The Commentariat -- July 4, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times gives an online quiz of the questions which applicants for U.S. citizenship most often get wrong. Mrs. McC: I got them all right, but if I had not lived here all my life & gone to school here, I certainly would have missed some, as a few are not things that would have registered even if I'd read a couple of U.S. history books.

Your Constitutional Crisis of the Day: Trump Considers Blowing off Supreme Court. Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "President Trump is considering an executive order to try to move forward with a citizenship question on the 2020 census.... But there is considerable skepticism within the administration that an executive order would succeed.... Trump's insistence on pushing ahead with the question, potentially without doing the legwork the Supreme Court called for, reflects his expansive view of executive power. A source familiar with some of the administration's internal deliberations said: 'I think that there's a good argument to be made that even though the president may lose in litigation at the end of the day, going through that process ultimately makes it clear that it's the chief justice, and not the Executive Branch, that bears responsibility for that unfortunate outcome.'"

Quid Pro Quo. Devin Dwyer & Stephanie Ebbs of ABC News: "President Donald Trump's Fourth of July celebration will feature $750,000 of donated fireworks from an Ohio retailer who has lobbied the White House against expanded tariffs on Chinese imports. And last week, the same day the donation was announced, the company -- Phantom Fireworks of Youngstown, Ohio -- got what it wanted: Trump decided to hold off on his threatened $300 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, which include fireworks." --s

Emily Holden of the Guardian: "Donald Trump plans to go on the offensive against criticism of his industry-friendly rollbacks of environment protections in a speech on Monday, according to three sources familiar with the plans. Trump will tout America's clean air and water, although his administration has advanced many efforts that experts say have undercut the country's environmental record.... He is not expected to make any major announcements of new policy initiatives. Yet in an off-the-record conference call on Wednesday, the White House reached out to key supporting groups requesting they spread the message that the US under Trump continues to be an environmental leader." --s

Presidential Race 2020. Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Democratic presidential hopefuls will be criss-crossing Iowa and New Hampshire on Thursday, using a series of appearances at Independence Day events to try to inject momentum for their campaigns in a highly volatile race."

Julia Kollewe of the Guardian: "Nearly half of all global pay is scooped up by just 10% of workers, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), while the lowest-paid 50% receive just 6.4%. The lowest 20% -- around 650 million workers -- get less than 1% of total pay, a figure that has barely moved in 13 years, the ILO analysis found. It used labour income figures from 2004 to 2017, the latest available data. A worker in the top 10% receives $7,445 a month (£5,866), while a worker in the bottom 10% gets just $22." --s

Reuters: "Deforestation in Brazil's portion of the Amazon rainforest rose more than 88% in June compared with the same month a year ago, the second consecutive month of rising forest destruction under the rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro.... While the final text of [a newly created] EU-Mercosur deal has not been released, an outline from the EU states the agreement includes a provision that the Paris agreement on climate change must be effectively implemented along with other commitments to fight deforestation. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, had warned last week before agreement on the deal that he would not sign off on it if Brazil leaves the Paris accord." --s

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Everything Is Now Officially Upside-Down & Crazy

President* Dismisses IG Report & Photo Proofs

** Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday came to the defense of border agents and scoffed at Democratic lawmakers' furor after an internal watchdog report found detained migrants are living in dismal conditions in federal detention facilities. In a series of tweets, Trump credited Border Patrol with doing a 'great job' and going 'above and beyond.' He blamed Democrats and existing immigration laws for ongoing issues at the border. He further claimed that many immigrants detained in the overcrowded facilities are 'living far better now than where they came from, and in far safer conditions.' 'No matter how good things actually look, even if perfect, the Democrat visitors will act shocked & aghast at how terrible things are. Just Pols,' Trump tweeted. 'If they really want to fix them, change the Immigration Laws and Loopholes. So easy to do!'... A short time later on Wednesday, Trump added: 'If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That final tweet is proof that Trump favors the deplorable conditions to which he has subjected immigrants, including children, as means of deterrence.

Oh, They Knew. Ted Hesson & Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Customs and Border Protection officials have been aware for up to three years that a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents was posting offensive messages -- far longer than previously reported. Border Patrol leadership knew about photos posted to the group as far back as 2016, when agents reported them, according to a current Homeland Security official. The images -- several of which were provided to Politico -- show agents engaging in conduct that includes simulating sex acts and taking selfies while defecating.... Neither official knew of any serious punishment ever leveled at members of the Facebook group.... [After ProPublica reported on the site & some of its comments this week,] top Homeland Security Department officials, including acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan and Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost denounced those posts ... and pledged to hold any culpable agents accountable."

Judges Don't Buy Fake National Emergency. Elliot Spagat of the AP: "An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on ... Donald Trump's ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with a lower court ruling that prevented the government from tapping Defense Department counterdrug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona, California and New Mexico.... 'As for the public interest, we conclude that it is best served by respecting the Constitution's assignment of the power of the purse to Congress, and by deferring to Congress's understanding of the public interest as reflected in its repeated denial of more funding for border barrier construction,' wrote Judges Michelle Friedland, a Barack Obama appointee, and Richard Clifton, a George W. Bush appointee. The decision is a setback for Trump’s ambitious plans. He ended a 35-day government shutdown in February after Congress gave him far less than he wanted. He then declared a national emergency that the White House said would free billions of dollars from the Pentagon.... The administration immediately appealed."

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The White House on Wednesday condemned a federal judge in Seattle who blocked an order from the administration allowing for the indefinite detention of some asylum-seekers, claiming that the ruling 'is at war with the rule of law.' White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed in a statement that the ruling, which she characterized as being issued by 'a single, unelected district judge,' will only motivate 'smugglers and traffickers, which will lead to the further overwhelming of our immigration system by illegal aliens.'"

Government by Insane Tweet

Alan Rappeport, et al., of the New York Times: "A day after pledging that the 2020 census would not ask respondents about their citizenship, the Justice Department reversed course on Wednesday and said it was hunting for a way to restore the question on orders from President Trump. Officials told a federal judge in Maryland that they thought there would be a way to still add the question, despite printing deadlines, and that they would ask the Supreme Court to send the case to district court with instructions to remedy the situation. President Trump had been frustrated with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for mishandling the White House's effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, according to an administration official, and said on Wednesday that he was 'absolutely moving forward' with plans to add it despite a Supreme Court decision last week rejecting the move.... On Tuesday, the Justice Department said that the census forms were being printed without the citizenship question and Mr. Ross said that he was heeding the court's ruling. But the president ... is not letting the matter go. 'The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!' Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on Twitter." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Graham of the Atlantic recounts the phone conference call among federal judge George Hazel, who is overseeing the Maryland census case & DOJ lawyers. The full transcript of the call is here. Chris Hayes' opening segment on this was good, & I'll try to get up a video when MSNBC makes one available.

