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moonwalkertrance · 7 years ago

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"You Can’t Make This S--- Up": My Year Inside Trump's Insane White House

Author and columnist Michael Wolff was given extraordinary access to the Trump administration and now details the feuds, the fights and the alarming chaos he witnessed while reporting what turned into a new book.

Editor’s Note: Author and Hollywood Reporter columnist Michael Wolff’s new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (Henry Holt & Co.), is a detailed account of the 45th president’s election and first year in office based on extensive access to the White House and more than 200 interviews with Trump and senior staff over a period of 18 months. In advance of the Jan. 9 publication of the book, which Trump is already attacking, Wolff has written this extracted column about his time in the White House based on the reporting included in Fire and Fury.

I interviewed Donald Trump for The Hollywood Reporter in June 2016, and he seemed to have liked — or not disliked — the piece I wrote. "Great cover!" his press assistant, Hope Hicks, emailed me after it came out (it was a picture of a belligerent Trump in mirrored sunglasses). After the election, I proposed to him that I come to the White House and report an inside story for later publication — journalistically, as a fly on the wall — which he seemed to misconstrue as a request for a job. No, I said. I'd like to just watch and write a book. "A book?" he responded, losing interest. "I hear a lot of people want to write books," he added, clearly not understanding why anybody would. "Do you know Ed Klein?"— author of several virulently anti-Hillary books. "Great guy. I think he should write a book about me." But sure, Trump seemed to say, knock yourself out.

Since the new White House was often uncertain about what the president meant or did not mean in any given utterance, his non-disapproval became a kind of passport for me to hang around — checking in each week at the Hay-Adams hotel, making appointments with various senior staffers who put my name in the "system," and then wandering across the street to the White House and plunking myself down, day after day, on a West Wing couch.

The West Wing is configured in such a way that the anteroom is quite a thoroughfare — everybody passes by. Assistants — young women in the Trump uniform of short skirts, high boots, long and loose hair — as well as, in situation-comedy proximity, all the new stars of the show: Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer, Jared Kushner, Mike Pence, Gary Cohn, Michael Flynn (and after Flynn's abrupt departure less than a month into the job for his involvement in the Russia affair, his replacement, H.R. McMaster), all neatly accessible.

The nature of the comedy, it was soon clear, was that here was a group of ambitious men and women who had reached the pinnacle of power, a high-ranking White House appointment — with the punchline that Donald Trump was president. Their estimable accomplishment of getting to the West Wing risked at any moment becoming farce.

A new president typically surrounds himself with a small group of committed insiders and loyalists. But few on the Trump team knew him very well — most of his advisors had been with him only since the fall. Even his family, now closely gathered around him, seemed nonplussed. "You know, we never saw that much of him until he got the nomination," Eric Trump's wife, Lara, told one senior staffer. If much of the country was incredulous, his staff, trying to cement their poker faces, were at least as confused.

Their initial response was to hawkishly defend him — he demanded it — and by defending him they seemed to be defending themselves. Politics is a game, of course, of determined role-playing, but the difficulties of staying in character in the Trump White House became evident almost from the first day.

"You can't make this shit up," Sean Spicer, soon to be portrayed as the most hapless man in America, muttered to himself after his tortured press briefing on the first day of the new administration, when he was called to justify the president's inaugural crowd numbers — and soon enough, he adopted this as a personal mantra. Reince Priebus, the new chief of staff, had, shortly after the announcement of his appointment in November, started to think he would not last until the inauguration. Then, making it to the White House, he hoped he could last a respectable year, but he quickly scaled back his goal to six months. Kellyanne Conway, who would put a finger-gun to her head in private about Trump's public comments, continued to mount an implacable defense on cable television, until she was pulled off the air by others in the White House who, however much the president enjoyed her, found her militancy idiotic. (Even Ivanka and Jared regarded Conway's fulsome defenses as cringeworthy.)

Steve Bannon tried to gamely suggest that Trump was mere front man and that he, with plan and purpose and intellect, was, more reasonably, running the show — commanding a whiteboard of policies and initiatives that he claimed to have assembled from Trump's off-the-cuff ramblings and utterances. His adoption of the Saturday Night Live sobriquet "President Bannon" was less than entirely humorous. Within the first few weeks, even rote conversations with senior staff trying to explain the new White House's policies and positions would turn into a body-language ballet of eye-rolling and shrugs and pantomime of jaws dropping. Leaking became the political manifestation of the don't-blame-me eye roll.

The surreal sense of the Trump presidency was being lived as intensely inside the White House as out. Trump was, for the people closest to him, the ultimate enigma. He had been elected president, that through-the-eye-of-the-needle feat, but obviously, he was yet … Trump. Indeed, he seemed as confused as anyone to find himself in the White House, even attempting to barricade himself into his bedroom with his own lock over the protests of the Secret Service.

There was some effort to ascribe to Trump magical powers. In an early conversation — half comic, half desperate — Bannon tried to explain him as having a particular kind of Jungian brilliance. Trump, obviously without having read Jung, somehow had access to the collective unconscious of the other half of the country, and, too, a gift for inventing archetypes: Little Marco … Low-Energy Jeb … the Failing New York Times. Everybody in the West Wing tried, with some panic, to explain him, and, sheepishly, their own reason for being here. He's intuitive, he gets it, he has a mind-meld with his base. But there was palpable relief, of an Emperor's New Clothes sort, when longtime Trump staffer Sam Nunberg — fired by Trump during the campaign but credited with knowing him better than anyone else — came back into the fold and said, widely, "He's just a fucking fool."

