The Commentariat -- April 8, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Everybody Clean out Your Desk. AP: "U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph 'Tex' Alles is expected to leave the Trump administration. That's according to two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel matter. The officials say Alles' departure stems from a personality conflict within the agency. They said it was unrelated to the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and a recent security breach at the president's private club in Florida." ...

... BUT. Jake Tapper, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump instructed his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to fire Alles. Alles remains in his position as of now but has been asked to leave. The USSS director was told two weeks ago there would be a transition in leadership and he was asked to stay on until there was a replacement, according to a source close to the director.... The Secret Service director reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned on Sunday amid growing pressure from the President. The director oversees the Secret Service's work on both protection and investigations. 'There is a near-systematic purge happening at the nation's second-largest national security agency,' one senior administration official says. Secret Service officials have been caught by surprise with the news and are only finding out through CNN, according to the source."

Doha Madani of NBC News: "Actress Felicity Huffman is among 14 defendants in the college admissions scandal who are expected to plead guilty, according to the Department of Justice." At 3:01 pm ET, this is a breaking story.

Another Cabinet Official Fired by Tweet. Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her resignation letter with her when she met President Trump in the White House residence yesterday afternoon, top sources tell Axios. She wasn't intent on quitting but was prepared to, sources tell us. The meeting went poorly, and Trump didn't even let her announce her 'resignation.' While she was racing to put out the letter (not that different from one she wrote after midterms), Trump tweeted that she will be leaving her position.'" Mrs. McC: No one with any self-respect would work for this prick. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Before we forget Kirstjen & all the horrible things she did, I do want to reprise her most a-mazing lie. Not surprisingly on account of her name, Kirstjen is of Scandinavian descent -- Danish, to be exact -- which makes her response to Sen. Patrick Leahy all the more absurd: In the wake of Trump's suggesting that Norway was an excellent source for immigrants to the U.S. (as opposed to "shithole countries," Leahy asked Nielsen, "'Norway is a predominantly white country, isn't it?' Sensing the trap, Nielsen tried to pretend that she was a fifth grader who forgot to do her geography homework, saying, 'I actually do not know that, sir, but I imagine that is the case.'"

Anne Gearan & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "The United States moved Monday to list Iran's elite military Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization as the Trump administration looks for new ways to increase economic and political pressure on the Islamic regime in Tehran. The designation marks the first time Washington has branded a foreign government entity a terrorist group and came despite warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials that other nations could use the designation as a precedent against U.S. action abroad. The announcement also comes one day before Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term with hawkish promises to battle threatening Iranian behavior across the Middle East."

Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "In an attempt to work around the White House, Democratic lawmakers in Albany are trying to do what their federal counterparts have so far failed to accomplish: to obtain President Trump's tax returns. Albany lawmakers are seeking state tax returns, not the federal ones at the heart of the current standoff in Washington. But a tax return from New York -- the president's home state, and the headquarters of his business empire -- could likely contain much of the same financial information as a federal return. Under a bill that is scheduled to be introduced this week, the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance would be permitted to release any state tax return requested by leaders of three congressional committees for any 'specific and legitimate legislative purpose.'"

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Maggie Haberman & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, is leaving her position, President Trump announced on Sunday, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had at times made her the target of the president's criticism. 'Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service....' [Trump wrote in a tweet]. The move comes just two days after Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed anger at a rise in migrants at the southwestern border, withdrew his nominee to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement because he wanted the agency to go in a 'tougher' direction. The president said in a tweet that Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will be the acting replacement for Ms. Nielsen, who took over the agency in late 2017." ...

... Jackie Kucinich, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned from her position on Sunday evening, after serving sixteen turbulent months as the nation's top national security official and a punching bag for the the president on border security.... Nielsen's ouster comes amid a continuing -- even continuous -- shakeup in the Trump administration." ...

... Vinnie Longobardo of the Washington Press: "Neilsen also tweeted out her letter of resignation, proudly patting herself on the back for a job well done since no one else considers the caging of children a commendable accomplishment.... While the usual group of Trump supporters -- fed a steady diet of fear-mongering propaganda by Fox News -- replied [on Twitter] to Neilsen thanking her for her service, Americans horrified at the degradation of previously held values of compassion and the rule of law vilified her and called for her prosecution for crimes against humanity in the Court of International Justice." Longobardo publishes some brutal examples. ...

... Anita Kumar, et al., of Politico: "As ... Donald Trump roils the capital over illegal immigration, his influential aide Stephen Miller is playing a more aggressive behind-the-scenes role in a wider administration shakeup.... [Miller] has been arguing for personnel changes to bring in more like-minded hardliners, according to three people familiar with the situation.... Miller has also recently been telephoning mid-level officials at several federal departments and agencies to angrily demand that they do more to stem the flow of immigrants into the country.... 'It's intimidation,' one of the people who was briefed on the calls told Politico.... 'There's definitely a larger shakeup abreast being led by Stephen Miller and the staunch right wing within the administration,' said a person close to [Kirstjen] Nielsen.... 'They failed with the courts and with Congress and now they're eating their own.'" ...

