;)
The Commentariat -- January 18, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Mark Landler & David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump will meet with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, in late February, the White House announced on Friday, continuing a high-level diplomatic dialogue that has eased tensions but shown little progress in eliminating the North's nuclear arsenal. The announcement came after Mr. Trump met for 90 minutes in the Oval Office with Kim Yong-chol, the former North Korean intelligence chief who has acted as the chief nuclear negotiator for Mr. Kim."
Trump's Own State Department Provides More Proof Trump Is a National Security Threat. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A day after President Trump canceled military flights for a planned congressional trip to Afghanistan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abandoned her plans to travel instead on commercial flights due to security concerns. Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi (D-Calif.), blamed the Trump administration in a written statement for disclosing news of the trip, which included several other House Democrats, and thus increasing the danger to lawmakers. 'After President Trump revoked the use of military aircraft to travel to Afghanistan, the delegation was prepared to fly commercially to proceed with this vital trip to meet with our commanders and troops on the front lines,' Hammill said. Overnight, he added, a new State Department threat assessment indicated 'that the President announcing this sensitive travel had significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip.... This morning, we learned that the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well.'" ...
... Julie Davis of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California postponed an official trip to Europe and Afghanistan due to security concerns on Friday after President Trump grounded her military flight and divulged the itinerary, and her aides said the administration leaked plans for her and the lawmakers accompanying her to fly commercially. 'In light of the grave threats caused by the president's action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to further endanger our troops and security personnel, or the other travelers on the flights,' Drew Hammill, Ms. Pelosi's deputy chief of staff and communications director, said in a statement." ...
... Lauren Fox of CNN: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she was forced to nix her Afghanistan trip after ... Donald Trump barred her from using a military aircraft and she was told by the State Department diplomatic security that it was too dangerous to fly there commercially. 'We weren't going to go because we had a report from Afghanistan that the President outing our trip had made the scene on the ground much more dangerous because it's just a signal to the bad actors,' Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol. 'You never give advance notice of going into a battle area. You just never do. Perhaps the President's inexperience didn't help him understand that protocol. The people around him, though, should have known that, because that's very dangerous,' she said. The speaker also said the President's announcement of the trip had endangered members of Congress and American troops, and that she was just relaying what the State Department told her office." ...
... The Rat Pack. Kate Riga of TPM: "Some of President Donald Trump's staffers -- including acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney -- had a thirst for revenge after reading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) State of the Union letter. According to a Thursday New York Time report, Mulvaney and the other disgruntled aides goaded Trump to knock her down a peg[.]" --s
Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "President Trump was frustrated about leaks -- specifically leaks attributed to 'White House officials' -- that were critical of him, [according to] Cliff Sims, a young White House communications aide.... This was in 2017, when West Wing chaos was a constant storyline in the media.... Trump wanted to know who Sims thought was leaking, and said to come see him -- but to come through the back, so the senior staff wouldn't know.... As recounted in a passage from [a new book] "Team of Vipers"...: 'Give me their names,' he said.... 'I want these people out of here. I'm going to take care of this. We're going to get rid of all the snakes, even the bottom-feeders.'... I was sitting there with the President of the United States basically compiling an enemies list -- but these enemies were within his own administration." --s
Jonathan Chait: "At first glance, the revelation by BuzzFeed News reporters Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his attempt to build a tower in Moscow during the campaign, looks bad for Trump. On second, third, and fourth glances, it looks extremely bad. 1. Attorney General [Mrs. McC: nominee] William Barr has already defined this behavior as obstruction of justice.... 2. The allegations are serious enough that even conservatives concede they would constitute a crime.... 3. The evidence reportedly has multiple sources.... As BuzzFeed explains, the evidence did not originate from Cohen. Cohen merely confirmed what Mueller discovered through other sources.... 4. There could be more where this came from.... Remember that prosecutors seized a massive trove of recordings and notes from Cohen's office.... 5.... By telling this lie, Trump opened himself up to blackmail by Putin. Trump was publicly denying the contours of a business deal to which Russian intelligence was privy."
Betsy Woodruff & Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "John Dowd, who previously helmed President Donald Trump's personal legal team, is still actively advising his lawyers as they grapple with the Mueller probe. Dowd, who left the president's legal team in March of 2018, told Brian Kilmeade on his Fox News radio show on Jan. 14 that he speaks with Trump 'every week or so.'... Dowd's talks with the president and his legal team may not have been universally welcomed. One former White House official told The Daily Beast that Dowd's chats with Trump drove White House lawyer Emmet Flood and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow 'absolutely nuts.'" --s
Ken Vogel & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "A global New York-based law firm has agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a Justice Department investigation into whether its work for a Russia-aligned Ukrainian government violated lobbying laws. The investigation stems from work that the firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, did with Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. The case overlaps with the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As part of the settlement, the law firm agreed to register retroactively as a foreign agent for Ukraine in addition to paying the government $4.6 million, representing the money it earned from its work in Ukraine. The settlement between the firm and the Justice Department, which was made public on Thursday, is the latest indication that Mr. Mueller's inquiry and related investigations are fundamentally challenging the lucrative but shadowy foreign-lobbying industry that has thrived in Washington."
