The Commentariat -- May 23, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "If Mr. Trump's preplanned Rose Garden explosionproved anything, it is that the president is willing to sacrifice his own stated policy agenda [link fixed] to keep 'presidential harassment' front and center, and that the speaker, who wants to focus on policy, is leveraging decades of hard-won political capital to keep her party from pursuing an impeachment path that she believes could cost House Democrats their majority in 2020 and keep Mr. Trump in the White House.... For now, she is guided by two political goals: protecting the 40 newly elected Democratic members, who largely come from moderate or conservative districts, and avoiding Mr. Trump's traps. And Wednesday was a good day for her.... But even Ms. Pelosi's closest allies wonder how long she can hold the line against impeachment if the president continues to ignore the House's demands."

Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "Calls for President Trump to resign began circulating on Twitter on Thursday morning, mocking the president for throwing a '#TrumpTantrum' and walking out of a meeting with Democratic leadership this week.... The official Twitter account for The Democratic Coalition, an anti-Trump super PAC that targets Republican officials and candidates, began circulating calls for Trump to resign over the incident.... The #TrumpMustResign hashtag quickly gained momentum online, with more than 60,000 people using it on Twitter."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "This is not the work of an orderly mind. President Trump stormed into the Cabinet Room 15 minutes late Wednesday morning and news conference -- or, more accurately, a 12-minute parade of paranoia.... People often describe him as 'unraveling,' but that implies he was once fully knitted.... At the moment, he seems to be transparently mad."

Andrew Martin of Bloomberg via Yahoo!: "A Chicago banker who lent millions of dollars to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was charged by prosecutors with bribery for seeking a post in the Trump administration in return for $16 million in loans. Stephen Calk was appointed to a post as economic adviser to Donald Trump's campaign in summer 2016, days after his bank approved a $9.5 million loan, federal prosecutors in New York said. Months later, after Trump was elected president, Calk was recommended for a position in the Trump administration while loans worth more than $6 million were awaiting approval at Calk's bank, they said. Calk presented a list of positions he wanted, ranking them from secretary of the Treasury on down to 19 ambassador posts beginning with the U.K. and France, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. A former U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Calk, 54, faces a single count of financial institution bribery."

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue Uses More Cash to Paper over Trump's Disastrous Trade Wars. Jeff Daniels & Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "The Trump administration announced a $16 billion trade aid program for American farmers that includes a three-prong trade aid package for American farmers who have been hurt by the U.S. trade war with China. The centerpiece of the program is cash payments totaling $14.5 billion to producers of a variety of crops as well as dairy and pork producers impacted by retaliatory tariffs. U.S. tariff revenue collected by the Treasury would be used to support the payment program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture."

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "A top Democratic official on Wednesday canceled a planned fund-raiser for an anti-abortion congressman [Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.)] that had prompted an outcry among progressives, raising the question of whether there is room left in the party for lawmakers who oppose abortion at a moment when numerous Republican-controlled states are trying to effectively outlaw the procedure. The decision by Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois, the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, underscored the extent to which support for abortion rights has become a central litmus test for Democrats in the aftermath of President Trump's two appointments to the Supreme Court."

Mayor Pete Takes on Cadet Bone Spurs. Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast: "... on Thursday morning, [Pete] Buttigieg brought up his own military service in a newly aggressive way, telling a reporter during a live event that ... Donald Trump faked a disability to avoid serving in the Vietnam War -- a pointed reference to the long-disputed diagnosis of bone spurs that kept Trump from serving. Buttigieg, himself a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was responding to a question from The Washington Post's Robert Costa about potentially debating the president.... 'I have a pretty dim view of his decision to use his privileged status to fake a disability in order to avoid serving in Vietnam,' Buttigieg replied.... '... this is somebody who, I think it's fairly obvious to most of us, took advantage of the fact that he was the child of a multi-millionaire in order to pretend to be disabled so that somebody could go to war in his place.'"

The part of Rachel Maddow's Wednesday opening segment that begins at about 10:35 minutes in is particularly good. Maddows shows how former presidents Nixon & Clinton, when facing the threat of impeachment, kept on keeping on, as opposed of course to our Fake President*, who announced he would not work with Congress until they stop doing their oversight job:

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

John Fritze & Michael Collins of USA Today: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused ... Donald Trump of having a 'temper tantrum' over Democratic investigations Wednesday and suggested his Rose Garden blowup was about politics more than infrastructure. ''Sadly, the only job the president seems to be concerned with is his own,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to lawmakers released to reporters. 'He threatened to stop working with Democrats on all legislation unless we end oversight of his administration and he had a temper tantrum for us all to see.' Trump disputed that characterization in a tweet late Wednesday. 'This is not true. I was purposely very polite and calm, much as I was minutes later with the press in the Rose Garden,' Trump wrote. 'Can be easily proven. It is all such a lie!'"

Trump Goes Nuts. Peter Baker & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump abruptly blew up a scheduled meeting with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday, lashing out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing him of a cover-up and declaring that he could not work with them until they stopped investigating him. He then marched out into the Rose Garden, where reporters had been gathered, and delivered a statement bristling with anger as he demanded that Democrats' get these phony investigations over with.' He said they could not legislate and investigate at the same time. 'We're going to go down one track at a time,' he said.... When [Pelosi] and Senator Chuck Schumer arrived at the White House, Mr. Trump was loaded for bear. He walked into the Cabinet Room, did not shake anyone's hand or sit in his seat, according to a Democrat informed about the meeting. He said he wanted to advance legislation on infrastructure, trade and other matters, but that 'Speaker Pelosi said something terrible today and accused me of a cover-up,' according to the Democrat. After just three minutes, he left the room before anyone else could speak, the Democrat said." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Once again, Nancy easily boxed Donnie into a corner. No one thought Democrats & Republicans would get together on an infrastructure bill, but before today, that impasse appeared to be a function of partisan gridlock. Now, by declaring that he couldn't work with Congress at all while oversight investigations continued, Trump took 100 percent ownership of the barren landscape. It is not Democrats who can't do two things at once; it's Trump. He boasted about it. Chuck Schumer walked into the scheduled meeting-that-wasn't with a 35-page infrastructure plan. The administration had nothing, although Democrats had previously asked him -- and Trump agreed -- to prepare his own plans for financing infrastructure projects. Many voters are aware that Congress is always investigating stuff; that's part of their mandate. Trump has announced he can't do anything while Congress is doing its job. For the next 17 months, he has nothing left to do but lock himself in the residence & watch Fox "News." Nancy whupped him. ...

... Trish Turner, et al., of ABC News: Trump “was angry that just hours earlier, Pelosi, after a hastily-called Democratic caucus meeting on members' growing calls for impeachment, said, 'We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States, and we believe the president of the United States in engaged in a cover-up.'... The president, according to sources, was mad from first thing Wednesday morning and the Pelosi remarks about a 'cover-up' pushed him over the edge. He then demanded to speak to cameras.... Senior level administration sources tell ABC News some aides close to the president tried to stop him for marching to the Rose Garden for the last-minute press conference.... But the president may have played into Pelosi's hands. Instead of attention aimed on how she is trying to hold her caucus back from impeachment -- a step Democratic leaders think could imperil their chances of taking down Trump at the ballot box in 2020 -- Pelosi and Schumer could change the focus to the president's behavior." ...

... Earlier That Same Day ... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump complained Wednesday that the fresh push from some congressional Democrats for impeachment proceedings amounts to 'presidential harassment,' bemoaning ahead of a Democratic Caucus meeting that lawmakers 'are getting zero work done.' 'Everything the Democrats are asking me for is based on an illegally started investigation that failed for them, especially when the Mueller Report came back with a NO COLLUSION finding,' dismissing their efforts as a fishing attempt in order to bolster an impeachment inquiry,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'Now they say Impeach President Trump, even though he did nothin [sic] wrong, while they "fish!"'" Mrs. McC: In other words, he ranted all morning long. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: A couple of weeks ago, Nancy Pelosi remarked that Trump "is almost self-impeaching." Pundits couldn't figure out what she meant. Well, now Trump has done the show to Pelosi's tell: he has publicly announced that he will not carry out his sworn Constitutionally-mandated oath to faithfully execute the Office of President"; that is, that he will abdicate. Lawrence O'Donnell views Trump's refusal to perform his duties as yet another impeachable offense. ...

... Justin Wise of the Hill: "CNN host Jake Tapper on Wednesday fact-checked what he called 'lies' and 'flat out misleading' statistics displayed on a sign President Trump used to complement his criticism of Democrats and special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.... He takes issue with the poster's inclusion of the statements, 'No Collusion' and 'No Obstruction.' Tapper notes that while Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to conclude a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow took place, that it did identify numerous links between the two. 'Mueller specifically said that collusion was not a legal term and the report was not going to address it all,' Tapper said, going onto note that Mueller made no conclusive determination regarding obstruction of justice. 'And if you read the report, Mueller in detail describes at least 10 instances which may have constituted obstruction. And Mueller clearly leaves itup to Congress to proceed,' he said." ...

... Steve Benen of NBC News: "First, Trump's infrastructure plan was already dying due to Republican opposition. Even his White House chief of staff has said he's against Trump's plan. By walking away from today's meeting, the president is obviously trying to blame Democrats for the fact that Trump couldn't even get his own party to sign on.... Second, we already know the president's excuse -- he won't work with lawmakers investigating his scandals -- is demonstrably false. Indeed, Trump sat down with Democratic leaders three weeks ago to work on an infrastructure deal, and there were several ongoing congressional investigations underway at the time.... Telling Democrats the legislative process will end unless they end all oversight isn't much of a threat. Mitch McConnell has already derailed the legislative process, and if every investigation of Trump's scandals were to end today, the infrastructure plan would still have no chance of success." ...

... Snark Attack. Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "'I knew he was looking for a way out,' Pelosi said [after Trump walked out of the scheduled meeting].... 'We were expecting this.' [Kellyanne] Conway then asked Pelosi if she had 'a direct response' to Trump's complaints. The House Speaker told Conway that she was going to respond to the President, not his staff, the Times reported. 'Really great,' Conway shot back. 'That's really pro-woman of you.'" ...

