The Commentariat -- February 15, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

AP: "Democrats are starting to cast votes in Nevada's presidential caucuses as the still-crowded field of candidates is fanning out across Las Vegas. Early voting started Saturday morning at more than 80 locations across the state. Nevada Democrats are holding four days of early voting for their caucuses, the first test of a candidate's appeal to a diverse population with strong labor unions. Early votes cast on paper ballots will be added to in-person caucus votes made on Feb. 22, when Democrats will attend about 2,000 precinct meetings around the state."

It's Bloomberg Day at the Times & WashPo: ~~~

~~~ The New York Times story, by Alexander Burns & Nicholas Kulish, begins with an anecdote about Michael Bloomberg's expressed doubts about the #MeToo movement & sex abuse allegations against TV personality Charlie Rose and ending with his $100MM contributions to mostly female 2018 Congressional candidates. "A Times examination of Mr. Bloomberg's philanthropic and political spending in the years leading up to his presidential bid illustrates how he developed a national infrastructure of influence, image-making and unspoken suasion that has helped transform a former Republican mayor of New York City into a plausible contender for the Democratic nomination.... In all, Mr. Bloomberg has spent at least $10 billion on his charitable and political pursuits. The vast majority has gone to philanthropy, for causes that reflect his personal interests and passions, including $3.3 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post story, by Michael Kranish, centers on Bloomberg's treatment of women: "Several lawsuits have been filed over the years alleging that women were discriminated against at Bloomberg's business-information company, including a case brought by a federal agency and one filed by a former employee, who blamed Bloomberg for creating a culture of sexual harassment and degradation. The most high-profile case was from a former saleswoman. She sued Bloomberg personally as well as his company, alleging workplace discrimination. She alleged Bloomberg told her to 'kill it' when he learned she was pregnant. Bloomberg has denied her allegation under oath, and he reached a confidential settlement with the saleswoman.... While allegations about Bloomberg's comments and treatment of women have received notice over the years, a review by The Post of thousands of pages of court documents, depositions obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with witnesses underscores how Bloomberg and his company, Bloomberg LP, have fought the claims...." Includes The Compleat Book of Profane & Sexist Remarks of Mike Bloomberg. Mrs. McC: On the upside, we can be sure he's pro-choice! ~~~

~~~ Eric Levitz of New York asserts Democrats should not sell their souls to a billionaire: "Mike Bloomberg has offered blue America a Faustian bargain: Forfeit all credibility on the issues of money in politics and democratic reform, and he will spend whatever it takes to make the bad man in the White House go away.... But Democrats would be fools to accept Bloomberg's indecent proposal.... As a political matter, allowing a Wall Street tycoon to win the Democratic nomination by leveraging his personal fortune to outbid all of his rivals (and many state and local Democratic Party organizations) for top-shelf campaign staff, and inundate the airwaves with an unprecedentedly exorbitant blitzkrieg of paid messaging, would deprive Democrats of what has long been their chief electoral asset: the perception that their party is less beholden to the rich than the GOP.... Hillary Clinton's mere perceived coziness with such fat cats ... was (ostensibly) sufficient to undermine the Democrats' populist edge four years ago...."

Nimble Bill Often Asks, "How High?" When Trump Says "Jump." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Bill Barr's intervention in the Mike Flynn case "bears striking similarities to the case of Roger Stone, whose sentence recommendation Barr intervened to reduce this week, triggering upheaval within the Justice Department. In each case, Trump criticized the department's treatment of a Trump ally; in both cases, Barr has inserted himself in an unorthodox manner that invites accusations of politicization. Those also invite comparison to U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation. Trump practically begged the Justice Department to probe the origins of the Russia investigation. After former attorney general Jeff Sessions begged off such theories, Barr took over and appointed Durham to look into it. The New York Times reported this week that Durham appears to be 'hunting for a basis to accuse Obama-era intelligence officials of hiding evidence or manipulating analysis.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Blake cites Andy McCabe as the prime example of one who got away. But that's not quite true. Somebody at Justice held up a decision on McCabe's case for two years and likely gave up only at the judge's insistence & the department's failure to make a case to a grand jury as convincing as those against the proverbial ham sandwich. Moreover, Barr is still going after McCabe in appointing a Trump-friendly U.S. attorney to "review" prosecutors' handling of the McCabe matter. It's unlikely McCabe will be indicted, but he's still under a dark Trumpy cloud. AND he still got fired & lost part of his pension in a dubious 11th-hour order signed by Jeff Sessions.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fun with Don & Billy

The Dictator at the Top. ... the public is listening to what's going on, and I don't think people like the fact that you got somebody at the top basically trying to dictate whether somebody should be prosecuted. I just think it's a banana republic when we go down that road.... -- Judge Reggie Walton, while presiding over Andrew McCabe's case

"I Have an Article 2 Right to Do Whatever I Want." Matt Zapotosky & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the 'legal right' to ask his top law enforcement official to get involved in a criminal case. In his tweet, Trump quoted Barr from a television interview Thursday in which he asserted that the president had never asked him to do anything related to a criminal case. 'This doesn't mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!' Trump added in his own voice." Mrs. McC: BUT, as New York's Daily Intelligencer notes (no link), "Ok, but Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton met on a plane once." Barr said Trump's tweets were making it "impossible" for him to do his job. So time to resign, Bill. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Cristina Cabrera of TPM has the story here. "Additionally, Trump's claim that he has 'so far chosen not to' get involved in a criminal case is a lie: He asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the criminal investigation into Michael Flynn in 2017, according to Comey's memos on their meeting and his sworn testimony to Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

A standard Trump progression: I didn't do it. I didn't do it, but I could do it. I did do it, so what? I did do it, and it was right to do it. -- Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), in a tweet

