The Commentariat -- October 28, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Josh Lederman & Dan De Luce of NBC News: "The White House was alerted as early as mid-May -- earlier than previously known -- that a budding pressure campaign by Rudy Giuliani and one of ... Donald Trump's ambassadors was rattling the new Ukrainian president, two people with knowledge of the matter tell NBC News. Alarm bells went off at the National Security Council when the White House's top Europe official was told that Giuliani was pushing the incoming Ukrainian administration to shake up the leadership of state-owned energy giant Naftogaz, said the sources. The official, Fiona Hill, learned then about the involvement of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Giuliani associates who were helping with the Naftogaz pressure and also with trying to find dirt on ... Joe Biden's son. Hill quickly briefed then-National Security Adviser John Bolton about what she'd been told, said the individuals with knowledge of the meeting. The revelation significantly moves up the timeline of when the White House learned that Trump's allies had engaged with the incoming Ukrainian administration and were acting in ways that unnerved the Ukrainians -- even before President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had been sworn in. Biden had entered the presidential race barely three weeks earlier. In a White House meeting the week of May 20, Hill was also told that Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland ... was giving Zelenskiy unsolicited advice on who should be elevated to influential posts in his new administration, the individuals said. One of them said it struck the Ukrainians as 'inappropriate.'"
Washington Post: "Former senator Kay Hagan has died at age 66. She served one term representing North Carolina. The Democrat lost to Thom Tillis in the GOP wave of 2014 as the Republicans seized the Senate majority. Hagan had beaten GOP incumbent Elizabeth Dole in 2008. She had contracted a brain inflammation from a tick-borne virus. This is a developing story. It will be updated."
Between Charybdis & Scylla. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "... Donald Trump's former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman defied a congressional subpoena Monday, failing to appear for a closed-door deposition before House impeachment investigators and throwing a new hurdle into Democrats' plans to quickly gather evidence in their inquiry. Kupperman filed a lawsuit on Friday asking a judge to rule whether he had to comply with the House subpoena, given the White House's stance that the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate. Kupperman's attorney, Charles Cooper, argued that his client was caught between competing demands between the Executive and Legislative branches and needed the courts to rule before Kupperman would testify." ~~~
~~~ Mike Lillis & Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "House Democrats are threatening to charge a key witness in their impeachment investigation with contempt after he defied a subpoena and failed to show up at the Capitol Monday morning. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said the lawsuit filed by Charles Kupperman, a deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton, questioning his obligation to appear before Congress 'has no basis in law' since Kupperman is now a private citizen.... 'A private citizen cannot sue the Congress to try to avoid coming in when they're served with a lawful subpoena. And we expect that the court will make short shrift of that argument. But nonetheless we move forward,' [Schiff said]."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Trump administration is appealing a judge's ruling requiring the Justice Department to give the House Judiciary Committee grand jury materials related to former special counsel Robert Mueller's report. The decision Friday from Chief Judge Beryl Howell of U.S. District Court in Washington effectively put the onus on the Justice Department to convince the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or, perhaps, the Supreme Court, to reverse her ruling.... The Justice Department's detailed grounds for its appeal will be filed with the D.C. Circuit, but a motion submitted to Howell Monday seeking a stay of her decision sought to use statements by [Speaker] Pelosi to quarrel with Howell's claim Friday that the Mueller grand jury materials bear on events 'central to the impeachment inquiry.'"
Americans Get Report Directly from the Imagination of the President*. Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump described the video footage he watched from the White House Situation Room [during the attack on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's compound] ... 'as though you were watching a movie.' What the president saw, according to military and intelligence officials, was overhead surveillance footage on several video screens that, together, provided various angles from above, and in real time.... But those surveillance feeds could not show what was happening in an underground tunnel, much less detect if Mr. al-Baghdadi was whimpering or crying.... Mr. Trump would not have received any real-time dialogue from the scene. For that, Mr. Trump would have had to have gotten a report from the commandos directly, or relayed up through their chain of command to the commander in chief.... At the Pentagon on Sunday, officials steered clear of any description of Mr. al-Baghdadi whimpering or crying, and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, when pressed about the president's assertion on ABC's 'This Week,' did not repeat the 'whimpering' characterization." See related Guardian story linked below. ~~~
~~~ Here's the "'Sir' Tell" from the NYT report: "'No,' Mr. Trump said in response to whether he had to make decisions on the fly. 'We were getting full reports on literally a minute-by-minute basis. "Sir, we just broke in. Sir, the wall is down. Sir, you know, we've captured. Sir, two people are coming out right now. Hands up."' Then, Mr. Trump said, he was given a report: '"Sir, there's only one person in the building. We are sure he's in the tunnel trying to escape."' 'But it's a dead-end tunnel,' Mr. Trump said he was told."
