Where are the kids?

The court deadline for the US government to reunite children that Trump separated from their families at the border has come and gone. Hundreds of kids remain separated, stories about their treatment become worse, and the government uses creative word games to sell its excuses.

“Where are the kids?” Trump and his enablers have no answer. Keep posing the question and Republicans in Congress will feel the consequences in November.

Meanwhile…

Breaking news prompts a special Trump-Russia Timeline update.

The developments on July 26, 2018, prompt three new entries (and one revision to an earlier entry) in the Trump-Russia Timeline. Specifically, Michael Cohen reportedly is willing to tell special counsel Robert Mueller that Trump knew about — and approved beforehand — the infamous June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr., and Russians promising “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.

To grasp the significance of this development, go to the Timeline’s name filter and click on Donald Trump Jr.‘s name.

If Cohen is telling the truth — that he “and others” were present when Don Jr. told Trump about the Russians’ offer to help Trump win the election — then Don Jr. and his dad are in big trouble.

Then again, they already were. For those who have been following the evolution of the Timeline, the Cohen news corroborates what has been known for a while. Plenty of evidence was already pointing in the direction that Cohen has now pointed everyone: Trump conspired against the United States to win a presidential election.

Here’s are the three new entries (and one revision that adds Don Jr.’s answers to key questions from Senate interviewers in September 2017) in the Trump-Russia Timeline:

SOMETIME BETWEEN JUNE 3 and JUNE 8, 2016: Don Jr. Reportedly Tells Trump About Russian Offer to Help; Trump Approves

SEPT. 7, 2017: Don Jr. Talks to Senate Judiciary Committee, Denies Telling Trump About Meeting in Advance (revision of previous entry)

JULY 26, 2018: CNN and NBC Report That Trump Knew in Advance About Trump Tower Meeting

JULY 27, 2018: After Bombshell Report About Cohen, Trump Tweets

WHERE ARE THE KIDS?

Keep asking. Meanwhile…

Trump-Russia

Trump’s disastrous performance in Helsinki dominated the beginning of the week. The episode and its aftermath provided even more evidence that the Trump-Russia investigation is far from a “Witch Hunt” — and that the biggest witch may well turn out to be Trump himself.

By Friday, Rudy Giuliani offered the media a shiny object to distract from Trump’s exploding Russia problem: Giuliani’s comments about a recording between Trump and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, waived Trump’s attorney-client privilege. The release of a single Cohen recording, together with Giuliani’s effort to spin its contents, is a classic Trump diversion.

Sandwiched between Helsinki and Rudy was Maria Butina’s arrest. She is charged with being a Russian spy. Butina and her boyfriend, Paul Erickson, have now earned their own, separate Trump-Russia Timeline name filters. Butina already had a “pop-up” bubble on the Timeline. Now Erickson gets one of those, too.

Maria Who?

Students of the Trump-Russia Timeline know about Butina. According to the recent criminal charges against her, since “at least March 2015,” she has worked with an named “RUSSIAN OFFICIAL” who matches the description of Alexander Torshin, a powerful Putin ally. Torshin has been in the Timeline’s sights for a long time.

What were Butina and the “RUSSIAN OFFICIAL” doing?

Executing a Russian campaign to influence Republican Party policies through the NRA.

Roll the Butina Tape

Grab a bucket of popcorn, go to the Trump-Russia Timeline, and click on Butina’s name. The resulting entries tell an incredible story. If an author submitted this outline of a manuscript for a proposed work of fiction, no book publisher would buy it. The saga seems too incredible to be believed. But according to the criminal charges against Butina, it’s all true. Here are just a few of the highlights:

— November 2013: Butina meets Paul Erickson, a long-time GOP operative who is part of an NRA delegation visiting Moscow. Butina is in her 20s; Erickson is over 50. Previously, Butina had tried and failed — twice — to get a visa to enter the US. But after the NRA came to town, she obtained a temporary visa to attend the annual NRA convention in 2014.

— March 24, 2015: Butina forwards a proposal dubbed “Diplomacy” to an unnamed “US Person 1” whose description matches Erickson’s. “Diplomacy” has a straightforward goal: mount a Russian political influence campaign using the NRA to impact GOP policies.

— July 11, 2015: At a large Trump town hall rally in Las Vegas, Butina somehow reaches a microphone stand in the audience and asks Trump a loaded question: How would a Trump administration treat Russia? Trump answers that he’d get along with Putin and doesn’t think the US would need to continue the crippling sanctions against Russian.

— Aug. 4-6, 2015: Butina dines with “Russia’s favorite congressman,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) in Moscow. Rohrabacher also meets with Torshin.

— December 2015: Torshin and Butina host an NRA leadership delegation in Moscow.

