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The Commentariat -- January 3, 2018
Late Morning Update:
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Two new senators -- Doug Jones, Democrat of Alabama, and Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota -- were sworn in on Wednesday, in a history-laden ceremony attended by three current and former vice presidents. Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, presided over the swearing in. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. escorted Mr. Jones down the central aisle of the Senate chamber, while former Vice President Walter Mondale escorted Ms. Smith." ...
David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon has described the Trump Tower meeting between the president's son and a group of Russians during the 2016 election campaign as 'treasonous' and 'unpatriotic', [and 'bad shit'], according to an explosive new book seen by the Guardian. Bannon, speaking to author Michael Wolff, warned that the investigation into alleged collusion with the Kremlin will focus on money laundering and predicted: 'They're going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.'"
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Using Middle-School Sexual Taunts, Trump Threatens Nuclear War. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has taunted North Korea's leader about the size of his nuclear arsenal after his UN envoy, Nikki Haley, dismissed the value of proposed high-level talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. The US president used Kim Jong-un's New Year's Day speech as the basis for his latest provocative tweet against the leader, whom he has previously referred to as 'little rocket man', saying the 'nuclear button in Washington is 'much bigger and more powerful' than Kim's -- 'and my button works!'... There was a clear gap between Haley's remarks and the willingness of the Seoul government expressed earlier on Tuesday to hold talks with the North 'at any time and place, and in any form'." ...
... Update. Taehoon Lee and Hilary Whiteman of CNN: "North Korea called South Korea on a hotline that's been dormant for almost two years Wednesday, a major diplomatic breakthrough following a year of escalating hostility that could pave the way for future talks. The country's leader Kim Jong Un gave the order to open the line at 3.00 p.m local time (1:30 a.m. ET) to begin discussions on sending a North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month." ...
... Don't say Hillary didn't warn us. Here she is, accepting the Democratic nomination:
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump redoubled his support on Tuesday for antigovernment protesters in Iran, but trained some of his fire on former President Barack Obama, whom Mr. Trump accused of fueling the corruption of Iran's leadership with the proceeds from the nuclear deal negotiated by his administration.... Unlike Mr. Obama, who was faulted for his reticent response to the protests that became known as the Green Movement, Mr. Trump has laid down an early marker on the side of the demonstrators, repeatedly condemning the Iranian government for its repression and warning the authorities that the United States, and the world, 'is watching.' Also on Tuesday, the State Department urged Iran not to restrict access to social media services..., which the demonstrators are using to spread word about antigovernment gatherings. But Mr. Trump's invocation of Mr. Obama and the nuclear deal could muddy his message, some analysts said, by shifting the focus from the Iranian government's economic failures -- which have given rise to this powerful if inchoate protest movement -- to the lingering debate in Washington over an agreement struck by the previous president."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump threatened Tuesday to cut off U.S. aid money to the Palestinian Authority amid a backlash over his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that has threatened to undermine potential peace talks in the Middle East. In a pair of tweets, Trump said the Palestinians show 'no appreciation or respect' to the United States for aid money given to Palestinian territories. President Mahmoud Abbas has vehemently objected to Trump's decision on Jerusalem and said his government would not accept any U.S. peace plan with Israel."
David Nakamura: "President Trump on Tuesday appeared to suggest that Huma Abedin, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, should face jail time, days after the State Department posted emails found on her estranged husband's computer that included confidential government information. In a tweet, Trump also urged the Justice Department to act in prosecuting Abedin and former FBI director James B. Comey.... 'Crooked Hillary Clinton's top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump).' The State Department, responding to a lawsuit from Judicial Watch, posted online copies of Abedin's emails from her nongovernment address that had been discovered on the laptop of her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, during an FBI investigation.... Trump appeared to be reacting to a report in the Daily Caller that found Abedin had forwarded State Department passwords to her personal Yahoo account before Yahoo faced high-level hacks that affected all account-holders." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Matt Shuham of TPM: "White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders assured reporters Tuesday that it was not the White House's official position that the Justice Department was part of a 'deep state' plotting to sabotage the Trump administration -- at least, not the 'entire' Justice Department. Sanders also said the President had called for longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin's arrest, despite the lack of any charges against her, because he 'wants to make clear that he doesn't feel that anyone should be above the law.'" ...
