The Commentariat -- February 12, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post: "The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled the official portraits of former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, both painted by African American artists, and both striking additions to the museum's 'America's Presidents' exhibition." ...

How Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Celebrates Black History Month. Daily Beast: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday invoked 'Anglo-American heritage' in an off-the-cuff remark during a speech at the National Sheriffs Association winter meeting in Washington. 'The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement,' Sessions said. 'We must never erode this historic office.'"

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump on Monday will propose offering $100 billion in federal incentives to encourage cities and states to invest in road, bridge and other building projects, the centerpiece of a plan to spur $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending over the next decade without devoting significant federal money. The proposal, to be unveiled the same day as Mr. Trump's 2019 budget, faces long odds on Capitol Hill, where members of both parties -- particularly Democrats -- are skeptical of any plan that fails to create a dedicated new funding stream to address the nation's crumbling infrastructure. Lawmakers are also doubtful that such a small federal investment will be sufficient to spur an infrastructure spending boom."

No sooner had MAG brought up the unsettling thought of a "Trump library" than Akhilleus located it:

... A Book for the Trump Library! Julie Davis: "President Trump on Monday sent Congress a $4.4 trillion budget with steep cuts in domestic programs and entitlements, including Medicare, and large increases for the military, envisioning deficits totaling at least $7.1 trillion over the next decade. The blueprint, which has little to no chance of being enacted as written, amounts to a vision statement by Mr. Trump, whose plan discards longtime Republican orthodoxy about balancing the budget, instead embracing last year's $1.5 trillion tax cut and new spending on a major infrastructure initiative." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The theme here seems to be, "Congressional Republicans ignore GOP President*."

Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "The Justice Department's No. 3 attorney had been unhappy with her job for months before the department announced her departure on Friday, according to multiple sources close to Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand. Brand grew frustrated by vacancies at the department and feared she would be asked to oversee the Russia investigation, the sources said. She will be leaving the Justice Department in the coming weeks to take a position with Walmart as the company's executive vice president of global governance and corporate secretary, a job change that had been in the works for some time, the sources said.... Should [Deputy AG Rod] Rosenstein be fired, Brand would be next in line to oversee Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, thrusting her into a political spotlight that Brand told friends she did not want to enter."

Tom Winter & Jonathan Deinst of NBC News: "... Donald Trump's daughter-in-law [Vanessa Trump] was taken to a Manhattan hospital as a precaution on Monday after a suspicious letter containing an unidentified white powder was sent to her apartment, senior law enforcement and city officials told NBC News."

Personally, I think Devin Nunes is totally out of control. And Paul Ryan is letting it happen, which is not quite as bad as pedophile Denny Hastert letting his members screw the pages but getting pretty close. -- Martin Longman of BooMan Tribune ...

... Matthew Chapman of Shareblue: Devin Nunes' fake news "website, titled 'The California Republican,' was first exposed by Politico on Sunday. Paid for by the Devin Nunes Campaign Committee, it has run headlines like, 'CNN busted for peddling fake news AGAIN!' and 'Understanding the process behind #ReleaseTheMemo.' Its Twitter account even posted an image of Nunes with the words 'This is what a hero looks like.'"

Wayne Drash of CNN: "California's insurance commissioner has launched an investigation into Aetna after learning a former medical director for the insurer admitted under oath he never looked at patients' records when deciding whether to approve or deny care. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones expressed outrage after CNN showed him a transcript of the testimony and said his office is looking into how widespread the practice is within Aetna. 'If the health insurer is making decisions to deny coverage without a physician actually ever reviewing medical records, that's of significant concern to me as insurance commissioner in California -- and potentially a violation of law,' he said."

*****

Happy Birthday, Abe. "Great president. Most people don't even know he was a Republican. Does anyone know? Lot of people don't know that." -- Donald Trump, to attendees at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner, March 2017

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "It is hard to tell what should be more worrisome: the fact that the commander in chief doesn't bother to read his daily compilation of the nation's most urgent intelligence, or the fact that his son-in-law -- who has been unable to obtain a security clearance -- does.... There are two sets of issues to be concerned about here. The more serious one, of course, is whether the president is getting the information he needs to keep the country safe -- or alternatively, whether his handlers may be dumbing things down to avoid overtaxing his attention span or challenging his preconceptions. In the case of [Jared] Kushner, there is a potential security risk but also the more immediate question of how appropriate is it for him to have access to the material under any circumstances. That takes us back to the fact that the 37-year-old real estate scion has no credential to merit holding his current White House job, outside of whom he married."

Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The furor over spousal abuse allegations that forced the resignation of one of President Trump's top advisers last week has exposed fissures within the White House that had been papered over since John F. Kelly took over last summer as chief of staff with a mandate to end the dysfunction. Aides to the president said they remained confused and upset over the handling of the accusations against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who stepped down. Days after his departure, the White House was still struggling on Sunday to provide a consistent explanation of who knew what and when, even as questions swirled about whether anyone might be felled as a result." ...

... Here's One Reason. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump is defending Rob Porter even though, privately, he says he's guilty. Behind closed doors: The president has told multiple people that he believes the accusations about Porter, and finds him 'sick.'... The president has told associates he believes Porter's ex-wives' accusations." ...

... They Can't Handle the Truth. Jennie Willoughby in Time: "On Friday, a friend and I watched as the President of the United States sat in the Oval Office and praised the work of my ex-husband, Rob Porter, and wished him future success.... When Donald Trump repeated twice that Rob declared his innocence, I was floored.... My friend turned to me and said, 'The President of the United States just called you a liar.'... While I may understand President Trump and Gen. Kelly's incredulity at such a counter-image of their golden boy, I do not condone their choice to support him." ...

... David Remnick of the New Yorker: "Sooner or later, Trump's satraps and lieutenants, present and former, come to betray a vivid sense of just how imperilled and imperilling this Presidency is. In their sotto-voce remarks to the White House press, these aides seem to compete in their synonyms for the President's modesty of intelligence ('moron,' 'idiot,' 'fool'); his colossal narcissism; his lack of human empathy. They admit to reporters how little he studies the basics of domestic policy and national security; how partial he is to autocrats like himself; how indifferent he is to allies.... In the past few days, it has been Trump's misogyny, his heedless attitude toward women and issues of harassment and abuse, that has shocked them most. And those who know him best recognize the political consequences ahead.... It has come to the point when even Trump's closest aides know that a reckoning is coming." ...

The problem for Kelly is that a good number of his staff tell me he's a liar. -- Jonathan Swan of Axios, in a tweet ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "After a disastrous week for White House Chief of Staff John Kelly..., Trump administration talking heads were in cleanup mode on Sunday morning. Amid reports that President Trump was considering getting rid of his chief of staff, Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper to claim otherwise.... (Judging by past events, this assurance does not indicate that Kelly's job is completely secure.)... She defended President Trump's unwillingness to sympathize with Porter's accusers by ... pointing to job gains among women in the last year. And she dodged a question about the timeline of what Kelly and White House Chief Counsel Donald McGahn knew about Porter's behavior.... Kelly may still enjoy the confidence of the president, but he has increasingly become known for a loose relationship with the truth, so his credibility is not exactly airtight on this or any other matter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Having "a loose relationship with the truth" should be a point of bonding between Trump & Kelly. ...

... Over on Fox "News," the crazies -- in this case, Jeanine Pirro & Sebastian Gorka -- have cooked up a conspiracy theory for all this, and you won't be surprised to learn that the Porter debacle is all Obama's fault. Mrs. McC: I'm disappointed Hillary doesn't get some credit here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Monday will offer a budget plan that falls far short of eliminating the government's deficit over 10 years, conceding that huge tax cuts and new spending increases make this goal unattainable, three people familiar with the proposal said. Eliminating the budget deficit over 10 years has been a North Star for the Republican Party for several decades, and GOP lawmakers took the government to the brink of default in 2011 when they demanded a vote on a amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit the federal government from spending more than it takes in." ...

.... Yeah But. Sarah Ferris & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "Trump's budget will lay out 'an aggressive set of spending reforms' to reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over a decade, according to a preview released by the White House on Sunday.... [Budget Director Mick] Mulvaney said Sunday that Trump will request more cuts to the State Department and the EPA this time, while urging Republican lawmakers to resist the urge to boost spending on social welfare programs.... The White House is expected to buy into congressional Republicans' plans for welfare reform, such as imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients and new restrictions for food stamps. On stemming opioid addiction, for example, Trump is expected to ask Congress to shift more funding into enforcement, rather than treatment.... The budget will again reflect Trump's businessman-like commitment to shrinking the federal bureaucracy, for the first time making public the White House's plans for trimming staff and operations across the federal government."

David Leonhardt of the New York Times on "Trumpism for thee but not for me." Trump has repeatedly imposed unpopular, noxious policies, then made carveouts for his supporters, as he did with his offshore oil-drilling program -- acceding to buddy Gov. Rick Scott's plea to exempt Florida. "If Trump's agenda is as wonderful as he says, his loyal supporters should surely get to benefit from it as well. But I think it also contains an important lesson for anyone trying to stop Trump's agenda: Keep calling attention to the substance of that agenda, because it is deeply unpopular -- and even Trump's allies know it's unpopular.... The clearest example is a new tax on colleges with an endowment of at least $500,000 per full-time student. It was aimed at bastions of liberalism, like Harvard, M.I.T., Stanford and Amherst. But members of Congress eventually realized that the endowment tax would also apply to Berea College, a small institution in Kentucky with a nice-sized endowment.... So [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] 'insisted' (his word) that last week's budget deal create a carve-out to spare Berea from the tax."

Motoko Rich & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "... Flashing a sphinx-like smile and without ever speaking in public, Kim [Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un,] managed to outflank Mr. Trump's envoy to the Olympics, Vice President Mike Pence, in the game of diplomatic image-making. While Mr. Pence came with an old message -- that the United States would continue to ratchet up 'maximum sanctions' until the North dismantled its nuclear arsenal -- Ms. Kim delivered messages of reconciliation as well as an unexpected invitation from her brother to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to visit Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.... Mr. Pence is playing 'right into North Korea's hands by making it look like the U.S. is straying from its ally and actively undermining efforts for inter-Korean relations,' said Mintaro Oba, a former diplomat at the State Department specializing in the Koreas, who now works as a speechwriter in Washington. Ms. Kim, on the other hand, 'is a very effective tip of the spear for the North Korean charm offensive,' Mr. Oba said. Analysts of Korean affairs said that Mr. Pence had missed an opportunity." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Needless to say, I'm no fan of the Kim family, but I am pleased to assume that these stories comparing pence unfavorably to Kim is making Trump hopping mad. On a more serious note, it's distressing that a powerful country like the U.S. has chosen such dimwitted leaders that a rotten little nation like North Korea can show us up with the blink of an eyelash. ...

... Yeah But. Maybe. Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Despite the mutual chilliness between U.S. and North Korean officials in South Korea last week, behind the scenes real progress was made toward a new diplomatic opening that could result in direct talks without preconditions between Washington and Pyongyang. This window of opportunity was born out of a new understanding reached between the White House and the president of South Korea. Vice President Pence, in an interview aboard Air Force Two on the way home from the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, told me that in his two substantive conversations with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during his trip, the United States and South Korea agreed on terms for further engagement with North Korea -- first by the South Koreans and potentially with the United States soon thereafter." Mrs. McC: If this is true, good. But don't tell Trump about it because if you do, he'll again put a Trumpywrench in it.

Trump Hotels Announce Outer Space Expansion. "To the Moon, Melania!" Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration wants to turn the International Space Station into a kind of orbiting real estate venture run not by the government, but by private industry. The White House plans to stop funding the station after 2024, ending direct federal support of the orbiting laboratory. But it does not intend to abandon the orbiting laboratory altogether and is working on a transition plan that could turn the station over to the private sector, according to an internal NASA document obtained by The Washington Post. 'The decision to end direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will be deorbited at that time -- it is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform,' the document states. 'NASA will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "As he enters his second year in charge of the EPA, [Scott] Pruitt is distinguishing himself from his predecessors in ways that go beyond policy differences. His travel practices -- which tend to be secretive, costly and frequent -- are integral to how he approaches his role.... [Pruitt's] overseas trips are largely untethered to the kind of multilateral environmental summits that dominated his predecessors' schedules, and Pruitt rarely discloses where he plans to be.... The agency records show that wherever Pruitt's schedule takes him, he often flies first or business class, citing unspecified security concerns." It's unclear whether his security detail travels in coach or alongside Pruitt.

Nick Miroff & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "A week after he won the election, President Trump promised that his administration would round up millions of immigrant gang members and drug dealers. And after he took office, arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surged 40 percent.... But as ICE officers get wider latitude to determine whom they detain, the biggest jump in arrests has been of immigrants with no criminal convictions. The agency made 37,734 'noncriminal' arrests in the government's 2017 fiscal year, more than twice the number in the previous year.... Critics say ICE is increasingly grabbing at the lowest-hanging fruit of deportation-eligible immigrants to meet the president's unrealistic goals, replacing a targeted system with a scattershot approach aimed at boosting the agency's enforcement statistics. ICE has not carried out mass roundups or major workplace raids under Trump, but nearly every week brings a contentious new arrest.... Immigrants whose only crime was living in the country illegally were largely left alone during the latter years of the Obama administration. But that policy has been scrapped." ...

... Seung Min Kim & Burgess Everett of Politico: "Usually careful with his every move, the Senate majority leader is taking a gamble this week with his pledge for a free-for-all debate over the fate of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants.... McConnell has pledged to senators to devote the Senate floor solely to immigration for at least two weeks, according to senators.... But McConnell does want strong GOP backing for any final bill and will be loath to pass anything that can't get at least 30 Senate Republicans in support, according to two Republican senators." McConnell's wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chou, emigrated from Taiwan when she was eight years old. ...

... Tal Kopan of CNN: "A group of Republican senators on Sunday night released a version of ... Donald Trump's immigration proposal ahead of a floor debate on immigration this week.... The proposal is expected to be one of several amendments the Senate will consider this week as it debates immigration.The bill from Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, John Cornyn, James Lankford, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, Tom Cotton and Joni Ernst largely resembles what Trump has proposed. At its base is still a resolution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation. Trump has decided to terminate the Obama-era program."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Nunes Fake "News." David Siders of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a relentless critic of the media, has found a way around the often unflattering coverage of his role in the Trump-Russia investigation -- by operating his own partisan news outlet. Resembling a local, conservative news site, 'The California Republican' is classified on Facebook as a 'media/news company' and claims to deliver 'the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.' But the website is paid for by Nunes' campaign committee, according to small print at the bottom of the site. Leading the home page most recently: a photograph of Nunes over the headline, 'Understanding the process behind #ReleaseTheMemo.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The irony here is rich. Nunes is head of a committee that is supposed to be investigating Russian interference in the U.S. election, a scheme that prominently involves manipulating Americans' sources for news. And what is Nunes doing? He's copying the Russians. He's trying to manipulate Americans' sources for news. ...

... Norman Eisen, Caroline Fredrickson & Laurence Tribe, in a New York Times op-ed, point to the possibility that Devin Nunes & his staff, if they coordinated the infamous Nunes memo with the White House, may end up in Robert Mueller's sights, as targets for conspiracy-to-obstruct-justice charges. "Endeavoring to stop an investigation, if done with corrupt intent, may constitute obstruction of justice. Plotting to assist such action may be conspiracy to obstruct justice."

Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein and their film production company alleging serious violations of civil rights, human rights and state business laws. The lawsuit, which was filed on Sunday with the New York County supreme court, alleges that the Weinsteins created 'a years-long gender-based hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends that extended from in or about 2005 through at least in or about October 2017.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Pemy Levy of Mother Jones: "Top Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature aren't giving an inch in the ongoing battle over the state's congressional map. On Friday, they submitted a new map for the 2018 elections that analyses show is just as gerrymandered as the old one. It would ensure Republicans keep an outsized number of seats in a state closely divided between the two parties.... The Republicans' proposal is the result of a ruling last month in which the Pennsylvania supreme court found the state's current map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Under that map, drawn in 2011, Republicans consistently won 13 of the state's 18 congressional seats.... The map is now on the desk of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who has hired a mathematician to help him evaluate it.... The governor and the legislature have until February 15 to agree on a new map, as dictated by a court order. If they cannot reach an agreement, then the court will create a map." ...

... Mark Stern of Slate: "On Wednesday night, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court finally released its majority opinion explaining why Republicans' gerrymander of Pennsylvania's congressional districts violates the state constitution. (On Jan. 22, the court had issued a brief order directing the Legislature to redraw the illegal districts without fully explaining its reasoning.) Justice Debra McCloskey Todd's 139-page opinion for the court is thorough and persuasive -- and, critically, its reasoning isn't entirely limited to Pennsylvania. Instead, Todd illustrates how dozens of other state constitutions may be interpreted to protect voting rights more robustly than the U.S. Constitution does.... The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether partisan gerrymandering runs afoul of the First and 14^th amendments. But, as Todd explained, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had no obligation to wait for SCOTUS's decision in Gill v. Whitford, because the Pennsylvania Constitution provides rights independent from the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the state constitution -- which actually predates its federal counterpart -- declares that all elections 'shall be free and equal.'"

She Persisted. If you speak truth to power in West Virginia, they'll turn off your mike & physically drag you from the podium. Russell Mokhiber of Common Dreams: Lissa Lucas stood to testify before a West Virginia House committee on a fracking bill sponsored by the oil & gas industry. Lucas "began by pointing out that 'the people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry. And the people who are going to be voting on this bill are often also paid by the industry.'... Lucas then began to read the oil and gas donations to the members of the House Judiciary Committee....” The committee chairman, John Shott, whom Lucas named first, cut off her mike, then ordered guards to remove Lucas from the podium when she persisted. ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Shott removed Lucas because, he said, she was making "personal comments." Sorry, John, Lucas was testifying about public records, not making "personal comments." If you live in Ritchie County, West Virginia, vote for Lucas for the House of Delegates seat. She's running. ...

Way Beyond

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "President Rodrigo Duterte last week told soldiers to shoot female rebels in their genitals, the latest in a series of violent, misogynistic remarks. Addressing a group of former communist rebels on Feb. 7, Duterte, who served as a city mayor before becoming president, appeared to encourage Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to target women in conflict. 'Tell the soldiers. "There's a new order coming from the mayor. We won&'t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,"' he said." Mrs. McC: Another reason, no doubt, Trump says he has a "great relationship" with Duterte.

The Commentariat -- February 11, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Motoko Rich & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "... Flashing a sphinx-like smile and without ever speaking in public, Kim [Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un,] managed to outflank Mr. Trump's envoy to the Olympics, Vice President Mike Pence, in the game of diplomatic image-making. While Mr. Pence came with an old message -- that the United States would continue to ratchet up 'maximum sanctions' until the North dismantled its nuclear arsenal -- Ms. Kim delivered messages of reconciliation as well as an unexpected invitation from her brother to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to visit Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.... Mr. Pence is playing 'right into North Korea's hands by making it look like the U.S. is straying from its ally and actively undermining efforts fo inter-Korean relations,' said Mintaro Oba, a former diplomat at the State Department specializing in the Koreas, who now works as a speechwriter in Washington. Ms. Kim, on the other hand, 'is a very effective tip of the spear for the North Korean charm offensive,' Mr. Oba said. Analysts ... said that Mr. Pence had missed an opportunity." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Needless to say, I'm no fan of the Kim family, but I am pleased to assume that these stories comparing pence unfavorably to Kim is making Trump hopping mad. On a more serious note, it's distressing that a powerful country like the U.S. has chosen such dimwitted leaders that a rotten little nation like North Korea can show us up with the blink of an eyelash.

Trump Hotels Announce Outer Space Expansion. "To the Moon, Melania!" Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration wants to turn the International Space Station into a kind of orbiting real estate venture run not by the government, but by private industry. The White House plans to stop funding the station after 2024, ending direct federal support of the orbiting laboratory. But it does not intend to abandon the orbiting laboratory altogether and is working on a transition plan that could turn the station over to the private sector, according to an internal NASA document obtained by The Washington Post. 'The decision to end direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will be deorbited at that time -- it is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform,' the document states. 'NASA will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit.'"

The problem for Kelly is that a good number of his staff tell me he's a liar. -- Jonathan Swan of Axios, in a tweet ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "After a disastrous week for White House Chief of Staff John Kelly..., Trump administration talking heads were in cleanup mode on Sunday morning. Amid reports that President Trump was considering getting rid of his chief of staff, Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper to claim otherwise.... (Judging by past events, this assurance does not indicate that Kelly's job is completely secure.)... She defended President Trump's unwillingness to sympathize with Porter's accusers by ... pointing to job gains among women in the last year. And she dodged a question about the timeline of what Kelly and White House Chief Counsel Donald McGahn knew about Porter's behavior.... Kelly may still enjoy the confidence of the president, but he has increasingly become known for a loose relationship with the truth, so his credibility is not exactly airtight on this or any other matter." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Having "a loose relationship with the truth" should be a point of bonding between Trump & Kelly. ...

... Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: Former "White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter is telling associates that some senior White House officials strongly encouraged him to 'stay and fight,' and claims he 'never misrepresented anything' to Chief of Staff John Kelly." According to Porter, he "told Kelly, as he had before, that he'd 'had troubled marriages but that the more outrageous allegations of physical abuse that might be suggested were untrue.'... [Porter said he] "learned [Wednesday] evening from news reports, not from Kelly or anyone at the White House,' that Thursday would be his last day." The report also relays Kelly's version of events, via an unnamed Congressman. Trump was supposedly oblivious to everything. Mrs. McC: They're all a bunch of liars, so who knows? ...

... Anyhow, over on Fox "News," the crazies -- in this case, Jeanine Pirro & Sebastian Gorka -- have cooked up a conspiracy theory for all this, and you won't be surprised to learn that the Porter debacle is all Obama's fault. Mrs. McC: I'm disappointed Hillary doesn't get some credit here.

Nunes "News." David Siders of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a relentless critic of the media, has found a way around the often unflattering coverage of his role in the Trump-Russia investigation -- by operating his own partisan news outlet. Resembling a local, conservative news site, 'The California Republican' is classified on Facebook as a 'media/news company' and claims to deliver 'the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.' But the website is paid for by Nunes' campaign committee, according to small print at the bottom of the site. Leading the home page most recently: a photograph of Nunes over the headline, 'Understanding the process behind #ReleaseTheMemo.'"

*****

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump complained on Saturday about allegations that he said were destroying the lives of those accused -- appearing to express doubts about the #MeToo movement after the resignations this week of two White House aides facing claims of domestic violence. In an early morning Twitter post, Mr. Trump did not name the former aides, but said: 'Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused -- life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?' Mr. Trump's claim ran counter to the White House's portrayal of its actions in response to the abuse allegations. Administration officials maintained that they acted decisively in the cases of Rob Porter, the staff secretary, and David Sorensen, a speechwriter, both of whom stepped down after their former wives accused them of emotional and physical abuse. But the president's defense is in keeping with the White House's initially defensive reaction to the charges against Mr. Porter -- as well as his tendency to dismiss allegations made against him and other powerful men by women who say they were sexually harassed." ...

