Like what you read below? Sign up for HUFFPOST HILL and get a cheeky dose of political news every evening!
A law school is offering a class on Trump’s first 100 days, making it the first time that Trump and education will be legally entwined in a way that doesn’t involve fraud claims. Speaking of jurisprudence, the Justice Department is defending the Muslim ban with this one WEIRD TRICK — and by “WEIRD TRICK,” we mean “Jim Crow-era Supreme Court decision.” And liberal human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in was elected South Korea’s president, likely because of all the elite journalists who got out of the Seoul bubble and spent some time with real South Koreans in Gangwon Province. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, May 9th, 2017:
PRESIDENTIAL BRIBE OPPORTUNITY! - Certainly the best opportunity since the time Jimmy Carter was manning that club door and kept looking at us while rubbing his index finger and thumb together. Julie Bykowicz: “A luxury Caribbean property Donald Trump purchased four years ago is for sale, raising the possibility that a buyer could see it as a way to get on the president’s radar. The complex, known as Le Chateau des Palmiers, is at the edge of the turquoise waters of Plum Bay on the western tip of French St. Martin. It features a five-bedroom ocean villa and four-bedroom garden villa, according to the listing on Sotheby’s International Realty. There’s also a heated pool and a tennis court.” [AP]
YOUR AUNT IS GOING TO SHARE THIS ON FACEBOOK - Congratulations to James Comey on winning this year’s Katherine Harris Award for being the most-hated American bureaucrat. Evan Perez and Miranda Green: “FBI Director James Comey erroneously told Congress last week that former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin ‘forwarded hundreds and thousands’ of emails to her husband’s laptop — and the bureau is looking for a way to clean up his error, according to officials familiar with the matter. According to Comey, Clinton’s emails had been forwarded to the computer of Abedin’s husband, former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner. But US officials told CNN last fall the majority of the thousands of emails reviewed by the FBI got to Weiner’s computer via a backup system for Abedin’s phone.” [CNN]
IT’S ALMOST LIKE THERE SHOULD BE SOME KIND OF POLITICAL PARTY THAT HAS THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO DO THIS - Are the Dems in disarray, or are the Dems, er, dis-disarraying themselves? Paul Blumenthal and Sam Stein: “Democratic activist groups have a new plan for their party to take back control of Congress: Raise money for yet-to-be determined Democratic nominees. At least three Democratic-allied groups ― including ActBlue, the biggest online fundraiser for Democratic candidates ― are raking in money from donors who don’t care who they’re supporting, as long as it’s a Democrat in a certain district. Immediately after House Republicans passed a bill to repeal Obamacare, Daily Kos, ActBlue and Swing Left each put out calls to fund challengers to Republicans who voted for the legislation. The three groups combined to raise more than $2 million in less than 24 hours for dozens of Democratic nominees whose identities will be determined at a later date.” [HuffPost]
Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s book, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government
Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to eliot@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
ISOLATIONIST PRESIDENT DOING HIS BEST RONALD REAGAN IMPRESSION - Honestly, we’re surprised the president hasn’t greenlighted a Star Wars program — and we mean a literal, hey-can-we-build-a-Death-Star “Star Wars” program. Michael R. Gordon: “President Trump has approved a plan to provide Syrian Kurds with heavier weapons so they can participate in the battle to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. American military commanders have long argued for arming the Y.P.G., a Kurdish militia that contains some of the most experienced fighters among the Syrian force that is battling the Islamic State. But Turkey has vociferously objected to such a move, insisting that the Kurdish fighters are linked with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which both it and the United States regard as a terrorist group.” [NYT]
Greetings from America: “Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) held a contentious town hall on Monday where he fielded questions from several angry constituents over his yes vote on the House-passed bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.” [HuffPost’s Igor Bobic]
CLEVER STUNT WELL-RECEIVED - Jeffrey Young: “The residents of New York’s 19th Congressional District have some questions about the health care bill that House Republicans passed last week. Unfortunately for them, Rep. John Faso, the local Republican who voted for the legislation, isn’t around to answer them right now…. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat from New York’s neighboring 18th District, paid a visit to Faso’s home territory Monday evening for an event organized by Maloney’s re-election campaign and local progressive groups. ‘Hey, listen. I have a question for you. I’m Representative Sean Patrick Maloney. Where the heck is your congressman?’ he said.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP MEETING WITH EXACTLY WHO YOU’D THINK HE’D MEET WITH - Well, almost. We’re still waiting on the photo-op with the GoDaddy.com CEO. Andrew Restuccia and Aidan Quigley: “The people who have met with Donald Trump since he became president tend to have a lot in common, according to a database POLITICO compiled from public documents, media accounts and its own reporting: They’re mostly male, largely Republican and often rich. Of the more than 1,200 people who have had direct access to the president as of Monday night, the majority — about 80 percent — are white. And almost 63 percent are white men. Trump has huddled with at least 270 business executives and nearly 350 politicians — mainly Republicans but also dozens of Democrats. And he’s met in person or spoken by phone with 47 world leaders, most often the leaders of Japan and Germany, plus a vast grab bag of other figures, from pro golfers to rocker Ted Nugent to Matt Drudge.” [Politico]