The Russkies Are Back. MaryAlice Parks & Lee Ferran of ABC News: "The Democratic National Committee alleges it was among the intended victims of a widespread cyberattack that was detected days after the 2018 midterm elections, according to court documents filed overnight. 'On November 14, 2018, dozens of DNC email addresses were targeted in a spear-phishing campaign, although there is no evidence that the attack was successful,' the DNC wrote in an amended complaint filed late Thursday, part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Russian government, the 2016 Donald Trump campaign and others. The DNC said that the content and the timing of the emails led the organization to believe it was targeted as part of a wider phishing campaign that cybersecurity firms had previously said appeared to use some of the same technical tricks as a Russian hacking group known as Cozy Bear, or APT 29." --s
Casey Michel of ThinkProgress: "... the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) -- a right-wing group founded 36 years ago -- has deepened connections between America's religious right and Russians even as the latter have been sanctioned by the United States, according to a ThinkProgress investigation. By networking with Russians, the HSLDA -- now America's largest right-wing homeschooling association -- has provided the Kremlin with a new avenue of influence over some of the most conservative organizations in the United States." --s
John Washington of The Intercept (Jan. 15): "Though a lot of attention will be on attorney general nominee William Barr's stance on executive power..., his legacy on immigration also merits strict scrutiny.... Barr's hard-line immigration stance, which runs lockstep with President Donald Trump's, may set the stage for a new volley of attacks against immigrants and asylum-seekers.... As Sarah Pierce, policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute, told me, Barr would 'fit in perfectly with this administration's immigration priorities.'... Bar [sic] saw it as 'overkill' to build a fence along the entire 1,964-mile border, but he advocated for and succeeded in laying the groundwork for a policy that would come to be known as 'Prevention Through Deterrence': building barriers and concentrating enforcement at the parts of the border where it is easiest to cross.... The policy has since resulted in the deaths of thousands of border crossers.... Barr also directly oversaw the expansion of the Border Patrol and ordered the hiring of 200 criminal investigators to combat immigration and crimes committed by 'criminal aliens.'... Barr even blamed the Rodney King riots on immigration, as Dara Lind notes[.]" --s
** Brett McGurk, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The president's decision to leave Syria was made without deliberation, consultation with allies or Congress, assessment of risk, or appreciation of facts.... Trump tweeted, 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria.' But that was not true, and we have continued to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State. Days later, he claimed that Saudi Arabia had 'now agreed to spend the necessary money needed to help rebuild Syria.' But that wasn't true, either, as the Saudis later confirmed. Trump also suggested that U.S. military forces could leave Syria within 30 days, which was logistically impossible. Worse, Trump made this snap decision after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.... Trump's latest proposal, issued via tweet, for a 20-mile safe zone -- which Erdogan says Turkey will establish -- similarly seems to have been made with no process or analysis.... The strategic consequences of Trump's decision are already playing out: The more Turkey expands its reach in Syria, the faster our Arab partners in the region move toward Damascus.... In 2016, [Trump] vowed to 'knock the hell out of ISIS.' His recent choices, unfortunately, are already giving the Islamic State -- and other American adversaries --— new life."
*****
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. -- High Crimes Edition
** Jason Leopold & Anthony Cormier of BuzzFeed News: "... Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter. Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. 'Make it happen,' the sources said Trump told Cohen. And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.... Two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie -- by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did -- in order to obscure Trump's involvement.... Two law enforcement sources said [Trump] had at least 10 face-to-face meetings with Cohen about the [Moscow] deal during the campaign.... The special counsel's office learned about Trump's directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Lordy, I do believe suborning perjury, witness tampering & obstruction of justice would be high crimes. ...
William Barr said the president coaching a witness to give false testimony or to conceal evidence would be obstruction of justice.
— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) January 18, 2019
According to @BuzzFeedNews, Trump directed Cohen to give false testimony to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project: https://t.co/BQcHjYyasM pic.twitter.com/iF7anKgREd
... Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "Democratic leaders reacted with fury and demanded an investigation late Thursday following a new report that President Trump personally directed ... Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the president's push for a lucrative condo project in Moscow in the lead-up to the 2016 election.... Democrats said that if the [BuzzFeed News] report is accurate, Trump must quickly be held to account for his role in the perjury, with some raising the specter of impeachment.... Eric Holder, President Obama's attorney general, tweeted that Congress should start impeachment hearings if the story is accurate. 'If true - and proof must be examined - Congress must begin impeachment proceedings and Barr must refer, at a minimum, the relevant portions of material discovered by Mueller. This is a potential inflection point,' he wrote.... 'If the @Buzzfeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached,' tweeted Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee.... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted, 'Listen, if Mueller does have multiple sources confirming Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress, then we need to know this ASAP. Mueller shouldn't end his inquiry, but it's about time for him to show Congress his cards before it's too late for us to act.'' ...
