The Commentariat -- March 5, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Beset, Bothered & Beleaguered Is He. Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump questioned Monday morning why the Obama-era Justice Department launched an investigation into his campaign in the midst of the 2016 election, positing that then-President Barack Obama had sought to kneecap the Trump campaign and bolster that of Democrat Hillary Clinton. 'Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the Trump Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November?' Trump wrote on Twitter, leveling allegations that dispute previously reported details. 'Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus, Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.'... Trump's morning accusations against his predecessor run counter to public reporting that Obama's Justice Department was in the midst of investigating the Russian connections of Trump campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos as the 2016 campaign was ongoing.... Vice President Joe Biden ... recalled that the White House sought bipartisan help in warning the American people of the Kremlin's interference campaign but were rebuffed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a charge McConnell's office has denied." ...

... Maybe this is what made Trump write another tall tale about President Obama ...

... Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "A Belarusian escort with close ties to a powerful Russian oligarch said from behind bars in Bangkok on Monday that she had more than 16 hours of audio recordings that could help shed light on Russian meddling in United States elections. The escort, Anastasia Vashukevich, said she would hand over the recordings if the United States granted her asylum. She faces criminal charges and deportation to Belarus after coming under suspicion of working in Thailand without a visa at a sex-training seminar in the city of Pattaya. Ms. Vashukevich, who described herself as close to the Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg V. Deripaska, said that audio recordings she made in August 2016 included discussions he had about the United States presidential election with people she declined to identify. Mr. Deripaska, a billionaire with close ties to Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, also has business ties to Paul J. Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. Mr. Manafort is under investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel looking into the campaign's connections to Russia." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the kind of story you're going to get, Trumpbots, when you put a mobster in the Oval. Go ahead, call it "populism." You're making me fondly recall the "scandal" of "Queen Nancy" Reagan's buying a lot of expensive White House china -- and not on the public's dime, either.

International Crime, Inc. Confab. Ruth Eglash & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ... arrived at the White House early Monday afternoon, just hours after reports from Israel said a former media adviser and confidant has turned state's witness in a far-reaching bribery case. In what appeared to be a sign of the political importance of the session to Netanyahu, the White House changed plans Monday morning and announced that reporters and cameras would be allowed into what had been an Oval Office meeting closed to the press. Jared Kushner ... was expected to attend the session despite losing his top-level security clearance. Kushner is also under scrutiny for mixing his business and government interests, and faces possible legal peril in the special counsel investigation." ...

... Kevin Liptak of CNN: "The traditional joint press conference that foreign leaders convene when visiting the White House was left off the schedule.... Trump offered no hint of concern at appearing alongside the scandal-plagued Netanyahu. Instead he offered an enthusiastic assessment of their ties."

Petty Crime. Katherine Sullivan for ProPublica: "In recent weeks, the Trump Organization has ordered the manufacture of new tee markers for golf courses that are emblazoned with the seal of the President of the United States. Under federal law, the seal's use is permitted only for official government business. Misuse can be a crime.... Versions of the seal have occasionally been put to personal use by past presidents.... In this case, the difference is that a private company is using the seal, said Richard Painter, vice chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington...." Thanks to MAG for the link.

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "A $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star by ... Donald Trump's lawyer was flagged as suspicious and reported to the Treasury Department, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime lawyer, sent the money through an account he created at First Republic Bank, the report says. Stephanie Clifford, known in her films as Stormy Daniels, received the money under the pseudonym Peggy Peterson, according to previous reports. The payment, which Cohen said he paid out of his own pocket, was given to Clifford as part of an agreement not to discuss an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. According to the Journal, people familiar with the matter in the report said that Cohen later complained to friends that he had not been reimbursed for the money he sent Clifford."

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Paul D. Ryan, the Republican House speaker, criticized President Trump's proposed steel and aluminum tariffs on Monday, saying they could lead to a damaging trade war.... Mr. Trump has shown no sign that he plans to retreat from the trade action. On Monday, he used the tariffs to threaten two of the United States' closest trading partners, saying in a tweet that the tariffs would only 'come off' of Canada and Mexico if a new and 'fair' multilateral trade pact was signed." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: In case you're thinking all of a sudden it's Pauly Two Balls, think again: This from the Hill on Trump's steel & aluminum tariffs (March 1): "'The problem with any kind of tariff or tax hike on imports is that it doesn't make America more competitive or punish high-tax countries, it only hurts American industries by driving up manufacturing costs and, ultimately, costing jobs,' said Nathan Nascimento, executive vice president of Freedom Partners, a right-leaning group partly funded by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch." AND this from NBC News today: "... the Club for Growth, an organization with close ties to the billionaire Koch Brothers, slammed Trump's plan as both a philosophical and economic failure." Pauly is just having trouble serving two masters.

AND Ben Carson finds out that running a federal agency is harder than brain surgery. Mrs. McC: It isn't harder, Dr. Ben, it just takes a different skill set & different professional experience. You probably couldn't win Wimbledon, either.

*****

New York Times Editors: "Donald Trump sure has a problem with democracy.... There can be little doubt now that he truly sees no danger in ... Xi [Jinping]'s 'great' decision to extend his own rule until death. That craven reaction is in line with Mr. Trump's consistent support and even admiration for men ruling with increasing brutal and autocratic methods -- Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, to name a few."

Quote of the Day

What he has said he has said; if he says something different, it'll be something different. -- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, explaining trade all of Trump's policies

Patrick's translation: Quid ille dixit quae et dixerunt. ...

... Anne Gearan & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration will not grant exemptions from its new aluminum and steel tariffs for allies such as Canada, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday, as he defended President Trump's sudden imposition of new trade premiums that are likely to hit Canada and Europe hardest." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... This is a pirated video, so I hope NBC doesn't take it down. David Cay Johnston does a good job of explaining Trump's excellent instant tariffs initiative. ...

... Luis Sanchez of the Hill: "British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday expressed 'deep concern' to President Trump over his announced plans to increase steel and aluminum tariffs. May told the president in a phone call that 'multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties' interests,' according to a Downing Street spokesperson." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Everything Is Going So Smoothly. Kirk Semple, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump International Hotel and Tower [in Panama City, Panama,] is President Trump's only hotel property in Latin America.... In recent days, guests have witnessed ... yelling and shoving matches involving security personnel and others, the presence of police in Kevlar helmets, and various interventions by Panamanian labor regulators, forensic specialists and a justice of the peace. The source of the drama? The businessman who recently purchased a majority stake in the hotel wants the Trumps out. And the Trumps, who have a long-term contract to manage the property, are refusing to go. In a letter ... to the hotel's other owners, the businessman, Orestes Fintiklis, likened the Trumps to leeches who had attached to the property, draining our last drops of blood.'... The Trump Organization, in turn, has accused Mr. Fintiklis of using 'thug-like, mob-style tactics.'... This past week, Panama's Public Ministry said it was looking into whether there had been any 'punishable conduct' in the dispute -- which means that an arm of a foreign government finds itself in the extraordinary position of investigating a business owned by the American president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The Trump Panama sounds just like the Trump White House to me: yelling & shoving involving security personnel (think, for instance, Omarosa's pounding on the residence door as John Kelly had security staff grab her & unceremoniously "escort" her from the premises), "thug-like, mob-style tactics" (Trump), "leeches" (Trump family), "investigating a business owned by the American president" (Mueller).

