The Events: May 2019

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Another Month, another series of events. Two thoughts.

One, this lists of Events can't even capture the true Trump. The fault is partially his, and partially mine. He spouts so many outrageous (dare they even be called) thoughts on Twitter, and I can't bear to read them myself. Those included in the Events are those which are particularly newsworthy and venomous.

Two, as the years proceed, it becomes more and more clear, that it is impossible to know which events will explode into relevance. Was the USS McCain story irrelevant, or a sign of the corruption and toadying in the White House, the subservience of the military to the President's fickle whims?

The events of May 2019 are Here.

In April, the White House declared their support for a coup in Venezuela, with the words, “All options are on the table. Pompeo began May by saying, “Military action is possible.” But a few days latter, the putsch had failed, and yet, at the end of the month, Lindsey Graham proposed invading Venezuela.

On the other side of the globe, North Korea continues testing the President's patience. It fired more missiles, which both Pompeo and the President downplayed. Meanwhile, Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan contradicted the President on the issue.

In the neighboring country of China, the President continued working for a trade deal. But when talks stalled, tariffs increased from 10% to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods. While the President has claimed tariffs are paid by the Chinese companies to the United States government, and are beneficial to the consumer, economic adviser Kudlow admitted that, at least in the short term, no one benefits from tariffs. Which is obvious, because the Administration is preparing another $20 billion in aid for United States' farmers. And the President continued his on again, off again, fight with Chinese communication company, Huawei, banning them from the United States, but also hinting they could be a bargaining chip in the trade war.

Meanwhile, Iran slowly began to tip toe to the line of the Nuclear Deal it originally signed with the United States. Though the President has withdrawn the United States from its obligations, he continues to threaten Iran if they discontinue their effort. The White House made vague claims about a potential Iranian threat, to which it responded by sending one aircraft carrier. Because the United States reintroduced sanctions on Iranian oil, President Hassan Rouhani announced his partial withdrawal from the deal, unless the EU, Russia, and China can find some method to avoid United State interference. Then the United States deployed a second warship, and the NYT reported that the Pentagon had crafted a plan to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East to respond to an Iranian attack. A top British general contradicted the United States' claims, but the President still withdrew some State Department staff from neighboring Iraq. And the President capped the series with this incendiary tweet, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”

Along the border, a 16 year old migrant from Guatemala died in custody. That was the 3rd death of a child in a 6 month time span. Before the December 2018 death, no child had died in the Customs and Border Protection custody in over a decade. Conditions are terrible, and the border patrol has been holding hundreds of migrant children beyond the legal 72 hours. A plan by Housing and Urban Development wants to worsen the condition of at least 55 thousand children by canceling financial assistance for any family which contains even a single non-citizen. Perhaps it is not surprising that one of the architects of the inhumane border policy of family separations, former Chief of Staff, John Kelley, joined a board of Caliburn International, an organization which operates shelters for unaccompanied children. And among the many incendiary actions of the President in May, he said, at one of his rallies, “And don't forget we don't let them, and we can't let them, use weapons, we can't, other countries do, we can't, I would never do that. But how do you stop these people?” to which one member of the audience yelled, “Shoot them.” In response, the President didn't engage the John McCain response, but laughed, and the crowd laughed along with him. This is a horrible, false statement. Which countries use weapons against refugees or asylum seekers? None worthy of comparing ourselves to. Condemn threats and violence.

Other incendiary actions and speeches of the Presidency included; retweeting a call to extend his term by two years for “time stolen” by the Russia investigation,” the entirety of his rally on May 8th where he laughed at shooting migrants, his encouragement toward supporters at another rally, where they chanted “lock them up!” and his multiple accusations of Treason against the FBI and Democrats. Then, on May 4th, the retweeted and declared his support for alt-right personalities banned from Twitter or Facebook. To finish out the month, the President said John Kerry should be prosecuted for violating the Logan Act, and when he publicly swapped insults with Kim Jong-un against Joe Biden.

Before delving into the Russia Investigation fallout, a few more events.

Democrats stepped up their efforts to acquire the President's tax returns. They subpoenaed them, and were rejected by the Treasury, in spite of a internal IRS memo which said the Treasury had no legal reason to reject the request. New York state passed a bill which would allow them to deliver the President's state tax returns to any congressional committee which requested them (they also passed a law enabling the state to pursue charges against any individual who received a pardon for a federal conviction). And the NYT acquired printouts of IRS tax transcripts which showed that the President lost $1 billion over 10 years.

As is normal, a whole bunch of new staff were confirmed (or not). Stephen Moore, potential FED pick, withdrew his nomination after Senate Republican's balked at his past statements (they should see the President's). The President nominated GOP donor, Kelly Craft, to be the next UN ambassador. Further work with the United Nations included rejecting a plan to combat online extremism, and to reduce plastic waste. The President's pick for ICE director claimed he could look into the eyes of migrant children and know which would become gang members. And the President finally nominated Patrick Shanahan for Secretary of Defense.


May seemed particularly packed with absurd or dangerous actions.





Pompeo said, “reductions in sea ice are opening new passage ways and new opportunities for trade.", showing that Republicans can at least see that the planet is warming.



Another analysis of the Republican Tax Law, explains its giveaway to corporations and the wealthy.

And finally, the main course. It's been more than a month since the release of the Mueller Report. Attorney General William Barr attended a Senate hearing, where Democrats disparaged his efforts to spin the report preemptively. Their claims were buoyed by the revelation, on the same day, that Mueller had written a letter to Barr complaining about the spin before the release of the report. Pelosi felt aggrieved enough to claim that Barr lied to Congress, and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler began a back an forth with Barr, threatening to hold him in contempt for 1) Refusing to testify at the HJC, and 2) Withholding the underlying access compiled in special counsel Mueller's report.

As the public digested the report and Barr's intransigence, 400 former DOJ prosecutors signed a letter saying Mueller had enough evidence to charge the President with obstruction of justice (this number would later rise to over 1,000 former federal prosecutors). The DOJ responded by threatening to assert executive privileged over the entire reserved material for the Mueller Report. Then the President did it. When key witness, former White House counsel, Don McGahn, was subpoenaed by the HJC, the President interfered, and McGahn defied the subpoena (Subpoenas have also been issued for Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson). It was further revealed, that the President's lawyer asked Flynn for advance notice when Flynn was cooperating with the Special Counsel's investigation. And the President, on a call with Vladimir Putin, laughed about the Russian Hoax, while refusing to confront the Russian President about meddling in US elections. Finally, Mueller felt compelled to offer a public, televised statement about his report, which the President promptly lied about, and Democrats believed supported their calls for impeachment.

In retaliation, William Barr launched a counter-investigation of the origins of the Russia probe. Such information could be useful, if it wasn't going to filtered, spun, and delivered by a partisan hack. Both the FBI and CIA have been compelled to assist, and the President authorized the Attorney General to declassify any documents he deems relevant. Simultaneously, the President asked William Barr to investigate Joe Biden for actions undertaken in Ukraine.

Events accelerated when Republican Representative said the President, “engaged in impeachable conduct,” and that Barr, “used his position to sell the president's false narrative to the American people.” Nancy Pelosi said their was a cover up, and the President exploded in the Rose Garden.



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