Schiff says Trump impeachment report to come early next month

“The chairman of the U.S. congressional committee that is leading the inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine said on Monday the impeachment process would move to the next step shortly after lawmakers return to Washington next week from a break.

House of Representatives Intelligence Committee head Adam Schiff said the panels involved in the impeachment probe would send a report to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee after lawmakers come back from the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.” via Reuters

Angry’s Thoughts: To be clear, this is nowhere near the *final* report on impeachment – just the Ukraine portion. After a couple of court rulings today, there will almost certainly be more public hearings in the near future.

Don McGahn must testify about time as White House lawyer, judge rules

“Don McGahn must testify to Congress about his time as the White House’s top lawyer, a federal judge ruled Monday — a decision that will put pressure on other reluctant Trump administration witnesses to testify about President Donald Trump’s actions.

In a ruling that could reshape the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled that McGahn, who spent 30 hours talking to former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, can’t hide behind Trump’s claim that he is “absolutely immune” from speaking to the House Judiciary Committee.

“I am pleased the court has recognized that the Trump Administration has no grounds to withhold critical witness testimony from the House during its impeachment inquiry,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the Judiciary Committee chairman.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Hopefully this doesn’t get caught in the appeal-tornado and McGahn just comes forward to talk, but we’ll see. For what it’s worth, I’m told McGahn wants to talk – or at least did at the time of his subpoena.

I view McGahn much like I view Bolton at this point – you get no credit for waiting for a court order for cover to testify. He could have told the White House to kick rocks and testified when he got subpoenaed like all the other witnesses who have already come forward did.

Either way, Judge Jackson literally told Trump that he wasn’t a king, and that makes this all worth it for me.

Giuliani associate willing to tell Congress Nunes met with ex-Ukrainian official to get dirt on Biden

“A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani told CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.

The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.

“Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” said Bondy.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Again, cautiously optimistic here. Parnas is a known trickster, but if he can prove this, we might actually be able to get Devin expelled from Congress and/or thrown in jail.

The list is long, but if true, this is one of the most underhanded – and blatantly corrupt – things Nunes has done.

Subpoena indicates federal investigators interested in Giuliani’s business

“Federal prosecutors investigating associates of Rudy Giuliani have launched a broad investigation that could include criminal charges ranging from conspiracy, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations and money laundering, according to a subpoena sent to at least one witness and seen by CNN.

The grand jury subpoena describes the range of charges that are being considered and appears to signal that prosecutors are also looking at the associates’ relationship with the President’s personal lawyer and specifically Giuliani’s business. The Wall Street Journal first reported the subpoena.

The broad range of charges encompassed in the subpoena include conspiracy to defraud the US, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice, making false statements to federal officials, wire fraud, money laundering and violations of federal election laws that prohibit the use of straw donors and foreign money in US elections.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: That is a whole host of charges that Giuliani is facing. I’ve been telling you guys he was a walking FARA and campaign finance violation for months, but this is ridiculous.

It would seem he’s going to be spending a lot of time in jail. Womp womp.

Trump ordered Defense secretary to allow Navy SEAL to keep his status

“President Donald Trump ordered his Pentagon chief to ensure SEAL Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher isn’t kicked out of the elite force, amid a controversy that prompted the ouster of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Monday.

Trump’s Sunday order on the SEAL’s status went against advice that Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley had given Trump two days earlier, which was to let the Navy’s internal personnel process play out.

“I spoke to the president on Sunday and he gave me the order that Eddie Gallagher will retain his trident,” the insignia that marks him as a member of the Navy commando force, Esper told reporters.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Trump is also planning to use Gallagher as a campaign prop in 2020, which I’m sure all the military veterans are going to love.

It’s a good thing Trump won’t be campaigning in 2020, because “MWCGA” (Making War Crimes Great Again) doesn’t really flow off the tongue.

Supreme Court blocks Trump’s financial records from immediate release

“The ruling will prevent Democrats from swiftly obtaining Trump’s tax information as they start to prepare articles of impeachment against Trump. Lawmakers are expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to broaden out their case beyond the swirling Ukraine scandal to include allegations that Trump abused his position for personal financial gain.

Monday’s Supreme Court’s decision is only temporary.

Trump’s lawyers now have until noon on Dec. 5 to file a formal petition to the Supreme Court for a hearing on the case. If the justices decide to take the case, it will set up a showdown between Congress and the president that could have long-term ramifications for the balance of power between the two branches of government.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: I’m seeing a lot of implosion on social media over this. Deep breaths, guys – it’s a temporary hold while Trump’s legal team makes their arguments.

We’ve seen how bad their arguments are, I don’t think there’s much to worry about here.

U.S. Resumes Large-Scale Operations Against ISIS in Northern Syria

“United States troops have resumed large-scale counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State in northern Syria, military officials say, nearly two months after President Trump’s abrupt order to withdraw American troops opened the way for a bloody Turkish cross-border offensive.

The new operations show that despite Mr. Trump’s earlier demand for a complete withdrawal of all American forces from Syria, the president still has some 500 troops in the country, many of them in combat, for the foreseeable future.

“Over the next days and weeks, the pace will pick back up against remnants of ISIS,” Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the commander of the military’s Central Command, told reporters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain on Saturday.” via NYT

Angry’s Thoughts: So… we’re resuming operations with the allies that we abandoned for seemingly no purpose but to give Putin and Erdogan a bigger foothold in Syria.

And by the way, we’re fighting ISIS, who Trump already defeated.

Any questions?

<insert all the eye-roll emojis here>

Jared Kushner’s new assignment: Overseeing the construction of Trump’s border wall

“President Trump has made his son-in-law Jared Kushner the de facto project manager for constructing his border wall, frustrated with a lack of progress over one of his top priorities as he heads into a tough reelection campaign, according to current and former administration officials.

Kushner convenes biweekly meetings in the West Wing where he questions an array of government officials about progress on the wall, including updates on contractor data, precisely where it will be built and how funding is being spent. He also shares and explains the president’s demands with the group, according to the officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.

The president’s son-in-law and senior adviser is pressing U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the process of taking over private land needed for the project as the government seeks to meet Trump’s goal of erecting 450 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of 2020. More than 800 filings to seize private property will need to be made in the coming months if the government is going to succeed, officials said.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: So far, Jared has spectacularly failed his peace in the Middle East mandate, didn’t do a damn thing with his Israel mission, completely botched being the back-channel for negotiations with Mexico, and got caught trying to sell access in China, so I’m sure this will go swimmingly.

About the only thing he hasn’t completely screwed up was helping cover up Khashoggi’s murder.

Trump’s strain with Pentagon inspires talk of more departures

“President Donald Trump came into office vowing to unshackle his military commanders from years of Obama-era micromanagement. But now he’s facing a rupture with his Pentagon leaders after steamrolling them on a series of decisions — from Mideast troop movements and the use of military funds for a border wall to disciplinary cases involving individual commandos.

Even before Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s forced ouster this weekend, a handful of the Pentagon’s highest-ranking officials have been debating just when they would feel compelled to resign over what they see as Trump’s disregard for the chain of command, two current senior officials told POLITICO in recent days. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.

“There’s a sense of dejection by senior leaders in the Pentagon, that the president and the secretary of Defense is gonna side with the loudmouths at Fox News against the reasoned opposition of senior military professionals,” said another Pentagon official with direct knowledge of high-level discussions. “That’s the sense in a nutshell.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s a really sad day for America when Fox News overrides the judgement of our career military officers.

I’ve said it time and time again, this is the problem with a President who is so easily influenced by the last person he spoke with, and who issues all of his official orders through Twitter.

Our military planners have been scrambling to keep up with his nonsensical – and often contradictory – orders since he took office, and I’m honestly surprised we haven’t seen more resignations up to this point.

Sen. Kennedy takes back Sunday comments on alleged Ukrainian intervention in 2016

“Sen. John N. Kennedy (R-La.) walked back on a comment he made Sunday supporting the debunked theory that Ukraine hacked the Democratic National Committee’s emails in 2016.

“I was wrong,” Kennedy said Monday night on CNN. “The only evidence I have, and I think it’s overwhelming, is that it was Russia to tried to hack the DNC computer.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s notable – and probably by design – that the conspiracy theory was on Fox and the walk back was on CNN.

Tell him to go on Fox and admit to Chris Wallace (or Sean Hannity) that he was wrong, and I’ll be more impressed.

Impeachment is about to get a Robert Mueller reprise

“Right now, impeachment is all about Ukraine. But after Thanksgiving, prepare for a Robert Mueller reprise.

Now that House Democrats have wrapped up public hearings on President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to get Ukraine to launch politically advantageous investigations, there are plans to hold at least one public impeachment hearing on Trump’s misdeeds as alleged in the special counsel’s report.

It’s a gathering that could fuel articles of impeachment beyond those tied to the Ukraine controversy. Democrats say they have new Mueller-related fodder after Roger Stone’s recent trial raised questions about whether Trump provided false statements to the special counsel’s team. And the hearing could even feature a star witness — former White House counsel Don McGahn. A judge is set to rule in the coming days on whether McGahn must comply with a House subpoena.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: They’ve been discussing whether or not to add perjury or obstruction of justice charges to the articles of impeachment for awhile. Holding off until the court cases started clearing up was yet another good move by the Democrats.

We’ve already gotten good information from both Gates and Stone in court that is going to go a long way in bolstering the Dems case, and we’ve still hopefully got the tax returns coming. It’s not getting any better for Trump.

White House backs full Senate trial if House impeaches Trump

“Top White House officials and Senate Republicans on Thursday agreed that a full trial should be conducted if the House impeaches President Donald Trump, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

A group of Republican senators met Thursday morning with White House counsel Pat Cipollone, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to discuss impeachment strategy.

Senators also informed the White House that there simply aren’t the votes to approve a motion to dismiss the trial; it would take just three Republicans to block any impeachment vote on the Senate floor.

A White House official said the meeting “wasn’t so much about the details, it was about the Democrats’ weak case and we want to show just how weak it is.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: The White House is falling into a trap here, and I love it. Remember, during a Senate trial, the Senators can’t say a word – they’re the jury.

It’ll be up to the White House to come up with the defense here, and we’ve seen how pathetically bad they are at that. That also means no rambling partisan monologues from Congresscritters, etc.

Also, the Democrats case isn’t weak at all. The evidence that POTUS committed extortion is irrefutable – the GOP members of the House couldn’t defend that, so they spent the entire hearing whattaboutisming Hunter Biden.

White House review shows extensive effort to justify Trump’s decision to block Ukraine aid

“A White House review of President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold nearly $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine showed an extensive effort to justify that hold after it was placed and a question of its legality, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The Post, citing three people familiar with the records, said the White House Counsel’s Office surfaced hundreds of documents through a confidential review prompted by the House impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Emails between acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials from early August showed a search for an explanation for why Trump stalled the money Congress had approved to go to Ukraine after the President had ordered it held the month before.

In the August emails, Mulvaney asked acting Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought to provide him with the legal reasoning for withholding the aid, asking also how much longer it could be paused, according to the Washington Post. Emails also show Vought and OMB staffers argued that it was legal to withhold the aid, while National Security Council and State Department officials objected, the newspaper said.

The Post, citing two White House officials, reports Trump made the decision to withhold the aid in July “without an assessment of reasoning or legal justification.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: “It’s the cover-up, not the crime” except this time it’s both, and there’s plenty of documentation. These emails show that the White House knew in real-time that they were breaking the law here, and that they were looking for retroactive justification for doing so.

Every agency besides OMB objected to this in real-time, because they understood that the extortion was happening and to quote Bolton, they wanted no part of whatever drug deal the White House was cooking up.

For example, everyone at State was opposed, except Pompeo, who is spectacularly dumb for someone who has been in politics for as long as he has.

Testimony last week showed the American people that nobody in the intelligence or national security communities supported this aid being withheld.

Navy secretary ‘fired’ for proposing ‘secret agreement’ with White House in SEAL case

“In an extraordinary move, the Pentagon chief “fired” the Navy secretary for going outside his chain of command by proposing a “secret agreement with the White House,” according to a senior defense official.

The agreement that led to Defense Secretary Mark Esper forcing Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s resignation involved the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. The official said Spencer had proposed to the White House a review with a secret guarantee that Gallagher would be allowed to keep his status as a SEAL. That would go counter to the ongoing review underway by the Navy to take away Gallagher’s status.

Gallagher was earlier convicted of bringing discredit to the armed services after posing next to a dead ISIS fighter’s body, which is against regulations. He was then demoted in rank — a decision President Donald Trump a week ago reversed in a move that went against earlier guidance from Esper and angered military officials. Military officials then moved ahead with the process to review Gallagher’s status in the elite group.

