Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The New York Times now has the story the WashPo & WSJ published a short while ago:
~~~ Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump repeatedly pressed his Ukrainian counterpart in a call to talk with his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had been urging the government in Kiev for months to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family, according to people briefed on the call. Mr. Trump's desire for a Ukrainian investigation of Mr. Biden ... is part of the secret whistle-blower complaint that is said to be about Mr. Trump and at least in part about his dealings with Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Mr. Trump ... has made no secret of his desire for Kiev to investigate the Bidens, repeatedly raising it publicly. But questions have emerged about whether Mr. Trump's push for an inquiry into the Bidens was behind a weekslong White House hold on military aid for Ukraine. The United States suspended the military aid to Ukraine in early July, according to a former American official. Mr. Trump did not discuss the aid in the July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and Kiev did not learn of the suspension until August...." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post now has the story the WSJ reported about an hour earlier:
~~~ Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden in a call between the two leaders that is at the center of an extraordinary whistleblower complaint, according to two people familiar with the matter. Trump used the July 25 conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure the recently elected leader to more aggressively pursue an investigation that Trump believed would deliver potential political dirt against one of the president's political adversaries, the people said. One source familiar with the contents of the exchange said that Trump did not raise the issue of American military and intelligence aid that had been pledged to Ukraine, indicating there was not an explicit quid pro quo in that call.... The revelation that Trump pushed Zelensky to pursue the Biden probe, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, represents the most detailed account so far of the president's conduct that prompted a U.S. intelligence official to file a whistleblower action against the president." ~~~
~~~ ** Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump reportedly pressured the president of Ukraine during a July phone call to investigate the son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky roughly eight times to work with his personal attorney, former New York Mayor >Rudy Giuliani, on the matter. The president's contacts with Ukraine have come under intense scrutiny after a whistleblower filed a complaint related to Trump's communications with Ukraine." ~~~
~~~ John Haltiwanger of Business Insider, citing the WSJ story: "'He told him that he should work with [Mr. Giuliani] on Biden, and that people in Washington wanted to know' whether there was any basis to allegations the former vice president worked to protect a Ukraine-based gas company with ties to his son, Hunter Biden, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal."~~~
~~~ Andrew Kirell of the Daily Beast: "'Mr. Trump didn't mention a provision of foreign aid to Ukraine on the call, said this person, who didn't believe Mr. Trump offered the Ukrainian president any quid-pro-quo for his cooperation on an investigation,' the Journal added." This story just broke in the WSJ. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie P.S.: Trump called Zelensky on July 25, 2019. That was the day after Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Apparently Trump thought the 2016 "Russia thing" was over & now he could start seeking foreign assistance in his 2020 campaign. And even though the source for the WSJ & WashPo stories claims Trump offered no quid pro quo, Trump had put a hold on U.S. aid to Ukraine, so perhaps the "promise" (or quid) was to lift the hold.
We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet Wednesday night
Step 1. "To which leader." This is really a half-check, because we don't know the promise Trump made.
Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump declined to say Friday whether he had discussed Joe Biden or his family during a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has drawn intense scrutiny, but he told reporters that 'someone ought to look into' the former vice president.... Asked Friday if he had discussed Biden with Zelensky, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 'It doesn't matter what I discussed.'... 'I don't know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it's a partisan person, meaning it comes out from another party,' Trump said." ~~~
~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "Trump's latest comments are also likely to heighten speculation that the conversation reportedly detailed in the complaint referred to his July 25 phone call with recently elected Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump told reporters he did not know whether that call was the subject of the whistleblower complaint." ~~~
~~~ Anna Nemtsova of the Daily Beast: "Ukraine is ready to investigate the connections Joe Biden's son Hunter had with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings, according to Anton Geraschenko, a senior adviser to the country's interior minister who would oversee such an inquiry. Geraschenko told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview that 'as soon as there is an official request' Ukraine will look into the case, but 'currently there is no open investigation.' 'Clearly,' said Geraschenko, 'Trump is now looking for kompromat to discredit his opponent Biden, to take revenge for his friend Paul Manafort, who is serving seven years in prison.'... But Geraschenko spoke [last week,] before the appearance of a Washington Post story on Thursday that implied that an intelligence-community whistleblower may have reported the untoward quid pro quo was put forth directly by Trump in a phone call with Ukraine's recently elected president last July." ~~~
~~~ Andrew Kramer of the New York Times has background from Ukraine's POV. "... for months now in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the government of the neophyte president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been grappling with unwelcome political pressure by associates of Mr. Trump.... A former adviser to Mr. Zelensky, Serhiy Leshchenko, said in an interview. 'It was clear that the Zelensky team doesn't want to interfere in American politics,' Mr. Leshchenko said. 'They were very angry about this issue.' Mr. Leshchenko and two other Ukrainians, all of them young, Western-leaning politicians and veterans of the 2014 revolution, said in interviews that Mr. Giuliani's efforts created the impression that the Trump administration's willingness to back Mr. Zelensky was linked to his government's readiness to pursue the investigations sought by Mr. Trump's allies." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And remember this flashback to June 2019. ABC News: "Asked by ... George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether his campaign would accept [damaging] information [about a political opponent] from foreigners -- such as China or Russia -- or hand it over the FBI, Trump said, 'I think maybe you do both.' 'I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening,' Trump continued. 'If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] "we have information on your opponent" -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it."
