The Commentariat -- April 13, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Do-Do-Di-Do, Just Another Day in the Lives of All the Best People
Rebecca Ruiz & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "A major donor with close ties to the White House resigned on Friday as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after the revelation that he had agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair. The deal was arranged by President Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen. Under the terms of the deal, the Republican donor, Elliott Broidy, would pay the woman in installments over the course of two years, and in return, she would agree to stay silent about their relationship, two people with knowledge of the arrangement told The New York Times.... The lawyer for the woman, Keith M. Davidson, also represented two women who were paid during the presidential campaign for their silence about alleged affairs with Mr. Trump -- a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who sold the rights to her story to American Media Inc., and Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic actress known as Stormy Daniels, who received a payment of $130,000 that Mr. Cohen said came out of his own pocket." Thanks to MAG for the link. ...
... Kevin Drum: "Broidy says the whole thing was totally above board. He paid for the woman's abortion and then tossed in an extra $1.599 million because he wanted to 'help her financially during this difficult period.' As long as she kept her big mouth shut, that is. Helluva guy, isn't he? Who says Republicans have a mean streak? I'll give Laura Rozen the last word: 'It's like RNC finance committee is a street gang where you have to sleep with a playmate & pay hush money to join'."
... Matt Apuzzo, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump phoned his longtime confidant, Michael D. Cohen, to 'check in' on Friday as lawyers for the two men went to court to block the Justice Department from reading seized documents related to Mr. Cohen's decade of work for Mr. Trump, according to two people familiar with the call. It is not clear what else they discussed in a call that came days after a series of F.B.I. raids. Depending on what was said, the call could be problematic for both men, as defense lawyers often advise their clients not to talk to each other during investigations. Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen still were trying to determine what exactly was seized. The raids were even broader than have been previously reported.... The court papers also disclosed that prosecutors -- before the raids on Monday -- had already obtained secret search warrants for several of Mr. Cohen's email accounts as part of what they said was a grand jury investigation." ...
... Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Michael Cohen ... has been 'under criminal investigation' for months in New York because of his business dealings, the Justice Department said Friday. The revelation comes amid a courtroom drama that unfolded Friday, as Cohen's attorneys and Trump's attorneys began a fight hours before with the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan over a massive raid of Cohen's records. Cohen's attorneys have filed a temporary restraining order in the matter, asking the court to stop federal prosecutors from using some of the records they seized. Cohen did not appear in court Friday morning and has not been charged with a crime.... In [the court filings, prosecutors say] they found that Cohen had done 'little to no legal work, and that zero emails were exchanged with President Trump.'... The prosecutors noted Cohen had personally not turned over any documents to Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation.... In a footnote in its filing, the prosecutors expressed doubt that any communications between Trump and Cohen regarding a payoff to [Stormy] Daniels before the election would be covered under attorney-client privilege. They cited the President's own comments." ...
... Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, asked a federal judge in Manhattan on Friday to block the Justice Department from reading documents related to his decade-long legal representation of Mr. Trump and that were taken in a recent F.B.I. raid.... The breadth of the search warrant shocked Mr. Trump and his advisers, who are still not sure exactly what records Mr. Cohen kept and what they could mean for Mr. Trump. A lawyer representing Mr. Trump's interest in the case also appeared, and asked a judge to order the Justice Department to temporarily delay looking at the files until the matter could be litigated."
Excerpts of George Stephanopolous's interview of Jim Comey:
... The interview begins 54 seconds in.
Laura Jarrett of CNN: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein continues to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation after consulting with a career ethics adviser at the Justice Department about his ability to oversee the Russia probe, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. For nearly a year, legal experts and journalists have questioned why Rosenstein has not stepped aside from overseeing Mueller's investigation given that he was part of the dramatic firing of FBI Director James Comey. That fact has more recently served as ammunition to attack Rosenstein's credibility by allies of ... Donald Trump. But CNN has now learned that Rosenstein has consulted with the ethics adviser over the course of the investigation on whether he needs to recuse himself, and he has followed that individual's advice.... To date, Rosenstein has offered little by way of explanation publicly, but he made clear last year that if he were to become a subject of Mueller's investigation, he would recuse himself." ...
... Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "One source who spoke to [Rod] Rosenstein said he seemed fully aware he may soon lose his job and was at peace with the possibility, confident he had done his job with integrity. Rosenstein has said in recent private conversations that history will prove he did the right thing by firing Comey in May 2017, claiming that the American people do not have all the facts about what led to his decision to write the memo that led to Comey's dismissal, the sources said."
John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump issued a pardon Friday to Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, offering forgiveness to a former chief of staff to Vice President Richard B. Cheney who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice related to the leak of a CIA officer's identity.... Libby was convicted of four felonies in 2007 -- for perjury before a grand jury, lying to FBI investigators and obstruction of justice during an investigation into the disclosure of the work of Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA agent and the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000, but his sentence was commuted by then-President George W. Bush. Although spared prison time, Libby was not pardoned.... 'On the day the President wrongly attacks Comey for being a "leaker and liar" he considers pardoning a convicted leaker and liar, Scooter Libby,' Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on Twitter. 'This is the President's way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I'll have yours.'... White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Libby's pardon had nothing to do with the Mueller probe."
DOJ just issued the McCabe report - which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this afternoon ...
... Adam Goldman & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The Justice Department inspector general delivered to Congress on Friday a highly critical report that accused Andrew G. McCabe, the former F.B.I. deputy director, of repeatedly misleading investigators. The inspector general said that when investigators asked whether he had instructed aides to provide information in October 2016 to a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. McCabe said he did not authorize the disclosure and did not know who did. But Mr. McCabe did approve the F.B.I.'s contact with the reporter, according to the review. The newspaper article delved into a dispute between F.B.I. and Justice Department officials over how to proceed in an investigation into the financial dealings of the Clinton family's foundation.... The inspector general also concluded that Mr. McCabe's disclosure of the existence of the ongoing investigation in the manner described in the report violated media policy of the F.B.I. and Justice Department and constituted misconduct. In a statement, Mr. McCabe said that he had full authorization to share this information with the media. Mr. McCabe also said that he did not intentionally mislead investigators." ...
... Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department Inspector General alleges in a damaging report made public Friday that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe inappropriately authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to a reporter and then misled investigators and former FBI Director James B. Comey about it on several occasions. The report is remarkable for its level of detail, casting McCabe as a man who lied to investigators and his own boss about his role in a disclosure of information, even while he lashed out at others who he thought might be responsible for leaks. It accuses McCabe of lying at least four times, three of them under oath, and says that while he had the power to approve disclosures of information to the media, his doing so in this instance violated policy because it was done 'in a manner designed to advance his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership.' It also says McCabe and former FBI Director James B. Comey contradicted one another in their descriptions of how a media disclosure was authorized. While the report favors Comey's account, it will likely generate tough questions for him as he launches a media blitz to promote his new book." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Not sure how it could be that "McCabe is Comey" when the two men disagree on the facts. But, you know, facts, schmacts.
Andrew Kaczynski, et al., of CNN: "A political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services shared an image in 2017 that said 'our forefathers would have hung' Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for treason, a CNN KFile review has found. Ximena Barreto is a far-right political pundit who in December 2017 joined the Trump administration as deputy director of communications at the department. Barreto was placed on leave by the department on Monday after the liberal watchdog Media Matters reported that Barreto called Islam 'a cult' and pushed the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which alleged that Clinton was part of a child-sex ring based in part at a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant. A subsequent KFile review of her Twitter account 'RepublicanChick' found that Barreto also repeatedly used the hashtag #BanIslam and twice shared conspiracy theories about the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. Barreto also shared a conspiracy theory that French President Emmanuel Macron was controlled by the Rothschild family and that Clinton and Obama were controlled by investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros. Both the Rothschilds and Soros are frequent targets of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: What really upsets me is that Barreto retweeted an image that said, "our forefathers would have hung" Obama & Clinton; any communications staff should know the clause should be, "would have hanged...." But the other stuff: unexceptional. Just a few random thoughts of one of the Best People.