... Oops! Grant Stern of the Washington Press: "It would appear that President Trump admitted that he lied in written answers given to Special Counsel Robert Mueller during his appearance at the White House [Wednesday] morning[:] 'You heard so much talk about phone calls made that my son made to me from this meeting ...' Trump continued, seemingly referring to the infamous June 9th, 2016 meeting where his son Don Jr met indicted Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. 'Of the three calls, that were so horrible, that he had a meeting and called me, and had the meeting after and he made two more calls.'... That statement is pivotal because it directly contradicts the story that Trump gave under oath to Special Counsel Mueller in response to the prosecutor's questions about who knew what when, over events that the Senate Intel Committee's investigation is still probing. Don Jr. is set to testify to that panel early next month. 'Trump just admitted he received a call from Don Jr., before "the" meeting which corroborates Michael Cohen's testimony to Mueller,' says attorney and MSNBC legal contributor Katie Phang. 'It's now fair to say that Donald Trump and his son have lied about the elder Trump knowing about this meeting happening, and why it happened.'... The Mueller Report concluded ... that there was no documentary evidence of [Donald Senior's] knowledge that Don Jr. had met with the Russians." Emphasis original. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Stern appears to be right. Unfortunately, Trump's syntax is so hopelessly garbled that I think he can wiggle out of the accidental admission.

Never-Trumper Rick Wilson of The Daily Beast: "I've been a deep skeptic of impeachment as a political strategy, putting me solidly in the Nancy Pelosi go-slow camp. I've argued time and again that the smart play is IIABN: Impeachment in All but Name.... Can you make an impeachment case for obstruction based purely on the released information in the Mueller Report? Absolutely. Are you there yet politically? Nope.... I feel your pain and frustration, but unless you convict him in the Senate and destroy his political future, you're not fucking anyone; you're just enjoying a masturbatory revenge fantasy.... It's a damn good week.... The arc of this story is moving the right direction. Keep doing the things that work, Democrats. Impeachment is the end goal, not the first step, and you're closing in." --s

** Emily Flitter of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday rejected President Trump's request to block his longtime lender, Deutsche Bank, from complying with congressional subpoenas. Judge Edgardo Ramos of United States District Court in Manhattan issued his ruling after hearing arguments from lawyers for Mr. Trump and his family, as well as two Democratic-controlled congressional committees. 'I will not enjoin enforcement of the subpoenas,' Mr. Ramos said, and added that he thought it was unlikely Mr. Trump and his family would win in a trial. The ruling was the second setback this week for Mr. Trump's efforts to prevent the release of his financial records.... The decision came the same day the New York legislature passed a bill that would allow Congress to obtain Mr. Trump's state tax returns from the state."

Leigh Ann Caldwell & Alex Moe of NBC News: "A key congressional committee has already gained access to ... Donald Trump's dealings with two major financial institutions, two sources familiar with the House probe tell NBC News, as a court ruling Wednesday promised to open the door for even more records to be handed over. Wells Fargo and TD Bank are the two of nine institutions that have so far complied with subpoenas issued by the House Financial Services Committee [chaired by Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)] demanding information about their dealings with the Trump Organization, according to the sources."

Eric Tucker of the AP: "It was Michael Cohen's numerous contacts with a Russia-linked company and a sudden flow of foreign money into a bank account he controlled that led federal investigators to look into whether the money might be part of a plan to lift U.S. sanctions on Russia, according to court filings unsealed Wednesday. Five search warrant applications, from the early stages of ... Robert Mueller's Russia investigation in 2017, were made public in response to requests from The Associated Press and other media organizations.... Investigators were especially curious about deposits of about $500,000 from an account linked to an investment management firm, Columbus Nova, LLC. The warrants tie that firm and the holding company that controls it to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch with ties to ... Vladimir Putin.... Prosecutors said Cohen exchanged over 230 phone calls and 950 text messages with the CEO of Columbus Nova between Nov. 8, 2016, and July 14, 2017. There were no text messages or telephone calls before Election Day in 2016, prosecutors said."

Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday said that the department is trying to find out who wrote a draft IRS memo that found that the agency has to provide tax returns to Congress unless executive privilege is invoked." Mrs. McC: Hmm, sounds like an actual witch hunt. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News: "... Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify on Capitol Hill about his involvement in Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump presidential campaign.... 'I think he should be brought before' the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, and we are taking steps along that regard,' said Schiff. The remarks came in a conversation with MSNBC host Ari Melber, who interviewed Schiff as part of the annual Ideas Conference of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.... A Harvard-trained lawyer, Schiff chose his response to Melber carefully. 'It would be more than reasonable to infer that I think it's fully appropriate for him to come and testify before Congress,' he said. Schiff said he specifically wanted to know the circumstances under which Rosenstein wrote the Comey memo, and whether he was aware that Trump was planning to use that document as a pretext to fire the FBI director. Schiff also wondered if writing that memo should have led to Rosenstein recusing himself from the Russia investigation -- or, at the very least, to an official ethics opinion about his involvement." ...

... Ha Ha. Naomi Lin of the Washington Examiner: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., doesn't believe Attorney General William Barr should remain the country's top law enforcement officer, comparing him in colorful terms with President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. 'I hesitate to call him the AG -- he's really more the personal attorney to the president,' Schiff told the Center for American Progress' 2019 Ideas Conference in Washington, D.C. 'I think Bill Barr has all the duplicity of Rudy Giuliani without the good looks and general likability.'"

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House Intelligence Committee has postponed a potential vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, citing efforts by the Justice Department to comply with their demand for access to ... Robert Mueller's files. 'The Department of Justice has accepted our offer of a first step towards compliance with our subpoena, and this week will begin turning over to the Committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production,' committee chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement Wednesday. 'That initial production should be completed by the end of next week.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Jim Mustian & Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Michael Avenatti, the attorney who rocketed to fame through his representation of porn star Stormy Daniels in her battles with ... Donald Trump, was charged Wednesday with ripping her off. Federal prosecutors in New York City say Avenatti used a doctored document to divert about $300,000 that Daniels was supposed to get from a book deal, then used the money for personal and business expenses. Only half of that money was paid back, prosecutors said. Daniels isn't named in the court filing, but the details of the case ... make it clear that she is the client involved. Avenatti denied the allegations on Twitter.... Avenatti was previously charged in New York with trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to expose claims that the shoemaker paid off high school basketball players to steer them to Nike-sponsored colleges. And in Los Angeles, he's facing a multicount federal indictment alleging that he stole millions of dollars from clients, didn't pay taxes, committed bank fraud and lied during bankruptcy proceedings."

When an Ignoramus Met a Wily Pro. John Hudson & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Russian President Vladimir Putin out-prepared President Trump during a key meeting in Germany, putting the U.S. leader at a disadvantage during their first series of tête-à-têtes. The U.S. side anticipated a shorter meeting for exchanging courtesies, but it ballooned into a globe-spanning two-hour-plus session involving deliberations on a variety of geopolitical issues, said committee aides, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity.... 'We spent a lot of time in the conversation talking about how Putin seized every opportunity to push what he wanted,' a committee aide said. 'There was a discrepancy in preparation, and it created an unequal footing.'... Trump countered his former aide, saying in a statement that he 'was perfectly prepared for my meetings with Vladimir Putin. We did very well at those meetings.'... In the past, Trump has downplayed the importance of preparation, saying his gut instinct and ability to read a room are paramount for a successful summit."

S. V. Date of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump's golf habit has already cost taxpayers at least $102 million in extra travel and security expenses, and next month will achieve a new milestone: a seven-figure presidential visit to another country so he can play at his own course.... And, notwithstanding Trump's campaign promise that if elected he would not play golf at all, the White House has done preliminary work for Trump's visit to his resort on the west coast of Ireland next month, according to Irish media and government sources, even though no official meeting with Irish leaders is planned in the capital, Dublin. Late Tuesday afternoon, the White House announced that Trump would meet with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Shannon, just 30 miles by air from Trump's golf resort in Doonbeg.... The $102 million total to date spent on Trump's presidential golfing represents 255 times the annual presidential salary he volunteered not to take.... While Republicans and Trump himself frequently criticized former President Barack Obama for his golf outings, Trump has spent more than twice as many days on the links, to date, as Obama did at the same point in his first term. And because Trump has insisted on dozens of trips to New Jersey and Florida to play at his resorts there, taxpayers are spending more than three times as much as they did for golf by the same point in Obama's term." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously the reason Trump chooses to play at his own courses is to garner free advertising for the resorts connected to them. See Emoluments Clause. President Obama often played at public courses.

AP: "The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, US officials said Wednesday. The officials said no final decision had been made yet, and it was not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move was not in response to any new threat from Iran but was aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran." --s

Missy Ryan & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "Acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan has mandated new restrictions on the way the Pentagon shares information with Congress about military operations around the world, a move that is straining ties with key Republican and Democratic lawmakers. In a May 8 internal memo..., Shanahan lays out the criteria for when Pentagon officials may provide congressional offices or committees information they request about operational plans and orders. The memo comes as lawmakers from both parties complain that the Trump administration has withheld information that prevents them from executing their constitutionally mandated oversight role. Some lawmakers are also concerned about whether Shanahan has allowed the military to be drawn too deeply into President Trump's immigration agenda." (Also linked yesterday.)

Donna Borak of CNN: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday rebuffed claims by House Democrats that his refusal to comply with a congressional request for ... Donald Trump's personal tax returns is a violation of the law.... 'I have been advised I am not violating the law. I would have never done anything to violate the law. Quite the contrary, I was advised had I turned them over I would be violating the law.' [Mnuchin said during a Congressional hearing.] Trump's top finance chief was repeatedly pressed by House Democrats over his decision last week to refuse to turn over Trump's tax returns under an obscure law that specifies the Treasury secretary 'shall furnish' the information requested by the heads of the tax-writing committees.... Mnuchin also repeatedly denied any political interference in his decision-making around the tax return issue, stating that he didn't discuss the matter with anyone inside or outside of the White House, including the President himself." Mrs. McC: Mnuchin also refused to answer a Congresswoman's repeated question as to whether or not he had directed the IRS Commissioner to refuse to honor the request for returns. ...

... Andrew Jackson Forever Until 2028! Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "The redesign of the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman will no longer be unveiled in 2020, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday. The unveiling had been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Mnuchin said the design process has been delayed and no new imagery will be unveiled until 2028. 'The primary reason we have looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,' Mnuchin said in response to questions by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. 'Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028. The $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out with new features beforehand.'... The Tubman design was announced in 2016 by former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew following a 10-month process in which the department sought input from the public." Mrs. McC: Apparently Mnuchin can't produce new currency & stonewall Congressional investigations at the same time. Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments, had some choice observations on Mnuchin's decision to dump the Tubman bill. ...

... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Mr. Mnuchin, concerned that the president might create an uproar by canceling the new bill altogether, was eager to delay its redesign until Mr. Trump was out of office, some senior Treasury Department officials have said. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Mr. Trump criticized the Obama administration's plans for the bill. That April, Mr. Trump called the change 'pure political correctness' and suggested that Tubman, whom he praised, could be added to a far less common denomination, like the $2 bill. 'Andrew Jackson had a great history, and I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill,' Mr. Trump said at the time." Mrs. McC: Yes, Jackson had a "great history" if you look favorably upon slavery ("at the time of his death in 1845, Jackson owned approximately 150 people who lived and worked on the property") and genocide.

Alan Pyke of ThinkProgress: "Transgender and gender non-conforming people could soon be barred from federally funded shelters, after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced plans Wednesday to scrap recently added regulator protections. HUD&'s rulemaking would rescind the Equal Access Rule that currently requires shelters that wish to segregate clients according to their gender to modify their structures accordingly -- rather than turn people away.... Less than 24 hours prior, [Ben] Carson testified to House members that he was 'not currently anticipating changing the rule.'" --s

Liz Crampton of Politico: "The Agriculture Department is moving nearly all its researchers into the economic effects of climate change, trade policy and food stamps -- subjects of controversial Trump administration initiatives -- outside of Washington, part of what employees claim is a political crackdown on economists whose assessments have raised questions about the president's policies.... [E]mployees claim the department's leadership, including [Agriculture Secretary Sonny] Perdue, turned against the research service after an estimate early last year suggested that the Republican-backed tax plan would largely benefit the wealthiest farmers.... Neil Conklin, a former senior administrator at ERS [Economic Research Service] under the George W. Bush administration, said the agency stands to be fundamentally changed by the relocation. 'This is going to be very destructive of the agency, as certainly as we'’ve known it,' Conklin said." --s

Presidential Race 2020

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "A new poll finds that a strong majority of voters believes that President Trump does not deserve a second term in office. A Monmouth University survey released Wednesday found that only 37 percent of voters believe Trump should be reelected, while 60 percent said they think it's time to have someone new in the White House. That's the highest percentage of voters saying they're eager for change since Monmouth first began asking the question in November. The numbers come weeks ahead of Trump's expected official launch for his 2020 reelection campaign." Mrs. McC: He surely did not help his case with that Rose Garden meltdown Wednesday.

Matthew Schwartz of NPR: "President Hillary Clinton? That would have been the result of the 2016 presidential election -- if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact were in effect. With a state Senate vote Tuesday, Nevada is close to becoming the latest state to sidestep the Electoral College when it comes to electing presidents. According to the National Popular Vote organization, which oversees efforts to persuade states to join the compact, 14 states and the District of Columbia have agreed to pledge their 189 electors to the winner of the national popular vote -- regardless of which candidate won the state. Nevada, with its six electoral votes, would bring the total to 195. Once 270 electors are pledged, the compact would kick in. The effort is part of a national movement to neuter the Electoral College and give more weight to the popular vote. Democrats in particular have been stung by the Electoral College, which effectively gives disproportional voting power to smaller, rural states that tend to vote Republican. In addition to President Trump, George W. Bush also won the White House without winning the popular vote."

Congressional Race 2020. Jonathan Oosting & Melissa Burke of the Detroit News: "The powerful DeVos family of West Michigan is ending its longtime support of U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the libertarian Republican who has repeatedly clashed with ... Donald Trump. The family has not made any political contributions to Amash this cycle, and 'they have no plans to do so,' said family spokesman Nick Wasmiller. The GOP megadonors decided to cut ties with Amash before his latest dust-up with the president and assertion Trump engaged in 'impeachable conduct,' Wasmiller told The Detroit News."

Beyond the Beltway

Boycott Georgia. Adrienne Masha Varkiani of ThinkProgress: "A growing number of filmmakers and production companies are announcing they will not do business in Georgia following the state's decision to enact a six-week abortion ban.... The majority of production companies doing business in Georgia however, have yet to take action..., waiting to see whether the ban will actually take effect.... On Monday, a Democratic lawmaker in California proposed a bill offering tax breaks to production companies that relocate from states with 'strict abortion bans,' like Georgia and Alabama." --s

Virginia. Mel Leonor & Michael Martz of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “A months-long investigation into a racist yearbook photo that appeared on Gov. Ralph Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page could not 'conclusively' determine who is in the photo or how it ended up there. The report also says the current and previous presidents of Eastern Virginia Medical School had known about the photo for years, but chose not to publicly disclose the information. Both leaders declined to release the photo or alert Northam about it, arguing that they did not want to influence the political process, according to the report.... A team hired by EVMS released its much-anticipated, 55-page report Wednesday, shedding some light into the culture at EVMS at the time, but delivering little about the photo, which depicts a person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe."

Way Beyond

Israel/Palestine. Oliver Holmes & Quique Kierzenbaum of the Guardian: "Israel plans to name a new settlement after Donald Trump on land it captured from Syria, as a token of gratitude to the US president for recognising its contested claim to the occupied territory. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he would press his next government, which he is still in the process of formingto approve the naming of the new community in Heights." --safari: Will the illegal settlement pay licensing rights?

United Kingdom. Fear of Milkshakes. Ellie Cambridge of the British tabloid Sun: Brexit super-advocate & Friend of Trump "Nigel Farage reportedly refused to get off his Brexit Party campaign bus after people gathered round it carrying milkshakes. His bodyguards were keen to avoid another splattering days after he raged at them for letting a protester douse him with a caramel shake in Newcastle.... According to Kent Live, the ex-Ukip leader did eventually get off the bus, but stayed close to the vehicle as he spoke to supporters.... The milkshake incident comes today despite McDonald's branches in Edinburgh posting signs saying that milkshakes and ice creams would not be for sale ahead of Brexit party rallies. The fast food chain claimed police had asked them not to sell shakes or ice cream to stop any embarrassing splatters."

The Commentariat -- May 22, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Contributor RAS, with a little help from PD Pepe & Charles Pierce, finds the likely explanation for Mitch McConnell's refusal to bring up election security bills for votes. The original McConnell story, by Li Zhou of Vox, is linked below. And, yeah, it bears a close relationship to the WashPo story on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's refusal to limit Chinese companies from contracting with U.S. transportation companies. You might conclude the Republican leaders are a couple of shady characters who prioritize their own interests over national security concerns.

Trump Goes Nuts. Peter Baker & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump abruptly blew up a scheduled meeting with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday, lashing out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing him of a cover-up and declaring that he could not work with them until they stopped investigating him. He then marched out into the Rose Garden, where reporters had been gathered, and delivered a statement bristling with anger as he demanded that Democrats' get these phony investigations over with.' He said they could not legislate and investigate at the same time. 'We're going to go down one track at a time,' he said.... When [Pelosi] and Senator Chuck Schumer arrived at the White House, Mr. Trump was loaded for bear. He walked into the Cabinet Room, did not shake anyone's hand or sit in his seat, according to a Democrat informed about the meeting. He said he wanted to advance legislation on infrastructure, trade and other matters, but that 'Speaker Pelosi said something terrible today and accused me of a cover-up,' according to the Democrat. After just three minutes, he left the room before anyone else could speak, the Democrat said."

Mrs. McCrabbie: 11:40 am ET: It appears Trump has just blown off the infrastructure meeting with Congressional Democrats to hold a nearly-impromptu Rose Garden event so he can reiterate conspiracy theories, lies & misstatements related the Russia investigation. Reporters got no heads-up on what had happened with the meeting. Whine, whine, whine. "No collusion, no obstruction." Now he's said he walked into the room & told Pelosi & Schumer to "get these phony investigations over with," before going off on various other tangents. He's knocking the reporters sitting in front of him. He can't maintain a consistent thread. Apparently he's angry that House Democrats met this morning "about the 'i' word." It sounds as if he threw Pelosi & Schumer out of the White House, but he hasn't said so directly. The gist seems to be that he won't work with Democrats on anything, including infrastructure, until the House "finishes up" its investigations, but that's an inference, not a report on what Trump actually said. What a loon! There was a a printed "No Collusion, No Obstruction" poster exhibited on the podium, so apparently the "impromptu" speech was pre-planned. ...

     ... MSNBC is reporting that Pelosi & Schumer will offer a "rebuttal" of whatever that was. People who were in the meeting room said the president walked in, said he wanted to do infrastructure, trade, etc., but the meeting Pelosi had this morning was so inconsiderate, especially when she said Trump was engaged in a cover-up, that he wasn't going to deal with them till the investigations wrapped up "pouted a little more, then he walked out of the room. I'll post reports on this when they're available, but I'm leaving up my running "report" to give an idea of just how nuts & disjointed this presidential rant was. ...

     ... Pelosi began speaking a couple of minutes after noon & Schumer spoke after her. Of course they sounded, you know, sane. That's something.

Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday said that the department is trying to find out who wrote a draft IRS memo that found that the agency has to provide tax returns to Congress unless executive privilege is invoked." Mrs. McC: Hmm, sounds like an actual witch hunt.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House Intelligence Committee has postponed a potential vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, citing efforts b the Justice Department to comply with their demand for access to special counsel Robert Mueller's files. 'The Department of Justice has accepted our offer of a first step towards compliance with our subpoena, and this week will begin turning over to the Committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production,' committee chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement Wednesday. 'That initial production should be completed by the end of next week.'"

