The Commentariat -- January 16, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Chief Justice, Senators Take the Impeachment Oath:
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sadly, Roberts -- as expected -- wore a plain judicial robe, unlike his predecessor William Renquist, who had gold stripes sewed to sleeves of his robe. His inspiration: "one worn by the Lord Chancellor in a local production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe," which Renquist had seen. Of his experience in overseeing the impeachment trial, Renquist riffed on a line from "When Britain Really Ruled the Waves" in Iolanthe: "I did nothing in particular, and I did it very well." One might think Renquist thought the Clinton impeachment and trial amounted to a grand farce -- one that unfortunately lacked appropriate musical accompaniment.
~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times with live updates: "For the second time in two days, the seven House members who will serve as prosecutors made a solemn march through the Capitol to the Senate chamber, this time to formally announce the charges against President Trump and initiate only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history....
"Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead impeachment manager, said his team would consider whether to press the Senate to call Lev Parnas to testify once the trial begins.... Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who says President Trump was fully aware of efforts to dig up damaging information that would help him in the 2020 election, would be 'a credible witness'during the impeachment trial, though she stopped short of saying he should testify.
"It was a straightforward question being put to nearly every Republican senator in the Capitol on Thursday: Should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial? But when Manu Raju of CNN, a well-respected congressional reporter, put it to Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, the first-term Republican who is up for re-election this fall went on the attack. 'You're a liberal hack,' she said. 'I'm not talking to you. You're a liberal hack.'" Mrs. McC: I've seen Raju on CNN many times. He's a straight reporter, not a "liberal hack." ~~~
"But He Didn't Commit a Crime!" -- Another Faulty Trump Defense Topples. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Trump administration violated the law in withholding security assistance aid to Ukraine, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency said on Thursday.... The Government Accountability Office said the White House's Office of Management and Budget violated the Impoundment Control Act when it withheld nearly $400 million for 'a policy reason,' even though the funds had been allocated by Congress. The decision was directed by the president himself, and during the House impeachment inquiry, administration officials testified that they had raised concerns about its legality to no avail.... The White House budget office promptly rejected the report's conclusions.... Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland..., on Thursday called the G.A.O. report a 'bombshell legal opinion.' It 'demonstrates, without a doubt, that the Trump Administration illegally withheld assistance from Ukraine and the public evidence shows that the president himself ordered this illegal act,' he wrote on Twitter." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ The GAO's decision report is here, via Politico. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The GOP has made the idea there was no crime a central argument in its impeachment defense of President Trump. The articles of impeachment, Republicans argue, don't actually accuse Trump of a specific, statutory criminal act, so the process is illegitimate. This, of course, ignores that you don't need a crime to impeach. But that strained argument was just severely undermined. The Government Accountability Office ruled Thursday the Trump administration's withholding of aid to Ukraine violated the law, because Trump can't use his policy priorities to supersede the constitutional power of the purse that Congress enjoys.... [In his decision,] GAO general counsel Thomas H. Armstrong delivers rebukes to Trump and his administration, saying it has failed to abide by the law, failed to substantiate its actions and failed to cooperate by providing the necessary documentation.... Now [impeachment managers] can plausibly argue Trump took an illegal action here as part of his pressure campaign on Ukraine."
American Oversight (via digby): "We lined up the newly released Parnas messages with the records we obtained from the State Department through FOIA litigation, as well as other records and reports. The timeline is troubling.... Many of the messages between [Lev] Parnas and Robert Hyde, a Trump donor who was apparently assisting Parnas in Ukraine, were sent in late March 2019 -- dates when [Rudy] Giuliani was in touch with Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, according to records we obtained." The report includes the details.
Sabrina Rodriguez of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed ... Donald Trump's signature trade deal with Mexico and Canada, helping him fulfill a 2016 campaign promise in a rare bipartisan vote. It's a big win for the president going into his reelection campaign, as he seeks to prove that his disruptive trade agenda is delivering results. But it'll take years of costly work before American workers and businesses begin to benefit from the new trade pact with Mexico and Canada, which passed the Senate in a 89-10 vote.... Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, voted against the pact for not doing enough to protect American jobs or address environmental issues.... The USMCA will not go into full effect until Canada approves the pact when its House of Commons reconvenes in late January."
Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "Virginia on Wednesday became the 38th state to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, a symbolic victory for those who for generations have been pushing for a constitutional guarantee of legal rights regardless of sex. Virginia's decision does not seal the amendment's addition to the United States Constitution. A deadline for three-quarters, or 38, of the 50 states to approve the E.R.A. expired in 1982, so the future of the measure is uncertain, and experts said the issue would likely be tied up in the courts and in the political sphere for years. But the symbolism of the action in Virginia was significant after a struggle that had been raised, hard fought and, at times, forgotten over nearly 100 years.... Women packed the galleries of the State Capitol as the debate unfolded.... Some members of the House of Delegates, which for the first time in its 401-year history is led by a woman, Eileen Filler-Corn, brought their young daughters to witness the vote." The Hill's story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Zach Montague of the New York Times: Today, "the seven House managers will return to the Senate chamber to read aloud the articles of impeachment. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will make the trip across the street to the Capitol from the Supreme Court to be sworn in as the presiding officer of the trial and administer oaths to all 100 senators, who will raise their hands and swear to do 'impartial justice,' then take turns signing a book attesting to their oath.... The managers are expected to arrive for the reading at noon, and Chief Justice Roberts is expected around 2 p.m. The oath-taking and book-signing will follow.... By Senate rules, once Chief Justice Roberts is sworn in, a summons is to be issued to the president, who will have the opportunity to address the charges laid out in the articles of impeachment. The Senate is also expected on Thursday to set due dates for trial briefs from the House managers and the president's counsel, providing some clarity on when initial filings must be submitted. Once summoned, Mr. Trump is expected to respond in written form. The response may be read out over the course of several days."
House managers deliver Articles of Impeachment to the Senate:
Nicholas Fandos & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to send the Senate two articles of impeachment against President Trump, appointing seven Democrats to prosecute the case and initiating only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history.... Only one Democrat, Representative Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota, joined every Republican in voting 'no.'... The [impeachent] managers are scheduled to reconvene in the Capitol at 5 p.m. to finalize the articles with Ms. Pelosi in a formal 'engrossment ceremony' that will mark the beginning of an elaborate, and highly orchestrated, ritual. From there, accompanied by the House clerk and sergeant-at-arms, the managers will file from the House, through the old House chamber and the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate, where Democrats will present the articles to the secretary of the Senate. But the trial itself is not expected to start until Thursday, when the managers will most likely exhibit the articles inside the Senate chamber. Once they do so, the Senate will summon Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to preside and all senators will take an oath to administer 'impartial justice.' The Senate must promptly issue a summons to Mr. Trump informing him of the charges and requesting a response. Republican leaders have said the proceeding will not begin in earnest until next Tuesday, after the long holiday weekend." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Olivia Beavers & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tapped seven impeachment managers on Tuesday.... Some members who the Speaker tapped were considered shoo-ins, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who both had leadership roles during the impeachment inquiry into Trump's contacts with Ukraine. Others picked for the high-profile role of managers include Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Val Demings (Fla.), Sylvia Garcia (Texas), and Jason Crow (Colo.)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named the lawmakers who will prosecute the case in a Senate trial that will begin in earnest next week. In impeachment parlance, they are known as managers. They are tasked with persuading 67 senators to convict Trump and remove him from office on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 'The emphasis is on litigators, the emphasis is on comfort in the courtroom,' Pelosi said of her selections. Here's who they are and why Pelosi probably picked them for the most consequential part of the entire impeachment process." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' liveblog on impeachment for Wednesday is here. The Washington Post's liveblog is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Impartial Jury Foreman. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday ripped House Democrats and made the case for the upper chamber acquitting President Trump as he waits for the articles of impeachment to be transmitted. McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, did not directly call for senators to vote to acquit Trump but argued that senators cannot follow the House's lead and agree that the president deserves to be impeached and ultimately removed from office. '... If the Senate blesses this unprecedented and dangerous House process by agreeing that an incomplete case and subjective basis are enough to impeach a president, we will almost guarantee the impeachment of every future president,' McConnell said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Emma Dumain & Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald: Rep. Val Demings, a "Florida congresswoman who on Wednesday became an impeachment manager in ... Donald Trump's upcoming Senate trial, wants to remove the lead juror: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.... Her opposition to McConnell's participation in the Senate trial that is set to start next week stems from the Kentucky Republican boasting that he won't be impartial in deciding whether Trump should be acquitted or convicted. 'I'm not an impartial juror,' McConnell said at a press conference in December. 'This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision.' Demings released a statement on Dec. 13 declaring McConnell unfit to vote in Trump's impeachment trial after Senate leader went on Fox News to further detail his coordination with the White House on impeachment strategy."
