We Resist: Day 853

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: #StopTheBans and Nancy Pelosi, What Are You Even Doing? and Primarily Speaking.

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

Welp, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's decision to go to the White House to meet with Donald Trump on infrastructure turned out to be a bad idea! WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED.

Trump instead declared that he wouldn't work with them, because of the Democrats' investigations and talk of impeachment.

Josh Dawsey: "Trump says he walked into room with Pelosi and Schumer and told them he wanted to do infrastructure but that he won't work with them unless they 'get these phony investigations over with.' And now he's in the Rose Garden for a presser."

Judy Woodruff: "Standing in Rose Garden, [Donald] Trump adds 'these are the people that after 2 years and 45 million dollars...500 witnesses..and Nancy Pelosi says I engaged in a coverup. We have a House investigation, Senate investigation, & we did nothing wrong. These people were out to get us.'"

Chris Megerian: "'We will go down one track at a time,' Trump says. He'll fight Democrats first, work on policies later. That's a wrap from the Rose Garden."

As always, Aaron Rupar has video.

That Trump just came out and said HE won't work with Dems on infrastructure because of the threat of impeachment, which Pelosi still hasn't agreed to pursue, is exactly why: 1. Pelosi and Schumer shouldn't even have gone to WH; 2. Pelosi should be launching impeachment hearings.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 22, 2019

Honestly, I do not understand the argument it's a "win" if Pelosi, Schumer, or anyone else can successfully bait Trump into behaving like a villainous wreck.

WE ALREADY KNOW HE IS A VILLAINOUS WRECK. No more evidence is required.

Now it's (beyond) time to do something about it.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 22, 2019

See, the problem with the whole "let Trump hoist himself with his own petard" concept is that, for it to work, there has to be someone positioned and willing to hold him accountable.

And, while we wait, Mitch McConnell is busily stacking the courts.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 22, 2019

The pushback I'm getting on those tweets is incredible. Over and over, I am being accused (of course) of not understanding politics. The thing is, I am urgently in favor of launching impeachment hearings not because I don't understand U.S. politics, but because I do.

I have been writing about U.S. politics in this space for 15 years, and I have routinely been both entirely right about what's happening in this country and well ahead of the curve. My track record speaks for itself.

Impeach him now.

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Karoun Demirjian at the Washington Post: Justice Department and House Intelligence Panel Strike Deal for Mueller Materials.

The House Intelligence Committee will not enforce a subpoena against Attorney General William P. Barr as planned Wednesday, after the Justice Department agreed at the 11th hour to produce the redacted material and underlying information from the special counsel's report that the panel sought, albeit more slowly than it wanted.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee's chairman, announced the deal in a statement Wednesday morning. He warned that the subpoena "will remain in effect and will be enforced should the Department fail to comply with the full document request."

This is ridiculous. The constant goalpost-moving benefits Trump. It's just that simple.

Kate Riga at TPM: Tillerson Slipped into the Capitol to Tell House Committee About Trump and Russia. "Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quietly slipped into the Capitol Tuesday to talk to the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Trump administration’s interactions with Russia. According to the Daily Beast, Tillerson arrived under a shroud of secrecy, with almost no media warning and a back entrance to the building. During a six-hour hearing, Tillerson told the committee about how the administration actively avoided confronting Russia on their election interference in the name of establishing a rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin." Also ridiculous. Open hearings are necessary. Secrecy also benefits Trump.

Jeff Stein and Josh Dawsey at the Washington Post: Confidential Draft IRS Memo Says Tax Returns Must Be Given to Congress Unless President Invokes Executive Privilege. "A confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo says tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president takes the rare step of asserting executive privilege, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post. ...Trump has refused to turn over his tax returns but has not invoked executive privilege. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has instead denied the returns by arguing there is no legislative purpose for demanding them. But according to the IRS memo, which has not been previously reported, the disclosure of tax returns to the committee 'is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs.'" Cool outline to Trump on how he can keep his taxes concealed.

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[Content Note: Transphobia] Zack Ford at ThinkProgress: Virginia Confirms It Will Discriminate Against Transgender National Guard Personnel. "Responding to an inquiry from ThinkProgress, Adjutant General Timothy Williams...proceeded to repeat the Trump administration's description of the ban. 'The new DOD policy doesn't ban transgender individuals from service, and transgender service members may continue to serve,' he wrote. 'The DOD policy states that anyone who meets military standards without special accommodations can and should be able to serve, and this includes transgender persons.' This is incorrect. The administration's policy explicitly requires that service members can only serve in their 'biological sex.' This automatically precludes any transgender person from serving, including those who are already living in accordance with their gender identity."

[CN: Nativism] Chelsia Rose Marcius at the Daily Beast: Texas Migrant Detention Center Shuts Down over Flu Outbreak Following Teenager's Death. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection's main migrant intake center in Texas has halted work after a 'large number' of migrants fell ill, the agency announced late Tuesday. An unspecified number of migrants at the Central Processing Center in McAllen began showing 'signs of a flu-related illness,' CBP said. No further details were immediately available on the number of those affected or their ages. The outbreak comes just one day after [16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Vasquez] who had been held at the same facility died after being diagnosed with the flu."

7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin. 8-year-old Felipe Alonzo-Gomez. 16-year-old Juan de León Gutiérrez. A still-unidentified 2-year-old boy. And 16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Vasquez. Sob.

[CN: Misogynoir] Tucker Higgins at CNBC: Harriet Tubman $20 Bill No Longer Coming in 2020: Mnuchin Says Redesign Postponed. "The redesign of the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman will no longer be unveiled in 2020, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday. The unveiling had been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Mnuchin said the design process has been delayed and no new imagery will be unveiled until 2028." Of course.

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