If you’re watching the fracas around the tight races in our elections, just know that it’ll be exponentially more contentious in close races in 2020. This is a practice run for lawyers to dive in, learn the process, and figure out which legal attacks work and which don’t. They’ll be working now to tweak the rules in their party’s favor. It’s pretty crazy that our votes are so up for question. Why aren’t we better at this? How do other countries ensure that only eligible voters vote? How do they ensure more people vote? Why is it so easy to vote in other developed countries? I’m sure they look at our circus and laugh.

And speaking of circuses, here’s what happened last week in politics…

Russia:

1. Trump has a little Twitter meltdown, tweeting that the Mueller investigation has gone nuts and that they’re threatening witnesses and screaming and shouting at people. Huh? We haven’t heard much from Mueller in the weeks surrounding the elections.
2. Trump also calls Mueller’s staff a gang of Democrat thugs who only want to protect <insert list of Trump’s perceived enemies here>. Mueller’s staff is made up of both Democrats and Republicans, and Mueller is also Republican.
3. New texts show that Roger Stone and Randy Credico shared information about Wikileaks just before Wikileaks started releasing John Podesta’s emails. In a text thread between the two, Credico says “Hillary’s campaign will die this week.”
4. The texts also show that Credico was keeping Stone up to date on Julian Assange’s plans in the days before the emails were release.
5. So now Robert Mueller is looking into whether Stone employed witness intimidation to stop Credico from talking.
6. The DOJ accidentally leaks that they filed secret charges against Julian Assange. The disclosure came in a different court case as a copy and paste error into court documents.
7. The Mueller investigation looks into John Hannah, an advisor to Dick Cheney and member of Trump’s transition team. He apparently had dealings with George Nader and Joel Zamel, who are both subjects of the investigation.
8. Trump says that he’s answered the written questions Mueller submitted to him, but he hasn’t given his answers to Mueller yet because you have to be careful when people have bad intentions. He says it was very easy and he did it all by himself.
9. George Papadopoulos is facing two weeks in jail, yet he asks a judge to delay the sentence until a challenge to the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment is resolved.
10. Russian hacker Cozy Bear sends emails containing malware to attempt to get access to government, think tank, and business computers. Cozy Bear impersonates a State Department aide in the emails.
11. A federal judge refuses Concord Management and Consulting their motion to dismiss the charges filed against them by Mueller’s team.

Legal Fallout:

1. Last year when Facebook was being highly criticized by activists for for compromising user privacy, they hired a Republican opposition research firm to boost their own reputation by smearing those activists. The smears included bringing George Soros into the mix.
2. The research firm also discredited other tech companies, and was beginning a campaign against the Senators who would be questioning Sheryl Sandberg over the issue. Facebook has since cut ties with the firm.

Courts/Justice:

1. The state of Maryland files a lawsuit challenging the appointment of Matt Whitaker to Acting Attorney General. The suit says that Trump doesn’t have the constitutional authority to appoint him and that he broke federal law by doing to. The suit is based on these legal grounds:

• • Federal rules of succession say that Rod Rosenstein should have the position.
  • The Attorney General is a principal officer, so they must be appointed by the president and approved by the Senate (so Trump could’ve moved someone to the position who had already been confirmed by the Senate to a different post).

2. Senate Republicans urge Trump to nominate a new Attorney General quickly. They’re hoping he’ll select someone more traditional than Whitaker.
3. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, calls for Whitaker to recuse himself from the Russia investigation due to his relationship with Sam Clovis, a subject of the investigation.
4. Matt Whitaker has an interesting background, very different from those of his predecessors:
   1. Owned a day-care center.
   2. Owned a concrete supply business and trailer manufacturer.
   3. Led a taxpayer-subsidized affordable housing effort in Iowa, but abandoned it when it stalled and the state threatened him with a lawsuit. He defaulted on the loan
   4. Was a U.S. Attorney for 5 years in Iowa.
   5. Ran a small legal practice.
5. Jeff Flake threatens to vote against Trump‘s judicial nominees if the Senate doesn’t pass legislation to protect Mueller. Susan Collins wavers on that for a hot minute before she refuses to do the same.
6. Trump endorses the bipartisan First Step Act, a prison reform bill that would ease some of the harsh criminal justice laws implemented in the 80s and 90s and that disproportionately affect African Americans and other minorities.

• • The bill lowers mandatory minimum sentences and reduces penalties for three strikes; and while Trump says the laws will continue to clamp down on violent crimes, the bill reduces sentences for people who use a gun in the commission of a crime.
  • The bill has the support of the ACLU and the Koch family.
  • Jared Kushner brought the bill forward to Trump.
  • Democrats pushed to have the changes be retroactive for minor offenders already serving time, but that did not end up in the bill.

7. The Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether Wilbur Ross can be compelled to testify in the lawsuit over adding a citizenship question to the census.

Healthcare:

1. The FDA approves a new opioid named Dsuvia, which is 10 times stronger than fentanyl. This, while we’re in the middle of one of the worst drug epidemics in our history, brought to you by opioids.
2. The FDA almost bans flavored e-cigarettes, but then backs down and limits the sales instead.
3. Pfizer plans to raise drug prices by around 5% next year after holding prices down this year as a promise to Trump.

International:

1. A study of satellite images shows that North Korea is continuing it’s ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases. Trump says not to worry; he’ll let us know if anything goes wrong.
2. Mike Pence says North Korea doesn’t have to give us a list of their nuclear weapons and missile sites before Trump meets with Kim Jong Un again. Even though North Korea has, according to Pence, steadfastly avoided providing that information.
3. North Korea announces a successful and significant test of an “ultra-modern tactical weapon.”
4. Angela Merkel joins Emmanuel Macron in his calls for a European Union military force, something that would be a complement to NATO forces.
5. While more than 50 countries sign on to a cybersecurity pact during the Paris Peace Forum, the U.S., China, Russia, and North Korea refuse. Is this our new clique? The purpose of the pact is to create international laws and standards for cyberwarfare and security.
6. Cabinet ministers in the UK reluctantly approve Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
7. The chief negotiator for Brexit, Dominic Raab, resigns over disagreements with the deal. That’s followed by the resignation of a second minister, the work and pensions secretary.
8. The U.S. sanctions 17 Saudis accused of taking part in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. Legislators say the punishments don’t go far enough, and introduce bipartisan legislation to increase congressional oversight and to suspend the sale of military weapons to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has indicted 11 people in the murder, and is seeking the death penalty for five of them.
9. The CIA concludes that the Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi’s murder, though there is no solid evidence.
10. The director for the Persian Gulf region on our National Security Council resigns. She was responsible for our policies toward Saudi Arabia.
11. Trump is reviewing how he can extradite a U.S. resident to Turkey at the request of Turkish president Erdogan. Erdogan is convinced that a Turkish cleric living in the U.S. was behind the attempt coup a few years ago, and Trump is trying to placate Erdogan so he’ll ease up on Saudi Arabia.
12. Trump closed the office that tracked released Guantanamo detainees and has now lost track of a bunch of them.

Legislation/Congress:

1. Outgoing Senator Heidi Heitkamp introduces new legislation to address the issue of missing and murdered Native American Women. The Savanah Act will help give tribal law enforcement tools they need to solve these crimes.
2. After retaking the House, Democrats say their first bill will focus on strengthening our democracy. It’ll address automatic voter registration (AVR), restoring the Voting Rights Act, public financing of elections, and gerrymandering. They also want to overturn Citizens United through a constitutional amendment.
3. Chuck Grassley will head the Senate Finance Committee next year, and Lindsey Graham will replace him as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Hate crimes were up again in 2017. Reported hate crimes rose 17%, compared to a 6% rise in 2016.

• • Of the single-bias hate crimes, nearly 60% were based on race or ethnicity, 21% on sexual orientation, 2% on gender identity, and .6% on gender.
  • Religious hate crimes made up 20.6% of all hate crimes: 58% were against Jews, 18.6% were against Muslims, and 10% were against Christians.

2. Police shoot an armed black security guard who had just apprehended an active shooter. The police chief calls Jemel Roberson a brave man. They wouldn’t have shot this hero if he were white. Period.
3. Just when women were feeling more empowered by #MeToo… Betsy DeVos releases her new rules guiding how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault. The new rules give more rights to the accused and narrow the definition of sexual harassment. I’m all for due process, but women need to feel safe coming forward.
4. The first groups of migrants that splintered off the caravan arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, near the border. The numbers reported are conflicting so far, but a group of about 80 LGBTQ people who were being harassed on the caravan have arrived and are trying to obtain appointments with Customs and Border Patrol.
5. By the end of the week, the number of arrivals is in the thousands, and protests break out in Tijuana by residents who don’t want the migrants there.
6. Confirmation hearings begin for Trump’s nominee to head ICE, Ron Vitiello. He’s a 30-year border patrol veteran. Vitiello refuses to deny the possibility that the agency will once again start separating families at the border.
7. A judge rules that neo-Nazis don’t have a first amendment right to harass private citizens. The lawsuit stems from the Daily Stormer’s online harassment of a real estate agent in Whitefish, Montana, home of white supremacist Richard Spencer.
8. The number of U.S. citizens applying for asylum in Canada rose 600% in 2017. The number is still small—around 2,500—and the rise is largely a result of Trump’s threats to end TPS for certain immigrants. Out of fear of being deported from the U.S., they’re taking their U.S.-born children to Canada to seek asylum. A judge recently blocked Trump from ending TPS while the case goes through court.
9. Trump again floats the possibility that he’ll let the government shut down if he doesn’t get funding for the wall.