Esper decided Gallagher would now keep his status because he “has little confidence that Gallagher would get a fair shake now from the Navy,” the official told CNN. Gallagher is now expected to retire from the Navy on November 30.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: To me, this sounds like a half-baked plan to allow Gallagher to keep his Trident, but I could be wrong. Spencer’s resignation letter doesn’t at all sound like someone who was avoiding chain of command in order to work out a deal with the President.

On the other hand, Esper is also considered a pretty straight-shooter, so it would be unusual for him to embroiled a plan like this too. Either way, I suspect it will all come out soon – nothing of this magnitude stays hidden in DC for long.

I have to point out that it does seem odd that Esper is forcing Spencer to resign over allegations that was working on an underhanded scheme with the White House to let Gallagher retire a SEAL, and that he’s also responding by… letting Gallagher retire a SEAL.

Adam Schiff says Intel panel will continue to investigate Trump

“House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said on Sunday his panel will continue investigating President Donald Trump, asserting there’s “overwhelming” evidence that he abused the power of the presidency by pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate a political rival.

“I certainly think that the evidence that’s been produced overwhelmingly shows serious misconduct by the president,” the California Democrat said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“The remarkable thing about this — and we have done this with almost, well, literally, no documentary production from the administration — is the facts are really not contested. It’s really not contested what the president did.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: This was always going to be the outcome here – nobody really expected to have two weeks worth of public hearings on Ukraine and call it a day. There’s a lot more to uncover here (looking at you, Devin Nunes), but this was definitely a productive two weeks of hearings.

The current plan from Democrats is to continue investigating and hold hearings right up until the articles of impeachment are sent from the House. They’ve played this really well so far, and it looks like they will continue to do so.

Top Dem says ethics investigation into Devin Nunes likely

“The top Democrat on the House armed services committee said Saturday that Republican Rep. Devin Nunes is likely to face an ethics investigation over allegations he met with an ex-Ukrainian prosecutor at the center of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

“Quite likely, without question,” House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash) said when asked by MSNBC’s Joy Reid whether Nunes (R-Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee’s top Republican and a longtime Trump ally, could be investigated.

CNN reported late Friday that an associate of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, has information on meetings Nunes allegedly had with former Ukrainian prosecutor general Victor Shokin.

The CNN report says that Lev Parnas, according to his attorney, put Nunes in touch with Shokin to help him gather damaging information on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s dealings with Ukraine.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: This news kind of falls into the “water is wet” category, but we’ll take it. Nunes behavior here is absolutely disgusting, and travel records show that the tax payers are the ones who funded his adventure to Vienna.

Nunes says he’s currently in the process of suing CNN and the Daily Beast – along with his Twitter Cow – and gave this response to Fox News today:

“I really want to answer all these questions,” he said. “But I think you can understand that I can’t compete by trying to debate this out with the public media when 90 percent of the media are totally corrupt. And because this is criminal in nature and because it’s so bad, it’s so slanderous — we’ve got all the facts on our side and we’re going to file in federal court, because I’m not going to sit here and try to compete against the media that I have no chance of winning this. I will win in court.”

Sounds like a typical Nunes crock of s*** to me, but please do sue – discovery will be a blast.

House Intelligence Committee in possession of video, audio recordings from Giuliani associate Lev Parnas

“The House Intelligence Committee is in possession of audio and video recordings and photographs provided to the committee by Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who reportedly played a key role in assisting him in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

The material submitted to the committee includes audio, video and photos that include Giuliani and Trump. It was unclear what the content depicts and the committees only began accessing the material last week.” via ABC News

Angry’s Thoughts: I’m remaining cautiously-optimistic here. It’s important to remember that Parnas is a known crook and generally shady individual, but if this comes through as advertised, it’s going to be absolutely explosive and could potentially land Nunes in jail.

Here’s to hoping.

Over 20 Democratic Senators Call On Stephen Miller To Resign White House Post

“More than 20 U.S. senators now call on White House senior adviser Stephen Miller to resign after leaked emails published last week revealed the disturbing depths of his white nationalism. 

HuffPost contacted the offices of all 100 senators to ask whether Miller, a major force in shaping the Trump administration’s controversial immigration policies, should step down. In response, 24 senators said he should ― all Democrats. 

“On the long list of people that work in the Trump administration who we believe should not be there, Stephen Miller is at the top of that list,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost.” via HuffPost

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s good that they’re speaking out, but I doubt this gains much traction beyond the Democrats in Congress.

Trump keeps Miller around because he’s a racist, not in spite of it.

Trump attacks another witness in real-time

“President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to level another real-time attack against a witness in the House impeachment inquiry, questioning the testimony of a State Department official who claimed to have overheard an incriminating phone call that involved the president.

“I have been watching people making phone calls my entire life. My hearing is, and has been, great,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation. I’ve even tried, but to no avail. Try it live!”

The president’s post came mere minutes before David Holmes, the political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, delivered his opening statement before a public hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Aside from the blatant witness tampering/intimidation, this is such a stupid argument that I really didn’t even want to comment on it. I’m almost certain that 95% of the population has overheard the phone conversation of someone sitting near them, standing in line at the grocery store, etc.

Most of us probably haven’t heard the President of the United States extorting an ally, but that’s a discussion for a different time.

White House and Republicans discuss limiting impeachment trial to two weeks

“A group of Republican senators and senior White House officials met privately Thursday to map out a strategy for a potential impeachment trial of President Trump, including rapid proceedings in the Senate that could be limited to about two weeks, according to multiple officials familiar with the talks.

The prospect of an abbreviated trial is viewed by several Senate Republicans as a favorable middle ground — substantial enough to give the proceedings credence without risking greater damage to Trump by dragging on too long.

Under this scenario, described by officials who spoke anonymously to describe a private meeting, the Senate trial could begin as early as January if the Democratic-controlled House votes to impeach Trump next month as appears increasingly likely. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said earlier this month that Trump would be acquitted in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-seat majority.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: This is… optimistic of them, to say the least. Even still, two weeks of 6 day a week trials is better than some people expected from the GOP-controlled Senate.

At this point, I would still be pretty surprised if it makes it to trial. Behind the scenes, Senate Republicans are watching the public hearings – and the polls – like hawks, and they’re not liking what they’re seeing.

It’s really going to ultimately be dependent on public opinion and polling, which I can’t imagine getting any better after another week’s worth of damning testimony.

Secret Service spent more than $250K at Trump properties

“The Secret Service spent more than a quarter of a million dollars at President Donald Trump’s properties over the course of five months in 2017, newly released documents show.

The documents outline Secret Service credit card expenditures for Trump properties and businesses between Jan. 27 and June 9, 2017, and were obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request via the nonprofit watchdog group Property of the People.

The expenditures — amounting to $254,020.94 in total — raise new questions about the extent to which Trump is personally profiting from the federal government, which is prohibited by the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause. The president has called the provision “phony,” and his lawyers have argued that it only bars him from receiving compensation as part of “an employment-type relationship” with a foreign or domestic government.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: But wait, I was told that Trump was losing massive amounts of money by being the President.

Imagine for a moment that it’s 2008, and Obama owns a golf course. Now imagine that Obama happened to visit that golf course ONCE. Now imagine how Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy, Jim Jordan, et al. would have responded.

Articles of impeachment would have been drafted that day.

Trump lashes out at Fox News amid impeachment fight

“President Donald Trump on Thursday complained about his media coverage as the second week of public impeachment hearings drew to a close, even blasting his preferred cable news network for interviewing a Democratic congressman investigating his conduct.

In a morning tweet, Trump lashed out at Fox News host Shannon Bream for a Wednesday segment on her weeknight newscast featuring Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee and a frequent target of the president’s ire.

“Why do @ShannonBream & @FoxNews waste airtime on Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, who recently left the Presidential Primaries having attained a grand number of ZERO in the polls,” Trump wrote. “I don’t even know how that is possible. Fox should stay with the people that got them there, not losers!” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Folks have often asked me why Trump attacks Fox News like this. The reason is quite simple: he wants his followers to turn on them when they inevitably break with him and start admitting that his conduct is impeachable.

Essentially, it’s the 1984 Defense all over again. “What you are seeing isn’t what is happening,” etc. It’s ridiculous, it’s insane, and it shouldn’t have worked for as long as it has.

Pelosi hints that more witnesses could be called to testify

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says “Republicans are in denial about the facts.”

“The sad tragedy of all of this is the behavior of the President and the defense of that behavior by the Republicans.” 

Pelosi also did not shut the door to the possibility that the House could interview additional witnesses. “We aren’t finished yet, the day is not over, and you never know what testimony of one person may lead to the need for testimony of another,” she said when asked by a reporter if she thinks the House needs to hear from more witnesses.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: I would be really surprised if the House doesn’t call more witnesses forward. This week has been absolutely damning for Trump, and further witnesses will do nothing but hurt him more.

There’s a rumor going around that they’re going to try to force an expedited ruling through the courts in order to get Bolton to testify in public. That would be YUGE. Bolton knows *everything*.

Trump signs short-term funding bill to avert shutdown as deadline looms

“President Donald Trump signed a short-term funding bill on Thursday to avert a government shutdown hours before funding for the federal government would have run out, according to a White House official.

The move allows lawmakers and Trump to work for another month to come up with a deal on funding the government. The deadline to avoid another government shutdown is now December 20.

Earlier on Thursday, the Senate passed the short-term funding bill by a vote of 74-20. The House had passed the bill earlier in the week.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: I’m pretty surprised he signed this one. Thankfully, we get another month of reprieve, but this is just going to cause more stress for government families going into Christmas.

Democratic establishment reaches boiling point with Tulsi Gabbard

“Tulsi Gabbard trashed the Democratic Party as “not the party that is of, by and for the people,” accused Kamala Harris of trafficking in “lies and smears and innuendo” and attacked Pete Buttigieg as naive.

Her performance at Wednesday’s debate earned an attaboy from the Trump War Room. And some rank-and-file Democrats are at wit’s end with the congresswoman who Hillary Clinton called “the favorite of the Russians.”

“The question is whether she seriously hopes to be the nominee or if she has another agenda … her attacks on other candidates and her positions on issues seem very personal, not so much about a set of policies or worldview,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Bernie Sanders has “a coherent set of principles. Elizabeth Warren’s the same. I don’t perceive a fixed set of principles or worldview on her part.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: If you missed the debate last night, Tulsi was absolutely disgusting.

I’ve been calling her a Russian asset and a spoiler since at least February. I’ve taken a lot of heat on Twitter for doing so. I certainly don’t expect any apologies, but I will be happy to hand out crow on this one.

Tulsi’s ridiculous outbursts have earned her some new fans though, namely Tucker Carlson, and the Trump War-Room Twitter account. Perhaps she should run for the 2020 GOP nomination – she has much more in common over there.

Who bought a Supreme Court Justice?

“It was a historic moment in April 2017 when Supreme Court justice Anthony M. Kennedy presided over the ceremonial Rose Garden swearing-in for the court’s new member, Neil M. Gorsuch: the first time a sitting justice was joined on the nation’s highest court by one of his former law clerks.

But a secret meeting moments later in the White House was just as significant, according to a new book by Ruth Marcus, a Washington Post deputy editorial page editor.

Kennedy requested a private moment with President Trump to deliver a message about the next Supreme Court opening, Marcus reports. Kennedy told Trump he should consider another of his former clerks, Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was not on the president’s first two lists of candidates.

“The justice’s message to the president was as consequential as it was straightforward, and it was a remarkable insertion by a sitting justice into the distinctly presidential act of judge picking,” Marcus writes in “Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: This is a previously-unreported and – if true – absolutely insane meeting that does nothing to dispel the notion that this was all concocted in advance.

With this revelation, and the still unanswered question of Kavanaugh’s debt, I hope this book will bring with it more investigations; it’s vitally important that we find out who owns a Supreme Court Justice.

Pentagon denies report U.S. mulls pulling up to 4,000 troops from South Korea

“The United States on Thursday denied a South Korean news report that it was considering withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea if it does not pay more for maintaining a 28,500-strong U.S. contingent deterring North Korean aggression.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the withdrawal of a U.S. brigade, typically 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers, had been discussed with the top brass of the U.S. military in South Korea, citing an unidentified diplomatic source in Washington.

The report came two days after the United States broke off defense cost talks after demanding that South Korea raise its annual contribution for maintaining the U.S. contingent to $5 billion, a South Korean official said, more than five times what it pays now, in rare discord in the alliance.” via Reuters

Angry’s Thoughts: To be fair, Trump hasn’t Tweeted it out yet, so the Pentagon wouldn’t know if this was true or not.

On a serious note, his utter lack of knowledge is infuriating. The Republic of Korea has been one of our best allies for decades; if he alienates them and our bilateral relationship fractures, not only will it hurt Japan and make the region less stable, it will directly benefit China and Russia.

