The Commentariat -- July 17, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Who Knew English Could Be So Complicated? Eileen Sullivan & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Tuesday that he had misspoken a day earlier in Helsinki, Finland, when he appeared to take the word of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies on Russian election meddling in 2016. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he 'accepts' those findings. Mr. Trump said the misunderstanding arose from his use of a 'double negative.' 'The sentence should have been "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia," sort of a double negative,' he said. 'So you can put that in and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.'..." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Yeah, he done corrected it pretty good. Holy cow! If you believe that, I have a Trump condo to sell you. The question was, "Who[m] do you believe?" That's an either/or question, & that's how Trump answered it: He contrasted what DNI Dan Coats ("and some others") "believe" (not what they've determined based on evidence) with what Putin declared: "I have President Putin [Putin being the horse's mouth]. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be." That's the either and the or. EITHER it's Coats' non-determinative belief, OR Putin's knowledgeable declaration. I choose Putin.

... BUT, just to make sure he didn't upset Putin ... Alana Abramson of Time: "Reading from prepared remarks, Trump said ... 'While Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying -- and I've said this many times -- I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.'" Emphasis added. ...

... Here's the full transcript (in English) of the TrumPutin press conference, via Vox. Read it in context & decide for yourself. The condo is still available. Solid gold taps. ...

... Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Trump of trying to 'squirm away' from his comments in Helsinki. 'President Trump tried to squirm away from what he said yesterday. It's 24 hours too late and in the wrong place,' Schumer said. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said..., 'I don't accept the president's comments today. If he wanted to make those comments, he should have had the strength to make them in front of Vladimir Putin.' He added, 'This has a strange resemblance to the president's comments after he was so offensive after the disturbances in Charlottesville where he equated the neo-Nazis with the protesters. So, I give these comments about 24 hours before he once again slams the investigation, before he once again sides with authoritarians like Vladimir Putin.'" ...

... Matthew Nussbaum & Nancy Cook of Politico: "The about-face was Trump's latest after a week-long trip to Europe.... After appearing to threaten to pull out of NATO on Thursday, Trump then took the stage to praise the organization and declare it a 'fine-tuned machine.' That night, as Trump enjoyed a formal dinner hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May, the British newspaper The Sun published an interview in which Trump wa harshly critical of May's handling of Brexit negotiations and suggested her rival Boris Johnson would do better. The next day, Trump declared that he had not criticized May at all. Even for Trump, who is notoriously prone to switching positions and delivering falsehoods, the series of reversals marked an unusual degree of chaos."

Dan Mangan & Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "Special counsel Robert Mueller is asking a judge to grant immunity from prosecution for five potential witnesses whose testimony Mueller wants to compel at the upcoming federal criminal trial of former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, according to a court filing Tuesday. If the five unidentified people are not granted immunity -- and compelled to testify against Manafort -- they would either refuse to take the witness stand or refuse to answer questions by citing their Fifth Amendment right against being forced to incriminate themelves, according to Mueller's filing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. Mueller has also asked Judge T.S. Ellis to seal from public view the court motions detailing the witnesses' identities.... Mueller is asking Ellis to give the witnesses what is known as 'use immunity,' which would prevent prosecutors from using their testimony as evidence against them in a criminal case, other than one in which they are accused of perjuring themselves in that testimony."

Scott Horsley of NPR: "Former president Barack Obama celebrated Nelson Mandela's life and legacy in South Africa on Tuesday with a speech that focused not only on the freedom Mandela came to symbolize but the long walk it took to get there.... Obama spoke to a crowd of about 15,000 in a Johannesburg cricket stadium on the eve of what would have been Mandela's 100th birthday. He remarked on the progress that swept the globe during Mandela's lifetime -- with greater prosperity and opportunity -- but also that backlash that followed in recent years, in the wake of inequality and insecurity. 'A politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment began to appear and that kind of politics is now on the move,' Obama said. 'It is in part because of the failures of governments and powerful elites to squarely address the shortcomings and contradictions of this international order that we now see much of the world threatening to return to an older, a more dangerous, a more brutal way of doing business.'... 'It has to be continually renewed, because there is a competing narrative of fear and xenophobia and nationalism and intolerance,' Obama said. 'We have to push back against those trends.'" ...

     ... Video of the full speech is here.

Trump Returns to De State of De Nile. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday portrayed his widely panned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a great success.... In a morning tweet, the president blamed the media for negative coverage of a joint news conference Monday with Putin, after which Trump was criticized by members of both parties for siding with the Russian leader over U.S. intelligence officials. 'While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia,' Trump wrote, referring to his efforts to increase defense spending by U.S. allies. 'Sadly, it is not being reported that way - the Fake News is going Crazy!'... In a speech on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the chamber's Republican leaders to schedule hearings on what occurred in Helsinki. 'Our Republican colleagues cannot just go, "tsk-tsk-tsk,"' Schumer said. 'They need to act.' Schumer said he was particularly concerned about what Trump might have said to Putin during a closed-door, two-hour meeting between the two at which only their interpreters were present." Mrs. McC: Trump, BTW, did not "raise vast amounts of money at NATO; he didn't raise a penny. NATO allies stuck to the agreement that had made when Obama was president. ...

... Kevin Liptak of CNN: "... Donald Trump was upbeat immediately after his news conference with Vladimir Putin in Finland, but by the time he returned stateside on Monday evening, his mood had soured considerably amid sustained fury at his extraordinary embrace of the Russian leader.... The White House said Trump would address the summit to reporters ahead of an otherwise unrelated 2 p.m. ET meeting with lawmakers at the White House." ...

... Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "A former senior White House official, who worked closely with Trump, immediately texted us [after the Helsinki presser]: 'Need a shower.' One of Trump's own former National Security Council officials texted: 'Dude. This is a total [effing] disgrace. The President has lost his mind.' CBS 'Face the Nation' anchor Margaret Brennan, who was in the audience, told AP she was messaging some U.S. officials during the speech who said they were turning off the television." ...

... Huntsman, Come Home. Robert Gerhke of the Salt Lake Tribune: "Ambassador Huntsman, you work for a pawn, not a president. It's time to come home.... It's by resigning immediately [as U.S. ambassador to Russia] and speaking out against a president who attacks our allies, gives comfort to our adversaries and undermines our moral standing, our commitment to democratic ideals and our interest in human rights every time he opens his gaping mouth." ...

... Kevin Poulsen of the Daily Beast: "... the world watched as the President of the United States ... launched into a rambling discourse about Hillary Clinton's emails and a supposedly missing DNC server that hides the truth about Putin's innocence.... The 'server' Trump is obsessed with is actually 140 servers, most of them cloud-based, which the DNC was forced to decommission in June of 2016 while trying to rid its network of the Russian GRU officers working to help Trump win the election.... Despite Trump's repeated feverish claims to the contrary, no machines are actually missing.... Trump and his allies are capitalizing on a basic misapprehension of how computer intrusion investigations work.... When cyber investigators respond to an incident, they capture that evidence in a process called 'imaging.' They make an exact byte-for-byte copy of the hard drives.... If the president really wants to know what the DNC server is saying, it's all in the indictment against Putin's hackers." ...

You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server.... Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee?... I've been asking that for months and months and I've been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media.... I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying?... What happened to the servers of the Pakistani gentleman that worked on the DNC? Where are those servers? They're missing; where are they? -- Donald Trump, part of a rambling non-answer to a question about Putin's culpability for the DNC hack, Helsinki joint presser

The DNC servers were never missing. The DNC provided the FBI with a copy of their server, rather than the original hardware, but Comey testified that the evidence was an appropriate substitute. [Imran] Awan, the 'Pakistani gentleman' in the news, never worked for the DNC. Conservative news outlets suggested he had stolen a House Democratic server, but the U.S. Attorney's Office found no evidence of such theft. -- Politifact

... Jamelle Bouie: "Donald Trump is fulfilling all of those Obama conspiracy theories. The anti-Obama animus had one obvious root: racial resentment. For millions of Americans, a black man in the White House was so upending -- so destabilizing to their expectations of what America was -- that they responded with primal anger, willing to believe anything about the man who sat in the Oval Office. Donald Trump powered his way to the White House on the strength of that anger, running as the savior of America's racial status quo, and a promise to turn back that tide. Many of those Americans surely believed that Obama was a Manchurian candidate of sorts. Now, faced with a president who is eager to please a hostile foreign power, they actively support the effort. If you're white, it seems, you really are all right."

Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "President Trump is inciting a trade war, undermining NATO and painting Europe as a foe. It's no wonder, then, that the European Union is looking elsewhere for friends. On Tuesday in Tokyo, it signed its largest trade deal ever, a pact with Japan that will slash customs duties on products like European wine and cheese, while gradually reducing tariffs on cars. The agreement will cover a quarter of the global economy -- by some measures the largest free trade area in the world.... The deal with Japan, and the others being negotiated, point to a more assertive Europe, one that is looking past the frosty ties with the United States, and even the upcoming withdrawal of Britain from the bloc." See also the AP report, linked under "Way Beyond the Beltway" below.

Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn of Mother Jones: "Earlier this month, as outrage continued over the Trump administration's family separation policies, another immigration agency quietly introduced several changes that could threaten even more immigrants, many of them here legally, with deportation. In a memo made public July 5th, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency tasked with handling immigration benefits -- think work and student visas, green cards, and naturalization ceremonies -- said it would now refer immigrants for deportation in a wider range of cases.... While seemingly small changes, these policies could have widespread implications, potentially sending far more immigrants into removal proceedings and increasing the number of cases in an already backlogged immigration court system.... The changes would affect both undocumented immigrants and those who are already legally in the country." --safari

Andrew Sorkin & Kate Kelly of the New York Times: "Goldman Sachs on Tuesday named David M. Solomon as its next chief executive officer, putting a veteran investment banker in charge of a Wall Street giant that faces mounting challenges. Mr. Solomon's appointment will end the tenure of Lloyd C. Blankfein, the 63-year-old former gold salesman who has run the firm since 2006 and steered it through the financial crisis. Mr. Blankfein will hand over the chief executive role on Oct. 1 and remain chairman until the end of the year. Mr. Solomon, 56 and currently the bank's president, will add the chairman title at the beginning of 2019." Mrs. McC: Weirdly, a well-shaved head seems to be a prerequisite for a top spot at Goldman.

Daily Beast: "MGM Resorts International filed a complaint in federal court Monday in a case brought by victims of the Las Vegas massacre, asking a judge to declare the company has 'no liability' for the attack. MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino and the venue of the Route 91 Harvest music festival where Stephen Paddock opened fire, killing 58 and injuring more than 850."

*****

Here's the Bottom Line. Jonathan Chait: "Trump is engaged in an act of open betrayal against his own country." ...

... AND Washington Post Editors: "Trump just colluded with Russia. Openly.... In Helsinki, Mr. Trump again insisted 'there was no collusion' with Russia. Yet in refusing to acknowledge the plain facts about Russia's behavior, while trashing his own country's justice system, Mr. Trump in fact was openly colluding with the criminal leader of a hostile power." ...

... Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump stood next to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday and publicly challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, wrapping up what he called a 'deeply productive' summit meeting with an extraordinary show of trust for a leader accused of attacking American democracy. In a remarkable news conference, Mr. Trump did not name a single action for which Mr. Putin should be held accountable. Instead, he saved his sharpest criticism for the United States and the special counsel investigation into the election interference, calling it a 'ridiculous' probe and a 'witch hunt' that has kept the two countries apart." ...

... Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday publicly sided with ... Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies, refusing to condemn the Kremlin for interference in the 2016 election and saying that 'I don't see any reason' to believe that Russia was behind the hacking of Democratic computer servers. Trump's remarkable statement, during a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, after holding a two-hour one-on-one meeting with Putin, came after special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russians on Friday over allegations of involvement in the state-ordered election-interference operation. Trump repeatedly attacked the FBI, praised Putin as a 'good competitor,' refused to say Russia was accountable for any aspects of fraying U.S.-Russia relations, and attacked Mueller's inquiry as 'a disaster for our country.'... Throughout the 45-minute news conference, Trump made his admiration of Putin clear.... The news conference left observers gobsmacked, as Trump ... refused to say a single negative word about Russia and used the international stage to praise the country's strongman leader and attack American institutions." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump cast doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying after his summit here Monday with ... Vladimir Putin that the autocrat gave him a 'very powerful' denial. After Putin said his government played no role in trying to sabotage the U.S. election, Trump offered no pushback and went on to condemn the Justice Department's investigation of Russian interference.... Trump also insisted that 'there was no collusion' between his campaign and Moscow.... Putin later confirmed that he did want Trump to win in 2016, 'because he talked about normalizing relations' between Russia and the United States. Yet he did not answer directly when pressed on whether the Russian government had compromising information on Trump or his family members, dismissing it by saying that 'it's hard to imagine greater nonsense.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "At a news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on foreign soil..., Donald Trump attacked fellow Americans -- Democrats, special counsel Robert Mueller and members of the news media -- for damaging U.S.-Russia relations by pursuing questions about Moscow's efforts to help him win the presidency in 2016.... The sustained bashing of American institutions and individuals was extraordinary for a U.S. president in any setting, much less here in the shadow of Moscow.... Asked about the indictment of Russian government hackers, Trump also advanced several conspiracy theories related to the election, including asking about the 33,000 Hillary Clinton emails he has long claimed are missing -- the very emails he publicly asked Russia to hack before what Mueller says was an 'after hours' Russian attack on accounts connected to Clinton's personal office. He threw in references to the whereabouts of a computer server at the Democratic National Committee and the activities of a former House Democratic staffer who some conspiracy theorists have alleged penetrated lawmakers' computers." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Ben Mathis-Lilly of Slate publishes the transcript of Trump's "astounding word salad of debunked conspiracy theories that concluded with an assertion that Putin's denial of responsibility for the attack was 'extremely strong and convincing.'" Also, Mathis-Lilly's explanation of Putin's "offer" to "help" the Mueller investigation is helpful (and wouldn't it have been great if Trump had understood it as well as Mathis-Lilly does?). (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump ... endorsed a bizarre proposal from Putin, in which Special Counsel Robert Mueller would work with Russian officials to investigate cybercrimes against American political organizations.... Russian law enforcement would agree to interrogate the 12 Russians that Mueller had indicted -- and allow members of his team to observe those interrogations -- in exchange for the United States agreeing to interrogate American intelligence officials whom the Kremlin has accused of committing crimes against Russia (with Russian law enforcement in the room).... Throughout his remarks Monday, Trump declined to criticize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, or ostensible new habit of launching botched assassination attempts with Soviet-era nerve agents on the streets of the United Kingdom, or anything else, at all." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Josh Marshall: "The President gave an interview to Sean Hannity.... [T]hough he didn't say it directly, the clear import of [Trump's] account is that a primary or perhaps the primary topic of their conversation was Robert Mueller's investigation. Trump repeated that President Putin confirmed that there was no collusion. More notably, he said that in their private conversation Putin repeatedly lamented that the Mueller probe had driven the two countries apart and prevented them from doing great things for the world." With video --safari

... ** Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's declaration that he saw no reason not to believe President Vladimir V. Putin when he said the Russians did not try to fix the 2016 election was extraordinary enough. But it was only one of several statements the likes of which no other president has uttered while on foreign soil. He condemned the Justice Department's investigation of his campaign's ties to Russia as a 'disaster for our county.' He suggested that the F.B.I. deliberately mishandled its investigation of Russia's hacking of the Democratic National Committee. And he labeled an F.B.I. agent who testified about that investigation before Congress as a 'disgrace to our country.' In the fiery, disruptive, rules-breaking arc of Mr. Trump's statecraft, his assertions during a news conference with Mr. Putin marked a new milestone, the foreign policy equivalent of Charlottesville.... Rather than defend the United States against those who would threaten it, he attacked his own citizens and institutions. Rather than challenge Mr. Putin, an adversary with a well-documented record of wrongdoing against the United States, he praised him without reservation." ...

... Michelle Goldberg: "Perhaps the most sinister part of the news conference was Trump's seeming openness to a deal in which F.B.I. investigators could question people in Russia in exchange for letting Russians question Putin critics in America. Putin referred specifically to associates of his arch-nemesis Bill Browder, a businessman (and British citizen) who has succeeded in getting seven countries, including the United States, to pass laws punishing Russian oligarchs suspected of corruption.... None of us yet know the exact contours of Trump's relationship with Russia, whether Putin is his handler, his co-conspirator or just his hero. But it's clear that Trump is willing to sell out American democracy for personal gain." ...

     ... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. BTW, this is from Michael Grynbaum's report, linked below. "John Roberts, [Fox "News"'] chief White House correspondent..., made reference to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, when he offered a different view of why the United States may not cooperate with Russia on any investigation of American election security: There are some people who might say it's because Mueller doesn't want to know the truth,' Mr. Roberts said." Mrs. McC: I never realized Roberts was such a tool. ...

