The Trump and Giuliani show continues. Donald Trump today said he absolutely has the right to pardon himself, but he has no reason to do so because he has done nothing wrong.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)responded on Twitter, disagreeing and citing an Office of Legal Counsel memo written four days before Nixon resigned. He quotes from the memo:

“Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself,”

His tweet continues:

I know you have attention span problems, but it’s the first sentence: [Memo link]

The memo further explains:[More...]

In a 7 to 2 ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the baker who refused to take an order for a gay wedding cake. From the opinion, available here.

....religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression.

The Court's ruling seems to be a limited one, turning on the Court's finding the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was prejudiced against the baker. [More...]

Donald Trump pardoned Dinesh D’Souza. The New York Times editorial board asks, Really? (I asked, who? I've never heard of him.) The Times explains:

On Thursday, Mr. Trump pardoned Dinesh D’Souza, the right-wing troll known for, among other things, posting racist tweets about President Barack Obama, spreading the lie that George Soros was a Nazi collaborator and writing that “the American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well.”

Today Trump said Martha Stewart and Rod Blagojevich may be next. Yesterday, he took a celebrity photo at the White House with Kim Kardashian who was there to advise him on "prison reform". She learned of a single case of a 91 year old serving a long drug sentence via Twitter of all places, and now she's invited to the White House to opine? Does she really believe that Donald Trump, who is so anti-offender than he fired her sister Khloe Kardashian from the Apprentice because of a DUI (watch the video) gives a sh*t about any offender who isn't related to him? I certainly don't. [More...]

Subtropical storm Alberto made landfall this afternoon in Laguna Beach, Florida near Panama City. It's moving north, up through the Florida Panhandle. I hope everyone stays safe. Two TV news persons died when a tree fell on their car.

On Donald Trump and Memorial Day, from David Frum in the NY Times:

It’s not news that there is something missing from Trump where normal human feelings should go. His devouring need for admiration from others is joined to an extreme, even pathological, inability to return any care or concern for those others. But Trump’s version of this disconnect comes most especially to the fore at times of national ritual. Donald Trump cares enormously about national symbols—the flag, the anthem—when he can use them to belittle, humiliate, and exclude.

[More...]

So Harvey Weinstein is the new Most Hated Man in America. Turning that image around so that he's viewed as an old school casting couch director who only showed his junk to those who were willing to trade their bodies for camera time and film roles, and who never forced anyone to do anything is going to be a tough sell. The imagery doesn't work in his favor. He's gigantic and the accusing actresses and models probably all weighed 110 pounds or less.

What does work in his favor is the law. While the grand jury may add additional charges, as of now he's charged with forcibly making one woman engage in oral or a*nal s*x with him in 2004, and forcing another woman to have sex with him at (presumably) her hotel in March, 2013. I assume she was a company employee as Harvey Weinstein would never stay at a Doubletree in New York. (He was a Peninsula kind of guy.) [More...]

"First Step" Act, my foot. If this bill passes, it will be the last time federal criminal justice reform is given a thought by Trump. There will be no sentencing reform and no "second step." From the Atlantic:

“The bill is a tempting half-measure, but lawmakers should resist the lure,” Holder wrote in a Monday op-ed for The Washington Post, warning that passing a narrow bill now would “derail momentum” for the broader set of changes Democrats and a coalition of Republicans have sought for years.

More than 100 civil rights organizations have written a letter opposing the bill. The federal prison workers union opposes the bill.

Here is the letter by Senator Durbin, Senator Harris, Senator Booker, Representative Jackson Lee, and Representative Lewis explaining why they oppose the bill. [More...]

Jared Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, was on CNN with Wolf Blitzer yesterday afternoon. I listened on the car radio. The full interview is here, and I highly recommend watching the whole thing. CNN's abbreviated and edited version is here.

Abbe is a terrific lawyer and I believe he is a straight-shooter. As to the interview, he was so articulate and confident, it was like he was interviewing himself. He took the reins right away -- Wolf seemed somewhat flummoxed at the beginning. In this short clip from the interview, Abbe castigates Wolf (and the media) for using prosecutor words like witness, subject and target, which appear in the U.S. Attorneys' manual but don't have a legal meaning of their own.

Before listening to the interview, on hearing the news that Jared Kushner was interviewed again by Mueller for 7 hours in April and that he just got his security clearance restored I was thinking that his interview in April was a proffer session, that he passed the Special Counsel's test for telling "the truth", and that not only did he get immunity from prosecution but that Mueller's team agreed to inform the intelligence division that in the Special Counsel's view, Jared is not a security threat, has cleared up all his filing lapses and is cleared of any wrongdoing.

But according to Abbe, that's not the case. As to the security clearance, he said it was totally separate, proceeded through regular channels and there was no politics involved. [More..]

It's one of those infrequent gray sky days here. So gray that I've turned on all the lights and lamps and it's only 8 a.m.

I think I'll stay in, ride my Peloton and catch up on paper work.

Has anyone noticed the change in Google News? They took away the personalization feature and made it worthless. Google's presumption that it knows what we want to read better than we do is both arrogant and insulting. I've un-bookmarked it.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I woke up just in time to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchange vows and be proclaimed husband and wife. It was a very pretty ceremony with very nice music. The only thing I didn't see or hear was "You may kiss the bride."

Prince Charles and Camillia are there, as are Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew, and Prince William and Kate. I think the only other people I recognized are James Corden and his wife and George and Amal Clooney.

Meghan and Harry just re-entered the chapel and everyone sang "G-d Save the Queen." They just got outside to cheers and finally, they kiss. Meghan now is all smiles.

Congratulations to the happy couple, now to be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It's a gorgeous day in London, and the couple are now entering a horse drawn carriage and riding off to the acclaim of all. Princess Charlotte held a bouquet and waved them off, it was very cute.

The Senate Judiciary Committee released 2,500 pages of congressional testimony today including testimony concerning Donald Trump's 2016 "Russia Meeting" in which he hoped for dirt on Hillary.

WAPO analyzes what it all means.

A question: Who did Trump, Jr. call or get a call from after the meeting? The four minute call is to or from a blocked number. Did he talk to his father? He testified he doesn't know (or remember.)

As to alleged efforts to cover-up the real reason of the meeting and protect Don Jr., I think the account in Michael Wolff's book sounds pretty plausible.

Donald Trump has filed new financial disclosures.

“In 2016 expenses were incurred by one of Donald J. Trump’s attorneys, Michael Cohen,” Trump reported in a footnote of his official Personal Financial Disclosure report, required of top federal officials. “Mr. Cohen sought reimbursement of those expenses and Mr. Trump fully reimbursed Mr. Cohen in 2017. The category of value would be $100,001 — $250,000 and the interest rate would be zero.”

The disclosure is here. The Office of Government Ethics says in a footnote that Trump is required to disclose the payment/liability.

Whatever Donald Trump does, he stirs up a hornest's nest. He's like the bull in the China shop. Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, is no different.

52 protesters have been killed (some were reportedly putting bombs on the street)

Palestinians now make up 38% of Jerusalem,

The new embassy hasn't even been built.

A small interim embassy will start operating from Monday inside the existing US consulate building in Jerusalem. A larger site will be found later when the rest of the embassy moves from Tel Aviv.

Palestinean leaders say the move dooms any peace prospect: [More...]