The Commentariat -- October 1, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Trumpty-Dumpty Dumps on Diplomacy. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump seemed to undercut his own secretary of state on Sunday as he belittled the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged crisis with North Korea even as the administration was seeking to open lines of communication. In the latest Twitter messages from his New Jersey golf club, where he was spending the weekend, Mr. Trump diminished Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson's outreach to Pyongyang and its autocratic leader, Kim Jong-un. On a visit to China, Mr. Tillerson acknowledged on Saturday that he was trying to open talks. 'I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,' Mr. Trump wrote, using the derogatory nickname he has assigned to Mr. Kim. 'Save your energy Rex,' he added, 'we'll do what has to be done!'" Thanks to MAG for the lead. Mrs. McC: See my comment on Tillerson's efforts below & MAG's in today Comments thread.

We've spent the entire weekend, as we have last weekend, working on Puerto Rico, making sure we're out saving lives, sustaining lives. And making sure everyone in Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is taken care of. The United States has gone through extraordinary efforts to delivery goods to the islands. -- Gary Cohn, White House economic advisor, on Fox "News" Sunday

Great! Apparently composing nasty tweets running down media coverage & local Puerto Rican efforts is "work." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...

... David Jackson of USA Today: "President Trump defended his administration's response to the humanitarian disaster in Puerto Rico, dismissing any critics of his relief efforts as 'fake news' and 'politically motivated ingrates.' 'We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico,' Trump said. 'Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates ... people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military.'... In a third tweet on Sunday morning, Trump had kind words for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, thanking him and 'all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job!'" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: John Kelly needs to hire a cold-hearted no-texting nanny to babysit Terribly Trumpy on the weekends. ...

... Mike Allen of Axios: "In contrast to dire reports from the island, White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert sent West Wing colleagues an unusually upbeat update -- leaked to Axios -- that points to a rapid recovery no one on the ground is witnessing. Bossert, back from a trip to Puerto Rico earlier in the week, says it's 'still an urgent situation,' but that the administration has "a strong ground game in place on the island with military leadership[.]... The White House's sunny plan comes as TV reports 'increasingly echo those after Katrina a dozen years ago in sounding the alarm for a desperate population frustrated by the pace of relief efforts,' AP's David Bauder points out[.]" ...

The President is personally retweeting himself about PR instead of personally overseeing PR relief. He struggles with basics of being POTUS.... Part of being President is driving federal agencies to work together and get the job done. Another part is moral leadership. - Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), in tweets

... Matt Yglesias of Vox: "For the first nine months of his administration, observers have had occasion to wonder ... how exactly Donald Trump would manage to handle a real crisis imposed by external events rather than his own impulsiveness. The answer is now apparent in the blackened streets of San Juan and the villages of interior Puerto Rico that more than a week after Hurricane Maria struck remain without access to food or clean water. To an extent, the United States of America held up surprisingly well from Inauguration Day until September 20th or so. The ongoing degradation of American civic institutions, at a minimum, did not have an immediate negative impact on the typical person's life. But the world is beginning to draw a straight line from the devastation in Puerto Rico straight to the White House. Trump's instinct so far is to turn the island's devastation into another front in culture war politics, a strategy that could help his own political career survive."

Peter Baker & Robert Pear of the New York Times discuss the possible Trump nominees to replace Tom Jet-Setter Price as head of Health & Human Services. Also, see commentary in today's thread on making Mitt Rmoney HHS secretary. Funny -- and realistic.

William Booth of the Washington Post: "Just minutes after the first boisterous voters entered the polling station at an elementary school here on Sunday, dozens of National Police officers in riot gear smashed through the front window and began searching for the ballot boxes.... As the police forced their way through shouting crowds into the polling station, the organizers spirited away the ballots and hid them in the classrooms amid coloring books and crayons. An hour later, after police had driven away in their big black vans, under a hail of insults, the ballot boxes reemerged and the voting recommenced. The pattern was repeated again and again across hundreds of polling stations Sunday in the Catalan region of northeast Spain, where a secessionist movement is pushing ahead with a disputed referendum on independence that the central government in Madrid, backed by the courts, has called illegitimate and illegal." ...

     ... The Guardian is running live updates.

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks a little like a preview of U.S. election day in "urban areas" November 3, 2020.

*****

Matthew Nussbaum & Marc Caputo of Politico: "... Donald Trump attacked the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday, writing on Twitter that she and other leaders on the storm-ravaged territory 'want everything to be done for them.' Trump's early morning broadsides came after San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz slammed the administration's response repeatedly on Friday amid growing media coverage of the devastation.... Her plea and others like it have led critics to liken Trump's response to that of George W. Bush in New Orleans after Katrina struck that city a decade ago. In his latest fight with an opponent few other politicians would engage -- waged from his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club -- Trump dismissed Cruz as a partisan. 'The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.' Trump added that the Puerto Ricans 'want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: See commentary in yesterday's thread. I'm so pissed off, I'm in tears. Here's the presidunce, sitting around on his fat ass sending Twitterbombs as he gets ready to go golfing at his fucking club. Meanwhile, the mayor of San Juan tries frantically to save lives. And he's dissing her? Maybe she's supposed to follow Trump's lead & get out her clubs? Oh, wait, the golf courses in Puerto Rico are disaster zones. And as she herself said, "General Buchanan, a three star general has said as one of the first comments he's made about the Puerto Rico situation that he doesn't have enough troops and equipment of what he needs to get the situation under control." ...

... Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday defended her request for federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria, hours after ... Donald Trump lashed out at her for asking for assistance and accused her of unnecessarily criticizing him. During an appearance on MSNBC, Carmen Yulin Cruz reiterated that Puerto Rico needed more help and said her previous critiques of the administration's response had not been intended as a personal slight. 'Actually, I was asking for help,' she said. 'I wasn't saying anything nasty about the president.'" ...

... ** Arelis R. Hernández & others of the Washington Post profile San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz. after one of the worst "leaders" of the world criticized her for "poor leadership ability." ...