— May 19-22, 2016: Butina had tried to arrange a private meeting between Torshin and Trump at the NRA’s annual convention in Louisville, but Torshin has to settle for dinner with Don Jr. instead.

— August 2016: With the help of “US Person 1” (likely Erickson), Butina obtains a student visa to study at American University in Washington, DC.

— September-October-November 2016: Butina continues her project — “Diplomacy.” In an Oct. 5 exchange with Torshin, Butina writes, “We made our bet.” A month later, they discuss how that bet had paid off. Together, they explore the need to get input from “our people” on Trump’s possible nominees for Secretary of State. At her birthday party shortly after the election, Butina boasts that she had been part of the Trump campaign’s line of communication with Moscow. Her paramour Erickson (ikely “US Person 1”), tells people that he’s on Trump’s transition team.

— Nov. 30, 2016: Butina writes to “US Person 1” about high level Russians “coming to establish a back channel of communication….”

— Jan 20, 2017: Butina attends one of Trump’s inaugural balls.

— April 25, 2018: The FBI executes a search warrant against Butina’s residence. Among the seized materials are photographs of Butina with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The judge weighing the sufficiency of the evidence against Butina concluded that she presents such an extreme risk of flight that she must remain in jail pending trial. And now the Russian Foreign Ministry is launching a campaign to portray Butina as a martyr deserving freedom.

The charges against Butina refer to another person with whom she worked on the “Diplomacy” project — “US Person 2.” Soon the world will know the name of that traitor. Who is it? As Butina might say, “I’ve made my bet.”

This is real.

It has happened here — and it’s still happening.

And it’s not a drill.

Here’s a complete list of this week’s Trump-Russian Timeline updates:

NOVEMBER 2013: Erickson Meets Butina

MARCH 24, 2015: Butina Contacts ‘US Person 1’ About ‘Diplomacy’ Project

APR. 7, 2015: Butina and Torshin Meet with US Officials

APR. 10-12, 2015: Trump and Torshin at NRA Convention (revision of previous entry to add exact dates)

JUNE 12, 2015: Butina Publishes Article in The National Interest

JULY 11, 2015: Butina Asks Trump About Sanctions at Rally (revision of previous title to name Butina)

AUG. 4-6, 2015: Rohrabacher Meets With Torshin

FEB. 4, 2016: Butina and Torshin Attend National Prayer Breakfast

MARCH 10-11, 2016: Butina Works With ‘US Person 1’; Thanks ‘US Person 2’ for Helping US-Russia Relations

APRIL 27, 2016: Trump Delivers First Major Foreign Policy Speech (revision of previous entry)

AUGUST 2016: Butina Enters US on Student Visa

SEPT. 16, 2016: Butina Tries to Schedule ‘Friendship and Dialogue’ Dinner

OCT. 4, 2016: ‘US Person 1’ Writes About Private Line of Communication with Kremlin

OCT. 5, 2016: Butina and ‘RUSSIAN OFFICIAL’ Exchange Messages: ‘We Made Our Bet’

OCT. 6-7, 2016: Intelligence Community Publishes Statement on Russian Interference (revision of previous entry)

NOV. 8-9, 2016: Butina: ‘I Am Ready For Further Orders’

NOV. 11, 2016: Butina Asks for Russian Reaction to Trump’s Possible Secretary of State Nominee

NOV. 12, 2016: Butina Boasts About Her Contacts with Trump Campaign

NOV. 30, 2016: Butina Writes About Establishing US-Russia ‘Back Channel’

JAN. 6, 2017: Trump Receives Intelligence Briefing That Details Putin’s Role in Election Interference; Meets Comey for the First Time (revision of previous entry)

FEB. 2, 2017: Butina and Torshin Attend National Prayer Breakfast

APRIL 25, 2018: FBI Searches Butina’s Residence

JULY 15, 2018: Butina Arrested

JULY 16, 2018: Trump Sides with Putin in Helsinki

JULY 17, 2018: Trump Tweets About NATO/Putin Success, Quotes Paul on ‘Partisan Investigations’/Putin

JULY 17, 2018: Trump Responds to International Bipartisan Criticism

JULY 17, 2018: Judge Denies Manafort’s Motion to Move Trial Venue

JULY 17, 2018: Grand Jury Indicts Butina

JULY 18, 2018: Trump Tweets About Success With Putin

JULY 18, 2018: Trump Denies That Russia Is Still Attacking US; Sarah Sanders Says Trump Didn’t

JULY 18, 2018: Butina Held Without Bail Pending Trial

JULY 18-19, 2018: NYT Details Trump’s Knowledge of Putin Election Interference; Trump Tweets

JULY 19, 2018: Putin Says He Proposed ‘Peace Plan’ to Trump

JULY 19, 2018: Trump Invites Putin to White House

JULY 19, 2018: Russian Foreign Ministry: ‘Free Maria Butina’