*****
Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's office and ... Donald Trump's legal team are now proceeding with strategies that presume a presidential interview will likely not take place as part of the Russia investigation after months of talks between the two sides collapsed earlier this week, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.... The prospects for a presidential interview drastically dimmed once the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room of Trump's long-time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen on Monday.... Now, according to two sources, Mueller's team may be able to close the obstruction probe more quickly as they will not need to prepare for the interview or follow up on what the president says.... White House Counsel Ty Cobb said it was 'untrue' that talks had broken down.... Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ... met with the president at the White House on Thursday. A White House official told reporters the meeting was about 'routine department business.' ...
Three sources familiar with the investigation said the findings Mueller has collected on Trump's attempts to obstruct justice include: His intent to fire former FBI Director James Comey; his role in the crafting of a misleading public statement on the nature of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his son and Russians; Trump's dangling of pardons before grand jury witnesses who might testify against him; and pressuring Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: The headline to Caroline Orr's Shareblue post on the NBC story is "Mueller has the goods on Trump's 4 potential acts of obstruction." We should pay more attention to the word "potential" than the assertion Mueller "has the goods on...." There's no reason to feel assured that Mueller will assert a conclusion or even a recommendation to Rosenstein and/or Congress on his team's findings. Second, it's entirely possible that Mueller will reach a conclusion that Trump did not obstruct justice. Like Orr, I hope that Mueller's report (a) becomes public; (b) has so much evidence of obstruction that no reasonable person could conclude otherwise; (c) is so obviously damning that even unreasonable Congressional Republicans don't dare blow off initiating impeachment proceedings. But I still fear that (d) "none of the above" might be the correct answer.
Jonathan Karl, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is poised to pardon Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, according to sources familiar with the president's thinking. The president has already signed off on the pardon, which is something he has been considering for several months, sources told ABC News. The move would mark another controversial pardon for Trump and could raise questions as an increasing number of the president's political allies have landed themselves in legal jeopardy. The White House has repeatedly said that no pardons are currently on the table for people caught up in the Russia investigation. Early in his term, Trump pardoned controversial former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio after he was found guilty in July on criminal contempt charges stemming from his refusal to stop imprisoning suspected undocumented immigrants." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Notice that both Libby & Arpaio were found guilty of crimes against the justice system: Libby for lying to the FBI & Arpaio for repeatedly & openly defying a judge's order. This sure as hell looks like a prelude to pardons of Flynn, Gates & maybe even "coffee boy" Papadopoulos & Gates lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, all of whom had pled guilty to lying to the FBI or other Mueller investigators.
I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!). I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Thursday ...
... Nicole Lafond of TPM: "... Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to push back on The Washington Post's report [also linked here yesterday] that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was influencing how the White House handles special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. On Wednesday night The Washington Post reported that Bannon has been quietly pitching White House aides on a plan to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Ty Cobb, the lawyer who is overseeing the White House's response to the Russia investigations."
James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....
....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst 'botch jobs' of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets this morning ...
... ** Philip Rucker of the Washington Post reads "'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership,' a 304-page tell-all in which [James Comey] details his private interactions with Trump as well as his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.... In his memoir, Comey paints a devastating portrait of a president who built 'a cocoon of alternative reality that he was busily wrapping around all of us.' Comey describes Trump as a congenital liar and unethical leader, devoid of human emotion and driven by personal ego. Comey narrates in vivid detail, based on his contemporaneous notes, instances in which Trump violated the norms protecting the FBI's independence in attempts to coerce Comey into being loyal to him -- such as during a one-on-one dinner in the White House residence." You may want to read the whole "book report." ...
... ** Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times: "In his absorbing new book, 'A Higher Loyalty,' the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey calls the Trump presidency a 'forest fire' that is doing serious damage to the country's norms and traditions. 'This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,' Comey writes.'"His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.'... [Comey] doesn't hesitate in these pages to draw a direct analogy between the Mafia bosses he helped pack off to prison years ago and the current occupant of the Oval Office.... The central themes that Comey returns to throughout this impassioned book are the toxic consequences of lying; and the corrosive effects of choosing loyalty to an individual over truth and the rule of law. Dishonesty, he writes, was central 'to the entire enterprise of organized crime...,' and so, too, were bullying, peer pressure and groupthink -- repellent traits shared by Trump and company, he suggests, and now infecting our culture.... Comey is blunt about what he thinks of the president, comparing Trump's demand for loyalty over dinner to 'Sammy the Bull's Cosa Nostra induction ceremony -- with Trump, in the role of the family boss, asking me if I have what it takes to be a 'made man."'" ...
