White House slams Comey, McCabe after report that FBI launched probe of Trump after Comey ouster

The White House lashed out against “disgraced partisan hack” James Comey and “known liar” Andrew McCabe on Friday after a report that the FBI -- after President Trump fired Comey as the bureau's director -- opened a secret inquiry into whether Trump had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.
The investigators working on the inquiry had to assess whether Trump’s actions could constitute a possible national security threat. The agency tried to determine whether the president was working for Russia or had fallen under the Kremlin’s influence, the New York Times reported.
The probe into Trump also looked into possible criminality, in particular the May 2017 firing of Comey and whether that could be deemed an obstruction of justice.
The White House immediately pushed back against the report, calling the insinuations of working for Russia “absurd” and pointed to the administration's record toward Russia.

"This is absurd. James Comey was fired because he's a disgraced partisan hack, and his Deputy Andrew McCabe, who was in charge at the time, is a known liar fired by the FBI."
— White House press secretary Sarah Sanders

“This is absurd. James Comey was fired because he's a disgraced partisan hack, and his Deputy Andrew McCabe, who was in charge at the time, is a known liar fired by the FBI,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
“Unlike President Obama, who let Russia and other foreign adversaries push American around, President Trump has actually been tough on Russia,” she added.
The allegation of the FBI opening a counterintelligence investigation into Trump may cause a further rift between the bureau and the president, who in the past has criticized the agency’s senior leadership, alleging an anti-Trump bias.
Among those FBI officials accused of bias were former senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, who was fired amid revelations of his anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with another FBI official, Lisa Page.
McCabe, a former FBI deputy director, meanwhile, was fired in March ahead of his planned retirement following a bombshell report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz that claimed McCabe lied to investigators and his then-boss Comey at least four times, three of them under oath.
The former deputy director reportedly authorized a leak to a newspaper reporter about the contents of a telephone call on August 2016 in order cast himself in a positive light in an upcoming story about an investigation involving Hillary Clinton.
According to the Times, senior FBI officials became suspicious of Trump and his alleged ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign but decided not to pursue an investigation at the time. The president’s decisions and the firing of Comey prompted the agency to launch the inquiry.
The FBI investigation has since been taken over by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is examining the possibility of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. There’s no indication that Mueller is continuing to pursue the counterintelligence matter.
Former law enforcement officials told the newspaper that the criminal and counterintelligence elements of the investigation were combined because Trump’s firing of the FBI director could constitute both a crime and a national security threat as it would hinder the agency’s abilities to learn how the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election.
“Not only would it be an issue of obstructing an investigation, but the obstruction itself would hurt our ability to figure out what the Russians had done, and that is what would be the threat to national security,” James A. Baker, who served as FBI general counsel until late 2017, said during private testimony before House investigators in October, according to the Times.

Mexican Cartel Cartoons

Democrats and many Republicans will explode if Trump bypasses Congress with emergency order

