The Commentariat -- October 5, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Ben Lefebvre & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry urged Ukraine's president to root out corruption and pushed the new government for changes at its state-run oil and gas company, people familiar with his work said Friday -- indications that he was more deeply involved than previously known in ... Donald Trump's efforts to pressure officials in Kiev.... Perry..., is expected to resign next month, attended [Ukraine President] Zelensky's May inauguration in Kiev in place of Vice President Mike Pence. In addition, he was one of the administration's 'three amigos' on Ukrainian policy, along with Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for the Ukraine conflict, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, as Sondland described their relationship in a July broadcast interview." Mrs. McC: It appears from the report that Perry was pushing the new Ukraine government to put his (Perry's) friends on the board of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned natural gas company. "Two long-time energy executives based in Perry's home state of Texas were among those under consideration for that role, one source familiar with the administration's dealings with the company said." ~~~

     ~~~ AND you know there has to be something in this for the Trump Crime Family: "Among Perry's numerous visits with Zelenksy and other Ukraine officials in the past year was a dinner with Zelensky, Jared Kushner and other officials in June, according to a government photo taken by the U.S. of the event."

Zachary Cohen & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "A House Foreign Affairs Committee aide told CNN that 'Secretary Pompeo has failed to meet the deadline to produce documents required by the subpoena. However, the State Department has contacted the Committees on this matter and we hope the Department will cooperate in full promptly. Apart from the outstanding subpoena, we look forward to hearing from Ambassadors Sondland and Yovanovitch next week.'"

Keeping It Classy. Somebody please wake up Mitt Romney and tell him that my conversation with the Ukrainian President was a congenial and very appropriate one, and my statement on China pertained to corruption, not politics. If Mitt worked this hard on Obama, he could have won. Sadly, he choked! Mitt Romney never knew how to win. He is a pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn't give it to him). He is so bad for R's! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets this morning

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Donald Trump is attacking the sovereignty of our country. -- John Dean on CNN, Friday

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "House impeachment investigators widened the reach of their inquiry on Friday, subpoenaing the White House for a vast trove of documents and requesting more from Vice President Mike Pence to better understand President Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. The subpoena, addressed to Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, calls for documents and communications that are highly delicate and would typically be subject in almost any White House to claims of executive privilege. If handed over by the Oct. 18 deadline, the records could provide keys to understanding what transpired between the two countries and what steps, if any, the White House has taken to cover it up.... For more than six hours on Friday, the House Intelligence Committee questioned the intelligence community's independent watchdog who first fielded a whistle-blower complaint that has spurred the formal impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. Michael Atkinson ... had received the complaint and explained his own preliminary investigation into its validity before seeking to deliver it to Congress. 'What the inspector general said last time was, the whistle-blower pulled the fire alarm,' Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, told reporters. 'We have now seen the smoke and the fire.'" This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Uh-oh. Michael Schmidt & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A second intelligence official who was alarmed by President Trump's dealings with Ukraine is weighing whether to file his own formal whistle-blower complaint and testify to Congress, according to two people briefed on the matter. The official has more direct information about the events than the first whistle-blower, whose complaint that Mr. Trump was using his power to get Ukraine to investigate his political rivals touched off an impeachment inquiry. The second official is among those interviewed by the intelligence community inspector general to corroborate the allegations of the original whistle-blower, one of the people said.... Whistle-blowers have created a new threat for Mr. Trump. Though the White House has stonewalled Democrats in Congress investigating allegations raised in the special counsel's report that Mr. Trump obstructed justice, the president has little similar ability to stymie whistle-blowers from speaking to Congress." The Hill's summary of the NYT report is here.

Barr, DOJ Ignored CIA Criminal Referral of Trump re: Ukraine. Ken Dilanian of Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Weeks before the whistleblower's complaint became public, the CIA's top lawyer made what she considered to be a criminal referral to the Justice Department about the whistleblower's allegations that ... Donald Trump abused his office in pressuring the Ukrainian president, U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell NBC News. The move by the CIA's general counsel, Trump appointee Courtney Simmons Elwood, meant she and other senior officials had concluded a potential crime had been committed, raising more questions about why the Justice Department later declined to open an investigation.... Elwood ... participated in a conference call with the top national security lawyer at the White House and the chief of the Justice Department's National Security Division. On that call, Elwood and John Eisenberg, the top legal adviser to the White House National Security Council, told the top Justice Department national security lawyer, John Demers, that the allegations merited examination by the DOJ, officials said.... A DOJ official said Attorney General William Barr was made aware of the conversation with Elwood and Eisenberg, and their concerns about the president's behavior, in the days that followed. Justice Department officials now say they didn't consider the phone conversation a formal criminal referral because it was not in written form.... A separate criminal referral came later from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which was based solely on the whistleblower's official written complaint." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Ward of Vox: "... as NBC News explains, 'Justice Department officials have said they only investigated the president's Ukraine call for violations of campaign finance law because it was the only statute mentioned in the whistleblower's complaint.'... Now here's the kicker: The CIA's criminal referral wasn't about campaign finance law, according to NBC News. This means DOJ essentially ignored the CIA criminal referral -- which apparently included concerns that other laws besides campaign finance law may have been broken -- all because it was made over the phone." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I should like to point out to Bill Barr that "but it was just a phone call" and "gee, the whistleblower didn't cite all the laws Trump broke" are as valid excuses as "it's Trump being Trump" (see Ron Johnson in yesterday's Commentariat) and "Trump was only joking" (see Marco Rubio below) and "the Constitution made me do it" (Trump's latest).

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday defended his brazen call for foreign governments to interfere in the 2020 election by launching investigations into the Bidens, repeatedly claiming he is duty-bound to encourage such probes and insisting his motivations are apolitical. 'This is not about politics. This is about corruption,' Trump told reporters outside the White House. 'And if you look and you read our Constitution and many other things, I have an obligation to look at corruption. I have an actual obligation and a duty.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump denied he would seek to tie a potential investigation into the Biden family to any trade deal with China, however he again pressed Beijing to investigate unfounded claims against his political rival. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Friday, Trump reiterated that he believes he has the authority as president to ask a foreign government to open investigations into anyone he suspects of being corrupt.... His comments come a day after he openly called for President Xi jinping to look into possible corruption by the Bidens, continuing to spread claims that no evidence has supported. Trump first appeared to link the two prospects speaking to reporters Thursday. The president asserted then that he and the U.S. would have the upper hand on China when high-stakes trade talks resume in Washington next week, saying he has 'a lot of options on China' and 'if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.'... On Friday, Trump appeared to adopt a new line of defense as he spoke with reporters, repeatedly telling them that his main motivator was rooting out corruption, rather than damaging the electoral prospects of any singular political opponent. Asked by one reporter, however, if he could name any corruption investigations he was pursuing that did not involve a political opponent, the president responded that he 'would have to look.' Moments later, unprompted, he issued his invitation for China to examine whether there was wrongdoing by the Bidens." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ From the Washington Post's liveblog @10:30 am ET: "In the midst of several midmorning tweets, Trump identified the purported employer of the whistleblower as the CIA. In the tweet, Trump quoted longtime Republican operative Ed Rollins from an appearance on Fox News. 'I think it's outrages that a Whistleblower is a CIA Agent,' Trump quoted Rollins as saying, misspelling 'outrageous.'" @10 am ET: "Beginning this weekend, the Trump campaign is airing more than $1 million worth of TV ads in early primary states that accuse Joe Biden and his son Hunter of corruption in Ukraine, according to Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager. The commercials will air in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, Parscale tweeted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ "Me! Me!" Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: During the chopper chat, Trump started out cocky (Mrs. McC: he was boasting about the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years). But he shifted "into the aggrieved alternate reality that has consumed him since House Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry.... 'I feel there was in the 2016 campaign -- there was tremendous corruption against me,' said Trump, transforming himself -- a man who has now publicly asked no fewer than three foreign countries (Russia, Ukraine and China) to look into his political opponents -- into the victim of corrupt behavior.... 'I was investigated, I was investigated, okay?' he said, before pointing at himself -- two rapid-fire taps to his right breast -- and adding: 'Me! Me!' He barked at the media that it was he who ran, he who won, he who was investigated, before accusing the assembled press: 'You won't say that, will you?'... 'I was investigated. I was investigated. And they think it could have been by U.K. They think it could have been by Australia. They think it could have been by Italy. So when you get down to it, I was investigated by the Obama administration. By the Obama administration,' he concluded, shouting now, and using both hands to point at himself, 'I was investigated.' It was unclear, exactly, to which unfounded, unproven theory Trump was referring."

One Ringy-dingy. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Starting long before revelations about Trump's interactions with Ukraine's president rocked Washington, Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders were an anxiety-ridden set of events for his aides and members of the administration, according to former and current officials. They worried that Trump would make promises he shouldn't keep, endorse policies the United States long opposed, commit a diplomatic blunder that jeopardized a critical alliance, or simply pressure a counterpart for a personal favor. 'There was a constant undercurrent in the Trump administration of [senior staff] who were genuinely horrified by the things they saw that were happening on these calls,' said one former White House official.... 'Phone calls that were embarrassing, huge mistakes he made, months and months of work that were upended by one impulsive tweet.'... In one of his first calls with a head of state, President Trump fawned over Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling the man who ordered interference in America's 2016 election that he was a great leader and apologizing profusely for not calling him sooner. He pledged to Saudi officials in another call that he would help the monarchy enter the elite Group of Seven, an alliance of the world's leading democratic economies. He promised the president of Peru that he would deliver to his country a C-130 military cargo plane overnight, a logistical nightmare that set off a herculean scramble in the West Wing and Pentagon."

Jonathan Chait: "Trump is claiming the absolute right to demand investigations of any American by any country. The president exerts unilateral control over the most powerful government on Earth. He is announcing to every foreign state that American relations with his government -- and, should he prevail, every future government -- can and will be influenced by their willingness to put their judicial or quasi-judicial systems at the disposal of his reelection campaign.... The pretext that somehow Trump is advancing the cause of good government by demanding international anti-corruption probes is a morbid joke.... He is pressing notoriously corrupt states to deliver a predetermined outcome.... The favor he is bartering for is the insinuation of guilt. And Trump himself is obviously indulging in corruption on a scale unprecedented in presidential history.... His demands are not intended to clamp down on corruption, but to cheapen the currency of the language, so that he can more easily dismiss his own gross behavior as standard procedure.... The brutally simple choice...[:] Either ... hand the president the absolute right, now and forever, to use American foreign policy as a lever to discredit their political rivals, or ... vote to impeach." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Friday broke sharply with President Trump's call for China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, calling it 'wrong and appalling.' 'When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China&'s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated,' Romney said in a statement, which he also tweeted out. [In a second tweet, Romney wrote,] 'By all appearances, the President's brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Excuse #2. Trump Was Only Kidding. Connor Mannion of Mediaite: When a reporter asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) what he thought of Donald Trump's asking China to investigate Joe Biden, Rubio said, "I don't think it's a real request, I think he did it to get you guys. I think he did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it. Like I said, he plays it like a violin and everyone falls right into it. I don't think it's a real request." Mrs. McC: It's a great argument, of course, but I can't quite picture people falling into violins. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump is not a patriot.... Again and again, he has harmed the nation's interests to further his own.... Trump has many undesirable attributes: He lies, he chases conspiracy theories, he's racist, he abuses power, he&'s cruel. The common thread -- a unified theory of Trump, if you will -- is that the man who promised an 'America First' agenda is instead pursuing a 'Trump First' agenda. This is the Me Presidency." Milbank writes a laundry list of Trump's unpatriotic remarks & deeds. Of course the list is longer than Milbank can fit into a newspaper column.

David Frum of the Atlantic: Gerald "Ford's intact reputation enabled Congress and the country to turn the page definitively in August 1974. Nixon's most tainted appointees had been forced from office before him.... Donald Trump may not know much of this history, but he intuits its lessons. From the beginning, he has appeared determined to implicate as many members of his administration as possible in his scandal -- Vice President Mike Pence heading the list.... Pence seems to have been involved up to the eyeballs in the Ukraine plot. His team's messaging -- Yes, he pressed the Ukrainians to investigate corruption, but he never appreciated that Trump's true purpose was to pursue the Bidens -- fails the laugh test.... If the Senate ever could muster the integrity to remove Trump from office, there would be ... a vice president who participated in Trump's dirty schemes, from staying at a remote resort to direct government funds to Trump's failing Irish golf course to extorting an invaded country to fabricate political dirt to help Trump's reelection. Trump's compromised attorney general remains on the job, as does his apparently compromised secretary of state.... Pence betrayed his most important duty as vice president: Be ready to step into the nation&'s highest office should the need arise." ~~~

     ~~~ Nikki Haley Reminds Trump There's an AlterVeep Waiting in the Wings. Molly Prince of Daily Wire: "Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praised ... Donald Trump on Friday and further commended his record on foreign policy as one that 'every American should be proud of.'" Mrs. McC: Yes, because, as Thomas Pickering -- a Republican diplomat who previously had Haley's U.N. gig -- told the AP (linked below), "We have come into a situation where not only unpredictability is the hallmark of the United States, but unreliability as well. The wisdom and judgment that the United States was known for has been diminished."