Trump Forgets "Forgotten Men & Women." Nancy Cook & Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "In his 14 months as president, Trump hasn't yet followed his predecessors' habit of dropping by local watering holes (even though he's made no secret of his love for junk food) or public service events either at home or on the road. He hasn't gone to a baseball game or stopped at a soup kitchen.... Outside Washington, Trump follows a careful routine of visiting factories or local law enforcement headquarters. When he stopped recently in Parkland, Florida, on his way to Mar-a-Lago, he took a smiling photo with a girl who had been shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a sharp contrast to images of [President] Obama sitting in a small room with his head in his hands grieving with the parents of first-graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Trump promised the night of his victory to govern on behalf of 'the forgotten men and women of our country.' Yet as president, he rarely comes into contact with regular people except in the structured setting of the White House or during tightly orchestrated events set up by staff.... And in recent weeks, Trump's growing paranoia and profound frustration with his staff have further isolated him...."

This Russia (Etc.) Thing

** "Welcome, Foreign Hackers & Scammers." Love, Don & Rex. Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "As Russia's virtual war against the United States continues unabated with the midterm elections approaching, the State Department has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow distrust in democracy. As a result, not one of the 23 analysts working in the department's Global Engagement Center -- which has been tasked with countering Moscow's disinformation campaign -- speaks Russian, and a department hiring freeze has hindered efforts to recruit the computer experts needed to track the Russian efforts. The delay is just one symptom of the largely passive response to the Russian interference by President Trump, who has made little if any public effort to rally the nation to confront Moscow and defend democratic institutions. More broadly, the funding lag reflects a deep lack of confidence by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson in his department's ability to execute its historically wide-ranging mission and spend its money wisely." ...

... ** Jane Mayer has a long report in the New Yorker on Christopher Steele. Mrs. McC: It's no longer a mystery why Rex hasn't spent a dime on curbing Russian interference in upcoming elections.

"Mueller's Hit List." Jonathan Swan of Axios: Axios has reviewed a Grand Jury subpoena that Robert Mueller's team sent to a witness last month.... Mueller is subpoenaing all communications -- meaning emails, texts, handwritten notes, etc. -- that this witness sent and received regarding the following people: Carter Page, Corey Lewandowski, Donald J. Trump, Hope Hicks, Keith Schiller, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone [and] Steve Bannon[.] The subpoena asks for all communications from November 1, 2015, to the present. Notably, Trump announced his campaign for president five months earlier -- on June 16, 2015." Mrs. McC: Hmm. These are all people who worked on the campaign. Some notable omissions: Jared Kushner, Michael Flynn, K.T. McFarland, George Papadopoulos, Kellyanne Conway, Donnie Junior. Of course the subpoenaed person could be one of these people.

Quinn Scanlan & Andres Del Aguila of ABC News: Reince Priebus, "the former chief of staff to ... Donald Trump, said the president sees Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusing himself from the Russia probe as 'the original sin' and he will never 'let it go.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Nobody Thought He Would. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Russia will 'never' extradite any of its 13 nationals indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller for interfering in the 2016 US election, Vladimir Putin said, even as he insisted they did not act on behalf of his government. Putin spoke in a second interview with Megyn Kelly of NBC, due to air in the US on Sunday and trailed extensively this week. Kelly, formerly of Fox News, first interviewed the Russian president in June 2017." ...

... He'll Fly Away. David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "Trump is a classic grifter. And the modus operandi of the grifter is to play the con as long as he can, then pack up and run when the water gets hot and the bill comes due.... As the walls begin to close in on him, his friends and family, it is difficult to see how he lasts another year in the job, much less three. If he were a man of greater intelligence and discipline, he could theoretically negotiate subordinates to take the fall for him and right his ship of state. But Trump lacks the wherewithal and the command of loyalty to accomplish either one.... He will become increasingly chaotic and dangerous in the days before the end, only to sign some bizarre executive actions, declare victory on twitter under the premise that he had fulfilled his promise to make America great again, and fly off to Mar-A-Lago to go golfing and negotiate a new TV channel or Fox News contract. ...

... Kailani Koenig of NBC News: "Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 'watered down' a warning about Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election and defended the Obama administration's response to foreign meddling in the campaign. The language in a September 2016 letter from congressional leaders to state election officials was drastically softened at McConnell's urging, McDonough said in an ... interview Sunday on NBC's 'Meet The Press.'... Asked if it was watered down at the insistence of McConnell and only McConnell, McDonough responded, 'yes.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Khorri Atkinson of Axios: "The Trump administration on Sunday lambasted Russia's involvement in a deadly ongoing military operation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, saying the country has dropped bombs -- at 'least 20 daily' between February 24 and 28 -- on innocent civilians." Mrs. McC: Trump must have been napping.

Let Bankers Be Swindlers. Erica Werner & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "The Senate is preparing to scale back the sweeping banking regulations passed after the 2008 financial crisis, with more than a dozen Democrats ready to give Republicans the votes they need to weaken one of President Barack Obama's largest legislative achievements. Congress's appetite for pulling back bank regulations shows the renewed clout of the financial sector in Washington, not just in the GOP but also among Democrats. Eight years after nearly every Senate Democrat backed a sweeping set of new rules for financial firms large and small, the party is now split, with moderates, several of them facing tough midterm election contests, working with the opposing party. The core of the new bill exempts about two dozen financial companies with assets between $50 billion and $250 billion from the highest levels of scrutiny by the Federal Reserve...."

Gina Colata & C.J. Chivers of the New York Times: "Perhaps no one knows the devastating wounds inflicted by assault-style rifles better than the trauma surgeons who struggle to repair them. The doctors say they are haunted by their experiences confronting injuries so dire they struggle to find words to describe them.... What follows are the recollections of five trauma surgeons. Three of them served in the military, and they emphasized that their opinions are their own and do not represent those of the armed forces. One has treated civilian victims of such weapons in American cities. And a pediatric surgeon treated victims of a Texas church shooting last year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Beyond the Beltway

Sarah Jorgensen, et al., of CNN: "The West Virginia legislature argued for hours but could not agree Saturday on how much to raise teachers' pay -- meaning the teachers strike may well extend into an eighth day Monday. About 20,000 teachers have been on strike since February 22, keeping 300,000 students out of the classroom. Teachers' unions have vowed their members must receive a 5% pay hike before returning to work."

Way Beyond

Melissa Eddy & Katrin Bennhold of the New York Times: "Germany's Social Democrats voted in favor of forming another government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, ending nearly six months of political limbo and setting Europe's economic powerhouse on a path to the political stability it craves -- at least for now. The results announced on Sunday clear the way for Ms. Merkel, who was long considered a de facto leader of Europe, to remain in the chancellery in Berlin for another four years. It will also allow her to work with President Emmanuel Macron of France on overhauling the European Union in what many consider a crucial year."

