The Commentariat -- April 11, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. agents who raided the office and hotel of President Trump's lawyer on Monday were seeking all records related to the 'Access Hollywood' tape..., according to three people who have been briefed on the contents of a federal search warrant. The search warrant also sought evidence of whether the lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, tried to suppress damaging information about Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.... The new details from the warrant reveal that prosecutors are keenly interested in Mr. Cohen's unofficial role in the Trump campaign. And they help explain why Mr. Trump was furious about the raid. People close to Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen regard the warrant as an attempt ... to pry into Mr. Trump's personal life -- using other prosecutors as his proxy."
Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama. Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy! -- Donald Trump, going crazy in a tweet today
Elana Schor of Politico: "A bipartisan Senate bill designed to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job is on track for a vote in the Judiciary Committee, according to a source briefed on the committee's plans. It's a significant step forward as lawmakers warn ... Donald Trump not to fire the man investigating him.... The new bill is the product of months-long talks among Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.). Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has yet to lend his full support, but that's not stopping him from setting up the legislation to advance.... However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reiterated yesterday that, despite fresh signs Trump is considering a firing, he is not convinced that a Mueller protection bill merits floor time in the chamber."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Ex-FBI Director James Comey compared President Trump to a 'mob boss' in a taped interview with ABC News, according to a promotional video released Wednesday.... The preview also shows [George] Stephanopoulos asking Comey if he believes President Trump obstructed justice and if he thinks the president should be impeached.... The interview is set to air on Sunday night. It will be Comey's first television interview since he was fired by Trump last May."
It's like Forrest Gump won the presidency, but an evil, really f*cking stupid Forrest Gump. He can't help himself. He's just a f**king idiot who thinks he's winning when people are b*tching about him.... If we're going to lose because of him, we might as well impeach the motherf**ker. Take him out with us and let Mike [Pence] take over.... I say a lot of shit on TV defending him, even over this. But honestly, I wish the motherf*cker would just go away. We're going to lose the House, lose the Senate, and lose a bunch of states because of him. All his supporters will blame us for what we have or have not done, but he hasn't led. He wakes up in the morning, sh*ts all over Twitter, sh*ts all over us, sh*ts all over his staff, then hits golf balls. F*ck him. Of course, I can't say that in public or I'd get run out of town. -- Unnamed GOP Congressman, speaking to Erick Erickson
Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "Ronny L. Jackson, President Trump's choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, is facing mounting skepticism from Senate Republicans over whether he has the management experience to lead the nation's second-largest bureaucracy. The comments from several GOP senators, particularly those with influence on veterans' issues, signal Jackson will have to work overtime to persuade not just Democrats but Trump's own party that he is qualified to oversee the beleaguered agency. That challenge comes at a time when Senate Republicans are already juggling other controversial nominations that will consume much of the political oxygen on Capitol Hill."
Charles Pierce has some heartfelt thoughts on Paul Ryan's retirement. Conclusion: "Biggest. Fake. Ever."
An Excellent Hire. Tierney Sneed & Josh Marshall of TPM: "Former Trump National Security Council official Ezra Cohen-Watnick is joining the Department of Justice as a national security adviser to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a source familiar with the matter told TPM Wednesday.... During his time at the NSC as the senior director for intelligence programs, Cohen-Watnick was a source of controversy. His ascent to the NSC, after just a few years at the Defense Intelligence Agency, surprised outside observers. His name emerged in the strange episode involving House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who made bombastic allegations of improper 'unmasking' of Trump associates by the Obama administration, though what role Cohen-Watnick played in the controversy remains in dispute."
Jennifer Kaplan of Bloomberg: "The U.S. marijuana industry has a new spokesman: John Boehner. The Republican former Speaker of the House has joined the advisory board of Acreage Holdings, a company that cultivates, processes and dispenses cannabis in 11 U.S. states. Boehner's endorsement, after saying nine years ago he was 'unalterably opposed' to legalization, could be considered a watershed event: Marijuana has gone mainstream.... Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld will join Boehner on the advisory board of Acreage, which holds 35 licenses for cannabis businesses in the U.S." Mrs. McC: Watershed event? Sounds like SOP for Boehner: he goes where the money is.
