The Commentariat -- Nov. 20, 2019

Afternoon Update:

About Those Javelins. Andrew Kramer of the NYT (Oct. 24, 2019): "In 2018, the Trump administration authorized sales to Ukraine of a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile called the Javelin, reversing an Obama administration policy of supplying only non-lethal aid. But there is a big catch. The Trump administration provided the missiles on the condition that they not be used in the war, Ukrainian officials and American diplomats have said, lest they provoke Russia to slip more powerful weaponry to the separatists." Mrs. McC: Kramer's full story is worth reading. Sorry I missed it.

Michael Isikoff & Zach Dorfman of Yahoo! News: "The FBI recently sought to question the CIA whistleblower who filed a complaint over President Trump's July 25 Ukraine call -- a move that came after a vigorous internal debate within the bureau over how to respond to some of the issues raised by the complaint's allegations and whether they needed to be more thoroughly investigated.... But no interview has yet to be scheduled. It is unclear what the intended scope of the interview would be or whether the whistleblower's lawyers will agree to it."

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: During the O.J. double-murder trial, every night Court TV (I think it was) used to have re-enactors read the transcripts of the day's court proceedings for those who were otherwise occupied during the time "real court" was in session. Well, the concept is back. I give you the re-enactor-in-chief:

     ~~~ Update. It turns out that the re-enactor-in-chief has something else in common with the O.J. trial re-enactors. They read from hand-held scripts:

Photo via the Guardian.

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead. Frankly, I thought the photo Forrest sent along from an Instagram account was a joke. Like Forrest, I couldn't believe even the re-enactor-in-chief would have to write this down. We were wrong.

Ann Telnaes of the WashPo. Thanks to MAG for sending this along.Jonathan Chait: “Sondland has confirmed what is obvious to everybody: The entire scheme was directed by Trump all along. 'We followed the president's orders,' he said. 'Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.' Trump's operation has been painfully clear since May, when Rudy Giuliani boasted about his plans to the New York Times, telling the world that he was acting on the president's orders, and conceding that his actions were possibly 'improper' though not, in his view, illegal.... The White House had attempted to procure an advance copy of Sondland's testimony, to no avail.... And he provided emails showing his own communication with Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official...":

~~~~~~~~~~

Sondland is the sole witness at the 9 am hearing. An afternoon hearing, to begin at 2:30 pm ET, assuming the Sondland hearing ends on schedule, will take testimony from Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs, and David Hale, the under secretary of state for political affairs.

It's Crunch Day for Gordy

Mrs. McCrabbie: Sondland may be throwing all the other top guys under the bus, but he is giving Trump room to deny he was attempting to extort Zelensky: "President Trump never told me directly that the aid was conditioned on [investigations]," Sondland says. Beep, beep. Look out, Rudy! Eew! Too late! There's a lot Sondland conveniently "can't recall."

Peter Baker & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times are liveblogging today's testimony: "... in his written opening statement, Mr. Sondland gave away few details of any conversations with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Sondland acknowledged that he told a senior Ukrainian official that to get Mr. Trump to release $391 million in American security aid suspended by the president, the Kyiv government would likely have to publicly commit to investigating a debunked conspiracy theory involving Democrats in the 2016 election as well as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son's ties to Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. But the ambassador did not attribute that linkage to any explicit direction by Mr. Trump, instead saying he came to that conclusion on his own based on the fact that the money had been held up for so long.... While he was concerned about what he called a 'potential quid pro quo' tying security aid to Ukraine's willingness to undertake the investigations that Mr. Trump wanted, he said there definitely was a clear 'quid pro quo' linking a coveted White House meeting for Ukraine's president to the investigations." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sondland keeps claiming in his opening statement that the reason for his "faulty recollections" is that the White House has deprived him & his attorney of most records related to his work on the Ukraine scheme.

Here's the Times' reporters' livestream snark. Includes live video of the hearing. Ken Vogel: "A key distinction from Sondland: Trump and Giuliani didn't necessarily care whether the Ukrainians actually proceeded with the investigations into the Bidens and Burisma. Rather, the Ukrainians 'would have to announce that they were going to do it' to get the White House meeting with Trump." Mrs. McC: So not vaguely interested in stamping out Ukraine corruption; the demand was for a campaign talking point.

It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride. There Are a Lot of People Under the Bus. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "... Gordon Sondland said Trump conditioned a valuable White House meeting for Ukraine's new president on his willingness to launch investigations into Trump's Democratic adversaries, including former Vice President Joe Biden. 'Was there a "quid pro quo?"' said Sondland ... in his opening remarks Wednesday to impeachment investigators. 'The answer is yes.' Sondland framed the matter as widely understood across the Trump administration, indicating that senior officials and even cabinet secretaries were aware of the arrangement -- and that it was carried out at the 'express direction' of the president. 'Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret,' Sondland said, according to his prepared remarks. And he directly communicated the quid pro quo to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sondland said. He specifically cited a July 19 email copied to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 'a lot of senior officials.' In that email, he reveals that he 'just talked to Zelensky' and secured a commitment for a 'fully transparent investigation.'... Sondland also told lawmakers that he told Vice President Mike Pence on Sept. 1 that he was concerned that the delay in military assistance was tied to 'the issue of investigations.'... Sondland said he has no doubt [Rudy] Giuliani was 'expressing the desires of the President of the United States, and we knew that these investigations were important to the President.' He also said he had no desire to work with Giuliani but felt it was a requirement imposed by Trump...." Emphasis added. Includes live video of the hearing.

Here's Sondland's opening statement, via the Hill.

Aaron Davis & Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "The evidence gathered to date points to [Gordon] Sondland as the witness who, more than any other, could tie President Trump directly to the effort to persuade Ukraine to launch investigations that might benefit him politically. On Wednesday, with cameras rolling, the millionaire Republican donor-turned-ambassador could solidify the case against Trump, though doing so would require that he revise his previous testimony or acknowledge significant omissions. Or he could stand by his statements and face withering questioning from Democrats.... Sondland's potential legal exposure is rooted in seven hours of closed-door testimony he provided to congressional investigators Oct. 17. Sondland said then that he had little contact with Trump and knew of no link between a freeze on U.S. aid to Ukraine and investigations sought by Trump into the energy company Burisma ... or into a widely discredited theory that Ukraine had circulated misinformation to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Sondland told Congress that he would not have assisted in any effort by the president to press Ukraine to investigate a potential 2020 challenger and that he would have viewed such an effort as inappropriate. Already, Sondland has reversed himself on a key point.... [With his memory 'refreshed,'] Sondland wrote that on Sept. 1 he warned a top Ukrainian official that $400 million in U.S. assistance would probably flow to the country only if its president publicly promised to launch the investigations."

Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the most anticipated witness in the impeachment inquiry, is likely to be unpredictable when he faces questions about his evolving accounts of the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine and a newly revealed summertime phone call with ... Donald Trump.... Sondland routinely bragged about his proximity to Trump and drew alarm from the foreign service and national security apparatus as part of an irregular channel of diplomacy led by ... Rudy Giuliani.... Former National Security Council official Timothy Morrison told investigators that he witnessed a key September conversation in Warsaw between Sondland and a top aide to Zelenskiy. Afterward, Sondland said he had relayed to the Ukrainian that U.S. aid might be freed if the country would announce the investigations, Morrison testified.... Former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, shifted his own account of the July 10 meeting to say Sondland did, in fact, discuss investigations with the visiting Ukrainians."

Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "At a public hearing on Wednesday, impeachment investigators are expected to confront Mr. Sondland about holes and inconsistencies in his closed-door testimony last month. Chief among them is his failure to disclose a July 26 phone call with Mr. Trump during which, another witness suggested, the two discussed whether Ukraine's president would publicly announce an investigation into Mr. Trump's political rival.... Even if Mr. Sondland is now a damaged witness, he remains an important one. So far, he is the only one cooperating with the inquiry who dealt directly with Mr. Trump on Ukraine."

See also Michael Schmidt's new NYT report (also linked below) that Sondland kept Mike Pompeo apprised of his efforts to pressure Ukraine into doing stuff to satisify Trump's demands. Schmidt points out, "Mr. Sondland's exchanges with Mr. Pompeo suggest that he could use his testimony to counter the testimonies of other administration officials, who have said that Mr. Sondland was part of a team operating outside of normal foreign policy and national security channels...."

Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Gordon Sondland was in communication with individuals close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in mid-May about investigations the Trump administration wanted the country to pursue, according to two individuals with knowledge of those conversations.... It has been unclear -- until now -- when Sondland, one of the key characters in the House impeachment inquiry, first began trying to convince the Ukrainians to work with the U.S. in launching investigations into the Bidens."

Mrs. McCrabbie: So if Sondland testifies truthfully today, what are the odds Trump will tweet-fire him mid-hearing?

Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Two White House national security officials testified before the House's impeachment inquiry on Tuesday that President Trump's request to Ukraine's president to investigate Democratic rivals was inappropriate, and one of them said it validated his 'worst fear' that American policy toward that country would veer off course. Hours later, two more witnesses -- another former White House national security official and a former top American diplomat -- charted a more careful course but said under oath that the president's requests on a July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine were not in line with American national security goals.... Public testimony from both [Tim Morrison & Kurt Volker] had been requested by Republicans, but they also confirmed key details of the case Democrats are building against Mr. Trump."

Karoun Demirjian, et al., of the Washington Post: "Three current and former Trump administration officials described Tuesday how they harbored a variety of concerns surrounding a July phone call in which President Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former vice president Joe Biden -- boosting Democrats' inquiry into whether Trump should be impeached and substantially undercutting the president's assertion that the conversation was 'perfect.'... Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman ... said he considered the president's demand of the Ukrainian leader 'inappropriate,' because it could have 'significant national security implications' for the United States. Jennifer Williams ... said she thought the call was 'unusual' because 'it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter.' And Tim Morrison, the NSC's former top Russia and Europe adviser, said he worried what might happen if the call was made public -- as it ultimately was...."

Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times report key moments from the hearings. This is an update of liveblog of the hearings linked yesterday. Mrs. McC: It's pretty helpful. ~~~

~~~ Adam Edelman of NBC News also lists key takeaways from Tuesday's hearings. Mrs. McC: Also helpful.