I have known former vice president Biden for 24 years, and the suggestion that he would be influenced in his duties as vice president by money for his son simply has no credibility to me. I know him as a man of integrity and dedication to our country. -- Kurt Volker, in his opening statement to the joint House committee, Thursday ~~~

~~~ Paul Sonne & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative to Ukraine, defended former vice president Joe Biden in a statement to Congress on Thursday and said he was trying to run interference on information being supplied to President Trump by former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, to secure continued U.S. support for the government in Ukraine. Volker, who as of Thursday was the executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership, said he did not believe allegations Giuliani has leveled against Biden, namely that Biden was influenced in his dealings with the Ukrainian leadership by his son's presence on the board of a Ukrainian gas company whose owner was being probed by authorities in Kiev. Cindy McCain, a Biden friend, chairs the McCain Institute.... Volker also pleaded ignorance of Trump's July 25 call in which he raised investigating Burisma and Biden with Zelensky, saying he received a general readout of the conversation from people who described it as a good, congratulatory call.' He said he learned the full details about the call only when it was released late last month." ~~~

     ~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "Volker repeatedly emphasized during his remarks he did not believe the allegations against Biden to be credible.... Volker also testified that he told ... Rudy Giuliani that accusations against the former vice president and 2020 Democratic candidate were 'not credible.'" ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The former State Department special envoy for Ukraine told congressional investigators that Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney, insisted that Ukraine specifically commit to investigate involvement in the 2016 election and a firm tied to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. During testimony behind closed doors on Thursday, Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy, said Mr. Giuliani rejected a generic draft statement that Ukraine's government had agreed to issue committing to fighting corruption generally. While Mr. Giuliani's efforts to pressure Ukraine have been known, Mr. Volker's account provides new details about how the president's personal lawyer inserted himself into foreign policy to benefit Mr. Trump politically. Mr. Giuliani 'said that in his view, the statement should include specific reference to "Burisma" and "2016,"' Mr. Volker told the investigators, according to a person who has seen the testimony.... Mr. Volker sought in his testimony to distance himself from the pressure campaign by the president and Mr. Giuliani. 'At no time was I aware of or took part in an effort to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden,' he told investigators." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Christopher Miller, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "In his prepared testimony Thursday, [Kurt] Volker said he wanted to make five key points clear: His 'efforts were entirely focused on advancing U.S. foreign policy goals with respect to Ukraine.' 'Second, in May of this year, I became concerned that a negative narrative about Ukraine, fueled by assertions made by Ukraine's departing Prosecutor General, was reaching the President of the United States, and impeding our ability to support the new Ukrainian government as robustly as I believed we should. 'Third, at no time was I aware of or took part in an effort to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden.' Volker said that in the text messages he shared with Congress, 'Vice President Biden was never a topic of discussion.' However, the texts do explicitly mention Burisma, the Ukraine gas company where the presidential candidate's son Hunter Biden served on the board 'Fourth, while executing my duties, I kept my colleagues at the State Department and National Security Council informed, and also briefed Congress, about my actions.' Fifth and finally, I strongly supported the provision of U.S. security assistance, including lethal defensive weapons, to Ukraine throughout my tenure." The reporters elaborate on those points. The report includes a copy of Volker's opening remarks. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is expected to appear for his scheduled House deposition next week, a House committee official confirmed to The Hill.... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ... said [State Department] officials would not show up for the depositions, although since then, one of the officials [Mrs. McC: -- Kurt Volker --] has been questioned by lawmakers. Mrs. McC: And former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has agreed to appear Oct. 11. Now read this ~~~

As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign. -- Bill Taylor, U.S. diplomat leading Ukraine Embassy [9/9/19, 12:47:11 AM]

Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks. -- Gordon Sondland [9/9/19, 5:19:35 AM] (Emphasis added.) ~~~

     ~~~ Really, Gordo? This is the message digby IDed as a CYA effort (see yesterday's Commentariat). And think about it. Who thumbs out a text like that? According to Rachel Maddow, during the 4-1/2-hour delay between Taylor's text & Sondland's, Sondland called the White House. BTW, in his chopper chat on Friday, Sondland's manufactured denial of a quid pro quo was the only part of the text exchange among Taylor, Sondland & Volker that Trump cited. Isn't that a surprise -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie~~~

~~~ ** Epic Fail. Dumbest Senator Tries to Help Trump, but Reveals Proof of Quid Pro Quo. Andrew Prokop & Jen Kirby of Vox: Gordan Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the E.U., told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) "that the Trump administration was blocking hundreds of millions of dollars in US military aid to Ukraine until the country agreed to launch investigations Trump was demanding.... Johnson [told the Wall Street Journal] that ... Sondland told him in late August that the administration was demanding Ukraine investigate 'what happened in 2016,' and that if President Trump had 'confidence' in the investigation, he'd 'release the military spending.'... [Wait, wait, there's more.] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Molly Beck [and others]..., Johnson said in a separate interview that Trump did say he was considering withholding the aid because he wanted to find out 'what happened in 2016.' Johnson said he asked Trump whether he could tell Ukraine's president the aid was on the way anyway, to dispel the government's fears, but 'I didn't succeed.'" Emphasis added. The WSJ report is here. ~~~

~~~ ** Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "By mid-May, the U.S. relationship with Ukraine was unraveling: The U.S. ambassador had been recalled home for no apparent reason, the country's new president was anxious about U.S. support, and President Trump's personal lawyer was hawking Kiev conspiracy theories. Amid this turbulence, an unexpected figure stepped forward to assert that he was now in charge of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Gordon Sondland ... had no apparent standing to seize this critical portfolio, nor any apparent qualifications as a diplomat beyond the $1 million he'd given to Trump's inauguration. But when some in the White House and State Department sought to block his power grab, current and former U.S. officials said, he rebuffed their demands to know who had granted him such authority with two words: 'The president.'... Newly released texts exchanged by Sondland, Volker and other U.S. officials ... read like a government-sanctioned shakedown. Again and again, they make clear that Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky would not get military aid or the Oval Office invitation he coveted until he committed to investigations that Trump hoped would deliver damaging information on former vice president Joe Biden and undermine the origins of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Rather than official State Department email, the text exchanges between the diplomats took place over WhatsApp, a U.S. official said." Emphasis added. This is a longish read; it's pretty interesting. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: One of the talking points the White House accidentally sent to Democrats last week was, "Let's be clear, there was no quid pro quo for Ukraine to get U.S. aid in exchange for looking into Biden or his son." Quite a few Republicans took to the airwaves & the hinterlands with that fiction. Indeed, after Johnson's revelatory interviews, "... Johnson's office stressed [to NBC News] that the term 'quid pro quo' was not used," as if nothing is true unless expressed in Latin. That is, "IF you smear my opponent, THEN I'll give you $400MM" is not corrupt (and in this case, illegal) because English.

Ben Fox, et al., of the AP: "The State Department has been deeply shaken by the rapidly escalating impeachment inquiry, as revelations that ... Donald Trump enlisted diplomats to dig up dirt on a political rival threaten to tarnish its reputation as a nonpartisan arm of U.S. foreign policy, former senior officials said Friday.... With Washington in tumult over the escalating impeachment inquiry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured southeast Europe on Friday, trying to ignore the furor back home.... His staff steadfastly refused to comment on the latest developments in the rapidly unfolding drama, including at a briefing for reporters at his last stop of the day in Athens.... Trump has had a tense relationship with the State Department since he took office, repeatedly proposing to slash its budget, leaving key posts unfulfilled and choosing political appointees over career foreign service officers for ambassadorships to a greater degree than other recent presidents have. His ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, a respected career officer, and his dismissal of her as 'bad news' in the call left many diplomats dismayed.... 'The Ukraine affair] is only the latest in a large number of very damaging things that have been done to the State Department,' said Thomas Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Russia under President George H.W. Bush. 'It represents a new low in basically ignoring and indeed punishing the people who have made a professional commitment to the country and Constitution.'"

Just a Coincidence. Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "President Trump has ordered a significant staff cut at the White House National Security Council (NSC),Bloomberg reported late Friday, citing five people familiar with the matter. Some of the individuals reportedly said that the move was part of an effort under new national security adviser Robert O'Brien, who told officials of the reduction alongside acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney this week. Two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the change was due to O'Brien's leadership and Trump's wish to increase agency efficiency. The news outlet noted that the NSC grew under former President Obama and about 310 people work there now. However, Bloomberg noted that the changes also come as Trump faces scrutiny over a whistleblower complaint...."

The Oranges of Trump's Ukraine Conspiracy Theory. Ben Collins of NBC News: "An anonymous post from March 2017 on the far-right 4chan message board teased a conspiracy theory that would eventually make its way to the White House. 'Russia could not have been the source of leaked Democrat emails released by Wikileaks,' the post teased, not citing any evidence for the assertion. The post baselessly insinuated that CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that worked with the Democratic National Committee and had been contracted to investigate a hack of its servers, fabricated a forensics report to frame Russia for election interference.... In the years that followed the original 4chan post, at least three different but related conspiracy theories would warp and combine on the fringes of the internet, eventually coalescing around Ukraine's supposed role in helping Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. Ukraine wasn't originally part of the theory, but in July,

Brian Faler of Politico: "An independent watchdog at the Treasury Department is looking into how the agency handled House Democrats'; demands for ... Donald Trump's tax returns. Acting Inspector General Rich Delmar said he will investigate who was consulted on the issue and how the department came to reject Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal's demands for the records, a decision the Massachusetts Democrat is now fighting into court." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The inspector general investigation is in response to a request from Representative Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who has been leading congressional efforts to gain access to Mr. Trump's financial information.... An Internal Revenue Service whistle-blower filed a complaint over the summer claiming that senior Treasury officials tried to exert improper influence over the [mandatory] audit [of Trump's tax returns]. According to a government official familiar with its contents, it claims that political appointees in the Treasury Department were pressuring I.R.S. officials to ignore the requirement to scrutinize Mr. Trum's returns. A person familiar with the complaint said the allegations did not directly implicate [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin."

No Poor People Allowed. Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "The White House late Friday issued a proclamation saying it would deny visas to immigrants who 'will financially burden' the U.S. health-care system starting Nov. 3, demanding that foreign nationals prove that they have insurance or can cover their own health care costs before entering the United States." This is a brief breaking story at 10 pm ET Friday. Update: The BuzzFeed News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast: "A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official reportedly refused to allow a reporter through customs on Thursday unless he answered the repeated question 'You write propaganda, right?' in the affirmative, at least the third such incident involving harassment of a journalist by a passport official this year. Ben Watson, a news editor at Defense One, was returning to the United States from a reporting assignment in Denmark when a USCBP official, after asking whether Watson was carrying any undeclared foods, inquired into his profession. When Watson responded that he worked in journalism, the official began repeatedly badgering him into 'admitting' that he writes propaganda, Watson wrote of his experience."

Let Them Eat Dirt. Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "The Agriculture Department moved again this week to cut spending on food stamps, this time proposing changes that would slice $4.5 billion from the program over five years, trimming monthly benefits by as much as $75 for one in five struggling families on nutrition assistance. The latest plan would cut benefits for 19 percent of households on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps, while increasing benefits for 16 percent. Almost 8,000 households would lose benefits entirely. Those cuts would be concentrated in cold northern states that would be most affected by a change in the way heating costs are calculated. The number of families losing benefits is a tiny percentage of the nearly 40 million people who receive benefits, and even $4.5 billion over five years is a trim for a program that cost $68 billion in 2018 alone. But the latest move is the third time the Trump administration has moved to cut food stamps. In December, the Agriculture Department said it sought to place more stringent work requirements on the program. In July, the administration proposed a rule that would strip more than three million people of their benefits. The public comment periods for both those proposals have ended, and final rules are expected soon."

Lying to the Old Folks on Our Dime. Annie Karni & Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday delivered a campaign-style speech to an audience of elderly voters, pitching a new executive order that aims to improve private Medicare plans as the responsible alternative to the 'Medicare for all' policies supported by some of his Democratic political opponents. 'Standing in solidarity with our nation's seniors, I declare once again that America will never be a socialist country,' Mr. Trump told a crowd at the Villages in Florida, the country's largest retirement community, where the population is overwhelmingly white and conservative and where many residents are veterans.... But while Mr. Trump's speech suggested that the Democratic proposals for expanding coverage put retirees' access to health care in grave danger, the plans would not actually diminish their benefits.... Mr. Trump's speech, delivered from behind a lectern with a presidential seal, was billed as an official White House event and his travel was not paid for by his campaign. But it was almost indistinguishable in much of its content from the remarks Mr. Trump delivers at his 'Make America Great Again' rallies." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

the president tells audience in the east room that john adams - 'no. 6' - was the first president to live in the white house. john adams, for what it's worth, was our nation's second president -- Justin Sink, in a tweet

Some of Sink's Twitter followers stood up for Trump: One said Trump probably doesn't know there were two Presidents Adams. Another was worried: "wait until he hears about grover cleveland!" And a third explained why Trump was absolutely right: "John Adams wore #6 for his high school football team." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Update: Trump made the remark at an event for young African Americans -- so, ya know, teaching our kids good. And, apparently, he's using a stale lesson plan: David Smith of the Guardian: "Oddly, Trump made the same mistake at the same event last year.

CORRECTION. I'VE BEEN SNOPED! Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: On September 24 & 25, I embedded a tweet with a photo of men climbing over a border wall. The Twitter-user wrote, "... Mexicans have turned Trump's wall into a tourist attraction & are playing a game to see who can climb it the fastest, no ladders or ropes needed. The record is 45 seconds" Trump, in a visit to his wall, had claimed on September 18 that the government had invited 20 "world-class mountain-climbers" to try to scale various border-fence prototypes, and that his "was the one that was hardest to climb." So I found the tweet pretty hilarious (and dismaying, considering all the money that was going to waste on the supposedly-unscalable wall). Well, the tweet and the photo were bunk. ~~~

     ~~~ Dan MacGuill of Snopes (Sept. 24): "... the video footage and still images used to contradict and ridicule the president's claim that 'this wall can't be climbed' were either captured in 2016, before construction began on Trump's long-promised border fence, and even before he became president, or at a section of fencing that is clearly, visibly different from the one the president showed off in September 2019.... [The tweet I republished] showed a stretch of fencing at San Ysidro, California, captured by NBC News in November 2018 ... [and] was clearly different from the one unveiled by Trump in September 2019." Mrs. McC: I apologize. I definitely should have checked Snopes before posting that tweet. ~~~

~~~ Brooke Seipel of the Hill (Oct. 4): "A rock climber plans to hold a border wall climbing competition after President Trump recently declared a new section of his border wall with Mexico 'impossible to climb,' according to a new report from climbing magazine Rock and Ice. Rick Weber -- a 75-year-old retired engineer, and active rock climber certified by American Mountain Guide Association as a Single Pitch Instructor -- writes that he has built a replica of an 18-foot tall section of steel border wall and has invited rock climbers to compete in the climb on Oct. 11 and 12.... Some professionals told The Daily Beast last month that [Trump's] claim was 'preposterous.' Jesse Grupper, a gold medalist in this year's USA Climbing Sport & Speed Open National Championships, said he 'never heard of any climbers ever being recruited to try and climb a border wall.' Weber wrote in the post announcing his competition that 'no one in our climbing community knows any of these 20 mountaineers.'"

