The Commentariat -- November 5, 2017

Avi Selk of the Washington Post: "The White House on Saturday disparaged the legacies of the only two living Republican presidents to precede Donald Trump, after reports that both men castigated Trump in interviews last year and refused to vote for him. Former president George H.W. Bush mocked then-candidate Trump as a 'blowhard' and voted for a Democratic president, while the younger Bush worried aloud that Trump would destroy the idea of a Republican president in all but name, according to 'The Last Republicans,' which is scheduled to go on sale later this month. The White House response followed a CNN report about the new book in an extraordinary war of words involving three presidents from the same party. 'If one Presidential candidate can disassemble a political party, it speaks volumes about how strong a legacy its past two presidents really had,' the White House wrote to CNN. It called the younger Bush's decision to wage war on Iraq 'one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in American history.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Nakamura & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump donned a military-style bomber jacket shortly after arriving in Japan on Sunday and projected confidence that the United States will confront threats in Asia, telling hundreds of U.S. troops that they will have the resources 'to fight, to overpower and to always, always, always win.' Trump's tough talk in a speech to U.S. and Japanese military personnel at Yokota Air Base, shortly after Air Force One touched down here, aimed to set a tone for his five-nation tour during which the president said he is likely to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a regional summit in Vietnam later this week. The president told reporters during his flight that he wants 'Putin's help on North Korea,' as his administration attempts to consolidate support for its strategy to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program."

Ashley Parker & Courtney Teague of the Washington Post: "Stopping in Hawaii en route to his five-country, 12-day trip in Asia -- his longest foreign trip since assuming office -- the president appeared energetic and enthusiastic, from almost the moment Air Force One climbed into the sky." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Business, As Usual. Lindsay Gibbs of ThinkProgress: "Oh his way to Asia for a five-country diplomatic tour, one of his most significant international trips since taking office..., Donald Trump stopped in Honolulu, Hawaii to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, which is dedicated to the victims of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But on his way back to the airport, Trump made another stop -- this time at the Trump Hotel in Waikiki. According to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump wanted to greet the employees and thank them for their hard work in making the Trump Hotel a 'tremendously successful project.' This stop, which happened amidst a taxpayer-funded trip, was both unexpected and unannounced, according to reporters travelling with the president."

"Trump Committed Another Impeachable Offense." Frank Bowman in Slate: "On July 27, 1974..., the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach Nixon because he sought to turn the immense power of the Justice Department and federal criminal investigative agencies against his political adversaries.... No respectable scholar of the Constitution doubts that directing the criminal justice and intelligence systems of the United States against political opponents ... is among the impeachable 'high crimes and misdemeanors' of Article II, Section 4. Friday morning..., Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets in which he explicitly urged the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party for a grab bag of supposed offenses -- emails deleted from then-Secretary of State Clinton's private server, the Russia-uranium kerfluffle, activities by Tony Podesta (lobbyist and brother of Secretary Clinton's campaign manager), and the allegation that officials at the Democratic National Committee worked with Clinton's campaign to give it a boost over Sen. Bernie Sanders'.... Trump followed up these tweets with statements to the press in which he said he is 'disappointed' with the Justice Department and would not rule out firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions if Sessions won't investigate Democrats. In my view, Trump's tweets tiptoed right up to the line of an impeachable offense. His subsequent statements to the press stepped firmly over it." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: One big difference: Nixon had the sense to do his dirty work in secret; he knew what he was doing violated his oath of office, even if he later "justified" his actions by claiming that "if the president does it, it's not illegal." Trump is either too stupid to know or too imperious to care that he repeatedly flouts his Constitutional duties & limitations. ...

... Leigh Caldwell & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "The Trump administration has downplayed the role of foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos during the 2016 presidential campaign. But the public record shows that Papadopoulos, who attempted to set up a meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was a more prominent figure than previously understood." The story goes on to cite several instances in which Papadopoulos represented the campaign over a period of several months. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! Jeff Ostrowski of the Palm Beach Post: "Trump won permission to hire 70 [foreign] maids, cooks and servers at the Mar-a-Lago Club for the 2017-18 tourist season, according to newly released data from the U.S. Labor Department. In 2016-17, Trump hired 64 foreign workers at the Palm Beach property. The trend is similar throughout Palm Beach County."

Dan Balz & Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "A majority of Americans say President Trump has not accomplished much during his first nine months in office and they have delivered a report card that is far harsher even than the tepid expectations they set for his tenure when he was sworn into office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.... Trump has an approval rating demonstrably lower than any previous chief executive at this point in his presidency over seven decades of polling. Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans -- 37 percent -- say they approve of the way he is handling his job."

NEW. "Way Bigger than Donald Trump." Jonah Shepp of New York: "... the Russian government has developed a sophisticated digital propaganda and misinformation strategy based on using hacked data from public figures and institutions in countries of interest to influence public opinion and elections in those countries.... Even more disconcerting is that because Trump was at best an unwitting beneficiary in last year';s election meddling, he cannot see past his own role in this story to understand these implications in the longer term.... Perhaps instead of trying to catch the administration in another lie, the White House press corps should start asking what they are doing to prevent this type of interference from happening again in the future. Responding to such threats is part of the president's job, and if he refuses to do so, he should pay a price for that negligence, at least in the court of public opinion."

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "President Trump promised to cut taxes for the middle class, but some would end up paying more under the 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,' according to a report released Friday night by Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeepers tasked with determining how much any tax legislation would add to the debt and how it would impact the poor, middle class and wealthy.... The JCT found that the GOP bill would add nearly $1.5 trillion to the debt over the next decade and that, on average, families earning between $20,000 and $40,000 a year and between $200,000 to $500,000 would pay more in individual income taxes in 2023 and beyond.... Democratic tax experts say most of the benefits go to the richest Americans. 'JCT's estimates show that this bill is heavily tilted toward the wealthy,'says Lily Batchelder, a tax law professor at New York University and former member of President Obama's National Economic Council." ...

... ** Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times: The House tax "bill bristles with tax increases aimed at low- and moderate-income households -- small in their aggregate effect but burdensome on the targeted taxpayers -- that have no apparent social rationale. Here's a sampling.... The tax bill would eliminate tax deductions for interest on student loans.... Teachers lose their deduction for classroom supplies.... The tax plan eliminates a deduction for catastrophic medical expenses that already had been made less generous than in the past.... The bill repeals the adoption tax credit, which allows families to offset up to $13,570 in taxes for every child adopted out of foster care.... Despite a surge of weather-related disasters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, the tax bill would repeal deductions for property and casualty losses.... The tax measure would continue the Republican attack on renewable energy by ending the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric cars.... Beyond these provisions, the tax bill would take away modest deductions and exclusions that help ordinary people live their lives." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: These "reforms" are a lesson in nasty. Even the stupidest members of Congress can understand the moral purpose of each of these tax breaks. Some are to help ordinary people suddenly hit with unexpected financial crises -- high medical costs, weather disasters. Some are to help people who do the right thing -- provide school supplies for kids, purchase a fuel-efficient car. Most are family-friendly -- help send the kids to college, take in an orphan, etc. Eliminating any of these deductions would place more American families in greater financial stress. And the "reason" for removing these deductions aimed at people who need them? Of course it's to put more money in the pockets of people who already have way more money than they need to live in luxury.

Don Sergent of the Bowling Green (Kentucky) Daily News: "A Bowling Green man was arrested Friday and charged with fourth-degree assault after an incident at the Bowling Green home of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. Rene Boucher, 59, is in the Warren County Regional Jail in lieu of a $5,000 bond, according to online jail records available Saturday afternoon. Paul suffered minor injuries, according to a news release from Kentucky State Police Post 3 in Bowling Green. Kelsey Cooper, Paul's Kentucky communications director, issued a statement to the Daily News indicating that 'Senator Paul is fine.' 'Senator Paul was blindsided and the victim of an assault,' Cooper said in an email."

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Former Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile writes in a ew book that she seriously contemplated replacing Hillary Clinton as the party's 2016 presidential nominee with then-Vice President Biden in the aftermath of Clinton's fainting spell, in part because Clinton's campaign was 'anemic' and had taken on 'the odor of failure.' In an explosive new memoir, Brazile details widespread dysfunction and dissension throughout the Democratic Party, including secret deliberations over using her powers as interim DNC chair to initiate the removal of Clinton and running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) from the ticket after Clinton's Sept. 11, 2016, collapse in New York City. Brazile writes that she considered a dozen combinations to replace the nominees and settled on Biden and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), the duo she felt most certain would win over enough working-class voters to defeat Republican Donald Trump. But then, she writes, 'I thought of Hillary, and all the women in the country who were so proud of and excited about her. I could not do this to them.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, surely that would have gone smoothly. ...

... Jesse Ferguson of the Clinton campaign: "We were shocked to learn the news that Donna Brazile actively considered overturning the will of the Democratic voters by attempting to replace Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine as the Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees. It is particularly troubling and puzzling that she would seemingly buy into false Russian-fueled propaganda, spread by both the Russians and our opponent, about our candidate's health." ...

... Steve M.: "And while she was at it, [Brazile] was going to pick her presidential nominee's running mate for him.... Did she have the right to do this? Absolutely not. Three days after the fainting incident, The Washington Post's Joshua Tucker interviewed Richard Pildes, an NYU law professor and election law expert. As Pildes noted, the decision to remove a Democratic nominee is up to the entire Democratic National Committee, not the DNC chair. It's Josh Marshall's belief, after a look at the DNC's charter and bylaws, that the process can be initiated only in the event of a vacancy. In other words, Clinton would have had to agree to removal from the ticket, and Kaine as well.... And if Clinton and Kaine had been replaced, could they have made it onto state ballots? In many states they might not have.... This is insane." ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "Most bizarrely, [Brazile] writes of fearing for her life after the murder of Seth Rich, the DNC staffer whose death has been the locus of deranged Republican conspiracy theories surrounding WikiLeaks and Hillary Clinton's emails. Whether Brazile's apparent fabulism will be dismissed as a bookselling stunt or cause any real internecine conflict among Democrats is unclear. But with a pivotal, uncomfortably close gubernatorial election just around the corner in Virginia, one thing's for sure: The timing for a massive distraction for the party could scarcely be worse." ...

... Paul Campos, in LG&$: "What's next, Pizzagate?"

Anne Bernays, in a Washington Post op-ed, on the indignities of being female.

Adam Vary of BuzzFeed: Kevin "Spacey is alleged to have consistently used his sexuality in a way that was unwanted and unwarranted, and often unrelenting. In Spacey's case, these stories also demonstrate the complex effect the closet can have for men of any sexual orientation when talking about sexual misconduct by another man. Spacey appears to have discovered how to weaponize the closet, shielding his own behavior from scrutiny under the guise of merely protecting his privacy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Brent Lang & Daniel Holloway of Variety: "Producers are exploring several options for getting 'House of Cards' back on track in the wake of sexual assault and harassment allegations against star Kevin Spacey. One scenario being discussed is to kill off Spacey's character, the villainous Frank Underwood, and have the show's sixth and final season concentrate on his equally manipulative wife Claire, played by Robin Wright, according to insiders." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "Saudi Arabia announced the arrest on Saturday night of the prominent billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plus at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers.m he announcement of the arrests was made over Al Arabiya, the Saudi-owned satellite network whose broadcasts are officially approved. Prince Alwaleed's arrest is sure to send shock waves both through the Kingdom and the world's major financial centers. He controls the investment firm Kingdom Holding and is one of the world's richest men, with major stakes in News Corp, Time Warner, Citigroup, Twitter, Apple, Motorola and many other well-known companies. The prince also controls satellite television networks watched across the Arab world. The sweeping campaign of arrests appears to be the latest move to consolidate the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favorite son and top adviser of King Salman."

Juan Cole: "In a news conference this week, [Secretary of Energy Rick Perry] expressed the opinion that fossil fuels would prevent sexual assault.... It should be noted that when governor of Texas Perry actively resisted Federal regulations to reduce prison rape, so he seems more interested in hydrocarbons than in do-gooding.... Lack of electricity is certainly a problem for development in Africa.... But electrification can be pursued in environmentally sustainable ways ... solar and wind are everywhere and there is no impetus to fight over control of them. As for fossil fuels, they are responsible for enormous numbers of rapes.... Take [South] Sudan ... it fell into civil war as elites of these two struggled for control of the vast oil wealth. It doesn't get the press that Syria did, but South Sudan is one of the most brutal civil wars on the planet.... Then there is the violent conflict in the Niger Delta of southern Nigeria. It is also over oil and its proceeds, and their distribution.... There is war rape." --safari (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- November 4, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Former Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile writes in a new book that she seriously contemplated replacing Hillary Clinton as the party's 2016 presidential nominee with then-Vice President Biden in the aftermath of Clinton's fainting spell, in part because Clinton's campaign was 'anemic' and had taken on 'the odor of failure.' In an explosive new memoir, Brazile details widespread dysfunction and dissension throughout the Democratic Party, including secret deliberations over using her powers as interim DNC chair to initiate the removal of Clinton and running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) from the ticket after Clinton's Sept. 11, 2016, collapse in New York City. Brazile writes that she considered a dozen combinations to replace the nominees and settled on Biden and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), the duo she felt most certain would win over enough working-class voters to defeat Republican Donald Trump. But then, she writes, 'I thought of Hillary, and all the women in the country who were so proud of and excited about her....'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, surely that would have gone smoothly.

