Pompeo responds to reports of rage-filled tirade against reporter with lie-filled statement

Posted on by Joan McCarter

The non-impeachment bombshell of the week was NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly's interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the interview in which he blustered and lied to the unflappable Kelly; the interview that so enraged him that he followed up with a rage- and expletive-filled rant at Kelly off tape. The State Department did not respond to NPR with a statement after the story broke Friday, but now has released a rage-filled statement from Pompeo on department letterhead, one in which he blusters and lies.

He says in that statement, "NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month in setting up our interview […]." Kelly, in the interview, refutes that. Pompeo tries to filibuster his way out of answering questions about Ukraine by saying "You know, I agreed to come on your show today to talk about Iran." Kelly interjects: "I confirmed with your staff [crosstalk] last night that I would talk about Iran and Ukraine." In discussion following the airing of the full interview, "All Things Considered" hosts Ari Shapiro and Audie Cornish confirm that Kelly has emails with Pompeo's staff confirming that she would discuss Iran and Ukraine (you can listen to the full show here). Not as well that the transcript the State Department posted does not have Pompeo or his aide who is in the room disputing that.

Continuing with the the second part of Pompeo's statement with the next lie: "[…] then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record." Kelly herself took that straight on Friday in explaining the interaction with ATC co-host Cornish. She said that the aide who was staffing Pompeo, and who escorted her to the room where Pompeo swore and yelled at her did not say that this meeting would be off the record, and said that she never would have agreed to it being off the record. In her words: "the same staffer who had stopped the interview reappeared, asked me to come with her—just me, no recorder, though she did not say we were off the record, nor would I have agreed." Yes, that's "he said, she said" but this is an experienced reporter for a respected national outlet. She's not going to flub something so basic.

Then, in his statement, Pompeo offers the usual Trumpian attack: "It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity." Then he really shows the full force of his ill-informed and vile misogyny: "It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine." That's his response to this, from Kelly: "He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map; I said yes. He called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine."

Kelly NPR's bio says, was NPR's national security correspondent for NPR News and has had a distinguished reporting career since graduating from Harvard University as an undergrad and her master's degree. That degree is from Cambridge University in England. Her degree is in European studies.

Yes, she knows where Ukraine is on a map. That was just too big of a tell on Pompeo's part, coming up with something as farcical as this.

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Is Moscow Mitch the messenger of the ‘heads on pikes’ threat from Trump to Republicans?

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Moscow Mitch McConnell has a team working overtime to work the refs, and getting the traditional press to spin out stories about his masterful control of the Senate. Like this one quoting people from his inner sphere, in which he is credited with "educating GOP senators, coordinating with the White House, preaching the importance of party unity and bearing the brunt of Democratic attacks on behalf of his 53 members—some of whom are in close reelection races."

But does he have their backs in fighting attacks from Donald Trump, or is he coordinating that with the White House, too? CBS News reported Thursday night that Republican senators have been warned: “Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike." After all, McConnell has promised that "Everything I do during this, I'm coordinating with White House Counsel. There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this." Does that include threatening his fellow senators?

It's time to end his destructive stranglehold on the republic. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as majority leader.

That wasn't just idle talk from McConnell. He had a one-on-one coordinating meeting with Trump, where he promised—again—a quick acquittal. McConnell would happily use the "head on a pike" threat to enforce that.

Republican senators sure are selective in what they find offensive in Trump’s impeachment trial

Posted on by Joan McCarter

The third day of Donald Trump's impeachment trial once again featured Republican senators competing with each other to see who could show the most disdain for the idea of their constitutional duty and the oath they took to provide impartial justice. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, apparently felt one-upped by the odious Martha McSally of Arizona in the race to be Trump's favorite woman senator, so she stepped up her game by maligning decorated American combat veteran Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who still serves in uniform and who has been subject to threats of violence since he testified in the House impeachment investigation.

Then there's the ongoing middle-school brat behavior on display for the handful of reporters who are allowed to tell us about it. Which, by the way, Sen. Susan Collins thinks is too many. She wants one whole group of reporters, those sitting in the front row of the gallery where they can actually see what's happening, to be booted—presumably so they don't have a clear view of the Republican senators who are doodling, playing with toys, working on crosswords, chomping gum, and wandering around the chamber and leaving it for long stretches at a time. All in defiance of the rules they swore to follow. And once again, Chief Justice John Roberts might as well have been a potted plant in response.