A week of pain for Trump

In case you missed it somehow, Trump had a really, really bad week. Public testimony did just about everything the Dems could have hoped to knock down literally every talking point the GOP is using to defend Trump.

They picked good witnesses, they asked good questions, and they made the impeachable conduct clear to the American people. I’m really curious to see where polls go from here, and I’ll be watching closely this weekend and early next week.

In the meantime, I would strongly urge everyone to watch as much of the hearings as you can – each of them held their own “WOW” moments, though perhaps none so much as that of Sondland or the joint-testimony of Dr. Hill and David Holmes. Sondland threw literally everyone under the bus, while Hill and Holmes painted a bleak picture of a President who is a national security threat.

I know the GOP is still pretending to be confident, but they’re not, and it’s hard to imagine how any serious politician will defend him after this week.

I plan to have a more detailed post focused entirely on the big moments from the impeachment hearings at some point this weekend. In the meantime, have a drink – it was a hell of a week.

Alexander Vindman has reached out to Army about his family’s safety amid attacks by Trump, GOP

“Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council official testifying publicly as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, has reached out to the US Army about the security of his family as he comes under repeated attack by Trump and his allies.

The Army has had conversations with Vindman about the security of his family, a US defense official told CNN. These conversations were initiated at the request of the Vindmans, the source said.

“It is improper for the President of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a US citizen and political opponent,” Vindman said in his opening remarks on the third day of public impeachment hearings.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Lt. Col. Vindman absolutely *crushed* his testimony today. If you were unable to watch it, I strongly suggest that you find time to do so. His opening statement was one of the more moving I’ve heard. Ever.

Republicans are desperately trying to paint these testimonies as a win, but Vindman and Williams both outlined a narrative of “unusual” and “inappropriate” behavior in which millions of dollars worth of aid to Ukraine was conditioned on investigating one of Trump’s political opponents.

The GOP had no real response to the facts being laid out by the witnesses, so they did asinine things like subtly attack Vindman for appearing in uniform (which he was required to do), try to out the whistleblower, and spend an inordinate amount of time talking about Hunter Biden and Burisma, even though several of today’s witnesses discounted the Biden/Burisma narrative as baseless.

On a positive note, I will never forget the way Vindman closed his opening remarks:

“Dad, my sitting here today, in the US Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision forty years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”

Two jail guards charged in connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s death

“Federal prosecutors have charged two guards at a prison in Manhattan in connection to the investigation into accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a senior law enforcement official said.

The charges against Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, who are both in custody, are expected to be made public shortly and to center around falsifying prison records.

The guards were on duty before Epstein died by suicide in his cell on Aug. 10. The guards were said to have falsified documents to indicate they were regularly checking on the inmate.” via NBC News

Angry’s Thoughts: <insert Epstein didn’t kill himself meme here>

But seriously, someone had to be the fall guy, I guess. If anyone *really* thinks Epstein killed himself, I’d like to sell you a bridge.

Trump’s pullout from Syria allowed ISIS to gain strength

“President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw troops from northern Syria, combined with Turkey’s assault against Kurdish forces, allowed the Islamic State to strengthen its position there, the Pentagon’s inspector general said in a new report released on Tuesday.

The withdrawal and incursion allowed ISIS to “reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad,” the quarterly report from the lead inspector general on the U.S. military campaign against ISIS stated. The report cited information from the Defense Intelligence Agency.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: This was always going to be the outcome. We have confirmation that ISIS is already running spies again, which means they’re planning new operations and prepping for a resurgence. Trump’s capitulation is going to get people killed.

But hey, at least we’re protecting the oil fields.

Stephanie Graham’s most dubious claim

“Obama White House officials pushed back forcefully on press secretary Stephanie Grisham’s claim that they left disparaging notes for the incoming administration predicting that “you will fail” and “you aren’t going to make it.”

A reporter for CNN tweeted out Grisham’s comments, in which she alleged “every office was filled with Obama books and we had notes left behind that said ‘You will fail,’” and “‘You aren’t going to make it.’” The tweet sparked blowback from prominent members of the Obama administration who quickly denied and contradicted her account.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: As several ex-Obama officials pointed out, this is a total fabrication. It point blank didn’t happen. At least one Obama staffer posted a picture of the letter he left his successor.

To be clear, leaving letters is customary – typically they’re full of words of encouragement, or even advice for beginning life in what is a uniquely challenging environment. Almost always, contact information is left with the promise of help, if the new officials need it. Nobody leaving the White House wants the people coming in behind them to fail – that’s asking for the country to fail, and these people (with the exception of the current occupants) are universally patriots.

I also find it interesting that we’re three years in and just now hearing about these supposed letters hidden in books; either Stephanie is completely full of crap, or it took them three years to actually open the books.

Well… in retrospect, I guess either of those things is possible.

Another congresswoman lashes out at The Hill

“Florida Congresswoman Val Demings questioned Tuesday whether the The Hill is “fair and unbiased” during an exchange with a reporter from the publication, the second of such incidents in recent days.

California Rep. Jackie Speier, who is also a Democrat, told a Hill reporter on Friday that it was “reprehensible” that the paper published columns by John Solomon, a conservative journalist who helped ignite the Ukraine scandal and whose work has been promoted by President Donald Trump and his allies.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Friends don’t let friends read The Hill. As far as I can tell, it’s all pro-Trump propaganda, or cut-and-paste news articles from real publications.

Volker admits he was wrong to view Biden and Burisma separately

“Kurt Volker told lawmakers that he drew a “sharp distinction” between Burisma and Biden, but admits that he was wrong to view them separately.

“In hindsight, I now understand that others saw the idea of investigating possible corruption involving the Ukrainian company, “Burisma,” as equivalent to investigating former Vice President Biden. I saw them as very different. The former being appropriate and unremarkable, the latter being unacceptable,” Volker said in his opening statement. “In retrospect, I should have seen that connection differently, and had I done so, I would have raised my own objections.”

Volker said he has learned many things he did not know in the last few weeks. Before the testimony provided by other individuals as part of the impeachment inquiry, Volker did not understand their belief that an investigation into Burisma was “tantamount” to investigating Biden.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Volker has had a stellar reputation for a long time, so I’m inclined to take him at his word here. Volker came out forcefully and dismissed the Biden allegations as baseless conspiracy, vouched for Biden’s personal character, and pointed out that the entire national security apparatus wanted Shokin (the attorney that Biden supposedly “got fired”) gone.

Volker also revealed the origination of Trump’s desire to withhold aid. He stated that Trump told him “Ukraine is a corrupt country, full of terrible people. They tried to take me down.”

This is insanity. This is Trump – through Giuliani – parroting more Russian conspiracy theories. Ukraine didn’t attack our election – that’s nothing but a tired Russian talking point.

He’s in Deeper Water Than Most’: G.O.P. Senator at Center of Impeachment Inquiry

“Some of President Trump’s staunchest defenders in the Senate have twisted themselves into contortions to avoid becoming enmeshed in the impeachment inquiry into his pressure campaign on Ukraine.

Then there is Senator Ron Johnson.

Long an outspoken advocate of Ukraine, Mr. Johnson, a manufacturing baron from northeastern Wisconsin elected in 2010 on the Tea Party wave, has landed squarely in the middle of the impeachment inquiry. He is now emerging as one of Mr. Trump’s most vocal congressional allies.” via NYT

Angry’s Thoughts: If you didn’t read the letter Johnson sent yesterday in response to the impeachment inquiry, you can do so right here. He’s embroiled in almost every event that Congress is investigating, including spending time in Kyiv with Zelensky, and spending time in the Oval trying to convince Trump to release the aid.

I guess it’s unsurprising that, being so entrenched in the controversy, that he’s now one of Trump’s most ardent public defenders.

Trump says media panicked Melania into thinking he had a heart attack

“President Donald Trump on Tuesday sought to downplay rampant scrutiny about his health after an unannounced weekend visit to the hospital, spinning his reassurances that it was just a physical into an attack on the press.

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump brought up the abrupt trip to Walter Reed Medical Center unprompted, explaining that he’d only gone to undergo a portion of his yearly physical.

But he told reporters that he was greeted by a panicked first lady and communications department when he arrived back at the White House due to media coverage of the trip.

“I went for a physical. and I came back and my wife said, ‘Darling are you OK? … Oh they’re reporting you may have had a heart attack,’” Trump explained. “I said ‘Why did I have a heart attack?’ ‘Because you went to Walter Reed Medical Center’ — that’s where we go when we get the physicals.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: If anyone is keeping track, first he went for portions of his physical, then his physician refuted that and said he went for a “routine, planned interim checkup,” now Trump is back to the physical story.

They’re really bad at this.

Meanwhile, the President was off camera for three days, and looked like absolute crap when he returned today. The real story will come out, but this wasn’t routine, or an interim checkup.

Carl Bernstein’s revelation

This isn’t *really* a revelation if you’ve been following me for awhile, because I’ve been saying it for over a year, but Bernstein revealed that several Senators confided to him in private that they feel like Trump is a dupe for Putin and that he’s bad for the country.

They told him they don’t say anything publicly (yet) because they’re worried about primaries and Trump’s Twitter account… so basically, profiles in courage.

Gordon Sondland Stepped in ‘And Things Went Really Off the Rails’

“Ukrainian officials arrived at the White House on July 10 expecting something approaching normal. They were in Washington for a scheduled meeting with then-National Security Adviser John Bolton with a plan to propose a new path for U.S.-Ukrainian relations under the umbrella of energy and security cooperation. All seemed to go well—until U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland stepped in. “That’s when things really went off the rails,” one person in the room said.” via The Daily Beast

Angry’s Thoughts: We know from previous reporting that Bolton’s meeting was interrupted by Sondland – who was speaking directly from Trump – with the suggestion that Ukraine investigate Hunter Biden and Burisma if they wanted to secure a White House meeting with the President.

If reports are to be believed, Bolton immediately shut down this request from Sondland and tried his best to salvage the meeting, but that didn’t deter Sondland, who continued to demand that the Ukrainians open the investigation that the President was asking for if they wanted to develop a relationship with Washington.

This is the *literal* definition of extortion, and I personally can’t wait for Sondland’s testimony on Wednesday – I suspect there will be fireworks.

Reminder: Sondland has already been caught lying to Congress once. He “clarified” (read: completely changed) his testimony via letter to the appropriate committees, but it’s going to be interesting to see what he has to say in public, because he has a lot of information that could be really bad for Trump.

Sen. Johnson says the whistleblower revealed too much

“Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Sunday that the Trump administration officials who provided information to the anonymous whistleblower about the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine “exposed things that didn’t need to be exposed.”

“This would have been far better off if we would’ve just taken care of this behind the scenes,” Johnson said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “We have two branches of government. Most people, most people wanted to support Ukraine. We were trying to convince President Trump.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: On its face, this isn’t a completely stupid argument; it would generally be preferable for Congress to handle this kind of thing privately, unless the President was caught extorting another country, hiding all of the incriminating information on a highly-classified server, stonewalling all Congressional investigations into said behavior, and threatening to fire the people who exposed it in the first place.

Oh. So maybe it is a completely stupid argument.

To be clear, the Whistleblower is a patriot and did exactly what they were supposed to do. Inspector General Atkinson is also a patriot and did exactly what he was supposed to do. The only people here who *aren’t* doing what they should be doing are Trump administration officials and republican members of Congress.

It is nice of Johnson to acknowledge (again) that he knew Trump was extorting Ukraine and they were actively trying to make him stop.

Trump labels top Pence aide a ‘Never Trumper’

“President Donald Trump on Sunday labeled one of his vice president’s top national security aides a “Never Trumper,” a day after it was disclosed that she had called the president’s July call with Ukraine “unusual and inappropriate” in a deposition to Congress.

Trump tweeted that the aide, Jennifer Williams — “whoever that is,” he said — should read the transcripts of both his calls with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine: the July 25 call at the center of the impeachment inquiry, as well as an initial April 21 call that the White House released a summary of Friday.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: For someone who “only hires the best people,” Trump sure has managed to hire a whole lot of people who don’t like him, according to him.

In reality, that’s all a bunch of BS and these people are patriots who care more about the country than they do Trump’s approval – we should be thankful for them.

Jennifer Williams is absolutely correct, though – nothing about Trump’s phone call, or the way it was handled in the aftermath, was normal or appropriate.

House is investigating whether Trump lied to Mueller

“A federal appeals court in Washington is considering whether the Justice Department must immediately release to Congress secret grand-jury materials from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation.

