The Commentariat -- December 16, 2018
Late Morning Update:
Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House and a number of federal agencies have started advanced preparations for a partial government shutdown, as President Trump and congressional Democrats appear unlikely to resolve their fight over a border wall before some government funding lapses at week's end. GOP leaders are scrambling to find a short-term alternative that could stave off a shutdown, which would start on Dec. 22 absent a deal. But White House officials signaled to lawmakers Friday that they would probably not support a one- or two-week stopgap measure. Some congressional Republicans support such a 'continuing resolution,' but the White House rejection has dramatically increased the odds of a pending lapse."
Reuters: "U.S. President Donald Trump has told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington is working on extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric [Fethullah Gulen] accused of orchestrating a failed Turkish coup in 2016, Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday.... Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing the preacher[.]" --s
The von Trump Family Grifters, Ctd. Legalized Corruption. Jeff Horwitz & Stephen Braun of the AP: "A real estate investment firm co-founded by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, is betting big on the administration's Opportunity Zone tax breaks but isn't that interested in steering its investors to the poorest, most-downtrodden areas that the program seeks to revitalize. New York-based Cadre, in which Kushner still holds at least a $25 million passive stake, made it clear to potential investors in recent marketing materials that it doesn't plan to look for development deals in most of those zones because of their 'unfavorable growth prospects.'... Anthony Scaramucci ... is trying to raise as much as $3 billion for Opportunity Zone projects.... One measure of how much the zones overlap with developers' pre-existing interests is how much they overlap with their current holdings. An AP review of Kushner's holdings found that he holds stakes in 13 Opportunity Zone properties, all in locations deemed by the Urban Institute to be showing indications of rapid change or full-out gentrification.... Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, both helped push for the program and as a couple stand to benefit financially from it." --s
A Very Grifter's Christmas. Kate Riga of TPM: "The White House has been pushing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to quit for weeks.... Zinke's counter-request? To host his Christmas party, graced by lobbyists and conservative bigwigs, before being booted. Per the Post, he donned a Santa hat and posed with a stuffed polar bear at the event." --s
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Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "Diplomats from nearly 200 countries reached a deal on Saturday to keep the Paris climate agreement alive by adopting a detailed set of rules to implement the pact. The deal, struck after an all-night bargaining session, will ultimately require every country in the world to follow a uniform set of standards for measuring their planet-warming emissions and tracking their climate policies. And it calls on countries to step up their plans to cut emissions ahead of another round of talks in 2020. It also calls on richer countries to be clearer about the aid they intend to offer to help poorer nations install more clean energy or build resilience against natural disasters. And it builds a process in which countries that are struggling to meet their emissions goals can get help in getting back on track. The United States agreed to the deal despite President Trump's vow to abandon the Paris Agreement.... The United States cannot formally withdraw from the agreement until late 2020."
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "Two years after Donald Trump won the presidency, nearly every organization he has led in the past decade is under investigation.... The mounting inquiries are building into a cascade of legal challenges that threaten to dominate Trump's third year in the White House.... Trump has been forced to spend his political capital -- and that of his party -- on his defense. On Capitol Hill this week, weary Senate Republicans scrambled away from reporters to avoid questions about Trump and his longtime fixer Michael Cohen...." The reporters summarize All the President's Messes.
... As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump, more isolated than at any point in his presidency, is scheduled to leave Washington at the end of this week for a holiday respite: two-plus weeks at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. When he returns in January, he will be girding for what is likely to be the most difficult year yet of his tumultuous presidency. His approval ratings aren't much different than they were when he took office. His hardcore supporters haven't budged. GOP elected officials remain hesitant to break with him. But his party took a beating in the midterm elections, and the legal process continues to move closer to him. Newly empowered House Democrats are preparing to challenge his authority with hearings and investigations.... Trump's ... search for a replacement for outgoing White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly is symptomatic of his situation.... Yet potential contenders walked away from the job until the president tweeted on Friday afternoon that he was naming budget director Mick Mulvaney as his acting chief of staff, not his permanent one."
