As Plain As Day

Trump is so good at generating scandals, it's easy for some obvious things to get missed, so I just wanted to note this one:

1. July 2017 - Congress votes to impose sanctions on Russia in response to Russian hacking of the 2016 election, among other things.  The bill passed the House by a vote of 419-3.  It passed the Senate by a vote of 98-2.
2. January 29, 2018 - Trump's hand-picked CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, says he fully expects Russia to try to interfere with the 2018 elections.
3. January 29, 2018 - Trump announces he won't impose any new sanctions on Russia, despite the new law.

How much more obvious does it need to be?  And this is just what is known publicly.  You have to imagine Robert Mueller has found a lot of stuff more damning than this.  And this is pretty damn damning.

What Was the Point of the Nunes Memo?

Yesterday, I argued that 'Devin Nunes Has Got Nothing'.  Well, it turns out I didn't know how right I was.

Click the link if you're not up to speed on this, but the short version is that Devin Nunes and Donald Trump produced a memo which supposedly proved that the Department of Justice and FBI were out to destroy Trump's presidency.  Without getting into all the details, the key argument of the memo is that the FBI and DOJ withheld a crucial detail when they requested a warrant to spy on former Trump associate Carter Page.  Specifically, part of the reason they wanted the warrant is that a guy named Christopher Steele and produced a lot of unverified information incriminating Trump and Page.  And most of this information was gathered while Steele was getting paid by Hillary Clinton's attorney.

The whole 'deep state conspiracy' argument hinges on the accusation that when the FBI applied for the warrant, they didn't tell the court that Clinton's campaign had funded Steele's investigation into Trump.  From Nunes' memo:

Neither the original application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele's efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.

Only now it turns out that they DID tell the court:

Republican leaders are acknowledging that the FBI disclosed the political origins of a private dossier the bureau cited in an application to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, undermining a controversial GOP memo released Friday and fueling Democratic demands to declassify more information about the bureau’s actions.

So the one thin reed of justification for even writing the memo in the first place is based on a lie.  Appropriate for the Republican party and this administration.

I would ask rhetorically why Nunes bothered to write the memo at all, but sadly its obvious.  The vast majority of Republican voters believe anything that Donald Trump and Fox News tell them.  Devin Nunes could write a memo about his dog peeing on the carpet, insist that it was proof of a conspiracy against Trump, and Trump's supporters would believe it.

Not the sharpest group, those Trump supporters.

And once again, it's worth repeating that when a devoted partisan is literally unable to produce even a shred of evidence proving that there's a conspiracy, the only logical conclusion is: There is no conspiracy.  Trump, Nunes, and the other Republicans in Congress are compromising our nation's law enforcement for the sole purpose of protecting Trump.

I'm sure I'm not alone in considering that treason.

Working Class --- No, Wait --- EVERYBODY Watch, Day 382

Those few folks who drop by this site from time to time (Hi Loren! Hi Missy! Hi Bri!) may recall that back in September, I basically made the site into a public service announcement about the Equifax hack that resulted in the personal data (SSNs, addresses, drivers licenses, etc.) of roughly 143 million people getting stolen by hackers.  This opened up roughly half of the adult population of the United States to identity theft, which is a particularly nasty crime to fall victim to.

Perhaps I'm projecting, but I believe there was more or less universal outrage about this hack, and an expectation on the part of many people that the government might intercede and punish Equifax somehow.  I mean, after all, there IS an agency called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for crying out loud.

Of course, those expecting help from the government had obviously forgotten who's running things these days:

Equifax (EFX.N) said in September that hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million Americans. Richard Cordray, then the CFPB director, authorized an investigation that month, said former officials familiar with the probe.

But Cordray resigned in November and was replaced by Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s budget chief. The CFPB effort against Equifax has sputtered since then, said several government and industry sources, raising questions about how Mulvaney will police a data-warehousing industry that has enormous sway over how much consumers pay to borrow money.

. . .

Three sources say, though, Mulvaney, the new CFPB chief, has not ordered subpoenas against Equifax or sought sworn testimony from executives, routine steps when launching a full-scale probe. Meanwhile the CFPB has shelved plans for on-the-ground tests of how Equifax protects data, an idea backed by Cordray. 

If anyone who voted for Trump stumbles onto this site, I hope they'll start to see that the reason I take the time to write blog posts about Trump being a horrible president has nothing to do with personal hatred of the man, or anti-Republican partisanship.

It's because he's a truly horrible president, and every day brings a new story about how he makes America less great.

