[guest post by Dana]

Earlier today, President Trump was leaving the White House today to attend a rally in North Carolina and a reporter asked him about the alleged claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar illegally married her brother so that he could gain American citizenship:

Reporter Emerald Robinson asked the president “if the administration was looking into possible immigration fraud committed by Ilhan Omar for possibly marrying her brother.”

“Well, there’s a lot of talk about the fact that she was married to her brother. I know nothing about it,” Trump said.

“I hear she was married to her brother. You’re asking me a question about it. I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s somebody who will be looking at that,” he added.

Rep. Omar has denies that her husband at the time was her brother, yet questions remain:

The accusation surfaced again as part of a recent investigation of state campaign finance violations stemming from her successful 2016 run for the Minnesota House. Documents released in that probe showed that Omar filed federal taxes in 2014 and 2015 with her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, while legally married to but separated from Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.

Although she has legally corrected the discrepancy, she has declined to say anything about how or why it happened, fueling questions about the nature of her relationship with Elmi, a British national.

Omar has long denounced the allegation that Elmi is her brother and dismissed media inquiries about her marital history. “Whether by colluding with right-wing outlets to go after Muslim elected officials or hounding family members, legitimate media outlets have a responsibility not to fan the flames of hate,” her spokesman said in a recent statement to the Star Tribune. “Continuing to do so is not only demeaning to Ilhan, but to her entire family.”

At tonight’s rally, the president sensed an opening and railed about the four Democratic congresswomen who were the targets of his incendiary tweets this past weekend, which in turn lead to the Democratic-led House vote to condemn his remarks:

Trump used the 2020 campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, to attack Omar and three other Democratic congresswomen – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayana Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – calling them “hate-filled extremists”.

In what was reminiscent of the “lock her up” chants made by Trump supporters during the presidential campaign rallies, supporters followed tonight’s attacks on Omar, an American citizen, with an updated version of the chant:

… President Donald Trump resumed his rhetorical assault on four freshman Democratic women lawmakers Wednesday at a re-election rally in Greenville, N.C.

“These left-wing ideologues see our nation as a force for evil,” Trump said of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Later, he said they are helping to “fuel the rise” of a “dangerous, militant hard left” — connecting them to violence by the group Antifa, even though there is no link.

On Wednesday, he chided Tlaib for calling him a “motherf—-er” — “that’s not somebody that loves our country,” he said — blasted Ocasio-Cortez for referring to squalid, overcrowded migrant detention facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border as concentration camps, and Pressley for encouraging people of color to speak up for one another. He also accused Omar of being soft on terrorism.

“Omar laughed that Americans speak of al Qaeda in a menacing tone,” he said. “You don’t say America with this intensity. You say al Qaeda makes you proud. Al Qaeda makes you proud. You don’t speak that way about America,” he added, referring to her remarks in a 2013 interview.

The crowd broke into a chant of “Send her back!”

This is a full clip of his comments focusing on Omar. You can start at the 3:38 mark for the shorter version:

Following a tweet in which Omar linked to a report about Trump’s rally tonight, Omar tweeted this :

👋🏽 I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal! pic.twitter.com/W0OvDXGxQX

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

[Headline from DRJ, borrowed from Dave]

Here are the 2020 Democratic candidates who qualify for CNN’s debate:

The debate will be held over two nights in Detroit on July 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. ET.

CNN will conduct a live, random drawing to determine the candidate lineup for each night. The drawing will air on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET during a special edition of Anderson Cooper 360.

The only change to the pool of qualifying candidates is that Bullock, a candidate who was left out of the first Democratic debates in June, will now be on the stage, replacing California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who dropped out earlier this month

Here is Dave’s comment:

Montana Gov. Bullock replacing Swalwell is the only change from last time.

Lineup for the two nights will be drawn tomorrow night. They’re doing it in three tiers this time, to make sure that the popular candidates and nobodies are evenly split:

First draw (scrubs):

Bennet, Bullock, de Blasio, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Inslee, Ryan, Williamson

Second draw:

Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Klobuchar, O’Rourke, Yang

Final draw:

Biden, Harris, Sanders, Warren

Thank you, Dave.

— DRJ

[guest post by Dana]

Hoo boy, this is exactly what Nancy Pelosi had worked hard to avoid, and she is compelled by House rules to respond to it:

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over his racist tirade against four progressive congresswomen of color, setting up a potential showdown in the Democratic-controlled House.

The Texas lawmaker read the articles aloud on the House floor Tuesday night, citing the president’s “go back” to other countries rant against the freshman lawmakers known as “the Squad” as one reason to move forward.

″Donald John Trump by causing such harm to the society of the United States is unfit to be president and warrants impeachment, trial and removal from office,” Green said on the House floor. He accused the president of bringing “contempt, ridicule, disgrace and disrepute” to the office.

Under House rules, Green can force the chamber to act on his resolution within two legislative days. He has called for an up-or-down vote. House leadership could vote to table it or refer it to the Judiciary Committee.

While 86 House Democrats support launching a formal impeachment inquiry, Pelosi continues to oppose the move on the grounds that it would be “too politically divisive and would never lead to conviction and removal in a Republican-controlled Senate.” Democrats are also concerned that Green is jumping the gun on this, and that when it fails on the floor, any momentum for impeachment will be gone.

Ed Morrissey suggests the up-or-down vote on impeachment might be the least worst-option for Pelosi:

Rip the Band-Aid off quickly, let the bill die, and hope that there’s enough time ahead of the election to have this fade into distant memory. Trump would claim vindication from it, but that’s got a shelf life too. The closer this drags on to the election, the worse it gets for Pelosi.

