;)
The Commentariat -- February 2, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: Trump's "early-morning Twitter post [reported below] reinforced reports that Mr. Trump, in allowing the Republican memo to be released, is seeking to clean house in the upper ranks of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, even at the risk of losing his own F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray.... Blaming senior government officials for favoring Democrats over Republicans is among the main themes in the memo, according to people who have seen it. The memo is said to accuse federal law enforcement officials of abusing their authorities when they sought permission to surveil former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page." ...
... NEW LEDE: "House Republicans released a previously secret memo on Friday in which they accuse senior officials at the F.B.I. and Justice Department of bias in the early stages of the Russia investigation." ...
... Vox has the full text here (the NYT linked currently (@12:30 pm ET) doesn't work), including an authorization letter from White House counsel Don McGahn.
*****
Helene Cooper & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The White House has grown frustrated in recent weeks by what it considers the Pentagon's reluctance to provide President Trump with options for a military strike against North Korea, according to officials, the latest sign of a deepening split in the administration over how to confront the nuclear-armed regime of Kim Jong-un. The national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, believes that for Mr. Trump's warnings to North Korea to be credible, the United States must have well-developed military plans, according to those officials. But the Pentagon, they say, is worried that the White House is moving too hastily toward military action on the Korean Peninsula that could escalate catastrophically. Giving the president too many options, the officials said, could increase the odds that he will act." Mrs. McC: No kidding.
Brooke Seipel of the Hill: "President Trump early Friday morning lashed out at Department of Justice (DOJ) leaders, as top officials continue to advise the president not to release a confidential memo accusing the DOJ and FBI of abusing their power. 'The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!' Trump tweeted early Friday.... The comment echoes Sean Hannity's own word choice late Thursday night. Hannity repeatedly criticized the FBI and DOJ, but added: 'not rank and file, we love you guys.'" ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "Sacred"? Really? God bless the "investigative process"? What Trump is trying to do here, among other things, is drive a wedge between DOJ & FBI leadership & the rank-and-file who report to them. Putin's plan is going very, very well. The only question is whether or not Trump is a witting or unwitting collaborator. ...
... The Show Must Go on. Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: Trump gets advice from Sean Hannity, other on-air flamethrowers, ignores U.S. intelligence community. ...
... Surprise, Surprise. Irresponsible President* Makes Irresponsible Decision. Nicholas Fandos & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "President Trump cleared the way on Thursday for the release of a secret memo written by Republican congressional staffers and said to accuse federal law enforcement officials of abusing their surveillance authorities. Mr. Trump, who had a brief window to block the memo's disclosure on national security grounds, was expected to tell Congress on Friday that he had no objections and would likely not request any material be redacted, according to a senior administration official. It would then be up to the House Intelligence Committee, whose Republican leaders have pushed for its release, to make the document public. The president's decision came despite a growing chorus of warnings from national security officials who say that releasing the document would jeopardize sensitive government information, including how intelligence is gathered, and from Democrats who say it is politically motivated and distorts the actions of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. by omitting crucial context." ...
... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "... before he had even read it, Trump became absolutely convinced of one thing: The memo needed to come out.... 'There was never any hesitation,' said one presidential adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount private talks with Trump. 'The president was resolved on this. He was not going to be persuaded [otherwise]. He wanted it out.' The president did not actually see the memo ... until Wednesday afternoon.... The president said he thought the release of the memo would help build a public argument against [Deputy AG Rod] Rosenstein's handling of the case, according to people familiar with the discussions. Trump suggested to aides and confidants that the memo might give him the justification to fire Rosenstein -- something about which Trump has privately mused -- or make other changes at the Justice Department, which he had complained was not sufficiently loyal to him." Throughout most of the story, John Kelly is right in there, aiding & abetting, ignoring intelligence leaders' advice against the memo's release. ...
... Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Inside the Trump administration, sources who've been briefed on the Nunes memo expect it will be underwhelming and not the 'slam dunk' document it's been hyped up to be." Mrs. McC: It will probably be too technical for Trumpbots to understand unless the fiction writers put in a lot of words like "shocking" & "unpresidented," the value of its content has been so degraded by the DOJ, the FBI & Democrats that it will be up to the media to make it shocking & unpresidented, & the whole hoohah is over a guy -- Carter Page -- from whom the Trump campaign & administration tried to distance itself, someone who, as Jonathan Chait points out, had a 4-year history of suspicious dealings with Russian agents that had garnered the attention of U.S. intelligence agencies. ...
