The Silence of Bob Mueller

In the film "The Bridge on the River Kwai," based on a French novel, the commandant of a World War II Japanese prison camp in Burma orders British POWs to build a railway bridge across the River Kwai in order to connect Rangoon & Bangkok. The British POWs purposely do sloppy work in an attempt to sabotage the construction, but the main character, Lt. Col. Nicholson -- who is the senior British officer among the POWs -- wants to show the Japanese that the Brits are superior to the Japanese. He orders a couple of British engineers in the POW group to design a better bridge in a better place, then orders his men to build the bridge right, which they do. Just as the POWs complete the bridge, a group of British & American commandos parachutes in to plant explosives with the intention of destroying the bridge at the moment a group of Japanese dignitaries will cross it in a celebratory inauguration. Nicholson sees the detonation wires & tries, unsuccessfully, to stop the explosion.

Bob Mueller is beginning to seem a lot like Nicholson. As the President* of the United States runs amok on a daily basis, undermining the Constitution and its established institutions, degrading the Congress, the courts, the free press & human rights, Bob Mueller plugs along on his super-secret mission, releasing as little information as possible, thus hamstringing the Congress (especially now that a Democratic majority in the House could do something about President Run-Amok). Mueller's latest filing, 800+ pages condemning bit player Paul Manafort, does little or nothing to carry the story forward. While the country tumbles under Donald Trump's corrupt, authoritarian, right-wing regime, we find out Manafort is a "hardened" career criminal, something we already knew. And in the larger scheme of things, so what?

We are told that, like Lt. Col. Nicholson, Bob Mueller is an exemplary, by-the-books leader who is methodically building a perfect structure. Not a bridge, but a series of air-tight criminal cases. Right. Against an ambitious twerp named George Papadopoulos. Against a young Dutch national named Alex van der Zwaan. Against Rick Gates, Michael Cohen (on an SDNY referral) & Roger Stone. Against Russian hackers who never will face trial. The only person Mueller targeted -- as far as we know now -- who held a position of power within the U.S. government was Michael Flynn, and by the time Mueller obtained a guilty plea from him, Flynn too was a private citizen. Against Donald Trump., the leader of the criminal ring? Bupkis. Indicting the mob boss -- the one miscreant who holds great power -- would be wrong.

Bob Mueller received his appointment in mid-May 2017. It is impossible to believe it has taken him nearly two years to find evidence against Donald Trump, especially since Trump himself has so often volunteered that evidence and sent out pointers to even more criminal and corrupt activities. One could make a credible argument that Mueller is constrained by the special counsel's mandate. Or that he's trying to give us sneak peaks in his court filings. Isn't Mueller a citizen first, before he is special counsel? And if those sneak peaks are meant to be directional markers, why are Mueller's court filings so heavily redacted?

Lately I've been hearing, from Andrew McCabe, among others, that Bob Mueller loves investigating. Digging into the evidence to prove his case is Mueller's thing. Investigation is his milieu. He's a stickler for the rule of law. Well, that's very nice. Proving the British were superior to others was Nicholson's purpose. Building a better bridge was his method. Look how that worked out. While Mueller builds his cases against bit players, Donald Trump is expanding his criminal enterprise. While Mueller fiddles, the Trumpster fire is burning bright.

Bob Mueller owes us an indictment; if not a criminal indictment, then a sweeping indictment of Trump's conspiracy to turn the U.S. presidency into a personal fiefdom in which Mueller's vaunted rule of law is being employed as nothing but a means to punish Trump's perceived enemies.

It's high time to break your silence, Bob Mueller.

The Commentariat -- February 24, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: "... Donald Trump spent his Sunday morning in his own unique way, tweeting away about his admiration for the worst people in the world. This time it was North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom Trump is scheduled to meet in Vietnam to discuss, as Trump put it, 'Denuclearization?' Boasting of his 'great relationship' with Kim, Trump called the brutal dictator an asset to his country with a potential for great things[.]... Conducting diplomacy with dictators is sometimes just part of the job, but Trump is unique in his insistence that the brutal dictators he's conducting diplomacy with are, in fact, good people.... Trump's admiration, he explained, stemmed from Kim's ability to consolidate power at such a young age -- something Kim was able to do through a campaign of assassinations and terror." ...

... Josh Smith & Hyonhee Shin of Reuters: "North Korea's state media criticized U.S. Democrats and American intelligence officials on Sunday for 'chilling the atmosphere' ahead of leader Kim Jong Un's second summit with ... Donald Trump this week.... In some parts, the article appeared to echo Trump's own recent talking points, which have blamed former President Barack Obama for taking the two countries to the brink of war.... One U.S. government Korea analyst ... said the commentary appeared aimed at softening Trump up ahead of the summit."

Connor O'Brien of Politico: "... Donald Trump is preparing to ask Congress for yet another increase in defense spending in the coming weeks. But his plan would evade federal budget limits by stashing nearly a quarter of that money in an off-the-books account -- and both Democrats and Republicans say it won't fly in Congress. The White House plans to stuff as much as $174 billion of its $750 billion request for national defense for the coming fiscal year into a special war fund, according to reports, allowing the administration to maintain its long-sought military buildup without violating a 2011 law aimed at reining in the deficit. The gimmick is especially striking given that Trump budget chief Mick Mulvaney once fought to limit the very same war account, known as the Overseas Contingency Operations fund." Mrs. McC: Guess we'll have to have a war against Mexico, so Trump can further fund wall."

