The Commentariat -- October 30, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI agents investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server knew early this month that messages recovered in a separate probe might be germane to their case, but they waited weeks before briefing the FBI director, according to people familiar with the case.... It is unclear why investigators did not tell Comey sooner." -- CW

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has slowly but surely improved his standing in state and national polls since the final presidential debate. A New York Times Upshot/Siena poll released Sunday is consistent with that trend: It gives Mr. Trump a four-point lead in Florida, 46 percent to 42 percent, in a four-way race. In our first poll of Florida a month ago, Mr. Trump trailed Hillary Clinton by a percentage point. The survey is Mr. Trump's best recent poll in Florida, and it should be interpreted with caution. In general, it is best to look at an average of polls. Mrs. Clinton still leads in an average of recent Florida surveys by nearly three points." -- CW ...

... Scott Clement & Emily Gustin of the Washington Post: "Republicans' growing unity behind ... Donald Trump has helped pull him just 1 percentage point behind Hillary Clinton and has placed GOP leaders who resist him in a vulnerable position, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Tracking Poll. A majority of all likely voters say they are unmoved by the FBI's announcement Friday that it may review additional emails from Clinton's time as secretary of state. Just more than 6 in 10 voters say the news will make no difference in their vote, while just more than 3 in 10 say it makes them less likely to support her; 2 percent say they are more likely to back her as a result." -- CW

Mallory Shelbourne of the Hill: "... Tim Kaine said Sunday that FBI Director James Comey's letter to lawmakers regarding the Hillary Clinton email server investigation is 'unprecedented.' 'I just have no way of understanding these actions. They're a completely unprecedented move,' the Virginia senator said during an appearance on ABC's 'This Week' with George Stephanopoulos. 'When you haven't even seen the material yourself 11 days before an election, why would you talk about an ongoing investigation?' Kaine asked." -- CW ...

... Mallory Shelbourne: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that FBI Director James Comey's email to lawmakers regarding the Hillary Clinton email server investigation was 'a terrible error in judgment.' 'I think this was a terrible error in judgment by the director, to release this kind of ambiguous letter. These may be pertinent; they may be significant; they may not be significant. They may not be pertinent,' Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC's 'This Week.'" -- CW ...

... ** Richard Painter, "the chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007," in a New York Times op-ed: "... on Saturday, I filed a complaint against the F.B.I. with the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates Hatch Act violations, and with the Office of Government Ethics.... [James Comey's] letter was sent in violation of a longstanding Justice Department policy of not discussing specifics about pending investigations with others, including members of Congress. According to some news reports on Saturday, the letter was sent before the F.B.I. had even obtained the search warrant that it needed to look at the newly discovered emails. And it was sent days before the election, at a time when many Americans are already voting.... We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway. That is an abuse of power." CW: Yeah, you read that right. A Bush II lawyer has filed formal complaints against Comey for abusing his office. ...

... Riley Roberts, former speechwriter for Eric Holder, in Politico Magazine: "... increasing numbers of critics believe [James Comey] has displayed a worrying disregard for the rules and norms that have constrained all but one of his predecessors, straying with blithe confidence -- and with increasing regularity -- across the fine line that separates independence from unaccountability.... Over the past three years, current and former Justice Department officials have watched with growing discomfort as his 'streak of self-righteousness,' now essentially unchecked, has made him the most isolated, outspoken and openly defiant FBI director since [J. Edgar] Hoover." CW: This is a long, scathing indictment of Comey. ...

... CW: What Comey should do Monday is apologize to Clinton, to the President & to the public for his egregious lapse of judgment. Then, since he's so fond of letter-writing, he should hand his letter of resignation to the POTUS, and Obama should accept it. Of course, that's not going to happen, because in Comey's mind, if the FBI director does it, it's A-Okay. Sound familiar?

Mallory Shelbourne: "... Donald Trump on Sunday accused the media of 'burying' the FBI's investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's private email server. 'Wow, Twitter, Google and Facebook are burying the FBI criminal investigation of Clinton. Very dishonest media!' Trump tweeted." -- CW

*****

Presidential Race

Andy Borowitz: "In an unexpected televised address on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth II offered to restore British rule over the United States of America. Addressing the American people from her office in Buckingham Palace, the Queen said that she was making the offer 'in recognition of the desperate situation you now find yourselves in.'... Using the closing moments of her speech to tout her credentials, the Queen made it clear that she has never used e-mail and has only had sex with one person 'very occasionally.'" -- CW

Saturday in Union Square, NYC. By a Reader.

Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The political pressure on FBI director James Comey intensified on Saturday night as four powerful Democratic senators demanded immediate answers about the bureau's announcement it is examining new material as part of its investigation about Hillary Clinton's email server. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Dianne Feinstein of California, Thomas Carper of Delaware and Benjamin Cardin of Maryland wrote to Comey and the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, to insist on a thorough briefing by Monday about Comey's decision to tell congressional officials about new material from an 'unrelated case' -- a decision that shook the campaigns with only 10 days to go.... The Clinton campaign called for Comey to provide 'public answers' to clarify what, if any, new information ... was pertinent to the Democratic presidential nominee. The Justice Department, meanwhile, distanced itself from Comey." -- CW ...

... Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "When FBI Director James Comey wrote his bombshell letter to Congress on Friday about newly discovered emails that were potentially 'pertinent' to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server, agents had not been able to review any of the material, because the bureau had not yet gotten a search warrant to read them.... A Yahoo News review of Abedin's interview with FBI agents last April -- when the Clinton email probe was in full swing -- shows that the longtime Clinton aide hinted that there might be relevant material on her husband's personal devices. But agents do not appear to have followed up on the clues.... It is still far from clear which State Department emails might be on the devices that [Abedin's estranged husband Anthony] Weiner had access to. In a separate civil lawsuit brought by a conservative group, Judicial Watch, Abedin ... told Judicial Watch lawyers that she rarely used the personal Yahoo account, and that when she did, she only used it to forward State Department 'press clips' so she could print them." -- CW ...

... CW: That is, Jim Comey thought it would be a good idea to blow off obvious prudence, DOJ advice & direction, longstanding precedent & guidelines, to interfere in a presidential election -- because it's possible former Rep. Scumbag had access to some State Department press releases. However, Comey isn't sure about even that; for all he knows, the Abedin e-mails consist of a stream of cute kitten pictures. Of course, we don't know for sure -- since Comey won't say -- if the "possibly pertinent" information has anything to do with Abedin & Mr. Scumbag.

Matt Apuzzo, et al., of the New York Times: "The day before the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, sent a letter to Congress announcing that new evidence had been discovered that may be related to the completed Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Justice Department strongly discouraged the step and told him that he would be breaking with longstanding policy, three law enforcement officials said on Saturday. Senior Justice Department officials did not move to stop him from sending the letter, officials said, but they did everything short of it, pointing to policies against talking about current criminal investigations or being seen as meddling in elections.... Justice Department officials were particularly puzzled about why Mr. Comey had alerted Congress -- and by extension, the public -- before agents even began reading the newly discovered emails to determine whether they contained classified information or added new facts to the case." -- CW ...

... Sari Horwitz, et al., of the Washington Post: Justice Department "officials told the FBI the department's position 'that we don't comment on an ongoing investigation. And we don't take steps that will be viewed as influencing an election,' said one Justice Department official.... 'Director Comey understood our position. He heard it from Justice leadership,' the official said. 'It was conveyed to the FBI, and Comey made an independent decision to alert the Hill. He is operating independently of the Justice Department. And he knows it.'... Comey's decision to ignore the advice of Justice leadership is 'stunning,' said Matt Miller, who served as Justice Department spokesman under then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. 'Jim Comey forgets that he works for the attorney general. I think he has a lot of regard for his own integrity. And he lets that regard cross lines into self-righteousness,' Miller said." -- CW ...