Part of that foolishness was his inability to deal with his own family. In a way, this gave him a human dimension. Even Donald Trump couldn't say no to his kids. "It's a littleee, littleee complicated …" he explained to Priebus about why he needed to give his daughter and son-in-law official jobs. But the effect of their leadership roles was to compound his own boundless inexperience in Washington, creating from the outset frustration and then disbelief and then rage on the part of the professionals in his employ.

The men and women of the West Wing, for all that the media was ridiculing them, actually felt they had a responsibility to the country. "Trump," said one senior Republican, "turned selfish careerists into patriots." Their job was to maintain the pretense of relative sanity, even as each individually came to the conclusion that, in generous terms, it was insane to think you could run a White House without experience, organizational structure or a real purpose.

On March 30, after the collapse of the health care bill, 32-year-old Katie Walsh, the deputy chief of staff, the effective administration chief of the West Wing, a stalwart political pro and stellar example of governing craft, walked out. Little more than two months in, she quit. Couldn't take it anymore. Nutso. To lose your deputy chief of staff at the get-go would be a sign of crisis in any other administration, but inside an obviously exploding one it was hardly noticed.

While there might be a scary national movement of Trumpers, the reality in the White House was stranger still: There was Jared and Ivanka, Democrats; there was Priebus, a mainstream Republican; and there was Bannon, whose reasonable claim to be the one person actually representing Trumpism so infuriated Trump that Bannon was hopelessly sidelined by April. "How much influence do you think Steve Bannon has over me? Zero! Zero!" Trump muttered and stormed. To say that no one was in charge, that there were no guiding principles, not even a working org chart, would again be an understatement. "What do these people do?" asked everyone pretty much of everyone else.

The competition to take charge, which, because each side represented an inimical position to the other, became not so much a struggle for leadership, but a near-violent factional war. Jared and Ivanka were against Priebus and Bannon, trying to push both men out. Bannon was against Jared and Ivanka and Priebus, practicing what everybody thought were dark arts against them. Priebus, everybody's punching bag, just tried to survive another day. By late spring, the larger political landscape seemed to become almost irrelevant, with everyone focused on the more lethal battles within the White House itself. This included screaming fights in the halls and in front of a bemused Trump in the Oval Office (when he was not the one screaming himself), together with leaks about what Russians your opponents might have been talking to.

Reigning over all of this was Trump, enigma, cipher and disruptor. How to get along with Trump — who veered between a kind of blissed-out pleasure of being in the Oval Office and a deep, childish frustration that he couldn't have what he wanted? Here was a man singularly focused on his own needs for instant gratification, be that a hamburger, a segment on Fox & Friends or an Oval Office photo opp. "I want a win. I want a win. Where's my win?" he would regularly declaim. He was, in words used by almost every member of the senior staff on repeated occasions, "like a child." A chronic naysayer, Trump himself stoked constant discord with his daily after-dinner phone calls to his billionaire friends about the disloyalty and incompetence around him. His billionaire friends then shared this with their billionaire friends, creating the endless leaks which the president so furiously railed against.

One of these frequent callers was Rupert Murdoch, who before the election had only ever expressed contempt for Trump. Now Murdoch constantly sought him out, but to his own colleagues, friends and family, continued to derisively ridicule Trump: "What a fucking moron," said Murdoch after one call.

With the Comey firing, the Mueller appointment and murderous White House infighting, by early summer Bannon was engaged in an uninterrupted monologue directed to almost anyone who would listen. It was so caustic, so scabrous and so hilarious that it might form one of the great underground political treatises.

By July, Jared and Ivanka, who had, in less than six months, traversed from socialite couple to royal family to the most powerful people in the world, were now engaged in a desperate dance to save themselves, which mostly involved blaming Trump himself. It was all his idea to fire Comey! "The daughter," Bannon declared, "will bring down the father."

Priebus and Spicer were merely counting down to the day — and every day seemed to promise it would be the next day — when they would be out.

And, indeed, suddenly there were the 11 days of Anthony Scaramucci.

Scaramucci, a minor figure in the New York financial world, and quite a ridiculous one, had overnight become Jared and Ivanka's solution to all of the White House's management and messaging problems. After all, explained the couple, he was good on television and he was from New York — he knew their world. In effect, the couple had hired Scaramucci — as preposterous a hire in West Wing annals as any — to replace Priebus and Bannon and take over running the White House.

There was, after the abrupt Scaramucci meltdown, hardly any effort inside the West Wing to disguise the sense of ludicrousness and anger felt by every member of the senior staff toward Trump's family and Trump himself. It became almost a kind of competition to demystify Trump. For Rex Tillerson, he was a moron. For Gary Cohn, he was dumb as shit. For H.R. McMaster, he was a hopeless idiot. For Steve Bannon, he had lost his mind.

Most succinctly, no one expected him to survive Mueller. Whatever the substance of the Russia "collusion," Trump, in the estimation of his senior staff, did not have the discipline to navigate a tough investigation, nor the credibility to attract the caliber of lawyers he would need to help him. (At least nine major law firms had turned down an invitation to represent the president.)

There was more: Everybody was painfully aware of the increasing pace of his repetitions. It used to be inside of 30 minutes he'd repeat, word-for-word and expression-for-expression, the same three stories — now it was within 10 minutes. Indeed, many of his tweets were the product of his repetitions — he just couldn't stop saying something.

