HEARING THREAD: Special Counsel Robert Mueller

[Check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before two different House committees today. This post is dedicated to these hearings. Please take any other topics to the open thread.

Hearing schedule:

8:30 a.m. ET – House Judiciary Committee (HJC) Hearing

Link to C-SPAN streaming

12:00 p.m. ET – House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Hearing

Link to C-SPAN streaming

Who to follow:

https://twitter.com/emptywheel (of course)

https://twitter.com/bmaz (naturally)

https://twitter.com/BarbMcQuade – will be on MSNBC to cover at least one of these hearings

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman – BuzzFeedNews

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand – Politico

https://twitter.com/BBuchman_CNS – CourthouseNews

https://twitter.com/jentaub – (late adder – she’s live tweeting a numbered thread)

Apart from our team, here’s a list containing these and other folks who cover Trump-Russia at https://twitter.com/raynetoday/lists/trump-russia.

According to late Tuesday evening reports, Aaron Zebley, former deputy to Mueller, will be sworn in and appear alongside Mueller during at least one of the House committee hearings. (I see differing reports that Zebley will appear before the Judiciary, Intelligence, or both committees.)

The right-wing/Trump supporters are completely freaking out about Zebley’s appearance, blabbering he “was an attorney for Justin Cooper, the IT staffer who set up #HillaryClinton’s private email server & the aide who destroyed Clinton’s old Blackberry phones with a hammer.” (source on Twitter)

The likely loudest GOP voices on the House Judiciary Committee: Doug Collins (ranking minority member, GA-9); Louis Gohmert (TX-1); Jim Jordan (OH-4); Matt Gaetz (FL-1). If past HJC hearings are predictive, expect lots of hot-headed pontificating and few rational questions. Hard to say who will be the worst of the lot but Gaetz has the foolhardiness of youth and past approval from Trump to goad him on. Jordan will focus on “insufficient evidence” to sow fear,  uncertainty and doubt about the Special Counsel’s report and the investigation.

As for the HPSCI, the GOP’s most problematic participant will be Devin Nunes (CA-22) who is the ranking minority member. He’s been meeting with Trump this week about a replacement for Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats (who Trump wants to jettison for being too determined to protect the country). At least the explanation offered is Coats’ replacement; it’s possible that Nunes has been meeting with Trump about Mueller’s appearance before the HPSCI.

Content here may be subject to updates.

Again, this post is dedicated to these hearings. Please take any other topics to the open thread.

The Cohen Material Just Released By The Court

Okay, as you may recall, the Judge William Pauley in the Southern District of New York had indicated he would release additional materials from the Cohen case there. As some background, here is our friend Adam Klasfeld of Courthouse News (if you are on Twitter and not following Adam, you are doing it wrong). Here is a Twitter thread Adam did as background.

Here is a blurb from his original story on this:

The first time a tranche of search warrants against former Trump fixer Michael Cohen became public, U.S. prosecutors aggressively redacted those materials to protect what was then an ongoing campaign-finance probe.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, stops to talk to a member of the press on May 4, 2019, in New York. Cohen reported to a federal prison on May 6 to begin serving a three-year sentence for campaign-finance violations, tax evasion, bank fraud and lying to Congress. AP Photo/Jonathan Carroll)
Announcing that investigation’s end, a judge ordered prosecutors on Wednesday to quickly disclose new information about how Cohen paid two women to silence their stories about supposed affairs with President Donald Trump.

“The campaign finance violations discussed in the materials are a matter of national importance,” U.S. District Judge William H Pauley III wrote. “Now that the government’s investigation into those violations has concluded, it is time that every American has an opportunity to scrutinize the materials.”

That moment is now. And, without further adieu, here are the newly released materials:

Cover Letter

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

Exhibit 5

Exhibit 6

Exhibit 7

Exhibit 8

Exhibit 9

Okay folks, this is a working thread. I have gotten it up as fast as possible, but there was a LOT of documents to download, and then upload. Have at it. There are many fascinating things in there, but many were known already. It is the newly unredacted stuff that is important. Happy hunting!

[Photo: Emily Morter via Unsplash]

The Mysterious Rapid Reverse Veep with a Press Backflip

[NB: Check the byline, thanks! /~Rayne]

Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to travel to New Hampshire yesterday. That didn’t happen.

Nearly 24 hours later this still smells really fishy.

Pence was scheduled to speak at 1:20 p.m. EDT at an addiction treatment center about the opioid crisis. Prepared remarks sounded less like an attack on the Sackler family, responsible for manufacturing opioids in the U.S., and more like an excuse for the crimes against humanity perpetrated along the Mexican border (because so many families with babies must surely be carrying fentanyl into the country).

Details are sketchy about when and how Pence’s trip was canceled. There were reports that Air Force 2 was already in the air and called back mid-flight; some of these reports were based on feedback from Pence’s aide Randy Gentry:

White House spokesman Judd Deere told AP that “Something came up and the VP needed to be in D.C.,” “there is no cause for alarm.”

Two more anonymous White House officials told AP that the matter was not national security-related or related to a health issue.

Whatever happened caught the Veep’s staff by surprise based on their flip-flopping messages:

What could have happened at the White House to cancel Pence’s speech on such short notice — the room in which he was to speak was already packed, waiting his arrival — and subsequent confusing press handling?

Some reports noted that Putin had a cancellation of his own nearly simultaneously with Pence, causing a lot of idle speculation and possibly some disinformation.

A fire aboard a Russian research submarine killed 14 aboard the vessel. But the timing of the actual fire and Pence’s reversal don’t sync. The fire was on July 1 and Putin offered remarks about the fatal event yesterday according to the U.S. Naval Institute news outlet.

Yet others attributed the problem to a local problem in New Hampshire after reports of gunfire at Pease Air National Guard Base, located a circuitous 50 miles northeast from where Pence was to speak and 50 miles east of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport where Pence was scheduled to arrive before his engagement at Granite Recovery Center.

None of this adds up and all stinks of manufactured fog. We’ll have to hope the press remembers to follow up with Pence’s chief of staff in a couple weeks.

There was one other key event yesterday that did not affect Pence directly but could easily have triggered a malignant narcissist’s meltdown.

Sometime after 11:00 a.m. yesterday news outlets reported the House Ways and Means Committee had filed suit against the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to obtain Trump’s tax returns.

Complaint via ABC News on Scribd

I imagine somebody in the Oval Office is squirming about Congress crossing the red line.

Another tetchy subject may be the Second Circuit’s order yesterday unsealing the summary judgment record in the Jeffrey Epstein case; additional sealed materials are now subject to a particularized review for release to public.

Is somebody worried their name will come up in the unsealing process?

What other events might have created enough havoc in the White House that forced Pence to reverse his trip and his staff to perform communications contortions with the reason to be known “in a few weeks”?

This is an open thread.

Graphic: Quino Al via Unsplash (mod by Rayne)

Whip It Good: Impeachment Inquiry — Do You Even Math? [UPDATED]

[NB: Check the byline, thanks. Update at bottom of post. /~Rayne]

You may have been following the impeachment inquiry whip count posted here last week.

You may also notice though we agree that an impeachment inquiry is necessary, not everybody at this site agrees how to go about it.

All the shouting and the namecalling won’t change this fact: With 433 active House seats it will take 218 votes (allowing 1 safety vote) to pass a resolution to begin an impeachment inquiry; we are now at 85 votes or 39% of the necessary votes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could try to put this up for a vote right now but she’d lose. It’d be obvious to that corrupt orange monster and his evil minions there was absolutely no Congressional check on his power. Trump, his minions and sponsors would perceive this failure as a permission slip to continue their crime spree, possibly ramping up to even worse.

One thing can change this dynamic.

You.

You can raise hell with your intransigent representative if they are a Democrat who has not yet offered their support for an impeachment inquiry. You can still raise hell with your GOP representative just so they know we are still expecting them to perform to the letter of their oath of office.

You can also identify a primary candidate running against the most resistent representatives, make a donation to them, volunteer to help their campaign, and then call your intransigent rep and let them know you are going to ensure they are primaried because they are failing their oath of office.

You can share Law Works’ production of The Investigation recorded last week if friends and family haven’t read the Mueller report and don’t understand that Trump obstructed justice. Now bmaz thinks this production was a stunt but treat it as a podcast: talk a friend or family member into a long car ride over the holiday and weekend, and play The Investigation while you’re on the road. Talk about the report and the obstruction — and then persuade them to help make calls.

About those rallies outside media offices: we could have rallies outside local offices of members of Congress, but there’s no guarantee media will treat these as newsworthy. They didn’t cover any of MoveOn’s rallies this month for example. So hold them at media offices, like outside the biggest radio or television stations in your market. Make it impossible to avoid coverage. I’d like to tell you to avoid the Sinclair-owned ones but if the local station picks up the story, it’s a double win. If you organize one with a group be sure to prepare clear, succinct talking points and have a designated spokesperson deliver them.

You can wallpaper your municipality with home printed materials to drum up more support. Feel free to use this graphic:

Post it at the library, grocery store, coffee shop, wherever there’s a bulletin board open for public use.

Is this an old school approach? Sure, but let’s face it — the new school efforts aren’t breaking through.

It’s up to you. And you, and you.

Let’s roll.

Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Updated whip count follows below; share in comments any new announcements by House members throwing support behind an impeachment inquiry.

A word to leaders of certain activist organizations who’ve been dogging Nancy Pelosi: it’s YOUR organizational leadership failing this country if you haven’t persistently encouraged your members to focus on getting the 218 House votes needed. Harassing Pelosi doesn’t make it likely the outstanding 133 vots will turn up; it makes it more likely they will hold out longer to avoid the harassment they’ve seen aimed at Pelosi. Jesus Christ, use your fucking brains. No dog is going to willingly show up for a whipping they’ve seen another dog take; they’ll run and hide.