... New York Times Editors: With the head of Customs and Border Protection replacing Nielsen & Trump's withdrawing his nominee to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Homeland Security is "without a top official at either of its critical immigration agencies.... Within this leadership vacuum, it seems likely that more influence will be exerted by [Stephen] Miller, who inspires and reinforces Mr. Trump's harshest ideas on immigrants and immigration. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said of Ms. Nielsen's departure, 'It is deeply alarming that the Trump administration official who put children in cages is reportedly resigning because she is not extreme enough for the White House's liking.'"

Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "President Trump said on Saturday that some asylum-seekers should be 'fighting for the UFC,' calling the process a 'scam.' Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Trump said asylum-seekers are 'some of the roughest people you've ever seen, people that look like they should be fighting for the UFC,' referring to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a company that promotes mixed martial arts matches. Trump also said that asylum-seekers are coached. 'They read a little page given by lawyers that are all over the place -- you know lawyers, they tell them what to say,' Trump said. 'I am very fearful for my life. I am very worried that I will be accosted if I'm sent back home,' he added. 'No, no. He'll do the accosting.' The president's comments came after he last week backed away from a threat to close the border with Mexico."

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

"The Fix Is In." Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: William "Barr has taken every possible step to lessen the sting of the Mueller report -- and, so far, to block it from view altogether." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Matthew Choi of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani wants the full Mueller report to go to Congress -- because 'believe me, there was nothing there.' Appearing on CBS' 'Face the Nation' Sunday, the former New York mayor ... argued the president has nothing to hide and has demonstrated 'unprecedented' cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Quint Forgey of Politico: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday no one in the White House has requested from the Justice Department an advance copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's final report -- but he also noted that 'anything could change' in the days before a redacted version of the document is delivered to lawmakers." Mrs. McC: Rudy seems to think he knows what's in the report. Of course Rudy isn't "in the White House."

Trump Must Be Hiding Something Big. Michael Burke of the Hill: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that Democrats will 'never' see President Trump's tax returns. 'Nor should they. That&'s an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns, they knew that he didn't, and they elected him anyway,' Mulvaney said during an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday.' He added that Democrats 'know they're not going to' get the tax returns." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** The Party of Lawlessness. Jonathan Chait: "This week, the House Ways and Means Committee formally moved to obtain President Trump's federal tax forms. This move, which ought to be a mere formality, has slipped immediately into a political and legal conflict. What is so striking about the episode is how little outcry Trump's open defiance of the law has created.... The law governing this matter is unusually clear.... This law has been used to examine tax returns of high-placed political officials. It was enacted in order to let Congress examine financial conflicts of interest by the administration, and forced the disclosure of a president's tax returns (Richard Nixon).... [Sen. Chuck] Grassley [R-Iowa] asserts that obtaining Trump's tax filings would 'destroy him.'... Grassley believes ... that the proper response is to prevent this ruinous information from being made available to Congress or the public, [even though, for decades, all Democratic & Republican presidential nominees & presidents have routinely released their returns.] Maintaining the secrecy of Trump.s tax returns 'is a hill and people would be willing to die on it ... we will see you in court,' boasts an administration official. Legally, they haven't got a leg to stand on. It';s telling that nobody in the administration or the Republican Party seems to care."

McGahn Speaks. Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides.... 'I spent the last couple of years getting yelled at,' he said, per two sources at the lunch.... 'And you may soon read about some of the more spirited debates I had with the president.' McGahn didn't explicitly mention Mueller's report, but sources in the room said they understood him to be referring to it when he said this.... McGahn said a big part of his job as White House counsel was to deregulate and rein in the 'administrative state.' He said he did that by writing deregulatory executive orders and picking judicial nominees who wanted to limit the power of federal agencies. He talked about Trump nominating judges who agree that the courts have given too much flexibility to federal agencies to interpret laws and enforce regulations."

Devin Has Been a Busy Boy. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he was planning to send eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr as soon as this week. Nunes, who investigated accusations of FBI and Department of Justice abuse while he was previously chairman of the intelligence panel, did not say who he would be referring in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Appearing on Fox's 'Sunday Morning Futures,' Nunes said five of the referrals are related to lying to Congress, misleading Congress and leaking classified information. The other referrals, Nunes said, are allegations of lying to the FISA court that approves foreign surveillance warrants, manipulating intelligence and what he described as a 'global leak referral,' which Nunes said wasn't tied to one individual." ...

... Sophie Weiner of Splinter: "These referrals don't necessarily mean much -- they are essentially a request for the DOJ and FBI to investigate. That option is now in their hands. Nunes has been busy stirring up shit in recent months. Last month, he announced that he is suing Twitter and specific parody accounts, including one named Devin Nunes' Cow and another named Devin Nunes' Mom, for $250 million."

