The Commentariat -- January 20, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Mrs. McC: According to the WashPo these jamokes from the "Ohio Patriots" attended the Richmond rally. If I were wandering down the street and came upon them, I would not continue window-shopping.The Washington Post liveblogged a gun-rights rally in Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch liveblog is here. The rally appears to have come & gone with no major incidents.

Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump's legal team will call on the Senate on Monday to 'swiftly reject' the impeachment charges and acquit him, maintaining that he committed no impeachable offense and has been the victim of an illegitimate partisan effort to take him down. In a lengthy brief to be submitted to the Senate the day before his trial begins in earnest, the president's lawyers plan to make the most sustained argument the White House has advanced since the House opened its impeachment inquiry last fall, contending that the two articles of impeachment approved largely along party lines were constitutionally flawed and set a dangerous precedent. Mr. Trump's lawyers plan to dismiss the largely party-line impeachment by the House as a 'brazenly political act' following a 'rigged process' that should be repudiated by the Senate...." Still vacationing in Florida, Trump tweeted, 'Cryin'; Chuck Schumer is now asking for 'fairness', when he and the Democrat House members worked together to make sure I got ZERO fairness in the House." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New Lede: "President Trump's legal team called on the Senate on Monday to 'swiftly reject' the impeachment charges and acquit him, arguing that lawmakers would 'permanently weaken the presidency' by removing him from office over what it characterized as policy and political differences. In a 110-page brief submitted to the Senate the day before his trial begins in earnest, the president's lawyers advanced their first sustained legal argument since the House opened its inquiry last fall, contending that the two articles of impeachment approved largely along party lines were constitutionally flawed and set a dangerous precedent." Politico's story is here. The brief, via the White House, is here.

Impeachment Is Not Enough. Henry Giroux in Salon: "What is often ignored in the mainstream media is that Trump's impeachment battle is part of the wider historical and global struggle taking place over democracy and can be seen, as Larry Diamond points out, in Trump's attack on 'the independence of the courts, the business community, the media, civil society, universities and sensitive state institutions like the civil service, the intelligence agencies and the police.' Trump's crimes far exceed what is stated in the impeachment documents and include not only endless lies, threats and flirtation with extralegal violence but also his attack on the press as the 'enemy of the people.'" Thanks to NJC for the link.

Christina Wilkie of CNBC (Jan. 17): "The Trump administration is 'looking at' making changes to a decades-old global anti-bribery law, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters on Friday.... The questions about possible changes to the FCPA were sparked by revelations in a soon-to-be-released book about Trump, which describes an episode in which Trump bitterly complained about the law, which he sees as a hindrance to U.S. businesses competing overseas. According to Washington Post reporters Phillip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, in 2017 Trump told his then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that it was 'just so unfair that American companies aren't allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas.'" Trump then said he needed Tillerson "to get rid of that law." Tillerson declined, so Trump told Stephen Miller to draft an executive order. Don't know what happened to that, but as Wilkie notes, such an order would be subject to court challenge. "Business experts, however, say the FCPA is a powerful tool for fighting corruption around the world, and a perfect example of American 'soft power,' or the influence that the U.S. exerts simply by virtue of its reputation." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

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Charles Blow of the New York Times: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "evolution, toward a more 'solid realism,' toward the more rational King, toward the more radical King, is why I happen to believe that one of King's most consequential speeches is a little-discussed address he gave in 1967 at Stanford University. It was called 'The Other America.' In it, King blasted 'large segments of white society' for being 'more concerned about tranquillity and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity.' He slammed what he called the 'white backlash' for being the cause of black discontent and demands for black power, rather than the result of it, calling it 'merely a new name for an old phenomenon.'"

Meg Kinnard of the AP: "In the closing days before the first votes are cast in the Democratic presidential contest, the party's leading hopefuls are splitting their time between the critical early-voting states South Carolina and Iowa at events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats vote first for their nominee, South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary is a crucial proving ground for a candidate's mettle with black voters. The state's showcase holiday celebration, Columbia's King Day at the Dome, is a notable and highly visible event for a Democratic politician. The festivities are marked by a march through the streets of downtown Columbia and a rally at the Statehouse. All the top-tier candidates -- former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California businessman Tom Steyer, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren -- plan to start Monday with prayer services around Columbia. Joining them in the capital are Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick." More on the presidential race linked below.

Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Democrats are intensifying their demands for more testimony and documents that could add to the already voluminous evidence against [Donald Trump] and bolster their case by shedding new light on several key questions..... On Sunday, Representative Adam B. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the lead House impeachment manager, said he was concerned that the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency were withholding information about Ukraine out of fear of angering the president." LaFraniere lists & elaborates on key questions that more information, both in the form of testimony & documentation, could answer. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Republican Senators continue to argue that House managers are clamoring for witnesses & documents because they "have a weak case." This argument is disingenuous on a number of fronts, most notably of course is that the reason for the "weak case" is that Trump stonewalled the investigation to the max. But Democrats too seldom mention that the stonewalling in fact proves the case for both articles of impeachment: if Trump had not committed impeachable high crimes, he would testify, he would have swamped the House committees with documents, and he would demand his subordinates do the same. In any real trial, the prosecution would have obtained these documents (assuming the perps didn't shred them) & would have deposed pertinent witnesses. Trump has used the power of his office to subvert the course of justice, and his complaints about not receiving "due process" (a Constitutional right that does not apply to impeachments) is beyond ludicrous. ~~~

~~~ John Bresnahan of Politico has a related report on Adam Schiff's assertions, which extend to national security matters other than Ukraine.

Alayna Treene & Jonathan Swan of Axios: "People close to the president say their most compelling argument to persuade nervous Republican senators to vote against calling new witnesses is the claim that they're protecting national security.... Sources close to Trump's legal team have privately expressed confidence that former national security adviser [John] Bolton will ultimately honor Trump's assertion of executive privilege." Mrs. McC: Right. Because national security experts and "experts," who in every other administration testify before Congress on a quasi-regular basis, have no idea how to deflect questions that might, in fact, compromise national security by, say, revealing sources & methods. The usual public answer to compromising questions, I believe, is, "That is something we could only discuss in a classified setting."

Laurence Tribe in a Washington Post op-ed: "The president's lawyers have made the sweeping assertion that the articles of impeachment against President Trump must be dismissed because they fail to allege that he committed a crime -- and are, therefore, as they said in a filing with the Senate, 'constitutionally invalid on their face.' Another of his lawyers, my former Harvard Law School colleague Alan Dershowitz, claiming to represent the Constitution rather than the president as such, makes the backup argument that the articles must be dismissed because neither abuse of power nor obstruction of Congress can count as impeachable offenses. Both of these arguments are baseless. Senators weighing the articles of impeachment shouldn't think that they offer an excuse for not performing their constitutional duty. The argument that only criminal offenses are impeachable has died a thousand deaths in the writings of all the experts on the subject, but it staggers on like a vengeful zombie.... With virtually no federal criminal law in place when the Constitution was written in 1787, any such understanding would have been inconceivable.... Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 65 defined 'high crimes and misdemeanors' as 'those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.'" Tribe goes on to demolish Dershowitz's argument, which is founded on gross misrepresentations of historical facts. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, this ABC News report states Dershowitz's argument without attempting to refute it or report any refutations others might have made. Mrs. McC: In reviewing the transcript of George Stephanopoulos' interview of Dershowitz, it's clear that viewers of ABC's "This Week" also heard Dershowitz's fake argument with no pushback from Stephanopoulos, who -- in fairness -- can't be expected to know the details of Andrew Johnson's impeachment. He can be expected, however, to invite a guest -- like Larry Tribe -- who does have the knowledge to counter Dershowitz's false claims. This, obviously, is how Trump-Dershowitz get to poison the public -- i.e., the November jurors -- with false defenses of Trump.

Mrs. McCrabbie: It appears that Trump's "defense" is to give senators a grabbag of fake excuses to pretend they considered the "facts" and duly rejected actual evidence presented by House managers. It will work. And do count on the fakiest faker of them all, Susan Collins, to latch onto one or more of these bogus defenses as she casts her vote against removing Trump from office.

The Reluctant Advocate. Vicky Ward & Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Alan Dershowitz ... said Sunday the President had to call his wife, Carolyn Cohen, to persuade her to support the idea of Dershowitz making the case for 'the Constitution' in the Senate impeachment trial.... Trump was especially fixated on having controversial defense attorney Dershowitz on the legal team. But Dershowitz has been telling his own associates he didn't want to participate in the President's trial, a source who is familiar with these conversations told CNN. White House officials have applied a lot of pressure over the last several weeks to convince Dershowitz to join the team, sources familiar with the attorney's appointment said. Dershowitz has distanced himself from the Trump legal team and earlier Sunday, he told CNN's Brianna Keilar on 'State of the Union' he would not be involved in the day-to-day with the legal team -- noting that he will just be there to argue the specific issue of constitutional criteria for impeachment, making 'what could be the most important argument on the floor.'

The Impartial Juror, Ctd. Eleanor Mueller of Politico: "... Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who's reported to have played a central role in trying to convince Ukraine to investigate a Trump political rival, is' not relevant' to the Senate impeachment trial, Sen. John Cornyn said Sunday. 'That's a relationship that causes some of us to sort of scratch our heads,' the Texas Republican said on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'But I'd say he's not relevant to the articles and what the Senate is going to be asked to do, impeaching a president for the third time in American history for a non-crime over events that never occurred."

George Conway in a Washington Post op-ed: "This is what happens when you don't pay your legal bills .... -- which is part of the reason [Trump] found the need to make some curious last-minute tweaks to his team, announcing the addition of the legal odd couple of Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth W. Starr.... There was the fact that he would be an erratic client who'd never take reasonable direction -- direction as in shut up and stop tweeting.... That left Trump to be personally defended in the Mueller investigation by a random patchwork of counsel, including Jay Sekulow, a lawyer specializing in religious liberty cases, and John Dowd, a Washington solo practitioner who, according to Bob Woodward, viewed Trump as a 'f---ing liar.' (Dowd denies that [Ms. McC: which I supposed makes Dowd a fucking liar, too].) Last but not least, Trump had the assistance of Rudolph W. Giuliani -- who has done more than anyone other than Trump himself to get Trump impeached." Read on if you have a WashPo subscription; Conway really knocks Dershowitz & Starr.

Jonathan Chait: Saturday, "in response to a detailed 111-page brief outlining the House of Representatives' case for impeachment, President Trump's legal time filed a six-page response. It is notable primarily for advancing an audacious and highly dangerous constitutional claim: that a president cannot be impeached for any abuse of power.... According to its reasoning, a president can only be impeached for a literal criminal violation.... The first problem with this argument is that it rests on incorrect facts.... Last Thursday, the Government Accountability Office formally ruled that withholding the aid did violate the law.... Second..., there is no evidence that impeachment was designed to deal solely with violations of federal law.... Finally, as a constitutional principle, the notion ... would turn impeachment into a ludicrously ill-fitting solution for the problem it was designed to solve. It implies Trump could not be impeached for promising to pardon anybody who murdered his political rivals, but could be impeached if he resold a mattress that was missing its tags.... Trump believes profoundly that a president can use the government exactly as he sees fit. In his mind, 'abuse of power' is an oxymoron.... And now the authoritarian conviction that Trump believes as a matter of instinct has been sanctified as a formal legal theory, endorsed by presidential lawyers."

Ha Ha, Just Kidding! Jon Swaine of the Washington Post: "A Dutch supporter of President Trump said Saturday that he supplied a Republican candidate with purported intelligence on the movements of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine last year, taking responsibility for text messages that raised concerns the diplomat was placed under surveillance. But the supporter, Anthony De Caluwe, said in a statement that he was not involved in any surveillance of then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and that the messages were merely 'ridiculous banter' with the congressional candidate, Robert F. Hyde, who in recent days became entangled in the impeachment case against Trump. 'My engagement in this exchange with Rob is something that has no credibility,' De Caluwe said in the statement, which was emailed to The Washington Post by a spokeswoman. The spokeswoman, Karyn Turk, said that De Caluwe had never been to Ukraine and had no contacts in the country." (Also linked yesterday.)

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Standing against a backdrop of Chinese and American flags, President Trump welcomed by name a roster of corporate executives and Wall Street bankers to the signing of his landmark trade deal with Beijing.... It illustrated how a president who once railed against financial industry greed and vowed to remake the Republican Party as a 'workers' party' has prioritized corporate America's desires. Trump's high-profile China deal celebration included billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, a private equity investor; Sheldon Adelson, whose company owns casinos in the Chinese territory of Macau; and Hank Greenberg, the former head of American International Group. Numerous representatives of companies like Honeywell and Boeing that have outsourced jobs to China in recent years joined them, but no representatives of organized labor attended. 'There is precious little in this deal that addresses China's long-standing denial of basic labor rights,' said Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO. 'It is another big giveaway to Wall Street and Big Pharma and prioritizes new protections for companies that move to China, creating even more incentives for outsourcing.'"

** Joseph Stiglitz, in Common Dreams, republished in RawStory: "It is becoming conventional wisdom that US President Donald Trump will be tough to beat in November, because, whatever reservations about him voters may have, he has been good for the American economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.... In fact, US economic performance over the past four years is Exhibit A in the indictment against relying on these indicators [of GDP and the stock market].... US life expectancy, already relatively low, fell in each of the first two years of Trump's presidency, and in 2017, midlife mortality reached its highest rate since World War II.... Millions have lost their [healthcare] coverage, and the uninsured rate has risen, in just two years, from 10.9% to 13.7%.... In 2017 ... [deaths of despair, caused by alcohol, drug overdoses, and suicide] stood at almost four times their 1999 level.... If fully implemented, the 2017 tax cut will result in tax increases for most households in the second, third, and fourth income quintiles.... Making matters worse, the growth that has occurred is not environmentally sustainable[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is formerly chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

** William Saletan of Slate: "It's hard to keep up with ... Donald Trump's scandals. One day he's covering up taxpayer-funded travel expenses for his family. The next, he's stealing money for his border wall. The next, he's being implicated by an accomplice in the extortion of Ukraine. But one horror is right out in the open: Trump is a remorseless advocate of crimes against humanity. His latest threats against Iran, Iraq, and Syria are a reminder that he's as ruthless as any foreign dictator. He's just more constrained.... But Trump's election and his persistent approval from more than 40 percent of Americans are a reminder that nothing in our national character protects us from becoming a rapacious, authoritarian country. What protects us are institutions that stop us from doing our worst." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "Three years after taking the oath of office, President Trump has made more than 16,200 false or misleading claims.... We started this project as part of our coverage of the president's first 100 days, largely because we could not possibly keep up with the pace and volume of the president's misstatements.... In 2017, Trump made 1,999 false or misleading claims. In 2018, he added 5,689 more, for a total of 7,688. And in 2019, he made 8,155 suspect claims.... He averaged six such claims a day in 2017, nearly 16 a day in 2018 and more than 22 in 2019.... The president added to his total on Sunday evening with more than 20 Trumpian claims -- many old favorites -- during a triumphant speech at the annual conference of the American Farm Bureau. He incorrectly described trade agreements -- suggesting Canadian dairy tariffs were eliminated and an agreement with Japan to reduce tariffs on $7 billion of farm products was 'a $40 billion deal' -- and also falsely asserted that 'tough' farmers and ranchers were crying as he signed a repeal of Obama-era regulations. A video of the event shows no one crying."

Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Josh Lederman, et al., of NBC News: "The top White House official responsible for Russia and Europe has been put on indefinite administrative leave amid a security-related investigation, two U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The official, Andrew Peek, who took over the Russia portfolio at the National Security Council in November, had been scheduled to join ... Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week before he was abruptly put on leave, one of the officials said. The officials declined to specify the nature of the investigation.... Peek, whose background is in Middle East affairs, took over the Russia and Europe portfolio from Tim Morrison, who was a key witness in House hearings on Trump's impeachment. The Russia and Europe role is the same one that was previously occupied by Fiona Hill, another key impeachment witness during last year's hearings." ~~~