President* Hijacks Popular National Holiday

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. -- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Nancy Cook of Politico: "... White House officials and allies are wringing their hands over the risk of the hastily arranged event morphing into Trump's Inauguration 2.0, in which the size of the crowd and the ensuing media coverage do not meet the president's own outsized expectations for the event. 'They started this too late and everyone has plans already,' said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor.... Less than 36 hours before the event, White House aides were crafting Trump's speech, while administration and RNC officials finalized the guest lists. A White House official declined to explain the system for handing out tickets or the various tiers of VIP access, except to say the reserved seating area -- extending from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the middle the reflecting pool -- will feature veterans, Trump family and friends and special guests. The first lady, vice president and second lady, and a number of Cabinet officials are expected to attend, as well as several senior White House officials -- though the aide stressed this, too, was still coming together."

Put troops out there so we can thank them — leave tanks for Red Square. -- Gen. Anthony Zinni, Ret. four-star Marine general and former head of CentCom ...

... Thomas Gibbons-Neff, et al., of the New York Times: "... some retired and active-duty military officers, and, privately, even some Defense Department personnel said the participation of the military in President Trump's 'Salute to America' appears to politicize the armed forces on a day when the nation traditionally toasts its independence in a nonpartisan environment.... The festivities have put the Pentagon in a bind in trying to both follow orders from the commander in chief while also trying to sidestep the inevitable accusation that Mr. Trump is being allowed to politicize the military.... Two Defense Department officials said the vision for a relatively small contribution from the military was greatly expanded over the past two weeks.... Originally, 1,000 troops were supposed to participate in the event, but that number was whittled down to 300 -- including about a dozen who were ordered to build a platform for the tanks to keep from damaging the ground beneath...." ...

... Wesley Morgan of Politico: "Most top military chiefs [are] skipping Trump's July Fourth fest.... The only service chief in attendance will be Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz. Instead of their top officers, the Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps are sending a group of their next tier of leaders...."

Elizabeth Thomas & Luis Martinez of ABC News: "Amid growing questions about the added cost to taxpayers for his July Fourth 'Salute to America' event on the National Mall that will include tanks and military flyovers..., Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday that the added expense will be worth it. 'The cost of our great Salute to America tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. We own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door (Andrews), all we need is the fuel. We own the tanks and all. Fireworks are donated by two of the greats,' Trump tweeted.... While the Pentagon and other agencies involved so far have declined to give specifics on how much the military's participation and other added factors will cost taxpayers, the Washington Post reported that the National Park Service is using nearly $2.5 million in park entrance fees to help pay the cost, funds that would have been used to do repairs on the nation's parks. The NPS and Interior Department have acknowledged costs will be higher than in previous years in part because of the added security when the president attends an event."

Niv Elis of the Hill: "Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Interior Department spending, threatened on Wednesday to investigate the reported use of National Park Service entrance fees to finance President Trump's July 4th celebration on the National Mall. 'Mr. Trump's event is on federal grounds. The National Mall belongs to all of us. I'm prepared to use my full oversight authority as Chair of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Committee to determine how this decision was made and hold the responsible parties accountable,' McCollum said in a statement. 'This administration needs to be reminded that the power of the purse belongs to Congress.'... The Interior Department is reportedly diverting $2.5 million from National Park Service entrance fees to help pay for the event." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... ** Lili Loufbourow of Slate: "By inserting himself (and military tanks, over the military's objections) into the event, and by conflating a celebration of American independence with a celebration of himself, Trump is trying to twist one of the few nonpartisan spectacles this country has left into an endorsement of the ugly policies he stands for, which includes 'border security' so brutal, inhumane, and ineffective that people are dying in American custody." ...

... Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune: "Greetings, fellow Americans* (*designation of 'Americans' does not apply to critics of President Donald J. Trump) and WELCOME to President Donald J. Trump's 'Salute to America' celebration of the Fourth of July and of President Donald J. Trump." Huppke goes on in this vein. For instance: "There will be, as the president promised, 'the brand-new Sherman tanks' on display in the Definitely-Not-Overcompensating-for-Something Dome of Manliness. (Don't believe the LYING MEDIA claims that Sherman tanks were last used in the 1950s. These Sherman tanks will be new, and they will be MAGNIFICENT!)" Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Mrs. McCrabbie: I celebrated Independence Day early when I attended (and participated in) a reading of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?", Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech delivered in Rochester, New York. The performance was, to my surprise, a standing-room only event in our small-town hall, proving that Donald Trump was right, after all, when he said two years ago, "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice." Some things are still good. Even now.

Mrs. McCrabbie: You know how mike pence had to abort his scheduled trip to New Hampshire to rush back to the White House & nobody will tell us why? (See yesterday's Commentariat.) I personally suspect -- and I emphasize here that I have absolutely no evidence this is true -- that Trump was so wigged out that officials thought pence might have to come back to take over the presidency until Trump got his bearings again. Evidently by the time mike got back from Andrews, Trump had calmed down or was otherwise back to "normal." I really believe the POTUS* is insane, and sooner or later the cover-up experts will be out of tricks.

Corruption as Usual

Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's top watchdog will review why the F.B.I. scuttled plans to erect a new headquarters in suburban Washington and instead chose to replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building on its current site near the White House, he wrote to lawmakers this week. The F.B.I.'s abrupt change of plans has fueled concerns among Democrats in Congress that President Trump personally intervened to make sure that the land was not redeveloped with a project that would compete with his company's nearby hotel. In May, Democrats asked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, to examine the decision.... the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray..., has insisted that the decision to stay in Washington was his.... The inspector general for the General Services Administration, which handles real estate for the federal government, has already said that the proposal to rebuild the existing headquarters could cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the long-term relocation plan and that the new headquarters would accommodate about 2,500 fewer employees." Emphasis added.

Paid Leave??? Meredith Lerner of CREW: "Heather Nauert, a former State Department spokesperson and President Trump's original pick to replace Nikki Haley as the United States Representative to the United Nations, reported in her termination financial disclosure report that she received salary payments from 21st Century Fox while she was working in government. Nauert was an anchor and correspondent on Fox News from August 2007 until April 2017, when she joined the State Department as a spokesperson. She reported receiving $167,000 from 21st Century Fox, which she characterized as 'Salary' ... cover[ing] the period from January 1, 2018, eight months after she entered government, to March 31, 2019, the date she left the State Department. If Nauert's termination financial disclosure report is correct, the salary payments are problematic because the White House gave her an ethics waiver that authorized her to meet, interview, and communicate with 21st Century Fox employees. The Counsel to the President explained that the basis for the waiver included a finding that she did not have a 'continuing relationship with' or 'financial interest in' the company. The State Department's ethics official gave Nauert a related ethics waiver, and he offered the same explanation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "Iran will 'take the next step' on Sunday and begin to enrich uranium beyond the levels specified under its 2015 accord with the United States and other global powers, President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday, state news outlets reported. Mr. Rouhani's pledge to accelerate the country's uranium enrichment is the latest step in an escalating confrontation with the United States over President Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear pact and imposition of crippling economic sanctions on Iran." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Haley Byrd of CNN: "Rep. Justin Amash, the only congressional Republican who publicly argues that ... Donald Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct, announced Thursday he is quitting the GOP. 'Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party,' Amash wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday morning.... Amash didn't mention the President by name, but his decision to abandon the party comes after months of escalating criticism not just of the President but of his own colleagues for their failure to hold Trump to account, specifically for the actions detailed in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the 2016 election and its aftermath."

