The Commentariat -- May 11, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "Facing withering attacks accusing him of seeking foreign assistance for President Trump's re-election campaign, Rudolph W. Giuliani announced on Friday night that he had canceled a trip to Kiev in which he planned to push the incoming Ukrainian government to press ahead with investigations that he hoped would benefit Mr. Trump. Mr. Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, explained that he felt as if he was being 'set up' by Ukrainians critical of his efforts, and he blamed Democrats for trying to 'spin' the trip.... Mr. Giuliani said on Thursday that he had hoped to meet in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, with the nation's president-elect and urge him to pursue inquiries that could yield new information about two matters of intense interest to Mr. Trump. One is the origin of the special counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The other is the involvement of former Vice President Jospeh R. Biden Jr.'s son in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch. The trip raised the specter of a lawyer for Mr. Trump pressing a foreig government to pursue investigations that his allies hope could help him win re-election.... Mr. Trump has suggested he would like Attorney General William P. Barr to look into the material gathered by the Ukrainian prosecutors.... After The New York Times published a report about the trip on Thursday, Democrats assailed Mr. Giuliani, accusing him of activity evoking that at the center of the recently concluded special counsel's investigation.... The change of plans came as advisers were urging the incoming Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer, not to meet with Mr. Giuliani, according to a person familiar with the conversations." ...

      ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yeah, Rudy, it's everybody else's fault. You & your boss are not just collaborating with but encouraging a foreign government to insert itself into a U.S. election, & shame on Ukrainians for not going along & Democrats pointing to your potentially criminal plans.

It's like fucking in a cathedral. -- Leonard Bernstein to Maryan Stevens, describing the intensity of conducting a musical masterpiece ...

... ** Robert Barnes of the Washington Post reports on his interview with retired Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens' autobiography will be published this week.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Alan Rappeport & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Trade talks between China and the United States ended on Friday without a deal as President Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports and signaled he was prepared for a prolonged economic fight. Mr. Trump, who only weeks ago predicted a signing ceremony for an 'epic' trade deal with President Xi Jinping of China, reclaimed his stance of threatening Beijing and insisting his approach would help the American economy. In a flurry of tweets on Friday, Mr. Trump warned that he would tax nearly all of China's imports if the country continued to backtrack on a trade deal.... On Friday, the trade dispute appeared to be lurching toward an all-out economic war. China has threatened to retaliate with its own 'countermeasures,' which include ending purchases of American farm goods and establishing other nontariff barriers for companies trying to gain access to the Chinese market."

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "White House officials asked at least twice in the past month for the key witness against President Trump in the Mueller report, Donald F. McGahn II, to say publicly that he never believed the president obstructed justice, according to two people briefed on the requests. Mr. McGahn, who was the president's first White House counsel, declined, one of the people said. His reluctance angered Mr. Trump, who believed that Mr. McGahn showed disloyalty by telling investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, about Mr. Trump's attempts to maintain control over the Russia investigation. The White House made one of the requests to Mr. McGahn's lawyer, William A. Burck, before the Mueller report was released publicly but after the Justice Department gave a copy to Mr. Trump's lawyers to read. Reading the report, the president's lawyers saw that Mr. Mueller had left out that Mr. McGahn had told investigators that he believed Mr. Trump never obstructed justice. Mr. Burck had told them months earlier that his client had shared that belief with investigators. Mr. McGahn initially entertained the White House request. But after the report was released, detailing the range of actions Mr. Trump took to try to impede the inquiry, Mr. McGahn declined to put out a statement." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Assuming the reporting here is accurate, I don't think Democrats will get a John Dean-like hearing out of him.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee subpoenaed the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Friday, disregarding the Treasury secretary's refusal this week to hand over six years of President Trump's personal and business tax returns and demanding access. The subpoenas from Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Charles P. Rettig, the I.R.S. commissioner, amounted to an unexpected shift in tactics in the yearslong Democratic effort to secure tax returns that Mr. Trump has refused to release.... The new approach is unlikely to be any more fruitful in the short term..., but ... the fight over Mr. Trump's tax returns could soon head to the federal courts, and House lawyers believe they have a better and speedier case defending a subpoena than a legally untested tax code provision."

Morgan Chalfont of the Hill: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y) said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller will not be testifying before his panel next week. Nadler told reporters that the committee is still negotiating over his testimony with the Justice Department and Mueller but expects the special counsel to appear.... Nadler did not give a specific reason for why Mueller would not testify next week, telling reporters it 'just hasn't developed.' 'He will come at some point. If it's necessary, we will subpoena him and he will come,' Nadler said later."

Zachary Basu of Axios: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told Axios' Mike Allen Friday that the House is considering reviving its 'inherent contempt' power, which would allow Congress to enforce subpoenas through coercive measures like fines. 'Much as I like the visual of [throwing people in jail], I think it's far more practical to consider levying individual fines on the person -- not the office -- until they comply. You could fine someone $25,000 a day until they comply. You can do that. We're looking through the history and studying the law to make sure we're on solid ground.'" ...

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: Nancy "Pelosi is a sharp and pragmatic woman, and her evident belief that impeachment carries strategic risks for Democrats should be taken seriously. But it is incoherent to argue that Trump constitutes an existential threat to the Constitution, and that Congress should wait to use the Constitution's primary defense against such a threat.... In the face of an administration that is trying to amass dictatorial powers, Democrats need to bring to bear all the powers of their own. Trump's outright rejection of congressional authority makes impeachment proceedings necessary, but even impeachment alone is not sufficient.... There are dangers in increased Democratic combativeness, but even greater dangers in timidity." Goldberg cites some interesting remarks by Rep. Jamie Raskin [D-Maryland] who was a constitutional law professor, including on the concept of "inherent contempt."

From Crooked Hillary to Crooked Joe. Jonathan Chait: Donald Trump's campaign is "pressuring a foreign government to assist Trump's reelection campaign. The effort consists of Trump's agents lobbying Ukraine to smear his political rivals. The smear campaign is being run by Rudy Giuliani, who -- perhaps operating on the theory that a massive scandal boasted about in the media by its perpetrators is less damaging than one uncovered by investigators -- is broadcasting his scheme. 'There's nothing illegal about it,' he tells the New York Times. [NYT story previously linked in the Commentariat.] 'Somebody could say it's improper.' Well, yes, they could.... Giuliani is trying to get Ukraine to pursue two investigations: one against ... [Hillary Clinton], and another against [Joe Biden.... The first is based on murky charges that have circulated on the right that Hillary Clinton's campaign conspired with Ukraine to gin up the Russia investigation.... 'In the case against Biden,] there is no quid, no pro, no quo.... So why would Ukraine pursue baseless charges? Because its government has a strong interest in mollifying Trump. The Times reported last year that Ukraine halted its cooperation with the Mueller probe because it couldn't risk provoking Trump.... On its face, there is nothing illegal here.... The powers legally available to a corrupt president and a party that has turned a blind eye to his violations of governing norms may be more terrifying than anybody has considered." ...

... Trump Implies He Doesn't Know Much about It. Andrew Restuccia, et al., of Politico: "Trump ... said that he plans to speak to Rudy Giuliani about his personal attorney's imminent plans to go to Ukraine to reportedly encourage the Ukrainian president to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation and Hunter Biden's role on the board of directors of an energy company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch. 'I will speak to him about it before he leaves. I'm just curious about that,' he said, adding that he has 'not spoken to him at any great length' about it.... When asked whether he would consider directing Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the Bidens, as some Democrats fear, Trump said he had not spoken to Barr about the issue. But he left open the possibility, saying 'certainly it would be an appropriate thing to' discuss with Barr." ...

