The Commentariat -- November 4, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Brian Stelter of CNN: "The Justice Department is going on the offensive against the anonymous author of 'A Warning,' telling them in a letter obtained by CNN Business that he or she may be violating 'one or more nondisclosure agreements' by writing the anti-Trump book. The author's publisher is rejecting the argument and saying the book will be released as scheduled. And the author's agents are accusing the government of trying to unmask the author.... A Justice Department official said that the letter, from the head of the agency's civil division, was part of a fact-gathering process and that other similar requests had gone out to authors who'd worked for the government. The letter was not necessarily indicative of a looming lawsuit, the official said, just one step in a routine procedure." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department is trying to unearth the identity of the Trump administration official who denounced the president in a New York Times Op-Ed last year under the byline Anonymous, according to a letter from a senior law enforcement official on Monday. In the letter, Assistant Attorney General Joseph H. Hunt asked the publisher of a forthcoming book by the writer and the author's book agents for proof that the official never signed a nondisclosure agreement and had no access to classified information or, absent that, for information about where the person worked in the government, and when..... Mr. Trump, people close to him said, has long been troubled by the existence of Anonymous, whose Op-Ed condemned him as essentially unfit for office and described a 'resistance' within the administration trying to keep the government on course.... Mr. Trump said last year that he wanted the Justice Department to investigate the essay, declaring its writing an act of treason. Prosecutors said at the time that such an inquiry would be inappropriate because it was likely that no laws were broken." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Huh. When Trump became president* & started demanding White House employees sign nondisclosure agreements, various expert attorneys said the NDAs were unenforceable against federal employees. If so, how come the so-called Justice Department is trying to determine whether or not Anonymous signed one? If those experts were right, then DOJ is continuing to act as Trump's private attorney rather than as ours.

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that President Trump can't block the Manhattan district attorney's office from subpoenaing his accounting firm for financial records. A three-judge panel on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that 'presidential immunity does not bar the enforcement of a state grand jury subpoena directing a third party to produce non-privileged material, even when the subject matter under investigation pertains to the President.' But the court noted they were not ruling on all of the sweeping claims of immunity that the president's lawyers claim. Developing..." Mrs. McC: That's all there is to the story, except that it also includes a Scribd of the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: NBC News reports that Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's lawyers, says they will take the case to the Supreme Court. Pete Williams of NBC News feels the deck is stacked against Trump, and that the Supremes could decline to take the case, letting the appellate court ruling stand. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The New York Times story, by Benjamin Weiser, is here. "A federal appeals panel said on Monday that President Trump's accounting firm must turn over eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors, a setback for the president's attempt to keep his financial records private. The three-judge appeals panel did not take a position on the president's biggest argument -- that he was immune from all criminal investigations. A lower court had called that argument 'repugnant to the nation's governmental structure and constitutional values.' Instead, the appeals court said the president's accounting firm, not Mr. Trump himself, was subpoenaed for the documents, so it did not matter whether presidents have immunity."

House Intelligence Committee: Today, Rep. Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intel Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Acting Chair of the House Oversight Committee, "released the transcripts of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie 'Masha' Yovanovitch and former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ambassador P. Michael McKinley.... The testimony of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie 'Masha' Yovanovitch from October 11, 2019 can be found here. Key excerpts from Yovanovitch's testimony can be found here. The testimony of former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ambassador P. Michael McKinley from October 16, 2019 can be found here. Key excerpts from McKinley's testimony can be found here.” ~~~

~~~ Kiss Ass or Kiss Ukraine Goodbye. Adam Edelman, et al., of NBC News: "Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told House impeachment investigators last month that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told her she should tweet out support or praise for ... Donald Trump if she wanted to save her job, according to a transcript of her testimony made public Monday.... According to the transcript, Yovanovitch [said] she asked Sondland for advice on how to handle an onslaught of criticism from conservative media and Donald Trump Jr. 'He said, "You know, you need to go big or go home. You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president, and that all these are lies and everything else,'" she told the committees. 'It was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an ambassador, and as a Foreign Service officer.'... Yovanovitch testified to House investigators Oct. 11 that Trump had personally pressured the State Department to remove her, even though a top department official [John Sullivan] assured her that she had 'done nothing wrong.'"

Michael Schmidt & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The White House's top national security lawyer declined to appear for a scheduled deposition on Monday morning, saying he would wait to hear what a federal judge ruled on whether President Trump's closest advisers have to answer questions from congressional investigators. The lawyer, John A. Eisenberg, played a central role in dealing with the fallout at the White House from a July call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president.... The committee subpoenaed Mr. Eisenberg to appear on Monday morning for questioning, but the White House informed Mr. Eisenberg's lawyer in recent days that Mr. Trump would block his testimony by invoking 'constitutional immunity,' a sweeping form of executive privilege it has been claiming for officials who have the closest interactions with the president. Mr. Eisenberg's decision heightens the importance of an unusual lawsuit filed by Mr. Trump's former deputy national security adviser, Charles M. Kupperman, who faced the same situation as Mr. Eisenberg: a subpoena from the House and an instruction from Mr. Trump not to comply with it."

Allan Smith of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Monday that written answers from the whistleblower to Congress would be unacceptable -- although such answers were fine for the president when dealing with former special counsel Robert Mueller. 'The Whistleblower gave false information & dealt with corrupt politician Schiff,' Trump tweeted. 'He must be brought forward to testify. Written answers not acceptable! Where is the 2nd Whistleblower? He disappeared after I released the transcript. Does he even exist? Where is the informant? Con!'"

Anita Kumar of Politico: "In 2006, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump traveled to Ukraine to meet with government officials about building a multimillion dollar hotel and golf course in the country. Two years later, Trump Jr. was back to meet with developers. The Trumps were looking to erect luxury resorts across the former Soviet republics.... But doing so meant navigating a landscape that had long struggled with corruption.... Now, a decade after his company's efforts floundered..., Donald Trump is arguing that it's the son of his political rival Joe Biden, not him, who wanted to benefit from what he calls a 'very corrupt' Ukraine. The president's critics say it's a now-familiar Trumpian contradiction, one that raises further doubts about the president's claim he merely wanted to root out corruption when he pressured Ukrainian officials to investigate the Biden.... The overtures [the Trumps made in Ukraine] offer another example of the complications of a businessman-turned-president making foreign policy decisions in places where he has had -- or tried to have -- significant financial interests.... House and Senate committees appear to be unaware of the Trump Organization's prior Ukraine connections, according to more than half a dozen lawmakers and staffers." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Kumar's reporting helps explain this WashPo story by Greg Jaffe & Josh Dawsey (Nov. 2): "'They are horrible, corrupt people,' Trump [said of Ukrainians to top advisors].... One theme that runs through almost all [House witness] accounts is Trump's unyielding loathing of Ukraine, which dates to his earliest days in the White House. 'We could never quite understand it,' a former senior White House official said of Trump's view of the former Soviet republic, also saying that much of it stemmed from the president's embrace of conspiracy theories. 'There were accusations that they had somehow worked with the Clinton campaign. There were accusations they'd hurt him. He just hated Ukraine.'... Trump's animosity to Ukraine ran so deep and was so resistant to the typical foreign policy entreaties about the need to stand by allies that senior officials involved in Ukraine policy concluded that the only way to overcome it was to set up an Oval Office meeting with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky." My guess is that what irks Trump is not corruption per se, but that he failed to cut a deal with (former) officials to build his resort. It's all about Trump, Trump, Trump. ~~~

