Tax expert Ryan Ellis, Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehrke and Fox’s Kevin Corke joined WMAL on Friday.

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, April 13, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

 

5am – A/B/C COMEY BOOK PREVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:

• James Comey’s book “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” comes our on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.
• Fired FBI Director James Comey fires personal attacks against President Trump in a forthcoming book, according to excerpts obtained by several news outlets
• Comey worried that feds would dither over whether to prosecute Hillary Clinton in her private email server scandal, according to an FBI transcript reviewed by Fox News
• Comey: I’m sorry I couldn’t better explain decision to reopen Clinton email probe (The Hill) — Former FBI Director James Comey offers an apology in his forthcoming book for not providing a better explanation of his decision to announce that he had reopened the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server just days before the 2016 election. “I have read she has felt anger toward me personally, and I’m sorry for that,” Comey writes of Clinton, according to ABC News. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t do a better job explaining to her and her supporters why I made the decisions I made.” The book, “A Higher Loyalty,” is slated for release next week.
• In private conversations with Comey, Trump repeatedly brought up the “golden showers” prostitutes allegation from Steele dossier and offered reasons why it couldn’t be true, such as being “a germaphobe” (Washington Post) – Comey describes Trump as having been obsessed with the portion dealing with prostitutes in the infamous dossier compiled by British former intelligence officer Christopher Steele, raising it at least four times with the FBI director. The document claimed that Trump had watched the prostitutes urinate on themselves in the same Moscow suite that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama had stayed in “as a way of soiling the bed,” Comey writes. Comey writes that Trump asked him to have the FBI investigate the allegations to prove they were not true, and offered varying explanations to convince him why. “I’m a germaphobe,” Trump told him in a follow-up call on Jan. 11, 2017, according to Comey’s account. “There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me. No way.” Later, the president asked what could be done to “lift the cloud” because it was so painful for first lady Melania Trump.
• In new book, Comey casts Trump as mafia-like figure who sought to blur boundary between politics and law enforcement. (AP) — WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey blasts President Donald Trump as unethical and “untethered to truth” in a sharply critical new book that describes Trump as fixated in the early days of his administration on having the FBI debunk salacious rumors he insisted were untrue but could distress his wife. In the forthcoming book, Comey compares Trump to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country “ego driven and about personal loyalty.” The 6-foot-8 Comey describes Trump as shorter than he expected with a “too long” tie and “bright white half-moons” under his eyes that he suggests came from tanning goggles.
• James Comey Says Obama Almost Made Him Cry Once & The Story Behind It Is So Touching. Late in the 2016 election, former FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing a renewed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails, a letter which polling suggests may have had a major impact on the outcome. After the race was over, according to Comey’s upcoming book, he got some solace from none other than Trump’s predecessor ― former president Barack Obama apparently comforted Comey after the election, and it apparently almost brought him to tears. The details of the story are laid out in freshly released excerpts from Comey’s upcoming book, titled A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. According to Comey, Obama met with him after Trump’s dramatic and unexpected 2016 win ― he defeated Clinton soundly in the electoral college, despite losing the popular vote by nearly three million ― and reassured him about his decision-making. “I picked you to be FBI director because of your integrity and your ability,” Obama said to Comey, according to excerpts released on Thursday. “I want you to know that nothing — nothing — has happened in the last year to change my view.” “Boy, were those words I needed to hear. … I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Comey replied, writing that he was on the verge of tears at the comfort Obama offered. “I know, I know,” Obama responded.
• Comey: John Kelly told me he’d quit in protest when Trump fired me. (The Hill) — threatened to resign out of disapproval of ex-FBI Director James Comey’s firing, according to excerpts from Comey’s upcoming book. Comey writes that after Trump fired him last May, he received an “emotional call” from Kelly, who at the time was the Homeland Security secretary. Kelly told the newly ousted Comey that he intended to “quit in protest” because he “didn’t want to work for dishonorable people who would treat someone like [Comey] in such a manner,” according to book excerpts obtained by ABC News. Comey writes that he advised Kelly against quitting, saying “the country needed principled people around this president.” Kelly was hired a couple months later as Trump’s chief of staff. He has frequently butted heads with the president in that role.
• James Comey Mocks Trump With Hand Size Comments In His New Book. He also says he made a conscious effort to check the president’s hand size, saying it was “smaller than mine but did not seem unusually so.” In new book, Comey blasts untruthful, ‘ego-driven’ Trump

5am – D/E     1 in 10 AMERICANS DELETED THEIR FACEBOOK: Nearly one in 10 Americans surveyed say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy concerns. (Business Insider) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his testimony this week in Washington that there was not a “meaningful” number of people who had deleted their Facebook account following revelations that data firms were able to steal personal information from millions of users. At the same time, the hashtag “#DeleteFacebook” has trended following the Cambridge Analytica, and you may even personally know people who zapped their Facebook account. So Carolina Milanesi and the technology research group Techpinions decided to survey 1,000 Americans, representative of the country in age and gender, about their feelings regarding the social-networking giant.

