The Commentariat -- November 14, 2019
Morning/Afternoon Update:
Russia, China, Israel, or any other country, if you are listening and have the july 26th Trump/Sonderland phone call I'm sure that our press will reward you mightily if you release it. -- RAS, in today's Comments
Uh, turns out that may not be necessary. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ Trump, Sondland Are So Screwed. Desmond Butler, et al., of the AP: "A second U.S. Embassy staffer in Kyiv overheard a cellphone call between ... Donald Trump and his ambassador to the European Union discussing a need for Ukrainian officials to pursue 'investigations,' The Associated Press has learned. The July 26 call between Trump and Gordon Sondland was first described during testimony Wednesday by William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Taylor said one of his staffers overhead the call while Sondland was in a Kyiv restaurant the day after Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that triggered the House impeachment inquiry. The second diplomatic staffer also at the table was Suriya Jayanti, a foreign service officer based in Kyiv. A person briefed on what Jayanti overheard spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.... The staffer Taylor testified about is David Holmes, the political counselor at the embassy in Kyiv, according to an official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Holmes is scheduled to testify Friday before House investigators in a closed session.... Later that day, a Twitter account that appears to belong to Ukraine's then-Defense Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk posted a photo of himself at dinner with Sondland, Taylor and Ambassador Kurt Volker.' ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: How could it be a crime, much less impeachable, if Trump shouted his corrupt intent to a guy using an unsecured cell in a crowded Kiev restaurant while dining with a foreign minister who probably oversees counterintelligence? Trump is innocent by reason of stupidity. ~~~
~~~ Trump, Sondland Can Latch onto This. Matthias Williams of Reuters: "Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Interfax Ukraine reported.... 'Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,' Prystaiko said about Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.... 'I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance,' Prystaiko was quoted as saying by Interfax. 'Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events.'" ~~~
~~~ Rudy Implies He Has the Goods on Trump. Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, has said he is confident the president will remain loyal to him as an impeachment inquiry unfolds in which the former New York mayor has become a central figure. But Giuliani joked that he had good 'insurance' in case Trump did turn on him, amid speculation Republicans will seek to frame him as a rogue actor. In a telephone interview with the Guardian, in response to a question about whether he was nervous that Trump might 'throw him under a bus' in the impeachment crisis, Giuliani said, with a slight laugh: 'I'm not, but I do have very, very good insurance, so if he does, all my hospital bills will be paid.' Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello, who was also on the call, then interjected: 'He's joking.'" ~~~
~~~ Pelosi Has the Goods on Trump. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened the focus of Democrats' impeachment case against President Trump on Thursday, accusing the president of committing bribery when he withheld vital military assistance from Ukraine at the same time he was seeking its commitment to publicly investigate his political rivals. The speaker's explicit allegation of bribery, a misdeed identified in the Constitution as an impeachable offense, was significant. Even as Ms. Pelosi said that no final decision had been made on whether to impeach Mr. Trump, it suggested that Democrats are increasingly working to put a name to the president's alleged wrongdoing, and moving toward a more specific set of charges that could be codified in articles of impeachment in the coming weeks. 'The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry, and that the president abused his power and violated his oath by threatening to withhold military aid and a White House meeting in exchange for an investigation into his political rival -- a clear attempt by the president to give himself an advantage in the 2020 election,' Ms. Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the Capitol."
Soros Runs the State Department! Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Following the first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday, a Trump-supporting husband-wife lawyer duo who are now fully entangled in the Ukraine scandal appeared on Fox Business host Lou Dobbs' show and pushed an outlandish conspiracy theory involving billionaire Democratic financier George Soros, the State Department, the FBI, and Ukraine. During Wednesday night's broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight, attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing -- who reportedly ran an off-the-books operation with ... Rudy Giuliani to dig up Ukrainian dirt on former vice president Joe Biden -- immediately took issue with senior State Department official George Kent, who testified earlier in the day.... [After Dobbs teed up the Soros conspiracy theme, diGenova claimed,] '... there's no doubt that George Soros controls a very large part of the career foreign service of the United States State Department.... He also controls the activities of FBI agents overseas who work for [non-governmental organizations]. That was very evident in Ukraine. And Kent was part of that. He was a very big protector of Soros.' The former U.S. attorney ... went on claim that Soros 'had a daily opportunity to tell the State Department' what to do in Ukraine and 'ran it. He corrupted FBI officials, he corrupted foreign service officers,' diGenova concluded. 'And the bottom line is this, George Soros wants to run Ukraine and he's doing everything he can to use every lever of the United States government to make that happen, for business interests, not for good government business.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Fox should get Dobbs, diGenova & Toensing off the air. Pronto. The "international Jewish cabal" crap really is a bridge too far.
