Kyle Cheney & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "It was a nightmare day for Donald Trump in court. Again. The former president has had no shortage of legal and political setbacks since leaving the White House. But in recent weeks, the sheer volume of acute threats -- both criminal and civil -- have put Trump in a vise unlike any he's faced before."
Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court panel signaled on Tuesday that it is likely to end a review of a trove of government documents seized this summer from ... Donald J. Trump, a move that would greatly free up an investigation into his handling of the material. At a 40-minute hearing in Atlanta, the three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit seemed to embrace the Justice Department's position that a federal judge had acted improperly two months ago when she ordered an independent arbiter to review the documents taken from Mr. Trump's Florida compound, Mar-a- Lago. Through their questions, the panel expressed concern that Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who appointed the so-called special master, had acted without precedent by ordering a review of the seized material. The panel also suggested that Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, had overstepped by inserting herself into the case.... During the proceeding in Atlanta, all of the judges on the panel, two of whom were Trump appointees, appeared to support the Justice Department's overarching argument that Judge Cannon's appointment of the special master and her efforts to keep the government from using the documents seized from Mr. Trump were highly unusual and wrongly decided." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) CNN's report is here.
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied ... Donald Trump's efforts to block the release of his tax records to a congressional committee that has sought the information for years. The court's order means that the Treasury Department may quickly hand over six years of tax records from Trump and some of his companies to the House Ways and Means Committee. There were no recorded dissents in the court's order.... Time is not on the side of Democrats who run the committee. The demands for the records will almost surely expire in January, when Republicans take control of the House as a result of the recent midterm elections.... Last month, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to review earlier rulings finding that lawmakers are entitled to the documents in the long-running legal battle. That court also refused to put the release of the papers on hold while Trump's lawyers sought Supreme Court review. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the justice designated to hear emergency orders from that court, stopped the release Nov. 1, requesting more briefing and giving the high court more time to act." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Neal Katyal said on the teevee what I had been thinking as soon as I read "Time is not on the side of Democrats": that the Ways & Means Committee should figure out a way to transfer those tax records to the Senate.
Michael Sisak of the AP: "Donald Trump reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, his longtime accountant testified Tuesday.... Donald Bender, a partner at Mazars USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump's personal tax returns, said Trump's reported losses from 2009 to 2018 included net operating losses from some of the many businesses he owns through his Trump Organization.... Bender's tax loss testimony echoed what The New York Times reported in 2020, when it obtained a trove of Trump's tax returns. Many of the records reflected massive losses and little or no taxes paid, the newspaper reported at the time.... Bender testified that [Trump Org CFO Allen] Weisselberg kept him the dark on [a tax avoidance scheme in which Weisselberg & others received compensation in forms like apartments & vehicles] -- and that he only found out about it from prosecutors last year. But emails shown in court Tuesday suggested that [the Trump Org's comptroller] tried to loop [Bender] in as early as 2013, with attached spreadsheets listing Weisselberg's pay and reductions for extras, including Trump-paid tuition for his grandchildren's private schooling.... Also Tuesday, the judge in New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company set an October 2023 trial date...."