Missy Ryan & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "Acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan has mandated new restrictions on the way the Pentagon shares information with Congress about military operations around the world, a move that is straining ties with key Republican and Democratic lawmakers. In a May 8 internal memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Shanahan lays out the criteria for when Pentagon officials may provide congressional offices or committees information they request about operational plans and orders. The memo comes as lawmakers from both parties complain that the Trump administration has withheld information that prevents them from executing their constitutionally mandated oversight role. Some lawmakers are also concerned about whether Shanahan has allowed the military to be drawn too deeply into President Trump's immigration agenda."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Jonathan Chait of New York: "In a pre-Trumpian world, this sequence of events [at yesterday's rallying cry of 'treason' and Trump goading his AG Bill Barr to 'lock up' his political enemies] would set off a political crisis. In the surreal landscape we inhabit, it barely registers. But it is worth noting that Trump continues to commit impeachable offenses at an unprecedented pace. Last night's threats to make good on his 'lock them up' promises are merely one more in another recent flurry. The space between Trump's long-standing authoritarian rhetoric and the deployment of his powers of office is slowly collapsing on several fronts.... What cynics had waved off as Trump's cartoonish musings is slowly seeping its way into sanctioned government policy. The question of whether or not to impeach Trump has attached itself to the discrete drama of the Mueller report, which contains a large cache of Trumpian misconduct. But the misconduct is also an ongoing process with no clear endpoint. The impeachable offenses just keep coming." --safari: Chait identifies 5 impeachable acts just this week.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, defied a House subpoena on Tuesday under order of the White House, stoking outraged Democrats to contemplate anew punitive measures, including opening an impeachment inquiry, to try to enforce Congress's oversight powers. The House Judiciary Committee convened the hearing on President Trump's attempts to obstruct the Russia investigation anyway, though without the man Democrats had hoped could serve as a star eyewitness as they seek to build a case before the public. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel's chairman, opened the brief session with a stern warning both to Mr. McGahn and Mr. Trump. The House, he said, would move quickly to bring Mr. McGahn to court, citing him for contempt of Congress if he does not relent. 'This committee will hear Mr. McGahn's testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it,' Mr. Nadler said, staring down at an empty chair for Mr. McGahn. He said the president's attempts to impede the Russia investigation, witnessed by Mr. McGahn and shared with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, 'constitutes a crime.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The story has been updated. New Lede: "A bloc of liberal Democrats began pressing on Tuesday for an impeachment inquiry of President Trump, underscoring party divisions and the growing difficulties that Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces as she tries to chart a more methodical course." ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: Nancy "Pelosi might be the biggest barrier between President Trump and an impeachment inquiry right now. Pelosi has made her personal opposition to impeaching Trump clear.... Until recently, most members of the Democratic caucus have been willing to go along with their leadership's position.... During a meeting on Monday... several Democrats told the speaker that it was time to launch an impeachment inquiry, including Representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, and Joe Neguse of Colorado. What's interesting about these members is they're all members of the Democratic leadership team." ...

... The blurb on Eric Levitz's New York post on the House Democrats' debate gives a hint of Levitz's view on the matter: "Pelosi shares her members' concerns about Trump's dino clones, but says impeachment would distract from their message on Gym Membership Tax Credits.

... Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: As House Democrats were conducting a closed-door meeting re: how to move forward in the face of Trump's stonewalling of subpoenas, "Trump was shouting to a rally crowd in Pennsylvania that the FBI and Democrats are guilty of 'treason,' vowing that Attorney General William P. Barr would investigate -- that is, investigate his political opponents for invented crimes.... One Democrat involved in the Monday debate was Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional law professor.... 'I think that overwhelming evidence has been presented to us in the Mueller report, and outside of it too, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and we should launch an impeachment inquiry. Remember, an inquiry doesn't prejudge the outcome. We're not talking about articles of impeachment,' [Raskin told Sargent]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Actually, an excellent wrap-up of TrumpNews:

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has expressed reluctance to him testifying publicly in front of the House Judiciary Committee, according to sources familiar with the matter. The special counsel's team has conveyed the notion that Mueller does not want to appear political after staying behind the scenes for two years and not speaking as he conducted his investigation into ... Donald Trump. One option is to have him testify behind closed doors. But the notion that Mueller would only answer questions in private has become a sticking point, according to a source, as Democrats believe the public needs to hear directly from the special counsel. Rank-and-file Democrats made clear Tuesday they believe Mueller must testify publicly...." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie Note to Bob: It is not "political" to testify truthfully at a Congressional hearing. ...

     ... digby: "I hope this is a strategic move by the Mueller team in order to assure the public that they are reluctant participants in the partisan wars in order to preserve their credibility.... But it's also true thatBarr and Mueller grew out of the same political petrie dish. Maybe when push comes to shove, Mueller just can't separate himself from his homies." ...

... Maybe the Reluctance to Testify Publicly Isn't Mueller's. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are pushing back on terms offered by Justice Department officials for ... Robert Mueller's testimony, objecting to a proposal for him to give a public opening statement before answering questions behind closed doors, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.... A Justice Department official said Mueller's team is 'directly negotiating with the Hill.' While House Democrats aren't ruling out having closed-door testimony for portions of the report, they want to have Mueller answer at least some questions in a public setting. The committee has been in discussions with Mueller's team within the Justice Department over the past month. Sources have said that Mueller is seeking guidance from DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel ahead of any planned testimony to advise on what he can and cannot say." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Mueller is seeking Barr's & the OLC's "advice," he is not being an honest actor. He reads newspapers. He knows what-all Barr & the OLC are doing to help Trump stonewall. AND, if the ABC report is accurate, then -- you may be shocked, shocked to learn -- Bill Barr has been lying when he's said, "It's Bob's call whether he wants to testify."

Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday issued subpoenas to former White House officials Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson for documents and testimony, setting the stage for another clash with the White House over former officials appearing before Congress."

** Jeff Stein & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "A confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo says tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president takes the rare step of asserting executive privilege, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post. The memo contradicts the Trump administration's justification for denying lawmakers' request for President Trump's tax returns.... Trump has refused to turn over his tax returns but has not invoked executive privilege. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has instead denied the returns by arguing there is no legislative purpose for demanding them. But according to the IRS memo..., the disclosure of tax returns to the committee 'is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs.' The 10-page document says the law 'does not allow the Secretary to exercise discretion in disclosing the information provided the statutory conditions are met' and directly rejects the reason Mnuchin has cited for withholding the information. '[T]he Secretary's obligation to disclose return and return information would not be affected by the failure of a tax writing committee ... to state a reason for the request,' it says.... The memo is stamped 'DRAFT,' it is not signed, and it does not reference Trump.... The agency says IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig [Mrs. McC: who wrote an op-ed saying Trump should not have to release his tax returns before Trump nominated him] and current chief counsel Michael Desmond [Mrs. McC: whom Trump pushed the Senate to confirm quickly], who was confirmed by the Senate in February, were not familiar with it until a Post inquiry this week.... Mnuchin and other senior staff members never reviewed the IRS memo, according to a Treasury spokesman." ...

... Sophie Weiner of Splinter: The memo "also notes that if Trump does invoke executive privilege, he might be asked to justify it. That justification would have to be something other than a desire to avoid a subpoena. This is a pretty iron-clad opinion stating that the tax returns must be given to Congress." ...

... Josh Marshall: "... the memo says the only option the White House has is to invoke executive privilege, an option even the memo writer didn't seem to think had much merit.... The doctrine of executive privilege has virtually always been held to apply to the internal policy-making, advice-giving, deliberative process within the executive branch. The Supreme Court has made clear it's not absolute privilege. But that's the general logic. There's really no way the President's personal finances or the administration of his personal taxes can come under that penumbra. It';s definitional. His taxes are tied to the individual person, not the President." ...

... Elliot Hannon of Slate: "The legal reasoning, prepared before the current head of the IRS and chief counsel took over, gives some perspective on just how far the Trump administration is twisting the law to cover for the president." ...

... Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "How much of [Trump's] craziest, most paranoid and norm-violating behavior is motivated by a desire to keep his financial arrangements secret? It began with Trump's bizarre refusal to release his tax returns, in defiance of both a nearly half-century practice and Trump's own promise that he'd do so. Then there was his refusal to divest from his sprawling multinational empire, or even put it into a blind trust -- either of which would have forced at least some information disclosure to a third party. There were also the interviews and tweetstorms calling journalists who report on his finances 'enemies of the people,' and suggestions that federal officials who audit him are anti-Christian. As well as his implicit threat in 2017 that he would fire ... Robert S. Mueller III if he crossed a 'red line' by examining Trump's personal financial dealings.... All of which raises the question: Why exactly is Trump (and the rest of his administration) expending so much energy and political capital to keep these documents hidden?... We don't know what Trump is working so hard to hide, but we have a lot of hints. They're all troubling. Which is precisely why it's so important that Congress ... conduct a forensic audit of Trump's worldwide financial dealings."

Laura Jarrett of CNN: "The Justice Department is trying to stave off an 'enforcement action' against Attorney General William Barr this week, making a rare offer to have the House Intelligence Committee review materials from special counsel Robert Mueller's report if House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff agrees to back down. Last week Schiff said that he would hold a business meeting Wednesday to take an unspecified action against the Justice Department for not providing the committee documents related to Volume I of Mueller's report on links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The Justice Department had previously offered to show all committee members a less redacted version of the Mueller report, but now says it's continuing to review the initial tranche of 12 categories of documents Schiff wants, and will make them available 'in relatively short order,' according to a letter obtained by CNN."

Allan Smith of NBC News: "New York state lawmakers passed a measure Tuesday that would allow prosecutors to pursue state charges against certain individuals even if they have received a presidential pardon, a move seen as a direct shot at ... Donald Trump. New York's state Assembly passed the measure -- which creates a narrow exception in the state's double-jeopardy law -- by a 90-52 vote. New York law currently prohibits the state from prosecuting a person who has already been tried for the same crime by the federal government. The bill would make it easier for prosecutors in certain circumstances to pursue a case against someone who has received a presidential pardon for the federal conviction.... The change was backed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is investigating Trump and his family members, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has indicated he will sign the bill.... Since the bill already passed the state Senate earlier this month, it is now headed to Cuomo's desk for his approval."

Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson spoke with the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs committee on Tuesday in a lengthy session that, an aide said, touched on his time working in the Trump administration, the frictions he had with the president's son-in-law, and efforts to tackle issues like Russian interference in the 2016 election. Tillerson's appearance, first reported by The Daily Beast, took place as virtually every other Trumpworld luminary has been stonewalling congressional oversight efforts. At the same time the former secretary of state was speaking before lawmakers, former White House counsel Don McGahn was ignoring a subpoena to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Tillerson's arrival at the Capitol was handled with extreme secrecy.... Tillerson reached out to the committee and expressed a willingness to meet, a committee aide said. In a more than six-hour meeting, he told members and staffers that the Trump administration actively avoided confronting Russia about allegations of interference in the election in an effort to develop a solid relationship with the Kremlin, a committee aide told The Daily Beast."

Anthony Cormier & Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News:"Newly released transcripts from the House Intelligence Committee appear to support earlier reporting by BuzzFeed News, which revealed in January that [Michael] Cohen had told prosecutors the president directed him to lie, and that a group of lawyers crafted his false testimony to Congress. Shortly after that story was published, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller issued a rare public statement that said unspecified elements were 'not accurate.'... These new transcripts, from testimony that Cohen gave behind closed doors this past February and March..., contain startling accounts of the Trump family and their attorneys shaping Cohen's lies" and suggest "Trump crafted ... Cohen's lies more closely than qas previously known." The reporters offer examples. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As several pundits have pointed out, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow has issued a non-denial denial of the newly-released testimony. If Cohen was telling the truth about the first incident Cormier & Leopold describe, then Sekulow knows Trump instructed Cohen to lie to Congress. Even though testimony suggests only Trump & his lawyers Cohen & Sekulow were in the room, it seems to me attorney-client privilege should be revoked by the crime-fraud exception; i.e., Sekulow could be forced to testify against Trump in this matter. I'm not an attorney, but I do have my quasi-ignorant opinions.