Carrots are good as well as sticks; while your organization badgers Pelosi for fundraising now, keep in mind the entire House must raise money to run in 2020. Reward the representatives who are committing to voting for an impeachment inquiry with donations.

This is an open thread.

UPDATE — 1:00 p.m. 02-JUL-2019 —

Updated spreadsheet with count. Note that 16 of 25 Democratic House Judiciary Committee members are now in support of an inquiry since last week that’s 67%.

Still zero GOP support save for Justin Amash; meanwhile the RNC is dishing out tickets for a non-campaign campaign event using taxpayer funded resources limiting access to a taxpayer-funded Fourth of July holiday. Surprised none of these spineless leeches are sucking up to Moscow for the holiday.

State Last First, Middle, Nickname Party Affiliation Impeachment Inquiry Y/N House Judiciary Committee
Alabama Sewell Terrycina Andrea “Terri” Dem
Arizona Gallego Ruben Dem
Arizona Grijalva Raul M. Dem Y
Arizona Kirkpatrick Ann Dem
Arizona O’Halleran Tom Dem
Arizona Stanton Greg Dem Y    🔺
California Aguilar Pete Dem
California Barragán Nanette Diaz Dem Y
California Bass Karen R. Dem
California Bera Amerish “Ami” Dem
California Brownley Julia Dem
California Cardenas Tony Dem Y
California Carbajal Salud O. Dem
California Chu Judy Dem
California Cisneros Gilbert “Gil” Dem
California Correa Jose Luis “Lou” Dem
California Costa Jim Dem
California Cox Terrance John “TJ” Dem
California Davis Susan A. Dem
California DeSaulnier Mark Dem Y
California Eshoo Anna G. Dem
California Garamendi John Raymond Dem
California Gomez Jimmy Dem Y
California Harder Josh Dem
California Hill Katherine Lauren “Katie” Dem
California Huffman Jared W. Dem Y
California Khanna Rohit “Ro” Dem
California Lee Barbara Dem Y
California Levin Mike Dem
California Lieu Ted W. Dem Y    🔺
California Lofgren Zoe Dem see comment
California Lowenthal Alan S. Dem Y
California Matsui Doris K. Dem
California McNerney Gerald Mark “Jerry” Dem
California Napolitano Grace Flores Dem Y
California Panetta James Varni “Jimmy” Dem
California Pelosi Nancy Dem
California Peters Scott Dem Y
California Porter Katherine “Katie” Dem Y
California Rouda Jr. Harley E. Dem Y
California Roybal-Allard Lucille Dem
California Ruiz Raul Dem
California Sanchez Linda T. Dem
California Schiff Adam B. Dem
California Sherman Brad Dem Y
California Speier Jackie Dem Y
California Swalwell Eric Michael Dem Y    🔺
California Takano Mark A. Dem see comment
California Thompson C. Michael “Mike” Dem
California Torres Norma J. Dem Y
California Vargas Juan C. Dem Y
California Waters Maxine Dem Y
Colorado Crow Jason Dem
Colorado DeGette Diana L. Dem Y
Colorado Neguse Joseph “Joe” Dem Y    🔺
Colorado Perlmutter Edwin G. “Ed” Dem
Connecticut Courtney Joseph D. “Joe” Dem
Connecticut DeLauro Rosa L. Dem
Connecticut Hayes Jahana Dem
Connecticut Himes Jim Dem Y
Connecticut Larson John B. Dem
Delaware Rochester Lisa Blunt Dem
Florida Castor Katherine Anne “Kathy” Dem
Florida Crist Charlie Joseph Dem
Florida Demings Valdez “Val” Dem Y    🔺
Florida Deutch Theodore Eliot “Ted” Dem
Florida Frankel Lois J. Dem
Florida Hastings Alcee L. Dem
Florida Lawson Jr. Alfred “Al” Dem
Florida Mucarsel-Powell Debbie Dem Y   🔺
Florida Murphy Stephanie Dem
Florida Shalala Donna Elvira Dem
Florida Soto Darren Dem
Florida Wasserman Schultz Debbie Dem
Florida Wilson Frederica S. Dem
Georgia Bishop Jr. Sanford Dixon Dem
Georgia Johnson Jr. Henry C. “Hank” Dem
Georgia Lewis John R. Dem
Georgia McBath Lucia Kay “Lucy” Dem
Georgia Scott David Albert Dem
Hawaii Case Edward E. “Ed” Dem
Hawaii Gabbard Tulsi Dem
Illinois Bustos Cheri Dem
Illinois Casten Sean Dem Y
Illinois Davis Danny K. Dem Y
Illinois Foster G. William “Bill” Dem
Illinois Garcia Jesus G. “Chuy” Dem Y
Illinois Kelly Robin L. Dem Y
Illinois Krishnamoorthi S. Raja Dem
Illinois Lipinski Daniel William “Dan” Dem
Illinois Quigley Mike Dem Y
Illinois Rush Bobby Lee Dem Y
Illinois Schakowsky Janice D. “Jan” Dem Y
Illinois Schneider Bradley Scott “Brad” Dem
Illinois Underwood Lauren A. Dem
Indiana Carson Andre D. Dem
Indiana Visclosky Peter J. Dem
Iowa Axne Cindy Dem
Iowa Finkenauer Abby Dem
Iowa Loebsack David Wayne “Dave” Dem
Kansas Davids Sharice Dem
Kentucky Yarmuth John A. Dem Y
Louisiana Richmond Cedric L. Dem Y    🔺
Maine Golden Jared F. Dem
Maine Pingree Chellie M. Dem Y
Maryland Brown Anthony Gregory Dem
Maryland Cummings Elijah E. Dem
Maryland Hoyer Steny Hamilton Dem
Maryland Raskin Jamin B. “Jamie” Dem Y    🔺
Maryland Ruppersberger III Charles Albert Dutch “C.A. Dutch” Dem
Maryland Sarbanes John Peter Spyros Dem
Maryland Trone David Dem
Massachusetts Clark Katherine M. Dem
Massachusetts Keating William Richard “Bill” Dem
Massachusetts Kennedy III Joseph Patrick “Joe” Dem Y
Massachusetts Lynch Stephen F. Dem
Massachusetts McGovern James P. “Jim” Dem Y
Massachusetts Moulton Seth W. Dem Y
Massachusetts Neal Richard E. Dem
Massachusetts Pressley Ayanna S. Dem Y
Massachusetts Trahan Lori Loureiro Dem
Michigan Dingell Debbie Dem
Michigan Kildee Daniel T. “Dan” Dem Y
Michigan Lawrence Brenda Lulenar Dem Y
Michigan Levin Andy Dem Y
Michigan Slotkin Elissa Dem
Michigan Stevens Haley Dem
Michigan Tlaib Rashida Dem Y
Minnesota Craig Angela Dawn “Angie” Dem
Minnesota McCollum Betty Dem Y
Minnesota Omar Ilhan Dem Y
Minnesota Peterson Collin Clark Dem
Minnesota Phillips Dean Dem
Mississippi Thompson Bennie G. Dem Y
Missouri Clay Jr. William Lacy Dem Y
Missouri Cleaver II Emanuel Dem
Nevada Horsford Steven Alexzander Dem
Nevada Lee Susan Kelley “Susie” Dem
Nevada Titus Alice Costandina “Dina” Dem
New Hampshire Kuster Ann McLane “Annie” Dem
New Hampshire Pappas Christopher C. “Chris” Dem
New Jersey Gottheimer Joshua S. “Josh” Dem
New Jersey Kim Andrew “Andy” Dem
New Jersey Malinowski Tom Dem Y
New Jersey Norcross Donald W. Dem Y
New Jersey Pallone Jr. Frank Dem
New Jersey Pascrell Jr. William J. “Bill” Dem Y
New Jersey Payne Jr. Donald M. Dem
New Jersey Sherrill Rebecca Michelle “Mikie” Dem
New Jersey Sires Albio Dem
New Jersey Van Drew Jeff Dem
New Jersey Watson Coleman Bonnie Dem
New Mexico Haaland Debra A. “Deb” Dem
New Mexico Lujan Ben Ray Dem
New Mexico Torres Small Xochitl Dem
New York Brindisi Anthony J. Dem
New York Clarke Yvette D. Dem Y
New York Delgado Antonio Dem
New York Engel Eliot Lance Dem
New York Espaillat Adriano Dem Y
New York Higgins Brian M. Dem Y