... Jonathan Chait: Trump "now says the Department of Justice should protect the president even if the president has committed what Trump himself considers to be serious crimes.... A president who can control law enforcement to the point of absolving himself and his allies of any crimes -- or directing prosecutions of his political enemies, as Trump has also repeatedly urged -- is authoritarian almost by definition.... Congress has ... used its oversight capacity to oversee the law enforcement officials who are investigating Trump's connections to Russia. The House is running a counter-investigation into alleged liberal bias at the FBI, a theme that has blossomed into an obsession in the conservative media. The entire premise is utterly comic, of course. The FBI is an agency that has long attracted disproportionately white, male, and politically conservative talent.... At his core, Trump is a man who expects the federal government to serve him personally exactly like the Trump Organization does. He either despises the very notion of popular sovereignty -- and its premise that the state serves the people and not the personal whims of their executive -- or simply fails to understand it."
Kevin Siers of the Charlotte Observer... Post Hoc, ergo Propter Hoc. Brianna Gurciullo & Lauren Gardner of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to claim that his policies in his first year in the White House resulted in the commercial aviation industry posting its safest year ever in 2017 -- though the U.S. had gone years without a U.S. commercial airline fatality before he took office. 'Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. 'Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!'... There has not been an accidental death on a domestic commercial airline since February 2009, when a Colgan Air flight crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y., killing 49 people on board and one person on the ground.... Congress hasn't directed any new aviation policy since mid-2016.... Former President Barack Obama appointee Michael Huerta has been at the helm of the FAA [-- which is responsible for air traffic safety --] since 2011." Thanks to Marvin S. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... this was a global statistic. One reason 2017 saw fewer fatalities among commercial flights is that 2016 saw a fatal accident in Colombia in November -- the last time there had been a fatal passenger jet airliner accident. Did Trump spend his first year quietly bolstering the safety of airlines in Colombia, Lithuania, Tanzania and Indonesia? The other complication is that the number of deaths on American commercial airlines didn't change in 2017 relative to 2016 -- because it's hard to go lower than 'zero.' The last time someone died in the crash of an American commercial flight was in February 2009 -- less than a month after Barack Obama first took office. Yet apparently we are supposed to believe that Trump's eventual election reached its grip back eight years in time to ensure that flights would be safer moving forward."
Trump Knocks NYT after Giving NYT Reporter an Interview. Louis Nelson of Politico: "'The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, "to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved,"' Trump wrote on Twitter in an attack against the newspaper to which he gave an exclusive interview last week. 'Get impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent "sources," and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you won't have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL,' he continued, finishing his two-post message with an apparent abbreviation of 'good luck.'"
Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "With just 18 days before President Trump completes his first year as president, he is now on track to exceed 2,000 false or misleading claims, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. As of Monday, the total stood at 1,950 claims in 347 days, or an average of 5.6 claims a day. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)... There are now more than 60 claims that he has repeated three or more times.... We currently have a tie for Trump's most repeated claims, both made 61 times. Both of these claims date from the start of Trump's presidency and to a large extent have faded as talking points. One of these claims was some variation of the statement that the Affordable Care Act is dying and 'essentially dead.'... Trump also repeatedly takes credit for events or business decisions that happened before he took the oath of office -- or had even been elected." (Also linked yesterday.)
James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "We are living through another Gilded Age, with growing inequality and a government that is once again tipping the scales in favor of the rich at the expense of the little guy. 'You all just got a lot richer,' Trump boasted to members of Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 22, according to CBS. He was talking about the tax bill that he had signed a few hours earlier, which will add more than $1 trillion to the national debt to line the pockets of the 1-percenters who can afford the $200,000 initiation fee to join Trump's club. In the week that followed, Trump kept giving his members new reasons to celebrate. While cable news fixated on how much he was golfing -- NBC reports that Monday was Trump's 91st day at a golf course as president -- his political appointees back in Washington worked overtime to deconstruct the administrative state, eviscerate several of Barack Obama's signature achievements and roll back significant environmental protections. Underscoring how politically unpopular these moves are, most were rolled out on the Fridays before Christmas and New Year's Eve to minimize media coverage and public notice." Hohmann lists ten of the administration's holiday atrocities. (Also linked yesterday.)