New York Times: "Anxious about their future on a hotter planet, angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis, thousands of young people began pouring into the streets on Friday for a day of global climate protest. In New York the main demonstration was scheduled for midday, but participants began assembling early and it appeared that turnout would be large.... Demonstrations in North and South America will be the culmination of a day of global strikes that began almost 24 hours earlier as morning broke in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 100,000 protested in Melbourne as the protests began, in what organizers said was the largest climate action in Australia's history.... In Mumbai, children in oversize raincoats marched in the rain. Thousands turned out in Warsaw, the capital of coal-reliant Poland.... Roughly 100,000 demonstrators showed around the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on a bright but unseasonably chilly day in Berlin.... Rarely, if ever, has the modern world witnessed a youth movement so large and wide, spanning across societies rich and poor, tied together by a common if inchoate sense of rage." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian has a liveblog here.
Dan De Luce & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops, according to five people familiar with the plan. In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program, the sources told NBC News. Defense officials also proposed setting aside about 6,000 slots specifically for Iraqi applicants who worked for U.S. troops as interpreters or in other jobs.... The Pentagon has emerged as the lone voice in internal debates defending the traditional role of a refugee program overseen by the State Department, an unusual twist that reflects the administration's aggressive stance on immigration and refugees. The Pentagon's stance is at odds with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller -- the architect of the president's sweeping crackdown on immigration -- and his allies at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who are all proposing deep cuts or even a halt to refugee admissions for the next fiscal year starting in October."
Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate [Mrs. McC: that is, Senate Republicans] is essentially outsourcing its legislative duties to a divided White House and the whims of ... Donald Trump, as it makes its first sustained attempt at overhauling gun laws in years.... 'First time ever in history when the president sets the agenda every day when he tweets at 4 in the morning,' said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who is retiring at the end of the year and saw his work on an immigration bill fall apart last year after Trump came out against it.... The new reality also underscores how cautious the Republican-controlled Senate is under Trump, particularly as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks to defend his majority and a presidential election approaches."
** Pankaj Mishra in a Guardian op-ed: "Anglo-American lamentations about the state of democracy have been especially loud ever since Boris Johnson joined Donald Trump in the leadership of the free world. For a very long time, Britain and the United States styled themselves as the custodians and promoters of democracy globally, fighting a great moral battle against its foreign enemies. From the cold war through to the 'war on terror', the Caesarism that afflicted other nations was seen as peculiar to Asian and African peoples, or blamed on the despotic traditions of Russians or Chinese, on African tribalism, Islam, or the 'Arab mind'. But this analysis ... did not prepare its audience for the sight of blond bullies perched atop the world's greatest democracies. The barbarians, it turns out, were never at the gate; they have been ruling us for some time." Read on. Here's a pithy observation: "In the next few days, [India's PM Narendra] Modi will address thousands of affluent Indian-Americans in the company of Trump in Houston, Texas. While his government builds detention camps for hundreds of thousands Muslims it has abruptly rendered stateless, he will receive a commendation from Bill Gates for building toilets."