see comment

New York Jeffries Hakeem S. Dem
New York Lowey Nita M. Dem
New York Maloney Carolyn Bosher Dem Y
New York Maloney Sean Patrick Dem
New York Meeks Gregory Weldon Dem
New York Meng Grace Dem
New York Morelle Joseph D. “Joe” Dem
New York Nadler Jerrold Lewis “Jerry” Dem
New York Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Dem Y
New York Rice Kathleen M. Dem Y
New York Rose Max N. Dem
New York Serrano Jose Enrique Dem
New York Suozzi Thomas R. “Tom” Dem
New York Tonko Paul David Dem Y
New York Velázquez Nydia Margarita Dem Y
North Carolina Adams Alma Shealey Dem Y
North Carolina Butterfield Jr. George Kenneth “G. K.” Dem Y
North Carolina Price David Eugene Dem
Ohio Beatty Joyce B. Dem Y
Ohio Fudge Marcia L. Dem Y
Ohio Kaptur Marcia Carolyn “Marcy” Dem
Ohio Ryan Timothy J. “Tim” Dem Y
Oklahoma Horn Kendra Dem
Oregon Blumenauer Earl Dem Y
Oregon Bonamici Suzanne M. Dem Y
Oregon DeFazio Peter Anthony “Pete” Dem
Oregon Schrader Walter Kurt “Kurt” Dem
Pennsylvania Boyle Brendan F. Dem Y
Pennsylvania Cartwright Matthew Alton “Matt” Dem
Pennsylvania Dean Cunnane Madeleine Dem Y    🔺
Pennsylvania Doyle Michael F. “Mike” Dem Y
Pennsylvania Evans Dwight Dem Y
Pennsylvania Houlahan Christina Jampoler “Chrissy” Dem
Pennsylvania Lamb Conor James Dem
Pennsylvania Scanlon Mary Gay Dem Y    🔺
Pennsylvania Wild Susan Ellis Dem
Rhode Island Cicilline David N. Dem Y   🔺
Rhode Island Langevin James R. “Jim” Dem
South Carolina Clyburn James Enos “Jim” Dem
South Carolina Cunningham Joseph K. “Joe” Dem
Tennessee Cohen Stephen Ira “Steve” Dem Y    🔺
Tennessee Cooper James H. S. “Jim” Dem
Texas Allred Colin Dem
Texas Castro Joaquin Dem Y
Texas Cuellar Henry R. Dem
Texas Doggett II Lloyd Alton Dem Y
Texas Escobar Veronica Dem Y    🔺
Texas Fletcher Elizabeth Pannill “Lizzie” Dem
Texas Garcia Sylvia R. Dem
Texas Gonzalez Vicente Dem
Texas Green Alexander “Al” Dem Y
Texas Jackson Lee Sheila Dem Y     🔺
Texas Johnson Eddie Bernice Dem
Texas Veasey Marc Allison Dem
Texas Vela Filemon B. Dem Y
Utah McAdams Ben Dem
Vermont Welch Peter F. Dem
Virginia Beyer Jr. Donald Sternoff “Don” Dem Y
Virginia Connolly Gerald Edward “Gerry” Dem
Virginia Luria Elaine G. Dem
Virginia McEachin Aston Donald “Donald” Dem
Virginia Scott Robert Cortez “Bobby” Dem
Virginia Spanberger Abigail A. Dem
Virginia Wexton Jennifer T. Dem
Washington DelBene Suzan Kay Dem see comment
Washington Heck Dennis “Denny” Dem
Washington Jayapal Pramila Dem Y    🔺
Washington Kilmer Derek Dem
Washington Larsen Richard Ray “Rick” Dem
Washington Schrier Kim Dem
Washington Smith David Adam “Adam” Dem Y
Wisconsin Kind Ronald James “Ron” Dem
Wisconsin Moore Gwendolynne S. “Gwen” Dem Y
Wisconsin Pocan Mark Dem Y
Alabama Aderholt Robert Brown GOP
Alabama Brooks Jr. Morris J. “Mo” GOP
Alabama Byrne Bradley Roberts GOP
Alabama Palmer Gary GOP
Alabama Roby Martha GOP
Alabama Rogers Michael Dennis “Mike” GOP
Alaska Young Donald E. “Don” GOP
Arizona Biggs Andy GOP
Arizona Gosar Paul Anthony GOP
Arizona Lesko Debbie GOP
Arizona Schweikert David GOP
Arkansas Crawford Eric Alan “Rick” GOP
Arkansas Hill James French “French” GOP
Arkansas Westerman Bruce GOP
Arkansas Womack Stephen A. “Steve” GOP
California Calvert Kenneth S. “Ken” GOP
California Cook Paul GOP
California Hunter Duncan Duane GOP
California LaMalfa Doug GOP
California McCarthy Kevin GOP
California McClintock Thomas “Tom” GOP
California Nunes Devin Gerald GOP
Colorado Buck Kenneth R. “Ken” GOP
Colorado Lamborn Douglas L. “Doug” GOP
Colorado Tipton Scott Randall GOP
Florida Bilirakis Gus Michael GOP
Florida Buchanan Vernon “Vern” GOP
Florida Diaz-Balart Mario GOP
Florida Dunn Neal Patrick GOP
Florida Gaetz Matt GOP
Florida Mast Brian GOP
Florida Posey William “Bill” GOP
Florida Rooney Francis GOP
Florida Rutherford John GOP
Florida Spano Vincent Ross “Ross” GOP
Florida Steube Greg W. GOP
Florida Waltz Michael “Mike” GOP
Florida Webster Daniel “Dan” GOP
Florida Yoho Theodore Scott “Ted” GOP
Georgia Allen Richard Wallen “Rick” GOP
Georgia Carter Earl Leroy “Buddy” GOP
Georgia Collins Douglas Allen “Doug” GOP
Georgia Ferguson IV Anderson Drew “Drew” GOP
Georgia Graves Jr. John Thomas “Tom” GOP
Georgia Hice Jody B. GOP
Georgia Loudermilk Barry D. GOP
Georgia Scott James Austin “Austin” GOP
Georgia Woodall III William Robert “Rob” GOP
Idaho Fulcher Russ GOP
Idaho Simpson Michael Keith “Mike” GOP
Illinois Bost Michael J. “Mike” GOP
Illinois Davis Rodney L. GOP
Illinois Kinzinger Adam GOP
Illinois LaHood Darin McKay GOP
Illinois Shimkus John M. GOP
Indiana Baird James R. “Jim” GOP
Indiana Banks James E. “Jim” GOP
Indiana Brooks Susan W. GOP
Indiana Bucshon Larry D. GOP
Indiana Hollingsworth III Joseph A. “Trey” GOP
Indiana Pence Gregory J. “Greg” GOP
Indiana Walorski Jackie Swihart GOP see comment
Iowa King Steven A. “Steve” GOP
Kansas Estes Ron GOP
Kansas Marshall Roger W. GOP
Kansas Watkins Steve GOP
Kentucky Barr Garland “Andy” GOP
Kentucky Comer James R. GOP
Kentucky Guthrie Steven Brett “Brett” GOP
Kentucky Massie Thomas H. GOP
Kentucky Rogers Harold Dallas “Hal” GOP
Louisiana Abraham Jr. Ralph Lee GOP
Louisiana Graves Garret GOP
Louisiana Higgins Clay GOP
Louisiana Johnson James Michael “Mike” GOP
Louisiana Scalise Stephen J. “Steve” GOP
Maryland Harris Andrew P. “Andy” GOP
Michigan Amash Justin GOP Y
Michigan Bergman John W. “Jack” GOP
Michigan Huizenga William P. “Bill” GOP
Michigan Mitchell III Paul GOP
Michigan Moolenaar John GOP
Michigan Upton Frederick Stephen “Fred” GOP
Michigan Walberg Timothy L. “Tim” GOP
Minnesota Emmer Jr. Thomas Earl “Tom” GOP
Minnesota Hagedorn James “Jim” GOP
Minnesota Stauber Peter Allen “Pete” GOP
Minnesota Stauber Peter Allen “Pete” GOP
Mississippi Guest Michael Patrick GOP
Mississippi Kelly John Trent “Trent” GOP
Mississippi Palazzo Steven McCarty GOP
Missouri Graves Jr. Samuel B. “Sam” GOP
Missouri Hartzler Vicky Jo GOP
Missouri Long Billy GOP
Missouri Luetkemeyer W. Blaine GOP
Missouri Smith Jason T. GOP
Missouri Wagner Ann L. GOP
Montana Gianforte Greg GOP
Nebraska Bacon Donald John “Don” GOP
Nebraska Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane “Jeff” GOP
Nebraska Smith Adrian M. GOP
Nevada Amodei Mark Eugene GOP
New Jersey Smith Christopher Henry “Chris” GOP
New York Collins Christopher Carl “Chris” GOP
New York Katko John M. GOP
New York King Peter T. “Pete” GOP
New York Reed II Thomas W. “Tom” GOP
New York Stefanik Elise M. GOP
New York Zeldin Lee Michael GOP
North Carolina Budd Theodore Paul “Ted” GOP
North Carolina Foxx Virginia Ann GOP
North Carolina Holding George Edward Bell GOP
North Carolina Hudson Jr. Richard Lane GOP
North Carolina McHenry Patrick Timothy GOP
North Carolina Meadows Mark Randal GOP
North Carolina Rouzer David Cheston GOP
North Carolina Walker Bradley Mark “Mark” GOP
North Dakota Armstrong Kelly M. GOP
Ohio Balderson Troy GOP
Ohio Chabot Steven J. “Steve” GOP
Ohio Davidson Warren GOP
Ohio Gibbs Robert Brian “Bob” GOP
Ohio Gonzalez Anthony E. GOP
Ohio Johnson Bill GOP
Ohio Jordan James D. “Jim” GOP
Ohio Joyce David P. “Dave” GOP
Ohio Latta Robert Edward “Bob” GOP
Ohio Stivers Steve E. GOP
Ohio Turner Michael R. “Mike” GOP
Ohio Wenstrup Brad R. GOP
Oklahoma Cole Thomas Jeffery “Tom” GOP
Oklahoma Hern Kevin R. GOP
Oklahoma Lucas Frank D. GOP
Oklahoma Mullin Markwayne GOP
Oregon Walden Gregory Paul “Greg” GOP
Pennsylvania Fitzpatrick Brian K. GOP
Pennsylvania Joyce John GOP
Pennsylvania Kelly Jr. George J. “Mike” GOP
Pennsylvania Marino Thomas Anthony “Tom” GOP
Pennsylvania Meuser Daniel P. “Dan” GOP
Pennsylvania Perry Scott G. GOP
Pennsylvania Reschenthaler Guy L. GOP
Pennsylvania Smucker Lloyd K. GOP
Pennsylvania Thompson Glenn William “G.T.” GOP
South Carolina Duncan Jeffrey D. “Jeff” GOP
South Carolina Norman Jr. Ralph W. GOP
South Carolina Rice Jr. Hugh T. “Tom” GOP
South Carolina Timmons IV William R. GOP
South Carolina Wilson Addison Graves “Joe” GOP
South Dakota Johnson Dustin “Dusty” GOP
Tennessee Burchett Tim GOP
Tennessee DesJarlais Scott Eugene GOP
Tennessee Fleischmann Charles J. “Chuck” GOP
Tennessee Green Mark E. GOP
Tennessee Kustoff David GOP
Tennessee Roe David Philip “Phil” GOP
Tennessee Rose John W. GOP
Texas Arrington Jodey Cook GOP
Texas Babin Brian GOP
Texas Brady Kevin Patrick GOP
Texas Burgess Michael C. GOP
Texas Carter John Rice GOP
Texas Cloud Michael J. GOP
Texas Conaway K. Michael “Mike” GOP
Texas Crenshaw Daniel “Dan” GOP
Texas Flores William “Bill” GOP
Texas Gohmert Jr. Louis B. “Louie” GOP
Texas Gooden Lance GOP
Texas Granger Kay N. GOP
Texas Hurd William “Will” GOP
Texas Marchant Kenny Ewell GOP
Texas McCaul Michael T. GOP
Texas Olson Peter Graham “Pete” GOP
Texas Ratcliffe John Lee GOP
Texas Roy Chip GOP
Texas Taylor Nicholas V. “Van” GOP
Texas Thornberry William McClellan “Mac” GOP
Texas Weber Randy GOP
Texas Williams Roger GOP
Texas Wright Ron GOP
Utah Bishop Robert William “Rob” GOP
Utah Curtis John GOP
Utah Stewart Chris GOP
Virginia Cline Benjamin Lee “Ben” GOP
Virginia Griffith H. Morgan “Morgan” GOP
Virginia Riggleman III Denver Lee GOP
Virginia Wittman Robert J. “Rob” GOP
Washington Herrera Beutler Jaime Lynn GOP
Washington McMorris Rodgers Cathy Ann GOP
Washington Newhouse Daniel Milton “Dan” GOP
West Virginia McKinley David Bennett GOP
West Virginia Miller Carol Devine GOP
West Virginia Mooney Alexander Xavier “Alex” GOP
Wisconsin Duffy Sean P. GOP
Wisconsin Gallagher Michael John “Mike” GOP
Wisconsin Grothman Glenn S. GOP
Wisconsin Sensenbrenner Jr. Frank James “Jim” GOP
Wisconsin Steil Bryan George GOP
Wyoming Cheney Elizabeth “Liz” GOP
North Carolina Jones Jr. (RIP) Walter B. GOP Open
North Carolina GOP Vacant Office

