The Commentariat -- March 5, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Michael Bloomberg, in a Bloomberg opinion piece, says he will not seek the Democratic nomination for president.

William Rashbaum & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "New York State regulators have issued an expansive subpoena to the Trump Organization's longtime insurance broker, the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving President Trump's family business, according to a person briefed on the matter. The subpoena was served late Monday on the company, Aon, one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the world, as part of an inquiry by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It came just days after Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer and lawyer, indicated in congressional testimony that the Trump Organization inflated the value of its assets to insurance companies."

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday signaled the White House will not comply with a barrage of congressional investigations, accusing Democrats in the House of launching the probes to hurt his chances of winning reelection in 2020. 'It's a disgrace to our country. I'm not surprised that it's happening. Basically, they've started the campaign. So the campaign begins,' Trump told reporters at the White House after signing an executive order on veterans' suicide prevention." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The "disgrace to our country," obviously, is that Trump has made the investigations necessary.

Jeff Toobin in the New Yorker: "... Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has hired a veteran prosecutor with experience fighting Russian organized crime to lead his investigation of the Trump Administration. Last month, according to a committee source, Daniel Goldman, who served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2017, joined the committee's staff as a senior adviser and the director of investigations. The hiring of Goldman, who will be joined by two other former federal prosecutors on Schiff's staff, underlines Schiff''s decision to conduct an aggressive investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia...." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Goldman's name sounds famililar, it's because until recently, he was an NBC analyst.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Three key House chairmen on Monday formally asked the White House and the State Department for documents and witness interviews related to ... Donald Trump's communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees are giving White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo until March 15 to turn over 'all documents and communications, regardless of form and classification, that refer or relate to any communications between President Trump and President Putin, including in-person meetings and telephone calls.'"

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday attacked Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), accusing the House Judiciary Committee chairman of attempting to 'harass' his associates in a wide-ranging probe into Trump's administration, campaign and businesses. 'Nadler, Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY. 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them. They won't get ANYTHING done for our Country!' he tweeted. The president also referenced House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who on Monday made a sweeping request for documents and interviews related to Trump's conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said Democrats are ramping up their investigations 'now that they realize the only Collusion with Russia wa done by Crooked Hillary Clinton & the Democrats.'"

Caitlyn Oprysko of Politico: "One of ... Donald Trump's former White House lawyers said this week that special counsel Robert Mueller is an 'American hero' [citing Mueller's military service] and that the probe he is leading is not a 'witch hunt,' rejecting the president's repeated characterizations of the Russia investigation and the man leading it. In an interview on ABC News' 'The Investigation' podcast published Tuesday, Ty Cobb disputed many of the president's complaints about Mueller and his team.... He also said at least on the matter of Russian collusion, Trump would likely be exonerated."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd. -- Predicate to an Impeachment

Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Monday announced a sweeping investigation into ... Donald Trump's campaign, businesses, transition and administration, a probe that would lay the groundwork for Democrats if they choose to pursue impeachment proceedings against the President. The Judiciary Committee on Monday sent letters to 81 people and entities -- including the White House, the Justice Department, senior campaign officials, Trump Organization officials and the President's sons -- marking the start of a broad investigation that will tackle questions including possible corruption, obstruction of justice, hush-money payments to women, collusion with Russia and allegations of the President abusing his office and using it for personal gain. They are demanding responses within two weeks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "In the two months since they took control of the House, Democrats have begun investigating members of the president's cabinet, his businesses, his campaign, his inaugural committee and his ties to key foreign powers, including Russia and its attempts to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. But Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made clear on Monday that the new majority intends to train its attention on actions at the heart of Mr. Trump's norm-bending presidency -- actions that could conceivably form the basis of a future impeachment proceeding.... In a statement released Monday, Mr. Nadler said that it was imperative to 'begin building the public record' of what he has contended are Mr. Trump's abuses." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Josh Kovensky & Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "We've taken the list of 81 witnesses and separated them out investigation-by-investigation, witness-by-witness. Below are the topics covered." --s ...

... Fortunately, the White House is responding in its usual measured manner: Democrats are harassing the President to distract from their radical agenda of making America a socialist country, killing babies after they're born, and pushing a 'green new deal' that would destroy jobs and bankrupt America.... The Democrats are more interested in pathetic political games and catering to a radical, leftist base than on producing results for our citizens. The Democrats are not after the truth, they are after the President -- Sarah Sanders (no link)

... Jill Lawrence of USA Today: "The impeachment process has begun. If you want to quibble, think of it as the pre-impeachment process. Whatever you call it, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler is not fooling around.... This isn't overkill, it's playing catch-up. What we're seeing now is the oversight and scrutiny that should have started on Day One of this administration. It's also laying the foundation for impeachment.... The list of alleged and potential misdeeds grows by the day. There are at least 17 law enforcement investigations that we know of into Trump's administration, transition, campaign, inauguration, foundation and business, and that is on top of multiple new and ongoing Capitol Hill investigations. [Michael] Cohen's public and private testimony last week gave Congress many new avenues to follow up, including new leads on the Trump Tower Moscow project and possible insurance fraud by the Trump Organization. Cohen also said he was talking to federal prosecutors in New York about another investigation into Trump wrongdoing but couldn't disclose what it was." ...

Michelle Goldberg: "In 1983, the married sociologists Gladys Engel Lang and Kurt Lang published ... a book that sought to explain how Americans, in less than two years, went from overwhelmingly re-electing Richard Nixon to largely supporting his impeachment. The Watergate scandal, after all, wasn't a complete surprise. There was evidence of a White House connection to the break-in before the 1972 election; a George McGovern campaign ad featured a montage of damning Watergate headlines while a narrator intoned: 'This is about hidden funds. This is about deception. This is about the White House.' But somehow, the story didn't stick. 'The problem it signified was outside the range of and remote from most people's immediate concerns,' the Langs wrote. The details were confusing, 'their import difficult to fathom.'" Goldberg goes on to equate what House Democrats are doing now with what the Nixon-era Ervin Committee & House Judiciary Commitee did then. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I don't think that's it. Rather, I suspect that we enjoy watching "great men" topple. It's no accident that Oedipus Rex has been a favorite (off & on) for nearly 2,500 years. I think plenty of people voted for Bad Boy Donald because they were tired of Hillary Clinton's boring, predictable competence. Just as people thought of Nixon as "Tricky Dick," so they knew Trump was a gaudy, shady character who made his money bloviating, stiffing contractors & duping people into buying his crummy products. He's the kind of huckster people want to watch go down in flames. Do I think most Trump voters were fully aware of these motivations? Nope. But I think that unacknowledged impulse is how the amorphous "public" can go from "loving" a candidate to hating a president*. Poll-wise, the same thing has happened to most recent presidents. The anomaly is Bill Clinton, who became more popular after events bore out everyone's worst expectations.

