Who's Out, Who's In?

Palace Intrigue:  When the reaction to the firing of FBI Director Comey spun out of control last week, the ever introspective Trump blamed his staff, especially the ones he kept in the dark and then fed a misleading rationale.  After setting up his communications staff to sound even more ridiculous than usual, he even went so far as to suggest that he is considering cancelling the daily news conference, replacing them with daily written memos and biweekly news conferences by, none other than, Donald J. Trump, reality star extraordinaire.  Spicer, Huckabee Sanders and Mike Dubke, the infrequently seen communications director, are now treading water and rumors abound that Trump is considering hiring FOX newscaster Kimberly Guilfoyle as his new press secretary.  There have even been some suggestions that he is considering hiring some FOX production people to make the press conferences more professional because FOX is so professional.  Get ready for more smoothly spun alternative facts.  It’s not just the communications team that’s in hot water.  Reportedly, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Strategist Steve Bannon, and White House Counsel Don McGahn are on the outs too.  And there’s even been some suggestions that Trump is peeved with some of his cabinet members including  Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, or maybe someone finally convinced him that Ross’ reported Russian business connections are problematic.  Trump is leaving the country at the end of the week for his big Three Religion Tour so unless he plans on throwing a few grenades beforehand, changes could be deferred until his return.

Next Year in Jerusalem, Not:  Another campaign promise hits the dirt.  Looks like the US won’t be recognizing the capital of Israel as the capital of Israel anytime soon.  Secretary of State Tillerson confirmed this weekend that the US will once again extend a waiver of the US law requiring that the embassy be moved to Jerusalem while it assesses the impact that moving the embassy would have on regional peace prospects.   US Ambassador Friedman, who owns a home in Jerusalem and previously stated that he would locate his office there will be living in the official US Ambassador’s residence outside of Tel Aviv and keeping his office in Tel Aviv.  Sheldon Adelson, the Republican mega donator and Trump supporter, is furious about Tillerson’s statements and is shocked to learn that Trump doesn’t always stick to his promises, even when paid millions to do so.  In the same interview, Tillerson also said that with so much to discuss when Lavrov and Kislyak were hanging in the Oval Office, there just wasn’t enough time to discuss election interference because they needed to leave time for selfies.       

Clapper Talks:  Obama era Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, is tired of Trump claims that he said that the Trump campaign did not collude in Russia’s interference with the 2016 election.  This weekend he forcefully debunked Trump’s recent tweet that “when James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion when does it end?”  Trump is referring to the comments Clapper made when he testified in March that he had no knowledge of any collusion at the time he left his position.  Trump consistently ignores that Clapper has also said that he would not be privy to any information gathered since January, nor would he be knowledgeable of what the FBI investigation may have uncovered.  This Sunday, Clapper slapped back at Trump by saying that “our institutions are under assault internally” by Trump who is “eroding” the American system of checks and balances on political power.  Trump may want to think twice before citing Clapper again.   

Sessions in Charge:  Attorney General Sessions was a busy guy last week.  Not only did he help justify Comey’s firing but he’s managed to turn back Obama era criminal sentencing reforms.  Sessions has directed Federal prosecutors to charge defendants with the most serious offenses that can be proved so that they will then be subjected to the longest possible sentences.  Essentially Sessions wants to go back to imprisoning as many drugs offenders, preferably offenders of color, for as long as possible, a practice that has been rejected by those on both sides of the ideological spectrum from Obama to the conservative Koch Brothers, as costly, ineffective and cruel, but Sessions is in charge now and so the clock is being turned back.  Sessions’ busy agenda also included first round interviews of Trump’s list of FBI Director candidates because Sessions, who is supposed to be recused from the investigation of Russian and Trump team collusion, is the right guy to sign off on the person who will be in charge of the investigation.  Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, who was left holding the bag for last week’s Comey firing, also participated in the interview process providing him with some needed distraction from Democratic leadership’s calls for him to resign or appoint a special prosecutor to take over the Russia investigation.      

Another Missile Launch:  Kim Jong-Un answered Trump’s call for a meeting with the successful launching of a more advanced missile this weekend.  This one may have the capability to carry a nuclear payload. In response, UN Representative Nikki Haley called for still more sanctions.  Trump is President and this is just another  problem that he can’t tweet away.