A TRAP

Trump has issued a set of demands for any immigration deal. The bipartisan Senate group is mainly ignoring them because there is no compromise that can be built around them. So complete failure is still a possibility. I think it is an open question whether, despite his comments about helping the Dreamers, Trump actually wants a deal -- and the savaging he is taking from the right suggests that he could lose part of his base if he ever actually signs one. But he is definitely interested in blaming the Dems for any failure. For them the political considerations are an exact mirror image -- they will pay a huge price if a deal for the Dreamers fails. So Trump is promoting his plan as a "solve DACA" plan, even though it is full of more poison pills than anyone can stomach. And he keeps saying Dems don't want a deal -- which is a lousy negotiating strategy, if negotiating were your intention

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/957462746060206080
"I have offered DACA a wonderful deal, including a doubling in the number of recipients & a twelve year pathway to citizenship, for two reasons: (1) Because the Republicans want to fix a long time terrible problem. (2) To show that Democrats do not want to solve DACA, only use it!"

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1736047
Trump official all but admits immigration 'deal' is a trap, Senate Democrats are right to reject it

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/01/does-trumps-immigration-plan-actually-cut-legal-immigration/
Does Trump’s Immigration Plan Actually Cut Legal Immigration?

Trump has created a political culture in which (like Sens Cotton and Perdue denying that Trump made his "shithole" comment in a meeting with them) simple demonstrable lies just get thrown out without consequence

https://thinkprogress.org/mccarthy-trump-tried-to-fire-mueller-455a624a9f40/
GOP leader McCarthy says he hasn’t heard of reports that Trump tried to fire Mueller

More: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/marc-short-says-he-was-not-aware-trump-intent-fire-mueller
WH Aide Says He’s ‘Not Aware’ Of Trump ‘Ever Intimating’ That He’d Fire Mueller

Which Lindsey is this?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/lindsey-graham-firing-mueller-would-end-trumps-presidency.html
Lindsey Graham: Firing Mueller Would End Trump’s Presidency

"New information" in the Russia probe

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/29/mark-warner-global-politico-216545

The Dems have a response to the distortions and misrepresentations in The Memo. If one leaks, both leak

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/28/donald-trump-jr-schiff-memo-374119

An in-depth look at Paul Manafort's career -- and how any serious vetting from the Trump campaign should have kept them a million miles away from him

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/paul-manafort-american-hustler/550925/

What will Trump do about Russia sanctions?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/28/trump-russia-sanctions-deadline-373106

U.S. corporations are playing a PR game with Trump: highlighting miniscule one-time bonuses and apparent "reinvestments" to make the tax bill look like a success; Trump, at the same time, brags about the massive impact tax cuts are having, even thought actual economic growth is modest and largely shaped by forces he has little to do with

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/29/there-is-a-major-ceo-tax-con-job-going-on_partner/ 

Trump lives in a perpetual cuckoo land of imaginary information

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/trump-to-piers-morgan-polar-ice-caps-actually-doing-great.html
President Trump has a long history of mind-bogglingly foolish statements about climate change, most notorious of which is probably his 2012 Twitter declaration that the phenomenon is merely a Chinese hoax. On Sunday, he added another whopper to his least-greatest hits collection. . . . Trump said that, despite what you may have heard, the polar ice caps are actually thriving. “The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they’re setting records,” he said. Here is the obligatory graphic showing that the opposite of what Trump says is true . . .

Trump really has an issue with women leaders

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/28/trump-says-hed-tougher-theresa-may/
President Trump says he would take a “tougher” attitude toward Brexit negotiations than the approach now being used by British Prime Minister Theresa Mayv. . . (read on)

What is Trump going to say about his buddy Steve Wynn?