 

Livestream Tonight: The Investigation — Mueller Report in 10 Acts [UPDATE]

[NB: As always, check the byline. Thanks! /~Rayne]

Tonight only at 9:00 p.m. EDT (sorry, Rachel Maddow) the (nonprofit-?) organization Law Works will stream a live play based on the Mueller Report.

Read about the program at Variety, which calls this a “star-studded” “live reading” of the report.

This is one way to educate a portion of the public who can’t or won’t read the Special Counsel’s report. One might wonder if members of Congress might give this a shot or if they will continue to avoid the truth about the Trump campaign and administration.

If you happen to stream this Law Works’ production, share your thoughts here.

This is an open thread.

UPDATE — 9:15 p.m. EDT —

Running into 500-502 errors at Law Works’ site. Streams a little jerky through their Twitter account.

To The Phones: Stop the Gulf of Tonkin, Iran Edition

[NB: Check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

Some crazy bullshit happened last evening, probably while our fearless Agent Orange Chaos was under the influence of anti-anxiety medication/two scoops/Hannity’s fluffery:

This is like a half-assed Gulf of Tonkin event, a deliberately staged precursor to war. The Gulf of Tonkin was the rationale for the Vietnam War which resulted in 58,318 dead and 303,644 wounded U.S. military personnel and nearly 4,000,000 total dead, along with billions in defense expenditures.

It’s not like we haven’t seen other similar bullshit lies leading us into war, and some of the key lies propelled by the same news outlet quoted above, written by NYT’s Judith Miller. NYT has clearly prepped itself for more of the same — just look at the specialty Twitter account it set up called “NYTimesAtWar.”

We’re being dragged into a wholly unnecessary war because other non-US factions want to use our military for their ends. We have total shit for soft power right now because Trump doesn’t believe in diplomacy unless he’s conducting it with some other Big Authoritarian Man[™]. He will definitely trash anything the previous administration negotiated as part of the JCPOA (read: something a black man did). Trump’s also pliable depending on when he’s approached and by whom — like this propaganda by Fox News yesterday catching him first thing in the morning when he watches television, conditioning his responses for the day:

And again today, after the attack last night was canceled, Fox News is again beating the drum for war and tacitly questioning Trump’s manhood:

Who else was working on Trump’s head all day yesterday, pushing this bullshit narrative based on manufactured evidence?

Thankfully the House has finally voted this Wednesday to end the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) which has been used to support all manner of military action against real and claimed terrorist threats:

The House of Representatives voted today to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Presidents have used the AUMF to justify never-ending wars that lack Congressional approval.

This is the first time in nearly 18 years that a chamber of Congress has repealed this law. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (CA), was included in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2968). Designed to take effect eight months after being signed, Congress would need to pass a new AUMF or the administration would need to remove military personnel from current conflicts during that time.

Prescient timing, or no? Whatever the case, if factions within the Trump administration were going to rely on the 2001 AUMF to execute their attacks on Iran, the support is gone in the House.

This is where YOU come in. The Senate hasn’t voted on the Defense Appropriations Act including the rescindment of the 2001 AUMF; it could be stalled once again on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk. Stalled or not, the Senate needs to hear from its constituents about this absurd run up to war — denounce this incompetent attempt at launching war without adequate Congressional approval and ask for an investigation into whatever happened last evening to launch an attack without a legitimate AUMF and then reversed the attack mid-flight. This behavior is irrational and only more likely to trigger events the American people have no desire to see happen.

If you need another briefing and a script for making your calls to your senators, visit @Celeste_pewter’s TinyLetter page.

Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Do call your House reps and praise them if they supported the rescindment and admonish them if they didn’t. They need to know constituents are paying close attention.

The really scary/aggravating part of last night’s near-miss was that fossil fuel corporations can’t be happy about this. If they aren’t happy and they weren’t consulted, who’s running our foreign policy besides a guy responsible in no small part for hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the Iraq War and another Christianist doofus too stupid to realize he’s being used as a pawn by other non-Christian geopolitical forces?

This is an open thread.

Graphic: Quino Al via Unsplash (mod by Rayne)

Whip It Good: Impeachment Inquiry Edition [UPDATED-7]

[NB: Check the byline, thanks! Updates at the very bottom. /~Rayne]

CNN published a report this weekend tallying the House Democrats who have already expressed support in one way or another for an impeachment inquiry. The head count stood at 63 out of 235 Democrats on Saturday, along with lone Republican Justin Amash (R-MI).

There are many possible reasons why House Democrats haven’t yet expressed support for a Constitutionally empowered inquiry, not the least of which is simple chickenshit worry about polling for the 2020 race. I say chickenshit because 2018 was a huge wave and the reasons which drove that wave have not subsided. They have only increased in intensity.

Can you think of anyone in your circle of friends and family whose taxes have gone down since the Trump tax bill passed? Can you think of anyone who’s found their grocery bill or their rent has gone down? What about medical bills — has anyone you know experienced a drop in prescription drug costs or health care insurance premiums?

And what of other matters like personal privacy or the ability to vote? Have those matters improved for the average Americans you know?

Now we can add more rural Americans to the discontented having been ignored while their states have been inundated, just as coastal residents in hurricane-damaged states have also gone without timely attention and aid.

The blue wave will continue. Its power needs to be focused. We have some time to address that. But we also need to develop that focus with more effective investigations into the Trump administration’s public corruption and abuses of power as well as obstruction of justice and oversight. An impeachment inquiry will provide the teeth necessary to obtain evidence and testimony, and it’s well past time to get the House Dems on board.

Here’s the whip list below — I will update it as I see reports in the media.

Your job as a citizen is to exercise your civic duty and contact your representative to find out where they stand on an impeachment inquiry, and to convey your opinion supporting one.

Do share your results in comments; we’ll watch to see how long it takes for the media to catch up with any changes in this whip count.

