The Commentariat -- January 19, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump plans to use remarks from the Diplomatic Reception Room on Saturday afternoon to propose a notable immigration compromise, according to sources familiar with the speech....The offer is expected to include Trump's $5.7 billion demand for wall money in exchange for the BRIDGE Act -- which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) -- and also legislation to extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, according to a source with direct knowledge. Jared Kushner and Mike Pence have led the crafting of this deal and the negotiations with members, according to White House officials. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters he had proposed the idea of a DACA-TPS swap to Trump in December, and that the president called it 'interesting.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Uh, Jared & mikey have not been in "negotiations with members" exactly; they've been negotiating with Senate Republicans, according to earlier reports. They have not been speaking with Democrats.

Our Lord & Master Vindictive Little Turd Decrees. Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "The White House put top department officials on notice today that they are not allowed to spend money or use planes to help lawmakers travel on congressional delegation trips.... Federal officials can still provide logistical and security support for those delegations, acting OMB Director Russell Vought wrote. The guidance comes after Trump made a public show Thursday of stopping House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats from using military aircraft to fly to Afghanistan." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Congress should pass a law disallowing administration officials to travel on government transports without specific authorization from the Congressional Office of Beg Us for a Ticket, MoFo.

Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair: "As the government shutdown drags on, Stephen Colbert has joined the effort to help furloughed workers.... On The Late Show, the comedian announced that he would be selling mugs with a cheesy catchphrase on them -- 'Don't Even Talk to Me Until I've Had My Paycheck' -- to benefit celebrity chef José Andrés's World Central Kitchen. World Central Kitchen is a disaster-relief group founded by Andrés, who last year was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the organization in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. On Monday, the group announced it would begin feeding furloughed federal workers free of charge from a kitchen-cafe located on Washington, D.C.'s Pennsylvania Avenue." ...

We won’t stop until everyone has a hot meal. #ChefsForFeds pic.twitter.com/VRciB8kPRK

— WorldCentralKitchen (@WCKitchen) January 17, 2019

AP: "The white Chicago police officer who gunned down a black teenager in 2014 was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years in prison, bringing an end to a historic case that centered on a shocking dashcam video and fueled the national debate over race and law enforcement. Jason Van Dyke was convicted last year of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery -- one for each bullet he fired."

*****

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd. -- Uh-Maybe-Not Edition

BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the special counsel's office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate. -- Peter Carr, spokesperson for the Special Counsel

We stand by our reporting and the sources who informed it, and we urge the Special Counsel to make clear what he's disputing. -- Ben Smith, BuzzFeed editor

I can't speak to Buzzfeed's sourcing, but, for what it's worth, I declined to run with parts of the narrative they conveyed based on a source central to the story repeatedly disputing the idea that Trump directly issued orders of that kind. -- Ronan Farrow, in a tweet ...

... Mark Mazzetti & Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "The special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election disputed on Friday a report that said President Trump had directed Michael D. Cohen, his longtime lawyer and fixer, to lie to Congress about his role in negotiations to build a skyscraper in Moscow. The rare public statement by a spokesman for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, challenged the facts of an article published by BuzzFeed News on Thursday saying that Mr. Cohen had told prosecutors about being pressured by the president before his congressional testimony. 'BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the special counsel's office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate,' said the spokesman, Peter Carr.... BuzzFeed News maintained that its report was accurate, its editor, Ben Smith, said after Mr. Mueller's office disputed the account. 'We stand by our reporting and the sources who informed it, and we urge the Special Counsel to make clear what he's disputing,' Mr. Smith said on Twitter." ...

... Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "The [special counsel's] statement was remarkable on several levels -- first, the special counsel's office speaks exceedingly rarely, and second, the statement seemed to drive a stake through a sensational allegation that Democratic lawmakers suggested earlier in the day could spell the end of the Trump presidency. As earthshaking as the claims in the story were, no other media organizations were able to match them.... The special counsel's office seemed to be disputing every aspect of the story that addressed comments or evidence given to its investigators.... Mueller's denial, according to people familiar with the matter, aims to make clear that none of those statements in the story are accurate.... Trump weighed in Friday night on Twitter, criticizing BuzzFeed. 'A very sad day for journalism, but a great day for our country!' he tweeted." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'm not sure the special counsel's statement forecloses the conclusions of the BuzzFeed story. "Are not accurate" is different from "No witness tampering!" We'll see. Maybe. Update: Chuck Rosenberg said the same thing on MSNBC. In fact, Rosenberg went further; he said, "The core of the BuzzFeed report appears to be correct," based on his reading of charging documents Mueller's own prosecutors filed in the Cohen case. ...