... Kevin Liptak, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump continues to tell his associates he believes the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools could help discredit the Russia investigation, multiple sources familiar with White House discussions said.... Trump himself reviewed and read the memo on Wednesday, White House officials told CNN, and discussed it with chief of staff John Kelly and the White House counsel's office. Ahead of its expected release, the White House approved several redactions to the memo on national security grounds, according to a senior administration official. But the White House has so far rejected the FBI and Justice Department's requests for redactions that the White House believes are meant to conceal information that might be embarrassing to the agency, the official said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Poor Carter Page! Jonathan Chait: A few problems with the TrumpNunes theory of FBI treachery: "First, reports have indicated the FBI began investigating [Carter] Page well before [Christopher] Steele looked into him. Page met with Russian spies who were looking to recruit him in 2013, and passed documents to them. The Russian spies came away from the encounter confounded by his apparent stupidity ... but encouraged by his greed.... CNN reported last August that the FBI began surveilling Page in 2014, two years before the Steele dossier. In 2015 -- again, before Steele came along -- U.S. investigators overheard Russians discussing 'meetings held outside the U.S. involving Russian government officials and Trump business associates or advisers,' The Wall Street Journal has reported. Second, even if it were true that the FBI based its entire case for surveilling Page on the Steele dossier, the dossier is not necessarily false.... The point of it was to identify suspicious grounds for investigation, which is what the FBI had already been doing anyway." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... "No FISA Warrant Relies on a Single Piece of Evidence." CBS News: "FBI director Christopher Wray is prepared to issue a rebuttal if the White House releases Rep. Devin Nunes's classified memo alleging inappropriate surveillance of the Trump campaign by the FBI and Justice Department, according to CBS News senior national security analyst Fran Townsend.... Townsend, who served as homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, told 'CBS This Morning' she believes the FBI is worried about both the accuracy of the memo's contents and what it may reveal about their sources and methods.... Townsend, who spent 13 years at the Justice Department, said it's simply 'not possible' for one partisan actor to push through a FISA warrant or to obtain one based on a single piece of evidence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Democrats are ratcheting up pressure on House Speaker Paul Ryan to intervene in the growing controversy involving House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who quietly changed his explosive memo alleging FBI abuse without informing many of his colleagues. The top Democrat in the Senate and the House say Republicans have 'decided to sow conspiracy theories' and 'attack the integrity and credibility of federal law enforcement as a means' to protect ... Donald Trump and undercut special counsel Robert Mueller. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter Thursday to Ryan, obtained by CNN, with a long list of questions ranging from the FBI and Justice Department objections to the letter to whether Ryan's staff was involved in drafting the memo and if the edits to the document were consistent with House rules.... House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also sent a letter to Ryan calling Nunes' actions 'dangerous' and 'illegitimate,' and called on Ryan to remove Nunes as Intelligence Committee chairman." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... New York Times Editors: "So this is what a partisan witch hunt really looks like. In a demonstration of unbridled self-interest and bottomless bad faith, the Trump White House and its Republican minions in Congress are on the cusp of releasing a 'memo' that purports to document the biggest political scandal since Watergate.... [Devin] Nunes hasn't even seen the classified documents underlying his memo, and has refused to show his work even to Republican senators. Is this the behavior of someone concerned with honesty, transparency and good government?... The question is whether there are any adults left in the G.O.P. The evidence so far is not encouraging, notwithstanding a sporadic furrowed brow in the Senate." Mrs. McC: This editorial provides an overview of the fundamentals of this brouhaha. ...
... Washington Post Editors: House Speaker Paul "Ryan bears full responsibility for the deterioration of congressional oversight of intelligence operations. Once a bipartisan responsibility that lawmakers treated soberly -- as they still do in the Senate -- oversight under [Devin] Nunes has become another front in Mr. Trump's assault on the law enforcement institutions investigating the president and his associates. House Republicans are poisoning the committee's relationship with the intelligence community and distracting from real issues demanding attention. In all the noise around the memo, it is easy to lose sight of the scary truth that a hostile foreign government attempted to influence the 2016 election and shows every intention of trying again this year.... Mr. Nunes, with Mr. Ryan's aid and comfort, is helping Mr. Trump impede an investigation into these very issues." ...
... Ben Riley-Smith of the U.K. Telegraph: "Britain's spy agencies risk having their intelligence methods revealed if Donald Trump releases a controversial memo about the FBI, congressional figures have warned. The UK will be less likely to share confidential information if the secret memo about the Russian investigation is made public, according to those opposing its release." Mrs. McC: This matters. Trump is not only making us "less safe" in this particular, he's having a chilling effect on intelligence-sharing by all of our allies. ...
