Month: April 2018

The two amigos back together

by digby

Scraping the bottom of the barrel, Trump has hired Rudy Giuliani, who hasn’t handled a case in three decades, to be his lead attorney in the Mueller probe. Rudy told CNN he thought he’d have it wrapped up in a couple of weeks because he knew Mueller back in the 80s and they’ll get it all worked out.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this scathing piece from the Gothamist about Trump’s treatment of Rudy during the transition when he was dying to be Secretary of State:

Rudy Giuliani, …was an early favorite—Trump didn’t pick him, though, because he didn’t have enough “stamina” for the job. Rudy, meanwhile, says he’s got STAMINA FOR DAYS, he’ll take you to the Hamptons and show you just how much stamina he’s got! (Send the bill to the taxpayers.)

The rumor I heard was that Rudy fell asleep in a meeting & Trump decided he just wasn't up for the SecState travel schedule & workload.— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) December 9, 2016

According to the Wall Street Journal, Giuliani at least thought he was the favorite for the gig, despite his lack of experience and a few financial conflicts. But a transition official told reporters that Trump wasn’t sure Giuliani had the stamina for the job, ostensibly because of his age (72) and the fact that he is possibly insane.

But Giuliani won’t let the MEDIA get away with these LIES. “My stamina is unbelievable,” he told WSJ. UNBELIEVABLE. TREMENDOUS. HE CAN SAVE US FROM 9/11 ALL OVER AGAIN.

Not that Rudy’s fortitude got him hired, though he did manage to hang on as a top four pick into the end of November. At that point, by the way, Trump had apparently decided he was 95 percent going to choose Romney, though whether that meant for Secretary of State or for his personal taxidermy art collection is unclear. In the end, Giuliani allegedly pulled his name from consideration, possibly because he realized his stamina wasn’t quite as impressive as he thought, but also perhaps because he can make way more money/have way more unhinged television interviews in the private sector.

“This is not about me,” Giuliani said, after announcing he dropped out. “It is about what is best for the country and the new administration. Before I joined the campaign I was very involved and fulfilled by my work with my law firm and consulting firm, and I will continue that work with even more enthusiasm. From the vantage point of the private sector, I look forward to helping the president-elect in any way he deems necessary and appropriate.”

Well, he’s been called back into service. Godspeed Rudy.

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He must be so proud of his base

by digby

Just don’t call them deplorable because that would be very rude:

Three right-wing militiamen from rural Kansas were found guilty on Wednesday in a 2016 plot to slaughter Muslim refugees living in an apartment complex in Garden City.

Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were found guilty on charges of weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy against civil rights. Wright was also found guilty on a charge of lying to the FBI. The defendants will face a potential life sentence when they come back to court in late June.

The jury decided the case after slightly less than a day of deliberations. The three defendants showed little outward emotion as the verdicts were read. Afterward, defense attorneys comforted the defendants’ family members, who did not wish to speak to members of the media.

In closing arguments, attorneys for the defendants had accused the FBI of overstepping and targeting the group because of rhetoric that, while hateful, was protected by the First Amendment.

The prosecution’s case depended largely on secret recordings made by Dan Day, an FBI informant who masqueraded as a militia member, infiltrating the three men’s group for months. An undercover officer working on behalf of the FBI had also met with Stein, posing as an arms dealer who shared the group’s anti-Muslim beliefs and was willing to build them a bomb.

Jurors heard recording after recording of the men expressing a murderous hatred of Muslims, who they called “cockroaches.”

“The fucking cockroaches in this country have to go, period,” said Stein, who went by the code name “Orkin Man” in text messages with other militia members. “They are the fucking problem in this country right now. They are the threat in this country right now.”

In another recording, the men could be heard mapping out targets on Google Earth, dropping a “pin” labeled “cockroaches” over areas they knew to have a high concentration of Muslims. They eventually settled on a main target: a Garden City apartment complex that’s home to many Somali Muslim immigrants and the mosque where they worship.

The prosecution presented evidence that the men had started to collect explosive materials. Per the recordings made by Day, their plan was to detonate bombs at the apartment complex in November 2016. They wanted the explosions to occur during Muslim prayer times when more potential victims would be there, “packed in like sardines,” as Stein put it. The bomb’s shock waves, he hoped, would make “Jello out of their insides.”

Defense attorneys had attempted to characterize such comments as mere bluster. But prosecutors pre-empted this line of argument, in part, by calling another militia member to the stand.

Brody Benson, part of the Kansas Security Forces militia, held anti-Muslim beliefs himself. “Fucking Islam,” he wrote in a Facebook post in June 2016. “I’m done. Kill them all. Bring on the DOJ.”

