Kingfisher Cove

Quote Me, Please

I

FUCKING

HATE

TRUMP

Tooth Aftermath and a Road Trip

I survived the root canal, but man. What an unpleasant experience! The dentist was perfectly fine and efficient (I was thankful to only be in the chair—pretty much on my head—for just an hour), but the procedure itself was certainly icky. I needed a 2nd shot of Novocain about half-way through because things were “throbbing.” Today, the day after, I’m feeling some tweaks of pain, but ibuprofen seems to help. (No, I wasn’t prescribed any good stuff. Go figure). Mostly, I’m just relieved it’s behind me.

Ugh.

In other news, John has been chipping away at erecting the new block wall, that will eventually be a two-tiered terrace (that will…eventually…be landscaped). He’s doing it without help, hand-shoveling, and hand-lugging those 75+ lb. blocks. (And trying to avoid the heat of the day! We’re on Day #38 or #39 without rain).

See da lil’ kitty on the tailgate?

He found the electrical and water lines and had to work around them.

And lots of dirt to dig!

While I was up there on the driveway taking pictures, I took a few more. Our cars in the garage! Heh.

And the view at the top of the deck steps is pretty awesome. This was taken with the Pano on my iPhone. (Click it to embiggen!)

We’ll really start hitting it tomorrow to prepare for our trip to Tri-Cities Thursday for the hydroplane races (and John’s stint on the Vintage Griffon Bud crew). I’m having mixed feelings about this trip because it’s supposed to be 100° over there! Four days of that? Holy crap. And then this morning John told me that sandals or open-toed shoes are not allowed in the pits. SERIOUSLY???

Uuuuh, I dunno. Getting away for a bit is a good thing, but jeeze. It should be interesting, right?

Week Thirty-Six

Compiled by Amy Siskind

Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

This week Trump's ties to Russia came increasingly front and center, as news of a second, clandestine meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 surfaced, and Trump moved forward with actions that seemed oddly pro-Moscow. Trump also caused alarm on both sides by raising the specter of firing Mueller and the possibility of pardoning himself and members of his regime.

For the first time this week there was bi-partisan reaction: there were resignations, and pushback from national security officials who called out Russia for election meddling. Also of major importance, Congress agreed on an outline for a bi-partisan bill to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia — a direct repudiation of Trump.