... Then again, as Gloria pointed out in yesterday's thread, we're making new friends in the international intelligence community:
... Jim Sciutto & Nicole Gaouette of CNN: "CIA Director Mike Pompeo did meet with the head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, an official barred from entering the US under 2014 sanctions, as well as the head of Russia's internal security agency, according to a US official with direct knowledge of the meetings.... [Chuck] Schumer, whose staff was briefed on the meetings and the legal process involved before giving a Tuesday news conference, said the meeting represented 'a serious national security issue.' And he continued to blast Pompeo on Thursday. 'If this administration is ignoring sanctions, that's very serious,' the New York Democrat told CNN, noting that in the letter, Pompeo didn't directly acknowledge that he had met with his Russian counterparts. 'Director Pompeo's refusal to answer that question is deeply troubling.'... The Russian Embassy in Washington announced the Pompeo meeting in a Jan. 30 tweet."
Most Pathetic President* in American History. Grace Guarnieri of Newsweek: "During a Thursday press conference at the GOP retreat..., Donald Trump praised Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) for calling him the greatest president in American history. 'Orrin is -- I love listening to him speak ... he actually once said I'm the greatest president in the history of our country and I said, "Does that include Lincoln and Washington?" He said yes. I said, "I love this guy,'" Trump told a group of reporters in West Virginia.... A spokesperson for Hatch told Newsweek that the senator 'has said that he would like to work with the president to make this the greatest presidency in history for the American people.'"
Racist President* Continues to Otherize Dreamers. Cristiano Lima of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Thursday cautioned against labeling young undocumented immigrants protected under DACA as 'Dreamers,' warning people not to 'fall into that trap.' The president, addressing lawmakers at a Republican retreat in West Virginia, called for a resolution to the ongoing congressional impasse over immigration policy, which has stalled as Republican and Democratic officials have failed to reach a compromise over the Obama-era immigration initiative.... 'I said the other night, we have dreamers, too,' he said. 'We have dreamers in this country, too. We can't forget our dreamers. I have a lot of dreamers here.'" ...
... Trump Encourages Economic Racism. Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms accused of breaking discrimination laws, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by The Washington Post. The move comes about two months after President Trump installed his budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, at the head of an agency that has long been in the crosshairs of Republicans. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity had penalized lenders that it said had systematically imposed interest rates on minorities that were higher than those for whites." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... AND Why Should Poor People Have Competent Lawyers? Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has effectively shuttered an Obama-era office dedicated to making legal aid accessible to all citizens, according to two people familiar with the situation. The division, the Office for Access to Justice, began as an initiative in 2010 under former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to increase and improve legal resources for indigent litigants in civil, criminal and tribal courts. Though the head of the office reports directly to the associate attorney general, it never gained much visibility within the Justice Department because it did not oversee a large staff of prosecutors. While Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot close the office without notifying the Congress, he can sideline it by moving its resources elsewhere. Its offices now sit dark on the third floor of the Justice Department building. The staff of a dozen or so has dwindled and left the department over the past few months, the people said." Mrs. McC: Apparently JeffBo thinks the Sixth Amendment guaranteeing "Assistance of Counsel" applies mostly to wealthy people.
** Elizabeth Drew has a terrific essay in the New Republic about the impeachments of Nixon & Clinton, (Nixon resigned before the House voted on articles of impeachment) & why impeachment & conviction will not likely happen in the Age of Trump -- unless Trump does shoot somebody while strolling down Fifth Avenue. Hers is a cautionary tale, & demonstrates -- in the person of former Rep. Peter Rodino (D-N.J.) -- how the impeachment process should work. And, yes, Drew does suggest Trump is worse than Nixon. But then, so are his allies worse than Nixon's. Mrs. McC: Even though the Founders expected members of the House to be a rowdy bunch, apparently they did not foresee the likes of Devin Nunes. Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation has gathered enough steam that some lawyers representing key Donald Trump associates are considering the possibility of a historic first: an indictment against a sitting president. While many legal experts contend that Mueller lacks the standing to bring criminal charges against Trump, at least two attorneys working with clients swept up in the Russia probe told Politico they consider it possible that Mueller could indict the president for obstruction of justice."
Huh. Darren Samuelsohn: "Three attorneys representing Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday they are immediately withdrawing as counsel for the former Donald Trump campaign aide, who is fighting special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of him on money laundering and other charges. Lawyers Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy said in a two-page motion that they would explain the reasons for their abrupt move in documents filed under seal with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.... Speculation had been mounting that the longtime GOP operative might be seeking to cooperate with the Mueller investigation." ...
... Update. Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC: "... the most important development in the Russia probe is that fmr. Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates has new lawyers and why that could indicate he's cooperating with Mueller." (Video.)
Donald Trump goes to RNC dinner to rehash 2016 grievances (John Kasich is horrible; Massachusetts liberals flooded into New Hampshire & overturned my win) & boast most of the media couldn't pass that really hard mental acuity test he aced. Alex Isenstadt of Politico reports.
