The Commentariat -- October 3, 2019

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president's tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document. Trump administration officials dismissed the whistleblower's complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it to a federal judge. They are also discussing whether to make it public.... The whistleblower is a career IRS official.... Key parts of the complaint remain under wraps in part because of strict privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of any details related to the filing of tax returns."

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy information from Ukrainian political figures about former vice president Joe Biden and his son, according to two people familiar with his testimony.... [Kurt] Volker's testimony offers the first inside account of the Trump administration's efforts to press for a Ukrainian investigation into Trump's political rival.... Volker also said that he and other State Department officials cautioned the Ukrainians to steer clear of U.S. politics. Getting involved, he said he told them, would open the nation up to allegations that they were interfering in an election and could be detrimental to Ukraine long-term, according to these two individuals.... Volker faced hours of questioning Thursday from members of the House committees leading an impeachment inquiry into Trump, the first of five former and current State Department officials to testify as part of the probe." ~~~

     ~~~ Katherine Faulders & Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "In newly disclosed text messages shared with Congress, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine writes to a group of other American diplomats that 'I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.' The exchange, provided by former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of his closed-door deposition before multiple House committees Thursday, shows what appears to be encrypted text messages he exchanged with two other American diplomats in September ... just days before the White House released the military assistance to Ukraine.... In the exchange..., the concerns are expressed by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, responds to Taylor..., 'Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo's of any kind...,' Sondland says.... In a separate thread between Sondland and Volker directly, the two diplomats discussed contacts with Ukrainian officials and requests for them to open an investigation. They appear to be drafting language for Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into 'the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians.'"

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday publicly called on China to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in an extraordinary presidential request to a foreign country for help that could benefit him in the 2020 election. 'China should start an investigation into the Bidens,' Mr. Trump said Thursday as he left the White House to travel to Florida where he was expected to announce an executive order on Medicare.... Mr. Trump made the comments about China ahead of the latest round of trade talks, which are set to take place next week. 'We're going to have a meeting with them, we'll see,' Mr. Trump said of the talks. 'I have a lot of options on China. But if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.'... Mr. Trump on Thursday said he had not personally asked President Xi for assistance. 'But it's certainly something we can start thinking about because I'm sure that President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny.'" Sullivan includes background on the right-wing theory that Joe Biden helped his son in an investment involving the state-owned Bank of China. The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Edelman of NBC News: "When asked ... whether he had asked China to investigate the Bidens, Trump replied, 'I haven't. But it's certainly something we could start thinking about,' he said. 'The guy got kicked out of the Navy and all of the sudden he's getting billions of dollars. You know what they call that? A pay-off,' he added.... Trump, seeking to expand his corruption accusations against the Bidens beyond Ukraine, has in recent days repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of using a 2013 trip on Air Force Two with his father, then the vice president, to procure $1.5 billion from China for a private equity fund he had started. Prior to Thursday, Trump had not called for investigation of the matter. Despite Trump's accusations, there has been no evidence of corruption on the part of the former vice president or his son.... Hunter Biden's spokesman, George Mesires, told NBC News previously that Hunter Biden wasn't initially an 'owner' of the company and has never gotten paid for serving on the board. He said Hunter Biden didn't acquire an equity interest in the fund until 2017, after his father had left office. And when he did, he put in only about $420,000 -- a 10 percent interest. That puts the total capitalization of the fund at the time at about $4.2 million -- a far cry from the $1.5 billion that Trump has alleged. Trump also said Thursday that he still wants Ukraine to conduct 'a major investigation' into Joe and Hunter Biden." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "Donald Trump is being impeached for using his office to pressure foreign countries to investigate his political rivals. It is not clear Trump understands that, because he simply continues committing this offense in broad daylight.... Of course, Trump has started a trade war with China, and has personal control over the tariffs he imposes, which gives China a strong financial incentive to placate him. Trump was not shy about reminding the Chinese of this juxtaposition[.]" ~~~

~~~ The Threat to China Proves the Threat to Ukraine. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "This might be Trump's most problematic request of this sort, for a number of reasons.... This one has the potential for a really corrupt appearance. The chief reason for that: Trump is currently engaged in a trade war with China.... China could very logically now believe that further escalations [of Trump's trade war] might be tied to whether it takes the actions Trump wants. Any future decisions could be colored accordingly.... Even if you set aside the trade war, this is still a U.S. president suggesting that a foreign country do something that is transparently geared toward his own reelection bid.... Trump has intermittently argued -- however implausibly -- that his effort to get Ukraine to launch investigations is about rooting out corruption in that country; his now-public request of another investigation involving the Bidens makes clear what this is really about."

Dumbest Senator Forgot He Agreed with Joe Biden in 2016. Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "A newly unearthed letter from 2016 shows that Republican senators pushed for reforms to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office and judiciary, echoing calls then-Vice President Joe Biden made at the time. CNN's KFile found a February 2016 bipartisan letter signed by several Republican senators that urged then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to 'press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General's office and judiciary.' The letter ... further undercuts a baseless attack made by ... Donald Trump and his allies that Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to stop investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company that his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of.... The 2016 letter ... was signed by Republican Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Kirk and Ron Johnson, as well as Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy, Sherrod Brown, and Richard Blumenthal and focused on longstanding issues of corruption in Ukraine and urged reforms of the government.... Johnson signed onto a letter with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley last week to Attorney General Bill Barr asking him to investigate, in part, allegations surrounding Biden and Ukraine."

Most normal, well adjusted people, even under great stress are able to hold it together in public for something important, even if they go into their office and start throwing stuff afterward. Not Trump. He can't even walk down the hall without screaming at the walls. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments

MEANWHILE, in Finland. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Wednesday's roller coaster news conference with President Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto elicited ridicule and some concern in Finland, where many celebrated their leader on Thursday for enduring with dignity what they largely described as a Trump monologue. Coming from a nation that ranks second on the World Press Freedom Index -- compared with the United States, which ranks 48th -- stunned Finnish reporters described to their readers back home a 'circus' and parallel reality in the White House. Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet offered a blunt summary of the meeting: 'Niinistö's visit was overshadowed by Circus Trump - President Niinisto asked Trump to safeguard US democracy.'... [At the press events], Niinisto largely looked on in silence. Photos of his bewildered face quickly circulated online. But when Trump began responding to a question addressed to Niinisto, he interrupted: 'I think the question is for me.' In what Finnish commentators suggested was a subtle dig at Trump, Niinisto at one point also said: 'Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on.' (Trump appeared to interpret that remark as praise.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm surprised the Finns had time to focus on the bilateral meetings. It's autumn, the leaves are falling, and they should all be out raking & vacuuming the forest floors.

George Conway in the Atlantic: "... you don't need to be a mental-health professional to see that something's very seriously off with Trump -- particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House.... He's also incapable of consistently telling the truth.... Simply put, Trump's ingrained and extreme behavioral characteristics make it impossible for him to carry out the duties of the presidency in the way the Constitution requires.... [The Framers intended that], while carrying out his official duties, a president has to put the country, not himself, first; he must faithfully follow and enforce the law; and he must act with the utmost care in doing all that." Conway goes into a long riff on Trump's narcissism, sociopathy and more briefly, cognitive decline. "When you line up what the Framers expected of a president with all that we know about Donald Trump, his unfitness becomes obvious.... Now that the House of Representatives has embarked on an impeachment inquiry, one of the most important judgments it must make is whether any identified breaches of duty are likely to be repeated. And if a Senate trial comes to pass, that issue would become central as well to the decision to remove the president from office. That's when Trump's behavioral and psychological characteristics should -- must -- come into play. From the evidence, it appears that he simply can't stop himself from putting his own interests above the nation's." Thanks to Anonymous for the link. This is quite a long piece and worth reading.

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You can bet Conway knows more about Trump's "erratic & abnormal behavior" than the rest of us do: his wife Kellyanne must have told him a basketful of doozies. However, he sticks to the public record. And there is a massive amount of there there to back up Conway's assertions.

David Shepardson & David Lawder of Reuters: "The Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on French wine, Italian cheese and single-malt Scotch whisky -- but spared Italian wine, pasta and olive oil -- in retaliation for European Union subsidies on large aircraft. The U.S. Trade Representative's Office released a list of hundreds of European products that will get new tariffs, including cookies, salami, butter and yogurt - but in many cases applied to only some EU countries, including German camera parts and blankets produced in the United Kingdom. The list includes UK-made sweaters, pullovers, cashmere items and wool clothing, as well as olives from France and Spain, EU-produced pork sausage and other pork products other than ham, and German coffee. The new tariffs are to take effect as early as Oct. 18.... The main target of the U.S. tariffs is Airbus aircraft made in the EU, which face 10% levy that could hurt U.S. airlines such as Delta ... that have billions of dollars of Airbus orders waiting to be filled." ~~~

     ~~~ Reuters doesn't say so, but Jen Kirby of Vox explains why: "The United States is imposing $7.5 billion in tariffs on imports from the European Union starting October 18 basically because the World Trade Organization said it could. These taxes against the EU stem from a 15-year battle over aviation subsidies that long predates the tariff-happy Trump."

Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "MGM Resorts International has agreed to pay up to $800 million to settle lawsuits from victims of the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and hundreds of others injured. The killer, Stephen Paddock, holed up inside his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which MGM owns, and then fired into the crowd at a country music festival below. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. One of the lawyers for the victims, Robert Eglet, said on Thursday the settlement would be in the range of $735 million to $800 million and would resolve 'substantially all' of the lawsuits and claims against MGM related to the massacre." The CNN story is here.

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "European policymakers said Thursday that a new Brexit proposa from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was unworkable, heightening the prospects of a chaotic British departure from the European Union within weeks. Although leaders, politicians and negotiators did not dismiss Johnson's plan out of hand, they made clear the current offer would not win support from the 27 countries that need to sign off on any withdrawal deal, and they were downbeat about it serving as the basis for serious negotiations. British negotiators plan to visit Brussels again Friday. The Guardian's liveblog, which covers this development, is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tangled Web, Ctd.

The active members of the Trump, Inc. Ukraine conspiracy now include -- among others -- the President*, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the President*'s personal lawyer, and a convicted felon currently residing in a federal pen.

Hillary Clinton appeared on Rachel Maddow's show Wednesday. She spoke with deep knowledge & clarity about the nature of Trump's wrongdoing & about the impeachment process. She spoke in long, complex sentences, employing a sophisticated vocabulary, about foundational principles and drew apt comparisons between disparate topics & events. Everything she said was based in fact. The President* of the United States said he had a "perfect" conversation, that impeachment was "BULLSHIT," that Adam Schiff couldn't carry Mike Pompeo's jock-strap. He spoke in short or run-on sentences, evaded straightforward questions and lied repeatedly. This stark rhetorical contrast -- among more significant related American tragedies -- is the result of what happened November 8, 2016:

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump went into battle mode on Wednesday, lobbing insults at his Democratic investigators, tussling with reporters, and dismissing the impeachment probe and other oversight efforts as 'bullshit.' Barely a week into formal impeachment proceedings, the president spent hours airing his frustrations and sharpening his attack lines.... The newly combative tack [Mrs. McC: "newly combative"???] overshadowed Wednesday's visit to the White House from Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, during which Trump accused Schiff, without evidence, of helping author the whistleblower complaint at the heart of Democrats' impeachment inquiry, belittled Schiff with locker room rhetoric, and denounced as 'rude' an American reporter for asking follow-up questions at a news conference." ~~~

