The Morning Briefing: The Senate GOP Hates Trump and Much, Much More

Good Thursday morning.

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

The president meets with governors and members of Congress
President Trump gives remarks on tax cuts for American workers

Smack my b!tch up (this is the tile of a song)

Guess who got their memo? That’s right. The slow-walking swampers at the DOJ finally turned over the “Electronic Communication” they were legally required to produce to Congress. I go to bed pretty early since I wake up early to polish off the Briefing, but I was fully prepared to stay up until 12:01 a.m. to watch Devin Nunes kick in the door to the DOJ with some mighty jackboots to get that document and frogmarch the subversives into the slammer. Alas, it did not come to pass. A girl can dream…

Facing legal action, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein allowed House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to view the FBI memo that instigated the bureau’s counterintelligence investigation of contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign, Nunes confirmed on Wednesday.

The meeting came a day after Nunes threatened to take legal action — including contempt proceedings and impeachment — against Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray for failing to produce a clean copy of the memo, known as an electronic communication or EC, that was responsive to an August 2017 committee subpoena.

Joe diGenova, a former federal prosecutor, says Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein should be fired. DiGenvoa called Special Counsel Mueller’s no-knock posse “legal terrorists” and described auto-ethnographer and Twitter celebrity James Comey as a “dirty cop.” Business Insider has the story. It’s totally biased and calls diGenova “controversial” and describes him and his wife, also a former DOJ lawyer, as conspiracy theorists.

Back to the firing Rosenstein matter: he should be fired, but I don’t know if that’s the smartest strategy right now. The Senate, comprised of mostly anti-Trump Republicans and Democrats, is rooting for Trump to go down and I can’t imagine they would confirm a replacement for Rosenstein. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to hold up all of Trump’s other nominations. Our agencies have almost no senior appointments in place because McConnell wants to have leverage. He’s comfortable with unstaffed agencies and empty ambassador posts just to have this leverage. If Rosenstein is fired and the Senate won’t confirm a replacement, then one of the corrupt, professional government employees will fill the spot in an “acting” capacity and we are in the same place where we started. The same thing goes for firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Republicans or “Republicans” don’t operate like the Democrats, who always have a unified front. Not so for “our” side. This isn’t about party principles, it’s about power and Trump in power means the “Republicans” are not.

Speaking of corrupt professional government employees, why do these clowns still have their clearances?

How much do the senators hate Trump? Senate panel moves to take up bill protecting Mueller, The Hill writes. Why would they protect Mueller? He has unrestrained license to use the force and power of government to conduct a forensic examination of selected political enemies. So far, Mueller’s “victories” have nothing to do with the fake investigatory pretense of “colluding with RUSSIA.” Rosenstein is the one who allowed Mueller’s “by any means necessary” pursuit of Trump. The special counsel is supposed to be investigating a crime, but what’s the crime and where’s the evidence? Yet here comes the Republican-controlled Senate to protect the GET TRUMP racket. A pox on them.

Michael Cohen raid sought ‘Access Hollywood’ tape records

Axios: Comey compared Trump to a ‘mob boss’ in ABC interview

Mueller Asks Judge To Subpoena 35 Witnesses For Manafort Trial

Michael Cohen search warrant documents mentioned Trump by name

Zuck, day 2

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it to the other side of his second day of testimony on the Hill and he’s probably long fled Washington, D.C., by now. The testimony before the House was more heated than his field trip to the Senate.

“You’re collecting medical data, correct, on people who are on the internet, whether they’re Facebook users or not?” Rep. Cathy Castor (D-FL) asked. “Congresswoman, yes,” Zuckerberg said in an uneasy tone, before she cut him off.

“It’s practically impossible these days to remain untracked in America, for all the good Facebook and the internet has brought,” Castor concluded. “And that’s not part of the bargain.”

Medical.data.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) asked Zuck about the Obama campaign’s use of the same kind of data Cambridge Analytica had access to but Zuck denied that. “We didn’t allow the Obama campaign to do anything that any developer on the platform wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do,” Zuckerberg said. “No special treatment.” Really?

They came to office in the days following election recruiting & were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.

