The Commentariat -- May 11, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "Sheldon Silver, the former powerful Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly, was found guilty of federal corruption charges on Friday, less than a year after his first conviction on the same charges was thrown out. During his two-week trial in Manhattan, prosecutors showed that Mr. Silver, 74, had obtained nearly $4 million in illicit payments in return for taking a series of official actions that benefited a cancer researcher at Columbia University and two real estate developers in New York."

John Santucci, et al., of ABC News: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has questioned several witnesses about millions of dollars in donations to ... Donald Trump's inauguration committee last year, including questions about donors with connections to Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, sources with direct knowledge told ABC News.... Several donors with those ties contributed large sums to the non-profit fundraising entity -- gifts that topped out at $1 million dollars, according to public records.... Those interviewed included longtime Trump friend and confidant Thomas Barrack, who oversaw the fundraising effort.... Special counsel investigators have also asked witnesses about specific inauguration donors, including American businessmen Leonard Blavatnik, and Andrew Intrater."

Tim Mak of NPR: "The FBI warned four years ago that a foundation controlled by the Russian oligarch who allegedly reimbursed Donald Trump's personal lawyer might have been acting on behalf of Russia's intelligence services. FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lucia Ziobro wrote an unusual column in the Boston Business Journal in April of 2014 to warn that a foundation controlled by Russian energy baron Viktor Vekselberg might be part of a Moscow spying campaign that sought to siphon up American science and technology. 'The foundation may be a means for the Russian government to access our nation's sensitive or classified research, development facilities and dual-use technologies with military and commercial applications,' Ziobro wrote. 'This analysis is supported by reports coming out of Russia itself.'" Mrs. McC: How long till Devin Nunes to decide to investigate Ziobro.

Heidi Przybyla & Mike Memoli of NBC News: "If Congress can't protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job, perhaps it can protect his work. That's the thinking among several lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who are discussing ways to safeguard the special counsel's investigation into possible ties between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia amid ... Donald Trump's escalating attacks.... Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who helped draft a bipartisan bill to protect Mueller that passed the Judiciary Committee late last month, confirmed to NBC News on Thursday that talks are underway for a 'Plan B' after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring the original legislation for a floor vote. The discussions 'involve assuring the evidence is preserved and reports are done if the special counsel is fired or other political interference is undertaken by the president,' Blumenthal told NBC News. Notably, Blumenthal added, some GOP senators are participating in the effort."

David Voreacos, et al., of Bloomberg: "Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was informed about allegations of sexual misconduct by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman around 2013, according to a letter filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday.... In a tweet on Sept. 11, 2013, Trump took aim at Schneiderman while also referring to New York politicians who'd resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct, Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer. 'Weiner is gone, Spitzer is gone -- next will be lightweight A.G. Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner,' Trump tweeted."

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "White House chief of staff John Kelly said he believes the vast majority of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border into the US do not assimilate well because they are poorly educated. 'Let me step back and tell you that the vast majority of the people tha move illegally into United States are not bad people. They're not criminals. They're not MS13,' Kelly told NPR in an interview released late Thursday, referring to the criminal gang. 'But they're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States into our modern society.'... [He] said the undocumented immigrants don't speak English and are 'overwhelmingly rural people' from countries where 'fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Likely the same could be said of Kelly's immigrant ancestors, tho they may have spoken a version of English. ...

... The chairperson of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Michelle Lujan Grisham, is not amused: "The Chief of Staff's bigoted comments about immigrants seeking refuge are a slap in the face to the generations of people who have come from foreign lands to contribute to the richness of our nation. I would like to remind General Kelly that the intolerant and ignorant ideas he espoused from the White House are exactly the same comments and attitudes that were prevalent against all of our families. It wasn't right then, and it isn't right now." ...

... Jennifer Rubin takes Kelly to the woodshed: "Actually, current immigrants assimilate just as well as immigrant in past generations, according to a slew of data-rich studies. The chief of staff chooses either to lie or not to inform himself about basic facts relevant to hugely consequential policies he champions. He aptly reflect the prejudices of his boss and the thinking behind the cruel policies (such as ending protection for 'dreamers' and separating families) that he and Trump doggedly pursue." She has more to say.

Travels with Pompeo. Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "The State Department normally craves elaborate planning and procedures for everything. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 13-hour visit to North Korea had little of that. I had a view of the improvisational quality of his trip because, in a tongue-twister of an adventure, I was one of two reporters who traveled with Pompeo to Pyongyang to pick up three prisoners from North Korea and bring them home to the United States. The degree of uncertainty that hovered over the trip extended to Pompeo himself, just two weeks into his new job as the administration's top diplomat. Pompeo said he had no guarantees when he flew in Wednesday morning whether he would be allowed to leave with the three Americans who had been detained for more than a year on charges of espionage and hostile acts. Neither he nor his staff knew whom he would meet with, or when. An Associated Press reporter and I had little advance notice of our departure time or even day, and no promises we'd be able to see much of anything."

Making Us Safer. Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "The top White House official responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of a deadly pandemic has left the administration, and the global health security team he oversaw has been disbanded under a reorganization by national security adviser John Bolton. The abrupt departure of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council means no senior administration official is now focused solely on global health security. Ziemer's departure, along with the breakup of his team, comes at a time when many experts say the country is already underprepared for the increasing risks of a pandemic or bioterrorism attack. Ziemer's last day was Tuesday, the same day a new Ebola outbreak was declared in Congo. He is not being replaced.... The personnel changes, which Morrison and others characterize as a downgrading of global health security, are part of Bolton's previously announced plans to streamline the NSC."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "'AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake,' the company's CEO Randall Stephenson said Friday morning. AT&T paid Cohen ... $600,000 through a contract that ended in December 2017. The payments are now under scrutiny in part because Cohen is under federal investigation. 'To be clear, everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate. But the fact is, our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment,' Stephenson wrote in a memo to employees. 'In this instance, our Washington D.C. team's vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that,' he added. Stephenson announced that Bob Quinn, one of the executives involved in the Cohen deal, 'will be retiring.'"

Senate Race. Sore Loser. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship, who lost the GOP primary bid in West Virginia this week, is actively plotting how to undercut state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's [R] Senate candidacy." Blankenship also dislikes Sen. Joe Manchin (D), whom Morrisey is challenging.

*****

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Thursda that his meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will be held on June 12 in Singapore. The announcement came in a tweet...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Do read Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread on why Trump & entourage greeted the Americans freed by North Korea but accidentally forgot to invite their families. Because "protocol." Also, too, I just heard a clip of Trump boasting during the hoopla that the Trump show was breaking all 3 am TV ratings. ...

Katie Rogers: Trump & pence went to Elkhart, Indiana, last night for a rally ostensibly in support of U.S. Senate candidate Mike Braun. Trump told some whoppers, took credit for the Obama recovery & bringing "respect" back to the U.S. through his brilliant "America First" strategy, & basked in the adulation of the crowd. "Mr. Trump disparaged a litany of opponents, saving much of his ire for Senator Joe Donnelly, the chamber's most vulnerable Democrat, who will face Mr. Braun in November."

"Let Them Eat Trump Steaks." Paul Krugman: Despite his general disinterest, "there are some policy issues [Trump] really does care about. By all accounts, he really hates the idea of people receiving 'welfare,' by which he means any government program that helps people with low income, and he wants to eliminate such programs wherever possible.... Here we have a man who inherited great wealth, then built a business career largely around duping the gullible -- whether they were naïve investors in his business ventures left holding the bag when those ventures

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

How creepy is this guy? ...

     ... George Will -- of all people -- answers the creepy question, in a column on "America's most repulsive public figure."

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Three days after President Trump was sworn into office, the telecom giant AT&T turned to his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for help on a wide portfolio of issues pending before the federal government -- including the company's proposed merger with Time Warner, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The internal documents reveal for the first time that Cohen's $600,000 deal with AT&T specified that he would provide advice on the $85 billion merger, which required the approval of federal antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the merger during the campaign and his administration ultimately sided against AT&T. The Department of Justice filed suit in November to block the deal, a case that is still pending.... It is unclear what insight Cohen -- a longtime real estate attorney and former taxi cab operator -- could have provided AT&T on complex telecom matters." Emphasis added.

David Corn & Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "An attorney for [Columbus Nova] released a statement insisting the money [Michael] Cohen had received from Columbus Nova had not originated with the [Russian] oligarch [Viktor Vekselberg.]... There was one big problem with that statement: Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Columbus Nova has had a close organizational association with Vekselberg's Renova Group.... [Before Vekselberg's corporation Renova Group took down its Website in the wake of U.S. sanctions against Velselberg & Renova,] the firm's site listed Columbus Nova as part of the larger Renova Group, suggesting it was a subsidiary.... Consequently, it would be reasonable for any investigation of Trump-Russia contacts to scrutinize the large payments from Intrater and Columbus Nova to Cohen, Trumps's inauguration committee, the Trump campaign, and the GOP."

Margaret Hartmann wrote a very good summary of the Cohen slush fund scam -- on what we knew as of yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Yo, Rudy, Get Out! Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "...Rudolph W. Giuliani, abruptly resigned from his law firm, Greenberg Traurig, the firm announced on Thursday, then promptly undercut his recent statements defending the president.... Firm partners had chafed over Mr. Giuliani's public comments about payments that ... Michael D. Cohen made to secure the silence of a pornographic film actress.... Mr. Giuliani suggested that such payments were common at his firm.... 'Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client[,' a spokesperson for the law firm said.]... Firm members bristled in 2016 when Mr. Giuliani played an aggressive, pit-bull-style surrogate role on Mr. Trump's behalf during the presidential campaign. After Mr. Trump's inauguration, when it became clear that Mr. Giuliani would not get the job he wanted -- secretary of state -- he kept a relatively low profile at the request of his colleagues."

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A prominent House Republican plans to ask a federal financial watchdog to audit the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, opening a new front of GOP attack on the secretive probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to President Trump's campaign. The pending request -- from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), an outspoken Trump defender who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus as well as a House oversight subcommittee -- appears to be mainly calibrated to force the disclosure of a three-page Justice Department memo spelling out the authorized scope of Mueller's investigation. Meadows, speaking Thursday during a taping of C-SPAN's 'Newsmakers' that is to air Sunday, said he believed the audit is required under federal law and could not be completed without an unredacted copy of the memo written in August 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein." Emphasis added.