• Here are the big takeaways:
• 17% of respondents said they deleted the Facebook app from their phone over privacy concerns.
• 35% said they were using Facebook less than they used to over the privacy issue.
• 9% reported deleting their Facebook account altogether.
• 39% said they were “very aware” of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, while 37% said they were “somewhat aware.”

 

6am – A/B/C Quarter Of Millennials Haven’t Heard Of Holocaust…  4 in 10 millennials don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in Holocaust, study shows. NEW YORK — More than one-fifth of millennials in the U.S. — 22 percent — haven’t heard of, or aren’t sure if they’ve heard of, the Holocaust, according to a study published Thursday, on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The study, which was commissioned by The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and conducted by Schoen Consulting, also found that 11 percent of U.S. adults overall haven’t heard of the Holocaust or aren’t sure if they did. Additionally, 41 percent of millennials believe two million Jews or fewer were killed during the Holocaust, the study found. Six million Jews were killed in World War II by Nazi Germany and its accomplices.  Two-thirds of millennials could not identify in the survey what Auschwitz was. “The survey found there are critical gaps both in awareness of basic facts as well as detailed knowledge of the Holocaust,” said a news release on the findings.

6am – D/E     Pompeo confirmation hearing:

• MUELLER / IRAN DEAL: Democrats press State pick Pompeo on Russia probe, Iran
• SHAHEEN: IS MUELLER INVESTIGATION A WITCH HUNT? Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) grilled Pompeo over recent public statements made by President Donald Trump castigating the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt.” Trump, angered by the FBI’s raiding of his lawyer Michael Cohen’s office this week, has also publicly discussed the notion of firing Mueller off the probe, although he has not done so. “Do you think Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation is a witch hunt?” Shaheen asked. “Ma’am, I’m going to not speak about any of the three investigations that I have been a participant in today,” Pompeo said.
• POMPEO AND SEN. CARDIN – I COULD RECOMMEND TRUMP STICK WITH IRAN DEAL IF WE CLOSE TO FIXING IT
• SYRIA: Sen. Chris Murphy: “There’s no imminent threat of attack on the United States from the Syrian regime?” Mike Pompeo: “I think that’s correct.”
• COREY BOOKER: >> Booker grills Pompeo on views about Muslims, gay marriage. Booker: Do you believe being gay is a perversion? Sen. Corey Booker: “So you think that Muslims in America who are in positions of leadership have a different category of obligation because of their religion – that’s what I’m hearing you saying.” Mike Pompeo: “It’s not an obligation – it’s an opportunity.”
• RAND PAUL: Sen. Rand Paul: “Do you think the Iraq War was a mistake?” Mike Pompeo: “I was running a machine shop in Kansas at the time.”

6am – F         Colin Kaepernick snubbed by Seahawks after refusing to stop national anthem protests: report. (Fox News) — The Seattle Seahawks reportedly postponed Colin Kaepernick’s trip to a pre-season camp with the team after the embattled quarterback told the team he would not stop his national anthem kneeling protests. The team is thinking about allowing Kaepernick to try out for a spot on the team but they have not made any decisions, a source told ESPN. Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, was contacted by the Seahawks around two weeks ago to make a trip to the team’s center and practice. A source told ESPN the trip was put off after the Seahawks argued about Kaepernick’s anthem protest. It’s unclear what day the quarterback was supposed to practice with the team. The team reportedly asked Kaepernick if he would continue his protest if he was signed to the NFL again and he was “unwilling to give that assurance to them.”

7am – A         INTERVIEW – RYAN ELLIS – Forbes columnist, tax policy expert and owns a tax preparation service in the Washington, DC area  @RyanLEllis

• Ryan Ellis is an “Enrolled Agent,” which means the IRS has designated him as one of the top tax experts practicing today. He owns a tax preparation service in the Washington, DC area
• TOPIC: Tax Day Preview: A lot of people will be doing taxes this weekend for the Tuesday deadline. Discuss tax tips and what to know about filing this year

7am – B         DOORMAN PAID $30K HUSH MONEY:

• The Associated Press confirmed the details of the Enquirer’s payment through a review of a confidential contract and interviews with dozens of current and former employees of the Enquirer and its parent company, American Media Inc. Sajudin got $30,000 in exchange for signing over the rights, “in perpetuity,” to a rumor he’d heard about Trump’s sex life. The contract subjected Sajudin to a $1 million penalty if he disclosed either the rumor or the terms of the deal to anyone.
• Ex-wife of former Trump building doorman who claimed the President has a love child says he’s a liar
• Ex-doorman: I wasn’t allowed to criticize Trump’s housekeeper because she had a child with Trump

7am – C         Steve Scalise Says He Won’t Run Against Kevin McCarthy For Speaker Of The House. (Daily Caller) — Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana said Thursday that he would not challenge fellow congressman Kevin McCarthy of California for speaker of the House. “I’ve never run against Kevin and wouldn’t run against Kevin,” Scalise said on “America’s Newsroom.” “We’re good friends. The meeting last night we are talking about the things we want to see move off the House floor and move through the Senate. We passed good bills in the House to address many of the problems facing our country domestically and in foreign policy. We want to see the agenda move to President Trump’s desk and talking about how to get that done last night.” Scalise said McCarthy should be considered a “conservative” and said he has helped get “big things” done during his time in Congress, citing the tax bill as his main achievement.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Navy SEAL ROB O’NEILL, the man who killed bin Laden AND author of new book “The Operator”  @mchooyah – discussed the latest news about Syria and his new book  “The Operator” which is now out in paperback.

