Month: September 2019

Et tu, Pompeo?

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the July 25 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that has come under scrutiny following last week’s release of a whistleblower complaint dealing, in part, with circumstances surrounding that conversation, a source familiar told CNN.

A rough transcript of the conversation released by the White House shows Trump repeatedly pushed Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.During that call, Trump asks Zelensky to speak with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and suggests that the Ukrainian President “look into” Biden and his son.” via CNN

“You just gave me a report about an IC whistleblower complaint, none of which I’ve seen.” – Mike Pompeo on ABC last week.

Shoutout to Rudy Giuliani – it’s unlikely any of this insanity with Pompeo would have come out this fast if he didn’t blab to literally every new outlet that would listen.

Pompeo and Giuliani have both received subpoenas from three House Committees – so far.

Trump pressed Australian Prime Minister to help with Justice review of Russia probe origins

“President Donald Trump pressed Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a recent phone call to help Attorney General William Barr with his review of the origins of the Russia probe, according to an official familiar with the call.

An official briefed on the matter said the attorney general has asked the President to request the help of several countries, including Australia, with the review of the early stages of the Russia investigation.The call happened with Barr’s knowledge and at his suggestion, says the official. The New York Times first reported this call.” via CNN

They’re trying to spin this call as a “review” and therefore, somehow appropriate. Don’t get caught up in that. What we have here is the sitting President of the United States and his Attorney General soliciting help from our allies in order to discredit our own intelligence agencies. I don’t have words to describe how beyond the pale this really is.

Ukrainians named in whistleblower report say Trump’s lawyer was clear about his hunt for dirt on Bidens

“Two Ukrainians named in the whistleblower report that touched off an impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump have told CNN that his personal lawyer actively pushed for an investigation into his political rivals’ dealings in the country.

Andreii Telizhenko, who worked in the Ukrainian embassy in Washington between December 2015 and May 2016, says Rudy Giuliani approached him for a face-to-face meeting in May of this year.

And Sergeii Leschenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, says Giuliani began applying pressure on Zelensky’s team to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter shortly after the former comedian was elected in April 2019.

Each has a different perspective on the crisis — Telizhenko believes that the issues surrounding Biden merit further investigation — but both agree that Giuliani was open in his motivations.

There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Joe or Hunter Biden.” via CNN

The good thing about having such a brazenly stupid criminal as a President of the United States is that, well, he’s brazenly stupid, and so is his attorney. They didn’t even attempt to hide what they were doing, because they thought they could just get away with it.

They’re in for a very rude awakening.

Barr’s no good, very bad week

“Attorney General William P. Barr has held private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials seeking their help in a Justice Department inquiry that President Trump hopes will discredit U.S. intelligence agencies’ examination of possible connections between Russia and members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter.

Barr’s personal involvement is likely to stoke further criticism from Democrats pursuing impeachment that he is helping the Trump administration use executive branch powers to augment investigations aimed primarily at the president’s adversaries.

Barr has already made overtures to British intelligence officials, and last week the attorney general traveled to Italy, where he and Durham met senior Italian government officials and Barr asked the Italians to assist Durham, according to one person familiar with the matter. It was not Barr’s first trip to Italy to meet intelligence officials, the person said. The Trump administration has made similar requests of Australia, these people said.” via Washington Post

This is absolute insanity. I’ve *never* seen anything like this. I don’t know how you’re supposed to possibly combat foreign interference in your election process when you’re literally asking for foreign interference in your election process, from both friend and foe alike.

We don’t need our allies to debunk our Intelligence Community. The lengths these people will go to try and win is disturbing, to say the least, but this should be pretty close to the final nail in Barr’s coffin.

Pelosi’s Plan is Working

“A week after House Democrats jump-started their impeachment inquiry, the White House has yet to converge on any single plan, strategy or even unified messaging to fight back.

All the talk about setting up a so-called war room inside the West Wing, similar to the approach of the Clinton White House, has gone nowhere. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, other top aides, lawyers and Trump advisers have been jockeying among their own internal factions for control of the approach or messaging. And President Donald Trump has expressed little interest in responding to House Democrats in such a conventional manner, preferring to deploy his own messaging on Twitter.” via Politico

This is why Pelosi’s plan was brilliant. The White House didn’t think she was going to announce impeachment proceedings any more than Twitter did. They were caught completely flatfooted and have been unable to effectively respond for the better part of a week.

Of course, there’s not much of a defense for literal treason, but they don’t even have a unified message at this point.

Speaking of Treason

“President Donald Trump and his allies on Monday ratcheted up their campaign against Rep. Adam Schiff as the White House’s Ukraine scandal entered its second week — with Trump again suggesting the House Intelligence chairman committed treason.

Locked in a defensive crouch and staring down an impeachment inquiry, Trump continued to batter the California Democrat for allegedly mischaracterizing his July phone call with newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?” via Politico

If President “I know you are but what am I?” has no better defense than nonsensical projection and threatening civil war on Twitter, it’s going to be a long couple of months for him and his allies.

Flake urges a break from Trump

“Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake called on Republicans to not support President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and argued that his latest scandal involving Ukraine warrants impeachment.