... Devan Cole & Pamela Brown of CNN: "... Michael Cohen said Thursday that he paid the head of a small technology company thousands in 2015 to rig online polls at "the direction of and for the sole benefit of" Trump. Cohen was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that he paid John Gauger, the owner of RedFinch Solutions LLC, between $12,000 and $13,000 for activities related to Trump's campaign, including 'trying unsuccessfully to manipulate two online polls in Mr. Trump's favor' and creating a Twitter account called '@WomenForCohen' that 'praised (Cohen's) looks and character, and promoted his appearances and statements boosting' Trump's candidacy.... Thursday morning in a statement to CNN, Cohen said his actions were 'at the direction of and for the sole benefit of Donald J. Trump.' I truly regret my blind loyalty to a man who doesn't deserve it.'" Emphasis added. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This follows the Trump Projection Syndrome. Trump complained through the campaign that the polls were rigged & that Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama would rig the election at the same time -- no surprise here -- he was paying some incompetent hack to rig polls.
Yoni Appelbaum in the cover story for the Atlantic: President* Trump "has mounted a concerted challenge to the separation of powers, to the rule of law, and to the civil liberties enshrined in our founding documents. He has purposefully inflamed America's divisions. He has set himself against the American idea, the principle that all of us -- of every race, gender, and creed -- are created equal.... He has routinely privileged his self-interest above the responsibilities of the presidency. He has failed to disclose or divest himself from his extensive financial interests, instead using the platform of the presidency to promote them.... More troubling still Trump has demanded that public officials put their loyalty to him ahead of their duty to the public.... Trump has evinced little respect for the rule of law, attempting to have the Department of Justice launch criminal probes into his critics and political adversaries.... As for the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, Trump has repeatedly trampled upon them.... Trump's actions during his first two years in office clearly meet, and exceed, the criteria to trigger [impeachment].... Impeachment ... is a vital protection against the dangers a president like Trump poses.... With every passing day, Trump further undermines our national commitment to America's ideals.... And what if the Senate does not convict Trump? The fifth benefit of impeachment is that, even when it fails to remove a president, it severely damages his political prospects." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Appelbaum wrote before the Cohen news came out. Now I don't see how the House can avoid impeaching Trump.
Ha Ha. Eileen Sullivan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Rudolph W. Giuliani backtracked on Thursday from a surprising assertion he made a night earlier that left open the possibility that Trump campaign aides might have coordinated with Russia's election interference in 2016. 'There was no collusion by President Trump in any way, shape or form,' Mr. Giuliani said in a statement on Thursday.... 'Likewise, I have no knowledge of any collusion by any of the thousands of people who worked on the campaign.'... Mr. Giuliani was seeking to clarify an interview on Wednesday night in which he stopped short of defending Trump campaign aides, drawing speculation that he might have inside knowledge of possible coordination with Russia.... Mr. Giuliani's backpedaling was the latest in a series of conflicting comments he has made about the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The evolution of his statements have suggested shifts in the president's defense strategy, often following developments in the investigations.... Mr. Trump has maintained that his campaign never aided Russia's meddling, even as the special counsel inquiry has revealed communications between Russians and some Trump campaign aides." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Several pundits have pointed out that Rudy has once again created a big fuss days before a big story comes out. Given the nature of Giuliani's original lie -- "I never said people on Trump's campaign didn't collude with Russians" (paraphrase) -- I'm not sure the big story Rudy anticipated was Trump's instruction to Cohen to lie. There may be another shoe to drop on one or more of Trump's campaign aides. Of course Cohen does also implicate Ivanka & Junior. ...
Trump puts everyone against each other when you work for him. While he demands loyalty, he doesn't return it. Loyalty is not a two-way street, especially when you've got special counsel involved in it. -- Sam Nunberg, former Trump campaign aide ...
... Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani sent an unmistakable message Wednesday night: It's everyone for themselves. During a CNN interview..., Donald Trump's personal lawyer blurted out that the only person he knows about who didn't collude with Russia was Trump himself. Although Giuliani tried to walk back his comments on Thursday, the remarks put the sprawling web of people caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe on notice: no one is coming to save you.... The Team Trump infighting has been a prosecutor's dream for Mueller, opening up an ever-widening window into the behind-the-scenes workings of a rookie politician whose campaign has been under investigation for years. The special counsel and federal prosecutors have already benefited from the internal sniping, flipping Trump&'s former lawyer, national security adviser and campaign chairman." ...
... Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... Rudy Giuliani didn't do his client any favors during a CNN interview on Wednesday night in which he conceded that Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, may have colluded with Russians. Giuliani made that concession while being grilled by host Chris Cuomo about a new revelation that special counsel Robert Mueller believes Manafort shared 'polling data' that was 'related to the 2016 presidential campaign' with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former colleague of Manafort's who allegedly had ties to Russian intelligence.... Before the interview was over, Giuliani's tortured position seemed to be that collusion didn't happen -- but if it did, Trump didn't know about it, and anyway, it was a long time ago and isn&'t provable." ...
... Marcy Wheeler: During his meltdown on CNN, "Rudy even says, 'I have no idea -- never have -- what other people were doing.' Except he did -- or claimed he did. Rudy has claimed over and over again that he's sure the President is not at any risk of being charged with 'collusion' because he knows what all of the critical witnesses -- who are all in a Joint Defense Agreement with the President -- told Mueller.... That's actually not true.... But it is true with respect to one person: Paul Manafort.... Rudy insists that, even if Manafort 'colluded,' the President did not. And yet, the President was in -- remains in, as far as we know -- a Joint Defense Agreement with this guy that Rudy now concedes may have 'colluded' during the election."
Weird News. Shades of Martha Mitchell. Mark Stern of Slate gets a strange email from Marci Whitaker, the wife of acting AG Matt Whitaker.
Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump was startled Tuesday as he watched television coverage of his nominee for attorney general [William Barr] describing a warm relationship with the special counsel Robert Mueller in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to three people familiar with the matter.... He bristled at Barr's description of the close relationship, complaining to aides he didn't realize how much their work overlapped or that they were so close." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Don't know if Trump is hard of hearing or just stupid. (Could be both.) "I told him [Trump] how well I knew Bob Mueller and that the Barrs and Muellers were good friends and would be good friends when this was all over. Bob is a straight-shooter and should be dealt with as such," Barr testified. It's most likely Barr was being truthful here, so we know this: Trump doesn't listen to things he doesn't want to hear. Then he gets mad when, for some other reason, he hears those things.
Kate Sullivan of CNN: "The House Judiciary Committee chairman said Wednesday that his panel would subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller's final report if William Barr..., Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, does not release it to the public. 'If necessary, our committee will subpoena the report. If necessary, we'll get Mueller to testify,' Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, told CNN's Anderson Cooper.... 'The American people need the information here.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jeanne Whalen & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "In a rebuke to the Trump administration, 136 Republicans joined House Democrats Thursday to oppose a Treasury Department plan to lift sanctions against companies controlled by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The overwhelming 362 to 53 vote will not prevent the Trump administration from easing sanctions on three companies connected to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as Senate Republicans narrowly blocked a similar measure on Wednesday. But the House vote does mean that a majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill oppose President Trump's efforts to soften punitive measures on a Russian oligarch -- a rejection with potential implications for the administration's continued stance on Russia, and for the GOP lawmakers who backed the plan to ease the sanctions."
... Mrs. McCrabbie Aside. So 136 House & 11 Senate Republicans voted against lifting sanctions on one of Vlad's buddies. Will someone please explain to me why Not-President Mitt Romney -- who said in 2012 that Russia was the U.S.'s "top geopolitical foe" & who had repeatedly said he would vote against Donald Trump's interests when warranted -- was not among them?
Anton Troianovski & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A model from Belarus who claimed to have recordings shedding light on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia was detained at a Moscow airport Thursday on prostitution allegations, the police said. The model, Anastasia Vashukevich, had been deported from Thailand earlier in the day after spending nine months in prison on charges of conspiracy and soliciting prostitution. She was booked to fly to Minsk, Belarus, but was detained along with three others traveling with her as she changed planes at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, according to her husband and another person traveling with her. No evidence has emerged of the tape that Vashukevich claimed showed contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russians. Her arrest in Moscow was unexpected and blocked her from possibly talking to dozens of journalists waiting for her in the airport's arrivals zone. Gregory Kogan, a close friend of Vashukevich, asserted that Russian and Belarusan diplomats in Thailand had pledged the group would be safe if they left for Russia or flew via Moscow."
The Trump Shutdown, Etc., Ctd.
Annie Karni & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump retaliated on Thursday against Speaker Nancy Pelosi for threatening to cancel his planned State of the Union address, announcing that he, in turn, was postponing an overseas trip she had planned with a congressional delegation that he described as a 'public relations event.' 'I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed,' Mr. Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Ms. Pelosi. 'We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the shutdown is over.'... 'Obviously,' Mr. Trump added, she still had the option of flying commercial.... Ms. Pelosi was scheduled to depart Thursday afternoon, joined by Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and other members of Congress. Military transport is traditionally provided to the House speaker or congressional delegations for foreign trips. But the trips are traditionally kept secret when lawmakers are heading to war zones. The White House has known about the trip since early last week, when it was brought to its attention by the Defense Department, according to White House officials.... A spokesman for Ms. Pelosi, Drew Hammill, responded to the president in a series of tweets, referring to the trip as a 'weekend visit to Afghanistan' that did not include a stop in Egypt.... Mr. Hammill also noted that Mr. Trump had traveled to Iraq during what he referred to as the 'Trump Shutdown.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: No, "obviously" Pelosi could not fly commercial. And not just because Afghanistan is a dangerous country. Since 9/11, the Speaker of the House -- 2nd in line to the presidency -- has not traveled on commercial airliners.
... Erin Banco, et al., of the Daily Beast: "For more than three weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her staff had quietly planned an international trip to Brussels and Afghanistan to check in on America's longest war.... It was time-consuming work, involving coordination between numerous agencies, stakeholders, and international officials along with extra security briefings because of the danger of the destination.... Senior officials at the Pentagon also had been read in on the speaker's plans, especially those regarding her visit to war-torn Afghanistan, where extra security was needed for her time in Kabul. Two senior officials on the ground in Afghanistan said they received the itinerary for the trip, as they do other congressional trips, weeks in advance and held it close to the chest. Fellow members of Congress made similar accommodations as they prepared to accompany the Speaker.... White House officials told CNN that Trump had coordinated with the Department of Defense about the decision to prohibit the use of military aircraft for Pelosi. But as of the time of this publication, staffers in the Pentagon were furiously scrambling to gather information about the cancellation. 'We're still gathering information just like you,' one Pentagon official told The Daily Beast.... Within an hour of the White House's announcement, the Trump campaign was already fundraising off of the tit-for-tat." ...
... Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "The state of government shutdown negotiations is now just two adults treating each other like children. What shiny toy can they take away next as punishment? A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that President Trump delay delivering the State of the Union address in front of Congress due to security concerns while the government is shut down, he seemed to retaliate. Just hours before Pelosi and other members of Congress were to board a military jet to visit troops in Afghanistan, Trump told her she couldn't go.... Pelosi's letter was a strongly worded request..., whereas Trump outright denied Pelosi's travel. Pelosi put the onus on him to do the right thing, but Trump made the decision for her." Mrs. McC: Of course. He man; she woman. He decider; she nag. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Ken W. suggests in today's comments & Frank Rich says in an interview linked below, we're still looking at this:
... (wherein Lucy plays the part of Nancy & Charlie Brown plays Donald) ...
... ** Update. Kevin Breuninger & Dan Mangan of CNBC: "First Lady Melania Trump flew to Florida on a government jet Thursday for a weekend vacation, hours after ... Donald Trump dramatically postponed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip with other members of Congress to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan, NBC confirmed, citing a law enforcement source. President Trump cited the ongoing government shutdown as his reason for postponing Pelosi's travel plans, shortly before she and her team were scheduled to depart on a military plane. While Pelosi was practically grounded by Trump's actions, the president's wife headed to Joint Base Andrews for her own trip on a military aircraft, NBC said. The first lady is expected to be in Florida for the holiday weekend at her family's private Mar-a-Lago resort, according to NBC, which reported that the president is set to stay in Washington. CNN said the flight to Palm Beach was previously scheduled.... The jet was a Boeing C32-A, which is the same kind of plane used to transport the president, the first lady, the vice president and the secretary of state." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So Trump disallows the U.S. military to transport members of Congress to take an official trip to Afghanistan while he approves military transportation for his wife to go on vacation. That's an abuse of office right there.
Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Trump has insisted that he is not going to compromise with Democrats to end the government shutdown, and that he is comfortable in his unbendable position. But privately, it's sometimes a different story. 'We are getting crushed!' Mr. Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, after watching some recent coverage of the shutdown, according to one person familiar with the conversation. 'Why can't we get a deal?'... But despite his public bravado, and the tweets about 'Radical Democrats,' Mr. Trump has had recurring moments of frustration as he takes in negative news coverage of the shutdown, pointing his finger at aides for not delivering the deal he wants." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is hilarious. Trump boasts that he is the world's greatest dealmaker, yet he blames aides for "not delivering the deal he wants." When aides -- and the veep -- have tried to negotiate with Democrats, Trump has undercut them. They can't "deliver the deal" precisely because Trump won't let them. He even undercuts himself: he led Mitch McConnell to believe he would accept the bills McConnell pushed (and passed by voice vote); then changed his mind. Trump can't even negotiate with himself. But never mind all that. All of Trump's failures are somebody else's fault.
