Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped?

[Winstonm]

With tensions rising between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, isn't it reassuring that we have such a level-headed statesman in the White House. <_<

 

PS: Michael Cohen testifies publicly tomorrow - just in case Individual-1 is listening.

[johnu]

No surprises here:

 

The 10 Most Jaw-Dropping Lines From Michael Cohen’s Leaked Testimony

 

At least, not if you've been following the news the past 2 years.

 

If this was about any other US president, this would be front page news for weeks, maybe months. These revelations probably will almost certainly be backpage news after tomorrow.

[johnu]

Criminal incompetence?

 

Trump Administration Refuses To Admit It Had No System To Reunite Separated Families

 

Carla Provost, chief of U.S. Border Patrol, said there was no automatic way to search CBP and HHS databases, meaning officials had to manually go through records to match parents with their children. (Provost said the system has since been updated to include this function.)

 

However, she would not admit that CBP was unprepared to track family separation and disputed a January report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services saying there was never “an existing, integrated data system to track separated families.”

But when House Democrats asked whether the government planned to locate and reunite the potentially thousands more families separated before the zero tolerance policy ― a task HHS officials have already described as a “burden” ― White said ORR’s legal authority over children ends once they are released from the agency

 

Rep Ted Lieu gave a softball summary of those involved:

 

“It was just simply mass incompetence,” Lieu said. “The folks involved in that should just be ashamed with themselves.”

[y66]

re: Cohen's hearing today,

 

Cohen delivered a message to Republicans: Don’t follow Trump blindly. “Look what’s happened to me?”

 

Maggie Haberman (NYT) pointed out that it's really something to hear Republicans repeatedly saying people shouldn’t listen to someone who lies.

 

Jonathan Weisman (NYT) summed up first 2 hours: So far, Cohen is confirming a lot of reporting that has been public for awhile, but he is doing it with some bravura showmanship.

[Winstonm]

re: Cohen's hearing today,

 

Cohen delivered a message to Republicans: Don’t follow Trump blindly. “Look what’s happened to me?”

 

Maggie Haberman (NYT) pointed out that it's really something to hear Republicans repeatedly saying people shouldn’t listen to someone who lies.

 

Jonathan Weisman (NYT) summed up first 2 hours: So far, Cohen is confirming a lot of reporting that has been public for awhile, but he is doing it with some bravura showmanship.

 

The most important aspect of his testimony is the evidence he furnished - checks, receipts, etc.

[y66]

Quote of the day goes to Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who told Cohen: “Our colleagues are not upset because you lied to Congress for the president. They’re upset that you stopped lying to Congress for the president.”

 

Raskin is a Harvard educated lawyer. He taught constitutional law and legislation at the American University. Sharp guy.

[kenberg]

Quote of the day goes to Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who told Cohen: "Our colleagues are not upset because you lied to Congress for the president. They're upset that you stopped lying to Congress for the president."

 

Raskin is a Harvard educated lawyer. He taught constitutional law and legislation at the American University. Sharp guy.

 

That's my guy! I voted for him in the D primary and the election! No doubt he is at least a bit to my left but I agree he is a sharp guy.

 

We shall see if he is a little too fond of showing how clever he is.

[y66]

From Simon Wren-Lewis at mainly macro:

 

Brexit was not an aberration in an otherwise well functioning UK democracy, any more than Trump was in the US. They are symptoms of a deeper malaise. I cannot put it better than Anthony Barnett when he says if all you want to do is stop Brexit and Trump and go back to what you regard as normal, you miss that what was normal led to Brexit and Trump. Unless we have politicians in power who understand the need for radical change, the snake oil sellers who sold us Brexit and US voters Trump will happily carry on plying their wares.

[Winstonm]

U.S. Economy Grew 2.9% in 2018

 

It is also projected to have been the high point of the current business cycle - projections for 2019 are 2.3%.

[kenberg]

From Simon Wren-Lewis at mainly macro:

 

 

 

I browsed around some on his blog and at related sites. I think it would take some serious effort to grasp what it's all about and even more effort to have a serious opinion concerning his view and competing views. MMT comes up a lot (Modern Monetary Theory). Everything today is thoroughly modern...

