The Commentariat -- May 20, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday said he'll ask [Mrs. McC: actually, demand or order] the Justice Department on Monday to investigate whether the FBI surveilled his campaign. 'I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrate or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!' Trump tweeted." Mrs. McC: Trump, as usual, ignores the arm's-length distance between the president & DOJ that "normal" presidents respect, & it is even worse here in that he is attempting to order the DOJ to interfere with an investigation into his own possible criminal actions.

Alan Rappeport & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The United States has put on hold its plan to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese products as it presses forward with negotiations to reduce its trade deficit with Beijing, a top priority of President Trump. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said on Sunday that the two countries had made progress as they concluded two days of intense trade negotiations in Washington late last week. The planned tariffs -- on Chinese steel and aluminum, as well as $150 billion worth of other Chinese goods -- are off the table while the talks proceed, he said."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump lashed out Sunday at 'the World's most expensive Witch Hunt,' trashing a new report in the New York Times that said an emissary representing the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offered help to Trump's 2016 campaign. In a six-part morning tweetstorm, Trump accused the special counsel's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election of turning to other leads around the world after, in his words, finding no collusion or obstruction of justice in its ongoing probe.... In his tweets, Trump asserted, without evidence, that investigations into his campaign's connections with Russia have cost taxpayers nearly $20 million and suggested that it is a politically motivated effort to undermine his presidency. The president said Democrats were in charge of the probe, even though Mueller, a Republican, was appointed head of the FBI by President George W. Bush, a Republican, in 2001." ...

... Here are Trump's tweets, in the order released: (1) If the FBI or DOJ was infiltrating a campaign for the benefit of another campaign, that is a really big deal. Only the release or review of documents that the House Intelligence Committee (also, Senate Judiciary) is asking for can give the conclusive answers. Drain the Swamp! (2) Things are really getting ridiculous. The Failing and Crooked (but not as Crooked as Hillary Clinton) @nytimes has done a long & boring story indicating that the World's most expensive Witch Hunt has found nothing on Russia & me so now they are looking at the rest of the World! (3) ....At what point does this soon to be $20,000,000 Witch Hunt, composed of 13 Angry and Heavily Conflicted Democrats and two people who have worked for Obama for 8 years, STOP! They have found no Collussion with Russia, No Obstruction, but they aren't looking at the corruption... (4) ...in the Hillary Clinton Campaign where she deleted 33,000 Emails, got $145,000,000 while Secretary of State, paid McCabes wife $700,000 (and got off the FBI hook along with Terry M) and so much more. Republicans and real Americans should start getting tough on this Scam. (5) Now that the Witch Hunt has given up on Russia and is looking at the rest of the World, they should easily be able to take it into the Mid-Term Elections where they can put some hurt on the Republican Party. Don't worry about Dems FISA Abuse, missing Emails or Fraudulent Dossier! (6) What ever happened to the Server, at the center of so much Corruption, that the Democratic National Committee REFUSED to hand over to the hard charging (except in the case of Democrats) FBI? They broke into homes & offices early in the morning, but were afraid to take the Server? (7) ....and why hasn't the Podesta brother been charged and arrested, like others, after being forced to close down his very large and successful firm? Is it because he is a VERY well connected Democrat working in the Swamp of Washington, D.C.? ...

... Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on Sunday that he doesn't understand why President Trump doesn't realize that it's illegal for a foreign nation [to] interfere in U.S. elections.... While he said he wasn't sure if the Times report was completely accurate, Warner ... told CNN the U.S. knew that Russia had interfered in the election 'to not only sow disarray but to help Trump and hurt Clinton.'"

... Kyla Mandel of ThinkProgress: "Over the course of the Mueller investigation the ties between the administration and Qatar seem to have been multiplying by the day.... Now, a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing shows that [Michael] Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, also lobbied last year for the State of Qatar and its ambassador [Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad] Al Thani." --safari

Brad Reed of RawStory: "Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold on Friday raised questions about a mysterious surge in revenue that occurred over the past year at two of President Donald Trump's overseas golf courses. Writing on Twitter, Fahrenthold uses some recent financial disclosures from the Trump Organization to show that revenue at a Trump golf course in Ireland rose by 51 percent year-over-year from 2017 to 2018, while revenue at a Scottish Trump golf course surged by 87 percent year-over-year from 2017 to 2018.... It's important that these two courses saw substantial increases, Fahrenthold writes, because many of Trump's US-based golf courses and hotels saw year-over-year decreases in revenue from 2017 to 2018." --safari

Blame It on Ritalin & Abortion. Frances Sellers & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Two days after a 17-year-old opened fire in his Texas high school, killing at least 10, incoming National Rifle Association president Oliver North said students 'shouldn't have to be afraid' to go to school and blamed the problem on 'youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence' in which many young boys have 'been on Ritalin' since early childhood. 'They've been drugged in many cases,' he said.... Texas Lt Gov. Dan Patrick (R) blamed the social acceptance of abortion and violent video games for the epidemic of school gun violence." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Patrick may see Cecile Richards, who is retiring from Planned Parenthood & whose mother was governor of Texas, as a potential rival for Texas' top job. So abortion.

Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "All 34 of Chile's Catholic bishops have submitted their written resignations to the Vatican in the latest fallout from a major child sex abuse scandal rocking the South American nation. The unprecedented move puts the bishops' fate in the hands of Pope Francis, who can either accept the resignations or reject them.... The heinous nature of the accusations in Chile contributed to the Vatican's decision to conduct a full-scale investigation of dioceses, seminaries, and religious orders in the South American nation." --safari

*****

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It turns out there is a cost to Reality Chex, but of course it's easy to shoplift here, & I'll never be the wiser. The price is this: I'd like you to read Josh Barro's column. I've never said or written nearly as well what he writes. Thanks to those who pay at the door:

... ** Josh Barro of Business Insider: "Here's one reason the Trump corruption scandals aren't connecting as much as they should: Before Democrats spent the past 18 months telling everyone this is not normal, they spent years reassuring voters that this was normal. Well, not precisely this. But the general this: politicians having extensive financial conflicts of interest. Democrats told voters that taking high-dollar speaking fees right before you run for president from the industries you might regulate should you become president was just something everybody does. They said it was unsophisticated to worry if entities related to you had been fundraising from countries with foreign-policy interests before the US. They said nobody would object if a man did these things. They said you should look past the finances and understand that the Clintons shared your values and had your best interests at heart. Of course, the Clintons' behavior was never normal. They had the second-deepest set of financial conflicts of interest we've seen in a national political operation in my lifetime -- second only to Trumpworld.... More than any other individuals, Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for creating the impression of inevitable corruption that Trump has exploited to get his supporters to shrug off his own corruption."

The Trump International Corruption Program -- Middle East Unit:

** Junior, Busted Again. Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr.... One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor. The meeting was convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months -- past the election and well into President Trump's first year in office.... Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, [headed a company] which employed several Israeli former intelligence officers, specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media.... Donald Trump Jr. responded approvingly..., and after those initial offers of help, Mr. Nader was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers -- meeting frequently with Jared Kushner ... and Michael T. Flynn.... After Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Nader paid Mr. Zamel a large sum of money, described by one associate as up to $2 million. There are conflicting accounts of the reason for the payment.... The meetings, which have not been reported previously, are the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to the Trump campaign...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: How come the Saudis didn't give Junior & Jared shiny gold medals, too?