This Is Horrible. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "The Senate voted Thursday to make Steven Menashi a lifetime federal judge, despite his inflammatory writings about women's rights and diversity, his refusal to answer senators' questions and his role in devising an illegal Education Department effort to deny debt relief to students cheated by for-profit colleges. Every Democrat present voted against confirming Menashi, who is ... Donald Trump's choice for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Every Republican present but one, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), voted to confirm him.... Nearly every national civil and women's rights group opposed him, including the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the Human Rights Campaign, Muslim Advocates and Planned Parenthood. Democrats questioned his qualifications ― he has never tried a case, made oral arguments in court or conducted a deposition ― as well as his temperament."
Kentucky. Daniel Desrochers of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin conceded the race for governor Thursday, ending more than a week of speculation over whether he would contest the results of the Nov. 5 election, which he narrowly lost to Democrat Andy Beshear. Bevin's announcement came after a statewide recanvass showed minimal changes in election totals. Beshear won by less than 0.5 percentage points.... Beshear will take office Dec. 10."
Italy. Bad Timing. Gianluca Mezzofiore of CNN: "Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice's Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time in its history on Tuesday night -- just after it rejected measures to combat climate change. The historic Italian city has been brought to its knees this week by the worst flooding there in more than 50 years.... The council chamber in Ferro Fini Palace started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget, Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said in a long Facebook post. 'Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League, Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change,' Zanoni, who is deputy chairman of the environment committee, said in the post, which also has photographs of the room under water."
Adam Raymond of New York: Arizona's Paul Gosar [R-Az.] wrote a series of 23 tweets Wednesday, which "at first glance..., appeared to be standard GOP talking points against impeachment and Wednesday's public hearings in the House. But upon closer inspection, some noticed that the first letter of each tweeted spelled 'Epstein didn't kill himself.'... And he wasn't done." In his final tweet, which asserted that all the previous tweets were about the impeachment hearings, the first letter of each line spelled out "Area 51." "Gosar is the first member of Congress to so publicly embrace the 'Epstein didn't kill himself' meme, which has flourished in recent weeks.... Gosar's embrace of the Epstein conspiracy isn't much of a surprise. This is a guy who once said the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was a false-flag operation orchestrated by leftists; who embraced birtherism; and whose own siblings came together last year to make an ad begging voters not to reelect him. He blamed that on Barack Obama." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gosar's apparent objective is to prove that Donald Trump is not the looniest elected official in the land. So there's a new & original anti-impeachment arguments that's a little worse than Kellyanne Conway's (I wrote a note about Conway below). ~~~
~~~ Contributor MAG reminds us that Gosar has had his well-deserved star turn on SNL. (And thanks for the memories, Elijah Cummings):
Matt Stevens & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts officially entered the presidential race on Thursday, adding an 18th candidate and an 11th-hour twist to a turbulent Democratic primary with less than three months to go before the Iowa caucuses. Mr. Patrick's announcement, which he had signaled this week, came in the form of a video he released early Thursday morning. In it, he said he was running for people who 'feel left out' and want a future 'not built by somebody better than you, not built for you, but built with you.'" A CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's a good pitch, Deval! You shoulda thought of it about six months ago.