... Allan Smith & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "'We have come to a very sorry state when it is considered OK for an American politician, never mind an attorney for the president, to go and seek foreign intervention in American politics,' said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to reporters Friday. Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted that Giuliani's efforts are not only improper, but 'immoral, unethical, unpatriotic and, now, standard procedure.'... PolitiFact, meanwhile, reported that it found no evidence to 'support the idea that Joe Biden advocated with his son's interests in mind.'" ...

... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: “Yes, Trump is trying to collude with a foreign government in an attempt to aid his campaign by creating negative stories about a potential opponent. Again.... They're now skipping over the secrecy and denial parts, and just doing it openly.... This isn't some kind of freelancing on Giuliani's part. [An] earlier article in the Times [also linked here previously] reported that Giuliani called Trump to brief him during his meeting with the Ukrainian prosecutor, and Giuliani 'acknowledged that he has discussed the matter with the president on multiple occasions.' So to be clear: The president of the United States is, through his lawyer, pressuring a foreign government to mount an investigation in order to tarnish his potential general-election opponent.... Trump has already told Sean Hannity that Attorney General William P. Barr is looking into what he called 'incredible' charges involving Ukraine and Hillary Clinton, no doubt at his suggestion. This is only the beginning of what Trump is going to pull, and there's every reason to think that he feels utterly unrestrained by law or ethics." ...

... AND This Particular Stunt Might Not Work. Oliver Carroll of the (UK) Independent: "... president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky may now refuse to meet Mr Trump's lawyer Rudy Guiliani when he arrives in Kiev later this month. Mr Guiliani’s trip, first reported in The New York Times on Thursday, has been described as an attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigations to help Mr Trump's re-election campaign.... Two separate sources in Mr Zelensky's circle told The Independent that it was now unlikely the president-elect would choose to personally attend the meeting, and would instead send representatives." Zelensky also has said he plans to replace the controversial prosecutor who made the unsupported claims about Joe Biden.

"A Pattern of Corruption." Jordyn Hermani of Politico: "Former FBI general counsel Jim Baker said Friday he's troubled by obstruction allegations outlined in the Mueller report, explaining that even if there isn't a possibility of charging ... Donald Trump, there still appears to be a 'pattern of corruption.' '... It's alarming,' said Baker, now the director of national security and cybersecurity at the R Street Institute. 'Even if it doesn't rise to the level of illegality, it sure looks like a pattern of corruption.' During an interview at the Brookings Institution, Baker also refuted the notion that the Russia investigation was an 'attempted coup' -- a claim Trump has repeatedly alleged. '(The campaign probe) was about Russia...,' Baker said. "When the Papadopoulos information comes across our radar screen it's coming across in the sense we were always looking at Russia.... We have been thinking about Russia as a threat actor and the Soviet Union before for decades and decades.' Baker also echoed comments made by FBI Director Christopher Wray Tuesday when he said not investigating the interactions between Trump's campaign and Russian foreign agents would have gone against the FBI's duty. Baker said he also didn't agree with Attorney General William Barr's assertion that the FBI spied on Trump's campaign."

Ari Melber of MSNBC bids a not-so-fond farewell to Rod Rosenstein, whose last day on the job was Friday:

Trump Ruins Everything He Touches. Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has effectively taken charge of the nation's premier Fourth of July celebration in Washington, moving the gargantuan fireworks display from its usual spot on the Mall to be closer to the Potomac River and making tentative plans to address the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, according to top administration officials. The president's starring role has the potential to turn what has long been a nonpartisan celebration of the nation's founding into another version of a Trump campaign rally. Officials said it is unclear how much the changes may cost, but the plans have already raised alarms among city officials and some lawmakers about the potential impact of such major alterations to a time-honored and well-organized summer tradition."

Robert Burns of the AP: "The Pentagon is shifting $1.5 billion in funds originally targeted for support of the Afghan security forces and other projects to help pay for construction of nearly 80 miles (130 kilometers) of wall at the U.S.-Mexican border, officials said Friday. Congress was notified of the move Friday. It follows the Pentagon's decision in March to transfer $1 billion from Army personnel budget accounts to support wall construction. Some lawmakers have been highly critical of the Pentagon shifting money not originally authorized for border security. The combined total of $2.5 billion is in response to ... Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the border.... Trump vetoed Congress' attempt to reverse his emergency declaration. In all, the Pentagon is expected to shift about $6.1 billion to help build a border wall, including about $3.6 billion from military construction projects, some of which will be delayed." ...

Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "More than 80 Democratic members of Congress have asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an investigation into the 'record-breaking' backlog of immigration cases pending under the Trump administration.... Immigration attorneys, advocates and Democratic lawmakers say the administration has intentionally slowed the process through which it grants citizenship and other immigration benefits, creating a massive backlog.... The USCIS net backlog -- which includes all immigration case applications, ranging from pending green cards to immigrant work visas -- exceeded 2.3 million cases by last fall, a recent analysis by the American Immigration Lawyers Association found."

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina. She Asked for It. Avery Wilks of the Charlotte Observer: “A GOP state lawmaker [-- Nancy Mace --] who recently gave an impassioned speech about being raped as a 16 year old says she feels attacked after a Republican colleague passed out literature describing rape as a 'misdeed of the parent' that doesn't justify having an abortion.... 'It is a twisted logic that would kill the unborn child for the misdeed of the parent,' read the card, produced by Personhood SC, a group fighting for an outright abortion ban with no exceptions in South Carolina. The Spartanburg Republican who passed out the card this week, state Rep. Josiah Magnuson, acknowledged the poor word choice in an interview with The State Friday but said he wouldn't back down from his position. And now House leaders plan to address the dustup in a private meeting next month, reminding fellow Republicans there are rules against attacking the integrity or character of fellow House members." Mrs. McC: This is why you don't want to be a Republican, Nancy.

The Commentariat -- May 10, 2019

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Katelyn Polantz & Kate Sullivan of CNN: "Judge Amit Mehta plans next week to weigh the major legal issues raised in ... Donald Trump's challenge of a congressional subpoena for his accounting firm's records, according to an order issued Thursday -- putting the case on an even faster track than it previously looked to be. Congress has subpoenaed Trump and his business' accounting records from the firm Mazars USA, and Trump's personal legal team sued to stop the records from being turned over. A hearing is now scheduled for May 14."

Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the United States was in a 'constitutional crisis' and warned that House Democrats might move to hold more Trump administration officials in contempt of Congress if they continued their refusals to comply with committee subpoenas.... Ms. Pelosi said Democrats would bring the contempt citation [against AG William Barr] to the floor for a vote of the full House 'when we are ready.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Katherine Tully-McManus of Roll Call goes in search of the Capitol jail: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi resurfaced one of the Capitol’s most enduring mysteries when answering a question about whether Democrats might imprison Trump administration officials who defy Congress: the House jail.... 'We do have a little jail down in the basement of the Capitol, but if we were arresting all of the people in the administration, we would have an overcrowded jail situation. And I'm not for that,' Pelosi said Wednesday at a Washington Post live event.... Capitol Police officers from multiple divisions told CQ Roll Call that no House jail exists, though Capitol Police headquarters on D Street Northeast does have a holding facility.... There once was a cell in the Capitol basement to hold those in contempt, but it is long gone.... A senior House Democratic aide told CQ Roll Call that the sergeant-at-arms could use existing spaces in the Capitol to hold someone, as has been done in the past." Mrs. McC: More like a "gaol," then. (Also linked yesterday.)

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "resident Trump said on Thursday that he would leave it up to Attorney General William P. Barr to decide whether Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, may testify before Congress on the Russia investigation. His comments were a seeming reversal, since Mr. Trump wrote over the weekend on Twitter that Mr. Mueller should not be allowed to appear before Congress. Mr. Barr has told lawmakers that he has no objection to letting Mr. Mueller talk to them. In a surprise, 45-minute news conference in the Roosevelt Room, his first since the release of the special counsel's report, Mr. Trump also said he was' pretty surprised' that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was subpoenaed to testify in front of the Senate about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign.... 'My son is a good person,' Mr. Trump said. 'My son testified for hours and hours. My son was totally exonerated by Mueller.'... Mr. Trump, who for months has been advised not to personally attack Mr. Mueller, described him on Thursday as 'somebody that is in love with James Comey.'... He also appeared to hedge on claiming that the Mueller report cleared him of obstruction of justice, telling reporters that the findings showed that there was 'no collusion and, essentially, no obstruction.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "The President ... went off on several tangents related to Trump Jr.'s involvement in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. Trump worked in references to a favorite Republican target -- the dossier compiled by a former British intelligence officer -- as well as phone calls Don Jr. made to an unknown number while planning the infamous meeting." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It depends upon what the definition of "a good person" is, I guess. But Mueller definitely did not "totally exonerate" Junior. ...

... Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: Sen. "Richard Burr [R-NC] faces intense pressure from Republicans to drop his subpoena of ... Donald Trump's eldest son and quickly wrap up the Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia probe. But despite a day facing attacks from the highest rungs of party leadership, Burr is unmoved, according to colleagues in both parties.... To many Republicans, the news of Trump Jr.'s subpoena presented a painful dilemma: Stand with a respected GOP chairman who has held together his committee for years during a contentious probe, or with a president who takes vengeance on fellow Republicans who cross him and his family."

Trump's 2020 Campaign Already Attempting to Conspire with a Foreign Power. Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, is encouraging Ukraine to wade further into sensitive political issues in the United States, seeking to push the incoming government in Kiev to press ahead with investigations that he hopes will benefit Mr. Trump. One is the origin of the special counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The other is the involvement of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., son in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch. Mr. Giuliani's plans create the remarkable scene of a lawyer for the president of the United States pressing a foreign government to pursue investigations that Mr. Trump's allies hope could help him in his re-election campaign. And it comes after Mr. Trump spent more than half of his term facing questions about whether his 2016 campaign conspired with a foreign power."

Trump Campaign + Foreign Power, Ctd. Jay Weaver, et al., of the Miami Herald: "The FBI has opened a public corruption investigation into Republican donor and South Florida massage-parlor entrepreneur Li 'Cindy' Yang, focusing on whether she illegally funneled money from China into the president's re-election effort or committed other potential campaign-finance violations, the Miami Herald has learned.... The investigation could raise complications for a president who, after the Mueller report was delivered to Congress last month, might have hoped to put an end to controversy over foreign influence potentially benefiting his campaign.... The reports about potential Chinese influence come as Trump is in the midst of intense trade negotiations with China over tariffs on imports."

** Lily Batchelder in a New York Times op-ed: "The latest bombshell Times story on the president's tax history confirms what we already suspected: Donald Trump is a terrible businessman.... The latest story also shows how we do a terrible job of adequately taxing the wealthy.... But perhaps most important, the story reinforces the need for a congressional investigation of the president's tax returns.... As the Times has documented, there is ample evidence that his father's estate -- of which he was the executor -- engaged in tax evasion and outright fraud, failing to pay about $500 million in estate taxes.... Other reports have documented numerous instances where Mr. Trump has taken sketchy or unlawful tax positions.... The latest revelations about the president's eye-popping tax losses provide fresh grounds for concern that he has violated tax laws.... There is ample reason to fear that conflicts of interest have infected his approach to tax policy. When campaigning, Mr. Trump promised to close tax loopholes based on his expert knowledge of them. But instead, the 2017 tax bill seemed designed to lower taxes on him and his family through special carve-outs.... Subsequent Treasury regulations have also been great news for real estate developers.... All of this raises the question of whether the president steered the 2017 tax bill and subsequent regulations in directions that personally benefited him and his family. Moreover, because Mr. Trump is the only president for at least 40 years not to liquidate his business assets or put them in a blind trust, concerns about his financial conflicts of interest are uniquely heightened." ...

... Frank Rich: "[T]his latest investigative report by the Times [about his $1 billion business losses] is anything less than conclusive and devastating in its exposure of the lies that have abetted Trump's self-portrait as a business genius. But how one wishes this and other exposés like it had appeared in 2016 or before.... The laxness of the Trump coverage [during the 2016 elections] -- not just by the Times but by most major news organizations -- helps account for the strange persistence of that mythology [of his being a bigly business genius] despite all the evidence to the contrary uncovered by the Times, the Post, and other outstanding organs of investigative journalism over the past few years." --s ...

... Charles Leerhsen, in Yahoo! News: "... from late 1988 to 1990, I was his ghostwriter, working on a book that would be called 'Surviving at the Top.'... There was a stretch of months when ... the banks seemed to accept the version of him depicted in his first book, 'The Art of the Deal,' which we now know from his previous ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, was entirely invented.... Often they came up with things he could say yes to before he could think of them himself. As a result, a failing real estate developer who had little idea of what he was doing and less interest in doing it once he'd held the all-important press conference wound up owning three New Jersey hotel-casinos, the Plaza Hotel, the Eastern Airlines Shuttle and a 281-foot yacht.... But Trump's portfolio did not jibe with what I saw each day -- which to a surprisingly large extent was him looking at fabric swatches.... The main thing about fabric swatches was that they were within his comfort zone -- whereas, for example, the management of hotels and airlines clearly wasn't.... Trump's King Midas period ended in early 1990, when news broke about his looming bankruptcy." Thanks to Aunt Hattie for the lead.

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Federal prosecutors handling Roger Stone's case were ordered on Thursday to turn over to a judge any unredacted sections of special counsel Robert Mueller's report relating to the longtime GOP operative that could help prepare his defense for their upcoming trial. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson in a one-paragraph order gave the U.S. attorneys handling the Stone case until Monday to provide her with portions of Mueller's report that deal with Stone 'and/or "the dissemination of hacked materials"' that were leaked during the 2016 presidential campaign to the detriment of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton."

"Moral Turpitude." Keith Alexander & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday disbarred Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, because Manafort has been convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy.... The D.C. bar's decision came after the court's disciplinary committee issued a report in March that recommended Manafort be disbarred because of crimes 'involving moral turpitude.'"

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "National advocacy groups on Thursday delivered to Congress multiple petitions of what they said contained 10 million signatures from people who support the impeachment of ... Donald Trump. They delivered the signatures to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who has introduced a bill that would direct the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump committed impeachable offenses -- an issue that has been heating up among congressional Democrats and presidential contenders. MoveOn spearheaded the effort that included groups such as Need to Impeach, CREDO and the organizers behind the annual Women's March."

