February 19, 2017


News and Views


THE GIST OF THIS ARTICLE IS THAT MAYBE HE IS AND MAYBE HE ISN’T PLANNING TO WITHDRAW. PEOPLE WHO WRITE THE HEADLINES SHOULD BE CAREFUL HOW THEY PHRASE THEM.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trumps-navy-secretary-nominee-on-the-verge-of-withdrawing/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=34647868

Trump's Navy secretary nominee on the verge of withdrawing
By MAJOR GARRETT CBS NEWS
February 18, 2017, 1:10 PM

Last Updated Feb 19, 2017 11:31 AM EST

Updated with Defense Department statement

Two sources close to the situation tell CBS News that President Trump’s Navy Secretary nominee Philip Bilden is likely to withdraw his nomination.

The sources said Bilden, a former Army Reserve military officer with little naval experience, has drawn resistance to his lack of familiarity with Navy issues and has encountered difficulty separating himself from his financial interests.

But the White House has publicly denied that Bilden is reconsidering his nomination.

In a tweet Saturday responding to the report, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the sources were “wrong” and that Bilden was “100%” committed to the post.

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Sean Spicer ✔ @PressSec
Those people would be wrong. Just spoke with him and he is 100% commited to being the next SECNAV pending Senate confirm. https://twitter.com/majorcbs/status/832993108589686784 …
11:48 AM - 18 Feb 2017
2,298 2,298 Retweets 5,639 5,639 likes

The Pentagon said in a statement that Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke with Bilden Sunday, and Bilden “remains fully committed to serving as Secretary of the Navy...and Secretary Mattis remains fully committed to helping him.”

The statement continued, “Secretary Mattis remains confident that Mr. Bilden is the right leader to rebuild the readiness of our Navy and Marine Corps.”

Bilden ran the private equity firm HarbourVest in Hong Kong from 1996 to 2014 and has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown and an MBA from Harvard.

Trump's nominee for Army secretary bows out, citing business ties
Play VIDEO
Trump's nominee for Army secretary bows out, citing business ties

Bilden never served in the Navy but has a son enrolled at the Naval Academy and another who is an academy graduate. Bilden has served on the Naval Academy board and has donated generously to the U.S. Naval Institute.

Bilden’s nomination came ahead of the original transition front-runner for Navy secretary, former Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes. Forbes had backing from House Trump supporters like Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California. Forbes also served as chair of the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.

But Bilden, like Mr. Trump’s one-time Army Secretary nominee Vincent Voila, swooped in at the last minute to secure the nomination. Viola withdrew his nomination earlier this month. Viola, owner of the Florida Panthers NHL hockey team and a majority shareholder in Virtu Financial, also had difficulty separating himself from his business interests.

The White House has not named a replacement nominee for Viola.

The sources close to the situation said Bilden could withdraw as soon as this weekend.



HE WAS IN FLORIDA AND WANTED TO STIR UP THE CROWD, APPARENTLY

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/swedes-baffled-by-trumps-suggestion-of-major-incident/

Swedes baffled by Trump's suggestion of major incident
CBS/AP February 19, 2017, 8:46 AM


HELSINKI -- Swedes have been scratching their heads and ridiculing President Donald Trump’s remark that suggested a major incident had happened in Sweden.

During a rally in Florida on Saturday, Trump said “look what’s happening last night in Sweden” as he alluded to past terror attacks in Europe.

The comment has prompted a barrage of social media reaction on Sunday and #lastnightinsweden #swedenincident hashtags began trending on Twitter:

Former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted , “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”

BREAKING NEWS. Swedish police have released picture of the man sought for the terror attack #lastnightinsweden #swedenincident #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/MHYSkddnU7

— Neil Macdougall (@DougallChops) February 19, 2017
Aftonbladet newspaper listed in English some events that had happened Friday in Sweden, including a man being treated for severe burns, an avalanche warning and police chasing a drunken driver.

