The Commentariat -- April 6, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Julie Davis & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, told President Trump last week that Scott Pruitt, his embattled administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, needed to go, according to two officials briefed about the conversation, following damaging allegations of ethical infractions and spending irregularities by the E.P.A. chief. But Mr. Trump, who is personally fond of Mr. Pruitt and sees him as a crucial ally in his effort to roll back environmental protections, has resisted firing him, disregarding warnings that the drumbeat of negative headlines has grown unsustainable, and that more embarrassing revelations could surface. White House officials said on Friday that Mr. Trump continues to believe that Mr. Pruitt has been effective in his role, and stressed that it was up to the president alone to decide his fate."

Ana Swanson & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump defended his pugnacious approach to trade policy on Friday, just hours after he doubled down on a White House plan to punish China by threatening to levy tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese imports. Mr. Trump, in a tweet, criticized both China and the World Trade Organization, saying that the Chinese 'get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the U.S. Does anybody think this is fair. We were badly represented. The WTO is unfair to U.S.'... That followed another early morning tweet, in which Mr. Trump boasted that the new metals tariffs he has put into effect on China and other nations had not hurt American consumers as his critics predicted.... The price of aluminum per pound has been falling since February, a decline that started before the tariffs were imposed. Mr. Trump's decision to exempt Canada, which supplied more than half of America's aluminum imports in 2016, has also helped to soften the blow from tariffs, companies say."

When Is a Timeline Not a Timeline? Matthew Lee & Josh Lederman of the AP: "... Donald Trump has spoken: He wants U.S. troops and civilians out of Syria by the fall. But don't call it a 'timeline.' Wary of charges of hypocrisy for publicly telegraphing military strategy after criticizing former President Barack Obama for the same thing, the White House has ordered Trump's national security team not to speak of a 'timeline' for withdrawal. That's even after Trump made it clear to his top aides this week that he wants the pullout completed within five or six months.... Trump's desire for a rapid withdrawal faced unanimous opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon, the State Department and the intelligence community, all of which argued that keeping the 2,000 U.S. soldiers currently in Syria is key to ensuring the Islamic State does not reconstitute itself.... Documents presented to the president included several pages of possibilities for staying in, but only a brief description of an option for full withdrawal that emphasized significant risks and downsides, including the likelihood that Iran and Russia would take advantage of a U.S. vacuum. Ultimately, Trump chose that option anyway. The president had opened the meeting with a tirade about U.S. intervention in Syria and the Middle East more broadly, repeating lines from public speeches...." Read on. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I suspect Vlad told Trump to get the hell out of Syria, or else. Otherwise, what would account for the sustained Trumpertantrum? Unless maybe he thinks he can convert Syria money to border-wall money. This is one dangerous imbecile. ...

... Margaret Hartmann: "The explanation for how we got to the point where the president is setting foreign policy deadlines on a whim may be even more troubling. The AP reports that the national security team has been giving Trump the illusion of power by presenting him with very limited choices (a tactic parents use with toddlers). But this time the game didn’t work[.]"

Where's Kelly? Jonathan Lemire & Catherine Lucey of the AP: John "Kelly, once empowered to bring order to a turbulent West Wing, has receded from view, his clout diminished, his word less trusted by staff and his guidance less tolerated by an increasingly go-it-alone president.... Trump has rebelled against Kelly's restrictions and mused about doing away with the chief of staff post entirely. It's all leading White House staffers and Trump allies to believe that Kelly is working on borrowed time.... Those close to the president say that Trump has increasingly expressed fatigue at Kelly's attempts to shackle him and that while Trump is not ready to fire Kelly, he has begun gradually freezing out his top aide. Trump recently told one confidant that he was 'tired of being told no' by Kelly and has instead chosen to simply not tell Kelly things at all.... Kelly was once a fixture at the president's side, but Trump has now cut him out of a number of important decisions."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump will again skip the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year, and will send his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, instead." Great! Mrs. Huckleberry is a barrel of laughs with an unparalleled sense of humor. Maybe she can get Stephen Miller to write her "jokes." The list of winners of awards at this year's dinner -- which celebrates the First Amendment -- include CNN ("fake news"), Lester Holt ("this Russia thing"), & Maggie Haberman ("Hillary flunkie"). "Among the other reporting that earned journalists awards this year were stories on former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's resignation, former HHS Secretary Tom Price's use of taxpayer-funded private aircraft, and Trump's firing of all members of his AIDS advisory committee."

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times profiles Konstantin V. Kilimnik, who "has turned up in multiple court filings by the special prosecutor, Robert S. Mueller III, who identifies him as Person A." Kilimnik, who worked for Paul Manafort in Ukraine & is now skulking around Washington, D.C., says he's not a Russian spy; Mueller says he is.

*****

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on seven of Russia's richest men and 17 top government officials on Friday in the latest effort to punish President Vladimir V. Putin's inner circle for interference in the 2016 election and other Russian aggressions. The sanctions are designed to penalize some of Russia's richest industrialists, who are seen in the West as enriching themselves from Mr. Putin's increasingly authoritarian administration. They grow out of an oddly disjointed policy toward Russia on the part of the Trump administration: While President Trump continues to call for good relations with Mr. Putin, Congress and much of the rest of the administration are pushing through increasingly punitive efforts that are sinking relations with Moscow to lows not seen in years.... Among those sanctioned are Oleg V. Deripaska, an oligarch who once had close ties to Mr. Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort." ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Just as "oddly disjointed": an Asian policy that expects to negotiate nuclear arms cooperation from North Korea while initiating & escalating a trade war with North Korea's "handler." ...

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Trump said Thursday that he will consider hitting China with an additional $100 billion in tariffs, on top of the $50 billion the White House has already authorized, escalating threats of a trade war with the Chinese that his top advisers had tried to minimize a day earlier. In a statement late Thursday, Mr. Trump said that he was responding to China's 'unfair retaliation' against the United States, which this week outlined hundreds of Chinese products, like flat-screen TVs and medical devices, that could be subject to American tariffs. The Chinese, in response, detailed their own list of $50 billion worth of American products, like soybeans and pork, that would be hit with levies." ...

... Paul Krugman: "Trump himself might be O.K. with large-scale deglobalization. But as we've seen, his beloved stock market hates the idea, and with good reason: Businesses have invested heavily on the assumption that a closely integrated global economy is here to stay, and a trade war would leave many of those investments stranded. Oh, and a trade war would also devastate much of pro-Trump rural America, since a large share of our agricultural production -- including almost two-thirds of food grains -- is exported. And that's why things seem so incoherent. One day Trump talks tough on trade; then stocks fall, and his advisers scramble to say that the trade war won't really happen; then he worries that he's looking weak, and tweets out more threats; and so on. Call it the art of the flail."

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump ... traveled to West Virginia to promote his $1.5 trillion tax overhaul before a friendly audience. But the president grew tired of his prepared remarks after a few moments and returned to the bitter complaints about the United States' immigration laws that have dominated his attention this week and prompted him on Wednesday to ask governors to deploy the National Guard to the southern border.... He boasted that he had described immigrants as rapists when he announced his presidential candidacy, saying that he had recently learned that during the journey north made by a caravan of Honduran migrants, 'women are raped at levels they've never seen before.'... He also repeated his false claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.... The round table on taxes was a lovefest for the president, in which attendees took turns praising him and recounting the ways in which the tax measure and Mr. Trump's agenda had helped them and their families." Mrs. McC: Oh, crap; so sorry I missed it. ...

... Nidhi Prakash & Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed: "President Trump on Thursday said that 'women are being raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before' during the caravan of asylum-seekers, mostly from Honduras, who are currently heading north in Mexico. A BuzzFeed News reporter who has been traveling with the caravan for 12 days says there's no evidence that's true." ...

... Eric Levitz: "Donald Trump attended a roundtable discussion on his tax law Thursday, where he was supposed to sell the public on the virtues of his signature legislative achievement. So, naturally, he delivered a rambling disquisition on the (nonexistent) epidemic of rape among Central American migrants and the (also, nonexistent) plague of mass voter fraud that allows Democrats to rig elections.... 'In many places, like California, the same person votes many times,' the president explained. 'You probably heard about that. They always like to say "Oh, that's a conspiracy theory." Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people. And it's very hard because the state guards their records. They don't want [you] to see it.'... And yet, it's possible that Trump's 'mass voter fraud is not a conspiracy theory' conspiracy theory is less of a lie than a willful self-delusion: Trump has reportedly persisted in making the claim in private, over and over again...."

