The Morning Briefing: Embassy Opens Today in the Capital of Israel and Much, Much More

Good Monday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president receives his intelligence briefing
President Trump has lunch with Vice President Mike Pence

U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, opens today!

This morning’s Jerusalem Post. #USA #Israel #USEmbassyJerusalem pic.twitter.com/egzd2BinqX

— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) May 14, 2018

Europe could face sanctions for continued deal with Iran

Our European allies, desperate for economic relations with ~~Hezbollah~~ Iran to prop up their garbage economies, are at risk of getting some big fat sanctions from the United States if they want to stay in the trashed Iran deal.

“Europeans are going to face the effective U.S. sanctions, already are really, because much of what they would like to sell to Iran involves U.S. technology, for which the licenses will not be available,” the national security adviser said.

Bolton asserted that Iran has been increasingly exercising its military power in the Middle East “under cover” of its nuclear deal with the U.S. and its European allies.

“Iran was shifting the balance of power in the Middle East until President Trump got out of this deal,” Bolton said. “If you look at the advances that Iran has made under cover of this agreement, its conventional military and terrorist advances, in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen, since 2015, Iran was really on the march.”

Pompeo: U.S. tried, failed to achieve side deal with European allies

Avenatti watch

The “lawyer” for porn star Stormy Daniels has been gifted $175 million worth of airtime by the resistance media. Who is this guy and who is paying him? The media doesn’t care as long as he ‘s selling what they want—and he sure is.

The Washington Free Beacon analyzed 108 appearances by Avenatti on MSNBC and CNN over a 64-day period from March 7 to May 10. To calculate his earned media time, the Free Beacon multiplied the length of his appearances on a program by its “National Publicity Value” determination from media monitoring site TVEyes.com.

The total came out to $174,631,598.07 from at least 65 CNN appearances and 43 MSNBC appearances. Avenatti’s favorite shows include CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” (at least 20 interviews), MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” (14), CNN’s “New Day” (12), CNN’s “Tonight with Don Lemon” (eight), and MSNBC’s “Deadline White House” (seven).

The Daily Caller has a closer look at Mr. Avenatti.

Avenatti’s past is littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings. People who have worked with the lawyer described him to TheDCNF as ruthless, greedy and unbothered by ethical questions.

Dillanos Coffee CEO David Morris claimed last Tuesday that Avenatti never paid him for over $160,000 worth of coffee that Dillanos supplied to Avenatti’s company. “So @StormyDaniels hot shot lawyer Michael owes my small company @Dillanos $160,179 for coffee,” Morris wrote on Twitter. “He talks a big talk about integrity. We trusted him.”

And there’s more:

Those who have worked with Avenatti describe an individual obsessed with fame and willing to use unethical methods to win a case.

“He honestly believes he can get up and say or do anything he wants and there’s no repercussions — largely there’s not,” said one individual who has worked with Avenatti in the past.

“I know this guy; he doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He loves the attention. It’s his whole lifestyle.”

Robert Barnes, an attorney, tweeted out this morsel yesterday:

The law firm that represented the ex-employee & structured the settlement w/ #Avenatti when the sudden, unidentified millions came in for #Avenatti to bail his law firm out of its crushing debts and possible criminal tax charges? The one & only: Perkins Coie.

— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) May 13, 2018

The same Perkins Coie law firm that hired Fusion GPS to write the salacious and unverified dossier? Well isn’t that wild?

Related:

I’m just going to put this right here:

Mr. Browder is referring to Ms. Veselnitskaya’s public acknowledgment that she is “an informant” for the Russian prosecutor general’s office. “That makes her an agent,” Mr. Browder insists. “So Glenn Simpson was working, effectively, also as an agent for the Russian government, as an adjunct to the Russian FSB,” the KGB’s successor. “At the same time . . . he’s doing this project to create a dossier on Trump.”

Who leaked the alleged remarks from WH press person Kelly Sadler? We’ll never know.

Last week, a leak emerged from the White House that claimed that during a meeting, press aide Kelly Sadler responded crudely to Senator John McCain’s opposition to Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA. McCain is battling brain cancer and he’s home in Arizona getting treatment. Sadler was purported to say, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”

I don’t know what Sadler said and I don’t know what the context of her alleged remarks were. She could have meant the WH should just leave McCain alone since he is suffering terminal brain cancer. Obviously, it’s not a good look for the WH to attack him while he is in bad condition, but this explanation doesn’t allow nasty anti-Trump headlines. Also important in this scenario is the question of who leaked this alleged statement and why did they leak it? Alas, the incurious media is not looking for answers. Have they called the WH press office to ask for more information about the alleged remark, or is this yet another instance where the media will run any story, no questions asked, if it’s an anti-Trump story?

The elites are calling for Sadler to apologize, resign or be fired. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan called on Sadler to “show some respect and apologize.” By the way, The Hill characterizes Sadler’s alleged remarks as “mocking” McCain’s cancer,” which is a real stretch.

Meghan McCain wants a public apology. Apparently, she spoke with Sadler, who promised an apology. “When I had a conversation with Kelly, I asked her to publicly apologize and she said she would,” Meghan McCain, a co-host on ABC’s “The View,” said Sunday. “I have not spoken to her since and I assume that it will never come.” Meghan McCain also complained on “The View” that she was surprised that Sadler “still had a job.”

One public figure who was punished for their remarks on Senator McCain is former Fox News guest Thomas McInerney.

A Fox spokeswoman tells me that Thomas McInerney will no longer be invited on Fox Biz or Fox News as a guest… https://t.co/W07VCwMJ2A

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2018

McInerney called McCain a “songbird” while responding to McCain’s remarks about torture. McInerney was making the claim that torture works as evidenced by former POW McCain singing like a bird to his Vietnam captors.

Remember, the media only likes Senator McCain because he beats up on conservatives and President Trump. They sure didn’t like him when he ran for president.

Stopped clock award:

Nick Kristof of The New York Times writes in his column, “Our Addiction to Trump”:

We in the commentariat complain about President Trump, but we’re locked in a symbiotic relationship with him.

News organizations, especially cable television channels, feed off Trump — like oxpeckers on a rhino’s back — for he is part of our business model in 2018. As long as our focus is on Trump, audiences follow.

Indeed.

Historical picture of the day:

Prime Minister Winston Churchill lights up his cigar again before broadcasting a radio address to the British people from Washington on May 14, 1943. (AP Photo/Byron Rollins)

Other morsels:

Someone Is Making ‘Cuck: The Film’

From Russia With No Love Lost

KNOWN WOLF ALERT: Paris attacker who stabbed 5 was on police watch list, official says

Paris attacker apparently pledged allegiance to ISIS in video

Bolton: Denuclearization is non-negotiable — including non-nuclear weapons

Trump orders relief for banned Chinese telecoms giant ZTE

Vermont passes gender-neutral bathroom bill

Trump wants Senate to advance spending bills, nominations before break

IMPORTANT Schools’ culture of tolerance lets students like Nikolas Cruz slide

Republican Oklahoma Governor Vetoes ‘Constitutional Carry’ Bill, NRA Is Not Happy

Dick Cheney wants to bring back waterboarding because ‘it worked’