— Carol Davidsen (@cld276) March 19, 2018

A few congressfolk pressed Zuck on the unfair censorship of Trump supporters Diamond and Silk. Facebook informed the chit-chatty duo that they were “unsafe for the community.” Zuck claimed ignorance of the Diamond and Silk situation so I wonder what kind of preparation he got before testifying. He knew he was going to appear before politicos on both the left and right and yet he showed up without any knowledge of issues that might be of political concern regarding his company. Remember, Facebook was busted for hiding stories originating from conservative websites in its “trending news” sidebar. The company had to overhaul their ranking system because their weirdo-liberal-freak employees were punishing websites over political differences. Anyway, I suspect he was not briefed with information but that he was briefed by lawyers.

One more thing: be worried about Zuck’s repeated praise and references to “AI” or artificial intelligence. It was very creepy.

Roseanne Just Weighed In On Facebook’s Diamond And Silk Censorship

He’s bonkers. Jim Carrey continues to attack Mark Zuckerberg with a drawing of him as an alien who’s come to destroy Earth

Rush Limbaugh Slams Congress Over Moronic Facebook Questions — ‘The Questions Were Literally Embarrassing’

As nasty as they want to be

Today, former CIA director and current nominee to head the State Department will appear for his confirmation hearing in the Senate.

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have vowed to question Pompeo, know for his hawkish views, where he stands on major policy issues including military action in Syria, a nuclear summit with North Korea and the fate of the nuclear deal with Iran. Given his tight-knit relationship with President Donald Trump, Democrats want to know whether he can put partisan politics aside, committee aides have told ABC News.

Here’s some criticism of Pompeo coming from the Anti-Defamation League.

The Anti-Defamation League has also raised concerns about what it says is Pompeo’s record of anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT rhetoric.

In a letter sent to the committee on Monday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called on Pompeo to repudiate some of his views.

“Mr. Pompeo’s long, documented record of anti-Muslim prejudice threatens to undermine the essential work our Secretary of State does in representing American interests and values abroad,” Greenblatt said.

“In our view, it is essential for the nominee to repudiate his past anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim views and to renounce any associations with anti-Muslim conspiracy-haunted organizations.”

The Associated Press reports that Pompeo will call RUSSIA “a danger to our country” in his testimony.

He’ll draw a sharp contrast with the tenure of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pompeo will say rampant vacancies in top State Department roles were “demoralizing” and will vow to work to fill those jobs.

Pompeo got some advice from old drunken goat Hillary Clinton, who told him to stop purging people at the State Department.

“I told him that I thought he should take a hard look at retaining career diplomats who could advise him. Because you never know what might happen. You never know where the next hot spot or crisis will happen,” Clinton said.

She would know about hot spots and crises. Or not. I have my own advice for Pompeo: burn it down.

Historical picture of the day:

This caption provided by Associated Press may be wrong as the photo looks like a drink menu and the computer says “American Beverage Control.” Thanks to our eagle-eyed commenter housebroken leftist. Gus Bacoyanis, systems manager for computer services, Field Enterprises, checks IBM System 7 computer which receives high-speed stock market reports for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News in Chicago, April 12, 1977. Bottom photo shows IBM 370/138, which takes signal from System 7, composes, then sends stock downstairs to be set. (AP Photo/Larry Stoddard)

Other morsels:

Gross. A Russian troll factory pushed a fake Hillary Clinton sex tape on Reddit

House Speaker Paul Ryan says he will leave Congress in January: ‘I have given this job everything I have’

Legislature finds credible allegations of forced sex by Missouri governor

California’s Jerry Brown Agrees To Send National Guard To Border

State Senator who said she hoped Trump would be assassinated calls for reparations for slavery

Who cares? NRA got more money from Russia-linked sources than earlier reported

I’m ‘a member of the African-American community,’ says white Dem seeking state House seat

ACLU sues to block new Kentucky law restricting abortions

Poll: Majority of college presidents worry about violence surrounding free speech issues

DHS: Antifa, Not White Supremacists, Posed ‘Greatest Threat To Public Safety’ At Coulter Event

Mick Mulvaney Educates Maxine Waters On Separation Of Powers