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released about 3,400 Facebook ads purchased by Russian agents around the 2016 presidential election on issues from immigration to gun control, a reminder of the complexity of the manipulation that Facebook is trying to contain ahead of the midterm elections. The ads, from mid-2015 to mid-2017, illustrate the extent to which Kremlin-aligned forces sought to stoke social, cultural and political unrest on one of the Web's most powerful platforms. With the help of Facebook's targeting tools, Russia's online army reached at least 146 million people on Facebook and Instagram, its photo-sharing service, with ads and other posts, including events promoting protests around the country." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Olivia Solon & Julie Wong of the Guardian provide numerous examples of the scope of the ads. For instance, "In one particularly brazen example, ads were run promoting both a 'Pro-Beyonce Protest Rally' and an 'Anti-Beyonce Protest Rally' scheduled for the same time time and place following the controversy over the artist's performance at the 2016 Super Bowl. The pro-Beyoncé ad was targeted at users designated as having African American behaviors. The anti-Beyoncé ad was targeted narrowly at people who had studied to become a police officer or whose job title matched a list of law enforcement or military titles, including officer, colonel, major general (United States), master sergeant, commander (United States), sergeant, brigadier general, petty officer, chief petty officer, lieutenant commander, squadron leader, 911 dispatcher or rear admiral."

     ... Links to the ads, grouped by date, are here. The Democrats' statement, which is worth reading, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

RealDonaldTrump. Paul Campos, in New York, makes a compelling case that the real "David Denniston" in a $1.6MM settlement of a paternity settlement was not Elliott Broidy but Donald Trump. "If it turns out that Trump had an affair with [Playboy model Shera] Bechard, and that Broidy paid a massive bribe to the president to help cover the affair up, this will prove to be another instance of the administration's perverse ability to generate fake news about a scandal, in order to obscure the even more scandalous truth." Mrs. McC: This is not a new rumor, but Campos' dissection of the body of evidence gives it some credibility. Wonder if Trump's evangelical fan base would reject him if he had paid a woman a bundle to have an abortion.

Michael Shear & Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Trump berated her on Wednesday in front of the entire cabinet for what he said was her failure to adequately secure the nation's borders, according to several current and former officials familiar with the incident. Ms. Nielsen, who is a protégée of John F. Kelly..., has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, according to two of the people.... Mr. Trump's anger toward Ms. Nielsen at the cabinet meeting was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his entire cabinet about what he said was their lack of progress toward sealing the country's borders against illegal immigrants, according to one person who was present at the meeting.... One persistent issue has been Mr. Trump's belief that Ms. Nielsen and other officials in the department were resisting his direction that parents should be separated from their children when families cross illegally into the United States, the people said." Emphasis added. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Nielsen can't handle a little Trumpertantrum. But she's good with this: ...

... ** Richard Gonzales & John Burnett of CNN: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the administration's 'zero tolerance' policy that calls for separating families who cross the border illegally, saying the undocumented immigrants shouldn't get special treatment.... 'Illegal aliens should not get just different rights because they happen to be illegal aliens,' she said].... The administration had been separating families for months before the recent policy.... Also on her watch, DHS has canceled temporary protected status for immigrants from a number of countries...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: On the other hand, Nielsen is blonde. ...

... Josh Dawsey & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "President Trump berated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a dispiriting Cabinet meeting on immigration Wednesday, according to three administration officials, but her colleagues denied reports that she has threatened to quit.... [Trump's] blowup lasted more than 30 minutes, according to a person with knowledge of what transpired, as Trump's face reddened and he raised his voice, saying Nielsen needed to 'close down' the border."

... ** Masha Gessen of the New Yorker, an immigrant from Russia, knows whereof she speaks: "The American government has unleashed terror on immigrants, and in doing so has naturally reached for the most effective tools" -- separating families."

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "A Defense Department investigation of a Special Forces mission in Niger released Thursday found widespread problems across all levels of the military operation, but concludes that 'no single failure or deficiency' led to the deaths of four American soldiers who were among a team of Green Berets ambushed last fall by fighters aligned with the Islamic State. The unclassified executive summary of the investigation offers only a glimpse of the decisions and actions that led to the firefight on Oct. 4 after the 11-man team searched, unsuccessfully, for a local militant leader in western Niger."

Chris Mooney & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Internal changes to a draft Defense Department report de-emphasized the threats climate change poses to military bases and installations, muting or removing references to climate-driven changes in the Arctic and potential risks from rising seas, an unpublished draft obtained by The Washington Post reveals. The earlier version of the document, dated December 2016, contains numerous references to 'climate change' that were omitted or altered to 'extreme weather' or simply 'climate' in the final report, which was submitted to Congress in January 2018. While the phrase 'climate change' appears 23 separate times in the draft report, the final version used it just once." Mrs. McC: Reminds me of a two-year-old who covers her eyes & says, "You can't see me." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Easley & Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "A White House official mocked Sen. John McCain's brain cancer diagnosis at an internal meeting on Thursday, a day after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to President Trump's nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel. Special assistant Kelly Sadler made the derisive comments during a closed-door White House meeting of about two-dozen communications staffers on Thursday morning. 'It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway,' Sadler said, according to a source familiar with the remarks at the meeting.... Sadler is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times. At the White House, she focuses on illegal immigration...." ...

... Eli Okun of Politico: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney said the U.S. should restart its enhanced interrogation techniques -- often considered torture -- after the issue was thrust to the forefront during Gina Haspel's confirmation fight to become CIA director. 'If it were my call, I would not discontinue those programs,' he said in an interview that aired Thursday morning on Fox Business. 'I'd have them active and ready to go, and I'd go back and study them and learn.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As David Smith of the Guardian noted (linked yesterday), during his Senate confirmation hearing, Haspel said she didn't believe Trump would ask her to waterboard prisoners. "This prompted scornful laughter from the public gallery. During his presidential election campaign, Trump vowed to authorise waterboarding and 'a hell of a lot worse'." Darth Vader reminds us that Trump is hardly isolated in his preference for torture. Haspel's "it won't be a problem" assertion is either naive (I doubt that) or an admission that all she needs is a green light to go back into full-torture mode. ...

... Media Matters: Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, a military analyst appearing on Fox Business "News," in arguing that the U.S. should torture prisoners, said, "The fact is, is John McCain -- it worked on John. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.' The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective, as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to." The host of the show, Charles Payne, later apologized, & Fox said McInerney had not been a paid Fox analyst for nearly a year.

... Washington Post Editors: Gina Haspel "has a dark chapter in her past: her supervision of a secret prison in Thailand where al-Qaeda suspects were tortured, and her subsequent involvement in the destruction of videotapes of that shameful episode. As Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, made clear from the outset, Ms. Haspel needs to clearly repudiate that record. She must confirm that techniques such as waterboarding -- now banned by law -- were and are unacceptable, and she must make clear that she herself will never again accept orders to carry out acts that so clearly violate American moral standards, even if they are ordered by the president and certified by administration lawyers as legal. Ms. Haspel did not meet that test ... [which] makes it impossible for us, and others for whom the repudiation of torture is a priority, to support Ms. Haspel's nomination."

Pruitt Watch. Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard on the teevee that Scott Pruitt is to have a "routine" meeting with Donald Trump today. Is this the Friday Pruitt will have to pack his office paraphernalia in a cardboard box?

Rebecca Shabad & Alex Moe of NBC News: "Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday dismissed an effort by a group of House Republicans to circumvent the normal legislative process and force floor votes on a pack of immigration proposals. 'We never want to turn the floor over to the minority. What I don't want to do is have a process that just ends up with a veto,' Ryan said at his weekly news conference, after being asked about the discharge petition -- a maneuver that can be used to force votes on the House floor -- filed a day earlier by a group of moderate House Republicans. The Wisconsin Republican added that he doesn't want to have a 'spectacle on the floor.'" Mrs. McC: There's a good reason for Ryan's refusal to help DACA-eligible young people: he is fundamentally evil. This is harder to see in Ryan than in Trump & other firebrands, because Ryan effects a choir boy's good manners instead of snarling & sniping, but the fact is that he's meaner than a junkyard dog.

Naked Politics. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday encouraged Supreme Court justices flirting with retirement to immediately step down, saying he would like to push through a nominee before the midterm elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Aaron Davis & Shawn Boberg of the Washington Post: "For years, Fox News host Sean Hannity has poured his fortune into a surprising side venture: a vast portfolio of rental properties in working-class neighborhoods. He described those holdings in compassionate terms when they came to light last month, saying he invests in places that 'otherwise might struggle to receive such support.' But a Washington Post analysis shows that managers at Hannity's four largest apartment complexes in Georgia have taken an unusually aggressive approach to rent collection. They have sought court-ordered evictions at twice the statewide rate -- in a state known for high numbers of evictions and landlord-friendly laws -- and frequently have done so less than two weeks after a missed payment. Property managers at the complexes sought to evict tenants more than 230 times in 2017, court records show. At one, a 112-unit subdivision in a suburb west of Atlanta, 94 eviction actions were filed last year...."

Argumentum ad nigrum Americanus. Bryan Schatz of Mother Jones: In a Washington Times interview, Oliver North, the new president of the NRA, "claimed that the NRA's leaders are the victims of 'civil terrorism' at the hands of gun safety advocates. He referenced unspecified 'threats' and noted that vandals splashed fake blood on a NRA official's Virginia home. He likened this treatment to that of black Americans during the era of legally sanctioned racial segregation."

The Commentariat -- May 10, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Thursday that his meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will be held on June 12 in Singapore. The announcement came in a tweet...."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released about 3,400 Facebook ads purchased by Russian agents around the 2016 presidential election on issues from immigration to gun control, a reminder of the complexity of the manipulation that Facebook is trying to contain ahead of the midterm elections. The ads, from mid-2015 to mid-2017, illustrate the extent to which Kremlin-aligned forces sought to stoke social, cultural and political unrest on one of the Web's most powerful platforms. With the help of Facebook's targeting tools, Russia's online army reached at least 146 million people on Facebook and Instagram, its photo-sharing service, with ads and other posts, including events promoting protests around the country." ...

     ... Links to the ads, grouped by date, are here. The Democrats' statement, which is worth reading, is here.

