The Commentariat -- May 3, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Uh-Oh. Tom Winter & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for ... Donald Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen. It is not clear how long the wiretap has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the raids on Cohen's offices, hotel room, and home in early April, according to one person with direct knowledge. At least one phone call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was intercepted, the person said."
So Then. Rudy Goes on "Fox & Friends" to Make Matters Worse. Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: After arguing that the $130K to Stormy Daniels was in no way a campaign contribution, Rudy sez, "Imagine if that came out of October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton.... Cohen made it go away. He did his job." So Then. Kellyanne Conway's husband George almost immediately follows up Rudy's remark with a tweet citing relevant campaign finance law that defines Cohen's payment -- in Rudy's construction -- as a violation by Trump, by the campaign & by Cohen. Go, Team Trump! ...
... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Eugene Robinson, the newspaper columnist who moonlights as an MSNBC commentator, wryly suggested that Trump may have acquired a new defense that he could use on appeal if he loses in court: inadequate representation." ...
... Dana Bash & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Rudy Giuliani's cable rollout as a member of ... Donald Trump's legal team, and the torrent of statements he made Wednesday night, caught many in the White House offguard and flat-footed, highlighting the continued chaotic nature of the President's communications strategy. Giuliani told CNN Thursday he and Trump are in sync. 'You won't see daylight between me and the President,' Giuliani said in an interview. 'The strategy is to get everything wrapped up and done with this so that it doesn't take on a lie of its own.'... But Giuliani conceded that White House officials were caught off guard by his comments. '"They were, there was no way they wouldn't be,' he told CNN Thursday. 'The President is my client, I don't talk to them.'" ...
... Eileen Sullivan, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump on Thursday directly contradicted his earlier statements that he knew of no payment to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film actress who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said he paid a monthly retainer to his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, and suggested that the payment by Mr. Cohen to the actress could not be considered a campaign contribution.... In three Twitter posts [republished below] Thursday morning, the president repeated Mr. Giuliani's statement that Mr. Trump repaid a $130,000 payment Mr.Cohen made to Ms. Clifford just days before the presidential election in 2016.... The president's tweets on Thursday had far more formal language than his typical morning messages to the world, which often include words in all capital letters and are punctuated with exclamation points.... Though Mr. Giuliani described his interview as part of a strategy, the disclosure caught several Trump advisers by surprise, sending some scrambling on Thursday morning to determine how to confront the situation.... Some of the lawyers for Mr. Cohen and Ms. Clifford were also surprised by Mr. Giuliani's remarks on Wednesday to Sean Hannity, who is close with the president." ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post has more on the campaign finance law violations.
Charles Bagli of the New York Times: "Over the opposition of lawyers for a company owned by ... Donald J. Trump, State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Bransten ruled Thursday that a condominium on the Upper West Side could remove the bronze letters spelling out his name from its 46-story building. The ruling opens the door for the 377 condo owners at 200 Riverside Boulevard to formally vote on whether to keep or remove the T-R-U-M-P letters that have adorned the building, between 69th and 70th Streets, for the past 19 years. Reading a 12- page document from the bench, Judge Bransten repeatedly rejected, dismissed or found the Trump lawyers' arguments to be unpersuasive and granted summary judgment to the condominium's board.... Judge Bransten ... found that the four-page licensing agreement between Mr. Trump and the condominium gave the condo permission to use the Trump name but in no way requires it to use it. Therefore, nothing prevents the board from taking it off the building."
*****
This Russia Thing, Ctd.
Darren Samuelsohn & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... Donald Trump is shifting to war footing in the Russia investigation. On Wednesday, the White House announced that it had hired a veteran lawyer [Emmet Flood] who helped President Bill Clinton weather impeachment, while Trump's personal legal team sent its strongest signal yet that it would fight special counsel Robert Mueller over any attempt to question the president without first setting up strict limits for the interview. Combined, the two moves represent a sharp turn away from the cooperation-minded days of 2017 when Trump said publicly that he was eager to sit down with the lead Russia investigator. At that time, his White House lawyers also showed no resistance to handing over documents and assisted in lining up interviews with more than two dozen current and former aides." ...