~~~ Deb Reichmann of the AP: "Andrew Peek was escorted off the White House compound on Friday, according to one of those familiar with his departure."

Presidential Race

** New York Times Editors endorse Elizabeth Warren & Amy Klobuchar for Democratic presidential nominee -- and president. Mrs. McC: This makes me feel pretty smart, as several weeks back I narrowed my choice to these two candidates, too. I've about decided on Warren, but I have a few weeks to change my mind. If you intend to vote in a Democratic primary, you probably should read this piece -- even if you've already decided on another candidate. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "The New York Times editorial board endorsed the two leading female candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Sunday, throwing its support behind Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The board's decision to back not one but two candidates is a significant break with convention, one that it says is meant to address the 'realist' and 'radical' models being presented to voters by the 2020 Democratic field. While arguing that President Trump must be defeated, the board does not take a position on the best path forward for Democrats, writing that both approaches 'warrant serious consideration.' (The editorial board is separate from the New York Times newsroom.)"

Beyond the Beltway

Alan Suderman & Sarah Rankin of the AP: "Virginia's capital city is bracing for the expected arrival of thousands of gun-rights activists and other groups that have vowed to descend on Richmond to protest Democrats' plans to pass gun-control legislation. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead of Monday's rally, banning all weapons including guns from the event on Capitol Square. Militia groups and white supremacists were among those expected to mix with gun-rights activists, raising fears the state could again see the type of violence that exploded in Charlottesville in 2017." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If we had a normal president, we would expect him or her to offer assistance or at least support safe conditions in a fraught situation. BUT. Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "Some saw ... Donald Trump's tweet Friday, saying 'Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,' as a call to join Monday's rally." Maybe that's what "some" saw; I see it as an effort to cause mayhem and possible injury or loss of life. He's itching to make another "good people on both sides" speech in an election year to get out the neo-Nazi vote. ~~~

~~~ Lois Beckett of the Guardian: "Anti-fascist activists will not mount a counter-protest at a gun rights rally at Virginia's state capitol on Monday that is expected to attract thousands, including white supremacists and anti-government militia groups. Anti-fascists from Richmond and Charlottesville publicly advised supporters to avoid the rally altogether, citing serious safety concerns. Molly Conger, a journalist and activist, told the Guardian activists in Charlottesville had agreed to encourage supporters to stay away."

Way Beyond

China. Reuters: "China is stepping up restrictions on the production, sale and use of single-use plastic products, according to the state planner, as it seeks to tackle one of the country's biggest environmental problems.... The United Nations has identified single-use plastics as one of the world's biggest environmental challenges.... [P]lastic bags would be banned in all of China's major cities by the end of 2020 and banned in all cities and towns in 2022." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian, sitcom star and political neophyte, catapulted to the presidency of Ukraine last spring on a promise of sweeping away the country's shadowy web of money and influence. Now, as Mr. Zelensky faces pressure to deliver on his promises, he is finding that actually bringing the corrupt officials and oligarchs to heel is a lot harder than satirizing them on his former TV show, 'Servant of the People.'... Further complicating an already daunting task, Mr. Zelensky has been forced to deal with the fallout from the Trump administration's pressure campaign in Ukraine...." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

AP: "Police in Kansas City, Missouri, say at least two people are dead and 15 people were reportedly injured in a shooting outside a bar. The shooting took place shortly before midnight Sunday, Kansas City police said at the scene. Capt. David Jackson told news outlets at the scene that responding officers found 'a chaotic scene' and had to call in help from around the city. A man and a woman were found dead. Police believe the shooter is the deceased man, Jackson said in a statement. A spokesman said the shooter opened fire on a line of people waiting to enter a bar, but the motive for the shooting wasn't immediately clear. The shooter was shot by an armed security guard, police said."

AP: "The search for a suspect continued Sunday night after two people were killed and five others were injured following a shooting during a concert at a San Antonio club, Texas authorities said. Police said officers were called shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday to the Ventura, a music venue and bar located along the Museum Reach portion of the San Antonio River Walk. An argument broke out inside of the club and one person pulled out a gun and started shooting, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. One victim died at the scene, and another six were transported to a hospital, where one was pronounced dead shortly after arrival."

AP: "A Hawaii man with a history of run-ins with police and neighbors was facing eviction when he stabbed his landlord and killed two officers before the house he and two women were believed to be in burned, authorities and neighbors said Sunday. Police responding to a call for help found a woman who had been stabbed in the leg and resident Jaroslav 'Jerry' Hanel, in his 60s, opened fire, killing Officers Tiffany Enriquez, a seven-year veteran, and Kaulike Kalama, a nine-year veteran, Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said. Police suspect he and two women were inside the house when it caught fire, and Ballard said it could take days for authorities to process evidence and recover any remains."

The Commentariat -- January 19, 2020

Late Morning Update:

Ha Ha, Just Kidding! Jon Swaine of the Washington Post: "A Dutch supporter of President Trump said Saturday that he supplied a Republican candidate with purported intelligence on the movements of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine last year, taking responsibility for text messages that raised concerns the diplomat was placed under surveillance. But the supporter, Anthony De Caluwe, said in a statement that he was not involved in any surveillance of then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and that the messages were merely 'ridiculous banter' with the congressional candidate, Robert F. Hyde, who in recent days became entangled in the impeachment case against Trump. 'My engagement in this exchange with Rob is something that has no credibility,' De Caluwe said in the statement, which was emailed to The Washington Post by a spokeswoman. The spokeswoman, Karyn Turk, said that De Caluwe had never been to Ukraine and had no contacts in the country."

** Joseph Stiglitz, in Common Dreams, republished in RawStory: "It is becoming conventional wisdom that US President Donald Trump will be tough to beat in November, because, whatever reservations about him voters may have, he has been good for the American economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.... In fact, US economic performance over the past four years is Exhibit A in the indictment against relying on these indicators [of GDP and the stock market].... US life expectancy, already relatively low, fell in each of the first two years of Trump's presidency, and in 2017, midlife mortality reached its highest rate since World War II...Millions have lost their [healthcare] coverage, and the uninsured rate has risen, in just two years, from 10.9% to 13.7%.... In 2017 ... [deaths of despair, caused by alcohol, drug overdoses, and suicide] stood at almost four times their 1999 level.... If fully implemented, the 2017 tax cut will result in tax increases for most households in the second, third, and fourth income quintiles.... Making matters worse, the growth that has occurred is not environmentally sustainable[.]" --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is formerly chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

** William Saletan of Slate: "It's hard to keep up with ... Donald Trump's scandals. One day he's covering up taxpayer-funded travel expenses for his family. The next, he's stealing money for his border wall. The next, he's being implicated by an accomplice in the extortion of Ukraine. But one horror is right out in the open: Trump is a remorseless advocate of crimes against humanity. His latest threats against Iran, Iraq, and Syria are a reminder that he's a ruthless as any foreign dictator. He's just more constrained.... But Trump's election and his persistent approval from more than 40 percent of Americans are a reminder that nothing in our national character protects us from becoming a rapacious, authoritarian country. What protects us are institutions that stop us from doing our worst." --s

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian, sitcom star and political neophyte, catapulted to the presidency of Ukraine last spring on a promise of sweeping away the country's shadowy web of money and influence. Now, as Mr. Zelensky faces pressure to deliver on his promises, he is finding that actually bringing the corrupt officials and oligarchs to heel is a lot harder than satirizing them on his former TV show, 'Servant of the People.'... Further complicating an already daunting task, Mr. Zelensky has been forced to deal with the fallout from the Trump administration's pressure campaign in Ukraine...."

Reuters: "China ;is stepping up restrictions on the production, sale and use of single-use plastic products, according to the state planner, as it seeks to tackle one of the country's biggest environmental problems.... The United Nations has identified single-use plastics as one of the world's biggest environmental challenges.... [P]lastic bags would be banned in all of China's major cities by the end of 2020 and banned in all cities and towns in 2022." --s

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Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Trump's legal defense team forcefully denied on Saturday that he abused his power by pressuring a foreign government to investigate his political rivals, making Mr. Trump's first formal response to two impeachment charges at the center of the Senate trial that begins next week. The defiant rejection of the accusations came in response to an official summons issued last week by the Senate, notifying Mr. Trump that he faces removal from office if he is convicted. In the six-page letter, his legal team denounced the impeachment case brought by House Democrats as illegitimate, driven by malice toward him and lacking a factual basis. The president's lawyers did not deny any of the core facts underlying Democrats' charges, conceding what ample evidence has shown, that he withheld $391 million from Ukraine and asked the country's president to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter. But they said Mr. Trump broke no laws and was acting entirely appropriately and within his powers when he did so, echoing the president's repeated protestations of his own innocence. They argued that Mr. Trump was not seeking political advantage, but working to root out corruption in Ukraine. ~~~