Let’s roll, people. Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121

State Last First, Middle, Nickname Party Affiliation Impeachment Inquiry Y/N House Judiciary Committee
Alabama Sewell Terrycina Andrea “Terri” Dem
Arizona Gallego Ruben Dem
Arizona Grijalva Raul M. Dem Y
Arizona Kirkpatrick Ann Dem
Arizona O’Halleran Tom Dem
Arizona Stanton Greg Dem Y    🔺
California Aguilar Pete Dem
California Barragán Nanette Diaz Dem Y
California Bass Karen R. Dem
California Bera Amerish “Ami” Dem
California Brownley Julia Dem
California Cardenas Tony Dem Y
California Carbajal Salud O. Dem
California Chu Judy Dem
California Cisneros Gilbert “Gil” Dem
California Correa Jose Luis “Lou” Dem
California Costa Jim Dem
California Cox Terrance John “TJ” Dem
California Davis Susan A. Dem
California DeSaulnier Mark Dem Y
California Eshoo Anna G. Dem
California Garamendi John Raymond Dem
California Gomez Jimmy Dem
California Harder Josh Dem
California Hill Katherine Lauren “Katie” Dem
California Huffman Jared W. Dem Y
California Khanna Rohit “Ro” Dem
California Lee Barbara Dem Y
California Levin Mike Dem
California Lieu Ted W. Dem Y    🔺
California Lofgren Zoe Dem see comment
California Lowenthal Alan S. Dem Y
California Matsui Doris K. Dem
California McNerney Gerald Mark “Jerry” Dem
California Napolitano Grace Flores Dem Y
California Panetta James Varni “Jimmy” Dem
California Pelosi Nancy Dem
California Peters Scott Dem
California Porter Katherine “Katie” Dem Y
California Rouda Jr. Harley E. Dem [1]
California Roybal-Allard Lucille Dem
California Ruiz Raul Dem
California Sanchez Linda T. Dem
California Schiff Adam B. Dem
California Sherman Brad Dem Y
California Speier Jackie Dem Y
California Swalwell Eric Michael Dem Y    🔺
California Takano Mark A. Dem see comment
California Thompson C. Michael “Mike” Dem
California Torres Norma J. Dem Y
California Vargas Juan C. Dem Y
California Waters Maxine Dem Y
Colorado Crow Jason Dem
Colorado DeGette Diana L. Dem Y
Colorado Neguse Joseph “Joe” Dem Y    🔺
Colorado Perlmutter Edwin G. “Ed” Dem
Connecticut Courtney Joseph D. “Joe” Dem
Connecticut DeLauro Rosa L. Dem
Connecticut Hayes Jahana Dem
Connecticut Himes Jim Dem
Connecticut Larson John B. Dem
Delaware Rochester Lisa Blunt Dem
Florida Castor Katherine Anne “Kathy” Dem
Florida Crist Charlie Joseph Dem
Florida Demings Valdez “Val” Dem Y    🔺
Florida Deutch Theodore Eliot “Ted” Dem
Florida Frankel Lois J. Dem
Florida Hastings Alcee L. Dem
Florida Lawson Jr. Alfred “Al” Dem
Florida Mucarsel-Powell Debbie Dem Y   🔺
Florida Murphy Stephanie Dem
Florida Shalala Donna Elvira Dem
Florida Soto Darren Dem
Florida Wasserman Schultz Debbie Dem
Florida Wilson Frederica S. Dem
Georgia Bishop Jr. Sanford Dixon Dem
Georgia Johnson Jr. Henry C. “Hank” Dem
Georgia Lewis John R. Dem
Georgia McBath Lucia Kay “Lucy” Dem
Georgia Scott David Albert Dem
Hawaii Case Edward E. “Ed” Dem
Hawaii Gabbard Tulsi Dem
Illinois Bustos Cheri Dem
Illinois Casten Sean Dem Y
Illinois Davis Danny K. Dem Y
Illinois Foster G. William “Bill” Dem
Illinois Garcia Jesus G. “Chuy” Dem Y
Illinois Kelly Robin L. Dem Y
Illinois Krishnamoorthi S. Raja Dem
Illinois Lipinski Daniel William “Dan” Dem
Illinois Quigley Mike Dem Y
Illinois Rush Bobby Lee Dem Y
Illinois Schakowsky Janice D. “Jan” Dem
Illinois Schneider Bradley Scott “Brad” Dem
Illinois Underwood Lauren A. Dem
Indiana Carson Andre D. Dem
Indiana Visclosky Peter J. Dem
Iowa Axne Cindy Dem
Iowa Finkenauer Abby Dem
Iowa Loebsack David Wayne “Dave” Dem
Kansas Davids Sharice Dem
Kentucky Yarmuth John A. Dem Y
Louisiana Richmond Cedric L. Dem Y    🔺
Maine Golden Jared F. Dem
Maine Pingree Chellie M. Dem Y
Maryland Brown Anthony Gregory Dem
Maryland Cummings Elijah E. Dem
Maryland Hoyer Steny Hamilton Dem
Maryland Raskin Jamin B. “Jamie” Dem Y    🔺
Maryland Ruppersberger III Charles Albert Dutch “C.A. Dutch” Dem
Maryland Sarbanes John Peter Spyros Dem
Maryland Trone David Dem
Massachusetts Clark Katherine M. Dem
Massachusetts Keating William Richard “Bill” Dem
Massachusetts Kennedy III Joseph Patrick “Joe” Dem
Massachusetts Lynch Stephen F. Dem
Massachusetts McGovern James P. “Jim” Dem Y
Massachusetts Moulton Seth W. Dem Y
Massachusetts Neal Richard E. Dem
Massachusetts Pressley Ayanna S. Dem Y
Massachusetts Trahan Lori Loureiro Dem
Michigan Dingell Debbie Dem
Michigan Kildee Daniel T. “Dan” Dem Y
Michigan Lawrence Brenda Lulenar Dem Y
Michigan Levin Andy Dem Y
Michigan Slotkin Elissa Dem
Michigan Stevens Haley Dem
Michigan Tlaib Rashida Dem Y
Minnesota Craig Angela Dawn “Angie” Dem
Minnesota McCollum Betty Dem Y
Minnesota Omar Ilhan Dem Y
Minnesota Peterson Collin Clark Dem
Minnesota Phillips Dean Dem
Mississippi Thompson Bennie G. Dem Y
Missouri Clay Jr. William Lacy Dem Y
Missouri Cleaver II Emanuel Dem
Nevada Horsford Steven Alexzander Dem
Nevada Lee Susan Kelley “Susie” Dem
Nevada Titus Alice Costandina “Dina” Dem
New Hampshire Kuster Ann McLane “Annie” Dem
New Hampshire Pappas Christopher C. “Chris” Dem
New Jersey Gottheimer Joshua S. “Josh” Dem
New Jersey Kim Andrew “Andy” Dem
New Jersey Malinowski Tom Dem Y
New Jersey Norcross Donald W. Dem
New Jersey Pallone Jr. Frank Dem
New Jersey Pascrell Jr. William J. “Bill” Dem Y
New Jersey Payne Jr. Donald M. Dem
New Jersey Sherrill Rebecca Michelle “Mikie” Dem
New Jersey Sires Albio Dem
New Jersey Van Drew Jeff Dem
New Jersey Watson Coleman Bonnie Dem
New Mexico Haaland Debra A. “Deb” Dem
New Mexico Lujan Ben Ray Dem
New Mexico Torres Small Xochitl Dem
New York Brindisi Anthony J. Dem
New York Clarke Yvette D. Dem Y
New York Delgado Antonio Dem
New York Engel Eliot Lance Dem
New York Espaillat Adriano Dem Y
New York Higgins Brian M. Dem Y

