Presumptuous Politics

Friday, September 2, 2016

State Department to release all Clinton schedules before election

The State Department agreed Thursday to turn over all the planning schedules from Hillary Clinton's time serving as secretary of state to The Associated Press by mid-October in an abrupt reversal from U.S. government lawyers' warning last week that hundreds of pages would not be released until after the presidential election.
The decision will make available all of Clinton's minute-by-minute schedules before the presidential election.
Those planning documents offer a detailed look at Clinton's daily routine during her four-year tenure as secretary of state between 2009 and 2013.
The State Department provided the AP some of the Democratic presidential nominee's official calendars from her time at the department, but some of those calendars had been edited after her events and, in some cases, names of those who met with her had been omitted.
The department has so far released about half of her more complete daily schedules.
"As stated in today’s court filing, the Department had no objection to shifting its resources as long as its overall processing burden was not increased," State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement. "Consequently, the Department plans to complete its production of former Secretary Clinton’s schedules not later than October 17.”
The new agreement Thursday was drawn up after government lawyers told the AP last week that the department expected to release the last of the detailed daily schedules around Dec. 30, weeks after the election. The AP had objected to the delays.
The daily schedules drew attention last week after the AP reviewed the two years of schedules released so far, plus Clinton's official calendars. From those, the AP determined that more than half the people who Clinton met or spoke with — outside of members of the U.S. or foreign governments — had donated to the Clinton Foundation either personally or through companies or groups.
The AP's review focused on Clinton's discretionary contacts with outside interests and excluded her meetings or calls with federal officials or foreign government representatives, because those contacts were part of her regular diplomatic obligations.
Clinton has said the AP's analysis was flawed because it did not account fully for all meetings and phone calls during her entire term as secretary. She also said the analysis should have included meetings with federal employees and foreign diplomats.
The State Department's decision Thursday to turn over all of the more-detailed daily schedules by Oct. 17 means it will have to triple its pace of producing 600 pages a month. That production schedule was ordered last January by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon.
The AP first asked for all Clinton's calendars in 2010 and again in 2013 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, but the State Department did not release them. After further delays, the AP sued the State Department in federal court in March 2015 to obtain the planning materials and other records, leading to Leon's order.

Watchdog: Foundation exec sought help from Clinton aide on diplomatic passports

Emails shed light on Huma involvement in Clinton Foundation

A new batch of emails released Thursday allegedly shows a top Clinton Foundation official asking Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin for help obtaining diplomatic passports – though Clinton officials say the request was related to the effort to secure the release of two American journalists held in North Korea.
The July 2009 exchange was included in the release of 510 pages of State Department documents obtained by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which had sued in court for records.
In the exchange, then-Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band says he needs the special passports for himself and others.
“Need get me/ justy and jd dip passports,” he writes. “We had them years ago but they lapsed and we didn’t bother getting them.”
“Ok will figure it out,” Abedin replies.
Bill Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said in response Thursday that the exchange does not tell the whole story.
“The trip led to the successful release of two American journalists who were being held in North Korea,” Urena said. “This request turned out to be unnecessary and the trip was able to occur without diplomatic passports.”
But Judicial Watch noted that federal law “strictly limits” such passports to certain individuals, including Foreign Service officers and those “having diplomatic status or comparable status because he or she is traveling abroad to carry out diplomatic duties on behalf of the U.S. Government.” Their family members and government contractors also are eligible.
“The idea that the State Department would even consider a diplomatic passport for Clinton Foundation executives is beyond belief,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin also said the request was related to freeing the journalists.
“Judicial Watch is now attacking State Department officials and the 42^nd President of the United States for rescuing two American journalists from North Korea,” Schwerin said in a written statement. “This is a new low even for this right-wing organization that has been going after the Clintons since the 1990s.”
The State Department referred Fox News back to the federal regulations, saying they could not comment on individual cases.
Judicial Watch said the new documents include 37 email exchanges not in the original 30,000 handed over to the State Department.
The Judicial Watch release comes on the heels of another release earlier this week between Band and Abedin.
In that exchange of emails -- released as part of a public records lawsuit filed by the conservative group Citizens United -- Band suggested individuals from companies that had donated to the foundation be included at a State Department lunch with then-Chinese President Hu Jintao scheduled for January 2011, according to ABC News.

