The Commentariat -- August 15, 2016

Afternoon Update:

CW: For a most enjoyable Trumpsky read, I suggest this column by Digby (for Salon). It includes some stuff I didn't know about, like Trump's addition of "female right wing cranks" to his policy team.

Jonathan Martin & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: Donald Trump "has not just walled himself off from African-American voters where they live. He has also turned down repeated invitations to address gatherings of black leaders, ignored African-American conservatives in states he needs to win and made numerous inflammatory comments about minorities.... Some of Mr. Trump's advisers ... have called on him to broaden his campaign [to include black voters]." CW: Ha ha. That'll work. There are probably many black voters who enjoyed Trump's birther campaign & were charmed when Trump invited rally-goers to "Look at my African-American over here." And what black voter wouldn't want to hang out with these Trump rally attendees? --

AP photo. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "There's no demonstrated in-person voter fraud problem in Pennsylvania (or anywhere else, for that matter).... But it's not surprising that this is a part of Trump's campaign...: When Trump's campaign director Paul Manafort was helping to coordinate the campaign effort of a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine in 2006, he used similar tools and rhetoric. In 2004, Ukraine held a presidential election that actually was riddled with fraud and abuse.... Monitoring of the election ... found a number of problems focused on the campaign of Viktor Yanukovych, who ... was friendlier to Moscow.... The rampant fraud led to a series of protests dubbed the Orange Revolution -- and a second ballot, which [Viktor] Yushchenko won. At some point over the next two years, Yanukovych hired" Manafort's firm for an "extreme makeover." "There's no question that in Ukraine in 2006, there was cause to be concerned about election-rigging by the party in power -- Yanukovych's." -- CW

The Manafortian Candidate. Meghan Kenealy of ABC News provides a rundown of Russia's role in and insurgence into the 2016 presidential election and the increasingly disturbing turning of Donald Trump toward the east. Here's a taste: "When Trump was asked in December about reports that [Vladimir] Putin was cracking down on internal dissent by killing journalists and political opponents, Trump's response seemed complimentary of Putin. 'He's running his country and at least he's a leader, unlike what he have in this country,' Trump said. And when Putin described Trump as a 'bright and talented person,' Trump released a statement through his spokesman, Hope Hicks, that said in part: 'It is always so great to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.'" -- Akhilleus

And Just Like Clockwork...who steps up to claim that Donald Trump is the All American boy, it's that horrible nee-groe who's [Vladimir] Putin's best buddy? Why, Liz Peek, of Fox, of course: "...it is President Obama who has allowed the Russian strongman to become the power broker in the Middle East. It is thanks to Obama that Putin enjoys 82 percent approval ratings at home."

Akhilleus: Hahahahahaha. The claim that Obama is responsible for Putin's skyrocketing approval ratings is never substantiated, but what can you expect (and leave us not even venture to mention that Putin's approval rating in Russia is whatever he wants it to be) from Fox? It's funny how wingers, when they go on about Putin, mention, with Obama in their sights, what a terrible person he is, but in the next sentence seem to believe, childishly, that things like opinion polls in Russia, over which Putin has complete control, are all on the up and up. Peek, who is a terrible writer by the way, and a worse thinker, bases her stance that Obama is an awful president on the fact that he hasn't started a war with Russia yet. The weenie! How do these people have jobs? Oh, yes. Roger Ailes. That's how. Wonder how ol' Rog is doing now that he's not blackmailing women for sex? Life sucks and then you die. Maybe Douthat will lend Rog one of his blow-up dolls.

*****

Presidential Race

Jake Tapper & Tal Kopan of CNN: "Members of Congress will soon receive notes from Hillary Clinton's interview with the FBI over her private email server and they could be sent as early as Monday, according to sources. The FBI does not have a complete transcript of the interview, FBI Director James Comey told Congress in long testimony earlier this summer. She was not under oath, he added. But members of Congress will have access to notes taken during the interview." CW: The big question is, how many minutes will it Congressional Republicans & staffers to leak portions of the notes to the press? A secondary question: how inaccurately can they recount the content in the notes? And third, how will the media, in not revealing their sources, report the leaks? As fact? ...

     ... CW: MEANWHILE, for some unbeknownst reason, Republicans in Congress have no interest in investigating the underworld doings of the campaign chairman for their presidential candidate, doings that clearly have influenced the candidate and their party's platform.

Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton's campaign is attacking Donald Trump on Russia ahead of his foreign policy speech set for Monday, calling for him to disclose any connections that exist between Russia and aides to the Republican nominee. 'On the eve of what the Trump campaign has billed as a major foreign policy speech, we have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump's team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine,' campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement late Sunday night." -- CW

Paul Krugman: "Mrs. Clinton's economic vision ... [is] very much a center-left vision: incremental but fairly large increases in high-income tax rates, further tightening of financial regulation, further strengthening of the social safety net. It's also a vision notable for its lack of outlandish assumptions. Unlike just about everyone on the Republican side, she isn't justifying her proposals with claims that they would cause a radical quickening of the U.S. economy. As the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center put it, she's 'a politician who would pay for what she promises.'" -- CW

The Talented Mr. Trump. Laurie Kellman & Julie Pace of the AP: "Any country that wants to work with the U.S. to defeat 'radical Islamic terrorism' will be a U.S. ally, [Donald Trump] is expected to say [in a speech today].... Trump is also expected to propose creating a new, ideological test for admission to the country that would assess a candidate's stances on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. Through questionnaires, searching social media, interviewing friends and family or other means, applicants would be vetted to see whether they support American values like tolerance and pluralism." CW: So if one fell swoop, Trump will provide a rationale/excuse for allying with Russia & a reason he himself should not be allowed into the U.S., what with his views on "religious freedom, gender equality, gay rights ... tolerance and pluralism," not to mention the very concept of imposing "ideological purity" on immigrants.

Rebecca Morin of Politico: "In a series of tweets Sunday, Donald Trump launched a new tirade against the media, calling it 'disgusting' and blaming it for his drop in polls. His latest tweet storm first targeted The New York Times, which published an article Saturday about the GOP nominee's allegedly failing campaign, but quickly expanded as an indictment of the media in general." CW: Trump cannot lose unless a vast left-wing conspiracy "cheats" him & the "Second Amendment people." ...