... ** Chad Day & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "Comey reveals new details about his interactions with Trump and his own decision-making in handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation before the 2016 election. He casts Trump as a mafia boss-like figure who sought to blur the line between law enforcement and politics and tried to pressure him personally regarding his investigation into Russian election interference.... The book adheres closely to Comey's public testimony and written statements about his contacts with the president during the early days of the administration and his growing concern about Trump's integrity. It also includes strikingly personal jabs at Trump that appear sure to irritate the president." ...
... Trump Wanted Comey to Be His Personal Fixer. Ruth Brown of the New York Post: "President Trump wanted James Comey to investigate the infamous 'pee tape' allegations -- to reassure Melania that he hadn't actually paid Russian hookers to urinate on a hotel bed, the former FBI chief claims in his upcoming book. 'He brought up what he called the "golden showers thing" ... adding that it bothered him if there was "even a one percent chance" his wife, Melania, thought it was true,' Comey writes in 'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,' a copy of which was obtained by The Post. 'He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn't possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie. I said it was up to him.'" ...
... Lachlan Markay & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Within minutes of his firing in May, former FBI Director James Comey received a call from John Kelly, then the head of the Department of Homeland Security and now the White House chief of staff. According to Comey's account, which is set to appear in his highly anticipated forthcoming memoir, Kelly was 'emotional' over the manner in which Comey was let go.... Kelly, Comey recalls, said he was 'sick' about the situation and 'intended to quit' in protest. Kelly 'said he didn't want to work for dishonorable people,' referring specifically to ... Donald Trump, who appeared to be upset at the FBI's persistent investigation into his campaign's possible collusion with Russian officials.... The revelations conveyed by Comey threaten to cause a firestorm within the White House, further complicating an already tenuous relationship between Kelly and Trump." ...
... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In advance of a publicity tour by James B. Comey to promote his new book, the Republican National Committee is preparing a widespread campaign to undercut his credibility, including a new website that dubs the former FBI director as 'Lyin' Comey.' The website prominently features quotes from Democrats highly critical of Comey before his firing by Trump nearly a year ago as the president grew agitated by the Russia probe. RNC officials say their effort will also include digital ads, a 'war room' to monitor Comey's television appearances, a rapid response team to rebut his claims in real time and coordination of Trump surrogates to fan out across other TV programs.... Comey [has been] a registered Republican for most of his adult life." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Sara Murray, et al., of CNN: "The White House is preparing talking points designed to undermine Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's credibility, according to sources amiliar with the plan. The plan calls on ... Donald Trump's allies to cast Rosenstein as too conflicted to fairly oversee the Russia investigation. The talking points are still in their preliminary form, and not yet finalized, people familiar with their preparation said.... Already, a number of Trump's associates have called for Rosenstein's firing in appearances on television and in public remarks over the past few days, but not all of them did so at the request of the White House.... Efforts to undermine Rosenstein in the media come as the President is weighing whether to fire the top official overseeing the Russia investigation." ...
... Norm Eisen & Richard Painter in a USA Today op-ed: "President Trump reportedly is considering firing Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller and supervises his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. To prepare the way, Trump has by our count floated five rationales internally and externally for doing so. The briefest scrutiny of these purported justifications shows that they are baseless, and makes apparent the president's true motivation: to obstruct the investigation that Rosenstein oversees." Eisen & Painter get specific. ...