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: Michael Bloomberg has a history of making crude sexual remarks & "jokes" about women. "... the comments revealed a cruder side of Mr. Bloomberg, now 77 and a potential presidential candidate, who made his billions in the towel-snapping culture of Wall Street decades before #MeToo became a household term. Lawsuits portrayed the early days of his company as a frat house, with employees bragging about sexual exploits. Even after entering politics, Mr. Bloomberg's cavalier attitude caused trouble: In 2012, the mayor, while admiring a woman at a party, urged two guests to 'look at the ass on her.' On Wednesday, after inquiries from The Times, Mr. Bloomberg's team issued a statement addressing his history of insensitive comments. 'Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong,' said a spokesman...." Mrs. McCrabbie: What this country needs to heal the damage caused by a 73-year old supposed billionaire sexist & racist is a 77-year-old real billionaire sexist & racist.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dana Farrington of NPR has a good review of all the key people, documents, issues in the impeachment enquiry. --s
Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The House of Representatives opened historic impeachment hearings on Wednesday and heard a senior American diplomat reveal startling new testimony that drew President Trump closer to the center of the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. In a nationally televised hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee room across from the Capitol, William B. Taylor Jr., ... testified to the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the inquiry, that he was told in July that Mr. Trump cared more about 'investigations of Biden' than he did about Ukraine.... Showing no sign of doubts, Mr. Trump's Republican defenders raged against an impeachment process they called unfair and illegitimate, dismissing Mr. Taylor and [Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George] Kent -- who between them have 70 years of experience as public servants under presidents of both parties -- as part of a 'politicized bureaucracy' who were offering nothing more than hearsay and supposition, rather than evidence of impeachable conduct." ~~~
Politico runs with a banner headline today: "Trump Exposed: A Brutal Day for the President." Unfortunately, the headline tops a fairly silly column by Politico's superficial founder John Harris. Still, thanks to the headline writer. ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump called a top ally [Gordon Sondland] in July for an update on efforts to get the Ukrainian government to launch investigations of his Democratic adversaries..., [William Taylor] revealed Wednesday.... When pressed by Schiff about whether he took Trump's remarks on the call with Sondland to mean that Trump cares more about a Biden investigation that he does about Ukraine, Taylor responded: 'Yes, sir.'... The existence of the call delivered Democrats an explosive new detail as they seek to show Trump's effort to exploit a U.S. ally at war with Russia, all in order to boost his 2020 reelection campaign.... Democrats' case began with veteran State Department hands William Taylor and George Kent, who described efforts by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to 'gin up' the politically motivated investigations favored by Trump by leaning on high-level Ukrainians. Kent said Giuliani has been aided in this effort by 'some of those same corrupt former prosecutors' that State Department officials spent years trying to sideline. 'They were now peddling false information in order to exact revenge against those who had exposed their misconduct, including U.S. diplomats, Ukrainian anti-corruption officials, and reform-minded civil society groups in Ukraine,' Kent said. 'In mid-August, it became clear to me that Giuliani's efforts to gin up politically motivated investigations were now infecting U.S. engagement with Ukraine.'... Taylor, Trump's current ambassador to Ukraine, said that the irregular channel included Giuliani, as well as Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and former Trump Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Kent said Joe Biden was acting in accordance with official US policy in his dealings with Ukraine. Asked if there is any factual basis for allegations of wrongdoing, he said, 'None whatsoever.' Trump has repeatedly claimed that Biden's actions were corrupt. -- Daniel Dale of CNN, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ Topping the Washington Post's print edition is a banner headline, "Testimony Puts Trump Closer to Scandal." Elise Viebeck: Taylor's "startling testimony revealed a new example of Trump's personal involvement in the Ukraine pressure campaign that touched off the ongoing impeachment inquiry. The probe has produced volumes of information about the actions of top Trump advisers to push Ukraine to pursue the investigations as U.S. security assistance was held up. But the exact role of the president himself has remained an open question. Until now, Trump has figured most prominently in two key moments: in a May 23 Oval Office meeting, in which he told U.S. officials ... [who] had just returned from [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky's inauguration ... to confer with his personal attorney Rudolph W. Guiliani on Ukraine policy, and in a July 25 phone call when he asked ... Zelensky to look into investigations of Democrats.... Taylor's account of the call undercuts Trump's recent claims that he doesn't know [Gordon] Sondland.... The aide who overheard Sondland's call with the president is embassy staffer David Holmes.... Holmes received an award from the State Department in 2014 for speaking up internally against the Obama administration's policy on Afghanistan, potentially complicating any Republican plans to paint him as a liberal partisan."
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday denied knowledge of a phone call that he allegedly had with U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in July about investigations he sought from Ukraine. 'First time I heard it,' Trump told reporters in the East Room during a press conference with the Turkish president when asked about the call, which was described by a U.S. diplomat in public testimony earlier Wednesday. Trump also dismissed the details about the alleged call as 'secondhand information' and repeated that it was the first he had heard of it.... Trump labeled the House impeachment inquiry a 'sham' that 'shouldn't be allowed' when asked for his reaction to the hearing, which had just concluded, earlier during the press conference. 'You're talking about the witch hunt,' Trump said, adding that he didn't watch the proceedings. 'I hear it's a joke,"' Trump continued, saying he was told the witnesses testifying Wednesday relied on 'thirdhand information.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Say what? Trump has "no knowledge" of a phone call he was on? Like he had no knowledge of Michael Cohen's payoff to Stormy Daniels. Presuming that Holmes will confirm Taylor's testimony in his own testimony to the Intel Committee Friday (see WashPo report @12:15 pm. Wednesday below), and that Gordon Sondland suddenly "remembers" his conversations with Trump & Holmes. (Sondland's lawyer told the WashPo "Sondland will address any issues that arise from this in his testimony next week") Trump's "no knowledge" looks pretty incriminating. As to Trump's dismissal of Wednesday's testimony as second- or third-hand information, the reason the Intel Committee isn't interrogating first-hand witnesses is of course that Trump himself ordered them not to testify. ~~~
~~~ Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: Gordon Sondland's "cellphone call to President Trump from a restaurant in the capital of Ukraine last summer was a stunning breach of security, exposing the conversation to surveillance by foreign intelligence services, including Russia's, former U.S. officials said.... 'The security ramifications are insane -- using an open cellphone to communicate with the president of the United States,' said Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior director of the White House Situation Room and a former chief of staff to the CIA director. 'In a country that is so wired with Russian intelligence, you can almost take it to the bank that the Russians were listening in on the call.'" Mrs. McC: But the e-mails!
~~~ The Guardian's main story on Wednesday's impeachment hearing, by Tom McCarthy, is here. "Devin Nunes, the senior Republican on the committee, declared the proceedings a 'low-rent Ukrainian sequel' to the Russia investigation and said 'it's nothing more than an impeachment process in search of a crime.'... 'I'm too busy to watch it,' Trump told reporters about the hearings. 'It's a witch-hunt, it's a hoax.'... Trump filled his Twitter account on Wednesday morning with video clips of his defenders attacking the proceedings. But in the hearing room, new testimony tied Trump directly to a plot to condition US military aid and a White House visit on a Ukrainian announcement of the Biden investigation.... The US demand that Ukraine pursue politically motivated investigations, and the withholding of aid for Ukraine, undermined US efforts to promote the rule of law and threatened to give Russia a free hand in the region, the diplomats testified." ~~~
~~~ ** Jonathan Chait: Rep. Devin "Nunes's opening statement reveals the best case [Republicans] have been able to muster for [Trump's] defense. As a matter of substance, it is almost nonexistent. Nunes's statement is a pastiche of hoary fulminations against the enemies of the president. It begins with an extensive recap of the 'Russia hoax,' which, even if Nunes's account was wholly accurate, is totally irrelevant to Trump's culpability in the Ukraine scandal. Nunes proceeds to denounce the process of witness depositions ('a closed-door audition process in a cultlike atmosphere in the basement of the Capitol' -- a ludicrous description of hearings in which both parties participated).... Nunes's ... opening statement ... is devoted to hurling wild charges at various opponents -- bureaucrats conspiring against Trump, Democrats eager to undermine him, alleged corruption by the Biden family. Nunes's substantive engagement was confined to a few anemic bullet points tacked onto the end of his testimony[.]... These defenses can be dispatched almost immediately[.]..." Read Chait's whole post. the "coup" part is particularly nutty ... and entirely untruthful. Mrs. McC: In Nunes' defense, he doesn't yell like this guy: ~~~
~~~ Jacketless Jim joined the Intel Committee late last week to serve as Trump's mad-dog defender. Here he excoriates Democrats for not forcing the whistleblower to testify before the committee so they could out hm as a deep-state, subversive liar. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) followed on Jordan's sililoquy. Watch to the end:
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Over the course of the first day of public testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, Republicans outlined a somewhat sketchy defense of President Trump. At its heart were two lines of argument: that Trump's interest in a strong Ukraine was well established (neutralizing, they hoped, the halt Trump placed on providing aid to that country) and that his efforts to get Ukraine to launch new investigations were rooted in his obvious opposition to corruption.... The problem with that argument in particular is that it's directly at odds with all other available evidence. It is not only not the case that Trump has not focused on corruption to any significant degree as president and it is not only the case that Trump has basically not focused on corruption in Ukraine at all, but it isn't even the case that Trump focused on corruption in Ukraine in the call he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Wolf Blitzer had a special impeachment report on CNN this morning, & Kellyanne Conway came on the defend Trump. Before reaming out Blizter for about 5 minutes (not an exaggeration) for asking her about her husband's opinion on impeachment (George is for it), Mrs. Conway came up with the greatest defense yet: Trump could not have been asking Zelensky to help him get dirt on a possible 2020 opponent because the dirt he was asking about occurred several years back. It can't be about 2020 if it happened before 2020. (But the e-mails!)
Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP with some takeaways from the hearing: "On Wednesday, Democrats seemed to start to frame Trump's actions as possible 'bribery' and 'extortion' rather than emphasizing a 'quid pro quo.'... The hearing also had elements of misdirection. Names familiar during special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, but not particularly relevant to the impeachment inquiry, received attention during questioning from some GOP lawmakers and the lawyer who was representing their interests.... Both [witnesses] referenced serving under presidents of both parties, aiming to preempt Republican attacks on them as political partisans. That didn't stop [Devin] Nunes from deriding them as being part of a smear campaign from within the civil service."
New York Times reporters liveblogged the hearing, with commentary. Much of that commentary is useful and/or funny. The Washington Post is live-reporting the hearing here. Politico's liveblog (which seems a little less "live," is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ From the WashPo live-report: @11:30 am ET Wednesday: "Taylor added new information to his opening statement Wednesday, describing a July phone call between Trump and U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland overheard by a member of Taylor's staff in which Trump purportedly asked about 'the investigations.'... Taylor said one of his aides told him that Sondland called Trump from a Kyiv restaurant on July 26.... The aide heard Trump through the phone asking about 'the investigations' and Sondland said the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.... The phone call purportedly took place after Sondland met with Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, and one day after Trump asked Zelensky to pursue investigations into his political opponents in a controversial phone call. Taylor said that after the call, the aide asked Sondland what Trump thought about Ukraine and Sondland said that Trump cares 'more about the investigations of Biden' that ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, 'was pressing for.' Taylor said he had not provided this account to impeachment investigators during his Oct. 22 deposition because his staff member only told him about the episode last Friday.? Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ @12:15 pm ET Wednesday: David Holmes, "the embassy staffer who Taylor said overheard Trump ask ... Gordon Sondland about the status of 'the investigations' via phone just a day after Trump spoke to the Ukrainian leader, will testify behind closed doors Friday in the House's impeachment probe, according to two people familiar with the investigation.... The speed with which Holmes has been added to the deposition list also indicates how quickly investigators want to move forward with their inquiry.... The panels also announced that they expect Mark Sandy, who is in charge of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget, to testify Saturday. No OMB staff member has yet shown up for testimony in the impeachment probe."; Mrs. McC: This is a big deal. The NYT currently (at 1:30 pm ET) has it as its headline on the hearing: "Testimony: 'Trump Cares More about the Investigations of Biden.'" ~~~
~~~ @12:35 m ET Wednesday: "Kent told the House panel Wednesday that there no basis for Trump's assertion that Biden, while vice president, had stopped an investigation into a Ukrainian gas company where his son served on the board of directors. 'None whatsoever,' Kent testified. The issue is a crucial one in the impeachment hearings because Trump and his allies have for months alleged without evidence that Biden was seeking to prevent an investigation that could have affected his son Hunter.'