Michael Laris, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Federal Aviation Administration's deferential, industry-friendly approach to oversight allowed Boeing to submit documentation that obscured the dangers of its 737 Max, which was involved in two deadly crashes, documents, interviews and the findings of investigations show. However, instead of trying to reclaim its oversight powers after the deaths of 346 people over the past year, the FAA has been pressing ahead with plans to further reduce its hands-on oversight of aviation safety, current and former officials said. The FAA has been pushing for changes intended to speed approval on critical safety questions and remake regulations using 'voluntary consensus standards,' interviews and documents show. That could result in outsourcing policymaking on airplane safety to industry groups outside the public's view, experts said. FAA leaders say their approach is based on the premise that companies such as Boeing, and not regulators wielding the stick of enforcement, are best placed to guarantee safety."
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Six white guys pose for photo in White House Situation Room.
Photo by Pete Souza.
~~~ Aamer Madhani of the AP: "Photos taken in the White House Situation Room during the killings of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Saturday and of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden eight years earlier capture the vastly different styles of two American presidents.... The [Trump] photo shows the six men, all in dark suits or military uniform, posing for the camera and staring straight forward with stern expressions as they sit around a table.... In [the] unposed [Obama] scene, 13 faces are fully or partially visible in the crowded tableau. Obama, wearing a polo shirt and light coat, is hunched forward and perched on a folding chair slightly off center. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most expressive face in the group, holds her hand over her mouth as Defense Secretary Robert Gates sits next to her, his arms tightly crossed.... The less formal Obama photo from 2011 crackles with suspense as the president's team monitors the raid where Navy Seals killed bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan." ~~~
~~~ ** Trump's Betrayal of the Kurds Threatened al-Baghdadi Operation. Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The surprising information about the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's general location -- in a village deep inside a part of northwestern Syria controlled by rival Qaeda groups -- came following the arrest and interrogation of one of Mr. al-Baghdadi's wives and a courier this past summer, two American officials said. Armed with that initial tip, the C.I.A. worked closely with Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence officials in Iraq and Syria to identify Mr. al-Baghdadi's more precise whereabouts and to put spies in place to monitor his periodic movements, allowing American commandos to stage an assault Saturday in which President Trump said Mr. al-Baghdadi died. But Mr. Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw American forces from northern Syria disrupted the meticulous planning and forced Pentagon officials to press ahead with a risky, night raid before their ability to control troops and spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared, according to military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials. Mr.al-Baghdadi's death, they said, occurred largely in spite of Mr. Trump's actions. The officials praised the Kurds, who continued to provide information to the C.I.A. on Mr. al-Baghdadi even after Mr. Trump's decision to withdraw the American troops left the Syrian Kurds to confront a Turkish offensive alone. The Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, one official said, provided more intelligence for the raid than any single country." According to the headline, Trump knew of plans for the raid when he decided on the spur-of-the-moment to pull troops out of Syria. Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Democrats, especially presidential hopefuls, should emphasize -- again & again -- that U.S. forces caught al-Baghdadi despite Trump, not because of him. For no good reason, Trump endangered the operation rather than facilitated it, and to that extent he proved once again to be a significant national security risk. ~~~
The irony of the successful operation against al-Baghdadi is that it could not have happened without U.S. forces on the ground that have been pulled out, help from Syrian Kurds who have been betrayed, and support of a U.S. intelligence community that has so often been disparaged. -- Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Sunday ~~~
~~~ ** David Sanger of the New York Times: "The death of the Islamic State's leader in a daring nighttime raid vindicated the value of three traditional American strengths: robust alliances, faith in intelligence agencies and the projection of military power around the world. But President Trump has regularly derided the first two. And even as he claimed a significant national security victory on Sunday, the outcome of the raid did little to quell doubts about the wisdom of his push to reduce the United States military presence in Syria at a time when terrorist threats continue to develop in the region."
