I’m a little late with this week’s recap; I had a busy week of my own last week! Here’s what happened in week 43. Let me know what I missed.

Russia:

1. Documents turned over by George Papadopoulos show that Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s top advisors, knew about conversations and potential meetings between campaign members and Russian officials.

2. Records show that Wikileaks was in contact with Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 campaign, and that he let Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway know about it.

3. After Wikileaks contacted Don Jr. about leaks, Roger Stone tweets about upcoming leaks.

4. Fifteen minutes after Wikileaks contacts Don Jr. about dumping more Podesta emails (along with a link to said dump), Trump Sr. tweets praise for Wikileaks, and two days later Don Jr. tweets the link to the email dump.

5. Roger Stone claims ties to Wikileaks.

6. Mike Pence denies any ties to Wikileaks.

7. A House Republican produces a very complex chart linking Clinton and Obama and Uranium One and the Clinton Foundation, etc., etc. However, if you follow all the links, it’s pretty meaningless. Shep Smith does a pretty good breakdown debunking this story.

8. Sessions says there isn’t enough basis to assign a new special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton.

9. The Senate Judiciary Committee says that Jared Kushner didn’t turn over a documents he has about a Russian backdoor overture, Wikileaks communications, and communications with a Russian businessman.

10. A worker at a Russian troll farm says their job was to turn out a “merry-go-round” of lies, and that trolls worked 24/7 shifts churning out misinformation. He also thinks they were connected to the Kremlin. They worked in different departments and different floors, so they were often commenting on each other’s posts and responding to each other’s comments, which just served to generate discord and start fights on social media. NBC has a pretty interesting piece on it.

11. As a result of the Manafort charges (and potential charges against Flynn), lobbyists in D.C. scramble to get lawyers and inform the government of any actions they took on behalf of foreign governments that fall under FARA regulations. Before now, prosecutors pretty much looked the other way.

12. A former CIA director says that Putin outsmarts Trump and that Trump doesn’t understand that it’s OK to tell Putin that you know he’s lying. In fact, Putin expects you to do that.

13. Members of the Russia elite have invested almost $100 million in Trump properties in the U.S.

14. Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak says it would take him too long to name all the Trump officials he met with.

15. Jared Kushner’s security clearance is still only temporary after 10 months in office.

16. Trump starts paying his own and some staff’s legal bills. Previously the RNC had been paying.

17. Christopher Steele, author of the Steele dossier, thinks the report is mostly accurate (70-90%).

18. Jeff Sessions appears before the House Judiciary Committee again, saying he didn’t lie under oath about knowledge of any Russia meetings and that he just doesn’t remember. He later says he might have pushed back against the idea of meeting with Russian officials.

19. The U.S. hires a security firm owned by a previous KGB director to guard its embassy in Moscow. That’s almost like the time we agreed to let them build parts of our Moscow embassy offsite… where they placed bugs all over the walls… and then we had to tear it down and build a new one.

20. It looks like the Russian foreign ministry paid almost $400,000 to embassies around the world for the purpose of financing the 2016 campaign.

Courts/Justice:

1. Trump’s nominee for a federal court seat fails to disclose that he’s married to senior lawyer in the White House. Brett Talley has also never tried a case and the ABA committee that evaluates appointees unanimously deemed him unqualified. Standard process is to have the ABA evaluate candidates before making an official nomination, and to pass over any candidates deemed to be unqualified.

2. Trump adds five more names to his list of potential supreme court nominees even though there’s no vacant seat.

3. Trump’s nominees to the courts are largely white men, with 91% being white and 81% being men (and 74% being both).

4. The above will move the courts away from the trend of becoming more reflective of our national demographics and back toward the standard white male dominance of the past.

5. Less than two weeks after Trump expresses frustration with the DOJ for not investigating Hillary Clinton, Jeff Sessions says they’ll look into a special prosecutor. Sessions later says there is no cause for a special investigation against Hillary.

6. Just a reminder, in Sessions’ confirmation hearing, he said he’d recuse himself from any matters surrounding Clinton’s emails and the Clinton Foundation.

7. The government legal team, funded by us taxpayers, defends Trump in four lawsuits around him not divesting from companies that could lead to conflict of interest, especially around foreign governments. The case they’re making is not that Trump didn’t do anything wrong, it’s that it isn’t unconstitutional for the president to earn money from foreign governments and officials while he’s in office.

8. Chuck Grassley has decided to ignore the traditional blue slip rule around judiciary nominations. By bypassing this tradition, he’s able to load the courts with conservative judges without any input from a state’s Senators.

Healthcare:

1. The Senate includes a repeal of the ACA mandate in their tax plan. It could save around $300 billion, but will also cost around 13 million people their healthcare coverage. We’d also see a drastic premium hike.

