Trump Weekly: Mueller Report Continued

Earlier this week, the redacted version of Mueller's report was released. There were no major bombshells, perhaps in part because key parts of the report - roughly 10% in total, including 60% of the section on Russian hacking alone - were completely blacked out. The report details how Russians made overtures to Trump's campaign offering help, and notes that Trump's campaign appeared interested, but ultimately there was no evidence that collusion actually took place.

The report did provide a clearer picture of Trump's executive style, which is largely chaotic and paranoid. His own staff routinely disregard his directives or express alarm about his plans - indeed, some of his proposals were tantamount to obstruction, but did not actually occur because his staff refused to carry them out. The Mueller report also caught White House staff in lies - Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for instance, the White House spokeswoman, admitted that she was lying when she announced to the US public that many FBI agents had expressed gratitude to Trump for firing James Comey. The report also details how Trump may have obstructed justice through his attempts to interfere in the Mueller investigation, although it demurs on deciding whether his behavior actually amounts to a crime.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler subpoenaed the Justice Department for the unredacted copy of the Mueller report. Nadler noted that his committee requires the full report in order to conduct its investigations. Nadler has also criticized Attorney General William Barr, who provided an unredacted advance copy to the White House, giving them an upper hand in preparing for its public release. Meanwhile, Nadler's committee is pressing on with its investigation of Trump's finances by issuing subpoenas to several banks, including Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Congress has also sought information from the White House on its security clearance approvals, which have come under scrutiny.

The White House dismissed Nadler's efforts as "political grandstanding." Trump has waffled between condemning, glorifying, and dismissing the report, at first calling it a "total exoneration" before later saying that it contains "total bullshit" and quotes from individuals merely trying to make themselves look good at his expense. The White House has also signaled that it plans to ignore subpoenas from the House on various matters, including the aforementioned security clearances. Democrats aren't hopeful that AG Barr will help enforce their request.

A volunteer militia at the border has been detaining migrants and calling Border Patrol on them. The militia consists of perhaps overzealous armed civilians who are, as the ACLU puts it, "kidnap[ing] and detain[ing]" individuals who are merely attempting to apply for asylum. AG Barr also issued a directive denying some asylum applicants bail - which means refugees could remain in jail even as their case drags on for months or years.

Lastly, Trump's progress with North Korea appears to have been phantasmagorical, as North Korea ran a missile test and demanded that Trump's team replace Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with a more "mature" negotiator.