Archives for May 2017

A Russian state-run bank under scrutiny by U.S. investigators “financed a deal involving Donald Trump’s onetime partner in a Toronto hotel tower at a key moment for the project,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“U.S. investigators are looking into any ties between Russian financial institutions, Mr. Trump and anyone in his orbit, according to a person familiar with the probe. As part of the investigation, they’re examining interactions between Mr. Trump, his associates and VEB, which is now subject to U.S. sanctions, said another person familiar with the matter. The Toronto deal adds a new element to the list of known connections between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia.”

Richard Painter and Norm Eisen: “After the revelations of the past 24 hours, it appears that President Trump’s conduct in and around the firing of the F.B.I. director, James Comey, may have crossed the line into criminality. The combination of what is known and what is credibly alleged would, if fully substantiated, constitute obstruction of justice. It is time for Congress and a special counsel in the executive branch to conduct objective, bipartisan inquiries into these allegations, together with the underlying matters involving Michael Flynn and Russia that gave rise to them.”

First Read: “The ground right now has certainly shifted on Capitol Hill. We are about to enter The Summer of Comey (congressional testimony, the possibility of more memos, and other developments). And Republicans have a political decision to make: Do they circle the wagons? Or do they run for the hills? It’s still very early, but it looks like Option #2 is much more realistic than it was a day ago.”

From Reuters:

Conversations with some officials who have briefed Trump and others who are aware of how he absorbs information portray a president with a short attention span.

He likes single-page memos and visual aids like maps, charts, graphs and photos.

National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump’s name in “as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he’s mentioned,” according to one source, who relayed conversations he had with NSC officials.

Ross Douthat: “I do not believe he is really capable of the behind-the-scenes conspiring that the darker Russia theories envision. And it is hard to betray an oath of office whose obligations you evince no sign of really understanding or respecting.”

“Which is not an argument for allowing him to occupy that office. It is an argument, instead, for using a constitutional mechanism more appropriate to this strange situation than impeachment: the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for the removal of the president if a majority of the cabinet informs the Congress that he is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’ and (should the president contest his own removal) a two-thirds vote by Congress confirms the cabinet’s judgment.”

“The Trump situation is not exactly the sort that the amendment’s Cold War-era designers were envisioning. He has not endured an assassination attempt or suffered a stroke or fallen prey to Alzheimer’s. But his incapacity to really govern, to truly execute the serious duties that fall to him to carry out, is nevertheless testified to daily.”

Republicans close to the White House tell Mike Allen that yesterday’s revelations “could take President Trump into a legal or constitutional realm where his staff and supporters can’t save him.”

Said one: “A week ago, we were talking about the agenda grinding to a halt. Now, the train is going down the hill backwards.”

This is important: “Watch for Trump to continue stoking his base, because his support there is what gives him power over lawmakers: They’re much less likely to abandon or undermine him if he remains popular in their states or districts. It’s his most basic survival strategy — and it’s another reason he won’t change.”