Avi Selk of the Washington Post: "The White House on Saturday disparaged the legacies of ;the only two living Republican presidents to precede Donald Trump, after reports that both men castigated Trump in interviews last year and refused to vote for him. Former president George H.W. Bush mocked then-candidate Trump as a 'blowhard' and voted for a Democratic president, while the younger Bush worried aloud that Trump would destroy the idea of a Republican president in all but name, according to 'The Last Republicans,' which is scheduled to go on sale later this month. The White House response followed a CNN report about the new book in an extraordinary war of words involving three presidents from the same party. 'If one Presidential candidate can disassemble a political party, it speaks volumes about how strong a legacy its past two presidents really had,' the White House wrote to CNN. It called the younger Bush's decision to wage war on Iraq 'one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in American history.'"

Ashley Parker & Courtney Teague of the Washington Post: "Stopping in Hawaii en route to his five-country, 12-day trip in Asia -- his longest foreign trip since assuming office -- the president appeared energetic and enthusiastic, from almost the moment Air Force One climbed into the sky."

Leigh Caldwell & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "The Trump administration has downplayed the role of foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos during the 2016 presidential campaign. But the public record shows that Papadopoulos, who attempted to set up a meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was a more prominent figure than previously understood." The story goes on to cite several instances in which Papadopoulos represented the campaign over a period of several months.

Adam Vary of BuzzFeed: Kevin "Spacey is alleged to have consistently used his sexuality in a way that was unwanted and unwarranted, and often unrelenting. In Spacey's case, these stories also demonstrate the complex effect the closet can have for men of any sexual orientation when talking about sexual misconduct by another man. Spacey appears to have discovered how to weaponize the closet, shielding his own behavior from scrutiny under the guise of merely protecting his privacy." ...

... Brent Lang & Daniel Holloway of Variety: "Producers are exploring several options for getting 'House of Cards' back on track in the wake of sexual assault and harassment allegations against star Kevin Spacey. One scenario being discussed is to kill off Spacey's character, the villainous Frank Underwood, and have the show's sixth and final season concentrate on his equally manipulative wife Claire, played by Robin Wright, according to insiders."

*****

I'm the only one that matters. -- Donald Trump

I don't know. I'm really not involved with the Justice Department. I'd like to let it run itself. But honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats. They should be looking at Podesta and all of that dishonesty.... And a lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department, including me. -- Donald Trump, to reporters on the White House South Lawn, Friday, when asked if he would fire Jeff Sessions if DOJ doesn't take action against Hillary Clinton ...

... ** Dumb Guy Surprised by -- & Ignores -- Job Requirements. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "One of President Trump's biggest disappointments in office, by his own account, was discovering that he is not supposed to personally direct law enforcement decisions by the Justice Department and the F.B.I. So, instead, he has made himself into perhaps the most vocal critic of America's system of justice ever to occupy the Oval Office. Just this week, he denounced the criminal justice system as 'a joke' and 'a laughingstock.' He demanded that the suspect in the New York terrorist attack be executed. He spent Friday berating the Justice Department and F.B.I. for not investigating his political opponents. He then turned to the military justice system and called a court-martial decision [of Bowe Bergdahl] 'a complete and total disgrace.' The repeated assaults on law enforcement cross lines that presidents have largely observed since the Watergate era, raising questions about the separation of politics and the law." ...

... Philip Rucker & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Friday repeatedly called on the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate his Democratic political opponents, a breach of the traditional executive branch boundaries designed to prevent the criminal justice system from becoming politicized. Trump urged federal law enforcement to 'do what is right and proper' by launching criminal probes of former presidential rival Hillary Clinton and her party -- a surprising use of his bully pulpit considering he acknowledged a day earlier that presidents are not supposed to intervene in such decisions. In a flurry of accusatory morning tweets, Trump claimed there was mounting public pressure for new Clinton probes, including over her campaign's joint fundraising agreement with the Democratic National Committee that effectively gave her some control over the party's finances, strategy and staffing before the primaries began. Trump invoked Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had said that she believed the Democratic primaries were rigged in Clinton's favor based on details of the arrangement in a new book by former DNC interim chair Donna Brazile. Using his pejorative nickname for Warren, Trump tweeted: 'Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead [sic] by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets [sic] go FBI & Justice Dept.' Trump also called for probing the deleted emails from Clinton's private server while she was secretary of state, as well as the sale of a uranium company to Russia and the international business of Democratic super-lobbyist Tony Podesta, the brother of John D. Podesta, who served as Clinton's campaign chairman." ...

... Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Trump's calls for both the Justice Department and the FBI to dig into a series of purported Democratic scandals have been widely dismissed as a way to deflect attention from special counsel Robert Mueller and the criminal charges he filed earlier this week against three of the president's former campaign aides. But Trump is still the president of the United States, and his public statements encouraging investigations into his current and former opponents have drawn widespread criticism across the ranks of current and former law enforcement officials. Trump's statements also leave his political appointees at the Justice Department in a bind: Do they follow the orders of the president who put them in their jobs, or do they follow the historical norms and rules of their department that mandate they stay clear of politics when they open, investigate and close any criminal cases?" ...

... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is firing back at President Trump over his push for the Justice Department to investigate Democrats and Hillary Clinton. 'President Trump's pressuring of the Justice Department and FBI to pursue cases against his adversaries and calling for punishment before trials take place are totally inappropriate,' Corker said in a statement. He added that the president's remarks 'not only undermine our justice system but erode the American people's confidence in our institutions.'" ...

... Brandon Carter of the Hill: "Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Friday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions 'absolutely' committed perjury in his Senate testimony regarding contacts between President Trump's campaign and Russian officials. 'He lied under oath at least twice and most recently, both Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, based on their testimony and their statements, they show that Jeff Sessions contradicted himself when he said he was not aware of any campaign official talking to the Russians,' Lieu said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Lieu said Sessions should resign from his post because 'the top law enforcement official in the United States can not have committed a crime and still be there.'"...