Russia, Russia, Russia
** Glenn Simpson & Peter Fritsch of Fusion GPS, in a New York Times op-ed: "The intelligence committees have known for months that credible allegations of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia were pouring in from independent sources during the campaign. Yet lawmakers in the thrall of the president continue to wage a cynical campaign to portray us as the unwitting victims of Kremlin disinformation.... Mr. Steele's sources in Russia (who were not paid) reported on an extensive -- and now confirmed -- effort by the Kremlin to help elect Mr. Trump president. [Christopher] Steele saw this as a crime in progress and decided he needed to report it to the F.B.I.... Congress should release transcripts of our firm's testimony, so that the American people can learn the truth about our work and most important, what happened to our democracy." ...
... Greg Sargent: "In an interview with me, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut -- the No. 2 Democrat on the House intel committee -- said that Democrats are seriously exploring the possibility of issuing a minority report that details (among other things) the degree to which Republicans tried to impede a full investigation, should that end up happening. In this scenario, the public would at least have a clear sense of just how far Republicans went to protect President Trump and his top officials from accountability.... Democrats want to ask Trump Jr. about a phone call he held with his father about his June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer, which he took in the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton supplied by the Russian government. Trump Jr. and his dad discussed this meeting just after news of it broke in July 2017.... It appears [committee chair Devin] Nunes may have killed that effort." ...
... New Reason Mueller Probe Is Bogus -- Black People Are So Unfa-a-air! Richard Johnson of Page Six of the New York Post: "The federal grand jury handing down indictments for special counsel Robert Mueller doesn't appear to include any supporters of ... Donald Trump, according to one witness who recently testified before the panel. 'The grand jury room looks like a Bernie Sanders rally,' my source said. 'Maybe they found these jurors in central casting, or at a Black Lives Matter rally in Berkeley [Calif.]' Of the 20 jurors, 11 are African-Americans and two were wearing 'peace T-shirts,' the witness said. 'There was only one white male in the room, and he was a prosecutor.' Mueller was not present.... My source said, 'That room is't a room where POTUS gets a fair shake.'" ...
... Melanie Schmitz of ThinkProgress: "Although the Post interview did not name the witness or reveal their political leanings, the witness was clearly sympathetic toward Trump and likely is connected to the White House or the Trump campaign. The comments come amid continued efforts by supporters of the Trump administration and Republicans to discredit the special counsel's investigation...." ...
... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: John Dean, President Nixon's counsel, "thinks that in today's media and political environment, Nixon might have finished his term. 'There's social media, there's the internet; the news cycles are faster. I think Watergate would have occurred at a much more accelerated speed than the 928 days it took to go from the arrest at the Watergate to the conviction of Haldeman and Ehrlichman and [John] Mitchell, et al.,' Dean said. 'There's more likelihood he might have survived if there'd been a Fox News.'... And, says the man who famously flipped and became the prosecution's star witness in the process that helped take down Richard Nixon, no one in the president's orbit should assume they're prepared for everything that cooperating witnesses George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn might be telling Robert Mueller, as their statements have suggested -- whether it's done out of confidence from their own review or just out of public bluster.... '[Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman] didn't know how much I knew. I knew much more than they thought I did,' Dean told me.... 'With Flynn and his proximity, he had even more proximity than I did.'" Mrs. McC: Thanks, Fox "News." (Also linked yesterday.)
Anita Kumar of McClatchy News: In a number of countries, "governments have donated public land, approved permits and eased environmental regulations for Trump-branded developments, creating a slew of potential conflicts as foreign leaders make investments that can be seen as gifts or attempts to gain access to the American president through his sprawling business empire. The White House dismisses these concerns, as does the Trump Organization's attorney. But when foreign governments that provide gifts to the Trump Organization, even those that benefit other businesses, it puts ... Donald Trump in possible violation of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause that states officials may not accept gifts from foreign governments and that no benefit should be derived by holding office." Kumar provides several examples of special favors to Trump & his properties.
Ari Berman of Mother Jones: "According to multiple reports, [Thomas] Brunell will be appointed deputy director of the US Census Bureau and de facto leader of the 2020 census, which is constitutionally mandated to count every person in America.... The deputy director of the Census Bureau has historically been a nonpartisan career civil servant. Brunell, a registered Republican, has no prior government experience and a deeply partisan background. He has testified or produced expert reports for Republicans in more than a dozen redistricting cases and has defended new voting restrictions passed by Republicans. His 2008 book ... argued that extreme partisan gerrymandering should be the norm because, he claimed, ultra-safe blue or red districts offered better representation for voters than competitive ones." --safari...
