All The King's Flunkies

Conan, Not the Barbarian: Yesterday,  Trump hung out with Conan, the hero dog from an earlier chapter of the Trump chronicles.  Trump seemed terrified that the “canine” would jump up and bite him, not an irrational fear since Conan is trained to root out bad guys, but it appears that VP Pence who showed genuine affection to Conan was less concerned. Because this White House has a hard time getting anything right, it was first reported that Conan is a he, then that he was a she and then back again.  Wonder if Pence knew he was petting a gender fluid animal?  Sticking with the military theme for a moment, the facts behind the firing/resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer over the whole “does the disgraced/war criminal SEAL get to keep his Trident or not” issue remain fuzzy.  However, Spencer’s parting remarks are clear.  Like General Mattis before him, in his departure letter Spencer made it clear that he could no longer tow the Trump line by writing  “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  As to that good conscience thing, it’s never been a problem for Trump so it shouldn’t be all that shocking to learn that, according to the Daily Beast, he wants some of those disgraced soldiers that he pardoned to show up on the campaign trail with him because nothing burnishes the Trump brand like standing by a war criminal or two. 

Legal Land:  War crimes aside, a few notable things happened in legal land yesterday. US District Judge Ketanji Brown issued her long awaited ruling on whether or not former White House Counsel Don McGahn could be compelled to testify by concluding that he could be.  Before all the Ukraine stuff had come to light, the House Judiciary Committee had subpoenaed McGahn to testify about all the Trump obstruction uncovered during Mueller’s Russia investigation. The judge wrote that the Justice Department’s claim to “unreviewable absolute testimonial immunity,” is baseless, and as such, cannot be sustained.” In other words, she concluded that no one is above the law, that Trump isn’t a king and that though McGahn could invoke executive privilege over some subjects, he’d have to honor the subpoena, show up and do so on a question by question basis. McGahn’s counsel said he will comply with Judge Jackson’s decision unless it is stayed pending appeal.  To no one’s surprise the White House and Attorney General Barr’s Justice Department almost immediately announced that they will appeal. Unfortunately the appeal process will extend the timeline, which is essentially what Trump’s wants to do, but it’s possible that some people, particularly former White House denizens like one time national security advisor John Bolton who seems interested in spilling his guts, will conclude that it provides them with enough cover to testify.  In other legal news, the Supreme Court stayed the release of Trump’s tax returns after five justices agreed to give Trump’s lawyers until December 5 to file a formal petition to the Supreme Court for a hearing.  It’s still not clear that the Supremes will agree to take this case but at least for now Trump’s tax returns remain where he wants them, in the deep freezer, alongside all those other secrets that only Putin is in on. And because yesterday was all about the law,  Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, another Federal district judge ordered the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to hand over certain requested records to a the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news outlet, in response to their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.  The requested documents relate to the Trump administration's withholding of military aid to Ukraine.  Does make you wonder why the House even bothers with subpoenas, they should just do FOIA requests.

Rudy, Rudy, Nunes:  Also on the legal front, Rudy Giuliani, who in an earlier life headed up the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York now appears to be under its microscope.  Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that subpoenas have been issued to his consulting business and some of his colleagues, an indication that a broad federal investigation into the possibility that he’s been engaged in such things as money laundering, obstruction of justice and campaign-finance violations is ongoing.  Suffice it to say when you are Rudy and you appear to have been supporting your lifestyle and a number of ex-wives with money earned from questionable oligarchs and autocrats, it’s not a good thing when the Justice Department decides to investigate your sources of income.  As to oligarchs, according to the NY Times two Ukrainian ones with legal problems of their own, Dmitry Firtash and Ihor Kolomoisky, report that Giuliani pressed them to assist him in his “wide-ranging hunt” for Biden related dirt in exchange for some help with their US related legal problems.  To that end, Firtash met with Giuliani flunkies Lev and Oleg who “encouraged” him to replace his prior US lawyer Lanny Davis, whose name should sound familiar because he also represents that other Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen, with the husband and wife legal team of Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, whose names are also familiar since they appear regularly on Fox and at one point considered but declined the opportunity to   join Trump’s legal squad for all things Russia.  Firtash says that he never helped with the Biden dirt dig but that he did hire Toensing and diGenova, and paid them generously. The two lawyers managed to get some time with AG Barr’s office on his behalf though not much came of it, yet, and still represent him.  Kolomoisky, a media and banking tycoon who has helped finance Ukraine’s battles against Russia, said he met with Oleg and Lev in Tel Aviv but kicked them out as soon as it became clear that they wanted his help setting up a meeting between Giuliani and Ukraine President Zelensky, essentially telling them that they were barking up the wrong tree.  Separately ABC News reports that Lev has provided federal authorities and the House Intelligence Committee with audio, video and photos that include Trump and Giuliani.  To paraphrase former FBI Director Comey, Lordy, I hope there really are tapes. Then there is Devin Nunes, the devious Congressman, conspiracy theorist and avid Trump supporter. CNBC reports that should Lev be given an opportunity to testify before Congress he would say that Derek Harvey, Nunes’s top aide had planned to travel to Ukraine to interview some corrupt former prosecutors to dig up Biden dirt but had to settle for a Skype call instead once he realized that any trip would have to be reported to Committee Chair/arch enemy Adam Schiff.  And lastly, there is Lindsey Graham, who continues to assert that he has utmost respect and affection for former VP Joe Biden but that none of that will stop him from trying to dig up dirt on him, because Trump wants him to and Trump is his chosen one.