That's Humperdinck to You

Another Debate Night:  Twelve Democratic presidential candidates took to the stage last night for another one of those endless debates.  Now that she’s edging Biden out in the polls,  Senator Elizabeth Warren was the one with the target on her back with the more moderate candidates questioning why she refuses to acknowledge that the costs of her various plans, most notably Medicare for All, are likely to result in a tax increase over and above her promised wealth tax, the tax that has populist appeal but will in all likelihood be legally challenged and hard to implement.  Her refusal to acknowledge that the Medicare for All plan would raise middle class taxes is particularly perplexing given that she she cribbed her plan from Senator Bernie Sanders and he says a tax increase would be necessary to cover its costs.  As to Bernie, his new stents appear to be doing what they are supposed to do, he appeared energetic and healthy last night.  He also presented himself as an unabashed socialist out to disrupt the current “corrupt” system.  Nothing new from Bernie except that at the end of the evening he promoted his upcoming Queens, New York “Bernie’s Back” rally where it’s expected that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will announce her endorsement, not surprising since she worked for his campaign last time around but a plus for him, a disappointment for Warren and a yawn from anyone who isn’t an AOC fan. For what it’s worth Congresswoman Ilhan Omar plans to join in the endorsement.   Joe Biden escaped the debate mostly unscathed, helped along by the shift to all things Warren.  He was questioned about his son Hunter’s Ukraine/China issues, but his answer that neither of them did anything wrong, combined with the mostly positive review of his son’s ABC interview appeared adequate. As to Hunter, during his interview he acknowledged that he’d benefited from his “Biden” name, said that dealing with Trump and his right wing conspiracists was like falling into Alice in Wonderland’s hole and coined a new nickname for Don Jr, calling him Prince Humperdinck.  For his part, the nasty but clueless Humperdinck, spent the day calling Hunter out for profiting off his father’s name as did RNC Chair Ronna ROMNEY McDaniel and Fox pundit/former press secretary Sarah HUCKABEE Sanders because they would never do such a thing?   Though it’s unclear how much it will matter, the pundits mostly concluded that Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the winner of the night. The articulate moderate pushed back at Warren’s “plans,” questioned the practicality of Beto O’Rourke’s call for forced gun buybacks, and trashed Hawaii Congressman Tulsi Gabbard’s comments about Syria by saying that the recent killings in Syria are “the consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values.” It’s not clear why Gabbard was back on the stage, she’s a disruptive influence, this cycle’s Jill Stein but rules are rules and even if her support comes from nefariously motivated people on the right, she qualified.  Moving back to the mainstream, Senator Amy Klobuchar also had a good night but unfortunately for her it’s not clear that her positively reviewed performance will improve her poll performance, important because though she’s already met the required fundraising targets for the November debates, her polls remain underwater.  As to the rest of the candidates, Senator Cory Booker pushed his peacemaking shtick, calling for the candidates to stop attacking each other to focus on Trump, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro continues to recede into irrelevancy despite his effort to distinguish himself by calling out police violence, it’s not clear that anyone cared that billionaire Bill Steyer was on the stage. Techy Andrew Yang seemed to maintain his position as everyone’s favorite curiosity and though she made a some good comments about women’s reproductive rights, Senator Kamala Harris probably lost some ground.   

Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine: Still another current State Department professional joined his colleagues by testifying yesterday before the House’s closed door session on all things Ukraine, defying instructions from Secretary of Pompeo and State Department lawyers to stay home.  That professional, George Kent, an expert on Ukraine and Russia who currently serves as a State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary, testified for ten hours, telling the committees that he raised flags about lawyer/fixer Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukraine more than six months ago. He said that he “was clearly bothered” by the role Giuliani was playing and the “disinformation” he was spreading and the fact that he had Trump’s ear which was “negatively affecting our relationship with the new government in Ukraine.”  Kent’s comments were consistent with those made by former Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovitch and Russia expert Fiona Hill who said during her testimony that Giuliani was a counterintelligence risk.  We also learned yesterday that acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s role in the Ukraine went beyond relaying instructions to the Office of Management and Budget to sit on the promised aid to Ukraine.  Apparently in late May Mulvaney organized a meeting that stripped control of the US relationship with Ukraine from experienced National Security Council and State Department professionals to the “unlikely three amigos”  Energy Secretary Perry,  EU Ambassador/hotel billionaire/Trump financial contributor Gordon Sondland and special envoy Kurt Volker who then assumed responsibility for pressuring the fledgling government in Kiev to deliver material that would be politically valuable to Trump.  According to Sondland, the three were told to coordinate their efforts with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s Ukraine whisperer.  As to Giuliani, yesterday, shortly before one or the other of them ended their professional relationship, Giuliani’s lawyer Jon Sale notified the House committees that Giuliani would not be answering their subpoena because it “appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless and illegitimate 'impeachment inquiry.'" He called the subpoena "overbroad, unduly burdensome” and said that it “seeks documents beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry," a view apparently shared by Secretary of State Pompeo, the White House and VP Pence who have also decided to ignore subpoenas.  Giuliani who is currently flying sans legal representation might want to hire a new lawyer ASAP. The Wall Street Journal reports that a New York grand jury has issued a subpoena to former Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, seeking documents related to his dealings with Giuliani and his buddies Lev and Oleg and that Giuliani is the primary focus of said subpoena with the federal investigation focused on his finances and his involvement in the efforts to oust Ambassador Yovanovitch, an effort that was detailed during Yovanovitch, Hill and Kent’s testimony.  Apparently that effort really upset a large number of professionals at the State Department which likely accounts for their willingness to defy Pompeo by testifying.  Michael McKinley, Pompeo’s former senior adviser who resigned last week, possibly so he could spill his guts to Congress is due up today.  

Other News:  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hosting dinners with conservative journalists, pundits and politicians including Trump buddy Lindsey Graham raising fears that he is trying to appease the Trump administration by promising not to crack down on right-wing propaganda, a reasonable fear given Facebook’s role in the 2016 election and that the company continues to allow the posting of Trump affiliated ads that contain blatant lies about the Bidens, ads that some other media outlets have refused to air. On the legal front a federal appeals court has breathed new life into an emoluments lawsuit brought by Maryland and the District of Columbia that challenges Trump’s ownership of his DC hotel.  Though a three judge panel, made up of especially Trump friendly/conservative judges had ordered the case dismissed in July, the full appeals court has now agreed to rehear the case en banc giving  Maryland and DC another chance to argue that Trump's holdings present a conflict between his business profits and the nation's interest. And, it’s only Wednesday.