;)
The Commentariat -- December 8, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "Officials said on Sunday that federal investigators were working on the presumption that the attack in Pensacola on Friday was an act of terrorism. Sailors from Alabama, Florida and Georgia were killed, and eight others were injured.... Rachel Rojas, the special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Jacksonville field office, said on Sunday that the presumption of terrorism allows law enforcement agencies to more quickly identify and eliminate any potential threats to the community. None have [has!] been identified so far, she said.” ~~~
~~~ Brendan Farrington & Mike Balsamo of the AP: "The Saudi gunman who killed three people at the Pensacola naval base had apparently gone on Twitter shortly before the shooting to blast U.S. support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, a U.S. official said Sunday as the FBI confirmed it is operating on the assumption the attack was an act of terrorism. Investigators are also trying to establish whether the killer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone or was part of a larger plot."
Darlene Superville of the AP: “A top Republican ally of ... Donald Trump went a step further than the White House on Sunday by calling for Saudi Arabia to be suspended from an American military training program after a student pilot from the kingdom shot and killed three sailors at a U.S. naval base in Florida. Trump had called for the program to be reviewed but Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he wanted more. 'We need to suspend the Saudi program until we find out what happened here,' he said, adding that he likes the idea of training foreign pilots and helping them understand how the U.S. system works.”
Max Boot in the Washington Post: “President Trump has long held a double standard when it comes to terrorist attacks: When the perpetrator is a white supremacist, he offers anodyne expressions of sympathy for the victims (often 'thoughts and prayers'), while typically failing to label the attack an act of terrorism. When the perpetrator is a Muslim, however, he is vitriolic in his denunciations and his calls for a massive response, such as stopping all Muslims from entering the United States.... It turns out that Trump actually has a triple standard, because he treats attacks by Saudis differently than those from other Muslim nations.... Instead of expressing outrage or vowing vengeance [for the Pensacola attack], or even waiting for all the facts to come in, Trump sounded as if he were auditioning for the job of press secretary at the Saudi Embassy.... This is, of course, only the latest example of Trump’s suspicious partiality to Saudi Arabia — the site of his first trip abroad as president.... Trump’s suspicious relationship with Saudi Arabia is merely another example of what happens when a president decides to run the U.S. government as if it were a family-owned business whose only objective is to benefit his bottom line.”
Trump Trots Out Pardoned Soldiers at Campaign Event. Samantha Gross & David Smiley of the Miami Herald: “... during a closed-door speech to Republican Party of Florida donors at the state party’s annual Statesman’s Dinner..., [Donald Trump brought] on stage Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who[m] Trump pardoned last month for cases involving war crimes.... The dinner ... raised $3.5 million for the state party....” ~~~
~~~ Al Vicens of Mother Jones: "Lorance was serving a 19-year prison sentence for murder after ordering soldiers to open fire on three unarmed Afghan men in 2012, killing two. Golsteyn had been charged with premeditated murder after admitting to shooting a detained, unarmed Afghan man in 2010. Golsteyn killed the prisoner off-base and buried his body, only to dig it up later, bring it back to the base, and burn it in a pit used to dispose of trash, according to the Washington Post." Mrs. McC: Are these guys really great campaign props? Did they get a standing O at the "Statesman's" Dinner? I'd like to think at least some dyed-in-the-wool Republicans think "convicted/accused war criminal" is not an admirable descriptor.
Devan Cole, et al., of CNN: "With sources telling CNN a vote in the Judiciary Committee to impeach ... Donald Trump is expected as soon as this week, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said Sunday that he sees the Ukraine evidence as part of 'a pattern' of conduct by the President. But, in an interview Sunday with CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union,' Nadler would not commit to including the evidence of obstruction of justice outlined in Robert Mueller's special counsel report as part of the articles of impeachment. Nadler said he was confident in Democrats' 'solid' case for impeachment, expressing optimism about the matter as the party moves closer to drafting articles. He thinks his party's case 'if presented to a jury would be a guilty verdict in about three minutes flat.'"
State of the Union Denial. Zachary Basu of Axios: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) falsely claimed on CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday that President Trump did not ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival on a July 25 phone call.... As CNN's Dana Bash points out, President Trump specifically asked Zelesnky on the July 25 phone call to investigate Joe Biden, who was at that point seen as the likely frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary. Trump did not raise any broader concerns about corruption in Ukraine.... The leading Trump ally's defense illustrates the degree to which House Republicans will dispute key facts in the impeachment inquiry...."