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/trump-wynn/551693/

Not exactly "stop the presses" material
 

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/371070-trump-im-not-a-feminist
Trump: 'I wouldn't say I'm a feminist'

A new 20 week abortion deadline?

https://thinkprogress.org/gop-abortion-shutdown-dfd173817d47/

In Fox World, the fact that Trump backed down from firing Mueller (after the WH Counsel threatened to quit) proves he is innocent

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/fox-s-mcguirk-trump-looks-even-more

More from Fox World

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/fox-uses-murder-teenage-boy-paint-half
'We Don't Owe Them Anything': Mom of Son Killed By DREAMer Rips Protests, Rejects Path to Citizenship . . .

Hillary makes a cameo at the Grammys

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/1/28/16943888/grammys-2018-hillary-clinton-fire-fury
 
The reality TV revolving door

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/omarosa-joining-cbs-celebrity-big-brother
After White House Ousting, Omarosa Manigault Joins ‘Celebrity Big Brother’

[NB: Really, she never left reality TV.]

Bonus item: Trump, 2015 (thanks to RR for the link)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/07/31/donald_trump_this_run_on_sentence_from_a_speech_in_sun_city_south_carolina.html
"Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you're a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

IN DENIAL

Republicans were initially on board with legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. Then they shifted and said it was unnecessary, because there was no way Trump would be so foolish and reckless as to try to fire him. Now that we know Trump IS so foolish and reckless, you might think they would reconsider. Yes, you might think that

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republicans-dismissed-bills-protect-muelle
GOPers Dismissed Bills To Protect Mueller Last Year. They Still Face Long Odds.

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/26/republicans-stick-trump/
Republicans Stick By Trump 

More: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/26/trump-fire-mueller-republicans-reaction-372387
Republicans shrug off reports Trump wanted to fire Mueller

https://www.thedailybeast.com/key-republican-dials-back-effort-to-protect-robert-mueller-from-donald-trump
Sen. Thom Tillis was one of the first Republicans to try to save the special counsel. Now he says his bill isn’t urgent, even after news Trump tried to fire Mueller.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/grassley-dont-think-trump-actually-fire-mueller
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told CNN Friday that he doesn’t think President Donald Trump would actually fire special counsel Robert Mueller, despite reports that he tried to do just that over the summer. . .

[NB: Doesn't that reassure you?] 

Now this

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/a-frustrated-trump-has-reportedly-mulled-firing-deputy-attorney-general-rod-rosenstein.html
President Donald Trump is so mad about the ongoing Russia investigation that he has reportedly turned that ire toward Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. . . . CNN hears from four sources that Trump has been venting about Rosenstein “in recent weeks” and has made repeated comments about wanting to fire him. Two of those sources specifically said Trump has made comments about wanting to get rid of Rosenstein. “Let’s fire him, let’s get rid of him,” Trump has reportedly said of Rosenstein. His advisers invariably convince him such a move would be a really bad idea. “When this comes up—everyone says, ‘That’s the death march. That’s not going to accomplish anything’,” said one source. Rosenstein has been the one charged with overseeing the Mueller investigation since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. . . .

More: https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/michael-wolff-tells-lawrence-trump-wanted
[Michael Wolff] "But the difference is, he does this constantly. Every day, the president is saying he's going to fire somebody. Anybody who he feels is -- has annoyed him, irritated him, gotten in his way, disagreed with him, is going to be fired. . . . But an obsession with this president becomes, instead of -- instead of an order, it becomes kind of like wallpaper, it just goes on and on and on," he said. "He just repeats and repeats and repeats. Is it serious? Is it just him spouting off ultimately that's what the special prosecutor will have to decide." . . .

O'Donnell ask about a quote in the book where Steve Bannon tells Wolff, "'If he fires Mueller, it just brings impeachment quicker.' Was that the widespread view in the White House?" 

"Completely. Everybody believed firing Mueller would be suicidal. And everybody had to deal with this every day, it was always 'fire Mueller, how can we fire Mueller, get rid of this guy?' And again, this was regarded as something less than real. It was just the stuff that comes out of the president's mouth uncontrollably and often meaninglessly," Wolff said. 