Alan Rappeport & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Thursday that the United States would raise tariffs on $200 billion of worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning and begin the process to tax nearly all of China's imports as he accused Beijing of trying to renegotiate' a trade deal. But Mr. Trump, who made his comments ahead of a pivotal meeting between United States and Chinese officials on Thursday afternoon, suggested an agreement could still be within reach, saying he had received a 'beautiful letter' from Chinese President Xi Jinping and would probably speak to him by phone.... Mr. Trump's toughened stance toward China has rattled American businesses.... The tariffs that would go into effect on Friday include many consumer products that Americans rely on from Beijing, like seafood, luggage and electronics. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... ** The story has been updated. New Lede: "President Trump escalated his trade war with China on Friday morning, raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and taking steps to tax nearly all of China's imports as punishment for what he said was Beijing's attempt to 'renegotiate' a trade deal. Mr. Trump's decision to proceed with the tariff increase came after a pivotal round of trade talks in Washington on Thursday night failed to produce an agreement to forestall the higher levies. The White House said talks would resume again on Friday...." ...

... Matthew Phillips & Amy Tsang of the New York Times: "The resurgence of trade tensions between the United States and China, along with contradictory color commentary from President Trump, whipsawed stock markets again Thursday. The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight daily decline, though the benchmark index pared its worst losses after President Trump suggested a trade deal could still be within reach, adding that he had received a 'beautiful letter' from Chinese President Xi Jinping and may speak to Chinese leader on the phone. The comments helped the S&P 500 regain some ground, to close down 0.3 percent Thursday, after having fallen as much as 1.5 percent earlier in the day." ...

... Paul Krugman looks at the many ways Trump hurts his biggest supporters: rural Americans. His trade "policies" constitute one of them.

Eileen Sullivan & Benjamin Weisner of the New York Times: "The United States has seized a Nort Korean shipping vessel that was violating American law and international sanctions, the Justice Department announced Thursday, a move certain to escalate tensions already on the rise between the two nations because of recent North Korean weapons tests. Prosecutors said the carrier ship, the Wise Honest, was being used to export North Korean coal, a critical sector of the North's economy that the United States and the United Nations have aggressively imposed sanctions on in an effort to force Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tara Palmeri of ABC News: "Ahead of the second summit in Hanoi, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un requested as part of the agreement between the countries moving forward that the U.S. send 'famous basketball players' to normalize relations between the two countries, according to two U.S. officials.... The request was made in writing, officials said, as part of the cultural exchange between the two countries, and at one point the North Koreans insisted that it be included in the joint statement on denuclearization. The North Koreans also made a request for the exchange of orchestras between the two countries." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Trump Slurs Kerry with False Charges. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Thursday accused former Secretary of State John Kerry of violating the Logan Act by taking part in negotiations with Iran's government.... Trump alleged that Kerry 'is talking to Iran and has been. He's had many meetings and phone calls and he's telling him what to do.'... Kerry promptly denied the President's accusation.... Since the act's creation [in 1799], correspondence and interaction between Americans -- lawmakers, former lawmakers, and citizens alike -- has become increasingly common. ​It's also common for former secretaries of states and diplomats to stay in touch with their counterparts around the world.... Last October, Kerry told reporters that he had not met with Iranians since the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and had seen Iran's foreign minister at a few international security meetings.... A source close to the former secretary of state said Kerry hasn't talked with Iranian officials since President Trump announced the US was pulling out of the Iran deal last year. Prior to the withdrawal, the source said Kerry did communicate with the Iranians to urge them to stay in the deal. The source also denied that Kerry ever discouraged the Iranians from talking to Trump." Vazquez goes on to demonstrate how Michael Flynn potentially did violate the act by undermining Obama administration policies, although he was not charged. ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "'I'd like [Iran] to call me,' Trump said. 'You know, John F. Kerry speaks to them a lot. John F. Kerry tells them not to call. That's a violation of the Logan Act. And frankly, he should be prosecuted on that. But my people don't want to do anything that's -- only the Democrats do that kind of thing.' Trump trailed off when he started to talk about what his 'people' thought of the idea of prosecuting Kerry, making it sound as if he had broached the topic with somebody. That's important, because it suggests he may have floated the idea of prosecuting yet another of his political adversaries.... Just last week, Attorney General William P. Barr struggled with a question from Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) about whether Trump or the White House had requested any specific investigations.... [Trump's remark] 'brings the whole Michael Flynn situation rushing back -- and suggests Trump has pulled a 180 on the application and importance of the Logan Act.... At the time, Trump seemed largely unconcerned [that Flynn was negotiating with Russia during the transition. He] said: 'It certainly would have been okay with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn't doing it.'"

Connor O'Brien, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump plans to nominate acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan to be the Pentagon's permanent chief, the White House announced Thursday, ending months of uncertainty following the abrupt resignation of Jim Mattis. The news came two weeks after the Pentagon's inspector general cleared Shanahan of allegations that he had shown preferential treatment toward Boeing, where he was an executive until 2017. But Shanahan's nomination did not come immediately -- or easily -- even after the probe ended. In fact, Shanahan traveled to the White House twice during the past two weeks thinking the president would nominate him, only to return to the Pentagon empty-handed, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. On one of those occasions, Trump instead reamed out Shanahan over the Pentagon's progress in building barriers on the Southern border. In the end, though, Shanahan developed a rapport with the president, who used to simply refer to him as 'the Boeing guy.'"

Lachlan Markay & Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast: "President Donald Trump on Wednesday weighed in [via Twitter] on an obscure piece of legislation granting rights to a Native American tribe seeking a casino in Massachusetts...while taking a jab at potential Democratic 2020 rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), whom he dubbed 'Pocahontas' and who has supported previous versions of the legislation.... His engagement on the casino legislation ... was a seemingly random aside.... But it may not have been random at all. At least two Trump-connected firms were hired this year to lobby on behalf of Twin River Management Group, which owns a casino in Rhode Island that would directly compete with one planned by the Mashpee Wampanoag.... One of those those firms is run by Trump adviser Matt Schlapp, who has, since January, been lobbying Congress and the White House." --s

Medlar's Sports Report. David Nakamura & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "It was an iconic baseball celebration: Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vázquez leaping into the arms of pitcher Chris Sale after the final out of the World Series last fall, teammates in perfect unison. But on Thursday, the star players were far apart. Sale was at the White House, where the 2018 champions were honored by President Trump. Vázquez was home in Boston, one of at least 10 players, all Latino or African American, who elected not to attend.... What had once been feel-good ceremonies at the White House have become pitched moments of cultural reckoning. From famous sports heroes to lesser-known Olympians to the stars of the performing arts, the toxicity of the Trump era has led once apolitical entertainers to pick a side, and, in doing so, render a judgment on the president himself." ...

... Anyhow, Congrats to the Boston Red Socks, World Cup Series Champs. Andrew Joseph of USA Today: "Just hours after the official White House website listed its event between President Trump and the Boston Red Sox as the 'Red Socks,' the sports-challenged communications department made another blunder at Boston's expense. Apparently, the Red Sox had not only won the 2018 World Series but they were also the 2018 'World Cup Series Champions.' At least, that was how the official White House transcript referred to the World Series champs."