"Eight Days in May." Jeff Toobin, in the New Yorker, writes a brief review of Andrew McCabe's book The Threat. "... anyone who has followed Trump will recognize the accuracy of the portrayal of him in 'The Threat.' And Trump's disrespect for the norms of American democracy extends well beyond his personal dishonesty and pettiness. It can be seen at the level of policy, too, and his transgressions in that realm are now threatening the constitutional order."

"We Shall Fight on the Beaches...." Quint Forgey of Politico: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday threatened to call Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill and subpoena his investigative findings if Attorney General William Barr does not make public the special counsel's highly anticipated report. 'We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary,' Schiff told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC's 'This Week.'"

Gregory Korte of USA Today: "A federal judge in Texas has declared that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional, ruling that 'the time has passed' for a debate on whether women belong in the military. The decision deals the biggest legal blow to the Selective Service System since the Supreme Court upheld the draft in 1981. In Rostker v. Goldberg, the court ruled that the male-only draft was 'fully justified' because women were ineligible for combat roles. But U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late Friday that while historical restrictions on women serving in combat 'may have justified past discrimination,' men and women are now equally able to fight. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted all restrictions for women in military service. The case was brought by the National Coalition For Men, a men's rights group, and two men who argued the all-male draft was unfair." Miller is a Bush II appointee. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Um, did this fairly right-wing organization accidentally strike a blow for women's rights?

*****

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Chad Day & Eric Tucker of the AP: "Woven through thousands of court papers, the special counsel has made his public report. This is what it says." Read on. Mrs. McC: It's worth noting that much of what appears in the court documents relates, hardly surprisingly, to chargeable criminal activities. It's possible that Trump never did anything -- or at least not much -- that would elicit a guilty verdict in a court of law but that he did plenty that does rise to the level of "high crimes & misdemeanors."

The Company Trump Keeps. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is a 'hardened' criminal who 'repeatedly and brazenly violated the law,' prosecutors told a Washington federal judge. But they recommended no specific punishment for those crimes, saying that is the practice of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whose office brought the case. Prosecutors noted that federal guidelines call for a sentence of 17 to 22 years, although under Manafort's guilty plea in his D.C. case, the maximum he faces behind bars is 10. The special counsel team said it may ask for Judge Amy Berman Jackson to impose a sentence that runs after any prison time Manafort is given for related crimes in Virginia federal court. 'Manafort chose repeatedly and knowingly to violate the law,' prosecutors said, from 'garden-variety crimes such as tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and bank fraud' to 'more esoteric laws' involving foreign lobbying." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The sentencing memo, which is here (via Axios), is more than 800 pages, mostly appendices. Adam Davidson of the New Yorker says there's nothing in it.

Ken Vogel & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "In the nearly two years that ... Robert S. Mueller III, has been investigating whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, few figures seem to have offered more tantalizing leads than Konstantin V. Kilimnik.... Mr. Kilimnik pops up repeatedly as a possible connection, with ties to both sides that are as enigmatic as they are deep.... Dozens of interviews, court filings and other documents show Mr. Kilimnik to be an operator who moved easily between Russian, Ukrainian and American patrons, playing one off the other while leaving a jumble of conflicting suspicions in his wake."

On the Mar-a-Lago Dessert Menu: Conspiracy Cake. Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort appears to employ a pastry chef who frequently posts online about her belief in the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory. Elizabeth Alfieri, a Florida pastry chef, has posted dozens of times on Instagram using QAnon hashtags and slogans, often using pictures taken at Mar-a-Lago itself. Alfieri's Instagram posts were first reported by 1100 Pennsylvania, a newsletter that reports on Trump's properties. On Christmas, for example, Alfieri posted an Instagram picture of a gingerbread house in what appears to be a Mar-a-Lago ballroom. The side of the gingerbread house is emblazoned with a 'Q' made of blue frosting and dusted with glitter." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps the most famous "presidential" cake -- up till now! -- is the Martha Washington cake. Hereinafter, it could be the Trump conspiracy cake: four cups of flour; five whites of goose eggs beaten to stiff peaks; too much sugar; a cup of Diet Coke to moisten; three cups of the nuttiest nuts; topped with 7-minute icing, glitterly blue"Q"s decorating the sides & three cups of finely shredded-orange peel arranged in a weird, thin bouffant.

Brian Faler & Aaron Lorenzo of Politico: "The average tax refund issued so far this year is down by 17 percent, the IRS said, a steep decline that promises more headaches for Republican lawmakers. The agency released data late Friday showing refunds are down for the third consecutive week, with the typical payment made through Feb. 15 totaling $2,703, compared to $3,256 during the same period last year. This filing season is the first under Republicans' overhaul of the tax code, and lawmakers have already been under fire as some taxpayers find their expected refunds smaller or gone altogether. The payments are sacrosanct to many Americans who rely on them to fill holes in their budgets.... Democrats ... have accused Republicans of manipulating people's withholding in order to boost workers' paychecks last year, ahead of the midterm elections, though that would sap their refunds come tax time. The House Ways and Means committee is planning to hold a hearing soon on the issue." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bowden of the Hill: "The Pentagon announced Friday that it would direct an additional 1,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to install barbed wire along existing border fences. Defense officials said at a news briefing that the total size of the U.S. deployment of troops to the southern border would reach 6,000 by March 1, with 140 miles of additional concertina wire to be installed.... The news came as Pentagon officials on Friday also refused to say whether the Defense Department would seek congressional approval to appropriate billions of dollars for President Trump's project to construct a wall along the border. 'It has been the practice of the Department of Defense to request approval and it's not required by law,' an official told reporters when asked whether the department would move forward without congressional approval." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Okeson of DC Report: "The Trump administration has drawn up plans for another tent city for migrant children in Texas [at& Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo] that would hold up to 7,500 children in a camp built on or next to a former dump and not far from Superfund sites.... 'Public records show the migrant children&'s housing site proposed for Goodfellow will be built atop a former landfill, in an area riddled with lead, benzene, and other chemicals particularly hazardous to children,' said Lisa Evans, an attorney for Earthjustice. A health department spokesman said the Goodfellow site and other proposed sites in Arkansas and Texas are not under active consideration at this time. Our nation's only temporary camp for immigrant children is now in Homestead, Fla., near another Air Force Base. State child welfare regulations don't apply to the camp." --s

