Justice?

Not the Justice League:  Trump is off to Asia for a five nation, eleven day tour.  His itinerary includes golf with Abe in Japan, trade talk and North Korea discussions with Xi in China, trade and defense talk in South Korea, the East Asia summit in the Philippines with some down time for bro-bonding with rights violator Duterte and a stop in Viet Nam, the country he missed visiting earlier due to a bone spur in one or another of his feet.  While in Nam, he will probably pass up a visit to the notorious Hanoi Hilton where Senator McCain spent years holed up and tortured but he might have a meeting with his good buddy Putin, assuming Vlad is up for some Trump time.  Before leaving Trump took another swipe at the Justice Department saying “I’m really not involved in the Justice Department.  I’d like to be let it run itself.  But honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats…at Podesta and all that dishonesty… a lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department, including me.”  All of that was Trump speak for I’d really like to run the Justice Department and have my White House lawyers reviewing the possibility of me adding the Attorney General role to my expanding responsibilities because President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Health, Attorney General and King would sound really good, but for now I’d be happy if I could just get rid of Attorney General Sessions, the little weasel who recused himself from the Russia investigation because if he wants to keep his job, he’d better start going after Democrats, starting with the Clintons and going on from there.  Trump who earlier in the week called for Sayfullo Saipov, the ISIS sympathizer responsible for last week’s New York terrorist attack, to be tried by a Guantanamo military tribunal, has backed off of that suggestion possibly because someone in the White House pointed out that those military tribunals rarely convict anyone. Trump didn’t get the message that he should also refrain from making statements about sentences and penalties, he’s still calling for Saipov to get the death penalty, a demand that will likely make it more likely that Saipov never sees the inside of an execution chamber.  Yesterday, a military judge reduced Afghan deserter Bowe Bergdahl’s rank to private and gave him a dishonorable discharge but did not sentence him to any prison time.  Trump who routinely denounced Bergdahl during the 2016 campaign, tweeted “the decision….is a complete and total disgrace for our Country and Military.”  Senator Corker, the self-appointed Republican conscience condemned Trump’s criticism of the Justice Department saying “like me, most Americans hope that our justice system is independent and free of political interference.”  It would be nice if his Republican colleagues were listening, three Republican Congressmen introduced a resolution calling for Special Counsel Mueller to step down, alleging among other things that he should be conflicted from leading the Russia probe because he was the director of the FBI in 2010 when the Uranium One deal was completed.  Anything to shut down the increasingly fruitful investigation.          

Russia, Russia, Russia:  Attorney General Session’s lies or memory lapses continue to mount.  Carter Page, one of Trump’s campaign foreign policy advisors, spent more than six hours testifying in front of the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday. He visited Moscow in July 2016 to speak at a Russia university and had previously told multiple news sources that his visit did not include any meetings with Russian officials.  However, during his testimony, after he was shown an email that he had sent to a Trump campaign official detailing his trip, he finally came clean about having met with Russian officials. The White House continues to try to down play the role played by that other foreign policy advisor, George Papadopoulos, the one who pled guilty to lying about his Russian contacts before coming clean to Special Counsel Mueller.  They continue to refer to him as a volunteer responsible for nothing more than serving coffee.  However, with more videos and pictures of him attending meetings on behalf of the Trump campaign coming to light, their assertions are looking more and more facetious.  Papadopoulos was the Trump representative at an American Jewish Council meeting during the 2016 convention, a panel presentation also attended by Senator Corker in his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  When asked why Papadopoulos was on their panel an American Jewish Council representative responded that he was who the Trump campaign sent, now they are pretty distressed to learn that they only warranted the coffee server.  Next up on the House Intelligence Committee docket is testimony from Keith Schiller, the ex-cop who served as Trump’s long term bodyguard and accompanied him to the White House, before giving Washington up to return to New York.  The committee plans to ask Schiller about what went on during Trump’s 2013 Moscow trip for the Miss Universe contest.  To the extent that Schiller is forthcoming, we may learn more about the veracity of the infamous “pee tape” accusation and any other kompromat that Putin may or may not have on Trump.  Schiller probably will do his best to avoid answering those questions but then again maybe, just maybe, under oath he will tell the world what he knows.       

Smoke and Mirrors:  During the week reclusive right wing billionaire Robert Mercer announced that he was departing Renaissance Technologies, the very successful $50 billion hedge fund where he served as co-chief executive.  The Mercer family, including Mercer’s even more right wing daughter Rebekkah, are investors in Breitbart News  and Cambridge Analytica, the research firm that’s been accused of spreading Russian anti-Hillary propaganda.  They jumped on the Trump bandwagon early and are also supporters of Steve Bannon and his political causes.  A number of Renaissance’s major investors, including several university endowments, foundations and pension funds, had started pushing back against the fund, threatening to withdraw their investments because of Mercer’s support of polarizing political figures like alt-right journalist and rabble rouser Milo Yiannopoulos.  In an artfully worded statement Mercer defended his “libertarian” views but distanced himself from Bannon.  He also said that he was selling his stake in Breitbart and Cambridge Analytica to his daughter.  Though he is giving up his day to day role at Renaissance, he will still retain an interest in the fund and plans to remain politically active.  Basically this just looks like smoke and mirrors to prevent fund withdrawals, the Mercers will continue to support and fund right wing causes and candidates. 

Reproductive Wars:  “Jane Doe,” the undocumented minor, finally obtained her abortion but the Justice Department hasn’t given up fighting against reproductive rights for other young women in her position.   The department has filed a petition to the Supreme Court alleging that Doe’s ACLU lawyers misled the government over the timing of her abortion procedure and are calling for her lawyers to be disciplined.  By pushing her schedule forward, Doe’s lawyers managed to get her to her medical appointment before the Justice Department had time to file another appeal which, regardless of any subsequent ruling, would have slowed down the process enough to make it more likely that Doe would not have been able to obtain her abortion before Texas’ twenty week cutoff.  A clueless, complicit Ivanka Trump, the woman who likes you to believe that she is an advocate for other women, delivered an impassioned speech in Tokyo yesterday demanding appropriate respect for women and the end of sexual harassment.  She did not mention her father or the importance of reproductive rights.