The Commentariat -- May 8, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.... Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff. Those staffers left the plane because they had been in contact with the staffer who tested positive, NBC News reported." Mrs. McC: As we discuss in today's Comments, pence & friends were delivering masks to a nursing home without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. And now he's off to Des Moines. Look out, Ioway. The virus is coming.
Nelson Mandela Is a'Rollin' in His Grave. Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "With the Justice Department announcing Thursday that it would drop the case against Michael Flynn, officials close to ... Donald Trump are already gaming out ways to bring the former national security adviser back onto the national political stage. Of the nine senior Trump administration officials, campaign staff, outside advisers, and longtime associates of the president reached on Thursday, all said that they wanted Flynn to assume some public-facing role in service of the president, including potentially as an official Trump surrogate as Election Day inches closer.... 'Years ago when Nelson Mandela came to America after years of political persecution he was treated like a rock star by Americans,' John McLaughlin, one of President Trump's chief pollsters, told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening. 'Now after over three years of political persecution General Flynn is our rock star. A big difference is that he was persecuted in America.'" Mrs. McC: I see a Medal of Freedom on Flynn's chest. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, even though he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, was extraordinary and had no obvious precedent, a range of criminal law specialists said on Thursday.... The move is the latest in a series that the department, under Attorney General William P. Barr, has taken to undermine and dismantle the work of the investigators and prosecutors who scrutinized Russia's 2016 election interference operation and its links to people associated with the Trump campaign." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The closest precedent is when Barr advised Bush I to pardon six Iran-Contra co-conspirators. Barr didn't do as much for Bush as he's been willing to do for Trump: he's saved Trump from having to try to justify an unjustifiable pardon on the eve of an election. ~~~
~~~ Davd Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement in Raw Story: Legal experts weigh in on Barr's "shadow pardon" of Flynn. ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump voiced uncertainty Friday over the future of his FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, a day after the Justice Department moved to throw out the guilty plea of the president's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. The president's comments in a phone interview with Fox News highlight the ongoing distrust between the White House and some senior law enforcement officials.... 'It's disappointing,' Trump said when asked about Wray's role in the ongoing reviews of the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation. 'Let's see what happens with him. Look, the jury's still out.' Trump faulted the FBI director for 'skirting' the debate surrounding the Russia investigation, although the agency and the Justice Department have insisted it has cooperated fully with officials reviewing the case." An Axios item is here.
SNAFU. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "A complete breakdown in communication and coordination within the Trump administration has undermined the distribution of a promising treatment, according to senior officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.... The drug, remdesivir, hasn't made it to some of the high-priority hospitals where it's most needed, and administration officials have responded by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, sources said.... Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, donated hundreds of thousands of doses to the federal government after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus patients. More than 32,000 doses of remdesivir were shipped and delivered on Tuesday to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia. But many of these doses went to 'less impacted counties,' an administration official said. 'Some went to the wrong places, some went to the right places,' said one senior official. 'We don't know who gave the order. And no one is claiming responsibility.'"
Elizabeth Spiers in a Washington Post opinion piece: "Jared Kushner's coronavirus response team, we learned this week, is fumbling because it's largely staffed with inexperienced volunteers. Of course it is. It's being run by one. Kushner's lack of experience and expertise has not been remedied in any way during his now three-plus years in the White House. After bungling many high-profile efforts to address various problems and often making them worse (see, Middle East, peace in), he keeps being handed more responsibilities with higher stakes.... In any normal administration, an adviser with Kushner's string of failures would be fired, but Kushner, like his father-in-law, keeps crediting himself with imaginary successes.... He has also continued to bash the actual experts.... This is basically Kushner's modus operandi, and it's painfully familiar to me because he was my boss when I was the editor in chief of the New York Observer, which he had bought when he was 25." Withering.
