The Commentariat -- November 1, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

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.

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.

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."

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...?"

"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." ~~~

     ~~~ Laura Clawson has the Daily Kos story: "Who could possibly have predicted?"

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 with wealth, good health and other gifts. 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.

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.

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 Salvador 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?'"

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.

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.

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Rob Crilly & David Drucker of the Washington Examiner: "A defiant President Trump signaled he will not cooperate with the Democratic Party's impeachment proceedings, insisting his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was 'a good call' and that he might read it aloud to Americans so they can see his point. 'This is over a phone call that is a good call,' Trump, sitting behind the Resolute Desk, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. 'At some point, I'm going to sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television, and I will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. When you read it, it's a straight call.'... Trump said he was pleased with the Thursday testimony of a former White House official who said he saw nothing illegal in the telephone call at the heart of the controversy.... Trump flicked through a pile of papers to hold up a copy of news clipping reporting on Morrison's opening statement and said it was 'fantastic.' He said: 'This was going to be their star witness.'... [More on this below.] He outlined a strategy for fighting back that would rely on the White House account of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, including T-shirts with the slogan, 'Read the transcript.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: We now know, based on Alexander Vindman's testimony, that the abridged summary -- what Trump falsely calls a "transcript" -- is incomplete. Still, I can hardly wait for that "fireside chat" dramatic reading. No doubt Trump will read Zelensky's part of the conversation in something he imagines is a Ukrainian accent. He does do impressions, you know: people with disabilities, Asians, women, etc.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A bitterly divided House of Representatives voted on Thursday to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in a historic action that set up a critical new public phase of the process and underscored the toxic political polarization that serves as its backdrop. The vote was 232-196 to approve a resolution that sets out rules for an impeachment process for which there are few precedents, and which promises to consume the country a little more than a year before the 2020 elections. It was only the third time in modern history that the House had taken a vote on an impeachment inquiry into a sitting president." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

** CNN has published a copy of Tim Morrison's opening statement. It clears up the differing accounts of whether or not Morrison took his concerns to NSC Legal Counsel. He did. Mrs. McC: What do not ring true are his reasons for seeking to loop in counsel, since he writes, "I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed." I expect the real reason was that he wanted to facilitate a cover-up. As for his claiming he didn't think "anything illegal was discussed," this is pure CYA. Morrison doesn't want to be liable for failing to report illegal acts by Trump & others. His opinion as to the legality of Trump's behavior, however, is moot. Morrison is a fact witness; his legal opinions are irrelevant, particular because he is not a lawyer. ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "... Mr. Morrison, a Trump political appointee and a former longtime Republican congressional aide, resisted making the kind of sweeping, often damaging judgments about what was taking place that Democrats have heard from other witnesses, and Republicans emerged calling him the most favorable witness they had heard from so far. In his opening remarks..., he did not draw conclusions about Mr. Trump's involvement in the pressure tactics, pointing back repeatedly to [Gordon] Sondland, whose involvement in Ukraine policy he said he 'did not understand.' In subsequent testimony, he said he did not view the July phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky as illegal or improper, but he found it striking enough to ask the National Security Council's chief lawyer, John Eisenberg, to review it, in part out of a concern that a summary might leak out.... Mr. Morrison characterized the ... pressure campaign against Ukraine ... as bad foreign policy of the sort that could potentially squander a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' afforded by the election of Mr. Zelensky, who campaigned as a reformer who would crack down on rampant corruption." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Republicans were crowing that Morrison was the most favorable witness evah because he did not characterize Trump as a criminal. Mighty favorable. Update: See Aaron Blake's post, linked below. ~~~

~~~ Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on ... Donald Trump's National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators that he was advised by then-White House official Fiona Hill to stay away from the parallel Ukraine policy being pursued by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, according to a source familiar with his Thursday testimony. Morrison also told lawmakers that he was concerned the July 25 call transcript between Trump and Ukrainian President While he did deviate from Taylor on some details, Morrison testified that Sondland told him [the] President would release the aid if the Ukrainian prosecutor general announced an investigation, according to sources.... Morrison did not raise any concerns about the call to the National Security Council lawyers, as [Alexander] Vindman did, according to one source. [This last detail differs from the WashPo report below.]... Morrison also seemed critical of the role that US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland played over Ukraine policy, one source said.... At times, Morrison's attorney has instructed his client not to answer questions about interactions with the President, multiple sources said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on President Trump's National Security Council, on Thursday corroborated the testimony of a senior U.S. diplomat who last week offered House impeachment investigators the most detailed account to date for how Trump tried to use his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, according to people familiar with his deposition. Morrison told impeachment investigators that the account offered by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine, is accurate. He said that he alerted Taylor to a push by Trump and his deputies to withhold both security aid and a White House visit for the Ukrainian president until Ukraine agreed to investigate the Bidens and interference in the 2016 presidential election, said one person, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Morrison, who told colleagues Wednesday that he plans to leave the Trump administration, said he did not necessarily view the president's demands as improper or illegal, but rather problematic for U.S. policy in supporting an ally in the region.... Yet Morrison twice reached out to the National Security Council's attorneys with apparent concerns about Trump's conversations pertaining to Ukraine policy, according to various witness' testimony." (This is a second major update of a story first linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... Republicans claimed a game-changer Thursday. It came in the form of Tim Morrison's testimony. But as the White House aide's actual testimony shows, they're really reaching here. And in hailing Morrison as a witness, they proved how badly they're hoping for something -- anything -- to stanch the bleeding.... While Morrison says he didn't think Trump's conversation with Zelensky involved anything illegal or improper, he did express concern about it for a few other reasons[.]... He also, most importantly, corroborated the testimony of the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, William B. Taylor Jr., who said last week that Morrison described to him what can only be described as a quid pro quo.... What we have is essentially a sixth person confirming some kind of quid pro quo involving official U.S. concessions being conditioned on Ukraine pursuing investigations that help Trump politically. To celebrate that is really to suck on a lemon."

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "As the House of Representatives continues to take depositions in the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump, investigators are reportedly considering issuing a subpoena for the twin brother [Yevgeny] of an eyewitness who gave blockbuster testimony. 'The twin brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official who shared before House committees this week his concerns about President Trump's July phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, may also be called to testify,' The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday."

Cajoling the Jurors. Seung Min Kim & Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "President Trump, in a private lunch Thursday with Senate Republicans, repeatedly praised his own decision to release a rough transcript of the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president that has become a central focus of the House's impeachment inquiry, according to the senators who attended. The White House invited just over a half-dozen GOP senators, most of them among the president's staunchest allies in the chamber, where many members have refrained from commenting directly on the unfolding case, arguing they will effectively serve as jurors in any impeachment trial.... The lunch ... was not included on the president's public schedule."

Bribing the Jurors. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump is rewarding senators who have his back on impeachment -- and sending a message to those who don't to get on board. Trump is tapping his vast fundraising network for a handful of loyal senators facing tough reelection bids in 2020. Each of them has signed onto a Republican-backed resolution condemning the inquiry as 'unprecedented and undemocratic.' Conspicuously absent from the group is Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a politically vulnerable Republican who's refused to support the resolution and avoided taking a stance on impeachment. With his new push, Trump is exerting leverage over a group he badly needs in his corner with an impeachment trial likely coming soon to the Senate -- but that also needs him. Republican senators on the ballot next year are lagging in fundraising, stoking uncertainty about the GOP's hold on the chamber, and could use the fundraising might of the president. Trump's political operation has raked in over $300 million this year." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jason Lemon of Newsweek: "Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, warned on Thursday that ... Donald Trump appeared to be committing 'felony bribery' by giving Republican senators fundraising cash ahead of an increasingly likely impeachment trial in the Senate.... Painter argued that GOP lawmakers who accept the fundraising support should face criminal charges as well. 'The senators can raise their own campaign cash. Any senator who accepts cash from @realDonaldTrump before the impeachment trial is guilty of accepting a bribe and should go to the slammer,' he tweeted."

She Was Not Amused. Katelyn Polantz & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "A federal judge in Washington expressed disbelief that the White House could control what its former officials might talk about, when they're subpoenaed by the House of Representatives or otherwise. 'We don't live in a world where your status as a former executive branch official somehow shields you or prevents you from giving information,' Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Thursday during a nearly four-hour hearing to a Justice Department attorney who was defending the White House. The lawsuit is over whether former White House counsel Don McGahn must appear for testimony in the House. Democrats issued the subpoena in April, though he ignored their demands and didn't show up.... She also expressed disbelief over arguments from the Justice Department that the courts shouldn't play a role in these types of disputes between the more political branches of government.... [James] Burnham, the Justice Department attorney, said it didn't happen 'for 200 years' of US history. Jackson pointed out, nearly yelling with frustration at Burnham, that the Constitution always allowed for these sorts of disputes to be settled in the courts, even if it hasn't happened that often. The proceedings unfolding in Jackson's courtroom relate to one subpoena to one witness -- McGahn. But her eventual ruling could play a pivotal rule for future witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, as more Trump administration officials are subpoenaed for depositions in the House and could be called to testify at the Senate trial.... The judge didn't say exactly when she would issue a ruling, the timing of which could have a domino effect on other witnesses...."

Good riddance. It's not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He's all yours, Florida. -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In late September, [Donald] Trump changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fla., according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Melania Trump, the first lady, also changed her residence to Palm Beach in an identical document. Each of the Trumps filed a 'declaration of domicile' saying that the Mar-a-Lago Club, Mr. Trump's resort in Palm Beach, will be their permanent residence.... White House officials declined to say why Mr. Trump changed his primary residence, but a person close to the president said the reasons were primarily for tax purposes. The person also said that Mr. Trump, who is deeply unpopular in New York, was infuriated by a subpoena filed by Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, seeking the president's tax returns, which Mr. Trump has not released. Changing his residence to Florida is not expected to have any effect on Mr. Vance's case, which Mr. Trump has sought to thwart with a federal lawsuit.... Beyond taxes, Mr. Trump has repeatedly signaled the importance of Florida to his 2020 re-election effort...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: While the reasons Haberman explores probably are all true, I suspect the one in the back of Trump's mind is this: "I can play golf wearing an ankle bracelet. No golf course in NYC, but I have my very own golf club within 5 miles of Mar-a-Lago. I should be able to work out a deal to travel 5 miles.

The Continuing Saga of Two Ordinary Middle-Class Boys from Pottstown. James Walker of Newsweek: "Donald Trump Jr. has suggested growing up at a Pennsylvania boarding school where tuition fees are on par with the median household income helped him build a connection with middle Americans. Speaking on Fox & Friends Wednesday, the president's eldest son also claimed that he started his working life as a dock attendant and bragged that he and his brother Eric Trump were 'the only sons of billionaires' who could drive a Caterpillar D10 bulldozer. After saying his real estate mogul father Donald Trump 'gets' middle America because he spent time on construction sites, Trump Jr. said: "He'd get on the ground and that's why I was like, listen, he can go talk to working class Americans because he has his whole life. In an attempt to establish a connection of his own with the middle and working class, the president's son continued: 'Eric and I, we went to boarding school in central Pennsylvania. We went through our formative years in the rust belt. 'So while we may be the son of a New York billionaire, we grew up in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.'" ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You may recall that in yesterday's episode, we learned that Junior wished he were Hunter Biden so he could go abroad & make millions off his father's presidency. Which is kinda funny, because Junior does go abroad & presumably makes something off his father's presidency. Also too, one business trip to India cost taxpayers at least $98,000 (figures incomplete) and a similar figure for Eric's business trip to Uruguay. CREW found that the boys cost the Secret Service another $200,000 when they went to the United Arab Emirates to open a golf course there.

Vera Bergengruen & Brian Bennett profile Rudy Giuliani for the cover of Time. Despite concentrating on his shady international deals, they make him seem nicer than he is, ~~~