Chris Mooney & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Internal changes to a draft Defense Department report de-emphasized the threats climate change poses to military bases and installations, muting or removing references to climate-driven changes in the Arctic and potential risks from rising seas, an unpublished draft obtained by The Washington Post reveals. The earlier version of the document, dated December 2016, contains numerous references to 'climate change' that were omitted or altered to 'extreme weather' or simply 'climate' in the final report, which was submitted to Congress in January 2018. While the phrase 'climate change' appears 23 separate times in the draft report, the final version used it just once." Mrs. McC: Reminds me of a two-year-old who covers her eyes & says, "You can't see me."

Margaret Hartmann writes a very good summary of the Cohen slush fund scam -- on what we know so far.

Eli Okun of Politico: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney said the U.S. should restart its enhanced interrogation techniques -- often considered torture -- after the issue was thrust to the forefront during Gina Haspel's confirmation fight to become CIA director. 'If it were my call, I would not discontinue those programs,' he said in an interview that aired Thursday morning on Fox Business. 'I'd have them active and ready to go, and I'd go back and study them and learn.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As David Smith of the Guardian noted, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Haspel said she didn't believe Trump would ask her to waterboard prisoners. "This prompted scornful laughter from the public gallery. During his presidential election campaign, Trump vowed to authorise waterboarding and 'a hell of a lot worse'." Darth Vader there reminds us that Trump is hardly isolated in his preference for torture. Haspel's "it won't be a problem" assertion is either naive (I doubt that) or an admission that all she needs is a green light to go back into full-torture mode.

Naked Politics. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday encouraged Supreme Court justices flirting with retirement to immediately step down, saying he would like to push through a nominee before the midterm elections."

Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "In a new excerpt of Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) memoir published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the senator reveals how he got his hands on the now-infamous Steele dossier that claimed ... Donald Trump has been completely compromised by the Russian government. According to McCain, it was a retired British diplomat -- former U.K. ambassador to Russia Andrew Wood -- who gave him a copy of Steele's dossier.... Later in the excerpt, McCain explains how Putin's election meddling to help Trump win fits in with his broader strategy of undermining Western democracy." McCain gave the dossier to Jim Comey (Mrs. McC: who already had a copy which he received from Christopher Steele).

*****

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Three American prisoners freed from North Korea arrived [at Andrews AFB] early Thursday to a personal welcome from President Trump, who traveled to an air base in the middle of the night to meet them. Waving their hands and flashing peace signs, the freed prisoners -- Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song -- descended the stairs of their plane, flanked by the president and senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had flown to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, to secure their release.... 'We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people[,' Trump said.... Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, Mr. Pompeo and the first lady, Melania Trump, were among those who traveled to the base to welcome the three men."

Peter Baker & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "Three American prisoners freed by North Korea were flying back to the United States on Wednesday, heading toward an air base where President Trump planned to personally welcome them home as he celebrates a diplomatic breakthrough in advance of nuclear talks. The three prisoners, all American citizens of Korean descent, were described as healthy and able to walk on their own after months of imprisonment by one of the world's most repressive governments. They were scheduled to land at 2 a.m. Thursday at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, where Mr. Trump intended to greet them." ...

... Choe Sang-Hun: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended an olive branch to senior North Korean officials on Wednesday: 'All the opportunities your people so richly deserve' in exchange for the shutting down of the North's nuclear weapons program. 'For decades, we have been adversaries,' Mr. Pompeo said in a toast during a lunch in honor of his visit to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. 'Now we are hopeful that we can work together to resolve this conflict, take away threats to the world and make your country have all the opportunities your people so richly deserve.' Mr. Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday on a mission to smooth any remaining wrinkles in the weekslong preparations for a planned summit meeting between North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Trump, according to pool reports by journalists traveling with Mr. Pompeo."

Europeans Try to Mop up after Trump. Patrick Wintour & Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The European Union is scrambling to arrange a crisis meeting with Iran after Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement, as the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Europe had a 'very limited opportunity' to save the deal. A day after the US president broke with the landmark 2015 agreement and warned he would seek to hit European businesses that continued to trade with Tehran, the EU vowed to take steps to immunise firms from any US sanctions."

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

"He Was Good on It." Brian Bennett of Time: "President Trump told his lawyers on Tuesday night he didn't know about payments made to his personal attorney by a Russian oligarch and businesses lobbying the federal government.... 'I don't know anything about it,' Trump told his lawyers, according [to Rudy] Guiliani's recollection of [a] phone call [with Trump & attorney Jay Sekulow].... 'He was good on it,' Guiliani said. 'Nobody's concerned about it. It doesn't involve us....' ... Asked if the President directed Cohen to accept payments from companies like Novartis and AT&T, Guiliani said, 'I have no idea. I doubt it.'" ...

... M.J. Lee, et al., of CNN: "According to multiple people familiar with [Michael] Cohen's conduct following the election, he aggressively pitched himself to potential clients, reminding them of his proximity to the most powerful man in the world. Those efforts landed Cohen lucrative consulting deals. New reporting this week revealed that in the months following the 2016 election, Cohen received hundreds of thousands of dollars from powerful entities based in and outside of the United States. 'I don't know who's been representing you, but you should fire them all. I'm the guy you should hire. I'm closest to the President. I'm his personal lawyer,' was how one GOP strategist described Cohen's sales pitch.... White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wouldn't address the Cohen payments during a briefing with reporters Wednesday." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Matt Miller -- a genteel, cautious commentator for MSNBC -- could not help but compare Cohen to a "Sopranos" goombah shaking down shopkeepers (like AT&T) for protection money. And Miller didn't mind noting that the wiseguys take their cuts, but the bulk of their collections are kicked up to the capo. ...

... Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: "One of Cohen's highest-paying ventures was with Squire Patton Boggs, the lobbying firm that boasts former Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former senator John Breaux (D-La.) as counsel. Squire Patton Boggs was unprepared for a Trump presidency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hiring Cohen for $500,000 was 'a no-brainer,' said a person at the firm familiar with the contract. 'The perception of having the president's personal lawyer' working with the firm was helpful 'from an optics perspective' with the administration.... The firm says its initial plan that Cohen would jointly represent clients did not pan out."

.... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you are confused by the changing stories of the "work" Cohen did for Novartis, AT&T & Korea Aerospace Industries, that's because, well, their stories keep changing. Since Novartis & AT&T have known for six months that their payments to Cohen were subjects of Mueller's investigation, you might think the PR geniuses at those major corporations would have been ready with plausible explanations when the press inevitably came calling. They were not. ...

... Tracy Connor, et al., of NBC News: "... Michael Cohen contacted the drug giant Novartis after the 2016 election 'promising access' to the new administration, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller later requested information from the company about the offer, a senior official inside Novartis told NBC News on Wednesday.... [After Cohen promised Novartis access,] Novartis then signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with Cohen.... AT&T sent an email to its employees on Wednesday with details about its dealings with Cohen. 'In early 2017, as President Trump was taking office, we hired several consultants to help us understand how the President and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company...," said the email.... Getting into a cab in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, Cohen told reporters that [Michael] Avenatti's report 'is inaccurate.' Later, his attorney filed a complaint letter with a federal judge that did not dispute the payments from Columbus, Novartis, AT&T and KAI but said smaller transactions that were lusted [sic.] by Avenatti were actually tied to different people named Michael Cohen...." ...

... Michael Kranish & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team sought information last November from Novartis, a major pharmaceutical company that paid a company created by President Trump's lawyer, the drug company said Wednesday. The interest by Mueller, who is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, indicates that the special counsel is scrutinizing clients that paid Michael Cohen while he served as Trump's personal attorney...." Novartis offered a really flimsy excuse for paying Cohen, cited in the WashPo report & in the CNBC report below. "Separately, Korean Aerospace Industries confirmed to The Washington Post that it paid $150,000 to Cohen's company, but spokesman Oh Sung-keon said that it was not aware of its connection to Trump. The company said [Mrs. McC: hilariously] that it paid Cohen's firm 'to inform reorganization of our internal accounting system.' The company is in contention for a multibillion joint U.S. contract with Lockheed Martin for jet trainers. Lockheed said Wednesday it was not aware of any connection between Korea Aerospace and Cohen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Drug giant Novartis paid ... Michael Cohen more than $1 million for health-care policy consulting work that he actually ended up being 'unable' to do, the company said Wednesday.... Novartis said it signed a one-year contract with Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants, for $100,000 per month in February 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as president. Novartis said it believed Cohen 'could advise the company as to how the Trump administration might approach certain U.S. health-care policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act.' But just a month after signing the deal, Novartis executives had their first meeting with Cohen, and afterward 'determined that Michael Cohen and Essentials Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated.'... 'As the contract, unfortunately, could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018,' Novartis said. That means that Cohen was paid up to $1.2 million for his work. Novartis did not immediately disclose the total amount paid." (The WashPo story cites a shorter time period over which Cohen was paid, concluding that Novartis paid Cohen about $400K.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed: "In its statement, Novartis [said], "... the engagement of Essential Consultants predated Vas Narasimhan becoming Novartis CEO. Dr. Narasimhan had no involvement whatsoever with this arrangement.' Narasimhan took over as CEO of Novartis in February.... Narasimhan was among other executives who had dinner with Trump when the president attended Davos earlier this year. A Novartis spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the dinner was 'organized by the Swiss government.'... AT&T, another company that has acknowledged paying Cohen's company, also acknowledged Wednesday evening that it, too, was contacted in late 2017 by the special counsel's office and that it, too, 'cooperated fully.'... Another company that paid Cohen was Columbus Nova LLC, an investment firm run by Andrew Intrater that is linked to Renova Group, a company owned by [Intrater's cousin] Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.... Intrater's biography -- which had been available online on Tuesday evening, according to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine -- was not available Wednesday. In the now-removed biography, it described Columbus Nova as 'the US investment vehicle for the Renova Group' and noted that Intrater 'is a former Director and current Member of the Executive Board of Renova Group.'" ...

... Kevin Drum: "Why would anyone think that Donald Trump's famously obnoxious bagman and fixer had any expertise in US health care policy? Answer: No one does. Why would Novartis hold one meeting and then pay Cohen $1.2 million anyway? Answer: As a bribe, more or less.... You take a look at what Trump does to companies he's annoyed with -- Comcast, Boeing, Amazon, etc. -- and who needs the grief? Just hire the insider dude for 'consulting' and be done with it. Just praise Trump and move on. It's what companies do in banana republics around the world, and America is lately little more than a really big banana republic."

