Politics roundup: Manafort and Cohen increase tension in the White House

Michael Cohen admitted he lied to Congress, while Paul Manafort lied to Robert S. Mueller’s investigation. What does this mean for the Russia investigation?

Michael Cohen confesses, Manafort lies

This week, former White House lawyer Michael Cohen dropped a major bombshell. He admitted that he had previously lied to Congress. Before, he had claimed that all contact between members of the Trump campaign and Russian nationals had ended in early 2016. Cohen had also stated that Russian contacts had essentially ghosted him, refusing all contact at around the same time.

Now, in a plea released on Thursday, Cohen has said that the contact in fact continued well into the 2016 presidential campaign. Talks apparently continued until June, well into the election season. It now seems that Cohen himself was meeting with a high-ranking Russian businessman a mere eleven days before the presidential inauguration.

In response to Cohen’s disclosure, the president presented two dual claims. First, he says that Cohen is simply lying. But, even if Cohen were telling the truth or some version of it thereof, the president said that he himself would still be in the clear.

It is true that, so far, no clear evidence of wrongdoing has been uncovered. Yet, the association is damning, and one that appears to be making both the President and those around him very nervous. In the wake of Cohen’s plea, the President took to Twitter to decry Robert S. Mueller’s investigation into the Russia matter.

The President also dangled the possibility of a pardon for former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, telling the New York Post that “[a pardon for Manafort] was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?”

In August, Manafort was convicted on eight counts of fraud and faces considerable jail time. He agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s Russia investigation in what was almost certainly an attempt to reduce his sentence.

On Tuesday, Manafort’s lawyer had briefed the President’s lawyers on what, exactly, Manafort has been telling the Mueller investigation. It was a strange move, at least according to legal precedent, but not illegal. Now, apparently, the President and his team have gotten a peek into the inner workings of the investigation.

Could this possible pardon be an early part of that defense, somehow? Critics have claimed that it could be deployed to keep Manafort quiet, even in the face of a major federal investigation.

If that’s the case, then a presidential pardon is about the only thing that’s going to save Manafort from some serious jail time. It’s become clear that he was not ready to share the whole truth with Mueller’s team. Manafort has apparently been busy withholding and obscuring information, even after multiple warnings from investigators.

Why all the lies? It’s not clear. Manafort could be hoping for that pardon, for one. It might also be anything from fear of deadly Russian assassins to pure, ego-driven hubris.

G20 meeting approaches, spurs worries

With all of the drama surrounding Cohen, Manafort, and the Russia investigation, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this news would also leak into the upcoming G20 summit. This gathering of international leaders is set to meet in Buenos Aires this weekend.

This is normally newsworthy enough on its own, but the recent international tensions focusing on trade and election fraud are going to make for some awkward meetings, to say the least. Many are looking for a showdown of sorts between the United States President and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Their two nations have been at loggerheads over perceived inequities in international trade. Specifically, the U.S. has claimed that China exploits American ideas and resources without fair compensation. China, for its part, has bristled at U.S. trade tariffs on Chinese goods, not to mention the White House’s campaign of spreading ill will against one of the largest economies on the planet. Both nations have set heavy taxes on the others’ imports, with the U.S. threatening even further action.

So, it follows that, if anything happens between the two presidents, it could leave effects that will be felt for years to come. We may see either an easing of tensions or a full-blown trade war between two of the biggest nations on Earth.

As if that weren’t enough, the Russia-related drama from the Mueller investigation has also changed the U.S. President’s plans. He will no longer meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the White House, the cancellation was because Putin won’t release Ukrainian soldiers and ships after a confrontation this past week. But with the very recent specter of Russian collusion raising its head yet again, the timing is awkward at best. Furthermore, there’s no known reason why the two leaders can’t meet informally while they both attend the summit.

U. S. climate change report released over Thanksgiving week

To round things out with some dubiously cheerful news, the U.S. government released its Fourth National Climate Assessment. It was, as one might expect, a sobering look at the effects of human activity on our planet’s climate. These include increasingly intense weather patterns, rising sea levels, and billions of lost dollars as crops and agricultural animals experience growing environmental stressors.

The report also contained some pretty grim predictions for the times ahead, including intense wildfires even worse than those that have recently ravaged California. It’s not all said and done, but humanity needs to move, and fast. The report’s writers called for quick and dramatic action in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Naturally enough, the White House did not take kindly to the report. For one, it was released on the Friday after Thanksgiving, seemingly in an attempt to bury the findings while everyone was shopping on Black Friday. With a presidential administration that seems dead-set on deregulation and giving large, polluting corporations breaks, it’s hardly surprising.

The President himself said, “People like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence, but we’re not necessarily such believers…. You look at our air and water and it’s right now at a record clean.”

That last claim is not necessarily true, at least depending on when, where, and how you take measurements. Furthermore, they’re arguably the result of prior environmental regulations, which the current administration has made a point of dismantling.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

The Favourite, the latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos, was released on November 23 and has since been making the rounds of reviews. Critics and viewers have focused on the central characters of the film, three women in high-class, high-strung 18th century England – Queen Anne; her acidic confidant, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; and Abigail Hill, Sarah’s poor but ambitious relative.

While The Favourite is more or less a work of fiction starring actors in fancy clothes (and, at least in the case of Nicholas Hoult, one heck of a wig), the characters are based on actual people. Queen Anne was the head of state for England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1702 until 1707, then Queen of Great Britain from 1707 until her death in 1714.

Sarah Churchill, who started as one of Anne’s closest friends, eventually became a jealous enemy. Her memoirs included a very unflattering description of the queen as an overweight, hysterical wreck of a woman. Even though that sounds mightily unfair, that portrait became the accepted one for many years.

Anne deserves some pity and renewed regard. She reigned during a tense political time, when fighting between parties was often at a fever pitch. Anne was also arguably a strong-willed woman who didn’t want to be pulled to pieces by political bickering.

Her personal life was heartbreaking, however. Even though she went through a crippling 17 pregnancies, Anne had no surviving heirs. She suffered from ill health for much of her life. By most accounts, she was a lonely, isolated woman who craved human companionship.

If that’s all too much of a downer, you can at least take this opportunity to learn more about the complex world of British politics and royal life from the comfortable distance of three centuries. And it was a fascinating world – one where people were restricted by corsets but, at least at the highest levels of society, weren’t too worried about “deviant” personal lives.

Yes, there is a persistent rumor that Queen Anne got romantic with both Sarah and Abigail, though we have little evidence proving any such relationship happened. Romantic friendships between women were common, with intensely lovey-dovey language exchanged between best buds. Yet, Anne was also well known as a deeply religious prude, so few historians put stock in the rumor.