Week #37:  June 30, 2017

This was a week of complete disarray within the Trump regime: firings, resignations, withdrawals. Trump distracted and played to his remaining base all week by targeting marginalized groups, and ramping up hateful rhetoric. Also of note, and a continuation from Week 36: Republicans are turning on Trump -- this week, not just in words this week, but in actions. And in response, by firing Priebus and replacing him with a general, Trump seems to be preparing for an aggressive approach towards the legislative branch. ____________________________________________________________

1.

On Sunday, Trump's comm director Scaramucci told State of the Union Trump is still not sure if Russia interfered in our election. This, just after Pompei, Coats and Dunford confirmed Russia meddled (Week 36).   Read More About This

2.

As Trump floated the idea of firing Mueller, Former CIA director Brennan said elected officials need to "stand up" if this happens.   Read More About This

3.

After Trump said, "we'll let Obamacare fail," Trump has taken several steps to sabotage ACA, and make that a reality.   Read More About This

4.

Since taking office, Trump has spent nearly 1 in 3 days at a Trump property, and 1 in 5 days at a Trump golf property.   Read More About This

5.

CNBC reported investors have dumped the majority of 'Trump trades.' Investors are no longer confident tax reform, deregulation and fiscal stimulus will happen.   Read More About This

6.

New Yorker interviewed a veteran ICE agent, disillusioned under Trump. The agent said they are explicitly encouraged to pursue undocumented as aggressively as possible, adding "We're going to get sued."   Read More About This

7.

He also noted agents no longer look at the "totality of the circumstances," and that it's not just the person being removed, but "their entire family."   Read More About This

8.

Several people were arrested by ICE at the Houston INS office when they went for their marriage interviews for green cards.   Read More About This

9.

Pew Research found that 75% of Muslim Americans believe there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the US, and 74% believe Trump is unfriendly towards them.   Read More About This

10.

Thousands marched in Warsaw to protest their right-wing government's attempted control of the Supreme Court and judiciary. Trump chose Poland en route to the G20 to deliver a nationalistic speech (Week 34).   Read More About This

11.

On Monday, Trump continued to signal the possibility of firing Sessions, referring to him in a tweet as "our beleaguered A.G."   Read More About This

12.

Trump floated the idea of Rudy Giuliani as a replacement for Sessions. WAPO reported replacing Sessions is viewed by some Trump associates as part of a possible strategy to fire Mueller.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

13.

Trump continued to target Sessions on Tuesday, tweeting he "has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes," and asking on a phone call with an associate, "What would happen if I fired Sessions?"   Read More About This;  Click here, also

14.

Trump continued attacking Sessions on Twitter Wednesday, questioning why he hadn't fired acting FBI director McCabe.   Read More About This

15.

WAPO reported Trump spoke privately with confidants and advisers about the possibility of replacing Sessions with a recess appointment.   Read More About This

16.

Grassley responded tweeting the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Comm is set for the rest of 2017, and would not have time for an AG nomination. Democrats threatened to block recess appointments.   Read More About This

17.

Breaking their typical silence, several Senate Republicans spoke out against Trump's treatment of their former colleague, Sessions. Sen. Roberts (KS) said, "It's very difficult, it's disconcerting, it's inexplicable."   Read More About This

18.

Sessions told Fox News that Trump's attacks are "kind of hurtful," but that he intended to stay on and serve as long as Trump will let him.   Read More About This

19.

In an op-ed, Yates warned Trump is trying to "dismantle the rule of law, destroy the time-honored independence" of the DOJ, and if we're not careful, "our justice system may be broken beyond recognition."   Read More About This

20.

Yates cited as examples Trump's efforts to bully Sessions into resigning, his goading Sessions to re-opening an investigation on a former political rival, and his efforts to get Comey to back off from Flynn then firing him.   Read More About This

21.

NYT reported David Apol, Trump's choice to replace Shaub, has clashed with OGE employees over his efforts to roll back or loosen ethics requirements on federal employees, including those in the WH.   Read More About This

22.

The Center for Public Integrity reported Bannon is potentially violating the Antideficiency Act, by using an outside shadow press office not employed by the Trump regime, and providing services for free.   Read More About This

23.

In another blow to the credibility of Trump's Election Integrity Comm, a federal judge upheld a fine against Kobach, citing a "pattern" of "misleading the Court" in voter-ID cases.   Read More About This

24.

A lawyer in West Palm Beach filed a lawsuit with a federal judge in FL, saying Trump is violating the Constitution by making money from renting rooms in his hotels or other buildings to federal agencies.   Read More About This

25.

According to Gallup, Trump's approval in underwater in 11 of the states he won in November, including NC (-11), MI (-10), WI (-9) and PA (-9).   Read More About This

26.

Trump's Boy Scouts jamboree speech turned into a political rally, as Trump led the crowd to boo Hillary and Obama, chided the "fake news" and Washington "cesspool," and promised to bring back Christmas.   Read More About This

27.

Boy Scouts of America faced a backlash after Trump's speech, which some compared to Hitler's Youth. Former scouts called for a public denouncement, and called the speech "a disgrace."   Read More About This

28.

Randall Stephenson, the national president of the Boy Scouts of America is also CEO of AT&T, whose pending merger with Time Warner requires government approval. In Week 34, the Trump regime discussed using this pending merger as leverage over CNN's reporting and president.   Read More About This

29.

The day after reporting on Stephenson's role as CEO of AT&T, the Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America issued an apology.   Read More About This

30.

After the State Dept's Cyber Coordinator resigned (Week 36), Tillerson plans to shutter the State's Office for the Coordination of Cyber Issues.   Read More About This

31.

The State Dept's head of diplomatic security bureau, Bill Miller, resigned. Miller is one of a long list of senior State Dept officials who have resigned since Trump took office.   Read More About This

32.

CNN reported Tillerson is considering resigning, citing his frustration and doubt that "the tug-of-war" with the White House would subside. Tillerson is also upset about Trump's unprofessional treatment of Sessions.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

33.

Many of State Dept's typical responsibilities have been re-assigned to the White House in a consolidation of power, including Kushner taking the Middle East, and in Week 36, the White House taking over Iran compliance certification.   Read More About This

34.

On Tuesday, Tillerson said he would taking time off. The State Dept refused to comment on if he is happy.   Read More About This

35.

Longtime chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell criticized the lack of transparency from and access to Trump's State Dept.   Read More About This

36.

Speculation grew that McMaster may resign. POLITICO reported on a meeting on Afghan policy, described as a "s*** show." Axios reported McMaster is frustrated by the "disorganization and indiscipline."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

37.

Scaramucci threatened mass firings, saying he will purge aides who are not loyal to Trump or leak. His first firing happened Tuesday: assistant press secretary Michael Short, who is close to Priebus and Spicer.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

38.

Trump's nominee to lead the DOJ's criminal division, Brian Benczkowski, disclosed to Congress that he previously represented Alfa Bank, one of Russia's largest banks, whose owners have close ties to Putin.   Read More About This

39.

The FBI is investigating data transmission between Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization's servers during the election, which may indicate back-channel communications.   Read More About This

40.

Benczkowski took on representing Alfa Bank after serving as part of Trump's transition team. He continued despite reports of the FBI investigation (Week 21), and continued until his nomination in June.   Read More About This

41.

A complaint filed by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control alleges Trump ally Rohrbacher violated the Magnitsky Act by trying to get Russia's deputy general prosecutor removed from the US sanctions list.   Read More About This

42.

Ahead of his Monday, closed-door testimony to the Senate Intel Comm, Kushner publicly released the full text of his testimony in which he denied participating in, or knowledge about, collusion with Russia.   Read More About This

43.

After his Senate testimony, the White House set up a podium with the White House seal for Kushner to make his statement to the media.   Read More About This

44.

Kushner stood at the podium and said, "I did not collude," nor did he know anyone in the campaign who did. He said his actions were "proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign."   Read More About This

45.

On the June 9 Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Kushner claimed he was unaware of the promise of damaging information, despite the email subject line: "Re: Russia -- Clinton -- private and confidential."   Read More About This

46.

Kushner claimed he met with four Russians but did not discuss specific policies, including US sanctions against Russia.   Read More About This

47.

Kushner also said, "I have not relied on Russian funds for my businesses." 'Relied' seemed a carefully chosen term for its possibility to obfuscate.   Read More About This

48.

Guardian reported Kushner bought part of the old New York Times building from a Russian oligarch, Lev Leviev, known as the "king of diamonds," for $295mm in 2015.   Read More About This

49.

Kushner's recently disclosed $285mm loan from Deutsche Bank was used to refinance this deal. The purchase is part of Mueller's investigation of Trump-Russia ties.   Read More About This

50.

Leviev also sold properties to Prevezon, the Russian company represented by Veselnitskaya: apartments at 20 Pine Street in NYC. The property was subject to a money laundering case.   Read More About This

51.

The Prevezon money laundering case, originally brought by Bharara for $230mm before he was fired, was settled by Sessions two days before trial for $6mm. The 20 Pine Street apartments were also released.   Read More About This

52.

Mother Jones reported on Monday, former senator Carl Levin sent a letter to Mueller about his 2000 investigation of Kaveladze, who he described as a "poster child" for Russian money laundering.   Read More About This

53.

Levin said Kaveladze circulated more than $1.4bn through US bank accounts. Kaveladze was Aras Agalarov's representative at Donald Jr.'s June 9 Trump Tower meeting.   Read More About This

54.

Ivanka hired a defense lawyer to represent her in the Russia investigation. Donald Jr. hired an additional lawyer with congressional experience to his legal team.   Read More About This

55.

On Tuesday, Manafort testified in front of the Senate Intel Comm on the June 9 meeting at Trump Tower. Tuesday, he was also subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Comm to appear.   Read More About This

56.

On Tuesday, Kushner testified behind closed doors for the House Intel Comm. Democratic leader Schiff said Kushner had agreed to come back.   Read More About This

57.

On Thursday, Bill Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management which was looted by Russian kleptocrats in a case that gave rise to the Magnitsky Act, testified in front of the Sen. Judiciary Comm.   Read More About This

58.

Browder testified he believed there was more than one meeting between Veselnitskaya and Donald Jr., Kushner and Manafort, and that Veselnitskaya's goal would be to repeal the Magnitsky Act.   Read More About This

59.

Browder also testified that Russian intelligence knew about the June 9 meeting in advance, and that he believes Fusion GPS  --  the firm behind the Russian dossier to get dirt on Trump  --  was hired by the Russians.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

60.

On Tuesday, by a vote of 419–3, the House passed a Russian sanctions bill, punishing Russia for election interference, and curbing Trump's power to roll back sanctions.   Read More About This

61.