Mallory Pickett of the Guardian: "Scientists and officials around the US have told the Guardian that the Trump administration has withdrawn funding for a large, successful conservation program -- in direct contradiction of instructions from Congress. Unique in scale and ambition, the program comprises 22 research centers that tackle big-picture issues affecting huge swaths of the US, such as climate change, flooding and species extinction. They are known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives [created under Obama] -- or were, because 16 of them are now on indefinite hiatus or have dissolved.... [F]ederal employees were instructed not to speak with the Guardian for this story.... [F]ederal support for the LCC program appeared to dry up after the start of an unprecedented political review of scientific research at the interior department.... It was led by Steve Howke, a high school friend of the former interior secretary Ryan Zinke." --s

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award at a ceremony next month, the Kennedy Library Foundation announced Sunday. The California Democrat is being recognized for leading 'with strength, integrity and grace under pressure -- using her power to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens,' former ambassador Caroline Kennedy, the foundation's honorary president, said in a statement. 'She is the most important woman in American political history and is a true Profile in Courage,' Kennedy said."

Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "Actions by federal regulators and Republicans in Congress over the past two years have paved the way for banks and other financial companies to issue more than $1 trillion in risky corporate loans, sparking fears that Washington and Wall Street are repeating the mistakes made before the financial crisis. The moves undercut policies put in place by banking regulators six years ago that aimed to prevent high-risk lending from once again damaging the economy. Now, regulators and even White House officials are struggling to comprehend the scope and potential dangers of the massive pool of credits, known as leveraged loans, they helped create. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and other financial companies have originated these loans to hundreds of cash-strapped companies, many of which could be unable to repay if the economy slows or interest rates rise."

Presidential Race 2020. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D), in an apparent reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel must transcend 'a prime minister who is racist.' Asked in Iowa City Sunday if his criticism of Netanyahu risked alienating supporters of Israel, O'Rourke drew a distinction between support for Israel and support for Netanyahu. 'The US-Israel relationship is one of the most important relationships that we have on the planet, and that relationship, if it is successful, must transcend partisanship in the United States, and it must be able to transcend a prime minister who is racist, as he warns against Arabs coming to the polls, who wants to defy any prospect for peace as he threatens to annex the West Bank, and who has sided with a far-right racist party in order to maintain his hold on power,' O'Rourke said, referring to Netanyahu seeking to form a coalition with the Otzma Yehudit party." ...

... Sophie Weiner: "This is all accurate. In the lead up to Israel's 2015 election, Netanyahu did warn that Arabs were coming out to vote, as a way to instill fear in, and garner votes from, his anti-Arab base. In February, Netanyahu announced that his party, Likud, would merge with the far-right, anti-Arab Otzma Yehudit party, raising the possibility that one of their extremist members will make it into the Knesset. And just this weekend, Netanyahu suggested that if he retains power in this week's elections, he will begin annexing the West Bank.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Patrick Wintour & Chris Stephen of the Guardian: "The battle for Tripoli[, Libya,] escalated on Sunday as a military assault on the city by the eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar led to 21 deaths and nearly 90 injuries, and international calls for calm were ignored. As the fighting neared the capital, the UN issued a plea for a temporary ceasefire to allow the wounded to be evacuated. Hours earlier, the US announced it was withdrawing some of its troops from the country, citing deteriorating 'security conditions on the ground'. India also withdrew a group of its peacekeepers, saying the situation in Libya had suddenly worsened. The international airport 15 miles south of central Tripoli was a scene of fierce battles after Haftar claimed to have seized control of the area from the UN-backed government of national accord."

The Commentariat -- April 7, 2019

Afternoon Update:

"The Fix Is In." Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: William "Barr has taken every possible step to lessen the sting of the Mueller report -- and, so far, to block it from view altogether." ...

... Matthew Choi of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani wants the full Mueller report to go to Congress -- because 'believe me, there was nothing there.' Appearing on CBS' 'Face the Nation' Sunday, the former New York mayor ... argued the president has nothing to hide and has demonstrated 'unprecedented' cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election."

Trump Is Hiding Something Big. Michael Burke of the Hill: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that Democrats will 'never' see Trump's tax returns. 'Nor should they. That's an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns, they knew that he didn't, and they elected him anyway,' Mulvaney said during an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday.' He added that Democrats 'know they're not going to' get the tax returns."

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Zeke Miller of the AP: "... Donald Trump warned on Saturday that a Democratic victory in 2020 could 'leave Israel out there,' as he highlighted his pro-Israel actions in an effort to make the case for Jewish voters to back his re-election. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Trump touted his precedent-shredding actions to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and recognition last month of Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel seized from Syria in 1967. 'We got you something that you wanted,' Trump said of the embassy move, adding, 'Unlike other presidents, I keep my promises.' The group, backed by GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, supported Trump's 2016 campaign and is preparing to spend millions on his 2020 effort." ...

... Trump Fan Threatens to Kill Ilhan Omar. Kevin Bohn of CNN: "A New York man is in custody after having been arrested and charged with threatening to assault and murder Rep. Ilhan Omar, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York. Patrick W. Carlineo, Jr., 55, of Addison, New York, threatened to kill Omar because of her Muslim faith, according to a criminal complaint and accompanying affidavit....A call was placed to Omar's Washington, DC, office on March 21, an FBI agent stated in the affidavit. During the call, an individual, who identified himself as Pat Carlineo, said to a staff member: 'Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her, she's a (expletive) terrorist. I'll put a bullet in her (expletive) skull.'Omar's office referred the threat to the US Capitol Police, which began an investigation with the FBI." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Besides being a dangerous bigot, Carlineo is not too bright: "Carlineo sounded angry during the call but provided the spelling of his name and contact information, the affidavit said. He was later interviewed by authorities where he stated that he was a patriot, that he loves ... Donald Trump, and 'that he hates radical Muslims in our government,' the affidavit stated." Anyway, I was wondering if Trump or the White House issued a pro forma statement condemning violence, supporting freedom of religion, & so forth. Not exactly. ...