Holly Bailey & Matthew Brown of the Washington Post: "After months of failed legal challenges, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) appeared Tuesday before a special grand jury investigating efforts by ... Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia, the latest high-profile witness in a probe that is believed to be nearing conclusion.... Graham's testimony followed an extended legal challenge to block his appearance that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which this month declined to overturn lower court rulings requiring him to appear.... Trump personally urged [Georgia Secretary of State Brad] Raffensperger to 'find' enough votes to overturn his defeat in the state.... Raffensperger ... told The Washington Post he felt pressured by other Republicans, including Graham, who he said echoed Trump's claims about voting irregularities in the state. He claimed that Graham, on one call, appeared to be asking him to find a way to set aside legally cast ballots." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Insurrectionist-in-Chief. Christopher Cadelago & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "When Donald Trump plunged into the 2024 presidential race last week at his Mar-a-Lago club..., among [the attendees were] ... those sympathetic to or even a part of the riot on the Capitol on January 6. A Politico review of social media posts of the Mar-a-Lago guests, as well as encounters at the venue, revealed at least six who were in Washington the day of Trump's speech and the insurrection. Some of them marched on the Capitol.... Trump refrained from mentioning Jan. 6 during his presidential bid announcement. But the inclusion of those who were in Washington on Jan. 6 at his Mar-a-Lago event underscores how closely linked he remains to the melee that unfolded that day. Rather than isolating and ostracizing Jan. 6 figures, Trump's team has kept them in the fold, even promising pardons for those who were there.... Elijah Schaffer, who attended Trump's campaign launch..., is seen [in a newly-released video] filming himself in [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's office mirror and appears to be saying, '... We have, we are occupying the Capitol building.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post: "Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten> is 'the most dangerous person in the world.'... 'If you ask, "Who's the most likely to take this republic down?" It would be the teacher's unions, and the filth that they're teaching our kids, and the fact that they don't know math and reading or writing.'... Like many of his potential Republican rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Pompeo appears to be casting himself as a soldier in the so-called 'anti-woke' culture wars." ~~~
~~~ Mike Pompeo is undoubtedly a very intelligent person. He was first in his class at West Point & editor of the Harvard Law Review. So we have to assume that he knows what he's saying & he knows the impact he intends it to have. Now, while the country is still reeling from a mass murder that is most likely a hate crime against gay people, Pompeo is telling us that teachers who teach equality -- equality which he describes as "filth" -- are the real danger. In one insane proclamation, Mike has endangered teachers and every person who is part of a minority group whom teachers welcome. Mike thinks he should be POTUS*. I think he should be shunned, isolated, muzzled. Mike Pompeo is disgusting.
Kayla Gogerty of Media Matters: "Since acquiring Twitter, embattled CEO Elon Musk has assured civil rights leaders and advertisers that he would maintain content moderation policies and create clear processes for reinstating previously banned accounts. Less than a month into his ownership, Musk has single-handedly reinstated at least 11 right-wing accounts, including ... Donald Trump." The story lists accounts Musk reinstated. ~~~
~~~ According to this Washington Post report, by Cat Zakrzewski & others, Musk dismantled Twitter's moderation team and is planning to replace it with an automated system, "eliminating some of the nuance from complicated decisions for a cheaper approach."
Elon Stiffs Twitter Vendors. Mike Isaac & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: Elon "Musk has embarked on an enormous cost-cutting campaign since closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. He initially slashed half of the company's 7,500-person work force, fired workers and continued with layoffs as recently as Monday. But he has also conducted a sweeping examination of all types of other costs at the company, instructing staff to review, renegotiate and in some cases not pay Twitter's outside vendors at all, eight people with knowledge of the matter said. Mr. Musk and his advisers have trained their sights on computing costs that support Twitter's underlying infrastructure, travel expenses, software services, real estate and even the company's normally lavish in-office cafeteria food."
Naomi Nix & Jeremy Merrill of the Washington Post: "More than a third of Twitter's top 100 marketers have not advertised on the social media network in the past two weeks, a Washington Post analysis of marketing data found -- an indication of the extent of skittishness among advertisers about billionaire Elon Musk's control of the company. Dozens of top Twitter advertisers, including 14 of the top 50, have stopped advertising in the few weeks since Musk's chaotic acquisition of the social media company...."
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "A Texas judge said on Tuesday that she would order the Infowars fabulist Alex Jones to pay the entire $49 million verdict a jury had awarded to the parents of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, despite a Texas law capping punitive damages at far less than the amount jurors had allotted.... In a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the District Court in Travis County, where Infowars is based, questioned the constitutionality of the Texas cap, and called the verdict 'a rare case' in which the emotional damage inflicted on Ms. Lewis and Mr. Heslin was so severe that 'I believe they have no recourse.'"
