Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump "hasn't cooled off on" Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (who oversees the Mueller investigation) and could still fire him, according to a source close to Trump.

The source gave Axios a behind-the-scenes read on the latest thinking at the White House, which the source said is "in a defensive posture."

• "Trump doesn't know exactly what to do with [Rosenstein]. They don't have a clean way to get rid of him. That's the problem."
• But Rosenstein may be "about to be spit-roasted."
• "I do think a case is being built against him [Rosenstein]. That's what Meadows and Jordan are doing." (Reps. Mark Meadows [R-N.C.] and Jim Jordan [R-Ohio], both members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, met with Rosenstein on Monday to press him on the Russia and Clinton email probes, per the https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-allies-press-rosenstein-in-private-meeting-in-latest-sign-of-tensions/2018/04/18/ae2e2fd6-433b-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?utm_term=.e672f91773ec (WashPost).)
• On the addition of Rudy Giuliani to Trump's legal team: "The way it's been characterized by senior administration officials is that the president is frustrated and casting about. That's typical of him. He's done it before. He's upset, and the way he thinks more will happen is if new people are brought onto the scene."
• "This is all Trump trying to move the ball and he thinks by having substitutions and additional players he'll do that. ... What he really needs is what he's not getting. He needs a lead lawyer who has the backing and resources of a large firm."

A possible White House addition, according to the source:

• Another "senior lawyer is ... needed on the inside. There are indications that [White House counsel] Don McGahn would like to bring Emmet Flood [who represented Bill Clinton during impeachment] into the White House Counsel's office to help with the oversight and investigations work that is currently in play, and would likely intensify if the House was captured by Democrats." (In early March, the N.Y. Times reported that Trump was in discussions with Flood to help with the Mueller response.)

 

[Michael Scally MD]

WASHINGTON — Memos written by the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, that were released on Thursday revealed several new details about his relationship with President Trump and the president’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus.

Though much of what the memos describe was already public, the documents themselves provided an intimate portrait of the early months of the Trump White House and how the president and Mr. Priebus confronted leaks, the prospect that the national security adviser was under investigation and allegations about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.

[Read the memos here.]

Mr. Comey depicts Mr. Trump as a man engrossed to the point of distraction with political rivalries and fears that bureaucrats and government officials, including in the F.B.I., were trying to undermine his legitimacy.

The president responded late Thursday by insisting that the memos showed no collusion with Moscow’s election interference and that Mr. Comey had erred by leaking classified information. The memos were reviewed by Justice Department officials before being released.

Here are six takeaways:

Trump’s Preoccupation With the Dossier

The Dossier’s Allegations Were Corroborated

Trump’s Focus on McCabe, Then a Relative Unknown

What Priebus Knew

The Flynn Investigation

Hunting Leakers

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump expressed concerns about the judgment of his national security adviser Michael Flynn weeks before forcing him to resign, according to http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/james-comeys-memos-on-his-meetings-with-trump/2913/ (memos) kept by former FBI director James B. Comey that recount in detail efforts by Trump to influence the bureau’s expanding investigation of Russia.

The memos also reveal the extent of Trump’s preoccupation with unproven allegations that he had consorted with prostitutes while in Moscow in 2013. Trump, according to the memos, repeatedly denied the allegations and prodded Comey to help disprove them, while also recalling being told by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has the most beautiful prostitutes.

The details were disclosed Thursday as the Justice Department released redacted versions of memos — some of which contained previously classified material — that Comey composed in the immediate aftermath of his interactions with Trump, a step he says he took because he was troubled by their conversations and worried that the president might one day lie about them.

The documents, first published by the Associated Press, provide a significantly more detailed account of those conversations than has previously been revealed through Comey’s contemporaneous records and are largely consistent with his statements before Congress and in his newly published memoir.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that local governments nationwide don't need to provide certain types of help to federal immigration authorities in order to get millions of dollars in federal grants.

The ruling is a blow to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department, which had attempted to coerce so-called sanctuary jurisdictions into helping the Trump administration's immigration agenda.

In September, in a case brought by Chicago, a lower court had held the Justice Department couldn’t deny $254 million to jurisdictions that refused to notify federal authorities when an undocumented immigrant was in their custody and hold the inmate in jail. The Trump administration had sought to limit that earlier decision only to Chicago.

But in a 2–1 ruling from an appeals court panel, judges said Thursday, “The district court did not err in determining that the City established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contention that the Attorney General lacked the authority to impose the notice and access conditions on receipt of the Byrne JAG grants, and did not abuse its discretion in granting the nationwide preliminary injunction in this case.”