... Kristine Phillips of the Washington Post: "Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), one of four members of Congress born in Puerto Rico, said the Trump administration has done a 'disgraceful job' of helping the 3.4 million Americans on the island devastated by Hurricane Maria. 'I think it isn't a good job; it's a disgraceful job. The United States of America is the most powerful, wealthiest country in the world, and this is not a response that's demonstrative of our power and our wealth,' Gutiérrez said, his voice breaking during an interview Friday night with CNN's Jim Scuitto.... Local officials on the island, including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, decried the failure to deliver basic necessities to communities across Puerto Rico and said the federal response had 'collapsed.' In response, Trumpfaulted the island's 'broken infrastructure & massive debt,' blamed the news media, and personally attacked Cruz. The president also praised his administration's relief efforts, saying in a tweet Saturday that the thousands of federal workers on the island are doing a 'fantastic job.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't doubt that the vast majority of federal workers in Puerto Rico are doing "a fantastic job." The problem seems to come from the top, where the leaders charged with coordinating efforts are sitting in an air-conditioned room & accomplishing too little. I do think the Katrina response was worse. In fact, the other day, MSNBC introduced an "expert" on disaster relief to discuss the situation in Puerto Rico. The "expert" turned out to be Michael Brown, a/k/a Helluva Job Brownie. When the host asked Brownie what the federal government could have done to prepare for the disaster before Maria hit Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands, Brownie opined, "Well, there's not much they could have done." I turned off the teevee. ...

... Justin Baragona of Mediaite: "During an appearance on CNN this morning, the general who was put in charge of the Hurricane Katrina response was asked to give his reaction to Trump's tweets.... After noting that the citizens of Puerto Rico were indeed doing everything they could to help themselves, Lt. Gen. Russel Honore (Ret.) was then pressed by host Christi Paul to respond to Trump taking aim at the mayor. 'I have no reaction,' Honore said from the streets of San Juan. 'The mayor is living on a cot. I hope the president has a good day at golf.'" ...

... James Fallows of The Atlantic: "[H]is Twitter outburst [about San Juan's mayor] ... is a significant step downward for him, and perhaps the first thing he has done in office that, in its coarseness, has actually surprised me.... Temperamentally, intellectually, and in terms of civic and moral imagination, he is not fit for the duties he is now supposed to bear.... During the campaign, I argued that the greatest responsibility for Trump's rise lay not with the man himself -- he is who he is, he can't help it -- but with those Republicans who know what he is, and continue to look the other way. Their responsibility for the carnage of this era increases by the day, and has grown by quite a lot this weekend." --safari ...

... Joy-Ann Reid in the Daily Beast: "Trump lacks impulse control on a good day, but can hardly contain himself when dressed down by a woman.... Fresh off his war with black professional athletes, in which he tried to impugn their patriotism and wrapped his repugnant self in the flag (five Vietnam deferments not withstanding) he tried to twist the San Juan mayor's urgent pleas into an attack on the military and first responders. He then threw in a typically Trumpian attack on the media, implying that CNN and NBC too are attacking first responders and soldiers by criticizing Donald Trump.... Not surprisingly, Trump's attacks on Yulin Cruz echoed those of his most vile supporters from the white nationalist fever swamps, including Pizzagate's Mike Cernovich, who the night before took to Twitter to denounce Yulín Cruz as 'garbage' and a 'murderer.' Trump's attacks, dredging up trite racial stereotypes about supposed government dependency, echoed theirs, because at the end of the day, Donald Trump is them. Clearly, he so readily channels their rage and bigotry because he identifies with it." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "In three tweets, Trump has moved a simmering, somewhat-negative story for his administration to the front burner. He decided to attack a sympathetic character and turn this into a partisan political debate. Cruz is pleading for help by saying, 'We are dying.' Trump essentially told her to stop complaining. He's also arguing that somebody who is in charge of saving lives is somehow more interested in politics. That's a stunning charge. And it all shows just how much Trump still doesn't quite grasp what a crisis Puerto Rico is -- both for its people and for him.... This humanitarian crisis for Puerto Rico may not wind up being a political crisis for Trump, but Trump should be doing everything in his power to prevent that. Instead, he's making excuses and paying more attention to how unfairly he's being treated." ...

... Democracy Now! explains the vulture capitalism descending on Puerto Rico, and how American companies have been price-gouging the island for private profits. --safari ...

Fake News Fails Dear Leader Again. Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump on Saturday accused the so-called 'fake news' media of failing to recognize that Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who was vanquished in a runoff election against GOP candidate Roy Moore this week, gained in the polls earlier this year after Trump endorsed him. 'In analyzing the Alabama Primary race, FAKE NEWS always fails to mention that the candidate I endorsed went up MANY points after endorsement!' Trump tweeted.... Despite Trump's claim, a poll released Monday -- a day before the runoff election -- showed that the president's endorsement had little effect on the race between Strange and Moore."

Rationalizing Trump. Nate Silver: "Whenever President Trump lashes out against someone or something in a way that defies traditional expectations for presidential behavior -- for instance, his decision to criticize the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday morning after her town was just devastated by Hurricane Maria -- it yields a debate about what was behind it. After Trump's series of attacks on the NFL and its players earlier this month, for example, there were two major theories about what motivated his conduct.... But the theories are in conflict because they'e about the intent and motivation for Trump's behavior and not necessarily its effects.... Many ... times, journalists come up with overly convoluted explanations for Trump's behavior ('this seemingly self-destructive emotional outburst is actually a clever political strategy!') when simpler ones will suffice ('this is a self-destructive emotional outburst.'). In doing so, they violate both Ockham's razor and Hanlon's razor -- the latter of which can be stated as 'never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.' One can understand why journalists who rely on having close access to Trump avoid explanations that portray Trump as being irrational, incompetent or bigoted. But sometimes they're the only explanations that make sense."

David Sanger of the New York Times: "The Trump administration acknowledged on Saturday for the first time that it was in direct communication with the government of North Korea over its missile and nuclear tests, seeking a possible way forward beyond the escalating threats of a military confrontation from both sides.... 'We can talk to them,' Mr. Tillerson said at the end of a long day of engaging China's leadership. 'We do talk to them.' When asked whether those channels ran through China, he shook his head. 'Directly,' he said. 'We have our own channels.'... So far, the North Koreans have shown no interest in a serious negotiation." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I know many of you don't like Rex, & he certainly would not be my choice for Secretary of State, but this is not the first time I've thought Rexxon was one guy standing between some stupid or catastrophic war & (relative) peace. Early on, he said he didn't want the job, but his wife insisted he had a duty to take it. At the time, I kinda thought she meant, "You've got to save us from Trump!" Maybe I was right. ...

... Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "Early in his administration, President Trump signed a directive outlining a strategy of pressure against North Korea that involved actions across a broad spectrum of government agencies and led to the use of military cyber-capabilities, according to U.S. officials. As part of the campaign, U.S. Cyber Command targeted hackers in North Korea's military spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, by barraging their computer servers with traffic that choked off Internet access. Trump's directive, a senior administration official said, also included instructions to diplomats and officials to bring up North Korea in virtually every conversation with foreign interlocutors and urge them to sever all ties with Pyongyang. Those conversations have had significant success, particularly in recent weeks as North Korea has tested another nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles, officials said."

Swamp Creatures. Andy Kroll of Mother Jones: "The Trump administration on Friday rolled back key regulations on one of the Wall Street firms responsible for the 2008 economic collapse -- a move that could result in a huge windfall for a billionaire former White House adviser. In a 6-to-3 vote, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which is chaired by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, declared that insurance giant American International Group (AIG) should no longer be considered a 'too-big-to-fail' institution that could trigger a wider economic catastrophe if it went under...That's a big win for Carl Icahn, the irascible billionaire, who is reportedly AIG's fourth largest shareholder and one of America's wealthiest investors.... Icahn lobbied Trump to choose Mnuchin to run the Treasury Department, which Trump ultimately did. Now it is Mnuchin who is returning the favor for Icahn." --safari

John Bowden of the Hill: "The former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under President Obama blamed President Trump on Friday for rising health-care premiums around the country. Andy Slavitt, who was acting CMS administrator from 2015 to 2017, accused Trump on Twitter of 'purposely raising' health-care premiums as part of his plan to let ObamaCare 'implode.'... Slavitt was reacting to news reports that Oklahoma's health commissioner was blaming the Trump administration for missing a key deadline to approve a waiver for the state, which Oklahoma officials say will mean& higher premiums for thousands of residents.... 'The lack of timely waiver approval will prevent thousands of Oklahomans from realizing the benefits of significantly lower insurance premiums in 2018..., Oklahoma's health commissioner Terry Cline wrote to administration officials earlier Friday...., saying approving the waiver would have helped more than 130,000 Oklahomans and reduced premiums by 30 percent." ...

... Noor Al-Sibai of RawStory: "Less than a day before ... Tom Price resigned from his cabinet position amid a week of controversy about his expensive travel habits, his department quietly moved to delay an Obamacare rule that would punish drug companies for knowingly price-gouging.... [T]he rule was supposed to go into effect on Sunday, but on Thursday, the HHS department logged a delay into the federal register -- the fourth time they've done so this year." --safari ...

... Faint Praise. Mark Stern of Slate: "The inglorious resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Friday leaves vacant an extremely powerful position in ... Donald Trump's cabinet. The early frontrunner for the job is Seema Verma, a former healthcare consultant who currently heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Despite this administration's crusade against Medicaid, Verma actually worked to expand Medicaid in Indiana while she worked as former governor Mike Pence's protégé in that state. Verma is no friend of the Affordable Care Act, and she has long wished to impose extra burdens on Americans who receive subsidized health care. She is, however, almost certainly the most qualified and least dogmatic official who could possibly lead HHS under the Trump administration. In fact, Verma replacing Price would be a significant improvement.... Make no mistake -- Verma wants Congress to kill the ACA. But until it does, she does not seem opposed to letting the law run smoothly." ...

... Washington Post Editors: "Bipartisan negotiators in the Senate are talking once again about a compromise that would stabilize health insurance markets while giving states some additional flexibility. They could have a bill ready as soon as this week. But it will go nowhere if Republican leaders refuse to consider it. Mr. Price would have been an obstacle. Mr. Trump suddenly has a new opportunity for a win on health care. He should take full advantage."

Joshua Eaton & Alejandro Alvarez of ThinkProgress: "Thousands of people rallied for racial justice in the nation's capital on Saturday as part of the March for Racial Justice and the March for Black Women. The two rallies, which were organized separately but in close coordination, took place in different nearby parks before meeting up to march past the Department of Justice's headquarters and onto the National Mall, where marchers heard from feminist activist Gloria Steinem, Muslim rights activist Linda Sarsour, and Philando Castile's mother Valerie Castile."

Gorsuch's Bad Calls. Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: "Earlier this week, [Supreme Court Justice Neil] Gorsuch gave a speech before the Fund for American Studies, a conservative educational and advocacy group.... What made Gorsuch's appearance especially notable was that it took place at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which is the focus of several pending cases that may well wind up before the Supreme Court. These lawsuits allege that the Trump family's ownership of the hotel.... Gorsuch's Trump Hotel speech followed one he gave at the University of Louisville, where he was introduced by Mitch McConnell ... who was, more than anyone, responsible for blocking Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the seat that Gorsuch now occupies.... Gorsuch's tiptoeing up to the line of advocacy for and gratitude to conservatives might earn some advice from the Chief Justice to mind the unwritten rules. Gorsuch's speeches might appear less distasteful to his colleagues if he had made an otherwise more graceful début on the Court. As Linda Greenhouse observed in the Times the end of Gorsuch's first term, he managed to violate the Court's traditions as soon as he arrived."

Beyond the Beltway

Ken Ritter of the AP: "... O.J. Simpson became a free man Sunday after serving nine years for a botched hotel room heist in Las Vegas that brought the conviction and prison time he avoided in the killings of his ex-wife and her friend after his 1995 acquittal in the 'trial of the century' in Los Angeles."

News Lede

New York Times: "S.I. Newhouse Jr., who as the owner of The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest and other magazines wielded vast influence over American culture, fashion and social taste, died on Sunday at his home in New York. He was 89."

The Commentariat -- September 30, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Nussbaum & Marc Caputo of Politico: "... Donald Trump attacked the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday, writing on Twitter that she and other leaders on the storm-ravaged territory 'want everything to be done for them.' Trump's early morning broadsides came after San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz slammed the administration's response repeatedly on Friday amid growing media coverage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. Her plea and others like it have led critics to liken Trump's response to that of George W. Bush in New Orleans after Katrina struck that city a decade ago. In his latest fight with an opponent few other politicians would engage -- waged from his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club -- Trump dismissed Cruz as a partisan. 'The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.' Trump added that the Puerto Ricans 'want everything to be one for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Please see commentary below. I'm so pissed off, I'm in tears. Here's the presidunce, sitting around on his fat ass sending Twitterbombs as he gets ready to go golfing at his fucking club. Meanwhile, the mayor of San Juan tries frantically to save lives. And he's dissing her? Maybe she's supposed to follow Trump's lead & get out her clubs? Oh, wait, the golf courses in Puerto Rico are disaster zones. And as she herself said, "General Buchanan, a three star general has said as one of the first comments he's made about the Puerto Rico situation that he doesn't have enough troops and he doesn't have enough equipment of what he needs to get the situation under control."