~~~ Maybe because they don't integrate anecdotes like this one from Rich Schapiro of NBC News: "Less than a month after he was named ... Donald Trump's cybersecurity adviser in 2017, Rudy Giuliani walked into an Apple store in downtown San Francisco.... Giuliani was looking for help. He was locked out of his iPhone because he had forgotten the passcode and entered the wrong one at least 10 times, according to two people familiar with the matter and a photo of an internal Apple store memo obtained by NBC News.... Giuliani's handling of the situation calls into question his understanding of basic security measures and raises the prospect that, as someone in the president's inner circle, his electronic devices are especially vulnerable to hackers, two former FBI cyber experts told NBC News.... [One] said someone in Giuliani's position should never allow a person he didn't know to access his device." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Schapiro doesn't say so, but the iPhone in his story is likely the same one (or accesses the same info, since he uses iCloud) as the one he held up on the teevee to show Laura Ingraham records of his calls with the State Department. So yeah. Rudy's a cybersecurity expert like I'm a brain surgeon. Have scalpel (and drill), will travel. (Okay, no scalpel, but I do have an X-Acto knife & a cordless drill with dull bits in various sizes.) ~~~

~~~ White Castle Intrigue. Mrs. McCrabbie: I've seen some reporting that critics are worried that Bill Barr's decision to horn in on the Southern District of New York's scrutiny of Rudy gives Barr the opportunity to scuttle any SDNY action against Giuliani. But Chris Smith of Vanity Fair surmises Barr dislikes Giuliani, not least because "Barr can't be happy that Giuliani has muddied the attorney general's own globe-trotting effort to reinvestigate the investigation of Russian meddling in the election, this time from a decidedly pro-Trump perspective. 'Giuliani was out there very clumsily doing part of what Barr was going to do on his own, launching this very political investigation,' says Matthew Miller, a senior DOJ official in the Obama administration. 'And Rudy has done it in a way that could get the president impeached.'"

Daniel Lippman, et al., of Politico: "The White House plans to name Homeland Security official Chad Wolf acting secretary, according to three people familiar with the situation. Wolf will replace acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan, whose last day in the job was supposed to be Thursday. McAleenan will now stay until Nov. 7, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But here's the weird part: "The search has been complicated by a federal law that requires acting agency chiefs to have served under a Senate-confirmed secretary for 90 days. [Sen. Chuck] Grassley said this week there is no legal way to name someone acting DHS secretary if that person hasn't been confirmed in any capacity by the Senate. Wolf has not been confirmed in his present position as undersecretary for policy.... Two ... officials said that the White House has been speaking to reluctant GOP senators -- including Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- and asking them not to oppose Wolf's appointment to be undersecretary of the department." That is, Trump wants to keep Wolf in an "acting" capacity as secretary, so he's lobbying to have the Senate confirm in a lower-level position, one that he will no longer hold. Trump really likes to keep his Cabinet officers as nothing more than puppets. A person of principle would say, "No thanks, Mr. President*." Grassley should say the same.

Coral Davanport & Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "Monday's surprise move by General Motors, Toyota and other auto giants to back President Trump in his fight with California over pollution rules came after days of White House pressure to support one of the administration's biggest efforts to weaken climate regulations. Previously, many automakers had indicated to California that they would not take a stand, according to Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of California's clean air regulator, the Air Resources Board. Late last week, their stance quickly changed.... The auto industry was already divided. In July four other major companies -- Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW -- publicly sided with California." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- October 31, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A bitterly divided House of Representatives voted on Thursday to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in a historic action that set up a critical new public phase of the process and underscored the toxic political polarization that serves as its backdrop. The vote was 232-196 to approve a resolution that sets out rules for an impeachment process for which there are few precedents, and which promises to consume the country a little more than a year before the 2020 elections. It was only the third time in modern history that the House had taken a vote on an impeachment inquiry into a sitting president." Politico's story is here.

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the House. The Guardian's liveblog is here.

Bribing the Jurors. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump is rewarding senators who have his back on impeachment -- and sending a message to those who don't to get on board. Trump is tapping his vast fundraising network for a handful of loyal senators facing tough reelection bids in 2020. Each of them has signed onto a Republican-backed resolution condemning the inquiry as 'unprecedented and undemocratic.' Conspicuously absent from the group is Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a politically vulnerable Republican who's refused to support the resolution and avoided taking a stance on impeachment. With his new push, Trump is exerting leverage over a group he badly needs in his corner with an impeachment trial likely coming soon to the Senate -- but that also needs him. Republican senators on the ballot next year are lagging in fundraising, stoking uncertainty about the GOP's hold on the chamber, and could use the fundraising might of the president. Trump's political operation has raked in over $300 million this year."

Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on ... Donald Trump's National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators that he was advised by then-White House official Fiona Hill to stay away from the parallel Ukraine policy being pursued by Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, according to a source familiar with his Thursday testimony. Morrison also told lawmakers that he was concerned the July 25 call transcript between Trump and Ukrainian President While he did deviate from Taylor on some details, Morrison testified that Sondland told him [the] President would release the aid if the Ukrainian prosecutor general announced an investigation, according to sources.... Morrison did not raise any concerns about the call to the National Security Council lawyers, as [Alexander] Vindman did, according to one source. [This last detail differs from the WashPo report below.]... Morrison also seemed critical of the role that US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland played over Ukraine policy, one source said.... At times, Morrison's attorney has instructed his client not to answer questions about interactions with the President, multiple sources said."

Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on President Trump's National Security Council, on Thursday corroborated the testimony of a senior U.S. diplomat who last week offered House impeachment investigators the most detailed account to date for how Trump tried to use his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, according to people familiar with his deposition. Morrison told impeachment investigators that the account offered by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting ambassador to Ukraine, is accurate. He said that he alerted Taylor to a push by Trump and his deputies to withhold both security aid and a White House visit for the Ukrainian president until Ukraine agreed to investigate the Bidens and interference in the 2016 presidential election, said one person, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Morrison, who told colleagues Wednesday that he plans to leave the Trump administration, said he did not necessarily view the president's demands as improper or illegal, but rather problematic for U.S. policy in supporting an ally in the region.... Yet Morrison twice reached out to the National Security Council's attorneys with apparent concerns about Trump's conversations pertaining to Ukraine policy, according to various witness' testimony." This is a second major update of a story linked below.

Coral Davanport & Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "Monday's surprise move by General Motors, Toyota and other auto giants to back President Trump in his fight with California over pollution rules came after days of White House pressure to support one of the administration's biggest efforts to weaken climate regulations. Previously, many automakers had indicated to California that they would not take a stand, according to Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of California's clean air regulator, the Air Resources Board. Late last week, their stance quickly changed.... The auto industry was already divided. In July four other major companies -- Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW -- publicly sided with California."

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Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "For only the third time in the history of the modern presidency, the US House of Representatives was poised to vote on Thursday to formalize impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has scheduled a morning press conference to announce the next stage in a process that seemed likely to lead to Donald Trump's impeachment -- if not necessarily his removal from office. The vote on Thursday, which was expected to pass on party lines, would lay out a road map for impeachment that could produce televised public hearings within two weeks and a vote on impeachment itself by the end of the year."

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Wednesday, the House Rules Committee voted 9-4, along party lines, to advance the resolution commencing a new stage of the impeachment investigation into ... Donald Trump[.]... The resolution, which will go to a vote of the full House on Thursday, is the first formal vote taken with respect to the impeachment investigation...." Christina Marcos of the Hill has a more detailed report.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House impeachment investigators have asked former national security adviser John Bolton and two key White House lawyers to testify next week as part of the inquiry, according to a source familiar with the matter. Bolton is scheduled to be deposed on Nov. 7, while National Security Council attorneys John Eisenberg and Michael Ellis are slated to appear on Nov. 4, the source said. It was not immediately clear whether they plan to appear for testimony." Mrs. McC: According to MSNBC & CNN, Bolton has indicated he would testify under subpoena. However, according to this New York Times note, "... a lawyer for Mr. Bolton responded that he was 'not willing to appear voluntarily.... If Mr. Bolton is subpoenaed, his lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, is likely to ask a federal judge to determine whether he needs to comply."

Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tim Morrison, who is set to testify in the House impeachment inquiry [Thursday] about what he has witnessed as the senior National Security Council official handling Russian affairs, is leaving his White House post, according to people familiar with his plans. Morrison has been on the job for about 15 months, having joined the security council during John Bolton's tenure as national security adviser. Morrison could be a key witness in the inquiry into President Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.... [John] Bolton handpicked Morrison to join the NSC because of his shared opposition to arms control agreements, which both men view as an unacceptable constraint on American power.... William B. Taylor Jr., acting ambassador to Ukraine, testified last week that Morrison told him that Gordon Sondland, the U.S. envoy to the European Union, relayed to a top Ukraine aide that the country wouldn't receive military aid money until the Ukrainian president agreed to pursue an investigation into Joe Biden's son." Franco Ordoñez of NPR first reported Morrison's plans to leave; his story is here. ~~~

~~~ Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "... Democrats might not want to pin their impeachment hopes on his testimony Thursday, because there are three things [Tim] Morrison is not: a whistleblower, a Never Trumper or a potential member of the Resistance.... [His attorney Barbara Van Gelder said,] 'In the current impeachment inquiry, we hope there is enough open source information that he can avoid invoking the privilege.'... Morrison will have to answer for his part in the saga."

Kate Brannan of Just Security: "As the summer wore on, and ... Donald Trump would not budge on his decision to withhold almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine, the Pentagon warned the White House: If its portion of the money wasn't released quickly, the Defense Department would not be able to spend it before the fiscal year ended on September 30. The Pentagon even gave the White House a deadline... [of] August 6.... And the Pentagon was also clear that providing Ukraine the security assistance was in the national security interests of the United States, on that point Trump's Cabinet agreed. 'At every meeting, the unanimous conclusion was that the security assistance should be resumed, the hold lifted,' Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, said in his opening statement to House investigators last week. As for corruption, the pretext being given for why the funding was being withheld, the Pentagon had certified in May that the 'Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption [and] increasing accountability.' When asked over the summer to perform an analysis of the effectiveness of the military aid, the Defense Department took one day to conclude the assistance was effective and should be resumed, Taylor testified. In late July, the Pentagon also alerted the White House that if the funding wasn't released in time, the Pentagon would be at risk of violating the Impoundment Control Act, which punishes the executive branch when it doesn't spend money that Congress has appropriated, the sources said. But, the White House did not heed the Pentagon's warnings. It continued to withhold the money through August and into September." There's more. (Also linked yesterday.)

