The Commentariat -- October 16, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Everything Is Going Very Well. Benjamin Hart of New York: "After President Trump gave Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the green light to invade northern Syria last weekend, thus unleashing chaos in the region, Trump wrote him a very strange letter, obtained by Fox Business's Trish Regan. The message's theme -- that Erdogan should show military restraint -- was straightforward, but the prose style and phrasing ... are so surpassingly weird in a high-level diplomatic context that many wondered if the note was authentic. It is." ~~~
EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained a copy of @realDonaldTrump’s letter to #Erdogan. @POTUS warns him to not "be a tough guy! Don't be a fool!" Says he could destroy Turkey's economy if #Syria is not resolved in a humane way. Details tonight at 8pm #TrishRegan #FoxBusiness pic.twitter.com/9BoSGlbRyt
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) October 16, 2019
Apparently Democratic leaders had to leave the White House because Trump had a "meltdown" & became so rude they couldn't maintain a conversation. We'll see how written reports characterize what happened. ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "President Trump had a 'meltdown' and called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a 'third-rate politician' during a meeting Wednesday with congressional leaders on the situation in Syria, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters after they left the meeting early. The White House had invited leadership and top committee members of both parties and chambers of Congress to discuss Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria.... Pelosi attributed Trump's comments to being 'shaken' by the overwhelming nature of the House vote, where 129 Republicans sided with Democrats. 'That's why we couldn't continue in the meeting because he just wasn't relating to the reality of it,' Pelosi said. 'What we witnessed on the part of the president was a meltdown, sad to say,' she added later. Schumer added that Trump was 'insulting' to Pelosi. 'She kept her cool completely, but he called her a third-rate politician. He said that there are communists involved and you guys might like that. I mean, this was not a dialogue. It was sort of a diatribe, a nasty diatribe,' Schumer said."
Donnie Falsely Blames Boris for Jerry Springer Surprise. Harriet Alexander of the (U.K.) Telegraph: "Donald Trump claimed [Wednesday] that he tried to broker a meeting between Harry Dunn's grieving parents and the American woman who killed him, Anne Sacoolas, because Boris Johnson suggested he do so. Mr Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, arrived at the White House on Tuesday night to be told that Mrs Sacoolas was in the room next door. The couple refused to meet her.... Mr Trump later said..., 'I spoke with Boris he asked me if I'd do that, and I did it.'... Downing Street ... downplayed the idea they had suggested the encounter. A spokesperson noted that Mr Trump and Mr Johnson last spoke eight days ago, before the family had announced their intention to travel to the US. 'The Prime Minister asked the President to do all he could to help resolve this tragic issue. The President agreed to work on trying to find a way forward,' the spokesperson said.... The New York Times revealed today that the White House press corps had been assembled to capture the distraught parents' encounter with Mrs Sacoolas in a Jerry Springer-style 'reveal'."
Nicholas Fandos & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A former top White House foreign policy adviser told House impeachment investigators this week that she viewed Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, as a potential national security risk because he was so unprepared for his job, according to two people familiar with her private testimony. The adviser, Fiona Hill, did not accuse Mr. Sondland of acting maliciously or intentionally putting the country at risk.... Ms. Hill, the former senior director for European and Russian affairs at the White House, also said that she raised her concerns with intelligence officials inside the White House, one of the people said.... She said Mr. Sondland extensively used a personal cellphone for official diplomatic business and repeatedly told foreign officials they were welcome to come to the White House whenever they liked.... Ms. Hill also testified that Mr. Sondland held himself out to foreign officials as someone who could deliver meetings at the White House while also providing the cellphone numbers of American officials to foreigners, the people said. Those actions created additional counterintelligence risks, she said."
Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A former top aide to Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, told impeachment investigators on Wednesday that he resigned because he was upset that the Trump administration had wrestled Ukraine policy away from career diplomats, according to three people familiar with his closed-door deposition to the House Intelligence Committee. In several hours of continuing testimony, Michael McKinley, who until last week was a senior adviser to Mr. Pompeo, described his mounting frustration with how politicized the State Department had become under President Trump.... He spoke of his frustration with Rex W. Tillerson, the former secretary of state, saying he had gutted the department, and praised Mr. Pompeo for his leadership. But Mr. McKinley said he was alarmed at how poorly diplomats were treated."
Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "The House on Wednesday approved a resolution formally rebuking President Trump over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria. The measure passed in a 354-60 vote, with four lawmakers voting present. All 60 votes against the resolution came from Republicans, with the present votes coming from three GOP lawmakers and Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.). The top three House Republicans supported the motion in a rare split from the president. The resolution -- which was sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and the panel's top Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas) -- 'opposes the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria.' The measure also calls on Turkey to end its military action, calls on the United States to protect the Kurds and calls on the White House 'to present a clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of ISIS.'"