*****

An Excellent Friday Afternoon News Dump. Dan Diamond, et al., of Politico: "HHS Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday in the face of multiple federal inquiries and growing criticism of his use of private and government planes for travel, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 million since May. The White House said the former seven-term Georgia congressman, 63, offered his resignation earlier in the day and that ... Donald Trump had accepted it. Price becomes the first Trump administration Cabinet secretary to step down.... Senate Democrats quickly served notice they were preparing for a potential confirmation fight over Price's successor, saying the next HHS secretary must not undermine Obamacare. Under Price, the department cut the law's enrollment period in half and massively slashed advertising and outreach for the upcoming enrollment period starting in November." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Congratulations to Politico reporters for getting rid of Price. ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Tom Price, the health and human services secretary, resigned under pressure on Friday after racking up at least $400,000 in travel bills for chartered flights and undermining President Trump's promise to drain the swamp of a corrupt and entitled capital. Already in trouble with Mr. Trump for months of unsuccessful efforts to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care program, Mr. Price failed to defuse the president's anger over his high-priced travel by agreeing to pay a portion of the cost...." ...

... Adam Kelsey of ABC News: "A senior-level source with direct knowledge of the situation told ABC News that Trump asked Price for his resignation." ...

... Andrew Restuccia, et al., of Politico: "Tom Price’s downfall was his penchant for pricey jets. But his demise was months in the making, as the president continued to lose trust in the Health and Human Services secretary who rarely attended Oval Office strategy meetings, had little sway or influence on Capitol Hill, and was associated in the president's mind with one of the administration's biggest defeats -- the failure to repeal Obamacare. Of particular notoriety: A picture of Price in March drinking at Bullfeathers, a famed Capitol Hill bar, as his colleagues tried to wrangle votes for the president's signature initiative.... Just minutes before Price's resignation became official, the secretary sent an email to HHS officials outlining next steps on the 'Reimagine HHS initiative,' a broad reorganizational effort of the department that was expected to result in staff reductions.... 'Thank you for all your dedication and support, and we look forward to being in touch soon, Price wrote.... At the White House, Trump's chief of staff John Kelly was calling Hill leadership to tell them Price was out." ...

... Scott Lemieux in LG&M: "Surprisingly for someone with his extensive history of corruption, Tom Price has turned out to be highly corrupt!... The reimbursement of a small fraction of his exorbitant and entirely unnecessary expenses is a nice touch. The next time I attend a conference I intend to charter a private jet and stay for a week in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton, and then reimburse the university for an ultra-economy ticket on Spirit Air and a room at the Hotel 6. I see no ethical problems with this plan.... In conclusion, someone once asked Hillary Clinton's State Department for diplomatic passports and didn't get them, making her the most corrupt candidate in American history." ...

... "Another Fantastic Week." Katie Rogers & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "As he traversed the world on taxpayer-funded flights, Tom Price made it a habit to write home, repeatedly sending celebratory letters back to staff members at the Department of Health and Human Services detailing his time on the road, and complimenting agency employees who 'ensure the good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.'" ...

... European Vacation, All Expenses Paid. Jack Gillum, et al., of the Washington Post: "Nearly three days into a trip to Europe this past July, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin had attended a Wimbledon championship tennis match, toured Westminster Abbey and taken a cruise on the Thames.... Shulkin was in Europe for meetings with Danish and British officials about veterans' health issues.... He and his wife spent about half their time sightseeing, including shopping and touring historic sites, according to an itinerary obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by a U.S. official familiar with their activities. The federal government paid for the flights for Shulkin and his wife, Merle Bari, and provided a per-diem reimbursement for their meals and other expenses, VA said Friday. An agency spokesman did not respond to questions about why Bari qualified for the reimbursements and taxpayer-funded airfare, other than to say she was traveling on 'approved invitational orders' and had 'temporary duty' travel expenses.... Shulkin's immediate predecessor, Robert McDonald, took no foreign work trips.... Shulkin's six-person traveling party included his acting undersecretary of health and her husband, Shulkin's chief of staff and another aide, the itinerary says. They were accompanied by a security detail of as many as six people. Shulkin's trip came less than two weeks after he signed a memo instructing top VA staffers to determine whether 'employee travel in their organization is essential.'... Shulkin and his entourage visited four palaces -- Copenhagen's Christiansborg and Amalienborg and London's Buckingham and Kensington -- and included times for walks, self-guided tours and photo stops. On one calendar item, a canal tour of Copenhagen, the itinerary specifically noted the group 'Will See Little Mermaid Statue.'..." ...

     ... Dear Dave & Merle, Welcome home. Could you please share your travel videos & photos with Medlar & me? I'm sure they're excellent. Merle, we hope your temporary duties were not too arduous. Best, Bea

Tax-"Reforming" Our Way to a Permanent Oligarchy. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Republican tax plan promoted by President Trump this week as a middle-class tax cut would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and businesses, according to an analysis released on Friday by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The report, which is the first detailed assessment of the plan's financial impact, found that the average tax bill for all income groups would decline by $1,600, or 2.1 percent, in 2018. The biggest decrease would go to those with incomes above $730,000, who would see their after-tax incomes rise by an average of 8.5 percent, or about $129,000. Those in the middle quintile -- with incomes averaging $66,960 -- would see their after-tax income rise by 1.2 percent or about $660.... The plan would provide enormous benefits to corporate America, with a $2.6 billion cut in business taxes. Individual income tax revenue would actually increase by $470 billion, largely as a result of changes in personal deductions and exemptions as well as an increase in the bottom tax rate to 12 percent from 10 percent.... The loss of deductions would hit the upper middle class the most, and more than a third of the taxpayers who earn $150,000 to $300,000 could see their taxes go up next year." ...

... Tax Policy Center: "The Tax Policy Center has produced preliminary estimates of the potential impact proposals included in the 'Unified Framework for Fixing our Broken Tax Code.' We find they would reduce federal revenue by $2.4 trillion over ten years and $3.2 trillion over the second decade (not including any dynamic feedback). In 2018, all income groups would see their average taxes fall, but some taxpayers in each group would face tax increases. Those with the very highest incomes would receive the biggest tax cuts. The tax cuts are smaller as a percentage of income in 2027, and taxpayers in the 80th to 95th income percentiles would, on average, experience a tax increase." ...

