The Commentariat -- June 11, 2019
Late Morning Update:
Forgot this one. Scott Bixby of the Daily Beast: "Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli's long-rumored role as a top coordinator of the Department of Homeland Security immigration policy finally has an official title. According to an email sent to staff at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, the longtime border hawk has been named acting director of the agency.... While his support for ... Donald Trump may be relatively newfound, his championing of hardline Trump-style immigration policies is more than a decade in the making." Bixby does a good job of reminding us what a complete ass Little Kenny is. One big reason Kenny is "acting": the Senate probably wouldn't confirm him.
The Party of Corruption. Alex Shephard of the New Republic: "A strange thing has happened over the past month or so: Senate Republicans have begun to stand up to President Trump. Haltingly, tentatively, perhaps, but on things that matter, a bit of spine has been sighted.... This growing willingness to undercut the president's policy and personnel decisions has, however, coincided with Republicans growing ever more defensive of Trump, himself.... [This dualism] points to a party increasingly bound together by an embrace of a corrupt and plutocratic approach to governance.... While there might be growing disagreements on free trade and tariffs, [Republican] leaders are in lockstep on the idea that it is completely acceptable to use the government for corrupt ends.... It's been repeated again and again during the administration, with both relative newcomers to government and veterans like [Transportation Secretary Elaine] Chao [who has set up an apparatus to steer projects to her husband Mitch McConnell's state] using their offices to benefit themselves and their families."
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The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Emily Tillett of CBS News: "The House Judiciary Committee kicked off a series of hearings on the Mueller report with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean and former U.S. attorneys testifying Monday to offer their insights on President Trump's 'most overt acts of obstruction.'... Dean testified that there were 'exhaustive' and 'remarkable' parallels between special counsel Robert Mueller's report and the findings compiled in the wake of the Watergate scandal. He said 'events in both 1972 and 2016 resulted in obstruction of the investigations.'... Dean said in his opening statement that McGahn should testify before Congress, saying he had an obligation to do so as a 'key witness in understanding the Mueller report' and under his ethical obligation as an attorney.... Joyce White Vance, the former U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama, testified that "... If anyone other than a president of the United States committed this conduct he would be under indictment for multiple acts of obstruction of justice.... If you or I committed this same conduct we would have been charged by now.' Former attorney Barbara McQuade also appeared to support that claim, testifying that the 'conduct described in the report constitutes multiple crimes of obstruction of justice. It's supported by evidence of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.'" ...
C-SPAN has the full hearing -- video & transcript here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).
... Jerry Nadler's & ranking member Doug Collins' opening remarks:
... ** Here's John Dean's full prepared statement, via Politico. It's quite compelling. ...
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee ensured that what unfolded was an at-times heated relitigation of Dean's role in Watergate more than 40 years ago, questioning his honor, pointing to his own admitted obstruction of justice at that time and accusing him of profiting off his Watergate experience as a television commentator who frequently criticizes Trump.... Most of the day played out like two simultaneous hearings, with Democrats reading excerpts from the Mueller report and asking the former prosecutors to opine on potential criminal actions by Trump. Republicans alternated between savaging Dean's credibility and grilling their own witness, Heritage Foundation legal scholar John Malcolm about reasons why Mueller's evidence fell short of proving Trump obstructed justice.... Democrats asked the three former prosecutors repeatedly to explain the legal underpinnings for why some of the actions identified in Mueller's report could amount to obstruction of justice." ...
... Backfire. Wherein Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) Makes a Fool of Himself. (Again.) Matt Stieb of New York: "It appears that Gaetz's plan to ask Dean about 'stuff' he didn't know about included a good deal of information that the congressman may not have reviewed beforehand. Until the effort was derailed by Watergate, Nixon envisioned a plan that, as described by Slate's Ed Dolan, 'would have combined a robust employer mandate with subsidized private coverage for the self-employed, unemployed, and others not covered through their jobs -- something not unlike Obamacare.'" ...
... Dean gets some laughs & Gaetz makes a remarkably uninformed speech:
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It is remarkable how Gaetz, et al., seem to be so proud of their profound ignorance. ...
... Russell Berman of the Atlantic: "The most charitable justification for the hearing came from Dean himself, who said it served the important function of 'public education' for Americans who likely glossed over the Mueller report, if they engaged with it at all. 'This report has not been widely read by the public. It has not even been widely read in the Congress,' he said, drawing knowing laughter from the hearing room."
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This hearing did not get nearly the press attention it deserved. The New York Times (as of 2 am ET today) does not even have a story about it, settling instead for running a Reuters story that is more about Barr's cave on giving the House Judiciary Committee access to more of the redacted Mueller report. ...