~~~ Max Boot of the Washington Post: "There is every reason to fear that Islamic State now could prove distressingly resilient despite this monster's death. This summer, inspectors general from the Defense and State departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development warned that Islamic State retained as many as 18,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq and was starting to stage a comeback. That resurgence is likely to be accelerated by Trump's ill-advised pullout from northern Syria, which ends a partnership with the Kurds that, among other benefits, provided intelligence that contributed to the track-down of Baghdadi. Trump is now dismantling the infrastructure that made this success possible.... The only way to permanently defeat terrorist organizations is to foster stability in the lands where they operate -- the last thing that Trump, an agent of instability, is interested in." ~~~
~~~ Brett McGurk in a Washington Post op-ed: "... our abrupt pullout from Syria will make it harder to act on ... information ... pulled from the Baghdadi compound.... U.S. Special Forces have already left positions overwatching the Islamic State's former strongholds.... Turkey also has some explaining to do. Baghdadi was found ... in northwestern Syria -- just a few miles from Turkey's border, and in Idlib province, which has been protected by a dozen Turkish military outposts since early 2018. It is telling that the U.S. military reportedly chose to launch this operation from hundreds of miles away in Iraq, as opposed to facilities in Turkey, a NATO ally, just across the border.... Idlib has become the world's largest terrorist haven.... Everything we already know about the raid [in which al-Baghdadi died] reinforces just how valuable, unique and hard-fought the small and sustainable American presence there had been." ~~~
~~~ Fred Kaplan of Slate: "... the killing [of al-Baghdadi] is less of a big deal because, not least, as Trump has boasted on previous occasions, ISIS had already been severely reduced in stature and was no longer such a centralized organization. Its members still carried out terrorist activities, but Baghdadi no longer directed them to the degree he once had. Bruce Hoffman, a specialist on terrorism at Georgetown University, said in an email Sunday morning that Baghdadi's death may merely drive 'the remaining ISIS forces into an alliance with al-Qaida' -- which has experienced a bit of a revival in recent years."
Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump announced on Sunday that a commando raid in Syria this weekend had targeted and resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder and leader of the Islamic State, claiming a significant victory even as American forces are pulling out of the area. 'Last night, the United States brought the world's No. 1 terrorist leader to justice,' Mr. Trump said in an unusual nationally televised address from the White House. 'Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead.' Mr. Trump said Mr. al-Baghdadi was chased to the end of a tunnel, 'whimpering and crying and screaming all the way' as he was pursued by American military dogs. Accompanied by three children, Mr. al-Baghdadi then detonated a suicide vest, blowing himself and the children, Mr. Trump said. Mr. al-Baghdadi's body was mutilated by the blast, but Mr. Trump said tests had confirmed his identity. The president made a point of repeatedly portraying Mr. al-Baghdadi as 'sick and depraved' and him and his followers as 'losers' and 'frightened puppies,' using inflammatory, boastful language unlike the more solemn approaches by other presidents in such moments. 'He died like a dog,' Mr. Trump said. 'He died like a coward.'" The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ ** Matt Stieb of New York: "The president, who appears to relish violent rhetoric, personal boasting, the defeat of his enemies, and the simplicity of a good vs. evil narrative, announced on Sunday morning that U.S. special forces had killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a raid in northwestern Syria on Saturday. With such a natural lining up of his interests, Trump turned the event into a spectacle, even promoting the press conference on Twitter the night before. Anytime President Trump speaks for 48 minutes straight, the appearance is going to get pretty unhinged -- which, on Sunday, began about 90 seconds in, when he described the ISIS leader 'whimpering and crying and screaming all the way.'... The president, who did little to hide his enjoyment in the moment, said that 'it was just like a movie.'... Dehumanizing enemies, claiming to upstage Obama, celebrating details of war like they existed only on television ' the press conference seemed to hit peak Trump...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's interesting that Trump, who is a raging exhibitionist, is also a voyeur. Despite his fake Situation Room photo, Trump enjoyed watching the operation -- viewing it from afar, as if it were a piece of film fiction, "just like a movie." It's the way he gets his policy advice, too -- on the teevee or on the phone. He can't stand the in-person briefings. Even at his rallies, where he stands before thousands, Trump avoids the interpersonal: he speaks almost entirely about himself, and he avoids the glad-handing most politicians do as a matter of course. This distance he has created between himself and everybody else fits in with his inability to tell fact from fiction: he sees an actual moment of human drama as "just like a movie," and he sees himself as a fantasy heroic figure even though he is an extraordinary screw-up. ~~~