The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan. -- Gary Cohn, Sept. 28

We think there will be $2 trillion of growth. So we think this tax plan will cut down the deficits by a trillion dollars. -- Steve Mnuchin, Sept. 28

Though the details of the tax plan are sparse, both Cohn and Mnuchin made statements that are simply false. Of course the wealthy will do well under the tax cut, even if certain deductions are eliminated, and it's silly to pretend otherwise. And it's a fantasy to claim that the tax cut will pay for itself -- and even reduce the deficit -- especially in an economy that already has low unemployment and a booming stock market. -- Glenn Kessler, Sept. 29

F U CBO. Addy Baird of ThinkProgress: "A provision tucked into the Senate budget resolution released Friday could be a blow to transparency in the legislature. The resolution calls for repealing a requirement that a vote on legislation cannot be held unless the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored the legislation and made their report public for at least 28 hours.... That rule applies to reported legislation coming from a committee, an attempt to make the effects of the bill available to the public before a vote. But the 80th page of Friday's budget resolution for fiscal year 2018 calls for repealing that point of order." --safari ...

... Gail Collins: "The selflessness in this administration never ends." She might have guessed Collins is a bit insincere here, but clearly she has a special place in her heart for Gary Cohn. Who thinks you & I can buy a nice family car for the $1,000 windfall they'll get with Trump's Big Tax Break. Mrs. McC: Two problems: you haven't been able to buy a nice family car for $1,000 for about 100 years, & your tax break is likely to be somewhere between $700 & less than nothing unless you're fairly wealthy.

The Lost Weekend. Abby Phillip, et al., of the Washington Post: "... for four days ... as storm-ravaged Puerto Rico struggled for food and water amid the darkness of power outages -- Trump and his top aides effectively went dark themselves. Trump jetted to New Jersey that Thursday night to spend a long weekend at his private golf club there, save for a quick trip to Alabama for a political rally. Neither Trump nor any of his senior White House aides said a word publicly about the unfolding crisis.... He spent much of his time over those four days fixated on his escalating public feuds with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with fellow Republicans in Congress and with the National Football League over protests during the national anthem.... Trump's public schedule Monday was devoid of any meetings related to the storm, but he was becoming frustrated by the coverage he was seeing on TV, [a] senior official said.... Trump's rosy assessment of the federal response has ... contrasted sharply with the comments of federal officials on the ground." ...

... Ellen Mitchell of the Hill: "The Defense Department has not sent enough troops and vehicles to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico but will soon send more, according to the three-star general newly in charge of coordinating the military response. Army Lt. Gen. Jeff Buchanan said Friday morning that the Pentagon has 10,000 people helping with the response after Hurricanes Irma and Maria ripped through Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this month. 'We're certainly bringing in more [troops],' Buchanan said on CNN's 'New Day.' 'For example, on the military side, we're bringing in both Air Force, Navy, and Army medical capabilities in addition to aircraft, more helicopters.... [But] it's not enough, and we're bringing more in.'" ...

... Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... nine days after Hurricane Maria..., less than half of the 8,000 members of the Puerto Rico National Guard are on duty. Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the top U.S. officer overseeing military operations on the island, attributed this to a combination of factors. Many personnel are dealing with the devastation in their own lives, he said, and some are providing help in their full-time jobs as police, firefighters or other first responders rather than through the Guard."...

...Amanda Holpuch & Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "The mayor of San Juan lashed out at Trump administration on Friday, decrying its relief effort in the wake of hurricanes Jose and Maria and saying if it doesn't solve the logistics 'what we we are going to see is something close to a genocide' ... 'We are dying here,' Carmen Yulín Cruz said at a press conference, speaking with tears in her eyes.... Cruz appealed directly to the president, saying: 'So, Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives. After all, that is one of the founding principles of the United States of ... America. If not, the world will see how we are treated not as second-class citizens but as animals that can be disposed of. Enough is enough."--safari...

...Devastating takedown of the Trump administration. --safari

...safari: If Trump's staffers ever dare to show him this press conference of Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of San Juan, I'm pretty sure he'll be building up some serious back sweat fuming about this uppity Hispanic woman stomping on his false messaging campaign. He'll make her pay, because that's our president*...

...UPDATE. Politico: "President Donald Trump attacked the mayor of San Juan in early morning tweets Saturday, citing "poor leadership" and saying she 'has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.'...[H]e wrote: '...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....''...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.'" --safari

Josh Meyer of Politico: "The National Security Agency warned senior White House officials in classified briefings that improper use of personal cellphones and email could make them vulnerable to espionage by Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries, according to officials familiar with the briefings. The briefings came soon after ... Donald Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20, and before some top aides, including senior adviser Jared Kushner, used their personal email and phones to conduct official White House business.... The officials said White House aides also were told they should assume that foreign cyberspies had already penetrated their personal email systems to some degree and used that access to vacuum up everything not just on their own computers and phones but those of their contacts.... 'Jared is probably one of the top five or 10 targets in the U.S. government because of his access to the president and because of the portfolios he's been given,' said Richard Clarke, a former top cybersecurity advisor to three presidents. 'It's a pretty safe bet that his personal devices have been compromised by foreign intelligence services. And therefore there is some risk that meetings he attends are compromised too.'"

Daniella Diaz & Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "The New York State Board of Elections acknowledged in a news report published Thursday that ... Jared Kushner registered to vote as a male despite being listed as a woman previously. Board of Elections executive director Michael Ryan confirmed to The New York Daily News that the board made the error, not Kushner." Mrs. McC: Meant to link this yesterday but was so disappointed by Jared's vindication, I put it out of my mind.

Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica: "The special prosecutor investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election has subpoenaed an associate of Gen. Michael Flynn's Turkish lobbying client. The subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by ProPublica, ordered Sezgin Baran Korkmaz to testify before a grand jury in Washington on Sept. 22.... There are no indications of direct links between Korkmaz and Flynn, who briefly served as Donald Trump's national security adviser. But Korkmaz, 39, is a close ally of Ekim Alptekin, the 40-year-old Turkish businessman who hired Flynn to lobby for Turkish interests shortly before the election.... Investigators are interested in the ultimate source of the money that Alptekin's company paid to Flynn's firm...."

An Anti-Trump. Jamiles Lartey of the Guardian: "The superintendent of the US air force academy in Colorado Springs addressed a direct message to those who left racist graffiti at the academy's preparatory school earlier this week. 'If you can't treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect then you need to get out,' said Lt Gen Jay Silveria, before encouraging the assembled academy of more than 4,000 cadets and staff to take out their phones and record him saying it again." ...