... Anna Nemtsova & Christopher Dickey of the Daily Beast: "Suddenly the question of collusion between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was visible to all the world, and it was no longer a question.... Of the many Trump remarks that will live in infamy, this one will stand out: 'Dan Coats [the Trump appointed Director of National Intelligence] came to me and some others, they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be.' Suddenly, unmistakably, the humiliation of the United States government was obvious to everyone except, it seems, Trump himself.... The spectacle of an American president surrendering his country's prestige and standing, if not indeed some part of its sovereignty, had specific global as well as national implications." ...

     ... Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: DNI Dan "Coats shot back on Monday afternoon in a statement sent from DNI's official email service, stating unequivocally that Russia not only interfered in the election, but that its 'efforts to undermine our democracy' are ongoing: 'The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers. We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security.'" Mrs. McC: According to NBC News, Coats did not clear his statement with the White House. ...

... Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "A number of people who've discussed election meddling with Trump, including current senior administration officials, say his brain can't process that collusion and cyberattacks are two different things. Trump seems constitutionally incapable of taking anything Mueller finds seriously.... Ego prevents him acknowledging the possibility that any external action could have interfered with his glorious victory. The handful of White House staff we have privately communicated with since today's press conference are not proud of the man they work for. But he [??] doesn't expect any to resign." ...

     ... Eric Levitz: "The president isn't a traitor: He's just constitutionally incapable of processing simple information, or prioritizing the national interest above his own egoistic desires." ...

... Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "... on a global stage, Trump didn't just cower; he actively cemented an image of submissiveness to his Russian counterpart.... 'Trump looked incredibly weak up there. Putin looks like a champion,' [a senior Trump political appointee said]... 'I'd like to say I'm shocked, but this is the world in which we live now.'... Those who have worked for the president say they have come to expect these types of moments -- in large part because they are rooted in two of Trump's most prominent characteristics: insecurity and stubbornness." ...

...Conservative Rick Wilson in The Daily Beast: "Donald Trump sold out his country to Russia, then proudly affirmed it, live on camera. A former intelligence agency chief just asked me, 'If the Russians didn't write Trump's talking points, how could you tell?'... By the end of the press conference, even Putin looked slightly embarrassed. He wanted Trump to go down in the third round like a bought-off boxer, but Trump kept laying it on thicker and thicker, swooning over the Russian leader, making winky-googly eyes, and repeating the worst tropes of Russia's propaganda machine. Trump didn't just roll over. He rolled over, stuck out his tongue, and begged Vladimir Putin to slap on a choke collar and rub his belly." --safari...

... Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Ahead of the meeting, staffers provided Trump with some 100 pages of briefing materials aimed at laying out a tough posture toward Putin, but the president ignored most of it, according to one person familiar with the discussions.... Trump's remarks were 'very much counter to the plan,' the person said. 'Everyone around Trump' was urging him to take a firm stance with Putin, according to a second person familiar with the preparations. Before Monday's meeting, the second person said, advisers covered matters from Russia's annexation of Crimea to its interference in the U.S. elections, but Trump 'made a game-time decision' to handle the summit his way.... Signs that things might not go according to plan were evident during the two days Trump spent holed up at his luxury seaside golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. The U.S. president spent much of the weekend 'growling' ... over the Justice Department's indictment Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officials for interfering in the 2016 election. He fretted that the timing of the indictments was intended to injure him politically, [an] official said. But a senior White House official said Trump had been in favor of announcing the indictments before the trip so he could raise the issue privately with Putin." ...

... David Corn of Mother Jones: Trump's "historic Helsinki summit with Putin -- and particularly the unsettling joint press conference they held -- provided a clear indication that Trump is indeed guilty of one form of collusion: colluding with Putin to cover up Moscow's criminal assault on American democracy.... Here was Trump drawing an equivalence between his top intelligence advisers and Putin, the former KGB officer. It was a stunning moment.... The president of the nation, which, according to its own intelligence and law enforcement agencies, was attacked by Russia, was giving Putin's denial as much credence as Mueller's indictments and the findings of various spy agencies, as well as the Republican-led intelligence committees of the House and Senate (which each confirmed the intelligence community's assessment)." ...

** Tom Friedman: "From the beginning of his administration, President Trump has responded to every new bit of evidence from the C.I.A., F.B.I. and N.S.A. that Russia intervened in our last election on his behalf by either attacking Barack Obama or the Democrats for being too lax -- never President Vladimir Putin of Russia for his unprecedented cyberhit on our democratic process. Such behavior by an American president is so perverse, so contrary to American interests and values, that it leads to only one conclusion: Donald Trump is either an asset of Russian intelligence or really enjoys playing one on TV.... There is overwhelming evidence that our president, for the first time in our history, is deliberately or through gross negligence or because of his own twisted personality engaged in treasonous behavior -- behavior that violates his oath of office to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'" ...

... Max Boot of the Washington Post: "President Trump habitually calls the press 'the enemy of the people' -- a loathsome calumny, redolent of dictatorships, that he repeated on Sunday. In fact, by asking tough questions at Trump's joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, reporters once again showed that they are the sentinels of America democracy. If anyone is 'the enemy of the people,' it is Trump himself.... But after his appalling performance in Helsinki at what CNN's John King aptly called the 'surrender summit,' questions about Trump's loyalty to the American people will only intensify.... The Associated Press's Jonathan Lemire courageously asked [Putin] 'does the Russian government have any compromising material on President Trump or his family?'... The question ... is a legitimate one, and it will only grow in urgency after Putin deflected the question about whether he had kompromat on Trump.... U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3: 'Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.' Trump's own national security adviser said the Russian election attack constituted an 'act of war.' So what does that make his boss? Some -- including former CIA director John Brennan -- now dare call it treason. That conclusion was once unthinkable. No longer."