... safari: After passing a tax bill that punishes Blue-leaning states, Republicans are now positioning themselves to fix the census in their favor by appointing Movement Conservative True Believers to steer the historically bi-partisan effort to bake in Republican advantages for the next decade. Republicans would never allow such blatant dirty political tricks. They're planning on the Dems to just roll over and take it. Take the gloves off Dems!
Ellen Nakashima & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The National Security Agency is losing its top talent at a worrisome rate as highly skilled personnel, some disillusioned with the spy service's leadership and an unpopular reorganization, take higher-paying, more flexible jobs in the private sector. Since 2015, the NSA has lost several hundred hackers, engineers and data scientists, according to current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The potential impact on national security is significant, they said. Headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland, the NSA employs a civilian workforce of about 21,000 there and is the largest producer of intelligence among the nation's 17 spy agencies. The people who have left were responsible for collecting and analyzing the intelligence that goes into the president's daily briefing. Their work also included monitoring a broad array of subjects including the Islamic State, Russian and North Korean hackers, and analyzing the intentions of foreign governments, and they were responsible for protecting the classified networks that carry such sensitive information."
Washington Post Editors: "PERHAPS NO institution is more important to the functioning of American democracy than the census, the once-a-decade count of the U.S. population that determines congressional representation -- and where billions in federal dollars will be spent. Yet both the GOP-led Congress and the Trump administration have hobbled the 2020 Census effort, which is entering its crucial final stages. Lawmakers have underfunded the Census Bureau, the White House has mismanaged the agency, and now the Justice Department is pushing for a change that could skew the count in Republicans' favor.... A Justice Department official formally asked the Census Bureau to add a question to the 2020 Census. Adding any question at this stage would be dicey, given that the bureau often runs extensive field tests before fiddling with its forms.... Worse, the Justice Department requested that the bureau inquire about people's citizenship status. This threatens to sabotage the 2020 count. Asking about citizenship status would drive down response rates.... Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross should refuse to add a citizenship status question to the 2020 Census. If he does not, Congress should reject the change."
Mandy Mayfield of the Washington Examiner: "The Jewish attorney who Roy Moore's wife [Kayla] touted employing in an attempt to fight off claims of anti-Semitism is actually a longtime friend and supporter of Senator-elect Doug Jones, who defeated Moore last month. [Attorney] Richard Jaffe ... told the Washington Examiner he has been close personal friends with Doug Jones for more than 30 years and he both contributed to, and raised money for, his campaign. 'There could not be a more passionate supporter of Doug than me!' Jaffe said. The Birmingham-based lawyer walked alongside Jones as he took center stage to deliver his acceptance speech and plans to be in the Senate gallery on Wednesday as Jones is sworn in."
Andy Borowitz: "Starting 2018 with a political bombshell, House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that he will retire once he is satisfied that he has completely wrecked the country. 'I came to Washington with the goal of destroying life in the United States as we know it,' Ryan said in an emotional press conference. 'Once I look around me and see nothing but smoldering ruins, I'll call it a day.'"
Congressional Races
Post Hatch, ergo Romney Hack. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, announced on Tuesday he will retire at the end of the year, rebuffing the pleas of President Trump to seek an eighth term and paving the way for Mitt Romney, a critic of Mr. Trump's, to run for the seat. Mr. Hatch made his decision public on Tuesday afternoon via a video announcement.... Mr. Hatch, 83, was under heavy pressure from Mr. Trump to seek re-election and block Mr. Romney...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: See safari's comment below on Senator-in-Waiting Romney. Unfortunately, I think safari is correct in every particular. ...
... Steve M.: "I'm so old I remember when Steve Bannon thought his influence could be decisive in this race. It wasn't just Trump who was desperate for Hatch to hang on.... In early December, it was reported that Bannon, the self-styled scourge of the Establishment, was pondering an endorsement of Hatch.... That report came a couple of days before Bannon attacked Romney as a draft-dodger." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump, of course, dodged the draft with his fake bone-spur "ailment." Hatch, who came of military age during the Korean War, did not serve, either: Kristina Wong of the Hill (2015): "Hatch said he would have been drafted to fight in the Korean War. But as the sole remaining heir of the family name, he instead served on a two-year mission for his Mormon church." In 2015, Hatch had at least two sisters living. (But of course girls -- who may or may not "carry the family name" -- don't count. "Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "Steve Bannon bashed Mitt Romney Tuesday night for, as he put it, hiding behind his religion to avoid getting drafted into the Vietnam War.... 'Mitt, here's how it is, brother: The college deferments, we can debate that -- but you hid behind your religion. You went to France to be a missionary while guys were dying in rice paddies in Vietnam.' Romney, a Mormon, served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France for two and a half years in the late 1960s." Based on the CNN report Bannon, who did serve in the Navy after the Vietnam War ended, also may have received college deferments during the war, so naturally "we can debate" Romney's college deferments. One thing is certain: both Hatch & Romney "hid behind their religion," to borrow Bannon's claim, to avoid the draft. What a gang of hypocrites & phonies.
Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio: "Al Franken has officially resigned his Senate seat, effective as of noon central time Tuesday. A top Franken staffer said the senator submitted his resignation letter to Gov. Mark Dayton Tuesday morning." ...
... Unintentional Comedian Hopes to Replace Former Comedian. Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "Former U.S. representative Michele Bachmann recently announced on a televangelist's show that she is mulling a run for Al Franken's U.S. Senate seat. Franken officially resigned Tuesday over allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged in late 2017." ...
... Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch: Bachmann is asking God if she should run. Mrs. McC: Apparently, she's hoping to hear voices again, as when s/he told Bachmann to run for president so she could tell the world how awful ObamaCare was. Also it appears she's had quite a good facelift. I don't fault her for that.
Don't Let the Door Hit You... Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Tuesday that he will not seek reelection, ending his congressional career after nine terms.... He joins three other outgoing House chairmen who have chosen to retire rather than return to the House without a gavel: Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) of the Judiciary Committee, Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) of the Financial Services Committee and Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) of the Science, Space and Technology Committee."
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "... campuses across the country have been forced to make new rounds of cuts, this time brought on, in large part, by a loss of international students. Schools in the Midwest have been particularly hard hit -- many of them non-flagship public universities that had come to rely heavily on tuition from foreign students, who generally pay more than in-state students. The downturn follows a decade of explosive growth in foreign student enrollment, which now tops 1 million at United States colleges and educational training programs, and supplies $39 billion in revenue. International enrollment began to flatten in 2016, partly because of changing conditions abroad and the increasing lure of schools in Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries. And since President Trump was elected, college administrators say, his rhetoric and more restrictive views on immigration have made the United States even less attractive to international students. The Trump administration is more closely scrutinizing visa applications, indefinitely banning travel from some countries and making it harder for foreign students to remain in the United States after graduation."
Jake Tapper of CNN: "Former Milwaukee Sheriff David A. Clarke, Jr., a vocal surrogate for ... Donald Trump on the campaign trail, was temporarily blocked from tweeting after Twitter users' complaints alerted the company that three of his messages violated the terms of service, CNN has learned. Clarke was placed in read-only mode until he deleted three tweets that seemed to call for violence against members of the media. In one of them, which has since been deleted, Clarke told his followers, 'When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up FAKE NEWS to smear me, the ANTIDOTE is to go right at them. Punch them in the nose & MAKE THEM TASTE THEIR OWN BLOOD. Nothing gets a bully like LYING LIB MEDIA"S attention better than to give them a taste of their own blood #neverbackdown.'" Mrs. McC: Good way for Twitter to contribute to U.S. safety: block Trump.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "China is suspending the production of more than 500 car models that do not meet its fuel economy standards, several automakers confirmed Tuesday, the latest move by Beijing to reduce emissions in the world's largest auto market and take the lead in battling climate change.... The Chinese government has already become the world's biggest supporter of electric cars, offering automakers numerous incentives for producing so-called new energy vehicles.... By contrast, the United States is considering relaxing tailpipe emissions standards and very nearly killed off a tax credit for electric vehicles during its latest tax overhaul." Emphasis added.
Michael Georgy of Reuters: "Iranian protesters attacked police stations late into the night on Monday, news agency and social media reports said, as security forces struggled to contain the boldest challenge to the clerical leadership since unrest in 2009." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
Washington Post: "Unforgiving cold has punished the eastern third of the United States for the past 10 days. But the most severe winter weather yet will assault the area late this week. First, a monster storm will hammer coastal locations from Georgia to Maine with ice and snow. By Thursday, the exploding storm will, in many ways, resemble a winter hurricane, battering easternmost New England with potentially damaging winds in addition to blinding snow."
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