Sally Yates in a Washington Post op-ed: "The imperative of Justice Department independence from political influence has deep roots.... Presidents and department leaders from both parties have recognized that for case decisions to have legitimacy, they must be made without political influence -- whether real or perceived.... Until now.... From virtually the moment he took office, President Trump has attempted to use the Justice Department as a cudgel against his enemies and as a shield for himself and his allies."

~~~ See Billy Go. See Billy Try to Fix a Mess. Go, Billy, Go. ~~~

     Chapter 1. This Story Makes Trump Happy. Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the criminal case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, according to people familiar with the matter. The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors. Mr. Barr has also installed a handful of outside prosecutors to broadly review the handling of other politically sensitive national-security cases in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, the people said. The team includes at least one prosecutor from the office of the United States attorney in St. Louis, Jeff Jensen, who is handling the Flynn matter, as well as prosecutors from the office of the deputy attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen. Over the past two weeks, outside prosecutors have begun grilling line prosecutors in the Washington office about various cases -- some public, some not -- including investigative steps, prosecutorial actions and why they took them, according to the people." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Carol Lee of NBC News: "The inquiry also coincides with recent moves by Trump to vindicate his allies and exact revenge on his perceived enemies, including individuals who were involved with former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation or testified in the House Democrats' impeachment probe.... The inquiry into Flynn's FBI interview could be aimed at several former officials Trump has repeatedly criticized publicly, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, people familiar with the inquiry said.... Comey and McCabe signed off on sending two agents to interview Flynn. One of the agents was Peter Strzok.... They also said it could be part of an effort to make a presidential pardon of Flynn more palatable.... [Jeff] Jensen's inquiry seems similar to one Barr assigned to the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham, examining the origins of the FBI's investigation into potential ties between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Evan Perez, et al., of CNN have more background on Barr's Trump-pleasing move. Mrs. McC: While there has been a great deal of speculation in the press about the reason for Barr's "impossible" interview and its timing, it occurs to me that Barr's knowledge that the NYT story was about to drop is likely one of them. The story is yet further evidence of Barr's "collusion" with Trump's underhanded efforts to help his friends & punish his enemies. Barr likely thought an interview in which he ostensibly complained about Trump's interference in DOJ matters & claimed he (Barr) was ever-so-independent would be a fine antidote to another major story demonstrating that Barr is helping Trump pervert the principle of "equal justice under law."

     Chapter 2. This Makes Trump Mad. Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director and a frequent target of President Trump, will not face charges in an investigation into whether he lied to investigators about a media leak, his defense team said on Friday. The decision by prosecutors in Washington ends a case that had left Mr. McCabe in legal limbo for nearly two years. It also appears to be a sign that Attorney General William P. Barr wants to show that the Justice Department is independent from Mr. Trump: The notification came a day after Mr. Barr publicly challenged the president to stop attacking law enforcement officials on Twitter and said the criticisms were making his job more difficult. The prosecutors informed Mr. McCabe's lawyers of their decision by phone on Friday morning, the lawyers, Michael R. Bromwich and David Schertler, said in a statement." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The move was said to infuriate Trump, who has raged publicly and privately in recent months that McCabe and others he considers political enemies should be charged with crimes.... A White House official said that Trump was not given a heads-up and was upset, and that White House lawyers moved to calm the president. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions, said Trump 'believes very strongly that action should be taken.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Winter & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The decision was released on the same day it was revealed that a federal judge had expressed concerns months ago that [Andrew] McCabe's case was looking like a 'banana republic' prosecution.... The Justice Department's decision came the same day it was required by a judge to make details about the McCabe investigation public in a case stemming from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The court transcripts released [Friday] ... show prosecutors struggling with how to proceed in his case, and the judge in the matter expressing concerns about political pressure.... [Judge Reggie Walton said,] 'I just think the integrity of the process is being unduly undermined by inappropriate comments and actions on the part of people at the top of our government [i.e., Donald Trump].... And I think as a government and as a society, we're going to pay a price at some point for this.' Trump has sounded off repeatedly about McCabe ... over the past three years...." ~~~

     ~~~ Betsy Swan & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: “Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for CREW, said the eventual release of the court transcripts on Friday, after a lengthy court battle, showed that the government was 'trying to cover up the fact that they were stringing this [lawsuit] along while looking for a reason to indict McCabe.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "McCabe's lawyers were told last September that he should expect to be indicted on charges stemming from inaccurate statements he made to FBI investigators about his actions around the time of the 2016 election. However, no indictment was ever returned, leading to speculation that the Washington-based grand jury probing the matter took the rare step of rejecting charges." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: McCabe is not out of the woods yet. As noted above, Bill Barr has "outside counsel" looking over the shoulders of line prosecutors in the McCabe matter, and the Senator Most Reminiscent of the Toiletpaper on Donald Trump's Shoe has plan to harass McCabe, too: ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jordain Carney of The Hill: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is requesting interviews with a slew of current and former Justice Department and FBI officials as part of his panel's probe into the department's handling of the investigation into Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign. Graham sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday asking that he make 17 officials, many of whom are identified only by title, available for interviews.... Graham has said he plans to call former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to testify as part of his investigation." --s

Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "Before breaking his silence Thursday in an interview with ABC News, Attorney General William Barr complained privately 'for weeks' to ... Donald Trump about his tweets and public statements related to Justice Department investigations, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. Despite those apparent warnings, however, Trump over the past several weeks was unrelenting in his targeting of his various political enemies in speeches and over Twitter like former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former special counsel Robert Mueller.... The public pressure facing Barr to reassert the DOJ's independence only further escalated following a tweet by Trump congratulating Barr for 'taking charge' of the [Roger] Stone case, just hours after he ordered the reversal of the previous sentencing recommendation put forward by prosecutors of seven to nine years.... According to the person, the Justice Department had disclosed to the White House that the interview with ABC News would occur, though they said the White House was not made aware about what Barr would say or his plan to criticize the president until after the interview taped."

Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a ten-page ethics complaint against William Barr with the Justice Department's inspector general & the Office of Professional Responsibility. The complaint "accuses Barr of violating several Justice Department rules, guidelines and procedures" and cites numerous instances of Barr's alleged unethical actions & remarks.

MEANWHILE. Spencer Hsu & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Defense attorneys for Roger Stone demanded a new trial Friday, one day after President Trump suggested that the forewoman in his longtime political confidant's case had 'significant bias.' The legal motion could affect Stone's Feb. 20 sentencing date on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress. The basis for the request was filed under seal Friday, but its existence was disclosed in a court order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who gave U.S. prosecutors until Feb. 18 to respond."

Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "As the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump drew to a close..., federal prosecutors in New York contacted witnesses and sought to collect additional documents in an investigation related to Trump's personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to people familiar with their activities. The recent steps -- including an interview with a witness last week -- indicate that the probe involving Giuliani and two of his former associates is moving forward.... [Meanwhile,] Attorney General William P. Barr said this week that the department had established an 'intake process' to accept information about Biden gathered by the president's personal attorney. Officials confirmed Giuliani's tips are being routed to the U.S. attorney's office in Pittsburgh. At the same time, the U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District of New York -- which Giuliani led in the 1980s -- appears to be continuing its wide-ranging investigation of his activities and those of his former associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, including their efforts in Ukraine." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That's right. At the same time one U.S. attorney is looking to prosecute Giuliani for matters at least tangentially related to his efforts to dig up fake dirt on Joe Biden, another U.S. attorney is collecting that same fake information as if it were a treasure-trove of hot tips. An upside, perhaps, is that the crap Pittsburgh collected might help confirm some of the facts & connections SDNY is trying to establish; that is, Giuliani may be providing the DOJ with evidence against himself. If he is indicted, I imagine he'll get off on account of diminished capacity.

(Uh oh. Another Story to Make Trump Mad.) Jacqueline Feldscher of Politico: "The Army will not investigate Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council staffer who testified in the president's impeachment investigation, the service's top civilian said Friday. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy made the announcement at an event just days after ... Donald Trump said he imagined the military would 'take a look at' whether Vindman should face disciplinary action for the 'horrible things' he told House investigators about the president's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last July."

Adam Bienkov of Business Insider: "UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has canceled a trip to the US planned for next month after a furious phone call from ... Donald Trump in which Trump slammed down the phone on the prime minister. Johnson had been due to visit Washington last month but repeatedly delayed the trip after a series of rows with the president over Iran, Huawei, and a rejected request by the prime minister to extradite the wife of a US diplomat. The disagreements culminated in a phone call last month in which Trump hung up on Johnson, according to officials with knowledge of the conversation." Mrs. McC: So another reason Trump wants to keep staff from listening to his phone calls with foreign leaders: his own behavior is embarrassing. (Also linked yesterday.)

Your Tax Dollars at Play. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening for the 29th golf-related trip of his presidency to his for-profit Palm Beach, Florida, resort, raising his total taxpayer golf tab to $133.8 million. That figure translates to 334 years of the presidential salary that Trump and his supporters frequently boast he is not taking."

Matthew Lee & Kathy Gannon of the AP: "The United States and the Taliban have reached agreement on a temporary truce that will take effect in the coming days and, if successfully completed, will lead to a formal cease-fire, the start of peace negotiations between all Afghan sides next month and the ultimate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official said Friday. The official said the agreement for a seven-day 'reduction in violence' is 'very specific' and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend." (Also linked yesterday.)

Anne Gearan & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A White House memo justifying the U.S. strike that killed Iranian military leader Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January makes no mention of an imminent threat, which was President Trump's rationale for the attack. The two-page memo made public by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday instead says the Soleimani strike was carried out in response to previous attacks and to deter Iran from conducting or supporting attacks in the future.... Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, were furious that Trump approved a deadly military attack that threatened to escalate tensions in an already strained region without consulting Congress."

State Secrets. David Herszenhorn of Politico: "U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday in an encounter the American side apparently wanted to keep under wraps. The State Department made no announcement of the meeting, which took place in Lavrov's own dedicated meeting room at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.... Pompeo's aides also did not provide any readout after the meeting ended.... Asked about the meeting by Politico, a State Department official confirmed that there had been a 'pull aside' with Lavrov but gave no further details.... A Russian journalist traveling with Lavrov said the U.S. side had requested that there be no press conference or joint statements and that photographers not even be invited to take a picture of the two top diplomats shaking hands." --s

Caitlin Dickerson & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president's battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.... The move reflects President Trump's persistence in cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities. It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places." The AP has a story here.

$5 > $Billions. Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times: "Smugglers in Juárez have engineered camouflage hook-and-ladders made of rebar that blend in so well with the border wall that it can be hard to detect, according to U.S. Border Patrol.... The ladders appear to be made with two poles of 3/8-inch rebar and four thinner poles, outfitted with steps and bent over at the end in a U, to hook on the top of the wall. It's the sort of cubed rebar support structure used in construction in Mexico, called castillo.... Six meters of castillo costs 99 pesos, or about $5.30[.]" --safari: Just a reminder that we're blowing up UNESCO biospheres for this vanity project.

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Over the past few months, the Trump administration has quietly been rolling out a Kafkaesque new processing policy for select categories of visas: If any fields on a form are left blank, it will automatically be rejected. Even if it makes no sense for the applicant to fill out that field. For example, if 'Apt. Number' is left blank because the immigrant lives in a house: rejected. Or if the field for a middle name is left blank because no middle name exists: rejected, too.... The policy change, at first affecting just asylum applicants, was announced without fanfare on the USCIS website sometime in the fall." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration's decision to allow states to compel some Medicaid recipients to work or prepare for a job in exchange for their health benefits. In a unanimous decision that blocks the first state that had imposed work requirements, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Trump's health officials had been' arbitrary and capricious' in allowing Arkansas to launch a Medicaid program called 'Arkansas Works' two years ago.... The administration did not indicate whether it might appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court." Mrs. McC: Isn't "arbitrary and capricious" the motto of this administration? I thought it was embroidered in pig-latin on King Donald's fake coat of arms. (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.

Presidential Race

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Bernie Sanders is leading the 2020 Democratic field in Nevada, according to a survey released Friday, with the Vermont senator's campaign showing momentum ahead of the third presidential nominating contest next week. The Nevada poll, conducted by the GOP polling firm WPA Intelligence on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and AARP Nevada, reports that 25 percent of the state's likely Democratic caucusgoers support Sanders. Former Vice President Joe Biden comes in second place with 18 percent of respondents, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 13 percent. Behind the three top-polling candidates are billionaire activist Tom Steyer with 11 percent; former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 10 percent; and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, also with 10 percent. Eight percent of those surveyed said they were undecided, and 5 percent favored another candidate."

Dylan Scott of Vox: "Sen. Bernie Sanders now holds critical polling leads in the 2020 Democratic primary: New surveys show him ahead in California and Texas, the biggest prizes in the upcoming Super Tuesday elections on March 3."

