January 3, 2023

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the upcoming vote for House speaker. It is not looking good for My Kevin & for Republican House members in general. The liveblog includes a livefeed of the House floor. Also, a photo of Kevin's stuff, boxed up & left out in the hall. CNN's liveblog is here. The Washington Post's liveblog is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The clerk is only on the letter "C" in the rollcall, & McCarthy already has lost six votes, two more than he could have lost to gain the speakership. ~~~

     ~~~ Catie Edmondson: "The failed vote on Tuesday showed publicly for the first time the extent of the opposition Mr. McCarthy is facing in his quest for the speaker's gavel. Nineteen Republicans voted against Mr. McCarthy, instead throwing their support behind other conservative lawmakers."

     ~~~ The clerk reported Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) received 212 votes, Kevin McCarthy received 203 votes.

     ~~~ Elaine Cochrane: Second Ballot: "All 434 lawmakers have now had their votes recorded. The tally remains the same for Kevin McCarthy: 19 members of his party against him, and Democrats united for Hakeem Jeffries. It appears we are in the exact same scenario as the first ballot, just with the anti-McCarthy votes consolidating for Jim Jordan, who himself is supporting McCarthy." Democrats gave Jeffries a standing O. ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Fandos: "House Democrats formally elevated Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York to be their leader on Tuesday, uniting around a liberal lawyer and disciplined political tactician as the face of their opposition to the new Republican majority." ~~~

     ~~~ In the third roll call that failed to produce a speaker, Jeffries got 212 votes, My Kevin got 202, & Jungle Gym Jordan 20. The House has adjourned for the day & will reconvene at noon tomorrow when who knows what-all they will do. Without a speaker, the House cannot legislate. As for me, I'm waiting for Der Trumpenmeister to ride in on a white golf cart & offer to be speaker.

Stanley Reed of the New York Times: "European natural gas prices, which soared last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have now fallen well below their levels before the start of the war, reflecting the continent's success rounding up alternatives to Russian gas, widespread conservation efforts and a relatively mild winter. But the news comes as Europe's economy is slowing -- half of the European Union is expected to be in recession next year, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said Sunday -- and the slumping gas price also signals diminished demand for energy."

Democrats Can Be Cruel & Stupid, Too. Joe Anuta of Politico: "Colorado Gov. Jared Polis [D] plans to send migrants to major cities including New York, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday, warning that the nation's largest city is already struggling to deal an influx of people sent from Texas and other Republican-led states. The impending move by Polis is unusual because Colorado is not a border state and both leaders are Democrats facing severe challenges over what they say is a national crisis around immigration.... Polis' office did not immediately respond."

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The Woes of Kevin, Ctd. Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and his allies have spent the holiday weekend working the phones and meeting with members, trying to salvage his career goal of becoming speaker on Tuesday as Republicans continue to argue over whether he deserves the top spot. While an overwhelming majority of Republicans want to elect McCarthy (Calif.) as speaker, roughly 15 have put the outcome in serious doubt. McCarthy can afford to lose only four Republicans in Tuesday's floor vote, and the razor-thin margin has emboldened staunch conservatives within the House Freedom Caucus, who have made specific demands in exchange for their votes. If McCarthy fails to win the gavel on the first ballot Tuesday, it would be a historic loss: No leader vying for speaker has lost a first-round vote in a century." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to on-air reports, Kevin already has moved some of his stuff into the plush speaker's office. So it may be kind of fun to see him carrying a cardboard box full of plaques, framed photos & a gavel out of the office & down the hall. Of course the alternative to McCarthy, possibly Steve Scalise -- the self-described "David Duke without the baggage" -- will not be an improvement over Kevin. I would say "David Duke without the hood," but I'm not 100 percent sure Scalise doesn't keep a neatly ironed & folded hood in his briefcase for unexpected special occasions. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story on the Woes of Kevin, by Catie Edmondson, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "Brazilian law enforcement authorities intend to revive fraud charges against [George] Santos, and will seek his formal response, prosecutors said on Monday. The matter, which stemmed from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook, had been suspended for the better part of a decade because the police were unable to locate him. A spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor's office said that with Mr. Santos's whereabouts identified, a formal request will be made to the U.S. Justice Department to notify him of the charges, a necessary step after which the case will proceed with or without him.... Just a month before his 20th birthday, Mr. Santos entered a small clothing store in the Brazilian city of Niterói outside Rio de Janeiro. He spent nearly $700 using a stolen checkbook and a false name, court records show." MB: Yeah, see, I told you he lied about even his name. Multiple times, evidently.