** The Lawyer Did It. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Moments after President Trump ended his phone call with Ukraine's president on July 25..., Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman rushed to the office of White House lawyer John Eisenberg..., bringing with him his twin brother, Yevgeny, an ethics attorney on the National Security Council.... Vindman ... was disturbed by the pressure Trump had applied to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rivals, according to people familiar with Vindman's testimony to lawmakers this week. Vindman told Eisenberg, the White House's legal adviser on national security issues, that what the president did was wrong.... Scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad, Eisenberg proposed ... moving a transcript of the call to a highly classified server and restricting access to it.... The White House lawyer later directed the transcript's removal to a system known as NICE, for NSC Intelligence Collaboration Environment, which is normally reserved for code-word-level intelligence programs and top-secret sources and methods, according to an administration official. Former Trump national security officials said it was unheard of to store presidential calls with foreign leaders on the NICE system but that Eisenberg had moved at least one other transcript of a Trump phone call there.... Vindman's account marks the first known instance in which a witness before the impeachment inquiry has provided a firsthand account linking Eisenberg to the decision to move the problematic transcript to a highly classified server.... By the time Vindman came to him in late July, Eisenberg was already familiar with concerns among White House officials about the administration's attempts to pressure Ukraine for political purposes.... Three weeks earlier, Vindman and another senior official had gone to him after a contentious July 10 meeting in which they said European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland had pushed two Ukrainian officials to investigate Trump's political rivals...." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: Sondland is digging himself into a hole too deep to climb out of. More than one member of the professional diplomatic staff has testified, providing specific details, that during July 10 meetings, Sondland pressured the Ukrainians to "investigate" how Ukraine had helped the DNC cover-up its scam to frame Russia in the 2016 election hacks (nutty conspiracy theory) & dig up dirt on the Bidens. From the WashPo report: "Sondland's attorney, Robert Luskin, said Wednesday that his client did not mention the Bidens in the July 10 meeting or any other discussions about Ukraine policy. 'Ambassador Sondland has nothing to add to his prepared testimony in which he make clear that he did not then or on any other occasion mention any Biden by name and did not then know that Burisma was linked to Biden,' Luskin said." If we ever get a real attorney general, DOJ should open a criminal investigation, not just for lying to Congress but also for the underlying crime of attempting to use a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election.

Jake Tapper of CNN: "Top White House Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman told congressional investigators he was convinced ... Donald Trump was personally blocking $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to force that country to publicly announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his family, two sources present at the deposition told CNN.... The sources at the deposition said Vindman believed the existence of a quid pro quo was clear during a July 10 meeting between American and Ukrainian officials. In his opening statement, Vindman wrote that date is when US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Ukrainian government officials that they would need to deliver 'specific investigations in order to secure the meeting' with Trump that they so desired. But the fact that the $400 million in aid, including desperately needed military assistance, was also being used by the President didn't become clear until the next month, Vindman testified.... On August 16, Bolton and other senior Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, traveled to Trump's resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, to discuss a number of national security issues with the President [including a decision letter Vindman had written that showed government-wide support for releasing the funds to Ukraine]. Vindman learned after their meeting that Trump still refused to allow the security assistance funds to go to Ukraine, which made Vindman think the President was still waiting for the 'deliverable' [Trump had demanded]." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "It's not clear how significant the omissions [in the abridged telcon] noted by [Col. Alexander] Vindman were, but his testimony blows a massive hole in Trump's claim that the transcript is a complete and thorough documentation of the call. Yes, that claim was always obviously false, but having a sense of something specific that was apparently excluded makes obvious just how many gaps there could be in the document.... What was revealed in Vindman's testimony isn't that the transcript wasn't complete; we knew that on the day it was released. What was exposed instead was how hollow Trump's claims about the transcript really were. Trump has learned over the past four years that it doesn't matter what he says." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ You Can't Make up This Stuff. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert..., told lawmakers that a close associate of Republican Rep. Devin Nunes 'misrepresented' himself to ... Donald Trump in an effort to involve himself further in Ukraine policy.... [Vindman] told lawmakers that after attending Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May..., [he] had been looking forward to debriefing Trump and giving a positive account of Zelensky's vision for Ukraine's future.... But [his boss Fiona Hill] ... instructed [him] 'at the last second' not to attend the debriefing ... because ... Trump believed ... that Kashyap Patel, a longtime Nunes staffer who joined the White House in February and had no discernible Ukraine experience or expertise, was actually the NSC's top Ukraine expert instead of Vindman.... Vindman also testified that he was told Patel had been circumventing normal NSC process to get negative material about Ukraine in front of the president, feeding Trump's belief that Ukraine was brimming with corruption and had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Democrats." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeff Schogol & Haley Britzky of Task & Purpose: "The Army intends to fully support Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, serves on the National Security Council. On Tuesday, he went before Congress after being subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee. Without referring to Vindman by name, Trump has repeatedly accused him of having a political axe to grind by describing him as a 'Never Trumper witness.' 'Lt. Col. Vindman, who has served this country honorably for 20+ years, is fully supported by the Army like every Soldier, having earned a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq in 2004,' Matt Leonard, an Army spokesperson, told Task & Purpose.... Gen. Joseph Dunford, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also weighed in, telling CNN that Vindman 'is a professional, competent, patriotic, and loyal officer. He has made an extraordinary contribution to the security of our Nation in both peacetime & combat.'" ~~~

~~~ Julia Ioffe has a good piece in GQ on, "... the making of a decorated U.S. military officer, and the immigrant experience of Soviet Jews in America and abroad." --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Ioffe centers her story on the history of Alexander Vindman & his family. "While Trump has a history of attacking anyone who questions his power, there is a particularly insidious history to questioning the loyalty of Jewish émigrés." Critics so often see Hitler & Mussolini tendencies in Trump, but Ioffe's piece reminds us that Trump comes with a taste for Stalin, too.

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats on Wednesday opened a confirmation hearing for Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan as ambassador to Russia with questions about why he recalled the former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, and didn't stand up more forcefully for the foreign service. Sullivan, responding to sharp questions by Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, agreed that Yovanovitch had 'served capably and admirably.' But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he said, told him 'the president had lost confidence with her,' and he was designated to deliver the news to her. Pompeo, he indicated, declined to specify any further reason in response to Sullivan's appeal.'... Menendez asked whether he knew that Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was 'seeking to smear' Yovanovitch. 'I believe he was, yes,' Sullivan said.... He was asked whether it was 'ever appropriate for the president to use his office to solicit investigations into his domestic political opponents.'Sullivan said: 'I don't think that would be in accord with our values.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nahal Toosi covers the same ground for Politico, and her take is worth reading, too. Sullivan "also said he was looped in when the State Department was given a packet of material that appeared to be aimed at denigrating Yovanovitch. 'It didn't provide to me a basis for taking action against our ambassador,' said Sullivan of the packet, which Giuliani is suspected of helping put together. Sullivan said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had tried to find out exactly why Trump was unhappy with Yovanovitch, but that after several months, the reason -- which Sullivan said he was never told -- became irrelevant because it was clear the president wanted her out." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state, said on Wednesday that President Trump's personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was involved in a smear campaign to oust the ambassador to Ukraine, publicly confirming a key part of the saga behind the impeachment inquiry."

Tinfoil Hat Time: Looking back at the timeline, Drumpf's infamous call with Ukraine Pres. Zelenskiy was July 25th. On July 31st, Drumpf and Putin had a telephone call that was first announced by the Kremlin, supposedly at the initiative of Trump, with the White House not acknowledging the call until August 1, saying the discussion revolved around Siberian "wildfires". This sounds about as credible as Drumpf worried about the scourge of "corruption". With this in mind, here's John Stoehr of Raw Story: "One of the reasons [Army Lt. Col. Alex] Vindman came forward against the wishes of the White House was because he was worried about the president and his allies outside of government working to establish a 'false narrative' about what happened in 2016 to undermine the special counsel's Russia investigation.... Trump is not engaging in conspiracy theory as much as making war against the truth so nothing is left but loyalty to The Leader.... He is the original victim and ultimate hero of this false narrative.... [T]he 'conspiracy theory' ... has gripped Trump's media allies and pretty much the whole of the Republican Party.... It is a big lie that would have gotten bigger had not patriots like Alex Vindman said enough is enough." I wonder if the July 31st call isn't one of those stashed away in Super Top Secret land?"--s ~~~

~~~ Donald Trump is a Russian asset:

A Chip off the Old Blockhead. Justin Wise of the Hill: "Donald Trump Jr. on Wednesday railed against the son of former Vice President Joe Biden over his foreign business dealings, claiming that if his name was Hunter Biden he could go abroad and make millions. 'I wish my name was Hunter Biden. I could go abroad, make millions off my father's presidency,' Trump Jr. said in an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News program. 'I'd be a really rich guy.'" Mrs. McC: I guess we'll have to assume Senior isn't paying Junior & the poor lad is living in a cardboard box under a bridge. He is, after all, a troll.

Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that President Trump's infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was 'consistent' with the administration's policies. The phone call in which Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is at the center of House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into the president. 'The call was consistent with what I had a long set of conversations with President Trump on our policy for an awfully long time,' Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. 'Our policy has been very clear all along with respect to Ukraine.'"

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The Pentagon on Wednesday released dramatic video from the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and shared new details about the strike -- and the mission's hero dog.... Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of U.S. Central Command ... [said,] 'five ISIS members inside the compound presented a threat to the force.' The four women and one man were wearing suicide vests and approached in a 'threatening manner,' the general said. They 'did not respond to commands in Arabic to surrender' or to warning shots and were killed, McKenzie said.... Meanwhile, al-Baghdadi fled into a tunnel with two children, although officials initially thought there were three.... McKenzie said [the dog had] been hurt by exposed live electrical cables in the tunnel. McKenzie said the dog, who sources have told NBC News is Belgian Malinois, has been returned to duty. He's a four-year veteran who's been on approximately 50 combat missions.... McKenzie was also asked about ... Donald Trump's assertions that al-Baghdadi was crying before he killed himself. He said he couldn't confirm that account 'one way or another, but I can tell you this: He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground. You can deduce what kind of person he is based on that activity.'" Includes video.

Joby Warrick, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. commandos zeroed in on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's final hideout with the help of an extraordinarily well-placed informant, an Islamic State operative who facilitated the terrorist leader's movements around Syria and even helped oversee construction work on his Syrian safe house, according to U.S. and Middle East-based officials.... The mole's detailed knowledge of Baghdadi's whereabouts as well as the room-by-room layout of his sanctuary proved to be critical in the Oct. 26 raid that ended with the death of the world's most-wanted terrorist, the officials said. The informant was present during the assault on Baghdadi's compound in the Syrian province of Idlib, and he was exfiltrated from the region two days later with his family. The man, whose nationality had not been revealed, is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million U.S. bounty that had been placed on Baghdadi's head, according to the officials. One official said he was a Sunni Arab who turned against the Islamic State because one of his relatives had been killed by the group." TPM has a brief summary of the WashPo report. (Also linked yesterday.)

Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: “Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney first learned about the U.S. military raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the operation was already underway, according to five current and former senior administration officials. Mulvaney was at home in South Carolina when ... Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday night that 'Something very big has just happened!' He was briefed on the raid that night, officials said. The extraordinary move by Trump to leave his chief of staff out of the most significant U.S. military operation against the world's most wanted terrorist since the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 represents a major blow to Mulvaney, suggesting that he is increasingly sidelined inside the White House. The White House chief of staff typically would be central to such a momentous gambit for a president, coordinating logistics, public statements and notifications of congressional leaders and allies.... Andrew Card, former President George W. Bush's longtime chief of staff, said the exclusion of Mulvaney from a moment of such magnitude in the presidency is difficult to grasp because the chief of staff typically would be in national security meetings leading up to it and tasked with coordinating with other top officials on everything from a communications strategy to a plan in case the raid failed." Mrs. McC: Mulvaney isn't even "acting" chief-of-staff anymore. (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump Retweets Insensitive Photo. Again. Niraj Chokshi & Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "President Trump on Wednesday shared an altered photograph of himself placing a medal around the neck of the dog injured in the raid last weekend that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State's leader. The image, which bears a watermark for a social media account for the conservative news site The Daily Wire, appeared to be an altered version of a 2017 Associated Press photograph. In the original, Mr. Trump is seen awarding a Medal of Honor to James C. McCloughan, a retired Army medic who is credited with saving the lives of 10 men during the war in Vietnam.... In a phone interview on Wednesday, Mr. McCloughan, 73, who had not seen the image before a reporter sent it to him, said that he interpreted it as Mr. Trump recognizing the dog's heroism. He certainly was not offended and laughed when he compared the two images. After all, he said, Medal of Honor recipients accept on behalf of their entire teams, especially those that did not return from battle.... 'This recognizes the dog is part of that team of brave people,' he said. Mr. McCloughan ... added that he had worked with a dog in Vietnam who helped detect enemy activity during missions. 'They are very courageous,' he said of military canines. He was also concerned about the condition of the dog, after the president tweeted that the dog was injured when the terror leader detonated a suicide vest. 'Once a medic, always a medic,' Mr. McCloughan said." The Guardian story is here.

Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "In a remarkable rebuke of a NATO ally, the House on Tuesday approved a biting sanctions bill that could cripple Turkey's economy and would punish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally by requiring an assessment of his net worth ami questions about his finances in Turkey. Lawmakers also passed a deeply contentious measure to commemorate the Armenian genocide, a historic move that will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions. The genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. 'Members of my own family were among those murdered, and my parents fled with my grandparents to America,' said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. 'What all of the persecuted had in common was that they were Christians.'... Turkey condemned the House votes, saying the sanctions bill is "incompatible with the spirit of our allied relations under NATO.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Right. And how did attacking Kurdish allies of the U.S. & other NATO countries conform to "the spirit of our allied relations under NATO"? Note to Erdogan: Just because Trump lets you do it, doesn't mean it's okay.

Thanks to Forrest M. for passing along this:

Burgess Everett & Anita Kumar of Politico: "Sen. Chuck Grassley is warning the White House that it cannot legally appoint Ken Cuccinelli to lead the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump is seeking an end-around to appoint the immigration hardliner to the position, and Cuccinelli is loathed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans to the point that he probably could not be confirmed. And Grassley, the most senior Republican, said under the Vacancies Act there's no legal way to put the acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief in the position as acting chief after acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan leaves his post on Thursday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Earlier. Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The White House has found a way to bypass a federal statute that dictates who can fill secretary positions, potentially allowing President Trump to choose whomever he wants to lead the Department of Homeland Security, according to an administration official. The route may run through an office established to counter weapons of mass destruction.... The White House ... is exploring a loophole in the [federal vacancies] law, according to an administration official. Under this route, the White House would tap someone to be the assistant secretary of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, which is vacant, and then elevate that person to be the acting secretary of homeland security." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicole Acevedo of NBC News: "Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., on Wednesday accused acting Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli of pursuing a 'heinous white supremacist ideology' in seeking to deny public benefits to legal immigrants. Wasserman Schultz took particular offense that Cuccinelli did not know how many children would stop receiving access to essential social services if a proposed immigration rule that has been blocked by the courts goes into effect.... Wasserman Schultz was referring to the Trump administration rule, which would have gone into effect on Oct. 15, that limited a pathway to citizenship for legal immigrants who had enrolled or used publicly funded programs. Even though federal judges blocked the administration from implementing the rule, known as 'public charge, the ruling has caused a chilling effect among thousands of families in the U.S. who are eligible to receive public benefits. Many have dropped out of certain government programs or barred themselves from applying for assistance. In Miami, health officials are alarmed by the stark drop in insured children, and they attribute immigrants' fears over the rule as a main factor."

Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "In the summer of 2017, the Trump administration made El Paso the test site for a family separation policy whose existence the administration denied. Now the administration is using El Paso to test another secretive policy that will allow it to rapidly deport asylum seekers with negligible due process.... The number of people taken into custody by Border Patrol agents dropped from 132,856 in May to 40,507 in September.... The number of parents and children traveling together stopped by Border Patrol agents plummeted from 84,486 to 15,824 during that period.... Since the fiasco of family separation, [the administration] moved toward policies like the new El Paso pilot program that are complex and hidden from public view..., another sign that the Trump administration concluded from the family separation crisis that deterrence is more sustainable when it is obscured and hard to understand." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Heather Timmons & Hallie Gu of Reuters: "U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that Beijing commit to big purchases of American farm products has become a major sticking point in talks to end the Sino-U.S. trade war, according to several people briefed on the negotiations. Trump has said publicly that China could buy as much as $50 billion of U.S. farm products, more than double the annual amount it did the year before the trade war started. U.S. officials continue to push for that in talks, while Beijing is balking at committing to a large figure and a specific time frame. Chinese buyers would like the discretion to buy based on market conditions." --s

Dan Goldberg of Politico: "Three years into a presidency that promised to kill Obamacare, the health care law has never been stronger. Millions of people buying coverage during the enrollment period starting Friday will find that average premiums have dropped across the country. When consumers go to HealthCare.gov, they'll be paying 4 percent less on average for the most popular health plans -- with six states reporting a double-digit decline.... To be clear, Obamacare still faces potential extinction in the judiciary, as a lawsuit pending in federal court could deal a death blow to the law. On top of that, Republicans remain hostile to the law." --s ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Democratic effort to roll back a Trump administration rule that allows states to ignore parts of ObamaCare. Senators voted 43-52 on the resolution, falling short of the simple majority needed to pass the chamber. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was the only Republican to vote for the resolution."

Elections 2020

Rachel Lerman & Barbara Ortutay of the AP: "Twitter, reacting to growing concern about misinformation spread on social media, is banning all political advertising from its service. Its move strikes a sharp contrast with Facebook, which continues to defend running paid political ads, even false ones, as a free speech priority. 'While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions,' Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Wednesday in a series of tweets announcing the new policy."

