It's Good to be King

The King and his retinue have departed the nation's capital and arrived at their royal vacation retreat, Castle Mar-a-Lago.  There the royal family will gather to celebrate the holiday season with wealthy dukes and duchesses who will loyally and unabashedly express their overwhelming adulation for their divine leader and his unsurpassed brilliance.

Fawning over their great leader seems especially appropriate this holiday season.  The King from Queens had just signed a tax bill that will give millions of dollars in tax breaks to His Royal Highness and members of the royal family, as well as to the nation's lords and ladies.  Of course, the vast majority of the citizens will receive crumbs, which will become apparent to them in the coming years.  All of this will be funded by huge deficits that will be passed on to their children.  

Shortly following the passage of the tax bill, His Royal Highness was besieged with the praise from Republican members of Congress and from his cabinet.   "You have spurred an optimism in this country that is setting records," said the vice president.   The King must receive devotion and fealty from those who serve him.  

But that optimism is limited to only a few.  The King is not popular among his country's masses.  He has continuously resorted to bullying and bluster to rule his subjects. He has demeaned opponents with schoolyard epithets, and he has humiliated others in order to get want he wants.  His daily rants and raves have unsettled even those closest to him.  

All of this has been to the delight of the Tsar of Russia, who up until recently was considered an enemy.   Now the King and the Tsar have formed a close bond. And the Tsar is pleased with how the King has disrupted democracy in his own country and around the world.   This is why he extended the King his help in winning the throne.  These men are so much alike.  And the King trusts the Tsar more than the servants in his own nation's justice and intelligence departments.

Many thoughtful observers are saddened by how the King has lowered the standards of his office.  They point to his self-dealing and manifest crudeness.  They cite the many scandals that have plagued his reign, his outrageous actions towards women and minorities, and the constant dishonesty and deception that the King has practiced.  His intemperate, impulsive and reckless behavior has taken global allies aback, and it has unnecessarily stirred the drums of war.  The King exploits fear naturally.  His instinct is always to divide in order to conquer.

For the nearly year since the King ascended to his throne the nation has continuously been on edge.  Most citizens have been shaken by the constant tumult, and have tired of the contemptuous antics. Meanwhile, under his rule meaningful government programs dealing with the environment, healthcare, consumer and basic human rights have been slashed or eliminated.   Corporations and the wealthy donors have been richly rewarded.  None more generously than members of the royal family and friends.

Many of his most ardent supporters will gather in Castle Mar-a-Lago this weekend to celebrate the holiday by kissing the ring of their great benefactor.   The dark clouds that have formed over His Royal Highness and his reign will be ignored.  Instead, it will be a scene reminiscent of the Romanov's.   And the King will thrive in this exclusive and alternate reality he has created as he soaks up the praise that will be lavished on him by his obsequious followers.

In the words of the late Tom Petty, an American icon, "It's good to be King and have your own way."  

Trump's Twitter Tirades

President Donald Trump's latest vicious personal attacks on Twitter are abusive, demeaning and shameful.  Yet the president and many of his supporters approve of his tactics, saying that he is just fighting back against the daily barrage of "fake media" attacks.  The president hopes to discredit his media critics with schoolyard taunts and mudslinging because he believes it will appeal to his most ardent supporters.   

The president has focused his latest assault of insults on MSNBC anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of the weekday program "Morning Joe."  Saturday he tweeted, "Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their bosses.  Too bad!"   Scarborough is a former Republican Congressman and Brzezinski is an experienced news anchor who is the daughter of the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, a highly respected foreign policy expert and American diplomat.  "Morning Joe" is the second highest rated cable news program in the morning, drawing nearly one million daily viewers. 

The conflict with Scarborough and Brzezinski has been intensifying since Trump took office.   The anchors have been increasingly vocal about Trump's lies and many of his actions as president.   Last week The Washington Post revealed that a fake Time Magazine cover showing Trump was hanging in the bar of his Doral Golf Resort in Florida.  The cover displayed a large headline: "Donald Trump: The 'Apprentice" is a television smash."  That cover has since been removed.

Brzezinski and Scarborough talked about the phony cover last week on their program.   Trump pounced with a series of morning tweets Thursday.  "I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). The how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came," he began with his first tweet.  He continued with a second tweet, "...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me.  She was bleeding badly from a face-lift.  I said no!"

