Society The Donald J. Trump Show - 4 more years editions

Cohen's attorney suggests the Justice Department, under Barr, is biased against Cohen. "Attorney General William Barr has moved both publicly, and vigorously, to insure he is aligned with President Trump," Adler said.

Cohen has served seven months of his 36-month sentence at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, 70 miles north of New York City. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to nine criminal charges, including lying to Congress, tax fraud and campaign finance violations for hush money payments made to two women who alleged affairs with Trump. (Trump has denied the affairs.) Cohen is the only person to have been charged in connection to the payment scheme.

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Palestinian groups, free speech advocates and liberal Jewish organisations blasted on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump's executive order that threatens to withhold federal funding from educational institutions that fail to combat a broadened definition of anti-Semitism.

During a Hanukkah reception held at the White House and attended by prominent Jewish leaders, Trump signed the order, which effectively redefines Judaism as a race or nationality. The move, according to the Trump administration, is aimed at combating the rise of anti-Semitism in the US.

"The vile, hate-filled poison of anti-Semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears," Trump said in a statement.

The order directs federal agencies to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating complaints of discrimination under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination "on the ground of race, colour or national origin" but not religion.

The IHRA's definition has been criticised by some rights groups as being overly broad. It defines anti-Semitism as "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews." It also says manifestations of anti-Semitism "might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity" but "criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic."

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Critics argue Trump's expected move is a threat to free speech, a right that is protected by the US constitution and is intended to silence legitimate criticism of Israeli policies.

"This executive order is a clear instrument of oppression, targeting activism for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people on campuses and it is just disguised as anti-discrimination policy," said Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

"It's a shameless exploitation of legitimate fears that people have around a real resurgence of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of racism that this president himself has fueled," Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

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A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to toss out a lawsuit over missing notes documenting President Donald Trump’s face-to-face meetings with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

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President Trump is responding to the backlash against the allegations that he shared "highly classified" information with the Russians by saying he had "the absolute right to do" so.

He tweeted Tuesday morning:

As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
...to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
And he went a step further, again taking aim at fired former FBI Director James Comey and "leakers":

I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
The irony seemed to be lost on Trump that he himself is being accused of being a "leaker" — and that he criticized Hillary Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of classified information during the campaign, calling her "not fit":

Crooked Hillary Clinton and her team "were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." Not fit!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
The Washington Post broke the news Monday night, and others confirmed and added to the reporting, that Trump revealed to Russian officials in a meeting in the Oval Office details of an ISIS plot to use laptops on airplanes. The information was classified and reportedly came from an ally in the Middle East.

The New York Times, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal reported later Tuesday that the classified intelligence in question was provided by Israel — an important U.S. ally and one of the countries Trump will travel to later this week on his first foreign trip as president. Passing along the intelligence from Israel, The Times noted, raises the possibility that the Russians could give it to Iran, their close ally but Israel's main antagonist.

NPR has not confirmed the details of the reports.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer wouldn't comment Tuesday on whether or not Israel was the source of the intelligence.

Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement, reported by The New York Times, that "Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump."

Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Monday night that the story in The Post, "as reported, is false." But he also noted that the president talked about "common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation. At no time, at no time, were intelligence sources or methods discussed, and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known."

McMaster took to the lectern in the White House Briefing Room on Tuesday and told reporters that he stood by his statement. "The premise of that article is false," McMaster said, though he did not say the entirety of the article is false and would not confirm nor deny that Trump revealed classified information to the Russians.

"What the president shared was wholly appropriate," McMaster said. He added that there was "no lapse in national security."

Instead, he focused on leaks. "I think national security is put at risk by this leak and leaks like this," he said.

McMaster also did not say whether the president decided in the moment to share the information, but the adviser revealed a key detail that is going to raise more questions.

"The president wasn't even aware where this information came from," McMaster said. "He wasn't briefed."

Reporters were not able to follow up because McMaster then walked off.

But where the information came from is a key piece of information, given that it could put operatives from a key ally at risk.

None of that explains why the White House was reaching out to the CIA and National Security Agency to let them know what the president had revealed. McMaster said that was done merely out of an "overabundance of caution."

Michael Anton, spokesman for the National Security Council, tells NPR's Tamara Keith, "My conscience is clear saying there is no contradiction between McMaster's statement and the president's tweet."

Becca Glover Watkins, a spokeswoman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., tells NPR's Geoff Bennett that the committee "has reached out to the White House to request additional information on recent reports about alleged dissemination of intelligence information."

By almost 5 p.m., Burr told reporters he still hadn't heard back from the White House. It's been "a very busy day," Burr said, "but we hope to talk with them before we leave."

"I'd prefer to have a conversation with an individual who was in the room about what actually was said, and then we can legitimately comment on whether we have concerns about what was said," Burr also told reporters Tuesday evening.

