I couldn’t get to this week’s recap on time for personal reasons, so here’s a late and rushed recap of Trump’s week 56.

Russia:

1. All four directors of our intelligence agencies—Christopher Wray, Mike Pompeo, Mike Rogers, and Dan Coats—say the White House hasn’t asked any of them to do anything about Russian interference in our 2018 midterm elections.
2. The directors also say Russia “will continue to use propaganda and social media as a means of deepening divisions and sowing discord.” They’ll continue to hack into our computer systems, and they’ll continue to pose as Americans.
3. Trump and the intelligence directors aren’t publicly on the same page about Russia, and there isn’t an agency in charge of creating and implementing a plan to fight Russia’s future meddling. All agencies are worried that we won’t be able to fight it effectively.
4. Buzzfeed sues the DNC over the Steele dossier as a way to force evidence into the open that would help Buzzfeed fight a libel lawsuit filed by Aleksej Gubarev. Gubarev is a Russian businessman tied to the DNC hacking in the dossier. The DNC says giving this info away would expose digital signatures and leave them more vulnerable to future attacks.
5. Rick Gates is in the final stages of negotiating a plea deal.
6. Mueller’s staff interviews Steve Bannon over multiple days (about 20 hours).
7. But then Bannon tells the House Intelligence Committee that the White House told him to invoke executive privilege and not answer questions about Russia. He wouldn’t answer questions about his time in the White House or the Trump transition.
8. Mueller’s grand jury indicts 13 Russian individuals and three Russian entities. Charges include conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, among others.
9. One of the entities, the Internet Research Agency, is a Russian troll farm that used social media and fake accounts to misinform U.S. voters. Their posts and ads were designed to boost Trump and smear Hillary.
10. The indictment describes a three-year plan to sow political discord in the U.S., to hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and then later to bolster the campaigns of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Jill Stein.
11. The precise details in the indictment imply that the FBI had either intercepted communications or found an insider willing to cooperate.
12. And just a side note here. The New York Times Magazine was reporting this as early as June of 2015. Why wasn’t this a bigger deal?
13. Rod Rosenstein, Deputy AG, says the indictments don’t offer proof that the Russian disinformation campaign affected the outcome of the election.
14. Trump seems to think the Russian indictments exonerate him.
15. People who worked on the troll farms start to open up about their work there. Many call their time there Orwellian.
16. Mueller charges Richard Pinedo with identity theft in relation to the Russia investigation. Pinedo is cooperating with Mueller and has pled guilty.
17. After the Parkland shooting, Russian trolls and bots promote both pro-gun and gun control messaging to further deepen our divide. IGNORE THE TROLLS!
18. And even though Trump thinks the indictments cleared him, he went on a 9-hour twitter rant attacking McMaster, Hillary Clinton, the FBI, the DOJ, CNN, Adam Schiff, Obama, the Democrats, John Podesta, and more. Everyone but the Russians who waged the misinformation war.
19. Why did he attack McMaster? Because McMaster says that the evidence is incontrovertible that Russia meddled in our political system.
20. Russians made a big effort in Florida to sow discord in our elections. They organized “Florida Goes Trump” rallies in more than 20 cities, and they generated some of the most commonly shared anti-Hillary displays, including getting people to dress up like her in prison garb or cages.

Healthcare:

1. Trump’s new budget proposes to cut about half of the benefits of people who receive $90 or more per month in SNAP assistance. The difference would be made up by government food boxes (that is, government rations). The boxes would not include fresh fruits or vegetables, and local grocery stores will lose business. The current system is more free market.
2. Blue Cross of Idaho announces they’ll offer a health insurance policy that ignores the ACA’s rules by charging more for pre-existing conditions. The company can do this because Idaho’s GOP governor signed an executive order allowing it.

International:

1. Israeli police announce that there’s sufficient evidence to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They are currently looking into two corruption cases against him. The attorney general will decide whether to bring charges.
2. Russian mercenaries attack a base and refinery in Syria held by the U.S. Over 200 of them are killed. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis says they don’t know if the attack was ordered by Russia.
3. At a meeting of European foreign policy leaders, top U.S. officials—both Republican and Democrat—tell them not to pay any attention to Trump’s tweets.