~~~ "Mr. Trump's response came shortly after the House impeachment managers formally outlined their case for Mr. Trump's removal from office, arguing in a lengthy legal filing that the Senate should convict him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In the 46-page trial memorandum, the House impeachment managers asserted that beginning in the spring, Mr. Trump undertook a corrupt campaign to push Ukraine to publicly announce investigations of his political rivals, withholding as leverage nearly $400 million in military aid and a White House meeting. He then sought to conceal those actions from Congress, they said, refusing to cooperate with a House impeachment inquiry and ordering administration officials not to testify or turn over documents requested by investigators." ~~~

~~~ Darren Samuelsohn, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump launched his first formal attack on the House's effort to remove him from office on Saturday, calling the Democrats' impeachment case against him fatally flawed and 'constitutionally invalid' while blasting the effort as a political hit job by his adversaries. 'This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election,' Trump's lawyers argued in a six-page response filed with the Senate....

"The House managers in their own opening 111-page trial brief featured a slate of evidence that has emerged in the month since the House impeached Trump on Dec. 18.... Among the new evidence the House will rely upon: a Government Accountability Office report that found Trump illegally withheld military aid from Ukraine when he failed to notify Congress of the move.... The brief also cites emails recently unearthed by national security publication Just Security, indicating the legal turmoil that Trump's hold on military aid caused inside his administration. Democrats' argument also includes one reference to Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who turned over multiple flash drives containing evidence to the House in recent days." The article includes a reproduction of Trump's "Answer" to the charges.

Jim Acosta & Pamela Brown of CNN: "Donald Trump has appeared 'distracted' by the impeachment trial that begins on Tuesday, according to a source close to the White House who speaks to the President regularly. 'Why are they doing this to me,' the source quoted Trump as saying repeatedly, telling people around him Friday night at Mar-a-Lago that he 'can't understand why he is impeached.' Trump has been telling associates and allies around him that he wanted a 'high profile' legal team that can perform on television, the source said."

Things Fall Apart, the Senate Cannot Hold. Jonathan Chait: "By seizing on tiny gaps in the evidentiary record -- gaps that existed because Trump refused to release any testimony or documents -- [Republican Senators] denied Trump had withheld a meeting and military aid from Ukraine in order to force investigations. Since then, evidence, some pried loose by lawsuits, has dismantled those defenses. A batch of emails released in late December showed the Office of Management and Budget ordered a freeze on aid almost immediately after Trump's phone call with Ukraine's president. Then, in January, another tranche of emails found the Defense Department raising concerns about the freeze's legality. Weeks later, the Government Accountability Office deemed the freeze illegal, making moot the defense that Trump hadn't technically violated laws.... The most explosive revelations came from a trove of documents turned over by Lev Parnas, a small-time hustler who was recruited by Rudy Giuliani to help run Trump's extortion scheme." Read on. Chait does a nice job of distilling the meaning from the Parnas docs.

Franklin Foer of the Atlantic on how Lev Parnas's allegations bring the Ukraine scandal closer to the Kremlin by invoking Dmytro Firtash, the Ukrainian oligarch who represents Russian interests in Ukraine & -- tho he denies it -- is tied "to the gangster Semion Mogilevich, one of the region's most important Mafia bosses, a man the FBI placed on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list." Firtash himself is fighting extradition to the U.S. on bribery charges. Firtash bankrolled the Three Stooges' efforts to get dirt on Biden and, in return, Rudy Giuliani may have pleaded Firtash's case to Bill Barr. Firtash has despised Joe Biden since 2014 when then-veep Biden "promoted an anti-corruption agenda that included liberating Ukraine's energy sector from Firtash’s dominance." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: My own conspiracy theory is that the whole Ukraine-meddling scheme was a tiny piece of Trump's desire to get in on the millions or billions of dollars to be had through corrupt Kremlin-related schemes. Getting "dirt on Biden" may have been of less interest to him than it was to Firtash, to Putin or to whoever else Trump was hoping would welcome him into the Kremlin's circle of corruption & give him a piece of the pie. This is why Trump can't grasp why he's being impeached: his true motives are different from what the Articles of Impeachment allege. He's in it for the money. Lots of money.

Breakfast at Cipriani's. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Although Donald Trump repeatedly asserts he doesn't know Lev Parnas and has never spoken to him, it has become clear these are lies. There are of course all those two-shots of Trump and Parnas that keep cropping up. But Trump is right that a high-profile person doesn't necessarily "know" many of the people with whom he appears in posed photos. But besides Lev's assertions in his interviews this week, Lev brought receipts. For instance, his day calendar includes a September 2019 entry, "Breakfast with President Trump in NYC." According to Joy Reid of MSNBC, Trump's official schedule showed he had a breakfast at Cipriani's NYC the same day at about the same time. NBC News notes that the breakfast took place "just days before Parnas was indicted." Could Lev have consulted Trump's schedule, then penciled in the breakfast after the fact? Maybe. Also is the latest docudump of Lev's files, there a photo of some other event in which printed place cards for "President Donald Trump" and "Lev Parnas" are placed next to each other at a table. Could Lev have mocked up the table setting? Possibly. But I doubt it. (Also linked yesterday.)

** Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Trump's ascent does not make it harder for women to ascend -- just the opposite.... Trump is once more doing his part to energize women voters. On Friday, we learned that the president will get help from Starr and Dershowitz for the impeachment trial in the Senate.... After playing an avenging Javert about foreplay in the Oval, Starr will now do his utmost to prove that a real abuse of power undermining Congress and American foreign policy is piffle. In 2007, he defended Jeffrey Epstein. By 2016, Starr was being ousted as president of Baptist Baylor University for failing to protect women and looking the other way when football players were accused and sometimes convicted of sexual assaults. In other words, he's a complete partisan hack.... And then there's Dershowitz, whose past clients have included such sterling fellows as Epstein, Claus von Bülow, O.J. Simpson and Harvey Weinstein.... Dershowitz has put himself on the side of an impressive pantheon of villainy in the realm of violence against girls and women."

Edward Moreno of the Hill: "Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he made the call to release to the media hundreds of text messages between two high-ranking FBI employees after they criticized then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, according to new court filings the Justice Department released late Friday night. In the messages, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page insulted Trump as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), expressing a preference for Hillary Clinton in the election. The messages, which were exchanged on government cellphones, also revealed that the two were engaged in an extramarital affair, which has made them the subject of public harassment as well as ridicule from the president.... Strzok and Page filed separate lawsuits against the Department of Justice (DOJ) last year, alleging that the release of their text messages violated the Privacy Act.... In the court filing Friday..., Rosenstein said he decided to release the messages because they would inevitably become public after his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee during the Mueller investigation. He said he also wanted to ensure they weren't 'cherry-picked' by members of the committee." (Also linked yesterday.)

Colby Itkowitz & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "President Trump delivered a dramatic account of the airstrike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, joked that he doesn't care if construction projects kill all the rattlesnakes and noted his indifference to the budget during a private dinner with deep-pocketed donors Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, according to audio files obtained by The Washington Post." A CNN story on Trump's remarks at the fundraiser is linked in yesterday's Commentariat.

Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The National Archives and Records Administration ... apologized on Saturday for altering a photo of protesters at the 2017 Women's March that blurred out references critical of President Trump. 'We made a mistake,' began a statement the archives released on Saturday. The photo of protesters holding signs was part of an exhibit ... which examined the struggle of women to gain the right to vote.... Initially, in a statement to The [Washington] Post, an archives spokeswoman defended the decision.... By Saturday afternoon, three museum officials were seen turning around the photo display.... The display was [then] positioned so that only a blank canvas could be seen. Officials then posted a statement to the public that also apologized for the alterations.... The controversy unfolded as tens of thousands of women gathered in Washington and other cities on Saturday for the fourth Women's March." See also yesterday's Commentariat for context. The Washington Post's story of the Archives' apology is here. An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post -- a man who gets it: In "... blurring out details from protest signs in an image of the 2017 Women's March, including the name of President Trump and references to the female anatomy -- a decision the Archives publicly apologized for on Saturday -- is egregious for multiple reasons.... The Women's March ... was a march for equality, dignity and fair treatment. For many who attended, those issues were newly urgent given the man who had been inaugurated the day before. Many of the signs at the march were directed at Trump's denigrating language, his cavalier comments about groping and kissing women without their consent, his support for denying them the right to control their own bodies and the many accusations of harassment and assault.... Inequality, for women today, is ... something understood directly through their bodies.... Thus, scrubbing out references to women's anatomy in the image was ... censorship of the fundamental message of the Women's March."

Lynn Berry of the AP: "Thousands gathered in cities across the country Saturday as part of the nationwide Women's March rallies focused on issues such as climate change, pay equity, reproductive rights and immigration. Hundreds showed up in New York City and thousands in Washington, D.C. for the rallies, which aim to harness the political power of women, although crowds were noticeably smaller than in previous years. Marches were scheduled Saturday in more than 180 cities."

William Cole of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: "On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, at Pearl Harbor, the Navy is expected to announce that a $12.5 billion aircraft carrier will be named after Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris Miller, the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for valor for his actions on Dec. 7, 1941, when he manned a machine gun on the USS West Virginia to fire back at attacking Japanese planes.... In 1941 an African American was not allowed to man a gun in the Navy, and as far as rank was concerned, 'he could not really get above a messman level,' [Doreen] Ravenscroft[, president of Cultural Arts of Waco (Texas),] said. Miller's actions started to turn the tide, she added. 'Without him really knowing, he actually was a part of the civil rights movement because he changed the thinking in the Navy,' Ravenscroft said Friday.... Miller died on [an escort carrier] when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on Nov. 24, 1943, during the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, according to the Navy."

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian: "The FBI believes the Saudi Arabian government 'almost certainly' helps its citizens flee the country after they are accused of serious crimes, 'undermining the US judicial process,' according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. The surreptitious action is done, in part, to spare the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdom embarrassment, the FBI said. Intelligence officials believe the flights from justice will continue without intervention by the American authorities." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Sex, Lies, But No Videotape. Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times & the Pulitzer Center on the mysterious death of a Marine at Guantánamo Bay. The naval base's commander was involved, has been removed from his post and was convicted of six charges related to the incident in a civilian federal court. The Navy never brought charges against him. Mrs. McC: There's no indication in the story that the commanding officer murdered the Marine, nor was that a subject of the trial, but it does give you an idea that the Navy is willing to let slide some pretty bad behavior. That makes Donald Trump's pardons of four servicemen whom the services did bring charges against look all the worse.

Beyond the Beltway

Puerto Rico. Audrey McNamara of CBS News: "Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced fired the island's emergency management director on Saturday, after a video showing aid sitting unused in a warehouse went viral on social media. Some of the aid has allegedly been sitting in the warehouse since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017.... Garced said in a statement that she has ordered Secretary of State Elmer Roman to conduct a 'thorough investigation into the mishandling of emergency aid in a warehouse in Ponce.'..."

Way Beyond

U.K. BBC News: "Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles and will not receive public funds for royal duties, Buckingham Palace has said. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also said they intend to repay £2.4m of taxpayer money for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home. The couple will also no longer formally represent The Queen. The new arrangement will come into effect in spring this year. It comes after the couple earlier this month said they wanted to step back as senior royals. A statement from the Queen said following 'many months of conversations and more recent discussions' she was 'pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family'. 'Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,' the statement continued." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marrying an American Woman Can Be Hazardous to Your Royal Title. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "However civil, the agreement codifies one of the most dramatic ruptures within the British royal family since King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry an American woman, Wallis Simpson. It is a spectacle that has enthralled and divided Britain, overshadowing even the country's impending departure from the European Union, and provoking conversations around the world about race, privilege and tradition.... The couple plan to spend a majority of their time outside Britain, initially in Canada but later likely in the United States as well, according to officials at the palace."

Venezuela. Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro cast himself as the wily survivor of a dramatic, year-long struggle by the opposition at home and its allies in Washington to unseat him, and said it's now time for direct negotiations with the United States to end the political stalemate that has crippled this nation of some 30 million. In an exclusive, extensive interview with The Washington Post -- his first with a major U.S. media outlet since the day last February he abruptly pulled the plug on a Univision taping and ejected its journalists from the country -- an exuberant Maduro said he had outfoxed his opponents in Caracas and Washington, is comfortably in charge and ready to talk."

The Commentariat -- January 18, 2020

Late Morning Update:

BBC News: "Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer use their HRH titles and will not receive public funds for royal duties, Buckingham Palace has said. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also said they intend to repay £2.4m of taxpayer money for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home. The couple will also no longer formally represent The Queen. The new arrangement will come into effect in spring this year. It comes after the couple earlier this month said they wanted to step back as senior royals. A statement from the Queen said following 'many months of conversations and more recent discussions' she was 'pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family'. 'Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,' the statement continued."

Edward Moreno of the Hill: "Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he made the call to release to the media hundreds of text messages between two high-ranking FBI employees after they criticized then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, according to new court filings the Justice Department released late Friday night. In the messages, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page insulted Trump as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), expressing a preference for Hillary Clinton in the election. The messages, which were exchanged on government cellphones, also revealed that the two were engaged in an extramarital affair, which has made them the subject of public harassment as well as ridicule from the president."

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian: "The FBI believes the Saudi Arabian government 'almost certainly' helps its citizens flee the country after they are accused of serious crimes, 'undermining the US judicial process,' according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. The surreptitious action is done, in part, to spare the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdom embarrassment, the FBI said. Intelligence officials believe the flights from justice will continue without intervention by the American authorities." --s

Breakfast at Cipriani's. Mrs. McCrabbie: Although Donald Trump repeatedly asserts he doesn't know Lev Parnas and has never spoken to him, it has become clear these are lies. There are of course all those two-shots of Trump and Parnas that keep cropping up. But Trump is right that a high-profile person doesn't necessarily "know" many of the people with whom he appears in posed photos. But besides Lev's assertions in his interviews this week, Lev brought receipts. For instance, his day calendar includes a September 2019 entry, "Breakfast with President Trump in NYC." According to Joy Reid of MSNBC, Trump's official schedule showed he had a breakfast at Cipriani's NYC the same day at about the same time. NBC News notes that the breakfast took place "just days before Parnas was indicted." Could Lev have consulted Trump's schedule, then penciled in the breakfast after the fact? Maybe. Also is the latest docudump of Lev's files, there a photo of some other event in which printed place cards for "President Donald Trump" and "Lev Parnas" are placed next to each other at a table. Could Lev have mocked up the table setting? Possibly. But I doubt it.