Jonathan Chait: "'Hillary Clinton emerged recently to claim, with no basis in fact, that I am being "groomed" by the Russian government to undermine America,' claims Tulsi Gabbard in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today. In fact, as even the conservative Washington Examiner acknowledges, Clinton did not say that. She said Republicans were grooming Gabbard. And far from refuting that charge, everything about Gabbard's op-ed confirms Clinton was probably right.... In fact, nothing could do more to vindicate Clinton's suspicion that Gabbard is being groomed by the Republican party as a spoiler candidate than a Wall Street Journal op-ed previewing her case for a spoiler campaign.... Gabbard is now working hand in hand with the Republican party. This is apparent in her pattern of working closely with Republican-controlled media, like 'Hill TV' -- John Solomon's propaganda outlet -- and Sean Hannity. Gabbard used both forums to promote Republican talking points discrediting the impeachment process...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Christopher Cadelago & Scott Bland of Politico: "Kamala Harris is dramatically restructuring her campaign by redeploying staffers to Iowa and laying off dozens of aides at her Baltimore headquarters, according to campaign sources and a memo obtained Wednesday by Politico, as she struggles to resuscitate her beleaguered presidential bid. The moves come as Harris is hemorrhaging cash and in danger of lacking the resources to mount a competitive bid against better-funded rivals in Iowa. The overhaul will touch nearly every facet of Harris' operation, with layoffs or re-deployments coming at headquarters, as well as in New Hampshire, Nevada and her home state of California, a Super Tuesday prize that her advisers once viewed as a big asset."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve approved an expected quarter-point interest rate cut Wednesday but indicated that the moves to ease policy could be nearing a pause. In a vote widely anticipated by financial markets, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark funds rate by 25 basis points to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. The rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending but is also tied to most forms of revolving consumer debt. It was the third cut this year as part of what Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has characterized as a 'midcycle adjustment' in a maturing economic expansion. Along with the decrease came language pointing to a higher bar for future easing." ~~~

~~~ Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the third time this year, reversing nearly all of 2018's rate increases as uncertainty from President Trump';s trade war and slowing global growth continue to pose risks to the United States economy. The decision to cut rates by another quarter point despite rock-bottom unemployment and decent overall growth shows the extent to which Mr. Trump's hot-and-cold trade war, paired with a tenuous global outlook, has put the Fed on the defensive. While the central bank was on a steady march to raise rates just a year ago, it has spent the past several months trying to insulate the American economy against those threats and keep a record expansion humming."

Boo-Hoo-Hoo. Everybody's Picking on Me Because I'm Mean to Gay People. Ariane de Vogue & Alex Rogers of CNN: "A federal appeals court nominee broke down in tears during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, reacting to a scathing letter against his confirmation by the American Bar Association after it conducted 60 interviews and concluded that he was 'not qualified" for the judicial branch. Lawrence J.C. VanDyke grew emotional, with his face turning red as he defended himself against the letter's conclusions that he could would not treat LGBTQ litigants fairly. 'I do not believe that,' VanDyke said. 'It is a fundamental belief of mine that all people are created in the image of God,' adding, 'they should all be treated with dignity and respect.'... "Mr. VanDyke's accomplishments are offset by the assessments of interviewees that Mr. VanDyke is arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules,' William C. Hubbard, chair of the ABA's standing committee on the federal judiciary, wrote. 'There was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an 'entitlement' temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Tami Luhby of CNN: "The number of uninsured children ballooned by more than 400,000 between 2016 and 2018, an unprecedented decline in health coverage for the youngest Americans, a new study has found. Roughly 4.1 million children were uninsured in 2018, up from a low of 3.6 million in 2016, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, citing US Census Bureau data. Their uninsured rate jumped to 5.2% last year, up from 4.7% in 2016.... The national uninsured rate for all Americans also rose last year for the first time in nearly a decade, according to the Census Bureau. It increased to 8.5% in 2018, up half a percentage point a year earlier. Some 27.5 million people were uninsured last year, a jump of 1.9 million." --s

Tara Copp, et al. of McClatchy DC: "Veterans saw a spike in urinary, prostate, liver and blood cancers during nearly two decades of war, and some military families now question whether their exposure to toxic environments is to blame, according to a McClatchy investigation. McClatchy found that the rate of cancer treatments for veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs health care centers increased 61 percent for urinary cancers -- which include bladder, kidney and ureter cancers -- from fiscal year 2000 to 2018. The rate of blood cancer treatments ⁠-- lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia ⁠-- rose 18 percent in the same period. Liver and pancreatic cancer treatment rates increased 96 percent and prostate cancer treatment rates increased 23 percent.... While sympathetic to veterans' concerns, Dr. Michael Kelley, chief of hematology and oncology for the VA, said much more research is needed to link a cause to the cancers." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Iliana Magra of the New York Times: ""The family of Harry Dunn, the teenage motorcyclist who was killed in a crashin Britain in August, is suing the Trump administration for 'lawless misconduct,' a spokesman for the family said on Tuesday. Mr. Dunn, 19, died after his motorcycle collided with a car that the police said had been traveling on the wrong side of the road on Aug. 27 in Brackley, a town about 60 miles northwest of London. The case ignited a diplomatic tug-of-war between Britain and the United States after the woman thought to be driving the car, Anne Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat, claimed immunity and left the country a little over two weeks after the accident." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Julie Brown of the Miami Herald: "... a private forensic pathologist hired by Mark Epstein [-- Jeffrey Epstein's brother] to oversee his brother's autopsy bolsters what conspiracy theorists have suggested for months: that the evidence does not support the finding that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. Dr. Michael Baden, one of the world's leading forensic pathologists, viewed Jeffrey Epstein's body and was present at the autopsy, which was held the day after Epstein was found dead at the notorious Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan.... Baden, in an interview first aired on Fox & Friends Wednesday, announced his own findings: that Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx. He told the Herald that it is rare for any bones to be broken in a hanging, let alone for multiple bones to be fractured. 'Those fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,' said Baden, who added that there were hemorrhages in Epstein's eyes that are also more common in strangulation than in hangings. Baden's opinion contradicted New York City Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson, who ruled Epstein's cause of death to be a suicide by hanging." The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, Doc. Anybody who goes on "Fox & Friends" to explain science-y things immediately loses all credibility.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Max Dixon of Politico: "The Republican Party of Florida on Monday postponed its biggest annual fundraiser, a move that some officials blamed on lackluster interest from donors....[The event] was scheduled for Nov. 9 in Orlando. The postponement is a significant setback to the state Republican Party and potentially ... Donald Trump, who will need to win Florida to secure his reelection in 2020.... As of Friday, the only table sponsorships that had been sold were bought by local Republican Executive Committees. No donor or corporate tables had been sold and [Gov. Ron] DeSantis had not raised any money for the event, despite pledging millions of dollars." --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Matt Dixon of Politico: "... Donald Trump's promise to headline the Republican Party of Florida's annual fundraiser has given it a much-needed financial and emotional boost going into 2020, even as the news has laid bare divisions within the state party's leadership. The party's scramble to land a Trump visit culminated in a political victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday and effectively left state GOP Chairman Joe Gruters with a title but no influence. The power play caps a monthslong effort by DeSantis to elbow the chairman out of power. It also ended the 24-hour drama that saw the party's Statesman's Dinner canceled due to a lack of interest, then rescheduled with a bang." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Ernesto Londoño & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "President Sebastián Piñera of Chile said on Wednesday that his country, which has been rocked by a wave of recent protests, was not in a position to host a key United Nations climate change meeting and a major Asia-Pacific trade summit later this year. The announcements underscored how destabilizing the recent wave of protests and acts of vandalism have been for the country, which has long been regarded as an exemplar of stability in a tumultuous region.... The trade meeting, of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, had been scheduled for mid-November. That cancellation throws a wrench into trade talks between the United States and China. President Trump had been scheduled to attend the trade meeting, which was seen as an opportunity for the two economic giants to settle a monthslong fight over tariffs that has rippled across the global economy." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

ABC News is liveblogging developments in the California fires: "Ferocious winds are hitting Southern California, fueling the already dangerous flames and igniting two new fires early Thursday. With wind gusts reaching 60 or 70 mph, the winds can easily shoot embers and sparks into the air and send them one or two miles away. In San Bernardino County, multiple homes were engulfed in flames early Thursday from the fast-moving Hillside Fire, which ignited as ferocious 70 mph wind gusts lifted burning embers into the air."

The Commentariat -- October 30, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

John Bolton "has been invited to testify" before the House Intel Committee next Thursday, according to both CNN & MSNBC. So has the NSC lawyer John Eisenberg who is at the center of much of the Ukraine scandal.

Jake Tapper of CNN: "Top White House Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman told congressional investigators he was convinced ... Donald Trump was personally blocking $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to force that country to publicly announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his family, two sources present at the deposition told CNN.... The sources at the deposition said Vindman believed the existence of a quid pro quo was clear during a July 10 meeting between American and Ukrainian officials. In his opening statement, Vindman wrote that date is when US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Ukrainian government officials that they would need to deliver 'specific investigations in order to secure the meeting' with Trump that they so desired. But the fact that the $400 million in aid, including desperately needed military assistance, was also being used by the President didn't become clear until the next month, Vindman testified.... On August 16, Bolton and other senior Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, traveled to Trump's resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, to discuss a number of national security issues with the President [including a decision letter Vindman had written that showed government-wide support for releasing the funds to Ukraine]. Vindman learned after their meeting that Trump still refused to allow the security assistance funds to go to Ukraine, which made Vindman think the President was still waiting for the 'deliverable' [Trump had demanded]."

You Can't Make up This Stuff. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert..., told lawmakers that a close associate of Republican Rep. Devin Nunes 'misrepresented' himself to ... Donald Trump in an effort to involve himself further in Ukraine policy.... [Vindman] told lawmakers that after attending Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May..., [he] had been looking forward to debriefing Trump and giving a positive account of Zelensky's vision for Ukraine's future.... But [his boss Fiona Hill] ... instructed [him] 'at the last second' not to attend the debriefing ... because ... Trump believed ... that Kashyap Patel, a longtime Nunes staffer who joined the White House in February and had no discernible Ukraine experience or expertise, was actually the NSC's top Ukraine expert instead of Vindman.... Vindman also testified that he was told Patel had been circumventing normal NSC process to get negative material about Ukraine in front of the president, feeding Trump's belief that Ukraine was brimming with corruption and had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Democrats."

Boo-Hoo-Hoo. Everybody's Picking on Me. Ariane de Vogue & Alex Rogers of CNN: "A federal appeals court nominee broke down in tears during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, reacting to a scathing letter against his confirmation by the American Bar Association after it conducted 60 interviews and concluded that he was 'not qualified" for the judicial branch. Lawrence J.C. VanDyke grew emotional, with his face turning red as he defended himself against the letter's conclusions that he could would not treat LGBTQ litigants fairly. 'I do not believe that,' VanDyke said. 'It is a fundamental belief of mine that all people are created in the image of God,' adding, 'they should all be treated with dignity and respect.'... "Mr. VanDyke's accomplishments are offset by the assessments of interviewees that Mr. VanDyke is arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules,' William C. Hubbard, chair of the ABA's standing committee on the federal judiciary, wrote. 'There was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an 'entitlement' temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.'"

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats on Wednesday opened a confirmation hearing for Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan as ambassador to Russia with questions about why he recalled the former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, and didn't stand up more forcefully for the foreign service. Sullivan, responding to sharp questions by Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, agreed that Yovanovitch had 'served capably and admirably.' But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he said, told him 'the president had lost confidence with her,' and he was designated to deliver the news to her. Pompeo, he indicated, declined to specify any further reason in response to Sullivan's appeal.'... Menendez asked whether he knew that Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was 'seeking to smear' Yovanovitch. 'I believe he was, yes,' Sullivan said.... He was asked whether it was 'ever appropriate for the president to use his office to solicit investigations into his domestic political opponents.'Sullivan said: 'I don't think that would be in accord with our values.'" ~~~

~~~ Nahal Toosi covers the same ground for Politico, and her take is worth reading, too. Sullivan "also said he was looped in when the State Department was given a packet of material that appeared to be aimed at denigrating Yovanovitch. 'It didn't provide to me a basis for taking action against our ambassador,' said Sullivan of the packet, which Giuliani is suspected of helping put together. Sullivan said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had tried to find out exactly why Trump was unhappy with Yovanovitch, but that after several months, the reason -- which Sullivan said he was never told -- became irrelevant because it was clear the president wanted her out."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "It's not clear how significant the omissions [in the abridged telcon] noted by [Col. Alexander] Vindman were, but his testimony blows a massive hole in Trump's claim that the transcript is a complete and thorough documentation of the call. Yes, that claim was always obviously false, but having a sense of something specific that was apparently excluded makes obvious just how many gaps there could be in the document.... What was revealed in Vindman's testimony isn't that the transcript wasn't complete; we knew that on the day it was released. What was exposed instead was how hollow Trump's claims about the transcript really were. Trump has learned over the past four years that it doesn't matter what he says."

Kate Brannan of Just Security: "As the summer wore on, and ... Donald Trump would not budge on his decision to withhold almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine, the Pentagon warned the White House: If its portion of the money wasn't released quickly, the Defense Department would not be able to spend it before the fiscal year ended on September 30. The Pentagon even gave the White House a deadline... [of] August 6.... And the Pentagon was also clear that providing Ukraine the security assistance was in the national security interests of the United States, on that point Trump's Cabinet agreed. 'At every meeting, the unanimous conclusion was that the security assistance should be resumed, the hold lifted,' Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, said in his opening statement to House investigators last week. As for corruption, the pretext being given for why the funding was being withheld, the Pentagon had certified in May that the 'Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption [and] increasing accountability.' When asked over the summer to perform an analysis of the effectiveness of the military aid, the Defense Department took one day to conclude the assistance was effective and should be resumed, Taylor testified. In late July, the Pentagon also alerted the White House that if the funding wasn't released in time, the Pentagon would be at risk of violating the Impoundment Control Act, which punishes the executive branch when it doesn't spend money that Congress has appropriated, the sources said. But, the White House did not heed the Pentagon's warnings. It continued to withhold the money through August and into September." There's more.

Burgess Everett & Anita Kumar of Politico: "Sen. Chuck Grassley is warning the White House that it cannot legally appoint Ken Cuccinelli to lead the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump is seeking an end-around to appoint the immigration hardliner to the position, and Cuccinelli is loathed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans to the point that he probably could not be confirmed. And Grassley, the most senior Republican, said under the Vacancies Act there's no legal way to put the acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief in the position as acting chief after acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan leaves his post on Thursday. ~~~

     ~~~ Earlier. Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The White House has found a way to bypass a federal statute that dictates who can fill secretary positions, potentially allowing President Trump to choose whomever he wants to lead the Department of Homeland Security, according to an administration official. The route may run through an office established to counter weapons of mass destruction.... The White House ... is exploring a loophole in the [federal vacancies] law, according to an administration official. Under this route, the White House would tap someone to be the assistant secretary of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, which is vacant, and then elevate that person to be the acting secretary of homeland security."

Ernesto Londoño & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "President Sebastián Piñera of Chile said on Wednesday that his country, which has been rocked by a wave of recent protests, was not in a position to host a key United Nations climate change meeting and a major Asia-Pacific trade summit later this year. The announcements underscored how destabilizing the recent wave of protests and acts of vandalism have been for the country, which has long been regarded as an exemplar of stability in a tumultuous region.... The trade meeting, of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, had been scheduled for mid-November. That cancellation throws a wrench into trade talks between the United States and China. President Trump had been scheduled to attend the trade meeting, which was seen as an opportunity for the two economic giants to settle a monthslong fight over tariffs that has rippled across the global economy."

Julie Brown of the Miami Herald: "... a private forensic pathologist hired by Mark Epstein [-- Jeffrey Epstein's brother] to oversee his brother's autopsy bolsters what conspiracy theorists have suggested for months: that the evidence does not support the finding that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. Dr. Michael Baden, one of the world's leading forensic pathologists, viewed Jeffrey Epstein's body and was present at the autopsy, which was held the day after Epstein was found dead at the notorious Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan.... Baden, in an interview first aired on Fox & Friends Wednesday, announced his own findings: that Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx. He told the Herald that it is rare for any bones to be broken in a hanging, let alone for multiple bones to be fractured. 'Those fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,' said Baden, who added that there were hemorrhages in Epstein's eyes that are also more common in strangulation than in hangings. Baden's opinion contradicted New York City Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson, who ruled Epstein's cause of death to be a suicide by hanging." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, Doc. Anybody who goes on "Fox & Friends" to explain science-y things immediately loses all credibility.