At the Monday hearing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is reviewing a lower-court ruling that requires disclosure of evidence the House Judiciary Committee says it needs in its “urgent efforts” to determine whether President Trump committed impeachable offenses.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s thoughts: Turns out, Rick Gates singing like a canary for almost a year paid off. I still doubt that anything from the Mueller investigation will be as damaging as the obvious extortion of Ukraine, but an extra article of impeachment certainly wouldn’t hurt.

If this helps get the grand jury materials released quicker, that will also give Congress the opportunity to call additional witnesses, fortify their current case, etc. The Dems have played this really well so far, both in the court of law, and the court of public opinion.

New polling out today has skyrocketed public support for impeachment: 57% now want Trump impeached, and 51% want him impeached and removed from office. 21% of people made that decision after just listening to one week of public hearings.

We have some really explosive witnesses coming up this week too – it’s not going to get any better for him from here.

Trump turns anger to Pompeo

“The impeachment inquiry has created the first rift between President Donald Trump and the Cabinet member who has been his closest ally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to four current and former senior administration officials.

Trump has fumed for weeks that Pompeo is responsible for hiring State Department officials whose congressional testimony threatens to bring down his presidency, the officials said. The president confronted Pompeo about the officials — and what he believed was a lackluster effort by the secretary of state to block their testimony — during lunch at the White House on Oct. 29, those familiar with the matter said.” via NBC News

Angry’s thoughts: Trump is telling agency heads across the administration that they should rein their people in, which, of course, is totally how innocent people act.

Berating an agency head for not doing more to block the Congress from upholding their Constitutional duty is probably one of the more blatantly-impeachable things he’s done, but that particular list is long, so I understand if some people have lost track.

Several of you have asked me what I think Pompeo will do from here. Honest answer? Nothing good – he’s a sniveling coward and cares more about his political future than anything currently going on with the country. Until he realizes that Trump isn’t his personal way to success, he’s not going to do anything to defend the State Department from Trump’s tirades.

Speaking of being a sniveling coward:

Pompeo announces reversal of longstanding US policy on Israeli settlements

“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday announced a major reversal of the US’ longstanding policy on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a 1978 State Department legal opinion that deemed the settlements “inconsistent with international law.”

The announcement, which breaks with international law and consensus, is the latest in a string of hardline, pro-Israeli moves that are likely to inflame tensions between the Trump administration and Palestinians and widen the divide between the Trump administration and traditional US allies in Europe.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: when Trump was advocating for the two state solution? Fun times.

Trump considering firing impeachment witnesses

“President Donald Trump’s aides have explored moving some impeachment witnesses on loan to the White House from other agencies, such as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, back to their home departments ahead of schedule, according to people familiar with the conversations.

As public hearings bring the officials’ allegations to his television screen, Trump is asking anew how witnesses such as Vindman and Ambassador Bill Taylor came to work for him, people familiar with the matter said. He has suggested again they be dismissed, even as advisers warn him firing them could be viewed as retaliation.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: I’ve told you guys that this was going on for quite some time. In any normal administration, this would be impeachable all by himself.

For what it’s worth, he’s definitely being counseled not to do this, because it absolutely would be seen as retaliation – which it is. This is all part of the to reduce overall NSC staff levels, again, not for any purpose that benefits the country, but to help circle the wagons and tamp down on deluge of leaks that are about to derail his presidency.

Supreme Court stops Trump financial documents from going to House

“President Donald Trump’s financial documents won’t be released Wednesday, after the Supreme Court on Monday put on hold a lower court opinion that allowed a House subpoena to go forward.

The court did not set a timeline when it will rule or release the documents, but has asked for the House to respond on Thursday to Trump’s request to block the subpoena.

Earlier Monday, the House said that it would endorse a 10-day delay to give the justices more time to consider legal arguments.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Before you panic, it’s important to realize this was always how this case was going to go. The headline is also kind of misleading – SCOTUS didn’t block Trump’s financial documents from going to the House, there’s just a temporary stay on their release while SCOTUS prepares to take the case.

For what it’s worth, the Democrats expected this to be the outcome, and they still fully expect to win the upcoming court battle. I don’t see any reason to disagree with them.

Lindsey Graham announces hearing with DOJ inspector general

“Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham announced Monday that he will hold a hearing on Dec. 11 featuring Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Horowitz’s scheduled appearance before the committee comes as the inspector general is wrapping up an investigation into the origins of the FBI probe into the 2016 Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: If Graham is rushing to schedule this appearance this quickly, I suspect that means he thinks the IG report is going to go well for the GOP, and with Barr being involved, he’s probably right.

For what it’s worth, Trump and Barr got into a pretty good argument in the Oval the other day, so I’m wondering if maybe the report won’t be as favorable as Trump would like it to be, but I don’t yet have any information to support that idea.

The Iran Cables: Secret Documents Show How Tehran Wields Power in Iraq

“Hundreds of leaked intelligence reports shed light on a shadow war for regional influence — and the battles within the Islamic Republic’s own spy divisions

In mid-October, with unrest swirling in Baghdad, a familiar visitor slipped quietly into the Iraqi capital. The city had been under siege for weeks, as protesters marched in the streets, demanding an end to corruption and calling for the ouster of the prime minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi. In particular, they denounced the outsize influence of their neighbor Iran in Iraqi politics, burning Iranian flags and attacking an Iranian consulate.

The visitor was there to restore order, but his presence highlighted the protesters’ biggest grievance: he was Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, head of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, and he had come to persuade an ally in the Iraqi Parliament to help the prime minister hold onto his job.

It was not the first time General Suleimani had been dispatched to Baghdad to do damage control. Tehran’s efforts to prop up Mr. Mahdi are part of its long campaign to maintain Iraq as a pliable client state.

Now leaked Iranian documents offer a detailed portrait of just how aggressively Tehran has worked to embed itself into Iraqi affairs, and of the unique role of General Suleimani. The documents are contained in an archive of secret Iranian intelligence cables obtained by The Intercept and shared with The New York Times for this article, which is being published simultaneously by both news organizations.” via NYT

Angry’s Thoughts: This definitely wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside our intelligence community – Iran has held enormous power and influence over Iraqi politics and policies for years.

The United States has effectively been in a proxy war with Iran at least since the Global War on Terror (GWoT) started – I’ve done several Twitter threads exploring some of the Iraq/Iran connection, including the Quds Force supplying Iraqi insurgents with armor-penetrating explosively formed penetrator (EFP) improved explosive devices (IEDs).

EFP IEDs were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers during the Iraq campaign, giving the insurgents the previously-out-of-reach ability to defeat American armor.

Trump’s medical mystery

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last several days, you know that Trump was rushed to Walter Reed alongside Sean Conley, the White House physician.

The White House would have you believe that he was headed there to get “phase one” of his physical done early since he’s going to be busy in 2020.

Phase one. Of a physical. On a Saturday. During golf time.

Yep. Nobody is believing that, right?

On top of that, Walter Reed has a specific protocol for VIP visits that was *not* followed here. This visit wasn’t on Trump’s public schedule, or the internal White House schedule. It also wasn’t anything minor – the White House has a fully functional medical unit that is staffed 24/7 and can handle all but the most serious complications.

The President also hasn’t been seen in public since the episode, and took a meeting with Fed Chair Powell in the Residence instead of the Oval. All of this information points to a pretty significant medical emergency that the White House is desperately trying to cover up.

It’ll leak soon. Everything in Washington does.

In the meantime, remember what I said about them prepping a medical resignation.

Schiff: Sham investigations won’t dominate hearings

“The impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump will not be allowed to become a venue for “sham investigations” into Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son, the head of a congressional committee leading the probe said on Tuesday.

Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, also said he would not allow a debunked conspiracy theory that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. election to derail the hearings.” via Reuters

Hearing from Hunter Biden in an impeachment inquiry into the President of the United States is probably about the dumbest line of defense the GOP could have chosen, so of course that was their first idea. Thankfully, Schiff isn’t playing along with their games.

Again, this GOP argument has been discredited by multiple witnesses and by just about every news station out there – including Fox – for years now – the fact that it’s returning shows you how desperate the GOP is to find *some* kind of deflection for the barrage of bad news they’ve gotten over the last several weeks.

Mulvaney declines to cooperate, won’t sue over subpoena

“White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday that he no longer plans to sue over the House impeachment proceedings and will instead follow President Donald Trump’s directions and decline to cooperate.

It’s the latest reversal in position by Mulvaney, who last week asked to join the lawsuit of another Trump adviser before changing his mind Monday and saying that he intended to bring his own case. It appears to resolve once and for all a four-day legal dispute that exposed divisions among current and former Trump administration officials about how best to respond to Democratic demands for cooperation and testimony.” via The Associated Press

This lawsuit never made any sense to begin with if Mulvaney was trying to delay his testimony. After today’s hearing, it’s no real surprise that he doesn’t want to cooperate – he’s been run over by the bus several times at this point.

Several folks have asked me if we will hear from Mulvaney, and I’m honestly not sure. I’m doubtful that he’s going to appear willingly, and I think the impeachment inquiry will be done without him well before we get through that particular court battle.

Trump Has Considered Firing Intelligence Community Inspector General

“President Trump has discussed dismissing the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson, because Mr. Atkinson reported a whistle-blower’s complaint about Mr. Trump’s interactions with Ukraine to Congress after concluding it was credible, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Trump first expressed his dismay about Mr. Atkinson around the time the whistle-blower’s complaint became public in September. In recent weeks, he has continued to raise with aides the possibility of firing him, one of the people said.

The president has said he does not understand why Mr. Atkinson shared the complaint, which outlined how Mr. Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Mr. Trump’s political rivals at the same time he was withholding military aid from the country. He has said he believes Mr. Atkinson, whom he appointed in 2017, has been disloyal, one of the people said.” via NYT

No better way to prove that you’re not the most corrupt POTUS in modern history than by <check notes> firing the person who decided that your corruption was an urgent enough matter that it deserved to go to Congress.

He’s being urged not to do this, but his first – and only, if we’re being honest – inclination is to burn everything down to try to save himself, so I won’t be surprised if Atkinson and Mulvaney are gone very soon.

Republicans plan to focus on Trump’s ‘state of mind,’ intentions about Ukraine call

“Republicans have circulated a lengthy memorandum to their members on the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees that lays out their strategy ahead of public impeachment hearings this week, with plans to make the case that it’s important to understand President Donald Trump’s “state of mind” during his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that’s at the center of their impeachment probe.

“To appropriately understand the events in question — and most importantly, assess the President’s state of mind during his interaction with [Ukrainian] President Zelensky — context is necessary,” the 18-page memo obtained by ABC News reads.” via ABC News

When Trump’s state of mind is key to your defense, you’ve already lost. You might as well just pack it up and go home. That’s a bigly bad idea.

We’ve seen this play out several times before, and it’s never worked out for them. It’s always been the “he was just joking” or “this is just how he does thing” defense – but that’s not going to fly when it comes to extortion. Not to mention, his state of mind is very clear – he didn’t care about Ukraine at all unless they could help give him an edge on Joe Biden.

Democrats warn State Department not to retaliate against testifying diplomats

“Senate Democrats are warning State Department leaders not to retaliate against U.S. diplomats testifying publicly this week as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

In a letter dated Tuesday, the Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also demand that the State Department issue statements of support for the diplomats soon to take the stage.

“We call on you to emphatically and unequivocally support and protect these employees to your fullest abilities,” the senators wrote.” via Politico

Kent’s testimony today was particularly revealing to the depths of disfunction going on at State right now. In Kent’s opening statement, he said, “We have asked the State Department for guidance about any classification concerns related to the public release of my deposition, and the State Department has declined to provide any.”

Responding to those inquiries is a pretty basic function of agencies when it comes to Congressional testimonies, but we’re in the upside down. Either way, Kent did a good job of answering the questions posed to him without taking any detours into restricted territory.

US has surveillance video of a possible war crime by Turkish-backed forces in Syria

“As President Donald Trump prepares to welcome Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Wednesday, two US defense officials tell CNN that the US military is in possession of at least one drone surveillance video which the US believes captured a possible war crime being perpetrated by Turkish-commanded fighters in Syria.

The existence of the video was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

One of the officials cautioned that while the video appears to show a possible extra-judicial execution of a detainee by Turkish-affiliated fighters, they said it does not represent conclusive proof of Turkey’s culpability in a war crime, in part because of the quality of the video and absence of additional information about the circumstances being shown.” via CNN

This isn’t all that surprising – there are videos all over social media that showed the same thing. They were killing men, women, and children, lining people up in ditches and executing them, etc. This was nothing more than an ethic cleansing, and Erdogan was rewarded with a trip to the White house.

Anyone else tired of winning?

To be clear, the White House investigation was mostly designed as a distraction for the impeachment proceedings – thankfully that didn’t work at all.