Matt Shuham of TPM: "... Donald Trump ordered his chief of staff and top economic adviser to pressure the Justice Department to intervene against AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2017, according to a New Yorker report. The Justice Department eventually did intervene, unsuccessfully. In late summer 2017, The New Yorker reported, a few months before the Justice Department formally filed suit to block the deal, Trump ordered Gary Cohn, then his chief economic adviser, to pressure the Justice Department to oppose the acquisition. The magazine, citing an unnamed 'well-informed source,' reported that Trump told White House chief of staff John Kelly and Cohn in an Oval Office meeting: 'I've been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing's happened! I've mentioned it fifty times. And nothing's happened. I want to make sure it's filed. I want that deal blocked!' According to the same source, Cohn, who announced his resignation in March 2018, told Kelly on the way out of the meeting: 'Don't you fucking dare call the Justice Department. We are not going to do business that way.'... The same New Yorker report, which focused on the relationship between Fox News and the President, also revealed that a Fox News reporter uncovered Trump's hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, but that Fox News blocked the publication of the story. An executive reportedly told the reporter: 'Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert [Murdoch], wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... If proven, such an attempt to use presidential authority to seek retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights would unquestionably be grounds for impeachment. -- George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway

... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd." Ronn Blitzer of Law & Crime: "The [New Yorker] article states that reporter Diana Falzone spent much of 2016 working on the story, and 'had obtained proof that Trump had engaged in a sexual relationship in 2006 with a pornographic film actress calling herself Stormy Daniels.' Falzone had also reportedly uncovered information related to the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels later signed, and how her attorney had worked with then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.... Falzone was reportedly ready to go with this story in October 2016, but it never saw the light of day, despite having confirmation from Daniels' former manager and ex-husband, in addition to emails between Cohen and Daniels' former attorney. After getting the run-around from different editors, Falzone's article was eventually shot down for good by Ken LaCorte, who was the head of FoxNews.com, the New Yorker reported." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Matthew Yglesias of Vox argues that Fox "News" is far more influential than any "fake news" generated on social media: "Jane...Mayer['s New Yorker piece on Fox News killing the Stormy Daniels story] adds critical new insights into the arc of change at the network during a period when CEO Roger Ailes was deposed and then died, vice president Bill Shine left to become White House communications director, and the company's owner Rupert Murdoch has restructured his media holdings and prepared to pass the baton to his son.... Fox's propaganda broadcasting matters. It's a somewhat underexplored topic in political science research, but the information that's available suggests that right-wing propaganda broadcasting -- led by Fox but also including Sinclair Broadcast Group -- has a decisive influence on American politics.... [W]hile fake news is obviously not desirable, the evidence for its practical impact has been relatively slight compared to the evidence that mass opinion has been manipulated by traditional television broadcasting." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't have an answer, but it's been clear for a long time that liberals, Democrats & traditional media must begin to educate the public on the danger Fox, Sinclair & other right-wing media pose. Media Matters is great at pointing out the Fox "News" lies of the day, but even I don't read Media Matters, so you can bet Fox viewers aren't checking to see what-all crap they're taking in on Fox. One thing ordinary citizens can do is shame Fox viewers. When your neighbor says he heard it on Fox, just tell him flat-out that Fox isn't "news"; it's right-wing propaganda. And the network is making a fool out of her.

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "An attorney representing Michael Cohen broached the idea of a pardon for the longtime Trump associate during a conversation last year with lawyers for the president, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The news outlet reported that Stephen Ryan allegedly discussed the possibility of a pardon with Trump attorneys Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon. The conversations reportedly took place in the weeks after the FBI raided Cohen's home, hotel room and office while the group reviewed seized files that may have qualified for attorney-client privilege. Ryan hinted that Cohen would consider cooperating with prosecutors if he did not receive a pardon, according to The Wall Street Journal.... Trump's attorneys rejected the idea of pardoning Cohen at the time, The Journal reported, but Giuliani left the door open to a pardon down the road. The former New York City mayor has consistently said the president is unlikely to pardon associates amid ongoing investigations. There's no indication Cohen himself knew of the conversations or personally requested a pardon, The Journal reported."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Attorney General William Barr will not recuse himself from overseeing ... Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign, a Justice Department spokeswoman said Monday.... Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Monday that Barr had decided to assume the role overseeing Mueller's inquiry and that the department's ethics team concurred.... Barr's confirmation for a second stint as attorney general was complicated by the disclosure that he had written a 19-page memo last June expressing deep skepticism about aspects of Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. During his confirmation hearing, Barr refused to say whether he would recuse from any role in Mueller's probe." ...

... Buh-bye. Morgan Chalfont of the Hill: "Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has left the Department of Justice. A Justice Department spokesman told The Hill that Whitaker's last day was Saturday but did not expand on the circumstances surrounding his departure or his plans after leaving. It is unclear where Whitaker might go, including whether he might seek another role in the Trump administration."

Dan Mangan: "Special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday notified a federal judge about an Instagram post by ... Donald Trump's friend Roger Stone that could be in violation of the judge's strict gag order on Stone. The filing by Mueller cited CNBC's story on Sunday detailing the post by Stone, which contained an image of him under the words "Who framed Roger Stone.' Mueller did not ask Judge Amy Berman to find that Stone broke her gag order."

Andy Kroll of Rolling Stone: "The family of Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer whose unsolved murder in 2016 spawned a wave of conspiracy theories, has notched another legal victory against the proponents of baseless theories about Rich. On Monday, pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi retracted a nearly year-old column published on the website Infowars, run by another notorious conspiracy peddler, Alex Jones, that promoted the unfounded claim that Rich and his brother participated in the hack of the DNC and leaked documents to WikiLeaks. In addition to the retraction, Corsi apologized to the Rich family. Around midday Monday, Infowars formally retracted the column and published an apology that mirrored Corsi's.... Corsi's apology and retraction came after a series of negotiations between lawyers for Corsi and [Seth's brother] Aaron Rich...."

Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "Powered by his two-hour stemwinder at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2 -- which featured more than 100 false or misleading claims -- President Trump is on pace to exceed his daily quota set during his first two years in office. The president averaged nearly 5.9 false or misleading claims a day in his first year in office. He hit nearly 16.5 a day in his second year. So far in 2019, he's averaging nearly 22 claims a day. As of the end of March 3, the 773rd day of his term in office, Trump accumulated 9,014 fishy claims, according to The Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. Trump's performance at CPAC is emblematic of his version of the truth during his presidency -- a potent mix of exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasting and outright falsehoods. His speech helped push March 3 to his fourth-biggest day for false or misleading claims, totaling 104."