Amy Wang & Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post: "Allies of President Trump have sharply focused attention on the sexual identity of presidential contender Pete Buttigieg in recent days, questioning in stark terms whether Americans are ready for a gay candidate who kisses his husband onstage. The attacks are prompting blunt responses from Buttigieg's allies and even his Democratic rivals, who call the remarks inappropriate and offensive. The exchanges were ignited by radio host Rush Limbaugh, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump last week and who framed his comments as an ostensible analysis of how Democrats feel.... The episode is a window into what Buttigieg could face if he becomes the Democratic nominee. Buttigieg did not publicly address Limbaugh's remarks, but his surrogates and supporters pushed back." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It looks as if the GOP party line will more-or-less follow Rush's construct. When Geraldo asked Trump if Americans would vote for a gay presidential candidate, Trump said, "I think there would be some that wouldn't, and I wouldn't be among that group, to be honest with you."

David Siders of Politico: "Days after her surprising third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, [Amy] Klobuchar is facing a storm as aspects of her record get more scrutiny in the presidential campaign. For Klobuchar, the hostile questioning is a sign of her arrival as a serious contender. But it also comes at a precarious time, as she scrambles to make inroads in Nevada and South Carolina -- two racially diverse states in which she has little demonstrated support..., [and] her opponents are beginning to cut her down."

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "In South Carolina, four presidential candidates are running ads featuring praise from former President Barack Obama. In Nevada, Senator Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg are pitching their candidacies in Spanish. And Mr. Steyer has gone negative, attacking Mr. Sanders of Vermont for failing to provide a price tag for his 'Medicare for All' plan, calling former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. 'another insider' and Mr. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., an 'untested newcomer.'" Several of the ads are embedded in the article.

(Hey, Kids. This Story Makes Trump Happy, Too.) Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing a porn star in lawsuits against Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. The verdict was returned Friday by a Manhattan federal jury after it deliberated charges of attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it.... Avenatti, 48, became prominent during frequent cable television program appearances in 2018 and 2019 as journalists courted him for information about porn star Stormy Daniels and her claims of a Trump tryst before he became president and a payoff to remain silent about it. At his peak of notoriety, Avenatti even considered running for president himself." (Also linked yesterday.)

Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: "Since Trump's rise to the nation's highest office, his inflammatory language -- often condemned as racist and xenophobic -- has seeped into schools across America. Many bullies now target other children differently than they used to, with kids as young as 6 mimicking the president's insults and the cruel way he delivers them. Trump's words, those chanted by his followers at campaign rallies and even his last name have been wielded by students and school staff members to harass children more than 300 times since the start of 2016, a Washington Post review of 28,000 news stories found. At least three-quarters of the attacks were directed at kids who are Hispanic, black or Muslim, according to the analysis. Students have also been victimized because they support the president -- more than 45 times during the same period." Mrs. McC: Don't worry; Melanie's anti-bullying program will fix this. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Mark Niesse of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: "A wave of people signed up to vote in Georgia last year, adding 322,000 active voters to the rolls ahead of a presidential election.... The rising number of voters from demographic groups that tend to support Democrats could make the Republican-leaning state more of a battleground than ever, with a presidential race, two U.S. Senate seats and three open U.S. House seats on the ballot this year.... The number of Georgia voters in the 18-34 age group has jumped 68% since October 2016.... Meanwhile, the portion of the electorate that is white has fallen since 2016 ... accounting for 59% ... from 62% four years ago.... [T]he proportion of active voters 65 and older ... has declined from 24% in 2016 to 19% today.... The number of new voters ... has outpaced voter registration cancellations." --s

News Ledes

New York Times: "A.E. Hotchner, a novelist, playwright, biographer, literary bon vivant and philanthropist whose life was shaped and colored by close friendships with two extraordinarily gifted and well-known men, Ernest Hemingway and Paul Newman, died on Saturday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 102.

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

The Commentariat -- February 14, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Matthew Lee & Kathy Gannon of the AP: "The United States and the Taliban have reached agreement on a temporary truce that will take effect in the coming days and, if successfully completed, will lead to a formal cease-fire, the start of peace negotiations between all Afghan sides next month and the ultimate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official said Friday. The official said the agreement for a seven-day 'reduction in violence' is 'very specific' and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend."

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration's decision to allow states to compel some Medicaid recipients to work or prepare for a job in exchange for their health benefits. In a unanimous decision that blocks the first state that had imposed work requirements, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Trump's health officials had been' arbitrary and capricious' in allowing Arkansas to launch a Medicaid program called 'Arkansas Works' two years ago.... The administration did not indicate whether it might appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court." Mrs. McC: Isn't 'arbitrary and capricious' the motto of this administration? I thought it was embroidered in pig-latin on King Donald's fake coat of arms.

See Billy Go. See Billy Try to Fix a Mess. Go, Billy, Go.

     Page 1. This Makes Trump Happy. Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the criminal case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, according to people familiar with the matter. The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors. Mr. Barr has also installed a handful of outside prosecutors to broadly review the handling of other politically sensitive national-security cases in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, the people said. The team includes at least one prosecutor from the office of the United States attorney in St. Louis, Jeff Jensen, who is handling the Flynn matter, as well as prosecutors from the office of the deputy attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen. Over the past two weeks, the outside prosecutors have begun grilling line prosecutors in the Washington office about various cases -- some public, some not -- including investigative steps, prosecutorial actions and why they took them, according to the people. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations." ~~~

     ~~~ Carol Lee of NBC News: "The inquiry also coincides with recent moves by Trump to vindicate his allies and exact revenge on his perceived enemies, including individuals who were involved with former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation or testified in the House Democrats' impeachment probe.... The inquiry into Flynn's FBI interview could be aimed at several former officials Trump has repeatedly criticized publicly, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, people familiar with the inquiry said.... Comey and McCabe signed off on sending two agents to interview Flynn. One of the agents was Peter Strzok.... They also said it could be part of an effort to make a presidential pardon of Flynn more palatable.... [Jeff] Jensen's inquiry seems similar to one Barr assigned to the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham, examining the origins of the FBI's investigation into potential ties between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia."

     Page 2. Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director and a frequent target of President Trump, will not face charges in an investigation into whether he lied to investigators about a media leak, his defense team said on Friday. The decision by prosecutors in Washington ends a case that had left Mr. McCabe in legal limbo for nearly two years. It also appears to be a sign that Attorney General William P. Barr wants to show that the Justice Department is independent from Mr. Trump: The notification came a day after Mr. Barr publicly challenged the president to stop attacking law enforcement officials on Twitter and said the criticisms were making his job more difficult. The prosecutors informed Mr. McCabe's lawyers of their decision by phone on Friday morning, the lawyers, Michael R. Bromwich and David Schertler, said in a statement." A CNN story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ This Makes Trump Mad. Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The move was said to infuriate Trump, who has raged publicly and privately in recent months that McCabe and others he considers political enemies should be charged with crimes.... A White House official said that Trump was not given a heads-up and was upset, and that White House lawyers moved to calm the president. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions, said Trump 'believes very strongly that action should be taken.'"

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing a porn star in lawsuits against Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. The verdict was returned Friday by a Manhattan federal jury after it deliberated charges of attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it.... Avenatti, 48, became prominent during frequent cable television program appearances in 2018 and 2019 as journalists courted him for information about porn star Stormy Daniels and her claims of a Trump tryst before he became president and a payoff to remain silent about it. At his peak of notoriety, Avenatti even considered running for president himself."

"I Have an Article 2 Right to Do Whatever I Want." Matt Zapotosky & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the 'legal right' to ask his top law enforcement official to get involved in a criminal case. In his tweet, Trump quoted Barr from a television interview Thursday in which he asserted that the president had never asked him to do anything related to a criminal case. 'This doesn't mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!' Trump added in his own voice." Mrs. McC: Barr said Trump's tweets were making it "impossible" for him to do his job. So time to resign, Bill. ~~~

     ~~~ Cristina Cabrera of TPM has the story here. "Additionally, Trump's claim that he has 'so far chosen not to' get involved in a criminal case is a lie: He asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the criminal investigation into Michael Flynn in 2017, according to Comey's memos on their meeting and his sworn testimony to Congress."

Adam Bienkov of Business Insider: "UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has canceled a trip to the US planned for next month after a furious phone call from ... Donald Trump in which Trump slammed down the phone on the prime minister. Johnson had been due to visit Washington last month but repeatedly delayed the trip after a series of rows with the president over Iran, Huawei, and a rejected request by th prime minister to extradite the wife of a US diplomat. The disagreements culminated in a phone call last month in which Trump hung up on Johnson, according to officials with knowledge of the conversation." Mrs. McC: So another reason Trump wants to keep staff from listening to his phone calls with foreign leaders: his own behavior is embarrassing.

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Over the past few months, the Trump administration has quietly been rolling out a Kafkaesque new processing policy for select categories of visas: If any fields on a form are left blank, it will automatically be rejected. Even if it makes no sense for the applicant to fill out that field. For example, if 'Apt. Number' is left blank because the immigrant lives in a house: rejected. Or if the field for a middle name is left blank because no middle name exists: rejected, too.... The policy change, at first affecting just asylum applicants, was announced without fanfare on the USCIS website sometime in the fall."

Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: "Since Trump's rise to the nation's highest office, his inflammatory language -- often condemned as racist and xenophobic -- has seeped into schools across America. Many bullies now target other children differently than they used to, with kids as young as 6 mimicking the president's insults and the cruel way he delivers them. Trump's words, those chanted by his followers at campaign rallies and even his last name have been wielded by students and school staff members to harass children more than 300 times since the start of 2016, a Washington Post review of 28,000 news stories found. At least three-quarters of the attacks were directed at kids who are Hispanic, black or Muslim, according to the analysis. Students have also been victimized because they support the president -- more than 45 times during the same period." Mrs. McC: Don't worry; Melanie's anti-bullying program will fix all this.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shredding the Constitution, Ctd.

Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Emboldened after his impeachment acquittal..., Donald Trump now openly admits to sending his attorney Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents, even though he strongly denied it during the impeachment inquiry. The reversal came Thursday in a podcast interview Trump did with journalist Geraldo Rivera, who asked, 'Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?' Trump responded, 'No, not at all,' and praised Giuliani's role as a 'crime fighter.' 'Here's my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy,' Trump said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey. Trump explained that he has 'a very bad taste' of the US intelligence community, because of the Russia investigation, so he turned to Giuliani. 'So when you tell me, why did I use Rudy, and one of the things about Rudy, number one, he was the best prosecutor, you know, one of the best prosecutors, and the best mayor,' Trump said. 'But also, other presidents had them. FDR had a lawyer who was practically, you know, was totally involved with government. Eisenhower had a lawyer. They all had lawyers.' Trump had previously denied that he sent Giuliani to Ukraine." Mrs. McC: Not sure why this part of the Geraldo interview is getting so little press attention.

Ukraine Blackmail, Stateside Edition. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Donald Trump appeared Thursday to link his administration's policies toward New York to a demand that the state drop investigations and lawsuits related to his administration as well as his personal business and finances. Hours before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was set to meet the president at the White House, Trump tweeted that Cuomo 'must understand' that 'National Security far exceeds politics,' a reference to his administration's recent decision to halt New York's access to the Global Entry and other 'trusted traveler' programs that allow New Yorkers faster border crossings and shorter airport lines. Trump continued, 'New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes.' Trump's invocation of 'lawsuits & harrassment' was a reference to the state's numerous lawsuits against his administration and also against Trump'business, which is based in New York.... [Trump's quid pro quo] prompted Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), one of the House managers who prosecuted Trump's impeachment..., to accuse the president of 'expanding his abuse of power to blackmailing U.S. states (threatening millions of people he supposedly works for). In this case, he's holding New York state hostage to try to stop investigations into his prior tax fraud.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Hilariously, in the same tweet, our mob-boss president* implies Cuomo has and uses mob connections to meet his goals: "... don't bring Fredo," Trump cautions the governor. More important, Trump's latest offer of a quid for a quo demonstrates that he puts his own interest over national security. We know this because he says so: he claims on the one hand that New York State's law disallowing federal immigration agents access to driver license data is an impediment to national safety, while on the other hand saying he will waive the administration's objections to the law if the state drops its lawsuits against him.

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said [in a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera] he may end the practice of having national security and foreign service staff listen in on his calls with foreign leaders after a July call with the president of Ukraine triggered his impeachment in the House.... Top White House and national security officials typically listen in on presidential phone calls to keep everyone on the same page and create a record of the conversation." Mrs. McC: Because it's in the interest of national security to have a lying bully who doesn't understand international relations speaking secretly to world leaders. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Al Jazeera: "'What [the prosecutors] did to Roger Stone was a disgrace,' Trump said Thursday during an interview with Geraldo Rivera on Newsradio WTAM1100. 'I don't think they quit the case. I think they felt they got caught,' the president said of the Stone prosecutors. 'I don't think they quit for moral reasons. I think they got caught in the act by me. Now, what am I going to do, sit back and let a man go to jail maybe for nine years when murderers aren't going to jail? You have some of the most serious horrible rapists and everything else. They don't go to jail for nine years,' Trump said." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose it's worth noting that Trump's assertion makes no sense. Prosecutors filed their sentencing recommendation with the court in a document available to the public. The recommendation was within the Justice Department's guidelines, and it was widely reported. The prosecutors did not "get caught in the act by" Trump. Anyone who produced, read or heard media reports knew what the prosecutors suggested. ~~~

