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The Commentariat -- February 10, 2018
I know it's Saturday, but you might want to skip the trip to Home Depot & read the news today. As Kevin Drum notes, "Friday News Dump This Week Is Yuuuuge." . -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Afternoon Update:
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump complained on Saturday about allegations that he said were destroying the lives of those accused -- appearing to express doubts about the #MeToo movement after the resignations this week of two White House aides facing claims of domestic violence. In an early morning Twitter post, Mr. Trump did not name the former aides, but said: 'Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused -- life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?' Mr. Trump's claim ran counter to the White House's portrayal of its actions in response to the abuse allegations. Administration officials maintained that they acted decisively in the cases of Rob Porter, the staff secretary, and David Sorensen, a speechwriter, both of whom stepped down after their former wives accused them of emotional and physical abuse. But the president's defense is in keeping with the White House's initially defensive reaction to the charges against Mr. Porter -- as well as his tendency to dismiss allegations made against him and other powerful men by women who say they were sexually harassed."
Haley Britzky of Axios lists the men Trump has defended after they were credibly accused of abusing women. Hey, not Bill Cosby! Wonder why.
Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein on CNN: "We're here again. A powerful and determined President is squaring off against an independent investigator operating inside the Justice Department. Special counsel Robert Mueller's mission is a comprehensive look at Russian meddling in the 2016 election -- and any other crimes he uncovers in the process.... Donald Trump insists it's all a 'witch hunt' and an unfair examination of his family's personal finances. He constantly complains about the investigation in private and reportedly asked his White House counsel to have Mueller fired. No wonder many people are making comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, when President Richard Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned." The writers publish an adaptation of the portion of their book The Final Days that covers the "Saturday Night Massacre."
Lauren Gardner of Politico: "A top official charged with overseeing the safety of U.S. railroads has resigned 'effective immediately,' the Department of Transportation said Saturday after Politico raised questions about whether he had been simultaneously working as a public relations consultant for a sheriff's department in Mississippi. Heath Hall became the Federal Railroad Administration's acting administrator in June but subsequently appeared on at least two occasions in Mississippi media reports as a spokesman for the Madison County sheriff, in a community where Hall has long run a public relations and political consulting firm. The firm continued to receive payments from the county for its services from July to December, despite his pledge in a federal ethics form that it would remain 'dormant' while he worked at DOT." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the kind of thing that can happen during any administration, but it is more likely to happen when the POTUS* himself is double-dipping. The fish rots from the head.
*****
How Many Scandals Can One President Generate in One Day? Trump Wins the Prize
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, told officials in the West Wing on Friday that he was willing to step down over his handling of allegations of spousal abuse against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned in disgrace this week over the accusations, according to two officials aware of the discussions. The officials emphasized that they did not consider a resignation imminent, and that Mr. Kelly -- a retired four-star Marine general who early in his tenure often used a threat of quitting as a way to temper President Trump's behavior -- had made no formal offer. In comments to reporters at the White House on Friday, Mr. Kelly said he had not offered to resign.... Two West Wing advisers and a third person painted a picture of a White House staff rived and confused, with fingers pointed in all directions and the president privately expressing dissatisfaction with Mr. Kelly. Some complained that Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, who learned last January that Mr. Porter was concerned about potentially damaging accusations from two ex-wives, had not been forthcoming enough about what he knew. Others faulted Hope Hicks, the communications director, who had been romantically involved with Mr. Porter, for soliciting statements of support for him when the accusations became public." ...
... Philip Rucker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Trump and Kelly have had a series of conversations in recent days that two White House officials described as 'very turbulent.' The president is upset with his top aide -- as well as with White House Communications Director Hope Hicks -- for not being more transparent with him about the allegations against Porter and for their botched public relations push to defend him, according to four officials. Kelly and his loyal deputies have been 'frantically trying to stop the bleeding,' according to one West Wing staffer.... In private conversations in recent days, Trump has sounded out advisers, both inside and outside the administration, about removing Kelly, who has been on the job for 6½ months. He has repeatedly floated the possibility of hiring House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) or Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney as chief of staff, according to people who have discussed the matter with him." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's hard to understand why Trump is upset with Kelly & Hicks when he himself makes statements like this:
... Trump is all sad about the fate of poor Rob Porter, could not care less about the women Porter physically attacked; in fact, implies they lied & Rob is the victim:
... Mrs. McCrabbie: According to our tattered Constitution, Trump is the president of all of us. In practice, he is the president of a small subset of self-entitled white men. The rest of us -- the overwhelming majority of us -- be damned. ...
... ** Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "As his White House has become engulfed in controversy over its handling of allegations of spousal abuse leveled against former Staff Secretary Rob Porter..., Donald Trump has privately questioned the credibility of the accusers. In fact, the president has gone as far as to express doubts to aides and friends about the assault allegations, and has asked repeatedly if there are any reasons Porter's two ex-wives could have to make up such claims, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the conversations. Trump's skepticism has been apparent in discussions with confidants and officials, who tell The Daily Beast that, at least in their conversations, he has not expressed sympathy for the ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, who have gone on the record to allege physical violence. '[It is] 100% not what's on his mind,' one source ... told The Daily Beast, referring to the well-being of alleged victims." ...
... Steve M.: "I don't expect a man as sexist, self-involved, and empathy-challenged as Trump to genuinely understand the pain of Porter's victims. But Trump can't even fake it. He doesn't have enough cultural awareness to know what he's expected to say in this situation. I know he probably regards himself as being so bulletproof that he doesn't have to say the expected thing, but he doesn't even seem to know what the expected thing is. It's as if he's completely oblivious to the world we live in, a world in which giving your wife a black eye is appalling.... Trump lives in his own mind, which seems never to come in contact with the rest of the world." ...
... Trump does have a soft spot for white men who mistreat women:
... Get out There & Lie for Me. -- Kelly. Philip Rucker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Friday morning instructed senior staff to communicate a version of events about the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter that contradicts the Trump administration's previous accounts, according to two senior officials. During a staff meeting, Kelly told those in attendance to say he took action to remove Porter within 40 minutes of learning abuse allegations from two ex-wives were credible, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because discussions in such meetings are supposed to be confidential. 'He told the staff he took immediate and direct action,' one of the officials said, adding that people after the meeting expressed disbelief with one another and felt his latest account was not true. That version of events contradicts both the public record and accounts from numerous other White House officials in recent days as the Porter drama unfolded." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... John Kelly, Character Witness. Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "In 2013, John F. Kelly, a general at the time, defended a junior Marine officer who was accused of poor leadership after going on patrol in Afghanistan with team members who urinated on the bodies of three dead Taliban militants. Two years later, in 2015, he stood up for a Marine colonel [Todd Shane Tomko] facing a litany of charges, including sexual harassment.... Mr. Tomko had never served under the general, and Mr. Kelly said he had little knowledge of why the colonel was removed from command...." Kelly was a character witness for Tomko twice, first at an administrative hearing, then at his court-martial. "Mr. Tomko eventually pleaded guilty to a series of lesser charges.... In November, Mr. Tomko ... was charged with seven child abuse felonies, according to his hometown newspaper, The Quincy Herald-Whig.... The charges included sexual battery and cruelty to children." ...
... Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker on John Kelly's distorted view of people. The grafs on Kelly's view of Rep. Frederica Wilson are a must-read. A normal president, if s/he didn't fire Kelly, would give him a blistering talking-to & march him out to apologize profusely to Wilson, to Myeshia Johnson, to Wilson's constituents, & to the larger public whom Kelly grossly misled. Trump never said a word. And Kelly refused to apologize. ...
... Margaret Hartmann: "Over the past seven months, John Kelly kept dropping strong hints that while he might be the 'adult in the room' at the White House, he wasn't all that different from the other characters on President Trump's team.... The lack of suitable replacements is working in Kelly's favor, but it's also easy to see Trump ditching him. He has unprecedented tolerance for wrongdoing by his staffers, until it starts to reflect poorly on him." A good summary of Kelly's predicament & how he brought it on himself. ...
... Ditto Eric Levitz: "Late Friday afternoon, Kelly denied that he had [offered to resign] (but then, over the past week, Kelly’s word has declined in value more than the Dow Jones).... Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Carroll is departing the West Wing. Carroll had recently assumed the role vacated by Kirstjen Nielsen, a Kelly confidante who left the West Wing to become Homeland Security secretary. On Thursday, Politico reported that Kelly had been 'disappointed' in Carroll's performance and 'held back on officially bestowing the title, according to two administration officials.' It's hard to overstate how antithetical Kelly's handling of the Porter situation is to his ostensible job. Of all the scandals the White House doesn't need, 'they covered up for a wife beater' is among the top. The president's most significant electoral liability is his low, and sinking, approval among women." (More on Carroll's departure below.) ...
... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM has a very useful ticktock of how the White House created the Porter scandal. Mrs. McC: I remain skeptical of the story that neither McGahn nor Kelly mentioned the Porter problem to Trump. They might have downplayed it, but most of us would warn the boss of a potential debacle, if only to protect our own backsides. ...
... Jane Coaston of Vox: The White House has "housed Porter, accused of spousal abuse, and Steve Bannon, also accused of spousal abuse (whom Trump nicknamed 'Bam Bam' because of it), and backed an Alabama Senate candidate [Roy Moore] accused of molesting or assaulting minors. For the White House, the politics are simple: Protect Trump. Because Trump himself is accused of assaulting dozens of women, they've had to lower the bar for male behavior so that even he can meet it. Any allegation of misconduct made against anyone close to Trump, then, must be dismissed as if it were being made against Trump himself.
** Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage -- allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him. The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen.... [Corbett] said that during her marriage to Sorensen, he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life. During part of their marriage, he was a top policy adviser to Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage.... White House officials said they learned of the accusations by Sorensen's wife Thursday night, before The Post contacted the White House for comment.... Administration officials said Sorensen's position as a speechwriter at the Council on Environmental Quality, a division of the Executive Office of the President, did not require a security clearance. His background check was ongoing, they said."
Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "For much of the past year, President Trump has declined to participate in a practice followed by the past seven of his predecessors: He rarely if ever reads the President's Daily Brief, a document that lays out the most pressing information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies from hot spots around the world. Trump has opted to rely on an oral briefing of select intelligence issues in the Oval Office rather than getting the full written document delivered to review separately each day, according to three people familiar with his briefings.... Several intelligence experts said that the president's aversion to diving deeper into written intelligence details -- the 'homework' that past presidents have done to familiarize themselves with foreign policy and national security -- makes both him and the country more vulnerable." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... OR, to put it a bit less diplomatically, Jonathan Chait: "When Donald Trump was elected president, it quickly became obvious that the traditional national-security briefing a person in his position receives daily would be well beyond his zone of proximal development. The briefings were slimmed down in length, chopped up into easy-to-digest bullet points, and decorated with lots of graphs and pictures. Alas, the Washington Post reports, even the kiddie version of the presidential brief has proven too challenging. Now, Trump gets his briefing verbally.... Perhaps not surprisingly, while the verbal method comports with Trump's preferred learning style, he does not show very strong listening skills." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Actually, POTUS* gets his PDB not from the intelligence community, whom he doesn't trust, but from Fox "News." And he doesn't always understand their fractured fairy tales, either, which explains why Trump got enraged about getting his "wires tapped," about a terrorist attack in Sweden that never happened, & about a "bombshell" report that President Obama was monitoring the Clinton e-mail investigation (presumably in order to rig the 2016 presidential election). Also why he has no idea Russia actually tried to rig the election. ...
... digby helpfully suggests: "Maybe they could hire Steve Doocey to deliver [the PDB] in the form of an interpretive dance on the Fox and Friends set via closed circuit TV --- in between 'stories' of Trump's 98% approval rating and his dominance on the world stage." ...
... Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice has a similar idea: "Maybe the intelligence analysts could get Ainsley Whatzerface (Not-Gretchen) to come READ the briefing to Trump? Maybe the opportunity to ogle her boobs up close would keep him on task? Just a thought."
Dana Milbank: "This is the autopsy of a lie. On the night of Nov. 18, Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was found dying on the side of an interstate in West Texas. There were immediate signs it had been an accident. Martinez's partner, Stephen Garland (who suffered a head injury and doesn't recall the incident), had radioed for help, saying he thought he ran into a culvert. But ... at a Cabinet meeting Nov. 20, Trump announced, with cameras rolling, that 'we lost a Border Patrol officer just yesterday, and another one was brutally beaten and badly, badly hurt.... We're going to have the wall.' He also issued a similar tweet. The FBI ... mobiliz[ed] 37 field offices, and this week it announced its findings. Although the investigation 'has not conclusively determined' what happened, 'none of the more than 650 interviews completed, locations searched, or evidence collected and analyzed have produced evidence that would support the existence of a scuffle, altercation, or attack on November 18, 2017.'... Compared with the original allegations, the findings got little attention.... Fox News, which had previously reported immigrants to be guilty of rape allegations that were later dropped, continued to report the border union’s claim of assault 'despite FBI finding no scuffle.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It could be another FBI conspiracy to cover up the facts. I assume that's President Obama's fault.