~~~ Trump Plans to Bring a "Major Lawsuit" against Article I Duties. Michael Crowley of the New York Times (in part of a NYT account of developments in the impeachment matter): "During a meeting at the White House with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, President Trump raged at his Democratic inquisitors. With his guest sitting a few feet away, Mr. Trump angrily called Representative Adam B. Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, 'a lowlife,' and said he 'should resign from office in disgrace, and frankly they should look at him for treason.'... 'That guy couldn't carry his blank strap,' Mr. Trump said, unfavorably comparing Mr. Schiff to Mr. Pompeo. Mr. Trump seemed to be avoiding the words 'jock strap' and using a common insult about masculinity.... At a second appearance with Mr. Niinisto not much later, Mr. Trump became increasingly angry while responding to questions about the impeachment investigation, complaining that it was part of a 'hoax' that has been perpetrated against him since he took office, and threatening vaguely to bring 'a major lawsuit' in retaliation." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's concept of "international diplomacy" is bowdlerizing "jock-strap" when in the presence of a foreign leader. As he's told us, he "can be so presidential." ~~~

     ~~~ Rafi Schwartz of Splinter has a rundown of the "highlights" of Trump's performance during his joint "news" conference with the hapless Finnish president. (Chris Hayes described Niinistö as a "hostage.") Title: "Trump Brain Status: Lingonberry Jam." Schwartz also embeds a video of the full presser (starts about 8:40 min. in). ~~~

     ~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios: "President Trump refused to answer a question from Reuters' Jeff Mason about what he was asking Ukraine's president to do about Joe Biden and his son during a now-infamous July 25 phone call. Instead, Trump criticized European countries for not providing aid to Ukraine, attacked the impeachment investigation as a 'hoax' and berated Mason for being 'rude.'" Basu provides a full transcript of the contentious exchange between Trump & Mason. Mrs. McC: Weirdest line: "Are you talking to me?" -- Donald Trump, imitating Robert Mueller impersonator Robert DeNiro. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrea Germanos of Common Dreams: "... Donald Trump claimed Wednesday afternoon that the White House last month released an 'exact transcript' of his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising more questions about the still-unfolding scandal.... Trump ... said the transcription was done 'by very, very talented people, word for word, comma for comma.'" ~~~  

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But it isn't. The telcon itself includes right on the front page what looks like a standard disclaimer that reads, in part, "A Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation (TELCON) is not a verbatim transcript of a discussion. The text in this document records the notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers and-NSC policy staff assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written form as the conversation takes place." Emphasis added. The very fact that Trump is falsely claiming the telcon is word-for-word, comma-for-comma, almost guarantees that Trump made more damaging remarks in his chat with Zelensky. Remember that the White House gets the last draft of a telcon. As Germanos notes, Neal Katyal tweeted that Trump claimed there were "stenographers" on the call; now he suggests Congress subpoena those stenographers to get their as-yet-unpubished "word-for-word" transcript. ~~~

     ~~~ Dennis Hoey of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: "Sen. Angus King [I-Maine] questioned Tuesday night whether the transcript of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reflected the entire contents of their 30-minute conservation in July. King told CNN’s Anderson Cooper..., 'I had two staff members from my office the other day read it aloud. And we timed it. They read it in normal speaking pace. It took them 10 minutes and 40 seconds. The phone call was 30 minutes.... We don't know what is missing. It may be there was a translator involved and that made it go much longer. But the president of the Ukraine speaks English. That raises a question of what's in the other 20 minutes of that discussion.'" Thanks to MAG for the link. As MAG remarked, the length of the conversation recounted in the telcon contra the reported length of the actual conversation is a question I raised in a comment last week. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. More Evidence the White House Doctored the Telcon. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "... the whistleblower complaint that spurred the investigation described an 'official word-for-word transcript' of the call -- words closely matching the ones used by Trump on Wednesday -- creating uncertainty about what was included in the document the White House released last week and what may have been left out. Current and former U.S. officials studying the document pointed to several elements that, they say, indicate that the document may have been handled in an unusual way. Those include the use of ellipses ... that traditionally have not appeared in summaries of presidential calls with foreign leaders, according to the current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... [All three ellipses appear where Trump is discussing his conspiracy theories.] Others [-- including Sen. Angus King --] have noted the brevity of a document purporting to represent a call that lasted 30 minutes.... The memorandum of Trump's call with Zelensky appears remarkably different in speed and content from the full transcripts of calls between President Trump and foreign leaders The Washington Post obtained in 2017.... [The WashPo's analysis] suggests that the rough transcript of the Zelensky call includes about half the number of words that would be expected if the call had proceeded at the same or similar pace as the previous calls." Thanks to unwashed for the link.

Andrew Desiderio & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday vowed to move aggressively on House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, even as ... Donald Trump lashed out at the pair in the middle of their news conference. Despite the Democrats' insistence that Trump would be treated fairly and that the fast-moving investigation would not interfere with bipartisan legislative priorities, Trump accused them on Twitter of 'wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT.' He called Schiff a 'lowlife' and said Pelosi was 'incapable' of working with him on other issues including prescription drug costs and a new trade agreement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday blasted Democrats for wasting time on 'bullshit' as the House moves forward with its impeachment inquiry. The president on Wednesday morning unleashed a torrent of tweets slamming Democrats as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood alongside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to lay out their agenda and progress on the impeachment inquiry. 'The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016, 223-306,' Trump tweeted shortly after the conclusion of the press conference [Pelosi/Schiff], misstating the 232 electoral votes his opponent got in 2016.... His latest diatribe was sparked by the press conference, which Trump responded to in real time." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Oma Seddiq of Politico: Trump live-tweeted the Pelosi-Schiff presser. Mrs. McC: Should that be lie-tweeted? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

I think you should ask for Vice President Pence's conversation, because he had a couple of conversations also. -- Donald Trump, to reporters, September 25 ...

... Calling President Pelosi. Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump repeatedly involved Vice President Pence in efforts to exert pressure on the leader of Ukraine at a time when the president was using other channels to solicit information that he hoped would be damaging to a Democratic rival, current and former U.S. officials said. Trump instructed Pence not to attend the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in May -- an event White House officials had pushed to put on the vice president's calendar -- when Ukraine's new leader was seeking recognition and support from Washington, the officials said. Months later, the president used Pence to tell Zelensky that U.S. aid was still being withheld while demanding more aggressive action on corruption, officials said. At that time -- following Trump's July 25 phone call with Zelenksy -- the Ukrainians probably understood action on corruption to include the investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. ...

     ... Officials close to Pence insist that he was unaware of Trump's efforts to press Zelensky for damaging information about Biden and his son.... Pence's activities occurred amid several indications of the president's hidden agenda. Among them were the abrupt removal of the U.S. ambassador to Kiev; the visible efforts by ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, to insert himself in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship; as well as alarms being raised inside the White House even before the emergence of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint about Trump's conduct. Perhaps most significantly, one of Pence's top advisers ... his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg ... was on the July 25 call and the vice president should have had access to the transcript within hours, officials said.... White House officials said that Pence likely would have received the detailed notes of the president's call in his briefing book on July 26 ... [and] should have been part of the briefing materials he took with him ... for the meeting [with Zelensky on Sept. 1].... Officials close to Pence contend that he traveled to [the meeting] ... probably without having read -- or at least fully registered -- the transcript of Trump's July 25 call with the leader of Ukraine." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Right. Because this is hard to grasp, even when you've read it several times:  

I would like you to do us a favor, though.... I would like to have the [U.S.] Attorney General call you ... [about] ... that whole nonsense by a man named Robert Mueller.... Whatever you can do; it's very important.... The other thing: there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution.... I will ask [Rudy Giuliani] to call you. (Word-for-word from the telcon; no "parody" or paraphrasing: "perfect.")

     Maybe the telcon fell out of pence's briefcase. Or maybe Trump's "ask" of Zelensky was too obscure for a good Christian boy like mike to comprehend. Or maybe Trump's solicitation was just one more commonplace corruption transaction too routine to notice. (pence has a history of conveniently pretending he has no idea WTF is going on. That doesn't sound very president-y, does it?) Rachel Maddow calls pence the "pro" between the "quid" & the "quo," as it was he who directly told Zelensky that Ukraine wouldn't get the military aid without cracking down on "corruption"/Biden. Maddow points out the aides' dueling interpretations of pence's state of mind demonstrate the break between the Trump & pence camps. BTW, mike, how's the view from under the bus? ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: “Pence, by [his aides'] accounting, is like a man who delivers a ransom note to a bank teller, failing to place any significance in the fact that the tellers have their hands in the air, the bank patrons are lying on the floor, and the guy who asked him to bring the note to the bank had a mask and a gun.... If Pence is so ignorant that he could be pulled into an extortion plot without having any idea what he was doing, while missing numerous public and private signs that would have spelled it out, he is too dumb to serve as vice-president or even to be allowed to use metal cutlery. There is no way Pence is quite that stupid. The Post does not mention that Pence cracked the code himself the day after his meeting with Zelensky.... Pence was asked whether the aid was being held up over the Biden probes, and he answered by reciting the 'corruption' party line. Pence knew exactly what he was doing." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait keeps making these outrageous analogies about various members of the Trump Mob (pence & the ransom note messenger here). The thing is, the Trump Gang is so ridiculous, their excuses so clownish, the analogies fit.