... Seung Min Kim & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Saturday criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar, one day after a New York man was arrested and charged with threatening to kill the Minnesota Democrat. In remarks to a conservative Jewish group, Trump thanked several Republican lawmakers for their support before proceeding to mock Omar, an outspoken critic of U.S. policy toward Israel who has also made comments that some say invoke anti-Semitic stereotypes. 'Special thanks to Representative Omar of Minnesota,' Trump told members of the Republican Jewish Coalition in a ballroom of the Venetian Resort. 'Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel. I forgot. I'm so sorry.'" ...

Sexual Assaulters Club. Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "When President Donald Trump exited Air Force One at the start of his Saturday trip to Las Vegas, he was greeted on the tarmac by former casino executive Steve Wynn, a longtime business rival and friend who was a major fundraiser for the president during the 2016 campaign. Wynn has kept a low profile since resigning his post as CEO of Wynn Resorts in February 2018, after multiple accusations alleging sexual misconduct by Wynn with subordinates at the casino company.... Wynn, who denies the allegations, also resigned from his post as the Republican National Committee's finance chair last year. Despite Wynn's denials, this past week, Massachusetts state gaming regulators released a scathing report finding that Wynn's company had worked to cover up the allegations against Wynn." --s

Blustering Bluffer-in-Chief. Michael Tackett & Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "For President Trump, a threat is frequently his first impulse.... But his threats often remain just that. The most recent example was when Mr. Trump backed down from a vow to close the border with Mexico, instead saying he would give one of the United States' most essential trading partners a year to deal with the migrant crisis. This came only a day after he had threatened to act if Congress did not bend to his will on the issue. The price of Mexican avocados spiked, but the government of Mexico seemed unmoved. (Mr. Trump has warned Mexico of an impending border closing at least three times before, in October, November and December.)... Here is a look at some of Mr. Trump's more high-profile threats...." ...

... Seung Min Kim & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "... unauthorized immigration has surged to the highest levels in a decade, leaving [President* Trump] searching for quick-fix solutions and his administration roiling with internal tensions over how to address a problem the president promised to solve.... His public indecision over the past week -- threatening in a tweet to close the border with Mexico before reversing himself six days later -- revealed an administration that is grasping to deal with a humanitarian challenge without a well-defined strategy and with significant divisions within Trump's team. A sign of the discord came Friday when the White House yanked the Senate nomination of a longtime federal immigration official, Ronald Vitiello, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a senior White House adviser, Stephen Miller, lobbied Trump to cut him loose.... He has focused on outdated models of hard-line deterrence and punishment developed more than a decade ago to stop Mexican men from sneaking into the country in search of jobs. Those methods, including a border wall, are largely ineffective in keeping out the asylum-seeking families who are driving the recent immigration spike, immigration experts said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So on one of Trump's favorite white supremacist issues, both the New York Times & Washington Post use their front pages to point out that Trump is an incompetent, indecisive clown. So unfaaaair!

... Good Grief! Elliot Spagat of the AP: "The Trump administration wants up to two years to find potentially thousands of children who were separated from their families at the border before a judge halted the practice last year, a task that it says is more laborious than previous efforts because the children are no longer in government custody. The Justice Department said in a court filing late Friday that it will take at least a year to review about 47,000 cases of unaccompanied children taken into government custody between July 1, 2017 and June 25, 2018 -- the day before U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw halted the general practice of splitting families. The administration would begin by sifting through names for traits most likely to signal separation -- for example, children under 5. The administration would provide information on separated families on a rolling basis to the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued to reunite families and criticized the proposed timeline on Saturday. 'We strongly oppose a plan that could take up to two years to locate these families,' said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead attorney. 'The government needs to make this a priority.'"

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "As President Trump threatened to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border in recent days, his Department of Homeland Security nearly doubled the number of temporary guest worker visas available this summer. The Homeland Security and Labor departments plan to grant an additional 30,000 H-2B visas this summer on top of the 33,000 they had already planned to give out, the agencies confirmed. The H-2B visa allows foreign workers to come to the United States legally and work for several months at companies such as landscapers, amusement parks or hotels. About 80 percent of these visas went to people from Mexico and Central America last year, government data shows.... On Friday, [Trump] implored migrants to turn around and go home. 'Can't take you anymore,' Trump said, while standing at the border in California. 'Our country is full.'" Mrs. McC: Apparently not.

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Lucia Mutikani & David Brunnstrom of Reuters: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday he had not read Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.... 'I have not read the Mueller Report yet, even though I have every right to do so,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Only know the conclusions, and on the big one, No Collusion.'... In another tweet, Trump called the report 'a total waste of time.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: What is not addressed here is whether or not Trump has received the Mueller report & had staff tell him the highlights. That would explain Trump's change of heart on releasing the report. ...