William Cohan of Vanity Fair: "The Mooch Recalls His Brief Shining Fortnight at the Center of American Politics." A colorful interview in which Anthony Scaramucci describes the White House staff in less-than-glowing terms: the fellow formerly known as Reince Preibus is now "Rancid Penis," for instance. Sadly, many of the people the Mooch so fondly remembers -- Priebus, Bannon, Spicer (and Lizza) -- also have moved on. You'd almost think a person could get burned dancing too close to the Orange Flame.
Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "The Humane Society of the United States decided Thursday to keep chief executive Wayne Pacelle in his job in the wake of an internal investigation which identified three complaints of sexual harassment against him, a move that prompted seven board members to resign. The decision to keep Pacelle in his job and close the investigation against him defied demands by major donors for the Humane Society to cut its ties with the long-time chief executive -- or risk losing their support."
Beyond the Beltway
Another Blow to Voter Suppression. Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times: "The state of Florida routinely violates the constitutional rights of its own citizens by permanently revoking the right to vote for anyone convicted of a felony, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said Florida's system unfairly relies on the personal support of the governor for citizens to regain 'this fundamental right.' In a strongly-worded ruling, he called the state's defense of voter disenfranchisement 'nonsensical' -- a withering criticism aimed at Gov. Rick Scott, the lead defendant in the case. 'Florida strips the right to vote from every man and woman who commits a felony,' Walker wrote. 'To vote again, disenfranchised citizens must kowtow before a panel of high-level government officials over which Florida's governor has absolute veto authority. No standards guide the panel. Its members alone must be satisfied that these citizens deserve restoration ... The question now is whether such a system passes constitutional muster. It does not.'... The judge gave both sides in the case until Feb. 12 to file briefings on how to permanently remedy the constitutional deficiencies in Florida's system.... Walker's decision came nine days after the state approved a ballot measure that, if passed in November, would automatically restore the voting rights of about 1.2 million felons, not including convicted murderers and sex offenders."
Way Beyond
Phil McCausland of NBC News: "The eldest son of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro took his own life Thursday.... Two Cuban government sources confirmed to NBC News that Fidel Angel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, died on Friday morning following months-long treatment 'for a deep state of depression by a group of doctors.'"
News Lede
New York Times: "The Labor Department released its official hiring and unemployment figures for January on Friday morning, providing the latest snapshot of the American economy. 200,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street economists had expected an increase of about 180,000, according to Bloomberg. The unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent, the same as in December and the lowest since 2000. Average earnings rose by 9 cents an hour and are up 2.9 percent over the past year. Revisions in the November and December figures produced a net loss of 24,000."
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Reader Comments (34)
Nicholas von Hoffman has died. Too bad, an independent, unafraid voice like his is much needed now. In his early years he was "...a community organizer" " for OMG some guy named Saul Alinsky!
Don Hewitt of CBS fired von Hoffman after he said this about Nixon in July 1974 in the waning days of the Richard M.Nixon administration on television..."“The President is like a dead mouse on the American family kitchen floor,” he said. “The question is: Who is going to pick it up by the tail and drop it in the trash?”."
Fast forward to 2018, I think we got ourselves another dead mouse!
BTW von Hoffman wrote an outstanding biography of Roy Cohn, "Citizen Cohn" that I read back in 1995.
So, fp^6 read the "memo"? Yea, right. All four pages? How many pictures did it have on it?
@unwashed: I heard on the teevee last night that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are going to let the Democrats on the committee release their 10-page rebuttal memo next week.
But I presume (don't know) that the Democratic memo would have to go thru a presidential vetting, too. Is Trump going to read a TEN-PAGE memo written by some of the top guys on his enemies list, then approve its release?
According to Phillip Rucker it was none other than John Kelly that the FBI and Justice spoke to at the White House–-twice–-re: the infamous memo. One gets the sense that Kelly is now the go-to guy, the one who is "handling" things and whispering in the ear of the king. And one could also conclude that Kelly is the one who is actually the chief cook and bottle washer in that kitchen cabinet. Do we have another James Baker (and here Kelly can not compare) who is doing the heavy lifting or do we have a weasel wallowing in his own agenda?
@MAG: Really liked your von Hoffman info–-"dead mouse on the American kitchen floor"...terrific!
Looks like Punxsutawney Donnie was let out of his cage this morning and saw the shadow of his own fat ass. There’ll be at least three more years of stupidity, greed, bigotry, and treason.
Lucky us.
Now can we please put him back in the cage until next February?