These tweets shook Washington as even many frustrated Republicans described them as inappropriate.  Scarborough and Brzezinski, who recently got engaged, delayed their scheduled vacation to respond to Trump Friday morning.  Both anchors denied Trump's account of what happened New Year's Eve, saying it was Trump who asked them to come by.  Then Scarborough revealed that the White House had asked him to seek forgiveness of the president for his critical coverage or The National Enquirer would publish an article revealing his then secret relationship with Brzezinski. The publisher of The National Enquirer is David Pecker, a close friend of the president.   Trump soon responded on Twitter to their appearance.  "Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for the first time in a long time.  FAKE NEWS.  He called me to stop a National Enquirer article.  I said no!  Bad show," Trump wrote.  

Sadly Trump's outrageous behavior is sexist and it is just the latest in a series of misogynistic attacks he has leveled against women over the years.  Last August in a debate Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly confronted Trump.   "You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs' and disgusting animals," she noted.  Trump interrupted, "Only Rosie O'Donnell."   "Look at that face," he said last year of his then opponent Carly Fiorina.  "Would anyone vote for that?  Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?"   Early last year his tweeted an unflattering picture of Senator Ted Cruz's wife next to one of Melania Trump, adding "a picture s worth a thousand words."  

When he feels cornered or he is getting criticized, Trump's default position is to get mean.  There are no limits to his impulsive strikes.  This is the way he has operated throughout his life.  Businessmen who have dealt with him describe what they call Trump's "punch-hug."  In intense negotiations he has yelled, used personal insults and foul language, only to later come back with a hug, as if to say "Come on, don't you see it my way?"    White House press spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday, "I don't think you can expect someone to be personally attacked day after day, minute by minute and sit back," she said.  "The American people elected a fighter, they didn't elect somebody to sit back and do nothing."  

But Americans don't want Trump to tweet.   Before his most recent spat with Brzezinski, Fox News released a poll showing just 13 percent of Americans approve of Trump's tweeting, while 46 percent disapproved.  A slim majority of those polled said they consider the president's online posts as official statements.   

The Trump White House has struggled to accomplish its agenda.   Its efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have failed.  Its efforts for tax reform have been stalled, and its controversial immigration ban has struggled in the courts.  Meanwhile, the president has insulted allies, demeaned NATO, and he has failed to stop North Korea's nuclear program.   He is described as furious about the ongoing investigations into the role Russia played in the American elections, and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded in that effort.  He has frequently used Twitter to attack the investigations and those conducting them.  

It will be interesting to see how Trump handles Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet next week for the first time since he took office.  Will he even bring up the Russian interference?   Will he use his punch-hug technique on Putin to insist he end Russian meddling in America's elections, to withdraw from Crimea and Ukraine, and that he end his support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad?   

It is probably more likely he will ask Putin what steps he would suggest to control the American press.   Then after the meeting he will tweet, "Vlad and I had a GREAT meeting! We are going to work together to make America GREAT again!"

Priming the GOP

President Donald Trump's actions over the past couple weeks should be particularly alarming for all Americans, even for those whom have steadfastly supported him.  His approval ratings are at an historic low for a president this early in their term.  Yet, for the most part, Congressional Republicans remain reticent, although pressure is building on them to show courage. 

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson warned, "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."  Tyranny, the cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control, has been a growing characteristic of America's 45th President, who wants to bring an end to the many investigations into Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. 

The fact that Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the man who was leading the FBI investigation, is chilling.  That the president would undercut his surrogates and admit flat out that the Comey firing was in part due to the Russian investigation is stunning and may be obstruction of justice.  Trump told NBC News' Lester Holt last week, “I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story; it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”  Trump added that the investigation should have been "over with a long time ago," and disingenuously continued, "I might even lengthen out the investigation, but I have to do the right thing for the American people."  

The president took the trouble to note in his dismissal letter to Comey that the director told him, "on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation."  But according to those who know the director it is highly unlikely that Comey would give such assurances.  Of course, only an extreme egotist would invite the FBI director over for dinner and then ask if he is personally under investigation.   And only an extreme narcissist would ask Comey for his total loyalty before agreeing to keep him on at the FBI.  