Trump changed immigration policy speech after Mexican president's tweet

As Donald Trump arrived in Phoenix late Wednesday, fresh from a visit to Mexico City’s presidential palace, he had in his hands a big immigration speech that omitted the usual line that Mexico would have to pay for his proposed wall along the U.S. southern border.
Just after landing, though, Mr. Trump discovered that Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto had tweeted that he had told the Republican presidential nominee during their private meeting earlier that day that his country would refuse to pay for the wall.
Mr. Trump was peeved that Mr. Peña Nieto had gone public with the fact that the Mexican president had broken what Mr. Trump considered a deal to keep the question of paying for the wall off the table at their initial meeting.
So Mr. Trump hurriedly inserted a new sentence in his immigration speech, and he soon boomed out from the podium his traditional declaration that the wall would be paid for by Mexico—adding, “They don’t know it yet but they’re going to pay for the wall.”
“I had no choice,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Thursday. But he also said of the Mexican president, “I liked him very much.”
All told, Wednesday was a day of exceptional twists and turns, spanning multiple time zones and two countries, on the trade and immigration issues that have become signatures of the Trump presidential campaign.
The day wasn't only one of the most unusual in the campaign, but one of the most controversial. Many Mexicans were incensed that their president invited Mr. Trump. A poll published in the Reforma newspaper Wednesday showed 85% of Mexicans disapproved of the invitation, and 72% thought it weakened the Mexican government.
As the dispute between Mr. Trump and Mr. Peña Nieto over paying for the wall escalated, John Podesta, the chairman of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, tweeted late Thursday: “What a mess.”
The high-stakes day, which seemed to have been put together at the last minute, actually had been discussed internally for weeks, according to Trump campaign advisers. The campaign saw the meeting in Mexico as a chance to appeal to moderate voters, and the immigration speech as a chance to motivate Mr. Trump’s core voters.
A person close to Mr. Peña Nieto said that “since there was such a clear disagreement in preparatory conversations over issues about the wall and its payment, both parties agreed not to discuss them at the meeting, and instead talk about other topics, such as the great contribution that the Mexican community makes in the U.S., illegal drugs and weapons trafficking, bilateral trade, within North America and the rest of the world.” The person added: “Before the conversation began, Mr. Peña Neto reiterated to Mr. Trump that Mexico won’t pay for any wall, and as agreed, they discussed other topics.”
At the press conference after the meeting, the Trump campaign got the photo op it wanted of Mr. Trump and a world leader. The size of the press turnout pleased the candidate. When asked if they discussed the GOP nominee’s proposed wall, Mr. Trump said they did, but not who would pay for it. Mr. Peña Nieto stayed silent. It wasn’t until landing in Phoenix that Mr. Trump saw the Mexican’s tweet about not paying.
Mr. Trump and his team were stunned, advisers said. News reports were questioning why Mr. Trump didn’t discuss the payment issue at the joint press conference.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Vicente Fox Cartoons

Trump gets into Twitter feud with former Mexican president

Even before Donald Trump landed in Mexico Wednesday, he found himself in a Twitter war with former Mexican President Vicente Fox – who went on a tear declaring the Republican nominee “not welcome” in the country.
Fox, an outspoken critic of Trump, started the fight when he said on CNN that he disagreed with current President Enrique Pena Nieto’s decision to invite the billionaire to the country to meet with him.
“He is not welcome to Mexico,” Fox told CNN. “We don’t like him. We don’t want him. We reject his visit.”
"I think President Peña is taking an enormous political risk by hosting Trump,” he said. “He will even be considered like a traitor because we don't accept to be offended like we just heard, and it should not happen that he comes here with a smile on his face. I think this is a big mistake on the part of President Peña."
Trump, as is often his way, fired back on Twitter.
“Former President Vicente Fox, who is railing against my visit to Mexico today, also invited me when he apologized for using the ‘f bomb,’” he said, referring to when Fox said he wasn't going to pay for "that f-----g wall."
This triggered a fiery response from Fox, also on Twitter, as he called on Trump to apologize and “stop lying.”