Daniel Politi of Slate: "... Donald Trump went on Twitter Saturday to put forward a story line that is clearly misleading, pushing an argument that makes a software error sound like a grand anti-Trump conspiracy theory. Considering his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, did the same thing, it all looked like part of a coordinated strategy to plant doubts about the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. 'Wow, 19,000 Texts between Lisa Page and her lover, Peter S of the FBI, in charge of the Russia Hoax, were just reported as being wiped clean and gone,' Trump tweeted. 'Such a big story that will never be covered by the Fake News. Witch Hunt!'... An investigation by the Justice Department's watchdog said the missing texts had nothing to do with any kind of malicious intent by former investigators Lisa Page and Peter Strzok. Instead, the missing texts -- thousands of which were ultimately recovered by the way -- had to do with a technology failure by the software the FBI used to sweep up the messages. The report by the inspector general said there was no evidence either Strzok nor Page purposefully tried to get around any kind of protocol by deleting messages."
The von Trump Family Grifters, Ctd. Beach Haven Blues. Russ Buettner & Susanne Craig of the New York Times: "In October, a New York Times investigation into the origins of Mr. Trump's wealth revealed, among its findings, that the future president and his siblings set up a phony business to pad the cost of nearly everything their father ... purchased for his buildings. The Trump children split that extra money. Padding the invoices had a secondary benefit for the Trumps, allowing them to inflate rent increases on their father's rent-regulated apartments.... For tenants, the insidious effects of the scheme continue to this day. The padded invoices have been baked into the base rent used to calculate the annual percentage increase approved by the city.... Donald Trump, contrary to his lifelong claim of being a self-made billionaire, received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father. That fortune was greatly increased by dubious schemes -- including instances of outright fraud -- designed to dodge gift and estate taxes, the investigation found. Mr. Trump was a central player in the formulation of those strategies, which included grossly undervaluing his father's apartment complexes in tax filings, interviews and records showed. He also received tens of millions of dollars in gifts from his father that were disguised as loans or business investments."
Philip Ewing, NPR's national security editor, writes that Mueller a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/15/676765398/the-russia-investigations-an-unfinished-case-looks-weaker-than-ever" target="_blank">has bupkus on Trump-Russia collusion. Mrs. McC: Ewing seems awfully good at looking past redactions & what-all the Mueller investigators may be holding back. Anyway, his post should please Trump. (Also linked yesterday.)
Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump made an unscheduled visit to Arlington National Cemetery on a rainy Saturday, following weeks of criticism for skipping ceremonial visits in the United States and abroad that other presidents have made and for his lack of meetings with U.S. troops in combat zones. The president spent 15 minutes at the storied Virginia cemetery, walking with two military officers dressed in camouflage and a tour guide, looking at the thousands of grave markers that had been decorated with holiday wreaths. The visit was not on Trump's public schedule, which often signals a last-minute decision."
... And the Horse He Rode in on. Julie Turkewitz & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a key figure in President Trump's sweeping plan to reshape the nation's environmental framework, will leave his post at the end of the year, Mr. Trump said on Saturday. Mr. Zinke's departure comes amid numerous ethics investigations into his business dealings, travel and policy decisions. 'Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation.' The president said he would name a replacement this coming week.... In one of the final acts of [John] Kelly's tenure as White House chief of staff, his team told Mr. Zinke that he should leave by year's end or risk being fired in a potentially humiliating way, two people familiar with the discussion said." Thanks to Ken W. for the lead & to Patrick for the headline. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Zahra Hirji of BuzzFeed News: Trump's "tweet came minutes after Bloomberg News reported Zinke would be leaving." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
Ryan Zinke has notified the White House he intends to step down as interior secretary. Concern about legal costs and scrutiny of his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest were factors in Zinke's decision, I'm told. Plan is to announce Wednesday. -- Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg ...
... Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "In resigning, Zinke reveals the power of Democrats' new ability to oversee the Trump administration. Zinke is the first casualty of the 2018 blue wave: the first Cabinet official who stepped down in the face of subpoenas. He left, in fact, to avoid facing subpoenas. Yet in resigning, he also shows the limits of that same new power. Democrats can no longer use Zinke's hubris to get people to pay attention to the Trump administration's larger set of policies at Interior.... David Bernhardt, the current deputy secretary and a former oil lobbyist, will take over the department. Little is likely to change under Bernhardt." ...
... "The Ultimate DC Swamp Creature." Rebecca Leber of Mother Jones (October 9): "As Zinke ticked off the accomplishments of his first year [at a Department of Interior event] -- fulfilling the president's vision for 'energy dominance,' selling off public lands, and taking on the Endangered Species Act -- he might as well have been naming feathers in [David] Bernhardt's cap. This stout, unobtrusive, middle-aged man in square glasses has been one of the most effective officials in the Trump administration, and after 14 months on the job, he appears to be within striking distance of taking over the department that oversees a fifth of the nation's landmass. Smart and generally well-liked by his colleagues, Bernhardt is regarded, with grudging respect from environmentalists, as the 'brains behind the agency.'... Bernhardt is the ultimate DC swamp creature. Zinke is relatively new to Interior; Bernhardt, who spent eight years at the department earlier in his career, knows the ins and outs of its labyrinthine bureaucracy. And while Zinke has been mired in scandals and faces at least six active ethics investigations -- including inspector general inquiries into possible Hatch Act lobbying violations and a Halliburton land deal in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana -- Bernhardt has been largely invisible."
Mike Allen, acting chief of DC gossip, on Mick Mulvaney's appointment as acting chief of staff: "President Trump had a meeting scheduled Monday with a possible candidate for White House chief of staff. Guess that guy ain't getting it.... Trump blurted out his decision with a 5:18 p.m. Friday tweet, amid coverage of how few top people wanted the job.... Trump announced Mulvaney as 'Acting' chief of staff, a puzzling wrinkle which prolongs the instability that a new chief of staff presumably would be tasked with vanquishing.... Trump keeps control and doesn't fully empower his guy, reminding Mulvaney who the real chief of staff is: No funny business like General John Kelly tried to pull, restricting enablers' access to POTUS. This is exactly why some other candidates didn't take the job or didn't get the job.... A senior administration official ... said: 'There's no time limit.' Asked why Mulvaney was named 'acting,' the official said: 'Because that's what the president wants.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: NBC News reports that the "acting" prefix was Mulvaney's idea; he doesn't want to get stuck in the job.
Trump is very happy at the prospect of millions of Americans losing health care coverage. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... BUT Congressional Republicans Don't Feel So Cheery. Paul Demko & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "... Friday night's ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the Affordable Care Act must be scrapped once again puts the law front and center when Democrats take back the House just weeks from now. The ruling is sure to be appealed, and the Trump administration says it's business as usual in the meantime. But the decision spells bad news for Republicans, by allowing Democrats to replay a potent health care message that helped them flip 40 House seats: the GOP remains hellbent on gutting Obamacare and rolling back protections for pre-existing conditions.... [There] is likely to be a split GOP caucus that draws flak from both the right and the left. Republicans who survived the midterm election by vowing to protect people with pre-existing conditions will find themselves in a particularly tough spot.... [And Republicans who] voted to gut Obamacare's individual mandate as part of the tax bill, argued Brad Woodhouse, executive director of [a] pro-Obamacare group..., effectively [laid] the groundwork for the Texas lawsuit's winning argument." ...
... Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "In the 11 years Judge Reed O'Connor has been on the federal bench, he has become a favorite of Republican leaders in Texas, reliably tossing out Democratic policies they have challenged. The state's Republican attorney general appears to strategically file key lawsuits in Judge O'Connor's jurisdiction, the Northern District of Texas, so that he will hear them. And on Friday, the judge handed Republicans another victory by striking down the Affordable Care Act, the signature health law of the Obama era. Judge O'Connor, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, has been at the center of some of the most contentious and partisan cases involving federal power and states' rights, and has sided with conservative leaders in previous challenges to the health law and against efforts to expand transgender rights.... His rulings illustrate the ways in which the federal district courts have become politically weaponized, as Republicans and Democrats alike try to handpick judges they see as ideologically friendly to their cases." ...
