‘Whether It’s Right Or Wrong, It’s Time To Go After People…’
Make nae mistake, it’s wrang.
In spite of his family roots, the Scots are famous for their dislike of the 47th president – even from before he was the 45th – and Friday’s front page of one of the local papers gave a taste of what their visitor might expect on this so-called “working” trip which revolves around his golf businesses.
One opponent described the visit as “a deliberate stunt for publicity for his new course.” At taxpayer expense, of course.
It was a week of further desperate attempts by the White House to distract from the still-spiralling Jeffrey Epstein saga – what Dan Brooks at Politico calls ‘The Horror Story of our Age’.
Brooks writes:
“There’s a reason the Epstein narrative — both what law enforcement and journalists have documented and the internet conspiracy theories it spawned — has become an immovable object in Americans’ attention, even as Trump tries to force it aside. The disgraced financier was a rich and connected villain who flouted law and decency and, for decades, largely got away with it, confirming Americans’ deepest anxieties about how power works.”
Before leaving for Scotland, the president of the United States and his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attempted to seize the headlines with unprecedented accusations of “treason” against his predecessor.
In typical fashion – after posting an AI-generated meme depicting the former president’s arrest in the Oval Office – Trump gleefully pronounced Barack Obama “guilty” of “trying to lead a coup” along with Trump’s 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton.
Writing at The Guardian, law professor Austin Sarat called it “Alice in Wonderland style justice”.
“Guilt first. Charges, trials and other legal niceties come later.
“This is American justice, Trump-style. He wants no part of the long and storied tradition in which presidents kept an arms-length relationship with the justice department and did not interfere with its decisions about whether and whom to prosecute for crimes.”
The New York Times reported:
“..In his remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Trump claimed that he could have sent Mrs Clinton, the former secretary of state and another of his political rivals, to prison but chose not to. He said he would show no such leniency to Mr. Obama.
“I let her off the hook, and I’m very happy I did, but it’s time to start after what they did to me,” Mr. Trump said. “Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people. Obama’s been caught directly.”
“The president then listed even more enemies he wanted his Justice Department to target, including his former F.B.I. director James B. Comey and James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, and former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.”
As Andrew Egger wrote at The Bulwark, Trump appeared to believe that last year’s Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity “exists to shield only him.”
Obama had to push back, of course, but for Trump, the red meat had been tossed and his partially wavering base was at least temporarily appeased. Online threats and violent rhetoric against the former president predictably spiked.
And the distasteful angst-ridden atmosphere is only likely to heighten as developments surrounding the Epstein affair continue to dominate the news cycle.
In another unprecedented legal move, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – formerly Trump’s personal lawyer – travelled to Tallahassee to interview Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Amid speculation of a possible Trump pardon for Maxwell, the House oversight committee is preparing to depose her, apparently on August 11.
Joe Perticone wrote at The Bulwark that this may be the “most panicked the GOP has been in years.”
“This time with Epstein is different. Republicans can’t keep their heads down and trust that the base will keep holding them up, because the Republican base is what’s causing the current panic. Far-right lawmakers are anxiously trying to navigate around the Scylla of Trump and congressional leadership pushing them to hold off on the Epstein issue, and the Charybdis of the hot-headed multitudes who lifted them into office after getting them to promise to reveal every dark secret of the Epstein case.”
Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House home early for its August recess to avoid votes on motions to compel Congress to approve the release of government documents related to Epstein. He told CNN: “My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing, and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that, but I don’t think we’re at that point right now, because we agree with the president.”
GOP members will hardly appreciate having to face their constituents’ questions, which were always going to follow them back home.
Oregon Democratic Sen Ron Wyden, meanwhile, continues his logical quest to “follow the money” as a way of investigating Epstein’s financial connections.
Whatever unpredictable political performance comes next, though, there are important questions that need answers. And one of those is still how Epstein made his money and financed his lifestyle.