Natasha Bertrand, et al., of Politico report on the "biggest moments" in the afternoon hearing, when Kurt Volker & Tim Morrison -- witnesses requested by Republicans -- testified.

Nothing is surprising in today's Washington, I guess, but in a qtr. century here I have not previously seen an official WH account or press release questioning the competence of an official currently working in that WH. If they had concerns about his judgment, why was he there? -- David Sanger, in a tweet

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman told a House investigative committee Tuesday that he spoke to an intelligence official about President Trump's July 25 request that Ukraine investigate his political opponents, but he declined to identify the official when pressed to do so. His refusal came as Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee's ranking Republican -- who kicked off the hearing by calling for the testimony of the whistleblower whose complaint launched the impeachment investigation -- asked witnesses to identify anyone outside the White House with whom they shared details of Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Republicans used the exchange to raise questions about whether Vindman was the source for information that ended up in the whistleblower's complaint, which alleged that Trump appeared to have abused his public office for personal political gain." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Allen of NBC News: Alexander "Vindman was just the most riveting of four witnesses who delivered testimony that was deeply damaging to Trump's remaining defenses against allegations that he was personally involved in pushing for an arms-for-investigations deal. Taken together, over nearly a dozen hours, they testified to the direct access that Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland had to Trump as Sondland, Rudy Giuliani..., [Kurt] Volker and others operated a special channel of Ukraine negotiations in which the investigations of Biden and his son were discussed. They testified that chasing [Joe] Biden for political advantage was neither consistent with established U.S. foreign policy goals nor consistent with appropriate conduct by the president. And Volker dismissed the probes sought as 'conspiracy theories.'... Volker, Morrison and Jennifer Williams -- were expected to provide testimony helpful to the president. They did not."

Here's Devin Nunes making a cow's butt of himself. Schiff, Vindman, & Vindman's attorney push back on Devin Nunes' cow:

Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "... Tuesday's testimony was, from practically top to bottom, a disaster for the president and his Republican allies. All four of the witnesses confirmed key parts of the overall case against the president -- that he twisted US foreign policy into a tool of his reelection campaign by using military aid in an effort force Ukraine into opening an investigation into the Biden family.... Meanwhile, the Republicans on the intelligence committee, from ranking member Devin Nunes on down, did not present a consistent and compelling counternarrative. They did little to contest the facts, preferring instead to attack the media, the whistleblower whose complaint kicked off this saga, or the witnesses themselves. The day underscored the fundamental fact of the situation: Trump did what Democrats are accusing him of doing. The only issue is whether congressional Republicans are willing to punish him for it."

Mrs. McCrabbie: I get my news from Stephen Colbert. And why wouldn't I? ~~~

Former Ukraine Official Knocks Down GOP Smear. Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: During impeachment hearings on Tuesday morning, the lead Republican counsel pressed Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman on an offer he'd received to take the position of defense minister in Kiev. The line of questioning seemed designed to raise doubts about Vindman's allegiance to the U.S. right as he was testifying about his concerns over ... Donald Trump's efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on his domestic political rivals. But a former top national security official in Ukraine [Oleksander Danylyuk] told The Daily Beast that he was 'joking' when he offered Vindman the post and never actually had the authority to make such an offer.... Republican House investigators consistently questioned Vindman during his public hearing about his interactions with Danylyuk, including whether the former Ukrainian national security official offered him the job of defense minister. Vindman said that Danylyuk had suggested he take the job three times but that he 'immediately dismissed' the offers and reported the encounters to his superiors at the National Security Council. Vindman also noted that Danylyuk might have been joking when they spoke about the position."

Axios reprints the transcript of Alexander Vindman's opening statement.

Ari Feldman of the Forward: "The Army has placed Alexander Vindman ... and his family under 24-hour security monitoring after Trump targeted Vindman in tweets accusing Vindman of being politically opposed to Trump.... U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that the Army has in recent weeks conducted a security assessment of Vindman and his family's home and internet presence, and said they are prepared to move the Vindman's to a military base if there are any threats to their safety." ~~~

~~~ Knowing That ... Asawin Suebsaeng & Sam Stein of the Daily Beast: "The Trump White House has taken the extraordinary step of distributing talking points to allies of the president trashing one of its employees.... Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.... On Tuesday morning, White House aide Julia Hahn emailed Trump surrogates under the subject line, 'Vindman's Complaints Are Nothing More Than Policy Disagreements,' according to messages reviewed by The Daily Beast. Hahn, a Steve Bannon protégée and one of his former allies in the White House, works on outreach and communications involving pro-Trump talking heads and other players in conservative media.... In another email blasted out a few minutes later, Hahn wrote: 'Vindman Has Major Credibility Issues.'" ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "In President Trump's Washington, where attacks on his enemies real or perceived have become so routine that they now often pass unnoticed, [Trump's attacks on Alexander Vindman & Jennifer Williams] might not seem all that remarkable -- but for the fact that Colonel Vindman and Ms. Williams both still work for the very same White House that was publicly assailing them. With the president's allies joining in, the two aides found themselves condemned as nobodies, as plotting bureaucrats, as traitors within and, in Colonel Vindman's case, as an immigrant with dual loyalties. Even for a president who rarely spares the rhetorical howitzer, that represents a new level of bombardment. 'This White House appears to be cannibalizing itself,' said William C. Inboden, a former national security aide to President George W. Bush. 'While many previous White House staffs have feuded with each other and leaked against each other, this is the first time in history I am aware of a White House openly attacking its own staff -- especially for merely upholding their constitutional duties.'"

Tina Nguyen of Politico: "On another day of wall-to-wall impeachment hearings..., Donald Trump convened his Cabinet to push the message that he's focused on everything but impeachment. The focus didn't last long. He could not resist the urge to share his take on the news of the day -- and finally comment on the fevered speculation that he'd experienced a medical emergency over the weekend.... It was Trump's first public appearance since his mysterious and unscheduled trip to Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday, a sudden hospital visit that spurred rampant speculation about his health in recent days." Trump denounced Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, the "dangerous" press, said he doesn't know who Alexander Vindman is. "Ahead of the meeting, the White House said 'the American people will hear updates on the Trump Cabinet's whole-of-government approach to supporting America's veterans.' Trump himself did not discuss veterans during the 16 minutes the press was present." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump said the when he told Melanie he was going to Walter Reed for a physical, "My wife said, 'Oh darling, that's wonderful."' I suspect Trump thinks that's the way wives should address their husbands & the way wives should react to whatever decisions their husbands make. I'd be surprised if Melanie really said "Oh, Darling, that's wonderful." ~~~

     ~~~ Oh Wait, There's More. Caitlyn Oprysko of Politico: "Speaking before a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump ... told reporters that he was greeted by a panicked first lady and communications department when he arrived back at the White House due to media coverage of the trip. 'I went for a physical. and I came back and my wife said, "Darling are you OK? ... Oh they're reporting you may have had a heart attack,"' Trump explained." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So with a fine medical team in the White House capable of administering standard tests, Trump went on an unscheduled, off-the-record trip to Walter Reed, without informing staff there he was on his way, and without even telling his wife. A real husband would discuss his plans with his wife beforehand. Even if the visit to Walter Reed were necessitated by a medical emergency, a real husband (and/or -- in this case -- his staff) would make sure his wife knew what was happening. Instead, we're supposed to believe the "sick, dangerous" press had "panicked" Melanie, who had no other way of knowing what was going on. Not only is Trump a liar, he doesn't seem to know how stupid his lies are.

Putin's Ukraine Puppets Would Help Putin's Biggest U.S. Puppet. Simon Shuster of Time: "As ... Donald Trump faces another tough week of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry, his push for investigations in Ukraine has found an unexpected support base: Ukrainian lawmakers. In particular, some of the politicians in Ukraine seen as closest to Russia have taken up the call to investigate Trump's rivals. Speaking to Time last week, three of these politicians -- including the co-chairman of Ukraine's biggest pro-Russian party -- echoed the call for the two investigations that Trump has urged Ukraine to open. The first would look into the Ukrainian business dealings of Joe Biden's son Hunter, and the second into whether Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections to help Hillary Clinton."

Michael Biesecker & Desmond Butler of the AP: "Federal prosecutors are planning to interview an executive with Ukraine's state-owned gas company as part of an ongoing probe into the business dealings of Rudy Giuliani and two of his Soviet-born business associates [Lev & Igor]. A lawyer for Andrew Favorov confirmed Tuesday that he is scheduled to meet voluntarily with the U.S. Justice Department. Favorov is the director of the integrated gas division at Naftogaz, the state-owned gas provider in Ukraine."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "The Trump administration is reportedly still withholding some of the congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine.... The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that it had obtained a Pentagon document showing that Ukraine has not received $35.2 million from the nearly $400 million in military aid that ... Donald Trump had halted when he was pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating his political rivals.... A spokesperson for the Pentagon told the Times that $36 million in aid has not yet been disbursed to Ukraine but that Ukraine will receive the funds 'over the next several weeks.' The spokesperson did not provide an explanation for the delay."

Navy Brass, Secretary Push Back at Trump. Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "The Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile war crimes case has been ordered to appear before Navy leaders Wednesday morning, and is expected to be notified that the Navy intends to oust him from the elite commando force, two Navy officials said on Tuesday. The move could put the SEAL commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green, in direct conflict with President Trump, who last week cleared the sailor, Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, of any judicial punishment in the war crimes case. Military leaders opposed that action as well as Mr. Trump's pardons of two soldiers involved in other murder cases.... The Navy also plans to take the Tridents [-- the symbol of SEAL membership --] of three SEAL officers who oversaw Chief Gallagher -- Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch, Lt. Jacob Portier and Lt. Thomas MacNeil -- and their letters have been drafted as well, one of the officials said.... Removing a Trident does not entail a reduction in rank, but it effectively ends a SEAL's career.... One Navy official ... said [Adm. Green] was making the move knowing that it could end his career, but that he had the backing of Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, and Richard V. Spencer, the secretary of the Navy."

John Walcott & W. J. Hennigan of Time: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told three prominent Republicans in recent weeks that he plans to resign from the Trump Administration to run for the U.S. Senate from Kansas in next year's elections. The problem: how to get out in one piece. Pompeo's plan had been to remain at the State Department until early spring next year, the three Republicans tell Time, but recent developments, including the House impeachment inquiry, are hurting him politically and straining his relationship with Trump. So Pompeo is rethinking his calendar, say the top Republicans.... The timing of Pompeo's resignation now will be decided by his ability to navigate the smoothest possible exit from the administration, the three Republicans say. There is no indication whether Pompeo has discussed his plans with President Trump." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Leave us not forget that Secretary Mike has gone to Kansas four times, on the taxpayer's dime, since current Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts (R) announced his retirement. On one of these visits, Pompeo stopped by to see "billionaire Charles Koch, a longtime political benefactor, and reportedly discussed the Senate race" with Koch. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) asked a federal watchdog to investigate whether these trips violated the Hatch Act, which limits campaign activities of federal officials. ~~~