One Twitter user posted a mock Ikea instruction manual on how to build a “Border Wall,” saying the pieces had sold out.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway alluded to “the Bowling Green Massacre” - an event that never happened – in an effort to defend the administration’s travel ban.



KUSHNER DONE GOOD, TRUMP PLAYED AROUND WITH THE RULES – WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/kushner-took-stricter-approach-ethics-trump-emails-show-n723046

POLITICS FEB 19 2017, 5:01 PM ET
Kushner Took a Stricter Approach on Ethics Than Trump, Emails Show
by ARI MELBER

The Trump administration has struggled with ethics vetting for Cabinet nominees and faced criticism for the president's decision to remain invested in his business empire. When President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner prepared to enter the White House, however, the administration sought to do it by the book.

That is the picture established by new emails, obtained by MSNBC, showing how Kushner's lawyers worked on a divestment plan to avoid conflicts by conferring with the Office of Government Ethics. That is the same office that Trump aides iced out during the transition period and that has clashed with the president over his decision not to divest from the Trump Organization.

Related: See the Full Redacted Emails Obtained by MSNBC

The emails indicate a flurry of preparation in late December and January — before Kushner was appointed senior White House adviser and while questions still swirled about whether a federal anti-nepotism law would bar him from serving. (The Justice Department stated a loophole allowed him to serve as an adviser.) Kushner's lawyers, including former Clinton administration official Jamie Gorelick, consulted the ethics office on how to create a "conservative" and "workable" approach to minimize potential conflicts.

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Ari Melber ✔ @AriMelber
NEW: We FOIA'd Ethics Office for emails about Jared Kushner's conflicts - & found he took some positive steps to address them.
Report @ 6pm:
4:55 PM - 19 Feb 2017
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His team also warned the ethics office about a New York Times report on Kushner's meeting with Chinese investors after the election, proposing that their ethics plan would "mitigate sources of conflict," an apparent reference to the article.

Walter Shaub, the ethics office director who publicly criticized Trump and drew the ire of house Republicans, appeared heartened by the plans submitted by Kushner's team.

It is a marked contrast from his dealings with the Trump transition team about Cabinet nominees, where private emails show him lamenting that communication had "broken down" and the transition team's neglect of ethics vetting was "unprecedented."

“Ethics issues arise unexpectedly and they don’t come with the label ‘Caution! I’m an ethics issue.’”

With Kushner, the ethics office was engaged, collaborating on statements to the press, reviewing paperwork showing his "100% divestment" from several businesses, and providing extra advice beyond the letter of the law.

"Ethics issues arise unexpectedly," Shaub wrote Kushner's team, "and they don't come with the label 'Caution! I'm an ethics issue.'"

Citing the "fast-paced work environment" of the White House, Shaub suggested new ethics dilemmas can be hard to tackle if appointees don't meet the "attention span of a White House Counsel's office with a thousand other things to do."

To that end, he advised that Kushner's lawyers put him "two steps back from the line between what is permissible and what is not," which "will protect" him better than getting close to the line.

"The process was good here," said Norm Eisen, an ethics expert who is suing the Trump administration.

Eisen reviewed the emails, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information request from MSNBC and The James Madison Project, represented by the law office of Mark S. Zaid.

Related: Officials Warned Trump Against 'Unprecedented' Plan to Staff Cabinet Without Ethics Vetting

"While there are substantial redactions, it appears that Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, had holdings that created the conflicts for Mr. Kushner in doing his job," said Eisen, a former Obama official, noting that Ivanka Trump's holdings are "imputed to him under federal law."

"They have divested themselves of those holdings," Eisen said, a "sensible" approach.

Kathleen Clark, an ethics expert at Washington University Law School, agreed there was a "striking contrast" between the approach of Kushner and other Trump officials.

Play New Ethics Lawsuit Against President Trump Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed
New Ethics Lawsuit Against President Trump 6:52

"Although the Trump transition team apparently was not particularly cooperative with the Office of Government Ethics," she said, "Kushner and his lawyers seem to have taken a different approach."