A painting of Jesus & young Dr. Carson, which Carson keeps in his home.They Really Don't Care, Do They? Ctd. Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "The Department of Housing and Urban Development acknowledged that a Trump administration plan to purge undocumented immigrants from public housing could displace more than 55,000 children, all of whom are legal U.S. residents or citizens. The proposed rule, published Friday in the Federal Register, would tighten regulations against undocumented immigrants accessing federally subsidized housing to 'make certain our scarce public resources help those who are legally entitled to it,' HUD Secretary Ben Carson said last month. But the agency's analysis of the rule's regulatory impact concluded that half of current residents living in households potentially facing eviction and homelessness are children who are legally qualified for aid." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Carson would just admit he doesn't give a rat's ass about other people's children, I'd respect him more (but certainly not much) than I do when he spouts deceptive pap about "our scarce public resources" (why are they scarce, Ben?) & a Big Lie about "who are legally entitled to it." One thing Ben Carson has taught me: you don't have to be all that bright to be a world-famous brain surgeon. He's so Christian, isn't he? If that painting of Ben & Jesus is truly miraculous, it would be in the attic now, with Jesus hurling thunderbolts at a very-Dorian-Gray Carson.

Amanda Gomez of ThinkProgress: "The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would block the Trump administration from granting states the leeway to skirt Obamacare rules -- a measure designed to ensure that patients with pre-existing conditions continue to receive affordable robust coverage -- in a 236 to 183 vote.... 183 Republicans voted against it -- including members [Andy Barr (KY), Ted Budd (NC), and Scott Perry(PA)] who vowed in 2018 that they would protect people with pre-existing conditions." --s

** Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "Despite several campaign promises to change the way Congress legislates and get things done, the U.S. Senate, under the leadership of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has not had a recorded vote on a bill in more than a month.... A ThinkProgress review of the Senate's roll call votes reveals that, since an April 1 cloture vote on an appropriations bill, the chamber has devoted virtually all of its roll call votes to confirmation of Trump appointees.... On April 2 and 3, McConnell rammed through a rule change -- ... a procedural maneuver he previously decried ... -- to reduce the time allowed for debate before confirmation votes. Since then, the body has confirmed 11 lifetime judgeships and 11 executive branch nominees.... Senate Democrats have noticed that the place McConnell once called 'the greatest deliberative body in the world' has stopped deliberating about appropriations, immigration, health care, gun violence, infrastructure, entitlements, and everything else." --s

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.

Crooks Like Trump. Ben Scheckinger in Politico Magazine: Last month, [John] Lambert, co-founder of Students for Trump, was arrested "on charges of wire fraud. According to the federal government, at the same time he was building a nationwide political network and serving as one of the most visible young faces of Trump's populist movement, Lambert was also posing online as a high-powered New York lawyer, eventually making off with tens of thousands of dollars in fees he stole from unwitting clients seeking legal services. Lambert's rise to prominence and recent indictment offer a cautionary tale of an ambitious young man caught up in Trump's allure -- a get-rich-quick fantasy of the American dream -- who allegedly managed to create his own reality on the internet, only to have the real world come barging in. It also shines a spotlight on the chaos and confusion of Trump's ramshackle 2016 campaign, and the cast of characters who sought fame and fortune by riding in his slipstream. Trump ran as a 'law and order' candidate. But time and again, the mogul has drawn outlaws and alleged outlaws into his fold.... Despite Lambert's personal problems, and the campaign's disavowal, the group he launched continues to enjoy the president's seal of approval."

Ben Popken of NBC News:"A co-founder of Facebook called for the government to break up the tech giant in an op-ed article Thursday in The New York Times. 'The Facebook that exists today is not the Facebook that we founded in 2004,' Chris Hughes, who started Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg in their Harvard dorm, told NBC News after the op-ed was published. 'And the one that we have today I think is far too big. It's far too powerful. And most importantly, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is not accountable,' Hughes said of his former business partner.... In response to the op-ed article, Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of global affairs..., [said,] 'Accountability of tech companies can only be achieved through the painstaking introduction of new rules for the internet. That is exactly what Mark Zuckerberg has called for. Indeed, he is meeting Government leaders this week to further that work.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Facebook Creates Extremist Content. Desmond Butler & Barbara Ortutay of the AP: "... a confidential whistleblower's complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by The Associated Press alleges [that Facebook] ... is inadvertently making use of propaganda by militant groups to auto-generate videos and pages thatcould be used for networking by extremists.... The AP found that as of this month, much [supposedly] banned content ... -- an execution video, images of severed heads, propaganda honoring martyred militants — slipped through the algorithmic web and remained easy to find on Facebook.... Facebook also faces a challenge with U.S. hate groups. In March, the company announced that it was expanding its prohibited content to also include white nationalist and white separatist content -- previously it only took action with white supremacist content. It says that it has banned more than 200 white supremacist groups. But it's still easy to find symbols of supremacy and racial hatred."

TurboTax Stiffs Taxpayers It Cheated. Justin Elliott & Meg Marco of ProPublica: "The makers of TurboTax have long been luring customers into paying for a service that they promised the government they'd give away for free. Now they're lying to customers to avoid giving refunds. We've heard from 16 people who say they were denied refunds and told that the truly free version -- Free File -- is a government product that's not run by TurboTax. Ten others reported being told that ProPublica's stories were inaccurate, or that our coverage is 'fake news' or 'fictitious.' None of that is true.... Several people gave us recordings of their calls.... TurboTax's Free File product is created and run by the company. It is offered as part of a deal between the tax software industry and the government. The deal is specifically designed to keep the IRS from creating its own free online filing system." Includes audio.

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "... beneath the surface, [the NRA] is in turmoil. New York Attorney General Letitia James is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into alleged financial mismanagement at the NRA, while the group is embroiled in a messy lawsuit with its longtime image-maker, Ackerman McQueen ... as part of an apparent internal investigation into whether the firm has been siphoning money out of the gun lobby, allegations that Ackerman denies. Then there's Carry Guard. The program -- which offers combat training and liability insurance for shootings carried out in 'self-defense' -- was founded in 2017 to keep money flowing into the NRA's dwindling coffers after President Trump's surprise election.... Multiple states have banned the program and are investigating whether the NRA violated state law regarding the marketing and sale of insurance.... The [NRA] group adds without the [Carry Guard insurance] coverage, it would be unable 'to continue its existence as a not-for-profit organization and fulfill its advocacy objectives.'" --s

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "The Alabama Senate on Thursday postponed debate on a proposal to outlaw most abortions in the state, delaying a measure that is intended to serve as a direct challenge to the Supreme Court's holding that a woman has a constitutional right to end a pregnancy. Faced with a procedural dispute and open divisions among Republicans over how far the abortion ban should go, the Senate abruptly adjourned until Tuesday. As the chaos played out on the Senate floor, where lawmakers clashed over whether the state should allow abortions in cases of rape or incest, supporters and critics alike acknowledged that the bill, the most far-reachin effort in the nation this year to curb abortion, was still likely to become law.... On Thursday, in a maneuver that set off a chorus of shouts and screams in the Senate, some Republicans sought to abandon a provision -- backed by other Republicans -- that would have allowed exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape or incest.... The House has already passed the measure without those exceptions....

