;)
Thursday
Jun072018
The Commentariat -- June 8, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Rachel Bade of Politico: "House Republican leaders have drafted the outline of an immigration agreement they hope will stave off an intra-party war over Dreamers, according to multiple lawmakers and aides. These Republicans cautioned that there is no deal at this time. But news of a framework, which has not previously been reported, represents a significant development in the House GOP's effort to reach a consensus on an issue that's bedeviled the party for years."
Avery Anapol of the Hill: "Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been hit with a seven-count superseding indictment. Special counsel Robert Mueller filed the indictment Friday in a D.C. court, accusing Manafort and an associate of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements and conspiracy to launder money, among other charges. Konstantin Kliminik, a Manafort associate with ties to Russian intelligence, was also indicted. The filing comes after reports that Manafort attempted to influence two former colleagues’ testimony to Mueller."
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump railed on Friday against Canadian tariffs on American dairy products as he prepared to travel to Canada, where he is likely to be greeted with an icy welcome ahead of a financial summit meeting with longtime American allies. 'We're going to deal with the very unfair trade practices,' Mr. Trump said on Friday, and threatened to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement if he cannot strike deals with American allies, a promise he campaigned on as well."
More of the Tat for the Tit Delivered in 2016. Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump called on the world's leading economies on Friday to reinstate Russia to the Group of 7 nations four years after it was cast out for annexing Crimea, once again putting him at odds with America's leading allies in Europe and Asia. The president made the suggestion to reporters at the White House just before leaving for Canada to attend the annual meeting of the G-7, a gathering that already was promising to be crackling with tension over trade, Iran and Mr. Trump's sharp-edged approach to foreign leaders." Read on for more of Trump's remarks, made on the South Lawn of the White House. Muhammad Ali & Melania Trump's "big operation" figure in. ...
... ** Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "... Trump seems to relish the confrontation [with (former) allies] he has unleashed and is spoiling for more. On Thursday morning, the President tweeted that he was 'getting ready to go to the G-7 in Canada to fight for our country on Trade,' insisting, as he often does, that 'we have the worst trade deals ever made.' But others involved in the summit were preparing for an America more alone than ever before, and now Trump faces the very real risk of allies teaming up against him.... Ever since Trump took office, America's allies have desperately sought to avoid this moment.... Trump may be reorienting U.S. foreign policy away from its closest historical friends, such as Great Britain and Germany, and toward those with whom Trump is more politically aligned in Israel, the Gulf, and along Europe's restive fringes, but his traditional partners have no real strategy for how to respond."...
...**"We've Got a Big Problem." Josh Marshall: "Over the course of 16+ months, President Trump has acted consistently and with some success to destabilize and break up the western alliance [in NATO] ... but also its less formal dimensions in trade and other partnerships. He has also worked consistently on really every front to advance the interests of Russia.... The last twenty four hours of attacks on our closest allies capped by President Trump's seemingly out of the blue demand to bring Russia back into the G-7 ... simply brings the matter into a newly sharp relief. If candidate Trump and President Putin had made a corrupt bargain which obligated President Trump to destabilize all U.S. security and trade alliances ... and advance the strategic interests of Russia, there's really nothing more remotely realistic he could have done to accomplish that than what he has in fact done. Take a moment to let that sink in." --safari
Trump Admits He Bases Presidential Pardons on Popularity. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Friday that he may soon pardon Muhammad Ali -- a sentiment that a lawyer for the late boxer quickly said was appreciated but unnecessary. Ali was convicted in 1967 for refusing to report for induction into the United States military during the Vietnam War. His local draft board rejected his application for conscientious objector classification. 'He was, look, he was not very popular then, certainly his memory is popular now,' Trump told reporters as he prepared to leave the White House on Friday en route to a Group of Seven economic summit in Canada.... But Ron Tweel, an attorney for Ali, who died in 2016, pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Ali's conviction in 1971. In a unanimous ruling, the court found that the Department of Justice had improperly told the draft board that Ali's stance was not motivated by his Muslim religious beliefs."
Lydia Wheeler of the Hill: "A federal district court judge grappled Thursday with whether a group of about 200 congressional Democrats can sue President Trump for not seeking congressional approval before accepting payments and benefits from foreign governments through his personal business holdings. Democrats, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), allege Trump has violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which they say was designed by the founders to prevent corruption.... Thursday's hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia focused solely on whether the lawmakers have suffered the required injury to bring the case forward. The lawmakers say they've been injured because they've been denied their constitutional right to vote on whether Trump can accept the payments, benefits and gifts.... Brianne Gorod, one of the Democrat's attorneys with the Constitutional Accountability Center, said there's nothing Congress can do regardless of who has the majority because any law that passes would require the president's own signature. She said members are largely in the dark because Trump is not sharing with Congress what gifts or payments he wants to accept, nor providing information about his business holdings." ...
... Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Blumenthal said [in a phone interview with Rubin] that while Congress has the power to approve or not approve the president's receipt of foreign monies, 'We can't approve what we don't know.' He explained that the plaintiffs are merely seeking an order requiring the president to tell what foreign monies he is getting and get permission before pocketing them. (This would apply both retrospectively and prospectively.) It is the height of chutzpah for the administration to claim that Congress can always pass a resolution or that litigation has to be on behalf of the whole Congress.... In other words, because Republicans are delinquent in their duties, the Trump administration argues, responsible lawmakers cannot enforce a constitutional provision. That in effect renders the emoluments clause a dead letter when the president's party controls Congress. That does not seem to comport with the framers' acute concern to prevent foreign corruption.... 'This is not just corruption,' Blumenthal says. 'It's also about national security.' For Trump, however, it's about the money."