Presidential Race 2020. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Kamala Harris on Wednesday debuted a new line of attack against ... Donald Trump, saying that her background as a prosecutor made her uniquely suited to take on 'a predator' like the president. At an Iowa event, during a riff on Trump's trade and health care policies and his handling of the surge of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful ripped the president for betraying the American people."

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is turning down a Harvard research fellowship amid public backlash over the university choosing the governor, who was widely criticized for his handling of the Flint, Mich., water crisis. Snyder tweeted Wednesday that he notified the Harvard Kennedy School of his decision." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Bob Orgeta of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in Tucson, Arizona, said in court Tuesday that they were dropping a charge of conspiracy to transport 'illegal aliens' against humanitarian aid worker Scott Warren, but will seek to retry him on two charges of 'harboring illegal aliens.' Warren's first trial on those three charges ended in a mistrial June 11, after jurors told US District Court Judge Raner Collins they couldn't reach a verdict. Eight of the 12 jurors had favored acquitting Warren of all charges. That trial drew widespread attention over concern that it represented an effort by the Trump administration to criminalize humanitarian aid work."

New York. Jeffery Mays & Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "The Democratic primary for district attorney in Queens, a race that drew nationwide attention, was thrown deep into uncertainty on Wednesday after a count of paper ballots flipped the primary-night result. Tiffany Cabán, a 31-year-old public defender, saw her almost 1,100-vote lead evaporate, with Melinda Katz, the Queens borough president, edging out to a 20-vote lead.The tight margin will automatically trigger a recount, according to Valerie Vazquez-Diaz, a spokeswoman for the New York City Board of Elections. It also spurred accusations from Ms. Cabán's side that elections officials improperly invalidated more than 2,000 affidavit ballots before the paper ballots were counted."

Ohio. Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked an Ohio law that would have banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, was signed earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood."

News Lede

AP: "The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday, rattling nerves on the July 4th holiday and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California. Multiple injuries and two house fires were reported in the town of 28,000. Emergency crews were also dealing with small vegetation fires, gas leaks and reports of cracked roads, Kern County Fire Chief David Witt said."

The Commentariat -- July 3, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Alan Rappeport & Michael Wines of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Wednesday that the Commerce Department is 'absolutely moving forward' with plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, contradicting statements made by his Department of Justice and Wilbur Ross, the Commerce secretary, and calling reports based on them 'fake.'... On Tuesday, the Justice Department said that the census was being printed without the citizenship question and Mr. Ross said that he was heeding the court's ruling. But the president is not letting the matter go. 'The News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!' Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on Twitter. 'We are absolutely moving forward, as we must, because of the importance of the answer to this question.'"

Niv Elis of the Hill: "Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Interior Department spending, threatened on Wednesday to investigate the reported use of National Park Service entrance fees to finance President Trump's July 4th celebration on the National Mall. 'Mr. Trump's event is on federal grounds. The National Mall belongs to all of us. I'm prepared to use my full oversight authority as Chair of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Committee to determine how this decision was made and hold the responsible parties accountable,' McCollum said in a statement. 'This administration needs to be reminded that the power of the purse belongs to Congress.'... The Interior Department is reportedly diverting $2.5 million from National Park Service entrance fees to help pay for the event." ...

Paid Leave??? Meredith Lerner of CREW: "Heather Nauert, a former State Department spokesperson and President Trump's original pick to replace Nikki Haley as the United States Representative to the United Nations, reported in her termination financial disclosure report that she received salary payments from 21st Century Fox while she was working in government. Nauert was an anchor and correspondent on Fox News from August 2007 until April 2017, when she joined the State Department as a spokesperson. She reported receiving $167,000 from 21st Century Fox, which she characterized as 'Salary' ... cover[ing] the period from January 1, 2018, eight months after she entered government, to March 31, 2019, the date she left the State Department. If Nauert's termination financial disclosure report is correct, the salary payments are problematic because the White House gave her an ethics waiver that authorized her to meet, interview, and communicate with 21st Century Fox employees. The Counsel to the President explained that the basis for the waiver included a finding that she did not have a 'continuing relationship with' or 'financial interest in' the company. The State Department's ethics official gave Nauert a related ethics waiver, and he offered the same explanation."

David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "Iran will 'take the next step' on Sunday and begin to enrich uranium beyond the levels specified under its 2015 accord with the United States and other global powers, President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday, state news outlets reported. Mr. Rouhani's pledge to accelerate the country's uranium enrichment is the latest step in an escalating confrontation with the United States over President Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear pact and imposition of crippling economic sanctions on Iran."

Bob Orgeta of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in Tucson, Arizona, said in court Tuesday that they were dropping a charge of conspiracy to transport 'illegal aliens' against humanitarian aid worker Scott Warren, but will seek to retry him on two charges of 'harboring illegal aliens.' Warren's first trial on those three charges ended in a mistrial June 11, after jurors told US District Court Judge Raner Collins they couldn't reach a verdict. Eight of the 12 jurors had favored acquitting Warren of all charges. That trial drew widespread attention over concern that it represented an effort by the Trump administration to criminalize humanitarian aid work."

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is turning down a Harvard research fellowship amid public backlash over the university choosing the governor, who was widely criticized for his handling of the Flint, Mich., water crisis. Snyder tweeted Wednesday that he notified the Harvard Kennedy School of his decision."

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Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I thought I had misread the following headline:

"Trump Administration Drops Effort to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census." Michael Wines of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would be printing forms for the 2020 census without a question asking about citizenship, abandoning its quest to add the query after being blocked last week by the Supreme Court. The decision is a victory for critics who said the question was part of an administration effort to skew the census results in favor of Republicans. It was also a remarkable retreat for an administration that typically digs into such fights and refuses to give up. Just last week after the Supreme Court's decision, President Trump said he was asking his lawyers to delay the census, 'no matter how long,' in order to fight for the question in court.... Word of the action came in a one-sentence email from the Justice Department to lawyers for plaintiffs in a New York lawsuit that sought to block the question's inclusion in the head count." ...

... Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "The email comes just hours after the president told reporters he was still considering delaying the printing of the census.... Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross issued a statement registering his disappointment with the Supreme Court ruling while confirming the decision to print.... The purpose of the census, as described in the Constitution, is for a full enumeration of the entire population, and it cannot be legally used for any other purpose -- including to take action against undocumented immigrants -- so it's unclear that [Trump's argument that 'it's very important to find out if somebody is a citizen as opposed to an illegal,'] would have held up.... If the case is truly over, it would be one of the biggest legal defeats of the Trump presidency." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: My bet is that Ross cried "uncle" because he didn't want his lies/perjury to get more press exposure. ...

... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Does Roberts deserve credit here? He does. But also going forward this is a modest victory. As he's made clear with his voting rights decisions, Roberts is fine with Republican elected officials doing racist things, and preventing legislatures from addressing racism; he just wants Republican public officials to engage in more bad faith when doing so.... Even given the incredibly egregious set of facts, four of the Court's five Republican nominees sided fully with the Trump administration, and did so in opinions that made no effort to hide their partisanship." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: BUT, Trump says he is not giving up. After DOJ sent its e-mail to litigants & after Wilbur conceded, Trump wrote, in two tweets, "A very sad time for America when the Supreme Court of the United States won't allow a question of 'Is this person a Citizen of the United States?' to be asked on the #2020 Census! Going on for a long time. I have asked the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice.... ....to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion. USA! USA! USA!' It seems unlikely Trump will prevail even if his minions make a stab at trying. The Constitution & federal law require the census be taken every ten years, not when it better suits the president*. Of course, Bill Barr seems to think the president* is immune from Constitutional constraints, so I could be wrong.

Hamed Aleaziz of BuzzFeed News: "The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General on Tuesday released its final report on overcrowding at several border facilities in the Rio Grande Valley -- nearly a week after BuzzFeed News reported on a draft version -- revealing shocking photographs of people crammed into small detention spaces. Inspectors detailed how, when they visited several the facilities earlier this month, they found adults and minors with no access to showers. Many adults were only fed bologna sandwiches, and detainees were seen banging on cell windows -- pressing notes to the windows that detailed their time in custody. Inspectors described the conditions as 'dangerous' and 'prolonged.' Some adults were held in standing-room only conditions for a week. There was little access to hot showers or hot food for families and children in some facilities." ...

... Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News: "In the wake of at least five children dying in US government custody, two nurses told BuzzFeed News immigration agents have delayed taking sick children in increasingly dire condition to a hospital near the border for treatment, putting the kids at risk of potentially severe health issues. The two registered nurses, who have treated immigrant children at a hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, said young patients arriving in recent months are often in such poor health that they're 'on the borderline' of medical staff needing to call a specialized rapid response team of doctors to prevent them from going into respiratory or cardiac arrest." ...

     ... The New York Times story, by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, is here. ...

... John Parkinson of ABC News: "Congressional Democrats on Tuesday blasted conditions at an immigrant detention center in Homestead, Florida, following a second-straight day of inspecting the government facilities, calling the shelter a 'warehouse of children for profit.'... 'It's what I didn't see that bothers me the most,' [Rep. Bennie] Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters, expressing concern that the Miami-Dade school system was not involved in the education of immigrants while lamenting that U.S. taxpayers pay $775 per day, per child. 'It doesn't matter what the president or any of his people say, we're going to get it right.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As contributor Forrest reminded us yesterday, one of the people getting a cut of that $775/day/child is former DHS secretary & Trump chief-of-staff John Kelly. "... the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had awarded Caliburn's subsidiary a no-bid $341 million contract and that John Kelly ... joined the board of the company." Get that? DHS awarded a no-bid contract for a company where the former head of DHS sits on the board, a company that used that award to abuse children. It's all a grift where little children be damned. ...

     ... Also too, where the fuck are the Republicans? In the last couple of days, different delegations of House Democrats visited two immigrant concentration camps, without a single Republican in tow. Are Republicans now okay with child abuse? With gross human rights violations? One would certainly think rage against the Trump torture machine would be bipartisan. But, at least so far, it is not.

... Mrs. McCrabbie: What kind of man oversees crimes against humanity at the same time he throws himself a big party with fireworks? ...

... Morgan Chalfont of the Hill: "The House Oversight and Reform Committee has scheduled a hearing next week to hear testimony from Trump administration officials about the separation and treatment of immigrant children at the southern border. Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) has invited acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan to testify at a hearing on July 12. Neither have confirmed their appearance, according to the committee." According to the ABC News report linked above, Cummings has signaled "he is prepared to subpoena senior Trump officials if they do not accept his invitation to testify." ...

... Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Top officials in the agency overseeing border security condemned a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents that featured jokes about migrant deaths, obscene images of Hispanic lawmakers and threats to members of Congress as the lawmakers themselves on Tuesday amplified their criticism of the agency. Carla Provost, the chief of the Border Patrol, sent an email to her agents describing the posts in the group as 'highly inappropriate and offensive.' The Customs and Border Protection agency's Office of Professional Responsibility and the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general began an independent investigation into the posts, Ms. Provost said." ...

... Gene Johnson of the AP: "A federal judge in Seattle has blocked a Trump administration policy that would keep thousands of asylum seekers locked up while they pursue their cases. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled Tuesday that people who are detained after entering the country to seek protection are entitled to bond hearings. Attorney General William Barr announced in April that the government would no longer offer such hearings, but instead keep them in custody. It was part of the administration's efforts to deter a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border." Mrs. McC: Constitutional considerations aside, it looks as if the judge just dealt a blow to the administration's torture chamber scheme. DHS will have to release a lot of the people Trump has packed like sardines into his concentration camps. ...

... Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: As Members of Congress described "disgusting" conditions at a migrant concentration camp they visited Monday, confederate media were more concerned that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have been impolite to a Border Patrol guard (she says she was not). "The entire news cycle surrounding the congresswoman's behavior was an example of how debates about political violence get subsumed by debates about civility. It is hard to imagine conditions more worthy of an outburst than those in which the U.S. government has killed seven migrant children and imprisoned thousands more. Yet accounts of Ocasio-Cortez losing her cool -- false or devoid of context though they may be -- are framed as scandalous and characterized as threats against the law officers who maintain those conditions. It is a familiar standard, echoing the same logic by which many critics oppose nonviolent protests against racist police violence: By objecting to the method of protest -- blocking traffic, kneeling during the national anthem -- they obscure the fact that it is the protest that actually bothers them." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a good part of what Trump's "fake news" charges are about. Instead of facing the facts, which Trump never does, he excoriates the "enemy of the people" for reporting those facts. That makes the media, not Trump's lies & his incompetent, corrupt administration the targets & he the victim.

Zack Ford of ThinkProgress: "In an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson..., Donald Trump claimed that sanctuary cities and increased homelessness are 'destroying a whole way of life,' adding, 'It's not our country. It's not what our country is all about.' During the interview, which aired Monday night, Trump was asked whether U.S. cities have more 'filth,' which both Carlson and Trump appeared to understand was a metaphor not for trash but for people living on the streets. Trump claimed this homelessness problem only started two years ago and bemoaned that 'police officers are getting sick just by walking the beat.'... 'You have people that work in those cities, they work in office buildings,' he said. 'To get into the building they have to walk through a scene that no one would have believed possible. This is the libera establishment. This is what I am fighting.' Trump also claimed that there were 'certain areas of Washington, D.C. where that was starting to happen,' but that he 'ended it very quickly.' D.C.'s homeless population has declined, but there is no evidence to suggest that Trump did anything to impact it. Even in this false history, his concern was not the homeless people of D.C., but guests of his who might have to witness them. 'When we have leaders of the world coming into to see the president of the United States and they're riding down the highway, they can't be looking at that,' he insisted. 'I really believe that it hurts our country. They can't be looking at scenes like you see in Los Angeles and San Francisco.'"