... ** Jonathan Adler & Abbe Gluck, in a New York Times op-ed: "In a shocking legal ruling, a federal judge in Texas wiped Obamacare off the books Friday night. The decision, issued after business hours on the eve of the deadline to enroll for health insurance for 2019, focuses on the so-called individual mandate. Yet it purports to declare the entire law unconstitutional -- everything from the Medicaid expansion, the ban on pre-existing conditions, Medicare and pharmaceutical reforms to much, much more. A ruling this consequential had better be based on rock-solid legal argument. Instead, the opinion by Judge Reed O'Connor is an exercise of raw judicial power, unmoored from the relevant doctrines concerning when judges may strike down a whole law because of a single alleged legal infirmity buried within." Read on. Adler & Gluck explain most of what you need to know about the decision & where it goes from here.
George Packer, now of the Atlantic: "The corruption of the Republican Party in the Trump era seemed to set in with breathtaking speed. In fact, it took more than a half century to reach the point where faced with a choice between democracy and power, the party chose the latter. Its leaders don't see a dilemma -- democratic principles turn out to be disposable tools, sometimes useful, sometimes inconvenient. The higher cause is conservatism, but the highest is power."
In case you thought Wall Street bankers were the most immoral corporate operators in the U.S., the New York Times introduces us to McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm that advises some of the worst politicians & businesses in the world.
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Reader Comments (4)
One more on the ACA ruling by the resident Texas judicial crank:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/14/18141670/obamacare-unconstitutional-texas-judge-strikes-down-reed-o-connor
In which Klein (as have others) sees the ruling as possibly a good thing.
Will it turn out to be another sign that the minority party (like the lame duck losers in Michigan and Wisconsin), pumped up by hubris while simultaneously animated by fear of things to come, is overplaying its hand?
@Ken: Vox makes a good argument and I think they are correct. One thing that ties people together is health care and the Dems in their campaign speeches all stressed that. A party that says they want to save your health care is the party that gets the hands up, I would think.
Just finished reading the looong piece on the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm. Wow! Such excellent reportage! Immoral tippy toes around the world––makes for pretty depressing reading. So my question is now that the NYT's has highlighted this company's corrupt maneuvers will anything change?
And speaking of unholy alliances: Our in- house lousy leader and his son-law's cozy alliance with MbS reminded me of Nixon's and Kissinger's network of regional loyalties such as Pakistan ( who were clearly guilty of mass killing) during the India/ Bangladesh debacle. The White House tapes, a marvel of verbal incontinence, revealed Nixon musing that what "the Indians," then lucklessly hosting millions of refugees, "need––what they really need––is...a mass famine." Kissinger loyally chimes in: "They're such bastards."
Sometimes, like on this Sunday morning, when one reflects on the state of affairs–– both foreign and domestic with a few stormy affairs thrown in for good measure, one could conclude that those "things that fall apart" when the center cannot hold is accelerating at a faster pace than usual. This thing called Democracy is a tough row to hoe in the best of circumstances and right now it ain't going so well.
BUT–-good news about the Paris climate agreement.
I hope to god that Mueller DOES have concrete info on the criminals in this administration. It's getting harder and harder to listen to the crap flung around by the Rotund Rancid One and his filthy hordes. Good thing Christmas "music" (in some instances) is filling up the airwaves of radio-- between that and HGTV and Hallmark, it is yet possible to render one's self oblivious for short periods of time. And books-- there are still great fiction works coming out-- finishing Anne Tyler's latest-- total escapist fiction. Happy Sunday, RCers!
Robinson Meyer wrote "in resigning, he also shows the limits of that same new power. Democrats can no longer use Zinke’s hubris to get people to pay attention to the Trump administration’s larger set of policies at Interior." First off, the policies are bad and the Democrats can still call out bad policy. Second, the new guy was an oil lobbyist, an easy target. And third, this argument assumes that the next guy is going to start behaving ethically. Little chance of that in the Trump administration.