~~~~~~~~~~
Then I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President. -- Donald Trump, July 2019, in a speech to teenagers
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: 9/19/19 may be a day we remember as one of great awakening: a realization that the Trump Regime had wrenched from its citizens a once-great nation that for more than 200 years, to one degree and another, operated under a system of government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Lawyers for President Trump argued in a lawsuit filed on Thursday that he could not be criminally investigated while in office, as they sought to block a subpoena from state prosecutors in Manhattan demanding eight years of his tax returns. Taking a broad position that the lawyers acknowledged had not been tested, the president's legal team argued in the complaint that the Constitution effectively makes sitting presidents immune from all criminal inquiries until they leave the White House." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump sued Thursday to block Manhattan's top prosecutor from obtaining his tax returns as part of a wide-ranging investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit filed in federal district court in New York is an attempt to fight a subpoena filed late last month from District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office seeking eight years of Trump's personal and corporate tax returns.... Attorneys for Vance and Trump met Thursday with a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, the Bill Clinton-appointee assigned the case, to go over logistics in the new lawsuit. There, they agreed to a rapid-fire briefing schedule that will culminate with oral arguments Wednesday morning. In the meantime, Vance consented to stay enforcement and compliance with the subpoena until after next week's court hearing." (Also linked yesterday.)
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday dismissed the growing furor surrounding a whistleblower complaint that he had an inappropriate conversation with a foreign leader, insisting that the interaction in question was a 'perfectly fine and respectful conversation.' The president once again took to Twitter to defend his conduct as new details emerged about the complaint, which came from a member of the intelligence community. 'The Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again!' Trump tweeted, referring to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). 'They think I may have had a "dicey" conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a "highly partisan" whistleblowers statement,' he added. 'Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!'" ~~~
~~~ ** Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.... Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May. That call is already under investigation by House Democrats who are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump's reelection campaign. Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.... [During a House Intelligence Committee hearing held behind closed doors, intelligence inspector general Michael] Atkinson made clear that he disagreed with a lawyer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who had contradicted the inspector general and found that the whistleblower complaint did not meet the statutory definition of an urgent concern because it involved a matter not under the DNI's jurisdiction. Atkinson told lawmakers that he disagreed with that analysis -- meaning he felt the matter was under the DNI's purview -- and also that it was urgent 'in the common understanding of the word,' the person said." ~~~
~~~ ** Manu Raju of CNN: "The intelligence inspector general told the House intelligence committee today that the whistleblower complaint raised issues with multiple instances involving President Trump, sources tell CNN. Inspector General Michael Atkinson did not get into the substance of the complaint, the source said. CNN had earlier reported, citing a source familiar, that the complaint dealt with a phone call between the President and a foreign leader but the inspector general suggested there was more than one action. Atkinson was pressed for details but was mostly resistant to the queries, saying he is not allowed to provide details of the substance of the complaint because he was not authorized to do so...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "The White House and the Justice Department have advised the nation's top intelligence agency that the controversial complaint is outside intelligence activities as covered by laws governing intelligence whistleblowers, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The revelation is the first known evidence of the White House's involvement. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said he didn't know whether the White House was involved." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The internal watchdog for American spy agencies declined repeatedly in a briefing on Thursday to disclose to lawmakers the content of a potentially explosive whistle-blower complaint that is said to involve a discussion between President Trump and a foreign leader, according to two people familiar with the briefing. During a private session on Capitol Hill, Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, told lawmakers he was unable to confirm or deny anything about the substance of the complaint, including whether it involved the president, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door conversation. The meeting was still underway." Update: Here's the Hill's story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The NYT story has been updated. New Lede: "A potentially explosive complaint by a whistle-blower in the intelligence community said to involve President Trump was related to a series of actions that goes beyond any single discussion with a foreign leader, according to interviews on Thursday." ~~~