Erin Banco & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "The Trump administration is still actively working to make a deal to send U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, according to two U.S. officials and two professional staffers at federal agencies.... American energy businesses are still hoping to cash in on Riyadh's push for energy diversification.... Professional staff and officials in the administration told The Daily Beast they are still concerned about the possible connection between efforts by private businesses to engage with Saudi Arabia on nuclear energy and the quiet, ongoing discussions between senior U.S. officials and Riyadh about a deal. Those government-to-government conversations, some of which took place in Riyadh, have often excluded professional staff and taken place behind closed doors, according to two individuals.... Jared Kushner met with MBS and other members of the Saudi government in Riyadh this week.

D. Parvaz of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump came back from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi without striking any kind of agreement. And since he returned, he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been blaming that failure on almost anyone.... [T]he president ... blamed the North Koreans for wanting too much.... North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho ... said that Pyongyang had 'offered a realistic proposal' [and] only asked for a partial removal of U.S. sanctions.... In an interview with USA Today published on Sunday, [Mike] Pompeo was either unaware of that statement or in denial about it ever happening. National Security Adviser John Bolton ... [said] the talks collapsed owing to North Korea's unpredictability.... Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to blame 'the Democrats' for interviewing Michael Cohen[.]" --s

"The Cowardly Bully." Paul Krugman: "According to multiple news organizations, the U.S. and China are close to a deal that would effectively end trade hostilities. Under the reported deal, America would remove most of the tariffs it imposed last year. China, for its part, would end its retaliatory tariffs, make some changes to its investment and competition policies and direct state enterprises to buy specified amounts of U.S. agricultural and energy products. The Trump administration will, of course, trumpet the deal as a triumph. In reality, however, it's much ado about nothing much. As described, the deal would do little to address real complaints about Chinese policy, which mainly involve China's systematic expropriation of intellectual property. Nor would it do much to address Donald Trump's pet although misguided peeve, the imbalance in U.S.-China trade. Basically, Trump will have backed down. If this is the story, it will repeat what we saw on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump denounced as the 'worst trade deal ever made.' In the end, what Trump negotiated -- the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, or U.S.M.C.A. -- was very similar to the previous status quo. Trade experts I know ... call it 'Nafta 0.8': fundamentally the same as Nafta, but a bit worse." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is Trump's MO, and he may, to a certain extent, know what he's doing. He has a major Trumpertantrum which makes a flawed or bad situation worse, then declares victory. Since he's actually doing nothing productive, these feints allow him to pretend he's busy saving the nation from some disaster brought on by incompetent and/or malevolent previous administrations. He can count on at least 30 percent of voters buying his bull and another 30-60 percent having no idea whether he's right or wrong. It's shameful retail politics, so it's Trump.

Sheri Fink & Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times: "An average of 2,200 migrants a day are now crossing the nation's 1,900-mile border with Mexico, many after grueling journeys that leave them injured, sick or badly dehydrated. Yet most of the nation's Customs and Border Protection facilities along the border lack sufficient accommodations, staffing or procedures to thoroughly assess health needs or provide more than basic emergency care, a situation that has led to dangerous medical oversights.... A New York Times review of records and dozens of interviews with migrants, agents, researchers and health workers suggest that some of these deaths were not anomalies, but rather signs of entrenched problems that have repeatedly put detainees with medical conditions at risk."

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "It's been well over a year since President Trump's bogus voter fraud commission was disbanded. But the administration is still fighting in court efforts to get it to turn over certain internal documents from the commission to a Democratic member [Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap] who sued to have access to them." --s

David Dayen of The Intercept: "A remarkable report from the Pentagon's inspector general released this week reveals that TransDigm Group, a parts supplier, 'earned excess profit' on nearly every parts contract it made with the Defense Department. Pentagon procurement officials responded to the report by vowing to seek $16.1 million in voluntary refunds from TransDigm, the approximate amount of excess profits on $26.3 million in contracts.... Three Democrats — Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Tim Ryan of Ohio, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- requested the audit to see whether TransDigm was reaping excess profits in procurement." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This report is a good example of why I'm never enthusiastic when the president (or president*) & Congress want to spend billions more on "our great military." We might have "the greatest military force the world has ever seen," but we have been paying for it with $400 hammers since we got our first tax statement.

Tracy Jan of the Washington Post: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson says he intends to leave his post at the end of President Trump's term. Carson made his remarks in a segment airing Monday evening on Newsmax TV, a conservative news outlet. In his two years leading HUD, Carson has dialed back civil rights enforcement at the agency and suspended Obama-era rules that had been aimed at fighting housing segregation and discrimination."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday said that he expects a resolution blocking President Trump's emergency declaration to pass the Senate, but he does not believe lawmakers will be able to override a veto. 'I think what is clear in the Senate is that there will be enough votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, which will then be vetoed by the president and then in all likelihood the veto will be upheld in the House,' McConnell said while speaking to reporters in Kentucky.... McConnell added that while he was supporting Trump's emergency declaration, he was 'hoping he wouldn't take that particular path.' 'Yeah I am,' he said, asked if he was concerned about the precedent set for a Democratic president. 'That's one reason I argued obviously without success to the president that he not take this route.'" ...

... Sheryl Stolberg & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "... while a veto is highly unlikely to be overturned, the congressional majority that forces it will stand as a powerful rejection of the tactics Mr. Trump has used to fulfill his top campaign promise to build a wall on the southern border -- and will apparently be the first time since passage of the National Emergencies Act of 1976 that Congress has voted to overturn an emergency declaration."

Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democrats will take floor action Wednesday in response to controversial remarks by Rep. Ilhan Omar about Israel, the second such rebuke of the freshman Democrat from party leaders in recent weeks. Pelosi and other senior Democrats have drafted a resolution to address the controversy, which ballooned over the weekend following a public clash between Omar and senior Jewish lawmakers. The resolution, which began circulating to members Monday night, comes after a backlash from top Democrats who accused Omar of anti-Semitism for referring to pro-Israel advocates' allegiance to a foreign country.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: While I agree Omar went too far in questioning her colleagues' allegiance to the U.S. (which is a violation of House rules), what about President Trump's claiming that some members of Congress who are immigrants -- here he did not name but likely was referring to Omar -- "hate our country"? Same difference, as we say in the South. As for anti-Semitism, let's look at Jim Jordan. (Rabid-Ohio)...

... Dan Mangan of CNBC: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Monday blasted Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for an 'inane AND anti-Semitic' tweet that spelled billionaire hedge-fund operator Tom Steyer's last name with a '$.'... Steyer, whose father was Jewish, has been a prominent donor to Democratic candidates as part of his goal to have President Donald Trump impeached." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** MEANWHILE. Lamar White of the Bayou Brief: "Only a week before [Rep. Clay Higgins' (R-La.) remarkable performance as the clueless bartender for the Michael Cohen hearing], one of the congressman's top aides, District Director Jerod Prunty, tendered his resignation after being charged and arrested with two counts of 'pandering,' which, as it is apparently being applied in this situation, is a euphemism for human trafficking. The state's most recent iteration of the statutory definition of pandering dates back to 1978; it provides for significant civil penalties and mandatory jail time." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the gist of the new part of the story, but for your own enjoyment you might want to read the whole post. I would say White is a great writer, but really, Brother Higgins gave White all his material.

