| COMEY’S COMEUPPANCE? — 850,000 copies of “A Higher Loyalty” will go on sale on Tuesday...the book is No.1 on Amazon...a series of dishy interviews follow last night’s “20/20” opus… But Comey’s media blitz — detailed here by The Hill’s Joe Concha — won’t be a cakewalk. The former FBI director has racked up an impressive list of enemies in the past two years: - The White House and the Republican National Committee have launched a coordinated effort to discredit Comey as a liar and a craven opportunist.
- The Clintonistas are still furious at Comey for his handling of the email server investigation, and baffled by admissions in his book that the 2016 presidential polls figured in his thinking of the FBI’s probe.
- Comey is publicly at odds with his past boss, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and his former top deputy, Andrew McCabe, over the Clinton investigation.
- The Justice Department inspector general is putting the final touches on the definitive report on the Clinton investigation. It’s expected to be critical of Comey.
The Washington Post’s front-page review of Comey’s book was unflinching. From Carlos Lozada: “When Comey cops to petty misdeeds … the self-criticism — and self-regard — is almost comical … when the stakes rise, self-examination diminishes.” And Comey is being rapped for wielding petty, personal insults about the president he clearly loathes. Former FBI Assistant Director Ron Hosko tells us: “It’s unseemly. Look — when you’re in a mud-slinging fight, you have mud on you. Is that where he wants to put himself? This will drive book sales, but what is the takeaway for those who once thought highly of James Comey? Will they think this is an honest man telling a straight story? Or does it look like revenge on steroids?” Comey has mocked Trump’s hair, skin and hand-size. Trump has called the former FBI director a “slimeball” who belongs in jail. We learned little new from last night’s highly-anticipated ABC News interview about what the FBI might have passed along to the special counsel, although Comey said there is evidence of obstruction of justice and that it’s “possible” the Russians have something on Trump. Read The Hill’s Jordan Fabian: Comey pulls no punches with Trump… https://bit.ly/2EOLEuV ...and The Hill’s Niall Stanage has five takeaways.... https://bit.ly/2EMJyeZ SYRIA, WHAT NOW? "We are confident we have crippled Syria's chemical weapons program," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said over the weekend. What worries military and foreign policy analysts is evidence that Bashar Assad remains undeterred in a civil war heading toward its eighth year, bolstered by support from Russia and Iran. An email to us from Greg Thielmann, the former top intelligence official at the State Department: “The attack was explicitly designed not to try to reverse the trajectory of Syria's civil war, which is clearly moving in Assad's direction.” - Today, deteriorating U.S. relations with Russia will be strained anew with new Trump administration economic sanctions designed to punish Moscow, Haley announced Sunday. “The international community will not allow chemical weapons to come back into our everyday life,” she vowed. “Russia was covering this up, all that has got to stop.”
- Despite Trump’s expressed eagerness to pull U.S. forces out of Syria in the near term after battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the military will remain there for now, Haley said.
- French President Emmanuel Macron, who will be at the White House on April 24, told French television that France “convinced” Trump to keep U.S. forces in Syria for the long term and to limit military strikes to chemical weapons facilities. (Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back Sunday night: “The U.S. mission has not changed -- the president has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible.")
- Many in Congress want the administration to clarify its rationale for continued U.S. involvement in Syria, consult with lawmakers about its avowed “sustained campaign” to deter the use of chemical weapons, and explain the West’s comparative tolerance for Assad’s deadly use of conventional weapons against civilians, including children.
Logically, if Assad’s civil war is today unbridled, and his government repeatedly finds ways to deploy chemical and nerve agents to shore up its weakened military might, a new U.S. commitment with allies for a “sustained campaign” to deter chemical weapons is an about-face for Trump’s stated goal of leaving the Middle East’s problems to others. TRUMP’S COHEN MESS: Judge Kimba Wood has ordered Cohen to make his first appearance in a New York courtroom today, after photographs of Trump’s attorney at an outdoor cigar gathering during his first hearing circulated last week. Stormy Daniels’s presence will ensure a circus-like atmosphere but the stakes for Trump and his personal attorney could not be higher. Few people are closer to the president personally or professionally than Cohen — and the FBI’s investigation is sweeping: - Prosecutors say Cohen has been under investigation for months. (Bloomberg)
- The FBI seized phones, computers, detailed personal records and a safety deposit box. (New York Times)
- The FBI is investigating potential bank fraud and wire fraud pertaining to Cohen’s personal business dealings, although no charges have been filed. (Washington Post)
- Cohen’s payments to women who claim to have had affairs with Trump are under review as potential campaign finance violations.
Trump’s other lawyers late Sunday asked the court, out of “fairness,” to allow the president to review the FBI-seized documents for attorney-client privilege before investigators proceed, according to reporting by The Washington Post. Cohen’s lawyers tried the same thing. Prosecutors shredded that defense in a Friday court filing, saying that: - Cohen has been “performing little to no legal work” for anyone.
- There are zero emails exchanged between Cohen and Trump.
- The “overwhelming majority of evidence seized" relates to Cohen’s private business dealings.
But Trump still has a lot of exposure here. The president phoned Cohen on Friday, and the White House is worried about reports that the feds may have seized taped conversations between the two. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: Prosecutors could be looking to turn Cohen on Trump… https://bit.ly/2EJke9v The New Yorker’s Adam Davidson caught Washington’s attention over the weekend, writing that the Cohen saga represents the end stage of the Trump presidency. There’s another take too, laid out here by Carl M. Cannon, writing for California’s The Orange County Register, in which he argues the FBI raid has crossed a line into prosecutorial abuse. That view is shared by Trump, who spent the weekend tweeting about it. BARBARA BUSH IN “FAILING HEALTH”: Former first lady Barbara Bush, 92, has declined medical intervention to prolong her life. Former President George H.W. Bush is 93 and also in delicate health. | 
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