Summations Only

If you call the White House comments line at 202.456.1111 you are greeted with this recorded message:

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"Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because Congressional Democrats are holding government funding including funding for our troops and other national security priorities hostage to an unrelated immigration debate.

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"Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down."

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--PercyEdited by Percy, : Grammar.

That's Roy Cohn on the left, McCarthy's lapdog, and Stephen Miller on the right, Trump's brutally conservative front-man on immigration.--Percy

Found this sentence concluding the editorial Is President Trump a Stealth Postmodernist or Just a Liar? in today's New York Times, seemed to sum Trump up pretty well:

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Instead of granting him the title of postmodernist, let’s say instead that Trump is a nihilist who seeks to trample, to trash, to blight, to break and to burn.

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If you're inclined toward reading the full editorial be forewarned that it is long and delves deeply into modernist and postmodernist thought.--Percy

This is taken from The Daily 202: Trump surprises his lawyers and alarms his friends by saying he will talk with Mueller in today's Washington Post, but the same information can be found in many places. The general idea is threefold: a) Trump has stated intentions that his lawyers have had to walk back; b) Trump's lawyers and friends all know that he is a walking lie-machine/blabbermouth who should under no circumstances ever be interviewed or examined by the Mueller team; c) Trump's lawyers and Republican friends, both in Congress and elsewhere, are working hard to characterize the Mueller investigation as a "perjury trap."One thing that stands out is that for someone who has supposedly done nothing wrong, Trump and his supporters are working very hard at acting like he's guilty as sin.All the links in this quote should work.

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President Trump announced last night that he is looking forward to speaking with special counsel Robert Mueller's team, that he absolutely would do so under oath and that an interview could happen in the next two or three weeks. I would love to do it, and I would like to do it as soon as possible, the president said.
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Josh Dawsey, David Nakamura and Devlin Barrett report: "The president’s lawyers have repeatedly encouraged him not to post tweets or make comments about the investigation without their knowledge, saying such comments could damage him."
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The president’s lawyers quickly sought to clarify his statements. From the front page of today's New York Times: Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer leading the response to the investigation, said Mr. Trump was speaking hurriedly and intended only to say that he was willing to meet. ‘He’s ready to meet with them, but he’ll be guided by the advice of his personal counsel,’ Mr. Cobb said. He said the arrangements were being worked out between Mr. Mueller’s team and the president’s personal lawyers.

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Cobb [a Trump lawyer] expressed concern last week that Trump might be walking into a perjury trap by talking to Mueller: I would hope that a fair-minded Office of Special Counsel would approach it in a dutiful way consistent with precedent and it wouldn't just be a perjury trap, the White House lawyer told CBS News.
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People who have appeared before Mueller’s team say prosecutors have detailed accounts of events, sometimes to the minute, and have surprised witnesses by showing them emails or documents they were unaware that the team had or that their colleagues had written, per Josh, David and Devlin.
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The lawyer-to-lawyer discussions about Trump's possible testimony are informal and Mueller is not obligated to accept the terms presented by the President's team, CNN notes. If negotiations break down, Mueller could seek a subpoena to compel wide-ranging testimony from the President before a grand jury.
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Former Trump adviser and longtime confidant Roger Stone said last night that going through with plans to talk to Mueller would be a suicide mission. On Laura Ingraham’s prime time show, Stone said that a first year law student would advise the president that Mueller is setting an obvious perjury trap.
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Andrew Napolitano, a former judge and Fox News legal analyst, also said emphatically that Trump should never agree to any interview. He explained that it’s a bad idea because the president can never know what Mueller's team knows and what evidence they already have ahead of time.

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Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade made the same point during his show yesterday: It seems to me not in the president's interest to sit down and try to recall every single interaction, if somebody is there trying to maybe catch you in a perjury trap.
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No lawyer worth his or her salt would let a client like Trump go in for an interview, Cristian Farias writes in New York Magazine. A person with knowledge of the Mueller investigation who asked to remain anonymous told me that Trump is the kind of client who would ‘humiliate you and destroy you because he just can’t follow directions.’ ‘The man’s uncontrollable. He’s a loose cannon,’ the person with knowledge of the Mueller investigation said. ‘No matter how much you prep him, no matter what small words you use to explain to him the potential landmines he could step on he will leap in blindly and say whatever pops into his head, and that could be a potential disaster. The absolute last thing I want to do in my life is be sitting next to Donald Trump being questioned by the special counsel.’

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--Percy

For display in their personal living quarters the Trump's requested the loan of the van Gogh painting Landscape With Snow from the Guggenheim Museum: The request was denied and the Guggenheim instead suggested an 18-kt gold fully functioning toilet by artist Maurizio Cattelan that had been on display in a public restroom on the museum’s fifth floor for visitors to use: How appropriate. I've never been to the Guggenheim, but I think I like them a lot.AbE:Source, 1/25/18 Washington Post: The White House asked to borrow a van Gogh. The Guggenheim offered a gold toilet instead. From the article:

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It is common for presidents and first ladies to borrow major works of art to decorate the Oval Office, the first family’s residence and various rooms at the White House. The Smithsonian loaned the Kennedys a Eugne Delacroix painting, The Smoker. The Obamas preferred abstract art, choosing works by Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns.

