Father's Day in the Time of Trump

By Akhilleus

On this, the eve of Father's Day, a day set aside to acknowledge the role played by that member of the family, a role traditionally described as that of a guardian, a teacher, a mentor, a partner, a protector, it is instructive to consider the evil inversion and sick perversion of that role by a thug who demands that he be kowtowed to as the Father of All, the dictator patriarch to whom fealty, money, power, and the abasement of us all is required. He, of course, as is typical with Trump, is not required to provide a thing. There is no reciprocation. He is a taker and the conditions of the inhabitance of this role does not in any way modify that one-sided relationship.

The evil of this person (I will not promote him, ever, to the status of "man" for he is not a man. At least not one that I recognize; certainly not the type of man my father was, that I aspire to, and that I hope one day will describe my son) has become incarnate at so rapid a rate that it's hard to keep track of all the ways that evil has been inhaled by America since his illegitimate election and gaudy (if poorly attended) coronation.

The fact that he and his evil horde have torn families asunder, for the fun of it, makes an epic joke of how a father should act. We often call George Washington the father of our country, but not just because so much of our heritage stems from his actions in war and stewardship in peace. Washington, who, ironically, had no children of his own, offered a model for the generous, wise, humanitarian father, a role not determined by what was in it for himself, but what was best for the rest of America.

But Trump has become the evil anti-father, the philanderer, the cheater, the greedy, selfish, narcissistic, punishing, pain-instilling, chaos sowing, soul-killing patriarch. His treatment of immigrant children is exhibit one in his trial as a thoroughly evil person. The tearing apart of families is done purely to inflict as much pain as possible, and to gather up the dead rosebuds thrown by the white supremacists he courts. And anyone who tries to describe what's going on under his command in cautiously anodyne DC-speak journalese deserves perdition.

He is not just pandering to the white supremacist hordes who demand punishment for blacks and browns and see their children as little more than chattel. He likes it. He enjoys the pain of others. He and Sessions are operating off the old slave master's handbook, and using the Bible as cover for their crimes. Break up the family, crush the mother, the father, and the little children, shatter their souls and smash their wills. Make them subservient, and now and then, whip them. Just for the pure sadistic fun of it.

And as we see with so many of Trump's voters, the evil he so deliciously indulges in shouts to the devils of their worser nature. His racism, hatred, and thirst for violence encourage the worst, most damaging, inhuman instincts in his supporters. Just look at how ICE agents, freed from ethical, moral, or legal constraints, have taken to life under their new anti-father. Perhaps not all, but those whose inherent hatreds were previously kept under wraps are unleashing the dogs of racism and letting them howl.

The evil of Trump is so rampant and so overwhelming I can barely believe this is America. But this America has always been with us. We've just never had a president* who celebrated it with such relish.

And to make it worse, he is simply too much of a coward to acknowledge his own evil. He blames Democrats. He throws his hands up. "Oh geez, I wish I didn't have to tear these babies away from their mothers' breasts, but Obama is making me do it."

Not just evil, but cowardly and evil. A craven, vicious, blackhearted liar.

So, happy father's day to all the real men who take care of children and their families, who put themselves on the line every day, sometimes at great cost to themselves, who stand between their families and a hard, hard world (thanks, Dad, you were the best!).

For Trump and his evil, greedy, lying brood and his equally malicious supporters--for they are all accursed--go straight to hell.

The Commentariat -- June 17, 2018

Afternoon Update:

A Bizarre Tale from the Trump Campaign. Manuel Roig-Franzia & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... in late May 2016, Roger Stone ... [met with a Russian] man, who called himself Henry Greenberg, [and who] offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton..., according to Stone who spoke about the previously unreported incident in interviews with The Washington Post. Greenberg, who did not reveal the information he claimed to possess, wanted Trump to pay $2 million for the political dirt, Stone said. 'You don't understand Donald Trump,' Stone recalled saying before rejecting the offer at a restaurant in the Russian-expat magnet of Sunny Isles, Fla. 'He doesn't pay for anything.' Later, Stone got a text message from Michael Caputo, a Trump campaign communications official who'd arranged the meeting after Greenberg had approached Caputo's Russian-immigrant business partner. 'How crazy is the Russian?' Caputo wrote according to a text message reviewed by The Post. Noting that Greenberg wanted 'big' money, Stone replied: 'waste of time.'... Caputo said he was asked about the meeting by prosecutors during a sometimes-heated questioning session last month.... Stone and Caputo, who did not previously disclose the meeting to congressional investigators, now say they believe they were the targets of a setup by U.S. law enforcement officials hostile to Trump. They cite records -- independently examined by The Post -- showing that the man who approached Stone is actually a Russian national who has claimed to work as an FBI informant.... There is no evidence that Greenberg was working with the FBI in his interactions with Stone, and in his court filing, Greenberg said that he had stopped his FBI cooperation sometime after 2013. Greenberg, in text messages with The Post, denied that he had been acting on the FBI's behalf when he met with Stone.... [The meeting] came in the same time period as other episodes in which Russian interests approached the Trump campaign." Greenberg now claims there was a third man at the meeting, a Ukrainian called Alexei who said the Clinton Foundation had fired him & he wanted to "tell his story." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Michael Caputo appears to be a regular contributor to CNN. Now it appears that while working for the Trump campaign, he actively sought dirt on Clinton from a shady or "crazy" foreign national. I think he's in trouble. ...

... Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "Just hours after The Washington Post published a bombshell story about a previously undisclosed May 2016 meeting between Roger Stone and a Russian national who promised political dirt about Hillary Clinton, President Trump encouraged Post employees to go on strike. 'Washington Post employees want to go on strike because Bezos isn't paying them enough,' Trump tweeted. 'I think a really long strike would be a great idea. Employees would get more money and we would get rid of Fake News for an extended period of time!..."

Trump & Giuliani Dangle a Pardon in Front of Manafort. Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "White House lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani suggested Sunday that President Trump might pardon his former campaign manager Paul Manafort if he is convicted -- but only after special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has completed his investigation. 'When it's over, hey, he's the president of the United States, he retains his pardon power, nobody's taking that away from him,' Giuliani said on CNN's 'State of the Union' when asked whether Trump would pardon Manafort should he be convicted. 'I couldn't and I don't want to take any prerogatives away from him.' But Giuliani stressed that Trump has not issued, would not issue and should not issue any pardons related to the Mueller probe while it is still ongoing, so as not to give the appearance that he has anything to hide."

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: Cognitive scientist and linguist George Lakoff says the media are mishandling Trump's lies. Rather, news stories should read like a "truth sandwich": "First, he says, get as close to the overall, big-picture truth as possible right away. (Thus the gist of the Trump-in-Singapore story: Little of substance was accomplished in the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, despite the pageantry.) Then report what Trump is claiming about it: achievement of world peace. And then, in the same story or broadcast, fact-check his claims. That's the truth sandwich -- reality, spin, reality.... Avoid retelling the lies. Avoid putting them in headlines, leads or tweets, he says. Because it is that very amplification that gives them power. That's how propaganda works on the brain: through repetition, even when part of that repetition is fact-checking.... Jay Rosen of New York University sums up one such proposal in three words: 'Send the interns.' White House briefings ... are no place for talented, highly compensated reporters.... They have also become a place where reporters get insulted instead of answered, as Sarah Huckabee Sanders showed last week when she refused to answer reasonable questions and repeated lies about Trump's immigration policy...." ...

... They're Not Lies. They're Not "Alternatives Facts." They're a "Particular Vernacular." Good Grief! Caleb Howe of Mediaite: Steve Bannon, on ABC's "This Week," insisted that Trump had never lied to the American people. "After some back and forth, [host Jon] Karl repeated again, 'he says things that aren't true all the time.' 'I don't believe that,' said Bannon. 'I think he speaks in a particular vernacular that connects to people in this country.'" Mrs. McC: To present this as a truth sandwich: Trump lies; Bannon says he doesn't; fact-check." ...

... MEANWHILE, maybe New Yorkers shouldn't try to get all folksy and borrow from Texas "vernacular." "All cattle and no hat," Chuck?

*****

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump on Saturday repeated his false assertion that Democrats were responsible for his administration's policy of separating migrant families apprehended at the border, sticking to a weekslong refusal to publicly accept responsibility for a widely condemned practice that has become a symbol of his crackdown on illegal immigration. 'Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change!' Mr. Trump said in a morning post on Twitter. It came the day after his administration said that it had taken nearly 2,000 children away from their parents in a six-week period ending last month, as part of a new 'zero tolerance' policy that refers for criminal prosecution all immigrants apprehended crossing the border without authorization. The White House defended the practice this week, saying the president was merely enforcing the law. And in recent speeches around the country, Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, has made a spirited case for it, arguing that a strict approach is a vital tool for deterrence. But Mr. Trump has steadfastly tried to deflect blame for the separation of children from their parents, consistently dissembling about why it is occurring. His comments are the latest example of his asking the public to discount what it sees with its own eyes and instead believe his own self-serving version of reality. They also reflect how politically poisonous the issue has become...." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "Another day, another front-page NYT story that flat-out says the POTUS* is a big fat liar.