... ** Quinta Jurecic in the Atlantic: "The visual of Trump framed by American and Russian flags, standing alongside a smirking Putin and insisting that Russia had no involvement in his election, was a shocking one. It clarified and distilled into a single frame the president's appalling lack of care toward an assault on the democratic life of the American people and his inability to carry out the duties of his office. As with his comments after the violence in Charlottesville, Trump's obsequiousness toward Putin ripped away what remained of a very tattered fig leaf. Just as Charlottesville made it no longer quite so taboo to describe the president as sympathetic to white supremacy, perhaps Helsinki will allow mainstream commentators to more comfortably acknowledge the danger of the Trump presidency on the world stage.... It is hard, a year and a half into this presidency, to imagine that anyone in the administration or the Republican caucus would lift more than a finger to stop Donald Trump. But a failure to act now will be its own show of weakness." ...

... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic: "There are exactly two possible explanations for the shameful performance the world witnessed on Monday, from a serving American president. Either Donald Trump is flat-out an agent of Russian interests -- witting, unwitting, from fear of blackmail, in hope of future deals, out of manly respect for Vladimir Putin, out of gratitude for Russia's help during the election, out of pathetic inability to see beyond his 306 electoral votes -- whatever.... Or he is so profoundly ignorant, insecure, and narcissistic not to realize that, at every step, he was advancing the line that Putin hoped he would advance, and the line that the American intelligence, defense, and law-enforcement agencies most dreaded.... Trump's answers were indistinguishable from Putin's.... With every hour that elapses after this shocking performance in Helsinki, without Republicans doing anything, the more deeply stained they will be by this dark moment in American leadership." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), in a statement

Donald Trump's press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.' It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you??? -- Former CIA Director John Brennan, in a tweet ...

... Exactly what I was thinking, Mr. Brennan. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

... Sheryl Stolberg, et al., of the New York Times collect Republican "leaders"' responses to Trump's Helsinki performance. The headline is "Republicans Rebuke Trump...". Well, mostly pretty mild, indirect "rebukes." Here's Mitch McConnell (who, we recall, refused in 2016 to allow President Obama to put out a bipartisan condemnation of Russia's hacking operation): "'The Russians are not our friends. I've said that repeatedly, I say it again today. And I have complete confidence in our intelligence community and the findings that they have announced.' He refused to answer questions.” As for Little Senator Randy (R-Moscow), he's all confused: 'I think it's a good idea to have engagement, and I guess I don't quite understand all of the people who have gone completely deranged criticizing the president." ...

... Michael Scherer of the Washington Post finds some Republicans willing to offer more pointed criticisms: "Republican senators also were quick in their criticism of Trump's statements. 'Shameful,' tweeted Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.). 'Bizarre and flat-out wrong,' wrote Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) in reference to Trump's separate assertion that both countries were to blame for their deteriorating relationship. 'Missed opportunity,' said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who added that Trump's answer 'will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves.'... In a statement Monday, [Mitt] Romney, now running for a Senate seat in Utah, called Trump's words 'disgraceful and detrimental to our democratic principles' and said his behavior 'undermines our national integrity and impairs our global credibility.'" ...

... Alex Shephard of the New Republic: "The implication in [Trump's] narrative, of course, is that the Mueller probe is a national security threat, in that it imperils relations between the two countries and, in doing so, risks war. The reality, of course, is quite different. But Trump graciously refused to let reality into the press conference and instead gleefully embraced Putin's version of events, which just happened to, with a couple of minor exceptions, line up with his own.... This summit ... will undoubtedly make U.S. allies, particularly in Europe, even more distrustful of Trump than they already were. But it's obvious that Trump handed Putin a public relations victory, four days after the special counsel's office conclusively proved Russian meddling in the 2016 election." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "Trump made clear on Monday that his brutishness is a choice. Trump spent the past week explicitly exhibiting his dislike of NATO, the European Union, Angela Merkel, and Theresa May (the gender of the these last two probably not being a coincidence). After the Department of Justice indicted 12 Russians for their meddling in the 2016 election on Friday, Trump has been tweeting constantly about the 'witch hunt' and Barack Obama -- all the while praising the Russian president.... In ... place [of Trump's angry nationalism] are warm words about friendship and togetherness.... Trump has always been someone whose behavior and bearing were as disturbing as his policies, whose affect was as frightening as his words. Monday was no exception." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Now I'm wondering why Trump didn't push Queen Elizabeth down the steps instead of just refusing to help her. Maybe it's because he admires her. Like Trump's favorite dictators, Elizabeth has accumulated her wealth by waving daintily with one hand while picking the pockets of her helpless "subjects" with the other. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "'You have been watching,' said the disembodied voice of Anderson Cooper [of CNN], 'one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader that I've ever seen.' Perhaps Mr. Cooper had briefly forgotten the mores of his profession -- stolidity and a Cronkite-ian cool -- in the heat of a surreal live event: a public pas de deux on Monday between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... But Mr. Cooper's remark, though pointed, was not far removed from the nonplused reactions of his fellow network stars, who seemed to channel a level of genuine shock rare even in the chaotic Trump era.... Even the reliably pro-Trump Drudge Report issued a harsh verdict. 'Putin Dominates,' the site's lead all-caps headline read." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Fox News's Chris Wallace ... jousted ably with the Russian president -- despite the use of interpreters -- in an interview airing Monday night. He pressed Putin on the questions Trump has played off, including during Monday's news conference with Putin in Helsinki. The interview turned heated at points, with Wallace clearly frustrated by Putin's trademark filibustering and Putin clearly frustrated by a journalist actually challenging him. Perhaps the most notable exchange came toward the end, when Wallace probed Putin on why many of his critics wind up dead or near death.... Putin, rather remarkably, compared these alleged assassinations to the assassinations of Americans like President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. He blamed 'side effects' of his country's 'maturing' process. He even defended himself by saying his foes do 'not always' end up as casualties[.]... It was the grilling you'd expect Trump to have given. It was all the questions Russian journalists can't ask." ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "During a news conference in Helsinki after meeting with Trump, Putin did not explicitly deny that Russia has compromising information about Trump or his family. Instead, he offered a winding response about how little he knew of Trump's travels to Russia. Putin said that he 'did hear these rumors' about Russia collecting compromising material on Trump. But, he said, 'when President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn't even know that he was in Moscow.'... However, Russian government officials — including Putin's top spokesman -- knew Trump was in Moscow in November 2013 to host the Miss Universe pageant and were told about the real estate developer's eagerness to meet with Putin while he was there.... Russia is known to collect information on foreign government officials and business leaders through surveillance at hotels and other locations." ...