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Senate is still discussing whether it will hear witness testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who has said he would comply with a subpoena during the impeachment trial. But he's planning to reveal some of what he saw regarding the Ukraine matter in his upcoming book, according to people familiar with the plan. Mr. Bolton's book, due to be published by Simon and Schuster, is almost finished, according to people familiar with his plans, and is set to be on sale well ahead of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this summer. The book is going to ... expand on at least some of what he saw regarding Mr. Trump's efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials into announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden...." Mediaite has a summary report here.
Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate is prepared to enforce strict measures on reporters' access during ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial.... The Senate sergeant-at-arms and U.S. Capitol Police are looking to drastically curtail press access to lawmakers.... Among the potential restrictions, according to aletter sent to Senate leadership from the Standing Committee of Correspondents, are confining reporters to a press pen on the second floor of the Capitol and limiting their ability to walk with senators from the Senate subways.... But not all Republicans are on board. Some pushed back Wednesday, following news that access to senators will be significantly limited during the Senate impeachment proceedings. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, known for his folksy style and colorful quotes, complained that the restrictions send the 'wrong message.'"
Ken Vogel & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals of President Trump, completed his break with the White House on Wednesday, asserting for the first time in public that the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf. In an interview with The New York Times on the day the House transmitted articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump to the Senate, Mr. Parnas also expressed regret for having trusted Mr. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani.... Mr. Parnas made his remarks as House impeachment investigators released more material he had turned over to them. The material ... provided additional evidence that the effort to win political advantage for Mr. Trump was widely known among his allies, showing that Mr. Parnas communicated regularly with two top Republican fund-raisers about what he was up to. Text messages and call logs show that Mr. Parnas was in contact with Tom Hicks Jr., a donor and Trump family friend, and Joseph Ahearn, who raised money for pro-Trump political groups, about developments in the Ukraine pressure campaign.... The records seem to expand the circle of people around Mr. Trump who were aware in real time of the pressure campaign.... When asked by The Times how he knew that Mr. Trump was aware of the pressure campaign, he said that Mr. Giuliani assured him that was the case." ~~~
~~~ Phil Helsel of NBC News: "Lev Parnas..., says, 'President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials,' Parnas, who faces campaign finance charges, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in an interview set to air Wednesday night. 'I mean, they have no reason to speak to me. Why would President Zelenskiy's inner circle or Minister Avakov or all these people or President Poroshenko meet with me? Who am I? They were told to meet with me. And that's the secret that they're trying to keep. I was on the ground doing their work,' Parnas said.... Asked whether Trump specifically was aware that he and Giuliani were working on the effort in Ukraine specifically to hurt Joe Biden, Parnas said yes. 'Yeah, it was all about Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and also Rudy had a personal thing with the Manafort stuff. The black ledger,' Parnas said." Mrs. McC: There's a lot more, and it's explosive. Here's a small portion of the interview:
~~~ Jeffery Martin of Newsweek: "In an interview with Rachel Maddow Wednesday night, Lev Parnas said that Vice President Mike Pence was given the task of telling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that if he did not announce his government's investigation into the Bidens, the U.S. would not provide any military aid. When asked if Pence was aware of the quid pro quo, Parnas said, 'I'm going to use a famous quote from [Ambassador Gordon] Sondland. Everybody was in the loop.' Parnas said that Pence was scheduled to be a guest at Zelenskiy's inauguration.... But Parnas told Zelenskiy's senior aide Sergei Schaffer that if the investigation were not announced, then the relationship between Ukraine and the U.S. would become 'sour.' 'The announcement was the key at that time because of the inauguration and I told him Pence would not show up, nobody would show up to his inauguration,' Parnas said. 'It was particularly Vice President Mike Pence.' Pence's visit to the inauguration was canceled the day after Parnas met with Schafer.... To my awareness, Trump called to say "Make sure Pence doesn't go [to the inauguration]."' Parnas said he was positive Pence canceled his trip to the inauguration because of the disagreement between the U.S. and Ukraine." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I've joked about President Pelosi, but what a responsible Congress would do now is (1) remove Trump from office, (2) investigate the veracity of Parnas' claim about pence and impeach pence if verified, and (3) swear in either Pelosi or, if there is one, president* pence's appointed veep. Of course, none of this will happen because that "if" clause depends upon "responsible."
