Wednesday, December 26, 2018 and the Christmas Holiday.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Roberts on Sunday temporarily halted a contempt order the company is facing for resisting the subpoena, including the fines the company is accruing for defying the subpoena. Roberts’ order is public, but it provided no new details about the case. His move came after the company on Saturday requested the stay, in a filing that is noted in the court’s docket but is not available to be read publicly.
Roberts on Sunday ordered briefing on the matter due by noon on Dec. 31. It is possible those filings will be under seal.
Previously, an appellate court panel upheld the subpoena, in a vaguely worded judgement. The court revealed that the case had been brought by an unnamed company, owned by “Country A,” that had claimed that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act made the company immune from the subpoena. The appellate court affirmed a district court’s decision that said the matter fell within an exception in the law for commercial activities.
Even during a holiday, we still get some Mueller case news. As far as I know, this is the first time that the Supreme Court will hear a case under seal. Of course, that’s as far as I know.
- MSNBC Trolls Rudy Giuliani With ‘Most Outrageous Diversion’ From Mueller Probe Award
- Schiff: ‘Powerful case’ that President can be indicted
- Mitch McConnell should explain why he obscured Russian interference in our election
- Re-examining the dossier after a year of indictments & guilty pleas
- Remember the Big Story in the Russia Scandal: Donald Trump Betrayed America
- Russia’s Secret Weapon? America’s Idiocracy
- Ethics watchdog sues FBI over leak to Giuliani
- Ex-Mossad Head: Russia Decided Trump Was Their Best Candidate, and Ran Him for President
- How Russian Money Helped Save Trump’s Business
- It’s undeniable: Trump and the Russians are locked at the hip
SHUTDOWN
- Federal employees affected by the government shutdown are using the Twitter hashtag #ShutdownStories to share their hardships
- Democrat wants to block Paul Ryan’s gym access during government shutdowns
- Illinois Congressman Bill Foster wants congressional gym, sauna closed during government shutdown
- Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Both White House Advisers, Are on Vacation in Florida During Government Shutdown
- Joint Statement from Leaders Pelosi and Schumer on the Trump Shutdown – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
- Sen. Bob Corker Calls Trump’s Government Shutdown “Purposefully Contrived” and “Juvenile”
- Shutdown to cut office overseeing federal food stamps by 95%
- Side hustles and family loans help federal workers weather the shutdown
- The US government may be shut down, but taxpayers are footing the bill for Mar-a-Lago party tents
- Union Representing Thousands of Federal Workers: ‘We Have Not Heard From Single Member’ Who Supports Trump Shutdown
- 42,000 Coast Guard members are the only military branch to work without pay during shutdown
- As Trump Claims Workers Support Shutdown for Border Wall, Unpaid Federal Employees Set Record Straight With ‘Shutdown Stories’
- Trump’s ‘poor me’ Christmas Eve tweet draws mockery as 800,000 federal workers go without pay
As of this post, the government has been shut down for almost a week, with no end in sight. There should be some opportunities for negotiations on Thursday and Friday, but if nothing happens by then, I wouldn’t expect it to end until after the new Congressional session starts on January 3rd.
TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, & ECONOMY
- Dow plunges in worst Christmas Eve for stocks in history as Trump blames Fed
- Financial stocks fall as Mnuchin’s attempt to reassure investors appears to backfire
- Stocks fall after Steven Mnuchin’s odd statement fails to calm markets
- The Market Wasn’t Panicking. Then Mnuchin and Trump Started Talking.
- The Megalomaniac and the Stock Market
- Trump Is Reportedly Considering Firing Mnuchin Over Stock Market Woes
- Trump may throw Mnuchin under the bus over stock market
- U. S. markets continue sharp sell-off, ignoring efforts by the Trump administration to stabilize stock prices
- Alarmed traders are dumping stocks, sending the S&P 500 to 2008 lows — while Mnuchin’s odd attempt to soothe markets backfired
- Dow drops 640 points for the worst Christmas Eve trading day on record
- Dow drops 653 points in worst Christmas Eve trading day ever
- Dow is set to open 200 points lower following the market’s worst week in a decade
- Dow skids nearly 400 points lower in early action on the eve of Christmas
- Dow skids to end down 2.9%; S&P 500 on cusp of bear market
- Dow, S&P logs largest decline ever on Christmas eve
- Treasury secretary startles Wall Street with unusual pre-Christmas calls to top bank CEOs
- Global Markets Plunge as Trump’s Attack on Fed Adds to Worries over Mnuchin’s Comments and Government Shutdown
- China imports zero U.S. soybeans in November for first time since trade war started
- China’s US soybean imports plunge to zero amid trade war
- Trump Has Likely Done Lasting Damage to the Fed
- Trump resumes attack on the Fed as markets sink again
- Trump has weighed dismissing Mnuchin: Bloomberg
- Schumer and Pelosi accuse Trump of plunging country into chaos as markets tank
- Trump once boasted of market gains, now tweets cause drops
- Trump’s frustration with Mnuchin rising after failed attempt to calm markets, source says
- Mnuchin can’t stand up to his boss — and it’s costing you money
- More than 70% of economists and fund managers blame tariffs for market sell-off
- Trump Administration Withdraws Food Stamps from Thousands of Georgia Residents
- 16,932 people have lost Medicaid coverage under Arkansas’s work requirements: Some of the worst fears about Medicaid work requirements are coming true.