... It Was Just a "Coincidence." Justin Elliott of ProPublica: "The news on Tuesday that the same shell company that Michael Cohen ... had used to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels had also received about $500,000 in 2017 from [Columbus Nova --] a firm linked to a Russian oligarch [--] set off a frenzy of commentary on Twitter and cable TV.... Another longtime Trump personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, also represented Columbus Nova in recent years in a commercial case. A spokesman for Kasowitz said the case settled in early 2017. As ProPublica reported last year, Cohen spent a short period in February 2017 working at the offices of Kasowitz Benson Torres..., alarming several lawyers at the firm who worried about the brash attorney's reputation. That was at the beginning of the period, between January and August 2017, when Columbus Nova made its payments to Cohen.... [A spokesman for Columbus Nova] said ... it was a coincidence that the firm had used two lawyers who also represent Trump." ...

... Adam Davidson of the New Yorker: "Columbus Nova, which is based in New York City..., is a company technically owned by others but which looks after money owned and controlled in large part -- if not entirely -- by Vekselberg and his family.... It's the kind of clever corporate structure that allows a lawyer, at a crisis moment such as this, to say truthfully that the company is not owned and controlled by the man who owns and controls everything of value within the firm." ...

... Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "A company at the center of widening questions involving ... Michael Cohen is listed as the organization behind a string of websites targeted toward white nationalists and other members of the alt-right. Columbus Nova, a company whose U.S. chief executive, Andrew Intrater, and Russian investment partner Viktor Vekselberg have both reportedly been interviewed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III&'s team, is listed as the registrant behind a handful of domains for websites named after the alt-right that were created during the 2016 election. It is unclear if any of these websites were launched or ever hosted content.... These sites ... were all registered in the two days following a speech given by then candidate Hillary Clinton in August 2016 in which she excoriated the far-right movement known for its extremist, racist, anti-Semitic and sexist viewpoints. The sites are not currently operational.... Intrater's brother, Frederick, a design manager at Columbus Nova, is named along with the company on the registration databases for the websites.... [A] spokesman [for Columbus Nova] said that Columbus Nova was not aware that the sites had been registered before Wednesday."

... Watergate Lives! Frank Rich: Michael Avenatti "has unveiled an example of collusion so flagrant that it made Trump and Rudy Giuliani suddenly go mute: a Putin crony's cash turns out to be an essential component of the racketeering scheme used to silence Stormy Daniels and thus clear Trump's path to the White House in the final stretch of the 2016 election. Like the Nixon campaign slush fund that Woodward and Bernstein uncovered, this money trail also implicates corporate players hoping to curry favor with a corrupt president.... Both the Nixon and Trump slush funds were initially set up to illegally manipulate an American presidential election, hush money included. But the Watergate burglars' dirty tricks, criminal as they were, were homegrown. Even Nixon would have drawn the line at colluding with Russians -- or, in those days, the Soviets -- to sabotage the Democrats." ...

     ... On That Same Note. Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "Routine denials aside, Viktor Vekselberg is very close to Vladimir Putin and he put a half a million dollars in Michael Cohen's slush fund where it was commingled with money used to silence women who had information that would be damaging to the president. I can hardly think of a less prudent thing to do than to take money from the Kremlin, but to take it and put it into the same account as the one used to cover up the president's affairs is reminiscent of paying the Watergate burglars with a cashier's check in the name of an RNC finance chairman [Ken Dahlberg]. It looks like Trump is destined to repeat all of Nixon's mistakes, and to meet the same fate." Mrs. McC: A short, fun read that draws a specific parallel between CREEP carelessness & what is probably Michael Cohen's SOP. You can bet forensic accountants on Bob Mueller's staff figured out many of Cohen's crooked stunts in next to no time. I would be shocked if the entities Michael Avenatti found had been filling Cohen's coffers were the only ones that had sought Cohen's "consulting" services. And I would be just as shocked if Cohen bagged the millions he got from these entities & didn't share with the boss.

Beth Reinhard & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "The Treasury Department's inspector general is investigating whether confidential banking information related to a company controlled by ... Michael Cohen may have been leaked, a spokesman said. Rich Delmar, counsel to the inspector general, said that in response to media reports the office is 'inquiring into allegations' that Suspicious Activity Reports on Cohen's banking transactions were 'improperly disseminated.'... In an interview, [Michael] Avenatti [-- who initially released information about some of the payments to Cohen's LLC --] declined to reveal the source of his information. 'The source or sources of our information is our work product, and nobody's business,' Avenatti said. 'They can investigate all they want, but what they should be doing is releasing to the American public the three Suspicious Activity Reports filed on Michael Cohen's account. Why are they hiding this information?'... Avenatti has been calling on the Treasury Department for weeks to release reports of unusual banking transactions by Cohen. He came up with a social media hashtag: #releasetheSAR, using the acronym for a Suspicious Activity Report.... It is not uncommon for journalists, lawyers and others in the public eye to receive unauthorized leaks of sensitive information, and there is nothing improper in receiving such information." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has spoken with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast.... Prince attended a now-controversial meeting with the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund in the Seychelles Islands on Jan. 11, 2017 -- just over a week before Inauguration Day. The Washington Post reported that Mueller is interested in potential efforts at the Seychelles meeting to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A Russian company tied to a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin entered a not-guilty plea Wednesday in a U.S. criminal case charging that it funded internet trolls and polarizing social media advertisements in a bid to boost Donald Trump's chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's office allege that the firm, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, was controlled by a Russian oligarch known as Putin's chef, Yevgeniy Prigozhin. He is one of the 13 individuals charged in the case."

Devlin Barrett & Kevin Leonnig of the Washington Post: "A subpoena that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) issued to the Justice Department last week made a broad request for all documents about an individual who people close to the matter say is a sensitive, longtime intelligence source for the CIA and FBI. The Justice Department has refused to provide the documents. Intelligence officials say the material could jeopardize the source.... The subpoena ... demands 'all documents referring or related to the individual referenced in Chairman Nunes' April 24, 2018 classified letter to Attorney General Sessions.' That is the only material the subpoena seeks. In an interview Wednesday, Nunes maintained that he was 'not interested in any individual.'... Senior intelligence officials alarmed by Nunes's subpoena warned White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly last week that the information being sought could not be turned over because it could do serious damage to intelligence-sharing relationships with other countries.... Kelly and President Trump sided with the Justice Department.... Partly as a result of [renewed] discussions [Tuesday], the Justice Department has invited Nunes to a classified meeting Thursday in the hopes of resolving the impasse...." ...

... Kevin Drum: "Nunes ... is so obsessed with covering for Donald Trump that ... if that means pretending that the FBI, CIA, NSA, and every other federal agency is corrupt, so be it. If it means leaking information that could get people killed, that's probably OK too. And Paul Ryan is perfectly fine with this. Welcome to the Republican Party in 2018."

Benjamin Siegel & Matthew Mosk of ABC News: "Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have received new materials from the estate of Peter Smith, a GOP operative who reportedly led a campaign to obtain missing Hillary Clinton emails from Russian hackers during the 2016 presidential race, sources familiar with the materials production tell ABC News.... Smith's records are of interest to congressional investigators continuing to probe potential contacts between the Trump campaign - and those within the campaign's orbit - and Russia.... The acquisition of documents from Smith's estate is the latest indication that Democrats are continuing their investigation after Republicans released a report that found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Trump campaign but criticized the intelligence community and actions taken by Trump associates."

Leo Shane of the Military Times: "Speaking to a crowd of military spouses on Wednesday..., Donald Trump incorrectly claimed that his administration gave service members their first pay raise in 10 years, a moment he was 'proud' to oversee. In fact, troops have seen a pay raise of at least 1 percent every year for more than 30 years. The 2018 military pay raise -- which was 2.4 percent -- was the largest for the armed forces in eight years."

Matthew Rosenberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee to the lead the Central Intelligence Agency, defended the agency's torture of terrorism suspects as her confirmation hearing on Wednesday served as another reckoning of the extraordinary measures the government employed in the frantic hunt for the Sept. 11 conspirators. Ms. Haspel, a 33-year C.I.A. veteran who oversaw a secret prison in Thailand in 2002 while a Qaeda suspect was waterboarded there, said that she and other spies were working within the law. Though the C.I.A. should never resume that type of work, she said, its officers should also not be judged for doing it." ...

... David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's choice for head of the Central Intelligence Agency struggled on Wednesday to tell US senators how she would respond if the president asked her to reintroduce the waterboarding of terrorist suspects. Gina Haspel, grilled about her time running a covert detention site where suspects were brutally interrogated during George W Bush's 'war on terror', failed to explicitly condemn such techniques as immoral. Twice the hearing on Capitol Hill was interrupted by protesters, one of whom yelled: 'Bloody Gina! You are a torturer,' before being dragged out by police. Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, asked what Haspel would do as head of the CIA if Trump ordered waterboarding -- which simulates drowning -- on a high-value suspect. 'Senator, I would advise,' she began, then restarted her answer: 'I do not believe the president would ask me to do that.' This prompted scornful laughter from the public gallery. During his presidential election campaign, Trump vowed to authorise waterboarding and 'a hell of a lot worse'." Asked again by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) to answer the question, Haspel again deflected. ...

... Eli Okun of Politico: "CIA director nominee Gina Haspel tangled with Democrats at a crucial confirmation hearing Wednesday, where she came under fire for her involvement with the harsh interrogation methods of the George W. Bush era. But Haspel defended her moral compass before the Senate Intelligence Committee and promised not to restart the CIA's controversial interrogation program.... Here are some key moments from the confirmation hearing: Haspel vowed not to push the CIA to act in ways she considered immoral -- even if the president ordered it.... Haspel pledged she would not restart the harsh interrogation program.... Haspel said torture doesn't work -- but hedged on whether 'enhanced interrogation' methods worked after the Sept. 11 attacks.... Haspel defended her role in the destruction of tapes of waterboarding, a technique considered torture that Congress later outlawed.... Haspel refused to say whether she ever called for the interrogation program to be continued." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jacqueline Thomsen & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) came out against Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee to be CIA director, on Wednesday...." ...

