The Artlessness and Heartlessness of the Deal

President Trump is the Entertainer-in-Chief. From his stints on The Apprentice to WWF (the soap opera equivalent for men) to his constant Twittering in the White House. The White House has became a livestream of chaos since his inauguration, and today’s Daily Pnut focuses on the major political fallout from the past 24 hours. Perhaps as a nation we are currently deep in REM sleep when it comes to this “long national nightmare.” Yesterday’s revelations might begin to awaken all Americans from this dark slumber.

Now Can We Invoke the 25th Amendment?: On Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times exclusively reported that President Trump asked ex-FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Just to refresh your memory, Michael Flynn resigned on February 13. The day after, Comey and other senior national security officials met in the Oval Office for a security briefing. When the meeting ended, President Trump told those present—including Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions—to leave the room except for Mr. Comey.

Afterwards, Comey immediately documented what was said in his one-on-one meeting with the president and shared the memo with senior FBI officials and close associates. Times reporter Michael Schmidt, who did not see the memo himself, said a Comey associate read parts of the document to him: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump told Comey. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

The White House denied the allegations in a statement: “While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn.” That’s nice and all, but perhaps the White House is not aware of the fact that “an FBI agent’s contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.” Comey’s memorialization of Trump’s request is the clearest evidence to date that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and FBI investigation into links between Trump associates and Russia.  

Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter Tuesday night to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe asking that the FBI turn over all “memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings” of discussions between Trump and Comey. Such documents, Mr. Chaffetz wrote, would “raise questions as to whether the president attempted to influence or impede” the FBI inquiry. If the documents are not received by the May 24 deadline, Chaffetz tweeted he would use the courts: “I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready.”

Comey Always Leaves a Trail: Comey’s memo was part of a paper trail he created to document what he believed to be the president’s improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation. According to two sources from The New York Times report, Comey created similar memos (including some that are classified) about every phone call and meeting he had with Trump. This would not be the first time Comey has used FBI notes to corroborate events and conversations. In 2007, he told Congress about the Bush administration’s wiretapping program, which the White House disputed. But Comey’s boss at the time, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, had kept the notes that proved Comey’s story. But perhaps Trump needed to look no further than his beloved Twitter for knowledge of Comey’s lawyerly habits. Former Justice Department official Matthew Miller tweeted last Thursday: “One thing I learned at DOJ about Comey: he leaves a protective paper trail whenever something he deems inappropriate happened. Stay tuned.”

You Know Something’s Wrong When No Republicans Will Appear on Fox News: Perhaps the most visible fallout of Memogate occurred when Fox News Special Report anchor Bret Baier said he couldn’t find any Republicans to be interviewed on his show Tuesday night. “We’ve tried tonight to get Republicans to come out and talk to us, and there are not Republicans willing to go on camera tonight, as of yet,” he said in a panel discussion about the story. “We’ll see if that changes.”

But some Republicans have finally begun speaking out about Trump’s missteps, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose spokesperson said: “We need to have all the facts, and it is appropriate for the House Oversight Committee to request [Comey’s] memo.” At a DC dinner on Tuesday night, Republican Senator John McCain said the president is dealing with “a pretty smart lawyer,” noting that Comey distributed the memo to others at the FBI. “I think it’s reaching the point where it’s of Watergate size and scale, and a couple of other scandals we’ve seen.”

Does Anyone Want to be the New FBI Director? Bueller? … Bueller?: The Trump administration’s search for a new FBI Director faced obstacles on Tuesday after two prominent candidates, Judge Merrick Garland and US Senator John Cornyn of Texas, signaled they did not want the job. Advisers to both individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters they discouraged them from taking the job, cautioning that they would be leaving “important, secure jobs for one fraught with politics and controversy.”

Garland, the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Obama’s proposed Supreme Court nominee who never got a hearing (ah, the circle of life), “loves his job and is not interested in leaving the judiciary,” said one source. Cornyn said in a statement that he informed the White House that “the best way I can serve is continuing to fight for a conservative agenda in the US Senate.”

• Protesters Injured Outside Turkish Embassy in DC After Trump-Erdogan Meeting (CNN)
• A Grisly Day of Protests Across Venezuela Leaves at Least Four Dead (TIME)
• “Developing nations and environmental groups are challenging some of the world’s biggest companies and wealthiest countries over the role corporate lobbyists play in United Nations climate change negotiations” (NYT)
• “The Trump administration said on Monday it would vastly expand the so-called global gag rule that withholds American aid from health organizations worldwide that provide or even discuss abortion in family planning. The new policy could disrupt hundreds of clinics in Africa and around the world that fight AIDS and malaria” (NYT)
• The US imposed new sanctions against Syria on the same day the government denied allegations of mass killings at a prison near Damascus (The Atlantic)
• Iran’s Re-Engagement with the World at Stake in Friday Presidential Vote (Reuters)
• Exclusive from The Guardian: “Documents show how the Australian government sought to drive refugees and asylum seekers from its detention centre in Papua New Guinea”
• Two European Privacy Watchdogs Say Facebook’s Practices Broke Their Countries’ Data Protection Rules (NYT)

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