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox

Krauthammer on Trump's trip to Mexico: 'He took a risk, and he pulled it off'

Syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer said Wednesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s impromptu trip to Mexico to meet with that country’s president paid off, and could be a boon for his campaign.
“He took a risk, and he pulled it off. Look, the big negative about Trump, the thing that the Clinton campaign plays on, is the fact that it's hard to imagine him as president,” Krauthammer said, adding, “Now, here he is standing on the world stage with a world leader. This is a big step.”
Krauthammer went on to say that Trump took control of the joint appearance and “spoke well.”
“He not only held his own, I think, in some ways, he sort of dominated… At the very end when they took questions, it was Trump who took charge,” Krauthammer said. “He's sitting in the palace of the president of Mexico. This never happens. Normally, it's the host who picks the journalist. Trump took charge naturally, walked off the stage as the dominant guy.”
He added that Trump’s behavior in Mexico could pay dividends for the candidate.
“I think he really helped himself,” he said.

Trump's Mexico gamble pays off as he tries his hand at insta-Diplomacy

Donald Trump’s critics said his hastily arranged visit to Mexico was an act of desperation, a Hail Mary pass, the sign of an erratic campaign.
But he got the world’s attention.
And the gamble paid off.
Trump used his showman’s instincts to create a television moment, setting the stage for his Arizona speech on immigration. Once President Enrique Pena Nieto extended the invitation (with Hillary Clinton declining), Trump had a chance to portray himself as a dealmaker, a bold negotiator willing to meet the adversary on his foreign turf.
What was the downside? I suppose Pena Nieto could have used the occasion to rip Trump (as the out-of-office Vicente Fox did). But a guy with a 23 percent approval rating would probably want to show that he could do business with a potential American president.
Just having a bland we-agreed-to-disagree statement would help Trump by showing him doing business on the international stage. And he got more than that.
Pena Nieto was gracious in his remarks, saying he and Trump had an “open and constructive” conversation. And when he said both countries should invest more to make the border safe, well, it wasn’t exactly thumbing his nose at Trump’s oft-repeated demand that Mexico would pay for the wall. (Trump said they didn’t discuss that, but Pena Nieto contradicted his account, saying he made clear Mexico wouldn’t pay.)
And Trump not only moderated his tone, talking about the two countries “working beautifully together,” he said he had told Pena Nieto that illegal immigration must end and NAFTA must be renegotiated. He even called the Mexican leader a “friend.” So the Republican nominee didn’t back off his positions, but showed he could calibrate his language and play in this arena.
It’s hard to imagine that the excursion could have gone better for Trump. It’s not that his insta-diplomacy will suddenly make Trump popular among Hispanic voters, but it adds to the sense that he can be reasonable, that he isn’t some hothead who will drag us into a trade war.
Clinton, as a former secretary of State, doesn’t need to do this sort of thing. But she is also too risk-averse to stage such a meeting without the details having been negotiated in advance.
Trump’s challenge in his Arizona speech was just as great: how to reconcile his tough primary rhetoric, especially about kicking out all the people who are in this country illegally, with the electoral reality that he needs to expand his base.
The problem is that there were a cacophony of sometimes contradictory voices speaking on his behalf, and it fueled a sense of confusion on what Trump himself described as a “softening” of his approach.
It also didn’t help that Trump’s people kept denying there was any change in policy on deportation, even as they kept using language that signaled such a change.
On Sunday’s “Media Buzz,” Mike Huckabee, a top Trump surrogate, told me Trump “realizes it’s utterly impractical to try to deport 11 million people, just to round them up. That’s not going to happen.” That seemed pretty clear.
Such mass roundups were never realistic, and probably less important than Trump’s signature plan for a border wall. But pressure built to the point that Trump had to make the once-delayed speech last night. But pressure built to the point that Trump had to make last night’s much-anticipated speech.
After announcing a series of get-tough measures, Trump essentially rescinded his previous policy of mass deportations of illegal immigrants, except for those who have committed crimes. He said he would figure out what to do with them after all the other steps have been implemented, which he acknowledged would take "several years."
In effect, he kicked that can down the road—which amounts to a bow to reality—while vowing to be more aggressive across the board on the immigration problem.
Will that matter? It wasn’t even the day’s biggest story. Some of Trump’s strongest detractors, including Charles Krauthammer and Steve Hayes with me on the “Special Report” panel, were praising not only Trump’s demeanor in Mexico but calling it the best day of his campaign. That visual will overshadow the retreat from a deportation plan that even many supporters thought would never be carried out. So with Hillary Clinton’s American exceptionalism speech all but blotted out, Trump, in Beltway parlance, won the day.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.