They all complain that they're not hearing anything new. They're all saying it verbatim, repeatedly and uniformly, almost as if they have nothing new to say. But given that they're also not paying attention, perhaps they're missing the new news.

What they do selectively hear, however, is horribly offensive to their very delicate ears. Collins tattled to Chief Justice Roberts that Rep. Jerry Nadler had suggested that Republicans were abetting a cover-up—that one deeply offended Lisa Murkowski, too.

They were even offended by Rep. Adam Schiff's remarkable closing remarks Thursday night: "Because in America, right matters. Truth matters. If not, no Constitution can protect us. If not, we are lost." Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming was deeply offended on behalf of all his Republican colleagues who had to sit through Schiff's uncomfortable truths, none of which any Republican will really contest—they just think it doesn't matter.

Oh, the humanity. By the way, not a single one of them publicly chastised their colleague Blackburn for her gross attack on Lt. Col. Vindman's patriotism.

Susan Collins finds a principle to stand behind: Tattling on ‘both sides’ in the name of civility

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Just when you thought Maine Sen. Susan Collins couldn't get any worse, you find out she's a tattle-tale. Yes, the one thing that woke Chief Justice John Roberts out of his stupor during the ongoing impeachment trial was a note from Collins tattling on Rep. Jerry Nadler for being mean during his statement Tuesday night.

She told Politico she was "stunned" that Nadler would suggest that Senate Republicans were aiding in Trump's cover-up of his Ukraine dealings, and felt compelled to tell teacher Roberts that Nadler and White House counsel Pat Cipollone were breaking the rules. "So I did write a note raising the issue of whether there’d been a violation of the rules," she said. "I gave that note to [Senate Parliamentarian] Laura Dove and shortly thereafter the chief justice did admonish both sides. And I was glad that he did." Which is quintessential Collins: more concerned about decorum in the Senate chamber than Trump extorting a foreign leader to interfere in our election on his behalf. And clearly more invested in helping cover that up, since she voted against every single amendment brought by Democrats trying to expand the record with new witnesses and documents.

Collins has chosen her side, and Maine knows it. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!

Collins apparently also remains unconcerned with the behavior of her fellow Republicans, who are breaking all the rules set for them in an impeachment hearing by leaving the chamber for long stretches of time, chatting, snapping gum, doing crosswords, playing with toys, and reading books. She's not tattling to Roberts about that, and reminding him that he's supposed to keeping her colleagues in line. That’s presumably because it's Republicans and not "both sides" misbehaving.

Trump is abusing his power and obstructing Congress right now while impeachment trial continues

Posted on by Joan McCarter

In the middle of an impeachment trial in which Donald Trump is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the Trump administration is brazenly abusing its power, flouting a court order, and ignoring Congress. Just this week, the administration deported an Iranian student against a judge's express order, and defied a congressional order to turn over a report.

Late Monday night, Customs and Border Patrol deported Shahab Abadi, a 24-year old Iranian citizen studying at Northeastern University, despite a federal judge's order blocking his deportation. CPB claims it didn't know about the order, and the judge has to just let it go, or is choosing to, because now that Abadi is out of the country, there's no longer a case. The administration is getting way with it. So far, it’s also getting away with seemingly arbitrarily using national security as a bogus excuse to justify Trump's tariffs, and refusing to show Congress its evidence even after Congress ordered that it be turned over.

The administration says it has a secret report declaring some imported cars are a national security risk. Yes, cars. Because some imported cars and trucks were "weakening our internal economy" and thus pose a national security threat. That's really what is argued in this report (if it truly exists, and that has been in question because this is the Trump administration we're talking about). Congress included a provision demanding that the administration turn over the report in the spending bill passed at the end of last year.

The administration might not be turning over that report because it does not exist, which is as likely as anything. But that's not the point. The point is the administration says there is a report and because it says the law doesn't matter, it doesn’t have to turn it over to Congress even though Congress ordered it. The Commerce Department argued in its memo refusing to comply that it is "not releasing the 232 autos report because releasing it now would interfere with the President’s ability to protect confidential executive branch communications and could interfere with ongoing negotiations," and says it has a Justice Department opinion that backs it up.