~~~ Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "Long before a telephone call with Ukraine's president that prompted an impeachment inquiry, President Trump was exchanging political favors with a different Ukrainian leader, who desperately sought American help for his country's struggle against Russian aggression. Petro O. Poroshenko, Ukraine's president until May, waged an elaborate campaign to win over Mr. Trump at a time when advisers had convinced Mr. Trump that Ukraine was a nest of Hillary Clinton supporters. Mr. Poroshenko' campaign included trade deals that were politically expedient for Mr. Trump, meetings with Rudolph W. Giuliani, the freezing of potentially damaging criminal cases and attempts to use the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort as a back channel.... Now, impeachment investigators are examining the two years of interactions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Poroshenko, according to a congressional Democrat."

~~~~~~~~~~

So this is the best Team Trump has today: stonewall, lie and/or plead ignorance, redefine terms like "quid pro quo" & "high crimes & misdemeanors":

Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "An attorney for the whistleblower who filed a complaint about President Trump's apparent efforts to pressure Ukraine for information he could use against political rivals said Sunday that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee could submit questions directly to his client instead of going through the panel's Democratic majority. Mark Zaid confirmed his client's offer to the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes (Calif.), to answer written questions under oath and with penalty of perjury, while also protecting the individual's identity. In recent days, Trump and his allies have ramped up efforts to expose the whistleblower's identity, amplifying theories regarding the person's motives.... By offering a direct channel to Republicans, the whistleblower's team has sought to quell grumbling by GOP leadership -- and the president -- that the impeachment process has been secretive and unfair." CBS News' story is here. ~~~

~~~ Rishika Dugyala of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Sunday reiterated his calls to reveal the name of the whistleblower behind the complaint that led to the House's formal impeachment inquiry, mentioning unconfirmed reports about the person's identity and possible ties to the previous administration. Trump sought to discredit the whistleblower, linking the individual to his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama, as well as former CIA director John Brennan and former national security adviser Susan Rice -- Obama's top aides. 'There have have been stories written about a certain individual, a male, and they say he's the whistleblower,' Trump told reporters outside the White House. If he's the whistleblower, he has no credibility because he's a Brennan guy, he's a Susan Rice guy, he's an Obama guy. And he hates Trump. Now, maybe it's not him. But if it's him, you guys ought to release the information,' the president added.... Some Republican lawmakers and conservative publications have named a purported whistleblower or asserted theories about the person's identity."

Rachel Bade, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russell Vought, a [Mick] Mulvaney protege who leads the White House Office of Management and Budget, intends a concerted defiance of congressional subpoenas in coming days, and two of his subordinates will follow suit -- simultaneously proving their loyalty to the president and a creating a potentially critical firewall regarding the alleged use of foreign aid to elicit political favors from a U.S. ally. The OMB is at the nexus of the impeachment inquiry because Democrats are pressing for details about why the White House budget office effectively froze the Ukraine funds that Congress had already appropriated. Congressional Republicans are also predicting that Mulvaney's deputy, Robert Blair, will refuse to show for his scheduled Monday appearance before impeachment investigators -- though a White House spokesman and Blair's attorney, Whit Ellerman, did not respond to questions about his plans. Blair was on the July 25 phone call when Trump asked Ukraine's president for a 'favor' investigating former vice president Joe Biden...." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "A top aide to White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Robert Blair, has refused to testify in the House impeachment inquiry of ... Donald Trump after the White House directed him not to appear for his scheduled deposition, his attorney told CNN. The House committees investigating Trump had scheduled Blair's deposition for Monday. 'Mr. Blair is caught between the assertions of legal duty by two coequal branches of government, a conflict which he cannot resolve,' Blair's attorney Whit Ellerman told CNN on Saturday. 'I light of the clear direction he has been given by the executive branch, Mr. Blair has respectfully declined to appear and testify. Nevertheless, he will fulfill all his legal duties once that conflict is appropriately resolved.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Katherine Faulders & John Santucci of ABC News: "Four White House officials slated for closed-door depositions Monday are not expected to show up on Capitol Hill despite the threat of subpoena from the committees leading the growing impeachment inquiry.... On Monday, Democrats had hoped to hear from four current White House officials, including John Eisenberg, deputy counsel to the president for National Security Affairs; Michael Ellis, senior associate counsel to the president; Robert Blair, a top aide to the chief of staff; and Brian McCormack, an official with the office of management and budget. Two of those officials, Eisenberg and McCormack, have already been subpoenaed for their respective depositions. Ellis and Blair have only been requested to appear at this time."

Daniel Politi of Slate: "Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway went on a tour of Sunday morning news shows in which she was repeatedly pressed on matters related to the impeachment inquiry.... While talking to CNN ... Conway said she didn't know whether ... Donald Trump ever withheld military aid to Ukraine as a way to pressure the country to investigate the Bidens. During the interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Conway at first tried to dismiss the suggestion Trump did anything wrong saying there was 'no quid pro quo in this call in terms of the president.' But when Bash pressed Conway about what was said in the call between Trump and Ukraine's president, she refused to give a definite answer. 'Was there a time when military aid was held up because the President wanted Ukraine to look into the Bidens?' Bash asked. 'I don't know. But I know they've got their aid,' Conway said.... Conway also sparred with Chris Wallace..., insisting there was no evidence of a quid pro quo as the Fox anchor pointed out that numerous high level officials had said otherwise.... Conway also insisted that even if Trump put conditions on the military aid, it wouldn't be an impeachable offense. 'Is it a high crime and misdemeanor? I wouldn't think so,' Conway said."

Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen was told that if he stuck to his account of Trump's relationship with Moscow, the president 'loves you,' according to a bombshell document from the Robert Mueller investigation obtained by BuzzFeed.... Cohen ... told investigators the White House expected him to 'keep Trump out of the messaging related to Russia' and 'keep Trump out of the Russia conversation' in his testimony to Congress about Trump Organization plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to one of the summaries. Cohen was told if 'he stayed on message, the president has your back, the president loves you,' according to the document. The summary did not reveal who conveyed that message to Cohen. Cohen also told investigators that it was 'not his idea' to write a statement to Congress that included lies about Trump Tower Moscow. The redacted summary did not reveal whose idea it was. But he told the House Intelligence Committee last year that he believed it was Trump who 'indirectly' told him to lie.&"