Chad Pergram

The good news is that the sides were at least talking when it came to the government shutdown over the weekend.
The dialogue abruptly fell silent Wednesday.
"It's cold out here and the temperature wasn't much warmer in the Situation Room," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Our meeting did not last long."
The mercury plunged in Washington as Pelosi emerged from a conclave at the White House. A cold front pushed through the region, spinning up snow squalls. A gale roared down Pennsylvania Avenue.
There were no real talks over the holidays on the government shutdown. It took two weeks to even have much of a conversation. President Trump huddled with top Congressional leaders a week ago. And then they empaneled a "working group" to continue to the discourse last weekend.
But it was not a "finishing group."
Everyone in Washington knew the conclave of bicameral, bipartisan leadership aides huddling with Vice President Pence wouldn't get far in their efforts to end the government shutdown.
The universe of people involved was too big. Moreover, such discussions require the principals at the table. These aides weren't deputized by their bosses to cut a deal. They would have to kick this to the next level if they were to forge an accord.
President Trump and Pence lunched at the Capitol with Senate Republicans Wednesday before hoofing it back to the White House to meet with the "Big 8," the top leaders of both parties from both the House and Senate. But that meeting was over before it started. When Pelosi returned to the Capitol, she punctured the typical politesse of such high-level meetings, characterizing Trump as "a petulant President of the United States."
For the record, the president has yet to bestow the speaker with a nickname. But the government shutdown is only in Day 21…..
Trump maintains the option to declare a "national emergency" on the border and go around Congress. Meantime, Congressional Republicans want a wall. But lawmakers of both parties guard their Constitutional prerogatives closely. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, Trump could conceivably bypass Congress by trumpeting a need at the border. The law allows the president to spend "unobligated" funds in what's called the Military Construction Appropriations Bill. Military Construction, or "MilCon," in Washington-ese, is one of the five spending measures Congress and the president agreed to in the fall. Thus, Trump would have to declare a "national emergency" to redistribute money in the MilCon bill for purposes besides those Congress deemed necessary.
The administration fishing around various federal accounts is beginning to tick off lawmakers.
"I am opposed to using national defense funds for anything else," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. Fox confirmed that the administration has inquired about pilfering supplemental spending funds Congress approved in February 2018 to mitigate wildfires in California and a spate of hurricanes which ravaged Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The non-voting, Republican "Resident Commissioner" to Congress from Puerto Rico, Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon, R-PR, said Puerto Rico is being "treated with total inequality." Gonzalez Colon said raiding the relief ledger is "unacceptable and I will not support the reallocation of funds." She added that Puerto Rico has "not received the disbursement of funds after more than a year" following Hurricane Maria.
Congressional Democrats and many Republicans will explode if the president declares a national emergency and bypasses Congress. Republicans heaped criticism repeatedly on President Obama for what they viewed as his abuse of executive authority. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., implored Congressional Republicans to "reclaim" their Article I powers under the Constitution. It’s worth watching to see if some Congressional Republicans give Trump a pass.
That said, all administrations test the limits of executive power. President Harry Truman tried to federalize the steel industry during the Korean War. Truman's attempted use of federal, emergency powers prompted one of the five most consequential rulings in the history of the Supreme Court: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, colloquially known as the “Youngstown Steel Case.” The High Court delivered what was described as a "stinging rebuff" to Truman over overstepping his Constitutional grounds.
Obama pushed the envelope with recess appointments. The Constitution requires the House and Senate to meet at three-day intervals. The Senate often just gavels in and gavels out after a few seconds when it’s trying to do the bare minimum to meet Constitutional standards.
Obama grew frustrated with the Senate not confirming some of his nominees. So the president short-circuited the Senate’s confirmation process, making appointments to the National Labor Relations Board during one of those short Senate windows. The Supreme Court rejected Obama’s interpretation of a recess. The High Court ruled that the executive can't meddle with the privileges of the legislative branch. In other words, if the Senate says it’s in recess, then it’s in recess.
Congressional Republicans have generally shown deference to Trump over many of his decisions. But GOPers flexed their muscles more lately when they think the president made a bad decision or pushed his case too far. Examine the outcry among some Congressional Republicans over how Trump handled Saudi Arabia following the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Trump also fielded GOP criticism after he announced the U.S. was withdrawing from Syria.
Members of Congress guard their Constitutional prerogatives closely. Many won’t be happy about a national emergency to declare a wall.
Moreover, Trump could draw the ire of House and Senate appropriators. It is said there are three types of Members of Congress: Democrats, Republicans and appropriators. Those who control the purse strings could balk if the president leaves tire tracks on their lawn.
There’s also a problem in the House when it comes to re-opening the government. Never before has a government shutdown gravitated from one Congress to another. There are more than 90 new House members. Pelosi is deft when it comes to taking the temperature of her caucus. She knows House Democrats don’t want a wall. But what would they support? The freshmen are so new, it’s not even clear they know what sort of compromise legislation would work. In the past, Pelosi could quickly determine what’s tolerable to her caucus. This could hinder efforts to re-open the government quickly.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., freelanced behind the scenes in recent days to engineer a border agreement alongside an immigration/DACA pact.
"Pelosi has dealt herself out. She is a non-player," proclaimed Graham.
By nightfall Thursday, Graham's aces crumbled. Trump himself personally dealt Graham out, killing the senator’s proposed efforts.
"I've never been more depressed about moving forward than I have right now," said Graham, noting he now supported President Trump going around Congress to build the wall.
House Democrats forged ahead Thursday, passing three individual spending bills to re-open various sections of the federal government. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., predicted the bills would marshal "double digits" of Republican defectors.
One bill garnered eight Republicans. Another one ten. A third secured 12 GOP yeas. So far, a Republican insurrection against Trump wasn’t materializing.
“The problem here in the Senate is that (Minority Leader Chuck) Schumer (D-NY) and Pelosi think they’re winning and the President thinks he’s winning,” observed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
So much winning.
And this likely doesn’t get solved until someone feels they’re losing.