Thanks to Forrest M. for passing along this:

Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney first learned about the U.S. military raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the operation was already underway, according to five current and former senior administration officials.... The extraordinary move by Trump to leave his chief of staff out of the most significant U.S. military operation against the world's most wanted terrorist since the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 represents a major blow to Mulvaney, suggesting that he is increasingly sidelined inside the White House. The White House chief of staff typically would be central to such a momentous gambit for a president, coordinating logistics, public statements and notifications of congressional leaders and allies.... Andrew Card, former President George W. Bush's longtime chief of staff, said the exclusion of Mulvaney from a moment of such magnitude in the presidency is difficult to grasp because the chief of staff typically would be in national security meetings leading up to it and tasked with coordinating with other top officials on everything from a communications strategy to a plan in case the raid failed." Mrs. McC: Mulvaney isn't even "acting" chief-of-staff now.

Joby Warrick, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. commandos zeroed in on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's final hideout with the help of an extraordinarily well-placed informant, an Islamic State operative who facilitated the terrorist leader's movements around Syria and even helped oversee construction work on his Syrian safe house, according to U.S. and Middle East-based officials knowledgeable about the operation. The mole's detailed knowledge of Baghdadi's whereabouts as well as the room-by-room layout of his sanctuary proved to be critical in the Oct. 26 raid that ended with the death of the world's most-wanted terrorist, the officials said. The informant was present during the assault on Baghdadi's compound in the Syrian province of Idlib, and he was exfiltrated from the region two days later with his family. The man, whose nationality had not been revealed, is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million U.S. bounty that had been placed on Baghdadi's head, according to the officials. One official said he was a Sunni Arab who turned against the Islamic State because one of his relatives had been killed by the group." TPM has a brief summary of the WashPo report.

Julia Ioffe has a good piece in GQ on, "... the making of a decorated U.S. military officer, and the immigrant experience of Soviet Jews in America and abroad." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Ioffe centers her story on the history of Alexander Vindman & his family. "While Trump has a history of attacking anyone who questions his power, there is a particularly insidious history to questioning the loyalty of Jewish émigrés." Critics so often see Hitler & Mussolini tendencies in Trump, but Ioffe's piece reminds us that Trump comes with a taste for Stalin, too.

Jonathan Chait: “'Hillary Clinton emerged recently to claim, with no basis in fact, that I am being "groomed" by the Russian government to undermine America,' claims Tulsi Gabbard in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today. In fact, as even the conservative Washington Examiner acknowledges, Clinton did not say that. She said Republicans were grooming Gabbard. And far from refuting that charge, everything about Gabbard's op-ed confirms Clinton was probably right.... In fact, nothing could do more to vindicate Clinton's suspicion that Gabbard is being groomed by the Republican party as a spoiler candidate than a Wall Street Journal op-ed previewing her case for a spoiler campaign.... Gabbard is now working hand in hand with the Republican party. This is apparent in her pattern of working closely with Republican-controlled media, like 'Hill TV' -- John Solomon's propaganda outlet -- and Sean Hannity. Gabbard used both forums to promote Republican talking points discrediting the impeachment process...."

Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "In a remarkable rebuke of a NATO ally, the House on Tuesday approved a biting sanctions bill that could cripple Turkey's economy and would punish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally by requiring an assessment of his net worth amid questions about his finances in Turkey. Lawmakers also passed a deeply contentious measure to commemorate the Armenian genocide, a historic move that will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions. The genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. 'Members of my own family were among those murdered, and my parents fled with my grandparents to America,' said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. 'What all of the persecuted had in common was that they were Christians.'... Turkey condemned the House votes, saying the sanctions bill is "incompatible with the spirit of our allied relations under NATO.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And how did attacking Kurdish allies of the U.S. & other NATO countries conform to "the spirit of our allied relations under NATO"? Note to Erdogan: Just because Trump lets you do it, doesn't mean it's okay.

Florida. Max Dixon of Politico: "The Republican Party of Florida on Monday postponed its biggest annual fundraiser, a move that some officials blamed on lackluster interest from donors....[The event] was scheduled for Nov. 9 in Orlando. The postponement is a significant setback to the state Republican Party and potentially ... Donald Trump, who will need to win Florida to secure his reelection in 2020.... As of Friday, the only table sponsorships that had been sold were bought by local Republican Executive Committees. No donor or corporate tables had been sold and [Gov. Ron] DeSantis had not raised any money for the event, despite pledging millions of dollars." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Matt Dixon of Politico: "... Donald Trump's promise to headline the Republican Party of Florida' annual fundraiser has given it a much-needed financial and emotional boost going into 2020, even as the news has laid bare divisions within the state party's leadership. The party's scramble to land a Trump visit culminated in a political victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday and effectively left state GOP Chairman Joe Gruters with a title but no influence. The power play caps a monthslong effort by DeSantis to elbow the chairman out of power. It also ended the 24-hour drama that saw the party's Statesman's Dinner canceled due to a lack of interest, then rescheduled with a bang."

Iliana Magra of the New York Times: "The family of Harry Dunn, the teenage motorcyclist who was killed in a crash in Britain in August, is suing the Trump administration for 'lawless misconduct,' a spokesman for the family said on Tuesday. Mr. Dunn, 19, died after his motorcycle collided with a car that the police said had been traveling on the wrong side of the road on Aug. 27 in Brackley, a town about 60 miles northwest of London. The case ignited a diplomatic tug-of-war between Britain and the United States after the woman thought to be driving the car, Anne Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat, claimed immunity and left the country a little over two weeks after the accident." The Hill's story is here.

Tara Copp, et al. of McClatchy DC: "Veterans saw a spike in urinary, prostate, liver and blood cancers during nearly two decades of war, and some military families now question whether their exposure to toxic environments is to blame, according to a McClatchy investigation. McClatchy found that the rate of cancer treatments for veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs health care centers increased 61 percent for urinary cancers ⁠-- which include bladder, kidney and ureter cancers ⁠-- from fiscal year 2000 to 2018. The rate of blood cancer treatments ⁠-- lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia ⁠-- rose 18 percent in the same period. Liver and pancreatic cancer treatment rates increased 96 percent and prostate cancer treatment rates increased 23 percent.... While sympathetic to veterans' concerns, Dr. Michael Kelley, chief of hematology and oncology for the VA, said much more research is needed to link a cause to the cancers." --s

Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "In the summer of 2017, the Trump administration made El Paso the test site for a family separation policy whose existence the administration denied. Now the administration is using El Paso to test another secretive policy that will allow it to rapidly deport asylum seekers with negligible due process.... The number of people taken into custody by Border Patrol agents dropped from 132,856 in May to 40,507 in September.... The number of parents and children traveling together stopped by Border Patrol agents plummeted from 84,486 to 15,824 during that period.... Since the fiasco of family separation, [the administration] moved toward policies like the new El Paso pilot program that are complex and hidden from public view..., another sign that the Trump administration concluded from the family separation crisis that deterrence is more sustainable when it is obscured and hard to understand." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

Adam Edelman & Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "House Democrats released on Tuesday text of the resolution that will detail their procedures as they move forward with the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump. The full House is expected to vote Thursday on the resolution after the House Rules Committee debates and marks it up on Wednesday.... The eight-page resolution calls for public hearings and lays out their general format, and specifically permits staff counsels to question witnesses for periods of up to 45 minutes per side, Democrats and Republicans. The resolution gives the minority the same rights to question witnesses that the majority has, 'as has been true at every step of the inquiry,' Democrats said in a fact sheet about the measure.... The measure also would allow the president or his counsel to participate in impeachment proceedings held by the House Judiciary Committee, whic has the authority to advance articles of impeachment against the president. The resolution explicitly states that the Judiciary panel will decide whether articles should be reported to the full House. If the president 'refuses to cooperate' unlawfully with congressional requests, Democrats say that the measure says '... the Chair shall have the discretion to impose appropriate remedies, including by denying specific requests by the President or his counsel.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "... while the rules would afford the president many of the rights that congressional Republicans have demanded, including allowing Mr. Trump's lawyers or Republican lawmakers to submit written proposals to call additional witnesses, they are unlikely to satisfy his allies.As in past impeachment inquiries, Democrats as the majority party could block subpoenas requested by the minority Republicans if they disagreed that hearing from those people was necessary.... The House will recess late Thursday for a week, but Democratic leaders aim to begin open hearings in the Intelligence Committee as soon as the week of Nov. 11. The public hearings will most likely feature several key witnesses investigators have interviewed behind closed doors."~~~

~~~ Slow Readers. Media Matters: "Fox's Jason Chaffetz says two days isn't enough time for congressional Republicans to read the eight page impeachment resolution."

Jennifer Ansler & Kylie Atwood of CNN: "Two State Department experts on Ukraine are slated to become the latest diplomats thrust into the spotlight as part of the House impeachment inquiry. Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson are scheduled to testify in separate closed-door hearings before the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees on Wednesday. The foreign service officers, described as 'two stars of the midlevel ranks' by a former State Department colleague, each worked as deputy to then-Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker.... Croft took over the role from Anderson in the summer of 2019.... A source familiar with their testimony told CNN that there are expected to be blind spots in what Croft and Anderson knew. Anderson left the role in July, which is when Giuliani's direct involvement intensified. When Croft took over the role, Giuliani's influence was more pronounced. According to her prepared statement, 'Ambassador Volker's conversations with Giuliani were separate from my work, and I was generally unaware of when they spoke or what they spoke about.'" ~~~

~~~ John Hudson & Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Two career diplomats will testify before House impeachment investigators Wednesday that President Trump displayed a deeply pessimistic view of Ukraine that was out of step with officials at the White House and State Department who saw support for the European country as critical in its battle with Russian-backed separatists, according to their prepared remarks obtained by The Washington Post.... Anderson ... will detail efforts when U.S. officials tried to demonstrate support for Ukraine only to be batted down by the White House, including after Russian forces attacked and seized Ukrainian military vessels in the Sea of Azov in 2018.... Croft ... will say that 'throughout' her time in the Trump administration she heard the president 'describe Ukraine as a corrupt country,' both 'directly and indirectly.'... They ... offer new insight into how a shadow foreign policy executed by people outside of government undermined the work of U.S. officials."