If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%. -- Whiney Boy, Sunday, in a tweet ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Trump's problem is not that the 'disgusting and corrupt media' is putting false meaning into things he says. The problem is that Trump's only messenger is himself, and that he says things that seem to objective observers inside and outside the media as questionable. Trump is mad at how his speeches are covered by the media because he can't figure out why the strategy isn't working the way it did during the primary season. He can put out any message he wants on TV or in mail or wherever he wants.... But for some incomprehensible reason, he won't." -- CW ...

... Steve M. "Trump's confusion is understandable.... The mainstream media tells us over and over again that both parties are exactly the same with regard to anger (and everything else, for that matter).... And the conservative media's message is that ... the only reason anyone isn't a conservative Republican is brainwashing (by the 'liberal media,' by academia, by the 'Democrat Party')." CW: So see? It is the media's fault! ...

It is not 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and other are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet ...

... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic explains freedom of the press, or as Trump would have it, "freedom of the press," to Donald Trump. Yo, Donaldo, it's why you get to repeatedly say, "Obama is the founder of ISIS," even though it's "completely false!" & nobody locked you up.

... Rebecca Savransky: "CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday got into a heated exchange with Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, after Manafort continued to criticize the media for not focusing on the Republican presidential nominee's message." -- CW ...

... Secrets of the Black Ledger. Andrew Kramer, et al., of the New York Times: Goverment officials in Kiev, Ukraine, have found the name of Paul Manafort, "as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort's main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych. Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych's pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials. In addition, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych's inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles.... Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin." ...

     ... CW: That is, the campaign chairman and would-be Svengali for the Republican presidential nominee received millions of dollars arranging corrupt deals for himself & prominent pro-Russian politicians & businessmen, all against the interests of Ukraine & pro-Western Ukrainian leaders. Oh, and it's alleged Manafort was laundering money for his Kremlin cronies. In short, the GOP nominee's top man has given aid & comfort to the enemy & made off with a bundle doing it. We knew, or thought we knew, much of this before, but it remains astonishing, particularly in light of Trump's many pro-Russia, anti-U.S. remarks. To put all this in perspective, Crooked Hillary was careless with her e-mails. ...

You could go to the Bada Bing and yell, 'Hey, Joey,' and come up with a more competent, ethical team. -- Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney strategist 2012, August 15, 2016

... Speaking of Hillary ... I'm Not Rubber, But You're Glue. CW: The Times story is surely the reason for this pre-emptive projection. Rebecca Savransky: "A senior adviser to ... Donald Trump on Sunday said ... Hillary Clinton and her husband have 'real connections' to Russia. 'There's concrete evidence of the coziness between the Clintons and Russia," Boris Epshteyn said on Fox News. He called stories of the GOP nominee's links to Russia a 'ridiculous narrative by the left.' 'The Clintons are the ones that have real connections to Russia,' he said." ...

... MEANWHILE. John Aravois of AmericaBlog: "Donald Trump's ousted former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, just tweeted a blockbuster new New York Times story that's highly critical of Donald Trump's current campaign manager, Paul Manafort. And the Internet is abuzz.... This is fascinating stuff, as it's indicative of just bad things have gotten in Trump-land.... Everyone on Twitter, conservatives included, are taking this as a sign of Corey knifing Manafort in the back at a particularly precarious time for the campaign.... [The Trump campaign's ties to Russia] only got creepier this morning when Manafort told CNN's Jake Tapper that a NATO base in Turkey was recently attacked by terrorists. Manafort is mistaken. The story is a fake. Its source? Russian counterintelligence.... Big trouble for moose and squirrel." -- CW ...

... Update. Lewandowski, Leashed. Rebecca Savransky: "... Corey Lewandowski on Monday pushed back against a recent report drawing a connection between ... Paul Manafort and the Ukraine.... 'The media is now focusing on a private person who had a private business model, which no one says is anything illegal about what he did and as a matter of fact, he's saying he didn't receive the money,' Lewandowski said Monday on CNN after tweeting a link to the report Sunday night. The CNN contributor said those close to ... Hillary Clinton get a pass from same news organizations reporting on Manafort." CW: Maybe Trump fired Lewandowski because neither of them could understand what the other was saying. Their shared ability to garble their native language is a tribute to Sarah Palin.

... MEANWHILE. Politico: "... Paul Manafort slammed the New York Times Monday on morning after the newspaper published a story reporting that secret ledgers in Ukraine show more than $12 million in cash earmarked for him.... 'The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly and nonsensical.'" -- CW ...

... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "How much does Trump and his team need to do before we start asking serious questions about whether they're a Manchurian Candidate campaign actively working on behalf of a foreign nation? Trump's campaign manager is deep in with Putin cronies, the Putin regime is very likely behind the hacking on Democratic organizations to benefit Trump, his campaign worked to soften anti-Putin and anti-Russia language in the GOP platform, and his finances and investments are enmeshed with Russian cronies -- which may be a key reason why he refuses to release his tax returns." -- CW ...

... James Hohmann of the Washington Post has a rundown of responses to the Times' Manafort story, couched of course in can-Manafort-survive hype. Also, Hohmann provides reminders of how Donald Trump, under Manafort's direction, became the Siberian candidate. -- CW

... CW: MEANWHILE, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Reince Priebus & most other GOP leaders are standing behind the mop-headed Putin puppet whose "policy goal" is probably a couple of Trump Towers in Moscow & a Russian beauty pageant.

Rebecca Savransky: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Sunday said there is a discussion going on within Donald Trump's campaign regarding the ban put on some reporters and media outlets from attending the Republican presidential nominee's events.... 'I do believe in the public's right to know,' he said Sunday." -- CW

** Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "If Donald Trump loses the Presidential election, this [past] week may be remembered as the point in the campaign when his defeat became obvious and inevitable. The number of controversies, reckless statements, and outright lies from Trump this week was dizzying.... Unlike in the Republican primaries, when Trump's serial untruths and shocking statements had little effect on his political standing, the damage in the general election has been swift and severe." CW: Read on. Lizza revisits the massive Gallup study of Trump voters, linked here last week, & its implications for what will - and will not -- address those Trump voters' needs. ...

