Monday
Dec162019
The Commentariat -- December 17, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials. -- Donald Trump, letter to Nancy Pelosi, today ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday denounced what he called a 'partisan impeachment crusade' being waged against him by Democrats, calling the effort to remove him an unconstitutional abuse of power and an 'attempted coup' that would come back to haunt them at the ballot box next year. 'I have no doubt the American people will hold you and the Democrats fully responsible in the upcoming 2020 election,' Mr. Trump wrote in a rambling six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent on the eve of House votes to impeach him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 'They will not soon forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power.'... The president angrily disputed both impeachment charges against him in the letter, saying he had done nothing wrong and asserting that Ms. Pelosi and her allies were using the Constitution to attack him for the successful policies he had implemented." This is an update of a story about McConnell's refusal to accede to Schumer's request for witnesses, linked below. The Hill's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Trump's letter, via the Hill, is here. Mrs. McC: Recommended reading. It's kind of a Unabomber manifesto. You can tell the parts Trump wrote & the parts where his lawyers stepped in & added some "legal terminology" & other multi-syllable words.
Mrs. McCrabbie: The House Rules Committee met this morning to set parameters for the House debate on impeachment. I tuned into it for a few minutes, and it was sort of hilarious. There was Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) making cogent, off-the-cuff answers (he was filling in for Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler who was called away by a family emergency) to questions by either a member of the committee or a committee lawyer & Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, spouting nonsense half-sentences and even half-words; e.g., "Constitu." Here's a brief example:
Collins reminded me of Porky Pig, if Porky came from Georgia:
Michael Shear of the New York Times: “Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, on Tuesday rejected demands by Democrats to call four White House officials as witnesses during President Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate. On the eve of a House vote on Wednesday that is all but certain to result in Mr. Trump's impeachment on two charges, Mr. McConnell said he would not agree to call the witnesses -- all of whom have firsthand knowledge of Mr. Trump's dealings with Ukraine -- including Mick Mulvaney, the White House chief of staff, and John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser. The White House blocked them from appearing during the House impeachment inquiry.... 'If House Democrats' case is this deficient, this thin, the answer is not for the judge and jury to cure it here in the Senate,' [McConnell said on the Senate floor]. 'The answer is that the House should not impeach on this basis in the first place.' Mr. Schumer responded moments later, saying that holding a trial without witnesses 'would be an aberration' and vowing to demand votes by senators on whether to call witnesses and subpoena documents during the trial."
Brendan Pierson of Reuters: "U.S. prosecutors said in court on Tuesday that Lev Parnas, an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, received a $1 million payment from Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash."
Aaron Rupar of Vox: “On Monday's edition of Fox News's The Ingraham Angle, [Rudy] Giuliani admitted he played a leading role in last spring's ouster of Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine. Yovanovitch's removal set the stage for the Trump administration's efforts over the summer to leverage Ukrainian diplomacy into investigations of Joe and Hunter Biden that stood to benefit the president. 'I forced her out because she's corrupt,' Giuliani said, before alluding to sketchily sourced information he dredged up during his just-completed trip to Ukraine and adding, 'I came back with a document that will show unequivocally that she committed perjury when she said that she turned down the visa for [Viktor] Shokin because of corruption .... there's no question that she was acting corruptly in that position, and had to be removed. She should have been fired, if the State Department weren't part of the deep state.'... As Will Saletan of Slate pointed out in response to a tweet in which Giuliani made the same claim, the House Republicans' impeachment report characterizes Giuliani’s effort to obtain a visa for Shokin, as 'potential impropriety' that the Trump White House 'shut down.'"
Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Rick Gates, one of the most significant former Trump campaign advisers who flipped on ... Donald Trump in the Mueller investigation, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years probation by a federal judge Tuesday morning. Gates, a longtime deputy to 2016 Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort who shared searing details about Trump's efforts in 2016 with special counsel Robert Mueller, admitted to helping Manafort conceal $75 million in foreign bank accounts from their years of Ukraine lobbying work. He agreed to plead guilty to related charges of conspiracy and lying to investigators in February 2018. He also signed up to cooperate, giving Mueller's team key insights into Manafort and Trump's actions in 2016 during the height of the Russia investigations. 'I accept complete responsibility for my actions,' Gates told Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Tuesday." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. The Washington Post report is here.
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "More than 700 American historians have called for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump." The statement, published in Medium,is here, along with the names of the signers.