... ¡Basta! Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto delivered his most direct public rebuke of President Trump on Thursday afternoon, in a national address that characterized Mexico as willing to cooperate with the United States but not at the expense of its sovereignty or dignity.... Peña Nieto, speaking Thursday from the presidential palace in Mexico City, noted that the Mexican Senate and all four leading candidates in the July 1 presidential race had condemned Trump's comments, adding: 'As president of Mexico, I agree with those remarks.'... The address to the nation was remarkable because Peña Nieto has endured, with diplomatic courtesy and sometimes stony silence, about two years of insults and threats from Trump over Mexican immigrants, the trade relationship, border security and the fight against drug traffickers."

Frank Rich: "Trump is listening to no one except the morning hosts of Fox & Friends and any other Fox News talking heads, phone cronies, or Mar-a-Lago dining companions he recognizes as tribunes of his base. It doesn't matter if illegal border crossings have been at their lowest since 1971; he's going to send in the Marines (or whomever) because Fox is hyperventilating about a caravan of mainly women and children escaping from Honduras to Mexico.... Nor does it matter that DACA is inapplicable to any immigrant who might illegally cross the border today; Trump is going to redundantly kill the program a second time and blame the Democrats. Similarly, he flip-flopped on his threat to withdraw immediately from Syria only after Fox & Friends told him to. If he really does tamp down his trade war with China, it will be because he is instructed by Rupert Murdoch or Sean Hannity.... Even if Trump gives away the nuclear codes to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in his proposed summits, it's hard to picture Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan doing anything more than hiding under their desks."

Madeline Albright in a New York Times op-ed: "... fascism -- and the tendencies that lead toward fascism -- pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.... If freedom is to prevail over the many challenges to it, American leadership is urgently required. This was among the indelible lessons of the 20th century. But by what he has said, done and failed to do, Mr. Trump has steadily diminished America's positive clout in global councils."

Julie Davis: "President Trump denied on Thursday knowing of a $130,000 payment his lawyer made to a pornographic film actress who claims to have had a sexual encounter with him, referring questions about the transaction to his personal lawyer. Mr. Trump made his first public remarks about the matter on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where he had held a round table on tax cuts. Asked by a reporter whether he knew about the payment to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, known in her films as Stormy Daniels, he said, 'No.' Asked why Michael D. Cohen, his personal lawyer, had made the payment, Mr. Trump said, 'You'll have to ask Michael.' The president said he did not know where the money had come from." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Some teevee lawyer-pundits are having a field day with Trump's assertions as they imperil both Trump & Cohen. ...

... Kevin Hall, et al., of McClatchy News: "Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators this week questioned an associate of the Trump Organization who was involved in overseas deals with ... Donald Trump's company in recent years. Armed with subpoenas compelling electronic records and sworn testimony, Mueller's team showed up unannounced at the home of the business associate, who was a party to multiple transactions connected to Trump's effort to expand his brand abroad, according to persons familiar with the proceedings. Investigators were particularly interested in interactions involving Michael D. Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney and a former Trump Organization employee. Among other things, Cohen was involved in business deals secured or sought by the Trump Organization in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia. The move to question business associates of the president adds a significant new element to the Mueller investigation, which began by probing whether the Trump campaign and Russia colluded in an effort to get Trump elected but has branched far beyond that." ...

... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... Robert Mueller's office moved to seize bank accounts at three different financial institutions last year just one day before former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing Thursday. The previously unknown move against the bank accounts was revealed in a list of search and seizure warrants prosecutors submitted to a federal court in Washington after Manafort's defense team complained that the government was withholding too many details about how the warrants were obtained.... Prosecutors said some information about the various searches was withheld from Manafort because it relates to the identity of informants or to ongoing investigations that are not the subject of either of the current prosecutions involving Manafort.'"

Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "Corey Lewandowski had a blunt message for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee: He wasn't going to answer their 'fucking' questions. Lewandowski, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, was the final witness in the yearlong House investigation that descended into vitriol and back-biting -- ultimately resulting in two separate partisan reports that will leave the American public no closer to learning how the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections.... Lewandowski ... agreed to come back to the committee a second time in March after initially refusing to answer questions about topics occurring once he left the campaign in June 2016.... And, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the Trump confidante repeatedly swore at Democratic lawmakers to make the point he wasn't going to talk further."

Kevin Collier of BuzzFeed: "Twitter DMs [direct messages] obtained by BuzzFeed News show that in the summer of 2016, WikiLeaks was working to obtain files from Guccifer 2.0, an online hacktivist persona linked to by Russian military intelligence, the clearest evidence to date of WikiLeaks admitting its pursuit of Guccifer 2.0. '[P]lease "leave," their conversation with them and us,' WikiLeaks asked journalist Emma Best, who was also negotiating with Guccifer 2.0 for access to what it had teased on its blog as 'exclusive access' to hacked Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee files.... But by the time of the DM conversation with Best, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had shifted the story of how WikiLeaks acquired those emails, giving repeated TV interviews that floated Seth Rich, a Democratic staffer who had been murdered in what police concluded was a botched robbery, as his real source. The messages between Assange and Best, a freelance national security journalist and online archivist, are the starkest proof yet that Assange knew a likely Russian government hacker had the Democrat leaks he wanted. And they reveal the deliberate bad faith with which Assange fed the groundless claims that Rich was his source, even as he knew the documents' origin."

Scott Pruitt's Rehabilitation Campaign Is Going Very Well. Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt said he wasn't aware that two close aides received pay raises after the White House refused to allow it. 'My staff and I found out about it yesterday and I changed it,' Pruitt told Fox News in an interview published Wednesday, adding that he wasn't sure who was responsible for the raises. 'You don't know? You run the agency. You don't know who did it?' Fox's Ed Henry asked the EPA head. 'I found out this yesterday and I corrected the action and we are in the process of finding out how it took place and correcting it,' Pruitt responded." Mrs. McC: Totally believable. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Since his $50-per-night, vacation-style rental agreement with the wife of an energy lobbyist was publicized, Pruitt's defenders have focused on two things: 1. That an ethics official at the EPA supposedly signed off on the deal, and ... 2. That the lobbyist, Steven J. Hart, didn't have business before the EPA and received no official actions in return. 'Mr. Hart has no clients that had business before this agency,' Pruitt told Fox News on Wednesday. Both of those have now been undermined. That same ethics official ... Kevin Minoli [now] notes that ... Pruitt apparently had access to other parts of the house, rather than just the room he was renting. Pruitt reportedly had his daughter stay at the condo.... Minoli's new memo also clarifies that his previous memo addressed only whether the lease was at fair market value; it did not, he emphasized, take into account whether renting from the wife of an energy lobbyist would violate ethics rules.... The lobbyist's name, Steven J. Hart, appears on the lease as the legal representative of the landlord, but it is crossed out and replaced with his wife's name, Vicki Hart. [Mrs. Hart made the change.]" ...

     ... Sam Stein & Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "'[Steven] Hart,' Pruitt claimed in an recent interview with Fox News on Wednesday, 'has no clients who have business before this agency.' A review of lobbying disclosure forms and publicly-listed EPA records, however, suggests that Pruitt is either lying or is woefully unfamiliar with the operations of his own agency. Far from being removed from any EPA-related interests, Hart was personally representing a natural gas company, an airline giant, and a major manufacturer that had business before the agency at the time he was also renting out a room to Pruitt. One of his clients is currently battling the EPA in court over an order to pay more than $100 million in environmental cleanup costs.... Hart himself was part of a team of four Williams & Jensen lobbyists that has reported lobbying Pruitt's EPA. They did so on behalf of Owens-Illinois, a glass bottle manufacturer that paid $39 million in 2012 to settle EPA allegations of widespread Clean Air Act violations by a subsidiary." ...

... AND This Is Hilarious. Eliana Johnson & Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "... Scott Pruitt was at times slow to pay the rent on his $50-per-night lease in a Capitol Hill condo, according to two people with knowledge of the situation -- forcing his lobbyist landlord to pester him for payment." ...

... Pamela Brown & Kaitlin Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump floated replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Scott Pruitt as recently as this week, even as the scandal-ridden head of the Environmental Protection Agency has faced a growing list of negative headlines, according to people close to the President. 'He was 100% still trying to protect Pruitt because Pruitt is his fill-in for Sessions,' one source familiar with Trump's thinking told CNN." ...

     ... Eric Levitz: "One of the (many, many) odd things about the Trump presidency is the fact that administration officials routinely lose their jobs for offenses that the president has unambiguously committed himself. For example, this week, a Defense Department staffer resigned after CNN revealed that he had once shared birther conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim sentiments over Facebook.... Trump doesn't mind corruption (let alone birtherism), but he could do without bad headlines. And Scott Pruitt has generated an awful lot of those those this week. And yet Trump apparently can't decide whether Pruitt is too corrupt to run the EPA -- or just corrupt enough to be his attorney general.... Since Pruitt has already been confirmed by the Senate, Trump could theoretically install him as attorney general -- without Senate confirmation -- for 210 days. Which is to say: For much more time than it would take for Pruitt to take out [Robert] Mueller." ...

... Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "At least five officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, four of them high-ranking, were reassigned or demoted, or requested new jobs in the past year after they raised concerns about the spending and management of the agency's administrator, Scott Pruitt. The concerns included unusually large spending on office furniture and first-class travel, as well as certain demands by Mr. Pruitt for security coverage, such as requests for a bulletproof vehicle and an expanded 20-person protective detail, according to people who worked for or with the E.P.A. and have direct knowledge of the situation. Mr. Pruitt bristled when the officials -- four career E.P.A. employees and one Trump administration political appointee -- confronted him, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly.... A sixth official, Mr. Pruitt's chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, also raised questions about Mr. Pruitt's spending, according to three E.P.A. officials. He remains in his job but is considering resigning, agency officials said.... In speaking to reporters on the plane, [President Trump] described Mr. Pruitt as 'very courageous,' while suggesting he was reviewing the complaints about him. 'I'll make that determination,' Mr. Trump said. 'But he's a good man, he's done a terrific job. But I'll take a look at it.'" ...

... Julianna Goldman of CBS News: "Several weeks after taking the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Scott Pruitt was running late and stuck in Washington, D.C., traffic. Sources tell CBS News that he wanted to use his vehicle's lights and sirens to get to his official appointment, but the lead agent in charge of his security detail advised him that sirens were to be used only in emergencies. Less than two weeks later that agent was removed from Pruitt's detail, reassigned to a new job within the EPA. Special Agent Eric Weese, a 16-year veteran of the EPA, was replaced by Pasquale 'Nino' Perotta.... Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Tom Carper ... want to know why Perrotta and one of his business partners received an EPA security contract. Perrotta, they noted..., runs a side business called the Sequoia Security Group. His business partner, Edwin Steinmetz, who runs another security company, was awarded a $3,000 contract to sweep Pruitt's office for bugs. 'Two other contracts,' both under the $3,500 threshold for public reporting, 'were given for the purchase of biometric locks.'" ...

... Moving Right Along. Coral Davenport & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Samantha Dravis, Mr. Pruitt's top policy adviser, has recently told him she is resigning, according to two E.P.A. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news has not been made public. And his chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, has grown frustrated enough with his boss that he has considered resigning, according to people in whom Mr. Jackson has confided.... Both Ms. Dravis and Mr. Jackson are seasoned Washington insiders who have worked for years among the capital's top conservative Republicans and industry lobbyists. Ms. Dravis' departure comes on the heels of questions raised by Senator Thomas Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, about her work history. According to a letter that Mr. Carper sent to the E.P.A. inspector general, Ms. Dravis did not attend work or perform her duties for most of November, December and January while continuing to draw a salary.... Thursday afternoon, though, Mr. Trump when asked aboard Air Force One if he had confidence in his E.P.A. chief, he responded: 'I do.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Rachel Maddow ties Pruitt to Carl Icahn. Long-winded but illuminating:

Ken Sweet of the AP: "Mick Mulvaney..., Donald Trump's appointee to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has given big pay raises to the deputies he has hired to help him run the bureau, according to salary records obtained by The Associated Press. Mulvaney has hired at least eight political appointees since he took over the bureau in late November. Four of them are making $259,500 a year and one is making $239,595. That is more than the salaries of members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, and nearly all federal judges apart from those who sit on the Supreme Court.... Mulvaney, as Trump's budget director, has long railed against government spending. One of his first directives as acting CFPB director was to announce he needed zero dollars in funding to run the agency, pledging to spend down the bureau's surplus fund this quarter before requiring more money from the Fed -- the CFPB is funded by the Fed and not through the traditional congressional budget process."

They're All Corrupt, Ctd. Carolyn Kormann of the New Yorker provides a picture (literally) of how Energy Secretary Rick Perry fits right into Trump's Ring of Corruption. Perry's co-conspirator in the case Kormann cites is Bob Murray, the coal baron (who sued John Oliver after Oliver aptly described Murray as "a geriatric Dr. Evil"). Murray had given Perry $100K for his presidential bid, after which Perry welcomed him with a big hug to the DOE. Perry returned Murray's $100K bribe donation by urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require "that all coal plants in certain areas, including many that do business with Murray Energy..., keep a ninety-day supply of coal onsite to provide 'fuel-secure' power.... The language in Perry's letter clearly echoed Murray's 'action plan'" which Murray delivered to Perry on Hug Day. After a DOE whistleblower -- Simon Edelman -- circulated a photo of the Big Hug, Doe seized his belongings (including a copy of the periodic table! because science), ushered him out of the building & later fired him. FERC, possibly as a result of Edelman's photo, rejected Perry/Murray's proposal.

Ed Kilgore: "Mitch McConnell has been a member of the U.S. Senate for a third of a century.... When he was asked by a Kentucky interviewer about the his biggest accomplishment as a senator..., McConnell says 'the decision I made not to fill the Supreme Court vacancy when Justice Scalia died was the most consequential decision I've made in my entire public career.'... The wily old wire-puller surely understands that his ability to deliver judicial confirmations, particularly for SCOTUS, may be the best reason members of his party's dominant conservative wing continue to put up with him.... Judges are the best bait to keep hard-core conservatives in the party harness. And for a broad swath of them, from anti-abortion activists to anti-regulatory warriors to gun nuts to advocates for unlimited money in politics, SCOTUS is the ball game." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you are worried about what would happen in a "Constitutional crisis," remember Mitch. The answer is "Democrats wail & Republicans prevail." In other words, not much.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "The Atlantic magazine fired a controversial columnist on Thursday just a few days after hiring him, making him the latest journalist to take a quick trip through a revolving door after an outcry on social media. The venerable magazine pushed out Kevin Williamson, whose hiring last week sparked an appalled reaction after some influential Twitter users learned that Williamson had once commented that women who have abortions should be treated as murderers, subject to the death penalty. Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg initially stood by Williamson, a longtime columnist for the conservative National Review.... But Goldberg withdrew his support after the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America on Wednesday unearthed a 2014 National Review podcast [in which] Williamson said ... he was 'absolutely willing to see abortion treated like regular homicide under the criminal code,' and that what he 'had in mind was hanging' for women who were convicted of it. He repeated the statement later in the podcast." ...

... Ashley Feinberg of the Huffington Post: "Atlantic Fires Kevin Williamson After Suddenly Realizing He Believes The Things He Says." Mrs. McC: Funny headline & absolutely true. It is dismaying that relatively liberal editors like Jeff Goldberg & James Bennet of the New York Times think they're doing a service to their readers by incorporating so-called "conservative" shitstreams into their editorial pages. They should publish opposing views; they should not pay writers -- no matter how clever their writing -- to spout crap. A basic job requirement should be "has a soul & sense of decency." ...

... digby: "Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, hired a writer who actually believes that women who've had abortions should be hanged. And that begs the question: Why? 'I recognized the power, contrariness, wit, and smart construction of many of his pieces.' The mind boggles. Goldberg's saying he could overlook murderous misogyny in a guy if he can write good. (And I won't repeat what the same writer wrote about 9-year-old child who doesn't share his skin color.)"

Beyond the Beltway

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Kentucky legislature passed a sweeping tax overhaul this week, and now lawmakers are asking Gov. Matt Bevin to sign a bill that would slash taxes for some corporations and wealthy individuals while raising them on 95 percent of state residents, according to a new analysis.... Bevin's position on the tax overhaul, Kentucky's biggest in more than a decade, remains unknown.... The state's nonpartisan legislative staff estimated the plan will, on net, raise money, although other experts are skeptical." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- April 5, 2018

Late Morning Update:

Scott Pruitt's Rehabilitation Campaign Is Going Very Well. Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt said he wasn't aware that two close aides received pay raises after the White House refused to allow it. 'My staff and I found out about it yesterday and I changed it,' Pruitt told Fox News in an interview published Wednesday, adding that he wasn't sure who was responsible for the raises. 'You don't know? You run the agency. You don't know who did it?' Fox's Ed Henry asked the EPA head. 'I found out this yesterday and I corrected the action and we are in the process of finding out how it took place and correcting it,' Pruitt responded." Mrs. McC: Totally believable. ...

... Moving Right Along. Coral Davenport & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Samantha Dravis, Mr. Pruitt's top policy adviser, has recently told him she is resigning, according to two E.P.A. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news has not been made public. And his chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, has grown frustrated enough with his boss that he has considered resigning, according to people in whom Mr. Jackson has confided.... Both Ms. Dravis and Mr. Jackson are seasoned Washington insiders who have worked for years among the capital's top conservative Republicans and industry lobbyists. Ms. Dravis' departure comes on the heels of questions raised by Senator Thomas Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, about her work history. According to a letter that Mr. Carper sent to the E.P.A. inspector general, Ms. Dravis did not attend work or perform her duties for most of November, December and January while continuing to draw a salary.... Thursday afternoon, though, Mr. Trump when asked aboard Air Force One if he had confidence in his E.P.A. chief, he responded: 'I do.'"