“Whether you believe the president deserves impeachment, you know he does not deserve reelection,” Flake, a vocal critic of Trump, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday.” via Politico

I know, I know. It’s Jeff Flake, but believe it or not, Flake, Amash, Walsh, etc. continually speaking out against Trump is having a noticeable impact on Republicans behind the scenes. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few of them publicly break with him in the next couple weeks. It’s not going to get any better from this point.

Trump trying to ID Whistleblower

“President Trump said on Monday that the White House was “trying to find out” the identity of the whistle-blower whose claims led Democrats to begin an impeachment inquiry last week, even as the whistle-blower’s lawyers have outlined “serious” safety concerns for their client as Mr. Trump has repeatedly targeted him and compared him to a spy.” via MSN

I mean, honestly, this is impeachable on its own. Whistleblowers are federally protected for a reason.

Impeachment more popular than ever

Public support for impeachment has grown over 10% in a week. The pace is staggering. If this keeps up, he’ll be at Nixon-resignation numbers before Halloween.

Trump is lying again

GASP. I know. Crazy, huh?

“On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted a conspiracy theory suggesting the rules for whistleblowing had recently changed in order to accommodate the recent whistleblower complaint against him; specifically, so that someone with secondhand knowledge could now submit these complaints.

“WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT? DRAIN THE SWAMP!” Trump tweeted.

Monday’s tweet was at least Trump’s second reference to the theory, which apparently was initially propagated by the right-wing website The Federalist on September 27.The article claims that “between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings.”

Facts First: This is false. The Federalist reading of the form is inaccurate and although the submission form that whistleblowers from the intelligence community fill out was revised in August 2019, the revision did not change the rules on who can submit a whistleblower complaint.” via CNN

I mean, it came from The Federalist, so I hope nobody is too terribly surprised that it’s completely false. False is kind of what they do.

ABANDON SHIP!

“U.S. Representative Christopher Collins, a Republican from New York who was an early supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential run, is resigning from Congress and pleading guilty in an insider-trading case.

Collins was charged last year with passing non-public information about Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian biotechnology company, to his son. The lawmaker was arrested in August 2018 along with the son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s fiancee. Prosecutors said the case was the first in which insider-trading charges were brought against a sitting member of Congress.” via Bloomberg

Fun Fact: Collins is the 20th Republican who won’t be seeking re-election in 2020. Not a coincidence.

Senate rebukes Trump again

“The Senate voted Wednesday for a second time to block President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration, rebuking the president over his attempt to fund a border wall without congressional approval.

In a 54-41 vote, the Senate approved a resolution to disapprove of Trump’s emergency declaration, including 11 Republicans. The vote comes after the Trump administration announced it would divert $3.6 billion in military construction funding from several states to build his border wall.

The president will surely veto the resolution, as he did in March. Under federal law, Democrats may bring up the emergency vote every six months.” via Politico

“Today’s GOP is not the party that my husband and I belonged to.”

“The 2020 election will likely be decided by a handful of states. A few of them, like Michigan and Pennsylvania, are traditionally Democratic. Others, like Florida, are tossups trending Republican. And then there’s Arizona, the longtime GOP stronghold where Democratic gains are causing major heartburn for national Republicans.

And Republicans are right to be worried about Arizona, says Cindy McCain, wife of the late Sen. John McCain, who represented the state in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades prior to his death in 2018.

“I can see [Arizona] going Democrat, I really can,” McCain said during an interview for POLITICO’s Women Rule podcast. “I’m not saying I want that, but I can see it happening.”

There are, said McCain, two major reasons why: one has to do with changes in the state, and the other stems from the transformation of the Republican Party during the presidency of Donald Trump.

“We have a huge Hispanic population now that have found their voice in politics, number one. And number two, we have on my side of the aisle — on the Republican side — we see a local party in Arizona that’s not functioning well, and it’s excluding people,” said McCain. “If you’re not walking the line, then you’re out. That’s just not right. That’s not the party that my husband and I belonged to.” via Politico

Aside from the thinly-veiled racism in the “huge Hispanic population” portion of the quote, as a former Republican who wants nothing more than to watch the “new” Republican party suffer the biggest electoral defeat since their last electoral defeat, I wholeheartedly agree with her: not my party anymore.

Justice Dept. rejected investigation of Trump phone call just weeks after it began examining the matter

“Justice Department officials took less than a month to abandon an inquiry into President Trump’s communications with his Ukrainian counterpart about investigating former vice president Joe Biden — reigniting concerns among Democrats and legal observers that the law enforcement agency is serving as a shield for the commander in chief.

Just weeks after intelligence leaders asked the Justice Department and FBI to consider examining a summer phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the head of the department’s criminal division determined there was not sufficient cause even to launch an investigation, senior Justice Department officials said.

Department officials and career public integrity prosecutors reviewed a rough transcript of the call and verified its authenticity, but — because a case was not opened — took no other steps, such as conducting interviews, the officials said. They looked only at whether Trump might have violated campaign finance laws, not federal corruption statutes, even though some legal analysts said there seemed to be evidence of both. ADVERTISING

Repeatedly in the July 25 phone call, Trump pressed Zelensky to launch an investigation into Biden and his son, and to greenlight another inquiry into the origins of the special counsel probe that once dogged Trump’s presidency, according to a rough transcript released by the administration Wednesday. He interspersed his demands with casual references to help the U.S. government had given Ukraine, and a vague promise of how Zelensky might one day be able to meet Trump at the White House, the document shows.” via The Washington Post

This call wasn’t a “small thing” and it wasn’t a one-off; it was so bad that the IC submitted a criminal referral after the phone call, that Barr declined to investigate.