... You Want Due Process? I'll Show You Due Process. Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) went after President Trump on Saturday for his tweet questioning a lack of 'due process' in abuse claims.... 'The President has shown through words and actions that he doesn't value women. It's not surprising that he doesn't believe survivors or understand the national conversation that is happening,' Gillibrand tweeted. 'If he wants due process for the over dozen sexual assault allegations against him, let's have Congressional hearings tomorrow,' she continued. 'I would support that and my colleagues should too.'" ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "One day after defending Rob Porter, the now-former White House staff secretary who is accused of having physically abused his two ex-wives, President Trump, a man who once demanded the Central Park Five's execution and then continued to claim they were guilty long after their exoneration; who advanced a grotesque, years-long conspiracy theory alleging President Obama was born in Kenya; who led unhinged 'Lock her up!' chants against his political opponent at rallies, and who is desperately trying to dismantle the FBI and Department of Justice just to avoid an investigation into his own possible transgressions, tweeted on Saturday about the degraded state of due process in modern American life." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Well, Ben, maybe Trump has been getting up early to read the Constitution. ...

... "Trump Believes the Men." Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "For ... Donald Trump, the allegations that his now-former staff secretary was a serial domestic abuser are another #HimToo moment. Never mind the FBI background check that found the allegations and restraining order credible enough to delay Rob Porter's security clearance, or the close-up photos of the black eye Porter's ex-wife says he gave her on vacation in Italy. 'Of course he never believes the women -- he can't,' [Rep. Kathlenn] Rice [D-N.Y.] said. 'Donald Trump's presidency is built on people not believing women. If people start believing women, maybe they'd think about believing any of the dozen-plus women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual assault and harassment.'... [The defense of Porter (& David Sorensen) is] part of a pattern in which Trump only defends one side in disputes between men and women over sex and violence: the men." ...

... Haley Britzky of Axios lists the men Trump has defended after they were credibly accused of abusing women. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maureen Dowd compiles an impressive list of horribles that define Trump, & to a lesser extent, & Co.

Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Under pressure from President Trump, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee plan to redact a memo defending the F.B.I.'s surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide to resolve Mr. Trump's complaint that the document disclosed highly sensitive information, a Democrat on the committee said Saturday.... Jim Himes of Connecticut, accused Mr. Trump of hypocrisy in demanding changes to the document.... Mr. Himes noted that the president had declassified the contents of a rival Republican memo, based on the same underlying documents, that criticized the F.B.I.'s behavior despite vigorous objections from both the bureau and the Justice Department. 'There is just no way that man will allow the release of information that shows that the Nunes memo is just plain wrong,' Mr. Himes said in an interview.... Both memos address the F.B.I.'s justification for seeking a secret court warrant in October 2016 to eavesdrop on the former Trump campaign aide, Carter Page, who was suspected of being an agent of Russia." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In a couple of months, we're going to be able to read between the lines of what's left of the Democrats' memo & find out what we already know: that the Nunes memo is crap. ...

... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Saturday hit back at President Trump after the president defended his decision to block the release of a memo from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. Mr. President, what you call "political" are actually called facts, and your concern for sources and methods would be more convincing if you hadn't decided to release the GOP memo ("100%") before reading it and over the objections of the FBI,' tweeted Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee.... His tweet came after Trump asserted earlier in the day that Democrats 'knew' their memo would have to be heavily redacted due to its sources and methods. 'The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency,' Trump tweeted. 'Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!'" ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "After the House Intelligence Committee voted this week to release a Democratic rebuttal to the Nunes memo, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders assured us that the White House would be evenhanded. 'As stated many times,' Sanders said, 'the administration will follow the same process and procedure with this memorandum from the minority as it did last week, when it received the memorandum from the majority.' That is simply not what happened. The White House announced Friday night (translation: news-dump o'clock) that it would not immediately approve the release of the Democratic memo. It instead instructed Democrats to work with the Justice Department to adjust the memo so that it could be released publicly.... This is not how the White House treated the Nunes memo. When it was confronted with a decision about whether to release that memo, it did so over the objections of the FBI.... Before he had even reviewed the memo — Trump and the White House made clear they would release the GOP memo."

Follow the Money, Arrive at Trump Laundromat. Katelyn Polantz & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "A senator is asking the Treasury Department to turn over records of a lucrative real estate sale Donald Trump made to a Russian billionaire as the Senate Finance Committee looks into Trump's ties to Russians. Sen. Ron Wyden, the committee's ranking member, on Friday requested the financial records of the sale of Trump's former estate in Palm Beach to Dmitry Rybolovlev. Wyden's letter outlined how Donald Trump bought a 6.3-acre property in Florida for $41.35 million in 2004 and then sold that property to a company owned by the businessman four years later. The sale price to Rybolovlev more than doubled Trump's initial investment, to $95 million. The property's appraisal in 2008 fell short of that sale price by $30 million, Wyden said.... 'It is imperative that Congress follow the money and conduct a thorough investigation into any potential money laundering or other illicit financial dealings between the President, his associates, and Russia.'"

Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein on CNN: "We're here again. A powerful and determined President is squaring off against an independent investigator operating inside the Justice Department. Special counsel Robert Mueller's mission is a comprehensive look at Russian meddling in the 2016 election -- and any other crimes he uncovers in the process.... Donald Trump insists it's all a 'witch hunt' and an unfair examination of his family's personal finances. He constantly complains about the investigation in private and reportedly asked his White House counsel to have Mueller fired. No wonder many people are making comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, when President Richard Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned." The writers publish an adaptation of the portion of their book The Final Days that covers the "Saturday Night Massacre." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

William Antholis, in Politico Magazine, makes the case that Rob Porter (& Jared Kushner, Mike Flynn, et al.,) should never had had access to some of the top secrets that he may have read. "If an employee receives an interim security clearance, he or she is allowed by law to serve in positions designated 'National Security Non-Critical Sensitive' or 'National Security/Critical Sensitive.' They cannot, however, be given a 'Special Sensitive' job, which requires a different level of clearance: Top Secret/Special Compartmentalized Information -- also known as TS/SCI or TS/CodeWord.... In the coming days, it will be critical to know whether Priebus and Kelly, Flynn and McMaster, and/or the president himself knew about Porter's security clearance status. Based on that knowledge, did they allow him access to Top Secret/CodeWord intelligence, including the President's Daily Briefing?... If they did not know, then who exactly at the White House is protecting our national secrets?" ...

... To give us a longer perspective on John Kelly, here's part of the statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights, a group that defended some of the Guantánamo prisoners, submitted in advance of Senate hearings to confirm Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security (Jan. 10, 2017):

General Kelly’s aggressive oversight of the illegal military prison at Guantánamo Bay disqualifies him to head the Department of Homeland Security. Presiding over a population of detainees not charged or convicted of crimes, over whom he had maximum custodial control, Kelly treated them with brutality. His response to the detainees’ peaceful hunger strike in 2013 was punitive force-feeding, solitary confinement, and rubber bullets. Furthermore, he sabotaged efforts by the Obama administration to resettle detainees, consistently undermining the will of his commander in chief. His temperament and actions make him unfit to lead an agency that currently holds tens of thousands of immigrants, including many fleeing violence and many in long-term indefinite detention.

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Say, now that our Rhodes-scholarly staff secretary & (alleged) serial wife-beater is out of a job and radioactive, how will he support himself? Sell state secrets? I think a scenario like this is more of a danger than one in which some ex-girlfriend blackmails him, as many talking heads have worried. Porter has known from Day 1 that he could be booted (in fact, everyone in President* Trumpertantrum's administration probably has that uppermost in his mind). So was Porter saving for a rainy day on his flashdrive? ...