... Benjamin Wittes in the Atlantic: "Many people will not shed tears over [Rod] Rosenstein if Trump, in fact, pulls the trigger. After all, Rosenstein played a shameful role in the firing of James Comey.... I have been fiercely critical of Rosenstein in the past. But today is the wrong day to dwell on Rosenstein's vices and errors.... Trump is persecuting Rosenstein because of the deputy attorney general&'s virtues.... The president wants to fire Rosenstein because apolitical law enforcement is stronger with him than without him, and the president is at war with the very notion of apolitical law enforcement.... The president's attitude toward federal law enforcement is ... openly and flamboyantly corrupt. He wants the FBI and the Justice Department to be at his beck and call. He wants them to be expressions of his power and interests.... Rosenstein's forcible removal at this stage would be another step in the president's open attempts to dismantle the apparatus of independent law enforcement.... There is much to admire about Rosenstein's conduct over the past year. If Americans value the democratic goods that his conduct has protected, indeed is protecting, they need to stand by the man himself." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd say Rosenstein grew into his own right about the time Jeff Sessions recused himself from "this Russia thing." Rosenstein seemed to realize that a Constitutional responsibility had been dropped in his lap, so he took a deep breath & accepted that responsibility. ...
... On the other hand, way back when Newt Gingrich landed a great Constitutional responsibility, he blew it up, because whether or not he has any job at all, he is now, as he ever has been, a flaming ass:
... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) tore into the FBI after its raid of President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, likening agents' actions to those of the secret police during the Nazi era. Gingrich said during an interview on Fox News that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has not done his job" and has not supervised special counsel Robert Mueller.... 'This whole thing is an absurdity. We've now had Paul Manafort and his wife in their pajamas at 3 in the morning having theFBI break down the door,' he said on Wednesday, referring to an FBI raid last year at the home of Trump's former campaign manager. 'Cohen, the lawyer, had the door taken off of the hinges at 6 in the morning.... That's Stalin. That's the Gestapo in Germany. That shouldn't be the American FBI.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's personal attorney Michael D. Cohen sometimes taped conversations with associates, according to three people familiar with his practice, and allies of the president are worried that the recordings were seized by federal investigators in a raid of Cohen's office and residences this week. Cohen, who served for a decade as a lawyer at the Trump Organization and is a close confidant of Trump, was known to store the conversations using digital files and then replay them for colleagues, according to people who have interacted with him.... Cohen wanted his business calls on tape so he could use them later as leverage, one person said.... One associate said Trump knew of Cohen's practice because the attorney would often play him recordings Cohen had made of his conversations with other top Trump advisers.... Federal investigators would not automatically get access to any tapes that might have been seized in the raids."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who was targeted in search warrants carried out by the FBI this week, is seeking to use the developments to put an indefinite hold on a lawsuit over an alleged hush-money deal with a porn star claiming to have had sex with Trump." ...
The mob takes the Fifth Amendment. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? -- Donald Trump, at a campaign event in Iowa in September 2016 ...
... John Bowden of the Hill: Michael Avenatti, "the attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, says that President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen is threatening to plead the Fifth Amendment if an upcoming motion to stay a defamation suit from Daniels is not successful.... 'We're going to oppose that stay, [Avenatti] added, 'we think we have very good grounds as to why there should be no delay in our case.'"
Hannity Goes Full Alex Jones. Daily Beast: "Minutes before Sean Hannity went live Wednesday evening on Fox News, President Trump tweeted that there would be a 'big show tonight,' imploring followers to tune in. As it turns out, that show featured Hannity outlining -- with the help of a conspiratorial board -- the 'criminal' connections of Bill and Hillary Clinton, special counsel Robert Mueller, and former FBI Director James Comey." ...
... Ergo, your Screenshot of the Day:
... Mrs. McC: Might as well be titled "A Study in Crackpot Amateur Hour." Note the little Newt crawling up into the lower-right-hand corner. Not sure why Hannity's staff couldn't find a picture of Jeannie Rhee as the Googles have a dozen images of her. And this is what the POTUS* thinks is must-see teevee.
Boing, Boing!
Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump ordered top administration officials Thursday to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sprawling trade pact he rejected three days after taking office. The move would mark a stunning reversal for Trump, who sharply criticized the pact as a 'disaster' and made opposition to global trade deals a centerpiece of his economic agenda as a candidate.... Thursday's order comes as Trump pushes forward on a chaotic revamp of the U.S.'s approach to global trade, seemingly veering from trade wars one day to multinational pacts the next. He has gone from assailing Canada and Mexico to saying he's within striking distance of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has both pilloried China and praised its leader Xi Jinping. Bu no reversal has been more extreme than his new flirtation with the TPP. His comments were so unexpected that White House officials, lawmakers, business groups and others weren't sure whether Trump had made a calculated overture or whether it was another whimsical idea that he would cool on soon." ...