Clark noted that Kushner might have faced an "uphill battle" on the anti-nepotism law, which bans family members from most federal jobs.

"I think that Kushner's lawyers may have settled on a strategy where they wanted to reassure the government that they would put out any and all fires in connection with financial conflicts," she said, building credibility "for getting a favorable Justice Department opinion on the anti-nepotism statute."

"Instead of fighting on two fronts," she suggested, "they only had to fight on one."

Eisen also emphasized that Kushner's effort is different than that of his boss and father-in-law.

"The member of this administration with the most profound conflicts did neither of the two proper and smart things his son-in-law did," Eisen said, arguing that by maintaining his business holdings, the president is violating a bipartisan tradition and the Constitution.

The administration argues that its conflicts plan for the president avoids any legal violations, and donates foreign government profits to the U.S. Treasury in an abundance of caution.

"It is shocking that the father-in-law did not choose to follow his son in law's example," Eisen added, "now the courts will have their say."



“WE DON’T KNOW OF ANY CONTACTS WITH RUSSIAN AGENTS.” RIGHT.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/reince-priebus-denies-fbi-spoke-anyone-else-white-house-n722956

BREAKING POLITICS FEB 19 2017, 11:00 AM ET
Reince Priebus Denies FBI Spoke With Anyone Else In White House
by KAILANI KOENIG

VIDEO -- Priebus says Flynn 'Wasn't Straight or Honest' 6:00

WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said he first learned that he was wrong about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's discussion about sanctions with the Russian ambassador "sometime after Jan. 27" — after then acting Attorney General Sally Yates informed White House Counsel Don McGahn about Flynn's calls.

"It was our legal counsel who got a heads up from Sally Yates that something wasn't adding up with his story," he said on Sunday's "Meet The Press."

In an appearance on "Meet The Press" on Jan. 15, Priebus repeated what Vice President Pence said on the same day — that he was unaware of Flynn discussing the subject on the phone. "I have talked to General Flynn," Priebus said at the time. "None of that came up. The subject matter of sanctions or the actions taken by the Obama did not come up in the conversation."

Related: McCain Warns Suppressing Press 'Is How Dictators Get Started'

On Sunday's "Meet The Press," he said the White House's legal department immediately went into a review of the situation after the warning from the Department of Justice, and later concluded that Flynn didn't break any laws. "But then we started thinking about whether or not Michael Flynn was being straight with us. And that's when we started asking a lot of questions and sort of deposing Michael Flynn and figuring out what he knew or what he didn't know," Priebus said.

Play Full Priebus Interview: 'Vice President is in the Loop on Everything' Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed
Full Priebus Interview: 'Vice President is in the Loop on Everything' 12:56

"He maintained the fact that he never talked to the Russian ambassador about sanctions. But still, something wasn't adding up. And eventually, we determined that he did, in fact, talk about the sanctions, even though we didn't believe that it was illegal." Eventually, he said, the president asked for Flynn's resignation over an issue of trust.

“Something wasn’t adding up. And eventually, we determined that he did, in fact, talk about the sanctions, even though we didn’t believe that it was illegal.”

The FBI interviewed Flynn about his conversations with the Russian ambassador on Jan. 24, and Priebus denied that the agency has spoken with anyone else in the administration on the matter. "Not that I know of, Chuck," he said. "I think the answer is no to that. I would know."

Priebus would not answer about whether or not he believes Flynn was being honest with the FBI about conversations with the ambassador, or whether that was one of the issues that came up while Flynn was deposed.

"That's a different issue for the F.B.I. to answer," Priebus said. "I mean, I'm just not in a position to answer it. Certainly we've talked about that issue with leadership at the F.B.I. But I'm not in a position to talk about that with you. But listen, we've talked about this. I think we've laid it out very clearly. And now it's up to the D.O.J. and the F.B.I. to take it any further, if that's what they do."

