Tuesday
Apr302024
The Conversation -- April 30, 2024
The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Trump 2016 election interference trial are here: ~~~
Nate Schweber: "Several dozen raucous Trump supporters gathered in Collect Pond Park across the street from the courthouse, wearing red hats and waving big flags. They cheered for a small procession of vehicles flying Trump flags, led by a large pickup truck with a decal of a bound President Biden on the back gate. But the arrival of Trump's motorcade just before 9 a.m., blocked from view by N.Y.P.D. vehicles, elicited no reaction."
Maggie Haberman: "Trump has arrived in court, with a much larger entourage than usual in tow, including his son Eric, the first family member to join him during this trial.... Trump is also joined by Susie Wiles, his top campaign adviser, and Dan Scavino, his longtime aide."
** Alan Feuer, et al.: Judge Juan Merchan "held [Trump] in contempt on Tuesday and fined him $9,000, punishing the former president for repeatedly violating a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and jurors." [MB: Merchan issued a written order, finding Trump had violated the gag order nine times; he also ordered Trump to remove the offending social media posts.] ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "Of note -- Justice Merchan explicitly called Trump's claim that reposts don't count as violations of the gag order 'counterintuitive and absurd.'" ~~~
~~~ Haberman: The judge preceded his ruling on violations of the gag order "by saying Trump can have May 17 to attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron.... 'I don't think the May 17 date is a problem,' the judge says." ~~~
~~~ Jonah Bromwich: "Justice Merchan wrote that he was 'keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant's First Amendment rights.' But nonetheless, he wrote that he would not tolerate continued violations of his orders and that if necessary and appropriate, he would 'impose an incarceratory sentence.' In plain language, he is warning Trump that he will send him to jail if necessary." ~~~
[~~~ Here's the order, via the court system.]
Haberman: "Gary Farro, the banker who testified Friday and is continuing today, is back on the stand. Farro is testifying about Michael Cohen's efforts to set up a financial account that was used to pay Stormy Daniels. The jurors have just been let in."
Haberman: "'Everything was urgent with Michael Cohen,' Gary Farro testifies about Cohen's interest in opening his account quickly. Cohen used the account to make the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels."
Wesley Parnell: "First Republic Bank did not do business with the porn industry, as Farro testified last week. If the paperwork Cohen submitted had made allusions to its actual purpose, 'there would be a determination made by the second and third line of defense' at the bank. The payment would have been flagged by bank auditors, as 'it is an industry that we do not work with,' said Farro."
Kate Christobek: "Rebecca Mangold, one of the prosecutors, is walking the banker Gary Farro through a wire transfer that occurred immediately after Essential Consultants L.L.C. was created. The documents being displayed in court show that on Oct. 27, 2016, Michael Cohen and the L.L.C. wired $130,000 to Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' lawyer at the time. Cohen wrote that the purpose of the wire transfer was for a 'retainer.'" [MB: CNN reporters say Cohen made the transfer to Davidson within about 20 minutes of the time he transferred $131,000 into the account from his home equity line of credit. Also, this all took place on Oct. 26 & 27, 2016, right before the election & after the WashPo published the"Access Hollywood" tape.]
Bromwich: "Todd Blanche's cross-examination of Gary Farro is a bit difficult to follow, as he tries to cast doubt on Michael Cohen but gets stuck in the weeds of the financial documents about which Farro testified. Other than casting doubt on Cohen here, it's not always clear what Blanche is trying to accomplish. But he seems to have succeeded in irritating Farro, who is a bit punchy on the witness stand." ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "Blanche is now trying to separate Cohen's actions from Trump's, arguing that the account was never established as related to Trump. We are in many ways seeing the crux of the defense's argument laid out here: that Cohen was freelancing."
Bromwich: "Todd Blanche ... has now hit upon a clever line of questioning, harnessing Gary Farro's irritation to the defense's advantage. The lawyer suggests that Farro opened up a shell corporation, and Farro bites back: 'I dont open up shell corporations. I open up L.L.C. accounts.' Blanche is directing jurors' focus to what Michael Cohen did -- that is, effectively start a shell corporation that was used to pay Stormy Daniels. This is a savvy way to attack Cohen through Farro, making the former fixer sound deceptive and potentially criminal."
Bromwich: "This [next] witness, Robert Browning, works for C-SPAN as an executive director of its archives.... In most trials, you might not get too many witnesses like Robert Browning, who is what's called a custodial witness, or records custodian. These witnesses certify the truth of records presented at trial. But in this trial, the defense did not agree on certain facts that the prosecution sought to stipulate were true. Thus, the prosecutors need these sorts of witnesses to help the jury understand the basic truth of the episodes they want to talk about at trial."
