The Commentariat -- January 10, 2020

Afternoon Update:

** The One Who Got Away. John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "On the day the U.S. military killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad, U.S. forces carried out another top secret mission against a senior Iranian military official in Yemen, according to U.S. officials. The strike targeting Abdul Reza Shahlai, a financier and key commander of Iran's elite Quds Force who has been active in Yemen, did not result in his death, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The unsuccessful operation may indicate that the Trump administration's killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani last week was part of a broader operation than previously explained, raising questions about whether the mission was designed to cripple the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or solely to prevent an imminent attack on Americans as originally stated."

Jonathan Chait: “Deep inside a long, detailed Wall Street Journal report about President Trump's foreign policy advisers is an explosive nugget: 'Mr. Trump, after the strike, told associates he was under pressure to deal with Gen. Soleimani from GOP senators he views as important supporters in his coming impeachment trial in the Senate, associates said.' This is a slightly stronger iteration of a fact the New York Times reported three days ago, to wit, 'pointed out to one person who spoke to him on the phone last week that he had been pressured to take a harder line on Iran by some Republican senators whose support he needs now more than ever amid an impeachment battle.' This would not mean Trump ordered the strike entirely, or even primarily, in order to placate Senate Republicans. But it does constitute an admission that domestic political considerations influenced his decision. That would, of course, constitute a grave dereliction of duty.... Of course, using his foreign policy authority for domestic political gain is the offense Trump is being impeached for." The Wall Street Journal report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It is entirely plausible that Trump assassinated a foreign guy to distract from being impeached for messing with a foreign guy. And you get bet he doesn't see anything wrong with it: you might call it a "perfect assassination."

Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Marianne Williamson, the self-help author and spiritual adviser whose long-shot presidential campaign called for reparations and a Department of Peace, announced on Friday that she would drop out of the race." Mrs. McC: I'm having such a sad over this I might have to buy a self-help book to "realign my psychic forces." ~~~

~~~ Bridget Read of New York: "Marianne Williamson -- self-described 'bitch for God,' defender of yoga girls, vanquisher of dark psychic forces -- has finally dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential-primary race.... 'To the remaining Democratic candidates,' she said, 'I wish you all my best on the road ahead. It was an honor being among you. Whichever one of you wins the nomination, I will be there with all my energy and in full support.' And as always, she believes 'love will prevail.' Trust Williamson to drop out on the day of a lunar eclipse, as she ascends to a higher plane of celestial being."

Adam Raymond of New York: "Republican Doug Collins, a congressman from Georgia, said Wednesday that Democrats' are in love with terrorists.' He also accused his Democratic colleagues of mourning slain Iranian General Qasem Soleimani more than 'our Gold Star families who were the ones who suffered under Soleimani.' The comments were made to Fox News' Lou Dobbs.... In a tweet Friday, Collins apologized, saying he does not in fact think that Democrats are 'in love' with terrorists.... What makes the comments even more absurd, though, is that Trump's Republican allies are falsely accusing Democrats of doing things Trump has actually done. He has literally claimed that he and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un 'fell in love.' And as far as respect for Gold Star families goes, there's only one person in Washington who's engaged in a protracted, personal spat with one and he's sitting in the White House."

Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that she expects to send the articles of impeachment against President Trump over to the Senate next week to launch his long-awaited trial. The move comes more than three weeks after the House passed two articles of impeachment against Trump over his dealings with Ukraine and amid increasing pressure on the Speaker to drop her hold on the articles. 'I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democrats." The New York Times story is here.

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration hit Iran with more sanctions Friday in the first concrete response to the attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq this week, which were in retaliation for the U.S. airstrike that killed the most powerful Iranian military commander. The sanctions targeted Iran's metal industries, and eight senior military and national security officials who U.S. officials said were involved in the ballistic missile attacks on two bases in Iraq that house U.S. military personnel." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Steve Mnuchin announced this at a joint presser with Mike Pompeo. Pompeo went on to take a few questions with reporters; either all Democrats & Republicans lied through their teeth about what intel they received at a classified briefing in which Pompeo participated -- or Pompeo lied this afternoon. You can't believe anything coming out of the mouths of any administration officials. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "For six days after Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani's death, the Trump administration assured us he was behind 'imminent' attacks but declined to offer details. Then Trump came out Thursday and just said it: The deceased Quds Force commander was going to 'blow up' a U.S. Embassy. There have to be real questions about the accuracy of that claim. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced a package of new Iran sanctions Friday, but unanswered questions about the strike on Soleimani loomed over [the press conference].... NBC News's Peter Alexander asked [Pompeo] about the claims by the senators ... that the briefings included no such evidence about embassies..., and Pompeo initially seemed to directly dispute their claims and confirm that the briefing included the embassies.... Alexander pressed him on it ... [and] Pompeo became less explicit and reverted to talking more broadly...."

Edward Wong & Megan Specia of the New York Times: "The State Department on Friday rebuffed the Iraqi government's request to begin discussions on pulling out troops, saying that any American officials going to Baghdad during a state of heightened tensions would not discuss a 'troop withdrawal,' as the Iraqi prime minister had requested. Instead, discussions would be about the 'appropriate force posture in the Middle East.' The statement from Washington was a direct rebuttal to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq, and was certain to add to the friction between the two nations. The prime minister said earlier on Friday that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to send a delegation from the United States to discuss steps for the withdrawal of the approximately 5,200 American troops from his country, in the aftermath of a deadly American military strike ordered by President Trump that many Iraqis say violated their country's sovereignty."

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Catie Edmondson & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House voted on Thursday to force President Trump to go to Congress for authorization before taking further military action against Iran, in a sharp rebuke of his decision to ratchet up hostilities with Tehran without the explicit approval of the legislative branch. The vote was 224 to 194, almost entirely along party lines, to curtail Mr. Trump's war-making power. It followed a bitterly partisan debate in which Democrats insisted that the president must involve Congress in any escalation against Iran, and Republicans -- following Mr. Trump's lead -- accused Democrats of coddling the enemy by questioning the commander in chief at a dangerous moment.... Mr. Trump took to Twitter early Thursday morning to rally House Republicans to oppose the measure, calling on them to 'vote against Crazy Nancy Pelosi's War Powers Resolution.'... Only three Republicans -- Representatives Matt Gaetz and Francis Rooney, both of Florida, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky -- along with the House's lone independent, Representative Justin Amash, joined Democrats in supporting the measure. Eight Democrats broke ranks to oppose it." The AP story is here.

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "An Iranian missile accidentally brought down a Ukrainian jetliner over Iran this week, killing everyone aboard, American and allied officials said on Thursday, adding a tragic coda to the escalated military conflict between Washington and Tehran. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said his country had intelligence that an Iranian surface-to-air missile brought down the jetliner, which was carrying 63 Canadians among its some 176 passengers and crew. Mr. Trudeau said his conclusion was based on a preliminary review of the evidence but called for a full investigation 'to be convinced beyond all doubt.'... A security camera captured the impact -- first the predawn darkness, then a series of blinding bursts of light in the distance, followed by a storm of burning debris in the foreground." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Tim Hepher & David Shepardson of Reuters: "The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has accepted an invitation from Iran to take part in its investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian airplane in Tehran, the agency confirmed late on Thursday.... Canada, which had dozens of passengers onboard, has also assigned an expert, while a team from Ukraine held discussions in Tehran on Thursday, [Farhad] Parvaresh[, Iran's representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization,] said in a telephone interview." ~~~