Chris Mooney & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry took sweeping steps on Friday to buttress a pair of financially-strapped nuclear plants under construction and redefine how coal and nuclear plants are compensated for the electricity they provide -- a move that, if agreed to by independent federal energy regulators, could tilt some of the nation's complex power markets away from renewables and natural gas."...

...Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry has ignored the findings of his own grid study and proposed a new federal rule that would effectively force Americans to buy dirtier, more expensive power...In the simplest terms, Perry wants to stop cheaper, cleaner renewables like solar and wind from shutting down more dirtier and more expensive plants like coal (and nuclear)...Perry's own grid study, the one he asked DOE staff for back in April, totally undercuts any rationale for such a move. That study concluded that renewables have not harmed grid reliability and that myriad strategies exist to allow deep penetration of renewables." --safari

Mary Jordan & Kevin Sullivan of the Washington Post: "People are living longer, more expensive lives, often without much of a safety net. As a result, record numbers of Americans older than 65 are working -- now nearly 1 in 5. That proportion has risen steadily over the past decade, and at a far faster rate than any other age group.... While some work by choice rather than need, millions of others are entering their golden years with alarmingly fragile finances. Fundamental changes in the U.S. retirement system have shifted responsibility for saving from the employer to the worker, exacerbating the nation's rich-poor divide. Two recent recessions devastated personal savings. And at a time when 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, Social Security benefits have lost about a third of their purchasing power since 2000." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: See also MAG's comment in yesterday's thread. The WashPo story profiles two elderly couples in dire straits. Not one of them voted for Hillary Clinton. Why has Social Security lost 1/3 of its purchasing power in 17 years. What about COLA? ...

     ... Answer. Mary Beth Franklin of Investment News (June 2017): "Senior advocacy groups, including The Senior Citizens League, argue that when it comes to measuring inflation experienced by retired and disabled individuals, the government is using the wrong index. The CPI-W gives less weight to medical care and housing costs -- two categories that have experienced rapid inflation and represent a larger portion of the budgets of older households than younger workers. The study examined the increase in costs of 39 key items that represent typical costs of elderly households between 2000 and January 2017. The study used the same weightings that the government uses in calculating the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), an alternative measure of inflation that senior advocacy groups say is more representational of retirees' spending patterns."

Emily Langer of the Washington Post: "Herbert W. Kalmbach, a personal attorney to President Richard M. Nixon who was drawn into the Watergate scandal as an alleged bagman and later went to prison for illegal political fundraising that included the peddling of an ambassadorship, died Sept. 15 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 95."

Sports Report

Reuters: "Demonstrators unfurled a banner that read 'Stop Killing Us' at a Major League baseball game on Friday in St. Louis, where they were protesting the acquittal of a white former police officer who was accused of murdering a black man, local media reported." --safari...

...On the co-opting of the NFL protests. No words minced here. --safari

...Colin Who? Ameer Hasan Loggins & Christopher Petrell in the Guardian : "Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated used Twitter to publicize its newest magazine cover. Against the American flag, a bricolage of professional athletes, coaches and owners lock arms around the tidy and seemingly uncontroversial phrase 'A NATION DIVIDED, SPORTS UNITED.' It was a clear response to Trump's stinging attack on the NFL...The digitally altered image creates a patchwork of athletes...[Colin] Kaepernick's inexplicable absence from Sports Illustrated's cover renders the image laughably incoherent. In many ways, it also creates a cultural vacuum for the public to import its calls for civility, respect and patriotism into a flimsy narrative of 'unity'. The political incoherence, however, extends beyond the magazine's omission of Kaepernick." --safari...

... Ben Collins of The Daily Beast: "Kremlin-controlled social media accounts posing as black activist groups shared memes supporting Colin Kaepernick and other athletes protesting police shootings of black Americans by kneeling during the national anthem as early as last summer...Polling shows Americans are split on the protests, with 43 percent saying it's the right thing to do, and 49 percent saying that kneeling during the anthem is the wrong way to express their opinions. The Russian propaganda group backed kneeling during national anthems as far back as June of last year." --safari

News Lede

New York Times: "Monty Hall, the genial host and co-creator of 'Let's Make a Deal,' the game show on which contestants in outlandish costumes shriek and leap at the chance to see if they will win the big prize or the booby prize behind door No. 3, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday. He was 96."

The Commentariat -- September 29, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday said that 'big decisions' loom about the cost of rebuilding of Puerto Rico in the wake of two severe hurricanes while relaying praise he said his administration had received from the island's governor for its recovery and aid efforts.... Trump did not clarify what 'big decision' are upcoming or how the price would factor into those decisions." Mrs. McC: I can't recall where Trump has raised this issue in regard to the Texas & Florida disasters. If you're looking for reasons Americans in the territories should be allowed to vote in federal elections, this is a big one. ...

AND now, kids, we break for a brief geography lesson from the POTUS*:

This is an island, surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water.

The lesson has concluded.

... Avery Anapol of the Hill: "San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Friday morning ripped into acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke for calling the government's response to the devastation in Puerto Rico a 'good news story.' After hearing Duke's comments, Cruz told CNN it was 'irresponsible' to spin the island's devastation so positively.... 'Damnit, this is not a good news story,' she said. 'This is a people-are-dying story.'" ...

Gardiner Harris & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The State Department announced on Friday that it is pulling more than half of its staff out of the American embassy in Havana in the wake of mysterious attacks that have injured 21 people associated with the embassy. Some of those attacked have suffered significant injuries, with symptoms including hearing loss, dizziness, tinnitus, balance and visual problems, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping. But despite an intensive investigation by the F.B.I., the cause and perpetrators of the attacks remain a mystery, with some experts speculating that some kind of sonic weapon or faulty surveillance device may have been at fault. The department will also issue an advisory warning to American citizens who travel to Cuba that they could face unusual risks."

*****

Jesse Drucker & Nadja Popovich of the New York Times: "President Trump could cut his tax bills by more than $1.1 billion, including saving tens of millions of dollars in a single year, under his proposed tax changes, a New York Times analysis has found. On Wednesday, the White House announced a sweeping plan to cut a variety of taxes that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. The estimate of Mr. Trump's savings is based in part on information from his 2005 federal tax return. The analysis compares what his tax burden would be under current law with what it would be under the proposal.... 'I don't benefit. I don't benefit,' Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. 'In fact, very, very strongly, as you see, I think there's very little benefit for people of wealth.'... Mr. Trump's proposal to eliminate the estate tax would generate the largest tax savings. If his assets -- reportedly valued at $2.86 billion -- were transferred after his death under today's rules, his estate would be taxed at about 40 percent. Repealing the federal estate tax could save his family about $1.1 billion...." ...