Haberman: "Prosecutors are now playing C-SPAN clips, starting with one from a Trump campaign rally in North Carolina in October 2016, where he talks about two women who said Trump touched them inappropriately. 'I have no idea who these women are,' Trump said at the time. 'These are lies being pushed by the media and the Clinton campaign to try and keep their grip on our country. They're all false, totally invented, fiction.'... Next up in evidence is video of a campaign event Trump did in Gettysburg, Pa., in October 2016. He blasts media outlets and says, 'Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign.' He later vows to sue, saying 'the events never happened, never.'... The third video shows Trump at a news conference in 2017 during the presidential transition, saying, 'Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer, he's a good lawyer.'" ~~~
~~~ Feuer: "... Justice Merchan precluded the prosecution from introducing direct evidence that many women, near the end of the 2016 campaign, accused Trump of sexual assault. They seem to be getting some flavor of that evidence into the trial, however, with these videos of Trump attacking the women on the campaign trail."
Bromwich: "[The next] witness, Phillip Thompson, works for a company that takes down transcripts and records video during civil proceedings, specifically depositions. He is relevant to this case -- as another custodial witness -- because his company was involved in a deposition of Trump that stemmed from one of E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits against him."
Haberman: "Prosecutors are now playing video, and having Thompson verify the corresponding transcript, of Trump describing when he married his wife Melania (it was 2005).... And now is the portion of the deposition in which Trump was asked by E. Jean Carroll's lawyer if he was familiar with the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape. Trump confirmed in the deposition that it was him speaking on that video."
[MB: Evidently the defense asked no questions of either Thompson or Browning.]
Bromwich: "Prosecutors call Keith Davidson, who was a lawyer to Stormy Daniels during the hush-money transaction, to the stand.... Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks Keith Davidson if he was given immunity from prosecution in this case. Davidson says, despite not having wanted to be here, that he did not seek immunity. This is a way for prosecutors to show that he is not simply cooperating to avoid prosecution himself."
Bromwich: "We just saw Davidson's contract with [Karen] McDougal. Remarkably, the arrangement consisted of an agreement to either make a claim against Trump, negotiate a confidentiality agreement with Trump, sell her life rights as related to her story of an affair with Trump, promote herself in an 'exclusive' press opportunity, or some or all of the above. What a menu of options."
Haberman: "Prosecutors are walking Keith Davidson through his text messages with Dylan Howard, who was editor of The National Enquirer, in which Davidson tells Howard: 'I have blockbuster Trump story.' In his reply, Howard asked, 'did he cheat' on Melania."
Bromwich: "These text messages are remarkable to see on screen as Trump sits at the defense table looking on. Jurors already understand, from last week, the basics of Karen McDougal's account of an affair with Trump. But now they are seeing it corroborated with incredibly damning texts, right after they were reminded Trump was married to Melania at the time. It's not clear how the jurors are reacting -- some are watching the speakers and others are looking at their notes or their screens. But this is another big moment."
Feuer: "... it's fascinating to watch how prosecutors are stitching their case together with lots of different types of evidence. This morning there's been live testimony from witnesses, videos of Trump campaign events, excerpts of a deposition he gave in a separate trial and text messages -- all woven together to advance the prosecution's story."
Christobek: "... Davidson sent a text to Dylan Howard where he said, 'Don't forget about Cohen. Time is of the essence. The girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia.' Davidson addresses this term in court, calling it an 'a very unfortunate regrettable text,' and adding that he thinks it was a term that Karen McDougal's associates used during the first meeting. He continued that several women were leaning on McDougal to sign a deal with ABC.... Pressed further by the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, he adds that he understood that getting McDougal a deal would help Trump's candidacy."
Feuer: "The gossip industrial complex that Keith Davidson is describing is remarkable -- and remarkably crass. He's out there leveraging his client's sexual liaisons for money and employment opportunities in a way that resembles a Mafia shakedown."
Haberman: "At the time these text exchanges were taking place, in July 2016, Trump was becoming the official Republican presidential nominee and beginning a long, hostile takeover of the party."
Haberman: After the lunch break, "Davidson tells a long story about dealing with Cohen for the first time in 2011. The interaction he says, was 'not pleasant or constructive, and I didn't particularly like dealing with him, and that's why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him.'"
Jesse McKinley: "Keith Davidson's testimony about the Karen McDougal deal backs up, in granular detail, David Pecker's testimony from last week: this was a deal to not publish a story, and that is what the $150,000 was paying for, despite the other perks McDougal was offered."
Bromwich: "... Michael Cohen has been insulted by three witnesses, and jurors are not getting a complimentary portrait of him. But Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, just leaned into the witness characterizations of Cohen: Davidson referred to a 'jerk' without using his name and Steinglass asked, with some humor in his tone, 'Who was that jerk?'"
Christobek: "Keith Davidson says that when he talked to Cohen, he was met with a 'hostile barrage' of 'insults,' 'insinuations' and 'allegations' and that went on for quite a while."
Bromwich: "Keith Davidson, speaking about the deal reached with Stormy Daniels, brings up another episode that has been raised multiple times and is key to the timeline here: The 'Access Hollywood' tape on which Trump described assaulting women. Davidson ... says they had 'tremendous influence' in raising interest in Daniels's story.... It wasn't until the tape came out, Davidson testifies, that 'interest reached a crescendo' in her story."
Christobek: "After the 'Access Hollywood' tape became public, Davidson texted Dylan Howard, the editor of The National Enquirer, that Trump's campaign was doomed, using an expletive. Howard responded: 'Wave the white flag. It's over people!'"
Haberman: "Davidson, asked what Cohen's interest in the Stormy Daniels story was, says, 'I believe that Michael Cohen was the personal attorney or general counsel for Donald Trump and that this story involved his client, that that was his interest in the story.'... Prosecutors are arguing in sum that the 'Access Hollywood' tape put immense pressure on the Trump campaign, which was floundering after the tape was released. Thus, they say, Michael Cohen was pressured to pay hush money for the Stormy Daniels story. Davidson is a perfect witness for them right now, as he is testifying that he conveyed that things were bad for Trump but -- if the Daniels story were public -- could get worse."
Haberman: "Davidson is now being asked about the settlement agreement with Daniels. A lot of evidence is mounting that cuts against the idea Trump would have been unaware of all this.... Emails and text messages are repeatedly being brought up as corroborating evidence. For decades, Trump didn't want his lawyers taking notes and didn't use email or text himself."
Jonathan Swan: "The prosecution brings up an email in which Keith Davidson told Michael Cohen that unless he paid the $130,000 by the end of the day -- he was already past deadline -- Stormy Daniels would consider the hush-money deal canceled. Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, makes a point of getting Davidson to confirm that he sent the email to Michael Cohen's Trump Organization email address -- another way of reinforcing for the jury that Cohen was acting as Trump's agent."
Haberman: "Joshua Steinglass gets Keith Davidson to recount how Michael Cohen told him 'my guy' was in several different states, on the campaign trail, and that Cohen could not make decisions in his absence. Davidson says it meant to him that 'Michael Cohen didn't have the authority to actually spend money.'"
Bromwich: "Steinglass has made a habit of getting witnesses to explain who these coded references are describing. In this case, 'my guy,' in another, 'the boss.' It's always Trump. But Steinglass emphasizing that point reinforces the notion that Trump is the hidden hand operating Cohen on the chessboard.... As we prepare to take a short afternoon break, Keith Davidson provides one last telling quote about Michael Cohen's finagling of the Stormy Daniels story: 'I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election,' Davidson says. This drives home, again, prosecutors' stated motivation for the hush-money payment: to silence Stormy and smooth Trump's road to the White House."
Bromwich: "Steinglass asks Davidson whether Cohen was clear at the outset of their negotiations who he was working for. Davidson responds that while he doesn't remember if Cohen ever stated it explicitly, 'it was part of his identity, and he let you know it, every opportunity he could, that he was working for Donald Trump.'"
Haberman: "Keith Davidson is now reading his texts with Dylan Howard aloud. One of them joked about hiring a Trump impersonator who had more money than Trump. Pressed on what that meant, Davidson, appearing deeply uncomfortable and choosing his words carefully, says he took it to mean that Trump was not as wealthy as he claimed."
Bromwich: "Keith Davidson says that he understood that the deal with Stormy Daniels may have been held up because of 'frugality.' 'Whose frugality?' Joshua Steinglass ... asked, prompting another objection and yet another sidebar."
Haberman: "While much of the language the defense objected to is gone from the record, the jury heard it nonetheless. Steinglass is trying to establish that Trump was the beneficiary of the contract and would likely be paying."