JULY 19, 2018: Rosenstein: DOJ To Issue Alerts to Targets of Foreign Hackers

JULY 20, 2018: Trump Rejects Putin’s ‘Peace Plan’

JULY 20, 2018: Trump Tweets and Retweets

JULY 20, 2018: Treasury Willing to Lift Sanctions on Rusal

JULY 21, 2018: Trump Tweets ‘Rigged Witch Hunt’, ‘No Collusion’, ‘No Obstruction’

JULY 21, 2018: DOJ Releases FISA Application Relating to Page

JULY 22-23, 2018: Trump Tweets Lies About FISA Warrant

JULY 22-23: Trump Tweets About Putin Meeting

JULY 23, 2018 Government Update: 

Government reveals for the first time that more than 400 adults have been deported without their kids. But that’s just the tip of this ugly iceberg:

Total number of children separated from their families: 2,551

Parent(s) deported without their kids: 463

Adults released into the interior US (without their kids): 217

Parent(s) “waived” unification: 130

Class members reunified in ICE custody: 879 (out of 2,551)

WHERE ARE THE KIDS?

Keep asking the question. Trump’s “treatment of families at the border” is THE number one issue that unites more Americans against Trump and his complicit Republicans in Congress than any other. More, even, than Trump’s cozying up to Vladimir Putin.

According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll of voters from July 15-18, 2018, 58 percent disapprove of Trump’s family separation policy. Fifty-one percent disapprove of his handling of Russia.

Keep digging and the story keeps getting uglier. As of July 22, this was the report from the US government operating in the name of every American:

— One-third of the almost 3000 kids subject to the court’s reunification order are either “ineligible for reunification or not yet known to be eligible.” Note the government’s lawyerly rhetorical shift in the burden of proof: Kids are presumed ineligible until the government decides otherwise.That looks like the kind of legal sleight-on-hand that one of Trump’s enablers with a law degree would develop. Yes, I’m looking at you, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar (JD, Yale ’01)

— Parents of another 136 children “waived their right to be reunited.” Whoa. They gave away their children forever? Through what process? Apparently by violating international right of every immigrant to seek asylum: “Immigrant Parents Face a Dilemma: Will Making an Asylum Claim Make it Harder to Reunite with Their Kids?”

— Parents of 91 more kids had “prohibitive criminal records or were otherwise deemed ineligible” for reunification. “Prohibitive” — by what standard? “Deemed ineligible” — by whom?

How did this happen?

Trump and the GOP have no answer to that one. One proffered excuse: “They shouldn’t have come to the US border.” That ignores the human right under international law of every person to seek asylum. In the US, federal immigration courts have been granting almost half of such requests.

Likewise, the first time offense of arriving at the border illegally is a misdemeanor. Ask any defender of Trump’s family separation policy to name a single misdemeanor for which the punishment is the permanent loss of the alleged perpetrator’s child. Proven child abuse is one thing, but not even the most ardent Trump defender is arguing that such behavior accounts for the almost 3,000 kids separated from their families. Even murderers serving life sentences are permitted visits from family members.

Every week, one of the darkest episodes in American history becomes darker. And Trump’s distracting antics push the story farther and farther away from the front page where it belongs.

3,000 kids.

Keep repeating it.

And keep pushing the media to cover the individual faces that accompany this ongoing tragedy. Make it real. Make it personal. It’s not about what Trump calls “vermin” and “infestation.” It’s about innocent kids and how America’s Republican-controlled government is treating them.

Where are the kids?

Thousands of children await reunification with their families. Meanwhile, many of those kids languish in prison-like conditions. Is this really America?

Before answering, turn to the latest facts that suggest a troubling answer to an unthinkable question: Did the person responsible for implementing the child-separation policy — the President of the United States — win through unlawful means the power he now exercises in the name of every US citizen?

Mueller’s Latest Indictment: Who’s Next?

Last week, the 18-month investment in creating and maintaining the Trump-Russia Timeline paid off again by providing context. (Next week’s update will continue that trend. When considered with surrounding events, the factual allegations in the affidavit supporting the recent criminal complaint against Russian national Maria Butina become far more significant.)

Many of the newest entries in this update come from special counsel Robert Mueller’s July 13, 2018 indictment, which reveals startling details about previous events. Some occurred more than two years ago. The Timeline provides their damning context.

The indictment brought the total number of known defendants in the Trump-Russia scandal to 35. It charges 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking into the Hillary Clinton, DNC, and DCCC computer systems, stealing information, and disseminating the stolen material through various means, including Wikileaks (although it doesn’t disclose WikiLeaks’ identity). The indictment contains many clues that more criminal charges are coming. It also hints at the identity of those who may have the most to fear in Mueller’s next round of indictments.

