The Department of Justice effectively accuses the President of directing an illegal scheme to manipulate the 2016 election, Mueller uncovers more connections between the Russian government and Trump’s campaign, and the President struggles to keep his Administration staffed. Then Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar talks to Tommy about Democratic plans for the new Congress, and her support for the BDS movement.

Show Notes:

Lock him up!

• NPR: What You Need To Know About The New Manafort And Cohen Court Documents
• New York Times: Done With Michael Cohen, Federal Prosecutors Shift Focus to Trump Family Business
• Washington Post: Court filings directly implicate Trump in efforts to buy women’s silence, reveal new contact between inner circle and Russians
• Washington Post: ‘Siege warfare’: Republican anxiety spikes as Trump faces growing legal and political perils
• Lawfare: ‘Totally Clears the President’? What Those Cohen and Manafort Filings Really Say
• BuzzFeed: 5 Big Things That Robert Mueller Just Told Us About The Russia Investigation
• New York Times: Michael Cohen Wanted to Cooperate in His Own Way. Prosecutors Had Other Ideas
• New York Times: Prosecutors Effectively Accuse Trump of Defrauding Voters. What Does It Mean?
• New York Times: Trump’s Tawdry Tabloid Sagas Reveal Weightier Themes
• Washington Post: Russians interacted with at least 14 Trump associates during the campaign and transition
• Empty Wheel: THE QUID PRO QUO WAS EVEN TIGHTER THAN I IMAGINED
• The Atlantic: The Mysterious Return of Manafort’s ‘Russian Brain’
• Vox: Trump’s ties to the Russian mafia go back 3 decades
• Lawfare: History Suggests Proving Collusion Between the Trump Campaign and Russia May be Impossible
• New York Times: Is Mueller Building an Expansive Obstruction Case? – Op-Ed
• CNN: Exclusive: Mueller investigators questioned John Kelly in obstruction probe
• The Atlantic: A Close Reading of the 235-Page Comey Transcript
• New Yorker: The Ineptitude of Donald Trump’s Co-Conspirators
• New York Times: Highlights of Comey Testimony: He Likes Mueller, but They’re Not Best Friends
• Vox: Trump lashes out at “Leakin’ James Comey” over details in a publicly available transcript
• Empty Wheel: COHEN’S COOPERATION SEEMS TO FOCUS ON OBSTRUCTION
• Empty Wheel: THE MANAFORT ELECTION SEASON LYING BONANZA STALL
• NBC News: Michael Cohen filings renew discussion of Trump’s impeachment
• Washington Post: Congress will have to ‘start impeachment’ process after Cohen filings, former Nixon counsel says
• Chicago Tribune: Top House Democrats raise prospect of impeachment, jail for Trump
• Associated Press: Can a president be indicted while in office?
• Politico: Rubio: ‘Terrible mistake’ for Trump to pardon Manafort

John Kelly/Personnel

• New York Times: John Kelly to Step Down as Trump, Facing New Perils, Shakes Up Staff
• Vox: John Kelly is out as White House chief of staff, Trump announces
• Washington Post: Chief of Staff John Kelly to leave White House by end of month, Trump says
• McClatchy: John Kelly’s legacy now tied to Trump’s policies and “worst impulses”
• Think Progress: John Kelly was hired to contain the chaos in the White House. He met his match with Donald Trump
• New Yorker: John Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff, Is Finally Leaving “Crazytown”
• The Atlantic: John Kelly Couldn’t Fix the Trump Presidency
• Associated Press: Family separations at border down, but dozens still affected
• Politico: Ayers won’t be Trump’s chief of staff
• New York Times: Nick Ayers, Aide to Pence, Declines Offer to Be Trump’s Chief of Staff
• Axios: Scoop: Trump considering Mark Meadows for chief of staff
• New York Times: Trump Will Nominate William Barr as Attorney General
• Vox: Attorney general nominee William Barr will fit right in with Trump’s immigration agenda
• Yahoo News: REPORT: Trump First Tapped William Barr For Another Job — Defense Lawyer
• The Atlantic: As Good an Attorney General as We’re Likely to Get
• Washington Post: Rand Paul says he has concerns about William Barr, Trump’s pick for attorney general
• Washington Post: In corporate role, William P. Barr clashed with Justice Department that he now seeks to lead
• New Yorker: Trump Picks the Former Fox News Anchor Heather Nauert as His U.N. Ambassador
• New York Times: Heather Nauert’s Pick as U.N. Envoy Hints at Reshaping of the Role
• Washington Post: Heather Nauert once cited D-Day in ‘long history’ of U.S.-German relations. Now she’s headed to the U.N.
• Washington Post: Rex Tillerson on Trump: ‘Undisciplined, doesn’t like to read’ and tries to do illegal things
• New York Times: The Wooing of Jared Kushner: How the Saudis Got a Friend in the White House

Paris protests

• New York Times: Tear Gas Still Lingering, France’s President to Address the Nation
• Bloomberg: France to Probe Possible Russian Influence on Yellow Vest Riots
• France 24: As it happened: More than a thousand arrested in Paris ‘Yellow Vest’ protests
• Washington Post: Why are the ‘yellow vests’ still protesting in France? His name is Macron.
• Axios: Trump inaccurately blames Paris Agreement as riots continue in France
• Vox: Trump is using the Paris protests to push his anti-Paris Agreement agenda
• Washington Post: Trump administration resists global climate efforts at home and overseas
• The Guardian: US and Russia ally with Saudi Arabia to water down climate pledge
• Politico: Why greens are turning away from a carbon tax
• New York Times: ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Shake France. Here’s the Lesson for Climate Change
• Nature: Global warming will happen faster than we think
• Vox: Greenland’s ice sheet is melting at its fastest rate in centuries

Ilhan Omar

• Washington Post: Trump demonized Somali refugees in Minnesota. One of them just won a seat in Congress
• New Yorker: How Ilhan Omar Won Over Hearts in Minnesota’s Fifth
• The Hill: First Palestinian-American congresswoman plans West Bank trip for freshmen, backs BDS
• The Intercept: IS ILHAN OMAR DONALD TRUMP’S WORST NIGHTMARE?
• Washington Post: ‘Just deal,’ Muslim lawmaker Ilhan Omar says to pastor who complained about hijabs on House floor
• Roll Call: Ilhan Omar: Diversity in Congress Leads to Better Policy
• Star Tribune: Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar: Let us stand together as Americans in rejecting hate
• The Nation: Omar is making real the promise of the American experiment
• Nashville Tennessean: Why Muslim women hope this year’s historic election helps curb the discrimination they face
• New York Times: Same as Anti-Semitism
• New York Times: In Courting New Liberals, Pelosi Runs a Risk: A Freedom Caucus of the Left
• New York Times: Meet the New House Democrats: They May Not Toe the Party Line
• Vox: Democrat Ilhan Omar becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress