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Welcome, readers, to the Good Men Project Daily Brief!
In 1961 Joseph Heller published Catch 22, a novel that so influenced the English language that we use its title to describe the idea of being asked to make impossible choices, often times without having ever read the book. The title is a reference to a fictional Air Force rule whereby a pilot continuing to fly combat missions without asking for relief is regarded as insane, but is considered sane enough to continue flying if he does make such a request. A problem without a solution. A catch 22.
Today we’re looking at stories of our leaders being between a rock and a hard place.
My name is Mckay Williams and this is your Daily Brief:
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Questions from Meuller probe to the President have been leaked:
First, I apologize for linking a story behind a paywall to you, but I wanted to make sure you can directly see Michael Schmidt’s incredible reporting here. This is, without a doubt, the most important story about the Special Counsel probe thus far. In it, we learn that Robert Mueller had agreed to supply these 50 written questions to the President’s legal defense team, in which the majority of the questions seem to be aimed toward an obstruction of justice case. Pundits across the cable news networks are quick to point out that these questions should be read more as topics of discussion, meaning that once the question was asked it is nearly impossible to imagine there wouldn’t be in depth follow up to the President’s answers.
While I will not speculate on the identity of Mr. Schmidt’s source, if the leak came from the President’s defense team, there is a good chance that the leak itself can be pointed to as evidence of obstruction of justice. The Hill reports a story that a former assistant to Mr. Meuller believes just that and said so on CNN, however CNN has not confirmed that opinion as fact.
The President must now decide if it is politically prudent to go through the sit-down interview with the Special Counsel, or if the legal jeopardy these questions pose is too great to do so. Watch this story.
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Immigration in the New America:
The “caravan” the Administration had been warning us about from Central America has finally reached Tijuana, Mexico and is now positioned on the US/Mexico border. They seek asylum in the US, having fled cartel violence. The Trump Administration claims that the asylum quota has been met and that these refugees will not be admitted into the country, even though they have sought every legal channel available to them. America finds itself in a Catch 22 here as well… are we the home of the free, land of the brave? Do we lift our lamp for the tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free? Or are we a country with no more room?
Do we have a responsibility to the refugees of the War on Drugs that we’ve been waging since 1971?
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
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House GOP drafting Articles of Impeachment against Rod Rosenstein
This writer finds it to be no coincidence that on the very night the Special Counsel’s questions to the President leaked, that members of the GOP who have been actively protecting President Trump have begun drafting Articles of Impeachment against the Deputy Attorney General in charge of that investigation.
A short history lesson to remind readers about Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre, in which he promoted and then fired several Attorneys General until someone agreed to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. This was widely seen as the specific event that ended the Nixon presidency.
And yet, the GOP is possibly trying it again. This might be the most important Catch 22 we’re discussing. Does the President attempt to save himself from an impossible perjury trap and fire DAG Rod Rosenstein, triggering a constitutional crisis about the rule of law which would no doubt end his Presidency? Or does he go face to face with Mueller, where his undisputed tendency for hyperbole will undoubtedly create legal peril that might end his presidency?
It’s going to be a big month, stay tuned for the next Daily Brief.
Click for more from Mckay Williams
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