The Commentariat -- July 26, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Ha! Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter. Several of the remarks came as Mr. Trump was also privately pressuring the men -- both key witnesses in the inquiry -- about the investigation, and Mr. Mueller is examining whether the actions add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.... The special counsel's investigators have told Mr. Trump's lawyers they are examining the tweets under a wide-ranging obstruction-of-justice law.... Mr. Trump's lead lawyer in the case, Rudolph W. Giuliani, dismissed Mr. Mueller's interest in the tweets as part of a desperate quest to sink the president."

Uh-Oh. Emily Birnbaum of the Hill: Allen Weissenberg, "the longtime financial chief of the Trump Organization, is being subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in the criminal investigation ... Michael Cohen, according to The Wall Street Journal. Cohen mentioned Allen Weisselberg in the widely circulated tapes released on Tuesday night, the Journal noted."

The Evidence on the Tape. Miriam Rocah & Elie Honig of the Daily Beast: "Taken as a whole, the recording shows that Trump -- despite his prior statements to the contrary -- was part of an ongoing scheme to pay AMI to silence McDougal in the weeks before the election. Trump can't deny it now: He knew about and endorsed the scheme, according to the tape. The tape also reveals that the true purpose behind the proposed McDougal payment was to ensure her silence in the weeks leading up to the election.... every nuance of this tape and countless other pieces of evidence. After working for Trump for over a decade, Cohen could be the prosecutor's dream cooperator: one who had special insider access to the leader of a powerful, closed, corrupt organization." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Watching the Trump Show, New York Edition, makes me feel as if I've seen it all before in a "Law & Order" episode where Jack McCoy goes after a couple of hitmen called Books & Biscuits (Libretti & Biscotti). The teevee show (plot here), as so often is the case, was more compelling than the reality. But, yeah, Donaldo Trumpomassi could pass for the show's fictional capo Franco Tortomassi. The "Law & Order" episode ends with a cameo by real NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who holds a press conference announcing the convictions of the "dangerous criminals." Get ready for your close-up, Bill de Blasio.

Reuters via the Guardian: "Donald Trump has threatened to slap 'large sanctions' on Turkey unless Ankara frees an American pastor whose detention has further strained relations between the Nato allies.... The Trump administration escalated its pressure campaign the day after a Turkish court allowed Andrew Brunson to be transferred to house arrest after 21 months in detention. He is on trial on terrorism charges." --safari

Jonathan Chait: "Last night, the Trump administration announced with maximum fanfare that the trade war with the European Union was over. 'This was a big day for free and fair trade!,' tweeted an excited President Trump. For all the hype and surprisingly credulous press the announcement attracted, it amounts to little more than a face-saving truce. If you're looking for any details as to how this will work, too bad, they don't exist. The trade 'deal' follows the script of the ballyhooed North Korean nuclear 'deal' from last month. The cycle begins with bellicose Trumpian threats designed to increase American leverage. This leads to negotiations, which produce an impossibly ambitious and thoroughly vague 'solution' that allows Trump to boast that he has averted a crisis of his own making." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait goes on. But we all know the rubes will continue to verify the adage, "There's a sucker born every minute" ... with a great deal of help from the nation's press corps for putting the Trump propaganda front-and-center AND for all showing up at Trump's impromptu Rose Garden "announcement" ceremony even though Trump's henchpeople had banned a CNN reporter for, you know, asking questions.

Asawin Suebsaeng, et al. The Daily Beast: "Henry Kissinger suggested to President Donald Trump that the United States should work with Russia to contain a rising China. The former secretary of state -- who famously engineered the tactic of establishing diplomatic relations with China in order to isolate the Soviet Union -- pitched almost the inverse of that idea to Trump during a series of private meetings during the presidential transition, five people familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast. The potential strategy would use closer relations with Russia, along with other countries in the region, to box in China's growing power and influence." --safari

From the Unthinkable to the Possible. Mike DeBonis & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Thursday that he supports an effort by conservative lawmakers to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, calling it 'leverage' to get the Justice Department to provide Congress with more documents related to the Russia probe. Scalise (R-La.), who is the third-ranking Republican in the House and is eyeing a bid to become speaker, said during an interview with Fox News that he would vote for the resolution if it reaches the floor.... Scalise said he is 'very disappointed' in the Justice Department. 'They need to be transparent to the American people,' he said." Mrs. McC: Actually, no. Criminal investigations in the U.S. have never been "transparent," especially to Friends of the Criminal. ...

     ... Update. Kyle Cheney & Rachel Bade of Politico: "Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday firmly rejected an effort by House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, putting him at odds with hard-liners in his party and even some in his own leadership team. The Wisconsin Republican told reporters the Department of Justice was largely complying with a GOP demand for documents surrounding the FBI's Russia investigation." ...

     ... Update 2. Olivia Beavers of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) says he is tabling his efforts to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after having several meetings with Republican leadership, stating that he would instead pursue contempt if the Justice Department (DOJ) does not turn over documents Congress is seeking. While the impeachment option remains on the table, Meadows told reporters Tuesday he now hopes it will be a contempt process rather than impeachment." Mrs. McC: The House Republican caucus is as disorganized as the White House & as a impetuous & irresponsible as the President*. ...

... Alayna Treene & Haley Britzky of Axios: "Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founder of the House Freedom Caucus, has just sent a letter to his colleagues announcing that he is officially running to replace Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House, Axios has confirmed." Mrs. McC: It might be okay if Jordan were minority leader; it would give the country a good chance to see how really horrible the GOP is.

All the Best People, Ctd. Jesse Drucker, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump planned to nominate Ken Kurson, a close friend of Jared Kushner & Rudy Giuliani, as a board member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, although Kurson has no background in the humanities. But an FBI background check turned up disturbing allegations -- that came with documentation -- that Kurson had harassed a NYC Mount Sinai doctor & the wife of her boss to the extent that the hospital took extra security measures to protect the doctor. According to a female journalist's first-person account in the Atlantic, Kurson, whom Kushner had appointed to run the New York Observer, also made commments about the the journalist's "breasts as she sought a job at The Observer." His harassment of the doctor, which the reporters describe, was way scarier than that. Coda: "Last week, the White House announced Mr. Trump's six nominees to the endowment's board. Mr. Kurson isn't on the list. In addition to three academics, it includes a corporate lobbyist, the head of a political consulting firm and an executive at the conservative Heritage Foundation."

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would appear Trump & Co. don't know anybody who isn't as skeezy & sleazy as they are, AND they think these lowlifes deserve prestigious jobs. Birds of a feather.

Roque Planas of the Huffington Post: "A Trump appointee's decision to personally review requests to release migrant children from jail-like 'secure facilities' created a bureaucratic bottleneck that dramatically increased the amount of time kids spent locked up. Office of Refugee Resettlement chief E. Scott Lloyd ― who first attracted national interest when a federal court slapped down his attempt to ban a teenage migrant who'd been raped from obtaining an abortion ― told subordinates last year that he'd have to personally sign off before any kids could be released from ORR's secure facilities.... Lloyd decided to make release decisions himself after reading news reports that some unaccompanied minors released from ORR custody later allegedly committed gang-related crimes, he told a congressional subcommittee last year. In a deposition for a New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging his new policy..., Lloyd said he made the decision without an agency review and in consultation with just two colleagues." ...

... Rebekah Entralago of ThinkProgress: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents notified Orlando, Florida resident Alejandra Juarez Tuesday that she will be deported to Mexico on August 3.... Juarez, the wife of veteran Marine Sgt. Cuauhtemoc 'Temo' Juarez, also a former member of the Florida National Guard, entered the United States in 1998 and the two married in 2000. The eldest of the couple's two children was just 12 months old when their father was deployed to Iraq. Juarez's undocumented status was revealed during a traffic stop in 2013. Apart from her illegal entry into the country in 1998, she has no criminal record.... Under previous administrations..., Juarez was able to stay in the country because ICE generally deferred separation." --safari

"War on the Poor," Ctd. Danielle McLean of ThinkProgress: "House Republicans are pushing a bill that would impose work and education requirements on foster youths who are facing homelessness, putting their ability to get federal housing subsidies at risk." --safari

** IOKIYAR. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "A new ad from Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) accuses his Democratic opponent of rank hypocrisy for owning stock in some of the sectors he has spoken out against. There's just one problem: Buchanan's own holdings.... The ad claims that [Democrat David] Shapiro owns stock in 'two companies responsible for the Gulf Oil spill' (Transocean and Halliburton), 'drugmakers accused of fueling' the opiate epidemic (Johnson & Johnson), and 'companies that make assault weapons and cop-killer bullets' (Savage Arms).... But a ThinkProgress review of Buchanan's own personal financial disclosure form reveals that he owns ... more than 320,000 Johnson & Johnson shares, more than 24,000 shares of Halliburton, and over 130,000 shares of Transocean [and] he has received more than $14,000 in support from the National Rifle Association over his tenure in Congress." --safari

Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "Just 13% of the world's oceans remain untouched by the damaging impacts of humanity, the first systematic analysis has revealed. Outside the remotest areas of the Pacific and the poles, virtually no ocean is left harbouring naturally high levels of marine wildlife.... Furthermore, just 5% of the remaining ocean wilderness is within existing marine protection areas." --safari

Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Newly disclosed emails show Michigan Republicans angling to give their party a dominant position through gerrymandered maps and celebrating the plight of their Democratic rivals. Republicans in the state have denied that they sought partisan gain when they drew new legislative boundaries in 2011. But a federal lawsuit, which argues the maps are unconstitutional, has unearthed records showing Republicans intent on drawing boundaries that would help their party. The emails, disclosed in a filing on Monday, boast of concentrating 'Dem garbage' into four of the five southeast Michigan districts that Democrats now control, and of packing African-Americans into a metropolitan Detroit House district. One email likened a fingerlike extension they created in one Democratic district map to an obscene gesture toward its congressman, Representative Sander M. Levin.... The emails were first reported by The Bridge, a magazine run by the Center for Michigan, a public policy think tank."

*****

Mark Landler & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "The United States and the European Union stepped back from the brink of a trade war on Wednesday, after President Trump said the Europeans agreed to work toward lowering tariffs and other trade barriers, and to buy billions of dollars of American exports, from soybeans to natural gas. The announcement, made by Mr. Trump and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, defused, for the moment, a trade battle that began with Mr. Trump's tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports and threatened to escalate to its automobiles. 'We're starting the negotiation right now, but we know very much where it's going,' Mr. Trump said, standing next to Mr. Juncker at a hastily-scheduled appearance in the White House Rose Garden. Mr. Juncker said, 'I had the intention to make a deal today, and we have made a deal today.' He said both sides would hold off on further tariffs, and potentially drop the existing ones, unless they fail to agree on a deal to reduce tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies to zero." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This, IMO, is Trump blinking because of GOP & constituent blowback against an unnecessary problem he created. It's an agreement to try to negotiate an agreement, which -- considering that the E.U. is comprised of allies & has been one of the U.S.'s largest trading partners AND Trump is unreliable -- ain't much. As Landler & Swanson write, "It was hard to say, given Mr. Trump's unpredictable negotiating style, if the agreement was a genuine truce or merely a lull in a conflict that could flare up again. Twice, Mr. Trump's aides have negotiated deals with China, only to have Mr. Trump reject them and threaten further tariffs." But it's better than a Twittertantrum, so that's something. ...

... Heather Long & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "At first glance Wednesday, it looked like President Trump halted his trade war.... But there's a lot of reasons to be skeptical that Trump has suddenly changed his mind on trade. The details of the agreement with Europe are thin, there's still a trade deficit that Trump hates, and only a day ago the president tweeted that 'tariffs are the greatest.'... Trump still has a 25 percent tariff on European steel and a 10 percent tariff on European aluminum. Beyond Europe, Trump's metals tariffs are still in place on many other countries, including allies like Canada and Japan.... Tariffs are moving forward on China.... The 'deal' with Europe looks odd[: a lot like a deal President Obama negotiated.]... The E.U. claims that it succeeded in getting Trump to back down on putting auto tariffs on Europe -- for now. But that point didn't make the official statement, and the Trump Administration is still moving full speed ahead with its investigation in whether other countries are hurting America's 'national security' by sending so many foreign cars, trucks and parts to the United States.... Trump has a tendency to go soft, then hard on trade." ...

... Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "Over the course of just 11 days..., Donald Trump went from calling the European Union a 'foe' and publicly questioning his own intelligence agencies to palling around with a top EU official in the Rose Garden and scheduling a meeting with his senior advisers to discuss election security [related story linked below]. It was an abrupt tonal shift for the president -- and it underscored the growing pressure on Trump from fellow Republicans to toughen his public stance against Russia and to limit the fallout of the escalating global trade wars. Few people close to the president believe he has changed much, and they expect the president to continue bashing long-time U.S. allies and cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.... Still, the announcements on trade and Russia appeared to serve as high-profile messaging after a week of chaos that Trump is on the same page as his political party -- and that the White House is sensitive to the mounting criticism.... The [trade] announcement appeared to have been slapped together at the last minute. Normally, Rose Garden announcements are elaborate affairs with dozens of attendees sitting in rows of chairs to hear the president speak." ...

... Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "Several of President Trump's senior economic advisers believe he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on close to $200 billion in foreign-made automobiles later this year, three people briefed on discussions said. Trump wants to move forward despite numerous warnings from GOP leaders and business executives who have argued that such a move could damage the economy and lead to political mutiny. But Trump has become increasingly defiant in his trade strategy, following his own instincts and intuition and eschewing advice from his inner circle. He has told advisers and Republicans to simply trust his business acumen, a point he tried to reinforce Wednesday morning in a Twitter post. 'Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking?' Trump said Wednesday. 'Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped off?'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

** Paul Farhi & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "A CNN reporter said she was blocked from an open media event at the White House on Wednesday after officials objected to questions she asked President Trump at an event earlier in the day. Reporter Kaitlan Collins said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and communications director Bill Shine told her she was banned from a late-afternoon announcement in the Rose Garden involving Trump and European Union president Jean-Claude Juncker a few hours after she sought to question Trump during a press-pool 'spray' in the Oval Office. Blocking a credentialed White House reporter from an event open to all members of the media is highly unusual and possibly unprecedented, and it marks another low point in the Trump White House's highly strained relationship with the news media. It wasn't clear late Tuesday whether Shine and Sanders were acting on their own ... or were carrying out a directive from Trump himself." ...

... Jen Kirby of Vox: "According to CNN, the White House retaliated against reporter Kaitlan Collins after she directed some questions at ... Donald Trump during a pool reporter session in the Oval Office ahead of the president's trade meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Collins was the designated pool reporter at the photo op, meaning she was representing all the major television networks, when she asked the president questions about the recently released recording of Trump and his former attorney Michael Cohen discussing a payoff to a former Playboy model, and about Trump's invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the White House.... Trump did not answer any of Collins's questions. Collins ... said afterward she was called into the office of Bill Shine.... There, Shine and ... Sarah Sanders told her that she wouldn't be allowed to attend an open press event in the Rose Garden ... 'because they thought the questions that I posed to President Trump were inappropriate and inappropriate for that venue,' Collins recalled.... It's standard practice for reporters to throw rapid-fire questions at the president during similar photo ops." ...

... Maybe Trump Is Mad Because Melanie Watches CNN. Kate Bennett of CNN: "First lady Melania Trump will watch 'any channel she wants,' according to her spokeswoman in an apparent rebuke to the report ... Donald Trump was upset to find her Air Force One television tuned into CNN. East Wing communications director Stephanie Grisham told CNN Wednesday everyone should be focusing on the issues the first lady is seeking to highlight, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome, rather than what television channel she's watching or a tape of her husband discussing a payout to a woman who claims to have had an extramarital affair with him."

Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "... Donald Trump's national security advisor said Wednesday that the next bilateral meeting between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin should happen after the Russia witch hunt is over.' 'The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year,' John Bolton told reporters Wednesday. The White House had earlier said that Trump would meet with Putin at the White House in the fall. The plan drew condemnation from lawmakers. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wi., said he would not invite Putin to speak before Congress during the Washington D.C. visit. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that Putin 'will not be welcome' in the capitol. The Kremlin was lukewarm on the idea of a second meeting, with a top official telling reporters Tuesday that Russia had not begun any preparations." Thanks to MAG for the link. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So, um, this "meeting" was just a figment of the POTUS*'s imagination. Great. I'm feeling safer now. ...

... ** Julie Davis & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, offered Congress what he called 'proof' on Wednesday that President Trump is willing to hold Russia accountable for its malign activities, including interfering in American elections and misbehavior around the world. In testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Pompeo said that the president is 'well aware of the challenges that Russia poses' and has taken 'a staggering number of actions to protect our interests.' He defended Mr. Trump's summit meeting last week in Finland with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that sowed doubts about the American president's ability to confront Moscow.... [Pompeo's] responses [to senators' questions] highlighted the gulf between Mr. Trump's statements and actions toward Russia when contrasted to the tough policies of his administration.... Mr. Pompeo spent much of the hearing attempting to persuade senators in both parties who expressed concern about Mr. Trump that it was the administration's policy's -- not the president's own words -- that mattered. At times, under questioning from the lawmakers, that meant the secretary of state contradicted Mr. Trump.... The testimony amounts to an elaborate cleanup effort by the nation's top diplomat for Mr. Trump's performance in Helsinki...." ...

... ** Heather Hurlburt of New York: "Unsurprisingly, the hearing didn't reveal what Putin and Trump talked about in their one-on-one, two hour conversation, but it did shed some light on how some key played view each other, and the issues at stake: Secretary Pompeo has a tightrope to walk. Watching him try to maintain a minimal level of collegiality with Senators while also staying within the boundaries President Trump expects of his courtiers was exhausting.... [Only] two GOP Senators joined Democrats in pressing Pompeo hard on the Helsinki Summit, North Korea and other topics. No points for guessing that neither of the two (Corker and Flake) are running for re-election.... Rand Paul has taken a hard turn into the pro-Russia camp.... Trump is still hung up on making a commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty." ...

     ... Stephanie Murray of Politico: "Sen. Rand Paul warned on Wednesday that a bipartisan bill meant to deter foreigners from meddling in future U.S. elections would weaken the president's abilities to strike back at adversaries. The bill, known as the DETER Act, is backed by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). The proposed law would bar foreign governments from buying ads to influence U.S. elections, and would also give the director of national intelligence the power to deploy 'national security tools' like sanctions if the Kremlin interferes in another American election.... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in the hot seat during Wednesday's hearing. He echoed Paul's sentiment that transferring election security power away from the president is unwise." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As Hurlburt wrote, "Given that Rubio had used his own time [at the hearing] to solicit Pompeo's support for the legislation, this was an unusual display of intraparty hostility. It does make you wonder about the content of the conversations Paul had on his post-summit trip to Moscow." I found a lot of news stories reporting that Paul was going to Russia but none that reported on his trip there. Hard to know why Paul has taken a sudden affinity for all things Trump & Russia (what Charlies Pierce calls Randy's "curious recent campaign to be a good little doggie who would like a treat now"), but you can be certain there is a reason and it's not a principled one. Maybe it's just because Li'l Randy "is the most interesting man in politics." Any better ideas?

Mrs. McCrabbie: Besides making the rich richer & the poor poorer, depriving millions of Americans of health insurance, upending traditional trade & security partnerships, wrecking the Earth, making workers less safe, curbing civil rights, making college even less affordable & grade schools worse, etc., Trump & his GOP cronies bring us this ...

... Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "In the first half of 2018, corporate tax collections dropped to historically low levels as a share of the economy, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That is pushing up the federal budget deficit much faster than economists had predicted. The reason is President Trump's tax cuts. The new law introduced a standard corporate rate of 21 percent, down from a high of 35 percent, and allowed companies to immediately deduct many new investments. As companies operate with a lower tax burden and a greater ability to offset what they owe, the federal government is receiving far less revenue than it would have under the previous tax system." These jerks should impeach themselves. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Trump's tax cut may not be a winner for GOP candidates, either. ...

... Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "Republican candidates seem to be gravitating towards political messages that are devoid of talk of tax cuts and more designed to excite the base or stress biography.... Support for tax reform is slipping. And the special election in Ohio is the latest race showing that Democrats feel more comfortable using it bash Republicans." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... AND there's this new report from Bob Herman of Axios: "CEOs made a lot more than what is normally portrayed in most media coverage.... The CEOs running S&P 500 companies cumulatively took home $10 billion in 2017, an amount that is 44% higher than what is usually reported, according to an Axios analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The big reason: CEOs cashing in their stock.... Annual proxy filings bury the fact that many of America's top executives are sometimes paid even more than what headlines suggest, due almost entirely to the huge gains they reap from the stock market. Meanwhile, worker wages are stagnant, the average household is living on $59,000 a year."

Ann Marimow, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Wednesday rejected President Trump's latest effort to stop a lawsuit that alleges Trump is violating the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign governments. The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Greenbelt, Md., will allow the plaintiffs -- the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia -- to proceed with their case, which says Trump has violated little-used anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution known as emoluments clauses. This ruling appeared to mark the first time a federal judge had interpreted those constitutional provisions and applied their restrictions to a sitting president. If the ruling stands, it could bring unprecedented scrutiny to Trump's businesses -- which have sought to keep their transactions with foreign states private...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Brett Kavanaugh must be suffering a case of the vapors. ...

... Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "This is the nightmare -- or one of them -- that Trump has long feared, namely litigation in which his business operations, perhaps even his tax returns, are laid bare. The decision, running over 50 pages, is an impressive, detailed analysis of the Constitution and 18th century language.... The ruling is the inevitable result of Trump's decision to maintain ownership of his far-flung business operations and to continue to reap the benefits, foreign and domestic, resulting from his presidency. (Ivanka Trump sure seems prescient in her decision to dump her clothing business....)"

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday vowed that the government would investigate Twitter for allegations that the social media giant has suppressed content from some conservative accounts. 'Twitter "SHADOW BANNING" prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints,' Trump tweeted.... The president ... was responding to claims from some Republicans who have alleged they have been 'shadow banned' from the platform and have seen their engagement with users dissipate in recent weeks.... Vice News first reported on Wednesday that [Rep Matt] Gaetz [RTrump-Fla.], Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel are among those who failed to appear on Twitter's auto-populated drop-down search when users entered their names. Gaetz and McDaniel accused Twitter of political bias. Twitter has acknowledged the issue and called it unintentional. The company said it's working to fix the issue and it was not targeting Republicans." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: How heartening to know that Trump finally has taken an interest in alleged discriminatory practices. I guess this means he'll get right on the actually horrifying report Washington Post report, linked below, that city police departments solve murders of black people significantly less often than they do murders of whites. Seriously, Trump's response to the Twitter story but not to the black homicide story is emblematic of his loathsome presidency.

Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "Conservative lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, in a move that marks a dramatic escalation in the battle over the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The effort, led by Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), also sets up a showdown with House Republican leaders, who have distanced themselves from calls to remove Rosenstein from office. But Meadows and Jordan stopped short of forcing an immediate vote on the measure, sparing Republican lawmakers for now from a potential dilemma.... Democrats have said that House Republicans' clashes with Rosenstein are little more than a pretext to weaken Mueller's efforts.... 'Any attempt to do so will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency,' said Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) and Adam B. Schiff (Calif.)." ...

... Elliot Hannon of Slate: "Congress just filed articles of impeachment! It's happening! Our long national nightmare could soon be... oh wait, never mind, they're going after the wrong guy.... The point is not to get to the bottom of anything in particular; the point is muddy the water, create confusion, and false equivalencies that might serve the president. The point is there is no point to what they're asking for. There is also no good faith point to their move for impeachment of Rosenstein, who also happens to be a Republican, and appears to have operated admirably in turbulent times.... It's hard to say exactly what the game plan is for Trump's congressional minions, but it's like an alley-oop for the president who will use it to make the case that everyone's guilty, so he can't possibly be." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "... it's hard to imagine that they took this course of action without at least a tacit green light from the White House. It's most likely that the whole gesture is just part of an effort to ratchet up the pressure on Rosenstein and DoJ to play along with their conspiracy theories, or perhaps to undermine Mueller by discrediting Rosenstein.... It should go without saying that even if the House impeached Rosenstein, there's no way the Senate would come up with the two-thirds margin necessary to make him the first non-presidential executive branch official since Ulysses Grant's corrupt Secretary of War William Belknap to be removed from his position by Congress."

