To my mind the two biggest stories of the week for their domestic impact are Senator Chuck Schumer’s threatened government shutdown and the indictment of former FBI head James Comey. Neither of them bodes well for the Democrats, whose favorability ratings are already scraping bottom. Both revolve around the magic date September 30, that is, this Tuesday. If the Congress does not pass a continuing resolution this Tuesday, the government will shut down. Schumer insists that he won’t vote for a stopgap bill, something centrists in his party like Senator Jeanne Shaheen are seeking. Schumer, along with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, has said that he will not vote for a continuing resolution unless there’s a restoration of the $1.5 trillion in cuts contained in the One Beautiful Bill enacted into law on July and the recissions Trump wanted and got. Unfortunately for the Democrats, Trump is significantly shrewder than they are. He’s made it clear that this will not be the usual performative shutdown and cave. Nope. He will use the shutdown “to justify firing ‘federal employees running programs ‘not consistent with the president’s priorities’.”

Schumer has tried to rally his troops, claiming the president’s threat is a bluff, but I can’t imagine them believing that. Neither does Matt Margolis:

Well, Schumer won't vote for the CR anyway because his vote to break cloture last time all but destroyed him politically. But he’s probably going to have a hard time convincing Democrats on the fence that Trump’s threat is really just a bluff that won’t pan out because they know that the conservative-majority Supreme Court would ultimately side with Trump on this issue.

Eight Senate Democrats who backed the six-month GOP continuing resolution in March remain potential yes votes. That includes Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), the only Democrat to support last week’s House-passed measure, which failed 44-48. Retiring Democrats like Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), plus Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Angus King (I-Maine), are also in play, though some have yet to commit.

In the end, Trump’s strategy is simple yet brilliant: force Democrats to choose between their obsession with expanding government handouts and the livelihoods of the very federal workers they claim to protect. Trump has the Democrats right where he wants them.

The Democrats thought they could hold the government hostage, but President Trump’s masterstroke changed the game: mass federal worker firings if no funding deal passes.

Don Surber also thinks the Schumer threat is risible.

Democrats have no leverage. None. They turned a large minority into a worthless piece of snit, throwing hissy fits hither and yon on TV while the nation yawns. They can huff and they can puff but they cannot blow the White House down because it is made of Trump, not balsa wood.

Schumer thought he was so clever by opposing each and every request from President Trump, but time proved that foolish because Trump knows how to herd cats and got Republicans to stick together, with a few kittens straying here and there.

Trump now knows he does not need Schumer any more than he needs an ear infection. 

The New York Post reported the mess Democrats are in thanks to their refusal to play ball with Trump, “Dem leaders beg Trump for meeting as GOP stands firm in shutdown fight: ‘We know we’re not going to get everything.’ ” [snip]

Trump has learned from his first presidency. He has seized this emergency as an opportunity to do what he otherwise might be unable to do. Via a memo from his Office of Management and Budget, he told agency heads to prepare lists for people to face permanent layoffs, known as reductions in force in government circles. 

Politico reported, “The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown, outlined in a memo shared with Politico ahead of release to agencies, escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week.”

Democrats need government employees to win elections. This puts Democrats on the 20 side of another 80/20 issue. After more than a century of civil service protection, many of today’s government employees have an attitude that makes Jasmine “Swivelhead” Crockett seem humble. 

On top of that, government wages and benefits are disproportionate compared to those of the taxpayer. Right now, a large-scale reduction in force would be more popular than pizza because not only will it save money, it just may change attitudes that needed an adjustment decades ago.

And Eric Katz reported, “In the memo, which was first reported by Politico, OMB told agencies not to repurpose or transfer funds to minimize the shutdown impact. That marks an about face from the approach the first Trump administration took during an extended shutdown that began in 2018.”

The pain will be more than closing popular parks that Obama hated. Everyone suffers, not just disabled veterans taking a trip to DC.

This time, a government shut down will not be a paid vacation for non-essential employees. Many no shows will be shown the door when the government resumes.

In his first presidency, the president learned how the federal government really operates like the Mafia. This time, he uses the book The Godfather as his guide.

