Archives for 2020

“President Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including ones for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s father, Charles,” CNN reports.

“The pardons of Manafort and Stone reward two of the most high-profile and widely condemned former advisers of the President, both of whom were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, went to trial and were convicted by juries of multiple crimes.”

New York Times: “It was the second wave of pardons and commutations by the president in two days, showing his willingness to use his power aggressively on behalf of loyalists.”

Axios: “It’s a continuation of the president’s controversial pre-Christmas pardon spree, which began in earnest Tuesday night with pardons for a trio of convicted former GOP congressmen and several military contractors involved in the 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians.”

“He is literally trying to burn this country down on his way out.”

— Sen. Amy Klobuchar, talking about President Trump in a MSNBC interview.

Attorney General Bill Barr sent a parting note to his colleagues on Wednesday to mark the end of his time leading the Department of Justice, stating that it’s been a “great honor to serve once again in this role,” NBC News reports.

Axios: “Barr will be replaced in an acting capacity by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who multiple administration officials privately say now has the worst job in Washington.”

Politico: “On Tuesday night, Trump blindsided all of Washington — including his own staff — with a series of 11th-hour demands to amend coronavirus relief and government funding legislation that his own administration had helped carefully craft and supported. Overnight and into Wednesday, senior Republicans, Hill aides and even White House officials scrambled to figure out what Trump actually wanted, just as lawmakers — and Trump — prepare to leave town for the holidays.”

“There’s no clear answer, though. No one on either side of Pennsylvania Avenue appears to know what Trump’s plan is — or even if there is one. Hill offices had not received any guidance as of Wednesday afternoon, while House Republicans scheduled a call at 3 p.m. to strategize.”

Said one Republican on Capitol Hill: “A complete clusterfuck.”

Jared Kushner has developed a reputation in Trumpland for being conspicuously absent when things turn rocky, the Daily Beast reports.

Said a senior Trump aide: “This is just what Jared does.”

Playbook: “No one knows. Some say President Trump is in burn-it-down mode and is more than willing to veto the Covid relief/funding package, ending his presidency in a lengthy shutdown, with bluster and crisis. Others say he’s not explicitly threatening a veto, and everyone should calm down.”

“Who cares what these people say, at this point. We’re not convinced anyone has any idea what the president is doing or what goal he’s driving toward.”

“He’s in the midst of blowing up a package his White House said he’d sign over provisions the administration proposed… Maybe he comes out today en route to Florida and says he was just kidding — but maybe not, and he’s not running a corner store, he’s running the world’s most important country in the middle of a pandemic, so we can’t work with maybes.”