Trump Irritated with Lawyer He Threw under the Bus. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lashed out at his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Wednesday for releasing a recorded conversation between the two, asking on Twitter 'what kind of lawyer would tape a client?' Trump's comments came the morning after Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, released a recording of a September 2016 phone call between Trump and Cohen that makes it appear Trump was familiar with a deal that Playboy model Karen McDougal made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him. 'So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before?' Trump wrote, adding: 'I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!' Trump also expressed concern that the recording had been terminated 'while I was presumably saying positive things.' He did not elaborate." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post on what the tape suggests or reveals: "1. This was a conversation about the campaign.... It reinforces ... that Cohen and Trump were talking about payments aimed at burying negative stories as part of their conversations about aiding the campaign. 2. Cohen appears to be an agent of the campaign.... In February, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission Lawrence Noble told The Washington Post that such a payment from an agent of the campaign is illegal. 3. How and when Cohen and AMI spoke about the MacDougal payment becomes even more interesting.... 4. Was Trump's impulse to pay in cash?" It's not completely clear on the tape, but if so, the intention is obvious. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: One thing that pissed me off occurs early in the tape. Trump is talking to an unidentified woman in his office. The nature of their discussion suggests she is a campaign employee & not a family member. He calls the woman "babe." Unless that's the employee's name, it's an insulting diminutive. Update: BUT see Nisky Guy's comment in yesterday's thread. He thinks the woman Trump was talking to could have been Ivanka Trump, who campaigned in Charlotte, N.C. -- the city being discussed on the tape -- later in 2016. ...

... Mike Allen of Axios: "Lanny Davis -- a lawyer for Michael Cohen ... -- tells me that, following last night's release of a secret Trump-Cohen recording, we'll soon learn more 'about what Michael Cohen saw and heard.'... Davis said that the tape's release sends the message: 'I am no longer the previous Michael Cohen that you knew -- taking a bullet for Donald Trump, saying anything to defend him, being a good soldier. ... That is over.'... 'Who talks about cash like that besides drug dealers and mobsters?' [Davis said.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... David Corn of Mother Jones: "With Cohen blowing the whistle, Mueller and other prosecutors will end up with a symphony of leads. After all, he likely has inside information on each of the three rings of the Trump scandal circus: the Russia affair, the business affairs, the affairs affair.... This ex-consigliere poses a triple threat to the godfather he once ruthlessly served." Corn goes on to make his case. ...

... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone -- without telling anyone he was taping them. A significant portion of the recordings is Cohen surreptitiously recording reporters who met with or questioned Cohen about Trump during the campaign and after Trump's election, the people said. Trump's voice is on several of the recordings, but only in snippets.... The only recording in which Trump and Cohen have a substantive conversation is the one that [Cohen's lawyer Lanny] Davis released Tuesday, according to these people."

Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "... there have been a number of instances in which the president or his surrogates have flatly denied something -- only to have that denial contradicted weeks or months later by new documents or statements.... Here's a sampling of White House denials that eventually unraveled after new information was disclosed. Strikingly, these examples often involve situations that might place the president in legal jeopardy.... Trump knew nothing about Daniels, McDougal or payoffs. [The tape released this week shows that] not only was Trump aware of the payment by AMI [to McDougal], he even knew the figure.... In May, Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani admitted that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payout to Daniels.... Trump had no role in Trump Jr.'s statement on Russia meeting.... In January, Trump's lawyers admitted in a memo to special counsel Mueller that Trump himself had dictated the statement issued by his son, a disclosure apparently forced because of documents obtained by Mueller's office.... Michael Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russians.... But when Flynn pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI in December, the criminal information made it clear that other Trump transition team members were involved in the discussion about what to tell the Russians about the sanctions.... Trump did not give classified information to Russia.... the next morning, Trump tweeted that he had an 'absolute right' to disclose such information to the Russians."

Max Boot of the Washington Post: Donald Trump says there's "no collusion" & Paul Ryan "insists 'there's no evidence of collusion.'... While there is not yet proof of collusion..., there is copious evidence of it.... In Helsinki..., Vladimir Putin admitted he wanted Trump to win -- something Trump continues to deny to this day.... The Moscow Project of the Center for American Progress reports, there were 82 known 'contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives.' 'None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities,' according to the project. Team Trump tried to conceal all of them.... Mueller's recent indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers ... notes that the Russians first tried to hack into Clinton's email on July 27, 2016, hours after Trump asked them to do just that.... The Russians stole ... the data analytics Democrats used to run their campaign.... A few weeks later, the Trump campaign shifted its 'datadriven' strategy to focus on the states that would provide the margin of victory.... Trump certainly gives the impression that he knows how much he owes Russia and how important it is to repay that debt lest Putin release the evidence that might bring him down."

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "A mysterious company that made a huge contribution to a pro-Trump political group this year is run by two Soviet-born businessmen, one of whom was feted at a donor retreat at Mar-a-Lago in March. Global Energy Producers LLC donated $325,000 to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC, in May, according to the group's most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.... Igor Fruman ... was born in Belarus and lived for years in Ukraine before immigrating to Miami. He maintains extensive business operations in Ukraine.... Lev Parnas ... runs a company called FraudGuarantee, which also goes by Strategic Global Assets, that says it has operations in New York, Florida, North Carolina, California, Russia, India, and the U.K.... In 2015, a federal judge ordered Parnas to repay more than $500,000 to a friend who loaned Parnas money to invest in a film project four years earlier.... Parnas never repaid the money, according to recent court filings in Florida, and the investor is currently seeking redress in a court in Florida.... In the meantime, Parnas has also been sued by his landlord, who is seeking to evict him and his wife and children over $11,000 in unpaid rent. Despite those outstanding debts, Parnas now appears to be involved with a financial venture that is pouring huge sums into political campaigns." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It isn't clear from Markay's account whether or not either Fruman (sometimes Furman) or Parnas is a U.S. citizen. You know who backs Democratic candidates? Mostly people like you and me, who want good government & don't run any shady businesses. Is this even a fair fight?

Derek Myers of the Fayette [County, Ohio,] Advocate: "... the Advocate has obtained emails from a whistleblower from inside the Columbus[, Ohio,] Police Department that outline the arrest of Stormy Daniels earlier this month may have been pre-planned days before she ever arrived in town. Columbus Police arrested the adult entertainer -- who claims to have had an affair with ... Donald Trump in 2006 -- on July 12.... Within hours of her arrest, Daniels' personal attorney Michael Avenatti called it a political hit-job and vowed to investigate.... Inside the emails are news clippings discussing Daniels' planned appearance in Columbus, pictures of Daniels with ... Donald Trump, videos of her dancing, and even a map to the club where she would be performing, all sent days before she would pull into town...."

Vernon Silver of Bloomberg: "... Vladimir Putin's gift of a soccer ball to ... Donald Trump last week set off a chorus of warnings -- some of them only half in jest -- that the World Cup souvenir could be bugged. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham even tweeted, 'I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House.' It turns out they weren't entirely wrong. Markings on the ball indicate that it contained a chip with a tiny antenna that transmits to nearby phones. But rather than a spy device, the chip is an advertised feature of the Adidas AG ball.... 'The security screening process that is done for all gifts was done for the soccer ball,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in an email. 'We are not going to comment further on security procedures.'" Mrs. McC: She isn't a very fun person, is she?

Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Amid mounting warnings about another Russian cyberattack on the 2018 midterm elections, President Trump’s former homeland security adviser said a recent staff shakeup ordered by national security adviser John Bolton has left the White House with nobody in charge of U.S. cyber policy.... 'On cyber, there is no clear person and or clear driver, and there is no clear muscle memory,' said Tom Bossert, who served as White House homeland security adviser until last April, in an interview with the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery." ...

... Yes But. Philip Rucker & Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump will convene a meeting Friday of the National Security Council on election security, a session that could include a discussion of possible Russian interference in November's midterm elections, according to a White House official. In addition, national security adviser John Bolton plans to hold two NSC Principals Committee meetings this week, one Thursday on Iran and one Friday on North Korea, according to the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.... Trump is expected to be confronted with the government's latest intelligence regarding election threats, including from Russia. It was unclear what Friday's agenda entailed, but it would be striking to convene a meeting on election security without delving into the Russian threat -- especially as the president is under scrutiny for his war overtures to Putin." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Actually, Friday's agenda is limited to reports & analyses of hacker threats 1. Angela Merkel (she's a girl scientist!); 2. Steve Bannon; 3. 400-pound New Jersey man.

Ted Hesson, et al., of Politico: "Homeland Security officials may have neglected to give a choice to as many as three-quarters of all migrant parents removed from the United States about leaving their children behind, contradicting repeated public assurances from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.... 'All of these adults who left without their kids left based on a decision to leave their children,' Nielsen said July 19 at a national security forum. 'The parents always have the choice to take the children with them,' Nielsen repeated to Fox News on Tuesday.... "If any parent has been deported ... without their child," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said July 5, "that likely would be a scenario where the parent had actually asked that the child remain.'... The Trump administration failed to document consent in most such cases, an administration official told Politico. That lapse increased the number of departed parents whom officials must now find and contact about whether they wish to be reunited with their children, and, if so, figure out the logistics of how to bring them together. The revelation threatens to delay reunifications and renews questions about the administration's original intent one day ahead of a court-ordered deadline to return most migrant children to their parents. That migrant parents gave consent to leave their children behind has been a key talking point for Trump administration officials defending the deportations." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: We should not be surprised that kidnappers are also liars.

Thanks, Betsy! Erica Green of the New York Times: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed on Wednesday to curtail Obama administration loan forgiveness rules for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, requiring that student borrowers show they have fallen into hopeless financial straits or prove that their colleges knowingly deceived them. The DeVos proposal, set to go in force a year from now, would replace Obama-era policies that sought to ease access to loan forgiveness for students who were left saddled with debt after two for-profit college chains, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, imploded in 2015 and 2016. The schools were found to have misled their students with false advertisements and misleading claims for years.... In June 2017, just one month before the Obama rules were to take effect, Ms. DeVos announced that she would block and rewrite them.... Advocates for student borrowers said ... the new rules would establish insurmountable barriers to relief for many vulnerable students, and would eliminate accountability for institutions that employ predatory tactics in recruitment and advertising...."

** "Unequal Justice." Wesley Lowery, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the past decade, police in 52 of the nation's largest cities have failed to make an arrest in nearly 26,000 killings, according to a Washington Post analysis of homicide arrest data. In more than 18,600 of those cases, the victim ... was black. Black victims, who accounted for the majority of homicides, were the least likely of any racial group to have their killings result in an arrest, The Post found. While police arrested someone in 63 percent of the killings of white victims, they did so in just 47 percent of those with black victims. The failure to solve black homicides fuels a vicious cycle: It deepens distrust of police among black residents, making them less likely to cooperate in investigations, leading to fewer arrests. As a result, criminals are emboldened and residents' fears are compounded. In almost every city surveyed, arrests were made in killings of black victims at lower rates than homicides involving white victims.... No major U.S. city had a wider gap in arrest rates for white and black victims than Boston...."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Mrs. McCrabbie: Reporters are giving Trump's endorsement credit for giving Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp the edge in Tuesday's run-off election for the state's Republican nomination for governor. But Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker puts the win down to a secret recording an also-ran GOP gubernatorial candidate made of Kemp's run-off opponent Casey Cagle speaking frankly about "the reptilian maneuvers of Republicans in the Trump era.... After the recordings became public, polls suggested that Cagle's lead was shrinking.... It has been a long time since Republican primaries felt like clashes of principle. President Trump dominates G.O.P. politics, and his party does not feature pro- and anti-Trump factions so much as a knot of midcareer calculation and opportunism."

Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Georgia lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series is resigning his seat in the state Legislature, according to House Speaker David Ralston's office. State Rep. Jason Spencer faced increasing pressure to step down shortly after the episode of 'Who is America?' aired Sunday night, and some politicians were urging a special session to oust him if he refused. He will step down at the end of the month, Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen said late Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "The long, discouraging quest for a medication that works to treat Alzheimer's reached a potentially promising milestone on Wednesday. For the first time in a large clinical trial, a drug was able to both reduce the plaques in the brains of patients and slow the progression of dementia. More extensive trials will be needed to know if the new drug is truly effective, but if the results, presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago, are borne out, the drug may be the first to successfully attack both the brain changes and the symptoms of Alzheimer's."

The Commentariat -- July 25, 2018

Late Morning Update:

Mrs. McCrabbie: Besides making the rich richer & the poor poorer, depriving millions of Americans of health insurance, upending traditional trade & security partnerships, wrecking the Earth, making workers less safe, curbing civil rights, making college even less affordable & grade schools worse, etc., Trump & his GOP cronies bring us this ...

... Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "In the first half of 2018, corporate tax collections dropped to historically low levels as a share of the economy, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That is pushing up the federal budget deficit much faster than economists had predicted. The reason is President Trump's tax cuts. The new law introduced a standard corporate rate of 21 percent, down from a high of 35 percent, and allowed companies to immediately deduct many new investments. As companies operate with a lower tax burden and a greater ability to offset what they owe, the federal government is receiving far less revenue than it would have under the previous tax system." These jerks should impeach themselves. ...

... Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "Republican candidates seem to be gravitating towards political messages that are devoid of talk of tax cuts and more designed to excite the base or stress biography.... Support for tax reform is slipping. And the special election in Ohio is the latest race showing that Democrats feel more comfortable using it bash Republicans." ...

... Trump's trade wars may not be winners for GOP candidates, either. ...

... Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "Several of President Trump's senior economic advisers believe he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on close to $200 billion in foreign-made automobiles later this year, three people briefed on discussions said. Trump wants to move forward despite numerous warnings from GOP leaders and business executives who have argued that such a move could damage the economy and lead to political mutiny. But Trump has become increasingly defiant in his trade strategy, following his own instincts and intuition and eschewing advice from his inner circle. He has told advisers and Republicans to simply trust his business acumen, a point he tried to reinforce Wednesday morning in a Twitter post. 'Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking?' Trump said Wednesday. 'Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped off?'"

Trump Irritated with Lawyer He Threw under the Bus. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lashed out at his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Wednesday for releasing a recorded conversation between the two, asking on Twitter 'what kind of lawyer would tape a client?' Trump's comments came the morning after Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, released a recording of a September 2016 phone call between Trump and Cohen that makes it appear Trump was familiar with a deal that Playboy model Karen McDougal made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him. 'So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before?' Trump wrote, adding: 'I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!' Trump also expressed concern that the recording had been terminated 'while I was presumably saying positive things.' He did not elaborate." ...

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post on what the tape suggests or reveals: "1.This was a conversation about the campaign.... It reinforces ... that Cohen and Trump were talking about payments aimed at burying negative stories as part of their conversations about aiding the campaign. 2. Cohen appears to be an agent of the campaign.... In February, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission Lawrence Noble told The Washington Post that such a payment from an agent of the campaign is illegal. 3. How and when Cohen and AMI spoke about the MacDougal payment becomes even more interesting.... 4. Was Trump's impulse to pay in cash?" It's not completely clear on the tape, but if so, the intention is obvious. ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: One thing that pissed me off occurs early in the tape. Trump is talking to an unidentified woman in his office. The nature of their discussion suggests she is a campaign employee & not a family member. He calls the woman "babe." Unless that's the employee's name, it's an insulting diminutive. ...

... Mike Allen of Axios: "Lanny Davis -- a lawyer for Michael Cohen ... -- tells me that, following last night's release of a secret Trump-Cohen recording, we'll soon learn more 'about what Michael Cohen saw and heard.'... Davis said that the tape's release sends the message: 'I am no longer the previous Michael Cohen that you knew -- taking a bullet for Donald Trump, saying anything to defend him, being a good soldier. ... That is over.'... 'Who talks about cash like that besides drug dealers and mobsters?' [Davis said.]"

Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Georgia lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series is resigning his seat in the state Legislature, according to House Speaker David Ralston's office. State Rep. Jason Spencer faced increasing pressure to step down shortly after the episode of 'Who is America?' aired Sunday night, and some politicians were urging a special session to oust him if he refused. He will step down at the end of the month, Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen said late Tuesday."

Reality Chex Correction. Oops! Philip Bump: "MSNBC's Rachel Maddow led her show Tuesday night with an explosive allegation: The administration of President Trump had intentionally buried a question asked of Russian President Vladimir Putin during last week's news conference in Helsinki. Not an insignificant question, either. The one about whether or not Putin wanted Trump to win.... Here's the thing: That's also how The Post's transcript of the news conference initially read, too. Ours came from Bloomberg Government and ours, too, excluded the first part of the reporters question.... At some point in the middle of that question, there's a switch between the feed from the reporters and the feed from the translator.... Our transcript and the White House's were apparently based on the feed that runs only in the right channel.... You can hear the actual switch-over.... This is not a conspiracy from the White House."

*****

The Realization of 1984 Came a Few Decades Late. Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "Speaking to a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) gathering in Kansas City, Trump implored his audience to forget about what they see and read -- and instead just listen to him. 'Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news, Trump said, pointing at reporters as the crowd broke out in boos. 'Just remember, what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening.'... In George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984, the 'final, most essential command' of the ruling totalitarian regime is 'to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.'" ...

... Martha Raddatz of ABC News in a Washington Post op-ed: "We in the press are all sadly getting used to listening to some Americans booing, threatening and belittling the media at the behest of President Trump. But Trump's rally before hundreds of veterans at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo., was especially disturbing. 'Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news,' Trump said, pointing to members of the press there to cover the event. Have those veterans who booed and taunted the media in response to Trump's cue forgotten that some members of the press corps are combat veterans? Have they forgotten that there are members of the press who continue to cover the military after suffering life-altering injuries while at the side of our courageous service members? Have they forgotten that since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, hundreds of journalists have given their lives for their work, many times while reporting from U.S. war zones?" ...

... Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "... Donald Trump urged the audience before him on Tuesday to support a Missouri Republican's Senate campaign, smeared Democrats and warned the crowd not to 'believe the crap you hear from (the media.)' The speech amounted to a typical political stump speech for Trump, all except for the setting. Instead of a political rally draped in campaign signage, Trump was addressing the annual convention of the nonpartisan Veterans of Foreign Wars, which invites the sitting US president every year -- regardless of party -- to address its members. Past US presidents have typically focused their remarks at the annual veteran's event on policy issues, leaving little room for partisan political attacks or political endorsements. President Barack Obama, though, in 2015 used his speech to take shots at Republicans over their budget proposal at the time."

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump's campaign should pay for the trip. In an irony-dripping tweet, Trump wrote, "Today, it was my great honor to be in Kansas City, Missouri to pay tribute to the men and women who make FREEDOM possible!" Most of the "tribute" paid, according to reports, was to himself, & Trump is doing his best to curb "FREEDOM," especially those freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday claimed, without evidence, that the Kremlin will support Democrats in the November midterms, debuting a new line on Russian interference as the uproar over his shifting stances on the issue enters its second week. Trump made the claim in a late-morning tweet eight days after he held a joint news conference in Helsinki with President Vladimir Putin, at which the Russian leader himself acknowledged that he had wanted Trump to win in 2016.... 'I'm very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election,' Trump said in his Tuesday tweet. 'Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump!'... The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and that the effort was specifically aimed at helping Trump win.... In a statement after that summit, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats reaffirmed the intelligence community's findings and warned of Russia's 'ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy.' Days later, a Microsoft executive said the company had discovered a spear-phishing campaign by Russian military intelligence targeting at least three candidates in this year's elections."

Donald Trump, Secret Agent. Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The White House has suspended the practice of publishing public summaries of ... Donald Trump's phone calls with world leaders, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN, bringing an end to a common exercise from Republican and Democratic administrations. It's unclear if the suspension is temporary or permanent. A White House spokesman declined to comment. Official descriptions of the President's calls with foreign leaders -- termed 'readouts' in Washington parlance -- offer administrations the chance to characterize in their own terms the diplomacy conducted at the highest levels between countries. While news is rarely contained in the rote, often dry descriptions, they do offer the only official account that a phone call took place. Readouts are still released internally." ...

... That Doesn't Matter, Since the White House Whitewashes the "Inconvenient." Uri Friedman of the Atlantic (July 17): "It was perhaps the most explosive exchange in an incendiary press conference: Russian President Vladimir Putin appearing to frankly admit to a motive for, and maybe even to the act of, meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, despite repeatedly denying Russian interference in American politics during the rest of his appearance with Donald Trump in Finland on Monday. But the exchange doesn't appear in full in the White House's live-stream or transcript of the press conference, and it's missing entirely from the Kremlin's transcript of the event." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Rachel Maddow showed last night that the White House didn't just doctor the transcript; it also edited out Jeff Mason's full question on the tape of the press conference that appears on its official Website. The White House has corrected neither the transcript nor the tape since Friedman & others pointed out the transcript error last week. So, yeah, don't believe what you see & hear, because Donald Trump & his friend Vlad have entirely different -- and of course inaccurate -- versions of reality to sell you. Update: See correction linked in Late Morning News.

This Russia Thing, Etc. Ctd.

** Chris Cuomo, et al., of CNN: "Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording of the conversation aired exclusively on CNN's 'Cuomo Prime Time.' The recording offers the public a glimpse at the confidential discussions between Trump and Cohen, and it confirms the man who now occupies the Oval Office had contemporaneous knowledge of a proposal to buy the rights to the story of Karen McDougal, a woman who has alleged she had an extramarital affair with Trump about a decade ago." ...

... Carol Leonnig & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump appeared familiar with a deal that a Playboy model made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him when Trump discussed the matter in September 2016 with his attorney Michael Cohen, according to a transcript of their conversation. The transcript, which was provided by President Trump's legal team, shows that the then-GOP presidential nominee does not register confusion or surprise when Cohen references a plan to purchase the rights to model Karen McDougal's story from American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.... The transcript and the audio also show that Cohen told Trump he had discussed buying the rights to McDougal's story with Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.... In rival cable news appearances Tuesday night, Cohen and Trump's attorneys clashed over who on the tape suggested the transaction be completed with cash." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has annotated the transcript of the tape. ...

     ... Juan Cole: "... when on Tuesday night the Cohen tape was leaked to CNN, the Trump team actually attempted to dictate how it was heard by releasing an obviously doctored transcript of it." ...

... Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: ... Michael Cohen "escalated his dispute with the president on Tuesday by releasing a secret recording of a conversation in which Mr. Trump appears to have knowledge about hush money payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump shows some familiarity with a deal between [Karen] McDougal an American Media Inc..., and does not act as if he is only learning about it then. When The Times reported on the existence of the payment on Friday..., Rudolph W. Giuliani ... indicat[ed] that the conversation was the first time that Mr. Trump had heard about the deal Ms. McDougal struck with A.M.I.... The recording ... does not definitively answer the question about whether Mr. Trump directed Mr. Cohen to make them in cash or by check just two months before the 2016 presidential election.... Mr. Trump's lawyers and Mr. Cohen's representatives have made completely different claims about what the recording demonstrates." ...

... Rudy Has a New Defense. He said of Fox "News," "Rudy: I've listened to lots of mafia tapes. I've dealt with much worse tapes than this." Mrs. McC: In fairness, I think he's referring to the quality of the tapes, not the quality of the gangsters (Trump & Cohen) speaking on the tape. ...

... Vice News: "On Nov. 4, 2016, just days before the election, Trump's then-spokesperson Hope Hicks denied both McDougal's allegations and the notion that American Media had bought her silence, saying that 'We have no knowledge of the story,' and calling McDougal's claims of an affair, 'Totally untrue.'"

Shannon Pettypiece of Bloomberg: "... Donald Trump would agree to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators if it's limited to questions on whether his presidential campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Monday night. Trump is demanding in return that he isn't asked questions about obstruction of justice in the probe into election interference, under a proposal the president's legal team submitted to Mueller, Giuliani said. The president's legal team is concerned that Mueller and his staff might believe witnesses who contradicted Trump's account, such as former FBI Director James Comey, Giuliani said. That could leave the president vulnerable to a perjury charge, he added. Mueller hasn't yet responded to the proposal, Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, said on Monday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Chris Matthews: This is like John Wilkes Booth agreeing to talk about anything not related to events at Ford's Theatre. (paraphrase)

Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr told CNN Tuesday he believed there were 'sound reasons' for judges to approve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant on former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, in yet another break between the Republican leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees.... Burr's comments once again put him at odds with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who spearheaded the memo on FISA abuses.... Nunes wants the rest of the October 2016 FISA application and three subsequent renewals to be made public. But Burr told CNN he has concerns that the document was released in any form." ...

... Julian Sanchez of the (libertarian) Cato Institute, in a New York Times op-ed, on the release of FISA applications requesting authorization to surveil Trump campaign advisor Carter Page: "The application ... does make crystal clear that [Rep. Devin] Nunes abused his position and his access to classified information to level a series of grossly misleading accusations against the F.B.I. Which is presumably why Mr. Nunes, Mr. Trump and a handful of media allies are engaged in a brazen campaign to obscure what the documents actually show.... We are now witnessing an effort to gaslight the press and the public in support of a discredited narrative about politically motivated surveillance of the Trump campaign." Sanchez objects to the FISA system itself, not to the methods of those seeking warrants, & he blames Nunes for supporting the very FISA process he sought to undermine in the Page case.