Trump Cozies up to Another Dictator. Benjamin Hart of New York: "On Saturday, Trump offered what sounded like hearty congratulations to Hungary's Viktor Orbán, whose Fidesz party won a a sweeping electoral victory in April.... Orbán is not quite a dictator, but he's the closest thing to one in Europe. Since he began his second stint as prime minister in 2010, Orbán has slowly but surely transformed his country from a model postcommunist democracy to a strongman's paradise.... Once upon a time, like two years ago, an American president would have protested such naked illiberalism in Hungary.... George W. Bush wrote a letter full of complaints about his rule during the Hungarian's first term; when it was ignored, Bush declined to invite him to the White House. During Orbán's second tenure in office, President Obama denied visas for six Hungarian officials over corruption issues.... [Trump's] habit of going out of his way to endorse world leaders inimical to Western democracy never stops being stunning." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's not surprising that Trump made the call on a weekend. It was Trump's day off, so he did things he relishes -- he went golfing & shmoozed a fellow dictator. It's all fun! Update: Turns out the call to Orbán was just a warm-up. Trump will top off his weekend fun with a call to a 100-percent, ruthless, murderous dictator: "Asked by a Fox anchor what he was going to be doing on Father's Day, the president replied, 'I'm going to be actually calling North Korea.'"

... Maureen Dowd: "A new study from Southern Methodist University says the nation's capital has more psychopaths per person than anyplace else in the country. No surprise there.... The study notes that 'psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere' and that 'the occupations that were most disproportionately psychopathic were C.E.O., lawyer, media, salesperson, surgeon, journalist, police officer, clergyperson, chef, and civil servant.' So if a chief executive, salesman and media personality becomes a politician, he's hitting four of the highest-risk categories." Read on. Dowd is having one of her good days.

Caroline Orr of Shareblue: "Russian state TV is celebrating after seeing the recent report that Trump told G7 leaders that Crimea belongs to Russia because the people there speak Russian. Trump's statement, which parrots the Kremlin's talking points on Crimea, was widely interpreted in Russia as an official declaration by the U.S. that Russia was justified when they illegally invaded Crimea and annexed it from Ukraine. The ignorant proclamation made by Trump was quickly turned into propaganda and touted by Russian state TV hosts Olga Skabeeva and Evgeny Popov, who triumphantly reported on the remarks Friday. 'Krym nash, Trump nash!' Skabeeva declared to the audience, which in English means 'Crimea is ours, Trump is ours!'"

Peter Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "As the Trump administration imposes tariffs on allies and rivals alike, provoking broad retaliation, global commerce is suffering disruption, flashing signs of strains that could hamper economic growth. The latest escalation came on Friday, when President Trump announced fresh tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods, prompting swift retribution from Beijing. As the conflict broadens, shipments are slowing at ports and airfreight terminals around the world. Prices for crucial raw materials are rising. At factories from Germany to Mexico, orders are being cut and investments delayed. American farmers are losing sales as trading partners hit back with duties of their own.... History has proved that trade wars are costly while escalating risks of broader hostilities. Fears are deepening that the current outbreak of antagonism could drag down the rest of the world."

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "The Northern Neck Regional Jail, where Paul Manafort will spend at least the next three months while awaiting trial..., houses federal prisoners awaiting trial -- including a member of the Taliban and a feared Colombian drug lord. It held NFL star Michael Vick and musician Chris Brown, too. The jail is notable for another reason -- four inmates have died there since 2011. In one of those deaths, a 32-year-old female inmate who suffered a stroke in 2016 was denied medical care for more than 10 hours and was declared brain dead later that night.... Jail records show Manafort was booked into the 'VIP' section of the jail at 8:22 p.m. Friday." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Meant to embed this yesterday. Beginning with the set-up at about 4:30 minutes in, Rachel Maddow reads the court transcript (sadly, absent sock puppets) of the exchange among the judge & lawyers in Manfort's bail revocation hearing. Sort of fun, unless you're Manafort:

This Was Always the Plan. Julie Davis & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Almost immediately after President Trump took office, his administration began weighing what for years had been regarded as the nuclear option in the effort to discourage immigrants from unlawfully entering the United States. Children would be separated from their parents if the families had been apprehended entering the country illegally, John F. Kelly, then the homeland security secretary, said in March 2017, 'in order to deter more movement along this terribly dangerous network.'... for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the idea of crying children torn from their parents' arms was simply too inhumane -- and too politically perilous -- to embrace as policy, and Mr. Trump, though he had made an immigration crackdown one of the central issues of his campaign, succumbed to the same reality, publicly dropping the idea after Mr. Kelly's comments touched off a swift backlash. But advocates inside the administration, most prominently Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump's senior policy adviser, never gave up on the idea. Last month, facing a sharp uptick in illegal border crossings, Mr. Trump ordered a new effort to criminally prosecute anyone who crossed the border unlawfully -- with few exceptions for parents traveling with their minor children.... [While Trump has blamed Democrats for his decision (because why wouldn't he?)] Kirstjen Nielsen, the current homeland security secretary, has clashed privately with Mr. Trump over the practice, sometimes inviting furious lectures from the president that have pushed her to the brink of resignation."

