Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Thanks What:  After pardoning Bread and Butter, this year’s lucky turkeys, Trump headed to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Naturally he started his festivities with a political rally, one that was more off the charts loony than usual, which says a lot because his rallies are always insane and filled with nuts.  Among other things he defended his pardoning of those “great American soldiers,” the ones who committed war crimes, assured everyone he was in tip top shape despite his recent unscheduled trip to Walter Reed, ranted about impeachment, and attacked the Democrats most notably “Shifty” Schiff, “Slow Sleepy” Joe, the Clintons and Barack Hussein Obama, with an emphasis on the Hussein.  Oh and he also claimed that if it wasn’t for him Thanksgiving would be cancelled or called something else, kind of a variation on his earlier and soon to be reprised say Merry Christmas or else theme.  The crowd, who shouted “lock her up” and “bull sh-t” ate it all up because that’s what cult members do when their chosen one whips them into a frenzy. Trump also cited some polls that “prove” that impeachment is getting increasingly unpopular.  Not true, 50% of us are still all in, women even more so.  It’s not even 2020 yet, it’s fair to say that we’re in for a very bumpy election year.

Filling in the Timeline:  As to that bumpy ride, Trump’s over the top insanity might have been spurred on by news on the impeachment front. Two more transcripts from the behind the scenes SCIF testimony were released yesterday. In one, OMB career official Mark Sandy testified that he had been told in a July 12 email that aid to Ukraine was being held up at the direction of Trump but that he wasn’t given any explanation. Notably, that holdup came after Trump read media reports about the aid package but no one used corruption as a justification. On July 25, the same day as Trump’s infamous call with Ukraine President Zelensky, OMB began the official process of withholding the aid.  Sandy also reported that two staffers, at least one of whom was from OMB’s legal division, resigned in frustration over the aid situation. On July 30, in response to questions he’d raised about the hold up and its legality,  Sandy’s responsibilities with regard to Ukraine were shifted to a more cooperative political appointee.  Though an interagency memo sent on August 7 to the acting head of the OMB  recommended that the hold be lifted, the hold remained in place until September 11, when it was lifted;  that was after the Whistleblower report went public and after Congress had begun their investigation.  As to the Whistleblower, the NY Times reports that Trump was briefed about his complaint in late August by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and John Eisenberg, the NSC attorney who had earlier stashed the transcript of the July 25 Zelensky call into the super-secret server.  In addition to updating Trump on the content of the complaint, the two lawyers told him that they were determining whether they were obligated to share its contents with Congress.  Though they and the Justice Department decided the report could be kept secret, as we all know by now it ultimately saw the light.  The bottom line is that Trump was aware of the Whistleblower’s accusations and the trouble they were likely to cause before he finally released Ukraine’s $400 million aid package.

More Smears:   The House also released the transcript of testimony provided by Philip Reeker, an assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Like several before him,  Reeker detailed the "outrageous smears and attacks" against former Ambassador to Ukraine Yovanovitch who was recalled from her post after that discredit campaign led by Rudy Giuliani. If he isn’t already very concerned about his future, Giuliani should be.  Yesterday during a phone interview with former Foxy Bill O’Reilly, Trump insisted that Giuliani's push for a Biden investigation in Ukraine was not done on his behalf.  He noted that  Giuliani has “other clients” in Ukraine, implying that everything he did there was related to them not to him.  Further, Trump told O’Reilly that any questions about Giuliani’s actions should be directed straight to him.  If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s classic Trump, first he embraces his “friends” and the wonderful work they are doing on his behalf, then he distances himself from their actions, claiming he barely knows them, and finally he throws them under the bus. Going forward Giuliani ought to look both ways every time he crosses the street.  Let’s not forget that other Trumpy, Secretary of State Pompeo, yesterday, though Senator John Kennedy walked back his endorsement of the Putin pushed conspiracy myth that Ukraine rather than Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, Pompeo, the guy who we now know helped trash Ambassador Yovanovitch’s reputation, doubled down on it saying “Any time there is information that indicates that any country has messed with American elections, we not only have a right, but a duty to make sure we chase that down.”    

Next Up:  The House Intelligence Committee has already started writing its report summarizing their impeachment findings.  After that report, which could be amended if and when the Committee decides to hear more witnesses, is completed proceedings move to the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled its first impeachment hearing for December 4. It’s Chair, Jerry Nadler, has taken the unusual step of inviting Trump and his as yet unnamed lawyers to participate.  As to additional witnesses, John Bolton is still playing what Adam Schiff calls rope a dope; he keeps hinting that he has lots to say but his lawyer says that the recent McGahn court decision isn’t enough for him because unlike all those other State Department and NSC officials who have testified, Bolton still remains unwilling to stand up and be counted because, you know, he might lose some lucrative speaking engagement or a future perch at Fox.  

Happy Thanksgiving!