Jacob Knutson of Axios: “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday that Ukraine 'blatantly interfered' in the 2016 election, repeating a conspiracy theory that experts warn has been promoted by Russian intelligence services.” ~~~
~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has spent his entire adult life touting the West’s defeat of communism in the Cold War.... [Cruz harshly criticized President Obama for not having harsher words for Russia's attack on Ukraine.] Cruz, Cold Warrior, Obama critic and anti-Putin hawk..., now declares there is evidence of Ukraine interference in our election because an op-ed was written criticizing Trump’s campaign rhetoric about Ukraine. This is what Cruz is now reduced to — making excuses for a president willing to stab Ukraine in the back to the utter delight of Putin.... Cruz, like virtually every other Republican in Congress is a coward, is afraid of a tweet or of the Trump mob. The formerly tough-on-defense Republican Party would rather contribute to the Kremlin propaganda machine and enable Trump (Putin’s best friend) than incur the wrath of the right wing.... In comparison to [Trump & Cruz], Obama was Winston Churchill.”
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Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "House Democrats released a report on Saturday intended to lay out the legal and historical underpinnings of their case for impeaching President Trump while also countering Republican accusations that the investigation of the president’s conduct in office has been unfair and illegitimate. Democrats have accused the president of abusing his power by trying to pressure the Ukrainian government to announce investigations into his political rivals. They also claim that Mr. Trump obstructed the congressional inquiry by blocking witnesses from testifying and refusing to provide documents. The 52-page report by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee argues that the framers of the Constitution intentionally provided a way to remove the occupant of the Oval Office for just such misconduct." The CNN story is here. ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Chairman Jerrold Nadler described the 55-page analysis as the heir to the only similar report produced by the Judiciary Committee, which was released during the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon. That document was updated during the Bill Clinton impeachment but not fully rewritten. Democrats view the new, Trump-era document as a touchstone in the nation’s centuries-long struggle to define and apply the most charged tool the Constitution provides to Congress: the power to remove a president. It is also a key step toward an impeachment vote later this year...."
~~~ The report, via the Judiciary Committee, is here.
David Jackson of USA Today: “The office of Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday turned down a Democratic request for information on a call between Pence and the president of Ukraine, saying it doesn't know exactly what impeachment investigators are seeking. 'Because Adam Schiff continues to operate in an underhanded manner, the Office of the Vice President does not even know what he wants declassified,' said Pence spokeswoman Katie Waldman. 'It’s simply further proof that this shoddy committee is pursuing a sham investigation.'” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Obviously a decent veep would not respond to a Congressional request with an insult, but mike pence is not a decent person.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “President Trump all but assured his own impeachment Friday night, but not without kicking out two more legs of the defense of him Republicans had been making in the House. For much of the past week, Republicans in Congress have been demanding that the House majority slow down the impeachment process.... And for the past couple of months, Republicans in Congress have been demanding that Trump have the opportunity to defend himself in the proceedings.... But White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in his letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler ((D-N.Y.) on Friday, undermined both complaints: The letter served as a formal answer from Trump refusing the Democrats’ invitation for him to defend himself in the House proceedings, and it instructed Democrats to hurry up. 'House Democrats have wasted enough of America’s time with this charade. You should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings,' it said, adding: 'As the president has recently stated: “If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.”’”
... 'Watch top Ukrainian officials testify under oath the side of the story [Adam] Schiff doesn’t want you to hear,” proclaims the YouTube promo for the broadcast. But 'top officials' they definitely are not. Indeed, Giuliani’s choice of guest stars in his would-be reality show, and his wider cast of sources, caused shock among many in Kyiv’s establishment who know their questionable backgrounds in considerable detail.
