Readers today,
reading news from a month ago, know that the
House began its formal impeachment inquiry in October. Further
details will follow next week.
Does the this series, The
Presidential Events, benefit or suffer from editorial comments? It's
a question I consider as I write them. Would be better without them?
Maybe they discourage certain readers. Yet, the actions undertaken
by the President each month are infuriating. Many readers may feel
helpless against the deluge. This accounting, and the occasional
comments which insist on inserting themselves, are my outlet.
Limited for readability and length, they sprinkle themselves
sparingly, but if readers expressed a preference one way or another,
that would interest to me.
Turkey, Syria, and the
Kurds
The biggest
non-Ukraine event of the past month was Trump's sudden abandonment of
the Kurds. America's allies of the last decade in the fight against
Saddam, the Iraq insurgency, and ISIS, no longer had anything to
offer the famously transactional president. The crisis began on
Sunday the sixth, when Trump, after a phone
call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, announced
an immediate withdrawal from northern Syria
to be followed by a Turkish invasion to eliminate the Kurds. After
an immediate bipartisan backlash, the White
House claimed it didn't give Turkey a “green light” in Syria,
though Turkey would later claim Trump
knew the extent of their plans all along.
Under pressure from Republicans, Trump threatened to obliterate the
Turkish economy if they misbehaved, and Turkey replied by saying,
they
would not be controlled by threats.
Seeing that Turkey wouldn't bow to ultimatums, Trump
changed his position, defending Erdogan's action.
Trump claimed that
his
reason for withdrawal was to end the role of the United States in
Syria, but that wasn't true.
He merely moved American forces to allow a Turkish invasion. Still
defending Turkey, Trump
absurdly stated that the Kurds “didn't help us with Normandy.”
Nor, should it be pointed out, did the President. The Turkish
advance continued into Kurdish held territory,
as the Senate
drafted a sanctions bill over the assault.
While foreign policy analysts worried about ISIS fighters held in
prison by the Kurds, the President calmed fears by saying, “Well
they [ISIS fighters] are going to be escaping to Europe...”
The White House tried to counteract the president,
saying Turkey must avoid crossing any red lines,
such as ethnic cleansing or killing of civilians.
Fears about a
resurgent ISIS increased when a
Turkish attack on Kurdish forces allowed 950 ISIS supporters to
escape. The
President downplayed the risk, claiming, erroneously, that the US had
already removed the worst of the prisoners. Continuing to shift back
and forth, the
President sanctioned Turkey for its invasion of Syria.
In a related incident, a
Turkish bank tied to the President's personal lawyer, Rudy Guiliani,
was indicted in a multi-billion dollar attempt to avoid U.S.
sanctions on Iran.
This was related to an event from 2017 (reported in October of 2019),
when the public learned that the
President pressured then Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to
convince the DOJ to drop sanctions on a man connected to the same
Turkish bank.
With no resolution
in sight, Trump
sent Pence to speak to President Erdogan.
The following day, the
House voted 354 to 60 to condemn the President's decision
to withdraw troops from Syria. The public also learned that
the President sent a strange letter to President Erdogan.
Part threat, part conciliatory, and part condescending, Erdogan
supposedly threw it into the trash. In another press conference, the
President added to his odd remarks,
claiming that the Kurdish PKK was worse than ISIS.
Pence and Erdogan came to an agreement, and the President declared
victory. The deal, called a US surrender by MSNBC, required
the Turkish army to allow Kurdish forces 120 hours to remove
themselves from within 20 miles of the Turkish-Syrian border.
The Turks
couldn't even hold to this victory,
as conflict resumed almost immediately. With the US absent, Russia
stepped in, securing deals with the Turks, the Kurds, and the
Syrians. The
President
declared the ceasefire permanent, and lifted the sanctions
imposed by his administration. Days later, the
Defense Secretary, under the order of the President, redeployed US
troops to protect Syrian oilfields.
Immigration
The
President and his surrogates often claim they support immigration,
but only if it is legal. Trump's policies speak another story. A
new proclamation, signed by the President, prevents immigrants who
can not afford the cost of health insurance, from moving to the
United States. Experts
estimate this policy could bar 375,000 immigrants yearly, a cut of
65% annually.
Aside from aide Stephen Miller, acting head of U.S. Citizenship
Immigration Services (a small agency) Ken
Cuccinelli
is one of Trump's favorite anti-immigration aides. The
President wanted to advance Cuccinelli to head the Department of
Homeland Security,
but even Republicans balked, warning the President Ken would be
rejected. This fight followed Kevin
McAleenan's announcement to step down as acting DHS secretary.
Other
immigration stories included reporting
that Trump tried to build a wall with spikes on top, and a moat with
alligators in it.
He also wanted
soldiers to shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down.