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Kentucky legislature passed a sweeping tax overhaul this week, and now lawmakers are asking Gov. Matt Bevin to sign a bill that would slash taxes for some corporations and wealthy individuals while raising them on 95 percent of state residents, according to a new analysis.... Bevin's position on the tax overhaul, Kentucky's biggest in more than a decade, remains unknown.... The state's nonpartisan legislative staff estimated the plan will, on net, raise money, although other experts are skeptical."

Ed Kilgore: "Mitch McConnell has been a member of the U.S. Senate for a third of a century.... When he was asked by a Kentucky interviewer about the his biggest accomplishment as a senator..., McConnell says 'the decision I made not to fill the Supreme Court vacancy when Justice Scalia died was the most consequential decision I've made in my entire public career.'... The wily old wire-puller surely understands that his ability to deliver judicial confirmations, particularly for SCOTUS, may be the best reason members of his party's dominant conservative wing continue to put up with him.... Judges are the best bait to keep hard-core conservatives in the party harness. And for a broad swath of them, from anti-abortion activists to anti-regulatory warriors to gun nuts to advocates for unlimited money in politics, SCOTUS is the ball game." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you are worried about what would happen in a "Constitutional crisis," remember Mitch. The answer is "Democrats wail & Republicans prevail." In other words, not much.

*****

"The Greatest President Ever." Dana Milbank explores a "signature Trump move: Don't just deny the charge [against you] but declare yourself to be the polar opposite (while accusing your opponents of whatever you were accused of: You're the puppet!). He can't be a racist, or soft on Russia, or anything bad -- because he's the furthest possible thing from that. It's all terribly reassuring." Milbank runs down many of Trump's ridiculous, false boasts. Pathetic.

Mike Allen of Axios: "To White House insiders, this is the most dangerous phase of Donald Trump's presidency so far, from the brewing trade war with China that he denies is a trade war, to the perilously spontaneous summit with North Korea.... Checks are being ignored or have been eliminated, and critics purged as the president is filling time by watching Fox, and by eating dinner with people who feed his ego and conspiracy theories, and who drink in his rants. Both sides are getting more polarized and dug in -- making the daily reality more absurd, and the potential consequences less urgent and able to grab people's serious attention.... Trump's closest confidants speak with an unusual level of concern, even alarm, and admit to being confused about what the president will do next -- and why."

Julie Davis & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump will issue a proclamation on Wednesday directing the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to work with governors to deploy National Guard troops to the southwest border to assist the Border Patrol in combating illegal immigration. 'It's time to act,' said Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security, as she outlined the policy during a White House briefing. In recent days, and in anticipation of an annual increase in numbers of people who attempt to cross the border, the Trump administration has been ramping up plans to block migrants and asylum seekers, including young unaccompanied children, from entering the United States. The announcement came a day after Mr. Trump said he wanted to send the military to the southwest border to guard against growing threats from unchecked immigration, suggesting he might want to use active-duty armed forces to do what immigration authorities cannot." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: When Trump said he wanted to send the military, I have no doubt he meant active-duty armed forces. Here's another case where his staff talked him down from a nutty or unconstitutional and completely unplanned project. Anyway, let's see if Jerry Brown cooperates. ...

     ... Update. Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "California was noncommittal Wednesday on the administration's plans. Lt. Col. Tom Keegan, a spokesman for the state's National Guard, said the state will 'promptly' review the request to 'determine how best we can assist our federal partners.' The California National Guard already has 55 personnel who provide support at the border through its anti-drug operations. 'We look forward to more detail, including funding, duration and end state,' Keegan said."

     ... Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "At the Pentagon, several officials privately expressed concern about being seen as picking a fight with an ally at a time when the military has plenty of adversaries -- the Islamic State, North Korea, Russia, Syria -- to contend with. Massing American troops at another country's border, several current and former Defense Department officials said, would send a message of hostility and raise the chances of provoking an all-out conflict.... Defense Department officials say that [Secretary Jim] Mattis backs the proposal if it mirrors deployments made under Mr. Trump's predecessors, when troops were sent in a support, but not enforcement, role. The active-duty military is generally barred by law from carrying out domestic law enforcement functions, such as apprehending people at the border.... But military officials worry that Mr. Trump may not be satisfied with the Bush- and Obama-level deployments. Even limited deployments, Pentagon officials said, have come with their share of trouble." ...

... New York Times Editors: "President Trump escalated his verbal fusillade against immigrants this week by announcing a foolish plan to deploy troops along the Mexican border. Such a move has at best a tenuous basis in law and none in logic, and it will burn through federal funds better spent elsewhere. Mr. Trump has long stoked a xenophobic fear of newcomers among his political base.... Like so many of the president's decisions, the one to put troops on the border seems impulsive, spiteful and politically motivated.... He is resorting to the demagogue's tactic of inspiring fear and appears not to understand why the Posse Comitatus Act was enacted -- to limit the powers of the federal government in using military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States.... There was no consultation with the Mexican president, whose ambassador to the United States called the decision unwelcome.... Spending billions of dollars for extraneous operations doesn't seem to concern Mr. Trump, who appears indifferent to the ballooning federal deficit; he also suggested, inappropriately, that the Pentagon could pay for the wall."

Managing the Moron. Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump reluctantly agreed in a meeting with his national security team on Tuesday to keep U.S. troops in Syria for an undetermined period of time with the goal of defeating ISIS, a senior administration official said Wednesday. 'He wasn't thrilled about it, to say the least,' the official said. Defense Secretary James Mattis and other top officials made the case to Trump that the fight against ISIS was almost finished but a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces at this time would risk losing gains the U.S. has made in the ISIS fight, the official said." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Ooh, Trumpy got very grumpy when the big boys told him he couldn't get what he wanted right away. Elise Labott & Kevin Liptak of CNN report. ...

     ... Julie Davis: "It was the latest instance of the president making an unscripted remark with far-reaching implications that prompted a behind-the-scenes scramble by his advisers to translate blunt talk into an official government policy. White House and administration officials also had spent Monday and Tuesday trying to translate a series of confusing presidential tweets and comments on immigration into a coherent strategy...." Davis runs down Trump's changing story over the past week.

MEANWHILE, Kudlow, et al., Try to Clean up Trump's Trade War. Ana Swanson & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "White House officials moved quickly on Wednesday to calm fears of a potential trade war with China, saying the administration's proposed tariffs were a 'threat' that would ultimately help, not hurt, the United States economy, hours after China said it would punish American products with similar levies. The administration's insistence that a trade war was not imminent came as the United States and China traded tit-for-tat penalties that caused wild swings in stock markets from Hong Kong to New York. Led by more audacious leaders than either country has had in decades, China and the United States are now locked in a perilous game of chicken, with the possibility to derail the global economic recovery, disrupt international supply chains and destabilize the huge yet debt-laden Chinese economy.... 'There's no trade war here,' Larry Kudlow, Mr. Trump's new top economic adviser, said in an interview on Fox Business Network. He described the threat of tariffs as 'just the first proposal' in a process that would involve negotiations and back-channel talks.... On Wednesday, Mr. Trump suggested in a tweet that he saw no reason to back down, since the United States was already on the losing end of trade with China." ...

... BUT. Natalie Kitroeff & Ben Casselman of the New York Times: ">In the escalating economic showdown between the United States and China, President Trump is trying to put American shoppers first. The administration did not place tariffs on necessities like shoes and clothes, and mostly spared smartphones from the 25 percent levy on Chinese goods announced this week. But by shielding consumers, Mr. Trump has put American manufacturers -- a group he has championed -- in the cross hairs of a potential global trade war. If the measures stand, along with China's retaliatory tariffs, they could snuff out a manufacturing recovery just beginning to gain steam. 'If you want to spare the consumer so you don't get this massive backlash against your tariffs, then there goes manufacturing...,' said Monica de Bolle, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'The irony is, you cannot spare manufacturing from anything because manufacturing is globally integrated. The sector sources its parts and components from all over the world.'... Recent job growth has been concentrated in industries that could be affected by American tariffs on China, Chinese tariffs on the United States, or both." Mrs. McC: It's not as if nobody had any idea that a tariff war would mess up the international economy.