... Evan Perez & Pamela Brown of CNN: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates disagreed with FBI Director James Comey's decision to notify Congress about his bureau's review of emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's personal server, law enforcement officials familiar with the discussion said. There was no direct confrontation between Lynch or Yates and Comey. Instead, the disagreements were conveyed to Comey by Justice Department staff, who advised the FBI chief his letter would be against department policy to not comment on investigations close to an election, the officials said. They added it was contrary to department policies and procedures, one law enforcement source said. Comey decided to disregard their concerns and sent the letter Friday anyway...." -- CW ...

... Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek: "The disclosure by the Federal Bureau of Investigation late on Friday, October 28 ... has virtually nothing to do with any actions taken by [Hillary Clinton], according to government records and an official with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity.... There is no indication the emails in question were withheld by Clinton during the investigation, the law enforcement official told Newsweek, nor does the discovery suggest she did anything illegal. Also, none of the emails were to or from Clinton, the official said. Moreover, despite the widespread claims in the media that this development had prompted the FBI to 'reopen' the case, it did not; such investigations are never actually closed, and it is common for law enforcement to discover new information that needs to be examined." -- CW ...

... Daniel Marans of the Huffington Post: "Julie Werner-Simon, a former federal prosecutor who retired from DOJ in August 2015 after 29 years of service, argues that Comey's decision to make public an incremental development in the investigation with little clear significance is a breach of the protocol outlined in the [U.S. Attorneys'] manual. 'It is shocking and disheartening that someone I admired would do this,' she said. 'If I did what he did, I would be censured. My view is that there should be an investigation' into Comey's behavior, she added. 'Under the rules that he violated, that investigation [of Abedin's e-mails] should be secret. That's the point.'" -- CW ...

     ... See also Jane Mayer's story, linked yesterday. ...

... Matthew Miller in a Washington Post op-ed: "FBI Director James B. Comey's stunning announcement that he has directed investigators to begin reviewing new evidence in the Clinton email investigation was yet another troubling violation of long-standing Justice Department rules or precedent, conduct that raises serious questions about his judgment and ability to serve as the nation's chief investigative official.... This letter not only violated Justice rules on commenting on ongoing investigations but also flew in the face of years of precedent about how to handle sensitive cases as Election Day nears.... With [the] independence [accorded FBI directors] comes a responsibility to adhere to the rules that protect the rights of those whom the FBI investigates. Comey has failed that standard repeatedly in his handling of the Clinton investigation." Read the whole piece. -- CW ...

... Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker points out that everything we think we know about the "new evidence" comes from leaks to the press, some of them conflicting. "Even if Comey did not specifically make or authorize the leaks himself, he had to know that they would take place -- and he must take responsibility for them.... Comey says that he didn't 'want to create a misleading impression,' but that's precisely what he did. He had to know that his vague letter to Congress virtually demanded elaboration from 'senior government officials,' who would apply their own gloss, in the form of leaks.... If the outcome of the Presidential election turns on Comey's action, that's his burden, and the nation's, too." CW: As Healy & Martin point out in a NYT story linked below, it isn't only the presidential race that Comey's Surprise will affect: the news is "more likely to help the party's candidates for the House and Senate." ...

... digby: "It's clear to me that Comey has been successfully mau-maued by the Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump and Jason Chaffetz for his unwillingness to indict Hillary Clinton on spurious nonsense back in July and he was more concerned about looking bad with them than he was about trashing the integrity of the FBI and inappropriately influencing a presidential election. That's pretty shocking." -- CW ...

... digby: "Kurt Eichenwald suggests that these were all actually emails sent to Abedin which she printed out at home to give to Clinton.... It's possible they were the secret directives from the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS that Huma gave to Hillary to carry out her treason but at the moment we have no idea what's in them because the FBI hasn't looked at them and can't do that until after the election. Just finding emails on Huma Abedin's computer without having any idea what was in them was enough to for Comey to violate all protocols, rules and norms 10 days from a presidential election." -- CW ...

... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Barack Obama, for reasons I've never understood, chose a Republican to be head of the FBI. His reward? James Comey -- truly a hack in full — going over the heads of his bosses to send an letter to his Republican friends in Congress he had no obligation to send and contained no actual information but was worded in a way that insinuated that Hillary Clinton might have engaged in wrongdoing. I don't know if Comey was consciously trying to influence the election in favor of Trump, but either he was in on it or he was too dumb to know he was being set up by Jason Chaffetz. It's hard to overstate how disgraceful this conduct is.... I do hope that, at least, Hillary Clinton takes this as a long overdue hint that Democratic presidents should stop putting Republicans in important administration jobs." -- CW ...

... CW: In case you forgot, Comey first became well-known for his dramatic hospital-room intervention in March 2004 of an attempt by Dubya's chief-of-staff Andrew Card & White House counsel Alberto Gonzales (later AG) to browbeat a severely-ill AG, John Ashcroft, into signing off on re-authorization of Dubya's (unconstitutional) domestic spying program. According to Comey's own testimony, "he ordered his security detail to turn the car toward the hospital, careening down Constitution Avenue. Comey said he raced up the stairs of the hospital with his staff, beating Card and Gonzales to Ashcroft's room." That was Comey's claim to fame, and Blab Letter, written in defiance of long precedent and another AG's advice, is his way of reasserting the cowboy heroism that made him famous.

... CW: At least in the major media, and on the left, the "New Clinton E-Mail Scandal" is turning away from Clinton into a front-page story about Comey, the Lone Gunman. That's a good thing. I wish there were more along the lines of "There's no there there." ...

... CW, Ctd: In a personal letter to me (hey, he signed it "John"!) John Podesta wrote, "It's an unprecedented intrusion into a close presidential election with 10 days until Election Day. But by being vague and obfuscating, Comey opened the door to conspiracy theories, Republican attacks against Hillary, and a surge of fundraising for Trump and his team. So this bears repeating: There is no evidence of wrongdoing, no charge of wrongdoing, and no indication that any of this even involves Hillary." (Emphasis original.) P.S. I realize now that I'm reminded that "John" corresponds with me, you all will soon have access, via Wikileaks, to all my own scintillating personal e-mails.

... Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton and her allies sprang onto a war footing on Saturday, opening a ferocious attack on the F.B.I.'s director a day after he disclosed that his agency was looking into a potential new batch of messages from her private email server. 'It is pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election,' Mrs. Clinton said at a rally in Daytona Beach, Fla. 'In fact, it's not just strange; it is unprecedented and it is deeply troubling.'... Her campaign waged a coordinated offensive on Saturday, accusing Mr. Comey of smearing Mrs. Clinton with innuendo late in the race and of violating Justice Department rules.... Several Republican pollsters and strategists said the F.B.I. inquiry was more likely to help the party's candidates for the House and Senate than to transform the political fortunes of Mr. Trump." -- CW ...