By summer's end, in something of a historic sweep — more usual for the end of a president's first term than the end of his first six months — almost the entire senior staff, save Trump's family, had been washed out: Michael Flynn, Katie Walsh, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon. Even Trump's loyal, longtime body guard Keith Schiller — for reasons darkly whispered about in the West Wing — was out. Gary Cohn, Dina Powell, Rick Dearborn, all on their way out. The president, on the spur of the moment, appointed John Kelly, a former Marine Corps general and head of homeland security, chief of staff — without Kelly having been informed of his own appointment beforehand. Grim and stoic, accepting that he could not control the president, Kelly seemed compelled by a sense of duty to be, in case of disaster, the adult in the room who might, if needed, stand up to the president … if that is comfort.

As telling, with his daughter and son-in-law sidelined by their legal problems, Hope Hicks, Trump's 29-year-old personal aide and confidant, became, practically speaking, his most powerful White House advisor. (With Melania a nonpresence, the staff referred to Ivanka as the "real wife" and Hicks as the "real daughter.") Hicks' primary function was to tend to the Trump ego, to reassure him, to protect him, to buffer him, to soothe him. It was Hicks who, attentive to his lapses and repetitions, urged him to forgo an interview that was set to open the 60 Minutes fall season. Instead, the interview went to Fox News' Sean Hannity who, White House insiders happily explained, was willing to supply the questions beforehand. Indeed, the plan was to have all interviewers going forward provide the questions.

As the first year wound down, Trump finally got a bill to sign. The tax bill, his singular accomplishment, was, arguably, quite a reversal of his populist promises, and confirmation of what Mitch McConnell had seen early on as the silver Trump lining: "He'll sign anything we put in front of him." With new bravado, he was encouraging partisans like Fox News to pursue an anti-Mueller campaign on his behalf. Insiders believed that the only thing saving Mueller from being fired, and the government of the United States from unfathomable implosion, is Trump's inability to grasp how much Mueller had on him and his family.

Steve Bannon was openly handicapping a 33.3 percent chance of impeachment, a 33.3 percent chance of resignation in the shadow of the 25th amendment and a 33.3 percent chance that he might limp to the finish line on the strength of liberal arrogance and weakness.

Donald Trump's small staff of factotums, advisors and family began, on Jan. 20, 2017, an experience that none of them, by any right or logic, thought they would — or, in many cases, should — have, being part of a Trump presidency. Hoping for the best, with their personal futures as well as the country's future depending on it, my indelible impression of talking to them and observing them through much of the first year of his presidency, is that they all — 100 percent — came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job.

At Mar-a-Lago, just before the new year, a heavily made-up Trump failed to recognize a succession of old friends.

Happy first anniversary of the Trump administration.

#Donald Trump #Steve Bannon #Michael Wolff #Jared Kushner #Ivanka Trump #Hope Hicks #Don Jr.#Donald Trump Jr #Fire And Fury #Politics

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everettwilkinson · 7 years ago

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TOOMEY says Moore should drop out, and Strange should mount a write in — STRAUSS in Alabama: Republicans sticking with Moore — TRUMP ABROAD: Getting along with Russia is a good thing — VF’s new editor

Good Sunday morning. QUESTIONS FOR REPUBLICANS — If Roy Moore wins, do Republicans allow him in the Senate Republican Conference? Do they put him on prime committees? Will there be a movement to expel Moore? And with Steve Bannon on the warpath, do they have the ability to sideline other candidates who are out of step with the party?

— THE SENATE is a club. Friendships run deep. Moore is going to be an outsider in a place where relationships are the only thing that matter.

Story Continued Below

KELLYANNE CONWAY to MARTHA RADDATZ on ABC’S “THIS WEEK” about ROY MOORE: “I said very early in this process that the conduct as described should disqualify anyone from serving in public office and I’ll stand by that. The president and others in the Republican Party have made clear that if the allegations are true this man should step aside. But I’ve gone farther than that, and I reflected something the vice president said as well, which is everyone should know that conduct is disqualifying. And Mr. Moore has denied that conduct. I think you’ve got other people out there talking about what did or did not happen many years ago.”

— SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA.) to Chuck Todd on NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”: “I have to say, I think the accusations have more credibility than the denial, I think it would be best if Roy would just step aside. … I think a write in is something we should certainly explore. I think Luther Strange would be a strong candidate for a write in.”

— W.H. LEG AFFAIRS DIRECTOR MARC SHORT to Chuck: “I think that there’s a special place in hell for those who actually perpetrate these crimes, and I think Roy Moore has to do more explaining than he has done so far. But I think we here in Washington have to be careful as well in this. Roy Moore is somebody who graduated from West Point, he served our country in Vietnam, he’s been elected multiple times statewide in Alabama. The people in Alabama know Roy Moore better than we do here in DC, and I think we have to be very cautious, as Senator Toomey said of allegations that are 40 years old that arise a month before election day. … There’s no Senate seat more important than the notion of child pedophilia Chuck, I mean that’s reality. But having said that, he has not been proven guilty. We have to afford him the chance to defend himself.”

ON THE GROUND IN ALABAMA — “Moore backers stand by their man,” by Daniel Strauss in Birmingham: Roy “Moore denied the allegations before an audience of about 100 at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club in Vestavia Hills, drawing applause while casting the accounts as part of a conspiracy between the media, Democrats and the Republican establishment. With the report still just days old, it is still unclear if unwavering loyalty from some supporters will be enough to bring Moore a victory on Dec. 12, even in deeply Republican Alabama.