Andrew Kaczynski, et al. of CNN: "President Donald Trump has had at least 10 encounters with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the indicted associates of Rudy Giuliani the President has adamantly claimed not to know.... Trump has stated publicly that he doesn't know Parnas and Fruman. The interactions, of which many new details are being reported here for the first time, include VIP photos at campaign events, attendance at high-dollar fundraisers and a retreat. They also include a pre-inauguration gala for high-dollar donors, an intimate dinner with the President and photos at the White House Hanukkah dinner with the President, Vice President and Giuliani. On seven of the occasions, Trump posed for photos with either Fruman or Parnas." --s
Marianne Levine of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested Wednesday that the Senate would not cut short an impeachment trial. 'The rules of impeachment are very clear when it comes to the trial,' the GOP leader said when asked whether he'd support dismissing the trial out of hand. 'My own view is that we should give people an opportunity to put the case on, the House will have presenters, the president will no doubt be represented by lawyers as well.'... McConnell and [Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer will at some point need to agree on the terms of an impeachment trial, including types of amendments or witnesses to bring up." ~~~
~~~ Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "Some Republican senators and their advisers are privately discussing whether to pressure GOP leaders to stage a lengthy impeachment trial beginning in January to scramble the Democratic presidential race -- potentially keeping six contenders in Washington until the eve of the Iowa caucuses or longer. Those conversations about the timing and framework for a trial remain fluid and closely held, according to more than a dozen participants in the discussions.... Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), a McConnell ally, said the Senate would try to distinguish itself during impeachment 'by doing this right,' with a trial that probably lasts five or six weeks. But he acknowledged the timing could have an effect on the campaign by giving a potential boost to presidential candidates who have no official role in the process." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Levine points out that "many GOP senators [are] facing difficult re-election races," suggesting this could cut both ways. However, I don't know that any sitting GOP senators have serious primary challengers (correct me if I'm wrong here), whereas Democratic presidential candidates who stay in the race have busy campaign schedules from here to eternity right into the last days of spring.
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Congress can seek eight years of President Trump's tax records, according to a federal appeals court order Wednesday that moves the separation-of-powers conflict one step closer to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit let stand an earlier ruling against the president that affirmed Congress's investigative authority on a day when the House was holding its first public impeachment inquiry hearing. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said in response to Wednesday's decision that the president's legal team 'will be seeking review at the Supreme Court.' The D.C. Circuit was responding to Trump's request to have a full panel of judges rehear a three-judge decision from October that rejected the president's request to block lawmakers from subpoenaing his longtime accounting firm. A majority of the court's 11 active judges voted against revisiting the case. Three judges -- Neomi Rao, Gregory Katsas and Karen LeCraft Henderson -- indicated that they would have granted the rehearing and published dissenting statements. Rao and Katsas, both former Trump administration officials, were nominated to the bench by the president." The NPR story is here.
Impeachment for Kids. Megan Reeves of the Tampa Bay Times: "For only the second time in the [University of Florida]'s 115-year history, a student president faces impeachment.... Last month's visit to the University of Florida by ... Donald Trump's oldest son is still reverberating through campus, with some student leaders pushing to oust the student body president who invite him.... Those behind the effort say [student body president Michael] Murphy conspired with an official for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign to bring Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle to campus for speeches on Oct. 10. Questions have been raised about the legality of the visit, as Murphy agreed to pay the pair $50,000 in publicly funded student activity fees and the law says public funds cannot be used to support political campaigns."
Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: The prosecutor gave his closing argument yesterday in Roger Stone's trial for five counts of lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks & for obstruction of justice. The jury will begin deliberations today. "In his closing argument Wednesday, Roger Stone's lawyer, Bruce Rogow, told the jury that there is really nothing to the government's case against his client. 'Much of this case, you have to ask, "So what?"' Rogow said.... 'Mr. Stone lied to Congress,' [prosecutor Michael] Marando thundered at jurors. 'He obstructed justice and he tampered with a witness, and that matters. And you don't look at that and you don't say: "So what?" We ask you to find him guilty of the charged offenses.'"
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, Mr. Trump seemed unbothered by [Turkey's invasion of Syria] and gave Mr. Erdogan a warm welcome, offering little sign of frustration with Turkey's authoritarian leader over an incursion that scrambled American policy in the region. 'I'm a big fan of the president,' Mr. Trump said during a joint news conference at the White House with Mr. Erdogan. 'My dear friend,' Mr. Erdogan said of Mr. Trump.... [Trump] said he wanted to increase trade between the countries by a multiple of four, to about $100 billion.... Mr. Trump also expressed confidence that Washington and Ankara could resolve their standoff over Turkey's purchase of [a] Russian missile system, which leading Republicans in Congress call a clear violation of a 2017 law requiring sanctions on countries that buy military hardware from Moscow.... Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, issued a statement saying that he hoped the meeting would help to restore relations with Turkey. But, he noted, 'I share my colleagues' uneasiness at seeing President Erdogan honored at the White House.'... Mr. Trump called five Republican senators to the White House on Wednesday, including some sharp critics of Mr. Erdogan, for an unusual meeting with the visiting Turkish leader." CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: "An Oval Office meeting yesterday with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took a dark turn when Erdoğan pulled out his iPad and made [a group of Republican senators] watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.... The meeting hosted by President Trump included five Republican U.S. senators who've been among the most vocal critics of Turkey's recent invasion of Syria and attacks on the U.S.'s Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS. Erdoğan apparently thought he could sway these senators by forcing them to watch a clunky propaganda film. The senators in the meeting took turns pushing back on Erdoğan, while Trump sat back and watched, intervening occasionally to play traffic cop.... After the film concluded, according to the source, Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Erdoğan: 'Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you've done?' Erdoğan got into a heated back-and-forth with Graham over Turkey's recent invasion of Syria, according to four sources familiar with the meeting. A source in the room said Erdoğan took exception to Graham using the word 'invasion' and that Graham also rebutted Erdoğan when he claimed that Turkey had fought ISIS." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Now, Lindsey, tell us again why Trump the Traffic Cop should keep his job.