This comes in light of the revelation that Barr did not recuse himself from this matter, even though he is mentioned by name in the transcript. So basically, “we have conducted a thorough investigation of ourselves and concluded that nothing inappropriate happened here.”

That’s not going to fly. Dems are out for blood, and I’m not convinced that Barr is going to escape unscathed this time.

Ukrainians understood Biden probe was condition for Trump-Zelensky phone call: Ukrainian adviser

When Ukrainians voted to elect comedian Volodymyr Zelensky as their next president in the spring of 2019, the fledgling administration was eager to coordinate a phone call with Kyiv’s most important benefactor — the United States, according to an adviser to Zelensky.

But after weeks of discussions with American officials, Ukrainian officials came to recognize a precondition to any executive correspondence, the adviser said.

“It was clear that [President Donald] Trump will only have communications if they will discuss the Biden case,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, an anti-corruption advocate and former member of Ukraine’s Parliament, who now acts as an adviser to Zelensky. “This issue was raised many times. I know that Ukrainian officials understood.” via ABC News

To be abundantly clear here: The President of the United States was holding Ukrainian foreign relations – and necessary aid – hostage until Ukraine agreed to discuss investigating his political opponent.

Then he urged them to do so with his personal attorney, and his Attorney General (who thinks he’s also his personal attorney).

He’s going to be impeached, and I don’t think it’s going to take *too* long to make it happen.

Giuliani draws Pompeo into Ukraine maelstrom

“Lawmakers trying to unravel the controversy over President Donald Trump’s discussions with the leader of Ukraine are increasingly homing in on exactly what role Mike Pompeo played in the drama.

And few have as much to lose as the secretary of state, a man with huge political ambitions who has closely aligned himself with Trump.

Questions about Pompeo and the State Department’s role have spread thanks to Trump’s point man on Ukraine, his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. A memorandum made public on Wednesday documented what appeared to be Trump’s efforts to convince his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

“Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great,” Trump tells Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at one point in the memo.” via Politico

This is going to be devastating for Pompeo’s political career, and I couldn’t be happier. State is trying to distance themselves from Giuliani’s claims, but that’s going to be easier said than done; Rudy just added several witnesses to Congress’ list.

Whistleblower tentatively agrees to testify

“The anonymous whistleblower who filed a complaint with the intelligence community inspector general, which includes allegations about President Donald Trump’s conduct, has tentatively agreed to meet with congressional lawmakers, according to correspondence obtained by CNN.

The meeting will take place on the condition that acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire approves appropriate security clearances for the individual’s legal counsel so that they can accompany their client, the correspondence showed.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Maguire making the request Wednesday after the whistleblower’s lawyers agreed to meet with lawmakers if that condition is met and requested assistance in expediting approval from the acting DNI.” via CNN

Alexa, order more popcorn.

Reminder: Maguire is also publicly testifying tomorrow, and he’s made it clear that he won’t be constrained by the White House. It’s going to be a wild rest of the week.

Cracks emerge among Senate Republicans over Trump urging Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden

“Several Senate Republicans were privately stunned Wednesday and questioned the White House’s judgment after it released a rough transcript of President Trump’s call with the Ukraine president that showed Trump offering the help of the U.S. attorney general to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

One Senate Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the transcript’s release was a “huge mistake” that the GOP now has to confront and defend — while the party argues at the same time that House Democrats are overreaching with their impeachment inquiry of Trump.” via The Washington Post

In addition to the ones who spoke out publicly today, I can definitely confirm that behind the scenes, several Republicans had some pretty choice words for the administration today. They know this isn’t going to get any better for them.

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a dramatic and historic move that comes as the President faces outrage over reports that he pressured a foreign leader in an effort to target a political rival.

The announcement marks the most direct step taken by the House Democratic leader to embrace impeachment proceedings and is a significant escalation in the fight between House Democrats and the President.

“Today, I am announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry,” Pelosi said in a brief speech in the Capitol, adding, “The President must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

“Actions taken to date by the President have seriously violated the Constitution,” the House speaker said. via CNN

Several of you have asked me if I ever doubted my prediction that the House would eventually go full-impeachment mode. Honestly? Not really, but I had the benefit of knowing what Democrats and Republicans alike were saying behind the scenes, so I definitely understand why some folks thought it would never happen.

With that being said, today is a big, big step, but it’s only the first one. All indications are that the Dems want to move quick on this, but there’s for sure going to be a lot of chaos in the coming weeks.

For those asking: the biggest benefit to an official impeachment inquiry is that the Dems will have easier access to documents, expedited court dates, etc. It should start moving quickly, at this point.

White House to Release Whistleblower Complaint

“The White House is preparing to release to Congress by the end of the week both the whistleblower complaint and the Inspector General report that are at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, according to a senior administration official, reversing its position after withholding the documents from lawmakers.