Russia warned of a "painful" response if Trump backed the sanction bill, calling it "anti-Russian hysteria."   Read More About This

62.

Weekly Standard reported their interview with Vladimir Kara-Mirza, a Russian journalist, politician and filmmaker, started late because he was in the hospital being treated for poison, again.   Read More About This

63.

Buzzfeed filed a lawsuit to compel the release of information on the death of Putin's former media czar, Mikhail Lesin, who was brutally murdered in DC the night before a planned meeting with DOJ in November 2015.   Read More About This

64.

The Senate passed a motion to proceed on healthcare Tuesday with no input, no debate, no CBO score, and without knowing what they would be voting on once the motion passed. 13% support Obamacare repeal.   Read More About This

65.

The vote was 50–50, with Pence casting the tie-breaking vote. After the passage, uncharacteristic chants erupted on the Senate floor of "kill the bill," and "shame, shame, shame."   Read More About This

66.

Ahead of the vote, reporters were blocked from the Senate halls where protestors were being arrested. Reporters were told, "no photos. Delete your photos."   Read More About This

67.

A hot mic in the Senate captured a conversation between senators Reed and Collins, with Reed saying of Trump, "I think -- I think he's crazy," and Collins responding, "I'm worried."   Read More About This

68.

Trump's s actions have galvanized many who care about health care, climate change and research funding to run for office. A PAC called "314 ACT" (named for pi) was set up to recruit and assist scientists to run.   Read More About This

69.

At a rally in Ohio Tuesday, Trump said he could act more presidential than any other president except, "the late, great Abraham Lincoln." He also joked he should be on Mount Rushmore.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

70.

Trump also told a graphic tale about illegal immigrants slicing up beautiful teenage girls with knives, "They don't want to use guns because it's too fast and it's not painful enough." The story is a lie.   Read More About This

71.

WAPO reported between the Ohio and Boy Scout rally, Trump made 29 false or misleading statements.   Read More About This

72.

On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted the US government would "will not accept or allow…Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military."   Read More About This

73.

The Pentagon was not informed of Trump's announcement ahead of time, and was left scrambling with no plan in place for implementation, including how to deal with transgender individuals now serving.   Read More About This

74.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees were also not notified. The committees were awaiting results from a 6 month review of potential impact ordered by Mattis in Week 33.   Read More About This

75.

On Thursday, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed the military policy on who is allowed to serve would not change until the White House sends DoD new rules and the secretary of defense issues new guidelines.   Read More About This

76.

Mattis was on vacation when Trump tweeted. According to the NYT, he was given only one day's notice about the decision, and per people close to him, was appalled that Trump used Twitter for the announcement.   Read More About This

77.

Even Republicans spoke out against Trump's plan to ban transgender individuals. Conservative Sen. Hatch said, "Transgender people are people, and deserve the best we can do for them."   Read More About This

78.

Trump's candidate for a senior position at the DHS, John Fluharty, withdrew from consideration because of Trump's transgender ban.   Read More About This

79.

Wednesday, in a second attack on the LGBTQ community, Sessions's DOJ filed a brief saying that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not cover employment discrimination "based on sexual orientation."   Read More About This

80.

Rep. Farenthold said of "some female senators from the Northeast" who were against an Obamacare repeal, if they were a guy from south Texas, "I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style."   Read More About This

81.

Wednesday, Trump chastised Sen. Murkowski tweeting she had let the Republicans and country down by not voting to repeal Obamacare.   Read More About This

82.

Later that afternoon, Interior Sec Ryan Zinke called both of Alaska's senators, saying Murkowski's vote would impact the Trump's administrations view on issues that are a priority for Alaska.   Read More About This

83.

Of note, all during the week, Republican men insulted and threatened their female colleagues for not supporting their healthcare bills. Male senators not in support did not face the same harassment.   Read More About This

84.

Graham said Thursday, "there will be holy hell to pay" if Trump fires Sessions, and said if Trump fires Mueller without good reason, it would be "the beginning of the end" of Trump's presidency.   Read More About This

85.

Later that day, Graham and Booker said they will introduce a bi-partisan bill next week that will limit Trump's ability to fire Mueller.   Read More About This

86.

On Wednesday night, Scaramucci accused Priebus of leaking his financial disclosure information, and said he would be contacting the FBI. Shortly after POLITICO indicated the information is public, he deleted the tweet.   Read More About This

87.

Scaramucci gave an interview to The New Yorker Thursday, saying of his colleagues, "Reince is a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac," and "I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to suck my own cock."   Read More About This

88.

Scaramucci also threatened leakers, saying, "What I want to do is I want to fucking kill all the leakers."   Read More About This

89.

Later that evening, Scaramucci tried to shift the blame to the reporter, tweeting, "I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter," but Lizza shot back saying he had a recording of the call which was "100% on the record."   Read More About This

90.

On Thursday, the Senate passed a new sanction bill by a 98–2 vote, which would sharply limit Mr. Trump's ability to suspend or lift sanctions on Russia. With House and Senate passage, the bill now goes to Trump.   Read More About This

91.

On Friday, Russia retaliated, expelling a large number of US diplomats and seizing US diplomatic properties.   Read More About This

92.

Late Friday, the White House announced Trump plans to sign the bill.   Read More About This

93.

Trump encouraged officers to be rough with suspects in a speech to police Friday on Long Island, addressing the gang MS-13.   Read More About This

94.

Trump also used the speech to encourage Congress to find money to pay for 10k more ICE officers "so that we can eliminate MS-13."   Read More About This

95.

After the speech, the Suffolk County PD tweeted, "As a department, we do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners."   Read More About This

96.

Later that evening, a second police department, Gainevilles Police (FL), also rejected Trump's remarks, citing "The @POTUS made remarks today that endorsed and condoned police brutality."   Read More About This

97.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a statement Friday night countering Trump, saying officers are trained to treat all individuals "with dignity and respect."   Read More About This

98.

After all other versions of Senate healthcare bills failed, late Friday, the Senate voted on the "Skinny Repeal." An 8-page copy of the bill was provided to Democrats at 10 pm Friday night, ahead of a midnight vote.   Read More About This

99.

The night prior, GOP senators Johnson, Graham and Cassidy announced they would only vote for the "Skinny Repeal" if House Republicans assured them that it would never become law. Still the vote proceeded.   Read More About This

100.

Ahead of the vote, Enzi filibustered the Senate floor for an hour. Democrats tried to interrupt and ask questions. Enzi told Murray, "Perhaps your time might be better spent taking a look at the bill.'   Read More About This

101.

At 1:30 am Friday morning, after over an hour spent by Pence and other Republicans to change McCain's mind, the Skinny Repeal bill was voted down 49–51: Collins, Murkowski and McCain voted with Democrats.   Read More About This

102.

After the failed vote, at 2:25 am, Trump tweeted, "let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"   Read More About This

103.

Trump also again pushed for the Republicans to end the legislative filibuster, a long-time norm in the Senate, so bills can pass with 51 votes.   Read More About This

104.

Trump unceremoniously fired Priebus, informing press and staff shortly after Air Force One landed in DC. WSJ reported that part of Trump's rationale was that Priebus did not fire back at Scaramucci.   Read More About This

105.

Priebus served the shortest time of any chief of staff in a president's first term since WW2.   Read More About This

106.

The WSJ Editorial Board excoriated Trump over the Priebus firing, writing "this shuffling of the staff furniture won't matter unless Mr. Trump accepts that the White House problem isn't Mr. Priebus. It's him."   Read More About This

107.

WAPO tracked the Trump regime's unusually long list of firings, resignations, and withdrawals from consideration. Trump also has far less appointed and confirmed candidates for key executive roles.   Read More About This

108.

Trump appointed General John Kelly, current Secretary of DHS. Kelly little political and legislative experience. One Ryan-Priebus ally said the next phase of Trump presidency will be warfare against GOP Congress.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

109.

On Saturday morning, Trump tweeted attacks Republicans, saying they "look like fools" and that Democrats "are laughing at R's."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

110.

Trump also commanded Republicans to change norms: "Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW!" and he threatened if healthcare did not pass, he would end "BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

Replicated from:   https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-37-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-95953670b72a

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Week #36:  July 23, 2017

This week Trump's ties to Russia came increasingly front and center, as news of a second, clandestine meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 surfaced, and Trump moved forward with actions that seemed oddly pro-Moscow. Trump also caused alarm on both sides by raising the specter of firing Mueller and the possibility of pardoning himself and members of his regime. For the first time this week there was bi-partisan reaction: there were resignations, and pushback from national security officials who called out Russia for election meddling. Also of major importance, Congress agreed on an outline for a bi-partisan bill to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia -- a direct repudiation of Trump. ____________________________________________________________

1.

According to a FEC filing, Trump's re-election campaign paid $50k to Donald Jr.'s attorney on June 27, six days after Kushner updated his security clearance form to include the meeting with Veselnitskaya.   Read More About This

2.

WIRED reported that according to FEC filings, Trump re-election campaign has already paid out $600k to Trump-owned properties.   Read More About This

3.

Trump lawyer, Jay Sekulow, was the sole face for the Trump regime on all five of the Sunday shows.   Read More About This

4.

Sekulow suggested that US Secret Service would have vetted Donald Jr.'s meetings. The USSS issued a statement denying they screened anyone: "Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protected of the USSS in June, 2016."   Read More About This

5.

The US Women's Open, hosted at a Trump golf course, posted its lowest final round rating in at least 30 years. Trump had tweeted about attending the event.   Read More About This

6.

WSJ reported there were nearly 150k attempts to penetrate South Carolina's voter-registration system on Election Day, even though SC was not a competitive state. So far, there is evidence 21 states were targeted.   Read More About This

7.

TIME reported on a previously undisclosed 15-page plan produced by Obama's cybersecurity officials which shows how concerned the administration was about Russian hacking.   Read More About This

8.

The concern was so grave, on November 1, the Obama administration did a war-game, practice attack. Obama's NSC ran a fictional attack and rehearsed how federal agencies would communicate and respond.   Read More About This

9.

TIME reported concern was born over a California primary in which some voters were prevented from voting because their registrations had been altered. Russia was suspected of the hacking.   Read More About This

10.

A WAPO/ABC poll showed Trump approval rating has fallen to 36% from 42% in April. His net approval fell from -11 to -22. Trump's support from Independents has fallen to 32%.   Read More About This

11.

A Monmouth Poll found that 41% of Americans support impeaching Trump, significantly higher than Nixon at the start of Watergate (24%).   Read More About This

12.