“But in the meantime, the response has shielded Moore against the demands of top Washington Republicans that he exit the race, and his base is prepared to fight on. ‘There was kind of a shock of ‘oh my goodness, these accusations.’ And then the second reaction is, ‘Why now?’ said Ed Henry, a Republican state representative. ‘It just stinks to high heaven. … It’s intended to demoralize and cause Republicans not to vote in December.’”

“Paul Reynolds, a Republican National Committee member from Alabama who attended the Moore event, said he has seen Republicans dividing into two categories since the Moore story broke. ‘There are going to be those who want to wait and see,’ Reynolds said. ‘There will be others that are going to double down and try harder.’” http://politi.co/2zEWfaS

— “Roy Moore Didn’t Deny Kissing Teenagers as 30-Year-Old in Call With Lawmaker,” by Washingtonian’s Elaina Plott: “He couldn’t deny relations with underage women in a phone call with a U.S. senator [on Friday]. According to three sources briefed on the call, Moore could not deny ‘kissing’ or ‘dating’ teenagers while in his thirties. The Republican senator encouraged Moore to drop out of the race, the sources said. A spokesman for Moore declined to comment on an account of the phone call.” http://bit.ly/2zz443L

— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA): “Fmr Dep. DA Theresa Jones, who worked alongside Roy Moore, tells CNN: ‘It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls, everyone we knew thought it was weird…We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall…’”

THE CIVIL WAR CONTINUES — MCCONNELL ON BANNON, via NYT’s Sheryl Stolberg: “Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, is vowing to depose him, telling The New York Times that ‘I have an objective that Mitch McConnell will not be majority leader, and I believe will be done before this time next year.’ Mr. McConnell, he added, ‘has to go.’

“To that, Mr. McConnell laughed. ‘You can write that down,’ he said in an interview on Friday. ‘I laughed. Ha-ha. That’s a perfect response.’ … ‘Mitch will be very calm, he’ll be very strategic, he’ll be very surgical and he will eventually eviscerate Mr. Bannon, and Bannon won’t even know what happened to him,’ said Bill Stone, a former chairman of the Republican Party in Louisville who is close to Mr. McConnell. ‘Bannon is dealing with a man of intellect and a man of experience and a man of patience and resolve like he’s never met in his life.’” http://nyti.ms/2zuY64i

WAPO’S DAN BALZ: “Trump dominates the GOP base. Party leaders live with the consequences”: http://wapo.st/2jkT6IQ

SPOTTED: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump last night having dinner at Casa Luca

MOVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST – NYT A1, “Trump Team Begins Drafting Middle East Peace Plan,” by Peter Baker: “President Trump and his advisers have begun developing their own concrete blueprint to end the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, a plan intended to go beyond previous frameworks offered by the American government in pursuit of what the president calls ‘the ultimate deal.’ After 10 months of educating themselves on the complexities of the world’s most intractable dispute, White House officials said, Mr. Trump’s team of relative newcomers to Middle East peacemaking has moved into a new phase of its venture in hopes of transforming what it has learned into tangible steps to end a stalemate that has frustrated even presidents with more experience in the region. …

“Mr. Trump’s team has collected ‘non-papers’ exploring various issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and officials said they expected to address such perennial dividing points as the status of Jerusalem and settlements in the occupied West Bank. Although Mr. Trump has not committed to a Palestinian state, analysts said they anticipated that the plan will have to be built around the so-called two-state solution that has been the core of peacemaking efforts for years. …

“‘There’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to Middle East peace,’ said Philip Gordon, a White House Middle East coordinator under Mr. Obama. ‘When you get into these details, that’s when you come up against the strong objections of the two sides. If they don’t want it to be dead on arrival, they may wind up with vague principles, but as we’ve seen, even vague principles are beyond what the parties are willing to embrace.’” http://nyti.ms/2zRyZJJ

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CATCHING YOU UP ON TRUMP ABROAD …

— TRUMP TO VIETNAMESE PRESIDENT TRUONG TAN SANG ON SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE, per pooler AFP’s Jerome Cartillier: “If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know (…) I am a very good mediator.”

— TRUMP ON PUTIN SAYING HE DID NOT MEDDLE IN U.S. ELECTIONS: “What I said there is that I believe he believes that, and that’s very important for somebody to believe. I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election.

“As to whether I believe it or not, I’m with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with their leadership. I believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. I’ve worked with them very strongly. There weren’t seventeen as was previously reported; there were actually four. … Now, at the same time, I want to be able — because I think it’s very important — to get along with Russia, to get along with China, to get along with Vietnam, to get along with lots of countries, because we have a lot of things we have to solve. And, frankly, Russia and China in particular can help us with the North Korea problem, which is one of our truly great problems.

“So I’m not looking to stand and start arguing with somebody when there’s reporters all around and cameras recording and seeing our conversation. I think it was very obvious to everybody. I believe that President Putin really feels — and he feels strongly — that he did not meddle in our election. What he believes is what he believes. …

“[I] feel that having Russia in a friendly posture, as opposed to always fighting with them, is an asset to the world and an asset to our country, not a liability. And, by the way, Hillary Clinton had the reset button. She wanted to get back together with Russia. She even spelled ‘reset’ wrong. That’s how it started, and then it got worse. President Obama wanted to get along with Russia, but the chemistry wasn’t there. Getting along with other nations is a good thing, not a bad thing — believe me. It’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

— TAKING ADVANTAGE OF 280 CHARACTERS: @realDonaldTrump last night at 7:16 p.m.: “Met with President Putin of Russia who was at #APEC meetings. Good discussions on Syria. Hope for his help to solve, along with China the dangerous North Korea crisis. Progress being made.” … at 7:18 p.m.: “When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics – bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!” …

… at 7:43 p.m.: “Does the Fake News Media remember when Crooked Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was begging Russia to be our friend with the misspelled reset button? Obama tried also, but he had zero chemistry with Putin.” … at 7:48 p.m.: “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!”