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Italians registered their dismay with the European political establishment on Sunday, handing a majority of votes in a national election to hard-right and populist forces that ran a campaign fueled by anti-immigrant anger.... In Sunday's vote, preliminary results showed, the parties that did well all shared varying degrees of skepticism toward the European Union, with laments about Brussels treating Italians like slaves, agitation to abandon the euro and promises to put Italy before Europe. The most likely result will be a government in Italy -- a founding European Union nation and the major economy of the Mediterranean -- that is significantly less invested in the project of a united Europe. All the while, geopolitical competitors from Russia to China are seeking to divide and weaken the bloc."

The Commentariat -- March 4, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Anne Gearan & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration will not grant exemptions from its new aluminum and steel tariffs for allies such as Canada, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday, as he defended President Trump's sudden imposition of new trade premiums that are likely to hit Canada and Europe hardest."

... Luis Sanchez of the Hill: "British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday expressed 'deep concern' to President Trump over his announced plans to increase steel and aluminum tariffs. May told the president in a phone call that 'multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties' interests,' according to a ... spokesperson."

Everything Is Going So Smoothly. Kirk Semple, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump International Hotel and Tower [in Panama City, Panama,] is President Trump's only hotel property in Latin America.... In recent days, guests have witnessed ... yelling and shoving matches involving security personnel and others, the presence of police in Kevlar helmets, and various interventions by Panamanian labor regulators, forensic specialists and a justice of the peace. The source of the drama? The businessman who recently purchased a majority stake in the hotel wants the Trumps out. And the Trumps, who have a long-term contract to manage the property, are refusing to go. In a letter ... to the hotel's other owners, the businessman, Orestes Fintiklis, likened the Trumps to leeches who had attached to the property, draining our last drops of blood.'... The Trump Organization, in turn, has accused Mr. Fintiklis of using 'thug-like, mob-style tactics.'... This past week, Panama's Public Ministry said it was looking into whether there had been any 'punishable conduct' in the dispute -- which means that an arm of a foreign government finds itself in the extraordinary position of investigating a business owned by the American president." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The Trump Panama sounds just like the Trump White House to me: yelling & shoving involving security personnel (think, for instance, Omarosa's pounding on the residence door as John Kelly had security staff grab her & unceremoniously "escort" her from the premises), "thug-like, mob-style tactics" (Trump), "leeches" (Trump family), "investigating a business owned by the American president" (Mueller).

Quinn Scanlan & Andres Del Aguila of ABC News: Reince Priebus, "the former chief of staff to ... Donald Trump, said the president sees Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusing himself from the Russia probe as 'the original sin' and he will never 'let it go.'"

Kailani Koenig of NBC News: "Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 'watered down' a warning about Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election and defended the Obama administration's response to foreign meddling in the campaign. The language in a September 2016 letter from congressional leaders to state election officials was drastically softened at McConnell's urging, McDonough said in an ... interview Sunday on NBC's 'Meet The Press.'... Asked if it was watered down at the insistence of McConnell and only McConnell, McDonough responded, 'yes.'"

Gina Colata & C.J. Chivers of the New York Times: "Perhaps no one knows the devastating wounds inflicted by assault-style rifles better than the trauma surgeons who struggle to repair them. The doctors say they are haunted by their experiences confronting injuries so dire they struggle to find words to describe them.... What follows are the recollections of five trauma surgeons. Three of them served in the military, and they emphasized that their opinions are their own and do not represent those of the armed forces. One has treated civilian victims of such weapons in American cities. And a pediatric surgeon treated victims of a Texas church shooting last year."

*****

Conservative Peter Wehner in a New York Times op-ed: "The Republican Party is learning what should have been obvious from the outset: Mr. Trump’s chaotic personality can't be contained. Indeed, combining it with the awesome power of the presidency virtually guaranteed he would become more volatile and transgressive. His presidency is infecting the entire party.... At the national level the Republican Party has become a destructive and anarchic political force in American life. The president and his acolytes are championing conspiracy theories and sweeping, uncalibrated, all-out assault on our institutions. There is reckless talk by Republicans about 'secret societies,' 'silent coups' and the 'deep state.'... Most Republicans are silent, their moral and civic reflexes seemingly dead. All of this is antithetical to conservatism.... [Trump]won't change, and neither will the Republican Party. That's how institutional corruption happens, from the top down." ...

Trade wars are good and easy to win. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Friday ...

... Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Trump warned on Saturday that he would apply higher taxes on imported European cars if the European Union carried through on its threat to retaliate against his proposed stiff new tariffs on steel and aluminum. 'If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S.,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter from Florida.... 'They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!' It was the latest indication that Mr. Trump, despite pressure from foreign allies and American business leaders, is standing by his decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from all countries. The action is likely to be signed this coming week.... The auto industry is a complex target for the president -- European automakers have plants in the United States and employ thousands of Americans.... Many economists warn that if Mr. Trump's actions lead to an international trade war, a global recession could follow." ...

... Steven Mufson & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "In his expanding war over global trade, President Trump has aimed his harshest rhetoric at an unlikely target -- the closest U.S. allies.... The new tariffs and the president's truculent rhetoric triggered angry responses among the countries that are closest to the United States and that are part of the World Trade Organization, which has for years helped reduce global tariffs.... The country that escaped Trump's tweeting ire was China, the very nation the president has wanted to hit hardest and the one that is largely responsible for flooding global markets with cheap steel. In return, China, which provides just 2 percent of U.S. steel imports, has been the most muted among leading trading partners in its response to Trump's tariff threats.... And while Trump has promoted his new tariffs as part of an 'America First' plan, any benefit in terms of jobs could be far outweighed by increased steel costs for U.S. automobiles, wind turbines, shale oil and gas drilling rigs and more -- in many cases doing unintended harm to some of his own strongest domestic constituencies.... Trade experts say the president has exaggerated and oversimplified the trade issues with Europe." ...

... New York Times Editors: "President Trump has been spoiling for a trade war since before his election. Now, he has taken the first meaningful step with his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. And, as with so many other policies he has supported, he appears to have little understanding of this one.... The steel and aluminum tariffs are ostensibly aimed at punishing China.... But Mr. Trump's move will have a limited effect on China because much of the steel and aluminum the United States imports actually comes from allies like Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico.... If Mr. Trump were truly interested in getting China to reduce its excess production, he would have worked with the European Union, Canada, Japan, South Korea and other countries to put pressure on Beijing.... Top officials in Canada and the European Union are already threatening to retaliate forcefully against the new Trump tariffs.... Experts say for every new job at a steel mill or aluminum smelter that is created by this trade decision, the country could lose as many or more jobs at businesses that use those metals, which will now cost more." ...