... Marshall Cohen & Katelyn Polantz of CNN back up Rosenberg's POV: "There are a handful of distinct areas where reporting from BuzzFeed's bombshell lines up with court records, including the charging documents against Michael Cohen, sentencing memos and hearings." The CNN reporters detail the concurrences between BuzzFeed's report & the court records.

Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed conservative conspiracy theorist and special counsel witness Jerome Corsi, his attorney told The Hill on Friday. The committee is seeking both an interview and documents from Corsi, an associate of longtime GOP operative and Trump ally Roger Stone, Corsi's lawyer Larry Klayman said. Klayman declined to provide details on the subpoena, which he said was received Thursday, but described it as 'overly broad.' He also called the subpoena 'part of continued harassment from this committee.' Corsi told The Hill that his legal team plans to contest the subpoena." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Klayman's complaint that a client's subpoena is "overly broad" is real chutzpah.

Jonathan Chait: "At first glance, the revelation by BuzzFeed News reporters Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his attempt to build a tower in Moscow during the campaign, looks bad for Trump. On second, third, and fourth glances, it looks extremely bad. 1. Attorney General [Mrs. McC: nominee] William Barr has already defined this behavior as obstruction of justice.... 2. The allegations are serious enough that even conservatives concede they would constitute a crime.... 3. The evidence reportedly has multiple sources.... As BuzzFeed explains, the evidence did not originate from Cohen.... 4. There could be more where this came from.... Remember that prosecutors seized a massive trove of recordings and notes from Cohen's office.... 5.... By telling this lie, Trump opened himself up to blackmail by Putin. Trump was publicly denying the contours of a business deal to which Russian intelligence was privy." (Also linked yesterday.)

Betsy Woodruff & Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "John Dowd, who previously helmed President Donald Trump's personal legal team, is still actively advising his lawyers as they grapple with the Mueller probe. Dowd, who left the president's legal team in March of 2018, told Brian Kilmeade on his Fox News radio show on Jan. 14 that he speaks with Trump 'every week or so.'... Dowd's talks with the president and his legal team may not have been universally welcomed. One former White House official told The Daily Beast that Dowd's chats with Trump drove White House lawyer Emmet Flood and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow 'absolutely nuts.'" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ken Vogel & Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "A global New York-based law firm has agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a Justice Department investigation into whether its work for a Russia-aligned Ukrainian government violated lobbying laws. The investigation stems from work that the firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, did with Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. The case overlaps with the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As part of the settlement, the law firm agreed to register retroactively as a foreign agent for Ukraine in addition to paying the government $4.6 million, representing the money it earned from its work in Ukraine. The settlement ..., which was made public on Thursday, is the latest indication that Mr. Mueller's inquiry and related investigations are fundamentally challenging the lucrative but shadowy foreign-lobbying industry that has thrived in Washington." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Russkies Are Back. MaryAlice Parks & Lee Ferran of ABC News: "The Democratic National Committee alleges it was among the intended victims of a widespread cyberattack that was detected days after the 2018 midterm elections, according to court documents filed overnight. 'On November 14, 2018, dozens of DNC email addresses were targeted in a spear-phishing campaign, although there is no evidence that the attack was successful,' the DNC wrote in an amended complaint filed late Thursday, part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Russian government, the 2016 Donald Trump campaign and others. The DNC said that the content and the timing of the emails led the organization to believe it was targeted as part of a wider phishing campaign that cybersecurity firms had previously said appeared to use some of the same technical tricks as a Russian hacking group known as Cozy Bear, or APT 29." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trump Shutdown, Ctd.