~~~ Right now, you can watch the full interview here. The full show will be here (@6:15 am ET, it's not up yet); however, to watch it here, you have to have access through your cable network & sign in, which is kind of a pain. More of the interview will air on Maddow's show tonight. ~~~
~~~ Justine Coleman of the Hill has a summary report.
~~~ Devin Nunes Tries out the "I Forgot" Defense. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Moments after [Lev] Parnas told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that the president 'knew exactly what was going on' with Ukraine, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked [Rep. Dennis] Nunes about phone records that show he spoke to Parnas, noting he previously said he couldn't 'recall' having a phone conversation with the Giuliani henchman. Claiming that the information was 'brand new' at the time and he just didn't 'recognize the name Parnas,' the pro-Trump congressman added that he was able to recall 'where he was at the time' and now 'remembered that call, which was very odd and random.' Asked whether or not they spoke about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Nunes asserted that the first time he 'heard the name Yovanovitch was not until this impeachment sham started.'" Mrs. McC: Nunes, you recall, sat through the House Intel Committee hearings as ranking member, never letting on that he himself had been in on the Ukraine scheme.
Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House impeachment investigators released a new set of evidence that was obtained from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of ... Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani -- including voicemails, photos, and text messages between Parnas and high-level figures within Trump's orbit. The material includes voicemail messages Parnas received from Giuliani and Victoria Toensing, a prominent Trump-aligned lawyer, both of whom have been identified as players in an effort to force the removal of the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, during the spring."
Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "New materials released by House Democrats appear to show Ukraine's top prosecutor offering an associate of ... Rudolph W. Giuliani damaging information related to former vice president Joe Biden if the Trump administration recalled the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.... Among the revelations in the documents released Tuesday: a message from Giuliani to [Lev] Parnas saying he had involved a person he called 'no 1' -- possibly Trump himself -- in an effort to lift a U.S. visa ban on a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was planning to come to the United States to make claims about Biden.... The materials show that Parnas, a Russian-speaker who helped coordinate Giuliani's outreach to Ukrainian sources, was directly communicating with an array of top Ukrainian officials. Among them was Yuri Lutsenko, at the time Ukraine's top prosecutor and a close political ally of then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was running for reelection. Lutsenko wanted to get rid of Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador, in part because she had been critical of his office and supported a quasi-independent anti-corruption bureau he despised.... The newly released documents also detail Giuliani's involvement in trying to secure a U.S. visa for Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, who has alleged that Biden asked Poroshenko to fire him because he was investigating the owner of Burisma at the time."
Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The previously untold story of how Giuliani and his associates reached out to ... Ukrainian tycoon [Dmytro Firtash] -- whom the former New York mayor had previously blasted publicly for alleged ties to organized crime -- shows the lengths Giuliani went to in his campaign to defend Trump in the Russia investigation and undermine former vice president Joe Biden.... The Firtash executive who met with Giuliani in Paris was an aspiring Ukrainian politician named Dmitry Torner, later accused by Ukrainian authorities of escaping incarceration in Moldova and living under a new name. The following month, Giuliani sat down in London with other Firtash representatives.... Later that summer, Firtash's attorneys filed a court document that Giuliani touted publicly as support for his claims about Biden. In a statement, Giuliani said he did not remember meeting Torner or details of his meetings in Paris and London and had limited interest in Firtash. 'I never met him. I never did business with him,' he said of Firtash. He did not respond to follow-up questions after The Post obtained photos of [Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman & Torner together in a Paris cigar bar].