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "The State Department inspector general provided Congress on Wednesday a packet of dozens of pages of documents that make many of the same unproven claims about Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, that Rudy Giuliani and his allies have been making, according to a copy of the documents obtained by CNN. The documents include claims against the Bidens that formed the basis of ... Donald Trump's accusations in his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as accusations against former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was recalled earlier this year and whom Trump also criticized in the call. In addition, the packet contains internal State Department emails from officials discussing articles critical of Yovanovitch, calling some of it a 'fake narrative.' There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. State Department inspector general Steve Linnick [Linick] told Congress that the State Department's office of legal counsel provided the documents to the inspector general in May.... The inspector general provided them to the FBI, and the FBI did not object to the documents being released to Congress, which could suggest the FBI is not actively investigating the matter.... Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, was the lone lawmaker who attended Wednesday's briefing. He told reporters afterward that it felt like a 'completely irrelevant distraction.... It's essentially a packet of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories,' Raskin said.... The bizarre briefing from the State Department inspector general came after he caused a stir on Capitol Hill by requesting an urgent meeting one day earlier to share the documents." This story has been updated. See relevant new passages in Update 3 below. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Later clarification has caused me to amend my original impression of Linick's motives. Based on Raskin's remarks, I feared that Linick's "urgent matter" was a bomb, not a bombshell. But as the story evolved -- as noted in linked updates below, Linick revealed that the packet of documents promoting conspiracy theories were floating around the White House and the State Department. Apparently exposing the extent to which State had become as an arm of Trump's insanity was Linick's intent in bringing the papers to the attention of House leaders. I see a New York Times story by Catie Edmondson, still unrevised at 8:20 am ET, titled "The Impeachment Bombshell that Wasn't," draws the same conclusion I did last night: that "what congressional aides received -- a roughly 40-page packet of documents sheathed in a manila envelope decorated with cursive script and manipulated to look aged, with a return address portraying that it had come from the White House — may have been a bit of a letdown." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Chris Hayes interviewed Rep. Raskin Wednesday night. Raskin said the packet Linick presented was curiously packaged: It was in manila envelope, with a return address of "The White House," addressed to Secretary Pompeo, with a note directing it to Pompeo's administrative aide "Ruth," so the packet came presumably from someone familiar with Pompeo's office. Inside the envelope were folders printed with the name of the Trump Hotel. Raskin said the packet surfaced in May 2019, shortly before Pompeo recalled U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Rankin opined that would be consistent with the theory that Pompeo removed her to get her out of the way so the embassy could get to work supporting Trump's political purposes. Rankin noted that the contents of the envelope were "congruent with what Giuliani has been saying." Mrs. McC Note: I've done some considerable paraphrasing here inasmuch as I can't type as fast as Jamie Raskin can talk. ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Jonathan Landay & Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "Photographs of some of the documents, seen by Reuters, promoted unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, who was removed from her post in May, months before she was due to leave, after Trump allies accused her of disloyalty.... One document, whose source was not disclosed, described a discredited theory promoted by Trump allies that Yovanovitch was installed in her post by billionaire George Soros, a Democratic donor frequently attacked by far-right activists. 'Until she is removed Soros has as much, or more, power over Yovanovitch as the President and the Secretary of State,' said the document.... The documents 'reinforce concern that the president and his allies sought to use the machinery of the State Department to further the president's personal political interests,' [chairmen of the House of Representatives intelligence, oversight and foreign relations committees] said.... Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee..., demanded an explanation of Pompeo's role. Before the meeting [among Linick, Rankin & staffers], congressional sources had told Reuters the session with Linick would focus on potential political retaliation against career State Department diplomats by the department's leadership." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update 3. Oh, Snap! Rudy Confesses He's the "Mystery" Source of Linick's Conspiracy Packet. Then He Fingers Pompeo. The CNN story by Jeremy Herb & others has been updated. New Lede: "The State Department inspector general provided Congress on Wednesday with documents that included materials ... Rudy Giuliani had given to the department earlier this year containing unproven claims about Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.... Giuliani told CNN on Wednesday evening that some of the documents provided to Congress by the State Department's inspector general had originated with him. Giuliani said that in late March, he had 'routed' what he called an 'outline' of allegations against Biden, as well as Yovanovitch, to the office of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.... Giuliani said he received a phone call shortly thereafter from Pompeo, who told Giuliani he would be referring the documents for investigation. 'They told me they were going to investigate it,' Giuliani told CNN." Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: Who could have guessed? ~~~

~~~ BUT It Gets Worse. (You Knew It Would.) Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "In his quest to rewrite the history of the 2016 election, President Trump's personal attorney has turned to ... Trump's imprisoned former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Rudolph W. Giuliani in recent months has consulted several times with Manafort through the federal prisoner's lawyer in pursuit of information about a disputed ledger that would bolster his theory that the real story of 2016 is not Russian interference to elect Trump, but Ukrainian efforts to support Hillary Clinton. The alliance, which Giuliani acknowledged in an interview this week with The Washington Post, stems from a shared interest in a narrative that undermines the rationale for the special counsel investigation. Giuliani's effort is gaining traction on Capitol Hill. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, have announced their renewal of an inquiry into any coordination between Ukraine and Democratic Party officials. Manafort, who is serving a 7½ -year term in a federal prison in Pennsylvania, has continued to express support for Trump, and Trump has never ruled out giving him a pardon." ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Marshall of TPM: "According to a statement released this evening from Chairs Engel, Schiff and Cummings ..., 'The Inspector General stated that his office interviewed Secretary Pompeo's Counselor, Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl, who informed the Inspector General that Secretary Pompeo told him the packet 'came over,' and that Brechbuhl presumed it was from the White House. Earlier this week, Pompeo attempted to block Brechbuhl, Ambassador Yovanovitch, and other State Department employees from testifying before Congress.' Needless to say, it's quite clear that Pompeo is deeply implicated in these abuses of power. Meanwhile Rudy Giuliani is happy to provide more evidence of Pompeo's involvement. Once Pompeo received them, they were circulated within the State Department. It doesn't say specifically that Pompeo circulated them. But that seems consistent with all the other information we've learned. It seems pretty clear why Inspector General Linick thought this was an urgent matter."

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer's concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistle-blower complaint, according to a spokesman and current and former American officials. The early account by the future whistle-blower shows how determined he was to make known his allegations that Mr. Trump asked Ukraine's government to interfere on his behalf in the 2020 election. It also explains how Mr. Schiff knew to press for the complaint when the Trump administration initially blocked lawmakers from seeing it.... Concerned about how that initial avenue for airing his allegations through the C.I.A. was unfolding, the [C.I.A. officer] then approached the House aide.... The House staff member, following the committee's procedures, suggested the officer find a lawyer to advise him and meet with an inspector general, with whom he could file a whistle-blower complaint. The aide shared some of what the officer conveyed to Mr. Schiff. The aide did not share the whistle-blower's identity with Mr. Schiff, an official said.... In a news conference in the East Room of the White House after this article was published, Mr. Trump called it a scandal that Mr. Schiff knew the outlines of the whistle-blower's accusations before he filed his complaint. 'Big stuff. That's a big story,' Mr. Trump said, waving a copy of the article in the air. 'He knew long before and helped write it, too. It's a scam,' the president added.... There is no evidence that Mr. Schiff did, and his spokesman said he saw no part of the complaint before it was filed." The Washington Post story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice: "There's nothing actually shocking here." The guidelines for bringing a whistleblower's complaint specify that the complaint may be brought to "congressional intelligence committees," which is what the whistleblower did in going to the Intelligence Committee staffer. That is, the whistleblower was following his own agency's guidelines. "Enter Fox News' John Roberts. Roberts ... teed the President up by framing this new reporting as a conspiracy between Congressman Schiff and the whistleblower, intimating that Congressman Schiff actually directed the complaint, fabricated the key accusations, and basically created his own need for oversight to drive impeachment. The President, as I'm sure you're shocked to learn, took Roberts' line of bullshit and ran with it." Here's the exchange (the video in Silverman's post [as of 8 pm ET Wednesday] was of a different exchange):

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department told White House personnel on Wednesday that they must preserve all notes regarding ... Donald Trump's meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders. 'Defendants today instructed relevant personnel to preserve the information, Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge in a court filing. The question of whether the White House was preserving the information arose in federal court Tuesday, following government transparency and historical archivist groups' emergency request to maintain the notes from the Trump-Volodymyr Zelensky July 25 call and other Trump discussions with world leaders. The groups had sued Trump and his executive office in May for failing to document at least five meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and one with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.... A Justice Department lawyer on Tuesday had told the judge, Amy Berman Jackson of the DC District Court, that there was no risk to the White House's record-keeping of Trump's foreign calls. But the attorney wouldn't go as far as pledging the White House would preserve all documents, saying she hadn't received authorization from the White House to say they would. Jackson was satisfied with the Department's response Wednesday and took no further action." Related story linked here yesterday.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House threatened on Wednesday to subpoena the White House if it did not comply by Friday with broad requests for documents related President Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son and any attempt by the administration to conceal his actions. Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the chairman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, notified his committee of the impending subpoena on Wednesday. He said the White House had thus far ignored Congress's voluntary requests." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bowden of the Hill: "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed away from statements made previously by Kremlin officials about his calls with President Trump, telling reporters that he would not object to transcripts being made public. Multiple news outlets reported that Putin made the remarks after meeting with Iran's Hassan Rouhani, telling journalists that there was nothing on his calls with Trump that could compromise the U.S. president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge to temporarily block a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney that would require President Trump to turn over eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns.... In its filing, Mr. Trump's own Justice Department did not say whether it agreed with his position that presidents cannot be investigated. But citing 'significant constitutional issues' raised by the president's lawyers, the department said the court should stop enforcement of the subpoena while it takes time to consider the case." Reuters has the story here.

Aaron Lorenzo of Politico: "The IRS needs to examine whether the National Rifle Association should lose its tax-exempt status, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said today. A recent report by Wyden's committee investigators raised questions about some NRA activities and social welfare requirements for its tax exemption, the senators wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. The report alleged some NRA members used a 2015 NRA trip to Moscow for their own personal business reasons rather than for tax-exempt purposes. Misuse of tax-exempt funding for private gain would violate tax laws." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2020

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) underwent heart surgery after he experienced chest discomfort during a campaign event on Tuesday, his campaign said. Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders's campaign, said a medical evaluation of the Vermont senator discovered blockage in one of his arteries, and two stents were successfully inserted." Update: The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Juan Garnham & Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune: "The murder conviction of a white woman who was a police officer when she killed an unarmed black man in his own home -- and the 10-year prison sentence a jury gave her Wednesday -- each drew different reactions in a city whose history is rife with tensions between law enforcement and communities of color. Amber Guyger's murder conviction brought many people relief. But her sentence for killing 26-year-old Botham Jean was derided by some as being too short, even though Jean's brother offered Guyger forgiveness and a hug at the end of the trial."

The Commentariat -- October 2, 2019

Late Morning Update:

     ~~~ Here's a brief report from Brett Samuels of the Hill on Trump's chopper chat.

~~~ Andrew Desiderio & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday vowed to move aggressively on House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, even as .... Donald Trump lashed out at the pair in the middle of their news conference. Despite the Democrats' insistence that Trump would be treated fairly and that the fast-moving investigation would not interfere with bipartisan legislative priorities, Trump accused them on Twitter of 'wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT.' He called Schiff a 'lowlife' and said Pelosi was 'incapable' of working with him on other issues...." ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday blasted Democrats for wasting time on 'bullshit' as the House moves forward with its impeachment inquiry. The president on Wednesday morning unleashed a torrent of tweets slamming Democrats as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood alongside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to lay out their agenda and progress on the impeachment inquiry. 'The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016, 223-306,' Trump tweeted shortly after the conclusion of the press conference [Pelosi/Schiff], misstating the 232 electoral votes his opponent got in 2016.... His latest diatribe was sparked by the press conference, which Trump responded to in real time." ~~~

~~~ Oma Seddiq of Politico: Trump live-tweeted the Pelosi-Schiff presser. Mrs. McC: Should that be lie-tweeted?

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House threatened on Wednesday to subpoena the White House if it did not comply by Friday with broad requests for documents related President Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son and any attempt by the administration to conceal his actions. Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the chairman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, notified his committee of the impending subpoena on Wednesday. He said the White House had thus far ignored Congress's voluntary requests."

John Bowden of the Hill: "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed away from statements made previously by Kremlin officials about his calls with President Trump, telling reporters that he would not object to transcripts being made public. Multiple news outlets reported that Putin made the remarks after meeting with Iran's Hassan Rouhani, telling journalists that there was nothing on his calls with Trump that could compromise the U.S. president."

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) underwent heart surgery after he experienced chest discomfort during a campaign event on Tuesday, his campaign said. Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders's campaign, said a medical evaluation of the Vermont senator discovered blockage in one of his arteries, and two stents were successfully inserted." Update: The New York Times story is here.

Aaron Lorenzo of Politico: "The IRS needs to examine whether the National Rifle Association should lose its tax-exempt status, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Finance Committee rankin member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said today. A recent report by Wyden's committee investigators raised questions about some NRA activities and social welfare requirements for its tax exemption, the senators wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. The report alleged some NRA members used a 2015 NRA trip to Moscow for their own personal business reasons rather than for tax-exempt purposes. Misuse of tax-exempt funding for private gain would violate tax laws."