~~~~~~~~~~
Judd Legum of Popular Information: "On November 21, 2021, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The new law included the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provided up to $30 per month to individuals or families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty line to help pay for high-speed internet.... The program has particularly benefited 'rural communities, veterans, and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities.'... [Tuesday], the program will abruptly end. In October 2023, the White House sent a supplemental budget request to Congress, which included $6 billion to extend the program through the end of 2024. There is also a bipartisan bill, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would extend the program with $7 billion in funding. The benefits of the program have shown to be far greater than the costs. An academic study published in February 2024 found that 'for every dollar spent on the ACP, the nation's GDP increases by $3.89.' The program will lapse [Tuesday] because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring either the bill (or the supplemental funding request) to a vote. The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act has 225 co-sponsors which means that, if Johnson held a vote, it would pass." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's stunning the way Bible Mike won't help even the people who may support him. As Legum points out, fully one-third of Johnson's own constituents use the ACP to pay for Internet service. But, see, the winger Republican Study Committee opposes the ACP because it's a "government handout that disincentivize[s] prosperity." Right. Obviously, the Internet is a crucial vehicle for enhancing, not "disincentivizing," prosperity.
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A federal appellate court in Richmond became the first in the country to rule that state health-care plans must pay for gender-affirming surgeries, a major win for transgender rights amid a nationwide wave of anti-trans activism and legislation. The decision came from a set of cases out of North Carolina and West Virginia, where state officials argued that their policies were based on cost concerns rather than bias. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected that argument, saying the plans were discriminating against trans people in need of treatment. Judge Roger L. Gregory, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, wrote for the majority that the restrictions were 'obviously discriminatory' based on both sex and gender."
Eryn Davis, et al., of the New York Times: "Protesters at Columbia University marched across the campus and occupied a building after midnight early Tuesday, hours after the university moved to suspend students who had failed to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment. Dozens of students left the encampment about 12:35 a.m. and entered Hamilton Hall, a neoclassical building on the campus that is home to the Department of Classics and Columbia College.... On the West Coast, demonstrations were also heating up at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where students had occupied the president's office for a week and at Portland State University in Oregon, where a library was taken over by students." And more. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments at Columbia.
Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "Although [Todd] Blanche [-- the lead defense attorney in the Manhattan criminal trial --] has been [Donald] Trump's favorite lawyer for some time, behind closed doors and in phone calls, the former president has complained repeatedly about him in recent weeks, according to four people familiar with the situation. He has griped that Mr. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and veteran litigator, has not been following his instructions closely, and has been insufficiently aggressive. Mr. Trump wants him to attack witnesses, attack what the former president sees as a hostile jury pool, and attack the judge, Juan M. Merchan. Mr. Trump, who often complains about legal fees and sometimes refuses to pay them, has also wondered aloud why his lawyers cost so much....
"Mr. Trump views himself as own best legal strategist. Since becoming president, he has cast about for lawyers who would do exactly what he wanted, including helping him stay in office after he lost the 2020 election. He has vented to others that he does not have 'a Roy Cohn,' a reference to his notoriously ruthless former lawyer. Mr. Cohn, who represented Mr. Trump in his formative business years, was repeatedly indicted and ultimately disbarred." ~~~
~~~ BTW, today is another Trump Day in Court. Here's a link to last week's trial transcripts, including Friday's.
Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Far-right cable news network, One America News, published a full retraction on Monday of a March 27th article regarding former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The retraction came following Cohen retaining the same legal counsel used by Dominion Voting Systems who sued Fox News and secured a settlement of $787.5 million in damages. 'OAN today has retracted its March 27 article entitled "Whistleblower: Avenatti Alleged Cohen Daniels Affair Since 2006, Pre-2016 Trump Extortion Plan," and is taking it down from all sites and removing it from all social media. This retraction is part of a settlement reached with Michael Cohen. Mr. Avenatti has denied making the allegations. OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him,' read the opening paragraph of the retraction posted to OAN's website. The settlement with Cohen, procured by Justin Nelson, did not include any money paid to Cohen.... 'The article, quoting a source, falsely claimed that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels "were having an affair since 2006" and that, according to a source, the whole hush money scheme was cooked up by [Mr. Cohen] to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election. These statements were false. OAN regrets their publication,' added the retraction." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In Right Wing World, "journalism" = "making up stuff." In case you're feeling all sorry for Michael Cohen for being the object of a hit job, I remind you that we learned via David Pecker's testimony last week that making up negative stories about Donald Trump's rivals was what Michael Cohen did for a living in 2015 and 2016.