It Was Just a Bug! Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "On Thursday, [Facebook] said it had again failed to keep the information of millions of users private. As many as 14 million Facebook users who thought they were creating private posts last month that only a small group of friends could see were, in fact, making public posts that anyone could view. Facebook blamed a software bug for the problem. The company did not say how it had found the bug, or how it knew the problem was limited to 14 million people. In a statement, Facebook said the bug affected users from May 18 to May 22, while the company was testing a new feature. By May 27, the company had changed the affected posts from a public setting back to a private one."
David Corn of Mother Jones: "On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, made a dramatic request: He essentially asked special counsel Robert Mueller to consider whether perjury charges should be brought against witnesses who testified to the committee during its Trump-Russia investigation. Schiff did not convey this request directly to Mueller. Rather, he released a letter he sent on May 23 to Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif) ... asking that the committee hand over to Mueller the transcripts of all the interviews it conducted during the probe.... Schiff noted that Rep. Mike Conaway (Texas), who led the Russia investigation for the committee's Republicans, and other GOPers on the panel had repeatedly promised to make these transcripts public at the end of the inquiry.... But ... they have 'abandoned this pledge under the unsupported pretext of protecting the Special Counsel's investigation.' Schiff reported that he has asked Mueller if he has any objections to the committee releasing the transcripts and that Mueller has none." --safari
Juan Cole: "Trump's 17th century mercantilist trade policies are making the United States the skunk at the party at the G7 meet in Quebec on Friday.... [Emmanuel] Macron is saying ... that the G7 could become the G6 if the other members decided to exclude Trump. It is a breathtaking idea, that the US should be treated by the major industrialized democracies as a rogue state in the same category as Putin's Russia." --safari
*****
Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "A White House economic analysis of President Trump's trade agenda has concluded that Mr. Trump's tariffs will hurt economic growth in the United States, according to several people familiar with the research. The findings from the White House Council of Economic Advisers have been circulated only internally and not publicly released..., making the exact economic projections unknown. But ... top White House officials continue to insist publicly that Mr. Trump's trade approach will be 'massively good for the U.S. economy.' The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, an economist who came to the administration from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, dodged questions at a White House briefing on Tuesday about whether tariffs would hurt an economy that has accelerated during Mr. Trump's tenure. Asked whether the administration's economists had modeled the impact that a trade war with China would have on the United States economy, Mr. Hassett said Mr. Trump was a great negotiator...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... "Trump Heads to G-7 Meeting after Alienating Most U.S. Allies." Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Ahead of the summit meeting, finance ministers from the other six countries that form the Group of 7, or G-7, condemned Mr. Trump's trade decisions in an extraordinary rebuke of a member nation's president. And some of the leaders themselves have threatened to boycott the usual end-of-meeting communiqué.... Rarely -- if ever -- has there been the kind of visceral and unanimous outrage at an American president among the nation's most important allies, who for decades have seen the closest of relationships with the leader of the free world as a paramount foreign policy priority. Mr. Trump has repeatedly poked his counterparts in the eye -- ignoring their pleas to remain a part of the Paris climate treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and the Iran nuclear deal, and more recently by branding their steel and aluminum industries threats to national security, and therefore subject to tariffs." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nice to see everybody -- reporters, editors (even Time magazine), European leaders, some suddenly-honest GOP short-timers -- finally catching up with us here at Reality Chex. At some level, Trump realizes what a disaster his presidency is, which is why he's always boasting about how great a job he's doing. But his unparalleled failure also will serve only to make him more crazy. ...
... Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Emmanuel Macron has called on other members of the G7 to stand up to Donald Trump's trade policies in the face of what he described as the threat of a new US 'hegemony'. The French president was speaking alongside the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who is hosting the G7 summit in Quebec amid sharp disagreements between the US president and the six other leaders of industrialized liberal democracies over trade, climate change and the nuclear deal with Iran. Macron called on other G7 leaders not to water down a joint communique at the end of the summit, at the expense of shared values, simply in an effort to win Trump's signature, warning that a 'G6 plus one' outcome was possible. The challenge brought a tweeted response from Trump, claiming Macron and Trudeau's governments were pursuing unfair trade practices at the expense of US producers." ...
... Damian Paletta, et al., of the Washington Post: "French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday threatened to join with other world leaders to issue a rare rebuke of the United States at a global summit ... this weekend, drawing immediate and sharp replies from President Trump. Macron said Trump could be excluded from joining with other leaders in a joint declaration of unity at the end of a global summit here, a very unusual move that was meant to isolate Trump's recent burst of trade threats aimed at numerous U.S. allies.... Trump appeared unmoved, accusing Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of hurting the United States with unfair trade practices. Trump also said Trudeau is 'being so indignant,' an unusually personal attack aimed at one of the United States' closest allies. 'Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create nonmonetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow,' Trump wrote [in a tweet].... Later, Trump tweeted that he would raise undisclosed tariffs against Canada and European Union countries if they don't lower theirs. 'Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!' he wrote. The exchanges cast an immediate shadow over the summit before it even began. The White House said Thursday evening that Trump now plans to leave Quebec on Saturday morning, several hours earlier than his counterparts."