Priebus also said that he could not answer questions about whether he has seen transcripts of Flynn's calls, but that he is "fully aware of the situation."

Related: Former CIA Director Panetta: Building Loyalty with Intel Can Help Stop Leaks

Priebus also pushed back on suggestions that Pence is not clued in to the administration's latest developments, claiming, "the vice president is in the loop on everything," and was only alerted to developments around Flynn's discussions after the legal department had concluded their review.

NBC News has reported that the vice president was only told about the Department of Justice's warning late on Feb. 9 — almost two weeks after the White House first received notice. That also happened to be the same day that the Washington Post first published their story about Flynn discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador.

Priebus also pushed back hard on reports that people within the Trump campaign were in contacts [sic] with Russian agents during the campaign. "We don't know of any contacts with Russian agents," he said, calling a New York Times story on the matter "total baloney."

Priebus also denied multiple reports about friction within President Trump's inner circle, saying, "we don't have problems in the West Wing. You read about all these stories … we've really jelled as a team and we get along great."

Play 'We Don't Have Problems in the West Wing': Chief of Staff Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed
'We Don't Have Problems in the West Wing': Chief of Staff 1:44



http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/not-my-president-s-day-thousands-plan-anti-trump-rallies-n722586

POLITICS FEB 19 2017, 3:37 PM ET
‘Not My President’s Day’: Thousands Plan Anti-Trump Rallies Across U.S.
by SHIRA TARLO

VIDEO -- Trump Supporters and Opponents Hold Competing Rallies Across U.S. 1:06

From coast to coast, thousands of people across the U.S. are spending their President's Day weekend protesting Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies.

Protesters wielding signs in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York poured into the streets on Saturday calling for the establishment of sanctuary cities in order to end ICE raids.

Here's a look at other demonstrations scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

02_17_17_LocationOfTrumpProtests
Location of Trump protests happening over President's Day Weekend. Sam Petulla
SUNDAY

"Stop the Trump Agenda: Protest on 1 Month Anniv of Inauguration," Chicago

Still more protests are planned for Sunday. In Chicago, five thousand people are expected to come together to resist the Trump administration's agenda of "racism, sexism, bigotry, and war," John Beacham, rally coordinator, said. Beacham stressed the importance of building a "united independent mass movement of people" to do this and highlighted the power of mass mobilization.

"Immigrants' March on all 50 State Capitols Presidents Day," Salem, Oregon

More than 1,200 people have pledged to show up to protest on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Sunday.

"Stand Up for Science Rally," Boston

Hundreds of scientists took to the streets of Boston urging Trump to recognize climate change and tackle environmental issues. Protesters held signs in the shape of telescopes and beakers that read "Scientists Serving the Common Good." The rally is taking place at the same time as the city's yearly American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.

Geoffrey Supran, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University who attended the protest, told NBC Boston that the goal of the rally was to show Trump that "science is the backbone of our prosperity and progress."

MONDAY

"Not My President's Day -- Rally," Los Angeles

This Los Angeles' "Not My President's Day" rally was the first of its kind to pop up on Facebook, inspiring many of the other "Not My President's Day" rallies that are taking place across the country this weekend. The purpose of the Monday rally is to show that President Trump "has attacked every value Californians embody," according to its Facebook page, where 3,500 have signed up to attend.

"Not My President's Day -- Rally (NYC)" New York

More than 12,000 New Yorkers are said to be attending the peaceful rally while 47,000 said they were interested in going on Facebook. Kashish Samsi, "Stronger Together" singer; disability activists Elizabeth Melas and Anastasia Somoza; and Youngsters Against Trump are some of the scheduled speakers. Arts for Art and The Resistance Band will be performing, according to Nova Calise, the rally organizer.

"Not My President's Day Rally (Washington DC)," Washington, D.C.