~~~ ** Update. Even More Fantastical Than I Realized. Michael Safi of the Guardian: "Footage of the US special forces raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Syrian compound reportedly consisted of overhead surveillance footage and no audio, prompting questions over the extent of the dramatic licence taken by Donald Trump in describing the final moments of one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. US officials who also watched the feed have declined to echo details of Trump's macabre account of the Isis's leader death on Saturday, including that Baghdadi was 'whimpering, crying and screaming all the way'." Thanks to unwashed for the link. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Three things about the announcement were striking. First is the amount of detail Trump provided -- far more than to which we're accustomed in such announcements.... Second is the role the Kurds and Russia played. In the hours before Trump's news conference, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said it was a joint operation between them and the United States. Trump portrayed the U.S.-allied Kurds ... as playing more of a bit part. When Trump initially thanked others, in fact, he mentioned Russia first, then Syria, Turkey and Iraq. He added that there was also 'certain support [the Kurds] were able to give us.' Later, Trump would credit Russia first in the news conference, saying it was 'great' and that Iraq was 'excellent.' He also disclosed that Russia was given a heads-up about the operation, even as top Democrats in Congress were not.... The third striking thing is the credit-taking. Most significantly, he repeatedly alluded to the idea that Baghdadi's death was a bigger moment than Osama bin Laden's. Bin Laden was killed in 2011 on President Barack Obama's watch, and Trump at the time accused Obama of taking credit for it." ~~~
~~~ Jacob Knutson of Axios: "President Trump said in a press conference Sunday that the operation that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, was 'bigger' than the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, before falsely suggesting he had predicted bin Laden's attack on the World Trade Center." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "President Trump said Sunday that he did not tell some congressional leaders about the U.S. military raid in which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed, citing 'Washington leaks.' Trump said at the White House that 'some' leaders were notified and that others were being informed as he announced the death of the terror group's leader to the public. 'We were going to notify them last night, but we decided not to do that because Washington leaks like I've never seen before,' Trump said. 'There's no country in the world that leaks like we do, and Washington is a leaking machine.'... He later confirmed that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was not notified in advance. He said he did speak with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) about the operation following its conclusion." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McC Update: According to MSNBC & CNN, Trump also did not inform Chuck Schumer & Adam Schiff. There is no evidence the "Gang of Eight" has ever leaked sensitive information in the past, even when some have disagreed with the action being taken. As Jake Sherman & Anna Palmer write in today's Politico "Playbook," "Pelosi -- a former top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee -- has been trusted with state secrets for decades. There is approximately zero chance she would've dialed up a reporter to leak the plans." ~~~
~~~ Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Top Democrats reacted with anger to Donald Trump's decision to go ahead with the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi raid without giving them advance notice, on grounds that they were not to be trusted with such highly sensitive information. In a break with precedent, Trump excluded senior Democrats on the so-called Gang of Eight -- the group of congressional leaders who by law are to be informed of covert actions ordered by the US president -- from all operational intelligence.... Pelosi reacted with scorn. In a statement released on Sunday, she praised the 'heroism, dedication and skill of our military and our intelligence professionals' before going on to excoriate the president. 'The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top congressional leadership were notified of in advance,' she said.... As Democrats were quick to point out, Barack Obama did brief the Gang of Eight before the mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.... Trump's griping about the extent of leaking is entirely understandable -- his administration has indeed been as leaky as a sieve. But most of the big stories to emerge from inside the White House have come ... from his own inner circle of senior aides, or from the whistleblower within the intelligence community...." ~~~
~~~ Pelosi's full statement is here.