The move shows the level of seriousness with which the administration is now approaching the House‘s new impeachment proceedings, even as President Donald Trump publicly tried to minimize the inquiry as a “witch hunt” or “presidential harassment,” or a move that will help him win his 2020 reelection campaign.

The administration official stressed the decision and timing could change over the next few days, but as of Tuesday evening the White House was planning to give the information to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The format of presentation, or process of viewing the documents, remained up in the air. The president has agreed to the move, the official added.” via Politico

They’re also going to release a report that’s going to portray the Whistleblower as partisan, according to a Fox News report. Typical Trump playbook, but it’s not going to work this time. The whistleblower wants to talk to Congress, and judging by the Senate’s 100-0 vote today to seek the complaint, they’d like to see what they have to say, too.

Tulsi is still here to be a spoiler

As many of her House Democratic colleagues decided to back the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday said she doesn’t support the move because it would be “terribly divisive” for an “already very divided” United States.

“Look, my position remains the same. I think impeachment would be terribly divisive for our already very divided country,” Gabbard said in an interview with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin. “I think Congress needs to exercise oversight over the information that’s been leaked. I think it’s important this transcript is released to Congress so that Congress can do its job.” via CNN

I wouldn’t be at all shocked if Tulsi runs as a 3rd party candidate. At this point, it’s painfully obvious that she has almost nothing in common with the Democratic party. Between hanging out on Fox News and making constant apologies for Assad, I’m honestly not sure *who* she has anything in common with.

Giuliani pursued shadow Ukraine agenda as key foreign policy officials were sidelined

“President Trump’s attempt to pressure the leader of Ukraine followed a months-long fight inside the administration that sidelined national security officials and empowered political loyalists — including the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani — to exploit the U.S. relationship with Kiev, current and former U.S. officials said.

The sequence, which began early this year, involved the abrupt removal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the circumvention of senior officials on the National Security Council, and the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid administered by the Defense and State departments — all as key officials from these agencies struggled to piece together Giuliani’s activities from news reports.

Several officials described tense meetings on Ukraine among national security officials at the White House leading up to the president’s phone call on July 25, sessions that led some participants to fear that Trump and those close to him appeared prepared to use U.S. leverage with the new leader of Ukraine for Trump’s political gain.” via The Washington Post

At this point, the dam isn’t just breaking – someone dropped a MOAB on it. This week is going to be absolutely *insane*, but this is a story that we have to pay attention to: the President’s personal lawyer was circumventing State Dept. officials in order to force an investigation into the President’s political opponents. I probably don’t have to tell you, but that’s a really big deal.

More from the story:

“As those worries intensified, some senior officials worked behind the scenes to hold off a Trump meeting or call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of concern that Trump would use the conversation to press Kiev for damaging information on Trump’s potential rival in the 2020 race, former vice president Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter.”

“An awful lot of people were trying to keep a meeting from happening for the reason that it would not be focused on Ukraine-U.S. relations,” one former official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.”

Trump re-ups Romney attack amid reports on Ukraine phone call

“Trump and Romney are at it again.

President Donald Trump on Monday reshared a video of Mitt Romney’s 2012 defeat to President Barack Obama after the Utah Republican senator called for more information on Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president.

Following reports that Trump pressured President Volodymor Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Romney tweeted Sunday that the allegations would be “troubling in the extreme” if true — the first Republican senator to push for an inquiry on the issue. Trump, who has a history of clashing with Romney, responded on Monday night by sharing the video, which includes clips of a disappointed Romney on election night 2012.” via Politico

Probably not smart to be attacking one of the guys who is going to vote on your impeachment, but you do you, boo.

More on the Whistleblower’s desire to speak to Congress

“Congress might soon get a chance to hear directly from the whistleblower who filed a formal complaint involving President Donald Trump’s communications with foreign leaders.

A lawyer for the whistleblower, who lodged the complaint to the Intelligence Community’s Inspector General in early August, has been in touch with both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees regarding potential testimony, according to the panel’s top Democrats.

“The lawyer for the whistleblower has reached out for a counsel meeting but we’re going to have to take this one step a time,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told POLITICO on Tuesday. “And I think it’s terribly important to get the facts.”

“What we want is an orderly process where the full committee will get a chance to hear from both the IC inspector general and the acting DNI Adm. [Joseph] McGuire,” Warner added.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, separately tweeted on Tuesday that the panel had “been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.” He added: “We’re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.”

Lawyers for the whistleblower confirmed in a written statement on Tuesday night that they had reached out to Maguire “to request specific guidance as to the appropriate security practices to permit a meeting, if needed, with the Members of the Intelligence Oversight Committees.“ via Politico

This isn’t going away. The House and Senate are equally engaged here, McConnell appears to distancing himself from Trump, and the whistleblower *wants* to speak. I repeat: this week is going to be nuts.

A Walrus joins the Resistance

A walrus attacked and sunk a Russian Navy landing boat in the Arctic Ocean last week, with no one hurt in the incident. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the female animal was protecting its calves when it targeted the craft carrying researchers to the shore of Cape Geller in the Arctic.

Those on board were members of a joint expedition by the Northern Fleet — Russia’s naval fleet in the Arctic — and the Russian Geographical Society (RGO). via CNN

This really isn’t important to anything, but it’s hilarious.

Shameless plug:

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The Coverup is in Full Swing!