Trump Cites Imaginary Iran "Success" as Predictor of North Korea Summit Results. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump asserted Thursday that his decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal had already curbed Iran's aggressive behavior, and he predicted that his hard-nosed tactics would also result in a successful nuclear negotiation with North Korea.... Mr. Trump cited no evidence to support his contention.... Iran, he said, was no longer as adventurous in Syria and Yemen, and had relaxed its ambitions to extend its influence all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. 'Iran is not the same country that it was a few months ago,' Mr. Trump said at a news conference five days before he was scheduled to meet in Singapore with Kim Jong-un of North Korea.... Iran remains firmly under the control of its theocratic government, it continues to support proxy forces across the Middle East, and it just announced plans to increase its capacity to enrich uranium after Mr. Trump's withdrawal.... Depending on the degree of success, the president said, he could foresee inviting Mr. Kim to a follow-up meeting at the White House."
The King & Dukes of Haphazard. Eliana Johnson of Politico: "National security adviser John Bolton has yet to convene a Cabinet-level meeting to discuss ... Donald Trump's upcoming summit with North Korea next week, a striking break from past practice that suggests the Trump White House is largely improvising its approach to the unprecedented nuclear talks. For decades, top presidential advisers have used a methodical process to hash out national security issues before offering the president a menu of options for key decisions. On an issue like North Korea, that would mean White House Situation Room gatherings of the secretaries of state and defense along with top intelligence officials, the United Nations ambassador, and even the Treasury secretary, who oversee economic sanctions. But since Trump agreed on a whim to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on March 8, the White House's summit planning has been unstructured, according to a half-dozen administration officials." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** "President Trump Still Way Too Lazy to Do His Job." Jonathan Chait: "Donald Trump possessed less relevant experience and subject expertise for the job of president than any person ever elected to the job. Those deficits can be offset, to a degree, with dogged study and hard work. But rather than make up for his historical lack of qualifications, Trump has compounded the problem with historical laziness. He famously lounges in front of the television having 'Executive Time' until 11 a.m., checks out early, refuses to read briefings, and otherwise disdains the most important parts of his job. Three new reports highlight the laziness problem." Read on. The update is excellent, too: "Asked if he's prepared for the North Korea summit, Trump assured a reporter that he is.... 'I think I'm very well prepared,' Trump said, 'I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Michael Kruse in Politico Magazine: "'My attitude,' Donald Trump [often says], 'is whatever happens, happens.'... This isn't just filler language from a famously extemporaneous and detail-light public speaker. It is, in fact, a guiding principle of a downbeat personal philosophy.... When he says, 'We'll see,' again and again and again, Trump is giving voice to one of the least talked-about but most abiding convictions of his long, loud, public life -- his unambiguous belief in the inherent meaningless of human existence, and his repeated self-identification as a fatalist.... [Some] see something darker and sadder, a nihilism born from Trump's disinterest in and disconnect from everybody except his immediate family and perhaps even them.... What has made him fearless is what has made him careless. Because he's never had to pay a lasting price for his mistakes." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Nihilism, yes, but fatalism -- I don't think so. Trump's entire life is characterized by narcissistic irresponsibility. That, obviously, is a disqualifying personality flaw in anyone put in a position of responsibility over the lives and/or well-being of others.
Another Entry for Amazing List of "Stupidest Things Donald Trump Ever Said." Andrea Zelinski & St. John Barned-Smith of the Houston Chronicle: "... on a conference call with state and federal leaders in preparation for another dreadful hurricane season..., Trump thanked the Coast Guard for its service in helping save 16,000 people after Harvey, Hurricane Maria and other storms.... 'Sixteen thousand people, many of them in Texas, for whatever reason that is. People went out in their boats to watch the hurricane,' Trump said. 'That didn't work out too well.' Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez took umbrage with the president's remarks, crediting civilians with making an 'extraordinary effort' with their own boats to rescue neighbors, relatives and pets as Hurricane Harvey flooded the Texas coast.... 'I didn't see anyone taking the approach that would reflect his comments,' Gonzalez said. 'I'll be sure to invite the president to ride out the next hurricane in a jon boat in Galveston Bay the next time one approaches,' he added. No one could explain the president's comment." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Like many of his cult followers, Trump is oblivious to the world around him. He doesn't understand how elementary things work, & he has little interest in finding out. Here he assumes that ordinary citizens who went out to save others (something it would never occur to him to do himself) were instead out on pleasure cruises for death-defying joy rides. Update: I wrote this before I read Kruse's essay above. But you can see the same thread of narcissistic irresponsibility tied into Trump's off-the-cuff lies.
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "The special counsel's accusation this week that Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, tried to tamper with potential witnesses originated with two veteran journalists who turned on Mr. Manafort after working closely with him to prop up the former Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, interviews and documents show. The two journalists, who helped lead a project to which prosecutors say Mr. Manafort funneled more than $2 million from overseas accounts, are the latest in a series of onetime Manafort business partners who have provided damaging evidence to Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Their cooperation with the government has increasingly isolated Mr. Manafort as he awaits trial on charges of violating financial, tax and federal lobbying disclosure laws.... The prosecutors did not name the journalists, but three people familiar with the project identified them as Alan Friedman and Eckart Sager.... They join a growing list of lobbyists, consultants and lawyers who worked on various contracts related to [Viktor] Yanukovych's government, political party or supporters and are now cooperating with the government's prosecution of Mr. Manafort."
Steve Reilly, et al., of USA Today: "The purchase of three properties by President Trump's son-in-law on the banks of a toxic Brooklyn canal triggered a series of unusual real estate deals and a windfall profit from transactions financed by a bank tied to the Trump family. The property transactions totaling more than $150 million began in late 2014 and early 2015 and included sales prices well above the assessed value of the parcels, as well as high-risk loans that experts said raise red flags. At the center of each deal is either Jared Kushner or Michael Cohen, whose business dealings have attracted close scrutiny from prosecutors and regulators since Trump's election. The transactions were financed through Signature Bank, one of three banks whose ties to Kushner have been widely reported to be under review by New York banking regulators. The bank's board members have included Ivanka Trump and former Republican U.S. senator Al D'Amato...."