... The New York Times story, by Ana Swanson, is here. ...
... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump's fusillade of tweets about Syria, Russia and China this week set a new standard for contradictory and inconsistent positions in Mr. Trump's approach to war, trade and relations with adversaries. The president promised never to telegraph military action against an enemy, yet all but showcased a coming missile strike on Syria. He threatened Russia and called its relations with the United States worse than during the Cold War, yet blamed the ill will not on Moscow but on the special counsel investigation. He praised President Xi Jinping of China for his 'enlightenment' on trade in a highly anticipated speech, but in it Mr. Xi actually offered little to change what Mr. Trump has called decades of predatory practices by Beijing.... The latest reversals and back flips were so jarring that they left foreign officials more bewildered than usual about Mr. Trump's next moves. The tweets also appeared divorced from the administration's policies on Russia, where the United States is expelling diplomats and imposing sanctions on cronies of President Vladimir V. Putin. They are at odds with policy on China, where the United States appears ready to escalate the confrontation over trade. They are at cross-purposes with the latest actions on Syria...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Once again, a front-page report on the paper of record laying out that the POTUS* is stark-staring mad. ...
... Update: Cheyenne Haslett & Arlette Saenz of ABC News: "... Donald Trump met with his national security team Thursday to discuss Syria but no final decision has been made about a U.S. response to a suspected chemical attack by the Syrian regime, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. 'No final decision has been made. We are continuing to asses [sic] intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies," Sanders said. The president plans to speak with French President [Emmanuel] Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May Thursday evening, Sanders added."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump abruptly issued an executive order on Thursday demanding an evaluation of the Postal Service's finances, asserting the power of his office weeks after accusing Amazon, the online retail giant, of not paying its fair share in postage. In the executive order, issued just before 9 p.m., Mr. Trump created a task force to examine the service's 'unsustainable financial path' and directed the new group to 'conduct a thorough evaluation of the operations and finances of the USPS.' The president does not mention Amazon in the order, but it is clear that he intends the group to substantiate his repeated claim that the financial arrangement between the Postal Service and Amazon, its biggest shipper of packages, is a money loser."
Nancy Cook & Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "The White House is ignoring warnings from worried Hill Republicans and moving ahead with plans to cut billions of dollars from the massive spending bill that Congress passed in late March, after ... Donald Trump has spent weeks grousing about the legislation. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney -- himself a former congressman -- is taking the lead on developing the rollback proposal, according to eight current and former administration officials and Republicans close to the White House. The White House expects to release it around May 1, according to one administration official. These officials anticipate the White House could propose slashing anywhere from $30 billion to $60 billion dollars from the $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill passed for this year -- even as Republican lawmakers are openly asking the president not to re-open the negotiations.... Aiding Mulvaney is House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is vying to replace Rep. Paul Ryan as he retires from his leadership position as speaker of the House." ...
... Sarah Ferris & Kaitlyn Burton of Politico: "A regretful ... Donald Trump wants to roll back pending in a massive omnibus bill he signed into law, but Republicans who helped craft the legislation are in open revolt. 'My attitude is, your word is your bond,' House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen said, in his first public comments on the Trump plan. Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) is among more than a half-dozen appropriators who have voiced skepticism about the Trump administration's proposal to cancel billions in spending.... The White House is seeking to essentially take a scalpel to last month's $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, scratching out any funding that Trump doesn't personally back.... 90 House Republicans backed the spending bill, in part because they were promised cover by the White House." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Karoun Demirjian & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo promised Thursday to restore the State Department to the center of U.S. foreign policy, work to stiffen sanctions against Russia and promote democratic values abroad. But his critics appeared unconvinced that as the nation’s top diplomat, he would stand up to President Trump. Senators pounded Pompeo with sharply worded questions for almost five hours, asking for his views on North Korea, Syria, Iran and other international hot spots. When his answers came off as vague, they pushed back, such as when Pompeo said he would advocate a 'fix' to the Iran nuclear deal that Trump has threatened to abandon.... The committee is expected to meet April 23 to consider Pompeo's nomination. If he fails to get a majority, his nomination could still be considered by the full Senate, where he is expected to be confirmed before the end of the month." The reporters cite some of the Q&A.