Presidential Race 2020

Ali Vitali of NBC News: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has raised $24.6 million during the past three months, her campaign said Friday, beating her last quarter haul of $19.1 million and quadrupling her $6 million total from the first quarter of the year. The announcement comes as Warren, who has eschewed high-dollar events in favor of targeting small-dollar donations -- continues to solidify her place at or near the top of the Democratic presidential field in both polling and fundraising. She was outpaced only by fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders -- who leads the pack with $25.3 million raised in the third quarter -- and dwarfed the fundraising totals announced Thursday by former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign. Biden raised $15.2 million in the third quarter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Ed Kilgore of New York: "At the moment, you could say the Democratic race remains dominated by the Big Three of Warren, Biden, and Sanders (in whatever order you choose to rank them), with fundraising dominating by a Big Four (those three plus Pete Buttigieg, who raised $24 million in the third quarter and $19 million in the fourth). Everyone trailing these candidates in either metric needs to make a move soon as voters prepare to vote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Kelsey, et al., of ABC News: "The health issue that led to Sen. Bernie Sanders' hospitalization on Tuesday night in Las Vegas has been diagnosed as a heart attack.... A joint statement from the physicians who treated Sanders, Arturo E. Marchand Jr. and Arjun Gururaj, said Sanders suffered from a myocardial infarction and was transferred to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. 'The Senator was stable upon arrival and taken immediately to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, at which time two stents were placed in a blocked coronary artery in a timely fashion. All other arteries were normal,' they said. 'His hospital course was uneventful with good expected progress.... Sanders left Desert Springs Hospital on Friday, walking out on his own. The senator waved to reporters and said he felt 'great, great, thank you' before climbing into an awaiting SUV." The New York Times story is here.

Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "Iranian hackers have been targeting the email accounts of at least one presidential campaign, as well as those of American journalists and current and former United States government officials, according to Microsoft. In a report released on Friday, Microsoft said the hackers, with apparent backing from Iran&'s government, made more than 2,700 attempts to identify the email accounts of current and former government officials, journalists covering political campaigns and accounts associated with one major presidential campaign. Microsoft would not name the campaign." Mrs. McC: Iran, if you're listening, I hope it's Trump's campaign you're set on hacking. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The story has been updated just for me: "Though the company would not identify the presidential campaign involved, two people with knowledge of the hacking ... said it was President Trump'." Thanks, Ken W.!

Beyond the Beltway

Florida Justice. Jessica Campisi of the Hill: "A 21-year-old Florida man [-- Deandre Somerville --] who overslept for jury duty was sentenced to jail for 10 days.... During his hearing, Circuit Civil Judge John Kastrenakes said the trial [Someville missed] had been delayed by 45 minutes because of Somerville, whose conduct 'impeded the due administration of justice.' Kastrenakes convicted Somerville of direct criminal contempt, handing him a 10-day jail sentence as well as 12 months probation, 150 hours of community service and an order to write an apology letter, Fox 6 reported.... Somerville's public defender appealed the sentence, and a judge on Friday lowered his sentence to three months probation and 30 hours of community service." So Somerville, who previously had no criminal record, has one now.

     ~~~ Mrs. McC: Did I mention Somerville is black and Kastrenakes is white? But I'm sure that has nothing to do with the conviction. I was wondering if criminal contempt of court was a felony. According to Florida attorney Damian Zimmerman, "... criminal contempt is actually not a misdemeanor or a felony. Technically, it falls into the category of 'common law crimes.'... Under Florida law, contempt can be punished by a fine of $500 and between 6-12 months in jail depending on if a jury verdict was involved. 12 months is equivalent to the maximum sentence for a first degree misdemeanor. Check out Florida statute 775.02 and Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.830."

Way Beyond

John Leicester & Eileen Ng of the AP: "With subway services shut down, the wearing of face masks criminalized at rallies and Hong Kong's leader reaffirming her determination not to let rioters get the upper hand, anti-government protests that have shaken the city diminished in intensity Saturday but didn't stop. Marchers still came out to defy the new ban on face coverings that the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory says have made the identification of violent protesters difficult for police Shielded under umbrellas, many wearing masks, several hundred demonstrators clogged a thoroughfare in the central business district, carrying a yellow banner marked 'Glory to Hong Kong' and shouting, 'Hong Kong, resist!' Scattered gatherings of protesters in masks popped up elsewhere, too, with some holding hands in a human chain. But protester numbers Saturday afternoon appeared down from previous weekends when tens of thousands flooded the streets."

The Commentariat -- October 4, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Barr, DOJ Ignored CIA Referral. Ken Dilanian of Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Weeks before the whistleblower's complaint became public, the CIA's top lawyer made what she considered to be a criminal referral to the Justice Department about the whistleblower's allegations that ... Donald Trump abused his office in pressuring the Ukrainian president, U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell NBC News. The move by the CIA's general counsel, Trump appointee Courtney Simmons Elwood, meant she and other senior officials had concluded a potential crime had been committed, raising more questions about why the Justice Department later declined to open an investigation.... Elwood ... participated in a conference call with the top national security lawyer at the White House and the chief of the Justice Department's National Security Division. On that call, Elwood and John Eisenberg, the top legal adviser to the White House National Security Council, told the top Justice Department national security lawyer, John Demers, that the allegations merited examination by the DOJ, officials said.... A DOJ official said Attorney General William Barr was made aware of the conversation with Elwood and Eisenberg, and their concerns about the president's behavior, in the days that followed.... A separate criminal referral came later from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which was based solely on the whistleblower's official written complaint."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The chairmen of three House committees on Friday requested documents from Vice President Mike Pence for the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, asking him to turn over a wide-ranging batch of material that could shed light on Mr. Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine, and any role that Mr. Pence played in it. In a letter to Mr. Pence, the chairmen asked for a lengthy list of documents detailing the administration's dealings with Ukraine, to be produced by Oct. 15. It came as House Democratic leaders were readying a subpoena for the White House for a vast trove of documents in the inquiry, which is investigating attempts by Mr. Trump and his administration to pressure Ukraine's president to help dig up dirt on his political rivals." The Guardian's story is here.

Brian Faler of Politico: "An independent watchdog at the Treasury Department is looking into how the agency handled House Democrats' demands for ... Donald Trump's tax returns. Acting Inspector General Rich Delmar said he will investigate who was consulted on the issue and how the department came to reject Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal's demand for the records, a decision the Massachusetts Democrat is now fighting into court."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday defended his brazen call for foreign governments to interfere in the 2020 election by launching investigations into the Bidens, repeatedly claiming he is duty-bound to encourage such probes and insisting his motivations are apolitical. 'This is not about politics. This is about corruption,' Trump told reporters outside the White House. 'And if you look and you read our Constitution and many other things, I have an obligation to look at corruption. I have an actual obligation and a duty.'" ~~~

~~~ Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump denied he would seek to tie a potential investigation into the Biden family to any trade deal with China, however he again pressed Beijing to investigate unfounded claims against his political rival. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Friday, Trump reiterated that he believes he has the authority as president to ask a foreign government to open investigations into anyone he suspects of being corrupt.... His comments come a day after he openly called for President Xi jinping to look into possible corruption by the Bidens, continuing to spread claims that no evidence has supported. Trump first appeared to link the two prospects speaking to reporters Thursday. The president asserted then that he and the U.S. would have the upper hand on China when high-stakes trade talks resume in Washington next week, saying he has 'a lot of options on China' and 'if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.'... On Friday, Trump appeared to adopt a new line of defense as he spoke with reporters, repeatedly telling them that his main motivator was rooting out corruption, rather than damaging the electoral prospects of any singular political opponent. Asked by one reporter, however, if he could name any corruption investigations he was pursuing that did not involve a political opponent, the president responded that he 'would have to look.' Moments later, unprompted, he issued his invitation for China to examine whether there was wrongdoing by the Bidens." ~~~

~~~ From the Washington Post's liveblog @11:45 am ET: "Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said he didn't know if he had ever asked a foreign leader to investigate a person who wasn't his political opponent, though he said he had a right to do so.... Reporters asked him several times if that included enlisting Russian President Vladimir Putin's help, but Trump ignored the question." @10:30 am ET: "In the midst of several midmorning tweets, Trump identified the purported employer of the whistleblower as the CIA. In the tweet, Trump quoted longtime Republican operative Ed Rollins from an appearance on Fox News. 'I think it's outrages that a Whistleblower is a CIA Agent,' Trump quoted Rollins as saying, misspelling 'outrageous.'" @10 am ET: "Beginning this weekend, the Trump campaign is airing more than $1 million worth of TV ads in early primary states that accuse Joe Biden and his son Hunter of corruption in Ukraine, according to Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager. The commercials will air in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, Parscale tweeted."

Trump Was Only Kidding. Connor Mannion of Mediaite: When a reporter asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) what he thought of Donald Trump's asking China to investigate Joe Biden, Rubio said, "I don't think it's a real request, I think he did it to get you guys. I think he did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it. Like I said, he plays it like a violin and everyone falls right into it. I don't think it's a real request." Mrs. McC: Sure, it's a great argument, but I can't quite picture people falling into violins.

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Friday broke sharply with President Trump's call for China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, calling it 'wrong and appalling.' 'When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated,' Romney said in a statement, which he also tweeted out."

Jonathan Chait: "Trump is claiming the absolute right to demand investigations of any American by any country. The president exerts unilateral control over the most powerful government on Earth. He is announcing to every foreign state that American relations with his government -- and, should he prevail, every future government -- can and will be influenced by their willingness to put their judicial or quasi-judicial systems at the disposal of his reelection campaign.... The pretext that somehow Trump is advancing the cause of good government by demanding international anti-corruption probes is a morbid joke.... He is pressing notoriously corrupt states to deliver a predetermined outcome.... The favor he is bartering for is the insinuation of guilt. And Trump himself is obviously indulging in corruption on a scale unprecedented in presidential history.... His demands are not intended to clamp down on corruption, but to cheapen the currency of the language, so that he can more easily dismiss his own gross behavior as standard procedure.... The brutally simple choice...[:] Either ... hand the president the absolute right, now and forever, to use American foreign policy as a lever to discredit their political rivals, or ... vote to impeach."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The former State Department special envoy for Ukraine told congressional investigators that Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney, insisted that Ukraine specifically commit to investigate involvement in the 2016 election and a firm tied to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. During testimony behind closed doors on Thursday, Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy, said Mr. Giuliani rejected a generic draft statement that Ukraine's government had agreed to issue committing to fighting corruption generally. While Mr. Giuliani's efforts to pressure Ukraine have been known, Mr. Volker's account provides new details about how the president's personal lawyer inserted himself into foreign policy to benefit Mr. Trump politically. Mr. Giuliani 'said that in his view, the statement should include specific reference to "Burisma" and "2016,"' Mr. Volker told the investigators, according to a person who has seen the testimony.... Mr. Volker sought in his testimony to distance himself from the pressure campaign by the president and Mr. Giuliani. 'At no time was I aware of or took part in an effort to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden,' he told investigators." ~~~

~~~ Christopher Miller, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "In his prepared testimony Thursday, [Kurt] Volker said he wanted to make five key points clear: His 'efforts were entirely focused on advancing U.S. foreign policy goals with respect to Ukraine.' 'Second, in May of this year, I became concerned that a negative narrative about Ukraine, fueled by assertions made by Ukraine's departing Prosecutor General, was reaching the President of the United States, and impeding our ability to support the new Ukrainian government as robustly as I believed we should. 'Third, at no time was I aware of or took part in an effort to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden.' Volker said that in the text messages he shared with Congress, 'Vice President Biden was never a topic of discussion.' However, the texts do explicitly mention Burisma, the Ukraine gas company where the presidential candidate's son Hunter Biden served on the board. 'Fourth, while executing my duties, I kept my colleagues at the State Department and National Security Council informed, and also briefed Congress, about my actions.' Fifth and finally, I strongly supported the provision of U.S. security assistance, including lethal defensive weapons, to Ukraine throughout my tenure." The reporters elaborate on those points. The report includes a copy of Volker's opening remarks.

Lying to the Old Folks on Our Dime. Annie Karni & Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday delivered a campaign-style speech to an audience of elderly voters, pitching a new executive order that aims to improve private Medicare plans as the responsible alternative to the 'Medicare for all' policies supported by some of his Democratic political opponents. 'Standing in solidarity with our nation's seniors, I declare once again that America will never be a socialist country,' Mr. Trump told a crowd at the Villages in Florida, the country's largest retirement community, where the population is overwhelmingly white and conservative and where many residents are veterans.... But while Mr. Trump's speech suggested that the Democratic proposals for expanding coverage put retirees' access to health care in grave danger, the plans would not actually diminish their benefits.... Mr. Trump's speech, delivered from behind a lectern with a presidential seal, was billed as an official White House event and his travel was not paid for by his campaign. But it was almost indistinguishable in much of its content from the remarks Mr. Trump delivers at his 'Make America Great Again' rallies."

Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "Iranian hackers have been targeting the email accounts of at least one presidential campaign, as well as those of American journalists and current and former United States government officials, according to Microsoft. In a report released on Friday, Microsoft said the hackers, with apparent backing from Iran's government, made more than 2,700 attempts to identify the email accounts of current and former government officials, journalists covering political campaigns and accounts associated with one major presidential campaign. Microsoft would not name the campaign." Mrs. McC: Iran, if you're listening, I hope it's Trump's campaign you're set on hacking.

The Oranges of Trump's Ukraine Conspiracy Theory. Ben Collins of NBC News: "An anonymous post from March 2017 on the far-right 4chan message board teased a conspiracy theory that would eventually make its way to the White House. 'Russia could not have been the source of leaked Democrat emails released by Wikileaks,' the post teased, not citing any evidence for the assertion. The post baselessly insinuated that CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that worked with the Democratic National Committee and had been contracted to investigate a hack of its servers, fabricated a forensics report to frame Russia for election interference.... In the years that followed the original 4chan post, at least three different but related conspiracy theories would warp and combine on the fringes of the internet, eventually coalescing around Ukraine's supposed role in helping Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. Ukraine wasn't originally part of the theory, but in July, Trump floated CrowdStrike's name during a call with the president of Ukraine as just one piece of a convoluted conspiracy accusation.... To even people who have followed these theories closely, Trump's call felt detached from any sense of logic.... This omnibus conspiracy theory has been frequently referred to on far-right blogs, Fox News and recently by the president as the Democrats' 'insurance policy,' a reference to the supposed setup as a way to impeach the president if Trump were to win the election."

Ali Vitali of NBC News: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has raised $24.6 million during the past three months, her campaign said Friday, beating her last quarter haul of $19.1 million and quadrupling her $6 million total from the first quarter of the year. The announcement comes as Warren, who has eschewed high-dollar events in favor of targeting small-dollar donations -- continues to solidify her place at or near the top of the Democratic presidential field in both polling and fundraising. She was outpaced only by fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders -- who leads the pack with $25.3 million raised in the third quarter -- and dwarfed the fundraising totals announced Thursday by former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign. Biden raised $15.2 million in the third quarter." ~~~

