We Resist: Day 817

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Late yesterday and earlier today by me: The Notre Dame Cathedral Is on Fire and Notre Dame Fire: The Latest and Primarily Speaking.

Here are some more things in the news today...

Emily Flitter and David Enrich at the New York Times: Deutsche Bank Is Subpoenaed for Trump Records by House Democrats.

Congressional investigators on Monday intensified their pursuit of [Donald] Trump's personal and business financial records by issuing a subpoena to his longtime lender, Deutsche Bank.

The two committees that issued the subpoena, the House's Intelligence and Financial Services committees, also demanded documents from numerous other financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup, related to possible money-laundering by people in Russia and Eastern Europe, according to three people with knowledge of the investigation.

"The potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern," Representative Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement. She added that the panel was "exploring these matters, including as they may involve the president and his associates, as thoroughly as possible pursuant to its oversight authority, and will follow the facts wherever they may lead us."

...At a public hearing last week, Ms. Waters grilled the chief executives of several banks about their business dealings in Russia.

"Much has been reported about how Deutsche Bank has been a pathway for criminals, kleptocrats, and allies of Mr. Putin to move illicit funds out of Russia," she said at the beginning of the hearing. "But recent information shows that some of your institutions have also been providing services for Russian individuals or entities that may be engaging in questionable transactions."

Don't fuck with Rep. Maxine Waters.

Cristina Maza at Newsweek: Should William Barr Recuse Himself from Mueller Report? Legal Experts Say Attorney General's Ties to Russia Are Troubling. "A few of Barr's previous employers are connected to key subjects in the probe. ...This much is known: On Barr's public financial disclosure report, he admits to working for a law firm that represented Russia's Alfa Bank and for a company whose co-founders allegedly have long-standing business ties to Russia. What's more, he received dividends from Vector Group, a holding company with deep financial ties to Russia." Fucking hell!

Carol E. Lee, Hallie Jackson, and Kristen Welker at NBC News: White House Officials Concerned About Being Exposed by Mueller Report.

Some of the more than one dozen current and former White House officials who cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller are worried that the version of his report expected to be made public on Thursday will expose them as the source of damaging information about [Donald] Trump, according to multiple witnesses in the investigation.

Some of the officials and their lawyers have sought clarity from the Justice Department on whether the names of those who cooperated with Mueller's team will be redacted or if the public report will be written in a way that makes it obvious who shared certain details of Trump's actions that were part of the obstruction of justice probe, people familiar with the discussions said. But, they said, the Justice Department has refused to elaborate.

Of particular concern is how Trump — and his allies — will react if it appears to be clear precisely who shared information with Mueller, these people said.

"They got asked questions and told the truth, and now they're worried the wrath will follow," one former White House official said.

...One person close to the White House said there is "breakdown-level anxiety" among some current and former staffers who cooperated with the investigation at the direction of Trump's legal team at the time.

This is just a really curious item to me, because I'm not sure I understand what the leakers of this "breakdown-level anxiety" are hoping to accomplish with it.

Nor can I even parse the underlying reasoning for their anxiety. I can't believe that anyone working at a high enough level in the Trump White House to have been useful to the investigation could have been under the impression that: 1. The Mueller investigation would culminate in Trump's removal from office; and 2: That Trump wouldn't get access to information about who cooperated; and 3. That Trump wouldn't use that information to justify an authoritarian purge of everyone he regards as disloyal.

This was always the way it was going to go. They're upset that working for a lawless president who treats loyalty as a one-way street has left them at the mercy of that president's contempt for the law and zero loyalty to them? Oh.

I am angry as fuck that Donald Trump will (continue to) purge his administration of anyone who isn't a slavering sycophant to the extent that they will break federal law to protect him. But I just can't feel sorry for the people who will be targeted by his wrath. They never should have abetted him in the first place. Oh well.

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[Content Note: Islamophobia; stochastic terrorism]

REPORTER: Congresswoman Omar says your video led to direct threats on her life. Any second thoughts?

TRUMP: "No, not at all." pic.twitter.com/wiSNptg0F3

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2019

Reporter: —Congresswoman Omar sent out a release last night saying that your tweet from a couple of days ago has led to direct threats on her life. Any second thoughts about that tweet and the way it was produced and put together?

Trump: No, not at all. Look, she's been very disrespectful to this country. She's been very disrespectful, frankly, to Israel. She is somebody that, ah, doesn't really understand, I think, life. Real life. What it's all about. It's unfortunate. She's got a, uh, a way about her that's very, very bad, I think for our country. I think she's extremely unpatriotic and extremely disrespectful to our country.

[The reporter then asks about the release of the Mueller report, and Trump babbles some horseshit about no collusion.]

So, asked whether he regrets his incendiary tweet about Omar, Trump says no — and then doubles down by dogwhistling that she is a dangerous, traitorous, anti-Semitic, uppity Muslim Black woman. This is textbook stochastic terrorism. He is imperiling her life. He knows it. That's the entire point.

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[CN: Bigotry] Luke Barnes at ThinkProgress: Majority of Republicans Think Evangelical Christians Are More Discriminated Against Than Minorities.

A majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters believe evangelical Christians face more discrimination in society than women, Muslims, and black, Latinx, and LGBTQ people, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, published Monday.

Only 34% of Republican or Republican-leaning voters believed Muslims experience "a lot" of discrimination in society, compared with 75% of Democrat or Democratic-leaning voters. Sixty-nine percent of Republican or Republican-leaning voters believed Muslims faced "some discrimination," compared with 92% among Democrat or Democratic-leaning voters.

Only 19% of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents said they believe black Americans faced "a lot" of discrimination. Sixty-six percent said black Americans faced "some" discrimination. Approximately 22% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said "gays and lesbians" faced "a lot" of discrimination, while 60% said they faced "some" form of discrimination.

Ten percent and 52% said women faced "a lot" or “some” discrimination, respectively, and 16% and 59% said the same of Latinx people.

Asked about evangelical Christians, Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said the group faced the most discrimination of any in the United States, with 70% saying they faced at least "some" discrimination and 30% saying they faced "a lot."

Yeah. That sounds about right. Always aggrieved. Bunch of self-pitying fucks who use the fantasy of being oppressed to be deplorable shits to marginalized people.

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?