Melanie Zanona of Politico: "House Democrats are laying the groundwork to subpoena the Trump administration for a trove of documents relating to its controversial migrant family separation policy at the border.... The House Oversight Committee will vote next Tuesday to authorize three subpoenas for the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services, teeing up the first subpoena of the panel's new Democratic majority." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

E.A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Knight Craft, is a major supporter with deep ties to the coal industry who has argued that 'both sides' of the climate science debate are equally valid." --s ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: And you know there is not a chance the Coal Queen won't be confirmed. Senators unanimously confirmed her by voice vote as ambassador to Canada. Jen Kirby of Vox says she may have a bit more trouble this time around: Her both-siderism on climate change "is sure to worry Democrats, and will likely be a topic at her confirmation hearing -- especially since combatting climate change is among the UN's major goals." Once again, the U.S. will be a major international embarrassment.

Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) claimed the Green New Deal -- a plan to rapidly decarbonize the entire economy -- would 'outlaw plane travel.' But while the resolution ... makes no such claim, it does fail to consider a game-changing technology for cutting the carbon pollution caused by air travel while still traveling by air: electric planes.... Norway ... anticipates starting passenger flights on electric planes by 2025. The country, also a leader in the use of electric vehicles, is aiming for all short-haul air travel to be completely electric by 2040.... Seattle-based airplane manufacturer Zunum Aero['s] ... CEO and founder Ashish Kumar says their 'roadmap would place aviation on path to eliminate all short-haul emissions by 2040, equating to 50 percent of all emissions from the sector, aligned with the goal set by Norway.'" --s ...

... Feinstein's Hollow I-Know-What-I'm-Doing Defense. Bill McKibben in the New Yorker: On Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told off a group of young people -- one as young as seven -- who met with her in support of the Green New Deal. Her argument: "You know what's interesting about this group? I've been doing this for thirty years. I know what I'm doing. You come in here and you say, 'It has to be my way or the highway.'" I don't respond to that. I've gotten elected, I just ran, I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality. And I know what I'm doing. So, you know, maybe people should listen a little bit." McKibben: "The irony is that, when Feinstein said she's been 'doing this for thirty years,' she described the precise time period during which we could have acted. James Hansen brought the climate question to widespread attention with his congressional testimony in 1988. If we'd moved thirty years ago, moderate steps of the kind that Feinstein proposes would have been enough to change our trajectory. But that didn't get done, in large part because oil and gas companies that have successfully gamed our political system didn't want it to get done. And the legislators didn't do anywhere near enough to fight them."

Presidential Race. How Not to Kick Off a Campaign. John Bowden of The Hill: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Friday that Native Americans should be 'part of the conversation' on reparations.... Warren's remarks came as she continues to navigate blowback from her previous claims to Native American heritage. She apologized earlier this month for previously identifying as Native American. Warren, who also apologized recently to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to show that she had Native American ancestry, said the apology was meant to include identifying herself as Native American while a professor at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.... Warren previously indicated support, along with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), for reparations for black Americans affected by slavery. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro also suggested support for reparations for black Americans." --s

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Even before Democrats finish draftin bills to create a single-payer health care system, the health care and insurance industries have assembled a small army of lobbyists to kill 'Medicare for all,' an idea that is mocked publicly but is being greeted privately with increasing seriousness. ctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers are intent on strangling Medicare for all before it advances from an aspirational slogan to a legislative agenda item. They have hired a top lieutenant in Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign [-- Lauren Crawford Shaver< --] to spearhead the effort. And their tactics will show Democrats what they are up against as the party drifts to the left on health care." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Shaver's campaign job, according to Pear, was "to put marginal states into play." How'd that work out?

William Pitt of TruthOut: "If Donald Trump is the Devil waiting at that moonlit crossroads to tune our guitar at the cost of our souls, Mitch McConnell drove him there and paid for the gas.... McConnell was featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article about ... the mainstreaming of progressive policy initiatives. 'I can pretty safely say,' he declared, 'this is the first time in my political career that I thought the essence of America was being debated.'... That essence -- the belief that the nation and its population are a gilded platter to be gorged upon, a fertile field to be plundered and despoiled for profit with the people serving as replaceable tools for the aristocracy -- is McConnell's poisoned birthright, and he defends it with all the powers at his disposal, just as his colonial predecessors did. By recognizing this, we recognize Mitch, and all who rally to his banner.... McConnell's 'essence' is a con, a sham history inflicted upon us from our first kindergarten recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance: 'With liberty and justice for all.'... Men like Mitch McConnell flee the very notion of those six words, because at the far end of the struggle for equality lurks a bill to be paid. Nothing so final as a guillotine awaits them at the conclusion; merely a sharing of power and wealth, of rights and privileges, which is anathema to them and their rampant belief in their own superiority." --s

Follow the Money. Lucky Lindsey Hit the Jackpot. Mrs. McCrabbie: Last week I opined that the reason Lindsey Graham had gone from Trump-eating mad dog to Trump lapdog was because Lindsey had an election coming up. Well, Ken W. did some excavating & found an even more likely reason, espoused in a story published last September: "The Intellectualist, a left-leaning news aggregator, points out that Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has received at least $800,000 in campaign donations from a man with ties to Putin-allied oligarchs, which could explain why the Senator has been increasingly supportive of President Trump lately.... [The megadonor, Len] Blavatnik, and oligarch Viktor Vekselberg met attending university in Russia years ago, and together they now own a 20.5% stake in Rusal, oligarch Oleg Deripaska's aluminum company." Look for Russian cutouts like Blavatnik to tame other prominent GOP Trump critics. Moscow on the Potomac is looking more & more likely.