*****
NEW. Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Speaker Paul D. Ryan told House Republican colleagues on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in November, ending a brief stint atop the House and signaling the peril that the Republican majority faces in the midterm elections. Mr. Ryan told the House Republican Conference that he will serve until the end of this Congress in January, which will mark 20 years in Congress. But his retirement announcement is sure to kick off a succession battle for the leadership of the House Republican Conference, likely between the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, and the House majority whip, Steve Scalise of Louisiana. It could also trigger another wave of retirements among Republicans not eager to face angry voters in the fall and taking their cue from Mr. Ryan. As if on cue, Representative Dennis Ross, Republican of Florida, announced his retirement an hour after Mr. Ryan." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: At this writing, Ryan -- who has vowed he is quitting so he doesn't remain "a weekend dad," is holding a presser in which he has promised to keep dedicating himself to taking "entitlements" away from lazy losers. That's uplifting.
Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race? -- Donald Trump, this morning
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! -- Donald Trump, this morning
... John Wagner & Anton Troianovski of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Wednesday warned that missiles 'will be coming' toward Syria in response to a suspected chemical attack and taunted Russia for vowing to shoot down any incoming strikes.... The United States has been building a circumstantial case, based largely on videos and photographs, that a chemical attack by Syrian forces took place in the rebel-held enclave of Douma. Syri and Russia, a main backer of Assad, have insisted no attack happened and that only the opposition groups they call 'terrorists' possess chemical weapons. Trump appeared to be referring to a comment from Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, who was quoted by a Lebanese news outlet on Tuesday saying that Russia would confront a U.S. strike on Syria by shooting down missiles and striking their launchpads."
Raging Bull
So much Fake News about what is going on in the White House. Very calm and calculated with a big focus on open and fair trade with China, the coming North Korea meeting and, of course, the vicious gas attack in Syria. Feels great to have Bolton & Larry K on board. I (we) are--
....doing things that nobody thought possible, despite the never ending and corrupt Russia Investigation, which takes tremendous time and focus. No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable, and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD! -- Donald Trump, in an incomplete tweet this morning
Julie Davis & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Inside the White House, Mr. Trump -- furious after the F.B.I. raided his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen -- spent much of the day [Tuesday] brooding and fearful and near what two people close to the West Wing described as a 'meltdown.'... The raids on Monday on Mr. Cohen's Rockefeller Center office and Park Avenue hotel room have sent the president to new heights of outrage, setting the White House on edge as it faces a national security crisis in Syria and more internal staff churn.... People close to the White House said that over the weekend, the president engaged in few activities other than dinner at the Trump International Hotel. He tuned into Fox News, they said, watched reports about the so-called deep state looking to sink his presidency and became unglued. Mr. Trump angrily told his advisers that people were trying to undermine him and that he wanted to get rid of three top Justice Department officials -- Jeff Sessions, the attorney general; Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed [Robert] Mueller; and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director -- according to two people familiar with what took place." ...
... Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, multiple people familiar with the discussions tell CNN, a move that has gained urgency following the raid of the office of the President's personal lawyer. Such an action could potentially further Trump's goal of trying to put greater limits on special counsel Robert Mueller. This is one of several options -- including going so far as to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- Trump is weighing in the aftermath of the FBI's decision Monday to raid the office of Michael Cohen, the President's personal lawyer and longtime confidant. Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it's unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President." ...
... Andrew Restuccia & Nancy Cook of Politico: "The Trump White House punched back at its own Justice Department on Tuesday, with ... Donald Trump and senior officials expressing outrage over law enforcement raids on lawyer Michael Cohen -- and making thinly veiled threats to fire Russia special prosecutor Robert Mueller.... Amid the furor, the White House announced earlier Tuesday that Trump would skip an upcoming trip to Latin America and instead stay in Washington. Trump's decision to scrap this weekend's long-planned travel to the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, will leave the president largely alone in the White House with little on his schedule, giving him time to stew and watch cable news. Angry and increasingly isolated, the president is more unpredictable than ever, according to four people close to him." ...
... Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "As President Trump continued to fume on Tuesday about the Justice Department's raids on the office and hotel room of his longtime personal lawyer, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, made a provocative claim: The president, she said, believes he has the legal authority to fire Robert S. Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia investigation.... Ms. Sanders's initial remark on Tuesday was vague. But when pressed to clarify whether she meant only that Mr. Trump could direct Mr. Rosenstein to fire Mr. Mueller, she insisted instead that 'a number of individuals in the legal community and including at the Department of Justice' have said that Mr. Trump himself has the power to oust him.... But there is scant precedent supporting the notion that Mr. Trump has lawful authority to bypass the acting attorney general and directly fire Mr. Mueller, legal scholars said." Savage explores legal theories & precedents.
Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "In early December, President Trump, furious over news reports about a new round of subpoenas from the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, told advisers in no uncertain terms that Mr. Mueller's investigation had to be shut down. The president's anger was fueled by reports that the subpoenas were for obtaining information about his business dealings with Deutsche Bank, according to interviews with eight White House officials, people close to the president and others familiar with the episode. To Mr. Trump, the subpoenas suggested that Mr. Mueller had expanded the investigation in a way that crossed the 'red line' he had set last year in an interview with The New York Times. In the hours that followed Mr. Trump's initial anger over the Deutsche Bank reports, his lawyers and advisers worked quickly to learn about the subpoenas, and ultimately were told by Mr. Mueller's office that the reports were not accurate, leading the president to back down.... Despite assurances from leading Republicans like Speaker Paul D. Ryan that the president has not thought about firing Mr. Mueller, the December episode was the second time Mr. Trump is now known to have considered taking that step."
Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Rod J. Rosenstein, the veteran Republican prosecutor handpicked by President Trump to serve as deputy attorney general, personally signed off on Monday's F.B.I. decision to raid the office of Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's personal attorney and longtime confidant, three government officials said. The early-morning searches enraged Mr. Trump, associates said, setting off an angry public tirade Monday evening that continued in private at the White House as the president fumed about whether he should fire Mr. Rosenstein. The episode has deeply unsettled White House aides, Justice Department officials and lawmakers from both parties, who believe the president may use it as a pretext to purge the team leading the investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.... Mr. Rosenstein's personal involvement in the decision signals that the evidence seen by law enforcement officials was significant enough to persuade the Justice Department's second-in-command that such an aggressive move was necessary.... Mr. Trump considered firing Mr. Rosenstein last summer. Instead, he ordered Mr. Mueller to be fired, then backed down after the White House counsel refused to carry out the order, The New York Times reported in January." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... New Lede: "The F.B.I. agents who raided the office of President Trump's personal lawyer on Monday were looking for records about payments to two women [Playboy model Karen McDougal & adult-film actress Stormy Daniels] who claim they had affairs with Mr. Trump, and information related to the publisher of The National Enquirer's role in silencing one of the women, several people briefed on the investigation said." ...
... Ken White, in the New York Times, provides an excellent summary of why the FBI's raid of Cohen's records is "highly dangerous, and not just for Mr. Cohen. It's perilous for the president, whose personal lawyer now may face a choice between going down fighting alone or saving his own skin by giving the wolves what they want." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jonathan Karl & Josh Margolin of ABC News: "Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is recused from the Michael Cohen investigation, ABC News has learned. Berman was not involved in the decision to raid Cohen's office because of the recusal, two sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. The recusal was approved by senior Justice Department officials who report to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the sources said Rosenstein himself was notified of the recusal after the decision was made. The raid of Cohen's office was handled by others in the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and approved by a federal judge." Mrs. McC: I'd guess Berman let this leak to save himself from the Wrath of Trump.
Don Lemon of CNN: "In his first comments since the FBI raid on his home and office, Michael Cohen said the FBI agents 'were extremely professional, courteous and respectful.' The comments contrast with ... Donald Trump who complained Monday that agents 'broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys.'... He said that he is very loyal to Trump but after what happened on Monday, he'd rethink how he handled the payments to Daniels because of the impact on his family."