... "Surpassingly Stupid." Paul Krugman: "... it's starting to look like we have a trade policy crisis on our hands. Trump has always had a thing about trade, which he sees the way he sees everything: as a test of power and masculinity. It's all about who sells more: if we run a trade surplus we win, if we run a trade deficit, we lose[.]... This is, of course, nonsense. Trade isn't a zero-sum game: it raises the productivity and wealth of the world economy.... A cycle of retaliation would shrink overall world trade, making the world as a whole, America very much included, poorer. Perhaps even more important in the near term, it would be highly disruptive.... So the idea that a trade war would be 'good' and 'easy to win' is surpassingly stupid.... In themselves, these tariffs aren't that big a deal. But if they're a sign of what future policy is going to look like, they're really, really bad." ...

... Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "... Trump's staff is disintegrating amid a series of mounting scandals....This has led to a weakening of the personnel wall between Trump and his more outlandish impulses. This whole mess played out in the tariff case: A piece in Politico suggests that Rob Porter -- the former White House staff secretary who resigned amid multiple allegations of domestic abuse -- had been organizing meetings designed to block imposition of new tariffs. 'Porter's resignation removed a fierce opponent of the tariffs from the West Wing and revived the chaotic policy review process that defined the early weeks of Trump's presidency,' Politico reports. White House staff chaos is letting Trump be Trump. That means feelings dictating outcomes, policymaking by pique -- consequences be damned. It's bad enough that this approach yielded dangerous tariffs. Imagine if the next time Trump is angry, he starts thinking about North Korea." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Inside the White House, aides over the past week have described an air of anxiety and volatility -- with an uncontrollable commander in chief at its center. These are the darkest days in at least half a year, they say, and they worry just how much farther President Trump and his administration may plunge into unrest and malaise.... 'Pure madness,' lamented one exasperated ally.... This portrait of Trump at a moment of crisis just over a year after taking office is based on interviews with 22 White House officials, friends and advisers.... Trump seethed with anger last Wednesday night over cable news coverage of a photo, obtained by Axios, showing [AG Jeff] Sessions at dinner with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, and another top Justice Department prosecutor.... The next morning, Trump was still raging about the photo, venting to friends and allies about a dinner he viewed as an intentional show of disloyalty." ...

... BUT Trump's Golf Game Is Going Well. Lindsay Gibbs of ThinkProgress: "Almost fourteen months into his presidency, Donald Trump has reached a dubious milestone that none before him have achieved: He's spent his 100th day at a golf club bearing his own name. Considering he's only been in office for 408 days, that means he's spent almost 25 percent of his time at a Trump-branded golf club...." Mrs. McC: Free advertising for his golf resorts, too!

This Russia Thing -- Is Expanding

Mark Mazetti, et al., of the New York Times: "George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has hovered on the fringes of international diplomacy for three decades. He was a back-channel negotiator with Syria during the Clinton administration, reinvented himself as an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and last year was a frequent visitor to President Trump's White House. Mr. Nader is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III.... In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller's investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The investigators have also asked about Mr. Nader's role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration.... In one example of Mr. Nader's influential connections, which has not been previously reported, last fall he received a detailed report from a top Trump fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, about a private meeting with the president in the Oval Office.... Mr. Trump has closely allied himself with the Emiratis...." ...

     ... Jonathan Swan of Axios first reported on Mueller's interest in Nader on January 21. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's a critical connection I missed in the Kushner News of the Week. Jed Shugerman in Slate: "A Qatari fund acquires major assets from Russia Kushner's business seeks money directly from Qatar. The nation, though, does not deliver to Kushner. The U.S. changes its political posture against Qatar at Kushner's urging, with the alarming possibility that the seemingly manufactured conflict could have escalated into war. (Fortunately, it did not.) Several months later, the Qatar-backed Apollo Group delivers $184 million to Kushner.... The Steele dossier alleges that Russians made a deal with Carter Page in the summer of 2016 to sell 19 percent of fossil fuel giant Rosneft, a multibillion dollar deal, and secretly transfer benefits to Trump officials.... On Dec. 9, 2016, a month after the election, Russia made a deal with Qatar to sell 19.5 percent of Rosneft.... The deal falls squarely in the middle of a time when Kushner, Michael Flynn, and Page were communicating with Russians.... All this new Kushner news connects more dots in the Steele dossier's core allegation: that there may have been a quid-pro-quo of Russian oil money for Trump policy change on sanctions.... In light of the Steele dossier and how Qatar might implicate Russia, Kushner and Trump have even more to answer for." ...

... Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner: "President Trump will face an obstruction of justice charge from special counsel Robert Mueller, former Attorney General Eric Holder predicted. 'You technically have an obstruction of justice case that already exists,' Holder, who served under then-President Obama, said on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher.' 'I've known Bob Mueller for 20, 30 years; my guess is he's just trying to make the case as good as he possibly can. So, I think that we have to be patient in that regard.'"

Michael Shear & Michael Tackett of the New York Times: "On Saturday afternoon, President Trump took another swing at his favorite punching bag. 'Mainstream Media in U.S. is being mocked all over the world,' he tweeted. 'They've gone CRAZY! On Saturday night, however, Mr. Trump donned his tuxedo and joined the very journalists he loves to malign for an evening of humorous -- and sometimes uncomfortable -- verbal sparring at the 133rd annual Gridiron Club Dinner.... For Mr. Trump..., his participation in the dinner was striking because the club is the Washington embodiment of political correctness. Its credo is that the roasts at the dinner should 'singe but never burn.' This year, Mr. Trump leaned into the flame." Mrs. McC: Some of Trump's scripted jokes are actually pretty funny.

"Donald Trump's Know-Nothing Science Budget." Alan Burdick of the New Yorker: "Trump's newly proposed federal budget for 2019 continues the assault on knowledge and reason. Funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the E.P.A. would each be cut by eighteen per cent or more, compared with the final 2017 budget, which was drafted by the Obama Administration and amended by Trump. The Institutes of Health would see its funding remain flat while it absorbed the work of three agencies from the Department of Health and Human Services. The National Institute of Mental Health would see its budget slashed by thirty per cent, despite Trump's recent avowals that better mental-health treatment is the solution to gun violence. NASA's budget would stay roughly the same, but a number of important Earth-science missions would be eliminated, and Trump would attempt to defund and privatize the International Space Station by 2025."

About That "Einstein Visa." Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Each year, thousands of foreigners try to persuade government officials that they are among the best in their field. The prize if they succeed: a green card, and with it, the right to live permanently in the United States. Reports that the first lady, Melania Trump, received an immigrant visa reserved for 'individuals with extraordinary ability' in 2001, when she was a model, have thrust the EB-1 visa program into the spotlight. The news, first reported by The Washington Post [and linked here last week], raised questions about whether Mrs. Trump had truly qualified for the visa.... Mr. Trump has championed an immigration overhaul that would replace the current family-based system, which he derides as 'chain migration,' with one based on merit, emphasizing skill and educational level. His proposal would have made it impossible for the first lady to sponsor her parents for a green card, which she did after obtaining permanent legal residency herself."

