The biggest dark clouds that are about to burst include the Emolument Clause violations, Misprision, and now the Trump Campaign-Russian connection.
The smaller storm has yet to pass, and that is the fact that Trump lied in making allegations against former President Obama that he had Trump Tower wiretapped. That libelous Tweet was slander and a violation of federal law.
The White House is under a cloud
Near the end of the day’s proceedings, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told Comey he had put “a big gray cloud” over the White House.
Nunes, who worked on Trump’s transition team, appeared to be expressing dismay at that reality. But both parties would accept it as a fact.
The political dynamics have changed now that the FBI investigation is public knowledge.
The White House can expect to face questions on a daily basis about the probe, while the media attention on what Comey’s agents are finding, and about whom, will be feverish.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/324910-the-memo-five-takeaways-from-comeys-big-day
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Pouring gasoline onto the flames.
ReplyDelete"Ivanka Trump will work out of an office in the West Wing, a White House official told CNN on Monday.
The official also confirmed Trump will seek a security clearance and government-provided communication devices, although she will not be a government employee.
The move places President Donald Trump's eldest daughter -- long one of his closest advisers -- at the center of his administration, following weeks during which she held no formal role but appeared alongside the President and senior staffers in major meetings with world leaders and business figures.
She has also reportedly weighed in on policy issues and established a low-key presence in the White House.
Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, has been a senior White House adviser since the outset of the administration. The Department of Justice assessed at the time that the hire did not violate anti-nepotism laws.
CNN has reached out to Ivanka Trump's attorney, Jamie Gorelick, for comment on the matter. Politico reported the development earlier Monday.
Trump, like her father, has business interests throughout the country and across the world. By gaining a position in the West Wing and seeking access to classified information, she has drawn a new wave of scrutiny over conflicts in the administration between public roles and private interests."
CNN
It was an extraordinary moment as the head of the FBI and Adm. Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, together demolished Trump’s false claim that he was wiretapped by then President Barack Obama during the campaign, and that the British GCHQ intelligence agency was in on the job. Asked directly if he or anyone else at the NSA had asked the GCHQ to spy on Trump or his team, Rogers replied: “No, sir, nor would I.”
ReplyDeleteLast week, the normally tight-lipped British spy agency took the extraordinary step of slapping down White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s claim of British involvement, calling the accusation “utterly ridiculous” and a claim that ought to be “ignored.”
Rogers’ deputy, Rick Ledgett, told the BBC that any suggestion of spying on Trump Tower is “especially stupid.” The NSA chief added that while the U.S-U.K relationship is “strong enough” to survive the controversy, it “clearly frustrates a key ally of ours.”
Foreign Policy
From the Palmer Report
ReplyDelete"Donald Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions is already known to have met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak multiple times while he was a Trump campaign surrogate, and then lied about it under oath. So that’s one cabinet member. But of the other alleged election-rigging conspirators within Trump’s campaign, none of them are in Trump’s cabinet. For instance Michael Flynn has already resigned, and National Security Adviser isn’t a cabinet position to begin with. Beyond Sessions, what other “many” cabinet members is she referring to?
There is no known evidence tying Secretary of Defense James Mattis or Homeland Security Director John Kelly to the Trump-Russia scandal. So is Congresswoman Speier instead referring to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson? His own financial ties to Putin and Russian oil are deeply documented, but no publicly available evidence has tied him to the Russian election rigging. Does she know something about Tillerson that we don’t?"