Trump Nominates Science-Denying Politician To Run NASA

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President Trump plans to nominate Rep. James Bridenstine (R-Okla.) to be the next administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the White House announced Friday.

Bridenstine entered Congress in 2013, serving on the House Armed Services Committee as well as the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which has jurisdiction over NASA.

He was also an aviator in the U.S. Navy Reserve, having flown combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bridenstine is one of two GOP lawmakers that Trump nominated on Friday to positions in his administration.

The White House also announced Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) as Trump’s pick to be the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Bridenstine’s nomination drew immediate criticism from both of Florida’s senators, who expressed concern over his lack of experience and partisanship.

“It’s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it’s at a critical juncture in its history,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told Politico.

“I would hate to see an administrator held up – on [grounds of] partisanship, political arguments, past votes, or statements made in the past – because the agency can’t afford it and it can’t afford the controversy.”

[The Hill]

Reality

In 2013, during his first year in Congress, Bridenstine infamously called on then-President Barack Obama to “apologize” to the state of Oklahoma for his “gross misallocation [sic]” of funds to climate change research.

Despite Trump’s Dig, The Media Did Go ‘Into The Winds’ Of Hurricane Harvey

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President Donald Trump cannot seem to suppress his contempt for the news media ― even when he is speaking about something completely unrelated.

In remarks to members of the United States military in Texas on Saturday, Trump singled out the Coast Guard for rescuing nearly 11,000 people stranded by Hurricane Harvey.

He then compared it to what he described as the relative lack of courage exhibited by journalists covering the storm.

“Think of it: almost 11,000 people ― by going into winds that the media would not go into. They will not go into those winds,” he said. “Unless it’s a really good story, in which case they will.”

The media apparently considered Hurricane Harvey a “really good story” though, because numerous journalists put themselves in harm’s way to cover the disaster ― often accompanying the very service members Trump was thanking.

In fact, many reporters, including HuffPost’s David Lohr, took part in rescue efforts as they encountered people struggling to survive the storm’s worst effects.

Trump has a famously rocky relationship with the news media, particularly national outlets, which he frequently derides as “fake news.” At a campaign-style rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Aug. 22, Trump spent more than 10 minutes denouncing the media’s treatment of him, complete with indictments of specific journalists and their outlets.

During a visit to a shelter in Houston on Saturday, however, Trump struck a slightly more conciliatory tone. The Texans he met are “really happy” with the federal recovery efforts he is managing, Trump told reporters, adding that he was pleasantly surprised to find that even the news media was recognizing his work.

“It’s been very well received ― even by you guys, it’s been well received,” Trump said.

[Huffington Post]

Media

Trump Slams ‘Rigged System’ Over Claim Comey ‘Exonerated’ Clinton Before Probe Ended

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President Trump on Friday slammed what he called a “rigged system” following reports that former FBI Director James Comey began drafting an “exoneration statement” for Hillary Clinton before interviewing her in connection with her private email use as secretary of state.

“Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system!” Trump tweeted early Friday.

The president was referring to allegations made this week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

In a news release Thursday, the senators said Comey began drafting the exoneration statement in April or May 2016, which was before the FBI interviewed 17 key witnesses, including Clinton herself and other top aides.

Grassley and Graham said they learned about the draft after reviewing transcripts of interviews with top Comey aides.

“According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton,” the senators said.

They added, “That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.”

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, was investigated by the FBI for using a private email address and server to handle classified information while serving as secretary of state.

In July 2016, Comey famously called Clinton’s email arrangement “extremely careless” though he decided against recommending criminal charges.

The transcripts in question were from interviews conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, which interviewed James Rybicki, Comey’s chief of staff, and Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel of national security and cyberlaw, the senators said.

“It is unclear whether the FBI agents actually investigating the case were aware that Mr. Comey had already decided on the investigation’s outcome while their work was ongoing,” the senators wrote.

In the Wednesday letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, the two senators said they have requested all records relating to the drafting of the statement.

Comey was fired as FBI director by Trump in May amid tensions over the Russia investigation.

[Fox News]

Reality

No. If Comey redirected the investigation before it completed then that is one thing, but seeing where an investigation is headed then drafting a statement, sharing the statement with peers for feedback, all in order to prepare for one of the biggest press conferences of your career, that is another.

