-Mulvaney New 'Acting' Chief of Staff
-Giuliani Sz Nobody Killed or Robbed
-Inaugural Funds Went 2 Trump Org
-Sz GM's Electric Cars Won't Work
-Judge Rules ACA Unconstitutional
-Nielsen Blames Family 4 Girl's Death
-6 Year Anniversary of #SandyHook
Day 649 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
Day 439 since the deadliest mass shooting on U.S soil in Las Vegas that killed 58, injuring 546 and Congress has taken NO action to prevent future mass shootings. #NeverForget #NeverAgain #EnoughIsEnough
On this day 6 years ago, the lives of 20 beautiful children and six brave adults were taken in Newtown.
Please honor & remember them. #SandyHook
In the six years since #SandyHook, there have been 1,917 mass shootings (4+ shot or killed, not including the shooter) — including 331 in 2018.
19-year-old Army soldier Joshua Mikeasky becomes 15th US service member to die in Afghanistan this year hill.cm/6Wvytwu
FYI: The Trump admin has quietly resumed separating immigrant families at the border.
At one agency, the children were put into temporary foster care and shelters with little or no indication that they arrived at the border with their parents: propub.li/2QcsPvY
Reminder: The Trump administration is systematically locking up thousands of children at unheard of rates - now more than 14,000 are in U.S. custody.
The government classifies these children as "unaccompanied"
sfchronicle.com/nation/article…
The 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of Customs and Border Protection waited an hour and a half before receiving emergency medical care after showing symptoms. nbcnews.com/politics/immig…
Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the death of a 7-year-old girl in the custody of U.S. Border Patrol last week “is a very sad example of the dangers” migrants face when they try to illegally enter the U.S.
politi.co/2EuxjrF
CREW and @RAICESTEXAS have joined together to sue the Department of Homeland Security and Kirstjen Nielsen over continued immigrant family separation failures
citizensforethics.org/press-release/…
“Nothing at the Trump Org was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump.
He directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters. He knows the truth. I know the truth. Others know the truth.” — Michael Cohen abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
Michael Cohen: "Here's the truth: The people of the United States of America, the people of the world, don't believe what he's saying. The man doesn't tell the truth. And it's sad that I should take responsibility for his dirty deeds." Via ABC.
Michael Cohen: "There's a substantial amount of information that [the special counsel] possessed that corroborates the fact that I am telling the truth." Via ABC.
“Nobody got killed, nobody got robbed… This was not a big crime,” Giuliani told The Daily Beast, re alleged violations of campaign finance law. thedailybeast.com/how-jared-kush…
Reminder: Rudy Giuliani pioneered the Broken Windows theory, which focuses on “small” crimes on the theory that, if unpunished, they fuel wider disorder.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_wi…
George Conway, Kellyanne's husband, penned another op-ed with Neal Katyal.
"Trump's claim that he didn’t violate campaign finance law is weak & dangerous. The case against the president would be far stronger than the case against John Edwards was."
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/1…
"The campaign finance violations here are among the most important ever in the history of this nation — given the razor-thin win by Trump and the timing of the crimes, they very well may have swung a presidential election." washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/1…
Conway & Katyal say prosecutors could discover who authorized the hush money payments in the first place (likely "Individual-1" or his kids).
"The evidentiary record is going to reveal how involved Trump and his family was in these payments." washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/1…
"The grievous minimization of serious campaign finance violations by members of Trump's political party further corrode our commitment to our age-old ideal of being a 'government of laws, and not of men.'" washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/1…
Fox News' Judge Napolitano says we now know that Trump "committed a felony."
"The felony is paying Michael Cohen to commit a felony," Napolitano said. "It's pretty basic."
thebea.st/2RSxUq8
Devin Nunes on Cohen-Trump hush-money scheme to silence Trump affairs right before election: “Even if what Cohen said happened, people do this all the time. They do settlements out of court. It happens. I don't know what the big deal is,” he said on Fox.
Flashback: Lindsey Graham on removing Bill Clinton: “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role.”