... Matt Apuzzo & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "President Trump plans to hire Emmet T. Flood, the veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, to replace Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer who has taken the lead in dealing with the special counsel investigation, who is retiring, according to two people briefed on the matter. In a phone interview, Mr. Cobb said he informed the president weeks ago that he wanted to retire. He said he planned to stay at the White House, likely through the end of the month, to help Mr. Flood transition into the new job.... Following a New York Times report in March that Mr. Trump was in discussions to hire Mr. Flood, the president attacked the article and one of the reporters who wrote it." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Jeff Zeleny, et al., of CNN: "Two sources told CNN that Cobb was uncomfortable with Trump's tweets against Mueller, with one source describing a 'rancid' atmosphere between Mueller and the White House. 'Ty was uncomfortable with the Mueller tweets,' the source said. He was not going to be 'part of a mud-slinging campaign,' one of the sources added. Cobb had tried for weeks to counsel the President against threatening the Mueller investigation, the sources said. The lawyer made it clear on multiple occasions with the President and other members of the legal team that he 'can't go down that path,' one of the sources added. A source familiar with the developments told CNN that one reason Flood took the job was because he is likely to replace current White House counsel Donald McGahn in months. It's not immediately clear what Flood's job will be on the legal team and if he will attend meetings with Mueller. Another source familiar with the matter told CNN that Flood had been under 'serious consideration' for some time...." ...
Emmet Flood will be joining the White House Staff to represent the President and the administration against the Russia witch hunt. -- Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Wednesday ...
"Witch hunt"? Very professional & dignified, Mrs. Huckleberry. Almost as professional & dignified as your pal John Kelly's sending out an official White House statement Monday using the term "total BS" (bullshit). -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
... Matt Naham of Law & Crime: Nicole "Wallace said on Deadline White House [on MSNBC] that three sources told her Flood's recruitment to Trump's legal team sends a 'clear signal that the team plans to rely much more heavily on a legal strategy long-advocated by current White House counsel Don McGahn to exert executive privilege more aggressively.'" ...
Eileen Sullivan & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump plunged on Wednesday into the simmering dispute between conservative House Republicans and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, siding with the lawmakers and attacking his own Justice Department. Mr. Trump called the legal system 'rigged' in a tweet and gave voice to the complaints of a small group of congressmen who have assailed the Justice Department as slow or unresponsive to their demands to produce sensitive documents that the lawmakers say they need to conduct oversight.... 'A Rigged System - They don't want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal "justice?" At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!'... Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the latest Republican efforts were 'clearly trying to sabotage' the Mueller investigation and court a confrontation with Mr. Rosenstein." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Notice that Trump is taking the side of another branch of the government -- Congress -- against his own branch -- the executive. ...
... Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Trump did not say precisely which records he believed were being slow-walked by the Justice Department, but Republicans have been pressing officials there to turn over memos on a variety of topics, including an August 2017 directive in which Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein laid out the scope of Mueller's investigation. On Monday, Justice rejected lawmakers' request for that memo, saying that disclosing it would jeopardize the ongoing probe." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Alex Ward of Vox: "... Donald Trump just issued a direct and ominous threat to the Justice Department.... Trump's GOP congressional allies are upset the DOJ won't hand over unredacted documents related to ongoing investigations.... But conservatives in Congress allege the DOJ is a corrupt institution that bungled multiple investigations -- not least the one about possible Trump-Russia collusion during the 2016 presidential election -- and, therefore, requires stringent oversight.... Trump ... does have broad authority to declassify any information he wants, which means he could remove redactions from documents and compel the DOJ to hand over those materials to Congress.... The president, of course, has the authority to fire personnel. He continues to threaten [Rod] Rosenstein's job, and it's possible he';s using the memo fight to lay the groundwork for the deputy attorney general's ouster." ...
... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "When Rosenstein said he won't be extorted by threats from 'anyone,' that includes President Trump. He serves in the president's administration, but he also took an oath to protect the Constitution. Trump desperately needs a reason to fire Rosenstein, and he's settled on his refusal to turn over unredacted documents to Trump's allies in the House.... The whole effort here is choreographed. The White House and key committee chairs and members of the House Freedom Caucus are acting in concert. And it's all a naked and transparent effort to obstruct justice. It's being done brazenly, unapologetically, and in plain sight. Perhaps this is why Ty Cobb, who has consistently counseled cooperation with the investigation, just quit his job as Trump's lawyer. The cooperative phase is ending, and the constitutional crisis phase will now commence." Longman includes a good summary of the interactions, so far, between Rosenstein & the House goombahs.