2. Despite administration efforts to starve the ACA, almost 1.5 million people signed up in the first two weeks.

International:

1. A sampling of what Asia thinks of us after Trump’s Asia trip:

• • “The U.S. has lost its leadership role,” said Jayant Menon, an economist at the Asian Development Bank. “And China is quickly replacing it.”

  • “At some point, the administration may begin to see that this was a strategic mistake and that dropping out of trade is not in the interest of American workers,” said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a lobbying group that represents companies like Wal-Mart, Ford and Microsoft.

2. Trump says that Air Force One once wasn’t allowed to land in the Philippines while Obama was traveling there because relations between the two countries were so bad. That never happened.

3. European countries detect a waft of radiation in their airspace. It’s suspected to have originated in Russia.

4. Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping disagree about North Korea. Trump wants denuclearization, but China wants to freeze North Korea’s nuclear program and for the U.S. in return to freeze military drills with South Korea.

5. Some nations that are frustrated by trying to work with Trump’s administration are now working directly with some of our largest states and cities instead. They feel that no one in the White House knows anything about international issues.

Legislation/Congress:

1. Five House Democrats introduce articles of impeachment against Trump. The articles include obstruction of justice, violations of the emoluments clauses, undermining the federal judiciary, and undermining freedom of the press.

2. The bribery trial for Senator Bob Menendez ends in a mistrial, leaving open the possibility of a retrial.

3. A bipartisan group of Senators introduce gun legislation to improve the background check system.

4. Several members of Congress raise concerns about Trump’s nuclear powers. The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is working on oversight measures over concerns about Trump’s stability.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. The Trump administration begins taking steps to make it easier to seize private property around border lands to build the wall. Even though Congress hasn’t approved any funds for a wall.

2. Cards Against Humanity buys border land in order to block the wall, and opens it up for their customers to contribute to the project in return for surprise holiday gifts. The program sells out in just a few hours.

3. The number of new international students coming to the U.S. declined 7% this fall. 45% of campuses report a drop.

4. A federal court allows part of the travel ban to take effect, banning certain refugees from coming to the U.S. All three of the attempted travel bans have been blocked at least in part.

5. Australia votes overwhelmingly to legalize gay marriage.

6. Kentucky tries to shut down their last remaining medical facility that provides abortions.

7. Did you know? Taxpayers pay for sexual harassment settlements against members of Congress. So far we’ve paid $15 million to hide their sexual misconduct.

8. Trump has threatened to withhold money from sanctuary cities, but a federal judge rules that the administration can’t do that.

9. The DNC says they’ll accept the DACA applications that were delayed by the US Postal Service and thus missed the deadline.

10. Elaine Duke capitulates to John Kelly’s request and agrees to give Haitians here with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) 18 months to leave the country. There are over 60,000 Haitians here on the program, many of whom now own homes and have children who were born here.

Climate/EPA:

1. Trump sends a coalition of fossil fuel industry experts to the UN’s climate change summit in Bonn. They’re greeted with protests and are heckled during their presentation.

2. Our only appearance at this summit was a presentation on how fossil fuels are vital to reduce poverty and save jobs. They basically say the economy is more important than the environment or climate, and don’t provide any leadership on climate-related issues. The U.S. used to be a leader at this summit.

3. At the same summit, Canada and Mexico announce a new partnership with 15 U.S. states on climate issues, bypassing the Trump administration entirely.

4. French President Macron says that with the U.S. refusing to finance the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), France will pay the U.S.’s share.

5. As part of his ongoing efforts to reverse everything Obama did, Trump reverses Obama’s ban on importing elephant trophies, otherwise known as “body parts.” Elephants are endangered species, and Obama enacted the ban to discourage hunters from killing them. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has already started allowing hunters to import lion body parts.

6. After a huge public outcry, which seems to come as a big surprise to Trump, he puts this decision on hold.

7. Trump plans to shrink Grand Staircase – Escalante by half and also plans to shrink Bears Ears. This will make him the first president to ever shrink a national monument designated by a previous president.

8. The Keystone pipeline springs a leak in South Dakota, dumping 210,000 gallons of oil. Note that this is not the same Keystone XL pipeline that was delayed under Obama.

9. After chemical companies ask the Trump administration to ignore the conclusions of studies over the past several years, the administration files a motion to extend the evaluation period by two years. Two years during which the use of three pesticides found to cause health issues will be continue.

10. Puerto Rico update: Troops begin to pull out of Puerto Rico, along with supply helicopters that served communities that are cut off. More than half of homes still don’t have power and over 10% of homes still don’t have clean drinking water.