~~~ ** But Mike Has Bigger Problems Now. Breaking This Morning. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Gordon D. Sondland ... kept Secretary of State Mike Pompeo apprised of key developments in the campaign to pressure Ukraine's leader into public commitments that would satisfy President Trump, two people briefed on the matter said. Mr. Sondland informed Mr. Pompeo in mid-August about a draft statement that Mr. Sondland and another American diplomat had worked on with the Ukrainians that they hoped would persuade Mr. Trump to grant Ukraine's new president the Oval Office meeting he was seeking, the people said. Later that month, Mr. Sondland discussed with Mr. Pompeo the possibility of pushing the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to pledge during a planned meeting with Mr. Trump in Warsaw that he would take the steps being sought by Mr. Trump as a way to break the logjam in relations between the two countries, the people said. Mr. Pompeo expressed his approval of the plan, they said, but Mr. Trump later canceled his trip to Poland. The disclosures link Mr. Pompeo more directly to the Trump administration's pressure campaign on Ukraine."

Jane Timm, et al., of NBC News: "White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed on Tuesday that departing former aides to President Barack Obama left notes saying 'you will fail' and 'you aren't going to make it' for the incoming staff of Donald Trump. Former Obama aides quickly denied Grisham's claim.... 'This is another bald faced lie,' Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice wrote on Twitter.... Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, said Grisham should produce the notes. 'I cannot imagine a single one of my former colleagues who would do this,' she said in a tweet." NBC News obtained a photo (included with the story) of a note from a man who previously held Grisham's current job: Obama press secretary Josh Earnest wrote to his successor Sean Spicer, wishing Spicer success and saying he was rooting for Spicer. Joanna Rosholm, who was Michelle Obama's press secretary wrote a sweet & encouraging letter to her successor, who turned out to be Grisham. Mrs. McC: So Grisham doesn't just tell lies; she makes them up from whole cloth, lies that are the exact opposite of the truth. ~~~

~~~ Steve M. has more. It seems Trump White House staffers willing to back up Grisham's claim would do so only anonymously. "I'll lie for you, Steph, but I'm not putting my name on it, for Pete's sake!" As for Grisham, in a follow-up to the pushback, she said, "I don't know why everyone is so sensitive!" Steve sez, "Oh, I see: not wanting to be publicly slandered is being 'sensitive.'"

Clare Foran of CNN: "The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a short-term funding bill in an effort to avert a government shutdown before funds expire later in the week. The vote was 231-192. The stopgap legislation, known as a continuing resolution, will extend funding through December 20, setting up another spending deadline on the eve of the winter holidays. The current deadline for funding is Thursday. The measure now needs to be taken up by the Senate and then signed by the President to prevent a shutdown. The expectation is that if the House and Senate both pass a funding bill, the President will sign it.... Lawmakers have not yet been able to reach bipartisan agreement on the twelve regular annual appropriations bills needed to fund the government...."

Washington Post artwork.Washington Post: "The fifth Democratic debate is Wednesday night and is be co-hosted by The Washington Post and MSNBC. Here's what you need to know. When: Coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time, and the debate will run from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time. Where: It's being in Atlanta, at Tyler Perry Studios, and you can watch it on washingtonpost.com or our apps or on MSNBC."

The Commentariat -- November 19, 2019

 

Michael Shear of the New York Times is live-updating the hearings. Lede @ 1 pm ET: "The top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council testified that President Trump's call with Ukraine's president in which Mr. Trump asked for investigations of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was 'inappropriate' and 'a partisan play,' as Republicans raised questions about his loyalty and professionalism." Mrs. McC: Well-worth reading if -- as I did -- you missed the morning's testimony. The Republicans on the committee, especially Nunes & Jordan, have embarrassed the nation yet again. ~~~

     ~~~ Times reporters are making their snarky comments here. (Also includes video feed.) Sample: Katie Rogers: White House staff are using "the official White House account for a political attack." David Sanger (in a tweet): "... in a qtr. century here I have not previously seen an official WH account or press release questioning the competence of an official currently working in that WH. If they had concerns about his judgment, why was he there?"

     ~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: As far as I can tell, @ 4 pm ET, the Times reporters do not seem to be remarking on the afternoon hearing, although they indicated earlier that they would. The Times live updates, however, are continuing, with Peter Baker taking over.

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates, by John Wagner & Colby Itkowitz, are here. There's a video livefeed here & on the front page of the WashPo. ~~~

~~~ Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman told a House investigative committee Tuesday that he spoke to an intelligence official about President Trump's July 25 request that Ukraine investigate his political opponents, but he declined to identify the official when pressed to do so. His refusal came as Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee's ranking Republican -- who kicked off the hearing by calling for the testimony of the whistleblower whose complaint launched the impeachment investigation -- asked witnesses to identify anyone outside the White House with whom they shared details of Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Republicans used the exchange to raise questions about whether Vindman was the source for information that ended up in the whistleblower's complaint, which alleged that Trump appeared to have abused his public office for personal political gain." ~~~

~~~ Politico's highlights report is here. ~~~

~~~ Axios reprints the transcript of Alexander Vindman's opening statement.

~~~ Tina Nguyen of Politico: "On another day of wall-to-wall impeachment hearings..., Donald Trump convened his Cabinet to push the message that he's focused on everything but impeachment. The focus didn't last long. He could not resist the urge to share his take on the news of the day -- and finally comment on the fevered speculation that he'd experienced a medical emergency over the weekend.... It was Trump's first public appearance since his mysterious and unscheduled trip to Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday, a sudden hospital visit that spurred rampant speculation about his health in recent days." Trump denounced Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, the "dangerous" press, said he doesn't know who Alexander Vindman is. "Ahead of the meeting, the White House said 'the American people will hear updates on the Trump Cabinet's whole-of-government approach to supporting America's veterans.' Trump himself did not discuss veterans during the 16 minutes the press was present." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump said the when he told Melanie he was going to Walter Reed for a physical, "My wife said, 'Oh darling, that's wonderful.'" I suspect Trump thinks that's the way wives should address their husbands & the way wives should react to whatever decisions their husbands make. I'd be surprised if Melanie really said "Oh, Darling, that's wonderful." ~~~

     ~~~ Oh Wait, There's More. Caitlyn Oprysko of Politico: "Speaking before a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump ... told reporters that he was greeted by a panicked first lady and communications department when he arrived back at the White House due to media coverage of the trip. 'I went for a physical. and I came back and my wife said, "Darling are you OK?... Oh they're reporting you may have had a heart attack,"' Trump explained." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So with a fine medical team in the White House capable of administering standard tests, Trump went on an unscheduled, off-the-record trip to Walter Reed, without informing staff there he was on his way, and without even telling his wife. A real husband would discuss his plans with his wife beforehand. Even if the visit to Walter Reed were necessitated by a medical emergency, a real husband (and/or -- in this case -- his staff) would make sure his wife knew what was happening. Instead, we're supposed to believe the "sick, dangerous" press had "panicked" Melanie, who had no other way of knowing what was going on. Not only is Trump a liar, he doesn't seem to know how stupid his lies are.

Deirdre Walsh of NPR reports the schedule of witness testimony, which begins today at 9 am ET with Col. Alexander Vindman & ends Thursday with testimony from Fiona Hill, scheduled to begin at 9 am ET. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jamie Gangel & Kristen Holmes of CNN: "The House Intelligence Committee will have David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the US Embassy in Ukraine, testifying alongside former White House official Fiona Hill on Thursday, according to the Democratic aide. The addition of Holmes means nine individuals will testify publicly as witnesses in the House impeachment probe this week. Holmes' testimony is making some GOP members worry about how far [Gordon] Sondland will go in his public testimony on Wednesday and two senior Republican sources say that some House Republicans are worried about how Sondland will handle himself at the hearing." ~~~

~~~ If Sondland shows up Wednesday & testifies truthfully, what are the odds that Trump will tweet-fire him mid-hearing?

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "Kurt D. Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine, plans to tell lawmakers on Tuesday that he was out of the loop at key moments during President Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine to turn up damaging information about Democrats, according to an account of his prepared testimony. As the House Intelligence Committee opens its second week of public impeachment hearings, Mr. Volker will say that he did not realize that others working for Mr. Trump were tying American security aid to a commitment to investigate Democrats. His testimony, summarized by a person informed about it who insisted on anonymity..., will seek to reconcile his previous closed-door description of events with conflicting versions offered subsequently by other witnesses. Mr. Volker will be one of four witnesses appearing before the committee on Tuesday.... Mr. Volker, who offered a blander description of the meeting in his original testimony, plans to say on Tuesday that he does not challenge any of the new testimony but did not remember hearing the comments." The story also covers other developments in the impeachment inquiry. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you want to get into the weeds, Ryan Goodman, in Just Security, will take you there: "Volker's testimony was unfavorable to the President and Giuliani in many respects. However in other important instances, Volker denied allegations about his own wrongdoing and the existence of the alleged pressure campaign against Ukraine.... Comparing Volker's testimony to other witnesses raises very serious concerns about Volker's truthfulness before Congress. To be more specific, it appears that Mr. Volker lied to Congress in violation of federal criminal law (18 USC 1001). The most serious instances include his flat denial that the Ukraine "investigations" were discussed in a July 10 meeting at the White House, his denial of his own knowledge or involvement in efforts to urge Ukraine to investigate Biden, his denial of his own knowledge or involvement in a quid pro quo scheme, and his claim that efforts to get Ukraine to make a public statement about the investigations ended in mid-to-late August." Goodman has produced a 60-page side-by-side chart comparing Volker's testimony to that of other witnesses. Emphasis original.