... Dana Milbank: "As I sat in the hearing room watching Gina Haspel's confirmation hearing..., I felt an overwhelming sense of relief ... that Tom Cotton wasn't nominated to run the CIA. Cotton ... had been the front-runner for the position.... Haspel's flaws are nothing compared with those of Cotton, who has surpassed Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) as the most disliked member of the Senate. He used his five minutes of questioning time to 'clear up' and to 'take exception to' the 'entirely false' things his colleagues said, peppering his remarks with gratuitous partisan swipes.... Colleagues and staff on the Hill report that he can be as nasty privately as he is publicly, as uncivil to Republicans as he is to Democrats."

Glenn Thrush & Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will move the agency's student loan division into the bureau's consumer information unit, a shift that career officials fear will sidetrack a major enforcement case the agency is pursuing against Navient, the nation's largest student loan collector. The change, outlined in an email sent to the bureau's staff Wednesday morning, is part of an effort by Mr. Mulvaney to refocus the agency away from its consumer finance enforcement and rule-writing mission and more toward providing consumers with information about their legal rights.... Among the bureau's career staff, the shift was regarded as a new attack on one of the bureau's core statutory functions, and another attempt by Mr. Mulvaney and his team to dismantle a consumer watchdog reviled by President Trump."

"Diplomacy," Trump-Style. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "For the past year, German officials have been urging their U.S. counterparts to send a new ambassador to Berlin. But ... within hours of assuming his new post on Tuesday, [Amb.] Richard Grenell triggered harsh criticism in this Trump-weary country after appearing to threaten one of the American president's frequent targets: German businesses. In a tweet following President Trump's announcement to leave the Iran nuclear deal, Grenell wrote that 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.'... The remarks, which were widely perceived as a threat here, came only an hour after the U.S. Embassy in Berlin took to Twitter to announce that Grenell had officially arrived in the German capital.... Business associations and leading European politicians immediately lashed out at him...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A small group of Republicans has launched an effort to sidestep House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and put immigration legislation on the House floor this year in a bid to secure protections for young undocumented immigrants. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) filed a discharge petition Wednesday morning that, if signed by a majority of House members, would force votes on immigration bills under a so-called 'queen of the hill' rule. Whichever of those bills receives the most votes, exceeding a majority, would pass the House -- a setup that is calibrated to secure passage of a bipartisan compromise. By Wednesday afternoon, 16 more Republicans had also signed the discharge petition alongside Curbelo. Most, but not all, represent swing districts with significant Latino constituencies or are retiring from the House."

Rachel Bade & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Two lawmakers on Tuesday evening erupted into a shouting match on the House floor over Speaker Paul Ryan's firing -- and then reinstatement -- of the House chaplain, reigniting a contentious religious fight the Wisconsin Republican hoped would fade. No. 4 House Democrat Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), who is Catholic, and Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) got up in each other's faces on the House floor and squabbled over the merits of a special investigation into the dismissal.... The confrontation started after Crowley offered a privilege resolution to establish a select committee to investigate Conroy's forced resignation.... The two men bickered as their faces turned red. Crowley gestured his thumb to the GOP side of the chamber, telling MacArthur to get back to the Republican side of the chamber. MacArthur wouldn't move. Eventually House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) came over to try to calm both men.... MacArthur, who is Episcopalian, said he was offended by Crowley's actions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: MacArthur should listen to the sermon more often. Episcopalians agree with the prayers Father Patrick Conroy offered which so offended some House Republicans. "Real Episcopalians" are pretty liberal, if sometimes in a noblesse-oblige manner. Religion is a great way to civilize the unruly, isn't it?

Congressional Races

Jake Sherman & Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has cut a $30 million check to the House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, a massive cash infusion that top Republicans hope will alter the party's electoral outlook six months before Election Day. The long-sought donation was sealed last week when, according to two senior Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan flew to Las Vegas to meet with the billionaire at his Venetian Hotel."

Charlie Mahtesian in Politico Magazine: "During an election season when the House seems to be a lost cause for Republicans and nearly every indicator suggests massive Democratic gains in November, the outlook for wresting the Senate away from the GOP remains grim.... It's hard to overstate the degree of difficulty in flipping the Senate this year. As Nate Silver has noted, it's possible that Democrats are confronting the worst Senate map ever -- as in, since direct Senate elections began in 1914."

Alex Isenstadt: "... Donald Trump connected by phone on Wednesday with Don Blankenship, the former coal baron and ex-con whose Senate candidacy he helped sink. Trump and Blankenship spoke briefly, according to three people familiar with the discussion. The conversation was described as straightforward, polite and cordial, with the president calling to exchange pleasantries and offer his congratulations on waging the campaign." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Blankenship had threatened to run as a third-party candidate if he lost the primary, but as Ella Nilsen of Vox explained, "West Virginia has a 'sore loser' or 'sour grapes' law. Candidates 'affiliated with a recognized political party who run for election in a primary election' and lose the nomination cannot turn around, register as a minor-party candidate, and run again in the general election." Anyway, if Blankenship thinks Trump was sporting to call him, he should bear in mind that neither he nor Trump is sporting. Trump just wanted to make sure Blankenship wouldn't cause trouble for the primary's winner, Patrick Morrisey.

Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "The Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts of America are ending their partnership after 105 years as the church's worldwide membership grows and it develops youth programs that are more aligned with its own teachings. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday that it would end Boy Scouts programs for church members. The decision, which it said was made jointly with the Boy Scouts, will take effect at the end of next year.... The announcement takes a change made last year one step further. In May 2017, the church said that it would partly end its participation in Boy Scout programs for youths between the ages of 14 and 18, but that it would allow members ages 8 through 13 to continue to participate.... In recent years, the Boy Scouts of America have expanded rights for gay people. It ended its ban on openly gay youths participating in its activities in 2013, and ended its ban on openly gay adult leaders two years later. In 2017, the group reversed its stance of more than a century by deciding to accept members based on the gender listed on their application, a decision that paved the way for transgender boys to join."

Way Beyond the Beltway

So Far, Trump's Iran Move Is Going Very Well. Oliver Holmes of the Guardian: "Arch-enemies Iran and Israel edged closer to all-out war on Thursday after Israel's military said its positions in the Golan Heights were fired at with a barrage of Iranian rockets, prompting it to respond with extensive strikes targeting Tehran's forces across Syria. The attack, if confirmed, would mark the first time Iran has fired rockets in a direct strike on Israeli forces, dramatically ratcheting up what has for years been a conflict fought through proxies.... The occupied Golan Heights has been on high alert since Donald Trump confirmed he was pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal."

News Lede

New York Times: "Five senior Islamic State officials have been captured, including a top aide to the group's leader, in a complex cross-border sting carried out by Iraqi and American intelligence, two Iraqi officials said Wednesday. The three-month operation, which tracked a group of senior Islamic State leaders who had been hiding in Syria and Turkey, represents a significant intelligence victory for the American-led coalition fighting the extremist group and underscores the strengthening relationship between Washington and Baghdad."

The Commentariat -- May 9, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Rosenberg, et al., of the New York Times are sort of live-blogging Gina Haspel's Senate testimony. ...

... Eli Okun of Politico: "CIA director nominee Gina Haspel tangled with Democrats at a crucial confirmation hearing Wednesday, where she came under fire for her involvement with the harsh interrogation methods of the George W. Bush era. But Haspel defended her moral compass before the Senate Intelligence Committee and promised not to restart the CIA's controversial interrogation program.... Here are some key moments from the confirmation hearing: Haspel vowed not to push the CIA to act in ways she considered immoral -- even if the president ordered it.... Haspel pledged she would not restart the harsh interrogation program.... Haspel said torture doesn't work -- but hedged on whether 'enhanced interrogation' methods worked after the Sept. 11 attacks.... Haspel defended her role in the destruction of tapes of waterboarding, a technique considered torture that Congress later outlawed.... Haspel refused to say whether she ever called for the interrogation program to be continued."

Beth Reinhard & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "The Treasury Department's inspector general is investigating whether confidential banking information related to a company controlled by President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen may have been leaked, a spokesman said. Rich Delmar, counsel to the inspector general, said that in response to media reports the office is 'inquiring into allegations' that Suspicious Activity Reports on Cohen's banking transactions were 'improperly disseminated.'... In an interview, [Michael] Avenatti [-- who initially released information about some of the payments to Cohen's LLC --] declined to reveal the source of his information. 'The source or sources of our information is our work product, and nobody' business,' Avenatti said. 'They can investigate all they want, but what they should be doing is releasing to the American public the three Suspicious Activity Reports filed on Michael Cohen's account. Why are they hiding this information?' A fixture on cable television, Avenatti has been calling on the Treasury Department for weeks to release reports of unusual banking transactions by Cohen. He came up with a social media hashtag: #releasetheSAR, using the acronym for a Suspicious Activity Report.... It is not uncommon for journalists, lawyers and others in the public eye to receive unauthorized leaks of sensitive information, and there is nothing improper in receiving such information."

Michael Kranish & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team sought information last November from Novartis, a major pharmaceutical company that paid a company created by President Trump's lawyer, the drug company said Wednesday. The interest by Mueller, who is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, indicates that the special counsel is scrutinizing clients that paid Michael Cohen while he served as Trump's personal attorney...." Novartis offered a really flimsy excuse for paying Cohen, cited in the WashPo report & in the CNBC report below. "Separately, Korean Aerospace Industries confirmed to The Washington Post that it paid $150,000 to Cohen's company, but spokesman Oh Sung-keon said that it was not aware of its connection to Trump. The company said [Mrs. McC: hilariously] that it paid Cohen's firm 'to inform reorganization of our internal accounting system.' The company is in contention for a multibillion joint U.S. contract with Lockheed Martin for jet trainers. Lockheed said Wednesday it was not aware of any connection between Korea Aerospace and Cohen." ...

... Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Drug giant Novartis paid ... Michael Cohen more than $1 million for health-care policy consulting work that he actually ended up being 'unable' to do, the company said Wednesday.... Novartis said it signed a one-year contract with Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants, for $100,000 per month in February 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as president. Novartis said it believed Cohen 'could advise the company as to how the Trump administration might approach certain U.S. health-care policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act.' But just a month after signing the deal, Novartis executives had their first meeting with Cohen, and afterward 'determined that Michael Cohen and Essentials Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated.'... 'As the contract, unfortunately, could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018,' Novartis said. That means that Cohen was paid up to $1.2 million for his work. Novartis did not immediately disclose the total amount paid." (The WashPo story cites a shorter time period over which Cohen was paid, concluding that Novartis paid Cohen about $400K.)

