;)
Thursday
Jul262018
The Commentariat -- July 27, 2018
Late Morning Update:
Heather Long of the Washington Post: President "Trump cheered the [second-quarter economic] numbers Friday, holding an impromptu press conference outside the White House touting the 'amazing' growth from his tax and trade policies.... But economists cautioned the higher growth is likely a blip." See also NYT story in today's Ledes.
Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Friday issued a fresh rebuttal against his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, maintaining that he did not know in advance about a June 2016 meeting in which Russians had promised to provide dirt on Hillary Clinton.... Cohen's credibility was immediately challenged Thursday evening by the president's current lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.... When asked if Trump would be willing to talk about the Russian meeting with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Giuliani said, 'I still have my doubts about the people around Mueller' and said the president's team remained undecided about whether to agree to a sit-down conversation with federal investigators about that topic and others. 'The president is willing to talk about anything, but it'd be wrong to subject him to that,' Giuliani said, adding that the Russian meeting 'hasn't come up in our conversations' with Mueller and his team." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Cohen's apparent testimony merely fleshes the skeleton of a story we already knew. Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg has said, in an interview with Jake Tapper, that Trump knew about the meeting[.]... Steve Bannon has said the same thing. ('The chance that Don. Jr did not walk these Jumos up to his father's office on the 26th floor is zero.')... The night the meeting was set up (but before it took place), Trump excitedly told a crowd, 'I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons. I think you're going to find it very informative and very, very interesting.' After the meeting failed to produce the hoped-for dirt, the promised speech did not take place.... Trump, who has lied about his dealings with Russia so many times that his word has grown completely worthless, has to resort to the defense of pulling down the value of hostile witnesses to his own level.... The effort to impugn Cohen's credibility naturally impeaches Trump's own credibility." Chait just can't figure out why -- if Trump did nothing wrong -- he keeps lying about this stuff.
*****
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. -- Just. Blew. Up.
Arrived back in Washington last night from a very emotional reopening of a major U.S. Steel plant in Granite City, Illinois, only to be greeted with the ridiculous news that the highly conflicted Robert Mueller and his gang of 13 Angry Democrats obviously cannot find Collusion... ....,the only Collusion with Russia was with the Democrats, so now they are looking at my Tweets (along with 53 million other people) - the rigged Witch Hunt continues! How stupid and unfair to our Country....And so the Fake News doesn't waste my time with dumb questions, NO,.... .....I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary's lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice! -- Donald Trump, in a series of tweets this morning ...
... ** Jim Sciutto, et al., of CNN: "Michael Cohen..., Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said. Cohen's clai would contradict repeated denials by Trump, Donald Trump Jr., their lawyers and other administration officials who have said that the President knew nothing about the Trump Tower meeting until he was approached about it by The New York Times in July 2017. Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians' offer by Trump Jr. By Cohen's account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, according to sources.... These sources said Cohen does not have evidence, such as audio recordings, to corroborate his claim, but he is willing to attest to his account. Cohen privately testified last year to two Congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. A source familiar with Cohen's House testimony said he did not testify that Trump had advance knowledge. Cohen's claims weren't mentioned in separate reports issued by Republicans and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee." ...
... Hallie Jackson, et al., of NBC News: A "source told NBC News that Cohen is willing to inform Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign,about his version of the timeline surrounding the meeting. Cohen's assertion was first reported by CNN. Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, said he had no comment. But Trump's attorney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, pushed back against that and dismissed the report, saying that Cohen was 'not credible.'" ...
... Jeet Heer: Rudy Giuliani said of Cohen on CNN last night, "He has lied all his life...; a person who is found to be an incredible liar, he's got a tremendous motive to lie now&... I don't think anyone believes that." "As Talking Points Memo publisher Josh Marshall notes [in a tweet], Giuliani is making the paradoxical argument that he has witnesses who will deny a meeting that he claims never took place.... Further..., earlier this year Sam Nunberg, also a close confidant of Trump, made the same claim in March of 2018: 'You know he knew about it. He was talking about it a week before...I don't know why he went around trying to hide it.' [tweet from Natasha Bertrand]... Between Cohen and Nunberg, there might be enough testimony to cause Donald Trump some serious heartaches." ...
... Elie Mystal of Above the Law: "Who do you think leaked this alleged Cohen testimony? Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis has already said 'it wasn't us.' Davis has credibility if for no other reason than he likes to 'take responsibility' and go on television when he violates the norms of criminal procedure. There's also the fact that leaking this information doesn't help Cohen. Remember, Cohen is trying to use this testimony to bargain for a better deal. He wants S.D.N.Y. to care that he might have information that relates to the Mueller probe.... If what Cohen says is true, only Don Jr. has been caught, under oath, in perjury. A prosecutor would want to keep this information close until President Trump was under oath. Conversely, it potentially makes a lot of sense for Trump's team to leak this out. And we know Giuliani likes to play this kind of a game. It gives Trump the jump on slamming Cohen's credibility.... This is a soft way for Trump to start walking back his numerous, public lies about it, before a potential on-the-record deposition by the Mueller team. It still kind of screws over Don Jr., but if Don Jr. thinks he's the favorite child he's been living a lie his whole life. I think team Trump leaked it. And I think they're preparing to go to full war on Michel Cohen." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Mystal makes sense. Team Trump knows Mueller already has Nunberg's testimony. The Trumpies may know of testimony or potential testimony from others who would back up Cohen's & Nunberg's claims. If Trump was telling Nunberg about Russians getting the goods on Hillary, he certainly was boasting to others about it. ...
... Raphael Satter of the AP: "The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump's presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Scores of emails, transcripts and legal documents paint a portrait of Natalia Veselnitskaya as a well-connected attorney who served as a ghostwriter for top Russian government lawyers and received assistance from senior Interior Ministry personnel in a case involving a key client."
Ha! Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter. Several of the remarks came as Mr. Trump was also privately pressuring the men -- both key witnesses in the inquiry -- about the investigation, and Mr. Mueller is examining whether the actions add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.... The special counsel's investigators have told Mr. Trump's lawyers they are examining the tweets under a wide-ranging obstruction-of-justice law.... Mr. Trump's lead lawyer in the case, Rudolph W. Giuliani, dismissed Mr. Mueller's interest in the tweets as part of a desperate quest to sink the president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
If you're going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public. -- Rudy Giuliani, responding to the report of Mueller's focus on Trump's public writings & statements ...
