Communication Games

Giuliani Guffaws:  The White House has a messaging problem.  In an effort to keep himself front and center in the news cycle Rudy Giuliani who was hired to accelerate the winding down of the Russian investigation instead continues to stir up controversy by saying really stupid things.  In an attempt to pushback against assertions that Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen’s ineffective but lucrative attempt at influence peddling affected Trump’s decision making he pointed out that Trump “denied the merger,” ATT didn’t get the result they want implying that Trump had directed “his” Justice Department to nix the ATT Time Warner merger.   Since Trump had railed against the merger during his campaign, is on record dissing Time Warner’s CNN network, and remains furious with Attorney General Sessions for not having his back,  Giuliani’s assertion was very believable and confirmed concerns that Trump is imposing his views on a part of the government that is supposed to be independent.  On Saturday Giuliani walked back his statement, saying instead that Trump had nothing to do with the Justice Department decision.  Its worth noting that before taking up his role as the Justice Department antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim said the he didn’t think “see this (the ATT Time Warner merger) as a major antitrust problem.” But he changed his mind once on the job. The ATT lawyer arguing the case against the Justice Department, had wanted the judge overseeing the case to allow him to probe the communications that had taken place between the White House and the Justice Department about the merger. The judge, who is set to issue a decision on whether the merger can proceed on June 12, had ruled against his request, it will be interesting to see if Giuliani’s misstatement causes him to reconsider that ruling.  Giuliani also spoke out about whether or not Trump would agree to an interview with Special Counsel Mueller.  Earlier he had said that a decision was imminent but now he says that Trump is far too busy, playing golf and preparing for his North Korea summit to prepare for any such interview and to the extent that it takes place it would have to be after the June summit.  He also added that the plan is to  “make a little fuss” this week about the length of investigation on the one year anniversary of Mueller’s appointment, May 17, but was not explicit about what he meant by “fuss.” With others in the administration, including VP Pence and Chief of Staff Kelly, pushing the same party line that the investigation should be winding down because one year has been more than enough time for it to reach a conclusion and House Intelligence stooge Devon Nunes trying to force Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to release more confidential information about a key government source something bigly may be planned.  Rosenstein’s head may be on the chopping block, again or worse.

Other Communication Snafus:  The White House still hasn’t issued a public apology for communication aide Kelly Sadler’s snide comment that Senator John McCain’s refusal to support CIA nominee Gina Haspel over her refusal to call torture immoral can be ignored because he’ll be dead soon. On Friday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn’t comment on Sadler’s remark saying that since it was made during a private meeting it didn’t count, instead she said that the real problem was that it had been leaked.  It’s reported that though she expressed her concern about the remark to the White House Communications staff, she spent most  of her time lecturing them about leaking.  We know that because immediately after she lectured them, five of them ran to their back up private phones and told various and sundry news outlets about her lecture.  They all also reported that senior communications official Mercedes Schlapp, who aspires to the Communications Director position, defended Sadler because Trump hates McCain making his illness fair game and besides as McCain admitted this weekend in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he stands by his decision to forward the notorious Steele Dossier to the FBI.  Axios reports that the Trump White House has so many more leakers than other administrations because of internal rivalries and a lack of loyalty to Trump and his message.  One leaker told Axios that to cast blame elsewhere, he has grown adept at imitating other’s idioms in his leaks.  Had Sadler just publicly apologized for her stupid, snide comment, this whole story would have died in a minute, but it continues because no one in this White House is allowed to apologize, especially when they are saying things that echo Trump’s views.   One guy who is rather adept at communication is Stormy lawyer, Michael Avenotti.  He tweeted out another one of his mysterious messages on Sunday, this one reveals a meeting that took place in Trump Tower in December 2016 between Michael Cohen, former security advisor Michael Flynn and a Qatari official.  A number of news outlets have already followed up, reporting that Flynn may have accepted payments from the Qatari official while he was advising Trump.  More information about the validity of this story is likely to surface today, but since much of what Avenotti tweets tends to be true, this one is probably on point as well.  

World Arena:  The US embassy, or at least a reconfigured US Consulate standing in for what will someday be a bigger facility, opens today in Jerusalem.  The Trump administration has invited a Texas based Baptist minister who has said that all Jews go to hell, Islam is “a heresy from the pit of hell,” and has attacked Mormons and the “perversion” of homosexuality to offer a prayer at the opening.  Over the weekend security advisor John Bolton wasn’t asked about that but did say that relocating the embassy will “make it easier” to eventually reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians because “if you’re not prepared to recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel” then you’re operating on a completely different wavelength. Recognizing reality always enhances the chances for peace.”  That message hasn’t reached the residents of Gaza who are planning another attempt to breach the Gaza-Israel fence today, one that is likely to result in more violence, fire bombs and death.  On the Korean front, Kim Jong Un is either playing Trump or is really interested in moving towards a peaceful resolution. He has turned the dismantling of his unusable collapsed nuclear test site into a Trump pleasing offer of good will.  It’s been reported that the site has become such an  extreme environmental hazard that it had to be closed down yet the wily, murderous North Korean leader is getting a lot of credit from Trump for his “good behavior.”  Secretary of State Pompeo reports that Kim Jong Un is really smart and watches a lot of US TV.  At least with regard to that TV part he has a lot in common with Trump, assuming of course that he is watching Fox more than anything else.  On a more serious note, the US is short quite a few nuclear experts and individuals with relevant diplomatic expertise while Kim is surrounded by experts with years of experience negotiating and gaining the upper hand with prior US governments.  Trump needs a victory on the Korean peninsula to help him deal with his Mueller problems,  Kim wants official recognition and lots of financial assistance. It’s hard to say where this one is going, but at least for now it appears that Kim is playing his hand very well.