Turns out the "Unmaskers" Were the Trump Transition Team. Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The Trump transition team told Barack Obama's White House about Mike Flynn's fateful conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to [Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes'] new memoir. That account stands in contrast to oft-repeated claims that the Obama team unmasked Flynn's name after learning of the Kislyak conversation from surveillance intercepts.... Rhodes ... often features prominently in accusations from Donald Trump's allies that the outgoing White House improperly 'unmasked' Flynn from surveillance intercepts and then leaked his name to discredit him. 'His own transition team volunteered to us that he'd met with Sergei Kislyak ... before meeting with the American official he was replacing.' [Rhodes writes. He learned of the Flynn-Kislyak meeting second-hand, from another Obama administration official.]... 'I never unmasked any Trump campaign official or associate.... The "unmasking scandal" was a completely craven and disingenuous farce masquerading as outrage, all intended to keep Americans from focusing on the real story of the Trump campaign's links to Russia.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Classic Trump: (1) Shoot yourself in the foot. (2) Claim the other guy was holding the smoking gun.
Ex-Rep May Be a Missing Piece of the Russia Puzzle. Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic: "An ex-congressman has attracted scrutiny from the Senate Judiciary Committee, as it continues to investigate whether ... Donald Trump's campaign conspired with Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential election. Curt Weldon, a Republican and former Pennsylvania congressman, lost his re-election campaign more than a decade ago following an FBI probe into his ties to two Russian companies. He has 'connections to both Russia and the Trump campaign' that are raising suspicions among senators, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said. Feinstein is the committee's ranking member, and wants to interview Weldon, the spokeswoman said. The reasons for the committee's interest in Weldon are murky, but his ties to Russia are significant."
Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "'Excuse me, when you look at Stormy Daniels,' Rudolph Giuliani ... said on Wednesday, in an onstage interview at the Globes Capital Market Conference, in Tel Aviv, before interrupting himself to make a face.... Giuliani's expression was, perhaps, meant to be one of knowing revulsion at Daniels, but the lopsided chaos of his features conveyed a moral contortion all his own.... Ignoring the interviewer's plea of 'Let's respect her,' Giuliani added, 'I know Donald Trump. Look at his three wives, right?' ... 'Beautiful women, classy women, women of great substance. Stormy Daniels?' He paused to make another face.... '... I even have to respect, you know, criminals.... But I'm sorry, I don't respect a porn star the way I respect a career woman, or a woman of substance, or a woman who has great respect for herself as a woman, and as a person.' [Daniels' work] is more of an honest living than some New York real-estate developers make.... Her profession shouldn't mean that she ought to be automatically distrusted, let alone attacked with impunity.... Giuliani's remarks about Clifford ... convey a political philosophy that he and the President share...: those who are vulnerable are meant to be wounded, and have no right to ask for respect, let alone protection. It is a bully's declaration of open season on the weak." ...
... Melania Tells Rudy to STFU. Kate Bennett & Dana Bash of CNN: "... Rudy Giuliani shared his thoughts Wednesday during a speaking engagement about first lady Melania Trump and the allegations her husband had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. 'She believes her husband,' Giuliani said at the 'Globes' Capital Market conference in Tel Aviv. 'And she knows it's untrue.' Thursday afternoon, the first lady's communications director fired back at Giuliani. 'I don't believe Mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with Mr. Giuliani,' East Wing communications director Stephanie Grisham told CNN in a statement." ...
... Christopher Massie of CNN: "When Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Stormy Daniels has no credibility because she is is a porn star, he neglected to mention that his client..., Donald Trump, has appeared in three Playboy videos that feature nudity and softcore pornographic content."
Pompeo Tells Rudy to STFU. Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday dismissed recent comments made by President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani about North Korea, saying the former mayor does not speak for the administration on that issue.... While at a business conference in Israel on Wednesday..., Giuliani said North Korea's Kim Jong Un 'begged' Trump to hold their planned summit after the president cancelled it in response to escalating rhetoric from Pyongyang."
DOJ Goes After NYT Reporter in Pursuit of Leaks by Senate Aide. Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "A former Senate Intelligence Committee aide was arrested Thursday in an investigation of classified information leaks where prosecutors also secretly seized years' worth of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records. The former aide, James A. Wolfe, 57, was charged with lying repeatedly to investigators about his contacts with three reporters. According to the authorities, Mr. Wolfe made false statements to the F.B.I. about providing two of them with private information related to the committee's work. They did not say whether it was classified.... Mr. Wolfe's case led to the first known instance of the Justice Department going after a reporter's data under President Trump. The seizure -- disclosed in a letter to the reporter, Ali Watkins -- suggested that prosecutors under the Trump administration will continue the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama.... F.B.I. agents approached Ms. Watkins about a previous three-year romantic relationship she had with Mr. Wolfe, saying they were investigating unauthorized leaks.... A prosecutor notified Ms. Watkins on Feb. 13 that the Justice Department had years of customer records and subscriber information from telecommunications companies, including Google and Verizon, for two email accounts and a phone number of hers.... The investigation came to light after the Senate Intelligence Committee made a cryptic announcement on Wednesday that it was cooperating with the Department of Justice 'in a pending investigation.'"
** Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Trump administration told a federal court on Thursday that it would no longer defend crucial provisions of the Affordable Care Act that protect consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Under those provisions of the law, insurance companies cannot deny coverage or charge higher rates to people with pre-existing medical conditions. The Justice Department said the provisions were part of an unconstitutional scheme that required most Americans to carry health insurance. In a court case filed by Texas and 19 other states, the Justice Department said the requirement for people to have insurance -- the individual mandate -- was unconstitutional. If that argument is accepted by the federal court, it could eviscerate major parts of the Affordable Care Act that remain in place despite numerous attacks by President Trump and his administration.... The Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate in 2012 as an exercise of the government's power to tax. But since Congress repealed the tax last year, the mandate and the law's consumer protections can no longer be justified, the Justice Department said.... California and 15 other states have intervened in the court proceeding, and they filed a brief on Thursday defending the law, including its consumer protections."
Marc Caputo of Politico: "... Donald Trump broke through a logjam with his White House, the Justice Department and Sen. Marco Rubio's office on Thursday by finally nominating a new federal prosecutor for the South Florida district that includes Mar-a-Lago in its jurisdiction. Trump's selection of Miami-Dade Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan -- recommended by Rubio and supported by Gov. Rick Scott -- looked like a done deal months ago. But dysfunction in the White House counsel's office and the unexpected involvement of a top Department of Justice official with Florida ties slowed down the process. The White House didn't explain the delay." Caputo goes over some behind-the-scenes wrangling about the appointment. ...
... A Far More Horrifying Possibility. Eliana Johnson & Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "Jeanine Pirro has a top-rated Fox News show and a forthcoming book ... but she still wants to be ... Donald Trump's attorney general. A former prosecutor and judge, Pirro has repeatedly told Trump's aides and advisers over the past 18 months that she's interested in taking over as the nation's top law enforcement official, according to four people familiar with the conversations. Trump has dangled the possibility of giving her a top appointment. During a November meeting in the Oval Office, the president raised the possibility of nominating Pirro to a federal judgeship, according to a former administration official, though this person added that Trump was more likely engaging in flattery than seriously considering putting Pirro on the bench. Pirro's Fox News colleagues have laughed at her frequent mentions of the possibility of getting senior-level government work, according to one Fox employee." ...
... Wait, It Gets Worse. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times tweeted that some Trump staffers worried Trump wanted to appoint Pirro to the Supreme Court.
The War on the Poor. Danielle McClean of ThinkProgress: "The Trump administration's latest attack on housing assistance would boost rents by an average 26 percent for millions of financially vulnerable Americans and increase the risk of homelessness.... The analysis found 8.3 million people would be affected by the proposal.... [T]he plan ... still needs Congressional approval." --safari ...
... Thomas Kaplan of The New York Times: "With annual budget deficits nearing $1 trillion, the House took a modest step on Thursday to broadcast fiscal responsibility, narrowly approving a White House plan to rescind nearly $15 billion in unspent funding that had been approved in past years.... The House voted 210 to 206 to pass the measure ... championed by a leading contender to be the next House speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California.... Democrats were united in opposition.... Among the funding to be rescinded is $7 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP." --safari
Sacrified on the Racist Convictions of Jeff Sessions & Whims of Donald Trump. Rekha Basu of the Des Moines Register: "Manuel Antonio Cano Pacheco should have graduated high school in Des Moines last month.... Instead, Manuel died a brutal death alone in a foreign land, a symbol of gang supremacy in a country plagued by violent drug cartels. It happened three weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement returned him to Mexico, a country he had left at age 3 when his parents brought him here without a visa. The fact that America was the only home he has known made Manuel eligible to apply for and be granted DACA status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated by former President Barack Obama. It exempted from deportation certain young people, referred to as DREAMERS, who were brought to the U.S. without papers as children.... An ICE spokesperson said in a statement that a federal immigration judge terminated his DACA status because of two misdemeanor convictions.... The northwestern Mexican state of Zacatecas, where Manuel's family came from, has reportedly become a deadly place, especially for youth.... What's more, according to The Dallas Morning News, deportees are especially targeted by gangs in certain border areas. They are held by their captors unless their relatives in the U.S. pay thousands of dollars for their release." ...
Sarah N. Lynch & Kristina Cooke of Reuters: "U.S. authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees, officials told Reuters on Thursday, in the first large-scale use of federal prisons to hold detainees amid a Trump administration crackdown on people entering the country illegally. An ICE spokeswoman told Reuters five federal prisons will temporarily take in detainees awaiting civil immigration court hearings, including potential asylum seekers, with one prison in Victorville, California, preparing to house 1,000 people.... ICE has used federal prisons in the past but not on this scale, sources said. The new policy drew criticism from immigration advocates and former officials."
