Month: May 2019

McConnell is a Hypocrite

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday if a Supreme Court vacancy occurs during next year’s presidential election, he would work to confirm a nominee appointed by President Donald Trump.

That’s a move that is in sharp contrast to his decision to block President Barack Obama’s nominee to the high court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

At the time, he cited the right of the voters in the presidential election to decide whether a Democrat or a Republican would fill that opening, a move that infuriated Democrats.

Speaking at a Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky, McConnell was asked by an attendee, “Should a Supreme Court justice die next year, what will your position be on filling that spot?”

The leader took a long sip of what appeared to be iced tea before announcing with a smile, “Oh, we’d fill it,” triggering loud laughter from the audience.” via CNN

This was always going to be a no-brainer for McConnell, because his rationale for denying Garland a hearing was always bullshit.

In a spectacularly failed attempt at verbal judo, McConnell’s spokesman said the difference is now we have a GOP Senate and a GOP White House, so it makes sense to fill a spot if one opens.

I dunno about you guys, but I’m not buying that.

While we’re talking about McConnell and hypocrites…

His wife is too.

“Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has continued to hold stock in a company she said she would divest from a year prior, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

According to the Journal’s report on Chao’s financial disclosure forms and related documents, the Trump Cabinet official has maintained her holdings in Vulcan Materials — holdings that have gained more than $40,000 over the past year.

In an ethics agreement at the outset of the Trump administration, Chao told the Office of Government Ethics that she would not “participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest,” and said she would resign her position with Vulcan Materials and anticipated receiving a cash payout for her “vested deferred stock units” in 2018, the year after she would separate from the company.” via CNN

So, Mrs. Chao said all the right things… and did exactly none of them. Surprise, surprise. In another interesting bout of verbal gymnastics, this happened:

“A Transportation spokesperson told the Journal that the ethics agreement was flawed and that the department’s ethics official ruled that Chao owning the shares was not a conflict of interest. The department spokesperson who talked to CNN said the department’s designated agency ethics official had determined that holding the stock presented no conflict of interest and that Chao would continue to be disqualified from “Vulcan matters” while holding the stock.”

That’s uh… not how ethics agreements work. I would be really interested in seeing what OGE has to say on this matter.

DOJ agrees to make Mueller court activity public

“The Justice Department said Tuesday it agrees that a federal court in Washington can make public lists describing potentially hundreds of miscellaneous court actions, like search warrants, used in the Mueller investigation.

The department asked for three weeks to make redactions on “a few entries” because of ongoing law enforcement efforts, and a judge said she would give the agency that time.

CNN had asked the court to make the lists public. The unsealing would not necessarily reveal the details of the court filings, but instead give the public a broader overview of how, when and for what Mueller was going to the federal court to gather evidence.” via CNN

I don’t know that we’ll learn a lot of new information from this release, but I’m personally really interested in the search warrants and the electronic surveillance requests – which I seriously doubt will be released. The search warrants could give us some clues into the remaining investigations, though.

Dumb Lies

“James Comey, the former FBI director and frequent presidential punching bag, derided President Donald Trump on Tuesday for perpetuating what he called “dumb lies” about the bureau and the origins of the Russia investigation.

“There was no corruption. There was no treason. There was no attempted coup,” Comey wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “Those are lies, and dumb lies at that. There were just good people trying to figure out what was true, under unprecedented circumstances.” via Politico

I know many of you are tired of hearing from James Comey. Admittedly, I’m not. I’m a fan. I don’t agree with all of the decisions he made in 2016, but I do understand the precarious position he was in. This op-ed knocks it out of the park, though. I won’t quote the whole thing here, but this is really, really good:

“It is tempting for normal people to ignore our president when he starts ranting about treason and corruption at the FBI. I understand the temptation. I’m the object of many of his rants, and even I try to ignore him.

But we shouldn’t, because millions of good people believe what a president of the United States says. In normal times, that’s healthy. But not now, when the president is a liar who doesn’t care what damage he does to vital institutions. We must call out his lies that the FBI was corrupt and committed treason, that we spied on the Trump campaign and tried to defeat Donald Trump. We must constantly return to the stubborn facts.

Russia engaged in a massive effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Near as I can tell, there is only one U.S. leader who still denies that fact. The FBI saw the attack starting in mid-June 2016, with the first dumping of stolen emails. In late July, when we were hard at work trying to understand the scope of the effort, we learned that one of Trump’s foreign policy advisers knew about the Russian effort seven weeks before we did.

In April 2016, that adviser talked to a Russian agent in London, learned that the Russians had obtained “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails and that the Russians could assist the Trump campaign through the anonymous release of information damaging to Clinton. Of course, nobody from the Trump campaign told us this (or about later Russian approaches); we had to learn it, months after the fact, from an allied ambassador.

But when we finally learned of it in late July, what should the FBI have done? Let it go? Go tell the Trump campaign? Tell the press? No. Investigate, to see what the facts were. We didn’t know what was true. Maybe there was nothing to it, or maybe Americans were actively conspiring with the Russians. To find out, the FBI would live up to its name and investigate.

As director, I was determined that the work would be done carefully, professionally and discreetly. We were just starting. If there was nothing to it, we didn’t want to smear Americans. If there was something to it, we didn’t want to let corrupt Americans know we were onto them. So, we kept it secret. That’s how the FBI approaches all counterintelligence cases.”

Disaster relief blocked again

“Another House Republican on Tuesday thwarted attempts to pass a bipartisan disaster aid package, further delaying $19 billion in emergency relief and frustrating lawmakers whose states were hit by devastating hurricanes, wildfires and flooding.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who objected to the bill’s passage during a voice vote, demanded that the vote be held after the House returns from recess next week — making it all but impossible that President Donald Trump can sign the package before early June.

“If the speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the speaker of this House should have called a vote on this legislation before sending its members on recess for 10 days,” Massie said on the floor, flanked by fellow conservative Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia, who also objected to the bill’s passage.

The objection by some House conservatives is now the sole hurdle to clearing the $19 billion package, which had been stalled for nearly six months until an eleventh-hour deal in the Senate last Thursday.” via Politico

These are really dumb objections. The House Minority Leader and Minority Whip both agreed to the $19 million proposal, because it’s kind of asinine to deny your fellow countrymen aid when they need it, but here we are with a couple of GOP holdouts.

At a time when Trump is trying to save farmers with socialism, er, I mean, bailouts, and we’re seeing record numbers of tornadoes striking the country, there are a few members of the GOP who inexplicably don’t want to help. I suspect that won’t help *them* much in 2020.

Stone loses again

“A federal court denied, for the second time, Roger Stone’s attempt to get a new judge overseeing his criminal case.

When the case was filed, prosecutors indicated that it related to a separate criminal case against Russian military officers alleging the hack of Democrats in 2016. Stone was not charged in that alleged conspiracy, and instead faces several counts of witness tampering, obstruction and lying.