That round is coming. Now that Mueller has exposed the Russian actors at the center of the Trump-Russia scandal, Americans on the other side of the transaction will be next.

And Trump knows it.

Here are four episodes for which the Trump-Russia Timeline offers context and insight.

EPISODE #1: THE ART OF A DEAL/STEAL

Background: Russians first hacked the email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, on Mar. 19, 2016.

— Starting in late March, Trump adviser George Papadopoulos meets in London with an intermediary — and then with a woman claiming to be Putin’s niece — who claim that Russia has thousands of stolen Clinton emails and wants to help Trump use them to win the election. (In November 2017, the intermediary — Joseph Mifsud — disappears after his role in the Trump-Russia scandal surfaces. Last week, he failed to show up for a court appearance in Italy.)

— Mar. 31, 2016: Meeting with his campaign’s national security team, Trump says he wants a softer approach to Russia. Papadopoulos tells Trump that he could arrange a personal meeting between Trump and Putin.

— Apr. 27, 2016: In his first major foreign policy address, Trump discusses easing relations between Russia and the US. Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak is sitting near the front of the room and attends a VIP reception.

— Apr. 29, 2016: The DNC first notices suspicious activity on its computer systems. By May, its outside team of experts determines that the hacking had come from Russia.

— June 3, 2016, Dontald Trump Jr. receives word that Russians promising “dirt” on Hillary Clinton want to meet with him. “I love it,” Don Jr. replies.

— June 7, 2016: The meeting date with the Russians is set with Don Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner attending. That evening, Trump tells the crowd celebrating his New Jersey primary victory: “I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week [June 13] and we’re going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons.

Indictment revelation: On June 8, 2016, the Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) launches “DCLeaks.com” and starts releasing stolen DNC emails. Before long, WikiLeaks disseminates them, too.

Who’s in big trouble?

Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, Trump’s national security team, and Julian Assange (WikiLeaks). The indictment doesn’t state whether the Russian hacking and dissemination operation was part of larger conspiracy with American citizens to install a president who had affirmed his warmth toward Russia. But Trump knows.

And so does Mueller.

***

EPISODE #2: “RUSSIA, IF YOU’RE LISTENING…”

— July 27, 2016: In the morning, Trump says, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Indictment revelation: “After hours”, Russian hackers attempt to infiltrate “for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party provider and used by Clinton’s personal office.”

Who’s in big trouble?

Trump. The indictment doesn’t disclose whether that particular Russian hack was a direct response to Trump’s earlier invitation. But Trump knows.

And so does Mueller.

***

EPISODE #3: GOP SEEKS RUSSIAN HELP

— Aug. 4, 2016: Roger Stone says that Guccifer 2.0 is not “the Russians” (spoiler alert: it is) and that WikiLeaks has devastating information on Clinton that Julian Assange will release to the public soon. Throughout August and September, Stone communicates directly with Guccifer 2.0 and discusses publicly anticipated WikiLeaks’ disclosures that will damage Clinton. Stone also boasts that, even though he left the campaign formally, he speaks regularly to Trump (which he does through the election and beyond).

— Aug. 12, 2016: Florida GOP consultant Aaron Nevins reaches out to Guccifer 2.0, who had invited journalists to send questions via Twitter direct messages relating to information that Guccifer 2.0 had hacked from the DNC and the DCCC.

Indictment revelation: On August 15, 2016, a congressional candidate asks Guccifer 2.0 for documents that the Russians had stolen from the DNC and the DCCC.  

— Aug. 22, 2016: Responding to Nevins’ Aug. 12 request, Guccifer 2.0 uploads almost 2.5 gigabytes of stolen documents — including the Democratic Party’s get-out-the-vote strategy for Florida — to Nevins’ Dropbox. Guccifer 2.0 then sends Roger Stone a link to Nevins’ blog. Nevins continues posting hacked documents through the end of August, culminating in the Sept. 8, 2016, release of the DCCC’s “Democrats Turnout Model” for Florida.

Who’s in big trouble?

Stone, Nevins, Assange (WikiLeaks), and the unnamed congressional candidate who asked Guccifer 2.0 for hacked documents. The indictment doesn’t reveal candidate’s identity. But that person knows who he or she is.

And so does Mueller.

***

EPISODE #4: THEFT OF THE DEMOCRATS’ ANALYTICS

A political party’s voter “analytics” are among any campaign’s most valuable tools. For an opponent who acquires them, it’s the equivalent of obtaining an adversary’s strategic plan for winning a war. Mueller’s indictment charges that in September 2016, the Russian hackers gathered “test applications relating to DNC’s analytics”, which they copied and moved to cloud-based accounts. The indictment doesn’t reveal what happened to the information thereafter or how it was used during the final two months of the campaign.

But those who benefited from the theft do.

And so does Mueller.