Schiff warns GOP that outing Trump whistleblower could violate ethics rules

“House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Tuesday warned members of his committee ahead of this week’s impeachment hearings that attempts to out the whistleblower whose allegations ignited the Democratic-led inquiry could violate congressional ethics rules.

“The Committee has a long, proud, and bipartisan history of protecting whistleblowers — including from efforts to threaten, intimidate, retaliate against, or undermine the confidentiality of whistleblowers,” Schiff wrote in a memorandum to his colleagues on the Intelligence panel.” via Politico

Schiff did a good job today and managed to keep the GOP mostly in line. To be clear, their half of the hearing was still an absolute clown show, but it played out so well for the Democrats that I don’t think Schiff even minded.

Nunes managed to spectacularly self-own at least twice during his limited speaking time, leaving me with the same question as always: WHO decided that it was a good idea to leave the first line of defense to Nunes? Not that the GOP counsel is doing much better, if we’re being honest – these hearings have been a total clown show for the GOP, but I don’t think anyone *really* expected any better.

Hillary Clinton: ‘I’m under enormous pressure’ to run in 2020

“Hillary Clinton said she is fielding a plethora of calls urging her to rethink her decision to sit out of the 2020 race.

“As I say, never, never, never say never,” the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee told BBC Radio 5 Live host Emma Barnett when asked if she was ruling out a future in public office.

“I will certainly tell you, I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it,” Clinton said. “But as of this moment, sitting here in this studio talking to you, that is absolutely not in my plans.” via Washington Examiner

I think this ship has probably sailed. Hillary said several times that she’s not planning on running. If she did, she would definitely get my vote, and most-likely easily clench the nomination – and the White House – but I think it’s for the best that she lets Warren have her time.

It would be worth her joining in just to see Tulsi’s face, though.

Impeachment Hearings Open With Revelation on Trump’s Ukraine Pressure

“The House of Representatives opened historic impeachment hearings on Wednesday and heard a senior American diplomat reveal startling new testimony that drew President Trump closer to the center of the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

In a nationally televised hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee room across from the Capitol, William B. Taylor Jr., the top American diplomat in Ukraine, brought to life Democrats’ allegations that Mr. Trump has abused his office by trying to enlist a foreign power to help him in an election. Mr. Taylor testified to the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the inquiry, that his aide was told in July that Mr. Trump cared more about “investigations of Biden” than he did about Ukraine.

The revelation, as Congress embarked on only the third set of presidential impeachment hearings in modern times, tied Mr. Trump more directly into what Mr. Taylor described in vivid detail as a “highly irregular” effort to place the president’s political interests at the center of American policy toward Ukraine.” via NYT

If you didn’t get to watch Taylor’s testimony, I would strongly suggest that you at least catch the highlights of it. It was damning almost from start to finish. Taylor and Kent were both measured, factual, and came off as absolutely credible and nonpartisan.

They did a great job pointing out the irregularities of… well, everything about the situation. They also parried repeated GOP attempts to drag them into conspiracy land, at times almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the GOP lines of questioning. Taylor’s barely-concealed smirk during Jim Jordan’s diatribe gave me life.

Trump denies knowledge of call mentioned in impeachment hearing

“President Trump on Wednesday denied knowledge of a phone call that he allegedly had with U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in July about investigations he sought from Ukraine.

“First time I heard it,” Trump told reporters in the East Room during a press conference with the Turkish president when asked about the call, which was described by a U.S. diplomat in public testimony earlier Wednesday.

Trump also dismissed the details about the alleged call as “second hand information” and repeated that it was the first he had heard of it.” via The Hill

This is a silly argument since the July 26 phone call has already been pretty well-documented. Taylor’s testimony regarding the call was an absolute bombshell, though, so I can see why Trump would be trying to distance himself from it.

In case you missed it, Taylor said that Sondland called Trump and told him of his meetings in Kyiv. Taylor’s staff member was in the room, and heard Trump ask Sondland about the investigations. Sondland told Trump that Ukraine was ready to move forward. Taylor’s staff member then asked Sondland what Trump thought about Ukraine, to which Sondland replied that Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden.

This shows a couple things:

1. Sondland *seriously* lied in his first Congressional testimony.
2. Trump doesn’t have any plausible deniability here.

I would be surprised if any of the potential witnesses are as nervous as Sondland is, at this point – he is going to be in some pretty significant legal trouble if he doesn’t get his act together quickly.

Trump exposed: A brutal day for the president

“An impeachment inquiry is a constitutional exercise, a vindication of checks and balances, a living expression of rule of law. Yes, yes, sure—all of that. But the start of public hearings Wednesday was a reminder of what impeachment really is in the modern presidency: A brutal exercise in psychological exposure.

There was breaking news from the hearings, but it was mostly a matter of detail. There was a new anecdote from diplomat William Taylor Jr. about Trump allegedly haranguing a subordinate to keep up the pressure on Ukraine to investigate the Biden family. This was a validation of the existing narrative rather than a fundamental twist of plot.

In a more profound way, the day was a portrait—a vivid one, in an especially grave setting—of Trump being Trump: obsessive, hectoring, contemptuous of process and propriety, as bluntly transactional about military aid to a besieged ally as he would be about a midtown real estate deal.” via Politico

Despite the Republican’s bloviating, nobody thinks today was a good day for Trump. They understand that they have no real defense, so instead they spent their time trying to highlight how boring the hearing was (yeah, extortion is *such* a drag *eye roll*), how the witnesses had never had a conversation with Trump (don’t worry, those witnesses are coming soon), and replaying Sean Hannity’s greatest hits of debunked conspiracy theories.

They attacked the witnesses, they attacked Schiff, they attacked the process, but only a few of them even *tried* to defend Trump. That’s important, and it’s not going to get any better.

Trump aides retaliated against State staffer of Iranian descent, probe finds

“President Donald Trump’s political appointees inappropriately retaliated against a career civil servant at the State Department in part because of her ethnic background, her perceived political views, and the fact that she was in government during prior administrations, a federal watchdog says.

In a report to be released publicly later this week, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick recommends that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo consider disciplining officials found to have violated policies that require they use merit-based factors in determining where to place career staffers.” via Politico

At this point, I don’t think anyone is surprised that Trump and his political appointees are blatantly racist, but this is gross.

At some point, his supporters are just going to have to admit that they like him because he’s racist. Almost every one of his policies is designed to hurt a person of color in one way or another.

I really don’t believe in that many coincidences, and I’m sure most of you don’t either. Simply looking at the way he handled Puerto Rico’s hurricane relief should have told you almost everything you needed to know about his view on minorities.

2 White House officials say Mulvaney helped coordinate Ukraine pressure campaign

“Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney helped to coordinate a pressure campaign against Ukraine, two top White House officials said they were told, according to testimony released Friday based on closed-door depositions.

The two officials – Fiona Hill, who has since left the White House after serving as senior director for Europe and Russia, and Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director of European Affairs at the National Security Council – also testified that they were so alarmed by the quid pro quos being put to Kyiv that they reported their concerns directly to National Security Council Legal Adviser John Eisenberg. 

Both Mulvaney and Eisenberg have declined to testify, despite having received subpoenas from Congress.” via ABC News

I can’t wait until the courts force Eisenberg to testify – not only does he know where the bodies are buried, he helped carry some of them, but in the meantime we have plenty of explosive testimony coming up.

Next week is going to be action-packed. On the schedule we have:

Tuesday – Alexander Vindman and Kurt Volker

Wednesday: Gordon Sondland, Laura Cooper

Thursday: Fiona Hill

Of all of these, I’m most excited to see what Sondland has to say after he got caught lying originally, but I also think Vindman’s testimony is going to be devastating, as will Ms. Hill’s.

Trump can’t sue New York state in DC federal court to stop release of tax returns, judge says

“A Trump-appointed federal judge decided Monday that President Donald Trump can’t sue New York state officials in a Washington, DC, court at this time to stop the release of his tax returns to Congress.

The case is one of many where the President or his administration have asked federal judges to intervene before House Democrats obtain Trump’s financial records.

Effectively, the ruling is a loss for Trump but a less significant one then the blows other courts have dealt him in cases involving Democrats’ pursuits of his financial records. Courts have sided with the House multiple times in cases where its committees have subpoenaed Trump’s financial records. Trump is still appealing those rulings, keeping the House subpoenas on hold.” via CNN

Trump will be able to re-file this lawsuit in an appropriate venue – so it’s definitely not a devastating loss – I just like pointing out when Trump loses, especially when it’s one of his appointees ruling against him.

To be clear, I still expect him to lose the final lawsuit on this. The House has continually outmaneuvered him in the courts, and I don’t see that stopping any time soon.

He’s going to fight these to the bitter end, though – He’s setting up several Supreme Court Challenges that I expect him to lose on precedent. The tantrums are going to be glorious.

DOJ: Rick Gates ready for mid-December sentencing

“Rick Gates is ready to be sentenced in mid-December, according to attorneys for the Justice Department and the former Donald Trump deputy campaign chairman, potentially closing one of the final open chapters from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The proposal to finally hand down Gates’ punishment next month came in a one-page joint status report filed on Monday to U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee who is presiding in the case.

Gates’ sentencing has been postponed numerous times since he began to cooperate with federal prosecutors after pleading guilty in February 2018 to financial fraud and lying to investigators.

The onetime deputy on the 2016 Trump campaign “continues to cooperate with the government,” according to the filing. That includes plans for Gates to testify this week in Jackson’s courtroom in the Mueller-era trial against Roger Stone, the longtime Trump associate fighting charges he lied to Congress and obstructed its investigation into Russian interference in the last presidential race.” via Politico

Gates has to have been singing like a canary to avoid prosecution for this long. I can’t wait to see the outcome of all these continuing matters.

With Roger Stone’s upcoming court case and Gates sentencing approaching, we will start seeing the conclusions of some of the cases Mueller farmed out. There are some that are still ongoing in different venues, but honestly, as long as Roger Stone is guilty, I’ll be happy; we don’t *need* Mueller’s work to impeach Trump anymore – Ukraine is exponentially worse for him.

Former Bolton deputy rejects Mulvaney’s attempt to join impeachment lawsuit

“A former Trump White House adviser asked a federal judge Monday to block the current White House chief of staff from joining a lawsuit that seeks to clarify whether the House can force testimony in an impeachment investigation from presidential advisers.

Charles Kupperman, who stepped down last month as Trump’s deputy national security adviser, made the unusual request through his attorney in a 10-page motion that opposes Mick Mulvaney’s bid to sign on as an intervenor in his case.

Kupperman had been trying to get a definitive ruling from a judge on whether a former White House aide must comply with a congressional subpoena over the objections of Trump, who has asserted “absolute immunity” in preventing his aides from testifying.

In Monday’s filing to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, Kupperman’s attorney proposes that Mulvaney be allowed to pursue his complaint on a separate path that should be allowed to stay before the same judge because the cases are “related.”

But Kupperman attorney Chuck Cooper said the two cases should be split up because they deal with different sets of facts and arguments. For one, Kupperman is neutral on whether Leon rules in favor of Congress or the president when it comes to “the merits of the unsettled Constitutional dispute at issue in this case.”

That’s in contrast to Mulvaney, who Cooper said “has made it clear that he supports the Executive, and he accordingly seeks declaratory relief against only the House Defendants.” via Politico

Mulvaney has since cancelled his lawsuit and just decided not to cooperate with the Democrats’ subpoena, which always made the most sense. If he was trying to drag his feet, I’m not sure what made him think signing on to a court case that was being expedited was a good idea, but then again, these aren’t the brightest crayons in the box.

I doubt Congress will hear from Mulvaney anytime soon, but that shouldn’t matter in the long run – there are plenty of witnesses that are willing to speak, and their testimony has been damning.

Trump’s plan to shrink NSC staff draws fire

“White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien is moving quickly to shrink and reshape his staff – rattling some nerves already frayed by the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

The changes at the National Security Council are both sweeping and minute: several dozen policy roles will be eliminated as staffers return to their home agencies or leave government in the coming two months; at least two NSC divisions are being phased out completely; a third, meanwhile, has been handed off to a separate White House-based group.

Trump aides insist that shrinking the NSC has nothing to do with impeachment, despite concerns on the left that Trump is trying to root out potential leakers and whistleblowers. Rather, the officials say, it’s about improving efficiency in government and a response to long-standing Republican concerns about the growth of the NSC.

But whether a smaller, O’Brien-led NSC will have more influence on the president is far from clear. Trump has long chosen his gut instinct over policy advice. And NSC staffers fear the impeachment process, which focuses on whether Trump tried to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, will make the president even less trusting of the U.S. bureaucracy than before.