Barry Levine writes at the New York Times:
“The American people — and above all, the victims of Mr. Epstein’s crimes — deserve answers to outstanding questions about how he operated, with whose help and in whose service. With the exception of redactions required to protect the innocent and materials that must be withheld while under court seal, the complete F.B.I. files should be released.”
See Also:
Back from the Dead - How badly could the story that won’t die wound the president’s political future?
Loyalty is the Only Currency - The “f*ck-you” nature of Trump’s initial appointments was an obvious distraction from any serious analysis of the direction of the incoming administration. We should have learned from them.
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Respect My Authoritah!
The FCC this week approved the $8bn merger between Skydance and Paramount Global, owners of CBS.
Amid widespread fears for the future of satire after the cancellation of the Tiffany Network’s top-rated late night show it was pretty hard to imagine anything even more jaw-dropping happening that might be related to the deal.
That was until the first episode of the new series of South Park.
The day after the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a five-year $1.5 billion licensing agreement with Paramount, the premier episode of their new series went – literally - scorched earth on an animated and AI version of President Trump.
(NSFW…)
Jenna Amatulli writes at The Guardian:
“Trump’s character is also asked directly by Satan about the “Epstein list”, referring to the unreleased files held by the US government relating to the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was friends with Trump for 15 years. A political firestorm has erupted since the Trump administration’s recent decision not to release any more documents.
“Satan asks Trump directly if he’s on the Epstein list. “It’s weird that whenever it comes up, you just tell everyone to relax,” Satan says.”
On the CBS settlement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said “Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”
According to The Guardian, the one Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, called the merger a “deal” that was “linked” to Paramount’s $16m settlement with the Trump administration. She also decried the decision as a move that would “erode press freedom” by “imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment”.
Part of what Robert Reich calls The silencing.
“The silencing is happening across American media because Trump cannot stand criticism, because he’s vindictive as hell, and because he’s willing and able to use every department and agency of the federal government to punish any media corporations that allow its writers or hosts to criticize him.”
Someone for whom silence was never really an option passed away this week. Pro-wrestling legend and Trump booster Hulk Hogan was 71.
See Also:
Government by Kayfabe - A cocktail of dramatic distraction, good-versus-evil storylines, always pushing the envelope for shock value with, of course, a fair sprinkling of revenge and retribution.
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State of Confusion
French President Emmanuel Macron announced this week that France would recognize Palestinian statehood – the first G7 country to do so. He plans to make a formal declaration to the United Nations in September. The US "strongly rejected" Macron's announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, calling the decision "reckless".
Roger Cohen at the New York Times writes:
“Other European states, including Spain, Ireland and Norway, recognized a Palestinian state last year, but the French decision is of a different order. France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in western Europe, and is the only nuclear power and only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in the European Union.
“Mr. Macron, like a growing number of world leaders, has been exasperated by [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war despite the fact that Gaza has largely been reduced to rubble and tens of thousands of its inhabitants killed. Mr. Netanyahu’s refusal to offer any plan for the future governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza after the fighting stops has also incensed the French president and other international leaders.”
The French announcement came amid increasing warnings of mass starvation spreading across Gaza and deepening frustration over its causes and potential solutions. President Trump’s team is understood to be “rethinking” its own strategy on Gaza after six months of failure.
The leaders of France, Germany and the UK today called for a lifting of aid restrictions and said they were planning to airdrop aid and evacuate sick children. As is often the case, that is unlikely to prove as simple as it sounds.
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Fantasy World Series
Finally, disgraced former Congressman and serial fabulist George Santos reported to prison this week to begin a seven-year sentence. The former Republican Congressman from New York pleaded guilty last year to charges of federal wire fraud and identity theft.
Since leaving Congress, Santos has been host of a podcast called, what else, “Pants on Fire”.
Ahead of opening day two years ago, he posted a strange video wishing what he said was his team a “good old fashioned Let’s Go Mets.”
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As always, thanks for reading. I try to write a baseball-related post midweek – the most recent one is about the upcoming trade deadline – and then a politics wrap at weekends.
One is usually more sane than the other. Particularly at this current moment.
You can find a full States of Play archive here.
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I'll just leave this here:
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