~~~ The NYT story was updated again, with Julian Barnes as the lead reporter. It now matches the WashPo's reporting re: Ukraine: "hile the [whistleblower's] allegation remains shrouded in mystery, it involves at least one instance of Mr. Trump making an unspecified commitment to a foreign leader and includes other actions, according to interviews. At least part of the allegation deals with Ukraine, two people familiar with it said.... Questions have [previously] emerged about Mr. Trump's dealings with its government. In late July, he told the country's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Ukraine could improve its reputation and its 'interaction' with the United States by investigating corruption, according to a Ukrainian government summary of the call. Some of Mr. Trump's close allies were also urging the Ukrainian government to investigate matters that could hurt the president's political rivals, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family.... Last week..., Mr. Schiff and two other Democratic House committee chairmen requested the transcript of Mr. Trump's call with Mr. Zelensky from the State Department and the White House.... The Democrats indicated they planned to examine whether the delay in the assistance 'is part of President Trump's effort to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing politically motivated investigations.' The next day, Mr. Schiff wrote to [acting DNI Joseph] Maguire seeking information about the whistle-blower complaint. And the following day, the White House released the military assistance to Ukraine, with little explanation." ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani acknowledged on Thursday that he had asked top Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, an admission that comes as Capitol Hill Democrats investigate whether ... Donald Trump and his personal lawyer are pressuring Ukraine's government to dig up dirt on a 2020 election rival. 'So you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?' CNN's Chris Cuomo asked Giuliani in an interview on Thursday evening. 'Of course I did,' Giuliani shot back.... Giuliani has for months encouraged Ukrainians to advance investigations into whether Biden's diplomatic work with Ukraine intersected with his son's role in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Because I find Chris Cuomo obnoxious, I never watch his show, but I accidentally hit the wrong button on my remote & heard the tail end of Cuomo's "interview" of Giuliani. Giuliani was screaming at Cuomo, berating him and CNN. He seemed downright insane. ~~~
~~~ Update. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Rudy Giuliani on Thursday denied asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden moments before admitting that he had done just that.... Giuliani has repeatedly pointed to the event as a scandal, even as other Western governments also called for that prosecutor's dismissal and no evidence has indicated Biden's move was inappropriate. That prosecutor was replaced by Yuriy Lutsenko, who would later drop an investigation into a company in which Hunter Biden was involved." ~~~
~~~ Sam Brodey, et al., of the Daily Beast provide some background on the Trump-Giuliani effort to intimidate Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into digging up dirt on Joe Biden's family. ~~~
~~~ AND There's This. Viola Gienger of Just Security (Sept. 10th): "Vice President Mike Pence was about to finish a routine joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw last week, when he got two astutely specific questions about his meeting the previous day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: 'Number one, did you discuss Joe Biden at all during that meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President? And number two, can you assure Ukraine that the hold-up of [U.S. security assistance] has absolutely nothing to do with efforts, including by Rudy Giuliani, to try to dig up dirt on the Biden family?' Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin asked. Pence answered the first question directly: 'Well, on the first question, the answer is no.' His response to the second question ... could be seen as an implied confirmation.... '... as President Trump had me make clear, we have great concerns about issues of corruption.'... The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, which broke the original 'Panama Papers' stories, reported that two Soviet-born Florida businessmen Giuliani has publicly identified as his clients, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are 'at the center of Giuliani's back-channel diplomacy.'" --s ~~~
~~~ Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday threatened legal action against the Trump administration over its refusal to turn over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly involves President Donald Trump's interactions with a foreign leader.... Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire's refusal to turn over the complaint to the panel prompted Schiff to threaten to go to court or even withhold funding from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McC: So the subject of the complaint is of "urgent concern," & the House is going to wave a broken plastic knife at the army of "locked & loaded" stonewallers for the next several years while this "urgent" matters wends its way through the courts? The House should withhold all funding for the entire "administration" until the Trumpies comply with the laws & answer subpoenas. Get those tax returns; get credible testimony from witnesses. Get documents. Until those things happen, no salaries for most political appointees, no DOJ money, no White House Secret Service money, no money to pay the light bills. Don't shut down the government; shut down Trump. You people are the Article I body. Start acting like it. ~~~
~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios publishes the September 9 letter from IG Michael Atkinson to Intelligence Committee Chair Schiff & Ranking Member Devin Nunes advising them of the whistleblower's complaint. ~~~
~~~ Nothing to See Here, Folks! Another Fake News story out there - It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem! ....Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially 'heavily populated' call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets Thursday morning ~~~
Mrs. McCrabbie: If Trump didn't say anything "inappropriate with a foreign leader," why is the White House forbidding the DNI & inspector general from delivering the whistleblower complaint to Congress? If Trump is telling the truth (hahahaha), this should be another Trump battle that for him is "easy to win." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
We're maybe hours from learning the promise Trump made and to which leader, less than 24 from him calling it fake news, two days away from Republicans being 'troubled,' three away from the WH admitting the story is true but Trump was 'joking,' four from the GOP falling into line. -- Brian Beutler, in a tweet Wednesday night
Step 2. Trump's "calling it fake news" within 24 hours -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