• ABOUT AUTHOR: Robert O’Neill was born and raised in Butte, Montana, and lived there for nineteen years until he joined the Navy in 1996. Deploying as a SEAL more than a dozen times, O’Neill participated in more than four hundred combat missions across four different theaters of war. During his remarkable career, he was decorated more than fifty-two times. Among the honors he received were two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit Citations, and a Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor. Robert O’Neill helped cofound Your Grateful Nation, an organization committed to transitioning Special Operations veterans into their next successful career. You can find him at com.
• SYRIA NEWS: Donald Trump and allies mull Syria chemical attack response as Russia says no evidence for OPCW in Douma. (CBS News) — WASHINGTON — The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting Friday morning on Syria, following the recent suspected chemical weapons attack in the country. Russia requested the meeting and said the top priority should be averting a wider war. President Trump discussed S. military options to respond to the alleged chemical attack in Syria with his advisors and American allies on Thursday, but has not made a final decision on his response. President Trump spoke Thursday evening with British Prime Minister Theresa May. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the two leaders agreed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons should not go unchallenged. Britain, the U.S. and France are working together on an international response.
• Defense Secretary James Mattis left the White House late Thursday afternoon after briefing the president on options for a military strike on Syria. But shortly afterward the White House said “no final decision has been made.” That was a marked change from Monday, when a decision seemed imminent. S. intelligence estimates that 42 people died in the weekend attack, most of them showing symptoms consistent with chlorine gas, with others having symptoms more consistent with exposure to a nerve agent.

7am – E         Teachers Get Baseball Bats to Confront Shooters in Pennsylvania District (NY Times) — A school district in Erie, Pa., has supplied teachers and other school employees with miniature baseball bats to use as a last resort if confronted with an active shooter. “We don’t want to be sitting ducks,” William Hall, superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District, said on Wednesday. “We’re not just going to go hide.” The 18-inch wood bats are also meant to be “symbolic,” he said, to remind people that the old policy of simply turning off the lights, shutting the door and hiding, is not enough. Now, he says, one option is fighting back.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JOEL GEHRKE – foreign affairs reporter for the Washington Examiner @Joelmentum ‏ — recapped the Pompeo confirmation hearing.

8am – B/C    Comey Book Highlights In the Media

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: 21m21 minutes ago: James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and…..

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: 5m5 minutes ago: ….untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!

8am – D         INTERVIEW – KEVIN CORKE –  White House Correspondent for the Fox News Channel  @kevincorke – discussed the latest White House news.

• SYRIA: Donald Trump and allies mull Syria chemical attack response as Russia says no evidence for OPCW in Douma. (CBS News) — WASHINGTON — The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting Friday morning on Syria, following the recent suspected chemical weapons attack in the country.
• TPP: Trump: I would only rejoin Trans-Pacific Partnership if I got a “substantially better” deal than Obama did

8am – E         Trump Plans to Pardon Scooter Libby in C.I.A. Leak Case. (NY Times) — WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to pardon I. Lewis Libby Jr., who as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted of perjury in connection with the leak of a C.I.A. officer’s identity, a person familiar with the decision said on Thursday. Mr. Libby’s case has long been a cause for conservatives who maintained that he was a victim of a special prosecutor run amok, an argument that may have resonated with the president. Mr. Trump has repeatedly complained that the special counsel investigation into possible cooperation between his campaign and Russia in 2016 has gone too far and amounts to an unfair “witch hunt.” Mr. Libby, who goes by Scooter, was convicted of four felonies in 2007 for perjury before a grand jury, lying to F.B.I. investigators and obstruction of justice during an investigation into the disclosure of the work of Valerie Plame Wilson, a C.I.A. officer. President George W. Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s 30-month prison sentence but refused to grant him a full pardon despite the strenuous requests of Mr. Cheney, a decision that soured the relationship between the two men.  Mr. Libby was not charged with the leak itself and has long argued that his conviction rested on an innocent difference in memories between him and several witnesses, not an intent to deceive investigators. Although Mr. Bush’s clemency order kept him from going to prison, Mr. Libby’s conviction nonetheless remained intact and he was disbarred as a lawyer as a result. He was not reinstated to the bar until 2016. Among the allies from the Bush administration who have argued that he was treated unfairly is John R. Bolton, an ally of Mr. Cheney’s who served as Mr. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations and started this week as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser.  Other allies of Mr. Libby’s include Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing, a husband-and-wife team of lawyers who recently talked about going to work for Mr. Trump before deciding against it because of a client conflict. A pardon by Mr. Trump would amount to official forgiveness, not exoneration. A pardon does not signify innocence but does eliminate many consequences of a conviction, such as any effect on the right to vote, hold elective office or sit on a jury. As a practical matter, those seeking pardons hope it will erase or ease the stigma of a criminal conviction.