Washington Post Breaking: "Democrats on Monday released the transcripts of last week's depositions of [David] Holmes[, a senior political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv,] and David Hale, undersecretary of state for political affairs."

Here's the transcript of David Holmes' testimony, via NPR. Mrs. McC: I'll put up analyses of his & David Hales' testimony when they becomes available. ~~~

~~~ Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The phone call State Department official David Holmes overheard between ... Donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland during a lunch in Ukraine was so distinctive -- even extraordinary -- that no one needed to refresh his memory, according to testimony released late Monday in the impeachment inquiry. 'I've never seen anything like this,' Holmes told House investigators, 'someone calling the President from a mobile phone at a restaurant, and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language. There's just so much about the call that was so remarkable that I remember it vividly.'" ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Rishika Dugyala of Politico: "... Donald Trump's call to the cell phone of a U.S. ambassador -- a call that included a discussion of 'investigations' Trump was asking Ukraine to launch into his Democratic rivals -- was at risk of being monitored by Russia, [David Holmes] told House impeachmen investigators.... Holmes ... said it immediately made him nervous because two of the three mobile networks in Ukraine are Russian-owned. 'We generally assume that mobile communications in Ukraine are being monitored,' Holmes said, according to a transcript of his Nov. 15 closed-door testimony, released late Monday.... Holmes said after the exchange he reported the call to his supervisor, Kristina Kvien. The [telephone] exchange is a crucial piece of firsthand evidence of Trump's effort -- aided by a shadow diplomacy campaign led by his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani -- to pressure Ukraine to launch an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats."

~~~ The transcript of David Hale's testimony is here, also via NPR. ~~~

~~~ Here's a bit from the Washington Post (at 8:30 pm ET Monday): David "Hale said that during a meeting on April 25, [also linked above] officials discussed the fact that Trump had 'lost confidence' in then-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and how they could remove her in a way that 'limited the controversy, and .. the damage that might do the ambassador's own reputation and to the State Department and to the embassy in Kyiv.' So, he said, the decision was made to bring her back to Washington to discuss with her 'how best to achieve that.' He said he was not aware of any evidence to support the allegations against Yovanovitch. 'No one to my knowledge believed that they had seen anything that would suggest that the ambassador had done anything wrong,' he said. In fact, he said, 'I felt she had been doing an exceptional job.'" ~~~

     ~~~ According to the Politico report by Cheney & Dugyala, linked above, David "Hale said he 'advocated strongly for resuming [military] assistance' [to Ukraine] but didn't have confidence that would happen: The OMB 'had guidance from the President and from Acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney to freeze the assistance,' he said."

Jeffery Martin of Newsweek: "In a letter dated Monday to Republican Congressmen Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan responding to their request for information regarding the Ukraine call that led to impeachment proceedings against ... Donald Trump, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, also a Republican, said the impeachment inquiry is 'a continuation of a concerted, and possible coordinated, effort to sabotage the Trump administration.'... Johnson cast aspersions onto the character of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who is expected to testify in the impeachment proceedings Tuesday. In the letter, Johnson related the events of a briefing he attended with [Col. Alexander] Vindman on May 20. While Johnson believed that supporting Ukraine was 'essential' in the United States' competition with Russia, Vindman allegedly disagreed. 'He stated that it was the position of the NSC that our relationship with Ukraine should be kept separate from our geopolitical competition with Russia,' Johnson wrote.... Johnson went on to say Vindman belongs to 'a significant number of bureaucrats and staff members within the executive branch [who have] never accepted President Trump as legitimate and resent his unorthodox style and his intrusion onto their 'turf."'" ~~~

     ~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios has Johnson's full screed letter here.

Desmond Butler & Michael Biesecker of the AP: "U.S. State Department officials were informed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was feeling pressure from the Trump administration to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden even before the July phone call that has led to impeachment hearings in Washington, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press. In early May, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, including then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, were told Zelenskiy was seeking advice on how to navigate the difficult position he was in, the two people told the AP. He was concerned ... Donald Trump and associates were pressing him to take action that could affect the 2020 U.S. presidential race, the two individuals said.... State Department officials in Kyiv and Washington were briefed on Zelenskiy's concerns at least three times.... The briefings and the notes show that U.S. officials knew early that Zelenskiy was feeling pressure to investigate Biden, even though the Ukrainian leader later denied it in a joint news conference with Trump in September. Congressional Republicans have pointed to that public Zelenskiy statement to argue that he felt no pressure to open an investigation.... In the impeachment hearings, Democrats have countered that Zelenskiy's public comments came when he was trying to calm the waters with the U.S. president in the immediate wake of the transcript's release."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday said he will 'strongly consider' giving written or in-person testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, despite his repeated refusal to cooperate with the investigation thus far. Trump responded to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) suggestion on 'Face the Nation' a day earlier in which she said the president could 'come right before the committee and talk... or he could do it in writing.'" Mrs. McC: Yeah, Donnie, just as you repeatedly said you could hardly wait to testify to Bob Mueller. Yesterday, after strongly considering swimming from Kennebunkport to Brittany, France, and rejecting the idea, today I'm going to strongly consider climbing Mount Everest alongside all the other climbers. (Also linked yesterday.)

Quinta Jurecic & Benjamin Wittes in The Atlantic: "The Trump defensive playbook has a few distinctive plays. There's the allegation of a deep-state conspiracy. The demonization of an individual career official. The assertion that the relevant investigation was conceived in sin and is hopelessly tainted by it. The focus on throwing handfuls of spaghetti at the wall, rather than stitching together a coherent alternative narrative.... As the impeachment inquiry gains steam..., Donald Trump and his defenders are running their old playbook [from the Mueller probe].... It is too soon to tell whether the playbook is working.... The stability of the president's approval ratings ... suggests that, at a minimum, it is not not working -- at least not yet. The playbook may be even more implausible intellectually than it was the first time around. It may be infuriating. And it is certainly demagogic and immoral in its deceit and slander. But it has played an effective role in Trump's resilience to date. So why not try it again?" --s ~~~

~~~ Kevin Liptak & Pamela Brown of CNN: "... Donald Trump's aides have explored moving some impeachment witnesses on loan to the White House from other agencies, such as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, back to their home departments ahead of schedule, according to people familiar with the conversations. As public hearings bring the officials' allegations to his television screen, Trump is asking anew how witnesses such as Vindman and Ambassador Bill Taylor came to work for him, people familiar with the matter said. He has suggested again they be dismissed, even as advisers warn him firing them could be viewed as retaliation. The possible move of officials out of the White House could still be viewed by some as evidence of retribution for their testimony. Trump's frustration at his own officials comes as he attacks witnesses on Twitter, including during Friday's public hearing with the ousted ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Trump appears to have adopted a strategy of maligning the officials, despite some allies encouraging him not to."

Sad! Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "The impeachment inquiry has created the first rift between ... Donald Trump and the Cabinet member who has been his closest ally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to four current and former senior administration officials. Trump has fumed for weeks that Pompeo is responsible for hiring State Department officials whose congressional testimony threatens to bring down his presidency, the officials said. The president confronted Pompeo about the officials -- and what he believed was a lackluster effort by the secretary of state to block their testimony -- during lunch at the White House on Oct. 29, those familiar with the matter said.... Trump particularly blames Pompeo for tapping Ambassador Bill Taylor in June to be the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, the current and former senior administration officials said.... The impeachment inquiry has put Pompeo in what one senior administration official described as an untenable position: trying to manage a bureaucracy of 75,000 people that has soured on his leadership and also please a boss with outsized expectations of loyalty." Thanks to Patrick for the link. See also his commentary in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "Trump is taking a beating from diplomats and other State Department officials who have testified that Trump did indeed try to extort Ukraine into providing dirt on Joe Biden in return for military aid. Since Trump can't admit that his problems stem from the fact that he actually did something wrong, it must be a problem with the State Department instead. Right? So now Mike Pompeo is caught in Trump's crosshairs[.]"

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Two days after a whistleblower secretly filed a complaint about ... Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine in August, two top congressional staffers arrived in Kyiv on a routine business trip that ended up setting off alarm bells on Capitol Hill. The aides ... had been dispatched to make an on-the-ground assessment of the cash Congress has been pumping into former Soviet states -- including Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine -- to aid their defenses against Russian aggression. But ... the staffers were shocked to learn from U.S. embassy officials that there was no new money coming into Ukraine.... What's more, the two Appropriations staffers, Becky Leggieri and Hayden Milberg, couldn't even get an explanation for the hold-up, because embassy officials didn't know the reason.... That set off a scramble in Washington to find out what happened to the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that had been specifically earmarked by Congress for Ukraine.... The hunt to find out why the money wasn't moving played out on Capitol Hill and across several federal agencies at the same time the whistleblower complaint was quietly winding its way through separate government channels in August and early September, and it illustrates the difficulty anyone connected to the administration would have in hiding a plot to withhold federal funds." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rudy Giuliani, Cybersecurity Expert. David Sanger of the New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani ... makes a living selling cybersecurity advice through his companies. President Trump even named him the administration's first informal 'cybersecurity adviser.' But inside the National Security Council, officials expressed wonderment that Mr. Giuliani was running his 'irregular channel' of Ukraine diplomacy over open cell lines and communications apps in Ukraine that the Russians have deeply penetrated. In his testimony to the House impeachment inquiry, Tim Morrison, who is leaving as the National Security Council's head of Europe and Russia, recalled expressing astonishment to William B. Taylor Jr., who was sitting in as the chief American diplomat in Ukraine, that the leaders of the 'irregular channel' seemed to have little concern about revealing their conversations to Moscow. 'He and I discussed a lack of, shall we say, OPSEC, that much of Rudy's discussions were happening over an unclassified cellphone or, perhaps as bad, WhatsApp messages, and therefore you can only imagine who else knew about them,' Mr. Morrison testified.... 'And I found that to be highly problematic and indicative of someone who didn't really understand how national security processes are run.'"