Several NSC officials have already given damning testimony before House committees, and the whistleblower who first flagged the president’s phone call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is reported to be a CIA employee previously detailed to the NSC staff. President Trump has likened the whistleblower, and the officials who spoke with him, to spies.” via Politico

To be clear, the NSC *has* grown exponentially over the last decade or so, but this was by necessity. They have an important job to do, and cutting personnel to the levels O’Brien is suggesting is going to be detrimental to that job.

There’s been a long-lasting discussion about the role of the NSC in modern times – while they work closely with the greater intelligence community, they essentially have the autonomy of their own agency, and that has always ruffled some feathers, but this time is different:

Never before have we had a President that’s arguing that the agency was too big and/or had too much power. This was probably the inevitable conclusion, though, since the whistleblower was on loan to the NSC. Trump has no idea how any of this actually works, so he’ll naturally blame his current predicament on the NSC directly.

Personally, I’d suggest that he stop committing crimes, but that’s probably too much to ask.

Judge shuts out public from Mick Mulvaney hearing on House impeachment subpoena

“The public couldn’t listen to a public court hearing Monday night over acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s House impeachment subpoena, a federal judge in Washington said. Court security told three reporters from CNN, Bloomberg and The Washington Post to leave the DC federal courthouse minutes before the 5 p.m. ET start time for the hearing.

The hearing, which was held over the phone, would not be open to the public and the judge was not in his chambers, according to court security guards who spoke to the judge’s chambers Monday.

For a courthouse that has hosted dozens of major hearings about the President over the past two years, the judge’s move is a confounding approach to a case with such noteworthy players and significance in the House’s impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump — a case that, in its essence, asks whether the White House chief of staff must speak publicly under oath.” via CNN

Mulvaney has since announced that he’s going to file his own lawsuit.

Update: Mulvaney has actually cancelled his lawsuit completely, and he is just going to do his best to follow Trump’s advice and stonewall Congress. Hopefully he’ll be held in contempt for it, but I doubt it, if we’re being honest.

Mulvaney is in an interesting position at the moment – he’s loathed by Congress, and Trump is seriously considering firing him. I can’t say that I have much sympathy for him, but you would think that eventually these people would learn Trump has no loyalty to anyone but himself.

Pentagon official testifies that she was told Ukrainians were alarmed by stalled aid

“A key Pentagon official told House impeachment investigators that former US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker told her Ukrainian officials were alarmed in August that US security aid was being held up — an indication Kiev was aware of the delay earlier than it was reported publicly, according to a deposition transcript released Monday.

Laura Cooper, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, told lawmakers behind closed doors last month that she met with Volker in August to discuss the hold on aid. She said Volker told her in their meeting that he was attempting to lift the hold on the aid by having the Ukrainians deliver a public statement that they would launch the investigations being sought by President Donald Trump.

She described Volker seeking a statement from the Ukrainians about opening investigations into election interference that would trigger a release in the aid.

“I knew from my Kurt Volker conversation and also from sort of the alarm bells that were coming from Ambassador (Bill) Taylor and his team that there were Ukrainians who knew about this,” Cooper said, describing the Ukrainians as aware of the freeze on aid in August 2019. “The context for the discussion that I had with Ambassador Volker related specifically to the path that he was pursuing to lift the hold would be to get them to make this statement, but the only reason they would do that is because there was, you know, something valuable.” via CNN

The way the Dems have been releasing these transcripts is brilliant so far – it’s impossible for Trump or his allies to get ahead of the narrative when new information drips out daily.

In the last several days, we found out that Kiev knew way before originally reported about the aid being withheld, undercutting a key Trump defense that they were unaware of any quid pro quo. We also found out that it only released because Bolton helped circumvent the President and release it on his way out the door, undercutting another key Trump defense that he gave the order to release the aid. On top of all of that, we found out that there was another, previously undisclosed, hold on lethal aid (primarily javelin missiles) because Russia wouldn’t like it.

Whew.

Deval Patrick mulls late entry into Democratic primary

“Former Gov. Deval Patrick is considering a late entry into the presidential race, according to two sources with knowledge of his thinking, a move that could unsettle the Democratic primary field.

The Massachusetts Democrat has been reaching out to contacts in early voting states, which was first reported by The New York Times.

Patrick is looking to announce as early as this week, according to one of the sources. To get on the ballot in states like Iowa and New Hampshire, Patrick will have to move quickly —the deadline to register for the ballot in his neighboring state of New Hampshire is Friday.” via Politico

No thank you. The field is already crowded with qualified candidates – the last thing we need (looking at you, Bloomberg) is more division amongst the Democrats.

I would accept Hillary joining the race, but I don’t *really* want her to, either – any of the top four candidates will easily be able to win the White House as long as we do our jobs, and there’s no need to make it any more confusing.

Trump weighs conditioning foreign aid on religious freedom

“Aides to President Donald Trump are drafting plans to condition U.S. aid to other countries on how well they treat their religious minorities, two White House officials said.

The proposal is expected to cover U.S. humanitarian assistance, and could also be broadened to include American military aid to other countries. If the proposal becomes reality, it could have a major effect on U.S. assistance in a range of places, from Iraq to Vietnam. Its mere consideration shows how much the White House prioritizes religious freedom, an emphasis critics say is really about galvanizing Trump’s evangelical Christian base.” via Politico

Translation: they’re trying to prioritize aid money to countries who are nice to Christians.

“He doesn’t argue well when there is an obvious fact pattern at play”

“President Donald Trump has boasted, bullied, bragged, charmed and even lied his way through his first three years as America’s first Twitter president.

He prefers to issue major announcements himself over social media, whether policy moves or staff firings. He killed the daily White House briefing, preferring the messy practice of fielding reporters’ shouted questions from the Oval Office or before his presidential helicopter. As Year Three of his presidency closes out, Trump has built his style of communicating around the pillars of political grievances, conspiracy theories and targeting perceived enemies. Most of all, he prefers to dictate and dominate the news cycle.

Now Trump faces the toughest test of his presidency, relying on himself as his own best messenger and strategist against a barrage of threatening evidence as lawmakers weigh throwing him out of office.

With public impeachment hearings launching this week, Trump is expected to move into communications overdrive with an approach fundamentally at odds with what traditional presidential aides would advise. By choice, he is confronting the existential threats to his presidency largely alone and relying heavily on his own instincts and skills to guide the White House — all while feeling frustrated by White House aides’ lack of aggressiveness in defending him.

“Whether it is cutting taxes or regulations, or skating through the Mueller probe, he has propelled through each time doing it his own way,” said Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary and communications director. “He has done it his own way for three years, and it has worked.”

But Trump’s tactics of speaking directly to supporters, branding catchphrases and casting critical information as fake might not work as well on impeachment as Democrats gather testimony and evidence from top officials not beholden to the Trump orbit. Even Trump himself is not sure he can beat impeachment, said a person close to the White House.” via Politico

This argument is kind of amusing to me. “Trump doesn’t argue well when there’s an obvious fact pattern” would seem like a “well, duh” moment, but it’s not necessarily true – Trump uses the same strategy no matter what the fact pattern is:

1. Throw everything at the wall to see what sticks
2. Accuse the other side of doing what you’re doing
3. Make up childish nicknames
4. Deny deny deny

It’s just not working anymore because people have gotten used to it.

For What it’s worth, Trump definitely isn’t sure he can beat impeachment – he’s flipping out. The “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” method isn’t working, and he’s not really sure how to handle that.

Vindman should not fear retaliation over Ukraine testimony -Pentagon’s Esper

“U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman should not fear retaliation over his testimony to the U.S. Congress in its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday.

Vindman, now detailed to the White House National Security Council, has been targeted by Trump following his Oct. 29 congressional testimony. Trump tweeted that Vindman was a “Never Trumper witness,” raising questions about potential fallout on his military career.

“He shouldn’t have any fear of retaliation,” Esper told a small group of reporters during a flight to New York, adding that he had reinforced the “no retaliation” message in a conversation with the secretary of the Army.

Vindman was among the U.S. officials in the White House monitoring Trump’s call on July 25 with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a main focus of the impeachment probe in the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives.” via Reuters

That sounds great, except for the retaliation we’ve already seen. The White House has already announced that Vindman will leave the NSC shortly. Even if that announcement isn’t retaliatory (it is), in a normal world, he would be staying just to avoid the *appearance* of retaliation; in Trump’s world, corruption is the point.

The reduction in force in regards to the NSC and the obvious desire to retaliate against whistleblowers (calling them spies, accusing them of treason, etc.) doesn’t do much to inspire confidence in the system when it comes to retaliation.

Republican moderate breaks with party over identifying whistleblower

“As the impeachment inquiry against President Trump moves into a public phase this week, leading Democrats — joined by at least one GOP lawmaker — on Sunday rejected Republican demands for public testimony by the whistleblower whose complaint set the process in motion.

Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, who has broken with the White House on other issues, said Sunday the whistleblower should not have been included on a list of witnesses the Republicans wanted to testify in open hearings set to begin Wednesday.” via LaTimes

It’s kind of sad that a Republican seeking to uphold – federally mandated – protections for a whistleblower is news, but that’s where we are.

To be clear, having the whistleblower testify wouldn’t do anything that the multiple corroborating witnesses haven’t already done. It’s just a distraction technique by the GOP, as is calling Hunter Biden and Nellie Ohr to testify – this deflection and gaslighting could be straight out of the Kremlin playbook.

Deflect, deny, make counter accusations.

Joint Chiefs chair: No end to U.S. presence in the Middle East

“The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn’t see a clear end to the American presence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria — nations facing down the threat of the Islamic State and other dangerous groups.

Gen. Mark Milley on Sunday said the mission to ensure Afghanistan isn’t a terrorist haven is “not yet complete.” That mission won’t be complete until the country’s government and security forces are able to sustain their own internal security, he added.” via Politico

Well, drat. Here I was thinking ISIS was defeated and we were bringing every last one of our troops home. <insert eye roll here>

They also (officially) announced that 500-1000 troops will be staying in Syria to protect the oil fields and to conduct counter-ISIS operations. It’s almost like the President has been lying to us.

On another note, it’s absolutely ridiculous that it took PROTECTING THE OIL to get Trump to agree to keep troops in Syria. The threat of our Kurdish allies being slaughtered wasn’t enough, but to defend oil that we have no right to – and couldn’t take if we wanted – was plenty of motivation.

Sen. Ron Johnson says he’s ‘sympathetic’ to Trump rationale for freezing Ukraine aid

“President Donald Trump came under significant pressure to release military aid for Ukraine, Sen. Ron Johnson said Sunday.

Even so, the Wisconsin Republican told CNN’s “State of the Union” he remains “sympathetic” to Trump’s stated reasons for doing so.

Johnson said he believed Trump’s preoccupation with eliciting more military aid for Ukraine from its European neighbors was a “legitimate” concern.

Trump has offered differing explanations for his decision to pause hundreds of millions in military aid meant for assisting the country in its conflict with Russia, arguing he wanted to ensure newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky was serious about his campaign pledge to root out corruption but also complaining that European countries were not contributing enough in his view.

That rationale, Johnson claimed, was what “he had consistently been providing to me and I think other people in his administration of why he had serious reservations — and I would say legitimate reservations — about providing hard-earned tax dollars for Ukraine.” via Politico

Ron Johnson also spent the 4th of July in Moscow – and spends most of his time parroting the Kremlin line – so you’ll have to forgive me for not really giving a damn what he’s sympathetic to.

This history buff in me is fascinated by the prospect of what’s going to happen to these people’s reputations when Trump is out of office. The image-rehabilitation tours are going to be insane (read: disgusting).

Hopefully, some of these reputations are damaged well beyond repair.

Parnas’ lawyer says Giuliani told associate to offer Ukraine aid in exchange for Biden investigation

“A lawyer for Rudy Giuliani’s indicted associate Lev Parnas said Giuliani directed Parnas to issue an ultimatum earlier this year to a representative of incoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, warning him that if the new government didn’t announce an investigation into Joe Biden, the US would freeze military aid and Vice President Mike Pence would not attend Zelensky’s inauguration.

Parnas’ lawyer Joseph Bondy made the comments to The New York Times, which reported Sunday that Parnas believed Giuliani — President Donald Trump’s personal attorney — was acting with Trump’s authorization and traveled to Kiev to convey the message just prior to Zelensky’s inauguration in May. But both Giuliani and the meeting’s other participants denied Parnas’ account to the Times.” via CNN

That sounds bad for Giuliani and Trump. Womp womp.

Parnas has also suggested that he was on a “secret mission” for Trump. Taking that with a grain of salt, because all of these people think they’re super-secret spies for some reason, even though the reality is that they’re a bunch of morons that couldn’t scheme their way of out of a paper bag.

With his cooperation agreement already leaking to the public, I won’t be at all surprised if the character assassination from the right starts full speed ahead. There’s a rumor going around that he has an insurance policy to keep Giuliani from trashing his name, but we’ll see.