... Pia Deshpande of Politico: "... Donald Trump, whose actions during the Russia investigation have prompted comparisons to the Watergate scandal, drew a distinction between himself and President Richard Nixon on Monday: 'He left. I don't leave. A big difference.'" More Trump comments on the House hearing under "Whiner-in-Chief" below. ...
... Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) "says it's a waste of time to study history because it was a long time ago.... Asked by Fox News on Monday about the Dean hearing, Hawley decried it as a 'ridiculous' waste of time and 'theater to distract'... 'Talk about living in the past,' he said. 'The Democrats want to talk about Watergate? I mean this happened before I was born! This is a total waste of time....'" ...
... digby: "Josh Hawley is a Harvard educated, fascist barbarian.... And then there's the Bible. A very old book which Hawley believes should guide every aspect of people's lives." ...
... digby points to this June 5 post on Hawley by Ed Kilgore of New York. Kilgore looks at the philosopical underpinnings of neoconservatism, but the bottom line seems to be this: "There is no Christian Right gathering that is too extreme for his taste.... [Here's] Hawley described government itself in a 2012 essay: '... Government serves Christ's kingdom rule; this is its purpose. And Christians' purpose in politics should be to advance the kingdom of God -- to make it more real, more tangible, more present.'" Mrs. McC: This would make the U.S. Constitution, an assiduously secular document, anathema to Hawley & his ilk. That's scary.
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Justice Department, after weeks of tense negotiations, has agreed to provide Congress with key evidence collected by Robert S. Mueller III that could shed light on possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Trump, the House Judiciary Committee said on Monday. The exact scope of the material the Justice Department has agreed to provide was not immediately clear, but the committee signaled that it was a breakthrough after weeks of wrangling over those materials and others that the Judiciary panel demanded under subpoena. The announcement appeared to provide a rationale for House Democrats' choice, announced last week, to back away from threats to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress. The House will still proceed on Tuesday with a vote to empower the Judiciary Committee to take Mr. Barr to court to fully enforce its subpoena, but even that may no longer be necessary, the panel's leader [Jerry Nadler] said.... Mr. Nadler said he expected the department to begin sharing some of the material Monday afternoon and that all members of the committee would be able to view it privately." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... Pelosi and Schumer are shrewd politicians with decades of experience. Perhaps their resistance to grass-roots Democrats, and to impeachment in particular, will pay dividends. But we should consider the reverse as well: that a Democratic Party that plays with excessive caution -- and keeps its base at a distance -- is one that might demobilize its voters and produce the same conditions that helped Trump win in the first place."
In fairness to Trump, he does have heart, despite all evidence to the contrary:
... Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News: "Putting aside his sharp political differences with one of his primary congressional tormentors, President Trump made a surprising get-well call to Rep. Jerry Nadler, who was briefly hospitalized in Manhattan in May.... A member of Nadler's staff ... said Trump called Nadler from Air Force One as he was on his way to Japan.... Trump now told Nadler that he had seen him on television, and that he thought Nadler was 'tough.' Trump repeated that assessment several times, adding that he wished the congressman well and wanted to know if he could do anything more. The two men did not discuss politics or impeachment, according to a person familiar with the call.... The seeming warmth of the conversation -- however brief -- contrasts sharply with what Trump has said of Nadler previously. In a meeting with Republicans this spring, Trump reportedly called Nadler, who underwent weight-loss surgery years ago, 'Fat Jerry.'"
Plaints from the Whiner-in-Chief:
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Trump also lashed out [at John] Dean before [a House Judiciary] hearing, tweeting that he 'can't believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House Counsel who is a paid CNN contributor. No Collusion - No Obstruction! Democrats just want a do-over which they'll never get!' It was the second time the president tweeted about Dean in the lead-up to his testimony. On Sunday night, Trump called Dean a 'sleazebag attorney' in a series of posts criticizing Democrats." (Also linked above.)" ...
... Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "At the White House Monday, Trump dismissed [John] Dean's statement, telling reporters that the former White House counsel had 'been a loser for many years.'"