Sarah Fitzpatrick, et al., of NBC News: "Adult film actress Stormy Daniels is cooperating with federal investigators looking into a $130,000 payment she received from ... Donald Trump's personal attorney, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told NBC News. The cooperation is in connection with a broader federal probe of the attorney, Michael Cohen...."
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Dana Boente, the former acting attorney general who now serves as general counsel at the FBI, has been interviewed by the special counsel's office and turned over handwritten notes that could be a piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation into whether President Trump obstructed justice, according to people familiar with the matter. Boente was interviewed some months ago by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team on a wide range of topics, including his recollections of what former FBI director James B. Comey told him about troubling interactions with Trump, one of the people said. The interview is significant because it shows how Mueller is exploring whether the president obstructed justice and keying in on conversations Trump had with his former FBI director about the probe involving his presidential campaign. It also shows the extent to which Mueller has gone to corroborate Comey's account."
The Biggest Buffoon. New York Times Editors: "Mr. Trump has spent his career in the company of developers and celebrities, and also of grifters, cons, sharks, goons and crooks. He cuts corners, he lies, he cheats, he brags about it, and for the most part, he's gotten away with it, protected by threats of litigation, hush money and his own bravado. Those methods may be proving to have their limits when they are applied from the Oval Office. Though Republican leaders in Congress still keep a cowardly silence, Mr. Trump now has real reason to be afraid.... On Monday, when he appeared with his national security team, Mr. Trump, whose motto could be, 'The buck stops anywhere but here,' angrily blamed everyone he could think of for the 'unfairness' of an investigation that has already consumed the first year of his presidency, yet is only now starting to heat up." ...
... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "... despite how rare an action it is to pierce attorney-client privilege this way, the big-picture story here seems inevitable: Once a serious prosecutor with resources and authority began taking a good long look at Trump and his associates, a bunch of people were going to be in big trouble, with some winding up behind bars.... The Cohen raid isn't a 'fishing expedition,' and didn't happen because Mueller suspected he might find something interesting, despite how Trump himself and his defenders would like to characterize it as a case of a special prosecutor out of control... Trump ... may well be the single most corrupt major business figure in the United States of America.... So it was no accident that when he ran for president, the people who joined him in his quest were also a collection of grifters, liars, and crooks.... Things were bad for Trump before. But they just got a whole lot worse." ...
Kellyanne Conway's Husband Implies Trump Is a Buffoon. Jane Coaston of Vox: "George Conway, husband of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, spent Tuesday morning subtweeting President Trump.... Conway is a star conservative lawyer who represented Paula Jones in her lawsuit against then-President Bill Clinton, and who was under consideration for both the post of solicitor general in January 2017 and the role of head of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in June 2017.... Conway has been passive-aggressively offering up his opinion on the president's legal problems on the president's favorite platform.... [For instance,] In response to Trump's exasperated tweet Tuesday morning that read, 'attorney-client privilege is dead!'..., Conway tweeted just a link to the Justice Department's guidance on when searches can be conducted on attorneys." Mrs. McC: Curious. Does this mean Kellyanne has had enough? Or what?
Speaking of Shady Characters. Erin Banco of NJ.com: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is examining a series of previously unreported meetings that took place in 2017 in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, as part of its broader investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to two sources briefed on the investigation. The sources said several of those meetings took place around the same time as another meeting in the Seychelles between Erik Prince, founder of the security company Blackwater, Kirill Dmitriev, the director of one of Russia's sovereign wealth funds, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates (also known as 'MBZ').... The inquiry into the meetings in the Seychelles suggests there is growing interest on the Mueller team in whether foreign financing, specifically from Gulf states, has influenced President Trump and his administration." Banco likens the goings-on in the Seychelles to a "Hollywood thriller." ...
Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Republican leaders sharply warned President Trump not to fire Robert S. Mueller III on Tuesday -- but they once again stopped short of embracing legislation to protect the special counsel. Their reluctance to take more-forceful action came as Democratic leaders voiced new urgency about shielding Mueller a day after Trump said he had been encouraged by some to dismiss the special counsel. At least one rank-and-file Republican endorsed moving forward soon with a bill to protect him.... 'I haven't seen clear indication yet that we needed to pass something to keep him from being removed, because I don't think that's going to happen,' said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell did not elaborate on why he believed that.... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) ... said on Fox Business Network it would be 'suicide for the president to want, to talk about firing Mueller.'"
Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump and his advisers on Tuesday weighed a more robust retaliatory strike against Syria than last year's missile attack, reasoning that only an escalation of force would look credible and possibly serve as a deterrent against further use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians." ...
... Ed Kilgore: "Normally I would be reluctant to suggest that the president of the United States -- even this president of the United States -- would launch a military strike because he's infuriated with things that have nothing to do with Syria. But reading through the news accounts today of Trump's state of mind after he canceled a trip to South America, you have to wonder."
Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to strengthen existing work requirements and introduce new ones for low-income Americans receiving Medicaid, food stamps, public housing benefits and welfare as part of a broad overhaul of government assistance programs. The order directs federal agencies to review all policies related to current work requirements as well as exemptions and waivers and report back to the White House with recommendations within 90 days.... Poverty advocates criticized the moves. 'For those who are able to work, they should work. But there shouldn't be barriers for those who are in need when they can't work,' said Derrick Johnson, president and chief executive of the NAACP."
"Of the 23 people we know took an oath [Jan. 22, 2017], 14 have resigned, been fired or announced their resignations." -- Philip BumpHalf of "the Best People" Are Out the Door. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The Brookings Institution tracks what it calls the president's 'A Team,' a group of administration positions..., which excludes Cabinet positions.... Their estimate is that turnover in those 65 positions is at 49 percent since Trump took office. Of those 32 changes, 20 were resignations -- six of them voluntary. The other 12 were promoted. Trump had more 'A Team' turnover in his first year than Barack Obama or both Bushes had through two.
Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "The Environmental Protection Agency has been examining posts on Twitter and other social media about Scott Pruitt, the agency's administrator, to justify his extraordinary and costly security measures.... The social media efforts have come under scrutiny by some Democratic lawmakers, as well as senior officials at the E.P.A., who said the review had uncovered individuals sounding off against Mr. Pruitt but had found no actionable threats against him. One top E.P.A. official said in an interview that he had objected to the efforts when they were first discussed last year, to no avail.... Two Democratic senators [-- Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) & Tom Carper (Delaware) --] said on Tuesday that an agency whistle-blower had provided them with an internal E.P.A. memo concluding that a threat assessment prepared by Mr. Pruitt's security detail did not appear to justify the increased protection.... An individual involved in writing the memo, Mario Caraballo, has been removed from his job as deputy associate administrator of the homeland security office, although an E.P.A. official said the dismissal was unrelated to the memo." ...
... Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "Two Democratic senators demanded a congressional inquiry Tuesday into the justification underpinning the round-the-clock security detail for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, citing new documents suggesting that level of security is not justified. Writing to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), fellow panel members Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) reference several internal EPA documents -- which they kept confidential ... -- that allude to the kind of threats that have not traditionally triggered 24/7 protection. Those include messages threatening to leave scrapings of old paint at the administrator's office and one telling Pruitt 'we are watching you' on the agency's climate-related policies.... The agency pushed back strongly on Tuesday. 'Scott Pruitt has faced a unprecedented amount of death threats against him,' spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Rats ... Sinking Ship. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced another major departure from its senior ranks on Tuesday, with the resignation of Thomas P. Bossert as President Trump's chief adviser on homeland security. Mr. Bossert's resignation coincided with the arrival of John R. Bolton as the president's national security adviser, and was an unmistakable sign that Mr. Bolton is intent on naming his own people." ...