Steve Peoples of the AP: "A small group of ... Donald Trump's fiercest conservative critics, including the husband of the president's own chief adviser, is launching a super PAC designed to fight Trump's reelection and punish congressional Republicans deemed his 'enablers.' The new organization, known as the Lincoln Project, represents a formal step forward for the so-called Never Trump movement, which has been limited largely to social media commentary and cable news attacks through the first three years of Trump's presidency." ~~~
~~~ Here's a New York Times op-ed by George Conway, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver & Rick Wilson announcing the Lincoln Project.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Over 550 protests calling for the impeachment and removal of Trump are planned [for Tuesday evening], sponsored by a coalition of progressive groups including Public Citizen, Indivisible, the Service Employees International Union and the Sierra Club. There will be at least one protest in every state. If you are disgusted by Trump's behavior, and by the way elected Republicans have built an impenetrable wall of lies to protect him, you should go." Goldberg links to the Impeach & Remove page, which has an easy search function to help you find an event near your home. Sponsors of each event include handy instructions on the when & where, plus relevant advice.
Profiles in Courage. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Democratic lawmakers representing conservative-leaning districts announced one by one on Monday that they would cast votes this week to impeach President Trump, signaling that a critical bloc of the most politically vulnerable Democrats is pulling together behind the party’s effort to seek his removal from office." ~~~
~~~ Here's the New York Times' list of where members of Congress have (so far) said how they will vote on articles of impeachment.
Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "... Donald Trump committed criminal bribery and wire fraud, the House Judiciary Committee alleges in a report that will accompany articles of impeachment this week. The report, a 169-page assessment of the case for Trump's removal from office, contends that Trump committed 'multiple federal crimes' -- ones that Democrats addressed under the broad umbrella of 'abuse of power,' the first article of impeachment against the president. 'Although President Trump's actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal,' the panel's Democrats argue, labeling Trump's behavior 'both constitutional and criminal in character' and contending that the president 'betrayed the people of this nation' and should be removed from office.... The panel's Democrats cite his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani's trip to Ukraine just last week as evidence that Trump intends to continue the alleged scheme. Trump's lack of remorse over the Ukraine allegations, Democrats claim, is evidence that he poses a 'continuing threat if left in office.'... The staff report, which was filed to the House Rules Committee just after midnight Monday, argues that Trump directed a months-long scheme to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election, the allegation that forms the core of the two articles of impeachment -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- approved by the Judiciary Committee last week.... The Judiciary Committee's report presents the panel's most thorough analysis yet of why Democrats believe the accusations against Trump are worthy of immediate impeachment and a recommendation that the Senate remove Trump from office. It comes a day before the Rules Committee formally considers the articles of impeachment, ahead of a likely Wednesday vote on the House floor." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The full report, via NPR, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The House Judiciary Committee formally presented its case for impeaching President Trump in a 658-page report published online early Monday morning, arguing just days before a final vote in the House that he 'betrayed the nation by abusing his high office.' The report, which echoes similar documents produced after the committee's approval of impeachment articles for Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, contains no new allegations or evidence against Mr. Trump. But it offers a detailed road map for the two articles of impeachment the committee approved,.... The report includes a scathing 20-page dissent from Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, who accuses Democrats on the panel of conducting an unfair process in a partisan attempt to drive Mr. Trump from office because of their dislike of him and his policies." (Also linked yesterday.)
It Ain't Over Till the Fat Bastard Goes. Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Lawyers for the House told a federal court on Monday that lawmakers will continue their impeachment investigation even after the House votes later this week to impeach ... Donald Trump. In a filing to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, House General Counsel Douglas Letter argued that the House's demands for grand jury materials connected to former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation were still urgent because such evidence might become relevant to the Senate's expected impeachment trial next month. But Letter went further to note that even apart from the Senate trial, the House Judiciary Committee intends to continue its impeachment investigation arising from the Mueller probe on its own merit. That investigation began earlier this year."
Laurence Tribe in a Washington Post op-ed endorses the McCrabbie Move: “Now that President Trump's impeachment is inevitable, and now that failing to formally impeach him would invite foreign intervention in the 2020 election and set a dangerous precedent, another option seems vital to consider: voting for articles of impeachment but holding off for the time being on transmitting them to the Senate. This option needs to be taken seriously now that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has announced his intention to conduct not a real trial but a whitewash.... The House, whose historical role is to prosecute articles of impeachment in the Senate after exercising its 'sole' power to impeach, is under no affirmative constitutional obligation to do so instantly."
