| Week #41: August 26, 2017 |
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Week 41 is full of content about Trump-Russia, and indications that the Mueller probe is closing in on Trump and his regime. News stories indicate that despite Trump’s public indifference and belittlement of the probe, he is privately consumed by it, and acting in ways which could well be construed as, and lead to charges for, obstruction of justice. In the two weeks since Charlottesville, our country is consumed in flames of hate, and Trump is fanning those flames. As well, he continues his unimpeded march to authoritarian power, neutralizing the judicial branch with an unethical pardon, and attacking members of his own party in an effort to silence them. So far, the latter is largely working, and as this week comes to a close, remaining checks and balances to save our democracy are eroding, and Trump appears to feel fully in power. |
| 1. |
Following the counter-protest march of over 40k in Boston, Trump tweeted the country needs "to heel." Trump used the misspelled word four times in two consecutive deleted tweets, before correcting it to heal. Read More About This |
| 2. |
Rev. Bernard, pastor of a megachurch in Brooklyn, became the first member of Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board to resign over Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 3. |
No WH officials were made available for Sunday political talk shows. Read More About This |
| 4. |
On CNN Sunday, Carl Bernstein urged reporters to interview Republicans on or off the record about whether Trump is mentally fit to lead. Read More About This |
| 5. |
A NBC News/Marist poll found Trump's approval in three key battleground states has eroded: Michigan 36 approve/55 disapprove, Pennsylvania 35/54, and Wisconsin 34/56. Read More About This |
| 6. |
NPR reported some Liberty University graduates are returning their diplomas to protest school President Jerry Falwell Jr.'s ongoing support of Trump, even after Trump's remarks on Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 7. |
Former HHS secretaries from both parties urged Republicans to move quickly and stabilize Obamacare as Trump threatened to continue withholding key payments to insurers. Read More About This |
| 8. |
Sunday night, when asked by reporters for his reaction to five sailors injured and 10 missing after the USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant ship, Trump responded, "That's too bad." Read More About This |
| 9. |
USA Today reported Secret Service agents have already hit the federally mandated pay caps meant to last the entire year for protecting Trump. Under the Trump regime, an unprecedented 42 people have protection. Read More About This |
| 10. |
Secret Service cited Trump's frequent weekend trips to his properties, and his family's extensive business and vacation travel. Secret Service spent $60k on golf carts, revenues which go to the Trump Organization. Read More About This |
| 11. |
Trump disbanded a federal advisory panel for the National Climate Assessment which helped policymakers and private-sector officials incorporate the government's climate analysis into long-term planning. Read More About This |
| 12. |
Since being established in 1990, the National Climate Assessment is supposed to release reports every four years. The next assessment would have been due in 2018. Read More About This |
| 13. |
Trump's Interior Dept ordered the National Academy of Sciences to halt its study of health risks and harm caused by mountaintop coal mining in Appalachia. Read More About This |
| 14. |
New Yorker reported on the dismantling of HUD under a thoroughly uninformed Sec Carson. There are still no nominees for major parts of HUD, including the Federal Housing Administration and many others. Read More About This |
| 15. |
Carson's team removed online training materials meant to help homeless shelters provide equal access to transgender people, and pulled back a survey to reduce LGBT homelessness. Read More About This |
| 16. |
Interior's Inspector General confirmed in a letter it is investigating Sec Zinke's pressure on Sen. Murkowski to vote yes on the Obamacare repeal. Read More About This |
| 17. |
An ABC News/Washington Post poll found 9% of Americans say it's acceptable to hold neo-Nazi or white supremacist views. This meshes with the 10% who say they support the alt-right movement. Read More About This |
| 18. |
The Anne Frank Center tweeted in alarm, "1 in 10 adults in U.S. say neo-Nazi views acceptable -- 22 million Americans. Evil epidemic of hatred." Read More About This |