Impeach Now

Last month, I wrote a letter outlining the multiple ways in which Trump is unfit to hold the office of president, either due to malfeasance or incompetence.

Sadly, after just 3 weeks, that letter is already out of date:

President Donald Trump has been talking to his friends about possibly asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to prosecute Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the Russia probe, and his team, NBC News reported.

. . . 

Fineman quotes an unnamed Trump advisor as saying: "Here's how it would work: 'We're sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won't be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury.'" 

It's unclear what charges Mueller could possibly face in such a situation.

I don't care what your politics are or who you voted for.  If you have any respect whatsoever for the rule of law, you raise holy hell when ANY president even CONSIDERS starting baseless prosecutions of people, ESPECIALLY the person investigating that president for possible wrongdoing.

If this were the only thing Trump had done wrong since taking office, it would still be an impeachable offense.

The fact that 100% of the Republicans in Congress and a sizable chunk of the American population just shrug this off --- and in fact, believe that TRUMP is the one being VICTIMIZED by an extra-constitutional conspiracy --- should scare the living hell out of you.

One Final, But Very Important Point

If the Nunes memo is the best the Republicans can do to prove that there's a 'deep state' conspiracy against Trump in the DOJ and FBI, the only possible conclusion is that there is no 'deep state' conspiracy against Trump in the DOJ and FBI.

For Trump or anyone in Congress to suggest otherwise, frankly, is treason.

Devin Nunes Has Got Nothing (Short Version)

Long version here.

Republicans want you to believe that there's a 'deep state' conspiracy against Trump because:

18 days before the election, the FBI had an unverified dossier alleging that Trump had colluded with the Russians in multiple ways, and also hired prostitutes for kinky sex ---

AND INSTEAD OF MAKING IT PUBLIC, they filed a secret application to conduct surveillance on a guy only marginally connected to Trump's campaign who the Russians had tried to recruit as a spy in 2013 and who had previously been a target of surveillance in 2014 ---

AND THEN ONE WEEK LATER, the head of the FBI suggested that there was new evidence showing that Hillary Clinton had broken the law, except that there was no such evidence.

THIS CAN ONLY MEAN that the FBI/DOJ are really bad at 'deep state' stuff OR Republicans are really bad at finding evidence of the FBI/DOJ doing 'deep state' stuff.

But pretty much every Republican believes it's true, anyway.  Which is depressing as hell.

Devin Nunes Has Got Nothing (Long Version)

I'm guessing that at least 95% of the people posting to social media about the Nunes memo --- both the Trump-worshipers and the adults --- haven't actually read it.  Until a couple of hours ago, I was one of them.

But now I have read it, and it's exactly as much of a bust as the adults say it is.

On October 21, 2016 --- 18 days before the election --- the DOJ and FBI applied for and received approval from the FISA court to conduct surveillance on a guy named Carter Page.  One component of that application included Christopher Steele's investigation into Trump in 2016.  The Nunes memo asserts that Steele's information was "an essential part" of the application.

Steele was initially working for a company called Fusion GPS, and for 7 months in 2016, Hillary Clinton's campaign hired Fusion GPS to conduct research into Trump and his campaign.  So Steele's dossier can be viewed as a partisan document --- which doesn't necessarily mean that any of the information in it is wrong.  Steele himself has more than 20 years' experience in spy work with Great Britian, and even the Nunes memo acknowledges "Steele's past record of credible reporting".

All of this is uncontroversial and agreed-upon by all sides.  The 'bombshell' in the Nunes memo (according to Nunes and other Republicans) is that when the DOJ and FBI submitted their application, they neglected to inform the FISA court that the Steele dossier had been partly funded by the Clinton campaign.

Nunes admits that the Steele dossier wasn't the only reason for investigating Page, and that Steele has a history of credible reporting.  But Nunes alleges that the DOJ and FBI withheld the partisan funding behind the Steele dossier, and this:

1. Raise(s) concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and
2. Represent(s) a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.

Or in the words of the very stable genius: "Their [sic] was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction," and "the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on".

*sigh*

There is so much wrong with this.  Let's start with the fact that multiple sources are refuting Nunes claim that the FISA court was not informed of the partisan funding behind Steele's research.  (UPDATE: Holy hell, even Nunes and Gowdy are now admitting that a footnote in the application explicitly called out the partisan nature of Steele's dossier.  So there's literally NOTHING to this memo). Next, let's move on to the fact that Nunes himself never read the FISA application, so he has no direct knowledge of what is or is not in it.  For that, we have to rely on Trey Gowdy, the Republican chair of the oversight committee, who is the only member of Congress to review the classified memo first-hand.