... Marcy Wheeler, in a Washington Post op-ed, argues that "we already know Barr's summary was too easy on Trump.... Barr's judgment that Trump didn't obstruct justice because 'the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference' doesn't hold up. Eve the public record shows that Trump's associates appear to have tried to coordinate with Russia.... The same public record suggests Trump's potential abuse of his pardon power may have thwarted Mueller's ability to get at the underlying crime." Wheeler goes over some of the evidence against Roger Stone & Paul Manafort that surfaced in court filings to make her case. ...

... William Saletan of Slate: "Until we see the report, we won't know what's in it. But we do know what Republicans have said about it, and eventually -- unless it's buried forever -- we'll be able to check these descriptions against the document. Here's a catalog of what Trump and his surrogates have said since Barr's letter came out. Some of these claims have been repeated uncritically by TV anchors, headline writers, and reporters. If the claims prove to be false, the media has a clear duty: to acknowledge that the report is more damning than we were told.... [The report] might show that some of these claims are true. But if they're false -- if Republicans lied about the report, and the media fell for those lies -- then it will be time to talk less about exoneration and more about cover-up. The Barr letter and the blitz of spin around it could turn out to be another chapter in a Republican campaign to bury the truth." --s

... Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The federal appeals court in Washington, DC, sided with grand jury secrecy on Friday, ruling that federal district judges don't have the power to make the grand jury's records public, even in historically significant cases.... The DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday split 2-1 in its grand jury secrecy decision, ultimately siding with the Justice Department in a case brought by researcher Stuart McKeever seeking records from 60 years ago.... The decision has major implications for the release of grand jury records -- especially at a moment when the lower federal court in Washington has been asked to make grand jury information related to the Mueller investigation public.... The appeals court notes that in other cases, grand jury secrecy was overcome to aid in other investigations. Judges still are able to disclose grand jury records 'in connection with a judicial proceeding' in some circumstances, such as when the House Judiciary Committee weighed the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.... Friday's opinion 'says nothing about Congress and its access to the full Mueller report,' Deana El-Mallawany, counsel at Protect Democracy, said in a statement Friday. 'Before and after that decision, House Judiciary clearly has a right to seek information from the Mueller grand jury under the express exception to grand jury secrecy.'"

David Corn, et al., of Mother Jones have more reporting on the "Mar-a-lago/China affair" where we're introduced to: "... an unusual Chinese fellow named Charles Lee [whose real name is Li Weitian], who ran a business bringing Chinese execs to the United Stateson travel packages that included visits to Mar-a-Lago for events.... Lee ... established the United Nations Chinese Friendship Association in 2011. According to a press release issued at the time, the UNCFA ... was accredited by the UN Economic and Social Council and the Chinese Embassy in New York City. (According to the Washington Post, the UNCFA 'is not on any list of nongovernmental organizations with UN affiliation.')... After Lee's name emerged in this scandal, the UNCFA's website was taken down.... Much about Charles Lee does not check out. Lee seems to be an operator and a mixer ... who has long-standing ties to Chinese government and Communist Party organizations of concern to counterintelligence experts.... Yet he has obtained access to Mar-a-Lago and Trump events. " --s

Let Them Eat Salt. Catherine Kim of Vox: "Six states and Washington, DC, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, are fighting President Trump's mission to make school lunches unhealthy again. During the Obama administration, first lady Michelle Obama pushed for healthier school meals as part of her agenda to tackle obesity. In 2010, Congress passed legislation requiring school lunches to be more nutritious, and the Department of Agriculture published new regulations to enforce the law. The Trump administration rolled back those guidelines in 2018, allowing schools to abandon their commitment to lowering sodium and increasing whole-grain foods. Now the states are suing to set the standards high again.... The lawsuit focuses on three key changes from 2018: the reintroduction of refined grains and two of the changes meant to gradually reduce sodium from school meals." --s

Supreme Gun Nuts. Ian Milhiser of ThinkProgress: "The Supreme Court handed down a brief order on Friday denying a request to block a federal ban on 'bump stocks,' a device that effectively converts a semi-automatic rifle into a fully automatic weapon.... Yet, while even the Trump administration deemed these devices to be too dangerous for civilian use, two members of the Supreme Court would have blocked the ban. Both Justice Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch voted to grant a request to stay a lower court decision allowing the ban to take effect." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In other words, we have two Supreme Court justices who believe the Second Amendment guarantees the right to mass-murder.

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Ernest F. Hollings, a silver-haired South Carolina Democrat who served 38 years in the United States Senate in an era of rising prosperity and often painful accommodation to racial tolerance in his state and across the South, died on Saturday at his home in Isle of Palms, S.C. He was 97."

Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "Scientists estimate that at least 100 million and maybe as many as a billion birds die each year in the US when they collide with buildings, especially glass-covered or illuminated skyscrapers.... Most birds migrating through the US do so at night, when the airspace is cool and calm -- and often end up veering through cities because their glow stands out. Scientists have long known that birds are attracted to light, so when they fly over a bright city at night, they are naturally drawn toward it, unaware they are in dangerous territory.... Houston and Dallas, which also lie along some of the most popular migration paths, round out the top three most deadly cities after Chicago. New York, Los Angeles, St Louis and Atlanta also pose risks during migration." --s

Beyond the Beltway

Louisiana. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Three historically black churches have burned in less than two weeks in one south Louisiana parish, where officials said they had found' suspicious elements' in each case.... The F.B.I. and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in the investigation, said Jeff Nowakowski, a spokesman for the A.T.F.'s New Orleans field division."

Way Beyond

Guardian: "Thousands of protesters have clashed with security forces in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in a huge demonstration against president Omar al-Bashir's 30-year rule, witnesses said.... Security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators gathered outside the presidential residence on Saturday in one of the biggest protests against Bashir in months of unrest.... The Sudanese Professionals Association has spearheaded calls for an end to Omar al-Bashir's three-decade rule soon after protests began on 19 December over surging prices and a failing economy." --s

The Commentariat -- April 6, 2019

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Nicholas Fandos & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A private lawyer for President Trump told the Treasury Department on Friday that House Democrats demanding the president's tax returns were abusing their powers to damage him politically, and he urged the department to keep the returns secret. The letter from William Consovoy, a lawyer whose firm also represents Mr. Trump in lawsuits related to foreign spending at his hotels, was most likely the first step in what will be a protracted effort to prevent the presidents tax information from being turned over to the House Ways and Means Committee." ...

    ... The Fix Is So In. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yesterday, I linked a story by Haberman & Fandos about how Trump had pushed Mitch McConnell to prioritize the confirmation of former Trump attorney Michael Desmond as chief IRS counsel. Trump told Mitch McConnell that confirming Desmond was even more urgent than confirming William Barr as AG, even tho Barr was a clearly essential Trump ally who had written a long memo on why a president* could never be guilty of obstruction of justice, a memo we also learned yesterday from Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian that Barr had delivered on the same day he met with top DOJ attorneys. Comes now Aaron Blake of the Washington Post to remind us that "the recently confirmed [and of course Trump-nominated] head of the IRS, Commissioner Charles Rettig, in 2016 wrote an op-ed arguing Trump shouldn't release his returns." Bases covered. As Blake notes, "I'm not the first to note or assemble these examples and make the point that perhaps Trump is trying to install people to do his bidding -- or suggest that some of these people may have been auditioning for these jobs with their public comments." ...

... Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday said the law is '100 percent' on his side in a battle with Democrats over the release of his tax returns. Trump, who has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit, expressed confidence that the law would vindicate his position after House Democrats moved to obtain six years of his personal and business tax returns. 'That's up to whoever handles it,' he told reporters as he left the White House for a visit to the southern border. 'Hey, I'm under audit. But that's up to whoever it is. From what I understand the law is 100 percent on my side.' It's not clear that the law will protect Trump from having to release his tax returns." Mrs. McC: Of course, Trump knows "whoever" is handling it -- his lackeys.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post finds the site where Donald Trump's father Fred Trump was born. It's in the Bronx, not Germany, as Trump has repeatedly claimed. Interesting. Trump moved his father's birth from an apartment building next to the elevated train in an outer borough to a charming German hamlet....

... Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "While Washington waits [for the Mueller report], Trump, as always, has done his best to deflect, divert, distort, and distract from the investigations. Yet, while trying to get away from the question of his conduct in 2016, Trump may well have inadvertently resurrected the question of his fitness for office with a series of bizarre rants, false claims, and just plain odd digressions that were, even by his standards, hard to dismiss as anything resembling normal conduct by any President.... The President's Germany riff [at an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg] took a most surprising turn ... when he ... [said his] father ... was not only born in Germany but in a 'very wonderful place' there.... Making the untrue claim that his father was born in Germany was all the more amazing because Trump had spent decades denying that his father was of German heritage, instead falsely claiming, including in his best-selling nineteen-eighties book 'The Art of the Deal,' that his father was Swedish.... There is truly almost nothing about which this President will not lie, whether it's the Mueller report or his family history. Trump has become a birther again -- this time about his own father." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: One reason Trump is the worst president* in American history is that he expends most of his energy in pursuit of self-serving goals -- either sleazy & illegal or simply sleazy -- then in covering up those activities by any means he can muster. This is how he has functioned all his life. The truth is his enemy. The media aren't "the enemy of the people"; their pursuit of facts make them the enemies of a liar who can't even accept his own family's history. No wonder Trump can't function normally.

Zeke Miller & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "Trump, making a renewed push for border security as a central campaign issue for his 2020 re-election, participated in a briefing on immigration and border security in Calexico before viewing a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) see-through steel-slat barrier that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier -- and not new wall.... The southern border is nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) long and already has about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) of different types of barriers, including short vehicle barricades and tall steel fences that go up to 30 feet (9 meters) high. Most of the fencing was built during George W. Bush's administration, and there have been updates and maintenance throughout other administrations. Trump has yet to complete any new mileage of fencing or other barriers anywhere on the border, though he declared Friday that at least 400 miles (650 kilometers) of the border barrier would be erected over the next two years. His administration so far has only replaced existing fencing. Construction for that small chunk of fencing cost about $18 million, began in February 2018 and was completed in October. Plans to replace that fence date back to 2009, during President Barack Obama's tenure." ...