CBS/AP: "Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says that the Trump administration has reached a 'definitive agreement' with Chinese telecom giant ZTE that Ross claims 'imposes the most strict compliance that we've ever had on any company, American or foreign.' In an interview on CNBC, Ross said penalties amounted to $1 billion and that ZTE agreed to install new management and a compliance team picked by the U.S. The agreement is controversial: ZTE had been sanctioned by the U.S. for doing business with North Korea and Iran. It was blocked from purchasing parts from U.S. companies, sanctions that had crippled the company. The Trump administration has walked a fine line, stressing that any ZTE deal is separate from ongoing trade negotiations with China. And that the punishment for ZTE's past actions is tough enough." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The Trump administration, after heavy lobbying by the chemical industry, is scaling back the way the federal government determines health and safety risks associated with the most dangerous chemicals on the market, documents from the Environmental Protection Agency show. Under a law passed by Congress during the final year of the Obama administration, the E.P.A. was required for the first time to evaluate hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals and determine if they should face new restrictions, or even be removed from the market. The chemicals include many in everyday use, such as dry-cleaning solvents, paint strippers and substances used in health and beauty products like shampoos and cosmetics. But as it moves forward reviewing the first batch of 10 chemicals, the E.P.A. has in most cases decided to exclude from its calculations any potential exposure caused by the substances' presence in the air.... Instead, the agency will focus on possible harm caused by direct contact with a chemical in the workplace or elsewhere.... The approach is a big victory for the chemical industry, which has repeatedly pressed the E.P.A. to narrow the scope of its risk evaluations. Nancy B. Beck, the Trump administration's appointee to help oversee the E.P.A.'s toxic chemical unit, previously worked as an executive at the American Chemistry Council, one of the industry's main lobbying groups."
Juliet Eilperin, et al., of the Washington Post: "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked members of his 24/7 security detail to run errands for him on occasion, including picking up his dry cleaning and taking him in search of a favorite moisturizing lotion, according to two individuals familiar with those trips.... The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), reiterated his call that Pruitt step down." Mrs. McC: So not just his office staff but also his security staff, which he needs not only to protect him from economy-class travelers who yell at him but also to serve as his personal shoppers, nap-time monitors (requires busting down door), headhunters for Mrs. Pruitt, stuff like that. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "According to four sources familiar with the work environment at the Environmental Protection Agency, its scandal-plagued EPA administrator has regularly sent his subordinates out during the workday to pick up his favorite snacks and treats. Pruitt has been known to send staffers on these errands at least twice a week, with some sources describing his demands as 'constant,' and others merely noting that he does this 'frequently.'... He is particularly fond of finger food from the upscale eatery Dean & Deluca, according to a former EPA official. Pruitt is also particular about his coffee tastes, the former official said, and would often direct an aide to brew him pour-over coffee, which he prefers to more run-of-the-mill brewing methods.... One source described the work environment [at the EPA] as a 'hell hole'...." ...
... Paul Krugman: "... what's really striking to me is not so much the extent of corruption among Trump officials as its pettiness. And that pettiness itself tells you a lot about the kind of people now running America.... Long ago Tom Wolfe wrote a memorable essay on what really drives many powerful men.... It is ... the pleasure of 'seeing 'em jump' -- of watching people abase themselves, jump through hoops, to cater to your whims. It's about making yourself feel bigger by getting other people to act small.... Clearly, they take their cues from their boss, who famously enjoys sycophancy and demeaning his subordinates, up to and including top officials. Indeed, I suspect that many of his officials are engaged in what I once saw described as 'bicycling': bowing to the man above while trampling on those below.... Petty corruption and cruel, destructive policy are indeed linked. Men who see high office largely as a license to live large, act like big shots and force government employees to act as their personal servants aren’t likely to care much about serving the public interest."
CBS/AP: "The Trump administration is disbanding a panel of experts focused on protecting consumers from financial abuse. Members of the panel, called the Consumer Advisory Board, say Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has dissolved the group, which includes consumer advocates, financial industry representatives, community leaders and others. The board advises the CFPB, a federal agency formed after the housing crash to prevent financial abuse. Mulvaney, told the board's 25 members that they are being replaced and the panel overhauled, according to two of the members.... Under Dodd Frank, the 2010 financial reform law that created the CFPB, the consumer panel is required to meet twice a year. But meetings were repeatedly cancelled since Mulvaney took the helm at the bureau in November." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Meant to link a story on this Wednesday. Thanks to Akhilleus for discussing Mulvaney's Bank Protection Racket & Consumer Rip-off Bureau in today's Comments.
Thomas Kaplan & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Hoping to defuse a Republican rebellion, Speaker Paul D. Ryan promised Thursday that House Republicans would draft compromise legislation on immigration, setting up a showdown on one of the thorniest political issues just as the midterm campaign comes into focus.... Moderate Republican lawmakers need only three more signatures on a petition to force a series of immigration votes over the speaker's objections, including at least two that would focus on those young immigrants, known as Dreamers. Because of the arcane rules for such 'discharge petitions,' those lawmakers face a Tuesday cutoff to gather the 218 names needed to force floor action in late June. After a lengthy meeting with his conference to discuss immigration, Mr. Ryan stressed that pursuing a compromise bill would be a better course than forcing the issue through a petition.... But it remained unclear if the negotiations on a compromise would satisfy Republican lawmakers who are eager to see the House address the fate of the Dreamers."
Congressional Races. New York Times Editors: "This week's primary elections underscored the striking degree to which President Trump has transformed the Republican Party from a political organization into a cult of personality. By contrast, Democrats show signs of taking a more pluralistic approach, fielding candidates who are willing and even eager to break with their national leaders -- ... [Nancy] Pelosi, in particular.... Assuming that American democracy endures, a party organized around a single extreme personality seems like a brittle proposition.... Through his demagogic command of the party's base, he has emerged as the shameless, trash-talking, lib-owning fulcrum around which the entire enterprise revolves.... Such timidity is hardly surprising. Mr. Trump's favorability rating among Republicans is at 87 percent...."