Renato Mariotti in a New York Times op-ed: "Mr. Trump's team plans to use the questions [Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow derived from topics Robert Mueller outlined] to attack the special counsel as 'overreaching' and going 'beyond his mandate,' but the questions themselves suggest that Mr. Mueller has carefully stayed within his bounds.... What should concern Mr. Trump's team is how the questions zero in on Mr. Trump's criminal liability. They leave little doubt that Mr. Trump is in serious jeopardy, particularly regarding obstruction of justice.... The fact that the questions on topics other than obstruction are so broad does not necessarily suggest that Mr. Mueller has less evidence regarding those topics. A more likely possibility is that Mr. Mueller is not willing to tip his hand on those topics because the evidence he has regarding them hasn't been extensively covered in the press."
Preserving the Mueller Investigation via the Sealed Indictment. Corey Brettschneider in Politico Magazine: "... while he retains his position, Mueller has a powerful tool at his disposal: the 'sealed,' or secret, indictment. If Mueller indeed determines that he has a strong case against Trump, a secret indictment returned by a grand jury will help protect the integrity of his investigation even if he is fired, while also avoiding the risk of provoking Trump to try to further impede the probe.... If Trump were to fire Mueller, an already filed sealed indictment would outlast Mueller's tenure. A sealed indictment can only be dismissed by a judge, meaning Trump cannot rid himself of a legal headache simply by terminating the special counsel. A sealed indictment would also ensure that the statute of limitations for crimes Trump might be charged with would not expire. This leaves open the possibility of Trump being tried in the future."
Our Conspiracy Theories about Trump Are Not Conspiratorial Enough. Jonathan Chait: "... the leak [of the Mueller team's questons] came from Trump's side, so that Trump could blame the leak on Mueller. 'The president and several advisers now plan to point to the list as evidence that Mueller has strayed beyond his mandate and is overreaching,' two advisers tell the Post. The 'disgraceful' leak [Trump tweeted about] was planted by Trump's own staff -- probably at the direction of Trump himself -- in order to concoct evidence of wrongdoing by Mueller, in order to advance Trump's claim that Mueller is supposedly setting him up.... Bear this lesson in mind when you process the following. In December, the administration allowed the sale of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. Supporters of the administration held up the sale as evidence that Trump could not have colluded with Russia -- here he was, arming Russia's enemy.... [Now we learn that] in response to the missile sale, Ukrainian officials have frozen out the Mueller investigation.... When the missile sale came up in December, almost nobody even considered the possibility that it might be used as a bribe to shut down Ukrainian cooperation with Mueller.... The number one rule in understanding Trump is that the lies are usually covering even worse lies." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mrs. McCrabbie: At 6:50 am ET, Trump [or a more literate alter-ego] is in the middle of tweeting about the Giuliani gaffe heard 'round the nation (linked stories ff.). I'll post the tweets when he finishes his "thoughts." Update: Here's what he's got so far:
Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are..... ..very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,...... ...despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll [sic.] in this transaction.
... ** Oops! Rudy's Marvelous Gaffe-a-thon. Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed: "... Donald Trump repaid Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment Cohen facilitated to Stormy Daniels in 2016, Trump's new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Sean Hannity on Wednesday night. 'It's not campaign money. No campaign finance violation,' Giuliani said. '[They] funneled through a law firm, and then the president repaid it.'... " ...
... Nick Visser & Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "'It's going to turn out to be perfectly legal; that money was not campaign money,' Giuliani, Trump's new lead attorney regarding issues related to the special counsel's Russia investigation, told Fox News' Sean Hannity...." ...
... Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In an interview with The New York Times shortly after his Fox News appearance, Mr. Giuliani said that he had documentation showing that Mr. Trump had personally made the payment, and he indicated that the goal was to conclusively demonstrate that there was no campaign finance violation involved.... He added that when the initial payment was made, Mr. Cohen did it 'on his own authority.'... Mr. Giuliani said that he had spoken with the president before and after his interview on Fox News, and that Mr. Trump and other lawyers on the team were aware of what he would say.... Such a payment from the candidate -- even if it was made through a lawyer -- would have to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission as an in-kind contribution to the campaign and as an expenditure by the campaign, if it was for the purpose of influencing the election. Mr. Trump's campaign did not disclose the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen on its commission reports.... Far from bringing clarity to the question, Mr. Giuliani obscured it further -- now two lawyers [Giuliani & Cohen] for the president are providing two very different versions of events." ...