Mulvaney’s move to join impeachment testimony lawsuit rankles Bolton allies

“White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s last-minute effort to join a lawsuit that could determine whether senior administration officials testify in the impeachment inquiry was an unwelcome surprise to former top national security aides, highlighting internal divisions among President Trump’s advisers in the face of the probe.

Former national security adviser John Bolton’s advisers and allies were taken aback to learn late Friday that Mulvaney had gone to court seeking to join a separation-of-powers lawsuit filed against Trump and the House leadership, according to people familiar with their views, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry.

The suit was filed by Bolton’s former deputy, Charles Kupperman, who is asking a federal judge to determine whether a congressional subpoena takes precedence over a White House order not to comply with the inquiry. Bolton is willing to testify if the judge rules in favor of the House, The Washingon Post previously reported.

People close to Bolton and Kupperman said the two were flabbergasted by Mulvaney’s surprise request to join the lawsuit because they and others on the national security team considered Mulvaney a critical player in the effort to get the Ukrainian government to pursue investigations into Trump’s political opponents.” via The Washington Post

This is why I was talking about how odd it is that Mulvaney chose to sue Trump rather than just ignore the subpoena – he’s widely regarded as a Trump man through and through, and all this move does is help expedite the court case.

It’s unclear at this point if he knows what he’s doing – and he’s trying to stay out from under the bus – or if he’s just a moron. Occam’s razor would suggest the latter, but we’ll see.

As impeachment inquiry goes public, federal prosecutors quietly investigate Giuliani

“As the Congressional impeachment inquiry goes public this week, prosecutors in New York are quietly continuing to investigate an alleged covert plan involving Ukrainian government officials and associates of Rudy Giuliani to remove Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to that country, sources told ABC News.

In recent weeks, a former congressman caught up in the scandal and who’s now cooperating with federal investigators has been asked about any role he might have played in removing Yovanovitch, a key figure in the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

The recent indictments of the two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, claim at a critical period, during the spring and summer of 2018, the two men embarked on a plan to raise $20,000 for a congressmen whom they wanted to help get Yovanovitch removed.

Federal prosecutors claim Parnas and Fruman, two Florida-based businessmen from the former Soviet Union, were working to remove Yovanovitch at the request of Ukrainian government officials.

The congressman has been identified as former House member Pete Sessions of Texas. The two men also contributed $350,000 to a SuperPAC that spent roughly $3 million for Sessions during the 2018 election cycle.

Federal authorities claim Parnas met with the Sessions to secure his “assistance in causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-ambassador to the Ukraine,” Yovanovitch. Sources told ABC News that Sessions wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking that he consider “terminating” Yovanovitch’s “ambassadorship and find a replacement as soon as possible.” via ABC News

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I’ll be shocked if Giuliani isn’t arrested soon. The FARA violations are glaringly obvious. It’s also leaked that he’s being investigated for campaign finance violations on top of the FARA violations, which sounds oddly like Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, and the rest of Trump’s circle.

At some point, we have to quit considering it a coincidence that these people have all managed to commit the same crimes and tried to hide them.

Donald Trump Jr walks out of Triggered book launch after heckling – from supporters

“Donald Trump Jr ventured on to the University of California’s overwhelmingly liberal Los Angeles campus on Sunday, hoping to prove what he had just argued in his book – that a hate-filled American left was hell-bent on silencing him and anyone else who supported the Trump presidency.

But the appearance backfired when his own supporters, diehard Make America Great Again conservatives, raised their voices most loudly in protest and ended up drowning him out barely 20 minutes into an event scheduled to last two hours.

The audience was angry that Trump Jr and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, would not take questions. The loud shouts of “USA! USA!” that greeted Trump when he first appeared on the stage of a university lecture hall to promote his book Triggered: How The Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us quickly morphed into even louder, openly hostile chants of “Q and A! Q and A!

When the shouting would not subside, Trump Jr tried – and failed – to argue that taking questions from the floor risked creating soundbites that leftwing social media posters would abuse and distort. Nobody was buying that.

In minutes, the entire argument put forward by the president’s son – that he was willing to engage in dialogue but that it was the left that refused to tolerate free speech – crumbled.

“I’m willing to listen…” Trump began.

“Q and A! Q and A!” the audience yelled back.

“We’ll go into the lion’s den and talk …” Trump tried again.

“Then open the Q and A!” came the immediate response.

Guilfoyle, forced to shout to make herself heard, , told students in the crowd: “You’re not making your parents proud by being rude and disruptive.”

She and Trump Jr. left the stage moments later.” via the Guardian

For as much as Jr. decries the left for being sensitive and accuses them of wanting to hide in their bubbles, he sure can’t take heat – even from his supporters.

Poor liddle snowflakes.

It’s still a pretty sad day in America when Donald Trump Jr. isn’t radical enough for a group of people, though.

The truly frightening thing about Nikki Haley’s big revelation

“In her forthcoming book about her time in the Trump White House, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley claims that she was recruited by White House chief of staff John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to subvert the wishes of President Donald Trump.

“Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the President, they weren’t being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country,” writes Haley in “With All Due Respect,” which is out on Tuesday. (The Washington Post obtained an early copy.)

The focus on Haley — and what she did or didn’t do — misses the point, which is this: Two of the top Cabinet officials within the Trump administration were concerned enough about the behavior of the President of the United States that they were actively reaching out to other influential members of the Cabinet to actively work around him.” via CNN

This is the point that I tried – and largely failed miserably – to make on Twitter earlier today.

I (still) don’t personally support Tillerson and Kelly’s policies, but they were doing vital work to keep the country safe.

I understand they’ve both done some gross things and it’s hard for people who don’t see the other side of things to support them in any capacity, but when they were keeping the country out of nuclear war and keeping some of Trump’s other worst impulses at bay, it was a little bit easier to cut them some slack.

I wouldn’t have pegged Haley for a complete coward, though. That’s a shame. I guess the book deal was more important than the country.

Rand Paul blocks Senate resolution backing protection for whistleblowers

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a resolution Wednesday reaffirming the Senate’s support for whistleblower protections and accused Democrats of “fake outrage.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) had asked for unanimous consent to pass the resolution, which “acknowledges the contributions of whistleblowers,” and throws the chamber’s support behind protecting whistleblowers from retaliation.

Under Senate rules, any senator can try to pass a resolution or bill, but any senator can object and block passage.

Paul objected to passing the resolution after Democrats refused to drop their resolution and instead pass whistleblower legislation that he introduced earlier that day.”I support whistleblowers and I do think they have a role to play in keeping government accountable … but what we have seen over the last few years is that we have a system that we should continue to refine,” Paul said.

He argued that his legislation would “make clear” that President Trump should be able to face his accuser. The measure also would expand current whistleblower protections for contractors.

“The bill I will introduce today will expand the whistleblower act [and] would be made retroactive so Edward Snowden can come home to live in his own country. All he did was expose that his government was not obeying the Constitution,” Paul said.” via The Hill

This is obviously egregious for more than one reason, but the false equivalency between the whistleblower and Snowden is driving me absolutely insane. The whistleblower revealed blatant government corruption and the literal definition of high crimes and misdemeanors – Snowden irrevocably harmed national security with a reckless disclosure. There is no comparison.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to announce Alabama Senate bid on Thursday

“Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions will announce he’s running for his old Senate seat in Alabama.

Sessions is expected to make the announcement on Thursday. His decision to run was confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday by two Republicans with direct knowledge of his plans. They were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sessions long held the seat he will now pursue but stepped down to serve as President Donald Trump’s first attorney general. He was ousted after enduring public mocking from Trump for recusing himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.” via AP

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, partially because it’s going to drive Trump nuts, and partially because I don’t think Sessions is as popular as he used to be.

If nothing else, Trump being the worst President in modern history has definitely helped Democrats find their voices – take Kentucky for example: in 2016, Bevin got 511,000 votes and won. In 2019, he got 704,000 votes and LOST.

The lesson here is obvious: when we actually mobilize, we win.

Top diplomat in Ukraine directly ties Trump to quid pro quo

“The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, told House impeachment investigators last month that President Donald Trump directed officials to tie military aid to Ukraine to demands that the country open political advantageous probes, according to a transcript of his testimony made public Wednesday.

The transcript of Taylor’s closed-door testimony before the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Trump — the latest in a series of witness transcripts made public — confirms NBC News’ reporting about his more than nine hours of testimony last month. It also contains new details about the language he used in describing the White House’s attempted quid pro quo with Ukraine that shed light on his level of concern about the matter.

For example, Taylor said he and others “sat in astonishment” as a White House Office of Management and Budget official said during a July 18 inter-agency call that Trump had ordered a hold on military assistance to Ukraine, according to the transcript.” via NBC News

“That was my clear understanding, security assistance money would not come until the president [of Ukraine] committed to pursue the investigation,” Taylor said, according to the transcript.

He was then asked if he was “aware that quid pro quo literally means this for that?”

“I am,” Taylor replied.

Taylor’s testimony is yet another in a long line of damning testimonies for Trump in the last couple weeks. He’s also going to be one of the first to speak publicly next week. I would expect a significant dip in Trump’s already abysmal polling starting the week of Thanksgiving.

Trump’s chats with Roger Stone loom over trial’s opening

“President Donald Trump played a role in Roger Stone’s effort to prod WikiLeaks to release damaging emails for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential race, federal prosecutors argued Wednesday in an extraordinary act of defiance toward the White House.

During opening statements at Stone’s trial for lying to Congress in Washington, D.C., the prosecution — which ultimately answers to Trump — stopped short of accusing the president of a crime, but alleged he was in direct contact with Stone as the political provocateur sought information about the release of hacked emails.

The prosecution also bluntly alleged that Stone’s motive in covering up his activities was to benefit Trump and his campaign as they went on to win the White House. Stone is also facing charges that he tampered with a witness in the congressional probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

It was a remarkable start to what is expected to be a spectacle-heavy trial. Jurors were also told on Wednesday that the trial will feature Trumpworld characters like Steve Bannon, the ex-Trump campaign adviser and later a top White House aide, who was in touch with Stone during the 2016 election. Bannon initially fought a subpoena for his testimony but recently relented and will appear.” via Politico

It’s only day one, but this trial is NOT going well for Trump or Stone.

Impeachment transcripts reveal a consistent, damaging narrative for Trump

“Rudy Giuliani was President Donald Trump’s enforcer, circumventing official channels and bewildering professional diplomats as he pressured Ukraine to target Trump’s political opponents.

Along the way, career Foreign Service officers became collateral damage — and questions of a Trump-authorized quid pro quo emerged, blowing up into a scandal that now imperils Trump’s presidency.

Those are the unchallenged details revealed so far in five transcripts of depositions released this week as part of the House’s impeachment inquiry. And as Democrats prepare for public hearings next week, they are underscoring the common thread running through the witnesses’ accounts.

“I think you will see throughout the course of the testimony — not only their testimony but many others — the most important facts are largely not contested,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Wednesday.

The transcripts reveal a widespread concern among American diplomats that critical military aid intended to counter Russia’s aggression as well as a meeting between the two country’s presidents was conditioned on the politically motivated investigations sought by Trump and his allies.” via Politico

Pompeo has lost confidence at State amid impeachment probe

“Revelations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was unwilling to defend career State Department officials under political attack have damaged his standing within the Department and devastated morale there, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

Details of the inner workings of the Department have emerged this week after House Democrats conducting the impeachment probe began releasing the full testimony of senior State officials, including the ousted former ambassador to Ukraine. Those details have put a spotlight on Pompeo’s role in the unfolding impeachment drama and compounded concerns inside the Department that he has prioritized his relationship with President Donald Trump over the well-being of his own staff.

One senior administration official who has been a consistent defender of Pompeo told CNN that conditions within the Department have gotten significantly worse since the start of the impeachment inquiry.

“Morale in the building is always bad, but this is different,” said the official. “I think part of it is Ukraine, it is a game changer.” via CNN

Pompeo is undoubtedly the worst CIA Director in modern history, and it’s increasingly looking like he’s the worst Secretary of State, too. It’s going to be a real shame what that does to his Presidential aspirations.

(barf)

Fox News brass to network hosts and personalities: Do not identify the whistleblower

“Fox News hosts and personalities have been instructed over the last several days not to identify the whistleblower whose complaint sparked an impeachment probe against President Trump, people familiar with the matter told CNN Business.

Several hosts and commentators on the network who have been supportive of President Trump seem to want to name the person they believe to be the whistleblower, but Fox’s guidelines have said not to do so.

Right-wing media hyped a report from a website last week which claimed it had likely identified the possible whistleblower. Fox is perhaps the only major component of the right-wing media machine that has, thus far, refrained from naming the person identified by that story.” via CNN

Good for Fox News. Russia was happy to do Rand Paul’s dirty work, but none of our outlets should participate in this insanity.