... Heather Long of the Washington Post: "President Trump and congressional Republicans keep saying their tax plan doesn't help the rich. But that's not true. The nine-page outline released Wednesday is full of goodies that will make millionaires and billionaires happy. Republicans say it's a starting point, but it would have to be turned on its head to be anything other than a windfall for the wealthy. In fact, in nine pages, The Washington Post counts at least nine ways the wealthy benefit, including Trump himself." Long counts the ways. ...

... Shannon Vavra of Axios: "The Treasury Department has taken down a 2012 economic analysis that contradicts what Secretary Mnuchin has said about the effects of corporate tax cuts, the WSJ reports. What happened: Mnuchin said workers benefit the most from corporate income tax cuts. The 2012 analysis from the Office of Tax Analysis revealed that workers pay 18% corporate taxes, whereas owners of capital pay 82%, so cutting them impacts owners more."

Tomi Kilgore of MarketWatch: "A billionaire business shark [Mark Cuban] and a 'worldwide' pop star [Pitbull] have donated the use of their own planes, but the Trump administration is making U.S. citizens pay 'full fare' to be evacuated from hurricane-ravaged Caribbean islands. What's worse, the U.S. government, in accordance with a long-standing but discretionary policy, will hold the evacuees' passports as collateral until it gets its money.... This comes after President Trump faced a social-media backlash after tweets that some interpreted as blaming Puerto Rico for their problems...."

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump wrote in a series of tweets Sept. 26, "Much of the island was destroyed, with billions of dollars ... owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with." As Akhilleus wrote in yesterday's Comments, "This seems beyond the pale even for a self-absorbed, sociopathic creep like Trump. And let's not even mention the irony of a guy who has gone Chapter 11 four times to escape repaying his own debts complaining about Puerto Rico's debt problems. A larger asshole, if ever discovered, would surely make anatomic history." ...

... ** Emma Niles of Truthdig: "Many are arguing that Trump should be doing more in the short term to help provide aid to the devastated island, but only a handful of critics are pointing out the long-term effects of neocolonialist economic policy, policy that needs to be examined if Puerto Rico's residents are ever going to get back on their feet." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. ...

... Poetic Justice? James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Florida is rightfully considered the swingiest of swing states. Control of the White House in 2000 came down to a few hundred hanging chads -- and one vote on the Supreme Court. The past four statewide elections -- two governor's races and two presidentials -- were all decided by a single percentage point. So it could be quite politically significant that tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans, maybe more, are expected to permanently move into Florida as the result of Hurricane Maria.... Their citizenship entitles them to vote, and they tend to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates." Emphasis original. Mrs. McC: Florida Democrats must knock themselves out to get former Puerto Ricans registered to vote.

Note to Trump & GOP from Their Favorite "News" Source. Victoria Balara of Fox "News": "Large majorities of voters favor granting work permits or citizenship to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, according to the latest Fox News poll. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, or Dreamers, who do not apply for renewal in time will lose their status starting in March 2018.... Donald Trump announced Sept. 5 he was ending the Obama-era program giving Congress a six-month window to act on the program.... Overwhelming majorities favor granting work permits (86 percent favor vs. 12 percent oppose) and U.S. citizenship (79-19 percent) to illegal immigrants under the age of 30 brought here as children, provided they pass a background check." ... Mrs. McC: Apparently Steve Bannon, Sean Hannity & Ann Coulter didn't get polled.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, in the Guardian, has a long piece on "Why we should have seen Trump coming". --safari

Paul Krugman: "... the trouble with Trump isn't just what he's doing, but what he isn't. In his mind, it's all about him -- and while he's stroking his fragile ego, basic functions of government are being neglected or worse. Let's talk about two stories that might seem separate: the deadly neglect of Puerto Rico, and the ongoing sabotage of American health care. What these stories have in common is that millions of Americans are going to suffer, and hundreds if not thousands die, because Trump and his officials are too self-centered to do their jobs."

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "On the surface, Trump and [Roy] Moore couldn't be more different.... [But] the movement that led to Trump has brought us to a place where Moore will probably soon sit in the United States Senate.... Trump is not a pious man, but by destroying informal restraints on reactionary rhetoric, he's made his party hospitable to the cruelest of theocrats. Moore's success is bound to encourage more candidates like him. The Republican establishment's borders have been breached. Its leaders should have built a wall."

Rachana Pradhan & Dan Diamond of Politico: "The White House approved the use of military aircraft for multi-national trips by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to Africa and Europe this spring, and to Asia in the summer, at a cost of more than $500,000 to taxpayers. The overseas trips bring the total cost to taxpayers of Price's travels to more than $1 million since May, according to a Politico review. Price pledged on Thursday to reimburse the government for the cost of his own seat on his domestic trips using private aircraft -- reportedly around $52,000 -- but that would not include the cost of the military flights. Price's wife, Betty, accompanied him on the military flights, while other members of the secretary's delegation flew commercially to Europe. HHS spokeswoman Charmaine Yoest said Price has reimbursed the agency for the cost of his wife's travel abroad, but declined to say when he did so." ...

... Bumpy Ride. Katie Rogers, et al., of the New York Times: "After being rebuked by President Trump for racking up at least $400,000 in travel on chartered flights, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on Thursday that he would pay back taxpayers for his part of the bill and stop flying on private jets. But that does not mean his job is safe. Mr. Trump has grown incensed by Mr. Price's liberal renting of expensive planes, which he views as undercutting his drain-the-swamp campaign message, according to several administration officials with direct knowledge of the president's thinking. Through intermediaries and the media, Mr. Trump has let it be known that offering reimbursement as repentance was no guarantee that Mr. Price would keep his job." ...

... Ben Lefebvre of Politico: "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his aides have taken several flights on private or military aircraft, including a $12,000 charter plane to take him to events in his hometown in Montana and private flights between two Caribbean islands, according to documents and a department spokeswoman. Zinke is at least the fourth senior member of the Trump administration to have used non-commercial planes at taxpayer expense, along with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and HHS Secretary Tom Price.... Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said Zinke's charter or military plane trips were booked only after officials were unable to find commercial flights that would accommodate Zinke's schedule, and that all were 'pre-cleared by career officials in the ethics office.'"