Lauren Egan & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "Tanks for ... Donald Trump's 'Salute to America' Fourth of July celebration were seen arriving in Washington on Tuesday morning.... NBC News captured video of the tanks -- two Bradley and two Abrams tanks -- purportedly en route to the National Mall for Thursday's event.... The military hardware will be transported from bases around the country, ranging as close as Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to as far away as the Naval Air Station in California. With the increased air traffic in Washington on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that it would suspend operations at the Ronald Reagan National Airport, the closest commercial airport to D.C., from 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. ET. Operations at the airport will also be impacted from 9:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. ET, during the fireworks show.... On Monday, the Republican National Committee said they had received tickets to the Fourth of July event for distribution.... An official from the Democratic National Committee confirmed to NBC New that, as of Tuesday morning, they had not received any tickets to the Independence Day celebration." ...

... Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "... Donald Trump is throwing himself a parade this week, complete with a flyover by the Navy's Blue Angels and Air Force One, the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines standing by his side, and tanks that the District of Columbia emphatically does not want.... Perhaps he will [salute] America in a unifying and sober fashion, with no reference to his party, his enemies, or his reelection bid, but it seems much more likely that he will turn it into a Trump rally. Putting aside for a moment the property damage and waste, the cost to a cash-strapped National Parks Service, and the horrifying authoritarian spectacle of a military tribute to one man's ego, there is also the astronomical waste of taxpayers' dollars to consider.... Then, of course, there are the separate legal problems. CREW, the watchdog group that has been bird-dogging the administration on ethics violations, emoluments violations, and Hatch Act violations tweeted that it will be watching the 'Salute to America' to determine whether the president will violate the Hatch Act when delivering his remarks.... The president himself is not bound by the act,...," But Walter Shaub of CREW has outlined numerous ways the rally event could violate the act. ...

... Jeffrey Cimmino of the Washington Free Beacon: "MSNBC host Joy Reid claimed President Trump's decision to include tanks and military equipment in Washington, D.C's Fourth of July celebrations is a threat to Americans.... "What is the message Donald Trump is trying to send by rolling tanks down Constitution Avenue?" Reid [said during an appearance on MSNBC]. "Who is that message to? It's certainly not to tyrants because he likes tyrants, he loves tyrants. It's not to Putin, it's not to Kim Jong-Un, not to the Saudis. Is it to our friends, to Western democracies who he doesn't particularly like, or is it to us? Is it to the resistance in this country? I got tanks. I have this military armada. The message is a threat, but it's always a threat when you roll out your military. But it's to whom is the threat, and I suspect that the threat is to his fellow Americans. And I hate to say that, but I think that Donald Trump styles himself a tyrant, not a defeater of tyrants." ...

... Baby Blimp Time. Jonathan Chait: "President Trump has yearned to combine his political rallies with militaristic displays that visually conflate support for American troops with his political identity. After some false starts, he has settled on taking over the Independence Day fireworks display in Washington, D.C. But Trump's ambition is running headlong into another peculiarity of the Trump psyche: He is terrified of being booed.... Trump's efforts to control the rally should be seen in the context of his fear that the crowd will boo him. He is advertising the event on his Twitter feed, cordoning off the immediate area around his speech for ticket holders, and giving tickets away to Republican donors. Trump has 'requested that the chiefs for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines stand next to him.' Get it? The service chiefs have to stand next to Trump as human patriotism bodyguards."

Finally, a Baby Step. Nicholas Fandos & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House's tax-writing committee sued the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday demanding access to President Trump's tax returns, escalating a fight with an administration that has repeatedly dismissed as illegitimate the Democrats' attempt to obtain Mr. Trump's financial records. The lawsuit moves the dispute into federal courts after months of sniping between the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee, which requested and then subpoenaed the returns, and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The outcome is likely to determine whether financial information that Mr. Trump -- breaking with longstanding tradition -- has kept closely guarded as a candidate and as president will be viewed by Congress and, ultimately, by the public." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2020

Wow! Trump Supporters Are Beautiful! And Diverse! Oh, Wait. And Foreign. Bernard Condon of the AP: "A series of Facebook video ads for ... Donald Trump's re-election campaign shows what appears to be a young woman strolling on a beach in Florida, a Hispanic man on a city street in Texas and a bearded hipster in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., all making glowing, voice-over endorsements of the president.... The people in the videos that ran in the past few months are all actually models in stock video footage produced far from the U.S. in France, Brazil and Turkey, and available to anyone online for a fee." Mrs. McC: Yesterday, news broke that the Trump campaign had collected a zillion dollars this past quarter, when it already had a fat campaign chest. But it can't afford to hire, you know, real Trumpbots for its ads? Maybe they're not pretty enough.

Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "President Trump plans to hold a campaign rally in North Carolina later this month as he seeks to buoy his reelection bid in a key battleground state.... The rally is scheduled for the same day as former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony on Capitol Hill. Mueller's highly anticipated appearance before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees follows a subpoena from House Democrats." Mrs. McC: I've got bad news for Trump; the top story July 18 will be Mueller, not Trump.

The mikey mystery. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... on Tuesday, when [mike pence] abruptly abandoned a planned trip to New Hampshire after he had already boarded Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, it raised immediate questions. It is rare that something causes a vice president to abandon a publicized trip once aboard a plane. Mr. Pence's aides said that there was no national security emergency or personal health issue that prompted the change. They said that he had boarded the plane but that it never took off. They would not say much else.... Multiple people familiar with what happened offered at least a partial explanation. They said it was related to the place Mr. Pence was scheduled to visit, the Granite Recovery Center, but they did not offer any details."

Mrs. McCrabbie: I meant to look for this video yesterday, but it's still good today. I thought this was Maddow's best segment ever. It aired Monday night:

Cassidy Gard & Bonnie McLean of ABC News: "Former Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was found not guilty on Tuesday on charges of killing an ISIS prisoner during a deployment in Iraq, though he was convicted on a lesser charge of wrongfully posing for an unofficial picture with a human casualty. Gallagher was facing a court-martial on charges of murdering the ISIS prisoner in 2017. He will be sentenced on the lesser charge on Wednesday.... In a shocking twist during the trial, Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, a Navy medic, testified he saw Gallagher stab the ISIS prisoner, but that it was Scott who suffocated the prisoner to death as an act of mercy."