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "House Democrats have added more than $1 billion in border-related spending to a package of funding bills that would reopen most of the government, even as President Trump said he would have a 'major announcement' on Saturday about the border and the shutdown stalemate.... The proposal to include more spending on border measures is scheduled for a vote next week, according to two senior Democratic officials. The plan reflects a shift in strategy by congressional Democrats, who have maintained that they would not give the president a counterproposal until he drops his insistence on a wall and signs legislation to reopen the government. It is an attempt to rebut Mr. Trump's repeated portrayal of Democrats as opponents of border security and their denunciation of his wall as an embrace of open borders. About half the money, $524 million, would be for additional infrastructure at ports of entry on the border, one Democrat said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced, while $563 million more would be inserted to fund 75 immigration judges, who adjudicate the claims of migrants who make asylum claims at the border." (This is a substantial update of a story linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, so not wall. But still a mistake, IMO, & one that will encourage Trump and future presidents to hold the nation hostage over some stupid demand every time new funding is required. Just as the Congress once found a way to avoid the debt-ceiling crises (and may re-instate that procedure), it needs to find a way to avoid the general-funding hostage-taking. On the other hand, it does seem possible that the extra-$1BB measure could pick up a lot of Republican House votes. If a veto-proof House majority passed the bill, might that bring McConnell out of his shell? ...

I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Friday ...

... Grace Segers of CBS News: "A senior administration official told CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett that Mr. Trump will present what the White House believes could be a deal to end the shutdown. The deal was largely influenced by talks between Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner." Mrs. McC: Let's see; Trump has "negotiated" a deal with, um, pence, McConnell & Kushner. I'm sure this will work. ...

... Abby Phillip & Betsy Klein of CNN: "... Donald Trump plans to offer Democrats another proposal to end the shutdown when he addresses the nation from the White House on Saturday afternoon -- what officials are describing as his third offer to end the shutdown.... The official told CNN that Trump's idea is to put something on the table to get Democrats to engage with negotiations. Trump is not expected to back down from his demand for a border wall, but the plan will seek to entice Democrats by offering other concessions. However, this plan is not based on negotiations with Democrats.... [Sarah Sanders] said the announcement will be made in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House."

Trump Campaign Continues to Fundraise off Shutdown. Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "President Trump's 2020 reelection campaign sent out a fundraising email Friday asking for donations of $20.20 and pledging to send fake bricks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) or Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) over their refusal to provide Trump's demanded wall funding. The Democrats have been stonewalling President Trump for too long, as the President remains fully committed to make a deal to secure our border,' campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. 'Now the American people can send a message directly to Chuck and Nancy on a faux red brick that tells them to build the wall.'"

Kris Van Cleave of CBS News: "Dozens of investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are on hold during the partial government shutdown, as nearly the entire staff is furloughed. One investigation surrounds a fiery crash in Florida this month that claimed the lives of seven people, including five children. It was the deadliest accident the NTSB has not been able to investigate. CBS News obtained documents that show the shutdown has prevented the NTSB from launching 74 accident investigations, including probes of 12 plane crashes that have killed 18 people."

Kate Taylor & Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "A major winter storm was on a path Friday to wallop as many as 80 million people in the Midwest and Northeast over the weekend with a punishing mix of heavy snow, strong winds and frigid temperatures.... The storm was also expected to further strain the National Weather Service, where many employees have been furloughed as part of the partial government shutdown. Others -- including those putting out the storm warnings that state and officials rely on for their planning -- are considered essential and are working without pay. 'I've been working for the National Weather Service for over 27 years -- I've never seen the morale as low as it is right now,' said Dan Sobien, the president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization."

Ben Adler & Nadine Sebai of NPR: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the Trump administration has told states they can't offer unemployment benefits to federal employees who are required to report to work without pay during the government shutdown. Newsom called a letter sent to states by the U.S. Department of Labor 'jaw-dropping and extraordinary' as he met with TSA workers at the Sacramento International Airport Thursday afternoon. 'So the good news is, we're going to do it, and shame on them.' The governor explained that California will offer the workers unemployment coverage, despite the federal government telling the state it can't do so for workers still on the job. Newsom says he believes California is on strong legal footing.... The Trump administration does not appear to be opposing unemployment benefits for federal workers who are staying home during the shutdown." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As usual, Trump policy is upside-down. Federal employees required to go to work are incurring more expenses than are those who are furloughed. Yet, according to the report, those with fewer expenses can collect unemployment insurance yet those who must pay the usual costs associated with going to work are SOL. It really doesn't take a genius to figure this out. Then again, they really don't care, do they?