Carla Marinucci of Politico: "Just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the federal government for its response to catastrophic wildfires and power outages affecting millions..., Donald Trump on Sunday slammed the California Democrat -- and threatened to cut off future federal funding to the fire-battered state. Trump, in a spate of postings on Twitter, lambasted what he called Newsom's 'terrible job' regarding the state's forest management practices, saying that the governor should stop listening to environmentalist 'bosses' and 'clean' the forest floors. And he also slammed Newsom for state water-management practices, suggesting that California must open up what he called 'ridiculously closed water lanes.'... [Newsom's] pushed back hard against Trump, noting that the governor's fire prevention and management projects included an investment of $225.8 million to help streamline programs specifically aimed at 'reducing fuels in the forest, increasing forest health, and defensible space around homes." The governor's office in addition said that there were currently 35 priority projects in addition to the redeployment of National Guard personnel to assist the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in controlling the fires.... Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, cited the governor's leadership in directing the agency to pursue 35 priority projects to reduce wildfire risk in vulnerable communities." ~~~

~~~ Madison Pauly of Mother Jones: "... Donald Trump just threatened to cut off federal funding to California over Gov. Gavin Newsom's 'forest management,' which the president blamed for the wildfires that have ripped through wide swaths of the state over the past few weeks. 'I told him from the first day we met that he must "clean" his forest floors,' Trump tweeted bright and early on Sunday morning. 'Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers.' 'Every year, as the fire's [sic] rage & California burns, it is the same thing- and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more.'... Nevermind that only about 2 percent of California forests are managed by the state government, compared to the 57 percent of California forests run by the federal government...."

Everything about Trump Is Phony. Jonathan Swan & Alexi McCammond of Axios: "Sources familiar with the president's iPhone told Axios that the president maintains a digital portal to the two newspapers he recently banished from the West Wing: the Washington Post and the New York Times.... Trump has not deleted the NYT and WaPo apps."

Presidential Race 2020. Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Despite low national approval ratings and the specter of impeachment, President Trump remains highly competitive in the battleground states likeliest to decide his re-election, according to a set of new surveys from The New York Times Upshot and Siena College. Across the six closest states [-- Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina -- ] that went Republican in 2016, he trails Joe Biden by an average of two points among registered voters but stays within the margin of error. Mr. Trump leads Elizabeth Warren by two points among registered voters, the same margin as his win over Hillary Clinton in these states three years ago. The poll showed Bernie Sanders deadlocked with the president among registered voters, but trailing among likely voters." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie's Honest & Fair Voter Eligibility Test: If you're stupid enough to vote for Donald Trump, you're too stupid to vote.

Vasco Cotovio of CNN: "Norwegian authorities have arrested a high-profile American white supremacist, hours before he was due to give a speech at a far-right conference in Oslo on Saturday. The detained American, Greg Johnson, is editor-in-chief of the white nationalist Counter-Currents Publishing group. He had been scheduled to speak at the Scandza Forum, a network known for its anti-Semitic and racist views. Norway's intelligence service considered Johnson 'to be a threat, not because of what he could do but because of his hate speech and his previously expressed support for [mass murderer] Anders Breivik,' spokesman Martin Bernsen told CNN.... Johnson was arrested under the country's immigration act and Norwegian authorities are now working 'as quickly as possible to get him out of the country,' said Bernsen."

John Bowden of the Hill: "McDonald's announced Sunday it had fired CEO Steve Easterbrook, citing his 'poor judgment' over a consensual relationship he had with an employee. The company's board of directors said it had named Chris Kempczinski, most recently president of McDonald's USA, to succeed him." The New York Times story is here.

The Commentariat -- November 3, 2019

** Jason Leopold, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "BuzzFeed News sued the US government to see all the work that [Robert] Mueller's team kept secret. We have published the first installment.... Paul Manafort was pushing the unfounded conspiracy theory -- now part of the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump -- that Ukraine hacked the Democratic National Committee's emails as early as 2016. The president's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, 'had to keep Trump out of the messaging related to Russia' in preparation for his testimony to Congress under oath. Top Trump campaign aide Rick Gates said the campaign was 'very happy' when a foreign government helped release the hacked DNC emails. These are some of the revelations that BuzzFeed News pried loose after pursuing five separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for all the subpoenas and search warrants that then-special counsel Robert Mueller's team executed, as well as all the emails, memos, letters, talking points, legal opinions, and interview transcripts it generated. The documents revealed Saturday, known as '302 reports,' are summaries of interviews with former White House official and Trump campaign manager Stephen Bannon, Cohen, Gates, and more." The article includes details & reproduces supporting documents for the matters mentioned above, as well as others.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "... Donald Trump and other top 2016 Trump campaign officials repeatedly privately discussed how the campaign could get access to stolen Democratic emails WikiLeaks had in 2016, according to newly released interview notes from Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. CNN sued the Justice Department for access to Mueller's witness interview notes, and this weekend's release marks the first publicly available behind-the-scenes look at Mueller's investigative work outside of court proceedings and the report itself. Per a judge's order, the Justice Department will continue to release new tranches of the Mueller investigative notes monthly to CNN and Buzzfeed News, which also sued for them. A retelling of events from former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, who served alongside campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is the fullest detail revealed by the Justice Department yet on discussions within the Trump campaign as it pursued damaging information about its Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. '[Rick] Gates recalled a time on the campaign aircraft when candidate Trump said, "get the emails." [Michael] Flynn said he could use his intelligence sources to obtain the emails,' investigators wrote in a summary of Gates' April 2018 interview withMueller's team.... 'Flynn had the most Russia contacts of anyone on the campaign and was in the best position to ask for the emails if they were out there,' the investigators also wrote about Gates' interview. Gates described in an interview with Mueller investigators last year how several close advisers to Trump, Trump's family members and Trump himself considered how to get the stolen documents and pushed the effort, according to investigators' summary."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It's been obvious for some time that the Ukraine scandal is not a stand-alone event (or series of events) but is an extension of the matters Mueller investigated. The documents BuzzFeed News & CNN have obtained provide additional confirmation of a story that dates back more than three years.

Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: “In his July 2019 call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky..., Donald Trump referenced a conspiracy theory that Ukraine was involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee in 2016, and asked for the 'favor' of help investigating it. Trump's own campaign was floating the theory that Ukraine, and not Russia, hacked the DNC as early as the summer of 2016, according to new documents obtained by BuzzFeed News from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. In an April 2018 interview with Mueller's office, Rick Gates -- who had served as Trump's deputy campaign chair in 2016 and was the longtime right-hand man of former campaign chair Paul Manafort -- told investigators that sometime after the campaign learned in June 2016 that WikiLeaks had the hacked DNC emails, Manafort had said that the hack was 'likely carried by the Ukrainians, not the Russians,' according to FBI notes. The idea that Ukraine, and not Russia, was involved in stealing emails from the DNC that were released by WikiLeaks in 2016 has long percolated in conservative circles and been pushed by Russian news outlets. It contradicts the US Intelligence Community's own findings that Russia was involved in hacking the DNC and orchestrating the release of documents through WikiLeaks."

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "... Republicans are trying out [an argument] which says that while Trump's conduct has not been irreproachable, neither has it been impeachable.... In fact, Trump's conduct, according to analysts interviewed by the Guardian, hews more closely than any previous conduct by any other president to what scholars conceive as a concrete example of impeachable behavior.... The reason Trump's alleged conduct is plainly impeachable, historians say, has to do with US impeachment precedent and with what the authors of the US constitution meant when they provisioned impeachment for 'high crimes and misdemeanors'.... The founders drafted the impeachment clause specifically with problematic foreign loyalties in mind, [historian Jeffrey] Engel said. 'Having just gone through the process of a divisive revolution, where it was literally neighbor against neighbor and sometimes even brother against brother split over loyalty,' Engel said, 'there was a great deal of concern about just simply making sure that the people who were in charge generally had America's best interests at heart....'... [Historian Frank Bowman says,] '... Trump is literally holding the independence of another country hostage to his own political interests.... What he was doing is endangering an American policy objective, the whole framework of containment of Russian expansionism, the bedrock of our policy in eastern Europe for the last 70 years....'"

A Florida Man Walked into a Fight at Madison Square Garden.... Marty Johnson of the Hill: "President Trump was welcomed into Madison Square Garden Saturday night with heavy booing from the crowd. The president [was] at the arena to watch the main fight of UFC 244.... In addition to the boos inside of MSG, protestors gathered outside of the arena prior to his arrival." Mrs. McC: Soon they'll be booing him in Palm Beach. ~~~

~~~ Okay, Not All That Bad. Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "Both loud boos and cheers could be heard as Trump, joined by his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, as well as several congressional Republicans, took their seats ahead of the pay-per-view mixed martial arts match. The greeting, though split, was warmer than the reception Trump received earlier in the week, when he was roundly booed and faced a 'Lock him up!' chant at a World Series game he attended in Washington." Mrs. McC: A fun time was had by all. The headline event is called "BMF," which I gather stands for "Big Mother Fucker." One fighter was knocked out cold. So all very wholesome. Remember when the wingers were all upset when President Obama took Michelle to NYC for date night? They went to dinner at an upscale restaurant & saw a Broadway production of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone. So similar to attending an organized bloody brawl.

** Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "The New York Times examined [Donald] Trump's interactions with Twitter since he took office, reviewing each of his more than 11,000 tweets and the hundreds of accounts he has retweeted, tracking the ways he is exposed to information and replicating what he is likely to see on the platform.... The president spends significant time mingling with extremists, impostors and spies. Fake accounts tied to intelligence services in China, Iran and Russia had directed thousands of tweets at Mr. Trump.... Iranian operatives tweeted anti-Semitic tropes, saying that Mr. Trump was 'being controlled' by global Zionists, and that pulling out of the Iran nuclear treaty would benefit North Korea. Russian accounts tagged the president more than 30,000 times.... Mr. Trump has retweeted at least 145 unverified accounts that have pushed conspiracy or fringe content, including more than two dozen that have since been suspended by Twitter. Tinfoil-hat types and racists celebrate when Mr. Trump shares something they promote." ~~~

     ~~~ The Times has related stories here and here. Mrs. McC: Trump's Twitter activity is grounds for invoking the 25th Amendment. (The three stories linked here & immediately above were also linked yesterday, but they're worth perusing. ~~~

~~~ Mike McIntire & Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times home in on nine key takeaways from the Times' examination of Trumpertweets.

How to Immigrate for $100. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump's border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage. The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymit because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques. After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall -- and are attached only to a panel at the very top -- their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.... The smuggling crews have been using other techniques, such as building makeshift ladders to scale the barriers, especially in the popular smuggling areas in the San Diego area, according to nearly a dozen U.S. agents and current and former administration officials." Mediaite has a brief story here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: All together now: "We're shocked & nonplussed, Donnie's wall is a bust." ~~~

~~~ Update. Christian Vasquez of Politico: "After years of touting the impenetrability of a border wall..., Donald Trump said Saturday that 'you can cut through any wall' as reports surfaced of smugglers sawing through newly erected barriers with readily available power tools. 'We have a very powerful wall. But no matter how powerful, you can cut through anything, in all fairness. But we have a lot of people watching. You know cutting, cutting is one thing, but it's easily fixed. One of the reasons we did it the way we did it, it's very easily fixed. You put the chunk back in,' Trump told reporters at the White House.... Trump's statement is a far cry from years of campaigning that a border wall would be nearly impossible for smugglers to overcome. In a visit to one of the construction sites in September, Trump said the border wall is 'virtually impenetrable' and could not be climbed."

~~~ Jana Winter, et al., of Yahoo! News: "A Halloween party on Oct. 25 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building featured candy, paper airplanes and -- concerning for some attendees -- a station where children were encouraged to help 'Build the Wall' with their own personalized bricks. Photos of the children's mural with the paper wall were provided to Yahoo News. The party, which took place inside the office building used by White House staff, included the families of executive-branch employees and VIP guests inside and outside government. Even though many of the attendees were members of ... Trump's administration, not everyone thought the Halloween game was a treat. 'Horrified. We were horrified,' said a person who was there...." Mrs. McC: Other than the fact that Trump's wall is a wasteful spending horror, I'm not sure what it has to do with Halloween. But the kids' paper wall is probably only slightly less effective than the real thing. And nice to know Trumpistas are indoctrinating Trump Youth. Do they get uniforms? Is there a special salute? ~~~

~~~ Judge Blocks Trump's Latest Cruel Scheme. Aimee Ortiz of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a policy that would require immigrants to prove they have insurance or the financial resources for medical costs in order to obtain a visa. The ruling, by Judge Michael Simon of the Federal District Court in Portland, Ore., was the latest in a string of court decisions to derail administration initiatives that would limit the admission of certain legal immigrants into the United States. Judge Simon issued a nationwide temporary restraining order preventing the government from carrying out a proclamation by President Trump that would have gone into effect on Sunday." The AP story is here.

** Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "The New York Times examined [Donald] Trump's interactions with Twitter since he took office, reviewing each of his more than 11,000 tweets and the hundreds of accounts he has retweeted, tracking the ways he is exposed to information and replicating what he is likely to see on the platform. The result, including new data analysis and previously unreported details, offers the most comprehensive view yet of a virtual world in which the president spends significant time mingling with extremists, impostors and spies. Fake accounts tied to intelligence services in China, Iran and Russia had directed thousands of tweets at Mr. Trump, according to a Times analysis of propaganda accounts suspended by Twitter. Iranian operatives tweeted anti-Semitic tropes, saying that Mr. Trump was 'being controlled' by global Zionists, and that pulling out of the Iran nuclear treaty would benefit North Korea. Russian accounts tagged the president more than 30,000 times, including in supportive tweets about the Mexican border wall and his hectoring of black football players.... Mr. Trump has retweeted at least 145 unverified accounts that have pushed conspiracy or fringe content, including more than two dozen that have since been suspended by Twitter. Tinfoil-hat types and racists celebrate when Mr. Trump shares something they promote." ~~~

     ~~~ The Times has related stories here and here. Mrs. McC: Trump's Twitter activity is grounds for invoking the 25th Amendment.

Thomas Fuller & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "... as wildfires burned across the state -- fires that scientists say have been made worse by a changing climate -- and as at least five large carmakers sided with President Trump's plan to roll back California's climate pollution standards, the state's status as the vanguard of environmental policy seemed at the very least diminished. The state's leaders found themselves both witnessing firsthand the effects of climate change and hamstrung to take actions to fight it. 'We're waging war against the most destructive fires in our state's history, and Trump is conducting a full-on assault against the antidote,' Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said in an interview. Mr. Trump has taken broad aim at efforts to fight global warming since his first days in office.... As Mr. Newsom sees it, there is a contradiction between Mr. Trump's willingness to help fire victims and his refusal to address the underlying reasons for the increasing ferocity of the fires.... Mr. Trump's quest to tear down rules that restrict the fossil fuel industry has homed in on California as a particular target. That's in part because of California's unique role as a beacon of the nation's climate change policies...."

"The White House Press Briefing Now Takes Place on Fox News." Bobby Lewis of Media Matters: "Since becoming White House press secretary on July 1, Stephanie Grisham has held zero press briefings. Instead, Grisham has found the time to grant interviews to some of ... Donald Trump's favorite current and former Fox News hosts.... Grisham's particular innovation is to move the entire office of White House press secretary into the world of Fox News and Fox-adjacent media.... Grisham treats her duties as press secretary as complaining to pro-Trump pundits about how unfair everyone else is to the president.... By shutting out the vast majority of cable networks and broadcast news to instead have friendly sit-downs with Trump's favorite former and current Fox News hosts, Grisham's media strategy seems aimed at reassuring the president while evading hard questions about a White House in perpetual crisis."

Presidential Race 2020

James Crowley of Newsweek: "South Bend, Indiana Mayor ... candidate Pete Buttigieg said in a new interview that he believes the race for his party's nomination will be between Senator Elizabeth Warren and himself. In a clip from Showtime's The Circus, Buttigieg told co-host John Heilemann: 'I think this is getting to be a two-way. It's early to say, I'm not saying that it is a two-way. A world where we're getting somewhere is where it's coming down to the two of us.'... Buttigieg also told Heilemann that he's not worried about former Vice President Joe Biden in the race. 'Either he is the unstoppable front-runner,' he said, 'and we can all go home, or he is not.' The candidate then added: 'Anybody who's in this race is pure on the assumption that he's not.'" Mrs. McC: Buttigieg sounds a little boastful here, but he might be right.