A Fox "News" Gaffe. Adam Raymond of New York: "On Monday's episode of The Five, the Fox News talk show ... panel members Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld praised President Trump for his impromptu meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the weekend.... Perino called the get-together' historic,' which is technically true, and Watters said, 'I think everybody can agree we're headed in the right direction....' Greg Gutfeld followed with a point that was both obvious and shockingly candid. 'Of course they're going to attack him,' he said of Democrats who've criticized Trump's meeting with Kim. Then he admitted that if President Obama had done exactly what Trump just did, he and the other hosts on The Five would be doing a 180. 'Let's be honest: If it were an adversary from the other party, we'd be doing the same thing,' Gutfeld said."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Isaiah Smalls & Nicholas Nehamas of the Miami Herald: "A state panel has voted unanimously to revoke the law enforcement accreditation of the Broward Sheriff's Office, the largest sheriff's office in Florida. The loss of accreditation -- a voluntary certification sought by law enforcement agencies -- won't affect BSO's operations in a major way. But it is a further blow to the agency's prestige at a time when a new command staff, including a new sheriff, are dealing with a string of failures and questionable conduct by deputies. The Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA) cited BSO's mishandling of the Parkland school shooting last year and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shooting in 2017 as reasons for its decision in a 13-0 vote last week. Both incidents were marked by chaotic and disorganized responses from the sheriff's office."

New Jersey. When Is Rape Okay? When the Rapist Comes from a "Good Family." Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: A New Jersey 16-year-old taped himself raping an intoxicated girl & sent the video to friends with the text, "When your first time having sex was rape." "But a family court judge said ... the young man came from a good family, attended an excellent school, had terrific grades and was an Eagle scout. Prosecutors, the judge said, should have explained to the girl and her family that pressing charges would destroy the boy's life.... Now the judge has been sharply rebuked by an appeals court in a scathing 14-page ruling.... In doing so, the appeals court cleared the way for the case to be moved from family court to a grand jury, where the teenager, identified only as G.M.C. in court documents, will be treated as an adult.... The appellate division reversed another judge's decision not to try a 16-year-old boy as an adult after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2017."

News Lede

New York Times: "Lee A. Iacocca, the visionary automaker who ran the Ford Motor Company and then the Chrysler Corporation and came to personify Detroit as the dream factory of America's postwar love affair with the automobile, died on Tuesday at his home in Bel Air, Calif. He was 94."