Trump doubles down on 'impenetrable, physical' wall during immigration speech

Donald Trump, fresh off a hastily-arranged visit to Mexico where he met with the country's president, doubled down Wednesday night on his vow to build a "great wall" along the southern border -- and make Mexico pay for it -- while outlining a more focused mission for the deportation force he's promised to create.
In a speech in Phoenix meant to clarify his immigration positions after appearing to soften his stance, the Republican presidential nominee outlined a hardline set of proposals for tackling illegal immigration. He did not, however, definitively call for removing all illegal immigrants in the country.
Rather, Trump vowed to focus first on deporting the estimated 2 million "criminal aliens" on day one, while also prioritizing certain groups like gang members and visa overstays for removal. He said, though, that any illegal immigrant could be subject to deportation under his administration.
"There will be no amnesty," he said, adding that no illegal immigrant would be legalized without first leaving and coming in through the front door.
"For those here illegally today, who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for reentry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration system I outlined above," he said.
Trump said that America’s current immigration system “serves the needs of wealthy donors, political activists and powerful politicians."
“Let me tell you who it does not serve, it does not serve you the American people. It doesn’t serve you,” he said.
In his speech, Trump also promised to end "catch and release," to increase the number of ICE and border patrol agents, block funding for sanctuary cities, and create a deportation task force that he said would be focused on deporting criminal aliens.
He also promised to cancel President Obama's "illegal" executive actions, and to enforce current immigration laws and accused Democratic rival Hillary Clinton of not having a plan on immigration, saying she would give "ObamaCare, Social Security and Medicare to illegal immigrants, breaking the federal budget."
When he talked about deporting criminal aliens who had "evaded justice," he also said Clinton had evaded justice.
"Maybe they'll be able to deport her too," he quipped.
He told the vibrant crowd that there are some immigrants who will be unable to assimilate into American society.
“It’s our right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us,” he said.
Amid rumors he was considering softening his trademark position on building a wall on the southern border, Trump made his position very clear.
"We will build a great wall along the southern border," he said to cries of "build the wall" from the boisterous crowd. "And Mexico will pay for the wall."
He later said the wall would be "impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful."
Trump’s speech comes after he met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto earlier in the day and asserted America’s “right” to build a border wall during a hastily-arranged visit to Mexico City.
While both leaders adopted a measured and respectful tone, with Trump calling it a "substantive, direct and constructive exchange of ideas," there was disagreement on the question of the wall.
While Trump told reporters “we didn’t discuss payment of the wall,” Pena Nieto later contradicted Trump and said the subject was among those discussed. He also tweeted that he made it clear "that Mexico will not pay for the wall."
Trump has been accused of stoking tensions on the subject ever since he announced his campaign in June of last year in which he accused Mexico of not sending their best people across the border.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” he said.
In recent weeks, Trump has been accused of softening his tone on the subject, and had been forced to clarify whether he favored a path to citizenship for those here legally, and whether he still planned to build a wall.