~~~ "Trump Courts Another Tyrant." New York Times Editors: "There is every reason President Trump should not have hosted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey at the White House, including Turkey's attack on America's Kurdish allies in Syria, its purchase of antimissile systems from Russia and the brutal continuing crackdown on Turkish journalists and opposition figures. That was obvious to legislators from both parties who wrote Mr. Trump, urging him to disinvite Mr. Erdogan.... But in Mr. Trump's world -- the world we are increasingly living in -- Mr. Erdogan is 'a tough guy who deserves respect.'... At the joint White House news conference Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan showed little reciprocity for Mr. Trump's bonhomie.... And hearing Mr. Trump say 'I'm a big fan of the president' did not prevent Mr. Erdogan from raising pet peeves against the United States.... There was no evidence that the meeting had been 'wonderful and productive,' as Mr. Trump proclaimed...." ~~~
~~~ Jen Kirby of Vox: "During a joint press conference Wednesday afternoon, Trump stood alongside Erdoğan ... and let the Turkish leader repeat his talking points, unchallenged. The US president proved himself to be woefully unprepared, or indifferent, to what's actually going on in Turkey. Two moments stood out.... The first was when Trump encouraged Erdoğan to call on a Turkish journalist for a question. 'Would you like to pick somebody?' Erdoğan responded in Turkish, and Trump continued: 'A friendly person from Turkey, friendly. Only friendly reporters. We like to see, there aren't too many of them around.' But in Turkey pretty much the only reporters around are friendly to the president. Since the 2016 failed coup attempt, Turkey has jailed more journalists than any other country in the world for three years straight.... So the president made light of a legitimate human rights crisis -- and somehow the press conference got even worse from there.... 'We have a great relationship with the Kurds,' [Trump] began. 'We're with them now, we get along with them.... And, by the way, I think the president [Erdoğan], he may have some factions within the Kurds, but I think the president has a great relationship with the Kurds, Trump continued. 'Many Kurds live currently in Turkey, and they're happy and they're taken care of.'... But Erdoğan basically considers all Kurds in Syria terrorists; his invasion has created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of civilians fled the fighting. Kurds have also historically faced discrimination in Turkey, and Erdoğan is actively cracking down on Kurdish groups, alleging that catch-all 'terrorist' link." ~~~
~~~ Juan Cole: "Turkey's position in geopolitics is changing rapidly, and Turkish government officials have begun peddling outlandish conspiracy theories about the U.S. Even though Erdogan's hold over Trump seems secure (is it the Istanbul Trump Tower hotel and its profits?) Turkey's relationship with Congress is in tatters." --s
Kara Scannell & Gloria Borger of CNN: "In its effort to sell off the lease to the Trump International Hotel in Washington the Trump Organization has put together a glossy investor brochure.... The hotel's biggest selling point..., according to a copy of the brochure seen by CNN, is the one thing that the Trump family insists it didn't take advantage of: profiting off foreign governments. 'Tremendous upside potential exists for a new owner to fully capitalize on government related business upon rebranding of the asset,' reads the 46-page investor pitch. The Trump Organization insists that its refusal to solicit foreign business has cost it more than $9 million. According to the brochure, those 'sacrifices' include turning away 17,100 room nights in 2019, resulting in $5.3 million in lost room revenue and $3.9 million in lost food and beverage revenue. The investor pitch is an explicit acknowledgment of how important foreign business is to the 263-room luxury hotel in the Old Post Office building blocks from the White House.... 'The pitch does not include figures for how much the hotel has accepted, despite reports showing it has become a magnet for foreign officials."