Trump calls media 'bonkers' as he pushes his own shutdown narrative

There was a telling moment yesterday when President Trump was pushing back against still more media accounts he views as unfair.
Trump had walked out of a Capitol Hill meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, having become convinced that they wouldn't budge on the government shutdown that is now headed toward its fourth week. The Senate minority leader said Trump had slammed the table, and House speaker had publicly called him "a petulant president of the United States." So this wasn't some media concoction, it was on-the-record reporting.
"I didn't pound the table, I didn't raise my voice. That was a lie," Trump told reporters.
He added: "I don't have temper tantrums, I really don't. But it plays to a narrative, but it's a lie."
In saying the story plays to a narrative, the president was acknowledging that his public image is very different than the way he views himself — and, not shockingly, blaming the press. It's usually journalists who talk about narratives, but Trump, of course, is the media critic-in-chief.
In the long run, whether he pounded the table or not is irrelevant. Trump clearly made a hasty exit from the meeting, since by his own account he said "bye-bye" and walked out after Pelosi told him the Democrats wouldn't fund his border wall even if he reopened the government.
Every White House tries to sell a narrative to the public, and that often clashes with the media portrait. But not since the Nixon days has there been such a virulent and relentless battle over which picture is closer to the truth.
In that media availability, Trump said "the news incorrectly reported" the incident. He said he asked Pelosi if they spoke in 30 days, after a government reopening, "are you going to give us great border security, which includes a wall or a steel barrier," and she said no.
"What you should do is give them Pinocchios" — handed out by the Washington Post fact-checker — because Mike Pence and Kevin McCarthy back his account of the meeting, Trump said. But he said the press would stick with "what you guys reported anyway because you're fake news."
The president was on shakier ground when he scolded the press for reporting on something he's said dozens and dozens of times.
"I know the fake news likes to say it," Trump said, that "during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for it. Obviously I never said this and I never meant they're going to write out a check. I said they're going to pay for it."
He flatly made that promise, leaving the impression that the Mexican government would somehow pick up the tab for the border wall. I always thought he would have some kind of accounting explanation if the wall got built. And Trump said the Mexicans are paying for the wall through the "incredible deal we made" on trade, which replaced NAFTA. Of course, the government remains in partial shutdown because of a fight over 5.7 billion American dollars.
The president also tweeted about the leak to The New York Times, which I reported on yesterday, that he'd said he didn't want to give the Oval Office speech but was talked into it by his communications team.
"Gave an OFF THE RECORD luncheon, somewhat of a White House tradition or custom, to network anchors yesterday - and they quickly leaked the contents of the meeting. Who would believe how bad it has gotten with the mainstream media, which has gone totally bonkers!"
Bonkers may be one of the few insults he hasn’t hurled at the media.
But someone in that room did betray him by violating the off-the-record ground rules.
And there was this:
"The Mainstream Media has NEVER been more dishonest than it is now. NBC and MSNBC are going Crazy. They report stories, purposely, the exact opposite of the facts. They are truly the Opposition Party working with the Dems. May even be worse than Fake News CNN, if that is possible!"
The president, as is his wont, conflates many things with his attacks and counterattacks on the press.
He fights back when he has a different version of a closed-door meeting, or when an off-the-record agreement is broken: fair enough. But he also accuses the media of dishonesty for reminding everyone of his campaign vow that "Mexico will pay for it." And he throws in insults — bonkers, crazy, opposition party — that aren't always tied to a specific complaint.
The president and the press remain wedded to their narratives, which all too often are diametrically opposed.

Trump says he has 'absolute right to declare a national emergency' in Fox News interview

President Donald Trump told Fox News on Thursday that he has "the absolute right to declare a national emergency" if he can't reach an agreement with congressional Democrats to provide funding for his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The law is very clear. I mean, we have the absolute right to declare a national emergency," Trump told Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview. "This is a national emergency, if you look what's happening."
LINDSEY GRAHAM: IT'S TIME FOR TRUMP 'TO USE EMERGENCY POWERS TO FUND' BORDER WALL
Trump did not lay out a specific timetable for when he might take such a step, saying: "I think we're going to see what happens over the next few days." However, he appeared to hold out hope for making a deal to secure wall funding and fully reopen the government.
"We should be able to make a deal with Congress," the president said. "If you look, Democrats, in Congress, especially the new ones coming in, are starting to say, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t win this battle with Trump, because of the fact that it’s just common sense. How can we say that a wall doesn’t work?’"

The president spoke to Fox News on the banks of the Rio Grande, where he traveled to argue his claim that a barrier would deter drug and human trafficking into the United States.
"Death is pouring through," Trump said. "We have crime and death and it's not just at the border. They get through the border and they go and filter into the country and you have MS-13 gangs in places like Los Angeles and you have gangs all over Long Island, which we're knocking the hell out of. There should be no reason for us to have to do this. They shouldn't be allowed in and if we had the barrier, they wouldn't be allowed in."
The president said a wall would be "virtually a hundred percent effective and [House Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi] and [Senate Democratic Leader] Chuck [Schumer] know that, but it's politics. It's about the 2020 campaign, it's about running for president. That's what they're doing. They're already doing it. It's a shame. They've got to put the country first."
Democrats repeatedly have refused to approve any legislation to fund the wall. The standoff led to the partial government shutdown, which is set to his the three-week mark Friday.
"Everyone wants us to win this battle," Trump said. "It's common sense ... Look, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not changing our mind because there’s nothing to change your mind about. The wall works [and] if we don't have a steel or concrete barrier, we're all wasting a lot of time."