Donald Trump says it's "very unfair" that Paul Manafort has to sit in jail after allegedly repeatedly breaking the law AND the terms of his parole, but Trump is still good with this:

Tom Dart of the Guardian: "The Trump administration has been accused of illegally rejecting potential immigration judges for being too liberal, amid outrage over families being forcibly separated at the southern US border and a harsh crackdown on migrants seeking asylum.... The attorney general has the power to hire and fire immigration judges.... Four Democratic members of Congress wrote to [Jeff] Sessions in April expressing concern after whistleblower allegations that the Department of Justice 'may be using ideological and political considerations to improperly -- and illegally -- block the hiring of immigration judges and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals'." The DOJ has responded, but "two congressmen, Lloyd Doggett and Elijah Cummings, issued a joint statement which said that the response did not fully address their concerns, and called for an independent investigation by the ... inspector general."

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director and acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has picked a deputy at the budget office, Kathy Kraninger, to succeed him at the consumer watchdog agency, a White House spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday. Ms. Kraninger, who oversees the preparation of the budgets for cabinet departments, was selected over the objection of some officials inside the White House, who argued that her relative inexperience -- and association with Mr. Mulvaney -- could scuttle her nomination.... On Saturday, White House officials played down the fact that she has never held a job as a regulator or worked in the financial services industry.... Last week, Mr. Mulvaney told reporters that he was not participating in the selection process for his new deputy. White House officials disputed that account and said Ms. Kraninger was his clear preference."

Alex Guillen of Politico: "The federal government's top ethics official suggested Friday he is considering a 'formal corrective action proceeding' regarding alleged improper behavior by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a perhaps unprecedented step against a sitting member of the president's Cabinet. The head of the independent Office of Government Ethics urged EPA's in-house watchdog to expand its ongoing investigations to review the latest allegations about Pruitt, including that he used EPA resources to find a job for his wife. OGE will look into the findings of that probe to decide how to proceed, acting OGE Director David Apol wrote in a letter to EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins on Friday.... Donald Trump said earlier Friday that he was 'not happy about certain things' with his embattled administrator, although he praised the 'fantastic job' Pruitt is doing at EPA.... An OGE spokesperson told Politico the office is unaware of the agency ever before initiating a formal corrective action proceeding against any federal official, let alone a Cabinet member." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: An appropriate "corrective action" would be to fire Pruitt, bring criminal charges against him & make him pay out-of-pocket for all the taxpayer money he wasted. ...

... How Scotty Keeps His Job. Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Over the past year, Trump has removed members of his Cabinet for far fewer and less serious infractions [than Pruitt has committed].... In the case of both [Tom] Price and [David] Shulkin, however, Trump had become frustrated with their inability to achieve some of his top priorities. Pruitt, on the other hand, has doggedly pursued the president's objectives while heaping praise on the commander in chief. He has also commiserated privately with him about two of Trump's favored grievances: the probe into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election and the problem of aides who leak." Here's one of several examples the writers cite: "At one point during the weeks-long discussions about whether to exit the Paris accord, Pruitt sought to circumvent the decision-making process in a meeting with the president. Without consulting others, he gave Trump a plan to pull out of the deal, even as discussions were underway among other senior officials. [Gary] Cohn and ... Rex Tillerson said Pruitt gave the president inaccurate data to support his argument, and he was widely excoriated for doing it secretly. 'It was total bulls[hit],' one person present for the discussions said. But Trump sided with Pruitt...."

Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "A neighbor of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was sentenced Friday to 30 days in prison after pleading guilty to felony assault for tackling the lawmaker last year, a spokesman for federal prosecutors said. The attack was fueled by irritation over a pile of debris. The neighbor, Rene A. Boucher, 60, of Bowling Green, Ky., was also sentenced to one year of probation and a $10,000 fine, said Tim Horty, a spokesman for the United States attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in a phone interview. In a statement, Mr. Paul said that he believed a conviction with prison time was 'appropriate,' and he hoped it would deter Mr. Boucher from any future violence."

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina GOP Cooks up a Full Menu of Voter Suppression Measures. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "The last time Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature enacted a law making it harder for some of the state's residents to vote, a federal court said the statute targeted African-American voters 'with almost surgical precision,' and threw it out. That was last year. Now the legislators are back with a new set of election proposals, and an unconventional plan to make them stick. Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Republican senators unveiled legislation that would eliminate the final Saturday of early voting in state elections, a day that typically draws a large share of black voters to the polls. That followed a Republican proposal last week to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would require all voters to display a photo ID before casting votes. In addition, party leaders say they are preparing a constitutional amendment that would curb the power of the Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, over the state board that controls election procedures.... Gerry Cohen, a longtime counsel to the Legislature..., said the Republicans were very likely to lose their supermajority in the statehouse. 'So they're trying to pass as much as they can before December 31.'..."

News Lede

NJ.com: "Gunfire blasted through a celebrated community event in Trenton early Sunday morning leaving one person dead and 22 injured, police said. The 24-hour Art All Night event is meant to honor local artists and held at the historic Roebling Wire Works building on South Clinton Avenue. The shooting erupted shortly before 3 a.m. Authorities said the shooting did not appear to be a targeted incident but a dispute between individuals that eventually led to an exchange of gunfire with police.... One of the suspected shooters is dead, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri. The 33-year-old man is believed to be shot and killed by police, Onofri said. A second suspect is in police custody. Neither has been identified."