A PPP poll found 45% support impeaching Trump, and 43% are opposed.   Read More About This

13.

CNN tracked highlights of Trump's first six months: he passed no major legislation, held just one press conference, sent 991 tweets, golfed 40 times, and spent 21 of 26 weekends at Trump properties.   Read More About This

14.

Criticism of Kobach and the Election Integrity Commission continued from all sides as their first public meeting took place, with many calling it a veiled attempt at voter suppression and purging.   Read More About This

15.

Kobach responded to MSNBC when asked if Hillary won the popular vote, "We will probably never know the answer to that question."   Read More About This

16.

Daily Beast reported that civilian casualties have skyrocketed under Trump from the U.S.-led war against ISIS. Trump's air war has already killed more than 2k civilians.   Read More About This

17.

CREW won a legal battle to compel Trump to turn over the Mar-A-Lago visitor logs by September 8. CREW said they will make the information available to the public, when and if they receive it.   Read More About This

18.

Outgoing OGE chair Shaub told NYT that actions by Trump and his regime have created a historic ethics crisis. On the world stage, this has rendered US "close to the laughingstock," and it "affects our credibility."   Read More About This

19.

DHS announced a one-time increase of 15k H-2B visas, a reversal from Trump's rhetoric as he launched Made in America Week. The change came after lobbying by industries that rely on temporary foreign workers.   Read More About This

20.

AP reported the Trump Organization has asked the federal government togrant dozens of special visas to allow foreign nationals to work at two of Trump's private clubs in Florida.   Read More About This

21.

Of note, this occurred during Trump's 'Made in America' week. Also of note, none of Ivanka's products are produced in the US.   Read More About This

22.

In a vote along party lines, the Senate confirmed political blogger John Bush, Trump's most controversial nominee yet, to the federal courts of appeal in Kentucky. Bush's blog posts disparage gays, women and people of color, and contain conspiracy theories and false information.   Read More About This

23.

Poland, the country chosen by Trump for a major speech en route to the G20, may be stripped of EU voting rights for the rightwing government's plan to abolish the independence of the country's judiciary.   Read More About This

24.

Former diplomats and national security officials urged Tillerson not to eliminate the State Dept's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), citing "profound and negative implications" of doing so.   Read More About This

25.

FP reported Tillerson is set to also shutter the State Dept's War Crimes Office, the office that for two decades held war criminals accountable.   Read More About This

26.

Christopher Painter, the top cyber diplomat, will leave his State Depart job at the end of the month. Painter has led the American delegations to international cyber meetings since 2011.   Read More About This

27.

US Treasury fined Exxon-Mobil $2mm, saying the company showed "reckless disregard" for Russian sanctions while Tillerson was CEO.   Read More About This

28.

House Republicans will seek to defund the Election Assistance Commission, the only federal agency that exclusively works to ensure the voting process is secure.   Read More About This

29.

The defunding comes as the Election Assistance Commission is working with the FBI to examine an attack late last year on the agency's computer systems by a Russian hacker.   Read More About This

30.

Manafort filed reports with the DOJ showing his firm received nearly $17mm for two years of work for a Ukrainian political party with links to the Kremlin -- more than the party's operations reported spending.   Read More About This

31.

Manhattan's DA office subpoenaed Federal Savings Bank, a Chicago bank run by Steve Calk, for records on a $16mm in loans made to Manafort in November and January. At the time, Manafort was underwater on loans to a Brooklyn townhouse and a family investment in CA properties.   Read More About This

32.

The loans to Manafort represent 24% of the bank's reported $67 million of equity capital. Calk was a member of Trump's economic advisory panel, and had expressed interest in becoming Army Secretary.   Read More About This

33.

On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rybakov said the Russian government is "almost" at a deal to get their seized compounds returned.   Read More About This

34.

On Tuesday, Trump again tweeted his demand that the Senate must change its rules to make repealing Obamacare easier.   Read More About This

35.

In a memo sent to station news directors, Sinclair's VP of News defended the company from charges of being biased. In Week 35, Sinclair has mandated segments by Trump ally Epshteyn.   Read More About This

36.

Sessions said he would be issuing a new directive aimed at increasing police seizures of cash and property.   Read More About This

37.

Sen. Paul called on Sessions to stop, tweeting, "Asset forfeiture is an unconstitutional taking of property without trial."   Read More About This

38.

After Republicans failed in their repeal and replace, and then failed again at repeal, Trump said Republicans should "let Obamacare fail," adding, "I'm not going to own it."   Read More About This

39.

CNN reported Trump aides could face scrutiny by Mueller over their role in strategizing with Trump to craft the initial statement issued by Donald Jr. as the NYT story broke about the June 9 meeting.   Read More About This

40.

AP reported that according to Akhmetshin, Veselnitskaya brought a plastic folder with printed-out documents thought to be damaging to Clinton to the meeting with Donald Jr., Kushner and Manafort.   Read More About This

41.

WAPO reported the eighth person in the Donald Jr./Veselnitskaya meeting was Ike Kaveladze, who attended as a representative of Aras and Emin Agalarov.   Read More About This

42.

Kaveladze's attorney said he had received a phone call over the weekend from a representative of Mueller, asking to set up an interview.   Read More About This

43.

Kaveladze was once the focus of a Congressional money laundering probe involving Russian oligarchs.   Read More About This

44.

On an interview with Charlie Rose, Ian Bremmer said Trump and Putin had a second hour-long private meeting on sidelines of the G20.   Read More About This

45.

Trump's White House was forced to confirm the meeting Tuesday, as reports surfaced that some guests had been surprised that it occurred.   Read More About This

46.

Trump's White House sought to minimize the disclosure, claiming in a statement the private meeting was "just a brief conversation at the end of dinner." Spicer said of the meeting, "It was pleasantries and small talk."   Read More About This

47.

Daily Beast reported that after being sent a secret document by officials in Moscow in April 2016, GOP Rep. Rohrabacher, a long-time Russia advocate, aimed to alter the Magnitsky Act.   Read More About This

48.

Without stated rationale, Trump ended a covert CIA program to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels battling al-Assad, a victory for Russia.   Read More About This

49.

The day after a shocking announcing he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, McCain issued a statement condemning the Trump's action in Syria, saying this is, "playing right into the hands of Vladimir Putin."   Read More About This

50.

Reuters reported that Russia says it is in talk with the US to create a cyber security working group.   Read More About This

51.

Trump gave a bizarre, wide-ranging interview to the NYT, which made it apparent he believes he is accountable to no one, and has full control over who occupies positions of power.   Read More About This

52.

Trump said he would never have hired Sessions if he knew he would recuse himself from the Trump-Russia probe. Expectations for Sessions resignation followed, but Sessions said he would stay on.   Read More About This

53.

Trump started to diminish Deputy AG Rosenstein for appointing a special prosecutor, saying, "There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. So, he's from Baltimore."   Read More About This

54.

On the topic of his private conversation with Putin at the G20, Trump repeated Donald Jr. initial false claim: "We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting."   Read More About This

55.

Trump also claimed he spoke to Putin because he was seated next to the First Lady of Japan, and didn't have a Japanese language interpreter.Videos surfaced of Akie Abe speaking fluent English.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

56.

Trump also opened the door for firing Mueller, saying the special prosecutor would cross a red line if investigations delve into Trump family finances unrelated to Russia.   Read More About This

57.

Bloomberg reported Mueller has expanded the probe into Trump's businesses ties to Russia, including Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump SoHo, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and Trump's sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch.   Read More About This

58.

Mueller's team is also absorbing the money laundering probe of Manafort, started by federal prosecutors in New York.   Read More About This

59.

WSJ reported the Senate and House Intel Comm are also investigating Manafort for possible money laundering. The Senate committee received reports by the Treasury Depart's FinCen unit which track Russian ties.   Read More About This

60.

Manafort has borrowed and spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade to finance real estate purchases in Brooklyn, NY and CA.   Read More About This

61.

NYT reported Deutsche Bank is under investigation by regulators for their lending relationship with Trump. The bank is also likely to have to provide information to Mueller as part of the Trump-Russia probe.   Read More About This

62.

As per Week 19, Deutsche Bank recently paid a $630mm settlement over charges of laundering $10bn for Russia from the bank's Moscow office.   Read More About This

63.

In the past six years, Deutsche's private wealth area financed three Trump deals, lending $300mm.   Read More About This

64.

The commercial real estate area, which would typically lend for such transactions, would not finance the deals. It is also highly unusual for a private wealth area to lend such a high dollar amount.   Read More About This

65.

NYT also reported that Deutsche Bank was the referenced European financial institution that had partnered with Russia's Prevezon, the massive money laundering tax fraud mentioned in Week 35.   Read More About This

66.

Prevezon's case was settled by Sessions's DOJ two days before trial.   Read More About This

67.

AP reported Trump repeated overtures towards Russia are increasingly putting him at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers. The second meeting with Putin at the G20 exacerbated the rift.   Read More About This

68.

AP reported it was highly unusual for only Tillerson, but not McMaster to have attended the meeting with Putin at the G20. McMaster has been warning Trump that Putin is not to be trusted.   Read More About This

69.

The legal team defending Trump in the Russia probe had a shake-up on Thursday, with long-time personal attorney Kasowitz leaving. Mark Corrallo, a spokesperson for Trump's legal team also resigned.   Read More About This

70.

Spicer resigned Friday after Trump appointed New York financier Anthony Scaramucci to communications director. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named his replacement.   Read More About This

71.

Senators Cardin and Warren have pushed for an investigation into whether Scaramucci's company, SkyBridge Capital, violated sanctions against Russia.   Read More About This

72.

On Friday following Spicer's resignation, Sanders held an on-camera press briefing, the first one since June 29 (22 days ago).   Read More About This

73.

Breaking from Trump, CIA Director Pompeo, Homeland Security Secretary Kelly, and White House Homeland and Counterterrorism adviser Bossert said they believe Russia meddled in our election.   Read More About This

74.

Reuters reported Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Jr., had Russian spy agency FSB as a client.   Read More About This

75.

After interviewing Susan Rice as part of the Senate Intel Comm, Republican chairman Burr commented, "The unmasking thing was all created by Devin Nunes."   Read More About This

76.

Michael Flynn opened a new consulting firm, Resilient Patriot, LLC. Flynn's new firm will advise private equity firms.   Read More About This

77.

Trump named a temporary director, Apol, to replace Shaub as head of the OGE as he seeks a permanent director. Watchdogs groups expressed concern that Trump bypassed Shaub's designated successor, Finlayson.   Read More About This

78.

WAPO reported some of Trump's lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut Mueller's Trump-Russia probe, building a case around alleged conflicts of interest of Mueller and his staff.   Read More About This

79.