... Steve Benen: "In most situations, we wouldn't expect to see someone obstruct justice in plain view. But ... we are, after all, talking about a president with no real impulse control, and no real appreciation for the consequences of his actions. Clever individuals wouldn't turn to Twitter to obstruct justice, but it's quite easy to imagine Trump seeing something on television, getting all worked up, and publishing incriminating tweets without a whole lot of thought. In other words, no one should be too quick to dismiss the legal significance of Trump's Twitter account, which may very well pose a risk to the future of his presidency." ...
... Trump Already Confessed. Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "Trump has admitted that he would not have nominated Jeff Sessions as attorney general if he had known that Sessions would recuse himself. His fury toward Sessions was entirely related to his belief that Sessions could have and would have obstructed the investigation for him. All the tweets and threats, the rescinded order to fire Sessions, the attacks on his deputy Rod Rosenstein, the firing of James Comey and the demonization of Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, etc., have been efforts to gain control of an investigation in order to thwart it.... If the Sessions evidence is not enough for you, then what he said to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and [Ambassador Sergey] Kislyak in the Oval Office should close the deal ... on May 10, 2017, the day after he fired James Comey as FBI director. 'I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off. I'm not under investigation.' That is a confession.... He told the Russian foreign minister and ambassador that he thought he had succeeded in obstructing justice."
Uh-Oh. Emily Birnbaum of the Hill: Allen Weissenberg, "the longtime financial chief of the Trump Organization, is being subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in the criminal investigation ... Michael Cohen, according to The Wall Street Journal. Cohen mentioned Allen Weisselberg in the widely circulated tapes released on Tuesday night, the Journal noted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Weisselberg has worked at the Trump Organization since the 1970s, working his way up to become executive vice president and chief financial officer. He currently runs the business with Trump's two adult sons. Weisselberg also served as the treasurer for the troubled Donald J. Trump Foundation, which was sued by the New York Attorney General for engaging in 'repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump's personal and business interests.'" Mrs. McC: IOW, Weisselberg doesn't just know where the bodies are buried; he's the guy who brought the shovel.
Betsy Woodruff & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Two sources who have spoken to Trump about Cohen this week said the president was furious -- hurling 'expletives,' per one confidant -- after CNN revealed Cohen had covertly recorded at least one of their conversations. On Tuesday, the cable network published audio, provided to it by Cohen’s attorney, of Trump and his former fixer discussing purchasing the rights to former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's story alleging she had an affair with Trump.... He was particularly irate at being clandestinely recorded and that audio had found its way to, of all places, CNN, a frequent target of Trump's tweets." ...
... The Evidence on the Tape. Miriam Rocah & Elie Honig of the Daily Beast: "Taken as a whole, the recording shows that Trump -- despite his prior statements to the contrary -- was part of an ongoing scheme to pay AMI to silence McDougal in the weeks before the election. Trump can't deny it now: He knew about and endorsed the scheme, according to the tape. The tape also reveals that the true purpose behind the proposed McDougal payment was to ensure her silence in the weeks leading up to the election.... every nuance of this tape and countless other pieces of evidence. After working for Trump for over a decade, Cohen could be the prosecutor's dream cooperator: one who had special insider access to the leader of a powerful, closed, corrupt organization." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Watching the Trump Show, New York Edition, makea me feel as if I've seen it all before in a "Law & Order" episode where Jack McCoy goes after a couple of hitmen called Books & Biscuits (Libretti & Biscotti). The teevee show (plot here), as so often is the case, was more compelling than the reality. But, yeah, Donaldo Trumpomassi could pass for the show's fictional capo Franco Tortomassi. The "Law & Order" episode ends with a cameo by real NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who holds a press conference announcing the convictions of the "dangerous criminals." Get ready for your close-up, Bill de Blasio. ...
... Michael Daly of the Daily Beast provides a little background on Cohen's "associates" which helps explain why I think I'm watching a teevee re-run. I think Daly is wrong in several particulars, including his assertion that "nobody save Michael Cohen was so visionary as to become one before there was any immediate cause to do so." I suspect a lot of people, most not associated with mob outfits, occasionally make tapes for "insurance." I haven't done it myself, partly because I'm not that handy with recording devices, but I've heard conversations I wished I had on tape -- for possible future use.
... Veronica Miracle of ABC 7 Los Angeles: "Michael Avenatti, the attorney who represents porn star Stormy Daniels, said Thursday that he is representing three other women who claim they were paid by Donald Trump, AMI and Michael Cohen to keep quiet.... He added that one of the women claimed to be pregnant at the time, and that he is in the process of getting clearance from his clients to release more details related to the payments." Mrs. McC: How tawdry would it be if Melanie decided to sue for divorce while Trump was still in office?
Andrew Desiderio & Kevin Poulsen of the Daily Beast: "The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals. That makes the Missouri Democrat the first identified target of the Kremlin's 2018 election interference.... The attempt against McCaskill's office was a variant of the password-stealing technique used by Russia's so-called 'Fancy Bear' hackers against Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, in 2016.... There's no evidence to suggest that this particular attack was successful.... In August 2017, around the time of the hack attempt, Trump traveled to Missouri and chided McCaskill, telling the crowd to 'vote her out of office.'"
Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed News: "Tad Devine, a political operative who served at the highest levels of the Bernie Sanders campaign, will assist in the special counsel office&'s prosecution of Paul Manafort..., according to a statement released on Thursday.... Devine's role in the investigation -- first indicated last week by a court filing that included documents from Devine -- nevertheless entangles the Sanders orbit in an expansive government inquiry.... Manafort and his former associate Rick Gates, who also served as Trump's deputy campaign chair, worked on behalf of Viktor Yanukovych, the former pro-Russia president of Ukraine beginning in the mid-2000s until the mid-2010s, after Yanukovych left office.... Devine also worked in Ukraine with Manafort on Yanukovych's behalf...."
Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "Maria Butina, the alleged Russian spy, offered to cooperate in a fraud investigation being mounted by federal prosecutors in South Dakota that appears to target Paul Erickson, the conservative activist with whom she was romantically linked, according to a letter released by her lawyer and court testimony in her case. ...
... The Rockefeller Connection. Polly Mosendz, et al., of Bloomberg: "A scion of the Rockefeller clan, George D. O’Neill Jr., was one of the U.S. conservatives who allegedly helped Mariia Butina's efforts to build a secret line of communication back to the Kremlin, judging by details in recent U.S. filings. O'Neill, a 68-year-old sculptor and a rainmaker for conservatives since Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential run, hosted a private dinner in Washington, D.C., for a delegation of Russian dignitaries in town for a National Prayer Breakfast in early February 2017, he has said publicly and to Bloomberg last year. There, just days after ... Donald Trump's inauguration, the Russians met two Republican lawmakers and other conservative luminaries, he has said.... The timing and details of that early 2017 gathering matches one of several dinners that U.S. prosecutors refer to in charges they recently unveiled against Butina, accusing her of failing to declare her efforts to advance Russia's interests in the U.S." Mrs. McC: Wow! It turns out Trump does have connections among the elite families of New York. George sounds like a lovely guy.