He has objected to his case being grouped with the Russians’ twice, and both times Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied his attempts. If she had agreed, his case may have been reassigned to a different judge.” via CNN

The schadenfreude is strong with this story. Stone is totally defeated, broke, and fundraising in any way he can… which is exactly what he deserves after his lifetime of hanging out with degenerates like Trump.

Trump begins the appeal process

“President Donald Trump’s attorneys are appealing a ruling by a federal judge ordering an accounting firm to comply with a congressional subpoena, acting fast on the one-week window until the firm turns over Trump’s personal, business and charity financial records and communications to House Democrats.

The President’s private legal team filed the notice of appeal at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals not even a day after losing their fight against the subpoena in the lower court. The deadline for the accounting firm, Mazars, to comply with the subpoena is next Monday.

The case was a quick and brutal loss for Trump among several efforts he has made in recent weeks to fend off Congress’ pursuit of his financial history.

On Monday, federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled that that Congress was well within its power to subpoena his records, especially if it was investigating the President for ethical lapses. Mehta cited investigations of presidents throughout history that led to reforms by Congress.” via CNN

I love, love, LOVE how the courts aren’t letting Trump slow-walk this. This case was expedited, I suspect the appeal will be too. The really juicy part of the appeal process is that – unless he recuses – Merrick Garland will be the one to hear Trump’s argument.

Karma, you beautiful b*#$&, you.

Let’s see the taxes!

“A draft confidential memo from the Internal Revenue Service last fall determined that tax returns must be surrendered to Congress unless the president opts to invoke executive privilege, The Washington Post reported.

The move comes as President Donald Trump steadfastly refuses to hand over his tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin flouted a subpoena from committee Chairman Richard Neal for Trump’s tax returns last Friday, arguing that he is “not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information” for a request that “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.”

But according to the memo, turning over the tax documents to Congress “is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs,” the Post reported — regardless of the professed reason for the request.

Current legislation “does not allow the Secretary to exercise discretion in disclosing the information provided the statutory conditions are met,” the memo concludes, adding that “the Secretary’s obligation to disclose return and return information would not be affected by the failure of a tax writing committee … to state a reason for the request.” via CNN

This is what most of us have been arguing on Twitter since the beginning. The law is very clear: it says the IRS “shall” furnish upon request. Not furnish if they feel like it. Not furnish with a good enough reason. Shall. Furnish.

It’s not clear to me – or anyone else who understands how the law works – how the President could invoke Executive Privilege on his personal tax returns. I’m sure he’ll give it a shot, but that’s just another notch in the obstruction belt, and another court battle he’s going to lose.

Tillerson meets with Congress to discuss Trump

“Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quietly met with the top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday for an interview that focused primarily on his time in the Trump administration, a congressional aide with direct knowledge of the discussion confirmed to CNN.

Tillerson traveled to Capitol Hill where he sat down with the committee’s Democratic chairman Rep. Eliot Engel and ranking Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the aide said, adding that the administration dealings with Russia and uncertainty surrounding the role of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in deciding foreign policy.

The interview lasted roughly seven hours, including breaks, the same source said.” via CNN

It will be interesting to see what came out of this meeting, as Tillerson has previously accused Trump of ordering him to break the law and violate treaties.

Seven hours is an eternity when you’re only talking to two people. Must have had a lot to say.

Mueller wins again

“The legal options for former Roger Stone aide Andrew Miller narrowed further Tuesday as a federal appeals court denied a stay that could have made it easier for Miller to take his fight against a grand jury subpoena to the Supreme Court.

Without comment, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request from Miller’s attorney to put off its formal release of the case to allow him to try to interest the Supreme Court in the challenge to special counsel Robert Mueller’s authority. Having turned down a series of pleas from Miller, the appeals court said it plans to issue its final disposition of the case next Tuesday.” via Politico

One day, these people are going to learn to stop challenging Mueller. He did everything by the book. But then again, they aren’t very smart, so maybe not.

Impeachment talk intensifies

“Freshman Democrats who delivered the House majority are starting to split under impeachment pressure as a number of those in competitive districts are now warming to the idea of launching proceedings against President Donald Trump.

As the administration continues to stonewall requests for documents — not just surrounding special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation but also around oversight probes into other agencies and Trump’s finances — Democrats are growing frustrated. Some freshmen are asking what recourse can be taken other than an impeachment inquiry — a tactic presented by a number of veteran Democratic leaders to strengthen their hand in court.” via Politico

Some of the more senior members of the House are still urging caution. Pelosi, for her part, sees Biden’s gigantic lead on Trump in polls and is trying her best not to do anything to disrupt that.

She knows how bad the world needs a 2020 win for the Democrats.

I know some people are discouraged by Pelosi’s strategy, but it’s working. Trump is on the defense now as courts are ruling against him.

After McGahn’s no-show today, I suspect we will start seeing more rapid-fire action from Congress.

Yes, sometimes it feels like Rome is burning while Pelosi fiddles, but she’s got this. I’m just as impatient as some of you are, particularly now that we’ve had a Republican Congressman publicly come out in favor of impeachment – and not back down when challenged by Trump, or his caucus.

The Democrats have to play this right. They’ve done everything precisely by the book for a reason: we can’t afford any technicalities here. Pelosi doesn’t need to be talked into impeachment; she’s already there, she’s just waiting for the (politically) right time to strike.

DOJ still wants to bargain

“The Justice Department on Tuesday reiterated its counteroffer to the House Intelligence Committee to view an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report in a last-ditch effort to avert an “enforcement action” against the attorney general.

In a letter to the panel’s chairman Adam Schiff on Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd again offered members of the committee to review a “minimally redacted” version of Mueller’s report — tripling the number of lawmakers allowed to view the report from 12 to 34.” via Politico

I sincerely hope Schiff tells them to kick rocks. This just shows that Barr could have provided the information all along, but he’s dicking them around. Unacceptable behavior from the nation’s top law enforcement official. Hold him accountable.

Subpoenas for everyone!

“The House Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday it had issued subpoenas for Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson for testimony and documents related to the committee’s ongoing investigation into obstruction of justice and public corruption by President Trump, his associates, and other members of the administration.

The committee had previously sent document requests to Hicks, a former communications director for Trump and Donaldson, former chief of staff of White House counsel Don McGahn, in March as part of its sweeping investigation. As of late March, Hicks had planned to turn over documents as part of that investigation.

The subpoenas set a deadline for both former Trumpworld figures to submit documents to the committee by June 4. The date for Hicks testimony has been set for June 19. Donaldson’s is set for June 24.” via The Daily Beast

Getting Hicks back in the hot seat is a good move; she knows most of Trump’s secrets. She didn’t help him bury any bodies, but she certainly carried his dirty laundry for a long time.

Another teen dies in CBP custody

“The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is demanding answers on the latest death of a minor who had been apprehended at the border.