Presidential Race 2020. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton ... said officially on Monday what has been unofficially clear for months: She is not running for president again in 2020. 'I'm not running,' Mrs. Clinton told a New York City television station, News 12. 'But I'm going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I believe.'"

Mark Stern of Slate: "[T]he First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the government from funding religious exercise and limits its ability to fund religious facilities.... Yet in 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court flipped the First Amendment on its head by ruling, for the first time ever, that the Constitution sometimes requires the government to provide public funds directly to a church.... And on Monday, Justice Brett Kavanaugh announced his intention to demolish the remainder of that wall by invalidating laws that bar government subsidization of religion.... Although the Supreme Court declined to hear [the case at issue,] Morris County, Kavanaugh wrote separately to condemn New Jersey's 'pure discrimination against religion.'... [Sam] Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined his opinion." --s

Supremes Rebuff GOP Whiners. Lee Davidson of the Salt Lake Tribune: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ended five years of legal battles by the Utah Republican Party to quash a 2014 election law that allows candidates to qualify for the ballot by collecting signatures and/or through the caucus-convention system. Justices refused to hear the party's challenge of that law, called SB54, rejecting the party's arguments that it unconstitutionally interferes with its right to choose how to select its own nominees."

Idiocracy. Ben Collins of NBC News: “A book that pushes the conspiracy theory Qanon climbed within the top 75 of all books sold on Amazon in recent days, pushed by Amazon's algorithmically generated recommendations page. 'QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening,' which has no stated author, ranked at No. 56 at press time.... The book claims without evidence a variety of outlandish claims including that prominent Democrats murder and eat children and that the U.S. government created both AIDS and the movie Monsters Inc.... Adherents of the Qanon conspiracy theory falsely believe that the world is run by a Satanic cabal helmed by ... Hillary Clinton, and that President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Robert Mueller are secretly working in tandem to eliminate the cabal.... The book ... is currently No. 9 in all books about politics, and No. 1 in all books about 'Censorship.'..." --s

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "For just the second time since the global epidemic began, a patient appears to have been cured of infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The news comes nearly 12 years to the day after the first patient known to be cured, a feat that researchers have long tried, and failed, to duplicate. The surprise success now confirms that a cure for H.I.V. infection is possible, if difficult, researchers said.... Both milestones resulted from bone-marrow transplants given to infected patients. But the transplants were intended to treat cancer in the patients, not H.I.V. Bone-marrow transplantation is unlikely to be a realistic treatment option in the near future. Powerful drugs are now available to control H.I.V. infection, while the transplants are risky, with harsh side effects that can last for years. But rearming the body with immune cells similarly modified to resist H.I.V. might well succeed as a practical treatment, experts said."

Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "The number of heatwaves affecting the planet's oceans has increased sharply, scientists have revealed, killing swathes of sea-life like 'wildfires that take out huge areas of forest'. The damage caused in these hotspots is also harmful for humanity, which relies on the oceans for oxygen, food, storm protection and the removal of climate-warming carbon dioxide the atmosphere, they say.... In the longer term, the number of heatwave days jumped by more than 50% in the 30 years to 2016, compared with the period of 1925 to 1954.... 'This [research] makes clear that heatwaves are hitting the ocean all over the world.... The ocean, in effect, 'is spiking a fever,' said Prof Malin Pinsky, at Rutgers University[.]" --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Al Jazeera: "The body of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was likely burned in a large oven at the Saudi consulate general's residence in Istanbul, an Al Jazeera investigation revealed. New details of the writer's murder by a Saudi assassination team were reported in a documentary by Al Jazeera Arabic that aired on Sunday. Turkish authorities monitored the burning of the outdoor furnace from outside the premises as bags believed to be containing Khashoggi's body parts were transferred to the Saudi consul's home after he was killed inside the consulate a few hundred metres away. Al Jazeera interviewed a worker who constructed the furnace who stated it was built according to specifications from the Saudi consul." Mrs. McC: Of course Saudi officials concocted this elaborate plan without the knowledge of the Saudi royals. You could ask Donald Trump.

Kati Pohjanpalo & Frances Schwartzkoff of Bloomberg: "Almost daily revelations are exposing the breadth of suspicious activity that has enmeshed banks that had previously been bywords for probity.... The ... reports are part of a broader OCCRP investigation into what it calls the Troika Laundromat. It's the fourth such scheme that the group has uncovered with the help of news media. The others were the Proxy Platform, the Russian Laundromat, and the Azerbaijani Laundromat.... A picture is forming of Nordic banks that, often via their Baltic units, became hubs for Russian criminals who channeled funds to the West." --s

Juliette Garside & Caelainn Barr of the Guardian: "A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal. Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin's presidency. In all, it is estimated that $4.6bn (£3.5bn) was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The details have emerged from 1.3m banking transactions obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Lithuanian website 15min.lt. Shared with media partners including the Guardian, the data represents one of the largest ever banking leaks.There is no suggestion that end recipients of funds were aware of the original source of the money, which arrived via a disguised route." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: "Another minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada quit in protest on Monday over accusations that [Trudeau] and his aides tried to influence a criminal case against a multinational Canadian company accused of bribing the Libyan government. The unexpected resignation, by Jane Philpott, who led the treasury board, inflames a growing political crisis that has already cost Mr. Trudeau his former justice minister and his top aide.... With a federal election looming seven months away, Mr. Trudeau must now not only salvage his reputation as someone who promised an open approach to politics, but may be in peril of losing control of his position as leader of the Liberal Party, which would end his time as prime minister."

Vatican. Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would open archives from the pontificate of Pius XII, possibly allowing historians to shed light on the actions of the pope during World War II, in particular his response to the Holocaust. Some critics of Pius XII maintain that he was shamefully silent during the Nazi massacre of Jews during the war, while others claim he saved thousands of lives by tasking the Roman Catholic Church with assisting victims of persecution." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Venezuela. Ana Herrero & Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader who defied a travel ban and left the country more than a week ago, returned Monday in what could turn into a new showdown with President Nicolás Maduro." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- March 4, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Dan Mangan of CNBC: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Monday blasted Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for an 'inane AND anti-Semitic' tweet that spelled billionaire hedge-fund operator Tom Steyer's last name with a '$.'"

Predicate to an Impeachment. Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Monday announced a sweeping investigation into ... Donald Trump's campaign, businesses, transition and administration, a probe that would lay the groundwork for Democrats if they choose to pursue impeachment proceedings against the President. The Judiciary Committee on Monday sent letters to 81 people and entities -- including the White House, the Justice Department, senior campaign officials, Trump Organization officials and the President's sons -- marking the start of a broad investigation that will tackle questions including possible corruption, obstruction of justice, hush-money payments to women, collusion with Russia and allegations of the President abusing his office and using it for personal gain. They are demanding responses within two weeks." ...

