The Commentariat -- November 6, 2017
Late Morning Update:
L'état, C'est Moi. Jonathan Swan of Axios recounts a June 2017 meeting in which President Trump told Native American tribal leaders how to cut the red tape that accompanies energy exploration on their lands: 'Chief, chief, what are they going to do? Once you get it out of the ground are they going to make you put it back in there? I mean, once it's out of the ground it can't go back in there. You've just got to do it. I'm telling you, chief, you've just got to do it.'"
Patricia Dvorak of the Washington Post: "It was the middle-finger salute seen around the world. Juli Briskman's protest aimed at the presidential motorcade that roared past her while she was on her cycling path in Northern Virginia last month became an instantly viral photo. Turns out it has now cost the 50-year-old marketing executive her job. On Halloween, after Briskman gave her bosses at Akima LLC, a government contracting firm, a heads-up that she was the unidentified cyclist in the photo, they took her into a room and fired her, she said, escorting her out of the building with a box of her things." Read on. Briskman did not ID her employer. It appears that if Briskman had been a man, the company would not have fired her.
** Junior Promised Russian Lawyer Tit-for-Tat. Irina Reznik & Henry Meyer of Bloomberg: "A Russian lawyer who met with … Donald Trump;s oldest son last year says he indicated that a law targeting Russia could be re-examined if his father won the election and asked her for written evidence that illegal proceeds went to Hillary Clinton's campaign. The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, said in a two-and-a-half-hour interview in Moscow that she would tell these and other things to the Senate Judiciary Committee on condition that her answers be made public, something it hasn't agreed to.... 'Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it,' Trump Jr. said of the 2012 law, she recalled. 'I understand our side may have messed up, but it'll take a long time to get to the bottom of it,' he added, according to her. Veselnitskaya also said Trump Jr. requested financial documents showing that money that allegedly evaded U.S. taxes had gone to Clinton's campaign." ...
... Greg Sargent: “We know now as a matter of fact ... that the June 2016 meeting was held for the explicit purpose of getting a dump-truck's worth of Russian 'dirt' on Clinton -- Donald Trump Jr.'s email chain confirms it. And let's not forget, as The Post has reported, that Trump himself helped dictate an initial statement from Donald Trump Jr. that misleadingly claimed the meeting was 'primarily' about Russian adoptions. This was later proven false, which means Trump himself has been directly implicated in an effort to mislead the country about his own top campaign officials' eagerness to benefit from help from the Russian government. Whatever legal conclusions Mueller ends up reaching, we now know that Trump's top campaign officials were eager to collude with Russia to help him win the election and that Trump himself helped to cover that up." Veselnitskaya is not the most reliable witness.
Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump declared that the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Tex., that left at least 26 people dead was not 'a guns situation,' saying instead he believed that 'mental health' was the problem. Trump's comments came at a news conference in Tokyo, when he was asked about the shooting at a South Texas church and if stricter gun laws were the answer.... Though the alleged shooter has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, the full mental state of Kelley has yet to be determined. Kelley, a Texas man who enlisted in the Air Force in 2010, was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his wife and child, and received a bad conduct discharge from the military in 2014."
Jack Holmes of Esquire: "... this president's ability to distinguish himself in the eyes of our Eastern allies is so potent he could start getting the job done before he even arrived. And so it emerged in The Japan Times, that nation's oldest English-language newspaper, that Trump has some intriguing views on the relationship between Japanese feudal history and North Korean ballistic missiles. '... Threats from North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programs were set to be high on the agenda in his talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday.... The U.S. president said he could not understand why a country of samurai warriors did not shoot down the missiles, the sources said....' Many have already sunk the slam-dunk snark-shot that katanas are a non-ideal weapon against cruise missiles." Do see Akhilleus' commentary below.
*****
The Paradise Papers
** Most Corrupt Administration Ever, Ctd. Jon Swaine & Luke Harding of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, is doing business with Vladimir Putin's son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia.... Leaked documents and public filings show that Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, through a chain of offshore investments. Navigator operates a lucrative partnership with Sibur, a Russian gas company part-owned by Kirill Shamalov, the husband of Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova. Ross, a billionaire and close friend of Trump, retained holdings in Navigator even after taking office this year. The relationship means that he stands to benefit from the operations of a Russian company run by Putin's family and close allies, some of whom are under US sanctions.... Democratic senators wrote to Ross in February demanding that he disclose 'the full extent of your connections to Russia'. Ross did not respond." --safari ...
... The New York Times story, by Mike McIntire & others, on Wilbur Ross's Kremlin ties, is here. "In a written response to questions by the Times, James Rockas, a spokesman for Mr. Ross, said that Navigator's relationship with Sibur began before Mr. Ross joined the board in March 2012, and that he had never met the Russian oligarchs who are Sibur's major shareholders. Public records show that Mr. Ross's firm became a major investor in Navigator in November 2011, three months before the company chartered its first ships to Sibur. 'Sibur was not under sanctions at the time the contract was signed and is still not subject to sanctions,' Mr. Rockas said. More broadly, he said that Mr. Ross 'recuses himself from any matters focused on transoceanic shipping vessels, but has been generally supportive of the administration's sanctions of Russian and Venezuelan entities.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Ross (via his spokesman) lied about the timing of his & Sibur's association with Navigator, as the Times story claims, can't we assume he is lying about other aspects of his business holdings? ...
... Richard Engel & Aggelos Petropoulos of NBC News: "Wilbur Ross ... shares business interests with Vladimir Putin's immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position.... The documents seen by NBC News, however, along with a careful examination of filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, tell a different story than the one Ross told at his confirmation. Ross divested most of his holdings, but did not reveal to the government the full details of the holdings he kept.... Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said members of Congress who were part of Ross' confirmation hearings were under the impression that Ross had divested all of his interests in Navigator. Furthermore, he said, they were unaware of Navigator's close ties to Russia. 'I am astonished and appalled because I feel misled,' said Blumenthal. 'Our committee was misled, the American people were misled by the concealment of those companies.' Blumenthal said he will call for the inspector general of the Commerce Department to launch an investigation." ...
... Kevin Drum speculates that Ross held onto the investment, which hasn't been very profitable, & misled the Senate "for reasons other than money." ...
... All the President's Swamp. Jon Swain & Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Trump is surrounded by wealthy individuals who have legally either sheltered their own investments or presided over policies to keep company profits or clients' funds out of reach in tax havens.... The leaked documents reveal that for various periods between 2002 and 2006, [economic advisor Gary] Cohn was president or vice-president of 22 separate entities in Bermuda for Goldman Sachs.... Secretary of state [Rex Tillerson] is named in the leaked files as a director of an offshore firm used in a multibillion-dollar oil and gas venture in the Middle East that became embroiled in controversy.... Treasury secretary [Steven Mnuchin]'s former bank financed offshore private jets for wealthy clients.... The Trump administration's most senior banking watchdog [Randy Quarles] appears in the Paradise Papers in connection with an offshore bank that is under investigation by US authorities for possible tax evasion.... New US ambassador to Russia [Jon Huntsman] helped lead a previously undisclosed offshore company, according to the leaked files.... Ambassador to India [Kenneth Juster] benefited from the offshore business of his former investment company and its billion-dollar purchase of a shipping corporation.... [Carl] Icahn, a friend and former adviser to Trump, owns a $250m mining company spread across three tax havens and structured in a way that limits the information it must disclose to US authorities.... The chairman of Trump's inaugural committee [Tom Barrack] leads a $58bn real estate investment trust that channels some of its profits to the low- or no-tax jurisdictions of Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands and Lebanon.... SEC chairman [Jay Clayton] received income from a hedge fund based in the Cayman Islands.... A biotechnology company headed by [Ben] Carson, Trump's housing and urban development (HUD) secretary, set up offshore firms that could have reduced its tax bill." --safari ...
... From Russia to Silicon Valley. Jon Swaine amp; Luke Harding of the Guardian: "Two Russian state institutions with close ties to Vladimir Putin funded substantial investments in Twitter and Facebook through a business associate of Jared Kushner, leaked documents reveal. The investments were made through a Russian technology magnate, Yuri Milner, who also holds a stake in a company co-owned by Kushner.... The discovery is likely to stir concerns over Russian influence in US politics and the role played by social media in last year's presidential election. It may also raise new questions for the social media companies and for Kushner." --safari ...
... Andrew Desiderio & Noah Shatchman of The Daily Beast: "Top White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, is also implicated. The documents reveal that Russian tech leader Yuri Milner invested $850,000 in a startup called Cadre that Kushner co-founded in 2014. Milner has long had a reputation in Silicon Valley as a big-league investor; his firm at one point owned major chunks of both Facebook and Twitter. But Milner was never considered particularly Kremlin-connected. These new documents call that reputation into question. The investing arm of Gazprom, the state-backed energy company, financed a share of Facebook worth up to $1 billion; a Kremlin-owned bank invested $191 million into a Milner firm, and some of that money was then injected into Twitter. Despite Milner's investment in his startup, Kushner said in July that he told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door meeting that he never 'relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector.... Kushner, who still has a stake in Cadre, did not previously disclose the firm's other business ties.'" --safari...