~~~ James LaPorta & Tom O'Connor of Newsweek: "The CIA has targeted Islamic State militant group (ISIS) spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in a new operation that comes one day after the organization's leader was killed in a Joint Special Operations Command raid.... Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobane, also reported on the news Sunday. 'Continuing the previous operation, terrorist Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir, the right-hand man of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and an ISIS spokesman, was targeted in the village of Ayn al-Bayda, near Jarablus, in direct coordination between SDF intelligence and the U.S. military,' Kobane said." Mrs. McC: The headline says al-Muhajir was killed; the text of the report says he was "targeted." ~~~
~~~ Al-Baghdadi Was a Figurehead, Not an Ops Leader. Tom O'Connor & Naveed Jamali of Newsweek: "Back-to-back U.S. operations Saturday and Sunday have resulted in the deaths of Islamic State militant group (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in Syria, but the organization has already designated a successor, Newsweek has learned. Abdullah Qardash, sometimes spelled Karshesh and also known as Hajji Abdullah al-Afari, was said to have been nominated by Baghdadi in August to run the group's 'Muslim affairs' in a widely-circulated statement attributed to ISIS' official Amaq news outlet, but never publicly endorsed by the group. Though little is known about the former Iraq military officer who once served under late leader Saddam Hussein, one regional intelligence official asking not to be identified by name or nation told Newsweek that Qardash would have taken over Baghdadi's role -- though it had lost much of its significance by the time of his demise. Baghdadi ... built ISIS' self-styled caliphate out of Al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch, but the official said that the influential hard-line cleric's role had become largely symbolic. 'Baghdadi was a figurehead. He was not involved in operations or day-to-day,' the official told Newsweek. 'All Baghdadi did was say yes or no -- no planning.'" ~~~
~~~ Julia Davis of the Daily Beast: "At the White House Sunday morning, President Trump profusely thanked Russia for its alleged involvement in the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump said: '[The Russians] were very cooperative, they really were good... Russia treated us great. They opened up, we had to fly over certain Russia areas, Russia-held areas. Russia was great.' Russia didn't seem to see it the same way. The Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, refuted President Trump's statement, stating in part:' The Russian Defense Ministry has no reliable information about U.S. servicemen conducting an operation for "yet another" elimination of ... Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi....' The Russian Defense Ministry also disputed President Trump's claim that Russia provided access to U.S. air units entering the airspace over the Idlib de-escalation zone.... Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to provide a comment..., directing everyone to General Konashenkov's statement. Kremlin-controlled Russian state media shot down President Trump's announcement, with headlines that read: 'The Russian Defense Ministry does not believe in al-Baghdadi's liquidation.'... Russia ... openly refers to [Trump's] announcement as mere 'propaganda,' designed to appease his electorate and help him get re-elected."
Thank You, Washington, D.C. Scott Boeck of USA Today: "... Donald Trump was greeted with a thunderous chorus of boos from the sold-out crowd attendance at Game 5 of the World Series between the Nationals and Astros. Trump, who showed up shortly after the first inning, was introduced to the crowd after the third inning during the Nationals' salute to veterans, a regular feature at Nats' games. As the next inning began, fans chanted 'lock him up'..." ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "In the upper decks, fans held up a giant 'Impeach Trump!' banner." Baker writes a full account of Trump's first visit as president to a pro baseball game, & the fans' reactions. ~~~
~~~ Tom Lutz of the Guardian: "Every US president since 1910 has thrown out a ceremonial first-pitch at a baseball game during their time in office, but Trump is the first to break with that tradition. Major League Baseball's commissioner, Rob Manfred, said the President had told him he did not want to participate in the ceremony at this year's World Series 'in order to make the fan experience as positive as possible'. On Friday, Trump had joked his bullet-proof vest would make it hard to throw out the first pitch. 'I don't know. They gotta dress me up in a lot of heavy armour. I'll look too heavy. I don't like that,' he said. Sunday's first pitch was instead thrown by Washington DC chef José Andrés, a vocal critic of Trump." Mrs. McC: Trump didn't show up till minutes before the game started and after Andrés had thrown the ceremonial first pitch. ~~~
~~~ Mike Wise of WUSA Washington, D.C.: "... the family who owns the Washington Nationals, the Lerners, asked Major League Baseball that they not be put in a position to respond to any requests that President Trump sit with them during Game 5 of the World Series at Nationals Park in Washington, DC.... A person familiar with the family's thinking ... made it clear that at no time was a direct request made that the President notbe seated next to the Lerner family, but it was made clear that the family did not want to be put in the awkward position of having to respond to a request."