     ... CW: The federal government can do little or nothing to satisfy aggrieved middle-class people who "feel" they "are being treated unfairly" because "those people" are now enjoying somewhat better socio-economic conditions. Yesterday, contributor Ken W. wrote that he had "long pondered how the revolutionary sixties and early seventies I knew could have turned into the Age of Reagan." For many, the "revolutionary '60s & early '70s" were about changing the social fabric, but perhaps for most, they also were a revolt against accepting responsibilities their parents had shouldered without question. Sure, one of those responsibilities was serving -- and getting killed or maimed -- in a stupid war. But for people like Bill Clinton & Donald Trump (and me) the overriding objective was personal: help yourself (or a family member) avoid the draft. It's hardly surprising then that the Me Generation reared a generation of selfish Reaganites. Today, the bright-line difference between a (rational) Bernie backer & a Trump backer is that the former wants to improve the system for everybody; the latter wants to improve it for himself.

The Would-Be Wedding Crasher. Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: "Donald Trump tried to invite himself to Chelsea Clinton's wedding in 2010, according to a new book on former President Bill Clinton" by Joe Conason. Trump's effort failed. -- CW

Jessie Hellmann: "The Independence Party of Minnesota has selected Evan McMullin as its 2016 presidential nominee, his campaign said in a statement. McMullin, a little-known former CIA officer and House GOP official, announced his long-shot White House bid last Monday as an alternative to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump." -- CW

Other News & Views

Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "As Central Americans surged across the U.S. border two years ago, the Obama administration skipped the standard public bidding process and agreed to a deal that offered generous terms to Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest prison company, to build a massive detention facility for women and children seeking asylum. The four-year, $1 billion contract -- details of which have not been previously disclosed -- has been a boon for CCA, which, in an unusual arrangement, gets the money regardless of how many people are detained at the facility. Critics say the government's policy has been expensive but ineffective." CW: This sounds like a deal Chris Christie would make with some of his cronies.

Tim Starks of Politico: "House Democratic leaders on Saturday urged members to upgrade their cyber security as staffers were flooded with vulgar, malicious emails and texts after a massive online dump of their contact information late Friday -- the latest fallout of a series of election-season cyberattacks primarily targeting the Democratic Party. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, ... wrote in a note to colleagues that she was changing her phone number and advised colleagues to do the same. An email from the Democratic Caucus told members and staffers whom to contact to do so." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Ever since former Fox host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit July 6 against the network's co-founder and chairman, Roger Ailes, Fox has been tight-lipped about telling its viewers about the allegations, which have turned the network upside down. Fox mentioned the lawsuit and Ailes’s subsequent resignation July 21, but that's about all it has done since the news broke." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Niraj Chokshi & Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin activated the Wisconsin National Guard on Sunday to assist local law enforcement following a night of violence in Milwaukee that began hours after a police officer fatally shot a fleeing armed man there." -- CW ...

... John Diedrich, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot an armed suspect Saturday is black, Chief Edward Flynn confirmed Sunday." -- CW ...

Ashley Luthern, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The man shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer Saturday was charged last year in a shooting and then charged again, with trying to intimidate a witness in that same shooting.... The man shot by police was 23-year-old Sylville Smith, police sources and Smith's family told the Journal Sentinel. Smith was charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety and with witness intimidation, but the charges were dismissed ... even though the prosecutors had recorded jail calls in which Smith asked his girlfriend to pressure the victim to recant, according to court records.... The victim did file a statement recanting his identification of Smith as the shooter and wrote he was unsure who shot at him...." -- CW

Way Beyond

Hasani Gittens of NBC News: "U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at gunpoint while in Rio de Janeiro overnight Saturday.... Lochte swam in two events at the Rio Games, winning gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay." -- CW

News Lede

Weather Channel: "The federal government declared a major disaster in Louisiana Sunday after torrential rain inundated the state killing at least four people, flooding thousands of homes and prompting thousands of water rescues.... Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday that more than 20,000 people had been rescued by all participating agencies and volunteers since the flooding outbreak began." -- CW

The Commentariat -- August 14, 2016

Presidential Race

Maureen Dowd argues that Hillary Clinton is the perfect Republican presidential nominee. Dowd bases her case on Clinton's foreign policy & ties to Wall Street. -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Jessie Hellman of the Hill: "Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez[, who served in the Bush II administration,] became one of several Republicans last week to diverge from the party and back the Democratic nominee for president. 'I think... Hillary Clinton, is the best for the country. I'm not thinking about it as a Republican. I'm thinking about it as a U.S. citizen,' Gutierrez said...." -- CW

Nikita Vladimirov of the Hill: "Former governor of New York and state Democratic Party Chairman David Paterson said ... Hillary Clinton could have handled the FBI and Justice Department's decision on her private email server with more humility.... '"When the attorney general absolved Hillary Clinton and said that there were no criminal penalties that she would be held accountable for, she goes and basically takes a victory lap with President Obama,' Paterson said.... 'What if Hillary Clinton had a press conference and said, "You know something, I am really happy that there are no criminal charges being levied against me, but I recognize I did a lot of things wrong, I used poor judgment, and I want the voters to know that I have learned a lesson from this situation and I will never be in violation this way again,'" he said. 'I think that would have been a much better message than what went on that day." CW: He's right. Hillary Clinton's vanity & arrogance have made her one of the most tone-deaf Democrats ever to hit the national stage. (Joe Lieberman.)