... Nick Hopkins of the Guardian explains the importance of the leaked "Paradise Papers", outing users of offshore tax havens. ...
... Max de Haldevang & Zachard Seward of Quartz also have a guide to major revelations in the Paradise Papers. ...
... Benjamin Hart of New York: "The leaked documents, which are being referred to as the 'Paradise Papers,' came from Appleby, a prominent law firm based in Bermuda that specializes in offshore bank accounts. They were originally procured by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, then given to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which made them available in part to several outlets. Approximately 13.4 million documents were leaked, with tax details of more than 100 public figures exposed."
Jane Perlez of the New York Times on how China's Xi Jinping plans to coax Trump into "a special relationship that sets China apart, as the other great power in an emerging bipolar world." Mrs. McC: Give him some golden things, Jinping. Tell him he's smart & handsome & say, "Oh, Mr. President, you hands are so-o-o big."
** Julia Ainsley, et al. of NBC: "Federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser [Michael T. Flynn] and his son as part of the probe into Russia's intervention in the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation." --safari ...
... digby: "Flynn isn't just dirty, he's nuts. Everyone knew he was nuts too. And he was Trump's most important National Security Adviser. Also, one of Trump's most egregious obstructions of justice was firing the acting AG who warned them and then telling the head of the FBI to go easy on Flynn." ...
... Andy Borowitz: "The White House called an unscheduled press briefing on Sunday to clarify Michael T. Flynn's role in the Trump campaign, claiming that his job consisted entirely of making coffee when George Papadopoulos was busy with other matters.... [Sarah] Sanders said that, in the weeks to come, the White House is likely to release the names of additional campaign staffers whose roles were limited to the preparation of coffee beverages, and that such names might include Jared Kushner and Donald Trump, Jr."
... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... documents and interviews show there are at least nine Trump associates who had contacts with Russians during the campaign or presidential transition. Some are well-known, and others, such as Papadopoulos, have been more on the periphery.... Trump in the past denied that he or his associates communicated with Russia during the campaign. Now, he and his allies are seeking to minimize the importance of the contacts that have emerged.... Experts who have studied Russian tactics see something different: a picture emerging of a concerted and multifaceted Kremlin effort to infiltrate Trump's campaign." ...
... Michael Kranish & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post report on where Rick Gates, long Paul Manafort's deputy, fit into Trump world and what some of his previous business interests were. Mrs. McC: Whatever he did, "While Gates listed $2.2 million in assets in 2011, he filed a 2016 credit application saying he had a liquid net worth of $25 million and that his wife was worth $30 million...." That's a helluva jump. The $2.2MM sounds like total assets: houses, vehicles, college funds, retirement accounts AND liquid assets like checking accounts. $25MM in liquid assets, however, is money you can pull out of your pocket, so to speak. It would not include real property, IRAs, etc. ...
... Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to return to the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia after recent revelations suggest that Sessions's previous statements were false.... "This is getting a bit old with Jeff Sessions," he [told Chris Wallace of Fox 'News']. 'I asked a question "did anyone ever talk to you about talking with the Russians?" I didn't ask about collusions. So we now know that somebody at a meeting, Mr. Papadopoulos, raised the idea of meeting with Putin. There's nothing wrong with Trump meeting with Putin if he wanted to. It would be wrong to have the Russians help the Trump campaign,' he said. Graham's comments come after The New York Times reported that unsealed court documents revealed that Trump and Sessions were aware of correspondence between members of the campaign and Russian actors, despite saying earlier this year they were unaware of such communications."
