NBC News reports that 37 children were held in vans overnight because the ICE facility was unprepared to process them.
By Wednesday, talks with Mexico had not produced an out from Trump’s tariff threat, and border crossings surged to a seven year high.
By Friday, Trump called the tariffs off, saying that Mexico had agreed to his demands. In fact, the details of the deal was worked out months before he ever threatened increasing tariffs by 5%: “It was unclear whether Mr. Trump believed that the agreement truly represented new and broader concessions, or whether the president understood the limits of the deal but accepted it as a face-saving way to escape from the political and economic consequences of imposing tariffs on Mexico.”
Trump was in England for most of the week on a state visit, and celebrating the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
On Wednesday, Mueller gave a public statement at DOJ saying that his special counsel office is closed and he is resigning. Some key quotes: “it is important that the office’s written work speak for itself.” “When a subject of an investigation obstructs that investigation or lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government’s effort to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable.” “if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime.” “under long-standing Department policy, a President cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. “ “the opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting President because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged.” “the opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing.”
“We appreciate that the Attorney General made the report largely public. I do not question the Attorney General’s good faith in that decision.” “I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments—that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. That allegation deserves the attention of every American.”
While Mueller was measured and did not call for impeachment, many in the media interpret his statement (and report) as an impeachment referral to Congress. Dan Balz: Mueller’s appearance now leaves House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), with an unpalatable choice. She can authorize a politically explosive impeachment inquiry opposed by a majority of the American people — and one that surely would die in the Republican-controlled Senate — or appear to abdicate in the face of the evidence of obstruction contained in the Mueller report.
Wittes after Mueller spoke–he does not call for impeachment but he does think Congress needs to get a better strategy in how it is investigating Trump: “A big part of the story here is that key committees are just not pursuing a focused oversight agenda involving live testimony by the key witnesses in a fashion that is likely to prove effective. Congress has so far sought the testimony of relatively few people named in the report. It has not so far moved aggressively against anyone who has resisted.”
Frum makes a strong tactical case against impeachment: Right now Trump is fighting on many fronts to suppress many investigations of many different forms of alleged wrongdoing. He must plug more holes in the dike than he has fingers. But submerge all those many stories into one big question—“remove or don’t”—and the impeachers will have to focus their energy on the most salient allegations. The battlefront will narrow, and as it narrows, the unity of the executive branch will confer a tactical advantage… focus on the discovery of facts rather than arguments over consequences: “What wrongs did Trump do?” rather than “Is removal the right remedy for these wrongs?”
In Other News
New documents reveal that the Census Citizenship question was advocated by a Republican operative who said it would explicitly help the GOP create stronger gerrymandered districts.
News broke that during Trump’s visit to Japan over Memorial Day weekend, the White House had the USS John McCain cover the name of the ship with a tarp, and turned away sailors with the name of the ship on their uniforms from Trump’s speech.
The New York Times reports that Deutsche Bank investigators triggered several suspicious activity reports for Trump and Kushner finances, including payments to Russians during the summer of 2016, and that bank managers squashed the reports, taking no action.
GOP congressman Justin Amash became the first Republican congressperson to call for Trump’s impeachment
A series a legal blows to Trump attempting to fight congressional investigations came this week: The decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York could clear the way for Deutsche Bank and Capital One to hand over the president’s financial records to Democrats in the House. Trump’s attorneys could appeal the decision.
Trump gave Barr the power to declassify any intelligence he wishes about the origins of the Russia investigation. DNI director Coats issued a statement that basically warns Barr not to release any information that “would put our national security at risk.” According to the New York Times: “Though the ultimate power to declassify documents rests with the president, Mr. Trump’s delegation of that power to Mr. Barr effectively stripped Mr. Coats and the C.I.A. of control of their secrets. The move could endanger the agencies’ ability to keep the identities of their sources secret.
NBC News: “The Trump administration has identified at least 1,712 migrant children it may have separated from their parents in addition to those separated under the “zero tolerance” policy, according to court transcripts of a Friday hearing.”
The origins of the Klingon culture–hint: another Vietnam-era analogy.