The Justice Department could still request an appeal from the full bench of judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, or from the Supreme Court. The Justice Department did not announce next steps, but spokesperson Devin O’Malley said in a statement Thursday that “We will continue to fight to carry out the Department’s commitment to the rule of law, protecting public safety, and keeping criminal aliens off the streets to further perpetrate crimes.”

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

It could be called President Donald Trump’s version of “take it, or leave it.”

As top-level ministers gathered in Washington toward the end of this week, the Trump administration has already been thinking about how to get a new NAFTA agreement through both chambers of Congress.

One strategy that has seemed to gain favor is to force a congressional approval on the new NAFTA by withdrawing from the existing pact even before the new one is ready. The thinking is that Congress will have to approve whatever terms are in the new deal quickly, lest the U.S. is left hanging without an agreement with two of its largest trading partners.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is said to have advocated for such an approach, according to current and former administration officials.

The strategy, which has been under consideration for months, figures that Congress may not act on the new agreement, preferring the status quo instead.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

"Trump's claim that he didn't spend a night in Moscow is disproven by his own tweets. Let's take a look: ...

 

[Michael Scally MD]

COHEN TAKES A BULLET
https://claytoonz.com/2018/04/20/cohen-takes-a-bullet/

If you’re worried about Michael Cohen flipping on Donald Trump, you’re worried Donald Trump is guilty of illegal activity.

Trump’s attorney/fixer Michael Cohen loves him some Donald Trump. He’s paid off porn stars to keep quiet about sleeping with Trump, he’s bought overpriced condos in his towers, he’s gone on TV time and time to defend the guy. Michael Cohen said, “I will take a bullet for Donald Trump.” We may find out soon enough.

Last week, the FBI raided Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room. They have material from his cell phone, laptop, tablet, and safety deposit box. Cohen is the guy who knows all of Trump’s dirtiest secrets. As dirty as Trump is, the FBI probably needed a dozen U-Hauls to transport the material while wearing hazmat suits.

Cohen is being investigated for business dealings which include the payment to a porn star and his involvement in the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia. Cohen is in a lot of trouble. Trump’s closest advisers don’t have much faith he will remain loyal to Donald.

Attorney and Trump defender Alan Dershowitz said, “They’re going to threaten him with a long prison term and try to turn him into a canary that sings.”

Jay Goldberg, a longtime Trump lawyer told The Wall Street Journal that he warned Trump, “Cohen isn’t even a “1 on a scale of 1 to 100,” where 100 was remaining fully loyal to the president. Ouch!

One defense lawyer who represents a senior Trump aide in Mueller’s Russia investigation told Politico, “I think for two years or four years or five years, Michael Cohen would be a stand-up guy. I think he’d tell them go piss up a rope. But depending on dollars involved, which can be a big driver, or if they look at him and say it’s not two to four years, it’s 18 to 22, then how loyal is he?” I’m sure if anyone pisses up a rope, the president will want a tape of it, but I digress.

He added, “Is he two years loyal? Is he 10 years loyal? Is he 15 years loyal? That’s the currency. It’s not measured in inches. It’s measured in years.” Stephen Colbert asked on his show, “Fifteen years? Michael Cohen disclosed Sean Hannity’s name in court after being asked twice. He’s not five minutes loyal.”

Usually, the person who professes the most loyalty is the first to flip. But, why should he remain loyal when Trump doesn’t exhibit any loyalty to anyone other than himself. You may have noticed, Trump defends a lot of people, but only if attacking them is a danger to himself.

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, believes Cohen will be charged within the next three months. He’ll probably flip the same afternoon he’s charged unless Trump issues him a pardon. That’s very likely but will be a flagrant act of obstructing justice.

Trump already sent a loud message that lying to the FBI isn’t a serious offense when he pardoned Scooter Libby. Trump doesn’t care about Scooter Libby and couldn’t pick him out of a crowd. Pardoning Scooter was Trump scooting a message to those charged by Mueller, don’t cooperate and the prez will take care of you. I’m sure Paul Manafort is expecting a full pardon at some point in the future.

Anthony Scaramucci doesn’t believe Cohen will flip. Did he not see Goodfellas? The Mooch said, “If you said to me and I had to flip a coin, is he going to turn on President Trump or turn on other people? I would say adamantly no”

That’s not how a coin toss works, Mooch. A better analogy you can appreciate is, heads he’s a backstabber, tails he’s a frontstabber.

Like The Joker said in The Dark Knight, “I know a squealer when I see one.” Cohen looks like a squealer. He’ll squeal on Trump or he’ll do his squealing in a federal penitentiary. He needs to realize which body part that bullet’s going to penetrate.

 

[Michael Scally MD]