1. According to a FEC filing, Trump's re-election campaign paid $50k to Donald Jr.’s attorney on June 27, six days after Kushner updated his security clearance form to include the meeting with Veselnitskaya.
2. WIRED reported that according to FEC filings, Trump re-election campaign has already paid out $600k to Trump-owned properties.
3. Trump lawyer, Jay Sekulow, was the sole face for the Trump regime on all five of the Sunday shows.
4. Sekulow suggested that US Secret Service would have vetted Donald Jr.’s meetings. The USSS issued a statement denying they screened anyone: “Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protected of the USSS in June, 2016.”
5. The US Women’s Open, hosted at a Trump golf course, posted its lowest final round rating in at least 30 years. Trump had tweeted about attending the event.
6. WSJ reported there were nearly 150k attempts to penetrate South Carolina’s voter-registration system on Election Day, even though SC was not a competitive state. So far, there is evidence 21 states were targeted.
7. TIME reported on a previously undisclosed 15-page plan produced by Obama’s cybersecurity officials which shows how concerned the administration was about Russian hacking.
8. The concern was so grave, on November 1, the Obama administration did a war-game, practice attack. Obama’s NSC ran a fictional attack and rehearsed how federal agencies would communicate and respond.
9. TIME reported concern was born over a California primary in which some voters were prevented from voting because their registrations had been altered. Russia was suspected of the hacking.
10. A WAPO/ABC poll showed Trump approval rating has fallen to 36% from 42% in April. His net approval fell from -11 to -22. Trump's support from Independents has fallen to 32%.
11. A Monmouth Poll found that 41% of Americans support impeaching Trump, significantly higher than Nixon at the start of Watergate (24%).
12. A PPP poll found 45% support impeaching Trump, and 43% are opposed.
13. CNN tracked highlights of Trump's first six months: he passed no major legislation, held just one press conference, sent 991 tweets, golfed 40 times, and spent 21 of 26 weekends at Trump properties.
14. Criticism of Kobach and the Election Integrity Commission continued from all sides as their first public meeting took place, with many calling it a veiled attempt at voter suppression and purging.
15. Kobach responded to MSNBC when asked if Hillary won the popular vote, “We will probably never know the answer to that question.”
16. Daily Beast reported that civilian casualties have skyrocketed under Trump from the U.S.-led war against ISIS. Trump's air war has already killed more than 2k civilians.
17. CREW won a legal battle to compel Trump to turn over the Mar-A-Lago visitor logs by September 8. CREW said they will make the information available to the public, when and if they receive it.
18. Outgoing OGE chair Shaub told NYT that actions by Trump and his regime have created a historic ethics crisis. On the world stage, this has rendered US “close to the laughingstock,” and it “affects our credibility.”
19. DHS announced a one-time increase of 15k H-2B visas, a reversal from Trump's rhetoric as he launched Made in America Week. The change came after lobbying by industries that rely on temporary foreign workers.
20. AP reported the Trump Organization has asked the federal government to grant dozens of special visas to allow foreign nationals to work at two of Trump's private clubs in Florida.
21. Of note, this occurred during Trump's ‘Made in America’ week. Also of note, none of Ivanka’s products are produced in the US.
22. In a vote along party lines, the Senate confirmed political blogger John Bush, Trump's most controversial nominee yet, to the federal courts of appeal in Kentucky. Bush’s blog posts disparage gays, women and people of color, and contain conspiracy theories and false information.
23. Poland, the country chosen by Trump for a major speech en route to the G20, may be stripped of EU voting rights for the rightwing government’s plan to abolish the independence of the country’s judiciary.
24. Former diplomats and national security officials urged Tillerson not to eliminate the State Dept.'s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), citing “profound and negative implications” of doing so.
25. FP reported Tillerson is set to also shutter the State Dept.'s War Crimes Office, the office that for two decades held war criminals accountable.
26. Christopher Painter, the top cyber diplomat, will leave his State Depart job at the end of the month. Painter has led the American delegations to international cyber meetings since 2011.
27. US Treasury fined Exxon-Mobil $2mm, saying the company showed “reckless disregard” for Russian sanctions while Tillerson was CEO.
28. House Republicans will seek to defund the Election Assistance Commission, the only federal agency that exclusively works to ensure the voting process is secure.
29. The defunding comes as the Election Assistance Commission is working with the FBI to examine an attack late last year on the agency’s computer systems by a Russian hacker.
30. Manafort filed reports with the DOJ showing his firm received nearly $17mm for two years of work for a Ukrainian political party with links to the Kremlin — more than the party’s operations reported spending.
31. Manhattan’s DA office subpoenaed Federal Savings Bank, a Chicago bank run by Steve Calk, for records on a $16mm in loans made to Manafort in November and January. At the time, Manafort was underwater on loans to a Brooklyn townhouse and a family investment in CA properties.
32. The loans to Manafort represent 24% of the bank’s reported $67 million of equity capital. Calk was a member of Trump's economic advisory panel, and had expressed interest in becoming Army Secretary.
33. On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rybakov said the Russian government is “almost” at a deal to get their seized compounds returned.
34. On Tuesday, Trump again tweeted his demand that the Senate must change its rules to make repealing Obamacare easier.
35. In a memo sent to station news directors, Sinclair’s VP of News defended the company from charges of being biased. In Week 35, Sinclair has mandated segments by Trump ally Epshteyn.
36. Sessions said he would be issuing a new directive aimed at increasing police seizures of cash and property.
37. Sen. Paul called on Sessions to stop, tweeting, “Asset forfeiture is an unconstitutional taking of property without trial.”
38. After Republicans failed in their repeal and replace, and then failed again at repeal, Trump said Republicans should “let Obamacare fail,” adding, “I’m not going to own it.”
39. CNN reported Trump aides could face scrutiny by Mueller over their role in strategizing with Trump to craft the initial statement issued by Donald Jr. as the NYT story broke about the June 9 meeting.
40. AP reported that according to Akhmetshin, Veselnitskaya brought a plastic folder with printed-out documents thought to be damaging to Clinton to the meeting with Donald Jr., Kushner and Manafort.
41. WAPO reported the eighth person in the Donald Jr./Veselnitskaya meeting was Ike Kaveladze, who attended as a representative of Aras and Emin Agalarov.
42. Kaveladze’s attorney said he had received a phone call over the weekend from a representative of Mueller, asking to set up an interview.
43. Kaveladze was once the focus of a Congressional money laundering probe involving Russian oligarchs.
44. On an interview with Charlie Rose, Ian Bremmer said Trump and Putin had a second hour-long private meeting on sidelines of the G20.
45. Trump's WH was forced to confirm the meeting Tuesday, as reports surfaced that some guests had been surprised that it occurred.
46. Trump's WH sought to minimize the disclosure, claiming in a statement the private meeting was “just a brief conversation at the end of dinner.” Spicer said of the meeting, “It was pleasantries and small talk.”
47. Daily Beast reported that after being sent a secret document by officials in Moscow in April 2016, GOP Rep Rohrabacher, a long-time Russia advocate, aimed to alter the Magnitsky Act.
48. Without stated rationale, Trump ended a covert CIA program to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels battling al-Assad, a victory for Russia.
49. The day after a shocking announcing he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, McCain issued a statement condemning the Trump's action in Syria, saying this is, “playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin.”
50. Reuters reported that Russia says it is in talk with the US to create a cyber security working group.
51. Trump gave a bizarre, wide-ranging interview to the NYT, which made it apparent he believes he is accountable to no one, and has full control over who occupies positions of power.
52. Trump said he would never have hired Sessions if he knew he would recuse himself from the Trump-Russia probe. Expectations for Sessions resignation followed, but Sessions said he would stay on.
53. Trump started to diminish Deputy AG Rosenstein for appointing a special prosecutor, saying, “There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. So, he’s from Baltimore.”
54. On the topic of his private conversation with Putin at the G20, Trump repeated Donald Jr. initial false claim: “We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting.”
55. Trump also claimed he spoke to Putin because he was seated next to the First Lady of Japan, and didn’t have a Japanese language interpreter.Videos surfaced of Akie Abe speaking fluent English.
56. Trump also opened the door for firing Mueller, saying the special prosecutor would cross a red line if investigations delve into Trump family finances unrelated to Russia.
57. Bloomberg reported Mueller has expanded the probe into Trump's businesses ties to Russia, including Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump SoHo, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and Trump's sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch.
58. Mueller’s team is also absorbing the money laundering probe of Manafort, started by federal prosecutors in New York.
59. WSJ reported the Senate and House Intel Committee are also investigating Manafort for possible money laundering. The Senate committee received reports by the Treasury Department's FinCen unit which track Russian ties.
60. Manafort has borrowed and spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade to finance real estate purchases in Brooklyn, NY and CA.
61. NYT reported Deutsche Bank is under investigation by regulators for their lending relationship with Trump. The bank is also likely to have to provide information to Mueller as part of the Trump-Russia probe.
62. As per Week 19, Deutsche Bank recently paid a $630mm settlement over charges of laundering $10bn for Russia from the bank’s Moscow office.
63. In the past six years, Deutsche’s private wealth area financed three Trump deals, lending $300mm.
64. The commercial real estate area, which would typically lend for such transactions, would not finance the deals. It is also highly unusual for a private wealth area to lend such a high dollar amount.
65. NYT also reported that Deutsche Bank was the referenced European financial institution that had partnered with Russia’s Prevezon, the massive money laundering tax fraud mentioned in Week 35.
66. Prevezon’s case was settled by Sessions' DOJ two days before trial.
67. AP reported Trump repeated overtures towards Russia are increasingly putting him at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers. The second meeting with Putin at the G20 exacerbated the rift.
68. AP reported it was highly unusual for only Tillerson, but not McMaster to have attended the meeting with Putin at the G20. McMaster has been warning Trump that Putin is not to be trusted.
69. The legal team defending Trump in the Russia probe had a shake-up on Thursday, with long-time personal attorney Kasowitz leaving. Mark Corrallo, a spokesperson for Trump's legal team also resigned.
70. Spicer resigned Friday after Trump appointed New York financier Anthony Scaramucci to communications director. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named his replacement.
71. Senators Cardin and Warren have pushed for an investigation into whether Scaramucci’s company, SkyBridge Capital, violated sanctions against Russia.
72. On Friday following Spicer’s resignation, Sanders held an on-camera press briefing, the first one since June 29 (22 days ago).
73. Breaking from Trump, CIA Director Pompeo, Homeland Security Secretary Kelly, and WH Homeland and Counterterrorism adviser Bossert said they believe Russia meddled in our election.
74. Reuters reported Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Jr., had Russian spy agency FSB as a client.
75. After interviewing Susan Rice as part of the Senate Intel Committee, Republican chairman Burr commented, “The unmasking thing was all created by Devin Nunes.”
76. Michael Flynn opened a new consulting firm, Resilient Patriot, LLC. Flynn’s new firm will advise private equity firms.
77. Trump named a temporary director, Apol, to replace Shaub as head of the OGE as he seeks a permanent director. Watchdogs groups expressed concern that Trump bypassed Shaub’s designated successor, Finlayson.
78. WAPO reported some of Trump's lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut Mueller’s Trump-Russia probe, building a case around alleged conflicts of interest of Mueller and his staff.
79. Sekulow said Mueller investigating Trump's business dealings, including transactions like a Russian oligarch’s purchase of Trump's Palm Beach mansion, “is far outside the scope of a legitimate investigation.”
80. WAPO also reported Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and himself.
81. Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee, warned Trump that pardoning targets of the Russia probe would be “crossing a fundamental line.”
82. Trump loyalist Newt Gingrich told FoxNews Friday, “The Mueller investigation has so many conflicts of interests, it’s almost an absurdity.”
83. A New Republic op-ed titled, “We’re on the Brink of an Authoritarian Crisis, cited Trump's NYT interview, information on efforts to attack Mueller and questions about issuing pardons, as cause for concern.
84. WAPO reported Kislyak told his superiors he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Sessions. The conversations were intercepted by US spy agencies.
85. In March, Sessions had said he never had meetings with Russian operatives or intermediaries about the Trump campaign. He also lied under oath during the Senate confirmation hearings about the meetings.
86. WAPO reported Sessions had three meetings with Kislyak including at his Senate office in September, at the Republican National Convention in July, and at the Mayflower Hotel in April.
87. Kushner agreed to testify in front of the Senate Intel Committee next Monday, and the House Intel Committee on Tuesday.
88. Bypassing Tillerson and the State Dept. after a contentious meeting, Trump assigned a WH team of loyalists to review the Iran Nuclear Deal and give him the option to say Tehran was not in compliance.
89. WAPO reported late Friday that Kushner filed a revised financial disclosure form, showing he had failed to disclose dozens of financial holdings that he was required to declare when he joined the WH.
90. Of note, Kushner had failed to disclose a $285mm loan that his company received from Deutsche Bank one month before the election.
91. A separate form filed Friday showed Ivanka has personally profited by as much as $5mm since Trump took office from her outside businesses, despite a promise to distance herself from her private holdings.
92. Also late Friday, a deal between Donald Jr., Manafort and the Senate Judiciary Committee was announced, in which the two will provide records and be interviewed in a closed-door session to avoid being subpoenaed.
93. On Saturday morning, starting at 6:30 a.m EST, Trump sent a bizarre litany of tweets on topics ranging from his usual trashing of the media, Hillary and Comey, to the topic of pardons and Mueller.
94. Trump continued to tweet, despite a new ABC/WAPO poll that showed 67% of Americans disapprove of his using Twitter, including 68% saying his tweets were inappropriate, and half said his tweets were dangerous.
95. Saturday, in a repudiation of Trump, Congress reached a deal on sweeping sanctions to punish Russia for election-meddling. The legislation will limit Trump's ability to suspend or terminate sanctions.

Salvador Dali Miss Piggy Balloon Face and Other Stuff

Well, crap.

I have an abscessed tooth and it’s gotten far enough out of hand that the whole left side of my face looks like balloon art created by Salvador Dali. Or, Miss Piggy.

Ever had your face swell for some reason and your nose expands and your nostrils flare? Yeah, that.

The pain started on Saturday when I woke up, and I immediately thought that it was because I’d clenched my teeth in my sleep and somehow seriously clenched my left eye-tooth in particular. I felt guilty because I have not been good about wearing my night guard (created when I had my crowns ten years ago). So the next two nights I wore my night guard for the first time in, like, ever, hoping that the pain would improve, but it just got worse. Yesterday was miserable. And then the swelling began. In the meantime, I tried hunting for a dentist who could see me this morning, which was challenging. (I haven’t seen a dentist since I’ve lived here, and part of that reason was the angst of the hunt for one). (Also: procrastination).

I think I found a good one! I was impressed! Even here in backwoodsy Shelton (I really didn’t want to have to drive to Olympia). He kind of scared me! I never realized how serious an abscessed tooth could be. It could move into my sinuses (the X-ray on the big screen before my eyes showed it was close), and it can also travel up to the eye, which can actually mean losing the eye. Jesus. He figures that the eye tooth crown “installation” had gradually killed the root of that tooth, and that this was 10 years in the making. Possibly, but I remember last week when a sliver of a sunflower seed shell got stuck in my gum next to that eye tooth. I worked it all day long with toothpicks and floss and it was seriously STUCK. It took hours before I could finally dislodge that stupid thing, and I’m thinking it opened the door to bacteria to travel up the path of the root.

Anyway, I’m now on heavy duty antibiotics. THEN, next Monday I’ll have a root canal (he wanted my Rx of Amoxicillin to have a chance to really kick in first). Yeah, I’m a bit nervous about that, but I’ve heard from several people that it’s not the big deal it used to be. I’m still waiting for the swelling to go away. He said it would take 24-48 hours before it did.