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of search warrants relating to ... Michael Cohen that had been sought by ... Robert Mueller. Beryl Howell, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., wrote in her order Tuesday that the documents can be unsealed after the government makes any necessary redactions. A group of media outlets -- including The New York Times, Politico and The Washington Post -- had requested that the search warrants issued by the D.C. court be released after they were referenced in previously unsealed search warrant materials in the Southern District of New York. The released documents are expected to reveal further details on Mueller's own attempts to investigate Cohen before the special counsel referred the case to federal prosecutors in New York."

Spencer Hsu & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court Tuesday refused to block a grand jury subpoena for testimony by Roger Stone associate Andrew Miller in an investigation launched by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, clearing the way for a final appeal to the Supreme Court in the long-running legal dispute. Miller was subpoenaed in June 2018 in Mueller's probe for information about longtime Trump friend and GOP operative Stone, as well as key figures in the 2016 hacking and public release of Democratic Party emails, including by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange.... The three-judge panel gave Miller seven days to persuade the Supreme Court to take the case. If he fails, or the high court rules against him, Miller faces an August contempt finding by U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington for refusing to testify, an order that would leave him facing jail if he continues to decline to appear." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Miller must (1) have access to lots of money to throw at lawyers; or (2) have some really damaging information on Stone and/or Trump; or (3) be a terribly, terribly "principled" young man. I doubt if he has lots of money; according to this August 2018 CNN story, he's a Missouri house painter who worked off & on as an aide to Stone.

See also Li Zhou's post on Mitch McConnell's refusal to bring up votes on election security bills, linked below.

Trump Threatens Democrats on Eve of Infrastructure Meeting. Tanya Snyder & Nancy Cook of Politico: "On the eve of a highly anticipated meeting with Democrats at which ... Donald Trump was expected to unveil a way to fund a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, Trump instead put Congress on notice that it will have to take a backseat to a trade deal. 'Before we get to infrastructure, it is my strong view that Congress should first pass the important and popular USMCA trade deal,' Trump wrote in a letter to ... Nancy Pelosi and ... Chuck Schumer Tuesday evening." The reporters cite a number of other issues where Trump & Democrats appear to disagree. Mrs. McC: Gee, maybe Congress won't pass an humungous infrastructure bill, after all.

Alexandra Stevenson of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping of China called for the Chinese people to 'start again' and begin a modern 'long march,' invoking a turning point in Communist Party history as the country braces for a protracted trade war with the United States.... While Mr. Xi did not mention the trade war in his comments, they are the strongest signal yet that Beijing has abandoned hopes of a deal with the United States on the issue in the near term." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I assume that, for once, Trump wasn't lying when he assured the world that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." Of all of the fundamentals of international trade that Trump doesn't understand, this is the most basic. A lie is a knowing thing; Trump believed he could "win easily." He is probably mad as hops at his trade negotiators because they were too incompetent to "win" the trade war Trump initiated with China. Funny how Trump didn't step into the negotiations and "win" the war for them.

Maggie Haberman & >Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Trump is expected to name Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former attorney general of Virginia and an immigration hard-liner, as his choice to coordinate the administration's immigration policies, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday. The specifics of the role -- including the title and the scope of duties -- are still being hashed out, according to the official. But Mr. Cuccinelli is expected to be based in the Department of Homeland Security, not in the White House." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Li Zhou of Vox: "Although several Republican-controlled Senate committees are still trying to address potential meddling by foreign adversaries -- the Judiciary Committee approved two election security bills last week -- the Senate majority leader [Mitch McConnell] now says he won't even bring election security bills up for a vote. It's a position McConnell took last year, and one he's standing by as pressure has ramped up to consider reinforcing US defenses ahead of 2020.... Republican leadership appears content to sit idly by despite numerous warnings about the need for more resources to prevent potential breaches." --s

Congresswomen Stump Ole Doc Ben. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: Housing Secretary Ben "Carson appeared before the House Financial Services Committee for more than three hours [Tuesday], fielding questions on housing policies. Several times he stumbled as Democrats, especially the women on the committee, tried to poke holes in his knowledge of the agency he runs." Itkowitz gives some examples, the best of which is this one:

     ... Katie Porter (D-Calif) told CNN later, "He actually sent a family-size box of Double Stuff Oreos to our office. And while I was pleased to receive correspondence from him, what I'm really looking for is answers." Mrs. McC: Ole Doc might have been a more effective witness at the hearing if he had some interest in his job. Porter later told Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC that Ole Doc invited her to come to his office & explain stuff -- like his job. Good thing that the Congresswomen didn't ask Carson to ID any other obscure acronyms, like FHA & HUD. Update: Colbert has another great cut from the hearing; video embedded above.

Damian Paletta & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blocked a bipartisan attempt to limit Chinese companies from contracting with U.S. transit systems, a move that benefited a Chinese government-backed manufacturer with a plant in his district, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. His behind-the-scenes intervention came as Congress was trying this year to craft a spending compromise to avert another government shutdown.... BYD Motors is a division of BYD Co., a giant Chinese manufacturer.... Stella Li, BYD Motors president, is a campaign contributor to McCarthy, and the lawmaker spoke at a ribbon-cutting for BYD's California plant in 2017.... McCarthy's intervention was striking because the close ally of President Trump sought to protect Chinese interests at a time when Trump and many lawmakers on Capitol Hill are attempting to curb Beijing's access to U.S. markets, particularly in industries deemed vital to national security. Just last week, Trump put Chinese telecom giant Huawei on a trade 'blacklist' that severely restricts its access to U.S. technology."

E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "A Tuesday Senate hearing reviewing the impact of climate change on agriculture featured a strong defense of industry, at a time when the role of the sector in contributing to global warming is under growing scrutiny.... The four-speaker panel, however, was dominated by industry ties, with an emphasis on livestock. No climate scientists spoke on the panel. Experts say a significant amount of research and data has established the relationship between agriculture and global warming. Around 8% of U.S. emissions come from farming, with some 42% of those emissions generated by animal agriculture." --s

Congressional Election 2019. Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Fred Keller, a Republican state representative, beat Democrat Marc Friedenberg in the race to represent Pennsylvania's 12th District on Tuesday. Keller’s victory means that the north-central Pennsylvania district will remain in Republican hands after former Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) stepped down in January, less than one month into his fifth term in office. The 12th District still tilts heavily in the GOP's favor, unlike several districts in Pennsylvania that became more competitive for Democrats after the state Supreme Court ordered the state's congressional lines to be redrawn. President Trump would have carried the district by 36 points in 2016 had the state's current congressional boundaries been in place that year, and Keller outspent Friedenberg by more than $140,000, according to federal filings. Keller also got a last-minute boost on Monday when Trump held a rally in Montoursville, inside the 12th district, to campaign with the GOP hopeful. Speaking to supporters there, Trump declared that the special election was tantamount to a 'referendum' on his presidency."

Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "He was the 'American Taliban' captured during the invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. Pictures showed him as a gaunt, filthy, 20-year-old held in the aftermath of a prison uprising that claimed the first United States casualty of the war, a 32-year-old C.I.A. officer named Johnny Micheal Spann. On Thursday, that captive, John Walker Lindh, is scheduled to leave a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., released on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence for providing support to the Taliban."

Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "The politically powerful Koch network is looking to change its image. In the face of rising support for progressive policies, the well-funded network wants to rebrand from greedy capitalists to benevolent philanthropists. Until the Kochs and their fellow donors stop supporting policies that increase income inequality and all forms of pollution however, any effort to create a new image will be nothing more than greenwashing.... 'The Seminar Network' ... is changing its impersonal-sounding name to the more benevolent 'Stand Together Foundation.'... [Ten] months ago, the AP reported that the Kochs 'have quietly launched a rebranding effort' aimed at replacing the term 'Koch brothers' with 'Koch network.'... All of this rebranding is reportedly occurring because Charles Koch says he is not as interested in national politics as his brother David, who stepped down from active involvement in the network for health reasons last year." --s

Daniel Arkin & Alex Johnson of NBC News: "Abortion rights activists took to the streets across the country on Tuesday to protest the recent wave of restrictive state laws.... In Washington, D.C., hundreds of abortion rights advocates -- including some Democrats running for the presidential nomination -- massed in front of the Supreme Court. 'We are not going to allow them to move our country backward,' pledged Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota senator and 2020 hopeful, from a lectern near the high court. Three more Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, also attended the Washington rally."

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Tom Loftus of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Incumbent Matt Bevin survived an unexpectedly tough primary challenge Tuesday to win the Republican Party nomination and seek a second term as governor. But the relatively narrow margin indicated that Bevin's support among Republicans is strained, particularly in Eastern Kentucky. The Associated Press called Bevin's victory at about 8 p.m. ove second-place finisher Robert Goforth, a state representative from East Bernstadt. Two other Republican candidates —Ike Lawrence of Lexington and William E. Woods of Corinth -- finished well behind Goforth. With more than half the vote counted, Bevin and running mate Ralph Alvarado had about 51 percent of the vote compared with 40 percent for Goforth and his running mate, Michael Hogan, according to unofficial results." ...

... Philip Bailey of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Andy Beshear rode his record as attorney general and his family name to win the closely watched Democratic primary for Kentucky governor, which sets up what could be a deeply personal contest against Republican incumbent Matt Bevin this fall. The Associated Press called the race for Beshear at 8:40 p.m. With nearly all of the votes counted later Tuesday, Beshear had 38% of the vote. Kentucky House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins, of Sandy Hook, came in second by cleaning up in the eastern half of the state. He trailed Beshear with 33% of the vote.... Beshear, 41, the state attorney general and son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, was able to stiff-arm a surge from [former state auditor Adam] Edelen, a former chief of staff in his dad's administration, who along with a super PAC unleashed some stinging attacks in the primary's final weeks."

Way Beyond

Emma Graham-Harrison of the Guardian: "A web of far-right Facebook accounts spreading fake news and hate speech to millions of people across Europe has been uncovered by the campaign group Avaaz. Facebook, which is struggling to clean up the platform and salvage its reputation, has already taken down accounts with about 6 million followers before voting in the European elections begins on Thursday. In total, the group reported more than 500 suspect groups and Facebook pages operating across France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Poland and Spain. Most were either spreading fake news or using false pages and profiles to artificially boost the content of parties or sites they supported, in violation of Facebook's rules.... The networks were far more popular than the official pages of far-right and anti-EU populist groups in those countries. The pages taken down by Facebook so far had been viewed half a billion times, Avaaz estimated."