From the Unthinkable to the Possible. Mike DeBonis & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Thursday that he supports an effort by conservative lawmakers to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, calling it 'leverage' to get the Justice Department to provide Congress with more documents related to the Russia probe. Scalise (R-La.), who is the third-ranking Republican in the House and is eyeing a bid to become speaker, said during an interview with Fox News that he would vote for the resolution if it reaches the floor.... Scalise said he is 'very disappointed' in the Justice Department. 'They need to be transparent to the American people,' he said." Mrs. McC: Actually, no. Criminal investigations in the U.S. have never been "transparent," especially to Friends of the Criminal. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Daphne Psaledakis & Nate Raymond of Reuters: "... Rosenstein's boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, expressed confidence in the career civil servant and took a swipe at the lawmakers pushing for his ouster. 'My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable. I have the highest confidence in him,' Sessions said during an appearance in Boston. 'What I would like Congress to do is to focus on some of the legal challenges that are out there,' including illegal immigration, the attorney general added." Mrs. McC: Tweet about that, Donald. Bob Mueller is taking notes. ...
... Update. Back to the Unpossible. Kyle Cheney & Rachel Bade of Politico: "Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday firmly rejected an effort by House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, putting him at odds with hard-liners in his party and even some in his own leadership team. The Wisconsin Republican told reporters the Department of Justice was largely complying with a GOP demand for documents surrounding the FBI's Russia investigation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Steve M.: Republicans "sell themselves to more than one niche market simultaneously, and each one believes it's voting for the real GOP. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, who are spearheading the Rosenstein impeachment drive, are telling the ultras in the GOP voter base that they'll crush the Deep State, while Paul Ryan positions himself as the voice of reason, the adult in the room meant to reassure wavering right-centrists, especially in swing districts where the GOP is endangered. Ryan is also there to persuade the mainstream media that Republicans run a nice, respectable party whose members deserve to dominate Sunday talk shows, and who surely will someday muster the courage to make that awful Donald Trump behave like a gentleman. (It's very easy to persuade the MSM of this.)" ...
... Update 2. Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) says he is tabling his efforts to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after having several meetings with Republican leadership, stating that he would instead pursue contempt if the Justice Department (DOJ) does not turn over documents Congress is seeking. While the impeachment option remains on the table, Meadows told reporters Tuesday he now hopes it will be a contempt process rather than impeachment." Mrs. McC: The House Republican caucus is as disorganized as the White House & as a impetuous & irresponsible as the President*. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Jack Goldsmith of Lawfare: "The July 25 resolution by 11 House Republicans introducing articles of impeachment against deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein is not a serious legal document. It is filled with embarrassing factual errors. Most notably, the fifth article charges Rosenstein with responsibility for the Justice Department's supposed obfuscation of the Steele dossier's origins as opposition research on behalf of the DNC and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign: 'Under Mr. Rosenstein's supervision,Christopher Steele's political opposition research was neither vetted before it was used in October 2016 nor fully revealed to the FISC.'... Rosenstein became deputy attorney general in April 2017, long after the Steele dossier was used in the Carter Page FISA application. He was not, and could not have been, responsible for the alleged obfuscation -- an allegation that the recent release of the Carter Page application revealed is baseless." And so forth. "The articles of impeachment are a shameful, cynical attack on the rule of law. They are all the worse since they come in the context of our government's trying to figure out the undoubted efforts by the Russians to manipulate our democracy in 2016." Mrs. McC: Goldsmith, a former top lawyer in the Bush II DOJ, is a conservative law professor. ...
... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "President Trump's ... most ardent defenders in Congress are such a bunch of extremist buffoons that they make even the Republicans who impeached Clinton over an extramarital affair look smart and reasonable.... With this group of nincompoops behind him, Trump is worse than alone." Waldman runs down their articles of impeachment. "As inane as Articles I through IV are, I can't quite get past Article V. When they were drafting this, didn't anyone pipe up and say, 'Um, wait a second fellas, wasn't that FISA warrant for Page approved while Obama was still president?' Apparently not. And this is hardly the first time the president's defenders in the House have said, 'Oh boy, we've really got Mueller now!'... Maybe it isn't a coincidence that some of the biggest clowns in Washington are the ones most eager to stick up for him." ...
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "The articles [of impeachment against Rosenstein] are largely a pastiche of misdirection and question-begging, but they represent an escalation of the ongoing tug-of-war between the Justice Department and the GOP-led House, which dates back to the Obama administration, when Eric Holder became the first attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress. The filing is also a classic stunt by the House Freedom Caucus, which has developed a pattern of pushing splashy-but-doomed measures in the late summer, generally against the will of party leadership. What's new is that now the White House is tacitly encouraging the caucus.... The fight over documents is properly seen as a proxy fight in the war over Mueller's investigation.... If the House Freedom Caucus fails to get rid of Rosenstein but succeeds in normalizing the use of impeachment as a political weapon, their effort to help the president could end up imperiling him instead." ...
... Julia Manchester of the Hill: "House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said in an interview that aired on Thursday that the redacted portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application the FBI used to get a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page during the 2016 election is just as bad as what has already been released to the public.... Justice Department officials later on Wednesday said Nunes still had not reviewed the mostly unredacted application, but that about 30 lawmakers from the House and Senate have viewed the classified documents." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "After Helsinki, the momentum against Mueller has come to a screeching halt. The party's turn is most visible in the stillborn efforts of House radicals to impeach Rosenstein. Impeachment was never going to be a viable tool for Republicans to remove Rosenstein or shut down the Mueller probe.... The point, instead, was to pressure Rosenstein and Mueller to comply with Nunes's attempts to get inside their investigation, and to give Trump cover to fire one or both men. Instead, the introduction of the impeachment resolution is showing that anti-Mueller fervor is receding.... The [Helsinki] summit reveals the degree to which Trump stands almost completely alone in his Russophilia, save for the company of Dana Rohrabacher and perhaps Rand Paul. Republicans in Congress might be okay with some light collusion to help swing an election their way. More than a few of them probably get queasy at the prospect of an actual Russian puppet in the Oval Office. Trump's supine performance with Putin was so overtly suspicious it seems to have strained his party's appetite to protect him from investigation." ...
