October 28, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was hospitalized after he was assaulted by someone who broke into the couple's residence in San Francisco early on Friday morning, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi said. 'Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi,' Drew Hammill, the spokesman, said in a statement on Friday. 'The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation.' Mr. Hammill said Mr. Pelosi, 82, was expected to make a full recovery. Ms. Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., with her protective detail at the time of the break-in, the Capitol Police said in a statement." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN is liveupdating developments here: "Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to a statement from Speaker Pelosi's spokesperson. He is expected to make a full recovery, it said.... Paul Pelosi was able to call 911 at the start of the attack at his home in San Francisco, according to a law enforcement source and another source familiar with the matter. Pelosi managed to keep the line open and the dispatcher could hear a conversation in the background, according to the law enforcement source. Pelosi was talking in code, that source said, providing enough detail so that the operator overhearing it could understand that something was wrong. At the same time Pelosi seemed to be trying not to make it obvious to the intruder that he had an open line, the source said. The dispatcher could hear Pelosi speaking about what was going on and dispatched police to check on the house, the source said....

"The man who allegedly attacked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband early Friday posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid-19 vaccines, the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack.... Last year, David DePape posted links on his Facebook page to multiple videos produced by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell falsely alleging that the 2020 election was stolen. Other posts included transphobic images and linked to websites claiming Covid-19 vaccines were deadly.... Two days after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd, DePape wrote that the trial was 'a modern lynching,' falsely indicating that Floyd died of a drug overdose. He also posted content about the 'Great Reset' -- the sprawling conspiracy theory that global elites are using coronavirus to usher in a new world order in which they gain more power and oppress the masses.... [The s]uspect [is] ... to be booked on charges including attempted homicide, assault and elder abuse[.]... The man ... tried to tie ... up [Paul Pelosi] 'until Nancy got home,' according to two sources.... When the police arrived at the residence, the attacker said he was 'waiting for Nancy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments here.

     ~~~ Marie: MSNBC is reporting that the assailant, who attacked Mr. Pelosi with a hammer, was searching for Speaker Pelosi. He was shouting, "Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?" which is reminiscent of the January 6 insurrections calls for "Nancy! Nancy!" If true, the call for the speaker makes the San Francisco attack a federal crime.

Emma Brown & Jon Swaine of the Washington Post: "A week after the 2020 election, as Donald Trump raged over what he claimed was rampant fraud, officials in a rural county in southern Georgia [Coffee County] received a disturbing report from the employee who ran their elections. New voting machines in use across the state could 'very easily' be manipulated to flip votes from one candidate to another, she claimed at a meeting of the county elections board, and ballots could be scanned and counted more than once.... The elections board meeting -- a gathering of eight people in an unremarkable building 200 miles from Atlanta -- set off an extraordinary sequence of events that plunged the GOP enclave into the middle of a multistate effort by prominent Trump allies to gain access to voting machines in search of purported evidence that the election was rigged.... In at least seven ... counties in four states, including Coffee, local officials acting without a court order or subpoena allegedly gave outsiders access to the machines or their data.... Experts say the events in Coffee County are a potent example of the rising threat posed by insiders who undermine election security in the name of protecting it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It takes only a couple of dots to connect Coffee County elections supervisor Misty Hampton to David DePape, the man who (allegedly) attacked Paul Pelosi:

Misty Hamptom—•—Donald Trump—•—David DePape

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "One of the Justice Department's most experienced national security prosecutors has joined the team overseeing the intensifying investigation of classified documents at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and private club, people familiar with the matter said. National security law experts interviewed by The Washington Post say prosecutors appear to have amassed evidence in the case that would meet some of the criteria for bringing charges against the former president -- an unprecedented action that they said likely would only happen if the Justice Department believes it has an extremely strong case. David Raskin,who served for many years as a senior federal prosecutor in New York City, and more recently has worked as a prosecutor in Kansas City, Mo., has been quietly assisting in the investigation into Trump and his aides...."

