;)
The Commentariat -- November 15, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Darren Samuelsohn & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Roger Stone has been found guilty on all charges in a case accusing the longtime Donald Trump adviser of seeking to thwart a House investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. After a trial that spanned just over a week, a federal court jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Stone on five felony counts of lying to investigators, one of obstructing a congressional probe and one of witness tampering."
Here are the New York Times' live updates of the Yovanovitch hearing. Politico highlights are here. Guardian updates are here. ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday denigrated Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former United States ambassador to Ukraine, even as she testified in the impeachment inquiry about how she felt threatened by Mr. Trump, leading Democrats to accuse him of trying to intimidate a witness in real time. 'Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go?' Mr. Trump wrote, assailing her on Twitter to his 66 million followers and adding that 'It is a U.S. President's absolute right to appoint ambassadors.' The president's insults came as Ms. Yovanovitch told the House Intelligence Committee in powerful and personal terms of the devastation and fear she felt earlier this year, as she was targeted first by Mr. Trump's allies and later by the president himself during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Democrats said Mr. Trump's onslaught amounted to an attempt to threaten Ms. Yovanovitch, who is still a State Department employee, and other potential witnesses against cooperating with the inquiry, a tactic that they said could itself be impeachable." ~~~
~~~ Maggie Miller of the Hill: "Former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch responded in live time to tweets from President Trump denigrating her as she testified in a House impeachment hearing, stating that they were meant to intimidate her. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) offered Yavonovitch the chance to respond to Trump after he paused her dramatic testimony to read Trump's tweet. 'It's very intimidating,' Yovanovitch said. 'I can't speak to what the president is trying to do, but I think the effect is to be intimidating.'" ~~~
~~~ Mike Lillis & Scott Wong of the Hill: "House Democrats wasted no time Friday saying President Trump's real-time Twitter attack on a top U.S. diplomat -- as she was testifying on Trump's dealings with Ukraine -- was more evidence of presidential misconduct as they charge ahead with their impeachment probe. 'The president in real time is engaging in witness intimidation and witness tampering,' an exasperated Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, told reporters during a break in the Yovanovitch hearing." ~~~
~~~ According to MSNBC, Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) put out a statement saying Trump's attack on Yovanovitch was "wrong."
~~~ Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "Fox News host Bret Baier said Friday that President Trump's tweet criticizing former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was 'adding an article of impeachment real-time.' 'That was a turning point in this hearing so far,' Baier said on Twitter of Trump's tweet." ~~~
~~~ Joe Concha of the Hill: "'Fox News Sunday' anchor Chris Wallace said Friday that if viewers weren't moved by the impeachment testimony of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, they 'don't have a pulse,' during commentary on 'America's Newsroom.' The comments from Wallace came as Yovanovitch testified Friday that she felt threatened when she saw President Trump had brought up her service in Ukraine on a July call with the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky. 'I was shocked and devastated,' she told the House Intelligence Committee. 'It was a terrible moment.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonam Sheth of Business Insider: "The public will hear on Friday from one of the most significant witnesses to ... Donald Trump's shadow foreign policy campaign in Ukraine.... Marie Yovanovitch served as the US's ambassador to Ukraine until she was abruptly recalled in May following what she characterized as a smear campaign against her based on 'false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.' Yovanovitch's testimony is expected to throw the spotlight on Rudy Giuliani..., who is accused of engineering her ouster.... Yovanovitch will testify to the House Intelligence Committee as part of its public impeachment hearings beginning at 10 a.m. [Mrs. McC: 9 a.m.] ET on Friday. The hearing will be broadcast live on the major cable news networks and C-SPAN. It will also be streamed live on YouTube." ~~~
~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: Rachel Maddow says the Yovanovitch hearing will begin at 9 am ET, not 10 am. I'm going to assume she's correct. ~~~
~~~ Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "The impeachment inquiry has pulled back the curtain on a long and murky effort to engineer [Marie Yovanovitch]'s removal -- one driven by an array of figures whose motives are still not fully understood. They include a former U.S. congressman-turned-lobbyist, a then-sitting member of Congress and the two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who have since been charged with campaign finance crimes." ~~~
~~~ "The Woman ... [Is] Going to Go Through Some Things." -- Trump. Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "As a leading female diplomat, a political target of the president's allies and a figure at the center of the Ukraine drama, Yovanovitch ... enters the spotlight as the latest woman who has refused to acquiesce to Trump in the face of personal and gender-specific attacks.... The impeachment probe is magnifying those dynamics as the first woman to publicly testify prepares to confront Trump's fiercest congressional defenders, nearly all men, about a campaign by other male allies of the president to force her from her post." Mrs. McC: Let's see how mad-dog Jim Jordan approaches Yovanovitch.
