BY BRIAN BEUTLER, SARAH LAZARUS

& CROOKED MEDIA

Monday, October 7, 2019

— The Donald Trump behind the curtain

HAIL PERRY PLAY

Ah, fall: the air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and President Trump’s Halloween Decoration Rudy Giuliani helped his goons extort Ukraine for personal profit. 

Here’s what the Associated Press reported on Sunday night:

• Businessmen with ties to Trump and Giuliani sought to install a new management team at Ukraine’s national gas company, Naftogaz, in order to deliver lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies. 
  
  
• Outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry was also interested in stacking the Naftogaz board with Republican donors from Texas. We don’t know if he was coordinating with Giuliani, but Trump did try to throw Perry under the Ukraine bus this weekend.
  
  
• A businessman at the center of this plan, Lev Parnas, told Naftogaz executive Andrew Favorov that Trump planned to recall U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and replace her with someone more willing to help out with their business interests. Trump did, in fact, withdraw Yovanovitch a few months later, for what seemed like no reason. (Narrator: the reason...was crimes.)
  

• These same Giuliani henchmen also worked with Giuliani to coerce Ukraine into framing Joe Biden for made-up crimes. Now they’re trying to stonewall  the House’s expanding impeachment inquiry.

Other impeachment news: 

• A second intelligence-community whistleblower has come forward with firsthand knowledge of the abuses documented (and corroborated) in the first whistleblower’s complaint. 
  
  
• House Democrats have subpoenaed Vice President Mike Pence’s office, the Pentagon, and the Office of Management and Budget for documents related to the withholding of military aid to Ukraine.
   
• A federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve evidence of Trump’s dealings with foreign leaders. Someone keep an eye on Cousin Greg over Thanksgiving.
   
• Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rob Portman (R-OH) became the third and fourth GOP senators to condemn Trump’s call to have China investigate Joe Biden and his son, which means we’ve got (checks notes) 49 to go.

Bottom line: Trump definitely wants to be impeached, and that’s why he lured Democrats into this devious impeachment trap.

The United States abruptly withdrew American troops from Syria’s border with Turkey on orders from President Trump, stunning the whole world, including his own advisers and Republican leaders in Congress. In a late Sunday statement, the White House announced it would clear the way for a Turkish military offensive into Northern Syria, abandoning support for Kurdish fighters who have been key U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS. Lawmakers in both parties called the move “terribly unwise” and “a betrayal.” When Mitch McConnell’s willing to criticize Trump, you know it’s bad. 

This decision comes at a time when ISIS is gathering new strength, improving its financial networks, and targeting new recruits. Additionally, Turkey has made no secret of its desire to cleanse Kurds from the region. One National Security Council source says Trump issued the order impulsively after getting “rolled” on a phone call with Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Trump also profits from a huge real estate development in Istanbul, and given all we’ve learned about Trump’s foreign policy decisions, how can we possibly trust that this was done in the national interest?

President Trump signed a proclamation on Friday that will require immigrants to prove they can obtain health insurance before they get visas, and will deny them visas if they use Affordable Care Act subsidies. That means many low-income immigrants won’t be able to afford insurance, and as a result, will be turned away. That’s the whole point of the measure, which will come into effect November 3, and it’s why Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan got shouted offstage by protesters at Georgetown Law today. 

If you’re not close enough to McAleenan to scream at him in person, consider donating a few dollars to RAICES →

A new episode of America Dissected with Abdul El-Sayed is out today! It’s our ten-part series in which Dr. El-Sayed goes beyond the headlines to explore what really matters in our health. Check out the first three episodes, available now.

A federal judge has ruled that the Manhattan district attorney’s office can subpoena eight years of President Trump’s tax returns. Judge Marrero called Trump’s argument that a sitting president is immune to criminal investigation “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.” A good blurb for this whole presidency. Trump naturally filed an emergency appeal, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed the decision.

Joshua Brown, a key witness in the murder trial of former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, was killed on Friday under suspicious circumstances. Brown lived in the same apartment complex as Guyger and Botham Jean, whom Guyger shot in his own home. Brown was shot to death two days after Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He would have been a witness in a civil suit against Dallas police.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao met with way too many Kentuckians in her first 14 months. Out of all her scheduled meetings with local officials seeking grants, 25 percent were with officials from Kentucky, a state which accounts for about 1.3 percent of America’s population. Kentucky is also the state represented by Chao’s husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who faces re-election next year and is hideously unpopular, but that’s gotta be a coincidence.

The general manager of the Houston Rockets, Darey Morey, tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters on Friday, and China was not into it. Confronted with furious backlash from NBA’s Chinese partners and fans, the Rockets sided with the Chinese government, against democracy and their own GM, who quickly deleted the tweet. China meddling in our elections would be one thing, but interfering with the NBA? See you in the streets. 

For the first time in history, the 400 wealthiest Americans paid a lower average tax rate than any other income group. President Trump’s 2017 corporate tax cuts contributed to this moral travesty, and if Democrats don’t make it a major talking point in 2020 we will lose our goddamn minds.

Over 200 climate protesters participating in Extinction Rebellion demonstrations have been arrested in London. Activists there shut down roads around Parliament and blocked off locations across Westminster. Similar coordinated protests are expected in 60 cities around the world. 

Several states have warned hunters about an outbreak of “zombie” deer disease. This is apparently a neurological disease and not an apocalypse situation, but considering a deer attacked a hair salon this weekend, we have some questions.

Tide Pods are back, and this time, they’re whisky.

Rip Taylor, the comedian and actor known as “The King of Confetti,” died on Sunday. He was 84.

Our country is being tested in unprecedented ways. Get clear-eyed, sharp analysis of critical issues making the headlines with CAFE Insider. Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram break down politically charged legal news each week on the exclusive CAFE Insider podcast. Members also get a weekly newsletter, early access to events, and more.

The law impacts all of our lives. Join CAFE Insider today and get two free weeks of analysis of the news that impacts your life and America’s future.

Samantha Boucher, at age 24, will be the first openly transgender person to run a Senate campaign. Boucher will head Democrat Kimberly Graham’s Senate bid in Iowa as she competes with four other Democrats for the chance to take on Republican incumbent Joni Ernst. A long-time LQBTQ activist in Tennessee, Boucher helped to launch a “Queer The Vote” app aimed at helping Chattanooga voters identify candidates on the 2018 ballot who supported LGBTQ rights. Graham has said she hired Boucher after realizing “how dedicated she is to changing things for the better through political action, through her own activism and through her own history.”

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