~~~~~~~~~~

They're trying to impeach the son of a bitch. -- Donald Trump, referring to himself, at an event with Louisiana State football champs yesterday, nearly a month after he was impeached

It's almost as if he's obsessing over something he doesn't understand at all. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Show Trial of the Century. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump plans on adding former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr and the defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz to his legal team for his trial by the Senate, a person briefed on the plan said Friday. Mr. Starr, whose investigation into President Bill Clinton's sexual relationships led to his impeachment, will be joined by Robert Ray, who succeeded Mr. Starr as independent counsel and wrote the final report on Mr. Clinton, the person said. Rounding out the team will be Mr. Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus who became famous as a defense counsel for high-profile defendants like O.J. Simpson. The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and Mr. Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, will lead the legal team." CNN's story is here. No mention of whether or not there will be dogs & ponies. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Emily Shugerman of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump is lawyering up for his impeachment trial with a team that looks surprisingly similar to that of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The president bolstered his legal team Friday with attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, who helped Epstein evade prison time in a now infamously lenient plea deal with Palm Beach prosecutors. Epstein originally faced multiple charges of soliciting and trafficking underage girls, but escaped with just 13 months of house arrest in a deal that caused Trump's Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to resign under pressure last year. A suit unveiled by Virgin Islands prosecutors this week alleges Epstein continued to traffic and abuse girls as young as 12 on his private islands until 2018, a decade after Starr and Dershowitz helped him walk free." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Dershowitz Tries to Distance Himself from Trump. Aris Folley of the Hill: "Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Friday night that he will not be pocketing any money for his work on President Trump's impeachment defense team. During an appearance on 'Anderson Cooper 360,' the attorney said that the details of his payment arrangement haven't 'been discussed' yet, but added: 'If I were to be paid, all the money would go to charity...,' he said. 'I'm doing this because I strongly believe in the Constitution. I strongly oppose the impeachment. I worry about the weaponization of impeachment and it could be used in other cases.... But I'm not part of the regular team that will be making strategic decisions and participating in questions about whether there should be witnesses or not,' Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor who also opposed former President Clinton's impeachment, also clarified. 'That's going to be left to others.'"

Pompeo Speaks. Matthew Lee of the AP: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In interviews with conservative radio hosts, Pompeo said he had no knowledge of the allegations until earlier this week when congressional Democrats released documents from an associate of ... Donald Trump's personal attorney suggesting that Marie Yovanovitch was being watched. He also said he did not know and had never met Lev Parnas...." Mrs. McC: I suspect Pompeo chose these venues because (a) no tough questions and (b) harder to tell someone is lying if you can't see his face. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Also, nice work, Mikey, in predicting the outcome of your fake investigation. No doubt the fake investigators who report to you will know on Day 1 what their "findings" will be. ~~~

~~~ Kate Riga of TPM: "Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, demanded Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's presence at an Iran hearing on Jan. 29 after America's top diplomat skipped the last one.... Engel wrote to Pompeo in a letter dated Thursday. '... I consider your testimony to be of extremely high importance and am prepared to use all legal means to ensure your attendance. I trust, however, that this will not be necessary.'" --s

Jeremy Herb & Manu Raju of CNN: "House Democrats on Friday released new documents from ... Lev Parnas ahead of the Senate trial that includes new information about the apparent surveillance of former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and additional contacts between Parnas and an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes of California.... The new documents include screenshots of undated text messages that appear to show Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut, messaging with a foreign number from Belgium, which appear to describe efforts to surveil Yovanovitch.... The Belgian country-code number sends Hyde a screenshot of an official photo of Yovanovitch. The Belgium number, whose identity is not known, writes 'My contacts are checking,' adding, 'I will give you the address next week.'... In another series of texts, the Belgian number tells Hyde..., 'Nothing has changed she is still not moving they check today again,' shortly adding, 'It's confirmed we have a person inside.' 'She had visitors,' the Belgian number texted in another exchange. The messages come after an earlier document release showed Hyde texting with Parnas about the apparent surveillance." The story contains more info on Parnas' interactions with Derek Harvey, an aide to Nunes. ~~~

~~~ Devin Nunes Must Be Having Another Cow. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House impeachment investigators sought Friday to pull Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, deeper into the Ukraine scandal at the center of ... Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial. A set of text messages released Friday evening by the Intelligence Committee show a top Nunes aide, Derek Harvey [Mrs. McC: who earlier worked in Trump's White House], in frequent contact with Lev Parnas.... The text messages, provided to investigators by Parnas, show Harvey in contact with Parnas throughout the spring of 2019 -- the same time Parnas was working with [Rudy] Giuliani and other Trump allies to remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.... The newly released text messages show Harvey asking Parnas to pursue several lines of inquiry with his Ukrainian contacts, including one regarding what Harvey calls 'rumors' about coordination between the 2016 campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort.... The new text messages add another layer to Nunes' potential involvement in the Giuliani-led effort to oust Yovanovitch and push the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation targeting Biden." ~~~

~~~ Take This Suit & Shove It. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "Rep. Ted Lieu (D) alleged in December that fellow California Rep. Devin Nunes (R) conspired with Lev Parnas ... to undermine the United States. Parnas has pleaded not guilty to violating campaign finance laws. Then a lawyer for Nunes, who is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, sent a multi-page missive threatening to sue for damage to Nunes's reputation, Lieu tweeted. The Democratic congressman replied with a letter of his own and posted a photo of the document online. 'I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes,' he wrote. 'Or, you can take your letter and shove it.' On MSNBC's 'Hardball' on Friday, Lieu doubled down. 'It turns out that based on text messages in the record and the amazing interview on [MSNBC's] Rachel Maddow Show that I'm right,' he said. 'Truth is a defense.'"~~~