Tristan Greene of The Next Web: "White House computer security Chief Dimitrios Vistakis gave the White House one helluva resignation notice earlier this week when he quit over practices he dubbed 'absurd' including the systemic purging of cybersecurity staff.... [Vistakis's] letter [of resignation] paints the picture of a Trump administration hellbent on purging the Obama-appointed security specialists tasked with defending White House computers in the wake of a 2014 breach.... Vistakis greatest complaint seems to be that White House officials are prioritizing the President's comfort or convenience over actual computer security." --s
Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone: "[S]everal developments this week pulled back the curtain a bit further on what [Mick] Mulvaney was talking about when he said the Trump administration makes moves like it did in Ukraine 'all the time.' On Wednesday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to hand over records of his contacts with Turkish officials as part of an inquiry into whether the Trump administration meddled in U.S. criminal investigation into Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank.... Trump's breach of protocol in dealing with Turkey is remarkable similar to how he attempted [to force] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into opening investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election, right down to the involvement of Giuliani." --s
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jake Pearson, et al. of ProPublica: "Last March, a veteran Washington reporter [& useful idiot John Solomon] taped an interview with a Ukrainian prosecutor [Yuriy Lutsenko] that sparked a disinformation campaign alleging [corruption by] Joe Biden.... The interview and subsequent columns ... [in The Hill], were the starting gun that eventually set off the impeachment inquiry into the president. Watching from the control booth of The Hill's TV studio was Lev Parnas, who helped arrange the interview.... Interviews and company records obtained by ProPublica show Parnas worked closely with Solomon to facilitate his reporting.... And the two men shared yet another only recently revealed connection: Solomon's personal lawyers [Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing] connected the journalist to Parnas and later hired& the Florida businessman as a translator in their representation of a Ukrainian oligarch.... Solomon's interview and columns were widely amplified. Giuliani praised them, and Trump said he deserved a Pulitzer Prize. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs trumpeted them." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie P.S.: Solomon is working for Fox "News" now.
Emily Bazelon, in a New York Times op-ed, takes a look at Bill Barr, "the perfect attorney general for President Trump. Not so much, it seems, for the country." Her piece is a complement to Rick Wilson's more incendiary analysis, linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.)
Elliot Spagat of AP: "[T]he total number of [immigrant] children separated [from their parents] since July 2017 [is] more than 5,400. The ACLU said the administration told its attorneys that 1,556 children were separated from July 1, 2017, to June 26, 2018, when a federal judge in San Diego ordered that children in government custody be reunited with their parents. Children from that period can be difficult to find because the government had inadequate tracking systems. Volunteers working with the ACLU are searching for some of them and their parents by going door-to-door in Guatemala and Honduras." --s
Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "Freshman Rep. Katie Hill is resigning from Congress after facing allegations of inappropriate sexual relationships with staffers in her office and on her congressional campaign, according to two Democratic sources.... In a statement earlier this week, Hill blamed the ongoing scandal -- which included several nude photos of the lawmaker published in conservative online news outlets -- on an 'abusive husband' whom she is in the middle of divorcing." The Washington Post story is here.