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona, Alexander Berzon, et al., of the New York Times: "Abe Hamadeh, the Arizona Republican locked in a tight race to become the state’s next attorney general, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday contesting the preliminary results of an election that had already been headed to an automatic recount. The state's final tally from the Nov. 8 election, which was set to be certified by counties by next week, has Mr. Hamadeh just 510 votes behind the Democratic candidate, Kris Mayes -- 1,254,102 for Mr. Hamadeh and 1,254,612 for Ms. Mayes. That difference was within the margin needed to force an automatic recount under state law. Mr. Hamadeh's lawsuit, filed in State Superior Court in Maricopa County, names as defendants Arizona's secretary of state -- Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who won the governor's race -- as well as the county recorders and boards of supervisors in the state's 15 counties. The Republican National Committee joined Mr. Hamadeh in the suit as a plaintiff."
Colorado. Marc Fisher, et al., of the Washington Post on how the shooting inside Club Q in Colorado Springs, unfolded: "In a matter of seconds -- probably less than a minute, the city's police chief said -- [a] man with [a] rifle shot and killed five people. At least 18 others were injured.... The shooter started firing right after he walked in and kept shooting as he walked deeper into the club, witnesses said. He didn't say anything.... People were running for their lives....
"Somewhere in the chaos, an unarmed patron grabbed hold of the shooter and 'acted so courageously as to remove a handgun from his waist and use that handgun to subdue him,' hitting the gunman in the head with the weapon, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told The Washington Post on Monday. 'This person is a real hero.' The hero was Richard Fierro, who went to Club Q with his family to celebrate a friend's birthday and watch the drag show, which included a performance by his 22-year-old daughter's best friend. When he heard the shots, Fierro hit the floor, then saw the shooter. 'I ran across the bar, grabbed the guy from the back and pulled him down and pinned him against the stairs,' Fierro told The Washington Post on Monday.... 'He went for his weapon, and I grabbed his handgun,' Fierro said. Fierro said he ordered a young man to 'Kick him! Move the AR! Then I just started hitting him ... The back of his head was my target.'... Fierro had the shooter pinned to the floor when police entered the club.> (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Florida. Philip Jackson of the Huffington Post: "Prosecutors in Florida on Monday dropped charges against a Black man who was arrested earlier this year as part of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/desantis-voter-fraud-arrests-controversy_n_631854f4e4b046aa022f434c">purported crackdown on voter fraud/ In August, Tony Patterson, 44, was one of 20 people in the state arrested and charged with 'election voting by unqualified voter' and 'false swearing' during the 2020 election. But prosecutors filed a notice of nolle prosequi on Monday, indicating they will no longer longer pursue criminal charges against Patterson -- ultimately amounting to a dismissal of the case. Patterson is the first person to have their charges dropped, although a judge previously tossed out a criminal case against Robert Lee Wood, 56, who was also among those arrested this summer." ~~~
~~~ Marie: DeSantolini's cruel tough-guy feints are not going well, what with the Texas-to-Martha's Vineyard airlift backfiring and prosecutors & a judge laughing him out of court on the fake voter-fraud cases. Maybe he should stick with picking on fair-minded teachers, which he's been happy to do, too. So far, endangering teachers is working for Mike Pompeo. These guys, like many others in their party, seem to have learned from Trump that bullying relatively defenseless people is the pathway to the White House. Apparently, they think they're showing "strength."