... David Jackson & Nicholas Wu of USA Today: "... Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday for criticizing him over tariffs, claiming again that the threat of tariffs pressured Mexico into a new agreement to stop illegal border crossings. 'If we didn't have tariffs, we wouldn't have made a deal with Mexico,' Trump told the CNBC financial news network. Trump called into CNBC after an official with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the president's threat to hit Mexico with tariffs -- as well as tariffs he has imposed on China and other countries -- was counter-productive." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump intensified his defense of the widely panned agreement his administration struck with Mexico, even calling in to a cable news show for nearly half an hour Monday to try to sell the deal as a victory. After a weekend of railing against news reports poking holes in his claims -- some of which are so far unsubstantiated -- that Mexico had agreed to significant new concessions on immigration enforcement to avert tariffs, the president took to the airwaves to argue his case.... He dismissed the dire economic consequences experts had warned of had the 5 percent tariffs gone into effect, while mischaracterizing who would have been hit hardest by the levies, which almost always are passed on to consumers." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday accused technology companies like Facebook and Google of discriminating against him, adding that there's 'something going on in terms of monopoly.'... "I can tell you they discriminate against me," Trump said when asked about companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon. 'People talk about collusion. The real collusion is between the Democrats and these companies because they were so against me during my election run.'" More on the tech companies linked below. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday ripped Democrats ahead of testimony from John Dean, a former White House counsel for President Nixon who proved pivotal during the Watergate scandal. 'The Dems were devastated -- after all this time and money spent ($40,000,000), the Mueller Report was a disaster for them,' Trump tweeted Sunday evening. 'But they want a Redo, or Do Over. They are even bringing in @CNN sleazebag attorney John Dean. Sorry, no Do Overs -- Go back to work!'... Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee will grill Dean on Monday in an attempt to shine a spotlight on the unsavory details about Trump's conduct contained in special counsel Robert Mueller's report." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mexico's Foreign Minister Says Trump Lied about Deal. Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Mexican foreign minister said Monday that no secret immigration deal existed between his country and the United States, directly contradicting President Trump's claim on Twitter that a 'fully signed and documented' agreement would be revealed soon. Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's top diplomat, said at a news conference in Mexico City that there was an understanding that both sides would evaluate the flow of migrants in the coming months. And if the number of migrants crossing the United States border was not significantly reduced, he said, both sides had agreed to renew discussions about more aggressive changes to regional asylum rules that could make a bigger impact.... Mr. Trump has insisted for several days that the agreement reached with Mexico Friday evening is a strong one, rejecting criticism that it largely called upon the Mexicans to take actions to reduce the flow of immigration that they had already agreed to months earlier." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... In Trump's Version of a "Mexican Standoff," He Loses, Mexico Wins. Philip Rotner in the conservative Bulwark: "The idea that Donald Trump successfully used the threat of tariffs to force Mexico to agree to an immigration deal is yet another fiction cooked up by the Trump propaganda machine. The truth is this: Trump squandered any negotiating leverage he may have had by making an idle threat that everybody knew he couldn't possibly follow through on.... Far from creating negotiating leverage, Trump's threat ... immediately handed all of the leverage to Mexico.... Mexico had Trump over a barrel. Trump's had two choices: to agree to whatever cosmetic arrangement Mexico was willing to offer; or to follow through on a threat that would be tantamount to political suicide.... Trump had backed himself, not Mexico, into a corner. They had him. He had to cave. And cave he did. He got nothing.... 'The Mexicans played Donald Trump,' Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's former Foreign Minister, told Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. 'Basically, they promised to do what they had already promised to do, and probably won't do it.'" ...
... Paul Krugman: "... having gone to great lengths to get a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada -- an agreement that was very similar to the existing agreement, but one he could slap his own name on -- Trump basically blew up his position by threatening to impose new tariffs unless Mexico did something about border issues that have nothing to do with trade.... But then, barely a week later, Trump called the whole thing off in return for a statement by Mexico that it would do ... things it had already agreed to months earlier.... [Then] in addition to lashing out at 'fake news,' he introduced a whole new claim: 'MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!'... Like many Trump tweets, it reads like a clumsy translation from the original Russian ('great patriot farmers'?). More to the point, there was nothing at all about agriculture in the official agreement.... But for now, investors are effectively treating Trump as crazy but harmless. Is America great, or what?" ...
... Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Once again, Trump made a series of unhinged threats against another country, leading to high-stakes diplomacy, and the announcement of a breakthrough. Once again, chest-beating conservatives jeered at Democrats for refusing to concede that Trump's belligerence had borne fruit. Once again..., it became obvious that Trump had accomplished very little of any substance. And once again, Trump has created a situation where it's hazardous for his opponents to say too much about his incompetence.... As it became clear -- at least to those outside the Fox News bubble -- how little Trump had achieved, he grew even more splutteringly incoherent than usual.... Facing widespread mockery for his Potemkin deal, Trump tweeted on Monday that if Mexico's legislature fails to enact the provisions of its purported secret agreement with the U.S., the tariffs will go into effect. There's an implicit threat here: Don't provoke him. If he doesn't get the headlines he wants, there's no telling what he might do."
Zolan Kanno-Youngs & David Sanger of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of images of travelers and license plates stored by the Customs and Border Protection agency have been stolen in a digital breach, officials said Monday, prompting renewed questions about how the federal government secures and shares personal data. An official at the agency said it learned on May 31 that a federal subcontractor had transferred copies of the images to the subcontractor's network, which the agency said was done without its knowledge and in violation of the contract. The subcontractor's network was then hacked.... [The CBP's] cybersecurity operations were a particular focus of the previous secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, whose efforts to get the White House to devote more attention to the issue -- including cabinet-level meetings on election security -- were repeatedly turned down."
Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General John V. Kelly retire[d] from his position effective June 10, the Office of Inspector General confirmed Monday.... Kelly's retirement comes a week after a Washington Post report that he had overridden auditors who found issues with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to disasters. Instead, the Post, citing interviews and a new internal review, reported that Kelly directed FEMA auditors to write 'feel-good reports' about disaster response."
Tucker Koherty & Tanya Snyder of Politico: "The Transportation Department under Secretary Elaine Chao designated a special liaison to help with grant applications and other priorities from her husband Mitch McConnell's state of Kentucky, paving the way for grants totaling at least $78 million for favored projects as McConnell prepared to campaign for reelection. Chao's aide Todd Inman, who stated in an email to McConnell's Senate office that Chao had personally asked him to serve as an intermediary, helped advise the senator and local Kentucky officials on grants with special significance for McConnell -- including a highway-improvement project in a McConnell political stronghold that had been twice rejected for previous grant applications.... Chao's designation of Inman as a special intermediary for Kentucky -- a privilege other states did not enjoy -- gave a special advantage to projects favored by her husband, which could in turn benefit his political interests. In such situations, ethicists say, each member of a couple benefits personally from the success of the other." Mrs. McC: Gee, Mitch is corrupt, & so is his wife. Who would have suspected? (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2020. Trump Tells Aides to Lie about Poll Results. Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After being briefed on a devastating 17-state poll conducted by his campaign pollster, Tony Fabrizio, Mr. Trump told aides to deny that his internal polling showed him trailing Mr. Biden in many of the states he needs to win.... And when top-line details of the polling leaked, including numbers showing the president lagging in a cluster of critical Rust Belt states, Mr. Trump instructed aides to say publicly that other data showed him doing well.... In a recent overarching state-of-the-race briefing in Florida with Brad Parscale, his campaign manager, Mr. Trump was consistently distracted and wanted to discuss other things, according to people familiar with the meeting. When it came to the campaign, his main focus was on his own approval numbers. Unlike nearly every recent modern president who sought re-election, Mr. Trump rarely if ever speaks to aides about what he hopes to accomplish with what would be a hard-won second term; his interest is entirely in the present, and mostly on the crisis of the moment. He has shown no interest in formulating a new message for his campaign.... Mr. Trump has griped about traveling too much, but then lashed out at aides, demanding to know, 'Why am I not doing more rallies?' He insists on having final approval over the songs on his campaign playlist, as well as the campaign merchandise, but he has never asked to see a budget for 2019."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "On Friday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a ... speech ... at a judicial conference in New Paltz, N.Y. There was little in her remarks to hearten liberals. She started by noting the most fundamental change at the court. 'Justice Kennedy announced his retirement,' she said. 'It was, I would say, the event of greatest consequence for the current term, and perhaps for many terms ahead.' ... Justice Ginsburg's concluding comments seemed to foreshadow a closely divided case in which she will be on the losing side. 'Speculators about the outcome note that last year, in Trump v. Hawaii, the court upheld the so-called travel ban, in an opinion granting great deference to the executive,' she said, referring to a 5-to-4 decision in which the court's four liberals dissented. 'Respondents in the census case have argued that a ruling in Secretary Ross's favor would stretch deference beyond the breaking point.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Juan Cole: "Two structural constraints are operating with regard to [a bipartisan Congressional] attempt to cancel the Saudi arms deal. One is that a majority of Republicans in both houses of Congress have been unwilling to criticize Trump or to work against one of his presidential initiatives. The other is that Congress has on too many occasions found ways of offloading its own constitutional responsibilities onto the president. This way of proceeding, has often reduced the exposure of congressmen with regard to issues controversial in their districts. But Trump has taken advantage of all of these accumulated presidential de facto powers to sidestep Congress, and it is time for the latter to confront the president and strip him of these unconstitutional prerogatives." More on this, by NBC News, linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
New York. James Barron & Patrick McGeehan of the New York Times: "A helicopter ... crashed onto the roof of an office building on Seventh Avenue [in Manhattan] and burst into flames. Only a pilot was aboard the doomed aircraft. He was killed, and investigators were trying to determine if he had been trying to make an emergency landing [in heavy fog].... New Yorkers, unnerved, wondered whether the crash had been deliberate. It rekindled memories of a far different day -- Sept. 11, 2001, when jetliners commandeered by terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The memories of 9/11 were compounded as the building was evacuated. Employees streamed down staircases as firefighters rushed in, heading to the roof. But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who arrived quickly at the scene, said there was no indication of terrorism.... Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill said the helicopter had been flying through restricted airspace.... The pilot was not qualified to fly using only instruments, [an] official said, cautioning that the investigation was still at an early stage."
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