---

Hey, it’s now Wednesday and I’m still all puffed up, but I believe it’s starting to improve. My face is still distorted and wacko looking, and I’ll be awfully glad when everything is back to normal. *Sigh*

A few things to mention, so I think I’ll do it via bullets!

• I got myself an Instant Pot during Amazon’s Prime Day (it was a really good deal!) and I’ve since been watching YouTube videos and joined the Facebook Instant Pot group (that has, get this: over 500,000 members! Holy $hit!) So far, so good. I’ve never used a pressure cooker before, so I wasn’t even sure what to be nervous about—as many folks are when they first get one. It does have a bit of a learning curve, but there are lots of resources out there, so if I have a question that’s not answered in the manual, all I have to do is Google it. (Or go to YouTube).
• So far I’ve made mac & cheese with smoked sausage (turned out nummy) and yesterday while John was at the Hydroplane Museum, I cooked me up an artichoke in nothing flat. John isn’t a fan, so I seized the opportunity! Nom nom! I’m contemplating making something in it for dinner tonight, but haven’t decided what. We do have one more Blue Apron meal for this week, but I may save it for tomorrow.
• Speaking of the Hydroplane Museum, John has been asked to crew on the Miss Budweiser Vintage boat that will be run in exhibition at Tri-Cities. And I’m invited! We’ll head over next Thursday, and then come home on Monday. I suspect it will be blistering hot there, which doesn’t thrill me. But we’ll bring the awning and chairs, lots of water/beverages, and it should be interesting down there in the race pits! We were there 20 years ago EXACTLY when John drove Miss Tri-Cities. Nate was 11 years old! What an experience that was for all of us!
• Last night, just as the light was fading in the sky, John noticed a good-sized “shadow” of something scurrying along the deck rail (25 ft. off the ground…) and I peeked and here was a RACCOON!!! He’d been checking out (pigging out?) the bird seed. It wasn’t huge—must have been a young one—but that’s the first raccoon we’ve seen since the house was built. (We saw them pretty regularly from the trailer deck…eating the birdseed). Argh! I sure hope he doesn’t tell his friends. Certainly don’t need cats and raccoons wrangling out on the deck. (Or coming inside the house through the open bedroom window).
• I LOVE this photo of Sandra and Nate! She’s getting very preggers!

• Also, we’ve been having some PURDY sunsets. We’ve gone over a full month without rain, and it’s been stellar. Mostly in the 70s, sometimes inching into the early 80s. Couldn’t be more perfect!

Week Thirty-Five

Compiled by Amy Siskind

Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

I’m pleased to share that “The Weekly List” has found a safe home at the Library of Congress. May future generations learn from our slow slide to authoritarianism, and never let it happen again!

This week the bombshell story about Donald Jr.’s emails, the first direct evidence of possible collusion and intent between the Trump campaign and Russia, dominated media coverage and conversation. But as with each week, amidst the bedlam, there were a myriad of less-covered, important stories on how the fabric of our country is changing, and kleptocracy is omnipresent.