When Is a Shutdown Not a Shutdown? Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is asking most State Department employees to return to work on Tuesday, despite the stalemate in funding negotiations between the president and congressional Democrats that has led to a partial government shutdown. In a message posted online on Thursday, the department's deputy under secretary for management, Bill Todd, cited the agency's core national security mission as the reason many furloughed employees were being asked to return to work next week. He said the department was 'taking steps to make additional funds available' so employees could get paid. It was not immediately clear what these steps entailed or why the department did not take these steps sooner. A State Department spokesman said agency budget officials and members of its legal team had been working to find a way to resume payment to many of its employees during the shutdown."
Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "The federal courts are running out of money as the partial government shutdown continues with no end in sight, raising concerns that the legal system will be significantly hobbled if the standoff is not resolved soon. Judges and court officials around the country are bracing for the likelihood that the federal judiciary will be unable to maintain its current operations within the next two weeks, once it exhausts the money it has been relying on since the shutdown began last month. Already, courts have been cutting down on expenses like travel and new hiring. Court-appointed private lawyers who represent indigent defendants have been working without pay since late December, according to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, which provides support for the court system.... Some federal courts have issued orders postponing civil cases in which the Justice Department is a party while the shutdown continues...." ...
... Devlin Barrett& Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "At federal law enforcement agencies from the FBI to the DEA to Customs and Border Protection and others, the frustration about having missed a paycheck last week because of the partial government shutdown is growing into fear and anger, as there are signs that the lack of funds is affecting ongoing investigations.... Most travel and training among the law enforcement agencies has been canceled. Many law enforcement officials said some undercover cases, including corruption probes, have been stymied in recent weeks because supervisors feel they cannot approve travel or cash for those operations. Investigators have been told there is no money to pay informants in some cases, or to covertly buy drugs, or to obtain cash for other criminal investigations, according to law enforcement officials." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe this is the real reason for the Trump shutdown. You were worried Matt Whitaker or Bill Barr would starve the investigations surrounding Trump & his cohort? Trump is staving them already. ...
... Then again, there's this: Patti Davis, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The agents protecting [Trump] and his family are showing up, without pay, for a job in which the central theme is: If bullets fly, step in front of them. He has not said a word about what is happening to these agents because of the government shutdown, which he said he would own. These are men and women with families, with bills to pay, who went through rigorous training to be accepted into the Secret Service, who are serious and dedicated, and don't deserve to be treated as indentured servants whose livelihoods are immaterial." Mrs. McC: Hope you're not trying to find Donald's empathy bone, Patti, because he doesn't have one. But maybe he'll think, "Gee, if these guys are disgruntled, they might not be so keen to die for me." Even that's a compound premise, so a big leap for Trump.
Mr. Munchkin Regrets He's Unable to Testify. David Morgan, et al., of Reuters: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday declined a request by the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives tax committee to testify next week about the partial government shutdown's impact on the upcoming federal tax filing season. In a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, the Treasury Department offered to send senior officials 'who are most knowledgeable' about the department's plans during the shutdown.... 'With more than 70,000 Treasury employees furloughed and missing paychecks, I strongly believe Secretary Mnuchin himself should appear before our committee and answer members' questions,' Neal said in a statement...."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked legislation on Thursday that would have reopened most of the federal government impacted by the partial shutdown. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) tried to get consent to take up a House-passed bill that would reopen all agencies except the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is at the center of the shutdown fight. But McConnell objected. The Senate GOP leader didn't explain his objection from the Senate floor but he has warned for weeks that he will not bring up a government funding bill unless it's the product of an agreement between congressional Democratic leadership and President Trump."
Steve M. cites a poll that demonstrated "Republicans in Congress are representing Republicans; Democrats are representing Americans. ...
... Amy Walter of the Cook Report: "... all the polling released in the last week shows that Trump, not Democrats are taking the blame for the shutdown. Moreover, Democratic voters are more united in the sentiment that it's Trump fault than Republicans are united that the blame should fall on Democrats. Trump's decision to center the debate solely on the construction of a wall (or fence or barrier or steel slats), has also has helped to consolidate Democrats.... Republicans had warned us in numerous ads over the 2018 campaign, Democrats would be hosting anti-ICE protests and defending sanctuary cities. The 'open borders' liberals would be forcing suburban, swing seat members to choose between their moderate constituents and their liberal allies in Congress. But, what's keeping the Democratic caucus from splitting in two ... is that debate isn't about immigration anymore. It's about a wall. And, even [Trump's] own base isn't convinced that a wall is worth it." ...
... Ronald Brownstein of the Atlantic: "A government shutdown that most Americans oppose, on behalf of a border wall that most Americans oppose, might be the logical end point for a president and a political party that appears more and more unconcerned about attracting support from a majority of the public. Donald Trump's decision to precipitate a government shutdown over his demands for money to build a border wall, and the virtual absence of congressional GOP resistance to his approach, shows how comfortable the president and the broader Republican Party around him have grown in pursuing goals that face majority opposition in polls -- so long as they retain the backing of their core supporters.... Trump has abandoned any pretense of seeking to represent majority opinion and is defining himself almost entirely as the leader of a minority faction."
