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from May. Must read, even if itās just a pipe dream. Iād really enjoy seeing the return of the Sargent at Arms to a more prominent public position, as intended by our constitution. 
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___________________________________________________________________
Bloomberg
A Special Counsel Must Investigate Rudy Giuliani and Bill Barr
The whistle-blowerās complaint raises serious allegations about the presidentās personal lawyer and his attorney general.
By
Noah Feldman
September 27, 2019, 4:00 AM PDT
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Believe it or not, itās time for a new special counsel investigation.
Not targeting Donald Trump himself: Congress can and will investigate the president in the course of its impeachment inquiry.
But as a result of the whistle-blower complaint, a separate investigation does need to get underway immediately. The Department of Justice must investigate Rudy Giulianiās potential crimes in trying to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election. It also needs to investigate whether White House officials criminally covered up evidence of Trumpās call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
And because the whistleblower complaint alleges that the top law enforcement official in the federal government, Attorney General William Barr, āappears to be involvedā in these events, a special counsel must be appointed. Barr obviously must recuse himself: He has a conflict of interest and, more to the point, he is a potential target of the criminal investigation.
To be clear, Congress should not wait on the results of this special counsel investigation to continue its own inquiries. Thatās unnecessary, because Congress is appropriately focused on whether Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors, not on whether anyone else may have committed a federal crime. It would also obviously be absurd to put a hold on the congressional inquiry to wait for a Department of Justice investigation to conclude.
But a special investigation is needed because Congress does not have the expertise or the jurisdiction to go after criminal conduct by Giuliani, a private citizen. Nor could it investigate Barrās conduct in any context other than the separate impeachment inquiry into Trump.
These investigations need federal prosecutors and FBI agents. And they need them right now.
Begin with Giuliani. The whistleblower complaint alleges that in January and February of 2019, Giuliani met with Yuriy Lutsenko, who was then Ukraineās prosecutor general. These meetings preceded Lutsenkoās initiative in March to publish articles in The Hill in which he aired the allegations that Trump eventually asked Zelensky to investigate ā allegations about Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as about the supposed origins of the allegation of the Trump campaignās collusion with Russia in 2016.
A special counsel investigation is needed to determine first whether Giuliani suggested the topic of these articles to Lutsenko, or whether Lutsenko pitched the ideas to Giuliani. Regardless, it seems likely that Giuliani, who was already representing Trump in a personal capacity, was engaged in some form of coordination with Lutsenko. That could easily give rise to a criminal charge of conspiracy to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.
Subsequently, Giuliani had many further contacts with Lutsenko and other Ukrainian officials, according to the whistleblower complaint. All of these need to be investigated, too.
ā¦
As for the cover-up investigation, I explained yesterday that the whistleblower complaint includes at least three separate acts taken by unnamed White House officials to suppress information about the Trump-Zelenskiy call. Those must be investigated by a special counsel to determine if they constituted criminal obstruction of justice.Barr cannot be involved in this investigation, nor can any special counsel be answerable to him. The whistleblower complaint suggests that Barr āappearsā to have been involved in the whole affair. On its own, that allegation would be enough to require recusal.
But thereās much more to it than that. We know that Trump himself invoked Barr repeatedly in his call with Zelenskiy, linking Giulianiās efforts to an investigation he claimed Barr was undertaking. When the president of the United States tells the president of a foreign government that the attorney general is involved something, in the course of a phone call in which he appears to abuse the public trust, the attorney general canāt be involved in the investigation.
It isnāt sufficient for Barr to say that he wasnāt engaged in any investigation on Trumpās behalf. Nor would it suffice for Barr to say that he was conducting a perfectly lawful investigation into the origins of the allegation that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. A prosecutor who is implicated in a crime canāt refuse to recuse himself by simply asserting that heās innocent. Thatās not how recusal works. Even if Barr were completely innocent, he would have to recuse himself to preserve the appearance of impartiality.
Even though the target of this special investigation would not be Trump, itās entirely possible that such an investigation might find evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the president. Under current Justice Department guidelines, no prosecution could take place while Trump was in office. Nevertheless, Trump will eventually no longer be president, whether by impeachment and removal, losing an election, or finishing a second term in office. Any then, any criminal findings by the special counsel with respect to Trump would be very much open for prosecution.