... Alayna Treene & Haley Britzky of Axios: "Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founder of the House Freedom Caucus, has just sent a letter to his colleagues announcing that he is officially running to replace Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House, Axios has confirmed." Mrs. McC: It might be okay if Jordan were minority leader; it would give the country a good chance to see how really horrible the GOP is. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... digby: "Apparently, being accused of enabling sexual abuse of college athletes is no impediment to GOP leadership. But then, look at the president ... the entire GOP is led by sexual abusers." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: If you've ever had the displeasure of watching a Congressional hearing in which Jordan participated, you might have wondered if he owns a suit-coat, a House dress-code requirement for everyone except Jordan apparently. ...
... It turns out, as the photo on the right attests, he does own at least one jacket. Looks as if the salesman told him it was an umbrella.
** Adam Taylor & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The U.S. military has taken possession of remains that North Korea says belong to Americans who died in the Korean War, the White House said. The approximately 55 remains were turned over by Pyongyang following an agreement reached by President Trump and Kim Jong Un when they met in Singapore. They will be taken to Hawaii for identification. It is the first repatriation of remains from the North since 2007. About 7,000 Americans are still listed as missing from the war. This story will be updated."
Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Thursday used a taxpayer-funded trip to Illinois to openly advocate for electing Republicans to Congress -- blurring the line between official and political events in the heat of the midterm campaign season. 'You've got to vote Republican, folks, you've got to vote Republican,' Trump said during the speech at a steel plant in Granite City, Ill., that had recently reopened. 'Vote for these two congressmen; they know what we're doing. They know what they're doing. They're tough, and they're smart.' Trump didn't name the lawmakers, but three Illinois Republicans accompanied him during his tour of the plant, according to the White House: Reps. Mike Bost, Rodney Davis and John Shimkus. Bost represents the district Trump traveled to on Thursday and has been one of the most fervent Republican supporters of the president's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports."
Reuters via the Guardian: "Donald Trump has threatened to slap 'large sanctions' on Turkey unless Ankara frees an American pastor whose detention has further strained relations between the Nato allies.... The Trump administration escalated its pressure campaign the day after a Turkish court allowed Andrew Brunson to be transferred to house arrest after 21 months in detention. He is on trial on terrorism charges." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Another Trump "Deal" Ends in Disaster. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump thought he had a deal. His NATO meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month had ended with a smile, a fist-bump and what Trump thought was an agreement to free Andrew Brunson, the American pastor imprisoned in Turkey for the last two years on what the administration considered bogus terrorism charges. The deal was ... personally sealed by Trump, to trade a Turkish citizen imprisoned on terrorism charges in Israel for Brunson's release." Netanyahu, at Trump's request, deported its Turkish prisoner to Turkey. "But [the deal] apparently fell apart on Wednesday, when a Turkish court, rather than sending the pastor home, ordered that he be transferred to house arrest while his trial continues.... The Turks, according to a Trump adviser, had cheated by 'upping the ante' for Brunson.... 'Pence and Trump have left [Erdogan] no graceful exit,' said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkish American political scientist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who said the feud amounted to the worst political crisis between Ankara and Washington in at least four decades."
Ana Swanson & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "When President Trump called a truce with the European Union over trade, the general outlines of his plan ... echoed of earlier negotiations -- the ones started under President Barack Obama and shelved by Mr. Trump last year. Mr. Trump, in many ways, is taking credit for solving a crisis of his own making. After taking office, he criticized the deals of his predecessor and cut off trade talks with the European Union. He raised the stakes by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum, prompting retaliatory measure by the European Union. Then he stoked the tensions by calling Europe a 'foe.' Now, Mr. Trump, in hashing out an agreement on Wednesday with president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is declaring victory. He said the two sides would work to lower tariffs and other trade barriers. They would reduce bureaucratic roadblocks to industrial goods flowing across the Atlantic, while ending conflicting regulations for drugs and chemicals. The United States was pursuing much the same under Mr. Obama through a deal called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership." ...
... International Trade for Dummies a Dummy. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "European Union officials who flew to Washington, D.C. this week to try to negotiate a trade treaty with ... Donald Trump knew that they couldn't present him with large sets of complicated information, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the Journal's sources say that EU representatives made use of 'colorful cue cards' that they thought would help keep the president's attention during meetings. Each card contained what WSJ describes as 'simplified explainers' that 'had at most three figures about a specific topic, such as trade in cars or standards for medical devices.' One European official speaking anonymously to WSJ reporters says that they knew they'd have to dumb things down compared to typical meetings they had with world leaders...." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Last night, the Trump administration announced with maximum fanfare that the trade war with the European Union was over. 'This was a big day for free and fair trade!,' tweeted an excited President Trump. For all the hype and surprisingly credulous press the announcement attracted, it amounts to little more than a face-saving truce. If you&'re looking for any details as to how this will work, too bad, they don't exist. The trade 'deal' follows the script of the ballyhooed North Korean nuclear 'deal' from last month. The cycle begins with bellicose Trumpian threats designed to increase American leverage. This leads to negotiations, which produce an impossibly ambitious and thoroughly vague 'solution' that allows Trump to boast that he has averted a crisis of his own making." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McC: Chait goes on. But we all know the rubes will continue to verify the adage, "There's a sucker born every minute" ... with a great deal of help from the nation's press corps for putting the Trump propaganda front-and-center AND for all showing up at Trump's impromptu Rose Garden "announcement" ceremony even though Trump's henchpeople had banned a CNN reporter for, you know, asking questions.
Asawin Suebsaeng, et al. The Daily Beast: "Henry Kissinger suggested to President Donald Trump that the United States should work with Russia to contain a rising China. The former secretary of state -- who famously engineered the tactic of establishing diplomatic relations with China in order to isolate the Soviet Union -- pitched almost the inverse of that idea to Trump during a series of private meetings during the presidential transition, five people familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast. The potential strategy would use closer relations with Russia, along with other countries in the region, to box in China's growing power and influence." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC News: "The U.S. government has reunited 1,442 out of 2,551 migrant children with their parents ahead of a midnight Pacific court-ordered deadline, according to a court filing that captured data as of 6 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. But 711 children have not been reunited with their parents and the government has not committed to a timeline for finding them. The majority of those, some 431 children, have parents who have been deported, according to the court filing and government officials who held a call with reporters Thursday afternoon. 'By the court deadline this evening we are on track to reunite all eligible parents within ICE custody,' said Chris Meekins [Mrs. McC: incredibly], an official with the Department of Health and Human Services.... Asked whether the government would commit to reunifying children with parents outside of ICE custody, Meekins said they would wait and see 'what [the judge's] vision is for the process we should take.'" ...
