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Friday, 10/20/17Watch the full episode of Friday night's The Rachel Maddow Show.
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Donald Trump's 'blind spot on Russia' isn't going away
After Congress approved new economic sanctions against Russia, Donald Trump grudgingly signed the bill into law, but not before blaming lawmakers -- including members of his own party -- for undermining the U.S. relationship with the Putin government.
But the story took a strange turn recently when the public learned that the sanctions still haven't been implemented, despite the deadline included in the law. On "Meet the Press" yesterday, NBC's Chuck Todd sought an explanation from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a proponent of the sanctions.
TODD: [Y[ou've come on this show numerous times and said, "Russia needs to be punished." You passed a tough sanctions bill. You passed it in July. The president signed it in early August. There was a deadline of October 1st. It is not October 1st. It is October 20th and the sanctions have not been implemented. Why?
GRAHAM: I think that the Trump administration is slow when it comes to Russia. They have a blind spot on Russia I still can't figure out.
Really? You still can't figure it out? It's just a total mystery as to why this president might have a "blind spot" when it comes to the foreign adversary that launched an espionage operation that help put Donald Trump in power?
Is it really that difficult to wager a guess?
For his part, the president isn't done trying to downplay the significance of the scandal. On Saturday, for example, Trump took aim at the dossier put together by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence operative, insisting it's been "discredited." In reality, as Rachel has noted on the show, the document has stood up pretty well to scrutiny.
Soon after, Trump suggested that Moscow's investment in campaign-related ads on Facebook was "tiny," adding, "What about the billions of dollars of Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS?"
Evidence contradicts Trump claims on calls to soldiers' families
Donald Trump's timing could've been better. When Sgt. La David Johnson's remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base, the president was golfing. On Saturday, Johnson was laid to rest, and Trump spent part of Saturday morning tweeting not about the fallen hero ahead of his funeral, but taking juvenile shots at Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), who mentored Johnson and is close with his family.
And then the president went golfing again.
Complicating matters is Trump's demonstrable dishonesty on his interactions with the families of American soldiers killed in action. As part of his self-aggrandizing boasts last week, the president told Fox News Radio, "I have called, I believe, everybody -- but certainly I'll use the word virtually everybody." The Associated Press found soon after that of the 20 families who lost loved ones since Trump took office, half had not heard from the president.
Roll Call reported late last week that the White House apparently knew that Trump's boast wasn't true.
In the hours after President Donald Trump said on an Oct. 17 radio broadcast that he had contacted nearly every family that had lost a military servicemember this year, the White House was hustling to learn from the Pentagon the identities and contact information for those families, according to an internal Defense Department email.
The email exchange, which has not been previously reported, shows that senior White House aides were aware on the day the president made the statement that it was not accurate -- but that they should try to make it accurate as soon as possible, given the gathering controversy.
Not only had the president not contacted virtually all the families of military personnel killed this year, the White House did not even have an up-to-date list of those who had been killed.
What's more, The Atlantic reported over the weekend that, in a mad dash to deal with the president's false claim, the Trump administration has begun "rush-delivering letters from the president to the families of servicemembers killed months ago."
In other words, Trump World is trying to make true what clearly was not true.
Friday's Mini-Report, 10.20.17
Today's edition of quick hits:
* The deadly attack in Niger: "A senior congressional aide who has been briefed on the deaths of four U.S. servicemen in Niger says the ambush by militants stemmed in part from a 'massive intelligence failure.'"
* Afghanistan: "A suicide bomber detonated explosives in a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Friday as worshipers were gathering for evening prayer, killing at least 32 people in the latest in a series of attacks against Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan."
* Things are not all right in Puerto Rico: "Back-up diesel generators in Puerto Rico that have provided a lifeline for hospitals and other critical facilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria are starting to break down and need fixing."
* It'd be nice if the sitting president were a reliable source of national-security information, but he's not: "President Trump misrepresented a recent report on crime in Britain with a Twitter message Friday blaming 'Radical Islamic terror' for an uptick in reported crime, critics in the United Kingdom say."
Donald Trump vs. Generals: A brief history
As we discussed earlier, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked this afternoon to defend a discredited story Chief of Staff John Kelly shared yesterday. She replied, "If you want to go after Gen. Kelly that's up to you but I think that that – if you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that that's something highly inappropriate."
This is problematic for all kinds of reasons, but let's take a moment to focus on Trump's own record on showing deference and respect towards American military leaders with stars on their shoulder.