The House January 6 Select Committee released more transcripts Monday. Links to those transcripts are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee has unloaded a vast database of its underlying evidence -- emails between Trump attorneys, text messages among horrified White House aides and outside advisers, internal communications among security and intelligence officials -- all coming to grips with Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to subvert the 2020 election and its disastrous consequences. The panel posted thousands of pages of evidence late Sunday in a public database that provide the clearest glimpse yet at the well-coordinated effort by some Trump allies to help Trump seize a second term he didn't win. Much of the evidence has never been seen before and, in some cases, adds extraordinary new elements to the case the select committee presented in public -- from voluminous phone records to contemporaneous text messages and emails.... Here's a look at some of the most extraordinary and important evidence in the select committee's files." ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "... the House Jan. 6 committee ... released a whirlwind of documents in its final days and wrapped up its work on Monday. Since Friday night, the panel has released several troves of evidence, including about 120 previously unseen transcripts along with emails and text messages obtained during its 18-month inquiry, totaling tens of thousands of pages.... The panel said it has now turned over an 'enormous volume of material to the Justice Department as Jack Smith, the special counsel, conducts a parallel investigation into the events of Jan. 6.... Here are some takeaways from the recently released evidence:...

"Several Trump advisers made clear that Mr. Trump had intended for days to join a crowd of his supporters marching on the Capitol. 'POTUS expectations are to have something intimate at the ellipse, and call on everyone to march to the capitol,' Katrina Pierson, a Trump spokeswoman, wrote in a Jan. 2, 2021, email. Kayleigh McEnany, Mr. Trump's press secretary, also wrote in a note on Jan. 6 that Mr. Trump had wanted to walk alongside the crowd as it descended on the Congress: 'POTUS wanted to walk to capital. Physically walk. He said fine ride beast.'... Anthony Ornato, a former deputy chief of staff at the White House who had also been the special agent in charge of Mr. Trump's Secret Service detail..., said he did not remember significant moments that multiple witnesses recounted to the panel. 'I don't recall any conversation taking place about the possible movement of the president to the Capitol,' Mr. Ornato testified....

Mr. Trump personally involved himself in the false elector scheme, according to Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. Ms. McDaniel recounted a call after the election in which Mr. Trump introduced her to John Eastman, the lawyer who wrote a now-infamous memo that laid out a path for the former president to remain in power. Mr. Eastman, she said, then spoke about how he believed it was important for the committee to help the Trump campaign 'gather these contingent electors,' she said."

     ~~~ Marie: A-googling I did go, in search of said database. I had no luck yesterday, but I think this must be the place. At any rate, there are links here to pdf files of a boatload of raw documents, including the committee report itself. The page is titled, "Select January 6th Committee Final Report and Supporting Materials Collection."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The culture war is no longer just posturing by politicians mainly interested in cutting taxes on the rich; many elected Republicans are now genuine fanatics.... One can almost feel nostalgic for the good old days of greed and cynicism. Oddly, the culture war turned real at a time when Americans are more socially liberal than ever.... I don't understand ... how the U.S. government is going to function. President Barack Obama faced an extremist, radicalized G.O.P. House, but even the Tea Partiers had concrete policy demands that could, to some extent, be appeased. How do you deal with people who believe, more or less, that the 2020 election was stolen by a vast conspiracy of pedophiles?" MB: Maybe take them in small groups on field trips to Comet Ping Pong Pizza.

Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In states with permissive gun laws, the police and prosecutors have limited tools at their disposal when a heavily armed individual's mere presence in a public space sows fear or even panic. The question of how to handle such situations has been raised most often in recent years in the context of political protests, where the open display of weapons has led to concerns about intimidation, the squelching of free speech or worse. But it may become a more frequent subject of debate in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court decision in June, which expanded Americans' right to arm themselves in public while limiting states' ability to set their own regulations." For instance,

"Two days after a gunman killed 10 people at a Colorado grocery store, leaving many Americans on high alert, Rico Marley was arrested as he emerged from the bathroom at a Publix supermarket in Atlanta. He was wearing body armor and carrying six loaded weapons -- four handguns in his jacket pockets, and in a guitar bag, a semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.... His lawyer, Charles Brant, noted that he had not made any threats or fired any shots, and had legally purchased his guns. Mr. Marley did not violate Georgia law, Mr. Brant said; he was 'just being a person, doing what he had the right to do.'"

Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Under pressure amid a boycott by top law schools, U.S. News & World Report told law school deans on Monday that it will make several changes in the next edition of its influential ratings. In a letter to American law school deans published on its site, U.S. News said its next list would give more credit to schools whose graduates go on to pursue advanced degrees, or school-funded fellowships to work in public-service jobs that pay lower wages. The magazine, which has been publishing the ratings for decades, is responding to criticism that its rankings overvalue high-paying private-sector jobs. The 2023-24 rankings, scheduled to be published this spring, will also rely less on surveys of schools' reputations submitted by academics, lawyers and judges, the magazine said."

Beyond the Beltway

New York/Maine. An Improbably Islamic Terrorist. Andy Newman & Mihir Zaveri of the New York Times: "The man charged with attacking three police officers with a machete near Times Square on New Year's Eve had traveled to New York from his home in Maine to injure the police in an act of Islamic extremism, a senior law enforcement official said on Monday.... Sometime on Saturday before the attack, the official said, Mr. Bickford wrote a farewell letter to his family in a diary that was found on him afterward. In it, he wrote to his mother, 'I fear greatly you will not repent to Allah and therefore I hold hope in my heart that a piece of you believes so that you may be taken out of the hellfire.' Mr. Bickford also referred in his diary to his brother, who is in the U.S. military, as having assumed the uniform of the enemy, the law enforcement official said."

Virginia. Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "Over the past three years, as the former capital of the Confederacy [Richmond] has taken down more than a dozen monuments to the Lost Cause, [Devon] Henry -- who is Black -- has overseen all the work. He didn't seek the job. He had never paid much attention to Civil War history. City and state officials said they turned to Team Henry Enterprises after a long list of bigger contractors -- all White-owned -- said they wanted no part of taking down Confederate statues.... He has endured death threats, seen employees walk away and been told by others in the industry that his future is ruined." Read on.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing is here: "More than 80 Iranian-made drones have been shot down in Ukraine so far in 2023, [President] Zelensky said in his nightly address Monday. Ukraine and the West have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia for use in the war. Tehran has denied those claims.... The governor of Kherson said Russian forces attacked the region dozens of times on Monday with artillery, multiple rocket launchers, mortars and tanks."

Matthew Bigg, et al., of the New York Times: "In one of their deadliest attacks yet on Russian forces, Ukrainians used American-made rockets to kill dozens -- and perhaps hundreds -- of Moscow's troops in a New Year's Day strike behind the lines, prompting outraged Russian war hawks to accuse their military of lethal incompetence. The strike by the HIMARS rockets killed 63 Russian soldiers in a building housing them in the occupied city of Makiivka, in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday -- an unusual admission for a military that has often refused to acknowledge serious losses. A former Russian paramilitary commander in Ukraine, Igor Girkin, wrote on the Telegram app that 'many hundreds' were dead and wounded and that many 'remained under the rubble.' Ukrainian military officials said it appeared that 'about 400' Russian troops had been killed, though they did not explicitly say that Kyiv was behind the attack. None of the claims could be independently verified, but even the lowest number would represent one of the worst Russian losses in a single episode in the war, and an embarrassment for President Vladimir V. Putin." The AP's report is here.

Brazil. Andrew Downie of the Guardian: "Thousands of mourners braved punishing heat to pay their final tribute to footballing legend Pelé on Monday as the president of Fifa said he would ask every member country to name a stadium after the recently deceased Brazilian player. Fans lined up outside the 106-year-old Vila Belmiro ground in Santos -- the city in south-eastern Brazil where Pelé first made his name as a star goal scorer in the 1950s -- overnight and at about 10am mourners began filing past the coffin that had been placed under a shaded tent in the middle of the field."

Vatican. Angela Giuffrida of the Guardian: "Thousands of Catholics have begun queueing at the Vatican to pay their respects to the former pope Benedict XVI, with some hoping he would be canonised as a saint. Benedict died on Saturday, aged 95, and his body was transferred from a Vatican monastery to St Peter's Basilica on Monday at 7am, where it will lie in state for three days before his funeral on Thursday."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "The criminology graduate student accused of killing four college students in Idaho told a judge Tuesday that he will voluntarily go to that state for court proceedings, probably shortening the time before officials will make public more details in their case. Flanked by Pennsylvania law enforcement officers, handcuffed and wearing a red jumpsuit as he was guided into the courtroom, Bryan Kohberger appeared before news cameras for the first time since his arrest at his parents' home in northeastern Pennsylvania. Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington asked Kohberger whether he agreed to be taken to Idaho, where authorities are expected to make their case against him public once he appears in Idaho court. The 28-year-old confirmed as much and signed a waiver. The judge said he could be surrendered to Idaho authorities within 10 calendar days."