Jake Tapper of CNN: "In his closed interview with the staff of the Senate intelligence committee..., Jared Kushner did not share the existence of his personal email account, which he has used for official business, CNN has learned.... The chair and vice chair of the committee were so unhappy that they learned about the existence of his personal email account via news reports that they wrote him a letter via his attorney Thursday instructing him to double-check that he has turned over every relevant document to the committee including those from his '"personal email account" described to the news media, as well as all other email accounts, messaging apps, or similar communications channels you may have used, or that may contain information relevant to our inquiry.'" CNN obtained a copy of the committee leaders' letter via Kushner's attorney Abbe Lowell when Lowell unwittingly sent the correspondence to a UK prankster who imitates senior White House staff. ...

... Josh Dawsey & Andrea Peterson of Politico: "The White House has launched an internal probe of private email use, pulling batches of emails on the White House server to and from private accounts of senior aides, according to four officials.... The effort began this week after Politico reported that Jared Kushner and a number of other senior White House officials used private email accounts throughout the year to conduct government business. Of particular interest is [Jared] Kushner and Ivanka Trump's private email domain, because they still work in the White House, two officials said. Accounts of other White House officials also are being reviewed."

Elizabeth Dwoskin, et al., of the Washington Post: "Twitter said Thursday that it had shut down 201 accounts that were tied to the same Russian operatives who posted thousands of political ads on Facebook, but the effort frustrated lawmakers who said the problem is far broader than the company appeared to know. The company said it also found three accounts from the news site RT -- which Twitter linked to the Kremlin -- that spent $274,100 in ads on its platform in 2016. Despite the disclosures, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) questioned whether the company is doing enough to stop Russian operatives from using its platform to spread disinformation and division in U.S. society. Warner said Twitter's presentation to a closed-door meeting of Senate Intelligence Committee staffers Thursday morning was 'deeply disappointing' and 'inadequate on almost every level.' Twitter also made a presentation to House Intelligence Committee staffers in the afternoon. The company 'showed an enormous lack of understanding ... about how serious this issue is, the threat it poses to democratic institutions,' a visibly frustrated Warner said." ...

... Brian Feltman of New York: "'On average,' Twitter announced in a blog post [Thursday] afternoon, 'our automated systems catch more than 3.2 million suspicious accounts globally per week -- more than double the amount we detected this time last year.' Twitter is a public, searchable platform, which means it doesn't face the same transparency issues as Facebook, where privacy filters and ad-sales mechanisms prevented users from seeing, for example, all of the posts put up by a given account (at least until recently).... Twitter remains a valuable and important news hub, even if it can't reach the scale of a Facebook or a Google. News spreading fast on Twitter is likely to make its way into papers and onto TV .. or, potentially, commented on or retweeted by the president himself. Hijacking Facebook might help persuade the electorate, but hijacking Twitter might help persuade our doofus president."

     ... The Twitter statement is here. ...

... Donie O'Sullivan & Dylan Byers of CNN: "A social media campaign calling itself 'Blacktivist' and linked to the Russian government used both Facebook and Twitter in an apparent attempt to amplify racial tensions during the U.S. presidential election, two sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN. The Twitter account has been handed over to Congress; the Facebook account is expected to be handed over in the coming days. Both Blacktivist accounts, each of which used the handle Blacktivists, regularly shared content intended to stoke outrage. 'Black people should wake up as soon as possible,' one post on the Twitter account read. 'Black families are divided and destroyed by mass incarceration and death of black men,' another read. The accounts also posted videos of police violence against African Americans. The Blacktivist accounts provide further evidence that Russian-linked social media accounts saw racial tensions as something to be exploited in order to achieve the broader Russian goal of dividing Americans and creating chaos in U.S. politics during a campaign in which race repeatedly became an issue." ...

... Jessica Schneider of CNN: "Trump administration lawyers are demanding the private account information of potentially thousands of Facebook users in three separate search warrants served on the social media giant, according to court documents obtained by CNN. The warrants specifically target the accounts of three Facebook users who are described by their attorneys as 'anti-administration activists who have spoken out at organized events, and who are generally very critical of this administration's policies.'... The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the three Facebook users, filed a motion to quash the warrants Thursday." The warrants seek personal information on everyone who visited the targeted sites. In other words, if you clicked on the disruptj20 page, DOJ wants the ability to look into your activities. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is fairly hilarious. Trump has no trouble pretending that Russia did not use social media to influence the 2016 elections, But his DOJ is all upset & issuing subpoenas because some activists are targeting Trump & Co.

Mike DeBonis & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: The House erupted "Thursday in [a] great roar [to greet Rep. Steve] Scalise [R-La.] as he made a surprise return to a packed House chamber and addressed his colleagues for the first time since ... a lone gunman, targeting GOP lawmakers practicing in Virginia for a charity baseball game, wounded Scalise and four others on June 14.... He gave special recognition to the two Capitol Police officers serving on his security detail, David Bailey and Crystal Griner, who were at the Alexandria ballpark and fired shots that are credited with preventing [the shooter] from harming more people.... Scalise used his speech to highlight the lifesaving work of one of the unheralded players in the shooting incident: Rep. Brad Wenstrup

AFP: "Emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from livestock are larger than previously thought, posing an additional challenge in the fight to curb global warming, scientists have said. Revised calculations of methane produced per head of cattle show that global livestock emissions in 2011 were 11% higher than estimates based on data from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC)...After rising slowly from 2000 to 2006, the concentration of methane in the air has climbed 10 times more quickly in the last decade, according to earlier research.... Methane accounted for about 16% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, according to the IPCC." --safari

Neil deMause of the Guardian: "The Atlanta Falcons' new stadium, which hosts its fourth ever NFL game on Sunday, is a technological marvel: the iris-shaped retractable roof; the mammoth video 'halo board' that rings the ceiling aperture; the concession stands that sell hot dogs for a throwback $2 price. And, best of all, the $1.6bn edifice cost Georgia taxpayers a relatively inexpensive $200m. Or the stadium cost the public at least $700m, more than any other building in NFL history. Definitely one of those. The funding saga for Mercedes-Benz Stadium points up the elusive nature of US public sports subsidies in the modern age." --safari

Way Beyond the Beltway

Oliver Holmes of the Guardian: "More than 60 people are presumed dead after a boat carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar capsized, the UN migration agency has said.... Survivors of the accident on Thursday told IOM staff that the boat was carrying about 80 people, including 50 children, who were believed to be fleeing violence in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state. The boat overturned in rough waters off Bangladesh." --safari