... Nidhi Prakash of BuzzFeed: "Sen. Jeff Merkley told BuzzFeed News Monday that he thinks Russia has compromising information on ... Donald Trump, specifically 'something like' the alleged 'pee tape' of Trump with prostitutes in Russia in 2013, as alleged in a dossier compiled by a former British intelligence official. Merkley, a Democrat who sits on the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, is considering running for president in 2020. He was speaking to BuzzFeed News Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith ... when he made the comments." ...

... Joshua Yaffa of the New Yorker: "That an American President would side with a Russian one over his own intelligence community is shocking — but, with Trump, not surprising. Putin must be flying back to Moscow content, not because he did anything so skillful or brilliant in Helsinki but because he was simply smart enough to sit back and pocket one good hand after another. 'Yes, I did,' Putin said, when asked if he wanted Trump to win. Smart bet." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "Though Trump has long expressed affection for authoritarian rulers, it' the degree to which Trump is eroding U.S. relationships with other countries around the world that is leading some to call for the resignation of his top officials and commanding the focus of spurned foreign leaders." ...

... Michelle Martin of Reuters: "Germany's foreign minister [Heiko Maas] said on Monday Europe could not rely on Donald Trump and needed to close ranks after the U.S. president called the European Union a 'foe' with regard to trade. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... David Morgan of CBS News: "On 'CBS This Morning' Monday, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group and a CBS News senior global affairs contributor, said that backstage at the NATO meeting there were elements that were even more eyebrow-raising than reports have suggested. 'One is that emergency session where they asked the Georgian and Ukrainian presidents to leave in the middle of their presentation. Apparently Trump said, 'OK, we're done with you now,'" Bremmer said. 'Trump was very frustrated; he wasn't getting commitments from other leaders to spend more.... Trump turns around to the Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, and says, "Except for Erdogan over here. He does things the right way," and then actually fist-bumps the Turkish president.' It was a startling gesture of support for the increasingly authoritarian Turkish leader, who recently won another term and is widely expected to continue consolidating his power.... While Mr. Trump has been lambasting U.S. allies, he has also been praising Russian President Putin, congratulating him for hosting the World Cup tournament." (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Marshall: "[Just after the Helsinki summit] the White House sent out a schedule for ... tomorrow with a 2 PM meeting at the White House with 'Members of Congress.' This is the first mention of such a meeting.... Huffpo's Jennifer Bendery reports on Twitter that she's spoken to the offices of Ryan, Pelosi, McConnell and Schumer and none of them know what it is about, who is invited or anything else. It's not clear to me whether they don't know what it is about or whether they literally haven’t been contacted about it by the White House at all. It seems like the latter.... [I]t seems clear that the White House is in serious damage control mode.... [T]here's also been real criticism from some of the President's ardent defenders." --safari...

Matt Apuzzo, et al., of the New York Times: "A Russian woman who tried to broker a secret meeting between Donald J. Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, during the 2016 presidential campaign was charged Monday and accused of working with Americans to carry out a secret Russian effort to influence American politics. At the behest of a senior Russian government official, the woman, Mariia Butina, made connections through the National Rifle Association, religious organizations and the National Prayer Breakfast to try to steer the Republican Party toward more pro-Russia policies, court records show. Privately comparing herself to a Soviet Cold War propagandist, she worked to infiltrate American organizations and establish 'back channel' lines of communication with American politicians.... The charges were filed under seal on Saturday.... Ms. Butina, 29, was arrested Sunday and appeared Monday in court. The records were unsealed hours after Mr. Trump stood beside Mr. Putin in Helsinki and said that he saw no reason the Russian leader would try to influence the presidential election." ...

... Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "On Monday, the DOJ arrested and charged a Russian national [Maria Butina] who courted the NRA and the Republican Party with secretly working as a foreign agent.... And its implications for domestic politics also could be tectonic: The case is as close as it gets to collusion. According to the Justice Department, at least one American helped her with her influence operation.... Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said Butina's legal problems should come as a sobering moment for the NRA.... U.S. Person 1 appears to be Paul Erickson, a longtime Republican insider who claimed to advise the Trump transition team. Erickson sherpaed Butina through conservative circles, connecting her with operatives and advising her on outreach, as The Daily Beast has reported.... After reading the affidavit, Mariotti ... said, 'It appears to be evidence that an American was working with a Russian to help establish illicit communications in the U.S.' 'This strikes me like it would fit a definition of what collusion is,' he added." --safari ...

... Useful Idiots. Josh Marshall: "It turns out [the] gun rights front group [of Russian foreign agent Maria Butina], Right to Bear Arms, paid for Sheriff David Clarke's trip to Moscow. --safari ...

... Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "The judge overseeing Paul Manafort's federal court case on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in Virginia delayed proceedings in a surprise move on Monday afternoon. According to legal experts familiar with the federal court system, this could be an indication that Manafort is about to cut a plea deal." Mrs. McC: I'm not getting my hopes up that Manfort will rat out Trump, but it could be that Manafort's transfer to the Arlington, Va., prison -- which is no Club Fed -- has convinced him that spending the rest of his life in a federal pen is not that appealing a prospect. ...

... Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Two leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus want the Justice Department's internal watchdog to investigate whether Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein threatened congressional aides in a January meeting. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the group's chairman, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a co-founder and influential conservative leader, made the request of Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz on Monday, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.... Rosenstein's alleged threats in [a] January meeting, delivered to Republican staff members for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, were first reported by Fox News last month and quickly gained traction in conservative circles.... During a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Jordan questioned Rosenstein about the episode, citing 'media reports' that indicated he had threatened Intelligence Committee staffers: 'Did you threaten to subpoena their calls and emails?' he asked. Rosenstein flatly denied making any threats...: 'No, sir, and there's no way to subpoena phone calls,' he said, adding, 'I would suggest that you not rely on what the press says, sir.' The letter delivered Monday appears to have delayed any impeachment effort for the time being, according to a Republican familiar with the conservatives' plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly."

Ted Hesson of Politico: "A federal judge on Monday said he will issue a temporary halt to deportations of migrant parents who are reunited with their children. U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw said during court proceedings in San Diego that he will stay deportations pending resolution of the issue. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion earlier in the day that called for reunited migrant parents to be protected from deportation for seven days after being reconnected with their children. The ACLU ... said the pause was needed to ensure that parents slated for removal can make informed decisions about whether to leave their children behind in the United States. The 'persistent and increasing rumors' that parents will be deported immediately after reunification necessitates the moratorium, the ACLU argued in the filing."

This Is a Surprise. Margaret McGill of Politico: "FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced Monday he has 'serious concerns' about Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of Tribune Media, saying he would send the transaction through a lengthy administrative process often viewed as a deal-killer. As originally proposed in May 2017, the $3.9 billion deal would see conservative-leaning Sinclair, already the largest U.S. TV station owner, gobble up 42 Tribune stations in key markets like New York and Chicago, adding to its existing footprint of more than 170 stations and giving the company access to nearly three-quarters of U.S. households." (Also linked yesterday.)

E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "Capitol Hill Democrats are working to ensure that former ...EPA head Scott Pruitt's scandals never repeat themselves.... The EPA OIG has previously expressed that a lack of funding is preventing the watchdog from investigating Pruitt's scandals. An amendment proposed by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) would reduce the Department of Interior's Office of the Secretary by $1 million and increase the EPA OIG budget by the same amount.... Democrats have also indicated they will try to force a vote on an amendment pushing for all new EPA rules initiated by Pruitt to go unfunded until the investigations conclude." --safari

"The GOP's War on the Poor." Paul Krugman: "Four years ago..., House Republicans led by Paul Ryan issued a report declaring that war a failure. Poverty, they asserted, hadn't fallen. Therefore, they concluded, we must slash spending on the poor. Last week, Donald Trump's Council of Economic Advisers issued a new report on poverty, recognizing what most experts in the field have said: The standard poverty measure is badly flawed, and a better measure shows substantial progress. In fact, these advisers went so far as to assert that poverty is no longer a problem.... Anyway, the war on poverty, said the report, 'is largely over and a success.' And our response, says the Trump administration, should be to ... slash spending on the poor.... So whatever the evidence, Republicans always reach the same policy conclusion.... Let's stop helping the poor."

"Justice is b̶l̶i̶n̶d Republican"...Jordan Cairney of The Hill: "Senate Republicans are poised to break a record as soon as this week on the number of appeals court judges confirmed during a president's first two years. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has teed up two circuit court nominations ... for Senate votes. Confirming either would give President Trump his 23rd appeals court judge -- a record for the number of circuit nominees confirmed during a president's first two years in office.... Republicans have homed in on circuit judge nominations because that court has the final word on a large swatch of cases that never make it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court gets roughly 7,000 requests per year, while circuit courts get nearly 59,000 case requests." --safari

2018 Elections. Philip Marcelo & Jeff Karoub of the AP: "From Congress to state legislatures and school boards, Muslim Americans spurred to action by the anti-Muslim policies and rhetoric of President Donald Trump and his supporters are running for elected offices in numbers not seen since before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, say Muslim groups and political observers.... There were as many as 90 Muslim-Americans running for national or statewide offices this election cycle, a number that Muslim groups say was unprecedented, at least in the post-9/11 era. But recent primaries have whittled the field down to around 50." --safari

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: In a 6-5 vote last night, Charlotte, North Carolina's city county agreed to invite the GOP to hold its 2020 convention in the city. "The reluctance ... was mostly about whether a Democratic-leaning city with a carefully cultivated reputation wanted to associate itself with what Mr. Trump and many in his party now stand for.... The mayor and other city leaders have been jockeying for months to win the convention.... The Republican Party has not yet voted to award the 2020 convention to Charlotte, but it may do so this week during a meeting in Austin, Tex. The only other contender appears to be Las Vegas, whose bid was put forward without the support of the local government."

Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "Chief Justice John Roberts has a plan to neuter the Voting Rights Act. All of it. He's held onto this plan for nearly forty years, waiting for the day when he could deploy it. That day is nearly upon us. If the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Roberts will almost certainly have the votes he needs to gut America's voting rights law. It's not hard to guess what will happen next." --safari

Jake Bullinger of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has called big-game trophy hunting a 'horror show'...and in 2017 he formed an advisory board to steer US policy on the issue. But rather than conservation scientists and wildlife advocates, it is composed of advocates for [hunting]. And observers say that since Trump took office, court rulings and administrative decisions have in fact made it easier for hunters to import the body parts of lions, elephants and other animals killed in Africa.... Only two of the council's 16 members are not active advocates for trophy hunting -- the rest belong to groups such as Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association. Instead of discussing whether the sport should be limited, the group is focusing on how to broaden its reach.... And the hunting advisory council operates under the auspices of the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, who received $10,000 from the Safari Club during his 2016 congressional campaign." --safari

Adam Vaughan of the Guardian: "The world's energy watchdog has sounded the alarm over a 'worrying' pause in the shift to clean energy after global investment in renewables fell 7% to $318bn (£240bn) last year. The International Energy Agency said the decline is set to continue into 2018, threatening energy security, climate change and air pollution goals.... Fossil fuels' share of energy investment needs to drop to 40% by 2030 to meet climate targets but instead rose fractionally to 59% in 2017." --safari

Laurie Goodstein & Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, was "one of the most recognized American cardinals on the global stage, a Washington power broker who participated in funeral masses for political luminaries like Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime Massachusetts senator, and Beau Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Suddenly, last month, Cardinal McCarrick was removed from ministry, after the Archdiocese of New York deemed credible an accusation that he had molested a 16-year-old altar boy nearly 50 years ago.... But ... some church officials knew for decades that the cardinal had been accused of sexually harassing and inappropriately touching adults, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Real Scandale du Jour. Harriet Sherwood of the Guardian: "Christian women who have pledged lifelong virginity as 'brides of Christ' have expressed shock at a Vatican document that suggests literal virginity is not a prerequisite for their consecration." --safari

Way Beyond the Beltway

Dan Sabbagh, et al., of the Guardian: "Theresa May has narrowly seen off a Commons rebellion from Conservative remainers unhappy that she had caved in to hardline Brexiters by accepting their amendments to the customs bill. The government majority was reduced to just three votes on the two most controversial amendments after leading Tory remainer Anna Soubry complained that the prime minister had lost control of events by making concessions to the rightwing European Research Group of MPs."

Yuri Kageyama of the AP: "The European Union and Japan are signing a widespread trade deal Tuesday that will eliminate nearly all tariffs, seemingly defying the worries about trade tensions set off by President Donald Trump's policies. The signing in Tokyo for the deal, largely reached late last year, is ceremonial.... The major step toward liberalizing trade was discussed in talks since 2013 but is striking in the timing of the signing, as China and the U.S. are embroiled in trade conflicts." --safari

Despicable. Angela Giuffrida of the Guardian: "Italy's top court has ordered the retrial of two men who raped a young woman after ruling that the victim had voluntarily got drunk before the attack and so an earlier penalty against the men could not be increased.... Italian courts have made similar decisions in the past regarding rape cases. In February last year a man was acquitted by a Turin court of raping a woman on a hospital bed after the judge ruled that the woman did not scream loud enough or push the man away." --safari

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

We now know with absolute certainty who foisted the Pretender on us.

Three main people. Putin, and McConnell (who insisted that knowledge of Russian election interference be kept under wraps), with a little help at a critical juncture from the too-rightoust Comey, who apparently rushed to get ahead of leaks from the Pretender’s NY FBI field office by announcing another round of investigations of the HRC emails discovered on Weiner’s computer.

Plus a bevy of bit players and, oh yeah, Akhilleus, mundus vult decepi (which I just came across in a old James Blish sf novel).

And since the Pretender stumbled into office, if we read pronouncements about "national security" as "Pretender security," most brows wrinkled by such remarks will smooth right out.

[Not that Pat]

Mike Luckovich today

https://www.ajc.com/rf/image_lowres/Pub/p9/AJC/2018/07/16/Images/mike0717.jpg

Pat

[Gloria]

The pic at the top of Goldberg's column contrasts so viscerally with a similar pic of trump and Merkel. The old game show host reaches over begging the murderous KGB agent to shake hands, whilst the European leader proffers her hand and he arrogantly ignores her.

[PD Pepe]

THE TRUMP CARD:

Putin cleared the table, took all the chips, licked his lips and left the president* of the U.S. standing alone, broke, snookered, but who still continued giving aid and comfort to this enemy of our country.

Was it nothing less than treasonous? Explanations run rampant for this debacle––-liked what Fallows had to say:

" Either Donald Trump is flat-out an agent of Russian interests — witting, unwitting, from fear of blackmail, in hope of future deals, out of manly respect for Vladimir Putin, out of gratitude for Russia's help during the election, out of pathetic inability to see beyond his 306 electoral votes — whatever.... Or he is so profoundly ignorant, insecure, and narcissistic not to realize that, at every step, he was advancing the line that Putin hoped he would advance..."

How about leaving the "or" out and let's go with both.

By the way, when Putin said he didn't even know that Trump was in Moscow (during the Miss Universe pageant) he was lying says David Corn who tells us that Putin sent some kind of antique box with a note enclosed to Trump at his hotel but we have no information on the contents.

What's next? Red flags flying says Dan Coates...

[safari]

Josh Marshall assumes the 2 pm meeting with Congressional leaders today is to provide messaging orders to soothe out the outrage of Trump capitulation to Putin.

When I first saw the news I must admit I interpreted it more as Trump gathering around his foot soldiers to inform them about what goodies had been awarded, and to put the plans in motion straightaway.

We shall see...

[PD Pepe]

Need some comic relief by now? Watch Seth Myers and have a good chuckle:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/seth-meyers-donald-trump-helsinki-summit_us_5b4d7f51e4b0de86f485e945