... Carol Leonnig & Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "The House Intelligence Committee has called former longtime [Trump] bodyguard Keith Schiller to appear for an interview Tuesday as part of its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Investigators plan to press Schiller about allegations in the 35-page dossier that Russian officials obtained compromising information about Trump's personal behavior when he visited Moscow for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, according to people familiar with the investigation.... The president has indicated that Schiller will say that the Moscow allegations are false. 'Keith was there,' the president told the New York Times in July. 'He said, "What kind of crap is this?" I went there for one day for the Miss Universe contest, I turned around, I went back.'... The House panel also plans to ask Schiller about another episode that is a central focus in the investigations by congressional committees and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III: the firing of former FBI Director James B. Comey. Trump tasked Schiller with hand-delivering to the FBI the president's letter terminating Comey." ...

... Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, met Russian government officials during a July 2016 trip he took to Moscow, according to testimony he gave on Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee. Shortly after the trip, Mr. Page sent an email to at least one Trump campaign aide describing insights he had after conversations with government officials, legislators and business executives during his time in Moscow.... The email was read aloud during the closed-door testimony. The new details of the trip present a different picture than the account Mr. Page has given during numerous appearances in the news media in recent months and are yet another example of a Trump adviser meeting with Russians officials during the 2016 campaign. In multiple interviews with The New York Times, he had either denied meeting with any Russian government officials during the July 2016 visit or sidestepped the question, saying he met with 'mostly scholars.' Mr. Page confirmed the meetings in an interview on Friday evening, but played down their significance."

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Candidate Trump announced his "foreign policy team" of six members in late March 2016. Of the six, one-third -- George Papadopoulos & Carter Page -- had, or claimed to have, Russian connections. Leading the campaign was Paul Manafort, who had extensive financial dealings with Vladimir Putin's oligarch buddies & political puppets. Later, Trump began taking foreign policy advice from Mike Flynn, who was friendly with the Kremlin and whom Trump liked so much he named Flynn his top national security advisor. As president, Trump chose as his number one diplomat Rex Tillerson, who also was known to be friendly with Putin. In other words, Trump chose a group of advisors who had connections to Putin. To me, this outsized pro-Russia crew in itself is a big red flag -- one that sports a hammer & sickle. If, as he frequently claims,Trump is not "under investigation," he should be, and not just because of his odd but well-known support for Putin or Junior & Jared's meeting with Russian operatives. ...

... Easy Marks. Alex Finley, in Politico Magazine: "By now, it should be clear to anyone following the news that Russian intelligence made a formidable effort to approach the Trump campaign and assess the potential to manipulate its members. As a former officer of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, I can tell you that Russian security services would have been derelict not to evaluate the possibility of turning someone close to Trump. While the question of collusion remains open, it's beyond dispute that Russia tried to get people around the president to cooperate. The June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower is indication enough, but other encounters bolster the argument.... From an intelligence point of view, the people surrounding Trump, and Trump himself, make easy targets for recruitment." Finley lays out the methods the Kremlin likely used to compromise key campaign figures, including Trump. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ...

... Josh Marshall of TPM: "Former Trump campaign advisor Michael Caputo went on MSNBC [Friday] afternoon and said George Papadopoulos was 'stupid' and 'had no business' being at that March 2016 foreign policy advisor meeting.... This is all 100%, unquestionably true.... But none of this is a defense. It's irrelevant. He had no business being there and yet he was there.... The Trumpers have long pushed this argument that they were too inexperienced, disorganized or simply too stupid to have conspired with Russians to subvert the election. That's not how it works. As we've noted in recent days, intelligence operatives (of any country) are looking precisely for people who are desperate, stupid, inexperienced, crooked.... That is when you have something to work with.... Which brings us back to Paul Manafort." --safari ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Marshall argues that Manafort was the one guy on the Trump campaign who was not an idiot & that Bob Mueller seems to know that, too. ...

... Raphael Satter, et al., of the AP: "... the AP drew on forensic data to report Thursday that the hackers known as Fancy Bear were closely aligned with the interests of the Russian government. The AP's reconstruction -- based on a database of 19,000 malicious links recently shared by cybersecurity firm Secureworks -- shows how the hackers worked their way around the Clinton campaign's top-of-the-line digital security to steal chairman John Podesta's emails in March 2016. It also helps explain how a Russian-linked intermediary could boast to a Trump policy adviser, a month later, that the Kremlin had 'thousands of emails' worth of dirt on Clinton." Mrs. McC: I'm not exactly a technical junkie, but the methodology here is interesting. Combine Russia's successful hacking with their methods of compromising Trump's staff (a child could do it), as Alex Finley & Josh Marshall lay out, & it's impossible to think Russia did not insert itself into Trump's campaign. ...

... Because They're Blinded by the Stupid. Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Three conservative House Republicans are expected to file a resolution Friday calling on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to recuse himself from his probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, accusing him of conflicts of interest. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who wrote the resolution, accuses Mueller of having a conflict of interest because he was serving as FBI chief when the Obama administration approved a deal allowing a Russian company to purchase a Canada-based mining group with uranium operations in the United States, according to a draft obtained by The Washington Post." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. They did it.

Terrence Suzplat in a Washington Post op-ed: "As if on cue, Trump has broken out the authoritarian's playbook and delivered his own shameful performance, chapter and verse, [in response to the terrorist attack in New York City].... Like any good demagogue, Trump moved quickly to find a villain: Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.).... Most alarming, Trump resorted to the oldest trick in the demagogue's book -- dehumanizing the enemy. The perpetrator is not simply a terrorist, he is, Trump said, an 'animal.'... Such language is particularly ominous given Trump's habit of conflating terrorists with the broader Muslim American community.... Trump has once again succumbed to his worst impulses. The question for the rest of us is, which is stronger -- the demagogue or our democracy?"

Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday slammed a military judge's decision for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to not serve any prison time after pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, calling the ruling 'a complete and total disgrace to our country and to our military.'" ...

... Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged from the Army on Friday by a military judge, but received no prison time, for desertion and endangering troops, ending a drama that began more than eight years ago in war-torn Afghanistan." (Also linked yesterday.)

So we don't need all the people they want. I'm a businessman, and I tell my people, 'When you don't need to fill slots, don't fill them.' But we have some people that I'm not happy with there. Lemme tell you, the one that matters is me. I'm the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that's what the policy is going to be. -- Donald Trump, Thursday, on the many unfilled vital State Department positions ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "Trump then blamed Chuck Schumer and Democrats for obstructing nominees (which is definitely not what's happening) and defended 'cost saving' as a diplomatic strategy. The autocratic egoism on display echoed several previous Trump moments, from his campaign ad released earlier in the week ('President Trump will fix it') to his frightening speech at the Republican National Convention speech in 2016."