Russia, Russia, Russia
** Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump blocked on Friday the release of a classified Democratic memo rebutting Republican claims that top federal law enforcement officials had abused their surveillance powers in spying on a former Trump campaign aide, raising the specter of a potential showdown with Congress. Donald F. McGahn II, the president's lawyer, said in a letter to the House Intelligence Committee that the memorandum 'contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages.' He said the president would again consider the release of the memo to the public if the committee revised the memo to 'mitigate the risks.'" ...
... Karoun Demirjian, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump will not immediately agree to release a Democratic memo rebutting GOP claims that the FBI abused its surveillance authority as it probed Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but he has directed the Justice Department to work with lawmakers so some form of the document could be made public, the White House counsel said Friday night. In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee, White House counsel Donald McGahn wrote that the Justice Department had identified portions of the Democrats' memo that it believed 'would create especially significant concerns for the national security and law enforcement interests' if disclosed. McGahn included in his note a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray supporting that claim."
** Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country's top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision. Ms. Brand's profile had risen in part because she is next in the line of succession behind the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel's inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump, who has called the investigation a witch hunt, has considered firing Mr. Rosenstein. Such a move could have put her in charge of the special counsel and, by extension, left her in the cross hairs of the president. Ms. Brand, who became the associate attorney general in May, will become the global governance director at Walmart, the company's top legal position, according to people briefed on her move. She has held politically appointed positions in the past three presidential administrations.... Ms. Brand's assistant, Currie Gunn, has also left the department."
Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons in a deal that he insisted would also include compromising material on President Trump, according to American and European intelligence officials. The cash, delivered in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel room in September, was intended as the first installment of a $1 million payout, according to American officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by The New York Times. The theft of the secret hacking tools had been devastating to the N.S.A., and the agency was struggling to get a full inventory of what was missing.... [The Russian] claimed the information would link the president and his associates to Russia. Instead of providing the hacking tools, the Russian produced unverified and possibly fabricated information involving Mr. Trump and others, including bank records, emails and purported Russian intelligence data." ...
... James Risen, formerly of the New York Times & now writing for the Intercept, has an in-depth story on the same topic published earlier Friday afternoon: "The CIA's wariness [of this spy operation] shows that the reality within the U.S. intelligence community is a far cry from the right-wing conspiracy theory that a 'deep state' is working against Trump. Instead, the agency's behavior seems to indicate that U.S. intelligence officials are torn about whether to conduct any operations at all that might aid Mueller's ongoing investigation into whether Trump or his aides colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. Many intelligence officials are reluctant to get involved with anything related to the Trump-Russia case for fear of blowback from Trump himself, who might seek revenge by firing senior officials and wreaking havoc on their agencies. For example, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence and thus the man supposedly in charge of the entire U.S. intelligence community, has said he does not see it as his role to push for an aggressive Trump-Russia investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter."
Another Fox "News" Half-Story to Rile Trump. Alayna Treene of Axios: "Sen. Mark Warner [D-Va.], vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, texted last year with Adam Waldman, a D.C. lobbyist connected to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, in an attempt to gain a meeting with Christopher Steele, the author of the controversial Trump-Russia dossier, according to text messages obtained by Fox News. Yes, but: While the Fox News report put an emphasis on the 'secrecy' of Warner's messages, Warner issued a statement to Fox News with Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr indicating that the report doesn't paint a full picture: 'From the beginning of our investigation we have taken each step in a bipartisan way, and we intend to continue to do so. Leaks of incomplete information out of context by anyone, inside or outside our committee, are unacceptable.... Republican Sen. Marco Rubio confirmed that disclosure in a tweet yesterday, defending Warner's actions: 'Sen.Warner fully disclosed this to the committee four months ago. Has had zero impact on our work....'... A key paragraph [of the Fox report]: 'An aide to Burr knew there was a "back channel" Warner was using to try and get to Steele and was not concerned that Warner was freelancing on the matter.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... It's All Hillary's Fault! Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A lawyer for ... Donald Trump criticized Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee Friday, over leaked text messages that show Warner attempted to contact the author of a 2016 dossier alleging illicit ties between Trump and the Kremlin. The comments by Jay Sekulow, a personal attorney to Trump, marked the latest stage in an ongoing conservative assault on congressional and law enforcement officials investigating possible Kremlin influence over Trump's presidential campaign.... Many other conservatives, including Trump himself, have pounced on the Fox report about Warner -- although they have been unclear about what exactly they believe Warner might have done wrong, and two key Senate Republicans have defended their Democratic colleague.... 'Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch,' Trump tweeted Thursday night. 'Warner did not want a "paper trail" on a "private" meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary." ...
