Month: April 2018

We are in a bit of a lull in Russia Investigation news (thank God). So here is a musical interlude.

This section of Ravel’s Bolero covers the Manafort indictment in October, the Flynn guilty plea in December, and concludes with the February indictment of the Russian nationals behind 2016 internet propaganda and the troll factory.

Andrew McCarthy continues to argue that the Cohen/Clifford investigation is Trump’s true danger, not the Russia investigation: “It seems evident that prosecutors are investigating on the theory that Clifford, McDougal, and perhaps others were defrauded or extorted into silence.”

The New York Times quoted Roger Stone and Sam Nunberg about how badly Trump treated Cohen, and that he might turn on Trump in the coming legal proceedings. This story solicited an angry Trump tweet.

One day after Nikki Haley said more Russian sanctions were coming, the White House said there would be no sanctions at this time: Trump “was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan.”

A piece of thorough reporting by the Washington Post that details how Trump was angry he had authorized 60 Russian expulsions when France, Britain and Germany expelled far less. He wanted each country to expel equal numbers so not to seem like the US was taking the lead against Putin.

On Monday a judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that Trump’s team would not get first access to the Cohen documents. It was also revealed that Cohen only had three clients in the previous years, and one of them was Sean Hannity. It is unclear at this point if this is significant.

Big-spending members of Trump’s cabinet are in the news this week. Zinke is criticized for protecting wildlife areas from his home state of Montana while opening up similar areas in other states. He also was cited by the GAO for taking a flight to give a speech for a donor that was not related to his official duties. The GAO also said Pruitt broke the law by installing a $46,000 phone booth in his office. Weirdly, one of the upgrades to his car was bullet-proof seat covers.

Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un, and Trump is talking about a Korean peace treaty. They are scouting five sites where Trump and Kim will meet in May or June.

Reporters for the New York Times got Homeland Security to admit they have separated 700 children from their parents (or other adults) who came to the US boarder seeking asylum.

In Russia News:

Sunday night, Comey’s first interview aired on ABC. Here is what the New York Times reported on the 5 hour interview (only one hour was televised). Here is the full transcript. 

Book reviews were published in the New York Times and on the front page of the Washington Post.

Much of the media has focused on Comey’s comments about Trump’s body, or his Comey’s 2016 role. Ben Wittes implores us to focus on the most important part of Comey’s story: the reason Trump fired him: “A tyranny cannot have independent law enforcement and remain an effective tyranny. A would-be tyrant thus must purge government of law enforcement that would be independent. He simply must get the law enforcement apparatus under his control—that is, protecting his friends and himself and arrayed against his enemies. I did not know who would be the Trump administration’s attorney general or deputy attorney general. But I knew that Trump would not be able to get law enforcement under his control with Comey in office

House GOP members are beginning to assert themselves in the Russia investigation by pressuring Rosenstein, including threatening impeachment for not turning over DOJ documents.

Lawrence Tribe tweeted as a response to this article: “I worry that Trump’s allies in Congress will trump up a contempt citation against Rosenstein (recall Holder!), or even a bill of impeachment against him, to give Trump an excuse to fire him.”

Republicans in Congress are saying that the released Comey memos prove there was not obstruction because the memos do not show the Comey felt intimidated. No one is really taking that seriously, and they are laying pretty quiet. If there was anything in the memos that could be spun as pro-Trump they would be crowing about it. Only Trump opponents are crowing.

Here is Frum arguing that the House GOP thought this would be good fro Trump (like the Nunes memo) because they operate inside a closed information bubble where they convince themselves that their narrative is the only one people will see.

Sessions told White House lawyers that he may resign if Trump fires Rosenstein.

Rudy Giuliani joined Trump’s legal team. It is a short term move to help smooth things over with Mueller, whom Giuliani had worked with for many years.

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Trump’s Job Approval: 40.3%

 

I’ve loved Maurice Ravel’s Bolero since I was a child. It played at my wedding just before we marched down the aisle, but the 15 minute piece has taken on a new meaning for me since I was listening to it in the car when some recent revelation in the Russia Investigation came across the news wires.

Now, in my ear, Bolero sounds like the calvary coming to the rescue. The White Knight leading the charge takes his time at first. The build up is slow and methodical. No sudden, hasty movements. Just a calm and deliberate increase in volume and ratcheting up of pressure. Then, when he is good and ready, the volume spikes ever so slightly and the tempo increases. The drums roll on. It is a noble sound, even a bit heroic.

Mueller, of course, is the White Knight. Full disclaimer: he may find no wrongdoing by Trump or Trump’s people, and if that is the case we will all accept the findings. But no matter the outcome, the law will have won, and the institution of justice will have proven resilient and uncorrupted because Mueller did his job according to the rules.

So here is the Mueller Investigation set to Ravel’s Bolero. We are currently in the loud part of the piece, but let’s go back to the beginning. This clip represents May 17, 2017, the day Rosenstein appointed Mueller, to October 30, the day of the Manafort Indictment. Recall that during this time, the Special Counsel’s office took no public action, and Mueller made not one public peep. But the drums of justice were building all the while…

On Monday the FBI raided the home and office of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. New York prosecutors were tipped off about some criminal activity by Mueller. Early reports describe bank fraud, tax documents, and election law violations related to the Stormy Daniels case.

On Tuesday there was news that the raid was seeking payments to two women, Clifford and McDougal.

Also on Tuesday, the Times reported that Trump was close to firing Mueller in December. And CNN reported that Trump is now talking about firing Rosenstein after the Cohen raid. 

An important Lawfare analysis of why Trump’s firing of Rosenstein would be evidence of corrupt intent.

Here is Ben Wittes on the significance of the Cohen raid. And here is Andrew McCarthy. Both agree this is not good for Trump at all. 

Some stories came out that indicate what kind of bugs are crawling out of the rock overturned by the Cohen raid. One is an AP News story about a door man that the National Inquirer made a “catch and kill” payment to who was sharing a rumor that Trump had fathered an illegitimate child. Another is by a writer raising questions about how the Access Hollywood tape is part of the FBI’s interest in the raid.

The CBO announced this week that the federal deficit will reach one trillion by 2020.

Unrelated–except through irony–Paul Ryan announced his retirement on Wednesday.

Erik Erickson quotes a GOP congressman who gives a profanity-laced tirade against Trump that has to be read to be believed. It’s like he is venting his frustration at having to carry Trump’s water, and going on TV to defend him, and getting only headaches in return.

Trump gave a full pardon to Scooter Libby, in part to send a signal, because of the narrative that Libby was victim to an overzealous special prosecutor.

Friday night, a coalition of US and European forces conducted a massive airstrike against Syrian chemical weapons targets. On Saturday Trump tweeted “Mission Accomplished.”

In Russia news:

Beyond the Cohen raid, and the talk of firing Rosenstein this week, the New York Times reported an odd payment to Trump of $150,000 from a Ukrainian during the campaign.

Trump’s Job Approval: 40.8%

Scott Pruitt announced that Obama era limits on gas mileage will be eased in the coming months. Though there are secret negotiations with California and the EPA to actually keep them, so this week may be a Trump tactic of starting with a strong opening bid.  

Every day this week saw several stories about Pruitt misconduct in office: he rented a DC apartment from a lobbying firm that also serves an oil company that Pruitt’s EPA cleared to extend a pipeline.

The condo story got stranger as the week progressed, from a story about how Pruitt’s security detail had to break down the door to get to him, and that the landlords had to force him out by changing the locks on him after he overstayed his lease.

The Times and The Post have stories about strange spending habits of Pruitt–from a bullet proof desk to a secure communication closet. Also, five close aids who confronted him about his spending and security requests have been fired or reasigned.

Stocks dropped further this week on fears of a trade war with China. Industry leaders are pushing back against the White House.

The White House appears split and trying to walk back it’s trade war talk with China, saying the tariffs may never go into effect. They are reacting to stock market drops and push back from industry.

The Homeland Security Secretary announced on Wednesday that the National Guard will be sent to the Mexico boarder immediately to support boarder patrol agents. However, there are no details about how many, when and where because the boarder states’ governors have to agree to the plan.

Mike Allen wrote a column titled Time for Extreme Worry in which he reports on people close to Trump saying they are worried about the level of chaos he is ushering into his White House.

Johnathan Chait has a nice round up of recent stories about Trump’s change of behavior, including one about how his aids are sending people on Judge Jeanine Pirro to communicate points to him since he won’t sit for briefings.

In Russia News:

In Trump’s congratulatory call last week he proposed inviting Putin to the White House.

The Washington Post reported this week that last month Mueller’s team told Trump’s lawyers that Trump is under investigation but not a criminal target. That is getting most of the headlines. But another new piece of news is that Mueller is compiling reports that Rosenstein hope to release to the public: “They’ve said they want to write a report on this — to answer the public’s questions — and they need the president’s interview as the last step.”

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Trump’s Job Approval: 40%

On Sunday Trump’s new lawyer Mr. diGenova resigned from the job after only a week, reportedly due to conflict of interest issues. Here is a good refresher on the history Trump’s lawyers while in the White House.

There were more reports of lawyers who had been contacted but declined to work for Trump.

The 60-Minutes Stephanie Clifford interview aired Sunday night. Trump has so far been restrained from attacking her publicly.

Jonah Goldberg explains why: Trump’s superpower is shamelessness and it has met his match with an opponent is a porn star. There is nothing he can say that would succeed as a “sick burn” or a “counter punch”.

The Trump Administration announced they are adding a citizenship question to the census, which experts worry will result in an undercounting of US residents in 2020.

In Russia News:

The Trump Administration expelled 60 Russians from the US in a move that was joined by many EU countries as a response the the attack in Britain.

Several stories came out this week about the schism between the administration’s increasingly strong retaliation against Russia and Trump’s refusal to publicly go after Putin.

NBC News even reported that while green-lighting some anti-Russia policies, he instructed aids not to talk about them publicly.

The New York Times, with the Washington Post confirming, reported that Trump had discussions with his lawyers last year about pardoning Flynn. The implication is that this would protect the White House from whatever Flynn might reveal during the course of the investigation. Trump’s lawyers deny this.

A court document in the Mueller investigation revealed this week that Rick Gates was in repeated contact with a former Russian intelligence officer in the final weeks of the campaign. This is what he lied about to the FBI that got him charged with a crime. This is coming out now because of the document but it was known at the time.

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Trump’s Job Approval: 40.5%