... Marcy Wheeler: "Today's NYT scoop revealing that the Trump campaign colluded not just with Russians, but also Saudis, Emirates, and Israelis explain why the discovery of the later meetings was so dangerous: because it would reveal other efforts Trump made to sell out American foreign policy." Mrs. McC: Wheeler ties the meeting to Devin Nunes' "unmasking" hoo-hah in a way that is somewhat opaque to me. ...

... Emily Stewart of Vox: "There are multiple reasons the report matters. It indicates that it wasn't just Russia that was offering to help the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 election. It also raises questions about what sort of repayment the Middle East countries in question might have received for their help. And it demonstrates the Trump campaign's reckless -- if not nefarious -- attitude toward campaign laws in the United States.... During the 2016 campaign, [George] Nader visited Moscow at least twice as a confidential emissary from Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, and he helped to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles between [Erik] Prince and a Russian businessman close to Vladimir Putin that [Robert] Mueller has also been probing. Companies tied to Zamel have connections to Russia as well." ...

... The Prince & the Perjury. Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "... on November 30, 2017, [Erik Prince] told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, under oath, that he had no formal communication or contact with the Trump campaign, other than occasionally sending 'papers' on foreign policy matters to Steve Bannon.... 'So there was no formal communication or contact with the campaign?' Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) asked Prince during his interview by the Intelligence Committee. 'Correct,' Prince responded.... Prince also told the committee that he met Trump Jr. 'at a campaign event,' and at Trump Tower 'during the transition.' He did not mention the meeting with Trump Jr. and [George] Nader.... Prince [also told the Committee] a meeting he attended in Seychelles during the presidential transition with a Russian financier close to Vladimir Putin was an unplanned encounter. Nader, who is cooperating with [Robert] Mueller, has told investigators that he arranged for Prince to travel to the Seychelles to meet Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a Russian sovereign wealth fund, after giving Prince information about Dmitriev, according to ABC."

** Quinta Jurecic & Benjamin Wittes of Lawfire: "It wasn't that long ago that both the executive branch and the legislature in this country considered the protection of intelligence sources a matter of surpassing national importance.... In 1982 by passing the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which criminalized the knowing and intentional outing of U.S. covert operatives and intelligence sources whom the government is taking active steps to protect.... What happens when the Chairman of the House intelligence committee and the President of the United States team up to out an FBI informant over the strenuous objection of the bureau and the Department of Justice -- and manage to get the job done?... Donald Trump did not leak the name of an intelligence source, and the record is not at all clear that Devin Nunes or his staff did so either. But the record is entirely clear that both men behaved in a way that actively contributed to the outing of an informant.... Trump's tweets on Friday made it impossible for the press to continue holding back what they had...." Read it all. ...

... ** AND, for an opposing -- and fascinating -- view, do read Glenn Greenwald, who also names the informant: "Four decades ago, [this same informant] was responsible for a long-forgotten spying scandal involving the 1980 election, in which the Reagan campaign -- using CIA officials managed by [the informant], reportedly under the direction of former CIA Director and then-Vice-Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush -- got caught running a spying operation from inside the Carter administration. The plot involved& CIA operatives passing classified information about Carter's foreign policy to Reagan campaign officials in order to ensure the Reagan campaign knew of any foreign policy decisions that Carter was considering.... Whatever else is true, the CIA operative and FBI informant used to gather information on the Trump campaign in the 2016 campaign has, for weeks, been falsely depicted as a sensitive intelligence asset rather than what he actually is: a long-time CIA operative with extensive links to the Bush family who was responsible for a dirty and likely illegal spying operation in the 1980 presidential election. For that reason, it's easy to understand why many people in Washington were so desperate to conceal his identity, but that desperation had nothing to do with the lofty and noble concerns for national security they claimed were motivating them."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I find it difficult to take seriously any adult who refers to himself as Lucian K. Truscott IV, but IV's essay in Salon seems to echo my own sentiments (which, naturally, makes me question my own sentiments): "What more do you need to know? [Donald Trump is] a lying, thieving, incompetent, ignorant traitor who conspired with the Russian government to steal the election of 2016 and illegally defeat a candidate who won the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots. His presidency is illegitimate, and his occupation of the White House is a stain on our nation's honor and a threat to our democracy. History will cast him into the same sewer in which float the putrid remains of Benedict Arnold, Jefferson Davis and Richard Nixon. Impeachment would be too kind an end for him. He belongs behind bars, broken, bankrupt and disgraced."

Melania Trump Hospitalized 5 Days for Name Change. AP: Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday from a week-long hospitalization after treatment for a kidney condition, a lengthy stay that raised questions about whether the first lady's condition may have been more complicated than initially revealed. Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, has declined to release additional details, citing Trump's right to privacy. Donald Trump heralded his wife's arrival home with a tweet in which her name was spelled incorrectly. 'Great to have our incredible First Lady back home in the White House.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Sarah Sanders released a statement explaining that Mrs. Trump required a long hospitalization because the name change was "extremely painful." But the President*, Sanders said, "in keeping with his dedication to a strictly 'America First' policy, obviously was right to require his wife to have a more American name." Sanders did not remark that the President*'s family had changed its own surname from "Drumpf" to "Trump."

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "China will increase its purchase of American goods and services in order to reduce the multibillion-dollar trade imbalance with the United States, the two countries said in a joint statement Saturday. How much the imbalance will be reduced remains to be seen.... The White House said that China had committed to buying more agriculture and energy exports, but noted that American officials would at some point go to China to work out the details of their agreement.... The announcement Saturday made no reference to whether the Trump administration would walk away from tariffs imposed this year on roughly $50 billion of Chinese imports. But Liu He, an economic adviser who led the negotiations for China, suggested that both sides would stop recently imposed tariffs, according to China's Xinhua News Agency."

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "A personalized visit to Joshua Tree National Park. A spin through the West Wing, guided by White House staffers. And a trip to the top of the Lincoln Memorial, which is closed to the public. Such VIP tours of National Park Service sites, some at the height of the tourist season, came at the request of either Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke or his wife, Lola, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Several excursions were scheduled specifically for friends and acquaintances. Under both Democratic and Republican presidents, top Interior officials have long given lawmakers and White House officials tours of Park Service sites and other courtesies at the agency's disposal. Several Obama administration officials -- including Vice President Joe Biden -- stayed for free at the Brinkerhoff Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, only to reimburse the government later when their visits came under fire after a FOIA disclosure." Among the recipients of these VIP tours: "friends from England" & Lola's boat broker.

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News filed by a former on-air host, Andrea Tantaros, who had alleged that the network retaliated against her after she complained about being sexually harassed.... On Friday, however, Judge George B. Daniels of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote that Ms. Tantaros's allegations were 'based primarily on speculation and conjecture.' In dismissing the suit, the judge noted that Ms. Tantaros 'fails to adequately make out the basic elements of her claims.'" Mrs. McC: Well, that fits. Tantaros' entire political commentary was "based primarily on speculation and conjecture." That is of course Fox "News"' fundamental modus operandi, but apparently Fox attorneys know it doesn't work so well in court.