Sekulow said Mueller investigating Trump's business dealings, including transactions like a Russian oligarch's purchase of Trump's Palm Beach mansion, "is far outside the scope of a legitimate investigation."   Read More About This

80.

WAPO also reported Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and himself.   Read More About This

81.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Comm, warned Trump that pardoning targets of the Russia probe would be "crossing a fundamental line."   Read More About This

82.

Trump loyalist Newt Gingrich told FoxNews Friday, "The Mueller investigation has so many conflicts of interests, it's almost an absurdity."   Read More About This

83.

A New Republic op-ed titled, "We're on the Brink of an Authoritarian Crisis, cited Trump's NYT interview, information on efforts to attack Mueller and questions about issuing pardons, as cause for concern.   Read More About This

84.

WAPO reported Kislyak told his superiors he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Sessions. The conversations were intercepted by US spy agencies.   Read More About This

85.

In March, Sessions had said he never had meetings with Russian operatives or intermediaries about the Trump campaign. He also lied under oath during the Senate confirmation hearings about the meetings.   Read More About This

86.

WAPO reported Sessions had three meetings with Kislyak including at his Senate office in September, at the Republican National Convention in July, and at the Mayflower Hotel in April.   Read More About This

87.

Kushner agreed to testify in front of the Senate Intel Comm next Monday, and the House Intel Comm on Tuesday.   Read More About This

88.

Bypassing Tillerson and the State Dept after a contentious meeting, Trump assigned a White House team of loyalists to review the Iran Nuclear Deal and give him the option to say Tehran was not in compliance.   Read More About This

89.

WAPO reported late Friday that Kushner filed a revised financial disclosure form, showing he had failed to disclose dozens of financial holdings that he was required to declare when he joined the WH.   Read More About This

90.

Of note, Kushner had failed to disclose a $285mm loan that his company received from Deutsche Bank one month before the election.   Read More About This

91.

A separate form filed Friday showed Ivanka has personally profited by as much as $5mm since Trump took office from her outside businesses, despite a promise to distance herself from her private holdings.   Read More About This

92.

Also late Friday, a deal between Donald Jr., Manafort and the Senate Judiciary Comm was announced, in which the two will provide records and be interviewed in a closed-door session to avoid being subpoenaed.   Read More About This

93.

On Saturday morning, starting at 6:30 a.m EST, Trump sent a bizarre litany of tweets on topics ranging from his usual trashing of the media, Hillary and Comey, to the topic of pardons and Mueller.   Read More About This

94.

Trump continued to tweet, despite a new ABC/WAPO poll that showed 67% of Americans disapprove of his using Twitter, including 68% saying his tweets were inappropriate, and half said his tweets were dangerous.   Read More About This

95.

Saturday, in a repudiation of Trump, Congress reached a deal on sweeping sanctions to punish Russia for election-meddling. The legislation will limit Trump's ability to suspend or terminate sanctions.   Read More About This

Replicated from:   https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-36-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-5f21d774631e

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Week #35:  July 16, 2017

"I'm pleased to share that 'The Weekly List' has found a safe home at the Library of Congress. May future generations learn from our slow slide to authoritarianism, and never let it happen again!" This week the bombshell story about Donald Jr.'s emails, the first direct evidence of possible collusion and intent between the Trump campaign and Russia, dominated media coverage and conversation. But as with each week, amidst the bedlam, there were a myriad of less-covered, important stories on how the fabric of our country is changing, and kleptocracy is omnipresent. ____________________________________________________________

1.

After the G20, Pope Francis warned about "dangerous" international alliances, including the one between the US and Russia.   Read More About This

2.

On Sunday after returning from the G20, Trump sent a bizarre set of tweets, including his apparent acceptance that Putin did not meddle in our election, and his plan to set up a Cyber Security unit with Putin.   Read More About This

3.

After widespread condemnation of his Cyber Security unit idea, Trump tweeted Sunday night that he didn't really mean it.   Read More About This

4.

US officials say Russia government hackers were behind recent cyber-intrusions into the administrative and business networks of a US nuclear power plant and other energy companies.   Read More About This

5.

Reuters reported European infrastructure networks have also recently been hacked, and the Russian government is thought to be the culprit.   Read More About This

6.

An Arkansas bill scheduled to go into effect July 30 would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion without notifying the man who impregnated her, even in cases of rape.   Read More About This

7.

On Monday, Capitol police arrested citizens protesting the GOP health care bill outside of Republican senate offices.   Read More About This

8.

A federal judge halted the deportation of 1,400 Iraqi nationals, including many Christians fearing persecution. The Trump's regime efforts to deport took on new urgency because Iraq has agreed to accept deportees.   Read More About This

9.

An Iranian cancer researcher traveling on a valid visa to the US to work as a visiting scholar at Boston's Children's Hospital, was detained at Logan Airport, along with his wife and three children.   Read More About This

10.

Pew Research found the percentage of Muslim refugees has steadily declined under Trump from 50% in February to 31% in June, while the percentage of Christian refugees has increased from 41% to 57%.   Read More About This

11.

A federal judge's ruling in Hawaii narrowed the scope of Trump's Muslim Ban by vastly expanding the list of family relationships with U.S. citizens that visa applicants can use to get into the US.   Read More About This

12.

Trump ally Steve King called for using federal funds set aside for Planned Parenthood and welfare programs like food stamps to be reallocated for funding Trump's Mexican Wall.   Read More About This

13.

POLITICO reported that Trump and his regime are quietly working with conservative senators Cotton and Perdue to cut the number of legal immigrants allowed into the US by half over the next decade.   Read More About This

14.

According to a memo obtained by WAPO, the Trump regime is considering expanding the DHS's power to expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants, a major expansion of the agency's power.   Read More About This

15.

DeVos met with MRA groups who believe campus sexual assault is a hoax, including The National Coalition for Men, an organization with a history of harassing and intimidating alleged sexual-assault survivors.   Read More About This

16.

DeVos also met with Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), an organization SPLC described as promoting misogyny. SAVE has lobbied against efforts to address military sexual assault, calling it a "witch hunt."   Read More About This

17.

Ahead of these pivotal meeting, Candice Jackson, the acting assistant secretary for civil right at the Education Dept said 90% of campus sexual accusations come after drunk sex or break-ups. She later apologized.   Read More About This

18.

Sessions delivered a speech to Alliance Defending Freedom, a group designated as an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the SPLC in 2016, off camera on Tuesday. The DOJ refused to release his remarks.   Read More About This

19.

Rep. Martha McSally stood on the House floor Wednesday in a sleeveless dress and open-toed shoes to say she would not comply with the dress code in the chamber and Speaker's lobby.   Read More About This

20.

On Friday, female members of the House wore sleeveless clothing to work, tweeting in support of "Sleeveless Friday."   Read More About This

21.

Price's HHS quietly defunded teen pregnancy programs designed by the Obama administration to fund scientifically valid ways to help teenagers make healthy decisions that avoid unwanted pregnancy.   Read More About This

22.

The ACLU filed a suit against Trump's Election Integrity Commission, saying it isn't following federal law requiring it to be open to the public.   Read More About This

23.

Trump's Election Integrity Commission published a 112 page document of public feedback (mostly negative), which exposed personal informationincluding email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of some.   Read More About This

24.

Over 3k Colorado voters have canceled their registrations since Trump's Election Integrity Commission requested voter roll information.   Read More About This

25.

A non-partisan campaign finance watchdog group filed a complaint with the FEC alleging Price improperly used his congressional campaign fund to promote his confirmation to HHS Secretary.   Read More About This

26.

Center for Public Integrity reported Bannon failed to properly disclose more than $2mm in mortgage debt on his financial disclosure form.   Read More About This

27.

Trump's expected pick for chief of the Wage and Hour Division of the Dept of Labor, Cheryl Stanton, was named in a lawsuit last year for allegedly not paying her house cleaners.   Read More About This

28.

WAPO reported that while Trump has chastised companies for outsourcing jobs and Ivanka branded herself a feminist, Ivanka's clothing lines are exclusively produced at low-wage foreign factories, and women employees are not well treated.   Read More About This

29.

After Trump's much ballyhooed deal with Carrier to keep American jobs, Indiana has lost 5k manufacturing jobs since February.   Read More About This

30.

WSJ reported the CEO of a OpenGov, a small start-up that Kushner's brother has a stake in, got a seat at a White House roundtable for prominent technology-industry leaders last month. Kushner owned the stake before selling it to his brother early in the year.   Read More About This

31.

POLITICO reported that conservative Sinclair Broadcasting increased "must run" segments featuring former Trump adviser Epshteyn to nine times per week, across its affiliates.   Read More About This

32.

Sputnik, a Russian government-funded news outlet, started broadcasting on 105.5 FM last week from K-Street offices, a few blocks from the WH.   Read More About This

33.

Within 24 hours of announcing "The Weekly List" will be archived in the Library of Congress, I was the target of two hit pieces in Sputnik News,one in RT, and other various Russia-friendly blogs.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

34.

NYT reported that Pence has quietly hosted at least four private dinners, and has more in the works, to court big donors and corporate executives.   Read More About This

35.

The Trump regime's deregulation teams is full of appointees with deep industry ties. NYT and ProPublica reported on 71 appointees with industry links, including 28 with potential conflicts.   Read More About This

36.

Intercept reported Kushner tried to get a half-billion loan bailout for his 666 Fifth Avenue from a Qatar sovereign wealth fund, and the deal not coming to fruition may have influenced US policy towards Qatar.   Read More About This

37.

USA Today reported a US Golf Association exec told USGA executive committee members that Trump threatened to sue the organization if it moved the 2017 US Women's Open from Trump's golf club in Bedminster.   Read More About This

38.

Trump tweeted: "I will be at the @USGA #USWomensOpen in Bedminster," advertising one of his properties again.   Read More About This

39.

Documents released to WAPO under the FOIA show the State Dept spent more than $15k for rooms at the new Trump hotel in Vancouver.   Read More About This

40.

At the behest of Bannon, Trump aides Prince and Feinberg, both who benefited from military contracting, developed an alternative plan to the one proposed by the Pentagon for Afghanistan. Their plan was to rely on contractors (mostly non-American) instead of American military troops.   Read More About This

41.

Twitter users who were blocked by Trump's personal account are suing him in federal court, saying he violated their First Amendment rights.   Read More About This

42.

Trump tweeted that Comey had "leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION" and "That is so illegal!" The Columbia law professor who received some of Comey's memos, said the memos he received were not classified.   Read More About This

43.