California. William Feuer of CNBC: "Community spread of the coronavirus in California began in a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as other states allow their manicurists to reopen. Newsom has announced a four-phase plan to reopening the state's economy that begins on Friday. Unlike some other states that have announced reopenings, California nail salons won't be allowed to reopen until the state's phase 3. The state is currently shifting from phase 1 to phase 2. 'This whole thing started in the state of California, the first community spread, in a nail salon,' Newsom said at a news briefing. 'I'm very worried about that.'"
Georgia. Christian Boone & Bert Roughton of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Two Glynn County commissioners say District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office refused to allow Glynn police to make arrests immediately after the Feb. 23 shooting death of Ahmaud Abery. Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Greg McMichael, 64, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after the fatal shooting [and after a video of the (alleged) murder circulated publicly]. 'The police at the scene went to her, saying they were ready to arrest both of them. These were the police at the scene who had done the investigation,' Commissioner Allen Booker, who has spoken with police, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael.' Greg McMichael, now retired, once worked as an investigator in Johnson's office. Commissioner Peter Murphy, who also said he spoke directly to Glynn County police about the incident, said officers at the scene concluded they had probable cause to make arrests and contacted Johnson's office to inform the prosecutor of their decision. 'They were told not to make the arrest,' Murphy said."
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Lucy Bayly of NBC News: "The U.S. economy lost an unprecedented 20.5 million jobs in April and the unemployment rate soared to 14.7 percent, up from 4.4 percent in March after months at a half-century low, according to the monthly employment report, released Friday by the Department of Labor. In just over a month, the coronavirus has wiped out all job gains since the Great Recession and brought the country's decade-long record economic growth streak to an abrupt halt." The Washington Post's story is here.
The New York Times live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. "The April job losses alone far exceed the 8.7 million in the last recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. The only comparable period came when the rate reached about 25 percent in 1933, before the government began publishing official statistics."~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates Friday are here. "President Trump on Friday downplayed the significance of a Labor Department report showing more than 20 million people lost their jobs in April, calling it 'fully expected' and 'no surprise.' 'Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very soon,' Trump said during an appearance on Fox New's 'Fox & Friends' that aired as the report was issued...."
The New York Times live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here.
Kaitlan Collins & Peter Morris of CNN: "A member of the US Navy who serves as one of ... Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus. The valets are members of an elite military unit dedicated to the White House and often work very close to the President and first family. Trump was upset when he was informed Wednesday that the valet had tested positive, a source told CNN, and the President was subsequently tested again by the White House physician. In a statement, the White House confirmed CNN's reporting that one of the President's staffers had tested positive.... A White House source said the valet, a man who has not been identified, exhibited 'symptoms' Wednesday morning, and said the news that someone close to Trump had tested positive for coronavirus was 'hitting the fan' in the West Wing.... People can be infectious, meaning they can transmit the virus to somebody else, up to two days before they start showing symptoms.... The White House has not enforced strict social distancing guidelines for staffers and few people inside the building wear masks during the day, including valets." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will be tested for coronavirus on a daily basis after a military member who serves as the president's valet tested positive. 'So, we test once a week. Now we're going to go testing once a day, Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the governor of Texas on Thursday.... The president said the daily testing regimen would apply to the vice president and certain high-level White House officials as well." Mrs. McC: That's nice. If my lady's maid gets the virus, can I be tested daily? (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ Say, Maybe This Means Trump Will Self-Quarantine (Ha Ha). Peter Alexander, et al., of NBC News: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who recently had close contact with a person with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days since the last exposure, check their temperatures twice a day and stay away from people who are at high risk of getting seriously ill. The White House hasn't indicated whether Trump will follow those guidelines.... After learning that one of his valets was infected, Trump became 'lava level mad' at his staff and said he doesn't feel it is doing all it can to protect him, according to a person close to the White House. The source said the unknowingly infected valet was consistently close to the president throughout the day. Trump publicly disputed that Thursday, telling reporters that he'd had 'very little contact, personal contact, with this gentleman.