1. After the G20, Pope Francis warned about “dangerous” international alliances, including the one between the US and Russia.
2. On Sunday after returning from the G20, Trump sent a bizarre set of tweets, including his apparent acceptance that Putin did not meddle in our election, and his plan to set up a Cyber Security unit with Putin.
3. After widespread condemnation of his Cyber Security unit idea, Trump tweeted Sunday night that he didn’t really mean it.
4. US officials say Russia government hackers were behind recent cyber-intrusions into the administrative and business networks of a US nuclear power plant and other energy companies.
5. Reuters reported European infrastructure networks have also recently been hacked, and the Russian government is thought to be the culprit.
6. An Arkansas bill scheduled to go into effect July 30 would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion without notifying the man who impregnated her, even in cases of rape.
7. On Monday, Capitol police arrested citizens protesting the GOP health care bill outside of Republican senate offices.
8. A federal judge halted the deportation of 1,400 Iraqi nationals, including many Christians fearing persecution. The Trump’s regime efforts to deport took on new urgency because Iraq has agreed to accept deportees.
9. An Iranian cancer researcher traveling on a valid visa to the US to work as a visiting scholar at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, was detained at Logan Airport, along with his wife and three children.
10. Pew Research found the percentage of Muslim refugees has steadily declined under Trump from 50% in February to 31% in June, while the percentage of Christian refugees has increased from 41% to 57%.
11. A federal judge’s ruling in Hawaii narrowed the scope of Trump’s Muslim Ban by vastly expanding the list of family relationships with U.S. citizens that visa applicants can use to get into the US.
12. Trump ally Steve King called for using federal funds set aside for Planned Parenthood and welfare programs like food stamps to be reallocated for funding Trump’s Mexican Wall.
13. POLITICO reported that Trump and his regime are quietly working with conservative senators Cotton and Perdue to cut the number of legal immigrants allowed into the US by half over the next decade.
14. According to a memo obtained by WAPO, the Trump regime is considering expanding the DHS’s power to expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants, a major expansion of the agency’s power.
15. DeVos met with MRA groups who believe campus sexual assault is a hoax, including The National Coalition for Men, an organization with a history of harassing and intimidating alleged sexual-assault survivors.
16. DeVos also met with Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), an organization SPLC described as promoting misogyny. SAVE has lobbied against efforts to address military sexual assault, calling it a “witch hunt.”
17. Ahead of these pivotal meeting, Candice Jackson, the acting assistant secretary for civil right at the Education Dept. said 90% of campus sexual accusations come after drunk sex or break-ups. She later apologized.
18. Sessions delivered a speech to Alliance Defending Freedom, a group designated as an “anti-LGBT hate group” by the SPLC in 2016, off camera on Tuesday. The DOJ refused to release his remarks.
19. Rep Martha McSally stood on the House floor Wednesday in a sleeveless dress and open-toed shoes to say she would not comply with the dress code in the chamber and Speaker’s lobby.
20. On Friday, female members of the House wore sleeveless clothing to work, tweeting in support of “Sleeveless Friday.”
21. Price’s HHS quietly defunded teen pregnancy programs designed by the Obama administration to fund scientifically valid ways to help teenagers make healthy decisions that avoid unwanted pregnancy.
22. The ACLU filed a suit against Trump’s Election Integrity Commission, saying it isn’t following federal law requiring it to be open to the public.
23. Trump’s Election Integrity Commission published a 112 page document of public feedback (mostly negative), which exposed personal information including email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of some.
24. Over 3k Colorado voters have canceled their registrations since Trump’s Election Integrity Commission requested voter roll information.
25. A non-partisan campaign finance watchdog group filed a complaint with the FEC alleging Price improperly used his congressional campaign fund to promote his confirmation to HHS Secretary.
26. Center for Public Integrity reported Bannon failed to properly disclose more than $2mm in mortgage debt on his financial disclosure form.
27. Trump’s expected pick for chief of the Wage and Hour Division of the Dept. of Labor, Cheryl Stanton, was named in a lawsuit last year for allegedly not paying her house cleaners.
28. WAPO reported that while Trump has chastised companies for outsourcing jobs and Ivanka branded herself a feminist, Ivanka’s clothing lines are exclusively produced at low-wage foreign factories, and women employees are not well treated.
29. After Trump’s much ballyhooed deal with Carrier to keep American jobs, Indiana has lost 5k manufacturing jobs since February.
30. WSJ reported the CEO of a OpenGov, a small start-up that Kushner’s brother has a stake in, got a seat at a WH roundtable for prominent technology-industry leaders last month. Kushner owned the stake before selling it to his brother early in the year.
31. POLITICO reported that conservative Sinclair Broadcasting increased “must run” segments featuring former Trump adviser Epshteyn to nine times per week, across its affiliates.
32. Sputnik, a Russian government-funded news outlet, started broadcasting on 105.5 FM last week from K-Street offices, a few blocks from the WH.
33. Within 24 hours of announcing “The Weekly List” will be archived in the Library of Congress, I was the target of two hit pieces in Sputnik News, one in RT, and other various Russia-friendly blogs.
34. NYT reported that Pence has quietly hosted at least four private dinners, and has more in the works, to court big donors and corporate executives.
35. The Trump regime’s deregulation teams is full of appointees with deep industry ties. NYT and ProPublica reported on 71 appointees with industry links, including 28 with potential conflicts.
36. Intercept reported Kushner tried to get a half-billion loan bailout for his 666 Fifth Avenue from a Qatar sovereign wealth fund, and the deal not coming to fruition may have influenced US policy towards Qatar.
37. USA Today reported a US Golf Association exec told USGA executive committee members that Trump threatened to sue the organization if it moved the 2017 US Women’s Open from Trump‘s golf club in Bedminster.
38. Trump tweeted: “I will be at the @USGA #USWomensOpen in Bedminster,” advertising one of his properties again.
39. Documents released to WAPO under the FOIA show the State Dept. spent more than $15k for rooms at the new Trump hotel in Vancouver.
40. At the behest of Bannon, Trump aides Prince and Feinberg, both who benefited from military contracting, developed an alternative plan to the one proposed by the Pentagon for Afghanistan. Their plan was to rely on contractors (mostly non-American) instead of American military troops.
41. Twitter users who were blocked by Trump’s personal account are suing him in federal court, saying he violated their First Amendment rights.
42. Trump tweeted that Comey had “leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION” and “That is so illegal!” The Columbia law professor who received some of Comey’s memos, said the memos he received were not classified.
43. Saturday evening, NYT reported that Donald Jr., Kushner and Manafort met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer with close Kremlin ties, at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016.
44. Donald Jr. initially claimed the meeting was related to an adoption program. Kushner had failed to disclose the meeting in his security clearance. Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign manager at the time, had no comment on the meeting.
45. On Sunday, NYT reported Donald Jr. met with the Veselnitskaya after being promised damaging information on Hillary. The meeting took place two weeks after Trump became the GOP nominee.
46. On the question of whether Trump campaign colluded with Russia, NY noted Donald Jr.’s meeting is “the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help.”
47. A spokesperson for Trump’s lawyer told the NYT, “the president was not aware of and did not attend the meeting.”
48. Donald Jr. hired attorney Alan Futerfas to represent him in the Russia probe, adding to a long list of attorneys defending Team Trump.
49. WAPO reported the acquaintance who set up the meeting was Rob Goldstone, who was active in the Miss Universe pageant and works as a manager for Russian pop singer, Emin Agalarov.
50. As news was breaking on Donald Jr., Russia’s Lavrov threatened that Russia is “considering specific measures” as retribution for Trump not returning two compounds seized by the Obama administration.
51. On Tuesday, Donald Jr. preemptively tweeted his email exchange in setting up the Trump Tower meeting. Donald Jr had been contacted by the NY for comment, asked for more time, then tweeted.
52. Shortly after his tweet, the NYT story broke. In addition to the emails, the story details the changing accounts by all involved parties.
53. Per emails, Donald Jr was offered information that “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” and “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
54. Donald Jr.’s response was: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”
55. Donald Jr. forwarded the email chain — with the subject line, “Re: Russia — Clinton — private and confidential” — to Kushner and Manafort ahead of the meeting.
56. The email was sent by Rod Goldstone on behalf of a mutual friend, Emin Agalarov. Emin is the son of Aras Agalarov, a real estate tycoon referred to as the “Donald Trump of Russia,” who has close ties to, and was awarded the “Order of Honor of the Russian Federation” by, Putin.
57. The meeting took place in Trump Tower, one floor below Trump’s offices.Trump continued to deny knowledge or involvement all week.
58. According to emails, the meeting took place at 4:00 pm. Donald Jr. said it lasted 20–30 minutes. At 4:40 pm same day, Trump tweeted in response to a tweet by Hillary, “where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted?”
59. Julian Assange tweeted, “Contacted Trump Jr this morning on why he should publish his emails (i.e with us),” indicating he has been in contact with Donald Jr.
60. WAPO reported Donald Jr. changed his story about the meeting with Veselnitskaya four times in the first four days of the story coming to light.
61. NYT reported Trump personally signed off on Donald Jr.’s first statement Saturday night saying his meeting with a Russian lawyer was to discuss adoption policy — a known lie.
62. After releasing his emails, Donald Jr. gave an interview to Fox News telling his side of the story. Trump called his son “a high-quality person” and added, “I applaud his transparency.”
63. Yahoo reported that Trump had a Moscow real estate deal with Aras Agalarov, the same Russian oligarch who set up the meeting with Veselnitskaya, to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow.
64. A letter intent was signed by Trump, then as the presidential campaign got underway, Donald Jr. was assigned to take the lead. Ivanka also looked at spots for Trump Tower Moscow with Emin Agalarov.
65. The deal did not happen because the Russian economy floundered, in part because of US and EU sanctions imposed after Crimea and Ukraine. Doing away with US sanctions could help put the deal back on track.
66. In April 2016, Emin and Aras Agalarov told WAPO they wanted Trump to be elected. Emin said Trump’s election would be “an amazing breakthrough” that would forge peace between Russia and the US.
67. CNN reported Mueller’s investigators plan to examine the meeting and email exchanges disclosed by Donald Jr. as part of their broader Russian-meddling investigation.
68. On “The Late Show” Tuesday night, Joe Scarborough announced he is leaving the Republican Party. “It’s a shame there are so few Republicans speaking truth to power,” Scarborough tweeted.
69. NYT reported Tuesday that Trump’s long-time personal attorney and lead counsel for the Russia probe, Kasowitz, has been the target of Trump’s frustration and ire, and may resign.
70. ProPublica reported that as Trump’s lead attorney on the Russia probe, Kasowitz is unable to see classified information because he isn’t seeking security clearance, and may have trouble getting one.
71. On Wednesday night, Kasowitz threatened a stranger in an email, saying “I’m on you now,” and “Watch your back, bitch,” etc. Later, he apologized through a spokesperson, saying he was working late that night.
72. McClatchy reported that Congressional and DOJ investigators are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states.
73. Kushner, who is already a “person of interest” for the DOJ investigations, will be investigated for his role overseeing the digital operations, and for possible cooperation with Russian efforts.
74. Of note, the Russians knew to target women and African-Americans in two of the three decisive states, Wisconsin and Michigan. Clinton lost WI, MI and PA by a combined 77,744 votes out of 13.9 million ballots cast.
75. WSJ reported that in light of Donald Jr. emails, US intel investigators are re-examining conversations captured in the spring of 2015 of Russian government officials discussing associates of Trump.
76. Rep Brad Sherman of CA introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. Rep Green of TX was the only other Democrat to join.
77. AP reported that Trump’s mysterious friend “Jim,” who Trump frequently referenced on the campaign trail and more recently ahead of his trip to Paris, may not actually exist.
78. Trump faced heavy criticism after telling France’s first lady during his first state visit to the country, “You’re in such good shape.”
79. Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Sessions asking why the DOJ settled a $230mm Russian money laundering case against Prevezon for $6mm two days before trial in May.
80. Veselnitskaya represented the family of Pyotr Katsyv, whose son owns Prevezon. Democrats want to know is she was involved at any point in settlement negotiations.
81. Prevezon was part of Russia’s largest tax fraud scheme. Magnitsky, the lawyer who exposed the alleged fraud, was jailed, tortured and killed in Russia. Veselnitskaya has been trying to undo the Act in his name.
82. The case against Prevezon was initially brought by US attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump.
83. Axios reported Trump’s outside legal teams wants him to wall off Kushner from discussing the Russian investigation with Trump.
84. On Thursday morning, NPR reported Sessions had defied a judge’s order by not supplying the required forms to show his foreign contacts. The court’s 30-day deadline expired Wednesday.
85. Later that afternoon, a day late, the DOJ did release one heavily redacted page of Sessions’s SF86, showing only that he had checked a box “no” on whether he had met with any foreign governments in the past 7 years.
86. New Republic reported that Trump’s relationship with Russia dates back to the 1980s, and over decades Russia has laundered money through Trump’s real estate and casinos.
87. Gorka told CNN that Trump is considering returning the Russian compounds because “we want to give collaboration” a chance. US intel found evidence the compounds were used for spying on the US.
88. Thursday, Trump said he would invite Putin to the WH at the right time. Trump also continued to not acknowledge that Russia who hacked our election, saying it could have been China or N. Korea.
89. NYT reported that Kushner has supplemented his federal disclosure form three times, adding more than 100 foreign contact names.
90. Chicago Tribune reported that Peter W. Smith, the GOP operative who detailed his efforts along with members of the Trump campaign to get Hillary’s deleted emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide.
91. Smith’s interview with WSJ’s Shane Harris was the first report of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Smith’s suicide happened nine days after the interview occurred.
92. Smith left a curious suicide note, citing a bad turn in his health, and writing, “NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER.” Harris said when he spoke to Smith, he had no indication “he was ill or planning to take his own life.”
93. NBC reported at the June 9 meeting, Veselnitskaya was accompanied by Rinat Akhmetshin a Russian-American lobbyist, and former Soviet counterintelligence officer with ongoing ties to Russian intelligence.
94. AP confirmed that Akhmetshin attended the meeting. Donald Jr. had not disclosed Akhmetshin’s attendance, not had Kushner in his forms.
95. Daily Beast reported Akhmetshin was previously accused in federal and state courts of orchestrating an international hacking conspiracy.
96. Grassley, chair of the Sen. Judiciary Committee, called on Donald Jr. to testify as early as next week. Grassley said he would subpoena him if necessary.
97. Grassley filed a complaint against Akhmetshin in March, saying he was effectively engaged in lobbying work as an unregistered agent for Russian interests. Akhmetshin lobbied for Congress to repeal the Magnitsky Act.
98. FP reported that the private email account of a top US intelligence officer working in the secretive arm of the State Dept. focusing on Russia, was hacked. Russia is suspected of being behind the hack.
99. Yahoo reported Trump lawyers knew about the emails three weeks ago, although Trump claimed he learned about them, “a couple of days ago.”
100. Friday, CNN said there were at least 8 people at the Donald Jr./Veselnitskaya meeting.
101. On the Friday Fox News hand-off from Shepard Smith to Chris Wallace, Smith said “Why is it lie after lie after lie?….The deception, Chris, is mind-boggling…Where are we, and why are we getting told all these lies?” Wallace answered, “I don’t know what to say.”
102. Veselnitskaya told WSJ that she had been meeting regularly and sharing information with Russian authorities and Russia’s top prosecutor, Yuri Chaika — the “Crown prosecutor” referenced in Goldstone’s emails.
103. Amid a legal team shake-up, Trump hired Ty Cobb to become point person inside the WH for matters related to Russia, and Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick stepped away from representing him on Russia.
104. Maddow reported on a lawsuit filed by United to Protect Democracy on behalf of three citizens against Trump and Stone for their role in the public sharing of information hacked by the Russians. If it goes to trial, discovery could reveal information on how stolen info was disseminated.
105. Friday, a judge order a retrial of the Code Pink activist who was arrested after she laughed during Sessions’s confirmation hearing.
106. Lawyers for the only known DREAMer to be deported, filed supporting statement showing ICE agents wrongly forced him across the border.