~~~ Ed Kilgore of New York: "At the moment, you could say the Democratic race remains dominated by the Big Three of Warren, Biden, and Sanders (in whatever order you choose to rank them), with fundraising dominating by a Big Four (those three plus Pete Buttigieg, who raised $24 million in the third quarter and $19 million in the fourth). Everyone trailing these candidates in either metric needs to make a move soon as voters prepare to vote."

~~~~~~~~~~

From "No Collusion!!!" to Pro-Collusion

The Alliterative Actuality. We're way past parody. Irony is irreclaimable. Farce is fucked. Burlesque is buried, and caricature has been kicked off the train.... We're in the midst of tragedy and travesty. Truly. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments

As the President of the United States, I have an absolute right, perhaps even a duty, to investigate, or have investigated, CORRUPTION, and that would include asking, or suggesting, other Countries to help us out! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet last night ~~~

~~~ But I swear by the Constitution I shall only exercise my absolute right when I see it will help me, Donald Trump. And if I force those other Countries to produce fake charges against my opponents, then like always I made a Great Deal. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Ukraine Case Proved. China Case Opened. I would think that if they were honest about it, they'd start a major investigation into the Bidens. It's a very simple answer. They should investigate the Bidens ... and by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened to China is just about as [bad as] what happened with Ukraine. -- Donald Trump, to reporters Thursday ~~~

~~~ Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday publicly called on China to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in an extraordinary presidential request to a foreign country for help that could benefit him in the 2020 election. 'China should start an investigation into the Bidens,' Mr. Trump said Thursday as he left the White House to travel to Florida where he was expected to announce an executive order on Medicare.... Mr. Trump made the comments about China ahead of the latest round of trade talks, which are set to take place next week. 'We're going to have a meeting with them, we'll see,' Mr. Trump said of the talks. 'I have a lot of options on China. But if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.'... Mr. Trump on Thursday said he had not personally asked President Xi for assistance. 'But it's certainly something we can start thinking about because I'm sure that President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny.'" Sullivan includes background on the right-wing theory that Joe Biden helped his son in an investment involving the state-owned Bank of China. The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kylie Atwood, et al., of CNN: "When ... Donald Trump suggested -- without prompting -- that China should investigate Joe Biden and his son..., the move startled Chinese officials, who say they have little interest in becoming embroiled in a US political controversy. And it amounted to the latest extraordinary effort by Trump to openly request political assistance from foreign governments. Thursday's comments weren't the first time Trump has injected Biden into his relationship with China.... During a phone call with [President] Xi [Jinping] on June 18, Trump raised Biden's political prospects as well as those of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who by then had started rising in the polls, according to two people familiar with the discussion. In that call, Trump also told Xi he would remain quiet on Hong Kong protests as trade talks progressed. The White House record of that call was later stored in the highly secured electronic system used to house a now-infamous phone call with Ukraine's President.... After this story published, Warren ... [tweeted], 'Trump can say what he wants about me, but it's outrageous that any president would sell out the people of Hong Kong behind closed doors. The public must see the transcript of Trump's call with Xi. And we need a leader who will stand up for our values.'"

Washington Post Editors: "It's hard to know where to begin in describing the gross impropriety of Mr. Trump's behavior. But we'll start with facts: The allegations that the president is suggesting Ukraine and China should investigate are manifestly false.... Mr. Trump is seeking to call attention to Hunter Biden's business involvement with foreign partners who were probably hoping to trade on his family name. That's unseemly -- but no more so than the business favors obtained by Mr. Trump's own children from China and other countries.... That a request for a foreign investigation of a U.S. citizen would come directly from the president, in the absence of any legitimate U.S. probe, is a blatant violation of that citizen's rights and of the U.S. rule of law." ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "Mr. Trump seems to be operating on the assumption that the more shameless his assault on democratic norms and laws, the more he can get away with. This is not how the system works, no matter how fervently Mr. Trump's Republican defenders may wish it so." ~~~

     ~~~ Got the Memo. Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson [R-Wis.] said Thursday there's nothing improper about ... Donald Trump's call on Chinese officials to investigate his top political rival in his 2020 re-election bid.... Johnson reiterated Thursday the Democrats' characterization of a phone call Trump made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky misrepresents its significance. 'I look at that transcript and I go, it's Trump being Trump,' Johnson said." Mrs. McC: "Trump being Trump" is the GOP's go-to answer to many of Trump's illegal or inappropriate acts. It's similar to shrugging off a mob hit with, "It's Gotti being Gotti." More on Johnson linked below.

     ~~~ Ignored the Memo. Joseph Morton of the Omaha World-Herald: "Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., took issue Thursday with ... Donald Trump urging China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son's business dealings there. 'Hold up: Americans don't look to Chinese commies for the truth,' Sasse said in a written statement to The World-Herald. 'If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that's a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps.'"