The Commentariat -- July 2, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Finally, a Baby Step. Nicholas Fandos & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House's tax-writing committee sued the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday demanding access to President Trump's tax returns, escalating a fight with an administration that has repeatedly dismissed as illegitimate the Democrats' attempt to obtain Mr. Trump's financial records. The lawsuit moves the dispute into federal courts after months of sniping between the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee, which requested and then subpoenaed the returns, and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The outcome is likely to determine whether financial information that Mr. Trump -- breaking with longstanding tradition -- has kept closely guarded as a candidate and as president will be viewed by Congress and, ultimately, by the public."

~~~~~~~~~~

Much of Today's News Is Brought to You by Trump Atrocities, Inc.

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump said Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is going to be increasing deportations of undocumented immigrants after Independence Day. 'After July Fourth a lot of people are going to be brought back out,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he signed a $4.6 billion aid bill to deal with the surge of migrants at the border. 'So people that come up maybe here for a short while, but they're going to be gone, they're going back to their countries. They go back home. ICE is going to be apprehending them and bringing them back.'" Mrs. McC: Trump speaks like a child. Contrast what comes out of Trump's mouth with the way Gregorian characterized his remarks: "they go back home" (toddler) v. "increasing deportations of undocumented immigrants" (adult). I look forward to the day when "Donnie fall down go boom."

Robert Moore, et al., of the Texas Tribune: House "Lawmakers described how migrant women were being held in a cell with no running water and told by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to drink out of toilet at a Texas detention center amid widespread concerns about deplorable conditions. More than a dozen U.S. House members visited facilities in El Paso and Clint -- a trip that came the same day as a news report that Border Patrol agents made vile posts that threatened lawmakers in a secret Facebook group and discussed throwing burritos at the congressional visitors.... The Congressional Hispanic Caucus organized the trip after conditions at the Border Patrol station in Clint prompted an outcry last month, with lawyers who visited the facility describing scenes of sick and dirty children without their parents and inconsolable toddlers in the care of other children. After touring the detention centers, the group struggled to be heard at a news conference, confronted by protesters who shouted at them 'Build a wall; deport 'em all -- that's the way we get rid of this problem!'" ...

... A. C. Thompson of ProPublica: "Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings. In one exchange, group members responded with indifference and wisecracks to the post of a news story about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in custody at a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas. One member posted a GIF of Elmo with the quote, 'Oh well.' Another responded with an image and the words 'If he dies, he dies.' Created in August 2016, the Facebook group is called 'I'm 10-15' and boasts roughly 9,500 members from across the country. (10-15 is Border Patrol code for 'aliens in custody.')... [Anticipating the visit by Members of Congress,] one member encouraged Border Patrol agents to hurl a 'burrito at these bitches.' Another, apparently a patrol supervisor, wrote, 'Fuck the hoes.' 'There should be no photo ops for these scum buckets,' posted a third member." Mrs. McC: This is why Trump continually praises Border Patrol officers. ...

     ... According to the Texas Tribune report, linked above, “Customs and Border Protection notified the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security about the Facebook posts and said an investigation had been initiated." ...

... Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC News: "The government's own internal watchdog warned as far back as May that conditions at an El Paso, Texas, border station were so bad that border agents were arming themselves against possible riots, countering Friday's assertion by a top Trump administration official [-- acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan --] that reports of poor conditions for migrants were 'unsubstantiated.' In an internal report prepared by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and obtained by NBC News, inspectors noted during a May 7 tour of a border station in the El Paso sector that only four showers were available for 756 immigrants, more than half of the immigrants were being held outside, and immigrants inside were being kept in cells maxed out at more than five times their capacity.... The cell was so crowded the men could not lie down to sleep. Temperatures in the cells reached over 80 degrees, the report said." ...

... Bob Ortega of CNN: Dr. Roberto "Johansson, a pediatrician who specializes in emergency medicine and intensive care, says there's another pressing problem: The medical screening the Border Patrol gives to undocumented children is 'absolutely, unequivocally inadequate.'... Johansson said the Border Patrol does a poor job of initially assessing a child's illness and too often misses early signs of health problems of youngsters in custody. By the time children are sent to local hospitals, conditions that could have been treated earlier have grown more serious and more difficult to treat.Once at the hospital, border agents or other officers stand guard outside the children's rooms.... Under a CBP directive announced in January, a medical professional under CBP contract or a "credentialed healthcare provider" is supposed to conduct an interview and medical assessment of every child taken into custody."

"Trump Wants Census to Find Out Who Is 'An Illegal.'" Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump said Monday his administration was still looking into delaying the 2020 census over disputes about the legality of a citizenship question. Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, the president reiterated his incredulity that asking about citizenship is not part of the census. 'I think it is very important to find out if somebody is a citizen as opposed to an illegal,' Trump said. 'It is a big difference to me between being a citizen of the United States and being an illegal.'... Federal law requires the census to be taken 'as of the first day of April' 2020." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump's designation of a person as "an illegal" serves to further illustrate Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's point here. Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) documented in a series of tweets what she described as 'horrifying' conditions inside a Texas migrant detention center at a Border Patrol station she visited Monday.... Ocasio-Cortez, who was in a party of Congressional Hispanic Caucus lawmakers, said a woman in the center told her officers had used 'psychological warfare' on migrants, 'waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc,' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. 'Tell me what about that is due to a "lack of funding?'" she said.... 'It is hard to understate the enormity of the problem. We're talking systemic cruelty w/ a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals.'" To Trump, these individuals are less than animals. "Animal" is a noun; "illegal" is an adjective. "An illegal" is not even a "person, place or thing." Trump views a "person" as a description, and a highly-negative description at that. "An illegal" cancels personhood. It's worse than calling someone the N-word.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "Iran has exceeded a key limitation on how much nuclear fuel it can possess under the 2015 international pact curbing its nuclear program, effectively declaring that it would no longer respect an agreement that President Trump abandoned more than a year ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Monday. The breach of the limitation, which restricted Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium to about 660 pounds, does not by itself give the country the material to produce a nuclear weapon. But it is te strongest signal yet that Iran is moving to abandon the limits and restore the far larger stockpile that took the United States and five other nations years to persuade Tehran to send abroad."

Edward Wong of the New York Times: "... administration officials were sharply at odds on Monday over what demands to make of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as they prepared to restart negotiations on a nuclear deal. Pushing an internal debate into the open, John R. Bolton, the national security adviser and the most prominent hawk in the administration, reacted angrily to a report in The New York Times about the possibility of a deal to effectively freeze North Korea's nuclear activity in return for American concessions.... 'This was a reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the president,' Mr. Bolton wrote on Twitter. 'There should be consequences.' But some senior administration officials have been discussing the idea of an incremental approach under which North Korea would first close down its nuclear facilities to prevent it from making new fissile material, in effect freezing its program but leaving its existing arsenal in place. In exchange, the Americans would make some concessions that would help improve the living conditions of North Korea...." ...

... Michelle Goldberg: "Say this for Donald Trump. He may be transforming American politics into a kleptocratic fascist reality show and turning our once-great country into a global laughingstock, but at least he's humiliating John Bolton in the process.... It's nightmarish to live in a country where our foreign policy has been reduced to an intramural battle between Fox News reactionaries [Bolton & Tucker Carlson]. And there's still a danger that Bolton could outmaneuver the isolationists. But right now there is a thin, bitter consolation in knowing that he, like so many others who've worked for Trump, sacrificed his principles for power and will likely end up with neither."

Jonah Shepp of New York on how Trump shifted the G-20 summit. "In his statements and meetings on the sidelines of the summit, he gave explicit cover and support to authoritarian leaders, made concessions to adversaries, and threatened to tear up decades-old agreements with longstanding allies.... When Trump wasn't posing for smiling snapshots with [an] all-star cast of brutal dictators, he was taking potshots at real U.S. allies like Europe and Japan." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Emoluments! Anita Kumar of Politico: "While visiting South Korea over the weekend..., Donald Trump tried to strike a deal with President Moon Jae-in to get more companies to invest in the United States. But even as he pushed American interests, a partner of Trump's namesake company is aggressively expanding plans to build luxury Trump-branded resorts in Indonesia -- and the project involves a construction company partly owned by the South Korean government.... The meeting [between Trump & Moon] represented the latest example of the blurred lines between Trump's official diplomatic work and his business interests. The expansion of the project that now has the South Korean government attached to it seems to run afoul -- at least in spirit --of Trump's pledge that the Trump Organization will not enter into any new foreign deals while in office." Oh, P.S. Saudi Arabia also has a substantial interest in the construction company building the "Trump Community" in Indonesia.

Nous Sommes Désolés. Rym Momtaz & Nahal Toosi of Politico: An official of the French presidency says the Élysée is awfully sorry it released a video clip showing Ivanka Trump horning in on a conversation among actual government leaders. "'We didn't anticipate the reaction, and ... we are not responsible for the use made of the clip,' the official said." ...