The Schumer strategy looks like the scene in Blazing Saddles where the sheriff threatens everyone not to shoot him by pointing a gun at his own head.

Former FBI head James Comey was indicted this week days before the anniversary of his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, which is the subject of one of the two counts against him.

It comes just after documents were declassified which reveal the he and Senator Adam Schiff were connected to leaks of classified information to prominent reporters designed to paint Trump and his allies as colluding with Russia. Real Clear Investigations has a well-researched detailed picture of how Ellen Nakashima (Washington Post) and Michael Schmidt (NYT) megaphoned these smears -- for which they received Pulitzer prizes -- in articles which made claims now debunked but never acknowledged as errors by their papers. 

The report details the cozy relationships between leakers and leak recipients like these:

A similarly cozy relationship was forged between Michael Schmidt of the New York Times and Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman, a close friend of Comey. After Trump fired Comey in 2017, the FBI documents note, “Comey used Richman as a conduit to convey to the media memoranda of his meetings with President Trump,” which were classified.   

A friend of former FBI Director James Comey said he was "pretty sure" he hadn't given classified information to NY Times reporter Michael Schmidt.

The newly released FBI memos reveal that Schmidt, who is married to anti-Trump MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, spent considerable time with Richman, who was later investigated for leaking classified material to Schmidt. Richman told the FBI he spoke to journalists “to correct stories critical of Comey, [and] the FBI and to shape future press coverage.” Richman told agents “he did not know who gave Schmidt the classified information,” but he was “pretty sure” it wasn’t him, before hedging that he was sure “with a discount.” He also claimed Comey “never asked” him to talk to the media.   

Like Nakashima, Schmidt credulously reported every angle of the Russiagate investigation despite the paucity of “collusion” evidence.   

One of those Times stories, “Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election,” became the subject of a years-long leak investigation. The April 22, 2017, article gave a supposed insider account of how Comey handled the investigations of Clinton’s email scandal and Russiagate during the 2016 election. But it was clearly spun in Comey’s favor. “Partisanship was not a factor in Mr. Comey’s approach to the two investigations,” Schmidt wrote. “In the case of Mr. Trump, he conducted the investigation by the book.” In fact, two independent investigations found serious misconduct in both probes. 

It has been reported that Professor Richman was interviewed by the FBI in connection with the Comey matter.

The timing of the indictment -- just days before the Statute of Limitations would protect him from prosecution for his misleading and false statements to Congress has an interesting backstory. The probe and grand jury action in indicting Comey was completed but the then U.S. Attorney Eric Siebert was sitting on the matter. He was fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi and the newly appointed interim attorney Lindsey Halligan quickly filed a short form indictment on only two counts.

Like Catherine Herridge, I believe:

A thin indictment suggests a holding charge with the potential of a more complex, superseding indictment that adds more charges. This is not only possible, but plausible in Comey’s case based on the recently declassified FBI leak investigations via @FBIDirectorKash codenamed "ARCTIC HAZE." The “ARCTIC HAZE” records reveal several FBI senior leaders and Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman said they coordinated media leaks at Comey's direction. James Rybicki -- former FBI Chief of Staff James Baker -- former FBI General Counsel Andrew McCabe -- former Deputy Director Daniel Richman -- Columbia Law Professor August 14, I was among the first to report on "ARCTIC HAZE."

While Real Clear Investigations detailed the incestuous relationship between leakers and members of the press it’s worth noting the extent to which the Department of Justice was chock a block with Comey family members. His daughter Maurene was an assistant US Attorney in New York until Trump fired her. A son-in-law, Troy Adams, was an assistant US Attorney in Virginia who resigned when the indictment was filed and a second Comey son-in law, Lucas Issacharoff, Maurene’s husband and is still employed by the Department of Justice as an assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York.

John Soloman alerts us to the probability of more government officials facing criminal prosecution: ”I think other government officials are in danger of being indicted in the coming weeks. Some in the FBI, some in other parts of the government. This is the beginning of a large accountability roundup in government." 

Stephen Miller notes that Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Obama and (Lisa) Monaco “all conspired together to try to sabotage the democratic institutions of this country.”

He calls them “insurrectionists” and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some or all of them soon in the dock.