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "In the two months since they took control of the House, Democrats have begun investigating members of the president's cabinet, his businesses, his campaign, his inaugural committee and his ties to key foreign powers, including Russia and its attempts to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. But Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made clear on Monday that the new majority intends to train its attention on actions at the heart of Mr. Trump's norm-bending presidency -- actions that could conceivably form the basis of a future impeachment proceeding.... In a statement released Monday, Mr. Nadler said that it was imperative to 'begin building the public record' of what he has contended are Mr. Trump's abuses."

Matt Shuham of TPM: "... Donald Trump ordered his chief of staff and top economic adviser to pressure the Justice Department to intervene against AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2017, according to a New Yorker report (also linked below). The Justice Department eventually did intervene, unsuccessfully. In late summer 2017, The New Yorker reported, a few months before the Justice Department formally filed suit to block the deal, Trump ordered Gary Cohn, then his chief economic adviser, to pressure the Justice Department to oppose the acquisition. The magazine, citing an unnamed 'well-informed source,' reported that Trump told White House chief of staff John Kelly and Cohn in an Oval Office meeting: 'I've been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing's happened! I've mentioned it fifty times. And nothing's happened. I want to make sure it's filed. I want that deal blocked!' According to the same source, Cohn, who announced his resignation in March 2018, told Kelly on the way out of the meeting: 'Don't you fucking dare call the Justice Department. We are not going to do business that way.'... The same New Yorker report, which focused on the relationship between Fox News and the President, also revealed that a Fox News reporter uncovered Trump's hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, but that Fox News blocked the publication of the story. An executive reportedly told the reporter: 'Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert [Murdoch], wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go.'" ...

... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd." Ronn Blitzer of Law & Crime: "The [New Yorker] article states that reporter Diana Falzone spent much of 2016 working on the story, and 'had obtained proof that Trump had engaged in a sexual relationship in 2006 with a pornographic film actress calling herself Stormy Daniels.' Falzone had also reportedly uncovered information related to the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels later signed, and how her attorney had worked with then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.... Falzone was reportedly ready to go with this story in October 2016, but it never saw the light of day, despite having confirmation from Daniels' former manager and ex-husband, in addition to emails between Cohen and Daniels' former attorney. After getting the run-around from different editors, Falzone's article was eventually shot down for good by Ken LaCorte, who was the head of FoxNews.com, the New Yorker reported."

Ana Herrero & Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader who defied a travel ban and left the country more than a week ago, returned Monday in what could turn into a new showdown with President Nicolás Maduro."

Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would open archives from the pontificate of Pius XII, possibly allowing historians to shed light on the actions of the pope during World War II, in particular his response to the Holocaust. Some critics of Pius XII maintain that he was shamefully silent during the Nazi massacre of Jews during the war, while others claim he saved thousands of lives by tasking the Roman Catholic Church with assisting victims of persecution."

Juliette Garside & Caelainn Barr of the Guardian: "A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal. Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin's presidency. In all, it is estimated that $4.6bn (£3.5bn) was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The details have emerged from 1.3m banking transactions obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Lithuanian website 15min.lt. Shared with media partners including the Guardian, the data represents one of the largest ever banking leaks.There is no suggestion that end recipients of funds were aware of the original source of the money, which arrived via a disguised route."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

It's the Democrats' Fault. Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Sunday that the congressional testimony of Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer, was in part responsible for the collapse in negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program last week -- continuing to vent about the investigations encircling him and his associates.... 'For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the "walk,"' he tweeted. 'Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!'... And earlier Sunday evening, he tweeted -- as he has done many times before -- about 'Presidential Harassment' from 'crazed' Democrats, calling it at the 'highest level in the history of our Country.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's right, Donnie. It had nothing to do with the fact that you never should have given Li'l Kim another moment on the world stage, your complete lack of preparation & your own not-surprising failure to charm Kim into doing something that everyone who watches the nightly news knew Kim wasn't ever going to do. BTW, the reason Mike Pompeo joined you on the dais during your N.K. presser was in hopes of muzzling you. It didn't work. Deirdre Shesgreen of USA Today: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to say if he believes that Kim Jong Un did not know about Otto Warmbier's mistreatment while the American college student was imprisoned in North Korea, as President Trump has asserted." Oh, and here's John Bolton on "Fox 'News' Sunday" trying to clean up after you: "It's not taking the word. He said I'm going to take -- when he says, 'I'm going to take him at his word,' it doesn't mean that he accepted as reality, it means that he accepts that's what Kim Jong-un said." Okay then: "I take him at his word" does not mean "I take him at his word."

Quinn Scanlan of ABC News: "Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that his committee will be issuing document requests on Monday to dozens of individuals. 'Tomorrow, we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, Jr., Allen Weisselberg, to begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power,' Nadler said on 'This Week' Sunday.... 'Do you think the president obstructed justice?' asked ... George Stephanopoulos. 'Yes, I do,' Nadler said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kelsey Tamborrino of Politico: "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday lawmakers have found 'enormous amounts of evidence' into potential collusion between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election. Mark Warner of Virginia made his remarks in response to an assertion that there is 'no factual evidence of collusion' from the Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee.... Warner's House Intelligence Committee counterpart, Adam Schiff, said Sunday on CBS' 'Face the Nation' that there's both 'direct evidence' and 'abundant circumstantial evidence' of collusion with Russia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: “Lawmakers are investigating whether President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was involved in any discussions about possible pardons -- which they view as a potentially ripe area of inquiry into whether anyone sought to obstruct justice, people familiar with the matter said. Cohen has said publicly he never asked for -- and would not accept -- a pardon from Trump. But people familiar with the matter said his knowledge on the topic seems to extend beyond that statement. Privately, lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence committees pressed Cohen last week on whether he had had any discussions about a possible pardon and, if so, when and with whom those conversations took place, the people said.... Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the closed-door testimony, though he said on MSNBC on Thursday night that 'new information was developed that could be game-changing,' and that it was about 'lying and obstruction evidence.'"

Roger Stone Cannot STFU.Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Roger Stone on Sunday suggested he has been 'framed' by special counsel Robert Mueller in an Instagram post that appeared to run afoul of a judge's barely week-old gag order barring ... Donald Trump's longtime friend from criticizing the prosecutors in the criminal case against him. Stone deleted the only image in that multi-image post that included 'Who framed Roger Stone' language shortly after CNBC emailed his lawyer to ask about it.... The gag extends to 'posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other form of social media.' If Stone violates the order, Jackson could order him jailed without bail until his trial."