... The New York Times weighs in on Ivanka Trump, Junior Diplomat. Katie Rogers: "On Sunday, [Ivanka] Trump ... used an impromptu meeting between her father and Kim Jong-un ... to further slip into the role of unofficial spokeswoman and budding stateswoman for the Trump administration. With her husband ... Jared Kushner at her side, Ms. Trump delivered news interviews, posed for photos and attended a closed-door meeting between her father and Mr. Kim.... 'We are on the precipice of ushering in potentially a golden era for the Korean Peninsula,' Ms. Trump told Bloomberg News in the hours before her father took the historic step of crossing into the North. But by the time she emerged from the closed-door meeting between the leaders hours later, she only had one word for journalists about her encounter with North Korea. She called it 'surreal.' Others following along called [her presence] inappropriate.... Ms. Trump's participation in the G20 trip illustrated just how unchecked her ascent in the White House has been in recent months, and how few people who might have raised doubts remain." Mrs. McC: Junior Displomat. I think there's a merit badge for that. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Ivanka Trump at Yalta. I'm thing that if Ivanka hadn't been there to assert her own views (notice Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin are mum while Ivanka shares her thoughts), there might never have been a cold war.

... Mrs. McCrabbie: CNN ran an unintentionally hilarious clip of Mike Pompeo -- a confirmed Secretary of State -- trying to squeeze in to the front row of a group picture while Ivanka & Daddy Dearest hogged front row, center-stage. Pompeo eventually pushed through, but Canadian PM Justin Trudeau didn't even try; the formal photos show Trudeau in the back row. Some pundits blame Daddy for putting his daughter in these spots where she doesn't belong. I don't buy it; Ivanka is a chip off the old blockhead & loves to hog the spotlight whether it's "appropriate" or not. ...

... Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast. “Ivanka and Kushner ... were reportedly present at a closed-door meeting between [Trump & Kim], who ended up speaking about one of the most sensitive topics on the planet -- North Korea's nuclear weapons program.... , an official reached out and said: 'Although they met Kim, Jared and Ivanka did not participate in the closed-door meeting.' The official did not clarify which meeting Ivanka and Jared participated in or how many meetings were held on the border. But two other officials told The Daily Beast that Ivanka and Kushner were in the room for conversations that pertained to nuclear weapons and sanctions." Mrs. McC: While the president* has the authority to clear anyone, I'm not sure either Jared of Ivanka has official clearance high enough to attend meetings about nuclear security. ...

... Suzanne Moore of the Guardian: "That Ivanka is on some permanent 'take your daughter to work day' has long been evident.... The toxicity of Trump, a patriarchal mobster, is still met with appalled politeness. Our own royals [i.e., Queen Elizabeth, et al.,] prostrated themselves before these lowlifes. This is not participatory democracy.... Indeed, the only way we participate is by making memes about this ghastly spectacle on social media.... We laugh -- because to take her seriously is too ugly to contemplate."

... Alison Rourke of the Guardian: "Ivanka Trump's prominent role at the G20 summit over the weekend, and her presence at the Korean demilitarised zone with her father, has inspired a slew of parodies under the hashtag #unwantedivanka.... Following an awkward encounter in Osaka, in which Trump appeared to muscle in on a conversation with world leaders, the president's daughter and senior White House advisor has been photoshopped into significant moments in history...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

He wants to have a parade like they have in Moscow or China or North Korea. -- RNC Fundraiser ...

The image, believe it or not, comes from a Trump supporter.... Another Spectacular Fascist Vanity Project. Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Monday that the Pentagon would put military tanks on display on Thursday in Washington as part of his plans to turn the Fourth of July celebration in the nation's capital into a salute to the country's military prowess. The tanks would join an airborne display of the nation's firepower.... Mr. Trump, who will be speaking at the celebration, has requested that the chiefs for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines be standing next to him as aircraft from each of their services fly overhead and their respective hymns play on loudspeakers.... Pentagon officials declined to comment on Monday as they wrestled with how to accommodate the president's tank request with only a few days left before the event.... The Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River and connects the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, might not be able to hold the weight.... The City Council for the District of Columbia ... posted on Twitter: 'We have said it before, and we'll say it again: Tanks, but no tanks.'" ...

... Jack Crosbie of Splinter: "Per the Washington Post, Trump is again giving the National Parks Service a massive headache by requesting massive armored vehicles on the National Mall for his planned rebrand of the nation's Fourth of July celebration as a VIP 'Salute to America.' According to the paper this morning: '... The ongoing negotiations over whether to use massive military hardware, such as Abrams tanks or Bradley fighting vehicles, as a prop for Trump's "Salute to America" is just one of many unfinished details when it comes to the celebration planned for Thursday.... Traditionally, major gatherings on the Mall, including inauguration festivities and a jubilee commemorating the start of a new millennium, have featured a designated event producer. But in this case, the producer is the president himself....'... As HuffPost reported at the time [of Trump's inauguration, when he also requested tanks for his parade]: '... "I could absolutely see structural support being a reason [not to use tanks]," a Department of Defense official said. "D.C. is built on a swamp to begin with."'" The WashPo story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... S. V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump has hijacked what for decades had been a nonpolitical Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, packing his ticketed-event speech with political appointees and Republican donors. The Republican National Committee has been offering major donors tickets to Trump's speech, as have political appointees at the White House and executive branch agencies.... The current plans for Thursday do not include a parade, but Trump is still pushing for tanks or other military vehicles to be displayed on the National Mall, The Washington Post reported, even though their weight is liable to damage the grass and roads.... Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University history professor and expert on fascism, said Trump's need to display military hardware is a feature of authoritarians throughout history." ...

... Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Irked by ... Donald Trump's plan to hold his own July Fourth event on the National Mall, veterans plan to give out thousands of USS John S. McCain T-shirts to make the president face a crowd of people honoring the McCain family's legacy and the idea of putting one's country before oneself. VoteVets, a left-leaning nonprofit group founded in 2006 by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, is organizing the effort in response to Trump's unprecedented 'Salute to America' celebration."

Michelle Kosinski of CNN: "Democrats on a key House congressional committee are investigating allegations from a whistleblower within the State Department about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his family's use of taxpayer-funded Diplomatic Security.... Congressional investigators, who asked for the committee not to be named as they carry out their inquiries, tell CNN that a State Department whistleblower has raised multiple issues over a period of months, about special agents being asked to carry out some questionable tasks for the Pompeo family. In April, for example, an agent was asked to pick up Chinese food -- without Pompeo in the car. The whistleblower said this led agents to complain that they are now serving as 'UberEats with guns.'... On another occasion, the whistleblower told aides, a Diplomatic Security special agent was given the job of picking up the Pompeo family dog from a groomer. And CNN has seen a document given to the committee aides by the whistleblower showing that in January, Diplomatic Security was asked by a person in Pompeo's office to pick up his adult son from Union Station in Washington and bring him to the family home."

The Moochers Voted for Trump. Paul Krugman: "In moving to the left on taxes and spending..., Democrats are actually moving toward voters' preferences, not away from them.... Nobody who endorsed the 2017 tax cut has any right to criticize Democratic proposals to spend more on things like child care. That tax cut, after all, appears likely to add around $2 trillion to federal debt -- with around a third of that going to foreigners. Meanwhile, the promised surge in business investment is nowhere to be seen.... If your view is that the progressive agenda is morally wrong, that people shouldn't receive more in government benefits than they pay in taxes, you should be aware how many Americans are already 'takers,' 'moochers,' whatever. In fact, we're talking about a vast swath of the heartland that includes just about every state that voted for Donald Trump."

Michael Tomasky in a New York Times op-ed: "The aggressive gerrymandering, which the Supreme Court just declared to be a matter beyond its purview; the voter suppression schemes; the dubious proposals that haven't gone anywhere -- yet -- like trying to award presidential electoral votes by congressional district rather than by state, a scheme that Republicans in five states considered after the 2012 election and that is still discussed: These are not ideas aimed at invigorating democracy. They are hatched and executed for the express purpose of essentially fixing elections." Tomasky borrows a term from Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way: "competitive authoritarianism," which describes the political structures of countries like Mozambique, Cambodia & Russia, where "formal democratic institutions exist..., but in which incumbents' abuse of the state places them at a significant advantage vis-à-vis their opponents." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Election 2016. Triumph of the Trolls. Ken Delanian of NBC News: "A new statistical analysis ... by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, does not prove that Russian interference swung the election to Trump. But it demonstrates that Trump's gains in popularity during the 2016 campaign correlated closely with high levels of social media activity by the Russian trolls and bots of the Internet Research Agency, a key weapon in the Russian attack.... The study found that every 25,000 re-tweets by accounts connected to the IRA predicted a 1 percent increase in opinion polls for Trump. In an interview with NBC News, [the study's lead researcher Damian] Ruck said the research suggests that Russian trolls helped shift U.S public opinion in Trump's favor. As to whether it affected the outcome of the election: 'The answer is that we still don't know, but we can't rule it out.'"

Sam Stein of the Daily Beast: "ThinkProgress, the flagship news site of the Democratic think tank Center for American Progress, is up for sale. Staff were informed on Monday afternoon that the site would be sold off and a CAP official told The Daily Beast that the organization would begin looking for prospective buyers for the website, which has come under severe financial strains during the Trump era."

Way Beyond the Beltway

China. Javier C. Hernández of the New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in peaceful protest on Monday as Hong Kong commemorated its return to China in 1997, but the city was shaken by images of a smaller group of activists who broke into the legislature, smashed glass walls and spray-painted slogans in the inner chamber. The split-screen protest offered vivid evidence that the divide in the former British colony is not merely between protesters and the Beijing-allied government -- the protesters are increasingly at odds with one another."