~~~ ** Adam Edelman of NBC News: "When asked ... whether he had asked China to investigate the Bidens, Trump replied, 'I haven't. But it's certainly something we could start thinking about,' he said. 'The guy got kicked out of the Navy and all of the sudden he's getting billions of dollars. You know what they call that? A pay-off,' he added.... Trump, seeking to expand his corruption accusations against the Bidens beyond Ukraine, has in recent days repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of using a 2013 trip on Air Force Two with his father, then the vice president, to procure $1.5 billion from China for a private equity fund he had started. Prior to Thursday, Trump had not called for investigation of the matter. Despite Trump's accusations, there has been no evidence of corruption on the part of the former vice president or his son.... Hunter Biden's spokesman ... told NBC News previously that Hunter Biden wasn't initially an 'owner' of the company and has never gotten paid for serving on the board. He said Hunter Biden didn't acquire an equity interest in the fund until 2017, after his father had left office. And when he did, he put in only about $420,000 -- a 10 percent interest. That puts the total capitalization of the fund at the time at about $4.2 million -- a far cry from the $1.5 billion that Trump has alleged. Trump also said Thursday that he still wants Ukraine to conduct 'a major investigation' into Joe and Hunter Biden." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "The Ukraine stuff alone here is terrible for Trump. The White House has claimed that the call to Ukraine was about expressing concerns about corruption there; now Trump seems to be openly admitting that his call was really just about his desire for the Ukrainians to go after Biden. But the China thing takes it to a whole new level.... The core of the argument for impeachment is that Trump is inappropriately wielding the power of the presidency to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. That is literally what he did Thursday, with not one but two different foreign leaders, on camera and in front of reporters. The president's theory seems to be that he can get away with this if he's brazen enough because it won't generate the same level of outrage as if it's done in secret and covered up." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "Donald Trump is being impeached for using his office to pressure foreign countries to investigate his political rivals. It is not clear Trump understands that, because he simply continues committing this offense in broad daylight.... Of course, Trump has started a trade war with China, and has personal control over the tariffs he imposes, which gives China a strong financial incentive to placate him. Trump was not shy about reminding the Chinese of this juxtaposition[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "On Thursday morning, Trump appeared to dispense with excuses altogether, no longer even bothering to contest the charge that he leaned on Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter. How do we know this? Because Trump did it again, live on camera, from the White House lawn.... You could practically hear the collective gasp in Washington. Republicans had spent days denying what Trump had more or less just admitted to.... Twitter wags immediately began wondering if the President had just committed the nation's first act of self-impeachment. On CNN, a chyron read 'TRUMP ADMITS TO VERY OFFENSE DEMS LOOKING TO IMPEACH OVER.'... Hillary Clinton tweeted, 'Someone should inform the president that impeachable offenses committed on national television still count.'" ~~~

~~~ The Threat to China Proves the Threat to Ukraine. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "This might be Trump's most problematic request of this sort, for a number of reasons.... This one has the potential for a really corrupt appearance. The chief reason for that: Trump is currently engaged in a trade war with China.... China could very logically now believe that further escalations [of Trump's trade war] might be tied to whether it takes the actions Trump wants. Any future decisions could be colored accordingly.... Even if you set aside the trade war, this is still a U.S. president suggesting that a foreign country do something that is transparently geared toward his own reelection bid.... Trump has intermittently argued -- however implausibly -- that his effort to get Ukraine to launch investigations is about rooting out corruption in that country; his now-public request of another investigation involving the Bidens makes clear what this is really about." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Ukraine May Do Trump a Favor, After All.* Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Ukraine's top prosecutor said on Friday that he would review several important cases previously handled by his predecessors, including a criminal case involving the owner of a natural gas company that employed a son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... It raises questions of whether Ukraine was, in effect, bowing to public and private pressure from the president of the United States, on which it has depended on for millions of dollars in aid. The prosecutor general, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, said he intended to review 15 cases in all, and mentioned several high-profile investigations of wealthy Ukrainians, including the owner of the natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, where Mr. Biden's son Hunter served on the board until earlier this year.... Mr. Ryaboshapka told journalists at a briefing in Kiev on Friday: 'The prosecution service is beyond politics. We are conducting an audit of all cases, including those which were investigated by the previous leadership of the prosecutor's office.'" ~~~

     ~~~ * Mrs. McCrabbie: It is possible this is a stall tactic. Ryaboshapka could either slow-walk the investigation into Burisma by burying it among 14 other investigations that just take forever to review. Or he could investigate Burisma's owner & ignore Hunter Biden's role altogether.

** White House Promotes Trump's/Barr's Abuse of Power. Meagan Vasquez of CNN: "The White House removed a section of its daily public newsletter on Thursday that suggested ... Donald Trump had instructed the Justice Department to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his family. The newsletter language, which was first reported by the Daily Beast, [Mrs. McC: DB story is firewalled] had said on Wednesday: 'This year President Trump has asked Ukraine to fully cooperate with the Justice Department's investigation into the actions of former Vice President Joe Biden and his family in Ukraine. According to the Daily Beast, the paragraph was altered by early Thursday to say the President 'has asked Ukraine to fully cooperate with any Justice Department's investigation into the actions of former Vice President Joe Biden and his family in Ukraine.' And later Thursday, the paragraph was deleted from the October 2 newsletter page before the entire webpage was updated with the next day's newsletter issue." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Tuesday night, I posited that maybe mike pence missed the import of Trump's ask of Zelensky "because Trump's solicitation was just one more commonplace corruption transaction too routine to notice." That seems more likely now. Everyone left in the regime -- from the veep on down to the people who put out the daily newsletter -- is so warped by Trump's bad behavior that his corrupt or unconstitutional misdeeds are either okay or so great they should be advertised.

Rebecca Ballhaus, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "President Trump ordered the removal of the ambassador to Ukraine after months of complaints from allies outside the administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, that she was undermining him abroad and obstructing efforts to persuade Kyiv to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, according to people familiar with the matter.... State Department officials were told this spring that [Marie] Yovanovitch's removal was a priority for the president, a person familiar with the matter said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo supported the move, an administration official said. Ms. Yovanovitch was told by State Department officials that they couldn't shield her from attacks by the president and his allies.... In an interview, Mr. Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal that in the lead-up to Ms. Yovanovitch's removal, he reminded the president of complaints percolating among Trump supporters that she had displayed an anti-Trump bias in private conversations.... She was recalled at least three months before the end of the customary three-year diplomatic tenure. Mr. Giuliani told the Journal that when he mentioned the ambassador to the president this spring, Mr. Trump 'remembered he had a problem with her earlier and thought she had been dismissed.' Mr. Giuliani said he subsequently received a call from a White House official -- whom he declined to identify -- asking him to list his concerns about the ambassador again. Mr. Giuliani said he gave Mr. Pompeo a nine-page document dated March 28 that included a detailed timeline of the Bidens' dealings in Ukraine and allegations of impropriety against Ms. Yovanovitch, including that she was 'very close' to Mr. Biden." Mrs. McC: Again, I don't know why I was able to link to this firewalled article. TPM has a story summary here.

Trump & Co. Plan to Assert There's No Impeachment Inquiry. Alayna Treene & Margaret Talev of Axios: "The White House is planning to send Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter as soon as Friday arguing that President Trump and his team can ignore lawmakers' demands until she holds a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry, 2 sources familiar with the letter tell Axios.... Trump wants to force House Democrats in vulnerable races to be on the record if they favor pursuing impeachment, these sources tell us.... Several White House lawyers spent a good chunk of their Thursday reviewing the language in the letter, expecting that it could find its way before a judge. Meanwhile, Pelosi maintains that there 'is no requirement under the Constitution, under House Rules, or House precedent that the whole House vote before proceeding with an impeachment inquiry,' as she stated in a Thursday letter to the House's Republican Leader, Kevin McCarthy."

U.S. "Diplomats" Tried to Coerce Ukraine to Help Trump's Re-election Campaign

     ~~~ ** Update. Josh Lederman of NBC News: "Text messages given to Congress show U.S. ambassadors working to persuade Ukraine to publicly commit to investigating ... Donald Trump's political opponents and explicitly linking the inquiry to whether Ukraine's president would be granted an official White House visit.... [The text messages [U.S. envoy Kurt] Volker provided to House investigators yesterday] ... offer the fullest picture to date of how top diplomats and [Rudy] Giuliani sought to advance Trump's goal of getting the Ukrainians to investigate both meddling in the 2016 election and Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.... Volker and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland -- both political appointees -- repeatedly stressed the need to get the Ukrainians to agree to the exact language that [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy would use in announcing an investigation, the texts indicate.... The whistleblower complaint said multiple U.S. officials had been 'deeply concerned' about Giuliani's interference in U.S.-Ukraine relations. The whistleblower reported that the officials had said both Volker and Sondland 'had spoken with Mr. Giuliani in an attempt to "contain the damage" to U.S. national security.' But the text messages show Volker and Sondland playing an active role in advancing Trump's goal of forcing a Ukrainian investigation [of the Bidens & supposed Ukraine interference in the 2016 presidential election].... In fact, the only U.S. official included in the text messages who pushes back is a career diplomat, William Taylor, who became the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine after Trump pulled Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch out of her post earlier this year."

** Here's a readout of the text messages, provided to ABC News by a House committee.

The Shakedown Letter. Ken Vogel & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Two of President Trump's top envoys to Ukraine drafted a statement for the country's new president in August that would have committed Ukraine to pursuing investigations sought by Mr. Trump into his political rivals, three people briefed on the effort said. The drafting of the statement marks new evidence of how Mr. Trump's fixation with Ukraine began driving senior diplomats to bend American foreign policy to the president's political agenda in the weeks after the July 25 call between the two leaders. The statement was drafted by Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt D. Volker, then the State Department's envoy to Ukraine, according to the three people who have been briefed on it.... The statement was written with the awareness of a top aide to the Ukrainian president, as well as Rudolph W. Giuliani.... It is unclear if the statement was delivered to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, but no statement was released publicly under his name.... The statement would have committed Ukraine to investigating the energy company Burisma, which had employed Hunter Biden.... And it would have called for the Ukrainian government to look into what Mr. Trump and his allies believe was interference by Ukrainians in the 2016 election in the United States to benefit Hillary Clinton.... Mr. Sondland and Mr. Volker believed that Mr. Giuliani was 'poisoning' Mr. Trump's mind about Ukraine and that eliciting a public commitment from Mr. Zelensky to pursue the investigations would induce Mr. Trump to more fully support the new Ukrainian government...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: One might take with a grain of salt Volker's & Sondland's reported motives for drafting the statement.

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy information from Ukrainian political figures about former vice president Joe Biden and his son, according to two people familiar with his testimony.... [Kurt] Volker's testimony offers the first inside account of the Trump administration's efforts to press for a Ukrainian investigation into Trump's political rival.... Volker also said that he and other State Department officials cautioned the Ukrainians to steer clear of U.S. politics. Getting involved, he said he told them, would open the nation up to allegations that they were interfering in an election and could be detrimental to Ukraine long-term, according to these two individuals.... Volker faced hours of questioning Thursday from members of the House committees leading an impeachment inquiry into Trump, the first of five former and current State Department officials to testify as part of the probe." (Also linked yesterday.)

Here are earlier stories, based on a portion of the text messages Volker turned over to Congress yesterday:

     ~~~ Crazy Quid Pro Quo. Katherine Faulders & Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "In newly disclosed text messages shared with Congress, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine writes to a group of other American diplomats that 'I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.' The exchange, provided by former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of his closed-door deposition before multiple House committees Thursday, shows what appears to be encrypted text messages he exchanged with two other American diplomats in September ... just days before the White House released the military assistance to Ukraine..... In the exchange..., the concerns are expressed by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, responds to Taylor..., 'Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo's of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign,' Sondland says. Sondland then suggests to the group take the conversations off line, typing, 'I suggest we stop the back and forth by text.'... In a separate thread between Sondland and Volker directly, the two diplomats discussed contacts with Ukrainian officials and requests for them to open an investigation. They appear to be drafting language for Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into 'the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ digby: "It appears that discussion happened as the new of Trump blackmailing Ukraine was dribbling out. I presume that Trump's factotum Sondland also knew this was bubbling up when he made that very obvious CYA comment." Mrs. McC: digby's supposition, written before publication of the full set of text messages, is backed up by later reporting. Worth noting: Sondland's main job qualification was a $1MM+ donation to Trump's inaugural committee. Andrea Mitchell has questioned how he got in the loop in the first place: Sondland is ambassador to the European Union, and Ukraine is not an E.U. member. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Call Me. Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The texts ... come from a series of early September exchanges. The texts among Mr. Volker, Mr. Sondland and Mr. Taylor portray Mr. Taylor as a diplomat deeply skeptical of the Trump administration's approach to Ukraine, flabbergasted that the military assistance had been cut off -- and firmly believing that the White House was asking for Ukraine to begin political investigations in return for the aid being released -- a charge at the heart of the impeachment investigation.... 'As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,' Mr. Taylor wrote on Sept. 9 to Mr. Volker and [Mr.] Sondland.... [Here's where Sondland gave his CYA response & said to quit texting.]... Roughly a week earlier, on Sept. 1, Mr. Taylor had asked Mr. Sondland, 'Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?' Mr. Sondland replied simply, 'Call me.'"

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "It's generally not a good sign when a government official sends a written message questioning the propriety of an action and another official replies by suggesting they talk on the phone.... While the released text messages aren't comprehensive (representing' only a subset of the full body of the materials,' according to the letter accompanying the messages) and don't directly implicate Trump..., [they contain,] in two suggestive moments, specifically the sort of don't-document-this responses that imply an awareness of lines being crossed. 1. There's an explicitly stated quid pro quo.... 'Heard from White House,' [Kurt Volker] wrote [to Andrey Yermak, an adviser to President Zelensky], 'assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate / "get to the bottom of what happened" in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington.'... 2. The U.S. helped shape a statement from Ukraine mentioning the Biden probe.... 3. There's a strong suggestion that military aid was used as leverage -- and hints at an attempt to hide that. By the end of August, the Ukrainians had learned that the United States is withholding military aid, a decision made by Trump before the July 25 call.... 'Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?' [Bill] Taylor asked [on Sept 1]. 'Call me,' [Gordon] Sondland replied. And their conversation on that central point was not recorded."

Huh. Ben Lefebvre & Theodoric Meyer of Politico: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to announce his resignation from the administration by the end of November, according to three people familiar with his plans. Perry, who had been Texas' longest serving governor before joining ... Donald Trump's Cabinet in 2017, has largely avoided the controversies that felled others in the administration. But his travels to Ukraine have lately embroiled him in the impeachment inquiry engulfing Trump and his inner circle, even though two of the people called the scandal unrelated to Perry's departure, which they said he has been planning for several months.... Perry has drawn scrutiny because he led the U.S. delegation to Ukrainia President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May, a visit that came as the administration was trying to determine whether the new leader would be amenable to Trump's demands.... No evidence has emerged that Perry was directly involved with Trump's attempt to drum up an investigation of his political opponent, but Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J) earlier this week sent a letter to Perry requesting information about his activities and interactions there.... Perry, a frequent traveler to Eastern Europe as pitchman for U.S. energy exports, was also a subject in the subpoena that House Democrats served to ... Rudy Giuliani earlier this week. The subpoena includes a demand for documents and other communications involving Perry and [Giuliani.]... A second subpoena expected to be issued this week will seek details of conversations between acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Perry...."

Thanks to MAG for the artwork. BTW, the " Wah! Wah! Wah!" script here is called Kremlin.MEANWHILE, in Finland. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Wednesday's roller coaster news conference with President Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto elicited ridicule and some concern in Finland, where many celebrated their leader on Thursday for enduring with dignity what they largely described as a Trump monologue. Coming from a nation that ranks second on the World Press Freedom Index -- compared with the United States, which ranks 48th -- stunned Finnish reporters described to their readers back home a 'circus' and parallel reality in the White House. Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet offered a blunt summary of the meeting: 'Niinistö's visit was overshadowed by Circus Trump - President Niinisto asked Trump to safeguard US democracy.'... [At the press events], Niinisto largely looked on in silence. Photos of his bewildered face quickly circulated online. But when Trump began responding to a question addressed to Niinisto, he interrupted: 'I think the question is for me.' In what Finnish commentators suggested was a subtle dig at Trump, Niinisto at one point also said: 'Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on.' (Trump appeared to interpret that remark as praise.)" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm surprised the Finns had time to focus on the bilateral meetings. It's autumn, the leaves are falling, and they should all be out raking & vacuuming the forest floors.

Dumbest Senator Forgot He Agreed with Joe Biden in 2016. Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "A newly unearthed letter from 2016 shows that Republican senators pushed for reforms to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office and judiciary, echoing calls then-Vice President Joe Biden made at the time. CNN's KFile found a February 2016 bipartisan letter signed by several Republican senators that urged then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to 'press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General's office and judiciary.' The letter ... further undercuts a baseless attack made by ... Donald Trump and his allies that Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to stop investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company that his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of.... The 2016 letter ... was signed by Republican Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Kirk and Ron Johnson, as well as Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy, Sherrod Brown, and Richard Blumenthal and focused on longstanding issues of corruption in Ukraine and urged reforms of the government.... Johnson signed onto a letter with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley last week to Attorney General Bill Barr asking him to investigate, in part, allegations surrounding Biden and Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Sure enough, the Milwaukee Journal reports (linked above), "Johnson said ... [Thursday] he didn't remember the letter."

Donnie, Rudy & Other Shady Characters. Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: In May, "months before an intelligence community whistleblower accused President Trump's lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani of digging for dirt on former vice president Joe Biden in Ukraine, many in that country knew what he was up to and some were talking about it publicly. One Ukrainian oligarch in particular, a figure close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, [-- he owned the TV station that distributed Zelensky's comedy show --] claims to have first-hand knowledge of Giuliani's activities because, he says, Giuliani's business associates [Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman] tried to rope him into the scheme. When this Ukrainian business tycoon, Ihor Kolomoisky, rejected Giuliani's request for help, Giuliani attacked him on Twitter and called for him to be investigated. Kolomoisky then gave an on-the-record interview on Ukrainian television in which he predicted that Giuliani was soon going to be the center of a 'big scandal' in the United States.... Kolomoisky is no innocent. In addition to being accused of extensive financial crimes, the Ukrainian-Jewish billionaire also stands accused of using quasi-military forces on behalf of his PrivatBank to corruptly take over other companies." ~~~

     ~~~ Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly has more on Giuliani's clients (or something) Parnas & Fruman. After citing part of a July BuzzFeed News profile of these guys, LeTourneau writes, "Given that these two men are not only fraudsters, but bad fraudsters, it might seem surprising that last year they began pumping big dollars into the coffers of Trump super PACs and Republican campaigns. For example, in May 2018, a company owned by Parnas and Fruman, Global Energy Producers, made a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a political action committee supporting Trump's re-election. ABC News reported that 'the company has no listed office address or phone number, no announced deals or contracts, and a bare bones one-page website that features only a countdown clock that long ago ticked down to zeros.'" Despite this, some unknown entity dropped $1.26MM in an account of a company Parnas owned. A few days later, Parnas made a $325K donation to America Trump Action, a U.S. PAC supporting Trump's re-election. And a few days after that, Donnie Junior posed for a photo with Parnas & Fruman at the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge. ~~~

~~~ Speaking of Junior.... Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... if anyone should sit out trying to exploit the [Hunter Biden] situation it is the Trump children.... The hypocrisy and irony of [Donald Junior & Eric Trump speaking out against Hunter's "conflict of interest"] -- pushed by an arm of the Trump campaign despite Eric and Don Jr.'s (broken) promise to stay out of politics so conflicts of interest could be avoided between their father and the family business they now manage on his behalf -- is truly staggering.... They themselves are guilty of everything they're accusing the Bidens of -- and then some.... Just hours before [Junior & Eric appeared on Fox 'News' to criticize Hunter Biden], Forbes reported that Eric and Don Jr. have sold more than $100 million of the family's real estate since the January 2017 inauguration -- including a $3.2 million deal in the Dominican Republic last year that is 'the clearest violation of their father's pledge to do no new foreign deals while in office.'"