Presidential Race
~~~ ** Philip Bump of the Washington Post helps explain why Bill Barr (and other Republicans) prefer Dictatorial Don to Joe Biden (or any Democrat): "Barr likes and agrees with Trump's efforts to undermine democracy -- and, in fact, was standing alongside him for most of those efforts. He dislikes what Biden is doing in part because he has gobbled up nonsensical claims about what Biden is doing and in part because he just thinks it's what the left does. The left 'has always' been the threat to democracy, he said; ergo, it is currently the threat to democracy. Before Barr was the guy noting correctly that Trump's claims about the 2020 election were false, he was the guy defending and extending Trump's line-crossing approach to the presidency." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Joe Sommerlad of the Independent: "Bill Barr has claimed Donald Trump often suggested executing his political rivals during heated moments of his four-year tenure in the White House. Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin told The View back in December that Mr Trump once called for a staff member to be put to death for leaking a story about the then-president going down to a bunker during Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020. Former Trump administration attorney general Mr Barr was asked about the claims during an interview on CNN last week.... [He said,] 'I actually don't remember him saying "executing" but I wouldn't dispute it, you know... The president would lose his temper and say things like that. I doubt he would've actually carried it out.... He would say things similar to that on occasions to blow off steam. But I wouldn't take them literally every time he did it.'..." MB: But this killing stuff is okay because Joe Biden is a socialist.
Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused MSNBC's Katy Tur of being an 'apologist' for former President Trump on Monday. During an appearance on the network, Pelosi touted President Biden's record on the economy, saying, he 'created 9 million jobs in his term in office. Donald Trump has the worst record of job loss of any president. So we just have to make sure people know.' Tur briefly interjected, telling Pelosi 'there was a global pandemic' during Trump's presidency. Pelosi paused, looking shocked, before shooting back at Tur that 'he had the worst record of any president.... If you want to be an apologist for Donald Trump, that may be your role, but it ain't mine,' she added. Tur pressed back, saying, 'I don't think anyone can accuse me of that.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: I've been watching Tur since she covered Trump during the 2015-16 campaign. Despite the fact that he has harassed her, sexually and otherwise, there is something oddly pro-Trump about her remarks about him -- something off. Even though she is the daughter of journalists and has been in the news business for 15 years, she seems naive about politics and detached from political realities. I suppose its a "both-sides" effort, but Tur's observations sometimes come off as weirdly inappropriate. ~~~
Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in the New York Times, April 30, 2020: "U.S. gross domestic product ... fell at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That is the first decline since 2014, and the worst quarterly contraction since 2008, when the country was in a deep recession. There is much worse to come.... Economists expect figures from the current quarter, which will capture the shutdown's impact more fully, to show that G.D.P. contracted at an annual rate of 30 percent or more, a scale not seen since the Great Depression. 'They're going to be the worst in our lifetime," Dan North, chief economist for ... Euler Hermes North America, said of the second-quarter figures. 'They're going to be the worst in the post-World War II era.'"
Sarah Fitzpatrick of NBC News: "Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News 'imminently,' according to a letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News. The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on notice for litigation claims arising from the network's alleged 'conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.' Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox litigation efforts.... An earlier letter was hand-delivered to Fox's counsel two weeks ago, and the network asked for more time to respond.... The network has not yet responded to the letter sent April 23, which included a Friday evening, April 26, deadline to respond, according to Geragos." (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Meet the Trump Gang. Not sure if this will stay up because Sen. Tammy Baldwin, not MSNBC, posted it, but while it's here, I invite you to Rachel Maddow's "Meet the 2024 GOP Candidates" evening at home: ~~~
Arizona, et al. ~~~
Texas. Sneha Dey of the Texas Tribune: "Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Education Agency on Monday to ignore a Biden administration rule that expanded federal sex discrimination protections to include LGBTQ+ students. The Biden administration recently revised the rules for Title IX, the sweeping civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at federally funded colleges and K-12 schools. The new rules, which are set to go into effect in August, redefined sex discrimination and sex-based harassment to prevent misconduct based on sex stereotypes, pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation. It codifies initial guidance documents that prompted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the Biden administration last year. Abbott's order came the same day Paxton announced he had sued the Biden administration Monday to block the Title IX changes. Texas joins a growing number of Republican-led states that have berated the new rules, setting the stage for a legal fight over LGBTQ+ student protections."
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his tour of the Middle East on Tuesday, heading to Jordan and Israel with a focus on getting more humanitarian aid to civilians in the embattled Gaza Strip. The visit, his seventh to the region since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, comes amid fresh optimism that negotiations could lead to a cease-fire.... British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Monday that there is a potential deal for a 'sustained' 40-day Gaza cease-fire. Blinken called the proposal 'extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel.' A former Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks said the initial truce would involve the release of 33 hostages. Israel had originally demanded the release of 40. Members of Congress are warning of a backlash if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for senior Israeli political figures, as foreshadowed by Israeli media but not confirmed by the global court. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on social media that the ICC 'should stand down on this immediately" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates Tuesday are here.
Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "The US State Department has determined that five Israeli security units committed gross violations of human rights prior to the outbreak of the war with Hamas in Gaza, but is still deciding whether to restrict military assistance to one of the units under US law. The other four 'have effectively remediated these violations,' State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday, without detailing those remediation actions. The US is still deciding whether to restrict the military assistance to the remaining unit -- reported to be the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion. That battalion was implicated in the January 2022 death of an elderly Palestinian American man."
Scotland. Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Scotland's first minister, Humza Yousaf, resigned on Monday in a fresh setback for his Scottish National Party, which has been engulfed in a slow-burning crisis over a funding scandal that erupted after a popular leader, Nicola Sturgeon, stepped down last year. Mr. Yousaf's departure had looked increasingly inevitable after he gambled last week by ending a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Green Party." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Eight law officers were shot on Monday, four fatally, as a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force tried to serve a warrant in Charlotte, N.C., the police said, in one of the deadliest days for law enforcement in recent years. Around 1:30 p.m., members of the task force went to serve a warrant on a person for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Johnny Jennings, the chief of police of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, said at a news conference Monday evening. When they approached the residence, the suspect, later identified as Terry Clark Hughes Jr., fired at them, the police said. The officers returned fire and struck Mr. Hughes, 39. He was later pronounced dead in the front yard of the residence. As the police approached the shooter, Chief Jennings told reporters, the officers were met with more gunfire from inside the home."
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Hey kids, next time you’re out grocery shopping, check out Tyson Foods’ latest offering in the frozen food aisle: Chicken chunks with cyanide sauce!
Yum!
Well, maybe not all the cyanide gets into the food, but it sure gets dumped into rivers, lakes, streams, and groundwater. Along with phosphorus, nitrogen, and whole periodic table worth of toxic pollutants. Mendeleev would have flipped.
“Researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists estimate that from 2018 to 2022, Tyson Foods produced 87 billion gallons of wastewater at 41 plants.” That’s billion…with a B. And that’s just Tyson. There are thousands…over 5,000, meat processing plants in the US all doing the same. And—fun fact—few of them are required to report it, or to abide by EPA standards that are decades out of date. How cool is that?
“The findings come as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must decide between robust new regulations that experts say would better protect waterways, critical habitat and downstream communities from polluting plants – or opt for weaker standards preferred by the powerful meat-processing industry...A 2017 lawsuit by environmental groups has forced the EPA to update its two-decade-old pollution standards for slaughterhouses and animal rendering facilities, and the new rule is expected by September 2025. The agency has said that it is leaning towards the weakest option on the table, which critics say will enable huge amounts of nitrates, phosphorus and other contaminants to keep pouring into waterways…
‘The current rule is out of date, inadequate and catastrophic for American waterways, and highlights the way American lawmaking is subject to industry capture,’ said Dani Replogle, an attorney at Food and Water Watch. ‘The nutrient problem in the US is at catastrophic levels … it would be such a shame if the EPA caves in to industry influence.’”
So yeah, the meat guys will be slipping millions to their “Capitalism is Great!” pals in Congress to make sure they can still pour billions of gallons of polluted wastewater into the environment. (Just a question…if Tyson is spewing stuff like nitrogen, phosphorus, and cyanide into rivers and streams, they must be using those chemicals in the production of their food. Are we sure there isn’t cyanide sauce in their frozen chicken chunks?)
Oh, yeah. It gets even better. Say the EPA grows a pair and tells these guys to knock this shit off. What do they do next? If you’re Tyson or Swanson, or Mrs. Paul’s, you run to your sugar daddies (and mommy) on the Supreme Court. The traitor (traitors in SO MANY ways) Supremes have already told the EPA (part of the evil administrative state, right?) that unless some line in a law passed by Congress says they’re allowed to regulate specific chemicals being poured into air and water, you’re not allowed to do a goddam thing about it.
So when Tyson runs to Alito and Gorsuch about any new regs, they’ll tell the EPA “Well, we don’t see anywhere here that says you can regulate Phosphorus X-97 or Cyanide A-32V, so see ya later.
Enjoy those cyanide chicken chunks, kids.
If you’re a registered Democrat in places like Wisconsin and Georgia, Trump and his GQP jackboots are coming for you.
“The Republican National Committee and Trump campaign plan to deploy tens of thousands of volunteers and attorneys to monitor and challenge voting processes in battleground states, including Wisconsin — an effort rooted in the former president's false election claims, characterized as safeguarding from ‘Democrat tricks from 2020.’”
They’ll be teaching thousands of Party of Traitors goons in Wisconsin, and other battleground states how to “monitor” (ie, harass and intimidate) Democratic voters and election officials.