~~~ John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Thursday suggested that the forewoman of the federal jury that heard the case against his friend Roger Stone had 'significant bias,' his latest intervention ahead of Stone's scheduled sentencing next week. 'Now it looks like the fore person in the jury, in the Roger Stone case, had significant bias,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Add that to everything else, and this is not looking good for the "Justice" Department.'... The juror's identity was always known to both Stone's defense and prosecutors throughout pretrial proceedings, and she disclosed her background, including a Democratic bid for Congress, in public pretrial jury selection proceedings. Stone's defense and his trial judge had the opportunity to question Hart directly and challenge her eligibility.... According to a court ruling released Wednesday, Stone's defense did move, unsuccessfully, to seek a new trial alleging bias by another juror, but not [Tomeka] Hart[, the foreperson]." ~~~

~~~ Josh Kovensky of TPM: Trump claim against the Stone jury forewoman "lacks founding in reality, and ignores the numerous chances that Stone and his defense attorneys had to examine all potential jurors in the case.... 'What he [Trump] is doing is attempting to intervene directly in a pending criminal case involving a political ally,' retired federal judge Nancy Gertner, now a lecturer at Harvard Law School, told TPM. 'This is what banana republics do.'"

Stone Hires a Mob Lawyer. Ali Dukakis of ABC News: "With his sentencing fast approaching, Roger Stone is bolstering his defense team with a veteran criminal defense attorney whose past roster of clients included John Gotti Jr. and other high-profile figures allegedly involved in organized crime.... At one point, in 2010, [the attorney, Seth Ginsberg,] was banned from a Manhattan federal detention center after he was caught walking in with marijuana in his bag while on his way to visit an alleged associate of the Gambino crime family. He also previously represented an alleged member of the Luchese crime family." Mrs. McC: You can't make up this stuff. This is the long-time buddy of the President* of the United States, the buddy convicted of covering up possible crimes committed by the President* of the United States. Banana republic? Nahhhh.

Here's Bill Barr Trying to Save His Own Ass. Anne Flaherty of ABC News: "Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that ... Donald Trump 'has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case' but should stop tweeting about the Justice Department because his tweets 'make it impossible for me to do my job.... I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,' Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.... [Barr] said he was supportive of [Roger] Stone's convictions but thought the sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years as excessive. When news outlets reported the seven to nine year sentencing recommendation last Monday, Barr said he thought it was spin.... Barr said Trump's middle-of-the-night tweet [decrying the sentencing guidelines in Stone's case] put him in a bad position. He insists he had already discussed with staff that the sentencing recommendation was too long.... He said it was 'preposterous' to suggest that he 'intervened' in the case as much as he acted to resolve a dispute within the department on a sentencing recommendation." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ A portion of the interview begins at about 1:23 min. in:

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Interesting that Barr chose to sit down for an interview with a real journalist at an MSM outlet instead of Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham. ~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times reports key remarks Barr made during the interview. Mrs. McC: Here's my favorite:

If he were to say, go investigate somebody, and you sense it's because they're a political opponent, then an attorney general shouldn't carry that out, wouldn't carry that out.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. See article linked below by Charlie Savage & others. And how about those trips you took to Italy, Bill? And those remarks you made in 2017 advocating for the DOJ's investigating the Clinton Foundation & Hillary Clinton's tangential participation in the Uranium One case? (More on this in this January 29 WashPo post.) ~~~

