BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER
& CROOKED MEDIA

Thursday, March 15, 2018

(From Donald Trump’s forthcoming “The Art of Diplomacy”)

YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE, MOSCOW

Today the Trump administration said it would FINALLY impose sanctions on Russia. The targets of the sanctions include the 13 Russian nationals and 3 entities indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election. The measures will also punish Russian actors involved in newly-disclosed cyberattacks that targeted the U.S. energy grid, aviation system, and other infrastructure.

Refresher: Congress overwhelmingly passed sanctions against Russia for this very reason back in 2017, but until now, the Trump administration resisted implementing them. The reversal comes as Trump joined Britain, France, and Germany in condemning Russia for its role in the assassination attempt against a Russian ex-spy that used a lethal nerve agent on British soil. The Kremlin said that this diplomatic scandal won’t affect Russian President Putin’s campaign for re-election this Sunday.

The sanctions bar American businesses and individuals from working with specific Russian businesses and individuals, in addition to blocking those Russians’ travel to the U.S. and freezing assets they have in the country. This belated response was criticized as redundant and weak.

BIPARTISAN BANK LOVE

The Senate voted 67-31 to pass a bill that partially rolls back bank regulations that were designed to protect against another financial crisis and taxpayer-funded bailout. Seventeen senators from the Democratic caucus joined Republicans in voting for the bill.

Proponents of the bill say that it would provide relief to community and regional banks that are struggling under excessive regulations. But the bill would relax oversight on 26 of the largest 38 banks in the country, and the Democrats who were needed to pass this bill asked for nothing in return, which is VERY FRUSTRATING.

From Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on today’s PSA: “This is about everything that’s broken in Washington… Right now if you’re above 50 billion dollars in assets you’re on a special watch list. That’s about 40 banks, and it means they get more scrutiny, they have to undergo stress tests. Why? Because they could put the entire economy at risk. And what this bill does is it says, ‘You know, about 25 of those 40 banks? We’re just gonna move them off the list and treat them like they’re tiny little community banks.’ What could possibly go wrong?”

Listen →

FIRE UP THE ZIPRECRUITER...

Because everyone might get fired tomorrow. Key word: *might.* Trump has reportedly decided to remove National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, though White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insists “they have a good working relationship and there are no changes at the NSC.” Reportedly also on the chopping block is Chief of Staff John Kelly. HUD Secretary Ben Carson, VA Secretary David Shulkin, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are under consideration as well. That’s why they’re all bringing sleeping bags and spending one last night together because it’s, like, so hard to stay in touch once everyone goes home.  

Trump is reportedly considering replacing an embattled Shulkin with a Fox & Friends weekend co-host, which would really free up some space on his TiVo. Just this week Larry Kudlow snagged Gary Cohn’s job as head of the National Economic Council after Trump saw him “looking handsome” on CNBC a couple times. Is that a joke or real? Who cares.

We also learned that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has spent more than $1 million in taxpayer money flying on military aircraft. This follows earlier reports of excessive spending by both Carson and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. It’s a fierce competition among Cabinet members to see who can waste more money flying around like Saudi princes.

Donald Trump lied to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he told him that America has a trade deficit with Canada, and last night bragged about his lie to a room full of wealthy donors. He then repeated the lie to the rest of the world via Twitter. According to Trump’s own Office of the United States Trade Representative, the U.S. had a goods and services trade surplus of $12.5 billion with Canada in 2016. It’s sad to know other countries’ leaders make fun of us behind our back. Trudeau and Merkel rolling their eyes, etc.

The Trump administration is reportedly finalizing their plan on opioids that will include the death penalty for “some” drug dealers. We cannot stress enough how crazy this is.

Special Counsel Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents related to Russia. This comes after news that the investigation now includes the influence of foreign money on Trump and his campaign.

A Trump Organization lawyer was involved in the arbitration with Stormy Daniels, representing the shell company Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen established to pay Daniels. Very normal stuff.

ICE is causing deaths in their attempts to rip families apart.

Donald Trump Jr.’s wife Vanessa filed for divorce today.

On Keep It: Ira, Kara, and Louis recorded a live show at SXSW complete with Oscars trivia, Rachel Dolezal drags, and an interview with Tegan and Sara.

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Philadelphia’s new district attorney, Larry Krasner, is making wide-ranging and innovative strides in reforming the criminal justice system to “end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing.” Some of his office’s new projects include: bringing back the Conviction Review Unit for wrongful incarceration; working to verify and expand a previously secret list of police officers who are suspected of lying, racial bias, or brutality; and last but not least, taking on mandatory minimums by asking lawyers start many plea offers at the low end of sentencing guidelines.

Plus there’s this: “Krasner’s lawyers are also now to decline charges for marijuana possession, no matter the weight, effectively decriminalizing possession of the drug in the city for all nonfederal cases.” Pretty impressive undertaking after only a few months on the job.

Trump’s State Department officials wanted to purge Sahar Nowrouzzadeh from her role as a senior Middle East policy expert, falsely claiming she had ties to the Iranian regime. Uncovered emails reveal that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spread an article from a conservative website falsely depicting her as a loyalist to Obama who had “burrowed herself into the government,” and officials used the article as the basis to remove her from the department.

Nahal Toosi, the journalist who tells Nowrouzzadeh’s story, talks to Tommy on the latest episode of Pod Save the World, out tomorrow.

More than 2,800 school walkouts were scheduled across the country yesterday, in protest of Congress’s inaction in response to gun violence in schools. According to Professor David Farber of the University of Kansas, the walkouts were “without a doubt the largest protest led by high school students in the history of the U.S." Students were able to achieve that despite the threat of punishment—in fact, many students are now facing discipline and consequences for participating.

Liddle Marco has found an unlikely ally in Jon Lovett. Straight shooting at its most annoying.