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."

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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."

Comments

[Hattie]

Many thanks, Akhilleus, for turning me on to “Farther Along”. I had assumed the poetry was your own until a quick search brought me to several renditions. (So enjoyed, and identified with, your Maxell advert reference.) Here’s one by Willie Nelson. Still an inspiration - and a hottie - at eighty-six.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlOsrQq0MBk

“If music be the food . . . “

Don’t know if he’s already made an appearance here. Or would appeal. I happen to need (nay, *crave*) humor, however it may find me. And all the more during These tRumpy Times. Pour moi, Randy Rainbow is an absolute genius and a most effective antidote. A sampling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb219dz_NeA

With gratitude to Marie Burns and her alter ego, Bea McCrabbie, along with her articulate RC-ers, all of whom assist in keeping me abreast (if also awake ‘til 2 or 3 AM or later) of our world’s goings on and their personal POV’s.

(Sich a gorgeous vid of Jessye Norman! Kinda like an acid flashback. But how would I know? I mean, just sayin’.)

[P.D. Pepe]

Last night watched this almost three hour documentary: One year after the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, FRONTLINE investigates the rise and rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (MbS), examining the crown prince's vision for the future, his handling of dissent, his relationship with the United States — and his ties to Khashoggi's killing.

Evidence I was not aware of: On the day of Khashoggi's murder, intelligence officials report that the operation's alleged ringleader on the ground, Maher Mutreb who acted as MbS' right hand guy and behind his ready smile there lurked an evil that knew no bounds––made a call: "Tell your boss the deed is done."

The other thing that stood out was the obvious need for this "boss" to have complete control of his country and the people in it. The women and a few men who had fought for women's freedom re: driving cars are still in jail and have been tortured and sexually abused. If this doesn't make any sense which it doesn't unless you realize the only person who will allow women to drive is MbS and those that rallied forth for that change are put in prison–-how dare they!

And the coverage of MbS's trip to the U.S. was hard to watch––Trump and others–-even Oprah for god sake–- slobbering all over him, praising his innovations. And in some of the pictures stands the right hand evil-doer Mutreb, always smiling and I thought, yep, just like Pompeo–-they have to, I suppose cuz in repose they reveal too much.

And learning today of Fatty's little dash of genius going as far as shooting those bad people that want to come into our country––but just in the legs, mind you, is right out of Israel's playbook: their military when confronted with Palestinian revolts shoot for the legs––keeps them people from walking for awhile and maybe forever.

[Marie Burns]

@P.D. Pepe: Thanks. I had forgotten about Israel's policy, but it's true. According to this Dec. 9, 2018, AP story, "Of the 10,511 protesters treated at hospitals and field clinics in Gaza so far, at least 6,392, or roughly 60 percent, have been struck in the lower limbs, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. At least 5,884 of those casualties were hit by live ammunition; others have been hit by rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters." Trump was no doubt taking advice from Bibi. Or else there's a Crooked Authoritarians Tactical Handbook.

[Ken Winkes]

I don't find language like this from the Rucker and Costa article with its implication that the Pretender doesn't believe Russia interfered in the 2016 election a bit helpful.

".... 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 nation has only two choices about this man.

He's a successful con man who with the help of our antiquated electoral system managed to cozen just enough boobs to squeak into the highest office in the land.

Or his success as a con might be attributable in part to his heightened ability to convince others because he has fallen for his own con, and that would mean he teeters on the edge of psychotic.

In order to "theorize" that Russia was not involved the 2016 election, the Pretender would have to live in a mental world where his son's meeting in his own building, his firing of Flynn, the multitude of incidents and campaign connections to Russia documented in the Mueller report never happened.

And that's nuts.

I wonder what Rucker and Costa think about it. Does the Pretender believe his own con or not? I need some help here because I can't tell.

And I wonder what the House will decide.

Impeached because the Pretender is a crook?

Or because he's off his ever-lovin' rocker? "Off his rocker" might make a nice impeachment article.

Evidence gathering for it wouldn't be too hard. Like the Ukraine phone call, the Pretender's own words would provide it. He does say and do a lot of nutty things.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: I think Trump is nuts. But even "normal" people often have a hard time admitting their mistakes & misdeeds, even when the evidence is clear. Besides seeking "evidence" to "prove" to his base he won fair-and-square, I think Trump is hoping to find something that will "prove" it to his own satisfaction. He's been doing that from the git-go: before the election, claiming that if he lost the vote was rigged; the bigger-than-Obama's inaugural crowd; the invasion of New Hampshire voting booths by busloads of Massachusetts liberals; the Kris Kobach "voter fraud" commission; the reflexive boasting about his Electoral College numbers (which he sometimes exaggerates); and and and.

At a practical level, Trump knows he needs all the help he can get to win in 2020 (yo, Zelensky!), but on an emotional level, Trump needs validation. So as deep as he goes (not far below the orange glow), Trump does have two sides: the guy who suspects he's a loser whose only success was the result of the silver spoon held firmly between his neonatal lips, and the guy who cannot possibly admit that hard truth. If he weren't an asshole stuffing other people's cash in his pockets while proposing to shoot the legs of people fleeing local terrorism & poverty, it would be possible to feel sorry for him.

