.

Michael de la Merced & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "Sprint and T-Mobile announced on Sunday that they had reached a deal to merge, moving to create a new telecommunications giant -- and betting that regulators would finally allow the American wireless service market to shrink to just three national players." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

Guardian: "Ten journalists have died in Afghanistan in a coordinated double suicide bombing in Kabul and a shooting in the eastern Khost province, on the deadliest day for media workers in the country since the fall of the Taliban. Nine journalists died in the Afghan capital when they gathered at the scene of the first of two blasts. Ahmad Shah, a BBC reporter, was shot dead in a separate incident in Khost province, near the border with Pakistan. In Kabul, a suicide attacker riding a motorbike blew himself up in the Shash Darak neighbourhood, near the Nato headquarters and the US embassy, at about 8am. A second bomber, holding a camera and posing as a journalist, struck 20 minutes later, killing rescue workers and journalists, including an Agence France-Presse photographer, who had rushed to the scene. At least 25 people were killed and 45 injured in total."

The Commentariat -- April 29, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Michael Hayden, in a New York Times op-ed, on how Trump's apparent inability to distinguish between truth & fiction stresses intelligence agencies. "To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas." Mrs. McC: Interesting, because Hayden suggests, without directly saying so, that Trump is a medieval man, unfettered by external realities & dependent instead upon some sort of metaphysical momentary, mutable "knowledge."

Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Former FBI director James B. Comey on Sunday called the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election 'a wreck' and deemed its report a 'political document.' In a conversation about his book, 'A Higher Loyalty,' on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Comey said the report, released by House Republicans on Friday, did not represent his 'understanding of what the facts were' before he left the FBI."

Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "The dueling House Intelligence Committee reports on Russian election interference, released on Friday, provide new information that adds significantly to a picture of obstruction of justice and abuse of power on the part of ... Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.... The information is provided only in the Minority report, and the bulk of these revelations depend on testimony by former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, whose credibility as a witness in some respects may be under a cloud.... The FBI General Counsel and FBI Director's chief of staff listened in on James Comey's side of at least some phone conversations with the president, in which Mr. Trump reportedly engaged in efforts to alter the course of the Russia investigation.... Both the FBI Director and Deputy Director interpreted one of the president's phone calls as threatening Comey if he did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The FBI Director and Deputy Director were also concerned that the president was threatening to take action against McCabe if the FBI Director did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The Minority report ... ties the specific timing of McCabe's testimony to Mr. Trump's going after not only McCabe but also the FBI's General Counsel [James Baker]. (Emphasis removed.)

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The sapling gifted to President Trump by French President Emmanuel Macron has disappeared from the White House lawn less than a week after the two men planted it there, according to multiple media reports.... HuffPost, quoting an unnamed source, reported that the tree is intact and was under quarantine rules imposed by U.S. Customs. The policy requires that plants imported into the U.S. be quarantined for a period of time to avoid spreading diseases or importing species of invasive insects." Mrs. McC: My first guess would have been Trump did it with his widdle hatchet but is claiming Obama did it.

Michael de la Merced & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "Sprint and T-Mobile announced on Sunday that they had reached a deal to merge, moving to create a new telecommunications giant -- and betting that regulators would finally allow the American wireless service market to shrink to just three national players."

*****

Blah Blah Blah. Me Me Me. Rachel Chason & David Lynch of the Washington Post: "President Trump bragged about his economic and diplomatic accomplishments and savaged the media during a raucous rally Saturday before thousands of supporters in a state that is critical to his reelection hopes. The campaign-style event held at the Total Sports Park was billed as counter-programming to the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in the nation's capital, which the president skipped for the second consecutive year. The president treated the crowd, dotted with the familiar 'Make America Great Again' hats, to his customary litany of immigration complaints, gibes at prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and boasts about purchases of 'brand-new' military equipment. The president also complained that the media had not given him sufficient credit for making possible Friday's meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, saying he had 'everything' to do with it. He also predicted that he would achieve the 'all-time record' for appointing conservative judges and boasted that his tax and economic policies were working." ...

... Eli Watkins of CNN: "Trump also tossed out an unspecified allegation about Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, whom Trump blamed for the recent sinking of his nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. 'I know things about Tester that I could say, too,' Trump said. 'And if I said them, he'd never be elected again.'" ...

... Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump threatened on Saturday to 'shut down the country' – an apparent reference to a government shutdown -- unless Congress approves funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a fiery campaign-style speech, Trump lashed out at Democratic lawmakers for opposing his pledge to build the border wall, and said that once government funding runs out at the end of September he would call for a so-called shutdown." ...

... AND Trump Voiced a New Conspiracy Theory about This Russia Thing. Judd Legum of ThinkProgress: "At a campaign rally in Michigan, a red-faced Trump offered a convoluted explanation for [Natalia] Veselniskaya's admission [this week that she is a Russian 'informant'/agent with close ties to Russia's prosecutor general]. According to Trump, Veselniskaya does not have any relationship with the Russian government. But she recently was convinced by Putin to pretend she was an agent of the Russian government. Why? According to Trump, Putin realized that 'Trump is killing us.' Therefore, Putin convinced Veselniskaya to lie about her role to make life in America 'even more chaotic[.]" ...

... I Might Have a Trumpertantrum. Benjamin Haas of the Guardian: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday a meeting with North Korea could happen over the next three to four weeks. 'I think we will have a meeting over the next three or four weeks,' Trump said at a campaign rally in Washington, Michigan. 'It's going be a very important meeting, the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.' 'But we'll see how it goes,' he added. 'I may go in, it may not work out, I leave.'" ...

... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The talk of peace [between North & South Korea] is likely to weaken the two levers that Mr. Trump used to pressure [Kim Jong un] to come to the bargaining table. A resumption of regular diplomatic exchanges between the two Koreas, analysts said, will inevitably erode the crippling economic sanctions against the North, while Mr. Trump will find it hard to threaten military action against a country that is extending an olive branch.... The price of failure would be high for Mr. Trump. The United States could face a split with its ally South Korea, which is deeply invested in ending its estrangement from the North. Tensions could flare with China.... Mr. Trump is also moving on other fronts that could undercut his negotiations with Mr. Kim. He appears more likely than ever to rip up the Iran nuclear deal as he faces his next deadline of May 12 to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Walking away from one nuclear disarmament deal while trying to strike another would be a trick, even for a self-proclaimed dealmaker like Mr. Trump. On Saturday, Mr. Trump said he had a 'very good talk' with [Moon Jai-in]. 'Things are going well,' he tweeted. 'Time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set.' He also said he had briefed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, who has watched the rush of diplomacy with some concern." ...

... Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, told President Moon Jae-in of South Korea when they met that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States would agree to formally end the Korean War and promise that it would not invade his country, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday. In a faith-building gesture ahead of a summit meeting with President Trump, Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country's only known underground nuclear test site. The comments by Mr. Kim were made on Friday when the leaders of the two Koreas met at Panmunjom, a village on their shared border, the spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, said on Sunday...."

Trump Finds Something Stupid and/or Insenstive to Say for Every Occasion. Daniel Politi of Slate: "... Donald Trump has been roundly criticized after he turned what should have been a simple photo-op into a cringe-worthy speech. In a White House event to congratulate the U.S. athletes who competed in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic games, Trump seems to have gone a bit off script. 'What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me,' Trump said. 'And I watched -- it's a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could. Many on Twitter were quick to criticize the president for his words, even as some tried to defend him by saying he was simply suggesting he was too busy to watch too much television.... Many of the biggest Winter Olympic names had decided to boycott the White House event anyway due to political differences with the president.... The Paralympic Games ... [responded,] 'Record numbers around the world are not finding @Paralympics tough to watch.... Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world. We hope the US President continues to watch and be inspired by the Paralympics.'"

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "As Saudi Arabia considers digging a moat along its border with Qatar and dumping nuclear waste nearby, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh on his first overseas trip as the nation's top diplomat with a simple message: Enough is enough. Patience with what is viewed in Washington as a petulant spat within the Gulf Cooperation Council has worn thin, and Mr. Pompeo told the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, that the dispute needs to end, according to a senior State Department official...." Mrs. McC: As described by his unnamed spokesperson, Pompeo sounds quite statesman-y.