Barr has had plenty of time to recuse himself from this matter, but has not done so. That is shameful and, IMO, makes him look guilty of being part of an ongoing cover up. Or as Pelosi put it, āA cover up of the cover up.ā
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John Solomon, who started the false Biden accusations, exits The Hill - Colleagues ashamed of him
The one ājournalistā that Trump and Giuliani keep referencing to prop up their lies about the Bidens has resigned in disgrace from his post at The Hill.
The takeaway from this article is that Solomonās resignation was forced by management. In other words, he was allowed to save face by not being fired, but he had no choice except to leave. There was a virtual revolt in the newsroom ā anger directed at him for his shoddy reporting combined with shame for being associated with him.
Beltway-centric newspaper The Hill employs a team of dozens of journalists from a variety of backgrounds. But only one has managed to alienate many of his colleagues, fuel the paranoia of Fox News viewers, and inadvertently play a key role in the whistleblower complaint and President Donald Trumpās potential impeachment.
Over the past several years, John Solomon, a long-time journalist with bylines at the Washington Post , the Associated Press, and Newsweek/The Daily Beast, has pivoted to becoming the Trumpian rightās favorite āinvestigative reporter.ā
And now, thanks to several mentions in the whistleblowerās complaint, his work has come under intense scrutiny following the revelation that a series of his stories about Ukraine, along with his Fox News appearances promoting them, may have led to the president asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to team up with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate the Biden family.
Over the past several months, and with the benefit of substantial airtime from Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity, Solomon has peddled a series of Ukraine-based conspiracy theories and allegations that have primarily taken aim at two of Trumpworldās biggest targets: Biden and Hillary Clinton.
In the process, his questionable reporting, which often seems specifically tailored to stoke the flames of right-wing paranoia, has enraged many of his colleagues at The Hill who have for years seen his tactics and reporting as overtly ideological, convoluted, and often lacking in crucial context.
ā¦
The Washington Post reported that more than a dozen staffers wrote a memo specifically criticizing Solomonās handling of the story about Trumpās alleged harassment victims, which they said omitted the important context that seeking donor support is neither a new practice nor is it unique to one political party. The staffers also expressed dismay about other stories, including the Uranium One deal, and noted that Solomonās work often negatively colored the way some important sources viewed engaging with The Hill .
ā¦
Earlier this month, Solomon announced that he will leave The Hill to create his own start-up media firm. ā¦
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Americaās Real Divide Isnāt Left vs. Right. Itās Democracy vs. Oligarchy
When oligarchs fill the coffers of political candidates, they neuter democracy
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Spot on commentary by Robert Reich, Clintonās Secretary of Labor. Heās one of my āheroes of democracy.ā He always speaks sensibly, thinking through issues and using facts to back up logic. I wish in future he could reprise his role as a Cabinet member.
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Trump canāt name a single corruption investigation heās requested that isnāt about a political rival
To hear President Donald Trump tell it, his desire to get foreign governments like Ukraine and China to open investigations into the Biden family is all about principled corruption concerns, not politics.
āI donāt care about Bidenās campaign, but I do care about corruption,ā Trump told reporters outside the White House Friday. āI believe there was tremendous corruption with Biden ā¦ we are looking at corruption, we are not looking at politics.ā
Trump went as far as to insist āthis is about corruptionā or a close variant of that statement six times in less than 40 seconds.
But all it took was one question from CNBCās Eamon Javers to destroy his talking point.
āHave you asked foreign leaders for any corruption investigations that donāt involve your political opponents?ā Javers asked.
The answer, it quickly became apparent, was no ā even if Trump didnāt want to admit it.
āYou know, we would have to look, but I tell you ā what I ask for, and what I always will ask for, is anything having to do with corruption with respect to our country,ā Trump said, dissembling. āIf a foreign country can help us with respect to corruption, and corruption probes ā I donāt care if itās Biden or anybody else.ā
Bottom Line: Trump claims heās pushing foreign governments to dig up corruption everywhere, not just on his political rivals. Yet he canāt name one case, not even one, where he is investigating corruption that does NOT involve the Bidens.