~~~ Rob Gillies & Tim Sullivan of the AP: "'All is well!'... Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday night, days after a U.S. drone strike killed Iran's most powerful general, and Iran, after a barrage of missiles, had signaled it was stepping back from further escalation. But 27 seconds before Trump's tweet, commercial flight trackers had lost contact with a Ukrainian International Airlines jet that had just taken off from Tehran's main airport. On board were 176 people, including 138 passengers on their way to Canada and at least 63 Canadian citizens and 11 Ukrainians. The plane ... slammed moments later into the ground.... What had begun with a drone attack on Gen. Qassem Soleimani's motorcade at the Baghdad airport had suddenly rippled outward until dozens of Iranian-Canadians, dozens of Iranian students studying in Canada, were dead.... Some in Canada quickly blamed Trump for the disaster.... Robert Bothwell, a professor ... at the University of Toronto, noted that Trump has said nothing about the dead Canadians.... 'Not a word of sympathy.' By Thursday night, Trump had yet to mention Canada's tragedy. Instead, in a campaign rally in Toledo, he told crowds that Soleimani's killing was 'American justice,' while deriding Democrats for questioning his decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress."

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he ordered the killing of Iran's top military commander last week to disrupt a previously undisclosed plot to attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.... 'We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy. We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious. Somebody died, one of our military people died. People were badly wounded just a week before,' he added. Trump was still vague about the threat.... Trump declined to share further details about the alleged plot to destroy the embassy, answering a follow-up question on the subject by suggesting that evidence of such a plot was out in the open. He pointed to protesters who stormed the U.S. embassy in Baghdad just days before the drone attack that killed Soleimani. Although it wasn't clear, the president seemed to indicate that it was the protesters who marched on the embassy who were trying to blow it up.... 'If you look at the protesters, they were rough warriors. They weren't protesters. They were Iranian-backed -- some were from Iraq -- but they were Iranian-backed.'... Sen. Richard Blumenthal called [Trump's claim] 'inconsistent' with the information provided to lawmakers on Wednesday." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Apparently Trump was trying out a new lie. If Soleimani had been behind a plot to "blow up the U.S. embassy" in Baghdad, that would have been the first thing intelligence agencies would have revealed. According to several members of Congress, in the classified meetings they had with intelligence officials, the meagre intel they received did not mention any plan to blow up the embassy. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "It has been nearly a week since the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, and the justification for the strike is still clear as mud. The Trump administration initially said Soleimani was planning 'imminent' attacks on Americans and U.S. interests in the Middle East, but it hasn't provided much in the way of elaboration. It has since oscillated between pointing to the imminence of such attacks and suggesting that the strike was retaliatory for what Soleimani had already done. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to say whether the attacks were days or weeks away. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, unambiguously endorsed the idea of imminent attacks, but he also said the intelligence didn't 'exactly say who, what, when, where.' And now, in the past 24 hours, it has become even more opaque.... Appearing on the 'Today' show [Thursday, Mike] Pence said the Trump administration did not share some of the most important information because of its sensitivity.... And then, to top it all off, Trump came out around noon on Thursday and disclosed one of Soleimani's alleged plots: to blow up a U.S. embassy." ~~~

~~~ Trump Adds More Embassies to Supposed Soleimani Hit List. Will Steakin of ABC News: "... Donald Trump kicked off the 2020 election year at his first campaign rally by touting and defending his order to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and slamming his political opponents who questioned the move.... 'Soleimani was actively planning new attacks, and he was looking very seriously at our embassies, and not just the embassy in Baghdad...,' he [said].... 'And yet now I see the radical left Democrats have expressed outrage over the termination of this horrible terrorist,' Trump told the crowd in Toledo."

Working Title: "Donald Trump Is a Fucking Idiot." John Kerry, in a New York Times op-ed: "This moment was nothing if not foreseeable the moment Mr. Trump abandoned the 2015 [nuclear] agreement [with Iran], which was working, and chose instead to isolate us from our allies, narrow our options in the region and slam shut the door to tackling additional issues with Iran through constructive diplomacy.... Presidents make lonely, difficult decisions about the use of force to protect our interests -- usually with the solace of knowing at least that diplomacy had failed. The tragedy of our current plight is that diplomacy was succeeding before it was abandoned."

Nicole Gaouette & Jamie Gangel of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a driving force behind ... Donald Trump's decision to kill a top Iranian general, sources inside and around the administration tell CNN, a high-stakes move that demonstrates Pompeo's status as the most influential national security official in the Trump administration. Taking Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani 'off the battlefield' has been a goal for the top US diplomat for a decade, several sources told CNN. Targeting Iran's second most powerful official -- the leader of the Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, the politically and economically powerful military group with regional clout -- was Pompeo's idea, according to a source from his inner circle. That source said the secretary brought the suggestion to Trump. Pompeo 'was the one who made the case to take out Soleimani, it was him absolutely,' this source said." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The CNN story, along with a NYT story linked a couple of days ago, refutes earlier NYT (and other) reporting that Trump angrily but surprisingly chose the most extreme option from a menu of optional responses to violent Green Zone protests, stunning top Pentagon officials. Apparently, those Pentagon officials should have been paying more attention to Pompeo. BTW, because he has been a Congressman, the CIA director and Secretary of State, we tend to think of Pompeo as a Washington fixture. But ten years ago, Pompeo was an obscure CEO of a company that partnered with the Koch brothers' industries. He was elected to Congress in the 2010 Tea Party wave, also a Koch boys project. His claim to fame was badgering Hillary Clinton on Benghazi & making up 4-Pinocchio stuff about her. This is what passes for "statesmanship" in the GOP.

Parisa Hafezi & Babak Dehghanpisheh of Reuters: "A[n Iranian] Revolutionary Guards commander said Iran would take 'harsher revenge soon' after Tehran launched missile attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation for last week's U.S. killing of an Iranian general, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday once again rebuffed growing calls to send the House's articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate for trial and refused to provide a timetable for doing so, saying only that after weeks of delay, she would probably move 'soon.' Ms. Pelosi reiterated a call for Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, to detail the rules for a Senate trial so she could choose a team of lawmakers to prosecute the House's abuse of power and obstruction of Congress case."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is backing a resolution to change the Senate's rules to allow for lawmakers to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump before the House sends them over. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced on Thursday that McConnell has signed on as a co-sponsor to the resolution, which he introduced earlier this week.... Changing the rules would either require a two-thirds vote or for Republicans to deploy the 'nuclear' option. The resolution would give the House 25 days to send articles of impeachment over to the Senate. After that, a senator could offer a motion to dismiss 'with prejudice for failure by the House of Representatives to prosecute such articles' with a simple majority vote, according to Hawley's proposal. McConnell has repeatedly lashed out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for delaying sending over the two articles of impeachment."

Jury Foreman Colludes with Slacker Defendant Living Large in Public Housing. Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "... Mitch McConnell and ... Donald Trump met Wednesday at the White House and discussed the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. McConnell, one of the sources said, walked Trump through the trial format and discussed how Senate Republicans were reacting to the developments around the trial.... The senator from Kentucky has not shared with the White House the text of the resolution that would set up the trial, according to one of the sources, who insists there's no negotiation with the GOP leader's office on how the language should be drafted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demanded to see the resolution before sending the two articles of impeachment to the Senate." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rudy Giuliani, drooling, pants-unzipped Constitutional scholar, has written an opinion piece, which apparently only the Daily Caller would run, arguing that the Supremes should step in & declare the Articles of Impeachment against his "client" to be unconstitutional. I have reluctantly linked Giuliani's screed so you won't have to look for it.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly praised Major Golsteyn and in December appeared with him at a campaign fund-raiser. -- New York Times

There are war criminals we assassinate, and (alleged) war criminals we laud. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~

~~~ Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "An Army general has denied a request by an officer pardoned in an open murder case by President Trump to have his Special Forces tab reinstated, setting up a potential flash point with the commander in chief. The decoration for retired Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn was denied Dec. 3 by Lt. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette, the commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the Army disclosed Thursday. Beaudette's decision is not final, and the service said in a statement that it will next have an administrative panel consider whether it should reinstate the Special Forces tab and a Distinguished Service Cross -- the U.S. military's second-highest valor award -- and expunge a letter of reprimand Golsteyn received in connection with his case. Golsteyn was awaiting trial this year in the alleged murder of a suspected Taliban bombmaker in Marja, Afghanistan, in February 2010. The service opened an investigation into Golsteyn after he disclosed the killing during a 2011 polygraph as the CIA was considering him for a job. Army officials revoked the tab and valor award in 2014 while issuing the reprimand and charged Golsteyn with murder in 2018.... In December..., [Golsteyn] appeared with the president at a closed-door Republican fundraiser in Miami."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A divided federal appeals court has lifted a lower court's order blocking $3.6 billion in military construction funds that ... Donald Trump planned to use to finance an expanded and improved border wall. The New Orleans-based 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order on Wednesday granting the Trump administration's request to stay the injunction that U.S. District Court Judge David Briones, based in El Paso, Texas, issued last month." The plaintiffs have not decided whether or not to appeal the decision. (Also linked yesterday.)

Julia Conley of Common Dreams: "As Puerto Rico dealt with the fallout from a series of devastating earthquakes in recent days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined calls Thursday for the Trump administration to release $18 billion in disaster aid to the island more than two years after the money was appropriated. The funds were meant to go to the U.S. territory after Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused nearly $150 billion in damage in September 2017.... On Thursday, about two-thirds of the island once again had no power and hundreds of thousands of people were without running water following the earthquakes, including a 6.4-magnitude earthquake which struck Tuesday[.] 'We call upon the White House to stop its unlawful withholding of funds from Puerto Rico,' Pelosi said at a press conference Thursday. 'There are needs that need to be met, there has been a disaster designated, but the ongoing withholding of funds appropriated by Congress to Puerto Rico is illegal.'"

Now, This Was a Hoax. Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "A Justice Department inquiry launched more than two years ago to mollify conservatives clamoring for more investigations of Hillary Clinton has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current and former law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything. John Huber, the U.S. attorney in Utah, was tapped in November 2017 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into concerns raised by President Trump and his allies in Congress that the FBI had not fully pursued cases of possible corruption at the Clinton Foundation and during Clinton's time as secretary of state, when the U.S. government decided not to block the sale of a company called Uranium One." The Raw Story has a summary of the WashPo report.

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, failed to get clearance from Queen Elizabeth II before announcing their unorthodox plan to become part-time, financially independent royals and divide their time between Britain and North America. But the couple had been planning the move for months.... Soon after the couple issued a statement saying they planned to 'step back' from their royal duties, they elaborated their thinking on a new, slickly produced website. The site was quietly designed by a firm in Canada with no input from Buckingham Palace.... It has swiftly come to symbolize what palace officials regard as a rogue operation by Prince Harry and Meghan, one that now threatens the unity of the House of Windsor and the future of two of its most popular members.... The Duke and Duchess of Sussex ... felt forced to disclose their plans prematurely after they learned that the Sun, a tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, got wind of the internal discussions about their status and was preparing a story, two people with ties to the family said." ~~~

~~~ Afua Hirsch in a New York Times op-ed: "If the media paid more attention to Britain's communities of color, perhaps it would find the announcement far less surprising. With a new prime minister whose track record includes overtly racist statements, some of which would make even Donald Trump blush, a Brexit project linked to native nationalism and a desire to rid Britain of large numbers of immigrants, and an ever thickening loom of imperial nostalgia, many of us are also thinking about moving. From the very first headline about her being '(almost) straight outta Compton' and having 'exotic' DNA, the racist treatment of Meghan has been impossible to ignore."

News Lede

AP: "U.S. employers downshifted their hiring in December, adding 145,000 jobs as consumer spending appeared to aid gains in the retail and hospitality sectors. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate held at 3.5% for the second straight month, prolonging a half-century low. Hiring slipped after robust gains of 256,000 in November caused in part by the end of a strike at General Motors."

The Commentariat -- January 9, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "An Iranian missile accidentally brought down a Ukrainian jetliner over Iran this week, killing everyone aboard, American and allied officials said on Thursday, adding a tragic coda to the escalated military conflict between Washington and Tehran. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said his country had intelligence that an Iranian surface-to-air missile brought down the jetliner, which was carrying 63 Canadians among its some 176 passengers and crew. Mr. Trudeau said his conclusion was based on a preliminary review of the evidence but called for a full investigation 'to be convinced beyond all doubt.'... A security camera captured the impact -- first the predawn darkness, then a series of blinding bursts of light in the distance, followed by a storm of burning debris in the foreground." The AP's story is here.

Parisa Hafezi & Babak Dehghanpisheh of Reuters: "A[n Iranian] Revolutionary Guards commander said Iran would take 'harsher revenge soon' after Tehran launched missile attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation for last week's U.S. killing of an Iranian general, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A divided federal appeals court has lifted a lower court's order blocking $3.6 billion in military construction funds that ... Donald Trump planned to use to finance an expanded and improved border wall. The New Orleans-based 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order on Wednesday granting the Trump administration's request to stay the injunction that U.S. District Court Judge David Briones, based in El Paso, Texas, issued last month." The plaintiffs have not decided whether or not to appeal the decision.

Jury Foreman Colludes with Slacker Defendant Living Large in Public Housing. Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "... Mitch McConnell and ... Donald Trump met Wednesday at the White House and discussed the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. McConnell, one of the sources said, walked Trump through the trial format and discussed how Senate Republicans were reacting to the developments around the trial.... The senator from Kentucky has not shared with the White House the text of the resolution that would set up the trial, according to one of the sources, who insists there's no negotiation with the GOP leader's office on how the language should be drafted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demanded to see the resolution before sending the two articles of impeachment to the Senate."

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Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday that the House would vote on Thursday to force President Trump to quickly wind down military action against Iran unless he is given explicit authorization from Congress, opening what promised to be a searing debate over presidential war powers.... Congressional Democrats ... said the vote on Thursday would be on a measure that would require that Mr. Trump cease all military action against Iran unless Congress votes to approve it. Such a measure could face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Senate, but on Wednesday, two Republicans signaled they were inclined to support it, holding open the possibility of a razor-thin vote. Either way, it is certain to ignite a fierce debate over Mr. Trump's strategy on Iran, and Congress's role in curtailing a president's ability to wage war."

Worst Briefing Evah. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) ripped the administration over a closed-door briefing on Iran on Wednesday, announcing they will now support a resolution reining in President Trump's military powers. Lee, speaking to reporters after a roughly hourlong closed-door meeting with administration officials, characterized it as 'the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue.' Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley were dispatched to brief both the House and Senate on Wednesday amid days of concerns from lawmakers that Trump was on a path to war with Iran, which on Tuesday night launched missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. Lee said the officials warned that Congress would 'embolden' Iran if lawmakers debated Trump's war powers. 'I find this insulting and demeaning ... to the office that each of the 100 senators in this building happens to hold. I find it insulting and demeaning to the Constitution of the United States,' Lee said.... Paul ... knocked the administration for using the 2002 war authorization as the basis for last week's airstrike against an Iranian general." ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Kheel & Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Democrats said Wednesday that the Trump administration failed to present evidence supporting the claim that a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. drone strike was planning an imminent attack.... Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the evidence represented a 'far cry' from an imminent attack, while Rep. Gerry Connollyn> (D-Va.) called the briefing 'sophomoric.'... Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said the administration 'did not establish in any way' that 'an imminent threat was posed.' Asked whether she was convinced, presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said flatly 'no.'"

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump backed away from further military confrontation with Iran on Wednesday after a barrage of missiles fired at American troops killed no one and Tehran indicated that would be the end of its retaliation for the killing of a top general." Mrs. McC: Another one of the speeches Trump delivered in his "hostage" monotone. BTW, the brass who allowed themselves to be used as a shiny human backdrop for a speech that was bound to contains outrageous lies & misdirection (and of course it did) should be ashamed of themselves. Some of them managed to look like hostages, too, and that's probably how they felt. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ ** Liar, Liar. Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "President Trump, responding during a White House address on Wednesday to the missile strikes by Iran, assailed the nuclear agreement reached by his predecessor and praised American military might. The 10-minute address contained numerous inaccuracies and claims that lacked evidence. Here's a fact check." ~~~