Elena Becatoros & Bassem Mroue of the AP: "Syrian forces on Wednesday night rolled into the strategic border town of Kobani, blocking one path for the Turkish military to establish a 'safe zone' free of Syrian Kurdish fighters along the frontier as part of its week-old offensive. The seizure of Kobani by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad also pointed to a dramatic shift in northeastern Syria: The town was where the United States military and Kurdish fighters first united to defeat the Islamic State group four years ago and holds powerful symbolism for Syrian Kurds and their ambitions of self-rule." ~~~
~~~ Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Wednesday called for Kurdish fighters battling his troops in northeastern Syria to lay down their weapons and withdraw from the border area 'this very night.' Resisting Western pressure to halt the operation, Mr. Erdogan also requested international support for his country's battle against Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers terrorists but who had been allied with the United States against the Islamic State. Speaking to the Turkish Parliament, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey would not stop fighting until it had established a planned 'safe zone' in Syria roughly 20 miles deep, from the town of Manbij in the west to the Iraqi border in the east."
Trump went on a long rant about crooked Obama & crooked Comey and the server & all the stuff Rudy is uncovering & so forth. I have to go out for a few minutes but I'll get something up ASAP. And I might be wrong, but I thought I heard Trump call Italian President Sergio Mattarella "President Mozzarella." ~~~
~~~ Here is your President* chatting amiably with his guest President Mozzarella. One of them is delusional:
~~~ First Trump Abandons the Kurds, Then He Insults Them. Morgan Chalfant & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump said Wednesday that Turkey's offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria is 'not our problem,' defending his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the region amid criticism.... Trump also downplayed the U.S. alliance with the Kurds.... 'The Kurds are much safer right now, but the Kurds know how to fight, and as I said, they're not angels. They're not angels. You take a look... but they fought with us. We paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's OK,' Trump said. 'If Russia wants to get involved with Syria, that's really up to them. They have a problem with Turkey. They have a problem at a border. It's not our border, we shouldn't be losing lives over it,' Trump said later." ~~~
~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "'They're not angels, if you take a look. You have to go back and take a look. But they fought with us, and we paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's OK,' [Trump said of the Kurds]. 'They did well when they fought with us. They didn't do so well when they didn't fight with us.' The incendiary comments marked perhaps the president's most dismissive defense of his widely condemned decision earlier this month to allow Turkey to invade Syria, and come just days after the Pentagon's announcement that Trump had directed the evacuation of the last U.S. troops still stationed in the West Asian nation." ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker & others have the New York Times story: "Mr. Trump insisted his handling of the matter had been 'strategically brilliant' and minimized concerns for the Kurds, implying that they allied with the United States only out of their own self-interest.... Echoing Mr. Erdogan's talking points, Mr. Trump compared one faction of the Kurds to the Islamic State and he asserted that Kurds intentionally freed some Islamic State prisoners to create a backlash for him. 'Probably the Kurds let [them] go to make a little bit stronger political impact,' he said. He dismissed concerns that his decision had opened the way for Russia, Iran, the Syrian government and the Islamic State to move into the abandoned territory and reassert their influence in the area. 'I wish them all a lot of luck,' Mr. Trump said of the Russians and Syrians."
Joe Valiquette of NBC News: "A Florida man wanted in a campaign finance case involving associates of Rudy Giuliani is in federal custody. Spokespersons for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan and the FBI confirm that David Correia was arrested after flying Wednesday to JFK Airport in New York City to turn himself in. Correia, 44, was named in an indictment with two Giuliani associates and another man arrested last week on charges they made illegal contributions to a congressman and a political action committee supporting ... Donald Trump. The two associates were arrested last week. Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, was also charged in the case. Kukushkin was arrested last week in San Francisco."
Michael Wayland of CNBC: "General Motors and union leaders have reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract that could end the United Auto Workers' month-long strike against the automaker, the UAW said Wednesday. Details of the proposed deal were not immediately available. However, the union's roughly 48,000 members with GM are expected to receive raises and bonuses as part of the accord. The company's shares jumped by about 2.5% in morning trading."
Got the Memo. Lauren Egan & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper will not comply with a subpoena from House Democrats related to their impeachment inquiry, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Democratic leadership from the Department of Defense.... This is a shift from just days ago when Esper indicated he was willing to work with Democrats on the inquiry." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, Michael MicKinley, who resigned last week as Mike Pompeo's top advisor, has appeared on the Hill, & so has Kurt Volker, who resigned as special envoy to Ukraine. This is the second appearance for Volker.
Greg Miller & others at the Washington Post take a look at Mick Mulvaney's part in the Ukraine scandal. "... current and former officials ... said Mulvaney contributed substantially to the unfolding political crisis.... U.S. officials said Mulvaney met frequently with [U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon] Sondland and that details of their discussions were kept from then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and other officials who were raising internal concerns about the hidden Ukraine agenda. Mulvaney also tolerated meetings between [Donald] Trump and [Rudy] Giuliani at a time when Giuliani was brazenly declaring in interviews his intent to enlist Kiev in efforts to substantiate conspiracy theories about the 2016 election and ... [damage] Joe Biden. Perhaps most significantly, Mulvaney -- at the direction of the president -- placed a hold on nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine in the weeks before Trump used a July 25 phone call to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue Giuliani's agenda." ~~~
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post digs deeper: "Mulvaney's private admission that the freeze in military aid was tied directly to Trump's demand for an investigation of 'corruption' becomes a lot more important. Because Mulvaney surely knew what 'investigate corruption' really meant, it strongly suggests Mulvaney knew that for Trump, the military aid -- which Mulvaney himself froze -- also turned on whether Zelensky carried out those investigations Trump wanted[; that is, the "investigations" of the 2016 election & the Bidens.]." Mrs. McC: This is exactly the language Jonathan Chait 'decoded" a couple of weeks ago, wherein "corruption" to the Trump Gang meant "2016 election & Bidens."