Joshua Green of Bloomberg: "To understand how Trump wound up the target of a House impeachment inquiry, it's first necessary to understand why he was so obsessed with finding dirt on Biden.... The notion ... was first aired in a 2018 book, Secret Empires ... by conservative author Peter Schweizer.... Schweizer, [same author of Clinton Cash] an editor at Breitbart News, is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) [with Steve Bannon being GAI founding chairman], a nonprofit group whose board chairwoman and major donor is Rebekah Mercer, a prominent Trump supporter and benefactor of right-wing causes.... [T]he impact of Secret Empires [after publication] landed almost exclusively in conservative media.... The information needs to be legitimized -- or 'weaponized,' to use Bannon's term -- through the mainstream press. This requires patience, restraint, and ... sophistication.... Impatient to advance a story he believed would damage Biden, Trump tapped Giuliani, who told the New York Times in May that he was going to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, to push the new government to investigate the Bidens." --s

Twitter Finally Polices Trump -- A Little (or Liddle). Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "In a tweet on Wednesday, President Trump addressed his social media followers with four words, all caps: 'LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH!' Under that was a video showing Chad Kroeger, the lead singer of the Canadian postgrunge rock band Nickelback, holding a framed picture of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., his son Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian businessman. The video, which Twitter had removed by Thursday morning, is from the music video for 'Photograph,' a 2005 Nickelback single. In the song's original video, Mr. Kroeger holds up an old picture of himself and a friend as he sings: 'Look at this photograph/Every time I do it makes me laugh....'... Mr. Trump used an altered version of that footage, and he was far from the first to do so. The Nickelback meme is more than a decade old, and you can find multiple versions online...." ~~~

~~~ Alex Hern of the Guardian: "A video posted by Donald Trump has been removed from Twitter after a copyright claim by the rock band Nickelback."

David Corn of Mother Jones: "The story of the most profound betrayal a president can commit has vanished from the national discourse.... Last Friday night, the Washington Post published a stunning article reporting that during an Oval Office meeting in May 2017, Trump told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak that Trump was unconcerned about Moscow's attack on the 2016 presidential election.... Trump telling the Russians he did not care about the attack ... would mark a dereliction of his primary duty as president: to protect the nation.... On Wednesday, when asked if Moscow would target the coming US election, Russian leader Vladimir Putin joked, 'I'll tell you a secret: Yes, we';ll definitely do it.' And he added in a stage whisper, 'Just don't tell anyone.'" --s

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president's tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document. Trump administration officials dismissed the whistleblower's complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it to a federal judge. They are also discussing whether to make it public.... The whistleblower is a career IRS official.... Key parts of the complaint remain under wraps in part because of strict privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of any details related to the filing of tax returns." (Also linked yesterday.) The Week has a summary of the WashPo report.

Most normal, well adjusted people, even under great stress are able to hold it together in public for something important, even if they go into their office and start throwing stuff afterward. Not Trump. He can't even walk down the hall without screaming at the walls. -- Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments

Trump is Constitutionally and constitutionally unfit. George Conway in the Atlantic: "... you don't need to be a mental-health professional to see that something's very seriously off with Trump -- particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House.... He's also incapable of consistently telling the truth.... Simply put, Trump's ingrained and extreme behavioral characteristics make it impossible for him to carry out the duties of the presidency in the way the Constitution requires.... [The Framers intended that], while carrying out his official duties, a president has to put the country, not himself, first; he must faithfully follow and enforce the law; and he must act with the utmost care in doing all that." Conway goes into a long riff on Trump's narcissism, sociopathy and more briefly, cognitive decline. "When you line up what the Framers expected of a president with all that we know about Donald Trump, his unfitness becomes obvious.... Now that the House of Representatives has embarked on an impeachment inquiry, one of the most important judgments it must make is whether any identified breaches of duty are likely to be repeated. And if a Senate trial comes to pass, that issue would become central as well to the decision to remove the president from office. That's when Trump' behavioral and psychological characteristics should -- must -- come into play. From the evidence, it appears that he simply can't stop himself from putting his own interests above the nation's." Thanks to Anonymous for the link. This is quite a long piece and worth reading. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You can bet Conway knows more about Trump's "erratic & abnormal behavior" than the rest of us do: his wife Kellyanne must have told him a basketful of doozies. However, he sticks to the public record. And there is a massive amount of there there to back up Conway's assertions.

Martyn Mclaughlin of The Scotsman: "The Trump Organisation's plans for a major expansion of its flagship Scottish resort by building swaths of housing and luxury villas have been thwarted, further jeopardising efforts by the US president's company to stem multimillion pound losses at its most prestigious overseas property.... Since he acquired it in 2014, Turnberry's parent firm has run up four consecutive years of losses, amounting to nearly £33m. It is also reliant on £107m in interest free loans provided by the 73-year-old." --s

Hamed Aleaziz of Buzzfeed: "The Trump administration is planning to enable immigration officers to begin collecting DNA samples from undocumented immigrants who are being detained, officials said Wednesday. The move will likely anger civil liberties and immigrant advocates who argue the government should not draw sensitive personal information from people without being tied to a specific crime.... Proposed regulations are not immediately enacted and require a 60-day public comment period." --s The New York Times story is here.

Garance Burke & Martha Mendoza of the AP: "Sheltering migrant children has become a growing business for the Florida-based government contractor [Comprehensive Health Services Inc.], as the number of minors in government custody has swollen to record levels over the past two years.... The children, many in matching black pants and gray sweatshirts, are officially under the custody of the federal government. But a joint investigation by The Associated Press and FRONTLINE has found that the Trump administration has started shifting some of the caretaking of migrant children toward the private sector and contractors instead of the largely religious-based nonprofit grantees that have long cared for the kids." --s

David Shepardson & David Lawder of Reuters: "The Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on French wine, Italian cheese and single-malt Scotch whisky — but spared Italian wine, pasta and olive oil -- in retaliation for European Union subsidies on large aircraft. The U.S. Trade Representative's Office released a list of hundreds of European products that will get new tariffs, including cookies, salami, butter and yogurt - but in many cases applied to only some EU countries, including German camera parts and blankets produced in the United Kingdom. The list includes UK-made sweaters, pullovers, cashmere items and wool clothing, as well as olives from France and Spain, EU-produced pork sausage and other pork products other than ham, and German coffee. The new tariffs are to take effect as early as Oct. 18.... The main target of the U.S. tariffs is Airbus aircraft made in the EU, which face 10% levy that could hurt U.S. airlines such as Delta (DAL.N) that have billions of dollars of Airbus orders waiting to be filled." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Reuters doesn't say so, but Jen Kirby of Vox explains why: "The United States is imposing $7.5 billion in tariffs on imports from the European Union starting October 18 basically because the World Trade Organization said it could. These taxes against the EU stem from a 15-year battle over aviation subsidies that long predates the tariff-happy Trump." Mrs. McC: Sorry I forgot to link these stories earlier. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Michael Grynbaum & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "CNN rejected a pair of provocative ads from President Trump's re-election campaign on Thursday, saying the 30-second spots deriding the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry -- one deeming the effort 'nothing short of a coup' -- contained inaccuracies and unfairly attacked the network's journalists.... The Trump ads were recently posted online as part of what the campaign said was a multimillion-dollar advertising buy on national cable stations and digital platforms. One, 'Biden Corruption,' repeats unsubstantiated allegations about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s activities in Ukraine.... CNN said it had also rejected another Trump ad, 'Coup,' which presents the impeachment inquiry as an effort 'to undo the election, regardless of facts,' and accuses House Democrats of 'fabricating evidence.'... CNN said it had agreed to carry a third commercial submitted by the Trump campaign, which focuses on the president's accomplishments in office." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Ali Breland of Mother Jones: "... Donald Trump is taking advantage of a Facebook exemption that allows politicians to lie in advertisements to spread disinformation about former Vice President Joe Biden's 2015 diplomatic trip to Ukraine. Even though the ads contain misinformation, a Facebook spokesperson says they did not violate their company's advertising policy because of carveout for politicians. The ads, which both include the false claim that Biden's son Hunter was under investigation during the vice president's Ukrainian trip, are accompanied by a video with a narrator voicing each ad's text over a backdrop of ominous music and grainy footage." ~~~

~~~ Michael Calderone of Politico: "Joe Biden's presidential campaign is urging Fox News not to run a Trump 2020 campaign advertisement it claims 'spreads false, definitively debunked conspiracy theories.' In a letter to Fox News and Fox Business general counsel Lily Claffee, Biden campaign manager Greg Schultz wrote that the ad 'falsely states' that 'Biden offered Ukraine $1 billion to fire the prosecutor investigating a company affiliated with his son.' There is no evidence to support the claim that the former vice president intervened in Ukraine to benefit his son, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.... 'We are not in the business of censoring ads from candidates on either side of the aisle,' a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to Politico."

David Badash of Alternet: "Donald Trump's top religion advisor Dr. Robert Jeffress has some news for the millions of Democratic voters who happen to be Christians: You are not. Dr. Jeffress, who sits on President Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board and even led a private pre-inauguration sermon for the Trump and Pence families hours before the president was sworn in..., on Monday ... declared that the god Democrats actually 'worship is the pagan god of the Old Testament, Moloch.'... Jeffress has condemned Judaism, Catholicism, Islam, and various forms of Christianity including Mormonism as not 'true' religions." --s

Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "MGM Resorts International has agreed t pay up to $800 million to settle lawsuits from victims of the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and hundreds of others injured. The killer, Stephen Paddock, holed up inside his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which MGM owns, and then fired into the crowd at a country music festival below. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. One of the lawyers for the victims, Robert Eglet, said on Thursday the settlement would be in the range of $735 million to $800 million and would resolve 'substantially all' of the lawsuits and claims against MGM related to the massacre." The CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "European policymakers said Thursday that a new Brexit proposal from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was unworkable, heightening the prospects of a chaotic British departure from the European Union within weeks. Although leaders, politicians and negotiators did not dismiss Johnson's plan out of hand, they made clear the current offer would not win support from the 27 countries that need to sign off on any withdrawal deal, and they were downbeat about it serving as the basis for serious negotiations. British negotiators plan to visit Brussels again Friday. The Guardian's liveblog, which covers this development, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

CNBC: "Unemployment hit a fresh 50-year low in September even though nonfarm payrolls rose by just 136,000 as the economy nears full employment, the Labor Department reported Friday. The jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%, matching a level it last saw in December 1969. A more encompassing measure that includes discouraged workers and the underemployed also fell, declining 0.3 percent points to 6.9%, matching its lowest in nearly 19 years and just off the all-time low of 6.8%."

New York Times: "Diahann Carroll, who more than half a century ago transcended racial barriers as the star of 'Julia,' the first American television series to chronicle the life of a black professional woman, died on Friday at her home in West Hollywood, Calif. She was 84."

The Commentariat -- October 3, 2019

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president's tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document. Trump administration officials dismissed the whistleblower's complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it to a federal judge. They are also discussing whether to make it public.... The whistleblower is a career IRS official.... Key parts of the complaint remain under wraps in part because of strict privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of any details related to the filing of tax returns."

John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy information from Ukrainian political figures about former vice president Joe Biden and his son, according to two people familiar with his testimony.... [Kurt] Volker's testimony offers the first inside account of the Trump administration's efforts to press for a Ukrainian investigation into Trump's political rival.... Volker also said that he and other State Department officials cautioned the Ukrainians to steer clear of U.S. politics. Getting involved, he said he told them, would open the nation up to allegations that they were interfering in an election and could be detrimental to Ukraine long-term, according to these two individuals.... Volker faced hours of questioning Thursday from members of the House committees leading an impeachment inquiry into Trump, the first of five former and current State Department officials to testify as part of the probe." ~~~

     ~~~ Katherine Faulders & Conor Finnegan of ABC News: "In newly disclosed text messages shared with Congress, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine writes to a group of other American diplomats that 'I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.' The exchange, provided by former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of his closed-door deposition before multiple House committees Thursday, shows what appears to be encrypted text messages he exchanged with two other American diplomats in September ... just days before the White House released the military assistance to Ukraine.... In the exchange..., the concerns are expressed by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, responds to Taylor..., 'Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo's of any kind...,' Sondland says.... In a separate thread between Sondland and Volker directly, the two diplomats discussed contacts with Ukrainian officials and requests for them to open an investigation. They appear to be drafting language for Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into 'the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians.'"