~~~ Adam Silverman in Balloon Juice: "The President's unconventional approach to communicating with foreign leaders, outside advisors, and others, and his opposition to having these communications memorialized creates a counterintelligence problem for him and for the United States. This counterintelligence problem exists regardless [of] what he may or may not have promised a foreign leader.... By getting rid of note takers, getting rid of readouts and summaries, either eliminating or extremely restricting transcripts of his phone calls and meetings, and by often using an unsecured cell phone, the President has made it all but impossible for officials in his own administration to actually document and know what he is saying to and hearing from the foreign leaders he is interacting with. This places the President, and by extension the United States, at the mercy of these foreign leaders.... It would be a safe assumption that the foreign leader was making a recording of the call.... This provides that foreign leader with leverage over the President and the United States should he or she choose to use it because they can disclose as much or as little of the conversations and spin them however they want, while the United States' government has limited, at best, information about the conversations and is therefore operating at an asymmetric disadvantage." ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "Under the circumstances, which literally get worse every single day, not impeaching Trump is becoming a monument to a kind of exaggerated prudence which becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from simple cowardice. The tiebreaker, if that's what you want to think of it as being, should be principle, not practicality. If Trump doesn't warrant impeachment, then it's almost impossible to even imagine what president would deserve that fate.... At least go down fighting. Make every Republican senator defend Trump, in detail and at length, on the floor and on the street Bombard the federal courts with subpoenas. Use the media to leak every bit of damaging information you uncover. Fight fire with fire. Donald Trump, and the corrupt and increasingly fascistic Republican party that is now wholly his creature, will both do anything to hold onto power: act accordingly." ~~~
~~~ David Frum of the Atlantic: "Foreign corruption inducing treason was the core impeachable offense in the eyes of the authors of the Constitution. Which is why a whistle-blower report filed with the inspector general for the intelligence community, reportedly concerning an improper 'promise' by ... Donald Trump to a foreign leader, has jolted Congress.... Trump has been engaged in improper contacts with foreign governments for years, and built deep business relationships with foreign nationals.... Again and again, Trump has acted in ways that align with the interests of foreign states, raising questions about his motives." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The number of complaints made to a confidential hotline designed to allow the reporting of waste, fraud and abuse in the intelligence community has skyrocketed since Donald Trump took office, government records show. According to the latest public report by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, the hotline received 563 contacts last year, up from 251 in 2016 and 369 in 2017. The numbers for the latest fiscal year are on pace to be even higher: There were 297 complaints in just the first six months -- from October 2018 through last March, according to the report." ~~~
~~~ So, With All That ... Jessica Kwong of Newsweek: "... Donald Trump's job approval rating this week averaged across major polls surpassed that of his predecessor President Barack Obama at the same time eight years ago.... Trump's approval rating on Wednesday was 44.3 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics average of more than a half-dozen major polls. That is higher than Obama's average approval rating of 43.9 percent on September 18, 2011, by the same measure."
Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Senior Trump administration officials are considering a plan to again divert billions of dollars in military funding to pay for border barrier construction next year, a way to circumvent congressional opposition to putting more taxpayer money toward the president's signature project, according to three administration officials. The president has pledged to complete nearly 500 miles of new barrier by the 2020 election -- stirring chants of 'Build the Wall!' at his campaign rallies. But that construction goal will require a total of $18.4 billion in funding through 2020, far more than the administration has publicly disclosed, the administration's latest internal projections show. Planning documents obtained by The Washington Post show the cost of building 509 miles of barriers averages out to more than $36 million per mile. The documents also show that the government would need to obtain -- either by eminent-domain claims or purchases -- land that lies under nearly 200 miles of proposed barrier." Emphasis added. CNN's story is here.
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from far more companies than previously disclosed, newly released documents show. The requests, which the F.B.I. says are critical to its counterterrorism efforts, have raised privacy concerns for years but have been associated mainly with tech companies. Now, records show how far beyond Silicon Valley the practice extends -- encompassing scores of banks, credit agencies, cellphone carriers and even universities. The demands can scoop up a variety of information, including usernames, locations, IP addresses and records of purchases. They don't require a judge's approval and usually come with a gag order, leaving them shrouded in secrecy.... The documents provide information on about 750 of the subpoenas -- representing a small but telling fraction of the half-million issued since 2001, when the Patriot Act expanded their powers."
Ahmad Sultan & Abdul Qadir Sediqi of Reuters: "A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers.... Scores of local men joined a protest against the attack on Thursday morning as they helped carry the victims' bodies to Jalalabad city and then to the burial site.... In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul." --s
Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to ... Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia's oil industry. In a White House meeting, the Republican president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity." ~~~/p>
~~~ Nick Walsh of CNN: "Iran's foreign minister has warned of 'all-out war' in the event of US or Saudi military strikes against his country, and questioned whether Saudi Arabia was prepared to fight 'to the last American soldier.' Javad Zarif told CNN that Iran hoped to avoid conflict, adding that the country was willing to talk to its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But Iran would not hold talks with the US unless Washington provided full relief from sanctions as promised under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran's top diplomat said. He again denied that Iran was involved in weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, which dramatically ratcheted up tensions in the region." (Also linked yesterday.)