Russia, China, Israel, or any other country, if you are listening and have the july 26th Trump/Sonderland phone call I'm sure that our press will reward you mightily if you release it. -- RAS, in yesterday's Comments
Uh, turns out that may not be necessary. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ Trump, Sondland Are So Screwed. Desmond Butler, et al., of the AP: "A second U.S. Embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a cellphone call between ... Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union discussing a need for Ukrainian officials to pursue 'investigations,' The Associated Press has learned. The July 26 call between Trump and Gordon Sondland was first described during testimony Wednesday by William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Taylor said one of his staffers overhead the call while Sondland was in a Kyiv restaurant the day after Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that triggered the House impeachment inquiry. The second diplomatic staffer also at the table was Suriya Jayanti, a foreign service officer based in Kyiv. A person briefed on what Jayanti overheard spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.... The staffer Taylor testified about is David Holmes, the political counselor at the embassy in Kyiv, according to an official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Holmes is scheduled to testify Friday before House investigators in a closed session.... Later that day, a Twitter account that appears to belong to Ukraine's then-Defense Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk posted a photo of himself at dinner with Sondland, Taylor and Ambassador Kurt Volker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: How could it be a crime, much less impeachable, if Trump shouted his corrupt intent to a guy using an unsecured cell in a crowded Kiev restaurant while dining with a foreign minister who probably oversees counterintelligence? Trump is innocent by reason of stupidity. ~~~
~~~ The Man Without a Friend. John Hudson & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: Gordon Sondland "upended the House impeachment inquiry last week by acknowledging he communicated the terms of a quid pro quo with Ukraine during a meeting in September after testifying earlier that he had no knowledge of such an arrangement. The reversal of his testimony prompted key Republican allies in the White House and Congress to abandon Sondland after initially viewing him as an indispensable witness. Further revisions of his testimony may come next Wednesday, when he is expected to return to Capitol Hill to address a previously unknown July 26 phone call he had with Trump that Ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. revealed this week. Sondland's attorney said his client 'has the full confidence of Secretary [Mike] Pompeo,' but the State Department declined to comment on that claim, adding to the diplomat's isolation as he comes under fire from all sides.... Trump publicly distanced himself from his envoy last week.... Top Republicans in Congress also have turned on Sondland and began circulating unsubstantiated rumors suggesting he had been co-opted by the Democrats.... Democrats privately concede that Sondland isn't an ideal witness for them either because he now lacks credibility." ~~~
AND There's This: "Not long after arriving [in Brussels, Belgium], Sondland started talking to subordinates about a need for more skilled and wealthy European immigrants in the United States in an attempt to ease tensions with the European Union, according to a person familiar with his views. Many U.S. diplomats in the mission were unsettled by the idea, viewing it as racially motivated. One diplomat said that 'the way this was going to come off was that the United States is fishing for white people, while reducing opportunities for needier people to immigrate.' The person familiar with Sondland's views said Trump had tasked him in July 2018 with developing a proposal to 'fast track' immigration from the E.U. in consultation with the president's main immigration adviser [Mrs. McC: and noted white nationaist], Stephen Miller, and son-in-law Jared Kushner."
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As the Washington Post reported last month, Sondland is an ambitious guy who paid $1MM for the E.U. job because he wanted the glory of being an ambassador, just as a few of his rich friends had been. Evidently it never dawned on him that "ambassador," especially to the E.U., involves more than throwing galas for glamorous, urbane Europeans at his "baronial residence" in Brussels, a residence he made more baronial with a cool million plus extracted from us taxpayers. And it never dawned on him that when he muscled in on Ukraine -- a country not even in his portfolio -- & ordered embassy staff to do illegal and "irregular" things, there could be blowback. He was a guy who wanted to be friends with all the big shots, and now he has few friends at all. ~~~
~~~ Zachary Cohen & Kevin Collier of CNN: "US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's cell phone call to ... Donald Trump from a restaurant in Ukraine this summer appears to be a shocking security breach that raises significant counterintelligence concerns, according to several former officials, who told CNN there is a high probability that intelligence agencies from numerous foreign countries, including Russia, were listening in on the conversation.... Fiona Hill, a former Russia aide on Trump's National Security Council, testified in October that she had previously tried to get Sondland to stop using his personal cell phone for work." ~~~
~~~ BUT Trump, Sondland Can Latch onto This. Matthias Williams of Reuters: "Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Interfax Ukraine reported.... 'Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,' Prystaiko said about Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.... 'I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance,' Prystaiko was quoted as saying by Interfax. 'Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Huh. Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "A longtime career employee at the White House Office of Management and Budget is expected to break ranks and testify Saturday in the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, potentially filling in important details on the hold-up of military aid to Ukraine. Mark Sandy would be the first OMB employee to testify in the inquiry, after OMB acting director Russell T. Vought and two other political appointees at the agency defied congressional subpoenas to appear. The White House has called the impeachment inquiry unconstitutional and ordered administration officials not to participate. But unlike these other OMB officials, Sandy is a career employee, not one appointed by the president. He has worked at the agency off and on for over a decade, under presidents of both parties, climbing the ranks into his current role as deputy associate director for national security programs. 'If he is subpoenaed, he will appear,' Sandy's lawyer, Barbara 'Biz' Van Gelder said Thursday evening. Sandy is expected to testify during a closed-door deposition, which is not open to the public.... Sandy could provide insight into the process by which some $400 million in military and security aid to Ukraine was held up over the summer. He was among the career staffers who raised questions about the hold-up on the aid, people familiar with the matter said, and his role gave him responsibility for signing the documents required to hold it up."