William Webster, former director of the FBI & the CIA in a New York Times op-ed: "Today, the integrity of the institutions that protect our civil order is, tragically, under assault from too many people whose job it should be to protect them.... The president's thinly veiled suggestion that the director, Christopher Wray, like his banished predecessor, James Comey, could be on the chopping block, disturbs me greatly. The independence of both the F.B.I. and its director is critical and should be fiercely protected by each branch of government.... The aspersions cast upon [the men and women of the F.B.I.] by the president and my longtime friend, Attorney General William P. Barr, are troubling in the extreme. Calling F.B.I. professionals 'scum,' as the president did, is a slur against people who risk their lives to keep us safe. Mr. Barr's charges of bias within the F.B.I., made without providing any evidence and in direct dispute of the findings of the nonpartisan inspector general, risk inflicting enduring damage on this critically important institution.... I'm profoundly disappointed in another longtime, respected friend, Rudy Giuliani.... His activities of late concerning Ukraine have, at a minimum, failed the smell test of propriety."
PolitiFact's 2019 Lie of the Year. Katie Sanders of PolitiFact: "Since the Sept. 26 release of the whistleblower complaint about his call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has insisted more than 80 times that the whistleblower's account is fake, fraudulent, incorrect, 'total fiction,' 'made up,' and 'sooo wrong.'... On Oct. 5 he tweeted that the 'second hand information "Whistleblower" got my phone conversation almost completely wrong.'... Despite what Trump claims, the whistleblower got the call 'almost completely' right.... The whistleblower's account is verified by the same set of facts supplied by [Alexander] Vindman, [Jennifer] Williams and [Tim] Morrison, and others who were in the know. And one more source: Trump.... The Lie of the Year -- the only time PolitiFact uses the word 'lie' -- speaks to a falsehood that proves to be of real consequence and gets repeated in a virtual campaign to undermine an accurate narrative."
Sergey Lavrov, the Power Behind the Trump Throne. Julia Davis of the Daily Beast: "As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov returned home from his visit with ... Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week, Russian state media was gloating over the spectacle. TV channel Rossiya 1 aired a segment entitled 'Puppet Master and "Agent" -- How to Understand Lavrov's Meeting With Trump.' Vesti Nedeli, a Sunday news show on the same network, pointed out that it was Trump, personally, who asked Lavrov to pose standing near as Trump sat at his desk. It's almost the literal image of a power behind the throne.... State-television news shows use every opportunity to demoralize the Ukrainians with a set of talking points based on the U.S. president's distaste for their beleaguered country." Mrs. McC: This is a demotion for Trump: he used to be Putin's Puppet; now Putin gets the help to pull Trump's strings.
Rudy Speaks! Again. Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani said on Monday that he provided President Trump with detailed information this year about how the United States ambassador to Ukraine was, in Mr. Giuliani's view, impeding investigations that could benefit Mr. Trump, setting in motion the ambassador's recall from her post. In an interview, Mr. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, described how he passed along to Mr. Trump 'a couple of times' accounts about how the ambassador, Marie L. Yovanovitch, had frustrated efforts that could be politically helpful to Mr. Trump. They included investigations involving former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Ukrainians who disseminated documents that damaged Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign. The president in turn connected Mr. Giuliani with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who asked for more information, Mr. Giuliani said. Within weeks, Ms. Yovanovitch was recalled as ambassador at the end of April and was told that Mr. Trump had lost trust in her.... Mr. Giuliani's account, in an interview with The New York Times on Monday evening, provided additional detail about the president's knowledge of and involvement in one element of a pressure campaign against Ukraine. 'There's a lot of reasons to move her,' Mr. Giuliani said, asserting that his briefings of Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo most likely played a role in their decision to recall Ms. Yovanovitch." ~~~
~~~ AND Again. Guardian impeachment liveblog at 13:44 ET Monday: "Rudy Giuliani ... said in a New Yorker interview that he wanted Maria Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, 'out of the way' as he pushed for investigations into Joe Biden. 'I believed that I needed Yovanovitch out of the way,' Giuliani told the magazine last month, according to a newly published article. 'She was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody.' Democrats will likely point to Giuliani's comments as evidence that Trump abused his power by recalling Yovanovitch, a widely praised career diplomat whose reputation was smeared by some of the president's allies." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It is awesome how delighted lawyer Rudy is to incriminate his "client." Most attorneys, on account of their code of ethics and all, try to get their clients off the hook even when all indications are that said clients did the crimes.