Update. Jennifer Hassen of the Washington Post now has a story on Trump's ambush of grieving British parents Charlotte Charles & Tim Dunn. Reuters stories linked near the bottom of the page.
Donald Trump, Serial Tax Cheat. Heather Vogell of ProPublica: “Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump's businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender -- and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings' property tax. For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.... A dozen real estate professionals told ProPublica they saw no clear explanation for multiple inconsistencies in the documents. The discrepancies are 'versions of fraud,' said Nancy Wallace [of] the University of California-Berkeley. This kind of stuff is not OK.'" Thanks to unwashed for the link.
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race 2020
Democrats Squabbling. Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts faced a sustained barrage of criticism from her Democratic rivals at a presidential debate in Ohio on Tuesday, tangling with a group of underdog moderates who assailed her liberal economic proposals, while former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appeared to fade from the fray after parrying President Trump's attacks on his family. The debate confirmed that the primary race had entered a new phase, defined by Ms. Warren's apparent strength and the increasing willingness of other Democrats to challenge her.... Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., insistently charged Ms. Warren with evading a 'yes-or-no' question on how she would pay for a 'Medicare for all' health care system, while Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota cast parts of Ms. Warren's platform as a 'pipe dream.' Former Representative Beto O'Rourke of Texas branded Ms. Warren's worldview as overly 'punitive.'"
Marc Caputo & Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "The frontrunners -- Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders -- tangled over healthcare, while other candidates looking to make their mark went after Elizabeth Warren. Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke clashed over guns. The one issue that united all the candidates was impeachment. Here are the key moments of Tuesday's debate.... Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard and O'Rourke all went after Warren in the first half of the debate on issues ranging from her support to Medicare for All, trade deals and automation, a wealth tax and foreign policy. Warren held her own, notably speaking nearly twice as much as the next candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the first hour of the debate. But she also got some assistance from Sen. Cory Booker, who warned that the attacks were only benefiting Trump's reelection campaign. 'We've got one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president, and how we talk about each other in this debate actually really matters,' Booker said. 'I've had the privilege of working with or being friends with everybody on this stage, and tearing each other down because we have a different plan, to me, is unacceptable. I have seen this script before,' he added. 'It didn't work in 2016, and it will be disaster for us in 2020.'"
Eric Levitz of New York: "At the Democratic debate in Westerville, Ohio -- his first major campaign event since taking ill -- Bernie wasn't just his old, bizarrely sharp and energetic-for-a-septuagenarian self. He was better, crisper, and funnier than before. The hoarse voice that plagued Sanders on the last episode of this (wretched) TV show was gone. A new perspective on the fragility of this life -- and the preciousness of every opportunity to mitigate the suffering of other human beings -- had, presumably, taken its place. Or maybe Bernie just got a good night's sleep Monday. Either way, he turned in his finest debate performance of the cycle thus far."
A good place to get a gauge of debate reactions is to scroll down New York's Daily Intelligencer. Mrs. McC: As far as I can tell, there no way to capture the moment, so if it interests you, look at it now, as it will slowly disappear behind newer stuff.
This President* is caging kids on the border and letting ISIS run free. -- Julian Castro, during the debate
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, I'm voting for Elizabeth Warren. She just said, during the debate, so more-or-less ad-lib, "The data show...." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging the debate here. The page has a live video feed of the debate.
Ryan Lizza in Politico Magazine: "The Democratic National Committee sent an urgent alert on Monday to every presidential campaign aimed at avoiding a repeat of the cybersecurity fiasco the party suffered at the hands of Russia and WikiLeaks in 2016.... The full archive of DNC Tech's missives to the presidential campaigns ... reveal a party struggling to combat the continued onslaught of the twin threats faced by the Democratic Party: cyber penetration from state actors abroad and the spread of disinformation about its top presidential candidates by Donald Trump and his allies at home.... During Tuesday's debate, the DNC will use a software tool called Trendolizer to track trending disinformation."
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "... Donald Trump looks likely to cruise to reelection next year under three different economic models Moody's Analytics employed to gauge the 2020 race. Barring anything unusual happening, the president's Electoral College victory could easily surpass his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton, which came by a 304-227 count. Moody's based its projections on how consumers feel about their own financial situation, the gains the stock market has achieved during Trump's tenure and the prospects for unemployment, which has fallen to a 50-year low. Should those variables hold up, the president looks set to get another four-year term. The modeling has been highly accurate going back to the 1980 election, missing only once."