The Commentariat -- June 16, 2018

*****

** Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "President Trump declared in a spur-of-the-moment interview with 'Fox and Friends' Friday morning that he wants people to sit at attention for him like they do for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.... Kim stands accused of leading a murderous regime that starves its own people. But Mr. Trump has heaped praise on Kim since meeting with him in Singapore, saying repeatedly that the two have 'good chemistry.' 'Hey, he is the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head,' Mr. Trump told Fox News' Steve Doocy on the White House lawn Friday. 'Don't let anyone think anything different. H speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.' Pressed by a reporter about those remarks moments later, Mr. Trump said he was 'kidding.' 'I'm kidding, you don't understand sarcasm,' the president said." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ...

     ... Mrs. McC: I don't think Trump was kidding, & -- rather than insult a reporter, as Trump did -- I'm going to assume the reporter does understand sarcasm, AND s/he can tell when Trump isn't kidding. ...

What makes Trump's comments so disturbing is that they reveal a president who believes in projecting American power but not American values -- he believes in might but not right. --Amy Zegart of Stanford University ...

... "Dictator Envy." Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Trump's praise Friday for Kim Jong Un's authoritarian rule in North Korea -- and his apparent envy that people there 'sit up at attention' when the 35-year-old dictator speaks -- marked an escalation of the American president's open embrace of totalitarian leaders around the world.... Whether jesting or not, no U.S. president has been as free in his admiration of dictators and absolute power as the 45th, historians say. And Trump's interest in the subject seems to be growing as he becomes better acquainted with some of the world's authoritarian leaders.... Trump earlier this week declared the media to be 'our country's biggest enemy,' and he has repeatedly voiced his desire to punish journalists who air criticisms of him. Trump remarked during his Singapore trip about how positive a female news anchor was toward Kim on state-run North Korean television, and he joked that even Trump-friendly Fox News was not as lavish in its praise. Trump condoned violence against protesters during his campaign rallies and as president has encouraged jailing his political opponents and perceived enemies...." ...

Using ... language like 'the enemy of the people' -- it-s a Stalin phrase.... What he has done is begun to stress these norms and stress them constantly, and people become inured to it. I've seen this play out in Turkey, and that's how this stuff gets normalized. And after a while, people say, OK, that's the way it is. -- Eric Edelman, Dubya's ambassador to Turkey ...

... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "... Donald Trump reliably tells the truth on one thing: He likes the way dictators do business.... He's spent the three years -- to the day -- since riding down that escalator in Trump Tower demanding loyalty, fantasizing about torture, dividing the country into 'followers' and enemies.... He stocks his staff with supplicants and family members, then pits them against one another to watch them fight for his favor in a nonstop West Wing soap opera.... Political enemies should be investigated and jailed, Trump says. He'll pardon whom he wants to, whomever gets his attention by running to a Fox News set. He blames it on a justice system he undercuts.... If you're offended, Trump and his aides say, if you disagree, if you want an explanation, you're either an idiot or not a patriot."

     ... Trumplomacy. Bob Fredericks of the New York Post: "... Donald Trump stunned his fellow world leaders at the G7 meeting when he said he would ship '25 million' Mexicans to Japan, which would result in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe losing his next election. During the gathering in Quebec -- which ended with Trump leaving early and refusing to sign the traditional joint communique -- the president was talking about what he called Europe's immigration problem when he turned his attention to the Japanese leader. 'Shinzo, you don't have this problem, but I can send you 25 million Mexicans and you'll be out of office very soon,' Trump said, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior EU official who was in the room. The commander-in-chief also raised eyebrows when the subject turned to Iran and terrorism. 'You must know about this, Emmanuel, because all the terrorists are i Paris,' he told French President Emmanuel Macron. 'A sense of irritation with Mr. Trump could be felt, but everyone tried to be rational and calm,' the official told the paper."

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's obvious Trump finds it in his interest to antagonize democratic allies & cozy up to dictators and enemies (tho the China tariffs don't fit this pattern). There's an end game in the man's mind. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know it's not good. ...

     ... So This Is Funny. John Bowden of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday tweeted photos of himself meeting with world leaders at last weekend's G-7 summit, accusing news outlets of reporting incorrectly that he has a negative relationship with world leaders. In a string of tweets, the president posted photographs showing him smiling alongside world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French president Emmanuel Macron at the summit. 'I have a great relationship with Angela Merkel of Germany, but the Fake News Media only shows the bad photos (implying anger) of negotiating an agreement - where I am asking for things that no other American President would ask for!' Trump tweeted." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember the Magnitsky Act? That's the U.S. law under which the U.S. has sanctioned Russians for human rights violations. Congress initiated the act specifically because of the the death of Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009, but extended it to apply to any foreign government officials who commit abuses. Donnie Junior made the act well-known when news reports revealed that Junior had called a Trump Tower meeting to get dirt from Russia on Hillary Clinton but was disappointed when the Russian reps wanted to talk only about ending the sanctions imposed against Russian oligarchs under the Magnitsky Act. Well, last year, Canada passed its own Magnitsky law, with similar provisions. ...