Eric Loomis in LG&$: "Nancy Pelosi ... is not great a[t] national politics and tends to project her own most right-wing members onto the national stage as the voices the Democratic Party should follow. [Citing a Bloomberg] story: "'What works in San Francisco does not necessarily work in Michigan,' Pelosi said at a roundtable of Bloomberg News reporters and editors on Friday.... 'Remember November,' she said.... Pelosi was careful not to back any one candidate in the party's contentious presidential contest, but didn't hold back when asked about which ideas should -- and shouldn't -- form the party's case to American voters.... The speaker's concerns reflect those of many Democratic leaders and donors who believe that left-wing policies will alienate swing voters and lead to defeat.'... One can debate what the best strategy is on healthcare. But what Pelosi is doing is undermining two of the top candidates in the field -- the two candidates who she at least frames herself as being closest to -- in order to promote the desires of her most moderate members. What she should be doing is staying out of this and calling for a broad-based debate...." The Bloomberg report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: For what it's worth, I think all, or at least most of, the Democratic candidates are taking the wrong tack on health coverage. By coming up with their own healthcare plans -- whatever the plans are -- the candidates are locking themselves into frameworks that are guaranteed not to pass Congress in the forms they espouse. The best "plan" doesn't require hiring experts to crunch numbers & develop long positions papers; instead, each candidate should swear allegiance to a goal of guaranteeing affordable universal healthcare, with a promise they'll get something through Congress that will meet that goal, as long as American voters elect Democratic majorities. Is it too late for me to get into the race? "Bea for President -- She's Not Trump" ~~~

~~~ Guess I was wrong; Elizabeth Warren explains her plan, and it makes so much sense:

Way Beyond the Beltway

Jim Gomez & Elaine Kurtenbach of the AP: "Leaders from fast-growing Southeast Asian economies, China and other regional powers vowed Sunday to transcend conflicts over trade policies and territorial disputes for the sake of stronger economies and regional stability.... Donald Trump skipped the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and instead sent his national security adviser, Robert O'Brien. Last year, Trump sent Vice President Mike Pence. Both now are busy campaigning back home, and analysts say their absence will leave roo for China to further raise its profile and clout in the region."

The Commentariat -- November 2, 2019

Afternoon Update:

How to Immigrate for $100. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump's border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage. The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool know as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques. After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall -- and are attached only to a panel at the very top -- their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post." Mediaite has a brief story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: All together now: "We're shocked & nonplussed, Donnie's wall is a bust."

~~~~~~~~~~

Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday it's possible that controversies beyond Ukraine could be part of the impeachment case against President Trump.... Pelosi on Friday emphasized that the decision on articles of impeachment will be up to the committees handling the inquiry.... 'What we're talking about now is taking us into a whole other class of objection to what the president has done. And there may be other -- there were 11 obstruction of justice provisions in the Mueller report. Perhaps some of them will be part of this,' Pelosi said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. 'But again, that will be part of the inquiry, to see where we go.'... Pelosi also told Bloomberg News in a roundtable with editors and reporters on Friday that she expects public hearings will begin this month.... Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told PBS NewsHour on Thursday that closed-door witness testimony transcripts could be released as early as next week."

Kylie Atwood & Manu Raju of CNN: "A top White House official [-- Tim Morrison --] told lawmakers he tried to find out whether ... Donald Trump told a key US diplomat [-- Gordon Sondland --] he wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, multiple sources familiar with his closed-door impeachment inquiry deposition on Capitol Hill told CNN.... Morrison, the President's top Russia adviser, had multiple conversations with American Ambassador to the European Union ... Sondland.... Morrison became concerned that Sondland was going rogue on Ukraine. Morrison told lawmakers he thought Sondland was a 'free radical.'... The term was a reference to molecules that cause cancer. To find out whether Sondland had talked to the President, Morrison went so far as asking Trump's executive secretary if the President had actually talked with Sondland. The ambassador's claims about having the conversations checked out each time, Morrison said in his testimony Thursday.... In his own opening statement, Sondland downplayed both Trump's role and his own in the effort to pressure Ukraine -- suggesting he was reluctantly working with Rudy Giuliani.... Morrison's testimony also could raise more questions about Sondland's deposition...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The person was "going rogue," of course, was Trump. Sondland was just "following orders." Republicans, including the Senators who will sit on Trump's jury (story linked below), have chosen not to face that.

The Cover-up, Ctd.  Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "The senior White House lawyer who placed a record of ... Donald Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president in a top-secret system also instructed at least one official who heard the call not to tell anyone about it, according to testimony heard by House impeachment investigators this week. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman ... told lawmakers that he went to the lawyer, John Eisenberg, to register his concerns about the call, in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, according to a person in the room for Vindman's deposition on Tuesday. Eisenberg recorded Vindman's complaints in notes on a yellow legal pad, then conferred with his deputy Michael Ellis about how to handle the conversation because it was clearly 'sensitive,' Vindman testified. The lawyers then decided to move the record of the call into the NSC's top-secret codeword system -- a server normally used to store highly classified material that only a small group of officials can access. Vindman did not consider the move itself as evidence of a cover-up, according to a person familiar with his testimony. But he said he became disturbed when, a few days later, Eisenberg instructed him not to tell anyone about the call -- especially because it was Vindman's job to coordinate the interagency process with regard to Ukraine policy.... Several National Security Council officials had complained to Eisenberg in the weeks leading up to the July 25 call about the shadow Ukraine policy being run by Giuliani and U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland. Those include Vindman's then-boss Fiona Hill, who went to Eisenberg at the instruction of then-National Security Adviser John Bolton." ~~~

~~~ Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Washington Post: "The directive from [John] Eisenberg adds to an expanding list of moves by senior White House officials to contain, if not conceal, possible evidence of Trump's attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to provide information that could be damaging to former vice president Joe Biden. The instruction to stay quiet came after White House officials had already discussed moving a rough transcript of the call into a highly classified computer server, and the instruction was delivered by Eisenberg, who would later be involved in the administration's battle to keep an explosive whistleblower complaint about the call from being shared with Congress. The interaction between Eisenberg and [Alexander] Vindman suggests there was a sense among some in the White House that Trump's call with Zel[e]nsky was not, as the president has repeatedly claimed, 'perfect.'" ~~~

~~~ Danny Hakim & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "After Colonel [Alexander] Vindman made his complaint [about the Trump-Zelensky phone call], but while he and his brother [Col Yevgeny Vindman] were still in the room, [lawyers John] Eisenberg and [Michael] Ellis discussed how to handle the transcript, and Mr. Eisenberg decided to place it into the White House's most secure system to avoid leaks, according to one of the people familiar with his account. Several days later, after a C.I.A. officer complained about the call to the C.I.A.'s general counsel, Mr. Eisenberg directed Colonel Vindman not to discuss the call further. The testimony only adds to House investigators' interest in Mr. Eisenberg, whom Democrats subpoenaed late Friday to appear for a deposition on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. The White House is likely to order him not to cooperate, making his appearance uncertain....

"... investigators said they had scheduled additional new voluntary depositions for next week. They called Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who was deeply involved in American outreach to Ukraine, to answer questions on Wednesday, but a spokeswoman for the Energy Department said Mr. Perry had no intention of taking part in a 'secret star chamber inquisition.' Investigators also set appearances for Russell Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget; David Hale, the under secretary of state for political affairs; and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, counselor to the secretary of state. It was unclear if any of them would comply. Investigators also subpoenaed Brian McCormack, Mr. Perry's chief of staff, to testify on Monday." ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Lefebvre of Politico: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry won't testify before House investigators' impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump, according to the DOE. 'The Secretary will not partake in a secret star chamber inquisition where agency counsel is forbidden to be present,' DOE spokesperson Shaylyn Hynes said in an email, adding that Perry would consider a request from lawmakers to testify in an open hearing." Mrs. McC: Perry may not have thought through this. He is not all that bright, and a "star-chamber inquisition" might have served as a sort a rehearsal, allowing him to "amend and extend" his testimony in an open hearing. If he appears at all, now it seems it will be without practicing. Break a leg, Rick! ~~~

~~~ Deb Riechmann of the AP: "The House impeachment inquiry is zeroing in on two White House lawyers privy to a discussion about moving a memo recounting ... Donald Trump's phone call with the leader of Ukraine into a highly restricted computer system normally reserved for documents about covert action. Deepening their reach into the West Wing, impeachment investigators have summoned former national security adviser John Bolton to testify next week. But they also are seeking testimony of two other political appointees -- John Eisenberg, the lead lawyer for the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a senior associate counsel to the president.... The lawyers' role is critical because two witnesses have suggested the NSC legal counsel -- when told that Trump asked a foreign leader for domestic political help -- took the extraordinary step of shielding access to the transcript not because of its covert nature but rather its potential damage to the Republican president. The ... effort to lock down the rough transcript suggests some people in the White House viewed the president's conversation as problematic." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Continuing Misadventures of

Aaron Katersky & Soo Rin Kim of ABC News: "... prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are looking into whether the former congressman [Robert Livingston (R-La.)] had contact with [Rudy] Giuliani related to the push for the removal of then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yavonovitch ... after his name was floated during testimony from a former White House official [Catherine Croft] earlier this week.... During her deposition before House impeachment investigators [Wednesday, Croft] said that she 'received multiple calls' from Livingston while she was at the White House, telling her that then-Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch be fired, according to her opening statement.... Through his lobbying firm Livingston Group, [Livingston] has been actively lobbying on behalf of at least a couple of Ukrainian clients since last year, records filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act show.... It's unclear what connection, if any, exists between Livingston's lobbing on behalf of his Ukrainian clients and his push to oust the ambassador." ~~~