... Update: Jeremy Diamond, et al., of CNN: "White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert was pushed out of his position by the newly installed national security adviser John Bolton, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Brad Reed of RawStory: "An ally of President Donald Trump has made a shocking claim that the president was initially reluctant to pick John Bolton as his national security adviser -- but then he decided to go through with it anyway as a means to quiet down the Stormy Daniels story.... Talking with Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman, an unnamed 'friend' of Trump said that the president felt the need to oust former national security adviser H.R. McMaster because he was tired of seeing wall-to-wall coverage of Stormy Daniels.... Trump announced his pick of Bolton as his new national security adviser on March 22 -- three days before the Daniels interview aired on CBS' '60 Minutes.'"
** Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of the Washington Post: "The Department of Veterans Affairs ... has tens of thousands of full- and part-time vacancies nationwide, according to data compiled by veterans advocates, lawmakers and federal unions. Most urgently, the agency's health-care network needs thousands of primary care physicians, mental-health providers, physical therapists, social workers -- even janitorial staff, Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), ranking Democrat of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, told The Washington Post in an interview. Of equal concern, he said, VA lacks enough human resources personnel to vet candidates and make the hires.... President Trump, and the conservative groups advising him, has seized on the long waits many veterans face at government facilities as grounds for aggressively expanding a program that enables patients to seek services from private providers at taxpayer expense. The proposal is deeply divisive, however, with opponents, including Democrats and Republicans in Congress, saying the effort could further weaken VA. Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin late last month after legislation directing a modest expansion of the program failed to make it into the budget approved by Congress."
David Corn of Mother Jones: "Last week, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on a small group of Russian oligarchs.... One of the oligarchs on the list was Viktor Vekselberg, who was identified as the founder and chairman of the Renova Group, which manages investment funds in several sectors of the Russian economy.... Vekselberg ... was recently a business associate of Wilbur Ross, President Trump's commerce secretary. Ross and Vekselberg were each a major investor in a Cyprus bank that had been linked to dirty Russian money -- a connection that Ross tried to downplay when he faced confirmation before the US Senate last year.... In announcing its recent sanctions on Russia, the Treasury Department suggested that Vekselberg runs a corrupt outfit.... [T]his remains one of the Trump-Russia connections that still warrants greater explanation." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)
Margaret Hartmann: "As one of Washington's most conservative Democrats and someone running for reelection in a state Donald Trump won by 36 points, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp frequently appears on lists of lawmakers who might switch parties. On Tuesday she revealed that Trump actually urged her to become a Republican at least once, but she declined. 'When I visited with him in Trump Tower before he was sworn in, he asked me to switch parties,' Heitkamp told the Washington Post. At the time the Trump team was said to be considering Heitkamp and fellow Democratic Senator Joe Manchin for Cabinet positions, which in addition to demonstrating bipartisanship, would have cleared the way for Republicans to take their seats."
The Tax Swindle. Dave Gilson of Mother Jones: "When he was selling the new tax law last fall, President Donald Trump insisted it 'is going to cost me a fortune.' In fact, any way you count it, he and his cronies will undoubtedly save a bundle.... The tax cuts will add at least $1 trillion to the federal deficit by 2027. Just before Trump signed them into law, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) started talking up the urgent need for 'entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit.'... Treasury Secretary Mnuchin declared that the tax cuts would pay for themselves by spurring the economy. (His source? A one-page handout.) Trump ... predicted ... GDP growth rate -- by as much as 'even 6 percent.'... Goldman Sachs predicts GDP growth will increase by 0.3 points." --safari: With lots of stats and charts that the entire GOP blatantly lies to us about.
Organized "Religion". Katie Glueck of McClatchy D.C.: "Conservative leaders are increasingly worried that evangelical voters' devotion to Donald Trump isn't translating into excitement for other Republican candidates.... Top Christian conservative activists say that Republican-controlled Congress still hasn't made good on a number of major policy priorities -- and they are now warning of an enthusiasm gap with evangelicals.... For all of the current focus on the president's tawdry past ... evangelical leaders insist that their base is as supportive of Trump as ever.... Activists were particularly incensed by the failure to repeal Obamacare." --safari
"What's the Matter with Americans? Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "[T]he better a state does at extending the lives of its residents, the more Democratic it is. The worse a state does, the more Republican it is.... Red state residents continue to vote for low taxes, low services, and Republican government, even though this wreaks havoc with their health. Then they get all bitter and angry because their health is bad and nobody pays attention to their woes, so they vote for Republicans some more. That's quite the amazing feedback loop." With charts --safari
David Smith of the Guardian: "Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook chief executive, warned on Tuesday of an online propaganda 'arms race' with Russia and vowed that fighting interference in elections around the world is now his top priority. The 33-year-old billionaire, during testimony that lasted nearly five hours, was speaking to Congress in what was widely seen as a moment of reckoning for America's tech industry. It came in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which, Facebook has admitted, the personal information of up to 87 million users were harvested without their permission. Zuckerberg's comments gave an insight into the unnerving reach and influence of Facebook in numerous democratic societies." ...