[y66]

From Ed Kilgore at NYMag:

 

Until today, I had been skeptical about the hype over new congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is, after all, a backbencher from a safe Democratic district in a heavily Democratic state. She won an impressive upset primary victory last year, but is still south of 30 years old and belongs to the small if interesting tribe of self-identified democratic socialists (to which I do not happen to belong). Maybe I don’t spend enough time on social media to understand her mastery of latter-day communications. But I figured she had become a self-perpetuating legend probably resented by her colleagues who spent years toiling for a tiny fraction of the attention she’s attracted.

 

But at the end of a long, tedious day in the House Oversight Committee marked by clumsy questioning of Michael Cohen by Democrats, and shrieking hostility to the witness from Trump-loving Republicans, AOC (as she is universally known in the political universe — you know, like FDR and JFK) put in perhaps the single most impressive appearance of the hearing.

 

She was crisp, succinct, and very focused on raising some previously undiscussed potential criminal liability issues for Trump that Cohen’s testimony suggested (e.g, insurance fraud), including several where the hot-button issue of Trump’s missing tax returns might be germane. I wasn’t the only viewer who was impressed; so was the fact-checker from the Washington Post, another person unlikely to be excessively biased toward AOC:

 

Glenn Kessler ✔ @GlennKesslerWP Some lessons that other lawmakers could learn from @AOC's good questioning of Cohen: a) follow-up on previously asked questions that still need answers b) be precise and detailed and c) avoid much grandstanding. You might elicit news. 4:52 PM - Feb 27, 019

Indeed, she was the opposite of a grandstander. True, she’s lucky to be the rare member of Congress who will get attention no matter what she does. But this time, she earned it, and if nothing else it’s a solid indication that she hasn’t let her early celebrity go to her head.

[kenberg]

AOC was very good. The interchange provided crisp questions and crisp answers.

 

Much of the news reporting concentrated on Cohen saying how much he regretted doing what he did, how it bothered his conscience, etc. Even in the unlikely event someone believed his statements of remorse, this is barely if at all relevant. Concrete statements that can be checked independently were the point. That was the purpose of having him there.

 

I think if Cohen really wanted to make a general statement of how bad a person Trump is, the following would do it: "He hired me, that should tell you all you need to know about Donald Trump"

 

[barmar]

I listened to the Cohen testimony for a couple of hours, but it got so tiresome that I switched it off after a while, so I unfortunately missed the AOC segment. I'm going to check it out on YouTube now.

 

She reminds me of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", she's so young and earnest, trying to "do the right thing". I wish her the best of luck, but I wonder how long someone like that can really survive in the DC swamp.

[y66]

I listened to the Cohen testimony for a couple of hours, but it got so tiresome that I switched it off after a while, so I unfortunately missed the AOC segment. I'm going to check it out on YouTube now.

 

She reminds me of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", she's so young and earnest, trying to "do the right thing". I wish her the best of luck, but I wonder how long someone like that can really survive in the DC swamp.

A couple hours? You deserve a BBO citizenship award. Yeah most of that was beyond tedious. I checked in with the NYT's live blogging every hour which I enjoyed.

[andrei]

WASHINGTON

A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

 

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

 

McClatchy Washington Bureau

 

 

Ooops ...

[kenberg]

I listened to the Cohen testimony for a couple of hours, but it got so tiresome that I switched it off after a while, so I unfortunately missed the AOC segment. I'm going to check it out on YouTube now.

 

She reminds me of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", she's so young and earnest, trying to "do the right thing". I wish her the best of luck, but I wonder how long someone like that can really survive in the DC swamp.

 

It's this useful idealism coupled with some serious ability. And yes, it sometimes spills over into less than completely well thought out statements, but hell, you're only young once.

 

Hopping over to Y's post about Altman on the Hijack thread, I wonder how Altman would see her. It's really hard to dislike someone who enjoys dancing on rooftops.

 

[PassedOut]

AOC takes her position seriously

 

I wish they all did.

[Winstonm]

Ooops ...

 

Some possibilities: 1) Cohen was never there and the reporting is wrong. 2) One of Cohen's cell phones was there but carried by someone other than Cohen. 3) The original informants confused Cohen with another actor 4) Cohen is still lying about Prague.

