BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI

& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

—Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Twitter wiseman

HURRY UP AND WAIT

The case for impeaching President Trump has grown significantly stronger in the past 24 hours, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s message to the House Judiciary Committee is ‘slow down.’ 

Here’s what’s happened: 

• At an impeachment hearing before the Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed that Trump attempted to obstruct the Russia investigation, cited executive privilege in refusing to answer questions about Trump’s potentially criminal actions, and suggested he may have been offered a pardon in exchange for protecting the president. All of those are impeachable offenses. 

• The Air Force has provided the House Oversight and Reform Committee documents that show it has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at Trump’s golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland, and nearly all of that spending has occurred since Trump became president. The money flowing into Trump’s pocket from the federal government would constitute a violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause—another impeachable offense. 

• Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has violated a law requiring him to turn over an “urgent” whistleblower complaint to Congress, making it impossible for the whistleblower to legally discuss his allegation with the House and Senate intelligence committees. Maguire has cited executive privilege as a basis for withholding this information—suggesting the complaint concerns Trump or one of his top White House aides. It’s still unclear if this a coverup of yet another impeachable offense, but we should learn more soon. 

How has Pelosi responded? Politico reports that while she has signed off on every aspect of the current impeachment investigation, in a meeting last week she, “criticized the [Judiciary Committee’s] handling of impeachment in harsh terms, complaining committee aides have advanced the push for ousting President Donald Trump far beyond where the House Democratic Caucus stands,” and encouraged attendees to leak her misgivings. There are no signs she’s changed her view since then.

But she should change her mind! In 30 minutes of uninterrupted questioning yesterday, a Democratic staff counsel named Barry Berke cornered and humiliated Lewandowski, proving that  there’s a way to handle impeachment that will command public attention and get hostile witnesses to talk. That will help Democrats, and the public deserves to know what Trump is hiding.

The Trump administration wants to charge immigrants nearly $1,000 to appeal deportation cases, and $895 to request that cases be reopened or reconsidered, up from the current fee of $110 for either request. If the administration follows through on this proposal, it would substantially affect who appeals these cases, and experts believe it will result in due process issues and be challenged in court.

This weekend, Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan take their talents (Pod Save America) to VEGAS, BABY for a live show from Life Is Beautiful festival this Sunday, 9/22.

It’s not every day you get the festival experience with a sprinkle of democracy on the side! Come hang → https://lifeisbeautiful.com/ 

President Trump appointed Robert O’Brien as his fourth national security adviser on Wednesday, eight days after John Bolton’s wild departure. O’Brien served as the State Department’s top hostage affairs official. The fourth Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in Harry Potter was Barty Crouch, Jr., posing as Mad Eye Moody, so the real Robert O’Brien is probably locked in the bottom of a trunk somewhere.

Trump announced new sanctions on Iran Wednesday following an attack on Saudi oil facilities over the weekend, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the attack “an act of war” on a visit to Saudi Arabia. 

Over 600,000 more people will have shoddy, “short-term” health insurance plans that allow insurers to cap coverage, cancel it retroactively, and refuse coverage to people with pre-existing conditions because the Trump administration expanded loopholes for insurers to offer less coverage to customers that results in surprise bills. 

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg testified before Congress on Wednesday. In lieu of prepared remarks, she submitted the IPCC’s special report on global warming. "I don't want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists... And then I want you to take real action.”

Merriam-Webster has added the nonbinary pronoun “they” to the dictionary. That’s the dictionary telling bigots to go fuck themselves! 

Ja’leyah-Jamar is the 19th trans woman to be murdered in the U.S. this year. Police in her town of Kansas City, KS, misgendered and misidentified her. Of the 19 trans women killed this year, 18 have been black women. 

The Sandy Hook Promise campaign made this powerful (and graphic) PSA about school shootings for back-to-school season. 

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday, reflecting continued worries about the strength of the U.S. economy. Trump, who wants to compromise the Fed’s independence so that it will more aggressively juice the economy ahead of his re-election, took the news in stride. 

A day after polls closed in Israel, it’s still unclear who will serve as the country’s prime minister. It appears Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won 31 seats in parliament, while the Blue and White party (headed by Netanyahu’s opponent Benny Gantz) won 32. That’s bad news for Netanyahu (and good for the world), but neither party won enough seats to claim a majority, and the winner will be determined by who can form a coalition with other parties, or by the formation of a national unity government.

If Netanyahu loses his premiership, he will become vulnerable to indictments on corruption and bribery charges. Perhaps aware that Bibi’s days as prime minister appear numbered, Trump promptly threw him under the bus, saying he hadn’t spoken with him and asserting that the administration’s relationship is “with Israel.” In other words, “sorry to this man.” 

New Mexico has unveiled a plan to make tuition at its public colleges and universities free for all state residents, regardless of family income. Nationwide, nearly half of all states have guaranteed free two or four year public college to some students, but this is one of the boldest efforts by a state to address the astronomical costs of higher education, and New Mexico plans to use oil revenue to pay for it. The proposal still requires legislative approval. 

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up to get What A Day in your inbox!

Want to advertise with us? What are you waiting for?!