You know, when I started reading articles about meetings on the tarmac between the spouse and head of DOJ, or how Hillary forgot yet another slate of work-related emails, or how the FBI actually recommended an investigation into the Clinton Global Initiative and DOJ said no, or the curious connections between Ukrainian money and Russian money and the Clinton Global Initiative or the so many things the Clintons have gotten away with without any consequence ... I think we're living in a series of 'House of Cards.' -- Carly Fiorina, Demon Shepherdess & candidate for RNC chair

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said on Saturday that Donald Trump's efforts to avoid paying taxes show that he is not committed to supporting the military. Pointing to reports that Trump's returns from the '70s and '80s show that he paid no income tax, Kaine said the real estate mogul is not doing his part in funding the armed services -- and floated that as a reason why the GOP nominee is keeping his more recent returns secret." -- CW

Even Richard Nixon released his tax returns to the public. -- Tim Kaine, in a tweet

Uh, Not Exactly, Tim. Lauren Carroll of PolitiFact: "Nixon did not release his tax returns in 1968 or 1972. The IRS audited Nixon in 1973, when questions bubbled up about a fishy charitable donation.... (This happened around the same time as the Watergate investigation but was a separate issue.) Nixon said one of his most well-known lines amid this scandal: 'People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook.' Nixon eventually released a slew of financial information to the public in December 1973, including the previous four years of tax returns, to try to quell the criticism.... However, [a] congressional investigation ultimately found that Nixon owed $476,431 (approximately $2.3 million in today's dollars) in unpaid taxes and accrued interest. Oops."

Katie Glueck of Politico: "Donald Trump's poll numbers are faltering in deep-red states from South Carolina to Georgia, his organization is a mess in perhaps the most important county in Ohio, and he admits that he has a 'tremendous problem' in Utah, which hasn't gone Democratic since 1964. And yet, on Saturday, Trump is hosting a rally in Fairfield County, Conn., a county that Mitt Romney lost to Barack Obama by 11 percentage points, in a state that hasn't voted Republican since 1988. It's a move that is flummoxing and infuriating Republicans who believe Trump should be spending time and resources in winnable states...." CW: Nothing to be flummoxed about; I'm sure this is somehow a money-maker for Trump.

Paul Bedard of the (right-wing) Washington Examiner: "Republican Donald Trump should win the presidency by a slim margin according to a model that has accurately predicted the popular vote since 1988. Using several standards to make his prediction, Alan Abramowitz's 'Time for Change' model done for the University of Virginia's Center for Politics 'Crystal Ball' shows Trump winning 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent for Hillary Clinton. He added that the model shows a 66 percent chance of a Trump victory.... However, in an unusual move, Abramowitz is throwing his own model under the bus and suggesting that Clinton will win because Trump is so different from past presidential candidates and has such high unfavorability ratings that his election forecast basics can't be trusted." CW: GOTV.

Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's presidential campaign started recruiting 'election observer' volunteers late Friday, after the Republican nominee claimed the only way he would lose Pennsylvania is 'if cheating goes on' in 'certain areas'. The application form on the campaign website links directly to a page soliciting campaign donations with the text: 'I AM YOUR VOICE.' Trump repeated claims at a Friday night rally, without evidence, that he fears a 'rigged' election perpetrated in part by voter fraud. No Republican candidate for president has won Pennsylvania since 1988, and in 2012 the state’s then Republican government, in court over a voter ID law, admitted in legal papers that its lawyers knew of no instances of in-person voter fraud in the state. The law was struck down in 2014." CW: I'm sure Trump's "observers" will all be very polite, civic-minded people. ...

... Rick Hasen: "With Trump's dangerous and irresponsible hyperventilating about voter fraud and cheating in Pennsylvania potentially costing him the election, it is probably no surprise ... that Trump is seeking 'election observers' to stop 'Crooked Hillary' from 'rigging this election.' However, there's a longstanding consent decree that bars the RNC from engaging in such activities." When the RNC tried to get the consent decree lifted in 2013, The Supreme Court upheld the decree but added a December 1, 2017 expiration date. "If [Trump's] activity violates the consent decree, the DNC can ask for it to be extended for up to another 8 years." -- CW ...

One of the things that this can do is get rogue people riled up. Trump sets the fuse and lets someone else do the explosion. It strikes me as a very dangerous thing to be suggesting, because it does lend itself to the possibility of violence at the polls. It just strikes me as exactly the kind of dirty tricks why the RNC consent decree was put in place in the first place. -- Rick Hasen, to Philip Bump ...

... Update. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's campaign nationalized the effort on Saturday morning. Now eager Trump backers can go to Trump's website and sign up to be 'a Trump Election Observer.'... Trump's pointed reference to how voters in 'certain sections of the state' [of Pennsylvania] were likely to cheat was almost certainly a reference to a debunked claim that the vote was rigged in predominantly black parts of Philadelphia.... 'I think the question is: What would he be organizing the election observers to do?' Hasen asked. 'He is gathering names based on the idea that these observers are going to stop "Crooked Hillary" -- his words -- from "rigging" -- his words -- the election. That to me does not sound like observation or GOTV [get out the vote].'" -- CW

Gray Lady Outlines Why Donald Trump Must Never Be President. Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: On June 20, Donald Trump's top advisors, including his children, staged an intervention to urge him to "end his freestyle digressions and insults," and & agreed to rein it in. "Nearly two months later, the effort to save Mr. Trump from himself has plainly failed. He has repeatedly signaled to his advisers and allies his willingness to change and adapt, but has grown only more volatile and prone to provocation since then.... In private, Mr. Trump's mood is often sullen and erratic, his associates say.... He is routinely preoccupied with perceived slights.... On Tuesday ... his brain trust ... again urged Mr. Trump to adjust his tone and comportment.... Mr. Trump ... responded receptively." Then he went out & suggested "Second Amendment people" off Hillary Clinton & a few liberal judges. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... CW: I've been watching a British series about an autistic child with a well-meaning but dysfunctional family. The little boy responds to coaching by acting out the way Donald Trump does. ...