“I know more about ISIS than the generals do,” he insisted during the campaign. “Believe me.” Several months later, Trump added that U.S. military leaders “don’t know much because they’re not winning,” As recently as September 2016, the Republican said American generals “have been reduced to rubble,” adding, “They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing to our country.”
During the Democratic National Convention, Trump was especially disrespectful towards retired four-star General John Allen. Politico reported at the time:
Trump then proceeded to pounce on criticisms levied against him by Allen, who Thursday night gave an impassioned speech framing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a leader who possessed the needed experience to helm the United States military.
"They had a general named John Allen. I never met him, and he got up and started talking about Trump, Trump, Trump," the Republican nominee said before unleashing his counterassault. "You know who he is? He's a failed general. He was the general fighting ISIS. I would say he hasn't done so well, right?" Trump said.
It was around this time that the GOP candidate tweeted, "General John Allen, who I never met but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = BAD"
Confronted with evidence, White House won't acknowledge falsehood
As part of the White House's offensive against Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Chief of Staff John Kelly delivered dramatic remarks to the press yesterday, including an anecdote intended to highlight the Florida Democrat's pettiness and offensive partisanship.
It was a lengthy, 300-word story about the dedication of an FBI field office in Miami, which was being named after two FBI agents who'd been killed in a firefight in the city. As Kelly explained it, Frederica Wilson "stunned" the audience by speaking about how she was "instrumental in getting the funding for that building" from President Obama, when she should've shown more dignity at the event.
It was a striking anecdote, which we now know wasn't true. The Sun-Sentinel published the video today of Wilson's remarks, and pretty much every relevant detail from Kelly's story was wrong: she didn't mention Obama; she didn't mention the money; and she didn't take credit for the building. What's more, the audience didn't seem at all "stunned" by Wilson, who actually received applause at the end of her remarks.
Kelly's anecdote may have been powerful, but it was also fictional.
Given the circumstances, I thought it was likely Kelly would apologize. But when a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to comment on the fact that the chief of staff was wrong, she replied:
"If you want to go after Gen. Kelly that's up to you but I think that that -- if you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that that's something highly inappropriate."
This followed a White House written statement that stood by Kelly's remarks, which we now know weren't true.
Trump raises new questions with outreach to US Attorney nominees
For those who enjoy following White House scandals, Donald Trump's presidency has been a treasure trove, to the point that it's challenging at times to keep up. It's quite common for the president and his team to face legitimate controversies, which would ordinarily jolt a normal administration, that soon fade from the headlines to make room for a new controversy.
For example, I've long been fascinated by Trump's decision in the spring to summarily fire 46 U.S. Attorneys, without warning or explanation, with each of these federal prosecutors told on a Friday afternoon to submit their resignations and clean out their offices before close of business. One of the U.S. Attorneys, who'd specifically been told he could stay on, was among the prosecutors sent packing.
At the time, the president and his team didn't have any replacement U.S. Attorneys lined up. The White House just wanted nearly four dozen prosecutors to leave their jobs immediately.
The questions grew a little louder three months ago, when Trump reportedly had a private meeting with a prospective U.S. Attorney, D.C.'s Jessie Liu, before her nomination was made official.
Politico reported yesterday that this wasn't an isolated incident.
President Donald Trump has personally interviewed at least two potential candidates for U.S. attorney positions in New York, according to two sources familiar with the matter — a move that critics say raises questions about whether they can be sufficiently independent from the president.
Trump has interviewed Geoffrey Berman, who is currently at the law firm Greenberg Traurig for the job of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ed McNally of the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres for the Eastern District post, according to the sources.
The presidential chat with Geoffrey Berman is of particular interest because the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York will have jurisdiction over Trump Tower. The person who used to have this job, Preet Bharara, is the same U.S. Attorney who was fired in March despite having been told he could remain at his post.
"It is neither normal nor advisable for Trump to personally interview candidates for US Attorney positions, especially the one in Manhattan," Bharara tweeted Wednesday.
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About The Rachel Maddow Show
Launched in 2008, “The Rachel Maddow Show” follows the machinations of policy making in America, from local political activism to international diplomacy. Rachel Maddow looks past the distractions of political theater and stunts and focuses on the legislative proposals and policies that shape American life - as well as the people making and influencing those policies and their ultimate outcome, intended or otherwise.