Georgia. Voters Win; Raffensperger & Confederates Lose in Voting Restriction Case. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Early voting will be allowed on Saturday in Georgia's runoff election for Senate after an appeals court rejected an argument that state law forbade it. In a brief ruling on Monday, the Georgia Court of Appeals declined a request from the state to halt a ruling made by a Fulton County judge on Friday, which found voting on Saturday permissible. It is up to individual counties whether to actually offer early voting that day. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, argued that early voting was not allowed that day under Georgia law, which bars it on the second Saturday before an election if the preceding Thursday or Friday are state holidays. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and Friday is a Georgia holiday that once honored Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general. The runoff between Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker, is on Dec. 6, and Georgia law requires five days of early voting from Monday, Nov. 28, through Friday, Dec. 2. Counties are allowed, but not required, to offer up to three additional days of early voting, and some -- including Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold -- planned to offer Saturday, Nov. 26." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Kate Brumback of the AP: "Republican groups appealed to Georgia's highest court Tuesday in an attempt to prohibit early voting this Saturday in the U.S. Senate runoff election between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The Georgia Republican Party, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee filed the appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court. They are asking the high court to issue an emergency stay of a lower court ruling that said Georgia law does allow voting this Saturday.... State officials accepted [an appeals court] ruling [allowed] Saturday voting] and said they would not pursue further appeals. But the Republican groups, who had been allowed to join the [state's] lawsuit as intervenors, on Tuesday appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court." ~~~
~~~ Another Reason the Georgia Senate Election Matters. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "In an evenly divided Senate, subpoenas are issued on a bipartisan basis. But having 51 Democratic senators in the next Congress would give Democrats on key committees unilateral control over investigations.... 'If we're investigating legitimate issues while they're fixated on Hunter Biden's laptop, we'll be doing our job,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told me. 'And we'll be winning the battle of public opinion.'"
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Wednesday are here: "The Ukrainian government is planning to set up thousands of shelters across the country to offer basic services -- including electricity, internet, heat, water, and first aid -- in anticipation of more Russian airstrikes on civilian infrastructure as winter sets in. 'By helping each other, we will all be able to get through this winter together,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address, after officials raised the prospect of regular blackouts through March.... Russian energy giant Gazprom said it will begin reducing natural gas supply to Europe through a pipeline that runs through Ukraine.... Kyiv said it launched an investigation into videos circulating online that the Kremlin said show Ukrainian forces executing Russian prisoners of war.... A newborn baby was killed in a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia region, its governor, Oleksandr Starukh, said in a Telegram post early Wednesday."
Brazil. Reuters, via the Guardian: "Jair Bolsonaro has challenged the Brazilian presidential election he lost last month to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arguing votes from some machines should be 'invalidated'. Bolsonaro's claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula's victory has been ratified by the superior electoral court and acknowledged by Brazil's leading politicians and international allies. It could however fuel a small but committed protest movement that has so far refused to accept the result."
Qatar. Leo Sands of the Washington Post: "Soccer fans wearing the rainbow, a symbol of LGBTQ inclusivity, have said they were refused entry into World Cup stadiums and confronted by members of the public to remove the emblem, despite assurances from FIFA, soccer's governing body, that visitors would be allowed to express their identities during the tournament in Qatar." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Scotland. Libby Brooks & Ben Quinn of the Guardian: "The Scottish parliament cannot hold a second independence referendum without Westminster approval the [U.K.] supreme court has ruled, in a unanimous judgment likely to anger Scottish nationalists who say the country's future is for Scottish voters to decide. The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said immediately after the ruling: 'Scottish democracy will not be denied.' She added: 'Today's ruling blocks one route to Scotland's voice being heard on independence == but in a democracy our voice cannot and will not be silenced.'"
U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Stung by inflation and bracing for tax increases, the country is in the midst of its gravest slump in a generation, leading many to wonder how much the split with the European Union is to blame.... Not all -- or even most -- of the problems are because of Brexit, but Britain's vexed trade relationship with the rest of Europe indisputably plays a role. Only 32 percent of those surveyed in [a] poll [conducted last week], by the firm YouGov, said that they thought leaving the European Union was a good idea; 56 percent said it was a mistake.... The Brexit second-guessing grew louder this week, after The Sunday Times of London published a report that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was considering pursuing a closer arrangement with the European Union, modeled on that of Switzerland." Sunak denied the claim.
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