... Harper Neidig: "Donald Trump on Saturday pushed back against [the Times report linked above].... 'I am truly enjoying myself while running for president,' Trump wrote [in a tweet]. 'The people of our country are amazing - great numbers on November 8th!'" "The failing @nytimes has become a newspaper of fiction. Their stories about me always quote non-existent unnamed sources. Very dishonest!" Trump also tweeted. -- CW

... Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek reviews some of the whoppers Donald Trump has told in sworn depositions. "He never tries to make his lies or delusions or fantasies make sense. He just spews to explain away the inexplicable.... Trump ... [now blames] the media for applying the rules of grammar and sentence structure to him...." CW: Oddly, Eichenwald frames his column in the form of a letter to Paul Ryan, urging Ryan to dump Trump, as if Ryan himself had the personal integrity & love of country to do the right thing. (If he does, he's been hiding it for a long time.) Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The unraveling of Donald Trump’s candidacy continues apace, a long and steady decline since the high point three months ago. If he were deliberately trying to avoid winning the election, he could hardly be doing a better job. The hole he has dug for himself is wide and deep.... Rather than looking at weaknesses in his support and trying to find ways to win a few percentage points among particular groups of voters, his words and behavior do the opposite." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Eli Stokols & Ken Vogel of Politico: "Publicly, Republican Party officials continue to stand by Donald Trump. Privately, at the highest levels, party leaders have started talking about cutting off support to Trump in October and redirecting cash to saving endangered congressional majorities." -- CW

Nicholas Kristof: "Trump’s harsh rhetoric tears away the veneer of civility and betrays our national motto of 'e pluribus unum.' He has unleashed a beast and fed its hunger, and long after this campaign is over we will be struggling to corral it again.... The Southern Poverty Law Center ... issued a report documenting how Trump's venom has poisoned schools across the country.... [A] teacher reported that a fifth grader told a Muslim student 'that he was supporting Donald Trump because he was going to kill all of the Muslims if he became president!'" CW: The SPLC, which tracks hate groups, has pretty much identified a major political party presidential candidate as his very own hate group. That is extraordinary. ...

... Here's the SPLC report titled, "The Trump Effect -- the impact of the presidential campaign on our nation's schools." "Our report found that the campaign is producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom. Many students worry about being deported." -- CW

Trump's "Remix" of the GOP's Southern Stragegy: Robert Jones in the Atlantic: "One glaring, underreported clue about the method behind the post-primary Trump madness is his selection of Paul Manafort as chair of his national campaign.... Along with credentials earned from working with top GOP politicians (and a raft of international dictators from the Philippines to Somalia), Manafort also brought decades of experience as an overseer of the Southern Strategy.... It was Manafort who arranged for Ronald Reagan to kick off his post-convention presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair just outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three young civil rights workers were brutally murdered in 1964." -- CW ...

... How Kindly Grandpas Became Hateful Lunatics. Bob Cesca, in Salon, highlights how Trump is successfully exploiting the "right rage" that right-wing media have been stoking for decades: "Since at least the Clinton administration, white men have been slowly indoctrinated and, in too many cases, brainwashed by conservative media and its rather loose grip on reality." -- CW

Trump Magazine Survivor Tells All. (And is lucky to be alive to tell it.) Carey Purcell in Politico Magazine: "I had been at Trump magazine for only four months when my first paycheck bounced. We'd heard rumors of the company's financial troubles, but I had no idea how bad it really was until my landlord called me one afternoon to tell me that my rent check hadn't cleared. I logged into my online banking account and saw, to my amazement, that the magazine I worked for -- the one with the billionaire's name on the cover -- had stiffed me.... It felt like I was living in an Onion article: 'Luxury Lifestyle Magazine Can't Pay Its Own Employees.'... By [the] time [the magazine folded], I had been diagnosed with cancer and -- thanks to Trump -- lost my health coverage." -- CW

Daria Sito-Sucic of Reuters: "U.S. actor and producer Robert De Niro said on Saturday that ... Donald Trump should not run for president because he was 'totally nuts'. De Niro made the comments to a Sarajevo audience as he presented a digital version of Martin Scorsese's film 'Taxi Driver', in which he starred, to mark its 40th anniversary. '... he shouldn't even be where he is, so God help us," De Niro said to wide applause in the Sarajevo National Theater.... 'But I think now they are really starting to push back, the media ... finally they are starting to say: Come on Donald, this is ridiculous, this is nuts, this is insane,' De Niro said." -- CW

Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Mike Pence says he is filing his tax returns and will make them available to the public, even as his running mate Donald Trump refuses to do so. 'When my forms are filed and when my tax returns are released it's going to be a quick read,' the Republican vice presidential nominee said Saturday...." -- CW

Tarini Parti & Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed highlight the "jarring" contrasts between Donald Trump's & mike pence's campaign rallies. "At Pence events, the difference between the two isn't lost on voters. Several contended that the governor 'balanced out Trump' and his sometimes 'rash' statements. One of them, Pittsburgh attorney Tony Kovalchick, said Pence 'brings a lot of experience ... and gravitas to the ticket -- like Dick Cheney did.'" CW: Okay, I'll buy that Dick Cheney part.

Fractured History, Ctd. Rebecca Morin: "Donald Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson on Saturday morning said the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan was 'Obama's war.'... [Pierson said,] '... remember we weren't even in Afghanistan by this time [2007]. Barack Obama went into Afghanistan creating another problem.... Later in the segment, [CNN host Victor] Blackwell fact-checked Pierson's statement, saying that troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under President George W. Bush.... Earlier this month, Pierson said it was the policies of Obama and Clinton that killed Army Capt. Humayun Khan. Khan was killed in 2004 during the George W. Bush presidency." CW: Pierson also criticized Hillary Clinton: "It was Hillary Clinton and her incidents in Libya, which was also a reckless decision to create that vacuum." She did not, however, note that in 2011, Trump was strongly in favor of the Libyan intervention, perhaps because he's denied it during this campaign season. It's ridiculous for CNN to continue to invite Pierson to appear on air. -- CW

Other News & Views

Binyamin Appelbaum & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In nearly eight years in office, President Obama has sought to reshape the nation with a sweeping assertion of executive authority and a canon of regulations.... Once a presidential candidate with deep misgivings about executive power, Mr. Obama will leave the White House as one of the most prolific authors of major regulations in presidential history. Blocked for most of his presidency by Congress, Mr. Obama has sought to act however he could. In the process he created the kind of government neither he nor the Republicans wanted -- one that depended on bureaucratic bulldozing rather than legislative transparency." -- CW

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "The hacking of Democratic Party computer systems, widely thought by U.S. intelligence officials to be the work of the Russian government, may be giving Washington a new taste of unconventional Kremlin tactics that have long been employed to influence politics in neighboring European countries. Russia has tried hard in recent years to tug Europe to its side, bankrolling the continent's extremist political parties, working to fuel a backlash against migrants and using its vast energy resources as a cudgel against its neighbors." -- CW ...