- Trump worries he’ll become a ‘Hoover’, the president at the beginning of the Great Depression
- Rachel Fine: Hey, everyone who silver-lininged the trump presidency with a “hey, but how about that 401k?”, how ya feeling today? Were the caged kids still worth it? Just curious.
- ‘The worst is yet to come’: Experts say a global bear market is just getting started
In the past week, the stock market has started to tank based off of the activity of the last year with the tariffs and the last couple weeks with Trump and Mnuchin being dumbasses at best. Last week was especially harsh. Personally, my tiny little portfolio dropped 10 percent IN ONE WEEK. That’s bad.
COLD WAR 2.0
- Trump is doing “more to undermine American national security than any foreign adversary,” Susan Rice says
- ‘Very telling’ that Trump didn’t know his own anti-ISIS point man, former official says
- Glenn Greenwald: Congress Is Trying to Make It a Federal Crime to Participate in Boycott of Israel
- Saudi Prince Talal Dies After Hunger Strike it is Claimed
- Trump welcomes Saudi Arabian intervention in Syria, unleashes fury on U.S. officials who resigned in protest – NY Daily News
- Russia Warns U.S. Against Interfering in Saudi Royal Succession
- ‘We Will Curse Them As Traitors’: Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan
- Wesley Clark on Trump’s Syria withdrawal: ‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff?’
- Wesley Clark on Trump’s Syria withdrawal: ‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president?’
- A Fox News host grilled a Trump aide, asking her to “name an adviser” who recommended the Syria troop withdrawal
- Ex-NATO commander: Allies wondering if Trump was blackmailed to pull troops out of Syria
- Syria’s once-teeming prison cells being emptied by mass murder
- This is how rare a Mattis-level resignation is ..
- Mattis sends holiday message to military members, and says ‘storm clouds loom’
- Mattis works from Pentagon on Christmas, tells troops: ‘You hold the line’
- Patrick Shanahan, Trump’s pick for acting defense secretary, steps into spotlight after Mattis’s ouster
- Top general on details of Trump’s withdrawal plans: “I have no idea”
- Trump’s new Pentagon head reportedly pushed military to buy outdated planes from his old company
- Trump’s acting secretary of defense will step into role with no foreign policy, military experience
- With ‘trimmed’ sails, Pentagon heads into uncharted waters
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A INDIVIDUAL-1
- President Trump probably just ruined Santa Claus for a child on Christmas Eve
- Trump rips ‘presidential harassment’ against him in late-night tweet
- Trump Today: President blames Democrats for shutdown, Fed for Wall Street selloff and unwilling ‘allies’ for Syria pullout
- Trump tweeted a picture of himself signing a ‘bill’ that appears to be a blank sheet of paper, and the internet is having a field day
- Trump Couldn’t Even Say ‘Merry Christmas’ Without Whining About His Border Wall | HuffPost
- “Poor me”: Donald Trump complains he’s “all alone” in White House as he faces Christmas away from Mar-a-Lago
- ‘I am all alone’: An isolated Trump unleashes a storm of Yuletide gloom
- Trump moves goalposts on border wall, says 500 miles of replacement fence would be good enough
- Trump becoming even more erratic because his supporters are ‘not tethered to reality’: former GOP aide
- Trump is doing “more to undermine American national security than any foreign adversary,” Susan Rice says
- Trump’s message on Christmas Day: ‘It’s a disgrace’
- Trump misleads about military pay raises again
- Trump: ‘It’s a Disgrace What’s Happening in Our Country But Merry Christmas’
- Trump: Democratic oversight of my administration could amount to ‘presidential harassment’
- Trump becomes first president since 2002 not to visit troops at Christmastime
- Trump Brags To Troops About A Fictional Giant Pay Raise He Got Them
- Trump Is First President in 15 Years to Not Visit Troops During Christmas Period
- Trump Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq to See American Troops
- Meeting between Trump and Iraq’s leadership scrapped over ‘disagreements’: Iraq PM
- Donald Trump Twitter Account Video Reveals Covert U.S. Navy SEAL Deployment During Iraq Visit
- Ex-Obama national security official: Trump confused ‘troop visit with a campaign rally’
- Trump Accidentally Exposes the Location, Identities of U.S. Navy Seal Team Five on Twitter
I’m not going to go into the whole Santa thing. Insulting a child for believing in Santa Claus on Christmas Eve should be a major faux pas in a regular universe, but in this timeline it’s not even the worst or stupidest thing of the week.