~~~ Sam Stein & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "In late 2018, as he was just starting to look for dirt on the origins of the FBI investigation into Russian election meddling..., Rudy Giuliani held a meeting with a top Ukrainian politician many in the administration believed would be the country's next president. The meeting with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko took place on Dec. 5, 2018 in the U.S. and was set up with the help of two former Republican members of Congress. And it suggests that Giuliani's involvement in Ukraine policy was more extensive than previously understood and involved more individuals than previously appreciated.... Several sources said that among the topics discussed were U.S. military aid and future U.S.-Ukraine relations. And a source familiar with the arrangement told The Daily Beast the Tymoshenko meeting was brief, came at Giuliani's request, that the attorney was 'trolling for business,' and that Tymoshenko wanted to share 'her substantive vision of Ukraine.'... That U.S. aid to Ukraine was a discussion topic raises additional questions about how involved Giuliani was in actually crafting American foreign policy despite playing no official role in State Department channels."

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post traces the Ukraine scandal back to mid-2017, when Rudy Giuliani traveled to Ukraine. "While Giuliani was [in Ukraine to give a speech], he also met with [then-President Petro] Poroshenko and his prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, according a news release issued by the foundation." Two weeks later, Trump met with Poroshenko, who had been lobbying for the meeting for months. "Just after Giuliani's visit, Ukraine's investigation of the so-called black ledger that listed alleged illicit payments to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was transferred from an anti-corruption bureau, known as NABU, to [Lutsenko], according to a June 15, 2017, report in the Kyiv Post. The paper quoted Viktor Trepak, former deputy head of the country's security service, saying: 'It is clear for me that somebody gave an order to bury the black ledger.'... Was there any implicit understanding that Poroshenko's government would curb its cooperation with the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of Manafort...?" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

"The Best-Paid Interpreter in the World." Vicki Ward & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Earlier this year, Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, received a sudden windfall of money from a prominent Ukrainian oligarch who is fighting extradition to the United States and is suspected of having ties to the Russian mob, according to four sources who spoke with Parnas. This summer, Parnas told potential business associates that his company began receiving payments from the oligarch, Dmytro Firtash, who is living in Austria while fighting bribery charges in the US, the sources told CNN. Parnas also told these people he met with Firtash several times over the summer while in Vienna. In June, according to one of these sources, Parnas vouched to Firtash for two well-known Washington lawyers [-- Fox 'News" fixtures Joe diGenova & Victoria Toensing --] who later brought up Firtash's plight in a face-to-face meeting with Attorney General William Barr. These new details appear to reveal a much more substantial relationship than previously known between Parnas and Firtash, and how Firtash's years-long extradition battle suddenly collided with Giuliani's push to dig up dirt on ... Donald Trump's political opponents. They could also raise the stakes for Giuliani, whose financial ties are being examined by federal investigators. A company owned by Parnas paid Giuliani $500,000 for consulting in the fall of 2018. Giuliani maintains that the money did not originate overseas." ~~~

     ~~~ diGenova & Toensing "have downplayed the relationship between [Firtash] and Parnas. In statements, they describe Parnas as merely an interpreter hired to communicate with Firtash, who does not speak English.... 'I'm the best-paid interpreter in the world,' Parnas joked to [CNN's] sources." ~~~

~~~ Ema O'Connor of BuzzFeed News: "A lawyer for Igor Fruman, one of the men who had been working with Rudy Guiliani in his Ukraine campaign, tried to argue Friday [at a hearing he requested before a U.S. District judge] that his client was not a flight risk and didn't need to be under house arrest, despite the fact that he had been arrested just before boarding a flight overseas on a one-way ticket last month.... [Defense attorney Todd] Blanche's mission in Friday's hearing was to convince Judge [Paul] Oetken that Fruman was not a flight risk, that the $1 million bond, which Fruman's son, brother, and sister-in-law are guarantors for, was enough to keep him in the country, and that he was never going to, and never did, attempt to flee the country." It did not go well. "... the lawyer for the government, Nicolas Roos..., went on to detail Fruman's many financial and political connections to Europe, attempting to demonstrate that Fruman could live a very pleasant life abroad if he were able to flee. 'He operates a bar called Buddha Bar' abroad, Roos said. He held up a printout of a glossy hotel brochure for the court to see, saying it listed Fruman as the president and CEO of a 'luxury group' that owns a hotel, 'restaurants, a beach club, and retail stores,' Roos told the court.... The judge denied the petition." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: At least Blanche has a sense of humor. O'Connor: "When BuzzFeed News asked him for his card in order to get the spelling of his name correct, he responded, 'I wish you wouldn't spell my name right. I wish I had one of my colleague's cards to give you instead. Lord.'" ~~~

~~~ Rachel Maddow noted that Fruman may lose his bail altogether as the $1MM bond was provided in part by his brother Steven Fruman, & the source of that bond money is under scrutiny. Kevin McCoy of USA Today: "Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos told a judge that Steven Fruman, the younger sibling of Giuliani business client Igor Fruman, could have been involved in the alleged scheme to buy influence by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to U.S. politicians and campaign committees. Roos said the younger sibling lied about his bank accounts and his businesses when questioned by government paralegals who were examining his suitability to serve as a co-signer on Igor Fruman's $1 million bond package. Saying that Steven Fruman 'could be involved' in some of the actions alleged in the criminal case, Roos said, 'it seems he was trying to conceal something.' The prosecutor did not elaborate.... Saying that someone who may be involved in the case 'may not be suitable as a co-signer,' U.S. District Court Judge Paul Oetken said he would not immediately intervene with the examination of the younger Fruman's finances." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Kaczynski, et al., of CNN: Photos of Lev & Igor sitting in the good seats at 2018 Trump rallies keep emerging. "In photos posted on Twitter, Parnas and Fruman can be seen accompanying Giuliani to events in Michigan, New Hampshire, Florida, Indiana and again in Nevada." Mrs. McC: You might think the Three Stooges were Trump groupies, except you know they're doing it for the money.

Some GOP Senators Ready to Admit the Obvious, Then Pretend It's Okay. Rachel Bade & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge that President Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family as the president repeatedly denies a quid pro quo. In this shift in strategy to defend Trump, these Republicans are insisting that the president's action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense as the Democratic-led House moves forward with the open phase of its probe. But the shift among Senate Republicans could complicate the message coming from Trump as he furiously fights the claim that he had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine to pressure it to dig up dirt on a political rival.... The pivot was the main topic during a private Senate GOP lunch on Wednesday, according to multiple people...." The new pretense is that Trump had no "corrupt intent." Mrs. McC: Good luck with that. Trump is the personification of corrupt intent. It's the only intent he has.

     ~~~ The Raw Story has a summary report here. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "I see the inevitable retreat from 'Trump is innocent' to 'using extortion to ratfuck elections is great, frankly he should be doing more of it' has already started[.]"