~~~~~~~~~~

Trump, Inc. -- The Criminal Enterprise, Ctd.

It's very easy actually to work with me. You know why it's easy? Because I make all the decisions. -- Donald Trump, last month ~~~

~~~ How Trump, Inc. Works. Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "As the impeachment drama has unfolded over the past week, a series of disclosures has illuminated President Trump's command over key federal agencies, revealing how he has compelled them to pursue his personal and political goals, investigate his enemies and lend legitimacy to his theories about the 2016 election. The Justice Department has prioritized a probe that the president hopes will discredit a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him win.... The State Department, meanwhile, has been investigating the email records of as many as 130 current and former department officials who sent messages to the private email account of Hillary Clinton.... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defied Congress ... by attempting to block the depositions of five department employees.... The leading members of Trump's inner circle dutifully work to address his concerns, sometimes by directing federal resources. Officials including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, have worked to block Democratic lawmakers and others from obtaining access to Trump's tax returns, which he has refused to disclose publicly. The list of Trump loyalists pulled into his maneuvers begins at the top. Vice President Pence ... met with Zelensky [last month] and urged him to address 'corruption,' seeming to reiterate the message Trump communicated to Zelensky in July about investigating the Bidens."

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "For President Trump, the impeachment case being built by Democrats over his alleged effort to recruit foreign help for his reelection effort isn't just a 'WITCH HUNT,' though he calls it that, too; it's 'treason.' It isn't just 'presidential harassment,' though he also makes that charge; it's an invitation to 'Civil War.'... Expanding on the lexicon of outrage and victimhood honed during the probe into Russian interference in the last election, Trump is invoking the muskets-and-ramparts idioms of the country's beginnings. The ratcheting up of his rhetoric is also indicative of Trump's tendency to interpret any criticism of him as an attack on the government, worrying critics and scholars who warn of the dangers posed by his l'état, c'est moi call to arms." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has a series of brief posts on Tuesday's developments in the impeachment contretemps. ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday reiterated his desire to meet with and question the whistleblower whose complaint about Trump's interactions with the leader of Ukraine ignited an impeachment inquiry. The president, who in recent days attacked the whistleblower as a 'fraud' and attempted to undermine their [Mrs. McC: his] credibility, questioned why he doesn't have the right to interview the anonymous individual. '[W]hy aren't we entitled to interview & learn everything about the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him,' Trump tweeted. 'This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better. No pressure at all (as confirmed by Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax!'... Trump claimed the author of the complaint 'has all second hand information' and that 'almost everything' the whistleblower recounted about the president's call with Ukraine was wrong. But neither of those things are [Mrs. McC: is] true.... The Whistleblower Protection Act makes it a violation for federal agencies to threaten retaliation against individuals who come forward to raise concerns of wrongdoing within the government." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Burgess Everett of Politico: "In a Tuesday statement, [Sen. Chuck] Grassley [R-Iowa] moved to stave off attacks and the unmasking of the federal whistleblower who first divulged Trump's call with Ukraine's president. Trump and many of his allies in Congress and outside have been working to chip away at the whisleblower's credibility, calling his complaint 'hearsay' and playing down its validity. Grassley ... said Tuesday that the fact that the individual's knowledge of Trump's phone call and the White House restricting records came secondhand should not invalidate his reporting. 'This person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected. We should always work to respect whistleblowers,' Grassley said. 'Complaints based on second-hand information should not be rejected out of hand, but they do require additional leg work to get at the facts and evaluate the claim's credibility.' Grassley also said media reports on the identity of the whistleblower 'don't serve the public interest -- even if the conflict sells more papers or attracts clicks.' The New York Times and Washington Post both reported that the whistleblower is a CIA officer but did not identify him by name."

This Times of London story is firewalled, but New York's "Intelligencer" today (@ 7:39 am) republishes the main point: "President Trump personally contacted Boris Johnson to ask for help as he tried to discredit the Mueller investigation into possible connections between Russia and his 2016 election campaign, The Times understands.... The US president is believed to have asked Mr Johnson for his help during a congratulatory phone call on July 26, two days after the prime minister took office. Mr Barr arrived in London days later to attend a meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. He shared with British officials his suspicions about the information that triggered the Mueller investigation and the role of British intelligence agencies in collecting it." Update: Here's a Daily Beast summary of the Times of London report. More on Bill Barr, International P.I. linked below.

David Graham of the Atlantic: "The latest Trump scandal demonstrates how incapable Trump is of learning -- either facts or lessons -- and how dangerous that is. Trump's refusal to accept the truth about Ukrainian hacking (which did not happen) arose from his refusal to accept the truth about Russian hacking (which did happen). That is, Trump's obsession with Ukraine began as a search for vindication over allegations of foreign interference in the 2016 election, and led directly to Trump importuning foreign interference in the 2020 race.... He shows notable lack of interest in his official briefing materials, which have been shrunk down to minimal form. He eagerly consumes conspiracy theories and humbug, though."

One Accomplice Admits He Heard the Crime Go Down. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed on Wednesday that he had listened in on President Trump';s telephone conversation with the president of Ukraine.... 'I was on the phone call,' Mr. Pompeo said at a news conference in Rome -- the first time he has addressed the topic publicly since reports surfaced that he had heard the exchange." ~~~

~~~ Cover-up, Ctd. Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused the Democratic chairs of three House committees investigating the State Department's role in Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine efforts of trying to 'intimidate, bully, and treat improperly' five State Department officials called for depositions. In the fierce letter addressed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., Pompeo blasted the depositions in the impeachment probe as rushed and potentially in violation of executive privilege, accused committee staff of not following protocol, and appeared to say the officials will not show up. 'I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State,' Pompeo wrote." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House impeachment inquiry broke into a full-throated battle between the executive and legislative branches Tuesday, as congressional Democrats and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traded threats and accusations, President Trump questioned whether a leader of the probe [-- Adam Schiff --] should be arrested, and another senior Democrat [-- Maxine Waters --] said Trump should be imprisoned in' solitary confinement.' As the scope of the inquiry broadened, it touched a wide swath of top administration officials. In letters to Vice President Pence and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, demanded answers by Friday to questions about what they knew, when they knew it, and their roles in President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine.... Much of the day's turmoil centered on Pompeo, who said in a letter to the chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees ... that five State Department officials called to give depositions over the next two weeks would not appear as scheduled.... The committee chairmen responded to Pompeo ... by saying any attempt to prevent department officials from speaking to them 'is illegal and will constitute evidence of obstruction,' according to a statement issued by Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), who heads the foreign affairs panel.... Meanwhile, the committees were notified that the State Department's inspector general has requested to speak with them on Wednesday 'to discuss and provide staff with copies of documents related to the State Department and Ukraine,' according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.... The inspector general does not have to seek Pompeo's approval to approach lawmakers with information...." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here, and the NBC News story is here. Jen Kirby of Vox has a fairly comprehensive report covering the same matters in the WashPo report. ~~~

~~~ ** Here's a pdf of a letter from House chairmen Engel, Schiff & Cummings sent late Tuesday to Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, responding to Mike Pompeo's bombastic letter. The chairmen write that they are addressing Sullivan because Pompeo has a conflict of interest inasmuch as he participated in the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call. Therefore, Pompeo should not be making any decisions re: witness testimony or document production. "... the Committees may infer that he is trying to cover up illicit activity and misconduct, including by the President. This would be a blatant cover-up and clear abuse of power." Read on. Democrats can play hardball, too. ~~~

~~~ Alex Moe, et al., of NBC News: "Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine who resigned his post last week after his name appeared in a whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump's dealings with the Ukraine, will testify in the House's impeachment inquiry on Thursday, two committee aides told NBC News Tuesday. Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was abruptly ousted from her post in May, will also sit for a joint deposition before the House Intel, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees on Oct. 11. Her deposition was originally scheduled for this Wednesday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Fall Guy. Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "When ... Rudy Giuliani appeared on cable news programs last week, he deflected questions about his work in Ukraine and instead hammered home one talking point over and over again: The State Department knew he was trying to dig up dirt on ... Joe Biden and his son Hunter.... Giuliani's on-air appearances threw the department into a tizzy, forcing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to try to put a lid on the crisis of confidence..., according to three senior U.S. officials. For Pompeo, solving the problem meant finding someone to blame -- and there was only one individual who fit the mold, according to those same sources: former U.S. representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker.... Current and former State Department officials who spoke to The Daily Beast, some of who[m] are close to Volker, said he was forced out of his post." ~~~

~~~ ** Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "The State Department's inspector general on Tuesday requested an urgent briefing with senior congressional staff members after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed back on House Democratic demands to turn over documents related to Ukraine and to depose current and former State officials, according to sources briefed on the matter. It's unclear exactly what State inspector general Steve Linick plans to provide Congress during the private Wednesday briefing. But it comes amid the House Democrats' impeachment investigation, which has been fueled by the US Intelligence Community's inspector general's review of a complaint by a whistleblower who alleged ... Donald Trump sought help from Ukraine's government to interfere in the 2020 elections. One congressional aide described the State inspector general's request as 'highly unusual and cryptically worded.'" ~~~

      ~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: Linick wrote that he sought &"'to discuss and provide staff with copies of documents,' according to an invitation reviewed by The New York Times. It said the documents had been given to [him] by the State Department's acting legal adviser, but did not provide additional information or indicate whether Mr. Pompeo was aware of the action." ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's impossible to know what "urgent" matter Linick wishes to reveal to Congressional staff. It could be largely procedural matters, OR it could involve Rudy Giuliani & exculpate Pompeo & other State Department officials, OR it could be a bombshell that blows up in Pompeo's and Trump's faces. If the info is explosive, let's hope there's a leaker among those staffers.

Bill Barr, International P.I. Barbie Nadeau of the Daily Beast: Bill Barr & U.S. Attorney John Durham went to Rome last week "on an under-the-radar mission that was only planned a few days in advance. An official with the embassy confirmed to The Daily Beast that they had to scramble to accommodate Barr's sudden arrival.... Barr and Durham are looking into the events that led to Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, and suddenly all roads were leading to Rome.... Barr and Durham were especially interested in what the Italian secret service knew about Joseph Mifsud, the erstwhile professor from Malta who had allegedly promised then candidate Donald Trump's campaign aide George Papadopoulos he could deliver Russian 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton. The Italian Justice Ministry public records show that Mifsud had applied for police protection in Italy after disappearing from Link University where he worked and, in doing so, had given a taped deposition to explain just why people might want to harm him." Barr & Durham listened to the tape & "were shown other evidence the Italians had on Mifsud." ~~~

~~~ Patrick Wintour & Luke Harding of the Guardian: Bill Barr "met UK intelligence agencies in the summer to discuss Britain potentially cooperating with Donald Trump's administration on an inquiry examining the FBI's investigation into alleged collusion with Russia, according to sources.... The meeting was formally about the risks and opportunities of new technologies but Barr also raised his inquiries into the FBI investigation. A Whitehall official said the issue of UK cooperation was discussed informally and only on the margins of the meeting."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Bill "Barr appears determined to discredit the special counsel investigation's finding that Russia engaged in 'sweeping and systematic' interference in our election on Trump's behalf. Which raises the question: What if Barr's activities -- whether by coincidence or design -- end up chilling how intelligence officials respond to the next foreign effort to sabotage a U.S. presidential election on Trump's behalf?... Current and former officials are alarmed by Barr's direct involvement in the investigation into the probe's origins currently being run by John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut.... 'There's a message to our intelligence community, which is, "Don't go there,"' [Rep. Tom] Malinowski [D-NJ] told me. 'They're being investigated for doing their jobs the last time.'... All this feeds into the ballooning Ukraine scandal as well.... We already know that Barr's Justice Department helped direct efforts to keep Congress from learning of the whistleblower complaint.... Barr didn't recuse himself from that, despite being personally named in the complaint." (Also linked yesterday.)

