David Dayen at The Intercept writes—Pentagon refuses to disclose identity of foreign country contacted about Trump's military parade:
AN UNNAMED FOREIGN country communicated with planners of the now-scrapped Veterans Day military parade, according to documents obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request.
The parade was to run from the White House to the Capitol on November 11, the 100th anniversary of the armistice of World War I. President Donald Trump personally requested the military parade after witnessing a Bastille Day celebration in France, and members of all four armed forces were involved in the preparations. The parade polled poorly, with some, like Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., arguing that the event’s $92 million price tag was an unwarranted extravagance driven by the president’s ego. Ultimately, Trump canceled the parade in August, blaming D.C. leaders for the high cost.
Public Citizen requested communications between the Defense Department, the White House, and the National Park Service about the planning of the parade last September. After a protracted process, some of which remains under active litigation, the Pentagon responded with 76 pages of emails. Most of them reference the unnamed foreign government.
In correspondence with Public Citizen, compliance officials assigned to this case wrote, “This email contains a communication from a foreign government concerning the proposed parade. … We cannot provide more information beyond that we contacted the foreign government and they indeed requested, in writing, that we withhold the communication.” [...]
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QUOTATION
“I hate men who are afraid of women's strength.”
―Anaïs Nin, Henry and June: From ‘A Journal of Love—The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin (1931-1932)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2017—McConnell: Democrats shouldn't be able to use procedure to block judges that GOP used against Obama:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is endorsing a move on the federal judiciary that Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has hinted at: ending one of the procedures that Republicans regularly used to block President Obama's judicial nominees so that Democrats can't use it to block Trump's.
Grassley has already said that maybe he won't require the okay of judges' home state senators to proceed with circuit court nominations. He's threatened to ignore the "blue slip" tradition that Republicans used regularly to thwart Obama. Now—for the first time—McConnell is endorsing that idea, advocating that Democrats be shut out of the process.
"My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you're going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball," Mr. McConnell said in an interview with The New York Times for "The New Washington" podcast. He said he favored retaining the blue slip authority for lower-level district court judges.
With the conflict escalating, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has requested a meeting with Mr. McConnell and the top Republican and Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee to dissuade Republicans from weakening the blue slip.
On
today’s Kagro in the Morning show,
Armando has lots to add on the NY primaries, Manafort’s plea deal (and joint defense agreement), and the Kavanaugh nomination. We tried to get ahead on the Feinstein letter story, but then it exploded. At least you’ve got background for the weekend!
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