Trump says Merry Christmas and then claims that the war on Christmas is over. Finally… I thought that war would never end. Or was it ever a war in the first place?

Donald Trump is claiming victory in the War on Christmas, saying he brought “Merry Christmas” back to the White House. We found plenty of evidence proving him wrong… #inners pic.twitter.com/fGBSbYybvx

— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) November 30, 2017

Russia:

1. We find out that Mueller has interviewed Jared Kushner about meetings with Michael Flynn in December.
2. Legislators and their aides say that over the summer, Trump pressured committee members to wrap up their investigations into Russian interference in our elections. The people he pressured include Richard Burr, Mitch McConnell, and Roy Blunt, among others.
3. Mueller brings the fourth indictment in the Russia probe, this time against former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI about discussing sanctions with Russian officials last December.
4. Flynn is the second person to enter a guilty plea in the investigation, causing speculation that he is cooperating with Mueller.
5. Lying might seem like a small crime but he lied about negotiating with the Russians against U.S. policy and U.S. interests before Trump took office and after we knew that Russia interfered in our election.
6. Flynn’s admission brings other campaign officials into question. After he spoke with the Russian ambassador about sanctions, Flynn called one or more senior members of the transition team while they were at Mar-a-Lago with Trump. They discussed his meeting with Ambassador Kislyak and sanctions Obama imposed on Russia.
7. While she was on Trump’s transition team, K.T. McFarland emailed a friend saying that Russia threw the election to Trump. McFarland went on to become deputy national security advisor for a bit.
8. Trump responds to Flynn’s guilty plea in a number of ways… in tweets, of course. He attacks the FBI, saying they’re in tatters. He attacks the FBI and DOJ for not investigating Clinton thoroughly enough. He also says he fired Flynn because Flynn lied to the vice-president, which implies that Trump knew about Flynn’s interactions with Russians, knew that he lied to Pence, and then he asked James Comey to let the Flynn thing go AFTER he knew about the lies.
9. Trump’s lawyer says he composed that tweet, and then goes on to say that a president cannot be guilty of obstruction because he’s the chief law enforcement officer. Apparently forgetting that both Nixon and Clinton had articles of impeachment against them for exactly that.
10. Among the documents turned over to investigators is an email from an operative with ties to the NRA who said during the campaign that he could arrange a back-channel meeting with Trump and Putin. He said Russia was “quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S.” and wanted to make contact at the N.R.A.’s annual convention.
11. Even though he “recused” himself from the Russia investigation, House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes is pulling together contempt charges against the FBI and DOJ for not cooperating with requests for information by congressional committees. Both the FBI and DOJ say they’re complying fully.
12. Paul Manafort reaches an $11 billion bail agreement with Mueller, getting rid of his ankle bracelet and putting up several real estate properties as collateral.
13. We learn that Mueller got rid of one of his investigators last summer over anti-Trump texts. The right uses the firing of Peter Strzok to “prove” that Mueller’s investigation is tainted. The left says it shows he’s keeping bias out of the picture.
14. The Senate Judiciary Committee is building an obstruction of justice case against Trump.

Courts/Justice:

1. Subpoenas go out to 23 Trump businesses over the emoluments clause.
2. Jeff Sessions picks Kellyanne Conway to head up the White House response to the opioid crisis.

Healthcare:

1. Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) resign. They say they can’t effectively work under a president who just doesn’t care about addressing AIDS or HIV.

International:

1. North Korea tests an ICBM that it says can reach the U.S. mainland.
2. Ivanka takes a trip to India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Tillerson declines to send a high-level State Department delegation along with her.
3. Rumors abound that Trump plans to replace Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo, and then to appoint Senator Tom Cotton to the position of CIA director. Trump denies all this.
4. The board of the UK’s Social Mobility Commission resign, saying it’s impossible to work on issues around social mobility as long as the government is focused on Brexit. The board members accuse the government of abandoning the people who voted for Brexit and of not doing anything to change the conditions that led to the vote.
5. The U.S. pulls out of the UN’s global compact on migration, saying it undermines our sovereignty, but the likely reason is that it was created under Obama. The compact helps refugees migrate in an orderly way instead of the haphazard way that occurred over the past several years.