And how’s this for projection?
“‘The Democrat tricks from 2020 won’t work this time. In 2024 we’re going to beat the Democrats at their own game and the RNC legal team will be working tirelessly to ensure that elections officials follow the rules in administering elections. We will aggressively take them to court if they don’t follow rules or try to change them at the last minute,’ Charlie Spies, RNC chief counsel, said in a statement.”
The so-called “Democrat(sic) tricks” are things like, oh, I dunno, a free and fair election. In fact, it’s almost universally true that there’s only one party that doesn’t follow the rules and pulls shit like changing them at the last minute, and it ain’t the Democrats.
In places like Georgia, MAGA apparatchiks have instituted sweeping last minute changes to election laws designed to allow PoT-Trump schemers to step in and take control in Democratic strongholds like Fulton County. Talk about dirty tricks.
“Much of the work administering elections in Georgia is handled by the state’s 159 counties. The law gives the State Election Board new powers to intervene in county election offices and to remove and replace local election officials. That has led to concerns that the Republican-controlled state board could exert more influence over the administration of elections, including the certification of county results.
One target for intervention could be Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that contains most of Atlanta. The heavily populated county has been plagued by problems, including long lines, and it is often singled out by Republican officials. Under the law, the board could intervene in up to four counties at a time and install a temporary superintendent with the ability to hire and fire personnel including elections directors and poll officers.”
Dirty tricks will be the name of the game this time around (like it wasn’t before). Fatty was out of luck trying to steal the last election. This time, he’s making sure everything that can be rigged in his favor is up and running long before the polls open.
@Ak: Someone should tell the Donald that cyanide prevents covid
and alzheimers, etc.
Here Donald, it's your new cyanide diet Coke. Drink up.
Of course it works, because if you're dead you won't be catching
covid or any of those bad things.
Biden's economy
Fatty is having a conniption (one of many) over the idea that RFK, Jr. could take votes away from his royal lowness. Numbers suggest otherwise. Any way you look at it, the narcissistic candidacy of this twisted twit is a fucking disaster.
Forrest,
I’d rather stick needles in my eye than contribute a penny flattened by a railroad car to the Orange Monster, but if you can find a distributor of Cyanide Diet Coke, put me down for two cases. One should be enough to do the trick, but you can never be sure with monsters. Just when you think it’s dead…”Grrrr!” It’s back.
Okay, make that three cases.
Forrest,
Your “Drink up, Donald” remark reminded me of this scene from the movie “Hell or High Water”. It’s short. Watch to the end.
Look…all those faces scrunched up in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot incredulity. Some winger must be trying to use history to support some baldfaced lie or bullshit contention.
And look over there, Clio, ancient goddess of history, is pulling her hair out listening to the latest attempt at redrawing the past to suit Republican mendacity. Interesting that Clio was also a patron of lyre playing, only now she’s the one being played by liars.
So what’s the latest rumpus on the history front?
How about Fatty as Julius Caesar? Yup. I kid you not:
“The very problem that we have here is we are weaponizing the justice system to go after former presidents. You back up 2,000 years and this is the kind of thing they would do in the Roman Republic that led to the end of the Roman Republic… Caesar is out there and says if you do not come back to Rome… and face prosecution, what did he do? He crossed the Rubicon and there’s the end of the Republic.”
This is a Republican operative and full time knucklehead Fox regular, Ian Prior, who made this astounding statement on one of those Fox shows with names like “Victim R Us” or “Patriots 4 Dictators”.
Whew. So much stupid in one paragraph. But first, let’s clear up this comparison thing. Trump and Caesar do have a few things in common. Both were traitors. Yup. Crossing the Rubicon with an armed legion was treason, and Caesar knew it. Caesar had himself named dictator. Fatty lives for this. Both used violence for political ends. In 59 BC, Caesar’s agrarian reforms were being stymied by his opponents, notably Marcus Bibulus, his co-consul. Caesar’s thugs physically attacked Bibulus and another Tribune. Bibulus was beaten and had a barrel of horse shit dumped on him. Trump’s thugs smeared feces on the walls of the Capitol. What is it with authoritarian mobs and poop?
But that’s it for comparisons. Caesar was no Cadet Bone Spurs, no coward like Trump when it came to battle. He could often be found in the vanguard of troops in combat. Trump’s closest connection to personal danger is a television screen.
As for “Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the Republic ended…”
No. Not even close. There were five years between the Rubicon crossing and Caesar’s assassination. Technically, the Republic went on for some time until his successor, Augustus, declared himself a god and Rome an empire. And, fun fact, the Fox idiot makes it sound like poor Caesar was a victim of evil—I dunno—commies? Maybe Iosephus Bidenus? who then stabbed not only Caesar but the Republic.
