Replies to post #293839 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[BOREALIS]

A MAGA outlet just published a piece blaming Trump for the GOP midterm loss

American Greatness is about as pro-Trump a publication as there is. So this analysis of the midterm elections is pretty striking.

By Zack Beauchamp@[e-mail] Nov 15, 2018, 1:20pm EST

(embedded links omitted)

American Greatness is just about the Trumpiest publication you can think of. A publication that aims to flesh out an “intellectual” defense of the president’s worldview, the site currently features banner ads imploring readers to buy former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka’s new book. It recently published a defense of blackface and a column on why it is “impossible to overstate” the damage that “left-wing Jews” are doing to America.

So when American Greatness put out an analysis this week essentially blaming the president for Republican defeats in the midterms, I sat up and took notice.

The article in question, by thoughtful conservative commentator Henry Olsen, uses Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema’s victory over Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race as a lens for analyzing the national result.

“The biggest reason Martha McSally lost is the same reason Republicans lost control of the House,” Olsen writes. “Across the nation, moderate college-educated independents who had frequently backed Republicans in prior elections switched sides.”

Olsen puts together a number of statistics to support this claim, all of which are fairly convincing. But the most interesting part of the piece, to my mind, is the conclusion — where he explicitly blames Trump for Republicans losing control over a chamber of Congress:

McSally’s defeat shows just how tenuous the Trump coalition’s hold on power is. Trump won the Electoral College while losing the popular vote by over two percent of the vote, something that had not been done in nearly 150 years. Trump has not added to that coalition in his first two years as president, and that cost his party control of the House while also preventing them from gaining more than two Senate seats on a highly favorable map.

It’s possible he could gain a narrow re-election without gaining support if the Democrats nominate someone as unacceptable to moderate voters as Hillary Clinton. But he cannot change the direction of the country without secure and substantial majorities in Congress, and that will not be forthcoming without a change in course.

This argument is consistent with what you hear from most mainstream analysts. Trump’s white identity politics and violent rhetoric has accelerated a long-running education divide in American politics: White voters with at least a college degree are becoming more Democratic, and white voters without such degrees are trending Republican. Given that the Republican congressional coalition depends on white college voters, particularly those living in the suburbs, this divide spells trouble for the GOP in both the short and the long run.

As the 2018 House results continue to roll in, with long-time Republican seats in suburban and suburban-rural California falling like dominoes, the damage Trump is doing is becoming impossible to deny. Even some of his biggest fans, the editors of American Greatness, can see the problem — enough so that they’re willing to publish a piece outlining it. (Christopher Buskirk, the publication’s lead editor, apparently lives in Arizona).

Yet the president himself either cannot or will not recognize the reality. In an interview with the Daily Caller published Wednesday, the president blamed the GOP defeats in California on a phantom plague of undocumented immigrants voting.

“This is a problem in California that’s so bad of illegals voting,” he said. “This is a California problem and if you notice, almost every race — I was watching today — out of like 11 races that are in question [Democrats are] gonna win all of them.”

Yes, Mr. President: The Democrats are going to win them all, or at least close to it. But it really seems like it’s your fault.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/15/18096899/trump-midterms-arizona-american-greatness

[fuagf]

Waiting For The Hammer To Fall: President Trump Signals Mueller Probe's End | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

"Indictments Coming? What Mueller's Latest Move Means For President Trump | The 11th Hour | MSNBC"

MSNBC
Published on Nov 16, 2018

Trump denied reports of his fury and a White House in chaos saying of the Mueller investigation, 'I imagine it's ending' before
adding it 'will be just fine.' So when will Mueller make his next move? Josh Gerstein, Joyce Vance, & Daniel Goldman discuss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiqcskRRVC0

From video:

Trump says he’s finished writing answers to questions from special counsel Robert Mueller

VIDEO - Trump says he's 'very easily' answered Mueller probe questions

President Trump discounted the legitimacy of the Mueller investigation Nov. 16, adding he “just finished” writing answers to the special counsel's questions. (The Washington Post)

By Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey November 16

[...]

“My lawyers aren’t working on it. I’m working on it,” Trump said. “My lawyers don’t write the answers.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-hes-finished-writing-answers-to-questions-from-special-counsel-robert-mueller/2018/11/16/0bae09f4-e9c9-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.c48d16021da2

I did it all my myself, said the first-grade-temperament president.

‘See How Nice I’m Behaving?’: After Bomb Scares, Trump Tries Bipartisanship
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144442717

Said the first-grader, as he struggled to hold his trousers up. His shoulder straps had come unstuck.

Trump says he ‘very easily’ answered Mueller questions

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and CATHERINE LUCEY yesterday

[...]

For months, Trump has told confidants he fears that Donald Trump Jr., perhaps inadvertently, broke the law by being untruthful with investigators
in the aftermath of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, according to one Republican close to the White House.

Trump has also complained about efforts in the Senate by his longtime foe, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, to introduce legislation to protect the special counsel...

Additionally, Trump has told confidants in recent days that he is deeply frustrated by widespread criticism of his choice of Matthew Whitaker for acting attorney general...

[...]

The president also took note of news coverage of his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, arriving in Washington this week, potentially to meet with Mueller’s investigators.

https://www.apnews.com/a73ec89d94dc467680874435fcfef2a6

Assange charges could unsettle liberals, conservatives — and Trump

Some liberals have defended Assange as a journalist, conservatives celebrated him in 2016 and Trump once declared his 'love' for WikiLeaks.

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN, JOSH GERSTEIN and MATTHEW CHOI
11/16/2018 02:30 PM EST

[...]