Rachel Bade of Politico: "Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Tuesday that [Vladimir] Putin will not be invited to give a joint-session of Congress, echoing comments Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office made Monday. 'We would certainly not be giving him an invitation to do a joint-session, Ryan said, referring to foreign leaders' ceremonial speech to Congress when they visit the nation's capital. 'That's something we reserve for allies.'... Meanwhile, the White House is moving forward with its plans to hold a second summit between Trump and Putin." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... That's Okay. Putin May Be a No-Show. Denis Pinchuk & Andrew Osborn of Reuters: "The Kremlin was reticent on Tuesday about whether it would accept an invitation from ... Donald Trump to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin in Washington later this year, saying only that the two men had other chances to meet as well. The Kremlin's failure to swiftly accept Trump's invitation for a Washington summit has been noticeable. Though Moscow saw the Helsinki summit [betwee]n the two leaders held last week as a success, the fiercely negative reaction by some U.S. politicians to Trump's performance has taken some in Russia aback." ...

... Max Boot of the Washington Post: "While the intelligence agencies are silent on the impact of Russia's attack [on the 2016 presidential election], outside experts who have examined the Kremlin campaign -- which included stealing and sharing Democratic Party emails, spreading propaganda online and hacking state voter rolls -- have concluded that it did affect an extremely close election decided by fewer than 80,000 votes in three states. Clint Watts, a former FBI agent, writes in his recent book, 'Messing with the Enemy,' that 'Russia absolutely influenced the U.S. presidential election,' especially in Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump's winning margin was less than 1 percent in each state.... Trump and his apologists pretend that the Russian intervention ... was no big deal. That beggars belief.... Russian disinformation wasn't the only factor in the outcome and was probably less important in the end than FBI Director James B. Comey's announcement 11 days before the election that he was reopening the Clinton email investigation. But Watts concludes: 'Without the Russian influence effort, I believe Trump would not have even been within striking distance of Clinton on Election Day.'" ...

... ** Will Bunch of philly.com on the conviction & incarceration of whistleblower Reality Winner: "The nightmare of a foreign power like Russia trying to tip the scales of a weakened American democracy and install Donald Trump in the White House is the political scandal of the century, and yet two years into it, the only person convicted of a felony and sitting in a jail cell is the woman seeking to expose part of the cover-up. Yet ... the perversions of the American justice system when it comes to government secrecy made it essentially impossible for Winner to defend herself.... If America wants to emerge from the current quagmire, we need a system that will encourage responsible truth-tellers, not deprive them of their liberty." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Bunch is surprised Winner's story received so little attention. I think it's because she leaked to the Intercept & not to a major news outlet. Also, the major outlets would have done more to protect Winner; the Intercept actually outted her as the leaker by publishing photos with pointers encrypted into them.

... Jen Hayden of Daily Kos: "... Department of Homeland Security officials say the Russians successfully hacked into the control rooms of U.S. electrical utilities and could've thrown the switches at any time. From the Wall Street Journal: 'The Russian hackers, who worked for a shadowy state-sponsored group previously identified as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear, broke into supposedly secure, 'air-gapped' or isolated networks owned by utilities with relative ease by first penetrating the networks of key vendors who had trusted relationships with the power companies, said officials at the Department of Homeland Security. 'They got to the point where they could have thrown switches' and disrupted power flows, said Jonathan Homer, chief of industrial-control-system analysis for DHS." (Also linked yesterday.)...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd guess Trump doesn't believe that. As he "explained" in December 2016, "Hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act, you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place."

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors plan to call witnesses from the IRS, FBI and the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as part of the upcoming trial involving Paul Manafort, one of the lead investigators said in court Tuesday. The details on which government officials might be asked to testify in the former Donald Trump campaign manager's July 31 trial on bank and tax fraud charges came as the federal judge presiding in the case outlined some of its broad parameters to potential jurors, including the timeline of the alleged crimes. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III on Monday ordered Mueller's team to produce to the court its full witness list of some 30 people. During Tuesday's brief session, Ellis said he'd release that list to the public by the end of the week, despite opposition from the special counsel's office." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Woodruff, et al., of the Daily Beast: "The first American to introduce two of the major players at the heart of a shocking Russian spy scandal has such deep ties to Moscow that he has doubted Barack Obama's American citizenship in the course of demonstrating his affinity for Vladimir Putin. 'As long as U.S. is electing foreign-born presidents,' tweeted Tennessee attorney G. Kline Preston IV in 2013, 'I propose Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.'... Alexander Torshin..., a former Russian parliamentarian now under Treasury Department sanctions, is a friend and confidant of Preston.... Preston introduced Torshin to David Keene, then the president of the National Rifle Association.... In other words, at the very beginning of what appears to be an audacious geopolitical gambit to pivot the American right in Moscow's direction is a birther who has explicitly stated a preference for Vladimir Putin to run the United States of America. He's also something of a Confederate enthusiast, according to his Facebook activity.... Preston has a longstanding relationship with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican running for the U.S. Senate."

"Tariffs Are the Greatest!" -- Trump. Damian Paletta & Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday plans to announce a $12 billion package of emergency aid for farmers caught in the midst of President Trump's escalating trade war, two people briefed on the plan said, the latest sign that growing tensions between the United States and other countries will not end soon. Trump ordered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to prepare a range of options several months ago, amid complaints from farmers that their products faced retaliatory tariffs from China and other countries. The new package of government assistance funds will be announced Tuesday and is expected to go into effect by Labor Day. The aid package is expected to target soybean farmers, dairy farmers, and pork producers, among others. White House officials hope it will quiet some of the unease from farm groups, but the new plan could revive debates about taxpayer-funded bailouts and the degree to which Trump's trade strategy is leading to unforeseen costs." ...

... Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "President Trump praised tariffs in a tweet Tuesday morning, saying 'tariffs are the greatest!' and countries that treat the United States unfairly on trade must either negotiate fair deals or get 'hit with tariffs. It's as simple as that - and everybody's talking!' Trump wrote. 'Remember, we are the 'piggy bank' that's being robbed. All will be great!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Adam Behsudi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday threatened Europe's car exports ahead of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's visit to Washington later this week, saying the European Union has been 'very tough' on the U.S. 'They're coming in to see me Wednesday and we'll see if we can work something out,' Trump said at a White House event celebrating American-made goods. 'Otherwise, we'll have to do something with respect to the millions of cars that they send in every year. Maybe we can work something out.' Trump is weighing a 20 percent tariff on imports of automobiles and auto parts under a law that allows the executive to impose tariffs and other trade restrictions if the Commerce Department determines that imports of certain goods threaten national security." ...

... Tara Palmeri of ABC News: "Acknowledging Trump's fixation on the German car surplus, [European Commission President Jean-Claude] Juncker, according to a senior European official, will offer two solutions: eliminate tariffs on cars for all trading partners, or create a limited free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU on industrial goods. To move forward with either, the U.S. will have to drop the tariffs on steel and aluminum implemented last month and agree to not move forward with tariffs on European cars, the official said. It's unclear if either of the offers will stick." ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: "Pro-free trade Republicans were already furious with Trump's escalation of tariffs against U.S. allies and China -- a multi-front trade war they say is hurting U.S. farmers and manufacturers. But the administration's response Tuesday -- announcing plans to send $12 billion to farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs to ease the pain -- is the opposite of conservative, free-trade orthodoxy, they said. 'This is becoming more and more like a Soviet type of economy here: Commissars deciding who's going to be granted waivers, commissars in the administration figuring out how they're going to sprinkle around benefits,' said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) [Mrs. McC: admittedly, the stupidest senator].... 'Taxpayers are going to be asked to initial checks to farmers in lieu of having a trade policy that actually opens and expands more markets. There isn't anything about this that anybody should like,' said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP leader.... Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Trump is giving farmers 'golden crutches,' while Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said 'this bailout compounds bad policy with more bad policy.'" ...

... Michael Sheetz of CNBC: "Shares of Whirlpool, the U.S. based washing machine giant who was once in favor of stricter trade controls for its own industry, posted their worst day in over 30 years after executives blamed rising steel and aluminum costs for diminished quarterly earnings.... The U.S. company was a major advocate for legislation to protect against what [CEO Marc] Bitzer last year called a 'long story of dumping' by foreign competitors LG and Samsung in the washing machine business.... Washing machines are one example of how tariffs can have unexpected and adverse effects on the domestic companies the policies attempt to protect. Whirlpool also noted the hit taken by its suppliers."

... Sylvie Kauffmann of Le Monde, in a New York Times op-ed: "Maybe this July will be remembered as the month when Europe tried to save the liberal world order that President Trump is doing his best to dynamite.... Europe is finally realizing that ... it needs to save itself from the assault of its former protector, the United States.The European side of the trans-Atlantic family is at last accepting the idea that its reliable uncle has turned into a bully.... Mr. Trump, who has never liked strong women, brutally pressured Angela Merkel of Germany and Britain's Theresa May. The last thing he wants is a united family, so he plays on Europe's divisions, openly courting rebellious members of the bloc who promote his toxic views."

Jill Colvin of the AP: "Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan is dismissing ... Donald Trump's threat to revoke the security clearances of six former top national security and intelligence officials who have been critical of his administration. 'I think he's just trolling people, honestly,' Ryan told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, addressing what opponents and experts say would be an unprecedented politicization of the clearance process." Then Ryan laughed. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Another Ryan fail. Instead of expressing horror at a dangerous President who proposes to deprive high-profile intelligence officials of their First Amendment rights, Ryan just laughed it off. It ain't funny, McGee.

The Meddler-in-Chief, Ctd. Dino-Ray Ramos & Dade Hayes of Deadline: "It took a few days, but Donald Trump has put his two cents in regarding the FCC's shocking decision to ask an administrative judge to review Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of Tribune Media -- a move tantamount to killing the deal. 'So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldn't approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune,' Trump tweeted. 'This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People.' He added a gripe nearly a decade after the fact about regulators approving Comcast and 'Liberal Fake News NBC' getting together.... Trump appointed Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who had furthered the administration's goal of stripping away regulation from industries from broadcasting to coal plants. Pai, who has been accused to being cozy with Sinclair, derailed its Tribune merger by raising 'serious concerns' about it last week.... It will be interesting to see if the president's Twitter handle can again tilt the balance, this time helping to resuscitate a deal widely believed to be doomed." ...

... David Shepardson of Reuters: "Trump's broadside was an unusual attack on a decision of an independent federal agency that makes merger decisions based on whether they in the public interest."

Trump's War on Reality, Ctd. Katie Rogers & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "On the first couple's recent trip overseas, Melania Trump's television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNN. President Trump ... raged at his staff for violating a rule that the White House entourage should begin each trip tuned to Fox ... and caused 'a bit of a stir' aboard Air Force One, according to an email obtained by The New York Times ... between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday.... The channel-flipping flap was the latest example of how Mr. Trump ... is increasingly living in a world of selected information and bending the truth to his own narrative. As his aides work to keep him insulated from the outside world, Mr. Trump is doubling down in his efforts to tell supporters to trust him over the words of critics and news reports."

Sad! AP: "Ivanka Trump's clothing company is shutting down and all its employees are being laid off, according to news reports. The New York Post is reporting that its sources say the company 'will be shuttered "ASAP" and that staff have been informed that they're being laid off.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Rachel Abrams of the New York Times: "A spokesman for Ms. Trump's brand confirmed on Tuesday that the process of winding down the company would begin immediately, that the brand's licensing deals would not be renewed and that employees would depart in the coming weeks. 'After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners,' Ms. Trump said in a statement. Since Mr. Trump won the presidential election in 2016, members of his family have faced continuing criticism that they are exploiting his position to promote their own personal interests."

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is preparing to tell a federal court on Tuesday that more than 450 migrant parents whose children were separated from them are no longer in the United States.... A report filed ahead of a hearing in Federal District Court in San Diego suggests that nearly one-fifth of 2,551 parents whose children were taken from them after crossing the southwest border were either swiftly deported before they could be reunited with their children, or somehow opted to leave the country without them. The number could change, since the Justice Department in its filing states that the cases are 'under review.' However, it is the first time the government has disclosed that hundreds of migrant families may now face formidable barriers of bureaucracy and distance that were unforeseen in the early stages of the government's 'zero-tolerance' policy on border enforcement."

Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Government emails disclosed in a federal lawsuit show that within months of taking office, the Trump administration began discussing the need to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, contradicting initial accounts of how officials made the controversial decision. In May 2017, the emails show..., Steve Bannon, requested that Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross 'talk to someone about the census.' A month later, Mr. Ross began demanding that the question be added, and a top aide pledged to press Justice Department officials to say they needed better citizenship data for law enforcement. The emails, which were disclosed late Monday, cast further doubt on the administration's initial explanation that the citizenship question was added at the request of the Justice Department.... That account has steadily crumbled as more evidence has been unearthed in a lawsuit by 17 states and others challenging the citizenship question. United States District Judge Jesse M. Furman, who is hearing the lawsuit..., said last month that there was strong evidence that the Commerce Department had acted in 'bad faith' when it added the question to the census.... Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight..., said in a statement that the documents contradict Mr. Ross's testimony before the committee.... 'Lying to Congress is a serious offense, and Secretary Ross must be held accountable,' he said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Chris Hayes of MSNBC showed footage of Ross lying to Congress about the citizenship question during three separate hearings.

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the top law enforcement officer in the country, participated in a chant of 'Lock her up' Tuesday, reviving a rallying cry from Donald Trump campaign events calling to jail Hillary Clinton. Sessions was addressing a conservative group's high school leadership summit in Washington...." Sessions chuckled as he joined the audience's chant. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "After pressure from President Trump, Mr. Sessions ordered senior prosecutors last year to evaluate various accusations against Mrs. Clinton and consider whether a special counsel should be appointed. Mr. Trump had asked on Twitter earlier that year why his 'beleaguered A.G.' was not looking into 'Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations.' No such special counsel has been appointed.... In his speech [to conservative high-school students], he sharply criticized American universities, saying they were coddling students and creating a 'generation of sanctimonious, sensitive, supercilious snowflakes.'" ...

... Valerie Strauss, education writer for the Washington Post, awarded Sessions the Worst Teacher of the Week prize, noting it was only Tuesday. He should have told the kids "that [Hillary] Clinton was never charged with any crimes, and that U.S. presidents don't jail their opponents because they don't like them. He could have given them a basic lesson in American jurisprudence. He didn't."

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat who has crusaded against the loosening of campaign finance rules, is suing the Trump administration to block it from eliminating a mandate that politically active nonprofit groups disclose the identities of their major donors to the government. The Treasury Department announced last week that the Internal Revenue Service would no longer require a range of nonprofit organizations to identify any contributors giving more than $5,000.... Previously, certain nonprofits had to name their large donors to the government even though they were not supposed to be disclosed to the public. The change in rules stirred immediate political controversy because of its effect on so-called 'dark money' groups, which spend money in elections but are not required to reveal the sources of their funding except to the I.R.S."

Heather Caygle of Politico: "House Democrats voted Tuesday to delay their leadership elections a full month past the November midterms, setting up a potentially lengthy and contentious battle for control of the caucus. Democrats will now vote on their leaders -- including speaker if they win back the House — after Dec. 5." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats are largely giving Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh the brushoff, refusing the customary 'courtesy visits' until Republicans agree to turn over voluminous documents from the Supreme Court nominee's past.... Judge Kavanaugh has met with 23 Republicans, and not a single Democrat. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said in an interview Monday that he would not meet with Judge Kavanaugh until the top Republican and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee reach agreement on what documents should be produced. And those two senators, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Dianne Feinstein of California, are still far apart.... Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in November, became the first Democrat to agree to a visit from Judge Kavanaugh...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Reuters: "A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects the right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense, rejecting a claim by Hawaii officials that the right only applies to guns kept at home. The ruling by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, makes the San Francisco-based court the sixth U.S. circuit court to interpret the Second Amendment this way and could set the issue on a path toward the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not taken up a major gun rights case since 2010."

Book Review. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Former White House press secretary and communications director Sean Spicer's book is riddled with elementary errors, according to a Tuesday review in the Wall Street Journal. ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, who lived through Spicer's legendarily dishonest press briefings, wrote for the Journal that Spicer's memoir, 'The Briefing,' 'is much like his tenure as press secretary: short, littered with inaccuracies and offering up one consistent theme: Mr. Trump can do no wrong.'... Karl lists some basic mistakes in the book[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Rafi Schwartz of Splinter: "According to Karl, Spicer also continues his habit of debasing himself for the benefit (pleasure?) of ... Donald Trump, calling him at various points a rock star, the Energizer bunny, and even 'a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow.' Sorry Sean, but there is a 100% chance that the president is never, ever going to read your silly book. Next time try adding some pretty pictures." ...

... Oh, Rafi, You're So Wrong. Henrietta Reily of Axios: "Trump tweeted his approval of the book in June: 'A friend of mine and a man who has truly seen politics and life as few others ever will, Sean Spicer, has written a great new book, "The Briefing: Politics, the Press and the President." It is a story told with both heart and knowledge. Really good, go get it!." Mrs. McC: I'm sure Trump read every line of the proofs.

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ramped up threats against special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday, calling him a 'monster' and described shooting the former FBI Director. Jones' nearly 3-hour July 23 InfoWars broadcast ranged from rants about Hollywood pedophilia to social media 'shadow bans' to outlandish allegations Mueller was personally involved in a child sex ring composed of left-leaning political figures.... Jones took on a particularly insidious tone during his Monday show, accusing Mueller of violent child sex acts before dramatizing a hypothetical 'wild west' shootout with Mueller.... 'It's not a joke. It's not a game. It's the real world. Politically. You're going to get it, or I'm going to die trying, bitch. Get ready. We're going to bang heads,' Jones continued, pretending to fire a gun at Mueller." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe if JeffBo is looking to lock up somebody, he could start with Jones, who just made a death threat against a top law enforcement official in Sessions' own department. ...

... BUT It's All Good with Facebook. Charlie Warzel of BuzzFeed: "As the clip of Jones went viral Monday evening, multiple observers flagged it as a threat of violence, which would be a violation of Facebook's rules. But on Tuesday morning, a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that Jones' comments do not violate the company's community standards as they are not a credible statement of intent to commit violence.... Facebook appears consistent in its desire to keep Jones and Infowars up on the platform. This month, the head of Facebook's News Feed told reporters that Infowars is a publisher with a 'different point of view' and added that the site's history of 'just being false doesn’t violate the community standards.'" ...

... Here's another example of how FaceBook "manages" right-wing fake news:

... Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: In a video that went super-viral, "Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the congressional candidate from New York..., appeared to give bizarre answers.... [The video] was staged as an interview with conservative commentator Allie Stuckey on the site CRTV.... [It] did not depict a real interview.... Instead, it used heavily edited footage from an interview Ocasio-Cortez did with PBS earlier this month spliced to appear as answers to questions read by Stuckey.... After an outcry, the Facebook page for Stuckey's show, which the social media giant has given an informal imprimatur in the form of a blue verification check mark, was updated to note that the video was satire and include a reference to the original PBS show.... [The video] appeared to be taken seriously after it was shared on some conservative-leaning pages on Facebook, and was viewed about 1 million times before the company posted the clarification to its caption."

Primary Results. Georgia Gubernatorial Run-off. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Secretary of State Brian Kemp decisively won the Republican nomination for Georgia governor Tuesday, defeating Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle after a grueling runoff shaped by secret recordings, provocative ads and the late intervention of ... Donald Trump. Kemp's victory sets up a November showdown against former House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams to decide one of the nation's most-watched races. The two are bitter foes have scrapped over voting rights and election security since 2014. Cagle was the heavy favorite when he entered the race last year, thanks to three statewide victories and a huge fundraising advantage. But Cagle was hobbled by damaging audio covertly recorded by a former GOP rival, and any chance of his victory slipped away after Trump endorsed Kemp."

Beyond the Beltway

Joseph Serna of the Los Angeles Times: "The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that one of its officers fired the bullet that struck and killed a Trader Joe's employee in the frantic moments they exchanged gunfire with a suspect in an attempted murder case over the weekend.... The chief said he would wait until the investigation was completed before determining what consequences, if any, the officers involved in the gun battle would face internally. But on its face, he said, their decision to shoot at [the gunman] appeared justified." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- July 24, 2018

Afternoon Update:

The Liar-in-Chief had the audacity to tweet this today: "I'm very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump!"

"Tariffs Are the Greatest!" -- Trump. Damian Paletta & Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday plans to announce a $12 billion package of emergency aid for farmers caught in the midst of President Trump's escalating trade war, two people briefed on the plan said, the latest sign that growing tensions between the United States and other countries will not end soon. Trump ordered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to prepare a range of options several months ago, amid complaints from farmers that their products faced retaliatory tariffs from China and other countries. The new package of government assistance funds will be announced Tuesday and is expected to go into effect by Labor Day. The aid package is expected to target soybean farmers, dairy farmers, and pork producers, among others. White House officials hope it will quiet some of the unease from farm groups, but the new plan could revive debates about taxpayer-funded bailouts and the degree to which Trump's trade strategy is leading to unforeseen costs." ...

... Adam Behsudi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday threatened Europe's car exports ahead of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's visit to Washington later this week, saying the European Union has been 'very tough' on the U.S. 'They're coming in to see me Wednesday and we'll see if we can work something out,' Trump said at a White House event celebrating American-made goods. 'Otherwise, we'll have to do something with respect to the millions of cars that they send in every year. Maybe we can work something out.' Trump is weighing a 20 percent tariff on imports of automobiles and auto parts under a law that allows the executive to impose tariffs and other trade restrictions if the Commerce Department determines that imports of certain goods threaten national security." ...

... Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "President Trump praised tariffs in a tweet Tuesday morning, saying 'tariffs are the greatest!' and countries that treat the United States unfairly on trade must either negotiate fair deals or get 'hit with tariffs. It's as simple as that - and everybody's talking!' Trump wrote. 'Remember, we are the 'piggy bank' that's being robbed. All will be great!"

Jill Colvin of the AP: "Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan is dismissing ... Donald Trump's threat to revoke the security clearances of six former top national security and intelligence officials who have been critical of his administration. 'I think he's just trolling people, honestly,' Ryan told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, addressing what opponents and experts say would be an unprecedented politicization of the clearance process."

Rachel Bade of Politico: "Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Tuesday that [Vladimir] Putin will not be invited to give a joint-session of Congress, echoing comments Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office made Monday. 'We would certainly not be giving him an invitation to do a joint-session, Ryan said, referring to foreign leaders' ceremonial speech to Congress when they visit the nation's capital. 'That's something we reserve for allies.'... Meanwhile, the White House is moving forward with its plans to hold a second summit between Trump and Putin." ...

... Jen Hayden of Daily Kos: "... Department of Homeland Security officials say the Russians successfully hacked into the control rooms of U.S. electrical utilities and could've thrown the switches at any time. From the Wall Street Journal: 'The Russian hackers, who worked for a shadowy state-sponsored group previously identified as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear, broke into supposedly secure, 'air-gapped' or isolated networks owned by utilities with relative ease by first penetrating the networks of key vendors who had trusted relationships with the power companies, said officials at the Department of Homeland Security. 'They got to the point where they could have thrown switches' and disrupted power flows, said Jonathan Homer, chief of industrial-control-system analysis for DHS." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd guess Trump doesn't believe that. As he "explained" in December 2016, "Hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act, you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place."

Shannon Pettypiece of Bloomberg: "... Donald Trump would agree to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators if it's limited to questions on whether his presidential campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Monday night. Trump is demanding in return that he isn't asked questions about obstruction of justice in the probe into election interference, under a proposal the president's legal team submitted to Mueller, Giuliani said. The president's legal team is concerned that Mueller and his staff might believe witnesses who contradicted Trump's account, such as former FBI Director James Comey, Giuliani said. That could leave the president vulnerable to a perjury charge, he added. Mueller hasn't yet responded to the proposal, Giuliani ... said on Monday."

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors plan to call witnesses from the IRS, FBI and the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as part of the upcoming trial involving Paul Manafort, one of the lead investigators said in court Tuesday. The details on which government officials might be asked to testify in the former Donald Trump campaign manager's July 31 trial on bank and tax fraud charges came as the federal judge presiding in the case outlined some of its broad parameters to potential jurors, including the timeline of the alleged crimes. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III on Monday ordered Mueller's team to produce to the court its full witness list of some 30 people. During Tuesday's brief session, Ellis said he'd release that list to the public by the end of the week, despite opposition from the special counsel's office."