Climate/EPA:

1. Police arrest Trump’s top EPA official in the southeast for a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying the high costs of cleaning up a toxic waste site.

• • Before Trump appointed Trey Glenn to the position, Glenn was an industrial lobbyist and worked for the coal company in question. He lobbied to stop the federal government from declaring the toxic waste site a Superfund site.
  • In 2009, Glenn resigned from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management because of another ethics scandal for which he was not charged.

2. The death toll in the California wildfires is up to 78, with around 1,000 still missing.
3. Trump tours the areas devastated by the wildfires with outgoing governor Jerry Brown and incoming governor Gavin Newsom.
4. Trump says that the President of Finland told him that they rake their forests to prevent forest fires, so we should too. Finland’s president says he never said that. Also, Finland gets a ton of rain and snow, and has a much colder climate. Also different kinds of trees than California.
5. Trump also says there’s no climate change and that he wants great climate. I hear ya. We all want that.
6. Trump plans to nominate Andrew Wheeler, who is temporarily heading the EPA, to head the department permanently. Before working in government, Wheeler was a fossil fuel industry lobbyist.
7. Trump doesn’t want to give Puerto Rico any more relief funds because he thinks they’re using it to pay off their debt. Turns out, they aren’t.

Budget/Economy:

1. The original bump in corporate reinvestment from the tax reform plan of 2017 is fizzling. After two quarters of strong increases in capital reinvestment, the last quarter only rose at an annual pace of .8%
2. Also, in the time since tax reform passed, the 1,000 largest companies have eliminated almost 140,000 jobs. That’s almost double the amount the say they created.
3. Not surprisingly for a $2.7 trillion operation, the Pentagon fails it’s first comprehensive financial audit.
4. The computer system at the VA broke down last summer, and vets have been receiving their GI bill payments late or not at all ever since.
5. The administration lists its priorities for the next two months. Notably missing from the list is anything about the 10% tax cut he promised the middle class before the election and any mention of the migrant caravan.
6. Under Ben Carson, over 1 in 28 multifamily properties subsidized by HUD failed recent inspections. This is up 30% from 2016. Trump’s hiring freeze decimated HUD staff, so now they don’t have enough staff to deal with this heavier case load. Carson also wants to raise rents on these families.
7. Saudi Arabia is floating deep cuts in oil output over dissatisfaction with all the waivers that Trump allowed for the Iran sanctions.
8. A lawsuit against Betsy DeVos alleges that she didn’t cancel debt that students owed colleges that were shut down. Last month, a judge ruled that she had to enact the regulations around debt cancellation immediately.

Elections:

