Going Rogue in Aspen

Speed Dating:  Vlad and Don had a great time on their first formal date so much so that to almost everyone’s surprise Trump has invited Putin to come to Washington in autumn to meet the family.   As to what was discussed on their Helsinki date, Trump’s still not telling though a few clues have leaked out from the Kremlin because those Russian guys can be oh so talkative when it suits their purposes.  If they are to be believed, in addition to discussing the extension of a nuclear treaty or two, a Syria solution, and the offer from Putin to send his GRU agents to Washington to help with the Mueller investigation in exchange for former Ambassador McFaul, Bill Browder, the “irritating” investor behind the Magnitsky Act sanctions, and a few other of those Americans he hates, Putin told a number of Russian diplomats that he informed Trump that he’d like to hold a “referendum” to help resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the one caused by his annexation of Crimea, but agreed not to disclose that plan publicly so Trump  could consider it without any input from his advisors or any pushback from Congress. So far no word from Trump on Putin’s referendum idea but following general uproar and a 98 to 0 Senate vote on a resolution opposing the sending of US officials to be interrogated by Russian officials, Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement saying that although it was “a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin,” Trump “disagrees with it,” so it looks like, absent any poison dipped darts, McFaul and Browder, are in the clear.  As to the Autumn visit, Putin hasn’t committed yet.  Russia’s Ambassador says that Putin is open to coming, but wants to see some progress on the open issues that the two leaders discussed before he books his flights.  Regarding those open issues, Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell tried to get the House Intelligence committee to subpoena Marina Gross, the US translator who sat in on the Trump-Putin meeting to provide closed door testimony on what was said during the private tete-a-tete, but their plans were quashed by Trump toady, Devon Nunes who, as Committee Chairperson, is the one in control of the committee’s subpoena powers. Similar discussions are ongoing in the Senate but at least to date, no decision has been made there because of concerns that subpoenaing a translator would set a bad precedent.  Trump aligning himself with the Kremlin, not a problem, subpoenaing a translator, a step too far?

Going Rogue:  Following Trump’s Helsinki press conference, the one where he said that he believed Putin more than his own  intelligence agencies, a number of pundits suggested that it was time for some US officials to resign in protest.  Apparently Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has decided to stay put at least until he’s fired so he’s letting loose and telling it like it is.  Instead of resigning, he’s going rogue, talking truth to power, publicly.  Yesterday during a televised interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell at the widely attended  Aspen Security Forum, Coats once again made it clear that the Russians most certainly intervened in the 2016 elections, justifying his contradiction of Trump’s Helsinki statement by saying that he “had to clear the record.” He also questioned Trump’s decision to meet privately with Putin and admitted that he hadn’t been all that happy when he learned, after the fact, about Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov and former Ambassador Kislyak, the one where Trump shared the incredibly top secret Israeli information with the Russian duo right after he expressed his joy at having just rid himself of then FBI Director Comey.  During the interview, after Mitchell shared that her people had just texted her that Trump had invited Putin to meet with him in Washington, a rather stunned Coats didn’t try to hide his opinion, he responded “say that again, did I hear you,” and then adding “okaaaaay, that’s going to be special.”  At the same conference, during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, FBI Director Christopher Wray was a little more reserved but almost as candid.  When asked if rumors that he had threatened to resign were true he pretty much admitted that he had, saying “I’m a low-key, understated guy, but that should not be mistaken for what my spine is made out of. I'll just leave it at that."  He also forcefully supported the Mueller investigation, making it clear that it is no witch hunt.  To be clear he added   "My view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day.”  While Wray and Coats were unusually forthcoming, Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen inspired no one with her response to a question about last year’s Charlottesville protests, she refused to denounce the white supremacist charged with murdering a woman and then when she was asked about Trump’s contention that “both sides” were to blame for the violence at the neo-Nazi rally last year, she said “I think what’s important about that conversation is, it’s not that one side is right and one side is wrong.” And though she acknowledged Russian election interference, she refused to say that the Russian’s had weighed in on Trump’s side.  While she was speaking in Aspen, other members of the administration provided the Federal Judge overseeing the reunification of the children that her department separated from their parents at the Mexico border with an update of the kids’ status.  To date 1,600 children have been approved for reunification with their parents, while about 900 still haven’t.  Of those 1600, only 364 have been returned to their families so far. Maybe Nielsen should spend less time at conferences and more time unwinding her mess.  Just saying.

Court News:  Ryan Bounds, one of Trump’s Federal Judge nominees was pulled from consideration after South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, the only African American Republican Senator, questioned his fitness to serve due to his trove of racist college writings.  The decision to pull Bounds nomination could have ramifications for the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  Republican leadership has been arguing that Democrats’ demands that all of Kavanaugh’s papers be made available for review before he’s put up for a vote are over the top and burdensome.   However, now that Bounds has been justifiably booted at the hands of a Republican over some dated college musings, Democrats’ demands appear more reasonable.   Then again, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell makes, and breaks, the rules as he sees fit.  Still with poll results indicating that Kavanaugh is the least popular judicial nominee since Robert Bork, the judge who never made it to the Supreme Court, Democrats are hoping to get his writings and to find one or more things to doom his nomination.  Stay tuned to Court TV.