O'Donnell asks if this is a workplace where no one takes what he says seriously.

"Yes. The question is -- but even that -- that's always going on. The efforts to resign because nobody wants to be there. So it's this -- it's a kind of -- the New York Times curiously makes this sound normal. . . . It makes it sound like there is a man who has thought through something and made a decision. There are no decisions here. It's just blather." 

"It's making that case for his lawyers to try to make that presentation of the character is made virtually impossible because of his job. Meaning, a prosecutor and the people looking into this aren't going to believe that a president is just that nutty and flaky and constantly saying things that aren't really true"?

"I don't know if that's true," Wolff said. "I think that is what -- is what Mueller -- they ultimately -- that will be the ultimate question. Was there intent here or is -- or was this just daily stupidity, really? Incompetence, disregard."

[NB: So, there you have it. The defense that Trump can't be held responsible for his erratic. irrational outbursts. He wasn't "obstructing justice," he was just flailing around blindly -- "fighting back" against an investigation he really thinks is a fraud. Of course it's stupid and self-destructive, but that's just why you can't convict him for it!] 

Does Trump's lying (repeatedly) to the public about his attempt to fire Mueller add to the case against him?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/27/could-lying-about-attempting-to-fire-mueller-put-trump-in-even-more-hot-water/

Trump ignores the concerns of his own Justice Dept, says release the memo!

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/27/trump-sought-release-classified-russia-memo/

Trump's on-again, off-again visit to the UK is off-again unless PM May can guarantee there won't be any protests

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/27/trump-wont-visit-u-k-unless-protests-banned/

[NB: Oh, there will be protests all right. This guarantees it.]
 
Trump wants to make America Great: huddled behind a Wall™ and an international pariah, but Great!

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/tourism-u-s-down-trump-took-office-costing-4-6-n840326?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
Travel to the U.S. has been on the decline ever since President Donald Trump took office, and new data from the Commerce Department shows the slump translates to a cost of $4.6 billion in lost spending and 40,000 jobs, according to an analysis by the U.S. Travel Association. . . . 

Trump's upcoming State of the Union is going to be a gag-inducing series of lies and exaggerations about his accomplishments, especially in the economic sphere. Let's get warmed up by reviewing a few of the facts

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ap-fact-check-trump-economic-performance

The tense and testy relationship between Trump and chief of staff Kelly

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/president-kelly-raises-trumps-life-long.html
 
Even with all the Trump govt cross-breeding, the Trump Hotel in DC is underperforming: higher prices, fewer guests

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/trumps-dc-hotel-had-fewer-guests-higher-prices-than-peers.html
A Trump lawyer had once said that all Trump Corporation businesses would donate their profits from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury, but that plan appears to be on hold...

A very revealing exchange about being president, and who works for whom

https://twitter.com/The_UnSilent_/status/956645543517794305
 
Some light shined on the Kushner business

https://thinkprogress.org/kushner-companies-secret-investors-d974349af72f/
A rare look into how Kushner gets his money and manages his companies. 

It had to happen

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/steve-wynn-resigns-as-rnc-finance-chair.html
Steve Wynn Resigns as RNC Finance Chair After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

More: https://thinkprogress.org/steve-wynn-republican-party-bf697d743b5f/
Prominent Republicans stay silent on Wynn and the RNC

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/steve-wynn-is-a-shining-example-of-republican-hypocrisy.html
Steve Wynn is a Shining Example of Republican Hypocrisy

https://thinkprogress.org/gop-statement-steve-wynn-161b16d5e36a/
The GOP finally released a statement on Steve Wynn — and it’s pathetic
 
We see a pattern of the Repubs twisting and distorting the rules of democracy to advance their interests. Now, in Wisconsin, Scott Walker refuses to hold special elections to fill vacant seats because he's afraid the Dems might win

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-gop-credo-win-by-any-means-necessary.html
 
The local paper in Devin Nunes' district rips him up and down

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/27/trumps-stooge/
"What, pray tell, does Rep. Devin Nunes think he’s doing by waving around a secret memo attacking the FBI, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency? He certainly isn’t representing his Central Valley constituents or Californians, who care much more about health care, jobs and, yes, protecting Dreamers than about the latest conspiracy theory. Instead, he’s doing dirty work for House Republican leaders trying to protect President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation." 