Week Thirty-Four

Compiled by Amy Siskind

Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

This is arguably the most alarming weekly list so far. A plot that has played out week-by-week as Trump alienated our allies while cozying up to authoritarians, followed by his embarrassing behavior at the NATO and G7 meetings, culminated this week at the G20 with US isolationism. This videohttps://goo.gl/VR1zxi, which traces weekly not normal items, explains why Putin is the winner in this new world alignment.

This week Trump amped-up his assault on the media, including encouraging violence. With this, Trump has distracted the country and media, and taken back the narrative. In the atmosphere of chaos, this week also stands out for the number of important stories that received little or no media coverage.

1. As more and more states refused to comply with what Trump described as his “very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL”, he questioned, “What are they trying to hide?”
2. By midweek, 44 states and DC refused to provide some or all of the voter roll data requested by Trump's Election Integrity Commission.
3. States are denying the request based on concerns over privacy and federal overreach, and also concern that the effort of identifying voter affiliation will be used to purge Democrats from voter rolls.
4. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a Hatch Act complaint against Kobach, saying he used Trump's commission to solicit political campaign money.
5. A Maryland official, Deputy SoS Luis Borunda, resigned from Trump's commission.
6. Several experts on the regulatory process told The Hill that Trump's commission may have violated the law by failing to submit the requests to states through OIRA, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
7. A DOJ letter sent to 44 states’ election officials on the same day Kobach and Pence made their requests, asks states to detail their compliance with the NVRA. This request also raised concerns about voter purging.
8. At a rally in DC Saturday night, Trump continued his attacks on the “fake” media, saying, “I’m President and they’re not.”
9. On Sunday, Trump tweeted a video created by a Reddit user from both his personal account and the official @POTUS account, showing him violently wrestling down a person whose face is the CNN logo.
10. The Reddit user was named “HanAssholeSolo” and his posts were full of anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and other white supremacists materials.
11. The Reddit user later apologized, but Trump did not. The parents and wife of the CNN reporter who covered the story received around 50 harassing phone calls. Allegedly, CNN did not defend the reporter.
12. As Trump continued his anti-CNN rhetoric, the cable network’s anchors and executives received death threats and other harassing messages.
13. Following Trump's tweet, three media watchdog groups have started to do something they never imagined: documenting violent threats and actions against the media in the US.
14. Maine’s Governor LePage said he makes up stories to mislead the press. LePage also called the media “vile” and “inaccurate.”
15. NYT reported the Trump regime discussed using the pending merger between Time Warner and AT&T as leverage over CNN.
16. On Thursday, Trump media ally Daily Caller reported the WH doesn’t support the merger if Zucker still heads CNN.
17. Trump ally and Bannon patron Bob Mercer bought 2.5mm shares of Time Inc., owner of Time magazine in the first quarter of 2017. Per Week 33, David Pecker, owner of National Enquirer is also interested in Time Inc.
18. Maddow reported that TRMS was sent a forged NSA document. Maddow speculated this was an attempt to trick her show into reporting a false story, and hence weakening her credibility and dulling that storyline.
19. Maddow said that other media outlets may also be receiving forged documents as well, citing recently retracted stories at CNN and Vice.
20. POLITICO reported on the Trump regime’s obsessive crackdown on leaks from the intelligence community, which has led to an “increasingly tense and paranoid working environment” in the national security community.
21. On Sunday, protestors gathered at rallies in dozens of cities around the country to call for Trump's impeachment.
22. NBC reported that in Trump's first 168 days in office, he spent 50 days at Trump properties and 36 days at Trump golf resorts.
23. NYT reported that while working with industry players, not EPA staff, Pruitt has moved to undo, delay or block 30 environmental rules, a rollback larger in scope than any other in the agency’s 47-year history.
24. Several states sued over the EPA’s decision to keep a Dow pesticide, which studies show can harm children’s brains, on the market. Per Week 33, Dow spent millions lobbying and donated to Trump's inauguration.
25. The Wisconsin assembly passed a bill which would block students from protesting conservative speakers on college campuses.
26. NYT reported the Trump regime’s latest anti-immigrant tactic is to target undocumented parents suspected of having paid to have their children smuggled into the US.
27. POLITICO reported that Trump insider Stephen Miller has been holding meetings with agencies on how to further curb the entry of refugees. Miller clashed with Tillerson, who demanded autonomy.
28. A new law in Florida allows parents and residents to file complaints with school boards to challenge what’s taught in science classes.
29. Attorneys general for 18 states and DC sued DeVos and the Dept. of Education over a decision to roll back rules put in place to help students who have been defrauded by their colleges.
30. Devos’s Dept. of Education may stop publishing the list of college and universities in violation of Title IX for mishandling campus sexual assault. The Obama Administration started the list to hold schools accountable for an issue which impacts 1 in 5 college women and 1 in 20 college men.
31. WAPO reported the WH gender pay gap until has more tripled under Trump, with female staffers earning on average 63% of what their male counterparts make. This is the biggest WH gender pay gap in decades.
32. Female journalists were banned from the Speaker’s lobby, a room area where reporters speak to members of Congress, because their sleeveless dressed were not viewed as “appropriate attire.”
33. In a 53 page memo to the court, Trump attorney Kasowitz argued for the dismissal of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Trump, claiming Trump cannot be sued in state court while in office.
34. The Auschwitz Memorial condemned a political video posted by Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, which the congressman filmed inside an Auschwitz gas chamber.
35. At a protest outside Sen. Portman’s office in Columbus, OH, a woman in a wheelchair was pushed out of her chair to the ground by a police officer.
36. The KKK plans a rally in downtown Charlottesville today, and warned that many of its 80–100 members and supporters will be armed.
37. Pro-Trump Twitter operatives are marketing their services to candidates and others, promising to mobilize their followers and networks for pay.
38. Guardian reported investigators are looking into whether the Trump campaign and far-right websites coordinated with Russia in spreading fake news. Sen. Warner noted key voters in swing states were targeted.
39. Motherboard reported on an analysis of the Twitter bots that helped Trump, and found the same bots and alt-right narrative emerged in the French election against Macron.
40. On July 4, NRP tweeted the Declaration of Independence, and was attacked by Trump supporters who called it “propaganda” and “spam.”
41. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found Trump's net approval with Independents has fallen by 17 points since he took office.
42. The poll also found that the majority (54%) of Americans believe Trump did something illegal or unethical with Russia.
43. While his predecessors Clinton, W. Bush and Obama celebrated July 4th by visiting troops, Trump spent the day on a Trump-branded golf course. McCain, Warren and Graham visited troops in Afghanistan.
44. Despite his recusal, Sessions spoke to Fox & Friends about the Trump-Russia probe, offering advice to Mueller on hiring practices and tempo.
45. WSJ reported the OGE will release an additional two dozen ethics waivers just filed for Trump regime members working on issues they handled in their private-sector jobs. Trump has already granted as many waivers to WH officials as Mr. Obama did in his eight years in office.
46. The State Department's Office of the Inspector General said the State Dept. and USAID have failed to adequately track more than $30bn of foreign aid.
47. In a survey of 35k employees in the State Dept. and USAID, workers said they were concerned about the future of their agencies and the lack of support from the Trump regime and Tillerson.
48. An Indiana nonprofit is suing Pence’s successor for keeping residents in the dark on the deal between the Trump regime and Pence with Carrier. The group’s request for information in December went unanswered.
49. In another sign the Trump regime won’t take civil rights seriously, Trump nominated Eric Dreiband to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Dreiband has spent his career defending companies from charges of discrimination.
50. One of the DOJ’s top corporate crime watchdogs, Hui Chen, resigned, saying holding companies to standards the Trump regime wasn’t living up to was “creating a cognitive dissonance that I could not overcome.”
51. Walter Shaub, director of the OGE resigned in frustration, six months before his term ended, saying, “It’s clear that there isn’t more I could accomplish.” Shaub and OGE have 24 items in The Weekly List.
52. Shaub said in post-resignation interview that Trump's ethics program is “a very serious disappointment,” and that his efforts to get basic information from the regime was “like pulling teeth.”
53. CREW filed an ethics complaint against Kushner, saying he failed to make the required disclosure of his ownership interest in Cadre. The online real estate investment company has a value of $800mm.
