This is quite astounding. President Trump is considering issuing a $15 billion line of credit to Iran to help them weather the financial chaos created by the sanctions we placed on them after Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal, according to a new report from the Daily Beast. We would be doing this to get them to come back into compliance with the deal that Obama negotiated, which was working and being complied with until Trump abrogated the deal. That led to sanctions and to Iran eventually “violating” the deal.
It sounds like Jerry Falwell Jr. may be taking legal advice from lawyers who went to Liberty University.
In discussing firing John Bolton, Trump tells reporters Kim Jong-un “wanted nothing to do with John Bolton.”
Trump explaining firing of John Bolton. "I don't blame Kim Jong-un for what he said after that. He wanted nothing to do with John Bolton." pic.twitter.com/d7Fvk9qwHn
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 11, 2019
We have yet another poll where all of the major Democratic presidential candidates are beating President Trump in a head-to-head match-up. This one from ABC-WAPO — Biden (15), Sanders (9), Warren (7), Harris (7), Buttigieg (4). (I’m a Buttigieg fan but I’m not sure he warrants inclusion in this top group anymore.)
Take a moment to watch this video Rudy Giuliani tweeted this morning to commemorate 9/11. Even in the age of Trump, it’s disturbing. It ties the battle against the perpetrators of 9/11 with battles against Antifa or generic left-seeming protestors. Indeed, it basically says they are one and the same. Watch.
Pretty stunning development down in North Carolina. We’ll have more on it shortly. But North Carolina Republicans used the opportunity of a morning session, which was supposed to have no votes, to push through a surprise veto override of the state budget with barely half the legislators there. There are reports that a number of the Dems were at 9/11 commemorations. But that’s less clear. More to come shortly.
In addition to various other hucksterism and shadery, Trump’s website designer-turned campaign manager Brad Parscale has the boss’s knack for fabulism.
Today in CNBC sponsored content for the Elizabeth Warren campaign …
Remarkable development here in the Alabama imbroglio. The headline is that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of the most corrupt of President Trump’s Cabinet secretaries, threatened to fire NOAA leadership over the Alabama dispute. (I hesitate even call it a “dispute.”) What struck me more is that administration officials are putting out word that staffers at the Birmingham office of the National Weather Service were simply trying to embarrass the President rather than acting out of concern for public safety. In the Times’ words: “That official suggested the Twitter post by the Birmingham forecasters had been motivated by a desire to embarrass the president more than concern for the safety of people in Alabama.”
Here’s the full text of the email from NOAA Acting Chief Scientist Craig McLean about Trump’s phony forecast and NOAA backing Trump up over its own meteorologists who were trying to set the record straight.
Dear Colleagues,
The fierce storm we know as Hurricane Dorian has concluded its ferocious path through the Bahamas and along the US East Coast. Many of you have contributed to the excellent science that has underpinned the forecasts and current understanding of storms such as this one, which accelerated quite rapidly in intensity. The storm also presented challenges in track which improved with enhanced observations. We know that our collective work, from the scientists in the aircraft penetrating the storm, to the scientists deploying the glider picket line, to the modelers and folks working the physics of the storms, across OAR and in our CI’s, and across all NOAA Lines, we are working the problem in order to give the NWS forecasters the best tools we possibly can to keep America and our neighbors safe. Thank you.