Free Press

Farewell to an Icon:  The House’s less than secure SCIF remained quiet yesterday, no testimony and no marauding Republican frat boys, as many members of Congress were otherwise occupied paying tribute to the departed Congressman Elijah Cummings, the first African American lawmaker to lie in state at the Capitol.  Though a parade of leaders and members of both parties spoke about his life and accomplishments, Trump was no where to be seen, probably a good thing given his August attack of Cummings and his “rat infested” home town of Baltimore, particularly ironic remarks given that Jared Kushner’s family is now being sued by the Maryland Attorney General for the substandard conditions at their housing units some of which are located in Baltimore.  Former Presidents Obama and Clinton are scheduled to speak today at Cummings’ Baltimore funeral.  Hillary Clinton, Speaker Pelosi and former NAACP head and current Congressman Kweise Mfumi are also on the schedule.

Republican Pushback:  Though there was no testimony yesterday, there was plenty of activity and a few more revelations.  Senator Lindsey Graham who continues to cement his position as Trump’s most avid fan for all things not related to troop withdrawals, introduced a resolution in the Senate condemning the impeachment inquiry, calling on the House to vote to open a formal inquiry and provide Trump with "fundamental constitutional protections.” In all, 44 Senators, all Republicans of course, signed on as co-sponsors, an impressive show of fealty to Trump, who had made it clear that he wasn’t happy that the Senate wasn’t waging war against the House’s impeachment related activities  As of yesterday afternoon, 9 Senators including Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colorado), Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), Mike Enzi (Wyoming), Johnny Isakson (Georgia), Dan Sullivan (Maine) and Rob Portman (Ohio) had not signed on. Not surprisingly, that list includes a few of those Senators up for reelection in purple states, a few who are retiring and a very few with principle.  For the record, despite Graham’s efforts to paint the Democratic impeachment inquiry closed hearing process as unprecedented, Fox legal expert Judge Andrew Napolitano surprised the hosts of Fox and Friends yesterday by telling them that the Democrats are just “following the rules,” rules written by Republicans when John Boehner was the Speaker of the House.  In any case, public hearings are expected to start soon.

Inquiring Minds: As to the impeachment inquiry, the Republicans are pushing back against process because the facts continue to be troubling, very troubling.  Yesterday the Washington Post reported that in late August, around the same time that military aid was being withheld from Ukraine, White House officials delayed a key trade agreement with Kiev. That decision came after John Bolton who was still national security advisor, warned Trump’s Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that there was no point in pushing forward with the agreement because Trump would oppose it. To be clear, Bolton didn’t support holding up the agreement, he was just the messenger.  Also, remember when Trump stood on the White House lawn and called for China to come forward with Biden “dirt,” well yesterday, during an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, refused to answer any direct questions about whether or not Biden’s name came up during Trump’s trade negotiations with China telling Sciutto that “You don’t have a right to know what happens behind closed doors in the administration.”  It’s fairly obvious that if the answer was no, Navarro would have said so. On the testimony front, closed-door interviews are tentatively scheduled for next week with Charles Kupperman, a deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton, and Tim Morrison, NSC’s Russia and Europe director. Kupperman has left the White House but Morrison who is a current NSC staff member has retained a lawyer who confirms that he plans to testify despite White House objections. Notably, Morrison will be the first person who actually listened in on Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukraine President Zelensky to testify. In other news, Trump has issued an edict, telling all government agencies to drop their Washington Post and NY Times subscriptions because that’s what wannabee dictators do. Anyway, WaPo provides free digital access for government employees with valid ID numbers and the NY Times currently provides a 50% discount, one that will probably grow to 100% soon, so it’s unlikely that Trump’s ban will do much to limit readership.

Investigating the Investigators:  Banning of news is bad but opening up criminal investigations into former and current government employees for political reasons is horrible, yet that’s where we. Last night the NY Times, one of Trump’s banned newspapers, reported that Attorney General Barr’s Justice Department has shifted the investigation of the of the Russia investigation being undertaken by federal attorney John Durham into a criminal inquiry giving Durham, the power to subpoena witness testimony and documents, to convene a grand jury and to file criminal charges.  It’s hard to believe that it’s a coincidence that Barr is ramping up his Trump mandated war against the “Deep State” at the same time that the impeachment inquiry is uncovering so much about Trump’s abuse of power.  It’s not clear what Barr and Durham are onto or if they are onto anything, but if they have found something, it doesn’t come from Italy.  Barr has traveled there twice in search of dirt but  Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says his country’s intelligence services have informed him that they played no role in the events leading to the Russia investigation.  Though he hasn’t been contacted yet, former CIA Director John Brennan who has been an outspoken critic of Trump expects that he is one of Barr’s targets, he doesn’t appear intimidated.  In other news, the FBI Inspector General’s report on FISA warrant “abuses” is due out shortly, everyone on Fox keeps talking about it, insisting that it will be very bad news for the FBI but it’s not clear what it will say.

2020:  Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan who hadn’t gained much traction is no longer running for president.  Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is no longer running for reelection to the House, instead focusing all her attention on her presidential campaign.  That effort appears to involve multiple appearances on Fox TV, ramping up her attack of the “warmonger” Hillary Clinton and a shift of her views on the impeachment inquiry.  She’s now siding with the Republicans, criticizing all things related to the process being undertaken by her Democratic colleagues.  As to the polls, depending on the pollster and the day, Biden’s lead has either increased dramatically or dropped precipitously.  CNN shows him with his widest margin over his nearest competitors, Senators Warren and Sanders, while Quinnipiac shows him down 7 points with Senator Warren in the lead.  We will get to hear all three of them, and at least six others including Buttigieg, Harris, Yang, Steyer, Booker and Klobuchar, who qualified yesterday, on the November debate stage.  

The World:  Nothing good to say about Syria.  Trump’s newest advice to the Kurds is that they should move closer to the Syrian oil fields where he is now sending more US troops. Unfortunately those fields are nowhere near where the Kurds currently reside but then again Trump thinks that Colorado borders Mexico so his cluelessness, as well as his disregard for their lives, is sad but hardly shocking.  Brexit remains out of reach so UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now trying to get Parliament to vote for new elections to take place in December.  And NRA honey/spy Maria Butina’s time in jail is up, she’s being deported back to Russia where she will either be welcomed as a hero, have an unfortunate accident or both.