Brendan Pierson of Reuters: "An associate of ... Rudy Giuliani on Monday urged a judge to let him stay free on bail while he awaits trial, denying prosecutors' accusations that he lied about receiving a $1 million payment from Russia shortly before he was arrested. A lawyer for Lev Parnas, who is charged with campaign finance crimes, said the payment was a loan to Parnas' wife [Svetlana], and that it had been disclosed to authorities before his bail was set." Mrs. McC: Another thing dese guys think wives are for is to aid & abet them in nefarious schemes. (Also linked yesterday.)
Casey Michel of The New Republic: "Through the former New York City mayor [Rudy Giuliani]'s enabling, Donald Trump has ... open[ed] the floodgates for foreign operators to stick their paws in America's upcoming presidential election. And there's a world of heinous governments and criminal networks more than willing to take Giuliani and Donald Trump up on their global smear efforts.... Whatever antediluvian assurances Americans had about the sanctity of their elections, at least as pertained to keeping foreign hands off the vote, are gravely endangered, if not gone, displaced by the grotesquery of Trump's willingness to do whatever it takes to remain in power..... As the past few weeks have made clear, [Dmytro] Firtash is no longer the only Ukrainian oligarch racing down this path.... There is another [Ihor Kolomoisky], plying tales about Biden in order to erase what may well be the largest money-laundering case the U.S. has ever seen -- a man now embodying the way our collapsing electoral guardrails might help cement America's central role in global kleptocracy." --s
AND I linked this for the joke that begins at about 1:20 minutes in:
Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday rebuffed accusations by President Trump's first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, that F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors engaged in misconduct in his criminal case, delivering a comprehensive rebuke to his 11th-hour claims. The 92-page ruling by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan also effectively ended Mr. Flynn's hopes that the judge would toss his conviction as prosecutors consider whether to ask for prison time for Mr. Flynn. It was also a blow to supporters of Mr. Flynn, who have amplified a false narrative that he was framed in a plot by the so-called deep state to sabotage Mr. Trump. Judge Sullivan set sentencing for Jan. 28." ~~~
~~~ Tom Winter & Rich Schapiro of NBC News: "Flynn's attorneys filed court papers in August accusing prosecutors of suppressing exculpatory evidence and alleging that he was targeted by federal investigators for 'concocted and political purposes.'... [Judge] Sullivan also cited 'ethical concerns' in Flynn's brief, saying his legal team 'lifted verbatim portions from a source without attribution.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Flynn fired his original defense team & in June 2019 hired Sidney Powell as his top lawyer. Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News wrote of Powell at the time, "A conservative commentator and former federal prosecutor in Texas and Virginia, she describes [Robert] Mueller and others involved in investigating Russian election interference as 'creeps on a mission -- to destabilize and destroy this President.'" And to think such a nice lady plagiarized her court filing.
Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "In 2017, President Trump made nearly 1,999 false or misleading claims. In 2018, he added another 5,689, for a total of 7,688. Now, with a few weeks still left in 2019, the president already has more than doubled the total number of false or misleading claims in just a single year. As of Dec. 10, his 1,055th day in office, Trump had made 15,413 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement he has uttered. That's an average of more than 32 claims a day since our last update 62 days ago." (Also linked yesterday.)
David Nather & Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Some officials treat Trump's frequent venting sessions as a storm that just needs to blow over -- or in some cases, be contained.... Others, like [OMB acting director Russell] Vought and his team, take the approach that Trump is the president and he has the right to get what he wants -- if there's any legal way to get it done. And in their view, there usually is.... Throughout his nearly three years as president, aides say Trump has often complained about his White House lawyers being too 'conservative' and always telling him 'no' when he asks for things. In that context, the budget office has become an island of 'yes' in Trump's government." --safari: Problem is, it's not always done legally. See Ukraine.
