From claiming President Donald Trump’s order disallowing transgender recruits in the military is without reason, to claiming that firing former FBI Director James Comey was historically dumb, to framing Trump’s visits to his home in Florida as him favoring states he won in the election, Axios did not disappoint.

Below is a list of the most egregious examples from the past week:

1. Want to know how I know it’s a slow news day?

Rolling Stone cover story by Stephen Rodrick asks if Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 45, is “the free world’s best hope”:

Trudeau reminds me of, well, Obama … He is always pushing his product: a kind but muscular Canada. … Trudeau is the son of Pierre Trudeau, a 15-year prime minister and Canada’s iconic 20th Century Man. … His land races toward inclusion, while our nation builds walls and lusts for an era of vanilla homogeneity that ain’t coming back.

2. The Pope adheres to cannon law, not American constitutional law. I’m not an expert, but that might be why. 

A self-pardon by Trump would be “a first in all of human history,” according to a WashPost op-ed today (“Trump can’t pardon himself“) by Harvard’s Larry Tribe, along with Richard Painter (chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush) and Norman Eisen (chief White House ethics lawyer for President Obama).

“We know of not a single instance of a self-pardon having been recognized as legitimate. Even the pope does not pardon himself.”

3. Even the New York Times disagrees that a president can be indicted according to current DOJ policy. The DCNF fact check team confirms Ken Starr memos cannot change the constitution and the separation of powers. 

The 56-page memo was written for Starr by constitutional scholar Ronald Rotunda, “locked in the National Archives for nearly two decades and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act.”

The memo concludes: ‘It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties … In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.'”

4. I think readers can discern what is and isn’t normal without being reminded.

Trump has been openly undermining Attorney General Jeff Sessions, yesterday tweeting that he’s “beleaguered.” Already this morning, POTUS tweeted that Sessions has “taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes.”

Remember: This is his own Cabinet member! It’s not normal (emphasis mine).

5. Wait, critics of the Trump administration on MSNBC found Jared Kushner’s public remarks about Russia unconvincing?! Stop the presses!

Republicans, even skeptics of Jared and his worldview, generally found his statement solid and convincing. But in a preview of the dissection that’s coming from prosecutors and congressional investigators, critics on MSNBC said they found his comments unconvincing:

• Anchor Lawrence O’Donnell (with backdrop “JARED’S ASSISTANT DID IT”): “Kushner’s assistant [said to have prematurely filed his security-clearance form] may become the Rosemary Woods of this investigation” — invoking the Richard Nixon secretary who claimed she could have accidentally caused the 18½-minute gap in a Watergate tape.
• Jeremy Bash, former chief counsel to the House Intelligence Committee, told Brian Williams: “I think ultimately, both [intelligence] committees are going to ask him to testify publicly. … [T]hey’re gonna want to be able to question him on the record, under oath, in front of the cameras.”

Be smart: Although Kushner made the most of a difficult day, it doesn’t change the bigger picture for the White House.

6. Uhhhh…. Trump has a home in Mara Lago, FL. Come on, Axios. You know that. 

7.  Yes, yet another comparison to Nixon. Impeach! Yawn. 

But one Hill alumnus told me that with his torture of Sessions, Trump seems to be demanding personal loyalty: “He’s saying, ‘I don’t want the loyal Republican. I want the loyal Trumpite.'” That could trigger a disconnect that, in yet another echo of Nixon, would undermine the president’s Washington support.

8. There aren’t any, Axios? Really?

White House and Pentagon officials are providing virtually no details about President Trump’s decision to ban transgender troops from the military for a simple enough reason: There aren’t any (emphasis mine).

9. Clearly Axios has an extremely short “dumbest political mistakes in the modern era” list.  

All don’t agree. But associates say Trump’s position on pardons (and willingness to fire special counsel Bob Mueller) is no surprise in light of the contempt he showed for a 40-year tradition by refusing to release his tax returns, and his decision to fire FBI Director Jim Comey against the advice of some top West Wing officials (to say nothing of the fact that it was one of the dumbest political mistakes in the modern era) (emphasis mine).

10. “If you don’t agree with me you’re anti-gay.” Brownback signed an executive order in Kansas protecting clergy from being coerced into performing or recognizing same-sex marriages. I guess protecting religious liberty is anti-rights? 

N.Y. Times A1, above fold, “White House Lands 3 Punches Against Gay Rights in One Day,” by Charlie Savage and Mike Shear: “The Trump administration abruptly waded into the culture wars over gay rights this week, signaling in three separate actions [on Wednesday] that it will use the powers of the federal government to roll back civil rights for gay and transgender people.”

1. “[T]he Justice Department intervened in a private employment lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing that the ban on sex discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect workers on the basis of their sexual orientation.”
2. “The move ended a day that began with a tweet from President Trump announcing a ban on transgender people serving in the military.”
3. “Also on Wednesday, Mr. Trump announced that he would nominate Sam Brownback, the governor of Kansas and a vocal opponent of gay rights (emphasis mine), to be the nation’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom.”

Why it matters: “The constellation of events raised alarm among gay rights advocacy groups.”

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