... John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Clinton stopped just short of accusing Comey, once a registered Republican, of partisan interference in the Nov. 8 election she is favored to win. She did not attempt to conceal her anger, although she went on to urge unity and optimism. Other Democrats went much further, issuing scathing assessments of Comey's motives and timing, as the potential for new legal jeopardy involving the Democratic nominee roiled an already tumultuous campaign.... The congressional black and Hispanic caucuses organized a news conference to denounce Comey, at least three Democratic senators drafted a letter of complaint Saturday and the Democratic National Committee issued a tartly worded statement. 'By releasing a letter within sixty days of the presidential election, FBI Director James Comey broke with long-standing department tradition that is meant to prevent any influence on the electoral process,' the DNC statement said." -- CW ...

... Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed: Friday, just another normal day on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton. -- CW ...

... Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times on how he broke the news to the Clinton campaign about Comey's Hallowe'en Trick. -- CW ...

... Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she is unsure how her emails could have ended up on a device she viewed as her husband's computer, the seizure of which has reignited the Clinton email investigation, according to a person familiar with the investigation.... The person ... said Abedin was not a regular user of the computer, and even when she agreed to turn over emails to the State Department for federal records purposes, her lawyers did not search it for materials, not believing any of her messages to be there. That could be a significant oversight if Abedin's work messages were indeed on the computer of her estranged husband...." CW: Blame it on OneDrive! ...

... Nick Penzenstadler of USA Today: "Vice President Biden looked incredulous in an interview that aired Saturday when asked about Anthony Weiner.... 'Well, oh God, Anthony Weiner,' Biden said in the interview with CNN that was taped Friday at a stop in St. Louis for Democratic Senate candidate Jason Kander. 'I should not comment on Anthony Weiner. I'm not a big fan; I wasn't before he got in trouble. So I shouldn't comment,' Biden told CNN's Michael Smerconish." -- CW

... Sam Stein & Sam Levine of the Huffington Post: "Less than 24 hours after Comey tried to calm nerves at the FBI..., Donald Trump proved his fears to be justified and raised additional questions about why he went public in the first place.... It started with Trump's blanket claim that the newly discovered emails ... proved his Democratic rival was 'guilty' of ... something.... Trump also insisted that because the FBI had announced that investigators were looking into the emails, it had to be that the material they'd discovered was massive in scope and scandal.... 'Trump again says the Weiner emails are part of the 30k lost emails.'" Trump also said the DOJ advised Comey against writing to Congress because 'The Department of Justice is trying so hard to protect Hillary."-- CW ...

This is bigger than Watergate. This is bigger than Watergate. In my opinion. This is bigger than Watergate. -- Donald Trump, at a campaign rally, Oct. 28

... there is not enough information available right now to know whether these emails will make a difference in the case.... So far, there have been no criminal charges, and therefore no convictions or guilty pleas in the Clinton email scandal. That makes the Clinton emails fundamentally different from Watergate, where 48 people were found guilty. Trump earns Four more Pinocchios for this absurd comparison. -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has found a new reason to question the legitimacy of the 2016 election -- ballots -- and he wasted little time [at a rally in Golden, Colo.,] on Saturday before taking issue with the voting system in this largely vote-by-mail state. 'I have real problems with ballots being sent,' Mr. Trump said, pantomiming a ballot collector sifting envelops and tossing some over his shoulder while counting others.'... Mr. Trump's repetitive accusations of a 'rigged' election and a slanted electoral system are grounded in the belief that fraudulent behavior would only help his opponent. Yet it was a Trump supporter in Des Moines who was charged on Thursday with a Class D felony in Iowa, having sent in two absentee ballots, both supporting Mr. Trump." See also today's Election News, below. -- CW

The Phony Philanthropist. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "For as long as he has been rich and famous, Donald Trump has also wanted people to believe he is generous. He spent years constructing an image as a philanthropist by appearing at charity events and by making very public -- even nationally televised -- promises to give his own money away. It was, in large part, a facade. A months-long investigation by The Washington Post has not been able to verify many of Trump's boasts about his philanthropy. Instead, throughout his life in the spotlight, whether as a businessman, television star or presidential candidate, The Post found that Trump had sought credit for charity he had not given -- or had claimed other people's giving as his own." -- CW

Emily Crockett of Vox on how a newly-surfaced video of Donald Trump's humiliating a former Miss Universe, on stage, in front of thousands of people, explains rape culture. CW: I plead guilty. I saw the video yesterday, and thought, "Gee, men have done things like that to me at least a hundred times, and I put up with it. This isn't like, you know, some bigshot in your workplace slamming you up against the wall & forcing his tongue down your throat (yeah, that's happened, too, and it's way worse). But Crockett gets it right: "... the terrible truth about Trump's alleged crimes is that sexual misconduct is so common -- so routine -- that a lot of people don't even know it when they see it."

Meet Your Trump Supporters. Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "At a Saturday afternoon [Trump] rally [in Phoenix, Az.], one man confronted the media on his own -- with an anti-Semitic chant and a hand gesture that some on social media suggested resembled hate symbols.... As the rest of the crowd broke into a chant of 'USA! USA!' the man chanted, 'Jew-S-A!'... In recent weeks, Trump has intensified his anti-media rhetoric at his rallies. His crowds have followed his lead, booing and taunting reporters when the GOP presidential nominee complains about the press." ...

     ... CW: This kind of attack gives me actual chills every time I read about it. By carelessly voting for Donald Trump, millions of otherwise-decent Americans are willing to allow their country to descend into a vast white-supremacist swamp. It's the great lingering stain of our national origins -- slavery and the genocide of the first Americans. Apparently we will never recover.

Election News

How a Trumpbot Responded to Trump's "Polls Are Rigged" Message. Sarah Boden of Iowa Public Radio: "A Des Moines woman has been charged with Election Misconduct, a Class D felony, after allegedly voting twice for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Terri Rote says she was afraid her first ballot for Trump would be changed to a vote for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. 'I wasn't planning on doing it twice, it was spur of the moment,' says Rote. 'The polls are rigged.'" See related story linked yesterday. -- CW

Senate Race

Chad Griffin, President of HRC, in Medium: "On Thursday night, Senator [Mark] Kirk's [R-Ill.] comments about his opponent's heritage were deeply offensive and racist. His attempt to use Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth's race as a means to undermine her family's American heritage and patriotism is beyond reprehensible. Yesterday, Senator Kirk tweeted an apology that failed to adequately address the real harm and magnitude of his words. So today, following a vote by our board's committee, the Human Rights Campaign withdrew our support of Senator Kirk." -- CW

Other News & Views

And They're Worried about "The E-Mails"?? Scott Shane & Jo Becker of the New York Times: "Harold T. Martin III..., whose arrest in August was disclosed by The New York Times this month..., put to the test the government's costly system for protecting secrets. And year after year, the system failed. Mr. Martin got and kept a top-secret security clearance despite a record that included drinking problems, a drunken-driving arrest, two divorces, unpaid tax bills, a charge of computer harassment and a bizarre episode in which he posed as a police officer in a traffic dispute. Under clearance rules, such events should have triggered closer scrutiny by the security agencies where he worked as a contractor. Yet even after extensive leaks by Pfc. Bradley Manning in 2010 and Edward Snowden in 2013 prompted new layers of safeguards, Mr. Martin was able to walk out of the N.S.A. with highly classified material, adding it to the jumbled piles in his house, shed and car." -- CW