Nahal Toosi of Politico: "... Donald Trump's political appointees inappropriately retaliated against a career civil servant at the State Department in part because of her ethnic background, her perceived political views, and the fact that she was in government during prior administrations, a federal watchdog says. In a report to be released publicly later this week, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick recommends that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo consider disciplining officials found to have violated policies that require they use merit-based factors in determining where to place career staffers. The report has been in the works for more than a year. It covers five cases, and overall its findings are mixed -- and thus sure to disappoint many State Department staffers -- in part because the inspector general says he was 'unable to obtain essential information from key decision-makers.'... The report was fueled in large part by Democrats' demands after a whistleblower shared with Congress emails in which Trump political appointees and outside conservative figures appeared to plot to sideline Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, a career civil servant of Iranian descent."
Toljaso. Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post: In April, "Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) fired off [a]... tweet labeling White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller a 'white nationalist,' and within hours, conservative Twitter was aflame. Omar's blunt critique of one of President Trump's most trusted aides immediately drew the ire of prominent figures on the right, who pointed out that Miller is Jewish and accused the freshman representative of anti-Semitism — a charge she has repeatedly faced over past comments about Israel's ties to U.S. leaders. On Tuesday, Omar resurrected her incendiary tweet. Her characterization of Miller had been accurate, she tweeted, and now there was proof. Earlier in the day, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report [also linked here yesterday] titled, 'Stephen Miller's Affinity for White Nationalism Revealed in Leaked Emails,' which has since sparked intense blowback against Trump's top immigration adviser, prompting calls from Democratic leaders [& Omar] for him to resign or be fired. After reviewing more than 900 emails Miller sent to editors of the conservative site Breitbart between 2015 and 2016, the report's writer noted he had been 'unable to find any examples of Miller writing sympathetically or even in neutral tones about any person who is nonwhite or foreign-born.'"
Michael Sainato of the Guardian: "According to a study published in February 2019, about 530,000 bankruptcies filed annually are because of debt accrued due to a medical illness. The study found that even the Obama administration's landmark Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) has failed to change the proportion of bankruptcies caused by medical debts, with poor health insurance cited as one of the main culprits.... 'A lot of people, a little over 60%, are filing bankruptcy at least in part because of medical bills. Most of them are insured. It's clear that despite health insurance, there are many, many people incurring costs not being covered by their insurance,' said [Dr David] Himmelstein. 'Medical debt is incredibly common, it's the main cause of calls from collection agencies, and the vast majority of people with it have insurance.... One out of every six Americans has an unpaid medical bill on their credit report, amounting to $81bn in debt nationwide, while about one in 12 Americans went without any medical insurance throughout 2018." --s
Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "The 'unnoticed insect apocalypse' should set alarm bells ringing, according to conservationists, who said that without a halt there will be profound consequences for humans and all life on Earth. A new report suggested half of all insects may have been lost since 1970 as a result of the destruction of nature and heavy use of pesticides. The report said 40% of the 1million known species of insect are facing extinction." --s
News Ledes
KNBC News (Los Angeles): "One victim has died and two others are in critical condition after a student opened fire Thursday morning at a high school in Santa Clarita. Police and firefighters responded at about 7:30 a.m. to Saugus High School, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, followed by frightened parents who had heard reports of a shooter at the campus. The deceased victim was identified only as a female by Henry Mayo Hospital. Two male patients were in critical condition, and another patient at the hospital was in good condition. Two other victims were at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in fair and good condition. Both were talking with doctors. Sheriff Alex Villaneuva said the 16-year-old shooter, who was armed with a handgun, was transported to a hospital in grave condition." ~~~
~~~ ABC News Update: "At least two students are dead and three others students injured after a classmate opened fire at a high school in Southern California Thursday morning, sheriff's officials said. The 16-year-old male suspect was taken into custody and is in the hospital in 'grave condition' from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Detectives reviewed video from the scene which showed the gunman in the quad of Saugus High School in Santa Clarita when he took a gun from hi backpack, shot five people and then shot himself in the head, authorities said. The early morning school shooting was on the suspect's birthday, authorities said."
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