Legislation/Congress:

1. Trey Gowdy says he’s leaving Congress because facts don’t matter there and he wants to work somewhere where facts do matter. Good to know.
2. The Senate Judiciary Committee votes in favor of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, which eases federal sentencing rules around non-violent crimes (some retroactively) and increases sentences for domestic violence. Jeff Sessions says this will increase violent crime and make it harder to enforce federal laws.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Speaking at the National Sheriffs Association, Jeff Sessions praises our “Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.” Whatever that means.
2. A second federal judge blocks Trump’s attempt to end DACA, and says the government must start processing both renewals and new applications.
3. Another federal court of appeals blocks the latest Muslim ban.
4. The State Department advises that refugee resettlement agencies close 20 U.S. offices because the Trump administration capped refugee admissions at 45,000. Under Obama, the cap was 110,000.
5. Trump’s repeated desire to severely restrict family-based migration brings up questions about how Melania’s parents came to be in the U.S. and whether they’ll rush to get green cards before the law changes (if it does). At any rate, many other legal immigrants are rushing to bring family members into the U.S.
6. The Senate debates DACA and immigration policy. Several bipartisan versions have been proposed. Here’s an example of a compromise: it’s more strict than Democrats want, but it doesn’t end family-based immigration. See? Compromise.

• • Path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers.
  • $25 billion for border security.
  • The visa lottery system would become merit based.

7. Trump shuts down all bipartisan immigration plans. Instead he tells GOP legislators to oppose bipartisan efforts to solve these issues and to support a GOP bill that would reduce legal immigration far more than even most hardliners are comfortable with.
8. And then the Senate votes down a bipartisan agreement that would’ve saved DACA and added funding to the border. Then they vote down Trump’s plan too. Looks like a stalemate. Great negotiator my ass.
9. Want to know how Trump really feels about immigrants workers? Across three of his properties, there were 144 seasonal job openings and only ONE went to a U.S. worker. He himself benefits from immigration.
10. The House passes a bill limiting the power of the American with Disabilities Act, removing years of progress on rights for people with disabilities.
11. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rules 9-4 that Trump’s latest travel ban,which targets largely Muslim countries, is unlawful because it discriminates based on religion.

Climate/EPA:

1. A federal court rules that the Trump administration must implement the energy efficiency guidelines created in 2016 under Obama. A coalition of state attorneys general had sued the Department of Energy for refusing to implement the guidelines.
2. Apparently Scott Pruitt flies first class on the recommendation of his security team because people in coach are abusive. One person yelled at him, “You’re fucking up the environment.”

Puerto Rico:

1. It’s been five months since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and still nearly a half million people are without power. Some people are working to restore power lines themselves.

Budget/Economy:

1. Trump proposes a budget that pretty much concedes that they’ve dropped the goal of reducing the deficit. Between the recent tax cuts and the spending increases included in the budget, reducing the deficit would not be possible.
2. Trump’s budget calls for major cuts to programs and agencies. People are making a big deal about it, but I don’t see it coming to fruition since Congress already signed a spending bill.
3. Trump’s budget would make cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. On the campaign trail, Trump tweeted this:

“I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.”

4. Trump endorses a 25-cent per gallon gas tax, but his party isn’t going for it so far. Seeing how the gas tax is playing out in California, I can’t say I blame them.
5. Analysts estimate that the 25-cent gas tax would erase 60% of the tax cuts for individuals.
6. Trump proposes an infrastructure plan that would provide up to $200 billion to encourage private and state investment in building projects and shoring up roads and bridges. He thinks this will incentivize $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending.
7. His plan also reduces the time allowed for environmental reviews by shortening the permit period.
8. The total U.S. household debt is at a record high of $13.15 trillion.

Elections:

1. Pennsylvania’s governor, Tom Wolf, rejects the redrawn district lines provided to him (under court order) by the Republican state legislature after an independent analysis found the lines to be just as partisan as the current lines. The analysis found that the chances of a random map being drawn as favorably to the GOP as the redrawn map is .1%.
2. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit by Citizen’s United. The lawsuit was against a New York law requiring disclosure of the largest donors to non-profits.

Parkland:

The news was so full of the school shooting this week, I had to put it in a separate category.