Saturday evening, NYT reported that Donald Jr., Kushner and Manafort met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer with close Kremlin ties, at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016.   Read More About This

44.

Donald Jr. initially claimed the meeting was related to an adoption program. Kushner had failed to disclose the meeting in his security clearance. Manafort, who was Trump's campaign manager at the time, had no comment on the meeting.   Read More About This

45.

On Sunday, NYT reported Donald Jr. met with the Veselnitskaya after being promised damaging information on Hillary. The meeting took place two weeks after Trump became the GOP nominee.   Read More About This

46.

On the question of whether Trump campaign colluded with Russia, NYTnoted Donald Jr.'s meeting is "the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help."   Read More About This

47.

A spokesperson for Trump's lawyer told the NYT, "the president was not aware of and did not attend the meeting."   Read More About This

48.

Donald Jr. hired attorney Alan Futerfas to represent him in the Russiaprobe, adding to a long list of attorneys defending Team Trump.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

49.

WAPO reported the acquaintance who set up the meeting was Rob Goldstone, who was active in the Miss Universe pageant and works as a manager for Russian pop singer, Emin Agalarov.   Read More About This

50.

As news was breaking on Donald Jr., Russia's Lavrov threatened that Russia is "considering specific measures" as retribution for Trump not returning two compounds seized by the Obama administration.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

51.

On Tuesday, Donald Jr. preemptively tweeted his email exchange in setting up the Trump Tower meeting. Donald Jr. had been contacted by the NYT for comment, asked for more time, then tweeted.   Read More About This

52.

Shortly after his tweet, the NYT story broke. In addition to the emails, the story details the changing accounts by all involved parties.   Read More About This

53.

Per emails, Donald Jr. was offered information that "would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father," and "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."   Read More About This

54.

Donald Jr.'s response was: "If it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer."   Read More About This

55.

Donald Jr. forwarded the email chain -- with the subject line, "Re: Russia -- Clinton -- private and confidential" -- to Kusher and Manafort ahead of the meeting.   Read More About This

56.

The email was sent by Rod Goldstone on behalf of a mutual friend, Emin Agalarov. Emin is the son of Aras Agalarov, a real estate tycoon referred to as the "Donald Trump of Russia," who has close ties to, and was awarded the "Order of Honor of the Russian Federation" by, Putin.   Read More About This

57.

The meeting took place in Trump Tower, one floor below Trump's offices.Trump continued to deny knowledge or involvement all week.   Read More About This

58.

According to emails, the meeting took place at 4:00 pm. Donald Jr. said it lasted 20–30 minutes. At 4:40 pm same day, Trump tweeted in response to a tweet by Hillary, "where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted?"   Read More About This

59.

Julian Assange tweeted, "Contacted Trump Jr. this morning on why he should publish his emails (i.e with us)," indicating he has been in contact with Donald Jr.   Read More About This

60.

WAPO reported Donald Jr. changed his story about the meeting with Veselnitskaya four times in the first four days of the story coming to light.   Read More About This

61.

NYT reported Trump personally signed off on Donald Jr.'s first statement Saturday night saying his meeting with a Russian lawyer was to discuss adoption policy -- a known lie.   Read More About This

62.

After releasing his emails, Donald Jr. gave an interview to Fox Newstelling his side of the story. Trump called his son "a high-quality person" and added, "I applaud his transparency."   Read More About This

63.

Yahoo reported that Trump had a Moscow real estate deal with Aras Agalarov, the same Russian oligarch who set up the meeting with Veselnitskaya, to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow.   Read More About This

64.

A letter intent was signed by Trump, then as the presidential campaign got underway, Donald Jr. was assigned to take the lead. Ivanka also looked at spots for Trump Tower Moscow with Emin Agalarov.   Read More About This

65.

The deal did not happen because the Russian economy floundered, in part because of US and EU sanctions imposed after Crimea and Ukraine. Doing away with US sanctions could help put the deal back on track.   Read More About This

66.

In April 2016, Emin and Aras Agalarov told WAPO they wanted Trump to be elected. Emin said Trump's election would be "an amazing breakthrough" that would forge peace between Russia and the US.   Read More About This

67.

CNN reported Mueller's investigators plan to examine the meeting and email exchanges disclosed by Donald Jr. as part of their broader Russian-meddling investigation.   Read More About This

68.

On "The Late Show" Tuesday night, Joe Scarborough announced he is leaving the Republican Party. "It's a shame there are so few Republicans speaking truth to power," Scarborough tweeted.   Read More About This

69.

NYT reported Tuesday that Trump's long-time personal attorney and lead counsel for the Russia probe, Kasowitz, has been the target of Trump's frustration and ire, and may resign.   Read More About This

70.

ProPublica reported that as Trump's lead attorney on the Russia probe, Kasowitz is unable to see classified information because he isn't seeking security clearance, and may have trouble getting one.   Read More About This

71.

On Wednesday night, Kasowitz threatened a stranger in an email, saying "I'm on you now," and "Watch your back, bitch," etc. Later, he apologized through a spokesperson, saying he was working late that night.   Read More About This

72.

McClatchy reported that Congressional and DOJ investigators are focusing on whether Trump's campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states.   Read More About This

73.

Kushner, who is already a "person of interest" for the DOJ investigations, will be investigated for his role overseeing the digital operations, and for possible cooperation with Russian efforts.   Read More About This

74.

Of note, the Russians knew to target women and African-Americans in two of the three decisive states, Wisconsin and Michigan. Clinton lost WI, MI and PA by a combined 77,744 votes out of 13.9 million ballots cast.   Read More About This

75.

WSJ reported that in light of Donald Jr. emails, US intel investigators are re-examining conversations captured in the spring of 2015 of Russian government officials discussing associates of Trump.   Read More About This

76.

Rep. Brad Sherman of CA introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. Rep. Green of TX was the only other Democrat to join.   Read More About This

77.

AP reported that Trump's mysterious friend "Jim," who Trump frequently referenced on the campaign trail and more recently ahead of his trip to Paris, may not actually exist.   Read More About This

78.

Trump faced heavy criticism after telling France's first lady during his first state visit to the country, "You're in such good shape."   Read More About This

79.

Democratic members of the House Judiciary Comm sent a letter to Sessions asking why the DOJ settled a $230mm Russian money laundering case against Prevezon for $6mm two days before trial in May.   Read More About This

80.

Veselnitskaya represented the family of Pyotr Katsyv, whose son owns Prevezon. Democrats want to know if she was involved at any point in settlement negotiations.   Read More About This

81.

Prevezon was part of Russia's largest tax fraud scheme. Magnitsky, the lawyer who exposed the alleged fraud, was jailed, tortured and killed in Russia. Veselnitskaya has been trying to undo the Act in his name.   Read More About This

82.

The case against Prevezon was initially brought by US attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump.   Read More About This

83.

Axios reported Trump's outside legal teams wants him to wall off Kushner from discussing the Russian investigation with Trump.   Read More About This

84.

On Thursday morning, NPR reported Sessions had defied a judge's order by not supplying the required forms to show his foreign contacts. The court's 30-day deadline expired Wednesday.   Read More About This

85.

Later that afternoon, a day late, the DOJ did release one heavily redacted page of Sessions's SF86, showing only that he had checked a box "no" on whether he had met with any foreign governments in the past 7 years.   Read More About This

86.

New Republic reported that Trump's relationship with Russia dates back to the 1980s, and over decades Russia has laundered money through Trump's real estate and casinos.   Read More About This

87.

Gorka told CNN that Trump is considering returning the Russian compounds because "we want to give collaboration" a chance. US intel found evidence the compounds were used for spying on the US.   Read More About This

88.

Thursday, Trump said he would invite Putin to the White House at the right time. Trump also continued to not acknowledge that Russia who hacked our election, saying it could have been China or N. Korea.   Read More About This

89.

NYT reported that Kushner has supplemented his federal disclosure form three times, adding more than 100 foreign contact names.   Read More About This

90.

Chicago Tribune reported that Peter W. Smith, the GOP operative who detailed his efforts along with members of the Trump campaign to get Hillary's deleted emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide.   Read More About This

91.

Smith's interview with WSJ's Shane Harris was the first report of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Smith's suicide happened nine days after the interview occurred.   Read More About This

92.

Smith left a curious suicide note, citing a bad turn in his health, and writing, "NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER." Harris said when he spoke to Smith, he had no indication "he was ill or planning to take his own life."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

93.

NBC reported at the June 9 meeting, Veselnitskaya was accompanied by Rinat Akhmetshin a Russian-American lobbyist, and former Soviet counterintelligence officer with ongoing ties to Russian intelligence.   Read More About This

94.

AP confirmed that Akhmetshin attended the meeting. Donald Jr. had not disclosed Akhmetshin's attendance, nor had Kushner in his forms.   Read More About This

95.

Daily Beast reported Akhmetshin was previously accused in federal and state courts of orchestrating an international hacking conspiracy.   Read More About This

96.

Grassley, chair of the Sen. Judiciary Comm, called on Donald Jr. to testify as early as next week. Grassley said he would subpoena him if necessary.   Read More About This

97.

Grassley filed a complaint against Akhmetshin in March, saying he was effectively engaged in lobbying work as an unregistered agent for Russian interests. Akhmetshin lobbied for Congress to repeal the Magnitsky Act.   Read More About This

98.

FP reported that the private email account of a top US intelligence officer working in the secretive arm of the State Dept focusing on Russia, was hacked. Russia is suspected of being behind the hack.   Read More About This

99.

Yahoo reported Trump lawyers knew about the emails three weeks ago, although Trump claimed he learned about them, "a couple of days ago."   Read More About This

100.

Friday, CNN said there were at least 8 people at the Donald Jr./Veselnitskaya meeting.   Read More About This

101.

On the Friday Fox News hand-off from Shepard Smith to Chris Wallace, Smith said "Why is it lie after lie after lie?….The deception, Chris, is mind-boggling…Where are we, and why are we getting told all these lies?" Wallace answered, "I don't know what to say."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

102.

Veselnitskaya told WSJ that she had been meeting regularly and sharing information with Russian authorities and Russia's top prosecutor, Yuri Chaika -- the "Crown prosecutor" referenced in Goldstone's emails.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

103.

Amid a legal team shake-up, Trump hired Ty Cobb to become point person inside the White House for matters related to Russia, and Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick stepped away from representing him on Russia.   Read More About This

104.

Maddow reported on a lawsuit filed by United to Protect Democracy on behalf of three citizens against Trump and Stone for their role in the public sharing of information hacked by the Russians. If it goes to trial, discovery could reveal information on how stolen info was disseminated.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

105.