The vote is expected to happen sometime today :

House could vote in 5pm hour to table Al Green impeachment resolution. Doing so would effectively kill it, though the exact form is still being discussed. Vote schedule not final yet. Also McCarthy told us he expects all Rs to vote to kill resolution

UPDATE: The House voted to table impeachment resolution against Trump, per Politico’s Jake Sherman:

332-95. A bipartisan vote to table the impeachment resolution.

From CNN:

The 332-95 vote showcased the stark divide among Democrats, who split over the vote to kill the impeachment measure. Ninety-five Democrats — a little more than 40% of the Democratic caucus — voted against tabling it, or to keep it alive. That’s more Democrats who voted against tabling similar resolutions in 2017 (58) and 2018 (66). No Republicans voted to keep it alive.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

[Headlines from DRJ]

Justice Department ends probe of hush-money payments in final months of Donald Trump’s campaign, judge says:

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in New York have concluded their investigation of hush-money payments President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer orchestrated to quiet potential sex scandals in the final months of his campaign, a judge said Wednesday.

Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he engineered payments to two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump to silence them before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors said those payments violated federal campaign finance laws, and both they and Cohen have said publicly that Cohen arranged them at Trump’s direction.

U.S. District Judge William Pauley revealed the end of the probe in a brief order on Wednesday, in which he instructed the government to make public some of the search warrants it used when investigating Cohen.

Judge Pauley’s Order is here. It orders the release of the Status report and search warrants by July 18, 2019, at 11:00 AM EST.

So this means Trump’s DOJ believes there is insufficient evidence of obstruction campaign/hush money violations to indict Trump, right? Or maybe it means the DOJ Guidelines that it cannot indict a sitting President apply here, too.

— DRJ

[Headlines from DRJ]

Earlier today — Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ faces sentencing in US case:

NEW YORK (AP) — Will the notorious Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo” go quietly?

For Joaquin Guzman, that’s the biggest question at his sentencing in New York City on Wednesday. The highly-anticipated hearing could be his last chance to speak publicly before spending the rest of his life behind bars at a maximum security U.S. prison.

Guzman, 62, was convicted in February on multiple conspiracy counts in an epic drug-trafficking case. The guilty verdict at an 11-week trial triggered what the government says is a well-justified mandatory sentence of life without parole .

Around 11:00 AM EST — ‘El Chapo’ was sentenced to life in prison after saying his trial was unjust and slamming his prison conditions:

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and was ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture on Wednesday in what is likely the last time he’s seen in public before he goes to Colorado’s Supermax prison.

Guzman, wearing a gray suit and dark tie, spoke for about 10 minutes in court before the sentence was handed down and called out issues with the jury.
***
El Chapo, who infamously escaped prison twice in Mexico, also slammed the conditions of his incarceration in New York. “It’s been torture, the most inhumane situation I have lived in my entire life,” he said. “It has been physical, emotional and mental torture.”

What is it like in a Supermax prison?

How does a prison prepare for the arrival of known escape artist and Mexican drug kingpin, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera?

For the ADX “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colo., former warden Robert Hood said administrators will likely stick to the a formula that’s prevented any jailbreaks for 25 years.

For 23 hours out of the day, El Chapo would be in a soundproof, 7-by-12-foot cell. The bed, desk and stool are all made of poured cement. While most inmates are given a black-and white-television, it’s behind a special kind of glass and can be restricted to show old, never live, programs. Their only actual view of the outside world is a 4-inch window.

More about the Supermax at the link.

— DRJ

[guest post by Dana]

If you’re surprised by this, then you haven’t been paying close attention these past two years. When President Trump taps into an issue that has been simmering under the surface of his loyalist base, and then launches an attack on the focus of their frustration, it increases his popularity:

The national survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Trump told the lawmakers they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” showed his net approval among members of his Republican Party rose by 5 percentage points to 72%, compared with a similar poll that ran last week.

…

Among independents, about three out of 10 said they approved of Trump, down from four out of 10 a week ago. His net approval – the percentage who approve minus the percentage who disapprove – dropped by 2 points among Democrats in the poll.

Trump’s overall approval remained unchanged over the past week. According to the poll, 41% of the U.S. public said they approved of his performance in office, while 55% disapproved.

Comparatively speaking:

The public response to Trump’s statements appeared to be a little better for him than in 2017, after the president said there were “very fine people” on both sides of a deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In that instance, Trump’s net approval dropped by about 10 points a week after the Charlottesville rally.

[Ed. Base support for Trump dropped 3% after his Charlottesville comments. For those who voted for Trump in 2016, 80 percent still supported him. ]

Note: While Democrats (and some Republicans) view the president’s tweets as racist, consider this analysis of perception and interpretation:

“To Republicans, Trump is simply saying: ‘Hey, if you don’t like America, you can leave,” Hutchings said. “That is not at all controversial. If you already support Trump, then it’s very easy to interpret his comments that way.”

Given the increase in support after his comments, it’s a reasonable to believe that President Trump is “doing exactly what Republicans want him to do,” by “taking on groups that they oppose.”

Additionally, while Trump lobbied the GOP for a unified front before the Democratic-led House vote to condemn his remarks, GOP members avoided the president’s political fury by voting against the House resolution yesterday. Only four members crossed party lines to vote with the Democrats:

Two days after Trump tweeted that four Democratic freshmen should “go back” to their home countries — though all are citizens and three were born in the U.S.A. — Democrats muscled the resolution through the chamber by 240-187 over near-solid GOP opposition.

At the end of the day, President Trump is revealing his strategy for 2020, and so far, it resembles 2016:

For all the tumult and anger that President Trump’s verbal attacks on four minority lawmakers have caused, he has been clear about his political motives: Drive a wedge through the country that forces each side to its corner.

Trump is betting he can repeat the formula that won him election in 2016, widening the nation’s racial, cultural and ideological divides to eke out victory with a strong showing among older conservative white voters.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana