The House Demands to See the Comey Memos

Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, fired off a letter to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, demanding that the bureau produce all “memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings” of James Comey’s meetings with Trump no later than May 24.

.. Administration officials have pushed back against the report. The next day, however, Trump posted two tweets that appeared to confirm the disclosure, saying that he had an “absolute right” to “share with Russia” information related to terrorism.

Trump Uses and Betrays His Collaborators

Spicer was determinedly dour and looked miserable. He was puffy, pinched and pale. And little wonder: Trump has sucked the lifeblood out of him.

.. Washington is abuzz with speculation about when Spicer will be shown the door, but it doesn’t really matter. His credibility, and his dignity, have already been defenestrated.

.. Trump has a long history of walking out of disasters unscathed. It’s those around him — the Spicers of the world — who are destroyed.

  • Trump entities filed for bankruptcy protection six times. Investors, lenders and workers took hits — and Trump moved on.
  • Trump was caught on tape boasting to Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women — and Billy Bush lost his job.
  • Corey Lewandowski and
  • Paul Manafort poured themselves into Trump’s campaign and were unceremoniously dumped.
  • Michael Flynn is out and potentially in legal trouble.
  • The FBI’s Comey arguably handed Trump the election — and learned of his dismissal from TV.
  • Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tarnished his sterling reputation in just two weeks.
  • Vice President Pence has been “unflagging in his loyalty,” only to be made “the public face of official narratives that turn out to be misleading or false.”
  • Trump humiliated Steve Bannon by publicly downplaying their association.
  • Trump repaid House Speaker Paul Ryan’s loyalty by winking at calls for Ryan’s ouster.
  • Attempts to defend Trump by aides Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have left them sounding clownish.

.. avoided answering questions by saying no fewer than 22 times how very “clear” he or Trump had been about this or that.

.. And, as many a Trump loyalist has discovered, you are useful to Trump until you are not — and then you are cast aside.

Cornyn as FBI director would cause big Senate shakeup

It would trigger a new round of leadership elections and a nasty confirmation fight — in the midst of Obamacare negotiations.

.. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 3 Republican, would be the early favorite to succeed Cornyn as whip. A source close to Thune said he is likely to run for the whip position if Cornyn leaves the Senate.

.. Cornyn’s elevation could also disrupt fragile negotiations to repeal Obamacare. Cornyn has been in nearly every meeting regarding the Senate’s attempt to pass a new health care bill.

.. If he’s offered the job and accepts, Cornyn’s confirmation could turn into a brutal partisan affair that would grip the Senate for weeks.

.. But Cornyn is also an intensely partisan Republican and would surely face attacks over his recent defense of Trump even as the Republican previously called for special prosecutors during Barack Obama’s presidency.

.. Democrats are already suggesting that they will make their votes contingent on a special prosecutor being appointed to investigate Trump associates’ ties with Russia.

.. The Texas Republican has deep relationships with his GOP Senate colleagues from two terms running the party’s campaign arm and said in a recent interview that he wants to be Senate leader someday.

.. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is showing no signs of giving up the top leadership job. The Kentucky senator is plotting a run for reelection in 2020, which could keep him as leader until 2026.

.. the firing of Comey has raised the question of whether future presidents will summarily fire directors chosen by the other party.