Like Any Father Would

Like Any Father Would:  During today’s news conference Sarah Huckabee Sanders acknowledged that Trump was involved in the drafting of Don Jr’s first statement about his meeting with the Russian Lawyer and her cronies.  Sanders denies that Trump composed and personally dictated the whole statement saying instead that he just provided some input because that’s “what any father would do” if his son was trying to cover up a hugely inappropriate meeting with a Russian seeking sanctions relief in exchange for damaging information about Hillary Clinton.  Given Trump’s input, it’s not surprising that Don Jr’s statement claiming the meeting only addressed Russian adoptions mirrored what Trump said he discussed at his impromptu, hour long G 20 dinner tete-a-tete with Putin. Jay Sekolow, Trump’s legal spokesman, who previously denied that Trump had anything to do with the composition of Don Jr’s statement, now says the “characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate, and not pertinent,” In Trumpspeak that means the accusations are all true.    

Rest in Peace:  Fox News is being sued by Rod Wheeler, a private investigator, for being misquoted in a concocted Fox News story about the death of Seth Rich, the young Democratic National Committee employee who was murdered last year in a botched robbery attempt.  The lawsuit alleges that Fox News conspired with Ed Butowsky, a wealthy Republican donor, to invent a story that Rich had been murdered to cover up that he, rather than the Russians, had stolen and leaked the DNC’s emails to WikiLeaks. Wheeler claims that statements attributed to him were fabricated and that the story had been reviewed by Trump and discussed with former Press Secretary Spicer before it was published.  He reports that Trump was pleased with the Rich story because it provided “alternative facts” about the DNC leaks, shifting blame from the Russians and the Trump team to a dead guy who couldn’t defend himself.  Fox News ultimately retracted the Seth Rich story after they had aired it countless times, Trump’s BFF Sean Hannity still pushes the Rich conspiracy when he thinks management isn’t listening.  Spicer initially denied meeting with Wheeler and Butowsky but now admits that he did meet with them.  Huckabee Sanders denies that Trump had any involvement.  Of course she also denied that Trump helped craft Don Jr’s “Russian Lawyer” statement before admitting he did so her credibility is questionable at best.  Rich’s parents have had enough with the absurd conspiracy theory and just want Fox News and Trump to let their son rest in peace.                  

Unsigned Sanctions: Trump still hasn’t signed the sanctions bill sitting on his desk, nor has he said anything about Putin’s decision to force 755 diplomats and workers from the US embassy. Huckabee Sanders says that he plans to sign it soon but is awaiting a legal review.  Vice President Pence, who is on the road avoiding contact with Trump and reassuring allies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that the US is still committed to their protection,  insisted that Trump will sign the sanctions bill soon during a speech in Tbilisi, Georgia.  Secretary of State Tillerson, in his first televised press conference since assuming his position, expressed his disappointment with the sanctions legislation but joined the chorus saying that Trump will sign it soon.  No one has defined what soon means. In the same press conference Tillerson said that the US would sit down to talks with North Korea but only if Kim Jong Un promised to end his nuclear weapons program, an unlikely concession.  Still, Tillerson’s statement provides an opening for future discussions.  Since he’s only hired one of the many undersecretaries he needs, Tillerson has been very busy but not too busy to propose changes to the State Department’s mission statement.  His most recent draft deletes the historical US commitment to promote worldwide democracy, not too surprising considering Trump’s general preference for dictators, particularly those in countries with Trump towers.        

Health Stabilization:  Trump is still squawking about the demise of his health care legislation and hasn’t announced whether he plans to make the Obamacare subsidy payments that help keep insurance premiums for many Obamacare participants manageable. The Senate isn’t waiting for him to take action.  Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee plans to hold hearings starting in early September with the intention of approving a plan to fund insurer payments for at least another year by the end of September.  He’s asked Trump to keep making subsidy payments until his plan is implemented.  Unfortunately, given all the uncertainty insurers are already announcing large premium increases for next year.   

Pushback: Trump is still taking heat for encouraging members of the Suffolk County Police force to engage in police brutality.  Though Huckabee Sanders insists that Trump was just making a joke when he suggested that roughing up  suspects was acceptable, Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration isn’t laughing.  He sent a memo to his 10,000 employees telling them that Trump’s remarks about the treatment of suspects “condoned police misconduct,”  adding that “we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong” and Trump’s statement is very wrong.  Trump is also getting pushback about his plan to ban transgender soldiers.  Admiral Zukunft, the commandant of the Coast Guard, said he will not “break faith” with his transgender sailors and is committed to helping them stay in the Coast Guard.  Senator Jeff Flake, who has never been much of a Trump fan, has a new book out that includes a scathing critique of Trump and criticizes the Republican party for aiding and abetting Trump’s rise.  In private a number of other Republicans Senators say they agree with Flake but most of them remain too fearful of backlash from Trump’s loyal base to air their views in public.     

Trump’s Affirmative Action Program:  During the campaign Trump pitched his candidacy to African Americans claiming that he would do a much better job representing their interests than Hillary Clinton.  Upon taking office he hosted a meeting and photo op with the leaders of the Historically Black Colleges, lamenting that the abolitionist Frederick Douglass was too dead to attend and promising that he would provide funding for their schools.  Yesterday, the New York Times revealed that the Sessions led Justice Department plans to use civil rights funds to fight against universities that “discriminate against white applicants” by adhering to affirmative action policies.    

More Mueller Lawyers: The complete transcript of Trump’s recent interview with the Wall Street Journal was released yesterday.  In it, when asked whether he plans to fire Mueller, Trump said that he hasn’t made a decision, he has to see. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to the news that Special Counsel Mueller just added his sixteenth lawyer, an expert in illegal foreign currency bribery, to his team.  Keep an eye on today’s Trump tweets.