~~~ Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Trump's handling of the Iran crisis in some ways epitomized his presidency, with his remarks containing striking contradictions and remaining open to interpretation. He was at once unyielding in his rhetoric against Iran building a nuclear weapon while open to talks with its leaders and pushing to involve NATO allies in diplomacy. Trump sought to extend his administration's 'maximum pressure' strategy by announcing toughened economic sanctions on Iran yet also promised to help the country build prosperity at home. He sounded both bellicose -- describing the arsenal of weapons at his disposal as 'big, powerful, accurate, lethal and fast' -- and dovish, saying he did not want to use it and was 'ready to embrace peace.'"

~~~ The Buck Stops with Obama. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump's big speech about the situation in Iran is not getting strong early reviews, in no small part because he spent much of it blaming former President Barack Obama for the current tensions with Tehran." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "... it was ... discouraging to see and hear Trump deliver a strange speech to an anxious public, repeating a series of demonstrably false claims. Instead of ... striving for some semblance of national unity, Trump told Americans this morning, for example, that last night's missiles 'were paid for' with funds 'made available' by the Obama administration. That's absurd, and it's part of a bogus claim Trump has been repeating for many months. He went on to take credit for 'destroying 100% of ISIS,' which is plainly false, since ISIS hasn't been destroyed. He also boasted, 'We are now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world,' which is true, though it's a status the United States reached in 2012. [Update: There were, of course, a variety of related factual missteps.] Just as alarming, Trump seemed eager to step on his own message. While embracing the idea of de-escalation, he added, 'The civilized world must send a clear and unified message to the Iranian regime: your campaign of terror, murder, mayhem, will not be tolerated any longer. It will not be allowed to go forward.' In the next breath, Trump suggested involving NATO in ... something related to the Middle East. It wasn't at all clear what exactly he had in mind.... Facing a credibility crisis, he lied. Facing a divided domestic electorate, he took partisan cheap shots at his predecessor. Facing questions about whether he's up to the task of leadership, he struggled with his trusted teleprompter and mispronounced a series of words." ~~~