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Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy grew slowly over the summer, adding to fears of a looming recession -- but also keeping alive the hope that one might be avoided. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, returned to growth in the third quarter after two consecutive quarterly contractions, according to government data released on Thursday. But consumer spending slowed as inflation ate away at households' buying power, and the sharp rise in interest rates led to the steepest contraction in the housing sector since the first months of the pandemic. The report underscored the delicate balance facing the Federal Reserve as it tries to rein in the fastest inflation in four decades." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Tennessee man was sentenced on Thursday to seven and a half years in prison for dragging a police officer protecting the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, into an angry pro-Trump crowd that brutally assaulted the officer. The man, Albuquerque Cosper Head, pleaded guilty in March to assaulting the officer, Michael Fanone, who has emerged as an outspoken advocate for the officers who were subjected to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The sentence was one of the most severe penalties handed down so far in the Justice Department's investigation of the Capitol attack. As part of his plea, Mr. Head, a 43-year-old construction worker, admitted that during the violence outside the Capitol, he grabbed Mr. Fanone around the neck and told the crowd around him, 'I got one!' Mr. Head then forcibly hauled Mr. Fanone down the Capitol steps and into the mob, where he was beaten, kicked and attacked with a stun gun. Some in the crowd tried to strip Mr. Fanone of his service weapon as one rioter threatened to kill him with his own gun." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol is wrapping up its review of more than a million pages of Secret Service documents and plans to bring in top agents and officials from the agency to testify in the coming weeks, multiple sources tell CNN. The widening list, which sources say includes about a half dozen witnesses, indicates the committee is still pursuing answers from the agency on a number of fronts, including what it knew about threats ahead of the attack, what ... Donald Trump knew about armed protestors heading to the Capitol, and how it responded to testimony about Trump's altercation with his security detail that day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Who We Saw While Hanging at the Courthouse. Kaitlin Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's legal defense team and prosecutors handling the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation met at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, Thursday morning in a secret dispute related to the unprecedented investigation. CNN spotted the lawyers -- including James Trusty, Evan Corcoran and Lindsey Halligan for Trump, and prosecutor Julie Edelstein and several others from the Justice Department who are known to be on the case -- heading into a sealed proceeding before Chief Judge Beryl Howell at the federal courthouse on Thursday. Their appearance in Washington is notable because this legal team typically appears in court in Florida or New York on the documents investigation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A full federal appeals court denied on Thursday ... Donald J. Trump's attempt to block Congress from gaining access to his tax returns, leaving in place a three-judge panel's ruling that a federal law gives a House committee chairman broad authority to request them despite Mr. Trump's status as a former president.... Mr. Trump's legal team ... is very likely to appeal to the Supreme Court." A CNN report is here.

Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a friend of ... Donald J. Trump standing trial on charges of acting as an undisclosed foreign agent, has sought to portray himself as ... a businessman managing big egos, upstart young leaders and political neophytes jockeying for influence in the Trump campaign and in the Middle East. On Thursday, federal prosecutors tried to undermine that image woven over nearly four days of testimony. What Mr. Barrack had presented to the jury as mediation, behind-the-scenes management of 'palace intrigue' or mere 'puffery' were reframed, during the government's cross-examination, as underhanded, opportunistic and deceptive. Mr. Barrack, 75, is accused of working for the United Arab Emirates without informing the attorney general. Prosecutors say that, at the direction of the Emiratis, Mr. Barrack used his access to Mr. Trump to expand the Persian Gulf nation's influence in the United States, and in turn passed sensitive information about the Trump administration to Emirati officials."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel on Thursday mocked the speaking abilities of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate who is recovering from a stroke, and President Biden, who grew up with a stutter." MB: I am curious to know why Romney-McD didn't mock the speaking ability of the president* -- who doesn't admit to any speech disability as do Fetterman & Biden -- who spoke of the "oranges of the [Mueller] investigation" or his remarks about "Thighland." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kate Conger & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: "On Thursday night, [Elon] Musk closed his $44 billion deal to buy the social media service [Twitter].... He also began cleaning house, with at least four top Twitter executives -- including the chief executive and chief financial officer -- getting fired on Thursday. Mr. Musk had arrived at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday and met with engineers and ad executives. The closing of the deal, which followed months of drama and legal challenges as Mr. Musk changed his mind about buying the company, sets Twitter on an uncertain course." An ABC News report is here.

Michelle Boorstein & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "Longtime watchdogs of antisemitism say there is nothing new about the kinds of derogatory comments about Jews that the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West..., Donald Trump, sundry far-right political candidates and others have made in recent weeks. But what has struck some experts is how blatant the comments about Jews are at a time when incidents of harassment, vandalism and violence against them have been at their highest levels since at least the 1970s. Recent data already showed that a majority of American Jews fear violence against them." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Shaffi of the Guardian: "An article by John Steinbeck about American democracy, written 70 years ago, will be published in English for the first time this week. The piece, titled How About McCarthyism? was originally published in 1954 in French in Le Figaro Littéraire, although Steinbeck wrote it in English. The piece is being published in English in the Strand Magazine, a US-based print magazine that publishes short fiction, articles and interviews. The piece, said Andrew Gulli, managing editor, suggests that American democracy has always and will in the future face threats from within, but in the end will emerge stronger."

November Election

Michigan House. Thomas Beaumont of the AP: "Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday endorsed and plans to campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time ... [Cheney, has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat. Cheney, of Wyoming, announced her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, in a statement by the Slotkin campaign that notes she plans to headline a campaign event with Slotkin in the Lansing-area district next Tuesday. Slotkin is competing against Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans' chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on Nov. 8."

Way Beyond the Beltway

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "President Biden criticized Vladimir Putin for nuclear brinkmanship Thursday, hours after the Russian leader downplayed the chance that the Kremlin would use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. 'If he has no intention, why does he keep talking about it? Why does he talk about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon?' Biden said during a cable news interview.... The United States and allies slammed Russia for wasting the time of the U.N. Security Council and spreading conspiracies for again raising its accusation that the U.S. has 'military biological programs' in Ukraine.... Russia would target 'quasi-civilian infrastructure' in space if Moscow believes it served military purposes, said Konstantin Vorontsov, a Russian official at the United Nations on Wednesday.... More than 70,000 people have been evacuated from the occupied southern city of Kherson and the surrounding area, a Moscow-backed regional official said in a TV interview Thursday, ahead of an advance by Ukrainian troops."

