Swamp Things: Friday was a no good, very bad day for President Trump. Events are escalating in a way that suggest the end could be coming fast … or this insanity may just go on forever.

  A federal appeals court ruled that the President’s accountants must turn over his tax returns to Congress; his rule that immigrants may not receive public assistance was overturned; his declaration of a national emergency to build his border wall was shot down; the chief of Homeland Security resigned; Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani may be under criminal investigation; and the former ambassador to Ukraine testified before Congress about the murky reasons she was withdrawn amidst the President’s pursuit of conspiracy theories. We’ll start there.

   Marie Yovanovitch, a 33-year veteran who was recalled as the American ambassador to Ukraine in May, said that a top State Department official told her that President Trump personally pushed her removal even though the department believed she had “done nothing wrong.”

  Trump said in his telephone conversation with the president of Ukraine that, “The woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that.”

  Yovanovitch, by all accounts, was doing her damnest to fight corruption in Ukraine. In a closed interview on Capitol Hill, Yovanovitch said the State Department has been gutted and that private influence and personal gain have usurped the judgment of professional diplomats, threatening to undermine diplomacy and drive professionals out of public service. 

   In her opening statement Yovanovitch said she was “incredulous” that she was removed as ambassador “based, as far as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.” 

  Yovanovitch, a 33-year veteran of the foreign service and three-time ambassador, spoke at the risk of getting fired for defying a White House order not to cooperate with impeachment investigators. 

  “Today we see the State Department attacked and hollowed out from within,” she said. She called upon the department’s leaders, as well as Congress, to defend it, saying “I fear that not doing so will harm our nation’s interest, perhaps irreparably.”

The Rest of a Bad Day: Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan resigned, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. That’s what government officials say when they want to get the hell out of a bad situation.

   Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is being investigated regarding his efforts to undermine former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Remember that two of his operatives were arrested two days ago.

   The federal appeals court that ruled Trump’s accountants must hand over eight years of the President’s tax returns rejected the argument that Congress is overstepping its legal authority. Expect that to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

  In a similar battle going on in New York, the Justice Department appealed to stop the release of President Trump’s tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. In its filing though, the Justice Department did not support the President’s previous claim that a sitting president is immune to criminal investigation.

  But again, this may land in the Supreme Court.

In Washington, yet another judge ruled that that Pre Trump violated federal law with his declaration of a national emergency to grab millions of dollars from the federal government to build his wall on the southern border.  El Paso County, Texas, and the Border Network for Human Rights have sued to stop wall construction on their turf, arguing that Trump had no legal authority to spend more than what Congress appropriated for the wall.

  Supreme Court … check. 

   But wait, there’s more. Still another federal judge blocked Trump’s “public charge” rule to deny entry into the country for immigrants likely to need public assistance. The judge’s ruling said that the government failed to give a reasonable explanation for changing the definition of “public charge, and also objected to inclusion of proficiency in English as a sign of self-sufficiency.

   US District Judge George Daniels said in his ruling, “The United States of America has no official language. Many if not most, immigrants who arrived at these shores did not speak English.” 

Broken News: Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, the straightest shooter in the house and a frequent target of President Trump, abruptly resigned from the network and delivered his last broadcast yesterday

  He’s leaving in the middle of what is reported to be a $15 million contract. With no other explanation, Smith said at the close of yesterday’s show, “Recently, I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News. After requesting that I stay, they obliged.” His colleagues who followed him on the air were nearly speechless.

  Working among journalists who see no wrong in the White House, Smith has been tough on President Trump and gotten into squabbles with the opinion side of the network in the midst of the growing movement to impeach. It may be time for Fox News to examine its soul, or determine whether it even has one.

  Smith’s resignation has no direct relation to what’s going on in the White House, but it is still part of the bigger picture, the battle for America. Smith said in his farewell, “Even in our currently polarized nation it’s my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, that journalism, and journalists, will always thrive.”

The Bulletin Board: President Trump announced a “substantial” trade deal with China that will avert more tariffs. “You know there was a lot of friction between the United States and China and now it’s a love fest,” he said. — The US is sending more fighter planes to Saudi Arabia to back up the Kingdom in its escalating conflict with Iran. That would be the lead story in a normal world. — Actress Jane Fonda was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol yesterday and led away in cuffs after protesting inaction on climate change. The 81-year-old who stars in a Netflix series about two women who establish an erotic vibrator company has vowed to demonstrate on the steps every Friday through January.  

The End of Enlightenment: The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy, tweeted the following: “As for me, I will not bow down at the altar of the LGBTQ agenda nor worship their rainbow pride flag. I’m going to stand with the Word of God, the Holy Bible, which is truth from cover to cover.”

  Maybe he should try reading that book one more time.