     ... Several contributors last week mentioned the unusually high turnover in the Trump White House. Some of the staff who were forced out (like Loose Lips Bannon -- see Michael Wolff tell-all) have had access to highly-classified information. (Bannon was briefly [& infamously] on the National Security Council, & he too has lost his major sources of income, thanks to a Trump vendetta.) All White Houses fire staff, of course, but it's usually handled more gingerly than in Trumpland (being escorted kicking & screaming out of the building -- Omarosa; promised by Trump you could leave on your own schedule, then finding out less than an hour later Trump had announced your replacement via Twitter -- Priebus). Needless to say, disgruntled ex-employees who were privy to sensitive information are walking risks, & Trump's White House has mismanaged its way into far too many of them.

The Veep Who Was Left out in the Cold. Zeke Miller & Matthew Pennington of the AP: "Vice President Mike Pence's efforts to keep North Korea from stealing the show at the Winter Olympics proved to be short-lived, quickly drowned out by the images of the two Koreas marching and competing together, as the South appeared to look favorably on warming ties on the Korean Peninsula. Pence spent the days leading up to the games warning that the North was trying to 'hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games' with its 'propaganda.' But the North was still welcomed with open arms to what South Korean President Moon Jae-in called 'Olympic games of peace' and the U.S. appeared to be the one left out in the cold. Moon was all smiles Saturday as he greeted Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, the country's 90-year-old nominal head of state, for lunch at the presidential residence." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This will force the Trumpster to yell at pence. Such a shame.

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has adopted new limits on the use of 'guidance documents' that federal agencies have issued on almost every conceivable subject, an action that could have sweeping implications for the government's ability to sue companies accused of violations. Guidance documents offer the government's interpretation of laws, and often when individuals or companies face accusations of legal violations, what they have really violated are the guidance documents.... The new policy, issued by the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, Rachel L. Brand, is significant because federal agencies have issued hundreds of guidance documents on a wide range of laws covering issues like health care, the environment, civil rights and labor. Under the revised policy, Ms. Brand said, the Justice Department will not 'use its enforcement authority to effectively convert agency guidance documents into binding rules.' Moreover, she said, Justice Department lawyers, who represent federal agencies in court, 'may not use noncompliance with guidance documents as a basis for proving violations of applicable law.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nice parting gift. Thanks, Rachel! P.S. You should fit in well at WalMart.

Lauren Gardner of Politico: "A top official charged with overseeing the safety of U.S. railroads has resigned 'effective immediately,' the Department of Transportation said Saturday after Politico raised questions about whether he had been simultaneously working as a public relations consultant for a sheriff's department in Mississippi. Heath Hall became the Federal Railroad Administration's acting administrator in June but subsequently appeared on at least two occasions in Mississippi media reports as a spokesman for the Madison County sheriff, in a community where Hall has long run a public relations and political consulting firm. The firm continued to receive payments from the county for its services from July to December, despite his pledge in a federal ethics form that it would remain 'dormant' while he worked at DOT." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the kind of thing that can happen during any administration, but it is more likely to happen when the POTUS* himself is double-dipping. The fish rots from the head.

Liz Robbins of the New York Times: Across the nation, "federal judges are ... giving people time to fight in the immigration courts. They are slowing deportations by insisting that undocumented immigrants still have the right of due process, even if in many of these cases, the immigrants had known for years that they could be expelled. Immigration officials offered sharp rebukes to the judges on Friday. 'I am increasingly troubled by orders from federal judges halting the deportation of certain groups of individuals, all of which appear to ignore the fact that each alien in question was lawfully ordered removed from the United States after full and fair proceedings, many of which lasted several years or longer, at great taxpayer expense,' said Thomas D. Homan, the deputy director of the United States Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency, known as ICE." ...

Sarah Ruiz-Grossman of the Huffington Post: "Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to deport an undocumented man from Mexico whose child is battling cancer. On Thursday, ICE denied an extension to remain in the U.S. for 30-year-old Jesus Berrones, who lives in Arizona with his pregnant wife and five children. The immigration agency ordered Berrones to appear on Monday to be deported, according to his lawyer Garrett Wilkes. Berrones has been living in the U.S. since he was 1½, when his parents brought him here in 1989, according to his wife, Sonia. In 2006, at age 19, Berrones was caught driving with a fake license and deported to Mexico. He then twice re-entered the country unlawfully to rejoin his family. In 2016, ICE granted Berrones a stay of removal based on his son's illness. "last year, under the new Trump administration, Berrones went to ICE to refile a stay, and officials told him it was not necessary because he was no longer a deportation priority, Wilkes said. But in January, Berrones got a notice from ICE that he would be deported." ...

... Nicholas Kristof: "President Trump suggests that the aim of his crackdown on immigrants is to 'defend Americans' from 'savage,' 'worst of the worst' intruders who kill Americans or at least are 'dangerous criminals.' What does Trump's crackdown look like in real life? In Lawrence, Kan., the other day, immigration agents handcuffed a beloved chemistry professor as he was leaving his home to drive his daughter to school. Then they warned his crying wife and children, ages 7 to 14, that they could be arrested if they tried to hug him goodbye, and drove off with him -- leaving a shattered family behind."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.

Emily Stewart of Vox: "... Donald Trump propelled himself to the White House in part by promising to revive American manufacturing and deliver high-paying jobs to that industry's workers. One plank of his plan for accomplishing that goal was the $1.5 trillion tax cut bill Republicans passed in December. That legislation, however, is on track to be much more beneficial to shareholders than it is workers across all sectors -- and perhaps especially in manufacturing. On Thursday, Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect companies in general to pass just 13.2 percent of tax cut savings directly to workers, while 42.9 percent will go to share buybacks and dividends, which largely benefit shareholders and executives who hold large amounts of their companies' shares. In manufacturing, the split is even more drastic: Analysts think 46.7 percent of tax savings will go to buybacks and dividends, while just 8.9 percent will go to worker pay." ...

... Robert Reich in Salon: "Trump's promise that corporations will use his giant new tax cut to make new investments and raise workers' wages is proving to be about as truthful as his promise to release his tax returns.... Almost all the extra money is going into stock buybacks. Since the tax cut became law, buy-backs have surged to $88.6 billion. That's more than double the amount of buybacks in the same period last year, according to data provided by Birinyi Associates. If anything, the current tumult in the stock market will fuel even more buybacks. Stock buybacks are corporate purchases of their own shares of stock. Corporations do this to artificially prop up their share prices. Buybacks are the corporate equivalent of steroids. They may make shareholders feel better than otherwise, but nothing really changes." ...

... About That Bonus. Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: "A growing preference among employers for one-time awards instead of raises that keep building over time has been quietly transforming the employment landscape for two decades.... The stream of companies announcing bonuses for their employees in the wake of the newly minted tax cuts is just the latest expression of the trend. This little-noticed shift in how employers compensate workers could also help explain one of the economy's most persistent puzzles: why a hot labor market has failed to ignite bigger increases in wages." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Ya see, Trumpbots, your BFF in the White House & that sweet sadsack Paul Ryan have been scamming you. Big time.

Beyond the Beltway

Your Typical Trump Campaign Chairman. Scott Wartman of Cincinnati.com: "Former Judge Tim Nolan on Friday agreed to spend 20 years in prison for human trafficking. He used drugs, threats of arrest and threats of eviction to force women and girls under the age of 18 into sex acts, according to the charges read in court by Judge Kathleen Lape. Nolan pleaded guilty to 21 counts dating back to 2004. In addition to human trafficking and attempted human trafficking, the charges included giving drugs and alcohol to minors. Under the plea agreement, Nolan will serve 20 years in prison and pay a $100,000 fine. He would be eligible for parole in four years, his attorney said. The judge will sentence him on March 29.... Nolan served as a district judge in the late 1970s and early 1980s and had become a well-known political figure. He campaigned locally for ... Donald Trump, was vocal on many conservative/tea party issues, and was elected to the Campbell County School Board in 2016." (According to LG&$, Nolan was Trump's Kentucky campaign chair.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I do want to congratulate Campbell County voters for electing a child sex abuser to the school board. Campbell County went almost 2-to-1 for Trump in 2016: 62.5 percent to 32.7 for Clinton. Just good judgment all around. Meanwhile, Campbell County should have a mess on its hands: every single conviction of every single young woman who appeared before "Judge" Nolan in this century should be thrown out. In the meantime, Donaldo, let's be clear: your friend Tom got his due process.

