Parkhomenko's Daily Big Stuff...

Today's Big Stuff
11.26.19

Good morning. There are 342 days until the presidential election. Real poll numbers and Trump’s made-up poll numbers, we get a list of possible charges for Rudy and a judge says McGahn must testify but don’t expect to see McGahn testify.

Note: We really love dogs around here. We are dog people. So like any decent person, we were thrilled to see Conan the hero military dog at the White House yesterday. In fact, we were so happy about it, we think Conan should get a press pass. Because even though the dog didn’t speak, it was somehow tougher on Trump than the rest of the White House press corps has been to date. There are of course notable exceptions like Jim and Brian and Abby and April. But consider how long ago we found out that Stephen Miller emailed articles from VDARE, and then ask yourselves how many times Trump has been asked about it. Or his endless obsession with Obama. Or the more than 10,000 lies he’s told the American people. We get that it’s a hard job. But like most jobs, it gets a lot harder when you don’t try. We’re not going to go off the deep end and start calling these folks enemies of the people or any crazy shit like that. We’re just going to humbly suggest that spending a whole day on the gender of a dog when democracy is sliding into the ocean makes you look like shitty reporters who have absolutely no business at the White House. Just like the president.

Note two: Last night, Tucker Carlson slipped and told the truth and told his viewers that when it comes to the war between Ukraine and Russia, he is “rooting” for Russia. While he came back at the end of the show to insist that he was “joking,” we know the truth. We know what side you’re on, Tucker. But we’ve always known. Not hard to see why Glenn Greenwald is such a fan. More: Washington Post

Note three: Just a reminder that we’re taking a Turkey Day break Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Part of it is we want to enjoy a little holiday rest. And part of it is we’re bracing for physical violence and subsequent recovery time if all these cliches about racist family members at holidays turn out to be true.

Numbers

While Trump spent the weekend telling Americans that support for impeachment was “dropping like a rock,” it pains us to inform you that he was lying. We finally got some new numbers this morning, and CNN shows that support for impeachment has remained steady with gains in some key areas. While the headline is that the numbers haven’t changed after the hearings (50/43 percent believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office, which is the same it was last month). But consider, as John Harwood did, where we were earlier this year. In April, those same numbers were at 37/59. And women seem to be moving. In the new poll, women support impeachment and removal 61-34. But hey, it’s not like the Republican Party has been having any issues with women, right? As long as there’s a Fox News, we don’t expect the numbers to move much from here. And we’d much rather have our numbers and our set of facts than the bullshit they’re limping to the barn with. We’re proud of how House Democrats have handled this, and we’ve got their backs. More: CNN

Incest not on the list

Yeah, we were surprised too. But we were still kinda shocked to see how long the list of charges is that federal prosecutors are considering when it comes to ol’ Rudy. WSJ scooped yesterday that subpoenas to Rudy’s associates lay out a rather long naughty list, including obstruction of justice, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., making false statements, FARA violations, donating foreign money, straw-man donations and doing his own cousin. We’re kidding about the last one, and man oh man does that list not need any additions. But he’s been handling it well by doing a series of interviews in which he demonstrates for the world to see that he is a gargoyle with a series of screws loose. We sure do hope Rudy gets to see the inside of a jail cell. More: Washington Post

Testify!

Former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify in front of Congress, a judge ruled Monday, declaring in a 120-page opinion that Trump is not a king. Trump’s loyal subjects were of course furious to hear this, so DOJ filed an appeal and the hope in Trumpland is that the Supreme Court will decide that Trump is, in fact, a king. While this ruling is good news, we don’t expect to ever see McGahn or Bolton or Mulvaney or any of these other creeps to testify. We hope there will be consequences, but Bill Barr has ignored the law repeatedly and nobody in Washington seems to really care all that much. More: CNN

Today’s clips

A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Department of Defense and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for records relating to the Trump administration's freeze on security aid to Ukraine.
More: Axios

Meghan McCain addressed a sensitive topic on Monday’s broadcast of The View, declaring she “can’t talk crap” about Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) because he is close to her and her family, adding that she loves him very much despite his recent “questionable” actions.
More: The Daily Beast

As influenza spread through migrant detention facilities last winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that U.S. Customs and Border Protection vaccinate detained migrants against the virus, a push that CBP rejected, according to a newly released letter to Congress.
More: Washington Post

House Democrats are increasingly focusing on multiple articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal -- as some lawmakers push to go even further and include what many in the party see as clear criminality detailed in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
More: CNN

Sen. Lindsey Graham defended his request for documents on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s work in Ukraine, saying “that’s the way it works in politics.”
More: Politico

The Supreme Court is shielding President Donald Trump’s financial records from House Democrats for now.
More: Associated Press

Richard Spencer, the former secretary of the Navy, said he was fired before he could resign over the president's decision to intervene in an internal review of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with the corpse, and downplayed a supposed backchannel offer to the White House that served as the justification for his ouster.
More: CBS News

If Donald Trump gets his wish, he’ll soon take the three convicted or accused war criminals he spared from consequence on the road as special guests in his re-election campaign, according to two sources who have heard Trump discuss their potential roles for the 2020 effort.
More: The Daily Beast

President Donald Trump came into office vowing to unshackle his military commanders from years of Obama-era micromanagement. But now he’s facing a rupture with his Pentagon leaders after steamrolling them on a series of decisions — from Mideast troop movements and the use of military funds for a border wall to disciplinary actions involving individual commandos.
More: Politico

President Trump has made his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the de facto project manager for constructing his border wall, frustrated with a lack of progress over one of his top priorities as he heads into a tough reelection campaign, according to current and former administration officials.
More: Washington Post

Giuliani is just one of many skeletons in Bloomberg’s partisan closet. As he pursues the Democratic nomination, he’ll have to explain away the millions he’s spent putting Republicans into office, including contributions backing more than a dozen current and former Republican members of Congress.
More: Politico

Even though Russian intelligence was suspected to be behind the hack, many in the mainstream media used the stolen material. Politico's Caputo used excerpts from the dossiers in one report, published just a few months before the vote, titled, "Hacked DCCC docs dish on strategy and scandal for Florida congressional candidates."
More: CBS News

Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared that President Donald Trump ordered him to stop a disciplinary review of a Navy SEAL accused of battlefield misconduct, an intervention that raised questions about America’s commitment to international standards for battlefield ethics.
More: Associated Press


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Anyone thinking about a new kitchen?

Building a house. The kitchen is all I care about . Absolutely must be a private haven and have a TV with MSNBC on. Stayed in a rental with an open plan and you couldn't hear yourself think. And as you bang around, the TV in the adjoining space gets turned up louder, and people talk louder.

Can you tell, I'm a "NO open-plan advocate" ?

Love this kitchen..Except for the spaces under counters. I know, supposed to make it look more like furniture - but all I can think about is having to clean under there.

Monday ruling on freedom to speak to House!

On CNN's show on trump lies and Impeachment now, they said Nixon

Need a trump crime family break? Flashmob in Spain - Bolero

I think Sondland still in cahoots with MF45. Didn't he really thread the needle?

I think trump has decided he can't defend that they weren't holding up $$. So they are willing to admit (or defend) withholding $$ for two reasons: 1) meeting prerequisite and 2) to requesting investigation but of Burisma only. Both can be defended (albeit weakly) as ok.

Sondland was very careful to qualify his statements, not to utter the Biden word.

And the infamous phone call to trump took place on September 9th (after whistleblower known).
Isn't this just way too convenient? Why did Sondland wait SO long to get Trump's motives?

And then Trump conveniently uses Sondland's words in a presser yesterday?

Sondland throws Pompeo and others under bus (they all knew)? Helps trump so he can blame others.

But the biggest key to me is that Sondland mocked the guy who had lunch and shared a bottle of wine with him. And specifically refuted that he used the word Biden. BTW, what does that other person at lunch say about that?

In addition, Sondland changed his testimony...another sign of guilt and that he's been in this evolving story all along.

All this is way too coincidental.




https://www.vox.com/2019/11/20/20974641/trump-no-quid-pro-quo-sondland

So the Sondland call to trump where MF45 says

I want nothing. Was that in Sondlands opening?

Just heard trump repeat it verbatim.

Something seems fishy about this.

Like it was invented today.

Yet he told Morrison and Volker about it? So guess not.

PS are they gonna call the other person who was at lunch to coorborate that they said "Biden"? (Sondland saying just Burmisa)

And why didn't they ask him how much wine they drank at lunch?

Whoever wins for us

Complimentary VPs ? Do Warren and Sanders need a more conservative non-New England VP?

Biden fans, does he need a younger, optimistic type like Beto...

What kind of VP does each need?

How weird is it that the anti-impeachment people

here are silent now and are not weighing in on options on our successes (and improvement challenges) ?

Guess mission was not accomplished?

True mission should have always been about the ultimate goal - holding MF45 to justice . Whether sooner or later. No?

Sergii Leshchenko: Republicans keep lying about me at impeachment hearings