Trump's Own State Department Provides More Proof Trump Is a National Security Threat. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A day after President Trump canceled military flights for a planned congressional trip to Afghanistan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abandoned her plans to travel instead on commercial flights due to security concerns. Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi (D-Calif.), blamed the Trump administration in a written statement for disclosing news of the trip, which included several other House Democrats, and thus increasing the danger to lawmakers. 'After President Trump revoked the use of military aircraft to travel to Afghanistan, the delegation was prepared to fly commercially to proceed with this vital trip to meet with our commanders and troops on the front lines,' Hammill said. Overnight, he added, a new State Department threat assessment indicated 'that the President announcing this sensitive travel had significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip.... This morning, we learned that the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Lauren Fox of CNN: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she was forced to nix her Afghanistan trip after ... Donald Trump barred her from using a military aircraft and she was told by the State Department diplomatic security that it was too dangerous to fly there commercially. 'We weren't going to go because we had a report from Afghanistan that the President outing our trip had made the scene on the ground much more dangerous because it's just a signal to the bad actors,' Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol. 'You never give advance notice of going into a battle area. You just never do. Perhaps the President's inexperience didn't help him understand that protocol. The people around him, though, should have known that, because that's very dangerous,' she said. The speaker also said the President's announcement of the trip had endangered members of Congress and American troops, and that she was just relaying what the State Department told her office." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Amateur Hour +. Steve Benen: "So why did this happen? According to a striking New York Times report, the West Wing wanted to put Pelosi 'in her place.' 'White House officials -- including Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff -- had been irked by Ms. Pelosi's invocation of security concerns as her premise for urging Mr. Trump to move his speech, and sought to put her in her place after she had emphasized that she represented a coequal branch in governing, according to aides....' It's as if a group of far-right online trolls took control of the executive branch of a global superpower.... Does anyone seriously believe Nancy Pelosi will feel intimidated by the amateur president's sophomoric antics?... This isn't the first time the president made a decision affecting the Pentagon without coordinating with anyone at the Pentagon. In the Trump administration, amateur hour lasts a lot longer than an hour." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Democrats' decision to present legislation adding $1BB to border security funds is any indication, then yes, Pelosi reacted to "the amateur president's sophomoric antics." ...

I don't think the president would be that petty, do you? -- Nancy Pelosi, responding to a reporter's question about whether Trump cancelled her flight to Afghanistan in retaliation for her suggesting the SOTU be delayed ...

Nancy really knows how to put Donnie in his place, doesn't she? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...

... AND let's be clear about what got Mulvaney's little nose so out of joint. Mike Lillis of the Hill: "On Wednesday -- day 26 of the history-making shutdown -- Pelosi took the remarkable step of asking Trump to delay the address until the government is fully funded. Yet she did not go so far as to disinvite him, instead suggesting that -- 'unless government reopens this week' -- the pair 'work together to determine another suitable date.' On Friday, Pelosi amplified that message. 'He's been invited,' she told reporters in the Capitol. 'All we said is, "Let's work together for another date when government is open."'... Trump has not responded directly to Pelosi's entreaty. Instead, he escalated the feud on Thursday when he blocked a trip Pelosi and several other Democrats had planned to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan by denying them access to military aircraft."

Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "George W. Bush [posted] ... a photo of himself delivering pizzas to his Secret Service detail that he posted on Instagram. '@LauraWBush and I are grateful to our Secret Service personnel and the thousands of Federal employees who are working hard for our country without a paycheck,' he wrote. 'And we thank our fellow citizens who are supporting them.'... The president bought them at least six pizzas, according to the Instagram post. He punctuated the post with a call for officials to figure out a way to end the impasse, though he did not give specifics. 'It's time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown,' he said."

Eric Levitz of New York points out what a dimwit Chris Cuomo is. "... it would be reasonable for a low-information voter to condemn both parties, in equal measure, for putting ideological purity above the national good. But it would be a dereliction of duty for a television journalist to do the same. Alas, on Thursday night, CNN's Chris Cuomo did precisely that." Mrs. McC: I've watched a few minutes of Cuomo's CNN show here & there, and he constantly pushes GOP talking points and unwarranted both-siderism. Here he's echoing Dubya.