He came from Budapest, where he had met with former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko.... They were joined by Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat-turned-political fixer and a commentator for the pro-Trump media; his client and former Ukrainian lawmaker Andrey Artemenko and Giuliani’s spokeswoman Christianne Allen. Giuliani also met with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin for three days in a row, Telizehnko said. Like Lutsenko, Shokin had also previously supplied Giuliani with information that fueled conspiracy theories about former U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden.... Trump’s attorney also found new sources of dirt in Kyiv: two Ukrainian lawmakers, Oleksandr Dubinsky and Andriy Derkach. Dubinsky is a scandalous social media persona and former host on television channel 1+1, which is owned by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.... Derkach ... [was in the Ukraine] secret police and graduating from the KGB academy in Moscow." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm laughing now, but it won't be so funny if Giuliani Wizzes some of these reprobates to D.C. to testify to all kinds of invented horsepucky in Trump's impeachment trial, making a mockery of the whole thing. It is not inconceivable that McConnell & CJ Roberts would allow this sort of crap as Trump's "defense." ~~~
~~~ Update. As I Was Saying.... Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: “President Trump said his personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani planned to issue a report to the Justice Department and Congress detailing what he’d learned from his investigations in Ukraine. Trump claimed not to know what Giuliani was doing in Ukraine this week or what he found out while there.... 'He’s going to make a report, I think to the attorney general and to Congress,' Trump told reporters Saturday outside the White House. 'He says he has a lot of good information. I have not spoken to him about that information yet.' 'I hear he has found plenty,' Trump added.” An AP report is here.
Peter Stone of the Guardian: “Talks about a potential plea deal are under way between federal prosecutors and an attorney for Lev Parnas, a Rudy Giuliani associate indicted for making illegal campaign donations...[.] The talks appear to be in early stages.... [A] lawyer familiar with the investigation ... said: “There are some plea negotiations under way with regards to Parnas,” and the federal prosecutors in New York’s southern district which brought the charges; but he noted that 'a proffer by Parnas’ attorney [has] not been accepted at this time'. Ex-prosecutors say a plea deal would probably require Parnas to offer more information about Giuliani and probably others he had contacts with, including possibly Trump and the Republican congressman Devin Nunes.”
** Laurence Tribe in a USA Today op-ed: “... it’s not just 'the United States' that has this 'compelling interest' [in limiting foreign interference in U.S. elections]. It is each and every citizen of this great land. That’s why, as Professor [Pamela] Karlan wisely emphasized in her [House Judiciry Committee] testimony, this impeachment process isn’t just about separation of powers and checks and balances and other matters that might seem nerdy and theoretical. This impeachment process is about the right to vote. Your right to vote. Our right to live in a free country, governing our own lives. Nothing less is at stake.” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Tribe's point is obvious to you and me, but I don't think most Americans are capable of making the leap from Trump's illegal efforts to skew the election to the threat he poses to their own right to make informed decisions. And every time Trump tells a whopper that makes him look better than he is (15,000 times & counting since he lied in taking the oath, I think) or his opponents look worse, the same applies.
Terry Gross of NPR interviewed Time reporter Simon Shuster after he spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. A transcript of Gross's interview is here. (A transcript of Shuster's interview of Zelensky was linked here last week.) Thanks to Anonymous for the link:
of the Times of Israel: “... Donald Trump told a pro-Israel conference Saturday night that some American Jews don’t love Israel enough. He also noting that he did not have to worry about getting his audience’s votes, because they would cast ballots with business interests in mind. Those comments, to the Israeli American Council advocacy group in Florida, drew quick criticism from opponents and were derided as anti-Semitic.... Nonetheless, the vigorously pro-Israel crowd in Hollywood, Florida, cheered the president with chants of 'Four more years!' and loud applause.... Trump said the crowd would not vote for one of his potential Democratic opponents because she would take their wealth away. 'You have to vote for me, you have no choice,' Trump said. 'You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that,' referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in a dig at her claiming Native American ancestry.... Speaking about finding a location for the US Embassy in Israel, he told the audience, 'A lot of you are in the real estate business.' 'I know you very well, you’re brutal realtors.'” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Never mind the lies, Trump's prejudice is jaw-dropping. "You're brutal realtors"?? WTF??? "A lot of you..."?? He's put Jews is a box, then applied negative stereotypes to the people in the box. He makes me sick.