ON THE WORLD STAGE — “Duterte to ask Trump to return historic spoils of war taken in 1901,” by CBS News’ Jillian Hughes and Jackie Alemany: “When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sits down for his first face-to-face bilateral meeting with President Trump on Monday in Manila, he will come to the table with an unusual request. Duterte wants the United States to return war trophies seized more than 100 years ago: three historic church bells that were taken from the Philippine village of Balangiga after a bloody clash during the Philippine-American War.” http://cbsn.ws/2i9pJWR

— “How Saudi Arabia turned on Lebanon’s Hariri,” by Reuters’ Samia Nakhoul, Laila Bassam and Tom Perry in Beirut: “Sources close to Hariri say Saudi Arabia has concluded that the prime minister — a long-time Saudi ally and son of late prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005 — had to go because he was unwilling to confront Hezbollah. Multiple Lebanese sources say Riyadh hopes to replace Saad Hariri with his older brother Bahaa as Lebanon’s top Sunni politician. Bahaa is believed to be in Saudi Arabia and members of the Hariri family have been asked to travel there to pledge allegiance to him, but have refused.” http://reut.rs/2AzVBuy

THE TRUMP LEGACY — NYT A1, “Trump Is Rapidly Reshaping the Judiciary. Here’s How,” by Charlie Savage: “In the weeks before Donald J. Trump took office, lawyers joining his administration gathered at a law firm near the Capitol, where Donald F. McGahn II, the soon-to-be White House counsel, filled a white board with a secret battle plan to fill the federal appeals courts with young and deeply conservative judges. Mr. McGahn, instructed by Mr. Trump to maximize the opportunity to reshape the judiciary, mapped out potential nominees and a strategy, according to two people familiar with the effort: Start by filling vacancies on appeals courts with multiple openings and where Democratic senators up for re-election next year in states won by Mr. Trump — like Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania — could be pressured not to block his nominees.

“And to speed them through confirmation, avoid clogging the Senate with too many nominees for the district courts, where legal philosophy is less crucial. Nearly a year later, that plan is coming to fruition. Mr. Trump has already appointed eight appellate judges, the most this early in a presidency since Richard M. Nixon, and on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send a ninth appellate nominee — Mr. Trump’s deputy White House counsel, Gregory Katsas — to the floor.” http://nyti.ms/2iRhuOv

–“Trump Nominee for Federal Judgeship Has Never Tried a Case,” by NYT’s Vivian Wang: “A 36-year-old lawyer who has never tried a case and who was unanimously deemed ‘not qualified’ by the American Bar Association has been approved for a lifetime federal district judgeship by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The lawyer, Brett Talley, is the fourth judicial nominee under President Trump to receive a ‘not qualified’ rating from the bar association and the second to receive the rating unanimously.” http://nyti.ms/2yvdcmC

MISLEADING CONGRESS? — “After new revelations, Sessions faces another grilling on Russia contacts in Trump campaign,” by L.A. Times’ Joseph Tanfani: “For Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, questions about the Trump campaign and Russia have become a nagging headache that won’t go away. Three times, he has appeared before his former colleagues in the Senate and answered questions about what he knew about contacts with Russians during the campaign. Three times, Sessions stumbled, issuing denials that later proved to be incomplete or wrong.

“On Tuesday, the nation’s highest lawman will face another grilling on Capitol Hill, this time prompted by claims in court documents and congressional testimony that he was told of at least two aides’ meetings with Russian officials — despite his claim last month that he was unaware of any such contacts. ‘The facts appear to contradict your sworn testimony on several occasions,’ all 17 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote to Sessions last week in advance of his appearance there.” http://bit.ly/2hmzShP

— “Lawmakers question whether key CIA nominee misled Congress,” by AP’s Deb Reichmann: “Two former CIA employees are accusing the Trump administration’s choice for CIA chief watchdog of being less than candid when he told Congress he didn’t know about any active whistleblower complaints against him. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Christopher Sharpley, the current acting inspector general who’s in line for the permanent job, about complaints that he and other managers participated in retaliation against CIA workers who alerted congressional committees and other authorities about alleged misconduct. ‘I’m unaware of any open investigations on me, the details of any complaints about me,’ Sharpley testified at his confirmation hearing last month.” http://bit.ly/2jkSHGo

AP in Berlin: “A list of heartbreak: Newspaper tallies 33,293 dead migrants”: “The German paper Der Tagesspiegel has published a list of 33,293 people who it says died while trying to immigrate to Europe. The list is 46 pages long and covers the period from 1993 to May 29, 2017. The newspaper cites the victims’ names, ages, countries of origin, circumstances, date of death and the source of information. Often, the names are not given because the dead were not identified.” http://bit.ly/2zRXne3

SUNDAY BEST …

— JAKE TAPPER talks with FORMER CIA DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN on CNN’S “State of the Union”: TAPPER: “What is your response, Mr. Brennan, to what President Trump said about Vladimir Putin and U.S. intelligence agencies?” BRENNAN: “Well, I think Mr. Trump knows that the intelligence agencies, specifically CIA, NSA and FBI, the ones that really have responsibility for counterintelligence and looking at what Russia does, it’s very clear that the Russians interfered in the election. And it’s still puzzling as to why Mr. Trump does not acknowledge that and embrace it, and also push back hard against Mr. Putin. The Russian threat to our democracy and our democratic foundations is real. And I think his continuing to not say very clearly and strongly that this is a national security problem, and to say to Mr. Putin, we know you did it, you would have to stop it, because there are going to be consequences if you don’t.”