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Okay, Trump will not self-quarantine. He's already been out & about sitting close to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) & talking to reporters. And no, Trump was not wearing a mask during the televised meeting. Funny how Trump was "lava level mad" because his staff wasn't protecting him, but he doesn't give a flying fuck about protecting others (Abbott is more than 60 years old & has been in a wheelchair since he was partially paralyzed when he was a young man -- I'd say he's "at risk"). As for you and me, well, he wants us to get back to work in the meat processing plants. ~~~
Just the idea that others should be willing to die, not in war, not to save other lives, not for a noble cause, but so this fat fuck can win a popularity contest, or at least an electoral college test (he didn't actually win that last popularity contest) places him so far outside the realm of decency so as to be somewhere in the vicinity of 'in league with Satan' territory. -- Akhilleus, in today's thread ~~~
~~~ To give you an idea of how concerned the Trump White House is about protecting Americans vulnerable to the virus, Michael Crowley & Michael Shear of the New York Times report, "The [report of the] military aide's illness [comes] ... on the day before eight World War II veterans -- each older than 95, an age group at high statistical risk for serious illness from the virus -- are scheduled to take part in a photo-op at the White House and an event at the World War II Memorial nearby to celebrate the 75th anniversary on Friday of the German surrender, known as V-E Day.... As part of the celebration, the veterans will have their pictures taken at the White House with the secretaries of defense and state as well as the first lady, Melania Trump, and the president, according to a schedule prepared by the Greatest Generations Foundation, which organized the event. The schedule says the men, who range in age from 96 to 100, will be tested before they enter the White House grounds." Mrs. McC: Hugs & kisses, everybody. ~~~
Gaslight Alert. Leave it to the media to question eight brave war heroes for joining the president of the United States at the nation's World War II Memorial on the 75th anniversary of V-E Day. As young men, these heroes stared evil in the eyes. No pandemic will stop them from joining their commander in chief for this momentous occasion. -- Judd Deere, Deputy White House Press Secretary
Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Trump in recent weeks has sought to block or downplay information about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic as he urges a return to normalcy and the rekindling of an economy that has been devastated by public health restrictions aimed at mitigating the outbreak. His administration has sidelined or replaced officials not seen as loyal, rebuffed congressional requests for testimony, dismissed jarring statistics and models, praised states for reopening without meeting White House guidelines and, briefly, pushed to disband a task force created to combat the virus and communicate about the public health crisis. Several Republican governors are following Trump's lead as an effort takes shape to control the narrative about a pandemic that has continued to rage.... 'If the message were to go out with complete objectivity, it would be disastrous for Trump,' said Max Skidmore, a political science professor at the University of Missouri...."
Abby Goodnough & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As President Trump rushes to reopen the economy, a battle has erupted between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the agency's detailed guidelines to help schools, restaurants, churches and other establishments safely reopen.... A copy of the C.D.C. guidance obtained by The New York Times includes sections for child care programs, schools and day camps, churches and other 'communities of faith,' employers with vulnerable workers, restaurants and bars, and mass transit administrators. But White House and other administration officials rejected the recommendations over concerns that they were overly prescriptive, infringed on religious rights and risked further damaging an economy that Mr. Trump was banking on to recover quickly.... A spokesman for the C.D.C. said the guidance was still under discussion with the White House and a revised version could be published soon." (A condensed version of this story that was published in the NYT's live updates & a related AP story were linked here yesterday." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm not sure the CDC really has to do what the President* says. At any rate, it's worth testing on a matter of life and death.
Mrs. Gates Grades on a Curve. Myah Ward of Politico: "Melinda Gates on Thursday gave the Trump administration low marks for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that more money is needed for testing and vaccine development in the United States and across the world. Gates -- co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated billions of dollars to health research -- gave the administration a 'D-minus' grade for its handling of the outbreak, citing a lack of a coordinated, national response. She said governors were stepping up with '50 different homegrown state solutions,' instead of a national response coming from the top."