Way Beyond

Isabel Kershner, et al., of the New York Times: "Israel clashed with Syrian and Iranian military forces on Saturday in a series of audacious cross-border strikes that could mark a dangerous new phase in Syria's long civil war if the day's fighting draws Israel more directly into the conflict. The confrontations began before dawn when Israel intercepted what it said was an Iranian drone that had penetrated its airspace from Syria. The Israeli military then attacked what it called the command-and-control center from which Iran had launched the drone, at a Syrian air base near Palmyra. On its way back from the mission, one of Israel's F-16 fighter jets crashed in northern Israel after coming under heavy Syrian antiaircraft fire. It is believed to be the first Israeli plane lost under enemy fire in decades. That prompted a broad wave of Israeli strikes against a dozen Syrian and Iranian targets in Syrian territory. The Israeli military said it hit eight Syrian targets, including three aerial defense batteries, and four Iranian positions that it described as 'part of Iran's military entrenchment in Syria.'"

News Lede

New York Times: "A Russian plane carrying 71 people crashed near Moscow shortly after takeoff on Sunday afternoon, killing all on board. Flight 703, operated by the Russian regional carrier Saratov Airlines, was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members. The plane went down near the village of Stepanovskoe, about 50 miles southeast of Moscow in the Ramenskoe District, according to a statement from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry."

The Commentariat -- February 10, 2018

I know it's Saturday, but you might want to skip the trip to Home Depot & read the news today. As Kevin Drum notes, "Friday News Dump This Week Is Yuuuuge." . -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Afternoon Update:

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump complained on Saturday about allegations that he said were destroying the lives of those accused -- appearing to express doubts about the #MeToo movement after the resignations this week of two White House aides facing claims of domestic violence. In an early morning Twitter post, Mr. Trump did not name the former aides, but said: 'Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused -- life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?' Mr. Trump's claim ran counter to the White House's portrayal of its actions in response to the abuse allegations. Administration officials maintained that they acted decisively in the cases of Rob Porter, the staff secretary, and David Sorensen, a speechwriter, both of whom stepped down after their former wives accused them of emotional and physical abuse. But the president's defense is in keeping with the White House's initially defensive reaction to the charges against Mr. Porter -- as well as his tendency to dismiss allegations made against him and other powerful men by women who say they were sexually harassed."

Haley Britzky of Axios lists the men Trump has defended after they were credibly accused of abusing women. Hey, not Bill Cosby! Wonder why.

Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein on CNN: "We're here again. A powerful and determined President is squaring off against an independent investigator operating inside the Justice Department. Special counsel Robert Mueller's mission is a comprehensive look at Russian meddling in the 2016 election -- and any other crimes he uncovers in the process.... Donald Trump insists it's all a 'witch hunt' and an unfair examination of his family's personal finances. He constantly complains about the investigation in private and reportedly asked his White House counsel to have Mueller fired. No wonder many people are making comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, when President Richard Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned." The writers publish an adaptation of the portion of their book The Final Days that covers the "Saturday Night Massacre."

Lauren Gardner of Politico: "A top official charged with overseeing the safety of U.S. railroads has resigned 'effective immediately,' the Department of Transportation said Saturday after Politico raised questions about whether he had been simultaneously working as a public relations consultant for a sheriff's department in Mississippi. Heath Hall became the Federal Railroad Administration's acting administrator in June but subsequently appeared on at least two occasions in Mississippi media reports as a spokesman for the Madison County sheriff, in a community where Hall has long run a public relations and political consulting firm. The firm continued to receive payments from the county for its services from July to December, despite his pledge in a federal ethics form that it would remain 'dormant' while he worked at DOT." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the kind of thing that can happen during any administration, but it is more likely to happen when the POTUS* himself is double-dipping. The fish rots from the head.

*****

How Many Scandals Can One President Generate in One Day? Trump Wins the Prize

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, told officials in the West Wing on Friday that he was willing to step down over his handling of allegations of spousal abuse against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned in disgrace this week over the accusations, according to two officials aware of the discussions. The officials emphasized that they did not consider a resignation imminent, and that Mr. Kelly -- a retired four-star Marine general who early in his tenure often used a threat of quitting as a way to temper President Trump's behavior -- had made no formal offer. In comments to reporters at the White House on Friday, Mr. Kelly said he had not offered to resign.... Two West Wing advisers and a third person painted a picture of a White House staff rived and confused, with fingers pointed in all directions and the president privately expressing dissatisfaction with Mr. Kelly. Some complained that Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, who learned last January that Mr. Porter was concerned about potentially damaging accusations from two ex-wives, had not been forthcoming enough about what he knew. Others faulted Hope Hicks, the communications director, who had been romantically involved with Mr. Porter, for soliciting statements of support for him when the accusations became public." ...

... Philip Rucker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Trump and Kelly have had a series of conversations in recent days that two White House officials described as 'very turbulent.' The president is upset with his top aide -- as well as with White House Communications Director Hope Hicks -- for not being more transparent with him about the allegations against Porter and for their botched public relations push to defend him, according to four officials. Kelly and his loyal deputies have been 'frantically trying to stop the bleeding,' according to one West Wing staffer.... In private conversations in recent days, Trump has sounded out advisers, both inside and outside the administration, about removing Kelly, who has been on the job for 6½ months. He has repeatedly floated the possibility of hiring House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) or Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney as chief of staff, according to people who have discussed the matter with him." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's hard to understand why Trump is upset with Kelly & Hicks when he himself makes statements like this:

... Trump is all sad about the fate of poor Rob Porter, could not care less about the women Porter physically attacked; in fact, implies they lied & Rob is the victim:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: According to our tattered Constitution, Trump is the president of all of us. In practice, he is the president of a small subset of self-entitled white men. The rest of us -- the overwhelming majority of us -- be damned. ...

... ** Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "As his White House has become engulfed in controversy over its handling of allegations of spousal abuse leveled against former Staff Secretary Rob Porter..., Donald Trump has privately questioned the credibility of the accusers. In fact, the president has gone as far as to express doubts to aides and friends about the assault allegations, and has asked repeatedly if there are any reasons Porter's two ex-wives could have to make up such claims, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the conversations. Trump's skepticism has been apparent in discussions with confidants and officials, who tell The Daily Beast that, at least in their conversations, he has not expressed sympathy for the ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, who have gone on the record to allege physical violence. '[It is] 100% not what's on his mind,' one source ... told The Daily Beast, referring to the well-being of alleged victims." ...

... Steve M.: "I don't expect a man as sexist, self-involved, and empathy-challenged as Trump to genuinely understand the pain of Porter's victims. But Trump can't even fake it. He doesn't have enough cultural awareness to know what he's expected to say in this situation. I know he probably regards himself as being so bulletproof that he doesn't have to say the expected thing, but he doesn't even seem to know what the expected thing is. It's as if he's completely oblivious to the world we live in, a world in which giving your wife a black eye is appalling.... Trump lives in his own mind, which seems never to come in contact with the rest of the world." ...