Philip Bump of the Washington Post highlights a letter from Rudy Giuliani to Volodymyr Zelensky that makes it fairly impossible for Trump to throw Giuliani under the bus, as Trump attempted to do in an interview with Bill O'Reilly. In the letter, which is reproduced with the post, Giuliani writes, "I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump. Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.... In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Nahal Toosi & Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Democrats are vowing to investigate allegations that people linked to ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer had placed the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance. Documents released by House impeachment investigators late Tuesday indicate that Lev Parnas ... corresponded with Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde about tracking the movements of the ex-envoy, Marie Yovanovitch. In often coarse terms, the pair nodded to an effort to oust her from the role.... Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter Wednesday to the State Department seeking records related to Hyde, Parnas and Yovanovitch. Engel wrote that he was especially alarmed by messages in which Hyde suggested he had 'a person inside' who could offer information on the ambassador; Engel questioned whether that person could be based at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.... New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote his own letter to the State Department demanding 'an immediate briefing and accounting' by officials in the diplomatic security division and others about what they knew and did to protect Yovanovitch."
~~~ Jonathan Chait: In "a series of messages between [Lev] Parnas, who met with Trump on several occasions and claims the president personally directed his mission in Ukraine, and Robert Hyde..., Hyde made several chilling remarks that seemed to indicate that he was surveilling Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and prepared to do something to her. Reading these messages makes clear Hyde was planning to do something unpleasant to Yovanovitch, apparently in tandem with some kind of security personnel he contacted, perhaps Russian ones[.]... Several months later, even after she had been removed from her post, President Trump appeared intent on doing some kind of harm to Yovanovitch. 'Well, she's going to go through some things,' he told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his July 25 phone call.... The Parnas-Hyde texts are evidence of how the whole scheme played out on the ground, which is basically as an episode of The Sopranos. And as the sordid evidence of the scheme continues to pour out, it remains the position of the Trump administration and nearly every elected Republican that Congress is not entitled to to any additional testimony or documents." Worth reading for the thread of Hyde's messages. Chait also goes into the evidence in the letter from Giuliani to Zelensky. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Lee Fang of the Intercept: "The man who relayed information about Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch's location to Rudy Giuliani's Ukrainian associates was a known stalker with mental health issues. Newly released private WhatsApp messages between Lev Parnas ... and Robert F. Hyde, a donor to ... Donald Trump's campaign and aspiring GOP lawmaker, reveal what appears to be an effort to surveil the former ambassador to Ukraine.... The messages, released Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee relating to its ongoing impeachment inquiry, show Hyde claiming to know Yovanovitch's location and movements in Kyiv, while implying that he was in contact with local security services in Ukraine who could be paid to go after the ambassador. The startling messages show the extent to which the Giuliani associates were willing to at least entertain extreme tactics.... The Intercept obtained police records showing that Hyde violated a restraining order issued by a Washington, D.C., Superior Court judge at the request of a Republican consultant who says that Hyde stalked her and intimidated her family over the last year. In one of the reports, an officer disclosed that Connecticut police confiscated Hyde's firearms in connection to his violation of the restraining order. Hyde was reported to authorities for 'unsettling behavior' and trespassing at a church in Connecticut, according to a separate police report last summer.... Hyde publicized that he was placed in a psychiatric facility in Florida last May, following an incident at the Trump National Doral Miami resort." There's more. ~~~
~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones: "Robert F. Hyde, a former landscape company owner and the latest oddball figure to enter the Trump-Ukraine scandal, has attempted to ride the Trump presidency into a new career as a lobbyist, public affairs operative, and all-around GOP player.... [T]here was one real connection Hyde did make -- and it was with a mysterious Chinese immigrant named Cheng Gao who donated almost a quarter of a million dollars to Trump and the GOP.... Hyde posted a video on his Twitter feed showing how in April 2019 he managed to introduce Gao to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.... In May, not long after he scored that Trump handshake for Gao, Hyde was taken into police custody at the Trump National Doral in Miami and involuntarily confined to a medical facility.... Hyde, according to a police report, said to the cops that 'e-mails he sent ... may have placed his life in jeopardy.'... The night before this incident, Hyde sent Mother Jones a long, rambling text message in which he boasted of his role in helping Trump during the 2016 campaign and implied that his life was at risk." --s<
AP: "Ukrainian police say they have opened an investigation into the possibility that the former U.S. ambassador came under illegal surveillance before she was recalled from her post. The announcement Thursday came two days after Democratic lawmakers in the United States released a trove of documents that showed Lev Parnas, an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, communicating about the removal of Marie Yovanovitch as the ambassador to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry, which runs the police forces, said in a statement that Ukrainian police 'are not interfering in the internal political affairs of the United States. However, the published messages contain facts of possible violations of Ukrainian law and of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which protect the rights of diplomats on the territory of another state,' the statement continued. The Interior Ministry also said it has invited the FBI to take part in the investigation."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Aaron Rupar of Vox has a good post on how the mainstream media in general, and in this case, NPR in particular, sanitize and normalize Trump's wild, incoherent rants. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Mrs. McC: During the first year-plus of his term, almost all major-media outlets labored to "interpret" Trump's rants by making some sense of what he was saying, which of course had the effect of normalizing his speeches and remarks. But I have noticed that, after maybe two years, reporters at some major outlets, including the NYT, finally started writing about Trump's "disjointed rambling" and "anger" and so forth even in straight news reports. Too little, too late. (Also linked yesterday.)