Smart people prepare for things.

Trump to cut pay raises for government workers

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President Trump sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday announcing his intention to cut pay raises for civilian government workers.

In the letter, Trump cited his authority in times of “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare” to make adjustments to the 2018 pay schedule for federal employees.

Under the previous plan, workers were scheduled for a 1.9 percent bump. Trump will use his authority to lower that to 1.4 percent.

“We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a sustainable fiscal course,” Trump wrote.

“A pay increase of this magnitude is not warranted, and Federal agency budgets could not accommodate such an increase while still maintaining support for key Federal priorities such as those that advance the safety and security of the American people.”

Pay raises for government workers outside of Washington, D.C., will average only 0.5 percent and will be specified in a coming executive order, Trump said.

The White House did not respond to a question about how much the government would save from the action or whether it had discussed the matter with offices on Capitol Hill.

Trump will maintain the 2.1 percent pay increase for members of the military.

“I strongly support our men and women in uniform, who are the greatest fighting force in the world and the guardians of American freedom,” Trump wrote. “As our country continues to recover from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, we must work to rebuild our military’s readiness and capabilities.”

[The Hill]

Eric Trump predicts CNN won’t cover Trump Harvey donation hours after network report

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President Trump’s son Eric Trump tweeted on Thursday that CNN wouldn’t report on his father’s pledge to donate $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

“So proud!!! Let’s see if @CNN or the #MSM acknowledges this incredible generosity. My guess: they won’t… “  Eric Trump tweeted with a link to a Fox News story.

Three hours earlier, CNN tweeted its coverage of Trump’s pledge, which was announced during Thursday’s White House press briefing.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Trump’s pledge on Thursday. Trump has yet to finalize what group the money will go to.

“He’s actually asked that I check with the folks in this room since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that have the best and most effective in helping and providing aid and he would love some suggestions from the folks here and I would be happy to take them,” Sanders said.

Sanders also said she did not know if the donation would come from Trump himself or the Trump Foundation.

“I know that the president, he said he was personally going to give, I don’t know the legal part of exactly that but he said his personal money so I would assume that comes directly from him,” she said.

[The Hill]

Reality

We should be skeptical of Trump’s generosity. For years Trump used his charity as a scheme funneling other people’s money into his own pockets, and during the campaign claimed for four months that he donated one million dollars to veterans charities, but lied about it the entire time, only handing the money over once he was caught.

White House acknowledges Trump lied about ‘witnessing first hand’ the devastation of Harvey

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On Thursday morning, President Trump tweeted that “[a]fter witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!”

Trump was referring to the trip he took the day before to Texas, where he held a news conference with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and then briefly addressed supporters atop a fire truck in Corpus Christi. He praised the size of the crowd and admired the “turnout.”

Breaking from precedent established by recent presidents when they’ve visited the sites of disasters, Trump didn’t visit any of the hardest-hit areas, and he didn’t meet with any Harvey victims.

On Thursday evening, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to clarify Trump’s tweet about “witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.” Sanders’ response acknowledged that the president lied, as she cited a number of second-hand accounts.

“He met with a number of local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster,” Sanders said. “He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest. And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground — that certain is a firsthand account.”

Meanwhile, a photo posted on Trump’s Instagram page showed the president watching radar in a conference room, along with the text of his “[a]fter witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey” tweet.

Merriam-Webster defines “firsthand” as “obtained by, coming from, or being direct personal observation or experience.” None of the sources Sanders cited rise to that level. But “secondhand” is defined as “received from or through an intermediary” — exactly the sort of thing described in her response.

[ThinkProgress]

Media

Trump Fires Long-Time Rally Organizer After Phoenix Speech

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President Trump reprimanded the aide responsible for organizing his August rally in Phoenix, Ariz., after being disappointed by the results and coverage, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Trump’s team reportedly informed George Gigicos, a contractor to the Republican National Committee, that he would not be hired in such a capacity again after the president was apparently left underwhelmed by the optics and crowd size of the event.

Gigicos, a longtime Trump aide who had previously served as the president’s director of scheduling and advance, declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Roughly 10,000 people were present when Trump spoke on Aug. 23, according to the Arizona Republic. But Trump saw TV coverage before he ever took the stage indicating the Phoenix Convention Center was less than full.