The Klingon look–not just swarthy villain stereotypes
NOTE: I did not address connections to Star Trek: Discovery in the podcast, due to time. But I have included quotes from the episode that speak how Kirk viewed the Klingons at that point in time. I see nothing in the dialogue that contradicts the war depicted in DSC Season 1. In fact, I can sense that Kirk, Spock and Kor are speaking here with the living memory of having experienced the socio-political situation of that war.
Kirk: “We both guessed right. Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a sneak attack…. Well there it is. War. We didn’t want it, but we got it.”
Spock: “Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.”
Kor: “Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of a greater whole. Always under surveillance, even a commander like myself.”
Justin shares his thoughts just before and just after watching Deadwood: The Movie; places the film in context with some ideas that Milch has always shared about his hopes for Deadwood’s finale:
“All stories must end in the Spirit”
“Time is the secret subject of every story worth telling”
Writer and educator Justin Scott Snead kicks off a podcast series that discusses all things David Milch. This podcast will serve as a repository for all the online lectures, readings and public remarks Milch has given; Milch profiles and interviews; any of Milch’s non-teleplay writings. We will analyze and discuss major ideas or themes that emerge from this material, as well as the TV shows he has written.
The Washington Post reported that last year the Trump Administration was planning a mass arrest and deportation of immigrant families in 10 major cities; that the families would be targeted for failing to show up for their immigration hearing; that Nielson and the tapped head of ICE Vitiello were fired in part for objecting to the plan, but “DHS officials said the objections Vitiello and Nielsen raised regarding the targeted “at large” arrests were mostly operational and logistical and not as a result of ethical concerns about arresting families an immigration judge had ordered to be deported.” The plan was hatched in September 2018: “By January, Justice officials had obtained deportation rulings for 2,500 parents and children in 10 locations whose names were added to a target list for ICE.”
The White House is putting together a war plan to counter Iran that calls for 120,000 troops to be deployed to the Middle East. Trump has told his chiefs that he does not want a war with Iran.
Since trade talks with China collapsed (again) last Friday, some Republican senators are publicly expressing concern over Trump’s trade war and tarriff tactics: “Until last week, many Republican senators supported a tougher approach with China. But with Trump’s decision to increase tariffs, GOP lawmakers are now fielding angry calls.” Republican lawmakers are planning another farmer bailout.
Mnuchin finally formally refused to hand over Trump’s tax returns to Congress, citing legal precedent that Congress can only request it for a legislative purpose.
Hundreds of former federal prosecutors signed a letter that said Mueller had enough evidence to charge Trump with obstruction: “All of this conduct — trying to control and impede the investigation against the President by leveraging his authority over others — is similar to conduct we have seen charged against other public officials and people in powerful positions.” It was posted on Monday with over 300 signatories. By the weekend it was up to 802.
The New York Times obtained copies of Trump’s tax returns from 1985-1994: The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.
In order to force Europeans “to compensate for the unilateral American sanctions” they declared that they will no longer comply with two aspects of the Iran Nuclear Deal, rebuilding its stockpile of enriched uranium and resuming construction on a nuclear reactor.
The Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Burr, issued the first subpoena for a Trump family member, Don Jr. The New York Times reports why they want to speak with him: The committee is particularly interested in the younger Mr. Trump’s account of the events surrounding the Trump Tower meeting — as well as his role in his father’s efforts to build a skyscraper in Moscow — and comparing the testimony to his previous answers to Senate investigators in 2017. The subpoena was issued in mid April. Republicans senators who face primary challenges next year are attacking Burr’s move, while others are supporting him.
Giuliani is traveling to Ukraine to persuade the incoming president not to replace the prosecutor who is investigating if Ukraine released documents about Manafort’s Ukraine dealings during the 2016 election. He he also hopes to pursue evidence that Joe Biden tried to persuade a Ukrainian prosecutor to back off of an investigation of a business that his son Hunter worked for. By the end of the weak, he said the trip is off.
Barr threatened to not show up for this Thursday congressional hearing if democrats insist on using staff lawyers to interview him. Nadler said they will not change their format, and if Barr reuses to testify he will be sent a subpoena. Barr then refused to go before the House committee on May 2.
