On Tuesday, former Trump aide Sam Nunberg woke up, apparently remembered at least a few of the things he said on his extended media meltdown, and promptly announced that he would both cooperate with the Grand Jury subpoena and “seek treatment,” for whatever propelled him around the dial on Monday. However, Nunberg seems to be the only person associated with Donald Trump who got up on Tuesday with the determination to make the day a little less crazy. As Republicans prepared for their big gun action—which apparently boils down to training Americans on how to think and pray more efficiently—and Texas got down to sifting a few hundred names in state primaries, the rest of the people in Trumpland decided to do what they do best: chaos.
Kellyanne Conway, whose chief oratory gift is simply being loud and talking over everyone, came in for two violations of the Hatch Act as determined by the Office of Special Counsel. This special counsel would be Henry Kerner, a Trump appointee, but that didn’t stop Fox and other right-wing media from deliberately confusing the source of the charges. And since Conway has been forwarded back to Trump for appropriate discipline … you can expect her to receive a hearty congratulations and encouragement to carry on.
In the afternoon came news that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee had leaked witness testimony straight to Trump’s legal team in a way that both gave Trump attorney Michael Cohen a head’s up about issues and put the witness at potential risk. There’s no absolute proof it was Devin Nunes. But it was Devin Nunes.
And then came the daily required announcement that someone was departing Trump’s White House. In this case, it was Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn. Cohn—who hung in there through racism and Russians to get that big tax scheme completed—just couldn’t stomach Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. Like most departures from team Trump, it was all handled very smoothly.
President Donald Trump demanded economic adviser Gary Cohn’s cooperation on tariffs in a meeting in the Oval Office Tuesday -- asking Cohn directly if he would support his decision to move forward with the plan.
Cohn would not offer his support, according to two people familiar with the episode -- and just hours later, the White House announced Cohn’s resignation.
And that turns out to have only been the warm-up act for evening events.
To make things extra frightening, Donald Trump had a visit from former UN ambassador and man mostly likely to star as Jack D. Ripper in a remake of Dr. Strangelove, John Bolton, where the two apparently discussed how much to bomb North Korea. Bolton is supposedly in line to occupy one of the many, many empty offices of Trump’s White House. Or to bump someone (like say, H. R. McMasters) from one of the few roles still occupied.
In a break from the White House, Mitch McConnell took the floor in the Senate to announce that Russian interference was okay by him.
Asked whether he wished he'd handled the accusations about Russian interference differently ahead of the 2016 elections, McConnell said, "No, I'm perfectly comfortable with the steps that were taken back then."
But that was before Stormy Daniels spun her way back into the news with the announcement that Trump had failed to cross the big golden “T” on her hush money contract, so she was free to speak up, speak out, and sue the missing-pants off of Trump.
According to the lawsuit, which attorney Michael Avenatti announced in a tweet, Clifford and Trump had an intimate relationship that lasted from summer 2006 "well into the year 2007." The relationship allegedly included meetings in Lake Tahoe and at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Did Trump and Daniels have a sexual relationship? Yes, says Daniels. Did Trump know about the money she was being paid to stay quiet? Another big yuppers. Which should make the vote over naming some Utah highways even more fun.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump appointed a new member of his team who has a proposal that could be genuinely useful to Trump in future Daniels-esque situations.
In 2015, Baker made headlines when he proposed a registry for strippers. The small-government Republican from rural Tioga wanted to require strippers to register their name, stage name, address, phone number, date of birth, place of birth, height, weight, hair color, eye color, criminal background information and their photo ID.
In other words, Trump’s new phone book.
On the good news side, the West Virginia teachers strike ended with victory for the teachers, and a real lesson for those workers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere that turned to Donald Trump like he was some kind of savior. Because what happened in West Virginia was a absolute lesson in the power of standing together through organized labor and negotiating as one. Which still works. Unlike Trump. Workers can save themselves, if they can get past all the corporate media determined to tell them unions are bad, because … corporate media.
And Sam Nunberg also mentioned that following his Grand Jury appearance on Friday, he would be seeking “treatment.” He didn’t specify what sort. And while it’s unlikely that treatment will be looking into his unhealthy admiration for Roger Stone or the deep levels of racism that were bad enough to get him fired from the Trump campaign—but one can hope.