"Diplomacy," Trump-Style. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "For the past year, German officials have been urging their U.S. counterparts to send a new ambassador to Berlin. But ... within hours of assuming his new post on Tuesday, [Amb.] Richard Grenell triggered harsh criticism in this Trump-weary country after appearing to threaten one of the American president's frequent targets: German businesses. In a tweet following President Trump's announcement to leave the Iran nuclear deal, Grenell wrote that 'German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.'... The remarks, which were widely perceived as a threat here, came only an hour after the U.S. Embassy in Berlin took to Twitter to announce that Grenell had officially arrived in the German capital.... Business associations and leading European politicians immediately lashed out at him...."

Rachel Bade & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Two lawmakers on Tuesday evening erupted into a shouting match on the House floor over Speaker Paul Ryan's firing -- and then reinstatement -- of the House chaplain, reigniting a contentious religious fight the Wisconsin Republican hoped would fade. No. 4 House Democrat Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), who is Catholic, and Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) got up in each other's faces on the House floor and squabbled over the merits of a special investigation into the dismissal.... The confrontation started after Crowley offered a privilege resolution to establish a select committee to investigate Conroy's forced resignation.... The two men bickered as their faces turned red. Crowley gestured his thumb to the GOP side of the chamber, telling MacArthur to get back to the Republican side of the chamber. MacArthur wouldn't move. Eventually House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) came over to try to calm both men.... MacArthur, who is Episcopalian, said he was offended by Crowley's actions." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: MacArthur should listen to the sermon more often. Episcopalians agree with the prayers Father Patrick Conroy offered which so offended some House Republicans. "Real Episcopalians" are pretty liberal, if in a noblesse-oblige manner. Anyhow, religion is a great way to civilize the unruly, isn't it?

*****

NEW. Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "President Trump declared a diplomatic victory on Wednesday by announcing that North Korea had freed three American prisoners, removing a bitter and emotional obstacle ahead of a planned meeting between him and the young leader of the nuclear-armed nation. The release of the three prisoners, all American citizens of Korean descent, was in some ways the most tangible gesture of sincerity shown by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, to improve relations with the United States after nearly seven decades of mutual antagonism. Mr. Trump said in a tweet that the three were freed following a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Pyongyang, the North's capital, for more discussions with North Korean officials about the expected meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump."

The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning ...

... NEW. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Wednesday raised the prospect of taking away credentials from news media outlets that he believes are reporting negatively on his administration.... In his tweet, Trump referred to a study that found 91 percent of network news stories about him are negative. Shortly before, the anchors on 'Fox & Friends' on Fox News discussed a study by the Media Research Center study citing that figure after evaluating the nightly newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC between January and April." ...

     ... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The Media Research Center, we'll note, is part of the conglomerate of conservative enterprises funded by Robert Mercer and his family, the folks that also funded Cambridge Analytica, Breitbart and former White House adviser Steve Bannon."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: ""President Trump declared on Tuesday that he was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and isolating the United States among its Western allies. 'This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,' Mr. Trump said at the White House in announcing his decision. 'It didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will.' Mr. Trump's announcement, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, plunges America's relations with European allies into deep uncertainty. They have committed to staying in the deal, raising the prospect of a diplomatic and economic clash as the United States reimposes stringent sanctions on Iran. It also raises the prospect of increasing tensions with Russia and China, which also are parties to the agreement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... David Sanger of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump and his Middle East allies [-- Israel and Saudi Arabia --] are betting they can cut Iran's economic lifeline and thus 'break the regime,' as one senior European official described the effort. In theory, America's withdrawal could free Iran to produce as much nuclear material as it wants -- as it was five years ago, when the world feared it was headed toward a bomb. But Mr. Trump's team dismisses that risk.... It is a brutally realpolitik approach that America's allies in Europe have warned is a historic mistake, one that could lead to confrontation and perhaps to war. And it is a clear example of Middle East brinkmanship that runs counter to what President Barack Obama intended when the nuclear deal was struck in July 2015.... Now, suddenly, the world may well be headed back to where it was in 2012: On a road to uncertain confrontation, with 'very little evidence of a Plan B,' as Boris Johnson, the British foreign minister, said on a visit to Washington." ...

... Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "Trump was asked the most basic question about his Iran deal decision. He had no answer. After publicly signing a memorandum to violate the Iran nuclear deal by reinstating the 'highest levels' of U.S. sanctions against the country..., [a reporters asked,] 'Mr. President, how does this America safer?' she said.... Trump gathered his thoughts for a moment, then just restated the question in the form of an assertion. 'This will make America much safer,' he said, before getting up for the table...." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Obviously, then, "making America safer" was not among Trump's objectives in scuttling the Iran deal. So what were they? Well (1) whacking another Obama accomplishment; (2) trying to make himself look tough & mean; (3) fulfilling an ignorant campaign promise; (4) giving righty-right Republicans a boost in November; (5) changing the subject from Russia/Stormy Daniels; (6) currying favor with Bibi Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin (see this HuffPost report), rich Saudis, Christian evangelicals & various other right-wing factions; (7) and it wouldn't surprise me, tho there's no evidence of this, gaining some financial benefit we won't find out about for some time (see Cohen-pay-for-play). ...

     ... Oh, and there's this extremely mature reason:

     ... Travis Gettys of RawStory: "Trump felt contempt for the officials and experts who negotiated the Iran deal, and the White House official explained the president's motives for risking a potential Middle East crisis and setting in motion a chain of long-term consequences. '(Trump) likes it when "experts" are on CNN freaking out,' the White House official explained." --safari ...

If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs. -- Donald Trump, in his speech yesterday

In fact, Trump has single-handedly fast-forwarded that race by removing the constraints the deal imposed on Iran. -- Roger Cohen of the New York Times ...

... Roger Cohen: "President Trump is withdrawing the United States from an Iran nuclear deal that has worked, in the name of unrelated demands that are unworkable, at very high cost to America's alliances and the value of its word, with no viable alternative policy in place and at the risk of igniting the Middle East. Only Trump can believe that makes sense. But believe it he does, with a vengeance. From Day 1, it has been the deal Trump loves to hate. He knows who authorized it: Barack Obama. Whether he knows its content is another matter.... It was not 'a horrible, one-sided deal,' as Trump grotesquely claimed on Tuesday. It was not about delivering 'peace,' as he absurdly suggested. It was not a 'rotten structure,' as he emptily claimed. It was a painful compromise where each side got less than it wanted.... America has made a mockery of the value of its signature on an international agreement. The world will take note.... Trump has done what he likes to do: express his anger, break things and hope for the best. His Iran decision is a reckless gamble, even by his standards, the shredding of a singular diplomatic achievement."

... Don Lee of the Los Angeles Times: "For American consumers, the effect of President Trump's announcement Tuesday that the U.S. would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal was already apparent at their local service stations days ago. Gas prices nationally have climbed about 11% since March, to an average of $2.85 a gallon last week, reflecting higher global petroleum costs partly in anticipation of Trump's withdrawal and move to reimpose sanctions against the world's fifth-largest oil producer.... Taken together with increasing tensions on trade, with large tariffs possibly coming against China, there is growing wariness among some investors. Analysts expect that will be reflected in commodities and financial markets." ...

... Erin Cunningham & Bijan Sabbagh of the Washington Post: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that his government remains committed to a nuclear deal with world powers, despite the U.S. decision to withdraw, but is also ready to resume uranium enrichment should the accord no longer offer benefits. Rouhani, who had made the deal his signature achievement, spoke following President Trump's announcement that the United States would reimpose wide-ranging sanctions on Iran. The removal of those sanctions, including on the Iranian oil and banking sectors, had been key to persuading Iran to accept limits on its nuclear program. The Iranian leader said he had directed his diplomats to negotiate with the deal's remaining signatories -- including European countries, Russia and China -- and that the nuclear agreement could survive without the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that he would 'spearhead a diplomatic effort to examine whether remaining JCPOA participants can ensure its full benefits for Iran.'" ...

... Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's decision to torpedo the nuclear agreement with Iran has harmed the prospects of freedom for American dual national prisoners held by Tehran, analysts have warned. At least four Iranian-Americans and one Chinese-American are being detained by Iranian authorities on charges their supporters and relatives say are bogus or unjustified." --safari ...

... James McAuley of the Washington Post: "... key U.S. allies and others voiced concern about the fallout but vowed to salvage the deal. Chief among the critics was French President Emmanuel Macron, who was Europe's leading emissary to Washington in efforts to defend the deal and who has sought to cultivate a strong personal rapport with Trump.... An American exit threatens the entire accord. Tehran was lured to the bargaining table by the prospect of an injection of international investment to buoy its economy. A renewal of sanctions would give the country's leaders little reason to adhere to their part of the deal.... But after Trump's remarks Tuesday, the co-signatories of the agreement -- France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran -- said they would seek to save it. 'We urge the U.S. to ensure that the structures of the JCPOA can remain intact, and to avoid taking action which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal,' Macron, [Angela] Merkel and [Theresa] May said in their statement." ...

     ... Here's the statement by Macron, Merkel & May. ...

... Reuters: "Germany wants to preserve a nuclear deal with Iran because U.S. President Donald Trump did not offer an alternative to halt the Islamic Republic from making atomic weapons after he pulled out of the agreement, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday." --safari ...

... Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned Donald Trump's decision to violate the Iran nuclear deal as 'misguided' joining a throng of other outspoken Democratic critics - even as many Republicans praised the move. The former president, for whom the landmark 2015 accord was a signature foreign policy accomplishment, issued a lengthy written statement shortly after Trump announced the US would break with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) despite the urging of European allies and some of his own advisers. 'In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one Administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America's credibility, and puts us at odds with the world's major powers,' Obama said. Since leaving the White House, Obama has responded to only a handful of Trump's policy decisions, including his travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, decision to pull the US from the Paris climate accord, and move to rescind protections to young, undocumented immigrants." ...

     ... President Obama's full statement is here. ...