Mark Landler & David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump will meet with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, in late February, the White House announced on Friday, continuing a high-level diplomatic dialogue that has eased tensions but shown little progress in eliminating the North's nuclear arsenal. The announcement came after Mr. Trump met for 90 minutes in the Oval Office with Kim Yong-chol, the former North Korean intelligence chief who has acted as the chief nuclear negotiator for Mr. Kim." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Brett McGurk, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The president's decision to leave Syria was made without deliberation, consultation with allies or Congress, assessment of risk, or appreciation of facts.... Trump tweeted, 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria.' But that was not true, and we have continued to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State. Days later, he claimed that Saudi Arabia had 'now agreed to spend the necessary money needed to help rebuild Syria.' But that wasn't true, either, as the Saudis later confirmed. Trump also suggested that U.S. military forces could leave Syria within 30 days, which was logistically impossible. Worse, Trump made this snap decision after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.... Trump's latest proposal, issued via tweet, for a 20-mile safe zone -- which Erdogan says Turkey will establish -- similarly seems to have been made with no process or analysis.... The strategic consequences of Trump's decision are already playing out: The more Turkey expands its reach in Syria, the faster our Arab partners in the region move toward Damascus.... In 2016, [Trump] vowed to 'knock the hell out of ISIS.' His recent choices, unfortunately, are already giving the Islamic State -- and other American adversaries -- new life." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "President Trump was frustrated about leaks -- specifically leaks attributed to 'White House officials' -- that were critical of him, [according to] Cliff Sims, a young White House communications aide.... This was in 2017, when West Wing chaos was a constant storyline in the media.... Trump wanted to know who Sims thought was leaking, and said to come see him -- but to come through the back, so the senior staff wouldn't know.... As recounted in a passage from [a new book] "Team of Vipers"...: 'Give me their names,' he said, his eyes narrowing. 'I want these people out of here. I'm going to take care of this. We're going to get rid of all the snakes, even the bottom-feeders.'... I was sitting there with the President of the United States basically compiling an enemies list -- but these enemies were within his own administration." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A Democratic senator asked the F.B.I. on Friday to open a perjury investigation into the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, over her congressional testimony about the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the southern border. The senator, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, cited a previously unreleased document from December 2017 that showed that Ms. Nielsen's staff considered a range of options for dealing with the influx of families seeking asylum, including a policy that would 'separate family units.' But testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last month, Ms. Nielsen said that 'we've never had a policy for family separation.' She also denied in subsequent interviews and statements on social media that she had pursued such a policy. 'In light of these conflicting facts,' Mr. Merkley wrote in a letter to the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, 'the F.B.I. should immediately investigate whether Secretary Nielsen's statements' violate 'federal statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Based on the NYT reporting, it appears Merkley doesn't have a leg to stand on. "Considering" a policy is not the same as "having" a policy. Nielsen, according to Thrush, testified DHS "never had a policy for family separation." That is, according to her testimony, DHS rejected the family separation proposal.

John Washington of The Intercept (Jan. 15): "Though a lot of attention will be on attorney general nominee William Barr's stance on executive power..., his legacy on immigration also merits strict scrutiny.... Barr's hard-line immigration stance, which runs lockstep with President Donald Trump's, may set the stage for a new volley of attacks against immigrants and asylum-seekers.... As Sarah Pierce, policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute, told me, Barr would 'fit in perfectly with this administration's immigration priorities.'... Bar [sic] saw it as 'overkill' to build a fence along the entire 1,964-mile border, but he advocated for and succeeded in laying the groundwork for a policy that would come to be known as 'Prevention Through Deterrence': building barriers and concentrating enforcement at the parts of the border where it is easiest to cross.... The policy has since resulted in the deaths of thousands of border crossers.... Barr also directly oversaw the expansion of the Border Patrol and ordered the hiring of 200 criminal investigators to combat immigration and crimes committed by 'criminal aliens.'... Barr even blamed the Rodney King riots on immigration, as Dara Lind notes[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Hanging with a Criminal. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin flew from Washington to Los Angeles this month on the private aircraft of Michael R. Milken, the billionaire 'junk bond' king who pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 1990 and served two years in prison. The flight, which was confirmed by the Treasury Department on Friday, was the latest example of Trump administration officials using luxury or government aircraft for personal reasons. Mr. Mnuchin, who was accompanied by Secret Service agents on Mr. Milken's jet, travels frequently to California to visit his children who live there. A Treasury Department spokesman said that Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Milken have known each other for years and that after reviewing internally the secretary's plans to take the flight, it was decided that he did not need an ethics waiver. Mr. Mnuchin has reimbursed Mr. Milken for the cost of the flight, the spokesman said, but did not disclose the amount. Trump administration officials, including Mr. Mnuchin, had been encouraging President Trump last year to pardon Mr. Milken, who pleaded guilty to six criminal charges related to securities transactions undertaken in the 1980s. Mr. Milken, who had to pay $600 million in fines, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and released after two years."