“The White House and the Justice Department have advised the nation’s top intelligence agency that a controversial complaint involving President Donald Trump isn’t governed by laws covering intelligence whistleblowers, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The revelation is the first known evidence of the White House’s involvement in the standoff between Congress and the intelligence agency. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said he didn’t know whether the White House was involved.

So far, the director of national intelligence has not allowed lawmakers access to the complaint, which earlier a source familiar with the case said was prompted by communication Trump had with a foreign leader. Trump responded to the reports Thursday, tweeting he would never “say something inappropriate” on a phone call with a foreign counterpart.” via CNN

It’s a cute attempt, but there’s about a zero percent chance this works – public interest is already at a fever-pitch here. I honestly wouldn’t be completely shocked if the full contents of the whistleblower’s complaint leak in the next week or so – more is coming out every day.

Several folks have asked me if I know exactly what the complaint is. I wish – I would have already passed it on to Congress or the media if I did. For what it’s worth, there are some folks on the Hill who think that this is “it” for some of the GOP – but we’ve heard that before, so I’m cautiously optimistic here. Just passing on what I’m told. It sounds like it has the potential to be really bad, either way.

Folks are also asking me how the President’s phone calls with foreign leaders work. I wrote a piece back in January that explains the process – and suggested that the NSC was trying to warn us about something back then. You can read it here.

Update: More is already coming out on this. The call was reportedly on Ukraine.

“A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter, which has set off a struggle between Congress and the executive branch.

The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.

Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May.

That call is already under investigation by House Democrats who are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump’s reelection campaign. Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.” via Washington Post

If accurate, Ukraine actually makes sense, especially in light of it being more than one communication in question, and the administration allowing the Ukrainian aid to be released just after the whistleblower dispute went public. It sounds like Trump was trying to extort Ukraine into helping get rid of Biden’s campaign. This also makes me wonder what he promised Putin in regards to Ukraine.

Colt Exits Civilian AR-15 Market

“Colt, the manufacturer of the AR-15 rifle, has announced it’s exiting the consumer rifle market as demand for high-powered, semi-automatic guns wanes. The consumer market for rifles has “experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity” and there’s too much supply of AR-15 guns on the market to justify making more, the company said in a statement. Colt will still manufacture other consumer guns, including pistols and revolvers, and it will continue to expand its network of dealers. Colt said its business remains healthy, buoyed by its numerous military and law enforcement contracts.

“Currently, these high-volume contracts are absorbing all of Colt’s manufacturing capacity for rifles,” the Connecticut-based company said. via CNN

Shutdown Averted! … for now

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to temporarily extend funding for the federal government and avert a shutdown at the end of the month.

The bill, approved 301-123, will extend funding at current levels with limited exceptions through November 21, potentially setting up an end-of-the-year showdown over government spending that could drag into the holiday season.

The Senate will need to pass the bill next for it to make it to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

“We must pass a continuing resolution to avoid another government shutdown,” House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement.” via CNN

In a word? Ugh.

There are a lot of good folks who haven’t completely recovered from the last shutdown. To be clear, shutdowns are not an exclusively-Trumpian problem, but this is ridiculous – we’ve had a shutdown threat *every* time he’s tried to pass a budget, in addition to the longest shutdown in history. I’m thoroughly tired of winning.

Darrell Issa’s FBI File Is Holding Up His Nomination for Trade Post

Darrell Issa’s effort to take a top trade post in the Trump administration hit another snag Thursday when the former GOP congressman’s hearing was delayed because lawmakers objected to not being able to see his FBI background file.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, objected to continuing the hearing without a response from the White House to a letter requesting that all senators on the committee be allowed to see the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ background check investigation into Mr. Issa, who served in Congress from 2001 to 2019.

It was unclear what in the file was objectionable. Mr. Menendez, however, said he wanted the committee to see the file because it contained “potentially disqualifying information.” via WSJ

Thoughts and prayers, couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. Unless we can find a way to retroactively disqualify Nunes or Jordan, then I’ll stand corrected.

Tillerson: Netanyahu, Israelis ‘played’ Trump

“Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Israeli officials “played” President Donald Trump in their conversations with him, warning that a “healthy amount of skepticism” is needed in dealings with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The comments came during a panel discussion at Harvard University in which Tillerson, who was fired by the president last year, touched on a variety of themes from his tenure, including Iran, his hiring freeze at the State Department and the unpredictable nature of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu.

“They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys,’” Tillerson said, according to the Harvard Gazette. “We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played.’” via Politico

This shouldn’t surprise anyone; Trump gets played by everyone.

He doesn’t have the mental acuity to walk down the hall by himself; understanding the many nuances of foreign policy, particularly in one of the most complicated regions on the planet is decidedly out of the question.

Trump sues to stop New York prosecutors from getting his taxes

“Just hours after President Donald Trump sued to block a subpoena seeking his tax returns, he secured a temporary reprieve.

Manhattan’s top prosecutor agreed Thursday to at least briefly suspend the subpoena, pending the results of a court hearing.

With the subpoena, District Attorney Cyrus Vance had been seeking eight years of Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns as part of a wide-ranging investigation into hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign. The subpoena was initially filed late last month.