Your Friday Night News Dump. Lisa Friedman & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Directly contradicting much of the Trump administration's position on climate change, 13 federal agencies unveiled an exhaustive scientific report on Friday that says humans are the dominant cause of the global temperature rise that has created the warmest period in the history of civilization. Over the past 115 years global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to record-breaking weather events and temperature extremes, the report says. The global, long-term warming trend is 'unambiguous,' it says, and there is 'no convincing alternative explanation' that anything other than humans -- the cars we drive, the power plants we operate, the forests we destroy -- are to blame. The report was approved for release by the White House, but ... put out a statement Friday that seemed to undercut the high level of confidence of the report's findings. 'The climate has changed and is always changing,' Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, said in the statement."

Ed Kilgore of New York: "Normally, midterm elections at least partially operate as a referendum on the performance of the president and the president's party. But there are growing signs Donald Trump will try something entirely new: making the midterms a referendum on his defeated 2016 opponent.... Republicans who want to keep the focus on Trump's vanquished foe will receive considerable assistance from Democrats who cannot seem to disentangle themselves from the controversies arising from the Clinton-Sanders nomination contest." --safari

Nick Miroff & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "More than 300,000 Central Americans and Haitians living in the United States under a form of temporary permission no longer need to be shielded from deportation, the State Department told Homeland Security officials this week, a few days ahead of a highly anticipated DHS announcement about whether to renew that protection. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a letter to acting DHS secretary Elaine Duke to inform her that conditions in Central America and Haiti that had been used to justify the protection no longer necessitate a reprieve for the migrants, some of whom have been allowed to live and work in the United States for 20 years under a program known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).... DHS has until Monday to announce its plans for roughly 57,000 Hondurans and 2,500 Nicaraguans whose TPS protections will expire in early January."

David Savage of the Tribune Washington Bureau: "In a highly unusual move, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Friday to discipline lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union because they helped a 17-year old migrant obtain an abortion two weeks ago.... On Friday, new Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed an appeal that asks the Supreme Court to set aside the lower court's rulings and to consider 'disciplinary action' against the ACLU.... Sessions said the abortion took place early in the morning, before the Justice Department could lodge an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court." --safari...

Gail Collins notices again that Rick Perry, unlike his predecessors, is not a physicist. She seems to suggest that if he were, he might not say that fossil fuels would prevent sexual assaults in Africa...

...Juan Cole:"In a news conference this week, [Secretary of Energy Rick Perry] expressed the opinion that fossil fuels would prevent sexual assault.... It should be noted that when governor of Texas Perry actively resisted Federal regulations to reduce prison rape, so he seems more interested in hydrocarbons than in do-gooding.... Lack of electricity is certainly a problem for development in Africa.... But electrification can be pursued in environmentally sustainable ways ... solar and wind are everywhere and there is no impetus to fight over control of them. As for fossil fuels, they are responsible for enormous numbers of rapes.... Take [South] Sudan ... it fell into civil war as elites of these two struggled for control of the vast oil wealth. It doesn't get the press that Syria did, but South Sudan is one of the most brutal civil wars on the planet...Then there is the violent conflict in the Niger Delta of southern Nigeria. It is also over oil and its proceeds, and their distribution...There is war rape." --safari

Jonathan Chait of New York: "It is a testament to the power of self-delusion that Republicans have convinced themselves that their political self-interest demands that they pass a deeply unpopular tax-cut plan. The House has designed a proposal that not only violates Senate budget rules but seems virtually designed to seed an endless supply of attack ads against congressional Republicans.... The bill contains three categories of political poison." --safari ...

... As contributor Ken W. writes, Dylan Matthews of Vox does a fine job of explaining the House's tax bill. Because of all the variables, unless you're in the top one percent, you'll just have to guess whether or not you stand to gain or lose, but most Americans -- including those of you who are financially comfortable -- are losers & as the deficit rises & more benefits for the rich kick in, more will become losers. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

Zaid Jilani of The Intercept: "House Republican lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would prohibit doctors from performing abortions after a heartbeat is detected. In fact, 169 lawmakers -- all are Republicans but one -- have co-sponsored the bill, known as the 'Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017.'... At the same time, the Republican tax proposal released Thursday would make it more difficult for American parents to turn to what many anti-abortion groups offer as an alternative: adoption. The House Republican tax reform bill would completely eliminate the adoption tax credit, which has been in the tax code since 1997." --safari

Elana Schor of Politico: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Friday that she is readying a proposal to strengthen Capitol Hill's system for handling sexual harassment complaints in the wake of a growing number of reports detailing past misconduct by lawmakers and aides. Gillibrand announced her legislation after Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), as well as former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and former Reps. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) and Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), shared their stories of past sexual harassment by male lawmakers with The Associated Press. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) last week divulged, while she unveiled plans for her own bill to overhaul the Hill's sexual misconduct policies, that as a young congressional aide she was forcibly kissed by the male chief of staff in her office."

Al Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "The police in New York on Friday said that they were developing a strong criminal case against the producer Harvey Weinstein after an actress's claim that he raped her seven years ago. Speaking at a news conference at Police Headquarters in Lower Manhattan, officials in the Police Department said they were gathering evidence with an eye toward preparing a warrant to arrest Mr. Weinstein, whose representatives have said he is undergoing therapy outside New York. The claims of the actress, Paz de la Huerta, have been a focus of investigators in the department's Special Victims Division for several days, since Mr. Weinstein;s long history of allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault of women was detailed in reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker early last month. Those reports prompted a mountain of tips to the police in New York and London about other episodes."

Marc Caputo, et al., of Politico: "Six women who work in Florida's Capitol say the state Senate's powerful budget chairman, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Latvala, has inappropriately touched them without their consent or uttered demeaning remarks about their bodies. The women, who include Senate staff and lobbyists affiliated with both major parties..., did not want to be identified for fear of losing their jobs, getting a bad reputation in the male-dominated Capitol or running afoul of an influential politician who can kill their clients' issues. The incidents, they said, occurred over a period of several years, happening in the privacy of Latvala's Senate office or in public places like the Capitol rotunda, a bar or an elevator."

How to Quit Your Job:

Beyond the Beltway

Tyler Estep of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Joe Briggs says he isn't anti-Semitic -- just anti-Israel. And the Suwanee City Council candidate finds it strange that a series of controversial tweets he wrote about Jews have come to light just a few days before next week's election. 'I'm absolutely not racist in the very least,' Briggs said.... The posts are critical of Israel's government and its role in American affairs -- and they also compare Jews to Nazis, refer to Zionists as 'cockroaches' and call American slavery 'cheap labor to big business.'... 'Get the Jews out of the White House and out of POTUS' ear,' Briggs wrote in a tweet from September that referenced the U.S. weighing a more 'aggressive' approach in Iran. Two days later, with an inspiration that was unclear: 'At least the Nazis assimilated and contributed to US society.'" --safari

Way Beyond

Cécile Allegra of the Guardian: "Male rape is being used systematically in Libya as an instrument of war and political domination by rival factions, according to multiple testimonies gathered by investigators.... The atrocity is being perpetrated to humiliate and neutralise opponents in the lawless, militia-dominated country. Male rape is such a taboo in Arab societies that the abused generally feel too damaged to rejoin political, military or civic life." --safari: Warning: graphic info.