This has two Republican senators supposedly hopping mad. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania says "the Department of Commerce is willfully violating federal law" and he is "evaluating the potential for corrective action to compel the rightful release of this report." Chuck Grassley of Iowa says the Justice Department memo "doesn't seem to have much merit on its face. The law as passed by Congress is clear."

If they wanted to send a message to the administration, and to Trump, that he is not above the law, they've got a very ripe opportunity right now. But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for them to take it.

Trump celebrates impeachment for abuse of power by bilking the taxpayers even more

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Smack dab in the middle of his impeachment trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Donald Trump is shamelessly grifting off the taxpayer, spiking room rates at his Doral Resort just ahead of a Republican National Committee meeting there, which he will attend. HuffPost reports that the rates are more than doubling, from $245 to $539 per night for the least expensive rooms. That $539 is just under the maximum $546 per night per diem rate under federal rules.

Trump will only be there for part of one day, not staying overnight. But he has to have advance staff and Secret Service agents there for a few days ahead of time for security and preparation. The Secret Service wouldn't tell HuffPost how many people will be housed there, at $539 a night each for an unspecified amount of time. But it could result in tens of thousands of dollars flowing into Donald Trump's pocket—tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

Of course, the RNC chose Doral as its January meeting site. It’s happy to have its 168 individual members put their money into Trump's pocket. HuffPost estimates that the total cost to the RNC will be $500,000 for food, staff bedrooms, and meeting rooms, in addition to the room cost to the individual attendees. That's on them if they want to keep enriching their dear leader. But they should be forced to reimburse the treasury for the taxpayer costs.

As Robert Weissman, president of the liberal watchdog group Public Citizen, told HuffPost, "What better way to defend yourself in an impeachment trial over abuse of power than to jet to your private golf resort on the public dime, secure lots of publicity for the club on the public dime, and then, possibly, rip off taxpayers by forcing them to pay extra for the staff whose costs at the resort are billed to 'we the people.'"

Chief Justice Roberts lets Senate Republicans show blatant disdain for impeachment proceedings

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Senate Republicans are united again in saying they've heard absolutely nothing new in the House impeachment managers presentation against Donald Trump. That's after they voted en masse, as a unified bloc, against 10 amendments from Democrats to provide more information at the outset of the trial. They don't want to hear anything new, which is glaringly apparent in their disdain for the rules and blatant flouting of them.

They're acting like a bunch of middle school kids bored in their civics class. "Gum-chewing, snacking, yawning and alleged napping could be seen throughout the cramped chamber," AP's Laurie Kellman reports. "Some openly snickered when lead prosecutor Adam Schiff said he’d only speak for 10 minutes. And when one of the freshman House prosecutors stood to speak, many of the senator-jurors bolted for the cloak rooms, where their phones are stored." Which is the least of it. Numerous Republican senators have been reported to have just left for long stretches at a time. Rand Paul brought in a crossword to play with. At one point more 1/5 of the Senate—21 members—were out of the chamber. Which leads to one major question: what in the hell is Chief Justice John Roberts doing in the meantime, since he's refusing to enforce the rules?

He is presiding over this trial, which is supposed to mean enforcing the rules, not acting like a potted plant and doing whatever it is he's been doing—catching up on reading? Crossword puzzles? We don't know that either, because Mitch McConnell didn't let any cameras in besides the ones controlled by him. We get one camera view, the person who is speaking, so all the senators who are supposed to be remaining in their seats, paying attention, not talking can do whatever the hell they want, it seems.

Republicans clearly don't give a damn about anything, Trump could steal the entire treasury and if they got a kickback, they'd be fine with it. But they're being just a little too obvious in that, underestimating the extent to which the voters are turning against them, both in hearing new witnesses and documents, and in convicting and removing Trump from office.

They're playing with fire, increasing the likelihood that they'll be severely burned in November.

Schiff shines bright light on Moscow Mitch’s dangerous negligence in protecting our elections

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Rep. Adam Schiff, in his role as impeachment manager, both distilled the import of this trial and put Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell under a harsh light, without ever mentioning McConnell's name. In his opening argument, as prepared and provided by email, Schiff says that the "House did not take this extraordinary step lightly. As we will discuss, impeachment exists for cases in which the conduct of the President rises far beyond mere policy disputes to be decided, otherwise and without urgency, at the ballot box."