But Benson testified that when he heard Stein talk about his plan to kill Somali immigrants in Garden City, he knew Stein was for real.

“I actually thought it was not just talk — it was more of an actual action, action,” Benson said in testimony. “I had a gut feeling that what was just banter back and forth, ranting and everything else, was turning into something more serious and concrete.”

“This isn’t a case about the thought police,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Mattivi said during closing arguments. “The defendants plotted to murder dozens of innocent men, women and children. They didn’t just talk. They’re not here because of their words.”

In his final comments to the jury, Mattivi focused on a recording of a discussion the men had about what type of shrapnel to pack their bomb with to inflict the most damage. Stein suggested blades for drywall knives. Allen said ball bearings. “Anything that will kill and maim,” Wright said.

They loved the man they call “The Man” so much they delayed their attack until after the election:

The men were enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump, who vilified Muslims during his presidential campaign and has continued to do so while in office. During the plotting, Stein reportedly referred to then-candidate Trump as “the Man.” The men had planned their attack for after the 2016 election, so as not to hurt Trump’s chances of winning. Delaying the attack until then would avoid giving “any ammunition” to their political opponents, Stein said.

But he had nothing to do with this criminal activity:

Trump had frequently spoken out against Muslim refugees in the runup to the 2016 election. Kansas’ top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister, brushed aside a question from HuffPost about what effect the now-president’s words had.

“I can’t say whether his rhetoric impacted the case or not,” McAllister, a Trump nominee, said. He later added that this case wasn’t about the rhetoric the defendants used, but about the bomb plot they agreed to participate in.

He is their hero. As far as I know he has not denounced them.

For all we know, he’ll pardon them along with Cohen, Jared and Mike Tyson.

He must really kiss the King’s ring just the way he likes it

by digby

Another day, another Scott Pruitt scandal and no sign that Trump will ever fire him:

Newly released calendars for one of the most controversial trips of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s tenure were largely blacked out before being shared with ABC News.

The 47-hour journey in Morocco was already drawing congressional scrutiny and criticism from outside groups because of the lack transparency over why Pruitt was in the country and what he was doing while he was there.

In Morocco, he spent at least a portion of his time promoting exports for U.S. energy firms. Conservative congressional estimates put the cost of the trip at more than $40,000, and because of travel snags, Pruitt and his aides spent two days in Paris at high-end hotels.

Pruitt did not publicly announce he was going ahead of time, did not bring reporters along, and when he finally released copies of his itinerary in response to Freedom of Information requests from ABC News and other news organizations, the bulk of the schedule was blacked out.

“The substantial redaction of calendars from his trip to Morocco, in which he apparently spent substantial taxpayer money to work on an issue that could benefit donors and those with ties to him, seems like just the latest example of the inappropriate secrecy he has brought to every aspect of his job.,” Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of the nonpartisan watchdog Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, said in a statement.

What is known about Pruitt’s trip to Morocco last December comes from a press statement he released as he departed to fly back to D.C. According to the EPA press release, he discussed U.S. environmental priorities and the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement with Moroccan leaders and, to the surprise of some, promoted benefit of liquid natural gas imports in Morocco.

At the time of the trip, the only U.S. company that exported liquid natural gas was represented by a top Washington lobbyist who arranged $50-a-night housing for Pruitt when he first moved to town. The company, Cheniere, and the lobbyist, Steven Hart, both told ABC News they did not ask Pruitt to promote the exports in Morocco.

A spokesman for Hart told ABC News that he did not lobby the EPA in 2017, but federal lobbying records show that he was registered as a lobbyist for Cheniere at the time Pruitt lived in the condo co-owned by his wife, also a prominent DC lobbyist.

The EPA’s inspector general is looking into Pruitt’s travel as part of its audit of whether all the agency’s travel decisions followed the proper procedure. That inquiry was expanded to include the Morocco trip after a letter from Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the ranking member of the Senate committee with oversight of EPA, expressed concern about the cost. Pruitt’s first-class flight alone cost $17,000 and at least one of his aides and members of his security detail also flew first class.

Most agency heads are authorized to travel first class on trans Atlantic flights, but the cost of the trip concerned members of Congress who were already looking at his high domestic and international travel costs.

He went there to talk about a natural gas deal. But natural gas is not part of the EPA’s responsibilities.

Nobody knows what in the hell this guy is up to. Personally, I think he’s got issues on top of being a greedhead and an ideologue. This isn’t normal.