Frank Rich: "... more testing is now showing us how far the virus has spread in MAGA-land.... William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, has calculated that 813 of the 1,103 counties that have achieved 'high-COVID status' (100 or more cases per 100,000 residents) since March 29 went for Trump in 2016. Many of those counties are in battleground states like Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania.... No matter how much he discounts models of the pathogen's spread, he seems dimly aware that the actual death count keeps exceeding his repeated lowball predictions.... His new plan to counter this reality, emerging this week, is to sow confusion among the electorate by attacking the death toll's accuracy.... He will also continue to purge anyone in the government who might say otherwise...[, as he did Rick Bright & Christi Grimm. Now Trump is easing Fauci out.] My guess is that SNL casting Brad Pitt as Fauci was the final straw for Trump." (Also linked yesterday.)
Live & Let Die. Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "The message from President Trump and Republicans on the novel coronavirus has gone through multiple phases, each as misleading and/or bizarre as the last. First they told us the virus would barely touch us. Then they said it was serious but Trump's management would quickly make it disappear. Then they said it could have been worse, and anyway it isn't Trump's fault. Now they're arriving at what may be the most appalling message of all: Sure, hundreds of thousands of Americans may die. But suck it up, America: We've got to get the economy going.... We're moving toward an utterly horrifying partisan divide, in which Democrats want to contain the virus so that we're able to get the economy back on its feet, while Republicans decide that the only brave and manly thing to do is to stop worrying about the virus and 'get back to normal' immediately, no matter how many Americans it kills."
Conor Finnegan & Josh Margolin of ABC News: "Secretary of State Pompeo is leaning even harder into his attacks on the Chinese government over the novel coronavirus pandemic -- even as he further walks back his claim that the U.S. has 'enormous evidence' a biomedical laboratory in Wuhan, China, is responsible for the outbreak. The change comes as an intelligence official says there is no signals or human intelligence backing up the idea, while lawmakers press the administration to turn over any evidence.... While Pompeo has said he doesn't doubt the intelligence community assessment, he has boosted the unproven theory the first human infection came from an accidental or intentional release at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But in interviews Thursday, Pompeo shifted again, telling a conservative talk radio host, 'There's evidence that it came from somewhere in the vicinity of the lab, but that could be wrong.' 'We've seen evidence that it came from the lab. That may not be the case,' he said in a second talk radio interview.... Reports from the closest U.S. allies have also cast doubt on Pompeo's statement.... Mitch McConnell wouldn't back Pompeo's statement either...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I was wondering what nefarious reason Mitch had for dropping the party line. Ken W. illuminates i today's Comments: "... it might have something to do with his wife's business interests."
NiskyGuy thought he was being helpful when he linked the video below of "a real President, urging congress to stock the cupboards and prepare for a health crisis before it is too late." But if you listen to the part of the speech Niskyguy highlighted, you'll hear President Obama predicting that a new strain of flu will crop up in five years. Obama gave the speech in December 2014. Five years to the month later, the coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan, China, and was winging its way to the U.S. This is proof positive that Barack Obama is a sorcerer who tried to wreck Donald Trump's presidency with a deadly virus. Rudy Giuliani should investigate. ~~~
Mrs. McCrabbie: So yesterday I linked to stories about Donald Trump's slamming a nurse the White House had invited to help celebrate National Nurses Day. In the meantime, here's what Real President Barack Obama was up to:
Keith Collins & Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "More than half of U.S. states have begun to reopen their economies or plan to do so soon. But most fail to meet criteria recommended by the Trump administration to resume business and social activities. The White House's guidelines are nonbinding and ultimately leave states' fates to governors. The criteria suggest that states should have a 'downward trajectory' of either documented coronavirus cases or of the percentage of positive tests. Public health experts expressed criticism because 'downward trajectory' was not defined and the metrics do not specify a threshold for case numbers or positive rates. Still, most states that are reopening fail to adhere to even those recommendations: In more than half of states easing restrictions, case counts are trending upward, positive test results are rising, or both, raising concerns among public health experts." You can check out your own state with a series of charts incorporated into the report. (Also linked yesterday.)