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday publicly called on China to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in an extraordinary presidential request to a foreign country for help that could benefit him in the 2020 election. 'China should start an investigation into the Bidens,' Mr. Trump said Thursday as he left the White House to travel to Florida where he was expected to announce an executive order on Medicare.... Mr. Trump made the comments about China ahead of the latest round of trade talks, which are set to take place next week. 'We're going to have a meeting with them, we'll see,' Mr. Trump said of the talks. 'I have a lot of options on China. But if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power.'... Mr. Trump on Thursday said he had not personally asked President Xi for assistance. 'But it's certainly something we can start thinking about because I'm sure that President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny.'" Sullivan includes background on the right-wing theory that Joe Biden helped his son in an investment involving the state-owned Bank of China. The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Edelman of NBC News: "When asked ... whether he had asked China to investigate the Bidens, Trump replied, 'I haven't. But it's certainly something we could start thinking about,' he said. 'The guy got kicked out of the Navy and all of the sudden he's getting billions of dollars. You know what they call that? A pay-off,' he added.... Trump, seeking to expand his corruption accusations against the Bidens beyond Ukraine, has in recent days repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of using a 2013 trip on Air Force Two with his father, then the vice president, to procure $1.5 billion from China for a private equity fund he had started. Prior to Thursday, Trump had not called for investigation of the matter. Despite Trump's accusations, there has been no evidence of corruption on the part of the former vice president or his son.... Hunter Biden's spokesman, George Mesires, told NBC News previously that Hunter Biden wasn't initially an 'owner' of the company and has never gotten paid for serving on the board. He said Hunter Biden didn't acquire an equity interest in the fund until 2017, after his father had left office. And when he did, he put in only about $420,000 -- a 10 percent interest. That puts the total capitalization of the fund at the time at about $4.2 million -- a far cry from the $1.5 billion that Trump has alleged. Trump also said Thursday that he still wants Ukraine to conduct 'a major investigation' into Joe and Hunter Biden." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "Donald Trump is being impeached for using his office to pressure foreign countries to investigate his political rivals. It is not clear Trump understands that, because he simply continues committing this offense in broad daylight.... Of course, Trump has started a trade war with China, and has personal control over the tariffs he imposes, which gives China a strong financial incentive to placate him. Trump was not shy about reminding the Chinese of this juxtaposition[.]" ~~~

~~~ The Threat to China Proves the Threat to Ukraine. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "This might be Trump's most problematic request of this sort, for a number of reasons.... This one has the potential for a really corrupt appearance. The chief reason for that: Trump is currently engaged in a trade war with China.... China could very logically now believe that further escalations [of Trump's trade war] might be tied to whether it takes the actions Trump wants. Any future decisions could be colored accordingly.... Even if you set aside the trade war, this is still a U.S. president suggesting that a foreign country do something that is transparently geared toward his own reelection bid.... Trump has intermittently argued -- however implausibly -- that his effort to get Ukraine to launch investigations is about rooting out corruption in that country; his now-public request of another investigation involving the Bidens makes clear what this is really about."

Dumbest Senator Forgot He Agreed with Joe Biden in 2016. Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "A newly unearthed letter from 2016 shows that Republican senators pushed for reforms to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office and judiciary, echoing calls then-Vice President Joe Biden made at the time. CNN's KFile found a February 2016 bipartisan letter signed by several Republican senators that urged then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to 'press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General's office and judiciary.' The letter ... further undercuts a baseless attack made by ... Donald Trump and his allies that Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to stop investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company that his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of.... The 2016 letter ... was signed by Republican Sens. Rob Portman, Mark Kirk and Ron Johnson, as well as Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy, Sherrod Brown, and Richard Blumenthal and focused on longstanding issues of corruption in Ukraine and urged reforms of the government.... Johnson signed onto a letter with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley last week to Attorney General Bill Barr asking him to investigate, in part, allegations surrounding Biden and Ukraine."

Most normal, well adjusted people, even under great stress are able to hold it together in public for something important, even if they go into their office and start throwing stuff afterward. Not Trump. He can't even walk down the hall without screaming at the walls. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments

MEANWHILE, in Finland. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Wednesday's roller coaster news conference with President Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto elicited ridicule and some concern in Finland, where many celebrated their leader on Thursday for enduring with dignity what they largely described as a Trump monologue. Coming from a nation that ranks second on the World Press Freedom Index -- compared with the United States, which ranks 48th -- stunned Finnish reporters described to their readers back home a 'circus' and parallel reality in the White House. Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet offered a blunt summary of the meeting: 'Niinistö's visit was overshadowed by Circus Trump - President Niinisto asked Trump to safeguard US democracy.'... [At the press events], Niinisto largely looked on in silence. Photos of his bewildered face quickly circulated online. But when Trump began responding to a question addressed to Niinisto, he interrupted: 'I think the question is for me.' In what Finnish commentators suggested was a subtle dig at Trump, Niinisto at one point also said: 'Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on.' (Trump appeared to interpret that remark as praise.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm surprised the Finns had time to focus on the bilateral meetings. It's autumn, the leaves are falling, and they should all be out raking & vacuuming the forest floors.

George Conway in the Atlantic: "... you don't need to be a mental-health professional to see that something's very seriously off with Trump -- particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House.... He's also incapable of consistently telling the truth.... Simply put, Trump's ingrained and extreme behavioral characteristics make it impossible for him to carry out the duties of the presidency in the way the Constitution requires.... [The Framers intended that], while carrying out his official duties, a president has to put the country, not himself, first; he must faithfully follow and enforce the law; and he must act with the utmost care in doing all that." Conway goes into a long riff on Trump's narcissism, sociopathy and more briefly, cognitive decline. "When you line up what the Framers expected of a president with all that we know about Donald Trump, his unfitness becomes obvious.... Now that the House of Representatives has embarked on an impeachment inquiry, one of the most important judgments it must make is whether any identified breaches of duty are likely to be repeated. And if a Senate trial comes to pass, that issue would become central as well to the decision to remove the president from office. That's when Trump's behavioral and psychological characteristics should -- must -- come into play. From the evidence, it appears that he simply can't stop himself from putting his own interests above the nation's." Thanks to Anonymous for the link. This is quite a long piece and worth reading.

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You can bet Conway knows more about Trump's "erratic & abnormal behavior" than the rest of us do: his wife Kellyanne must have told him a basketful of doozies. However, he sticks to the public record. And there is a massive amount of there there to back up Conway's assertions.

David Shepardson & David Lawder of Reuters: "The Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on French wine, Italian cheese and single-malt Scotch whisky -- but spared Italian wine, pasta and olive oil -- in retaliation for European Union subsidies on large aircraft. The U.S. Trade Representative's Office released a list of hundreds of European products that will get new tariffs, including cookies, salami, butter and yogurt - but in many cases applied to only some EU countries, including German camera parts and blankets produced in the United Kingdom. The list includes UK-made sweaters, pullovers, cashmere items and wool clothing, as well as olives from France and Spain, EU-produced pork sausage and other pork products other than ham, and German coffee. The new tariffs are to take effect as early as Oct. 18.... The main target of the U.S. tariffs is Airbus aircraft made in the EU, which face 10% levy that could hurt U.S. airlines such as Delta ... that have billions of dollars of Airbus orders waiting to be filled." ~~~

     ~~~ Reuters doesn't say so, but Jen Kirby of Vox explains why: "The United States is imposing $7.5 billion in tariffs on imports from the European Union starting October 18 basically because the World Trade Organization said it could. These taxes against the EU stem from a 15-year battle over aviation subsidies that long predates the tariff-happy Trump."

Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "MGM Resorts International has agreed to pay up to $800 million to settle lawsuits from victims of the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and hundreds of others injured. The killer, Stephen Paddock, holed up inside his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which MGM owns, and then fired into the crowd at a country music festival below. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. One of the lawyers for the victims, Robert Eglet, said on Thursday the settlement would be in the range of $735 million to $800 million and would resolve 'substantially all' of the lawsuits and claims against MGM related to the massacre." The CNN story is here.

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "European policymakers said Thursday that a new Brexit proposa from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was unworkable, heightening the prospects of a chaotic British departure from the European Union within weeks. Although leaders, politicians and negotiators did not dismiss Johnson's plan out of hand, they made clear the current offer would not win support from the 27 countries that need to sign off on any withdrawal deal, and they were downbeat about it serving as the basis for serious negotiations. British negotiators plan to visit Brussels again Friday. The Guardian's liveblog, which covers this development, is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tangled Web, Ctd.

The active members of the Trump, Inc. Ukraine conspiracy now include -- among others -- the President*, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the President*'s personal lawyer, and a convicted felon currently residing in a federal pen.

Hillary Clinton appeared on Rachel Maddow's show Wednesday. She spoke with deep knowledge & clarity about the nature of Trump's wrongdoing & about the impeachment process. She spoke in long, complex sentences, employing a sophisticated vocabulary, about foundational principles and drew apt comparisons between disparate topics & events. Everything she said was based in fact. The President* of the United States said he had a "perfect" conversation, that impeachment was "BULLSHIT," that Adam Schiff couldn't carry Mike Pompeo's jock-strap. He spoke in short or run-on sentences, evaded straightforward questions and lied repeatedly. This stark rhetorical contrast -- among more significant related American tragedies -- is the result of what happened November 8, 2016:

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump went into battle mode on Wednesday, lobbing insults at his Democratic investigators, tussling with reporters, and dismissing the impeachment probe and other oversight efforts as 'bullshit.' Barely a week into formal impeachment proceedings, the president spent hours airing his frustrations and sharpening his attack lines.... The newly combative tack [Mrs. McC: "newly combative"???] overshadowed Wednesday's visit to the White House from Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, during which Trump accused Schiff, without evidence, of helping author the whistleblower complaint at the heart of Democrats' impeachment inquiry, belittled Schiff with locker room rhetoric, and denounced as 'rude' an American reporter for asking follow-up questions at a news conference." ~~~

~~~ Trump Plans to Bring a "Major Lawsuit" against Article I Duties. Michael Crowley of the New York Times (in part of a NYT account of developments in the impeachment matter): "During a meeting at the White House with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, President Trump raged at his Democratic inquisitors. With his guest sitting a few feet away, Mr. Trump angrily called Representative Adam B. Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, 'a lowlife,' and said he 'should resign from office in disgrace, and frankly they should look at him for treason.'... 'That guy couldn't carry his blank strap,' Mr. Trump said, unfavorably comparing Mr. Schiff to Mr. Pompeo. Mr. Trump seemed to be avoiding the words 'jock strap' and using a common insult about masculinity.... At a second appearance with Mr. Niinisto not much later, Mr. Trump became increasingly angry while responding to questions about the impeachment investigation, complaining that it was part of a 'hoax' that has been perpetrated against him since he took office, and threatening vaguely to bring 'a major lawsuit' in retaliation." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's concept of "international diplomacy" is bowdlerizing "jock-strap" when in the presence of a foreign leader. As he's told us, he "can be so presidential." ~~~

     ~~~ Rafi Schwartz of Splinter has a rundown of the "highlights" of Trump's performance during his joint "news" conference with the hapless Finnish president. (Chris Hayes described Niinistö as a "hostage.") Title: "Trump Brain Status: Lingonberry Jam." Schwartz also embeds a video of the full presser (starts about 8:40 min. in). ~~~

     ~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios: "President Trump refused to answer a question from Reuters' Jeff Mason about what he was asking Ukraine's president to do about Joe Biden and his son during a now-infamous July 25 phone call. Instead, Trump criticized European countries for not providing aid to Ukraine, attacked the impeachment investigation as a 'hoax' and berated Mason for being 'rude.'" Basu provides a full transcript of the contentious exchange between Trump & Mason. Mrs. McC: Weirdest line: "Are you talking to me?" -- Donald Trump, imitating Robert Mueller impersonator Robert DeNiro. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrea Germanos of Common Dreams: "... Donald Trump claimed Wednesday afternoon that the White House last month released an 'exact transcript' of his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising more questions about the still-unfolding scandal.... Trump ... said the transcription was done 'by very, very talented people, word for word, comma for comma.'" ~~~  

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But it isn't. The telcon itself includes right on the front page what looks like a standard disclaimer that reads, in part, "A Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation (TELCON) is not a verbatim transcript of a discussion. The text in this document records the notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers and-NSC policy staff assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written form as the conversation takes place." Emphasis added. The very fact that Trump is falsely claiming the telcon is word-for-word, comma-for-comma, almost guarantees that Trump made more damaging remarks in his chat with Zelensky. Remember that the White House gets the last draft of a telcon. As Germanos notes, Neal Katyal tweeted that Trump claimed there were "stenographers" on the call; now he suggests Congress subpoena those stenographers to get their as-yet-unpubished "word-for-word" transcript. ~~~

     ~~~ Dennis Hoey of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: "Sen. Angus King [I-Maine] questioned Tuesday night whether the transcript of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reflected the entire contents of their 30-minute conservation in July. King told CNN’s Anderson Cooper..., 'I had two staff members from my office the other day read it aloud. And we timed it. They read it in normal speaking pace. It took them 10 minutes and 40 seconds. The phone call was 30 minutes.... We don't know what is missing. It may be there was a translator involved and that made it go much longer. But the president of the Ukraine speaks English. That raises a question of what's in the other 20 minutes of that discussion.'" Thanks to MAG for the link. As MAG remarked, the length of the conversation recounted in the telcon contra the reported length of the actual conversation is a question I raised in a comment last week. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. More Evidence the White House Doctored the Telcon. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "... the whistleblower complaint that spurred the investigation described an 'official word-for-word transcript' of the call -- words closely matching the ones used by Trump on Wednesday -- creating uncertainty about what was included in the document the White House released last week and what may have been left out. Current and former U.S. officials studying the document pointed to several elements that, they say, indicate that the document may have been handled in an unusual way. Those include the use of ellipses ... that traditionally have not appeared in summaries of presidential calls with foreign leaders, according to the current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... [All three ellipses appear where Trump is discussing his conspiracy theories.] Others [-- including Sen. Angus King --] have noted the brevity of a document purporting to represent a call that lasted 30 minutes.... The memorandum of Trump's call with Zelensky appears remarkably different in speed and content from the full transcripts of calls between President Trump and foreign leaders The Washington Post obtained in 2017.... [The WashPo's analysis] suggests that the rough transcript of the Zelensky call includes about half the number of words that would be expected if the call had proceeded at the same or similar pace as the previous calls." Thanks to unwashed for the link.

Andrew Desiderio & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday vowed to move aggressively on House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, even as ... Donald Trump lashed out at the pair in the middle of their news conference. Despite the Democrats' insistence that Trump would be treated fairly and that the fast-moving investigation would not interfere with bipartisan legislative priorities, Trump accused them on Twitter of 'wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT.' He called Schiff a 'lowlife' and said Pelosi was 'incapable' of working with him on other issues including prescription drug costs and a new trade agreement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday blasted Democrats for wasting time on 'bullshit' as the House moves forward with its impeachment inquiry. The president on Wednesday morning unleashed a torrent of tweets slamming Democrats as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood alongside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to lay out their agenda and progress on the impeachment inquiry. 'The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our Country, not wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT, which is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected in 2016, 223-306,' Trump tweeted shortly after the conclusion of the press conference [Pelosi/Schiff], misstating the 232 electoral votes his opponent got in 2016.... His latest diatribe was sparked by the press conference, which Trump responded to in real time." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Oma Seddiq of Politico: Trump live-tweeted the Pelosi-Schiff presser. Mrs. McC: Should that be lie-tweeted? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

I think you should ask for Vice President Pence's conversation, because he had a couple of conversations also. -- Donald Trump, to reporters, September 25 ...

... Calling President Pelosi. Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump repeatedly involved Vice President Pence in efforts to exert pressure on the leader of Ukraine at a time when the president was using other channels to solicit information that he hoped would be damaging to a Democratic rival, current and former U.S. officials said. Trump instructed Pence not to attend the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in May -- an event White House officials had pushed to put on the vice president's calendar -- when Ukraine's new leader was seeking recognition and support from Washington, the officials said. Months later, the president used Pence to tell Zelensky that U.S. aid was still being withheld while demanding more aggressive action on corruption, officials said. At that time -- following Trump's July 25 phone call with Zelenksy -- the Ukrainians probably understood action on corruption to include the investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. ...