Trump, Inc. -- Fall of the Consigliere
Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump's impeachment blockade has collapsed. The president's former top Russia adviser, Fiona Hill -- the first White House official to cooperate in Democrats' investigation of the Ukraine scandal -- has sketched for lawmakers a trail of alleged corruption that extends from Kiev to the West Wing. In dramatic testimony on Monday, she roped in some of Trump's top advisers as witnesses to the unfolding controversy. And on Tuesday, a senior State Department official, George Kent, appeared on Capitol Hill to testify about his knowledge of the episode.... As lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, a growing number of witnesses this week will describe their own role in the controversy, even as the White House has vowed not to engage with House Democrats'" illegitimate' impeachment effort.... Despite the series of breakthroughs, Democrats will still face resistance from the White House to some of their high-level requests. When asked whether Trump's budget office planned to comply with a Tuesday subpoena deadline for documents, a senior administration official did not say, instead pointing to a White House letter last week that deemed the House impeachment probe 'unconstitutional.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "The procession of high-ranking witnesses to the House's impeachment inquiry continued apace on Tuesday, as George P. Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Ukraine policy, arrived on Capitol Hill to face questions from investigators about his knowledge of the widening Ukraine scandal. Mr. Kent, who appeared behind closed doors despite the State Department directing him not to do so, raised concerns to colleagues early this year about the pressure being directed at Ukraine by Mr. Trump and his private lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to pursue investigations into Mr. Trump's political rivals, according to people familiar with Mr. Kent's warnings. As far back as March, they said, Mr. Kent was pointing to Mr. Giuliani's role in what he called a 'disinformation' campaign intended to use a Ukrainian prosecutor to smear targets of the president.... Mr. Kent's appearance followed an emerging pattern. According to officials familiar with the investigation, the State Department directed Mr. Kent not to appear and sought to limit his testimony. The House Intelligence Committee then issued a last-minute subpoena ordering him to appear, and he complied." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ ** Paul Kane, et al., of the Washington Post: "Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney organized a meeting this spring in which officials determined to take Ukraine policy out of the traditional channels, putting Energy Secretary Rick Perry, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and special U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker in charge instead, a top State Department official told lawmakers Tuesday. George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, told House investigators that he was instructed to 'lay low,' focus on the five other countries in his portfolio, and defer to Volker, Sondland and Perry -- who called themselves the 'three amigos' -- on matter related to Ukraine, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) told reporters Tuesday. The meeting, which Kent told lawmakers took place on May 23, according to Connolly, was just days after the administration recalled Marie Yovanovitch from her post as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.... [Rudy] Giuliani [has] accused Yovanovitch and Kent, formerly the No. 2 ranking diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, of trying to protect the Bidens from an investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors.... Giuliani and a columnist for the news outlet the Hill had alleged earlier this year that Yovanovitch provided a 'do not prosecute list' to Ukrainian officials to protect the Bidens and other allies. But Kent, according to the documents, told his colleagues that the list was phony, pointing to incorrect name spellings that longtime officials like Yovanovitch and himself would never have gotten wrong, he said." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is reportedly unhappy with Mulvaney because Mulvaney has not managed the pushback to the impeachment inquiry to Trump's satisfaction. But we can see why Trump has not fired Mulvaney: Mick is at the center of the scandal, and you can bet he ran the Ukraine scam at Trump's direction. ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent told lawmakers on Tuesday that he had been told by a supervisor to lie low after he raised complaints about Rudy Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine undermining US foreign policy, according to Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, a senior member of the House Oversight Committee." The CNN report echoes the WashPo report linked above. ~~~
~~~ BUT Dese Guys Are Still Tough Guys:
~~~ Leigh Caldwell of NBC News: "Vice President Mike Pence's office said Tuesday it will not comply with a request from the House to turn over documents related to ... Donald Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In a letter to the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees, Pence counsel Matthew Morgan called the request part of a 'self-proclaimed impeachment inquiry,' noting that the House of Representatives has not yet taken a vote to open the inquiry and asserting that the request was part of a process that 'calls into question your commitment to fundamental fairness and due process rights.'" ~~~
~~~ Michael Warren & Evan Perez of CNN: "The Office of Management and Budget also does not plan to turn over the documents that impeachment committees subpoenaed, a spokeswoman said, pointing to a letter earlier this month from White House counsel Pat Cipollone saying it speaks for OMB as well. The White House letter slammed the impeachment investigation as 'constitutionally illegitimate' and made clear the administration does not plan to cooperate." ~~~
~~~ Allan Smith, et al., of NBC News: "Rudy Giuliani won't comply with a congressional subpoena as part of the House impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump, an attorney for Giuliani told House investigators in a letter on Tuesday.... Jon Sale, Giuliani's attorney for the subpoena, wrote that the former New York City mayor 'will not participate because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless and illegitimate "impeachment inquiry.'" Sale called the subpoena 'overbroad, unduly burdensome, and seeks documents beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry.'" ~~~
~~~ Chris Sommerfeldt of the New York Daily News: "Rudy Giuliani dared House Democrats to take him to court Tuesday, declaring he won't comply in their 'abomination' of an impeachment inquiry despite facing a subpoena over his shady campaign to find political dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine. Having decided to not cooperate, the ex-mayor said he has parted ways with his attorney, Jon Sale, for the time being, claiming it would be 'silly to have a lawyer when I don't need one.' However, Giuliani said he may rehire Sale if Democrats hold him in contempt over his refusal to cooperate with the subpoena, which requests documents and testimony on his Trump-endorsed attempts to strong-arm Ukrainian officials into investigating unfounded corruption claims about Biden's family before the 2020 election."