For the first time since becoming President, Trump visited troops in something resembling a war zone. At first I wasn’t sure if this was real or not. Then, I saw the stories about Trump screwing up. That was enough proof.
That’s the kind of world we live in.
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- Trump lawyers, citing shutdown, ask court for delay in emoluments case
- Daughters of late podiatrist claim he diagnosed Donald Trump with bone spurs during Vietnam War as a ‘favor’
- New York Times: Daughters of foot doctor say he diagnosed Trump with bone spurs as ‘favor’ to Fred Trump
- Bone Spur Doc’s Daughter: Dad Wrote Trump Diagnosis as a Favor
- Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam?
- Donald Trump has been avoiding war zones for 50 years
TRAITOR TOTS
- Lawmakers demand probe of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘sweetheart deal’
- Under Ben Carson, more families live in HUD housing that fails health and safety inspections: While HUD Secretary Ben Carson pledged to fix low-income housing, the number of properties cited for health and safety violations has been on the rise.
- Yes, Ben Carson is Still in Trump’s Cabinet. And Congressional Probes Could Be Coming His Way.
- Ben Carson Rolls Back Fair Housing Rules, Making Discrimination Easier
Whitaker
- Trump’s relationship with Whitaker imperils the rule of law
- Former Federal Prosecutor: Trump’s ‘Lashing Out’ at Matthew Whitaker May Have Been Obstruction
- Matthew Whitaker falsely claimed to be an Academic All-American football player
- WSJ: Whitaker Fudged Academic Honors On Resume, Gov Documents
- WSJ: Acting AG lied on resume about ‘Academic All-American’ honors
- Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker pumped up his resume on government forms, report says
FIGHTING BACK
- Twitter Users Brutally Mock Trump For Self-Pitying ‘Poor Me’ Tweet | HuffPost
- Watergate prosecutor compares Trump ‘poor me’ tweet to end of Nixon presidency
- Why the Trump presidency will end poorly
- Donald Trump was a ‘Serial Failure’ and ‘Daddy’s little welfare case,’ MSNBC Host Says
- More Republicans now think Donald Trump is “unfit to be president of the United States,” Watergate reporter claims
- Opinion | Time for G.O.P. to Threaten to Fire Trump
- Opinion | Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral. Heaven help us all.
- Poll shows Trump appears to be losing core voters with nonstop tweets, rhetoric, antics
- A potential Trump impeachment is a ‘huge risk’ for 2019, expert says
- Analysis: One by one, Trump’s ‘Axis of adults’ leaving
- Claire McCaskill Says GOP Senators Privately Admit Trump Is ‘Nuts’
- Democrats vow new scrub of post-9/11 war powers
- Leading By The Seat Of His Diapers | Trump Has No Idea What a President’s Job Requires, Like Running a Government
- McCaskill: GOP senators privately say Trump is ‘nuts’
- Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral. Heaven help us all.