Martin Cizmar of the Raw Story: "Starbucks is reacting to a run of bad publicity that started with racist employees calling the cops on two black men in Philadelphia by making radical changes to its policies. Now, every location of Starbucks will be open to anyone who wants to hang out, reports the Wall Street Journal. Also, anyone who needs to use a restroom will be able to do so."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Maureen Brigid Dowd: Ireland "is in the midst of an excruciating existential battle over whether it should keep its adamantine abortion statute, giving an unborn baby equal rights with the mother. Under the Eighth Amendment, abortions are illegal, even in cases of rape or incest. The only exception is when it is believed that the mother will die. Anyone caught buying pills online to induce a miscarriage faces up to 14 years in prison. The Eighth Amendment was added in 1983 to the Irish Constitution, a document drawn up in 1937 that was so steeped in Catholic principle, it was submitted to the Vatican for review. Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and other opponents of the amendment want to repeal it and craft a new law that gives women and doctors more options, perhaps allowing abortions for up to 12 weeks, and beyond in certain cases." Mrs. McC: When Dowd is good, she is very, very good. ...

... AND Ross Douthat is Ross Douthat, "obsessed with punishing women," to borrow a phrase from Niall Dowd, whom Dowd cites. Mrs. McC: Oh, forgive me, I forgot the link.

The Commentariat -- May 19, 2018

Afternoon Update:

** Junior, Busted Again. Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr.... One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor. The meeting was convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months -- past the election and well into President Trump's first year in office.... Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, [headed a company] which employed several Israeli former intelligence officers, specialized in collecting information and shaping opinion through social media.... Donald Trump Jr. responded approvingly..., and after those initial offers of help, Mr. Nader was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers -- meeting frequently with Jared Kushner ... and Michael T. Flynn.... After Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Nader paid Mr. Zamel a large sum of money, described by one associate as up to $2 million. There are conflicting accounts of the reason for the payment.... The meetings, which have not been reported previously, are the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to the Trump campaign...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: How come the Saudis didn't give Junior & Jared shiny gold medals, too?

... Marcy Wheeler: "Today's NYT scoop revealing that the Trump campaign colluded not just with Russians, but also Saudis, Emirates, and Israelis explain why the discovery of the later meetings was so dangerous: because it would reveal other efforts Trump made to sell out American foreign policy." Mrs. McC: Wheeler ties the meeting to Devin Nunes' "unmasking" hoo-hah in a way that is somewhat opaque to me. ...

... Emily Stewart of Vox: "There are multiple reasons the report matters. It indicates that it wasn't just Russia that was offering to help the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 election. It also raises questions about what sort of repayment the Middle East countries in question might have received for their help. And it demonstrates the Trump campaign's reckless -- if not nefarious -- attitude toward campaign laws in the United States.... During the 2016 campaign, [George] Nader visited Moscow at least twice as a confidential emissary from Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, and he helped to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles between [Erik] Prince and a Russian businessman close to Vladimir Putin that [Robert] Mueller has also been probing. Companies tied to Zamel have connections to Russia as well." ...

... Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "... on November 30, 2017, [Erik Prince] told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, under oath, that he had no formal communication or contact with the Trump campaign, other than occasionally sending 'papers' on foreign policy matters to Steve Bannon.... 'So there was no formal communication or contact with the campaign?' Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) asked Prince during his interview by the Intelligence Committee. 'Correct,' Prince responded.... Prince also told the committee that he met Trump Jr. 'at a campaign event,' and at Trump Tower 'during the transition.' He did not mention the meeting with Trump Jr. and [George] Nader.... Prince [also told the Committee] a meeting he attended in Seychelles during the presidential transition with a Russian financier close to Vladimir Putin was an unplanned encounter. Nader, who is cooperating with [Robert] Mueller, has told investigators that he arranged for Prince to travel to the Seychelles to meet Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a Russian sovereign wealth fund, after giving Prince information about Dmitriev, according to ABC." ...

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "A personalized visit to Joshua Tree National Park. A spin through the West Wing, guided by White House staffers. And a trip to the top of the Lincoln Memorial, which is closed to the public. Such VIP tours of National Park Service sites, some at the height of the tourist season, came at the request of either Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke or his wife, Lola, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Several excursions were scheduled specifically for friends and acquaintances. Under both Democratic and Republican presidents, top Interior officials have long given lawmakers and White House officials tours of Park Service sites and other courtesies at the agency's disposal. Several Obama administration officials -- including Vice President Joe Biden -- stayed for free at the Brinkerhoff Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, only to reimburse the government later when their visits came under fire after a FOIA disclosure." Among the recipients of these VIP tours: "friends from England" & Lola's boat broker.

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News filed by a former on-air host, Andrea Tantaros, who had alleged that the network retaliated against her after she complained about being sexually harassed.... On Friday, however, Judge George B. Daniels of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote that Ms. Tantaros's allegations were 'based primarily on speculation and conjecture.' In dismissing the suit, the judge noted that Ms. Tantaros 'fails to adequately make out the basic elements of her claims.'" Mrs. McC: Well, that fits. Tantaros' entire political commentary was "based primarily on speculation and conjecture." That is of course Fox "News"' fundamental modus operandi, but apparently Fox attorneys know it doesn't work so well in court.

*****

Julie Davis & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "On Friday, Mr. Trump once again expressed heartbreak and frustration about a deadly school shooting that killed 10 people at a high school in Santa Fe, Tex., and said his administration would do 'everything in our power' to keep guns away from those who should not have them.... There was little indication that Mr. Trump's White House intended to make a new and aggressive push for gun restrictions.... After 17 students and teachers were shot to death at a Florida high school in February, President Trump vowed to challenge both the National Rifle Association and his Republican allies in Congress by taking major action to improve school safety and impose new restrictions on guns. In the months afterward, Mr. Trump backed down on most of those promises, telling N.R.A. members this month that their Second Amendment rights would 'never ever be under siege as long as I am your president.'... In October, the president also vowed to prevent a repeat of the massacre at a concert in Las Vegas. Since he took office, there have been mass shootings at a congressional baseball practice, a church in Texas, a Waffle House and more than a dozen other places."

Bob Mueller, Take Note:

Articles of Impeachment adopted by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974.... Article 2. Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon..., has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.... In disregard of the rule of law, he knowingly misused the executive power by interfering with agencies of the executive branch..., in violation of his duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

Some administration officials say several of Trump's attacks aimed at Amazon have come in response to articles in The Post that he didn't like. -- Washington Post ...

... POTUS* Tries to Use Office to Punish Perceived Enemies. Damian Paletta & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has personally pushed U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other firms to ship packages, according to three people familiar with their conversations, a dramatic move that probably would cost these companies billions of dollars. Brennan has so far resisted Trump's demand, explaining in multiple conversations occurring this year and last that these arrangements are bound by contracts and must be reviewed by a regulatory commission, the three people said. She has told the president that the Amazon relationship is beneficial for the Postal Service and gave him a set of slides that showed the variety of companies, in addition to Amazon, that also partner for deliveries. Despite these presentations, Trump has continued to level criticism at Amazon. And last month, his critiques culminated in the signing of an executive order mandating a government review of the financially strapped Postal Service that could lead to major changes in the way it charges Amazon and others for package delivery." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... "An Unusually Outrageous Abuse of Power." Steve Benen: "Donald Trump has reportedly been 'obsessed' with Amazon.com for quite a while, apparently because the online retailer is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post. It's like a political bank shot of presidential contempt: the Republican hates the newspaper's coverage, which leads Trump to hate its owner, which then leads the president to hate its owner's other businesses. To that end, Trump has argued, publicly and privately, that Amazon is a tax-dodging company that unfairly exploits the U.S. Postal Service.... If it's true that this president used his office to try to punish a company he dislikes personally, that's an unusually outrageous abuse of power. Indeed, the closer one looks, the more unsettling the story appears: Trump disapproves of one of the nation's largest and most important news organizations, and he's reportedly acted on those frustrations by urging the U.S. Postmaster General to penalize one of his perceived enemies. Not to put too fine a point on this, but in the United States, a president can't use his office to retaliate against private businesses whose owners hurt his feelings." ...