And an aide to a member of the House Intelligence Committee confirmed to NPR's Susan Davis that CIA Director Mike Pompeo will brief the committee Tuesday evening. Pompeo's appearance was previously scheduled, but obviously all subjects are on the table, the aide said.

To be totally clear: If Trump revealed classified information, it is not illegal. The president can declassify anything he wants — just by saying it. There's no formal process he needs to go through. But this kind of information was so "highly classified" that disclosing it could subject any other person to jail time.

Lawfare blog weighed in on that on Monday:

"The reason is that the very purpose of the classification system is to protect information the President, usually through his subordinates, thinks sensitive. So the President determines the system of designating classified information through Executive Order, and he is entitled to depart from it at will. Currently, Executive Order 13526 governs national security information.

"The Supreme Court has stated in Department of the Navy v. Egan that '[the President's] authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security ... flows primarily from this Constitutional investment of power in the President and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant.' Because of his broad constitutional authority in this realm, the president can, at any time, either declassify information or decide whom to share it with."

Lawfare got into more of the potential problems, like the possibility of this disclosure violating the president's oath of office and of it raising the stakes over whether Trump records conversations in the Oval Office and for his FBI director pick.

Still, the issue of criminality is not the whole of the discussion. NPR's Mara Liasson said on NPR podcast Up First that what Trump is accused of doing is "lawful but awful."

But there are also potential national security consequences. There is the potential that:

1) The Middle East ally that gave this information to the U.S. will be less likely to share in the future,

2) Other even-closer U.S. allies may be less likely to share intelligence, and

3) If the first two happen, Americans would be put at risk, as the U.S. tries to prevent terrorist attacks and threats like the one Trump allegedly told the Russians about.

Trump also continues to have problems with the intelligence community. It's never a good thing for a president to be at odds with some of the very people who are tasked with keeping the country safe. If the focus of either or both is getting back at the other, who's watching the gate?

Of course, the U.S. has had problematic intelligence situations with the rest of the world in the past. Some in China are upset that the NSA, for example, was reportedly behind the origination of the virus that was used in the recent ransomware attack before losing control of it.

The NSA was also at the heart of the Edward Snowden drama, which revealed that the U.S. spied on world leaders, including close allies.

And, of course, there was the intelligence failures over the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the rationale that led to the 2003 invasion of the country.

U.S. alliances survived those and more, but they all occurred under presidents who were far more careful with their language, not to mention their tweets.

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MC Gusto said:

Trump Says He Has 'Absolute Right' To Share Intelligence With Russia

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The Boatman said:

this guy is pissed

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=684&v=gj5R8x_jSNI&feature=emb_title

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• The Supreme Court says Friday that it will hear three cases over President Donald Trump’s financial records next year.
• Trump has asked the justices to reverse three lower court rulings that would require his longtime accounting firm and two of his banks to hand over financial records to investigators.
• The arguments are likely to be the most high-profile of the term and will test the court’s newly constituted conservative majority.
• A decision is expected by the end of June, in the midst of the 2020 presidential election.

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• Concerns include a lack of specifics on farm purchase commitments and enforcement mechanisms
• A shortage of trust on both sides and the US president’s mercurial negotiating style also cited as shortcomings

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The Trump-vs-Greta Thunberg conflict continued Friday after first lady Melania Trump responded to accusations of anti-bullying hypocrisy by issuing a statement about her husband's tweet attacks on the Swedish climate-activist teenager.

Greta Thunberg, 16, “who travels the globe giving speeches,” isn't the same as her son Barron Trump, “a 13-year-old who wants and deserves privacy,” she said in the statement, according to The Associated Press.

The statement also acknowledged that she and President Donald Trump "communicate differently."

The first lady was silent this week after the president mocked Thunberg, telling her in a tweet that she should "work on her anger management" and "chill" out. He was dismissive of Thunberg after she was named Time's Person of the Year Thursday.

The first lady's critics on Twitter then chastised her for saying nothing even though last week she responded angrily to what she perceived as bullying of Barron, when his name came up during an impeachment hearing.

The first lady's signature Be Best initiative includes campaigning against bullying of children on social media.

As the criticism continued Friday, the White House responded with a statement issued by spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham.

In it, the first lady made a distinction between Thunberg, who has become world famous, and Barron, the president's youngest child, who is rarely seen and never heard under media rules for covering presidential children under 18.

"BeBest is the First Lady's initiative, and she will continue to use it to do all she can to help children. It is no secret that the President and First Lady often communicate differently -- as most married couples do. Their son is not an activist who travels the globe giving speeches. He is a 13-year-old who wants and deserves privacy," Grisham's statement said.

Trump's sharp scolding in a tweet last week, something she seldom does on social media or in public, in contrast to her husband.

She addressed the tweet to Pamela Karlan, a law professor whose testimony on impeachment included an awkward pun on Barron's name. Karlan later apologized. Trump was not mollified.

"A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics," Trump tweeted soon after the testimony. "Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it."

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