 

My feeling is that 1 or 2 is the most likely - but 3 is not out of the question. 4 is highly unlikely.

[Winstonm]

Marcy Wheeler in today's NYT:

 

Mr. Mueller’s public filings have laid out a broad framework showing that Russians dangled a real estate deal and dirt on Hillary Clinton while asking for a range of sanctions relief. If Mr. Mueller were to charge this quid pro quo as a conspiracy or describe it as one in a report, it wouldn’t matter whether Mr. Trump knew of all the events that furthered the conspiracy. Because of the way conspiracy law works, it’s enough to show that Mr. Trump willingly entered into the conspiracy and took overt acts to pursue its objectives.

[andrei]

Some possibilities: 1) Cohen was never there and the reporting is wrong. 2) One of Cohen's cell phones was there but carried by someone other than Cohen. 3) The original informants confused Cohen with another actor 4) Cohen is still lying about Prague.

 

My feeling is that 1 or 2 is the most likely - but 3 is not out of the question. 4 is highly unlikely.

 

Since we had "four people with knowledge of the matter" and "two people familiar with the incident" I would say 1) is out of the question. We all know these unnamed sources are always reliable.

 

My money definitely is on 2). Pretty sure Cohen has lots of cell phones and gives them around.

 

As for 4) , naaah. Cohen never lies.

[PassedOut]

Since we had "four people with knowledge of the matter" and "two people familiar with the incident" I would say 1) is out of the question. We all know these unnamed sources are always reliable.

 

My money definitely is on 2). Pretty sure Cohen has lots of cell phones and gives them around.

 

As for 4) , naaah. Cohen never lies.

As usual, you are being indirect here instead of coming out and saying exactly what you mean, as blackshoe also often does. The reason is, I presume, to provide a hedge to avoid being requoted later in case your estimate of the situation turns out to be wrong.

 

I think that Cohen either was somewhere near Prague, but not in the city proper -- a ploy like one Bill Clinton might use -- or that Cohen told the truth. Honestly, I can't see a motive for Cohen to lie before the committee on a point like that, given his current circumstances. What might that motive be?

[andrei]

As usual, you are being indirect here instead of coming out and saying exactly what you mean, as blackshoe also often does. The reason is, I presume, to provide a hedge to avoid being requoted later in case your estimate of the situation turns out to be wrong.

 

I think that Cohen either was somewhere near Prague, but not in the city proper -- a ploy like one Bill Clinton might use -- or that Cohen told the truth. Honestly, I can't see a motive for Cohen to lie before the committee on a point like that, given his current circumstances. What might that motive be?

 

You can quote me all you want.

This reporting:

 

"

A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

 

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

"

 

is BS. You can tell McClatchy is a Jack Bauer fan, sounds exactly like a 24 episode.

 

Speaking of Cohen: Michael Cohen pitched book claiming Trump not liar

[PassedOut]

You can quote me all you want.

This reporting:

 

"

A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

 

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

"

 

is BS. You can tell McClatchy is a Jack Bauer fan, sounds exactly like a 24 episode.

 

Speaking of Cohen: Michael Cohen pitched book claiming Trump not liar

I understand all that, but why would Cohen continue to lie to protect Trump under the present circumstances?

[barmar]

My money definitely is on 2). Pretty sure Cohen has lots of cell phones and gives them around.

He pays off his client's porn stars with his own money, why wouldn't he give away cell phones?

[barmar]

What I found most disingenuous during Cohen's testimony was when Republicans pressed him on whether Trump explicitly asked him to lie, or pay off porn stars, etc., and then Cohen had to explain that Trump gave these instructions by code and implication. Congressmen are not aliens, unfamiliar with the way people communicate by innuendo and read between the lines.

 

I can understand that during court testimony a defense lawyer might use such tactics to try to raise doubt in the jury -- they have to find some way to get their client off. But this was not a criminal case, it's was a fact-finding session. No knowledgeable person should be unable to recognize such tactics that everyone knows about to avoid being overt. And it's ridiculous that a Congressman would waste valuable testimony time pretending that it doesn't exist.