Bill McKibben, in a New York Times op-ed: "The Native Americans who have spent the last months in peaceful protest against an oil pipeline along the banks of the Missouri are standing up for tribal rights. They're also standing up for clean water, environmental justice and a working climate. And it's time that everyone else joined in. The shocking images of the National Guard destroying tepees and sweat lodges and arresting elders this week remind us that the battle over the Dakota Access Pipeline is part of the longest-running drama in American history -- the United States Army versus Native Americans.... Those heroes on the Standing Rock reservation, sometimes on horseback, have peacefully stood up to police dogs, pepper spray and the bizarre-looking militarized tanks and SWAT teams that are the stuff of modern policing.... There are at least two grounds for demanding a full environmental review of this pipeline, instead of the fast-track approvals it has received so far. The first is the obvious environmental racism of the whole project.... The second is that this is precisely the kind of project that climate science tells us can no longer be tolerated." -- CW

News Lede

Guardian: "Italy has been rocked by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake, hitting the central Italian region already reeling from a series of large quakes. The epicentre of the quake, according to initial reports, was about 40 miles (68km) south-west of Perugia and close to the town of Norcia, which had been hit by two successive quakes on Wednesday night that caused extensive damage." -- CW

The Commentariat -- October 29, 2016

Presidential Race

Director Comey admits 'the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant.' He cannot predict how long the investigation will take. And we don't know if the FBI has these emails in hand. It's too bad Director Comey didn't take those gaping holes into consideration when he decided to send this letter. The FBI has a history of extreme caution near Election Day so as not to influence the results. Today's break from that tradition is appalling. -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), in a statement

Why is FBI doing this just 11 days before the election? -- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), in a tweet

Eric Lichtblau, et al., of the New York Times: "The reaction [to FBI director James Comey's letter to Congress] was swift and damning, with Mrs. Clinton's supporters and even some Republicans blasting Mr. Comey.... By late Friday, Mr. Comey felt it necessary to further explain his actions in an email to F.B.I. employees in which he acknowledged that 'there is significant risk of being misunderstood.' He explained that he was trying to balance the obligation he felt to tell Congress that the investigation he had said was completed was continuing, with not knowing yet 'the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails.'... Justice Department officials were said to be deeply upset about Mr. Comey's decision to go to Congress with the new information before it had been adequately investigated. That decision, said several officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, appeared to contradict longstanding Justice Department guidelines discouraging any actions close to an election that could influence the outcome." -- CW ...

... The Washington Post story, by Sari Horwitz, is here. "FBI Director James B. Comey decided to inform Congress that he would look again into Hillary Clinton's handling of emails during her time as secretary of state for two main reasons: a sense of obligation to lawmakers and a concern that word of the new email discovery would leak to the media and raise questions of a coverup." -- CW ...

... Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "Comey's decision ... was contrary to the views of the Attorney General, according to a well-informed Administration official. [Loretta] Lynch expressed her preference that Comey follow the department's longstanding practice of not commenting on ongoing investigations, and not taking any action that could influence the outcome of an election.... Comey's decision is a striking break with the policies of the Department of Justice, according to current and former federal legal officials.... [Comey's] latest action is stirring an extraordinary level of concern among legal authorities, who see it as potentially affecting the outcome of the Presidential and congressional elections.... According to the Administration official, Lynch asked Comey to follow Justice Department policies, but he said that he was obliged to break with them because he had promised to inform members of Congress if there were further developments in the case." -- CW ...

... CW: The more stories I read about Comey's failure of judgment, the better I'm feeling about public reaction to his October surprise. Victimizing Hillary Clinton is not a wise political move. Ask Rick Lazio. Yeah, I know -- Who? ...

** Comey's October Surprise Is One Helluva a Friday Afternoon News Dump. Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal law enforcement officials said Friday that the new emails uncovered in the closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server were discovered after the F.B.I. seized electronic devices belonging to Huma Abedin, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, and her husband, Anthony Weiner. The F.B.I. is investigating illicit text messages that Mr. Weiner sent to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. The bureau told Congress on Friday that it had uncovered new emails related to the Clinton case -- one federal official said they numbered in the thousands -- potentially reigniting an issue that has weighed on the presidential campaign and offering a lifeline to Donald J. Trump less than two weeks before the election. In a letter to Congress, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said that emails had surfaced in an unrelated case, and that they 'appear to be pertinent to the investigation.' Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was taking steps to 'determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.' He said he did not know how long it would take to review the emails, or whether the new information was significant." Thanks to Victoria for the heads-up. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The story has been updated. ...

... The Washington Post's story, by Rosalind Helderman & others, is here. "As the news broke, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 150 points." CW: That's how much the markets like Trump. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: I must say I never guessed something as insignificant as Anthony's Weiner's dick would lead to the downfall of the United States. But there you go. ...

... ** Del Wilber & Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times: "The emails were not to or from Clinton, and contained information that appeared to be more of what agents had already uncovered, the official said, but in an abundance of caution, they felt they needed to further scrutinize them.... House Speaker Paul Ryan renewed his call to suspend classified briefings to the Democratic presidential nominee. Like Trump, Ryan took liberties in interpreting Comey's carefully worded letter. Ryan declared the FBI is reopening its investigation into Clinton's private email server, which is not what Comey wrote." -- CW ...

     ... CW: Wait, wait! "The emails were not to or from Clinton"? Yet Comey thought Trey Gowdy, King of Leakers, Jason Chaffetz, Price of Leakers, needed to know about them right before the election? Bull! ...

     ... Kevin Drum: "There. Is. Literally. Nothing. Here. WTF was Jim Comey thinking when he wrote his suggestive but ambiguous letter about these emails to eight congressional Republicans -- each of them practically slavering for Hillary Clinton's scalp -- 11 days before an election? And all of it based on absolutely nothing -- a fact that he very carefully avoided admitting. Has he gone completely around the bend?" -- CW ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "... according to the Wall Street Journal, the FBI has not even 'determined if the work emails in question are copies of messages already reviewed by the FBI.... NBC's Pete Williams reported Friday evening, 'it's very possible that many of these if not all of them are duplicates with the ones they have already seen from examining the e-mails that Hillary Clinton turned over to the State Department.' People at the FBI, Williams also noted, 'don't have any idea what's in these e-mails yet.'" -- CW ...

... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "The White House found out through media reports that the FBI would be reviewing additional emails related to its investigation into Hillary Clinton's private server as secretary of state, a spokesman said Friday.... 'We had that letter after it was made public,' [deputy press secretary Eric] Schultz said, 'so we did not have advance warning.'" -- CW ...

... Michele Gorman & Matthew Cooper of Newsweek: "Comey's letter doesn’t say his agents have discovered new witnesses or documents suggesting a criminal act occurred. Rather, he only suggests that evidence that had not yet been examined and, because it was relevant to the case, needs to be reviewed.... In his letter, Comey did not use the phrase being touted by Republicans that the case had been reopened. Technically it was never closed. Nor did he signal at all about the importance or unimportance about the emails.... 'I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made,' Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire early Friday afternoon. 'This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood. And it is everybody's hope that it is about to be corrected.' [CW: Notice how he completely mischaracterizes Comey's letter.] House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an end to classified briefings for Clinton." Thanks to Haley S. for the link. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... "Comey's Disclosure Shocks Former Prosecutors." Josh Gerstein, et al., of Politico: "James Comey's surprise announcement that investigators are examining new evidence in the probe of Hillary Clinton's email server put the FBI director back under a harsh spotlight, reigniting criticism of his unusual decision [last summer] to discuss the high-profile case in front of the media and two congressional committees.... Nick Akerman, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York..., [said], 'Director Comey acted totally inappropriately. He had no business writing to Congress about supposed new emails that neither he nor anyone in the FBI has ever reviewed.'... Former Justice Department and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Matthew Miller [said,] 'The Justice Department's longstanding practice is don't do anything seen as trying to influence an election. That's usually interpreted as 60 days, let alone 11.... It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really unfair to the voters. There's no reason he had to send this letter,' Miller told Politico." -- CW ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "A former director of the Justice Department's office of public affairs said Friday that FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress announcing the review of more evidence in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server constituted 'such an inappropriate disclosure.' Matthew Miller, who served at the Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder, blasted Comey's move in a 14-post spree on Twitter Friday afternoon, ripping the FBI director for his practices throughout the entire Clinton investigation." -- CW ...