Rene Marsh, et al., of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in New York who are investigating Rudy Giuliani are seeking to interview people with knowledge of Ukraine's state-run oil-and-gas company, Naftogaz, according to two people familiar with the matter, suggesting investigators have opened a line of inquiry into whether Giuliani and his associates sought to secure energy deals by asserting influence on the company.... Naftogaz stands at the center of an effort by Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and their purported natural-gas company, Global Energy Producers, to replace Naftogaz's chief executive officer with someone who would be more beneficial to their own business interests earlier this year.... An American energy consultant who operates in Ukraine, Dale Perry, described [Lev & Igor's] efforts to oust Naftogaz's CEO, Andriy Kobolyev, who is known for his anti-corruption reforms at the company...." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: Friday, CNN reported that "[Lev] Parnas and [Igor] Fruman, along with their partner, Rudy Giuliani, met with Trump in the White House during its annual Hanukkah party. Parnas told two people that Trump tasked them with pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.... Here Trump recruited a pair of sleazeballs with ties to the Russian mafia to communicate with the Ukrainian government on his behalf. 'President outsources his foreign policy to gangsters' is the sort of charge that ought to draw more attention than it has.... Parnas, Fruman, and Giuliani ... were also looking to line their own pockets in the process.... Despite the pretext of fighting Ukrainian corruption, Trump's allies were undermining reforms in Ukraine and recorrupting institutions that had been turned into instruments of the rule of law.... Lurking in the shadows of the [Ukraine] scandal is an ulterior motive: Giuliani, Parnas, and Fruman were extorting Ukraine in the traditional, moneymaking way also.... If there's any way the Ukraine scandal can get materially worse, it would be Trump directing a scheme to not only gain a political advantage but to enrich his partners, or even himself."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Impeachment investigators are exploring whether President Trump lied in his written answers to Robert S. Mueller III during the Russia investigation, a lawyer for the House told a federal appeals court on Monday, raising the prospect of bringing an additional basis for a Senate trial over whether to remove Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump wrote that he was 'not aware during the campaign of any communications' between 'any one I understood to be a representative of WikiLeaks' and people associated with his campaign, including his political adviser Roger J. Stone Jr., who was convicted at trial last week for lying to congressional investigators about his efforts to reach out to WikiLeaks and his discussions with the campaign." A CNN report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jeff Stein & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Two senators are looking into a whistleblower's allegations that at least one political appointee at the Treasury Department may have tried to interfere with an audit of President Trump or Vice President Pence, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a sign that lawmakers are moving to investigate the complaint lodged by a senior staffer at the Internal Revenue Service. Staff members for Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, met with the IRS whistleblower earlier this month, those people said. Follow-up interviews are expected to further explore the whistleblower's allegations.... Trump administration officials have previously played down the complaint's significance and suggested that it is politically motivated.... The IRS whistleblower complaint was first disclosed in an August court filing by Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.... Neal made the disclosure in court filings as part of his battle with the Trump administration over the president's tax returns, which the Treasury Department has refused to furnish. At the time, Neal said the whistleblower complaint raises 'serious and urgent concerns' about the integrity of the IRS audit process." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Senate Finance Committee staff members met this month with an Internal Revenue Service whistle-blower who has alleged that senior Treasury Department officials tried to exert influence over the mandatory audit of President Trump's tax returns, a congressional aide said on Monday. The whistle-blower contacted the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee over the summer and accused political appointees in the Treasury Department of improperly involving themselves in the audit and putting pressure of some kind on senior officials in the I.R.S.... A person familiar with the complaint has said that it did not directly implicate Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the political meddling." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course it could not be possible that (1) the whistleblower's complaint is accurate and (2) Trump directed a political appointee to mess with his audit. ~~~

~~~ Harper Neidig of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary stay of an appeals court ruling that granted House Democrats' access to President Trump's financial records.... The subpoena from the House Oversight Committee will be unenforceable while the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case. Developing." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Monday temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that required President Trump to turn over financial records to a House committee. The brief order gave no reasons and served to maintain the status quo while the justices decided how to proceed. In a letter to the court earlier on Monday, lawyers for the committee said they did not oppose a brief interim stay. In entering one, the chief justice ordered the committee's lawyers to file papers on whether to grant a longer stay by Thursday. If the justices grant a longer stay, they will next consider whether to hear Mr. Trump's appeal. The case, concerning a subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is one of two cases before the Supreme Court in which Mr. Trump is seeking to halt disclosures of his financial records by his accounting firm, Mazars USA. The other case concerns a subpoena from Manhattan prosecutors to the firm seeking eight years of his personal and business tax returns." (Also linked yesterday.)

Betsy Swan & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Paul Erickson, the former boyfriend of convicted Russian agent Maria Butina, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, according to a plea agreement filed in a South Dakota federal court Monday afternoon. In a two-page statement detailing the factual basis for the plea, Erickson said he conned someone only identified as 'D.G.' into wiring him $100,000 under the pretense that the money was for a real estate investment in North Dakota. As part of the plea filed in U.S. district court in South Dakota, Erickson admits the money was not for a real estate deal. He also notes that he wired $1,000 of the money to a person called 'M.B.'... Erickson was indicted in February on allegations that he ran a criminal scheme from 1996 to 2018 in which he was accused of using a chain of assisted living homes called Compass Care.” Erickson also ran at least two other fraudulent schemes, according to prosecutors. Mrs. McC: Sadly, "M.B.," the recipient of the $1,000 wire transfer, was not "Marie Burns," but was likely Maria Butina.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The White House sought on Monday night to quell a torrent of speculation about President Trump's health two days after a mysterious, unannounced visit to the hospital, denying that he was treated for an emergency and insisting that it was just 'regular, primary preventive care.... Despite some of the speculation, the president has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues," Cmdr. Sean P. Conley, the president's Navy physician, wrote in a memo released by the White House in an unusual late-night statement. 'Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurologic evaluations.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I haven't been paying attention, but a pundit on the teevee last night noted that since Trump's surprise visit to Walter Reed on Saturday, Trump has not appeared in public. He's scheduled to run a Cabinet meeting at 11:30 am ET today. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Toluse Olorunnipa & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Trump, 73, made an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday, a visit that remained shrouded in secrecy for two days as Trump stayed away from the public eye and the White House dodged questions about his health.... On Monday, he remained out of public view, holding his meetings behind closed doors. He met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell inside the White House residence rather than the Oval Office.... The White House has adequate equipment and facilities to treat most minor illnesses and conduct routine tests."

What a Surprise! CBS News: "A CBS News investigation has uncovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving the Republican National Committee and President Trump's nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails obtained by CBS News show the nominee, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars as his confirmation in the Senate hung in the balance, chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.... In an email..., [RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel] asked Manchester [just as his nomination was coming up for a committee vote], 'Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?'... He wrote back to McDaniel:... 'As you know I am not supposed to do any, but my wife is sending a contribution for $100,000. Assuming I get voted out of the [Foreign Relations Committee] on Wednesday to the floor we need you to have the majority leader bring it to a majority vote ... Once confirmed, I our [sic] family will respond!'" Manchester copied "staffers of two senators who controlled his nomination, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Idaho's Jim Risch, alerting them to his willingness to donate more after confirmation.... Risch alerted the White House, which then asked Manchester to withdraw." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Actually, the most surprising part is that the White House asked Manchester to withdraw, which he did. However, Risch probably made clear to the Trumpies that Manchester would never be confirmed; the committee had already held up the nomination for 2-1/2 years, and this pay-for-play gambit was the nail in the coffin.

Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters: "The United States has the world's highest rate of children in detention, including more than 100,000 in immigration-related custody that violates international law, the author of a United Nations study said on Monday.... Children should only be detained as a measure of last resort and for the shortest time possible, according to the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "The Trump administration is preparing to publish a rule that would send migrants who pass through Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras before seeking asylum in the United States back to those dangerous Central American countries to claim asylum there instead." ~~~

