Second, and more significantly, on Monday the New York Times revealed a list of questions that Robert Mueller had, ostensibly, drawn up to ask the president. Shortly after this news broke, a furious Trump denounced the leak. (“So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media.”) Trump proceeded to insist the questions showed Mueller had no leads on collusion with Russia, and was instead luring him into a perjury trap or prosecuting the secondary crime of obstruction of justice without an underlying offense (“No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information.”).

Reporters immediately rebutted this charge by noting that Mueller’s questions included many queries into his campaign’s collusion with Russia. But it turns out, once again, we all assumed far too much good faith. The Washington Post now reports the questions were compiled not by Mueller but by Trump’s own legal team, based on topics proposed by Mueller.

...

Bear this lesson in mind when you process the following. In December, the administration allowed the sale of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. Supporters of the administration held up the sale as evidence that Trump could not have colluded with Russia — here he was, arming Russia’s enemy. “The year that began with the narrative of Trump-Russia collusion is ending with an unexpected plot twist — the Trump administration is confronting and cracking down on Russia,” reported Fox News. The Wall Street Journal editorial page mocked “people who say President Trump colluded with Mr. Putin to win the election and wants to appease him now.” Skeptics merely saw the sale as evidence that the foreign policy bureaucracy operated at some distance from Trump’s whims.

Today’s New York Times suggests a darker interpretation altogether. In response to the missile sale, Ukrainian officials have frozen out the Mueller investigation. Ukraine’s government had previously cooperated eagerly to expose the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia — providing, among other importance evidence, ledgers detailing payments to Paul Manafort by the Russian-backed Ukrainian party he had advised.

Yashar Ali 🐘
@yashar
For the first time, Elizabeth Warren leads the Des Moines Register poll

22% - Elizabeth Warren
20% - Joe Biden
11% - Bernie Sanders
9% - Pete Buttigieg
6% - Kamala Harris

Taniel
✔
@Taniel
Warren leads Biden by 12% in combined 1st+2nd choice in the DMR/CNN poll of Iowa:

Warren 42%
Biden 30%
Sanders 21%
Buttigieg 18%
Harris 16%

2nd choices *very* important in Iowa; voters will be asked to select a new candidate if their first choice is below 15% so their caucus.

By Asha Rangappa

...

Presidents have, of course, acted inappropriately in the past, and our constitutional system has a framework in place for addressing misconduct by the chief executive. But it’s designed to deal with straightforward criminal activity, not national security threats. The special counsel regulations, for example, were created to deal with a Watergate-like situation as a worst-case scenario. So they take into account the need for an investigation insulated from political influence and give special counsels the ability to make prosecutorial decisions independently of the rest of the Justice Department or the attorney general. The rules even envision a report that might be made public.

This approach is appropriate when an investigation involves collecting evidence that can hold up in a court of law. But it is inadequate to address potentially noncriminal conduct that may nevertheless endanger the national security of the United States.

...

But counterintelligence investigations are stymied if they involve the president.

In a criminal investigation, the public can get glimpses into its stages: Search warrants, subpoenas for documents and interviews of witnesses typically make it into the press. Counterintelligence investigations, though, differ in that they do not ultimately end up in a courtroom. Rather, they seek to monitor and neutralize national security threats behind the scenes, which means the public has no way of tracking their progress. And the normal ways of resolving counterintelligence threats — like blocking a compromised subject’s access to classified information — don’t work with the president, who controls what is and isn’t classified and is the ultimate consumer of the intelligence the government collects.

I don't understand how impeachment serves as more effective deterrent against impeachable conduct when the opposition impeaches even when it would politically benefit the president to do so (& he'd remain in office). That actually incentivizes impeachable conduct, in fact.

Kevin M. Kruse
✔
@KevinMKruse
“The break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate Hotel raises some troubling questions about just what it is that the Democrats are hiding there.”

Mark Knoller
✔
@markknoller
Pres tells reporters he's read the whistleblower report. "Everybody's read it. They laughed at it," he said, denouncing press reports about it as "a joke."

Kyle Griffin
✔
@kylegriffin1
Eric Swalwell on CNN: "If the Acting DNI is listening, I want him to know: You do not have to be a part of a lawless administration. You can send this information right to Congress, you would be a patriot and you would save us from a potential national security risk."

Christopher Alberto
@ChrisAlbertoLaw
With the new Ukrainian president suddenly withdrawing his troops from eastern Ukraine & Putin reinforcing his troops there, the deal our tax dollars ( Trump’s so-called “military aid” ) funded is complete. That’s called a quid pro quo w/ extortion, treason & other felonies. https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1175047132065226753 …

Michael MacKay
@mhmck
Russia sent another resupply convoy to its army invading Ukraine in Donbas. It's the 84th such delivery of matériel since Putin's War began in 2014. The Russians again disguised the convoy as "humanitarian aid" but the trucks were not inspected by any competent authority.

Sam Stein
✔
@samstein
Cuomo: "Did you ask the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden?"

Rudy: "no, no i didn't"

LITERALLY 30 SECOND LATER

Cuomo: "So you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?"

Rudy: "Of course I did!"

Tom Nichols
✔
@RadioFreeTom
Yes, Rudy literally just said this. “If what the media reported is true, it doesn’t matter anyway“

This is going to be a thread of all the women that Trump says are lying
1. Deborah Ramirez, who says Brett Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face when she was a freshman at Yale

2. Christine Ford Smith, who says Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her when she was in high school

3. Ninni Laaksonen, former Miss Finland, who says “Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt” in July 2006.

4. Jessica Drake, who says Trump grabbed and kissed her without consent, then offered her $10,000 for sex in 2006.

5. Karena Virginia, who says she was groped by Trump at the U.S. Open in 1998.

6. Cathy Heller, who says Trump grabbed her and attempted to kiss her at Mar-a-lago in 1997.

7. Summer Zervos, an Apprentice contestant, who says Trump kissed her, grabbed her breasts and began “thrusting his genitals” in 2007.

8. Kristin Anderson, who says Trump reached under her skirt and grabbed her vagina through her underwear in the early 1990s.

9. Jessica Leeds, who says Trump lifted up the armrest, grabbed her breasts and reached his hand up her skirt in the early 1980s.

10. Rachel Crooks, who says she was sexually assaulted by Trump in an elevator in Trump Tower in 2005.

11. Mindy McGillivray, who says Trump groped her while she was attending a concert at Mar-a-lago in 2003.

12. Natasha Stoynoff, who says Trump pushed her against a wall and jammed his tongue down her throat at Mar-a-lago in 2005.

13. Jennifer Murphy, another Apprentice contestant, who says Trump kissed her on the lips after a job interview in 2005.

14. Cassandra Searles, who says Trump grabbed her ass and invited her to his hotel room in 2013.

15. Temple Taggart McDowell, Former Miss Utah, who says Trump kissed her directly on the lips the first time she met him in 1997.

16. Jill Harth, who says Trump repeatedly sexually harassed her and groped her underneath a table in 1993.

17, E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her in 1996

18. Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump with 2006

19. Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with Trump in 2006

20. Leigh Corfman, who says she was sexually abused by Roy Moore when she was 14

21. Beverly Young Nelson, who says she was sexually assaulted by Roy Moore when she was 16

22. Tina Johnson, who said she was sexually assaulted by Roy Moore in 1991

[Pausing here but let me know who I missed and I'll add it to the thread.]