PD-- I vote for Kelly as snide, arrogant, unrepentant liar and unelected puppetmaster as well as "wallowing weasel." Lawrence really burned him unmercifully last night, and it just reminds me that "we" have gotten ourselves into a hell of a fix with the election of an equally oblivious liar, who has surrounded himself with the same. There is almost no point in thinking about any of this. Housecleaning is more fulfilling. Time for oatmeal!
So what we have here is a Confederate President, aided by Confederate rats in a Confederate controlled congress, attacking the FBI run by the hand picked appointee of the Confederate president, overseen by a Confederate controlled Justice Department also run by an appointee of that same Confederate president who wants them all dead or in jail.
Am I missing something?
What’s really happening is that Confederate president broke at least 85 laws and now is pissed that he might be held accountable for something, which has never happened to him before. In the past he’d break laws and just pay a fine or buy people off or fire them or tell them to fuck off.
That doesn’t seem to be working here, incredibly! And he doesn’t know what else to do but act stupidly, fearfully, and irresponsibly.
Sounds about right for this Confederate President.
Even more unfortunately, it also sounds exactly right for his entire party.
Watched for a short time the Budget Oversight hearing and was delighted to listen to the CBO director who sounds as though he has his ducks in order and is someone who does have his priorities straight. His name is Keith Hall: beard, twinkling eyes, avuncular, and even when pressed by a few Republicans as to any political slant he held firm with a smile. He says he has a great crew who are dedicated and hard working and I believe him. He's been doing this for 25 yrs. Nice to meet someone like this working in our government.
Carter Page: smiley, dimpled, and evidently dumb as a brick. Who woulda thuck this guy would become front and center––the spy who fit the mold––"Ve belieef ve gots a dummkopf ––ve belieef in nossink bett perfection–-da?"
Jennifer Mendelsohn, a freelance writer based in Baltimore, after hearing what Steve Miller said about supporting a bill that would penalize immigrants who didn't speak English, Jen took to tweeter:
"Miller favors immigrants who speak English but the 1910 census shows his own great grandmother couldn't. Jen's tweet which included a photo of a census document indicating that the grandmother spoke only Yiddish. She then added: "It's hilarious how easy it is to find hypocrisy."
She did the same thing to Steve King, Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren, Tucker Carlson with more to come. Her tweets have gone viral. She has also written scathing pieces about Trump's "chain migration"––"they use a family based migration policy and turn it into a sinister sounding name. They're telling the American people that chain migration is some new thing to be afraid of. I'm saying, "Not on my turf."
Last month White House official Dan Scavino said that chain migration was "choking" America. Jen, savvy in searching Italian records, sent a message to Dan:
"So Dan, let's say Victor Scavino arrives from Canelli, Italy in 1904, then brother Hecto the next year followed by brother Gildo, then sister Esther, along with sister Clotide and their father Giuseppe and they all live in NYC. Do you think that would count as chain migration?"
So Dan––in your face, Bud!!!
"Unless you're Native American or you descend from slaves who were brought here against their will, you are an immigrant in this country or you are a descendant of an immigrant in this country."
Oh, Lordy, lordy, the gal with the far away eyes and the mindset of a marmoset on drugs has just announced that she might throw her ribboned hat into the ring once again to take Al Franken's seat. She claims so many people have been urging her to run, but––and here we hear the chimes from the nearest church––-she is waiting for a sign from God. Michelle B. wants to bring the Christian message back into the Congressional swamp because–– why not?
Well––whada know––God answers. He done paid a hefty fee for a hefty billboard that answers her question. Good for God–-always at the ready for petty things like this. Check it out.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michele-bachmann-sign-from-god_us_5a7413ade4b01ce33eb175a5?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
PD,
As for Carter Page, he wouldn't be the first small-timer who became a central player on the world stage.
The First World War was started because a contentious nationalist, Gavrilo Princips, pumped a couple of bullets into the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Even weirder, Princips, who missed his first chance at the pair because of a poorly timed grenade attack by a co-conspirator, slunk off to a cafe to get a drink. Suddenly, the Archduke's driver, trying to escape further entanglements with disaffected locals, took a wrong turn and ended up stalled right in front of Princips' cafe. He didn't miss his second chance. Next scene, mustard gas, the Somme, trench warfare, 18 million dead (and a substantial number of dead due to the spreading of the 1918 flu pandemic), and the Treaty of Paris, which set the stage for WWII and many of our current problems in the Mideast. Geez. Could be the two most costly bullets in history, or the worst wrong turn ever.
In the late 40's a schlubby nobody named Whittaker Chambers who had formerly spied for the Soviet Union, decided to make a name for himself by taking the stand in the Alger Hiss trial, a sideshow that helped promote the careers of Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, and Roy Cohn, godfather to the fat traitor currently stinking up the White House. The Gipper gave him a posthumous medal for his work on behalf of wingnuts everywhere.