Marc Santora of the New York Times: "With Ukrainian forces bearing down on the occupied port city of Kherson this week, the Kremlin's puppet rulers dispatched a team to an 18th-century stone cathedral on a special mission -- to steal the bones of Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin. The memory of the 18th-century conqueror is vivid for those in the Kremlin bent on restoring the Russian imperium. It was Potemkin who persuaded his lover, Catherine the Great, to annex Crimea in 1783. The founder of Kherson and Odesa, he sought the creation of a 'New Russia,' a dominion that stretched across what is now southern Ukraine along the Black Sea. When President Vladimir V. Putin invaded Ukraine in February with the goal of restoring part of a long-lost empire, he invoked Potemkin's vision.... The destruction of the cities that Potemkin helped build, [historian Simon Montefiore] said, has cast Putin in the role of destroying those earlier triumphs."

Netherlands. Christine Chung of the New York Times: "A climate protester glued his head to 'Girl With a Pearl Earring,' the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer that was on exhibit at a museum in The Hague on Thursday, the latest in a series of actions by activists that have targeted world-renowned paintings in recent months as the protesters have sought to draw attention to climate change. The stunts have recently included hurling mashed potatoes at a painting by Claude Monet and splattering soup on a painting by Vincent van Gogh." Fortunately, the Vermeer was protected by glass, which is unusual for an oil painting. MB: These so-called climate protesters make me sick. I hope they have to go to jail for a significant period of time, after which they have to spend the rest of their lives paying monetary damages. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way, Way Beyond

Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "Mars has a lot of craters. Now it has two new ones -- gouged by rocks that slammed into the planet late last year.... But what has scientists buzzing -- to the point that NASA scheduled a news conference Thursday to highlight the discovery, detailed in two papers published in the journal Science -- is that the crater-making impacts were documented by two NASA spacecraft, an orbiter and a lander."

News Lede

New York Times: "Jerry Lee Lewis, the hard-driving rockabilly artist whose pounding boogie-woogie piano and bluesy, country-influenced vocals helped define the sound of rock 'n' roll on hits like 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' and 'Great Balls of Fire,' and whose incendiary performing style expressed the essence of rock rebellion, died on Friday at his home in DeSoto County, Miss., south of Memphis. He was 87."

October 27, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy grew slowly over the summer, adding to fears of a looming recession -- but also keeping alive the hope that one might be avoided. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, returned to growth in the third quarter after two consecutive quarterly contractions, according to government data released on Thursday. But consumer spending slowed as inflation ate away at households' buying power, and the sharp rise in interest rates led to the steepest contraction in the housing sector since the first months of the pandemic. The report underscored the delicate balance facing the Federal Reserve as it tries to rein in the fastest inflation in four decades."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Tennessee man was sentenced on Thursday to seven and a half years in prison for dragging a police officer protecting the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, into an angry pro-Trump crowd that brutally assaulted the officer. The man, Albuquerque Cosper Head, pleaded guilty in March to assaulting the officer, Michael Fanone, who has emerged as an outspoken advocate for the officers who were subjected to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The sentence was one of the most severe penalties handed down so far in the Justice Department's investigation of the Capitol attack. As part of his plea, Mr. Head, a 43-year-old construction worker, admitted that during the violence outside the Capitol, he grabbed Mr. Fanone around the neck and told the crowd around him, 'I got one!' Mr. Head then forcibly hauled Mr. Fanone down the Capitol steps and into the mob, where he was beaten, kicked and attacked with a stun gun. Some in the crowd tried to strip Mr. Fanone of his service weapon as one rioter threatened to kill him with his own gun." The AP's report is here.

Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol is wrapping up its review of more than a million pages of Secret Service documents and plans to bring in top agents and officials from the agency to testify in the coming weeks, multiple sources tell CNN. The widening list, which sources say includes about a half dozen witnesses, indicates the committee is still pursuing answers from the agency on a number of fronts, including what it knew about threats ahead of the attack, what ... Donald Trump knew about armed protestors heading to the Capitol, and how it responded to testimony about Trump's altercation with his security detail that day."

Who We Saw While Hanging at the Courthouse. Kaitlin Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's legal defense team and prosecutors handling the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation met at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, Thursday morning in a secret dispute related to the unprecedented investigation. CNN spotted the lawyers -- including James Trusty, Evan Corcoran and Lindsey Halligan for Trump, and prosecutor Julie Edelstein and several others from the Justice Department who are known to be on the case -- heading into a sealed proceeding before Chief Judge Beryl Howell at the federal courthouse on Thursday. Their appearance in Washington is notable because this legal team typically appears in court in Florida or New York on the documents investigation."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel on Thursday mocked the speaking abilities of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate who is recovering from a stroke, and President Biden, who grew up with a stutter." MB: I am curious to know why Romney-McD didn't mock the speaking ability of the president* -- who doesn't admit to any speech disability as do Fetterman & Biden -- who spoke of the "oranges of the [Mueller] investigation" or his remarks about "Thighland. Michelle Boorstein & Isaac Arnsdorf of the <Washington Post: "Longtime watchdogs of antisemitism say there is nothing new about the kinds of derogatory comments about Jews that the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West..., Donald Trump, sundry far-right political candidates and others have made in recent weeks.But what has struck some experts is how blatant the comments about Jews are at a time when incidents of harassment, vandalism and violence against them have been at their highest levels since at least the 1970s. Recent data already showed that a majority of American Jews fear violence against them."