Understanding Rudy. Do you think Giuliani is still angry about this moment from a 2008 Democratic presidential debate? It was an epithet that stuck.

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani ... has hired his own lawyer to represent him in the House's fast-moving impeachment investigation into the president. The former New York mayor tapped Jon Sale, a former Watergate prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney, in what's shaping up to be a battle with Democrats over documents tied to Giuliani's efforts to pressure Ukraine's leader on behalf of the president to investigate Joe Biden." ~~~

... Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Rudy Giuliani thinks Congress' probe into the president is wrong, and he wants to sue those behind it. Speaking with Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Tuesday night, Giuliani proposed bringing a lawsuit against House Democrats for investigating the president in the wake of revelations involving Trump's interactions with Ukraine. The House launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump after it was revealed he had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic 2020 contender Joe Biden. Congressional oversight of the presidency is one of the most fundamental pillars of American government, but Giuliani thinks Congress' actions violate Trump's constitutional rights. 'They are doing extraordinary things. For example, they are violating -- they're interfering with the president in exercising his rights under Article II: The president United States conducts the foreign policy of the United States,' Giuliani said. 'They're calling foreign leaders. They are going to foreign capitals.' 'This is worse than McCarthy!" he later added...." Mrs. McC: Presumably Rudy means Joe McCarthy, not Kevin McCarthy. It's hard to be worse than Kevin McCarthy. As the wag who writes New York's "Intelligencer" headlines summarizes it, "Giuliani wants to sue Congress for using a power laid out in the Constitution." Well, yes, but the Constitution is a document in tension with itself.

~~~ Rudy Turns on "Honest" Lutsenko. Heidi Przybyla & Allan Smith of NBC News: "For much of this year, Rudy Giuliani was counting on Ukraine's former chief prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, to reopen a dormant investigation into an energy company where Joe Biden's son Hunter had once served as a board member.... In an early May phone call with NBC, Giuliani called Lutsenko a 'much more honest guy' than the previous, Kremlin-aligned prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, whom the Ukrainian Parliament sacked for failing to crack down on corruption.... In a White House transcript of a July 25 phone call, President Trump seemed to admonish the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for firing Lutsenko.... But in a series of interviews ... this weekend, Lutsenko said he could find no evidence of wrongdoing involving the Bidens and violations of Ukrainian law.... Giuliani swiftly turned on the man who he'd been corresponding with for months. 'Mr. Lutsenko has been fired by the current president. Mr. Lutsenko is exactly the prosecutor that Joe Biden put in in order to tank the case,' Giuliani told CBS News Sunday." ~~~

~~~ Rudy's Elves. Michael Sallah, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "Congress is demanding information from two men who carried out a campaign to discredit Joe Biden under Giuliani's direction.... Letters were sent to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Ukrainian-American business partners who arranged the meetings between Giuliani and top Ukrainian prosecutors over the last year.... A joint investigation by BuzzFeed News and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in July found that, under Giuliani's direction, Parnas and Fruman carried out a whirlwind campaign to unearth information to damage Biden's candidacy and press Ukraine prosecutors to investigate accusations that Ukrainian agents plotted to rig the 2016 election to favor Hillary Clinton by leaking evidence against Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in what became a cornerstone of the Mueller investigation. Parnas and Fruman traveled to Kiev, New York, Warsaw and Paris to meet with Ukrainian leaders, raising questions ... about whether they were blurring the lines of what US citizens are allowed to do without registering as foreign agents.... Parnas ... has dined with the president in Washington...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Missed This. Brett Samuels: "The intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) on Monday appeared to push back on allegations that the rules regarding whistleblower reports had been changed shortly before the complaint regarding President Trump's dealings with Ukraine was filed. The Office of the Inspector General issued a four-page news release in which it made clear that the whistleblower complaint focused on Trump's July 25 call with the Ukrainian president was processed under procedures put in place in May 2018. The inspector general wrote that under the statute, a complainant is not required to have firsthand knowledge of the matter they are referring.... The clarification came as Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have claimed the rules for filing a complaint were changed just before the whistleblower on the Ukraine call came forward.... Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wrote to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson on Monday asking for clarity about a reported change in the whistleblower complaint process that no longer required complainants to have firsthand knowledge." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Lippman & Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "The Trump White House upgraded the security of the National Security Council's codeword system in the spring of 2018, according to two former Trump White House officials familiar with the matter, as part of an effort to ferret out and deter leaks.... That highly classified system is being newly scrutinized in light of a whistleblower complaint alleging that national security officials used the system -- meant for storing information classified at the highest level -- to conceal politically embarrassing conversations.... While [hiding embarassing material is] not necessarily an illegal act, it does run counter to an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2009 that says information can't be classified to 'conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error' or 'prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency.'"

Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "A government watchdog group asked a federal judge on Tuesday to issue an emergency order requiring the White House to preserve records of all of President Donald Trump's calls with foreign leaders.... The case, which accuses the Trump administration of failing to meet its legal obligations to create -- and properly save -- records of Trump's and other officials' conversations with foreign leaders, was originally filed in May. But the plaintiffs are now arguing that the judge needs to take immediate action in light of recent events.... US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ... has strongly and repeatedly suggested that the government should consider giving a voluntary assurance, as opposed to having her formally rule on the request filed by the challengers for an emergency order and issue a decision that she said one side 'might not appreciate.'"

Maybe Fox "News" Won't Tell Them. Maureen Groppe of USA Today: "A new poll shows that only four in 10 Republicans believe ... Donald Trump talked to the Ukrainian president about investigating political rival Joe Biden, even though Trump has acknowledged doing so. That compares with 85% of Democrats and 61% of independents surveyed by Monmouth University Poll who said Trump 'probably did' mention the possibility of an investigation into the Biden family during a July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky." Mrs. McC: Or maybe they're just generally ignorant.

Anita Kumar of Politico: "House investigators are looking into an allegation that groups -- including at least one foreign government -- tried to ingratiate themselves to ... Donald Trump by booking rooms at his hotels but never staying in them. It's a previously unreported part of a broader examination by the House Oversight Committee, included in the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, into whether Trump broke the law by accepting money from U.S. or foreign governments at his properties. 'Now we're looking at near raw bribery,' said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a House Oversight Committee member who chairs the subcommittee with jurisdiction over Trump's hotel in Washington. 'That was the risk from day one -- foreign governments and others trying to seek favor because we know Trump pays attention to this.... It's an obvious attempt to curry favor with him.'" Mrs. McC: Kumar doesn't say so explicitly, but I think we can presume these entities paid for the empty rooms. You can see the advantage to Trump of bought-and-paid-for empty rooms: little or no overhead.

** Trump Is Crazy ... and Violent. Michael Shear & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The Oval Office meeting this past March began, as so many had, with President Trump fuming about migrants. But this time he had a solution. As White House advisers listened astonished, he ordered them to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico -- by noon the next day.... Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That's not allowed either, they told him.... Mr. Trump's order to close the border was a decision point that touched off a frenzied week of presidential rages, round-the-clock staff panic and far more White House turmoil than was known at the time. By the end of the week, the seat-of-the-pants president had backed off his threat but had retaliated with the beginning of a purge of the aides who had tried to contain him. Today, as Mr. Trump is surrounded by advisers less willing to stand up to him, his threat to seal off the country from a flood of immigrants remains active. "You are making me look like a [fucking] idiot!" Mr. Trump shouted...." And so forth. Read on.

Waste, Fraud & Abuse the Pentagon Way. Martin de Bourmont & Sharon Weinberger in Yahoo! News: "In December 2016, just a few weeks before moving into the White House..., Donald Trump tweeted that once he was in office, 'billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases.'... Yet within two years of Trump's entrance into the White House, [the Pentagon's best pennypincher Shay] Assad would find himself removed from his job, and his efforts to save money and recover hundreds of millions of dollars in potentially fraudulent spending tabled. His treatment, he contends, was the direct result of his attempts to save the Pentagon money and identify potential contract fraud, which brought him into conflict with the Pentagon's top weapons buyer." Thanks to Anonymous for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Fellow-traveler. Rebecca Fishbein of Splinter is amused that "Nazi-adjacent [former] Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka" is traveling with Mike Pompeo "to Italy, Vatican City, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Greece.... The trip does not appear to include Hungary, where Gorka is a wanted man, which is a bummer." (Also linked yesterday.)

Spencer Hsu & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "A veteran federal judge on Monday warned U.S. prosecutors either to charge former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe or to drop their investigation into whether he lied to investigators about an unauthorized media disclosure, saying their indecision was undermining the credibility of the Justice Department. If a decision is not made, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of Washington, D.C., said at a hearing that he would order the Justice Department to release internal FBI documents related to McCabe's firing by Nov. 15. The extraordinary warning by Walton -- a 2001 President George W. Bush appointee and former presiding judge of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court -- marked the latest turbulence in an investigation that McCabe's defenders say is a move by the Trump administration to punish the president's perceived political enemies.... Walton spoke after Justice attorneys argued in private before him for the latest postponement in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over documents about the FBI's investigation of McCabe, which the government has declined to release citing potential interference with a law enforcement proceeding."

Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Former GOP Rep. Chris Collins on Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges related to insider trading, hours after he resigned his New York congressional seat. Collins, who was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2016, was indicted in August by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. He was accused of using non-public information stemming from his relationship with an Australian medical biotech firm to help his family make illegal stock trades to avoid more than $768,000 in losses. He initially pleaded not guilty after he was first charged in 2018. Collins, 69, on Tuesday, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements. He faces up to five years in prison on each count along with three years of supervised release. He also faces $250,000 in fines on each count. He is slated to be sentenced in January 2020."

Kate Irby of the Babylon Fresno Bee: "Rep. Devin Nunes filed another lawsuit this week drawing attention to what he believes was unfair news coverage of him in 2018, this time suing a magazine writer who detailed how the California congressman's family had moved its farming operations to Iowa. The complaint filed in an Iowa federal court is Nunes' fifth lawsuit this year. It's the fourth in which he alleges that groups conspired to damage his chances at re-election last year, and his second complaint against a news organization. In the new case, Nunes is suing magazine writer Ryan Lizza and New York-based Hearst Magazines. The complaint centers on a September 2018 story in Esquire magazine called, 'Devin Nunes' Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret.' The so-called secret in the story was that the family had moved its dairy operation to Iowa in a community that relied on labor from undocumented immigrants.... Nunes confirmed in the lawsuit that his family has owned a dairy in Sibley, Iowa, for over a decade, but says Lizza's and Hearst's characterization of it as a 'politically explosive secret' was defamatory to Nunes." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To avoid a costly lawsuit, I won't tell you what I think of the ridiculous Devin Nunes & his shady schemes patriotic foray into the Heartland. I mean, look what happened to Devin's Cow.