~~~ Sofia Menchu & Ted Hesson of Reuters: "The U.S. government said on Saturday that it had no plans to send asylum seekers to remote regions in Guatemala after the Central American country floated the plan during negotiations for a bilateral migration agreement this week.... Incoming president Giammattei criticized the lack of transparency around how the deal is being finalised and told reporters at a press conference on Saturday that his government would evaluate any agreement that was struck by his predecessor. Guatemala's tiny refugee agency ... has around 10 officials.... Guatemala&'s Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart ... said the regions could include, but would probably not be limited to, the Peten jungle, a sweltering area in northern Guatemala that borders Mexico and is known to be frequented by drug cartels." --s ~~~

~~~ Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "Though President Trump has made cracking down on immigration a centerpiece of his first term, his administration lags far behind President Barack Obama's pace of deportations. Obama -- who immigrant advocates at one point called the 'deporter in chief' -- removed 409,849 people in 2012 alone. Trump, who has vowed to deport 'millions' of immigrants, has yet to surpass 260,000 deportations in a single year. And while Obama deported 1.18 million people during his first three years in office, Trump has deported fewer than 800,000. It is unclear why deportations have been happening relatively slowly." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers & Jason LeParle of the New York Times look into Stephen Miller's "intellectual ties to the world of white nationalism.... Katie McHugh -- the former Breitbart editor who leaked the messages, some 900 emails sent from March 2015 to June 2016 -- said in an interview last week that 'it's easy to draw a clear line from the white supremacist websites where he is getting his ideas to current immigration policy.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

David Zucchino & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The Taliban on Tuesday freed two Westerners they had held for more than three years in exchange for the release of three senior insurgent leaders, officials said, in a deal that officials hoped could pave the way for Afghan peace talks with the Taliban.The Westerners were released to American forces by the Taliban, and included an American, Kevin C. King, 63, and an Australian, Timothy J. Weeks, 50, teachers at the American University in Kabul who were abducted in 2016." The AP report is here.

Jennifer Hansler, et al., of CNN: "US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday announced a major reversal of the US' longstanding policy on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a 1978 State Department legal opinion that deemed the settlements 'inconsistent with international law.' The announcement, which breaks with international law and consensus, is the latest in a string of hardline, pro-Israeli moves that are likely to inflame tensions between the Trump administration and Palestinians and widen the divide between the Trump administration and traditional US allies in Europe." The New York Times story is here.

Eli Lee of CREW: "[T]he Department of Justice recently issued a legal opinion that appears to exempt a Saudi-owned oil company's lobbyists from registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), according to a CREW analysis of lobbying disclosures and DOJ records. The lobbyists have instead been permitted to disclose their work under the less rigorous Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). As a result, information that would have been disclosed under FARA -- including detailed lists of the lobbyists' meetings with government officials -- has effectively been withheld from the government and the public, thus hiding details of a lobbying campaign that could be considered part of Saudi Arabia's U.S. influence efforts. More broadly, the DOJ's legal opinion appears to establish a general loophole in FARA that allows corporations that are wholly owned by a foreign state-owned company to obscure the full extent of their influence efforts in the United States." --s

Dan DeLuce, et al., of NBC News: "Senior Trump administration official Mina Chang resigned from her job at the State Department two and a half hours after NBC News went to her spokesperson to ask about newly discovered false claims she had made about her charity work. NBC News had previously reported that Chang, the deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Conflict and Stability Operations, had embellished her resume with misleading claims about her educational achievements and the scope of her nonprofit's work -- even posting a fake cover of Time magazine with her face on it." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: We've known for years that Donald Trump has embellished his résumé & hung fake pictures of himself on the cover of Time in some of his resorts. Why doesn't he resign? (Okay, that was rhetorical. I know he has no shame.)

Your Tax Dollars Hardly Working. Elaina Plott of The Atlantic: Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew "has served in the Office of Public Liaison, beginning as an associate director, since March 2017, making him one of the longest-serving members of the Trump administration.... [H]e earns a salary of $90,700.... [S]everal of the current and former administration officials I spoke to for this story said Giuliani helps arrange sports teams' visits to the White House.... 'He doesn't really try to be involved in anything,' one former senior White House official told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity.... And as the person with one of the better golf handicaps in Trump's inner circle, Giuliani sometimes traveled with the president for the sole purpose of joining him for a round or two. Ultimately, Giuliani's face time with Trump in that first year rivaled that of far more senior officials." --s

Michael Balsamo & Tom Hays of the AP: "Two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he took his own life are expected to face criminal charges this week for falsifying prison records, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The federal charges could come as soon as Tuesday and are the first in connection with Epstein's death. The wealthy financier died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls. The officers on Epstein's unit at the federal jail in New York City are suspected of failing to check on him every half-hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to claim they had. Federal prosecutors offered the guards a plea bargain, but the AP reported Friday that the officers declined the deal."

In yesterday's thread, Anonymous recommended a special by NBC News' Richard Engel on Trump's withdrawal from Syria, allowing Turkey to attack Kurdish allies of the U.S. If you subscribe to MSNBC on a cable or satellite service, you can view it here after signing in. (It's possible you'll have trouble signing in. For quite awhile, my sign-in via Xfinity didn't work, but it's been working for a couple of months.) As Anonymous suggested, you also may be able to access the report onyour TV via your provider's on-demand facility; the show is called "On Assignment with Richard Engel."

Beyond the Beltway

Mississippi. Ashton Pittman of the Jackson Free Press: "Shanda Yates, a 38-year-old Jackson-area attorney, has ousted Billy Denny, a top Republican in the Mississippi House of Representatives who first won his seat in 1987 -- when Yates was just 6 years old. The Democratic political newcomer beat the longtime House District 64 incumbent by about 51% to 49%, the Hinds County Election Commission confirmed to the Jackson Free Press after finishing counting provisional ballots on Monday.... Yates won by 168 votes." ~~~

~~~ The Trump Effect. Ashton Pittman: "Donald Trump's visit to Tupelo [Mississippi] earlier this month may have boosted Mississippi Democrats more than Republicans in the northeast part of the state, Chism Strategies, one of the state's top polling and political strategy firms, says. The president's Nov. 1 visit boosted Republican voter turnout in Northeast Mississippi by 5%, but gave Democrats in the region a 12% boost, the firm's Brad Chism wrote in an 'Open Letter to Mississippi Democrats' late last week.... While ... every ... Democratic candidate statewide lost, Chism pointed out some 'silver linings' -- including Democrat Hester Jackson-McCray's defeat of an incumbent GOP Mississippi in a DeSoto County House District that Republicans won by 36 points in 2015." --s ~~~

~~~ Louisiana. safari: Another insight from the article above: "[Louisiana governor John Bel] Edwards' decision to expand Medicaid in the state, which [Republican Bobby] Jindal had blocked, proved popular in the state, after it opened health-care access to more than 470,000 Louisiana residents. A study since found that expansion 'led to a $1.85 billion direct economic impact' in the first year, helped the state save $317 million, and& created 19,000 new jobs."

The Commentariat -- November 18, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Impeachment investigators are exploring whether President Trump lied in his written answers to Robert S. Mueller III during the Russia investigation, a lawyer for the House told a federal appeals court on Monday, raising the prospect of bringing an additional basis for a Senate trial over whether to remove Mr. Trump.... Mr. Trump wrote that he was 'not aware during the campaign of any communications' between 'any one I understood to be a representative of WikiLeaks' and people associated with his campaign, including his political adviser Roger J. Stone Jr., who was convicted at trial last week for lying to congressional investigators about his efforts to reach out to WikiLeaks and his discussions with the campaign." A CNN report is here.

Jeff Stein & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Two senators are looking into a whistleblower's allegations that at least one political appointee at the Treasury Department may have tried to interfere with an audit of President Trump or Vice President Pence, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a sign that lawmakers are moving to investigate the complaint lodged by a senior staffer at the Internal Revenue Service. Staff members for Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, met with the IRS whistleblower earlier this month, those people said. Follow-up interviews are expected to further explore the whistleblower's allegations.... Trump administration officials have previously played down the complaint's significance and suggested that it is politically motivated.... The IRS whistleblower complaint was first disclosed in an August court filing by Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.... Neal made the disclosure in court filings as part of his battle with the Trump administration over the president's tax returns, which the Treasury Department has refused to furnish. At the time, Neal said the whistleblower complaint raises 'serious and urgent concerns' about the integrity of the IRS audit process." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course it could not be possible that (1) the whistleblower's complaint is accurate and (2) Trump directed a political appointee to mess with his audit. ~~~

~~~ Harper Neidig of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary stay of an appeals court ruling that granted House Democrats' access to President Trump's financial records.... The subpoena from the House Oversight Committee will be unenforceable while the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case. Developing." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Monday temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that required President Trump to turn over financial records to a House committee. The brief order gave no reasons and served to maintain the status quo while the justices decided how to proceed. In a letter to the court earlier on Monday, lawyers for the committee said they did not oppose a brief interim stay. In entering one, the chief justice ordered the committee's lawyers to file papers on whether to grant a longer stay by Thursday. If the justices grant a longer stay, they will next consider whether to hear Mr. Trump's appeal. The case, concerning a subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is one of two cases before the Supreme Court in which Mr. Trump is seeking to halt disclosures of his financial records by his accounting firm, Mazars USA. The other case concerns a subpoena from Manhattan prosecutors to the firm seeking eight years of his personal and business tax returns."

Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters: "The United States has the world's highest rate of children in detention, including more than 100,000 in immigration-related custody that violates international law, the author of a United Nations study said on Monday.... Children should only be detained as a measure of last resort and for the shortest time possible, according to the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty." ~~~

~~~ Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "Though President Trump has made cracking down on immigration a centerpiece of his first term, his administration lags far behind President Barack Obama's pace of deportations. Obama -- who immigrant advocates at one point called the 'deporter in chief' -- removed 409,849 people in 2012 alone. Trump, who has vowed to deport 'millions' of immigrants, has yet to surpass 260,000 deportations in a single year. And while Obama deported 1.18 million people during his first three years in office, Trump has deported fewer than 800,000. It is unclear why deportations have been happening relatively slowly." ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers & Jason LeParle of the New York Times look into Stephen Miller's "intellectual ties to the world of white nationalism.... Katie McHugh -- the former Breitbart editor who leaked the messages, some 900 emails sent from March 2015 to June 2016 -- said in an interview last week that 'it's easy to draw a clear line from the white supremacist websites where he is getting his ideas to current immigration policy.'"

More below the graphic.

If Sondland shows up Wednesday & testifies truthfully, what are the odds that Trump will tweet-fire him mid-hearing?

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday said he will 'strongly consider' giving written or in-person testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, despite his repeated refusal to cooperate with the investigation thus far. Trump responded to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) suggestion on 'Face the Nation' a day earlier in which she said the president could 'come right before the committee and talk... or he could do it in writing.'" Mrs. McC: Yeah, Donnie, just as you repeatedly said you could hardly wait to testify to Bob Mueller. I'm going to spend the day strongly considering swimming from Kennebunkport to Brittany, France.

Sad! Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "The impeachment inquiry has created the first rift between ... Donald Trump and the Cabinet member who has been his closest ally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to four current and former senior administration officials. Trump has fumed for weeks that Pompeo is responsible for hiring State Department officials whose congressional testimony threatens to bring down his presidency, the officials said. The president confronted Pompeo about the officials -- and what he believed was a lackluster effort by the secretary of state to block their testimony -- during lunch at the White House on Oct. 29, those familiar with the matter said.... Trump particularly blames Pompeo for tapping Ambassador Bill Taylor in June to be the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, the current and former senior administration officials said.... The impeachment inquiry has put Pompeo in what one senior administration official described as an untenable position: trying to manage a bureaucracy of 75,000 people that has soured on his leadership and also please a boss with outsized expectations of loyalty." Thanks to Patrick for the link. See his commentary in today's thread.

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Two days after a whistleblower secretly filed a complaint about ... Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine in August, two top congressional staffers arrived in Kyiv on a routine business trip that ended up setting off alarm bells on Capitol Hill. The aides ... had been dispatched to make an on-the-ground assessment of the cash Congress has been pumping into former Soviet states -- including Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine -- to aid their defenses against Russian aggression. But ... the staffers were shocked to learn from U.S. embassy officials that there was no new money coming into Ukraine.... What's more, the two Appropriations staffers, Becky Leggieri and Hayden Milberg, couldn't even get an explanation for the hold-up, because embassy officials didn't know the reason.... That set off a scramble in Washington to find out what happened to the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that had been specifically earmarked by Congress for Ukraine.... The hunt to find out why the money wasn't moving played out on Capitol Hill and across several federal agencies at the same time the whistleblower complaint was quietly winding its way through separate government channels in August and early September, and it illustrates the difficulty anyone connected to the administration would have in hiding a plot to withhold federal funds."