The 16-year-old, who was traveling without his parents, died at a U.S. Border Patrol station on Monday while waiting to be picked up by the Department of Health and Human Services.” via ABC News

I feel like some people have grown desensitized to what’s going on at the border, but we can’t let that be us. This is a damn shame.

Trump wants to do WHAT?

The Donald Trump presidency, marked by cruelty, corruption, and disdain for the rule of law, has been disastrous for our democracy. If there is one silver lining, it is this: Trump’s abuses have exposed weaknesses in our laws and institutions that were previously hidden and which we can now begin to try to fix. We learned about one such weakness in February, when Trump relied on the National Emergencies Act to commandeer funding Congress had specifically denied for the construction of a border wall. The latest such legal loophole is another emergency power that could enable the president to turn the military into his own immigration police force.

According to a report in the Daily Caller last week, the Trump administration is considering invoking the Insurrection Act to give federal troops the power to detain and remove undocumented immigrants in the United States, acting essentially as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The White House, when asked about the option last week, refused to rule it out.” via Slate

One thing we should do with POTUS is take everything he says seriously, no matter how asinine it sounds. Yes. Including his “maybe I’ll serve 5 terms” BS. He thinks himself a King, and until the GOP lets him know he isn’t, he’ll keep trying to be one.

Deputizing the military as a police force would have been an absolute red line for the GOP and any other President, so now would be a great time for them to find their spines.

Judge Rules Against Trump

“A federal district judge has told the accounting firm Mazars it will need to turn over Donald Trump’s accounting records from before he was President to the Democratic-controlled House Oversight Committee.

In a 41-page opinion, Judge Amit Mehta of the DC District Court rejected Trump’s attempt to block the committee’s subpoena, asserting that Congress is well within its authority to investigate the President.” via CNN

The administration’s argument that Congress doesn’t have the authority to investigate the President was never *really* going to fly, but it does make me happy to actually see the ruling on paper.

Trump will probably appeal it, but there’s not a judge in America that’s going to agree with the administration on this one. Perhaps if they argued the merits of the Congressional investigation, or any point other than “Congress doesn’t have the authority to do this” they might have a slim chance, but they shot themselves in the foot.

Deutsche Bank

“Deutsche Bank’s anti-money laundering specialists once recommended that transactions involving entities controlled by President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, be reported to a US agency that investigates financial crimes, according to a new report in the New York Times.

The Times reports that Deutsche Bank employees flagged the transactions in 2016 and 2017, and that at least one of the reports involved the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which is now defunct.

Executives at Deutsche Bank rejected the advice of their specialists, according to the Times, which reported that the recommendations were never filed with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The Times, which spoke with five current and former Deutsche Bank employees, also said the nature of the transactions “was not clear,” though the newspaper added that at least some of them involved “money flowing back and forth with overseas entities or individuals, which bank employees considered suspicious.” via CNN

This is a big deal, because despite Trump’s claims to the contrary, Deutsche Bank was essentially the only bank on the planet that would still loan the Trump family money.

According to the Times story:

“Ms. McFadden, a longtime anti-money laundering specialist in Deutsche Bank’s Jacksonville office, said she had reviewed the transactions and found that money had moved from Kushner Companies to Russian individuals. She concluded that the transactions should be reported to the government — in part because federal regulators had ordered Deutsche Bank, which had been caught laundering billions of dollars for Russians, to toughen its scrutiny of potentially illegal transactions.

Typically, such a report would be reviewed by a team of anti-money laundering experts who are independent of the business line in which the transactions originated — in this case, the private-banking division — according to Ms. McFadden and two former Deutsche Bank managers.

That did not happen with this report. It went to managers in New York who were part of the private bank, which caters to the ultrawealthy. They felt Ms. McFadden’s concerns were unfounded and opted not to submit the report to the government, the employees said.”

So, to recap: Kushner’s accounts were flagged as suspicious due to transfers to Russians. The normal protocol for reporting suspicious activity wasn’t followed, and the inquiry was instead killed by bank managers in New York… where Justice Kennedy’s son happened to manage.

I hate to be *that* person, but having a SCOTUS Justice retire abruptly and be replaced by his former law clerk right after he son was doing shady stuff with the future President of the United States is a little too much of a coincidence for me.

McGahn Testimony

“President Trump has directed former White House Counsel Don McGahn to skip a House Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, citing a Justice Department opinion that he cannot be compelled to testify about his official duties — and, through his legal team, McGahn confirmed Monday evening that he won’t appear.

The development prompted an obstinate response late Monday from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.: “We are having the hearing tomorrow and we’re expecting Mr. McGahn to show pursuant to the subpoena.”

Earlier this month, House Democrats opted to question an empty chair — and a bucket of fried chicken — when Attorney General Bill Barr failed to appear, citing Democrats’ unusual demands.” via Fox News

Bucket of chicken prop aside, it’s past time for Congress to put their foot down and do something about this. Rep. David Cicilline had this to say on Twitter:

“If Don McGahn does not testify tomorrow, it will be time to begin an impeachment inquiry of @realDonaldTrump.”

Past time, but I agree. Get to it.

Gorsuch sides with liberal Justices

“One of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees sided Monday with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court for the second time in two weeks, as Justice Neil Gorsuch joined a narrow majority in support of a Native American man convicted for hunting in a national forest.

The case, Herrera v. Wyoming, deals with a treaty from 1868 which allowed members of the tribe to hunt in “unoccupied lands” in the U.S. in exchange for their land, which went on to become part of Wyoming and Montana. At issue was whether the hunting rights in the treaty are still in effect or were nullified when Wyoming became a state in 1890.” via MSN

Judges and Justices are always independent from the Executive, but I admit, I do find it extremely satisfying when Gorsuch and/or Kavanaugh rule against Trump and/or with the left.

House Intel releases Cohen transcripts

And boy, are there some doozies in here.

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen alleges that the President’s attorney Jay Sekulow knew that Cohen’s claim to Congress that the Trump Tower Moscow project ended in January 2016 was false, Cohen told the House Intelligence Committee in March.

The claim comes from a transcript of the roughly 15 hours of closed-door testimony that Cohen gave the committee and the panel voted to release Monday evening.”Just to be perfectly clear about this, the statement about the Trump Tower negotiations ending in January that was part of your original draft was false, and Mr. Sekulow knew that it was false?” asked Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, according to the transcript.

“Yes, sir,” Cohen answered.” via CNN

I’m still reading through all the transcripts, but I’ll definitely have more to say about them later.

Cracks in the dam?

Senior House Republicans are breaking with Donald Trump over the president’s legal claims that Congress can’t investigate whether a commander in chief violated the law.

That view, advanced by Trump’s personal attorney and the White House counsel late last week, would upend long-held understandings about Congress’ ability to scrutinize presidential conduct —especially alleged criminal activity.

