The Presidential Events: August 2020, Part I of II

Since I began The Presidential Events series back in 2018, they've lengthened. The original was only 400 words. Even by January of 2019 the length was only 1100. But by January 2020, the articles had doubled in size. There were the two additional articles I wrote to cover the Ukraine incident. The review of 2019 required over six thousand words. Why? Maybe I've slipped, and become too unfocused. Maybe the President has become more comfortable taking outrageous action. Or maybe the approaching election led the President to increase his media exposure. With the election, the protests, the coronavirus, the forest fires, and whatever else that happens, the next few months are bound to be packed. So much, that I separated The Presidential Events of August into two articles.

A few other thoughts. I've often wondered if any Trump supporter reads these. Probably not. But if they did I'd be appreciative of a different perspective. Do they think these actions are reasonable? Or have I portrayed the whole month incorrectly. I invite anyone reading this, who disagrees with its analysis, to write their own Events for President Trump, cataloging everything he and his allies do in a month.

I think often about what this series will look like if Joe Biden wins in November. I'm not a fan of his. But his events, for example, would include: Democrats have made a puzzling decision to drop their demand to end fossil fuel subsidies. Those headlines are a possible hint of events to come.

But for now, here are The Presidential Events of August 2020.

Staffing

Kellyanne Conway prepared to leave the White House at the end of the month. After the Government Accountability Office said Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Deputy Secretary were ineligible to serve, Trump announced his nomination of Wolf for the permanent position. The same Wolf who is detaining unaccompanied migrant children in hotels, before expelling them.

Investigation into the Trump Organization

The State of New York continued to investigate the Trump Organization, after the Trump Charity was forced to admit fraud in 2019. The Attorney General hinted that the investigation might be about more than hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. Side note, a California judge ordered Trump to pay Daniels $44,100 in legal fees. New York also sued Eric Trump to force him to testify. Another judge said Trump could not withhold his tax returns from the valid investigation undertaken by New York.

China

China continued its persecution of Hong Kong, and Trump verbally condemned the arrest of protesters. The United States announced a visit to Taiwan by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the first visit by a high level cabinet official since 1979.

Iran

Even though the President withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, he still believed he could force other nations to follow it. In an effort to pressure Iran, the White House removed lead diplomat Brian Hook, and replaced him with the infamous Elliot Abrams. When the United Nations refused to extend an arms embargo on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the decision, and Trump said he would unilaterally restart economic sanctions. The UN rejected the United States attempt to snap back sanctions, calling it illegal, because the US had already abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal.

Russia Investigation

Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the investigation that followed, may not even end with the 2020 election. The Senate released its final report on the Russia investigation. Even more clearly than the Muller report, the Senate report laid out Russia's attempts to assist President Trump and the enthusiasm of Trump allies to accept. Most egregiously, Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort passed along information to Konstantin Kilimnik. While this was already cataloged in Mueller's report, the Senate said that Kilimnik was a Russian agent, connected to the country's intelligence agencies, and that Manafort's work with him “represented a grave counterintelligence threat.” The Senate also said that Manafort might have personally assisted the hacks which targeted the DNC. The report also concluded that the President lied. Trump told Mueller he did not remember discussing Wikileaks with Roger Stone, but Stone and Trump did discuss it with other allies multiple times. Like the Mueller investigation, there was more to be known, but the Senate balked at forcing Trump, Trump Jr., Kushner, Ivanka, Hope Hicks, Flynn, and many others from testifying. The report was released on a 14 – 1 vote, with only Sen Jim Risch (R) voting against, because the report did not exonerate the President.

The New York Times also revealed that Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the Mueller investigation, secretly restricted him. Mueller was only allowed to conduct a criminal investigation, and not a counterintelligence investigation.

On a lesser note, an appeals court ruled that Flynn could not bypass his trial judge. And an FBI lawyer plead guilty to altering a document and an email in the Russia investigation, to say that Page was not a source for the CIA, when that statement wasn't true.

Conspiracy

The President regularly engages in conspiracies, crafting a world of fiction to match his fantasies. When Beruit suffered from a terrible explosion, Trump caused consternation by suggesting it was an attack. In his characteristic way he supported his theories with vague sources, like, “Some said,” or “People are saying.”