1. There’s another school shooting, this time in Florida. There’s been a school shooting about every other day this year. There are seventeen dead, and this time, the students aren’t taking any excuses for Congress’s lack of action around gun violence.
2. Trump tweets that the students and neighbors should’ve reported the shooter for his behavior prior to the shooting, which they actually did. Multiple times. Way to blame the victim.
3. The FBI says it failed to act on a tip about Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz. Apparently some protocols were not followed.
4. Trump later says that if the FBI wasn’t so busy with the Russia investigation, they would’ve been able to take care of the shooter before this happened. Yes, the FBI was at fault here, but they can walk and chew gum at the same time. They have thousands of ongoing investigations that don’t interfere with each other.
5. Florida Governor Rick Scott calls on FBI Director Wray to resign over the missed signals on the shooter. For real.
6. Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin calls on Congress to look into gun violence issues. He’s the first senior member of the administration to do so.
7. Once again, people argue that it’s too soon to talk about gun control. But with a school shooting nearly every other day, when will it ever NOT be too soon?
8. Interesting fact: The CDC is prevented from researching guns and gun violence due to a law passed in 1996. Records on gun violence are non-standard and haphazard because there are few requirements.
9. Interesting side note: Trump’s proposed budget cuts millions from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
10. This time students are vocal and passionate and well-spoken, and they take to the media and social media to push for change. Finally a group is more organized on social media than Russia—though they still can’t drown out the bots. Students stage walk-outs and plan a March 24^th march (March For Our Lives).
11. Lawmakers seem to agree across the aisle on some basic gun purchasing reforms, like universal background checks, but the GOP-led Congress has refused to bring any debate to the floor.
12. Some people think the answer is to have concealed carry in schools. There was an armed guard on site.
13. Trump says the gunman is mentally disturbed and says he’ll tackle mental health issues. He says he won’t move on gun reform though.
14. Oh. Also, Trump’s proposed budget cuts $100s of millions from mental health program funding. Destroying the ACA, as he’s been trying to do, would also cut mental health treatment.
15. Oh. And one more thing. Last year, Trump reversed a rule limiting gun ownership for people with certain mental disabilities. The White house refuses to release the photo of him signing it. This wouldn’t have changed the Parkland shooting, but you can’t say this is a mental health problem and not a gun problem, and then loosen mental health restrictions on gun ownership.

Miscellaneous

1. The White House claimed last week that the FBI hadn’t completed Rob Porter’s background check and that’s why they weren’t aware of the abuse allegations. Which is why Porter was still around…reading all that classified information.
2. But then FBI director Christopher Wray testifies to Congress that they finished checking Porter last July and provided requested updates to the White House. Wray didn’t say what their background check found, but Porter’s ex-wives say they gave all the abuse information to the FBI.
3. Sarah Huckabee Sanders later says that the White House meant that the White House personnel security office hadn’t finished their process yet. Seven months after the FBI finished theirs.
4. It turns out that Rob Porter was up for a promotion, even though John Kelly knew about the allegations of spousal abuse.
5. It took a week after Rob Porter’s resignation for Trump to say he opposes domestic violence (after originally saying that baseless accusations are ruining careers).
6. The House Oversight Committee begins investigating the handling of the Rob Porter situation.
7. Last fall, the White House banned any new employees with interim security clearances.
8. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats says anyone with interim security clearance should be limited in what sensitive information they can see. There are about 130 White House officials without permanent clearance.
9. John Kelly approves changes to the vetting process that puts more onus on the FBI and Justice Department, though they are the agencies that actually did their jobs in the Porter matter.
10. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump report $31-$155 million in debt.
11. Ajit Pai is being investigated for corruption. The FCC is looking into whether he “Improperly coordinated” with Sinclair Broadcasting by changing the rules to facilitate Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune Media.
12. Thomas Brunell withdraws from consideration to run the 2020 census after receiving pushback over his stance on redistricting. He thinks gerrymandering is A-OK and that elections don’t need to be competitive.
13. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, says that he paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels with his own money.
14. Apparently Cohen’s admission that he paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her to sign a non-disclosure agreement invalidates the NDA.
15. David Shulkin, the Veterans Affairs secretary, had his chief of staff lie for him so the government would cover his wife’s travel expenses on a 10-day European trip.
16. The IRS and DOJ issue new subpoenas to Jared Kushner’s family over their financial dealings.
17. The Department of Defense is seriously looking into Trump’s military parade, with costs ranging from $3 million to $50 million. I don’t know if that covers fixing the streets of D.C. afterward.
18. Trump has now gone the longest of any president in the last 50 years without holding an official press conference.
19. The RNC refuses to return donations from their former finance chair Steve Wynn until formal investigations are complete. Wynn is accused of multiple instances of sexual assault occurring over several decades. This is notable only because of the outcry from the RNC that Democrats immediately return donations from Harvey Weinstein, whose investigation is also ongoing.

Polls:

1. Trump’s approval rating is up to 44%, with 53% disapproving. This might be a high for him.