... New York Times Editors: "Mrs. Clinton, as she has acknowledged, is responsible for this mess, which led Friday night to a gobsmacking headline on CNN: 'Weiner Sexting Probe Leads F.B.I. to Review Clinton Case.' If she is elected, she would do well to recall that line should she ever consider being less than forthcoming. Her apparent effort to blunt scrutiny by means of that private server has only led to far more damaging scrutiny and suspicion, with no end in sight. But Mr. Comey's failure to provide any specifics about a new, potentially important development, less than two weeks before Election Day, is confounding. As Mr. Comey put it in July: 'The American people deserve those details in a case of intense public interest.' They deserve details even more urgently today." -- CW ...

... Washington Post Editors: Mr. Comey "inevitably creates a cloud of suspicion over Ms. Clinton that, if the case's history is any guide, is unwarranted.... The question will be how badly damaged was Ms. Clinton's candidacy by the 11th-hour re-eruption of a controversy that never should have generated so much suspicion or accusation in the first place." -- CW ...

It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election. The Director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. -- John Podesda, Clinton campaign chair, in a statement

Comey needs to provide full info immediately. Otherwise he has clearly made a partisan intervention, betraying his office. -- Paul Krugman, in a tweet

Journalist Twitter is full of shock at FBI behavior here. That same shock should make it into news reports; not doing so misleads public -- Paul Krugman, in a tweet

... CW: Ed Kilgore is much more sanguine than I: "... the underlying 'story' of the emails isn't some sort of bombshell, and the odds are that the negative attention and any lingering substantive concerns among voters will be too little, too late to make much of a difference.... On the other hand the new email story -- unless the FBI or press leaks take the air out of it right away -- is a heaven-sent opportunity for the Trump campaign to convince its supporters he can still win, and that his ranting and raving about Clinton's supposed criminality is being vindicated. It won't get him 270 electoral votes, but it could boost Republican turnout enough to make a difference in down-ballot races, and maybe even make the evening of November 8 suspenseful even if fears of a voting machine hacks or Trumpian violence prove fanciful." ...

     ... CW: The "underlying 'story'" is some sort of bombshell: voters are reminded of Clinton's connection to Anthony Weiner, whose alleged activity (I'm sure you've seen the photos) is, in most people's minds, worse than Donald Trump's grabbing the asses of unsuspecting adult women. Yeah, yeah, Clinton isn't Weiner & Trump is Trump, but the disgust level is pretty much equal. ...

... Nate Silver: "My hunch (like The Washington Post's Dave Weigel's) is that Weiner is such a tragicomic figure, and such a lightning rod for news coverage, that he could insulate Clinton from some of the fallout she might have suffered otherwise. There are also fewer undecided voters now than there were in July, voter choices are more locked in, and many people have already voted -- which could lessen the impact." -- CW ...

... Jamelle Bouie: "Given the effect of past email news, it's possible this will turn off independent or undecided voters from Clinton. It's also possible that her negatives are already baked in and won't budge. And it's possible, perhaps likely, that it won't matter at all.... The folk theory of American democracy is that citizens deliberate on the issues and choose a candidate. That is false. The truth, as political scientists Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels describe in Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, is that voters are tribalistic. Their political allegiances come first, and their positions and beliefs follow.... If the final week of an election is a time of mass mobilization and hyperpartisanship, then the best odds are that the Weiner emails [[ and the renewed focus on Clinton's email server -- won't matter." -- CW

By Driftglass.... Abby Phillip, et al., of the Washington Post: "Later at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Trump denounced Clinton's response to Comey, claiming that she sought to 'politicize' the FBI's actions by claiming wrongly that his letter was sent only to Republican lawmakers. It was sent to both Democrats and Republicans. 'The FBI would not have reopened this case at this time unless it was a most egregious criminal offense,' Trump said. 'Justice will prevail.' The new development could reshape the presidential election in its final days. Speaking at the campaign event, Trump -- interrupted by chants of 'lock her up!' -- said that the new FBI probe 'is bigger than Watergate.'" CW: That's pretty much the opposite of what Comey wrote in his letter, but thank goodness Trump himself would not "politicize" the FBI.

Ben White of Politico: "The U.S. economy grew at a nearly 3 percent pace in the third quarter of the year, a better-than-expected reading that dents Donald Trump's case that growth has stalled out. The faster pace of 2.9 percent may not hold up in the final quarter of 2016 but it offers a positive headline to Hillary Clinton less than two weeks until Election Day...." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos: Donald Trump is stiffing his campaign "at a point where he had promised to 'triple match' contributions by his supporters.... [His] real cash contributions to his campaign was $0 in the first three weeks of the month." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "Even Trump's Kids Haven't Donated to His Campaign." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Election News

Trump Supporter Is First 2016 Voter Fraud Suspect. Paulina Firozi of the Hill: "A Republican woman in Iowa has been arrested on suspicion that she voted twice in the general election, according to a new report. Terri Lynn Rote, 55, was arrested and charged with first-degree election misconduct, The Des Moines Register reported. Rote allegedly voted early at an election office in Des Moines and then cast another ballot at a satellite voting location, according to police.... The Blaze noted Friday that the woman was an early supporter of ... Donald Trump." -- CW

Other News & Views

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday said it will decide whether the Obama administration may require public school systems to let transgender students use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, putting the court again at the center of a divisive social issue." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Well, Isn't This Speciial. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress. "On Thursday, news broke that Justice Clarence Thomas allegedly groped a 23 year-old woman at a dinner honoring Truman Scholars. And this is hardly the first time that a woman has come forward with similar allegations against Thomas. The justice famously faced sexual harassment allegations from his former employee Anita Hill during his confirmation hearing. Regardless of what may have occurred between Thomas and the women speaking out against him, his record as a justice suggests that he is not at all sympathetic to women's legal claims, especially in the context of sexual harassment. As a justice, Thomas has largely been hostile to litigants seeking to protect women's rights... And, in one of the most under-reported decisions of the last several years, he cast the key fifth vote to hobble the federal prohibition on sexual harassment in the workplace. Akhilleus: Does that include high tech harassment? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Ryan Hutchins of Politico: "Closing arguments in the trial of two former Chris Christie aides accused of closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge began on Friday morning, with federal prosecutors saying the two defendants took their loyalty to Christie to such an extreme that they subjected average residents to a bizarre 'political game.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Matt Friedman of Politico: "Once a GOP star, [Chris Christie's] fortunes have plummeted since the high point of his landslide re-election in 2013, and now look to be nearing rock-bottom as an aide's trial leads to embarrassing revelations about his possible complicity in the notorious lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Budget and infrastructure setbacks have wrecked his narrative of a renewed New Jersey. His failed presidential bid made him a punchline in his deep-blue home state, and his subsequent embrace of Trump has only made things worse. Christie is now in the awkward position of trying to distance himself from the candidate, even as he reportedly remains a key behind-the-scenes player.... And looming over everything is the sordid election-season revenge plot known as Bridgegate, which has been thrust back into the headlines in recent weeks by the trial of two of Christie's former subordinates -- and which has gone even worse for the governor than generally expected." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "A months-long standoff over the Dakota Access oil pipeline took a violent turn Thursday, when law enforcement officers used pepper spray and high-pitched warning tones to force protesters from a camp on private land in the pipeline's path in North Dakota, and at least one demonstrator opened fire on police, authorities said. Hundreds of local police officers and National Guard soldiers in riot gear began closing in on the protesters at midday, slowly advancing on the camp of about 200 with trucks and military Humvees, arresting people who refused to leave. By the end of the day, at least 141 protesters had been arrested, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Office." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