William Broad & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Trump announced Thursday the results of a missile defense review that he said would update a decades-old system and protect the United States from emerging threats -- adopting a Cold War stance while also promoting futuristic ambitions with his much-touted Space Force.... Mr. Trump also offered condolences to the families of four Americans killed in Syria a day earlier and lashed out at Democrats in Congress for refusing to fund a wall on the border with Mexico -- the central issue that has prompted the government shutdown, now in its fourth week. He accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of prohibiting Democrats negotiating with him, calling border security 'another critical matter of national security.' 'Nothing else is going to work,' Mr. Trump said of building a wall. He also said the Democratic Party had been 'hijacked by the open borders fringe.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "The bombing [in Syria that killed 19, including four Americans] raised new questions about Mr. Trump's surprise decision last month to end the American ground war in Syria. Critics of the president's plans, including members of his own party, said Mr. Trump's claim of victory over the Islamic State may have emboldened its fighters and encouraged Wednesday's strike." This story is a substantial of one linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Joe Concha of the Hill: "Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that a senior foreign diplomat had told the network that the deadly suicide attack on U.S. troops in Syria was a 'direct result of the announcement made by President Trump that U.S. forces are pulling out.' 'U.S. allies remain up in arms about the U.S. announcing it is pulling out of Syria,' Griffin reported on Fox News chief anchor Shepard Smith's newscast on Wednesday afternoon." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration separated thousands more migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border than has previously been made public, according to an investigative report released Thursday, but the federal tracking system has been so poor that the precise number is hazy. According to the report issued by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, the separated children include 118 taken between July and early November -- after the administration halted a short-lived family separation effort that provoked a political firestorm and public outrage. The report estimates that thousands of other youngsters were taken starting early in the Trump administration, months before the government announced it would separate children in order to criminally prosecute their parents, through late last spring. Although previous administrations also separated minors from adults at the border in some instances -- usually when they suspected the child was smuggled, or the parent appeared to be unfit -- the report documents a sharp increase in separations under Trump. Based on available records, separated children accounted for 0.3 percent of all unaccompanied minors taken into HHS custody in late 2016, near the end of the Obama administration. By August of 2017, the percentage had increased more than tenfold, to 3.6 percent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Nastiest People Alive. Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Trump administration officials weighed speeding up the deportation of migrant children by denying them their legal right to asylum hearings after separating them from their parents, according to comments on a late 2017 draft of what became the administration's family separation policy obtained by NBC News. The draft also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did 'not have a policy of separating families at the border' but was simply enforcing existing law. The authors noted that the 'increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect.' The draft plan was provided to NBC News by the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D.-Ore., which says it was leaked by a governmen whistleblower."
Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "A former translator for U.S. forces in Afghanistan was released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on Thursday after being threatened with deportation. Mohasif Motawakil left Houston International Airport after being detained for seven days and the visas for himself, his wife and five children will be reinstated, according to a statement from Texas immigrant advocacy group RAICES.... Motawakil and his family were detained on Jan. 10 upon arrival at the airport, apparently threatened with deportation to Kabul, Afghanistan.... He was arrested by immigration officials and placed in detention. His wife and children were later paroled. Motawakil was eligible for a special immigrant visa because he had assisted American military operations in Afghanistan as a translator from 2012-2013, later working as a U.S. contractor in the region.... Four Texas Democrats contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on behalf of Motawakil. Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D) and Joaquin Castro (D) made calls to the agency, while while Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) and Al Green (D) arrived at the airport."
Donovan Slack of USA Today: "An investigation of former Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin largely cleared him of allegations he misused his security detail for shopping and other errands, but concluded he violated ethics rules by allowing his driver to provide transportation for his wife, the VA inspector general said in a report Thursday. Investigators determined Shulkin permitted his driver to transport his wife on several occasions.... Using government vehicles for unofficial purposes was prohibited in this case, and the personal transportation services would have qualified as a gift, the inspector general concluded. Federal ethics rules bar employees from accepting gifts from subordinate staff." (Also linked yesterday.)
"Go Back to Puerto Rico!" Rafael Bernal of the Hill: "During a House vote on reopening the government Thursday, an argument broke out between Republicans and Democrats over a procedural question. During the chaos, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) yelled, 'Go back to Puerto Rico!' [while Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) was speaking in the well.] 'When people blurt things out like that, it certainly sounds like the old saying, "go back to where you came from,'" Cárdenas told The Hill later. 'Since I was a little boy I've heard that blurted at me many times, but it's sad that anything even remotely close to that would be said to me on the floor of the House,' he added." Cárdenas is descended from Mexican immigrants to the U.S. Another GOP Congressman, Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), told Cárdenas the shout was meant to refer to a fact-finding trip Democrats took to Puerto Rico last week. Uh-huh. ...
