The Naïve Idiot Defense

The Wedding Crasher:  Trump spent the weekend golfing at his Bedminster, NJ spread.  In his spare time he crashed weddings and proms and bashed Former FBI Director Comey.  He called him cowardly and accused him of being a habitual leaker.  He then went on to tweet smack the #FakeNews for failing to laud the great Trump economy before going after the Democrats who “have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS.”  Attending church with his family in a nearby NJ community, Comey seemed to take Trump’s insults in stride but his elderly father was pretty annoyed, telling the press that he thought Trump had crossed the line by calling his son cowardly.  Donald Trump, Jr was talkative over the weekend too.  In an interview with Fox’s Jeanine Pirro he accidentally confirmed that his father told Comey to lay off Flynn before adding that he didn’t mean to be taken literally.  

The Naïve Idiot Defense:   Though Trump considers Comey a lying leaker, most other Republican don’t question Comey’s veracity though they are criticizing him for engineering the leaking of his notes.   House Majority Leader Ryan tried to buy Trump some space by saying that “while there needs to be a degree of independence between federal law enforcement and the White House,” Trump is “new at this, he’s new to government” and so didn’t realize that cornering and isolating the FBI Director wasn’t kosher. However, the assertion that Trump didn’t understand that meeting with Comey in private was inappropriate is disingenuous since he attacked Hillary Clinton relentlessly about Bill Clinton’s tarmac meeting with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch during the 2016 campaign.  Maine Senator Susan Collins goes a little further than other Republicans, agreeing that it was probably wrong of Trump to even bring up the subject of Mike Flynn’s troubles but suggesting that Comey might have misconstrued the request to drop the Flynn investigation.  She does add that to the extent they exist, Trump should turn over the tapes and said she’d be fine with issuing a subpoena if necessary.  Democratic Senator Schumer just wants Trump to testify, under oath.

A Possible Session with Sessions:  Attorney General Sessions is still smarting from being thrown under the bus by Comey.  He was due to testify before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees this week but has announced that he will be sending Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein in his place because he is concerned about being asked about his previously undisclosed Russia Ambassador Kislyak tete-a-tete in an open hearing.  Instead, he has announced that he will be testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, preferably in a closed session.  This is news to the Senate Intelligence Committee members who were surprised by Sessions’ announcement.  As of now, no hearing has been scheduled and, despite Sessions preference, Vice Chairman Warner and the other committee Democrats are requesting that any hearing be open to the public.  

Serial Cultivator: Former US Attorney Preet Bhahara has finally broken his silence.  He told ABC’s Stephanopoulos that like Comey, he felt that Trump was trying to cultivate a relationship with him during the transition period and that he too was uncomfortable.  After the Trump inauguration, when Bharara wouldn’t take Trump’s call because direct contact between a US Attorney and the President violates Justice Department protocol, he was unexpectedly fired.  He said that  Comey’s testimony gave him a “déjà vu” feeling.  He did say that Trump had the legal right to fire the head of the FBI, but that just because you have the legal right to fire someone doesn’t eliminate you from criminal responsibility if your reasons are nefarious.     

Return of the Maverick:  Senator McCain is back and appears to have recovered from last week’s senior moment. His ridiculously hectic worldwide travel schedule and a serious case of jet lag may have been responsible for his strange interlude during Comey’s testimony. McCain who commands enormous respect overseas, has been running around the world assuring allies that they can still rely on the US even if the country is being run by the naïve idiot.  The Guardian reported that McCain, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said that American leadership was better and stronger under Obama, a remarkable statement since McCain wasn’t all that fond of Obama’s world strategy.  McCain isn’t the only Republican leader calling Trump out.  Iowa Senator Grassley, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter urging Trump to reverse a new White House policy limiting answers to oversight requests to committee chairmen since this new policy effectively freezes out requests from Democrats.  Grassley told Trump, that ignoring the minority party “floods the swamp” and “frustrates the constitutional function of legislating.”  He went on to say that the president is being “ill-served and ill-advised by his staff.”

New Team Members:  Trump has a new lawyer on his team, Jay Sekulow, a frequent Fox news legal pundit.  Trump views him as a smoother legal spokesperson than lead attorney Marc Kasowitz who’s press appearances haven’t been up to Trump’s lofty standards. Sunday morning Sekulow blasted Comey for his “unprecedented” leak suggesting that even some Democrats were shocked, attacked him for the way he handled the Clinton investigation, and then refused to say that Trump wouldn’t fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller if he didn’t like the direction of Mueller’s investigation.  Trump is also trying to get his new bank regulator in place.  Last week he announced that he was tapping Joseph Otting to be Comptroller of the Currency.  Over the weekend, Bloomberg news reported that Otting falsely claimed a graduate degree from a non-existent Dartmouth program on his resume.  Another example of Trump’s not so extreme vetting.

27K

A Mine is Back: Trump cited last week’s opening of a new Pennsylvania mine as proof that his loosening of environmental regulations and withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords are reviving the coal industry.  The full story is more complicated.  Plans to open the mine predate Trump.  A combination of factors unrelated to Trump’s pro-coal policy have resulted in an increase in demand for metallurgical coal, the type of coal being pulled out of this mine. Metallurgical coal represents a niche market which makes up only 5 to 10% of coal production.   China recently cut its coal production and Australia, the other major supplier, has been unable to fulfill demand because of high cyclone activity, likely due to the effects of global warming.  The rest of the US coal industry is not in for a rebound, but expect Trump to brag about this mine in all future speeches.

No London for Trump:  The White House is battling back rumors that fearing protests, Trump is postponing his Fall trip to London due to Theresa May’s political troubles and because no one there likes him.  Beating up the Mayor after a terrorist event has consequences.