This Gun Shop Owner is A'Skeert of You. Kira Lerner of Think Progress: "Paul Chandler, the owner of Altra Firearms in rural Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, says he turns customers away at his door who are Muslim or who are supporting Hillary Clinton for president. The 54-year-old business owner posted a sign on the door of Altra Firearms conveying those rules, and he's currently running an ad in a local newspaper declaring: 'Please NO Muslims or Hillary Supporters  -- We do not feel safe selling to terrorists!'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- October 28, 2016

Afternoonish Update:

** Comey's October Surprise Is One Helluva a Friday Afternoon News Dump. Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal law enforcement officials said Friday that the new emails uncovered in the closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server were discovered after the F.B.I. seized electronic devices belonging to Huma Abedin, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, and her husband, Anthony Weiner. The F.B.I. is investigating illicit text messages that Mr. Weiner sent to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. The bureau told Congress on Friday that it had uncovered new emails related to the Clinton case -- one federal official said they numbered in the thousands -- potentially reigniting an issue that has weighed on the presidential campaign and offering a lifeline to Donald J. Trump less than two weeks before the election. In a letter to Congress, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said that emails had surfaced in an unrelated case, and that they 'appear to be pertinent to the investigation.' Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was taking steps to 'determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.' He said he did not know how long it would take to review the emails, or whether the new information was significant." Thanks to Victoria for the heads-up. -- CW ...

... The Washington Post's story, by Rosalind Helderman & others, is here. "As the news broke, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 150 points." CW: Thanks how much the markets like Trump. ...

... CW: I must say I never guessed something as insignificant as Anthony's Weiner's dick would lead to the downfall of the United States. But there you go. ...

... Michele Gorman & Matthew Cooper of Newsweek: "Comey's letter doesn't say his agents have discovered new witnesses or documents suggesting a criminal act occurred. Rather, he only suggests that evidence that had not yet been examined and, because it was relevant to the case, needs to be reviewed.... In his letter, Comey did not use the phrase being touted by Republicans that the case had been reopened. Technically it was never closed. Nor did he signal at all about the importance or unimportance about the emails.... 'I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made,' Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire early Friday afternoon. 'This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood. And it is everybody's hope that it is about to be corrected.' [CW: Notice how he completely mischaracterizes Comey's letter.] House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an end to classified briefings for Clinton." Thanks to Haley S. for the link. -- CW

It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election. The Director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining. -- John Podesda, Clinton campaign chair, in a statement

Comey needs to provide full info immediately. Otherwise he has clearly made a partisan intervention, betraying his office. -- Paul Krugman, in a tweet

Journalist Twitter is full of shock at FBI behavior here. That same shock should make it into news reports; not doing so misleads public -- Paul Krugman, in a tweet

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday said it will decide whether the Obama administration may require public school systems to let transgender students use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, putting the court again at the center of a divisive social issue." -- CW

Ben White of Politico: "The U.S. economy grew at a nearly 3 percent pace in the third quarter of the year, a better-than-expected reading that dents Donald Trump's case that growth has stalled out. The faster pace of 2.9 percent may not hold up in the final quarter of 2016 but it offers a positive headline to Hillary Clinton less than two weeks until Election Day...." -- CW

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos: Donald Trump is stiffing his campaign "at a point where he had promised to 'triple match' contributions by his supporters.... [His] real cash contributions to his campaign was $0 in the first three weeks of the month." -- CW ...

... Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "Even Trump's Kids Haven't Donated to His Campaign." -- CW

Ryan Hutchins of Politico: "Closing arguments in the trial of two former Chris Christie aides accused of closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge began on Friday morning, with federal prosecutors saying the two defendants took their loyalty to Christie to such an extreme that they subjected average residents to a bizarre 'political game.'" -- CW ...

... Matt Friedman of Politico: "Once a GOP star, [Chris Christie's] fortunes have plummeted since the high point of his landslide re-election in 2013, and now look to be nearing rock-bottom as an aide's trial leads to embarrassing revelations about his possible complicity in the notorious lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Budget and infrastructure setbacks have wrecked his narrative of a renewed New Jersey. His failed presidential bid made him a punchline in his deep-blue home state, and his subsequent embrace of Trump has only made things worse. Christie is now in the awkward position of trying to distance himself from the candidate, even as he reportedly remains a key behind-the-scenes player.... And looming over everything is the sordid election-season revenge plot known as Bridgegate, which has been thrust back into the headlines in recent weeks by the trial of two of Christie's former subordinates -- and which has gone even worse for the governor than generally expected." -- CW

Well, Isn't This Speciial. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress. "On Thursday, news broke that Justice Clarence Thomas allegedly groped a 23 year-old woman at a dinner honoring Truman Scholars. And this is hardly the first time that a woman has come forward with similar allegations against Thomas. The justice famously faced sexual harassment allegations from his former employee Anita Hill during his confirmation hearing. Regardless of what may have occurred between Thomas and the women speaking out against him, his record as a justice suggests that he is not at all sympathetic to women's legal claims, especially in the context of sexual harassment. As a justice, Thomas has largely been hostile to litigants seeking to protect women's rights... And, in one of the most under-reported decisions of the last several years, he cast the key fifth vote to hobble the federal prohibition on sexual harassment in the workplace. Akhilleus: Does that include high tech harassment?

Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "A months-long standoff over the Dakota Access oil pipeline took a violent turn Thursday, when law enforcement officers used pepper spray and high-pitched warning tones to force protesters from a camp on private land in the pipeline's path in North Dakota, and at least one demonstrator opened fire on police, authorities said. Hundreds of local police officers and National Guard soldiers in riot gear began closing in on the protesters at midday, slowly advancing on the camp of about 200 with trucks and military Humvees, arresting people who refused to leave. By the end of the day, at least 141 protesters had been arrested, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Office." -- CW

This Gun Shop Owner is A'Skeert of You. Kira Lerner of Think Progress: "Paul Chandler, the owner of Altra Firearms in rural Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, says he turns customers away at his door who are Muslim or who are supporting Hillary Clinton for president. The 54-year-old business owner posted a sign on the door of Altra Firearms conveying those rules, and he's currently running an ad in a local newspaper declaring: 'Please NO Muslims or Hillary Supporters  --  We do not feel safe selling to terrorists!'" -- CW

*****

** The Definition of Jury Nullification. Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "A federal jury on Thursday found Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five co-defendants not guilty of conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs through intimidation, threat or force during the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The Bundy brothers and occupiers Jeff Banta and David Fry also were found not guilty of having guns in a federal facility. Kenneth Medenbach was found not guilty of stealing government property, and a hung jury was declared on Ryan Bundy's charge of theft of FBI surveillance cameras." -- CW ...