Thanks to Rand Paul, Trumpy-Dumpty's Wall Just Had a Great Fall. Dan Sergent of the Bowling Green Daily News: "The Republican Party cheerleading session that is the Southern Kentucky Lincoln Day Dinner veered slightly off course Saturday with this pronouncement by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Bowling Green: 'I can't vote to give extra-Constitutional powers to the president.' In a speech to the crowd of nearly 200 Republican officeholders and supporters at Western Kentucky University's Augenstein Alumni Center, Paul interjected, in a speech devoted largely to praising the work of ... Donald Trump, his opinion that Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border is a dangerous precedent.... Three GOP senators -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have already said they will vote to derail the emergency declaration. If Paul joins them and the Senate's 47 Democrats, the president will need to veto the measure in order to get his emergency money." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Intel Briefers Cater to Dumbcluck-in-Chief. Julian Barnes & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "In an effort to accommodate President Trump, who has attacked them publicly as 'naïve' and in need of going 'back to school,' the nation's intelligence agencies have revamped their presentations to focus on subjects their No. 1 customer wants to hear about -- economics and trade. Intelligence officers, steeped in how Mr. Trump views the world, now work to answer his repeated question: Who is winning? What the president wants to know, according to former officials, is what country is making more money or gaining a financial advantage." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You can see why Michael Cohen threatened to kill the registrars who keep the records of Trump's grades. I doubt he even got "gentlemen's 'C's," because he professors probably thought associating "Trump" & "gentleman" was ridiculous.

Washington Post Editors: "President Trump's hypocrisy seldom comes packaged in such a neat bundle as it did recently when he insisted that European governments 'take back' hundreds of their citizens captured while fighting for the Islamic State. Five days later, he proudly asserted the United States refuses to do the same in the case of an American woman who married three Islamic State fighters and is now in custody in Syria."

Guess What Li'l Kim's Hackers Were Doing While Trump Was Kissing His Ample Ass. Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "North Korean hackers who have targeted American and European businesses for 18 months kept up their attacks last week even as President Trump was meeting with North Korea's leader in Hanoi. The attacks, which include efforts to hack into banks, utilities and oil and gas companies, began in 2017, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company McAfee, a time when tensions between North Korea and the United States were flaring. But even though both sides have toned down their fiery threats and begun nuclear disarmament talks, the attacks persist."

Isabel Debre of the AP: "The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem, downgrading the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the U.S. Embassy to Israel. For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy. The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership." Mrs. McC: As far as I can tell, cutting off diplomatic ties to Palestine is part of Jared Kushner's Middle East peace plan. I'm not kidding here.

Phil McCausland & Mariana Atencio of NBC News: "Parents deported to Central America by U.S. immigration officials returned to the southern border Saturday to demand asylum and reunification with the children they were forced to leave behind. The 29 parents, who were sent back to their home countries last year after crossing illegally into the U.S. with their children, traveled over the past month with immigration lawyers, religious leaders and other supporters in the hope of rejoining their kids."

Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "On America's southern border, migrant women and girls are the victims of sexual assaults that most often go unreported, uninvestigated and unprosecuted. Even as women around the world are speaking out against sexual misconduct, migrant women on the border live in the shadows of the #MeToo movement.... Undocumented women making their way into American border towns have been beaten for disobeying smugglers, impregnated by strangers, coerced into prostitution, shackled to beds and trees and -- in at least a handful of cases -- bound with duct tape, rope or handcuffs.... Much of [the violence] happens after women reach the supposed safety of the United States.... At least five of the women who were assaulted -- in one case, bound with duct tape, raped and stabbed -- were attacked ... by on-duty Border Patrol agents and Customs officers." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sadly, we now have a documented case of a migrant woman who was bound with duct tape (though not necessarily on her face, as Trump has claimed) raped & stabbed -- by a U.S. official.

Lee Fang & Nick Surgey of The Intercept: "On the first day the new Congress was in session in January, Rep. John Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland, introduced the For the People Act, known in the House of Representatives as H.R.1. The sweeping bill seeks to revamp lobbyist registration, campaign financing, and voting rights.... By the end of the month, hearings were held on Capitol Hill. One of the witnesses before the House Judiciary Committee hearings was Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission member who is now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.... In his prepared testimony, he wrote that H.R.1 is 'clearly unconstitutional,' complaining that its provisions 'come at the expense of federalism.' Just two weeks later, however, as von Spakovsky addressed a private gathering of conservatives, he was considerably more candid about his reason for opposing the bill.... Von Spakovsky explained that expanded voting rights and nonpartisan redistricting could imperil GOP political power." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It is "secret" but obvious confederate orthodoxy that "voting rights" should be cut back to what they were in 1789, when -- in most states -- only white, propertied men could vote. Our anti-democratic Electoral College, of course, is a vestige of that system.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. "State TV/Servile Propaganda Ops" Edition. Jane Mayer of the New Yorker in a long piece on Fox "News": "As the President has been beset by scandals, congressional hearings, and even talk of impeachment, Fox has been both his shield and his sword. The White House and Fox interact so seamlessly that it can be hard to determine, during a particular news cycle, which one is following the other's lead. All day long, Trump retweets claims made on the network; his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, has largely stopped holding press conferences, but she has made some thirty appearances on such shows as' Fox & Friends' and 'Hannity.' Trump, [Prof. Nicole] Hemmer says, has 'almost become a programmer.... Nothing has formalized the partnership between Fox and Trump more than the appointment, in July, 2018, of Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, as director of communications and deputy chief of staff at the White House.... [Confederate Bill] Kristol contends that Shine's White House appointment is a scandal....' It's astounding that Shine -- the guy who covered up [Roger] Ailes's horrible behavior -- is the deputy chief of staff!'"

Caleb Ecarma of Mediaite: "Conservative Political Action Conference organizers threatened to ban every Mediaite reporter after a private complaint from ex-White House official Seb Gorka, who was caught on video shoving this reporter at the right-wing gathering last year." ...

... Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Seb Gorka, pundit turned White House staffer turned pundit, is no longer a Fox News contributor, the network confirmed to Mediaite. Gorka, a self-proclaimed national security expert, worked as a contributor for Fox News before he joined the Trump administration (to apparently wreak havoc on the National Security Council). He returned to Fox News in November 2017 shortly after he was reportedly forced out of the administration by former chief of staff John Kelly. When reached for comment, Gorka replied to Mediaite with a furious torrent of emails, the first of which accused this reporter of being in a 'drug-induced haze.' 'You really are obsessed with me aren't you. I'd be flattered if you weren't a washed-out hack,' Gorka wrote in a second email." Mrs. McC: I'd describe this as a Gorka meltdown, but it's Gorka's standard MO. All the best people, you know.

"The Neo-Nazi Plot Against America." Vegas Tenold of the Guardian: "Increased violence from far-right activists at a time when the administration is friendlier toward their goals is not without historical precedent, said the University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew, the author of Bring the War Home: the White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Belew explained that the far right's affinity for Donald Trump might mean more violence during his time in the White House, not less. 'The last time the movement underwent a major revolutionary turn was under the Reagan administration, during a moment of supposedly friendly state power,' she said.... 'What we've seen in the Trump-era is that a lot of the people on the fringes see opportunities for political engagement where they didn't see it before,' said Berger. 'The question is: what happens when that window closes?'" --s

Presidential Race 2020. Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: "John Hickenlooper, the two-time Colorado governor ... who has overseen Colorado's remarkable economic expansion, declared his candidacy for president on Monday. Mr. Hickenlooper, 67, a socially progressive, pro-business Democrat who has called himself an 'extreme moderate,' had long said he was considering a run, and made early visits to Iowa and New Hampshire."

Beyond the Beltway

Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "A woman in Los Angeles was sentenced to 15 years in prison this past week for what the authorities said was an unprovoked attack on an elderly man last year. The woman, Laquisha Jones, 30, was accused of beating the man with a brick and telling him to 'go back to your country,' the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said. Ms. Jones was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to an elder abuse charge, as part of a plea agreement in December."

** Daniel Trotta of Reuters: "A rapidly growing number of counties in at least four states are declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, refusing to enforce gun-control laws that they consider to be infringements on the U.S. constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Organizers of the pro-gun sanctuaries admit they took the idea from liberals who have created immigration sanctuaries across the United States where local officials defy the Trump administration's efforts to enforce tougher immigration laws. Now local conservatives are rebelling against majority Democratic rule in the states." --s

News Ledes

New York Times: "Luke Perry, who burst onto the television scene and countless fan-magazine covers in 1990 as one of the core cast members of the Fox drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' then went on to a busy career in television and film that included, most recently, the CW series 'Riverdale,' died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 52. His family announced the death. He had been hospitalized after a stroke last Wednesday."

USA Today: "First responders scoured debris Monday searching for missing people after several tornadoes devastated communities in the Southeast. At least 23 people died in one Alabama county, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said. Officials expect the numbers to rise as they assess damage and begin recovery. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris told The Associated Press that he had to call in help from the state because there were more bodies than his office could handle."

The Commentariat -- March 3, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Thanks to Rand Paul, Trumpy-Dumpty's Wall Just Had a Great Fall. Dan Sergent of the Bowling Green Daily News: "The Republican Party cheerleading session that is the Southern Kentucky Lincoln Day Dinner veered slightly off course Saturday with this pronouncement by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Bowling Green: 'I can't vote to give extra-Constitutional powers to the president.' In a speech to the crowd of nearly 200 Republican officeholders and supporters at Western Kentucky University's Augenstein Alumni Center, Paul interjected, in a speech devoted largely to praising the work of ... Donald Trump, his opinion that Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border is a dangerous precedent.... Three GOP senators -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have already said they will vote to derail the emergency declaration. If Paul joins them and the Senate's 47 Democrats, the president will need to veto the measure in order to get his emergency money."

Quinn Scanlan of ABC News: "Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that his committee will be issuing document requests on Monday to dozens of individuals. 'Tomorrow, we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, Jr., Allen Weisselberg, to begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power,' Nadler said on 'This Week' Sunday.... 'Do you think the president obstructed justice?' asked ... George Stephanopoulos. 'Yes, I do,' Nadler said." ...

... Kelsey Tamborrino of Politico: "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday lawmakers have found 'enormous amounts of evidence' into potential collusion between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election. Mark Warner of Virginia made his remarks in response to an assertion that there is 'no factual evidence of collusion' from the Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee.... Warner's House Intelligence Committee counterpart, Adam Schiff, said Sunday on CBS' 'Face the Nation' that there's both 'direct evidence' and 'abundant circumstantial evidence' of collusion with Russia."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race 2020. Gregory Krieg of CNN: "Bernie Sanders on Saturday spoke about his father's escape from Europe, where 'virtually his entire family there was wiped out by Hitler and Naz barbarism.' He talked about the 'three-and-a-half room, rent-controlled apartment' his parents and brother shared in Flatbush, not far from here in Brooklyn. He recalled his mother, who died soon after Sanders began college, and her dream -- unrealized -- of moving to 'a home of our own.'But then, in the midst of delivering the most personal remarks of his political career at the first major rally of his 2020 campaign, Sanders veered off the somber script. 'I know where I came from!' he howled, a hint of exuberance in his voice. 'And that is something I will never forget.'... The crowd of around 13,000 supporters, according to a campaign estimates..., roared back." ...

... Bernie & Larry David Find Their Roots:

MEANWHILE. Just so you know, Donald Trump has slipped right into dictator territory with a two-hour-plus speech at CPAC. ...

... Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday delivered a scorched-earth speech to conservative activists, calling the Russia investigation 'bullshit,' adopting a southern accent to mock his former attorney general, and asserting that some members of Congress 'hate our country.'... The president also revisited his infamous 2016 appeal to Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails, arguing that he was just joking and criticizing the press for taking his comments seriously. 'So everybody is having a good time, I'm laughing, we're all having fun. Then that fake CNN and others say, "He asked Russia to go get the emails. Horrible,"' Trump continued, adding,'These people are sick, and I'm telling you, they know the game and they play it dirty, dirtier than anybody has ever played the game.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Saturday, Trump claimed he made the hacking "joke" in front of an audience of 25,000 people; in fact, he was speaking to a small group of press, and it wasn't a "joke." Here's a contemporaneous report (July 27, 2016) by Benjy Sarlin of NBC News: "On Wednesday, Trump publicly called on Russian intelligence agents to hack Hillary Clinton's emails and release the results, a direct appeal to a foreign power to commit espionage that came as Trump faced increased scrutiny over his ties to Putin. 'Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,' Trump said at a press conference in Florida.... When NBC News' Katy Tur asked Trump whether he had qualms about encouraging the release of stolen intelligence, he told her to 'be quiet.' 'If Russia or China or any other country has those e-mails, I mean, to be honest with you, I'd love to see them,' he said.... And, in case Trump's pleas to Russia were not obvious enough, he told a reporter he would not warn Putin against influencing the American election. 'I'm not going to tell Putin what to do -- why should I tell Putin what to do?' Trump said.... Russia has been widely blamed by experts for hacking the Democratic National Committee's emails. The release of some of those by WikiLeaks prompted DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign this week just one day before her party's national convention began. FBI Director James Comey has said it's unclear if Clinton's private email server, which Trump referred to in his remarks, has been hacked." ...

... Here's the Washington Post's report on Trump's demagoguery, by Seung Min Kim & Brian Fung. ...