~~~ Kate Riga of TPM: "Barr professed his independence, proclaiming that he won't be' bullied by anybody ... whether it's Congress, newspaper editorial boards, or the President.' Barr said directly that he has 'a problem with some of the tweets,' adding that it makes it difficult to keep the criminal process 'sacrosanct' and devoid of any 'political influence.'... When asked if he is prepared for the President's inevitable backlash to his statements, Barr was succinct: 'of course.' The attorney general said that he makes decisions based on what he thinks is 'the right thing to do.'" ~~~

~~~ Complete This Sentence: "President Trump is making it impossible for me to do my job because...."

     "...      when he publicly announces he wants me to pervert the course of justice, it makes it obvious I'm perverting the system at his direction and in his personal interest, and that outs me as a corrupt lackey.    

     ~~~ OR Shorter Version: "...     how do you expect me to cover up all your shit if you shine a light on me?"    -- Bobby Lee ~~~

     ~~~ OR "...       I'm not an idiot, Donald. I already know what you want. But your blabbing gives the game away, so just shut up and let me politicize the Justice Department on my own."     -- Kevin Drum of Mother Jones ~~~

This Barr interview is DeNiro in Goodfellas yelling at Johnny Roastbeef for buying his wife a Cadillac after the Lufthansa heist. -- Matt Miller, in a tweet ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... even if Barr made this decision before Trump's tweets and Trump never directly requested the action ... this is still highly problematic. It's the president's most senior political appointee in the Justice Department personally intervening in an unorthodox manner in the case of perhaps Trump's longest-serving political ally. It's precisely the kind of case in which you would want to make sure you try doubly hard to avoid even the appearance of political influence of any kind.... Instead, Barr decided this was a situation he needed to get involved in. And to be clear, Barr confirmed in the interview that he was personally responsible for the decision, which is as significant a revelation as anything else." ~~~

~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "In its story writing up its 'exclusive' 'interview' with Attorney General Bill Barr, ABC gets to the core of the issue: The Attorney General not only intervened to override the sentencing recommendation of career prosecutors, but he did so in defiance of the sentencing guidelines recommended by the Probation Office.... Yet ABC didn't ask Barr about the sentencing guidelines, at least not in the clip posted. Nor did Pierre Thomas ask any ... follow-up questions about that[.]"

This Federal Judge Has More Guts than John Roberts and Bill Barr. Cody Fenwick of AlterNet, republished in the Raw Story: "After ... Donald Trump's attacks on Judge Amy Berman Jackson overseeing the criminal case against his ally Roger Stone, the chief judge in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. spoke out Thursday against undue influence. 'Public criticism or pressure is not a factor' in sentencing decisions, Chief Judge Beryl Howell said in a statement.... 'The Judges of this Court base their sentencing decisions on careful consideration of the actual record in the case before them; the applicable sentencing guidelines and statutory factors; the submissions of the parties, the Probation Office and victims; and their own judgment and experience,' Howell said."

Rick Wilson in Rolling Stone: "The sentence [Roger] Stone faced [as the original prosecutors recommended] was appropriate because his actions weren't simply a criminal -- and criminally stupid -- defense of the president. They were just one part of a wider assault from the transparently corrupt Trump-Barr kleptocracy on the entire administration of justice in the United States.... Barr's bull-in-a-china-shop efforts on Stone's behalf were comically absurd, driven by a Trump tweet.... Like Trump, Barr is unbound, uncontrolled, and has no fear of congressional power.... [Stone will] never get out from under his legal bills.... His days as a provocateur are over.... Long sentence or short, everything Trump touches dies -- even his most loyal henchman." --s

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials investigating the government's response to Russia's election interference in 2016 appear to be hunting for a basis to accuse Obama-era intelligence officials of hiding evidence or manipulating analysis about Moscow's covert operation, according to people familiar with aspects of the inquiry. Since his election, President Trump has attacked the intelligence agencies that concluded that Russia secretly tried to help him win.... Questions asked by [U.S. Attorney John H.] Durham, who was assigned by Attorney General William P. Barr to scrutinize the early actions of law enforcement and intelligence officials..., suggest that Mr. Durham may have come to view with suspicion several clashes between analysts at different intelligence agencies over who could see each other's highly sensitive secrets.... Mr. Durham appears to be pursuing a theory that the C.I.A., under its former director John O. Brennan, had a preconceived notion about Russia or was trying to get to a particular result.... But officials from the F.B.I. and the National Security Agency have told Mr. Durham and his investigators that such an interpretation is wrong.... Mr. Durham's questioning is certain to add to accusations that Mr. Trump is using the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies, like Mr. Brennan...." TPM has a summary report here.

David Corn of Mother Jones: "... Trump's hostile take-over of the Justice Department this week is yet another sign that the task of countering Trump's extremism is becoming both harder and more crucial.... Trump is rigging the justice system, trashing norms that have been in place for decades, and attacking the notion that the rule of law is essential for democratic governance.... Barr has already done so much of Trump's bidding ... his declaration of independence was too late, if not ludicrous."

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The US attorney whose nomination for a top Treasury Department job was yanked because she ran the office that oversaw Roger Stone's prosecution has resigned, an administration official tells CNN. Jessie Liu, who previously headed the US attorney's office in Washington, submitted her resignation to the Treasury Department, effective Wednesday evening. She went to the Treasury Department with the intention of filling a Senate-confirmed position, which is no longer available after her nomination was withdrawn earlier Wednesday, the official said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: In a couple of tweets, Trump hit back late last night at his former chief of staff, John Kelly, who -- among other criticisms of Trump, stood up for Alexander Vindman (story linked in yesterday's Commentariat). Trump suggests Kelly, by taking the chief-of-staff job, forever forfeited his First Amendment right to disagree with Trump: "When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn't do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head. Being Chief of Staff just wasn't for him. He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper, but like so many X's, he misses the action & just can't keep his mouth shut,.... ....which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do. His incredible wife, Karen, who I have a lot of respect for, once pulled me aside & said strongly that 'John respects you greatly. When we are no longer here, he will only speak well of you.' Wrong!" Emphasis added.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Hope Hicks, a close aide to President Trump who resigned nearly two years ago, will return to the White House in a new role, administration officials said Thursday. Ms. Hicks, 31, worked on Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign from its inception and followed him to the White House after he was elected, eventually becoming communications director.... She will report to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, and work with the White House political director, Brian Jack. Her title will be 'counselor to the president.'" The Hill has a developing story here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Connor O'Brien & Caitlin Emma of Politico: "The Trump administration plans to sap money intended to build fighter jets, ships, vehicles and National Guard equipment in order to fund barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon told Congress on Thursday, a move that has agitated Democrats and even drawn condemnation from a top House Republican. The surprise reprogramming of another $3.8 billion, transmitted to Congress..., means the Pentagon will have forked over nearly $10 billion since last year to help pay for ... Donald Trump's border wall. But this shift in funding marks a new phase for the administration, which until now had used money set for military construction and counterdrug operations, not combat equipment." You can thank the Supremes for this (link is to a July 2019 WashPo story). (Also linked yesterday.)

Henry Foy of the Financial Times: "The US Treasury has justified sanctions against Oleg Deripaska by citing reports that the Russian tycoon helped President Vladimir Putin launder money. In a letter sent to Mr Deripaska's lawyers and seen by the Financial Times, the Office of Foreign Asset Control, the agency overseeing US sanctions policy, writes that Mr Deripaska was in 2016 'reportedly identified as one of the individuals holding assets and laundering funds on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin'." --s ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan of The Daily Beast: "Something strange happened in mid-December involving Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch. Late last year, the U.S. government signaled that it was about to level a new round of sanctions targeting people and entities linked to Deripaska, according to two Western officials with knowledge of the communication.... Until December, that is. What's strange is that despite the signal, Treasury didn't follow through and the sanctions -- which would have targeted the unnamed people and entities because of their proximity to Deripaska -- didn't materialize. It's been two months since the U.S. indicated that the new sanctions were about to come out, and there's been no movement from Treasury on the oligarch." --s

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Corey Dickstein of Stars & Stripes: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday defended the Pentagon's effort to strip Stars and Stripes of all of its federal funding as part of its fiscal year 2021 budget request, telling reporters in Brussels that the independent news organization is not a priority.... Pentagon officials acknowledged Wednesday for the first time that the budget proposal completely cuts the subsidy that the department provides Stars and Stripes.... Stars and Stripes receives about [$15 million out of the $705.4 billion total spending proposal.]... Stars and Stripes first appeared during the Civil War, and it has been published continuously since World War II. It produces daily newspapers for U.S. military troops around the world and operates a website that is updated with news 24 hours per day." --s Emphasis added.

Marianne Levine & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution limiting ... Donald Trump's authority to attack Iran without congressional approval, delivering the president another bipartisan foreign-policy rebuke and flexing its constitutional power over military actions. The 55-45 vote came nearly six weeks after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds force. The strike drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, and it prompted Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to introduce a War Powers resolution aimed at re-asserting Congress' constitutional authority to declare war. Kaine's resolution ... is expected to pass the House later this month, but Trump is likely to veto the measure. It needed only a simple majority to clear the Senate."

Presidential Race

Marc Caputo, et al., of Politico: "Nevada's powerful Culinary Workers Union will not endorse in the presidential primary, while criticizing Bernie Sanders' signature Medicare for All proposal. In declining to pick a candidate -- but calling for 'choices' in health care -- the union created an opening for Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, two moderate Democrats with little demonstrated support in the state. And it was a further setback for Joe Biden, who has been desperate to reassert himself after two demoralizing performances in Iowa and New Hampshire."

Bernie Is No Socialist & Pete Is No Economist. Paul Krugman: "... Bernie Sanders isn't actually a socialist in any normal sense of the term. He doesn't want to nationalize our major industries and replace markets with central planning; he has expressed admiration, not for Venezuela, but for >Denmark. He's basically what Europeans would call a social democrat -- and social democracies like Denmark are, in fact, quite nice places to live, with societies that are, if anything, freer than our own.... But if Sanders becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, his misleading self-description will be a gift to the Trump campaign.... Over the past few days Pete Buttigieg has chosen to pose as a deficit hawk, thereby demonstrating that while he may be a fresh face, he has remarkably stale ideas.... Where Sanders is playing right into one disreputable Republican political strategy, Buttigieg is playing into another: the strategy of hobbling the economy with fiscal austerity when a Democrat occupies the White House, then borrowing freely as soon as the G.O.P. regains power." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: No member of Congress, president or veep should be allowed to take the oath of office without being able to correctly answer this basic economic question: Why, in general, should a country run up deficits & debt during a recession & pay it down during good economic conditions?

"Mr. Man" v. Actual Brave Man. Alan Fram of the AP: "Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh drew bipartisan criticism Thursday for saying the country won';t elect Pete Buttigieg president because he's been 'kissing his husband' on stage after debates. Limbaugh's comments came eight days after ... Donald Trump awarded him the nation's top civilian honor during the State of the Union address. Trump said Limbaugh inspires millions of people daily and thanked him for 'decades of tireless devotion to our country.'... 'They're saying, "OK, how's this going to look?"' Limbaugh said Wednesday, imagining Democrats' thinking. '"Thirty-seven-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage, next to Mr. Man, Donald Trump."'... Limbaugh also said some Democrats may believe they should 'get a gay guy kissing his husband on stage, ram it down Trump's throat and beat him in the general election. Really? Having fun envisioning that.'" Mrs. McC: Pretty mild "criticism" from Republicans, a number of whom pleaded ignorance.

Amy's Dirty Trick. William Saletan of Slate: "In a dramatic exchange [during the New Hampshire Democratic presidential debate, Amy] Klobuchar rebuked [Pete] Buttigieg for belittling the Senate impeachment trial. In the debate and in subsequent TV interviews, she used his impeachment comments to portray him as unserious. It was a clever attack. It was also deceptive." Klobuchar claimed during the debate, "what you said, Pete, as you were campaigning through Iowa -- as three of us were jurors in that impeachment hearing -- you said it was exhausting to watch and that you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons." Buttigieg did say that or something like it on several occasions, but it was a predicate to his true point: that Americans must resist the temptation to become demoralized & tune out the trial. Mrs. McC: I wonder why Buttigieg did nothing to correct the record then & there, inasmuch as moderators always give candidates a chance to answer the charges, and his truthful answer would have devasted Klubuchar. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News: "While the Democratic National Committee over the past 10 days has tried to distance itself from the troubled app that threw the results of the Iowa caucuses into disarray, a copy of the contract and internal correspondence provided to Yahoo News demonstrates that national party officials had extensive oversight over the development of the technology.... The contract, which was signed on Oct. 14, 2019, and refers to Shadow as the 'Consultant,' specified that the company had to work with the DNC and provide the national party with access to its software for testing."

BBC News: "Incidents of white supremacist material being spread across the US rose by 120% in 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). It was the second year that the circulation of racist and nationalist posters and banners more than doubled, the hate monitoring group said. One Texas-based group was responsible for two-thirds of all propaganda.... Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray acknowledged that racist extremists in the US are now considered a 'national threat priority' presenting the same danger as foreign terror organisations such as the so-called Islamic State. About 90% of all incidents came from three groups - Patriot Front, American Identity Movement and the New European Heritage Association." --s

David Brooks Has a Good Idea! And It's So Socialist! "The 19th-century Nordic elites did something we haven't been able to do in this country recently. They realized that if their countries were to prosper they had to create truly successful 'folk schools' for the least educated among them. They realized that they were going to have to make lifelong learning a part of the natural fabric of society.... The German word they used to describe their approach, bildung, doesn't even have an English equivalent. It means the complete moral, emotional, intellectual and civic transformation of the person. It was based on the idea that if people were going to be able to handle and contribute to an emerging industrial society, they would need more complex inner lives.Today, Americans often think of schooling as the transmission of specialized skill sets -- can the student read, do math, recite the facts of biology. Bildung is devised to change the way students see the world." Mrs. McC: The next thing you know, Brooks will be wearing a big ole Sanders 2020 button.

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

The Commentariat -- February 13, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Here's Bill Barr Trying to Save His Own Ass. Anne Flaherty of ABC News: "Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that ... Donald Trump 'has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case' but should stop tweeting about the Justice Department because his tweets 'make it impossible for me to do my job.... I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,' Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.... [Barr] said he was supportive of [Roger] Stone's convictions but thought the sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years as excessive. When news outlets reported the seven to nine year sentencing recommendation last Monday, Barr said he thought it was spin.... Barr said Trump's middle-of-the-night tweet [decrying the sentencing guidelines in Stone's case] put him in a bad position. He insists he had already discussed with staff that the sentencing recommendation was too long.... He said it was 'preposterous' to suggest that he 'intervened' in the case as much as he acted to resolve a dispute within the department on a sentencing recommendation." ~~~