RIGHT WING TERRORISM & WHITE NATIONALISM
- Republican Mark Sanford Warns ‘Hitler-Like’ Figure May Emerge Under Trump ‘Cult Of Personality’
- A German journalist’s fake stories about America are being weaponized by the far right
IMMIGRATION
- An 8-year-old migrant has died in U.S. custody on Christmas Day
- Medical checks ordered after 2nd child immigrant dies
- US says 2nd Guatemalan child dies in immigration custody
- Denouncing 7-Year-Old’s Death, UN Rights Expert Demands US Halt Child Detentions
- Beto O’Rourke seeks help after ICE leaves 200 migrants at El Paso bus station
- Beto O’Rourke Spent His Christmas Helping Those in Need at a Migrant Shelter
- Beto O’Rourke Demands Closure Of Migrant Camp—It’s ‘Tantamount To Torture’
- O’Rourke Seeks Help After ICE Drops Migrants at Bus Station
- ICE Continues To Release Asylum-Seekers Into Public Park In El Paso, Texas
- ICE dumps hundreds of migrants with nowhere to go at a bus station on eve of Christmas without warning shelters
- ICE Quietly Drops 200 Asylum Seekers at El Paso Bus Station With No Money or Shelter Right Before Christmas
- Jesus Christ Would Be Appalled by America’s Immigration Policy
- The sermon Trump heard on Christmas Eve featured a cruel emperor, migrants seeking refuge and ‘the hardest of years’
- Most Diverse Butterfly Center in the U.S. to be Bulldozed for Trump’s Border Wall
- Nancy Pelosi Zaps Trump’s Latest Version Of His Border Wall As A ‘Beaded Curtain’
- Sen. Coons says “there is no path” for Trump to get border wall funding
- Trump Couldn’t Even Say ‘Merry Christmas’ Without Whining About His Border Wall | HuffPost
- Trump moves goalposts on border wall, says 500 miles of replacement fence would be good enough
- Ocasio-Cortez sends Christmas greeting to ‘refugee babies in mangers’
SCOTUS
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- The end of leaning in: How Sheryl Sandberg’s message of empowerment fully unraveled
- Alyssa Milano: What kind of country allows its Violence Against Women Act to expire? “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” #VAWA
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- UN Special Rapporteur: Donald Trump ‘worst perpetrator’ of fake news
- MSNBC Trolls Rudy Giuliani With ‘Most Outrageous Diversion’ From Mueller Probe Award
- Donald Trump was a ‘Serial Failure’ and ‘Daddy’s little welfare case,’ MSNBC Host Says
- A Fox News host grilled a Trump aide, asking her to “name an adviser” who recommended the Syria troop withdrawal
- Joe Scarborough Warns ‘Rogue President’ Spiraling Into ‘Terminal Presidency’
- A German journalist’s fake stories about America are being weaponized by the far right
- Joe Scarborough Warns ‘Rogue President’ Spiraling Into ‘Terminal Presidency’
STUDENT ISSUES
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
- Republican Mark Sanford Warns ‘Hitler-Like’ Figure May Emerge Under Trump ‘Cult Of Personality’
- Defying election results, Republicans balk at voter-approved state laws
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Sacha Baron Cohen Says He Turned Over Disturbing “Who Is America?” Footage to the F.B.I.
- Ho ho ho: IRS cuts audits of rich, steps up audits of poor after budget cuts
- A Gutted I.R.S. Makes the Rich Richer
- Kevin Spacey charged with sexually assaulting son of former WCVB anchor
PRIESTS & RELIGION
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- ‘This is our land’: Native Americans see Trump’s move to reduce Bears Ears monument as an assault on their culture
- Dan Rather asks Trump what’s more ‘marginal’: ‘Believing in Santa at age 7 or not believing in climate change at age 72?
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Young people Will Live In The World Congress Leaves Behind… That’s Why I Focus On Our Future’
- How chronic shortages of transplant organs could be fixed
CONGRESS
ELECTIONS
- More evidence piles up in North Carolina election fraud scandal
- Newly released documents detail allegations of fraud in 2016 by GOP operative in North Carolina
- Documents detail allegations of fraud in 2016 by GOP operative in North Carolina
- Alleged N.C. GOP Vote Harvester Was Reportedly Allowed to Copy Absentee Ballot Request Forms
- Defying election results, Republicans balk at voter-approved state laws
THINKING AHEAD
- Elizabeth Warren’s ambitious new bill to lower generic drug prices, explained
- Comey calls on Americans to ‘use every breath we have’ to oust Trump in 2020
IN OTHER NEWS…
- We are the workers tasked with saving retail — for $9.50 an hour
- What Christmas traditions look like around the world
PROGRESS IS PROGRESS
RUMOR MILL
- Countercheckist: Dear Chinese hackers, If you think we don’t see the ‘PANDORA’ backdoor attacks from Ukrainian, French, and Dutch servers right now… think again. Time to call it a night, Tianjin. Ho, Ho, Ho.
- Tea Pain: We currently have an “acting” Chief of Staff, an “acting” Attorney General and an “acting” Secretary of Defense, but what we don’t have is anyone “acting” like a President.
That’s it for the last few days. I stayed off of Twitter for the last couple days. It was quite refreshing. I plan on writing a 2018 retrospective piece in the next couple days.
We’re in the lull of the holidays, but things still happen. Thursday’s post will include a little something about Cohen’s visit to Prague. Looks like there’s some …. Prage-ress on that front.
The Pun Jar is now at $243.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 