Rudy Implies He Has the Goods on Trump. Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, has said he is confident the president will remain loyal to him as an impeachment inquiry unfolds in which the former New York mayor has become a central figure. But Giuliani joked that he had good 'insurance' in case Trump did turn on him, amid speculation Republicans will seek to frame him as a rogue actor. In a telephone interview with the Guardian, in response to a question about whether he was nervous that Trump might 'throw him under a bus' in the impeachment crisis, Giuliani said, with a slight laugh: 'I'm not, but I do have very, very good insurance, so if he does, all my hospital bills will be paid.' Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, who was also on the call, then interjected: 'He's joking.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Rudy's Threat to Trump Looks Like More than a Joke. Jessica Campisi of the Hill: "President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is under investigation by federal prosecutors over possible campaign finance violations and accusations he failed to register as a foreign agent, Bloomberg reports. Multiple U.S. officials told the outlet that the probe into Giuliani's financial dealings could also lead to charges of violating bribery or conspiracy laws, with one adding that his work alongside the president has raised counterintelligence concerns.... 'I would not be surprised if he gets indicted,' Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, told Bloomberg. 'It's clear Giuliani is up to his ears in shady stuff and there's tons of smoke.' Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are also investigating whether Giuliani broke lobbying laws in dealing with Ukraine, as well as his efforts to undercut Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was ultimately recalled in the spring as Trump sought to pressure the country to probe Biden." Mrs. McC: Will Rudy be indicted? Will he finger Trump to save his own ass? Stay tuned. ~~~
~~~ Rudy's Bagman Tried to Flee with a Lot in His Bag. Mrs. McCrabbie: This Daily Beast story by Lachlan Markey & Betsy Swan is firewalled, but I heard on the teevee that what it says is that when Lev Parnas tried to get out of the U.S. with a one-way ticket to Vienna, he was carrying the equivalent of US$6,000 in cash, five cellphones, Trump campaign paper straws & the business card of a reputedly corrupt fake "anti-corruption" Ukrainian prosecutor given to shaking down prosecution targets.
**Josh Kovensky of TPM: "President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and his two now-indicted cronies [Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman] had thought they had struck a deal with Kyiv for political dirt. But everything changed in a matter of days. Whatever deal the group thought they had struck fell apart with the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky, forcing Trump and Giuliani to launch a new pressure campaign to bully Kyiv anew into helping them politically.... The fulcrum of the scandal was the April 21 election. It is the key to understanding what came before and to unlocking the sequence of events that followed, culminating in the impeachment inquiry against Trump.... The crucial piece in understanding the Ukraine scandal is that two months before Zelensky won power -- in February 2019 -- Trump thought that he had done a deal which would transform Ukraine into a domestic political bludgeon." --s ~~~
~~~ American Turncoat. Casey Michel of the New Republic: "[T]here's an undercurrent in the ongoing impeachment hearings that points to a different outcome of Trump's extortion attempts. If Trump had gotten his way -- if Rudy Giuliani's popeyed machinations hadn't come to light; if a whistleblower ... hadn't come forward -- the president would have also managed to upend the allegations surrounding a figure whose legacy has been stalking Trump's presidency since its first days: Paul Manafort.... Manafort's legacy, and future, haunts everything surrounding impeachment. Not only is he a tether linking Russia's 2016 interference efforts to the sudden Ukraine-related impeachment efforts -- providing evidence that the scandals are simply two sides of the same coin -- there is every reason to think he was the key figure setting both in motion." --s ~~~
~~~ safari: If you take the two prior articles together, a central source of this entire scandal beseiging America's democracy and standing in the world is Paul Manafort and his successive failures to corrupt Ukraine. Starting with the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych sending him to the US to help install Trump to pay back debts to his Russian handlers; then afterwards with the defeat of corrupt Petro Poroshenko who had reportedly already agreed to fabricate investigations against the Bidens: all to help Trump win re-election, "clear" Manafort, and "clear" Russia. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The Ukraine affair is a mini-scandal in the broader Trump-Russia conspiracy. Even though Trump's 2016 election crimes are not to be part of Articles of Impeachment, I hope that when the trial goes to the Senate, House managers explain this to Senators, and therefore to the American public. I'll give Trump this: his presidency* is the greatest grift in American history.
Pelosi Has the Goods on Trump. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened the focus of Democrats' impeachment case against President Trump on Thursday, accusing the president of committing bribery when he withheld vital military assistance from Ukraine at the same time he was seeking its commitment to publicly investigate his political rivals. The speaker's explicit allegation of bribery, misdeed identified in the Constitution as an impeachable offense, was significant. Even as Ms. Pelosi said that no final decision had been made on whether to impeach Mr. Trump, it suggested that Democrats are increasingly working to put a name to the president's alleged wrongdoing, and moving toward a more specific set of charges that could be codified in articles of impeachment in the coming weeks. 'The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry, and that the president abused his power and violated his oath by threatening to withhold military aid and a White House meeting in exchange for an investigation into his political rival -- a clear attempt by the president to give himself an advantage in the 2020 election,' Ms. Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the Capitol." (Also linked yesterday.)