“I’m in Congress. I’m aligned with Congress. I’m not aligned with the executive branch. And I think we have oversight authority over the administration,” said Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “And if the president has acted illegally, then I think we have oversight authority.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a veteran lawmaker who first came to Capitol Hill in the early 1980s as a congressional staffer, said he didn’t agree with Trump’s legal theories.

“Obviously there is such a thing as congressional oversight,” Cole said.” via Politico

I’m amazed (read: repulsed) that it took this long to get to this point, but there is a lot of evidence that the GOP is getting sick of Trump acting like a King. McConnell and McCarthy are having a hard time keeping the wagons circled, and we’ve had the first Republican openly call for Trump’s impeachment.

I expect to see more progress on that front in the next few weeks. Judges are ruling against Trump, Republicans are calling for impeachment and oversight, and Fox News is talking to Democrats. It’s not going to get any better for Trump from here.

Barr

Barr claimed that he’s protecting the presidency, not the president himself. That’s so ridiculous that I’m not even going to dignify it with a comment, but it was newsworthy, so here we are.

Flynn

Whew, where to even start? We got a bombshell from Mueller’s work that might have answered a bunch of questions about Flynn and his punishment – or lack thereof.

“The defendant has assisted with several ongoing investigations: a criminal investigation in the Eastern District of Virginia. that is likely to result in criminal charges, the Special Counsel’s Office’s investigation concerning any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald J. Trump,”

There’s more, but it’s redacted – I’m assuming as harm to an ongoing matter.

Everyone is focusing on this line – and for good reason, because it’s a bombshell – but I think there’s more to look at here too:

The defendant assisted the investigation into potential efforts to interfere with or otherwise obstruct its investigation. See ODAG Order (authorizing the Special Counsel to investigate any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. The defendant informed the government of multiple instances, both before and after his guilty plea, where either he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation. The defendant even provided a voicemail recording of one such communication. In some of those instances, the SCO was unaware of the outreach until being alerted to it by the defendant.”

Before people ask, I don’t have a clue what “people connected to members of Congress” would be, but I suspect it rhymes with Kevin Moonez. There are more redactions here, so I’m pretty excited about finding out who this is talking about.

Mueller confirmed that Flynn told him who from the transition team was aware of his outreach to Kislyak, most of which we already knew from the Mueller report. He also said that Flynn helped with the investigation into Wikileaks and – as noted above – obstruction.

For the Democrats’ part, this gives them more latitude to demand the unredacted Mueller report.

In an interesting turn of events, a Judge has ruled against Flynn and we should be getting more fireworks by the end of May.

“A federal judge on Thursday ordered that prosecutors make public a transcript of a phone call that former national security adviser Michael Flynn tried hard to hide with a lie: his conversation with a Russian ambassador in late 2016.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington ordered the government also to provide a public transcript of a November 2017 voice mail involving Flynn. In that sensitive call, President Trump’s attorney left a message for Flynn’s attorney reminding him of the president’s fondness for Flynn at a time when Flynn was considering cooperating with federal investigators.” via MSN

Trump Admin Moves Fueled Iran’s Aggression

“Trump administration hawks have spent the last two weeks decrying an increased threat from Iran. But U.S. intelligence officials assess that Iran’s aggressive moves came in response to the administration’s own actions.

Three U.S. government officials familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that officials in multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran’s new, threatening activity––which the administration points to in justifying its military presence in the Persian Gulf––is in response to the administration’s aggressive steps over the last two months. The National Security Council, the CIA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not provide comment for this story.” via The Daily Beast

This is what I’ve been alluding to on Twitter for the last several weeks as the Iran feud escalates – most of the moves considered threatening by Iran have been directly linked to moves made by the Trump administration. Trump has been trying to bait Iran into a conflict since before we left the JCPOA.

Mar-a-Lago Took a Financial Hit

“Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort may get hours of free TV time when the president visits what he calls the “southern White House,“ but the branding isn’t helping business.

The president’s oft-visited Florida estate raked in more than $22 million in revenue during 2018, almost $3 million less than Trump reported on his form last year.” via Politico

I guess Chinese spies aren’t the vaunted clientele we thought they were. <snicker>

Schiff’s had it

“House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced on Thursday that the panel will consider an “enforcement action” against Attorney General William Barr next week for defying the chairman’s subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s unredacted report and its supporting intelligence materials.

Schiff’s announcement came a day after the Justice Department put a counteroffer on the table as it negotiates with the panel for lawmakers’ access to the full report, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO.” via Politico

There are a lot more Dems publicly talking about using their inherent contempt authority. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see folks get fined and/or arrested in the coming weeks.

Trump won big in Targeted Florida County

“Russian hackers breached a county elections department in the Florida Panhandle where voters turned out heavily for President Donald Trump in 2018, according to a report confirmed by POLITICO.

Washington County was one two counties successfully hacked by Russians seeking voter information files. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security in the past week have briefed Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s congressional delegation about the attack, but federal authorities have asked that the names of the two counties be kept confidential.” via Politico

Trump received a whopping 77% of the vote there. Probably just a coincidence and not at all as suspicious as it sounds.

Or not.

Trump officials to brief Congress on Iran

“The Trump administration is sending top national security officials to brief Congress on escalating tensions with Iran, agreeing to multiple meetings intended to head off growing frustration with the president and his senior advisers.

Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Paul Nakasone, who heads the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, met privately Thursday with the Gang of Eight, which includes the top Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House and the heads of each chamber’s intelligence committee.

That session will be followed on Tuesday with separate briefings for all members of the House and Senate from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph F. Dunford Jr., according to aides apprised of those plans.” via Washington Post

I’ve said it from the beginning, but this is a total wag the dog situation we’re facing here. Threat reporting from any country can fluctuate several times a day. We respond to all of these fluctuations as necessary, just not normally with overt flexing and what feels suspiciously like shaping public opinion for a conflict.

Which is interesting, because now the counternarrative is that…

Trump doesn’t want conflict with Iran

“President Trump has sought to put the brakes on a brewing confrontation with Iran in recent days, telling the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran, administration officials said, while his senior diplomats began searching for ways to defuse the tensions.

Mr. Trump’s statement, during a Wednesday morning meeting in the Situation Room, sent a message to his hawkish aides that he does not want the intensifying American pressure campaign against the Iranians to explode into open conflict.

For now, an administration that had appeared to be girding for conflict seems more determined to find a diplomatic off-ramp.” via New York Times

This is a situation where total ineptitude is particularly dangerous. All of Trump’s actions to this very point have done nothing but escalate tensions with Iran.

Every President needs an advisor that is willing and able to say, “Mr. President, that is a really bad idea, because ____” or even just, “Mr. President, you can’t do that.”

The problem with this President is that he’s gotten rid of just about everyone with a spine, and now he’s apparently shocked that his room full of hawks is edging us towards a war somewhere.

It would be kind of funny if it weren’t so damned terrifying. These people have no idea what they’re doing.