Members of the D.C. community plan to come together Monday to "stand in support of our brothers and sisters of different nationalities, backgrounds, races, religions, ability and sexual identity," to show that "Donald Trump's hate does not have a mandate anywhere, especially not in our District." Speakers will be announced on the rally's Facebook page and Twitter over the weekend, Meghan Loisann Schneider, one of the coordinators, said.

"Not My President's Day -- Rally (Chicago)," Chicago

Unlike the several of the rallies, one planned for Chicago on Monday claims not to have a specific message, but a pointed purpose: unity.

Focusing on just one issue, like immigration, would serve the administration's purpose and further divide the country, Laura Hartman, Chicago rally coordinator, explained.

"We want to fight the entirety of the administration," she said.

Members from the ACLU, the American Federation of Government Employees, Sousaphones Against Hate, and others from NMPD's partner organizations are scheduled to speak at the event where more than 3,000 people are expected.

There is also a planned reading of Coretta Scott King's 1986 letter to the Senate opposing Jeff Sessions, that Elizabeth Warren was silenced while reading earlier this month.

"Presidents Day Protest KC," Kansas City, Missouri

More than a thousand people are signed up on Facebook for Monday's rally in Kansas City, Missouri, which bills itself as an "informative gathering to hear from grassroots local and national organizations," community groups and private citizens.

"Not My President's Day Rally," Denver

Hundreds of people plan to attend a rally at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on Monday. "Let's show this administration that Denver will continue to denounce these vile policies," organizers wrote on Facebook.

"Not My President's Day March," Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump is planning this Monday rally and march to Sen. Ron Johnson's office that hundreds have signed up to attend.

"Not My President's Day," Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City's Monday sister march has garnered hundreds of attendees. Organizers bill the event as non-partisan "for anyone who objects to any of the harmful policies and fringe issues put forth by the new White House administration."

"ImPEACH NOW! (Not My) President's Day March," Atlanta

Georgia organizers are planning a "peach-ful" march on Monday in Atlanta that hundreds of demonstrators have signed up for on Facebook.



OVERBLOWN, BUT BASED ON TRUTH ?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/defense-secretary-jim-mattis-distances-himself-from-trumps-media-bashing/

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis distances himself from Trump's media bashing
CBS/AP
February 19, 2017, 11:48 AM

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he has no issues with the media, despite his boss’ condemnation that the “fake news media” is “the enemy of the American people.”

The Pentagon chief says he’s had some contentious times with members of the media, but adds the press is a constituency he deals with.

He also rebuffed suggestions that disarray at the White House is affecting the military. His comments came days after the White House national security adviser was forced to resign.

Mattis says at a news conference in the United Arab Emirates that at times democracy is “quite sporting.” But he says the military’s job is to hold the line while the government sorts out the way ahead.

Says Mattis: “We don’t have any disarray inside the military, and that’s where my responsibility lies.”

Meanwhile, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Mr. Trump is behaving like a “tin-pot dictator” by making comments criticizing the news media.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California described Mr. Trump’s tweet last week as “the most devastating” and “the most alarming” in attacking the First Amendment right to a free press.

Schiff said he agrees with Republican Sen. John McCain, who said a free press is vital “to preserve democracy as we know it.” Schiff says the country is confronting a “new war of ideas” - authoritarianism vs. democracy.

Priebus says take Trump seriously when he calls the press "the enemy"
Play VIDEO
Priebus says take Trump seriously when he calls the press "the enemy"

The reactions to Mr. Trump’s comments come as Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, advised Americans to take Mr. Trump’s attacks on the media “seriously.”

“There’s been a debate about when to take the president seriously,” CBS’ John Dickerson said in a “Face the Nation” interview with Priebus Saturday. “He recently tweeted that the press was the enemy of the American people. Should we take that seriously from him?”