And, BTW, there is absolutely no evidence that the Bidens did anything wrong ā itās much more likely that Trump wants foreign governments to fabricate corruption charges against the Bidens ā in exchange for favors from U.S. taxpayers.
Watch Trump reveal his āIām-investigating-corruption-everywhereā lie in the first 30 seconds of this CNN panel:
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The title says it all. Last week, we found out Trump was assisting Putin by delaying military aid to Ukraine, a country that Russia has placed under siege. This week Trump hands Syria to Russia, while betraying the Kurds who have made untold sacrifices in the fight against ISIS.
President Trump has clearly been itching to leave Syria for months, once dubbing it nothing but āsand and death.ā As Trump himself was at pains to point out, he was elected on a promise to get out of āthese ridiculous endless wars.ā
But the speed of his decision to withdraw US forces from northern Syria threatens to wreck almost every goal the US has in the Middle East just now.
Firstly, the sudden withdrawal of US forces ā designed to leave their erstwhile allies the Syrian Kurds as exposed to a Turkish advance as possible ā comes just as a regrouping by ISIS was taking shape.
ISIS was founded in a vacuum ā the turmoil of Syriaās civil war ā and in a vacuum it will return.
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Secondly, Trumpās decision will be a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Before joining the US coalition against ISIS, the Syrian Kurds have long had an easy accommodation with Damascus. As Trump has long telegraphed his desire to leave the region, they presumably have regime officials in Damascus on speed-dial, knowing this moment would someday come.
Indeed, US officials have recently noticed Russian-backed patrols around Manbij, a city to the west, perhaps testing the waters.
The Syrian regime has long sought to recapture Deir Ezzor, a former ISIS bastion in northeast Syria held by Kurdish-led forces. The departure of US forces, and the concurrent loss of essential air cover they provided, will leave Damascus and Moscow with a gentle choice between striking a political deal with the Syrian Kurds, or just wearing them down with military pressure until they fall in the face of superior Russian firepower.
Thirdly, Iran will also benefit.
The tiny US presence in northern Syria, and the aerial surveillance that came with it, acted as a block to one of Tehranās most useful acquisitions in past years ā an almost clear run of friendly territory from its borders to its allies in Lebanon.
That gap will now fill with Iranian backed militia, friendly Syrian regime forces, and Russian mercenaries. This outcome may not have occurred to Trump in his late-night chat with Erdogan, but it may be the longer term consequence of his decision.
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This article talks about the mental bias by which we tend to weigh things that are secret, or that weāre told are secret, more heavily than things that are widespread or public knowledge, and how it relates to Trumpās recent public cries for China to investigate the Bidens.
The Two Psychological Tricks Trump Is Using to Get Away With Everything
His brazen attempts to redefine the norms of acceptable conduct work for a reason.
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Study: U.S. Gun Deaths Surge, Except for Two States With Restrictive Gun Laws
A thread:
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The NYT Editorial Board strikes again with a full condemnation of āMr. Trumpās administration continues to make decisions that are bad for most Americansā
Every single Obama-ruling (with the exception of ACA-Obamacare) T has tried and in effect eliminated demonstrating again a ruthless disregard for some common welfare of this nation.
Enoughā¦
Opinion piece in fullā¦
Making America Worse
As impeachment commands the spotlight, the Trump administration continues to gut the rule book to hurt millions.
The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.
On the campaign trail in 2015, Donald Trump said it was ādisgustingā that a big corporation could escape taxation by using bookkeeping tricks to shift profits out of the United States.
Now the Trump administration is thinking about making it easier to play those tricks. Bloomberg reported this week that the Treasury Department, in a development sure to gladden the hearts of the corporate class, was considering a rollback of rules written by the Obama administration to prevent the very kinds of shenanigans Mr. Trump once condemned.
While Congress focuses on the question of whether to impeach Mr. Trump, the potential change in tax policy is a reminder that the wheels of the government grind on ā and that Mr. Trumpās administration continues to make decisions that are bad for most Americans.
In recent months, the Agriculture Department has decided to reduce inspections at the slaughterhouses that process the nationās pork; the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to let farmers and factories dump toxic chemicals into thousands of acres of previously protected wetlands; and the Labor Department has ruled that states can perform drug tests on applicants for unemployment benefits, allowing Texas, Mississippi and Wisconsin to begin efforts to curtail aid for people who need help.
