This article contains no events related
to the Ukraine Investigation and Impeachment Inquiry. Next week will
include an article summarizing both the October and November events
related to Ukraine.
Syria
After betraying the Kurdish allies to a
brutal authoritarian (see
last month), the President
invited the man to the White House to shake his hand.
The President insisted that the United States would
leave troops in Syria, but only to protect the oil.
Unfortunately for Trump, that policy is bad strategy, a
war crime, and the Pentagon
says it isn't even true. The White House's
current plan allowed ISIS to regroup, since its enemy, the Kurds, was
under attack by Turkey.
Economy
The
White House distributed its second
round of aid to farmers, totaling 6.7 billion for the year.
Because of the President's trade war with China, nearly 40%
of farm income will come from the federal government.
It is unsurprising that the
gap between revenue and costs in the federal budget grew by $134
billion from last year.
The expected annual deficit, $984 billion, is the largest since
2012, and is widening due to the Republican tax cut and increased
defense spending.
Betsy DeVos
Secretary
of Education Betsy DeVos refused to testify before the House
education panel
about the collection of student loan debt from Corinthian Colleges
students. While serving as DeVos' acting general counsel, Steven
Menashi devised an illegal plan to use Social Security data to deny
relief to students who had been scammed by for-profit colleges.
Menashi also faced
trouble over ethnonationalism.
The
Senate confirmed him, 51-41, to a lifetime appointment on the federal
appeals court.
The Environment
The
Federal government relaxed
regulations on coal power plants
and on chemical
rules.
The White House filed paperwork to
withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement,
while threatening to
cut federal aid to California over an increase in wildfires.
California
sued the EPA because it revoked the state's emission waiver.
The White House also
considered privatizing national park campgrounds,
while cutting senior discounts.
Russia Investigation
Buzzfeed
sued the federal government for documents the Mueller investigation
did not release,
and received its first batch in November. The biggest headline: Paul
Manafort was an early source of the conspiracy claim that Ukraine,
not Russia, hacked the DNC emails and manipulated the 2016 election.
The last trial related to the Russia investigation began and ended.
Trump's
longtime friend, Roger Stone was accused of obstructing the House
Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian interference,
and lying about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks. Steve
Bannon testified against Stone,
telling the court that Stone had claimed a relationship with
Wikileaks and Assange. Stone
was found guilty on all seven counts,
for obstructing, false statements to Congress, and witness tampering.
Sentencing will follow. During the trial, former Manafort ally Rick
Gates testified that Trump talked to Roger Stone about Wikileaks.
This
statement contradicts the President's written testimony he made in
answering questions from Mueller
during the Russia Investigation.
Tax Returns
An
appeals court ruled against Trump,
saying he must turn over eight years of his tax returns to a New York
grand jury.
Another court ruled that
the House had the power to demand Trump's financial records.
Trump asked
the Supreme Court to block the New York subpoena,
and it
did, pending further litigation.
Immigration
Part
of the President's wall is up, but
smugglers already devised a way through: cut it with saws.
The White House is trying to deter immigrants with other methods.
They increased
fees for paperwork related to asylum and DACA renewal.
ICE
created a fake university and arrested immigrant students who
enrolled.
Seeking
asylum has become nearly impossible,
though a judge blocked the President's plan
to require immigrants to buy health insurance
within 30 days of arriving in the United States. The United States
had
a record number of migrant children in custody in 2019 at 69,550.
The Department of Homeland Security separated
migrant children from their families, even though it lacked the
technology to reunite them.
Under a new agreement, the United
States intends to send migrants to Guatemala.
And the agency tasked with overseeing the mess,
the Department of Homeland Security, saw its fifth (acting)
secretary, Chad Wolf, sworn in.
Wolf plans to elevate
anti-immigration Ken Cuccinelli to second in command.
Corruption
The
President was compelled
to pay two million dollars after a judge determined he used his
charity foundation to benefit himself personally.
After settling, Trump tweeted
to spin the loss into a win, greed into generosity.
The Senate investigated whether political
officials interfered with the IRS' audit of the President's tax
returns.
The Secret
Service spent $250,000 staying at Trump properties across six months
in 2017,
raising further evidence that the President is profiting while in
office. Ex-National Security Adviser, John Bolton, agreed, accusing
the President
of designing a policy toward Turkey motivated by his financial
interest.
Strange
The
President backed
down from his proposed ban on flavored e-cigarettes.
He
claimed Ivanka created 14 million jobs since 2017,
even though the United States economy only added 6 million total.
The public was surprised by
the President's sudden visit to the hospital, but his doctor said it
was routine, with no specific issue.
E.
Jean Carroll, who recently accused the President of a sexual assault
in the 1990s, sued him for defamation.
War Crimes and
Obscenity
The
President pardoned
two Army officers convicted of war crimes, and promoted a Navy SEAL
who had been demoted for unbecoming behavior.
While defending war criminals,
the President fired his Navy Secretary,
who refused to accept the decision. As a
result of the President's interference, the Navy announced it would
not review cases related to three other navy SEALs.
The
Southern Poverty Law Center released documents showing Stephen
Miller promoted anti-immigrant sentiment and white supremacy,
using Breitbart
to promote his ideas.
Reversing
a 40 year policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, declared
the United States would no longer consider Jewish Settlements on
occupied Palestinian territory illegal.
Israelis
immediately called for a takeover of the West Bank settlements.
In
conclusion, the President
directed Republicans to block a resolution from the Senate condemning
the Turkish genocide of Armenians.
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