New York Times: "Frank R. James, who is charged with shooting 10 people last April in one of the worst attacks in recent years on the New York subway, is expected to plead guilty to terrorism on Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn, according to court records. Mr. James, 63, had initially entered a not guilty plea, but his court-appointed lawyers from the Federal Defenders of New York said last month that he would plead guilty to an 11-count indictment that charged him with 10 counts of terrorist attack -- one for each of the 10 people struck in the subway shooting -- as well as with a firearms charge."

New York Times: "Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety in his second season with the Buffalo Bills, was in critical condition in a hospital after suffering cardiac arrest during a Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills said. Team officials said in a statement early Tuesday that Hamlin's heart stopped after he was hit during a play in the first quarter. His heartbeat was restored by medical personnel on the field before Hamlin was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the Bills said, adding that Hamlin was undergoing 'further testing and treatment' and had been sedated." The AP's report is here.

January 2, 2023

Late Morning Update:

The House January 6 Select Committee released more transcripts Monday. Links to those transcripts are here. ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee has unloaded a vast database of its underlying evidence -- emails between Trump attorneys, text messages among horrified White House aides and outside advisers, internal communications among security and intelligence officials -- all coming to grips with Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to subvert the 2020 election and its disastrous consequences. The panel posted thousands of pages of evidence late Sunday in a public database that provide the clearest glimpse yet at the well-coordinated effort by some Trump allies to help Trump seize a second term he didn't win. Much of the evidence has never been seen before and, in some cases, adds extraordinary new elements to the case the select committee presented in public -- from voluminous phone records to contemporaneous text messages and emails.... Here's a look at some of the most extraordinary and important evidence in the select committee's files." MB: I'll be darned if I can find the database. The committee & the Googles are letting me down. Update: I'd say this is it.

The New York Times story on the Woes of Kevin, by Catie Edmondson, is here.

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Enjoy your day. Unless you care about the Woes of Kevin, there is no news in the land.

Melanie Zanona & Lauren Fox of CNN: "House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy outlined some of the concessions that he has agreed to in his campaign for speaker on a Sunday evening conference call -- including making it easier to topple the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources on the call. But McCarthy could not say whether he would have the votes for the speakership, even after giving in to some of the right's most hardline demands. Later Sunday evening, House Republicans unveiled their rules package for the 118th Congress, which formalizes some of the concessions that McCarthy has agreed to. The House adopts its rules package only after it selects a speaker, which McCarthy has not locked down, so there could be additional compromises made in the coming days."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. AP: "A Republican arrested after winning> his race for a seat in the Georgia House has decided to step aside instead of facing a possible suspension as soon as he was sworn into office later this month[.] The decision by Danny Rampey means a special election will be held on Jan. 31 to choose the new representative for the House seat based around Winder, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Rampey, 67, was arrested last month after investigators said he stole prescription narcotics at the retirement complex he manages."

Brazil. Jack Nicas & André Spigariol of the New York Times: "President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took the reins of the Brazilian government on Sunday in an elaborate inauguration, complete with a motorcade, music festival and hundreds of thousands of supporters filling the central esplanade of Brasília, the nation's capital. But ... the departing far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro..., [was missing. He] was supposed to pass Mr. Lula the presidential sash on Sunday, an important symbol of the peaceful transition of power in a nation where many people still recall the 21-year military dictatorship that ended in 1985.... Mr. Bolsonaro flew to Orlando on Friday night and plans to stay in Florida for at least a month.... In a sort of farewell address on Friday, breaking weeks of near silence, he said that he tried to block Mr. Lula from taking office but failed.... In an address to Congress on Sunday, Mr. Lula said that he would fight hunger and deforestation, lift the economy and try to unite the country. But he also took aim at his predecessor, saying that Mr. Bolsonaro had threatened Brazil's democracy."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Key infrastructure facilities in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, were targeted by drones overnight, officials said. The assaults were part of the latest wave of attacks throughout the country over New Year's weekend that left at least four civilians dead.... Ukrainian forces shot down 45 drones on Sunday, [President Volodymyr] Zelensky said in his first nightly address of the new year.... Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin both discussed the war in their New Year's addresses, with Zelensky promising victory in 2023 and Putin giving an aggressive and nationalistic speech."