54. The Russian sanctions bill, which passed in the Senate 98–2, stalled in the House as Republican Pete Sessions, chair of the House Rules Committee, said it would make American energy companies less competitive.
55. WSJ reported energy companies including Exxon and Chevron, and other industries, are lobbying against the Russian sanctions bill, saying it would hurt their business with Russian partners.
56. Trump Organization renewed more than 1k web domains, including many which refer to Trump and Russia, like TrumpTowerMoscow.com., indicating possible interest in future development.
57. Axios reported that Russian government-owned Sputnik news is coming to the DC airwaves after taking over a FM radio station. The FCC has not yet been notified according to a spokesperson.
58. Matt Tait, who is cited in the WSJ story on possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia on Hillary’s deleted emails, wrote an op-ed, “The Time I Got Recruited to Collude with the Russians,” to tell his story.
59. Tait said it was clear to him that Smith knew Flynn and his son, well, and that they knew the “dark web” was likely Russia but didn’t care. Tait warned it could be “part of a wider Russian campaign against the US.”
60. Tait also received a document titled “A Demonstrative Pedagogical Summary to be Developed and Released Prior to November 8, 2016,” which list four groups involved, including group one which listed: Bannon, Conway, Clovis, Flynn and Lisa Nelson.
61. McClatchy reported a Kremlin documents shows Kaspersky Lab, a leading global seller of anti-virus programs, has ties to Russia’s spying apparatus. Kaspersky’s certification has a FSB military intelligence unit number.
62. Kaspersky security software is available globally, including at Target and Walmart. The company also serves as a subcontractor for US federal software contracts, and was used by the DNC last summer.
63. CNN reported that Russia is stepping up spying efforts in the US post the US elections. Officials cited said Russia feels emboldened by the lack of a significant retaliatory response by Trump and Obama.
64. US Intel estimates that Russia has 150 operatives in the US. Since the election, many have tried to sneak in under the guise of business.
65. Strangely, the State Dept. reportedly continues to grant temporary duty visas to suspected Russian intelligence officers, despite knowledge.
66. AP reported on a lawsuit filed by Coalition for Good Governance, saying Georgia’s 6th Congressional election results should be voided because of previously identified problem with the touchscreen voting system.
67. The suit cites the work of a private cyber security researcher who found that a misconfigured server had left Georgia’s 6.7 million voter records exposed to hackers last August.
68. Republican SoS in Georgia, Brian Kemp blamed the media for developing a false narrative about Russia hacking, and said states are doing enough to keep elections secure and “anything to the contrary is fake news.”
69. WSJ reported that Mueller has hired an “absolute cream of the crop” team of 15 top attorneys with experience in national security, public corruption and financial crimes for the Russia probe.
70. FT reported Russian-born Sater has agreed to co-operate with an international investigation into a money-laundering network. Per Week 32, Sater has extensive ties to organized crime and the Trump family.
71. In their campaign for the upcoming election, Merkel’s party has dropped the reference to the US as a “friend.” Four years ago, her party referred to the US as Germany’s “most important friend” outside of Europe.
72. Bloomberg reported China and Germany have stepped up to lead this year’s G20 summit, a role formerly held by the US.
73. Pew Research found that 17 of the 19 G20 countries in their survey look to Merkel, not Trump, to lead in world affairs.
74. Guardian reported Trump considered a sneak visit to Downing Street in order to avoid massive UK protests en route to or from the G20 summit. After the story broke, the WH said Trump would not visit.
75. Instead, on his way to the G20, Trump chose to stop off at Poland, despite the new far-right government’s authoritarian leanings including cracking down on judges and the media.
76. AP reported the Polish government promised the WH cheering crowds as part of the invitation. Members of the ruling party and pro-government activists bussed in groups of people for Trump's speech.
77. Trump gave another of his dystopian speeches in Poland, saying Western civilization was at risk of decline because of “radical Islamic terrorism” and government bureaucracy.
78. At a news conference in Poland, Trump said he thinks meddling in the US election was done by Russia, but “it could have been other people in other countries” and that “nobody really knows for sure.”
79. Also on his trip to Poland, Trump continued to dismiss and belittle US intelligence, saying, “Do we even have seventeen intelligence agencies?”
80. The day before Trump was set to meet with Putin, seemingly as a bargaining chip, The Moscow Times reported the Russian embassy to the US is accusing the US of “kidnapping” a man accused of cyber-fraud.
81. Ahead of his meeting with Putin, top Senate Democrats sent a letter to Trump saying not raising Russia’s interference in our election would be “a severe dereliction of the duty of the office to which you were elected.”
82. LA Times reported that in preparing Trump for his meeting with Putin, aids had written a list of “tweet-length sentences,” which summarize the main points.
83. Trump met with Mexico’s Pena Nieto at the G20. After the meeting, Trump was asked if Mexico will pay for the wall to which he responded, “absolutely.” Mexico’s foreign minister said the wall was not discussed.
84. Friday, without provocation or reason, Trump tweeted a random lie about Podesta: “Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!”
85. At the G20, Trump and Putin met for 2:16 hours off-camera, behind closed doors. The meeting was originally scheduled to last 30 minutes.
86. Only Tillerson and Trump were present from the US side, despite media speculation that McMaster and Fiona Hill would be included.
87. Lavrov and Tillerson gave different accounts of what happened behind closed doors. Lavrov said Trump told Putin some circles in America were “exaggerating” allegations of Russian interference in the US election.
88. Sally Yates tweeted Trump's refusal to confirm Russian interference“insults career intel pros & hinders our ability to prevent in future.”
89. Tillerson’s version differed, but both said they agreed to put whatever happened behind them: “There was not a lot of re-litigating of the past.” Tillerson added, “This is a very important relationship.”
90. Russia faces no consequences from Trump for interfering in our election. It was unclear if Trump returned the two Russian compounds seized by Obama as punishment for Russia interfering in our election.
91. In an op-ed, “Trump Caves to Putin,” conservative journalist Stephen Hayes laid out an indictment of how Trump bowed to Putin on Russian interference and foreign policy. Elected Republicans however were silent.
92. AP reported Saturday that Putin said, “he thinks Trump believes his denial of Russian meddling in US vote, but better to ask Trump himself.”
93. Ivanka took her father’s seat at a G20 meeting on Saturday. Normally, government ministers or senior officials would take such a role.
94. Trump isolated the US from other G20 countries on a series of policies ranging from climate to free trade.
95. The US abstained from signing onto the G20 communique on climate-related issues, the sole country at the summit to do so.
96. As the summit came to a close, leaders feared for that the G20 summits may be ineffective while Trump is in office. President Macron said, “Our world has never been so divided.”

Prescience

“The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion…

When a man unprincipled in private life[,] desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents…despotic in his ordinary demeanor, known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government and bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day—it may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may “ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.””

Alexander Hamilton,
[Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration] (August 18, 1792]

LOVE the 4th!

I’m not personally enamored with fireworks, aside from watching a good show, but never much of a participant. I guess I always took those dire warnings about blowing off fingers and putting out eyes pretty seriously. Over all the years at Camano Island, from childhood up until we started hanging out here at Harstine Island, it was fun to watch “the boys” set off their stash of silly sparklers up to impressive mortars, and making a party of it. We have some great memories of John and my brother giddily purchasing not-so-safe-and-sane stuff from various tribal reservations and becoming 12 years old all over again. Up until a couple of years ago, our Harstine next door neighbors had access to some seriously professional fireworks, and those shows were GOBSMACKING. That access ended, but all the various revelers up and down the beach took up the slack with darned good displays.

There have been many many 4th of Julys here with uber-high tides, which made it impossible for us to venture down to the beach, so we’d watch from either the trailer deck, or now the house deck. Here, you can see how high the tide can get—no beach!

But on this 4th, the stars aligned in the best possible way! First, my BFF, Helen, came to visit from Oregon. She came the afternoon beforehand and stayed until the morning of the 5th, so we got some serious hanging-out time together. And the weather was stellar! We ate pasta and drank Crantinis! We walked on the beach! We yapped our lips off. Lots of giggles, some tears (she recently lost her mom), and contemplative thoughts about looking ahead, as we are both retired now.

The tide totally cooperated for once, and we joined our next door neighbors down at the beach at sunset and had a nice little campfire. Oh, it was gorgeous down there!