— CHRIS WALLACE talks with HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS CHAIRMAN KEVIN BRADY (R-TEXAS) on FOX NEWS’ “Fox News Sunday” about whether the House will pass tax reform by Thanksgiving: BRADY: “I believe it will. I feel there’s strong support for this. We continue to make improvements at every step of the way.”

— “Brady: House will not accept repeal of state, local tax deductions,” by Zach Warmbrodt: http://politi.co/2AADcgO

— JOHN DICKERSON talks with TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN on CBS’S “Face the Nation”: DICKERSON: “Let me ask you about [lobbyists]. The president said he wanted to drain the swamp in Washington. What instruction has he given you, in putting this package together, to keep lobbyists’ influence out of the process?” MNUCHIN: “Again, I’m not concerned about lobbyists. We’ve reached out to many, many trade groups to get lots of input, okay? Lots of people, lots of CEOs, have had input into this. But this is all about growth. And this is about an economic program that I’ve had the opportunity to work with the president since the campaign. And we’re focused. We’re so excited to get this done and to the President’s desk in December.” DICKERSON: “So no special instructions, though, about lobbyists, getting them out of this process.” MNUCHIN: “I haven’t had any lobbyists really involved with us. We’ve had trade groups that we’ve listened to input. But I’m not concerned about lobbyists at all.”

PHOTO DU JOUR: Vice President Mike Pence cleans a portion of the wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day on Nov. 11. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

ALI WATKINS — “Cold War Soviet technology studied in Cuba attacks”: “U.S. intelligence officials are closely studying Cold War-era Soviet technology as they seek to determine whether an electronic weapon was used to disorient and injure 24 American officials in Cuba earlier this year. Two intelligence officials tell POLITICO they’re confident that the attacks were conducted with an ‘energy directed’ or ‘acoustic’ device, possibly similar to one used by Soviet intelligence in Havana more than four decades ago, but remain unsure of its exact nature.

“That has officials combing classified files and even contacting retired intelligence officers for clues to a mystery that has triggered a diplomatic crisis less than three years after President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations with Havana. ‘We’re trying to talk to guys as far back as the 1960s,’ said one of the intelligence officials. The sweeping, government-wide search for answers — spearheaded publicly by the State Department — has pulled in expertise from intelligence agencies, science and weapons development offices and health officials. Still, answers remain elusive. ‘It’s baffled the entire community,’ the intelligence official said.” http://politi.co/2AyE31L

KOCH WATCH — “Libertarian billionaire Charles Koch is making a big bet on foreign policy,” by WaPo’s Greg Jaffe: “A foundation overseen by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch is making major investments in foreign policy programs at elite American universities, including a soon-to-be-announced $3.7 million grant to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The latest grant … is part of a larger effort to broaden the debate about an American foreign policy Koch and others at his foundation argue has become too militaristic, interventionist and expensive. It follows about $10 million in similar grants the Charles Koch Foundation has given in recent months to Notre Dame, Tufts University, Catholic University and the University of California at San Diego.” http://wapo.st/2zzefFz

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Woman says she was harassed at defense agency over child-care issues,” by WaPo’s Rachel Weiner: “A female defense agency employee said in court this month that she was isolated and harassed at the office after asking to work from home one day a week because she could not arrange child care. Her bosses at the Defense Security Service say she is simply unhappy she was not given special accommodation. A jury in federal court in Alexandria is expected to decide in the next week which side they believe. Patricia Burke’s suit against the Defense Department is the rare employment discrimination case against the federal government to go to trial.” http://wapo.st/2yVkowq

— “At the SEC, Whistleblowers Blow Whistle on Watchdog,” by WSJ’s Jean Eaglesham: “The watchdog for the [SEC], who encourages staff at the top securities regulator to blow the whistle on misconduct and fraud, is himself the subject of complaints by several whistleblowers. Carl Hoecker, the SEC inspector general, is tasked with rooting out malpractice at the agency. His team investigates alleged misconduct by SEC officials, ranging from insider trading to expenses fraud. The office’s website highlights protections for SEC employees who disclose evidence of waste, fraud or abuse.

“At least two employees working for Mr. Hoecker have filed complaints to a different federal whistleblower-protection agency, alleging that he and his senior staff retaliated against them for calling out misconduct within the inspector general’s office, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Raphael Kozolchyk, a spokesman for the SEC Office of Inspector General, said ‘a number of the claims contain significant factual inaccuracies, while others are grossly misleading.’ He added that the office does ‘not comment on ongoing personnel matters.’ Mr. Hoecker didn’t respond to a request for comment.” http://on.wsj.com/2yuCVvt

MEDIAWATCH — “Radhika Jones, a Times Books Editor, Said to Be Next Vanity Fair Editor,” by NYT’s Sydney Ember: “In a dramatic changing of the guard, Radhika Jones, the editorial director of the books department at The New York Times and a former top editor at Time magazine, is expected to be named the next editor of Vanity Fair, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Condé Nast, which publishes Vanity Fair, plans to make the announcement as soon as Monday. Ms. Jones, 44, will succeed the 68-year-old Graydon Carter, who said in September that he was stepping down from the glossy general-interest magazine after a 25-year run at its helm.” http://nyti.ms/2zwKaGU