News Ledes

New York Times: "After days of pounding rain, winds and snow, Californians woke up to sunny skies and waterlogged streets on New Year's Day, scrambling to recover during a brief intermission before the next rainstorms that are forecast to hit the region later this week. Northern California bore the brunt of an intense 'atmospheric river' system that brought floods and landslides to parts of the West Coast on Saturday. On Sunday, rescuers were still plucking trapped passengers from submerged vehicles, while bloated rivers and creeks spilled over banks. Streets in downtown San Francisco were still draining after the city nearly broke its record for the most rainfall on a single day. The National Weather Service's downtown site recorded 5.46 inches on New Year's Eve, 0.08 inch shy of the 1994 record in more than 170 years of record keeping there -- and 46.8 percent of the monthly rainfall."

New York Times: "Anita Pointer, the sweet and occasionally sultry lead vocalist on many hits of her family band the Pointer Sisters in the 1970s and '80s, died on Saturday at home in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 74."

January 1, 2023

Bobby Calvan of the AP: "The new year began in the tiny atoll nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific, then moved across Russia and New Zealand before heading deeper, time zone by time zone, through Asia and Europe and into the Americas.... A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers near the [Times Square] celebration, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder about eight blocks from Times Square, just outside the high-security zone.... In a sign of that hope, children met St. Nicholas in a crowded metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Yet Russian attacks continued New Year's Eve. At midnight, the streets of the capital, Kyiv, were desolate. The only sign of a new year came from local residents shouting from their balconies, 'Happy New Year!' and 'Glory to Ukraine!' And only half an hour into 2023, air raid sirens rang across Ukraine's capital, followed by the sound of explosions."

Marie: Perhaps we should pause to remember that January 1 doesn't really signify anything. It's a marker of the new year first imposed by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, and it did fall on the winter solstice. That is, January 1 meant something. In 1582, Pope Gregory's incorporated January 1 as the first day of the in his "new" or "Gregorian" calendar, which we use today. Although Caesar's calendar was meant to follow the solar year, the miscalculation of Sosigenes, Caesar's Alexandrian astronomer, meant the date gradually migrated days away from the winter solstice -- ten days away by the time Gregory imposed the calendar calculated by Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius. I'm not sure why Gregory & Clavius decided to stick with the old, adrift new year's day. I'd have told them to go back to using the winter solstice -- or some natural phenomenon -- to mark the first day of the year. But, hey, I'm just a girl.

News You Can Use. Shanon Osaka of the Washington Post: "Earlier this year, Congress passed the biggest climate bill in history -- cloaked under the name the 'Inflation Reduction Act.'... It could do one important thing for a country trying to move away from fossil fuels: Spur millions of households across America to switch over to cleaner energy sources with free money. Starting in the new year, the bill will offer households thousands of dollars to transition over from fossil-fuel burning heaters, stoves and cars to cleaner versions. On Jan. 1, middle-income households will be able to access over a half-dozen tax credits for electric stoves, cars, rooftop solar and more. And starting sometime in mid-2023, lower-income households will be able to get upfront discounts on some of those same appliances -- without having to wait to file their taxes to get the cash back. This handy online tool shows what you might be eligible for, depending on your Zip code and income."

The Party of Fakes

"The Invention of Elise Stefanik." Nicholas Confessori of the New York Times: "For years, [Elise] Stefanik had crafted her brand as a model moderate millennial.... But as her third term unfolded [in 2018], according to current or former friends and advisers, it was becoming painfully clear that she was the future of a Republican Party that no longer existed.... [So] she embarked on one of the most brazen political transformations of the Trump era. With breathtaking speed and alacrity, Ms. Stefanik remade herself into a fervent Trump apologist, adopted his over-torqued style on Twitter and embraced the conspiracy theories that animate his base, amplifying debunked allegations of dead voters casting ballots in Atlanta and unspecified 'irregularities' involving voting-machine software in 2020 swing states.... Ms. Stefanik's reinvention has made her a case study in the collapse of the old Republican establishment and its willing absorption into the new, Trump-dominated one.... Eager to advance..., she has spent years embedding herself wherever the action seems to be at the time."

"The Talented Mr. Santos." Azi Paybarah & Camila DeChalus of the Washington Post: "The Republican who won a congressional seat on Long Island before his claims of being a wealthy, biracial, Ukrainian descendant of Holocaust survivors were debunked had, for a while, been generally consistent about two details in his improbable life: He has long said his first name is George and his last name is Santos. But not always. Before George Santos, 34, made a name for himself in politics, he had insisted on being called Anthony -- one of his middle names -- and often used his mother's maiden name, Devolder, eventually incorporating a company in Florida with that name.... He said he is part Black. He said he is the grandson of Holocaust survivors. He claimed he helped develop 'carbon capture technology.'... Santos has already spawned new proposed legislation in Congress. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said he will introduce legislation requiring that when candidates for federal office provide details of their education, employment and military history, they do so under oath. Torres calls the bill the Stop Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker (SANTOS) Act.