Democrats Seek Review of Russian Investment in Kentucky

” Democratic lawmakers called on the Trump administration on Thursday to review an investment in Kentucky by a Russian aluminum company that they say has raised concerns about Russian influence on the economy and national security of the United States.

The Russian aluminum company, Rusal, announced on Thursday that its board had approved a $200 million investment in a planned aluminum plant in Ashland, Ky., in partnership with Braidy Industries, a private company based there.

The announcement came less than four months after the administration lifted sanctions on Rusal and its parent company, EN+. The sanctions had banned the companies from doing business in the United States, and would have prevented the Kentucky deal, under which Rusal will own 40 percent of the plant and will supply it with unfinished aluminum for processing and sale to large institutional buyers, including automakers and airplane manufacturers.” via New York Times

I’m glad this finally got picked up by lawmakers – we’ve only been griping about it on Twitter for three weeks now. I hope they’re able to sink it, because this entire thing is shady as hell. Reminder: Rand and Mitch both voted against the sanctions on Deripaska. Then his company decides to spend millions in Kentucky.

Totally not suspicious except for all the suspicious stuff.

Trump Jr.

Lindsey Graham gave Traitor Tot some pretty terrible advice today: don’t comply with the Burr subpoena.

“Donald Trump Jr. is balking at answering more questions about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting and the pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow project, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN, setting the stage for a clash with the Republican-led committee amid pressure from both parties over the subpoena to President Donald Trump’s eldest son.

Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, who signed off on the subpoena to Trump Jr., told his colleagues that the panel has been engaged in talks with Trump Jr. since last December, and that he had agreed to voluntarily be interviewed on two separate occasions before backing off, according to sources familiar with the matter. That move prompted Burr and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner to ultimately issue the subpoena for his testimony, after Trump Jr.’s legal team objected to the scope and breadth of the planned interview, according to one source.” via CNN

This started as a dispute over the format of the interview. Jr. is seeking assurances that only members of Congress will ask him questions – presumably hiding from the same lawyers that Barr did. Jr. also offered to submit written answers to the committee, which they denied.

It does put Burr in an interesting position; do you rebuke your party and hold Jr. in contempt, or do you give him a pass?

I would be surprised if he’s held in contempt, especially after so many GOP members of Congress have spoken out against the interview, but I hope Burr has the guts to do it.

Jr. is reportedly worried about a “perjury trap,” which means that he can’t remember what BS he told them last time and he’s afraid he won’t be able to repeat it.

Court on Tuesday

Donald Trump’s lawyers want the Washington court fight over Trump’s accounting records to slow down.

A recent congressional subpoena for the records could reveal financial information about Trump to Democrats in Congress, but the President says a federal judge is moving too quickly.

On Monday, private attorneys representing Trump and his companies disagreed with a federal judge’s decision to hold a comprehensive court hearing about the subpoena on Tuesday in Washington, according to court filings.

The President’s attorneys say they are not being given a fair shot in court, and have asked the judge to either narrow the topics covered in the hearing Tuesday or cancel the hearing outright.

“Because the hearing is tomorrow, the court’s consolidation will force plaintiffs to try their case on only four days’ notice, with no discovery, with little opportunity to assemble evidence, before Defendants have filed a single pleading, with no idea which facts are actually in dispute, and without a round of briefing focused on the merits,” the President’s legal team wrote.

Congress’ attorneys, however, said they are ready for the case to proceed as scheduled on Tuesday and do not want Tuesday’s hearing to be canceled. The scheduled court hearing would be the first in a growing set of legal disputes between the Democratic-led House of Representatives and those it has subpoena for Trump’s financial records.” via CNN

I’m loving this. This is a great message to the American people from this Judge: nobody is above the law, not even POTUS.

The administration never expected this case to be expedited – the entire goal was to drag the litigation out as long as possible. Hope the Judge doesn’t cave; the rule of law needs a win.

Tariff man vs Dow Man

“Donald Trump the Dow Man and Donald Trump the Tariff Man found themselves back on a collision course Monday as U.S. markets tanked and fear of a full-scale trade war between the world’s two largest economies reemerged with a vengeance.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 700 points, or 2.7 percent, in afternoon trading, after a flurry of belligerent tweets from President Trump — and quick retaliation from China in the form of new tariffs — threw gut punches at hopes for a deal between the two nations.

The sell-off framed a central conflict inside the White House — and seemingly within the president’s own mind. Trump loves a booming stock market, which he tracks obsessively, and views it as an indicator of success on par with his approval rating. At the same time, he loves his power to unilaterally impose tariffs, and sees winning tough concessions from China as key to his 2020 reelection bid.

But those two political imperatives are once again at odds. And Wall Street traders and economists say that if Trump doesn’t make a deal, and moves forward with a threat to slap 25 percent tariffs on everything China exports to the U.S., he could further rattle markets, tip the economy toward recession and lose his best ticket to re-election.” via Politico

For those of you who have been living under a rock: Trump has no idea what he’s doing. The stock market has gone up by a combination of good fortune and the ability to ride Obama’s economy’s coattails. It *would* be higher if Trump could stay off Twitter. The amount of times he’s dropped the DJIA with a Tweet is jaw-dropping.

Pentagon to pull money for wall

“The Pentagon has informed Congress that it plans to scrape $1.5 billion from accounts ranging from matching contributions to retirement accounts to missile buying to the war in Afghanistan to pay for President Trump’s wall on the southern border.

The plan calls for transferring money from the Pentagon’s coffers to build portions of the wall and roads in support of counter-drug programs run by the Department of Homeland Security.

Known as a “reprogramming action,” it was signed on May 9. Senate Democrats assailed the move, saying it was done without customary consultation with committees that appropriate funding.

More than $566 million for the wall will come from money originally designated for matching contributions to retirement accounts. The balance will be paid for from money originally earmarked for missiles, Afghan security forces and chemical weapons destruction.” via USA Today

This is a brilliant strategic move, really. For all of 2018, we heard how DOD was facing a missile and bomb shortage… so, we’re going to pull money from missiles, the Afghan war, and <checks notes> matching contributions for retirement accounts?! to pay for Trump’s vanity wall? Awesome.

China retaliates

“China announced Monday that it would impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods starting June 1. The move is a response to the U.S. on Friday increasing its import tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, up from 10%. U.S. trade officials on Monday released a list of an additional $300 billion in products the U.S. buys from China that could be subjected to higher tariffs as early as July, covering nearly all American imports from China.” via CBS News

Trade wars, good and easy to win, right?

Nielsen

“In the weeks before they were ousted last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and top immigration enforcement official Ronald Vitiello challenged a secret White House plan to arrest thousands of parents and children in a blitz operation against migrants in 10 major U.S. cities.