The president regularly confuses ethical behavior with his personal interest, as if to say, "If it's good for me, it's ethical."  He sees no boundaries when it comes to the FBI investigation.  He recognizes no lines when it comes to the many financial conflicts of interest he and his family have in the U.S. and around the world.   

Even so, Trump's supporters still believe he will keep his campaign promises, that his obvious bluster is authenticity, that he truly cares about those left behind.   How's that working now?  Obamacare is still the law, meaningful tax reform is boxed up behind health care legislation, the North American Free Trade Agreement is still in place, nothing has happened on infrastructure, the national debt continues to explode, job creation is modest, and American taxpayers will pay for whatever wall is ultimately built along the border with Mexico.  Meanwhile, North Korea is out of control, the Iran nuclear deal has not been altered, there is no "secret strategy" to defeat ISIS, the U.S. Embassy in Israel has not moved to Jerusalem, Trump now says China is not a currency manipulator, and Russians are taking advantage of the president in the Oval Office and in Syria.

Thankfully many of Trump's campaign promises have not come true.   His replacement for Obamacare would knock 20 million people out of coverage, and give an $800 billion tax break to the wealthy.  His "tax reform" plan would add trillions to the national debt, and his unconstitutional anti-Muslim travel bans have been blocked by the U.S. courts.   Last month Trump told Reuters, "This is more work than in my previous life.  I thought it would be easier."  

Of course, Trump blames the the fake media for his failures and problems.  He has even proposed ending the daily White House briefings.  But even some leading Republicans think that's a bad idea.   In 1776, Jefferson wrote on how to prevent tyranny, "It is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large."   

Trump ridiculously claimed the other day that he came up with the term, "priming the pump."  Apparently they don't use that phrase at the Wharton School, even though President Franklin Roosevelt began using it in 1937 during the Great Depression.   But this is yet another example of how Trump makes it up as he goes.  And rumors of a massive White House staff shakeup once again highlights the fact that Trump will throw anyone under the bus for his own transgressions and shortcomings. 

Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans stand silently by as Democrats feel increased optimistism about their chances in the 2018 midterm elections.  

Colbert-Trump Flap

CBS late night talk show host Stephen Colbert has been on a roll lately, outdrawing NBC’s Tonight Show in the household ratings since January.  Colbert’s rating’s growth has been largely fueled by his scathing anti-Trump monologues that drip with derision and contempt.  But Colbert may have gone one insult too far Monday night.

In an appearance on CBS This Morning, President Trump abruptly ended and interview by CBS News Political Director John Dickerson when he was pressed to explain his charge that President Barack Obama wired tapped him.  Earlier in the interview the president called Dickerson’s Sunday program “Disgrace the Nation“ instead of Face the Nation, and indicated Dickerson may be peddling fake news.  This was an unprecedented series of presidential insults never seen on network television before.  

Later that day Colbert jumped to the defense of his CBS News colleague, saying, “John Dickerson has way too much dignity to trade insults with the president of the United States to his face. But I, sir, am no John Dickerson.”  More than 10 minutes of Trump insults spewed forth from Colbert, which included a roll of toilet paper and a banana.   Colbert’s relentless verbal tongue lashing was similar to a boxer pounding a staggering opponent.  Colbert’s denouement came with a burst of energy.  “I love your presidency. I call it Disgrace the Nation. You’re not the POTUS. You’re the bloatus. You’re the glutton with the button. You’re a regular Gorge Washington. You’re the presi-dunce, but you’re turning into a real prick-tator. Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla who got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*** holster.”

The closing Putin reference has set off a firestorm of criticism, especially from the right, calling Colbert’s remarks obscene and homophobic. Some have ludicrously tried to compare Colbert to former Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who left the network following a sexual harassment scandal.  Thousands have used the Twitter hashtag #FireColbert.  But where were these concerned citizens when Trump said Fox host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever,” or when he insulted Mexicans as rapists, or he humiliated a physically disabled reporter, or he was recorded referring to how celebrities can handle women, “Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything?”  Of course, they voted for Trump.  Hypocrisy always rears its ugly head in politics.  

Sadly, the simple fact is that, when it comes to public comments and tweets, President Donald Trump has set the bar for decency to a pathetic new low.  Trump has now inspired comedians to descend to his level in order to get a few extra laughs, and for many viewers Colbert’s Putin comment clearly was in poor taste. Regretfully, this is not a laughing matter because it only further divides the country.   It is time for President Donald Trump to finally stop with the endless personal insults and name calling.  Conversely, comedians can dial their monologues a few notches and still be very funny.  

And what should Colbert do in the face of all this criticism? On his Wednesday night program he said he had no regrets, except he “would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be.” Perhaps he might have used Trump’s own words following the release of that embarrassing tape recording about celebrities?  “This was locker room banter...I apologize if anyone was offended.”   

Trump's Broken Promises

As President Donald Trump closes in on his first 100 days in office he is scrambling to defend his inept performance so far in office.  Perhaps this is best illustrated by his announcement last week that he was sending an armada toward North Korea, only to  find out Monday that it was on its way to Australia.  

Candidate Trump made big promises on the campaign trail.  His promises were targeted at key voting blocks in order to mobilize them to vote last November.  A crackdown on illegal immigration, a border wall with Mexico, tax reform, repeal and replacement of Obamacare, better trade deals, a ban on Muslims, extreme vetting, and a stronger military are among the issues Trump ran on.  The strategy gave the GOP control of the White House and both houses of Congress in a bitterly fought election, which included an assist from Russia.

On Tuesday President Trump told a rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, "No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days."  Never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story, it appeared that the president was trying out his talking points in advance of the 100-day mark.  But the truth is President Trump has failed to truly deliver on most of his promises.   And a  recent Gallup Poll shows that just 45% of Americans believe Trump keeps his promises, a sharp decline in two months.   

For seven years Republicans demonized President Barack Obama and this eponymous health care bill.  Candidate Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare on his first day in office.   But Republicans could not bridge the deep divisions within their own party, especially with the conservative House Freedom Caucus.  In February, a frustrated President Trump told a meeting of governors, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."  

House Speaker Paul Ryan had to withdraw his healthcare bill, even following heavy lobbying from the president, in large part because polls showed it had the support of about 17% of Americans. The GOP alternative would have kicked 24 million people off of heath insurance.  This is in sharp contrast to what Trump told 60 Minutes in 2015.  "I am going to take care of everybody.  I don't care if it costs me votes or not," he said, adding, "Everybody is going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now." 

The GOP healthcare bill is linked by party leadership to tax reform.  A repeal of Obamacare would mean a $1 trillion cut in taxes for the wealthy.  Republicans would then have an easier task of finding savings in the budget to secure further tax cuts.   The fate of tax reform is now uncertain.

The wall along the U.S. border with Mexico became a battle cry for Trump supporters during the campaign.  And candidate Trump insisted that Mexico would pay for the wall, which he estimated would cost $8 to $12 billion.  Mexican officials have been consistently adamant that they will not pay for the wall, which Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, now estimates could "soar" to $70 billion in construction costs.   And to what end, since a majority of immigrants in the U.S. illegally either overstayed their visas or came on a ship?

With much fanfare the president signed a controversial executive order in late January which suspended the U.S. Refugee Program and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.  The EO led to chaos at airports around the world, and international denunciations.  A federal judge blocked the order because it unfairly targeted Muslims, as thousands of protestors jammed airports around the country to oppose the order.   The EO was poorly conceived and executed, and led to internal finger pointing.  A new updated EO was issued in March, but it is subject to an indefinite preliminary injunction.   So much for Trump's Muslim ban.  

The president campaigned passionately against the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which he has promised to renegotiate.  He said it was taking away American jobs.  But Trump will have great difficulty redoing this complex trade deal, and he knows it.  And now the president has reversed himself on his campaign charge that China is a currency manipulator.  Given the need to enlist China's support in dealing with North Korea, and following a meeting with the Chinese leader, Trump has flip-flopped.   Perhaps not so coincidentally, China approved three trademarks for Ivanka Trump's company on the same day she dined with her father and the Chinese president at Mar-a-Lago.  

