EPA head Scott Pruitt is in trouble over a condo lease

Pruitt may have violated ethics rules over a condo lease. Meanwhile, the U.S.-China trade war keeps going and more in this week’s Trump-free Friday politics

That trade war is going just fine

Just last month, the U.S. hit China with some serious import taxes, all in an ill-considered bid to bolster American steel and aluminum industries. Overall, nearly $60 billion in Chinese goods will be subject to these tariffs.

Just to sweeten the deal, the White House called China “an economic enemy”. It claimed that the move was in response to repeated Chinese attempts to undermine U.S. innovation via taking American technology and trade secrets for their own.

On Wednesday, China struck back with tariffs of its own. Now, about $50 billion worth of American goods could be subject to costly import taxes. These include agricultural crops like soybeans, American cars, chemical products, and other goods.

The White House responded by stating that it was now considering an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. It cited an investigation that concluded China had stolen approximately $50 billion a year by copying American technology. Meanwhile, China’s trade plan includes a belt and road infrastructure initiative meant to cement its place as an economic superpower.

Who does this all benefit, exactly? Certainly, it’s making investors and traders nervous. Witness the behavior of the stock market, which has been going frantically up and down in reaction to the news. It’s unclear when this exchange will stop or where it might lead.

Endless economic dueling will do little to help either country or their peoples. Hopefully, both the United States and China will find a way to sit down at a table and negotiate like reasonable adults.

Scott Pruitt is in trouble

It wouldn’t be a politics update if there weren’t at least one high-ranking official in danger of losing their job. This week, it’s Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt. What’s causing him and his staff to sweat? A condo lease.

It’s not just any lease, however. According to the Associated Press, Pruitt “paid just $50 a night to stay in a Capitol Hill condominium linked to a prominent Washington lobbyist whose firm representsfossil fuel companies”.

There’s quite a lot to unpack there, and almost none of it is good for Pruitt. First of all, that is an insanely cheap rent for Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. There is also some concern about the exact terms of Pruitt’s stay. Was this more of a vacation rental of sorts? Or, is it more appropriate to describe him as a tenant?

That condo is co-owned by Vicki Hart, a lobbyist focusing on healthcare issues. She’s married to Steven Hart, CEO of Williams and Jensen, a legal firm that represents Exxon Mobil, among other energy companies. Steven Hart also apparently took part in active lobbying at the EPA.

Things get even more awkward when you review some of the signed lease documents. Steven Hart was originally listed as the landlord, before Vicki Hart crossed out her husband’s name and wrote in her own.

Kevin Minoli, an ethics official at the EPA whose memo had previously been cited as a piece of evidence giving the okay to Pruitt’s living arrangement, has since clarified his position. Minoli now says that he didn’t have enough information about the terms of the lease. This means that Minoli’s previous conclusion – that Pruitt’s living arrangement did not violate federal rules about gift giving – no longer stands.

Meanwhile, one of Pruitt’s top aides, Samantha Dravis, has announced her resignation. Sources within the EPA have said that the resignation has nothing to do with Pruitt’s recent troubles. However, it’s bound to make this week even more difficult for the EPA administrator. Dravis was often one of the people carrying out his deregulation plan within the agency.

National Guard troops sent to Mexico-U.S. border

The president recently announced that he would be sending National Guard troops to the U.S. border, telling reporters that “anywhere from two to four thousand” members would make the trip.

Why this trip is happening, however, is not clear. Certainly, the White House has not released much information to explain the move. Similarly, no one is sure how the National Guard troops will be used along the border. Important details like the cost of deploying any number of troops remain in the dark.

The Department of Defense is apparently tasked with pairing logistics to the vague promises made by the president. However, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced on Wednesday that troops would deploy immediately. They would focus on support and not take on law enforcement duties “as of now”. Nielsen also said that military-owned land might see some of the first sections of the much-talked-about and still largely unseen border wall.

At a Pentagon briefing, Marine Corps Lt. Gen Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, said that the DoD would move “very quickly” as soon as they knew what to do.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Daphne du Maurier is best known for her melodramatic thriller novel, Rebecca, published in 1938. It follows an unnamed narrator as she marries the very rich and very mysterious Maxim de Winter. The narrator follows him to his grand country estate, Manderly, but is haunted by the memory of his deceased first wife, Rebecca.

Rebecca is all about perception, about who you can trust and who is, in fact, a vicious enemy. It also contains hints of non-heterosexual love and sexuality. Mrs. Danvers, the forbidding housekeeper, is so obsessed with Rebecca that you start to wonder if she was in love with her former boss.

Du Maurier herself had a complicated relationship with her own sexuality and gender expression. A little research shows that she was attracted to women. She spoke of herself as a girl “with a boy’s mind and a boy’s heart”, as she wrote in a letter to Ellen Doubleday, her U.S. publisher’s wife.

Next: Kim Jong-un made a surprise visit to China this week

Doubleday never returned du Maurier’s feelings, even though du Maurier went so far as to write a play about her unrequited love, titled September Tide. Du Maurier later had an affair with actor Gertrude Lawrence. To make matters more complicated, however, du Maurier often spoke disparagingly of lesbians and other LGBTQ people.

Check out Olivia Laing’s essay on du Maurier at The Guardian for an in-depth look at the links between Rebecca and du Maurier’s complicated sense of herself. The Independent also presents a thoughtful take on her life.