see comment

New York Jeffries Hakeem S. Dem
New York Lowey Nita M. Dem
New York Maloney Carolyn Bosher Dem Y
New York Maloney Sean Patrick Dem
New York Meeks Gregory Weldon Dem
New York Meng Grace Dem
New York Morelle Joseph D. “Joe” Dem
New York Nadler Jerrold Lewis “Jerry” Dem
New York Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Dem Y
New York Rice Kathleen M. Dem Y
New York Rose Max N. Dem
New York Serrano Jose Enrique Dem
New York Suozzi Thomas R. “Tom” Dem
New York Tonko Paul David Dem Y
New York Velázquez Nydia Margarita Dem Y
North Carolina Adams Alma Shealey Dem Y
North Carolina Butterfield Jr. George Kenneth “G. K.” Dem Y
North Carolina Price David Eugene Dem
Ohio Beatty Joyce B. Dem
Ohio Fudge Marcia L. Dem Y
Ohio Kaptur Marcia Carolyn “Marcy” Dem
Ohio Ryan Timothy J. “Tim” Dem Y
Oklahoma Horn Kendra Dem
Oregon Blumenauer Earl Dem Y
Oregon Bonamici Suzanne M. Dem Y
Oregon DeFazio Peter Anthony “Pete” Dem
Oregon Schrader Walter Kurt “Kurt” Dem
Pennsylvania Boyle Brendan F. Dem Y
Pennsylvania Cartwright Matthew Alton “Matt” Dem
Pennsylvania Dean Cunnane Madeleine Dem Y    🔺
Pennsylvania Doyle Michael F. “Mike” Dem
Pennsylvania Evans Dwight Dem Y
Pennsylvania Houlahan Christina Jampoler “Chrissy” Dem
Pennsylvania Lamb Conor James Dem
Pennsylvania Scanlon Mary Gay Dem Y    🔺
Pennsylvania Wild Susan Ellis Dem
Rhode Island Cicilline David N. Dem Y   🔺
Rhode Island Langevin James R. “Jim” Dem
South Carolina Clyburn James Enos “Jim” Dem
South Carolina Cunningham Joseph K. “Joe” Dem
Tennessee Cohen Stephen Ira “Steve” Dem Y    🔺
Tennessee Cooper James H. S. “Jim” Dem
Texas Allred Colin Dem
Texas Castro Joaquin Dem Y
Texas Cuellar Henry R. Dem
Texas Doggett II Lloyd Alton Dem Y
Texas Escobar Veronica Dem Y    🔺
Texas Fletcher Elizabeth Pannill “Lizzie” Dem
Texas Garcia Sylvia R. Dem
Texas Gonzalez Vicente Dem
Texas Green Alexander “Al” Dem Y
Texas Jackson Lee Sheila Dem Y
Texas Johnson Eddie Bernice Dem
Texas Veasey Marc Allison Dem
Texas Vela Filemon B. Dem Y
Utah McAdams Ben Dem
Vermont Welch Peter F. Dem
Virginia Beyer Jr. Donald Sternoff “Don” Dem Y
Virginia Connolly Gerald Edward “Gerry” Dem
Virginia Luria Elaine G. Dem
Virginia McEachin Aston Donald “Donald” Dem
Virginia Scott Robert Cortez “Bobby” Dem
Virginia Spanberger Abigail A. Dem
Virginia Wexton Jennifer T. Dem
Washington DelBene Suzan Kay Dem see comment
Washington Heck Dennis “Denny” Dem
Washington Jayapal Pramila Dem Y    🔺
Washington Kilmer Derek Dem
Washington Larsen Richard Ray “Rick” Dem
Washington Schrier Kim Dem
Washington Smith David Adam “Adam” Dem
Wisconsin Kind Ronald James “Ron” Dem
Wisconsin Moore Gwendolynne S. “Gwen” Dem Y
Wisconsin Pocan Mark Dem Y
Alabama Aderholt Robert Brown GOP
Alabama Brooks Jr. Morris J. “Mo” GOP
Alabama Byrne Bradley Roberts GOP
Alabama Palmer Gary GOP
Alabama Roby Martha GOP
Alabama Rogers Michael Dennis “Mike” GOP
Alaska Young Donald E. “Don” GOP
Arizona Biggs Andy GOP
Arizona Gosar Paul Anthony GOP
Arizona Lesko Debbie GOP
Arizona Schweikert David GOP
Arkansas Crawford Eric Alan “Rick” GOP
Arkansas Hill James French “French” GOP
Arkansas Westerman Bruce GOP
Arkansas Womack Stephen A. “Steve” GOP
California Calvert Kenneth S. “Ken” GOP
California Cook Paul GOP
California Hunter Duncan Duane GOP
California LaMalfa Doug GOP
California McCarthy Kevin GOP
California McClintock Thomas “Tom” GOP
California Nunes Devin Gerald GOP
Colorado Buck Kenneth R. “Ken” GOP
Colorado Lamborn Douglas L. “Doug” GOP
Colorado Tipton Scott Randall GOP
Florida Bilirakis Gus Michael GOP
Florida Buchanan Vernon “Vern” GOP
Florida Diaz-Balart Mario GOP
Florida Dunn Neal Patrick GOP
Florida Gaetz Matt GOP
Florida Mast Brian GOP
Florida Posey William “Bill” GOP
Florida Rooney Francis GOP
Florida Rutherford John GOP
Florida Spano Vincent Ross “Ross” GOP
Florida Steube Greg W. GOP
Florida Waltz Michael “Mike” GOP
Florida Webster Daniel “Dan” GOP
Florida Yoho Theodore Scott “Ted” GOP
Georgia Allen Richard Wallen “Rick” GOP
Georgia Carter Earl Leroy “Buddy” GOP
Georgia Collins Douglas Allen “Doug” GOP
Georgia Ferguson IV Anderson Drew “Drew” GOP
Georgia Graves Jr. John Thomas “Tom” GOP
Georgia Hice Jody B. GOP
Georgia Loudermilk Barry D. GOP
Georgia Scott James Austin “Austin” GOP
Georgia Woodall III William Robert “Rob” GOP
Idaho Fulcher Russ GOP
Idaho Simpson Michael Keith “Mike” GOP
Illinois Bost Michael J. “Mike” GOP
Illinois Davis Rodney L. GOP
Illinois Kinzinger Adam GOP
Illinois LaHood Darin McKay GOP
Illinois Shimkus John M. GOP
Indiana Baird James R. “Jim” GOP
Indiana Banks James E. “Jim” GOP
Indiana Brooks Susan W. GOP
Indiana Bucshon Larry D. GOP
Indiana Hollingsworth III Joseph A. “Trey” GOP
Indiana Pence Gregory J. “Greg” GOP
Indiana Walorski Jackie Swihart GOP see comment
Iowa King Steven A. “Steve” GOP
Kansas Estes Ron GOP
Kansas Marshall Roger W. GOP
Kansas Watkins Steve GOP
Kentucky Barr Garland “Andy” GOP
Kentucky Comer James R. GOP
Kentucky Guthrie Steven Brett “Brett” GOP
Kentucky Massie Thomas H. GOP
Kentucky Rogers Harold Dallas “Hal” GOP
Louisiana Abraham Jr. Ralph Lee GOP
Louisiana Graves Garret GOP
Louisiana Higgins Clay GOP
Louisiana Johnson James Michael “Mike” GOP
Louisiana Scalise Stephen J. “Steve” GOP
Maryland Harris Andrew P. “Andy” GOP
Michigan Amash Justin GOP Y
Michigan Bergman John W. “Jack” GOP
Michigan Huizenga William P. “Bill” GOP
Michigan Mitchell III Paul GOP
Michigan Moolenaar John GOP
Michigan Upton Frederick Stephen “Fred” GOP
Michigan Walberg Timothy L. “Tim” GOP
Minnesota Emmer Jr. Thomas Earl “Tom” GOP
Minnesota Hagedorn James “Jim” GOP
Minnesota Stauber Peter Allen “Pete” GOP
Minnesota Stauber Peter Allen “Pete” GOP
Mississippi Guest Michael Patrick GOP
Mississippi Kelly John Trent “Trent” GOP
Mississippi Palazzo Steven McCarty GOP
Missouri Graves Jr. Samuel B. “Sam” GOP
Missouri Hartzler Vicky Jo GOP
Missouri Long Billy GOP
Missouri Luetkemeyer W. Blaine GOP
Missouri Smith Jason T. GOP
Missouri Wagner Ann L. GOP
Montana Gianforte Greg GOP
Nebraska Bacon Donald John “Don” GOP
Nebraska Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane “Jeff” GOP
Nebraska Smith Adrian M. GOP
Nevada Amodei Mark Eugene GOP
New Jersey Smith Christopher Henry “Chris” GOP
New York Collins Christopher Carl “Chris” GOP
New York Katko John M. GOP
New York King Peter T. “Pete” GOP
New York Reed II Thomas W. “Tom” GOP
New York Stefanik Elise M. GOP
New York Zeldin Lee Michael GOP
North Carolina Budd Theodore Paul “Ted” GOP
North Carolina Foxx Virginia Ann GOP
North Carolina Holding George Edward Bell GOP
North Carolina Hudson Jr. Richard Lane GOP
North Carolina McHenry Patrick Timothy GOP
North Carolina Meadows Mark Randal GOP
North Carolina Rouzer David Cheston GOP
North Carolina Walker Bradley Mark “Mark” GOP
North Dakota Armstrong Kelly M. GOP
Ohio Balderson Troy GOP
Ohio Chabot Steven J. “Steve” GOP
Ohio Davidson Warren GOP
Ohio Gibbs Robert Brian “Bob” GOP
Ohio Gonzalez Anthony E. GOP
Ohio Johnson Bill GOP
Ohio Jordan James D. “Jim” GOP
Ohio Joyce David P. “Dave” GOP
Ohio Latta Robert Edward “Bob” GOP
Ohio Stivers Steve E. GOP
Ohio Turner Michael R. “Mike” GOP
Ohio Wenstrup Brad R. GOP
Oklahoma Cole Thomas Jeffery “Tom” GOP
Oklahoma Hern Kevin R. GOP
Oklahoma Lucas Frank D. GOP
Oklahoma Mullin Markwayne GOP
Oregon Walden Gregory Paul “Greg” GOP
Pennsylvania Fitzpatrick Brian K. GOP
Pennsylvania Joyce John GOP
Pennsylvania Kelly Jr. George J. “Mike” GOP
Pennsylvania Marino Thomas Anthony “Tom” GOP
Pennsylvania Meuser Daniel P. “Dan” GOP
Pennsylvania Perry Scott G. GOP
Pennsylvania Reschenthaler Guy L. GOP
Pennsylvania Smucker Lloyd K. GOP
Pennsylvania Thompson Glenn William “G.T.” GOP
South Carolina Duncan Jeffrey D. “Jeff” GOP
South Carolina Norman Jr. Ralph W. GOP
South Carolina Rice Jr. Hugh T. “Tom” GOP
South Carolina Timmons IV William R. GOP
South Carolina Wilson Addison Graves “Joe” GOP
South Dakota Johnson Dustin “Dusty” GOP
Tennessee Burchett Tim GOP
Tennessee DesJarlais Scott Eugene GOP
Tennessee Fleischmann Charles J. “Chuck” GOP
Tennessee Green Mark E. GOP
Tennessee Kustoff David GOP
Tennessee Roe David Philip “Phil” GOP
Tennessee Rose John W. GOP
Texas Arrington Jodey Cook GOP
Texas Babin Brian GOP
Texas Brady Kevin Patrick GOP
Texas Burgess Michael C. GOP
Texas Carter John Rice GOP
Texas Cloud Michael J. GOP
Texas Conaway K. Michael “Mike” GOP
Texas Crenshaw Daniel “Dan” GOP
Texas Flores William “Bill” GOP
Texas Gohmert Jr. Louis B. “Louie” GOP
Texas Gooden Lance GOP
Texas Granger Kay N. GOP
Texas Hurd William “Will” GOP
Texas Marchant Kenny Ewell GOP
Texas McCaul Michael T. GOP
Texas Olson Peter Graham “Pete” GOP
Texas Ratcliffe John Lee GOP
Texas Roy Chip GOP
Texas Taylor Nicholas V. “Van” GOP
Texas Thornberry William McClellan “Mac” GOP
Texas Weber Randy GOP
Texas Williams Roger GOP
Texas Wright Ron GOP
Utah Bishop Robert William “Rob” GOP
Utah Curtis John GOP
Utah Stewart Chris GOP
Virginia Cline Benjamin Lee “Ben” GOP
Virginia Griffith H. Morgan “Morgan” GOP
Virginia Riggleman III Denver Lee GOP
Virginia Wittman Robert J. “Rob” GOP
Washington Herrera Beutler Jaime Lynn GOP
Washington McMorris Rodgers Cathy Ann GOP
Washington Newhouse Daniel Milton “Dan” GOP
West Virginia McKinley David Bennett GOP
West Virginia Miller Carol Devine GOP
West Virginia Mooney Alexander Xavier “Alex” GOP
Wisconsin Duffy Sean P. GOP
Wisconsin Gallagher Michael John “Mike” GOP
Wisconsin Grothman Glenn S. GOP
Wisconsin Sensenbrenner Jr. Frank James “Jim” GOP
Wisconsin Steil Bryan George GOP
Wyoming Cheney Elizabeth “Liz” GOP
North Carolina Jones Jr. (RIP) Walter B. GOP Open
North Carolina GOP Vacant Office

Side note: Have you ever noticed how many members of Congress are Juniors or II/III/IV in their family?