Michael Scherer, et al., of the Washington Post: "An emboldened President Trump is discovering that the policies he once described as easy fixes for the nation are a lot more complicated in reality -- creating backlash among allies, frustrating supporters and threatening the pocketbooks of many farming communities that helped get him elected. Freed from the caution of former advisers, Trump has spent recent weeks returning to the gut-level basics that got him elected: tough talk on China, a promise of an immigration crackdown and an isolationist approach to national security. Several people who have spoken to the president say he is telling advisers that he is finally expediting the policies that got him elected and is more comfortable without a number of aides around him who were tempering his instincts. And he often cites rising poll numbers in recent weeks as a reason he should do it his own way, these people said."

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States is expected to impose additional sanctions against Russia by Friday, according to U.S. officials. The sanctions are economic and designed to target oligarchs with ties to President Vladimir Putin, the officials said. The final number of Russians facing punitive action remains fluid, the U.S. officials said, but is expected to include at least a half-dozen people under sanction powers given to the president by Congress." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's hope the sanctions are more meaningful than the supposed dramatic expulsion of Russian diplomats:

... Fake Diplomat Expulsion Exchange. Laura Koran of CNN: "The State Department confirmed the United States and Russia can replace diplomats in each other's countries who were expelled last week, describing the process as standard practice for cases in which targeted personnel are ejected as 'persona non-grata,' and cautioning that any new diplomats would be subject to approval on a 'case-by-case basis.' 'As always/As with similar incidents in the past, the Russian government remains free to request accreditation for vacant positions in its bilateral mission,' a State Department spokesman told CNN in a statement Tuesday. 'Any requests for new diplomatic accreditation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.' 'The Russian Federation has not informed us that it intends to reduce the total number of personnel allowed in our bilateral Mission,' the spokesperson added. 'We therefore understand that the United States may request new diplomatic personnel to fill the positions of diplomats who have been expelled.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... So one guy is going after Russian oligarchs:

Kara Scannell & Shimon Prokupecz of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry. A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter. Mueller's team has also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently.... Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration."

Uh-Oh. Andrew Kaczynski & Gloria Borger of CNN: "Roger Stone appeared on the InfoWars radio show the same day he sent an email claiming he dined with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- and he predicted 'devastating' upcoming disclosures about the Clinton Foundation. Stone's comments in his August 4, 2016, appearance are the earliest known time he claimed to know of forthcoming WikiLeaks documents. A CNN KFile timeline shows that on August 10, 2016, Stone claimed to have 'actually communicated with Julian Assange.'... In the interview with Jones on InfoWars, Stone said that he believed Assange had proof of wrongdoing at the Clinton Foundation.... On the August 4, 2016, InfoWars show, Stone described the soon-to-appear WikiLeaks disclosures. He also mentioned that he spoke with ... Donald Trump on August 3 -- the day before the interview." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... digby has Stone's number: "If I had to guess, the 'joke' is that [Stone] Skyped or otherwise communicated with Assange while he was eating dinner and just exaggerated for effect. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that he made it up out of whole cloth for no purpose."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge expressed doubts Wednesday about a lawsuit brought by Paul Manafort challenging special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's criminal probe of Russian interference in 2016 U.S. elections. During a 90-minute hearing in Washington, Manafort's defense team retreated from requests that the court void Mueller's appointment and dismiss criminal charges already brought in the District and Virginia against President Trump's former presidential campaign chairman. But Manafort's lawyers asked the court to bar Mueller from bringing future charges, saying a provision authorizing the special counsel to investigate 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from' its probe of possible collusion between Trump officials and the Russian government is an abuse of the Justice Department's legal authority.... U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington made clear her skepticism as she questioned Manafort attorney Kevin M. Downing. How, she asked, did he expect a court to act against charges that have not yet been brought, and how could he know that Manafort would be prosecuted lawfully or unlawfully?" ...

... Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: "It's long been an article of faith for Trump supporters, and for Trump himself, that collusion is not illegal. As the President told the Times in an interview last December, 'There is no collusion, and even if there was, it's not a crime.' Now, it appears, Trump's own Justice Department may have a different view. That conclusion appears in a document released earlier this week, in the course of pre-trial litigation in the case of Paul Manafort.... In a memorandum issued on August 2nd, [Rod] Rosenstein spelled out the details of [Robert] Mueller's jurisdiction. He said that Mueller had the authority to investigate: 'Allegations that Paul Manafort: Committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian government's efforts to interfere with the 2016 election for President of the United States, in violation of United States law....'... Mueller now has the authority, and the legal theory, to bring criminal charges for collusion." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It looks to me as if "collusion," in Rosenstein's mind, is just another work for "conspiracy" to violate some law.

Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "A witness who is cooperating in the special counsel investigation, George Nader, has connections to both the Persian Gulf states and Russia and may have information that links two important strands of the inquiry together, interviews and records show.... Mr. Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has a catalog of international connections that paved the way for numerous meetings with White House officials that have drawn the attention of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. For example, Mr. Nader used his longstanding ties to Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a state-run Russian investment fund, to help set up a meeting in the Seychelles between Mr. Dmitriev and a Trump adviser [Erik Prince] days before Donald J. Trump took office. Separately, investigators have asked witnesses about a meeting Mr. Nader attended in 2017 at the office of a New York hedge fund manager, where he was joined by Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon, who at the time were both senior advisers to Mr. Trump.... Mr. Nader has received at least partial immunity for his cooperation...."

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "John Bolton, who is days away from becoming President Donald Trump's national security advisor, has been meeting with White House attorneys about possible conflicts of interest, CNBC has learned. The exact sticking points for Bolton are unclear, but ethics experts say the appearance of a possible future role for Bolton with an entity such as a political action committee could be a cause for concern for White House officials. Bolton's PAC and super PAC, which are no longer receiving or spending capital, have been financial players in the early going of the midterm election cycle.... The John Bolton Super PAC has been a big player during the early stages of the 2018 midterm elections. The group has raised $3.8 million in the most recent election cycle.... Watchdogs such as Common Cause have brought the PAC's past spending efforts to light with a number of legal complaints filed to the FEC. All of the complaints relate to the Bolton groups' work with political data firm Cambridge Analytica.... While it's unclear what was obtained through Cambridge Analytica's research, The New York Times reported in March that Bolton was purchasing services for 'behavioral microtargeting with psychographic messaging.'... There were also questions about his role as chairman of his nonprofit group, the Foundation for American Security and Freedom." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm sure it comes as a big surprise to you that another Trump pick for national security advisor (remember Michael Flynn?) has ethics problems, including one that Robert Mueller's team is already investigating. (And yeah, Bolton has a weird Russia connection, too.) Unfortunately, Bolton does not need Senate confirmation.

Emily Holden, et al., of Politico: "EPA chief Scott Pruitt and his allies in the administration are on a mission to save his job -- offering a blitz of interviews to friendly media outlets while separately accusing a former agency staffer of a cascade of damaging leaks. But the White House made it clear Wednesday that President Donald Trump is not pleased with all the negative headlines surrounding him.... That appeared to complicate Pruitt's defensive strategy, which combines exclusive interviews with Fox News, The Washington Times and other conservative media, supportive statements in the broader press from trusted allies, and deflection that compares his activities and spending with past EPA administrators'.... In a live interview ... with The Washington Times that focused mostly on his usual policy talking points, Pruitt briefly dismissed his personal controversies as a 'distraction' and said he was under siege in an agency he described as a 'bastion of liberalism.'" ...

... Ben Geman & Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Axios' Jonathan Swan spoke with sources close to President Trump and this basic picture emerged: If nothing else bad comes out against Pruitt, they'll probably ride through the storm with him. But should more damaging stories surface -- especially ones that demonstrate poor ethical judgement -- Pruitt could be abandoned in a flash. Trump is uneasy about the situation, and has his finger in the wind." ...

... Asawin Suebsaeng & Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: In a phone call, Chief of Staff John Kelly "impressed upon Pruitt that, though he has the full public confidence of President Trump for now, the flow of negative and damning stories needed to stop soon, as one source briefed on the contents of the call described.... Shortly thereafter, The Atlantic reported that Pruitt had defied the White House and directed his staff to give raises to a pair of employees.... Kelly and other senior White House officials were blindsided by major details in The Atlantic's article.... Making matters worse for Pruitt was a Wednesday report from The Washington Post that said Pruitt had used the same Safe Drinking Water Act provision to hire a number of employees absent White House input, including two former lobbyists who might otherwise have been barred from the posts by ethics rules imposed by Trump by executive order weeks after taking office." ...

... Cristina Alesci of CNN: "The Environmental Protection Agency's top ethics watchdog clarified his earlier analysis of whether Administrator Scott Pruitt's rental arrangement broke the federal gift rule, saying he didn't have all the facts when evaluating the lease, according to a memo provided to CNN. The official also made clear that he didn't evaluate whether Pruitt had violated other ethics rules, according to the memo obtained by the Campaign Legal Center and shared with CNN." ...

