Hope Hicks has resigned as Donald Trump's communications director.

Hicks is reportedly the closest of anyone to Donald Trump. The New York Times says Trump is Losing a Limb.

Describing their relationship, Michael Wolff, in Fire and Fury (p. 260) says: [More...]

Reuters is reporting Jared Kushner has lost his interim security clearance that allows him access to Trump's daily briefings.

A third official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recently passed new information to White House Counsel Don McGahn that led to the slowing or stopping of Kushner’s pending clearance application. The nature of that information was not clear.

It also is unclear if and when Kushner’s access to the briefing, known as the PDB, which requires clearance higher than the Top Secret level, would be reinstated.

Reuters reports this is unconfirmed, and it's not clear if or why he was refused permanent clearance but sources say has to do with his financial dealings.

This may mean nothing since Reuters also reports that Trump is authorized personally to grant him a top secret clearance. But there is more....[More...]

Yes, I know that I have been absent from blogging for a week, with no open threads. I have no excuse besides work -- I was so inundated that I felt like if I even took a minute out to check on TalkLeft, it would turn into hours (as it so often does) and I'd fall hopelessly behind.

The deluge of deadlines ended today. That doesn't mean I'm in the clear, and can return to hours of reading news every night. But it does mean I won't be gone for days at a time.

For those of you that are still reading, I hope that's good news. I have caught up with events on all things Russia-related, and I did finally dump my new Android phone and switch back to an iPhone (I got the iphone X and and feel like I'm in back in control of my life, I will never understand why anyone chooses anything other than an iPhone )so all is good.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Trump says he would have rushed into a high school under attack by a shooter without a weapon. How laughable is the claim? The Washington Post reviews his history when it comes to situations that could put him in danger.

Remember during the campaign when he said he could walk down Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and get away with it?

Can anyone spell delusional?

The New Yorker reports on an affair Donald Trump had with a Playboy Model while he was married to Melania, just months after Barron was born.

This story, which had been purchased from McDougal before the election but never publicly released, is considered significant by the New Yorker in part because it shows how Trump had a pattern and method of concealing his actions and finances.

I thought it was interesting because it describes how she attended events that Trump attended with his family and met his children.

On the other hand, it's written by Ronan Farrow, who seems to me to be a personal crusade, first with his father Woody Allen, then with Harvey Weinstein, and now with Trump. I wish the article had been written by someone more neutral on the case.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia voted 8 to 4 against Donald Trump's third version of a travel ban on Muslims from specific countries.

Trump signed the third ban in September. Unlike the first two versions, which were temporary, this one permanently bans people from six Muslim-majority countries. It also bans people from North Korea, which sends almost no one to the United States, and a handful of government officials from Venezuela.

The 285 page opinion is here. The Court used Trump's own words to support its ruling. The Court said his words demonstrated that the policy was grounded in bias.

The court pointed to “undisputed evidence that the President of the United States has openly and often expressed his desire to ban those of Islamic faith from entering the United States.”

[More...]

I'm filming today and will be home late tomorrow night. The East coast weather sure is humid. No, I'm not in a fancy place like NY or Miami. I'll give details later, assuming I don't end up on the cutting room floor.

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

It's a travel day for me, I'll be back Thursday.
Sorry for all the open threads, but it's all I have time for. I sure hope things settle down when I get back.

Again, open thread, all topics welcome.

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.

My blogging hiatus is just about over. Now that my court schedule has returned to normal, it will just take me a few days to get my life back on track (groceries, laundry, bills paid, catch up on TV I've missed, and my Peloton, and maybe watch some Olympics, and then I'll resume a regular blogging schedule.

What's the biggest story I missed this week?

On another note, I'm done with this Android phone thing and going back to an iPhone as soon as I can, like today or tomorrow. I never adjusted to the difference and I just don't like the way it operates.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm in the middle of a two day sentencing hearing (which I worked on all weekend.) I won't be done until 5 pm tomorrow. Assuming I'm not totally exhausted, I will check the news then.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

You can read the Nunes memo here.

I'm swamped at work. Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

SIGAR, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, released a report yesterday on the state of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The report is over 200 pages and large segments of it address the failure of our drug strategy there, the lack of a revised counter-narcotics plan, and the increased participation of the U.S. in Afghan bombing efforts.

The United States has appropriated $8.7 billion for counternarcotics efforts since 2002, but more Afghan land was under opium-poppy cultivation in 2017 than ever before. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, cultivation levels increased 63% from the previous year to 328,000 hectares. Potential opium production levels increased 87% to 9,000 tons from 2016. Eradication levels also increased from the prior year’s results, but the 750 hectares eradicated barely registered against the cultivation figure.

[More...]