Some good news

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/27/record-number-women-running-office/
Record Number of Women Running for Office

Bonus item: Judge for yourself

http://www.insideedition.com/media/videos/stormy-daniels-smiles-when-asked-about-sexual-relationship-donald-trump-40142
Stormy Daniels Smiles When Asked About Sexual Relationship With Donald Trump

[NB: Jimmy Kimmel has her on the night of State of the Union address. A lot of people have asked why someone with deep pockets hasn't just offered to cover her legal costs for breaking her NDA and telling all. I wonder . . .]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN

The current Trump legal team chose a nonconfrontational approach to dealing with Mueller, promising "full cooperation." But as it becomes more clear that Trump is an impossible, unreliable witness who will destroy himself if he testifies, there are more indications that the gloves will come off and they'll fight like hell to keep that from happening

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-lawyers-seeking-leverage-in-russia-probe-comb-90s-court-ruling-1517009835
White House legal team may look to delay, limit or avoid a possible interview of the president by Mueller

More: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/this-sounds-just-right-to-me 

Aftershocks from the revelation that Trump did try to fire Mueller -- and lied about it

https://www.vox.com/2018/1/26/16934868/trump-fire-mueller-don-mcgahn
Trump’s justification for firing Mueller was ludicrous

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/would-it-have-been-legal-for-trump-to-direct-robert-muellers-removal.html
Could Trump Have “Directed” Robert Mueller’s Removal?

Trump is building an obstruction case against himself. There just isn't any question about it any more

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/26/trump-launched-campaign-discredit-fbi-witnesses/
President Trump “pressed senior aides last June to devise and carry out a campaign to discredit senior FBI officials after learning that those specific employees were likely to be witnesses against him as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation,” Foreign Policy reports. “In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, recently fired FBI Director James Comey disclosed that he spoke contemporaneously with other senior bureau officials about potentially improper efforts by the president to curtail the FBI’s investigation of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/26/sure-looks-like-obstruction-justice/
“Mueller and his team surely have evidence on obstruction of justice that has not yet been made public. But even on the available evidence, Trump’s position looks perilous indeed. The portrait is of a President using every resource at his disposal to shut down an investigation—of Trump himself. And now it has become clear that Trump’s own White House counsel rebelled at the President’s rationale for his actions. Abundant questions remain about Trump’s fate in the Mueller investigation. Can or will a sitting President be indicted? What, if anything, will the House of Representatives do with respect to its impeachment powers? In what forum and format will the public see the full range of the evidence against the President? But on perhaps the most important question of all—whether the President of the United States committed the crime of obstruction of justice—the answer now seems clear.”

More: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/01/26/is-trumps-attempt-to-fire-mueller-proof-of-obstruction/

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/26/mueller-trump-obstruction-of-justice-russia-216532

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/the-obstruction-case-is-getting-solid.html

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1736149

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/how-trump-built-an-obstruction-of-justice-case-against-himself/551588/

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/26/trump-tried-to-fire-mueller-so-what-216539
We asked legal experts whether they think Mueller now has enough evidence to pursue obstruction of justice charges against the president, or if a different outcome is more likely. Here is what they told us. . . .

GREAT negotiating strategy. What a stable genius!

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/26/the-bar-is-so-low-that-no-one-noticed-trumps-inept-davos-remark-about-the-border-wall/
But we need a strong border. And to do that you need a wall. And they did agree to a $25 billion wall, of which I'll have a lot of money left over. Because I don't need $25 billion to build a wall. We'll build a great — that's what I do. We'll build a great wall and we'll have a lot of money left over, and we'll spend it on other things.

[NB: No, he isn't going to get $25 billion for The Wall™]

What happens next with the immigration deal?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/which-senators-are-negotiating-the-daca-deal
Nearly 40 Senators Are Crafting An Immigration Deal. Too Many Cooks?

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-donald-trumps-opening-offer-immigration-wont-work
Why Donald Trump’s opening offer on immigration won’t work

More: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/26/trump-immigration-proposal-chuck-schumer-371139

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/trumps-immigration-proposal-is-already-dead.html

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1736297

Hostage taking, noit negotiation: https://thinkprogress.org/dreamers-bargaining-chip-3d78802f11a9/
White House threatens to deport Dreamers if no deal is reached by March 5

Just another lie: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/01/quote-of-the-day-trump-denies-killing-daca/
"Everybody wants to solve the DACA problem. They’ve been wanting to solve it for a long time. It should’ve been solved by President Obama….But they didn’t solve it, he didn’t solve things. And he did something that he didn’t have the right to do. You understand, he did an executive order and that was no good. And by the way, the court — it wasn’t me. The courts were not upholding that executive order."

This is not true.  . . (read on) 

"Trump’s latest interview shows he’s not really the president" 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/26/16936802/trump-not-really-president 

The kind of people they are

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/01/republican-party-finance-chairman-accused-of-decades-long-pattern-of-sexual-misconduct/
Republican Party Finance Chairman Accused of “Decades-Long Pattern of Sexual Misconduct”

More: https://thinkprogress.org/rnc-silence-steve-wynn-allegations-8403d7fa85bd/
RNC suspiciously silent about sexual assault allegations against its finance chair

In other news . . .

Oh, crap

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/26/clinton-shielded-adviser-accused-harassment/
Clinton Shielded Adviser Accused of Harassment 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/the-clinton-reckoning-is-one-of-the-most-essential-metoo-revelations-yet.html
The Clinton Reckoning Is One of the Most Essential #MeToo Revelations Yet

Welcome to Davos!

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-is-laughed-at-booed-in-davos-653450ff4ca5/
Trump is laughed at, booed

How Trump wants to prevent school shootings: more military equipment

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-responds-school-shootings-strikingly-trumpian-way

You won't see Trump bragging about this

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/26/1736288/-Trump-s-30-solar-tariff-takes-1st-casualty-SunPower-has-put-a-hold-on-a-20-million-expansion
Trump's 30% solar tariff takes 1st casualty: SunPower has put a hold on a $20 million expansion

Or this: http://www.newsweek.com/carrier-plant-layoff-215-more-workers-indiana-trump-778040
Carrier to Lay off 215 More Workers from Indiana Plant Despite Trump's Vows to save Jobs

Bonus item: She didn't want to move to the White House. They sleep in separate bedrooms, and there are constant signs of tension between them. Melania has made her choices in life, but I still feel sorry for her

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/01/26/the-unbearable-awkwardness-being-melania/g59cq60fJRbZDWYHpMKvmJ/story.html
The unbearable awkwardness of being Melania

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/27/melania-keeping-distance-trump/
The Daily Mail reports Melania Trump “has spent a number of nights at a posh D.C. hotel away from President Trump following allegations of a fling with porn star Stormy Daniels.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/melania-trump-goes-mia-from-davos-as-stormy-scandal-brews
In December, first lady Melania Trump told a group of infirm children that her Christmas wish would be to spend her holidays on a “deserted island.” One month later, Trump is one step closer to her dream. Although the first family’s mansion on the Florida barrier island of Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, can hardly be described as deserted, the 110,000-square-foot “winter White House” does have one crucial vacancy: Melania’s husband, President Donald Trump. Although the first lady was originally scheduled to join the president at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, spokesperson Stephanie Grisham told CNN on Monday that Melania would stay behind due to “scheduling and logistical issues.” CNN reported on Thursday that the first lady’s plane had been spotted in West Palm Beach.  A request for details of the first lady’s apparently unscheduled trip to Florida was not immediately returned by a spokesperson for the East Wing. . . .