     ~~~ NPR has Croft's opening statement here. "'During my time at the NSC, I received multiple calls from lobbyist Robert Livingston, who told me that Ambassador Yovanovitch should be fired. He characterized Ambassador Yovanovitch as an 'Obama holdover' and associated with George Soros,' Croft says in her opening statement.... 'It was not clear to me at the time -- or now -- at whose direction or at whose expense Mr. Livingston was seeking the removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch. I documented these calls and told my boss, Fiona Hill, and George Kent, who was in Kyiv at the time. I am not aware of any action that was taken in response.'" ~~~

     (~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If the name Robert Livingston sounds vaguely familiar, that's because he figured in the last impeachment of a President: Bill Clinton. After Newt Gingrich resigned as speaker, partly because it came out he was having an extramarital affair with a young staffer, House Republicans were ready to choose Livingston to replace Gingrich. Wikipedia: "Livingston learned late on the night of December 15, 1998 -- just days before the full House of Representatives was about to begin debating the impeachment of President Clinton -- that [Hustler publisher Larry] Flynt had been in contact with at least one woman with whom he had had an extramarital affair. Two days later..., Flynt released a press release saying he was investigating tips about four alleged affairs Livingston had had. Two days [after that], on December 19, 1998, during the final impeachment debates in the House of Representatives, Livingston challenged President Bill Clinton to resign -- and then said 'I can only challenge you in such fashion if I am willing to heed my own words,' and announced that he would not be a candidate for the speakership and would vacate his House seat...." House Republicans then settled on Denny Hastert, who -- it later emerged -- kept his sexual dalliances to high school wrestlers whom he coached. ~~~)

     ~~~ NPR has Anderson's opening statement here.

The Cover-up, Ctd. It's Not a "Rough Transcript." It's an "Abridged TELCON." ~~~

** About Those Ellipses. Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that the White House transcript of a July call between President Trump and Ukraine's president omitted crucial words and phrases, and that his attempts to include them failed, according to three people familiar with the testimony. The omissions, Colonel Vindman said, included Mr. Trump's assertion that there were recordings of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. discussing Ukraine corruption, and an explicit mention by Ukraine' president, Volodymyr Zelensky, of Burisma Holdings, the energy company whose board employed Mr. Biden's son Hunter. Colonel Vindman, who appeared on Capitol Hill wearing his dark blue Army dress uniform and military medals, told House impeachment investigators that he tried to change the reconstructed transcript made by the White House staff to reflect the omissions. But while some of his edits appeared to have been successful, he said, those two corrections were not made.... Colonel Vindman's account offered a hint to solving a mystery surrounding the conversation: what Mr. Trump's aides left out of the transcript in places where ellipses indicated dropped words." ~~~

     ~~~ The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting here that Trump suggested Tuesday morning that it was not "possible" that Vindman was on the July 25 call & urged questioners to "Please ask him to read the Transcript of the call" (linked below). Read it? Vindman went over it with a fine-toothed comb & noted errors & omissions. Earlier, "Trump falsely claimed that a White House-released memo on his July 25 phone call with Zelensky was 'an exact word-for-word transcript of the conversation ... taken by very talented stenographers.' The memo includes a 'caution' note saying it 'is not a verbatim transcript'? -- on the first page. If the call was so "perfect," why has Trump repeatedly lied about it, & why did his staff hide evidence of the call on a top-secret server so few could access it?

~~~ "As God Is My Witness." Ben Lefebvre & Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "Testimony from a senior White House official on Tuesday appeared to contradict Energy Secretary Rick Perry's ardent denials that he ever heard former Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter discussed in relation to U.S. requests that Ukraine investigate corruption. In his opening statement, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman ... told House impeachment investigators that he objected to EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland's comments in a July 10 White House briefing -- attended by Perry -- requesting that Ukrainian officials investigate the 2016 U.S. election, the Bidens and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma that had employed Hunter Biden. 'I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the [National Security Council] was going to get involved in or push,' Vindman's statement said." Perry left the meeting after the exchange between Vindman & Sondland. "'Not once, as God is my witness, not once was a Biden name -- not the former vice president, not his son -- ever mentioned,' Perry told the CBN News on Oct. 7. He repeated those denials in a Fox News radio interview last week. A DOE spokesperson said Perry stands by his earlier statement but did not comment on the July 10 meeting." ~~~

The Squeeze Meetings. Greg Miller of the New York Times: "In a pair of volatile meetings, senior White House officials, including then-national security adviser John Bolton, were confronted with the outlines of a scheme they had previously only suspected: President Trump was seeking to use the power of his office to pressure Ukraine to deliver damaging information on former vice president Joe Biden and his son. One of the officials Trump had entrusted to pursue this agenda, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, was undeterred by the fierce opposition from Bolton and others. He persisted in pressing Ukraine to commit to Trump's demands, convening a second meeting even after a spectacular blowup in the West Wing. All of this played out before ... confused officials from Ukraine, who came seeking to strengthen their standing with Trump and ended up witnessing events that are now at the heart of the House impeachment inquiry. Details of the July 10 sequence, which Bolton likened to an illicit 'drug deal,' have emerged from witnesses' testimony before House lawmakers over the past several weeks."

~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "National Security Council Ukraine expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's testimony in the House impeachment probe Tuesday is shedding new light on how Trump administration officials pressured Ukrainian leaders into investigations that could benefit the president, corroborating other witnesses with a firsthand account of the alleged attempt at a quid pro quo. Vindman' prepared remarks directly challenge the testimony of U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who defended the president's actions and told House investigators that no one had raised concerns about them. Sondland told the top American diplomat in Ukraine, Ambassador William B. Taylor Jr., in September text messages saying Trump had not engaged in a quid pro quo.... Vindman's recollections, while narrower [than Taylor's], illuminate key episodes in Taylor's narrative with an even closer perspective: Vindman was either in the room or briefed personally after meetings by the Trump administration officials involved in exchanges Democrats believe amounted to a quid pro quo. ~~~

"Vindman's prepared testimony touched a nerve with Trump, who took to Twitter on Tuesday to deride the Iraq War veteran, who appeared for his testimony in uniform, as a 'Never Trumper,' questioning his recollection of events. 'Supposedly, according to the Corrupt Media, the Ukraine call 'concerned' today's Never Trumper witness. Was he on the same call that I was? Can't be possible!' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Please ask him to read the Transcript of the call. Witch Hunt!'" (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's hope trashing Vindman does not work all that well for Trump. But Trump & the Trumpies are certainly trying: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump launched a sustained online offensive Tuesday morning after details emerged of damaging congressional testimony by a senior White House official.... The flurry of activity on the president's social media feed came just hours before Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council staffer overseeing Ukraine policy, was due to tell investigators on Capitol Hill that Trump undermined U.S. national security when he pressured Ukraine's president in a July phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.... Among the roughly four dozen tweets or retweets Trump issued Tuesday morning, the president shared missives by prominent GOP defenders in Congress including Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Doug Collins of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Devin Nunes of California." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Grynbaum & David Alba of the New York Times: "... the notion that Colonel Vindman has some allegiance to a foreign country rapidly spread in right-wing circles, who apparently sensed a useful talking point to undermine testimony that is expected to be deeply damaging to Mr. Trump.... [Rudy] Giuliani ... [wrote] in a tweet that the colonel 'has reportedly been advising two gov's.' He added: 'No wonder he is confused and feels pressure.'... Jack Posobiec, a well-known figure on the far-right internet, tweeted the falsehood that Mr. Vindman had been advising the Ukrainian government on how to counter Mr. Trump's foreign policy goals. Mr. Posobiec cited The New York Times as his source -- in fact, The Times reported no such thing." ~~~

~~~ Matthews includes the remarkable video Philip Bump highlights in the following story. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "When news of Vindman's expected testimony broke on Monday night, the reaction from Trump's normal defenders was remarkably uniform: Vindman was suspect because he came from what is now Ukraine.... Trump tuned in to [Laura] Ingraham's [Fox 'News"] program and offered some thoughts -- including a claim that he'd 'never even heard of' Vindman, a member of his White House team. [More on Ingraham's show linked yesterday.] 'If you look at this lieutenant colonel's background, he's got a Purple Heart, he got hit by an IED in Iraq,' Brian Kilmeade said on 'Fox & Friends.' 'We also know he was born in the Soviet Union, immigrated with his family, young. He tends to feel simpatico with the Ukraine.' On CNN, former congressman Sean P. Duffy (R-Wis.) suggested that Vindman's birthplace was important. 'It seems very clear that he is incredibly concerned about Ukrainian defense,' Duffy said. 'I don't know that he's concerned about American policy, but his main mission was to make sure that Ukraine got those weapons.'" ** Mrs. McC: If you have access to the WashPo, read Bump's story for the first part, which is kind of amazing. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "The Republican position is that there's no loyalty problem involved in having American foreign policy conducted by an off-the-books lawyer with no security clearance who was apparently on the payroll of the Russian Mafia. The security problem is the NSC official advising an American ally about how to deal with the goons demanding that the ally subvert the independence of its judicial system and insert itself into the American election, and also that it give the goons a little taste of the gas-import business. The Republicans' logic is that Giuliani and his sleazy clients represent 'the president's interest,' as Ingraham put it. And the president's interest, however corrupt or improper, is the national interest. If you are working at cross-purposes with Rudy and his thugs, you must be disloyal to America." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ See also Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times on the Vindmans' story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Burgess Everett & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "... congressional GOP leaders say it's out of bounds to question Vindman's patriotism and allegiance to the United States, as some conservative pundits did on Monday night.... 'That guy's a Purple Heart. I think it would be a mistake to attack his credibility,' said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, in an interview. 'You can obviously take issue with the substance and there are different interpretations about all that stuff. But I wouldn't go after him personally. He's a patriot.' 'I'm not going to question the patriotism of any of the people who come forward,' said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), though he declined to comment 'on the merit of what's going forward' or Vindman's suggestion that he was concerned Trump's actions had undermined national security. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the most hawkish Republicans in the House and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said it would be 'shameful' to question Vindman's loyalty or patriotism to the country. Cheney wasn't even pressed by reporters on the topic; in her opening remarks during a weekly leadership news conference in the Capitol, she went out of her way to decry the attacks on Vindman, including the outlandish theory that he was a potential spy working against the United States." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Bade, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump and his allies on TV lashed out at Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who said his concerns about what he heard in Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drove him to notify his superiors. Trump dismissed Vindman as a 'Never Trumper,' while some of his allies questioned the patriotism of the Army combat veteran because his family emigrated from the Soviet Union when he was 3. Trump's attack on the Purple Heart recipient unnerved Republicans in Congress, with several pushing back, albeit without naming the president. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called the offensive 'misplaced and very unfortunate,' and said he had 'full confidence' in Vindman 'as an individual and his patriotism.' The response from Trump's party created an unusual dynamic in which Republicans were defending a man who was simultaneously accusing the president of undermining national security for his own political purposes. Privately, several Republicans found Vindman's testimony to be damaging and lamented that once again they were forced to defend the president."