~~~~~~~~~~

This Is the Week That Is. Sam Brodey of the Daily Beast: "The upcoming week on Capitol Hill will be defining for the impeachment inquiry. Eight witnesses will testify publicly over three days in what will be the second, and perhaps final, week of public impeachment hearings." Set to testify this week are Gordon Sondland, Alexander Vindman, Kurt Volker, Jennifer Williams, Fiona Hill, Laura Cooper & David Hale. ~~~

~~~ Deirdre Walsh of NPR reports the schedule of witness testimony, which begins Tuesday at 9 am ET with Col. Alexander Vindman & ends Thursday with testimony from Fiona Hill, scheduled to begin at 9 am ET.

Emma Newburger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump on Sunday attacked Jennifer Williams, a special advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, a day after the House Intelligence Committee released testimony in which she called the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky 'unusual and inappropriate.' 'Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released statement from Ukraine,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'Then she should meet with the other Never Trumpers, who I don't know & mostly never even heard of, & work out a better presidential attack!' A spokesperson for the vice president's office, responding to a request for comment on Trump's remarks, simply said 'Jennifer is a State Department employee.' While Williams is a State Department employee, she has been detailed to Pence's national security council staff to work on issues related to Europe and Russia." ~~~

~~~ Chandelis Duster, et al., of CNN point out that Jennifer Williams is scheduled to testify in public this week, and they note that "Trump resurfaced an unfounded accusation he has raised against other officials who have testified in the probe, characterizing Williams as a Never Trumper and associating her with other 'Never Trumpers.'" As for veep wimpy, "Pence's office on Sunday declined to defend Williams after Trump's Twitter attack.... Staffers in the vice president's office have made a concerted effort to distance Pence from Williams, even before she sat down to testify. But sources explained to CNN that his office is selective about which career officials get detailed to their staff. His senior staff typically interviews them beforehand. Keith Kellogg, the vice president's national security adviser, was responsible for selecting Williams." Mrs. McC: Taken together, this is attempted witness intimidation.

Mimi Rocah & Jennifer Rodgers in a USA Today op-ed: Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was testifying before a House panel that "she later learned the reason for her recall was a smear campaign orchestrated by Rudy Giuliani and others because she was standing in the way of their corrupt agenda in Ukraine. As she spoke..., Donald Trump was on Twitter doing exactly the same thing to Yovanovitch that his cohorts had done: attempting to smear and intimidate her.... This was not his first foray into public witness tampering. It is, in fact, one of his go-to moves[.]... The right to express one's opinion does not extend to criminal speech, such as verbal efforts to intimidate or tamper with witnesses. And the language, the pattern, the timing, and the contrast with tweets about other potential witnesses whom Trump considers loyal makes clear what he intends by these smear attacks.... The real issue for these impeachment proceedings is whether Trump appears to be using his platform and the power of the presidency to intimidate and harass witnesses who are providing highly damaging testimony against him. The answer to that is clearly yes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oh, For Those Quiet Rooms of Yore. Allan Smith of NBC News: "Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said Sunday that the administration officials who provided the whistleblower with information on ... Donald Trump's conduct toward Ukraine 'exposed things that didn't need to be exposed.... This would have been far better off if we would have just taken care of this behind the scenes,' he said.... 'If the whistleblower's goal is to improve our relationship with Ukraine, he utterly -- or she -- utterly failed,' Johnson said...." Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: So here's a U.S. senator going on national teevee & advocating for cover-ups of presidential crime sprees. In fairness, Johnson is the stupidest senator. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mike Allen of Axios: "House Republicans are asking Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) for 'firsthand information' about Ukraine-related meetings, briefings and conversations with President Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland.... A letter from Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who's leading the GOP case, and Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, asked Johnson for his recollections after attending the inauguration of Ukraine's president in May. The senator said yesterday on 'Meet the Press' that he had received the letter, and said he'd be working over the weekend on preparing his 'telling of events.' 'I will lay out what I know,' Johnson said. 'They're not going to call me, because certainly Adam Schiff wouldn't want to be called by the Senate. There's going to be a separation there.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Johnson has already "laid out what he knows" a few times (here, for instance), and it's been, inadvertently, pretty devastating to Trump. But apparently Jordan & Nunes are themselves dumb enough not to realize that the Supidest Man in the Senate could put his foot in it again.

The "But His Gun Jammed"; Defense. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "House Republicans ... asserted on Sunday that President Trump had done nothing wrong because his plans for Ukraine to investigate his political rivals never came to fruition -- even as the president complicated their efforts by attacking another witness.... -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Mr. Trump to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, while the president's allies shifted their emphasis away from the defense they offered last week, when they stressed that witnesses had only secondhand information against him. That argument may not work much longer, because lawmakers are about to hear from crucial witnesses who had direct contact with the president including Gordon D. Sondland.... 'The Ukrainians did nothing to -- as far as investigations goes -- to get the aid released,' Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of Mr. Trump's chief defenders, said on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'So there was never this quid pro quo that the Democrats all promise existed.'"

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is equivalent to witnesses testifying that Trump aimed a gun at a person walking down Fifth Avenue, cocked & pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. There is a sort of "logical" argument here: the penalty for attempted murder usually isn't as great as the penalty for murder. So Trump -- because his plot failed -- should not get the equivalent of the death penalty: removal from office. A serious flaw in that argument: Trump's intended result was to smear Joe Biden. And now nearly every adult in the U.S. knows that Biden's son took a high-paying position at a dodgy Ukrainian gas company just as Joe Biden made certain Ukraine's top prosecutor was fired. So, yeah, Trump shot the guy. On Fifth Avenue. In front of a huge crowd. And he kept on shooting.

Chris Wallace Did Not Drink the Kool-Aid. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace repeatedly confronted House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Sunday over the top Republican's characterization of last week's impeachment testimony, accusing the congressman of 'very badly' misrepresenting the witnesses' positions.... Scalise ... asserted [that] ... senior State Department official George Kent, top Ukraine envoy Bill Taylor, and former U.S. Amb. to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch essentially said Trump did nothing wrong. 'All three of them were asked, did you see any impeachable offenses' he declared. 'Did you see any bribery? Any of that? Not one of those things were mentioned. Not one person said they saw a crime committed.' 'With all due respect -- with all due respect, that very badly mischaracterizes what they said,' Wallace pushed back. '... William Taylor, for instance, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, was asked whether or not these were impeachable offenses. He said I'm there as a fact witness. I'm not there to pass judgment, but he made it clear what he thought about what the president was doing.' Wallace would then go on to play a clip of Taylor's testimony, further noting that Taylor said that withholding aid to Ukraine to help Trump's presidential campaign was 'crazy.' This wasn't the only time that Wallace left Scalise stumbling...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So apparently a new line of "defense" is that fact witnesses have properly left it to Congress to determine what constitutes impeachable offenses. (Of course, had the witnesses called for Trump's impeachment, Republicans would have screamed about their deep-state, anti-Trump bias.) When your best defense is a word-twisting game, you got nuthin'.

BUT One Republican Was Not Amused. Devan Cole of CNN: Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) "said Sunday [on CNN's 'State of the Nation'] that information provided about Trump during a closed-door deposition of a former National Security Council official [Tim Morrison] 'is alarming' and 'not OK.'" Turner said Trump's tweet dissing Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was not impeachable, but it was "unfortunate." "'I think along with most people, I find the President's tweets, generally, unfortunate,' Turner said."