A Disgrace Hidden in Trump’s Noise – Chapter 1,256,253,744

by tristero

Buried deep in the Business section of the print edition of today’s Times is a story so disgraceful that if it weren’t for Donald Trump’s obliterative pink noise, it would be front page news:

The Senate voted on Wednesday to overturn an Obama-era rule that restricted automobile lenders from discriminating against minorities by charging them higher fees for car loans, in the latest attempt by Republican lawmakers to roll back financial regulations. 

Republican lawmakers, along with one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, seized on the Congressional Review Act to overturn guidance issued in 2013 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The 1996 law gives Congress the power to nullify rules formulated by government agencies but has primarily been used to void recently enacted rules. 

After the Government Accountability Office determined late last year that the consumer bureau’s 2013 guidance on auto lending was technically a rule that could be rolled back, Republicans, led by Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, targeted it for rescission by using the Congressional Review Act. The House is expected to follow suit and also use the Congressional Review Act to void the guidance. 

Republicans have long derided the consumer bureau, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, for exceeding its authority, and President Trump’s pick to lead the agency on an interim basis, Mick Mulvaney, has largely frozen its rule-making and enforcement. 

Democrats and consumer watchdogs criticized the move and warned that Republicans were making broader use of the Congressional Review Act to advance their deregulatory agenda. 

“By voting to roll back the CFPB’s work, senators have emboldened banks and finance companies to engage in racial discrimination by charging millions of people of color more for a car loan than is justified,” said Rion Dennis of Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group. “Lawmakers have also opened the door to challenging longstanding agency actions that are crucial to protecting workers, consumers, civil rights, the environment and the economy.” 

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, warned that rescinding the guidance would lead to a flood of unfair, predatory lending. 

“This truly repugnant resolution ignores the unacceptable, undeniable truth that consumers’ interest rates are regularly marked up based on their race or ethnicity — a disgusting practice that continues to run rampant across the country,” he said. 

The Department of Justice can still bring lawsuits against auto lenders for discriminatory practices, even if the guidance is nullified. However, legal experts say the government could be less successful in bringing such cases without the guidance from a government agency saying the practices are viewed as improper. 

A 2011 report from the Center for Responsible Lending analyzed loan level data and found that African-Americans and Latinos were receiving higher numbers of interest rate markups on their car loans than white consumers. The bureau issued guidance in 2013 urging auto lenders to curb discriminatory lending practices and used that guidance to justify lawsuits that they brought against auto finance companies.

There’s so much of this going on, this gratuitous maliciousness towards nearly everyone except a few money-stuffed cronies.

I just don’t get it. I’ve been told I have a pretty good imagination but for the life of me, I can’t figure how anyone can be so systematically cruel, petty, and bigoted. What is wrong with these people?

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I wrote about Cohen’s mob ties for Salon today:

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, once told Vanity Fair: “I’m the guy who stops the leaks. I’m the guy who protects the president and the family. I’m the guy who would take a bullet for the president.”

Fight back while you still can
by Tom Sullivan

Mr. Trump already doesn’t like the Washington Post. The Post this morning gave him another reason not to.

The Editorial Board spotlights a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron delivered to the European Parliament on Tuesday. In it, Macron pushes back against the rise of intolerance and anti-democratic impulses across the Europe. That the Post devotes space and attention to Macron’s warning gives the back of the hand to the avatar of that foul trend here at home.

Macron warns of “national selfishness and negativity” and a “fascination with the illiberal” spreading across Europe in the emergence of far-right movements and parties:

But his words also apply more broadly to the surge of illiberalism in Turkey, Egypt, Russia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Venezuela, among other places, where leaders have actively snuffed out civil society, suborned or faked elections, asphyxiated free expression, ignored rule of law, and repressed basic human rights. Leaders in such countries learn from one another as they refine methods to crush democracy, by banning or restricting nongovernmental organizations, creating laws to single out independent voices as “foreign agents,” imposing censorship on the news and social media, and, most tried and true, jailing those who dissent. They also echo one another’s claims that their imposed order offers a viable alternative to democracy, which can be so unpredictable and messy.

Mr. Macron wisely denounced a “deadly illusion” that “has precipitated our continent toward the abyss” in previous generations: “the illusion of strong power, nationalism, the abandonment of freedoms.” Democracy is not being “condemned to impotence,” he insisted. “Faced with the authoritarianism that surrounds us everywhere,” he declared, “the answer is not authoritarian democracy, but the authority of democracy.”

“I do not want to belong to a generation of sleepwalkers,” Macron told leaders in Strasbourg. “I do not want to belong to a generation that will have forgotten its own past or that will refuse to see the torments of its own present. I want to belong to a generation that has decided firmly to defend its democracy.”