... "Old Man Still Confused about What Exactly the Post Office Does." Bryan Menegus of Gizmodo: "All an average person needs to know is that mail goes in a mailbox, and, with relative expedience, it shows up where it's addressed to go. Donald Trump, being the president, is not most people. That makes his unique ignorance about how the agency works all the more embarrassing, both for us as a nation, and ... for current Postmaster General Megan Brennan.... The Post reports that Brennan eventually tried to explain the non-issue to the president using visual aids, out of we imagine had to be sheer exasperation: 'She has told the president that the Amazon relationship is beneficial for the Postal Service and gave him a set of slides that showed the variety of companies, in addition to Amazon, that also partner for deliveries.' Unfortunately we have to conclude the attempt to get Trump to bow out of the world's dumbest pissing match was ultimately a failure."

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump accused the F.B.I. on Friday, without evidence, of sending a spy to secretly infiltrate his 2016 campaign 'for political purposes' even before the bureau had any inkling of the 'phony Russia hoax.' In fact, F.B.I. agents sent an informant to talk to two campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign. The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain, made contact late that summer with one campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, according to people familiar with the matter. He also met repeatedly in the ensuing months with the other aide, Carter Page, who was also under F.B.I. scrutiny for his ties to Russia.... Over the past two days, Mr. Trump has used speculative news reports about the informant, mostly from conservative media, to repeatedly assail the Russia investigation.... No evidence has emerged that the informant acted improperly when the F.B.I. asked for help in gathering information on the former campaign advisers, or that agents veered from the F.B.I.'s investigative guidelines and began a politically motivated inquiry, which would be illegal." ...

     ... AND There's This. The informant also had contacts with [Michael] Flynn. The two met in February 2014, when Mr. Flynn was running the Defense Intelligence Agency and attended the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, an academic forum for former spies and researchers that meets a few times a year.... The source was alarmed by the general's apparent closeness with a Russian woman who was also in attendance. The concern was strong enough that it prompted another person to pass on a warning to the American authorities that Mr. Flynn could be compromised by Russian intelligence.... ...>

... Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "In recent days, Trump and his allies have escalated their claims that the FBI source improperly spied on the campaign.... There is no evidence to suggest someone was planted with the campaign. The source in question engaged in a months-long pattern of seeking out and meeting three different Trump campaign officials.... In late summer, the professor met with Trump campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis for coffee in Northern Virginia, offering to provide foreign-policy expertise to the Trump effort." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that the NYT & WashPo have effectively outted the FBI source. The Times notes, "The informant is well known in Washington circles...," and the WashPo reports, "has confirmed the identity of the FBI source who assisted the investigation, but is not reporting his name following warnings from U.S. intelligence officials that exposing him could endanger him or his contacts." Well, the source & those contacts are in danger now. The Washington Examiner names him, and so does Ken Dilanian of NBC News. ...

... ** Asha Rangappa in a Washington Post op-ed explains the difference between FBI criminal investigations & counterintelligence ops: "Ironically, the FBI's apparent attempt to protect the campaign by investigating Russia's efforts quietly is now being weaponized against it. Accusations that the FBI was 'spying' on the Trump campaign -- rather than spying on foreign spies, which is its job -- erase the important distinctions between counterintelligence and criminal investigations. I also displays a shocking ignorance of the devastating consequences to our national security if the Justice Department hands over the information that Nunes is demanding: 'Burning' the FBI's purported source and exposing how it obtained intelligence against Russia's efforts only helps Russia cover its tracks, change tactics and improve its future operations against the United States. The Trump administration's assault against the FBI's efforts to assess a national security threat posed by suspected foreign agents only raises more questions about what went on in 2016. Trump ... should be glad to know that the FBI appears to have been trying to thwart a hostile country's efforts to infiltrate his campaign." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I recall reading that way back when Trump first began getting national security briefings that briefers warned him that Russian agents were attempting to infiltrate his campaign. Trump & Co.'s attacks on counterintelligence agents are unconscionable. Trump's attacks should be added to articles of impeachment.

Donald CliffClavin McNasty is still attacking Andy McCabe: "Why isn’t disgraced FBI official Andrew McCabe being investigated for the $700,000 Crooked Hillary Democrats in Virginia, led by Clinton best friend Terry M (under FBI investigation that they killed) gave to McCabe's wife in her run for office? Then dropped case on Clinton!"

Andrew Desiderio of the Daily Beast: "Three top senators on Friday requested rare multi-agency inspector-general investigations into the Trump administration's failure to fully implement congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia. In a letter addressed to the inspectors general of the State Department, Treasury Department and Intelligence Community, the Democratic lawmakers ... Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) ... said the administration has not complied with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed overwhelmingly and signed into law last year in part to punish Russia for its election-meddling and its incursions into eastern Europe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Cohen Tried to Shake Down Marks Right up until the FBI Raided His office. Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "The stakes for Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen certainly changed when Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti released records showing that Cohen's shell corporation Essential Consultants, LLC, was paid by major companies. But the stakes got worse when companies said Cohen was the one approaching them about various consulting opportunities.... You can add a recent meeting Cohen reportedly had in Florida with a Qatari official ... the minister of economy & commerce ... to the list of now-questionable activity. It reportedly occurred days before the April 9, 2018 FBI raid of Cohen's home, office and hotel room.... The Qatar Embassy said Cohen requested the meeting but didn't say if it took place."

David Stern of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has been meeting over the last year with a Ukrainian lawmaker at the center of a controversial plan to end his country's conflict with Russia.... Andrii Artemenko told Politico that FBI agents had peppered him with 'assorted questions' over 'at least' two interviews about his 'meetings, dealings and the questions discussed with various levels of the American political establishment.'... In total, Artemenko said, he was presented with a list of more than 140 questions and is now scheduled to appear under oath before a grand jury on June 1. Artemenko has become a figure of interest in Mueller's Russia probe because of his attempts to back-channel a deal to ... Donald Trump that would have had his administration drop sanctions against Russia imposed by the Obama White House.... Artemenko has drawn additional scrutiny because he attempted to shuttle this plan to the White House via two Trump associates now of interest to investigators -- Trump business associate Felix Sater and Michael Cohen...."

Mark Hosenball & Nathan Layne of Reuters: "U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed a key assistant of long-time Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, two people with knowledge of the matter said, the latest sign that Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election is increasingly focusing on Stone. The subpoena was recently served on John Kakanis, 30, who has worked as a driver, accountant and operative for Stone. Kakanis has been briefly questioned by the FBI on the topics of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the WikiLeaks website, its founder Julian Assange, and the hacker or hackers who call themselves Guccifer 2.0, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said. Mueller has not scheduled a grand jury appearance for Kakanis, the person said."