Christina Pazzanese of The Harvard Gazette: "[Rex] Tillerson ... visited Harvard Tuesday for a private talk about his time as the nation's top diplomat.... Tillerson said despite Israel's closeness with the U.S., 'In dealing with Bibi, it's always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,' recounting that Israel would share 'misinformation' to persuade the U.S. of something if necessary. 'They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that "We're the good guys, they're the bad guys." We later exposed it to the president so he understood, "You've been played,"' said Tillerson. 'It bothers me that an ally that's that close and important to us would do that to us.'" --s
Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News: "In a rare policy reversal, the Trump administration on Thursday announced it will reinstate a program granting temporary reprieve from deportation for immigrants facing life-threatening medical conditions and other humanitarian circumstances, undoing a decision that sparked widespread condemnation. The Department of Homeland Security notified Congress that Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume considering all applications for deferred action, as the relief is officially known. Without notifying the public or Congress, the administration had stopped granting non-military requests for this relief from deportation, a policy shift that quietly went into effect on August 7. After massive public uproar, officials partly reversed course earlier this month, saying they would reopen cases that were pending on the date the change was instituted. But Thursday's announcement appeared to be a full reversal...."
Tom Philpott of Mother Jones: "Back in 2010, then-first lady Michelle Obama launched ... the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a law ... that gave the National School Lunch Program its first nutritional update in more than 15 years.... Of the nearly 30 million kids who eat school lunches every day, 20 million qualify for free lunch -- and another 1.8 million receive it at a reduced price.... Just before Donald Trump took office, the far-right House Freedom Caucus released a hit list of more than 300 rules and regulations that urgently needed to be revoked or examined in his first 100 days. First on the list: the Obama lunch reforms.... [A] USDA study compared school years before and after the Obama reforms. It turns out that serving healthier food did not result in significantly higher costs for cafeterias or mean more food going into the garbage. The reforms did, however, result in healthier lunches [and] importantly, the cafeterias that delivered higher healthy-food scores also had significantly higher rates of students choosing to eat the lunches." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The most shocking part of Philpott's story: 2/3rds of U.S. children who opt for school lunches qualify for free meals. According to Feeding America, "Children in households with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level or those receiving SNAP or TANF qualify for free meals." Even given that some 45 percent of students who attend schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program either bring their own lunch or don't eat lunch, this is a stunning indicator of just how poor American families are.
Tracy Jan & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson expressed concern about 'big, hairy men' trying to infiltrate women's homeless shelters during an internal meeting, according to three people present who interpreted the remarks as an attack on transgender women. While visiting HUD's San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said. Carson's remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesday's meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said. Carson has a history of making dismissive comments about transgender people. While running for president, he referred to transgender people as 'abnormal' and said they should not be in the military. As HUD Secretary, he weakened Obama-era protections for transgender people, saying he believes in equal rights, not 'special rights.'" The Hill's story, by Rachel Frazin, is here. --s
Nicole Lafond of TPM: "The Interior Department is transferring about 500 acres of public land to the Pentagon in order to construct about 70 miles of President Trump's border wall, the Wall Street Journal reported. The land was previously monitored by the Bureau of Land Management and will now be overseen by the U.S. Army. The 560 acre expanse includes 213 acres in New Mexico, 301 acres in Arizona and 44 acres in San Diego, California. The move is all part of Trump's efforts to expedite the construction of his border wall before the 2020 election." (Also linked yesterday.)
Helena Evich of Politico: "Senate Democrats released on Thursday a report outlining dozens of times the Trump administration has censored or minimized climate science across the federal government at agencies including the EPA and the Department of Homeland Security. [The report is here.] Sen. Debbie Stabenow, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also publicly released a list of more than 1,400 climate studies that Department of Agriculture researchers have published during the current administration after Politico reported that USDA buried its own research and failed to release its plan to study the issue. The matter is increasingly urgent for farmers and ranchers dealing with erratic and extreme weather. The trove of studies by USDA researchers carry warnings about climate change that the government is largely not communicating to farmers and ranchers or the public. The list published includes research showing that climate change is likely to drive down yields for some crops, harm milk production, and lead to a drop in nutrient density for key crops like rice and wheat."
