July 25, 2017

Jack Goldsmith: “Donald Trump’s angry morning tweet storm reached another new low with attacks on his Attorney General for not investigating his former presidential opponent, and on his acting FBI Director’s integrity. This and other attacks on key law enforcement figures in his own Executive branch goes far beyond breaking norms of investigatory independence. They bring us clearly into the territory, where we may have been for a while, of a president bent on destroying the authority of the Justice Department that he worries, perhaps for reasons only he knows, may destroy him. At no time in modern history (and perhaps ever) has a President been so openly at odds, and bent on discrediting, his senior law enforcement and intelligence officials.”

“The problem is that there is nothing anyone can to do stop the President short of impeachment. Attorney General Sessions could and should speak out sharply against the President and in defense of the integrity of his Department. That would hasten Sessions’ departure and not stop the shameless President. And resignations in protest of Sessions’ departure would only make matters worse, especially since there are so very few political appointees in DOJ at the moment.”

“Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Tuesday that he plans to dismiss assistant press secretary Michael Short,” Politico reports.

“Short was closely aligned with press secretary Sean Spicer… He was scorned by many of his colleagues for quitting the Trump campaign, only to rejoin as a White House staffer because of Priebus.”

Scaramucci warned that Short would be the first of many, if he’s not able to stop the leaks: “I’m committed to taking the comms shop down to Sarah [Huckabee Sanders] and me, if I can’t get the leaks to stop.”

First Read: “In the last 24 hours, President Trump has publicly attacked his attorney general and acting FBI director, politicized the major Boy Scout gathering, and engaged in outlandish and factually inaccurate rhetoric (“Obamacare is death!”) And here’s the thing: He’s getting away with it, particularly with members of his own party.”

“Where are the GOP Senate demands that he can’t fire his attorney general (who happens to be one of their former colleagues), because it’s an affront to an independent judiciary? Where are the Republican criticisms that he shouldn’t inject politics into the Boy Scouts? And where are GOP calls to cool it on the health care rhetoric, no matter your position on Obamacare? None of what we saw in the last 24 hours is normal, especially if you’re the party of character and values. And it all comes before today’s big health care vote.”

“Plenty of GOP senators and House members love to privately complain about Trump’s behavior — and they even publicly chastise him. But they’ve never punished him for his behavior; he’s never faced a consequence for it. It’s somewhat surprising that there isn’t one GOP senator (let alone a dozen) who decide his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions is enough for them to not vote on health care. And yet, crickets…”

“I was left for dead on the street, and now I’m headed for Air Force One.”

— White House communications directory Anthony Scaramucci, quoted by the New York Times.

“I go to Washington and I see all these politicians, and I see the swamp, and it’s not a good place. In fact, today, I said we ought to change it from the word ‘swamp’ to the word ‘cesspool’ or perhaps to the word ‘sewer.’”

— President Trump, quoted by ABC News.

William Cohan: “Anthony has the skills to make a big difference in this White House. He is smart, generous and funny, open-minded and ambitious — but not in an obnoxious way. He cares about being able to disagree without being disagreeable.”

“But the Anthony Scaramucci I know and admire was not the Anthony Scaramucci who stepped up to the lectern in the White House briefing room on Friday afternoon. Dressed to the nines in a navy blue power suit, he was sycophantic. He professed his ‘love’ for Mr. Trump over and over again — six times, by one count. It was painful and embarrassing to watch.”

Washington Post: “Another scenario is that Trump could make a recess appointment… Under that plan, Trump could choose an attorney general during the August recess who would serve until the end of the next Senate session, which would run to Jan. 3, 2019. That person would have the same authority as someone who is confirmed by the Senate.”

“Among the names being floated as possible Sessions replacements are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to people familiar with the conversations.”

McClatchy: “Such a move would infuriate Republicans, who control 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Many GOP senators reacted in classic Senate fashion to the treatment of Sessions. They were not visibly angry but clearly annoyed and often upset. And with what could be construed as a few veiled warnings to be careful.”

“President Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s criminal division, Brian Benczkowski, has disclosed to Congress that he previously represented Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, whose owners have ties to President Vladimir Putin,” the New York Times reports.

“Alfa Bank was at the center of scrutiny last year over potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia after computer experts discovered data suggesting a stream of communications between a server linked to the Trump Organization and a server linked to the bank. Reports about the mysterious data transmissions fueled speculation about a back channel.”

James Hohmann: “Benczkowski, who helped manage Trump’s transition team for the Justice Department, has signaled that he plans to be evasive when questioned about the specifics of his work for the Putin-linked bank.”