Arizona. Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic: "It's amazing what a day of reflection and 24 hours of brutal public exposure can do. The state has suddenly decided not to fire the university scientists, after all -- the ones whose models suggest that it's not yet safe to reopen Arizona.... University epidemiologists were informed on Monday evening that their services were no longer needed. This, just a few hours after Gov. Doug Ducey [R] announced his plan to begin reopening the state this week. The universities' models -- created by 23 researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona -- have projected that the only way to avoid a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases is to wait to reopen at the end of May. But Ducey ... apparently didn't want to hear it. So the scientists were sacked.... The story blew up on Wednesday as it should when a governor, via his health director, essentially shoots the messenger. The universities' team, meanwhile, vowed to continue working on its models and to release them publicly. By Thursday, state health officials were in full damage control mode, spinning as fast as they could to revise history -- as if they were only trying to spare the universities from further work. Spare them, during the worst global pandemic in more than a century.... Simply put, the governor got caught trying to muzzle the scientists predicting a rather significant chance of rain on his parade."
Florida. Mary Klas & Kevin Hall of the Miami Herald: "For weeks, COVID-19-related deaths and positive cases have been on the rise at nursing homes and elder-care facilities across the state even though those same facilities have been off-limits to visitors since March 15 because of an executive order by the governor. The latest death toll: 577, more than one in three of all COVID-19 deaths in Florida. There is little mystery behind what is considered the main culprit in this grim statistic: asymptomatic carriers -- many of them long-term care staff members, who are getting tested infrequently or too late. Despite state efforts to ramp up testing, administrators at nursing homes and assisted living facilities told the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times it is a piecemeal program that is failing to identify risk and completely contain the virus among the state's most vulnerable. Gov. Ron DeSantis [R] has tried to accelerate the testing at long-term care facilities and the Department of Health has altered its guidance to give workers at long-term care facilities new priority. The governor has ordered the National Guard to conduct on-site tests at elder-care homes." But the state isn't testing everyone who lives and works at the facilities, and it isn't using rapid-results tests. Meanwhile, DeSantis is on the teevee reportedly "boasting that widespread testing is available and being done efficiently."
Lauren Hirsch & Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Neiman Marcus, saddled with debt and hit by the coronavirus pandemic, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday with a deal to hand its business over to its creditors. The luxury department store chain had been struggling with competition from online rivals and dwindling cash before the pandemic. The health crisis exacerbated its problems, forcing it to furlough most of its 14,000 workers and close its 43 Neiman Marcus stores. It is now the second major retailer to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic, following J. Crew's filing earlier this week. It is likely not the last. J.C. Penney has also been exploring filing for bankruptcy." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A woman who had accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of sexual assault now claims she was paid to lie about the public health expert by a pair of ... Donald Trump's supporters. The woman says right-wing provocateur Jacob Wohl and his frequent accomplice Jack Burkman persuaded her to cast Fauci as the assailant using details from an actual sexual assault she survived just after high school, and they paid her to do it, reported Reason." The woman recorded Burkman urging her to find yet another woman to falsely accuse Fauci because Fauci had "shut the country down." As for opening businesses & other institutions while Covid-19 persisted, Berkman said on tape, "So what if 1 percent of the population goes? So what if you lose 400,000 people? 200,000 were elderly, the other 200,000 are the bottom of society." The linked Reason story is written in narrative rather than journalistic form. Thanks to Hattie for the link.