David Sanger of the New York Times: “When a Saudi Air Force officer opened fire on his classmates at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday, he ... exposed anew the strange dynamic between President Trump and the Saudi leadership: The president’s first instinct was to tamp down any suggestion that the Saudi government needed to be held to account.... Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that he had received a condolence call from King Salman of Saudi Arabia.... On Saturday..., Mr. Trump told reporters that 'they are devastated in Saudi Arabia,' noting that 'the king will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones.' He never used the word 'terrorism.' What was missing was any assurance that the Saudis would aid in the investigation, help identify the suspect’s motives, or answer the many questions about the vetting process.... Or, more broadly, why the United States continues to train members of the Saudi military even as that same military faces credible accusations of repeated human rights abuses in Yemen, including the dropping of munitions that maximize civilian casualties.” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There's no "strange dynamic" here. Trump is simply adhering to his hard-and-fast rule: "If you keep sending me money, I'll cover for you."
~~~ Brendan Farrington of the AP: "The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday. .. The official ... said one of the three students who attended the dinner party hosted by the attacker recorded video from outside the classroom building while the shooting was taking place. The official spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said. The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.... Officials investigating the deadly attack were working Saturday to determine whether it was motivated by terrorism, as both ... Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper indicated that they would review policies governing foreign military training in the United States. Family members on Saturday identified one of the victims as a 23-year-old recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who alerted first responders to where the shooter was even after he had been shot several times." ~~~
~~~ Two law enforcement sources told CNN that the shooter, who was killed by responding law enforcement agents, has been identified as Saudi national Mohammed Alshamrani. Just minutes before authorities were first alerted to the deadly shooting, a Twitter account aligning with his name posted a message that raises the possibility the attack was inspired by al Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden. The message, addressed to the American people, repurposed words used by bin Laden and the American al Qaeda terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.... Twelve minutes before [the first call alerting law enforcement to the incident] at 6:39 a.m., a Twitter account with the handle @M7MD_SHAMRANI posted a message addressed to the American people, declaring hate for Americans because of their 'crimes' against Muslims. CNN has been unable to verify the source of the tweet...."
John Gambrell & Matthew Lee of the AP: "A Princeton scholar held for three years in Iran on widely criticized espionage charges was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange that saw America release a detained Iranian scientist, a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington after months of tensions. The trade on the tarmac of a Swiss airport saw Iranian officials hand over Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang for scientist Massoud Soleimani, who had faced a federal trial in Georgia over charges he violated sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to Iran.... Western detainees from the U.S. and elsewhere remain held by Tehran, likely to be used as bargaining chips for future negotiations.... [Donald] Trump ... acknowledged Wang was free in a statement from the White House, thanking Switzerland for its help. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran looks out for America’s interests in the country as the U.S. Embassy there has been closed since the 1979 student takeover and 444-day hostage crisis." A New York Times story is here.
Dan Diamond of Politico: “A top Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing and other possessions, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, that were stolen while in her luggage during a work-related trip.... Seema Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, after her bags were stolen while she was giving a speech in San Francisco the prior month. The property was not insured, Verma wrote in her filing to the Health and Human Services department. The federal health department ultimately reimbursed Verma $2,852.40 for her claim, a CMS spokesperson said.... A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes CMS, said the department has a longstanding policy of paying for certain goods when they are lost during a work trip, so long as they 'are not inherently for other uses,' which is why Verma was partially reimbursed.” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This seems sort of stupid. If Verma has homeowner's or renter's insurance -- as any sensible person of means would -- the loss probably is covered by her policy. When I had a suitcase stolen from the trunk of my modest little Mazda while it was parked on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, my New Jersey homeowner's policy covered the cost of the theft, minus whatever deductible we had.
Presidential Race 2020. Dan Alexander of Forbes: "The Trump campaign is spending big money at the president’s properties, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Yet the records show that Donald Trump still has not donated any of his own funds to the campaign. That means America’s billionaire-in-chief has shifted $1.7 million from campaign donors into his private business."
Senate Race 2020. An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign. And a condo owned by a former aide — who was recently hired to lead the group — was used as Iowa Values' address at a time when he worked for her. Political nonprofits are often referred to as “dark money” groups because they can raise unlimited sums and are not required to reveal their donors. But they must take steps to keep their activities separate from the candidates they support. Additionally, while such tax-exempt groups can do political work, they can’t make it their primary purpose. The documents reviewed by the AP, including emails and a strategy memo, not only make clear that the group’s aim is securing an Ernst win in 2020, but they also show Ernst and her campaign worked in close concert with Iowa Values." ~~~
~~~ Joan McCarter of Daily Kos: "This is very, very stinky. But Ernst doesn’t have to worry about it too much. Her boss, Moscow Mitch McConnell, has ensured that the Federal Election Commission has no teeth to do anything about these kinds of violations. It doesn’t have a quorum of commissioners to act now because he hasn’t allowed votes for new ones." Mrs. McC: Worth noting: making sure the FEC can do nothing to stop illegal campaign activities is one more of the multitude of ways Republicans are making sure we don't have "free and fair" elections.