“Well, I think you should take it seriously,” Priebus replied. “I think that the problem we’ve got is that we’re talking about bogus stories like the one in the New York Times, that we’ve had constant contact with Russian officials. The next day, the Wall Street Journal had a story that the intel community was not giving the president a full intelligence briefing. Both stories grossly inaccurate, overstated, overblown, and it’s total garbage.”

Sources told CBS News there is a “chill” in the flow of intelligence to the White House, both because of comments from the president about the intelligence community and anxiety over the handling of sensitive information about Russian interference in the 2016 election.



NOW THIS IS “OVERSTATED AND OVERBLOWN” — THE “2 X 4” PICTURED HERE IS NO MORE THAN 5 INCHES LONG – PROBABLY WOULDN’T EVEN SCRATCH THE PAINT. STILL, KIDS SHOULDN’T BE DOING THINGS LIKE THIS. THEY AND THEIR PARENTS SHOULD BE CONTACTED BY THE POLICE. THE COMMENT ATTACHED TO THIS ARTICLE THAT THEY “MUST BE BLACK,” HOWEVER MERELY SHOWS ALL TOO CLEARLY WHERE WE ARE AS A SOCIETY.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-motorcade-hit-by-2x4-5-students-face-charges/

President Trump's motorcade hit by wood; 5 students face charges
CBS/AP
February 19, 2017, 8:18 AM

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Authorities say a vehicle in President Donald Trump’s motorcade was struck by a “2x4” and five middle school students are now facing charges.

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Greg Angel ✔ @NewsGuyGreg
JUST IN: PBSO says 5 local teens to be charged with throwing part of 2x4 at Pres Trump's motorcade Friday on Southern Blvd. @CBS12
7:00 PM - 18 Feb 2017
22 22 Retweets 15 15 likes

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said in a statement Saturday that the incident happened Friday around 1:45 p.m.

The sheriff’s office tweeted a photo of the wood that allegedly struck the motorcade:

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Follow
PBSO ✔ @PBCountySheriff
We have ID'd Juveniles who threw a 2 x 4 at Presidential Motorcade.
A juvenile from a local middle school confessed to throwing the 2 x 4.
6:35 PM - 18 Feb 2017
125 125 Retweets 143 143 likes

Officers assisting the U.S. Secret Service reported that a vehicle in the motorcade had been struck by what was believed to be a small, hard object.

Several members of the motorcade returned to the scene after completing the motorcade to look for witnesses and objects along the roadway.

CBS affiliate WPEC reports that the teens, who are not being identified because they are minors, all attend local middle schools and one confessed to the incident.

Charges will be filed with the Palm Beach County States Attorney’s Office.

No additional information was given.


THIS IS THE KIND OF THING I MISS FROM WASHINGTON DC

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/street-art-jim-bachor-pothole-mosaics/

Street art: Jim Bachor's pothole mosaics
27 PHOTOGRAPHS

GO TO THIS REALLY BEAUTIFUL WEBSITE AND SCROLL THROUGH.



VIDEOS OF INTEREST –


http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/bob-woodward-takes-on-the-trump-administration-democracies-die-in-darkness/

Bob Woodward takes on the Trump administration: "Democracies die in darkness"
VIDEO ONLY

FEBRUARY 19, 2017, 11:19 AM| What challenges does the press face in reporting on President Trump's White House? Legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg discuss North Korea, Russia and presidential reporting in 2017.




http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/russell-simmons-trump-has-unified-people-towards-a-common-goal-880557635966

POLITICSNATION WITH AL SHARPTON 2/19/17
Russell Simmons: Trump has unified people towards a common goal

Entrepreneur Russell Simmons is teaming up with an interfaith coalition for an anti-Trump rally dubbed "I Am Muslim, Too." Duration: 8:08



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-hits-new-low-as-war-with-press-moves-beyond-just-talk-880046659880?cid=eml_mra_20170218

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/17/17
Trump hits new low as war with press moves beyond just talk