Presidential Race 2020

Maggie Severns & Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $125 million over the past three months, Trump's campaign announced Tuesday -- a massive total that disturbed some Democrats who believe their party should be more focused on countering Trump's head start in the 2020 presidential election. The two committees ended September with more than $156 million cash on hand, they announced. They did not disclose individual totals for the Trump campaign or for the Republican National Committee, which will be reported later this month."

Will Wilkinson in a New York Times op-ed: "The president's bungled bid to coerce Ukraine's leader into helping the Trump 2020 re-election campaign smear a rival struck 'decide it at the ballot box' off the menu of reasonable opinion forever. Mr. Trump's brazen attempt to cheat his way into a second term stands so scandalously exposed that there can be no assurance of a fair election if he's allowed to stay in office. Resolving the question of the president's fitness at the ballot box isn't really an option, much less the best option, when the question boils down to whether the ballot box will be stuffed. Impeachment is therefore imperative, not only to protect the integrity of next year's elections but to secure America's continued democratic existence. If the House does its job, it will fall to Senate Republicans to reveal, in their decision to convict (or not), their preferred flavor of republic: constitutional or banana."

Bill Scher in Politico Magazine with a harsh reality chek: "America's reward for convicting Trump [-- thus removing him from office --] would be President Michael Richard Pence.... President Pence would likely be harder for Democrats to dispatch in the 2020 general election than an impeached but still in office President Trump. Pence's net favorability, while underwater, is better than Trump's. Upon entering the Oval Office, the low-key Midwesterner might prove willing and able turn the page, restore calm and soothe an exhausted electorate." Mrs. McC: If Trump's popularity tanks -- which at this point seems unlikely -- and his unpopularity threatens to turn the Senate Democratic, @MachiavelliMitch will lead a behind-closed-doors charge to remove the Orange Menace from office. By promising to hold a Senate trial if Trump is impeached, Mitch has already laid the groundwork to do that.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida Public "Education." Josh Fiallo of the Tampa Bay Times: "The University of Florida will pay $50,000 for Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is a senior adviser for ... Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, to speak on campus next week.... ACCENT Speakers Bureau, the student organization that's hosting the event..., is run by UF's student government and pays speakers using students' activity fees, which are $19.06 per credit hour. The organization says Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle, who are dating, will be the first speakers of the fall semester.... The immediate reaction on social media to ACCENT's announcement of Trump Jr. and Guilfoyleon on Tuesday was near-completely negative."

Texas. Bill Hutchinson of ABC News: "A Texas jury rejected former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger's self-defense claims and convicted her of murder on Tuesday in the fatal 2018 shooting of an innocent man eating ice cream in his own home after mistaking his apartment for her own.... The 31-year-old Guyger, who was fired from the Dallas Police Department days after the shooting, faces a prison sentence of five to 99 years."

The Commentariat -- October 1, 2019

Late Morning Update:

Happy Birthday, Jimmy. Bill Barrow of the AP: "Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 95th birthday, becoming the first U.S. president to reach that milestone as he continues his humanitarian work and occasionally wades back into politics and policy debates almost four decades after leaving office. Carter, who served from 1977-1981 and still lives in tiny Plains, Georgia, planned no public celebrations on Tuesday."

Cover-up, Ctd. Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused the Democratic chairs of three House committees investigating the State Department's role in Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine efforts of trying to 'intimidate, bully, and treat improperly' five State Department officials called for depositions. In the fierce letter addressed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., Pompeo blasted the depositions in the impeachment probe as rushed and potentially in violation of executive privilege, accused committee staff of not following protocol, and appeared to say the officials will not show up. 'I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State,' Pompeo wrote."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday reiterated his desire to meet with and question the whistleblower whose complaint about Trump's interactions with the leader of Ukraine ignited an impeachment inquiry. The president, who in recent days attacked the whistleblower as a 'fraud' and attempted to undermine their [Mrs. McC: his] credibility, questioned why he doesn't have the right to interview the anonymous individual. '[W]hy aren't we entitled to interview & learn everything about the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him,' Trump tweeted. 'This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better. No pressure at all (as confirmed by Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax!'... Trump claimed the author of the complaint 'has all second hand information' and that 'almost everything' the whistleblower recounted about the president's call with Ukraine was wrong. But neither of those things are [Mrs. McC: is] true.... The Whistleblower Protection Act makes it a violation for federal agencies to threaten retaliation against individuals who come forward to raise concerns of wrongdoing within the government."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Bill "Barr appears determined to discredit the special counsel investigation's finding that Russia engaged in 'sweeping and systematic' interference in our election on Trump's behalf. Which raises the question: What if Barr's activities -- whether by coincidence or design -- end up chilling how intelligence officials respond to the next foreign effort to sabotage a U.S. presidential election on Trump's behalf?... Current and former officials are alarmed by Barr's direct involvement in the investigation into the probe's origins currently being run by John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut.... 'There's a message to our intelligence community, which is, "Don't go there,"' [Rep. Tom] Malinowski [D-NJ] told me. 'They're being investigated for doing their jobs the last time.'... All this feeds into the ballooning Ukraine scandal as well.... We already know that Barr's Justice Department helped direct efforts to keep Congress from learning of the whistleblower complaint.... Barr didn't recuse himself from that, despite being personally named in the complaint."

Missed This. Brett Samuels: "The intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) on Monday appeared to push back on allegations that the rules regarding whistleblower reports had been changed shortly before the complaint regarding President Trump's dealings with Ukraine was filed. The Office of the Inspector General issued a four-page news release in which it made clear that the whistleblower complaint focused on Trump's July 25 call with the Ukrainian president was processed under procedures put in place in May 2018. The inspector general wrote that under the statute, a complainant is not required to have firsthand knowledge of the matter they are referring.... The clarification came as Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have claimed the rules for filing a complaint were changed just before the whistleblower on the Ukraine call came forward.... Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wrote to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson on Monday asking for clarity about a reported change in the whistleblower complaint process that no longer required complainants to have firsthand knowledge."

Rudy's Elves. Michael Sallah, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "Congress is demanding information from two men who carried out a campaign to discredit Joe Biden under Giuliani's direction.... Letters were sent to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Ukrainian-America business partners who arranged the meetings between Giuliani and top Ukrainian prosecutors over the last year.... A joint investigation by BuzzFeed News and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in July found that, under Giuliani's direction, Parnas and Fruman carried out a whirlwind campaign to unearth information to damage Biden's candidacy and press Ukraine prosecutors to investigate accusations that Ukrainian agents plotted to rig the 2016 election to favor Hillary Clinton by leaking evidence against Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in what became a cornerstone of the Mueller investigation. Parnas and Fruman traveled to Kiev, New York, Warsaw and Paris to meet with Ukrainian leaders, raising questions ... about whether they were blurring the lines of what US citizens are allowed to do without registering as foreign agents."

Waste, Fraud & Abuse the Pentagon Way. Martin de Bourmont & Sharon Weinberger in Yahoo! News: "In December 2016, just a few weeks before moving into the White House..., Donald Trump tweeted that once he was in office, 'billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases.'... Yet within two years of Trump's entrance into the White House, [the Pentagon's best pennypincher Shay] Assad would find himself removed from his job, and his efforts to save money and recover hundreds of millions of dollars in potentially fraudulent spending tabled. His treatment, he contends, was the direct result of his attempts to save the Pentagon money and identify potential contract fraud, which brought him into conflict with the Pentagon's top weapons buyer." Thanks to Anonymous for the link.

Fellow-traveler. Rebecca Fishbein of Splinter is amused that "Nazi-adjacent [former] Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka" is traveling with Mike Pompeo "to Italy, Vatican City, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Greece.... The trip does not appear to include Hungary, where Gorka is a wanted man, which is a bummer."

~~~~~~~~~~

Trump, Inc. -- The Criminal Enterprise, Ctd.

Elliot Hannon of Slate: "It's now abundantly clear that PresidentTrump is actively deploying the resources of the U.S. government explicitly to bolster his chances of reelection in 2020. The recent whistleblower complaint revealed one part of the two-pronged strategy: leverage U.S. military aid to Ukraine to compel the Ukrainian government to dredge up old allegations on political rival Joe Biden. The second aspect of the Trump vindication-through-vilification reelection strategy has led Trump and his allies to investigate the investigation by Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election to try to muddy the water sufficiently that Trump looks clean by comparison -- or by confusion. That effort is also being propelled by the power vested in the highest offices of the U.S. government...." ~~~

~~~ Charles Pierce: "It's become plain at this point that the ongoing 'review' of the origins of the investigation into the Russian ratfcking of the 2016 election has as one of its primary purposes developing an alternative narrative to the plain fact that the Russians wanted to help the president* become president*, and that he accepted their help, and that this alternative narrative then will be used to discredit the revelations in the whistleblower's complaint, and that this project now commands the attention of, at the very least, the office of the president*, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice. The line for the rollercoaster at Depositionland is getting longer by the minute."

Bill Barr, Consigliere. Mark Mazzetti & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call. The White House restricted access to the call's transcript to a small group of the president's aides, one of the officials said, an unusual decision that is similar to the handling of a July call with the Ukrainian president that is at the heart of House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. Like that call, the discussion with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia shows the extent to which Mr. Trump sees the attorney general as a critical partner in his goal to show that the Mueller investigation had corrupt and partisan origins, and the extent that Mr. Trump sees the Justice Department inquiry as a potential way to gain leverage over America's closest allies. And like the call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the discussion with Mr. Morrison shows the president using high-level diplomacy to advance his personal political interests.... In making the request, Mr. Trump was in effect asking the Australian government to investigate itself. The F.B.I.'s counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election began after Australian officials told the bureau that the Russian government had made overtures to the Trump campaign about releasing political damaging information about Hillary Clinton." The Hill has a summary of the Times report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kevin Drum: "... aside from the fact that this was never really a legitimate investigation to start with, we aren't talking about Trump keeping himself at arm's length and letting the chips fall where they may. We're talking about Donald Trump explicitly getting on the phone to encourage an ally to help him. By itself that may or may not be a big deal. But it sure shows a pattern of behavior, doesn't it? If your goal is to make a case that Trump has been abusing the power and influence of the presidency to benefit himself personally, this is one more brick in the wall." ~~~