Sad! AP: "Ivanka Trump's clothing company is shutting down and all its employees are being laid off, according to news reports. The New York Post is reporting that its sources say the company 'will be shuttered "ASAP" and that staff have been informed that they're being laid off.'"

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the top law enforcement officer in the country, participated in a chant of 'Lock her up' Tuesday, reviving a rallying cry from Donald Trump campaign events calling to jail Hillary Clinton. Sessions was addressing a conservative group's high school leadership summit in Washington...." Sessions chuckled as he joined the audience's chant.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats are largely giving Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh the brushoff, refusing the customary 'courtesy visits' until Republicans agree to turn over voluminous documents from the Supreme Court nominee's past.... Judge Kavanaugh has met with 23 Republicans, and not a single Democrat. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said in an interview Monday that he would not meet with Judge Kavanaugh until the top Republican and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee reach agreement on what documents should be produced. And those two senators, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Dianne Feinstein of California, are still far apart.... Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in November, became the first Democrat to agree to a visit from Judge Kavanaugh...."

Heather Caygle of Politico: "House Democrats voted Tuesday to delay their leadership elections a full month past the November midterms, setting up a potentially lengthy and contentious battle for control of the caucus. Democrats will now vote on their leaders -- including speaker if they win back the House -- after Dec. 5."

Book Review. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Former White House press secretary and communications director Sean Spicer's book is riddled with elementary errors, according to a Tuesday review in the Wall Street Journal. ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, who lived through Spicer's legendarily dishonest press briefings, wrote for the Journal that Spicer's memoir, 'The Briefing,' 'is much like his tenure as press secretary: short, littered with inaccuracies and offering up one consistent theme: Mr. Trump can do no wrong.'... Karl lists some basic mistakes in the book[.]"

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ramped up threats against special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday, calling him a 'monster' and described shooting the former FBI Director. Jones' nearly 3-hour July 23 InfoWars broadcast ranged from rants about Hollywood pedophilia to social media "shadow bans" to outlandish allegations Mueller was personally involved in a child sex ring composed of left-leaning political figures.... Jones took on a particularly insidious tone during his Monday show, accusing Mueller of violent child sex acts before dramatizing a hypothetical 'wild west' shootout with Mueller.... 'It's not a joke. It's not a game. It's the real world. Politically. You're going to get it, or I'm going to die trying, bitch. Get ready. We're going to bang heads,' Jones continued, pretending to fire a gun at Mueller." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe if JeffBo is looking to lock up somebody, he could start with Jones., who just made a death threat against a top law enforcement official in Sessions' own department.

Joseph Serna of the Los Angeles Times: "The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that one of its officers fired the bullet that struck and killed a Trader Joe's employee in the frantic moments they exchanged gunfire with a suspect in an attempted murder case over the weekend.... The chief said he would wait until the investigation was completed before determining what consequences, if any, the officers involved in the gun battle would face internally. But on its face, he said, their decision to shoot at [the gunman] appeared justified."

*****

Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea has started dismantling a missile-engine test site, as President Trump said the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, promised he would during their historic summit meeting in Singapore in June, according to an analysis of satellite imagery of the location. The North Koreans have started taking apart the engine test stand at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, said Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an expert on North Korea's weapons programs, in a report published on Monday on the website 38 North. The dismantling work probably began sometime within the last two weeks, he said. North Korea has also started dismantling a rail-mounted building at the Sohae station where workers used to assemble space launch vehicles before moving them to the launchpad, Mr. Bermudez said.... But it still remained unclear whether North Korea planned to raze th entire Sohae site in the country's northeast, which has been vital to its space program. In satellite images, other important facilities like fuel bunkers, a main assembly building and the gantry tower remain untouched. But dismantling activities at Sohae could be an encouraging sign for the Trump administration, which has so far had little to show for its efforts to denuclearize North Korea."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's threat that Iran would 'suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before,' delivered before midnight in all capital letters, succeeded in changing the subject after a week of bad headlines about his meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. But it only deepened questions about the long-term direction of Mr. Trump's Iran policy. While the White House on Monday did not rule out direct talks between the president and Iran's leaders over its nuclear program, Mr. Trump's hawkish national security team has put the focus more on toppling the Iranian government than striking a new deal with it. A few hours before Mr. Trump's tweet, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed in a speech that the United States would work with the Iranian people to undermine their clerical leaders, whom he described as 'hypocritical holy men,' guilty of looting their country to enrich themselves and finance Islamist terrorism around the world." ...

     ... Update: Do see Akhilleus's comments at the top of today's thread re: "hypocritical holy men." Akhilleus knocks the wind out of Li'l Randy's sails, BTW, much more effectively than Paul's enraged neighbor did. The pen is mightier....

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "President Trump is considering whether to revoke the security clearances of former national security and law enforcement officials who served in the Obama administration and have criticized Mr. Trump, particularly his pursuit of diplomacy with Russia,the White House said on Monday. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump was looking to strip the clearances of John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director; James B. Comey, fired by Mr. Trump as F.B.I. director last year; James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence; and others.... She also said Mr. Trump is looking to strip the security clearance of Susan Rice, Mr. Obama's national security adviser, and Michael V. Hayden, the former head of the C.I.A. and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush administration.... She also singled out Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy director of the F.B.I., who was fired this year.... Her surprising announcement amounted to an unusual politicization of the security clearance process. Security clearances allow former officials to work with companies on classified programs and provide advice to those firms and sometimes to government agencies. Stripping their clearances could harm their ability to work as consultants and advisers in Washington." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds like a First-Amendment violation to me; the government can't discriminate against a person based upon her expressed opinions, unless those opinions are themselves unlawful. Until Susan Rice starts advocating for the overthrow of the government or putting up kiddie porn on her Facebook page, then she gets to keep her security clearance to the same extent other former high-level officials do. ...

     ... Update. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post, who is an attorney, agrees with my amateur analysis: "... the attempt to squelch criticism of the administration based on the content of these ex-officials' speech is a blatant violation of the First Amendment.... It also recalls an embarrassing legal loss in which a federal court instructed Trump not to block people on Twitter based on their political views.... Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tells me, 'This is probably the clearest and most indefensible of Trump's First Amendment violations.'... Constitutional lawyer Joshua Matz ... concurs. '... Trump's use of that power [to control access to sensitive information] to retaliate against political critics poses a clear threat to First Amendment values. That is most clearly true to the extent Trump is establishing and acting pursuant to a policy of punishing former officials for protected political speech.'... In threatening to 'revoke' NBC';s license, casting the media as the enemy of the people, muzzling scientific panels and attempting to use the U.S. Post Office to punish Amazon for The Post's coverage (Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Post), Trump has aligned himself with a raft of illiberal strongmen who have recently won elections in Eastern Europe (and of course Turkey, Russia and other blatantly undemocratic countries)." ...

The president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance because they politicized and, in some cases, monetized their public service and security clearances. Making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia against the president is extremely inappropriate, and the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence. -- Sarah Sanders, Monday ...

... "Your Pointless White House Feud of the Day Is Here." Rafi Schwartz of Splinter: "... it's pretty clear that Trump isn't booting them out of the Top Secret club because of some principled opposition to their years of accumulated skeletons in the country's darkest closets. Instead, he's doing what he does best: inventing a bullshit 'controversy' in order to vilify people he doesn't like. Nevertheless, without a hint of irony (or shame!) [Sarah] Sanders explained that 'the president doesn't like the fact that people are politicizing agencies and departments that are specifically meant to not be political.' She also accused those named as having 'in some cases monetized their public service' (unlike, say, the president, whose Washington DC hotel has been doing just gangbusters lately, thanks for asking)." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The first part of [TrumpSanders' rationale] that's rich is the idea that it's unacceptable to 'monetize' political office and experience. Trump as president hasn't gone very far to separate himself from his businesses, and he has made a habit of promoting and using his properties, with foreign leaders and political types frequenting them.... The second part that's rich is the idea that making 'baseless charges' is now disqualifying. Trump has lodged many conspiracy theories from the comfort of the White House.... If making charges with no evidence is now the standard, Trump should be the first person excused from future briefings. But the slipperiest slope of all is the idea that these officials are 'politicizing' their positions.... Most of the people on this list aren't partisans. ;They present problems precisely because they're mostly not, and yet they're still taking the highly unusual steps of speaking out. So the White House must make them into political actors. That's what Monday's spectacle was about." ...

... They Really Don't Know What They're Doing. ... Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "A spokesperson for [Andrew] McCabe responded via Twitter that ... he already had his security clearance deactivated.... General [Michael] Hayden also tweeted that he does not even receive classified briefings, meaning that he is not monetizing or politicizing classified information.... Washington Post national security reporter Devlin Barrett tweeted on Monday afternoon that [James] Comey also no longer has a national security clearance." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: John Brennan also said he no long has clearance. Also, James Clapper says he doesn't "get the briefings" nor does he have access to classified info." So, um, that leaves Susan Rice, who hasn't much criticized Trump & hasn't responded to the TrumpSanders threat. But, hey, picking on a black woman should be a total win in the Land of Trumpbots. Besides, as Ed Kilgore explains, having a security clearance doesn't mean you get to breeze into the Oval or wherever & rifle through classified papers. It means that if someone in the current administration wishes to share classified materials with you, s/he can do so. So, in a "normal" administration, Rice's successor might need to consult her on sensitive matters. But Rice's successor, you may recall, was Michael Flynn, who quickly lost his job & later copped to a felony. ...

... It Was Li'l Randy's Idea! Jamie Ehrlich & Marc Rod of CNN: "Republican Sen. Rand Paul tweeted Monday that he asked ... Donald Trump to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, who criticized Trump's performance last week at the Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an unusual move, Paul wrote Monday morning that he would meet with Trump to discuss allegations that Brennan is 'monetizing his security clearance' and 'making millions of dollars divulging secrets to mainstream media.' The Kentucky Republican added that he would ask Trump to revoke Brennan's clearance.... Paul tweeted again Monday afternoon following his meeting with Trump, writing that he 'restated to (Trump) what I have said in public,' and reiterating his earlier statements, while expanding them to include 'other partisans.'" ...

Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump renewed his complaints Monday about the Russia investigation overseen by special counsel Robert Mueller, and came even closer to instructing law enforcement officials to shut it down.... He has threatened to potentially intervene with the Justice Department, and on Monday, Trump came closer to making good on that threat by writing in a ... tweet that law enforcement officials 'should drop the discredited Mueller Witch Hunt now! The statement came as part of a series of tweets in which Trump quoted comments by Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, on 'Fox & Friends.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Trump Does Full Walk-Back of Halfassed Walk-Back. Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Six days ago, President Trump held a news conference to walk back comments he made suggesting that he did not believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a plan to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.... On Sunday, he suggested that the investigation [into Russian election tampering] was 'all a big hoax.'... White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sought to clarify the tweet during Monday's press briefing. 'The president is referencing the collusion component....'... Then, in a Monday tweet, he walked back his earlier attempt at a cleanup.... Trump falsely claimed that a dossier by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele 'was responsible for starting' the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.' He went on to blast the dossier, calling it 'fake' and 'dirty' before declaring the investigation headed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III a 'witch hunt.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Davis Kris, in a Washington Post op-ed: "President Trump ... [in a series of tweets] ... claimed that the Justice Department and FBI had misled the ... [FISA court] about the potential bias of Christopher Steele.... The president also said the wiretaps were politically motivated.... Trump's ultimate point, in capital letters and an exclamation mark, is that the surveillance was illegal; it's part of that 'Witch Hunt!'... The first contention ... is demonstrably false.... [The second] was also misplaced.... All four judges who approved them were Republican appointees..., although the conclusion would be the same even if they had been appointed by Democratic presidents.... As [Trump] put it, the wiretap applications are 'ridiculously heavily redacted' to protect sources and methods. The redactions mean we don't know all the evidence the government presented about [Carter] Page.... In this asymmetrical dispute, the FBI will be unable to reveal all the facts because the agency needs to protect its sources and methods, while the president and his proxies are free to distort and fabricate at will." ...

... Liar, Liar. Salvador Rizzo, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump tweeted a series of false or misleading claims over four days, ranging from the Russia investigation to NATO funding to North Korea to the price of soybeans. From July 20 to July 23, accurate statements on the president's Twitter feed were swamped by faulty claims. We rounded up 14 tweets worth fact-checking.... Trump posted a series of misleading tweets about the FBI's court application requesting wiretap surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, often citing statements made by supporters that were factually wrong or politically biased.... [Trump tweeted,] "I gave up NOTHING' [in talks with Putin.]" Reports, including Trump's own statements & Russian assertions, suggest otherwise. And so forth.