Sharay Angulo of Reuters (Dec. 14): "Mexico's deputy foreign minister, Jesus Seade, said on Saturday he sent a letter to the top U.S. trade official expressing surprise and concern over a labor enforcement provision proposed by a U.S. congressional committee in the new North American trade deal.... An annex for the implementation of the treaty that was presented on Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes the designation of up to five U.S. experts who would monitor compliance with local labor reform in Mexico. 'This provision, the result of political decisions by Congress and the Administration in the United States, was not, for obvious reasons, consulted with Mexico,' Seade wrote in the letter. 'And, of course, we disagree.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Katie Lobosco, et al., of CNN: "Top trade negotiators from both the United States and Mexico reaffirmed Monday that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement ... is a done deal -- despite complaints from Mexico over the weekend about a labor provision included in the bill unveiled by Democrats. The trade agreement is still headed for debate and a vote in the US House later this week. The Senate is expected to take it up in January after impeachment. Mexico's Undersecretary for North America, Jesus Seade, rushed to Washington to meet with trade officials Monday, after writing to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to say he was 'surprised' about the modifications to the USMCA, which has already been ratified in its original form by both Mexico and Canada. But on Monday, Seade said he was 'very satisfied' with the new terms."
Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "About 400 of America's largest corporations paid an average federal tax rate of about 11 percent on their profits last year, roughly half the official rate established under President Trump's 2017 tax law, according to a report released Monday. The 2017 tax law lowered the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, but in practice large companies often pay far less than that due to deductions, tax breaks and other loopholes. In the first year of the law, the actual amount corporations paid in federal taxes on their incomes -- their so-called 'effective rate' -- was 11.3 percent on average, possibly its lowest level in more than three decades, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank.... The report also found that 91 corporations in the Fortune 500, many worth billions of dollars, paid no federal taxes last year." Greenwich Time has Stein's report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ CNBC has a list of the 91 Fortune-500 companies that paid no federal taxes in 2018.
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Congressional negotiators cemented a $1.3 trillion federal spending deal Monday, with a pay raise for federal workers, money for federal gun violence research and the repeal of several taxes associated with the 2010 health care law. Congress is expected to pass the legislation this week ahead of Friday's shutdown deadline and send it to President Trump for his signature. Negotiators released the 2,313-page bill late Monday. A high-profile conflict over border wall spending -- the issue that sparked a record 35-day partial government shutdown a year ago -- was resolved with a retreat to the status quo: Funding remains unchanged from 2019 levels at $1.375 billion, short of the $8.6 billion President Trump requested from Congress. The Trump administration, however, retains the ability to transfer funds from other accounts, though the bill does not replenish the accounts it drew from earlier this year. Funding for immigration enforcement agencies also remains unchanged from 2019 levels." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "Federal agencies will receive $25 million from Congress to study gun violence in a government spending deal reached by House and Senate negotiators -- a major win for Democrats who have long pushed for dedicated funding to research the issue, a source told The Hill. 'Democrats have broken the ban on funding for the first time in decades,' the source said. The deal includes $12.5 million each for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health to study gun violence and ways to prevent it. It's the first time in more than 20 years that Congress has appropriated money for gun violence research."
(U.K.) Independent: "Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to recognise the killing of Native Americans at the hand of European settlers in a tit-for-tat attack on Washington's decision to rebuke Ankara for the Armenian genocide. The US Senate voted in favour of recognising the genocide last week, a move initially stalled by Republicans at the urging of Donald Trump - who had been due to meet with the Turkish leader at the time. However, with the bill now passed, Mr Erdogan has threatened to respond by recognising US killings of Native Americans -- saying the deaths of millions of indigenous people at the hands of European settlers should also be viewed as a genocide." ~~~
~~~ digby: "I think it would be fine to condemn us for the fact that we were among the last more or less developed countries to end slavery too. Have at it, Erdogon.... Many descendants of those indigenous people are still living in poverty, suffering the consequence of that conquest and the bigotry that accompanied it. The legacy of slavery is still here for all to see.... I don't see the problem."
Presidential Race 2020
Joe Biden, Can You Hear Me? Saira Asher of BBC News Singapore: "If women ran every country in the world there would be a general improvement in living standards and outcomes, former US President Barack Obama has said. Speaking in Singapore, he said women aren't perfect, but are 'indisputably better' than men. He said most of the problems in the world came from old people, mostly men, holding onto positions of power." (Also linked yesterday.)
Senate Race. Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is statistically tied with Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, with the staunch pro-Trump incumbent seeing his favorability ratings plummet among independent voters. Graham, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, is clinging to a 2-percentage point lead over Harrison, 47 to 45 percent, with nearly 10 percent of voters surveyed still remaining undecided about their 2020 vote." (Also linked yesterday.)