Juan Cole: "American television news, having fainted with the vapors at the very idea that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) might openly say that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobby for Israel that directs money to the campaigns of American politicians, has abruptly fallen silent on the issue of Israel's prime minister openly allying with a party [the Kahanist 'Jewish Power' (Otzma Yehudit) Party] linked to a tendency known for its stone racism.... Kahane's Jewish Defense League was considered the most dangerous terrorist group in the US by the FBI in the 1970s and 1980s.... Jewish Power calls for the ethnic cleansing of the 20% of the Israeli population that is of Palestinian heritage.... If Netanyahu is prime minister again in coalition with Kahanists, the Israel lobbies will suck it up and find some way to praise the Kahanists and seek to stop anyone from criticizing them. Apparently they can get 70 senators to join them in taking any ridiculous stance." --s

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "A newspaper in a small city in Alabama that drew condemnation over an editorial calling for the Ku Klux Klan to 'ride again' has a new editor and publisher: a 46-year-old black woman. The new editor,Elecia R. Dexter, is taking over The Democrat-Reporter, a weekly newspaper serving Linden in western Alabama.... The newspaper's longtime editor, Goodloe Sutton, who is white, stepped down this week amid widespread criticism of an editorial he wrote railing against 'Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats' and calling for the return of the most infamous white supremacist group in the nation's history. In an interview with The Montgomery Advertiser, he went even further, suggesting that the Klan 'go up there and clean out D.C.'... After the editorial was published, [Ms. Dexter] said, she and Mr. Sutton had a 'very open and direct dialogue.' She was debating whether to stay in [her clerical] job [at the paper] when he offered to turn the newspaper over to her, she said."

Kansas. The Art of the Shame. Aris Folley of The Hill: "A Kansas state lawmaker [Ron Highland (R)] issued a public apology this week after his daughter penned an open letter publicly condemning his decision to back an anti-LGBT bill.... The lawmaker's comments came after his daughter, Christel Highland, posted an open letter Wednesday on Facebook asking the Kansas Republican why he would 'openly attempt at policy that elevates hate and hurts my family or friends.'... 'I love you, I always will, in spite of your flaws,' she wrote. 'I cannot, however, condone your cruel actions. Shame on you.' Shortly after the letter was released, Highland's father said that his decision to back the legislation 'was a mistake.' House Bill 2320, the legislation at the center of the controversy, characterizes same-sex marriages as 'parody marriages'[.]" --s

Mississippi. Joshua Eaton of ThinkProgress: "A pro-Confederate rally Saturday at the University of Mississippi, or 'Ole Miss,' in the town of Oxford, claimed to be a defense of Southern heritage instead of racism. It also began with a prayer of thanks to Southern plantation owners for teaching 'heathen' Africans about Christianity." --s...

...The Daily Beast: "Several Ole Miss basketball players knelt during the national anthem Saturday afternoon, before a game against the University of Georgia that was played about a mile away from a Mississippi pro-Confederacy rally." --s

North Carolina. John Bowden of the Hill: "A judge in North Carolina on Friday tossed out the state's constitutional amendment requiring a voter ID, citing prevalent gerrymandering in the state's General Assembly. Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins wrote in a ruling late Friday afternoon that the North Carolina General Assembly is so gerrymandered that its members do not truly represent the state's residents and thus should never have proposed a voter ID amendment in the first place. 'An illegally constituted General Assembly does not represent the people of North Carolina and is therefore not empowered to pass legislation that would amend the state's constitution,' Collins wrote. Collins also tossed out a second Republican-backed amendment implementing a cap on the state's income tax." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Alan Blinder & Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Republican politicians across the country have for years railed against the threat of voter fraud. Some have made unproven claims about how rampant it has become in order to pass voter ID laws and open sweeping investigations. The sanctity of the vote, they have said, must be protected at all costs. But when a hard-fought congressional election in North Carolina -- in which a Republican candidate appeared to narrowly beat his Democratic opponent -- was overturned this week because of election fraud by a Republican political operative, the party was measured, and largely muted, in its response." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Italy. Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones: "A bombshell investigation published Friday by Italy's L'Espresso magazine reveals a plot that might sound familiar. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of the hard-right Lega Nord party, L'Espresso reports, last year sought a 3 million euro funding commitment from Kremlin-linked entities to finance his political campaign. The scheme, reportedly organized by a loyal aide and former spokesman to Salvini named Gianluca Savoini, enabled the money to flow to Lega Nord covertly, tucked behind an ordinary-seeming oil export deal between Italian and Russian companies.... There is no clear indication of whether this money ever actually made its way to Salvini and his party.... L'Espresso reports that the deal came to be in October 2018 when Salvini, a self-proclaimed fan of Trump and an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made an official trip to Moscow, disappearing after a press conference and mysteriously ditching his Italian press pool only to reappear the next morning.... The next day, reporters overheard Savoini take part in a hotel meeting with Russian oil executives working out the details of a deal that would for a year send 250,000 euros monthly to the Lega Nord, disguised as diesel sales[.]" --s

Venezuela. Mariana Zuñiga, et al., of the Washington Post: "A massive effort to break President Nicolás Maduro's blockade of humanitarian aid descended into violence and chaos Saturday across the string of border flash points -- showing both the growing defiance of Juan Guaidó and the U.S.-backed opposition but also Maduro's willingness to fight back. In a day of fast-moving developments..., anti-Maduro crowds at a Colombian border town faced tear gas fired by Venezuelan units, cheered as dozens of Venezuelan security forces switched sides and tried to rescue desperately needed aid packages from burning trucks. In all, 285 people were injured and 37 hospitalized on the Colombian side of the border, according to Colombia's foreign minister. At least four were killed on the Venezuela-Brazil border after clashing with pro-government militias. In the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, the embattled Maduro danced at a pro-government rally, mocked the United States and broke off ties with neighboring Colombia. Late in the day, Venezuelan navy vessels threatened to open fire on a ship carrying 200 tons of aid from Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, governor of Puerto Rico, said in a statement. He said he had ordered the vessels to abandon the area temporarily, decrying the threat as 'unacceptable.'"

The Commentariat -- February 23, 2019

Afternoon Update:

The Company Trump Keeps. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is a 'hardened' criminal who 'repeatedly and brazenly violated the law,' prosecutors told a Washington federal judge. But they recommended no specific punishment for those crimes, saying that is the practice of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whose office brought the case. Prosecutors noted that federal guidelines call for a sentence of 17 to 22 years, although under Manafort's guilty plea in his D.C. case, the maximum he faces behind bars is 10. The special counsel team said it may ask for Judge Amy Berman Jackson to impose a sentence that runs after any prison time Manafort is given for related crimes in Virginia federal court. 'Manafort chose repeatedly and knowingly to violate the law,' prosecutors said, from 'garden-variety crimes such as tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and bank fraud' to 'more esoteric laws' involving foreign lobbying."

Brian Faler & Aaron Lorenzo of Politico: "The average tax refund issued so far this year is down by 17 percent, the IRS said, a steep decline that promises more headaches for Republican lawmakers. The agency released data late Friday showing refunds are down for the third consecutive week, with the typical payment made through Feb. 15 totaling $2,703, compared to $3,256 during the same period last year. This filing season is the first under Republicans' overhaul of the tax code, and lawmakers have already been under fire as some taxpayers find their expected refunds smaller or gone altogether. The payments are sacrosanct to many Americans who rely on them to fill holes in their budgets.... Democrats ... have accused Republicans of manipulating people's withholding in order to boost workers' paychecks last year, ahead of the midterm elections, though that would sap their refunds come tax time. The House Ways and Means committee is planning to hold a hearing soon on the issue."

John Bowden of the Hill: "The Pentagon announced Friday that it would direct an additional 1,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to install barbed wire along existing border fences. Defense officials said at a news briefing that the total size of the U.S. deployment of troops to the southern border would reach 6,000 by March 1, with 140 miles of additional concertina wire to be installed.... The news came as Pentagon officials on Friday also refused to say whether the Defense Department would seek congressional approval to appropriate billions of dollars for President Trump's project to construct a wall along the border. 'It has been the practice of the Department of Defense to request approval and it's not required by law,' an official told reporters when asked whether the department would move forward without congressional approval."

Melanie Zanona of Politico: "House Democrats are laying the groundwork to subpoena the Trump administration for a trove of documents relating to its controversial migrant family separation policy at the border.... The House Oversight Committee will vote next Tuesday to authorize three subpoenas for the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services, teeing up the first subpoena of the panel's new Democratic majority."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Even before Democrats finish drafting bills to create a single-payer health care system, the health care and insurance industries have assembled a small army of lobbyists to kill 'Medicare for all,' an idea that is mocked publicly but is being greeted privately with increasing seriousness. ctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers are intent on strangling Medicare for all before it advances from an aspirational slogan to a legislative agenda item. They have hired a top lieutenant in Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign [-- Lauren Crawford Shaver --] to spearhead the effort. And their tactics will show Democrats what they are up against as the party drifts to the left on health care." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Shaver's campaign job, according to Pear, was "to put marginal states into play." How'd that work out?

John Bowden of the Hill: "A judge in North Carolina on Friday tossed out the state's constitutional amendment requiring a voter ID, citing prevalent gerrymandering in the state's General Assembly. Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins wrote in a ruling late Friday afternoon that the North Carolina General Assembly is so gerrymandered that its members do not truly represent the state's residents and thus should never have proposed a voter ID amendment in the first place. 'An illegally constituted General Assembly does not represent the people of North Carolina and is therefore not empowered to pass legislation that would amend the state's constitution,' Collins wrote. Collins also tossed out a second Republican-backed amendment implementing a cap on the state's income tax." ...

... Alan Blinder & Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Republican politicians across the country have for years railed against the threat of voter fraud. Some have made unproven claims about how rampant it has become in order to pass voter ID laws and open sweeping investigations. The sanctity of the vote, they have said, must be protected at all costs. But when a hard-fought congressional election in North Carolina -- in which a Republican candidate appeared to narrowly beat his Democratic opponent -- was overturned this week because of election fraud by a Republican political operative, the party was measured, and largely muted, in its response."

*****

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "Special counsel Robert Mueller will not deliver a report to the attorney general next week, as was previously reported by multiple outlets, a senior Department of Justice official told NBC News on Friday."

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, met last month with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, offering information about possible irregularities within the president's family business and about a donor to the inaugural committee, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Cohen, who worked at the Trump Organization for a decade, spoke with the prosecutors about insurance claims the company had filed over the years, said the people, who did not elaborate on the nature of the possible irregularities.... The meeting suggests that they are interested in broader aspects of the Trump Organization, beyond their investigation into the company's role in the hush money payments made before the 2016 election to women claiming to have had affairs with Mr. Trump.... The prosecutors also questioned Mr. Cohen about ... Imaad Zuberi, a California venture capitalist and political fund-raiser.... Around the time that Mr. Zuberi contributed $900,000 to the [presidential inaugural] committee, he also tried to hire Mr. Cohen as a consultant and wrote him a substantial check, one of the people said."

Trump Is Still Incriminating Himself. Tal Axelrod the the Hill: "President Trump slammed special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe as a 'witch hunt' in a new tweet on Friday, calling for it to end amid reports that it is coming to a close. 'Highly respected Senator Richard Burr<, head of Senate Intelligence, said, after interviewing over 200 witnesses and studying over 2 million pages of documents, "WE HAVE FOUND NO COLLUSION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA." The Witch Hunt, so bad for our Country, must end!' Trump tweeted." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maybe the Dog Ate Bob Mueller's Homework. Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The public will have to wait a little longer to read Paul Manafort's sentencing memo from special counsel Robert Mueller. The critical filing had a midnight Friday deadline set by the federal court, but the report was not publicly released. It is possible prosecutors have sent the document to Judge Amy Berman Jackson under seal with proposed redactions. It is up to Jackson t determine what happens next."

William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office is preparing state criminal charges against Paul J. Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, in an effort to ensure he will still face prison time even if the president pardons him for his federal crimes, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. Mr. Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced next month for convictions in two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III. He faces up to 25 years in prison for tax and bank fraud and additional time for conspiracy counts in a related case. It could effectively be a life sentence for Mr. Manafort, who turns 70 in April. The president has broad power to issue pardons for federal crimes, but no such authority in state cases. And while there has been no clear indication that Mr. Trump intends to pardon Mr. Manafort, the president has spoken repeatedly of his pardon power and defended his former campaign chairman on a number of occasions, calling him a 'brave man.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "The likelihood that former Trump campaign chairman and convicted felon Paul Manafort, 69, will spend the rest of his days in prison increased on Friday.... Any possible reliance that Manafort may have had on Trump's pardon power lost relevance as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. reportedly has a criminal case at the ready."

Walker Davis of CREW: "New tax documents obtained by CREW shed light on the finances of a dark money group tied to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone.... The group itself is reportedly facing scrutiny in the Mueller probe, but the tax documents have not been made public until now. After missing their filing deadline by more than eight months, the 2016 tax returns for the 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, called Committee for American Sovereignty Education Fund (CASEF), were filed with the IRS in July 2018, before quickly being amended weeks later. The submission of the filings may have coincided with scrutiny of the group by Special Counsel Mueller's investigators, and may suggest activity by Mueller's team behind the scenes." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Eric Levitz of New York: "The president has been using his bully pulpit to tell the American people that illegal immigrants threaten their lives today, and are on the cusp of irrevocably destroying their culture tomorrow; that Democrats are hell-bent on increasing illegal immigration; that it may not be possible to defeat Democrats at the ballot box because they are ready and willing to rig elections (and the media is eager to cover it up); and that those tasked with impartially enforcing the rule of law cannot be trusted.... Every once in a while..., some psychopath will offer a reminder of just how dangerous the bile pouring out of our president's gaffe-hole is.... Just this week, federal prosecutors revealed that Christopher Hasson, a Coast Guard officer in Maryland, allegedly stockpiled weapons, while developing a plot to assassinate a long list of Democratic politicians, CNN anchors, and MSNBC hosts, as part of a grand plan to transform the U.S. into a white ethno-state. The suspect's recent Google searches reportedly included 'civil war if trump impeached' and 'what if trump illegally impeached.'... Regardless of whether the Coast Guard officer took inspiration from Trump, he believed in malicious fictions similar to those our president spreads -- and saw those fictions as rationalizations for violence." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yes But. After warning of the existential threats posed by Honduran toddlers, Trump did say, when a reporter asked, that an alleged white-nationalist would-be mass-murderer of politicians & journalists -- many of whom Trump knows personally -- was "sad" and "a shame." ...

... Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Speaking to reporters from the White House Friday, the president said that he hadn't yet been briefed on the accused mass-murder plotter, who reportedly kept a 'hit list' of left-leaning journalists and Democratic politicians. When asked for his thoughts, the president called it a 'shame' and 'very sad,' adding that he does not bear any responsibility to monitor his own rhetoric because his 'language is very nice.' Friday afternoon on MSNBC's Deadline White House, host Nicolle Wallace noted that some of the words Trump has used to attack Democrats and the media showed up in Hasson's Google searches. [Gene] Robinson responded that this wasn't the first time a 'would-be domestic terrorist' has taken cues from the president." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: As far as I can tell, Trump is a white nationalist, but he thinks it's "sad" and "a shame" when a fellow white supremacist either (a) resorts to mass murder, or (b) gets caught planning to commit mass murder. Let's hope the answer is (a). But we should know by now that Trump is not going to voluntarily criticize white nationalists, some of whom "are good people." Also too, is it true that Trump was not briefed on this terrorist plot last week as officials were preparing to arrest the perp? Did Trump refuse a briefing or is the DOJ suddenly either incredibly lax or loath to brief a President* who might allert the suspect? Curious. ...