Christine Chung of the New York Times: "A climate protester glued his head to 'Girl With a Pearl Earring,' the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer that was on exhibit at a museum in The Hague on Thursday, the latest in a series of actions by activists that have targeted world-renowned paintings in recent months as the protesters have sought to draw attention to climate change. The stunts have recently included hurling mashed potatoes at a painting by Claude Monet and splattering soup on a painting by Vincent van Gogh/" Fortunately, the Vermeer was protected by glass, which is unusual for an oil painting. MB: These so-called climate protesters make me sick. I hope they have to go to jail for a significant period of time, after which they have to spend the rest of their lives paying monetary damages.

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Edward Wong of the New York Times: "The American secretary of state said on Wednesday that the United States would re-evaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia over the kingdom's decision to support Russia by agreeing to cut oil production next month, a move that the White House has asserted helps Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Wednesday formally banned the use of subpoenas, warrants or court orders to seize reporters' communications records or demand their notes or testimony in an effort to uncover confidential sources in leak investigations, in what amounts to a major policy shift. The rules institutionalize -- and in places expand -- a temporary policy that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland put in place in July 2021, after the revelation that the Justice Department, under Attorney General William P. Barr, had secretly pursued email records of reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. 'These regulations recognize the crucial role that a free and independent press plays in our democracy,' Mr. Garland said in a statement."

Tracey Tully, et al., of the New York Times: "Five years after standing trial on corruption charges, Senator Robert Menendez [D] of New Jersey is again being scrutinized by federal authorities, an adviser said Wednesday. 'Senator Menendez is aware of an investigation,' said Michael Soliman, a New Jersey political consultant who managed two of Mr. Menendez's Senate campaigns. 'However, he does not know the scope of the investigation.'... The nature and extent of the investigation ... is unclear."

Adam Goldman, et al., of the <New York Times: "Federal prosecutors investigating ... Donald J. Trump's handling of national security documents want to question one of his confidants about a claim that Mr. Trump had declassified national security documents he took when he left the White House. That claim has hovered over the investigation since the confidant, Kash Patel; Mr. Trump himself; and other allies said publicly that Mr. Trump had declassified the documents while still president. No evidence has emerged that Mr. Trump did so, and Mr. Trump's lawyers have not repeated the claim in an ongoing court dispute with prosecutors.... [In testimony before a Washington, D.C., grand jury earlier this month,] Mr. Patel repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.... The question now is whether the Justice Department will grant him immunity in order to secure his testimony."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday temporarily blocked a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol for phone records of Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party. Justice Kagan, who oversees the appeals court that refused to block the subpoena, issued an 'administrative stay' meant to preserve the status quo while the Supreme Court considers the matter. As is the court's practice, she gave no reasons. Justice Kagan ordered the committee to respond to Ms. Ward's emergency application by Friday. That was an indication that the full court would rule on the matter."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge is considering whether to unseal secret court documents detailing ... Donald Trump's effort to prevent former aides from providing testimony to a grand jury investigating efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday asked the Justice Department to weigh in on unsealing requests made by two media organizations: Politico on Oct. 18 and the New York Times on Oct. 21. Howell's request comes as Trump has been quietly waging -- and losing -- a court battle in recent weeks to prevent former aides from testifying to the grand jury."

Amy Wang & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating Republican efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election results in the state, a South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has said that her inquiry is examining 'the multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.' Because Meadows does not live in Georgia, she could not subpoena him to testify but filed a petition in August for him to do so. South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edward Miller ruled Wednesday that Meadows must comply with a subpoena as his testimony is 'material and necessary to the investigation and that the state of Georgia is assuring not to cause undue hardship to him.'... An attorney for Meadows said Wednesday there is a possibility of an appeal or additional legal action." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)"/p>

Odd News. Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "The footwear company Skechers said late Wednesday that Kanye West had come to its corporate offices in Los Angeles 'unannounced and uninvited' and was subsequently escorted from the building, where he had been trying to film. 'Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation,' the company said in a statement.... 'Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West,' the statement added. 'We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.'" An ABC News story is here. MB: I admit I read this story only because I'm thinking of buying a pair of Skechers & I didn't want to enrich a company that might enter into a contract with West. Looks as if it's okay to purchase those slip-ins. Also, for reasons that escape me, this is a story that is receiving wide coverage.