[NB: Even though it's their anniversary.]

More: https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-compares-melania-trumps-marriage-to-the-holocaust
Bill Maher Compares Melania Trump’s Marriage to the Holocaust

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

DUNNING-KRUGER

Dumb and dumberer 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/the-gops-fbi-conspiracy-theory-just-got-even-dumber.html
The GOP’s FBI Conspiracy Theory Just Got Even Dumber  

Yesterday we had Sen Ron Johnson (R-WI) jumping on the "secret society" bandwagon. Now he desperately wants to get off 

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/ron-johnson-back-tracks-secret-society-fbi

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-republican-focus-secret-society-starts-unravel 

He admits the whole thing might have just been a joke: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/johnson-real-possibility-secret-society-joke 

W-H-A-A-A-T????

https://thinkprogress.org/nikki-haley-trump-conspiracy-theories-israel-palestinian-authority-2a24c28741d7/
On Thursday, UN ambassador Nikki Haley criticized President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority . . . “A speech that indulges in outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories is not the speech of a person with the courage and the will to seek peace.” 

[NB: As the article headline reads, "Irony is dead"]

BREAKING NEWS: Trump tried to fire Mueller 

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/trump-ordered-mueller-fired-june/
“President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive,” the New York Times reports. “The West Wing confrontation marks the first time Mr. Trump is known to have tried to fire the special counsel. Mr. Mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior White House officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.”

Much more: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/25/1736066/-NYT-Trump-tried-to-fire-Mueller-but-was-blocked-by-his-White-House-counsel

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/trump-mueller-fired-order-report-370807

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/trump-ordered-mueller-fired.html

https://www.vox.com/2018/1/25/16934910/mcgahn-trump-mueller-fire-nyt

[NB: Think back on all the times we were assured that firing Mueller was nowhere on the agenda, huh-uh no way. They were all lies.]

Watch: https://thinkprogress.org/trump-never-gave-any-thought-to-firing-mueller-2e61bb4a4458/
Watch Trump insist he never gave ‘any thought’ to firing Mueller

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/us/politics/trump-mueller-considering-fired.html
Trump Says He Has Not Considered Firing Mueller 

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/17/trump-fire-mueller-301516
Trump says he is not considering firing Mueller

Trump addresses the issue in his usual thoughtful, careful way

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-fake-news-report-fire-mueller
“Fake news, fake news,” Trump told reporters at the Davos World Economic Forum early Friday morning. “Typical New York Times. Fake stories.”

[NB: Except that the story has been independently confirmed by numerous others, including Fox.]  

Here is your big laugh for the day: How Sean Hannity covered the story

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/01/hannity-delivers-golden-comedic-moment

As discussed here, it looks as if the obstruction piece of Mueller's investigation is pretty far along  

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/mueller-almost-done-obstruction-part-trump-probe/

More on Trump's claim that he was just "fighting back," not obstructing justice. Could this become the basis of an actual legal defense?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/trump-fight-back-obstruction-allegations

The difficulties of an obstruction case: https://www.vox.com/2018/1/25/16868268/trump-obstruction-of-justice-mueller 

More on Trump's on-again, off-again promises to testify. Will he actually try to say, "Gee, I really want to. But my lawyers won't let me?

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-lawyers-try-clean-presidents-clumsy-under-oath-vow
Nevertheless, for those keeping score, Trump is (1) willing to answer questions under oath; (2) not sure if he’ll answer questions under oath; (3) expecting not to be asked questions under oath; (4) “absolutely” “looking forward to” answering questions under oath; and (5) still negotiating whether he’ll answer questions under oath. 