Attorneys for Vance and Trump met Thursday with a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, the Bill Clinton-appointee assigned the case, to go over logistics in the new lawsuit. There, they agreed to a rapid-fire briefing schedule that will culminate with oral arguments Wednesday morning.” via Politico

For a guy with nothing to hide and who would totally release his tax returns if he wasn’t under audit, I’m starting to think that he has something to hide. (extreme sarcasm font needed)

This latest ploy isn’t going to work, either. He’s been shot down by the courts at almost every turn, because the law is really quite clear when it comes to Congress’ (and the states’) authority to request tax returns.

He knows he’s going to lose. The whole play here is to delay.

Bolton goes after Trump

“John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s fired national security adviser, harshly criticized Trump’s foreign policy on Wednesday at a private lunch, saying that inviting the Taliban to Camp David sent a “terrible signal” and that it was “disrespectful” to the victims of 9/11 because the Taliban had harbored al Qaeda.

Bolton also said that any negotiations with North Korea and Iran were “doomed to failure,” according to two attendees.

All the North Koreans and Iranians want to do is negotiate for relief from sanctions to support their economies, said Bolton, who was speaking before guests invited by the Gatestone Institute, a conservative think tank.

“He ripped Trump, without using his name, several times,” said one attendee. Bolton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bolton also said more than once that Trump’s failure to respond to the Iranian attack on an American drone earlier this summer set the stage for the Islamic Republic’s aggression in recent months.” via Politico

It’s awkward when Bolton is kind of the voice of reason. To be fair, he *wants* the negotiations with Iran and North Korea to fail because he’d much rather just bomb them, but he’s absolutely right about the attack on the drone: America probably should have – proportionally – responded to that. Trump is a total failure at every aspect of the Presidency, but the foreign policy really drives me nuts.

I’ve never been a Bolton fan, but I’m kind of looking forward to having a guy on the outside that will punch back at Trump. Bolton is vicious and is going to be looking to maintain the little credibility he still has in the NatSec community.

McConnell changes position and backs $250 million for election security

“In a surprise development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his support on Thursday for additional money to bolster the country’s election system ahead of the 2020 vote, a move that counters his earlier position resisting calls for more funding.

McConnell, R-Ky., said he is co-sponsoring an amendment to an appropriations bill that would provide $250 million for election security.

“I’m proud the Financial Services & General Government bill will include a bipartisan amendment providing another $250 million for the administration and security of their elections, to help states improve their defenses and shore up their voting systems,” McConnell said. “I am proud to have helped develop this amendment and to co-sponsor it in committee.” via NBC News

That’s a quick 180.

I dunno about you guys, but I find the timing of this and the Whistleblower thing to be too much of a coincidence. Something has McConnell shook.

Marianne Williamson entertained 9/11 conspiracy theories in 2012 interview

“Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson once entertained 9/11 conspiracy theories on a radio show hosted by a prominent “truther” who claimed that the World Trade Center attacks were orchestrated by a “Zionist organized crime outfit.”

In the 2012 appearance, Williamson declined to challenge the host’s conspiracy theory and said that questioning the factual history of the September 11, 2001, attacks was acceptable and no different than questioning the government account of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The interview was first shared on Twitter in early August but has not been widely circulated or reported on.” via CNN

Trump approval rating slips again

“President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dipped in a new national poll as concerns mount over the US trade war with China and signs of a potential looming recession.

The President’s approval rating stands at 38% among Americans, with 56% disapproving of Trump’s job performance, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday.” via CNN

His approval rating among African American voters as a whole is a whopping 8%. African American women, on the other hand? 3%. That bodes *really* well for Democrats in 2020, no matter who the Republican nominee is. We just have to get people to the polls.

Most of you with functioning brains are probably wondering how the hell he’s still sitting at 38%, but think for a second about how remarkably bad these numbers are. Not only are they among the worst in modern history, they’re this bad despite the fact that Trump has enjoyed the benefits of inheriting a strong economy and that he’s never *really* faced a crisis not of his own making.

These polls also come out just in time for the Democrats to decide on their impeachment inquiry format tomorrow.

Judge proposes Dec. 18 for Michael Flynn sentencing

“Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn is on track to finally be sentenced by the end of the year for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, a federal judge said Tuesday.

“It kind of brings some finality to this case,” U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan said during a status hearing where he said he proposed a Dec. 18 sentencing date for Flynn.

The judge noted that the mid-December date — which could still change — comes exactly on the one-year anniversary of when Flynn had previously been scheduled to be sentenced but abruptly reversed course and requested a delay so he could continue cooperating with former special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.” via Politico

The Flynn stuff has all been a circus lately. I’m really hoping that when DOJ refiles their sentencing memo, he gets far more than the year he was originally given. With Barr at the helm of DOJ, I don’t have a lot of confidence in that happening, though.

Bolt..off?

In case you missed it, Trump is now headed for his fourth National Security Advisor in less than 3 years. Because he hires only the best people, obviously.

I don’t think anyone is really sad to see John Bolton go, because our chances of nuking Iran probably just dropped at least a little bit, but the *way* he went definitely warrants some discussion. Bolton claims he quit, Trump claims he was fired. FWIW, I’m told Bolton quit, but who knows?

In other news, Gorka is lobbying for the position and I need a drink.