MEANWHILE, Inside the Hearing Room ... Betsy [Woodruff] Swan, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Congressional Democrats are struggling to protect the identity of the U.S. government official who filed a whistleblower complaint about ... Donald Trump's Ukraine policy. And those efforts have fueled friction behind closed doors. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) ruled in a closed-door deposition Tuesday morning that any questions that might lead to the revelation of the whistleblower's identity were out of order, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. His move frustrated Republicans. One source relayed that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) ended up 'yelling at each other' during a closed door deposition of Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council Director for European Affairs who testified that he raised internal concerns about Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that is now at the center of the impeachment inquiry.... In a meeting [of top House Democrats] on Tuesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other attendees discussed how to handle potential Republican efforts to reveal the whistleblower's identity, according to two sources familiar with the talks.... [One source said] that a good chunk of the discussion focused on how to handle Republican-led attempts to disrupt future public hearings...." ~~~

~~~ Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "The session Tuesday grew contentious at times as House Republicans continued trying to unmask the still-anonymous whistleblower and call him or her to testify.... GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio acknowledged Republicans were trying to get Vindman to provide the names of others he spoke to after the July 25 phone call, in an effort to decide whom to call to testify. 'He wouldn't,' Jordan said." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As much as I understand the rabid, irrational nature of GOP politicos, I'm still surprised that members of Congress would openly admit they're trying to break the federal law that protects whistleblowers' identities.

Gary Stein of the Washington Post: "The president, and possibly other officials, may have violated the Hatch Act's civil and criminal prohibitions on the use of executive branch powers for partisan ends.... The text of the law flatly states that an employee of the executive branch may not, among other things, 'use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.'... In general, violations of the Hatch Act are pursued civilly by the Office of Special Counsel.... The president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act's civil restrictions on political activity. But ... the Hatch Act also includes criminal prohibitions that apply to everyone, including the president. At least two of them are relevant to the investigations surrounding the Ukraine matter.... If Trump commanded, or coerced or intimidated, State Department officials or other federal employees to engage in impermissible political activity -- or attempted to do so -- that itself would be a criminal violation of the Hatch Act.... [Also,] if the president, or other officials, tied the receipt of congressionally authorized military aid to Ukraine to Ukrainian help for the president's reelection campaign, that too could constitute a criminal offense." The Senate Watergate Committee concluded that Richard Nixon criminally violated this provision of the Hatch Act.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has put a temporary hold on a judge's order requiring the Justice Department to give the Democratic-led House grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that could be fodder for the ongoing impeachment effort against ... Donald Trump. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Tuesday evening granting the Justice Department's request for an administrative stay of Chief Judge Beryl Howell's ruling Friday, which concluded that House lawmakers were entitled to the usually secret grand jury information."

Whither mikey? Sunday, Steve Benen reports, mike pence was not facing the nation on CBS News' "Face the Nation": "Pence was given multiple opportunities to say there was no proposed quid-pro-quo deal with Ukraine. He simply wasn't willing to make the assertion. The vice president, who has been implicated in the controversy, tried to emphasize that he personally wasn't involved in a quid-pro-quo scheme." ~~~

~~~ Monica Alba & Carol Lee of NBC News: "It's been almost three weeks since Vice President Mike Pence said he had 'no objection' to releasing a reconstructed transcript of his phone call with the leader of Ukraine. But as House Democrats' impeachment inquiry continues moving swiftly into its second month, the White House still has not made a decision on whether to make those details of Pence's call public. The internal debate has divided White House officials over whether releasing the call would help or hurt their flailing efforts to counter accusations that ... Donald Trump held up military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate his political rivals, according to two people familiar with the discussions.... When pressed repeatedly by NBC News earlier this month about whether he was ever aware of the president's efforts to pressure Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, Pence did not directly answer the question and instead said 'I never discussed the issue of the Bidens with President Zelenskiy.'" Mrs. McC: Just maybe when someone will never give straight answers, it's because he has something to hide.

The Failure of Both-Sides "Journalism." Alex Shephard of the New Republic: "CNN executives certainly knew what they were getting into when they hired [Sean] Duffy. A five-term congressman and Tea Party darling, Duffy has a long, well-documented history of making inflammatory and dishonest comments. Appearing on the network in February of 2017, Duffy defended Trump's Muslim ban by saying Middle Eastern terrorists are a more significant threat than white domestic terrorists because the latter commit 'one-off' attacks. In the same interview he cited the 'good things' that stemmed from Dylann Roof's massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. He has also suggested that George Soros was rigging elections, that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has 'ties to the Muslim Brotherhood,' and that the Democratic Party's pro-choice policies intentionally targeted black communities and amounted to 'infanticide.' Unfortunately for CNN and any other organization that clinging to a both-sides model of journalism, Duffy is probably the best the networ can get. Call it asymmetric punditry: As Republicans become more extreme, it's become near-impossible to find non-loony ones to fill airtime on cable news." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ CNN Tries to Defend Duffy Hire. Michael Calderone of Politico: "In an interview with Politico, CNN vice president Rebecca Kutler said the network 'is out there reporting from all over the country and from all points of view' and that 'having people who support the president's policies is part of that.' Kutler said that [Sean] Duffy, who started on the network on Oct. 20, was elected to Congress five times from Wisconsin and can help 'share with our audience what's important to the voters he's represented and how that will impact the 2020 election.' Duffy hasn't come under fire for his take on where Wisconsin voters are leaning, but for his defense of ... Donald Trump's role in the Ukraine scandal, which has included promoting a debunked conspiracy theory that ran counter to CNN's own reporting.... 'It is hard to find people who will come on and support the president's point of view,' CNN chief Jeff Zucker said at the network's 'Citizen' conference last Thursday. 'We need these voices.'... Later on 'New Day,' CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said that 'with all due respect to our new contributor, former Congressman Duffy,' his remarks [questioning Col Vindman's patriotism] were 'insanity, and frankly, anti-immigrant bigotry.' In the afternoon, anchor Brianna Keilar ripped Duffy for his 'anti-immigrant bigotry.' 'It's an odd questioning of patriotism coming from Sean Duffy, the guy who spent part of his 20s on MTV ... while Alexander Vindman spent his on foreign deployments, including one to Iraq where he earned a Purple Heart after he was injured by a roadside bomb,' Keilar said." ~~~

~~~ AND in today's Comments, Akhilleus puts the Duffy hire in the context it deserves.

Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The United States is on track to not admit any refugees in October, after already canceling around 500 flights this month, CNN has learned. A pause on admissions that was expected to lift on Tuesday will now extend into November, leaving those who expected to resettle in the US in limbo. It also means additional travel will need to be canceled and re-booked at the expense of federal taxpayers. The moratorium will run through November 5, according to a State Department spokesperson.... It's the third time this month that the State Department has delayed refugee admissions. Travel for refugees who were told they could come to the US was postponed through October 21, and then later to October 28. There's usually a pause in arrivals the first week of October."

When "Underwater" Will No Longer Refers to a Mortgage. Denise Lu & Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "Rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought, according to new research, threatening to all but erase some of the world's great coastal cities. The authors of a paper published Tuesday developed a more accurate way of calculating land elevation based on satellite readings, a standard way of estimating the effects of sea level rise over large areas, and found that the previous numbers were far too optimistic. The new research shows that some 150 million people are now living on land that will be below the high-tide line by midcentury." The Guardian's story is here.

Congressional Race

Caleb Ecarma of Mediaite: "Jennifer Van Laar, the writer behind the RedState.com and Daily Mail stories that included nude photos of former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), is a longtime GOP consultant who has worked for Republican politicians who ran against Hill and was at one point the campaign manager for a California Republican who ran for Hill's seat." ~~~

~~~ Nathan Robinson of the Guardian: "Democratic congresswoman Katie Hill has resigned after being accused of violating House Ethics rules by having a sexual relationship with staffers, and possibly using her position to grant improper favors. Members of her own party made it clear she did not have their support, with Nancy Pelosi saying that Hill 'has acknowledged errors in judgement that made her continued service as a member untenable.' Hill's case may seem straightforward: she violated the rules, she abused her office, she has to go. But there's much more to it, and we should be disturbed at the speed with which Hill was forced out of office.... There are very clear elements of slut-shaming and homophobia in the Hill story...." ~~~

~~~ AP: "George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was a key figure in the FBI's Russia probe, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Democrat Katie Hill.... Papadopoulos enters a field of at least three other Republicans and one Democrat.... A special election to fill Hill's seat cannot be set by Gov. Gavin Newsom until she officially leaves Congress, which she has not done. It's possible there is no special election, depending on how long she waits to leave office. That would make the next election for the seat in November 2020."

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. Abbey Crain of AL.com: "A federal judge today has blocked Alabama's near-total abortion ban from going into effect Nov. 15. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a ruling blocking the Human Life Protection Act from taking effect while a challenge to the law makes its way through court."

In case you are of the opinion that anti-abortion proponents are nice, normal people who genuinely wish to help irresponsible women who have unprotected sex, then waltz into abortion clinics to eliminate the consequences ~~~

~~~ Missouri. Crystal Thomas of the Kansas City Star: "The Missouri state health director, Dr. Randall Williams, testified at a state hearing Tuesday that he kept a spreadsheet to track the menstrual periods of women who visited Planned Parenthood, an action that one lawmaker has called on the governor to investigate. The spreadsheet, which was made at Williams' request by the state's main inspector, helped to identify patients who had undergone failed abortions. The revelation came on the second day of an administrative commission hearing that will help decide whether Planned Parenthood can keep its license to perform abortions.... The Missouri House minority leader [Crystal Quade (D)] has called on Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, to 'immediately investigate' whether 'patient privacy was compromised or laws broken' or whether Williams was a 'a person who Missourians can be comfortable having in a position of public trust.'... 'This is government overreach at its worst,' Yamelsie Rodriguez ... of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, said in a statement. 'It shadows the Trump administration's history of tracking the periods of refugee girls under the government's care. This is outrageous and disgusting.'"

North Carolina. Gary Robertson of the AP (Oct. 28): "North Carolina judges on Monday blocked the state's congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain. The panel of three Superior Court judges issued a preliminary injunction preventing elections under the district lines, starting with the March 3 primary. The judges halted the use of these districts less than two months after they struck down state House and Senate districts. There they found extreme political manipulation of the lines similar to what voters suing over the congressional map also say occurred.... The judges gave no date by which a new map must be drawn, but suggested lawmakers could redraw them on their own quickly to ensure congressional primaries be held as scheduled. The State Board of Elections has said lines needed to be finalized by Dec. 15."

Way Beyond

U.K. BBC: "The UK is set to go to the polls on 12 December after MPs backed Boris Johnson's call for an election following months of Brexit deadlock. By a margin of 438 votes to 20, the House of Commons approved legislation paving the way for the first December election since 1923. The bill is still to be approved by the Lords but could become law by the end of the week. If that happens, there will be a five-week campaign up to polling day. The prime minister has said the public must be 'given a choice' over the future of Brexit and the country. Mr Johnson hopes the election will give him a fresh mandate for his Brexit deal and break the current Parliamentary deadlock, which has led to the UK's exit being further delayed to 31 January." The 's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Meltdown. Justine Coleman of the Hill: "Thousands of commemorative Brexit coins designated with an Oct. 31 exit date will be melted down after the prime minister accepted a three-month delay in the proceedings, Bloomberg reported Monday. The Royal Mint had been asked to create a new 50 pence coin with the official Brexit date, but the U.K.'s divorce from the European Union (EU) has been pushed back again after Parliament failed to agree on a deal in time for the Halloween deadline. A Treasury spokesman told BBC that the Royal Mint will still create a coin to commemorate Brexit, which 'will enter circulation after we have left' the EU. The Royal Mint's website says the metals in the existing coins are set to be sorted, shredded, melted, purified and then solidified before being recycled."

News Lede

KABC Los Angeles: "A fast-moving vegetation fire erupted on the hillsides above Simi Valley on Wednesday morning amid extreme red-flag conditions, prompting evacuation orders and school closures as it spread to 407 acres. The so-called Easy Fire began shortly after 6 a.m. near the 200 block of West Los Angeles Avenue. Homes in nearby residential neighborhoods wer immediately threatened by the flames, even after winds initially seemed to be blowing the fire in a direction away from houses. Helicopters were seen performing water drops on the blaze while at least one fixed-wing aircraft dropped a payload of Phos-Chek. Firefighters raced to protect the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as a thin wall of flames approached from a nearby hillside. The facility was closed Wednesday."