~~~ A portion of the interview begins at about 1:23 min. in:

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Interesting that Barr chose to sit down for an interview with a real journalist at an MSM outlet instead of Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham.

~~~ Complete This Sentence: "President Trump is making it impossible for me to do my job because...."

     "...      when he publicly announces he wants me to pervert the course of justice, it makes it obvious I'm perverting the system at his direction and in his personal interest, and that outs me as a corrupt lackey."     ~~~

     ~~~ OR Shorter Version: "...     how do you expect me to cover up all your shit if you shine a light on me?"    -- Bobby Lee

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said Thursday [in a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera] he may end the practice of having national security and foreign service staff listen in on his calls with foreign leaders after a July call with the president of Ukraine triggered his impeachment in the House.... Top White House and national security officials typically listen in on presidential phone calls to keep everyone on the same page and create a record of the conversation." Mrs. McC: Because it's in the interest of national security to have a lying bully who doesn't understand international relations speaking secretly to world leaders.

Connon O'Brien & Caitlin Emma of Politico: "The Trump administration plans to sap money intended to build fighter jets, ships, vehicles and National Guard equipment in order to fund barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon told Congress on Thursday, a move that has agitated Democrats and even drawn condemnation from a top House Republican. The surprise reprogramming of another $3.8 billion, transmitted to Congress..., means the Pentagon will have forked over nearly $10 billion since last year to help pay for President Donald Trump's border wall. But this shift in funding marks a new phase for the administration, which until now had used money set for military construction and counterdrug operations, not combat equipment." You can thank the Supremes for this (link is to a July 2019 WashPo story).

Amy's Dirty Trick. William Saletan of Slate: "In a dramatic exchange [during the New Hampshire Democratic presidential debate, Amy] Klobuchar rebuked [Pete] Buttigieg for belittling the Senate impeachment trial. In the debate and in subsequent TV interviews, she used his impeachment comments to portray him as unserious. It was a clever attack. It was also deceptive." Klobuchar claimed during the debate, "what you said, Pete, as you were campaigning through Iowa -- as three of us were jurors in that impeachment hearing -- you said it was exhausting to watch and that you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons." Buttigieg did say that or something like it on several occasions, but it was a predicate to his true point: that Americans must resist the temptation to become demoralized & tune out the trial. Mrs. McC: I wonder why Buttigieg did nothing to correct the record then & there, inasmuch as moderators always give candidates who are attacked a chance to answer the charges, and his truthful answer would have devasted Klubuchar.

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The US attorney whose nomination for a top Treasury Department job was yanked because she ran the office that oversaw Roger Stone's prosecution has resigned, an administration official tells CNN. Jessie Liu, who previously headed the US attorney's office in Washington, submitted her resignation to the Treasury Department, effective Wednesday evening. She went to the Treasury Department with the intention of filling a Senate-confirmed position, which is no longer available after her nomination was withdrawn earlier Wednesday, the official said."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Hope Hicks, a close aide to President Trump who resigned nearly two years ago, will return to the White House in a new role, administration officials said Thursday. Ms. Hicks, 31, worked on Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign from its inception and followed him to the White House after he was elected, eventually becoming communications director.... She will report to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, and work with the White House political director, Brian Jack. Her title will be 'counselor to the president.'" The Hill has a developing story here.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Most Corrupt "Administration" in U.S. History, Ctd.

Trump Learned His Lesson, Ctd. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: Wednesday, "Trump was asked by reporters in the Oval Office what he had learned from his impeachment by the Democrat-controlled House. 'That the Democrats are crooked,' Trump replied. 'They've got a lot of crooked things going, that they're vicious, that they shouldn't have brought impeachment and that my poll numbers are 10 points higher because of fake news like NBC.'" ~~~

~~~ After They Let the Horse out of the Barn. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Some Republican senators said on Wednesday that President Trump shouldn't weigh in on pending sentences after he publicly criticized an initial recommendation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the case of Roger Stone.... I think most people would look at that and say "hmm, that just doesn't look right." And I think they're right,' Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters.... Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters that Trump 'should not have gotten involved.'... '"I don't think he should be commenting on cases in the system, I don't think that's appropriate," [Sen. Lindsey] Graham told reporters."

~~~ Trump Says Prosecutors Corrupt, Ignorant. Lauren Egan of NBC News: "... Donald Trump declined Wednesday to say whether he was considering a pardon for ... Roger Stone, leaving the possibility open.... 'I don't want to say yet,' Trump told reporters when asked during an event in the Oval Office whether he was considering pardoning Stone. 'People were hurt viciously and badly by these corrupt people,' Trump continued. 'I want to thank the Justice Department for seeing this horrible thing.'... 'I'm not concerned about anything, concerned about nothing,' Trump said when asked whether he found the prosecutors' departures troubling. 'They ought to go back to school and learn. Because I'll tell you, the way they treated people, nobody should be treated like that.'" ~~~

~~~ Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: "Prosecutors across the United States, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals, said this week that they had already been wary of working on any case that might catch Mr. Trump's attention and that the Stone episode only deepened their concern. They also said that they were worried that Mr. Barr might not support them in politically charged cases.... 'Even assuming that Bill Barr is acting with integrity, it is impossible for people to believe that because the president is making him look like his political lap dog,' [former DOJ Legal Counsel in the Bush II administration Jack] Goldsmith said. 'Trump makes it impossible to have confidence in the department's judgment.'"