| 19. |
The poll also found that 3 in 10 Trump supporters accept or are indifferent to white supremacists. Read More About This |
| 20. |
Singer Billy Joel wore a Star of David during the encore of his sold-out show in NYC. Read More About This |
| 21. |
Brandeis University was closed and evacuated Wednesday after the school received an email with a bomb threat. Read More About This |
| 22. |
HuffPost reported a spike in anti-Semitism in the two weeks since Charlottesville. ADL provided a list of more than two dozen incidents involving swastikas, broken glass and neo-Nazi propaganda. Read More About This |
| 23. |
A coalition of major rabbinical groups canceled their annual High Holidays call, saying Trump's "words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism." Read More About This |
| 24. |
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged the US government to reject racial hatred and violence. The statement was released online after Trump's mixed messages on Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 25. |
The Girl Scouts' CEO wrote a letter to families with resources to talk to girls about what they are hearing in the news, and hate and violence, adding lying about what really happened can "undermine her trust." Read More About This |
| 26. |
Twenty organizations have pulled their charity events from Mar-A-Lago in response to his comments on Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 27. |
Daniel Kammer, the State Dept Science Envoy, resigned in an open letter citing Trump's "attacks on core values of the United States." The first letter of the seven paragraphs spell the word, IMPEACH. Read More About This |
| 28. |
On his radio show, Trump's nominee for Department of Agriculture Sam Clovis said "LGBT behavior" is a choice, and that legalizing gay marriage could lead to the legalization of pedophilia. Read More About This |
| 29. |
Liz MacKean, the BBC journalist who broke the news of the torture of gay men in Russia, died of a stroke at the age of 52. Read More About This |
| 30. |
Trump signaled he is likely to end DACA, the Obama program which allows young people who came to the US illegally as children to remainhere. As many as 1 million immigrants could be affected. Read More About This |
| 31. |
The DHS announced it will require holders of employment-based visas to be interviewed in order to update their status. More than 100k visa holders could be impacted. Read More About This |
| 32. |
The Brennan Center and Protect Democracy Project filed a lawsuit for info on communication between government agencies and the Election Integrity Comm. The agencies did not respond to a FOIA request. Read More About This |
| 33. |
On Tuesday, the DOJ modified its warrant, dropping its request for IP addresses from DreamHost for an anti-Trump site, disruptj20.org. Read More About This |
| 34. |
On Thursday, a court ordered DreamHost to turn over the data requested. The court asked the DOJ to disclose its method for searching the data to minimizing data on innocent third-party visitors to the site. Read More About This |
| 35. |
In a WAPO op-ed, activist Melissa Byrne described being grabbed, cuffed and questioned, and her banner confiscated, by the Secret Service without having been read her rights at a Starbucks in Trump Tower. Read More About This |
| 36. |
On Monday, Trump delivered his second address to the nation. Reading from the teleprompter he asked the American people to trust him in sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan. Read More About This |
| 37. |
Trump opened the speech with a call for unity. Historian Michael Beschloss noted this was the first time a leader "had to start a speech on war and peace by vowing that he opposed bigotry and prejudice." Read More About This |
| 38. |
Trump's speech was full of his typical bellicose terms, like "overwhelming force," but offered little in the way of strategy and substance. Read More About This |
| 39. |
Of note, three generals now seem to have Trump's ear: Kelly, McMaster and Mattis. As recently as Week 38, Trump had scoffed at adding troops. He also compared Afghanistan to a 21 Club renovation. Read More About This |
| 40. |
There is not yet a confirmed US ambassador to Afghanistan. Read More About This |
| 41. |
24 hours after his address to the nation, Trump headed to a campaign rally in Phoenix, despite pleas from the Mayor of Phoenix in an op-edand on air that it was not a good time for Trump to visit. Read More About This |
| 42. |
Despite his calls for unity Monday, Trump delivered a 72-minute dystopian speech in which he repeatedly attacked the media and "others" -- again targeting marginalized communities. Read More About This |
| 43. |
Trump referred to the media as the enemy of the American people, saying "They don't like our country." After the speech, many in the media expressed concern about their safety. Read More About This |
| 44. |
Trump also threatened to shut down the government in the fall if Congress did not approve funding for his Wall. Read More About This |
| 45. |
Despite his advance promises not to, Trump attacked McCain and Flake, the two senators of Arizona, in his speech without using their names. Read More About This |
| 46. |
Also, despite promising not to do so, Trump insinuated he would pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, citing the legal system not treating him fairly. Read More About This |
| 47. |
Trump did not mention the accident involving the USS John. S McCain, or the continuing search for missing sailors during his speech. Read More About This |
| 48. |
WAPO reported as Trump ranted and rambled, "hundreds left early." The room was only partially filled as Trump began to speak. Read More About This |
| 49. |
Police used tear gas to disperse crowds of thousands of protestors after Trump's speech. Police helicopters circled downtown Phoenix. Read More About This |
| 50. |
In a likely violation of the Hatch Act, Ben Carson appeared on stage in Phoenix, after being introduced as the Secretary of HUD. Read More About This |
| 51. |
NPR fact-checked Trump's speech, and found numerous false and misleading statements. Read More About This |
| 52. |
Ahead of the rally Tuesday, Trump met with potential Republican challengers to primary Sen. Flake in 2018. During the brief meeting, Trump referred to the senator as "the flake." Read More About This |
| 53. |
After Trump's Phoenix speech, former director of National Intelligence Clapper told CNN he questioned Trump's "fitness to be -- in this office." " Read More About This |
| 54. |
Clapper said understanding the levers of power available to a president, he found the speech "downright scary and disturbing." Read More About This |
| 55. |
Clapper also said Trump could be a threat to national security. He worries about Trump's access to nuclear codes, noting it a fit of pique, "there's actually very little to stop him." Read More About This |
| 56. |
Trump tweeted asking if Clapper "who famously got caught lying to Congress," would share "his beautiful letter to me?" Clapper said he had handwritten almost identical notes to both candidates for Election Day. Read More About This |
| 57. |
CNN reported Wednesday that the WH was preparing paperwork and talking points for surrogates ahead of Trump pardoning Arpaio. Read More About This |
| 58. |
On Monday, in a later-deleted Instagram post, Mnuchin's wife, Louise Linton bragged about traveling on a chartered government plane, and about the lavish fashion brands she was wearing. Read More About This |
| 59. |
On Wednesday, CREW requested information on authorization of the chartered airplane. Typically, secretaries fly on commercial flights for domestic travel. Read More About This |
| 60. |
Ethics groups also filed requests to learn if the trip to Fort Knox, KY was planned so Mnuchin and his wife could view the solar eclipse near the path of totality. Read More About This |
| 61. |
On a sudden, unannounced trip to the Middle East, Kushner was snubbed by the Egyptian foreign minister who canceled their meeting without officially citing a reason. The meeting did later take place. Read More About This |
| 62. |
NPR reported Trump's approval with women is at a historically low 29%. Trump's approval with men is much higher (43%). Read More About This |
| 63. |
NYT reported on a brewing war between Trump and McConnell, as the two haven't spoken for weeks. McConnell questioned whether Trump can salvage his presidency. Read More About This |
| 64. |
McConnell also questioned Trump's understanding of the presidency, and claimed Trump was "entirely unwilling to learn the basics of governing". Read More About This |
| 65. |
NYT also reported on an August 9 call with McConnell, which Trump initiated, Trump brought up healthcare, but was "even more animated" about McConnell's refusal to protect him from the Russia investigation. Read More About This |
| 66. |
After the NYT story broke, another Republican senator called the reporter to say Trump is "consumed with Russia." Read More About This |
| 67. |