Emily Holden & Alex Guillen of Politico: "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that 'minority religions' were pushing Christianity out of 'the public square' and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005. Pruitt, who at the time was a state senator, also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a 'judicial monarchy' that is 'the most grievous threat that we have today.' And he did not object when the program's host described Islam as 'not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.'" Mrs. McC: Hey, at least he's not just a climate-change denier. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Perfect! Michael Biesecker of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Friday tapped a chemical industry insider to run the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees emergency response to hazardous spills and cleanups of the nation's most toxic sites. The White House announced that Trump has nominated Peter C. Wright to serve as EPA's assistant administrator for Land and Emergency Management. Wright has worked as a corporate lawyer at Dow Chemical Co. since 1999. Despite Trump's campaign pledges to 'drain the swamp' in Washington, Wright's nomination is the latest example of the president appointing corporate lawyers or lobbyists to supervise federal offices that directly regulate their former employers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Perfect! Anne Branigin of the Root: "William Otis, a former special counsel to President George H.W. Bush and a current professor at Georgetown University Law, was nominated by Donald Trump this week to serve on a federal commission that sets policy on how to punish criminals.... Otis is a staunch supporter of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' hard line approach of imposing mandatory minimum sentences and resurrecting the war on drugs. But Otis, thanks to his popular legal blog, 'Crime and Consequences,' has also made his racist beliefs both explicit easily searchable. As the Washington Post reports, Otis once defended a federal judge who was called out for saying black people and Latinx were more violent than white people."

Presidential Race 2020. Emily Stewart of Vox: "On Saturday, Trump is launching a fundraising initiative that mimics a tactic employed by former President George W. Bush to raise money, according to a report from Alex Isenstadt at Politico. Trump is appearing before Republican donors at Mar-a-Lago to kick off the plan that rewards donors who have 'bundled' thousands of dollars in contributions, meaning they gather campaign contributions from others.... This marks a new step in campaign fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign, which has already been taking in millions of dollars in donations. His campaign committee ended 2017 with $22 million in cash, having brought in $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of the year alone. Per FEC data, his campaign committee raised $32 million in 2017.... A significant chunk of the reelection campaign's money has gone to legal fees -- about a quarter, according to the New York Times.... Trump has kicked off reelection efforts unusually early compared to his predecessors." ...

... Kevin Liptak of the CNN: "... Donald Trump bemoaned a decision not to investigate Hillary Clinton after the 2016 presidential election, decrying a 'rigged system' that still doesn't have the 'right people' in place to fix it, during a freewheeling speech to Republican donors in Florida on Saturday. In the closed-door remarks, a recording of which was obtained by CNN, Trump also praised China's President Xi Jinping for recently consolidating power and extending his potential tenure.... 'He's now president for life. President for life. And he's great,' Trump said. 'And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll give that a shot some day.' The remarks, delivered inside the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate during a lunch and fundraiser, were upbeat, lengthy, and peppered with jokes and laughter. But Trump's words reflected his deeply felt resentment that his actions during the 2016 campaign remain under scrutiny while those of his former rival, Hillary Clinton, do not." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: Actually, this is yet another jab at Jeff Sessions. Looks as if the speech was one big fever dream of dictatorial powers.

     ... Thanks to unwashed for the link. Mrs. McC: Unwashed & I very much hope you'll show a little more sympathy for Devin now.

Beyond the Beltway

The Paradigm for Empty Gestures. Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "The Florida Senate on Saturday voted down a bill to ban assault weapons, then immediately pivoted to a moment of silence for victims of the shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school last month."

The Paradigm for Meaningful Action. Michelle Krupa of CNN: "One by one. That's how Philando Castile, who was killed by a police officer during a 2016 traffic stop, used to help kids who couldn't afford lunch. The school nutrition supervisor would dip into his pocket and pay the bill. Now a charity run in his name has multiplied his mission by thousands, wiping out the lunch debt of every student at all 56 schools in Minnesota's St. Paul Public Schools, where Castile worked."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Propelled by an ever-lengthening stride and extraordinary willpower, the lanky British medical student Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes. He pitched over the finish line at the University of Oxford's Iffley Road track on a dank, blustery day -- May 6, 1954 -- and electrified England during its post-World War II doldrums. Dr. Bannister, who died March 3 at age 88, became a national hero...." ...

     ... Bannister's New York Times obituary is here.

New York Times: "At east eight people died after heavy snow, rain and high winds ripped through the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic on Friday, snarling travel and bringing major flooding to parts of Massachusetts. More than two million people in 17 states and Washington, D.C., were without power as of Friday night, the United States Energy Department said on its website. By about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, at least one million people were still dealing with electricity failure."

Entertainment Weekly: "M*A*S*H actor David Ogden Stiers died of cancer on Saturday, his agent confirmed. He was 75."

The Commentariat -- March 3, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "... Trump's staff is disintegrating amid a series of mounting scandals....This has led to a weakening of the personnel wall between Trump and his more outlandish impulses. This whole mess played out in the tariff case: A piece in Politico suggests that Rob Porter -- the former White House staff secretary who resigned amid multiple allegations of domestic abuse -- had been organizing meetings designed to block imposition of new tariffs. 'Porter's resignation removed a fierce opponent of the tariffs from the West Wing and revived the chaotic policy review process that defined the early weeks of Trump's presidency,' Politico reports. White House staff chaos is letting Trump be Trump. That means feelings dictating outcomes, policymaking by pique -- consequences be damned. It's bad enough that this approach yielded dangerous tariffs. Imagine if the next time Trump is angry, he starts thinking about North Korea."

Emily Holden & Alex Guillen of Politico: "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that 'minority religions' were pushing Christianity out of 'the public square' and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005. Pruitt, who at the time was a state senator, also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a 'judicial monarchy' that is 'the most grievous threat that we have today.' And he did not object when the program's host described Islam as 'not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.'" Mrs. McC: Hey, at least he's not just a climate-change denier. ...

... Perfect! Michael Biesecker of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Friday tapped a chemical industry insider to run the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees emergency response to hazardous spills and cleanups of the nation's most toxic sites. The White House announced that Trump has nominated Peter C. Wright to serve as EPA's assistant administrator for Land and Emergency Management. Wright has worked as a corporate lawyer at Dow Chemical Co. since 1999. Despite Trump's campaign pledges to 'drain the swamp' in Washington, Wright's nomination is the latest example of the president appointing corporate lawyers or lobbyists to supervise federal offices that directly regulate their former employers."

Reuters: "Sweden's Electrolux..., Europe's largest home appliance maker, said on Friday it would delay a planned $250 million investment in Tennessee, after ... Donald Trump announced tariffs on imported aluminum and steel.... 'We are putting it on hold. We believe that tariffs could cause a pretty significant increase in the price of steel on the U.S. market,' Electrolux spokesman Daniel Frykholm said. Electrolux buys all the steel it uses in its U.S. products domestically."