~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Former Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. 'A grand jury has issued a subpoena related to Manhattan federal prosecutors' investigation into Rudy Giuliani, seeking documents from former Rep. Pete Sessions about his dealings with President Trump's personal lawyer and associates, according to people familiar with the matter,' the newspaper reported. 'The subpoena seeks documents related to Mr. Giuliani's business dealings with Ukraine and his involvement in efforts to oust the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, as well as any interactions between Mr. Sessions, Mr. Giuliani and four of Mr. Giuliani's associates who were indicted last week on campaign-finance and conspiracy accounts, the people said,' The Journal explained." ~~~
~~~ ** "Primary Focus." Scott Lemiuex of LG&$ points to this from the WSJ report: "Mr. Giuliani is the primary focus of the subpoena, the people said. Mr. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and said he has had no indication his actions are being investigated by prosecutors."
Mrs. McCrabbie: Surely Trump is about to dump Giuliani. Giuliani is the focus of a grand jury subpoena. He's intimately involved with the comically inept international fraudsters (and current jailbirds) Lev & Igor, even to the point of taking $500K from them, probably in laundered money. The whistleblower and three State Department officials all have fingering him as the prime driver of the Ukraine conspiracy. He's the perfect fall guy. Indeed, it isn't even implausible for Trump to "blame Rudy." I mean, the guy did it.
Rudy Brought Lev to State Funeral. Matt Berman of BuzzFeed News: "Rudy Giuliani was photographed with his now-indicted Ukrainian associate Lev Parnas at former president George H.W. Bush's state funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, last December, a high-profile event that drew former presidents and world leaders. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and George H.W. Bush's son, said the Bush family didn't intend for Parnas to be there. Parnas 'was not invited,' Bush told BuzzFeed News in an email. 'Rudy was and it is likely that he was Rudy's guest. Disappointing.'" ~~~
~~~ Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani privately urged President Trump in 2017 to extradite a Turkish cleric living in exile in the United States, a top priority of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to multiple former administration officials.... Giuliani, a Trump ally who later became the president's personal attorney, repeatedly argued to Trump that the U.S. government should eject Fethullah Gulen from the country, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition on anonymity.... [Giuliani's] earlier attempts to persuade the president to turn over the Turkish cleric represent another instance in which he appears to have been pushing a shadow foreign policy from his perch outside government.... Trump appeared receptive to the idea, pressing his advisers about Gulen's status, the people said. One former senior administration official recalled that Trump asked frequently about why Gulen couldn't be turned over to Turkey, referring to Erdogan as 'my friend.' Administration officials were overwhelmingly opposed to the idea...." The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Tuesday, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York announced charges against a Turkish bank for fraud, money laundering, and a scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran. 'As alleged in today's indictment, Halkbank's systemic participation in the illicit movement of billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil revenue was designed and executed by senior bank officials,' said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman. 'The bank's audacious conduct was supported and protected by high-ranking Turkish government officials, some of whom received millions of dollars in bribes to promote and protect the scheme....' These charges come as new scrutiny falls on Reza Zarrab, the Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was convicted of bribery as part of the Halkbank scheme. Rudy Giuliani previously acted as counsel for Zarrab and, at his urging in 2017..., Donald Trump tried to get then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to relay to the Justice Department not to pursue the case. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also leaned on both Trump and former President Barack Obama to drop the Halkbank investigation."
Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: White House lawyers have begun "a fact-finding review ... seeking to understand White House officials' actions around Mr. Trump's July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.... The lawyers' inquiry centers on why ... deputy White House counsel John A. Eisenberg placed a rough transcript of the call in a computer system typically reserved for the country's most closely guarded secrets.... Mr. Eisenberg has said he limited access to the transcript over concerns about leaks.... Mick Mulvaney, has encouraged [the review].... The existence of the review also threatens Mr. Trump's narrative that his call with Mr. Zelensky was 'perfect.' Instead, the review underscores the evidence that he bent foreign policy to his personal advantage by pressing Mr. Zelensky to open investigations that could damage his political opponents." Mrs. McC: A supposed "fact-finding review" inside this White House seems less like a fool's errand than like some kind of ruse to cover up some kind of wrongdoing in an environment where wrongdoing is the modus operandi. ~~~
~~~ Update: The Hill has a summary of the NYT story here.
Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she will not hold a full House vote for now to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump, a step Republicans and defenders of the President have demanded. 'There's no requirement that we have a vote so at this time we will not be having a vote and I'm very pleased with the thoughtfulness of our caucus with the path that we are on,' Pelosi said in news conference Tuesday evening, following a meeting with her caucus. Pelosi is not fully ruling out such a vote, a congressional aide confirmed to CNN, leaving her with the option to do so in the future, but she is not moving on it right now. She delivered this message to her caucus in their ongoing closed-door meeting Tuesday before speaking to reporters. 'We're not here to call bluffs. We're here to find the truth, to uphold the Constitution of the United States,' she added Tuesday. 'This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious, and we're on a path that is getting us to a path to truth and timetable that respects our Constitution.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To my mind, holding such a vote is making an unnecessary & ill-advised concession to a mobster. Such a vote would not make Trump & Cippolone suddenly decide that impeachment proceedings are no longer "unconstitutional" & they then bend over backwards providing documents & sending the Mulveneys & Pompeos & Giuianis to the Hill to testify their black little hearts out. But if the House must hold a vote for some other reason, why not a voice vote?