~~~ Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate: "The remarks that Donald Trump delivered about the Iran situation on Wednesday ... did not answer or even address many of the issues that concerned United States citizens might be wondering about.... Trump didn't discuss whether the U.S. is planning to withdraw forces from Iraq, as a letter that the Department of Defense issued but then disavowed Tuesday suggested. He said he is 'going to ask NATO to become much more involved in the Middle East process,' but didn't say anything about what that meant, or why any of the NATO countries would have an incentive to hear him out. He didn't explain, more broadly, what his administration wants from Iran.... Typically, these kinds of details might be filled in during background briefings by other high-ranking administration officials or by a White House press secretary. But there hasn't been a White House press briefing since March 2019, and there do not appear to have been any 'senior administration official' conference calls Wednesday about NATO.... Why worry about the details if the person in charge doesn't think about them either? He was mad enough to start a war but then maybe Tucker Carlson, on his TV, talked him out of it. Everything is fine for now." ~~~

~~~ ** Conservative David Frum of the Atlantic: "The Trump administration and its supporters seem to have hoped for a 'rally around the flag' effect from the killing of Soleimani. This did not happen. The fundamental geology of Donald Trump's presidency remains unchanged: A large majority of Americans do not trust him, do not support him, and will not follow him. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has complained that European allies do not support the Trump administration's actions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laments that Democrats in Congress will not support the president either.... Unlike the Clinton impeachment of 1998-99, [Trump's impeachment] commands the approval of a majority of Americans.... That's ... certainly sufficient to deprive the president of the legitimacy to lead the nation to war. The United States finds itself in the dangerous situation of having a president in power but without authority. He is the least trusted president in the history of polling. Two-thirds of Americans regard him as dishonest."

Kylie Atwood, et al., of CNN: "The top US general made clear Wednesday night that he believes Iran meant to kill US troops in the ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq, rebutting a belief among some Trump administration officials that Iran intentionally missed areas populated by Americans. 'I believe based on what I saw and what I know that they were intended to cause structural damage destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel. That's my own personal assessment,' said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when speaking to reporters on Wednesday[.] Milley argued that the reason there were no casualties had 'more to do with the defensive techniques that our forces used as opposed to intent.'... The message runs counter to what some administration officials have suggested to CNN, which is that Iran could have directed their missiles to hit areas that are populated by Americans but intentionally did not. And those officials said Iran may have chosen to send a message rather than take significant enough action to provoke a substantial US military response, a possible signal the administration was looking for rationale to calm the tensions."

Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. officials said they knew by Tuesday afternoon that the Iranians intended to strike at American targets in Iraq, although it was not immediately clear exactly which they would choose. The early warning came from intelligence sources as well as from communications from Iraq that conveyed Iran's intentions to launch the strike, officials said.... In an address from the White House on Wednesday morning, President Trump credited an 'early warning system' for helping prevent loss of life. A defense official later said the president was referring to the radar network the military has searching for potential enemy missiles. At least two sources of intelligence gave the United States time to prepare." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' behind-the-scenes story, by Mark Mazzetti & others, is here.

Peter Beaumont, et al., of the Guardian: "Iran's aviation authority will not hand over flight recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet that crashed moments after take-off from Tehran killing all 176 passengers and crew, either to the aircraft's manufacturer or US aviation authorities.... 'This accident will be investigated by Iran's aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present during the incident's investigation,' [said Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh].... Announcing on his Facebook page that Ukraine would send a team of experts to Iran later on Wednesday, the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: 'Our priority is to establish the truth and those responsible for this terrible catastrophe.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ U.K. Telegraph: "Ukraine has refused to rule out that the plane that crashed in Iran and killed all 176 on board was struck by a missile.... Mr Zelensky instructed Ukraine's prosecutors to open criminal proceedings over the crash." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jeff Wise, in New York, explains why it seems likely the aircraft was shot down. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Secret Services's Secret Expenses. Carol Leonnig & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is seeking to delay a Democratic effort to require the Secret Service to disclose how much it spends protecting President Trump and his family when they travel -- until after the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the discussions. The issue has emerged as a sticking point in recent weeks as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and key senators have been negotiating draft legislation to move the Secret Service back to his department, its historic home. Mnuchin has balked at Democratic demands that the bill require the Secret Service to disclose the costs related to the travel of the president and his adult children within 120 days after it is passed, according to people with knowledge of the talks. Mnuchin has agreed to Democrats' push for a requirement that the Secret Service report its travel expenses but wants such disclosures to begin after the election."

Alexandra Levine & Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Facebook is standing by its policies that allow politicians to lie to voters, while targeting their ads at narrow subsets of the public -- decisions with vast implications for the more than $1 billion in online campaign messaging expected in this year's elections. The online giant announced Thursday morning that it is not changing the most controversial elements of its approach to campaign ads, after months of a debate that has divided Silicon Valley and brought Facebook a barrage of criticism from Democrats. The critics have been most incensed by Facebook's refusal to fact-check politicians' claims, accusing the company of knowingly profiting from deception."

Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Democratic small-dollar donors gave $1 billion through the online fundraising platform ActBlue in 2019, officials said Thursday, highlighting the explosion of online giving on the left heading into the presidential election year. Of the 6 million donors who gave to Democratic candidates and organizations in 2019, half were first-time donors, officials said, pointing to the growing base of contributors who are giving online. Forty percent of the new donors gave multiple times, according to ActBlue, in a sign of the new donors' sustained political interest and engagement."

Dominic Rushe of the Guardian: "McDonald's is being sued by two African American executives who allege they suffered 'systematic but covert' racial discrimination at the fast-food giant. Vicki Guster-Hines and Domineca Neal, senior directors working for McDonald's in Dallas, allege that discrimination at the company worsened under the former chief executive Steve Easterbrook, who took over the company in 2015. UK-born Easterbrook was ousted from the firm last year after it was revealed he had been involved in a romantic relationship with a colleague that broke company rules. He left with over $37m in stock awards and a severance deal of $675,000. During Easterbrook's tenure, Guster-Hines and Neal allege, McDonald's 'conducted a ruthless purge' of high-ranking African Americans and shifted advertising away from black customers. The suit claims the number of African Americans in the top ranks of McDonald's operations fell to seven last year from 42 in 2014.... Guster-Hines and Neal were demoted from vice-president to senior director positions in July 2018 as part of a broader corporate restructuring conducted under Easterbrook."

Beyond the Beltway

Maryland. A Never-Trumper Just Like Trump. Ed Kilgore of New York: "... Governor Larry Hogan Jr. has made a habit of directing state transportation resources toward areas where his family real-estate business is heavily invested[.]... In ... occasions where state transportation decisions appear to have benefited the Hogan Companies, the governor's spokespersons -- when they've deigned to address the appearance of impropriety -- have tried to minimize the governor's personal role in project-specific decisions and have touted a 'trust agreement' that limits Hogan's involvement in company business.... One anonymous but well-placed source in the Maryland Department of Transportation ... says the governor signed off on every major decision made in his appointed secretary's name. And [in] the 'trust agreement' Hogan signed..., he retains almost complete access to the company's books and personnel." Kilgore's post is based on "a very extensive investigative report by the Washington Monthly's Eric Cortellessa...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's probably fair to say that in many cases, the main difference between Trump & GOP Never-Trumpers is that they're running different scams.

Way Beyond

U.K. Kevin Rawlinson & Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to step back from senior roles in the royal family and work towards financial self-sufficiency after a period marked by open warfare with the media over claimed intrusion and bullying. It is understood that no other royal was consulted before the decision was announced on Wednesday evening, and Buckingham Palace was disappointed by the news. Prince Harry and Meghan plan to split their time between the UK and North America, the continent of her birth, as they raise their son, Archie.... The fact the couple did not consult the Queen or Prince Charles that they were to release their bombshell statement has caused disquiet at the heart of the monarchy. Discussions between the monarch and Charles about the couple's future role had only just begun, it is understood.... The couple have appeared increasingly unhappy in recent months with their public roles and the level of scrutiny they have faced.... Harry has inherited millions of pounds from his relatives' estates, including from his mother, and, prior to taking a public role, Meghan was a highly successful actor. The Queen also gave them a home to live in. Harry and Meghan indicated they would seek paid work in future and would fulfil some royal duties if asked to do so, suggesting such work would continue to be funded in the usual way."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Mamie Lang Kirkland died last month at her home in upstate New York. She was the mother of nine, the matriarch of another 158, a longtime saleswoman for Avon Products, and, at the time of her death, at 111, the oldest resident of Buffalo.... She was also the embodiment of the African-American experience of the 20th century, her life's long journey altered repeatedly by the racial violence and bigotry coursing through the United States. Lynchings, riots, the Ku Klux Klan -- she survived it all, and spent her centenarian years working to ensure that these realities never slipped from collective memory. Her life helped inspire the creation, in 2018, of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, Ala. Both document the country's history of racial terrorism and encourage social justice."

New York Times: "Buck Henry, a writer and actor who exerted an often overlooked but potent influence on television and movie comedy -- creating the loopy prime-time spy spoof 'Get Smart' with Mel Brooks, writing the script for Mike Nichols's landmark social satire 'The Graduate' and teaming up with John Belushi in the famous samurai sketches on 'Saturday Night Live' -- died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 89."

The Commentariat -- January 8, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump backed away from further military confrontation with Iran on Wednesday after a barrage of missiles fired at American troops killed no one and Tehran indicated that would be the end of its retaliation for the killing of a top general." Mrs. McC: Another one of the speeches Trump delivered in his "hostage" monotone. BTW, the brass who allowed themselves to be used as a shiny human backdrop for a speech that was bound to contains outrageous lies & misdirection (and of course it did) should be ashamed of themselves. Some of them managed to look like hostages, too, and that's probably how they felt. ~~~

~~~ Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump's big speech about the situation in Iran is not getting strong early reviews, in no small part because he spent much of it blaming former President Barack Obama for the current tensions with Tehran."