... The Strange Disappearance of Scott Pruitt. Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "After moving out of the Capitol Hill condo apartment he rented for $50 a night last summer, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt appears to not have maintained a Washington residence for a month, instead traveling extensively for work and remaining for weeks at his Tulsa home. Pruitt ended his housing arrangement with lobbyist Vicki Hart on Aug. 4. At that point, he already had embarked on a more than week-long trip across five states to visit with elected officials and farmers..., with a weekend at home in Tulsa along the way. He then took an extended vacation, according to agency records, during which time officials said that he underwent knee surgery and recuperated at home while receiving staff briefings. After another round of meetings in Oklahoma and a visit to Texas to survey the damage from Hurricane Harvey, Pruitt returned to EPA headquarters Sept. 5.... Members of his round-the-clock security detail remained with him while he was away from Washington."

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to have ignored a directive from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to prevent the deportation of noncitizen troops and veterans, seeking to remove a Chinese immigrant despite laws that allow veterans with honorable service to naturalize, court filings show. Xilong Zhu, 27, who came from China in 2009 to attend college in the United States, enlisted in the Army and was caught in an immigration dragnet involving a fake university set up by the Department of Homeland Security to catch brokers of fraudulent student visas.... 'Anyone with an honorable discharge ... will not be subject to any kind of deportation,' Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon in February, describing exceptions for criminals and anyone who has been authorized for deportation in an agreement he said was made with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Zhu&'s attorney, retired Army officer Margaret Stock, told The Washington Post those exceptions do not apply to him."

Craig Timberg, et al., of the Washington Post: "Facebook said Wednesday that 'malicious actors' took advantage of search tools on its platform, making it possible for them to discover the identities and collect information on most of its 2 billion users worldwide. The revelation came amid rising acknowledgement by Facebook about its struggles to control the data it gathers on users. Among the announcements Wednesday was that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy hired by President Trump and other Republicans, had improperly gathered detailed Facebook information on 87 million people, of whom 71 million were Americans. But the abuse of Facebook's search tools -- now disabled -- happened far more broadly and over the course of several years, with few Facebook users likely escaping the scam, company officials acknowledged." ...

... Cecilia Kang & Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "Facebook said on Wednesday that the personal information of up to 87 million people, most of them Americans, may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm connected to President Trump during the 2016 election. The new figure, roughly equivalent to a quarter of the population of the United States, is substantially greater than the previous estimate of how many users' information Cambridge Analytica harvested. The number had been put at more than 50 million users. Facebook released the revised figure as part of an extended statement about changes it is making to how it handles personal data. The company said it would start telling users on April 9 about whether their information might have been shared with Cambridge Analytica." ...

... Sarah Frier of Bloomberg: "Facebook Inc. scans the links and images that people send each other on Facebook Messenger, and reads chats when they're flagged to moderators, making sure the content abides by the company's rules. If it doesn't, it gets blocked or taken down.... The company told Bloomberg that while Messenger conversations are private, Facebook scans them and uses the same tools to prevent abuse there that it does on the social network more generally.... Facebook's other major chat app, WhatsApp, encrypts both ends of its users' communications, so that not even WhatsApp can see it -- a fact that's made it more secure for users, and more difficult for lawmakers wanting information in investigations."

The Gossip Page

Michal Kranz of Business Insider: "... Donald Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, on Wednesday said a Daily Mail report that he had hired former White House staff secretary Rob Porter was 'fake news.'... The Daily Mail report said that days after Porter was let go by the White House amid allegations that he had physically abused his ex-wives, he was hired by Parscale's digital strategy company. The Daily Mail reported that Trump personally intervened to get Porter a job, with the intention of later having him play a role in his reelection campaign." ...

     ... The Daily Mail story is here. According to its report, Parscale "had previously declined to comment on the record when reached by DailyMail.com before the story was published." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I supposed we'll have to take Parscale's latest word for it, because I doubt the rejects who "work" for Trump's campaign actually put on a suit & show up at the office, so no staking out the place. The 2020 campaign is nonetheless known as a landing pad for Donald's "misfit toys," so the Daily Mail story has a ring of truth to it, even tho it is, after all, the Daily Mail & there's an unequivocal denial on the record.

Emily Smith & Julia Marsh of the New York Post: "Rudy Giuliani and his wife, Judith, are divorcing after 15 years of marriage, the former New York mayor confirmed first to Page Six.... Judith on Wednesday filed a contested divorce proceeding in Manhattan Supreme Court, which indicates she's readying for a fight over their marital assets, which include property in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla." Mrs. McC: If you lived in NYC in 2000, you will likely recall that Rudy announced in a press conference that he & his second wife Donna Hanover were separating. It was news to Hanover, too.

The Commentariat -- April 4, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Uh-Oh. Andrew Kaczynski & Gloria Borger of CNN: "Roger Stone appeared on the InfoWars radio show the same day he sent an email claiming he dined with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- and he predicted 'devastating' upcoming disclosures about the Clinton Foundation. Stone's comments in his August 4, 2016, appearance are the earliest known time he claimed to know of forthcoming WikiLeaks documents. A CNN KFile timeline shows that on August 10, 2016, Stone claimed to have 'actually communicated with Julian Assange.'... In the interview with Jones on InfoWars, Stone said that he believed Assange had proof of wrongdoing at the Clinton Foundation.... On the August 4, 2016, InfoWars show, Stone described the soon-to-appear WikiLeaks disclosures. He also mentioned that he spoke with ... Donald Trump on August 3 -- the day before the interview."

Fake Diplomat Expulsion Exchange. Laura Koran of CNN: "The State Department confirmed the United States and Russia can replace diplomats in each other's countries who were expelled last week, describing the process as standard practice for cases in which targeted personnel are ejected as 'persona non-grata,' and cautioning that any new diplomats would be subject to approval on a 'case-by-case basis.' 'As always/As with similar incidents in the past, the Russian government remains free to request accreditation for vacant positions in its bilateral mission,' a State Department spokesman told CNN in a statement Tuesday. 'Any requests for new diplomatic accreditation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.' 'The Russian Federation has not informed us that it intends to reduce the total number of personnel allowed in our bilateral Mission,' the spokesperson added. 'We therefore understand that the United States may request new diplomatic personnel to fill the positions of diplomats who have been expelled.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the lead.

Managing the Moron. Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump reluctantly agreed in a meeting with his national security team on Tuesday to keep U.S. troops in Syria for an undetermined period of time with the goal of defeating ISIS, a senior administration official said Wednesday. 'He wasn't thrilled about it, to say the least,' the official said. Defense Secretary James Mattis and other top officials made the case to Trump that the fight against ISIS was almost finished but a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces at this time would risk losing gains the U.S. has made in the ISIS fight, the official said."

*****

** The Moron Unchained. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Far from learning on the job or modifying his views to fit the imperatives of America's global role — as did so many of his predecessors -- Mr. Trump is falling back on the familiar mix of belligerence and isolationism that fueled his 'America First' campaign.... 'I want to get out,' Mr. Trump said of the United States' military engagement in Syria, at a news conference on Tuesday with leaders of the Baltic States. 'I want to bring our troops back home.' Mr. Trump's words were at odds with the strategy his administration is pursuing in Syria. But they were almost verbatim what he said in pre-election tweets, as well as in debates two years ago.... Mr. Trump's reversion to his campaign themes comes as he has reshuffled his national security team, ousting aides with more conventional views of American power, like Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, in favor of more hawkish figures, like Mike Pompeo and John R. Bolton. How these new players will mesh with Mr. Trump's throwback persona may determine whether the president is signaling a midcourse correction in foreign policy or merely retreating to phrases and positions that give him comfort. Mr. Tillerson and General McMaster curbed some of Mr. Trump's most radical ideas...." Read on. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This is another extraordinary NYT front-page essay on what a glaring dimwit occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. If the world blows up, somewhere in the firmament will be a record that we've been warned. Over to you, Paul Ryan. Bob Mueller will give you an excuse to get rid of this threat to the world. Use it.

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "China responded to President Trump's new tariffs by threatening tariffs of its own on 106 U.S. products, including on soybeans, cars and some airplanes, in the latest escalation of what risks becoming a tit-for-tat trade war between the world's two largest economies. The plan, which was announced Wednesday, would see Beijing slap 25 percent levies on a range of U.S. goods worth about $50 billion. Chinese officials did not set a date for implementation, saying what happens next will depend on whether the U.S. president pushes ahead with his tariff plans. Though the tariffs are not in place yet, the news had an immediate impact on markets, including the soybean market." ...

... Fred Imbert & Alexandra Gibbs of CNBC: "Stocks plunged at the open on Wednesday after China announced new tariffs on 106 more U.S. products, increasing worries."

