Trump calls in to Fox & Friends and talks to them for 53 minutes straight, with no commercial breaks. Trump expresses so many lies on the show that even Fox & Friends hosts push back on some of what he says. He accuses witness David Holmes of lying (though Sondland corroborated Holmes’ story), he repeats his theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections (debunked by our intelligence community and State Department), and he says the whistleblower complaint was wrong (though Trump himself and the transcript he released corroborated most of the complaint). He accuses the Obama administration of spying on his campaign in 2016, though the IG report that’s about to come out reportedly disputes that. When Trump says he knows who the whistleblower is—and implies that the F&F hosts do, too—they try to steer him away from the topic.

Here’s what happened in politics for the week ending November 24…

Shootings This Week:

1. There were NINE mass shootings in the U.S. this week (defined as killing and/or injuring 4 or more people). Short version: shooters kill 5 people and injure 39 more.

Russia:

1. Paul Erickson, the former boyfriend of Russian agent Maria Butina, pleads guilty to money laundering and wire fraud.
2. The day after White House advisor Fiona Hill testifies that the conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in our 2016 elections is a “fictional narrative” that helps Russia, Trump promotes said theory on Fox & Friends. Trump says Ukraine did it to frame the Russians. All our intelligence agencies, as well as Trump’s own advisors, agree that Russia meddled in our elections and Ukraine did not. Even Republican Representatives in the impeachment hearings this week say that they know Russia interfered with our elections, and their own investigation bore that out.
3. Also, their CrowdStrike theory is way off the mark. Here’s what Trump said:

• • “They gave the server to CrowdStrike, which is a company owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian… I still want to see that server. The FBI has never gotten that server. That’s a big part of this whole thing.”

4. Here’s the truth (it’s easy to look it up): 


• • CrowdStrike was founded by two Americans and a Russian-born U.S. citizen. One American and the Russian-born U.S. citizen now own it.
  • The Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories about Ukraine have worked out to Russia’s advantage—they deflect the blame away from Russia.
  • By making this a partisan issue in the U.S., Russia has put U.S. support for Ukraine into question.

5. U.S. intelligence just briefed Senators and their aides on Russia’s efforts to reframe the narrative by blaming Ukraine for meddling in the elections. This is a smoke screen to shift the attention away from Russia. This has been going on for years.
6. Despite this, Republicans in the impeachment hearings continue to push this conspiracy theory. They do, however, change their tune about it after Fiona Hill testifies to the intelligence committee.
7. Russia’s strategy is to throw so much confusion into the mix that people don’t know what to believe. They want people to think it’s impossible to figure out who’s behind the misconduct.
8. According to intelligence officials, Russia used Oleg Deripaska to help spread the misinformation. You might remember him as the guy Mitch McConnell just did a big deal with to bring jobs to Kentucky.
9. A draft version of the DOJ inspector general’s report on the FISA warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page shows the IG didn’t find the anti-Trump bias he was looking for at the FBI. Here are some highlights:

• • There were errors and omissions in some of the documents.
  • A low-level employee altered an email to get a renewal of the warrant by adding factual information to the bottom of a thread. The IG didn’t feel that the changes impacted the validity of the application.
  • The FBI had enough evidence to open the Russia investigation.
  • Joseph Mifsud (who told George Papadopoulos he had dirt on Hillary) was not an FBI informant.
  • None of the evidence used to get the FISA warrant came from the CIA or, more importantly, from the Steele dossier.

Legal Fallout:

1. The Supreme Court puts a lower court ruling on hold that would’ve allowed the House to obtain Trump’s financial records. Until they rule on the case, Trump’s accounting firm doesn’t have to release the records.
2. Trump says he’ll release his “financial statement” (whatever that means) before the 2020 elections.
3. We all know there’s been a longstanding practice of appointing big political donors to ambassador posts, but I’m not sure it’s usually this straightforward. As billionaire Doug Manchester was waiting Senate confirmation for his post in the Bahamas, the RNC asked him to donate half a million dollars. Manchester forwarded the message to two Senate staffers indicating he’d be willing to donate more once confirmed.

• • Manchester later withdrew his nomination.

4. The two jail guards who were supposed to check on Jeffrey Epstein the night he committed suicide are charged with falsifying records and conspiring to defraud the U.S.

• • That night they were both browsing the web and spent about two hours sleeping. They were both working overtime shifts.

• • Security cameras show they never checked on Epstein.

5. American Oversight obtains emails under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that show that Nikki Haley used an unsecured system to send classified information because she forgot her password. I only mention this because of the hypocrisy. I doubt anyone got their hands on the info who shouldn’t have.

Impeachment:

Including all this info just makes this too long, so I moved it out into its own post. You can skip right over to it if that’s your focus.

Healthcare:

1. Two Republican legislators in Ohio introduce a bill that would completely ban all abortions in the state. This is the same state where someone introduced a bill that suggested doctors can re-implant ectopic pregnancies into the uterus (they can’t).
2. Trump delays the ban on flavored e-cigarettes after meeting with advisors and lobbyists. They’re concerned about the political fallout among voters (instead of the health of voters).
3. Meanwhile, nine states are stepping up to ban vaping.

International:

1. Israel’s attorney general indicts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in all three cases against him. The charges are for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The AG initiates the process of stripping Netanyahu’s parliamentary immunity.

• • Following the recent divided elections, neither Netanyahu nor his opponent Benny Gantz were able to form a government coalition.
  • Netanyahu refuses to step down as Prime Minister. He calls it a coup. Where’ve I heard that before?