Natasha Bertrand & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "... Donald Trump's post-impeachment acquittal behavior is casting a chill in Washington, with Attorney General William Barr emerging as a key ally in the president's quest for vengeance against the law enforcement and national security establishment that initiated the Russia and Ukraine investigations. In perhaps the most tumultuous day yet for the Justice Department under Trump, four top prosecutors withdrew on Tuesday from a case involving the president's longtime friend Roger Stone after senior department officials overrode their sentencing recommendation.... 'With Bill Barr, on an amazing number of occasions ... you can be almost 100 percent certain that there's something improper going on,' said Donald Ayer, the former deputy attorney general in the George H.W. Bush administration. The president has only inflamed such suspicions, congratulating Barr on Wednesday for intervening in Stone's case and teeing off hours later on the prosecutors, calling them 'Mueller people' who treated Stone 'very badly.'... To many of Trump's critics, the episode was the most alarming in a series of Trump's post-acquittal reprisals.... Barr's evident intervention in matters of personal interest to the president, particularly as they relate to former campaign advisers once at the center of strong> Mueller's Russia probe, has now put the reputation of an entire institution at risk, DOJ veterans said."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Attorney General William Barr has accepted an invitation to testify to the House Judiciary Committee on March 31, ending a year-long standoff that began when the panel first demanded his testimony in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. The arrangement comes as Democrats have demanded answers about Barr's apparent intervention in the sentencing of ... Donald Trump's longtime ally Roger Stone, who was convicted last year on charges that he lied to congressional investigators and threatened a witness.... On Wednesday morning, Trump hailed Barr for 'taking charge' of the [Stone] matter, confirming suggestions that it was the attorney general himself who intervened." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is demanding that Attorney General William Barr testify publicly over the Justice Department's decision to reduce the recommended sentence for Trump associate Roger Stone. Harris is asking Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to call Barr before the panel, of which she is a member.... Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also sent a letter to Graham on Tuesday requesting an investigation, saying the Justice Department's decision 'smacks of dangerous political interference in law enforcement decision-making.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has little interest in investigating the Justice Department's abrupt reversal on a sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone -- rebuffing a Democratic demand sparked by ... Donald Trump's attacks on the federal prosecutors in the case. Graham, a staunch Trump ally, said Wednesday he did not intend to bring Attorney General William Barr in for testimony aside from the committee's general oversight of the Justice Department. And while Senate Republicans broadly criticized Trump's Twitter forays into the case, they said further investigation was not warranted -- dismissing Democrats' calls for congressional action over allegations of politically motivated favoritism." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Do not underestimate the danger of this situation: the political appointees in the DOJ are involving themselves in an inappropriate way in cases involving political allies of the President. This affects the rule of law and respect for it. Unprecedented. -- Former Attorney General Eric Holder, in a tweet ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "When senior government officials abuse their power by wielding law enforcement for private ends, whether to attack their enemies or protect their allies, they strike at the heart of constitutional democracy. They make a mockery of 'equal justice under law,' the central animating principle of the American experiment.... President Trump, with his authoritarian nature, does not respect any of this.... Mr. Trump openly interfered in the trial and sentencing of one of his oldest and staunchest allies, and his attorney general -- who could, on such occasions, be mistaken for Mr. Trump's personal lawyer -- was more than happy to do his bidding.... Mr. Trump was exultant [when all four prosecutors on the Roger Stone case resigned].... Since Mr. Trump has described [the Constitution] as 'like a foreign language,' we'll take this opportunity to inform him that [it] ... does not give him the authority to run the Justice Department like a goon squad at one of his failed casinos.... An aspiring autocrat is only as powerful as his enablers, and Mr. Trump hit the jackpot in Mr. Barr, who is now taking control of all cases involving the president, including Mr. Stone's conviction."

Sylvan Lane of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to explain Wednesday why President Trump pulled the Treasury nomination of a former U.S. attorney who had supervised the prosecution of several of the president's campaign advisers. In an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, Mnuchin refused to say why Trump withdrew the nomination of Jessie Liu to serve as Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes Tuesday night. The decision came just two days before Liu's confirmation hearing and shortly after Trump dismissed two government officials who testified during his impeachment before the House.... Liu, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, oversaw the federal government's cases against several top Trump campaign aides, including Roger Stone.... 'I would hope you would give an explanation that's counter to the one everyone assumes, which is that she's part of the president's personal retribution tour,' said [Sen. Sherrod] Brown, the top Democrat on the Banking panel."

Julie Zebrak in the Washington Monthly: "... Trump's corruption of the Justice Department hides in plain sight. Equally obvious is the complicity of the attorney general who has made clear time and again that he's perfectly willing to subvert the national interest to advance the president's political interest. Trump's corruption of the Justice Department hides in plain sight. Equally obvious is the complicity of the attorney general who has made clear time and again that he's perfectly willing to subvert the national interest to advance the president's political interest.... From his prebuttal spin of the Mueller Report, effectively manipulating the public about its findings, to unprecedentedly joining Criminal Division meetings with Rudy Giuliani and his client, both of whom were under investigation, to his latest moves this week, Barr has abandoned any semblance of independence. Instead, he has telegraphed to the world that he serves as an extension of the president.... Career attorneys have been in the rooms where this has happened; they've been on the email chains. They are witnesses. It's time for them to tell us what they know."

Bob Bauer, in a New York Times op-ed: "Mr. Trump has established a new normal at the senior legal leadership of his administration. The rhetoric of ... William Barr suggests that he accepts, to a disturbing degree, the president's desire for a politically responsive Justice Department.... [White House counsel] Pat Cipollone defended the president in the impeachment proceeding with arguments of the kind, in tone and variance from the factual record, you would expect to hear from Trump surrogates on Fox News.... The prosecutor who resigns rather than remain in a decaying institution is upholding crucial norms. To his credit, at least one lawyer has chosen to do this, even if it is the rare case and it may have come too late to protect the Department of Justice from Mr. Trump's demands and Attorney General Barr's apparent willingness to accommodate them."

This Prosecutor Is Standing up to Trump. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Amid ongoing turmoil at the Justice Department, a prominent member of former special counsel Robert Mueller's team surfaced in a court filing on Wednesday to defend the government's prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Just one day after ... Donald Trump publicly slammed the targeting of Flynn and ... Roger Stone, fueling a furor that apparently led four prosecutors to quit Stone's case, Brandon Van Grack submitted a written pleading urging a judge to reject Flynn's effort to have his prosecution thrown out on the grounds of 'egregious government misconduct.' 'The defendant relies on allegations that do not pertain to his case, that the Court already rejected, and that have no relevance to his false statements to the FBI on January 24, 2017,' Van Grack wrote. 'Beyond failing to identify misconduct that satisfies the legal test cited in his own brief -- that the misconduct be "so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice" -- the defendant fails to identify any government misconduct in this case.'"

Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman "is not under Army investigation, a knowledgeable Defense Department official told The Daily Beast. But veteran Army officers caution that the lack of an investigation does not necessarily mean ... Vindman has escaped reprisal. Ever since Vindman was escorted out of the White House on Friday, along with his twin brother, there has been intense speculation over the future of his military career. Vindman has returned to the Department of the Army.... The Defense official said the Army was not investigating Vindman -- an indication that, thus far, the Army does not see Vindman as committing a professional infraction by testifying to the inquiry. The durability of that assessment stands as a key question affecting civilian-military relations in the post-impeachment phase of Trump's presidency. In an indication of how treacherous the military considers the politics of the Vindman episode, not even retired officers would speak on the record for this story.... In the military's 'up or out' culture, being denied a promotion to colonel by the next Army promotions board will spell the end of Vindman's service." (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Nicholas of the Atlantic: "Lieut. Col Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council aide and impeachment witness ... Donald Trump fired Friday, was just doing his job, former White House chief of staff John Kelly told students and guests at a Drew University event [in Morristown, N.J.,] Wednesday night. Over a 75-minute speech and question-and-answer session, Kelly laid out, in the clearest terms yet, his misgivings with Trump's words and actions regarding North Korea, illegal immigration, military discipline, Ukraine, and the news media. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, said that Vindman is blameless and simply followed the training he'd received as a soldier, migrants are 'overwhelmingly good people' and 'not all rapists,' and Trump's decision to condition military aid to Ukraine on an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden upended longstanding U.S. policy.... At times Wednesday, Kelly sounded like the anti-Trump. He said he did not believe the press is 'the enemy of the people,' for example. And he sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has steadfastly courted.... Responding to questions from the audience, Kelly faulted Trump for intervening in the case of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy Seal who was convicted last year of posing with the corpse of an ISIS fighter."