Maureen Groppe of USA Today: "A GOP group critical of ... Donald Trump is now targeting Vice President Mike Pence to call out what it considers corruption in the administration. An ad that [was to] air on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Thursday accuses Pence of hypocrisy for not objecting to foreign governments' spending at Trump hotels after having criticized the Clinton Foundation for accepting donations from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was secretary of State. The group, Republicans for the Rule of Law, is directed by Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator who worked for Vice President Dan Quayle but is a vocal critic of Trump and Pence. One of the group's board members is Peter Rusthoven, a Republican from Pence's home state of Indiana who has known and liked the vice president for decades. Pence officiated at his remarriage." (Also linked yesterday.)
Nicholas Nehamas & Tara Copp of The Miami Herald: "At a time when taxpayer and foreign-government spending at Trump Organization properties is fueling political battles, a U.S. Marine Corps reserve unit stationed in South Florida hopes to hold an annual ball at ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach on Nov. 16, according to a posting on the events website Evensi.... The balls have two parts: an official ceremony, which can use government equipment and taxpayer dollars, and a social function paid for by private fundraising associations." --s
Manu Raju of CNN: "The House Judiciary Committee is preparing to take initial steps to potentially hold former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in contempt over his refusal to answer questions at this week's hearing before the panel, multiple sources tell CNN. But it is a process that could take weeks: First, a letter is expected to be sent to Lewandowski asking him to answer questions and warning him he can be held in contempt if he doesn't answer. Then, they may offer a contempt resolution, officially notice a committee vote and then hold a vote in committee before any floor action.... The fight over what to do after Lewandowski's testimony showcases the tensions that have been building within the Democratic caucus over the committee's handling of impeachment, with members of the party again at odds over their messaging and strategy...."
All the Best People, Ctd.
Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: “Flattery will get you everywhere with Donald Trump. The President demonstrated this powerfully on Wednesday, when he named the State Department's little-known hostage negotiator, Robert O'Brien, to be his latest national-security adviser, despite O'Brien having less relevant experience than anyone who's held the post in the nearly seven decades since it was created. In O'Brien's case, his ability to lavish praise on the boss was explicitly cited by the President as a factor in his appointment to one of the most powerful unelected positions in the world. There wasn't anything subtle about it. On Tuesday, speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that O'Brien was one of five finalists, then quoted O'Brien as having told him, 'Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States.' 'He happens to be right,' Trump added.... 'Nice guy, but in way, way over his head,' [a] Republican, a former senior Bush Administration official, [said of O'Brien]. '... he's not qualified to be national-security adviser,' he added.... The Republican said that ... he just wished [O'Brien] had said no to the President, predicting, 'I don't think this will end well.'"
Rachel Oswald of Roll Call: "A confirmation hearing for former Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, who was nominated to a key trade post, was interrupted and then delayed on Thursday as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee fought over information in Issa's FBI file that could be potentially disqualifying. Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, had decided to hold confirmation hearings for two nominees whose FBI background files contained classified and potentially disqualifying information that the White House declined to release to anyone other than Risch and ranking Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey. In going forward with the hearing, Risch broke with decades of bipartisan tradition in the committee, which normally would not schedule confirmation hearings without the agreement of the ranking member of the opposing party. Menendez had opposed the scheduling of the hearing. The confirmation hearing for the second nominee, Marshall Billingslea, who has been tapped to lead the State Department's human rights activities, did take place despite Menendez's concerns with document holes in his background file from his days working for the George W. Bush administration on detainee torture polices. Both Issa and Billingslea were formally nominated in January, but their confirmation hearings were held up by Menendez as he sought to gain access to more of the memos written by Billingslea for then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the post-9/11 period. The memos encourage interrogation practices that have since been deemed to constitute torture and made illegal by Congress."
The Senate is pretty dysfunctional. I served 18 years in the House so I (have) first-hand knowledge that the Senate is where things go to die. -- Darrell Issa, after a Senate committee confirmation hearing ~~~
~~~ Alex Rogers of CNN: "A year after ... Donald Trump picked former California Rep. Darrell Issa to run the US Trade and Development Agency, a Senate hearing to consider the nomination was postponed over how to handle questions raised in his FBI file. In front of Issa, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, pushed for the public hearing to turn to a private session in which every member on the panel could learn of confidential information that only he and chairman Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, knew to save Issa from any 'embarrassment or harm.'" Risch broke an 11-11 tie by agreeing to postpone the hearing to allow senators to privately review the file. According to Issa, "Menendez's concerns with his file regard conduct from long ago that's already public. 'Senator Menendez has only brought up -- and perhaps it's anecdotal but it's what he chose to bring up -- my being disciplined for false ID when I was 17,' Issa said.... Menendez 'willfully obstructed the hearing, forced it to an end,' added Issa. 'Sen. Risch, quite frankly, caved when there was no reason to cave. I was happy to answer any and all questions.'" ~~~
~~~ ** Rob Berschinski & Benjamin Haas of Human Rights First in a Politico Magazine opinion piece (Sept. 17): "Donald Trump has made no secret of his penchant for torture.... Trump has repeatedly nominated figures involved in or supportive of Bush-era torture for positions in both his administration and the federal judiciary. Now, the president has nominated yet another official with a pro-torture background — Marshall Billingslea, who serves as assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing. This time, however, the nomination contains a particularly searing irony. If confirmed, Billingslea would become the top U.S. executive branch official directly responsible for human rights policy: undersecretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights. Billingslea's involvement in Bush-era torture should be disqualifying." Read on.