If this card were for Marie Burns, she would never share it because she's far too modest to purposely do anything that smacks of the self-congratulatory. But Bea McCrabbie doesn't give a crap what anybody else thinks, and she really appreciates this clever, thoughtful birthday card. Many thanks to the sender.

The Commentariat -- November 3, 2017

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Because They're Blinded by the Stupid. Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Three conservative House Republicans are expected to file a resolution Friday calling on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to recuse himself from his probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, accusing him of conflicts of interest. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who wrote the resolution, accuses Mueller of having a conflict of interest because he was serving as FBI chief when the Obama administration approved a deal allowing a Russian company to purchase a Canada-based mining group with uranium operations in the United States, according to a draft obtained by The Washington Post."

Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged from the Army on Friday by a military judge, but received no prison time, for desertion and endangering troops, ending a drama that began more than eight years ago in war-torn Afghanistan."

As contributor Ken W. writes, Dylan Matthews of Vox does a fine job of explaining the House's tax bill. Because of all the variables, unless you're in the top one percent, you'll just have to guess whether or not you stand to gain or lose, but most Americans -- including those of you who are financially comfortable -- are losers & as the deficit rises & more benefits for the rich kick in, more will become losers.

*****

Binyamin Appelbaum & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Trump nominated Jerome H. Powell to chair the Federal Reserve on Thursday afternoon, bypassing Janet L. Yellen for a second term but turning to a replacement who is expected to stay the course on monetary policy if the economy continues its steady growth.... Mr. Powell, a member of the Fed's board of governors since 2012, has consistently voted with Ms. Yellen, and colleagues consider him a centrist and pragmatist. But his tenure as a central banker has been relatively brief, and he has expressed skepticism in the past about the unconventional measures that the Fed has taken in the wake of the severe recession of 2008 and 2009. Mr. Powell could also depart from the Fed's current trajectory when it comes to regulating banks and other financial institutions -- rules Mr. Trump has said should be loosened." (Also linked yesterday.)

Greg Sargent: "When Trump dismisses discussion of Russian interference in the 2016 election as a hoax, he isn't merely saying the charge of collusion with that meddling is a hoax. He's also saying that the alleged Russian sabotage itself, irrespective of whether his campaign colluded with it, definitively never happened at all and, by extension, doesn't merit any inquiry or discussion. Some new reporting out this morning underscores in a fresh way just how reckless, irresponsible and potentially dangerous to our democracy this stance has become." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Ken Dilanian & Carol Lee of NBC News: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions rejected a proposal by a junior campaign aide [-- George Papadopoulos --] who offered to use his 'Russian contacts' to try to set up a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.... This new revelation is significant because Sessions told Congress under oath in June [actually January 2017] that he had 'no knowledge' of any conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign about 'any type of interference with any campaign' by Russians. Congressional investigators want to question Sessions about the new disclosures and his new recollection, multiple Congressional officials told NBC News. Both the judiciary and the intelligence committees have an interest in doing so, the officials said. The meeting at which Papadopoulos floated the idea of Trump sitting down with Putin occurred March 31, [2016] and Sessions can be seen in a photo sitting at the head of the table. At the other end was Trump." ...

... Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "After Trump declined to rule out the idea, Sessions weighed in and rejected the proposed meeting, according to a person who attended.... Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 in Republican leadership who serves on the intelligence and judiciary panels, said he was unaware of Sessions' attendance at that meeting until now. He added: 'I certainly think it's a legitimate area of inquiry' for lawmakers to pursue." ...

... Manu Raju & Jim Acosta of CNN: "Candidate Donald Trump did not dismiss the idea of arranging a meeting with Russia's president when it was suggested in a meeting with his campaign foreign policy advisers last year, according to a person in the room. The idea was raised by George Papadopoulos as he introduced himself at a March 2016 meeting of the Republican candidate's foreign policy advisers, according to a court filing. 'He didn't say yes and he didn't say no,' the official said, declining to be more specific about Trump's response to Papadopoulos." ...

... Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page privately testified Thursday that he mentioned to Jeff Sessions he was traveling to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign -- as new questions emerge about the attorney general's comments to Congress about Russia and the Trump campaign. During more than six hours of closed-door testimony, Page said that he informed Sessions about his coming July 2016 trip to Russia.... Page described the conversation to CNN after he finished talking to the House intelligence committee." ...

     ... Page Pleads the Fifth. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Carter Page invoked his Fifth Amendment rights Thursday when asked by House Intelligence Committee members why he hadn't turned over documents for their probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, lawmakers said." It is not clear what subpoenaed documents Page withheld. ...

... Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: "Standing before reporters in February, President Trump said unequivocally that he knew of nobody from his campaign who was in contact with Russians during the election. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has told the Senate the same thing. Court documents unsealed this week cast doubt on both statements and raised the possibility that Mr. Sessions could be called back to Congress for further questioning.... The court documents represent the first concrete evidence that Mr. Trump was personally told about ties between a campaign adviser and Russian officials.... At a Feb. 16, 2017, White House news conference, a reporter asked Mr. Trump, 'Can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election?' 'No,' Mr. Trump said. 'Nobody that I know of. Nobody.'... [At the March 2016 meeting, when campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos proposed arranging a meeting between Trump & Putin, Trump showed interest, but] Mr. Sessions vehemently opposed the idea, meeting attendee J. D. Gordon recalled. 'And he said that no one should talk about it.'... On Thursday, as news of Papadopoulos’s Russian ties continued to ripple through Washington, [Sen. Al] Franken [D-Minn.] sent a stern letter to Mr. Sessions. 'This is another example in an alarming pattern in which you, the nation's top law enforcement official, apparently failed to tell the truth, under oath,' he wrote." ...

... Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "Jared Kushner has turned over documents in recent weeks to special counsel Robert Mueller as investigators have begun asking in witness interviews about Kushner's role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, CNN has learned.... Their questions about Kushner signal that Mueller's investigators are reaching the President's inner circle and have extended beyond the 2016 campaign to actions taken at the White House by high-level officials. It is not clear how Kushner's advice to the President might relate to the overall Russia investigation or potential obstruction of justice." ...