"He Was at Times Dangerously Uninformed." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post reviews a new book -- A Very Stable Genius -- by WashPo reporters Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig that reports on incidents and remarks showing what an ignoramus Trump is -- and how this affects U.S. foreign policy. ~~~
~~~ Alex Ward of Vox has a summary report. He zeroes in on Trump's wish to repeal the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, inasmuch as the act makes it more problematic for Trump's companies to bribe foreign officials.
Nahal Toosi of Politico: "The State Department abruptly canceled two classified congressional briefings Wednesday that were supposed to focus on embassy security and the U.S. relationship with Iran, Capitol Hill aides said, infuriating lawmakers and staffers seeking answers on the fallout from ... Donald Trump's decision to kill a senior Iranian general. The cancellations also coincide with the release of documents suggesting that associates of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had put the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance -- an issue that touches on both embassy security and the president's impeachment. 'Staff are furious,' a House aide said about the scuttled embassy security session. 'This briefing is required by law every month, and today's was the most important we've had scheduled in a long time. The State Department has given us no explanation whatsoever.'"
Ana Swanson & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "President Trump signed an initial trade deal with China on Wednesday, bringing the first chapter of a protracted and economically damaging fight with one of the world's largest economies to a close. The pact is intended to open Chinese markets to more American companies, increase farm and energy exports and provide greater protection for American technology and trade secrets. China has committed to buying an additional $200 billion worth of American goods and services by 2021 and is expected to ease some of the tariffs it has placed on American products. But the agreement preserves the bulk of the tariffs that Mr. Trump has placed on $360 billion worth of Chinese goods, and it maintains the threat of additional punishment if Beijing does not live up to the terms of the deal." A CNN report is here.
Extorting Allies. Reuters: "The Trump administration has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on European automobile imports if Britain, France and Germany do not formally accuse Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed European officials. The three European countries triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement on Tuesday, amounting to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms and could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions lifted under the accord.... It was not clear if the threat was necessary since the Europeans had signaled an intention to trigger the dispute mechanism for weeks, the newspaper reported." --s ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Katrin Bennhold & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: As the U.S. pressures Germany to ostracize China's tech giant Huawei, China is pressuring Germany to use Huawei technology in its autos. "VW, Daimler and BMW sell more cars in China than anywhere else and many already cooperate with Huawei...."