*****

Governance by Temper Tantrum

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "A day after stunning markets, Republican lawmakers and even his own advisers by announcing stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, President Trump doubled down on his approach on Friday, saying in a early morning tweet that 'Trade wars are good, and easy to win.' Mr. Trump appeared eager to defend his decision to levy sweeping tariffs on all imports of those metals, issuing a series of morning tweets explaining the need for tariffs. 'Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON'T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON'T HAVE A COUNTRY!' he said in one tweet.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Alan Freeman of the Washington Post: "Canadians reacted with a mixture of anger, confusion and resignation this week to President Trump's promise to hit U.S. imports of steel and aluminum with hefty tariffs, upending decades of economic cooperation and integration.... Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the tariff proposal 'absolutely unacceptable,' using the same phrase as Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who also threatened retaliatory measures if Canada isn't exempted from the trade actions.... Under the Trump policies announced Thursday, steel imported into the United States would be slapped with a 25 percent tariff and aluminum with a 10 percent tariff. The announcement sent shudders through world markets and prompted a global outcry, with European allies and others threatening retaliation.... Canada is the largest exporter of steel and aluminum to the United States, supplying $7.2 billion of aluminum and $4.3 billion of steel to the United States last year." ...

... Eric Levitz: "Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, told the German press Tuesday that should Trump make good on his protectionist promise, the European Union would slap retaliatory tariffs on goods produced in the home states of top Republican officials -- including the bourbon prepared in Mitch McConnell's backyard and Harley-Davidson motorcycles manufactured in Paul Ryan's. 'None of this is reasonable, but reason is a sentiment that is very unevenly distributed in this world,' Juncker said." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The week of wild policymaking has left lawmakers on Capitol Hill, investors on Wall Street and leaders around the world trying to make sense of it all. Republicans in Congress are wondering if Mr. Trump really intends to defy one of the party's most valued and powerful constituencies to push for gun restrictions that they say will never go anywhere in Congress. Corporate executives and foreign governments were guessing whether Mr. Trump will really follow through on his unscripted vow to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum and, if so, what that might mean.... On Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced the development of an 'invincible' nuclear missile and even showed animation of a potential strike on Florida, where Mr. Trump spends many weekends, including this one. But the president had no response to the implicit threat...." ...

... He's Come Unglued. Stephanie Ruhle & Peter Alexander of NBC News: Trump's "public show of confidence belies the fact that Trump's policy maneuver, which may ultimately harm U.S. companies and American consumers, was announced without any internal review by government lawyers or his own staff, according to a review of an internal White House document. According to two officials, Trump's decision to launch a potential trade war was born out of anger at other simmering issues and the result of a broken internal process that has failed to deliver him consensus views that represent the best advice of his team. On Wednesday evening, the president became 'unglued,' in the words of one official familiar with the president's state of mind. A trifecta of events had set him off in a way that two officials said they had not seen before: Hope Hicks' testimony to lawmakers investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, conduct by his embattled attorney general and the treatment of his son-in-law by his chief of staff. Trump, the two officials said, was angry and gunning for a fight, and he chose a trade war...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Gloria Borger of CNN: "Not since Richard Nixon started talking to the portraits on the walls of the West Wing has a president seemed so alone against the world. On source -- who is a presidential ally -- is worried, really worried. The source says this past week is 'different,' that advisers are scared the President is spiraling, lashing out, just out of control. For example: Demanding to hold a public session where he made promises on trade tariffs before his staff was ready, not to mention willing. 'This has real economic impact,' says the source, as the Dow dropped 420 points after the President's news Thursday. 'Something is very wrong.' Even by Trumpian standards, the chaos and the unraveling at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are a stunning -- and recurring -- problem." (Also linked yesterday.)

Time for Some Traffic Problems.... Michael Shear & Patrick McGeehan of the New York Times: "President Trump is pressing congressional Republicans to oppose funding for a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, using the power of his office to block a key priority for the region and his Democratic rivals, according to several people with knowledge of his actions. Mr. Trump urged Speaker Paul D. Ryan this week not to support funding for the $30 billion project, two people familiar with the conversation said. Th president's decision to weigh in forcefully against the so-called Gateway infrastructure project, which has been one of the United States' top transportation priorities for years, adds a significant obstacle to getting the project underway in the near future.... Mr. Trump has told Republicans that it makes no sense to give [Sen. Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] something that he covets -- funding for the tunnels -- at a time that Mr. Schumer is routinely blocking Mr. Trump's nominees and other parts of his agenda, the person said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The principal difference between this stunt & Bridgegate is that we're finding out about the motivation earlier in the cycle.

Gail Collins: "... of all the stupid-to-terrifying things going on in the White House, one of the most depressing may be that Jeff Sessions is becoming a sympathetic figure. Not that he hasn't kept trying to reingratiate himself.... How long do you think he'll last? Well, he's made it clear he doesn't intend to go on his own volition, and despite the massive churn in the administration, most of the departed have resigned under their own power. Trump, who we're discovering is terrible at firing people, has actually canned only three -- the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the acting attorney general and the F.B.I. director. Hmm, what do all those offices have in common?"

Mixing Business with "Public Service." Clayton Swisher & Ryan Grim of the Intercept: "The real estate firm tied to the family of presidential son-in-law and top White House adviser Jared Kushner made a direct pitch to Qatar's minister of finance in April 2017 in an attempt to secure investment in a critically distressed asset in the company's portfolio, according to two sources. At the previously unreported meeting, Jared Kushner's father Charles, who runs Kushner Companies, and Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi discussed financing for the Kushners' signature 666 Fifth Avenue property in New York City.... The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatar's neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushner's backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff.... The crisis followed a May visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by Kushner and ... Donald Trump, who subsequently took credit for Saudi Arabia and its allies' efforts against Qatar. The fallout has reshaped geopolitical alliances in the region...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Eric Levitz: "The Gulf monarchies claimed that this act of aggression [against Qatar] was a response to Donald Trump's call for the Arab world to crack down on terrorists.... The United States had nothing to gain from a conflict between its Gulf allies. Qatar hosts one of America's largest and most strategically important air bases in the Middle East. Any development that pushes Doha away from Riyadh pulls it toward Tehran.... Donald Trump was more than happy to endorse the idea that his speech had moved mountains.... According to contemporary reports, his son-in-law was one of the only White House advisers to approve of this stance.... It's worth noting that the project the Qatari foreign minister refused to finance ... was Jared's baby -- his misbegotten, sickly, drowning baby ... -- 666 Fifth Avenue.... It looks like the president's son-in-law worked to sour relations with a key U.S. ally in the Middle East -- which has since drifted further into the orbit of a regime hostile to the United States -- because it refused to bail out his family's underwater real-estate investment." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has asked witnesses about [Jared] Kushner's efforts to secure financing for his family's real estate properties, focusing specifically on his discussions during the transition with individuals from Qatar and Turkey, as well as Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates, according to witnesses who have been interviewed as part of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 election.... Qatari government officials visiting the U.S. in late January and early February considered turning over to Mueller what they believe is evidence of efforts by their country's Persian Gulf neighbors in coordination with Kushner to hurt their country, four people familiar with the matter said. The Qatari officials decided against cooperating with Mueller for now out of fear it would further strain the country's relations with the White House...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Margaret Hartmann: "While the idea that the president himself may be secretly plotting to oust his daughter and son-in-law from the White House [according the NYT report by Mark Landler & Maggie Haberman, linked yesterday] is quite a juicy plot twist, it's also one of Trump's more astute staffing decisions. Not the part where he's incapable of firing them himself, of course, but his recognition that Jared and Ivanka are massive liabilities who contribute very little to the success of his administration. Why didn't anyone try to tell him that the president shouldn't hire his own family members?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker summarizes how Jared Kushner has "managed" his blatant conflicts of interest. And he reminds us that, unlike the President*, Kushner can be prosecuted under conflict-of-interest laws. Mrs. McC: Under current circumstances, even though written law says that a smoking gun isn't necessary, I'm afraid it would be hard to prosecute Jared. I'm reminded of Justice Kennedy's ridiculous majority opinion on Citizens United: "... independent expenditures do not lead to, or create the appearance of, quid pro quo corruption," he wrote. That is, just because there's a quid & a quo doesn't mean there's a pro, in Kennedy's pollyannaish view. It's unlikely the prosecution in a case against Jared could find an e-mail from him reading, "I have to take this meeting with the CEO of Citigroup. He's going to lend me $325 million," or testimony from White House staffers that Jared announced, "It's payback time. Qatar wouldn't lend my father half a bil, so I'm going to bury those emirs."