Betsy Swan & Adam Rawnsley of The Daily Beast: "One of the people in the mix [to replace ousted Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch] ... was Pete Sessions, a former congressman who called for Yovanovitch's firing. He is also a longtime ally of the former New York mayor and is believed to have taken millions of dollars from a PAC funded in part by Giuliani's indicted cronies.... Witnesses in the inquiry have said they believed the people who successfully pushed for her ouster wanted to replace her with someone more pliable -- and maybe even more friendly to their business interests. Conversations about Sessions -- and another possible pick for the job, Raul Mas Canosa, a South Florida businessman with deep ties to the Cuban expat community -- circulated inside and outside the administration.... Lev Parnas ... was part of discussions about Mas Canosa with associates in Kyiv[.]" --s
Mrs. McCrabbie: From the Moops to Sideshow Bob. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to be familiar with comedic absurdities to understand American politics: ~~~
Convicted of a crime I didn't even commit. Hah! Attempted murder? Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry? Do they? -- Sideshow Bob, "The Simpsons," Season 6, Episode 5, 1994 ~~~
~~~ Bill Oakley of the Washington Post: "This rhetorical absurdity, originally intended as a joke on a TV cartoon, is now being trotted out in all seriousness by the GOP. What New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait has called the 'Sideshow Bob defense' has become central to Republican efforts to shield President Trump from accusations of wrongdoing. Because the Ukrainian quid pro quo was ultimately unsuccessful, the argument goes, no crime was committed, even if one was attempted.... Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) felt obliged to stamp out any [Sideshow Bob-type] confusion during the impeachment hearing Wednesday. 'Is attempted murder a crime?' he asked Ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. Laughing, Taylor responded: 'Yes, attempted murder is a crime.'" As Oakley explains, the parallels between the Sideshow Bob storyline & the Ukraine impeachment scandal are "getting uncanny." Oakley cites the Wall Street Journal, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy & ambitious presidential hopeful Nikki Haley for employing the Sideshow Bob defense to "exonerate" Trump. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's important to bear in mind, when Trump allies spout the Sideshow Bob defense, that Trump came very close to getting away with his attempted murder plot. The victim was ready to take the bullet, not on Fifth Avenue, but within walking distance of it, at 10 Columbus Circle (CNN's NYC studios), a walk in the park, you might say, or at least along the southern border of it: ~~~
~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Over the course of a few nail-biting days in early September, Trump nearly obtained the 'deliverable' he had sought from Ukraine for months.... The date for the announcement was reportedly set for Sept. 13.... A look at the chronology reveals just how close Trump came to extracting what he wanted from Ukraine's president.... On ... Sept 9th, three congressional committees launched an investigation into whether [Rudy] Giuliani strong-armed Ukraine 'to assist the President's reelection campaign.'... On Sept. 11, The White House released the $391 million aid package to Ukraine.... [CNN anchor Fareed] Zakaria, in fact, had traveled to Ukraine on Sept. 12 and 13 and met with [Volodymyr] Zelensky for a pre-interview discussion...Then, on Sept. 13 [Adam] Schiff announced publicly that [acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph] Maguire was withholding a whistleblower's complaint.... The interview was 'set,' Zakaria recalled, until it wasn't. Looking back, he said, the release of the aid and the revelation of a whistleblower complaint appeared to have been responsible for the cancellation." --s ~~~
~~~ Fareed Zakaria, in a Washington Post op-ed, describes his efforts to get the interview with Zelensky.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha
Brian Stelter of CNN decided to check out Fox "News" Wednesday night to find out how the impeachment hearing went: "Here's how I would sum up everything I heard from Fox's prime time hosts: Wednesday's hearing was a bust. It was all just hearsay. It was a 'disaster' for the Democrats and a 'great day' for the Republicans. Impeachment is 'stupid.' Impeachment is 'fake.' There's nothing impeachable here. There's no reason to hold hearings. This inquiry needs to stop right now.... CNN's Oliver Darcy wrote earlier in the day. 'Don't expect viewers, listeners, and readers of right-wing media to walk away from Wednesday's impeachment hearings with a different opinion of President Trump's behavior,' Darcy said. 'In fact, it's possible they might be more convinced than ever that Trump did nothing wrong. Why? Because right-wing media has largely -- and unsurprisingly -- focused on the moments in the hearing favorable to its preferred narrative.' He was right."
Soros Runs the State Department! Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Following the first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday, a Trump-supporting husband-wife lawyer duo who are now fully entangled in the Ukraine scandal appeared on Fox Business host Lou Dobbs' show and pushed an outlandish conspiracy theory involving billionaire Democratic financier George Soros, the State Department, the FBI, and Ukraine. During Wednesday night's broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight, attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing -- who reportedly ran an off-the-books operation with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to dig up Ukrainian dirt on former vice president Joe Biden -- immediately took issue with senior State Department official George Kent, who testified earlier in the day.... [After Dobbs teed up the Soros conspiracy theme, diGenova claimed,] '... there's no doubt that George Soros controls a very large part of the career foreign service of the United States State Department.... He also controls the activities of FBI agents overseas who work for [non-governmental organizations]. That was very evident in Ukraine. And Kent was part of that. He was a very big protector of Soros.' The former U.S. attorney ... went on claim that Soros 'had a daily opportunity to tell the State Department' what to do in Ukraine and 'ran it. He corrupted FBI officials, he corrupted foreign service officers,' diGenova concluded. 'And the bottom line is this, George Soros wants to run Ukraine and he's doing everything he can to use every lever of the United States government to make that happen, for business interests, not for good government business.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Fox should get Dobbs, diGenova & Toensing off the air. The "international Jewish cabal" crap really is a bridge too far. ~~~
~~~ Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: Fox has come under fire from Jewish organizations following a Wednesday night segment on Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs Tonight in which Trump-boosting lawyer Joe diGenova seemingly trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes by accusing Jewish financier George Soros of controlling 'very large parts' of the U.S. Department of State.... The far-right lawyer's remarks are extremely similar to comments made by Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell last year during a Dobbs interview -- comments that got Farrell banned from Fox programming.... Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, took to Twitter on Thursday to call on Fox to hold to the same standards they used with Farrell."