...President Donald Trump, who declared his “love” for Assange’s website during the 2016 contest, may have new
concerns about whether the focus on Assange has a connection to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Related:

The DC docket shows dozens of sealed criminal indictments. Are they from Mueller?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144951391

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Bill Cohan: Picking Whitaker For AG Was A Self-Inflicted Wound | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC

MSNBC
Published on Nov 16, 2018

A number of Republican Senators have begun pressuring the White House to reconsider the Whitaker appointment, while others are working to protect the Mueller investigation. Stephanie Ruhle breaks down what’s next for the Mueller probe. Weighing in: Washington Post Chief White House Bureau Chief Phil Rucker, MSNBC Legal Analyst Danny Cevallos, MSNBC Political Analyst Elise Jordan, and Vanity Fair Special Correspondent Bill Cohan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNkJX_iUWQw

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Tony Schwartz On President Donald Trump's ‘Delusions’ & ‘Rage ’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

MSNBC
Published on Nov 16, 2018

Donald Trump is reportedly furious after Republicans’ midterm losses and anxious about the Mueller probe. Tony Schwartz, the
co-author of Trump's book, tells Joy Reid how the midterms and the Mueller probe have destroyed Trump's identity as a winner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2g1oIDmdMI

'I almost feel sorry for him'. C'mon Tony.

Related:

Trump: "You gotta take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important... I was with the President of Finland...
he called it a forest nation and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144961490

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The White House Has Reached Peak Insanity

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Published on Nov 15, 2018

According to an aide, the White House has reached a level of insanity unlike anything before. And that's saying something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AsvznWt7aI

[fuagf]

Mueller says powers still intact amid DOJ overhaul

"Indictments Coming? What Mueller's Latest Move Means For President Trump | The 11th Hour | MSNBC"


“The Special Counsel continues to exercise the same authority, and the jurisdiction of the district court and this Court is intact,” said Michael Dreeben,
who represents Robert Mueller. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Matthew Whitaker's appointment as the special counsel's boss 'neither alters the special counsel’s authority to represent the United States nor raises any jurisdictional issue.'

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN 11/19/2018 05:47 PM EST

Robert Mueller’s top attorney said Monday that the special counsel’s investigative powers remain fully intact despite the recent change atop the Justice Department that gives Mueller's team a new supervisor.

Michael Dreeben, the deputy solicitor general who represents Mueller, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker taking charge of the Russia probe ”neither alters the special counsel’s authority to represent the United States nor raises any jurisdictional issue.”

Whitaker took over as acting head of DOJ earlier this month when President Donald Trump forced Jeff Sessions' resignation.

“The Special Counsel continues to exercise the same authority, and the jurisdiction of the district court and this Court is intact,” Dreeben added in his 17-page legal brief .. https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000167-2df7-d6f7-adf7-7ffffefc0001 .

Dreeben’s explanation of the new DOJ arrangement came in response to an order from the federal appellate court requesting last-minute briefs in a case brought by a former aide to Roger Stone designed to knock Mueller from his job on legal and constitutional grounds.

A three-judge panel heard oral arguments .. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/08/mueller-probe-court-hearing-975847 .. earlier this month in the case, which pits former Stone aide Andrew Miller against Mueller. But the panel largely ignored the elephant in the room during the hearing — Whitaker’s appointment as Mueller's boss, which had happened the day earlier.

Previously, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had overseen the probe since Sessions recused himself due to his involvement in Trump's campaign.

Miller’s overall case stems from his decision to resist two sets of Mueller grand jury subpoenas to create a legal vehicle to challenge the special counsel’s authority to investigate potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race.

After the court hearing, the judges ordered an extra round of legal briefs asking both sides to account for Whitaker's new role as Mueller's supervisor, where he has authority over the special counsel's major decisions, including subpoenas, indictments and the public release of a final report

But both sides replied that Whitaker didn’t matter for their case.
Donald Trump

Legal
Trump to give Mueller written answers by Thanksgiving
By ELIANA JOHNSON and DARREN SAMUELSOHN
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/19/trump-mueller-written-questions-thanksgiving-1005374

In a 10-page brief .. https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000167-2dfa-d6f7-adf7-7ffb09b10000 , Miller attorney Paul Kamenar shrugged off the Whitaker appointment and fell back on his original legal argument: Mueller was an unlawful prosecutor because Trump didn’t appoint him and he had not undergone Senate confirmation.

Attempting to head off an argument that Miller’s lawyers ultimately didn’t make, Dreeben in his brief referenced a memo released .. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/14/legal-opinion-backs-whitakers-acting-ag-989878 .. last week by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel that explained how Trump had the authority to make Whitaker's appointment.

Dreeben also argued the appellate court wouldn’t have been the right venue to challenge the Whitaker decision anyway. And if Miller’s lawyers had successfully argued that the Whitaker appointment mattered to their case, Dreeben said it would have set off a chain reaction putting Rosenstein back in the role of acting attorney general.

Miller’s attorneys have signaled .. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/08/mueller-probe-court-hearing-975847 .. they want to see their case taken all the way to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority that includes new Justice Brett Kavanaugh would be a more receptive audience.

But that fight is likely to take months with no guarantee it will even get a hearing before the Supreme Court.

To date, challenges against Mueller’s authority have gone nowhere. The federal judges presiding over separate criminal cases against Paul Manafort issued rulings rejecting the former Trump campaign chairman’s bid to toss out the charges by claiming Mueller’s appointment was flawed.

And a federal judge appointed by Trump rejected an attempt by a Russian company challenging Mueller’s jurisdiction after the firm was charged in connection with a Kremlin-linked online troll farm accused of targeting the 2016 U.S. election.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/19/robert-mueller-justice-department-whitaker-1005557

Surely, even though he has maneuvered, kowtowed and said things to help encourage Trump get him there,
Whitaker will be wary of doing much that could be seen to even hold a whiff of obstructing the investigation.