... trade wars are good, and easy to win. When we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don't trade anymore -- we win big. It's easy! -- Donald Trump, international trade expert, in a March 2 tweet ...

  ... Ana Swanson of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will place a 25 percent tariff on Chinese products like flat-screen televisions, medical devices, aircraft parts and batteries, outlining more than 1,300 imported goods that will soon face levies as part of a sweeping trade measure aimed at penalizing China for its trade practices. The move, which stems from a White House investigation into China's use of pressure, intimidation and theft to obtain American technologies, is likely to inflame an already-simmering trade war between the countries.... The products targeted by the White House are part of its plan to go after China's dominance in cutting-edge technologies like semiconductors, electric vehicles and advanced medical products -- industries that China is pursuing dominance in as part of an industrial plan known as 'Made in China 2025.'"

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Tuesday that he planned to order the military to guard parts of the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions, proposing a remarkable escalation of his efforts to crack down on migrants entering the country illegally. Mr. Trump, who has been stewing publicly for days about what he characterizes as lax immigration laws and the potential for an influx of Central American migrants to stream into the United States, said he was consulting with Jim Mattis, the secretary of defense, about resorting to military deployments." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Trump Enjoys Screwing with Everybody. Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Honduras may be bearing the brunt of President Trump's ire today over immigration, but only a few months ago it was receiving accolades from the administration. Honduras was among only seven nations that voted with the United States and Israel in December against a resolution condemning the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Trump and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, both suggested U.S. aid could hinge on how nations voted. While 128 nations voted for the resolution anyway, Honduras, which got $137.5 million in U.S. aid in 2017, seemed to be safe, along with Guatemala, Togo and several small Pacific Island nations.... Tuesday brought another whiplash turn when Trump said U.S. aid to Honduras and other countries in the region is now 'in play' again as a caravan of migrants moved through Mexico toward the U.S. border. Honduras already is on the chopping block in the foreign aid budget for next year. The administration has proposed cutting aid in half, to $65.75 million, in 2019. Foreign aid has strong bipartisan support in Congress, however, and early indications are the administration's wishes will be ignored." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Joshua Partlow & David Agren of the Washington Post: "The Mexican government on Monday evening moved to break up the caravan of migrants traveling through southern Mexico, with immigration officials registering the travelers and suggesting some could receive humanitarian visas while others would have to leave Mexico. The caravan, estimated at more than 1,000 migrants, many from Central America, has gained increasing visibility because of tweets by President Trump that have criticized Mexico for not doing more to stop the flow of migrants to the southern border of the United States.... Mexico's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday that 'under no circumstances does the government of Mexico promote irregular migration.' The statement said that the caravan has taken place every year since 2010 and is made up primarily of people from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and that 400 people in this group have already been deported.... Even after the Mexican statement about stopping the caravan, Trump tweeted again on Tuesday morning insisting the caravan must be stopped before it reaches the border and Congress 'MUST ACT NOW.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Julie Davis: "President Trump has begun a new push for legislation to crack down on illegal immigration and make it more difficult to obtain refuge in the United States, White House officials said Monday, arguing that lax laws have drawn a flood of migrants to the country's borders. The proposals include toughening laws to make it more difficult to apply for or be granted asylum in the United States, stripping protections for children arriving illegally without their parents so they can be turned back at the border or quickly removed, and allowing families to be detained for longer periods while they await decisions from immigration authorities about their fates. While the steps have long been advocated by Mr. Trump's hard-line aides, including Stephen Miller, his senior policy adviser, focusing on the now opens a new front in the president's push for immigration restrictions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'll bet that legislation Miller is writing is primo -- just as good as the Muslim bans he wrote that the courts struck down & only slightly more coherent than Trump's childish "MUST ACT NOW" tweets. ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Daniel Drezner of the Washington Post has a theory of Trumpertweets that is akin to, but more sophisticated than, some of my remarks yesterday. Drezner: "Almost everything [Trump] tweeted on [several] issues was a lie factually challenged and sounds worse when one takes Trump's words semi-seriously. The tweets from this morning suggest that these tantrums, which last year only occurred about once a week, are going to be closer to a daily feature of his presidency. A politically weakened Trump has pivoted back to branding because it is his only option before the midterm elections. It is worth stressing just how little Trump is going to get from Congress between now and the midterms.... Given his political constraints, Trump will do what he did in the private sector when his real estate empire was floundering: switch to branding. When Trump actually tried to build things like hotels, his track record was mediocre. As a brand, however, Trump pocketed millions with far less skin in the game. The president's behavior this past month or so can best be understood as him trying to return to his brand as an angry outsider." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

This Russia Thing, Ctd.

** Carol Leonnig & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III informed President Trump's attorneys last month that he is continuing to investigate the president but does not consider him a criminal target at this point, according to three people familiar with the discussions. In private negotiations in early March about a possible presidential interview, Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges. The special counsel also told Trump's lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president's actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.... The president has privately expressed relief at the description of his legal status, which has increased his determination to agree to a special counsel interview, the people said.... [Some of Trump's] advisers, however, noted that subjects of investigations can easily become indicted targets -- and expressed concern that the special prosecutor was baiting Trump into an interview that could put the president in legal peril.... Some of Trump's advisers have warned White House aides that they fear Mueller could issue a blistering report about the president's actions." ...

... Margaret Hartmann: According to the Post, "Mueller is preparing two separate reports: one about Trump's actions in office and potential obstruction of justice, and another about Russia-related activities.... [Reporter Robert] "Costa dropped one key detail in a late-night appearance on MSNBC: Mueller is looking to release the obstruction report in June or July. This may give Trump hope that if he just sits down with Mueller, that part of the probe can be done in a matter of months. But that could turn out to be a nightmare for congressional Republicans, and perhaps the president too.... In addition to having the midterms marred by Manafort news and sporadic Mueller-related leaks, Republicans will be dealing with a report on Trump's inappropriate behavior in office -- with the promise of Russia revelations to come." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "There is a popular school of thought ... that Mueller may not even view charging the president with crimes as a potential outcome of the investigation. It has to do with an opinion written by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in 1973 (read: Nixon, Richard) that was affirmed in 2000 (read: Clinton, Bill).... What if Mueller is saying Trump isn't a criminal target of the probe because he doesn't think Trump can be a criminal target of the probe?... It would mean Mueller could have the most damning information about collusion, obstruction of justice and anything else, and he would technically be telling Trump's lawyers the truth when he says Trump isn't a criminal target. And it wouldn't foreclose impeachment." Mrs. McC: I'm betting on the sealed indictment, to be acted upon when Trump leaves office.

Spencer Hsu & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was authorized by a top Justice Department official to investigate whether Paul Manafort ... illegally coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, new court filings show. Manafort, who was indicted last year on felony charges related to his work in Ukraine before joining Trump's campaign, has not been charged with any crimes connected to the presidential race. But a partly redacted memo included in court filings late Monday night revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein authorized Mueller to pursue allegations that Manafort colluded with Russia in 2016. The new filings show that Rosenstein specifically approved lines of investigation for the special counsel in an August 2017 memo. A version of the memo filed in court showed that Rosenstein signed off on an investigation of whether Manafort 'committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials' and of Manafort's work as an international political consultant in Ukraine before joining Trump's campaign. Additional sections of the 2 1/2 -page memo were blacked out by prosecutors, indicating that Rosenstein authorized other lines of investigation that remain a secret."

Laura Jarrett of CNN: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has picked a veteran prosecutor to help him oversee the Russia probe at the Justice Department as the Special Counsel's investigation deepens. Ed O'Callaghan will serve as the acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, according to a Justice Department official."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller obtained the first sentence in his high-profile investigation Tuesday, as a Dutch attorney who admitted to lying to investigators was ordered into federal custody for 30 days. Former Skadden Arps lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, 33, pleaded guilty in February to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with former Trump campaign official Rick Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik, a suspected Russian intelligence operative who worked closely with Gates and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.... Van der Zwaan is married to the daughter of a Ukrainian-Russian energy mogul, German Khan, whom Forbes ranks 138th on its list of billionaires, with a net worth of $9.3 billion." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... The New York Times story, by Sharon LaFraniere, is here.

Ryan Browne of CNN: "In his last public remarks as national security adviser, Lt. Gen. HR McMaster offered harsh words for Russia Tuesday during a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC. 'We have failed to impose sufficient costs' on Russia, McMaster said at the event, which also included a Q&A with the Presidents of Estonia and Latvia, as well as the Foreign Minister of Lithuania. He added that the failure to impose adequate costs on Russia's activities meant that 'the Kremlin's confidence is growing.' 'Russia has used old and new forms of aggression to undermine our open societies,' McMaster said. 'For too long some nations have looked the other way,' McMaster said, cataloging what he said were a series of actions by Russia that warranted condemnation, including cyberattacks against the US and its NATO allies, and unsafe intercepts of US and NATO military forces. However, McMaster also praised the Trump administration's response to Russia, particularly the coordinated expulsion of diplomats in response to the incident in Salisbury UK. McMaster said the expelled diplomats helped 'orchestrate' Russian interference in the US...." ...