** Gordon Sondland Is Really Forgetful. Erin Banco & Lachlan Markey of the Daily Beast: Gordon "Sondland has previously tried to claim he didn't know much about a quid pro quo with Ukraine -- until he suddenly told Congress he now recalls the deal. But the details of Sondland's behavior [at a White House meeting with Ukrainian officials on July 10] underscore the intensity in which the EU Ambassador advocated for the investigations into Biden and Burisma." When Sondland stepped into a meeting John Bolton was holding with the Ukraines, "'That's when things really went off the rails,' one person in the room said.... Bolton immediately cut the get-together short.... But Sondland guided the Ukrainians into the White House's Ward Room.... Sondland continued to not just relay, but demanded ferociously, that the Ukrainians open the Biden investigations, saying it was the only chance for Washington and Kyiv to develop any further meaningful relationship, two individuals with knowledge of Sondland's overtures said. Sondland raised his voice several times.... One individual ... [said] ... 'there was lots of yelling.' Another individual called the meeting 'erratic.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Both Fiona Hill & Tim Morrison have testified that Sondland told them he was acting at Trump's direction. And he knocked himself out, during a number of meetings & likely in texts & phone conversations & other meetings not yet revealed, to get the Ukrainians to cooperate with Trump's demand that President Zelensky announce an "investigation" into the Bidens. Yet this all, uh, slipped his mind during his initial deposition. His testimony this Wednesday, unless he just begins & ends it quickly by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, should be very interesting. I'm sure we could all help him write his confession, the one where he breaks down in the witness chair, attests to his own corruption, fingers Trump as a lawless mob boss who should be removed from office forthwith, & throws Rudy & sundry co-conspirators under the bus. When Gym Jordan asks a question aimed at defending Trump, Sondland says, "Mr. Jordan, Trump is as bad as you were when you let that doctor get away with molesting boys you were supposed to protect." Alas, none of that will happen. And now this: ~~~

~~~ Uh-Oh. Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Gordon Sondland ... briefed senior administration officials on efforts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of President Trump's July 25 call with the Ukrainian leader, the Wall Street Journal reports.... Emails allegedly sent by Sondland that were obtained by the WSJ indicate that several other officials can confirm what some witnesses have testified to already about a Trump administration request to investigate Burisma, a gas company with ties to Biden's son. Sondland ... previously testified that he told a top Ukraine official that military aid to the country wouldn't be released until officials agreed to investigate Burisma.... Per the WSJ, Sondland kept officials including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Energy Secretary Rick Perry informed via email of developments in the push to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into the Bidens." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, Rick. What about that time way last month when you said, "Not once, as God is my witness, not once was a Biden name -- not the former vice president, not his son -- ever mentioned"? And you said that on the Christian Broadcasting Network, for Pete's sake. Isn't lying under oath, as Gordy did, just like taking the Lord's name in vain on CBN? If God doesn't strike you dead, are you going to whip off your glasses and pretend you were too dumb to realize when you read Gordy's e-mails that B-I-D-E-N spells "Biden"? Or maybe you thought it was Gordy who couldn't spell, and that "Biden" meant "by then."

Kendall Karson of ABC News: "An overwhelming 70% of Americans think ... Donald Trump's request to a foreign leader to investigate his political rival, which sits a the heart of the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry, was wrong, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds. A slim majority of Americans, 51%, believe Trump's actions were both wrong and he should be impeached and removed from office. But only 21% of Americans say they are following the hearings very closely."

Jonathan Chait: "The saga of President Trump's reprisals against Amazon has lurked on th margin of the news, largely overshadowed by the Ukraine scandal. Late Thursday night, Amazon revealed it had filed a protest in federal court of a Pentagon decision to deny it a $10 billion cloud-computing contract.... The story here is almost certainly a massive scandal, probably more significant than the Ukraine scandal that spurred impeachment proceedings. Trump improperly used government policy to punish the owner of an independent newspaper as retribution for critical coverage. It resembles the Ukraine scandal because it is a flagrant abuse of power, and has been hiding in plain sight for months (as the Ukraine scandal did, until a whistle-blower report leaked in September). The scale of the abuse, though, is far more serious, because it is a concrete manifestation of Trump's authoritarian ambitions.... By 2016 Trump had gone from implicitly threatening to harm Amazon's interests to threatening this explicitly.... As president, Trump has continued denouncing the Post and its owner, and publicly floating policies to exact his revenge." The GOP "defense" of Trump in the Ukraine scandal is that he failed to get the result he wanted, but in the Amazon case, "Trump set out to abuse his powers of office to intimidate the media, and succeeded." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Alex Pareene, in the New Republic, mourns the "death of the rude press." Mrs. McC: Pareene himself is rude, and has been rude as long as I've been reading his stuff, almost always in a good way.

Max Boot, in the Washington Post: "Enter Attorney General William P. Barr to put a pseudo-intellectual gloss on Trump's authoritarian [view that he has an 'absolute right' to do anything he wants]. In a Friday night speech to the Federalist Society, Barr gave a chilling defense of virtually unlimited executive authority.... To hear Barr tell it, Trump is somehow denied power by the nefarious 'Resistance.' Barr decried Trump critics who do not view 'themselves as the 'loyal opposition,"' but rather 'see themselves as engaged in a war to cripple, by any means necessary, a duly elected government.' Earth to Barr: Trump does not treat his critics as 'the loyal opposition.' He calls them 'human scum,' 'traitors' and 'the enemy of the people,' using the language of dictators. And it is Trump and his toadies -- not his opponents -- who are 'willing to use any means necessary to gain momentary advantage.'... The real threat to 'our Constitutional structure' emanates not from administration critics who struggle to uphold the rule of law but from a lawless president who is aided and abetted in his reckless actions by unscrupulous and unprincipled partisans -- including the attorney general of the United States."

Never Mind. Josh Dawsey & Laura McGinley of the Washington Post: "Everything seemed ready to go: President Trump's ban on most flavored e-cigarettes had been cleared by federal regulators. Officials were poised to announce they would order candy, fruit and mint flavors off the market within 30 days -- a step the president had promised almost two months earlier to quell a youth vaping epidemic that had ensnared 5 million teenagers. One last thing was needed: Trump's sign-off. But on Nov. 4, the night before a planned morning news conference, the president balked. Briefed on a flight to a Lexington, Ky., campaign rally, he refused to sign the one-page 'decision memo,' saying he didn't want to move forward with a ban he had once backed, primarily at his wife's and daughter's urging, because he feared it would lead to job losses, said a Trump adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... As he had done so many times before, Trump reversed course -- this time on a plan to address a major public health problem because of worries that apoplectic vape shop owners and their customers might hurt his reelection prospects, said White House and campaign officials."

Matt Stieb of New York: "On Saturday afternoon, Trump's tendency to downplay his personal health reached the most concerning moment of his presidency, when he went to Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, for a surprise medical exam.... According to CNN, hospital staff were not aware that Trump was swinging through: 'Typically, Walter Reed's medical staff would get a general notice about a "VIP" visit to the medical center ahead of a presidential visit, notifying them of certain closures at the facility. That did not happen this time, indicating the visit was a non-routine visit and scheduled last minute.'... Former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow ... [tweeted], 'This does not add up; the White House Medical Unit has very comprehensive facilities at the White House complex that could easily accommodate most of what is needed in an annual physical....'... If the president's Sunday behavior was any indication, all is well: Trump spent the day online, tweeting over 40 times about 'sleepy' and 'very slow' Joe Biden, 'corrupt' Adam Schiff, and the 'nasty & obnoxious Chris Wallace.'" ~~~

~~~ Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post calls for a second opinion: "The only thing of which we can be fairly certain about President Trump's mysterious Saturday-afternoon trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is this: The White House is not telling the truth when it claims the president was there 'to begin portions of his routine annual physical exam.' We know this because -- well, because those people lie about pretty much everything.... Medical privacy is something that should not be granted the most powerful person in the world.... As Trump embarks on his effort to convince us that he deserves another four years in office, Americans should demand something more than what they are getting, starting with a briefing from the physicians who treated him at Walter Reed." ~~~

~~~ Do Not Question Our Lies. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday argued it was 'dangerous for the country' for anyone to challenge the veracity of her claims. Grisham made her argument after ... Donald Trump went to Walter Reed Hospital for an unannounced doctor's visit, resulting in a great deal of speculation.... 'Further speculation beyond the extensive & honest info I put out is wholly irresponsible & dangerous for the country,' Grisham argued." Brigham reports some of the speculative tweets from a bunch of horrible, suspicious traitors.

Presidential Race

Maybe Bloomberg Really Is Running. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Ahead of a potential Democratic presidential run, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York reversed his longstanding support of the aggressive 'stop-and-frisk' policing strategy that he pursued for a decade and that led to the disproportionate stopping of black and Latino people across the city. 'I was wrong,' Mr. Bloomberg declared. 'And I am sorry.' The speech was Mr. Bloomberg's first since he re-emerged as a possible presidential candidate. The topic and the location, the Christian Cultural Center, a black megachurch in Brooklyn, was a nod to the fact that African-American voters are a crucial Democratic constituency and that Mr. Bloomberg's policing record is seen as one of his biggest vulnerabilities, should he decide to run. Until Sunday, Mr. Bloomberg had steadfastly ... defended stop-and-frisk, which gave New York police officers sweeping authority to stop and search anyone they suspected of a crime. Mr. Bloomberg stood behind the program even after a federal judge ruled in 2013 that it violated the constitutional rights of minorities and despite the fact that crime continued to drop even after the program was phased out in recent years." Politico has the story here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Charles Blow of the New York Times is underwhelmed: "It feels like the very definition of pandering. It is impossible for me to take seriously Bloomberg's claim that he didn't understand the impact that stop-and-frisk was having on the black and brown communities when he was in office.... Bloomberg's cynicism here is staggering. But, this is something that black voters must contend with: politicians who do harm through policy to black communities, then come forward with admissions and contrition when they need black people's votes.... As he was about to enter the race..., Joe Biden finally offered a full apology for the disastrous 1994 crime bill that wreaked havoc on the black community, after having defended the bill for years." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Politicians like Biden & Bloomberg have histories of promoting or supporting policies that are known to hurt minorities & women, then -- sometimes decades later -- "apologizing," while saying their motives back then were pure. We all make well-intentioned mistakes, so it's reasonable to believe once or twice that politicians with long records didn't understand the consequences of their actions in real time, but it gets as old as they are when the excuses keep coming and the effects of their mistakes have been in evidence for a long time.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hong Kong. Lily Kuo of the Guardian: "Hong Kong police have fought running battles with protesters trying to break through a security cordon around a university in the city, firing teargas at anyone trying to leave. Polytechnic University, a sprawling campus that has been occupied by demonstrators since last week, has become the scene of the most prolonged and tense confrontation between police and protesters in more than five months of political unrest. Hundreds were still trapped inside on Monday, after overnight clashes during which protesters launched petrol bombs and shot arrows at police, who threatened to use live rounds."

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "... when Prince Andrew set out to explain his friendship with the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a BBC interview broadcast Saturday night, it backfired predictably. Viewers were left shaking their heads at the wisdom of consenting to a polite-but-relentless grilling by the journalist Emily Maitlis in the first place. Many said they found his statements alternately defensive, unpersuasive or just plain strange. Prince Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, repeatedly denied accusations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that he had sex with her when she was 17 years old and had been offered to him by Mr. Epstein. Under insistent questioning by Ms. Maitlis, the duke insisted he had 'no recollection' of meeting Ms. Giuffre." He called Epstein's pedophelia "unbecoming." "The reaction in the British media and on social media was uniformly withering."

News Ledes

CNN: "A group of family and friends were gathered in a backyard Sunday to watch a football game when a gunman walked up and began shooting, killing four young men and wounding six others, police in Fresno, California, said. About 35 to 40 people were at the house, including several children, when the suspect -- who remains on the loose -- began shooting into the crowd, according to police."

Breaking Bad. Guardian: "Two chemistry professors in Arkansas are accused of making methamphetamine in a lab at their school. According to a statement from Clark County sheriff Jason Watson, Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland, of Henderson State University, were arrested and charged with manufacturing meth and use of drug paraphernalia."