The Trumpster Fire: Despite President Trump’s claims of executive privilege, presidential aides must comply with congressional subpoenas to testify and hand over information, according to the ruling by a federal judge in the case of former White House Counsel Don McGahn. 

  McGahn has been called by the House Intelligence committee to testify about President Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation. The President ordered members of his administration not to cooperate. 

  “Presidents are not kings,” wrote Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Jackson said current and former White House officials owe their allegiance to the Constitution and presidents “do not have subjects, bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control.” 

  The judge rejected the Trump administration’s legally unestablished claim that a president has absolute immunity and may shield members of the administration from legal inquiry. No such thing is written in the Constitution, but the Supreme Court has recognized executive privilege in cases involving the security of government functions.

  The Justice Department, which is representing McGahn, said it will appeal. McGahn said he will answer the subpoena and testify if the appeals court declines to issue a stay of the lower court’s order. Likely, though, this is headed to the Supreme Court for a further refinement of executive privilege.

  Trump did have one legal win yesterday. The Supreme Court ruled that he doesn’t have to hand over eight years of his tax and financial records to House investigators, at least not yet. It’s another case the Supremes will ultimately have to decide about executive privilege.

Rudy Tooty: Federal prosecutors working the case of two indicted associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani may also be examining the former New York Mayor himself. CNNreports that the Feds are looking into conspiracy, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations, and money laundering

Non-compete Clause: The Russians should be barred from the Tokyo summer Olympics and other international sports events, according to the recommendation of a committee working for the World Anti-Doping Agency. In short, they think the Russians are still juicing after getting caught running a sophisticated doping operation at the winter games the Russians hosted in Sochi.

  The Russians have been caught not just doping, but altering the data collected as the result of an earlier ban. WADA is expected to decide by December 9^th about the Olympics and whether to bar the Russians from such other major events as the World Cup.

To Grandmother’s House: A pair of intense storm systems threatens to make Thanksgiving travel difficult for millions of people, bringing heavy rain, snow, strong winds, thunderstorms, and, of course, flight delays.

  One storm is sweeping through the Great Plains today and the Great Lakes on tomorrow. Winter storm watches and warnings stretch from northeast Colorado to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan because of the potential for heavy snowfall and gusty winds.

  The other storm is set to hit southwest Oregon and northwest California today through Thanksgiving with areas of damaging winds, deep mountain snow, and heavy rain at the coast. The National Weather Service is describing it as potentially “historic.” Already today, nearly 800 flights are cancelled and 4,000 delayed.

The Bulletin Board: President Trump yesterday signed a law that makes certain acts of animal cruelty a federal felony. It expands a 2010 law signed by President Barack Obama that banned videos that show animals being crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or subjected to other forms of torture. — Two months after President Trump’s order to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, they are back in combat, conducting large-scale missions against Islamic State fighters. — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of Adnan Syed of Baltimore, who was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend in high school and broke into national fame as the first subject of the podcast Serial. Syed, now 39, is serving a life sentence.  

Ocean’s Billion: Thieves in the city of Dresden broke into a castle vault and made off with about 100 pieces of historic jewelry and treasure so valued in Germany that’s it’s hard to put a price on it. Maybe $1 billion.

  The heist took place at dawn yesterday after fire broke at a nearby electrical distribution point cut the lights and the museum’s alarm. Surveillance video captured a couple of bad guys who broke into what’s known as the Green Vault and smashed a display case with an axe.

  The museum houses a collection of jewelry and precious ornaments, from bowls carved out of crystal and agate to jeweled figurines and goblets made from gilded ostrich eggs. The objects taken are so well-known they could never be sold in the open market.

  One piece they didn’t get is a 41-carat green diamond known as the Dresden Green. It’s on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

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