I have no way of knowing if Carter Page can generate as much, shall we say, excitement, but history has a funny way of turning small events and nondescript types into very lengthy encyclopedia entries. If Trump goes full dictator and fires Mueller, which no Republican will stand in the way of, we will officially join the ranks of authoritarian nations and Page's bungling could very well merit dozens of books and several lengthy notices in quite a few encyclopedias.
I think it's pretty clear what will happen next.
Trump's only concern (and who doesn't know this already?) is not for the nation or his base or his party. It's for Trump. Period. Full stop. Whatever is good for Trump, or whatever he deems in his interest, will be what goes. Fuck everything else.
This "memo", co-written by Trump and his little rat bastard ass kisser Nunes, will provide them with what they assume will be the "evidence" needed to turn over the card table. Trump still believes that he only needs to say something and it must be true.
As soon as the dust settles from this memo release, and all the Right-Wing media sycophants line up to say "Yes, Massa Trump, Democrats and the FBI all hate you!", he'll fire Rosenstein, using the excuse that he's tainted too. Then he'll install a goon who will close down the Mueller investigation and refuse to release any of the findings.
In another time this would be impossible. But we live in an age in which the party in charge IS a party of traitors and the media has not yet (probably never will) recovered from the both-sider pandemic that has rendered it mostly fallow and flatulent. Trump knows his will as Trumpolini will not be challenged by the obsequious Confederates and he's assured that half of the media will be fine with his tearing up the Constitution.
Nothing will happen to him. Nothing. He will live to screw us all for the rest of his term.
Know why he calls it "His Wall"?
And while we're contemplating life under a dictator, there's this to remember. Trump wants only two things. To be loved and admired and feared as a Great Leader, and money.
He hasn't worked very hard at figuring out how to be president, but he's been working overtime lining his pockets.
Up 'til now, it's been ten million here, a hundred million there. Chump change for a GIANT of financing like Trump. But if he gets his wall, it'll be Katie bar the door. Then it'll be billions up for grabs in graft for Trump, his family and the chiselers waiting for their share of the goodies.
The always reliable Amanda Marcotte reminds us that:
"The mainstays of Trump's business empire before he ran for office were construction and corruption, and he regularly combined the two. He's tied to a sleazy operation in Azerbaijan, a hotel project that has become mired in controversy over graft and political self-dealing. A similar hotel project in Brazil was shut down after a criminal investigations was opened. Trump business dealings have connected him to alleged gangsters and money-laundering operations in Russia and other former Soviet republics. Trump's homegrown construction projects in Atlantic City and elsewhere famously tied him to mobsters who often landed in prison for racketeering."
Give Trump access to $25 billion, and stand back and watch the grifters line up. He'll be tossing out millions like he was handing out M&M's at Halloween. "One for you, seven for me, one for you, eight for me..Hey little girl, nice stripper costume, you get two....seven for me..."
And here's something else to remember:
"...not a single shovel has to hit the ground for taxpayers to lose out on this. Construction is a business where a lot of money can wind up in people's pockets, without a project ever being completed, or even getting off the drawing board."
Even on all those failed Trump vanity projects, even if investors lost their shirts, Trump made out.
Don't think he isn't counting on doing the same with "His Wall".
Just remember: construction and corruption.
Worst President Ever.
The idea that the Dept. of Justice should be loyal to anything but the law is laughable--or in a sane world, should be.
And related, on a more personally-directed Pretender level:
Is the feeling that everyone is picking on you absent any sense that your own actions have brought it on and hence you deserve every bit of what you're getting the very essence of narcissism?
Or does that just make you a friggin' crook?
Or speaking in terms of social consequence, is there any difference?
The Nunes "memo" constitutes more evidence of how toxic has been the Rule of Trump, or to be more exact, Trump Rules. Trump rules are there for the protection, promotion, and enrichment of Trump. They serve no other function. But because Trump himself has radically realigned the concept of what it means to be president, he has empowered vile little slugs like Nunes (and Ryan) to venture off the reservation and freely explore the world of political gain at no cost. If the boss is a slimy lying piece of shit, who's gonna care if I do the same? In fact, I'll be rewarded!
Yesterday (or the other day, I forget now), Marie pointed out that the most salient reason for the lack of corruption in the Obama administration (0 indictments, 0 convictions, 0 jail sentences) was the lack of corruption at the top. You surround yourself with like minded people, honest, smart people dedicated to the ideas of America and public service thereto, and you get a corruption free administration.
You're a scheming, lying, corrupt, money-laundering scumbag, and you surround yourself with similarly inclined crooks, and you open the door to lies and corruption and you get an administration that looks more like a crime syndicate than a constitutionally bordered executive branch.
