A Man of Integrity?

The Real Bombshell:  Yesterday the head of cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the Russians successfully penetrated the voter registration rolls of several states in the run up to the 2016 elections.  We already knew that they had relentlessly pinged twenty-one states but this was the first time that we’ve been told that they actually broke in to a few of those targeted state data systems. At this point there is no suggestion that the Russian’s did anything once they were in the systems but the ramifications of any foreign player, especially the Russians, being able to break in to any state’s electoral system are huge since even small interventions like cancelling individual registrations or deleting files could cause havoc at individual voting locations.  A series of minor incursions could easily alter the outcome of a close House or local election without anyone realizing that results had been impacted.   Last week, CIA Chief Pompeo acknowledged that the Russian’s meddled in the last election and that they were still at it.  Yesterday Secretary of State Tillerson, who’s previously acknowledged 2016 meddling, also said that the Russians are already at it again, he’s just not all that sure that anything can be done about it.  In that context what he told a Fox News reporter during his visit to South America is not all that surprising.  During the interview he said  "I don't know that I would say we are better prepared, because the Russians will adapt, as well. The point is, if it's their intention to interfere, they are going to find ways to do that. We can take steps, but this is something that, once they decide they are going to do it, it's very difficult to pre-empt it."  That casual attitude and the Federal government’s failure to marshal adequate resources to beat back the Russian election threat can be traced directly to Trump who continues to view any concerns about Russia’s ongoing attacks of our electoral system as an attack on the validity of his presidency.  So yesterday, instead of commenting on the DHS disclosure about risks to our election infrastructure he called some newly released emails from the FBI’s former lovebirds, Strzok and Page, a “bombshell.”  In one of those texts Page tells Strzok that they have to prepare some information for Obama because “he wanted to know everything we are doing.”  Trump, together with his Fox enablers, “implied” that the Page text was proof that Obama was in on an anti-Trump conspiracy and was trying to minimize the impact of the Clinton email scandal.  Proving that the accusation was just more baseless nonsense, later in the day the Wall Street Journal reported that Obama just wanted to be updated on Russian meddling in preparation for an upcoming conversation with Putin.  Some bombshell, a president actually preparing for a meeting with Putin, one in which he planned to call Putin out for election interference.  A bombshell would be Trump setting up a commission and allocating funds to address foreign election interference or Trump finally applying the additional sanctions against Russia mandated by last year’s almost unanimously passed legislation.

Domestic Abuse:  Yesterday, Rob Porter, a senior White House aide who worked closely with Chief of Staff Kelly resigned after information about his history of abusing two ex-wives went public.  Porter, who had previously worked as a senior aide to Senator Orrin Hatch, had lots of support in the White House and within Republican circles so his team of enablers including Hatch, Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders and Kelly were quick to rush to his defense.  In fact, even though an FBI review had turned up Porter’s past marital “problems,” and Kelly knew about them, he pushed Porter to continue in his White House role. Kelly called him “a man of true integrity,” a “friend, a confidant and a trusted professional,” adding “I am proud to serve alongside him.”  As additional information about Porter’s history of abusive behavior, including a picture of one of his former wives with a bruised face and black eye went viral, Kelly came under fire for his unquestioned support and by the end of the day he backtracked, but only a little.  He issued a statement saying  “I was shocked by the new allegations….there is no place for domestic violence in our society.” Kind of okay until he added I “stand by my previous comments of the Rob Porter that I have come to know.”  That last part is absurdly disturbing since as Porter’s boss, he was well aware that Porter’s history and police records about his abusive actions had made it impossible for him to obtain a permanent security clearance.  Despite the lack of that clearance, Porter had been responsible for delivering confidential information to Trump, but then again Jared Kushner, another guy who hasn’t been able to obtain a security clearance, is also privy to confidential information that he shouldn’t really be allowed to see. In Trumpland, only FBI agents and Democrats are criticized for mishandling confidential information, it’s okay when domestic abusers handle state secrets, when Trump inadvertently leaks Israeli secrets to the Russians and just fine when Republicans like Devin Nunes write memos that declassify confidential FISA practices.  Trump hasn’t had anything to say about Porter, but you would think that even he would have been concerned about Porter’s history because reports are that his favorite, gal Friday Hope Hicks, is, or at least was up until yesterday, dating Porter.  As to Kelly, he keeps on telling us who he really is and the picture he has been painting isn’t a pretty one. He thinks undocumented kids are lazy, immigrants from certain “sh-thole” countries are bad people and black Congresswomen like Frederica Wilson are empty barrels. Despite rumors about his days in the White House being numbered, it’s hard to believe that Trump would want to push out such a likeminded chief anytime soon.       

Budget Resolution:  As expected Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer had their kumbaya moment yesterday.  They announced that they have agreed upon a two year funding resolution, one that will raise caps on military and domestic spending.  Their plan calls for an additional $164 billion to be allocated to defense over the next two years and for an additional $131 billion to be allocated to nondefense spending over the same time period.  The plan also calls for disaster relief funding and raises the debt limit until March 2019.  The resolution does not address immigration or provide a DACA resolution, although McConnell’s promise to move to a floor debate on DACA next week stands.  House Speaker Ryan has still not made a similar DACA commitment, so yesterday House Minority Leader Pelosi staged the House equivalent of a filibuster by speaking for eight hours on the House floor, reading vignettes about deserving Dreamers sprinkled with prayers for their continued safety.  The Senate is scheduled to vote on McConnell and Schumer’s two year plan later today, the legislation will then be passed on to the House for their approval.  Pelosi has threatened to withhold her vote unless Ryan commits to bringing any subsequent DACA bill up for a House vote.  To the extent that Pelosi votes no, she won’t be alone.  A number of House progressives, the real audience for Pelosi’s historically long speech, remain furious that DACA is not being addressed at this time and the conservative Freedom Caucus is equally furious about the deficit busting legislation being passed over from the Senate.  At the end of the day, the two year plan, which is now fully supported by Trump, will probably get the votes it needs to pass the contentious House.  Pelosi will gain a few points with her progressive wing for her speechifying ways and the Freedom Caucus will go on to fight another battle against spending on social issues and immigrations.  No DACA legislation and no bombshells here, at least for now.