The Commentariat -- May 9, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the United States was in a 'constitutional crisis' and warned that House Democrats might move to hold more Trump administration officials in contempt of Congress if they continued their refusals to comply with committee subpoenas.... Ms. Pelosi said Democrats would bring the contempt citation [against AG William Barr] to the floor for a vote of the full House 'when we are ready.'" ...

     ... Katherine Tully-McManus of Roll Call goes in search of the Capitol jail: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi resurfaced one of the Capitol's most enduring mysteries when answering a question about whether Democrats might imprison Trump administration officials who defy Congress: the House jail.... 'We do have a little jail down in the basement of the Capitol, but if we were arresting all of the people in the administration, we would have an overcrowded jail situation. And I'm not for that,' Pelosi said Wednesday at a Washington Post live event.... Capitol Police officers from multiple divisions told CQ Roll Call that no House jail exists, though Capitol Police headquarters on D Street Northeast does have a holding facility.... There once was a cell in the Capitol basement to hold those in contempt, but it is long gone.... A senior House Democratic aide told CQ Roll Call that the sergeant-at-arms could use existing spaces in the Capitol to hold someone, as has been done in the past." Mrs. McC: More like a "gaol," then.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Thursday that he would leave it up to Attorney General William P. Barr to decide whether Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, may testify before Congress on the Russia investigation. His comments were a seeming reversal, since Mr. Trump wrote over the weekend on Twitter that Mr. Mueller should not be allowed to appear before Congress. Mr. Barr has told lawmakers that he has no objection to letting Mr. Mueller talk to them. In a surprise, 45-minute news conference in the Roosevelt Room, his first since the release of the special counsel's report, Mr. Trump also said he was' pretty surprised' that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was subpoenaed to testify in front of the Senate about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign.... 'My son is a good person,' Mr. Trump said. 'My son testified for hours and hours. My son was totally exonerated by Mueller.'... Mr. Trump, who for months has been advised not to personally attack Mr. Mueller, described him on Thursday as 'somebody that is in love with James Comey.'... He also appeared to hedge on claiming that the Mueller report cleared him of obstruction of justice, telling reporters that the findings showed that there was 'no collusion and, essentially, no obstruction.'" ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "The President ... went off on several tangents related to Trump Jr.'s involvement in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. Trump worked in references to a favorite Republican target -- the dossier compiled by a former British intelligence officer -- as well as phone calls Don Jr. made to an unknown number while planning the infamous meeting." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It depends upon what your definition of "a good person" is, I guess. But Mueller definitely did not "totally exonerate" Junior.

Alan Rappeport & Ana Swanson of the New York Times:"President Trump said on Thursday that the United States would raise tariffs on $200 billion of worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning and begin the process to tax nearly all of China's imports as he accused Beijing of trying to renegotiate' a trade deal. But Mr. Trump, who made his comments ahead of a pivotal meeting between United States and Chinese officials on Thursday afternoon, suggested an agreement could still be within reach, saying he had received a 'beautiful letter' from Chinese President Xi Jinping and would probably speak to him by phone.... Mr. Trump's toughened stance toward China has rattled American businesses.... The tariffs that would go into effect on Friday include many consumer products that Americans rely on from Beijing, like seafood, luggage and electronics."

Eileen Sullivan & Benjamin Weisner of the New York Times: "The United States has seized a North Korean shipping vessel that was violating American law and international sanctions, the Justice Department announced Thursday, a move certain to escalate tensions already on the rise between the two nations because of recent North Korean weapons tests. Prosecutors said the carrier ship, the Wise Honest, was being used to export North Korean coal, a critical sector of the North's economy that the United States and the United Nations have aggressively imposed sanctions on in an effort to force Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program."

Tara Palmeri of ABC News: "Ahead of the second summit in Hanoi, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un requested as part of the agreement between the countries moving forward that the U.S. send 'famous basketball players' to normalize relations between the two countries, according to two U.S. officials.... The request was made in writing, officials said, as part of the cultural exchange between the two countries, and at one point the North Koreans insisted that it be included in the joint statement on denuclearization. The North Koreans also made a request for the exchange of orchestras between the two countries."

Ben Popken of NBC News: "A co-founder of Facebook called for the government to break up the tech giant in an op-ed article Thursday in The New York Times. 'The Facebook that exists today is not the Facebook that we founded in 2004,' Chris Hughes, who started Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg in their Harvard dorm, told NBC News after the op-ed was published. 'And the one that we have today I think is far too big. It's far too powerful. And most importantly, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is not accountable,' Hughes said.... In response to the op-ed article, Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of global affairs..., [said,] 'Accountability of tech companies can only be achieved through the painstaking introduction of new rules for the internet. That is exactly what Mark Zuckerberg has called for. Indeed, he is meeting Government leaders this week to further that work.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "House Democrats, infuriated by President Trump’s stonewalling, are struggling to mount a more aggressive campaign to compel him to cooperate with their investigations -- a push that could include a threat to jail officials, garnish their wages and perhaps even impeach the president. With Mr. Trump throwing up roadblocks on practically a daily basis ... Democrats and their leaders are feeling a new urgency to assert their power as a coequal branch of government. Some who previously urged caution are now saying impeachment may be inevitable."

** Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to recommend the House hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over Robert S. Mueller III's unredacted report, hours after President Trump asserted executive privilege to shield the full report and underlying evidence from public view. The committee's 24-16 contempt vote, taken after hours of debate that featured apocalyptic language about the future of American democracy, marked the first time that the House has taken official action to punish a government official or witness amid a standoff between the legislative and executive branch. The Justice Department decried it as an unnecessary and overwrought reaction designed to stoke a fight." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Trump Orders Total Cover-up of Document That Totally Exonerates Him. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump asserted executive privilege on Wednesday in an effort to shield hidden portions of Robert S. Mueller III's unredacted report and the evidence he collected from Congress. The assertion, Mr. Trump' first use of the secrecy powers as president, came as the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Wednesday morning to recommend the House of Representatives hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for the same material." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Noah Feldman of Bloomberg: "Barr already had a chance to redact anything from the Mueller report that in his judgment would've violated executive privilege -- when he did the redaction in the first place. But Barr didn't redact anything at all from the report on the basis of executive privilege.... In other words, Barr has already effectively determined that nothing in the Mueller report needed to be redacted for executive privilege reasons.... Trump already waived executive privilege when he told McGahn that he could speak to the Mueller team. Ordinarily, you can't invoke a privilege once you've already waived it.... As that battle plays out, just remember that the words 'executive privilege' occur nowhere in the Constitution. The doctrine is a judicial construction, based on the logic of the separation of powers, with the goal of making sure the president can do the people's work."

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Hours after the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt for defying a subpoena, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who chairs the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence, [announced his committee had just subpoenaed Barr].... 'For the last month and a half, the Committee has engaged the Department of Justice in a good faith effort to reach an accommodation of our requests for all of the foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information related to the Special Counsel's investigation, and the Mueller report and its underlying materials,' Schiff said. 'The Department has repeatedly failed to respond, refused to schedule any testimony, and provided no documents responsive to our legitimate and duly authorized oversight activities.'" ...

... Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "President Trump has now formally exerted executive privilege over the redacted portions of the Mueller report and its underlying materials -- defying a House subpoena for those materials, and confirming once again that Trump will exercise maximal resistance to any and all oversight and accountability. This march into treating the House as fundamentally illegitimate is going to make it harder and harder for Democrats to resist launching an impeachment inquiry. In an interview, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif) -- the chair of the House Intelligence Committee -- said that if things continue on their current course, it will escalate the chances that 'we end up in a constitutional confrontation' and will add to 'the weight behind an impeachment process.'... As former prosecutor Mimi Rocah put it, this has the makings of a constitutional crisis, because 'the head of the Justice Department' is helping to block congressional investigations into the president 'regardless of law or merit.'" ...

... Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that President Trump is 'becoming self-impeachable,' pointing to his efforts to fight all subpoenas from congressional investigations and prevent key aides from testifying before Congress. 'The point is that every single day, whether it's obstruction, obstruction, obstruction -- obstruction of having people come to the table with facts, ignoring subpoenas ... every single day, the president is making a case --- he's becoming self-impeachable, in terms of some of the things that he is doing,' Pelosi said at a Washington Post Live event." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Sheryl Stolberg: "Even after President Trump sued him last month to keep his business records secret, Representative Elijah E. Cummings kept his cool and urged Congress to move slowly on impeachment. But with Mr. Trump manning a full-scale blockade of Democrats' access to documents and witnesses, the ordinarily careful Democrat is, like the rest of his caucus, growing impatient. 'It sounds like he's asking us to impeach him,' Mr. Cummings, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and a top lieutenant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in an interview last week. Ticking off all the ways Mr. Trump is stonewalling Congress, he added, 'He puts us in a position where we at least have to look at it.' Mr. Cummings's remarks, which have been echoed by Ms. Pelosi, represent a significant shift for top Democrats, who have been trying to maneuver carefully around the impeachment issue.... Mr. Cummings called the White House effort to block multiple lines of inquiry 'far worse than Watergate.' He sees a 'constitutional crisis' that even the founding fathers did not envision...." ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump's wholesale refusal to provide information to Congress threatens to upend the delicate balance that is the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution. Earlier administrations fought isolated skirmishes over congressional subpoenas. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has declared an all-out war on efforts by House Democrats to look into his official conduct and business dealings.... In a 1927 decision arising from the Teapot Dome scandal, concerning government corruption, the Supreme Court said that congressional inquiries were 'an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function.'... Raymond W. Smock, who served as historian of the House from 1983 to 1995, said it was one thing for Mr. Trump to assert a privilege and another for him to presume to decide what was a legitimate legislative purpose. 'That is part of the arrogance the Trump administration is exhibiting all up and down the line,' Mr. Smock said." ...

** Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. to answer questions about his contention that he had only limited knowledge of a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, a source with direct knowledge tells NBC News. The committee, led by Republicans, is nearing completion of its investigation into Russian election interference.... Trump Jr. testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017. He said he was only 'peripherally aware' of the Moscow development proposal, which was kept secret from voters. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who was pursuing the project..., testified that he briefed Trump Jr. and his sister Ivanka Trump about the project 'approximately 10' times.... According to the Mueller report, Trump [Sr.] authorized and remained interested in the Moscow project, which was described as 'highly lucrative.' Trump Jr. was not charged by special counsel Robert Mueller over his Senate testimony, after months of speculation that such charges were possible." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Mark Mazzetti & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The committee is particularly interested in the younger Mr. Trump's account of the events surrounding the Trump Tower meeting -- as well as his role in his father's efforts to build a skyscraper in Moscow -- and comparing the testimony to his previous answers to Senate investigators in 2017.... The decision to subpoena the president's son is an aggressive move, and appears to have come after discussions broke down about whether the younger Mr. Trump might appear voluntarily before the panel.... The subpoena was issued more than two weeks ago, one person said...."

Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "The New York State Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow state prosecutors to pursue charges in some instances in which a person received a presidential pardon. Under the legislation, 'a prosecution is not considered to have occurred if a person has been granted a reprieve, pardon, or other form of clemency for the offense by the President' and other conditions are met.... The bill was created to get rid of a loophole that would make it more difficult to prosecute someone who had received a pardon. The state Assembly has not scheduled a vote on the measure...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jordyn Hermani of Politico: "Former FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that the bureau' doesn't spy' and that he 'had no idea' why Attorney General William Barr used that language to describe agents' investigation of ... Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. 'I have no idea what [Barr's] talking about. The FBI doesn't spy. The FBI investigates,' Comey said on 'CBS This Morning.' 'The Republicans need to breathe into a paper bag. If we had confronted the same facts with a different candidate, say a Democrat candidate ... they would be screaming for the FBI to investigate, and that's all we did.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Walter Shapiro, in the New Republic, enjoyed reading the New York Times' story (linked yesterday) about Trump's glorious business career: "Trump's dazzling failure helps explain how he and the Republicans have given the nation an era of nearly $1 trillion in annual deficits, despite the buoyant economy.... No coverup lasts forever -- and..., sooner or later, Trump's more recent tax returns will be made public.... Trump implicitly acknowledged the accuracy of the Times' tax reporting when he tweeted early Wednesday morning, 'You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes ... it was sport. Additionally, the very old information is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!' In his tweets, Trump claimed that his red-ink bookkeeping was all real estate gamesmanship, even though the Times' story pointedly declared, 'Depreciation cannot account for the hundreds of millions of dollars in losses Mr. Trump declared on his taxes.'... The case against Trump's reelection should be built around his bilious, maladroit, lawless presidency rather than his long-ago billion-dollar business failures." ...

... Josh Barro of New York: “You can't lose over a billion dollars if you don't have over a billion dollars to begin with. You can do things that cause over a billion dollars in losses.... Therefore, while we have now learned that Donald Trump reported over a billion dollars in losses over a decade on his tax returns, I object to the widespread characterization of him having 'lost' that much money himself. The math just doesn't add up.... The story I find most plausible is that Trump was claiming credit on his taxes for losses actually borne by other people or entities, such as banks that loaned money to him or his businesses and did not get paid back in full." Trump may have been able to do this through a tax loophole which Congress closed in 2002. "The primary lesson of Trump's massive reported losses from 1985 to 1994 is not that he was a comically bad businessman, but that he was comically undertaxed."

The Emperor Strikes Again. Dana Milbank: "For the past 21 years, I have had the high privilege of holding a White House press pass.... But no more. The White House eliminated most briefings and severely restricted access to official events. And this week came the coup de grace: After covering four presidents, I received an email informing me that Trump’s press office had revoked my White House credential.... It was part of a mass purge of 'hard pass' holders after the White House implemented a new standard that designated as unqualified almost the entire White House press corps, including all six of The Post's White House correspondents. White House officials then chose which journalists would be granted 'exceptions.' It did this over objections from news organizations and the White House Correspondents' Association.... The White House press office granted exceptions to the other six [Wash Po reporters], but not to me. I strongly suspect it's because I'm a Trump critic.... There's something wrong with a president having the power to decide which journalists can cover him." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is banana-republic serious. Trump has done all he can to undermine the Congress. He is treating the Supreme Court as an ally (and who knows what he'll do if the courts order him to comply with Congressional subpoenas?), and now he is shutting out the "fourth branch of government," the press. ...

... Paul Farhi of the Washington Post has more on the White House's "new rules." Mrs. McC: Not surprisingly, it's a hot mess.