** John Kelly Is a Serial Liar. Abby Phillip, et al., of CNN: "White House chief of staff John Kelly continued to misrepresent his handling of the dismissal of former top aide Rob Porter on Friday, defiantly obfuscating on exactly what he knew -- and when -- about the extent of the abuse allegations against Porter's two ex-wives. In some instances, Kelly even directly contradicted some of the White House's public statements delivered last month. In a rare gathering with reporters in his White House office, Kelly mostly defended his own conduct and insisted that he never considered resigning over the fallout.... The new timeline presented by Kelly doesn't conform with what Kelly told a roomful of White House staffers at the end of the grueling week when Porter left the White House.... One source with knowledge of the situation told CNN that people inside the White House ... stat[ed] flatly that the chief of staff was not telling the truth.... Kelly told reporters that he learned of 'a serious accusation' against Porter on February 6, the day Daily Mail reporters began asking the White House for reaction. He described what he first became aware of as 'just the accusation of a messy divorce and maybe ... emotional abuse.' That claim was refuted by David Martosko, political editor of the Daily Mail, the publication that first broke the news about abuse allegations against Porter. Martosko said the first claim he brought the White House was from Jennifer Willoughby, one of Porter's ex-wives, who claimed Porter 'physically dragged her, naked, out of a shower.'... The Daily Mail also asked about an incident in which Willoughby filed a protective order against Porter after he appeared to have punched a glass panel on her front door."

An A-Mazing "Coincidence." Judd Legum of Think Progress: "Billionaire investor and longtime Trump confidant Carl Icahn dumpe $31.3 million of stock in a company heavily dependent on steel last week, just days before Trump announced plans to impose steep tariffs on steel imports. In a little-noticed SEC filing submitted on February 22, 2018, Icahn disclosed that he systematically sold off nearly 1 million shares of Manitowoc Company Inc. Manitowoc is a 'is a leading global manufacturer of cranes and lifting solutions' and, therefore, heavily dependent on steel to make its products. Trump's announcement rattled the markets, with steel-dependent stocks hardest hit. Manitowoc stock plunged, losing about 6 percent of its value. Reuters attributed the drop to the fact that Manitowoc is a 'major consumer of steel.' As of 10:20 a.m. Friday, the stock had lost an additional 6 percent, trading at $26.21. Icahn was required to make the disclosure because of the large volume of his sale. The filing reveals that he began systematically selling the stock on February 12, when he was able to sell the stock for $32 to $34. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross publicly released a report on February 16 calling for a 24 percent tariff. But, as the chart in the SEC filing indicates, Icahn started selling his Manitowoc stock on February 12, prior to the public release of that report." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beth Reinhard, et al., of the Washington Post: "The 2016 election was less than a month away, and Donald Trump's attorney had blown the deadline for paying Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the future president. In an Oct. 17 email, an attorney for Daniels -- a porn star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford -- threatened to cancel the nondisclosure agreement by the end of the day. That very morning, Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, had created a limited liability company, public records show, that ultimately would serve as a vehicle for Daniels's payoff. But the money had not arrived. A second email to Cohen, a short time after the first, said Daniels was calling the deal off.... Ten days later, the $130,000 payment arrived, according to another email reviewed by The Post.... The timing of the Oct. 27 payment, 13 days after the initial deadline and just 12 days before the election, could be significant. Two complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission argue that the payment was intended to influence the Nov. 8 election and violated campaign finance law because it was not reported as an in-kind donation."

Trump's Wall Is Already Corrupt. Margery Beck of the AP: "A tiny Nebraska startup awarded the first border wall construction project under ... Donald Trump is the offshoot of a construction firm that was sued repeatedly for failing to pay subcontractors and accused in a 2016 government audit of shady billing practices. SWF Constructors, which lists just one employee in its Omaha office, won the $11 million federal contract in November as part of a project to replace a little more than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of a current fence with post-style barriers 30 feet (9.1 meters) high in Calexico, California." Mrs. McC: Huh. Failing to pay subs, shady billing practices: why does that sound familiar?

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The FBI interviewed top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin around the holidays last winter -- more than a month and a half after the politically charged investigation into Clinton's email practices had seemed to conclude for a second time, according to people familiar with the probe. Agents were focused on how Abedin's and Clinton's messages ended up on a laptop used by former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), Abedin's estranged husband, these people said. They considered their look at Clinton complete but still had questions about whether Abedin should have told them about the messages sooner, the people said.... The interview is important ... because it shows that even after the bureau had intimated publicly that its probe into Clinton was over, the FBI knew it still had work to do with one of her close aides." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "Since ... Donald Trump signed the Republican tax bill in December, hundreds of retail companies have announced employee bonuses totaling more than $3 billion, which Republicans have said proves them right that the new law benefits regular Americans. But so far, companies have thrown a lot more money at their shareholders than at their workers. According to several estimates, firms have announced roughly $200 billion worth of stock buybacks this year, inflating the value of company shares by reducing their supply."

The Politicians on the Supreme Court. E.J. Dionne: "... Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, argued this week before the Supreme Court..., is an effort to overturn 41 years of settled precedent for the purpose of crippling the American labor movement. The claimant, Mark Janus, an Illinois state social worker, argues that his First Amendment liberties are violated because he has to pay an 'agency fee' to the union even though he is not a member and might disagree with its politics.... The anti-labor consortium sought to force the case up to the Supreme Court at a moment when it hoped a conservative majority would reflexively take its side. [Justice] Kennedy asked a pro-union lawyer: 'If you do not prevail in this case, the unions will have less political influence; yes or no?' The answer was yes.... To which Kennedy candidly commented: 'Isn't that the end of this case?' But in making a point of his own, Kennedy also underscored that a labor setback would clearly benefit the Republican Party.... A 5-to-4 anti-labor ruling would remind us why Senate Republicans refused even to consider Judge Merrick Garland's nomination for the seat now occupied by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch." ...