Jennifer Hansler & Jamie Crawford of CNN: "Retired Ambassador Marie 'Masha' Yovanovitch -- a highly respected career diplomat who unwittingly became one of the central figures in the impeachment drama -- warned about the degradation of the State Department and took veiled jabs at the Trump administration in her first public remarks since leaving the diplomatic service. During an event at Georgetown University, Yovanvotich warned that 'right now the State Department is in trouble.' As she did in her impeachment inquiry hearing remarks, she also warned that the department was being hollowed out. The former US ambassador to Ukraine said that the department's senior leaders lacked moral clarity, the policy process had been replaced with decisions from the top with little discussion, and she said diplomats wondered if they could express concerns, even behind the scenes." ~~~

~~~ Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in a public address Wednesday called on political leaders to do more to support the U.S. foreign service, while warning about a demoralized atmosphere at the State Department under President Trump.... 'Working off of facts is not a trademark of the deep state, but the deeply committed state,' she added, emphasizing that 'truth matters.... Former diplomats, like former ambassadors Tom Pickering and William Burns, praised Yovanovitch for her bravery and courage after facing attacks from Trump and his allies for her decision to testify in the House impeachment inquiry, despite orders not to do so. They also subtly jabbed the president and others for their attacks against the longtime public servant, with Pickering describing the president's remarks against her as 'reprehensible.'"

David Fahrenthold & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday asked the Secret Service to provide a full accounting of its payments to President Trump's private company after The Washington Post revealed that the Secret Service had been charged as much as $650 per night for rooms at Trump clubs. In a letter to the Secret Service, signed by Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), the committee asked for records of payments to Trump properties, and copies of contracts between the Secret Service and Trump clubs.... In its letter, the House Oversight Committee said that the 'Secret Service has not disclosed the full scope of its payments to the President&'s businesses or its expenses for presidential travel to [Trump's] own properties.' It said the charges stand 'in stark contrast' to the Trump Organization's public statements claiming that it isn't making money off the stays. The Secret Service is legally required to send Congress a report every six months on its spending to protect presidential residences. But since the start of Trump's term, the letter said, the Secret Service has provided only three of the required six reports. And, even in those three, the lines for spending at Trump's Bedminster and Mar-a-Lago clubs are both blank, the committee said. The letter asks the Secret Service to explain why."

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Senate is expected to pass a measure Thursday limiting President Trump's ability to act militarily against Iran, in lawmakers' latest bipartisan attempt to compel the White House to involve them in foreign policy decisions. Eight Republicans voted Wednesday to advance legislation invoking Congress's war powers, a move intended to prevent the president from engaging in hostilities against Tehran without explicit authorization from the legislative branch -- except in cases of clear self-defense. The vote reflects the frustration with Trump's decision to kill a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, without first consulting lawmakers, and with what many on Capitol Hill considered insufficient candor from administration officials who have briefed them in the aftermath.... The legislation..., as a war powers measure, was guaranteed a vote [despite Mitch McConnell's opposition to it].... The legislation will still lack the votes to overcome a near-guaranteed veto." Wednesday, Trump tweeted his opposition to the bill.

Another Actual Constitutional Crisis. Kimberly Wehle, in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "In a jaw-dropping opinion issued by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on January 23, Judge Frank Easterbrook -- a longtime speaker for the conservative Federalist Society and someone whom the late Justice Antonin Scalia favored to replace him on the U.S. Supreme Court --rebuked Attorney General William Barr for declaring in a letter that the court's decision in an immigration case was 'incorrect' and thus dispensable. Barr's letter was used as justification by the Board of Immigration Appeals ... to ignore the court's ruling not to deport a man who had applied for a visa to remain in the country.... 'We have never before encountered defiance of a remand order, and we hope never to see it again,' Easterbrook wrote.... 'The Attorney General, the Secretary, and the Board ... are not free to disregard our mandate....'... Given Trump's record of defiance, Barr's maneuver is predictable -- but it is a shocking break with more than 200 years of constitutional and legal precedent.... In defying the 7th Circuit..., Attorney General Barr challenged the validity of Marbury v. Madison itself...."

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Wehle suggests various scenarios that could play out if Barr continues to defy the court's order, the least likely of which, alas, is U.S. Marshals escorting Bill Barr out of the RFK building in shackles. But we can dream.

Also, Trump Is Ridiculous. Sonam Sheth of Business Insider: "When Reince Priebus was the White House chief of staff..., Donald Trump repeatedly asked him whether badgers, the state animal of Priebus' home state of Wisconsin, are 'mean to people,' how they 'work,' and how aggressive they can get. That's according to 'Sinking in the Swamp...," a new book by the Daily Beast reporters Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng. Priebus was Trump's chief of staff for roughly six months, from when Trump took office to the end of July 2017. During that time, Trump would often 'waste Priebus's time' during briefings about foreign and domestic policy by pelting him with questions about badgers, the book says."

** Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports: "Ohio congressman and former Ohio State assistant wrestling coach Jim Jordan has been accused of participating in the cover-up of widespread sexual abuse in OSU’s wrestling program. Jordan was accused by Adam DiSabato, who was the team captain in the late 1980s and early 1990s. DiSabato was appearing in front of a hearing in the Ohio legislature as a witness for House Bill 249, which would waive the statute of limitations and allow the OSU athletes who had been abused to sue the university. DiSabato told the House Civil Justice Committee that several team officials, including Jordan, were aware that the team's open shower facilities put them at risk of being abused and harassed by a team doctor, but did nothing about it. Then DiSabato detailed a phone conversation between him and Jordan, in which Jordan asks DiSabato to help him cover up wrongdoing. Via Cleveland.com: '[DiSabato] ... said Jordan called him repeatedly in July 2018, after media outlets quoted his brother, Michael DiSabato, saying Strauss' abuse was common knowledge to those surrounding the wrestling program, including Jordan. 'Jim Jordan called me crying, groveling... begging me to go against my brother.... That's the kind of cover-up that's going on there,' he said." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm assuming Adam DiSabato's testimony was made under oath; that is, he wasn't just making up stuff to impress his buddies.

Presidential Race

William Mansell of ABC News: "Turnout for voters in the New Hampshire Democratic primary reached record levels this year. According to the Secretary of State's office, a record 300,622 ballots were cast in the Democratic primary, exceeding the 2008 record of 288,672 ballots.... Unlike the Iowa caucuses, which had stagnant turnout levels compared to 2016, New Hampshire voters turned out in higher numbers than they did four years ago." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... taking into account the state's growing voting-age population, [this year's primary election turnout] was pretty much on par with the turnout in the past two cycles in which only one party had a competitive primary.... Dave Wasserman, an editor at the Cook Political Report, estimated on Wednesday that the largest increases in turnout, in comparison to 2016, had actually come in the places Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar did best."

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Deval L. Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor, has suspended his campaign for president, he said, a day after the New Hampshire primary." A Hill report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Miles Parks of NPR: Troy Price, "the head of the Iowa Democratic party, filed his resignation Wednesday, as the organization is still picking up the pieces from last week's caucus debacle.... His resignation will become effective Saturday, after the State Central Committee holds an emergency meeting to elect a new chair."

Brian Slodysko of the AP: "At the height of the 2008 economic collapse, then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the elimination of a discriminatory housing practice known as 'redlining' was responsible for instigating the meltdown.... Bloomberg, a billionaire who built a media and financial services empire before turning to electoral politics, was correct that the financial crisis was triggered in part by banks extending loans to borrowers who were ill-suited to repay them. But by attributing the meltdown to the elimination of redlining, a practice used by banks to discriminate against minority borrowers, Bloomberg appears to be blaming policies intended to bring equality to the housing market."

Remainders. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Here are two stories that I missed: ~~~

     ~~~ Igor Derysh of Salon (Feb. 11): "... Donald Trump quickly deleted a tweet that attacked former Mike Bloomberg as 'racist' over comments the former New York mayor made in an unearthed audio recording defending stop-and-frisk. 'WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!' Trump wrote before the tweet was deleted shortly thereafter. The president later re-tweeted a post that included the hashtag #BloombergIsRacist.... It is unclear why Trump deleted the tweet, though it could have something to do with his longstanding support for stop-and-frisk. A federal judge struck down the practice 2013 as 'indirect racial profiling.'... Trump said during his 2016 campaign that the program 'worked very well' in New York and called for its nationwide implementation. 'I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to -- we did it in New York. It worked incredibly well,' Trump said at the time. 'You understand -- you have to have, in my opinion. I see what's going on here -- I see what's going on in Chicago, I think stop-and-frisk. In New York City, it was so incredible -- the way it worked....' The president doubled down on his support for the unconstitutional program in 2018, arguing that 'stop-and-frisk' works and it was meant for problems like Chicago.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Junior Spy Nunes Zeroing in on Mayor Pete? Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) spotted at the airport in South Bend, Ind. yesterday.... -- Kyle Cheney of Politico, in a tweet (Feb. 9)

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Taylor Telford & Thomas Heath of the Washington Post: "McClatchy Co., one of the nation's largest newspaper publishers, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, another harbinger of America's deepening local news crisis. The Chapter 11 filing will allow the Sacramento-based company to keep its 30 newspapers afloat while it reorganizes more than $700 million in debt, 60 percent of which would be eliminated under the plan. If the court approves, it would also hand control of the 163-year-old family publisher to a hedge fund, Chatham Asset Management, its largest creditor." A CNN story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Dan Scanlan of the Florida Times Union: "A Jacksonville, Florida, man jailed after crashing a minivan through a tent of Republican volunteers in a Walmart parking lot told investigators he does not like ... Donald Trump and that he felt "someone had to take a stand," according to his arrest report. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eileen Kelley of the South Florida Sun Sentinel: "A Florida man no longer faces criminal charges because his online skit about Donald Trump appeared to be 'more of a rant by an idiot' than someone intent on harming the president, according to a prosecutor's memo obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.... Prosecutors dismissed the charges against 26-year-old Chauncy Lump, a security guard from Oakland Park. He had dressed as an Arab for a skit he posted to Facebook Live, apparently calling out Trump for ordering the assassination of Iran's top military leader a day earlier, according to charging documents. Middle Eastern music was playing in the background and Lump wrapped himself in a shower curtain and a towel encased his head like a turban."

Way Beyond

Jason Horowitz & Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has for now rejected a landmark proposal by bishops to allow the ordination of married men in remote areas, a potentially momentous change that conservatives had warned would set the Roman Catholic Church on a slippery slope toward lifting priestly celibacy and weakening church traditions. Francis' decision, in a papal letter made public on Wednesday, surprised many given the openness he had displayed on the subject and his frequently expressed desire for a more collegial and less top-down church." (Also linked yesterday.)