Peter Beaumont, et al., of the Guardian: "Iran's aviation authority will not hand over flight recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet that crashed moments after take-off from Tehran killing all 176 passengers and crew, either to the aircraft's manufacturer or US aviation authorities.... 'This accident will be investigated by Iran's aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present during the incident's investigation,' [said Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh].... Announcing on his Facebook page that Ukraine would send a team of experts to Iran later on Wednesday, the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: 'Our priority is to establish the truth and those responsible for this terrible catastrophe.'" ~~~

~~~ U.K. Telegraph: "Ukraine has refused to rule out that the plane that crashed in Iran and killed all 176 on board was struck by a missile.... Mr Zelensky instructed Ukraine's prosecutors to open criminal proceedings over the crash." ~~~

~~~ Jeff Wise, in New York, explains why it seems likely the aircraft was shot down.

~~~~~~~~~~

New York Times live updates for Wednesday on developments in the Iran crisis are here.

"All Is Well." Really? Phil Helsel of NBC News: "'All is well!' ... Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday night after Iran launched ballistic missiles at U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. The president also said he would make a statement Wednesday morning. 'Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!' the president tweeted." ~~~

~~~ MSNBC is reporting that Iran has said it won't launch new attacks if the U.S. does not retaliate. Mrs. McC: I can't find a print version of this, but the Guardian (@ 21:37 ET) has published a tweet from Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif: "Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression." ~~~

~~~ ** Hamdi Alkhshali, et al., of CNN: "Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases that hold US troops in what appears to be retaliation for the American airstrike that killed a top Iranian general last week, the Pentagon said Tuesday. A US official told CNN that there were no initial reports of any US casualties, but an assessment of the impact of the strikes is underway. There are casualties among the Iraqis at Ain al-Asad airbase following the attack, an Iraqi security source tells CNN. The number of casualties and whether the individuals were killed or wounded was not immediately clear. White House aides are making plans for a possible address to the nation by ... Donald Trump, according to two officials." ~~~

~~~ ** New York Times Live Updates (Tuesday): "Iran attacked two American bases in Iraq early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and United States officials said, the start of what Iran had promised would be retaliation for the killing of a top Revolutionary Guards commander. 'The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,' Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on a Telegram channel. Iranian news media reported the attacks hours after the remains of the commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial. Hossein Soleimani, the editor in chief of Mashregh, the main Revolutionary Guards news website, said that more than 30 ballistic missiles had been fired at the American base at Asad, in Anbar Province, in western Iraq. There were also rockets fired at an American base in Erbil, in northern Iraq." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: According to Richard Engel of NBC News, these are Iraqi bases that house American troops. Engel suggests that the attacks could make Iraq even more adamant about forcing the U.S. to "reposition" its troops to someplace not Iraq. More on this below.

Daniel Victor, et al., of the New York Times: "A Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 carrying 176 people on Wednesday crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing everyone on board. The circumstances of the crash are not fully known. The Iranian state news media cited technical problems on the plane, which was bound for Kyiv.... The disaster happened against the backdrop of the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which on Tuesday attacked two bases in Iraq that house American troops. It also has the potential to add to the crisis at Boeing, which has been dealing with the fallout from two crashes involving a different jet.... After the crash, Ukraine's Embassy in Iran initially issued a statement ruling out terrorism or a rocket attack as a cause of the crash. But the statement was later removed from the embassy's website and replaced by a statement saying it was too early to draw any conclusions about what had happened." A Reuters story is here.

Matt Stieb of New York: "On Tuesday, the president of the United States reluctantly walked back his threat to commit war crimes by bombing cultural sites in Iran. 'They are allowed to kill our people,' Trump said before reporters in the White House. 'They are allowed to maim our people, they're allowed to blow up everything that we have and there's nothing to stop them. We are, according to various laws, supposed to be very careful with their cultural heritage. And you know what, if that's what the law is, I like to obey the law.' Though that last point could be contested -- his career before politics suggests a businessman that does not like to obey the law -- his comment is a major backpedal from his Saturday threat to strike 52 cultural sites in Iran, one for each of the Americans held during the hostage crisis following the 1979 revolution. [On Sunday,] Trump even doubled down on the threat.... Trump's reversal on a topic he has expressed great interest in -- by pardoning and campaigning with accused U.S. war criminals and threatening to commit war crimes as a candidate in 2015 -- was likely influenced by pushback in his administration." ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday said he did not intend to quickly move troops from Iraq in his first lengthy comments about Middle East turbulence following the U.S. air strike that killed a top Iranian military general.... 'Eventually we want to be able to let Iraq run its own affairs, and that's very important. So at some point we want to get out. But this isn't the right point,' Trump told reporters during a meeting with the Greek prime minister Tuesday."

Nicole Gaouette & Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday defended the basis for killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani because of the threat of an imminent strike but declined to present any evidence, saying President Donald Trump's decision was 'entirely legal.'... Pompeo ... didn't offer any evidence of looming threats, but instead referred to past events that he said Soleimani was responsible for." The story will be updated. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Watch that POS lie to Andrea Mitchell about Trump's repeated threats to destroy Iran's cultural sites. Ken W. posited in today's comments that Pompouspeo is a chicken. Pompeo went on the teevee to prove it (again) today:

~~~ Pompeo's "Credibility Problem." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a news conference Tuesday in which some believed that he walked back just how 'imminent' a threat Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani posed. Asked about the topic, Pompeo pretended journalists were too consumed with that word (even though Pompeo has used it). And then rather than shed new light, Pompeo opted to talk about what Soleimani had already done, before adding that Soleimani's campaigns could 'lead potentially to the death of many more Americans.'... Pompeo is an imperfect messenger taking the lead for a notoriously untruthful president.... He'll often be asked to account for the things Trump says and pretend that the mere question is ludicrous.... NBC's Andrea Mitchell asked Pompeo whether he would prevent Trump from [attacking Iran's cultural sites], and Pompeo pretended the question was ridiculous.... 'I was unambiguous on Sunday. It is completely consistent with what the president has said,' [Pompeo told Mitchell.] Except it's not. And the fact that Pompeo insists it is ... makes it difficult to take him at face value. Now is the time when something like that matters most." ~~~

~~~ ** This Is Mike's Mess. Edward Wong & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the loudest voice in the administration pushing President Trump to kill Iran's most important general. This week, he is back in his role as the nation's top diplomat, trying to contain the international crisis the general's death created.... As Iran begins retaliating aggressively, Mr. Pompeo, 56, could become known as the man who helped lead the United States into another conflict in the Middle East -- breaking one of Mr. Trump's key campaign promises just as the president faces re-election.... Days after becoming secretary of state in 2018, Mr. Pompeo pushed Mr. Trump to withdraw from the nuclear agreement and reimpose strict sanctions on Iran.... In April, he advised Mr. Trump to designate as a foreign terrorist organization the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, an arm of the Iranian military that includes General Suleimani's elite Quds Force.... The upheaval is unfolding at a pace that Mr. Trump and top aides never expected, officials said. Millions of Iranians have taken to the streets to protest General Suleimani's killing -- a drastic change from only weeks ago, when demonstrators were denouncing the rulers in Tehran. European allies have expressed anger to Mr. Pompeo over the strike, which they were not told about in advance. And Mr. Pompeo has been unable to convince Iraq's government that the United States remains a reliable partner."