Legislation/Congress:

1. After Trump tweets that there will be no deal in their scheduled meeting, Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer skip a meeting with Trump and Republican leaders about government funding. Pelosi and Schumer say they’ll work directly with Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan instead.
2. After they skip the meeting, Trump accuses them of pettiness, though one could easily say his tweet was pretty petty.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Trump shares inflammatory posts from a member of the far-right group Britain First (you might remember the group from the guy who killed an MP last year shouting “Britain First!”). The posts are anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant videos, one of which turns out to be ISIS propaganda and the other two of which didn’t reflect the message that went along with them.
2. Britain First is labeled an extremist group that targets Muslims and mosques. IMO, our president shouldn’t be spreading dangerous, extremist propaganda. Our president should be better than that.
3. His tweets draw a quick rebuke from British politicians, including Theresa May. Which starts a brief war of words between the two leaders. Trump responds by implying May isn’t taking care of “Radical Islamic Terrorism.”
4. Of note, the woman who originally posted these videos is on trial for hate crimes.
5. In response to criticism of the videos, Sarah Huckabee Sanders says it doesn’t matter if the videos are real because the threat is real and we need to strengthen our borders. Soooo we should be making policy based on ISIS propaganda and falsified events. Great.
6. And props to Trump. Britain First gets an increase in supporters. Good job.
7. The British parliament holds an animated discussion about whether Trump should be allowed to visit and about his fitness. One member suggests that Trump should delete his Twitter account.
8. In his World AIDS day statement, Trump fails to mention the LGBTQ community, even though they are disproportionately affected.

Climate/EPA:

1. Barry Meyers, Trump’s pick to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), breaks from the administration’s party line and says that he agrees climate change is caused primarily by humans.
2. Trump announces plans to reduce the size of the Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and the Grand Staircase-Escalante by more than previously announced. These were designated by Obama and Bill Clinton, respectively. He plans to:
   • Split the Grand Staircase-Escalante into three different areas – Grand Staircase National Monument, Kaiparowits National Monument, and Escalante Canyons National Monument.
   • Split Bears Ears into two areas – Indian Creek National Monument and the Shash Jaa National Monument.
3. The EPA holds its only listening session about repealing the Clean Power Plan in Charleston, West Virginia. Coal Country. Around 230 people attend and only about 30 of them support the repeal. The Clean Power Plan regulates coal plan emissions.
4. Moody’s is about to make climate change very relevant to coastal and low elevation cities, including in some red states (specifically George, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas). Moody’s says they’ll rate municipal bonds in at-risk areas based on how prepared they are to mitigate the effects of climate change. This could hurt those areas economically unless they comply.

Budget/Economy:

1. Two people show up on Monday to run the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFBB). One is Trump’s pick to head the agency, OMB director Mick Mulvaney, and the other is Leandra English, who is next in succession according to the CPFB bylaws. A Trump-appointed federal judge rules in favor of the presidential power to fill vacancies and Mulvaney becomes the acting director in the end.
2. Of note, Mulvaney has sharply criticized this bureau and thinks it stifles financial institutions. Because how can banks make money if they can’t fuck over the populace, amiright?
3. On top of the cost of recovering from hurricane Maria, Puerto Rican manufacturers could be hit with another economic problem The House tax bill includes a 20% tax on Puerto Rican goods shipped to the mainland. This could decimate their manufacturing sector.
4. Trump gives a pro-tax reform speech in Missouri. Here are some Tax Policy Center findings disputing some of the points he made:

• • Only 20% of the tax savings would go to the 60% of people making $87,000 or less.
  • 63% of the savings would go to the 20% of people making 150,000 or more.
  • 25% of the savings would go to the 5% of people making $303,000 or more.
  • Despite the good job reports, job growth this year has been slightly less than last year.
  • Trump is right that economic growth has been strong over the last two quarters.

5. The Senate Budget Committee votes to advance the Senate tax plan to the floor on a party-line vote. In a no-debate, no-hearing process. While looking protesters with disabilities in the eye.
6. Several Republican Senators express concerns about the Senate bill for varying reasons. Bob Corker thinks it adds too much to the deficit, Ron Johnson worries it doesn’t do enough for small businesses, others worry that their constituents will lose their healthcare coverage, and yet others worry that it will raise taxes on the middle class.
7. The first vote, on Thursday, is halted when the Senate parliamentarian finds it doesn’t pass requirements. The bill had a clause that said if the tax cuts caused the deficit to increase too much, it would trigger an increase in individual taxes. Not good enough to get past the $1 trillion it was predicted to add to the deficit.
8. On Friday, Senate Republicans scramble to make deals and get in last-minute changes, and ultimately deliver nearly 500 pages, giving Senators a few hours to read it before the vote. Some of the pages are so fresh, the changes are written in cursive in the margins and some of the words get cut off by the copy machine.
9. Lobbyists get copies of the marked up bill before the Senators who have to vote on it.
10. After much deal-making, the bill passes the full Senate in the wee hours Saturday morning. Here’s how they brought in some hold-outs:

• • Susan Collins gets promises of future bills to make sure people don’t lose healthcare and to reduce premiums.
  • Jeff Flake gets a promise that the situation of the Dreamers will be taken care of with a clean bill.
  • Steve Daines and Ron Johnson got a deeper tax break for pass-through corporations.
  • Lisa Murkowski gets to exploit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) by opening it up to drilling and mining.