[Ken Winkes]

I agree, Bea. I lied. I have made up my mind. The Pretender is far nuttier than most of us.

And that he's certifiable makes him even more dangerous than the average successful crook.

I was kidding only little about the off his rocker impeachment article.

Regardless of how it ends, via impeachment (unlikely) or at the ballot box (more so), it will not end well for the country when he's dragged away--from the White House or to the looney bin--kicking and screaming of betrayal.

[Akhilleus]

Ken and Marie,

It doesn’t matter whether Trump buys his own bullshit, is certifiable, or just playing a game.

The fact is that our government is largely inert at this point. He has pulled pretty much his entire administration into his upside down (not-so)funhouse and has the Secretary of State and the Attorney General running around the world with crazy people (Gorka and Giuliani), trying to gin up a rationale for dismissing the Mueller investigation and/or to find dirt on a political opponent he can use to try to steal the next election.

Nothing else is working. Every waking minute in government is devoted to assuaging his ego, validating his delusions, going after those he considers enemies, and dreaming up ways to physically attack and psychologically assault people (non-whites) he despises. Not to mention the money. When he’s not in La-La Land, he’s in his hidey hole with his lips wrapped around the Fox crack pipe, screaming at the TV. And it’s costing us a fortune.

Someone somewhere might be able to estimate the exorbitant amounts being spent and being lost—taxpayer money!—as the Orange Menace’s viziers and apparatchiks minister to his psychological (and economic) demands. The first is Keep Donald Happy, No Matter What, and the other is The Boss Needs More Money. Stat! This isn’t just around the bend, this is three times around the Mobius strip in an upside down clown car.

So it doesn’t matter why he’s doing this, what his mental state is, or how many metal balls he’s got rolling around in his tiny hands. To say he’s not doing his job is an understatement on a par with “Torture isn’t much fun”. He has redirected, undermined, or entirely curtailed broad swaths of the federal government to cater to his whims and jump at his whines. And his party lets him.

Whether he’s in the throes of a psychotic break or running a snow job, he needs to be gone as quickly as possible.

[Akhilleus]

And speaking of wasting time and money...

I see that Fatty's dreams of inflicting medieval style pain and punishment, up to death, on poor people trying to find a better life for their families sent aides rushing around to get a cost estimate on his bloodthirsty plans that included "...a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators...[and an electrified wall] with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh." Because if someone was desperate enough to scale an electrified wall, once at the top they'd be gutted by Fatty's spikes. And if that doesn't work, let's just shoot him. Whaddaguy.

So, um...oooooh-kaaay. Where do you go to get a price on that craziness? Do you send out an RFP? And to whom might you send it? Are there underground vendors specializing in man-eating alligators, snakes, and rent flesh? I mean, where do you start? Tortures R Us? The Grand Inquisitor's Big Box Store?

And not for nothin', but what does this fucking guy eat? Who sits around and thinks of shit like this? Demented fucks, that's who. He has nothing better to do than send aides--people paid by us!--chasing around looking for contractors to build a 2000 mile moat stocked with snakes and alligators and electrified fences with spikes on top?

My guess is that he's a lot more disturbed and fucked up than we can imagine. But Republicans are happy he's their guy.

Jesus.

[forrest morris]

I was going to make a comment about some more government waste,
but there's a long black limo parked across the street, so I won't
say anything negative. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/01/
betsy-devos-security-detail-cost-015986
The cost of security for one year comes to $17,000.00 per day.
Wonder if she'd pay me that amount per day if I did some landscaping
at one of the many houses.

[unwashed]

Something one of my former dog-obedience trainers used to say comes to mind: "A confused dog is a scared dog is a dangerous dog."

We knows he's confused because he can't tell reality from his own virtual reality. We know he's scared because he displays his paranoia every day. We know he's dangerous because of his words and actions toward the detriment of just about everything.

It's time to put this dog down.

[RAS]

Barr and Mueller are/were friends before Trump came around. Now Barr is doing everything (again) in his power to undermine all of Mueller's work, including all his evidence of Russia's interference. But all we have heard from Mueller or his team since is crickets. The one big takeaway by the media from Mueller's testimony was that the threat from Russian interference was real and ongoing. I'm not even sure if the members of Congress have gotten to see the evidence that the Mueller team collected. Now Barr is trying to get foreign allies to say that it wasn't Russia. Mueller's team was praised for not leaking information during the investigation, but they are seeing the coverup and burying of their work product and still we hear crickets. So much for all those angry democrats that Mueller hired on his team to find the truth about Trump and the Russians.

[P.D. Pepe]

So there sat the President of Finland having to listen to the cockamamie diatribe and insults that "OUR" president* was uttering. I felt utter shame and embarrassment! I'd like to make a funny about the snakes and alligators and possible swarms of stink bugs but I am wiped! Akhilleus mentioned Captain Queeg and I thought of that scene where he's trying to defend himself and it's crystal clear the poor guy is off his chump. If watching the display this afternoon doesn't clarify the same outcome then we have a hell of a lot more work to do.

Jock strap? Really??????