... AP & Seattle Times: "The trial had a chaotic, dramatic end as Ammon Bundy's attorney Marcus Mumford argued his client should be released from confinement while U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown said he must be returned to the custody of federal marshals, since he still faced charges in Nevada. Mumford's protests grew louder and louder until he was finally tackled and tased by marshals.... The judge ordered the courtroom cleared." -- CW ...

... Leah Sottile of the Washington Post: "The jury was hung on the charge of theft of government cameras against Ryan Bundy. Ammon and Ryan Bundy will remain in custody over charges they face in Nevada -- where they will stand trial for the 2014 standoff with Bureau of Land Management officers on the family's ranch. The men will be transferred to Nevada, where their father, Cliven, is currently incarcerated, officials said." -- CW ...

... Betsy Hammond of the Oregonian: "That an all-white jury would acquit an all-white band of armed protesters of all wrongdoing the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff riled people across America, many of whom pointed to counter-examples that they say prove a similar band of blacks or Latinos would never have been cleared. The scenes of white Malheur refuge occupiers walking free on the same day that police and National Guard officers used mace and batons to arrest and drive away unarmed Native Americans protesting an oil pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation raised particular ire. The acquittals also follow police action against a diverse group of protesters in Portland who opposed a recently approved police union contract." -- CW ...

... German Lopez of Vox: "The verdict is completely absurd.... The militants staged their protest because they want to get federal employees out of these lands.... It is impossible to ignore race here. This was a group of armed white people, mostly men, taking over a facility. Just imagine: What would happen if a group of armed black men, protesting police brutality, tried to take over a police facility and hold it hostage for more than a month? Would they even come out alive and get to trial? Would a jury find them and their cause relatable, making it easier to send them back home with no prison time?" -- CW

Presidential Race

Scott Clement & Emily Gustin of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump has gained on Hillary Clinton during the past week, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll, solidifying support among core Republican groups as well as political independents.... Clinton holds a slight 48-44 percent edge over Trump among likely voters, with Libertarian Gary Johnson at 4 percent and Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 1 percent in the survey completed Sunday through Wednesday." -- CW ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker argues that Trump won't enjoy a Brexit-like surge & prevail November 8. CW: I remain superstitious.

Abby Phillip, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump raised about half as much as Hillary Clinton for his presidential campaign committee in the first 19 days of October, putting him at a severe financial disadvantage in the crucial final days of the White House contest, campaign finance reports filed late Thursday show.... And there was scant evidence that [Trump] ... will end up giving the $100 million he has repeatedly claimed he is donating to his bid. Trump gave his campaign about $31,000 in in-kind contributions in the first 19 days of the month -- down from the $2 million a month in cash he had been donating. Trump's total personal contributions to his campaign currently total a little more than $56 million." -- CW

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "In their first joint campaign appearance on Thursday, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton made a public show of sisterhood and mutual admiration as the current first lady, a star on the campaign trail, sought to use her soaring popularity to boost the former first lady into the Oval Office." -- CW ...

... Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times: "On Thursday..., First Lady Michelle Obama ... compared [Hillary] Clinton's trajectory as potentially the first female president to the historic role played by her husband. The U.S., she said, was not only the place where a 'biracial kid from Hawaii' could win the White House, but where the 'daughter of an orphan can break that highest, hardest glass ceiling.'... It was the first campaign appearance featuring both Clinton and the first lady, whose passionate stump speeches have helped frame opposition to Republican nominee Donald Trump. In an arena [in Winston-Salem, N.C.,] packed with 11,000 supporters..., Obama acknowledged that it's 'unprecedented' for a first lady to campaign as much as she has." -- CW

How one tax-exempt student newspaper got around the prohibition against engaging in political activity: "The Yale Record believes both candidates to be equally un-endorsable, due to our faithful compliance with the tax code. In particular, we do not endorse Hillary Clinton's exemplary leadership during her 30 years in the public eye. We do not support her impressive commitment to serving and improving this country -- a commitment to which she has dedicated her entire professional career. Because of unambiguous tax law, we do not encourage you to support the most qualified presidential candidate in modern American history, nor do we encourage all citizens to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all by electing Secretary Clinton on November 8." Via Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly. -- CW

Tim Egan: "At least one of my siblings, and some of my friends from high school, will be among the 50 million or so Americans waking up on Nov. 9 after giving their vote to a man who thinks very little of them, and even less of the country he wants to lead. Allow me one last attempt to help you avoid a hangover that will stay with you the rest of your life." -- CW

And just thinking to myself right now, we should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right? What are we even having it for? What are we having it for? -- Donald Trump, arguing that elections are unnecessary, at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, Thursday ...

... If you think a President Trump might "just cancel" the 2020 election, you're probably right. And he would probably speak of himself in the third person when he announced he was accepting a second term by his own proclamation. -- Constant Weader

By Driftglass.Jose DelReal & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "As he heads into a potential loss on Nov. 8, Trump has expanded the scale and scope of his accusations [about how the election is 'rigged'] to include ... Hillary Clinton, the media, establishment leaders from both parties and unidentified 'global financial powers.' 'When the people who control the political power in our society can rig investigations like [Clinton's] investigation was rigged, can rig polls, you see the phony polls, and rig the media, they can wield absolute power over your life, your economy and your country and benefit big-time by it,' Trump told a crowd this week in St. Augustine, Fla. 'They control what you hear and what you don't hear, what is covered, how it's covered, even if it's covered at all.' The 'power structure' he describes ... includes banking institutions, the judiciary, media conglomerates, voting security experts, Democratic tricksters, scientific polling and also perhaps military leaders. He has also accused Clinton of meeting 'with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty to enrich these global financial powers, her special-interest friends and her donors.' By emphasizing such rhetoric, the GOP nominee -- who has a history of circulating unsubstantiated accusations -- has sown distrust in basic democratic institutions among his supporters." -- CW

Joshua Green & Sasha Issenberg of Bloomberg go inside the Trump campaign, and it's more organized (as a money-making machine) -- and uglier -- than you might have imagined. Under the leadership of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the campaign, with the help of the Republican National Committee, has built a sophisticated donor-base digital operation for use both before & after the election, which means Trump is not planning to go away. In the meantime, a senior campaign official says, "We have three major voter suppression operations under way." The aim is to discourage voting among "idealistic white liberals, young women, and African Americans.... If the election results cause the party to fracture, Trump will be better positioned than the RNC to reach this mass of voters because he'll own the [donor] list himself -- and [RNC chair Reince] Priebus, after all he's endured, will become just the latest to invest with Trump and wind up poorer for the experience." ...

... OR, as Jonathan Chait puts it, "... Steve Bannon and other members of the Trump inner circle have to transition their campaign into a white-nationalist media organization after the campaign. Bannon came from Breitbart news, which he turned from a right-wing site with frequent racist overtones into a racist site with Republican overtones. He has helped merge Trump's campaign into the messaging operation he built, reorienting the conservative agenda around its xenophobic element. It is difficult to overestimate what a nightmare this would pose to the regular GOP should it come to fruition.... The Republicans built a monster to stave off defeat in the 2016 election. And that monster may torment them for years to come." -- CW ...

... Anne Laurie of Balloon Juice: "Steve Bannon and his fellow 'alt right' racists are using the Trump campaign as a shell to grab customers frustrated with the GOP brand.... The 'Trump campaign' is no longer about winning voters (if it ever was). It's about market share." -- CW ...