Leo Hindery, Jr., in The (Iowa) Gazette: "[T]he dirty secret of the economy under Trump is that while major corporations have had reasons to celebrate, rural communities in the heartlands have gotten stiffed. Case in point: Iowa. Research shows that in the state the bulk of the economy's benefits are being enjoyed by the richest one percent of Iowans, and much less so by the state's small businesses and farmers who are fighting for scraps.... This pattern could not be starker: The President and his supporters in Congress continually promise a lifeboat to those struggling to stay afloat but then they barely throw them a line.... Democratic candidates must be laser-focused on the rural economy as they look to persuade Iowa voters. They must connect with the Iowans who continue to be left behind -- not for the sake of scoring political points, but because the state's local farmers and small businesses deserve so much better." --s
Katy O'Donnell of Politico: "The Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow Puerto Rico to access more than $8 billion in blocked disaster aid funding, ending a monthslong hold by the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter. Puerto Rico, which suffered devastating losses from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, has received just $1.5 billion of the roughly $20 billion in congressionally authorized disaster funds that HUD is supposed to administer. The delay in receiving the additional funds had incensed both U.S. lawmakers and commonwealth officials.... Democrats had cranked up the pressure on the White House to release the money in the wake of the earthquakes, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Thursday calling on administration officials to 'cease and desist that illegal activity.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race
Kyle Blaine, et al., of CNN: "In a tense and dramatic exchange in the moments after the Democratic debate Tuesday night, Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar on national television. Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar and said they should not talk about it right then.... Sound of the moment was caught by CNN's microphones and found Wednesday." The story includes a transcript of the exchange. ~~~
Washington "Post Opinions invited the Democratic presidential candidates not on the stage in Des Moines on Tuesday to add their thoughts to a key exchange in the debate. Here are the responses from five of them." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Donors to President Trump's reelection are now permitted to give nearly $600,000 per year, boosting the president's ability to raise money from wealthy supporters months before the general election contest begins in earnest. Under an agreement announced Wednesday by Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, a single donor can give as much as $580,600 this year to support Trump's reelection -- higher than the committee's previous caps on contributions.... It is the latest example of the dramatically expanding fundraising power of national party committees, made possible through pivotal legal changes in 2014 that loosened restrictions on individual contributions. While a person can give a maximum of $5,600 to Trump's campaign committee, a donor can legally give 103 times more in support of Trump's reelection through the new joint fundraising arrangement.... But because there is no nominee yet, none of the current Democratic candidates can benefit from [a joint] fundraising [agreement]." The DNC, though, has been raising money through a joint agreement, as did Hillary Clinton in 2016. Via safari. A Raw Story summary report is here.
Jason McGahan of the Daily Beast: "Ex-Stormy Daniels lawyer and Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti was led out of the State Bar Court in Los Angeles by federal agents on Tuesday evening. The arrest occurred outside the disciplinary hearing in which the State Bar of California has accused the hard-charging, tough-talking attorney of using a doctored document to scam a client out of nearly $840,000, funneling money from a lawsuit settlement fund to his own personal use. The State Bar of California, the official attorney licensing agency, has sought to put Avenatti on 'involuntary inactive status,' setting in motion a timeline for disbarment proceedings. During a break in testimony, members of the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, who are prosecuting Avenatti in a separate criminal matter in Orange County, parleyed with Avenatti's team of lawyers and took the lawyer into custody." (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Virginia. Tess Owen of Vice News: "In response to what he described as 'credible intelligence' of threats of violence at an upcoming gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency and will temporarily ban individuals from carrying firearms on Capitol grounds. The governor said at a press conference Wednesday that authorities believe 'armed militia groups plan to storm the Capitol' during the January 20 rally." --s ~~~
~~~ Timothy Johnson of Media Matters: "Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars outlet have been hyping the prospect of violence in Virginia, particularly at an upcoming pro-gun rally, as the commonwealth considers passing stronger gun laws. Jones and his associates are also preemptively claiming that any violence that does occur at the rally, planned for January 20 outside the Virginia Capitol, will be a 'false flag,' a similar claim to what he's said about violence that occurred at the deadly 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Jones said that he and 'dozens of our people' will be at the January 20 rally, and he has invited white nationalist Richard Spencer to join him. One of Jones' other rally invitees, conspiracy theorist Matt Bracken, has made frequent appearances on Jones' outlet Infowars to espouse violent rhetoric while discussing Virginia's gun laws and has even showed people how to best equip their assault weapons for battle."
Way Beyond
Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia abruptly resigned on Wednesday, shortly after his political patron, President Vladimir V. Putin, sent the country's political elite into a swirl with proposals for sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his hold on power for many years. Mr. Medvedev's cabinet also resigned. In a statement issued by the Russian news agency Tass, Mr. Medvedev, a lawyer who has known Mr. Putin since they worked together in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Mr. Putin." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)