POLITICO reported on more clashes between Trump and Republican senators over Russia. In additional to Trump public admonishments of McConnell, McCain and Flake, Trump also targeted Corker and Tillis. Read More About This |
| 68. |
Trump tried to convince Corker the Russian sanctions bill wasn't good policy, saying it was unconstitutional and would damage him. Trump berated Tillis for his bi-partisan bill to protect Mueller from being fired. Read More About This |
| 69. |
Including these contacts, WAPO counted seven times so far Trump has attempted to influence actions related to the Russia investigation. Read More About This |
| 70. |
On Tuesday, Glenn Simpson, founder of private research firm Fusion GPS who hired Steele to produce the dossier, testified for 10 hours in front of the Senate Judiciary Comm. He also provided 40k pages of documents. Read More About This |
| 71. |
The Senate Judiciary Comm will vote on releasing the testimony to the public. Rachel Maddow said Simpson's lawyer has given the okay to release the testimony and documents publicly. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 72. |
WAPO reported CIA director Pompeo, Trump's close ally, required the Counterintelligence Mission Center, which investigates possible collusion between Trump and Russia, to report directly to him. Read More About This |
| 73. |
Current and former agent Mike Pompeo expressed apprehension about conflict of interests. There is "real concern for interference and politicization," and that Pompeo may bring newly discovered information to the WH. Read More About This |
| 74. |
Pompeo spends more time at the WH than his predecessors. He also defended Trump's comments on Charlottesville, saying Trump's condemnation of bigotry was "frankly pretty unambiguous." Read More About This |
| 75. |
Pompeo has also shown a willingness to handle political assignments for the WH: for example calling news agencies, speaking on condition of anonymity, at the WH's behest to dispute a NYT article on Trump-Russia. Read More About This |
| 76. |
In an internal CIA memo released under the FOIA, former CIA director Brennan wrote some in Congress don't get the "gravity" of Russia election meddling. Read More About This |
| 77. |
Kushner Cos., the real estate company 0f Kushner's family, switched to a public relations firm with crisis management expertise. Read More About This |
| 78. |
NYT reported on Rinat Akhmetshin, one of the attendees of the June 9 meeting at Trump Tower, and his extensive and deep ties to Russian intelligence, government and oligarchs. Read More About This |
| 79. |
Akhmetshin has worked on behalf of several Russian oligarchs to hack adversaries' emails and documents in order to buffer their case. Mueller is interested in why Akhmetshin attended the June 9 meeting. Read More About This |
| 80. |
CNN reported Congressional investigators unearthed an email from Rick Dearborn, a top campaign aide who is now Trump's deputy chief of staff, about an individual seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin. Read More About This |
| 81. |
WSJ reported Mueller is looking into Flynn's role in seeking Hillary's emails from Russian hackers, along with now deceased GOP operative Peter W. Smith. Read More About This |
| 82. |
Investigators have examined intel reports which detail Russian hackers discussing how to obtain emails from Hillary's server, and then transmit them to Flynn via an intermediary. Read More About This |
| 83. |
NBC reported Mueller issued the first grand jury subpoenas to executives who worked on an international campaign organized by Manafort, a significant step in the inquiry which also focuses on Trump and Kushner. Read More About This |
| 84. |
Mueller's team is examining lobbying done by Manafort for a Russia-backed Ukrainian political party from 2012–2014. According to recent financial disclosures, Manafort was paid $17mm between 2013 and 2014. Read More About This |
| 85. |
USA Today reported on a Russian propaganda Twitter network aimed at American audiences which consistently spreads links from alt-rightmedia including Breitbart, True Pundit and Gateway Pundit. Read More About This |
| 86. |
Roger Stone told TMZ if Trump is impeached the country would break out into civil war, saying "You will have a spasm of violence in this country, and insurrection, like you've never seen." Read More About This |
| 87. |
NYT reported on Trump Hotel DC, the now highly profitable meeting place for Trump family members and surrogates, lobbyists and journalist. Trump continues to profit from the hotel operations. Read More About This |
| 88. |