GA-6 GETTING AS STUPID AS EVERYONE EXPECTED IT TO GET - There’s been a sad paucity of people in furry outfits, though. Sam Levine: “U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten, who was nominated by former GOP President George W. Bush to the federal bench, ruled last week that Georgia had to extend its voter registration deadline until May 21 for the runoff contest between [Republican Karen] Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff. Federal law says that states can set a deadline for voter registration no sooner than 30 days before an election. Georgia had argued that the 30-day deadline applied to the initial special election in April, but not the runoff…. Handel...insists her constituents should be angry over a federal judge’s decision to let more people register to vote in a June runoff…. ‘This is going to boil your blood. Just hours ago, the Democrats won their lawsuit to extend voter registration in Georgia before our election’ she wrote in the email.” [HuffPost]
Take note, House Republicans seem to be heading to the exits: “Rep. Raul R. Labrador intends to run for governor of Idaho, according to multiple local media reports. The Idaho Republican has reportedly filed paperwork with the state in order to run for governor. Labrador told CBS affiliate KBOI that he would formally announce his candidacy in the coming weeks…. Labrador is the sixth member of the House to announce a gubernatorial run in the 2018 cycle.” [Roll Call’s Bridget Bowman]
Sore winner update: “On Tuesday, Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media, celebrated the six-month anniversary of the election by tweeting a screen grab of the late night phone call in which Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton called to concede to Republican candidate Donald Trump. Scavino promised to share video of the conversation, which he said came via a Nov. 9 phone call at 2:30 a.m. from longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin to Trump’s then-campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway.” [Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker]
JIM CROW WASN’T THAT BAD: TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT - This is even worse than saying Jim Crow wasn’t so bad because you went to the most delightful plantation wedding. Nick Baumann and Julia Craven: “In a brief defending its ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department approvingly cited a segregation-era Supreme Court decision that allowed Jackson, Mississippi, to close public pools rather than integrate them. In the early 1960s, courts ordered Jackson to desegregate its public parks, which included five swimming pools. Instead, the city decided to close the pools. Black residents of Jackson sued. But in 1971, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, decided that closing the pools rather than integrating them was just fine.” [HuffPost]
Trump wants to open up our libel laws but he might be keen on closing our bombing civilian laws: “The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit for federal documents on the botched Yemen raid that killed a Navy SEAL and up to 25 civilians shortly after Donald Trump took office. The president reportedly approved the January 29 operation that killed Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens and the civilians ― including nine children ― over dinner. He was not in the Situation Room during the raid on al Ghayil village in central Yemen, as is traditional with such missions. Some critics have said the raid that also destroyed a $70 million Osprey helicopter was launched with inadequate intelligence, ground support or backup preparations.” [HuffPost’s Mary Papenfuss]
MEET THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN WASHINGTON - After Ivanka Trump, that is. Alexander Bolton and Niv Elis: “Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is the most powerful person in Washington few have heard of. As the Senate’s chief procedural referee, she will decide how much of President Trump’s agenda can pass without any Democratic votes. GOP leaders plan to pass legislation reforming the nation’s healthcare system and overhauling the tax code through special ‘budget reconciliation’ rules that would prevent a Democratic filibuster.” [The Hill]
LOOK WHAT ALL THIS ECONOMIC ANXIETY IS DOING - Yep. Economic anxiety. Christopher Mathias: “A prominent American Muslim civil liberties group says it recorded a nearly 600 percent rise in hate crimes targeting Muslims over the past three years ― an increase the organization attributes to a presidential election cycle rife with anti-Muslim animus. In a report released Tuesday called “The Empowerment of Hate,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it recorded over 2,200 ‘anti-Muslim bias incidents’ in 2016, a 57 percent increase from the year before. Among those 2,200 incidents last year were 260 anti-Muslim hate crimes, the report states. That’s a 44 percent rise from 2015, when CAIR counted 180 hate crimes, and a staggering 584 percent increase from 2014, when the group counted just 38 hate crimes.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP STUDIES - *Law professor paces around well of lecture hall, hands gingerly folded behind waist,* “Mr. Baumwell, would you please explain to us the significance of Trump’s Twitter Account v. The 9th Circuit?” Sam Stein: “[The] Cardozo professors moved swiftly. By Sunday night, they had mapped out...a 10-week, not-for-credit course that touched on various constitutional, legal and political issues stemming from the president’s tumultuous first 100 days. There was the travel ban, a Supreme Court appointment, regulatory law and executive powers. They brought the idea to the registrar the next day. Within two more days they had a course description posted online. And within 90 minutes, enrollment had filled. The school placed the course in its largest classroom to accommodate 125 students.” [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a warning to all cats not to explore plastic bags too closely.
OBAMA OPENS UP ON PRESIDENCY - He also opened up perhaps one-too-many buttons on his shirt. We get you’re in Milan, dude, but c’mon. Paige Lavender: “Former President Barack Obama has revealed what he doesn’t miss about the presidency: the isolation. ‘You know the hardest thing about being the president of the United States, it is unique in its isolation,’ Obama told former White House chef Sam Kass during an interview in Milan, northern Italy. ‘The burdens of leadership are true in any country, but in part because of the security apparatus around a U.S. president, you live in what’s called “the bubble,”’ Obama continued. ‘It is a very nice prison. So you don’t have the freedom of movement to be able to just take a walk, or to sit at a cafe, because there’s always this security concern around you. I don’t miss that.’” [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- That kid who asked Wendy’s for free nuggets is… wait for it… getting his free nuggets.
- How to make one of the Soup Nazi’s soups.
- You should think about dating this guy.
TWITTERAMA
Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com)