This or That

Former Vice President Joe Biden made his first official appearance as a 2020 presidential candidate yesterday.

"Donald Trump is the only president who's decided not to represent the whole country," Biden said at a Teamsters hall. "We need a president who represents all Americans."

"We have to choose hope over fear, unity over division and maybe, most importantly, truth over lies," Biden added.

Nobody Disobeys My Orders

President Donald Trump contended Monday, April 22, that none of his underlings routinely defy his commands, despite numerous examples contained in Robert Mueller's report showing aides ignoring or refusing his dictates.

The document contained anecdote after anecdote of aides refusing to carry out some of Trump's demands to short-circuit the special counsel's investigation. The trend was so marked the report's authors made note of it in their assessment.

Quote from the Mueller Report

The report paints a picture of aides repeatedly ignoring or brushing aside Trump's dictates -- both in the interest of guarding the President from his own worst instincts and of protecting themselves from further legal implications. That included acts by Trump's former White House counsel, his former chief of staff, a former staff secretary and multiple other formal and informal advisers.

According to White House officials, that dynamic has been a constant undercurrent to Trump's presidency, including on matters of policy like immigration and trade. Aides have consistently worked privately to forestall or prevent Trump from taking actions deemed unwise or worse, relying either on diversionary tactics or the belief Trump would eventually forget his commands.

The End is the Beginning

The Mueller Report is an official report documenting the findings and conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 United States presidential election, allegations of coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, and allegations of obstruction of justice by Trump, as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." The report, with redactions, was released on April 18, 2019.
 
After receiving the report on March 20, 2019, United States Attorney General William Barr first released a four-page letter that described the special counsel's conclusions on March 22. On April 18, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) then publicly released a redacted version of the 448-page report. It comprises two volumes: the first focusing on charges of collusion/conspiracy and the second on obstruction of justice.

Now that the report has been completed and made public, there is much discussion on its contents.  The following is from an NBC News article published the day after the report’s release.

Mueller didn't charge Trump -- but his report is a brutal indictment
President Donald Trump has evaded criminal charges — but special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is a brutal indictment of his campaign and his presidency.

The first part of the report details how Trump and his allies solicited, encouraged, accepted and benefited from the assistance provided by America's most storied foreign adversary as part of a multi-front assault on American democracy.

The next part lays out comprehensive evidence that the president may have obstructed justice through what Mueller described as a "pattern of conduct" that included firing FBI Director Jim Comey, trying to remove Mueller, publicly praising and condemning witnesses, and seeking to limit the scope of the probe.

Mueller's findings reveal three years of actions by Trump and his subordinates that critics say rattle the very foundations of the American system of governance, from the sacrosanct nature of democratic elections to the idea that no man, not even the president, is above the law.

The story, in even its most sympathetic telling, is one of a president who used nearly every power vested in his office and his persona — including hiring and firing, the bully pulpit, party loyalty, private intimidation, and disinformation — to cover up ties between his campaign and Russia so that he could spare himself the public humiliation of having won an election that wasn't entirely on the level.

The Mueller report will stand out for the brazenness of the chief executive — and for the degree to which insubordination among his underlings reined him in, if only at the margins.

"If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” Mueller wrote. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment."

Only an hour or so before the report was rolled out, Attorney General William Barr, who was picked for his job after writing that a president cannot obstruct justice, said that the report found "no collusion" between Trump and Russia — an expression that Mueller painstakingly explained in the report is of no legal consequence. It is, however, a favorite term of art of one Donald J. Trump.

Some of Trump's allies on Capitol Hill were satisfied, without reading the report, that Trump came out a clear winner — exonerated because he was not prosecuted. "We know the conclusions of the Mueller Report: No collusion, no further indictments," Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, tweeted. "It's over. We also know the spin, and we know that many people will still claim the President is guilty. I'll be reading the report in its entirety. No spin, just facts."

Trump's own employees, including Barr and Mueller, did not move forward with a prosecution — indeed, Mueller wrote that he determined Justice Department guidance precluded him from doing so. But he also noted that Congress, which does not report to the president, has its own set of powers.

Mueller - Barr - Trump

"The acts of obstruction of justice, whether they are criminal or not, are deeply alarming in the president of the United States," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday. "And it's clear that special counsel Mueller wanted the Congress to consider the repercussions and the consequences."

Trump's conduct tracked with that of President Richard Nixon, but that the refusal of Trump's subordinates to follow his orders — very likely with the Nixon example in mind — may end up saving the president politically.

Expert at Everything?

A massive fire has engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  And D Trump, the fire fighting expert tweeted:

To which the real experts replied:

This Week with George Stephanopoulos, April 7, 2019

Yvette Simpson, CEO of Democracy for America: The Republican plan for health care is a GoFundMe account. [paraphrased]

Hand It Over

After Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his Russia investigation found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, some Democrats have been continuing efforts to investigate the president's business dealings and other actions.

During the election, Trump broke the long-standing tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns, saying they were under audit. He has continued to dodge the issue as president.

On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee officially upped the ante in its pursuit of the president's conspicuously buried taxes by formally asking the IRS to turn over six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns.

The Committee is "invoking an authority enshrined in the tax code granted only to the tax-writing committees in Congress that gives the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee the power to request tax information on any filer," The New York Times reports. “The provision, which dates in some form to the Teapot Dome scandal of Warren G. Harding's administration, at least on its face gives the Trump administration little room to decline a request. It only says that the Treasury secretary 'shall' furnish the information.”

Ocasio-Cortez's tweet referred to the House Ways and Means Committee's request to the IRS for six years of the president's tax records.

Mexico? Which One?

Here's how Fox News reported this:

Not Much Has Changed

I found this image on a memory stick.  It is from a Leonard Pitts, Jr.'s column, September 15, 2018.  He is referencing Bob Woodward's new book Fear: Trump in the White House.

It seems the words are still applicable today.