The hotel is also described as a "safe zone for Trump supporters." Richard Spencer stayed at Trump Hotel DC, and met with white nationalist Evan McClare, as he planned the Charlottesville rally. Read More About This |
| 89. |
WAPO fact checker reported Trump's list of false and misleading claims had topped 1,000 items early in the week. By week's end, the list approached 1,100 items, one of the busiest weeks of lying yet. Read More About This |
| 90. |
After Icahn resigned in Week 40 ahead of a story on his influencing regulations to his financial benefit, the Trump regime stated unlike a government employee, Icahn had "no official role or duties." Read More About This |
| 91. |
Icahn financially benefitted from his 82% stake in CVR Energy. The company had accumulated a large short position in biofuels blending credits, called RINs, the price of which fell when Icahn's proposal on the biofuels regulation was reported in February, netting him a huge return. Read More About This |
| 92. |
On Friday, Trump attacked another Republican, saying Corker is constantly asking if he should run in 2018, and "Tennessee not happy!" Corker had questioned Trump's fitness to serve in Week 40. Read More About This |
| 93. |
In an interview with FT, Cohn was openly critical of Trump's Charlottesville response, saying Trump "must do better" in condemning neo-Nazi and white supremacists." Read More About This |
| 94. |
Fed Chair Yellen spoke out openly against the Trump regime's efforts to roll back banking regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis, saying these regulations have made the banking system safer. Read More About This |
| 95. |
Changing course, Bloomberg reported the WH no longer plans to work with Congress to produce a joint tax plan, instead relying on the House and Senate to hash it out. Trump said he will rally the public instead. Read More About This |
| 96. |
The WH rapid response director, Andy Hemming is leaving. Hemming had worked from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every weekday blasting out stories favorable to the Trump regime. Read More About This |
| 97. |
The RNC passed a resolution to condemn neo-Nazis, the KKK and white supremacists, despite pushback from several Republican members. The resolution did not, however, mention Trump. Read More About This |
| 98. |
A Quinnipiac poll found that 62% of Americans believe Trump is dividing the country. Read More About This |
| 99. |
As Trump left the WH Friday afternoon, a reporter asked, "do you have a message for the people of Texas?" Trump responded, "Good luck to everybody." Read More About This |
| 100. |
Hours before Hurricane Harvey, thought to be the worst hurricane in 12 years, hit landfall in Texas, with the country anxiously watching, Trump issued a directive and a pardon. Read More About This |
| 101. |
Late Friday, Trump signed a directive that precludes transgender individuals from joining the military. Mattis has six months to develop a plan to implement the order, and discretion over those already serving. Read More About This |
| 102. |
Trump's directive also bans DoD from paying for medical treatment regimens for transgender individuals currently serving in the military. Read More About This |
| 103. |
Late Friday, Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an elected official who defied a federal court's order to stop violating people's constitutional rights. Arpaio had been found in contempt of court in his ongoing case. Read More About This |
| 104. |
The NYT Editorial Board had noted with a pardon of Arpaio, Trump would show "his contempt for the American court system," and also send a "message to other officials that they may flout court orders also." Read More About This |
| 105. |
Questions arose about whether Trump's pardon of Arpaio was testing the waters and sending a signal to those under investigation by Mueller. Read More About This |
| 106. |
Late Friday, Trump adviser Gorka left his post as deputy assistant in the WH. In a letter, Gorka said he resigned. Trump aides said he was fired. Read More About This |
| 107. |
Shortly after 11 pm EST, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm. The National Hurricane Center said it expects "catastrophic and life-threatening" flash flooding and dump 15–30 inches of rain. Read More About This |
| 108. |
The Trump regime imposed sanctions on Venezuela; however, Citgo was exempted. As cited in Week 25, Citgo donated $500k to Trump's inauguration, and that money may have come indirectly from Russia. Read More About This |
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