These things happened yesterday:
(1) Trump gave William Barr total authority to declassify and release anything he wants regarding the Russia investigation, particularly anything from the intelligence community (who was told by executive order to cooperate). I don’t think there is a smoking gun showing that the “Deep State” was out to get Trump by starting what eventually became the Mueller investigation. But it does allow Barr to cherry pick items and release them out of context, knowing that the press will give them big play even though they know they’re being played. This was the Republican strategy during the Benghazi and email investigations, and it worked great.
WARNING: We are in grave danger. Trumps says he declassified all allied intelligence fm FBI, GCHQ, MI6, AVID & ASIS for AG Barr to get revenge. This is the end of the 5-EYES relationship. No one will EVER share intelligence with us again. #Imoeach to Save our Nation’s Security.
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 24, 2019
That Barr wants to know what assets CIA had in Russia, on top of all the alarming implications abt sharing info with Putin, is yet more proof he hasn't read the Mueller Report. https://t.co/cR24Xn5avo pic.twitter.com/T12vlJmQBe
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 24, 2019
The Trump campaign fired Manafort, Page, and Papadopoulos for their ties to Russia.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 24, 2019
Now Bill Barr says the Deep State was engaged in a witch hunt for investigating the same thing.
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) May 24, 2019
They’ve invested a lot in this:
This Seb Gorka video is not a parody. Really.
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) May 24, 2019
Seriously. pic.twitter.com/oFn2vi06l7
(2) The Washington Post reports that Trump is obsessed with giving a contract to build his wall to a big-time Republican donor:
President Trump has personally and repeatedly urged the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to award a border wall contract to a North Dakota construction firm whose top executive is a GOP donor and frequent guest on Fox News, according to four administration officials….[Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the Army Corps] was summoned to the White House again Thursday, after the president’s aides told Pentagon officials — including Gen. Mark Milley, the Army’s chief of staff — that the president wanted to discuss the border barrier. According to an administration official with knowledge of the Oval Office meeting, Trump immediately brought up Fisher, a company that sued the U.S. government last month after the Army Corps did not accept its bid to install barriers along the southern border, a contract potentially worth billions of dollars.The weird thing is that this might not be corrupt in the usual meaning of the word. Apparently Fisher’s CEO is a sort of Trump-esque blowhard who goes on conservative radio and TV to claim that he has fabulous new technology that would allow him to build 200 miles of the wall in less than a year. Trump is totally enamored of this claim, even though the Army Corps of Engineers apparently isn’t.
(3) A doctored video was circulated on social media that seemed to show Nancy Pelosi slurring her words like a drunk while she addressed a crowd. It was immediately referenced on Fox News, of course, even though it was obviously a fake. Trump, of course, hopped on the bandwagon with another video of Pelosi stammering (because Trump, as you know, never stammers):
“PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE” pic.twitter.com/1OyCyqRTuk
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019
UPDATE ON ALL THIS:
Trump suggests he shared heavily edited video meant to demean Nancy Pelosi for the good of the country pic.twitter.com/DEZWpkpZE4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 24, 2019
The president of the United States is out here spreading “word and rumor” about the FBI and CIA pic.twitter.com/9M4fPmIUmm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 24, 2019