Jake Johnson of RawStory: "...Donald Trump issued an executive order late Thursday that environmentalists warned will accelerate the corporate exploitation of oceans by relaxing regulations on and streamlining the construction of industrial offshore aquaculture facilities, which critics deride as 'floating factory farms' that pump pollution and diseases into public waters.... Rosanna Marie Neil, policy counsel for Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, a member of the coalition, said the Trump White House is 'supporting the corporate takeover of our oceans while they hope we aren’t paying attention.'" --s
** Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department moved to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts during the presidential transition. The unraveling of Flynn's guilty plea marked a stunning reversal by the Justice Department in the case of the former three-star Army general who was convicted in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.... [Flynn] pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements about his Russian contacts during the Trump presidential transition. However..., Flynn's new defense lawyers began moving to void his conviction, alleging he was the victim of a partisan conspiracy by prosecutors, federal investigators and even his initial attorneys." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The bombshell court filing asking U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case bore the signature of only one prosecutor: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea, a former Barr aide named to the post in January. Moments before Shea's filing, the top prosecutor in the Flynn case withdrew abruptly and without explanation. Brandon Van Grack, who served as one of special counsel Robert Mueller's top lawyers and remained on the Flynn case even after Mueller's office closed down, signaled his exit from the case in a terse, one-sentence filing with U.S. [Judge] Sullivan." Mrs. McC: Betsy Swan of Politico said that the single signature was unique, that all filings are also signed by a career prosecutor, and the fact that none would put their name to it shows the discord within DOJ. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Adam Goldman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Mr. Shea's office were stunned by the decision to drop the case, according to a person who spoke to several lawyers in the office.... Mr. Flynn first pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to investigators and cooperated extensively before moving to withdraw his plea and fight the case in court. He had also entered a guilty plea a second time in 2018 at an aborted sentencing hearing.... The White House was prepared for the possibility of Mr. Trump pardoning Mr. Flynn last week, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But some advisers urged him to hold off and let the case play out, either with the Justice Department or with the judge in the case, according to the people familiar with the discussions." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's Donald Trump, Thursday afternoon, telling multiple lies about the Flynn case: ~~~
~~~ Barr Is Quite the Facile Liar, Too. CBS News: "Attorney General William Barr defended the Justice Department's decision to seek a dismissal of its criminal case against Michael Flynn..., who admitted to lying to federal investigators. In an exclusive interview with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, Barr dismissed the notion from critics that he is doing the bidding of Mr. Trump.... 'Well, you know, people sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes. ... And the Department of Justice is not persuaded that this was material to any legitimate counterintelligence investigation. So it was not a crime,' [Barr said].... 'was concerned people were feeling there were two standards of justice in this country. ... I wanted to make sure that we restore confidence in the system. There's only one standard of justice.'" Spit-take required. ~~~
~~~ Andrew McCabe: "We opened the Russia investigation to determine if the Russian government coordinated with the Trump campaign. Mr. Flynn had prominent, high level interaction with Russian officials, so we investigated whether he might be that point of coordination. We received incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador on more than one occasion, and that he actively tried to influence the actions of Russian officials, and that those officials acceded to his requests. The FBI was obligated to interview him to better understand why he was talking to Russian officials. During the interview, he lied about the substance of his conversations with those officials. His lies added to our concerns about his relationship with the Russian government.... [Thursday]'s move by the Justice Department has nothing to do with the facts or the law -- it is pure politics designed to please the president." Full statement at the link. ~~~
~~~ The headline on Eric Levitz' New York post synthesizes the central problem with the whole drop-the-charges thing: "Trump's DOJ Says It Can't Prove Michael Flynn Did the Crime He Confessed To." The subhead is good, too: "The arc of Michael Flynn's case bent toward the debasement of justice." ~~~
~~~ Susan Hennessey, et al., of Lawfare: "The government's 20-page brief is not an honest document.... The brief's account of the history of the Flynn case is not accurate, its account of the government's own conduct equally flawed. And it all leads up to a conclusion so obviously wrong that one does not need to know anything about counterintelligence to see through it: that there is no reasonable basis even to interview a senior government official when that person has engaged over sanctions imposed against a foreign adversary government that interfered in an election -- and who subsequently lied to the Vice President ... about the substance of his conversation with an agent of that government. Based on this position, the Justice Department [Thursday] took an even greater leap: that it is perfectly legal for the official, if interviewed under these circumstances, to lie through his teeth repeatedly to the FBI agents who show up to interview him." ~~~
~~~ David Graham of the Atlantic: "If there is any doubt about the White House's role, the president telegraphed the outcome of this case on April 30, when he was asked whether he'd pardon Flynn. Trump said he didn't think he'd have to. 'Well, it looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,' he said. 'Look, I';m not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don't know that anybody would have to use that power.'... Cooperation deals are supposed to show criminals that returning to the fold and honoring rule of law has its benefits. But the Flynn case shows that those benefits pale in comparison to honoring loyalty to Trump."