** Kim Sengupta of the U.K. Independent: "... overshadowed by the publicity around the impeachment, is the ever-broadening investigation by William Barr..., which the White House sees as a game-changer.... It may also seem odd that Trump, having repeatedly claimed that the Mueller report was a 'complete and total exoneration' of him over Russiagate, is now going to such lengths to try and discredit it.... The information being requested [of foreign governments] has left allies astonished. One British official with knowledge of Barr's wish list presented to London commented that 'it is like nothing we have come across before, they are basically asking, in quite robust terms, for help in doing a hatchet job on their own intelligence services.'" Mrs. McC: Besides giving us a picture of how our government is viewed abroad, Sengupta's report is a good summary of the vast Trumpist conspiracy theory. The real Three Stooges are not Rudy, Lev & Igor, but the over-the-hill gang, Donnie, Bill & Rudy.

Polina Ivanova & Ilya Zhegulev of Reuters: "Sweeping changes to Ukraine's top law enforcement agency ordered by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are set to derail a series of long-running criminal investigations, including two related to ... Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, three current and former Ukrainian prosecutors told Reuters.... Zelenskiy ... has said the makeover is essential because the office is widely distrusted by Ukrainians and has been seen as a political tool for the well-connected to punish their enemies. Plans to shake up the General Prosecutor's Office played a role in a July 25 phone call between Zelenskiy and Trump that is now at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into the U.S. president. On that call, Zelenskiy told Trump he was installing a new head at the agency who would be '100% my person, my candidate' and who 'will look into the situation' regarding the Bidens.... Among those who have been fired are 13 prosecutors from the Special Investigations Unit, which was overseeing corruption cases from the period of former President Viktor Yanukovich. Manafort, who worked as a political consultant in Ukraine for years, was implicated in two of those probes...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If the critics of Zelensky's "reform" of the GPO are right (and Zelensky's promise to Trump suggests they may be), it looks as if Zelensky is installing his own Bill Barr with a coterie of little Billy Barrs, and the cycle of Ukraine corruption continues. If not, Zelensky is establishing a civil-service-type structure in the prosecutor's office & everything's coming up roses. Far be it from me to know which scenario is closer to the truth.

Florida Man, Traveling to Mississippi, Tweets He's Going to Louisiana.* David Jackson of USA Today: A Florida man, "Donald Trump, tweeted early Friday he was looking forward to visiting Louisiana later in the evening, but there was one big problem: He's going to Mississippi. 'Louisiana, I'll see you tonight,' Trump said in a tweet that was later deleted. 'Big Rally for Eddie R. He will be a GREAT GOVERNOR. Early voting starts! @EddieRispone.' Instead, Trump has a political rally in Tupelo, Miss., on Friday evening.... In Mississippi, Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is in a tight race with Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood for the right to move into the governor's mansion. Trump's rally in Tupelo, Mississippi, is designed to bolster Reeves' chances." Mrs. McC: Eddie Rispone is the GOP candidate for governor of Louisiana. Charles Pierce has more on what a "GREAT GOVERNOR" Eddie would be. (Also linked yesterday.)

     * This is one of two stories linked today that requires your reading yesterday's Commentariat. In this case, reading yesterday's Comments, especially the first comment, by Bobby Lee, is a big help.

News from the Mind of a Madman. Peter Baker & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "It was a vivid scene worthy of the ending of a Hollywood thriller, the image of a ruthless terrorist mastermind finally brought to justice 'whimpering and crying and screaming all the way' to his death. But it may be no more true than a movie script. In the days since President Trump gave the world a graphic account of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's last minutes, no evidence has emerged to confirm it. The secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the regional commander who oversaw the operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State all say they have no idea what the president was talking about. Four other Defense Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity..., said they had seen no ... communications that support Mr. Trump's claim. Nor did they have any indication that Mr. Trump spoke with any of the Delta Force commandos or ground commanders in the hours between the Saturday night raid and his Sunday morning televised announcement. One American official ... deeply familiar with the operation dismissed the president's version of events as mere grandstanding. Another senior official briefed extensively on the mission said, 'I don't know how he would know that. It sounds like something he made up.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This might have been Trump's best moment. Instead, it was an extended lie.

** Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "The New York Times examined [Donald] Trump's interactions with Twitter since he took office, reviewing each of his more than 11,000 tweets and the hundreds of accounts he has retweeted, tracking the ways he is exposed to information and replicating what he is likely to see on the platform. The result, including new data analysis and previously unreported details, offers the most comprehensive view yet of a virtual world in which the president spends significant time mingling with extremists, impostors and spies. Fake accounts tied to intelligence services in China, Iran and Russia had directed thousands of tweets at Mr. Trump, according to a Times analysis of propaganda accounts suspended by Twitter. Iranian operatives tweeted anti-Semitic tropes, saying that Mr. Trump was 'being controlled' by global Zionists, and that pulling out of the Iran nuclear treaty would benefit North Korea. Russian accounts tagged the president more than 30,000 times, including in supportive tweets about the Mexican border wall and his hectoring of black football players.... Mr. Trump has retweeted at least 145 unverified accounts that have pushed conspiracy or fringe content, including more than two dozen that have since been suspended by Twitter. Tinfoil-hat types and racists celebrate when Mr. Trump shares something they promote." ~~~

     ~~~ The Times has related stories here and here. Mrs. McC: Trump's Twitter activity is grounds for invoking the 25th Amendment.

No One Knows WTF Is Going on. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "President Trump told reporters Friday evening that Chad Wolf is the new acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, but it was unclear whether a formal appointment had occurred, extending confusion about who would step in to fill one of the country's most crucial national security posts. After reporters asked Trump about rumors he was planning to place Wolf in charge of DHS, Trump said, 'Well he's right now acting and we'll see what happens.' But no transition has taken place yet, according to two senior administration officials. Kevin McAleenan, the current acting DHS secretary, remains on the job, they said. McAleenan is scheduled to stay in the role at least through early next week, according to one of the senior administration officials, who was baffled by Trump's statement.... Wolf would be the fifth person to occupy the secretary job at DHS under Trump, an unusually high degree of leadership turnover for a department whose founding goal was to project stability and safeguard the country from another 9/11-style terrorist attack." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As Jeh Johnson said on MSNBC, Wolf is technically the sixth DHS secretary under Trump. Johnson himself, as the "designated survivor" during Trump's inauguration, was the Secretary of Homeland Security until he resigned 7-1/2 hours into Trump's tenure. ~~~

     ~~~ Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley attempts to clear up the confusion.

>Rob Crilly & David M. Drucker of the Washington Examiner: "President Trump declined to defend embattled acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, an indication he is considering a change. Asked during an Oval Office interview with the Washington Examiner if he is happy with the job Mulvaney is doing for him, Trump demurred. 'Happy?' he said, mulling the question. 'I don't want to comment on it.' Instead, Trump offered a general defense of his senior team and said some West Wing 'bedlam' was the inevitable result of an administration that had been besieged by federal investigations and congressional subpoenas from Day One. 'I could see that,' Trump said when asked about Republican senators expressing unhappiness with Mulvaney." Mrs. McC: For Pete's sake, Mick, walk out.

"Not Wholly Unexpected." Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials and lawmakers, a reversal from the summer when the president insisted he would offer policies to curb firearm deaths. Trump has been counseled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his reelection bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle. The president no longer asks about the issue, and aides from the Domestic Policy Council, once& working on a plan with eight to 12 tenets, have moved on to other topics, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... The White House's position is a marked, if not wholly unexpected, change from when the president vowed he would make a push to pass more restrictive laws after two gunmen killed scores of people in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso in early August, creating national outrage." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Laura Clawson has the Daily Kos story: "Who could possibly have predicted?" (Also linked yesterday.)