Nor do believers in democracy want to belong to a nationalist movement training members to kiss up to the powerful and kick down at the weak. The Post is blunt: “President Trump cannot find a voice for such essential principles.” No, he cannot, because he has none to draw upon.

Each day this administration by Local 12 of the Villains, Thieves, and Scoundrels Union persists, America grows a little darker. Fight back while you still can.

As if to drive home the Post’s point about jailing dissenters (if indeed the editorial is not in reaction to this news), eleven Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging him to prosecute an enemies list of Trump foes. The list includes former FBI Director James Comey, former Secretray of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI Counsel Lisa Page.

The target list also includes “FBI personnel connected to the compilation of documents on alleged links between Russia and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump known as the ‘Steele dossier,’ including but not limited to” the aforementioned Comey and McCabe, plus former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente. We shall have more anon.

All but two of the House members who signed the joint letter come from the House Freedom Caucus. They are: Ron DeSantis, Andy Biggs, Dave Brat, Jeff Duncan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Andy Harris, Jody Hice, Todd Rokita, Claudia Tenney, and Ted Yoh. If they fancy living in the kind of authoritarian autocracy where leaders jail their political opponents, here are a couple of lists of countries they might prefer to the the land of the free and the home of the brave. They’ll feel right at home.

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For The Win 2018 is ready for download. Request a copy of my county-level election mechanics primer at tom.bluecentury at gmail.

Millie’s pups

by digby

This is my favorite Bush Sr White House moment:

Here’s a whole clip tape First Dogs Millie, Ranger and the pups during the administration.

I love all White House pets. And Millie and her puppies were among the best ever. Barbara Bush was a big animal lover and I always liked that about her. RIP.

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Heroines

by digby

Everyone seems to think Nikki Haley is a heroine for saying “with all due respect, I don’t get confused” and getting Sad Sack Kudlow to apologize. Big deal. She’s working for the most sexist piece of work to ever sit in the Oval Office so her #MeToo moment is weak. She doesn’t have to work for him. She should resign.

But I will admit that I’m enjoying this:

Republicans close to the White House whisper about the prospect of an alliance between Ms. Haley and Vice President Mike Pence, possibly to run as a ticket in 2020.

Aides to both scoff at such suggestions, but the slightest hint of such a pairing would be likely to enrage Mr. Trump, who has made it clear that he plans to run for re-election. The talk was exacerbated in recent days when Mr. Pence named Jon Lerner, Ms. Haley’s deputy, as his new national security adviser, while allowing him to keep his job at the United Nations.

That plan collapsed within 48 hours when Mr. Trump grew angry at reports that Mr. Lerner had made anti-Trump ads for the Club for Growth, an economic conservative advocacy group, during Republican primaries in 2016. Mr. Lerner stepped down from the job in Mr. Pence’s office.

Lol. If Trump were a smart man he’d keep her close but he’s not a smart man so I’d guess she’s not long for his administration.

If we want a stand-up heroine today, pick the Southwest Airlines pilot who saved lives yesterday:

For any pilot in this situation the most difficult and urgent thing to judge is how responsive the airplane is to their commands. An airplane as crippled as this one becomes difficult to handle. With only one engine working and damage to the other causing unusual air drag, the pilot must correct for asymmetrical power and drag—the airplane naturally tends to swing away from its direct course.

Here it is striking to compare Captain Shults’ plight with that of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in his legendary “miracle on the Hudson” landing. Sullenberger lost both engines to a bird strike, but his airplane, the Airbus A320, had “fly-by-wire” controls that gave him an automatic safety margin by restricting the control movements to a computer-dictated “envelope.” In contrast, the flight controls of the Southwest 737, although monitored through computers, remain as they were in the analog age, with the pilot controlling directly through a “yoke.”

And this is where Captain Shults’ background came into play. She is an ex-Navy pilot and one of the first women to fly the “Top Gun” F-18 Hornet, eventually becoming an instructor. Landing supersonic jets on the decks of aircraft carriers is one of the most demanding skills in military aviation. Now, flying on the one engine called for her to use all of her “seat of the pants” instincts to nurse the jet to the runway.

Normally a 737 on final approach would deploy its wing flaps to their full extent, to reduce landing speed to around 140 mph. But Captain Shults’ skills and experience forewarned her that an airplane flying that slowly with its flaps fully extended and with asymmetrical power could become fatally unstable in the final stage of the landing, so she used a minimal flap setting to maintain a higher speed and stability—taking the risk that the landing gear and particularly the tires could survive a higher speed impact.