GOP Lawmakers Tried a Trump Intervention Sunday. William Saletan of Slate: "On Sunday, congressional Republicans fanned out on TV to deliver a common message.... They targeted a single viewer: Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Rep. Trey Gowdy spoke directly to the president, often looking into the camera and occasionally pleading with him by name. They staged a collective intervention, begging him to understand that Russian interference could be true even if collusion by Trump's campaign wasn't.... Trump's enemies on the left have long speculated about his peculiar behavior around Putin and the Russia investigation.... But the ... explanation ... on which Republican lawmakers openly agree, is bad enough: Trump sees any accusation against Russia as an accusation against himself. No one who thinks that way can faithfully serve as president of the United States." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie PS: Trump's Monday morning tweets indicate he must have been golfing while the boys were pleading. At any rate, he didn't listen. But he never does. The voices in his stable-genius head know better.

Laura Nahmias of Politico: "Twelve audio recordings seized from ... Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen in an April FBI raid were handed over to federal prosecutors on Friday, according to a court filing made public Monday. The tapes were handed over on the same day that Trump's attorneys confirmed the existence of a September 2016 recording in which Trump and Cohen discussed a possible payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who has said she and Trump had a 10-month affair that ended in 2007. The 12 audio recordings had initially been designated as 'privileged,' meaning prosecutors wouldn't get to look at them as part of their ongoing criminal investigation into Cohen.... But on July 20, 'the parties withdrew their designations of "privileged" as to 12 audiotapes that were under consideration by the Special Master,' according to the filing in New York's Southern District Court. The filing did not describe the contents of the recordings handed over to prosecutors or say whether the recording of Trump and Cohen was among the 12."

David Kurtz of TPM: "A federal judge Monday unsealed the names of five witnesses granted immunity by special counsel Robert Mueller to testify at the upcoming trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The witnesses, who Mueller's team had sought to keep from public view until they were called to testify, are: James Brennan, Donna Duggan, Conor O'Brien, Cindy Laporta, [and] Dennis Raico. The unsealed court documents do not provide details about what the witnesses may be expected to testify about. None of the newly revealed witnesses have figured prominently in the case or the coverage of the case to this point." Kurtz attemps to ID the potential witnesses. ...

... Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: Federal Judge T.S. Ellis "granted the request Monday for five witnesses to testify with immunity in the criminal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the first trial in the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller." ...

... Rachel Weiner & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Alexandria has delayed the trial of Paul Manafort on bank and tax fraud charges until July 31. Manafort, who appeared in court Monday for the first time since his June incarceration, had hoped the trial would be postponed until after he faces related charges in Washington, D.C. federal court on Sept. 17. Judge T.S. Ellis III ... did give Manafort's defense an extra week to review tens of thousands of documents recently turned over by prosecutors."

Rachel Bade & Nahal Toosi of Politico: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined a House panel's request to explain ... Donald Trump's interactions with Russian and European leaders, snubbing his former colleagues who are deeply concerned with the president's foreign policy shifts. Pompeo, a former House GOP lawmaker, turned down an invitation to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee by citing a scheduling conflict, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Pompeo, however, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, angering House Republicans who also want answers."

Trump's War Against Earth, Ctd. Ryan Beene, et al., of Bloomberg: "The Trump administration will seek to revoke California's authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions -- including its mandate for electric-car sales -- in a proposed revision of Obama-era standards, according to three people familiar with the plan. The proposal, expected to be released this week, amounts to a frontal assault on one of former President Barack Obama's signature regulatory programs to curb emissions that contribute to climate change. It also sets up a high-stakes battle over California's unique ability to combat air pollution and, if finalized, is sure to set off a protracted courtroom battle. The proposed revamp would also put the brakes on federal rules to boost fuel efficiency into the next decade, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing the proposals before they are public. Instead it would cap federal fuel economy requirements at the 2020 level, which under federal law must be at least a 35-mile-per-gallon fleet average, rather than letting them rise to roughly 50 mpg by 2025 as envisioned in the Obama plan, according to the people." ...

... Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "The Trump White House has moved quickly to force out a trio of staffers loyal to former scandal-plagued Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.... According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Chief of Staff John Kelly gave the greenlight to the efforts to remove the three officials after Pruitt's resignation." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oops! Interior Department Accidentally Releases Incriminating E-Mails. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "In a quest to shrink national monuments last year, senior Interior Department officials dismissed evidence these public lands boosted tourism and spurred archaeological discoveries, according to documents the department released this month and retracted a day later. The thousands of pages of email correspondence chart how Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his aides instead tailored their survey of protected sites to emphasize the value of logging, ranching and energy development that would be unlocked if they were not designated as national monuments. Comments the department's Freedom of Information Act officers made in the documents show they sought to keep some of the references out of public view because they were 'revealing [the] strategy' behind the review.... 'It appears that we inadvertently posted an incorrect version of the files for the most recent National Monuments production,' officials wrote July 17. 'We are requesting that if you downloaded the files already to please delete those versions.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress (July 19th): "More than 10 federal investigations have now been opened into Secretary of the Interior Department Ryan Zinke's financial and ethical decisions during his tenure with the Trump administration. The agency's internal watchdog announced an eleventh investigation on Wednesday evening ... and in this case, his connections to one of the world's most powerful oil companies [Halliburton]." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Washington Post: "The Senate easily confirmed [Robert] Wilkie, now head of military personnel at the Defense Department, to lead [the VA].... Wilkie was nominated as secretary in May to succeed [David] Shulkin, a hospital executive and holdover from the Obama administration." @6:30 pm ET Monday, this is a breaking news story & will be updated.

Jonathan Watts of the Guardian: "Humanity is devouring our planet's resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a year's worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land and timber in a record 212 days.... As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day -- which marks the point at which consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate -- has moved forward two days to 1 August, the earliest date ever recorded. To maintain our current appetite for resources, we would need the equivalent of 1.7 Earths." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Congressional Races

Ed Kilgore: Don Blankenship, "the colorful ex-mine owner, ex-con (for conspiracy to violate federal safety standards in connection with a 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 of his employees) and now ex-Republican, is filing to become the U.S. Senate nominee of the far-right Constitution Party, defying [West Virginia]'s 'sore loser' law.... Blankenship is now determined to wreck his party's general-election campaign, and certainly has the finances to mount a strong legal challenge against the 'sore loser' or 'sour grapes' law.... West Virginia University constitutional lawyer Robert Bastress says the law was so poorly drafted that it might be unsustainable[.]... But no matter how you handicap the legal battle, it's bad news for Republican nominee and attorney general Patrick Morrisey, who must continue to wage a two-front war against [Sen. Joe] Manchin [D] and Blankenship...."

Amanda Arnold of New York: "Ever since 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated long-term incumbent Representative Joe Crowley in New York's 14th Congressional District, establishment politicians have failed to conceal how threatened they are by the Democratic Socialist from the Bronx. According to HuffPost, the latest politician to attempt to discredit Ocasio-Cortez is Representative Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida, who referred to the Democratic congressional nominee as a 'girl ... or whatever she is.' In one succinct tweet in response to the representative, Ocasio-Cortez told DeSantis exactly what she is.... 'Rep DeSantis, it seems you're confused as to 'whatever I am.' I am a Puerto Rican woman. It's strange you don't know what that is, given that ~75,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to Florida in the 10 mos since María. But I'm sure these new FL voters appreciate your comments!'"

Michelle Goldberg: "Everywhere you look lately, centrist [Democrats] are panicking about the emboldened left.... In the midterms, passion is likely to matter more than appeals to an ever-shrinking pool of swing voters, who at any rate tend to be idiosyncratic economic populists rather than the judicious centrists of Beltway imagination.... Hillary Clinton's defeat has overshadowed [George] McGovern's as the Democratic Party's paradigmatic trauma.... It's clear that in a polarized electorate, grass-roots fervor and a candidate's charisma matter a lot, and an agenda that seems too modest can be as risky as one that appears overly ambitious. After all, the economic demands that animate the left are generally quite popular.... Democrats will not defeat Trump and his increasingly fanatical, revanchist party by promising the restoration of what came before him; the country is desperate for a vision of something better. Whether or not you share that vision, if you truly believe that Trump is a threat to democracy, you should welcome politics that inspire people to come to democracy's rescue."

Lawmakers Meet the Media

Today's Best Headline: "Ga. lawmaker urged to resign after using racial slurs, dropping pants in TV show. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "On the eve of a testy runoff vote, Georgia political leaders and candidates united Monday to condemn a Republican state lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series. House Speaker David Ralston urged the legislator, state Rep. Jason Spencer, to resign shortly after the episode of 'Who is America?' aired Sunday night, and he was soon echoed by leaders and rank-and-file members from both sides of the aisle.... Spencer on Monday apologized for the 'ridiculously ugly episode,' but he refused to step down. Although he lost the GOP primary in May, he remains in public office through the November general election." ...

... Watch at your own risk (Mrs. McC: I skipped most of it, & this is a shorter clip than the "official" one):

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. This time the joke's on Fox "News." Nik DeCosta-Klipa of the Boston Globe: "Fox & Friends First, the network's early morning show, thought they had booked former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.... Instead, they got Massachusetts state Sen. Barbara L'Italien, who gave them a earful, speaking "directly" to Donald Trump about his separation of immigrant families. The show's hosts cut her off, so L'Italien finished her monologue & posted it on Twitter. L'Italien is running for a Massachusetts Congressional seat. "According to L'Italien's campaign, Fox News reached out to them Sunday afternoon believing that they were contacting Kirkpatrick's office 'due to their own failure of due diligence.' They decided not to pass up the opportunity.... Fox News says they were deliberately duped by L'Italien's campaign."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), in a New York Times op-ed: "... unlike most of his predecessors, Judge [Brett] Kavanaugh spent much of his career engaged in some of the most partisan fights in our nation's recent history -- including Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton, the Bush v. Gore case and five contentious years in President George W. Bush's administration. Judge Kavanaugh thus has quite a paper trail -- over one million pages -- which the White House was well aware of when he was nominated. In the coming days Senate Republicans will decide if they support reviewing Judge Kavanaugh's entire record. Some are already hedging. And Senator Mitch McConnell is warning that Democrats will pay a political cost if they insist on obtaining Judge Kavanaugh's full record.... Senator McConnell's complaints about possible delays for a Supreme Court nomination ring hollow after he stonewalled Merrick Garland's nomination to the court in 2016.... The need to vet Judge Kavanaugh's full record is all the more urgent because the last time he testified before the Senate, he appeared to provide a misleading account of his work in the White House.... I urge Senate Republicans to live up to the bipartisan standard of transparency we set for Justice [Elena] Kagan and demand his full record." ...

... Matt Ford of the New Republic: The Supreme Court's 1974 8-0 decision that rejected President Nixon's efforts to quash a subpoena. 'came to symbolize the triumph of the rule of law and the principle that no man is above it. Nixon resigned two weeks later." Brett Kavanaugh said the case "may have been 'wrongly decided' due to the 'tension of the time.'... From the White House’s ability to fire federal officials to whether its occupant can face lawsuits while in office, Kavanaugh has articulated an extraordinarily deferential stance on presidential powers and privileges. His ability to put those views into practice as a Supreme Court justice would be a boon to future presidents — and to the man who nominated him for the post.... Excusing the current president from the 'burdens of ordinary citizenship' [as Kavanaugh has advocated] would likely grind the Russia investigation to a halt.... Temporary immunity would also likely let Trump escape political embarrassment from multiple lawsuits brought by women who have accused him of sexual assault.'"

Way Beyond the Beltway

Kate Lamb of the Guardian: "In Indonesia -- which ranks among the top five users of Twitter and Facebook globally -- they are what are known as a 'buzzer teams' -- groups which amplify messages and creates a 'buzz' on social networks. While not all buzzer teams use fake accounts, some do.... The Jakarta election [in 2017]...churned up ugly religious and racial divisions.... Based on its study of the buzzer industry in Indonesia, researchers from the Center for Innovation and Policy Research (CIPG) say all candidates in the 2017 Jakarta election used buzzer teams." --safari (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Hundreds of people were missing on Tuesday after a billion-dollar hydropower dam that was under construction in Laos collapsed, killing several people and displacing more than 6,600 others, a state news agency said."