A recent poll found the President to be infecting the Republican party. Civiqs found that 55% of Republicans believed that at least part of the Qanon conspiracy was true. In the month of August, the President refused to dismiss Qanon as incorrect or misguided. When asked about the conspiracy at a later press conference the President praised the followers. The FBI had just labeled Qanon as “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists,” and a growing threat. Despite Trump's approval, Cheif of Staff Mark Meadows said the President didn't know anything about Qanon.

While spouting this conspiracy, the President also alleged that Biden was controlled by people in dark shadows. He said it was “people that are in the dark shadows,” and “people that are on the streets.” Trump is right, there are people controlling Biden, the wealthy, pharmaceutical executives, Silicon Valley tycoons, just like Trump is controlled by bank CEOs, the NRA, and oil executives. But the insinuations of the President were another measure of his absurdity.

The United States Postal Service

Because of the coronavirus many states proposed voting by mail. Republicans have long sought to privatize the postal service, which would be a disaster for rural America. The President seems to hate the USPS, maybe because he doesn't understand it is a service, not a business, or because Amazon uses the service to send packages. Either way he has repeatedly threatened to veto any bill which funded it. In August he admitted that he was blocking Post Office funding to prevent mail in voting. The House recently passed a $25 billion funding bill, but it won't be voted on in the Senate. Trump sued the state of Nevada to stop its implementation of mail in voting. But, recognizing the importance of mail in voting in Florida, the campaign promoted it.

Meanwhile, the United States Postal Service seemed to slow its delivery since the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, took office in June. The USPS began removing mail sorting machines in major cities, and under pressure DeJoy agreed to stop any changes, but refused to reverse them. Under questioning he even claimed that he didn't order the changes and couldn't say who did. He also couldn't answer Representative Katie Porter about the cost of sending a postcard, or a stamp.

The USPS warned that it might not deliver ballots in time for the election. It warned 46 states of delays, and that tens of millions of ballots would be at risk of missing the deadline.

The President implied that he would consider ballots received by election day, but not counted by November 3rd, as illegitimate. This in spite of that the President himself received his mail in ballot.

Republican National Convention

After the Democratic National Convention, the Republicans followed. While the DNC was disappointing, the RNC was something else. Prior to the convention the President proposed hosting it at Gettysburg or the White House, eventually choosing the latter. This decision raised the issue of the Hatch Act, a 1939 law which prohibits executive branch employees from political activity. While it technically excludes the President and Vice President, this shouldn't be an excuse to engage in questionable activity. Trump became the only President to host a political convention on the steps of the White House. Even if one ignores the President's questionable decision, numerous civil servants under the order of the President violated the Hatch Act to set up the event. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also found himself under a congressional investigation for the violation. Pompeo spoke during an official trip to Israel. Democrats argued he used public resources for a political event. Pompeo violated his own internal laws he set up for the State Department. He was also was the first Secretary of State in decades to speak at a national convention.

The RNC managed a platform of deceit during its speeches. Even though the coronavirus will be the third highest cause of death of 2020, below heart disease and cancer, and above accidents, the RNC pretended that “one leader took decisive action to save lives: President Donald Trump.” A lack of federal assistance, months of denial, along with evidence shows the failure of the United States to handle the outbreak. Larry Kudlow spoke at the RNC about the effects of the coronavirus as if it was in the past, while 1,147 people died. The President bragged about his success, blaming governors for the outbreak.

It wasn't all about the coronavirus. RNC speakers discussed the protesters. A wealthy couple charged with threatening protesters with guns screeched about injustice from their mansion. VP Mike Pence blamed the death of a federal official on protesters, when the officer was actually shot by a vet turned right wing extremist.

The four day event was packed with Trump family members employed by the campaign or government, making the nepotism explicit. The most absurd aspect was the party platform. The year I started the blog I wrote about the transformation of the Republican platform. This year it completed a strange transformation. The RNC didn't write a platform for 2020. It chose to reuse its 2016 document, but added a one page heading. The page is a paean to Trump, and can be summed up in one sentence, “The RNC enthusiastically supports President Trump and continues to reject the policy positions of the Obama-Biden Administration.”

Fact checking will not do much to change anyone's opinion.

Recent:
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Relevant:
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The Presidential Events: July 2020
With Biden as the Presumptive Democratic Nominee, Both Parties have Declared a Generational War Against the Young

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