| | | | When Donald Trump met with James Comey in the Oval Office in January 2017, the President said this to the then-FBI director: "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty."
When Trump brought then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe into his office shortly after firing Comey in May, the President reportedly asked McCabe who he had voted for in the 2016 election.
When Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with Trump in December 2017, hoping to gain the President's help in beating back document demands from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Trump had something else on his mind: He asked Rosenstein whether he was "on my team."
Comey was fired.
McCabe was pushed out.
And now, there are whispers that Trump may use the memo produced by Nunes -- alleging widespread misconduct by top Justice Department officials and expected to be released Friday -- as the impetus to get rid of Rosenstein.
(The release of that memo, by the way, runs directly counter to the wishes of current FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee.)
Does any right-minded person need any more evidence that Trump has zero interest in maintaining the line of independence traditionally separating the executive branch from the Justice Department?
1+1=2. It's that simple.
Trump views the entire federal government -- including the Justice Department -- as people who work for him. As such, he expects their loyalty. The idea that the FBI or the attorney general hold a higher commitment to enforcing the fair application of the rule of law is totally lost on Trump.
He expects total loyalty. And when he doesn't get it, he moves to get rid of the people unwilling to pledge him fealty.
The Point: Between the planned release of the Nunes memo and the ongoing special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller, Trump's relationship with the Justice Department is likely to get worse, not better. And nothing in how he has treated those law enforcement officials to date is anything close to normal.
--Chris | | | New Chvrches single! "Get Out." | | "Orrin is—I love listening to him speak...he actually once said I'm the greatest president in the history of our country and I said, 'Does that include Lincoln and Washington?' He said yes. I said, 'I love this guy.'"
-President Donald Trump on Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch | | | Chris and Brenna cataloged the major news headlines of Trump's first 31 days of 2018. Chris added a few thoughts and bits of context where it makes sense. This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything that happened this past month. But even a partial list like this one speaks to just how much news is being created by this White House every damn day.
The month began with Trump telling his New Year's Eve guests that 2018 is "going to be something very, very special" and ended yesterday with: Check out the full roundup of the month's news here. | | HARRIS PENS OPEN LETTER FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH | | Happy Black History Month! To kick it off, California Sen. Kamala Harris penned an open letter in PopSugar to women making black history. In it, she shares her own experiences growing up as "a daughter of the civil rights movement" and being inspired by Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston and Constance Baker Motley. She also recalls hearing "a lot of skeptics" when she decided to run for San Francisco district attorney.
But the Democratic lawmaker encouraged readers to ignore the doubters. "Identify issues you're passionate about, whether that's fighting the impact of climate change or reforming education. Seek out your own role models -- a teacher, a coach, a family friend -- who will encourage you. Then, take a deep breath and take the plunge."
"And whenever someone tells you your dreams aren't achievable, whenever you feel alone or under pressure, whenever you find yourself in a room where there aren't a lot of people who look like you -- be it a classroom, or a boardroom, or a courtroom -- remember that you have an entire community in that room with you, all of us encouraging you and cheering you on." | | Speaking of California politicians, there's a new political action committee hoping to raise money for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has previously hinted at a possible presidential bid. Mike Weber, a New Mexico resident, started a PAC called "America Drafts Garcetti Inc." on January 28, according to FEC records. Weber created a Twitter account under the same name as the PAC. It has amassed 8,000 followers as of Thursday afternoon. Saba wrote about Garcetti's presidential potential in December.
Since being elected mayor, Garcetti has garnered national attention for advocating for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and the Paris climate accord, after news that President Donald Trump would end DACA -- unless Congress comes up with a plan to save it -- and withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. In October, Garcetti ruled out running for governor in the race to replace current California Gov. Jerry Brown. That same month, Garcetti hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to support her re-election campaign in 2018.
Last year, Garcetti traveled to Wisconsin in June, where he spoke at the state's Democratic Party convention; New Hampshire in August, where he helped campaign for Manchester mayoral candidate Joyce Craig; and Indiana in November, where he attended the inaugural meeting of a nonprofit for investing in innovation called Accelerator for America. Earlier this week, he met with Democratic chairs of Iowa and New Hampshire in Long Beach. He told POLITICO he plans to visit Iowa in March. | | On Thursday morning President Donald Trump said something that wasn't true. "Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech," he tweeted. "45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!" As Chris writes: "This is not true. Know how I know? Because, well, I typed 'highest rated State of the union Speeches' into Google. And it sent me to the Nielsen website. There I learned that Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night was actually the sixth most watched of all time. In fact, Trump's speech on Tuesday attracted 2 million fewer viewers than his SOTU-like speech last year. (Newly sworn-in presidents address Congress but the speech is not called a State of the Union.)"
Read more in Chris' full take here and about the actual ratings in CNN "Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter's story here. | | | It's almost Friday. Almost. Don't forget to tell everyone you know to subscribe to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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