     ... Officials close to Pence insist that he was unaware of Trump's efforts to press Zelensky for damaging information about Biden and his son.... Pence's activities occurred amid several indications of the president's hidden agenda. Among them were the abrupt removal of the U.S. ambassador to Kiev; the visible efforts by ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, to insert himself in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship; as well as alarms being raised inside the White House even before the emergence of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint about Trump's conduct. Perhaps most significantly, one of Pence's top advisers ... his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg ... was on the July 25 call and the vice president should have had access to the transcript within hours, officials said.... White House officials said that Pence likely would have received the detailed notes of the president's call in his briefing book on July 26 ... [and] should have been part of the briefing materials he took with him ... for the meeting [with Zelensky on Sept. 1].... Officials close to Pence contend that he traveled to [the meeting] ... probably without having read -- or at least fully registered -- the transcript of Trump's July 25 call with the leader of Ukraine." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Right. Because this is hard to grasp, even when you've read it several times:  

I would like you to do us a favor, though.... I would like to have the [U.S.] Attorney General call you ... [about] ... that whole nonsense by a man named Robert Mueller.... Whatever you can do; it's very important.... The other thing: there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution.... I will ask [Rudy Giuliani] to call you. (Word-for-word from the telcon; no "parody" or paraphrasing: "perfect.")

     Maybe the telcon fell out of pence's briefcase. Or maybe Trump's "ask" of Zelensky was too obscure for a good Christian boy like mike to comprehend. Or maybe Trump's solicitation was just one more commonplace corruption transaction too routine to notice. (pence has a history of conveniently pretending he has no idea WTF is going on. That doesn't sound very president-y, does it?) Rachel Maddow calls pence the "pro" between the "quid" & the "quo," as it was he who directly told Zelensky that Ukraine wouldn't get the military aid without cracking down on "corruption"/Biden. Maddow points out the aides' dueling interpretations of pence's state of mind demonstrate the break between the Trump & pence camps. BTW, mike, how's the view from under the bus? ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: “Pence, by [his aides'] accounting, is like a man who delivers a ransom note to a bank teller, failing to place any significance in the fact that the tellers have their hands in the air, the bank patrons are lying on the floor, and the guy who asked him to bring the note to the bank had a mask and a gun.... If Pence is so ignorant that he could be pulled into an extortion plot without having any idea what he was doing, while missing numerous public and private signs that would have spelled it out, he is too dumb to serve as vice-president or even to be allowed to use metal cutlery. There is no way Pence is quite that stupid. The Post does not mention that Pence cracked the code himself the day after his meeting with Zelensky.... Pence was asked whether the aid was being held up over the Biden probes, and he answered by reciting the 'corruption' party line. Pence knew exactly what he was doing." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait keeps making these outrageous analogies about various members of the Trump Mob (pence & the ransom note messenger here). The thing is, the Trump Gang is so ridiculous, their excuses so clownish, the analogies fit.

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "The State Department inspector general provided Congress on Wednesday a packet of dozens of pages of documents that make many of the same unproven claims about Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, that Rudy Giuliani and his allies have been making, according to a copy of the documents obtained by CNN. The documents include claims against the Bidens that formed the basis of ... Donald Trump's accusations in his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as accusations against former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was recalled earlier this year and whom Trump also criticized in the call. In addition, the packet contains internal State Department emails from officials discussing articles critical of Yovanovitch, calling some of it a 'fake narrative.' There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. State Department inspector general Steve Linnick [Linick] told Congress that the State Department's office of legal counsel provided the documents to the inspector general in May.... The inspector general provided them to the FBI, and the FBI did not object to the documents being released to Congress, which could suggest the FBI is not actively investigating the matter.... Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, was the lone lawmaker who attended Wednesday's briefing. He told reporters afterward that it felt like a 'completely irrelevant distraction.... It's essentially a packet of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories,' Raskin said.... The bizarre briefing from the State Department inspector general came after he caused a stir on Capitol Hill by requesting an urgent meeting one day earlier to share the documents." This story has been updated. See relevant new passages in Update 3 below. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Later clarification has caused me to amend my original impression of Linick's motives. Based on Raskin's remarks, I feared that Linick's "urgent matter" was a bomb, not a bombshell. But as the story evolved -- as noted in linked updates below, Linick revealed that the packet of documents promoting conspiracy theories were floating around the White House and the State Department. Apparently exposing the extent to which State had become as an arm of Trump's insanity was Linick's intent in bringing the papers to the attention of House leaders. I see a New York Times story by Catie Edmondson, still unrevised at 8:20 am ET, titled "The Impeachment Bombshell that Wasn't," draws the same conclusion I did last night: that "what congressional aides received -- a roughly 40-page packet of documents sheathed in a manila envelope decorated with cursive script and manipulated to look aged, with a return address portraying that it had come from the White House — may have been a bit of a letdown." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Chris Hayes interviewed Rep. Raskin Wednesday night. Raskin said the packet Linick presented was curiously packaged: It was in manila envelope, with a return address of "The White House," addressed to Secretary Pompeo, with a note directing it to Pompeo's administrative aide "Ruth," so the packet came presumably from someone familiar with Pompeo's office. Inside the envelope were folders printed with the name of the Trump Hotel. Raskin said the packet surfaced in May 2019, shortly before Pompeo recalled U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Rankin opined that would be consistent with the theory that Pompeo removed her to get her out of the way so the embassy could get to work supporting Trump's political purposes. Rankin noted that the contents of the envelope were "congruent with what Giuliani has been saying." Mrs. McC Note: I've done some considerable paraphrasing here inasmuch as I can't type as fast as Jamie Raskin can talk. ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Jonathan Landay & Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "Photographs of some of the documents, seen by Reuters, promoted unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, who was removed from her post in May, months before she was due to leave, after Trump allies accused her of disloyalty.... One document, whose source was not disclosed, described a discredited theory promoted by Trump allies that Yovanovitch was installed in her post by billionaire George Soros, a Democratic donor frequently attacked by far-right activists. 'Until she is removed Soros has as much, or more, power over Yovanovitch as the President and the Secretary of State,' said the document.... The documents 'reinforce concern that the president and his allies sought to use the machinery of the State Department to further the president's personal political interests,' [chairmen of the House of Representatives intelligence, oversight and foreign relations committees] said.... Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee..., demanded an explanation of Pompeo's role. Before the meeting [among Linick, Rankin & staffers], congressional sources had told Reuters the session with Linick would focus on potential political retaliation against career State Department diplomats by the department's leadership." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update 3. Oh, Snap! Rudy Confesses He's the "Mystery" Source of Linick's Conspiracy Packet. Then He Fingers Pompeo. The CNN story by Jeremy Herb & others has been updated. New Lede: "The State Department inspector general provided Congress on Wednesday with documents that included materials ... Rudy Giuliani had given to the department earlier this year containing unproven claims about Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.... Giuliani told CNN on Wednesday evening that some of the documents provided to Congress by the State Department's inspector general had originated with him. Giuliani said that in late March, he had 'routed' what he called an 'outline' of allegations against Biden, as well as Yovanovitch, to the office of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.... Giuliani said he received a phone call shortly thereafter from Pompeo, who told Giuliani he would be referring the documents for investigation. 'They told me they were going to investigate it,' Giuliani told CNN." Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: Who could have guessed? ~~~

~~~ BUT It Gets Worse. (You Knew It Would.) Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "In his quest to rewrite the history of the 2016 election, President Trump's personal attorney has turned to ... Trump's imprisoned former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Rudolph W. Giuliani in recent months has consulted several times with Manafort through the federal prisoner's lawyer in pursuit of information about a disputed ledger that would bolster his theory that the real story of 2016 is not Russian interference to elect Trump, but Ukrainian efforts to support Hillary Clinton. The alliance, which Giuliani acknowledged in an interview this week with The Washington Post, stems from a shared interest in a narrative that undermines the rationale for the special counsel investigation. Giuliani's effort is gaining traction on Capitol Hill. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, have announced their renewal of an inquiry into any coordination between Ukraine and Democratic Party officials. Manafort, who is serving a 7½ -year term in a federal prison in Pennsylvania, has continued to express support for Trump, and Trump has never ruled out giving him a pardon." ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Marshall of TPM: "According to a statement released this evening from Chairs Engel, Schiff and Cummings ..., 'The Inspector General stated that his office interviewed Secretary Pompeo's Counselor, Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl, who informed the Inspector General that Secretary Pompeo told him the packet 'came over,' and that Brechbuhl presumed it was from the White House. Earlier this week, Pompeo attempted to block Brechbuhl, Ambassador Yovanovitch, and other State Department employees from testifying before Congress.' Needless to say, it's quite clear that Pompeo is deeply implicated in these abuses of power. Meanwhile Rudy Giuliani is happy to provide more evidence of Pompeo's involvement. Once Pompeo received them, they were circulated within the State Department. It doesn't say specifically that Pompeo circulated them. But that seems consistent with all the other information we've learned. It seems pretty clear why Inspector General Linick thought this was an urgent matter."

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer's concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistle-blower complaint, according to a spokesman and current and former American officials. The early account by the future whistle-blower shows how determined he was to make known his allegations that Mr. Trump asked Ukraine's government to interfere on his behalf in the 2020 election. It also explains how Mr. Schiff knew to press for the complaint when the Trump administration initially blocked lawmakers from seeing it.... Concerned about how that initial avenue for airing his allegations through the C.I.A. was unfolding, the [C.I.A. officer] then approached the House aide.... The House staff member, following the committee's procedures, suggested the officer find a lawyer to advise him and meet with an inspector general, with whom he could file a whistle-blower complaint. The aide shared some of what the officer conveyed to Mr. Schiff. The aide did not share the whistle-blower's identity with Mr. Schiff, an official said.... In a news conference in the East Room of the White House after this article was published, Mr. Trump called it a scandal that Mr. Schiff knew the outlines of the whistle-blower's accusations before he filed his complaint. 'Big stuff. That's a big story,' Mr. Trump said, waving a copy of the article in the air. 'He knew long before and helped write it, too. It's a scam,' the president added.... There is no evidence that Mr. Schiff did, and his spokesman said he saw no part of the complaint before it was filed." The Washington Post story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice: "There's nothing actually shocking here." The guidelines for bringing a whistleblower's complaint specify that the complaint may be brought to "congressional intelligence committees," which is what the whistleblower did in going to the Intelligence Committee staffer. That is, the whistleblower was following his own agency's guidelines. "Enter Fox News' John Roberts. Roberts ... teed the President up by framing this new reporting as a conspiracy between Congressman Schiff and the whistleblower, intimating that Congressman Schiff actually directed the complaint, fabricated the key accusations, and basically created his own need for oversight to drive impeachment. The President, as I'm sure you're shocked to learn, took Roberts' line of bullshit and ran with it." Here's the exchange (the video in Silverman's post [as of 8 pm ET Wednesday] was of a different exchange):

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department told White House personnel on Wednesday that they must preserve all notes regarding ... Donald Trump's meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders. 'Defendants today instructed relevant personnel to preserve the information, Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge in a court filing. The question of whether the White House was preserving the information arose in federal court Tuesday, following government transparency and historical archivist groups' emergency request to maintain the notes from the Trump-Volodymyr Zelensky July 25 call and other Trump discussions with world leaders. The groups had sued Trump and his executive office in May for failing to document at least five meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and one with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.... A Justice Department lawyer on Tuesday had told the judge, Amy Berman Jackson of the DC District Court, that there was no risk to the White House's record-keeping of Trump's foreign calls. But the attorney wouldn't go as far as pledging the White House would preserve all documents, saying she hadn't received authorization from the White House to say they would. Jackson was satisfied with the Department's response Wednesday and took no further action." Related story linked here yesterday.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House threatened on Wednesday to subpoena the White House if it did not comply by Friday with broad requests for documents related President Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son and any attempt by the administration to conceal his actions. Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the chairman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, notified his committee of the impending subpoena on Wednesday. He said the White House had thus far ignored Congress's voluntary requests." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bowden of the Hill: "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed away from statements made previously by Kremlin officials about his calls with President Trump, telling reporters that he would not object to transcripts being made public. Multiple news outlets reported that Putin made the remarks after meeting with Iran's Hassan Rouhani, telling journalists that there was nothing on his calls with Trump that could compromise the U.S. president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge to temporarily block a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney that would require President Trump to turn over eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns.... In its filing, Mr. Trump's own Justice Department did not say whether it agreed with his position that presidents cannot be investigated. But citing 'significant constitutional issues' raised by the president's lawyers, the department said the court should stop enforcement of the subpoena while it takes time to consider the case." Reuters has the story here.

Aaron Lorenzo of Politico: "The IRS needs to examine whether the National Rifle Association should lose its tax-exempt status, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said today. A recent report by Wyden's committee investigators raised questions about some NRA activities and social welfare requirements for its tax exemption, the senators wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. The report alleged some NRA members used a 2015 NRA trip to Moscow for their own personal business reasons rather than for tax-exempt purposes. Misuse of tax-exempt funding for private gain would violate tax laws." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2020

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) underwent heart surgery after he experienced chest discomfort during a campaign event on Tuesday, his campaign said. Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders's campaign, said a medical evaluation of the Vermont senator discovered blockage in one of his arteries, and two stents were successfully inserted." Update: The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Juan Garnham & Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune: "The murder conviction of a white woman who was a police officer when she killed an unarmed black man in his own home -- and the 10-year prison sentence a jury gave her Wednesday -- each drew different reactions in a city whose history is rife with tensions between law enforcement and communities of color. Amber Guyger's murder conviction brought many people relief. But her sentence for killing 26-year-old Botham Jean was derided by some as being too short, even though Jean's brother offered Guyger forgiveness and a hug at the end of the trial."