 

And from there we later watched the fireworks all around us, near and far. Some pretty good stuff! Poor Bailey became quite stressed, even though she couldn’t hear much of it (probably the high pitched ones, and then felt the concussions from the BOOMS), so I tried to hold her tight like a “Thunder Blanket” with varying degrees of success.

I didn’t capture any fireworks photos because all I had was my iPhone and it just doesn’t do a good job of it. (Few cameras do, aside from the high-end ones). Plus, we were busy watching!

Ahhhhh, summah!

The Hijacked American Presidency

Every now and then we are going to have to do this: Step back from the daily onslaughts of insanity emanating from Donald Trump's parasitic presidency and remind ourselves of the obscenity of it all, registering its magnitude in its full, devastating truth.

There is something insidious and corrosive about trying to evaluate the severity of every offense, trying to give each an individual grade on the scale of absurdity. Trump himself is the offense. Everything that springs from him, every person who supports him, every staffer who shields him, every legislator who defends him, is an offense. Every partisan who uses him — against all he or she has ever claimed to champion — to advance a political agenda and, in so doing, places party over country, is an offense.

We must remind ourselves that Trump's very presence in the White House defiles it and the institution of the presidency. Rather than rising to the honor of the office, Trump has lowered the office with his whiny, fragile, vindictive pettiness.

The presidency has been hijacked.

Last week, when Donald Trump attacked two MSNBC hosts, people were aghast. The condemnation came quickly and from all quarters.

But his words shouldn’t have shocked. His tweet was just another pebble on a mountain of vulgarities. This act of coarseness was in fact an act of continuity. Trump was being Trump: the grossest of the gross, a profanity against propriety.

This latest episode is simply part of a body of work demonstrating the man’s utter contempt for decency. We all know what it will add up to: nothing.

Republicans have bound themselves up with Trump. His fate is their fate. They have surrendered any moral authority to which they once laid claim — rightly or not. If Trump goes down, they all do.

It’s all quite odd, this moral impotence, this cowering before the belligerent, would-be king. A madman and his legislative minions are holding America hostage.

There are no new words to express it; there is no new and novel way to catalog it. It is what it is and has been from day one: The most extraordinary and profound electoral mistake America has made in our lifetimes and possibly ever.

We must say without ceasing, and without growing weary by the redundancy, that what we are witnessing is not normal and cannot go unchallenged. We must reaffirm our commitment to resistance. We must always remember that although individual Americans made the choice to vote affirmatively for him or actively withhold their support from his opponent, those decisions were influenced, in ways we cannot calculate, by Russian interference in our election, designed to privilege Trump.

We must remember that we now have a president exerting power to which he may only have access because a foreign power hostile to our interests wanted him installed. We must remember that he has not only praised that foreign power, he has proven mysteriously averse to condemning it or even acknowledging its meddling.

We must remember that there are multiple investigations ongoing about the degree of that interference in our election — including a criminal investigation — and that those investigations are not constrained to collusion and are far from fake news. These investigations are deadly serious, are about protecting the integrity of our elections and the sovereignty of our country and are about a genuine quest for truth and desire for justice.

Every action by this administration is an effort to push forward the appearance of normality, to squelch scrutiny, to diminish the authority and credibility of the ongoing investigations.

Last week, after a growing list of states publicly refused to hand over sensitive voter information to Trump's ironic and quixotic election integrity commission, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted the pushback as a “political stunt.”

But in fact the commission itself is the political stunt. The committee is searching for an illegal voting problem that doesn’t exist. Trump simply lied when he said that he would have won the popular vote were it not for millions of illegal votes. And then he established this bogus commission — using taxpayer money — to search for a truth that doesn’t exist, to try to prove right a lie that he should never have told.

This commission is classic Trump projection: There is a real problem with the integrity of our last election because the Russians helped power his win, but rather than deal with that very real attack on this country, he is instead tilting at windmills concerning in-person voter fraud.

Last week, CNN reported:

“The Trump administration has taken no public steps to punish Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. Multiple senior administration officials said there are few signs the president is devoting his time or attention to the ongoing election-related cyber threat from Russia.”

Donald Trump is depending on people’s fatigue. He is banking on your becoming overwhelmed by his never-ending antics. He is counting on his capacity to wear down the resistance by sheer force.

We must be adamant that that will never come to pass. Trump is an abomination, and a cancer on the country, and none of us can rest until he is no longer holding the reins of power.

-Charles M. Blow, New York Times

Week Thirty-Three

Compiled by Amy Siskind

Week 33: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

This week the first evidence of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia surfaced. Several key members of the Trump regime could be ensnared — big news, with major ramifications! Yet, most of our country was distracted by Trump’s Twitter war with Joe and Mika.

This week, Trump continued to use hate to keep his base engaged, while marginalizing and ignoring those not white, straight, Christian and male. Through deportation and immigration bans, and continually peeling away rights and protections from women, PoC, LGBTQ, and Muslim and Jewish Americans, Trump is changing the character of our country, and the world is noticing.