     ~~~ digby republishes long excerpts from the NYT report linked above & from the WashPo report linked next. ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr has held private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials seeking their help in a Justice Department inquiry that President Trump hopes will discredit U.S. intelligence agencies' examination of possible connections between Russia and members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter. Barr's personal involvement is likely to stoke further criticism from Democrats ... that he is helping the Trump administration use executive branch powers to augment investigations aimed primarily at the president's adversaries.... The direct involvement of the nation's top law enforcement official shows the priority Barr places on the investigation being conducted by John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, who has been assigned the sensitive task of reviewing U.S. intelligence work surrounding the 2016 election and its aftermath.... Barr has already made overtures to British intelligence officials, and last week the attorney general traveled to Italy, where he and Durham met senior Italian government officials and Barr asked the Italians to assist Durham, according to one person familiar with the matter." ~~~

~~~ Alexander Mallin & Jonathan Karl of ABC News: "As a part of his review of the origins of the investigation into members of ... Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, Attorney General William Barr asked President Trump on several occasions to initiate introductions between him and the leaders of Australia and Italy, among other countries, a Department of Justice official told ABC News on Monday.... It's not clear whether there's any other example of the country's lead law enforcement official traveling overseas to personally investigate an issue that the president believes could benefit him politically." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "In theory, there's nothing wrong with cross-checking the FBI's work to make sure it handled its investigation of Trump correctly. But everything about this investigation suggests Barr is carrying out a political vendetta at Trump's orders to intimidate bureaucrats who would defy the authoritarian and lawless president.... He has repeatedly cast the FBI investigation as a coup attempt.... Trump's loyalists have expressed almost uncontainable excitement about Barr's work.... There is little reason to believe Barr is acting fairly at all and a great deal of reason to suspect he is carrying out his duties as hatchet man for his authoritarian boss."

P.S. There's This. Corrine Ramsey of the Wall Street Journal: "The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan said Monday that the U.S. would participate in a lawsuit filed by President Trump that seeks to block a subpoena for eight years of his tax returns. In a brief letter to the judge, U.S. Attorney for Manhattan Geoffrey Berman and Jeffrey Oestericher, chief of the office's civil division, said the U.S. would file a submission in the case by Wednesday. The letter comes in a dispute over a subpoena that the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. sent to accounting firm Mazars USA LLP requesting the president's personal and business tax returns dating to 2011. In an attempt to block the subpoena, Mr. Trump sued Mr. Vance and Mazars, arguing the request was unconstitutional and part of a campaign by Democrats to harass him. Prosecutors in Mr. Vance's office have said their subpoena is valid and any dispute should be heard in state court. Mazars has said it would follow its legal obligations. Federal prosecutors haven't spelled out their reasons for entering the case." Mrs. McC: For some reason, the story in full loaded for me. Don't count on it, but you might be able to get there via Google. The lede is the main point.

Mike Pompeo, Capo. Zachary Cohen & Jamie Gangel of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the July 25 phone call between ... Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has come under scrutiny following last week's release of a whistleblower complaint dealing, in part, with circumstances surrounding that conversation, a source familiar told CNN.... Pompeo was asked about the whistleblower complaint last week while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and said at the time he had not yet read it in full. When asked if he or his staff acted improperly Pompeo did say that, to the best of his knowledge, 'each of the actions that were undertaken by State Department officials was entirely appropriate.' [Pompeo] offered a similar response during an ABC News interview eight days ago when questioned about the complaint and reports that Trump had repeatedly pressed the Ukrainian leader to investigate the Bidens with help from Giuliani.'You just gave me a report about a (intelligence community) whistleblower complaint, none of which I've seen,' Pompeo said at the time." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Martha Raddatz of ABC News asked Pompeo a straightforward question: "What do you know about" the phone call between Trump & Zelensky? Pompeo responded with a feint about not having read the whistleblower's complaint. He did not answer her question.

     ~~~ AND Claudia Koerner of BuzzFeed News: "... in a Sept. 22 interview with John Roberts on Fox News Sunday, Pompeo defended Trump's conduct during conversations with Ukrainian leaders as having 'been 100% appropriate, 100% lawful.' Roberts then asked if it would be a problem for Trump to seek some kind of quid pro quo arrangement with Ukraine. Democrats have alleged that Trump used millions in military aid as a pressure tactic to get Ukraine's help. 'John, you're asking me to provide legal analysis on a hypothetical on a report I haven't seen,' Pompeo said. 'Come on.'"

~~~ Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone: “The whistleblower ... wrote in his complaint that 'approximately a dozen' White House officials were on the line, as was T. Ulrich Brechbuhl of the State Department. As the Journal points out, the State Department disputed Brechbuhl's involvement last week. The revelation that the State Department's top official [-- Mike Pompeo --] was on the call adds a new dimension to the scandal.... It appears Pompeo's involvement may go far deeper than this, though. On Sunday, Rudy Giuliani ... who has no official government role, said on Face the Nation that Pompeo knew of his efforts to convince Ukraine to look into the Bidens, and that he did so with the State Department's blessing.... House Democrats have already taken steps to uncover the extent of Pompeo's involvement. On Friday, three committee chairmen subpoenaed him after he failed to voluntarily provide documents related to Ukraine."

Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Monday that the White House is 'trying to find out' the identity of the intelligence community whistleblower who filed a complaint about the president's interaction with Ukraine. 'We're trying to find out about a whistleblower,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he knows the person's identity, alleging that they reported 'things that are incorrect.'... 'As the acting DNI testified last week, the law and policy supports protection of the identity of the whistleblower from disclosure and from retaliation. No exceptions exist for any individual,' [Mark] Zaid[, an attorney for the whistleblower,] said." Update: The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

David Remnick of the New Yorker writes that Trump's vengeful attacks on Adam Schiff & the whistleblower and his other "increasingly lurid threats of retribution" have so discomfitted federal officials that some may come forward to testify against him.

WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT? DRAIN THE SWAMP! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Sept. 30 ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Several news organizations have fact-checked Trump's claim. I linked to one yesterday; here are a few more:

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "The original report in the Federalist focused on a change in the form, suggesting it was somehow related to the recent whistleblower case. There is no evidence that is correct. In any case, the IG's process for handling whistleblower allegations is determined not by a form but by the law and related policy documents. The key document, ICD 120, has been virtually unchanged since 2014. Contrary to the speculation, the whistleblower used the 2018 form, not the new online form. The IG then investigated and found that his allegations were credible and that Congress should be notified." ~~~

~~~ Jane Timm of NBC News: "... Donald Trump and his allies advanced a conspiracy theory about the Ukraine whistleblower over the last few days alleging that the intelligence community had recently changed the rules requiring whistleblowers to base their claims on first-hand information. But the law hasn't changed, and there is no requirement that whistleblowers stick to first-hand information in their complaints precisely because those filings are designed to trigger official investigations that would uncover such first-hand information, three attorneys who represent whistleblowers told NBC News." ~~~

~~~ Holmes Lybrand & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Monday's tweet was at least Trump's second reference to the theory, which apparently was initially propagated by the right-wing website The Federalist on September 27.... This is false. The Federalist reading of the form is inaccurate and although the submission form that whistleblowers from the intelligence community fill out was revised in August 2019, the revision did not change the rules on who can submit a whistleblower complaint."

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump on Monday questioned whether the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff, should be arrested for treason for his description of a phone call Mr. Trump had with the president of Ukraine during a recent congressional hearing.... Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Schiff, of lying to Congress when Mr. Schiff summarized a portion of what Mr. Trump said to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a July 25 phone call.... During a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, Mr. Schiff addressed a portion of the reconstructed transcript and introduced his summary of it saying, 'Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words, this is the essence of what the president communicates.' Then, Mr. Schiff summarized Mr. Trump's comments and said: 'We've been very good to your country, very good. No other country has done as much as we have, but you know what, I don't see much reciprocity here. I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though.' The summary appears to be drawn from several portions of the call, including statements from Mr. Trump to Mr. Zelensky." There's a Daily Beast item here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Dimwit-in-Chief. Jonathan Chait: "President Trump is currently facing impeachment for demanding investigations of his political enemies (in this case, the FBI agents who looked into his Russia ties and Joe Biden). His response to this charge is, among other things, to demand investigations of even more political enemies. The president's rants include demands that Rep. Adam Schiff be investigated for 'Fraud' and 'Treason.'... [Monday] he proceeded to demands for Schiff's arrest[.] This is literally what Trump is being impeached for."

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Journalists, perhaps seeking to appear balanced, have sometimes described Trump's claims about Biden as 'unsubstantiated' or 'unsupported.' That is misleading, because it suggests more muddiness in the factual record than actually exists. Trump isn't making unproven charges against Biden. He is blatantly lying about him. He and his defenders are spreading a conspiracy theory that is the precise opposite of the truth. Like most effective conspiracy theories, this one is built around a speck of something real. Hunter Biden's place on Burisma's board was untoward, even if it's preposterous for Trump to complain about nepotistic corruption. Biden's son doesn't seem to have broken any laws, but the way he traded on his name was still sleazy.... But ... if [Trump] succeeds in defaming Biden today, he'll be even more audacious in using the same strategy against anyone else who threatens him. What's at stake ... [is] how much Trump can erode the political salience of reality, and how much the media helps him."

John Harwood of CNBC: "The Republican defenses for ... Donald Trump's conduct on Ukraine simply don't hold up.... even cursory scrutiny of evidence that has emerged so far knocks down assorted GOP arguments like shanties in a hurricane. Here's a brief review[.] Mrs. McC: Although Harwood doesn't go into detail about each "defense," his review is actually a fairly comprehensive line-up of Republicans' failed attempts to defend Trump. If you haven't had time to read the details, Harwood provides a good overview. ~~~

~~~ For a similar view, writ florid, Charles Pierce: "... this weekend, the small group of people still willing to go on television and defend El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago put on an ensemble performance of such glorious incompetence and mendacity that even the hosts of The Sunday Showz found themselves gagging on the undercooked codswallop they were being asked to swallow. To sum up: Stephen Miller, the White House dime-store Machiavelli, and not a man accustomed to daylight, went on Fox News with Chris Wallace, and Wallace tore him several new ones. Rudy Giuliani, now performing on the national political stage as Trashcan Man from The Stand, went on ABC with George Stephanopoulos and had another public episode. Rep. Jim Jordan went on CNN with Jake Tapper, and Tapper pantsed him. Rep. Kevin McCarthy ... went on 60 Minutes with Scott Pelley, and Pelley <" href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trying-defend-trump-gop-leader-caught-guard-reality">skewered him with the president*'s own words." ~~~

~~~ Matt Ford of the New Republic: "[The] flailing performance [of Trump's defenders] this weekend highlights a deeper problem for the president. If the House impeaches him, and the Senate holds a trial, Trump will have to make an affirmative case for acquittal to 100 senators, many of whom hold public or private concerns about his fitness to be president. So far, Trump's defenders haven't even come close to making a convincing argument in his favor. The biggest weakness in Trump's defense is that -- as the White House's own summary transcript of the Zelenskiy call proves -- he actually did what Democrats allege: abuse his power by urging a foreign government to undermine his domestic political rivals.... [Also over the weekend,] Trump's Twitter feed glowed with an incandescent rage that only his deep sense of personal victimhood can sustain.... It goes without saying that these rants don't amount to an affirmative case for the Senate to acquit him...." The obfuscation that worked for Trump during the Russia investigation won't work on the Ukraine scandal because Trump himself has already provided the smoking gun: the memcon of his conversation with Zelensky. "The question this time isn't 'What happened?' but 'What are we going to do about it?'"

Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "... multiple current and former administration officials say [former national security advisor John Bolton] was at odds with [Donald Trump] over a July phone call with the president of Ukraine. Three officials said Bolton argued against Trump calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on July 25 because he was concerned the president wasn't coordinating with advisers on what to say and might air personal grievances.... Bolton was among the senior members of the president's national security team, including Vice President Mike Pence, who did not listen in on the Zelenskiy call, officials said."