The president has signed executive orders undoing some of President Obama's regulation, including related to the environment.  He was also able successfully appoint Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court with an assist from the Senate Republicans.  But Trump has had the worst first 100-days of any modern era president.  To exacerbate his problems, the probes continue into whether the Russians had any ties to members of the Trump campaign.  Infighting between chief strategist Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jerod Kushner has broken into the open and spawned unprecedented leaks to the media.  Trump continues his attacks on the "fake" media while tweeting reckless and untrue comments, like President Obama wiretapped him.  And Trump has decided to keep the White House visitor logs secret, which now raises questions about transparency.  

With Trump's popularity low and a rocky start of his presidency, Republicans are beginning to speak out.  Senator Joni Ernst distanced herself in comments at a town hall in Iowa yesterday.   "I think we have a president that has a number of flaws," she stated with unusual candor.  "I support a majority of his policies, versus the actual person, but I decry any time a person is ugly towards another person, I don't think that's appropriate."  She also said Trump should release his taxes.

Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, so President Trump should have had an easy time achieving much of his agenda.  But governing takes a different set of skills than campaigning.  Trump's lying, personal attacks, distortion and distraction have worn thin on the very people he needs to support him.  So too, thankfully, has the list of unfulfilled promises, many of which would severely impact the very people who voted for Donald Trump because they mistakenly believed he alone could fix it. 

Chairman Nunes: Recuse Thyself

As a former member of the Donald Trump transition team's executive committee, Rep. Devin Nunes briefed Trump and his team on intelligence matters, as he had done during the campaign.  He worked closely in that role with General Michael Flynn, who resigned in February because he lied about having conversations with the Russian ambassador.  Yet, despite the appearance of a conflict of interest, Chairman Nunes has been serving as Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating links between key Russians and the Trump campaign and transition.   

Questions about Chairman Nunes' ability to lead an objective investigation have increased because of his strange behavior since F.B.I. Director James Comey and the director of the N.S.A., Admiral Michael Rogers, appeared before his committee last week. Comey's sworn testimony was devastating for President Trump.  

Comey was asked to respond to a tweets Trump had sent to his followers accusing President Barack Obama of having him wiretapped.   Comey responded, "I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets."  Comey did confirm that the F.B.I. is investigating the Russian government's interference with the November election, and "that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."   

Two days following Comey's testimony, Chairman Nunes announced that communications by members of President Trump's transition team were included in the "incidental collection" of foreign surveillance. At a Capitol Hill press conference he said he had learned this through a source, which he did not identify, and then headed to the White House to inform the president.  Subsequently, Chairman Nunes' spokesperson revealed, "Chairman Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source."  The spokesperson added, "The chairman is extremely concerned about the improper masking of names of U.S. citizens."

Chairman Nunes has still not shared the information or the identity of its source with any other members of his committee.  Nor has he sufficiently explained why he couldn't have used a secure area on Capitol Hill.   But President Trump said last Wednesday he felt somewhat "vindicated" by the announcement.   It all appears to be a perfect Trump tactic; change the subject from his unhinged tweets, thanks to the cover provided him by his former transition team member, Chairman Nunes.  

Chairman Nunes then cancelled all House Intelligence hearings scheduled for this week.  He explained, "There are just questions that we have for Director Comey and Admiral Rogers probably that they just couldn't answer in a public setting but it's necessary to get both of them back down here before we can move on to other interviews."  He said that the cancellation had nothing to do with the documents he had viewed in the secure location at the White House.   But Chairman Nunes did announce that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had agreed to testify before the committee.  Manafort has come under new scrutiny because of his alleged ties to the Russian backed former president of Ukraine.  

Chairman Nunes is reported to believe that the documents he was shown suggest that the Obama administration may have been using its foreign intelligence powers to shadow the Trump campaign.  He has said he is concerned that the identities of Trump officials were "unmasked" and widely transmitted to people who had no need to see them, and had "little or no foreign intelligence value."

In January the Director of National Intelligence released a report that found that Russian President Vladimir Putin had tried to influence the outcome of the November election.  The report said, “Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”  

The Comey revelation last week that the F.B.I. is investigating whether there was any coordination between the Russians and members of the Trump campaign has shaken Washington.  How did Trump advisor Roger Stone know in advance that Wikileaks would release damaging emails from Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta?   The torrent of embarrassing emails was devastating for the Clinton campaign.  