Two Plots with the Same Aim:
Trump's Russia-First Agenda. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Whether by chance or by design, the foreign policy crises involving Syria and Ukraine ... have a common element. In each case, President Trump has taken action that has had the effect of helping the authoritarian leader of Russia.... Russian forces are now operating between the Turkish and Syrian militaries, helping to fulfill Moscow's main aim of shoring up its alliance with Syria and the Russian military port housed there -- an outcome Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought for years. And without lifting a finger, Putin was able to extend leverage over Ukraine, the fragile democratic neighbor he would like to control more directly, as a result of Trump's treatment of the country's popular new leader. Trump's actions in Syria and Ukraine add to the list of policy moves and public statements that have boosted Russia during his presidency.... Trump has publicly questioned the usefulness of NATO ... as well as the utility of the European Union, a political and economic alliance Putin would love to weaken. He recently advocated that Moscow be allowed to rejoin the Group of Seven, a few years after it was kicked out of the group of leading world economies following its invasion of Crimea. Trump has also disputed, at times, the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to boost his candidacy, and he only reluctantly signed a bill imposing sanctions on Russia for the transgression after weeks of resisting the measure, which he called 'seriously flawed.'" ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Chait elaborates on how Trump carried off the Ukraine leg of his scheme to help Russia: "Trump had to turn over his Ukraine policy to an outside, Russian-paid lawyer because it repelled almost the entirety of his own administration's foreign-policy staff. Trump's refusal to support Kiev and release the military aid voted by Congress appalled and alarmed numerous White House advisers, many of whom saw the extortion play as not only misguided but outright criminal.... It hardly requires a nefarious conspiracy to explain why Trump has done something stupid. That outcome is, as a social scientist would put it, overdetermined. Still, the juxtaposition is quite striking. Trump is currently enduring a domestic crisis (the Ukraine scandal) and a foreign one (the Syria debacle). One of these crises -- green-lighting a Turkish invasion of Syria -- had no plausible connection to his own political self-interest. Both have transpired because Trump took reckless and self-destructive actions that happened to follow the course of action Russia desired." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait says that greenlighting the Turkish attach on the Kurds had no political upside. But I think Chait is underestimating Trump's Russia-First obsession & how it fits into his re-election scheme: "bringing the troops home" would be a 2016 campaign promise he can claim he is fulfilling. Obviously, the more Trump turns his back on the world & undermines the U.S.'s influence, the better it is for Putin. Putin might as well have written Trump's campaign platform & "administrative" agenda.
This Is Not Going Well, Ctd.
Tuvan Gumrukcu of Reuters: "President Tayyip Erdogan told ... Donald Trump that Turkey will never declare a ceasefire in northeastern Syria and that it will not negotiate with Kurdish forces it is fighting in its offensive into the region.... Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Baku, Erdogan said the offensive would continue until it reaches its aims, and added that he was not worried about sanctions.... On Monday, Trump announced sanctions on Turkey to punish it for the offensive. On Tuesday, a senior U.S. official said Washington would threaten more sanctions to persuade Turkey to reach a ceasefire and halt its offensive.... The White House said on Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday.... Turkey pressed ahead with its offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria on Tuesday despite U.S. sanctions and calls for it to stop, while Syria's Russia-backed army moved on the key city of Manbij that was abandoned by U.S. forces. ~~~
~~~ Update. Jonathan Swan & Rashaan Ayesh in Axios: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Sky News Wednesday that he will not meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who is currently leading a delegation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Turkey to discuss a ceasefire in northern Syria.... Erdoğan, who told the outlet that he will only meet with President Trump, is facing increasing international pressure over his decision to launch an offensive strike against U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in northern Syria."
Americans Beat a Hasty Retreat. Thomas Gibbons-Neff & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "... American troops are making a hasty withdrawal from Syria -- under pressure from encroaching Turkish proxy forces, Russian aircraft and columns armored by the Syrian government. This means the Pentagon will have to disassemble combat bases and other infrastructure that were built to stay for a mission that was supposed to last, all while protecting the troops as they withdraw amid a chaotic battlefield.... As the troops withdraw, they first will collapse inward by abandoning the outposts closest to the line of advancing foreign troops, in this case the Turkish military and its ill-disciplined Syrian militia proxies, along with Russian and Syrian government forces. That strategy was made clear in a video posted online Tuesday, showing a Russian journalist standing in an abandoned American outpost west of Manbij and closest to Syrian government troops."
Carlotta Gall & Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "Russia said on Tuesday that its military units were patrolling territory in northern Syria vacated by the Americans following the withdrawal ordered by President Trump, underscoring the sudden loss of United States influence in the eight-year-old Syria war."
Yuliya Talmazan, et al., of NBC News: "The Turkish military incursion into northeast Syria is compounding an already dire humanitarian situation and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes, according to human rights monitors. According to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 160,000 civilians have been displaced since the Turkish offensive began on Oct. 9. The agency said they continue to receive additional reports of people on the move, so the actual number of displaced could be higher. The Kurdish-led authority said Tuesday more than 275,000 people have been displaced, Reuters reported."
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit claiming that President Trump is illegally profiting from foreign and state government visitors at his hotel in downtown Washington. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit agreed to rehear the lawsuit, brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District, which was dismissed over the summer by a three-judge panel of the court. The brief order set oral arguments before a full panel of judges for Dec. 12 and essentially gives the novel lawsuit, which tests the anti-corruption emoluments provisions of the Constitution, a second chance."