Say, let's milk this one for another day:

Jerry Ianelli of the Miami New Times: "Giancarlo Granda, the former Fontainebleau pool attendant whose business bizarrely received $1.8 million in loans from famous evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr., wants the world to stop calling him a 'pool boy.' He finds the term demeaning. And, perhaps more notable, he officially denies knowing anything about alleged 'racy' photos referenced in a Reuters story published yesterday.... [Reuters reporter Aram] Roston[, who wrote the racy photos story,] was also the reporter who broke the news that Falwell Jr. had mysteriously loaned Granda's business a ton of money and that [Michael] Cohen was aware of a lawsuit involving Falwell and Granda. Reporters have, ahem, speculated that Granda was the Floridian who had obtained said photos and that Cohen might have leveraged the scandal to get Falwell Jr. to endorse the infamously lecherous and not-at-all Jesus-like Trump in 2016.... Everything about the Falwell Jr. story is extremely weird. To summarize: In 2012, Granda was working as a pool attendant at the luxurious Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. While Granda was employed there, Falwell Jr. and his wife Becki stayed at the resort and, according to court records, 'befriended' Granda. From there, Granda grew very close to the Falwell family: According to court filings first reported by Roston, Granda, along with Falwell's son Trey, bought a hostel ... in Miami Beach and has been managing it ever since. (A Politico reporter even stayed there and implied the place was gay-friendly, which would be pretty darn hypocritical for the infamously homophobic Falwell family.) The Falwells also reportedly flew Granda around in a private jet and even took him to meet Trump."

Hate-Monger-in-Chief. The Mass Murder of Immigrants Is Funny. Matt Stieb of New York: At a rally in Panama Beach, Florida last night, Trump said, “'You have hundreds and hundreds of [migrants] and you have two or three border security people that are brave and great -- and don't forget, we don't let them and we can't let them use weapons.... We can't. Other countries do. We can't, I would never do that. But how do you stop these people?' An audience member ... [shouted]. 'Shoot them'..., which caused the president, and [many] ... crowd members, to laugh. 'Only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement,' Trump said.... Trump's response, of course, provides a tacit endorsement of the audience member's call: If the president says you have gotten away with a horrendous statement, one might assume the behavior was okay."

Ana Swanson & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "President Trump taunted China on Wednesday morning, saying in a tweet that Chinese negotiators were attempting to drag out trade negotiations until a 'very weak' Democrat was back in the White House and insisting he would be happy to keep tariffs on Chinese exports rather than make a deal. 'The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to "negotiate" with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats, and thereby continue to ripoff the United States (($500 Billion a year)) for years to come,' Mr. Trump said on Twitter Wednesday morning.... 'Guess what, that's not going to happen! China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal. We'll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers...great for U.S., not good for China!' he added.... But Mr. Trump appears ready to impose higher tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning, regardless of whether the talks get back on track." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday made a blistering attack against China as he stepped up pressure on Britain, warning that American intelligence sharing could be risked by the involvement of a Chinese company in a new British telecommunications network. Speaking in London, Mr. Pompeo argued that China posed such a range of economic and security threats that the world now faced 'a new kind of challenge, an authoritarian regime that's integrated economically into the West.' 'China steals intellectual property for military purposes,' he said. 'It wants to dominate A.I., space technology, ballistic missiles and many other areas.' The question on the table in Britain is whether the government should allow Huawei, a Chinese company considered a security risk by the United States, to help build some of the next-generation, 5G cellular network in Britain."

Wesley Morgan of Politico: "Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster accused some of his former White House colleagues on Wednesday of being 'a danger to the Constitution' because they are either trying to manipulate ... Donald Trump to push their own agenda or see themselves as rescuing the country from what they view as the commander in chief's bad policy choices.... He said others whom he declined to identify by name had very different agendas.... He declined to offer his opinion of his successor, John Bolton. Nor did he assess Trump directly."

** "The Gravedigger of Democracy." digby: "You might think that it makes no sense that members of Congress would go along with [turn(ing) the presidency into a (Republican) unitary executive office], seeing as it directly interferes with their own constitutional prerogatives.... But it turns out that the modern Republicans are loyal to their party above all else, and no one personifies that dedication more than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.... Recall that McConnell blithely announced after Barack Obama's election that his top priority was to see to it that Obama was a one-term president. He forced the Democrats to change the filibuster rules when he blocked 79 of Obama's judges, beating the previous record. (That would be the 68 judicial nominees that had been blocked in the entire history of the United States.) McConnell ... hen refused to even hold hearings for Merrick Garland, Obama's choice to fill Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court. Since Trump's election, McConnell has been dutifully jamming through hundreds of judicial appointments at breakneck speed.... On Tuesday, McConnell surpassed himself." Read on.

Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "An investigation into U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz [R] will proceed, the Florida Bar said Wednesday, meaning the Panhandle Republican could face discipline for allegedly intimidating ... Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. A grand jury-like panel called the Grievance Committee will next decide whether there is probable cause that Gaetz's tweet broke the state Supreme Court's rules for lawyers. Gaetz, one of Trump's top allies in Congress, is licensed to practice law in Florida.... The complaint against Gaetz stems from a menacing tweet he sent on Feb. 27, the eve of Cohen's testimony before a House committee. Gaetz wrote: 'Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she'll remain faithful when you're in prison. She's about to learn a lot...' He has since deleted the tweet, but not before it went viral. Legal experts compared it to intimidation of a witness."

Presidential Race 2020. Whatever Happend to Howard Schultz? Matt Stieb: "We're still 18 months out from the presidential election, and yet the campaign process already includes distant memories like Howard Schultz's 2019 winter media blitz. In January and February, the billionaire and former Starbucks CEO aggressively toured the TV-news talk circuit, where he was barraged with questions about why he should pursue an independent run if it would pull business-minded centrists away from the Democratic nominee. But as of early May, the Schultz pre-campaign has gone dark. Aides who spoke to the Daily Beast say that Schultz has not given up on his presidential ambitions, but Schultz hasn't appeared in public since a visit to Arizona to discuss border security in late April. Recently scheduled events in Utah, San Francisco, and Dallas were canceled, and Schultz has cut down on his social-media presence.... Schultz spokesperson Erin McPike told the Daily Beast, he has been quiet recently because he is 'taking a break while he is recovering from back surgery.'"

Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "A new survey finds white Republicans are far more likely to be put off by foreign language speakers than their Democratic counterparts. According to Pew Research Center, 47 percent of such Republicans say it would bother them 'some' or 'a lot' to 'hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.' Eighteen percent of white Democrats said they would be similarly bothered. Aside from politics, age and education are the major predictors of linguistic discomfort."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Sam Roberts of the New York Times: "Robert Pear, a reporter whose understated demeanor belied a tenacious pursuit of sources and scoops during his 40 years at The New York Times covering health care and other critical national issues, died on Tuesday in Rockville, Md. He was 69."

Beyond the Beltway

Rhode Island. Some School Board Members Really Hate Kids. Elisha Fieldstadt of NBC News: "Students at a Rhode Island school district who owe money on their lunch accounts will have the sole option of a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich until they are able to pay their balances, the district announced Sunday. Warwick Public Schools, which has more than 9,000 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, said the district-wide policy will go into effect on May 13.... Warwick School Committee chairwoman Karen Bachus told NBC News that the sandwiches are served with the vegetable of the day, a fruit and milk. Public schools in Rhode Island are mandated by state law to provide lunches to students."