... Cory Bennett of Politico: "Hackers linked to Russian intelligence services may have targeted some prominent Republican lawmakers, in addition to their well-publicized spying on Democrats, based on research into leaked emails published on a little-noticed website.... The site [DC Leaks] also includes a small 'portfolio' of roughly 300 emails from Republican targets, including purported emails from the campaign staffs for Sen. John McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, and Lindsey Graham, who briefly ran for president during this cycle. Both lawmakers are stalwart critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also included in the dump are emails from 2012 GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and party officials in several states." -- CW

Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: "Private prisons -- unsafe and insecure. That's the picture emerging from a Justice Department Office of the Inspector General's report that adds to a growing effort to take the profit out of penitentiaries. The report's central conclusion: 'We found that, in most key areas, contract prisons incurred more safety and security incidents per capita than comparable BOP (Bureau of Prisons) institutions and that the BOP needs to improve how it monitors contract prisons in several areas.'... No remedial action will remedy the basic conflict the profit motive provides when corporations are involved in decisions that directly affect the incarceration of individuals. -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Aaron Mak, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A standoff between police and an angry crowd turned violent Saturday night in the hours after a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed an armed suspect during a foot chase on the city's north side. After an hours-long confrontation with officers, police reported at 10:15 p.m. that a gas station at N. Sherman Blvd. and W. Burleigh St. was set on fire. Police said firefighters could not for a time get close to the blaze because of gunshots. Later, fires were started at businesses -- including a BMO Harris Bank branch, a beauty supply company and O'Reilly Auto Parts stores -- near N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets, a grim and emphatic Mayor Tom Barrett said. He spoke at a midnight news conference at the District 3 police station at N. 49th St. and W. Lisbon Ave. He and Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton pleaded with the public for calm. Barrett promised a strong police presence in coming days." -- CW

Ashley Southall & Eli Rosenberg of the New York Times: "A gunman shot and killed two people near a mosque in Queens on Saturday afternoon, according to the police. A congregant of the mosque, the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid, said its imam was among the victims.... The police said they were still investigating whether the shooting, which was initially reported as a robbery, was a hate crime. The police have not released the names of the victims." -- CW

Way Beyond

Michael Weissenstein of the AP: "Fidel Castro thanked Cubans for their well-wishes on his 90th birthday on Saturday and criticized President Barack Obama in a lengthy letter published in state media." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

ABC News: "When Simone Manuel touched the wall to clinch a gold medal Saturday night, it was a moment 120 years in the making. The U.S. women's 4x100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Manuel -- winners at the Rio Games on Saturday night -- is being recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as delivering the nation's 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history. By their count, anyway. Keeping count of the gold total is not as exact a science as one might think." -- CW

The Commentariat -- August 13, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Maureen Dowd argues that Hillary Clinton is the perfect Republican presidential nominee. Dowd bases her case on Clinton's foreign policy & her ties to Wall Street. -- CW

Gray Lady Outlines Why Donald Trump Must Never Be President. Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: On June 20, Donald Trump's top advisors, including his children, staged an intervention to urge him to "end his freestyle digressions and insults," and & agreed to rein it in. "Nearly two months later, the effort to save Mr. Trump from himself has plainly failed. He has repeatedly signaled to his advisers and allies his willingness to change and adapt, but has grown only more volatile and prone to provocation since then.... In private, Mr. Trump's mood is often sullen and erratic, his associates say.... He is routinely preoccupied with perceived slights.... On Tuesday ... his brain trust ... again urged Mr. Trump to adjust his tone and comportment.... Mr. Trump ... responded receptively." Then he went out & suggested "Second Amendment people" off Hillary Clinton & a few liberal judges. ...

... CW: I've been watching a British series about an autistic child with a well-meaning but dysfunctional family. The little boy responds to coaching by acting out the way Donald Trump does. ...

... Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek reviews some of the whoppers Donald Trump has told in sworn depositions. "He never tries to make his lies or delusions or fantasies make sense. He just spews to explain away the inexplicable.... Trump ... [now blames] the media for applying the rules of grammar and sentence structure to him...." CW: Oddly, Eichenwald frames his column in the form of a letter to Paul Ryan, urging Ryan to dump Trump, as if Ryan himself had the personal integrity & love of country to do the right thing. (If he does, he's been hiding it for a long time.) Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The unraveling of Donald Trump's candidacy continues apace, a long and steady decline since the high point three months ago. If he were deliberately trying to avoid winning the election, he could hardly be doing a better job. The hole he has dug for himself is wide and deep.... Rather than looking at weaknesses in his support and trying to find ways to win a few percentage points among particular groups of voters, his words and behavior do the opposite." -- CW

Michael Weissenstein of the AP: "Fidel Castro thanked Cubans for their well-wishes on his 90th birthday on Saturday and criticized President Barack Obama in a lengthy letter published in state media." -- CW

*****

Presidential Race

Steve Eder of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, released a new batch of their own income tax returns on Friday, ratcheting up the pressure on her opponent, Donald J. Trump, to begin making public his own forms. The income taxes of Mrs. Clinton, along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, showed an adjusted gross income of $10.6 million for 2015, revealing how during the campaign the Clintons have reined in their moneymaking efforts after many years of lucrative speeches, book deals and business endeavors. Mr. Kaine, the Virginia senator, and his wife, Anne Holton, reported income of $313,441 for 2015." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... CW: It's unlikely (tho not impossible) that the IRS is auditing Trump's 2015 returns, so he'll have to come up with another phony excuse for not releasing them. Plus, since he was running for president during 2015, he had time to make his returns "look good" in terms of actually paying some taxes, making real charitable contributions instead of pretending to, etc. If he won't even let the public see his taxes for a year he could have cooked them, then he should just drop out & go on to overseeing Trump TeeVee.