... Update. Caitlin Dickerson, et al., of the New York Times: "... in a day that saw government officials and community volunteers scrambling to bring families together, multiple reports of failed reunifications raised questions about whether the deadline had in fact been met. Further confusing the issue was a change in the way the government tallied its progress, with the latest report counting children rather than parents, a reversal from prior reports.... The parents who were deemed eligible for reunification represent only about a third of all those who were separated from their children after crossing the border, a practice that began last summer and escalated in May.... 'The only deadline they are meeting is the one they have set for themselves,' said Lee Gelernt, lead counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a federal lawsuit challenging the family separations.... The reunifications have unfolded in chaotic scenes across the country." ...
... Roque Planas of the Huffington Post: "A Trump appointee's decision to personally review requests to release migrant children from jail-like 'secure facilities' created a bureaucratic bottleneck that dramatically increased the amount of time kids spent locked up. Office of Refugee Resettlement chief E. Scott Lloyd ― who first attracted national interest when a federal court slapped down his attempt to ban a teenage migrant who'd been raped from obtaining an abortion ― told subordinates last year that he'd have to personally sign off before any kids could be released from ORR's secure facilities.... Lloyd decided to make release decisions himself after reading news reports that some unaccompanied minors released from ORR custody later allegedly committed gang-related crimes, he told a congressional subcommittee last year. In a deposition for a New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging his new policy..., Lloyd said he made the decision without an agency review and in consultation with just two colleagues." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Rebekah Entralago of ThinkProgress: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents notified Orlando, Florida resident Alejandra Juarez Tuesday that she will be deported to Mexico on August 3.... Juarez, the wife of veteran Marine Sgt. Cuauhtemoc 'Temo' Juarez, also a former member of the Florida National Guard, entered the United States in 1998 and the two married in 2000. The eldest of the couple's two children was just 12 months old when their father was deployed to Iraq. Juarez's undocumented status was revealed during a traffic stop in 2013. Apart from her illegal entry into the country in 1998, she has no criminal record.... Under previous administrations..., Juarez was able to stay in the country because ICE generally deferred separation." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
When Earth's Destroyers Collide. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Senior administration officials are clashing over President Trump's plan to roll back a major environmental rule and let cars emit more tailpipe pollution, according to 11 people familiar with the confrontation, in a dispute over whether the proposal can withstand legal challenge. The rollback, one of the most consequential proposals of the Trump administration, not only would permit more planet-warming pollution from cars, it would also challenge the right of California and other states to set their own, more restrictive state-level pollution standards. On one side is the Environmental Protection Agency's acting chief, Andrew K. Wheeler, who has tried to put the brakes on the plan, fearing that its legal and technical arguments are weak and will set up the Trump administration for an embarrassing courtroom loss. Mr. Wheeler inherited the proposal from his predecessor, Scott Pruitt.... On the other side are top officials at the Transportation Department, Jeffrey A. Rosen and Heidi King, two of the proposal's chief authors.... The White House is siding with Mr. Rosen. Mr. Trump is expected to announce the proposal next week." ...
AND in Another Surprise. Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency reversed course late Thursday and announced it would enforce stricter pollution controls on freight trucks known as 'gliders,' which emit dozens of times more soot and contaminants compared to those with new diesel engines. In a three-page memo to his deputies, acting administrator Andrew Wheelersaid he would withdraw the 'no action assurance' the agency had given the manufacturers of glider trucks on the last day that his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, headed the EPA. That letter assured firms that they would not have to limit their annual production to 300 vehicles through the end of 2019. The EPA initially proposed a rule last November to repeal tighter emissions standards for glider trucks, which had been set to take effect in January. An Obama-era regulation aimed at controlling soot and other pollutants, as well as greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, the rule had the support of public-health advocates and some major trucking groups and engine manufacturers. But it faced fervent opposition from a handful of companies that manufacture truck components called gliders and trailers. A glider, or body, is the front of a truck, including the cab, which fits over the engine.... In his memo Wheeler noted that the agency suspends enforcement only in rare circumstances and that after consulting with EPA lawyers and policy experts, 'I have concluded that the application of the current regulations to the glider industry does not represent the kind of extremely unusual circumstances that support the EPA's use of enforcement discretion.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Pardon my cynicism, but I won't be shocked, shocked if Wheeler finds some convenient loopholes after he gets confirmed.
All the Best People, Ctd. Jesse Drucker, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump planned to nominate Ken Kurson, a close friend of Jared Kushner & Rudy Giuliani, as a board member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, although Kurson has no background in the humanities. But an FBI background check turned up disturbing allegations -- that came with documentation -- that Kurson had harassed a NYC Mount Sinai doctor & the wife of her boss to the extent that the hospital took extra security measures to protect the doctor. According to a female journalist's first-person account in the Atlantic, Kurson, whom Kushner had appointed to run the New York Observer, also made commments about the the journalist's "breasts as she sought a job at The Observer." His harassment of the doctor, which the reporters describe, was way scarier than that. Coda: "Last week, the White House announced Mr. Trump's six nominees to the endowment's board. Mr. Kurson isn't on the list. In addition to three academics, it includes a corporate lobbyist, the head of a political consulting firm and an executive at the conservative Heritage Foundation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would appear Trump & Co. don't know anybody who isn't as skeezy & sleazy as they are, AND they think these lowlifes deserve prestigious jobs. Birds of a feather.
JeffBo Suddenly Remembers Principle of Presumption of Innocence. Stephanie Murray of Politico: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he should have mentioned that people are innocent until proved guilty before echoing a group of conservative high school students chanting 'Lock her up!' earlier this week.... The FBI found no criminal wrongdoing in the Clinton investigation."
Yesterday we learned that Betsy DeVos is going ahead with her plan "to curtail Obama administration loan forgiveness rules for students defrauded by for-profit colleges.... Advocates for student borrowers said ... the new rules would establish insurmountable barriers to relief for many vulnerable students, and would eliminate accountability for institutions that employ predatory tactics in recruitment and advertising...." Mrs. McCrabbie: As I recall, these crooked for-profit colleges also defrauded you & me as many of their "students" were veterans who paid part of their tuition with GI Bill benefits. It is upon this backstory that we bring you the following sad news:
... Toronto Blade: "DeVos' $40 million yacht [was] vandalized at Huron dock.... Someone had untied Seaquest from the dock, setting it adrift. The crew eventually got control of the yacht, but not before it struck the dock, causing an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 in damage from large scratches and scrapes...." I am fully expecting contributor forrest m. to set up a GoFundMe page for Betsy, who is kind of a neighbor of forrest's.
Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "A quartet of senators launched a new bipartisan effort Thursday to prevent President Trump from withdrawing the United States from NATO without the prior approval of the Senate, the latest effort to constrain the president from upending U.S. policy regarding Russia. The bill would require the president to secure the support of two-thirds of the Senate — the same threshold required to enter into a treaty -- before he could withdraw from the nearly 70-year-old alliance. It also authorizes the Senate's legal counsel to represent the body in any court cases needed to prevent a withdrawal from NATO without the Senate’s approval. The measure was drafted by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), both of whom sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and ranking Democrat Jack Reed (R.I.) have also signed on to the measure as leading co-sponsors."
"War on the Poor," Ctd. Danielle McLean of ThinkProgress: "House Republicans are pushing a bill that would impose work and education requirements on foster youths who are facing homelessness, putting their ability to get federal housing subsidies at risk." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Congressional Race
** IOKIYAR. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "A new ad from Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) accuses his Democratic opponent of rank hypocrisy for owning stock in some of the sectors he has spoken out against. There's just one problem: Buchanan's own holdings.... The ad claims that [Democrat David] Shapiro owns stock in 'two companies responsible for the Gulf Oil spill' (Transocean and Halliburton), 'drugmakers accused of fueling' the opiate epidemic (Johnson & Johnson), and 'companies that make assault weapons and cop-killer bullets' (Savage Arms).... But a ThinkProgress review of Buchanan's own personal financial disclosure form reveals that he owns ... more than 320,000 Johnson & Johnson shares, more than 24,000 shares of Halliburton, and over 130,000 shares of Transocean [and] he has received more than $14,000 in support from the National Rifle Association over his tenure in Congress." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Hard Times in Facebook World & Twitterland
Craig Timberg & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "... the cost of its missteps finally caught up with Facebook this week, sending its market value down more than $100 billion Thursday in the largest drop in value in Wall Street history. Long-simmering privacy concerns, dating to nearly the birth of the company in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, have in recent months taken more concrete form than ever. In May, the European Union imposed a strict new regulatory regime. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have begun scrutinizing Facebook in a multi-agency federal investigation related to its handling of a recent scandal that exposed the information of 87 million people. Worries about the rising costs of privacy regulations, along with declining growth in users and revenue, played a key role in a major Wall Street selloff Wednesday night and Thursday, with Facebook's stock closing down 19 percent, at its lowest level in nearly three months. The steepness of the decline suggests investors are reevaluating the viability of Facebook's core business -- collecting extensive data on users so that they can better target them with advertising -- in a world in which public pressure is mounting for stricter privacy protections."
Selina Wang of Bloomberg: "Twitter Inc. said monthly users dropped by 1 million in the second quarter, and predicted that number will decline further as the company continues to fight against spam, fake accounts and malicious rhetoric on its social network. The shares plunged 17 percent in early trading."
BTW. Rachel Thompson of Mashable: "A mere matter of days after InfoWars founder Alex Jones received yet another YouTube strike -- but wasn't banned — he's been hit with a 30-day block on Facebook. Jones received another strike on YouTube this week for violating community guidelines in four videos, which have since been taken down. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed in an email that the social network has enforced a 30-day time out for Jones after he was found to have violated Facebook's Community Standards. 'Our Community Standards make it clear that we prohibit content that encourages physical harm [bullying], or attacks someone based on their religious affiliation or gender identity [hate speech]," said a Facebook spokesperson." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's quite a turnaround for Facebook. On Tuesday, FB told Charlie Warzel of BuzzFeed News "that Jones' comments do not violate the company's community standards as they are not a credible statement of intent to commit violence.... Facebook appears consistent in its desire to keep Jones and Infowars up on the platform. This month, the head of Facebook's News Feed told reporters that Infowars is a publisher with a 'different point of view' and added that the site's history of 'just being false doesn't violate the community standards.'" ...
Alison Young of USA Today: "The vast majority of women in America give birth without incident. But each year, more than 50,000 are severely injured. About 700 mothers die. The best estimates say that half of these deaths could be prevented and half the injuries reduced or eliminated with better care. Instead, the U.S. continues to watch other countries improve as it falls behind. Today, this is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth.... Every year, thousands of women [in the U.S.] suffer life-altering injuries or die during childbirth because hospitals and medical workers skip safety practices known to head off disaster, a USA Today investigation has found."
Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "Just 13% of the world's oceans remain untouched by the damaging impacts of humanity, the first systematic analysis has revealed. Outside the remotest areas of the Pacific and the poles, virtually no ocean is left harbouring naturally high levels of marine wildlife.... Furthermore, just 5% of the remaining ocean wilderness is within existing marine protection areas." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Newly disclosed emails show Michigan Republicans angling to give their party a dominant position through gerrymandered maps and celebrating the plight of their Democratic rivals. Republicans in the state have denied that they sought partisan gain when they drew new legislative boundaries in 2011. But a federal lawsuit, which argues the maps are unconstitutional, has unearthed records showing Republicans intent on drawing boundaries that would help their party. The emails, disclosed in a filing on Monday, boast of concentrating 'Dem garbage' into four of the five southeast Michigan districts that Democrats now control, and of packing African-Americans into a metropolitan Detroit House district. One email likened a fingerlike extension they created in one Democratic district map to an obscene gesture toward its congressman, Representative Sander M. Levin.... The emails were first reported by The Bridge, a magazine run by the Center for Michigan, a public policy think tank." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ed Kilgore: "The emails are particularly useful in showing how racial and partisan motives for GOP gerrymandering have become interchangeable[.]"
News Lede
New York Times: "The Commerce Department released its initial estimate of second-quarter economic growth on Friday, providing the latest snapshot of the American economy.... Economic growth surged in the second quarter — but don't expect the boom to last. The second-quarter acceleration was widely anticipated by economists, a result of a confluence of events unlikely to recur. Most economists expect growth to slow in the second half of the year. Still, recent data does suggest that the pace of growth has picked up this year. Some economists think full-year growth in gross domestic product could hit 3 percent in 2018 for the first time in the nearly decade-long recovery, a prospect that became more likely following Friday's strong numbers. The second quarter was the first time since 2014 that economic growth topped 4 percent in a quarter; the economy reached that level or higher just four times during the eight years of the Obama administration."