Matthew Chapman of Raw Story: "On Monday, the Washington Post reported that a former investment manager with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS, accusing the Church of misleading both federal tax agents and their congregants about a set of accounts collectively worth $100 billion. David Nielsen, himself a Mormon, worked at Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment division of the church, prior to filing the complaint. He is urging the IRS to strip the Church of its nonprofit status and fine the organization for misusing charitable funds.... Nielsen claims ... the Church is instead stockpiling this money and using it as a slush fund to prop up two private businesses." -- safari: Sounds like the Mormons are running their own Trump Foundation. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post report, by Jon Swaine & others, is here.
Jan Hoffman & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "As scrutiny of Purdue Pharma's role in the opioid epidemic intensified during the past dozen years, its owners, members of the Sackler family, withdrew more than $10 billion from the company, distributing it among trusts and overseas holding companies, according to a new audit commissioned by Purdue. The amount is more than eight times what the family took out of the company in the 13 years after OxyContin, its signature product, was approved in 1995. The audit is likely to renew questions about how much the Sacklers should pay to resolve more than 2,800 lawsuits that seek to hold Purdue accountable for the opioid crisis." A summary report by Reuters is here.
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Twenty-three women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault have said the disgraced movie mogul is 'trying to gaslight society', after he told the New York Post his 'pioneering' work on 'movies directed by women and about women' was being forgotten.... The actors Rosanna Arquette, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan were among the women who signed the statement." The New York Times story is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Ben Nadler & Kate Brumback of the AP: "A federal judge is allowing Georgia to proceed with a mass purge of its voting rolls planned for Monday evening, but he also scheduled a hearing later in the week to hear more arguments about the matter. That decision came after a lawyer for the state assured him that if the judge finds later that some people should not have been removed, they can be easily and quickly reinstated. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in October released a list of over 313,000 voters whose registrations were at risk of being canceled, about 4% of the state's total registered voters. Notices were mailed in November giving those voters 30 days to respond in order to keep their registration valid. A spokesman for the secretary of state's office said last week that the purge was set to begin Monday evening.
Kentucky. Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal>: "Gov. Andy Beshear [D] on Monday ended former Gov. Matt Bevin's [RTP] quest to scale back Kentucky's Medicaid program by requiring 'able-bodied' adults to report work hours and other changes critics said would cost up to 100,000 Kentuckians their health coverage.... By revoking Bevin's plan, Beshear, a Democrat, fulfilled the last of three actions he pledged to take during his first week in office to reverse actions of his Republican predecessor -- reorganizing the state Education Board, restoring voting rights to 140,000 ex-offenders and abolishing the Medicaid plan Bevin rolled out in 2016."
Mississippi. AP: "A Mississippi man who has been tried six times in the same murder case will be allowed to post bail and leave custody for the first time in 22 years. During a hearing on Monday, a judge granted a bond request made by attorneys for 49-year-old Curtis Flowers. Bond was set at $250,000. In July 1996, four people were shot dead in a furniture store in the north Mississippi town of Winona. Two trials involving Flowers ended in a mistrial. He was convicted four times. All four convictions were overturned. In the sixth trial, in 2010, Flowers was sentenced to death. Earlier this year the US supreme court overturned that conviction, finding prosecutors had shown an unconstitutional pattern of excluding African American jurors. Flowers was moved off death row at the Mississippi state penitentiary at Parchman and taken to a regional jail in Louisville. On Monday, the circuit judge Joseph Loper said Flowers would have to wear an electronic monitor while out of custody. It was 'troubling', he said, that prosecutors had not responded to the defense motion to drop the charges against Flowers."
Oklahoma. Doha Madani of NBC News: "Experts at the University of Oklahoma believe they have found a possible mass grave site from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre at a city cemetery, although they are unsure how many bodies are underneath. Geophysical scanning identified two spots at the Oaklawn Cemetery that might bear bodies of those killed in the city's race riots almost 100 years ago, Scott Hammerstedt, a senior researcher for the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, said Monday at a public hearing in Tulsa." The Washington Post story is here.
Way Beyond
India. Sigal Samuel of Vox: "India is home to 200 million Muslims. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have faced mounting threats to their status in the majority-Hindu country. And on Wednesday..., the upper house of India's Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).... At first glance, the bill may seem like a laudable effort to protect persecuted minorities.... But one major group has been left out: Muslims. That's no coincidence. The CAB is closely linked with another contentious document: India's National Register of Citizens (NRC). That citizenship list is part of the government's effort to identify and weed out people it claims are illegal immigrants in the northeastern state of Assam.... When the NRC was published in August, around 2 million people -- many of them Muslims, some of them Hindus -- found that their names were not on it. They were told they had a limited time in which to prove that they are, in fact, citizens. Otherwise, they can be rounded up into massive new detention camps and, ultimately, deported.... Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it plans to extend the NRC process across the country.... If the Indian government proceeds with its plan, in a worst-case scenario we could be looking at the biggest refugee crisis on the planet." --s. Thanks to RAS for the link.