Mustafa Salim, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Iraqi government has interpreted a letter delivered by the U.S. military advising of a 'repositioning' of U.S. forces as a signal of an intent to withdraw, Iraqi officials said Tuesday, even as the Pentagon strenuously denied that any decision has been made to pull out of the country that has embroiled the U.S. military in conflict for most of the past 30 years. The letter delivered to the office of Iraq's caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, on Monday cited 'deference' to a vote in the Iraqi parliament calling on all foreign forces to leave by way of explaining an expected increase in U.S. helicopter activity over the Baghdad airport in the 'coming days and weeks.' The U.S. military wants 'to ensure that the movement out of Iraq is conducted in a safe and efficient manner,' the letter said. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the letter a 'mistake' and a 'poorly worded' draft. U.S. military officials said such letters are routine, intended to keep their Iraqi counterparts abreast of intended U.S. troop movements to avoid misunderstandings." ~~~

~~~ Ron DePasquale of the New York Times: "NATO is removing some of the trainers who have been working with Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State, in the aftermath of the American killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran in Baghdad.The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on Monday that the training had been temporarily suspended. For the security of NATO personnel, the organization said in a statement that it would be taking precautions -- including 'the temporary repositioning of some personnel to different locations both inside and outside Iraq.'NATO, which has been running the training operation since 2018, will continue to maintain a presence in Iraq and remains committed to fighting international terrorism, an official said, while refusing to divulge details about troop movements." ~~~

~~~ Bruce Campion-Smith of the Toronto Star: "Canada is moving some of the troops deployed to help improve security in Iraq out of that country to ensure their safety amid rising regional tensions following Washington's targeted killing of a prominent Iranian general. Canada joined other allies such as Germany, Romania and Croatia in promising to shift personnel as concerns mounted over the threat of regional violence. Those fears were realized just hours after the plan was announced when Iran fired a barrage of missiles targeting U.S. and coalition forces at Iraqi military bases at at Al-Assad and Erbil." ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Senior administration officials have begun drafting sanctions against Iraq after President Trump publicly threatened the country with economic penalties if it proceeded to expel U.S. troops, according to three people briefed on the planning.... Such a step would represent a highly unusual move against a foreign ally that the United States has spent almost two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars supporting. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations, emphasized talks were preliminary and no final decision has been made on whether to impose the sanctions." The Hill has a summary of the WashPo report. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "As President Trump grappled with how to respond to Iran throughout the last year, one of the people he turned to for advice was his personal attorney and unofficial envoy, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor has had a long-standing interest in Iranian affairs. He was once paid by organizations linked to an Iranian dissident group formally designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization -- until Giuliani helped get the outfit off the terror list.... As recently as the summer of 2018, Giuliani appeared on stage at an event for the People's Mojahedin of Iran, known by its Farsi acronym, MEK.... There's no indication that Giuliani plugged the MEK specifically in his discussions with the president, or that he's promoted specific military or foreign policy proposals. But Giuliani acknowledges that his beliefs fall on the aggressive end of the policy spectrum when it comes to Iran policy." --s

Mehdi Hasan of the Intercept explains Trump's Iran debacle -- s:

~~~ Daniel Nakamura & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump has sought to demonstrate strong and decisive leadership in the targeted killing of Iran's top general, but he has overseen a chaotic and mistake-prone public response since the operation.... In the days after a U.S. military drone killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport, Trump and his top advisers have refused to provide details of what prompted the decision to strike and offered conflicting accounts over whether Soleimani was coordinating imminent attacks on U.S. facilities in the Middle East. The lack of clear information continued late Tuesday in Washington, after Iran said it retaliated for Soleimani's death with missile attacks on military bases in Iraq. The White House announced Trump would make no public remarks in response Tuesday night, nor would any other senior administration officials. Hours later, Trump tweeted that he would address the nation Wednesday morning."

Eric Tucker of the AP: "The killing of a top Iranian general has ratcheted up the anxiety of families of Americans held in Iran, one month after the release of a New Jersey student had given them hope. The Trump administration has made a priority of bringing home hostages held abroad, but the prospect of a forthcoming resolution for the handful of captives in Iran seems to have dimmed with the two nations edging dangerously close to conflict and warning of retaliatory strikes and continued agitation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Senate Republican leaders are preparing to move forward on a set of impeachment trial rules without Democratic support. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is on the verge of having sufficient backing in his 53-member caucus to pass a blueprint for the trial that leaves the question of seeking witnesses and documents until after opening arguments are made, according to multiple senators. That framework would mirror the contours of President Bill Clinton's trial and ignore Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's demands for witnesses and new evidence." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The reporters don't mention that during Clinton's impeachment trial, Ken Starr's witch hunt had got plenty of first-hand evidence, from Monica Lewinsky to Bill Clinton's deposition & DNA. Claiming the Trump rules "mirror" the Clinton rules is a crock when you figure in, as is necessary, Trump's forceful stonewall. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Update: NPR ran exactly the same kind of report Tuesday afternoon; they made McConnell & Republicans seem fair & reasonable. ~~~

~~~ Olivia Beavers & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leaning into her plans to withhold sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, amplifying her position Tuesday that she won't deliver them until she knows what a trial in the upper chamber will look like. Pelosi, writing in a letter to her Democratic colleagues, called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to promptly unveil the resolution that will lay out the guidelines for the trial centered on President Trump's contacts with Ukraine and whether they warrant his removal from office. The Democratic leader dug in on her plans to withhold the articles after McConnell announced at a press conference earlier in the day that Republicans 'have the votes' to pass a resolution to start the impeachment trial without requiring additional witnesses and key documents.... The Democratic leader also continued to hammer McConnell for his earlier remarks that he would be in 'total coordination' with the White House on strategy for the impeachment trial. ~~~

~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Democrats will force votes on witnesses at the start of the impeachment trial even as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has secured enough support to delay the decision until mid-trial. 'Make no mistake, on the question of witnesses and documents, Republicans may run but they can't hide. There will be votes at the beginning on whether to call the four witnesses we've proposed and subpoena the documents we've identified,' Schumer said.... McConnell wants to pass two resolutions: The first, at the outset of the trial, would only deal with the rules. The Senate could then pass a second resolution, after opening arguments and questions from senators, that would determine which, if any, witnesses will be called."