... Brian Fung: "A new executive order from the White House will aim to make federal research funding for colleges and universities contingent on their support for 'free speech,' President Trump said Saturday. The announcement, during Trump's address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, appeared to target complaints by some university critics that institutions of higher education stifle right-wing viewpoints. 'If they want our dollars, and we give it to them by the billions, they've got to allow people like Hayden and many great young people, and old people, to speak,' Trump said, bringing onstage a young conservative, Hayden Williams, who was physically attacked last month while tabling for a conservative organization at the University of California at Berkeley.... Trump told the CPAC crowd, meeting at National Harbor, Md., that he planned to sign the order 'very soon' but did not provide specifics or say whether a draft has already been prepared.... Trump's policy could inadvertently disqualify many religious academic institutions from receiving federal research funding, to the extent that their religious beliefs prohibit certain views or speakers on campus." ...

... March of the Lemmings. Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Acquiescence to Trump is now the defining trait of the Republican Party more than two years into his presidency -- overwhelming and at times erasing principles that conservatives viewed as the foundation of the party for more than a half century. Trump's ownership of the GOP was on vivid display again Saturday, when the president appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, an annual gathering that has transformed into a raucous celebration of Trump, featuring propaganda-style art and a speaker who declared that the president was 'chosen by God.'... In interviews over the past week, Republicans on Capitol Hill offered an array of reasons for their unflinching loyalty to Trump as the 2020 campaign begins to take shape: a deep-seated fear of his pull with their supporters in primary races; fraying consensus about conservatism as nationalism takes hold of the party; and shared partisan disdain for Trump's perceived enemies in the news media and the Democratic Party.... Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) publicly acknowledged what many Republicans say privately: The GOP is wholeheartedly accepting behavior and policies from Trump that would spark outrage from a Democratic president...."

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Grifter-in-Chief. #realDonaldTrump used his official Twitter account yesterday to boast about one of his Scottish golf courses: "Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!" March 2. As part of the tweet, Trump retweeted a promotion for the course, which the course's architect wrote. ...

5 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) § 2635.702: "An employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise...."

Trump's latest tweet about his golf course not only used the prestige of the presidency to promote his business - squalid, possibly illegal - but also directly linked the US-UK relationship to his golf courses. Was that some kind of request? Or threat? -- David Frum in a tweet

This is Trump's most explicit commingling of personal interests and public office to date.... This is shameless, corrupt and repugnant presidential profiteering. -- Walter Shaub of CREW, formerly head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

The Framers adopted the Foreign Emoluments Clause because they were deeply concerned that the nation's leaders might put their financial self-interest above the national interest. -- Brianne Gorod, chief counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center

Trump claimed that the Aberdeen course improves relations with the United Kingdom. The reality is that it has incited a long-running feud between Trump and the Scottish government because of Trump's opposition to a wind farm planned just off the coast. Trump sued the Scottish government over the wind farm, claiming it would hurt the views from the golf course, and he lost. The wind farm has begun operation. Just days ago, a Scottish court ruled Trump will have to pay the Scottish government back for the legal costs associated with the lawsuit. -- David Fahrenthold & Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post

Christian Vasquez of Politico: "... Donald Trump said Saturday that a 'just released' manuscript of a book written by Michael Cohen would show his longtime personal lawyer had lied to Congress, without offering further evidence for the explosive claim. 'Virtually everything failed lawyer Michael Cohen said in his sworn testimony last week is totally contradicted in his just released manuscript for a book about me. It's a total new love letter to "Trump" and the pols must now use it rather than his lies for sentence reduction!' Trump tweeted. It's not yet clear whether the manuscript exists, if Trump has actually seen it or if he is simply continuing a line of attack started on Friday, when the president demanded Congress obtain the alleged manuscript as proof that Cohen was lying in his testimony." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course this is nonsense at every level. Hagiographic books are not written under oath. As to the book's "release," I'm guessing the White House got a copy for vetting & a Trump enforcers read it.

Nicholas Kristof: "Jared Kushner slipped quietly into Saudi Arabia this week for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman[.]... Of all the harebrained and unscrupulous dealings of the Trump administration in the last two years, one of the most shocking is a Trump plan to sell nuclear reactors to Saudi Arabia that could be used to make nuclear weapons.... This is abominable policy tainted by a gargantuan conflict of interest involving Kushner. Kushner;s family real estate business had been teetering because of a disastrously overpriced acquisition he made of a particular Manhattan property called 666 Fifth Avenue, but last August a company called Brookfield Asset Management rescued the Kushners by taking a 99-year lease of the troubled property -- and paying the whole sum of about $1.1 billion up front. Brookfield also owns Westinghouse Electric, the nuclear services business trying to sell reactors to Saudi Arabia.... It may be conflicts like these, along with even murkier ones, that led American intelligence officials to refuse a top-secret security clearance for Kushner."

Jelani Cobb of the New Yorker: "A defining trait of Donald Trump -- and, thereby, of Trumpism -- has been abiding avarice frustrated by an equal level of incompetence.... Yet the net result of [Michael] Cohen's testimony indicated that, whatever his previous deficiencies, he's done a great deal of learning on the job. He parried and jabbed with the Republicans on the committee, more than once blocking what they'd apparently perceived as a surefire line of attack. At times, they appeared outmatched.... Perhaps Cohen's true calling is the theatre, and his demeanor throughout the day -- slightly slumping shoulders, a hangdog expression -- was evidence of a master thespian at work." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: There are few more impressive feats than spending a full day beating off a string of rabid Congressmembers aligned against you. When Hillary Clinton did it in 2016, she wowed us. But Clinton is smart as a whip. Cohen, not so much. So one thing Cohen proved this week is that not only are our Republican "leaders" morally bankrupt, they're pretty stupid & incompetent, too. BTW, if you think it's easy to stand up to competent questioning by an MOC, look what happened last week to Equifax CEO Mark Begor (whom one would expect to be fairly bright, wily & well-prepped) when freshman Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) got her 5 minutes:

Alex Shephard of the New Republic argues what should be -- but isn't necessarily -- obvious: soaking the rich to pay for programs like Medicare for All & the Green New Deal is good politics. Poll after poll shows that the American public favors more benefits for themselves & higher taxes for the rich. "The answer is to merge a number of the Democratic plans floated by presidential candidates and politicians like Ocasio-Cortez into a larger program aimed at creating a fairer economy, providing universal health care, and decarbonizing the economy -- and to be clear about exactly how they plan to pay for it. The politics of taxes are changing. Now the Democrats need to change their message accordingly."

So this ex-con, a black guy named James Stern, buys this Neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Movement. Katie Mettler of the Washington Post reports.

News Lede

New York Times: "At least 14 people in Alabama were killed after tornadoes touched down in the Southeast on Sunday, leaving a trail of devastation, an official said. The tornadoes were part of a series of storms that moved east through Alabama, Georgia and Florida. They uprooted trees and blasted through homes, video footage and photographs posted on Twitter showed."