     ... You can watch McMaster's full speech here.

What? What? Trump Team Turf War? Oh, Yes. Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The White House's Office of Management and Budget, headed by Mick Mulvaney, and the Treasury Department, run by Steven Mnuchin, are at odds over whether to end Treasury's traditional independence in writing tax regulations and to give the budget office more oversight of those rules. If an agreement is not reached soon, the president may have to weigh in and make the decision himself. The debate is more than just a West Wing turf war. How it plays out could affect several big decisions that will define the breadth and scope of the new tax law, including whether small businesses like veterinary clinics and dentists may claim a new 20 percent tax deduction, and to what degree multinational corporations such as Microsoft and Eli Lilly will be hit with a new minimum tax on the profits they earn overseas."

Juliet Eilperin, et al., of the Washington Post: "In recent weeks, [EPA Administrator Scott] Pruitt has been the focus of ongoing scrutiny of his frequent first-class travel, which the EPA has argued was necessary because of security concerns. He now is facing inquiries over a discount condo rental he arranged with the wife of an energy and transportation lobbyist, as well as his decision to utilize an obscure provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act to give huge raises to two staff members. On Tuesday, two Republican lawmakers [-- Florida Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen --] joined a chorus of Democrats and environmental groups calling for Pruitt's ouster. But Trump appeared to stand by his EPA chief, voicing support for a man who has also proven adept at delivering on the president's campaign promise to aggressively roll back environmental regulations.... The pay hike ... [for] 26-year-old staffer [Millan Hupp came after she] oversaw an extensive housing hunt for the administrator last year. Hupp at times conducted the search during office hours, according to a former EPA employee and others who interacted with her, activity that ethics experts said constitutes a violation of federal rules." ...

... Hiding Scott Pruitt. Clare Foran of CNN: "As questions swirled over whether or not he can hold onto his administration post, embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt appeared calm on Tuesday as he touted the agency's decision to revise greenhouse gas emissions standards for automobiles.... EPA had previously planned to hold Pruitt's appearance Tuesday at a Chevrolet dealer in Chantilly, Virginia, just outside of Washington.... But the event was canceled.... The New York Times reported that there was pushback from some Chevy dealers who didn't want to see the brand tied to the Trump administration's announcement. The event was subsequently moved to EPA headquarters, but with limited press access. A CNN journalist in the building was not allowed into the room for the event. EPA had attempted to allow television camera access to Fox News without informing the other four networks: CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. Fox alerted the networks and a pool was established allowing networks equal access to the event." Pruitt did not take questions. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So now Pruitt needs extra security detail to protect him from hostile reporters? ...

... Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post: "Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt hired at least two ex-lobbyists and several other aides for noncritical positions through an obscure provision in a water-safety law. The unusual hires are raising questions about whether the embattled Cabinet official is circumventing President Trump's ethics directives or using his emergency hiring authority as intended. The 1977 provision to the Safe Drinking Water Act authorizes the EPA to hire up to 30 people without the approval of the Senate or the White House. The power, granted directly to the EPA administrator, was originally designed to let the agency quickly hire senior management and scientific personnel during times of critical need. But Pruitt appears to have used his hiring power differently, relying on the provision to bring in former lobbyists along with young spokespeople and schedulers.... Ethics experts say hiring lobbyists through the provision breaks with some of Trump's ethics rules, even if it's not technically illegal." ...

... Elaina Plott & Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "In early March, [EPA] Administrator Scott Pruitt approached the White House ... [asking for] substantial pay raises for two of his closest aides ... Sarah Greenwalt and Millan Hupp..., part of the small group of staffers who had traveled with Pruitt to Washington from Oklahoma.... Pruitt asked that Greenwalt's salary be raised from $107,435 to $164,200; Hupp's, from $86,460 to $114,590. Because both women were political appointees, he needed the White House to sign-off on their new pay.... [White House] staffers ... dismissed Pruitt s application.... So Pruitt ... [used] a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act [which] allows the EPA administrator to hire up to 30 people into the agency, without White House or congressional approval.... Pruitt ordered it done. Though Hupp and Greenwalt's duties did not change, the agency began processing them for raises." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... safari: It's not just the omnipresent corruption of TrumpWorld that's sickening, but how cynically they flout it. Pruitt can't unleash polluters fast enough, but uses the "Clean Water Act" to fatten up his acolytes; Sessions fires McCabe for "lacking candor under oath"; Sarah Huckster Sanders demeans the Voting Right Act while defending the raw manipulation of the Census; Rick Perry uses the DofE to declare clean energy "immoral"; Ryan Zinke shrinks public land to give it back to the "people", ergo, sell it to private companies. And Donald won't fire 'em, cuz he codes it this way. These people aren't the bugs, they're the algorithms.

The Emails! Joe Uchill of Axios: "The security advocacy group Global Cyber Alliance tested the 26 email domains managed by the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and found that only one fully implements a security protocol that verifies the emails as genuinely from the White House. Of the 26 domains, 18 are not in compliance with a Department of Homeland Security directive to implement that protocol." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: We have long known that when Trump opposes a perceived opponent of some misdeed or contemptible trait, it most certainly was just a projection of his own bad acts. But does he have to be 100% consistent? Right down to "the emails"? Is he "have blood coming out of his wherever"?

Sam Gillette of People: "In a riveting passage from Cecile Richards' new memoir, the Planned Parenthood chief says Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were, during Donald Trump's 2016 transition as president-elect, so eager to be recognized as shrewd political dealmakers that the soon-to-be first daughter and her husband made an offer that felt like a 'bribe': an increase in federal funding for Planned Parenthood in exchange for its agreement to stop providing abortions. Richards, in Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead, out Tuesday, says she was leery of taking the meeting in January 2017, but, after the defeat of Planned Parenthood's champion, Hillary Clinton, she was open to finding possible new allies in the president-elect's more moderate-leaning daughter and son-in-law.... Kushner told her Planned Parenthood 'had made a big mistake by becoming "political."' 'The main issue, he explained, was abortion,' Richards writes. 'If Planned Parenthood wanted to keep our federal funding, we would have to stop providing abortions. He described his ideal outcome: a national headline reading 'Planned Parenthood Discontinues Abortion Services."' Kushner said that if Richards agreed to the plan then funding could increase, but he urged them to 'move fast.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Kushner may see his "offer" as "shrewd political dealmaking." I see it as "a hamfisted threat." Anyhow, back to peacemaking in the Middle East.

Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "A new wave of teacher strikes has highlighted a growing problem for all US workers -- growing health costs which have become a 'hungry tapeworm' on Americans' wages. 'They've shifted the healthcare costs and the pension costs on to employees, so employees are making less and they're spending less,' said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.7 million members. 'It's a double whammy.' Conservative legislatures' push to shift health and pension costs on to individual teachers means in some states, teachers take home less pay than they did five years ago." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Rebecca Dallet bested Michael Screnock Tuesday for a seat on the state Supreme Court, shrinking the court's conservative majority and giving Democrats a jolt of energy heading into the fall election. It marked the first time in 23 years that a liberal candidate who wasn't an incumbent won a seat on the high court.... The election swung conservative control of the court from a comfortable 5-2 to a narrow 4-3. Dallet -- to be seated in August for a 10-year term -- will replace conservative Justice Michael Gableman, who did not seek re-election. With Democrats around the country fired up about this fall's midterm elections, Dallet was able to bring an unusual level of national attention to the Supreme Court race. She secured the endorsements of former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "What was generally expected to be another close Wisconsin barn-burner of an election turned into a romp, as progressive circuit county judge Rebecca Dallet easily defeated conservative circuit court judge Michael Screnock for a spot on the state's Supreme Court.... [Tuesday night's] results also make it abundantly clear why Scott Walker tried so hard to avoid calling two state legislative special elections, only doing so when forced to comply with state law by a judge he had himself appointed."

News Lede

Mercury News: "The night before Nasim Aghdam opened fire in a courtyard at YouTube's headquarters Tuesday afternoon, Mountain View police found the San Diego woman sleeping in her car.... In an interview Tuesday night with the Bay Area News Group, Ismail Aghdam said his 38-year-old daughter told her family a couple of weeks ago that YouTube had been censoring her videos and stopped paying her for her content. 'She was angry,' he said in an interview from his Riverside County home.... Ismail Aghdam said his daughter was a vegan activist and animal lover."