And you get farcical clown shows like this Nunes memo which draws in the rubes and creates chaos on all fronts. The better for you to run additional scams.
Lawyers like to talk about slippery slopes when it comes to problematic or dubitable actions. This isn't a slippery slope, this is a freakin' toboggan ride down Mt. Everest.
PD,
I read that Jennifer Mendelsohn piece in Politico a few weeks ago. Really amazing stuff. Unfortunately, those this work is aimed at, in an attempt to add a tiny bit of perspective, are black boxes of prejudice and hatred. None of this will have an effect. But it sure is fun to read. The first thing I felt after reading her work was awe. If you've ever tried to doing genealogical record checks, or any deep research taking you back through fuzzy documentation into the 19th or early 20th centuries (especially records on immigration)....whew. My hat is off. That is hard work. But in this case, enormously rewarding.
As you say, we are all immigrants (even, if you want to go back far enough, to Native Americans who came across that land bridge from Asia about 25,000 years ago). Well, okay, we'll give those guys a pass. 25,000 years is a enough time to be considered a native. Especially since their ancestors had to WALK all the way. My family got on a boat from Ireland and got off in New York City.
"Chain migration" is just another one of those nasty little euphemisms employed by right-wing haters, the same ones who never said the former president's name without adding the "Hussein" in the snarkiest of ways. Oh yeah, they were also the ones who sent each other pictures of his wife as a gorilla.
Decent people, those wingnuts, aren't they? Can they maybe migrate the hell back to where they came from? I'll supply the chains.
Will Hurd, R -TX and former CIA undercover officer, explains in a WaPo piece why he voted to release the memo: "My response is simple: Not all classified information has national security implications."
One reader responded:
"I don't recall any Republican politician making this claim when the Trump campaign was leading chants to lock up Hillary Clinton for merely having classified information on her private server."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-i-voted-to-release-the-nunes-memo/2018/02/02/30fea380-0824-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html
Tried to read the "memo" but keep getting this:
"This website is under heavy load (queue full)
We're sorry, too many people are accessing this website at the same time. We're working on this problem. Please try again later." on multiple sites.
Akhilleus,
And then, speaking of euphemisms, there were/are those "anchor babies."
Always thought that one was particularly funny. I know our kids--and now their children--sure tied us down.
Got through through to read the big secret. Looks like bullshit, smells like bullshit, tastes like bullshit. A lot of hype over bullshit.
Read the memo quickly. Don't see anything that hasn't been pretty thoroughly discussed -- and debunked -- in the press.
Am I missing something?
@unwashed: Good thing you didn't step in it.
That's all I've got for now.
The POS* is going to read this memo right after he releases his
tax returns.
*president
trump goes on ad nauseum about the illegal 0.3% of the population. To put it in perspective, of the US population 14.7% are foreign born. Trump points to Canada and Australia as countries "doing it right".
Canada's population is 22% foreign born, Australia's 28%. Canada aims to welcome 310,000 immigrants in 2018. This is the equivalent of the US welcoming 2,900,000 immigrants this year. As recently happened on occasion Canada has welcomed more immigrants from disaster areas than were planned on for the whole year. Can you imagine America welcoming 5,000,000 immigrants in 2019?
Not only is there no news in the memo, but what is in there does not appear to have been national security information requiring protection, therefore not requiring classification. And, the classification markings (the ones lined out) are not proper classification markings, so the paper was never formally classified by a classifying authority.
That's sort of bureaucratic nitpicking, but the lack of proper marking and handling information indicates that the document is for show, and I expect that the "Majority Staff" (ostensible memo senders) would know better. So, just the physical format of this thing makes it look like a stage prop.
In the text, the writer(s) accuse Steele of violating the principle of source protection, which is bizarre because for the information at issue Steele is a source, not a collector, who can do anything he wants with information he has assembled, even if he is also selling it.
Unfortunately, 99% of those who become aware of this memo won't be able to see its artificiality, and the fact that its whole premise is bogus (because information you collect because of motive/interest is not necessarily true or false, it always requires proof or corroboration). So, net/net, the 35% who still support DiJiT will see it as "proof" of FBI bias. Others will see it as yet another example of how f*cked up national politics is. And the Hill GOP will use it as cover for WH depredations of DOJ. Deflect, confuse, dissemble, sow doubt --- standard squid tactics.
Not a good day for democracy.
Silly me. I thought after the latest shutdown that immigration would move to the top of the agenda and the Dems could mercilessly hammer the heartless GOP for trying to deport the Dreamers.
A few days later, and immigration has nearly completely fallen of the nation's radar, replaced by the screaming toady and the scheming GOP. This memo will suck out so much political air right at the moment of such important legislation coming up.