... Michael Shear: Giuliani's remarks "appeared to contradict the president, who has at times said that he was not aware of the payment to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, and did not know how his lawyer had gotten the money to pay her.... Asked specifically whether he knew about the payment by reporters aboard Air Force One last month, Mr. Trump said 'no' and referred questions to Mr. Cohen.... It also contradicts what Mr. Cohen has been saying for months — that he used his own money to pay Ms. Clifford to keep quiet." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Fox "News" is taking down fair-use videos of the "money quote" as fast as I can post them, so I don't know how long this one will stand:
... Rick Hasen in Slate: Rudy Giuliani has "gotten the president into potentially greater legal jeopardy by admitting that Trump repaid his fixer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to adult film performer Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet, seemingly contradicting the president and potentially implicating Trump and his campaign in some serious campaign finance violations.... If Cohen made the payment alone and neither Trump nor anyone in the campaign knew anything about it, Trump and the campaign officials would have done nothing wrong." ...
... Jill Colvin & Chad Day of the AP have more on the possible legal implications of Giuliani's gaffe re: Clifford. They cite Hasen, among others. ...
... Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said Wednesday that President Trump '... fired [James] Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn't a target of the investigation,' Giuliani ... told Fox News's Sean Hannity. 'He's entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that and he couldn't get that,' Giuliani said. 'So he fired him and he said, 'I'm free of this guy."' Giuliani's statement contradicts Trump's recent claim that he didn't fire Comey over the Russia probe.... Trump also stated in his letter informing Comey of his dismissal that the former FBI director had told him he wasn't under investigation ...'on three separate occasions....'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is what happens when, more than a year into the investigation of a major, multi-track train wreck, you bring in an over-the-hill P.R. guy who knows nothing about the causes of the wreck. ...
... The Talented Mr. Giuliani ... Blows up All Trump's Phony Defenses. Margaret Hartmann: "Through public statements, apparent leaks, and the exit of White House lawyer Ty Cobb (who advocated for cooperation with Robert Mueller), [Rudy Giuliani] ... signaled that he was cleaning up Trump's legal team. From now on, they would be a unified force making aggressive, carefully calculated moves to undermine the special counsel. Then in his very first TV interview as Trump's attorney, with Trump shadow adviser Sean Hannity no less, Giuliani contradicted the president's stories on potential obstruction of justice, the Stormy Daniels affair, and even his relationship with fixer Michael Cohen. In response to Hannity's first softball -- what's the status of the Russia investigation -- Giuliani basically confirmed that he leaked Mueller's questions for Trump (which were actually composed by the president's attorneys) as part of an effort to paint the special counsel as unfairly biased. Then he offered up a brand new explanation for why Trump fired FBI director James Comey[.]... Later in the interview he claimed that paying 'some Stormy Daniels woman $130,000' would turn out to be 'perfectly legal.... When I heard Cohen's retainer of $35,000, when he was doing no work for the president, I said that's how he's repaying it, with a little profit and a little margin for paying taxes for Michael.'... two hours after Giuliani made his remarks, the White House had yet to come up with anything."
Manu Raju of CNN: "After being interviewed by special counsel investigators on Wednesday, former aide to Donald Trump's presidential campaign Michael Caputo told CNN that Robert Mueller's team is 'focused on Russia collusion.' ... 'They know more about the Trump campaign than anyone who ever worked there.' Caputo ... has long insisted he has no information about collusion between Trump's team and Russia. He spoke with Senate intelligence investigators on Tuesday for their Russia probe and outlined the differences between Congress' inquiries and the special counsel's. 'The Senate and the House are net fishing,' Caputo said. 'The special counsel is spearfishing. They know what they are aiming at and are deadly accurate.' Caputo lived and worked in Russia in the 1990s and later did business with Russian companies, including Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled energy giant. As a Republican consultant, Caputo worked with Trump adviser Roger Stone and Paul Manafort...."
Trump's Fake Doctor's Letter Is No Joke. Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: Trump's former personal physician Harold "Bornstein now admits that when he wrote a letter in December 2015 attesting to Trump's good health, he was actually taking dictation from Trump himself.... At the time, everyone understood that was exactly what happened.... But... everyone treated the whole thing almost as a joke.... Well, yes, it was comical. But a presidential candidate was hiding his medical situation from the public. And not any candidate, but the candidate who would become the oldest president ever elected, and who seems to eat nothing but fast food. Yet at the very same time, the press not only treated [Hillary] Clinton's health as a matter of utmost seriousness; it also was quick to accuse her of being overly secretive and dishonest about it.... One way we can prepare for [the 2020 presidential election] is to stop treating the lies Trump tells -- such as putting out false letters about his medical condition -- as though they're anything less than the scandal they ought to be."
Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "Summer Zervos, a former contestant on 'The Apprentice' who accused President Trump of sexual assault, is seeking records to prove that he defamed her by calling her a liar. A lawyer for Ms. Zervos, who is suing Mr. Trump for defamation in New York, said on Wednesday that subpoenas had been issued both to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which owns archives of the reality show, and to the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Ms. Zervos says he groped her in 2007. 'We're gathering evidence that we believe will prove that the defendant lied when he falsely denigrated Ms. Zervos and when he denied sexually assaulting her,' said the lawyer, Mariann Wang of Cuti Hecker Wang.... In the subpoena issued Wednesday, Ms. Wang asked M.G.M. to turn over all documents, video or audio that feature Ms. Zervos or Mr. Trump talking about Ms. Zervos. The subpoena also seeks any recording in which Mr. Trump speaks of women 'in any sexual or inappropriate manner.' The hotel subpoena seeks records of any stay by Mr. Trump from 2005 through 2009 as well as documents related to his longtime bodyguard, Keith Schiller; his longtime assistant, Rhona Graff; or Ms. Zervos." See related story, linked below, re: "Today's Top Sideshow."
Nicholas Confessore & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "... Cambridge Analytica announced on Wednesday that it would cease most operations and file for bankruptcy amid growing legal and political scrutiny of its business practices and work for President Trump. The decision came less than two months after the firm and Facebook became embroiled in a data-harvesting scandal that compromised the information of up to 87 million people. The revelations about the misuse of data, by The New York Times, along with The Observer of London, plunged the social media giant into crisis and prompted regulators and lawmakers to begin investigations into Cambridge Analytica. In a statement posted to its website, Cambridge Analytica said it was filing for bankruptcy in both the United States and Britain.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: My congratulations to the New York Times & Guardian for taking down these reprobates.
Melanie Schmitz of ThinkProgress: "A group of Republican lawmakers has sent a formal letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, officially nominating ... Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his 'work to end the Korean War.' The letter was signed by 18 members of Congress...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Haley Britzky of Axios: "Three Americans being held in North Korean labor camps have been released ahead of a planned summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, the Financial Times reports.... Kim Dong-cheol, Kim Sang-deok, and Kim Hak-seong were reportedly released in early April. Choi Sung-ryong, a campaigner for South Korean abductees, told the FT that they can either come home with Trump the day of the summit, or with an envoy prior to the talks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is 'believed to have discussed the issue' when he traveled to North Korea on Easter weekend." (Also linked yesterday.)
Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has repatriated a longtime inmate at the Guantanamo Bay military prison to Saudi Arabia, where he will serve out the remainder of his 13-year sentence in connection with a 2002 attack on a French ship, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The transfer of Ahmed al-Darbi to Saudi custody marks the first time the Trump administration has authorized the departure of an inmate from the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which President Trump has promised to keep open and said could even house new detainees. The move is unlikely to mark a shift in administration policy regarding prisoner transfers, which Trump has suggested threaten U.S. security."
Allie Malloy of CNN: "National Teacher of the Year award winner Mandy Manning came to the White House with one goal in mind: to elevate the profile of her refugee and immigrant students with ... Donald Trump. In a phone interview with CNN, Manning said she had done just that, delivering handwritten letters from her students directly to the President when meeting with him one on one Wednesday. Trump told Manning he was excited to read the letters, so much so that he asked an aide to put them directly on his desk, according to Manning. Manning's students are all refugees and immigrants enrolled in the 'Newcomer Center' program at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington." ...
... David Smith of the Guardian: "A teacher who leads a classroom for teenage refugees staged a silent protest by wearing several overtly political badges while receiving an award from Donald Trump at the White House.... Mandy Manning ... wore six badges on her black dress. According to a pooled report, they included one with a poster for the Women's March that followed Trump's inauguration, one that said 'Trans Equality Now' and one in the shape of an apple with a rainbow." ...