November Elections

Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Biden, in an 11th-hour effort to shift the debate over inflation and the economy, has begun warning voters that government shutdowns, entitlement cuts, debt defaults and general chaos loom if Republicans take control of Congress. With the president's agenda hanging in the balance in the final days before the Nov. 8 elections, Biden and other leading Democrats are seizing on the fear of disorder in an attempt to turn their liabilities on the economy into a political weapon." ~~~

~~~ Marie: As usual, the difference between the Democratic & Republican messages is that the former are based in reality & the latter are lies & fear fantasies. ~~~

~~~ Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "But while Republicans insist they will be better stewards of the economy, few economists on either end of the ideological spectrum expect the party's proposals to meaningfully reduce inflation in the short term. Instead, many say some of what Republicans are proposing -- including tax cuts for high earners and businesses -- could actually make price pressures worse by pumping more money into the economy. 'It is unlikely that any of the policies proposed by Republicans would meaningfully reduce inflation in 2023, when rapidly rising prices will still be a major problem for the economy and for consumers,' said Michael R. Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.... As they position themselves for the midterm elections, Republicans have also indicated that they might try to hold the nations borrowing limit hostage to achieve spending cuts."

Georgia Senate. Jonathan Weisman & Maya King of the New York Times: "A woman who did not identify herself said on Wednesday that Herschel Walker pressured her to have an abortion and paid for the procedure nearly three decades ago after a yearslong extramarital relationship. A former football star, Mr. Walker is running for the Senate in Georgia as an abortion opponent. The New York Times could not confirm the account, interview the woman or inspect the evidence that Gloria Allred, the celebrity lawyer, asserted was proof that the woman had a relationship with Mr. Walker. The woman told her story at a news conference with Ms. Allred, but did not appear on camera. Neither she nor Ms. Allred offered any evidence to back up the woman's accusation that Mr. Walker, a Republican, had urged her to end her pregnancy even after she initially left an abortion clinic without going through with the procedure." The BuzzFeed News story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Minyvonne Burke of NBC News: Ron Smith "spent over a decade fighting Florida laws that required the use of helmets [when riding a motorcycle], and represented a number of clients who violated state motorcycle requirements.... Smith, an experienced rider, was killed on Aug. 20 after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a utility trailer. His girlfriend, Brenda Volpe, was his passenger and also died.... A medical examiner said Smith and Volpe died from head trauma, the Times reported. The accident report noted that neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michigan. Joanna Slater of the Washington Post: "A jury on Wednesday convicted three men of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in a case that deepened concerns about the spread of right-wing extremism and potential violence directed at politicians. The three men -- Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico -- were found guilty in state court of providing material support for terrorist acts, possessing a firearm while committing a felony and being members of a gang. They face up to 20 years in prison." The AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to deliver a key annual speech in which he is expected to offer an 'extensive report' on world politics, a day after he repeated unfounded claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a 'dirty bomb' -- an explosive containing radioactive material -- on its own soil. Kyiv and Western powers have dismissed the claim and warned that Moscow could use it as a pretext for escalating the war. Russia also began its annual nuclear exercises, which are routine but of heightened significance as Russia has repeatedly wielded the threat of nuclear weapons since invading Ukraine. In the past, similar drills have lasted several days....

"The body of a U.S. citizen who died fighting in Ukraine has been identified and released to Ukrainian custody, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Joshua Jones, 24, was fighting alongside Ukraine's military when he was killed in August, Ukrainian officials said.... Ukraine's energy system was once again targeted by Russia overnight, the country's main grid operator, Ukrenergo, said early Thursday. The damage at facilities in central Ukraine means that further disruption to the power supply is possible in a number of regions, including Kyiv, it added."

October 26, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Amy Wang & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating Republican efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election results in the state, a South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has said that her inquiry is examining 'the multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.' Because Meadows does not live in Georgia, she could not subpoena him to testify but filed a petition in August for him to do so. South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edward Miller ruled Wednesday that Meadows must comply with a subpoena as his testimony is 'material and necessary to the investigation and that the state of Georgia is assuring not to cause undue hardship to him.'... An attorney for Meadows said Wednesday there is a possibility of an appeal or additional legal action." CNN's report is here.

Florida. Minyvonne Burke of NBC News: Ron Smith "spent over a decade fighting Florida laws that required the use of helmets [when riding a motorcycle], and represented a number of clients who violated state motorcycle requirements.... Smith, an experienced rider, was killed on Aug. 20 after he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a utility trailer. His girlfriend, Brenda Volpe, was his passenger and also died.... A medical examiner said Smith and Volpe died from head trauma, the Times reported. The accident report noted that neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash...."

Michigan. Joanna Slater of the Washington Post: "A jury on Wednesday convicted three men of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in a case that deepened concerns about the spread of right-wing extremism and potential violence directed at politicians. The three men -- Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico -- were found guilty in state court of providing material support for terrorist acts, possessing a firearm while committing a felony and being members of a gang. They face up to 20 years in prison." The AP report is here.

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Guardian: "The US president, Joe Biden, and Britain's new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, agreed during talks on Tuesday to work together to support Ukraine and stand up to China, the White House said. They spoke for the first time a few hours after Sunak became Britain's third prime minister this year, inheriting an economic crisis after the resignation of Liz Truss.... Only in recent days has Biden appeared to publicly criticise Truss's doomed economic strategy, in a rare intervention by the US president.... The White House said Biden and Sunak also agreed to 'address the challenges posed by China', which Washington has identified as its top geopolitical and economic rival on the world stage."