Casey Michel of ThinkProgress: "... the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) -- a right-wing group founded 36 years ago -- has deepened connections between America's religious right and Russians even as the latter have been sanctioned by the United States, according to a ThinkProgress investigation. By networking with Russians, the HSLDA -- now America's largest right-wing homeschooling association -- has provided the Kremlin with a new avenue of influence over some of the most conservative organizations in the United States." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

AP: " Forensic experts attempted to separate and count charred heaps of corpses in central Mexico on Saturday after a massive fireball erupted at an illegal pipeline tap, killing at least 66 people. More than 85 other people on Saturday were listed as missing relatives of the deceased and onlookers gathered around the scene of carnage. Just a few feet from where the pipeline passed through an alfalfa field, the dead seem to have fallen in heaps, perhaps as they stumbled over each other or tried to help one another in the moments after a geyser of gasoline shot into the air Friday. The leak was caused by an illegal pipeline tap in the small town of Tlahuelilpan, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north of Mexico City, according to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex."

Comments

[PD Pepe]

When a Fox stays outside the henhouse it's worth mentioning:
Shep Smith tells Chris Wallace who said "It it takes two to tango" meaning both Trump and the Dems were responsible for the shutdown (I accidentally spelled this as shitdown) Shep came back with: "There IS no tango here!"
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shep-smith-chris-wallace-shutdown-fox-news_us_5c42df2fe4b0a8dbe17197d7

We wait with anticipation for the great leader's message this afternoon. I hope he takes my advice and opens up the government because he "no longer can suffer the poor people that are suffering unlike those unfeeling Democrats that refuse to give me what I want and will pay a pretty price for that. Nancy said she didn't think I'd be that petty to cancel her trip for reasons of oneupmanship ––she evidently doesn't know me that well."

Or something like that and then segue over to China and Infrastructure.

Buzzzzzz–––keep feeding us!

[PD Pepe]

Did the Soprano's anticipate the rise of Trump: an interesting piece by Jacob Sugarman:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/did-the-sopranos-anticipate-the-rise-of-trump/

David Chase's genius not only in this series but on "The Wire" is laud-worthy.

[forrest morris]

The 3:00 P.M. will probably be the long awaited "emergency"
declaration so the president* can rob money from whatever agencies
to buy steel from the Russians so the military can start work on
his penis-wall. Hope he doesn't stiff his Russian buddies or we'll
need lots more walls.

[RAS]

What do you want to bet that those fake bricks say "made in China" on them? Or maybe it's "made in Mexico" and Trump is finally getting Mexico to build his wall.

[Victoria]

Sights and sounds brought to you by Trump:
Food lines of hungry federal workers
Asylum seekers in tents at the border
Crying, sighing, moaning from babies in cages
How long can we stand for this?
I will be sending Trump the evil eye at 3.
If he suddenly curls up and dies, you may thank me.

[Ken Winkes]

A wall in exchange for 3 year DACA protection?

A temporary compromise that would allow the same racists to hold the same group hostage again in three years?

I don't think so.

Permanent protection with a path to citizenship? Then....maybe I'd think about it.

How about you all?

[Jeanne]

Should not have to "negotiate" with terrorists-- AKA repignicans. DACA is not for sale. GO NANCY!