Kathleen Gray & Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a civil rights icon whose five decades in Congress were tarnished in his final years in office, died Sunday of natural causes at the age of 90, according to several friends. His death come after a long and illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years and 27 terms in office, but ended in 2018 with a resignation amidst claims of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of employees and misuse of taxpayer funds to cover-up those claims. Conyers' tenure was a remarkable 53-year-run during which the lawmaker, the son of a well-known labor lawyer in Detroit, compiled a near-record legacy of civil rights activism, longevity and advocacy for the poor and underprivileged." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
The Long Ta-Ta. Daniel Henley & John Boffey of the Guardian: "The EU has agreed to a Brexit extension to 31 January 2020, with the option for the UK to leave earlier if a deal is ratified, clearing the way for opposition parties to back a general election. After a 30-minute meeting of European ambassadors, Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, said the EU27 had agreed to the request made by Boris Johnson just over a week ago."
News Ledes
New York Times: Robert Evans, who produced iconic films for Paramount Pictures & was a legend in his own time, died on Saturday in Beverly Hills, California.
AP: "Firefighters battled destructive wildfires in Northern California wine country and on the west side of Los Angeles on Monday, trying to beat back flames that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. California's biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, cut off power to an estimated 2.5 million people in the northern part of the state over the weekend in yet another round of blackouts aimed at preventing windblown electrical equipment from sparking more fires. And more shut-offs are possible in the next few days. The fire that broke out last week amid Sonoma County's vineyards and wineries north of San Francisco grew to at least 103 square miles ..., destroying 94 buildings, including 40 homes, and threatening 80,000 more structures, authorities said. Nearly 200,000 people were under evacuation orders, mostly from the city of Santa Rosa."
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Reader Comments (16)
Bea,
Was waiting for this one:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/playoffs/2019/10/27/donald-trump-world-series-nationals-park/2481826001/
Saw a few innings of the game but missed this highlight. Can maybe find a recording of it somewhere.
N.B.
Got too hurried in my excitement.
I see a video of the "lock him up" chant with surprisingly good sound quality is in the USA Today article.
According the The Guardian, it appears that Drumpf just made up another big lie about the death of al-Baghdadi. All they would have seen in the stream to the Situation Room would have been overhead surveillance footage without any audio. Body cam footage was not streamed and wouldn't have been available until after his announcement.
Could there have been any more glee expressed by the Liar-in-chief? How bloodthirsty he is. Just adds to his many expressions of nastiness that highlight his persona. I am so disgusted that he was small enough to not alert the Gang of Eight; it seems every time he is given an opening to be the "better man," he becomes a ghoul instead. Cripes, get rid of him now...
" ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Democrats, especially presidential hopefuls, should emphasize -- again & again -- that U.S. forces caught al-Baghdadi despite Trump, not because of him. For no good reason, Trump endangered the operation rather than facilitated it, and to that extent he proved once again to be a significant national security risk. "
Excellent––this is exactly what needs to be emphasized plus the fact that he did not inform key congressional figures ––especially Nancy.
I watched the short bit of Chris Wallace interviewing Pence as to why Trump did not notify Pelosi––headline on the story was "Wallace grills Pence." NO–-there was no grilling, just the question–-twice-- that from the bit I watched was NOT answered. Pence, who can speak in full sentences continues to rattle on sucking on his dear leader's teat and spewing out the sour milk dribble. It's truly remarkable that never once–-at least that I can recall–– has Pence ever expressed a minor key here––he's in for the kill all the way and I think he's missed his calling–-he and "mother" could go on the road gathering their flock to sing praises to the "ALmighty" while handing out pamphlets that show us the way to salvation.
A holdover from his days as a narcissistic business failure is Fatty's penchant for chaos, being unpredictable, which he believes gives him an edge over the competition. If it does, it's only in very specific situations. Unpredictability in life, as in business dealings can often cause unnecessary problems.
You see, you can be unpredictable in poker or chess, but at some point, you have to give your opponent the sense that you mean it when you go all in. Getting caught bluffing isn't a terrible thing, unless it happens too many times. Then opponents have no problem challenging you. Whereas giving them a reason to believe you have the winning hand when you call and raise is the result of consistently strong play at a high level, something Trump knows nothing about. He thinks a press release written by "John Barron" will take care of every bad bluff making it look like the move of a genius and not that of an amateurish fuck up.