Michael Stratford of Politico: "Bill Clinton was paid more than $1 million in 2015 by Laureate Education, a global operator of for-profit colleges, according to tax returns released today by Hillary Clinton's campaign.... The new figure brings the former president's total compensation from Laureate to more than $17.5 million for his five-year role as an 'honorary chancellor.'... Clinton ended his position at Laureate in April 2015 after Hillary Clinton launched her bid for the White House.... In the United States, the company owns Walden University, a Minneapolis-based online school that the Education Department has placed on a list of colleges that officials are more closely monitoring because of concerns over its 'financial responsibility.'" CW: Bill is the Mike Huckabee of the Democratic party. It probably is not a coincidence that these two snakeoil salesmen were both governors of Arkansas.

Michelle Goldberg of Slate: "If you spend much time on right-wing media, you might have heard that Hillary Clinton suffers from seizures, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and possibly even tongue cancer. As David Weigel writes in the Washington Post, Sean Hannity has spent all week dredging up debunked rumors about Clinton's health.... Some of the same right-wing characters painting Clinton as a frail invalid are also accusing her of masterminding the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, who is said, without evidence, to be involved in last month's leak of DNC documents. (This is only the latest of the dozens of murders some attribute to the Clintons.)... The [Clinton-is-deathly-ill meme is] the speculation of desperate men hoping for a deus ex machina to save them from a Clinton presidency." -- CW

Tyler Pager of Politico: "Donald Trump sought to project a united front with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Friday night. Hours after the Trump campaign met with Republican Party officials, their nominee profusely praised Priebus at a rally in Altoona, Pennsylvania.... Priebus also tried to reassure voters of party unity at Trump's earlier rally in Erie, Pennsylvania." -- CW

Word Salad for the Second-Amendment People's Diet. The only way we can lose, in my opinion -- I really mean this, Pennsylvania is if cheating goes on and we have to call up law enforcement and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everyone watching because if we get cheated out of this election, if we get cheated out of a win in Pennsylvania, which is such a vital state especially when I know what is happening here. She can't beat what's happening here. The only way they can beat it in my opinion, and I mean this 100 percent, if in certain sections of the state they cheat. -- Donald Trump, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, yesterday

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Trump had eased off the claim [that President Obama founded the Islamic State] Friday morning.... 'Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) "the founder" of ISIS, & MVP,' Trump tweeted. 'THEY DON'T GET SARCASM?' He seemed to revel in the uncertainty his tweet created, boasting ... later of pundits' inability to figure him out. 'I love watching these poor, pathetic people (pundits) on television working so hard and so seriously to try and figure me out. They can't!'.... But during an afternoon rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump said his initial remark wasn't 'that sarcastic, to be honest with you.'" CW: As he whirls into the vortex, perhaps the most astonishing thing is that Trump thinks this "Gaslight" stunt is clever gamesmanship. ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post on Trump's repeatedly claims that President Obama "founded" ISIS & Trump's insistence that he really meant it, only to follow up with a tweet mocking the media -- CNN in this case -- for being too dumb to know sarcasm when they heard it: "But it wasn't [sarcasm], as you know. Sarcasm is being ironic for the purposes of mockery. A guy trips and breaks his nose, and you say, 'Nicely done.' That's sarcasm. It is saying the opposite of what is expected, making it not a particularly sophisticated form of humor but a popular one." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... OR, as Master of Sarcasm Andy Borowitz reports, "'People who are worried about me having the nuclear-launch codes should stop worrying, O.K.?' Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. 'If I ever used nuclear weapons, it would be really obvious that I was just being sarcastic.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Latest Trump Threat. Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Donald Trump on Thursday issued a threat to stop fundraising for the Republican Party after a report emerged that party officials could focus resources on down-ballot candidates." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The $63-Million-Dollar Question. Bob Burnett in the Huffington Post: "Open Secrets uses FEC data to report that, at the end of June, the Trump campaign had $20m on hand. According to the latest Trump reports, they raised an additional $80 million in July and, early in August, had $37m on hand. If you do the math, that means Trump spent $63m in July. He didn't spend it on TV advertising." He didn't spend much on field operations. "How did Trump spend the money?... The end-of-June FEC report indicates that Trump had lent his campaign $50m. Although Trump promised to forgive this loan, NBC news reported that he never filed the papers to actually do this." -- CW

... Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Years before he ran for the White House, Trump built his political brand by accusing President Obama of concealing his past.... But Trump has ensured that Americans know relatively little about him. He has refused to release many of the same documents that he demanded from Obama, including college transcripts and passport records. He has shirked the decades-old tradition of major nominees releasing their tax returns and other documentation to prove their readiness and fitness for office. And he has yet to release records showing why he received a medical deferment during the Vietnam War and whether he has actually donated the millions of dollars he claims to have given to charity.... Trump, in building a wall around his records, is setting a new standard for secrecy for modern-day candidates." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Washington Post Editors: Unlike Hillary Clinton & most recent presidential candidates, Donald Trump has refused to release the names of his bundlers. "These are the people who solicit large numbers of often medium-size checks and hand them over to campaigns.... Mr. Trump might not want to draw attention to the special interests now backing him, and some of his bundlers might (understandably) be embarrassed to be outed.... Mr. Trump's refusal to meet essential standards of transparency expresses contempt for the democratic process and erodes crucial norms." -- CW

Keith Alexander & Robert O'Harrow of the Washington Post: "... during a deposition he gave in a lawsuit stemming from a dispute over his soon-to-open Washington luxury hotel..., [Donald Trump] seemed to brag about the impact his campaign has had on his brand. 'You know people have said there's never been anything like this,' he said. 'I've tapped into something. And I've tapped into illegal immigration.... But, you know, when you get more votes than anybody in the history of the party, history of the party by far, more than Ronald Reagan, more than Richard Nixon, more than Dwight D. Eisenhower who won the Second World War, you know, that's pretty mainstream, when you think about it." -- CW

We've got an un-indicted felon as his opponent [i.e., Hillary Clinton] and you're talking about [Khizr] Khan, about him [i.e., Donald Trumpus] making a remark about this man. All right, I don't care if he's a Gold Star parent. He certainly doesn't deserve that title, OK, if he's as anti-American as he's illustrated in his speeches and in his discussion. I mean, if he's a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or supporting, you know, the ISIS-type of attitude against America, there's no reason for Donald Trump to have to honor this man. -- Carl Paladino, co-chair for Donald Trump's campaign in New York, & professional hatemonger, on Don Imus's radio show