For his part, while Gowdy voted to release the memo to the public, he is also on record stating that he is "100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  The contents of this memo do not - in any way - discredit his investigation".

Next, let's turn to poor, oppressed Carter Page.  I don't know what evidence was listed in the FISA application apart from the Steele dossier (and neither does Nunes, and neither does Trump, and neither do the 30 million Trump-worshipers on social media blathering on about the 'deep state' and other nonsense), but there are a lot of possibilities.

We know that the Russians attempted to recruit Page as an intelligence asset as long ago as 2013.  And a FISA warrant had previously been issued for surveillance on Page in 2014.  Not only does this demonstrate that the DOJ and FBI had sufficient evidence to support a FISA application even without the Steele dossier, it ALSO shows that their primary interest was in Page himself, not Trump.  Which significantly undermines the argument that this is really all just a "Russian Witch Hunt" to undermine Trump.

Also, the Nunes memo acknowledges that the FISA warrant to investigate Page was renewed 3 times (by law, such warrants must undergo a separate approval process every 90 days to remain in effect).  Which means that FOUR SEPARATE FISA court judges agreed that the surveillance of Page was warranted (and despite what some folks are posting on Twitter, every judge on the FISA court is there because Republican Supreme Court Chief John Roberts put them there.  So don't go bashing the judges as agents of the 'deep state').

Finally, the idea that the 'deep state' was investigating Carter Page to undermine Trump is absurd, if for no other reason than the timing.

Nunes and Trump's other Republican loyalists want you to believe that, 18 days before the election, the FBI held the Steele dossier with allegations of Trump's collusion with Russia, and decided that the best way to keep him out of the White House was --- to file a secret request to conduct surveillance of someone marginally associated with the campaign.  Does that sound like a sure-fire way to insure Trump's defeat?

No, if they really wanted to hurt Trump, they would have publicly announced that they were opening an investigation into the possibility of Trump's ties to Russia, and also his fondness for hiring prostitutes to perform a golden showers urination show.  But instead, James Comey announced "the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to" --- but in fact, actually had nothing to do with --- the overblown investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server.

I think Trump-worshipers can rest easy.  Either there's no 'deep state' conspiracy to undermine his presidency (spoiler alert: there's not) --- OR, there IS such a conspiracy, but the DOJ and FBI are just really, really bad at it.

Either way, Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress and on social media should all just shut the hell up and let Robert Mueller do his job.

Working Class Watch: Day 379, Part 2

I don't know if I can stand another 3 years of this.  At least I have good health insurance.  An awful lot of folks aren't so lucky (and a lot of them voted for Trump, mistakenly thinking he gives a shit about them):

Nationally, millions of Americans visit community health centers each year. An estimate from 2016 found the 2,000 centers provided care to 26.5 million people. They rely heavily on federal funds that have passed with bipartisan support in recent decades. George W. Bush expanded the program, and the Affordable Care Act made another big investment in them.

But this fall, the $3.6 billion budget lapsed at the same time as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. CHIP, which provides coverage to millions of poor children, just got its funding back in late January. But community health centers were not included in the deal.

I can't even joke about how this fails to make America great.

Obama made this a priority.  Hell, even George W. Bush made this a priority.  But because Trump doesn't care, people will die.

Working Class Watch: Day 379

This is a follow-up to an earlier post about the Trump administration's plan to allow employers to steal tip money from their employees:

Trump wants to make it perfectly legal for employers to scoop up their employees' tips and keep them for themselves, so long as the employees earn at least the minimum wage.  So that great waitressing job you have that only pays a base wage of $6.00/hr, but you get between $50-$100 tips each shift?  Well, now it's suddenly a minimum wage job.  Doesn't that seem like it will make America great?

When I wrote the original post, there was some lingering doubt in my mind that this was accidental; that the Trump Labor Department was simply updating an Obama-era rule in such a way that it accidentally opened the door to such wage theft.

Kevin Drum points us to an article from Bloomberg Law which reveals that not only does the Labor Department know exactly what this change will do; they're also making an effort to cover it up:

 Labor Department leadership scrubbed an unfavorable internal analysis from a new tip pooling proposal, shielding the public from estimates that showed employees could lose out on billions of dollars in gratuities, four current and former DOL sources tell Bloomberg Law.

I believe this is what Trump-worshippers call 'draining the swamp'.  Because they're really, really stupid.

The Labor Department is still accepting feedback from the public until February 5 (I don't know if that means the 4th is the last day to comment, or the 5th is).  Try not to use profanity.