But, he says "we are here today to consider a much more grave matter, and that is an attempt to use the powers of the presidency to cheat in an election. For precisely this reason, the President’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box—for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won. [emphasis added]"

It's time to end McConnell's destructive stranglehold on the republic. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end his career as majority leader.

That's the case in a nutshell, that and the continuation of the thought, that "in obstructing the investigation into his own wrongdoing, the President has shown that he believes that he is above the law and scornful of constraint." Trump believes he's above the law and unconstrained because McConnell refuses to do his constitutional duty and provide a check. No where is that failure of McConnell more dire than in refusing to secure the ballot box, which Schiff is subtly underscoring in his statement.

The legislation to protect our elections from interference from Russia and other adversaries has been sitting in the graveyard of the Senate for months, with McConnell refusing to act on it because he says the government has done enough, and even congratulates the Trump administration for the actions it's taken. That presumably includes Trump publicly, on national TV,  inviting any foreign government who wants to interfere to come on in.

This is deadly serious business. McConnell and Senate Republicans might not be taking that seriously, but the nation is watching.

McConnell is also covering up the bad behavior of Republican senators during this impeachment trial

Posted on by Joan McCarter

The D.C. press corps is filling in where the cameras that Mitch McConnell refused to allow into the impeachment trial are absent. So we know just what a farce Republicans consider this exercise to be. And precisely why McConnell made sure the American people don't see it.

Reporter Michael McAuliff tweeted that, a few of hours into Rep. Adam Schiff's presentation "21 empty seats on the GOP side of the Senate, 2 on the Dem side. […] Some are just stretching their legs, but most are not in the chamber. Some of them have been out of there for a while." Those who were out for "for a long time"—Republicans Lindsey Graham, Jim Risch, and Bill Cassidy. Reporter Paul McLeod tweeted about McConnell's histrionics toward the end of Schiff's presentation when "McConnell threw his hands down and made a clear 'are you kidding me?' face." Republican Rand Paul, Ben Jacobs tweeted, decided to occupy his time working on a crossword puzzle. That's how much they care about the process; how much they care about their singular role in our republic.

As for Chief Justice John Roberts, it shows how seriously he's taking this whole thing, too. Because it's his job to enforce the rules, which tell them they have to give up electronic devices and stay silent and are "requested to remain in their seats at all times they are on on the Senate floor" during the proceedings.

They're all taking this about as seriously as they took that oath they swore to at the outset, to provide impartial justice.

Majority of Maine voters say Collins is ‘driven by political self-interest, not principle’

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Susan Collins is damned if she does stick with Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump on impeachment and damned if she doesn't. The filing deadline for the primary for her Senate seat is March 16, and while she's got the backing of the state's rabid Republicans now, they would turn on her in a split second. Former Gov. Paul LePage, who's endorsed her, has to be casting a beady eye on the seat in case she strays. While Collins has to keep looking over her right shoulder, the rest of Maine is bailing on her, according to the latest polling by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group for the Democratic Senate Majority PAC.

Goal Thermometer

Pollster Geoff Garin points out, based on the polling, that "Maine voters already see Collins as someone who who makes decisions based on what's best for her and least risky politically. They don't see her as acting on principle or what's best for Maine." That makes her voting lock-step with Republicans against witnesses and documents at Trump's impeachment trial on Tuesday a problem for her. That's because 71% of respondents in Maine said the Senate "[s]hould insist on seeing documents and call witnesses." That's on top of the 53% who say that Trump abused the power of his office, including 57% of independents. She has no room to maneuver here.

This comes on the heels of a Morning Consult survey showing Collins to be the least-popular senator with home-state voters in the entire country, in either party. What was remarkable in that survey, conducted quarterly in every state, wasn't necessarily that she's 10 points underwater in her approval rating with Maine's registered voters, 52% disapprove to 42% approve—a drop of 10 net points since the last survey in September. The big deal is that 93% of Maine voters are familiar enough with her to have an opinion about her. Just 7% percent of Maine voters don't look at her favorably or unfavorably.

In this context, this conclusion from the polling for Senate Majority PAC has got to be striking terror in her heart: "Maine voters do not trust Susan Collins to put principle above politics, and if she votes to acquit President Trump a majority say it will be because she is following a party line and doing what she believes is in her own political interest."