@RepAdamSchiff will probe @realDonaldTrump 's personal finances, obtain Deutsche Bank records as HPSCI chair in January.
newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…
Jamal Khashoggi murder suspect was heard boasting, 'I know how to cut' nypost.com/2018/12/14/jam… via @nypost
From the Editorial Board: The Senate’s resolution was a powerful repudiation of Saudi Arabia — and Trump wapo.st/2RToLhe
Lawfare’s reconsideration of the Steele Dossier that Trump and GOP defenders have attacked for two years: “The dossier holds up well over time, and none of it, to our knowledge, has been disproven”
lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier…
The corruption is coming so fast and furious that it's impossible to keep track of it all. It's like Lucy grabbing the candies off the escalating conveyor belt and shoving them into her mouth: propublica.org/article/trump-…
New details from NYT: Fed prosecutors are examining whether foreigners illegally funneled donations to Trump's inaugural committee and a pro-Trump super PAC in hopes of buying influence over US policy. The inquiry focuses on Middle Eastern nations. nytimes.com/2018/12/13/us/…
In an interview with investigators a year ago, Trump ally Tom Barrack said that Paul Manafort seemed to view a pro-Trump super PAC as an arm of the campaign, despite laws meant to prevent such coordination, a person familiar with the interview. nytimes.com/2018/12/13/us/…
Trump’s Inauguration Paid Trump’s Company — With Ivanka in the Middle via @ProPublica
propublica.org/article/trump-…
Trump's inauguration paid Trump Org. for rooms, meals & event space at Trump's DC hotel.
Ivanka was involved in negotiating prices. A top inaugural planner expressed concern the hotel was overcharging. The spending could be a violation of the law.
propublica.org/article/trump-…
Adam Schiff says that the House Intel Committee plans to investigate possible "illicit foreign funding or involvement in the inauguration" of Trump.
washingtonpost.com/politics/schif…
The dance of delay, deny, and ignore will only get Hill Republicans so far.
Here's a few reasons why the expectation of blind fealty to Trump might be wrong.
newyorker.com/news/letter-fr…
A Marine positioned himself outside the West Wing doors, meaning that POTUS got to the Oval today at 11:43 a.m.
That's early for Trump.
MORE: Chris Christie: “I’ve told the president that now is not the right time for me or my family to undertake this serious assignment.”
abcn.ws/2Exw4bt
“Acting” chief, meaning Trump hasn’t settled on permanent replacement
WH official trying to clean up Mulvaney selection to WH pool: "There’s no time limit. He’s the acting chief of staff, which means he’s the chief of staff. He got picked because [Trump] liked him."
Good reminder that Donald Trump's real chief of staff is himself.
Manafort reportedly instructed the White House on how to undermine the Russia probe - even after he agreed to cooperate with Mueller bit.ly/2QwwBkg
Mother Jones reports that Maria Butina claimed more than five years ago that her gun rights group had entered into a "signed cooperation agreement" with the NRA, according to a contemporaneous account of a talk Butina gave to an Israeli organization.motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
Mueller team rebuts arguments that FLYNN interview was improper:
"A sitting National Security Advisor, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents."
Q to Joe Lieberman, 2012: "You’re retiring after serving 24 years in the Senate. What lobbying firm are you going to join now?"
Lieberman: "I’m not going to lobby. For sure."
2018: China's ZTE taps Joe Lieberman for D.C. damage control
politi.co/2Le7FrR
"Trump has no idea if an 'all electric' strategy would work or not. This isn’t merely because he’s never run an autos company. It’s mainly because no one knows right now exactly what will work." - bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Trump's EPA to pursue final version of highly-criticized rule limiting science used in decisions
hill.cm/jC4gBJH
During his confirmation process, VA secretary Robert Wilkie told senators he had no copies of his pro-Confederate remarks because he hadn't delivered a speech in 15-20 years.
He gave two such speeches in 2009.
cnn.com/2018/12/14/pol…
New Jersey's Attorney General is looking into claims of widespread harassment and immigration fraud at Trump's Bedminster golf club after several former and current housekeepers alleged racially-charged mistreatment, the Daily News has learned. nydailynews.com/news/national/…
DACA recipients say that the Trump admin is denying them federal housing authority loans.
HUD hasn't announced a formal policy denying FHA loans for DACA recipients, but lenders tell BuzzFeed that's the guidance they're getting from officials.
buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhip…
Federal judge appointed by George W. Bush sides with Texas in a Republican-led lawsuit to overturn core provisions of the ACA—including the preexisting condition protections—as unconstitutional.
The Trump administration backed the lawsuit in court.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
In case you missed yesterday's thread:
Remember: Trump has spent two years insisting that he was fighting to keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Imagine finding a cache of water in the desert and pouring it out.
It’s the sort of impossibly cruel thing you might dream about doing in a nightmare and feel sick and wrong for a week after.
Apparently SOP on the border.
WH clarifies Mulvaney and OMB. @PressSec says Mulvaney "will not resign" from OMB, "but will spend all of his time devoted to his role" as Acting WH Chief of Staff. She says OMB Deputy Dir Russ Vought will handle day to day operations and run OMB.