Who could be in big trouble? 

Anyone who knew that the campaign was using the DNC’s analytics to help Trump win the election. That could include Jared Kushner (who oversaw Trump’s digital operation), Brad Parscale (Trump’s digital campaign director), and Trump himself.

More is Coming

One more thing: Last week, Trump’s former national security Michael Flynn appeared in court and confirmed that he is still cooperating with Mueller. But the facts underlying the latest indictment of Russian intelligence officers didn’t come from Flynn. He’s supplying different information about wrongdoing by US citizens.

Mueller started with the Russian side of the transaction. Coming soon: The US side of a story that will live in infamy.

Here’s a complete list of the latest updates to the Trump-Russia Timeline:

JUNE 8, 2016: Russian Hackers Launch DCLeaks.com

JULY 27, 2016: Trump Exhorts Russia to Hack Clinton’s Email Server; Russians Attempt New Hack of Clinton Accounts (revision of pf previous entry) 

AUG. 15, 2016: Congressional Candidate Requests Stolen DNC/DCCC Emails from Guccifer 2.0

JULY 9, 2017: Trump Tweets About His Conversations with Putin

MAR. 20, 2018: Trump Congratulates Putin on Election Victory  (revision of pf previous entry) 

JULY 7, 2018: Sen. Johnson: Questions Russian Sanctions and Significance of Russia’s Election Interference

JULY 9, 2018: Trump Lies About NATO Costs

JULY 10, 2018: Flynn Still Cooperating With Mueller

JULY 10, 2018: Trump Continues Assault on NATO; Remains Soft on Putin

JULY 10, 2018: Trump Tweets About Strzok and Page

JULY 10, 2018: Britain Fines Facebook over Cambridge Analytica Scandal

JULY 10, 2018: Page Refuses to Appear Before House Committees

JULY 11, 2018: Misfud is Still Missing

JULY 11-12, 2018: Trump Attacks NATO Allies With Lies, Backs Off, Then Renews Assault

JULY 11, 2018: Trump Tweets About Strzok and Page

JULY 12, 2018: Strzok Testifies before House Committees

JULY 12, 2018: Trump Overrules Intelligence and Law Enforcement Advice; Orders Release of Investigative Files to Congress

JULY 12, 2018: Trump Blasts Theresa May in London

JULY 13, 2018: Trump Says He Supports May

JULY 13, 2018: Rosenstein Announces New Mueller Indictment

JULY 13, 2018: Coats Says Russian Cyberattack Warning Lights ‘Blinking Red’

JULY 13, 2018: House GOP Preparing New Push to Impeach Rosenstein

JULY 14, 2018: In Wake of Mueller Indictment, Trump Tweets About Obama and ‘Deep State’ 

JULY 15, 2018: En Route to Meeting with Putin, Trump Tweets ‘Witch Hunt’; Russia Agrees

Where are the kids?

The question remains largely unanswered by the US government that stripped them from their parents. The complicit GOP members of Congress remain conspicuously silent.

A federal court has required the reunification of approximately 3,000 children separated from their families at the border under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. The deadline is July 26. Based on its track record with a tiny subset of this group — children under the age of five — there is a zero percent chance that the Trump administration will meet that deadline. But there’s a 100 percent chance that it will manipulate the numbers to create a false narrative obscuring its failure.

Fun with Numbers — Except It’s Not Funny to Toddlers

Trump will blow the July 26 deadline because his administration couldn’t comply with a similar order to reunite only 103 kids under age five by July 10. As of July 12 — two days late — it had reunited only 57 of the children. Even more remarkably, it treated the remaining 46 as a creative solution to an arithmetic problem.

Specifically, on July 10, Justice Department attorneys told the court that 27 of the remaining 46 children were “determined to be ineligible” for reunification. Less than 48 hours later, that number had risen to — you guessed it — 46.

Voila!

Fifty-seven reunifications plus 46 “ineligibles” equals 103. Reunification problem solved.

Behind the Numbers

The government claims to be relying on “court-approved criteria” in making the “ineligibility” determinations. If so, the criteria are suspect:

— For 12 of the kids, ineligibility resulted because the US government deported their parents without them. Seriously? That’s an escape hatch for kidnapping children?

— For another 11, parents are in state or federal custody for unspecified (to the public) offenses. What are those offenses, exactly? I sure hope the misdemeanor of attempted illegal entry at the border isn’t among them.

— Another 11 parents have what the government describes as “a serious criminal history (charges or convictions for child cruelty, kidnapping, murder, human smuggling, domestic violence, etc.)” “Charges”? “Etc.”? Presumably, the court will ask for more information about this catch-all.

The Human Face of Tragedy

Behind the numbers are tragic individual chapters in one of America’s darkest stories. Read this front-page article in The New York Times, which describes innocent children housed and treated as prisoners, and then weep for those children, their families, and our country: “Cleaning Toilets, Following Rules: A Migrant Child’s Days in Detention.”