... Dahlia Lithwick: "As [Trump] explained, in an extremely twirly gun control meeting at the White House on Wednesday, due process in dealing with people who might have mental illnesses is, in fact, overrated.... '... Take the guns first, go through due process second....'... This is the same Trump who can't stop talking about executing suspected drug dealers. It's the same Trump who pardoned convicted former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the same Trump who persistently threatened to jail his political opponents, including Hillary Clinton, if he won the presidency. This is the man who spent a small fortune taking out ads seeking the death penalty for the Central Park Five before they had even been tried and refused to acknowledge when they were exonerated.... Now consider the many times Trump has used the absence of 'due process' to justify his own action and inaction. The most famous recent example would be after his former staff secretary, Rob Porter, resigned following accusations by two ex-wives of domestic violence.... '... There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?' 'Due process' to Trump, then, is mostly just something owed by newspapers, complaining women, or voters to his buddies."

... ** NRA = Bad Guy with Guns. Julia Belluz of Vox: "A brief, partial respite from gun injuries is expected when some 80,000 gun owners descend on Dallas for the annual National Rifle Association convention. That's because the convention has historically coincided with a temporary -- and dramatic -- drop in gun-related injuries, according to a new analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine.... The gun injury rate actually fell by nearly 20 percent nationwide during NRA conventions." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: NRA membership should come with a heavy tax to help pay for the high costs NRA members impose on law enforcement. The NRA claims to have nearly 5 million members, meaning the vast majority of NRA members don't go to the conventions. It is reasonable to posit, then, that an unknown but significant number of other card-carrying NRA members are responsible for the gun injuries that do occur during the convention. Any way you look at it, the NRA is a pox on the U.S. ...

... Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "The best available evidence suggests two major National Rifle Association gun policy prescriptions -- what are known as 'stand your ground' self-defense laws and permissive concealed carry laws -- increase homicides and violent crime. That is according to a massive new study by the RAND Corporation, an independent think tank." ...

... Bart Jansen of USA Today: "How many airline passengers does it take to kill a $40 million tax break for Delta Air Lines? Only 13. The Georgia legislature removed a jet-fuel tax break from a larger tax package Thursday. Lawmakers were upset that Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, dropped the National Rifle Association from a discount-fare program in an effort to appear neutral on gun policy. After the firestorm, Delta will review all its marketing programs to avoid those that might become political, CEO Ed Bastian announced Friday. But the airline said only 13 passengers ever bought tickets with an NRA discount. That translates into each discount costing the airline about $3 million in tax breaks."

Beyond the Beltway

Campbell Robertson & Jess Bidgood of the New York Times: "A statewide teacher strike in West Virginia entered its seventh day on Friday, with teachers defying efforts by the state's governor and union leaders to end the walkout with a deal to raise pay. Earlier this week, James C. Justice, the governor, announced a plan to raise teachers' salaries by 5 percent, and state union leaders said teachers would return to work on Thursday. But teachers across the state have refused, saying they will not return until the State Legislature completes the deal, and counties across the state have kept schools closed.... The walkout began last Thursday after months of simmering tension over myriad issues, including proposed changes to teachers' health insurance plans that would have raised monthly premiums for many."

"Please Send Money," -- Love, Roy. AP: "Former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is pleading for money to pay for his legal bills as he fights a lawsuit against a woman who says he molested her when she was 14. Moore said on a campaign Facebook page Thursday that his 'resources have been depleted.' The link indicated that Moore had raised just $32,000 of a $250,000 fundraising goal."

"It's Okay, I'm a Fireman." Rudy Harper of KCTV Kansas City: "Police say a racial slur was hurled at a child at a Hooters off Metcalf Avenue [in Kansas City, Kansas]. KCTV5 News spoke to a witness who was at the restaurant and he said he was dumbfounded by a statement the firefighter made to police. 'He basically said get that little "blank" up off the floor,' the witness recounted. 'The n-word started to get thrown around.'... [The man] spat at the child.... The witness said he was even more shocked when police came inside and interview the man in question, who told police he was a first responder. 'I didn't catch what the officer said to him, but his immediate response was "It's ok, I'm a fireman," like that was supposed to blanket cover everything for him,' the witness said." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: I guess we have to assume the fireman is white, which Harper doesn't bother to specify. This kind of reporting pisses me off: there are "people" and there are "black/Hispanic/Asian/Arabic, etc. people." I was going to assume Rudy Harper was white, too, but, but but sure looks as if he's black. C'mon, Rudy. you can do better.

Way Beyond

Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was questioned by the police on Friday as a possible suspect in a third bribery case, the weightiest so far in a string of corruption investigations that are jeopardizing his political future. Officers questioned Mr. Netanyahu about a case involving Shaul Elovitch, an Israeli telecommunications tycoon accused of using his popular Hebrew news site to provide positive coverage of Mr. Netanyahu and his wife in return for regulatory and financial benefits worth tens of millions of dollars."

Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Uzbekistan has freed a reporter who was incarcerated for nearly two decades on sedition charges, the longest-known prison term served by a journalist, human rights advocates said Friday. The reporter, Yusuf Ruzimuradov, 64, who worked for a newspaper banned by the Uzbek authorities, had been held since 1999.... While human rights groups welcomed the news of Mr. Ruzimuradov's release, they said many antigovernment critics remained incarcerated, including some scheduled for trial next week."

Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "... stories -- told by sisters using pseudonyms -- were revealed Thursday in an exposé about how nuns are exploited by the leaders and institutions of the Roman Catholic Church. The article, by the French journalist Marie-Lucile Kubacki, was published in the March edition of Women Church World, the monthly magazine on women distributed alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. The stories amount to a distress signal about the unfair economic and social conditions many nuns experience, as well as the psychological and spiritual challenges that many face.... Though convents also depend on the money generated by the sisters living there, many nuns, unlike priests, are not paid, or are poorly paid, when they attend conferences or when they preach, she said. But the article, 'The (Nearly) Free Work of Sisters,' noted that it was not just a question of money. A bigger problem, the article pointed out, is that many sisters say that while male vocations are valued, the work of women is not."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "A man standing in a crowd of more than 100 people fatally shot himself along the north fence line of the White House at midday Saturday, according to witnesses. Philipos Melaku-Bello, who was manning a nearby peace vigil, said the gunman was standing just inside the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from Lafayette Square. The man fired several shots at 11:46 a.m., although none appeared to have been directed at the White House, according to the Secret Service. He then dropped to the ground as people fled the area.... President Trump and the first lady were at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at the time of the shooting."

Weather Channel: "Residents along the New England coast were warned that additional flooding was possible Saturday, one day after Winter Storm Riley killed at least seven people and knocked out power to 2 million homes and businesses. Deaths have been reported in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, and Virginia, where two people were killed. Two of the victims -- a 6-year-old boy in Chester, Virginia, and an 11-year-old boy in Putnam Valley, New York -- were children. The governors of Maryland and Virginia declared states of emergency due to the conditions. National Guard members were activated in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania to assist in the aftermath."