Hannity Advises Mueller Witnesses to Destroy Evidence. But He Was Kidding! Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On the Friday before Labor Day in 2016, the FBI released a set of documents ... including ... an interview with a Clinton staffer who reported having destroyed with a hammer at least two mobile devices used by the former secretary of state.... The destruction of those retired devices helped prevent anyone from potentially retrieving their contents, including foreign agents.... On Wednesday night..., CNBC reported... [that Robert] Mueller and his team have also been requesting access to their phones, allowing investigators to peruse messages sent over systems that would otherwise be hard to acquire.... [So Sean] Hannity offered new advice to those targeted by Mueller's probe. '... He wants the phones turned over, even texts that are on what are called "encrypted apps: like WhatsApp or Signal, or one of these things,' he said. '... If I advised them to follow Hillary Clinton's lead, delete all your emails and then acid-wash the emails and the hard drives on the phones, then take your phones and bash them with a hammer to little itsy-bitsy pieces, use BleachBit, remove the SIM cards, and then take the pieces and hand it over to Robert Mueller and say: "Hillary Rodham Clinton, this is equal justice under the law."' He was kidding, he later insisted -- while repeating the same advice." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: To be clear, the Clinton staffer destroyed devices to protect U.S. secrets (and likely received authorization or instructions to do so); Hannity is advising witnesses to destroy what could be evidence of crimes against the U.S., an act which itself is a crime.
Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "The New Yorker's editorial staff members said Wednesday that they had formed a union, adding the magazine to a growing list of publications, old and new, whose employees have turned to collective bargaining during a tumultuous time for the industry."
Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "According to two well-informed individuals close to the family, David [Koch], who has been in declining health for several years, had resisted resigning, but Charles [Koch] forced him out.... From the start..., Charles was the instigator behind their political activism while remaining largely behind the scenes. This dynamic was evident as far back as 1980, when Charles convinced his younger brother David to run for Vice-President on the Libertarian Party ticket.... Nearly forty years later, many of the Kochs' policy preferences are now standard Republican orthodoxy, having been promoted from the fringes into the mainstream by the dozens of nonprofit organizations and candidates they funded. Small government, anti-tax, anti-regulatory, and pro-privatization policies, as well as skepticism regarding global warming, are commonplace.... Recent news accounts have highlighted differences that the Kochs have had with Trump.... What is often overlooked, and is far more significant, is the large extent to which the Kochs' policy preferences have prevailed under Trump.... Even if there is only one Koch brother left at the table, the menu will remain exactly the same, and the tab will be larger than ever." ...
... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "The Koch Brothers are the Cain and Abel of plutocratic politics.... This is not the first time fraternal intrigue has divided the family. Frederick Koch, the eldest brother in the family, alleges that after their father died in 1967 Charles tried to use 'homosexual blackmail' to force Frederick to sell his shares of the company business. [It didn't work.]... Another sibling, Bill, who is David Koch’s twin, has also wrestled for control of the company with both David and Charles.... The unfolding Koch drama perhaps illustrates the logical endpoint of libertarianism as a philosophy of extreme individualism. After all, what could be be more individualistic than trying to bring a vast fortune and political machine under the control of one man?"
Beyond the Beltway
Mini Moore. Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "[I]f the Alabama Republican Party gets its way, [Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom] Parker will be the state's next chief justice. Earlier this week, Parker defeated incumbent Chief Justice Lyn Stuart for the GOP nomination to take over her job.... Before joining the court himself, Parker was a top aide to then-Chief Justice Roy Moore.... Like Moore, Parker holds a deep animus against LGBTQ people, and he believes that his judicial decisions should be driven by his conservative religious beliefs...Oh, and there's one other thing. Parker appears to be quite enamored of a treasonous war fought to defend the idea that white people can own black people." And on and on. --safari
Way Beyond
The Cancer Is Spreading North. Ashifa Kassam of the Guardian: "Doug Ford -- the brother of controversial former Toronto mayor Rob Ford -- is the new leader of Canada's most populous province, winning a majority government in a local show of strength for the divisive wedge politics that have rattled much of the world.... [T]he Conservatives won 41% of the vote, bringing an end to 15 years of Liberal rule in the province.... Throughout the campaign Ford’s brand of populism prompted a slew of comparisons to Donald Trump." --safari
Way, Way Beyond
Ian Sample of the Guardian: "Nasa's veteran Curiosity rover has found complex organic matter buried and preserved in ancient sediments that formed a vast lake bed on Mars more than 3bn years ago. The discovery is the most compelling evidence yet that long before the planet became the parched world it is today, Martian lakes were a rich soup of carbon-based compounds that are necessary for life, at least as we know it."
News Lede
CNN: "Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died. He was 61. CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide." ...
... The New York Times' obituary is here.
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Reader Comments (10)
Two things. 'Allies', wrong word. We have no allies. Not just the G-7, the whole world. A fundamental part of that word is trust. It's impossible to trust delusion.
It's hard for people to functionally integrate the concept of NPD and Trump. So let me present a Trump world view which solves the problem. NPD is a class of mental illness for the species Homo sapiens.
It is regarded as normal behavior for the species Homo trump.
Once upon a time when I spent part of a summer in St.Louis, the place where I resided had cockroaches––I had never come in contact with these critters before. The shock of turning on the light in the bathroom and seeing dozens of cockroaches scurrying back into their hiding places was unnerving to say the least. I mention this because last night Rachel used her experience of having rented an apartment only to discover it was laded with these creatures. She had only seen the apartment in the daytime, but returning to it during the night, when turning on the light, revealed the influx of roaches. (she got out of her rental). Rachel used this as a metaphor of shining light on all the scandals that are being revealed––and cites several examples including the Cambridge Analytical business. But her main target here was about a John Fotladis–-Trump's architect. He, Trump and Michael Cohen were the fulsome three who cut real estate and building deals, foreign and domestic. Fotladis was the creator of the fancy tower and surroundings they wanted to build in Moscow but didn't. Why Fotladis is front and center here is a few days ago when a NYT's journalist called him he (1) hung up on her; (2) closed his firm) and (3) erased his website. Whether he closed his shops in Ukraine and Slovenia we don't know. But something is queer here. Flip on the lights and see those critters flee–-me think bigly mys-ter-y
yes?
WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE:
Yep, Rudy would certainly know about all sorts of women since he carried on with one while being married to another and then dumping the one to marry another. (sounds like Gingrich). These men would certainly be schooled in what we could call substantial relationships–-lots of substance mixed with stormy hanky panky. The pitiful display that Rudy continues to regurgitate seems not to bother the buffoon whose wife's semi naked pictures were all over the internet in retaliation to Rudy's remarks. One wonders what it will take for him to get a pink slip–-an undergarment that Ms Clifford wears with pride.
" Assuming that American democracy endures, a party organized around a single extreme personality seems like a brittle proposition.... Through his demagogic command of the party’s base, he[Trump] has emerged as the shameless, trash-talking, lib-owning fulcrum around which the entire enterprise revolves.... Such timidity is hardly surprising. Mr. Trump’s favorability rating among Republicans is at 87 percent...." Time's editors
and keep in mind: CONFUSION IS CONTROL
So now as part of his charm offensive Trump is calling on the G7 to reinstate Russia. I'd say it's not impossible, but that expelling the US is also a possibility, although remote.
Trump is supposedly leaving the G7 a day early but I'm sure if he is heavily taken to task he could very well leave this afternoon.
P.S. Just read that Anthony Bourdain is dead––a suicide. Did he, too, have serious psychological problems as did Kate Spade?–-for years we learned. Several weeks ago I attended a memorial for a good friend of my younger son who hung himself in the basement of his home after spending a lovely day with his family (wife--two teenage kids) and his mom and Dad. My son and the rest of the large group of friends had no idea that this young man had serious depression / /anxiety issues and was on a new medication. Speculation here of certain medications triggering suicidal thoughts and possible actions.
My son's friend's suicide still haunts me.
So Putin says a day or so ago the Pretender's tariffs are teaching Europe a lesson?
And today the Pretender says Russia should be re-admitted to what was the G-8 before they were kicked out over their invasion of the Ukraine.
The Pretender and Putin. Still best buddies.
Guess every one needs a friend, but this is downright creepy.
Sure, it seems outrageous that Trump's White House hasn't convened a single high-level strategy session on North Korea strategy. But, given the present reality, it's totally justified. First of all, who would Trump's team call in to advise them? Only Faux News is on speed dial, or some pseudo-"think tank" dominated by the very Trumpian philosophy of "want so hard, it'll come true". Secondly, Trump won't read a single page of text, and likely can't concentrate longer than 5 minutes. So, even if the country's best Korean expert shows us, (s)he has 5 minutes, maybe 15 with interspersed video clips of bombs falling and military parades. Thirdly, Trump will forget everything anyway, unless it's written down in key words and fits on a note card. So why bother?
On another note, I'm no expert on the steel industry, but the "national security threat" justifying our tariffs are obviously hogwash. But beyond that, let's dabble into some hypotheticals. Suppose the US needs an immediate massive production of steel for X reason. Are we supposed to believe that the biggest/most diversified economy in the world couldn't mobilize its resources and revamp some declining or dormant steel plants, or even just build new ones? Stimulate the national production chain with an infusion of public money to provide for our sudden needs? Have we become that impotent of a nation? Seems China's centralized government could make new steel plants pop out of the ground like mushrooms if national security came calling. But us, no, we need to punish our steadfast allies who have no reason to not provide for our needs, all for frivolous hypotheticals. Idiotic doesn't begin to describe this clusterfuck.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/politics/trump-nfl-athletes-kneeling-pardons/index.html
The Pretender Pardoner in Chief, he thinks cleverly one-upping those "bastard" athlete anthem kneelers, suggests they should provide him with names of those they believe have been treated unfairly by the justice system, so he might consider pardoning them too.
Shouldn't be hard. He's already pardoned one dead black man, Jack Johnson. Pardoning a bevy of dead black men shot by police?
Easy enough.
Here is some information I received from a friend that sheds some light on the particulars of the trade deal disaster:
"You are all aware that Le Donald is basing his new steel and aluminum tariffs on “national security”. It's contended that restricting imports will promote domestic production of these vital components of military hardware.
What is not mentioned is that the US cannot produce alloy steel, nor structural aluminum alloys, without importing some essential ingredients.
Best example is chromium, needed to produce stainless steel and machine steels. This element is found in only a few places on Earth: i.e. Southern Africa, Kazakhstan, and China. When the US imposed sanctions on South Africa and Rhodesia, during apartheid, the price of stainless steel products skyrocketed, as US industry was forced to buy chromium from the Soviet Union, which gleefully jacked up the price.
Bauxite, Aluminum ore, mined in the US, is only used to make aluminum oxide for abrasives. Bauxite for structural aluminum in US mills presently comes mostly from Brazil, lesser amounts from Jamaica and some West African nations (aka Third World Shitholes)."
Trump says he has been "Putin's worst nightmare". Talk about sweet dreams!
So much horrible news. Arguing to allow insurance companies to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, pissing off our allies and lobbying for Russia to rejoin the G7. But the shit-kicker is trump going into the summit with North Korea completely unprepared, eager to put his name on an international agreement. Neville Chamberlain did that once. True, we still remember his name...