And fortunately for Fatty, he's had daddy's money to bail him out of those situations. And now he has taxpayer money. People who are forced to pay for their own mistakes try very hard not to make the same ones over and over again. Those for whom the concept of personal responsibility is someone else's lookout can do as they wish and leave the mess for others to pay for and clean up. This is still Fatty's MO.
He loves to picture himself as a swashbuckling master of the universe, out there ahead of the pack doing what comes naturally to a man of great genius and innate greatness. Um...not really sure what that is, but pretty much any outcome can be twisted around, in Trump's small brain, to make him come out the hero and everyone else whimpering losers.
And he's still at it. Only now, his swashbuckling bullshit, the chaos he loves to whip up, the unpredictability and anarchy that he so admires in himself are costing people their lives and costing the United States the trust and faith of allies and the respect of adversaries. It's one thing to tank a business, going into bankruptcy and avoiding paying the bills (because that's the smart thing to do, he loves to say). It's quite another to undermine the reliance and goodwill of other nations because you want to play Admiral Halsey, bombing toy boats in your bathtub with a bar of soap.
Over and above all that however, is Trump's genuine insecurity and downright nastiness. It's clear that he doesn't see the irony in a whiny coward who made up a story about bone spurs to avoid military service calling someone (whatever the reason and whatever the goals) who put their own life on the line a coward and a dog.
And because he juked out of military service (like everyone else in his family)he desperately needs to glom on to those he considers strong and "manly" like Navy Seal Ed Gallagher or foreign strongmen like Putin and Erdogan. this is another reason for the outrageously harsh rhetoric around the death of Baghdadi. He needs to look extra tough. But also because he's just a garden variety asshole.
But this particular asshole represents us.
Impeachment can't come too soon. Meanwhile, bootlickers like Lindsey Graham are determined to back this moron to the hilt, no matter what.
Impeach his ass too. Enough of this chaos.
Comment by "Agent Blue" in WaPo after article on GOPers' difficulty in defending DiJiT these days:
"It ain't over ’til the fat boy’s in Sing Sing."
I thought you folks might enjoy it.
Does this "heavy armor" make me look fat? I must remember that
if I gain a few extra pounds this winter. It's not me, it's my heavy
armor under garments. And does he have a steel plate under that
animal on his head to protect his genius brain?
“Sir, we’ve got the rat, sir.” “Sir, he’s whimpering, sir!” “Sir’ he blew himself up and died like a dog, sir!”
Where was the part where the Special Forces manly men all broke down weeping asking if they could please, please, please, with a grenade on top, thank Trump for his masterful planning and oversight of the raid, not to mention for his being the most wonderful stable genius ever to serve as president?
Forrest,
Good one. “Honey, does this Kevlar suit make my ass look fat?” deserves its own meme.
Maybe Fatty should talk to Mittens about getting some of that magic underwear. It would probably work as well as the armor, but wouldn't add any extra poundage.
I enjoyed reading this on Daily Kos earlier today:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/28/1895578/-Twitter-has-a-field-day-with-the-moral-scolds-upset-about-Trump-being-booed-at-the-World-Series
and mulled it over as I vacuumed. Would these overseers of civility been disturbed if the crowd at the game had, instead of booing and chanting, turned to trump as one and saluted him? Or how about if only most of them turned and saluted, and then the Stasi--oops, sorry, I mean the police stormed through the stadium to find all those who showed a lack of civility?
Just wondering.
Last night was Trumps first visit to a DC event at a place he didn't own. After the reception he got it will probably be the last time.
Elizabeth--
Good spoofing.
Don't really believe that you're wondering all that much. You know as do we all that IOKIYAR applies here too.
Everywhere from our courts, to our economy, to our sports venues, there's rules for me and rules for thee....because I'm special and you're not.
Think I'll listen to those D. C. fans again. It warms the cockles.
0:03 / 21:14
'Understanding the Intel and Law Enforcement Plot to Destroy the Trump Presidency'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgRJ6UuPWM0
Ed,
Thanks for providing this disturbing glimpse of the paranoid fantasies that animate so much of our politics.
It reveals a lot about some of what's wrong with our sad nation. I say some, because there's so much more.