... Nicolle Wallace & her guests do quite a good job of covering Trump's forced response to Hasson's alleged plot:

<Liar-in-Chief, Ctd. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday declined to condemn the strong evidence of mass election fraud in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, instead pointing to other questionable examples of voter fraud.... 'I condemn any voter fraud of any kind, whether it's Democrat or Republican,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'But when you look at some of the things that happened in California in particular, when you look at what has happened in Texas with all of those votes that they recently found that were not exactly properly done. I condemn all of it.' During Trump's response Friday, a reporter interrupted to point out that the California and Texas voter fraud cases have been proved false or misleading. But Trump pushed through, saying 'Excuse me, excuse me,' and continuing to shift focus on the questionable allegations in California and Texas."

David Fahrentholdof the Washington Post: "On Election Day 2016, six residential buildings called 'Trump Place' stood in a row on Manhattan's Upper West Side -- a legacy of Donald Trump's efforts to develop that site, and a sign of the Trump name's enduring value in New York. Soon, Trump's name will be gone from all of them. On Friday, the last building holding on to the name 'Trump Place' announced that it would take down the president's name, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.... Just one day earlier, the condo board at the second-to-last Trump Place building -- at 120 Riverside -- had announced its own decision to remove the president's name...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... digby seems all broken up by this news: "Trump destroyed his 'brand' in order to stroke his own ego and run for president. If he'd have kept quiet he might have been able to kee parlaying his tabloid celebrity into a real inheritance for his heirs. But that's over. This is going to come crashing down on all of them regardless of how the presidency ends. His brand is toxic. I suppose they'll be able to sell some MAGA hats at flea markets[.]"

Your Kleptocracy at Work. Lily Katz, et al., of Bloomberg News: "Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of ... Jared Kushner, has sought financing from federally-owned lenders for its biggest purchase in a decade. The company has been in talks with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about a loan for a $1.15 billion purchase of apartments in Maryland and Virginia, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be named discussing a private transaction. Such a deal would increase Kushner Cos.' exposure to government-backed mortgages at the same time its former chief executive officer is one of the most powerful people in the White House. Jared Kushner divested ownership in many of the company's assets to close family members when he joined the government. Kushner Cos. had more than $500 million in loans from Fannie and Freddie at that time. Government-backed financing on this latest deal could more than double that figure.... President Trump appointed Joseph Otting to oversee the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. Otting previously served as CEO of OneWest Bank, founded by now-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an ally of Kushner's in the West Wing."

Following Their Leader, Administration Continues to Abuse Women. Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will bar organizations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money, a step that could strip millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and direct it toward religiously-based, anti-abortion groups. The new federal rule is almost certain to be challenged in court. Clinics will be able to talk to patients about abortion, but not where they can get one. And clinics will no longer have to counsel women on all reproductive options, including abortion, a change that will make anti-abortion providers eligible for funding. The rule, which has been expected for months, is the most recent step by the Trump administration to shift the direction of federal health programs in a conservative direction. The administration has expanded the ability of employers to claim religious or moral objections to the Affordable Care Act's requirement that they offer employees insurance coverage for contraception. It has channeled funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs and family planning grants into programs that emphasize sexual abstinence over contraception."

Karen DeYoung & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "The White House said Thursday that 'a small peacekeeping group of about 200' U.S. troops will stay in Syria beyond the planned withdrawal of American forces this spring.... The decision was a partial reversal of President Trump's order, announced in December, that all 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria would leave, since their mission to destroy the Islamic State caliphate, in his view, had been achieved. Complete withdrawal was expected by the end of April." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard in a later news report that the number of U.S. troops who would stay in Syria was 400.

Leo Shane of the Military Times: "Federal union officials accused the Veterans Affairs Department of undermining its own health care system by not filling thousands of open department health positions while they push new rules covering more medical appointments at private-sector hospitals.... At issue are nearly 49,000 empty posts within VA, just under 12 percent of the 420,000-plus jobs there. Department officials said that vacancy rate is normal for the sprawling bureaucracy.... The current number of vacancies is greater than the approximately 35,000 positions that were open 18 months ago, when critics and lawmakers first accused department leaders of not doing enough to keep the agency fully staffed. It's also above the 45,000 unfilled slots reported last September. Union officials call the new figure 'unconscionable' and part of a concerted effort by ... Donald Trump's administration to drain resources from the VA. 'The administration is setting us up to fail so they can dismantle veterans' preferred health care provider,' said Alma Lee, National Veterans Affairs council president for the American Federation of Government Employees."

<Sad News. AP: "The eight border-wall prototypes ... Donald Trump inspected during a visit to California in March are going to be torn down to make way for a second barrier separating California and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection said Friday.... The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday they cost between $300,000 and $500,000 apiece to build."

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem [R] said Friday that ... Donald Trump's trade wars have 'devastated' her state, and though she agreed that countries like China were not following fair trade practices, she urged the Trump administration to quickly wrap up its trade talks there.... Donald Trump has engaged in a tit-for-tat war with U.S. trade partners like China and the European Union, which have levied retaliatory tariffs on major U.S. commodities like soybeans and wheat. The White House has been in talks with China for months over the issue, and faces a self-imposed deadline of next Friday to reach an agreement before tariff rates increase drastically."

Alexander Panetta, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday night announced he will nominate current Ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft as his next United Nations ambassador.... The announcement came about an hour after the president met face-to-face with Craft along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton in the Oval Office to finalize the nomination, according to a source familiar with the conversation.... Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell took the unusual step this week of personally recommending Craft for the position during a phone call with Trump -- a move that tipped the scales in her favor.... Craft, a Kentucky native, is the wife of billionaire coal baron Joe Craft, who has donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, and the couple served on the finance committee for Trump's inaugural. Joe Craft donated more than $1.6 million since 2011 to campaigns and super PACs connected to McConnell, who praised the nomination...."