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Reader Comments (12)
The little article about the $100 billion LDS (Mormon) slush fund doesn't address church purchased water rights in the intermountain west. The Mormon church is to water rights in Utah, Idaho, etc as the Catholic church is to hospitals and health care. These guys know a good business model when they see it. A cursory search of "mormon purchase water rights intermountain west" reveals how un-researched this subject is. Next, follow the politics: Idaho went from Frank Church to Larry Craig to Butch Otter. Wyoming went from the first state to allow woman sufferage to Liz Cheney and Dick.
@Citizen625
Interesting. Just the other day happened to be talking to a state functionary in charge of water rights in our northwestern WA counties so forwarded your comment to her....Know she's aware of the intrusion of private interests into water rights but don't know if she knows about the religious connection. I wasn't.
Also just yesterday happened to interview a union member involved in a prolonged bargaining struggle with the Providence Hospitals that seem to have taken over much of our state. J Researching for the interview, learned that the Providence association with the storied Seattle Swedish Hospital and associated medical centers goes back to 2012. Missed it. Guess I wasn't looking at the time...
Anyway, you were two for two. RC is a wonder!
WHO IS FATTY'S FRIEND JIM?
Leon Russell mentions "my old friend Jim" in one of his songs but we don't give a fig whether Russell actually has an old friend Jim but when Trump cites multiple times his friend Jim we'd like to know who the heck this is because his Jim, once in love with Paris, now bashes it:
"My friend Jim–-a very substantial guy–-he loves the city of lights, he loves Paris–-every year he'd go with his wife and family–-so I said, 'Jim– let me ask you a question–-how's Paris doing? and he said, 'I don't go there anymore–-Paris is no longer Paris."
This is only one version of why Jim is out of love.
So inquiring minds, like those at the New Yorker wondered, after hearing about Jim's many beefs with Paris did a pretty extensive investigation. Here's what they didn't find:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/who-is-trumps-friend-jim
And then we have this from Peter Bergen's book, "Trump and his Generals, the Cost of Chaos":
When Trump was in South Korea they presented an architectural facsimile of North Korea and South Korea on a large table so that Trump could more readily see how the two countries connect ("show him pictures cuz he doesn't read). Upon viewing this Trump said he hadn't realized how close Seoul was to N.K–-right on the border. Seoul has a larger population than N.Y. city they told the president.
Well, he said, MOVE IT! Everyone laughed as they thought he was joking; he wasn't. He continued with this order––MOVE IT NOW!
Now I ask: If this doesn't shed alarming light on the mindset of this man then I suppose nothing will. And why wasn't this reported when it took place? Did Mattis, who was present ask Trump exactly how the removal of Seoul would be implemented? The fact is right from the start we let facts slip by–-who exactly were all those people in Hawaii who found out Obama's secret birth certificate? On and on and on–- one lie after another and we still have to explain why impeachment is necessary? Maxine was right–-right from the beginning––impeach the bastard! She smelled foul from the first as did we ––yet here we are.
Here's transcript and video from PBS on India's struggle. Someone on R.C. said the other day that it wasn't surprising that Trump was so cozy with Modi–-he's a Hindu nationalist––two peas in a pod or if in India two pees in some sod––bad, I know, but there are still folks in that country who do not have indoor plumbing.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-india-modis-citizenship-proposal-for-non-muslim-refugees-prompts-outrage
More peas in more pods, P.D.
Or at least more expressions of the same mindset that has gotten us into so much trouble, the mindset that confuses words with reality and likes it that way.
Don't want Muslims citizens? Don't count them in a census, define them as non-persons, and they'll just disappear.
Don't want to remember a genocide? Prohibit mention of it and it goes away. (I'm all in for Digby...)
Don't like this climate change business? Deny it.
Prefer to believe (or have others believe) that "good-looking, well-spoken black guy with a nice family" is some kind of foreigner? Just say it.
The peas are the liars, the pods the fantasies that enfold them.