AND Soros' Son is the Whistleblower! Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "Rep. Steve King (R-IA) posted photos of the son of left-wing billionaire George Soros on Thursday, absurdly accusing him of being the White House whistleblower. 'Adam Schiff said, "I do not know the identity of the whistleblower." @RepAdamSchiff here are four strong clues,' posted King, along with four pictures of Soros with ... Hillary Clinton..., Chuck Schumer..., Nancy Pelosi, and ... Elizabeth Warren. Alexander Soros is not the whistleblower. He does not work at the CIA, or in government. While King deleted the tweet after this article was published," Nash posted a screenshot of the original tweet. ~~~
~~~ Nash reports that Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.) retweeted King's ridiculous tweet. It seems Gosar is quite the active Tweetledeedumb: ~~~
~~~ Adam Raymond of New York: Arizona's Paul Gosar (R-Az.) wrote a series of 23 tweets Wednesday, which "at first glance..., appeared to be standard GOP talking points against impeachment and Wednesday's public hearings in the House. But upon closer inspection, some noticed that the first letter of each tweeted spelled 'Epstein didn't kill himself.'... And he wasn't done." In his final tweet, which asserted that all the previous tweets were about the impeachment hearings, the first letter of each line spelled out "Area 51." "Gosar is the first member of Congress to so publicly embrace the 'Epstein didn't kill himself' meme, which has flourished in recent weeks.... Gosar's embrace of the Epstein conspiracy isn't much of a surprise. This is a guy who once said the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was a false-flag operation orchestrated by leftists; who embraced birtherism; and whose own siblings came together last year to make an ad begging voters not to reelect him. He blamed that on Barack Obama." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gosar's apparent objective is to prove that Donald Trump is not the looniest elected official in the land. So there's a new & original anti-impeachment arguments that's a little worse than Kellyanne Conway's (see yesterday's Commentariat). ~~~
~~~ Contributor MAG reminds us that Gosar has had his well-deserved star turn on SNL. (And thanks for the memories, Elijah Cummings):
Robert Barnes & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to stop a prosecutor's investigation of his personal finances, a bold assertion of presidential power that seeks a landmark decision from the nation's highest court. The filing by the president's private lawyers represents a historical moment that tests the court's independence and highlights the Constitution's separation-of-powers design. It also marks a new phase in the investigations that have dogged Trump throughout his presidency and have culminated in an impeachment inquiry. The case involves Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s attempt to enforce a grand jury subpoena issued to the president's accountants for eight years of Trump's tax records.... The justices are not required to review the lower court's decision. But the chances that the high court will get involved increased Wednesday, when a separate appeals court in a separate case concluded Congress has a right to those same tax records." The New York Times report, by Adam Liptak, is here. The NBC News story, by Dareh Gregorian, is here.
Trump Business Briefs
Jonathan O'Connell & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "President Trump's Washington hotel has fallen well behind competing properties despite continuing to charge among the highest rates in the city, according to financial information provided to potential bidders as his company tries to sell the hotel's lease. The hotel has become a center of Republican politics and a frequent stopping point for members of Trump's cabinet and inner circle. But its guest rooms are running nearly half empty this year, according to the information, causing the 263-room luxury property -- which opened on Pennsylvania Avenue weeks before Trump arrived in the White House -- to fall short of the company's own expectations. Marketing materials distributed by a real estate firm hired by Trump's company say that a new owner, operating 'unencumbered' by Trump's name or his management company, could dramatically increase profits, particularly through a massive increase in business with foreign governments."
RNC Gives Trump a Consolation Prize. David Fahrenthold & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee will hold its winter meetings at President Trump's Doral golf course in Florida next year -- awarding another of the party's most lucrative events to the president's private business, a party spokesman said Thursday.... Last month, Trump briefly chose Doral to host a much larger event: next year's Group of Seven summit of world leaders -- effectively awarding a massive federal contract to himself. After bipartisan criticism, Trump canceled the event a few days later. No new site has yet been chosen for the summit. Still, this will be the second time in two years that the GOP will hold a major meeting at the resort -- a key property for Trump that has suffered financial decline since he entered politics."
Severin Carrell of the Guardian: "The Trump Organization has settled a £225,000 legal bill with the Scottish government after it lost a long court battle against a windfarm near its Aberdeenshire golf course.... Trump sued ministers in Edinburgh in 2012 over the decision to authorise and support the construction of an 11-turbine experimental windfarm about two miles from the southern boundary of his coastal golf course north of Aberdeen." --s
Jim Acosta & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump met with Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Pat Cipollone in an Oval Office meeting Thursday afternoon in which the so-called Horowitz report came up in conversation, two sources told CNN. The animated discussions were captured by TV crews outside the Oval Office on the South Lawn of the White House awaiting the President's departure for Louisiana. Trump held a campaign rally in Louisiana ahead of Saturday's gubernatorial election in that state. The Horowitz report refers to a probe by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on the opening of the Russia investigation. Horowitz's office is expected to wrap up its investigation soon." ~~~
~~~ Matt Zapotosky & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department Inspector General's office has told witnesses who are set to review draft sections of its long-awaited report on the FBI investigation of President Trump's 2016 campaign that they will not be allowed to submit written feedback -- one in a series of unusual restrictions that some fear could make the final document less accurate, people familiar with the matter said. As is the case in most inspector general probes, witnesses are being invited to review draft sections of the report and offer comments and corrections, the people said. But -- unlike most cases -- they are being told those comments must be conveyed only verbally, the people said.... Witnesses, they said, are being asked to review their sections in a secure area, after signing nondisclosure agreements.... The witnesses, they said, are also concerned that the process gives the inspector general complete control in characterizing any comments witnesses make -- and leaves witnesses with no ability to create a paper trail that might help them show their words were captured inaccurately." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Isn't this how a totalitarian state operates? Still, I feel sure Bill Barr's "Justice" Department will come up with a fair & balanced report on the FBI investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign, you know, the one where Barr testified before the Senate that the government was "spying" on the Trump campaign.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge excoriated Justice Department officials Thursday for their handling of potential criminal charges against former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, saying the continued uncertainty over the prosecution was unfair to McCabe and the public. 'This is not a hard case,' U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton said. 'I was a good prosecutor for a long time. Deciding whether or not you're going to charge someone with false statements or perjury is not that hard, factually or legally -- maybe politically, but not factually or legally.' Walton, a George W. Bush appointee overseeing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by a watchdog group to obtain records about McCabe's firing, complained at a hearing Thursday afternoon that the Justice Department claims about an ongoing potential prosecution of McCabe may have been a 'smoke screen' to persuade the judge to forestall the case demanding documents."