Digby in Salon: "Trump's defenders are prepared to argue that if a presidential candidate conspires with a foreign adversary to sabotage a rival's campaign -- and secretly offer favors for the benefit of that adversary -- it's not a crime. That's the way the game is played. Richard Nixon famously said, 'If the president does it, it's not illegal.' It appears that Trump is taking that concept to a whole other level, especially when you consider he wasn't president when this stuff was happening: 'If the right presidential candidate does it, it is positively virtuous.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Rudy Is Saying Stuff

Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "... Rudolph W. Giuliani said Friday that he has been told 'off the record' that there was at least one informant for the FBI or Justice Department embedded in Trump's presidential campaign, but he admitted that he and the president do not know whether that's true. Trump alleged in a Thursday morning tweet that during the Obama administration, the FBI placed 'an embedded informant' inside his presidential campaign to improperly spy on him.... On Friday morning, the president tweeted this quote that he attributed to Fox Business Network anchor David Asman: 'Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn't commit.' Trump then added his own commentary: 'Really bad stuff!' Later Friday morning, Trump repeated his allegation that the FBI 'implanted' someone in his campaign. But this time he added a caveat, 'If true.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Rudy Giuliani just made a big two-word concession: 'He can.' That's what Giuliani said Friday morning when asked by CNN's Chris Cuomo about whether a president can obstruct justice. And it contradicts the case that President Trump's now-former lawyer John Dowd had made. Dowd told Axios in December: 'The president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution's Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case.' And there is some legitimate debate on that point. But apparently Giuliani disagrees. Trump's own lawyer said Friday that his client is not immune from charges of obstructing justice -- which is clearly the most troubling part of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation for Trump personally." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Only Democratic Presidents Have to Comply with Subpoenas. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Rudy Giuliani went on an angry tirade against Chris Cuomo on Friday after the CNN host played an old clip of him saying that presidents must comply with subpoenas to testify. During the CNN interview, Giuliani claimed that back in the 1990s, he simply argued that former President Bill Clinton couldn't ignore subpoenas to hand over documents as part of the Whitewater probe. The former New York mayor then said [to Cuomo] that he would never have argued that a sitting president must comply with a subpoena asking him to testify. Cuomo then rolled the clip of Giuliani being interviewed by Charlie Rose in which Rose directly asked him about whether a president must obey a subpoena to testify -- and Giuliani said he did. Giuliani at this point began ranting at Cuomo and accused him of being 'unfair' to him...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Surprise! Come on Down, Bob, You Just Won a Place in the Rotating Cabinet Sweepstakes! Eileen Sullivan & Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Friday that he intended to nominate Robert Wilkie, the acting secretary of veterans affairs, to take over the sprawling agency, a move that the president said would surprise Mr. Wilkie because he was learning about it only as it was being revealed. The president made the announcement ahead of a public event about prison reform as he praised members of his cabinet who have worked on the issue. The president said, 'Acting Secretary Wilkie, who, by the way, has done an incredible job at the V.A. and I'll be informing him in a little while -- he doesn't know this yet -- but, we're going to be putting his name up.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As usual, Trump is taking great care in the process of nominating Cabinet members.

Ariana Cha & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is proposing a far-reaching change in the distribution of Title X family-planning funds that would make clinics that provide abortion services or referrals ineligible for the federal funding. The move would potentially defund Planned Parenthood by millions of dollars. Under the proposal filed Thursday and announced Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services, the $260 million program would require a 'bright line' of physical and financial separation between Title X services and providers that perform or support abortion services or refer to abortion as a method of family planning. These requirements are similar to those that were in place, although not enforced, during Ronald Reagan's presidency.... The policy would have ripple effects far beyond Planned Parenthood.... Planned Parenthood as well as other proponents, such as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), said Friday they were prepared to challenge the proposed rule in court. It will take several months before the rule will take effect, because HHS must first subject it to public comment, respond to that feedback, and issue a final version of the proposal."

Erica Werner & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A sweeping farm bill failed in the House on Friday in a blow to GOP leaders who were unable to placate conservative lawmakers demanding commitments on immigration. The House leadership put the bill on the floor gambling it would pass despite unanimous Democratic opposition. They negotiated with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus up to the last minutes. But their gamble failed. The vote was 213 to 198, with 30 Republicans joined 183 Democrats in defeating bill. The outcome exposed what is becoming an all-out war within the House GOP over immigration, a divisive fight the Republicans did not want to have heading into midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "Dangerous equipment has once again gone missing at the U.S. Air Force base in North Dakota that operates aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can deliver nuclear warheads. Days after Minot Air Force Base reported that one of its squadrons protecting intercontinental ballistic missile silos had lost a 42-pound box of explosive grenade rounds while traveling on a gravel road, the same base said a machine gun turned up missing in a routine inventory of the facility's weapons."

Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: “'Born to kill' was the disturbing message on a T-shirt that appeared in a Facebook post by Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, whom authorities identified Friday as the suspect in an attack on Santa Fe High School in Texas. At least 10 people are dead. Mr. Pagourtzis, a student at the school, was in police custody.... The governor [Greg Abbott (R)] said he used a shotgun and a .38 revolver, and both weapons appeared to have been obtained from the suspect's father, who legally owned them. Investigators are still determining a motive, but the social media trail Mr. Pagourtzis left in his wake shows a young man obsessed with violence. Mr. Abbott said the authorities had not had any previous contact with the gunman that would have alerted them." (See related links under yesterday's News Ledes.) ...

... Kelly Weill & Kate Briquelet of the Daily Beast: "Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the suspected gunman who opened fire at a Texas high school on Friday morning, apparently posted photos of neo-Nazi iconography online, according to social media accounts flagged by classmates and reviewed by The Daily Beast. Pagourtzis, 17, was booked into Galveston County Jail for capital murder on Friday. He allegedly killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School, where he was a student Explosive devices were left inside the school near Houston, authorities said. Pagourtzis reportedly had an assault-style rifle, shotgun, and pistol." ...

... Saeed Ahmed & Christina Walker of CNN: "We're only 20 weeks into 2018, and there have already been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That averages out to more than 1 shooting a week." ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The school shooting near Houston on Friday bolstered a stunning statistic: More people have been killed at schools this year than have been killed while serving in the military.... The figures for 2018 do not suggest schools are more dangerous than combat zones. After all, there are more than 50 million students in public elementary and high schools and only about 1.3 million members of the armed forces. So far in 2018, a member of the military has been about 40 times as likely to be killed as someone is to die in a school shooting...." ...

... Tess Owen of Vice News: "After Friday's shooting at a Texas high school, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos quickly put out a statement offering her prayers for those affected by the massacre. She also highlighted the efforts of the federal commission on school safety, formed in March in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. But despite DeVos's words, it's unclear what -- if anything -- the commission has actually been doing over the last two months, and a variety of groups involved in school safety say they've grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of action and transparency.... In the meantime, there have been 10 school shootings since the Valentine's Day massacre in Parkland that left 17 people dead...."

News Lede

New York Times: "A 17-year-old student confessed to opening fire at his Texas high school on Friday, killing 10 people, and told investigators that he had spared certain students 'so he could have his story told,' the authorities said. A Galveston County Sheriff's Office investigator wrote in an affidavit that Dimitrios Pagourtzis had waived his right to remain silent and had given 'a statement admitting to shooting multiple people' at Santa Fe High School. The investigator, identified only as J. Roy, also wrote that Mr. Pagourtzis had said that 'he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told.'"

The Commentariat -- May 18, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Surprise! Come on Down, Bob, You Just Won a Place in the Rotating Cabinet Sweepstakes! Eileen Sullivan & Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Friday that he intended to nominate Robert Wilkie, the acting secretary of veterans affairs, to take over the sprawling agency, a move that the president said would surprise Mr. Wilkie because he was learning about it only as it was being revealed. The president made the announcement ahead of a public event about prison reform as he praised members of his cabinet who have worked on the issue. The president said, 'Acting Secretary Wilkie, who, by the way, has done an incredible job at the V.A. and I'll be informing him in a little while -- he doesn't know this yet -- but, we're going to be putting his name up.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As usual, Trump is taking great care in the process of nominating Cabinet members. ...