Gregory Wallace & Sara Ganim of CNN: "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt routinely directed staffers to book expensive hotels, help him earn frequent flier miles and schedule meetings to align with his personal travel desires, a former top staffer told congressional investigators. Former EPA deputy chief of staff, Kevin Chmielewski also said Pruitt was aware of major raises given to other aides, rebutting Pruitt's account that he was unaware of the salary bumps. The allegations are laid out in a letter several Democratic members of Congress sent Pruitt and ... Donald Trump on Thursday. The letter says the new information about how Pruitt has run the agency reveal actions that are 'unethical and potentially illegal.' Chmielewski is currently on unpaid leave from the agency after raising concerns about Pruitt's travel practices and uses of resources and funds." ...
... Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "A former Secret Service agent, with a background investigating the Gambino crime family, is serving as the chief of security for Scott Pruitt..., and has helped build an unusual and costly protective apparatus around him. The agent, Pasquale Perrotta, has clashed -- at least once physically -- with top E.P.A. officials who challenged Mr. Pruitt's spending, and has steered at least one E.P.A. security contract to a business associate, according to interviews with current and former senior agency officials.... Mr. Perrotta, a polarizing figure in the agency, is viewed among some career officials as playing to Mr. Pruitt's ego and security fears to seize power over rivals. The measures he advocated in the name of security provided Mr. Pruitt with perks more commonly associated with heads of state, and often came over the objections of top agency officials." ...
... Enemy of the Earth Confirmed. Steven Mufson, et al., of the Washington Post: "If ... Scott Pruitt were to leave office, the reins of the agency could fall to a former Senate aide and coal mining lobbyist who was confirmed 53 to 45 Thursday afternoon to become second-in-command at the EPA.... Three Democrats voted for Wheeler, all from coal states. They included Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).... Andrew Wheeler worked at the EPA more than two decades ago and later served as an adviser to Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), a high-profile critic of climate science.... For the past nine years, Wheeler has been a lobbyist for a variety of companies, including Appalachian coal mining firm Murray Energy.... Environmental groups have sharply criticized the notion of installing Wheeler at the EPA in any capacity.... 'Andrew Wheeler is Big Oil's backup plan in case Scott Pruitt's corruption finally finishes him,' [Lukas] Ross [of Friends of the Earth] said. 'As Scott Pruitt stumbles from scandal to scandal, there is nothing more dangerous than a dirty-energy lobbyist waiting in the wings to become acting Administrator.'"
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Ricky Waddell, the No. 2 official on the National Security Council (NSC), plans to leave his post as new national security adviser John Bolton seeks to form his own team.... Waddell is the fourth national security aide to leave or be ousted since Bolton started in his new role on Monday. The Army Reserve general was hired last May by Bolton's predecessor, H.R. McMaster, to run operations at the NSC. He took over for K.T. McFarland, the deputy to Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Waddell's departure ... comes one day after deputy national security adviser Nadia Schadlow, who authored Trump’s national security strategy, submitted her resignation. Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert and NSC spokesman Michael Anton are the other two officials who are leaving the White House due to Bolton." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So the second major turnover in core NSC staff in less than 15 months. Are we feeling safer now? Well, at least we still have the same president. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** America First, Ha Ha. Nicole Goodkind of Newsweek: "... Donald Trump touted the economic growth triggered by his tax cuts in a speech Thursday afternoon, pointing out the projected growth of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years had increased because of the plan. But 80 percent of the economic growth generated by the Republican tax cuts will eventually go abroad and benefit foreigners, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office." Goodkind explains why. Emphasis added. Thanks to safari for the link. See also his commentary below.
Tim Egan, A Taxpayer, writes a letter to the "Dear Government," expressing concerned about where his tax dollars are going.