The president used the speech to deliver a blistering assault on the media after a week of fierce criticism directed at him over his response to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

The Bloomberg report comes amid a string of high-profile departures by former Trump aides, including special assistant Sebastian Gorka and chief strategist Stephen Bannon.

According to Bloomberg, Gigicos was one of Trump’s four longest-serving political aides.

[The Hill]

Finland Says No Fighter Deal with Boeing After Trump’s Ad-Lib Comments

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President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday denied that Finland was buying new fighter jets from American planemaker Boeing (BA.N), following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Finland is looking to replace its ageing fleet of 62 F/A-18 Hornet jets with multirole fighter aircraft in a procurement estimated at 7-10 billion euros by 2025.

“One of the things that is happening is you’re purchasing large amounts of our great F-18 aircraft from Boeing and it’s one of the great planes, the great fighter jets,” Trump said on Monday at a news conference with his Finnish counterpart in the White House.

Niinisto, who was standing next to Trump, looked surprised but did not follow up on the comment. He later denied the deal with Boeing on his Twitter account and on Tuesday in Washington.

“It seems that on the sale side, past decisions and hopes about future decisions have mixed … The purchase is just starting, and that is very clear here,” Niinisto told Finnish reporters.

Helsinki is expected to request that European and U.S. planemakers provide quotations for new jets in 2018, with a final decision made in the early 2020s.

A government working group has listed possible candidates as Saab’s (SAABb.ST) Jas Gripen, Dassault Aviation’s (AVMD.PA) Rafale, Boeing’s Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N) F-35 and the Eurofighter, made by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.

[Reuters]

Trump: I Pardoned Arpaio During Hurricane Because I Thought TV Ratings Would Be Higher

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President Trump on Monday said he announced his pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio as Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas because he “assumed the ratings would be far higher.”

“In the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally,” Trump said during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. “You know, the hurricane was just starting.”

“He’s done a great job for the people of Arizona, he’s very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration,” Trump said about Arpaio. “I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him right before the election voting started.”

Democrats blasted Trump on Friday for announcing his pardon of Arpaio as Harvey made landfall, with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) accusing Trump of “using the cover of the storm” to issue the pardon.

The White House announced Trump’s decision to pardon Arpaio on Friday night in a statement.

“Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration,” the White House said.

“Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is a worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”

Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt after he disobeyed a federal judge’s order to stop racially profiling individuals suspected of illegally entering the U.S.

[The Hill]

Media

Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected’

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A business associate of President Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, that he said would help Mr. Trump win the presidency.

The business associate, Felix Sater, wrote a series of emails to Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Mr. Putin and predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would be a political boon to Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

“Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Mr. Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.”

The emails show that, from the earliest months of Mr. Trump’s campaign, some of his associates viewed close ties with Moscow as a political advantage. Those ties are now under investigation by the Justice Department and multiple congressional committees.

There is no evidence in the emails that Mr. Sater delivered on his promises. Mr. Sater, a Russian immigrant, was a broker for the Trump Organization at the time, which means he was paid to deliver real estate deals.

In another email, Mr. Sater envisioned a ribbon-cutting in Moscow. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Mr. Sater wrote.

Mr. Cohen suggested that Mr. Sater’s comments were puffery. “He has sometimes used colorful language and has been prone to ‘salesmanship,’ ” Mr. Cohen said in a statement. “I ultimately determined that the proposal was not feasible and never agreed to make a trip to Russia.”

Mr. Sater presented himself as so influential in Russia that he helped arrange a 2006 trip that Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, took to Moscow. “I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putins private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin,” he said.

Ms. Trump said she had no involvement in the discussions about the Moscow deal. In a statement, she said she that during the 2006 trip, she took “a brief tour of Red Square and the Kremlin but I have never met President Vladimir Putin.” She did not say whether she sat in his chair.

The Times reported earlier this year on the plan for a Trump Tower in Moscow, which never materialized. On Sunday, The Washington Post reported the existence of the correspondence between Mr. Sater and Mr. Cohen but not its content.

The Trump Organization on Monday turned over emails to the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election and whether anyone in Mr. Trump’s campaign was involved. Some of the emails were obtained by The Times.

The Trump Organization issued a statement Monday saying: “To be clear, the Trump Organization has never had any real estate holdings or interests in Russia.”

[New York Times]

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