According to seven current and former Department of Homeland Security officials, the administration wanted to target the crush of families that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after the president’s failed “zero tolerance” prosecution push in early 2018. The ultimate purpose, the officials said, was a show of force to send the message that the United States was going to get tough by swiftly moving to detain and deport recent immigrants — including families with children.” via Washington Post

I’m thoroughly over the attempted rehab tour of Kirstjen Nielsen already. She presided over this horrible policy, I don’t really give a damn if she had a change of heart on her way out the door.

Barr is still a partisan hack

“Attorney General William P. Barr has tapped John H. Durham, the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Barr tapped Durham in recent weeks to work on the review, which is designed to ensure the U.S. government’s “intelligence collection activities” related to the Trump campaign were “lawful and appropriate,” a person familiar with the decision said.

Barr had confirmed the review publicly, though the person leading it was not previously known.” via Washington Post

This is the third investigation into the oranges (oops, origins) of the Trump/Russia investigation. Third time isn’t the charm. There’s still nothing wrong with the way this investigation started.

Speaking of partisan hacks:

Rosenstein said what?

“Fresh out of his job as deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein said Monday that the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian election interference was “justified,” that he would have never allowed anyone to interfere with it and that closing it had not been an option.

He also took aim at former FBI Director James Comey, characterizing him as a “partisan pundit” busy selling books and earning speaking fees. The barbs continued an extraordinary public spat between the two law enforcement officials, coming days after Comey said in a television interview that he didn’t view Rosenstein as a person of high character.” via Washington Post

It’s a real shame to see what happened to Rosenstein… whatever the hell it was.

“He said in his speech that though he did not blame Comey for being upset with him, “now the former Director is a partisan pundit, selling books and earning speaking fees while speculating about the strength of my character and the fate of my immortal soul.

“That is disappointing,” Rosenstein added. “Speculating about souls is not a job for police and prosecutors. Generally we base our opinions on eyewitness testimony.”

Apparently those opinions don’t include the knowledge of metaphors, but maybe Comey wasn’t far off – Rod seems to be a little concerned with his soul.

Update:

Sorry that the blog hasn’t been as consistent as normal for the last couple weeks – I’ve been trying to get rid of that annoying popup that keeps plaguing all of my posts. I’m just going to continue to write daily, or close to it – if it’s not readable here, everything I write will always also be published on my Patreon, which you can find right here.

Pompeo to Iraq

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Tuesday after abruptly canceling a planned trip to Berlin amid escalating tensions with Iran.

The top US diplomat met with Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi and President Barham Salih while on the ground in the Iraqi capital in a roughly four-hour visit, according to the pool traveling with Pompeo.US officials have told CNN the US had “specific and credible” intelligence that suggested Iranian forces and proxies were planning to target US forces in locations including Iraq. That intelligence led the Pentagon to recommend a carrier strike group be moved to the region.

In remarks to the pool en route to Baghdad, Pompeo said he wanted to go “to speak with the leadership there, to assure them that we stood ready to continue to ensure that Iraq is a sovereign, independent nation.” via CNN

The US accuses Iran and their proxies of escalating their activity towards our troops and our allies, saying there’s credible chatter that Iran and/or Iranian proxies were planning to attack our interests in the CENTCOM area of operations.

That in itself isn’t remarkable; we’re always tracking chatter and raising and lowering our potential threat levels. It is, however, unusual to publicly announce that a Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is skipping scheduled ports to rush to the Persian Gulf. DOD also confirmed the deployment of several B-52 bombers to the CENTCOM AO.

To me, this feels like a case of a hammer looking for a nail. I’ve expressed concerns about Trump trying to destabilize Iran for as long as I’ve been on Twitter. Not to mention, this is Bolton’s wettest wet dream.

“Trump is pissed off”

President Donald Trump directed his reelection campaign to issue a blistering statement implicitly condemning a longtime political adviser who used Trump’s name to raise millions of dollars for an unaffiliated political group, several people familiar with the President’s reaction said.

The President was “livid” when he found out the political group run by his former deputy campaign manager David Bossie was soliciting funds from Trump supporters and only spending a fraction on direct political activities. The statement did not directly call out Bossie, but condemned “any organization that deceptively uses the President’s name, likeness, trademarks or branding and confuses voters,” just two days after a report focused on Bossie’s group.

“The President’s pissed off,” one source close to the campaign told CNN.”

Thoughts and prayers. When your entire circle is full of grifters, at some point you’re going to be taken advantage of. Pick better friends.

Mueller didn’t want Comey’s memos to be public

“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors didn’t want former FBI Director James Comey’s memos released because they feared that President Donald Trump and other witnesses could change their stories after reading Comey’s version of events, according to an argument they made in a January 2018 sealed court hearing.

The newly released record gives a rare glimpse into the Mueller team’s concerns at a time the special prosecutors were publicly silent about their work — and before redacted versions of Comey’s memos were made public. A court order on Tuesday forced the Justice Department to provide a transcript of the hearing to CNN as part of a lawsuit over access to the Comey memos.

The Justice Department implored a federal judge to keep the memos under seal after CNN and other news organizations asked for their release. Mueller’s plea to keep the memos under seal coincided with negotiations with Trump’s legal team over a potential interview with the President at Camp David, planned for the days following the court hearing and which ultimately fell through.” via CNN

Good legal strategy from Mueller. Trump has been a notorious liar for years. I really, really wish he had decided to move forward with a subpoena to force Trump to give an interview; precedent was firmly on Mueller’s side here. Yes, it would have taken awhile, but it would have been well worth it.

Trump is the biggest loser

“By the time his master-of-the-universe memoir “Trump: The Art of the Deal” hit bookstores in 1987, Donald J. Trump was already in deep financial distress, losing tens of millions of dollars on troubled business deals, according to previously unrevealed figures from his federal income tax returns.

Mr. Trump was propelled to the presidency, in part, by a self-spun narrative of business success and of setbacks triumphantly overcome. He has attributed his first run of reversals and bankruptcies to the recession that took hold in 1990. But 10 years of tax information obtained by The New York Times paints a different, and far bleaker, picture of his deal-making abilities and financial condition.

The data — printouts from Mr. Trump’s official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form, the 1040, for the years 1985 to 1994 — represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president’s taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career — an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse.

The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.” via NYT

In case you missed it, The New York Times published a brilliant expose on Trump’s finances. You should read it, but I’ll hit a few of the key points.

Trump lost $1.7 billion from 1985-1994. He also only paid taxes for two of those 10 years. He also has some very strange income patterns:

“Mr. Trump’s primary sources of income changed year after year, from big stock earnings, to a single year of more than $67.1 million in salary, to a mysterious $52.9 million windfall in interest income. But always, those gains were overwhelmed by losses on his casinos and other projects.”