~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post asks the simplest question: "If Flynn did nothing wrong when he called the Russian ambassador on Dec. 29, 2016, the day President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the presidential election, why did he conceal it?.... There was always a deeper problem, one that still isn't resolved. Why was the Trump administration so eager to blunt the punishment Obama gave to Russia for what we now know was gross interference in our presidential election?... In Flynn's Feb. 13, 2017, resignation letter, he admitted that he had made misleading statements to Vice President Pence about the ... call [to Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Sergey] Kislyak.... [Flynn's message to Kislyak] was the wrong message to be sending in December 2016. And with the accumulation of evidence since then about the scope of Russian subversion, it's even more troubling."
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: President Trump vetoed a Senate resolution on Wednesday that would have required him to seek congressional authorization before taking military action against Iran, rejecting a rare effort by the chamber to curb his authority and reasserting broad power to use military force. In a statement released by the White House, Mr. Trump portrayed the measure as not only an encroachment on his presidential powers but also a personal political attack. 'This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,' the president said. 'The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.' The resolution was mostly symbolic and not legally binding. And Congress does not stand much of a chance of reversing the veto because the measure passed well short of the two-thirds supermajority needed for an override." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday failed to override President Trump's veto of a resolution seeking to rein in his ability to take military action against Iran. Senators voted 49-44, falling short of the two-thirds support necessary to nix Trump's veto and send the effort to the House." (Also linked yesterday.)
It's My Wife's Fault. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "A top GOP lawmaker tapped to lead a House panel scrutinizing China disclosed his family's investment in a major Chinese tech company linked to surveillance and censorship, according to a congressional form filed in his name. A periodic transaction report filed on April 20 in the name of Rep. Michael McCaul, who represents Texas' 10th district and serves as ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lists the purchase of $50,000-$100,000 worth of shares in Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings in late February. An attorney for McCaul, Elliot Berke, said that the lawmaker is not the owner of the shares. 'Congressman McCaul did not purchase any shares in China's Tencent Holdings or any other Chinese company,' Berke said. 'Congressman McCaul's wife has assets she solely owns and a third party manager made the purchase without her direction.'... McCaul has disclosed family holdings in Tencent for years, even as he has described the company as a threat to U.S. national security and an integral part of the Chinese Communist Party's 'dystopian' system of social control."