     ... AND NOW, guess what? ...

     ... Poetic Justice. Rebecca Samuels of the pluralist: "Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday that she is open to using a law normally reserved for leaders responsible for human rights violations to impose retaliatory sanctions on the Trump Administration. Those sanctions could target the administration itself rather than the American people. The Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, also known as the Magnitsky law, would allow Ottowa to impose travel bans and asset freezes on foreign leaders. Regina-Lewvan MP Erin Weir proposed the measure during a Question Period with Freeland earlier this week. Weir noted that the law might be particularly useful because Trump has 'made himself vulnerable' by maintaining personal business interests." ...

... Peter Baker & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump went on offense on Friday with a withering series of attacks on the F.B.I., congressional Democrats, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Canada's prime minister, football players, the media, the special counsel and other favorite targets even as he hailed his relations with the leaders of North Korea, China and Russia. After a couple of days out of sight following his trip to Singapore to meet with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, Mr. Trump delivered a blizzard of pointed messages on Twitter, gave an interview to his preferred Fox News show and then engaged in a typically freewheeling encounter with reporters on the White House driveway.... The ]Justice Department IG's] report, he said, exposed what he called 'the scum on top' of the F.B.I. as 'total thieves,' and he insisted that Peter Strzok, a senior F.B.I. agent who had spoken privately against him, should be fired. 'They were plotting against my election,' he said. When it was pointed out that the report actually found that no decisions were made out of political bias, he dismissed the conclusion.... [In his Fox News interview, he said,] 'If you read the I.G. report, I've been totally exonerated.' But the report dealt only with the handling of the investigation into Mrs. Clinton and did not address allegations against Mr. Trump and his campaign related to contacts with Russia during the election and possible obstruction of justice after he took office." Read on, if you haven't had lunch. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

... Evan Hurst of Wonkette highlights some more of Trump's Friday morning whoppers. ...

... AND Linda Qiu of the New York Times has a detailed fact-check of the lies Trump told during his Fox "News" interview.

Jill Abramson of the Guardian: "Reading ... the IG report and the lawsuit [against the Trump Foundation, et al.], fills any sane person with the deepest regret that Donald Trump is president. This is a tragedy that could have been prevented, according to my reading of the Justice Department's report. And anyone needing more evidence that Trump lacks the moral or ethical moorings to be president need only peruse the New York lawsuit eviscerating the Trump Foundation. Despite his sanctimony, his best-selling book and his claims to martyrdom after Trump fired him, James Comey is a singular villain. Though the IG report states that he had no political motive in doing so, he upended the 2016 election and all but destroyed Clinton's candidacy.... The inescapable conclusion of the report is that the FBI under Comey was a ship of fools." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will await his trial for foreign lobbying crimes from jail. Two weeks after Robert Mueller's prosecutors dropped new accusations of witness tampering on him, a federal judge Friday revoked Manafort's current bail, which allowed him out on house arrest. Judge Amy Berman Jackson's order marks an end to months of attempts from Manafort to lighten his house arrest restrictions after he was charged and pleaded not guilty to foreign lobbying violations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... The New York Times story, by Sharon LaFraniere, is here. "Mr. Trump and members of his team lashed out against the judge's move, an attack that renewed talk about whether the president might issue pardons to curb a prosecutorial process in the special counsel's Russia inquiry that he describes as stacked against him. 'Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday in which he appeared to confuse the judge's action with a sentence handed down after conviction. 'Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!' Rudolph W. Giuliani ... said in an interview that Mr. Trump should not pardon anyone while the special counsel inquiry is still going on, but 'when the investigation is concluded, he's kind of on his own, right?'... Mr. Trump has sought to distance himself from Mr. Manafort, who worked for his campaign for nearly five months, including three months as campaign chairman, before he was ousted in August 2016 amid controversy over his Ukraine work. 'Mr. Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time,' the president said on Friday morning. 'He worked for me, what, for 49 days or something?' he added." ...

... MEANWHILE. Kara Scannell of CNN: "... Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen has indicated to family and friends he is willing to cooperate with federal investigators to alleviate the pressure on himself and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.Cohen has expressed anger with the treatment he has gotten from the President, who has minimized his relationship with Cohen, and comments from the President's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the source said. The treatment has left him feeling isolated and more open to cooperating, the source said. Asked by reporters Friday if he was worried about Cohen cooperating, Trump said, 'I did nothing wrong, nothing wrong.' He also said he hasn't spoken with Cohen 'in a long time,' adding, 'I always liked Michael and he's a good person.'" ...

... Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "Federal investigators were able to piece together about 16 pages of shredded documents seized during a raid on President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, a court filing Friday revealed. Prosecutors also now have been able to read more than 700 pages of messages and call logs from the encrypted communication platforms WhatsApp and Signal."