... OR, as Heather Hurlburt of New York puts it, "Trump Continues to Rebrand America As Weird and Flaky.... The president provided all the television staples of national-security seriousness. He described the threat posed by Iran with headline-worthy hyperbole. No one thinks Iran is close to having a missile that can 'threaten American cities' (that would be North Korea). He said Israel had provided new information about Iran's nuclear intentions -- all of which dated from before the agreement was signed and implemented, but never mind. And, with a flourish, he signed a national-security directive that would, he said, institute 'the highest level of economic sanction.'... Though you would never have known it from Trump's remarks, everyone from Senate Republicans to Israeli military leaders believed that the Iran deal was working to keep Tehran's nuclear ambitions constrained -- and to keep outside powers well-informed of what went on in Iran's labs, reactors, and storage sites." Read on. ...

... John Wolfsthal in the New Republic: "Before the JCPOA came into force, Iran had close to 20,000 uranium enrichment machines, called centrifuges, in operation.... Under the JCPOA, Iran cannot have more than 5,060 centrifuges operating and cannot use more advanced models until 2025, and then would have had to slowly introduce them and explain why they were doing so. Iran was also required to let IAEA inspectors track and monitor centrifuge production and storage of parts. That all goes away after today. Iran is within its right to reject any restrictions now that the U.S. is openly violating the deal.... Now, Iran can enrich [uranium] to whatever level it wants, for any reason, and posses as much uranium gas for enrichment as they choose. This will leave Iran weeks if not days from a bomb once they restore their infrastructure.... U.S. violation of the JCPOA gives Iran more nuclear options, and us less control and insight. Iran can be expected slowly, carefully but persistently to remove the restrictions it is now under and work toward being able to produce a nuclear weapon at a time of its choosing.... Europe may try to provide Iran with incentives to go slow...."

Robert Mackey of The Intercept: "The contours of the [Black Cube] campaign ... appeared to closely match those of a similar effort carried out by operatives of an Israeli firm this year to smear critics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the far-right populist who is an ally of both President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.... Between December and March ... at least 10 people who either run Hungarian nongovernmental organizations or have worked with or been supported by [George] Soros were approached by intelligence operatives posing as representatives of nonexistent businesses who requested meetings." --safari

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. -- Follow the Money Edition

Game Changer. Sarah Fitzpatrick, et al., of NBC News: "Stormy Daniels' attorney claimed Tuesday that ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen received $500,000 from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch, deposited into an account for a company also used to pay off the adult film actress. Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, also detailed other transactions he said were suspicious, including deposits from drug giant Novartis, the state-run Korea Aerospace Industries, and AT&T -- which confirmed it paid Cohen's company for 'insights' into Trump.... Avenatti said his investigation uncovered eight transactions between January and August 2017, totaling half a million dollars, from U.S.-based Columbus Nova, which he said is controlled by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and his cousin Andrew Intrater. The money was deposited into a First Republic account for Essential Consultants, Avenatti said. That's the same company Cohen created in 2016 and then used to wire $130,000 to Daniels.... Agents working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller searched and questioned Vekselberg as he got off a private plane in the New York area earlier this year." ...

... Noah Shachtman & Kate Briquelet of the Daily Beast: "The Daily Beast can confirm that ... Michael Cohen received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company controlled by Putin-aligned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. The allegations were initially made Tuesday by Michael Avenatti.... 'How the fuck did Avenatti find out?' the source asked The Daily Beast.... [Vekselberg's cousin Andrew] Intrater was also a donor to the Republican National Committee, where Cohen served as a deputy finance chairman. In June 2017, Intrater donated $35,000 to a joint fundraising committee for the RNC and Trump's reelection campaign. He also gave a quarter-million dollars to Trump's inaugural committee. (Previously, Intrater gave only to Democrats like Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Ted Kennedy.)" Mrs. McC: As Friedman & Corn note (linked next), Intrater "had previously made no large political contributions." ...

     ... A TPM reader tells Josh Marshall "how the fuck Avenatti found out." Most likely. ...

... Dan Friedman & David Corn of Mother Jones: "Avenatti's report suggests Cohen set up a company, Essential Consultants LLC, that he used to sell access to President Trump. Payments came from firms in Korea, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Israel, Avenatti says. He claims Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, paid $399,920 to Cohen's firm in late 2017 and early 2018. After the payments, Trump met with Novartis' CEO at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The document also says Essential Consultants received $200,000 in four payments from AT&T in late 2017 and early 2018. AT&T confirmed the payments in a statement reported by CNBC.... Avenatti's report could launch a massive case of alleged influence-peddling and may be a real game-changer in the Trump-Russia scandal.... Avenatti's report claims that Vekselberg's payment to Cohen came through Intrater's company. If Avenatti is correct, this would prompt an obvious lead for special counsel Robert Mueller to follow: Did the money Intrater donated to Trump come from his cousin the oligarch? That is, did a wealthy Russian with Kremlin contacts funnel money to Trump and the Republicans?" ...

... Judd Legum of ThinkProgress: "AT&T's payment is a stunning development that is likely to create a thicket of legal problems forCohen and Trump himself.... AT&T tries to justify the payments as a legitimate consulting expense, saying that the firm provided 'insights.' But Essential Consultants is not a real company.... The shell company has no website, no known employees, and no public facing presence of any kind. It raises the question of how AT&T could have even possibly known about Essential Consultants.... The $200,000 payment to Cohen was made while AT&T was seeking approval from Trump's Justice Department to merge with Time-Warner. AT&T claims that Cohen did no lobbying or legal work for the company." --safari ...

... Kara Scannell & Shimon Prokupecz of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company's US affiliate made to ... Donald Trump's persona attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter. Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of asset manager Renova Group, is an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and last month the Trump administration placed him on a list of sanctioned Russians for activities including election \ interference. The purpose of the payments, which predate the sanctions, and the nature of the business relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen is unclear." ...

... The New York Times story, published after those linked above, counts up all the payments/bribes to Cohen:

... Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "A shell company that Michael D. Cohen used to pay hush money to a pornographic film actress received payments totaling more than $1 million from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and several corporations with business before the Trump administration, according to documents and interviews. Financial records reviewed by The New York Times show that Mr. Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer and longtime fixer, used the shell company, Essential Consultants L.L.C., for an array of business activities that went far beyond what was publicly known. Transactions totaling at least $4.4 million flowed through Essential Consultants starting shortly before Mr. Trump was elected president and continuing to this January, the records show.... References to the transactions first appeared in a document posted to Twitter on Tuesday by Michael Avenatti.... The Times's review of financial records confirmed much of what was in Mr. Avenatti's report. In addition, a review of emails and interviews shed additional light on Mr. Cohen's dealings with the company connected to Mr. Vekselberg...." ...

... Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Michael Cohen was hired last year by the U.S.-based affiliate of a Russian business magnate who attended Trump's inauguration and was recently sanctioned by the U.S. government, the company said Tuesday. The New York investment firm Columbus Nova said it retained Cohen as a consultant 'regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures.' Though Columbus Nova has been described in federal regulatory filings as an affiliate of the Renova Group, founded by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, the company said Vekselberg was not involved with hiring or paying Cohen.... Vekselberg is a Russian billionaire who regularly participates in gatherings of Russian business leaders with Putin and sometimes meets one on one with the Russian president, according to news accounts and people familiar with his role.... Two people familiar with Mueller's probe told The Post that the special counsel is investigating whether foreign money helped fund Trump's inauguration. By law, only U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents can donate to a U.S. inaugural committee." ...

... Josh Marshall: "Tonight [Tuesday] we have what I'd say may be the most staggering revelations since the tangle of 'Trump/Russia' investigations began almost two years ago. This is not hyperbole.... The payments all end in January 2018. That's when the name 'Essential Consultants LLC' was first published by The Wall Street Journal as part of the Stormy Daniels' story.... Just through this single shell company Cohen was receiving major payments from a Russian oligarch and additional moneys from various Fortune 500 companies looking for access to President Trump. On the US corporate side these are classic off-the-books pay-for-play payments to what appears to have been a slush fund.... The US corporate payments appear to be just garden variety corruption.... These payoffs won't stand legal scrutiny. But the big revelation is [Viktor] Vekselberg's money.... This is money, more or less directly from a top Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin, putting money directly into a shell company controlled by Donald Trump's bag man and fixer. The collusion is real and high level." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "The payments gave Russia several sources of possible leverage over Cohen and Trump. First, the money itself could amount to some kind of bribe, in return for which a favor would be expected. Second, Russia had knowledge of the secret payoff, which it could always expose. Third, the possibility (at minimum) exists that Russia knew the account was being used to silence Trump's mistresses, yet another source of kompromat." Chait also addresses the Devin Nunes/DOJ standoff, described in the WashPo story linked immediately below: "The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who enjoys the full backing of his party's leadership, is willing to risk what his own government describes as the betrayal and potential loss of life of an intelligence source. And officials within this government believe the president would do the same, all in order to obstruct an investigation into the president's secretive ties to a foreign power. They are acting as though Trump is compromised by Russia, or at the very least, that he cannot be trusted to defend his own country's security against it." ...

... Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "Last Wednesday, senior FBI and national intelligence officials relayed an urgent message to the White House: Information being sought by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes could endanger a top-secret intelligence source. Top White House officials, with the assent of President Trump, agreed to back the decision to withhold the information. They were persuaded that turning over Justice Department documents could risk lives by potentially exposing the source, a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI, according to multiple people.... The showdown marked a rare moment of alignment between the Justice Department and Trump.... But it is unclear whether Trump was alerted to a key fact -- that information developed by the intelligence source had been provided to the Mueller investigation. The debate over the risk to the source is now at the center of a pitched battle between House Republicans and the Justice Department. Several administration officials said they fear Trump may reverse course and support Nunes's argument.... On Tuesday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R.-Wis.) said he had not discussed the matter with Nunes but added that he expected congressional subpoenas to be enforced."

Emma Loop of BuzzFeed: "The Senate Intelligence Committee has released a summary of a report on how to help states prevent election hacking that found Russia launched an 'unprecedented' cyber-campaign against the US in 2016. The report is the first of several about the panel's investigation into Russian interference during the last election. The six-page document, released Tuesday, says that during the last election, 'cyber actors affiliated with the Russian Government conducted an unprecedented, coordinated cyber campaign against state election infrastructure' and that 'Russian actors scanned databases for vulnerabilities, attempted intrusions, and in a small number of cases successfully penetrated a voter registration database.' The committee says this 'activity was part of a larger campaign to prepare to undermine confidence in the voting process' but notes that it 'has not seen any evidence that vote tallies were manipulated or that voter registration information was deleted or modified.'"

Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making a surprise visit to North Korea to continue preparations for what is expected to be a historic summit..., Donald Trump announced Tuesday." ...

... Yonhap (South Korea) News: "North Korea is expected to release three U.S. citizens held in the communist state on Wednesday, an official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a historic meeting between its leader Kim Jong-un and ... Donald Trump. The official said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to return with the exact time of the Trump-Kim summit, along with the three U.S. captives in North Korea."

A Reminder that Melania Trump Is a Be-yotch. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Melania Trump's rollout this week of her 'Be Best' initiative focusing on children was intended to give the first lady an agenda all her own. Instead, it revived accusations that Mrs. Trump's ideas were really coming from somewhere else. Observers on Twitter quickly pointed out that one of the primary materials with 'Be Best' branding, a booklet on social media guidelines called 'Talking With Kids About Being Online,' had been circulated by the Federal Trade Commission during the Obama era. As the story spread, Mrs. Trump's communications director published an extraordinary statement on Tuesday that admonished the news media for reporting on the plagiarism claims.... Before the official 'Be Best' rollout on Monday, aides had been upfront to reporters when asked about the fact that Mrs. Trump's office was repackaging items ... from other programs."

Margaret Hartmann: "... on the eve of Wednesday's confirmation hearing, excerpts of what [Gina Haspel] plans to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that lawmakers have absolutely nothing to worry about. If confirmed, Haspel won't restart the horrific torture program that led to the closing of the black sites and the passage of new anti-torture legislation -- she promises! 'Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program,' Haspel plans to say. Haspel's critics object to her refusal to declassify documents related to her 30-year career at the CIA, and according to the Washington Post, her prepared testimony is peppered with dramatic yet vague allusions to her work. Haspel will have the opportunity to share more information with senators in a closed-door hearing following her public testimony." ...

... Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed..., the principal architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks..., asked a military judge at Guantánamo Bay for permission to share six paragraphs of information about Ms. Haspel with the Senate Intelligence Committee. Ms. Haspel ran a black-site prison in Thailand where another high-level detainee was tortured in late 2002. But it is not known whether she was involved, directly or indirectly, in Mr. Mohammed's torture. Mr. Mohammed was held in secret C.I.A. prisons in Afghanistan and Poland. In the weeks after his capture, an Intelligence Committee report said, Mr. Mohammed was subjected to the suffocation technique called waterboarding 183 times over 15 sessions, stripped naked, doused with water, slapped, slammed into a wall, given rectal rehydrations without medical need, shackled into painful stress positions and sleep-deprived for about a week by being forced to stand with his hands chained above his head. While being subjected to that treatment, he made alarming confessions about purported terrorist plots -- like recruiting black Muslims in Montana to carry out attacks -- that he later retracted. They were apparently made up, the Senate report said."

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: Scott Pruitt's newly-confirmed deputy Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, is more dangerous to the environment than Pruitt. "Wheeler was previously a lobbyist at Faegre Baker Daniels, focusing on clients such as Murray Energy, one of the US's largest coalmining companies. He joined Robert Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy, in a series of meetings with the Trump administration to wind back regulations affecting the coal sector.... Wheeler is well known in Washington DC, having spent four years at the EPA at the start of his career before shifting to Congress to work for Senator James Inhofe.... 'Pruitt does whatever his fossil fuel overlords like; Mr Wheeler's main qualification is knowing which levers to pull to give polluters maximum benefit,' said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat." ...

... Kyla Mandel of ThinkProgress: "The Heritage Foundation -- ... known for promoting climate science denial -- paid for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt's hotel stay while attending a conference in Colorado last year. The think tank also offered to cover his flights.... As emails between Heritage Foundation and EPA staffers show, the think tank also provided talking points for Pruitt to use in his speech.... The Heritage Foundation didn't just arrange Pruitt's accommodations in Colorado Springs; as the emails detail, the think tank also took care of booking rooms for several other EPA staffers." --safari

Nick Miroff, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the past six months, the Trump administration has moved to expel 300,000 Central Americans and Haitians living and working legally in the United States, disregarding senior U.S. diplomats who warned that mass deportations could destabilize the region and trigger a new surge of illegal immigration. The warnings were transmitted to top State Department officials last year in embassy cables now at the center of an investigation by Senate Democrats, whose findings were recently referred to the Government Accountability Office.... The cables' contents ... reveal career diplomats' strong opposition to terminating the immigrants' provisional residency, known as temporary protected status (TPS), and the possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of people to some of the poorest and most violent places in the Americas. Then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dismissed the advice and joined other Trump officials in pressuring leaders at the Department of Homeland Security to strip the immigrants of their protections...."

Congressional/Gubernatorial Races

Jonathan Martin & Andrew Burns of the New York Times: "Republicans narrowly averted political disaster in the West Virginia Senate primary on Tuesday with the defeat of former coal executive Don Blankenship while mainstream Democrats fended off a liberal insurgent in the Ohio governor's race, bringing relief to the establishment of both parties on a day of elections in four states. But Washington Republicans were handed a stinging defeat in North Carolina, where Representative Robert Pittenger was defeated by Mark Harris, a pastor who made his name denouncing same-sex marriage."

The New York Times has live primary election results for West Virginia here. Ohio results are here, Indiana results here, and North Carolina results here. There are no state-wide races in North Carolina.

West Virginia: At 9:45 pm ET Tuesday, no winner yet declared in the GOP Senate race, but Morrisey is ahead & Blankenship is trailing both him & Jenkins. The winner will challenge incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin (D). At 10:25 pm ET NBC News has projected Patrick Morrisey as the winner of the Republican Senate primary. ...

     ... Cocaine Mitch Gets the Last Laugh. Matthew Dessem of Slate: "After Don Blankenship lost the West Virginia primary on Tuesday, the official Twitter account for Team Mitch was there to rub salt -- or some other white powder -- in his wounds.... The source image for McConnell's tweet was this key art of Brazilian actor Wagner Moura playing Pablo Escobar on Netflix's Narcos." Mrs. McC: You'll have to read/see the story to get the full impact of Mitch's tweet.

Ohio: James Renacci has been declared the winner of the GOP Senate primary. He will challenge incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). Richard Cordray has been declared winner of the Democratic primary for governor. He handily beat former Rep. Dennis Kucinich & Joe Schiavoni. State AG & former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine has been declared winner of the GOP gubernatorial primary, besting Mary Taylor.

Indiana: Mike Braun has won the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. He will face incumbent Democratish Joe Donnelly.

Jonathan Chait: "The great virtue of Mitch McConnell has always been his willingness to ... bluntly confess the game he is playing. McConnell is currently dealing with a West Virginia Republican primary in which one leading contender, Don Blankenship, is a criminal who has smeared McConnell as a cocaine smuggler and made racist attacks against his family. Asked by reporters today if he would describe Blankenship's ads as racist, McConnell admitted the answer would depend on whether Blankenship won the nomination.... 'Well, we're going to find out what happens in West Virginia tonight, and I may have more to say about that tomorrow.'... If Blankenship loses, he’s a racist. If he wins, he’s just another important voice for pro-growth blah blah blah."

Jan Ransom of the New York Times: New York "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo asked Tuesday night that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate allegations that Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman assaulted four women he was romantically involved with over several years, taking the inquiry away from the Manhattan district attorney.... Hours after The New Yorker reported on Monday that they had accused Mr. Schneiderman of assault, the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., announced that his office would investigate the allegations, raising the possibility that criminal charges would accompany Mr. Schneiderman's political fall from grace. But by early Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo had raised questions about Mr. Vance's ability to be impartial.... And by nightfall, he had written a letter ordering the Nassau County district attorney, Madeline Singas, be appointed to investigate 'any and all matters' related to Mr. Schneiderman's mistreatment of his former romantic partners.... Mr. Vance fired back at the governor on Tuesday night, saying in a letter that he objected to the decision to appoint a special prosecutor." Read on for details. ...

... Kalhan Rosenblatt of NBC News: "The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed on Tuesday that it is investigating outgoing New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.... On Monday, Schneiderman said he would resign after The New Yorker published a 6,100-word article, in which several women claimed the he had been violent toward them.... [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, who himself once held the role of New York state attorney general, said that the women who made the claims 'should have their day in court' and that he had asked the Manhattan district attorney to open the investigation into Schneiderman."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jeremy Barr of the Hollywood Reporter: "MSNBC is being forced to answer questions about the role that one of its employees, Saturday-morning show host Hugh Hewitt, played in brokering a meeting between embattled EPA head Scott Pruitt and lawyers representing a California Superfund site[, Politico reported (also linked here yesterday)]. The lawyers, who work for the same firm as Hewitt, Larson O'Brien, met with Pruitt in October and were successful in lobbying the EPA to put the Orange County North Basin site they represent on a list of locations targeted for 'immediate and intense' action.... When asked if MSNBC was aware of Hewitt's involvement, a spokesman said Tuesday afternoon, 'We'll get back to you.' [They didn't.]... Media watchers ... say that Hewitt's involvement amounts to a conflict of interest, particularly considering Hewitt's persistent defense of Pruitt on television. 'Um, it's not okay for a cable news contributor to ask the EPA administrator for favors like this and still be on TV talking about him. At. All,' The New York Times' Michael Barbaro wrote. 'How does @MSNBC possibly justify keeping Hugh Hewitt on the payroll given this?' Vox Media's Matthew Yglesias asked Tuesday morning."

Beyond the Beltway

Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "In New Orleans, actors were paid to show up at city council meetings to demonstrate their support for a planned natural gas-fueled power plant. The paid actors ... held signs about the power plant project's job-creating potential at New Orleans City Council meetings. Some of the actors also gave speeches in favor of the proposed Entergy New Orleans LLC power plant during the public comment period.... [T]hey were paid $60 to wear orange shirts. Others were paid more to speak in front of the city council members. In a vote of 6-1, the New Orleans City Council in March ended up voting in favor of Entergy's proposed power plant.... The fossil fuel industry has employed such tactics for years." --safari

A Duke U. VP Walked into a Coffee Bar.... (But this is not a joke.) Mrs. McCrabbie: In case it's been a while since you had a low-level job you were good at doing, here's a reminder of how such employees can be fired on the whim of a prissy higher-up. Oh, and then somebody is lying about who's responsible for the firing.