Budget/Economy:

1. Paul Ryan puts Republican Representatives in blue states with high rates of state income tax in a tight spot. If they approve a tax bill that removes the state and local at deductions, it could put their reelection in jeopardy. If they don’t pass the bill, they’ll be ostracized by Republican leadership and Trump.

2. But the bill passes the House anyway.

3. The Senate version of the tax bill passes through committee and is expected to go to the floor for a vote in a few weeks. Here’s a summary of the two bills: http://cjrules.com/gop-tax-plan-fall-2017/

4. The Senate doesn’t have Republican consensus on their version of the tax bill yet.

5. Steve Louro resigns as regional finance director for New York’s Republican Party saying the tax bill will hurt the middle class and will hurt Republicans.

6. At an event where Gary Cohn is interviewed in front of a gathering of CEOs, Cohn is surprised to find that very few CEOs plan to increase investment in their company or employees if they receive a tax cut. Billionaire Mark Cuban agrees that tax rates have almost no impact on investment.

7. The House passes a defense policy bill to the tune of $700 billion, more than what Trump asked for and about $150 billion over their spending cap.

8. The Wall Street Journal reports that manufacturing is up in the U.S. due to global growth and optimism, even though none of Trump’s promises have been implemented yet.

9. Richard Cordray steps down as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), leaving the agency’s future in question. The agency was created under Obama in response to the financial crisis with the purpose of protecting consumers from unscrupulous actions by financial institutions. Republicans have long criticized the agency.

10. Trump asks for another $44 billion in disaster relief, and it’s criticized by leaders from all affected states for not being adequate. Relief for the victims of California’s wildfires isn’t even mentioned.

Elections:

1. A fifth woman comes forward accusing Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, this time including assault. By the end of the week, eight women have accused him of sexual misconduct.

2. Mitch McConnell urges Roy Moore to step down from the Alabama senatorial race, saying he believes the women who accused Moore of molesting minors.

3. The Alabama GOP sticks with Roy Moore, though support is dropping.

4. Senate Republicans continue to look at their options in Alabama, including having Luther Strange resign which would trigger a new special election. Sorry, but this just shows a lack of interest in the democratic process, IMO.

5. Mitch McConnell suggests that Jeff Sessions could step down and run as a write-in candidate to replace Roy Moore.

6. Pastors and party leaders in Alabama continue to support Moore and rationalize his actions.

7. FoxNews fans break their Keurigs online after the company pulls its ads from the Hannity show as a result of Hannity continuing to support Roy Moore.

8. Rush Limbaugh excuses Roy Moore’s conduct with teenagers by saying Moore was a Democrat at the time he engaged in the sexual misconduct.

9. Alabamans receive robocalls from someone pretending to be a Washington Post reporter offering people money to lie about child molestation in order to frame Roy Moore.

Miscellaneous:

1. Trump nominates a new HHS secretary to replace Tom Price. This time he nominates a former pharmaceutical executive, Alex Azar, who stepped down as president of Eli Lilly earlier this year.

2. There’s another mass shooting, this time in California, after which Trump accidentally tweets condolences about the mass shooting that happened in Texas.

3. In a break with tradition, Trump won’t personally greet the American Nobel laureates before they go to Sweden to receive their prizes.

4. The administration will also break with tradition by discontinuing the White House Science Fair.

5. The Trump Organization reported income of $9.5 billion last year to Crain’s, but federal filings indicate the number to be closer to $600 or $700 million.

6. H.R. McMaster reportedly calls Trump a dope with the smarts of a kindergartener.

7. In a 3-2 vote, the FCC loosens media ownership rules in order to pave the way for the merger between Sinclair and Tribune. Critics say this will lead to less diversity in media, but others say the existing rules are too strict for the new kinds of media.

8. The FCC also votes to restrict and cap the Lifeline program introduced by Ronald Reagan. The program subsidizes phone services for the poor, so this could cut people off from society and employment. The program came under attack under Obama when the program was misattributed to him and labelled “Obamaphones”.  Seemed like a good idea under Reagan…

9. Sexual misconduct accusations keep coming. Al Franken is the latest to be accused. A fellow USO performer says he groped and forcibly kissed her, and a woman who took a picture with him 10 years ago says he grabbed her butt. Franken apologizes to the first accuser both publicly and privately, and says he supports an ethics investigation.

Polls:

1. The U.S. drops from number 1 to number 6 this year in the Anholt-GfK nation brand index study. This study reflects the global perception of different countries. We were the only top-10 country to see a decline. Our previous low was after George Bush was reelected in 2004 and we hit number 7.

2. 52% of voters don’t like the Republican tax plans, and 25% approve of the plans. 61% think the wealthy will mostly benefit.