... Juliet Eilperin & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientist nominee, Sam Cloviswithdrew his name from consideration Wednesday amid revelations that he was among top officials on the Trump campaign who was aware of efforts by foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos to broker a relationship between the campaign and Russian officials.... In a letter to the president Wednesday, Clovis explained that he did not think he could get a fair consideration from the Senate, which was slated to hold a hearing on his appointment on Nov. 9. 'The political climate inside Washington has made it impossible for me to receive balanced and fair consideration for this position,' wrote Clovis, who currently serves as USDA's senior White House adviser. 'The relentless assaults on you and your team seem to be a blood sport that only increases with intensity each day.'" Thanks to MAG for the link. See also Dana Milbank's column on Clovis, et al., linked below. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So unfair that meanies are picking on completely unqualified Trump nominees who also may be under suspicion of collaborating with the Kremlin. ...

... John Santucci & James Meek of ABC News: "The White House first learned one of its senior staffers met with the grand jury hearing the case presented by the special counsel into alleged Russian meddling into the 2016 election not from the staffer but from media reports, sources with knowledge of the investigation tell ABC News. Former Trump campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis recently testified before that grand jury into his role on ... Donald Trump's campaign. Clovis currently serves as the senior White House adviser to the Department of Agriculture."...

... Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "Buried deep in Robert Mueller's indictment of Paul Manafort is a new link between Donald Trump's former campaign and Russian organized crime. The indictment ... includes an extensive look into Paul Manafort's byzantine financial dealings. In particular, it details how he used a company called Lucicle Consultants Limited to wire millions of dollars into the United States.... The Cyprus-based Lucicle Consultants Limited, in turn, reportedly received millions of dollars from a businessman and Ukrainian parliamentarian named Ivan Fursin, who is closely linked to one of Russia's most notorious criminals: Semion Mogilevich. Mogilevich is frequently described as 'the most dangerous mobster in the world.'" --safari ...

Ryan Goodman in a New York Times op-ed: We should stop using the word "collusion" to describe what Trump and Co. did or did not do. Except in a very limited case, "collusion" is not a legal term. Besides, Republicans and the Trump camp in particular, have used the nebulous term to muddy the waters, accusing President Obama & Hillary Clinton of "colluding" with the Russian government while denying that they themselves have "colluded" with Russian interests. ...

... The Art of the Troll. Ben Collins & Joseph Fox of The Daily Beast: "Jenna Abrams, the freewheeling American blogger who believed in a return to segregation and said that many of America's problems stemmed from PC culture run amok, did not exist.... Her account was the creation of employees at the Internet Research Agency, or the Russian government-funded 'troll farm,' in St. Petersburg.... But Abrams got very real attention from almost any national news outlet you can think of, according to a Daily Beast analysis of her online footprint.... Abrams' pervasiveness in American news outlets shows just how much impact Russia&r's troll farm had on American discourse in the run-up to the 2016 election -- and illustrates how Russian talking points can seep into American mainstream media without even a single dollar spent on advertising." --safari

The USA of, for, by Trump. Jesse Byrnes of The Hill: "President Trump pushed back Thursday on concerns about a lack of nominees for key positions at the State Department, arguing it wouldn't affect his agenda. 'Let me tell you, the one that matters is me, I'm the only one that matters because when it comes to it that's what the policy is going to be,' Trump said on Fox News when pressed about vacancies by Laura Ingraham." --safari

Fossil Fuels & Sex Crimes. Avery Anapol of the Hill: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested Thursday that expanding the use of fossil fuels could help prevent sexual assault. Speakingduring an energy policy discussion about energy policy..., Perry discussed his recent trip to Africa. He said a young girl told him that energy is important to her because she often reads by the light of a fire with toxic fumes. 'But also from the standpoint of sexual assault,' Perry said. 'When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will on those types of acts.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

    ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sunshine may be the best disinfectant, but apparently solar energy doesn't have as much policing power as good ole fossil fuels. ...

...Vive la Corruption! John Bowden of The Hill: "The Trump administration said Thursday it would exit an international effort to fight corruption that targeted revenue from oil and natural gas extraction. The U.S. will no longer participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global initiative that requires member nations to disclose their revenues from oil, gas and mining assets, according to Reuters." --safari

Today is a reminder that the best investment 99 percent of American adults can make is to vote for candidates who have the interests of the general public in mind. There is no up-front cost to it (except in time), and the financial pay-off is real & substantial. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...

... Jim Tankersley & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Republican lawmakers are unveiling the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in decades, outlining a plan to cut taxes for corporations, reduce them for middle-class families and tilt the United States closer, but not entirely, toward the kind of tax system long championed by businesses, according to talking points circulated on Thursday. The House plan, released after weeks of internal debate, conflict and delay, is far from final and will ignite a legislative and lobbying fight as Democrats, business groups and other special interests tear into the text ahead of a Republican sprint to get the legislation passed and to President Trump's desk by Christmas. The bill keeps a top rate of 39.6 percent for the highest-earners and roughly doubles the standard deduction for middle class families. It expands the child tax credit to $1,600 from $1,000 and will not make any changes to the 401(k) plans. It does propose changes to the popular mortgage interest deduction. Under the Republican plan, existing homeowners can keep their mortgage interest deduction but future purchases will be capped at $500,000. The bill cuts the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, from 35 percent.... One of the biggest flash points will be how the bill treats the state and local tax deduction, which lawmakers are proposing to cap at $10,000. That will not be enough for Republicans in some high-tax states, where middle-class families make heavy use of the deduction." No word yet on the estate tax proposal. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... The story has been updated. Among other additions: "The proposal will double the estate tax exemption to roughly $11 million, from $5.49 million, meaning families can avoid paying taxes on large inheritance. And it eventually repeals the estate tax altogether, phasing it out entirely in six years." ...

... Ivanka at Work? Marie Solis of Newsweek: "Unborn fetuses would be eligible to be beneficiaries of tax savings accounts under the GOP's new tax plan. That means expecting parents would have the option of opening a 529 savings plan, which sets aside money for college or other higher education, before their child is even born.... The clause has stunned leading tax experts. 'It's clearly a politically motivated issue that's playing to the GOP base,' Bill Gale..., of the ... Tax Policy Center told Newsweek. He added: 'There's a normal presumption that 529s apply to people who have been born.'" --safari ...

... New York Times Editors: "With their new bill that would slash taxes on the wealthy and blow up the federal budget deficit, House Republicans and President Trump are making it absolutely clear whom they are working for -- the top 1 percent -- and whom they consider dispensable. Well, that's pretty much everybody else.... The changes that could affect middle-class families the hardest include the elimination of the deduction for state and local income taxes. And the property-tax deductible would be capped at $10,000.... One particularly hardhearted change would eliminate the deduction for medical expenses, which is primarily used by people with serious and chronic illnesses. Gone, too, would be important tax credits and deductions for college tuition and interest on student loans."