1. Amid the chaos around ballot counts, and signature mismatches, and lawsuits from both sides, Trump seeks adds fuel to the fire by saying we have to use the vote count in Florida from election night. Meaning most people whose mail-in ballots arrived on or around election day wouldn’t have their votes count. This includes military personnel currently abroad.
2. Rick Scott gives a press conference in front of his governor’s mansion accusing Democrats of trying to steal the election. This quickly results in multiple lawsuits over ethics and abuse of power. Scott does recuse himself from certifying the elections.
3. A judge tells both sides to ramp down the rhetoric.
4. Both Scott and Trump say there are ballots that are missing or forged (no evidence for this, BTW). The elections were also complicated by all the people displaced after the hurricane.
5. A federal judge extends the deadline to resolve ballots for Florida voters whose ballots were rejected because of signature inconsistencies. The decision comes just hours before the machine recount deadline in the still-too-close-to-call Senate race between Rick Scott and Bill Nelson.
6. While Scott doesn’t prevail in most of the lawsuits that came up (and a judge admonishes him for making unsubstantiated claims), the recount didn’t bring the race close enough to help Nelson win. Scott is declared the winner in the end.
7. Also Republican Rick DeSantis defeats Andrew Gillum for governor of Florida. Congratulations, Florida. Not only can you not run an election, but now you’ve elected an overt racist to lead your state.
8. Meanwhile in Georgia, a federal judge orders that the election results be delayed due to concerns about their voting systems and how provisional ballots are being handled.
9. A judge also finds that the way ballots were handled in Gwinnet County violated the Civil Rights Act.
10. In the end, after a series of accusation and lawsuits, Brian Kemp is declared the winner and Stacey Abrams sort of concedes. She plans to continue her lawsuit to ensure everyone’s vote is counted in future elections.
11. After a similarly tight race in Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema defeats Martha McSally to become the first female Senator from that state. McSally took some heat from her party for not engaging in the same elections shenanigans as are happening in Florida and Georgia.
12. Mia Love, who’s running in Utah, sues for her campaign to be allowed to verify the signatures on ballots. Love says that poll monitors can observe counting, but they can’t challenge decisions.
13. All these lawsuits, but particularly those in Florida, bring into question voting laws requiring ballot signatures to match county records. Voting by mail has expanded too quickly for states to put standardized processes in place.
14. Trump says you need to have an ID to buy cereal, so why not to vote? Then he says that voter fraud happens when someone votes, and then changes into a costume in their car and comes back to vote a gain. For the record, I’m fine with voter ID as long as the onus is on the government to ensure that every single eligible voter has such an ID free of charge.
15. There are still races to be decided, but at this point, Democrats have increased their seats in the House by the largest amount since 1974, after the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation. Democrats netted 37 House seats with four still undecided, and Republicans netted two Senate seats with 1 runoff coming up on Nov. 27.
16. Cindy Hyde-Smith isn’t scoring many points in the run-up to her runoff election. Last week she said she’d be in the front row if Trump invited her to a public hanging (her opponent is black). This week, she says it’d be a great idea to make it harder for liberal folks to vote, and especially some college students.

Miscellaneous:

1. CNN and Jim Acosta file a lawsuit to get his press pass reinstated. The suit is against Trump and six of his aides who enforced revoking his press pass.
2. Fox News files an amicus brief in support of CNN and Jim Acosta in their lawsuit to get Acosta’s press pass returned. Fox News says that Secret Service passes for journalists shouldn’t be weaponized.
3. It seems what’s good for the U.S. when it comes to press freedoms isn’t good for anyone else, though. Mike Pence tells Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar, to release two journalists who were arrested for covering the government-sanctioned violence against Rohingya Muslims.
4. A judge forces the Trump administration to temporarily restore Jim Acosta’s press pass while the lawsuit goes through the courts. His ruling isn’t based on first amendment rights, though; it’s based on the administration’s lack of due process.
5. Continuing with the NRA/Physician feud, a group of 22 surgeons releases a set of reform recommendations for gun safety. Eighteen of them own guns themselves. We’ve heard these all before and watched them die in Congress: stronger background checks, better safety training, and improved technologies to prevent accidental discharge.
6. Trump says that one of his greatest achievements is reducing the media’s credibility among U.S. citizens. Great. Making America Dumb Again.
7. Several prominent Republican attorneys, led by Kellyanne Conway’s husband George, announce a new group they call “Checks and Balances.” Their goal is to bring back conservative support for the rule of law, and they’re worried about Trump’s efforts to consolidate power.
8. Many of these lawyers are also members of the Federalist Society, which has had a huge influence on GOP politics. It’s power has never been greater than right now, because Trump has let them select the bulk of his judicial nominees.
9. Michael Avenatti is arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and posts $50,000 bail. He denies wrong-doing, and the details are sketchy.
10. Deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel got on Melania’s bad side during their trip to Africa in October. Though Melania requested it, John Bolton refused to fire Ricardel after the trip. This week Melania tweets that Ricardel doesn’t deserve the honor of working in the White House.
11. Trump offers Ricardel the post of Ambassador to Estonia. She declines, receives dozens of offers elsewhere, and moves to a new government position.
12. Betsy DeVos has armed security 24/7, the only cabinet member to have an armed detail.
13. Trump honors Sheldon Adelson’s wife with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Adelson donated $30 million to Trump’s campaign and $100 million to Republicans in the midterm elections.

Polls:

1. 61% of Democrats see Republicans as racist/bigoted/sexist. 31% of Republicans feel the same about Democrats.