July 26, 2018 is the next court-ordered date by which more than 2,000 kids are to be reunited with their families.

Creative arithmetic is not an answer; it’s an insult.

Never let Trump and the Complicit GOP forget what they have done — and continue to do — in the name of the United States of America.

Never.

The whole world is watching. It won’t forget, either.

“WHERE ARE THE KIDS?”

Still asking.

Juxtaposition #1:

— Twelve teenagers trapped with their adult coach in a Thai cave riveted the world for three weeks until the last of them is rescued on July 10.

— Thousands of minor children whom the US government separated from their families under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy remain separated. For some of those kids, the separation is permanent. Last week, the Justice Department told a federal court that the Department of Homeland Security had 19 children under age five whose parents it had already deported. On July 9, DOJ said the number was nine — with another nine released into the US. And there’s one child for whom HHS has no information about the parent(s). None. Still to be revealed: Of the approximately 3,000 minors separated from their parents, how many have been reunited? And for how many others has government malfeasance made reunification impossible? Don’t all of these kids deserve at least as much international media attention as the teenagers trapped in a Thai cave?

Juxtaposition #2:

— The July 4th holiday celebrated American independence.

— Simultaneous Trump-Russia Timeline events demonstrate how Trump and his minions are imperiling American democracy:

June 28: Trump repeats, yet again, Putin’s lie that Russia didn’t meddle in the election:

(The capitalization of “Meddling” and “Election” is a mystery.)

July 1, 2018: Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, appears on Face the Nation. Asked about his recent conversation in Moscow with Vladimir Putin regarding Russia’s 2016 and 2018 election interference, Bolton says, “[W]hat President Putin said, through a translator of course, but what he said was there was no meddling in 2016 by the Russian state… Well I think that’s that’s an interesting statement.”

Bolton is a Yale-educated attorney who has now become another Trump lawyer-enabler. In an effort to defend the indefensible, he’s parsing words. Bolton’s attempt to distinguish “Russian state” from the fact that Putin himself directed Russia’s 2016 election interference operation is worse than sophistry. What is Bolton really doing? Rolling out Trump’s newest defense of Putin. Welcome to another iteration of Trumpworld “doublespeak.”

July 3: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) leads a Republican-only congressional delegation to Moscow where he and seven others members of Congress meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, former Ambassador Sergey Kislyak (who is now member of Russia’s upper parliament), and other Russian officials. To appreciate the significance of Kislyak’s presence, go to the Trump-Russia Timeline and click on hs name.

The four-hour session is closed to public view. But in opening remarks, Shelby tells Lavrov and his entourage: “We could be competitors — we are competitors — but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.”

Likewise, Shelby tells Vyacheslav Volodin, a close Putin ally and speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament (Duma), “I’m not here today to accuse Russia of this or that or so forth. I’m saying that we should all strive for a better relationship.”

In a plenary session of Russia’s lower parliament, members greet Shelby and his fellow Republicans with applause.

Following the meeting, Russian state television presenters and guests mock the US delegation for putting a weak foot forward. “The message of tough talk they promised in Washington ‘changed a bit’ by the time they got to Moscow,” according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Juxtaposition #2A:

Next to the Republicans’ Moscow trip, juxtapose this underreported Independence Day item:

July 3: While senior GOP members of Congress receive accolades from Putin’s proxies, the US Senate Intelligence Committee issues a bipartisan summary of its findings, which include:

• The January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that Russia interfered with the 2016 election is a “sound intelligence product.”
• “The Committee concurs” that Russia’s “influence campaign was approved by President Putin.”
• Moscow “sought to denigrate Secretary Clinton.”
• “The ICA relies on public Russian leadership commentary, Russian state media reports, public examples of where Russian interests would have aligned with candidates’ policy statements, and a body of intelligence reporting to support the assessment that Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for Trump.”

What Lies Beneath

Once upon a time, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) stood alone among fellow congressional representatives in his outspoken defense of Russia. (Go to the Trump-Russia Timeline, click on Rohrabacher’s name, and see the entries that enmesh him deeply in the Trump-Russia scandal.) Rohrabacher’s infection is spreading and now the epidemic pervades the GOP.

When Trump and Putin meet privately in Helsinki on July 16 — without any US diplomats or aides in the room — this much is certain: Some outcomes will become obvious immediately. If Trump accepts Russia’s annexation of Crimea, lifts US sanctions, or cedes Syria to Putin’s chosen leader, the world will see it and weep.

But it will take a longer time for the public to learn the whole truth about everything that happens in the private session between Trump and Putin. Someday, future historians will evaluate the pieces of American greatness that Trump gave away — and the magnitude of personal gain that he received in return.