Kevin McCarthy’s campaign for worst-sycophant

“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday defended military expenditures at President Donald Trump’s properties, arguing that hotels owned by the president are “just like any other hotel.”

“The president’s resorts are hotels that he owns. People are traveling. It’s just like any other hotel. I know people will look at it, I don’t know if that’s different than anything else,” he said at a press conference.

McCarthy’s defense comes as the Air Force has launched a global review of its layover policy following a POLITICO report that crews have made multiple stays at Trump’s luxury seaside Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, an unusual stop for crews heading to and from the Middle East.” via Politico

This is such a garbage take that it’s probably not even necessary to refute, but can you imagine if Obam… oh, screw it.

Netanyahu offers West Bank Annexation

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday repeated his vow to extend Israeli sovereignty to large portions of the occupied West Bank if he is reelected, the latest in a string of campaign promises aimed at winning the support of right-wing voters.

Netanyahu said Israeli annexation of lands that Palestinians hope to gain for a future state would begin with the Jordan Valley, a swath of territory along the border with Jordan that many Israelis see as important for Israel’s security.

The announcement, which he said reflected coordination with the Trump administration, was the most substantive in a flurry of appeals he has made to religious Jews, West Bank settlers and others in the right-wing camp ahead of the Sept. 17 elections. Opinion polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party locked in a very tight race with the Blue and White party of former army chief of staff Benny Gantz.” via Washington Post

What in the Crimea is going on here?

Gorsuch interview

Gorsuch gave an interview to CNN ahead of the release of his new book, and it has some pretty calming quotes for those of you who are worried about the Courts going crazy under Trump.

“As the Supreme Court launches a term filled with some of the most bitterly divisive and provocative issues of the day, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch has a message for anyone who might believe that it’s a judge’s job to fix politics: “Do you really want me to rule the country?”

“It is a raucous republic and the battle of ideas is what our founders had in mind,” he said in a lengthy interview with CNN. What they didn’t have in mind, “was nine old people in Washington sitting in robes telling everybody else how to live.” via CNN

Some other quotes I appreciated:

“I say the country is owned by We The People. We wrote a Constitution, we put down what we wanted to put in it. We can amend it when we wish and it is not up to nine people to tell 330 million Americans how to live.”

In a new book, “A Republic, If You Can Keep It,” he puts it another way: Under originalism a judge can’t add or subtract rights “willy nilly.”

“If you want to change the Constitution, you can do it,” he says.For critics of that approach — those who see a broader role for the courts — he sternly says: “I say get involved. This is a republic. This is not a tyranny of a few.“

Here, here. If only Kavanaugh weren’t such a disaster.

Narrow GOP win in NC

“Republican Dan Bishop pulled out a narrow win in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District on Tuesday, giving the GOP a victory in a district that President Trump won easily in 2016 but which proved to be a fierce battleground in unusual back-to-back House campaigns.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bishop led Democrat Dan McCready by more than two percentage points in a special election called after allegations of fraud against McCready’s initial GOP opponent upended a razor-thin election last November.” via The Washington Post

If you’re a Republican pollster, you don’t feel good tonight, not even in the slightest. Trump won this district by 12 points.

There’s a reason all these Republicans are suddenly deciding to spend more time with their families. We aren’t done with the retirements, yet.

Navy adds a new missile to the Pacific

“Somewhere in the Pacific, a stealthy United States Navy warship is carrying new weapons that analysts say could help to tilt the balance of power in contested areas like the South China Sea.

The USS Gabrielle Giffords, a sleek, speedy, low-profile littoral combat ship, left San Diego earlier this month carrying the US Navy’s new Naval Strike Missile and a drone helicopter that helps aim it.

The Naval Strike Missile is a sea-skimming cruise missile that is difficult to spot on radar, and can maneuver to avoid enemy defenses, according to Raytheon, the main US contractor for the weapon. It is paired on the Gabrielle Giffords with a MQ-8B Fire Scout helicopter drone, which is used to scout for targets.

The weapons will increase the lethality of the US Navy, according to Cmdr. John Fage, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 3rd Fleet who confirmed their deployment.” via CNN

This missile has done very well in testing, and will go a long way as a deterrent in the Pacific – as long as Trump doesn’t decide he wants to play with his new toy.

NOAA jobs threatened after contradicting Trump

“The Secretary of Commerce threatened to fire top employees at NOAA on Friday after the agency’s Birmingham office contradicted President Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama, according to three people familiar with the discussion.

That threat led to an unusual, unsigned statement later that Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disavowing the office’s own position that Alabama was not at risk. The reversal caused widespread anger within the agency and drew criticism from the scientific community that NOAA, a division of the Commerce Department, had been bent to political purposes.” via The New York Times

This started with Mulvaney calling and threatening Ross, and Ross, being the coward that he is, caved immediately.

There’s quite a bit of pushback coming from… well, everywhere:

“On Monday, Craig N. McLean, NOAA’s acting chief scientist, sent an email to staff members notifying the agency that he was looking into “potential violations” in the agency’s decision to ultimately back Mr. Trump’s statements rather than those of its own scientists. He called the agency’s action “a danger to public health and safety.”

Dr. Jacobs is scheduled to speak Tuesday at a weather industry conference in Huntsville, Ala.