All the Best People, Ctd.

Juliet Eilperin & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury in Washington in their probe of whether former interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to federal investigators, according to two individuals briefed on the matter. The closed-door deliberations are focused on Zinke's decision not to grant a petition by two Indian tribes to operate a commercial casino in Connecticut, according to these individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes' push to run a gambling facility in East Windsor, Conn., had sparked a lobbying campaign by MGM Resorts International, a competitor that opposed the planned casino. The proposal was the subject of intense scrutiny at Interior and the White House during President Trump's first months in office. The tribes allege that Zinke decided not to grant their application because of political pressure, and Interior's Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into the matter a year ago. Investigators with the Interior Department's inspector general's office came to believe Zinke had lied to them in the course of that inquiry and referred the matter to the Justice Department late last year." ...

Rebecca Morin & Ian Kullgren of Politico: "... Donald Trump expressed confidence today in Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, but said he was unfamiliar with the controversial 2008 plea deal that Acosta, then U.S. attorney for southern Florida, struck with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 'I really don't know too much about it,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'I know he's done a great job as labor secretary, and that seems like a long time ago, but I know he's been a fantastic labor secretary. That's all I can really tell you about it....'... [Sarah Sanders told reporters,] 'My understanding is that's a very complicated case ... but that they made the best possible decision and deal they could have gotten at that time.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yeah, breaking federal law to help a child predator escape significant punishment is "the best possible decision" one can expect from a Trump appointee.

... Juliegrace Brufke of the Hill: "Three House Democrats are collecting signatures for a letter calling on President Trump to demand the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. The push comes a day after a federal judge ruled that Acosta and other federal prosecutors acted illegally in making a plea deal with accused child sexual abuser and billionaire Jeffrey Epstein before speaking with his victims.... The letter is being organized by Democratic Reps. Jackie Speier (Calif.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Lois Frankel (Fla.). 'This despicable unjust plea deal that was arranged by Acosta showed no respect for the suffering of the victims and credible accounts of human trafficking and was a clear abuse of power for political gain,' the lawmakers write. The letter says Acosta's mishandling of the situation shows he's unfit to serve in the administration, arguing he 'succumbed to the pressure' from Epstein&'s legal team while disregarding the law."

Niv Elis of the Hill: "Democrats in the House introduced a resolution on Friday that would block President Trump's emergency declaration on the southern border, a step he took to free up as much as $8 billion in funding to build his proposed border wall. The resolution sponsored by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) had 222 cosponsors. The measure is expected to pass the Democratic-held House, but will need to win GOP support to get through the Senate." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Nicholas Pugliese of the (South Jersey) Courier Post: "New Jersey Democrats are reviving a controversial effort to force ... Donald Trump to release his tax returns or be denied a spot on the state's 2020 ballot. The state Senate on Thursday approved a bill -- which the Legislature passed once before, in 2017, but which then-Gov. Chris Christie blocked by issuing a scathing veto& -- that would prohibit candidates for president and vice president from appearing on the ballot unless they make their tax returns public. Similar legislation has been introduced in at least 30 states but never enacted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, meaning New Jersey would be the first to impose such a disclosure requirement if its measure is also approved by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat."

Will Hobson & Mark Maske of the Washington Post: "New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with solicitation of prostitution Friday in connection with an investigation of a day spa in Florida. The 77-year-old billionaire and owner of one of the most successful sports franchises in the world was videotaped engaging in a sex act with an employee at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla., police there said at a news conference Friday." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "Robert K. Kraft, the billionaire owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, was charged on Friday with two counts of soliciting sex as part of a wide-ranging investigation into prostitution and suspected human trafficking in South Florida. The charges against Mr. Kraft, 77, in Jupiter, Fla., came after the police used video surveillance to observe activity inside several day spas and massage parlors. The police said that the parlors had been used for prostitution and that many of the women involved were considered to be victims.... More than two dozen customers, men ranging in age from their 30s to at least one in his 80s, have been arrested; hundreds have been charged, the police said.... [Kraft] is a leading voice in the N.F.L.'s small fraternity of billionaire owners ... and a friend and political benefactor of President Trump.... A widower, [Kraft] has been charged with two misdemeanors, not felonies, and those charges may be reduced or dropped." ...

Here's Something Trump Funds Even Sadder than an Aspiring Mass Murderer. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "... Donald Trump said Friday it is 'very sad' that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is a close friend of the president, was charged with allegedly soliciting prostitution at a spa in Florida."

Elizabeth Harris of the New York Times: "For more than two decades, the R&B singer R. Kelly has been trailed by allegations of sexual misconduct. He was married to a young singer who turned out to be 15 years old. There were claims that he controlled women in a cultlike atmosphere. He was linked to an infamous sex tape. None of it meaningfully stood in his way. Then, on Friday in Chicago, after weeks of renewed scrutiny, Mr. Kelly was indicted. The authorities accused him of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were underage, according to the Cook County state's attorney Kim Foxx.... Ms. Foxx said the events related to Mr. Kelly's charges spanned from 1998 to 2010. Three of the victims were between the ages of 13 and 16 at the time of the incidents."

<Dominic Patten & Nellie Andreeva of Deadline Hollywood: "One day after Jussie Smollett was arrested on multiple felony charges over last month's alleged racist and homophobic attack in Chicago, the producers of Empire have cut the actor from the rest of the show's fifth season." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Virginia. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: Virginia "Republicans will invite two women who have accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) of sexual assault to publicly testify before lawmakers, despite Democrats' objections that it would turn into a 'political, partisan show.'" (Also linked yesterday.)