Josh Gerstein & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Federal prosecutors on Tuesday called for up to six months of prison time for Michael Flynn, arguing that the former Trump national security adviser's shift to a more combative defense strategy shows he's no longer exhibiting the remorse he did when he pleaded guilty in 2017 to a felony charge of lying to the FBI. The notable shift in the Justice Department's stance comes after it initially said it was open to a sentence of probation as Flynn's punishment when he was cooperating with government investigators in special counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling investigation of ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.... After providing the government significant help -- participating in 19 interviews with the Mueller team and other Justice Department prosecutors -- he reversed course by hiring a new team of lawyers, who have tried without success to get the initial case dismissed." The New York Times story is here.

Jim Mustian & Alan Suderman of the AP: "Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a major donor to ... Donald Trump's inaugural committee with obstructing a federal investigation into whether foreign nationals unlawfully contributed to the inaugural celebrations. The donor, Imaad Zuberi, recently pleaded guilty in a separate case in Los Angeles to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and failing to register as a foreign agent. A criminal information filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court accuses Zuberi, a globe-trotting Los Angeles venture capitalist, of taking' numerous steps' to interfere with the investigation into where the inaugural committee received its funding. Prosecutors say Zuberi backdated a $50,000 check and also deleted emails. Zuberi, a prolific fundraiser who has also donated large sums to Democrats, gave $900,000 to Trump's inaugural committee in the months after the president's 2016 election. The criminal complaint says that donation 'was in fact funded using money obtained from other sources,' including a would-be inaugural donor The Associated Press has identified as Murat Guzel, a Turkish-American businessman who has ties to the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [and is a member of the Democratic National Committee]." Mrs. McC: Looks like the only kind of "convictions" these guys are likely to have are the ones that may land them in jail.

** Frank Rich, in a long New York essay on the fate of Vichy Republicans: "... Trump collaborators are kidding themselves if they think that post-Trump image-laundering through 'good works' or sheer historical amnesia will cleanse their names of the Trump taint as easily as his residential complexes in Manhattan have shed their Trump signage. A century of history -- and not just American history -- says otherwise.... The stench of disrepute that will cling to Trump's collaborators is likely to exceed the posthumous punishment of Nixon's dead-enders for the simple reason that Nixon's White House horrors weren't in the same league."

Presidential Race

Quint Forgey of Politico: "The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, said on Tuesday that the party organization would reschedule next week's presidential primary debate in Iowa if the televised event conflicts with ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate."

Alex Kantrowitz of BuzzFeed News: "... Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is wasting little time capitalizing on the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Just three days after the death of the head of Iran's Quds Force, the president's reelection campaign began to run hundreds of ads praising Trump for ordering the killing -- a decision that had been declined by presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama."

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's reelection campaign is planning to drop $10 million to advertise during the Super Bowl, the start of a massive election-year spending spree that will intensify over the coming months, according to four people briefed on the plans. The campaign has purchased 60 seconds of commercial time during the Feb. 2 Super Bowl, which is likely to be the most-watched television event of the year. The ad or ads -- it's unclear whether it will be a single 60-second spot or a pair of 30-second commercials -- are expected to run early in the game, when viewership is likely to be at its highest."

Presidential Race 2024. In case you are a fan of Nikki Haley, Ed Kilgore of New York -- with a little help from Aaron Blake & Philip Bump of the Washington Post -- will disabuse you of your admiration for that sweet-faced harridan. ~~~

~~~ Jill Filipovic in a CNN opinion piece: "How much has Trumpism broken the GOP? Just look at Nikki Haley.... On Fox News Monday, Haley made the despicable claim that Democratic leaders and Democratic candidates for president are 'the only ones that are mourning the loss of Soleimani,' the leader of Iran's Quds Force who was killed by a Trump-ordered attack. Never mind that there's no evidence -- not one iota -- for this claim. Not a single Democratic leader, candidate or other politician, 'mourned' Soleimani or expressed sadness over the man's death. To the contrary: They nearly to a one noted that he was a vicious actor, a man with the blood of thousands on his hands. But they also did what real stateswomen and men are supposed to do: Analyze the full picture."

Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Rep. Duncan Hunter will officially step down from Congress next week, more than a month after the California Republican pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds. Hunter had previously said he would leave Congress after the holidays. His resignation will take effect Jan. 13, according to a copy of the letter he sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday.... Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) does not have to call a special election because the nomination period has closed and it's an election year, raising the prospect that the seat could remain vacant for the rest of 2020."

Michael Sainato of the Guardian: "A December 2019 poll conducted by Gallup found 25% of Americans say they or a family member have delayed medical treatment for a serious illness due to the costs of care, and an additional 8% report delaying medical treatment for less serious illnesses.... Despite millions of Americans delaying medical treatment due to the costs, the US still the most on healthcare of any developed nation in the world, while covering fewer people and achieving worse overall health outcomes.... A 2009 study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School found 45,000 Americans die every year as a direct result of not having any health insurance coverage. In 2018, 27.8 million Americans went without any health insurance for the entire year." --s

The Image of Innocence. Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: "A black SUV pulled to the curb [in front of a Manhattan courthouse Monday], and as Harvey Weinstein emerged from the passenger side, his metal walker was fetched from the back. An assistant hastened it over to the disgraced movie mogul, who then began his hunched shuffle past photographers. The walker's legs were inserted into yellow tennis balls, which -- and here seems like an appropriate place to mention that Weinstein's films were often celebrations of costume design and attention to detail -- looked dingy. Weinstein had back surgery last month. It's entirely possible that the walker was necessary to his recovery (before the surgery, critics noted that he used the walker for public court appearances, but appeared to walk unaided when privately shopping).... When Weinstein arrived for the opening of his highly anticipated trial, he'd assembled a meticulous wardrobe for a specific character: a weakened man.... Weinstein's career was about accruing power. His alleged crimes were about abusing it. And his defense is about erasing it, a special effect communicating that he's either too broken to punish or, possibly, to have committed the crimes in the first place." See also Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona, etc. Thankfully, He's a Republican. Jacques Billeaud of the AP: "An elected official in metro Phoenix resigned Tuesday, months after being charged with running a human smuggling operation that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give up their babies in the U.S. The resignation of Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen came after leaders in the one of the nation's most populous counties suspended and pressured him to resign after his arrest nearly three months ago. The county's governing board voted in late December to start the process of removing Petersen, who also works as an adoption attorney. He is accused of illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to come to the United States to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years. Citizens of the Marshall Islands have been prohibited from traveling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003.... Authorities say the women who went to Utah to give birth received little or no prenatal care. They also said Petersen and his associates took passports from the pregnant women while they were in the U.S. to assert more control over them.... Petersen previously rejected calls to resign and was fighting his 120-day unpaid suspension. Thousands of files related to his adoption business were discovered on his government laptop, cementing the board's push to remove him. Content recovered on the laptop included text messages of pregnant women being threatened when they changed their minds about giving up their newborns." The Arizona Republic story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In case you're wondering how Petersen came up with this deplorable enterprise, the AP has the answer: "As a member of The Church of Jesus Christs of Latter-day Saints, he completed a proselytizing mission in the Marshall Islands...." Divine!