Jeff Horwitz of the AP: "A company run by former officials at Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm brought down by a scandal over how it obtained Facebook users' private data, has quietly been working for ... Donald Trump's 2020 re-election effort.... The AP confirmed that at least four former Cambridge Analytica employees are affiliated with Data Propria, a new company specializing in voter and consumer targeting work similar to Cambridge Analytica's efforts before its collapse. The company's former head of product, Matt Oczkowski, leads the new firm, which also includes Cambridge Analytica's former chief data scientist.... In [a] conversation, which took place in a public place and was overheard by two AP reporters, Oczkowski said he and Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, were 'doing the president's work for 2020.'... Both Oczkowski and Parscale told the AP that no Trump re-election work by Data Propria was even planned...."

White House Concedes Trump Has No Idea What He's Talking about. Thomas Kaplan & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Conflicting messages from President Trump and his aides over whether he would support a compromise immigration bill sent House Republicans into fits of confusion on Friday, further diminishing the bill's fortunes ahead of a showdown vote next week. Speaker Paul D. Ryan is planning to hold votes on two immigration measures: a hard-line conservative bill, which is almost certain to fail, and new legislation worked out by Republican immigration moderates and House conservatives, which Mr. Ryan promoted Thursday as a 'very good compromise.' But a day of White House drama left Republicans unsure of where the president stood, and uncertainty will not help legislation that would bring sweeping change to the United States' immigration system. On Friday morning, Mr. Trump seemed to casually dismiss the delicate compromise. 'I'm looking at both of them,' Mr. Trump said on 'Fox and Friends.' 'I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one.' Senior aides in the White House quietly insisted that the president had misspoken, but it took hours for the White House to say that out loud. Finally, early Friday evening, Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, issued a statement pledging Mr. Trump's support for the compromise bill as well as for the hard-line measure...." ...

... Colleen Long of the AP: "Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the U.S. border over a six-week period during a crackdown on illegal entries, according to Department of Homeland Security figures obtained Friday by The Associated Press.... Under a 'zero tolerance' policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Department of Homeland Security officials are now referring all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution. U.S. protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are. Sessions announced the effort April 6, and Homeland Security began stepping up referrals in early May, effectively putting the policy into action." ...

... ** Trump Vows to Continue to Use Traumatized Children as Bargaining Chips. Michael Scherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has calculated that he will gain political leverage in congressional negotiations by continuing to enforce a policy he claims to hate -- separating immigrant parents from their young children at the southern border, according to White House officials. On Friday, Trump suggested he would not change the policy unless Democrats agreed to his other immigration demands, which include funding a border wall, tightening the rules for border enforcement and curbing legal entry. He also is intent on pushing members of his party to vote for a compromise measure that would achieve those long-standing priorities. Trump's public acknowledgment that he was willing to let the policy continue as he pursued his political goals came as the president once again blamed Democrats for a policy enacted and touted by his own administration. 'The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda,' he tweeted. After listing his demands in any immigration bill, he added, 'Go for it! WIN!'"

So Much Winning!

Don Lee & Jonathan Kaiman of the Los Angeles Times: "China on Wednesday matched dollar for dollar the Trump administration's plan to slap tariffs on $50 billion of imported Chinese goods, issuing its own list of U.S. products of comparable value that would be subject to hefty duties should the White House follow through with its tough trade sanctions. Beijing's swift and broad retaliatory response at first seemed to confirm fears that the world's two largest economies were hurtling toward a trade war that would be costly for consumers and companies, and damage the global economy. Anxious U.S. businesses pleaded for cooler heads, and investors panicked. But after sinking sharply when markets opened Wednesday, U.S. stocks not only recovered, but the Dow ended the day up 231 points. The rebound followed assurances by White House officials that despite President Trump's sharp rhetoric and threats, chances are good that the tit-for-tat trade salvos will end in settlement rather than much further escalation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Trump Says It's All Good. Heather Long of the Washington Post: "President Trump's decision Friday to put hefty tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese products means costs are going up for a lot of goods. A tariff is another word for a tax, and Trump just announced significant new taxes on 1,102 items.... Americans will almost certainly face higher costs as companies pay more for parts they need to build cars, dishwashers and tractors, and then firms turn around and pass those higher prices onto consumers. All of Trump's tariffs so far -- on China, on steel and aluminum, on washing machines and on solar panels -- will end up costing the average U.S. family $80 a year, Moody's Analytics estimates.... If Trump continues to pile tariffs on China (he has threatened to do another $100 billion) and China retaliates, then the cost to the average family would rise to $210, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has also forecast rising prices from the tariffs. The [right-wing] Tax Foundation, a think tank that supported Trump's tax law, predicts that more than 45,000 jobs will be lost because of the tariffs Trump has issued so far. They also forecast a small hit to the economy and wages.... Trump is calling on Americans to pay higher prices for a while because he thinks it will be worth it if he gets concessions from China and the E.U.... Trump is arguing it will be worth it in the end.... In a rally in late April in Michigan, he told supporters to be prepared for 'a little pain' in this fight with China and the European Union." ...