Patrick Healy of the New York Times: ".. in the last two weeks, instead of attracting a surge of new admirers [as he predicted], Mr. Trump has been hemorrhaging support among loyal Republicans, anti-establishment independents, Clinton-loathing Democrats and others, according to polls and 30 interviews with a cross-section of voters." -- CW

Max Ehrenfreund & Jeff Guo of the Washington Post: "According to [a] new analysis [by Gallup], those who view Trump favorably have not been disproportionately affected by foreign trade or immigration.... The results suggest that his supporters, on average, do not have lower incomes than other Americans, nor are they more likely to be unemployed." But they come from areas with depressed economies & "abnormally high death rates.... The places where Trump is popular are places where people have been unhealthy for a long time.... Those who view Trump favorably are more likely to be found in white enclaves -- racially isolated Zip codes...." CW: So according to this study, Trump's supporters are selfish, narrow-minded white people. What a surprise (that's sarcasm).

Senate Races

Boo-Fucking-Hoo. Nolan McCaskill: "Mitch McConnell may not be leading the Senate majority next Congress, the Kentucky Republican acknowledged Thursday, hinting of the down-ballot effect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump could have on Senate races." -- CW

Other News & Views

They spend a lot of time, these Republicans, spending a lot of energy trying to separate themselves from Donald Trump. But as long as they're holding a Supreme Court seat open for him, they're his minions. They're his enablers. We're going to ensure that every American knows that as long as Senate Republicans are fighting to let Trump shape the Supreme Court for a generation or more, there's no daylight between them and Trump. -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid ...

... Charles Pierce: "Garland is preposterously qualified. The Republicans look like obstructionist idiots. Worse for them, Garland is probably the best candidate they're likely to get out of either the current Democratic administration, or out of what is looking increasingly like the next one.... Reid ... [is] dangling that nomination out there as a way for his Republican colleagues to distance themselves from the vulgar talking yam that their party nominated for president." -- CW ...

... CW: Nobody is more responsible for stonewalling Garland than Chuck Grassley, the notorious chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who refuses to hold hearings on Garland's nomination & is holding up lower-court nominations. So ...

... Mark Hensch of the Hill: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says the Senate's efficiency is flourishing under GOP leadership. 'Republicans and Democrats can work together. Bipartisanship has allowed us to make progress on good ideas from senators on both sides of the aisle,' he said Saturday in the GOP's weekly address." CW: They really have no shame.

Smoking Gun: "After disappearing for a couple of weeks, the hacker 'Guccifer 2.0' returned late [Friday] afternoon to provide a new headache for Democrats. In a post to his WordPress blog, the vandal -- who previously provided nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee e-mails to Wikileaks -- uploaded an Excel file that includes the cell phone numbers and private e-mail addresses of nearly every Democratic member of the House of Representatives. The Excel file also includes similar contact information for hundreds of congressional staff members (chiefs of staff, press secretaries, legislative directors, schedulers) and campaign personnel." -- CW

Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Trump campaign surrogates are fueling a conspiracy theory that a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer was connected to the hacking of the DNC, a theory being pushed by WikiLeaks and the Russian state-controlled press. There's a big problem, however, with the theory: it doesn't make any sense when compared to all the available evidence.... On Thursday, Trump ally Newt Gingrich also endorsed the [Julian] Assange conspiracy theory that [Seth] Rich's death was somehow connected to the DNC hack.... The original conspiracy theory can be traced back to a notoriously unreliable conspiracy website that based its theory on an alleged Russian intelligence agency report about a Clinton 'hit team' that somehow lured Rich into a trap...." -- CW

Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "A federal judge is halting a Ohio law that would have defunded Planned Parenthood starting this year, a major decision that will be closely watched by other states with similar measures. Judge Michael Barrett ruled Friday that Ohio's health department could not defund Planned Parenthood because the group's patients could face 'irreparable injury.'...." CW: Barrett is a Bush II appointee.

** Devin Hughes & Evan DeFilippis, in Think Progress: John Lott, "the NRA's favorite 'academic' is a fraud.... A little over a decade ago, he was disgraced and his career was in tatters. Not only was Lott's assertion that more guns leads to more safety formally repudiated by a National Research Council panel, but he had also been caught pushing studies with severe statistical errors on numerous occasions. An investigation uncovered that he had almost certainly fabricated an entire survey on defensive gun use. And a blogger revealed that Mary Rosh, an online commentator claiming to be a former student of Lott's who would frequently post about how amazing he was, was in fact John Lott himself.... [Yet] In the past few years, Lott and his organization have been cited by dozens of media outlets as an authority on gun violence statistics, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Politifact, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and many others." CW: Read on. The stunts Lott has pulled are astounding.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the Washington Post: "The head of the Islamic State's branch in Afghanistan, a former Pakistani Taliban member named Hafiz Saeed Khan, was killed in a U.S. airstrike last month, the Pentagon announced Friday. The July 26 strike took place in the Achin district of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, said Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge in a statement." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Tina Sfondeles of the Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois "Gov. Bruce Rauner [R] on Friday vetoed a bill that would have automatically registered drivers to become voters when they get a driver's license, saying there were some 'corrections' to be made to the bill before he could approve it." CW: Rauner says he's worried about voter fraud. What a surprise. ...

... Alice Ollstein of Think Progress: "The non-partisan watchdog group Common Cause Illinois estimates the policy could help add two million new voters to the states rolls. In a statement Thursday, the group's lead organizer Trevor Gervais accused the governor of 'playing politics with something as important as voting rights.' 'He wants to delay implementation until 2019, after the next gubernatorial election,' Gervais said. Because the Illinois state legislature passed the measure with an overwhelming majority in early June, they can now vote to override the veto. If they do, the state will launch a program in 2018...." -- CW

Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday overturned the murder and sexual assault convictions of Brendan Dassey, one of the defendants whose case was the subject of the wildly popular Netflix documentary series, 'Making a Murderer.'" -- CW