... Kate Riga of TPM: "House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) took a few minutes in his concluding floor remarks Thursday to scold a Republican representative who shouted 'go back to Puerto Rico!' during Rep. Tony Cardenas' (D-CA) speech on the shutdown. 'I would hope that we could refrain from any implications which have any undertones of prejudice or racism or any kind of -ism that would diminish the character and integrity of one of our fellow members,' Hoyer said." ...
... Jennifer Scholtes, et al., of Politico: "Rep. Tony Cárdenas said Thursday night he has accepted an apology from Rep. Jason Smith, who acknowledged he yelled, 'Go back to Puerto Rico!' at Democrats during a tense situation on the House floor in the day but denied his remark was racially motivated. A Smith aide said the Missouri Republican intended the comment as a shot at House Democrats over their 30-member jaunt to Puerto Rico last weekend -- an event that got heavy coverage in the conservative media -- rather than an attack on a specific lawmaker."
What Are Your GOP Congressmen Doing Today? Brandy Zadrozny & Ben Collins of NBC News: "An alt-right activist who met with two Republican congressmen to discuss 'DNA' and 'genetics' posted on Facebook that he believes Muslims are 'genetically different in their propensity for violence or rape' and linked to stories about how African-Americans 'possessed a "violence" gene.' Chuck Johnson met with Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland and Phil Roe of Tennessee on Thursday. After a Huffington Post reporter tweeted a photo of Johnson with the two congressmen, and the photo attracted media attention because of Johnson's far-right views, Roe released a statement saying he and Harris had met with Johnson because he was representing a company advocating for 'increasing the number of sequenced genomes for research.' Spokespersons for Harris and Roe both confirmed to NBC News that they had met with Johnson Thursday, and a spokesperson for Roe said they had discussed 'DNA' and 'genetics.' Johnson and Harris would not identify the company when asked." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If I had a legitimate concern to share with my own congressperson, I don't believe I could get an appointment with her. Some hapless aide would get stuck listening to me. No one would find me strolling down the halls of the Capitol in my representative's company. But this complete nut job spouting insane social Darwinism theories, for some reason, has gained the attention of not one but two Members of Congress. That Huff Post photo? Something is wrong with that picture.
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), who was just elected to a fifth term, announced Thursday that he is resigning from Congress later this month to accept a job in the private sector[.]... The former prosecutor was one of the first House Republicans to endorse Donald Trump and he was an informal adviser to the candidate. Marino has won handily in his heavily Republican Pennsylvania district, but faced a new reality as Democratic seized majority control of the House last November.... President Trump nominated Marino to be the nation’s drug czar in 2017, but Marino withdrew from consideration following a Washington Post/'60 Minutes' investigation detailing how the lawmaker helped steer legislation through Congress that weakened the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continue to rise." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Frank Rich on Pelosi v. Trump ("I can't resist saying it again: Pelosi is awesome."); Steve King & GOP racism ("From the moment Barry Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to recruit the old Dixie states to the GOP in his presidential run through Chief Justice John Roberts's disembowelment of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, the GOP has been the party of what Richard Nixon codified as the 'Southern strategy': exploiting racial resentments for political gain."); & William Barr ("You are not exactly the crème de la crème of the American bar if the most prominent testimonials to your character include an op-ed 'in the Times' written by Kenneth Starr, whose most recent accomplishment was to ignore a culture of rape at Baylor University, which ousted him as its president and chancellor.")
Beyond the Beltway
Illinois. Samira Puskar & David Li of NBC News: "Three Chicago police officers on Thursday were found not guilty on all charges that they conspired to protect their colleague who shot and killed teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. Officer Thomas Gaffney, ex-Officer Joseph Walsh and former Detective David March were acquitted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct by Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson. 'This court finds that the state has failed to meet its burden on all charges,' Stephenson ruled. 'Defendants are discharged.'... The three officers opted against having a jury hear their case, and instead asked for a bench trial...."
Wisconsin. Todd Richmond of the AP: "A federal judge on Thursday struck down early-voting restrictions Wisconsin Republicans adopted in a December lame-duck legislative session, saying the limits are clearly similar to restrictions he blocked two years ago. Republicans voted in December to limit early voting to no more than two weeks before an election.... The GOP lost every statewide race, but retained majorities in the Legislature and quickly convened the lame-duck session to pass bills that Gov. Scott Walker -- also defeated in the election -- could sign before leaving office.... A coalition of liberal groups with the support of former Democratic U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, asked U.S. District Judge James Peterson to strike down the restrictions three days after Walker signed them into law. Peterson struck down a similar two-week early voting restriction along with a number of other Republican-authored voting laws in 2016. State attorneys have asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse Peterson; that action is still pending. Peterson wrote Thursday that he can enforce his own orders while the appeal is pending."
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