The Commentariat -- May 21, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, defied a House subpoena on Tuesday under order of the White House, stoking outraged Democrats to contemplate anew punitive measures, including opening an impeachment inquiry, to try to enforce Congress's oversight powers. The House Judiciary Committee convened the hearing on President Trump's attempts to obstruct the Russia investigation anyway, though without the man Democrats had hoped could serve as a star eyewitness as they seek to build a case before the public. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel's chairman, opened the brief session with a stern warning both to Mr. McGahn and Mr. Trump. The House, he said, would move quickly to bring Mr. McGahn to court, citing him for contempt of Congress if he does not relent. 'This committee will hear Mr. McGahn's testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it,' Mr. Nadler said, staring down at an empty chair for Mr. McGahn. He said the president's attempts to impede the Russia investigation, witnessed by Mr. McGahn and shared with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, 'constitutes a crime.'"

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: As House Democrats were conducting a closed-door meeting re: how to move forward in the face of Trump's stonewalling, "Trump was shouting to a rally crowd in Pennsylvania that the FBI and Democrats are guilty of 'treason,' vowing that Attorney General William P. Barr would investigate -- that is, investigate his political opponents for invented crimes.... One Democrat involved in the Monday debate was Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional law professor.... 'I think that overwhelming evidence has been presented to us in the Mueller report, and outside of it too, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and we should launch an impeachment inquiry. Remember, an inquiry doesn't prejudge the outcome. We're not talking about articles of impeachment,' [Raskin told Sargent]."

Maggie Haberman & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Trump is expected to name Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former attorney general of Virginia and an immigration hard-liner, as his choice to coordinate the administration's immigration policies, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday. The specifics of the role -- including the title and the scope of duties -- are still being hashed out, according to the official. But Mr. Cuccinelli is expected to be based in the Department of Homeland Security, not in the White House." Mrs. McC: Maybe Kenny didn't demand a personal jet & deference from Cabinet officers (see "Good Grief" story, linked below.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Slowly, Slowly, the Cover-up Tarp Slips from the Cesspool Presidency

Rachel Bade & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Members of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership team confronted her in a contentious Monday night meeting and argued that it was time to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, according to multiple officials in the room. At least five members of Pelosi's leadership team -- four of whom also sit on the House Judiciary Committee, with jurisdiction over impeachment -- pressed Pelosi (D-Calif.) to allow the panel to start an inquiry, which they argued would help investigators attain documents and testimony that Trump has blocked. Pelosi, according to the officials, pushed back on the idea alongside House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), arguing that it would undercut other House investigations. Pelosi has long been an impeachment skeptic and tried to tamp down impeachment talk in her caucus as recently as last week by encouraging members to focus on their legislative agenda." ...

... New York Times Editors: "... what is remarkable about [Rep. Justin] Amash's [R-Mich.] stand is how much tougher it is than that of the House’s Democratic leaders to date. Wary of a move that has little public support, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and prominent committee leaders have avoided talk of impeachment and have focused on learning what Attorney General William Barr redacted from the report, as well as subpoenaing testimony and documents.... Democratic leaders also need to be stronger and clearer about what we know." Amash's tweet-splanations of his conclusions are here and here....

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As Akhilleus & others have been hammering for weeks, the Democrats' response to the Mueller report have been weak and, to put it mildly, uncoordinated. Now they're bickering. They need to write up a compelling rationale for impeachment, find a good orator (surely in a House-full of hundreds of kids who grew up thinking they could become president, there are a few good orators), stick her in a well-publicized prime-time slot & bring the argument home. Then they need to follow up, follow up & follow up. Right now, House leaders are doing nothing but arguing about process, and the devastating findings of the Mueller report are a distant memory to all but the few of us who are plodding out way through the report. Of course the "process" in this case -- the stonewalling of Congress -- is in itself another Article of Impeachment, but Democrats seldom even mention that.

** Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge on Monday upheld a congressional subpoena seeking ... Donald Trump's financial records from an accounting firm, arguing that Congress is well within its rights to investigate potential illegal behavior by a president -- even without opening a formal impeachment inquiry. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta's ruling delivers a striking blow to the president's efforts to resist Democratic investigations, and is certain to give Democrats further legal basis to investigate Trump, his finances, and his presidential campaign. In addition to upholding the House Oversight and Reform Committee's subpoena to accounting firm Mazars USA for eight years of Trump's financial records, Mehta took the extra step of denying the president's request for a stay pending appeal.... The ruling represents the first time the federal judiciary has weighed in on the ongoing oversight battle between Trump and House Democrats. Mehta's ruling is likely to provide a blueprint for other judges who are set to make their own rulings on Trump's vow to defy all congressional subpoenas. In a 41-page opinion issued Monday, Mehta systematically dismantled the Trump legal team's arguments against the validity of the subpoena -- and he pushed back on claims from congressional Republicans that the House Judiciary Committee must formally launch an impeachment inquiry before requesting such information." ...

... Trump Slams "Obama Judge's Crazy" Ruling. Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday said he would appeal a federal judge's decision upholding a subpoena for his financial records, blasting it as a 'crazy' ruling by 'an Obama-appointed judge.' 'We will appeal it,' Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. 'It's totally the wrong decision by, obviously, an Obama appointed judge.'"

Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney: “Senior House Republicans are breaking with Donald Trump over the president's legal claims that Congress can't investigate whether a commander in chief violated the law. That view, advanced by Trump's personal attorney and the White House counsel late last week, would upend long-held understandings about Congress' ability to scrutinize presidential conduct -- especially alleged criminal activity.... Institutionalist-minded Republicans are increasingly uncomfortable with the far-reaching arguments Trump and his lawyers are using to make their case, amid fears the claims of near-immunity from congressional scrutiny would set dangerous precedents. But these lawmakers are not preparing to act in any way that constrains Trump.... '... I think we have oversight authority over the administration,' said Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. 'And if the president has acted illegally, then I think we have oversight authority.' Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a veteran lawmaker who first came to Capitol Hill in the early 1980s as a congressional staffer, said he didn't agree with Trump's legal theories. 'Obviously there is such a thing as congressional oversight,' Cole said." ...

     ... Jack Crosbie of Splinter: "It's telling, though, that the only thing that actually has the Republicans concerned is the precedent a president would set by blowing past congressional powers. They don't really give a shit what he's done, just how it affects their own political power."

Rachel Bade, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House on Monday blocked former counsel Donald McGahn from testifying to Congress, the latest act of defiance in the ongoing war between House Democrats and President Trump. McGahn, who Democrats hoped would become a star witness in their investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice, was subpoenaed to testify Tuesday morning. 'The Department of Justice has provided a legal opinion stating that, based on long-standing, bipartisan, and constitutional precedent, the former counsel to the president cannot be forced to give such testimony, and Mr. McGahn has been directed to act accordingly,' said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement.... The 15-page legal opinion written by Assistant Attorney General Steven A. Engel argues McGahn cannot be compelled to testify before the committee, based on past Justice Department legal opinions regarding the president's close advisers. The memo says McGahn's immunity from congressional testimony is separate and broader than a claim of executive privilege." ...

     ... The New York Times story, by Nicholas Fandos & others, is here. "... Mr. McGahn has maintained throughout that he will follow the White House's guidance, according to a person close to him.... If he defies the White House, Mr. McGahn could not only damage his own career in Republican politics but also put his law firm, Jones Day, at risk of having the president urge his allies to withhold their business. The firm's Washington practice is closely affiliated with the party." ...

     ... Update. Jerry Nadler wrote to Don McGahn, explaining to McGahn why he had better show up. It's a good letter. Here's a pdf. My favorite part is Nadler's second point where he notes that the DOJ's own policy is that "executive privilege ... should not be invoked to conceal evidence of wrongdoing or criminalit on the part of executive officers.'" Tellingngly, the Department's opinion ... purporting to excuse you from testifying ... ignores that policy entirely."

** Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Washington Post: "Michael Cohen ... told a House panel during closed-door hearings earlier this year that he had been instructed by Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow to falsely claim in a 2017 statement to Congress that negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, according to people familiar with his testimony. In fact, Cohen later admitted, discussions on the Moscow tower continued into June of the presidential election year, after it was clear Trump would be the GOP nominee.... House Democrats are now scrutinizing whether Sekulow or other Trump attorneys played a role in shaping Cohen's 2017 testimony to Congress. Cohen has said he made the false statement to help hide the fact that Trump had potentially hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in a possible Russian project while he was running for president.... Cohen's claims about Sekulow are laid out in transcripts of his February and March appearances before the House intelligence panel that could be released as soon as Monday.... 'The [attorney-client] privilege doesn't apply if it's being used to conceal a crime or a fraud,' [House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff] said. 'And if the attorneys were conferring amongst themselves and Mr. Cohen about a false statement they were going to make to our committee, there's no privilege that protects that kind of conduct.'" ...

     ... Update. Morgan Chalfont & Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "The House Intelligence Committee has released transcripts of its private interviews with Michael Cohen.... The panel voted 12-7 at a closed-door meeting Monday evening to release the transcripts, according to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)." ...

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "[In testimony,] Mr. Cohen said that [Trump attorney Jay] Sekulow told him that the president's team was considering possible pardons for him and other witnesses because they could help to 'shut down the inquiries and to shut the investigation down.'" A transcript of Cohen's February 28 testimony is here, and of his March 6 testimony is here.

Trump Never Stops Abusing the Power of His Office*. Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Trump on Sunday night called for an investigation into financial ties between China and the family of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., the current front-runner in a crowded Democratic 2020 field, and the candidate Mr. Trump's advisers believe could pose the biggest potential threat to his re-election.... It was not the first time that Mr. Trump has threatened investigations of his political enemies, raising questions from his critics about whether he is abusing his position as president. Some of those threats have been made in private and were revealed by the special counsel's report. Others, Mr. Trump has made in public...." ...

... Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's escalating demands for investigations into his political opponents have intensified debate over whether his often-transparent calls for action by the Justice Department amount to abusing his power to bolster his re-election prospects.... [Trump's calls to investigate the Biden family were] the latest in a long series of statements by Mr. Trump suggesting he would like to see criminal investigations of opponents including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and the Democratic National Committee, and [they] came as the president seems particularly preoccupied by Mr. Biden's candidacy. 'It's a terrible breach of norms for the president to publicly advocate prosecutions of his opponents,' said Jack Goldsmith..., who was an assistant attorney general during President George W. Bush's first term.... 'Trump and Barr are a dangerous combination,' said Mark Rozell, a law professor at George Mason University.... 'The president doesn't fundamentally understand the powerfully important role he plays in establishing the nature and operations of our constitutional system,' Mr. Rozell said. 'Future administrations will use what he has done to justify all kinds of behaviors and actions that were once unthinkable.'" ...