The Trumpeefenokee Swamp. David Mora of Columbia Journalism Investigations in ProPublica: "At the halfway mark of ... Donald Trump's first term, his administration has hired a lobbyist for every 14 political appointments made, welcoming a total of 281 lobbyists on board, a ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations analysis shows. With a combination of weakened rules and loose enforcement easing the transition to government and back to K Street, Trump's swamp is anything but drained. The number of lobbyists who have served in government jobs is four times more than the Obama administration had six years into office. And former lobbyists serving Trump are often involved in regulating the industries they worked for."
Paul Krugman didn't much care for Bill Barr's speech, delivered at Notre Dame Law School last week, on the evils of secularism. "It seems almost beside the point to note that Barr's claim that secularism is responsible for violence happens to be empirically verifiable nonsense.... William Barr -- again, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, responsible for defending the Constitution -- is sounding remarkably like America's most unhinged religious zealots.... I seriously doubt that Barr, whose boss must be the least godly man ever to occupy the White House, has suddenly realized to his horror that America is becoming more secular. No, this outburst of God-talk is surely a response to the way the walls are closing in on Trump.... Trump is ... taking shelter behind bigotry -- racial, of course, but now religious as well."
Taking Voodoo Economics to a Whole New Level. Dion Rabouin of Axios: "Top Trump administration economic adviser Peter Navarro made up an economist he has quoted regularly in his books named Ron Vara, Tom Bartlett writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education.... Navarro similarly quoted Leslie LeBon when writing about the dangers of China, who a Google book search revealed is his wife." ~~~
~~~ Julia Arciga of the Daily Beast: "In a statement, Navarro fessed up to Vara being fictional.... One of Navarro's co-authors, Columbia professor Glenn Hubbard [-- Mrs. McC: another right-wing economist --] said he did not know Vara was a fictional individual and said he was not okay with Vara being in the book that he and Navarro wrote."
He [Trump] said he was sorry about Harry and then he sprung the surprise that Mrs Sacoolas was in another room in the building and whether we want to meet her there and then. -- Tim Dunn, father of homicide victim Harry Dunn ~~~
~~~ This Is Almost Unbelievable. Michael Holden of Reuters: "Donald Trump's national security adviser heaped pain and grief on the parents of a British teenager [Harry Dunn] killed in a car crash by trying to hold a meeting at the White House between them and a U.S. diplomat's wife who was involved, the parents' lawyer said. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn were invited to a surprise meeting with the U.S. president at his office on Wednesday where they were further shocked to learn that Anne Sacoolas, the American woman involved in the fatal crash, was in the building. Mark Stephens, the lawyer for Charles and Dunn, said national security adviser Robert O'Brien had the idea of overseeing a coming together of the families before they would then hug in front of an assembled media.... Trump and O'Brien had ruled out Sacoolas returning to Britain...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I say "almost" unbelievable because it is conceivable that Trump & the gang could try to wrench a photo-op from the parents of the victim of a vehicular homicide, one perpetrated by an American who will likely go unpunished because Trump won't waive her questionable diplomatic immunity. Next up: photos of Kurds on the run, yet happily giving the thumbs-up to the Turkish invasion.
BBC News: "David Connors, 30, and his wife Eileen, 24, say they are being held in Pennsylvania with their three-month-old baby and are 'traumatised'. They say they were driving with family members on 3 October when, to avoid an animal, they veered onto a small road. A police officer then pulled them over, told them they were in the US state of Washington and arrested them." The Washington Post story is here. Mrs. McC: Yes, our taxpayer dollars are being spent to send these dangerous animal-lovers across the country & locking them up for nearly two weeks. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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The Progression
Trump:
“Now they’re going after ‘America’s Mayor! He’s a great guy.”
“Rudy’s a good guy.”
“I hope they don’t indict him.”
“Rudy who?”
If you have time, please read Michael Holden's Reuters story, linked near the end of the page, about Trump's "solution" to settling a homicide case. As accustomed as we all are to Trump's callousness, I still can't quite get over it.
I read the story about the family that got arrested (see above) yesterday and was appalled. How, I wondered, could these people be held in custody for two weeks much less actually BE arrested. At the same time we learned that an erratic cop shot an innocent young woman through a window without reason or a confrontation of any kind. Me thinks the police training needs to up its ante in that training and in its giving free rein to those who have lust for the kill in their eyes.
So for these poor souls caught in the crossfires of poorly executed actions the stuff of impeachment, the political scams, the Democrat debates are like wisps in the wind for them, as I imagine a whole lot more whose lives do not revolve around this constitutional crisis. If Moody's is correct ( have they ever been wrong?) we are banging our heads against that wall and nothing will change. I cannot accept that and continue to think this country has enough of what it will take to put it on the right track again.
"~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, I'm voting for Elizabeth Warren. She just said, during the debate, so more-or-less ad-lib, "The data show...."
You betcha!
And just a wee word about Putin: He be the bear who finds a feast of food at the campsite and is able to consume to his heart's content because the guards are asleep at the wheel.