"The offices of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly (R) and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz (D) each said they are examining whether Santos broke any laws in their jurisdiction. ABC News reported that the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York, which covers Long Island, was also examining Santos's activities.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday that Santos is now 'tattooed' on Republicans in Congress." MB: As I said yesterday, he lied about even his name.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "At the end of a wrenching year at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. devoted his annual report on the state of the federal judiciary to threats to judges' physical safety.... Some observers had hoped that the chief justice would use his year-end report for an update on the investigation announced in May into the leak of a draft opinion eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. Others had wished that he would announce revisions to judicial ethics rules in the wake of revelations about the efforts of Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, to overturn the results of the 2020 election." MB: But no. He smoothed an errant strand of his hair-helmet and marched on, chin-up, defiantly blind to the harm he has wreaked upon the nation. An AP report is here.

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Shelter from the Storm. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: Jay Withey of Buffalo spent the night of December 23 in his truck with two strangers he had taken in to save them from the storm & subfreezing temperatures. But his truck was running out of fuel, and he could not find help. So he broke into the Cheektowaga high school. "Once both strangers had settled inside, Withey walked up to other cars stranded nearby, offering their occupants a place to spend the night.... By the end of the weekend, Withey had offered shelter to about two dozen strangers, including children and two dogs.... Once inside, Withey managed to open the cafeteria and found cereal, juice, water and coffee for the group. He cooked pizza for lunch and meatballs for dinner.... He left behind a handwritten note explaining the break-in. It read: 'To whoever it may concern, I am terribly sorry about breaking the school window and for breaking in the kitchen. Got stuck at 8 p.m. Friday and slept in my truck with two strangers just trying not to die. There were 7 elderly also stuck and out of fuel. I had to do it to save everyone and get them shelter, food and a bathroom. Merry Christmas -- Jay.'... Before the last person left on Christmas Day, the crew of strangers ... cleaned the school, washed the dishes and took out the trash before parting ways."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Guardian's live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

David Stern & Francesca Ebel of the Washington Post: "As Moscow launched a fresh barrage of strikes against Ukraine on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an unusually aggressive prerecorded address, which was broadcast as Russians in the Far East began their New Year's celebrations.... In the address, which was broadcast at midnight on Russian state television in line with the country's 11 different time zones, Putin said Russia was fighting in Ukraine to protect its 'motherland' and called 2022 'a year of hard, necessary decisions' and 'fateful events' that had laid the foundation of Russia's future and independence.... As the first footage of the speech was broadcast, dozens of missiles rained down on Kyiv and other regions in Ukraine."

North Korea. Hyung-Jin Kim of the AP: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the 'exponential' expansion of his country's nuclear arsenal, the development of a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile and the launch of its first spy satellite, state media reported Sunday, after he entered 2023 with another weapons firing following a record number of testing activities last year."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The police shot a machete-wielding man who attacked three officers on Saturday night near Times Square, injuring him and creating a chaotic scene just hours before the ball dropped to mark New Year's Day in New York City, the authorities said."

AP: Bryan Kohberger, the "suspect arrested in connection with the slayings of four University of Idaho students plans to waive an extradition hearing so he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face murder charges, his defense attorney said Saturday." ~~~

~~~ CNN: "Authorities tracked the man charged in the killings of four Idaho college students all the way to Pennsylvania and surveilled him for several days before finally arresting him on Friday, sources told CNN. Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November, according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson. Still, investigators have not publicly confirmed the suspect's motive or whether he knew the victims. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.... Investigators honed in on Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene.... The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches.... Kohberger, who authorities say lived just minutes from the scene of the killings, is a PhD student in Washington State University's Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed."

Guardian: "Thirteen bison have died as a result of a road crash in the dark on a Montana highway near Yellowstone national park, authorities have announced. In a statement released on Facebook, the West Yellowstone police department announced that around 6.30pm on Wednesday 'multiple bison were struck by a semi-truck near mile marker 4 on Highway 191', referring to a highway north of the town of West Yellowstone. According to the police, thirteen bison were killed after the truck smashed into a herd, with some of the bison needing to be euthanized 'due to severe injuries'."