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Reader Comments (19)
Knew I knew that Kurson name from somewhere.
Thought "Esquire," perhaps, and found that the Kushner-Guliani buddy was indeed the guy I remembered writing a financial column for that magazine for some years, pontificating and picking stocks. Always wondered if he followed his own advice.
Maybe, maybe not, but he was apparently canny enough to hang around wealthy people. Though he didn't say it, I'm guessing that was his favored investment all along.
Too bad he couldn't find any honest people (as Twain once put it) to sociate around with.
Reminds me of the Charles Barkley extension of the Biblical "The meed shall inherit the earth." Barkley added, "but they don't get rebounds."
How about this variation? "Honestly may be the best policy....but it doesn't pay."
Think I saw that somewhere in "The Art of the Deal."
Oops.
Make that "meek.."
Step by step - тик-тик-ублюдки
(tick tock not nice people)
It's polite to speak their language.
That was the Toledo Blade reporting on Betsy's $40million yacht.
That's the small one. The family owns 9 others, some of the ocean
going kind, after all, they had to buy a private island in the
Carribean for partying.
No need for a gofundme. She was on guvmint business so guess
who gets to pay for the damage. You and me.
To get that yacht to northern Ohio, it has to go all the way around
Michigan and into Lake Erie. Then the limo has to get to Toledo
to pick her up at the airport and take her to the boat. There are no
hotels in Toledo??? Oy!
Anyway, the newly income tax lowered group are now complaining
that our docking facilities here in town can't handle their new yachts.
Seems like they got a much larger tax break than I did. Hope to use
mine to buy a new hedge trimmer but not the $40million kind.
@AK: Well, I thought you actually meant "meed"––which means a deserved share or reward––had to think on that for a minute but then saw your correction: Them "meeks," always on the outside looking in at thems that have all those deserved shares and rewards––––like Betsy, according to @Patrick who tells the tale of yachts galore bobbing against the current, forever ready to transport B. and her ilk hither and yon.
Somewhere on the sand stands a person of slender means spying one of those gigantic monstrosities gliding along on a summer night and hearing laughter and the clicking of glasses, they wonder at the vast distance there is between them and those whose largesse takes your breath away––literally.
So when the mister and I learned of the BIG news last night re: Cohen's "yeah, Trump knew all about it" statement, we both said aloud: "YOU MEAN HE LIED?" "Heavens to Betsy", as my mother used to say.
And those tweets (that Mueller is taking a peek at) will finally hold his feet to the fire––sweet!
And so it goes~~~~~~~~`
@PD Pepe. You mean "@Ken Winkes" & "@forrest morris".
Don't ever say Fox doesn't care about journalistic integrity. Wonder upon wonders here is Shep Smith doing exactly that. Unfortunately his words seem somewhat hollow given that he works for a network that is in perpetual lockdown on the truth. But it was good to hear, anyway.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shep-smith-fox-news-critics_us_5b5a5a6be4b0de86f4952c62
Yes, I meant Ken and Forest––you see? this just shows what all this chaos has done to my pia matter and as a matter of fact perhaps my eyes as well. Thanks, Marie for YOUR keen observations.
@forrest morris: Sure hope you local taxpayers will get together & improve your substandard harbor facilities. Why, the cost of the improvements will probably pay for themselves in a century or so. In the meantime, imagine the intangible benefits you will derive from watching -- from afar, no doubt -- the swells set sail for distant lands.
PD and Ken,
Actually, at first glance, late at night, I thought the word was "mead" and I thought, hey, that's not a bad idea. Mead shall inherit the earth. Or maybe the earth shall inherit the mead. Something like that. Mead halls for all. Sir Charles would probably approve.
Preposterous? Laughable? Bizarre?
Which is it? All three? Here's Trump, King of the Con Men, Lord of the Liars, sleaze monster of the first order, more twisted than a mountain road, wondering how on earth his lawyer could be so mean and deceitful as to record their conversations. Would Cohen ever have had a shot at working for Trump if he wasn't a snake in the shithole, a corrupt, underhanded lackey who never read a law or regulation he didn't try to skirt? Hell no. Trump wouldn't hire a straight shooter if he could get them for nothing. Eat it, donnie.
Luckier than Capone
So far it seems the only concrete thing we have on Trump is a violation of election laws. What does he get for that? A slap on the wrist. A fine and a stern warning not to do it again. That's about it. Yeah, I know it's a criminal offense, but do you see anything coming of a criminal trial?
No. Capone, for all his evil deeds finally went to prison for tax evasion. Not murder or prostitution or leg-breaking or gambling or bootlegging or mayhem. He didn't pay his taxes. But at least he went to Alcatraz. He got eleven years, served seven, came out a drooling imbecile (from syphilis) and dropped dead a few years later.
Trump won't get a day. And he'll leave the White House and play golf until he croaks.
I'm less and less sanguine about the whole Trump-Russia-Mueller thing. There is so much evidence so far (even if much of it is circumstantial) that it's clear to any rational, fair minded person (leaves out most Trump voters) that he's a traitorous, scheming skunk. But knowing and proving are two different things.
There was a lengthy article a few days ago on the New Yorker site about Trump and kompromat. It's an interesting read but here are the takeaways, which sound completely plausible.
It's entirely possible that Putin wasn't even involved, at least initially, or if he is, it's in a way that he can easily deny. In other words, no smoking gun. In that respect, Trump can claim no "collusion with Putin" and it may actually be true, at least as his supporters will interpret it. It seems that kompromat, as a going concern, is so prevalent in Russia that everyone plays the game and everyone is either looking over their shoulder wondering who has what on them, or trying to get something on someone else to use later as leverage. It's almost the national pastime.
The author suggests that Trump doesn't even know exactly what they have on him, although money laundering is the prime suspicion, or who has it but is keeping on the straight and narrow Russian road just in case. This makes it seem like Trump is a much wilier character than I think he is; I just don't believe he's that sophisticated a thinker.
I think there probably is something on him but what sticks deepest in his stinking craw is that (because he's a zero-sum guy) the smallest hint of Russian involvement with election shenanigans taints his Great Historic Victory, and that he simply cannot abide.
That being said, the tentacles of the Trump-Russia entanglements are so multifarious and so deep that even if Mueller succeeds in illuminating all of them and proving the connection, it won't have the same GOTCHA effect the revelations of Nixon's secret tapes did. It will demonstrate a consistent and consistently criminal approach to everything he does, including running for president, but Confederates and Fox and Breitbart and the winger media behemoths have so salted the ground against any dispositive findings and the the Trumpbots are so committed to standing by their rat that pretty much nothing will stick.