Presidential Race
Matt Fountain of the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Tribune: "A court document from 1996 shows former Senate staffer Tara Reade told her ex-husband she was sexually harassed while working for Joe Biden in 1993. The declaration -- exclusively obtained by The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California -- does not say Biden committed the harassment nor does it mention Reade's more recent allegations of sexual assault. Reade's then-husband Theodore Dronen wrote the court declaration. Dronen at the time was contesting a restraining order Reade filed against him days after he filed for divorce, Superior Court records show. In it, he writes Reade told him about 'a problem she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden's office.'" Includes copy of Dronen's declaration.... Dronen wrote that Reade told him she 'eventually struck a deal with the chief of staff of the Senator's office and left her position.... It was obvious that this event had a very traumatic effect on (Reade), and that she is still sensitive and effected (sic) by it today,' Dronen wrote." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If a U.S. senator had harassed me, I would not tell my husband that the perp was someone in his office. ~~~
~~~ An Evolving Tale. Laura McGann of Vox: "Reade told me [in April 2019] that she wanted me to think of this story as being about abuse of power, 'but not sexual misconduct.' Her emphasis was on how she was treated in Biden's office by Senate aides, who she said retaliated against her for complaining about how Biden touched her in meetings.... Last year, Reade encouraged me to speak with a friend of hers who counseled her through her time in Biden's office in 1992 and 1993.... 'On the scale of other things we heard, and I feel ashamed, but it wasn't that bad. [Biden] never tried to kiss her directly. He never went for one of those touches. It was one of those, "sorry you took it that way...,"' the friend told me. She went on: 'What was creepy was that it was always in front of people.'" ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Tara Reade ... on Thursday called for Biden to drop his presidential bid. In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Reade said Biden 'should not be running on character for the President of the United States.'" Mrs. McC: Not sure why Kelly, whom Trump treated badly, is helping his re-election campaign. Anything for a sexsational story. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Instead of repeatedly upping her claims against Biden from "not sexual misconduct" to -- eventually -- slammed me against the wall & finger-fucked me, Reade should have invented a consistent story from the git-go. A lawyer could help. ~~~
~~~ Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "Tara Reade ... is being represented by a prominent lawyer and political donor to ... Donald Trump's 2016 Republican campaign. Attorney Douglas Wigdor told The Associated Press he was not currently being paid for his work with Reade. His firm also denied there was a political motivation for his decision to represent Reade in her accusations against Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent in the November election. 'We have decided to take this matter on because every survivor has the right to competent counsel,' the firm said in a statement." Mrs. McC: Yo, Doug, very enlightened of you. I hear there are some two dozen women out there who have accused Trump of all manner of sexual abuse. Why not offer them pro bono representation? ~~~
~~~ Wait, Wait. There's More. From the same story: "Over the weekend, another attorney, William Moran, told the AP he was working with Reade. Moran, who works at a law firm in Columbia, Maryland, previously wrote and edited for Sputnik, a news agency founded and supported by the Russian state-owned media company Rossiya Segodnya. A January 2017 report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign said Sputnik was part of 'Russia's state-run propaganda machine,' which 'contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences.'" --s
Republicans Against Democracy. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's political operation is expanding its legal effort to stop Democrats from overhauling voting laws in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican National Committee and Trump reelection campaign are doubling their legal budget to $20 million as litigation spreads to an array of battleground states. With the virus likely to complicate in-person balloting in November, Democrats have been pushing to substantially ease remote voting restrictions -- something the Trump campaign and RNC are aggressively fighting in the courts.... More than two dozen Republican operatives are focusing on the legal battles and have been closely coordinating with party officials at the state and local levels. The Trump campaign and RNC recently intervened in Nevada, where Democrats are pushing for the state to ease restrictions by mailing ballots to all registered voters. Republicans have also been active in New Mexico, where they fought back a similar Democratic-led lawsuit."
Ryan Hutchings & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous 'Bridgegate' scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In a unanimous ruling that further chips away at the nation's public corruption case law, the justices concluded that the two defendants -- Bridget Ann Kelly and Bill Baroni -- did not defraud the government of its 'property' by closing off two local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge over three days in September 2013... Justice Elena Kagan said the kinds of decisions Kelly and Baroni made -- and their less-than-candid explanations for them -- could not be prosecuted as fraud under federal law. Kagan sought to make clear that the court was not blessing the conduct of the former officials, only declaring that it was beyond the reach of federal corruption laws. 'As Kelly's own lawyer acknowledged, this case involves an "abuse of power,"' she wrote. 'The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing -- deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct.' The court's decision, which appears to end one of the strangest political dramas in American history, vacates an earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia that had upheld most of the counts against Baroni and Kelly." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Update: the New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Russ Bynum & Ben Nadler of the AP: "Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. The charges came more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on a residential street just outside the port city of Brunswick. National outrage over the case swelled this week after cellphone video [surfaced] that appeared to show the shooting."
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