~~~ David Knowles of Yahoo! News: "... Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump's attempts to convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr.... Trump, Parnas said [to Rachel Maddow], was made more powerful 'when he got William Barr.'... On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also criticized Barr in harsh terms. 'Does anyone think that the rogue AG is going to appoint a special prosecutor?' Pelosi said in Washington in reference to the revelations stemming from Maddow's interview with Barr. 'No, because he's implicated in all of this. This is an example of all of the president's henchmen. And I hope that the senators do not become part of the president's henchmen.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's easy to think of Parnas as Rudy's goon or Trump's goon. But in fact, especially in understanding the structure of power, he is -- in his own way -- just as smart about it as Jonathan Chait, and Chait, IMO, is a very smart guy. ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan of the Daily Beast: Lev "Parnas told The Daily Beast that his former friends' reaction to his arrest has strengthened his resolve to speak out. Parnas said that after he and his associate Igor Fruman were arrested at Dulles Airport on Oct. 9 and charged with campaign-finance violations, he was disappointed with [Rudy] Giuliani's silence. He said Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing -- a Trump-friendly husband-and-wife legal team with deep and longstanding ties in Washington's conservative legal world -- also kept mum about their relationship with him. That silence, he said, left him feeling betrayed.... He noted that the trio rarely shy away from defending controversial clients and allies on TV. But in his case, Parnas said, they were silent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Swan: "A dinner with Jared and Ivanka about cannabis, a phone call from Trump Hotel with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and a whole lot of theorizing about George Soros. Lev Parnas' interactions with Trumpworld, in his words, went way beyond the Ukraine influence effort. The former ally of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani spent more than a year embedded with some of the president's close outside allies.... He described several of them in an interview with The Daily Beast from his lawyer's office in Midtown Manhattan." --s

Michelle Goldberg: "One good thing about surrounding yourself with tawdry gangsters and grifters is that if they flip on you, you can claim they have no credibility because they're criminals.... A willingness to associate with Trump is a sign of moral turpitude, so most witnesses to his venal schemes will necessarily be compromised.... [Lev] Parnas is worth paying attention to because he's shown us, once again, what Trumpism looks like from the inside. It's part 'The Sopranos' and part, as he put it to [Rachel] Maddow, a 'cult.' The qualities that discredit Parnas are the same ones that let him fit right in."

Josh Kovensky of TPM: "One of Paul Manafort's clients in Ukraine appears to have laid the foundation for theories of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election that are now at the heart of President Trump's pressure campaign on Kyiv, according to an FBI interview released on Friday. The interview notes say that Ukrainian politician Serhiy Lyovochkin -- Manafort's longtime client in Kyiv -- told the former Trump campaign chairman that the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv had demanded information about Manafort from a specialized anti-corruption law enforcement body. The notes came out in FOIA litigation pursued by Buzzfeed and CNN...." --s

Evan Perez & David Shortell of CNN: "Attorney General William Barr briefly attended a meeting at the Justice Department last fall between top criminal prosecutors and ... Rudy Giuliani, a department official said Friday. The meeting reveals a previously undisclosed interaction between two men the President depends on to defend him. Justice officials have sought to distance the department and Barr from Giuliani since it became clear in recent months that the former New York mayor is the subject of an investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors. Giuliani was a part of a team of defense attorneys representing a Venezuelan client when they met with Justice Department officials."

Trump's Enemies List Is Bill Barr's To-Do List. Jonathan Chait: "No single case is egregious enough to prove bias on its own. The pattern of selective prosecution under Trump's Department of Justice, and his fanatically partisan Attorney General William Barr, has become evident in a series of cases that all resemble [the probe of Jim Comey's possible leaks, NYT story linked below]. The connecting thread is that Trump's enemies are scoured for any violation that can be found, and held to the strictest letter of the law, while his allies are given broad latitude.... In theory, there would be nothing wrong with the Department of Justice tightening up its standards of conduct. But all the evidence points to the conclusion those standards are being raised only for Trump's political enemies.... The flagrant nature of the 2016 anti-Clinton [emails!] leaks show just how unseriously the bureau has taken its rules on leaking.... The message Trump has sent to his bureaucracy is unmistakable. Political loyalists will be granted broad latitude, and displays of troublesome independence will be held to the strictest accountability." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jason Leopold, et al. of Buzzfeed: "BuzzFeed News has obtained another set of secret FBI documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe that reveals what key Trump administration officials and other witnesses told investigators about Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the president's attempts to obstruct the inquiry.... Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, said he had his lawyer speak with Fox News host Sean Hannity in January 2018 because he saw Hannity as an 'outlet to the public and the White House.'... Denis Klimentov, who is associated with the New Economic School in Russia, said that when Russians learned that Carter Page ... was involved 'in the Trump campaign in July 2016, the excitement was palpable.'... Interviewing Anatoli Samochornov, the Russian translator at the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, an FBI agent asked 'if he noticed anything odd with the Russian linguists working at' the United Nations or US State Department. Samochornov 'mentioned a few individuals.' Their names are redacted." --s

Trump Cares Deeply about Your Healthcare Costs (to the Extent they Affect His Polling Numbers). Josh Dawsey & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "President Trump lashed out at Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for not doing enough on health care and drug pricing during a campaign meeting this week after he was briefed on polling that showed the public trusted Democrats more than Republicans on the issue, according to four people present at or briefed about the meeting." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan & Caitlin Owens of Axios: "President Trump told his health secretary yesterday that he regrets getting involved in the administration's policy on vaping, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. "I should never have done that f[uck]ing vaping thing," Trump said during an impromptu call on speakerphone in an Oval Office meeting.... The administration's ban on flavored vapes is one of its most prominent health policy decisions, but trying to find a compromise between public health groups and the pro-vaping community caused massive political headaches.... The administration hasn't accomplished much on health care. Congress did not repeal the Affordable Care Act -- Trump's top priority -- and it did not address surprise medical bills, either. The administration has done very little on drug prices, and is urging the courts to throw out protections for pre-existing conditions." A New York Times story is here.

Make a Big Donation, Get a Debriefing. Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Trump recounted minute-by-minute details of the US strike that killed Iran's top military commander during remarks to high-dollar Republican donors at his South Florida estate, according to audio obtained by CNN. Trump, speaking at a GOP fundraising dinner Friday evening, offered new details about the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.... In his speech -- held inside the gilded ballroom on his Mar-a-Lago property -- he claimed that Soleimani was 'saying bad things about our country' before the strike, which led to his decision to authorize his killing. 'How much of this shit do we have to listen to?' Trump asked.... Trump did not describe an 'imminent threat' that led to his decision to kill Soleimani, the justification used by administration officials in the aftermath of the attack.... Trump described in detail watching remotely as Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport, where he was met by Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of Kata'ib Hezbollah. Trump claimed erroneously that Soleimani was meeting "the head of Hezbollah" (the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group is separate from group led by ... al-Muhandis)." Mrs. McC: There were a lot of "sir"s in Trump's description, so we know he made up those parts.

Elizabeth McLaughlin & Mark Osborne of ABC News: "The U.S. military confirmed late Thursday that some American troops were evacuated for blast injuries sustained in Iran's ballistic missile attacks on bases in Iraq last week. Ten service members injured at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq were flown out of the country on Wednesday, and another service member was flown out on Jan. 10. 'While no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,' said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.... In the wake of the attack, which was done in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani..., Donald Trump said no one was injured.... TBI [traumatic brain injury] would not meet the threshold for the Pentagon to be notified of the injuries, and that's why the department was only told on Thursday [about the injuries], officials said." Mrs. McC: So one of the few times Trump has made an untrue statement that wasn't his fault. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "The Trump administration moved on Friday to roll back school nutrition standards championed by Michelle Obama, an effort long sought by food manufacturers and some school districts that have chafed at the cost of Mrs. Obama's prescriptions for fresh fruit and vegetables. The proposed rule by the Agriculture Department, coming on the former first lady's birthday, would give schools more latitude to decide how much fruit to offer during breakfast and what types of vegetables to include in meals. It would also broaden what counts as a snack." The Hill's story is here. Mrs. McC: Having wrecked nearly everything President Obama did, they're going after his wife now. Anyhow, Happy Birthday, Michelle! Can I treat you to a Big Mac & fries with a sugary drink to wash 'em down?