... David Smith of the Guardian: "[F]ollowing the sporting maxim that attack is the best form of defence, Trump had adopted the language of a tinpot dictator, denouncing the Russia investigation as a failed 'coup', branding his pursuers as traitors and threatening to lock them up.... But one side-effect could be a slide into an imperial presidency.... [I]t is [Bill] Barr who has emerged as the president's most indispensable ally, his improbable Darth Vader." --s

Kara Scannell of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in New York are scrutinizing tens of thousands of documents relating to Donald Trump's inauguration in a sign that the investigation into the committee's finances is advancing. The President's Inaugural Committee handed over the cache of documents over the course of several weeks in response to a wide-ranging subpoena seeking documents, records, and communications concerning the inaugural's finances, vendors, and donors sent in February by the US attorney's office with the Southern District of New York."

Hey, let's end today's discussion of the Trump Scandals on a bizarre (ergo, totally Trumpy) note:

... Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "On Thursday, lawyers for Roger Stone, whose travel is restricted ahead of his November trial on obstruction of justice and perjury charges, requested a judge's permission to visit Tennessee and Illinois 'for business opportunities.' One of those opportunities is at the Pony, an adult entertainment club in Memphis, where Stone is scheduled to appear June 5-7. A longtime political adviser to President Donald Trump, Stone 'is coming out to judge the national exotic dancer competition that we're hosting,' the club's owner, Jerry Westlund, tells Mother Jones.... In a Facebook post, the club said Stone will judge dancers alongside Kristin Davis, who is known as the 'Manhattan Madam' for her role running a high-end prostitution ring in New York City in the early 2000s. Stone has previously employed Davis, and they are close friends."

Aaron Rupar of Vox: "During an interview on Steve Hilton’s Fox News show on Sunday, President Donald Trump bragged about how rapidly his administration is getting stuff done. But he revealed a profound misunderstanding of how federal lawmaking is supposed to work in the process. 'We're changing laws as rapidly as we can get them through the courts,' Trump said. Congress, of course, is supposed to be in the business of 'changing laws.' Courts, on the other hand, interpret them.... Trump doesn't have a legislative agenda to speak of. He's not allowing Congress to exercise its lawful oversight functions. So while he may have already made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims since taking office, his remark to Hilton about how he's relying on the courts to make policies wasn't one of them." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump really has no idea whatsoever about how the government runs. It's stunning.

Asawin Suebsaeng, et al., of the Daily Beast: "The president isn’t just watching the [Fox 'News'], he's taking policy advice from its morning hosts.... Over the weekend, news broke that Trump is preparing to pardon several U.S. servicemen involved in high-profile cases of gunning down civilians or killing detainees, with the White House having already ordered that the necessary paperwork be drawn up ahead of the coming Memorial Day. The news came roughly two months after Trump publicly intervened in what the president called 'restrictive' confinement conditions of one of the alleged war criminals. At the heart of both these moves has been a months-long lobbying campaign by Pete Hegseth, a Fox & Friends co-host and a buddy and informal adviser of the president's.... According to three people with knowledge of the situation, Hegseth had multiple private conversations on the topic with President Trump over the past four-and-a-half months...."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: Donald Trump "is the profanity presidency, full of four-letter denunciations of his enemies and earthy dismissals of allegations lodged against him. At rallies and in interviews, on Twitter and in formal speeches, he relishes the bad-boy language of a shock jock, just one more way of gleefully provoking the political establishment bothered by his norm-shattering ways. In a single speech on Friday alone, he managed to throw out a 'hell,' an 'ass' and a couple of 'bullshits' for good measure. In the course of just one rally in Panama City Beach, Fla., earlier this month, he tossed out 10 'hells,' three 'damns' and a 'crap.' The audiences ... cheered and whooped and applauded.... An unscientific survey seems to suggest that if anything, Mr. Trump is growing more comfortable with crudeness." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Actually, the examples Baker cites are all obscenities or vulgarities. "Profanity" refers to obscenities that show disrespect to god. Unless Trump used these vulgarities in a house of worship, Trump is the obscenity president* or the vulgarity president*.

Czar Kris. Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni: "Access to a government jet 24 hours a day. An office in the West Wing, plus guaranteed weekends off for family time. And an assurance of being made secretary of homeland security by November. Those were among a list of 10 conditions that Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has given to the White House if he is to become the administration's 'immigration czar,' a job President Trump has been looking to create to coordinate immigration policy across government agencies. The list was described by three people.... Mr. Kobach, who once served as an adviser to the hard-line immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio and helped write an Arizona law requiring local officials to verify the citizenship of anyone they had 'reasonable suspicion' to believe was an unauthorized immigrant, said he would need to be the main television spokesman for the Trump administration on immigration policy. And he said he wanted a guarantee that cabinet secretaries whose portfolios relate to immigration would defer to him, with the president mediating disputes if need be. The list was submitted by Mr. Kobach in recent weeks as he discussed his interest in the job. Other conditions included having a staff of seven reporting to him, 'walk in' privileges to the Oval Office, a security detail if deemed necessary and the title of assistant to the president." ...

    ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Unbelievable. It's hard to imagine anyone's being that arrogant, even a racist, egotistical prick like Kobach. The guy is out of a job, his disgusting voter suppression commission blew up, he lost the governor's race to a Democrat in a red state, the highest office he's ever held is secretary of state in a small state (pop. less than 3 million), & now he's demanding that Cabinet secretaries defer to him? Update: safari has a theory! See top of the Comments below. ...

... Elliot Hannon of Slate: "... Donald Trump is in the market for an immigration czar to help implement his dystopian policies at the border, and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is in the market for, well, a job of some sort. What's not to like here! To be fair, Kobach has immigration and voter suppression instincts similar to Trump's, not to mention a kindred penchant for self-aggrandizing. All of that has added up to Kobach's name being bandied about as a potential figurehead to lead Trump's anti-immigration charge.... Kobach reportedly discussed with Trump the possibility of creating a czar role, a job that Kobach could, crucially, assume without Senate confirmation.... [since] the Senate seems to be adhering to a general trend started by voters that the more one gets to know Kobach, the less one likes him."

Spencer Woodman, et al., of the Intercept: "An investigation by The Intercept and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found that ICE uses isolation [i.e., solitary confinement] as a go-to tool, rather than a last resort, to manage and punish even the most vulnerable detainees for weeks and months at a time. The Intercept's and ICIJ's reporting ... found that the immigration agency has used isolation cells to punish immigrants for offenses as minor as consensual kissing, and to segregate hunger strikers, LGBTQ detainees, and people with disabilities. In nearly a third of the cases, detainees were described as having a mental illness, which made them especially vulnerable to breakdown if locked up alone in a small cell.... The review found that immigrants held in the agency's isolation cells had suffered hallucinations, fits of anger, and suicidal impulses. Former detainees told ICIJ that they experienced sleeplessness, flashbacks, depression, and memory loss long after release. 'People were being brutalized,' said Ellen Gallagher, who currently holds a supervisory role in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.... Gallagher, a whistleblower who is going public for the first time, told The Intercept and ICIJ that ICE, a DHS agency, has violated policies that often require a search for less restrictive measures...."

Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "A 16-year-old Guatemala migrant who died Monday in U.S. custody had been held by immigration authorities for six days -- twice as long as federal law generally permits. The teenager, identified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, was the fifth minor from Guatemala to die after being apprehended by U.S. border agents since December.... CBP said Carlos reported early Sunday morning that he was not feeling well and diagnosed with the flu by a nurse practitioner.... He was not hospitalized, according to the agency official who briefed reporters.... Asked about the death, Trump blamed Democrats, saying they are refusing to approve changes that could improve the system."

Curt Prendergast of the Arizona Daily Star: "A Nogales [Arizona] Border Patrol agent called the people he apprehends 'disgusting subhuman s--- unworthy of being kindling for a fire' and asked the president to 'PLEASE let us take the gloves off trump!,' federal prosecutors said in court documents. The statements were made in a text message sent by Agent Matthew Bowen, 39, who is accused of knocking down a Guatemalan man with his Border Patrol vehicle on Dec. 3, 2017, and then lying in a report about the incident, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson. Prosecutors ... are asking a judge to allow some of Bowen's text messages to be used as evidence of his 'great disdain' for the people he apprehends, which could shed light on his state of mind when he hit the man with his truck.... Among the examples the prosecutors cite is an exchange on Dec. 18, 2017, in which an unidentified person asked Bowen: 'Did you gas hiscorpse (sic) or just use regular peanut oil while tazing?? For a frying effect.' Bowen responded, 'Guats are best made crispy with an olive oil from their native pais," using a derogatory term for Guatemalan citizens and the Spanish word for country, pais."

Betsy Woodruff & Sam Brodey of The Daily Beast: "The Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency ... is urging staffers tasked with handling cyber threats to set their day jobs aside and go on mini-deployments to the U.S.-Mexico border after an earlier request from headquarters failed to recruit enough officials.... Earlier this spring, top officials asked employees from all DHS entities to go volunteer at the border, according to a DHS official.... Among the officials who were asked on Friday to assist the federal government at the border are those tasked with protecting the U.S. government's cyber infrastructure -- including election systems considered vulnerable...." --s

Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump wants to let old coal plants remain in operation longer than existing federal rules would allow. To rationalize such a policy, the White House encouraged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce research showing that the economic benefits of keeping the sky sooty would outweigh the cost to public health.... EPA scientists found that keeping these uniquely dirty energy providers on the grid will cause 1,400 more Americans to perish from premature deaths every year.... So the administration decided to bite the bullet, admit its error -- and order EPA scientists to engineer a lower body count." --s

Juan Cole: "Iran's clerical Leader, Ali Khamenei threw cold water on the idea of a military conflict between Iran and the US. Khamenei thus proved himself more mature than US warmongers such as National Security adviser John Bolton.... Khamenei's lead has been followed by the new head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, who also underlined that Iran does not want military conflict with the United States. Then the US side defused some tensions by reporting that Iran had brought its little boats back to shore that the US maintained had missiles (i.e. rockets) on them. Iran does not have a navy to speak of and those little boats can't carry a missile system." --s

Congressional Race 2020. Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "A Republican state representative plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, after Amash said this weekend he believes ... Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses. State Rep. Jim Lower, R-Greenville, announced that he would run for the 3rd Congressional District seat Amash has held since 2011 and would forgo a race for a third term in the state House. Lower said he had been planning to run for some time and had expected to make an announcement closer to July 4. But he said he decided to move up that schedule after Amash said on Twitter on Saturday that after reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report he believes the president committed impeachable offenses. Amash became the first Republican to voice support for impeachment. Trump attacked Amash on Sunday on Twitter, calling him a 'loser' and saying Amash only made the remarks to get attention." ...