Paul is a coward – he knows he would be wading into precarious waters if he released the name himself, so he wanted the media to do it for him.

House to hold first open hearings in impeachment inquiry of Trump

“The House will hold the first open hearings in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump next week with testimony from three career diplomats, including one who offered explosive testimony undercutting the president’s denial of a quid pro quo involving Ukraine.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday announced plans for the nationally televised hearings. William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a senior State Department official who deals with Ukraine and Eastern Europe, will testify on Nov. 13.” via The Washington Post

Alexa, order more popcorn.

Intel officials want CIA Director Gina Haspel to protect Ukraine whistleblower from Trump

“As President Donald Trump and his allies continue to denounce the CIA whistleblower whose complaint led to an impeachment investigation, pressure is building on the spy agency’s director, Gina Haspel, to take a stand on the matter, current and former intelligence officials tell NBC News.

“It will be incumbent on her to protect the whistleblower — and by extension, the organization — moving forward,” Marc Polymeropoulos, a recently retired CIA officer who oversaw operations in Europe and Russia, said in an interview. “This is a seminal moment for her leadership, and I’m confident she will do the right thing.”

So far, Haspel has been publicly silent as Trump has railed about the whistleblower, a CIA analyst, on Twitter. So has the director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire.” via NBC News

It’s absolutely asinine that we even *have* to ask the CIA Director to protect a whistleblower from the President of the United States – they’re federally protected for a reason.

Impeachment would imperil defense bill, Inhofe warns

Annual defense policy legislation would be in jeopardy if House Democrats move forward with the impeachment of President Donald Trump, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee warned on Wednesday.

In a floor speech, Sen. Jim Inhofe reiterated that time is running short for negotiators to reach a deal on the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. A staunch Trump ally, Inhofe dinged the House impeachment inquiry, arguing Democrats are placing partisan aims over national security.

“It concerns me to see them prioritizing their misguided attempts to undo the results of the 2016 election through impeachment instead of taking care of our troops with the NDAA,” the Oklahoma Republican said. “If we can’t get our defense authorizations free [from] the partisan gridlock, what kind of a message does that send Americans who rely on our troops for protection.”

Moreover, partisan wrangling over the legislation hurts national security, he argued.

“Our adversaries, for them, they enjoy this dysfunction. That’s what they want,” Inhofe said. “They want defense funding mired in partisan debate. They don’t want us to catch up.” via Politico

This argument is ridiculous. The House has sent dozens of bills to the Senate that McConnell refuses to even look at, so if anything, it’s the Senate that is bogging things down. Impeachment isn’t going to slow down their agenda, and it’s not an attempt to undo an election – it’s an attempt to get a criminal out of the White House.

Roger Stone’s ‘food poisoning’ forces him to leave jury selection in his trial

“Jury selection in the trial of Roger Stone, the longtime confidant and adviser to President Donald Trump, got off to a bizarre start on Tuesday as Stone left the proceedings due to what he said was food poisoning shortly after an observer was taken out of the courtroom on a stretcher after appearing to have a seizure.

The selection of the jury continued without Stone present, but because of the earlier delay stemming from the separate medical emergency, it is unlikely jury selection will be completed Tuesday. More than 80 prospective jurors arrived at federal district court in Washington, D.C., to potentially take part in the trial.” via NBC News

Guilty stomach, Rog?

Trump called woman who says he sexually assaulted her, phone records show

“More than a decade ago, Donald Trump made phone calls from his cell phone to a former candidate on “The Apprentice” around the same time that she says he sexually assaulted her, according to phone records made public Tuesday.

The excerpts from Trump’s Verizon cell phone bills over a three-month period in 2007-2008 show that Trump exchanged calls with Summer Zervos on at least six occasions, including on a day that Trump’s private calendar has shown that he was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

That hotel stay is a key part of Zervos’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against Trump in New York State Court. Zervos says that Trump forced himself on her with unwanted kissing and groping while she visited him for lunch in his hotel room.

Trump’s lawyer in the case, Marc Kasowitz, did not immediately reply for a request for comment. After portions of Trump’s private calendars and e-mail correspondence between Zervos and Trump’s secretary were made public last month, Kasowitz told the Associated Press that Zervos’s claims were “entirely meritless and not corroborated by any documents.” via The Washington Post

Sondland reverses himself on Ukraine quid pro quo

“Gordon Sondland, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry, revealed that he told a top Ukrainian official that hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to the beleaguered U.S. ally would “likely” be held up unless the country’s government announced investigations into President Donald Trump’s political rivals — a major reversal from his previous closed-door testimony.

The acknowledgment of a potential quid pro quo is an explosive shift that threatens to upend claims by the president’s allies that military aid was not used as a bludgeon to advance his domestic political interests.

In his revised testimony, released Tuesday by House impeachment investigators, Sondland said that during a Sept. 1 meeting in Warsaw, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised his concerns directly to Vice President Mike Pence about the suspension of military aid.

Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, added that he later told Andriy Yermak, a top Ukrainian national security adviser, that the aid would be contingent on Trump’s desired investigations.

“After that large meeting, I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Sondland wrote in his addendum, which was released on Tuesday alongside a nearly 400-page transcript of his testimony.” via Politico

I’m going to risk stating the obvious here: reversing yourself on essentially your entire testimony isn’t “clearing up answers” – it’s attempting to stay out of jail.

Regardless, this amendment to his testimony is really bad for Trump, Pence, and Pompeo.

Republicans break with Trump and Rand Paul on whistleblower unmasking

“Standing aside President Donald Trump on Monday night, Sen. Rand Paul called for the media to unmask the Ukraine whistleblower and was cheered by rallygoers in Kentucky.

“Do your job and print his name!” Paul said as the president clapped and looked on approvingly.

But on Tuesday morning, some of Paul’s colleagues were cool to the idea of exposing the identity of the person who helped launch the impeachment drive by detailing Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

“We should follow the law. And I believe the law protects whistleblowers,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

“The whistleblower statute is there for a reason. And I think we need to respect the law where whistleblowers are concerned. Eventually that person may decide to come forward voluntarily,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who added that senators like Paul are frustrated with the lack of transparency from the House.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said officials “ought to respect the whistleblower laws,” as did Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Several senators cited the work of Chuck Grassley, the most senior Senate Republican, who has made whistleblower protections a signature issue.

On Tuesday the Iowa Republican reiterated his stance. “All I can say is I expect whistleblowers to be protected according to what the law gives them,” Grassley said.” via Politico

Impressively, Lindsey Graham even managed to be on the wrong side of this issue.

“I don’t think the president of the United States needs to be impeached based on an anonymous complaint,” Graham said. “There is no substitute for us knowing who the whistleblower is. What connections does he have to other people? What are the biases, if any? You cannot do this without the whistleblower being cross-examined.”

Of course, cross-examination happens in the Senate, and Graham knows this – he’s just being obsequious.

U.S. House committees seek deposition with Trump chief of staff Mulvaney in impeachment probe

“U.S. House of Representatives committees conducting an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump said on Tuesday they had asked Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of Staff, to appear for a deposition on Nov. 8.

“Based on evidence gathered in the impeachment inquiry and public reporting, we believe that you possess substantial first-hand knowledge and information relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry,” leaders of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees said in a letter to Mulvaney.” via Reuters

The White House will almost certainly attempt to block this, but Mulvaney and Trump have been arguing quite a bit about how to continue with the impeachment probe, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

House GOP eyes committee shake-up ahead of Trump impeachment hearings

“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is planning to make a last-minute lineup change before open impeachment hearings of President Trump, potentially placing at least one of several fierce Trump defenders on a key committee — a move that has the president’s backing.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a veteran combatant in highly charged Capitol Hill investigations, has taken the leading role in closed-door depositions of key witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. But he is not a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which Democrats last week voted to give the sole power to conduct public hearings.

According to three Republicans familiar with the talks but not authorized to comment publicly, McCarthy (R-Calif.) is considering placing Jordan on the panel, as well as others — such as Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who have been involved in the depositions but do not sit on the Intelligence Committee.” via The Washington Post

When Jim Jordan – the same Jim Jordan who wanted the testimonies of Volker and Sondland released to ‘prove Trump’s innocence’ – is your best shot at a successful defense, you don’t have a successful defense.

Pence aide likely to testify in impeachment inquiry

“A senior adviser to Vice President Mike Pence is likely to comply with a request to testify on Thursday in front of the committees leading the impeachment inquiry, multiple sources say.

Jennifer Williams would be the first person on Pence’s national security team to appear and has knowledge of how much the vice president knew about the efforts by President Donald Trump and those around him to push Ukraine to launch investigations into Joe Biden and his son, as well as 2016 election interference, according to a source familiar with her thinking.

Williams, along with other senior administration and national security officials, was listening to the phone call on July 25 in which Trump asked for a “favor” of his newly-elected Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, a White House source says. Trump asked Zelensky to work with his attorney general, William Barr, and personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on investigations after Zelensky said he was ready to proceed with the transfer of US military aid to Ukraine.

Williams, a longtime State Department staffer, is detailed to Pence’s office as special adviser on European and Russian affairs and was one of two Pence aides on the call. The other was Gen. Keith Kellogg, the vice president’s national security adviser, who has not yet been called to testify.” via CNN

After Sondland’s amended testimony today, it’s clear that Pence is in quite a bit of trouble himself. I made a joke about President Pelosi on Twitter earlier, but to be clear: there’s probably not a chance in hell McConnell actually lets that happen.

New DOJ memo says executive branch witnesses must be allowed to bring lawyers to testimony

“The Justice Department said attempts by impeachment investigators to compel testimony from executive branch witnesses about President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine are “legally invalid” unless they allow for the witnesses to bring a government lawyer.The guidance, from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, amounts to a new legal reasoning that the White House and other agencies can use to stymie House depositions after Democrats curtailed the previous legal argument that the House wasn’t in a formal impeachment inquiry with a vote last week.

The memo is certain to anger Democrats as it furthers a strategy of non-cooperation from the White House in the inquiry, and once again puts the Justice Department in the position of blocking the President from further scrutiny.

Impeachment investigators had so far benefited from several depositions from current and former national security officials about the Ukraine saga, but in recent days, a number of current and former government witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton and a top national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, have all skipped out on scheduled depositions.

In the memo, OLC lawyers write that the President, who has not been asked or subpoenaed to testify, must be allowed to have a representative present in depositions to be able to protect privileged information from disclosure. The House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the ongoing investigation, has so far only allowed witnesses to appear for depositions with personal counsel.” via CNN

Bill Barr is trying *really* hard to protect Trump here, but this is too little, too late. This signals that he knows the administration will lose their court battles, and this is nothing but an attempt to limit the damage done by Bolton, etc. when they DO testify.

White House and Congress eye December battle to avoid shutdown

“Washington is likely headed toward yet another Christmas-time shutdown battle as leaders in Congress and the White House begin making plans to push this month’s funding deadline into late December.

A senior adviser to President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the White House is willing to back a month-long government funding bill that would punt a potential shutdown battle until December.” via Politico

Here we go again. I know the White House is saying that Trump approving the stopgap appears likely, but I wouldn’t be completely shocked if he shut it down to try and draw headlines away from impeachment.

Iran Steps Further From Nuclear Deal With Move on Centrifuges

“Iran announced plans on Wednesday to reactivate its most sensitive nuclear production site, a deep, underground uranium enrichment center, in a step that dismantles more of the last major restrictions on the country under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The facility, known as Fordow, buried under a mountain to protect against bunker-busting weapons, lay hidden from inspectors for years. The revelation of its existence a decade ago touched off a crisis with the West that led to threats from Israel to destroy the facility.

The atmosphere created by the revelation led, six years later, to the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. Under that deal, in exchange for the lifting of Western economic sanctions, Iran agreed that no fissile material — the makings of bomb fuel — would be put in the centrifuges spinning at the site.

In a speech on Tuesday, however, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said that his patience had run out, and that Iran would begin to inject uranium gas into the more than 1,000 centrifuges that remained inside the mountain. But he made it clear that this step was part of a pressure campaign to force Europe to make good on its promises to compensate Iran for the cost of harsh sanctions that the United States imposed on Iran after President Trump abandoned the 2015 deal.” via NYT

The Trump administration will try to use this as evidence of Iran’s wrongdoing, but this was entirely brought on by Trump’s poor decision making. Our intelligence community – as well as those of our allies – all acknowledged that the deal was working, and that Iran was abiding by it. Nobody loved the JCPOA, but it was our best shot at keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Trump doesn’t actually know how to make deals, so he’s spent his entire Presidency trying to tear up the ones made by Obama.