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Reader Comments (8)
Democrats on the House committees connected to the impeachment of the Traitor in Chief are doing the nation a great service by drawing out a blueprint for when we have to impeach the next Republican traitor.
This is a few days after the fact (12/5). Terry Gross conducted a very enlightening interview with Simon Shuster, a Time writer/reporter who covers Russia and Ukraine. He was riveting. He clarified several of the familiar complex relationships and seems to have close access to the players. He has interviewed Zelensky and Yermak as well as others. I was not previously familiar with him, but I am following on twitter now. This is the audio of the interview.
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/05/785046302/ukrainian-president-takes-offense-at-suggestion-of-quid-pro-quo-journalist-says
Here we go Jeanne–-Maureen Dowd addresses "hate" in all its guises:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/opinion/sunday/pelosi-trump-hate.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
I just finished reading the entire transcript –-something I had not done before–-of the NPR interview. The words "tangled web" doesn't even begin to describe this enormous spider web of corruption and deceit. This paragraph sums up the happenstance of optimism turned into pessimism when happy feet get the ice cold water treatment once they dip into what we call foreign relations:
Shuster: "But when I met him [Zelensky] this time, six months later, he was really a changed man. He was not just tired or more kind of realistic about the possibilities of politics, but he'd become quite cynical. And the headline that we put at the top of our interview when we published it - he actually said this twice. He said, I don't trust anyone. And I think that's really the message he wanted to get across - that his six months in office had taught him that there are no reliable allies. There are only interests. And that goes for the Americans. That goes for the Europeans. He trusts no one."
With a name like Simon Shuster, shouldn't the guy have gone into publishing? You know, like his old school chum Harper Collins?
(If someone tells me his parents gave him the middle name "And", they go right to the head of the class of parents who saddle their kids with inescapably odd names.)
Sorry, sometimes the funny bone kicks up and demands to be heard. Okay, maybe not wicked funny "funny", more like mildly humorous "funny".
"Officials said on Sunday that federal investigators were working on the presumption that the attack in Pensacola on Friday was an act of terrorism."
It is US federal law enforcement and homeland security policy that ALL domestic mass casualty attacks, all types, are treated as "terrorism" until shown otherwise. Sometimes that is determined within minutes, sometimes it takes days. While an event is treated as terrorism, the feds of all agencies have many authorities and capabilities available that are unavailable when an event is deemed "not terrorism."
The agencies involved (usually, FBI and DHS) usually play it straight, i.e. don't delay a determination in order to keep their authorities longer.
@Akhilleus: The "Simon" in Simon & Schuster is Carly Simon's father, and I thought I had read that a descendant of Schuster was also in publishing, but it appears from his Wikipedia biography that he did not have any natural children (don't know if he adopted his wife's children). In any event, Simon Shuster's last name is spelled differently, so I'd say he's not related to the publisher, though I think your suggestion that his middle name might be "And" -- I'd go for "Ampersand"; it looks more like a family name -- is a mighty good one. And yeah, thanks, Mr. & Mrs. Shuster.
Dahlia Lithwick has a piece in Slate that captures my rage without dropping the F-bomb every other word. She writes about the fact that an army of woman have been the ones who continue to stand up and speak truth, loudly, whether anyone listens or not.
"Which is why it’s all the more important to understand what these women are doing when they stride into these hearings, and into their press conferences, and into their lawsuits, to tell the truth in the face of disingenuous Republican tears about incivility and partisanship. These women all know they’re being catapulted into the epistemological wood chipper, and that, if they’re lucky, the death threats and the violence directed at them and their families will eventually subside.... Power is immune to truth-tellers these days, but history may not be. And women have had centuries of experience in what happens when you let the gaslighters win. "
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/pamela-karlan-testimony-barron-trump-republican-outrage.html