Chairman Nunes is clearly slow-walking his committee's investigation, he has cancelled important public hearings with key witnesses, and he has failed to share information with his committee members while keeping President Donald Trump fully informed.   Many in Washington, especially Democrats, have called on Chairman Nunes to recuse himself from the investigation.  Chairman Nunes refuses to do so, responding, "I'm not sure the Democrats do want me to quit because they know that I am quite effective at getting to the bottom."  But from all appearances, so far his leadership has been quite ineffective.  

Chairman Nunes, remember you are no longer serving Donald Trump, you are serving the American people.  You must recuse yourself.  

Is Trump Losing It?

"The best defense is a strong offense" is a centuries old military tactic that can lead to a strategic advantage.   But it is hard to understand how President Donald Trump will benefit from tweeting as a fact Saturday that President Barack Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped shortly before the November election.   The tweet left surprised White House aides scrambling for details, put the Democrats on attack mode, and led the head of the FBI to request the Justice Department publicly reject the claim.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended her boss but did not provide any supporting evidence on ABC's This Week Sunday.   "Look, I think he's going off of information that he has seen that has led him to believe that this is a very real potential," she said.  "And if it is, this would be the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power that I think we have ever seen and a huge attack on democracy itself."   In a statement Sunday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, "President Donald J. Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016."   He added that the president would not comment any further until such oversight is conducted.

A spokesperson for President Obama called Trump's accusation false.  He also noted that the president cannot order such a wiretap.   President Obama's Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, denied Sunday that Trump Tower was tapped.  Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press, Clapper said, "There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign."  Any such wiretap would have to have been authorized by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court Act (FISA) based upon some evidence.   Clapper was asked if such a FISA order existed.  He responded, "I can deny it."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi attacked President Trump for using wild accusations to deflect attention away from the growing investigations into his administration's ties to the Russians.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday on Meet The Press, "It's beneath the dignity of the presidency.  It is something that really hurts people's view of government."

Meanwhile, Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton said Sunday they had seen no evidence to support Trump's claims.  Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said Saturday, "If the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawfully to monitor Trump's campaign for violating the law, that would be the biggest scandal since Watergate."  Republican Senator Ben Sasse said Saturday, "The president should ask that this full (FISA) application regarding surveillance of foreign operatives of operations be made available, ideally to the full public, and a bare minimum to the U.S. Senate."  And House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, a Trump loyalist, said Sunday his committee will include Trump's allegations in its current investigation into Russian meddling.  

Late Sunday the New York Times reported that FBI Director James Comey asked the Justice Department to "publicly reject President Trump's unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama ordered his phones to be tapped."  This report was later confirmed by several news organizations, and is a remarkable action by an FBI chief .  Comey reportedly thinks the Trump claim suggests the FBI broke the law.  The Justice Department has so far not commented.  

President Trump has been dealing with a growing scandal involving past and present members of his administration and Russia.  U.S. intelligence agencies have already determined that Russia meddled in the U.S. elections to tilt the race toward Trump.  Despite repeated denials from Trump and his spokespersons, members of Trump's team had repeated contacts with Russian officials, even before the election.   In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. was quoted by a travel industry news website making comments about Russian investment in Trump businesses.   "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York."  He concluded, "We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."   No wonder President Trump has never said anything bad about Russian President Vladimir Putin.  No wonder Trump wants the whole Russia issue to go away.  Da!

Of course, Americans could get a better understanding of Trump's complex business ties with the Russians if he released his tax returns.  During the campaign Trump said he could not release the returns because he is under audit, but promised he would do so when the audit is complete.  However, an audit does not preclude someone from releasing their tax returns to the public.   And Trump has refused to release a copy of the IRS audit letter.  The whole IRS audit claim may be a lie.  However, now his campaign says that Trump will never release his taxes because the American people elected him and they don't care.

The many investigations into Trump's Russian ties appear to be making progress, which may explain why he is tweeting unsubstantiated and outrageous charges about President Obama.  The man who once said "I alone can fix it!" is in a fix, and he is not going to be able to tweet his way out of it.   It appears that he may be losing it.  

There is now an urgent need to get to the truth about President Trump's latest allegations accusing a former U.S. president of illegal wiretapping.  And about the true nature of his ties to Russia.  It is also time for all members of Congress to demand Trump publicly release his taxes so that all potential conflicts of interest are disclosed.  

This is about putting America first--not Donald J. Trump!