Texas Border Cartoons

Nielsen: Dems' attitude on border wall 'offensive,' 'disrespectful'

On the eve of her trip to the southern border in Texas with President Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Fox News' "Hannity" that it was "offensive" and "disrespectful" for top Democrats to accuse Republicans of exploiting illegal immigration for political gain.
Speaking earlier Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez echoed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s language, telling Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom" that "this whole border security crisis … it really, I believe, is a manufactured crisis."
Nielsen, who met with congressional leaders Wednesday in the Situation Room with President Trump and has played a central role during talks to end a partial federal government shutdown, called that rhetoric disgraceful.
TRUMP WALKS OUT OF EXPLOSIVE WHITE HOUSE MEETING AFTER PELOSI REFUSES TO CONSIDER WALL
The DHS head alluded to the several Americans killed by suspected illegal immigrants that Trump referenced in his Tuesday night prime-time address from the Oval Office, including a California police officer whose death came the day after Christmas.
"It's offensive; it's disrespectful," Nielsen said. "I can't imagine being one of these victims' families and listening to an elected member of Congress claim that their pain and their suffering is manufactured. it's offensive, is what it is. But it's also unprofessional."
Nielsen reiterated the president's messaging that the surging numbers of illegal immigrant families attempting to cross the border represents a humanitarian problem.
"It's not just a security crisis -- it's a humanitarian crisis," Nielsen told host Sean Hannity. "We have Doctors Without Borders saying  one in three women on this journey are raped. seven out of 10 of these migrants are victims of violence."
A survey from 2015 to 2016 conducted by Doctors Without Borders that interviewed 467 "randomly sampled migrants and refugees in facilities the organization supports in Mexico" found that "nearly one-third of the women surveyed had been sexually abused during their journey." Among the reported perpetrators were gangs and members of the Mexican security forces.

"Walls work. We can't say it enough."
— Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

"The facts are incontroverible," Nielsen added. "Anywhere we have built a wall, illegal migration has dropped 90-95 percent. ... Walls work. We can't say it enough."
In a joint, nationally televised rebuttal to Trump's speech Tuesday night, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned Trump's rhetoric and what they called his "obsession" with building a border wall.
"They have no alternative," Nielsen told Hannity, referring to congressional Democrats. "They refuse to engage, and it's very, very  disappointing.
"I don't know what the Democrats are doing," Nielsen concluded. "The president has made offers. ... They have come up with no solutions on their own."

Florida election official Brenda Snipes' constitutional rights violated when she was suspended, judge rules

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said newly inaugurated Gov. Ron DeSantis must grant former Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes a “meaningful opportunity to be heard” regarding her suspension by March 31. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Former Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes may be getting redeemed, as a Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday that former Gov. and current Sen. Rick Scott violated her constitutional rights when he suspended and “vilified” her without first allowing her to make her own case.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said newly inaugurated Gov. Ron DeSantis must grant Snipes a “meaningful opportunity to be heard” regarding her suspension by March 31.
Snipes came under fire during the contentious recount that followed the 2018 elections and a legally required recount in close races for governor and U.S. Senate.
In the aftermath of the November election, Snipes said she would resign on Jan. 4, but Scott immediately suspended her. Snipes then tried to rescind her resignation and challenged the governor’s suspension as “malicious” and politically motivated.
Walker ruled that Scott’s decision was an “effective termination” and violated Snipes’ due-process rights. The judge also said Scott’s order suspending Snipes contained “falsehoods.”
Still, Walker said he did not have the authority to reinstate Snipes, writing that the court was “not determining what the ultimate outcome will or should be.”
Snipes sued both Scott and the GOP-controlled Florida Senate. The lawsuit named the Senate because that chamber’s Republican leader said there wasn't time to investigate the allegations against Snipes before her resignation took effect. Florida law requires the Senate to either remove or reinstate county officials suspended by the governor.
Snipes had been the top elections official in Broward County since 2003, when then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her. She had been elected three times and her current term was not scheduled to end until 2020.
Attorneys for Scott had argued the governor had the authority to remove her from office. Neither Scott nor DeSantis immediately responded to requests for comment on the decision.
Scott suspended Snipes for misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty, and appointed his former general counsel to take her place. In his executive order, Scott cited problems during the recount, including reports of more than 2,000 ballots being misplaced.
Snipes' attorney, Burnadette Norris-Weeks, contended that some of the problems cited by Scott were not caused by her client.
Daniel Nordby, who has been Scott’s general counsel, said the governor took action when he did because he “determined the people of Broward County deserved a supervisor of elections” who could prepare for upcoming spring municipal elections in a “competent manner.”