Confederates in Congress won't move a muscle to impeach him. If anything goes to the Supreme Court, they'll tell him to be a good boy and not to do it again (especially if his boy Kavanaugh makes it), but nothing substantial will happen.
The only way he gets punished for his criminal and treasonous acts is if enough decent people go out and vote his fat ass into political oblivion. Vote Democrats into power and then in 2020, vote for fucking Mickey Mouse, anyone but the Trump Monster.
Any way you look at it, this is the dirtiest, nastiest era in American presidential history. A bleach and vinegar house cleaning is in order. The pigs in the White House and Congress won't do it, so we have to.
In any event, he'll still be luckier than Capone. But who knows? Maybe syphilis will get him too.
Today's ground-breaking thesis from David Brooks:
It takes a village.
No. Really. He uses the word "village." He follows the story of a young woman who sets up a program for college students and others to mentor young people whose families are not providing sufficient support.
I read it in my dead tree edition. You know where to find the link.
@Akhilleus: Re: the Trump Tower meeting, I think there are two things there.
One is campaign finance violations. As you say, they're no big deal. Politicians commit them all the time, often unknowingly, because campaign finance laws are complicated. The politicians are allowed to clean up their mistakes (intended or not), maybe pay a fine, & that's it. It's a civil matter.
But the other matter is serious: conspiring with a foreign government to change the results of a presidential election. You know those 12 Russian officers Mueller indicted (but who will never wind up in a U.S. jail)? Trump & Co. were conspiring with them. If the stuff out there in the press can be proved, Trump & Junior are guilty of more crimes than those Russians. And, as Chait asks (rhetorically), if they weren't aware they were breaking the law, why do they keep lying about it? The POTUS* obviously has no trouble publicly kissing up to Putin, so it isn't that he's trying to hide his affinity for Russia; rather, he's been trying to hide his collaboration with Russians to "win" the election through nefarious means.
I think he's screwed. Even if he gets away with this "vast international conspiracy" -- and there are many scenarios in which he might -- he'll always have that asterisk attached to his name.
Marie,
I'm in complete agreement that what we're talking about here is terribly serious stuff. I call it treason. The textbook definition of political treason is helping an enemy during time of war. Well, war is different these days. Sure, there are still shooting wars, but Putin is in the vanguard of attacking his enemies in much more subtle ways, and damaging the sovereignty and stability of other nations through digital warfare is no less serious (and actually can have much more far-reaching effects than bombs and bullets on a battlefield) than a shooting war, so helping him achieve those goals is most definitely treason.
My concern is how much of this will stick. There must be the will of Congress and the Justice Department to proceed accordingly after Mueller's findings are revealed, and I'm worried that even if he proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt, if Republicans are still in charge when the hammer comes down, they won't move.
You're right that Trump will forever have that asterisk attached to his name. I'd like it to come with chrome bracelets attached to his wrists and ankles as well.
Always thought he'd look good in orange.
Take Me Out to the Pentagon Game
I have, for some years, been fairly outraged by the militarization of American sports. You can't make it through a volleyball game without a ten minute advertisement for the Pentagon. It used to be that the military was a presence mostly at the biggest events such as flyovers at the start of a Super Bowl. Now it's everywhere, all the time.
There's no such thing as the seventh inning stretch anymore, when you can stand up, stretch, complain about the relief pitching, gesture to the beer guy for a couple of cold ones and argue stats with the fans around you. Nope. Now it's time for the Seventh Inning Stand at Attention for More Fake Patriotism. A color guard comes out, everyone is ordered to stand and sing "God Bless America". The song is fine, but we already sang the national anthem. Ain't that enough?
Last year I went to a game and got the evil eye from fans around me for not standing at attention and doffing my hat during the seventh inning stretch. I overheard one guy complain that "Not everyone is a true American". I let it go. He was an idiot. My feeling is the same as when people ask why I don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day. I don't need to. I'm Irish every day. And I don't need to prove it. Why do I need to "prove" I'm an American by indulging in more Pentagon paid for bullshit? Remember the conniptions Fox had when they thought they caught Obama without the required flag pin? So stupid. And cynical.
An article on the WBUR site explores the problem in greater detail.
"In the years following 9/11, professional sports took a healing gesture and transformed it into a way to make money. In 2015, Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake released the report 'Tackling Paid Patriotism,' which criticized the deceptive, taxpayer-funded contracts between the Pentagon and virtually every pro sports league. In 2012, the New York Army National Guard paid the Buffalo Bills $250,000 to conduct on-field re-enlistment ceremonies. In 2014, the Georgia National Guard paid the Atlanta Falcons $114,000 to sing the national anthem. In 2015, the Air Force paid NASCAR $1.5 million in part for veterans to shake hands with racing legend Richard Petty. Your tax dollars. At work.
'I hate to say it, but I wasn't completely surprised,' [former Air Force lieutenant colonel Bill] Astore says. 'But I was disgusted by it. Patriotic displays, they mean a lot more to me when they're spontaneous. But to learn that these had been paid for — that corporate teams, teams owned by billionaires, basically, were collecting money from the military. Paid for, obviously, by you and me, by the American taxpayer. Well, it was sad.'"
And now we have a traitor and draft dodger in the White House ringing the bell of fake patriotism every chance he gets.
The article goes on to relate the tactics employed by the military even at Little League games (the Little League World Series, specifically) to militarize the event and inculcate kids into the Pentagon world view.
At least give them a chance to make the decision to join when they're older and have had time to think it through.
And let me enjoy my freakin' seventh inning stretch without having to do the fake, taxpayer funded, patriot dance.
The trade war has finally made it to my country dump, where I pay for getting rid of my garbage, and they are glad to have my clean recyclables. This is because they would ordinarily sell the glass, metal, plastic, paper, etc. to CHINA. But because China is at (trade) war now with the US, it has refused to take the recyclables, or more accurately, has placed such a high tarif on the trash that the trash market has crashed. Now what? At first, we will pay money; but then what?
I realize that tRump would never deal with trash, but this is a BIG problem - which he caused. I know where I'd "dump" Trump if I were able to.
@Victoria: As long as you don't recycle him.
Victoria,
There's gotta be some superfund sites sitting idle (since the EPA no longer gives a toxic shot of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, radionuclides and arsenic, about them) where you could dump the Trump. Give him a few days to stew in that brew and the orange pate would be pinning the needle on the Geiger counter. He'd be the country's first Glow in the Dark traitor.