11. THE AARP releases a report showing that millions of seniors’ taxes will go up under the Senate tax plan.
12. Despite Steve Mnuchin’s repeated assurances that he had a hundred analysts working on the tax bill ramifications, there is no report from the Treasury Department. Normally, the administration would release a report supporting their economic assertions, especially given that most independent analysts have refuted the claims made by the GOP.
13. The Treasury Department’s inspector general launches an inquiry into what happened at Treasury. Did they create a report and hide it? Did they even create a report? Did they do any analytics?
14. Here’s a couple random things the bill includes:

• • A repeal of the Johnson amendment, so your priest can tell you who to vote for.
  • Wording that gives personhood to fetuses.
  • Opening ANWR to drilling and mining.
  • A tax on private university endowments except for Hillsdale College, which is funded by the DeVos family.

15. Marco Rubio says we’ll make up the deficit by cutting Medicare and Social Security down the road.
16. Republicans have been very candid about the fact that their largest donors have threatened to stop funding the party if they don’t get tax reform through. Some continue to say this is for the people, but big donors get the biggest tax breaks. See the quotes at the end of this recap.
17. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation releases their report on the cost of the tax bill an hour after the vote, which means they passed the bill without knowing the economic ramifications.
18. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities publishes a new report finding that 27% of the Bush tax cuts benefited the wealthiest 1%.
19. Trump thinks a government shutdown would benefit him politically, saying he’ll just blame it on the Democrats and use it as leverage to get funding for his wall.

Elections:

1. A 1982 federal consent decree in New Jersey on voter rights expires, though the judge says it can be re-opened if violations against voters come up again. The decree was put in place when the Republican National Party was found guilty of voter intimidation and harassment and the RNC was barred from any activity that suppressed the vote. Yes, folks, the Republican party has been trying to suppress minority votes for at least 36 years.
2. Senator Lindsey Graham says his party should learn something from nominating someone like Roy Moore.
3. A retired Marine starts a write-in campaign to oppose Roy Moore in Alabama. Apparently there have been a large number of requests on how to write-in a new candidate.
4. Trump endorses alleged child molester Roy Moore for Senate. Other Republicans who had come out against Moore because of the accusations (like Mitch McConnell) soften their stance and say they’ll let the people of Alabama decide.
5. The Office of the Special Counsel begins investigating Kellyanne Conway over violations of the Hatch Act for using her office to campaign for alleged pedophile Roy Moore.
6. Trump pushes Orrin Hatch to run again, likely because he wants to keep Mitt Romney out of the Senate.

Miscellaneous:

1. Trump’s ethics lawyer resigns.
2. Trump continues to bring up conspiracy theories in private, to name a few:

• • He questions the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate.
  • He says millions of undocumented immigrants voted for Hillary.
  • He says that the Russian investigation will exonerate him by Christmas.
  • He says that the Access Hollywood tape isn’t his voice despite previously saying it was. People around him say he’s convinced it isn’t his voice.

3. Jeff Flake is the only GOP member of Congress calling him out on these things, while others shake their head and chuckle or refuse to go on record.
4. Fox News goes off the air for good in the United Kingdom.
5. Trump arrives in New York City for some fundraisers and is greeted by chants of “Lock him up!” Ah, Mike Flynn’s favorite campaign chant. Look who’s getting locked up now, Mike.

Polls:

1. One of our parties needs a little more introspection, IMO. Despite the fact that sexual harassment is apolitical (and despite the fact that Republicans have been involved in nearly twice as many (known) sex scandals since 1980):

• • 76% of Republicans think Democrats have a serious problem with sexual harassment.
  • 40% of Republicans think Republicans have a serious problem with sexual harassment.
  • 43% of Republicans think it’s not an issue within their own party.
  • 60% of Democrats think Democrats have a serious problem with sexual harassment.
  • 75% of Democrats think Republicans have a serious problem with sexual harassment.

Stupid Things Politicians Say:

With the passage of the tax bill, members of Congress have just given up on any pretense they’re looking out for our best interests. Here are a few quotes:

1. Senator Chuck Grassley: “I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.” (Even if he’s right, one group is hoarding and one group is putting their money back into the economy.)
2. Representative Chris Collins: “My donors are basically saying: ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again.’”
3. Senator Cory Gardner: “Donors are furious.”
4. Senator Lindsey Graham: “The financial contributions will stop [if we don’t pass tax reform].”
5. Senator Orrin Hatch, on why we can’t fund CHIP yet, says CHIP has done a “terrific job for people who really need the help” and then “I have a rough time wanting to spend billions and billions and trillions of dollars to help people who won’t help themselves, won’t lift a finger and expect the federal government to do everything.” (Yes, those lazy-ass 8-year-olds who won’t help themselves…)
6. Representative Steve Scalise: “Every time we’ve cut taxes you’ve seen the economy take off.” (Conveniently overlooking the tax cuts during George W. Bush’s entire presidency.)
7. Donald Trump: “You know, for years they have not been able to get tax cuts, many, many years since Reagan.” (Except for that one time under Clinton, and all those times under Bush, and that time under Obama, I guess.)