Is Trump Targeting Elijah Cummings Because Cummings Is Onto The Worst Trump Family Swamp Yet?

Most Americans outside of Washington and other than his own constituents in Baltimore had never heard of Elijah Cummings before Trump went on a week-long tirade against him. Can you recall Trump being more consistently vitriolic against any other member of Congress? Not Pelosi, not Schumer, not Adam Schiff, not Maxine Waters, not AOC, not Justin Amash, not Frederica Wilson, not Rashida Tlaib... Maybe Ilhan. But he's really been on an uncontrollable tear over Cummings. And now pretty much everyone knows something about Elijah Cummings, the son of sharecroppers from South Carolina, who, unlike the low-IQ "president," became a Phil Beta Kappa member and graduated college around the same time as Trump, but with honors. Trump lashed out at him blindly at first, accusing him, for example, of never visiting his district, even though Cummings home in Baltimore is his only home and where he sleeps every single night. But after Trump was made into a laughing stock for that comment, he assigned a team of White House aides (taxpayer paid) to start digging up dirt on Cunnings, like the video Trump, attempted to confuse people about the phrase "rat-infested" instead of "drug-infested", tweeted yesterday of Cummings making a plea for funds to solve solve drug problems in inner-city neighborhoods.

I'm The Least Racist Person There Is In The World by Nancy Ohanian

So why is Trump going after Cummings the way he is? Well, with Trump, it's always personal. Everything-- every single thing he does, every single breathe he takes, every move he makes, every bond he breaks, every step he takes, every smile he fakes, every vow he breaks, every claim he stakes-- is entirely self-serving. So... Cummings subpoenaing slumlord Kushner-in-law? the obscure personal bond Trump once had, briefly, with Cummings. It's more than just Trump's racism. But what?

How about Saudi Arabia? More than anything else, Trump is a greedy crook looking for a score. Saudi Arabia is that big score, more so than Russia. Ever since Trump met the Saudi dictator over that crystal ball, he's been trying to sell the regime there nuclear plants, not an idea any sane person approves of. The Daily Beast reports that "an underground coalition" of nuclear energy executives and lobbyists and apparatchiks they buy, is promoting an American nuclear energy comeback, a comeback that "would come via Saudi Arabia and would rely on using President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s cozy relationship with the country’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Riyadh had launched its Vision 2030-- a project to decrease the country’s reliance on oil by building up its other economic sectors, including nuclear-- and it was looking for tenders to build its first reactors." The Daily Beast also asserts that it is this coalition is trying to persuade Trump. I'm not so sure, though. Is the "underground coalition" working for Trump rather than trying to influence him?

If the administration backed American nuclear enterprises in Saudi it could fulfill one of its main policy goals-- countering Russia and China. The coalition leaned on Trump officials to help them push forward its case, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump adviser Tom Barrack. Barrack is now under investigation in New York for his lobbying work. The New York Times reported that investigators have asked Barrack about his work related to the Saudi nuclear deal. Flynn, who left the administration in February 2017, was later indicted by Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s office and plead guilty to charges of lying to the FBI about his communications with then Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

...The coalition’s secret campaign to win over the Trump administration is concerning officials and Capitol Hill who are fearful that the plans for Saudi Arabia will move forward despite the fact that they raise legal concerns and could potentially threaten U.S. national security, according to two senior administration officials and more than half a dozen lawmakers. Congress is currently wrapping up an investigation into the origins of the coalition’s plans.

...The report into the House Oversight Committee’s congressional investigation into the coalition’s plan and its development is set to be released in the coming days.

House Oversight Committee? Who chairs that again? OK, let's look at a report from ABC News' Ben Siegel and Matt Mosk, House Dems blast Trump insider in new report, allege profit motive in push for Saudi nuclear plan. House Dems? Well... Oversight Committee Dems... Cummings. And who are they going after? Long time crooked Trump crony Tom Barrack who was the one pushing the proposal to build dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid restrictions on the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology and, likely to profit gigantically for... himself and... Señor Trumpanzee? Would it surprise you? It wouldn't surprise Elijah Cummings, who said "Today's report reveals new and extensive evidence that corroborates Committee whistle-blowers and exposes how corporate and foreign interests are using their unique access to advocate for the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia."

The 50-page report, which relied on 60,000 documents and statements from whistle-blowers inside the administration, was made public Monday. It focuses on the actions of Thomas Barrack, a wealthy Los Angeles businessman who oversaw President Donald Trump's inaugural committee, as well as earlier efforts by retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to push a Saudi nuclear energy plan. Investigators said they found evidence that "private parties with close ties to the President wield[ed] outsized influence over U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia."

"These new documents raise serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President's friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," according to the report.

...The investigation focuses on company called IP3 International, which is run by a group of retired American generals, and their years-long effort to promote a plan to sell dozens of nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The company has been aided in its efforts by two well-known Trump advisers: Flynn and Barrack, a California investment executive who has deep ties in the Middle East.

The report alleges that Flynn and later Barrack helped push the proposal during the 2016 campaign, in the White House and later during briefings with senior White House officials including Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and ultimately President Trump. IP3 officials also briefed cabinet officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, according to the report.