On Monday, the National Weather Service director, Louis W. Uccellini, got a standing ovation from conference attendees when he praised the work of the Birmingham office and said staff members there had acted “with one thing in mind, public safety” when they contradicted Mr. Trump’s claim that Alabama was at risk.”

Trump says he’ll release “very complete” financial details

“President Donald Trump on Monday claimed he plans on releasing an “extremely complete” report of his financial record, but he offered no specifics and a murky timeline.

Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, Trump suggested that the promised release would dispel the notion that his real estate empire is in need of the taxpayer money and business driven there throughout his presidency.

The latest such controversy arose from a POLITICO report that detailed several instances of U.S. Air Force crews staying at Trump’s Scotland resort while refueling at a small commercial airport nearby. But Trump argued that it was unfair to suggest he was to blame for a military aircraft refueling in the vicinity of one of his properties.

“I own a lot of different places,” he told reporters. “Soon, you will find that out because I will be, at some point prior to the election, I will be giving out a financial report of me. And it will be extremely complete. I’m going to give out my financial condition.” via Politico

Just going to point out the obvious here: If he was going to release “very complete” anything, he wouldn’t be fighting like a madman to keep his tax returns secret.

Giuliani Under Fire

“A trio of House committees on Monday announced a new investigation into President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, over his interactions with Ukrainian officials and whether the Trump administration’s withholding of foreign aid from Ukraine had any underlying political motives.

The leaders of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees demanded information from the White House and State Department regarding Giuliani’s contacts with Ukraine and a decision to hit pause on more than $250 million in security assistance already appropriated by Congress.” via Politico

Dems see Trump’s alleged self-dealing as new path to impeachment

“House Democrats have spent months trying to make obstruction of justice charges stick against President Donald Trump as they build a case for impeachment.

But in recent weeks, senior Democrats have shifted their focus toward reports that Trump is using his presidency to enrich himself, possibly in violation of the Constitution. And they’ve hammered the president more than ever on a range of allegations, from campaign-finance crimes to abuses of power.

Pro-impeachment Democrats are hoping that a renewed focus on corruption and self-dealing could give their effort to oust Trump the momentum that former special counsel Robert Mueller never had.” via Politico

Emoluments and self-dealing are probably easier for everyone to understand, but I don’t exactly think that obstruction of justice is an arcane concept. It’s pretty simple, really; in America, nobody is above the law.

Regardless, there’s ample information out there to impeach the MF, and I can’t wait to see how Wednesday goes.

US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017

“In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN.

A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.

The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.

The disclosure to the Russians by the President, though not about the Russian spy specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk of exposure, according to the source directly involved in the matter.

At the time, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo told other senior Trump administration officials that too much information was coming out regarding the covert source, known as an asset. An extraction, or “exfiltration” as such an operation is referred to by intelligence officials, is an extraordinary remedy when US intelligence believes an asset is in immediate danger.” via CNN

I’ve discussed this previously on Twitter, but a reminder for those of you who might have missed it:

This wasn’t just “some intel” that Trump revealed to the Russians in the Oval Office. This was code word intelligence, our most-sensitive intelligence. Kind of like that satellite photo he Tweeted out the other day.

Trump is the biggest national security threat to the United States. The time and money it took to cultivate that source inside the Kremlin is probably incalculable. Needless to say, you don’t just happen across sources in hostile governments; that’s why when the Republicans demanded that the IC release the full-scope of their underlying evidence that Russia meddled in our election, the IC refused. The GOP knew they would, because it would have burned valuable sources and methods, and that’s exactly why they asked; they used the refusal as “proof” that it was a scam to the uninitiated.

Air Force crews have lodged at Trump’s Scottish resort at least 4 times

“Air Force crews have stayed overnight at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland on at least four occasions, two more than previously reported.

The four trips — uncovered through interviews with people present, records of expenditures and social media postings — date back to at least September 2018 and continued through at least this past June. They include at least one instance in which a crew member said a nearby airport arranged for rides and lunches to and from the luxury waterside retreat. All the flights were shuttling crews between the United States and the Middle East, and at least three of them of them were divisions of the Air National Guard. In total, over 60 service members stayed at the posh property on these stopovers.” via Politico

This was a HUGE scoop from Natasha Bertrand, and could very well end up being one of the biggest scandals of this administration. I know it’s hard to keep up with all the other scandals, but this is a big, big deal.

North Korea offers talks then launches more short-range projectiles

“North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles on Tuesday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, hours after a senior diplomat announced Pyongyang would be willing to resume negotiations with the United States later in September.

The “short-range projectiles” were launched from around Kaechon in South Pyongan province at around 7:00 a.m. KST (2200 GMT Monday) towards the east and flew about 330 km (205 miles), the JCS said in a statement.

The launches came after North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said on Monday Pyongyang was willing to have “comprehensive discussions” with the United States in late September at a time and place to be agreed.” via Reuters

North Korea has been one of my focal points since I’ve been on Twitter, and it hasn’t gotten any better. Despite the administration trying to portray Trump waddling across the DMZ as a success, it was anything but. He gave North Korea MORE legitimacy on the world stage, in exchange for nothing. They’re not going to denuclearize – they were never going to denuclearize. The worst deal maker on the planet has somehow managed to surpass even my low expectations.

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