How Trump testifies -- from someone who's seen it

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/happens-trump-testifies-2/

More: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-friends-and-advisers-are-terrified-of-what-he-might-say-to-mueller
Trump’s Friends and Advisers Are Terrified of What He Might Say to Mueller

Popcorn!

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/senate-will-release-transcripts-trump-jr-interview/
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “plans to release transcripts of its interviews with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and others who participated in a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer allegedly promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton,” the Washington Post reports. In a recent Politico interview, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) predicted the Trump Jr. transcript would be “explosive” if released. . .

Trump's phony claims about "50,000 missing emails": (a) there aren't 50,000 missing emails; (b) they aren't missing any more

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/facts-discredit-trumps-latest-conspiracy-theory-about-the-fbi

The Department of Justice slams Nunes, calls a potential release of his memo "reckless"
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/370614-doj-official-tells-nunes-itd-be-reckless-to-release-memo-without
"We have also heard that HPSCI [the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] is considering making the classified memorandum available to the public and the media, an unprecedented action," Boyd wrote in the letter. . . . ."Additionally, we believe that wider distribution of the classified information presumably contained within your memorandum would represent a significant deviation from the terms of access negotiated in good faith by the Department, HSPCI, and the Office of Speaker Paul Ryan."

So, they're going to send it to Trump. I'm sure he'll make appropriate use of it: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/russia-memo-trump-republicans-369541

The same lawyer is representing three different clients in the Russia investigation. Is that really okay?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/mueller-russia-investigation-bannon-lawyer-juggles-clients-367521

Paul Manafort is so screwed

https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2018/01/24/mueller-manafort-errant-court-filing-suggests-informant-367464
Errant court filing suggests feds had informant at Manafort firm

Kushner won't testify to Congress

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1735941

More: https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/mueller-no-interest-bannon-book/
Mueller Had No Interest In Bannon Until Book  

Turkey calls Trump a liar

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/turkey-says-wh-is-lying-about-trumps-call-with-erdogan.html

Trump's immigration framework leaks. Some "compromise"

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/25/trumps-immigration-framework-leaks-and-everyone-hates-it/ 

[E]veryone hates it

More: https://thinkprogress.org/white-house-immigration-plan-9d42fa402755/

White House unveils immigration plan laced with white nationalist policy ideas

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1736007

White House 'deal' is Dreamers in exchange for Stephen Miller's white supremacist wish list

This has no chance of approval: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/trumps-surprise-immigration-proposal.html

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/26/white-house-immigration-proposal-already-dead/

https://thinkprogress.org/dreamers-reject-white-house-framework-9a5607d3f869/

‘A white supremacist ransom note’

The Cesspool

 https://www.salon.com/2018/01/25/trumps-super-pac-spent-thousands-at-trump-hotel-last-year/

Trump’s super PAC spent thousands at Trump Hotel last year

Someone at the Guggenheim has a sense of humor, it seems

https://www.vox.com/2018/1/25/16933970/trump-white-house-guggenheim-toilet-art

Trump asked the Guggenheim for a Van Gogh. The museum offered a gold toilet.

I used to think Louie Gohmert was the dumbest congressman. But we have a new candidate 
https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/and-winner-of-award-for-dumbest.html

Another senior Republican won't run

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/pat-meehan-reelection-370850

2020: No-prah, but maybe John Kerry gets back in?

https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/25/bonus-quote-day-286/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/kerry-2020-and-the-reign-of-the-gerontocrats.html

[NB: No more septuagenarians, please!]

Bad news for democracy: limiting the spread of fake news via social media is going to be tough to do

https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-fake-news-continues-ddd5ee1f80b5/

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/22/facebook-promises-to-clean-up-its-toxic-news-feed-is-that-even-possible/

Breitbart says CNN deserves the death threats

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/qotd-breitbart.html

Bonus item: Sam Bee has some apologies. A LOT of apologies

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/25/full-frontal-team-attempts-to-apologize-to-everyone-trump-has-offended-cant-keep-up/

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