The State of the Union was Tuesday night. Both left and right commentators felt it was fine tonally but empty of policy goals and lacking directions for the Congress to follow this year, except for a four part immigration plan. Here is Ponnuru calling the speech “vacuous.”
And Douthat: “Apart from the Islamic State, North Korea and Guantánamo Bay, the foreign policy section was … strikingly empty. America First, it seems, means not having to bore viewers by bringing up anything about the world beyond our shores except our enemies…. The ideas are just things that the president would probably like to do but that someone will talk him out of, or that he’ll forget about, or that he’ll offer in a halfhearted way and that Congress will never bother to take up.”
In Russia News:
The Trump Administration released the list of Russian oligarchs who may be sanctioned, as required by last year’s sanctions law, but has said that it is unnecessary at this time to actually sanction anyone.
Sunday night the Washington Post reports for the first time on the contents of the Nunes memo followed by the New York Times: it directs criticism at Rosenstein for requesting a FISIA warrant against Carter Page, suggesting political bias was behind this decision. The implication is that this is pretense for removing or at least pressuring Rosenstein, who is Meuller’s supervisor and will be the person who decides how to act on the recommendations of the Meuller investigation.
On Monday evening, the House voted to release the Nunes memo. House rules say the White House has five days to decide whether or not to release the memo to the public.
Also on Monday, Rosenstein and Wray made a direct appeal at the White House to John Kelly not to release the Nunes memo. Trump disregarded their appeal, and on Friday the memo was released.
Immediate consensus is that there is not any new damming evidence in the Nunes memo. Even David French who has been critical of the Meuller investigation admits that the memo, “Ironically enough… confirms the necessity of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller.”
On Monday McCabe stepped down as deputy director fo the FBI (by starting a leave of absence that will extend his employment until March so he get’s his full pension). NBC News reported on a phone call between Trump and McCabe where Trump was incensed Comey was able to charter and FBI private jet home after being fired, and then berated McCabe’s wife for losing her election.
David Graham of The Atlantic writes about the mystery surrounding McCabe’s sudden exit and how the White House has no credibility after having lied about the reasons for Comey’s firing. He suggests that Wray, who read the Nunes memo on Sunday, might have encouraged McCabe to retire early because of its contents. McCabe turned out to be have been a figure in the contents of the memo.
—
Trump’s Job Approval: 40.2%