... Marco Is a Co-Conspirator! Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "So as the hosts [of Fox News' The Five] talked today, [guest host Rachel] Campos-Duffy said, '[Sen.] Marco Rubio [R-Fla.] in this is also very interesting. Marco Rubio, Senator [Richard] Burr [R-N.C.] – why are they covering for Mark Warner? What's going on? How deep is the deep state? Does it run through the Senate?"
Mark Osborne & Adam Kelsey of ABC News: mike pence disparaged the military parade North Korea held Thursday, but "heartily supports" Trump's proposed military parade. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jeremy Barr of the Hollywood Reporter: "Fox News has removed an online column by executive vp and executive editor John Moody following intense criticism online and from gay rights activists, who roundly attacked the piece. Objecting to an effort to attract more diverse U.S. Olympians for the Winter games, Moody had written on Wednesday: 'Unless it's changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been "Faster, Higher, Stronger." It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to "Darker, Gayer, Different." If your goal is to win medals, that won't work.'" Fox "News"'s excuse for publishing the column: Moody is such a big shot & long-timer at Fox, "the column was not put through the proper vetting process."
Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "White House deputy chief of staff Jim Carroll, who has served in that role for nearly three months, is expected to leave the White House to helm the Office of National Drug Control Policy, two sources with knowledge of the decision told CNN Friday. Carroll, a White House lawyer who quietly became one of chief of staff John Kelly's deputies late last year, is expected to be tapped to become the administration's drug czar as early as Friday, two sources with knowledge of the decision told CNN. The White House's first nominee to lead the office, Rep. Tom Marino, withdrew from consideration in October after a report detailed how legislation he sponsored helped make it easier for drug companies to distribute opioids across America. Carroll was named late Friday afternoon as the drug policy office's deputy director, where he will serve as the office's acting director while awaiting confirmation."
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "White House Counsel Donald McGahn and other Trump administration officials have been so vexed by Jared Kushner's months-long inability to obtain a permanent security clearance that they have hesitated to get involved in other cases with potential problems, several people familiar with the matter said. Dozens of White House employees, including Kushner, are still waiting for permanent clearances and have been operating for months on a temporary status that allows them to handle sensitive information while the FBI probes their backgrounds, U.S. officials have said. Two U.S. officials said they do not expect Kushner to receive a permanent security clearance in the near future.... [Kushner] has been allowed to see materials, including the President's Daily Brief, that are among the most sensitive in government. He has been afforded that privilege even though he has only an interim clearance and is a focus in the ongoing special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the election." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the entire Trump family, including Kushner, pose security risks. The Presidunce* himself is of course the biggest risk; he is known to have blabbed state secrets to the Russians, but he's likely done much worse. The kids all have good reason to use insider, secret information to enhance their fortunes.
Gail Collins selects some nominees for America's Worst Employee. Funny thing, they all work for Donald Trump.
No, this is not a maximum security prison out in some desert. It's an "upscale" Trump hotel for poor-ish people.... Steve Eder & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "As President Trump's family business prepares to open a hotel in the Mississippi Delta this fall, its local development partners have asked the State of Mississippi to subsidize the project with up to $6 million in tax breaks, according to documents obtained through an open records request. If approved, the benefits could offset nearly a third of the projected $20 million in costs for the hotel, which is owned by the local developers, Dinesh and Suresh Chawla.... The development in Cleveland, Miss., is expected to be the first in a new line of upscale hotels the Trump Organization is rolling out under the name Scion.... If the state approves the tax rebate for the Chawlas, it could indirectly, but personally, benefit the president, who owns the family business through a trust.... Even without a legal problem [under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution], the rebate request demonstrates how the president's sprawling business operation can intersect with state and local governments that rely on federal funding, creating a perception of potential conflicts of interest.... The executive director of the [Mississippi Development Authority, the granting agency], Glenn McCullough Jr., has shown support for President Trump and is an appointee of the state's Republican governor, Phil Bryant."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Hyonhee Shin & Soyoung Kim of Reuters: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in for talks in Pyongyang, South Korean officials said on Saturday, setting the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than 10 years.... The personal invitation from Kim was delivered by his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, during talks and a lunch Moon hosted at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.... 'This is the strongest action yet by North Korea to drive a wedge between the South and the United States,' said Kim Sung-han, a former South Korean vice foreign minister and now a professor at Kore University in Seoul."
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