"Pardon Me." -- Roger Stone. Timothy Johnson of Media Matters: "While a jury deliberated over his fate, Roger Stone -- a confidant of ... Donald Trump and longtime GOP operative who is facing felony charges that he lied to Congress -- purportedly sent a message through far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones asking Trump to pardon him if he is convicted.... As the jury deliberated on November 14, Jones purported to share a message from Stone himself during the broadcast of Infowars' The Alex Jones Show. Jones said, 'Roger Stone's message is this: He expects to be convicted. He said only a miracle can save him now. ... He said to me, "Alex, barring a miracle, I appeal to God and I appeal to your listeners for prayer, and I appeal to the president to pardon me because to do so would be an action that would show these corrupt courts that they're not going to get away with persecuting people for their free speech or for the crime of getting the president elected."'"
Every Damned Thing Trump Does Is Against U.S. Interests. Nicole Gaouette of CNN: "Secretary of Defense Mark Esper landed in South Korea on Thursday to navigate renewed threats from an 'enraged' North Korea and newly heightened strain in the alliance with Seoul that congressional aides, lawmakers and Korea experts say has been caused by ... Donald Trump. Trump is demanding that South Korea pay roughly 400% more in 2020 to cover the cost of keeping US troops on the peninsula, a congressional aide and an administration official confirmed to CNN. The price hike has frustrated Pentagon officials and deeply concerned Republican and Democratic lawmakers, according to military officials and congressional aides. It has angered and unnerved Seoul, where leaders are questioning US commitment to their alliance and wondering whether Trump will pull US forces if they don't pay up.... In the US, congressional aides and Korea experts familiar with the talks say the President's $4.7 billion demand came out of thin air, sending State and Defense Department officials scrambling to justify the number...."
The Measure of Lindsey Graham
Mrs. McCrabbie: Up till now, we've learned that Lindsey is totally lacking in moral conviction, has zero courage, and flipflops on everything. So yesterday, we learned from an Axios report that Sen. Lindsey Graham went to the White House & really stood up to Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Graham himself boasted to the Axios guys about it: "In a phone interview last night, Graham confirmed he clashed with Erdoğan in the Oval. 'The Turkish narrative that they have done more to destroy ISIS, I rejected forcefully, and I let Turkey know that 10,000 SDF fighters, mostly Kurds, suffered, died or injured, in the fight against ISIS, and America will not forget that and will not abandon them.'" Wow, Lindsey, thanks for letting us know what a tough guy you are, after all. ~~~
~~~ So then our hero Lindsey marched right back to the Senate chambers and ... wait for it ... "blocked a resolution to formally recognise the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One as a genocide.... [The resolution] passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 405 to 11 in October.... Last month Mr Erdogan described the House of Representatives vote as 'worthless' and the 'biggest insult' to Turkish people." Erdoğan spoke against the resolution Wednesday as well, saying he didn't think the Senate would make the same "mistake" the House did in passing it. Gee, he was right! Thanks, Lindsey!
Matthew Chapman of RawStory: "Brett Kavanaugh is slated to be the keynote speaker at a black tie dinner in Washington, D.C. thrown by the Federalist Society -- the group of right-wing lawyers who have agitated for an ideological takeover of the federal courts.... [D]emonstrators outside Union Station have erected a giant screen broadcasting the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford whose accusation that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high school party in the 1980s, and Republican senators' sneering indifference, triggered a national firestorm[.]" --s
This Is Horrible. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "The Senate voted Thursday to make Steven Menashi a lifetime federal judge, despite his inflammatory writings about women's rights and diversity, his refusal to answer senators' questions and his role in devising an illegal Education Department effort to deny debt relief to students cheated by for-profit colleges. Every Democrat present voted against confirming Menashi, who is ... Donald Trump's choice for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Every Republican present but one, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), voted to confirm him.... Nearly every national civil and women's rights group opposed him, including the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the Human Rights Campaign, Muslim Advocates and Planned Parenthood. Democrats questioned his qualifications ― he has never tried a case, made oral arguments in court or conducted a deposition ― as well as his temperament." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2020
Matt Stevens & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts officially entered the presidential race on Thursday, adding an 18th candidate and an 11th-hour twist to a turbulent Democratic primary with less than three months to go before the Iowa caucuses. Mr. Patrick's announcement, which he had signaled this week, came in the form of a video he released early Thursday morning. In it, he said he was running for people who 'feel left out' and want a future 'not built by somebody better than you, not built for you, but built with you.'" A CBS News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's a good pitch, Deval! You shoulda thought of it about six months ago.