David Nakamura & Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post: "The Washington Nationals have accepted an invitation to visit President Trump at the White House on Monday for the traditional champions celebration, less than a week after winning their first World Series. The quick turnaround is unusual, but most of the players are in town for a parade Saturday in downtown Washington, and White House officials said the timing worked well for the team and the president. The ceremony will take place at 1:15 p.m. on the South Lawn, a White House official said." The ESPN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

More Adventures of the Middle-Class Boys from Pottstown

When my father became commander in chief of this country, we got out of all international business. -- Eric Trump, in an interview on Fox News's "The Ingraham Angle," October 15

We've been international businesspeople for decades, but we can't even do those kinds of deals anymore. We can't even continue, and because we chose not to, because we didn't think it was appropriate. So that's the double standard. The media said, "Oh, you're enriching yourselves." We're like, "We literally stopped." -- Donald Trump Jr., in an interview on "Fox and Friends," Oct. 30

Pinocchios courtesy of Savador Rizzo of the Washington Post

Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) came up with a novel way to avoid a question about ... Donald Trump on Thursday. Instead of ignoring the activists from the progressive group MoveOn.org who were asking it, he head-butted their camera.... He never answered the question, asked several times: 'Do you think it's OK for the president to pressure foreign governments to interfere in our elections?'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Sydney Ember & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Displaying a new assertiveness toward her Democratic opponents, Elizabeth Warren laced into her chief political rivals, warning on Friday night that the country was in a 'time of crisis' and arguing that Democrats would lose in 2020 if they nominated 'anyone who comes on this stage and tells you they can make change without a fight.' Speaking to thunderous applause during the party's biggest Iowa political event of the year, Ms. Warren denounced candidates in the presidential race who opposed bold ideas in favor of more moderate solutions, in veiled attacks on Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Pete Buttigieg.... Befitting her front-runner status, Ms. Warren was the target of heated attacks from three of the first five speakers on the stage: Mr. Biden, Mr. Buttigieg and Kamala Harris."

Natasha Korecki of Politico: "Joe Biden dropped to fourth place in Iowa, according to a new poll released Friday, his worst showing to date in the pivotal early state. A few hours later, at the largest gathering to date for any 2020 event, it was clear why. While Biden delivered a solid performance on stage before a crowd of 13,500 Democrats at the state party's Liberty & Justice dinner, he was overshadowed and outshined by the candidate who just passed him in the polls -- Pete Buttigieg. At the massive state party event known for its catalytic effect on campaigns -- it's widely remembered as a turning point for Barack Obama's Iowa fortunes in 2007 -- Buttigieg captured the audience's imagination, articulating a case for generational change.... Through his spending and organizing efforts, Buttigieg has managed to reshape the top tier into a 4-way contest that also includes Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Biden's campaign, meanwhile, has been forced to scale down expectations of his performance here. He has already seen Warren overtake him in the polls and is also battling the grassroots energy behind Sanders."

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Former Representative Beto O'Rourke of Texas is dropping out of the presidential race, ending a campaign in which he struggled for months to recapture the energy of his insurgent 2018 Senate candidacy on a national stage full of other big personalities and liberal champions. Mr. O'Rourke made the decision to quit the race in the middle of this week, on the eve of a gathering Friday of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, according to people familiar with his thinking. He is not expected to run for any other office in 2020, despite persistent efforts by party leaders and political donors to coax him into another bid for the Senate." Politico's story is here.

Jasmine Wright, et al., of CNN: "Sen. Kamala Harris is closing three of her four presidential campaign offices in New Hampshire and has fired all her field organizers in the state as she homes in on her struggling campaign in Iowa, an aide tells CNN. The California Democrat is closing her offices in Nashua, Portsmouth and Keene. Her Manchester headquarters will remain open, but the staff will be scaled back significantly, with only volunteers left to knock on doors and pass out literature."

Thomas Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed $20.5 trillion in new spending through huge tax increases on businesses and wealthy Americans to pay for 'Medicare for all,' laying out details for a landmark government expansion that will pose political risks for her presidential candidacy while also allowing her to say she is not raising taxes on the middle class to pay for her health care plan. Ms. Warren, who has risen steadily in the polls with strong support from liberals excited about her ambitious policy plans, has been under pressure from top rivals like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to release details about paying for her biggest plan, 'Medicare for all.'" The Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Holy Rolling in Money. Jeremy Peters & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Paula White, a televangelist based in Florida and personal pastor to President Trump whom he has known since 2002, has joined the Trump administration in an official capacity, according to a White House official. Ms. White will work in the Office of Public Liaison, the official said, which is the division of the White House overseeing outreach to groups and coalitions organizing key parts of the president's base. Her role will be to advise the administration's Faith and Opportunity Initiative, which Mr. Trump established last year by executive order and which aims to give religious groups more of a voice in government programs devoted to issues like defending religious liberty and fighting poverty. As Mr. Trump campaigns for a second term, he cannot afford to lose support from the religious conservatives who voted for him in 2016 in significant numbers. Without their backing, his path to re-election would be significantly narrower.... Ms. White cannot be easily categorized as either a political asset or a liability. She has a large following among Christians who believe in the 'prosperity gospel,' which teaches that God blesses people he deems to be of strong faith.... But many other Christians consider these beliefs to be heresy. And Ms. White's presence in the top tier of Mr. Trump's coterie of informal religious advisers has long been a source of contention with many evangelical Christians." A Hill story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Church of Donald. Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner: "According to his longtime personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, Trump in 2006 was taking steps to build a glass cathedral. 'He wanted to build a house of God,' she told us. 'He said, "Let's do this, let's build this before we're too old,"' said White-Cain [said]. Trump had an architect in place and was eager to have her take charge of the church, but White-Cain said the timing wasn't right for her. At the time, her ministry was on nine TV networks, and she was heading to a divorce from her second husband in 2007."

General Election 2020. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Democratic organizations filed lawsuits in Georgia, Arizona and Texas on Friday saying Republicans are given an unfair advantage by being listed first on those states' general election ballots. The traditionally red states Democrats hope to make competitive in 2020 have slightly different rules about ballot placement, but in each case, because Republicans control the governorships, every other race from president on down is listed with the Republican candidate first.... Ahead of 2020, Democrats are looking at a slew of election laws they believe could tip the scale in Republicans' favor, filing lawsuits all over the country over matters like voting access for college students and ballot order.... The DNC and other party-affiliated groups filed a similar lawsuit in Florida in July decrying ballot order bias they contend would give President Trump the edge in a crucial battleground state he won in 2016 by only 1.2 percentage points. The 2018 Democratic candidates in Florida for governor and U.S. Senate lost by razor-thin margins to GOP opponents whose names were listed first...." There was a similar effect in the 2018 races for governor of Georgia & the U.S. Senate in Texas. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And Democrats are just thinking of this now, less than a year before absentee ballots go out?

Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "The Keystone pipeline system, an addition to which has been the subject of environmental protests for years, leaked about 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota, covering an estimated half-acre of wetland, state environmental regulators said. The spill, which has been contained, occurred in a low-gradient drainage area near the small town of Edinburg in northeast North Dakota, less than 50 miles from the Canadian border, according to Karl Rockeman, the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality's division of water quality. 'It is one of the larger spills in the state,' he said in an email on Thursday. There are no residences near the site and the wetland is not a source of drinking water, he said." A Hill summary of the story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Deadspin Nears Death. Marc Tracy of the New York Times: "The last meeting for many of Deadspin's journalists took place on Wednesday in a conference room adorned with fake black cobwebs, a large spider and bloody handprints beside the words: 'HELP US.' The plea, it seemed, went unanswered. By Thursday, almost the entire staff -- nearly 20 writers and editors -- had resigned. The journalists at the site, founded as a sports blog in 2005, had chafed against an instruction handed down Monday in the form of a memo from management to confine themselves to sports-related posts. While largely focused on sports, Deadspin for years had delved into a broad range of topics in a voice that was sometimes rude, often funny and always conversational. On Tuesday, the site's top editor, Barry Petchesky, was fired after refusing to go along with the order.... The stick-to-sports memo ... was signed by Paul Maidment, the editorial director of G/O Media, the company that became the owner of Deadspin and sibling sites like Jezebel and Gizmodo six months ago." A Business Insider story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)