Alex Pascal in a New York Times op-ed: "As the former senior director of the National Security Council's Office of the Executive Secretariat, I helped oversee the production and record-keeping of presidential memorandums of conversation (called memcons) for both telephone and in-person interactions.... Based on my experience, I believe the so-called transcript the White House has released of the July phone call might not fully reflect the president's conversation with Mr. Zelensky. Furthermore, the whistle-blower complaint raises very troubling questions about how administration lawyers and officials handled the call memo. What the whistle-blower describes is, in my experience, highly unusual and cause for concern.... I wonder whether National Security Council staff members were directed to not only 'lock down' the memcon but also to destroy their own notes of the call, potentially in violation of the Presidential Records Act." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Sergey Karazy of Reuters: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Kiev was unlikely to publish its version of a transcript of a July 25 phone call with ... Donald Trump, at the heart of an impeachment inquiry in Washington." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Balmforth, et al., of Reuters: "The Kremlin said on Monday that Washington would need Russian consent to publish transcripts of phone calls between ... Donald Trump and ... Vladimir Putin. Congress is determined to get access to Trump's calls with Putin and other world leaders, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee's chairman said on Sunday, citing concerns that the Republican president may have jeopardized national security. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia would be prepared to discuss the issue with Washington if it sent Moscow a signal, but that such disclosures were not normal diplomatic practice. 'Of course their publication is to some extent only possible by mutual agreement of the parties...,' Peskov said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Clarissa Ward & Salma Abdelaziz of CNN: "Two Ukrainians named in the whistleblower report that touched off an impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump have told CNN that his personal lawyer actively pushed for an investigation into his political rivals' dealings in the country. Andreii Telizhenko, who worked in the Ukrainian embassy in Washington between December 2015 and May 2016, says Rudy Giuliani approached him for a face-to-face meeting in May of this year. And Sergeii Leschenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, says Giuliani began applying pressure on Zelensky's team to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter shortly after the former comedian was elected in April 2019. Each has a different perspective on the crisis -- Telizhenko believes that the issues surrounding Biden merit further investigation -- but both agree that Giuliani was open in his motivations.... Telizhenko is known for his repeated claims in the media that Democrats colluded with Ukrainian officials to dig up dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump and his team in an effort to boost Hilary Clinton's chances in the 2016 elections. These claims have been repeatedly debunked.... There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Joe or Hunter Biden."

Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, in a Washington Post op-ed, explains "what a presidential phone call with a foreign leader looks like in a normal White House." McFaul contrasts a normal president-to-foreign-leader with President* Trump's call to President Zelensky. Useful to read if you have a WashPo subscription.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The House Intelligence Committee on Monday issued a subpoena to Rudy Giuliani..., Donald Trump's personal attorney, as part of House Democrats' rapidly intensifying impeachment inquiry. The subpoena, issued in consultation with the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight panels, seeks documents related to Trump's efforts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate 2020 contender and former Vice President Joe Biden. 'Our inquiry includes an investigation of credible allegations that you acted as an agent of the president in a scheme to advance his personal political interests by abusing the power of the Office of the President,' Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff wrote to Giuliani. Monday's letter was co-signed by Reps. Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings, who chair the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees, respectively." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: Soundbites I've heard recently reveal Rudy has nearly lost his voice, no doubt as a result of screaming on the teevee & at print reporters.

Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: “The Senate would have to take up impeachment of ... Donald Trump if the House effectively votes to charge the president, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. 'I would have no choice but to take it up,' the Kentucky Republican told CNBC. 'How long you are on it is a different matter, but I would have no choice but to take it up based on a Senate rule on impeachment.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday warned against foreign interference in U.S. elections, threatening that nations seeking to meddle in the 2020 races will 'have a serious problem' on their hands. 'Look, 2018 was a big success story,' the Kentucky Republican told CNBC, praising the Trump administration's efforts to safeguard last year's midterm elections." (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Lawyers for the House of Representatives revealed on Monday that they have reason to believe that the grand-jury redactions in special counsel Robert Mueller's report show that ... Donald Trump lied about his knowledge of his campaign's contacts with WikiLeaks. The attorneys made the stunning suggestion in a court filing as part of the House Judiciary Committee's bid for Mueller's grand-jury materials, which have remained secret by law.... To back up their claim, the House's legal team -- led by House General Counsel Douglas Letter -- cited a passage in Mueller's report about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's testimony that he 'recalled' Trump asking to be kept 'updated' about WikiLeaks' disclosures of Democratic National Committee emails. There is a grand-jury redaction in that passage, the lawyers note.... 'Those materials therefore have direct bearing on whether the president was untruthful, and further obstructed the special counsel's investigation, when in providing written responses to the special counsel's questions he denied being aware of any communications between his campaign and WikiLeaks,' they added."

Burgess Everett of Politico: "... the Republican chairmen of two Senate committees, Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley, are asking Attorney General William Barr to investigate any ties between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. In a letter to Barr released on Monday, Johnson (R-Wis.) and Grassley (R-Iowa) pressed the Justice Department to probe any connection between Clinton and Ukrainian operatives. They said they have 'concerns about foreign assistance in the 2016 election that have not been thoroughly addressed.'"

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Former senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said in an op-ed published Monday that President Trump's actions warrant impeachment and urged fellow Republicans not to support his reelection if he remains in office. In the piece for The Washington Post, Flake cited President Trump's July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump repeatedly urged Zelensky to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son at a time when the White House had suspended military aid to Ukraine." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Americans are about evenly split over impeaching ... Donald Trump and removing him from office, as support for that move has risen among independents and Republicans, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS after the announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry by House Democrats last week. About half, 47%, support impeaching the President and removing him from office, up from 41% who felt that way in a CNN poll in May.... Opposition stands at 45% in the new poll...."

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "There's another whistleblower complaint. It's about Trump's tax returns.... This summer an anonymous whistleblower approached the House [Ways & Mean] committee to say its concerns [about someone meddling with the IRS audit of Trump's tax audits] had been justified. The whistleblower offered credible allegations of 'evidence of possible misconduct,' specifically 'inappropriate efforts to influence' the audit of the president, according to a letter [Chair Richard] Neal [D-Mass.] sent to the treasury secretary. We don't know the complaint details, including who allegedly meddled with the audit or how, and whether the IRS complied. The complaint hasn't been released, and Neal said last week that he's still consulting with congressional lawyers about whether to make it public.... The allegations ... corroborate Democratic lawmakers' argument that oversight of the IRS's annual presidential audit is indeed a legitimate reason they -- and hopefully, eventually, the public -- should see Trump's taxes. It's hard to imagine how the federal judge in this case could now rule against the committee." ~~~

~~~ Colin Wilhelm of Bloomberg (Sept. 27): "A key House Democrat said he's consulting lawyers about whether to make public a complaint by a federal employee about possible misconduct in the Internal Revenue Service's auditing of ... Donald Trump. The complaint raises allegations about 'inappropriate efforts to influence' the audit process, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in August. Neal told reporters on Friday that a decision on releasing the complaint depends on advice he receives from lawyers for the House of Representatives." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I can't read Bloomberg any more because it blocks incognito views, so of course I missed Wilhelm's article last week. Luckily, it's the first of the month, so I haven't used up my two free stories yet. I read nearly to the bottom of Rampell's column before I was convinced by her links that it wasn't a spoof. Honestly, I thought she would end the column with the childish dénouement, "But it was all a dream."

What do mike & Karen pence say to each other before they say their prayers?

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Ousted national security adviser John Bolton put on display the deep schisms between himself and ... Donald Trump on North Korea, publicly breaking with his former boss on Monday about how best to get Kim Jong Un's regime to wind down its nuclear weapons program. At one of his first public appearances since his abrupt and rocky departure from the White House, Bolton did not name the president but delivered an unmistakable airing of grievances. Specifically, he threw cold water on the president's assertion that North Korea is ready to make a deal and gave his 'unvarnished' view that Kim would not voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons under current conditions." (Also linked yesterday.)

Renae Merle & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Rep. Chris Collins is resigning from Congress and expected to plead guilty to insider-trading charges on Tuesday, following allegations last year that the Republican from New York schemed with his son to avoid significant losses on a biotechnology investment. Collins, President Trump's first congressional supporter, allegedly tipped off his son to confidential information about an Australian biotechnology company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, that he learned as a member of its board. Collins and several others used the information to avoid more than $700,000 in losses, according to prosecutors. He is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday afternoon in a Manhattan federal court. Collins's son, Cameron; and another family member are scheduled to change their pleas on Thursday." This is an update of a breaking story linked earlier (and deleted). Here's the Daily Beast story. (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Benning of the Dallas Morning News: "The Texodus continues. Clarendon Rep. Mac Thornberry on Monday announced that he will not run for reelection next year, making the 13-term lawmaker the sixth Texas Republican in Congress to head for the exits ahead of the 2020 election." (Also linked yesterday.)

Matt Stieb of New York: On Friday, "Democratic Senator Ron Wyden revealed an 18-month investigation by the Senate Finance Committee determining that the National Rifle Association served as a 'foreign asset' for Russia in the run-up to the 2016 election.... The Senate investigation displays a damning level of executive-suite involvement, including a 2015 trip from former NRA vice-president Pete Brownell, who visited Russia 'primarily or solely for the purpose of advancing personal business interests, rather than advancing the NRA's tax-exempt purpose.' Not only was Brownell — who later became the organization's president -- spending NRA funds for personal business, an email from Maria Butina to two senior NRA staffers reveals that he was in Russia because 'many powerful figures in the Kremlin are counting on Torshin to prove his American connections.' The Senate investigation also found evidence of the NRA attempting to obscure house payments for the trip.... What separates this Senate investigation from other concerns the NRA is facing -- allegations of lavish executive spending as the organization deals with substantial cash-flow problems; multiple crises in leadership -- is that it could affect its status as a non-profit.... And according to Marc Owens -- the former head of the Internal Revenue Service division overseeing tax-exempt enterprises -- the NRA is unlikely to exist without its non-profit status." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised more than $25 million over the past three months, his presidential campaign said Tuesday, eclipsing his fundraising total from the second quarter of the year. Sanders's $25.3 million haul was fueled by some 1.4 million donations and bolstered by a strong final day of fundraising on Monday, which the campaign was its second-best day for donations since its launch in February. The staggering third-quarter total, the highest reported by any Democratic presidential hopeful so far this year, could help give Sanders a boost at a time when he has seen his support in the polls wane. His chief progressive rival, Sen. (D-Mass.), has risen in recent surveys."

Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg raked in over $19.1 million in the third quarter, a substantial amount but short the $24.8 million he raised in the second quarter. The South Bend, Ind., mayor's campaign added in a memo released on Tuesday that Buttigieg's number of unique donors grew by 182,000 to a total to 580,000 contributors. The campaign also said that the average contribution during the quarter was $32."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hong Kong/China. The AP is updating incidents & events surrounding the 70th anniversary of Communist rule in China. At 6 pm (local): "A Hong Kong police official says a pro-democracy protester was shot when an officer opened fire with his revolver during clashes Tuesday. It was the first time a protester has been shot, in an escalation of the monthslong unrest that has rocked the city." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is also liveblogging developments. Here's the lede "Right Now" (at 7 am ET): "President Trump sends congratulatory tweet to China's leader hours after violent protests break out across Hong Kong." Because what's not to congratulate about this:

New York Times photo.

News Lede

New York Times: "Jessye Norman, the majestic American soprano who brought a sumptuous, shimmering voice to a broad range of roles at the Metropolitan Opera and houses around the world, died on Monday in New York. She was 74."