While he was told those actions would be illegal, the
administration pushed forward on collecting DNA from detained
migrants,
and was trying to collect
citizenship data for redistricting after losing its case to include a
citizenship question on the census.
The Senate failed to rebuke the President's plan to declare a
national emergency. Ten
Republicans voted with Democrats in an unsuccessful attempt to
override the President's veto.
Russia
Though
Democrats may decide not to include any Russian related items on
their vote for impeachment, Putin's intervention, and Mueller's
investigation continue ripple across the world. The Republican
controlled Senate Intelligence Committee released its final report on
Russian interference
in the 2016 election. The
report concluded that Russia
“"sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election by
harming Hillary Clinton's chances of success and supporting Donald
Trump at the direction of the Kremlin." Senate Republicans said
this, in spite of the President's continual instance that Russia did
nothing wrong. Attorney General William Barr continued his quest to
bring to justice those who started the Russian investigation, meeting
officials in Italy
and elsewhere.
The NYT
reported that Barr found a culprit,
and the probe was transitioning into a criminal inquiry, though there
has been no news three weeks later. The public learned that
Mueller's
grand jury did not interview Don Jr. or Don McGahn,
two key witnesses in the Russian saga. Congress and the public also
heard that
the White House blocked the State Department from condemning Russia's
seizure of Ukrainian military vessels
in late 2018. And though the Senate Report, Robert Mueller, and any
number of intelligence personal continue to warn against foreign
interference in the 2020 election, the
White House condemned a bill that would require campaigns to report
foreign interference.
Tax Returns
A
judge rejected the outrageous claim made by Trump lawyers, that the
President was immune to prosecution,
labeling it “repugnant.”
The Department of Justice filed in support of the President, urging
an appeals court to reverse the lower courts decision.
An
IRS whistleblower said Treasury officials might have interfered with
an audit of Trump's tax returns.
In response, an internal
Treasury watchdog opened an investigation.
Staff
Rick
Perry resigned (see upcoming The Presidential Events: Ukraine October
Edition), and Trump
picked Dan Brouillette
as his replacement. Meanwhile a
top aide to Pompeo resigned in connection to the unfolding Ukraine
scandal.
Secretary
of Education, Betsy DeVos, made news twice in the month of October,
once when it was revealed that her
security costs of 2019 was $6,240,000.
She
was also held in contempt by a federal judge,
because she continued to require payments for student loans for the
defunct, for-profit Corinthian Colleges.
Foreign Policy
In
spite of claims otherwise, the White House deployed
an additional 1,800 troops to Saudi Arabia,
and ordered
increased engagement of forces in Afghanistan.
The President also threatened
war against Iran,
while North
Korea launched two more missiles in violation of a UN resolution.
The
President announced the
preliminary outline of a phase one trade deal with China,
but when the details were revealed, China
backed off of Trump's demands.
As part of the negotiation, US
officials were banned from speaking in support of the protests in
Hong Kong.
Across the Atlantic, the
United States implemented tariffs against European goods
in an escalating trade war.
Labor
Laws
The
Trump administration argued at the Supreme Court that Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination “because of
sex” does
not prevent discrimination against LBGQT workers.
The White House also imposed restrictions on the rights of all
workers, by
allowing states to require drug testing for workers to collect
unemployment.
The
Rally
Though
Trump
refuses to pay the local costs associated with his rallies,
he went
to Minneapolis to rally his fans
and demonize Somali immigrants. Before he went, he
attacked the mayor repeatedly on Twitter.
Sexual
Assault Allegations
While
the
National Enquirer shredded documents related to Trump
days before the 2016 election, women continue to come forward with
their stories. Karen
Johnson claimed she was assaulted by Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the early
2000s,
while long time accuser, Summer
Zervos, presented evidence in court to support her claim that the
President assaulted her in 2007.
Other
Trump
awarded the 2020 G7 summit to his Florida resort,
but backed
down four days later against the bipartisan outcry.
Though
the President posts
tweets from those of white supremacists,
and tweets about thirty-six times a day, he
couldn't be bothered to personally condemn a violent video
shown at his resort to a conference of his supporters. It depicted
Trump killing news companies, Barack Obama, John McCain, Bernie
Sanders, and many more personalities.
At
the same conference, one
speaker whipped supporters into a frenzy as they chanted for war
against their political opponents.
They
Said It!
“The
person who serves as President, while in office, enjoys absolute
immunity from criminal process of any kind,”
including if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue.
"As
I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that
what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP...”
It seems odd to get worked up about the process. If all the
Republican Senators are going to vote to acquit, nothing will happen.
Mattis
was “the
world's most overrated general."
“You
people with this phony emoluments clause,”
said Trump when confronted with the ethical and constitutional
conflicts of hosting the 2020 G7 at his own hotel.
Next week, October's Ukraine events.
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