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: Michael Bloomberg has a history of making crude sexual remarks & "jokes" about women. "... the comments revealed a cruder side of Mr. Bloomberg, now 77 and a potential presidential candidate, who made his billions in the towel-snapping culture of Wall Street decades before #MeToo became a household term. Lawsuits portrayed the early days of his company as a frat house, with employees bragging about sexual exploits. Even after entering politics, Mr. Bloomberg's cavalier attitude caused trouble: In 2012, the mayor, while admiring a woman at a party, urged two guests to 'look at the ass on her.' On Wednesday, after inquiries from The Times, Mr. Bloomberg's team issued a statement addressing his history of insensitive comments. 'Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong,' said a spokesman...." Mrs. McCrabbie: What this country needs to heal the damage caused by a 73-year old supposed billionaire sexist & racist is a 77-year-old real billionaire sexist & racist. (Also linked yesterday.)
Gubernatorial Race 2019. Kentucky. Daniel Desrochers of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin conceded the race for governor Thursday, ending more than a week of speculation over whether he would contest the results of the Nov. 5 election, which he narrowly lost to Democrat Andy Beshear. Bevin's announcement came after a statewide recanvass showed minimal changes in election totals. Beshear won by less than 0.5 percentage points." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sigal Samuels of Vox: "Every 15 minutes, one person in the US dies because of an infection that antibiotics can no longer treat effectively. That's 35,000 deaths a year. This striking estimate comes from a major new report, released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on the urgent problem of antibiotic resistance. Although the report focuses on the US, this is a global crisis: 700,000 people around the world die of drug-resistant diseases each year. And if we don't make a radical change now, that could rise to 10 million by 2050." --s
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Joshua Sharpe of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Ray 'Jeff' Cromartie was executed Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison amid uncertainty and contention. The 52-year-old had been sentenced to die for the 1994 murder of a store clerk in South Georgia, a crime Cromartie always insisted he hadn't committed. His efforts to get new DNA testing in the case failed, even though the victim's daughter supported it.... On Monday, one of Cromartie's co-defendants, Thad Lucas, released an affidavit saying he'd overheard their other co-defendant, Corey Clark, confess to being the shooter.... Cromartie's fate was sealed when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a ruling Wednesday at roughly 10:15 p.m., also denied his request for a stay."
Indiana. Laurel Wamsley of NPR: "Back in May, three Indiana judges got into a fight. It was the crescendo of an incident brimming with colorful details: a gaggle of judges drinking the night before a judicial conference, a failed attempt to visit a strip club called the Red Garter, a brawl in the parking lot of an Indianapolis White Castle. The altercation apparently started sometime after 3 a.m., when one of the judges, Sabrina Bell, raised a middle finger at two men yelling from a passing SUV, and ended after one of those men shot two of the judges.... Adams and Jacobs were both seriously wounded and required emergency surgeries; Jacobs was hospitalized for two weeks.... In between, the three judges took a number of actions that 'discredited the entire Indiana judiciary,' according to an opinion posted by the Indiana Supreme Court this week, suspending the judges. The court found that the three -- Andrew Adams, Bradley Jacobs and Sabrina Bell -- had 'engaged in judicial misconduct by appearing in public in an intoxicated state and behaving in an injudicious manner and by becoming involved in a verbal altercation.' Adams and Jacobs engaged in further judicial misconduct 'by becoming involved in a physical altercation for which Judge Adams was criminally charged and convicted.'... The court suspended both Jacobs and Bell for 30 days without pay. Adams, who pleaded guilty in September to one count of misdemeanor battery, is suspended for 60 days without pay. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail but was required to serve only two."
Way Beyond
Italy. Bad Timing. Gianluca Mezzofiore of CNN: "Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice's Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time in its history on Tuesday night -- just after it rejected measures to combat climate change. The historic Italian city has been brought to its knees this week by the worst flooding there in more than 50 years.... The council chamber in Ferro Fini Palace started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget, Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said in a long Facebook post. 'Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League, Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change,' Zanoni, who is deputy chairman of the environment committee, said in the post, which also has photographs of the room under water." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (17)
A different case I know, but why not slow walk the New York tax return appeal to the Supremes as I thought they would with the Congressional demand?
Has it to do with the appeal timeline set in the New York case?
Or are they that certain that the Supremes will decide in the Pretender's favor, even knowing as the Court does that such a decision in a time of political turmoil will further taint its already sullied reputation?
Or are they that desperate for the Court to set some kind of precedent (legal or otherwise) for futher decisions on Pretender taxes that are sure to come?
Or does the eagerness suggest the Pretender might be foot-tapping nervous about something?
@Ken Winkes: Trump slow-walked the appeal as much as possible. His legal team filed the appeal to the Supremes on the last day possible: yesterday. Politico: "Trump’s lawyers face[d] the imminent deadline in the New York case because of an agreement they struck with [Manhattan DA Cyrus] Vance’s office that the state grand jury subpoena will not be immediately enforced if Trump’s legal team files a petition for review at the high court by Thursday and asks the justices to take up the case this term."
You guys, I got a scoop from my Russian spy friend (all Americans have one now, right?) and he intercepted a call from Giuliani's private cell phone to Vadym Prystaiko last week. He told me it went something like this:
"Hey, Vadym, for fuck's sake man! We're getting killed over here! Don't you stupid Ukrainians get it? Haven't you studied Donald Trump's bio? The man is a total fucking klutz. He can't tie his own shoes without falling over. When he inevitably breaks laws, someone, somewhere, is supposed to give him cover or take the fall. We've been waiting on you to put out some statements to save his ass since we started this whole mess. And if you don't, we're going to hand you over to the Russians. You get it? See what you did? This is all your fault, fucking morons."
And if these were "normal times" we would be reading and discussing about another school shooting that took place yesterday. Now, it appears, it IS as normal as blueberry pie. Times is hard––Mrs. Lovett was right.