None will be women.

UPDATED — 12:00 a.m. 18-JUN-2019 —

Rep. Katie Porter from CA-45, a moderately conservative district including Orange County, threw her support behind an impeachment inquiry.

I saw a mention of 67 Dems now supporting an inquiry but I only have 64. If you know of any other House members who have now said they support an impeachment inquiry, please let me know. Thanks.

UPDATED — 5:00 p.m. 19-JUN-2019 —

Thanks to community member harpie who shared a link to NBC’s latest whip count which showed 66 House Dems and 1 House GOP member supporting an impeachment inquiry. NBC’s list deviated from CNN’s in that NBC did not include Brenda Lulenar Lawrence (D-MI) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). Newly added supporters are in boldface.

[1] NBC also showed Harley Rouda as a Yes in a previous iteration but has now offered a correction:

CORRECTION (May 30, 2019, 1:25 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the position of Rep. Harley Rouda, D-Calif., on beginning an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Rouda has said he supports an impeachment inquiry only if Trump does not comply with congressional subpoenas, not before.

Nice fence sitting, Rouda, hope your pants are adequately padded. Does this include obstruction by staff/ex-staff who refuse to comply with subpoenas or no? Anybody in Rouda’s district want to call and find out which side of the fence Rouda is on today after Hope Hicks refusal to cooperate with the House?

UPDATED — 5:00 p.m. 19-JUN-2019 —

Adding Brian Higgins (D-NY) as a Yes:

UPDATED — 7:30 p.m. 20-JUN-2019 —

Community member harpie shares these latest additions to the Yes column:

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA)

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)

And community member P.J. Evans shares this link reporting Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) has also joined the Yes chorus.

Productive day on the Yes front. Wonder how much was because of Hope Hicks’ and White House intransigent responses to questioning. House GOP caucus is still fully behind the scofflaw-in-chief, save for Justin Amash (D-MI).

UPDATED — 7:45 a.m. 21-JUN-2019 —

I’ve made a change to the spreadsheet to indicate which members of the House Judiciary Dems support an impeachment inquiry. 13 out of 24 members currently do — that’s critical mass. Chair Jerry Nadler is a likely supporter given his submission of a resolution last year for impeachment, but as chair he may be obligated to hold back until he has reached some threshold internal to the committee. Here’s the breakdown:

House Judiciary Committee Democrats   🔺 = For Inquiry
Cedric Richmond, Louisiana   🔺
David Cicilline, Rhode Island   🔺
Eric Swalwell, California   🔺
Greg Stanton, Arizona   🔺
Jamie Raskin, Maryland   🔺
Joe Neguse, Colorado   🔺
Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania   🔺
Mary Gay Scanlon, Pennsylvania, Vice Chair   🔺
Pramila Jayapal, Washington   🔺
Steve Cohen, Tennessee   🔺
Ted Lieu, California   🔺
Val Demings, Florida   🔺
Veronica Escobar, Texas   🔺
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Florida   🔺
Hakeem Jeffries, New York
Hank Johnson, Georgia
Jerrold Nadler, New York, Chairman
Karen Bass, California
Lou Correa, California
Lucy McBath, Georgia
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Sylvia Garcia, Texas
Ted Deutch, Florida
Zoe Lofgren, California

If your representative is one of the House Judiciary Committee Dems who have not yet thrown their support behind an impeachment inquiry, your calls matter the most right now. With all HJC Dems on board, Nadler has the political will power aligned to begin pursuit of an inquiry.

UPDATED — 1:30 p.m. 21-JUN-2019 —

Add another Yes on the board supporting impeachment inquiry:

UPDATED — 5:50 p.m. 21-JUN-2019 —

Two more House Dems now support an impeachment inquiry — one of them is a House Judiciary member, too. That’s 14 of 24 or 58% of the committee now behind an inquiry.

Rep. Debbie Muscarsel-Powell (D-FL):

And Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) changed his position.

If you call your representative, please share the results of your call in comments. Thanks. If comments close here soon because the post gets knocked down by other content, I will put up a new Whip It post.

A Fine Crop of Golf

[NB: Check the byline, thanks! /~Rayne]

I’m fried. I’m mentally and emotionally burnt right out, which is probably the aim of Agent Orange Chaos — to grind us all down until we roll over and allow this country to be a haven of corruption.

Imagine everything you need becoming even more transactional than it is now — systematically corrupt. Need a new cable TV line installed? Pay a bribe for access. Need to move to a different apartment? Pay a bribe to access a better list of buildings. Need a specialty item for your health, something that can’t be obtained through Amazon? Pay a bribe.

Sure, we’re used to paying fees for access in many different ways. But Americans are not used to the kind of petty and persistent corruption which is endemic in other parts of the world. Instead we pay taxes to support a legal system which is supposed to ensure fair dealing. Imagine paying these taxes and not having any expectation of justice AND paying bribes or extortion all along the way.

We’re so unused to and under-educated about the idea of corruption touching everything we do that I think we suffer from cognitive dissonance. It’s right there in front of us and yet we fail to recognize for what it is and for the slide in our ethical standards it represents.

One example niggling at me is Trump and his goddamned golf. You’ve probably read some of my posts about golf before in which I spell out the possibilities for corruption if one owned a golf course and how normative the golf life is to a class of people.

Our country is drowning right now, staring at multiple crop failures across a huge expanse of farm land, and our fearless leader is surely off golfing on our dime instead of looking into how to help farmers weather both the affects of the deepening climate emergency and the fallout from fearless leader’s hacktastic tariffs.

Corruption. Skimming money off us while farms and farm land drowns.

And too many farmers who will receive federal aid are not universally single family owned farms but mega corporate oligarchs — like the crooked Brazilian meat packing billionaires who will receive $62 million in aid for distribution to the farms supplying them meat.

But you know in your gut this won’t happen. And it’s corruption.

Journalists have covered the Brazilians raking in cash from our tax dollars, fortunately. They saw the problem and reported on it. But the public hasn’t mustered adequate outrage because this hasn’t yet hurt them in the wallet.

Wait until winter when holiday baking begins.

I don’t need to wait that long to feel it. I’m plenty pissed off because it’s another Saturday, another day at the golf course, and we’ve completely lost count of that orange mooch’s sponging. Which of his courses is he at, with our Secret Service personnel renting more golf carts to follow him around while he plays another round cheating both at the game and at life?

Ah, and there it is, he’s leeching us dry yet again with each crappy swing of his club:

As of the end of the day he’s been in office 876 days — which means he has spent 29.7% of his total time at one of his properties, 22.2% of his time in office play golf at one of his clubs.

Corruption. Just makes me want to puke.

We’re just supposed roll over and let them grab our taxpaying pussy while they tee off on our dime. They’ll argue our legitimately-elected representatives don’t have the right to oversight when he’s manipulating our tax system for his own personal gain to our collective detriment.

Like the New York park land he donated after he was refused permits to develop a couple million dollars of property into golf courses — Trump org declared them worth $26 million to write off the capital loss and reduce the taxes paid.

What really pisses me off is the story no reporter has yet covered as far as I can tell: if Trump’s Bedminster NJ golf course is classified as farm land for tax purposes so he can avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes, is Trump org going to claim federal relief for this farm, too?

It’s right there under our noses. So corrupt and he and his oligarchic sponsors want this to become the norm.

Fuck that. If this guy was your direct employee you’d have fired his ass  already.

This is an open thread.

Trump’s Greenlight: Asking for Foreign Aid and Assistance via Prime Time TV

[NB: Check the byline, thanks! /~Rayne]

The balls on this guy. It’s no wonder Trump walks like he does, having to drag around abnormal fleshbags of unmitigated gall and corruption everywhere he goes.

By now most of our regular readers have seen Trump interviewed by ABC News’ George Stephanopolous. In case you haven’t:

This is still stunning for its in-your-face indifference to campaign finance law:

Asked by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether his campaign would accept such information from foreigners — such as China or Russia — or hand it over the FBI, Trump said, “I think maybe you do both.”

“I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening,” Trump continued. “If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ — oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”

“It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it,” Trump said. “If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, ‘oh let’s call the FBI.’ The FBI doesn’t have enough agents to take care of it. When you go and talk, honestly, to congressman, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research.” …

There’s a lot packed into this exchange with Stephanopolous, the most obvious being Trump’s blow off of Title 52 USC 30121 which prohibits candidates and campaigns from receiving anything of value from a foreign national. Specifically:

52 U.S. Code § 30121 – Contributions and donations by foreign nationals

(a) Prohibition It shall be unlawful for—
· ·  (1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—
· · · · (A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
· · · · (B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
· · · · (C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or
· · · · (2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.

