The Morning Briefing: Nadler Refuses Negotiation with DoJ, Barr

Good Wednesday morning.

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

The president participates in a photo opportunity with leaders attending an event to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
The president and first lady participate in an event to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
The president and first lady participate in a meet and greet with her majesty the queen and D-Day veterans
The president and first lady bid farewell to her majesty the queen
The president and first lady participate in a reception with his royal highness the prince of Wales and other leaders attending the D-Day commemoration
The president and first lady participate in a meet and greet with United States service members
The president participates in a luncheon at the D-Day commemoration
President Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the prime minister of Ireland
The president participates in an expanded bilateral meeting with the prime minister of Ireland

Dossier fabulist Christopher Steele will meet with DoJ officials in London

Oh boy. Is this a smart move by Steele? I don’t think so, but let’s get it on, or as my friend Kyle says, LGIO. This is from The Hill, a lefty troll website. They have come a long way since their days of providing an outlet for and propping up collusion conspiracy theories.

A source close to Steele told The Times he will meet with investigators in London in the coming weeks. Republicans have long alleged it was Steele’s dossier that improperly led to an FBI inquiry, which ultimately morphed into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between the Trump and campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s report to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. Steele’s report, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and DNC, also fueled media speculation that President Donald Trump was compromised by the Kremlin and that campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

The special counsel’s report dealt a heavy blow to the dossier. The probe was unable to establish a conspiracy involving the Trump campaign. The report also undercut a key claim in the dossier: that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen visited Prague in August 2016 to meet with Kremlin insiders to discuss paying off hackers. Cohen has denied all of the allegations against him in the dossier, which BuzzFeed published on Jan. 10, 2017.

A heavy blow to the dossier, eh? Where are the apologies for those of us who were saying the dossier was trash years ago?

CNN Analyst: Steele’s Meeting With DOJ ‘Will Not End Up Well’ For Dossier Author

Manafort will get no special treatment at Rikers Island, de Blasio says

Judge OK without public release of Flynn-Kislyak transcript

Meanwhile…

Nadler refuses to deal with Barr or delay contempt vote

There’s no good will from the House Democrats here, so let’s just call it what it is: a performance.

But Nadler on Tuesday evening sent a new letter to the Justice Department rejecting its request to resume negotiations on the committee’s subpoena on the condition that the House would delay the contempt vote scheduled for June 11.

“We urge you to return to the accommodation process without conditions,” Nadler wrote. “We are ready to begin negotiating immediately.”

Nadler’s letter came after the Justice Department wrote to Nadler earlier Tuesday saying it could work with the committee to produce a limited set of documents. The Justice Department wrote that it was hoping for a similar concession with the Judiciary Committee that it worked out with the House Intelligence Committee for access to a set of a dozen documents related to Mueller’s counterintelligence work.

As you may know, the statute for the special counsel only requires that the special counsel turn over a report to the Attorney General. That’s done. Over. Finished. The Attorney General can decide to release some or all of the report and Barr has gone above and beyond what is required of him. Fat Jerry is like that drunk guy at the neighborhood dive bar who just wants to get in a fight, and if a nice lady goes over to the jukebox and puts on Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower,” he is going to walk over and smash his Rolling Rock beer bottle on her head. It doesn’t matter what Barr offers, Nadler is going to smash his Rolling Rock bottle on Barr’s head.

Ex-Broward Deputy Sheriff Scot Peterson, who did jack squat while kids were murdered in the school he was “protecting,” is arrested

Stone cold punk, this guy. Scot Peterson, who was “on duty” at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a massacre took place, was arrested yesterday.

Broward County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scot Peterson, 56, was terminated from his position and charged with multiple counts of child neglect on Tuesday after an internal investigation found that he retreated while students were under attack in the February 2018 shooting, that left 17 people dead.

Internal investigators claimed Peterson “did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting,” according to a statement. He faces seven counts of neglect of a child, three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury.

Boo-hoo. “We cannot fulfill our commitment to always protect the security and safety of our Broward County community without doing a thorough assessment of what went wrong that day,” Broward County Interim Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement. “The Broward Sheriff’s Office and our first responders are now better prepared and trained to respond to an active shooter crisis.”

“They have been terminated and will no longer be privileged to serve as law enforcement deputies for the Broward Sheriff’s Office,” the statement said. “We have enhanced our active shooter response protocol, increased our training staff, introduced essential equipment, established training partnerships with federal organizations and are building a regional training center.”

The gunman, who had multiple documented disciplinary problems and run-ins with the police before he went on his murder spree, is still awaiting trial.

Jussie Smollett will not return to “Empire”

Actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of faking a hate crime and then getting strange special treatment from corrupt Chicago politicos, will not be returning for the final season of “Empire.” The show’s co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels tweeted yesterday that Smollett was out.

@Variety @JoeOtterson This is not factual. Jussie will NOT be returning to Empire. -LD

— Lee Daniels Entertainment (@leedanielsent) June 4, 2019

Smollett told authorities and the media that he was attacked at 2 a.m. in freezing cold temperatures by two masked white guys with MAGA hats who beat him, put a noose around his neck, sprayed some chemicals on him, and muttered anti-gay, pro-Trump things at him. It turned out the attackers were two African-American brothers whom Smollett worked with on his show. The brothers claim Smollett hired them to beat him up for the publicity. Victimhood is the highest virtue, doncha’ know?

Bye Jussie.

Other morsels:

Los Angeles homelessness rises sharply as housing crisis deepens

You bought the ticket, now take the ride. Seattle liberals want a city council that will do more to deal with homelessness and crime

Trump clarifies ‘nasty’ comments about Meghan Markle

Very sad. 17-year-old girl voluntarily euthanized in the Netherlands — due to emotional pain

Laid-off reporters launch project to ‘Save Journalism’

Trump rips ‘washed up psycho’ Bette Midler for sharing fake quote

Chip Roy Gives Ocasio-Cortez A Legal Lesson On Domestic Terrorism

DC Restaurant Industry Rips Ocasio-Cortez After Pushing For $15 Minimum Wage For All

Politicians Are Calling For A Ban On Silencers. Here’s What You Need To Know

Group pushes Boston ‘straight pride’ parade, sparks backlash