These changes in regulatory policy are part of a clear pattern. The Trump administration has worked assiduously to reduce federal protections for consumers, workers and the environment, making the United States a dirtier and more dangerous place in which to live.
The Trump administration also continues to flout its obligation to comply with existing law.
A federal judge said this week that the Education Department, under the leadership of Betsy DeVos, had committed 16,000 violations of a court order by improperly seeking to collect student loan payments, including docking paychecks and confiscating tax refunds.
Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the United States District Court in San Francisco described the departmentās behavior as ādeeply disturbing,ā adding, āIām not sending anyone to jail yet, but itās good to know I have that ability.ā
The Obama administration erased the debts of thousands of former students of Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit company that went out of business in 2015, under a policy that forgives the loans of students who are the victims of a fraud. Under Ms. DeVos, however, the department began to grant only partial debt relief to Corinthian students, prompting a lawsuit. Judge Kim ordered the government to suspend its collection efforts while the case winds through the courts. She said she was āastoundedā by the failure to comply.
Meanwhile, the department has finalized a new rule making it much harder for future student loan recipients to get relief from the government even if they are victims of fraud.
The Trump administrationās regulatory policy can generally be summarized as marching to the orders of the businesses it regulates. Indeed, the administration has pushed so hard to reduce regulation that even companies have sometimes expressed reservations: Four major automobile manufacturers have refused to embrace Mr. Trumpās campaign to prevent California from reducing air pollution, instead striking a deal with California to meet stricter emissions standards.
Mr. Trump also has an obsession with erasing rules written under President Barack Obama.
The potential rewrite of the tax rules governing corporate profits is an example of both tendencies. Corporations dislike the Obama-era rules, which cracked down on the practice of sending profits to a foreign branch, lending the money back to the home office and then writing off the interest expense. Under the rules, the government can prevent companies from treating those transfers as loans, and thus from claiming the resulting tax benefits.
Corporations argue that the current rule is broad, burdensome, and no longer necessary because the 2017 tax law limited the incentive for profit-shifting by reducing the tax rate on corporate income. But that overstates the effect of the law, which still leaves room for companies to hide profits in other jurisdictions. There is simply no good reason to weaken the Obama-era rule.
The administrationās penchant for this kind of petty vandalism does not add one whit to the case for Mr. Trumpās impeachment. It is instead a reminder that if Mr. Trump does stand for re-election in 2020, Americans can improve their lives by voting for someone else.
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Another powerful NYT Opinion piece on the Environment and Climate Change.
Today, we act surprised as the climate emergency descends upon us in all its ferocity.
The scientists knew long ago, and told us, that the sea would invade the coasts. They knew a hotter atmosphere would send heavier rains to inundate our cities and farms. They knew the landscape of California, which always becomes desiccated in the late summer and early fall, would dry out more in a hotter climate.
But even the scientists did not quite foresee the way that bone-dry vegetation would turn into a firebomb waiting for a spark. California is the state that has done the most to battle the climate crisis, but that has not saved it from recent fires so ferocious they burned people alive.
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What Happened When 2.2 Million People Were Automatically Registered To Vote
Games blamed for moral decline and addiction throughout history
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Shame. Shame. Shame on Trump and on the Republicans for bringing him to power and keeping him there. The President is sworn to protect us, but now, virtually overnight, we are in far more danger of terrorist attacks and itās just going to get worse.
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A very solid article about how the baby boomer grip on our media has polarized us.
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It seems the Impeachment Inquiry is at a crossroads. Itās time for the Democrats to decide: will they āGo Focusedā or āGo Bigā? Like this editorial, I say āGo Bigā!
Itās almost certain that the House will impeach Trump and then send the matter to the Senate for a trial. But I feel thereās no way, at this point, that the Senate Republicans will vote to remove Trump ā and if theyāre not going to do that, then I feel itās important to keep piling on charges ā this op-ed is a blueprint for that.
Iāll bet dollars to doughnuts that Trump leaned on China to investigate the Bidens just like he did with Ukraine (his China trade negotiator is not denying it) ā and turning over other rocks is inevitably going to uncover more impeachable acts.
How does everyone else feel? Should we āGo Focusedā or āGo Bigā?
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