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post (April 26): "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Richard Grenell -- a Republican commentator, operative and former aide to new national security adviser John Bolton -- as the next ambassador to Germany, despite objections from Democrats that his past epithets about prominent female politicians made him unfit for the job.... Democrats have focused on the undiplomatic tone Grenell has struck in several comments on his Twitter profile and as a frequent commentator on Fox News, where he has jeered about the appearance of several high-profile political women, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Callista Gingrich, Trump's ambassador to the Vatican.... 'I hope he doesn't start tweeting about Chancellor Merkel if he gets the position,' [Sen. Bob] Menendez 0[D-N.J.] [said]."

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "... President Trump promised that he would change Washington.... Three moments in a week otherwise dominated by foreign policy focused fresh attention on those shortcomings -- a comment by Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget; the congressional testimony of Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the controversy over the nomination of White House physician Ronny L. Jackson to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Each in its own way feeds the public's cynicism." ...

... Let's Add This One. Spencer McBride in the Washington Post: "In an unprecedented move, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy resigned as chaplain of the House of Representatives amid his two-year term. The resignation came at the behest of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.... Though Ryan (R-Wis.) denied it, the possibility that partisan motives drove his action has prompted a predictably partisan response. Some members of Congress have called for an investigation, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the move 'impossible to support.'... Every week..., clergymen offer sermons and prayers that urge men and women to pay special attention to the needs of the poor and those whom society has marginalized. Conroy did not pray for anything radical, offensive or even particularly political; this principle is at the heart of all religions. Yet when the same, seemingly noncontroversial sentiment is uttered in a polarized chamber of Congress, sensitive political agendas will too often serve as the lens through which lawmakers view such remarks. At stake in the firing and replacing of Conroy as chaplain is the transformation of a congressional position designed to promote civil discourse into nothing more than another tool of partisanship."

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has admitted to lawmakers that he discussed the 'Steele dossier' about President Trump and Russia with a CNN journalist in early 2017, according to a report from Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The journalist Clapper spoke with was CNN host Jake Tapper, whose name appeared on a bombshell report in January 2017 that first revealed that former FBI Director James Comey had briefed Trump on the dossier's salacious allegations.... House Republicans interviewed Clapper for the report. They say that Clapper at first 'flatly denied' leaking the contents of the dossier, but later admitted to discussing the dossier with Tapper and other journalists in early January of 2017, shortly before Trump's inauguration." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Tapper & Co. got a White House Correspondents' award Saturday for the "bombshell report." ...

Oren Kerr in Lawfare: According to an e-mail published in the GOP No Collusion narrative, Don Junior committed a misdemeanor under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act by unlawfully accessing an anti-Trump Website via a guessed password. Kerr notes that this is a type of crime that is not likely to be prosecuted. Mrs. McC: However, if the Mueller team decides to bring other charges against Junior, it seems likely to me that they would throw in this activity -- which Junior admitted in the e-mail -- to bolster the overall case against him. It does seem to me to show that this is another instance in which he shows he has no compunction about using illegal means to further the aims of the campaign, & that questions like, "Wait, isn't that illegal?" did not cross his mind. In fairness to Junior, many of us might do the same thing if someone sent us a password to a Website that we thought was intent upon harming us. We might not be dumb enough, though, to memorialize our illegal snooping.

Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "The humanitarian crisis created by Hurricane Maria has added fuel to an ongoing power struggle for the island's future: Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and his New Progressive Party advocate statehood as the solution to Puerto Rico's second-class status. His opponents call for greater autonomy from the United States and, for some, eventual independence. The U.S. government has shown no interest in affecting the status quo, and many Puerto Ricans still view the current relationship as a relatively stable option that provides an adequate balance of sovereignty and support. But the sluggish disaster response and dissatisfaction with the coordinated recovery efforts have aggravated the sense of abandonment and the sting of Puerto Rico's subordinate standing with the United States, according to residents, experts and island leaders."