Rachel Maddow looks at the ways in which Donald Trump is trying to delegitimize, manipulate, and even eliminate the free press, such as by the use of lawsuits as a tool against undesirable news sources with the effect of driving them out of business financially.


http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/inside-trump-s-nixonian-strategy-to-make-the-media-the-enemy-880058435528

2/17/17
Inside Trump's Nixonian strategy to make the media the enemy

In 1972, President Nixon said, "the press is the enemy," in a phone call with Henry Kissinger. Trump tweeted Friday the media is "the enemy of the American people!" Ari Melber unpacks this declaration with Nancy Giles, Mark Thompson and Erin Gloria Ryan. Duration: 5:07

Trump follows in Nixon’s footsteps. Nixon tapes, with Kissinger and others.



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/jfk-on-the-importance-of-the-press-to-a-free-society-880072259938

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/17/17
JFK on the importance of the press to a free society

Rachel Maddow shares video of President John F. Kennedy in 1962, talking about the value of a free press despite disagreeing with its recent treatment of him after the Bay of Pigs invasion. Duration: 1:58



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-the-25th-amendment-suddenly-getting-so-much-attention

Why the 25th Amendment is suddenly getting so much attention
02/17/17 04:02 PM—UPDATED 02/17/17 06:43 PM
By Steve Benen

Photograph -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (C) and Vice-President elect Mike Pence on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10, 2016. Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Reflecting on recent events, the New York Times’ David Brooks’ latest column noted, “I still have trouble seeing how the Trump administration survives a full term. Judging by his Thursday press conference, President Trump’s mental state is like a train that long ago left freewheeling and iconoclastic, has raced through indulgent, chaotic and unnerving, and is now careening past unhinged, unmoored and unglued.”

This is not an uncommon sentiment. During Donald Trump’s press conference yesterday, a variety of reporters in the room were overheard whispering among each other about the “insane” nature of president’s performance. There was a similar reaction on Capitol Hill: NBC News’ Kasie Hunt said lawmakers from both parties watched the event with their “jaws on the floor.”

Earlier in the week, the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne Jr. asked a question many have pondered, but few have spoken aloud: “What is this democratic nation to do when the man serving as president of the United States plainly has no business being president of the United States?” His colleague, Dana Milbank, recently conceded, “My worry is the president of the United States is barking mad.”

Ordinarily, conversations along these lines lead to questions about possible impeachment proceedings and congressional options for removing a president from office. But if my email inbox is any indication, there’s growing interest in the options available through the 25th Amendment – which has a Wikipedia page that’s apparently being referenced more and more all the time.

In fact, The Atlantic’s David Frum joked after the election, “Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Article 4. We’re all going to be talking a lot more about it in the months ahead.”

So, what’s Article 4 to the 25th Amendment? In the abstract, the amendment itself is about presidential succession, and includes language about the power of the office when a president is incapacitated. But Digby recently highlighted the specific text of growing relevance:
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
And what does that mean exactly?

Well, it means Congress isn’t the only institution that can remove a president from office between elections. Under the 25th Amendment, a sitting vice president and a majority of the executive branch’s cabinet could, on their own, agree to transfer power out of the hands of a sitting president. At that point, those officials would notify Congress, and the vice president would assume the office as the acting president.

And what if the challenged president wasn’t on board with the plan to remove him/her from the office? As Vox recently explained, “If the president wants to dispute this move, he can, but then it would be up to Congress to settle the matter with a vote. A two-thirds majority in both houses would be necessary to keep the vice president in charge. If that threshold isn’t reached, the president would regain his powers.”

All of this comes up in fiction from time to time, and in all likelihood, Americans will probably never see this political crisis play out in real life. And that’s probably a good thing: by all appearances, the intended purpose of the constitutional provision was to address a president with a serious ailment – say, a stroke, for example – in which he or she is alive, but unable to fulfill the duties of the office.

It probably wasn’t written to deal with a president who seems, to borrow a phrase, “barking mad.”