The Deal That Wasn't. Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times: "As President Biden was planning a politically risky trip to Saudi Arabia this summer, his top aides thought they had struck a secret deal to boost oil production through the end of the year -- an arrangement that could have helped justify breaking a campaign pledge to shun the kingdom and its crown prince. It didn't work out that way.... American officials said that, even days before the OPEC Plus decision, they had received assurances from the crown prince there would be no production cuts -- and when they learned of the Saudi reversal they made a futile last-ditch push to change minds in the royal court.... The outcome has been another low point in America's tumultuous ties with Saudi Arabia."

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Two senior Social Security officials who exposed massive, unprecedented fines imposed on disabled and poor elderly people -- prompting multiple inquiries and halting the practice -- now say they've faced ongoing backlash from their supervisors for speaking out. Joscelyn Funnié and Deborah Shaw, veteran attorneys in the Social Security Administration's inspector general's office, were removed from their jobs and placed on paid leave after expressing concerns about the fines, then eventually reinstated. But since returning to work under Inspector General Gail Ennis, they said they have been excluded from meaningful assignments, given tasks below their experience and abilities, shut out of meetings and collaboration with colleagues, and denied opportunities for advancement. Their claims are echoed in contemporaneous emails with management officials and backed up by two senior officials familiar with their work climate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.... "[The retaliatory measures are] all common tactics and they're all illegal," said Tom Devine, legal director of Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit group that represents whistleblowers in Washington."

Alan Feuer & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to force the two top lawyers in Donald J. Trump's White House to provide additional grand jury testimony as prosecutors seek to break through the former president's attempts to shield his efforts to overturn the 2020 election from investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors filed a motion to compel testimony from the two lawyers, Pat A. Cipollone and Patrick F. Philbin, last week. They told Beryl A. Howell, a judge in Federal District Court in Washington who oversees grand jury matters, that their need for the evidence the men could provide should overcome Mr. Trump's claims that the information is protected by attorney-client and executive privilege, the people said." CNN's report is here.

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Advisors to ... Donald Trump are hoping they talked him out of the idea of complying with a subpoena from the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol because they fear his testimony would result in perjury charges.... One of Trump's advisors told Rolling Stone the message aides sent to the former president was, 'absolutely f*cking not.'"

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The seditious conspiracy trial of members of the Oath Keepers charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol resumed Tuesday after Stewart Rhodes, founder of the extremist group, waived his right to be present in federal court after testing positive for the coronavirus in jail. Rhodes, 56, speaking by telephone from jail to the courthouse in D.C., waived his constitutional right to be present for testimony of eight government witnesses who his attorneys said were less critical to his defense because they would speak to events inside the Capitol, which Rhodes is not accused of entering. The move ... could prevent the government from completing its case Friday as prosecutors planned."

     ~~~ Marie: The article doesn't indicate whether or not Rhodes has been vaccinated. If not (and he's the kind of guy who be a "not"), it seems to me Rhodes could be sidelined for a long time.

Sravasti Dasgupta of the (U.K.) Independent, republished by Yahoo! News: "Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has issued a threat to Anthony Fauci, saying the president's chief medical adviser and his entire family are going to 'suffer' after the midterm elections next month. 'On 8 November, when we destroy the Democratic party as a national political institution and really end the regime, the hunted become the hunters. The whole Fauci family is going to be welcome to the investigations. The entire family,' Mr Bannon said on his War Room podcast on Sunday.... 'Remember, War Room was taken off Twitter because of comments I made about, wait for it, [FBI director] Christopher Wray and Anthony Fauci that their day was coming... they took the War Room account off Twitter. Paybacks across the board on all that, a big move,' Mr Bannon said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now, let's get that straight. Dr. Fauci's family is going to "suffer paybacks" because Bannon made incendiary remarks about Dr. Fauci. I'm having a little trouble seeing how that makes a lick of sense.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The leak of his draft majority opinion overruling Roe v. Wade put the Supreme Court justices in the majority at risk of assassination, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said during wide-ranging remarks in a public interview on Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative legal group.... Justice Alito took issue with criticism of the court's legitimacy in the wake of the Dobbs decision.... "Someone also crosses an important line when they say that the court is acting in a way that is illegitimate.....'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Alito doesn't understand the difference between (1) making a decision based on his own personal preferences & medieval rationales to rescind human rights & endanger millions and (2) making a decision based on sound legal & moral reasoning & established precedent.

Michael de la Merced, et al., of the New York Times: "Adidas said on Tuesday that it is cutting ties with Kanye West, ending what may have been the most significant corporate fashion partnership of the rapper and designer's career after he made a series of antisemitic remarks and embraced a slogan associated with white supremacists that earned him widespread condemnation." (Also linked yesterday.)

