In other news, the British economy moved closer to recession today as inflation increased more than expected and bond yields inverted at the same time their American counterparts did.
Meanwhile, the German economy is also edging toward recession as growth slows to an annualized rate of just 0.4 percent.
Finally, sources say Trump didn't the details of Rod Blagojevich's conviction when he floated the idea of commuting his sentence last week. GOP reps. who called Trump to talk about it discovered that he didn't really know anything about the case.
But during the calls, both Trump and his acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney appeared at least somewhat unfamiliar with some of the details of Blagojevich’s case, sources familiar with the call told CNN.
During a call with Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) Trump said that while he he “saw a sentence that didn’t meet the crime … he did express he wished he had the perspective earlier,” Bost told CNN. “The answer he gave me: He would continue to look at it.”
Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) also reportedly spoke to Trump personally about the matter and informed him about the various allegations against the former governor, including his threats to pull millions of dollars from a children’s hospital if its CEO didn’t donate to his campaign and his efforts to sell former President Barack Obama’s senate seat, which he gave up when he was elected president.
It has been reported that Trump floated the idea commuting Blagojevich's sentence because his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, told him it would be good way to reach out to Democrats; because Jared Kushner is an enormous idiot.
Trump's acting immigration chief, Ken Cuccinelli, said the Statue of Liberty only applies to white people.
Cuccinelli: That statue of liberty poem was about "people coming from Europe." pic.twitter.com/nrDcUGJsU3
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 13, 2019
Also -- the Dow dropped by 800 points today