And the only news we've actually heard about the Dreamers is that Trump's heart is now focused on how neo-nazis dream too, and they shouldn't be forgotten.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
The 39 Seconds of Sheer Stupid Remarks:
It's a shame what's happening in this country. Everyone knows it's a disgrace. It's a big disgrace. Congress will take a look at this. Congress will do whatever they do. It's terrible what's going on. Especially to see that. That is terrible. They will do whatever they do with that (whatever that is I dunno). It is declassified. A lot of people should be ashamed...blah! blah! blah! blah! blah!
@BeaMcCrab: those 39 second of the embedded video of The Idiot acting as president are without one coherent intelligent statement. No surprise there! Actually, the more I considered his words, they all seemed perfectly apt to describe HIM. He's terrible. He's a disgrace. He's this country's shame.
The Nunes Memo is also crap.
Rick Scott, who barely escaped being an ex-felon himself, given his scheming, fraudulent past, has come up a cropper on his unconstitutional plan to disenfranchise over a million Florida residents.
Poor Ricky. This is a guy, by the way, who sniffed that, regarding voting rights, he and his party could do whatever they wanted.
Now that a judge has delegitimized Scott's plan due to the way in which his "...'scheme' unfairly relies on the personal support of the governor for citizens to regain the right to vote", I think it only fair that things should be put to right in an appropriate manner. If Scott wanted to be the one to decide on whether ex-felons could even appeal their lifetime ban, I think it only right that he should now be required by the court to personally escort each one of those 1.2 million Florida residents to register to vote.
Oh, and they should be restricted from registering as Republicans.
Sound fair?
MAG,
I've sat next to drunk guys on the subway who were able to make better sense than Trump. One guy I was talking to once passed out in the middle of a sentence but woke up at the next stop and picked up right where he fell asleep. I seem to recall he was talking about invaders from space. Trump makes that guy look like Winston Churchill.
@MAG, I said to my wife after watching the clip, "Donnie, you're projecting again."
Today we had a release of "Classified" information. We can't forget that trump also revealed truly Classified information to the Russians in his office last May. These people are dangerous.
And Now a Word from the First Family of Racist Assholes
First daughter, Ivanka Trump, trying to be down and hip with Black History Month, at the same time as she seems to want to raise daddy's White Supremacist flag, tweety-birded the following sentiment:
"...we resolve to continue to bring greater equality, dignity, and opportunity to all Americans, regardless of race or background."
So instead of actually coming out in support of Black History Month, she "All Lives Mattered" the shit out of it.
Which Isha Aran of Splinter reminds readers...
"...this is pretty fucking rich, coming from someone whose father is a huge racist who still thinks the Central Park five are guilty, had to settle with the Department of Justice over housing discrimination, and defends white supremacists. Trump then goes on to All Lives Matter Black History Month, by trying to pull some 'regardless of race or background' shit which is more a refusal to address black people in this country."
I guess, according to the Trumps, black people can't even have a single month to celebrate their heritage. It has to be about ALL Americans.
Especially those nice Nazis beloved by dear old dad.
But never mind, black people, look at my high-end fashion offerings! You all sell drugs, you MUST be able to afford my stuff. Remember what Kellyanne Con-lady ordered. GO OUT AND BUY IVANKA!
So hop to it, hip-hoppers.
Here's the thing, for anyone suggesting that I'm way overstating the case here. Ivanka Trump might not think of this as a racist sentiment, but she's grown up in a household where black people are considered murderers and moochers. Maybe she does think differently, but then don't come out with this All Lives Matter bullshit. Say that some other day. Not on the FIRST FUCKING DAY of Black History Month.
Isn't she supposed to be the smart one? Christ, I'd hate to meet the stupid one. Oh, wait. He's in the White House.
Jesus, these fucking people.
Now that we've gotten the memo out of our system:
IMMIGRATION!
IMMIGRATION!!!!
IMMIGRATION!!!!!!!!!
And speaking of IMMIGRATION, when I renewed my driver's
liscense last week, I was informed that this is the last time my birth
certificate will be accepted as proof of citizen standing in the USA.
It's old and not printed on acid proof paper, so it's sorta worn, but
still has a seal imprinted (Texas). Guess she was pissed when I said
that most of my ancestors were standing on the shore of this country
waving when hers got off the boat.
Anyway, new law, must have proof of birth after decades of being
licensed in the past so I can fly or visit any government facility,
like, if I wanted to visit the POS* in prison.
*president
If it seems strange that such an "important" and "earth shaking" memo was released on a Friday, traditionally a news dump day, add in that this is the Super Bowl weekend and you'll come to the conclusion that this memo was aimed at one person only. That's the man who authorized its release. Now we wait and see if he thinks this security blanket covers him enough to purge the intelligence services.