1. California added four more states to its ban on state-funded and state-sponsored travel, citing these states (eight in total) for laws allowing discriminating against LGBTQ people.
2. Overruling experts and diplomats, and without explanation, the State Dept. removed Iraq and Myanmar from the list of the world’s worst offenders in the use of child soldiers.
3. Trump’s DHS pulled a grant given by Obama given to Life After Hate, a group dedicated to countering neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
4. The State Dept.'s anti-Semitism monitoring office will be unstaffed as of July 1. This, as the ADL reports anti-Semitic incidents have almost doubled in 2017.
5. A court in Mississippi lifted an injunction on an anti-gay law, freeing individuals and government workers the ability to discriminate against gay and transgender people on religious grounds.
6. North Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled that a woman cannot revoke consent after sexual intercourse begins.
7. Trump ended an almost two decade-long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the WH.
8. Six Afghan girls were denied one-week visas to show their robot at FIRST Global Challenge in DC. Roa Mahboob, the first female tech CEO in Afghanistan who sponsored the team said, “they were crying all the day.”
9. The historical marker for civil-rights icon Emmett Till on the Mississippi Freedom Trail was vandalized.
10. Trucker Rene Flores, who was featured in a USA Today article on how poor immigrants who speak little English have become modern-day indentured servants, was fired the day after the article ran.
11. Five months after Trump’s 90-day Muslim Ban was introduced, the Supreme Court allowed part of the second version to take effect, banning travel from six Muslim countries where Trump doesn’t have properties.
12. Attorneys general from 10 states and Idaho’s governor threatened to sue the government to stop granting and renewing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) permits by September 5.
13. Trump’s WH said Chicago (Trump regime code for Black Americans) gun violence is “driven by morality more than anything else.”
14. Trump invited families of victims killed by undocumented immigrants to the WH for an on-camera, anti-immigrant display.
15. POLITICO reported the White House Council for Women and Girls, set up by Obama, has gone dark under Trump, and will likely be shuttered.
16. Mattis will delay the Pentagon’s decision on allowing transgender recruits into the military for six months. Carter, his predecessor under Obama, had ended the ban on transgender people serving.
17. WAPO reported that one month before Election Day, Kushner’s firm finalized a $285mm refinancing loan from Deutsche Bank. Kushner and his brother are guarantors of the loan.
18. Kushner did not report the loan or his personal guarantee on his financial disclosure form filed with the OGE.
19. The loan came at a time when Deutsche was negotiating with New York state regulators to settle a federal mortgage fraud case and charges of money laundering for Russia.
20. In Week 19’s List (March 25) Deutsch was fined $630mm for laundering over $10bn of Russian money, and settled the case in May.
21. FT reported VEB, the state-owned Russian bank whose chairman, Gorkov, met clandestinely with Kushner, has no banking license or capital, and is essentially a special-purpose vehicle to support the Kremlin’s priorities.
22. Kushner retained Abbe Lowell, one of the country’s leading criminal defense attorneys, to represent him in the special counsel probe.
23. WAPO reported Manafort retroactively filed as foreign agent on Tuesday for $17.1 million in payments received by his firm between 2012–2014 from a pro-Russia political party that controlled Ukraine’s government.
24. Also in the filing, Manafort revealed that in 2013 he met with CA Rep Rohrabacher, an outspoken pro-Russia advocate.
25. Roll Call reported that Manafort donated to Rohrabacher three days after their meeting.
26. ABC reported Congressional investigators will question Trump’s longtime bodyguard, Keith Schiller, who now serves as a WH aide, as part of their Russia probe. Schiller delivered Comey’s termination letter in person.
27. Miami Herald reported on Igor Zorin, a Russian government official who, on his $75k bureaucrat’s salary, purchased three units at the ritzy Trump Palace in South Florida worth $5.4mm.
28. CNN reported Trump’s own advisers are struggling to convince him that Russia still poses a threat.
29. CNN also reported NSA director Rogers expressed frustration to lawmakers about his inability to convince Trump that Russia interfered in our election, and Trump’s lack of focus on the continued threat.
30. Further, even as the IC continues to brief him on Russian interference, Trump has not convened any meetings on Russian meddling.
31. Intelligence and lawmakers expressed concern on the State Dept.'s unwillingness to crack down on Russian diplomats traveling within the US, despite evidence Moscow is trying to conduct intelligence operations.
32. Trump continued to distract from Russian interference and possible collusion, tweeting “Hillary Clinton colluded with the Democratic Party in order to beat Crazy Bernie Sanders. Is she allowed to so collude?”
33. A former CIA analyst and targeting officer explained how Trump’s tweets are being used by foreign spies to determine his vulnerabilities.
34. The Kremlin recalled Kislyak amid the election controversy. Flynn, Kushner and Sessions all had undisclosed meetings with Kislyak.
35. WAPO reported that the FBI met with Page five times in March about his contacts with Russia and claims in the Steele dossier. At the time, Page did not have a lawyer.
36. Ivanka was ordered to testify in a dispute with an Italian shoemaker who accused her of copying one of its shoe designs.
37. Chinese authorities released on bail, pending trial, the three activists who were investigating low pay, excessive overtime, crude verbal abuse and possible misuse of student labor at Ivanka’s China factories.
38. Guardian reported a nonprofit run by Trump attorney Sekulow will be investigated by authorities in two states for steering tens of millions of dollars to his family and their businesses.
39. On Monday, as the CBO report indicated Senate version of AHCA/Trumpcare would result in 22mm more uninsured, the WH issued a statement trashing the credibility of the Office.
40. Polls showed the Senate version is wildly unpopular: USA Today/Suffolk12% approve, NPR/PBS/NewsHour/Marist 17% approve.
41. A pro-Trump PAC ran negative ads targeting Sen. Heller in his home state for not supporting AHCA. Amid backlash, the ads were pulled.
42. Reporting on the Senate’s failure to pass ACHA cited Trump’s lack of interest and loss of political capital. Some Senators also didn’t trust him after he called the House version he had backed, “mean.”
43. On Monday late evening, the WH issued a cryptic statement warning of potential preparations for a chemical attack in Syria, and saying Syria would “pay a heavy price.”
44. NBC reported Trump’s own senior national security officials were caught off guard by the WH statement. NBC noted the disconnect demonstrates how Trump “is making foreign policy on the fly.”
45. The US image has plunged under Trump. Pew Research found three-quarters of countries surveyed have little to no confidence in Trump to handle foreign affairs. Our democratic allies were the most negative.
46. Pew found that only 22% are confident in Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, compared to 64% during the Obama administration.
47. Also of note in the Pew Research survey, for the first time in 35 years, a majority of Canadians have an unfavorable view of the US.
48. The Toronto Star has also been keeping track of the false claims by Trump, and has so many, they chose to sort them by topic.
49. The EPA chief of staff pressured a scientist on the agency’s scientific review board to change her testimony before the House Science Comm.
50. POLITICO reported Trump Hotel DC has become a go-to meeting place. Conway said, “They look at it as a piece of the president.” Trump continues to profit from the hotel, and has not tracked foreign government receipts as promised.
51. The WH abruptly changed course and disinvited the media from covering Trump’s first re-election fundraiser. As mentioned in Week 32, the high-priced event will be held at the Trump Hotel DC.
52. WAPO reported that a fake Time magazine cover is hung up in at several of Trump’s golf clubs. After the report, a spokesperson for Time said the magazine had asked the Trump Organization to remove them.
53. Trump remarked to an Irish reporter that she had a “nice smile” during a telephone call in the Oval Office with the newly elected Irish PM. Trump told Varadkar, “I bet she treats you well.”
54. Trump told the Irish PM, “We have so many people from Ireland in this country. I know so many of them, too. I feel I know all of them.”
55. Maddow reported that Republicans and conservative media have started a campaign of smear FBI interim director McCabe, who can corroborate Comey’s statement on conversations with Trump.
56. Maddow also reported that Deutsche Bank added a lawyer with a background in tax crimes and money laundering.
57. On Thursday, Deutsche Bank again denied Democratic lawmakers’ request for information on Trump’s accounts, saying individual members of Congress don’t have the same standing as a committee.
58. Graham and Grassley requested the FBI and DOJ provide copies of surveillance requests made in their investigation of Russian interference in the election. If shared with Trump, this could bolster his defense.
59. Pence and Kobach, heads of Trump’s commission on election integrity, asked all 50 states to release voter roll data, including names, birthdays, the last four digits of SS numbers, and voting history back to 2006.
60. Amid cries of voter suppression and privacy concerns, within 24 hours almost half of all states had rejected the request in part or whole.
61. Kobach said Kansas would not hand over some of the information, nor will Pence's home state (IN). Mississippi’s Sos said, “They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.”
62. Next morning, Trump tweeted his dismay, “What are they trying to hide?” leading to a conversation on Twitter on why Trump has yet to share his tax returns, and we have normalized this and stopped asking.
63. AP reported EPA’s Pruitt met with the CEO of Dow Chemical before deciding to reverse an agency ban on a widely-used pesticide which studies have found can harm children’s brains.
64. Dow spent $13.6mm on lobbying in 2016, and wrote a $1mm check to Trump’s inauguration festivities. Dow’s CEO stood by Trump in February as he signed an EO rolling back government regulations.
65. At the Aspen Ideas conference, Yates said while acting AG, she found out about the Muslim Ban by reading about it in the NYT.
66. Yates slammed the Trump regime for ignoring legal and political norms, and said the regime’s behavior “should be alarming to us as a country.”
67. ABC reported federal authorities are investigating a breach of at least one nuclear plant’s computer system.
68. POLITICO reported that Tillerson blew up at Trump’s head of personnel, DeStefano, for torpedoing his picks for senior State Dept. roles. The State Dept. remains largely unstaffed, including deputy SoS.
69. In Week 32, DeStefano’s data company was involved in the leak of private information of 200mm US voters, which was left unprotected online ahead of the 2016 election.
70. Kasowitz failed to follow through on his threatened legal complaint against Comey, a pattern for the Trump’s attorneys.
71. As stories on Russia and other controversies continued to break, Trump continued his efforts to weaken the media’s credibility : tweeting “They are all Fake News!” — about CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, WAPO and NYT.
72. Trump shared videos of a CNN commentator and producer being secretly recorded by Project Veritas’ O’Keefe to his 7mm followers on Instagram.
73. CNN’s Stelter gave three examples of press access being rolled back: Trump and S. Korean president didn’t hold a joint news conference, Pentagon’s non-answer on why Mattis traveled without the usual TV journalists, and journalists told to leave DOJ event marking Pride month.
74. The Senate Intel Committee will get Comey’s memos on his conversations with Trump. It is unclear when and if the public will see them.
75. On Thursday, Trump sent a set of highly offensive tweets at Joe and Mika, including “low I.Q. Crazy Mika,” “Psycho Joe.” The tweet to Mika (see below) was widely condemned as beneath the office, and sexist.
76. Conservative pundit Krauthammer told FoxNews of Trump’s tweets, “This is what it’s like in a banana republic.”
77. Amid the uproar, Trump quietly announced that he will meet with Putin in person at the G-20 gathering next week. Numerous experts and lawmakers expressed grave concern.
78. VOX reported Trump aides said he doesn’t have an agenda or plan much preparation for the meeting, raising concerns that Putin, a master tactician who arrives meticulously well-prepared, will outplay Trump.
79. Trump also succeeded at distracting from the bombshell of possible collusion, voter roll request and other highly controversial stories.
80. WSJ reported the first evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. A Republican operative, Peter Smith, tried to get Hillary’s 33k deleted emails from Russian hackers in concert with Flynn.
81. Smith passed away in May. The Trump campaign said if Flynn coordinated with Smith, “it would have been in his capacity as a private individual.”
82. WSJ also reported Smith’s story is consistent with intelligence agencies intercepts of Russian hackers discussing how to obtain emails from Hillary’s server and transmit them to Flynn via an intermediary.
83. Late Friday, the WSJ broadened its story saying Smith cited other key Trump regime players — Bannon, Conway and Clovis — in his Sept. 7, 2016 recruitment document for his effort to get Hillary’s 33k deleted emails.
84. On Friday, NY Magazine reported on Trump’s efforts to possibly blackmail Joe and Mika by using a story to be published at Trump ally David Pecker’s National Enquirer making their affair public.
85. Kushner was the go-between for communication. He told Scarborough he would need to personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage for the story not to run. Scarborough would not, and the story ran.
86. Law Newz explained that Trump’s alleged blackmail of Joe and Mika, including persistent phone calls by reporters to Mika’s teenage children, could be an impeachable offense.
87. Bloomberg reported that Kushner almost bought the National Enquirer three year ago, and The New Yorker reported David Pecker is considering a bid for Time Inc., owner of Time magazine.
88. On Friday, as the Senate left for break, Trump tweeted they should just repeal Obamacare and replace it later. The CBO estimated in that scenario 18mm would lose coverage in year 1, and 32mm more by 2026.
89. 25 House Democrats, including the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, backed a bill that would create an “oversight” commission that could declare the president incapacitated under the 25th Amendment.