... Charles Pierce: "Unless the whole thing is some kind of Potemkin fundraising scam, and I do not dismiss that possibility entirely, any hope that the Republican establishment has of hand-waving Trumpism into ancient history is clearly doomed.... Suppressing minority voters -- rather than, say, earning their support with something beyond 'What have you got to lose?' -- is now as conventional a piece of Republican electoral strategy as tax cuts and fetus-fondling are. This is true at all levels, from the local polling place all the way up to the Supreme Court, and has been for quite some time. Hell, it was how William Rehnquist got his start in Republican politics and he went on to a sweet career, if I recall correctly. So having a senior official come clean on it is a nice detail to have, and it will make a lot of noise and, if American democracy continues its historic run of luck, the revelation will piss off enough people at whom the strategy is aimed to bury it under a landslide. I'm not betting heavy either way on that one." -- CW ...

... Kevin Drum Is Underwhelmed: "Ahem. For those of you new to American elections, allow me to blogsplain. This is called 'negative campaigning.' It is designed to make ones opponent look bad, and it has been a feature of every US election since -- well, roughly forever. The fact that a 'senior official' calls this voter suppression doesn't mean that it is. It just means that the Trump folks are amateurs who are laughably ignorant about what a 'major' operation of any kind actually looks like in a modern presidential campaign." -- CW ...

... Steve M.: "But here's what's not standard: '... neither Trump's campaign nor the RNC has prioritized registering and mobilizing the 47 million eligible white voters without college degrees who are Trump's most obvious source of new votes....' Right -- Team Trump isn't bothering to reach out to the unmotivated in the hope of persuading them to be Trump voters. That's what you do if you want to win an election. But maybe that's not what you do if you're really more interested in building a list of Trump hero-worshippers who might be the target market for future Trump-branded products.... I don't think the long-term post-defeat plan is to build a political movement. I think Trump-branded products will increasingly be marketed to Trump admirers." -- CW

Droit du Seigneur, Ctd. Scott Bixby of the Guardian: "A former beauty queen has become the 12th woman to openly accuse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of sexual assault. Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland in the Miss Universe competition that Trump once owned, alleged in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that Trump groped her before an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2006. 'Before the show we were photographed outside the building,' Laaksonen said, according to a translation provided by The Telegraph. 'Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt.... Somebody told me there that Trump liked me because I looked like Melania when she was younger,' Laaksonen said. 'It left me disgusted.'" -- CW

Senate Race

New GOP Rule: If one parent was born outside the U.S., you're not a "real American," no matter what. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "In a stunning moment during a Thursday night debate, an embattled U.S. senator cast doubt on his opponent's military and ethnic heritage. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), seeking to unseat GOP Sen. Mark Kirk in Illinois, invoked her family's military service while answering a debate question. 'My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution,' Duckworth said. 'I am a daughter of the American Revolution. I've bled for this nation....' Kirk was offered a chance to rebut. 'I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,' he said. Duckworth's mother, Lamai, is Thai, but her late father, Franklin, was a Marine veteran whose family roots in this country trace to before the American Revolution. Tammy Duckworth was severely wounded in the Iraq War.... Democrats immediately slammed Kirk for the attack. A spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called the remark 'offensive, wrong, and racist.'" -- CW

Election News

Alice Ollstein of Think Progress: "The North Carolina conference of the NAACP is threatening the state with lawsuits after reports poured in about hours-long early voting lines and the improper removal of elderly voters from the rolls less than two weeks before Election Day. 'We will invoke legal action if necessary to stop this runaway train,' North Carolina NAACP President Rev. Dr. William Barber told reporters on a conference call." -- CW

Other News & Views

Lydia Wheeler & Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Obama has commuted the sentences of 98 inmates, the White House announced Thursday. It was Obama's eighth round of commutations this year, bringing him to a total of 872 since taking office -- more than the past 11 presidents combined. He's commuted the sentences of 688 inmates this year alone." -- CW

David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "The spike in premiums [on the ACA exchanges] is a sign that not enough healthy people are signing up for the exchanges. Without healthy people to balance out the sick, insurance stops being insurance and becomes terribly expensive. The basic solution is straightforward. It involves increasing the subsidies for lower-income families -- while also increasing the penalties for people who refuse to sign up for health insurance." -- CW ...

... Paul Krugman: "The people who have been claiming all along that reform couldn't work, and have been wrong every step of the way, are, of course, claiming vindication. But they're wrong again. The bad news is real. But so are reform's accomplishments, which won't go away even if nothing is done to fix the problems now appearing. And technically, if not politically, those problems are quite easy to fix." -- CW

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: The federal government plans to house immigrant detainees in a privately-run facility it deems unfit for American prisoners: "When the Justice Department announced two months ago that it wanted to end the use of private prisons, Cibola County Correctional Center was exactly the kind of facility that officials desired to shut down. After a history of questionable deaths and substandard medical care, the New Mexico facility lost its contract. In recent weeks, it was emptied of inmates.... As soon as this week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- which is separate from the Justice Department -- is going to begin moving immigrant detainees into the facility under a new set of agreements with Corrections Corporation of America, a county official said.... Those detainees are not criminals, but often people who have fled countries where violence has grown rampant." -- CW

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Senate Republicans are choosing sides ahead of a brutal conflict over how to handle the lingering Supreme Court vacancy, with Jeff Flake firing back Thursday at a suggestion by Ted Cruz that the party could indefinitely block any nominee from Hillary Clinton. The internal GOP battle over what to do about Merrick Garland -- President Barack Obama's choice for the court -- and any future Clinton nominee will dominate the lame duck session of Congress after the election." -- CW ...

... ** Dahlia Lithwick: "With threats now emanating from the Senate to continue this blockade indefinitely, it's time for the chief justice to weigh in.... What can John Roberts say?... He can say, in the most sober, measured, and nonpartisan fashion that the court needs nine justices. He can note that although the court began with six justices -- and from 1863 to 1866 had 10 -- the Judiciary Act of 1869 stipulated that the court be made of nine justices. He can note what happened to FDR when he attempted to pack the court in 1937 and observe parenthetically that this revolt came from the American public. He can also point out that fluctuations in the authorized strength of the court came with changes in the circuit courts, not recreational obstruction in the Senate." -- CW

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "A 41-year-old lawyer has accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of groping her in 1999 when she was a young foundation fellow in Washington, D.C., National Law Journal reported Thursday. The lawyer, Moira Smith, said that Thomas repeatedly touched her rear multiple times as he pleaded for her to sit next to him at a dinner party hosted by the head of her scholarship program. The alleged incident occurred, Smith said, when just the two of them were alone near the table she was setting for the party. Four people who knew Smith at the time confirmed to National Law Journal that they recalled her recounting the incident to them soon after it happened. Thomas denied the claim." -- CW.

Beyond the Beltway

Ryan Hutchins & Katie Jennings of Politico: New Jersey "Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno staked her independence from Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday morning, in a highly public break with the governor.... In a radio interview..., Guadagno ... contradict[ed] the administration's position on a major ballot measure by suggesting voters can blow up a hard-won $16 billion infrastructure plan by opposing the amendment. Less than 15 minutes after Guadagno's remarks on New Jersey 101.5 FM, the governor's office emailed reporters saying that 'it must be a misunderstanding'.... But, as Guadagno quickly made clear, there was no misunderstanding. At a news conference in Trenton on Thursday afternoon, she said she 'was concerned and did my own research and took my own position.'" -- CW

News Lede

Washington Post: "The figures released by the Commerce Department indicate the economy is picking up steam after a slow first half of the year. In the second quarter, the economy had grown at a disappointing annual pace of only 1.4 percent." That's a good headline for Democrats.