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

–“The Stockholder in the Sand,” by William D. Cohan in March 2013 in Vanity Fair: “[T]he private origins—and exact size—of his massive fortune are the subject of continued debate between [Alwaleed] bin Talal and prominent media outlets. So what’s the truth? And does one of the richest men on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index—a calorie-counting cell-phone addict who loves texting James Murdoch—really spend his free time throwing dwarves?” http://bit.ly/2jiEUjO … 2012 Business Insider profile by Nicholas Carlson http://read.bi/2yQDhkq

–“Donald Trump Movie Review – Orson Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’” – From an interview Trump did with filmmaker Errol Morris for a project called “Movie Movie” — 3-min. video http://bit.ly/2yOLCFh

–“The Convert,” by Abigail Pesta in Texas Monthly: “Tania Joya had been married to a jihadist from Texas for ten years, but she was tired of living like a nomad and unnerved by his increasingly extreme ideology. When he dragged their family to war-torn Syria, she knew it was time to get out.” http://bit.ly/2jfXby6

–“In the Land of Vendettas That Go On Forever,” by Amanda Petrusich in VQR: “In Northern Albania, vengeance is as likely a form of restitution as anything the criminal-justice system can offer.” http://bit.ly/2mgl2Px

–“The Long, Bizarre Relationship Between Jann Wenner and Mick Jagger,” by Joe Hagan in Vulture: http://bit.ly/2jg3eTc

–“Disneyland with the Death Penalty,” by William Gibson in the April 1993 edition of Wired — per Longform.org’s description: “On the sanitized wonderland that is Singapore.” http://bit.ly/2zysdVS

–“A Restaurant Ruined My Life,” by Robert Maxwell in Toronto Life: “I was a foodie with a boring day job who figured he could run a restaurant. Then I encountered rats, endless red tape, crippling costs and debt-induced meltdowns, started popping sleeping pills, lost my house, and nearly sabotaged my marriage.” http://bit.ly/2yOcPrs

–“Under the Banner of New York,” by Zadie Smith in the N.Y. Review of Books: “We can often be found screaming at strangers in the street but we just as frequently pick them up off the floor. We are every variety of human. Some of us are dopers and junkies. Some of us are preschool teachers and nuns. None of us deserve to be killed in the street. We are a multiplicity of humans in an elastic social arrangement that can be stretched in many directions. It’s not broken yet.” http://bit.ly/2yowji0

–“Inside Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war — Part 1, the cycle of violence,” by CBS News’ Kylie Atwood: Hitman “Delo, 40, has two children under the age of 10. They do not know their father is a murderer. He worries most about getting killed and about his true work being revealed to his children. ‘I do feel guilty,’ he says. But he claims he can’t get out, even though he would like to. ‘If you try to get out, they might kill you,’ he says. ‘That it’s my family who might be — I might get killed and they might get killed.’” http://cbsn.ws/2zGabS1

–“How to sell a country: the booming business of nation branding,” by Samanth Subramanian in the Guardian: “These days, every place in the world wants to market its unique identity – and an industry has sprung up to help put them on the map.” http://bit.ly/2iJFtPA

–“Meet The Riders Of The Sikh Motorcycle Club Of The Northeast,” by Teresa Mathew in BuzzFeed: “Riding their bikes together offers this group of Sikhs an all-American way to celebrate their faith, in a country where it often makes them targets.” http://bzfd.it/2hrVWLQ

–“Distaff Meeting: When sisterhood flowered in Detroit,” by the Weekly Standard’s Alice Lloyd in Detroit: “It is Rose McGowan, though, who steals the show. With an otherworldly cadence and a militant message, the reformed Hollywood vamp commands her troops: ‘We are planet women, and you will hear us roar!’” http://tws.io/2hkJU3h

–“Frequent Gunfire,” by John Banville in The Nation — per ALDaily.com’s description: “The fake machismo, the boozing, the braggadocio — Hemingway kept up the facade of the hairy-chested artist for as long as he was able. But who was he really?” http://bit.ly/2jiDBkP

–“Could Rome Have Had an Industrial Revolution?” by Mark Koyama on Medium: http://bit.ly/2yO4jZI

–“Mail-Order CRISPR Kits Allow Absolutely Anyone to Hack DNA,” by Annie Sneed in Scientific American — per The Browser’s description: “You can buy a CRISPR kit by mail order for $130 and do some serious genetic engineering in the privacy of your own home. The starter pack shows you how to modify e coli. The rest is up to you. Are we handing rogue scientists the means to flood the world with mutant life-forms?” http://bit.ly/2ArOjsH

— “Teen Girl Posed For 8 Years As Married Man To Write About Baseball And Harass Women,” by Lindsey Adler in Deadspin: http://bit.ly/2hrKRKK

SPOTTED yesterday in Bonn at the COP23 climate talks: Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former Vice President Al Gore, former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and California Gov. Jerry Brown. … Lawrence O’Donnell checking his phone outside of Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons Georgetown in DC last night — pic http://bit.ly/2yUag7i …

… Michael Jordan sitting at a table by the bar at Bourbon Steak last night before getting dinner at the restaurant … Ron Kaufman yesterday at Ophelia’s Fish House … Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) received the Panetta Institute for Public Policy’s bipartisan Lincoln-Jefferson award in Pebble Beach, California.

SPOTTED yesterday at Weekly Standard editor Steve Hayes’ third annual chili cook-off at his family’s house in Davidsonville, Maryland: Bill Kristol, Peter and Kari Boyer, Matt Labash, Jonathan and Betsy Fischer Martin, Andy Ferguson, Mike Warren, Jonathan and Shannon Last, John and Lauren McCormack, Richard Starr, Ethan Epstein, Adam Keiper, Alice Lloyd, Jenna Lifhits, Vic Matus, Jim Swift.

WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Kris Anderson, a partner at Prospect Strategic Communications, former RNC research director and a Romney and Huntsman alum, on Saturday married Natalie Ethridge, who works for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Pool report: The couple “were married in a beautiful sunset ceremony in Cabo on Saturday before family and friends. As one of the GOP’s most prolific oppo researchers, the welcome party included a LexisNexis challenge. Kris and Natalie first met on the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2006 and started dating in 2008. After nearly a decade together, they chose the very apt #FoolsRushIn hashtag to mark the occasion.” Pic by Eric Draper/Eric Draper Photography http://bit.ly/2zAyeUb

SPOTTED: Webber Steinhoff, Ed Murphy, Matt David, Kirsten Kukowski, Jahan Wilcox, Tim Miller (who wore an “I’m with her” shirt) and Tyler Jameson, Sarah Pompei, Joe Pounder, Alex Angel, Francis Brennan, Matt Gorman, Andy Hemming, Jim Bognet, John Wittman and Cait Meisenheimer, Drew Florio and Colleen McGowan, Katie Boyd, Ted Kwong, Tom Merwin, Peter Li, Darrel and Jessica Ng, Tim and Sarah Killeen, Webb Hubbell, Tim Killeen, Fran Brennan, Mason and Chelsea Harrison, Amanda Henneberg, Byron Koay.

–Creigh Behnke, deputy finance director at the NRSC and NRCC alum, on Saturday married Michael Senich, a senior associate at Majority Strategies, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. “The couple met at the NRCC when Creigh worked in the Finance Department and Michael worked for the political office of Speaker of the House John Boehner.” Pic http://bit.ly/2iP4BV7

SPOTTED: Tommy Andrews, Katie Behnke, Megan Cummings, Leigh Tenewitz, Lucy Noell Croxton, Megan Becker, Krista Madaio, Chris Hansen, Tom Whatman, Grant Gardner, Seton Gardner, Michael Beach, Bryan Watkins, Lauren Toomey, Josh Penry, Kristin Strohm, Michael Calvo, Jordan Lieberman, Missy Lieberman and Marcus Rose.

–Adam Kennedy, the new White House research director and an RNC alum, tied the knot with health care consultant Kim Wallace at Roofer’s Union in Adams Morgan. The two are college sweethearts. Pic http://bit.ly/2hnMDJf SPOTTED: White House aides Raj Shah, Zach Parkinson, and Tyler Ross and RNC’s Scott Parker and Eric Schulze.

–Julia Krieger, deputy comms director for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Evan Vanderveer, co-founder of Vanshap Capital, had a wedding reception last night at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. The couple previously got married in August in Santorini in a private ceremony. Pic http://bit.ly/2ADHlSc

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Edelman’s Greg Romano and Michael Boisjolie

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jeremy Skule, SVP and chief marketing officer at Nasdaq and alum of MF Global and Fleishman-Hillard. What he’s reading these days: “‘American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent,’ by Tamer Elnoury with Kevin Maurer. I’m fascinated by the work of our intelligence community and my brother is my hero and also in the FBI.” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2mjookr

BIRTHDAYS: Dr. Elena Allbritton … Jeff Zients … Tyrone Gayle, press secretary for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), is 3-0 … Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) is 68 … Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer is 48 … USA Today’s Nancy Trejos … former Transportation Sec. Norm Mineta is 86 … Stephanie Kotuby and Rhana Natour of “PBS NewsHour” (h/t Nick Massella) … Facebook’s Katie Harbath … Rex Elsass … Katie Stuntz … Ryan Coyne, founder and CEO of Olympic Media, is 3-0 … Mark SooHoo of Burson-Marsteller … Politico’s Bennett Richardson … Jenn Ridder … Luca Spinelli … ThinkProgress’ Kira Lerner … Leo DiBenigno … Joe Johnston … Dave Weinberg … Takaaki Mizuno is 59 … Kevin Gundersen, director of gov’t relations at Huntsman, is 36 … David Lawrence … Alex Brown … Michelle Perry … Kamal Marell … Jay Lumpkins … Amber Cottle … Vinny Minchillo … Harlan Hill …

… Ross Baird, executive director at Village Capital and author of the new book “The Innovation Blind Spot” … RNC’s Steve Guest … Jessica Kahanek … Maria Cardona, principal at Dewey Square Group … Scott Beauchamp … Josh Britton … Alex Griswold of the Free Beacon … Olivia Lange, a student at Stanford’s GSB … Erica Sackin, director of political comms at Planned Parenthood … Laura Mandy Mszar … Columbia history professor Carol Gluck … Neal Shusterman is 55 … Naomi Wolf is 55 … Nina Brosh … Jake Orta … Crozer Connor … Frank Mazza … former Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) is 84 … Gina Hill … Sheila O’Connell … Mica Strother … Pam Oatis (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

****** A message from Morgan Stanley: The next generation of supercomputers appears to be at an inflection point—promising speed and processing power that could redefine business and trigger a new industrial revolution. Quantum computing’s advanced abilities could open the door to dramatic innovation in a variety of industries. Chemical manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, for example, could simulate the chain of chemical reactions needed to design new and far more complex compounds and materials. And just as past industrial revolutions created many of the sectors that form the core of today’s global economy, quantum computing could give rise to new companies and sectors not yet imagined. Read more. ******

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