... Seung Min Kim & Tony Perry of the Washington Post: "President Trump claimed Friday that 'our country is full' as he tried to warn off migrants arriving at the southern border in increasing numbers, and threatened Mexico with automobile tariffs if the country doesn't step up its efforts to curb migration from Central America. 'Can't take you anymore. Can't take you. Our country is full. Our area is full, the sector is full. Can't take you anymore. I'm sorry,' Trump said during a roundtable on the border at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Calexico, Calif. 'So turn around. That's the way it is.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: According to the World Population Review, the population density of the U.S. is about 13 people per square mile. By comparison, the population density of Bermuda is 437/sq. mile, of Germany is 89/sq. mile & of Italy is 76/sq. mile. The U.S. is not "full." In addition, the U.S. birth rate continues to fall, "dipping so low that the nation's population would be declining without immigration, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This marks the seventh straight year that the fertility rate has dropped." An essential element for economic growth, obviously, is a rising population -- people to produce & buy stuff. As usual, everything Trump says is a lie, oftentimes a stupid lie. ...

... Calvin Woodward & Mark Stevenson of the AP: "Giving himself credit for tough diplomacy..., Donald Trump is describing a burst of activity by Mexican authorities to keep Central American migrants from getting to the U.S. border. That's an apparent mirage as Trump retreats from his latest threat to seal off the U.S. from Mexico. Trump was wrong when he said last week that Mexico was doing 'NOTHING' about migrants coming north. It markedly tightened migration controls during the Obama administration and detained over 30,000 foreigners in the first three months of this year. And it's not evident now that Mexico has suddenly cracked down as a result of his threat, 'apprehending everybody' and making 'absolutely terrific progress' in just a matter of days, as Trump put it Friday. Mexico's apprehensions of foreigners have not surged. During his visit to the border in Southern California on Friday, Trump denounced a landmark immigration case he blamed on 'Judge Flores, whoever you may be.' The case in question was named for Jenny Flores, a migrant teenager from El Salvador in the 1980s, not a judge." ...

... Steve Benen: "A reporter asked Donald Trump [Friday] morning why, after all of his rhetoric, he didn't close the border like he said he would. The president replied: 'Because Mexico has been absolutely terrific for the last four days. They're apprehending everybody.... It's really good. Now, Congress has to act. They have to get rid of catch and release, chain migration, visa lottery. They have to get rid of the whole asylum system because it doesn't work. And, frankly, we should get rid of judges.' On the first point..., according to Mexican officials, nothing's changed.... But it's that second point that probably raised the most eyebrows.... I'm reasonably sure the president was referring to immigration judges -- whom he apparently wants to fire.... As the Washington Post's Greg Sargent noted, 'This is akin to declaring that we must end due process for asylum seekers, and with it, our international humanitarian commitments on this front.'... The Trump administration's position had long been that we need more immigration judges, not fewer, which means the president keeps denouncing his own team&'s agenda.... The Trump White House called on Congress to approve funding for hundreds of additional immigration judges in order to expedite the legal process at the U.S./Mexico border." ...

... Priscilla Alvarez, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is pulling the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead ICE, saying he wants to go in a 'tougher direction.' 'We're going in a little different direction. Ron's a good man but we're going in a tougher direction....,' Trump told reporters Friday at the White House." Mrs. McC: What? Smaller cages? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) See also related AP story linked yesterday. ...

... Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Democratic-controlled House on Friday filed a lawsuit against President Trump alleging his declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall is unconstitutional, a move that shifts the political battle to the courts. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims the president violated Congress's constitutional authority over appropriations by diverting federal funds from other sources to construct a wall after Congress provided only $1.375 billion for border security. 'The House is unaware of any other instance in American history where a President has declared a national emergency to obtain funding after failing to win Congressional approval for an appropriation,' the lawsuit reads.... The lawsuit also cites comments Trump made in declaring the national emergency that he 'didn't need to do this' and that he's 'already done a lot of wall, for the election -- 2020.'" ...

     ... A pdf of the complaint is here. As Ali Velshi noted on MSNBC Friday, the complaint goes deep for context: "Even the monarchs of England long ago [1640s] lost the power to raise and spend money without the approval of Parliament."

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and take additional steps to stimulate economic growth, his latest attempt to put the traditionally independent central bank under his thumb. Speaking to reporters before traveling to the southern border, Mr. Trump once again criticized the Fed's interest rate increases in 2018, saying 'they really slowed us down." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is Trump asking the supposedly nonpartisan Fed to help his 2020 campaign. ...

... Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "What makes Mr. Trump's approach to the Fed so unusual is that he has repeatedly, publicly undermined a Fed chief he appointed (Jerome Powell), and, if successful, he would put two officials with a background in partisan politics in the inner sanctum of Fed policymaking.... The risk is that the Fed becomes yet another partisan battlefield.... The United States' role as the global reserve currency -- which results in persistently low interest rates and little fear of capital flight -- is built in significant part on the credibility the Fed has accumulated over decades.... The hazards of a more politicized Fed are evident from the experience of the early 1970s, when Richard Nixon used both political pressure and underhanded tactics to try to push the Fed chairman, Arthur Burns, to keep interest rates low heading into the 1972 election. Among other things, the White House leaked a false story that Mr. Burns sought a large pay raise at a time the Fed was pressuring employers not to increase wages to fight inflation. Mr. Burns and the Fed followed the president's wishes, and Mr. Nixon won re-election handily in 1972, amid a booming economy. But it was in those years that inflationary pressures were building in the economy, and within a few years the rate of inflation reached double digits."

Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: "For the third straight year, President Donald Trump says he will skip the White House Correspondents' Dinner. In a pool spray outside the White House Friday ahead of his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, the President ... [said,] 'I'm going to hold a rally,' Trump said. 'Yeah, because the dinner is so boring and so negative that we're going to hold a very positive rally.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Manipulating Trump. Jake Sherman & Anna Palmer in Politico Magazine, in an excerpt from their book: "The lawmakers around Trump who wanted a shutdown knew exactly how to bring the president around to their side: threaten that others might perceive him as weak and push that threat around Capitol Hill and, eventually, all the way to Fox News. It helped to have a man on the inside, too -- in this case, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. As [confederate crackpot Rep. Mark] Meadows was about to find out, following this playbook was enough to get inside the head of the most powerful man in Washington, and use him to get what Meadows and his allies wanted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Mulvaney is all over Trump's flip-flops. In addition to egging Trump on in the border wall brouhaha, Mick was behind Trump's decision to join the court fight to invalidate all of ObamaCare, a move that caused Trump to pretend he -- or somebody -- would make the GOP the healthcare party before McConnell put the kibosh on that.

BBC News: "The US has revoked the entry visa for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda. The decision is thought to be the US response to Ms Bensouda's investigation into possible war crimes by American forces and their allies in Afghanistan. The US secretary of state had warned the US might refuse or revoke visas to any ICC staff involved in such probes. Ms Bensouda's office said the ICC prosecutor would continue to her duties 'without fear or favour'."

Presidential Race 2020. Electricians Love Hugs. Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday twice jokingly referred to complaints from several women that he had made them uncomfortable with his physical contact, and then offered a convoluted apology about their concerns and his behavior. 'I'm sorry I didn't understand more,' he told reporters about his hugs and kisses to women over the years. 'I'm not sorry for any of my intentions. I'm not sorry for anything that I have ever done. I've never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman.'... As he took the stage [at an IBEW conference], he hugged Lonnie R. Stephenson, the union's president. 'I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie,' he said, and the largely male crowd burst into laughter.... Several minutes into his remarks, Mr. Biden spotted children in the audience. After welcoming them to the stage, Mr. Biden wrapped his arm around a young boy. 'By the way, he gave me permission to touch him,' he said, to laughter."

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter: "In Massachusetts, an attorney for seven women told a federal judge on Friday that his clients are now satisfied by a settlement in a defamation suit against Bill Cosby for denying their stories of being sexually assaulted. According to Cosby's spokesperson, the settlement was made by Cosby's insurer and that the comedian himself didn't know about the deal. 'He is not paying anything to anyone,' says Andrew Wyatt. 'AIG decided to settle these cases, without the knowledge, permission and/or consent of Mr. Cosby.'... On Friday, Joseph Cammarata, an attorney for the women, reported [the] settlement ... doesn't fully resolve the case. That's because Cosby has filed counterclaims against the women for defamation and interference in his NBC and Netflix deals."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Kevin Granville of the New York Times: "The German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded for years to restrict the development of clean-emissions technology, the European Commission said on Friday, a finding that could cost the companies billions of dollars in fines. The collusion occurred from 2006 to 2014 during regular technical meetings at which the carmakers agreed to limit the development and production of emissions technology for cars sold in Europe, the commission said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Martin Chulov of the Guardian: "Saudi Arabia has launched a fresh round of arrests of activists and critics, many of them supporters of jailed civil rights campaigners, in an apparent rebuff to mounting international pressure over its treatment of dissidents. Eight people, including two US-Saudi citizens, were detained on Thursday in the first such sweep of perceived critics of the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, since the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.... News of the arrests came the morning after US lawmakers voted to end military support for a Saudi-led war in neighbouring Yemen, which has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.... The Guardian revealed earlier this week that medical reports prepared for King Salman show that some Saudi prisoners are suffering from malnutrition, cuts, bruises and burns." ...

... Washington Post Editors: "In targeting U.S. citizens, Mohammed bin Salman may also have been responding to Congress.... Mohammed bin Salman has yet to suffer any tangible sanction for his human rights abuses, even though they exceed anything seen in Saudi Arabia for decades. Senate Republicans have held up legislation that would mandate punishment for the murder of Khashoggi. That, along with kid-glove treatment from Mr. Trump, has emboldened the regime. Mr. Trump has frequently bragged about his record of freeing Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad. But he had nothing to say about the arrest of the two Saudi Americans. As he did in the case of Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia's 33-year-old ruler is making the president of the United States look timid and weak." Mrs. McC: And corrupt.