(b) “Foreign national” defined As used in this section, the term “foreign national” means—
· ·  (1) a foreign principal, as such term is defined by section 611(b) of title 22, except that the term “foreign national” shall not include any individual who is a citizen of the United States; or
· ·  (2) an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.

Emphasis mine.

“Directly or indirectly” may include the kinds of contributions the National Rifle Association made to candidates’ campaigns with Russian money, especially after guidance from Maria Butina and/or her boss Aleksandr Torshin, and/or her American handler, Paul Erickson.

“Other thing of value” may include polling data or stolen emails or manipulation of the media since any of these items might otherwise require a candidate’s campaign to buy these items. We don’t yet know exactly what Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik exchanged on August 2 — including 75 pages of “gibberish” polling data and likely high-level analysis and specific post-meeting performance — 2016 but if it was important enough to warrant sustained prevarication, it was something valuable.

Trump can no longer claim stupidity and ignorance after the Special Counsel’s Office investigation into Trump-Russia. His blow-off reveals a deliberate mindset, an intent to violate the law if the opportunity presents itself.

Even merely listening to an offer of aid or assistance directly or indirectly from a foreign national is problematic because the offer itself may be valuable.

“There isn’t anything wrong with listening,” Trump said, which is what his son, son-in-law, and campaign manager did in June 2016 during the Trump Tower meeting. Their presence merely to listen was a greenlight advising foreign nationals that Trump’s campaign was willing and approved help from outside the U.S. to influence the U.S. elections.

And that’s what Trump did during his interview with Stephanopolous: he greenlighted more foreign aid and assistance to help his campaign.

He did it from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. He never once slowed Stephanopolous to tell him “I can’t talk about campaign efforts while being interviewed as president in the office of the presidency.”

Was he soliciting for his campaign while on camera? For all the hullabaloo today about Kelly Anne Conway’s egregious and repeated Hatch Act violations, Trump’s likely violation campaigning while on our dime got lost.[1]

Not only did he express a willingness to violate campaign finance law and allow himself to be influenced in the process, not only did he commit a Hatch Act violation, fail to separate his work as president from work for his personal re-election campaign,[1]  but he pissed on Republican candidates known and as-yet unknown who may choose to primary him.

He didn’t differentiate for which opposition he was open to receiving an opposition research pitch from foreign entities. He did not say he was interested in hearing solely about Democratic candidates.

Nor did he entertain listening solely for his presidential race. Opponents aren’t just those running against you in a campaign. One could argue that Trump has the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus at his disposal but he can’t be sure they would provide campaign data or offer to perform dirty tricks on behalf of the POTUS. A foreign entity, especially a hostile one? Sure.

Which is exactly what the Russian Internet Research Agency did in 2016 targeting Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz during the Republican primary.

In spite of the 2016 attacks and Trump’s express willingness to entertain foreign assistance, the Republicans have just plain rolled over for Trump. You think the House Democratic leadership is feckless? Bah. Republicans are utter dupes.

Trump telegraphs the defense he’ll use — and the attack he attends to take — when he calls the material he’s soliciting “oppo research.” The aid Trump’s campaign received in 2016 wasn’t opposition research on Hillary Clinton; it was stolen emails leaked to generate negative sentiment about Clinton. It was micro-targeted negative messaging aimed at vulnerable populations to persuade leaners and suppress tentative voters, and a bunch of unauthorized but welcomed advertisements. It was likely more in the form of attempts on voting infrastructure, whether merely to collect data or to manipulate the system.

When Trump called it “oppo research,” he was establishing what he believed was a parallel — what the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) acquired through its law firm, Perkins Coie, which in turn purchased opposition research from Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS obtained the services of former MI6 officer Christopher Steele to continue a dossier originally started on behalf of Washington Free Beacon in late 2015. Trump and other campaign minions like Carter Page have frequently claimed the opposition research dossier was “dodgy” and illegitimate, and yet Trump feels entitled to opposition research without restrictions, as if Clinton and the DNC had not followed campaign finance laws.

Whatever the quality of its contents, the Steele dossier was a campaign expenditure, a compilation of information ultimately paid for by the campaign and the DNC — wholly legal — and the material was contracted by an American entity from another American entity.

What Trump’s campaign received in 2016 — goods and services were given to the campaign directly and indirectly by foreign entities like the Internet Research Agency — were NOT legal.

Trump will do whatever he can to muddy the distinction between wholly legal campaign expenses and contributions or things of value received from foreign nationals in order to protect his chances at re-election and lay the ground work to attack his last campaign opponent.

There’s one more disturbing nit about Trump’s solicitation. What Trump has done in his greenlighting on camera is solicit foreign assistance. This does not rule out solicitation of foreign direction.

At what point is the Department of Justice’s National Security Division engaged when the president greenlights or solicits foreign assistance and direction?

Should the presidential campaign be under counterintelligence investigation right now and forward?

Not that there aren’t already ample reasons for the Trump 2020 campaign to be scrutinized given the number of Chinese nationals hanging out at Mar-a-Lago, with at least one allegedly bundling donations for Trump’s re-election.

Might make one wonder if Trump’s greenlight on ABC is after the fact — and not after the fact about the 2016 election.

______

[1] Edited to reflect the Hatch Act does not apply to the president — however, this is problematic as Trump has shown repeatedly, including in this interview. At what point is he talking about accepting ‘foreign assistance and direction’ from foreign nationals or other nation-states for the purposes of his personal re-election campaign and accepting the same for U.S. interests? His personal interests are not one-for-one the same as the nation’s interests, unless of course he’d like to deed over all his businesses.

I’d also like to point out the phrase ‘foreign assistance and direction’ is the distinction the DOJ uses to differentiate non-domestic from domestic terrorism. That the president was entertaining the idea of using ‘foreign assistance and direction’ to aid his campaign whether spelled out in those specific terms or not surely worries U.S. intelligence community members who recognize the inherent risks.

The Hatch Act should be revisited with Trump and the office of the presidency in mind not only because of his greenlighting foreign pitches of assistance to his campaign. Throughout the last two years Trump has spoken at rallies which have occurred in tandem with special and mid-term elections in order to sway locals to vote for the GOP candidate. His arrival and support at each of these venues comes at the expense of public funds — local, state, federal  — and not the GOP or Trump’s campaign committee. He has also stiffed at least ten cities for additional expenses related to his attendance at rallies, a form of additional tax the citizens didn’t approve in advance. But they’re forced to produce additional security because he’s the president even though he’s there to campaign.

The job of the presidency must be separated from campaigning, and no campaigning should happen without the campaign absorbing the expense. Add this to the Hatch Act: the president should NOT be immune.

Thread: House Judiciary Committee Hearing with John Dean

Here’s a post dedicated to the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing today at 2:00 p.m. EDT. I will add content as we go along.

Former White House counsel John Dean will testify today. You’ll recall he served under Richard M. Nixon’s administration. The right-wing media sphere has already been making noise about the HJC taking testimony from a convicted felon.

Except he’s *their* convict, a Republican who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for his role in covering up Nixon’s Watergate scandal. I’m sure he’ll have plenty to say about criminality in the White House and subsequent cover-ups.

More here later — bring related chatter here.

UPDATE — 2:30 p.m. —

Via CNN: Justice Department strikes deal with House Democrats over Mueller report evidence, Nadler says

Yeesh. This is like Watergate all over again. Back then Nixon had agreed to accommodate the HJC with access to some of the Oval Office tapes, but the person who would screen them was Senator Stennis who had a hearing disability. We won’t know if Barr truly fulfills the spirit of this agreement with Nadler or pulls a Nixonian Stennis compromise. The HJC took Nixon to court.

Minority Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) attacked Dean as expected and attacked the hearing saying the committee’s priorities are upside down. If the country had been attacked as Nadler said then committee should be focused on that.

Which we all know is bullshit since the House has already passed legislation  — the very first bill of the 116th Congress, H.R. 1 For The People Act 2019 — intended to secure elections from attack by foreign influence which paid legislators to skew districts via gerrymandering, manipulated races by way of dark money donations to legislators, and hid additional financial influence through undisclosed financial statements including tax returns.  That bill is sitting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk, buried under ~150 other bills he’s bottlenecked. If Collins has a problem with priorities he should have a chat with McConnell and ask why McConnell is uninterested in protecting this country’s elections.

UPDATE — 2:35 p.m. —

Following John Dean’s opening statement, former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance is up. Nice to see a familiar face which will be helpful in news coverage. She’s definitely read the Special Counsel report, and she’s able to explain what she’s seen in it as a former prosecutor which would spur her to indict.

UPDATE — 2:40 p.m. —

Heritage Foundation’s John G. Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government. “Less enthusiastic” about Mueller because he didn’t make a “traditional prosecutorial judgment” for Barr, blah-blah. Followed by apologia for Trump who must surely be innocent because he was so cooperative providing “over a million pages of documents, allowed key members of his staff to be interviewed, and submitted written answers to questions.” Sure, sure, right.

You know this is what Collins will tee off, the beat down on Mueller’s job performance while disregarding SCO report Volume II, pages 1-2 in which Mueller explains why he can’t make a “traditional prosecutorial judgment.”

UPDATE — 2:45 p.m. —

Another familiar face, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, has also read the SCO report. She’s explaining the obstruction of justice charges she read in the report.

I’m sure the GOP will come out swinging but it’s really tough to get around this wham-wham-wham beat down ticking off the obstruction.

____

I’ll add the panelists’ statements here after the hearing. ~Rayne

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