Here’s the complete list of entries for this week’s update of the Trump-Russia Timeline:

LATE MARCH 2016: British Intelligence Alerts NSA to Russian Hack of DNC

JULY 1, 2018: Bolton Says Putin Denied Meddling by ‘Russian State

JULY 3, 2018: Trump Tweets “Witch Hunt”

JULY 3, 2018: GOP Congressional Delegation Meets Lavrov, Kislyak  and Others in Moscow; Russian Legislature Applauds

JULY 3, 2018: Senate Intelligence Committee Confirms Russian Meddling in US Election

JULY 5, 2018: Cohen Hires Former Clinton Aide

JULY 6, 2018: Giuliani Sets New Conditions for Mueller Interview

NEW: JULY 7, 2018: Trump Tweets “Witch Hunt” as Strzok Agrees to Testify Publicly

NEW: JULY 8, 2018: Giuliani Revises Trump-Comey Conversation About Flynn; Renews Assault on Mueller Probe

“Where are the kids?”

The federal court’s June 26 ruling was blunt: “The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance — responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government’s own making.”

A week later, the US Department of Health and Human Services upped its estimate: the number of children separated from their parents went from 2,300 to “under 3,000” — “about 100” are under the age of five. FIVE.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar (JD, Yale ’91) offered this tone-deaf insight on the family separations: “It’s important to remember that information from children can at times be unreliable.”

He could have added that it’s especially difficult when they’re too young to speak — much less know their parents’ full names — and were separated from their families by an incompetent government that didn’t have readily available the information required to reunite them.

Azar: It’s Not Trump’s Fault — or His

Alex Azar is yet another Trump enabler with a law degree. The cycle is always the same: Refuse to admit that Trump is to blame for anything; lie as necessary to deflect responsibility from the Trump administration to someone or something else.

“Any confusion is due to a broken immigration system and court orders,” Azar told reporters on July 5. “It’s not here.”

The exit of Scott Pruitt (JD, Univ. of Tulsa, ’93) proves that, in the long run, it’s a losing strategy. Eventually, the truth come out, the enablers’ reputations lie in tatters, and the harsh judgment of history awaits.

The Clock Ticks

For Azar, that judgment is imminent. On Thursday, July 5 — the same day he said that the government would meet court deadlines (July 10 for kids under five; July 26 for all other minors) and the reunification “mission would be accomplished” — the Trump administration asked the court for an extension of those deadlines. At a July 6 hearing, more ugly facts emerged about the kids under five:

— 83 children have been mapped with 86 parents; 16 kids have not been mapped with parents. Why not?

— Of the 86 parents, 46 are in ICE custody; 19 have been deported without their kids. How and why?

— Of the 86 parents, another 19 were released from ICE custody. How and why?

— Two of the 86 parents “have been determined to have a criminal history that would make them unfit or a danger, criminal convictions related to child cruelty and kidnapping or rape.” Says who?

How many reunifications have occurred? No one is saying, but if the number was significant, Azar and Trump would be touting it. Bigly.

For too many children, America’s Independence Day 2018 will forever have a special personal meaning: involuntary separation from their parents at the hands of the US government. Some of those kids and their parents will never see each other again. While contemplating the nation’s devolution under Trump and his enablers, let that one sink in.

An Unfortunate List

Meanwhile, add Alex Azar (JD, Yale, ’91)to the growing list of Trump enablers with a law degree.  Here are some of the others:

Jared Kushner (JD/MBA, NYU, ’07)

Mike Pence (JD, Indiana – Robert McKinney School of Law, ’86)

Jeff Sessions (JD, Alabama, ’73)

Don McGahn III (JD, Widener, ’94)

Kellyanne Conway (JD, George Washington, ’92)

Jay Sekulow (JD, Mercer, ’80)

Rudy Giuliani (JD, NYU, ’68)

Emmet Flood (JD, Yale, ’91)

Paul Manafort (JD, Georgetown, ’74)

Reince Priebus (JD, Miami, ’98)

Scott Pruitt (JD, Tulsa, ’93)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (JD, Kentucky, ’67)

Rep.Trey Gowdy (JD, South Carolina, ’89)

Rep. Jim Jordan (JD, Capital, ’01)

…And every other Republican member of Congress who graduated from law school and defers to Trump.

Upon admission to the bar, all lawyers swear an oath to defend the Constitution, uphold the rule of law, and encourage public confidence in the integrity of the legal system. Through acts of omission and commission, Trump’s cadre of enablers with JD’s are helping him undermine these fundamental principles that truly make America great.

Someday, America will be great again.

Editors’ Note: Until the government operating in the name of every American provides straight answers and solves a problem that Trump alone created, the following question will precede my posts:

“Where are the 2,000 kids and when will they be reunited with their families?”