** In a History Exhibit, National Archives Erases Women's History. Joe Heim of the Washington Post: "The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women's suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump's inauguration.... Viewed from one perspective, it shows the 2017 march. Viewed from another angle, it shifts to show a 1913 black-and-white image of a women's suffrage march also on Pennsylvania Avenue. The display links momentous demonstrations for women's rights more than a century apart on the same stretch of pavement. But a closer look reveals a different story. The Archives acknowledged in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women's March showcased at the museum, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump. Words on signs that referenced women's anatomy were also blurred." Mrs. McC: I find this reprehensible. No sex words. No negativity about our Dear Leader. You girls should be more ladylike. How's "Fuck you, Archives!"? ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's a Hill story.

Another Trumpie Goes to Jail. Caroline Kelly & Sheena Jones of CNN: "Former New York [Congressman] Chris Collins [R] was sentenced to 26 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to federal charges in an insider trading case. The sentence from Judge Vernon Broderick in a New York federal court comes after Collins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements in October. Federal prosecutors on Monday recommended that Collins be sentenced to nearly five years in prison. 'You had a duty and you betrayed that duty,' Broderick said, additionally slapping Collins with a $200,000 fine and a year of supervised probation upon his release.... Collins, who was the first sitting congressman to support ... Donald Trump's bid for the White House, resigned from Congress ahead of the guilty plea. By pleading guilty, Collins avoided a broader set of charges from the superseding indictment, including securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud."

Presidential Election

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday accused Democrats of trying to sabotage Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential bid, echoing allegations from Sanders supporters during the 2016 primary. 'They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously,' Trump said in a pair of tweets, claiming that Democrats were using his impeachment trial beginning next week to keep Sanders off the campaign trail in the critical final weeks before the Iowa caucuses. 'They are bringing him out of so important Iowa in order that, as a Senator, he sit through the Impeachment Hoax Trial,' he continued, using derisive nicknames to accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- without evidence -- of orchestrating the timing of the trial to give former Vice President Joe Biden a boost. 'Crazy Nancy thereby gives the strong edge to Sleepy Joe Biden, and Bernie is shut out again. Very unfair, but that's the way the Democrats play the game. Anyway, it's a lot of fun to watch!'" ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The first version of the conspiracy theory was hatched on Twitter last Friday, Jan. 10. 'Don't rule out that the reason Pelosi hasn't sent impeachment to the Senate is to hurt Warren and Sanders, and to help Biden,' Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, tapped out on his iPad. 'By timing the trial so it takes place during the Iowa lead-up, she has leverage over the liberals.'... Seven days later, Mr. Fleischer's theory ... -- for which there is no evidence -- was being promulgated by President Trump.... The evolution from online conspiracy theory to Fox News fodder to presidential talking point demonstrated how a world of conservative influencers, Republican lawmakers and online media outlets can drive disinformation through repetition and amplification. Two days after Mr. Fleischer's tweet, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, repeated it" on Fox News twice.... "His television commentary was then written up by Breitbart News' and the confederate Website the Federalist ran an article touting it. Then Trump tweeted it out.

Pete Williams of NBC News: "The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up an issue that could change a key element of the system America uses to elect its president, with a decision likely in the spring just as the campaign heats up. The answer to the question could be a decisive one: Are the electors who cast the actual Electoral College ballots for president and vice president required to follow the results of the popular vote in their states? Or are they free to vote as they wish?... 'It's not hard to imagine how a single "faithless elector," voting differently than his or her state did, could swing a close presidential election,' said Mark Murray, NBC News senior political editor.... The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in ... said electors can vote for any legitimate candidate.... States are free to choose their electors however they want, the court said, and can even require electors to pledge their loyalty to their political parties. But once the electors are chosen and report in December to cast their votes as members of the electoral college, they are fulfilling a federal function, and a state's authority has ended." The New York Times story, by Adam Liptak, is here.

Susannah Luthi of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Friday said it will revisit whether employers must guarantee free birth control coverage for their workers. It marks the third high court review of the contraception mandate stemming from Obamacare -- and the first since Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court. The provision requires employer-sponsored health plans to provide their enrollees with contraceptive coverage at no extra personal cost. Both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh considered similar cases while appellate court judges, and both showed sympathy for religious groups seeking exemptions from the requirement on moral grounds. Justices this time will review whether the birth control mandate violates religious freedom laws and whether proposed exemptions pushed by the Trump administration that have so far been blocked by lower courts can stand."

Cleve Wootson, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a Washington Post-Ipsos poll of African Americans nationwide ... [found that] while personally optimistic about their own lives, [they] today offer a bleaker view about their community as a whole. They also express determination to try to limit Trump to a single term in office. More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall. The pessimism goes well beyond assessments of the president. A 65 percent majority of African Americans say it is a 'bad time' to be a black person in America." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Balsamo & Jeff Martin of the AP: "Three men linked to a violent white supremacist group known as The Base were charged with conspiring to kill members of a militant anti-fascist group, police in Georgia announced Friday, a day after three other members were arrested on federal charges in Maryland and Delaware. A senior FBI national security official said police and federal agents intentionally moved to arrest the men ahead of Monday's rally because they believed some of them intended to commit violence there. It was unknown if the men arrested in Georgia planned to attend the rally in Richmond. The Base, a collective of hardcore neo-Nazis that operate as a paramilitary organization, has proclaimed war against minority communities within the United States and abroad, the FBI has said. Unlike other extremist groups, it's not focused on promulgating propaganda -- instead the group aims to bring together highly skilled members to train them for acts of violence."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. AP: "A computer security expert says he found that a forensic image of the election server central to a legal battle over the integrity of Georgia elections showed signs that the original server was hacked. The server was left exposed to the open internet for at least six months, a problem the same expert discovered in August 2016. It was subsequently wiped clean in mid-2017 with no notice, just days after election integrity activists filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of what they called the state's unreliable and negligently run election system. In late December 2019, the plaintiffs were finally able to obtain a copy of the server's contents that the FBI made in March 2017 and retained. State officials have said they've seen no evidence that any election-related data was compromised. But they also long refused to submit the server image for an independent examination." Mrs. McC: So this is Republican election officials trying to hide a hack or hacks of their system. If you're still thinking maybe Stacey Abrams really got more votes in the 2018 gubernatorial election -- an election in which her opponent Brian Kemp was "managing" the vote count -- keep on thinking. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kansas. Steve Vockrodt of The Kansas City Star: "A Kansas City area radio station can broadcast Russian state-owned media programming, the type that U.S. intelligence called a 'propaganda machine,' for six hours a day through a lease agreement struck by a local radio operator. RM Broadcasting LLC, a Florida-based company that has agreements to broadcast the Russian state media program Radio Sputnik, reached a deal on Jan. 1...The lease agreement lets RM Broadcasting air its programming from 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. seven days a week. KCXL's website, which says that it's the radio station that will 'tell you the things that the liberal media wont (sic) tell you,' lists Radio Sputnik in its morning programming." --s