... Presidential Race 2020

... Jonathan Chait: Justin "Amash's fellow Republicans immediately set about proving how brave it was by excommunicating him from the party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appeared on Fox News to unleash a wild flurry of lies.... The grain of truth in the accusations against Amash is that Amash is contemplating a presidential candidacy with the Libertarian Party.... A real right-wing third-party challenge, by a Republican (who hails from a swing state) would be a nightmare for Trump's reelection. And the more Republicans attack Amash, the more they close the door on any chance he can return to Congress, where he mostly votes with them, and push him instead to run against Trump. The short-term goal of discrediting Trump's critics may bring with it a much larger long-term cost." ...

     ... Steve M. disagrees with Chait: "It would be nice to believe this, but the overwhelming majority of Republican voters would not consider Amash a 'real' right-winger, especially not after Trump and the GOP noise machine began publicizing [a series of supposed] apostasies[.]... Oh, and did I mention that he's of Palestinian and Syrian descent? Amash will win the votes of a few #NeverTrumpers in the commentariat. He'll also win the usual libertarian voters, and maybe a few disaffected lefties. (He wants to end federal marijuana prohibition.) But he won't be seen as a genuine conservative alternative. It would be nice to think so, but that won't happen." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: But I think Chait could be right. Tara Golshen of Vox (Nov. 2016): "The final totals revealed that, in fact, [Jill] Stein's total voters exceeded Clinton's margin of victory. In other words, if every Stein voter had voted for Clinton instead, she [Clinton] could have won Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and the presidency." However, as Golshen points out, there's no reason to think all (or even enough) of Stein's voters would have come to the polls & voted for Clinton. BUT if Michigan, for instance, is close in 2020, a few tens of thousands of votes for Amash could rob Trump of a majority.

The Perceived "Most Electable" Is Not Necessarily the Most Electable. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... I suspect that Biden is surging in the polls in part because, rather than pretend that the election is about so-called kitchen table issues, he's taking on Trump's desecration of the presidency directly. What worries me about Biden -- above and beyond policy disagreements -- is that, in contemporary politics, the quest to find an electable candidate hasn't resulted in candidates that actually win. Voters don't do themselves any favors when they try to think like pundits.... Ultimately, the paradox of primaries is that it's most strategic to ignore the experts and follow your emotions."

See also the NYT story by Haberman & Karni, linked above, re: Trump's call for an investigation of Joe Biden & his family.

Fox "News" Hosts Slime Buttigieg. Matt Gertz of Media Matters on why Democrats should not appear on Fox "News": "South Bend, IN, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's performance at a Fox News town hall garnered rave reviews Sunday night from journalists and pundits, with some arguing that his successful turn proved that Democratic presidential candidates should be making on-air appeals to the network's viewers.... Within hours ... the network began smearing Buttigieg in an effort that will likely minimize any gains he might have made with its viewers.... No matter how persuasive the candidates might be, they can't reverse years of propaganda in a single evening.... The network has spent decades priming its audience to hate Democrats. To the extent that regular Fox viewers were tuning in to Buttigieg's town hall, he had an opportunity to speak to them. But now that he's no longer on their airwaves, Fox's hosts, who have a much more extensive and durable relationship with their audience, get to rebut everything he said for hours on end.... As Fox faced [financial] disaster, Democratic presidential candidates bailed it out. And now the network will pay them back by doing whatever it can to undermine their message and ensure their defeat." ...

... Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times writes along the same vein, but is less direct than Gertz about the downside of Democrats' appearing on Fox "News." There is an upside, too, Grynbaum reports: "Mark McKinnon, a veteran political strategist, said he could understand why Mr. Trump might be alarmed at seeing potential rivals show up on his favorite network. 'Anyone who goes to a Fox town hall is going to come off better, more reasonable, more human, and not nearly as evil, ideological or stupid as they are currently being painted by the network,' Mr. McKinnon said. 'The bar is low. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised when Democrats show up to town halls and they're not wearing Mao caps.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Maxwell Tani of The Daily Beast: "In a new report shared exclusively with The Daily Beast, liberal media-monitoring group Media Matters found that on-air personalities at the right-leaning news network [Fox News] have made a total of at least $500,000 in speaking fees for appearances at Republican groups and conservative organizations while working at Fox News." --s

"Charity Is Not a Route to a Just Society." Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: "Several commenters, including Senator Bernie Sanders and writer Anand Giridharadas, have praised [the] generosity [of private equity billionaire Robert F. Smith, who pledged to eliminate the college debt of members of Morehouse College's class of 2019,] while maintaining that its necessity stems from policy failures.... As Giridharadas points out, Smith's philanthropy comes with a caveat: That despite his investment in this tiny subset of the borrower population, his opposition to closing tax loopholes for phenomenally-wealthy people like himself indicates a lack of interest in systemic change that could generate enough money to make college free for everybody -- a great way, in Smith's words, to 'make sure that every class has the same opportunity going forward.'... Smith's financial launchpad will ensure that 396 Morehouse men enter the job market with a stability that should be their right. But it should be others' as well -- even the less accomplished.... Charity is not a route to a just society."

Eoin Higgins of Common Dreams: "Journalist Judd Legum, the founder and former editor-in-chief of ThinkProgress, revealed Monday at his new subscription service outlet Popular Info that corporate donations to state legislators instrumental in pushing abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri are in contrast to the public image of those companies. Legum took aim at six specific companies: AT&T, Walmart, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Eli Lilly, Coca-Cola, and insurance corporation Aetna. Each corporation proudly promotes inclusion, equality, and concern for the health of women in company statements. 'In their corporate literature, these companies present themselves as champions of women and gender equality,' wrote Legum. 'But they have collectively donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians seeking to roll back reproductive rights.'"

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The animating impulse of Trump's campaign -- the beating heart of 'Make America Great Again' -- was a defense of traditional hierarchies. Trump promised, explicitly, to weaken America's commitment to principles of fairness and equality to strengthen privileges of race, gender and wealth.... With his nomination of conservative judges -- and Mitch McConnell's successful drive to confirm them in the Senate -- Trump has given white evangelicals and their Republican representatives the opportunity to pass the laws and measures that reflect their ultra-traditionalist ideals. So even if Trump distances himself from any particular law, that's how one should understand the new wave of abortion restrictions -- as direct attacks on the social and economic autonomy of people who can become pregnant designed to strengthen strict hierarchies of gender.... MAGA is the Muslim ban; MAGA is child separation; MAGA is a woman in handcuffs for thinking she had the right to her own body." See also Yvonne Sanchez's Arizona Republic story, linked below.

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. Abbey Crain of al.com: "Alabama Public Television chose not to air PBS's Arthur episode that included a same-sex marriage.... APT has no plans to air the episode at a later date.... APT previously pulled an episode of Arthur in 2005, when Buster, a bunny character in Arthur visited a girl who had two mothers.... The episode is available online at pbs.org." Mrs. McC: The federal government funds PBS (funding which Trump, BTW, proposed cutting to zero). Besides its regular federal funding, last November APT received a special $175,000 grant "to provide science and literacy resources for the youngest learners to underserved areas." So good job on that, APT, you ignorant bigots!

Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez of the Arizona Republic: Right-wing extremists are re-inserting themselves into Arizona Republican politics, and the "mainstream" GOP is welcoming them. "With nativism rising in the U.S., Arizona's far-right, enamored with conspiracies and comfortable among bigots and nationalists, is mobilizing after years of feeling alienated by the state GOP. They are motivated by a president and state party leader who are voicing action for a pro-Trump 'America First' agenda they support and the state's rapidly changing demography towards a younger, more diverse population, experts say. 'It's not necessarily just how widespread support may be for a particular leader or policy, but how deep it is within certain pockets,' said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino. 'What extremists are reveling in is not only the fact that some of their policies are becoming mainstream, but sometimes the bigotry which bleeds into these discussions is not fully repudiated. And they take that as a wink and a nod.'... Donald Trump's affirmation of white nationalists after a 2017 neo-Nazi 'Unite the Right' rally turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia..., was taken by many as tacit approval of the fringe right and its tactics."

Way Beyond

Australia. Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "The unexpected victory of conservatives in Australia's election Saturday is bad news for the future of global climate action, warn climate experts. Polls had suggested that the Labor Party, which supports strong climate action, held a narrow lead in recent days. But in the end, Prime Minister Scott Morrison won re-election.... 'We have lost Australia for now,' warned Penn State climatologist Michael Mann in an email. 'A coalition of a small number of bad actors now threaten the survivability of our species,' he said." --s

Austria. Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "Austria's far-right interior minister, Herbert Kickl, has been fired in the wake of the 'Ibiza' corruption scandal that has engulfed the Freedom party (FPÖ), leading to the complete collapse of the country's governing coalition.... Kickl's sacking follows the resignation of FPÖ leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, as vice-chancellor following the emergence of a video that showed him offering lucrative public contracts [to Putin-linked cronies] in exchange for campaign support." --s

Uganda. Ed Pilkington & Alon Mwesigwa of the Guardian: "An American pastor from New Jersey [Robert Baldwin] backed by a British former clairvoyant [Sam Little from Arlesey in Bedfordshire] is running a network that gives up to 50,000 Ugandans a 'miracle cure' made from industrial bleach, claiming drinking the toxic fluid eradicates cancer, HIV/Aids, malaria and most other diseases.... [C]hlorine dioxide ... has no known health benefit and can be extremely dangerous.... The American pastor has 'trained' about 1,200 clerics in Uganda on administering the 'miracle cure'.... As an inducement, Baldwin is offering smartphones to those clerics who are especially 'committed' to spreading the bleach cure." --s

Aaron Clark & Anuchit Nguyen of Bloomberg: "While Southeast Asia remains one of the last places where coal power can attract international financing, one maverick tycoon [Sarath Ratanavadi thinks the region will no longer tolerate burning the dirtiest fuel.... At least 100 major lenders in the past five years have put restrictions on financing coal mines and power plants that burn the fuel, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said in February.... [A]mid dire warnings that the world must abandon coal power entirely by 2050 to avoid catastrophic damage from climate change..., [t]hose predictions are beginning to convince developers and investors to avoid coal as pressures are expected to mount against the fuel." --s