2. Flooding and mudslides in Kenya kill 34 people. The region was experiencing a severe drought and is now experiencing heavy rains with flooding.
3. Mike Pence makes a surprise visit to American troops in Iraq ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
4. Mike Pompeo announces that the U.S. believes that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal according to international law. For decades, the international consensus has been that the settlements are illegal. The Fourth Geneva Convention states it clearly:

• • “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

5. French President Emmanuel Macron questions whether the EU should abandon the U.S. and create their own military alliance.
6. Trump has asked both Japan and South Korea to pay more for the U.S. troops we maintain there. Meanwhile, South Korea and China agree to a security alliance, and the U.S. breaks off talks with South Korea over the demands for more money.
7. Britain’s Conservative Party accepted a £200,000 donation from the wife of one of Putin’s former finance ministers.
8. Boris Johnson blocks a report from the Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee about potential Russian interference in Britain’s elections. Remember England has elections coming up again.
9. The Pentagon’s inspector general releases their quarterly report, which concludes that Trump’s order to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, which allowed Turkey to attack the Kurds there, also allowed ISIS to strengthen its position there.
10. Trump says he stands with the Hong Kong protestors for democracy but he also stands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, both the House and Senate overwhelmingly (that means in a bipartisan way) pass a bill that would strip Hong Kong of its preferential trade status if China removes the freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong residents.
11. Hong Kong voters turn out in record numbers to deal a defeat to pro-Beijing politicians in the district council elections. Pro-democracy candidates tripled their previous seats, taking nearly 90%.

Legislation/Congress:

1. Trump signs a bill that will continue funding autism programs to the tune of $1.8 billion over the next five years. The Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (CARES) will focus on helping people on the spectrum who age out of support programs and will prioritize rural and underserved areas.
2. The House Judiciary Committee moves forward a bill that would legalize marijuana at the federal level.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Have you ever seen the AIDS quilt? It’s quite something to experience in person. It’s full of grief and sadness and lives cut short. And now the quilt’s paper archive is headed to the Library of Congress and the quilt itself will go back to San Francisco, where it started.
2. A judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to start up federal executions again, saying that the lethal injection procedure they want to use isn’t authorized by federal law. The DOJ plans to appeal the ruling.
3. A Manhattan judge denies Trump’s effort to dismiss the defamation case brought by Summer Zervos, opening the possibility that Trump might have to be deposed.
4. The American Medical Association formally opposes conversion therapy for members of the LGBTQ community. The group also urges the federal government to ban the procedure.
5. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) becomes the first female chair of the House Oversight Committee when she’s elected to the role previously held by Elijah Cummings.
6. We learn that after Lindsey Graham rebuked Turkish President Erdogan at the White House, White House staff asked him to go to the Senate and block the bill recognizing the Armenian genocide, which Graham then did. Graham says he went along just because it was poor timing to pass the bill while Erdogan was in the states.

Climate:

1. California Governor Gavin Newsom will ban all purchases by state agencies of new vehicles from the companies that backed Trump in the emissions dispute. General Motors, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, and more will be affected by the ban, which will go into effect in January 2020.
2. Newsom also imposed new regulations on fracking, increasing audits for compliance with state law and prohibiting drilling activity near homes, schools, hospitals, and parks.
3. Two of the country’s largest coal plants began the process of shutting down this month. Regulations aren’t what forced the closures; economic pressures did.
4. Australia’s record-breaking drought and fires have killed over 1,000 koalas, putting them at risk of extinction.

Budget/Economy:

1. Hong Kong’s unemployment rate ticked up a bit, from 2.9% to 3.1%, partly attributable to a loss in tourism dollars because of the protests. Hong Kong is also in a recession.
2. The Trump administration is looking at ways to cut taxes again. This time, it’s a proposed 15% tax rate for the middle class, which would give Trump a strong message for the 2020 elections.
3. Amazon didn’t pay any taxes on $11,200,000,000 in profit from 2018.
4. A new study finds that more than two million Americans live without running water or indoor plumbing. They don’t even have wastewater treatment.
5. Trump signs a spending bill to keep the government funded through December 20.

Elections:

1. A federal judge strikes down a Florida law that says candidates from the party that most recently won the governor’s race were listed first on ballots. The judge says this listing gave that party a 5% advantage.

Miscellaneous:

1. Rumors abound that Mike Pompeo is planning to resign to pursue a Senate seat back in Kansas.
2. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham says that outgoing Obama officials left nasty notes for their successors in the Trump administrations. Obama officials deny this and describe the notes of encouragement they left. Various White House staff have also mentioned the kind notes that Obama officials left for them. I tend to believe the latter since no one has mentioned this in three years.
3. A senior Trump official resigns after it was discovered that she lied multiple times on her resume, including creating a fake Time magazine cover with her face on it, lying about what she was doing on foreign trips, falsely claiming a degree, claiming she addressed the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and more.
4. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer threatens to resign if Trump actually does pardon and reinstate a Navy Seal convicted of war crimes. Also, it turns out that Trump announced that he would do that on Twitter, not in an official notification. So Spencer says that nothing changes until he gets an official notification.

• • Pentagon Chief Mike Esper asks for the Navy Secretary’s resignation. Apparently Trump gave Esper a direct order to drop disciplinary action against a Navy Seal convicted of war crimes. Navy Secretary Richard Spence tried to negotiate a deal whereby the White House wouldn’t interfere in Naval justice if the Navy allowed Gallagher to keep his trident pin. Trump appeared to back down for a minute, but then we learn that Spencer was basically fired.
  • Spencer at one point said he was proceeding with disciplinary action because he didn’t believe that Trump’s tweets constituted a formal order.
  • Trump’s interference in this matter has raised concerns with the Defense Secretary, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair, and members of the military.

Polls:

1. 52.4% of Americans approve of starting the impeachment process. 42.3% disapprove. That gap is narrower when the question asked is whether to impeach and remove.