On March 25, shortly after Attorney General William Barr told Congress that the Mueller report “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” Donald Trump was asked if he wanted to see the special counsel’s report “completely released,” to which he responded: “Up the attorney general, but it wouldn’t bother me at all . . . Wouldn’t bother me at all.” Four days later, he maintained that position, saying he would have no problem letting Congress, and then the public, see the full monty. “I have nothing to hide . . . absolutely nothing to hide,” he told reporters. Yet, strangely, after a week of taking victory laps about “No Collusion,” “No Obstruction,” and “Complete and Total
EXONERATION” (fact-check: false), the president appears to be changing his view on full disclosure.
On Monday, he tweeted, “No matter what information is given to the crazed Democrats from the No Collusion Mueller Report, it will never be good enough.” Then on Tuesday, the president told his followers that “NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM,” adding: “It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country,” emphasis ours. Later, speaking to reporters, President Let the People See It described calls to release the full report as “somewhat of a waste of time” and “a disgrace.” These comments followed an official statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that Democrats are “sore losers” who need to move on.
Why the sudden about-face when it comes to letting the public read Robert Mueller’s findings itself, rather than taking the word of an Attorney General who got the job by pre-emptively declaring that obstruction investigations are bullshit? As many have pointed out, it’s possible that after a week of celebrating, aides have successfully jammed it into Trump’s head that, no, the report does not “exonerate” him and, actually, he doesn’t come off that well in it, not that they’d ever admit it while doing the rounds on Fox News. According to New York, West Wing officials’ initial relief about Mueller not having sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump and Russia has turned to fear about “a president inclined to inflict self-harm by taking things too far.” “There will be plenty of unfavorable things about the president in the full report, which we think will eventually come out, so let’s not go overboard saying there’s no wrongdoing. Let’s move on,” a senior White House official told Olivia Nuzzi.
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How Steve Bannon Manipulates His Followers
Moving on, though, may not be entirely up to a White House suddenly worried about the details of an investigation they were reportedly toasting with Champagne just the other day. On Monday, House Democrats said they would issue subpoenas for Mueller’s “full and complete report, its underlying evidence and related matters” if Barr did not cough them up by their stated deadline of . . . today.
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Avocado futures traders are betting on a Trump-induced economic apocalypse
Make sure to stock up on avocados while you still can:
The Hass price from Michoacan, the heartland of Mexico’s avocado production, jumped 34 percent on Tuesday. That would be the biggest one-day gain since April 13, 2009. Prices will keep rising if Trump makes good on his threat, said Roland Fumasi, vice president and senior analyst at Rabobank. “Avocado prices could easily double or triple if we shut down the border,” Fumasi said by telephone.
Prices probably spiked as importers boosted purchases ahead of any potential border issues, Fumasi said. Additionally, a heatwave last year in California delayed the harvest, making the U.S. even more reliant on Mexican supplies. “Because California is late and it’s a small crop, Mexico is accounting for nearly all of our avocados,” he said.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Americans would run out of avocados in three weeks if Trump makes good on his threat to shut the Mexican border, a move that economists say would also cause “the entire U.S. auto industry [to] shut down within a week.” It’s almost like sealing a border with our third-largest trading partner is a terrible idea!