... Tina Vasquez in Rewire.News: "Trump is giving ICE the tools, financial resources, and presidential backing to go after immigrant communities as never before. While John Kelly and Stephen Miller may be the main architects of Trump's nativist anti-immigration policy, they are not its most important and powerful supporters. For that, look to the labor union that represents ICE's agents.... As the American Immigration Council explains, 'the enforcement of US immigration laws has historically been guided by policies that emphasize prioritization'[.]... Trump's executive orders ... have done away with this system, making enforcement priorities a thing of the past. Now every undocumented immigrant is deportable.... After Trump signed that first order, the labor unions for ICE and Border Patrol, representing some 25,600 agents and staff at the two agencies, released a joint statement: 'Morale amongst our agents and officers has increased exponentially since the signing of the orders.'... Despite his embrace of Trump's tough new enforcement regime, [acting ICE director Thomas] Homan never enjoyed the backing of ICE's field officers. You could even say that ICE iced Homan."
All the Best People, Ctd. Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "A political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services has apologized and is now back at work at the department after it came to light that she spread conspiracy theories and shared an image that said 'our forefathers would have hung' Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for treason on social media. Ximena Barreto is a far-right political pundit who joined the Trump administration as deputy director of communications at HHS in December. She was placed on leave by the department in April after the liberal watchdog Media Matters reported that Barreto called Islam 'a cult' and pushed the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.... A subsequent CNN KFile review of her Twitter account ... found that Barreto also repeatedly used the hashtag #BanIslam and shared conspiracy theories about the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich."
Today's Top Sideshow. Adam Raymond of New York: "One of the many drawbacks of Donald Trump's rise to power has been the renewed relevance granted to figures who, like himself, were better off left in the 20th century. Just in the past month, he's hired Rudy Giuliani, publicly praised Roseanne, and tweeted about phone calls with Sylvester Stallone. It's not just his supporters either. The comedian Tom Arnold has landed a TV show with Vice thanks to Trump. Unlike his ex-wife's rebooted sitcom, though, Arnold's show is unlikely to draw Trump's praise. On The Hunt for the Trump Tapes With Tom Arnold, the star of The Stupids will attempt to track down a treasure trove of lost tapes casting Trump in an unflattering light, Vice says."
Here are a couple of people who were better off left in the 17th century (or, really, never in the history of humankind): ...
... mike pence Gives Arpaio the Evangelical Seal of Approval. Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "While appearing at an event to support the Trump administration's 'America First' policies, [Mike] Pence praised former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, a Republican candidate for the Senate. 'I just found out when I was walking through the door that we were also going to be joined today by another favorite,' Pence said. 'A great friend of this president. A tireless champion of strong borders and the rule of law. He spent a lifetime in law enforcement -- Sheriff Joe Arpaio, I'm honored to have you here.' The vice president -- a law school graduate -- called a man who was convicted of \ criminal contempt of court 'a tireless champion of the rule of law.' A federal judge -- and countless critics -- think differently.... To see the vice president, an outspoken Christian, embrace a man responsible for a string of human rights concern could have real consequences for Pence in the long term."
Scotty's Lobby Hobby. Lisa Friedman, et al., of the New York Times: "A Washington consultant who was removed from President Trump's transition team for using his business email address for government work played a central role last year in planning a trip to Australia for Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and then took steps to disguise his role, new documents show. The consultant, Matthew C. Freedman, who is also a former lobbyist for foreign governments, runs his own corporate advisory firm and is treasurer of the American Australian Council, a group that helps promote business for American-based companies in Australia. Two prominent members include Chevron and ConocoPhillips. Though the Australia trip never happened -- it was canceled after Hurricane Harvey devastated much of the Texas Gulf Coast -- it shows a pattern in which Mr. Pruitt has repeatedly relied on people with clear business interests to shape the agenda of his foreign travel."
Jonathan Chait: "Paul Ryan appeared at a financial conference to warn that, if Democrats win control of either the House or the Senate in the November elections, 'you'll have gridlock, you'll have subpoenas.'... Ryan has played an invaluable role covering up and enabling Trump administration scandals. When he says his party needs to keep control of the House to prevent subpoenas, he is both promising the cover-ups will continue if his party keeps its control of government, and expressing his clear belief that he opposes any level of independent oversight of the Executive branch."
This Didn't Take Long. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is walking back some of the criticism he leveled against the new Republican tax law earlier this week, now claiming the measure 'has been good for Americans' overall.... That assessment marks a stark departure from Rubio's awkward rebuke of the law in an interview with The Economist published Monday, in which the Florida Republican questioned how much the legislation is really helping the working class." Mrs. McC: Marco is already famous for wearing high heels; now he's getting so good at walking backwards, I wonder if he's auditioning for second billing in a Fred Astaire movie. (Also linked yesterday.)
Senate Races
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is breaking with Trump and his scathing criticism of [Sen. Jon] Tester [D-Mont.], who the president has blamed for sinking Ronny Jackson's nomination to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Isakson offered his latest defense of Tester -- who faces reelection this fall in a state Trump won in 2016 -- at an event in Georgia. He noted that reporting this week appeared to verify some of the allegations against Jackson.... 'Part of the allegations made in one of the affidavits was verified by [CNN],' he said. 'I did my job and every senator has the responsibility if they're presented with accusations to try and seek the truth. And that exonerates everybody who seeks the truth.'"
Ed Kilgore: "Slanting the facts is a staple of competitive political campaigns. But it does cross an important line when campaigns just make stuff up. That seems to be happening with the two leading candidates for the GOP Senate nomination in West Virginia, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins. In both cases, they are trying to accuse the other of some sort of deep affection for Hillary Clinton.... It all seemed to begin when Morrisey ran a series of ads drawing attention to Jenkins' pre-2013 Democratic affiliation, and emphasizing his alleged support for Hillary Clinton in 2008.... f Morrisey's HRC-flavored attack was highly and deliberately mendacious, Jenkins' retaliation was way over any imaginable line. [In a Jenkins video campaign ad,] the image of Morrisey shaking hands with Hillary Clinton is, as the Jenkins campaign has admitted, completely phony. It was actually created by photoshopping an image of Morrisey shaking hands with -- wait for it -- Donald Trump!"
Stef Kight of Axios: "Several thousand ancient artifacts -- including cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals and clay bullae -- that were illegally smuggled into the United States by Hobby Lobby last year under the guise of 'tile samples' are on their way back to Iraq, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement." (Also linked yesterday.)
Amy Brittain & Irin Carmon of the Washington Post: "Incidents of sexual misconduct by Charlie Rose were far more numerous than previously known, according to a new investigation by The Washington Post, which also found three occasions over a period of 30 years in which CBS managers were warned of his conduct toward women at the network. An additional 27 women -- 14 CBS News employees and 13 who worked with him elsewhere -- said Rose sexually harassed them. Concerns about Rose's behavior were flagged to managers at the network as early as 1986 and as recently as April 2017, when Rose was co-anchor of 'CBS This Morning,' according to multiple people with firsthand knowledge of the conversations.... The Post's investigation is based on interviews over a five-month period with 107 current and former CBS News employees as well as two dozen others who worked with Rose at other television programs. Many of those interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. The Post corroborated specific accounts with witnesses or people in whom they confided."
Medlar's Sports Report. The So-Called "Redskins" Is the Best Sports Team Ever. Juliet Macur of the New York Times: "When the Washington Redskins took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica in 2013 for a calendar photo shoot, the first cause for concern among the cheerleaders came when Redskins officials collected their passports upon arrival at the resort.... For the photo shoot, at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort on Culebra Bay, some of the cheerleaders said they were required to be topless, though the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity. Others wore nothing but body paint.... A contingent of sponsors and FedExField suite holders -- all men -- were granted up-close access to the photo shoots.... Some of the male sponsors had picked ... nine of the 36 cheerleaders ... to be personal escorts at a nightclub.... 'They weren't putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go,' one of the cheerleaders said. 'We weren't asked, we were told. Other girls were devastated because we knew exactly what [the squad's director] was doing.'... After Daniel Snyder bought the Redskins in 1999, the cheerleading program was given a makeover. He brought it in-house -- it had operated independently -- and its style became increasingly risqué." Read on.
Beyond the Beltway
Jason Hancock of the Kansas City Star: Missouri "Gov. Eric Greitens' former campaign manager told the Missouri attorney general’s office that the governor knowingly lied to the state ethics commission about how he came to possess a donor list belonging to a veterans charity. He also says he was tricked by the governor's political advisers into taking the blame. The allegations were included in a 23-page report released Wednesday afternoon by a Missouri House committee investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the governor." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ordinary Heroes. Errin Whack of the AP: "Two black men arrested for sitting at a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering anything settled with the city Wednesday for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. The men and their lawyer told The Associated Press the settlement was an effort to make sure something positive came out of the incident."
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