... Trump does have a soft spot for white men who mistreat women:

... Get out There & Lie for Me. -- Kelly. Philip Rucker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Friday morning instructed senior staff to communicate a version of events about the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter that contradicts the Trump administration's previous accounts, according to two senior officials. During a staff meeting, Kelly told those in attendance to say he took action to remove Porter within 40 minutes of learning abuse allegations from two ex-wives were credible, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because discussions in such meetings are supposed to be confidential. 'He told the staff he took immediate and direct action,' one of the officials said, adding that people after the meeting expressed disbelief with one another and felt his latest account was not true. That version of events contradicts both the public record and accounts from numerous other White House officials in recent days as the Porter drama unfolded." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... John Kelly, Character Witness. Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "In 2013, John F. Kelly, a general at the time, defended a junior Marine officer who was accused of poor leadership after going on patrol in Afghanistan with team members who urinated on the bodies of three dead Taliban militants. Two years later, in 2015, he stood up for a Marine colonel [Todd Shane Tomko] facing a litany of charges, including sexual harassment.... Mr. Tomko had never served under the general, and Mr. Kelly said he had little knowledge of why the colonel was removed from command...." Kelly was a character witness for Tomko twice, first at an administrative hearing, then at his court-martial. "Mr. Tomko eventually pleaded guilty to a series of lesser charges.... In November, Mr. Tomko ... was charged with seven child abuse felonies, according to his hometown newspaper, The Quincy Herald-Whig.... The charges included sexual battery and cruelty to children." ...

... Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker on John Kelly's distorted view of people. The grafs on Kelly's view of Rep. Frederica Wilson are a must-read. A normal president, if s/he didn't fire Kelly, would give him a blistering talking-to & march him out to apologize profusely to Wilson, to Myeshia Johnson, to Wilson's constituents, & to the larger public whom Kelly grossly misled. Trump never said a word. And Kelly refused to apologize. ...

... Margaret Hartmann: "Over the past seven months, John Kelly kept dropping strong hints that while he might be the 'adult in the room' at the White House, he wasn't all that different from the other characters on President Trump's team.... The lack of suitable replacements is working in Kelly's favor, but it's also easy to see Trump ditching him. He has unprecedented tolerance for wrongdoing by his staffers, until it starts to reflect poorly on him." A good summary of Kelly's predicament & how he brought it on himself. ...

... Ditto Eric Levitz: "Late Friday afternoon, Kelly denied that he had [offered to resign] (but then, over the past week, Kelly’s word has declined in value more than the Dow Jones).... Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Carroll is departing the West Wing. Carroll had recently assumed the role vacated by Kirstjen Nielsen, a Kelly confidante who left the West Wing to become Homeland Security secretary. On Thursday, Politico reported that Kelly had been 'disappointed' in Carroll's performance and 'held back on officially bestowing the title, according to two administration officials.' It's hard to overstate how antithetical Kelly's handling of the Porter situation is to his ostensible job. Of all the scandals the White House doesn't need, 'they covered up for a wife beater' is among the top. The president's most significant electoral liability is his low, and sinking, approval among women." (More on Carroll's departure below.) ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM has a very useful ticktock of how the White House created the Porter scandal. Mrs. McC: I remain skeptical of the story that neither McGahn nor Kelly mentioned the Porter problem to Trump. They might have downplayed it, but most of us would warn the boss of a potential debacle, if only to protect our own backsides. ...

... Jane Coaston of Vox: The White House has "housed Porter, accused of spousal abuse, and Steve Bannon, also accused of spousal abuse (whom Trump nicknamed 'Bam Bam' because of it), and backed an Alabama Senate candidate [Roy Moore] accused of molesting or assaulting minors. For the White House, the politics are simple: Protect Trump. Because Trump himself is accused of assaulting dozens of women, they've had to lower the bar for male behavior so that even he can meet it. Any allegation of misconduct made against anyone close to Trump, then, must be dismissed as if it were being made against Trump himself.

** Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage -- allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him. The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen.... [Corbett] said that during her marriage to Sorensen, he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life. During part of their marriage, he was a top policy adviser to Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage.... White House officials said they learned of the accusations by Sorensen's wife Thursday night, before The Post contacted the White House for comment.... Administration officials said Sorensen's position as a speechwriter at the Council on Environmental Quality, a division of the Executive Office of the President, did not require a security clearance. His background check was ongoing, they said."

Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "For much of the past year, President Trump has declined to participate in a practice followed by the past seven of his predecessors: He rarely if ever reads the President's Daily Brief, a document that lays out the most pressing information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies from hot spots around the world. Trump has opted to rely on an oral briefing of select intelligence issues in the Oval Office rather than getting the full written document delivered to review separately each day, according to three people familiar with his briefings.... Several intelligence experts said that the president's aversion to diving deeper into written intelligence details -- the 'homework' that past presidents have done to familiarize themselves with foreign policy and national security -- makes both him and the country more vulnerable." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... OR, to put it a bit less diplomatically, Jonathan Chait: "When Donald Trump was elected president, it quickly became obvious that the traditional national-security briefing a person in his position receives daily would be well beyond his zone of proximal development. The briefings were slimmed down in length, chopped up into easy-to-digest bullet points, and decorated with lots of graphs and pictures. Alas, the Washington Post reports, even the kiddie version of the presidential brief has proven too challenging. Now, Trump gets his briefing verbally.... Perhaps not surprisingly, while the verbal method comports with Trump's preferred learning style, he does not show very strong listening skills." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Actually, POTUS* gets his PDB not from the intelligence community, whom he doesn't trust, but from Fox "News." And he doesn't always understand their fractured fairy tales, either, which explains why Trump got enraged about getting his "wires tapped," about a terrorist attack in Sweden that never happened, & about a "bombshell" report that President Obama was monitoring the Clinton e-mail investigation (presumably in order to rig the 2016 presidential election). Also why he has no idea Russia actually tried to rig the election. ...

... digby helpfully suggests: "Maybe they could hire Steve Doocey to deliver [the PDB] in the form of an interpretive dance on the Fox and Friends set via closed circuit TV --- in between 'stories' of Trump's 98% approval rating and his dominance on the world stage." ...

... Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice has a similar idea: "Maybe the intelligence analysts could get Ainsley Whatzerface (Not-Gretchen) to come READ the briefing to Trump? Maybe the opportunity to ogle her boobs up close would keep him on task? Just a thought."

Dana Milbank: "This is the autopsy of a lie. On the night of Nov. 18, Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was found dying on the side of an interstate in West Texas. There were immediate signs it had been an accident. Martinez's partner, Stephen Garland (who suffered a head injury and doesn't recall the incident), had radioed for help, saying he thought he ran into a culvert. But ... at a Cabinet meeting Nov. 20, Trump announced, with cameras rolling, that 'we lost a Border Patrol officer just yesterday, and another one was brutally beaten and badly, badly hurt.... We're going to have the wall.' He also issued a similar tweet. The FBI ... mobiliz[ed] 37 field offices, and this week it announced its findings. Although the investigation 'has not conclusively determined' what happened, 'none of the more than 650 interviews completed, locations searched, or evidence collected and analyzed have produced evidence that would support the existence of a scuffle, altercation, or attack on November 18, 2017.'... Compared with the original allegations, the findings got little attention.... Fox News, which had previously reported immigrants to be guilty of rape allegations that were later dropped, continued to report the border union’s claim of assault 'despite FBI finding no scuffle.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It could be another FBI conspiracy to cover up the facts. I assume that's President Obama's fault.

Russia, Russia, Russia

** Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump blocked on Friday the release of a classified Democratic memo rebutting Republican claims that top federal law enforcement officials had abused their surveillance powers in spying on a former Trump campaign aide, raising the specter of a potential showdown with Congress. Donald F. McGahn II, the president's lawyer, said in a letter to the House Intelligence Committee that the memorandum 'contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages.' He said the president would again consider the release of the memo to the public if the committee revised the memo to 'mitigate the risks.'" ...

... Karoun Demirjian, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump will not immediately agree to release a Democratic memo rebutting GOP claims that the FBI abused its surveillance authority as it probed Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but he has directed the Justice Department to work with lawmakers so some form of the document could be made public, the White House counsel said Friday night. In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee, White House counsel Donald McGahn wrote that the Justice Department had identified portions of the Democrats' memo that it believed 'would create especially significant concerns for the national security and law enforcement interests' if disclosed. McGahn included in his note a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray supporting that claim."

** Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country's top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision. Ms. Brand's profile had risen in part because she is next in the line of succession behind the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel's inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump, who has called the investigation a witch hunt, has considered firing Mr. Rosenstein. Such a move could have put her in charge of the special counsel and, by extension, left her in the cross hairs of the president. Ms. Brand, who became the associate attorney general in May, will become the global governance director at Walmart, the company's top legal position, according to people briefed on her move. She has held politically appointed positions in the past three presidential administrations.... Ms. Brand's assistant, Currie Gunn, has also left the department."

Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons in a deal that he insisted would also include compromising material on President Trump, according to American and European intelligence officials. The cash, delivered in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel room in September, was intended as the first installment of a $1 million payout, according to American officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by The New York Times. The theft of the secret hacking tools had been devastating to the N.S.A., and the agency was struggling to get a full inventory of what was missing.... [The Russian] claimed the information would link the president and his associates to Russia. Instead of providing the hacking tools, the Russian produced unverified and possibly fabricated information involving Mr. Trump and others, including bank records, emails and purported Russian intelligence data." ...

... James Risen, formerly of the New York Times & now writing for the Intercept, has an in-depth story on the same topic published earlier Friday afternoon: "The CIA's wariness [of this spy operation] shows that the reality within the U.S. intelligence community is a far cry from the right-wing conspiracy theory that a 'deep state' is working against Trump. Instead, the agency's behavior seems to indicate that U.S. intelligence officials are torn about whether to conduct any operations at all that might aid Mueller's ongoing investigation into whether Trump or his aides colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. Many intelligence officials are reluctant to get involved with anything related to the Trump-Russia case for fear of blowback from Trump himself, who might seek revenge by firing senior officials and wreaking havoc on their agencies. For example, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence and thus the man supposedly in charge of the entire U.S. intelligence community, has said he does not see it as his role to push for an aggressive Trump-Russia investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter."

Another Fox "News" Half-Story to Rile Trump. Alayna Treene of Axios: "Sen. Mark Warner [D-Va.], vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, texted last year with Adam Waldman, a D.C. lobbyist connected to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, in an attempt to gain a meeting with Christopher Steele, the author of the controversial Trump-Russia dossier, according to text messages obtained by Fox News. Yes, but: While the Fox News report put an emphasis on the 'secrecy' of Warner's messages, Warner issued a statement to Fox News with Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr indicating that the report doesn't paint a full picture: 'From the beginning of our investigation we have taken each step in a bipartisan way, and we intend to continue to do so. Leaks of incomplete information out of context by anyone, inside or outside our committee, are unacceptable.... Republican Sen. Marco Rubio confirmed that disclosure in a tweet yesterday, defending Warner's actions: 'Sen.Warner fully disclosed this to the committee four months ago. Has had zero impact on our work....'... A key paragraph [of the Fox report]: 'An aide to Burr knew there was a "back channel" Warner was using to try and get to Steele and was not concerned that Warner was freelancing on the matter.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... It's All Hillary's Fault! Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A lawyer for ... Donald Trump criticized Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee Friday, over leaked text messages that show Warner attempted to contact the author of a 2016 dossier alleging illicit ties between Trump and the Kremlin. The comments by Jay Sekulow, a personal attorney to Trump, marked the latest stage in an ongoing conservative assault on congressional and law enforcement officials investigating possible Kremlin influence over Trump's presidential campaign.... Many other conservatives, including Trump himself, have pounced on the Fox report about Warner -- although they have been unclear about what exactly they believe Warner might have done wrong, and two key Senate Republicans have defended their Democratic colleague.... 'Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch,' Trump tweeted Thursday night. 'Warner did not want a "paper trail" on a "private" meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary." ...

... Marco Is a Co-Conspirator! Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "So as the hosts [of Fox News' The Five] talked today, [guest host Rachel] Campos-Duffy said, '[Sen.] Marco Rubio [R-Fla.] in this is also very interesting. Marco Rubio, Senator [Richard] Burr [R-N.C.] – why are they covering for Mark Warner? What's going on? How deep is the deep state? Does it run through the Senate?"

Mark Osborne & Adam Kelsey of ABC News: mike pence disparaged the military parade North Korea held Thursday, but "heartily supports" Trump's proposed military parade. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jeremy Barr of the Hollywood Reporter: "Fox News has removed an online column by executive vp and executive editor John Moody following intense criticism online and from gay rights activists, who roundly attacked the piece. Objecting to an effort to attract more diverse U.S. Olympians for the Winter games, Moody had written on Wednesday: 'Unless it's changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been "Faster, Higher, Stronger." It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to "Darker, Gayer, Different." If your goal is to win medals, that won't work.'" Fox "News"'s excuse for publishing the column: Moody is such a big shot & long-timer at Fox, "the column was not put through the proper vetting process."

Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "White House deputy chief of staff Jim Carroll, who has served in that role for nearly three months, is expected to leave the White House to helm the Office of National Drug Control Policy, two sources with knowledge of the decision told CNN Friday. Carroll, a White House lawyer who quietly became one of chief of staff John Kelly's deputies late last year, is expected to be tapped to become the administration's drug czar as early as Friday, two sources with knowledge of the decision told CNN. The White House's first nominee to lead the office, Rep. Tom Marino, withdrew from consideration in October after a report detailed how legislation he sponsored helped make it easier for drug companies to distribute opioids across America. Carroll was named late Friday afternoon as the drug policy office's deputy director, where he will serve as the office's acting director while awaiting confirmation."

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "White House Counsel Donald McGahn and other Trump administration officials have been so vexed by Jared Kushner's months-long inability to obtain a permanent security clearance that they have hesitated to get involved in other cases with potential problems, several people familiar with the matter said. Dozens of White House employees, including Kushner, are still waiting for permanent clearances and have been operating for months on a temporary status that allows them to handle sensitive information while the FBI probes their backgrounds, U.S. officials have said. Two U.S. officials said they do not expect Kushner to receive a permanent security clearance in the near future.... [Kushner] has been allowed to see materials, including the President's Daily Brief, that are among the most sensitive in government. He has been afforded that privilege even though he has only an interim clearance and is a focus in the ongoing special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the election." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the entire Trump family, including Kushner, pose security risks. The Presidunce* himself is of course the biggest risk; he is known to have blabbed state secrets to the Russians, but he's likely done much worse. The kids all have good reason to use insider, secret information to enhance their fortunes.

Gail Collins selects some nominees for America's Worst Employee. Funny thing, they all work for Donald Trump.

No, this is not a maximum security prison out in some desert. It's an "upscale" Trump hotel for poor-ish people.... Steve Eder & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "As President Trump's family business prepares to open a hotel in the Mississippi Delta this fall, its local development partners have asked the State of Mississippi to subsidize the project with up to $6 million in tax breaks, according to documents obtained through an open records request. If approved, the benefits could offset nearly a third of the projected $20 million in costs for the hotel, which is owned by the local developers, Dinesh and Suresh Chawla.... The development in Cleveland, Miss., is expected to be the first in a new line of upscale hotels the Trump Organization is rolling out under the name Scion.... If the state approves the tax rebate for the Chawlas, it could indirectly, but personally, benefit the president, who owns the family business through a trust.... Even without a legal problem [under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution], the rebate request demonstrates how the president's sprawling business operation can intersect with state and local governments that rely on federal funding, creating a perception of potential conflicts of interest.... The executive director of the [Mississippi Development Authority, the granting agency], Glenn McCullough Jr., has shown support for President Trump and is an appointee of the state's Republican governor, Phil Bryant."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hyonhee Shin & Soyoung Kim of Reuters: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in for talks in Pyongyang, South Korean officials said on Saturday, setting the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than 10 years.... The personal invitation from Kim was delivered by his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, during talks and a lunch Moon hosted at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.... 'This is the strongest action yet by North Korea to drive a wedge between the South and the United States,' said Kim Sung-han, a former South Korean vice foreign minister and now a professor at Kore University in Seoul."