... Paul Krugman: "On Thursday, House Republicans unveiled a tax 'reform' bill with the same good order and careful deliberation with which they unveiled their various attempts to repeal Obamacare. That is, after having had years to prepare, the G.O.P. waited until the last minute to throw something together, without any hearings or serious analysis. Budget wonks are frantically going through the legislative language, trying to figure out what it means and what it would do -- but they can take some comfort in the fact that the bill's authors are almost equally in the dark. O.K., some things are clear: ... You won't go far wrong if you think of the big tax cuts in the law as having been custom designed to benefit the Trump family. But these big tax cuts would blow a multitrillion-dollar hole in the budget, so Republicans have been scrambling to find 'pay-fors' that limit the addition to the deficit.... Since the point of these measures is to offset tax cuts for the rich, they will, more or less by definition, end up raising taxes on large numbers of middle-class families."

Donna Brazile writes a startling confessional in Politico Magazine. The title of the piece is, "Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC." Brazile fingers both Clinton & Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, from whom Brazile took over as DNC chair after the party forced out Wasserman-Schultz. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Sophie Tatum of CNN: "Asked Thursday by CNN's Jake Tapper whether she believes that the Democratic campaign organization was tipped in favor of Clinton over her primary opponent, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren responded without hesitation: 'Yes.'" ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: Brazile's "piece ... is remarkable -- both for the substance of its allegations and the melodramatic tenor of its prose.... Brazile's ... tale is by turns informative, stale, and (literally) unbelievable." ...

... Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly: "The title of Brazile's piece, 'Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC' is seriously misleading. Back in May of 2016, Kenneth Vogel and Isaac Arnsdorf reported on almost everything Brazile covers. Other reports followed, like the one from Jeff Stein. Here's what Brazile adds to the reporting: 'The [Hillary Victory Fund] agreement ... specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.'... But ... there was also a Bernie Victory Fund, it's just that Sanders never raised any money for it.... It demonstrates that the party was willing to work with any candidate in the primary who sought such an agreement.... There are similar questions that have surfaced about the RNC.... I'll leave it to the political historians to document how far all of this has come from the days when the RNC and the DNC were the powerhouses that controlled politics in this country. But right now there are two competing forces that are decimating these organizations: 1. The Supreme Court's Citizen United decision that allowed unlimited political spending by the oligarchs, and 2. The unleashing of grassroots politics that started with Howard Dean, was successfully marshaled by Barack Obama, and inflamed the candidacies of both Sanders and Trump." ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic has quite a few observations about Brazile's piece, but the most interesting one is his conclusion: "Brazile's bound toward the Bernie bandwagon is another indication of how Sanders is, at least for the moment, the de facto leader of the Democratic Party."

... Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "The Democratic National Committee dismissed its top fundraiser [-- Emily Mellencamp Smith --] Thursday after just five months on the job, two Democrats familiar with the move told Politico.... The committee's slow fundraising has been a serious problem for the party since the 2016 election." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND kudos to DNC chair Tom Perez for making the announcement the very day people are talking about sneaky Democratic party fundraising tricks. Nothing like calling attention to the party's failures. AND you wonder why Democrats lose. Answer: They haven't got a lick of political sense.

Joseph Bernstein of BuzzFeed: "Robert Mercer, the hedge fund billionaire who has come under media scrutiny for his role in helping elect Donald Trump, announced today he would step down from his role as co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies. The decision, announced in a memo to Renaissance employees, followed a BuzzFeed News exposé revealing the connections of Breitbart -- partially owned by Mercer -- to white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Sources familiar with Renaissance informed BuzzFeed News in recent days of significant anger within the company about the report, which revealed that former Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos had cultivated white nationalists and used them to generate ideas and help edit stories on the site. Mercer's statement specifically denounces Yiannopoulos and states that 'I was mistaken to have supported him, and for several weeks have been in the process of severing all ties with him.' He also announced his intention to sell his stake in Breitbart to his daughters."

Kate Aranoff of The Intercept: "National outrage has led to the cancellation of a suspicious $300 million contract doled out to a tiny Montana company that was oddly tasked with rebuilding large parts of Puerto Rico's electric grid. A separate $200 million contract has faced little scrutiny, but may ultimately be even more scandalous for what it says about the effort to rebuild the island in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The deal was inked with a company called Cobra Acquisitions LLC, which didn't even exist until this year." --safari

Oh Noes! Michael Calderone of Politico: "Mother Jones magazine's editor and chief executive acknowledged on Thursday that they investigated Washington bureau chief David Corn for inappropriate workplace behavior three years ago, warning him about touching female staffers and insensitive descriptions of sexual violence, and would now probe the allegations further in light of two emails written by former staffers in 2014 and 2015 and obtained by Politico. One of the emails, written in 2015 by a former staffer outlining concerns she had heard from other women in the Washington office, said Corn ... made 'rape jokes,' 'regularly gave [several women] unwelcome shoulder rubs and engaged in uninvited touching of their legs, arms, backs, and waists,' and 'made inappropriate comments about women's sexuality and anatomy.' The other email, from 2014, was by a former female staffer who claimed that Corn 'came up behind me and put his hands and arms around my body in a way that felt sexual and domineering.'"

Alex Jung of Vulture: "Earlier this week, the actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when he was 14 years old.... Since then, others have come forward with further allegations against Spacey, including the filmmaker Tony Montana, who said that Spacey groped him in public in 2003, and the actor Roberto Cavazos, who said he witnessed Spacey court and inappropriately touch younger male actors at the Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was the artistic director from 2004 to 2015." ...

... Chloe Melas of CNN: "Kevin Spacey made the set of Netflix's 'House of Cards' into a 'toxic' work environment through a pattern of sexual harassment, eight people who currently work on the show or worked on it in the past tell CNN.... [A] former production assistant, whose account has never previously been disclosed, told CNN that Spacey sexually assaulted him during one of the show's early seasons. All eight people, each of whom spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity..., described Spacey's behavior as 'predatory,' saying it included nonconsensual touching and crude comments and targeted production staffers who were typically young and male." ...

... NEW. He'll Never Work in This Town Again. Jordan Crucchiola of Vulture: "Now [Spacey's] publicist Staci Wolfe has confirmed to Vulture that she has dropped the actor and producer as a client, while a source close to the actor confirms he has also been dropped by the talent agency CAA."