'Power That Kings Have Never Had.' Wonkagenda For Tues., Nov. 26, 2019
Trump World's legal limbo, the military brass is fed up, and (finally) torturing pets is a federal crime. Your morning news brief!
Morning Wonketariat! Things will be a little light today and tomorrow as we take advantage of Thanksgiving's regularly scheduled newshole. But here's some of the things we may be talking about today.
A federal court has ruled former White House counsel Don McGahn can't ignore a congressional subpoena . US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson threw her civics textbook at the White House and said, "per the Constitution, no one is above the law." In a 118-page primary school lesson on the separation of powers, Judge Jackson ruled that the DOJ has no authority to claim "unreviewable absolute testimonial immunity," and that McGahn's just going to have to clear his schedule if the House Judiciary committee subpoenas his ass and demands answers on White House efforts to obstruct the Mueller Report.
It doesn't look like McGahn will be a part of the House Intel Committee's impeach-a-palooza as Rep. Adam Schiff moves ahead with his report Trump's Ukrainium One scheme. Yesterday Schiff wrote that his report could land as early as next week , and will include a laundry list of stuff the White House refused to do, adding, "In fact, the Committees did not receive a single document from any executive branch agencies pursuant to our subpoenas." Nerds think the White House's constant stonewalling could form its own article of impeachment, or charge of obstruction of Congress. [ Schiff's Letter ]
Upon hearing that McGahn might be forced to spill his guts, Alan Dershowitz went on Laura Ingraham's white power hour and complained about Judge Jackson saying Trump thinks he's a king, saying, "She went nuts talking about how the president's not a king. Of course the president's not the king. The president's far more powerful than the king. The president has the power that kings have never had."
The investigation into Rudy Giuliani's goons, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, has expanded to Rudy's consulting business and donations made to a YUGE Trump-aligned super PAC, America First Action, and its affiliated non-profit. Reuters reports the crimes prosecutors are investigating range from super serious FARA violations to your typical white-collar crimes like money laundering, wire fraud, campaign finance violations, lying to Uncle Sam, and obstruction of justice.
SCOTUS has decided to throw Trump a bone and temporarily block the House Oversight Committee from getting Trump's taxes.
Jared Kushner is now in charge of THE WALL according to theWashington Post.The little prince has been translating Trump tweets and cracking the whip on US Customs and Border Protection and the US Army Corps of Engineers in the hopes that they can build 450 miles of Trump's tortilla curtain by the end of the year.
Former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer sat down with CBS last night to say he wasn't quit-fired over Trump's intervention in the warcrimes case of Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator Eddie Gallagher, saying rather bluntly, "I don't threaten, I got fired." Spencer splashed the White House one last time by saying Trump wouldn't know a "warfighter" if one jumped up and bit him on the ass like Forrest Gump. For his part, Defense Secretary Mark Esper claims Trump gave him a "verbal instruction" to make sure Gallagher retired as a SEAL. Politico gossips some senior military brass are thinking about packing their balls and leaving because Trump listens to "the loudmouths at Fox News against the reasoned opposition of senior military professionals." As loose lips threaten to sink Trump's ship, the Daily Beast gossips Trump wants to bring his new literal war criminal buddies on the campaign trail in 2020 so that they can be hailed as martyrs who survived the military's liberal "PC" bullshit that bars soldiers from murdering civilians and desecrating corpses.[ Video ]
Attempts to prevent veteran suicides have hit a bit of a roadblock after VA Secretary Robert Wilkie ran to the Military Times to bitch about Democrats' objections to privatizing VA care.
I'm not going to give Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign free media coverage. If he wants me to write about him, he can cut me a check. I will say that I agree with Brian Stelter: It's fucked up that reporters in his newsroom don't know how to cover his campaign.
ICYMI: Inmates in West Virginia prisons will soon be slapped with a fee of $3 an hour to read a book, and $15 an hour for video calls with friends and family members. The best part? The books come from Project Gutenberg, a free online library of literary classics.
The World Anti-Doping Agency is recommending Russia's 'roided-out Ivan Dragos be banned from international sports, including the Olympics (again), forfour years. In response to being called a bunch of drug addled cheaters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ranted, "There are those who want to put Russia in a defensive position accused of pretty much everything in every sphere of international life — conflicts, economics, energy, gas pipelines, arms sales." Hey, if the shoe fits, throw it at someone.
Once again, global temperatures are on track to rise 3.9 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. The UN calls the outlook "bleak," and recommends humanity "catch up on the years in which we procrastinated."
Sen. Joe Kennedy went on Chris Cuomo's show to apologize for drinking the Ukrainium One Kool-aid on Sunday morning, saying, "I was wrong. The only evidence I have, and I think it's overwhelming, is that it was Russia that tried to hack the DNC computer ... I've seen no indication that Ukraine tried to do it."[ Video ]
Devin Nunes and Sean Hannity mooed and boo-hooed about about all the mean reporters who keep blowing holes in their conspiracy theories.
After being dragged through a mountain of shit by the Twitterati, Tucker Carlson did the closet thing to an apology (for Tucker Carlson) and claimed he was only joking when he said, "Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I'm serious. Why do I care. Why shouldn't I root for Russia, which I am."
Hey, assholes, it's now a federal crime to torture animals.
News nerds are raising the red flag now that corporate pirates are pillaging more newsrooms across America. With that in mind, Jack Schafer has a rather thought-provoking op-ed in Politico this morning suggesting that maybeyou should cancel your hometown newspaper subscription if the new owners are hack and slash douchebags who just want to milk the last drops of life. As a reader, your money talks (so mash that donate/subscribe button)!
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