Here's a video of Fox News distortion of the hearings.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-impeachment-spin-cnn_n_5dce6a6ce4b0d2e79f8a6fc7
When Nicole Wallace was on Colbert the other night she was discussing her distain for Laura Ingraham and other Foxy friends whom she had called "chickenshits" and then she said this:
I know Laura–-she's a lot of things but stupid is not one of them."
I'm not so sure. When Laura told her listeners about some kind of celebratory Christian thing where there were three flags flying together––a U.S., a state flag, and a white Christian one and only the Christian flag was flying in the breeze it was surely a sign that God had his hand in it. (not mentioning of course that the "God's hand in it" flag was made of a much lighter material.)
And a word about Stephen Miller before I get ready to watch the hearing. If he isn't removed, isn't fired. isn't hauled off somewhere where the sun don't shine, I am ready to give up on hoping that there is any hope of....no time here to list the vast numbers which I really don't have to do––do I?
@Bea
Thanks for the additional information. That explains the appeal's timing.
But, on the downside, facts have a way of wrecking so much entertaining speculation, and you'v certainly wrecked mine.
I've been thinking that aside from the political and social purposes they serve, binding groups together in a set of common beliefs, often laced with the conviction of superiority that comes with "I know something that you don't," the fabulations of the Right, Christian and/or Republican, everything from End Times to Q-non, serve as entertainment to those who like to hear them.
How is it that those (Republican-sided) placards are displayed in the hearing room? If this has been mentioned elsewhere I must have missed it...but this sort of display appears to be cheesy, inappropriate and certainly disrespectful. Oh, right! if the Republicans do it, it's OK.
I don't know if CSPAN is a conservative hobby or something, but the "Republicans" were really excited about calling in and unfortunately were are all dumb as fucking rocks. All their arguments had glaring holes. Sadly, their media diet doesn't allow them to fill in those holes.
Fox News and rightwing radio have profoundly warped so many brains.
Now that tough guy ratfucker Roger Stone has been found guilty on all counts of lying, obstruction, witness tampering, and various counts of general and specific assholery, he will be whining and whimpering at the feet of the Orange Menace, begging for a pardon because of his part in helping Russia shove Putin’s puppet into the White House then lying about it. To Congress and everyone else.
Will Trump invoke his mighty pardon powers and let Stone off the hook?
Depends. Depends on what’s in it for him. Can Stone rat out the little king? If so, watch for the pardon to come down hard and fast. Giuliani is recognizing that Trump is not one to be trusted and he’s letting everyone know (especially Fatty), that whatever insurance policy he’s got in place can be triggered at a moment’s notice. If Stone has similar hole cards, he must be flashing them Trump’s way.
In the meantime, he’ll be daubing those tears away.
Poooor Rogie. Rat bastard.
I don't get it. Don't republicans understand that a person, in this case a former ambassador, can support some actions by a president, like supplying Javelin weapons, and oppose others, like corrupting the government of Ukraine? And this whole "nyah nyah" attitude of "Obama didn't sent those missiles, trump did" just turns my stomach.
Guess he couldn't wait. The Pretender is champing at the bit to be anointed King by the Court's new Jesters.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-block-tax-return-subpoena-from-house.html
He must believe his nominees will show their gratitude by placing him finally and incontrovertibly above the law.
And why would the congress like to see the *president's tax returns? Because there is good reason to believe that he is beholden to a foreign country. Every foreign policy action he has taken has been to the benefit of Russia (well, ok, not the Javelin missiles, though i'll bet there's a catch there too). It's not polite to say that out loud. Indeed, it's unbelievable. But that's how he gets away with shit. He does the unspeakable things and dares the humans to call him out.
Ken,
Trump has always operated above the law. The difference is one of scale, if not action. As a private citizen criminal, Fatty got away with a ton, and the stuff he couldn’t skate on through threats and lawsuits, he just ignored. Now he’s got serious people with constitutional powers coming after him and he’s outraged that he can’t bully and brag and bluster his way out of things.
Welp. This is gonna be really fucking frustrating, so we might as well prepare ourselves now.
By the end of these impeachment hearings, the inept and out of their C-league GOP is going to have bumbled, grunted, huffed and puffed for weeks, without mounting even the resemblance of a defense to the presidunce's clearly impeachment offenses. Even so, zero GOP sycophants will vote with the Dems. ZERO.
They no longer care, can't be bothered with their oath of office, their blatant hypocrisy is reaching astronomical levels, and they've taken their IOKIYAR and injected it with steriods on live teevee. The Senate will inherit this radioactive baby, and then find their own way to abet crimes, with lipstick on the pig.
Joke heads at a local 8th grade basketball game I just attended (grandchildren, ya know):
"Finally, Richard Nixon will be going to jail."
Admit I had to think a while on it...
Make that "joke heard.."
Might make it a little easier...
Made me actively ill to hear those blowhards at the hearing tell the blameless ambassador how much they appreciated her service. They never rattled her. She must have known that they were all backstabbing trumpfondlers. She certainly won the day. And of course, cocky Roger is sure Presidunce Numbnut will pardon him toute de suite. And I guess he might, since ole Rog is about as adorable as Arpeo, about like a rattlesnake. The only people who like the Emperor with no clothes are disgusting fakes and senators, and of course his public, who collectively make me want to take a long shower. Listening to an intelligent, appealing person like the ambassador made me so homesick for the previous administration, imperfect as they may have been. Compared to the f***wits now, they sure rocked.