... ** Will Oremus of Slate: "Senators grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for five hours on Tuesday, but the big takeaway was hard to pin down. That's because Zuckerberg was, too. Summoned to testify about Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, he shrewdly gamed a flawed format to wriggle out of tough questions, while taking advantage of bad ones to expose the lawmakers' shaky understanding of his company's products. In the process, he implicitly made the case that Facebook's users might be no better off with Congress making decisions about their online privacy than they are with Zuckerberg controlling the knobs.... Facebook's stock leapt 4.5 percent on the day, if that tells you just how worried its investors are now."
... Dana Milbank: "Zuckerberg came prepared with one message to those who would regulate Facebook: Trust me. 'I'm committed to getting this right,' he promised. Problem is, whenever the questioning got tough, Zuckerberg made clear that he could not be trusted to give an answer.... [Typical response: 'I want to have my team follow up with you on that.'] His professed ignorance, therefore, was most likely a calculation that he could avoid committing to much -- and it wouldn't come back to bite him. He was probably right. Senators seemed as if they were less interested in regulating him than in gawking at him." ...
... New York Times: "Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, will make his much-anticipated appearance before members of Congress starting Tuesday afternoon. In two days of hearings, he will face tough questions on how and why the company failed to protect the delicate data of many millions of its users.... The joint Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees will hold their hearing shortly after the start of 2:15 p.m. floor vote on Tuesday. Mr. Zuckerberg will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. ...
Adios, Mofo. AP in the Guardian: "A conservative commentator who sent a tweet saying he would use 'a hot poker' to sexually assault an outspoken 17-year-old survivor of the Florida high school shooting has resigned from a St Louis TV station and been taken off the radio after several advertisers withdrew from his shows...KDNL-TV accepted Jamie Allman's resignation and canceled The Allman Report, according to a brief statement from the Sinclair Broadcast Group." --safari
Beyond the Beltway
Mike Elk in the Guardian: "At a time when migrants are being demonized, some teachers on the road to Oklahoma City said they were marching to get more support for Spanish speakers and to better fund bilingual education.... Strike leaders ... say the role of Latinos and their migrant allies has been largely obscured.... While the media has also compared the teachers' strikes to recent student walkouts over gun violence ... it has largely ignored the inspiration some teachers have drawn from Latino students who walked out in protest when Donald Trump repealed protections for undocumented young people." --safari
Tony Pugh of McClatchy D.C.: "An estimated 20,000 poor parents in Mississippi would lose health coverage over five years under a state proposal to require Medicaid recipients to work for their benefits, researchers at Georgetown University reported Tuesday.... Mississippi has asked the Trump administration for permission to require at least 20 hours per week of work or approved work activities in order to retain coverage under Medicaid.... Mississippi's income cutoff to qualify for Medicaid coverage is one of the nation's lowest at 27 percent of the federal poverty level - about $5,610 annually for a family of three, the report said." --safari
News Lede
New York Times: "Atleast 257 people died when an Algerian military transport plane filled with soldiers and civilians crashed near the capital on Wednesday, Algeria's Defense Ministry said, in the deadliest of numerous air accidents involving aircraft from the country in recent years. The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 transporter slammed into a field shortly after takeoff from a military base in Boufarik, about 15 miles southwest of Algiers. The victims included 26 members of Western Sahara's Polisario independence movement, an official in Algerias governing F.L.N. party said."
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