Friday, a judge order a retrial of the Code Pink activist who was arrested after she laughed during Sessions's confirmation hearing.   Read More About This

106.

Lawyers for the only known DREAMer to be deported, filed supporting statement showing ICE agents wrongly forced him across the border.   Read More About This

Replicated from:   https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-35-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-b903f89596c9

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Week #34:  July 9, 2017

This is arguably the most alarming weekly list so far. A plot that has played out week-by-week as Trump alienated our allies while cozying up to authoritarians, followed by his embarrassing behavior at the NATO and G7 meetings, culminated this week at the G20 with US isolationism. This video, which traces weekly not normal items, explains why Putin is the winner in this new world alignment. This week Trump amped-up his assault on the media, including encouraging violence. With this, Trump has distracted the country and media, and taken back the narrative. In the atmosphere of chaos, this week also stands out for the number of important stories that received little or no media coverage. ____________________________________________________________

1.

As more and more states refused to comply with what Trump described as his "very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL", he questioned, "What are they trying to hide?"   Read More About This

2.

By midweek, 44 states and DC refused to provide some or all of the voter roll data requested by Trump's Election Integrity Commission.   Read More About This

3.

States are denying the request based on concerns over privacy and federal overreach, and also concern that the effort of identifying voter affiliation will be used to purge Democrats from voter rolls.   Read More About This

4.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a Hatch Act complaint against Kobach, saying he used Trump's commission to solicit political campaign money.   Read More About This

5.

A Maryland official, Deputy Secretary of State Luis Borunda, resigned from Trump'scommission.   Read More About This

6.

Several experts on the regulatory process told The Hill that Trump's commission may have violated the law by failing to submit the requests to states through OIRA, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.   Read More About This

7.

A DOJ letter sent to 44 states' election officials on the same day Kobach and Pence made their requests, asks states to detail their compliance with the NVRA. This request also raised concerns about voter purging.   Read More About This

8.

At a rally in DC Saturday night, Trump continued his attacks on the "fake" media, saying, "I'm President and they're not."   Read More About This

9.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted a video created by a Reddit user from both his personal account and the official @POTUS account, showing him violently wrestling down a person whose face is the CNN logo.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

10.

The Reddit user was named "HanAssholeSolo" and his posts were full of anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and other white supremacists materials.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

11.

The Reddit user later apologized, but Trump did not. The parents and wife of the CNN reporter who covered the story received around 50 harassing phone calls. Allegedly, CNN did not defend the reporter.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

12.

As Trump continued his anti-CNN rhetoric, the cable network's anchors and executives received death threats and other harassing messages.   Read More About This

13.

Following Trump's tweet, three media watchdog groups have started to do something they never imagined: documenting violent threats and actions against the media in the US.   Read More About This

14.

Maine's Governor LePage said he makes up stories to mislead the press. LePage also called the media "vile" and "inaccurate."   Read More About This

15.

NYT reported the Trump regime discussed using the pending merger between Time Warner and AT&T as leverage over CNN.   Read More About This

16.

On Thursday, Trump media ally Daily Caller reported the White House doesn't support the merger if Zucker still heads CNN.   Read More About This

17.

Trump ally and Bannon patron Bob Mercer bought 2.5mm shares of Time Inc., owner of Time magazine in the first quarter of 2017. Per Week 33, David Pecker, owner of National Enquirer is also interested in Time Inc.   Read More About This

18.

Maddow reported that TRMS was sent a forged NSA document. Maddow speculated this was an attempt to trick her show into reporting a false story, and hence weakening her credibility and dulling that storyline.   Read More About This

19.

Maddow said that other media outlets may also be receiving forged documents as well, citing recently retracted stories at CNN and Vice.   Read More About This

20.

POLITICO reported on the Trump regime's obsessive crackdown on leaks from the intelligence community, which has led to an "increasingly tense and paranoid working environment" in the national security community.   Read More About This

21.

On Sunday, protestors gathered at rallies in dozens of cities around the country to call for Trump's impeachment.   Read More About This

22.

NBC reported that in Trump's first 168 days in office, he spent 50 days at Trump properties and 36 days at Trump golf resorts.   Read More About This

23.

NYT reported that while working with industry players, not EPA staff, Pruitt has moved to undo, delay or block 30 environmental rules, a rollback larger in scope than any other in the agency's 47-year history.   Read More About This

24.

Several states sued over the EPA's decision to keep a Dow pesticide, which studies show can harm children's brains, on the market. Per Week 33, Dow spent millions lobbying and donated to Trump's inauguration.   Read More About This

25.

The Wisconsin assembly passed a bill which would block students from protesting conservative speakers on college campuses.   Read More About This

26.

NYT reported the Trump regime's latest anti-immigrant tactic is to target undocumented parents suspected of having paid to have their childrensmuggled into the US.   Read More About This

27.

POLITICO reported that Trump insider Stephen Miller has been holding meetings with agencies on how to further curb the entry of refugees. Miller clashed with Tillerson, who demanded autonomy.   Read More About This

28.

A new law in Florida allows parents and residents to file complaints with school boards to challenge what's taught in science classes.   Read More About This

29.

Attorneys general for 18 states and DC sued DeVos and the Dept of Education over a decision to roll back rules put in place to help students who have been defrauded by their colleges.   Read More About This

30.

Devos's Dept of Education may stop publishing the list of college and universities in violation of Title IX for mishandling campus sexual assault. The Obama Administration started the list to hold schools accountable for an issue which impacts 1 in 5 college women and 1 in 20 college men.   Read More About This

31.

WAPO reported the White House gender pay gap until has more tripled under Trump, with female staffers earning on average 63% of what their male counterparts make. This is the biggest White House gender pay gap in decades.   Read More About This

32.

Female journalists were banned from the Speaker's lobby, a room area where reporters speak to members of Congress, because their sleeveless dressed were not viewed as "appropriate attire."   Read More About This

33.

In a 53 page memo to the court, Trump attorney Kasowitz argued for the dismissal of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Trump, claiming Trump cannot be sued in state court while in office.   Read More About This

34.

The Auschwitz Memorial condemned a political video posted by Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, which the congressman filmed inside an Auschwitz gas chamber.   Read More About This

35.

At a protest outside Sen. Portman's office in Columbus, OH, a woman in a wheelchair was pushed out of her chair to the ground by a police officer.   Read More About This

36.

The KKK plans a rally in downtown Charlottesville today, and warned that many of its 80–100 members and supporters will be armed.   Read More About This

37.

Pro-Trump Twitter operatives are marketing their services to candidates and others, promising to mobilize their followers and networks for pay.   Read More About This

38.

Guardian reported investigators are looking into whether the Trump campaign and far-right websites coordinated with Russia in spreading fake news. Sen. Warner noted key voters in swing states were targeted.   Read More About This

39.

Motherboard reported on an analysis of the Twitter bots that helped Trump, and found the same bots and alt-right narrative emerged in the French election against Macron.   Read More About This

40.

On July 4, NRP tweeted the Declaration of Independence, and was attacked by Trump supporters who called it "propaganda" and "spam."   Read More About This

41.

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found Trump's net approval with Independents has fallen by 17 points since he took office.   Read More About This

42.

The poll also found that the majority (54%) of Americans believe Trump did something illegal or unethical with Russia.   Read More About This

43.

While his predecessors Clinton, W. Bush and Obama celebrated July 4th by visiting troops, Trump spent the day on a Trump-branded golf course. McCain, Warren and Graham visited troops in Afghanistan.   Read More About This

44.

Despite his recusal, Sessions spoke to Fox & Friends about the Trump-Russia probe, offering advice to Mueller on hiring practices and tempo.   Read More About This

45.

WSJ reported the OGE will release an additional two dozen ethics waivers just filed for Trump regime members working on issues they handled in their private-sector jobs. Trump has already granted as many waivers to White House officials as Mr. Obama did in his eight years in office.   Read More About This

46.

The State Depart's Office of the Inspector General said the State Dept and USAID have failed to adequately track more than $30bn of foreign aid.   Read More About This

47.

In a survey of 35k employees in the State Dept and USAID, workers said they were concerned about the future of their agencies and the lack of support from the Trump regime and Tillerson.   Read More About This

48.

An Indiana nonprofit is suing Pence's successor for keeping residents in the dark on the deal between the Trump regime and Pence with Carrier. The group's request for information in December went unanswered.   Read More About This

49.

In another sign the Trump regime won't take civil rights seriously, Trump nominated Eric Dreiband to the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Dreiband has spent his career defending companies from charges of discrimination.   Read More About This

50.

One of the DOJ's top corporate crime watchdogs, Hui Chen, resigned, saying holding companies to standards the Trump regime wasn't living up to was "creating a cognitive dissonance that I could not overcome."   Read More About This

51.

Walter Shaub, director of the OGE resigned in frustration, six months before his term ended, saying, "It's clear that there isn't more I could accomplish." Shaub and OGE have 24 items in The Weekly List.   Read More About This

52.

Shaub said in post-resignation interview that Trump's ethics program is "a very serious disappointment," and that his efforts to get basic information from the regime was "like pulling teeth."   Read More About This

53.

CREW filed an ethics complaint against Kushner, saying he failed to make the required disclosure of his ownership interest in Cadre. The online real estate investment company has a value of $800mm.   Read More About This

54.

The Russian sanctions bill, which passed in the Senate 98–2, stalled in the House as Republican Pete Sessions, chair of the House Rules Comm, said it would make American energy companies less competitive.   Read More About This

55.

WSJ reported energy companies including Exxon and Chevron, and other industries, are lobbying against the Russian sanctions bill, saying it would hurt their business with Russian partners.   Read More About This

56.

Trump Organization renewed more than 1k web domains, including many which refer to Trump and Russia, like TrumpTowerMoscow.com., indicating possible interest in future development.   Read More About This

57.

Axios reported that Russian government-owned Sputnik news is coming to the DC airwaves after taking over a FM radio station. The FCC has not yet been notified according to a spokesperson.   Read More About This

58.

Matt Tait, who is cited in the WSJ story on possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia on Hillary's deleted emails, wrote an op-ed, "The Time I Got Recruited to Collude with the Russians," to tell his story.   Read More About This

59.

Tait said it was clear to him that Smith knew Flynn and his son, well, and that they knew the "dark web" was likely Russia but didn't care. Tait warned it could be "part of a wider Russian campaign against the US."   Read More About This

60.

Tait also received a document titled "A Demonstrative Pedagogical Summary to be Developed and Released Prior to November 8, 2016," which list four groups involved, including group one which listed: Bannon, Conway, Clovis, Flynn and Lisa Nelson.   Read More About This

61.