Note to the press: At every daily White House briefing, ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders that question. When she dodges, says “Next question”, and calls on someone else, that reporter should pose it again.

Repeat the process as needed.

2,000 kids.

***

When future historians write about the Trump-Russia scandal, the retirement of US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy could loom large in the tale. His departure from the bench now assumes a prominent place in the Trump-Russia Timeline.

The Supreme Court and Trump-Russia

On the Court, Kennedy has been an occasional swing vote creating 5-4 majorities in favor of protecting Roe v. Wade, affirming same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, and upholding the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse cases. But the implications of Kennedy’s retirement for the Trump-Russia investigation could become equally momentous.

Trump is the subject of a serious criminal investigation into whether he (or his campaign) conspired with a hostile foreign power to win a US presidential election. Since then, he has engaged in what sure looks like a separate crime: systematically obstructing that investigation. Now he is poised to select the Supreme Court justice who could cast a final and deciding vote in his case.

Here’s just a partial list of the Trump-Russia issues that could land in the Supreme Court’s lap for a final determination — with Kennedy’s successor providing the decisive vote:

1. Does Mueller’s entire investigation violate the Constitution?
2. What is the proper scope of various privileges that Trump and witnesses have invoked to block congressional and special counsel inquiries?
3. Can a President obstruct justice?
4. Can a President be compelled to testify before a grand jury?
5. Can a President be indicted?
6. Can a President be tried?
7. Can a President pardon himself?
8. Can a presidential pardon extinguish the recipient’s exposure to separate charges under state law?

Forget the rhetoric about a “constitutional crisis” involving a showdown between the executive and judicial branches. Trump is now positioned to achieve a bloodless victory and conquer the judiciary. The complicit Republicans in the Senate won’t stop him. Until Democrats gain control of the House or Senate, Congress is Trump’s host species.

For the rule of law in America, it can’t get much worse. Apart from an unlikely electoral tidal wave that gives Democrats the House majority required to impeach Trump and the 67 senators required to convict him, only one escape hatch would remain: The new swing vote in the US Supreme Court — Chief Justice John Roberts. If and when the time comes for Roberts to vote in the Trump-Russia case, he’ll define the “Roberts Court” forever — for good or ill.

Kennedy’s Connections to Trump

Although far less significant, another aspect of Justice Kennedy’s retirement prompted the return to a story that first surfaced more than a year ago: Kennedy’s son, Justin, has longstanding family connections to the Trumps and the Kushners.

No one is accusing Justice Kennedy of wrongdoing. But judges are required to avoid even the “appearance of impropriety,” lest it undermine public confidence in the integrity of the justice system. More fundamentally, pursuing questions about connections among the nation’s most powerful leaders is simply investigative journalism. It keeps those leaders accountable, as any democracy should.

Justin, Trump, and Kushner

Justin Kennedy worked at Deutsche Bank and, according to The Financial Times, “was one of Trump’s most trusted associates” during a time that the bank loaned Trump $1 billion and no other major financial institution would touch the bankruptcy recidivist.

When Justin left Deutsche Bank in 2010, he co-founded LNR Property, a real estate firm that became involved in Kushner Companies’ troubled 666 Fifth Avenue building.

The story of the Kennedy-Trump-Kushner connections first appeared in an April 11, 2017 Medium.com article that attracted little attention. Reviewing the Trump-Russia Timeline during that period reveals an understandable reason why: There was a lot happening during the two weeks preceding former FBI Director James Comey’s firing. Since then, even more has happened.

There may be nothing nefarious in any of this. If so, the story will die. But it’s unwise to close the file before reading it.

Here’s a complete list of this week’s update of the Trump-Russia Timeline:

JUNE 2005: Manafort Pitches Himself to Russian Oligarch (revision of previous entry)

MAY 4, 2018: Judge Asks Mueller Team Tough Questions

JUNE 25, 2018: Trump Tweets About Warner, Mueller, FBI

JUNE 25, 2018: House Republicans Ask Mueller to Name Everyone Involved in His Investigation

JUNE 25, 2018: DOJ Responds to Nunes’ Ultimatum

JUNE 25-26, 2018: Trump Tweets About Stzok

JUNE 26, 2018: Nunes Demands More Information from DOJ

JUNE 26, 2018: Judge Who Had Asked Tough Questions Upholds Mueller’s Authority

JUNE 27, 2018: Trump-Putin Meeting Set

JUNE 27, 2018: Strzok Testifies for 11 Hours; Democrats Demand Release of His Transcript

JUNE 27, 2018: Justice Kennedy Announces Retirement

JUNE 28, 2018: Trump Defends Russia; Attacks Strzok, Mueller, Comey, McCabe

JUNE 28, 2018: Rosenstein and Wray Appear Before House