... In discussing Trump's exhaustive Cabinet personnel vetting & selection process, Akhilleus referred (in today's Comments) to Carnac. For those of you unfamiliar with Carnac, here is a brief introduction in which Carnac practices his usual magnificent methods to divine answers to questions he has not seen:

POTUS* Tries to Use Office to Punish Perceived Enemies. Damian Paletta & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has personally pushed U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other firms to ship packages, according to three people familiar with their conversations, a dramatic move that probably would cost these companies billions of dollars. Brennan has so far resisted Trump's demand, explaining in multiple conversations occurring this year and last that these arrangements are bound by contracts and must be reviewed by a regulatory commission, the three people said. She has told the president that the Amazon relationship is beneficial for the Postal Service and gave him a set of slides that showed the variety of companies, in addition to Amazon, that also partner for deliveries. Despite these presentations, Trump has continued to level criticism at Amazon. And last month, his critiques culminated in the signing of an executive order mandating a government review of the financially strapped Postal Service that could lead to major changes in the way it charges Amazon and others for package delivery."

Andrew Desiderio of the Daily Beast: "Three top senators on Friday requested rare multi-agency inspector-general investigations into the Trump administration's failure to fully implement congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia. In a letter addressed to the inspectors general of the State Department, Treasury Department and Intelligence Community, the Democratic lawmakers ... Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) ... said the administration has not complied with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed overwhelmingly and signed into law last year in part to punish Russia for its election-meddling and its incursions into eastern Europe."

Digby in Salon: "Trump's defenders are prepared to argue that if a presidential candidate conspires with a foreign adversary to sabotage a rival's campaign -- and secretly offer favors for the benefit of that adversary -- it's not a crime. That's the way the game is played. Richard Nixon famously said, 'If the president does it, it's not illegal.' It appears that Trump is taking that concept to a whole other level, especially when you consider he wasn't president when this stuff was happening: 'If the right presidential candidate does it, it is positively virtuous.'" ...

... Rudy Is Saying Stuff

Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "... Rudolph W. Giuliani said Friday that he has been told 'off the record' that there was at least one informant for the FBI or Justice Department embedded in Trump's presidential campaign, but he admitted that he and the president do not know whether that's true. Trump alleged in a Thursday morning tweet that during the Obama administration, the FBI placed 'an embedded informant' inside his presidential campaign to improperly spy on him.... On Friday morning, the president tweeted this quote that he attributed to Fox Business Network anchor David Asman: 'Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn't commit.' Trump then added his own commentary: 'Really bad stuff!' Later Friday morning, Trump repeated his allegation that the FBI 'implanted' someone in his campaign. But this time he added a caveat, 'If true.'" ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Rudy Giuliani just made a big two-word concession: 'He can.' That's what Giuliani said Friday morning when asked by CNN's Chris Cuomo about whether a president can obstruct justice. And it contradicts the case that President Trump's now-former lawyer John Dowd had made. Dowd told Axios in December: 'The president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution's Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case.' And there is some legitimate debate on that point. But apparently Giuliani disagrees. Trump's own lawyer said Friday that his client is not immune from charges of obstructing justice -- which is clearly the most troubling part of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation for Trump personally." ...

... Only Democratic Presidents Have to Comply with Subpoenas. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Rudy Giuliani went on an angry tirade against Chris Cuomo on Friday after the CNN host played an old clip of him saying that presidents must comply with subpoenas to testify. During the CNN interview, Giuliani claimed that back in the 1990s, he simply argued that former President Bill Clinton couldn't ignore subpoenas to hand over documents as part of the Whitewater probe. The former New York mayor then said [to Cuomo] that he would never have argued that a sitting president must comply with a subpoena asking him to testify. Cuomo then rolled the clip of Giuliani being interviewed by Charlie Rose in which Rose directly asked him about whether a president must obey a subpoena to testify -- and Giuliani said he did. Giuliani at this point began ranting at Cuomo and accused him of being 'unfair' to him...."

Erica Werner & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A sweeping farm bill failed in the House on Friday in a blow to GOP leaders who were unable to placate conservative lawmakers demanding commitments on immigration. The House leadership put the bill on the floor gambling it would pass despite unanimous Democratic opposition. They negotiated with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus up to the last minutes. But their gamble failed. The vote was 213 to 198, with 30 Republicans joined 183 Democrats in defeating bill. The outcome exposed what is becoming an all-out war within the House GOP over immigration, a divisive fight the Republicans did not want to have heading into midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress."

*****

You can view the Trump candidacy & presidency as One Big Grift or as several smaller but significant grifts, but whether grift is singular or plural, it defines this presidency. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

** No, This Is Not "Normal." Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's allies are waging an increasingly aggressive campaign to undercut the Russia investigation by exposing the role of a top-secret FBI source. The effort reached new heights Thursday as Trump alleged that an informant had improperly spied on his 2016 campaign and predicted that the ensuing scandal would be 'bigger than Watergate!' The extraordinary push begun by a cadre of Trump boosters on Capitol Hill now has champions across the GOP and throughout conservative media -- and, as of Thursday, the first anniversary of Robert S. Mueller III's appointment as special counsel, bears the imprimatur of the president. The dispute pits Trump and the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee against the Justice Department and intelligence agencies, whose leaders warn that publicly identifying the confidential source would put lives in danger and imperil other operations.... The source is a U.S. citizen who has provided information over the years to both the FBI and the CIA, as The Post previously reported, and aided the Russia investigation both before and after Mueller's appointment in May 2017, according to people familiar with his activities." ...

Trying to wrap my head around the claim that it somehow reflects badly on Obama that Trump's campaign was so riddled with agents of foreign powers that FBI felt compelled to investigate. -- David Frum, in a tweet ...

... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... it looks like the FBI did not go looking into the Trump campaign's Russian connections until after they were tipped off by the Australians that there was a problem. Specifically, the Australians told the FBI that George Papadopoulos knew the Russians had thousands of hacked emails that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign long before any of those emails were released to the public. That caused them to investigate. And when they started to investigate, they noticed Russian connections everywhere they looked.... Yes, this is bigger than Watergate. But not because there was an informant inside Trump's campaign." ...

... As Adam Raymond of New York & others point out, the Obama-FBI-spied-on-me meme is the latest popular Trumpy conspiracy theory. ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "In seeking to undercut the legitimacy of the current investigation, Mr. Trump seized on the first anniversary of Mr. Mueller's appointment on Thursday to denounce it as a politically inspired waste of time and resources, in some ways echoing Mr. Nixon who at a similar point declared that 'one year of Watergate is enough.' Mr. Trump has made a point of saying again and again that there was 'no collusion,' but as documents released this week make clear, there was at the very least attempted collusion. His son Donald Trump Jr.; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, met with Russian visitors during the campaign after being promised incriminating information about Mrs. Clinton as 'part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.'"

Despite the disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt, we have had the most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history - by far! Sorry to the Fake News Media and 'Haters,' but that's the way it is! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning

Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning

Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI 'SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.' Andrew McCarthy says, 'There's probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.' If so, this is bigger than Watergate! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning ...

... Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "In some sense, many analysts have said, [Trump] is right: Efforts by a hostile foreign power to influence an American presidential election -- with or without the assistance or knowledge of the winning candidate -- may well be a scandal 'bigger than Watergate!'... Mr. Trump marked the Mueller anniversary with a series of Twitter posts on Thursday morning, reminding his 52 million followers that the investigation is a witch hunt.... At least one government informant met several times with two of Mr. Trump's former campaign aides, officials have said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Anthony Cormier & Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed write "the crazy true story of Trump Moscow." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "Simply by announcing his candidacy for president and getting a lot of news coverage, Trump was upping his chances of making licensing deals. There was a limited window on how long this opportunity would last [since no one thought Trump would win the presidency or even the GOP nomination], so there was a certain urgency to cashing in while the irons were hot. [Michael] Cohen and [Felix] Sater[, who were spearheading the Russia tower deal,] certainly acted like they needed to move with haste, and they kept Trump apprised of their progress throughout.... On October 28, 2015, Donald J. Trump Sr. signed on the dotted line a letter of intent to build a tower in Moscow. They immediately decided that this agreement should be kept secret. Had the public known about the project, they would have had a much different impression of Trump's [remarkably favorable] commentary on Vladimir Putin.... For me the degree to which Trump concealed and lied about this information is impeachable on its own before we even get to possible coordination in the general election. Trump's primary interest in running for president was ... auditioning for Vladimir Putin in the hope that he'd be able to put his name on the tallest tower in Europe. And he did not tell the truth about this and still hasn't."

Alison Frankel of Reuters: "In a media blitz Wednesday night and Thursday..., Donald Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani told Fox and CNN he had received assurances that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will not indict the president while he is in office. Whether a sitting president can be subjected to prosecution has never been tested at the U.S. Supreme Court, but Giuliani said Mueller's team agrees it is bound by a U.S. Justice Department memo from October 2000. That memo concluded U.S. presidents cannot be indicted because the prosecution would interfere with their ability to execute their constitutional duties.... I talked Thursday to eight lawyers who've been involved in previous probes of U.S. presidents. Every one of them said Giuliani's theory is incorrect. Some of them had quite strong words. George Conway [Mrs. McC: Kellyanne's husband!] wrote the Supreme Court briefs for Bill Clinton accuser Paula Jones in the case that led to a unanimous ruling from the justices that the Constitution does not shield presidents from testifying in certain civil suits. He said Giuliani's assertion that President Trump cannot be subpoenaed is 'drivel.'"

The Ever-Helpful Rudy. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani hit the airwaves of Fox News on Wednesday night to again raise the bar for what might constitute collusion. On the same day that 2,500 pages of testimony about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting were released, Giuliani declared that collusion would require using information that was provided by the Russians. 'And even if it comes from a Russian, or a German, or an American, it doesn't matter,' he said of the opposition research that was offered. 'And they never used it is the main thing. They never used it. They rejected it. If there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it.'... The new argument allows for the Trump team to have received information from foreign sources, as long as it wasn't utilized. We will see whether that's a distinction he's drawing for a reason. It's possible that Giuliani was just speaking loosely while trying to restate the previous company line.... But ... this is the latest episode in what has been a steady narrowing of the Trump team's denials of collusion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beth Reinhard & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "The Treasury Department's inspector general is expanding a probe into leaks of confidential reports about suspicious banking activity by Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, to include an uncorroborated allegation that some of those reports were mysteriously absent from a government database. The investigation began last week after Michael Avenatti, an attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, detailed transactions in which large firms with business interests before the U.S. government transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to Essential Consultants, a company controlled by Cohen.... Late Wednesday, the New Yorker published a story about an unnamed law enforcement official it said had leaked the report. The official told the magazine that the report contained references to two earlier reports about Cohen's financial activity -- reports the official said were missing from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) database.... On Thursday, Treasury officials sought to tamp down concerns, saying in a statement that since 2009, FinCEN has had the ability restrict access to sensitive SARs. Richard Delmar, counsel to the inspector general, said investigators will now explore questions raised by the New Yorker after receiving a request from Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee." ...

... Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed: "Records pertaining to the financial activities of ... Michael Cohen are not missing from a government database; rather Treasury Department officials have taken the highly unusual step of restricting access to them even from certain law enforcement agencies, according to three sources familiar with the matter.... Three sources ... said that access to Cohen's SARs has merely been limited, not removed. They added that limiting access is rare and must have come from the top of the Treasury Department." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The funny thing is that whoever these "top Treasury Department" officials may be (Steve Mnuchin), they must be pretty incompetent since they apparently restricted access to only two of the three Cohen SARs.

Nathan Layne of Reuters: "The former son-in-law of Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that requires him to cooperate with other criminal probes, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The guilty plea agreement, which is under seal and has not been previously reported, could add to the legal pressure on Manafort, who is facing two indictments brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort has been indicted in federal courts in Washington and Virginia with charges ranging from tax evasion to bank fraud and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort, was divorced from Manafort's daughter last August. Yohai has not been specifically told how he will be called on to cooperate as part of his plea agreement, but the two people familiar with the matter say they consider it a possibility that he will be asked to assist with Mueller's prosecution of Manafort." ...

... Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office notified a federal court in Virginia on Thursday it had filed under seal an unredacted memorandum that is expected to shed light on the scope of his wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The filing, made as part of Mueller's criminal case against ... Paul Manafort, was requested by the judge...." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Plot Thickens. Erin Banco of NJ.com: "A Russian plane linked to the country's government flew into the Seychelles the day prior to a 2017 meeting [which included Blackwater founder Erik Prince] now under review by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to the airport flight data obtained by NJ Advance Media. Mueller's team is examining a series of meetings that took place in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, as part of its broader investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.... New details about [the] Russian aircraft ... has raised questions about the scope of the meetings that week and whether sanctions were a topic of conversation among participants." The owner of the plane is Russian billionaire Andrei Skoch, whom the U.S. has sanctioned. The U.S. also has sanctioned the fund of Kirill Dmitriev, who was at the Seychelles meeting. "It is unclear if Skoch was on the aircraft.... But if Skoch participated in the Seychelles meetings that week in January 2017, it would raise the possibility state business, including sanctions, was discussed."

It's Always Someone Else's Fault. Maggie Haberman & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "... in recent months, Mr. Trump, who has never been convinced that his aides have his best interests at heart, has felt increasingly aggrieved. He blames his staff for not delivering better headlines on key initiatives, like tax cuts or a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. And he sees leaks as a cause of the distractions that have helped deprive him of those headlines, according to interviews with several current and former White House officials...." The reporters examine Trump's paranoia. ...

... Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The White House is considering shrinking its communications team in the coming weeks, two officials with knowledge of the expected changes tell CNN, with one objective being reducing the number of leaks and the overall goal being restructuring the entire press shop.... Staffers are not expected to be fired outright, but pushed out slowly or shifted to other departments in the administration outside of the West Wing, the officials said. It will also likely affect junior aides without clearly defined responsibilities. The reason staffers aren't expected to be fired directly is because, although the White House has taken several steps to combat leaks including canceling the daily communications meeting, senior officials aren't confident about who it is exactly that is doing the leaking, one official noted."

Mark Berman & Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "A New York appeals court on Thursday rejected a request from President Trump to stay proceedings in a defamation suit filed by a former contestant on 'The Apprentice' [Summer Zervos] who has claimed that he sexually harassed her. The ruling on Thursday is a legal setback for Trump, who is facing multiple lawsuits focused on allegations women have made against him as well as his public comments about those women. It could open him up to discovery in the case, although he could also file further appeals to try to delay proceedings." (Also linked yesterday.)

Isn't This Special? Charles Bagli of the New York Times: "The company controlled by the family of the White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its financially troubled flagship building by a company with ties to the government of Qatar, according to executives briefed on the deal. Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield Properties over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower 666 Fifth Avenue in Midtown, according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but are not authorized to discuss it. Brookfield is a publicly traded company, headquartered in Canada, one of whose major investors is the Qatar Investment Authority.... The deal with Brookfield is likely to raise further concerns about Jared Kushner's dual role as a White House point person on the Middle East and a continuing stake holder in the family's company." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

MEANWHILE, Paul Krugman makes the case that China successfully bribed Trump to undermine U.S. security. Krugman blames the entire GOP establishment: "... Trump's corruption is only a symptom of a bigger problem: a G.O.P. that will do anything, even betray the nation, in its pursuit of partisan advantage." Mrs. McC: I would add that the China bribe is the principal purpose of the Emoluments Clause. ...

... Mark Landler & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Chinese negotiators are preparing to offer the administration a deal to buy up to $200 billion worth of American goods, which would allow Mr. Trump to claim victory in his campaign to reduce the trade deficit with China and rebalance America's trade relationship with its biggest economic rival, according to people briefed on the deliberations. But the Chinese promises would be largely illusory, economists cautioned, given the structural hurdles in China to buying more American exports and the sheer amount of goods the United States would have to produce to meet Beijing's demand. Under the deal being discussed, China would pledge to buy substantially more American agricultural products, including soybeans, as well as semiconductors and natural gas. That could theoretically reduce its trade surplus with the United States.... In return, China is asking the United States to set aside tariffs and investment restrictions it has threatened against Chinese companies. That includes lifting sanctions on the telecommunications giant ZTE...."

Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday chided media outlets who reported earlier in the week that he had referred to undocumented immigrants as 'animals,' a remark that came in response to questions about members of the brutal MS-13 gang with roots in El Salvador. 'Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, "Animals." Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as 'Animals,' a big difference - and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Trump is fully aware, the real problem is that he himself conflates gang members with ordinary immigrants in an attempt to paint all immigrants as machete-wielding villains. This is not the media's fault; it's a Trumpian strategy to mislead the public.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, elevating a career clandestine officer to the directorship despite bipartisan misgivings about her role in the agency's brutal detention and interrogation programs in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.... She was confirmed 54 to 45.... Two Republican no votes [Mrs. McC: Jeff Flake & Rand Paul] -- and opposition from Senator John McCain of Arizona, the victim of torture in Vietnam who was not present for the vote -- were more than offset by six Democrats, most of whom represent states that Mr. Trump won in 2016. Ms. Haspel also won over Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who had led the interrogation of her record." (Also linked yesterday.)

Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "The Senate approved a resolution Wednesday that aims to undo a sweeping act of deregulation undertaken last year by the Federal Communications Commission, issuing a rebuke to the Trump administration, which supported the FCC's move. The resolution targets the FCC's vote in December to repeal its net neutrality rules for Internet providers. If successful, the legislative gambit could restore the agency's regulations and hand a victory to tech companies, activists and consumer advocacy groups. The congressional effort comes less than a month before the rules are officially expected to expire, on June 11. And the high-profile vote could shine a spotlight on lawmakers running for reelection during a tough midterm season.... Senate supporters of the FCC rules put forward the legislation under the Congressional Review Act, a law that permits Congress to revisit -- and reject -- decisions by administrative agencies within a certain window of their approval. The resolution, or CRA for short, passed with the backing of all 49 Democratic senators and three Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John N. Kennedy of Louisiana and Lisa A. Murkowski of Alaska.... Still, it is unclear what fate may await the measure in the House." (Also linked yesterday.)

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Leave it to Congress to take food away from 2 million poor people and somehow save no money in the process. The House farm bill, scheduled for a vote Friday, contains a major overhaul to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly known as food stamps).... [The bill] was written entirely by Republicans.... The bill House Republicans wrote would ratchet up [work] requirements, for every state.... The net consequence of ... ill-thought-out provisions: Millions will see their food assistance cut or eliminated, or never even apply for it. Billions will be spent getting that outcome. All of which is to say: Republicans aren't really opposed to Big Government; they just want their Big Government to help fewer people."

Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up. -- Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), explaining rising sea levels to a climate scientist during a House hearing ...

Lesson: Do not skip rocks while at the beach. You will cause sea levels to rise. Oops, never mind; I guess that would be a man-made cause, and there's no such thing. ...

... Scott Waldman in Science: "Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee yesterday ... at times embraced research that questions mainstream climate science during a hearing on how technology can be used to address global warming. A leading climate scientist testifying before the panel spent much of the two hours correcting misstatements.... Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the committee, entered into the record an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal yesterday that claimed sea levels are not rising because of climate change, a view that rejects thousands of scientific studies. The piece was written by Fred Singer, who is affiliated with the Heartland Institute in Chicago, Illinois, which promotes the rejection of mainstream climate science." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rick Hampson, in a long USA Today essay, looks at the U.S.'s second Gilded Age: "In this Gilded Age, like the one at the end of the 19th Century, the gap between rich and poor is widening; monopolies have more power over business, business has more power over politics and politics are close-fought and hyper-partisan. The pace of change -- technological, cultural, social -- is dizzying.... The most striking feature shared by the two Gilded Ages is growing economic inequality. In the 19th Century, the juxtaposition of squalor and splendor shocked a rural nation that was moving to the city; today, it haunts a nation that can remember the relative equality of the Depression, World War II and the long post-war period. Nowhere is this inequality more apparent than Los Angeles, where hundreds of encampments have sprung up on beaches, in riverbeds and in canyons as the homeless population has exploded and expanded beyond its old boundaries." ...

... Tami Luhby of CNN: "Nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone, according to a study released Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project. That's 43% of households in the United States. The figure includes the 16.1 million households living in poverty, as well as the 34.7 million families that the United Way has dubbed ALICE -- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. This group makes less than what's needed 'to survive in the modern economy.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "A Cuban airliner carrying more than 100 people crashed and burned shortly after takeoff from Havana on Friday, killing all but three people aboard, Cuba's official media reported.... The plane, a Boeing 737 leased by Cubana de Aviación, a state-run Cuban airline, was nearly 39 years old, according to the United Nations aviation agency, making it one of the older 737s still in commercial operation."

New York Times: "A male student was taken into custody on Friday morning after a shooting spree inside a high school in southeast Texas left at least eight people dead, the majority believed to be students, the authorities said. In what has become a national rite, the authorities arrived en masse at a campus, this time at Santa Fe High School, 35 miles from Houston, as students fled in tears. In addition to the suspect, the authorities said another student was detained as a person of interest." ...

... The Houston Chronicle has live updates & links to related stories here. The paper reports at least 9 people are dead.

Miami Herald: "A gunman ranting about ... Donald Trump walked into the lobby of Trump National Doral Miami resort, draped an American flag on the counter and began firing in the air -- leading cops to shoot him in the legs in a bizarre firefight early Friday that drew a massive law-enforcement response. The man, Jonathan Oddi, a 42-year-old fitness enthusiast..., was hospitalized and is expected to face an array of criminal charges, including attempted murder of law-enforcement officers. No one at the resort was wounded, although a Doral police officer broke his wrist during the confrontation."