The day before Barr testified before the Senate, someone leaked to the Washington Post and the New York Times that Mueller sent a letter to Barr in the week between Barr’s announcement of the no charges against Trump and Barr’s follow up letter to Congress. Mueller was not happy about how Barr was handling the release of the report: “There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”
Here is the letter itself, which was written March 27, and made public May 1, the day of Barr’s senate hearing. He said that Barr had received an introduction and executive summary of each volume of the full report, with redactions, and that “I am requesting that you provide these materials to Congress and authorize their public release at this time.”
Here are key moments from the Barr senate hearing. Wheeler recounts some of Barrs more remarkable statements. Barr offered different interpretations of Trump’s obstructive actions than Mueller, and ignored some evidence when doing so.
Katyal writes “We knew when we drafted them that we could have a nefarious attorney general (though, in fairness, we didn’t predict this amount of duplicity).”
Wittes outlines all the ways Barr has mischaracterized the Mueller report: The effect of these layers of mischaracterization are to rewrite the Mueller report and to recast the presidential conduct described in it. The direction of the recasting just happens to dovetail with the president’s talking points, and just happens to transmute him from a scofflaw with power into a victim of the “deep state.”
Comey wrote an op-ed after the Barr hearing where he posited a theory for how career DOJ people like Barr and Rosenstein could be corrupted by Trump. He used his own experience with Trump–the way he lies in meetings and expects your silence to mean consent–and projects out what might happen if you stayed silent and remaind in the administration: Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.
Max Boot was also ruminating on how Trump corrupts people in the wake of the Barr hearing: The surrender by conservatives outside the administration has proceeded through a gradual process of compromise and corruption similar to that on the inside. The most important factor driving this process, I believe, is fear of the professional consequences of opposing the vengeful occupant of the Oval Office. … The more that critics attack you for your support of Trump, the more you dig in. The more Trump misconduct you defend, the more you feel compelled to defend. In for a penny, in for a pound. No going back now. You tell yourself that only by staying loyal to the president can you check his worst excesses and channel his instincts in a more constructive and conservative direction. You are convinced that you are too valuable to America in your current position to risk losing it — and that whoever replaces you will be far more of a Trump enabler than you are.
Jack Goldsmith makes the case that Barr is not acting as a hack but in support of Article II powers, hence he still believes Barr is an institutionalist.
On Friday Trump and Putin spoke by phone for over an hour: Mr. Trump first mentioned that he “had a long and very good conversation” with Mr. Putin in a tweet, in which he also said that the subjects discussed included “even the ‘Russian Hoax.’” When the subject of the Mueller report and Russia’s role in the election came up during the call, Mr. Trump later explained, Mr. Putin “actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain and ended up being a mouse. But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever.”
Rosenstein finally announced his resignation. He’s leaving May 11.
Wittes finally finished his close read and analysis of the Mueller Report. Here is his section by section analysis, and then his 5 key takeaways: “When Trump leaves office, assuming statutes of limitations have not yet run out, someone will have to make the binary assessment, which Mueller did not make, of whether they amount to prosecutable cases. As a historical matter, the report leaves me with little doubt that the president engaged in criminal obstruction of justice on a number of occasions… This is heartland impeachment material—the sort of conduct the impeachment clauses were written to address.”
In Other News
President Trump, his three eldest children and his private company filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against Deutsche Bank and Capital One, in a bid to prevent the banks from responding to congressional subpoenas.
Reuters reports on a new potential emoluments case where foreign countries leases property in Trump Tower against the law but approved by Trump’s State Department: The records show that in the eight months following Trump’s January 20, 2017 inauguration, foreign governments sent 13 notes to the State Department seeking permission to rent or renew leases in Trump World Tower. That is more solicitations from foreign governments for new or renewed leases in that building than in the previous two years combined.
ProPublica unearthed some Mar-a-Lago receipts: The Secret Service guarded the door, according to the email. The bartender wasn’t allowed to return. And members of the group began pouring themselves drinks. No one paid. Six days later, on April 13, Mar-a-Lago created a bill for those drinks, tallying $838 worth of alcohol plus a 20% service charge. It covered 54 drinks (making for an average price of $18.62 each) of premium liquor: Chopin vodka, Patron and Don Julio Blanco tequilas and Woodford Reserve bourbon. … The bill was sent to the State Department, which objected to covering it. It was then forwarded to the White House, which paid the tab.