Barrack promoted the effort as part of what he called a "Middle East Marshall Plan" despite concerns from some White House officials and lawmakers that Saudi Arabia's true goal was to obtain technology for nuclear weapons, which could heighten tensions in the unstable region.

Ahead of the report's release, a spokesman for Barrack spoke with the New York Times about allegations that the longtime Trump friend used his connections to assist foreign interests, telling the newspaper Barrack had no incentive to lobby on behalf of any particular country or countries in the Persian Gulf because his business interests and policy concerns span the entire region.

...Barrack met with Trump at the White House about the Middle East Marshall Plan on the same day the president met with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, correspondence between Barrack's secretary and the White House cited in the report shows.

Barrack told a business associate he briefed Trump before and after his meeting with the Saudi deputy crown prince and helped facilitate the prince's visit, according to text messages cited in the report. Those text messages also indicate that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, participated on a call with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and leader of the United Arab Emirates who is closely aligned with Saudi Arabia.

Barrack later emailed Kushner about his potential role in the administration.

"After thinking through our discussion this week, it might be an interesting idea to have the Special Envoy position hold responsibility for implementing the economic agenda and related action items that will arise out of your Saudi-sponsored summit," he wrote, according to the report.

Barrack texted a business associate in UAE that he had floated the idea, which he said would be "to make me a special envoy to the Middle East to help them with Saudi, UAE and gulf USA cooperation…"

In the days following Trump's meeting with the Saudi deputy crown prince, IP3 leaders engaged with senior Trump administration officials to promote the nuclear proposal, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

In a March 17, 2017, letter to the Saudi leader, the IP3 officials said the "agreements" between the president and the Saudi ruler "established the framework for our unique opportunity to take the next steps with IP3 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." The letter also referenced a "partnership" to acquire Westinghouse Electric, a U.S.-based company that manufactures nuclear reactors.

Soon after, Barrack began corresponding with top officials at IP3 about a plan to bid for Westinghouse in what Democrats believe to be the Saudi Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund. IP3 officials met with Kushner in August on their proposal to acquire Westinghouse, which, under the agreement, would be the main partner in the effort to build more than 30 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.

In a memo to Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone, one of the private equity firms he contacted about potentially bidding, Barrack said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates "have committed to invest in the Westinghouse acquisition and are willing to concurrently lock in Westinghouse as their primary partner on the 30+ reactors expected to be constructed… in the coming decade." Blackstone declined to partner with Colony.

While that bid for Westinghouse was unsuccessful, Barrack in January of 2018 began corresponding with a top official at Brookfield Asset Management, the firm that acquired Westinghouse, according to emails cited in the report, offering his assistance.

More than a month later, an employee at Barrack's firm firm Colony NorthStar sent a slide presentation to another associate, suggesting it had been invited to contribute $50 million to Brookfield's bid for Westinghouse.

On Aug. 1, 2018, Brookfield completed its acquisition of Westinghouse after securing final government approval for the deal from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a review board filled by Cabinet secretaries. It's not clear whether Barrack's company participated in the successful bid.

The House report notes that just two days later Brookfield agreed to a 99-year lease of 666 Fifth Avenue, a distressed building owned by Kushner Companies, Jared Kushner's family real estate firm. The property was a financial burden on Kushner Companies and the group was facing a $1.4 billion mortgage payment the following February.

Cummings is lucky Trump didn't have him eliminated. Or kill a member of his family.

Today Facebook announced it had removed Saudi manipulative endeavors on its platforms. "This week," wrote Nathaniel Gleicher, their Head of Cybersecurity Policy, "we removed multiple Pages, Groups and accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. We found two separate operations: one of which originated in United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and another in Saudi Arabia. The two campaigns we removed were unconnected, but both created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing. We have shared information about our findings with law enforcement, industry partners and policymakers."

We also removed 217 Facebook accounts, 144 Facebook Pages, five Facebook Groups and 31 Instagram accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior originating from Saudi Arabia that focused primarily on the Middle East and Northern Africa, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.

The individuals behind this activity posed as locals in countries targeted by this campaign-- often using fake accounts-- and created fictitious personas to run Pages and Groups, disseminate their content, increase engagement and drive people to an off-platform domain. They managed Pages that masqueraded as local news organizations. The Page admins and account owners typically posted in Arabic about regional news and political issues, including topics like the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, his economic and social reform plan “Vision 2030,” and successes of the Saudi Armed Forces, particularly during the conflict in Yemen. They also frequently shared criticism of neighboring countries including Iran, Qatar and Turkey, and called into question the credibility of Al-Jazeera news network and Amnesty International. Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found links to individuals associated with the government of Saudi Arabia.

• Presence on Facebook and Instagram: 217 Facebook accounts, 144 Facebook Pages, 5 Facebook Groups and 31 Instagram accounts.
• Followers: About 1.4 million accounts followed one or more of these Pages, about 26,000 accounts joined at least one of these Groups, and around 145,000 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts.
• Advertising: Around $108,000 spent on Facebook and Instagram ads paid for in Saudi riyal and US dollars.