November Elections

President Joe Biden in a CNN opinion column: "Over the past nearly two years, we have made enormous progress. My administration, working with Democrats in Congress, is building an economy that grows from the bottom up and middle out. The unemployment rate is 3.5% -- a 50-year low. We've created 10 million jobs, including almost 700,000 manufacturing jobs. On my watch, 'Made in America' isn't just a slogan, it's a reality.... But all of our progress is at risk. The American people face a choice between two vastly different visions for our country. Republicans in Congress are doubling down on mega, MAGA trickle-down economics that benefit the wealthy and big corporations. They've laid their plan out very clearly. It would raise your costs and make inflation worse." And so forth.

Patrick Marley, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee and its allies say they have staged thousands of training sessions around the country on how to monitor voting and lodge complaints about next month's midterm elections.... Supporters of former president Donald Trump who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen have summoned a swarm of poll watchers and workers in battleground states to spot potential fraud this year. It is a call to action that could subject voting results around the country to an unprecedented level of suspicion and unfounded doubt.... The appeal from GOP figures who deny the results of the last presidential vote has created a dilemma for election officials, who rely on ordinary citizens to do the grunt work of democracy -- checking in voters, for instance, or opening absentee ballots -- but now fear some of those who show up could become agents of disruption."

Alaska Senate. Eugene Scott & Leigh Ann Caldwell of the Washington Post: "The Alaska Republican Party voted Monday to censure Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a gesture with no practical consequence but one that is intended to send a strong signal to conservative voters in the state to vote for Donald Trump-backed candidate Kelly Tshibaka over Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The McConnell-aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has spent more than $5 million in ads attacking Tshibaka in a bid to help Murkowski win reelection."

Florida Senate, etc. Matt Shuham & Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post: "The Florida Republican Party paid thousands of dollars over the summer to a far-right activist who attended the white nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally in 2017 and later charged at a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators with a Confederate flag. Christopher Monzon was paid more than $10,000 by the party between June and September, federal campaign finance records show.... Monzon was in the news Monday after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted that 'one of our canvassers' had been attacked in Hialeah -- a conservative and predominantly Cuban-American city in Miami-Dade County -- 'by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren't allowed in their neighborhood.'... A Hialeah Police Department spokesperson told Local 10 News

     ~~~ Marie: It seems to me some thugs got into a street fight & the Nazi/KKK guy lost, after which Marco has chosen to make "Republicans" victims. The HuffPost story makes clear that Marco is right to identify a white supremacist thug with the GOP.

New York Governor. Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Michael Gold of the New York Times: "In their only scheduled debate, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and her challenger, Representative Lee Zeldin, quarreled intensely on Tuesday over divisive issues such as rising crime and abortion access, while accusing each other of corruption and dangerous extremism. Mr. Zeldin, who has spent his campaign trying to appeal to voters’ dissatisfaction with the status quo, went on the attack from the get-go, frequently raising his voice as he channeled a sense of outrage, especially around crime. Ms. Hochul, a Buffalo-area Democrat vying for her first full term, took a more measured approach that fit her insistence that the state needs a steady hand to lead it."

Pennsylvania Senate. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Five months after a stroke nearly took his life, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, clashed with Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday in their one and only debate, disagreeing sharply over abortion, the economy and other partisan issues as Mr. Fetterman tried to assure voters of his fitness to serve.... The debate was held under unusual conditions. Situated above the moderators were two 70-inch monitors to show the text of what was being said in close to real time -- for both questions and answers. Professional typists were on hand to try to transcribe the debate as part of an agreed-upon accommodation for Mr. Fetterman, who has publicly discussed his lingering auditory processing issues after the stroke. Mr. Fetterman's words were frequently halting, and it was apparent when he was delayed in either reading or reaching for a phrase or word. But he was also fluent enough over the course of the hour to present his Democratic vision for a state that could determine control of the Senate." ~~~

     ~~~ Nick Visser of the Huffington Post: "Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that discussions about abortion access should be left to women, doctors and 'local political leaders.'... Oz has walked a fine line with his anti-abortion stance throughout the campaign in hopes of appealing to moderate Pennsylvanians. Leaked audio from earlier this year, however, sparked controversy after Oz was recorded saying abortion at any stage of pregnancy was 'still murder.'" MB: That's right, little lady; even a famous teevee doctor says you need your local politicians to help you make your healthcare decisions. Oh, and evidently counsel from your partner & loved ones is unnecessary. Because local political leaders.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Mike Ives of the New York Times: "The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating whether a secretly recorded conversation between [among!] three City Council members and a labor leader that included racist insults and slurs was made illegally, Chief Michel Moore said on Tuesday. The leaked audio, recorded last year and made public this month, prompted calls from across the nation for those involved to resign and highlighted racial tensions in Los Angeles.... Chief Moore said that all four people captured on the leaked audio had approached the department on Friday to request an investigation. They told the department that they had been 'unlawfully and surreptitiously recorded,' he added."

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 for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Wednesday are here: "Russia is set to begin annual nuclear exercises Wednesday involving large-scale drills of its strategic forces. While the drills are routine, President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons since the war in Ukraine began. At a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting, Western diplomats denounced Russia's unfounded claim that Ukraine plans to use a 'dirty bomb' on its own soil as misinformation.... Ukrainian citizens residing abroad should not return home for the winter, one of the country's deputy prime ministers said, citing the need to save energy from power facilities recently crippled by Russian strikes.... Ukrainian forces continued their advance against Russia's military in the southern Kherson region, pushed back Russian mercenaries from Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk and gained new momentum in Luhansk.... A Russian anti-war group has claimed responsibility for an explosion on a railway near the Russia-Belarus border this week, Britain's Defense Ministry said Wednesday.... New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelensky in a phone call Tuesday 'to underline the United Kingdom's steadfast support for Ukraine,' according to a statement from Sunak's office."

Liberal Democrats Make Fools of Themselves. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Progressive House Democrats on Tuesday retracted their call for President Biden to engage in direct diplomatic talks with Russia over a Ukraine cease-fire, an abrupt retreat that exposed Democratic divisions and the first public hints of dissent in Congress over the war. What began this summer as an effort among liberal Democrats to persuade Mr. Biden that he had political support to pursue diplomacy for ending the conflict imploded on Tuesday after an extraordinary 24 hours. First came a letter from the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus pressing the president to seek a 'rapid end to the conflict,' then href="https://progressives.house.gov/2022/10/congressional-progressive-caucus-chair-reaffirms-support-for-ukraine-clarifies-call-for-diplomacy">a clarifying statement to respond to a hail of criticism from other Democrats, and ultimately a complete retraction as members of the group scrambled to distance themselves from their own missive, grasping for someone else to blame." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ David Stern & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Members of Ukraine's political elite rejected demands by some congressional Democrats for negotiations with Russia to end the war, saying this was 'not a viable option,' after a group of liberals called on President Biden to push Kyiv for direct talks with Moscow. The Ukrainians said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had closed off any possibility of negotiations by illegally declaring the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, and that the Russians, who are facing repeated setbacks on the battlefield, would use any cease-fire to rebuild their strength and then resume Putin's plan to steal Ukrainian territory and destroy Ukraine as a nation." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maite Simon of the Washington Post: "A Russian court rejected U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner's appeal against her nine-year prison sentence on drug charges Tuesday. The basketball star has been imprisoned since her Feb. 17 arrest, after she was accused of entering Russia with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which her lawyers said was prescribed as part of treatment for chronic pain and other conditions." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Israel/Palestine. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Israeli forces carried out a major raid against a Palestinian militia in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, killing a leader of the group and four other men, according to members of the militia and Palestinian officials.... Many Palestinians have championed the group's fighters as popular heroes.... Israel has blamed the [militia known as the] Lions' Den for a rise in shootings that it says are aimed at its troops and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including one that killed a soldier this month. It said that it had killed the group's leader, Wadie al-Houh, in an exchange of gunfire, adding that he was the main target of the raid and was responsible for producing bombs and obtaining weapons for the group." (Also linked yesterday.)

U.K. Megan Specia of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mapped out his new cabinet on Tuesday with a flurry of announcements showcasing mostly familiar faces who have served in previous Conservative Party governments, reinforcing his desire for stability during one of Britain's most fraught political moments. Mr. Sunak drew on lawmakers who had held prominent positions before to fill the most senior positions, including a number of people who were cabinet members during his predecessor Liz Truss's seven-week tenure. He signaled his strategy with his very first appointment, choosing to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor of the Exchequer."

~~~ Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday, in a carefully choreographed sequence of events..., [King Charles III] invited the new leader of the Conservative Party, Rishi Sunak, to form a government. It was at that exact moment -- and not before -- that Sunak became prime minister of the United Kingdom.... Britain is a constitutional monarchy and one of the few powers that the monarch has left is the ability to appoint the prime minister. In theory, the king could exert some personal choice; in practice, he automatically appoints the person who can command a majority in the House of Commons. (The last time a monarch exercised any real discretion was in 1931, when King George V convinced a prime minister not to resign.)... The monarch and the prime minister meet weekly, currently on Wednesdays, to discuss matters of state. There is no one else in the room...."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "A Wisconsin jury found Darrell E. Brooks Jr. guilty of first-degree intentional homicide during a Christmas parade attack in November 2021 that killed six people. Brooks slammed an SUV into a crowd at a Christmas parade near Milwaukee. He injured at least 48 others. The 40-year-old was found guilty on all intentional homicide and reckless endangerment charges, as well as six counts of hit-and-run causing death, two counts of bail jumping and one count of misdemeanor battery, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Each homicide count carries a mandatory life sentence, according to the Associated Press. Each of his 61 counts of reckless endangerment carries a maximum sentence of 17 1/2 years in prison." The AP's report is here.

Cringeworthy News. Washington Post: An Indonesian woman was killed & swallowed whole by a 22-foot python Sunday. "A search team killed the reptile and sliced open its stomach, where they discovered Jahrah's remains completely intact." ~~~

~~~ On a somewhat related note, this Washington Post article tells you what to do if you encounter a bear. Bottom line: if you are in an area when you may meet a bear, carry bear spray, AND this rule-of-thumb: "If the bear is black, fight back. If the bear is brown, lie down."