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--PercyEdited by Percy, : AbE.

Sorry, forgot to include a link to the article, I've added it to the bottom of Message 1767, along with a couple comments.--Percy

An article in today's Politico (It’s Now Likely Mueller Thinks Trump Obstructed Justice) reminds us of some Trump words that have been mentioned many times in the news, but never in this thread:

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We also learned that, according to the New York Times, in Marchtwo months before Trump fired Comeyhe ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to stop Sessions from recusing himself. When McGahn was unsuccessful, Trump reportedly erupted in anger, saying he needed Sessions to protect him and safeguard him, as he believed other attorneys general had done for other presidents. These are very odd statements by Trump that Mueller could argue indicate that Trump wanted Sessions to impede or even end the Russia investigation to protect him.

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Trump believed Sessions should "protect him" and "safeguard" him, something he apparently thought was typically performed for former presidents by their attorneys general. And maybe this is true. I'm losing my naivet late in life. Maybe there are really only two main types of people in the world: nice people and sleazebags. What else could explain the plentiful number of Republicans willing to do battle for this deeply flawed man who is, it seems so incredible to say, our president.The obvious question is that if Trump is innocent of any wrongdoing regarding Russian conspiracies (not collusion, which from a legal standpoint is apparently not illegal) regarding interference in the 2016 presidential election, then why does he need protection or safeguarding?Whatever the truth of Trump's guilt or innocence, it is clear that Trump views the presidency as his personal fiefdom where he can do whatever he wants, and that it's his lawyers' and legal department's (otherwise known as the Justice Department) job to provide him legal cover and shield his actions from public scrutiny.Trump is not a deal maker and he's not a successful business man. He's a sleazy real estate developer and a scoundrel.--Percy

Here's a link to the New York Times article: Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit--Percy

At the New York Times editorial The Slut-Shaming of Nikki Haley I today posted this comment:

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The Nikki Haley insinuations are unfair, and she's entitled to the same attitudinal protections as all women, but it's difficult summoning up much sympathy for someone who has herself repeatedly kneed truth in the groin in her defenses of Trump policies and actions. So willing to compromise her honesty and integrity in pursuit of political ambitions, those who value these qualities can understandably find it difficult to muster any enthusiasm for voicing support when she becomes victim to neglect of these same principles. Emboldened by such expressions, what new defilements of truth might she commit?

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This raises the question of what defenses of consequence are available to those who wish to employ only principled actions against those whose commitment to truth can at best be characterized as erratic and at worst as antagonistic. There are no easy answers. We're in need of a Joseph Welch moment, he of the "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" question, widely credited as key in helping the country finally turn its back on McCarthyism.

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My comment hasn't been approved yet, it won't be generally visible until it is.--Percy

It's time to mention the latest development in Washington, yet another assault on our governmental institutions and on truth itself by Trump and his lapdogs, once known as the Republican Party.David Nunes (R-CA), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee that provides oversight of the intelligence agencies and that is currently investigating the FBI's conduct of the Russia investigation, has written a four page memo alleging abuses of power by officials at the FBI and the Justice Department. It was approved for public release by Republicans on the committee, then forwarded to Trump for his approval, which he quickly gave. The memo could be released any time within the next few days.Democrats have objected to release of the memo, characterizing it as an attempt to politicize the investigation and saying it cherry picks information to create misleading impressions.The FBI has objected to release of the memo in a brief statement:

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The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI. We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.

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With regard to the House Intelligence Committee’s memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it. As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.

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The last sentence is the important one: "We have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy."The Republicans will release the memo anyway. They for some reason want to protect this autocratic, lying, cheating disaster of a president from the Russia investigation by undermining it in any way they can, and if that means maliciously maligning the integrity of government institutions, so be it.There are also hints that Trump might fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller to head the Russia investigation and who provides oversight, so that he can replace him with someone more pliant who might damp down Mueller's investigation.The Democrats on the committee have drafted a memo of their own that describes the inaccuracies and missing information of the Nunes memo, but given the Republican majority on the committee it will never see the light of day.It should be obvious even to Trump's base that this is not the way truth comes out, but of course it's not. Their opinion is that if it helps Trump it's good and truth be damned, though in their minds truth is what their lying president says it is.--Percy

I can only reply with my impressions of how committees work based upon news reports. I haven't actually read the committee's specific rules, nor the House rules for committees in general. Members of the House Intelligence Committee become privy to confidential information. No member should release committee information without approval of the committee. As long as they don't reveal confidential information available only to the committee, sure. If you mean a random group of politicians not associated with any particular committee, sure, as long as they don't make public any confidential information.But if you mean the House Intelligence Committee, this committee can't release any information to the public without committee approval. At this time the committee is extremely partisan with little common ground between Democrats and Republicans. Naturally since the committee has a majority of Republicans they can run roughshod over the concerns of Democrats, which is exactly what they're doing. They're just following the rules of the House of Representatives and of the House Intelligence Committee. I think the primary intention is to keep confidential information confidential.NoNukes has a pretty good sense of procedural and legal issues, maybe he'll comment.--Percy

The Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives, so this means they completely control the chamber. The Speaker of the House is a Republican (he controls the flow of legislation, which gives him a lot of power since if he doesn't like a bill then it won't come to the floor for debate or won't be scheduled for a vote), the House Majority Leader is a Republican, the chairman of every single committee is a Republican (I checked, see List of current United States House of Representatives committees - bills originate in committee), and I'd be surprised if Republicans don't outnumber Democrats in every single committee, though I couldn't confirm that.Should the Democrats succeed in achieving a majority in the House in the 2018 elections then this situation would completely reverse. Given Democrat antipathy for Trump, and given Trump's inability to compromise and his schizophrenic inconsistency, that might mean very little legislation emerges from Congress for a couple years.There aren't actually that many committees (around 20), but they're divided into many subcommittees. Just like in committees, I would think that Republicans also outnumber Democrats in every subcommittee, but it's another thing I couldn't confirm. The House Intelligence Committee is definitely a committee, not a subcommittee.--Percy

During the 2016 primaries Fusion GPS was contracted by a conservative website to investigate Trump. When the primaries concluded then the contract ended, at which point the Clinton campaign contracted Fusion GPS to continue to investigate Trump, and it was only at that point that Fusion GPS contracted Christopher Steele to carry out some of the investigative work. This is why the Republicans feel it's legitimate to blame the Steele dossier on the Clinton campaign.I don't believe anything in the Steele dossier has been shown untrue. Some of its contents are unconfirmed, especially the most salacious items, but not shown untrue.--Percy

Here are a few comments by members of Congress about the release of the Nunes memo.Senator John McCain (R-AZ):

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In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro, and beyond. Putin’s regime launched cyberattacks and spread disinformation with the goal of sowing chaos and weakening faith in our institutions. And while we have no evidence that these efforts affected the outcome of our election, I fear they succeeded in fueling political discord and dividing us from one another.

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The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests — no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know all of the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.

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Jeff Flake (R-AZ):

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President Trump should heed the warnings of the Justice Department and FBI, and reverse his reported decision to defy longstanding policies regarding the disclosure of classified information," they wrote. "The president’s apparent willingness to release this memo risks undermining U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts, politicizing Congress’ oversight role, and eroding confidence in our institutions of government.

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) requesting that David Nunes (R-CA), House Intelligence Committee Chairmen, be removed from his position:

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February 1, 2018
The Honorable Paul Ryan
Speaker of the House
H-232, United States Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

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The decision of Chairman Nunes and House Republicans to release a bogus memo has taken the GOP’s cover-up campaign to a new, completely unacceptable extreme.

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Both the DOJ and FBI oppose releasing the Nunes memo. As the Department of Justice warned, the public release of the memo would be an unprecedented action and extraordinarily reckless. The FBI also expressed that the agency has grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.

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It has now come to our attention that Congressman Nunes deliberately and materially altered the contents of the memo since it was voted on by the House Republicans. This action is not only dangerous, it is illegitimate, and violates House rules.

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From the start, Congressman Nunes has disgraced the House Intelligence Committee. Since pledging to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, Congressman Nunes has abused his position to launch a highly unethical and dangerous cover-up campaign for the White House.

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Congressman Nunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from this position.

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House Republicans’ pattern of obstruction and cover-up to hide the truth about the Trump-Russia scandal represents a threat to our intelligence and our national security. The GOP has led a partisan effort to distort intelligence and discredit the U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities.

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It is long overdue that you, as Speaker, put an end to this charade and hold Congressman Nunes and all Congressional Republicans accountable to the oath they have taken to support and defend the Constitution, and protect the American people.

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The integrity of the House is at stake. We look forward to your immediate action on this subject.

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sincerely,

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NANCY PELOSI
Democratic Leader

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--Percy

A small part of the Trump State of the Nation speech addressed updating and expanding our nuclear capabilities. Yesterday, a sad day in more way then one, the Pentagon announced its plans: Pentagon unveils new nuclear weapons strategy, ending Obama-era push to reduce U.S. arsenalIn the article Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is quoted as saying that the changes reflect a need to look reality in the eye and see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.This is so misguided. We have already looked reality in the eye, and that reality is that nuclear war is unthinkable. That hasn't changed. Trump is transforming the United States into the biggest and most serious world threat. We know that a nuclear attack on Russia would bring a response, the result destroying both countries and spreading dangerous nuclear fallout the world over, so nuclear war on that scale is unthinkable. Even the possibility of a nuclear war with Korea, which hardly requires an expansion of our nuclear capabilities, is unthinkable since it would kill millions of civilians.Here's to hoping that the 2018 and 2020 elections bring changes in our elected government that can return us to a leadership position in reducing nuclear arsenals and the threat of nuclear war.--Percy