... Trump & Co. Are Making $$ & You're Not. Jeff Stein & Andrew van Dam of the Washington Post: "The average hourly wage paid to a key group of American workers has fallen from last year when accounting for inflation, as an economy that appears strong by several measures continues to fail to create bigger paychecks, the federal government said Tuesday. For workers in 'production and nonsupervisory' positions, the value of the average paycheck has declined in the past year.... This pool of workers includes those in manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as all 'nonsupervisory' workers in service industries such health care or fast food. The group accounts for about four-fifths of the privately employed workers in America, according to BLS.... The fall in those wages has alarmed some economists, who say paychecks should be getting fatter at a time when unemployment is low and businesses are hiring.... The falling wages promise to exacerbate historic levels of U.S. inequality.... Gains are going almost exclusively to people already at the top of the economic ladder, economists say."

Now This Is a Rigged System. Maggie Severns of Politico: "The FEC will not investigate ... Donald Trump's political campaign for enriching his businesses after considering a complaint from a liberal watchdog group, which alleged that Trump's boasting about his hotels and use of his private jets constituted a violation of campaign law. The agency released its decision Friday, two years after the complaint was filed during the 2016 primaries, when then-candidate Trump plugged Trump-branded wine, steaks and golf courses during political events and held press conferences at Trump properties. The complaint from American Democracy Legal Fund alleged that represented a use of campaign funds to further Trump's business and personal interests in violation of campaign finance law. Additional complaints alleged that Trump had 'charged his own campaign significantly more money' for events than he had charged others for similar events. But the FEC dismissed the complaints on a 3-1 vote, with Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub dissenting, after the agency's general counsel recommended against moving forward." Mrs. McC: The FEC has only four commissioners, although it is supposed to have six, with no more than three from one party. The three who voted to forget about Trump's money-making campaign endeavors are all Republicans appointed by Dubya.

Friday in Scott Pruitt Scandals. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "Senior staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency frequently felt pressured by Scott Pruitt, the administrator, to help in personal matters and obtain special favors for his family, according to interviews with four current and former E.P.A. officials who served as top political aides to Mr. Pruitt. The officials said that Mr. Pruitt, who 'had a clear sense of entitlement,' in the words of one of them, indicated that he expected staff members' assistance with matters outside the purview of government, including calling on an executive with connections in the energy industry to help secure tickets to a sold-out football game in January at the Rose Bowl. The aides said the administrator ... had also made it clear that he had no hesitation in leveraging his stature as a cabinet member to solicit favors himself. As an example, Mr. Pruitt, shortly after taking the E.P.A. job, reached out to the former speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates seeking help for his daughter, McKenna, in securing admission to the University of Virginia School of Law. William Howell, the former speaker, appears on Mr. Pruitt's official E.P.A. calendar, and he confirmed in an interview that he was approached by Mr. Pruitt and subsequently wrote a letter to the school's dean on the daughter's behalf.... Separately, at least three E.P.A. staff members were dispatched to help Ms. Pruitt obtain a summer internship at the White House, the current and former staff members said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... But Pruitt still has Trump's support. (Also linked yesterday.)

Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters: "Talks with the United States over how to reform the main U.N. rights body have failed to meet Washington's demands, activists and diplomats say, suggesting that the Trump administration will quit the Geneva forum whose session opens on Monday. A U.S. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the withdrawal appeared to be 'imminent' but had no details. Diplomatic sources said it was not a question of if but of when the United States retreats from the Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session through July 6.... Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, publicly told the Council a year ago that Washington might leave the body unless a 'chronic anti-Israel bias' were removed." Mrs. McC: Isn't the real reason we're pulling out that the Trump administration doesn't care about human rights?

Simon Romero of the New York Times: "Tensions flared on Friday between federal authorities in Arizona and residents of a Native American reservation straddling the border with Mexico after a video surfaced in which a Border Patrol vehicle appears to hit a man from the tribe before driving away. The video, which was recorded on the phone of the victim, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation identified as Paulo Remes, spread quickly on social media after several tribe members and Indivisible Tohono, an organization focused on the impact of border policies, posted the footage on Twitter and Facebook.... He told The Arizona Daily Star that he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries from the incident.... The ... Border Patrol said in a statement that it was 'actively investigating' the incident." Mrs. McC: Includes video, which is awful. The driver appears to purposely run down Mr. Remes.

Reed Abelson of the New York Times: "Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, the lab testing company that promised to revolutionize health care, and its former president, Ramesh Balwani, were indicted on Friday on charges of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars as well as deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors. The criminal charges were the culmination of a rarity in Silicon Valley -- federal prosecution of a technology start-up. This one boasted a board stacked with prominent political figures and investors, and a startling valuation of $9 billion just a few years ago."