Moscow Mitch Caves. Sort of. Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "In a surprise development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his support on Thursday for additional money to bolster the country's election system ahead of the 2020 vote, a move that counters his earlier position resisting calls for more funding. McConnell, R-Ky., said he is co-sponsoring an amendment to an appropriations bill that would provide $250 million for election security.... McConnell's backing comes after Democrats have been putting political pressure on him and Republicans for more than a year to get behind additional provisions, including new funding, to protect against hacking and interference in the elections.... The House passed a bill that would give states nearly three times more -- $600 million.... A Republican Senator on background acknowledges that this $250 million is a fig leaf, Republicans' attempt to keep Democrats from obtaining the hundreds of millions more they want for election security."
Presidential Race 2020
Sad News. Rachel Frazin of the Hill: "New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio exited the 2020 presidential race on Friday.... He failed to gain traction in the crowded Democratic primary despite his high profile as the mayor of New York City. A Sienna College poll released earlier this week showed the mayor clocking in at zero percent support in New York City and New York State. Moreover, a RealClearPolitics average of polls had him at less than 1 percent." The New York Times story is here.
Justine Coleman of the Hill: "A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against a California state law that requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. President Trump''s lawyers had challenged the law, which was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). U.S. District Judge Morrison England, Jr., a George W. Bush appointee on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, said there would be 'irreparable harm without temporary relief' for Trump and other candidates if he did not make the rare temporary decision to block, The Los Angeles Times reported." (Also linked yesterday.)
Pat Eaton-Robb of the AP: "Gun-maker Colt is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15, the company said Thursday in a shift it attributed to changes in consumer demand and a market already saturated with similar weapons. The company said it will focus instead on fulfilling contracts with military and police customers for rifles." Mrs. McC: Gee, it would be something if Colt had ended production of "civilian" AR-15s for safety & moral reasons rather than for market considerations. But no.
"You Can Interview Me if You Lie about It." -- Bart O'Kavanaugh. Carla Herreria of the Huffington Post: "New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly said that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed to let them interview him for their upcoming book ― as long as they would publicly lie about it. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday, Kelly and Pogrebin said that Kavanaugh said he would talk to the reporters to provide them with background information as long as they falsely noted in the book that he declined to be interviewed.... Kelly and Pogrebin said they couldn't agree to the justice's terms, so they couldn't conduct the interview." (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
Canada. Justin Trudeau and His One-Man Minstrel Show. Rebekah Riess, et al., of CNN: "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized again on Thursday for wearing blackface in three separate incidents and said he did not know how many times he had put on racist makeup. 'What I did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn't have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. This is something I deeply, deeply regret,' he said. Darkening your face, he added, 'is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.' Trudeau still insisted he was an ally in the fight for social justice and highlighted his administration's actions to fight racism and intolerance.... In his apology, Trudeau admitted he had put on dark makeup when he was in high school as part of a talent show in which he sang the traditional Jamaican folk song 'Day-O.'... On Thursday, Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson obtained video of Trudeau in blackface from a Conservative Party of Canada source. The source told her the video was shot in the early '90s...." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
CNN: "Hundreds of cars were left on Houston freeways Thursday as flooding made the highways and many other roads impassable. As officials watched waters recede late Thursday, tow truck drivers removed 200 of the vehicles that were in the roadways and waited to remove hundreds more, Police Chief Art Acevedo said. Many of the bayous or creeks were returning to normal, officials said at a nighttime news conference. The San Jacinto River wasn't and is expected to crest around 5 a.m. CT.... At least one death is storm related, officials said. A man who was in a van that drove into deep water Thursday died.... The storm brought intense rain to southeastern Texas over three days.Some areas have received more than 30 inches, and one spot in Jefferson County got 43.15 inches, according to the National Weather Service office in Houston."
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