"... Glenn Hubbard [-- Mrs. McC: another right-wing economics --] said he did not know Vara was a fictional individual and said he was not okay with Vara being in the book that he and Navarro wrote ... "
Proving that Hubbard is credulous, stupid and careless. Can we extrapolate those characteristics to all RW economists?... I believe Hubbard would consider it OK to do so. Even though we would not.
And ... why is the UK auto accident diplomatic immunity drama playing out at the White House instead of at the State Department, which manages such issues? Some guesses:
-- State has experience and knowledge of the practices and policies involved. El presidente has no use for such things.
-- Pompeo has no interest in asserting State's authority here, especially if el p is willing to deal with a loser issue (loser because the US never ever waives immunity in these circumstances)
-- State is probably ducking, saying that immunity is now not an issue because the person is already back in the US. (Not correct, because the UK cannot extradite a person who had immunity at the time of the offense)
-- finally ... the employee and spouse are not State Department employees, their employing agency is not willing to handle the public actions of the case, and State is not willing to provide cover. So dumb WH folks agreed to take it up, because .... DiJiT is really stupid? (the UK grants immunity to US employees at Croughton, but most of those employees are not State Department employees.)
@Patrick, does immunity of the employee also extend to the spouse who is not an employee?
Also, "Is DiJiT really stupid?"
Well, we'll find out after he's impeached and indicted by NY for bank and tax fraud. If he's willing to cheat on his property taxes, just image the extent he would go to for income taxes.
Unwashed: yes
P. D. Pepe : " An erratic cop shot an innocent young woman." How many examples of erratic cop shootings have been getting attention the last several years? Just think how the "open carry" and "stand your ground" laws supported by the wing nuts and the NRA will impact the gun death statistics. With all the riff raff in the country running around armed, traffic disputes will be settled in the road, It is sad to think of all the innocents that will be killed and maimed. If the cops can't manage weapons why would anyone think the riff raff can.
Wingnut comedy team Navarro and Hubbard are in the news today for...oh, wait. They're actually economists? Real economists? Wow.
Well, for a guy who is the Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, as well as the something, something Professor of Finance and Economics, positions one would assume require a certain, shall we say, ability in carefully researching, writing, and editing academic material, Hubbard seems like a complete fraud, something his pal Navarro seems to know a lot about.
Seriously, who puts his or her name on a book full of quotes from some strange dude, Ron Varo, and doesn't once ask to either meet the guy or googles him to read his CV and check out his credentials and published work (peer reviewed work, it should be, not like so many of these guys who are perfectly fine with the Wingnut Seal of Approval awarded to crap shot out of some confederate flunky's ass)?
As for Navarro, who routinely shows up on NPR ranting and raving and refusing to answer real questions (will that continue now that his career as a fiction writer is out in the open?), I can see why Fatty likes him. They both make shit up to suit whatever hinky policy ideas are being floated by those same confederate flunkies who shoot crap out their ass. They also invent fictional characters to "prove" their point. "Why just yesterday, I was talking to my good buddy Ron, the famous economist, and he said 'Pete, whatever Trump wants is probably the greatest thing you or I have never been able to think up'".
Trump, of course, had "good buddies" too, remember John Barron (or Baron, it doesn't seem to have made a difference), who would call reporters and wax ecstatic about the mountains of money Trump had and how he should be included on lists of the richest people in the world? Until Trump was forced to admit, in a deposition, that Barron was his invention.
Then there was John Miller and David Dennison (the real guy who was boinking porn stars, according to multiple payoffs and their accompanying NDA's). Fatty even once adopted the persona of a woman he invented to spread the news about how women cannot resist the wonderfulness that is sexy Donald.
So it makes sense that Fatty and Pete the Tall Tale Teller, get along famously. If the facts don't fit, make up some shit and attribute it to someone who doesn't exist.
In fact, the more we get into this debacle, it's pretty clear that Trump is a fictional character as well. At least the one we're expected to all bow down before.
Hosanna, you lying sacks of shit.
Marie,
"President Mozzarella"? Really? Are you Andy Borowitzing me here? Cuz I've been sucked in a couple of times by Andy. And as in this case, it sounds too accurate to be made up. But it's funny nonetheless. As funny as a treasonous monkey can be.
So Biden said: “Stay in your place, woman.” Or at least that’s what I heard.
@Akhilleus: Not 100% sure, but I think he said "President Mozzarella." I guess we should be glad he didn't call the poor guy "Pizza Man" or something. Sorta like when Trump's forebear Sarah Palin couldn't remember "Biden," so she called him "Joe." (In debate prep, she kept calling Biden "O'Biden," as in O'Bama, I guess.)
I just saw this from an email Bill Penzey sent yesterday.
"You asked if you could give us money to fund boosting our Facebook impeachment posts. To me that didn’t quite seem like us. Instead I came up with: for any new customer spending you can drum up for us at penzeys.com we will spend every dollar of it to try and counter the president’s sizable anti-impeachment ad spending on Facebook. You responded big time finding us $435,907.41 in new customer spending. You people are awesome, just awesome."
If any RCers became new customers, thanks for your support!
“Adam Schiff is the Congressman Trump Wants You to Hate” |
New York Times
Is it me? My iPhone’s mini screen? Or does anyone else find the framing of this photo odd? Couldn’t help but align the image with tRump’s fave dismissal of “Little (Liddle) Adam Schiff”.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/opinion/adam-schiff-impeachment-inquiry.html