Trump’s lawyers had the following to say about this reporting:

“On Saturday, after further inquiries from The Times, a lawyer for the president, Charles J. Harder, wrote that the tax information was “demonstrably false,” and that the paper’s statements “about the president’s tax returns and business from 30 years ago are highly inaccurate.” He cited no specific errors, but on Tuesday added that “I.R.S. transcripts, particularly before the days of electronic filing, are notoriously inaccurate” and “would not be able to provide a reasonable picture of any taxpayer’s return.”

That’s funny, because the IRS’ records on Fred Trump matched up precisely with what NYT uncovered during their earlier investigation into the Trump’s finances.

If the Donald’s financial situation smells like money laundering to you, you’re not alone.

Contempt for everyone?

“House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said on Tuesday that his committee is “still scheduled” to vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, amid negotiations with the Justice Department over a subpoena for all of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings and evidence.

Nadler’s pronouncement to reporters came after talks with DOJ appeared to be falling short of resolving the dispute. Another committee member, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), said “all systems go” when asked whether the panel still plans to vote on a contempt citation for Barr.” via Politico

The White House has also instructed McGahn to not comply with Congressional subpoenas, which I suspect will soon land him in the same boat as Barr. It will be interesting to see how McGahn plays this, because he’s made it clear that he is not looking for a fight with Congress, and Trump really doesn’t have any authority over him as a private citizen, especially when privilege has been waived on the topics Congress will be asking about.

Congress is getting sick of the BS

“The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday threatened to withhold the salaries of Interior Department officials who have blocked lawmakers from interviewing agency employees about whether Secretary David Bernhardt was complying with recordkeeping laws.

The committee’s threat ratchets up the pressure on Interior in the latest skirmish between House Democrats and the Trump administration over the lawmakers’ complaints that agencies are withholding documents and ignoring requests to send senior officials to testify before Congress.

“Please be advised that any official at the Department who ‘prohibits or prevents’ or ‘attempts or threatens to prohibit or prevent’ any officer or employee of the Federal Government from speaking with the Committee could have his or her salary withheld pursuant to section 713 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act,” Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)said in a prepared statement.” via Politico

This is a big move, if they do it. The administration seems to have forgotten that Congress is a coequal branch of government. Now would be a good time to remind them.

Wray speaks out

“FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday he wouldn’t use the word “spying” to describe the bureau’s investigative work, breaking from Attorney General William Barr’s use of the term in reference to the probe of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“Well, it’s not the term I would use. Lots of people have different colloquial phrases,” Wray said during testimony on the FBI’s budget for 2020. “I believe that the FBI is engaged in investigative activity, and part of investigative activity includes surveillance.” via Politico

Wray spent a good portion of the morning defending the men and women of the FBI, and their handling of investigations, including into the Trump campaign. He told Congress that the warrants were appropriately predicated, which we knew already, but which also undercuts a major Trump talking point. Wray won’t be very popular with the administration for awhile.

Pompeo

Retired Rear Admiral John Kirby went *in* on Mike Pompeo after Pompeo made a completely moronic comment on Sunday.

Jon Karl asked Pompeo, “do we believe those reports are accurate?” in reference to a report that Kim’s negotiators were executed after Hanoi.

Pompeo: I don’t have anything to add to that this morning.

Jon Karl: Well – there seems to have been some kind of a shakeup over there?

Pompeo: It does appear that the next time we have serious conversations my counterpart will be someone else, but we don’t know that for sure. Just like President Trump gets to decide who his negotiators will be, Chairman Kim will get to decide who has those conversations.

What a weak, disgusting normalization of credible rumors of execution.

Mnuchin says no

“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday denied a request from House Democrats for access to six years of President Donald Trump’s personal tax returns.

“I am informing you now that the Department may not lawfully fulfill the Committee’s request,” Mnuchin wrote in his one-page letter, written in consultation with lawyers from the Department of Justice.”

Mnuchin added that the Department of Justice would issue a formal legal opinion. via CNN

The full letter states:

Dear Chairman Neal:

I write in further response to your letter of April 3, 2019, requesting the confidential tax returns (and other return information) of President Trump and related business entities for 2013 through 2018, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 6103(f).

As you have recognized, the Committee’s request is unprecedented, and it presents serious constitutional questions, the resolution of which may have lasting consequences for all taxpayers. Accordingly, the Department of the Treasury has consulted with the Department of Justice concerning the lawfulness of your request. As explained in my April 23 letter, the Committee’s statutory authority under section 6103 is bounded by Congress’s authority under the Constitution, and the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution requires that Congressional information demands must reasonably serve a legitimate legislative purpose.

In reliance on the advice of the Department of Justice, I have determined that the Committee’s request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose, and pursuant to section 6103, the Department is therefore not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information.

The Department of Justice has informed us that it intends to memorialize its advice in a published legal opinion as soon as practicable. Out of respect for the deadlines previously set by the Committee, and consistent with our commitment to a prompt response, I am informing you now that the Department may not lawfully fulfill the Committee’s request.

Although the Department is unable to provide you with the requested confidential tax returns and return information, we renew our previous offer to provide information concerning the Committee?s stated interest in how the IRS conducts mandatory examinations of Presidents, as provided by the Internal Revenue Manual. If the Committee is interested, we remain committed to providing such an accommodation.”

Mnuchin is trying to kick this all to DOJ because he knows he’s on extremely shaky legal ground here. The problem is that the entire premise of this denial is false. Congress has a legislative purpose, which has been outlined extensively by Chairman Neal.

I’d like to take the time to again apologize for my optimism on Barr – he’s turned out to be quite possibly the worst Attorney General we’ve ever witnessed. We needed someone with a backbone to stand up to this POTUS as he dismantles norms, and we got an invertebrate.

Speaking of Barr…

Barr tries to avoid contempt

“The Justice Department on Monday tried to head off a contempt of Congress proceeding against Attorney General William Barr, offering House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) the chance to negotiate about the committee’s subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s unredacted report.

In a letter to Nadler, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd invited the chairman to a negotiation session on Wednesday to discuss an “acceptable accommodation” that would potentially give more lawmakers access to a less-redacted version of the report, in addition to “possible disclosure of certain materials” cited in Mueller’s report.

Boyd’s letter came hours after the committee took its first formal step toward holding Barr in contempt of Congress for defying the panel’s subpoena for Mueller’s unredacted report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as the underlying evidence.

The panel said it planned to consider a contempt citation against Barr on Wednesday morning.” via Politico

Nadler previously agreed to put the contempt hearings on hold if DOJ was willing to negotiate in good faith. Personally, I say to hell with that; we’ve seen over and over again with the Mueller report and now with Trump’s taxes that DOJ has no intention of negotiating in good faith.

Hold Barr in contempt. Talk to Mueller next Wednesday. Start impeachment proceedings. There aren’t many options left to the Democrats at this point. It’s time to play hardball.

Trump should have been charged with obstruction

“Nearly 400 federal prosecutors on Monday said they believe President Donald Trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice if not for a longstanding Justice Department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president.