McClatchy reported a Kremlin document shows Kaspersky Lab, a leading global seller of anti-virus programs, has ties to Russia's spying apparatus. Kaspersky's certification has a FSB military intelligence unit number.   Read More About This

62.

Kaspersky security software is available globally, including at Target and Walmart. The company also serves as a subcontractor for US federal software contracts, and was used by the DNC last summer.   Read More About This

63.

CNN reported that Russia is stepping up spying efforts in the US post the US elections. Officials cited said Russia feels emboldened by the lack of a significant retaliatory response by Trump and Obama.   Read More About This

64.

US Intel estimates that Russia has 150 operatives in the US. Since the election, many have tried to sneak in under the guise of business.   Read More About This

65.

Strangely, the State Dept reportedly continues to grant temporary duty visas to suspected Russian intelligence officers, despite knowledge.   Read More About This

66.

AP reported on a lawsuit filed by Coalition for Good Governance, saying Georgia's 6th Congressional election results should be voided because of previously identified problem with the touchscreen voting system.   Read More About This

67.

The suit cites the work of a private cybersecurity researcher who found that a misconfigured server had left Georgia's 6.7 million voter records exposed to hackers last August.   Read More About This

68.

Republican Secretary of State in Georgia, Brian Kemp blamed the media for developing a false narrative about Russia hacking, and said states are doing enough to keep elections secure and "anything to the contrary is fake news."   Read More About This

69.

WSJ reported that Mueller has hired an "absolute cream of the crop" team of 15 top attorneys with experience in national security, public corruption and financial crimes for the Russia probe.   Read More About This

70.

FT reported Russian-born Sater has agreed to co-operate with an international investigation into a money-laundering network. Per Week 32, Sater has extensive ties to organized crime and the Trump family.   Read More About This

71.

In their campaign for the upcoming election, Merkel's party has dropped the reference to the US as a "friend." Four years ago, her party referred to the US as Germany's "most important friend" outside of Europe.   Read More About This

72.

Bloomberg reported China and Germany have stepped up to lead this year's G20 summit, a role formerly held by the US.   Read More About This

73.

Pew Research found that 17 of the 19 G20 countries in their survey look to Merkel, not Trump, to lead in world affairs.   Read More About This

74.

Guardian reported Trump considered a sneak visit to Downing Street in order to avoid massive UK protests en route to or from the G20 summit. After the story broke, the White House said Trump would not visit.   Read More About This

75.

Instead, on his way to the G20, Trump chose to stop off at Poland, despite the new far-right government's authoritarian leanings including cracking down on judges and the media.   Read More About This

76.

AP reported the Polish government promised the White House cheering crowds as part of the invitation. Members of the ruling party and pro-government activists bussed in groups of people for Trump's speech.   Read More About This

77.

Trump gave another of his dystopian speeches in Poland, saying Western civilization was at risk of decline because of "radical Islamic terrorism" and government bureaucracy.   Read More About This

78.

At a news conference in Poland, Trump said he thinks meddling in the US election was done by Russia, but "it could have been other people in other countries" and that "nobody really knows for sure."   Read More About This

79.

Also on his trip to Poland, Trump continued to dismiss and belittle US intelligence, saying, "Do we even have seventeen intelligence agencies?"   Read More About This

80.

The day before Trump was set to meet with Putin, seemingly as a bargaining chip, The Moscow Times reported the Russian embassy to the US is accusing the US of "kidnapping" a man accused of cyber-fraud.   Read More About This

81.

Ahead of his meeting with Putin, top Senate Democrats sent a letter to Trump saying not raising Russia's interference in our election would be "a severe dereliction of the duty of the office to which you were elected."   Read More About This

82.

LA Times reported that in preparing Trump for his meeting with Putin, aids had written a list of "tweet-length sentences," which summarize the main points.   Read More About This

83.

Trump met with Mexico's Pena Nieto at the G20. After the meeting, Trump was asked if Mexico will pay for the wall to which he responded, "absolutely." Mexico's foreign minister said the wall was not discussed.   Read More About This

84.

Friday, without provocation or reason, Trump tweeted a random lie about Podesta: "Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!"   Read More About This

85.

At the G20, Trump and Putin met for 2:16 hours off-camera, behind closed doors. The meeting was originally scheduled to last 30 minutes.

86.

Only Tillerson and Trump were present from the US side, despite media speculation that McMaster and Fiona Hill would be included.   Read More About This

87.

Lavrov and Tillerson gave different accounts of what happened behind closed doors. Lavrov said Trump told Putin some circles in America were "exaggerating" allegations of Russian interference in the US election.   Read More About This

88.

Sally Yates tweeted Trump's refusal to confirm Russian interference"insults career intel pros & hinders our ability to prevent in future."   Read More About This

89.

Tillerson's version differed, but both said they agreed to put whatever happened behind them: "There was not a lot of re-litigating of the past." Tillerson added, "This is a very important relationship."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

90.

Russia faces no consequences from Trump for interfering in our election. It was unclear if Trump returned the two Russian compounds seized by Obama as punishment for Russia interfering in our election.   Read More About This

91.

In an op-ed, "Trump Caves to Putin," conservative journalist Stephen Hayes laid out an indictment of how Trump bowed to Putin on Russian interference and foreign policy. Elected Republicans however were silent.   Read More About This

92.

AP reported Saturday that Putin said, "he thinks Trump believes his denial of Russian meddling in US vote, but better to ask Trump himself."   Read More About This

93.

Ivanka took her father's seat at a G20 meeting on Saturday. Normally, government ministers or senior officials would take such a role.   Read More About This

94.

Trump isolated the US from other G20 countries on a series of policies ranging from climate to free trade.   Read More About This

95.

The US abstained from signing onto the G20 communique on climate-related issues, the sole country at the summit to do so.   Read More About This

96.

As the summit came to a close, leaders feared for that the G20 summits may be ineffective while Trump is in office. President Macron said, "Our world has never been so divided."   Read More About This

Replicated from:   https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-34-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-a15f5f9de76b

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Week #33:  July 2, 2017

This week the first evidence of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia surfaced. Several key members of the Trump regime could be ensnared -- big news, with major ramifications! Yet, most of our country was distracted by Trump's Twitter war with Joe and Mika. This week, Trump continued to use hate to keep his base engaged, while marginalizing and ignoring those not white, straight, Christian and male. Through deportation and immigration bans, and continually peeling away rights and protections from women, PoC, LGBTQ, and Muslim and Jewish Americans, Trump is changing the character of our country, and the world is noticing. ____________________________________________________________

1.

California added four more states to its ban on state-funded and state-sponsored travel, citing these states (eight in total) for laws allowing discriminating against LGBTQ people.   Read More About This

2.

Overruling experts and diplomats, and without explanation, the State Dept removed Iraq and Myanmar from the list of the world's worst offenders in the use of child soldiers.   Read More About This

3.

Trump's DHS pulled a grant given by Obama given to Life After Hate, a group dedicated to countering neo-Nazis and white supremacists.   Read More About This

4.

The State Dept's anti-Semitism monitoring office will be unstaffed as of July 1. This, as the ADL reports anti-Semitic incidents have almost doubled in 2017.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

5.

A court in Mississippi lifted an injunction on an anti-gay law, freeing individuals and government workers the ability to discriminate against gay and transgender people on religious grounds.   Read More About This

6.

North Carolina's Supreme Court ruled that a woman cannot revoke consent after sexual intercourse begins.   Read More About This

7.

Trump ended an almost two decade-long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the WH.   Read More About This

8.

Six Afghan girls were denied one-week visas to show their robot at FIRST Global Challenge in DC. Roa Mahboob, the first female tech CEO in Afghanistan who sponsored the team said, "they were crying all the day."   Read More About This

9.

The historical marker for civil-rights icon Emmett Till on the Mississippi Freedom Trail was vandalized.   Read More About This

10.

Trucker Rene Flores, who was featured in a USA Today article on how poor immigrants who speak little English have become modern-day indentured servants, was fired the day after the article ran.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

11.

Five months after Trump's 90-day Muslim Ban was introduced, the Supreme Court allowed part of the second version to take effect, banning travel from six Muslim countries where Trump doesn't have properties.   Read More About This

12.

Attorneys general from 10 states and Idaho's governor threatened to sue the government to stop granting and renewing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") permits by September 5.   Read More About This

13.

Trump's White House said Chicago (Trump regime code for Black Americans) gun violence is "driven by morality more than anything else."   Read More About This

14.

Trump invited families of victims killed by undocumented immigrants to the White House for an on-camera, anti-immigrant display.   Read More About This

15.

POLITICO reported the White House Council for Women and Girls, set up by Obama, has gone dark under Trump, and will likely be shuttered.   Read More About This

16.

Mattis will delay the Pentagon's decision on allowing transgender recruits into the military for six months. Carter, his predecessor under Obama, had ended the ban on transgender people serving.   Read More About This

17.

WAPO reported that one month before Election Day, Kushner's firm finalized a $285mm refinancing loan from Deutsche Bank. Kushner and his brother are guarantors of the loan.   Read More About This

18.

Kushner did not report the loan or his personal guarantee on his financial disclosure form filed with the OGE.   Read More About This

19.

The loan came at a time when Deutsche was negotiating with New York state regulators to settle a federal mortgage fraud case and charges of money laundering for Russia.   Read More About This

20.

In Week 19's List (March 25) Deutsch was fined $630mm for laundering over $10bn of Russian money, and settled the case in May.   Read More About This

21.

FT reported VEB, the state-owned Russian bank whose chairman, Gorkov, met clandestinely with Kushner, has no banking license or capital, and is essentially a special-purpose vehicle to support the Kremlin's priorities.   Read More About This

22.

Kushner retained Abbe Lowell, one of the country's leading criminal defense attorneys, to represent him in the special counsel probe.   Read More About This

23.

WAPO reported Manafort retroactively filed as foreign agent on Tuesday for $17.1 million in payments received by his firm between 2012–2014 from a pro-Russia political party that controlled Ukraine's government.   Read More About This

24.

Also in the filing, Manafort revealed that in 2013 he met with CA Rep. Rohrabacher, an outspoken pro-Russia advocate.   Read More About This

25.

Roll Call reported that Manafort donated to Rohrabacher three days after their meeting.   Read More About This

26.

ABC reported Congressional investigators will question Trump's longtime bodyguard, Keith Schiller, who now serves as a White House aide, as part of their Russia probe. Schiller delivered Comey's termination letter in person.   Read More About This

27.

Miami Herald reported on Igor Zorin, a Russian government official who, on his $75k bureaucrat's salary, purchased three units at the ritzy Trump Palace in South Florida worth $5.4mm.   Read More About This

28.