Congressional Races

Jonathan Martin, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump is privately rejecting the growing consensus among Republican leaders that they may lose the House and possibly the Senate in November, leaving party officials and the president's advisers nervous that he does not grasp the gravity of the threat they face in the midterm elections.... Mr. Trump is as impulsive as ever, fixated on personal loyalty cultivating a winner's image and privately prodding Republican candidates to demonstrate their affection for him -- while complaining bitterly when he campaigns for those who lose.... Congressional leaders have left little doubt in private that they see Mr. Trump as a political millstone for many of the party's candidates." ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "The problem is not only that Trump refuses to believe that Republicans will lose, but that, even if he were sufficiently worried, he doesn't care enough about his own party to bother helping.... However Trump performs on the campaign trail, and however Republicans fare this fall, the president will continue living in a bubble of his own making. Because Trump was right to dismiss the concerns of the many, many people who insisted he couldn't win in 2016, he can now perennially point to that shocking election result as proof that his instincts, not some politico egghead's, are always correct. And if Republicans lose big this year, he'll just say they didn't stick by him closely enough. It's a dishonest, solipsitic approach to life. But it's one that has worked shockingly well for Donald Trump."

Aleksandra Appleton of the Sacramento Bee: "The race for congressional District 22, held by longtime GOP incumbent Devin Nunes, has been downgraded from 'safely Republican' to 'likely Republican' by a closely watched political forecasting website run by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Sabato's Crystal Ball, run by University of Virginia's Center for Politics, cited the enormous amount of money raised by Democratic challenger Andrew Janz as one factor making the race more competitive." ...

... Caroline Orr of Shareblue: "Instead of considering that his own failures may explain his sinking campaign, Nunes is pointing the finger at the right-wing's go-to boogeyman: 'radical leftists.' In a fundraising email sent on Saturday, Nunes whined that 'radical leftists' and the mainstream media are saying 'nasty things' about him, though he failed to provide examples of these 'nasty things' -- likely because most of them are true statements about his own actions.&"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. NBC Edition

Tom Never Abused Us. Jackie Wattles & Brian Stelter of CNN: "More than 100 women have signed a letter defending former 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Tom Brokaw following a sexual harassment allegation by a former colleague.... But there is considerable tension behind the scenes at NBC about the letter and the broader effort to defend Brokaw. Sources described debates between friends and within peer groups about whether to sign on and what message the letter was intended to send. As one of the sources put it: 'What does it mean if your name is not on the letter?'" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: You really should read Brokaw's "defense." After he gets thru whining about being taken to the guillotine & stripped of his honor & achievement, he boasts how he helped Linda Vester out by fixing her up with Roger Ailes. Roger Fucking Ailes, one of the worst sexual abusers in television history. It's 2018, & that jerk Brokaw thinks sending a young woman to Roger Ailes redounds to his credit.

Christina Caron of the New York Times: "Joy Reid, the MSNBC host who accused hackers of inserting homophobic posts into her now-defunct blog, said on Saturday that while she continued to deny having written the offensive language, security experts could not conclusively say her blog was breached. 'I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things, because they are completely alien to me,' she said on her morning show, 'AM Joy.' 'But I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past, why some people don't believe me.' She hired a cybersecurity expert to see if her former blog had been manipulated, she said, but 'the reality is, they have not been able to prove it.'... On Saturday morning, Ms. Reid devoted about 30 minutes of her show to the controversy, speaking with a supportive panel of experts who fight for L.G.B.T. rights."

Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair reprises Michelle Wolf's performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. Mrs. McC: Except for the jokes she told about Trump & kin, of course, her jokes were pretty Trumpian -- offensive to everyone. If you want to watch -- CSPAN video is here. Her performance begins about 51 minutes in.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Weird News. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A fire broke out on Saturday in a high-rise that until recently had been called Trump Tower in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, engulfing much of the building in flames by early evening. Footage on social media showed flames shooting out of the windows and smoke billowing from the 33-floor building, which is still under construction and had been labeled 'Donald Trump's Worst Deal' by The New Yorker magazine. The blaze, which broke out on the top floor of the building, burned down through about 20 stories before firefighters extinguished the flames by midafternoon, the news agency Interfax reported.... The Trump Organization withdrew its licensing agreement for the Baku skyscraper shortly after the 2016 election.... Mr. Trump had partnered in the development with the son of a former minister of transportation in the oil-rich former Soviet state. The Trump-branded hotel never opened.... Mr. Trump cut the deal despite allegations by United States diplomats that the minister had dealings with front companies for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was corrupt."