The Perils of Pauly. Mike DeBonis & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan insisted Thursday that he would serve until the end of his term, forcefully rejecting the growing calls within the Republican caucus for him to step aside and allow a quicker transition to a new leader.... A day after Ryan's announcement, Republicans openly worried about how a lame-duck speaker and uncertainty in leadership would affect a party struggling to unify itself and raise money for midterm elections with the GOP's House majority in jeopardy. Several Republicans and even some in the White House have raised doubts about whether Ryan (R-Wis.) could stay on the job through the end of the year." ...
... ** Paul Krugman writes the paradigmatic takedown of Paul Ryan & the horses he rode in on. Here's a bit of it: "So how did such an obvious con artist get a reputation for seriousness and fiscal probity? Basically, he was the beneficiary of ideological affirmative action. Even now, in this age of Trump, there are a substantial number of opinion leaders -- especially, but not only, in the news media -- whose careers, whose professional brands, rest on the notion that they stand above the political fray. For such people, asserting that both sides have a point, that there are serious, honest people on both left and right, practically defines their identity."
Emma Platoff of the Texas Tribune: "Steve Stockman, a Republican former congressman from Texas, has been convicted of defrauding two conservative mega-donors and funneling their $1.25 million into personal and campaign expenses as part of what prosecutors have described as a 'white collar crime spree.' A jury in federal court in Houston ruled Thursday afternoon that Stockman is guilty of all but one of the 24 felonies he was charged with last March. After about 16 hours of deliberations over three days, the 12-person panel only declined to convict on one of four counts of wire fraud. Stockman will appeal the verdict, his defense team said.... That verdict puts Stockman -- a firebrand conservative who served two nonconsecutive terms in the U.S. House before losing a 2014 challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas -- at risk of decades in federal prison. And in the immediate future, it sends him into federal custody, where he will remain pending sentencing in August."
** Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "The Justice Department cannot require that local police departments help immigration agents in order to receive federal funding, a federal judge has ruled. The ruling is a significant victory for local governments that have opposed the Trump administration's stance on immigration and vowed to stay out of enforcement efforts. United States District Judge Manuel Real in Los Angeles issued a permanent, national injunction against the federal funding rules, giving the city an important win in a long-running legal battle with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House.... A Justice Department spokesman, Devin M. O'Malley, suggested an appeal was likely." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Because ... because Mexican judge! (Real was born in San Pedro, California; his parents immigrated from, ah, Spain. He is "the last remaining federal judge in active service appointed by [Lyndon] Johnson as well as the longest-serving currently active federal judge. Prior ruling have been controversial, to say the least.)
"Yikes." Brian Chen of the New York Times: "When I downloaded a copy of my Facebook data last week, I didn't expect to see much. My profile is sparse, I rarely post anything on the site, and I seldom click on ads. (I'm what some call a Facebook lurker.') But when I opened my file, it was like opening Pandora's box. With a few clicks, I learned that about 500 advertisers -- many that I had never heard of ... -- had my contact information, which could include my email address, phone number and full name. Facebook also had my entire phone book, including the number to ring my apartment buzzer. The social network had even kept a permanent record of the roughly 100 people I had deleted from my friends list over the last 14 years, including my exes.... I also downloaded copies of my Google data with a tool called Google Takeout. The data sets were exponentially larger than my Facebook data." ...
<... Mattathias Schwartz of the New Yorker spent the last couple of days "watching Congress try to friend Mark Zuckerberg." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The NYT Was Right about the FBI's E-Mail! Investigation -- Comey. Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, confirms in his new book that the bureau had already begun a criminal investigation focused on Hillary Clinton's handling of her email in 2015 when her campaign and its allies excoriated journalists for reporting that such an inquiry was being contemplated. The New York Times reported in July 2015 that two inspectors general had made a criminal referral to the Justice Department recommending an investigation into whether Mrs. Clinton had mishandled sensitive information by using a private email server as secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton's campaign complained vigorously to The Times, resulting in two corrections to the article.... 'Though The Times may have thought those clarifications were necessary, their original story was much closer to the mark,' Mr. Comey wrote. 'It was true that the transmission to the F.B.I. from the inspector general did not use the word "criminal," but by the time of the news story, we had a full criminal investigation open, focused on the secretary's conduct.'"
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