But the law exists, and the possibility that Mike Pence and half of the administration’s still-incomplete cabinet – a group of people who owe their jobs to the president whose stability has been called into question – is the subject of scuttlebutt, even from a handful of members of Congress. That possibility has created hope among Trump’s detractors that he may be legally removed from office before 2020.

That said, my advice to Trump’s critics is simple: keep your expectations low. Strange things clearly happen – having a clownish television personality in the Oval Office is itself an unprecedented historical development – but the odds of Trump’s own team feeling compelled to remove the president from power are poor.

Explore:
The MaddowBlog, Constitution, Constitutional Amendments and White House


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-latest-cabinet-nominee-has-controversial-record-his-own

Trump’s latest cabinet nominee has a controversial record of his own
02/17/17 12:49 PM
By Steve Benen

Photograph -- U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta talks to reporters during a news conference in Miami, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008. Acosta announced eight people and eight... Alan Diaz

On Tuesday, the “fine-tuned machine” that is Donald Trump’s White House had yet another breakdown. Andy Puzder, the president’s choice to lead the Labor Department, was forced to withdraw in the face of multiple scandals and bipartisan opposition.

The Trump administration did not, however, wait long to name his successor. The president announced yesterday that Alex Acosta, the dean of Florida International University’s law school in Miami, is Trump’s choice to be the next secretary of labor. His nomination – Trump’s first and only Latino for his cabinet – has generally been greeted by a collective shrug by much of the political world, which makes his confirmation more likely.

But there are some aspects of Acosta’s background that should make for interesting questions during his confirmation hearings.

I published an item for my old, old blog 10 years ago about Acosta’s role in a voter-suppression scheme in Ohio. McClatchy reported at the time:
Four days before the 2004 election, the Justice Department’s civil rights chief sent an unusual letter to a federal judge in Ohio who was weighing whether to let Republicans challenge the credentials of 23,000 mostly African-American voters.

The case was triggered by allegations that Republicans had sent a mass mailing to mostly Democratic-leaning minorities and used undeliverable letters to compile a list of voters potentially vulnerable to eligibility challenges.

In his letter to U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott of Cincinnati, Assistant Attorney General Alex Acosta argued that it would “undermine” the enforcement of state and federal election laws if citizens could not challenge voters’ credentials.

At issue was a “vote-caging” scheme, launched by Ohio Republicans trying to boost the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. The Justice Department wasn’t part of the case, and the judge didn’t request federal officials’ perspective, but Acosta decided on his own to weigh in anyway with his unsolicited pitch, urging the court to side with Ohio Republicans.

The former deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Voting Rights Section who served under Acosta, described Acosta’s move at the time as “outrageous,” said the attorney’s letter amounted to “cheerleading for the Republican defendants.”

The Bush/Cheney administration, which had a habit of evaluating Justice Department officials based on their partisan loyalties, later gave Acosta a promotion.

What’s more, The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer reported yesterday on another key aspect of Acosta’s DOJ background.

R. Alexander Acosta … was the head of the civil-rights division of the Department of Justice in the Bush administration during a period in which his subordinates became embroiled in a scandal over politicized hiring. That scandal raises questions about Acosta’s ability to effectively manage a much larger federal agency in an administration that has already shown a tendency to skirt ethics rules.

“That period, all hell broke in the civil rights division,” said William Yeomans, a professor of law at American University and a former deputy section chief in the division under Acosta. “That was all under Acosta, he presided over the politicization of the civil-rights division.”

Bush’s Justice Department toyed with illegal employment practices, but Acosta ultimately told investigators he was unaware of what was happening at the time. A report from the DOJ’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility didn’t hold Acosta personally responsible for the alleged crimes, but the report said Acosta “took no action” against those guilty of wrongdoing, despite warnings.

In other words, keep an eye on Acosta’s hearings.

Explore:
The MaddowBlog, Cabinet, Justice Department and Labor



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