Several news stories have been, shall we say, concerning. Let’s start with the Secret Service.
The Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021. “Joseph V. Cuffari, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees indicating that the text messages have vanished and that efforts to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack were being hindered.”
The Secret Service says that the erasures were accidental and happened because of a planned upgrade or migration or some such. Not deliberate! Sure.
Cuffari emphasized that the erasures came “after” the Office of Inspector General requested copies of the text messages for its own investigation, and signaled that they were part of a pattern of DHS resistance to his inquiries. Staff members are required by law to surrender records so that he can audit the sprawling national security agency, but he said they have “repeatedly” refused to provide them until an attorney reviews them.
Someone on MSNBC compared the erasure to motel staff finding a body in a room but going ahead with “scheduled” housekeeping, destroying evidence. It does look suspicious.
Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that a Washington D.C. police officer who was with Trump’s motorcade on January 6 has corroborated the story Cassidy Hutchison told about Trump’s throwing a tantrum and fighting with Secret Service agents in his car when he was told they would not take him to the Capitol. This was part of evidence given to investigators for the House January 6 committee. But then CNN also said this:
Neither of the agents named in the testimony have commented publicly on Hutchinson’s testimony. But soon after it, a Secret Service official who would only speak on background, said Engel would deny parts of the story regarding Trump grabbing at the steering wheel and lunging toward an agent on his detail. The agency has said the agents involved would testify to that effect, though they have not yet gone back to the committee to testify.
“Engel” is Robert Engel, who was Trump’s Secret Service lead agent. Hutchinson testified that Tony Ornato, then-White House deputy chief of staff, told her the story in front of Engel and he did not dispute the account. But it sounds as if the Secret Service is trying to cover up Trump’s bad behavior, doesn’t it?
And let us not forget that Mike Pence didn’t trust the Secret Service.
And I’m not saying one thing had anything to do with the other thing, but … Ivana Trump, wife #1, died yesterday from a fall down the stairs in her New York home. She was only 73, which seems young to me, so that’s a shame. She seemed to be enjoying her life. And today New York Attorney General Letitia James had expected to be hearing sworn depositions from Trump and two of Ivana’s children with Trump, Ivana and Junior. The Trumps had tried to get out of the deposition through the courts but failed. Because of Ivana’s death, the depositions were postponed.
Ivana had not qualified for Secret Service protection, I don’t believe. Just wife #3 and the kids.
Elsewhere: There’s a lot that’s been going on with legislation that I haven’t been writing about, but Whatever Might Have Been has been destroyed by Joe Manchin, who declared today that he would not support any new taxes or any new environmental spending.
First, I want to drop Manchin into Yosemite National National Park with a couple of buckets of water and tell him to save the sequoias. It does appear that the sequoias are safe, for now, though. Maybe we could lock him up in a trailer in Texas with one creaky window air conditioner and wish him good luck if the power fails.
The West Virginia Democrat reportedly told party leaders late Thursday that he won’t support any new incentives to combat climate change or any new tax hikes on corporations or the wealthy. The Post reports that in private talks, Manchin appeared close to a deal, only to renege at the last minute.
Yet as ludicrous as this turnaround is on its face, there are still more hidden absurdities behind the situation that show what a farce it has truly become. They turn on the specifics of what Manchin appeared to reject, and his inflation-related excuse for doing so, which amount to a display of towering bad faith. …
… The deal would have raised around $1 trillion in revenue from rolling back some of the 2017 GOP tax cuts. Half of that revenue would have gone to deficit reduction, and the other half would have gone mostly to funding the transition to green energy.
Manchin’s excuse for this is that he’s concerned about inflation. And we all know better.
He’s still open to a deal on prescription drug prices, at least until he decides he isn’t.