Nope. Sorry. In fact, more than any other single Roman, Caesar himself was responsible for the demise of the Republic. But let’s not let actual history get in the way of a good lie to make the Fat Fascist out to be a great historical figure brought low by the forces of weaponized Justice, and with that, the end of You Ess Ay!
History, for the right, is more hysteria than actual history. Just ask Clio. When she recovers from that bender she’s been on.
Look…all those faces scrunched up in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot incredulity. Some winger must be trying to use history to support some baldfaced lie or bullshit contention.
And look over there, Clio, ancient goddess of history, is pulling her hair out listening to the latest attempt at redrawing the past to suit Republican mendacity. Interesting that Clio was also a patron of lyre playing, only now she’s the one being played by liars.
So what’s the latest rumpus on the history front?
How about Fatty as Julius Caesar? Yup. I kid you not:
“The very problem that we have here is we are weaponizing the justice system to go after former presidents. You back up 2,000 years and this is the kind of thing they would do in the Roman Republic that led to the end of the Roman Republic… Caesar is out there and says if you do not come back to Rome… and face prosecution, what did he do? He crossed the Rubicon and there’s the end of the Republic.”
This is a Republican operative and full time knucklehead Fox regular, Ian Prior, who made this astounding statement on one of those Fox shows with names like “Victim R Us” or “Patriots 4 Dictators”.
Whew. So much stupid in one paragraph. But first, let’s clear up this comparison thing. Trump and Caesar do have a few things in common. Both were traitors. Yup. Crossing the Rubicon with an armed legion was treason, and Caesar knew it. Caesar had himself named dictator. Fatty lives for this. Both used violence for political ends. In 59 BC, Caesar’s agrarian reforms were being stymied by his opponents, notably Marcus Bibulus, his co-consul. Caesar’s thugs physically attacked Bibulus and another Tribune. Bibulus was beaten and had a barrel of horse shit dumped on him. Trump’s thugs smeared feces on the walls of the Capitol. What is it with authoritarian mobs and poop?
But that’s it for comparisons. Caesar was no Cadet Bone Spurs, no coward like Trump when it came to battle. He could often be found in the vanguard of troops in combat. Trump’s closest connection to personal danger is a television screen.
As for “Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the Republic ended…”
No. Not even close. There were five years between the Rubicon crossing and Caesar’s assassination. Technically, the Republic went on for some time until his successor, Augustus, declared himself a god and Rome an empire. And, fun fact, the Fox idiot makes it sound like poor Caesar was a victim of evil—I dunno—commies? Maybe Iosephus Bidenus? who then stabbed not only Caesar but the Republic.
Nope. Sorry. In fact, more than any other single Roman, Caesar himself was responsible for the demise of the Republic. But let’s not let actual history get in the way of a good lie to make the Fat Fascist out to be a great historical figure brought low by the forces of weaponized Justice, and with that, the end of You Ess Ay!
History, for the right, is more hysteria than actual history. Just ask Clio. When she recovers from that bender she’s been on.
@Akhilleus: I can't figure out from your excerpt what the Caesar-Trump comparison has to do with weaponizing the justice system, but I probably couldn't figure it out if Prior himself tried his damnedest to explain the analogy in a way that made Trump look good.
It seems to me what Prior has showed in his little King Julius-King Donald comparison is that breaking the law by staging a violent coup (crossing the Rubicon-storming the Capitol) will ultimately destroy a republic.
Marie,
I think…can’t be sure, though, that his point was “See? Meanies made Caesar return to Rome to be prosecuted, then everything went to shit.” Just like they’re trying to do to poor King Donald, and now the country will collapse.
In fact, the real comparison is that Caesar thought he was above the law, made himself dictator, was supported by authoritarian loving mobs and THAT’s why the Republic fell. Idiots who try to interpret history to suit their schemes tend not to understand how stupid it makes them look.
This isn’t very far off from Putin declaring that Poland started WWII cuz they didn’t agree to let Hitler take over the country. He had no choice but to invade. (Just like Putin going into Ukraine). The funny thing is, however, if you buy this theory it makes Putin look like Hitler. Hasn’t he been claiming he had to invade Ukraine to get rid of Nazis? So which is it? He’s going after Nazis, or he’s Hitler?
Think I posted here some time ago a piece I wrote about Gresham's Law applied to information...that the bad can drive out the good.
Here's a new one:
https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
Seems that too much money can also drive out sense.