CNN reported Trump's own advisers are struggling to convince him that Russia still poses a threat.   Read More About This

29.

CNN also reported NSA director Rogers expressed frustration to lawmakers about his inability to convince Trump that Russia interfered in our election, and Trump's lack of focus on the continued threat.   Read More About This

30.

Further, even as the IC continues to brief him on Russian interference, Trump has not convened any meetings on Russian meddling.   Read More About This

31.

Intelligence and lawmakers expressed concern on the State Dept's unwillingness to crack down on Russian diplomats traveling within the US, despite evidence Moscow is trying to conduct intelligence operations.   Read More About This

32.

Trump continued to distract from Russian interference and possible collusion, tweeting "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Democratic Party in order to beat Crazy Bernie Sanders. Is she allowed to so collude?"   Read More About This

33.

A former CIA analyst and targeting officer explained how Trump's tweets are being used by foreign spies to determine his vulnerabilities.   Read More About This

34.

The Kremlin recalled Kislyak amid the election controversy. Flynn, Kushner and Sessions all had undisclosed meetings with Kislyak.   Read More About This

35.

WAPO reported that the FBI met with Page five times in March about his contacts with Russia and claims in the Steele dossier. At the time, Page did not have a lawyer.   Read More About This

36.

Ivanka was ordered to testify in a dispute with an Italian shoemaker who accused her of copying one of its shoe designs.   Read More About This

37.

Chinese authorities released on bail, pending trial, the three activists who were investigating low pay, excessive overtime, crude verbal abuse and possible misuse of student labor at Ivanka's China factories.   Read More About This

38.

Guardian reported a nonprofit run by Trump attorney Sekulow will be investigated by authorities in two states for steering tens of millions of dollars to his family and their businesses.   Read More About This

39.

On Monday, as the CBO report indicated Senate version of AHCA/Trumpcare would result in 22mm more uninsured, the White House issued a statement trashing the credibility of the Office.   Read More About This

40.

Polls showed the Senate version is wildly unpopular: USA Today/Suffolk12% approve, NPR/PBS/NewsHour/Marist 17% approve.   Read More About This

41.

A pro-Trump PAC ran negative ads targeting Sen. Heller in his home state for not supporting AHCA. Amid backlash, the ads were pulled.   Read More About This

42.

Reporting on the Senate's failure to pass ACHA cited Trump's lack of interest and loss of political capital. Some Senators also didn't trust him after he called the House version he had backed, "mean."   Read More About This

43.

On Monday late evening, the White House issued a cryptic statement warning of potential preparations for a chemical attack in Syria, and saying Syria would "pay a heavy price."   Read More About This

44.

NBC reported Trump's own senior national security officials were caught off guard by the White House statement. NBC noted the disconnect demonstrates how Trump "is making foreign policy on the fly."   Read More About This

45.

The US image has plunged under Trump. Pew Research found three-quarters of countries surveyed have little to no confidence in Trump to handle foreign affairs. Our democratic allies were the most negative.   Read More About This

46.

Pew found that only 22% are confident in Trump's handling of foreign affairs, compared to 64% during the Obama administration.   Read More About This

47.

Also of note in the Pew Research survey, for the first time in 35 years, a majority of Canadians have an unfavorable view of the US.   Read More About This

48.

The Toronto Star has also been keeping track of the false claims by Trump, and has so many, they chose to sort them by topic.   Read More About This

49.

The EPA chief of staff pressured a scientist on the agency's scientific review board to change her testimony before the House Science Comm.   Read More About This

50.

POLITICO reported Trump Hotel DC has become a go-to meeting place. Conway said, "They look at it as a piece of the president." Trump continues to profit from the hotel, and has not tracked foreign government receipts as promised.   Read More About This

51.

The White House abruptly changed course and disinvited the media from covering Trump's first re-election fundraiser. As mentioned in Week 32, the high-priced event will be held at the Trump Hotel DC.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

52.

WAPO reported that a fake Time magazine cover is hung up in at several of Trump's golf clubs. After the report, a spokesperson for Time said the magazine had asked the Trump Organization to remove them.   Read More About This

53.

Trump remarked to an Irish reporter that she had a "nice smile" during a telephone call in the Oval Office with the newly elected Irish PM. Trump told Varadkar, "I bet she treats you well."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

54.

Trump told the Irish PM, "We have so many people from Ireland in this country. I know so many of them, too. I feel I know all of them."   Read More About This

55.

Maddow reported that Republicans and conservative media have started a campaign of smear FBI interim director McCabe, who can corroborate Comey's statement on conversations with Trump.   Read More About This

56.

Maddow also reported that Deutsche Bank added a lawyer with a background in tax crimes and money laundering.   Read More About This

57.

On Thursday, Deutsche Bank again denied Democratic lawmakers' request for information on Trump's accounts, saying individual members of Congress don't have the same standing as a committee.   Read More About This

58.

Graham and Grassley requested the FBI and DOJ provide copies of surveillance requests made in their investigation of Russian interference in the election. If shared with Trump, this could bolster his defense.   Read More About This

59.

Pence and Kobach, heads of Trump's commission on election integrity, asked all 50 states to release voter roll data, including names, birthdays, the last four digits of SS numbers, and voting history back to 2006.   Read More About This

60.

Amid cries of voter suppression and privacy concerns, within 24 hours almost half of all states had rejected the request in part or whole.   Read More About This

61.

Kobach said Kansas would not hand over some of the information, nor will Pence's home state (IN). Mississippi's Secretary of State said, "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico."   Read More About This;  Click here, also

62.

Next morning, Trump tweeted his dismay, "What are they trying to hide?" leading to a conversation on Twitter on why Trump has yet to share his tax returns, and we have normalized this and stopped asking.   Read More About This

63.

AP reported EPA's Pruitt met with the CEO of Dow Chemical before deciding to reverse an agency ban on a widely-used pesticide which studies have found can harm children's brains.   Read More About This

64.

Dow spent $13.6mm on lobbying in 2016, and wrote a $1mm check to Trump's inauguration festivities. Dow's CEO stood by Trump in February as he signed an EO rolling back government regulations.   Read More About This

65.

At the Aspen Ideas conference, Yates said while acting AG, she found out about the Muslim Ban by reading about it in the NYT.   Read More About This

66.

Yates slammed the Trump regime for ignoring legal and political norms, and said the regime's behavior "should be alarming to us as a country."   Read More About This

67.

ABC reported federal authorities are investigating a breach of at least one nuclear plant's computer system.   Read More About This

68.

POLITICO reported that Tillerson blew up at Trump's head of personnel, DeStefano, for torpedoing his picks for senior State Dept roles. The State Dept remains largely unstaffed, including deputy Secretary of State.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

69.

In Week 32, DeStefano's data company was involved in the leak of private information of 200mm US voters, which was left unprotected onlineahead of the 2016 election.   Read More About This

70.

Kasowitz failed to follow through on his threatened legal complaint against Comey, a pattern for the Trump's attorneys.   Read More About This

71.

As stories on Russia and other controversies continued to break, Trump continued his efforts to weaken the media's credibility : tweeting "They are all Fake News!" -- about CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, WAPO and NYT.   Read More About This

72.

Trump shared videos of a CNN commentator and producer being secretly recorded by Project Veritas' O'Keefe to his 7mm followers on Instagram.   Read More About This

73.

CNN's Stelter gave three examples of press access being rolled back: Trump and S. Korean president didn't hold a joint news conference, Pentagon's non-answer on why Mattis traveled without the usual TV journalists, and journalists told to leave DOJ event marking Pride month.   Read More About This

74.

The Senate Intel Comm will get Comey's memos on his conversationswith Trump. It is unclear when and if the public will see them.   Read More About This

75.

On Thursday, Trump sent a set of highly offensive tweets at Joe and Mika, including "low I.Q. Crazy Mika," "Psycho Joe." The tweet to Mika (see below) was widely condemned as beneath the office, and sexist.   Read More About This

76.

Conservative pundit Krauthammer told FoxNews of Trump's tweets, "This is what it's like in a banana republic."   Read More About This

77.

Amid the uproar, Trump quietly announced that he will meet with Putinin person at the G-20 gathering next week. Numerous experts and lawmakers expressed grave concern.   Read More About This

78.

VOX reported Trump aides said he doesn't have an agenda or plan much preparation for the meeting, raising concerns that Putin, a master tactician who arrives meticulously well-prepared, will outplay Trump.   Read More About This

79.

Trump also succeeded at distracting from the bombshell of possible collusion, voter roll request and other highly controversial stories.

80.

WSJ reported the first evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. A Republican operative, Peter Smith, tried to get Hillary's 33k deleted emails from Russian hackers in concert with Flynn.   Read More About This

81.

Smith passed away in May. The Trump campaign said if Flynn coordinated with Smith, "it would have been in his capacity as a private individual."   Read More About This

82.

WSJ also reported Smith's story is consistent with intelligence agencies intercepts of Russian hackers discussing how to obtain emails from Hillary's server and transmit them to Flynn via an intermediary.   Read More About This

83.

Late Friday, the WSJ broadened its story saying Smith cited other key Trump regime players  --  Bannon, Conway and Clovis -- in his Sept. 7, 2016 recruitment document for his effort to get Hillary's 33k deleted emails.   Read More About This

84.

On Friday, NY Magazine reported on Trump's efforts to possibly blackmail Joe and Mika by using a story to be published at Trump ally David Pecker's National Enquirer making their affair public.   Read More About This;  Click here, also

85.

Kushner was the go-between for communication. He told Scarborough he would need to personally apologize to Trump for negative coverage for the story not to run. Scarborough would not, and the story ran.   Read More About This

86.

Law Newz explained that Trump's alleged blackmail of Joe and Mika, including persistent phone calls by reporters to Mika's teenage children, could be an impeachable offense.   Read More About This

87.

Bloomberg reported that Kushner almost bought the National Enquirerthree year ago, and The New Yorker reported David Pecker is considering a bid for Time Inc., owner of Time magazine.   Read More About This

88.

On Friday, as the Senate left for break, Trump tweeted they should just repeal Obamacare and replace it later. The CBO estimated in that scenario 18mm would lose coverage in year 1, and 32mm more by 2026.   Read More About This

89.

25 House Democrats, including the ranking member of the Judiciary Comm, backed a bill that would create an "oversight" commission that could declare the president incapacitated under the 25th Amendment.   Read More About This

Replicated from:   https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind/week-33-experts-in-authoritarianism-advise-to-keep-a-list-of-things-subtly-changing-around-you-so-a9315863b6cd

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