Lynnley Browning of Bloomberg: "House Republicans should slow down their consideration of a tax-overhaul bill after investigative reports Sunday alleged offshore tax-avoidance by U.S. multinational companies including Apple Inc. and Nike Inc., congressional Democrats and tax-advocacy groups said. But the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee [Kevin Brady] indicated Sunday that the panel would stick to its plans to consider the bill this week.... House leaders want to pass the bill by Thanksgiving.... In all, the bill is 'very weak' on combating aggressive tax evasion by both corporations and individuals, said Jack Blum, a Washington lawyer who's an expert on financial crime and international tax abuse." --safari
Matthew Yglesias of Vox: "Republicans are mostly a party of cultural grievance-mongers, not ambitious legislators. That's why Donald Trump is their president. That's why they don't seem to notice or care that Paul Ryan is a total fraud. They'd be a lot happier if they just owned it. At the end of the day, mostly adhering the policy status quo while catering to the symbolic and social recognition demands of the ethno-sectarian majority is a perfectly plausible approach to the problems of party politics." --safari
Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sustained five fractured ribs after he was assaulted by a neighbor at his Bowling Green home on Friday, a top adviser said Sunday -- and it's unclear when the senator will be able to return to Washington for work. 'Senator Paul has five rib fractures including three displaced fractures,' his chief political strategist, Doug Stafford, said in a statement Sunday. 'This type of injury is caused by high velocity severe force. It is not clear exactly how soon he will return to work, as the pain is considerable as is the difficulty in getting around, including flying.'... Authorities say Paul's neighbor, Rene Boucher, tackled the senator from behind at 3:21 p.m. on Friday, leaving Paul struggling to breathe and bleeding from cuts around his mouth. Boucher, 59, has been charged with one count of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor that can carry up to one year in prison.... Officials have not disclosed a reason for Friday’s altercation." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So how come we heard yesterday, "Kelsey Cooper, Paul's Kentucky communications director, issued a statement to the Daily News indicating that 'Senator Paul is fine'"? (Yesterday's linked story has been updated to indicate Paul suffered rib fractures & lung contusions. The "Sen. Paul is fine" part has been disappeared.) And excuse me -- beating a person bloody, fracturing his ribs & leaving him unable to work is a misdemeanor??? There's something odd here. Update: The New York Times fingers the cops for the misdiagnosis: "The injuries ... appear to be much worse than the 'minor' injuries that the police had reported on Saturday." Well, no, Kelsey there works for Paul.
Beyond the Beltway
David Montgomery & Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "A gunman wearing all black and a ballistic vest opened fire with a rifle outside a small Baptist church in rural [Sutherland Springs,] Texas and continued firing inside the building on Sunday, killing at least 26 people and turning a tiny town east of San Antonio into the scene of the country's most recent mass horror. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas confirmed the death toll, which has steadily increased throughout the day after the shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.... At least 20 people were also injured.... Two law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..., identified the gunman as Devin P. Kelley, 26." ...
... The Houston Chronicle, in association with the San Antonio Express-News has updates here. The front page of the Chron has links to related stories.
Joanna Walters of the Guardian: "Runners taking part in a 5km race in a small city in North Carolina on Saturday afternoon ... followed a zigzag course that took them, literally, all around the houses. The event was intended as a live demonstration of the absurdity and insidiousness of the way voting boundaries have been redrawn -- or gerrymandered -- in Asheville, a liberal town at the western end of the state. The head-spinning route of the 'Gerrymander 5K' ...follow[ed] an invisible line that since 2011 has divided what was previously a single US congressional seat into two odd-shaped districts.... Each half was thus in a new district dominated by a traditionally Republican rural area. The result was that the GOP now has a firm lock on power in Asheville, a progressive enclave in a red state that is now represented in Washington by two Republicans, one an ultra-conservative." --safari
Way Beyond
Long Live Shady Practices. Hilary Osborne of the Guardian: "Millions of pounds from the Queen's private estate has [sic] been invested in a Cayman Islands fund as part of an offshore portfolio that has never before been disclosed, according to ... an investigation into offshore tax havens." --safari
Guardian: "Saudi Arabia arrested 11 princes, including a prominent billionaire, and dozens of current and former ministers, reports said, in a sweeping crackdown as the kingdom's young crown prince consolidates power. Saudi King Salman appointed two new ministers on Saturday to key security and economic posts, removing one of the royal family;s most prominent members as head of the national guard, as part of a series of high-profile sackings that sent shock waves in the kingdom." --safari...
...Saudi Power Grabs. Juan Cole: "The Secretary-General of Hizbullah, the Lebanese party-militia, Hassan Nasrullah, gave a major speech Sunday in the wake of the resignation of prime minister Saad Hariri. Nasrullah characterized this step as a Saudi move dictated to Hariri by Riyadh.... Nasrullah said he was surprised by Hariri's sudden move. He maintained that until recently, Hariri had reported at cabinet meetings that Saudi Arabia wants a stable Lebanon and backed the national unity government.... Then Hariri recently went back to Riyadh, Nasrullah said, and this time he did not come back.... So the Hizbullah leader is implying that something changed in the politics of the royal family all of a sudden, and they imposed this resignation on Lebanon through their proxy.... In any case, Hariri's resignation has caused a crisis in Lebanon." --safari.