In a letter posted online, 370 Justice alumni with up to four decades of service with the department wrote that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report — a redacted version of which was publicly released last month — formed a case for obstruction against the president for which there is “overwhelming” evidence.” via Politico

This isn’t a shot at Trump. This is a shot across the bow to Barr, Rosenstein, and anyone else who says Trump is cleared on obstruction.

“We believe strongly that, but for the OLC memo, the overwhelming weight of professional judgment would come down in favor of prosecution for the conduct outlined in the Mueller Report.”

I concur, as did Mueller. He outlined as much in his report – he cited the OLC decision several times as he was saying it was up to Congress to litigate this.

How China got ahold of NSA tools

“Chinese intelligence agents acquired National Security Agency hacking tools and repurposed them in 2016 to attack American allies and private companies in Europe and Asia, a leading cybersecurity firm has discovered. The episode is the latest evidence that the United States has lost control of key parts of its cybersecurity arsenal.

Based on the timing of the attacks and clues in the computer code, researchers with the firm Symantec believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an N.S.A. attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away.

The Chinese action shows how proliferating cyberconflict is creating a digital wild West with few rules or certainties, and how difficult it is for the United States to keep track of the malware it uses to break into foreign networks and attack adversaries’ infrastructure.

The losses have touched off a debate within the intelligence community over whether the United States should continue to develop some of the world’s most high-tech, stealthy cyberweapons if it is unable to keep them under lock and key.” via NYT

The world of cyberconflict is much more complicated than the NYT makes it seem here, but the answer is unequivocally yes: we should continue to make the world’s most high-tech cyberweapons. If we don’t, someone else will.

China tariffs

“President Trump, emboldened by ongoing strength in the American economy and angered by China’s attempts to renege on previous commitments, is prepared to prolong his monthslong trade war rather than settle for a weak agreement, his top advisers said Monday.

Mr. Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning followed a visit last week by his top advisers to Beijing, in which the Chinese “retreated” on parts of the deal, the advisers said.

“We’re moving backwards instead of forwards, and in the president’s view that’s not acceptable,” Robert Lighthizer, the president’s top trade negotiator, told reporters on Monday.” via NYT

All of the major indexes started WAY in the red today on this most recent news. They mostly recovered, but still closed down.

I still say someone should look into what stocks Trump allies buy or short before he says something stupid and economy-changing.

It would also be nice if someone would explain to Trump that tariffs are a really, really stupid idea, but I digress.

Bolton wags the dog

“The US is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region in the Middle East in response to “troubling” warnings from Iran, the White House announced Sunday.

A US official with direct knowledge of the situation tells CNN the threats were against both US maritime and land-based forces in the Middle East. The deployments are aimed specifically at deterring any Iranian military actions, the official added.

A statement from US national security adviser John Bolton reads, “In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings, the United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” via CNN

This is a ridiculous, completely unnecessary statement from Bolton. We routinely deploy CSGs to that area of operations – we just don’t ever do it with fanfare. There’s nothing going on in the intel assessments that should change that; this is just part of the administration’s plan to further destabilize Iran.

A US official said this:

“Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan approved the deployments on Sunday because of “clear indications that Iranian and Iranian proxy forces are making preparations to possibly attack US forces in the region (Middle East),” according to the US official.”

To be crystal clear here: if we had intelligence that Iran and/or their proxies were planning to attack US forces in the region, we could warn them in a much more direct, effective, and less-public way. We’re poised to respond to threats in the area without sending in an extra CSG – this is pointless posturing.

Depends needed in the Residence, STAT!

President Donald Trump on Sunday reversed course, saying special counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress just two days after telling reporters the attorney general should make that decision.

In a pair of tweets, Trump said the special counsel should not appear before the House Judiciary Committee and questioned why the Democratically-controlled committee would need Mueller’s testimony after concluding his two-year investigation into allegations of collusion between Russian operatives and Trump associates during the 2016 presidential campaign and transition.

“Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion? There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION,” he wrote, adding, “No redos for the Dems!”

On Friday, however, the President — when asked by reporters at the White House about Mueller potentially testifying — said Attorney General William Barr should determine whether or not Mueller would provide congressional testimony, saying: “I don’t know. That’s up to our attorney general, who I think has done a fantastic job.” via CNN

I have good news for Democracy, bad news for Trump: Barr can do exactly nothing to prevent Mueller from testifying. There was a “break glass in case of emergency” provision written into Special Counsel regs that keep Barr (or any AG) from doing anything to interfere.

Mueller is not a regular DOJ employee. If Barr attempts to force him to do – or prevent him from doing – anything, Mueller can leave DOJ and appear before Congress, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it .

Trump’s Twitter feed is usually bananas, but it’s also a good look into his psyche… as scary as that is. He’s terrified of Mueller’s testimony. He went from, “idc whatever total exoneration” back to “18 ANGRY DEMOCRATS CONFLICTED BOB MUELLER SHOULDN’T TESTIFY” at warp-speed. This is all for good reason: he knows what Mueller knows. He knows a legal loophole kept him from being charged for now. And he also knows there’s not a legal loophole that can save him from impeachment when the rest of the nation finds out what Mueller knows.

Venezuela

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said it was only a matter of time before Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would leave power, after an unsuccessful uprising this week.

Maduro’s government appears to remain in control of the troubled South American nation despite a call this week by Trump administration-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó for the Venezuelan people to oust Maduro.

Pompeo — who said Tuesday that Maduro was preparing to flee to Cuba before being talked out of it by Russia — told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that “these things sometimes take time.”

“We know it’s going to happen,” he said.” via Politico

Venezuela is something I’ve been keeping a close eye on, and I really think the administration overplayed their hand here. We’re getting close to the point where the United States won’t have many non-military options, which seems to be the plan.

To be clear, Maduro needs to go. The Venezuelan people have suffered far to much already. The problem is, Trump is doing exactly what he said he wouldn’t do and telegraphing… again.

North Korea

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the Trump administration is eager to “get back to the table” for nuclear weapons negotiations with North Korea — one day after leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a barrage of weapons launches from the rogue state’s coast into the sea.

“We still believe that there’s an opportunity to get a negotiated outcome where we get fully verified denuclearization. Chairman Kim has repeated that,” Pompeo told host Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week.”

“We hope this act that he took over the weekend won’t get in the way. We want to get back at the table. We want to continue to have these conversations.” via Politico

It’s like permanent rose-colored glasses, only these are covered in s%#!.

This test was a direct message to Seoul, and to the United States. The short range ballistic missile (SRBM) they tested is very similar to Russia’s Iskander missile. It is nuclear-capable and has an effective range of most of the Korean Peninsula. They also fired several multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) which have an effective range of roughly 150 miles – plenty to hit Seoul from most places in North Korea.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see more intermediate range weapons, and perhaps even another ICBM tested by North Korea in the coming weeks. They seem emboldened after Kim’s meeting with Putin.

Imagine that.