@PD Pepe: Here's a Guardian story on Peter Bergen's anecdote about Trump's demanding that Seoul be moved. It's a shocking story, and all the more shocking because this is certainly only one of many instances that should have caused the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.
I'm serious. pence should have led a delegation of the Cabinet to the Oval Office and told Trump to resign. When he said no, they should have dispatched immediately to the Cabinet room & signed the letter notifying Congress Trump was unfit to perform the duties of president. "He ordered the Pentagon to move Seoul" would be a mighty convincing argument.
That everyone around Trump endures this kind of nonsense from him tells me there's something terribly wrong with that whole crew. They're all in dereliction of duty for letting this insane man go on.
For an interview of Bergen by Teri Gross on NPR, scroll down to find:
Fresh Air For Dec. 10, 2019: Peter Bergen On 'Trump And His Generals'
The Far Side’ Is Back. Sort Of. Gary Larson Will Explain”
A respite from the toxicity of the times?
So grateful for the artistry and humor of Gary Larson.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/arts/far-side-gary-larson.html
Stupid Republican Tricks (part the 12,023rd)
So, Georgia, huh? Let's disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of mostly Democratic voters. Why? Because they won't vote for R's, that's why. Good enough reason, right? Sure. So then voting rights groups complain to the judge. Some jamokey confederate lackey for the state sez "Oh, Judge, yer honah, don't worry. If you find that we nixed people illegally, they can be restored easily!" So the judge sez, "Okay".
Easily? What he didn't do was define "easily". First, the voter being disenfranchised has to know ahead of time that they're being knocked off the voting rolls. Then, they have to file a 3,000 page form (in Swahili) indicating why they shouldn't be disenfranchised. Second, they have to swim the English Channel. In record time. They, of course, will have to take care of airfare, accommodations, and arrangements for if and when they A) drown, B) have a heart attack while attempting the swim, or C) get killed by a Boris Johnson Brexit Cruise ship.
If they finish the swim in record time, they then have to swim back to Georgia and get there two weeks before the election.
If they're still not dead, they then have to swear to the R's in charge that they will not vote for more than a single Democrat on the ballot and that candidate cannot be running for any office higher than alternate zoning board member.
See? EZ!
Okay, what else? Oh yeah. Carly Fiorina (she really ran HP? Geez). Carly sez Impeach Trump! Oh, but I'm still gonna vote for the guy.
So, high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery and treason, but he still gets my vote. Stupid, insane, or lying jabroni? You decide.
Finally, I truly believe that Mad Rudy and all the other treason enablers are absolutely correct when they claim that Trumpy is looking for corruption.
And he found it. Shitloads of it.
In the Republican Party.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/politics/rick-gates-sentencing/index.html
Here's hoping Flynn is next, and the whole book, not just a few pages, is thrown at him.
One thing's for certain, Drumpf didn't write that letter. There are a few tells: big words in complete grammatical sentences and paragraphs.
Sounds like a Stephen Miller screed to me. 25th 'em both.
The Seoul anecdote really makes you wonder what King Donny thinks rockets are capable of today. I bet he's still stuck in the days watching us drop Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan: "you have to fly 'em over and drop the load!" Surely he's seen missiles launch, but can't imagine one landing in a populated area and exploding nuclear style. That makes me feel good.
According to the intertoobz, South Korea is about 600 miles long from North to South. Moving the capital a few hundred miles lower on the peninsula is not going to get out of the way of Deranged Dear Leader Kim Jong-Un, aka "little rocket man". That's sort of the whole point of his military shows, shooting them further and further. Apparently Donny doesn't get it.
I must say, though, I'm actually surprised at the restraint of our own Dotard as fellow authoritarian despots openly mock his impotence. Chairman Kim is openly threatening rocket launches and Drumpf just cowers. Putin's propagandists are holding teevee shows brazenly mocking Drumpf as Lavrov's little bitch and no angry tweets or signaling to lay off 'cause you're hurting his feefees and making his look like the Russian puppet he is. Our allies laugh at him now and the enemies openly denigrate him. Yet he only lashes at one those groups. Must really piss him off that he doesn't care to join the Western alliance 'cause he knows he's automatically outclassed, but even the rough and tumble murderers and dictator crew won't let him inside the club either. Talk about a man on an island.
Guess he'll just have to jail brown kids and rag on Pelosi's teeth to make himself feel better until he catches a reflection of himself in the mirror again. "Fucking lightbulbs!"