Wired updated its running list of legal cases against Trump, closing some, but adding eight new ones, bringing the total to 16: Effectively everything with a Russian nexus appears to be over, leaving a dozen cases focused on Trump world’s finances.
The Washington Post fact checker has been tallying all of Trump’s lies he has made as president. He crossed the 10,000 mark this week.
Pelosi gave a New York Times interview where she continued to argue it would be politically dangerous to impeach Trump. She is all but saying she will not allow impeachment proceedings, while also laying out a House agenda designed to maximize democratic wins among moderate voters in 2020.
NBC News got their hands on government emails from June 2018 that show officials did not have any way to track the children and parents they just separated: “[I]n short, no, we do not have any linkages from parents to [children], save for a handful,” a Health and Human Services official told a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 23, 2018. “We have a list of parent alien numbers but no way to link them to children.”
Asylum officers are fighting back against new policy’s that limit their ability to make judgements about whether or not a seeker should be allowed to stay in the US due to safety reasons. They are speaking out to the media through their union, which is highly unusual.
On Monday, Pelosi tried to tamp down impeachment fever, while not foreclosing the possibility: “For now, House Democratic leaders appeared to have enough leeway to pursue investigations without formally convening impeachment proceedings.”
Bouie makes the case for impeachment: “there’s also the real question of our constitutional order. Either the president is above the law or he isn’t. Voters can’t determine this… impeachment helps Democrats make a truly comprehensive case against the president, uniting his corruption, his criminality and his contempt for ordinary Americans under a single narrative.”
Hillary Clinton pens an op-ed for the Washington Post advising democrats how to proceed. She suggests time and caution before impeachment: “Watergate offers a better precedent. Then, as now, there was an investigation that found evidence of corruption and a coverup. It was complemented by public hearings conducted by a Senate select committee, which insisted that executive privilege could not be used to shield criminal conduct and compelled White House aides to testify. The televised hearings added to the factual record and, crucially, helped the public understand the facts in a way that no dense legal report could.”
Nadler subpoenaed McGahn to testify and turn over documents for a May 21 hearing. Trump’s lawyers are suggesting they will invoke executive privilege to keep Don McGahn and others from testifying before congress.
Wheeler suggests that McGahn welcomes the subpoena and is eager to testify: “He appears to be upping the ante by further distancing himself from Trump’s corruption.”
Mnuchin has blown past the second deadline to hand over Trump’s tax returns to congress. He says he will reach a final decision by May 6.
To resist Congressional investigations, Trump had called for a refusal of all requests and subpoena’s: “Mr. Trump’s scorched-earth strategy appears meant to prompt a lengthy fight for each subpoena, by giving the House a choice between seeing its subpoenas ignored or going to court to ask a judge to order the administration to comply with them. Such lawsuits would then prompt wrangling in the courts over whether Mr. Trump had the authority to block the subpoena.”
Three current senior Trump Administration officials and one former sounded an alarm about Russian interference in the 2020 elections by speaking with the New York Times: Officials said [Neilson] had become increasingly concerned about Russia’s continued activity in the United States during and after the 2018 midterm elections — ranging from its search for new techniques to divide Americans using social media, to experiments by hackers, to rerouting internet traffic and infiltrating power grids. But in a meeting this year, Mick Mulvaney, the White House chief of staff, made it clear that Mr. Trump still equated any public discussion of malign Russian election activity with questions about the legitimacy of his victory. According to one senior administration official, Mr. Mulvaney said it “wasn’t a great subject and should be kept below his level.”
FBI director Wray gave a warning that the Russians were working on their 2020 election interference now, and that they would use a mix of old and new methods this time around.
The Washington Post reports on why Trump did not fire Rosenstein back in September when news broke that he ha discussed the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire. He assured Trump that “I give the investigation credibility,” Rosenstein said, according to an administration official with knowledge of what was said during the call. “I can land the plane.”… Trump ended the call with Rosenstein thinking he was “on the team after all,” one senior administration official said, adding that the president has been further swayed by Rosenstein’s deference in meetings and other settings.”