As the jet came into land the controllers in the Philadelphia tower, looking at it through binoculars, could see that there was an open gash in the side of the cabin. At the same time it was reported that a large piece of the left engine’s cowling had fallen to the ground 60 miles northwest of the airport.

Captain Shults faced another problem with the speed of the landing: she could not deploy the airplane’s engine thrust reversers to help brake the speed after touchdown because of the damage to her left engine. However the touchdown was perfect and, once slowed, the jet came to rest on a taxiway where a fire crew sprayed the damaged engine with foam and put out a small fire from leaking fuel.

I sat next to a pair of guys on a flight not too long ago who were talking that they’d get off any plane piloted by a woman because they can’t keep their heads in anemergency. Uh huh.

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Take the money, leave the cannoli

by digby

I don’t know how many of these people there are out there, but polling suggests that there are a few. These more mainstream Republican types should be worried about Trump’s erratic behavior. They have as much to lose as the rest of us.

Boston-area billionaire hedge fund manager Seth Klarman will now start funding mostly Democrats after a history of giving large donations to Republicans.

“The Republicans in Congress have failed to hold the president accountable and have abandoned their historic beliefs and values,” Klarman said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “For the good of the country, the Democrats must take back one or both houses of Congress.”

Klarman told the paper that he wanted to use the money he was saving from the Republican tax overhaul to “invest” in Democrats.

Trending: Women’s March Leader Suggests Jewish Rights Group Working with Starbucks is Racist Against Blacks, Stirring Controversy

Klarman is the CEO and President of Baupost Group, a hedge fund in control of $32 billion, according to Forbes. The business magazine pegs his net worth at around $1.5 billion.

While not a registered Republican, Klarman has a long history of donating to the GOP, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Klarman has donated to candidates, political action committees and the Republican National Committee. Klarman has given to Democrats in the past, but the recent shift is a marked change in his donations.

According to an analysis by the Globe, Klarman has given over $200,000 to Democrats since the election of President Donald Trump, after spending more than $7 million on Republicans and their organizations while Barack Obama was president.

Klarman has always had a distaste for Trump, even backing Hillary Clinton in the past presidential election, after Tump won the Republican nomination.

“His words and actions over the last several days are so shockingly unacceptable in our diverse and democratic society that it is simply unthinkable that Donald Trump could become our president,” Klarman told Reuters in 2016.

No need to make any promises to these folks on policy. It’s all about holding Trump accountable and restoring some sense of normalcy to our politics.  That should be enough.

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Just don’t call them fascists. That would be ridiculous.

by digby

This is grotesque. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it in American politics but I might be wrong. Trump is an asinine imbecile, but now he’s got members of congress making official requests to carry out his thuggish agenda:

Eleven House Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, urging him to prosecute Hillary Clinton and more than a half-dozen current or former Justice Department officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The letter complains that the investigations into Clinton and President Trump’s campaign have been marked by “dissimilar degrees of zealousness.”

“Because we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are vetted appropriately,” the House Republicans said.

The letter — which also went to FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Attorney John Huber, whom Sessions named to oversee the investigation into GOP-fueled anti-DOJ allegations — comes after the FBI raided Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, last week.

It goes on to cherry-pick certain details reported about the ongoing Russia probe, as well as other speculation and disputed accusations, to allege that crimes may have been committed by Clinton and certain DOJ officials.

They accuse Comey of leaking classified information for Trump-related memos he handed over to a law professor friend, who in turn leaked them to the New York Times, among other allegations. Lynch is accused in the letter of potentially obstructing an agency investigation, with the Republicans pointing to extremely flimsy reporting on the so-called “Uranium One” deal.

They raised the DOJ Inspector General’s report about former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to refer him for potential criminal violations. Clinton, meanwhile, is accused of potential campaign finance allegations because her campaign’s lawyer facilitated financing for the opposition research project that led to the “dossier” of Trump-Russia allegations assembled by Christopher Steele.

Among the other individuals singled out in the letter are the FBI’s Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who sent each other anti-Trump texts during the campaign, as well as former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and the current FBI general counsel Dana Boente. Yates and Boente get called out for their involvement vetting the surveillance warrant applications for ex-Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

We are going to depend upon Jeff Session and Donald Trump to be the calm leaders who would never consider such actions. Indeed, assuming that we don’t find ourselves in a major crisis I’d guess that Sessions and most other officials would oppose this.

It’s good that there’s no chance of a crisis, amirite? Everything’s perfectly normal and in control thank goodness.

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