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[Malyse]

It's been almost a month, but not quite.

• Week 1 Thread
• Week 2 Thread
• Week 3 Thread

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-week-4-7b5dd114d14b#.w6y92hux8

Just as Week 3 was ending, Mother Jones asked, ”Whatever happened to the Trump-Russia story?" — unknowingly foreshadowing the subplot's return.

This week saw President Trump and his administration playing defense over National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The controversy reignited speculation about potential ties between Trump officials and Russia, and Trump caved to public pressure by asking for Flynn's resignation.

Many questions remain, including about who knew what when in the current scandal, and they've returned to the forefront in Week 4. Needless to say, it's been a hot mess.

The Big News

• Flynn flies: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned, after reports came out that he had potentially illegal backchannel discussions with Russia about U.S. sanctions and misled Vice President Pence about the nature of those calls. It was the shortest tenure of any national security adviser ever, and it's unclear if it will be investigated, whether Trump tried to cover it up given he'd been briefed on the content of the calls, or what other Russian ties haven't yet been discovered — especially given Trump's unwillingness to answer direct questions about them. Trump's top pick to replace Flynn wasn't interested in the ”shit sandwich" position.
• Undocumented raids: A series of raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has led to the arrests of at least 680 undocumented immigrants, according to the agency, prompting yet another weekend of protests. Many ”collateral" arrests caught people who have never committed crimes, including a Methodist Sunday school teacher, a DREAMer who has been in the U.S. since he was seven years old (and whose documentation may have been altered), a trans domestic abuse victim (who agents lied about how they arrested her), and six people keeping warm at a church. A new memo leaked Friday morning suggests even more intense roundups could be coming.
• That press conference: On Thursday, Trump held his first solo press conference for over an hour, in which he lied about his electoral win (and blamed someone else for being wrong), lied about ”inheriting a mess," upgraded CNN from ”fake news" to ”very fake news," told a black reporter to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus because she must be friends with them (after claiming he wasn't racist), and — for the third time this week — refused to condemn anti-Semitic violence.
• Hardee farewell: Andy Puzder withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Labor after it became clear he didn't have enough votes in the upper chamber to be confirmed. Puzder, the first Trump appointee who failed to get confirmed, has a controversial record of overseeing establishments accused of sexual harassment, discrimination, and wage theft. His former wife also alleged that he abused her. Low-wage workers celebrated his defeat, but back-up Alex Acosta has his own skeletons.
• An actual law: Trump signed his first bill into law, eliminating the regulation requiring fossil fuel companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments.
• The end of the two-state solution: Trump suggested he was open to abandoning support for creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

What you might have missed

• Muslim ban 2.0: Trump is reportedly preparing a new Muslim ban to circumvent judicial holds on his first one. In the meantime, customs agents are targeting people from nations not even named in the first ban.
• Best LGBT President?: Less than 48 hours after assuming his position, Attorney General Jeff Sessions informed a federal court that the Department of Justice would no longer be advocating for transgender kids.
• Tolerating opaqueness: Congress had a chance to demand Trump's tax returns, but Republicans voted it down. There may be another way to hold Trump accountable for his conflicts of interest that doesn't require Congress.
• Conway conflicts: The Office of Government Ethics has recommended investigating Kellyanne Conway and disciplining her for her promotion of Ivanka Trump's product line.
• Anti-vaxxer in chief: Trump reiterated his belief this week that vaccines are causing an increase in autism, despite there being no evidence to support that hypothesis.
• Lyin' Mnuchin: Steve Mnuchin was confirmed as Treasury Secretary despite lying to the Senate.
• Facts aren't beliefs: Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, recently called climate change ”just a religious belief." His confirmation is being forced through despite thousands of missing emails he exchanged with oil and gas companies, which won't be released until at least next week.

Broken Promises

• Absent president: Trump promised to ”rarely leave the White House," but this weekend will be headed to Florida for the third weekend in a row. Each trip costs taxpayers an estimated $3 million.

This is not normal

• Media blackout: When press arrived at Mar-a-Lago last weekend to cover Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's visit, they found black plastic covering the windows, blocking their view of the golf course.
• Club membership perk: Trump and Abe discussed the North Korea missile crisis in a public dining room where Mar-a-Lago guests were taking pictures on Instagram.
• Checks and imbalances: Stephen Miller said that the President's executive power ”will not be questioned" by the courts.
• That didn't fix it: When asked about anti-Semitic violence, Trump responded by bragging about his electoral victory.
• Petty tyrant: One of the only black staffers in Trump's administration was fired this week because he had criticized Trump in the past, even though he had already been asked about the op-ed he wrote when he was hired.
• Christie will do anything for love: When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) visited the White House, Trump made him order the meatloaf.

Lie, lies, lies

• Who's in charge?: Stephen Miller claimed, ”Steve Bannon has no role whatsoever in drafting executive orders."
• Fake news about ”fake news": Trump tried to claim CNN cut Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) off because he joked about them being ”fake news." He probably got the idea from Infowars.
• That didn't happen: White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders invented a case of voter fraud from her home state of Arkansas.
• Laughable: Sean Spicer claimed Trump has been ”incredibly tough on Russia."
• Flashback: Vice President Pence said back before Inauguration that ”of course" there had been no communication between the Trump campaign and Russia, but new reports contradict that.
• That press conference: We mentioned that press conference and its many lies above, but seriously, what a doozy!

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Look at how excited it is!

 

[JZA]

Would also be great if you could add developments regarding anti-Trump resistance.

 

[jelly]

Well, the IC and media need to turn it up some notches and take this administration down, help persuade some Republicans to impeach the bastard.