September 16, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Months before National Archives officials retrieved hundreds of classified documents in 15 boxes from ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, they were told that none of the material was sensitive or classified and that Trump had only 12 boxes of 'news clippings,' according to people familiar with the conversations.... During a September 2021 phone call with top Archives lawyer Gary Stern, former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin ... said he had talked to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who made the assertion about the dozen boxes of clippings, the people familiar with the call said. Trump's team was aware of no other materials, Philbin said, relaying information he said he got from Meadows. The characterization made in the call vastly misrepresented the scale and variety of documents, including classified records, eventually recovered by the Archives or the FBI. Philbin said that Meadows also told him no documents had been destroyed.... Stern had sought the call because he believed there were still more than two dozen boxes of materials that Trump had.... In the year since the call, Archives and Justice Department officials have recovered 42 boxes of records from Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., property.... Some White House advisers had previously said Meadows was deeply involved in the final packing at the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The good news for Marky-Mark is that he will not have to wait for a special-order orange jumpsuit; I think he'll fit right into a prêt-à-porter number.

Marie: I have no idea whether or not Akhilleus is an eminent immigration lawyer disguised as a Greek warrior in need of a podiatrist, but this comment (also below) sounds good to not-a-lawyer me: "Here's a thought: Section 274(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly transport undocumented persons across state lines. -- Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott should be immediately arrested." ~~~

~~~ Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "Massachusetts authorities announced Friday that they will move approximately 50 migrants from the island of Martha's Vineyard to a military base in Cape Cod so they can find shelter and chart next steps. The move is voluntary for the migrants, the state said. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the migrants will be offered 'shelter and humanitarian supports' in dormitory-style rooms at Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne. State and local officials will also ensure migrants have food, shelter and other services. Baker said he plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to aid in the relief effort. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) surprised federal and state officials on Wednesday by sending migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to the affluent resort island.... In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual gala on Thursday night, [President] Biden lashed out at Republicans. 'Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,' he said. 'What they're doing is simply wrong, it's un-American, it's reckless.'" The Hill's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a major reason the U.S. has not done a better job of dealing with immigration problems is that Congressional Republicans refuse to participate in realistic solutions. So when heartless Republican governors play games using human beings as pawns in order to curry favor with their racist, xenophobic base, it is heartless Republican members of Congress who have exacerbated the problems these governors think they are so brilliantly highlighting.

Crazier & Crazier. David Klepper & Ali Swenson of the AP: "After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words 'The Storm is Coming.' In QAnon lore, the 'storm' refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.... He's published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn't know much about QAnon, he couldn't disprove its conspiracy theory.... Trump's recent postings have included images referring to himself as a martyr fighting criminals, psychopaths and the so-called deep state. In one now-deleted post from late August, he reposted a 'q drop,' one of the cryptic message board postings that QAnon supporters claim come from an anonymous government worker with top secret clearance."

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post: ?Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the classified documents ... Donald Trump allegedly hoarded at his home are the kind that required a military escort when she was secretary of state.... Clinton told 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers that when she read top-secret material, an officer 'would come into my office and would have a handcuff that was attached to a suitcase in order to show me something that was so secret he literally had to have it tied to his hand.' The officer would watch Clinton read it and sign that she had reviewed it, and then he would take it back, she recalled. The idea that Trump reportedly squirreled away top-secret information on a foreign government's nuclear capabilities and the like at a country club prompted Clinton to say: 'I don't care what political party you are.... This is a threat to our national security.'"

New Hampshire Senate Race. General Chickenshit. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, [a retired army general and] the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had 'come to the conclusion' that the 2020 presidential election 'was not stolen,' after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.... He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.... Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform.... [Sen. Maggie] Hassan's [D] campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc's reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc had promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.... At least 10 [GOP] candidates in competitive races, including the Senate nominees Blake Masters in Arizona, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Ted Budd in North Carolina, have updated their websites to downplay endorsements from Mr. Trump or to soften anti-abortion language." MB: Vote Hassan!

Pennsylvania. David Wildstein of the New Jersey Globe: "New Jersey is serving as an incubator for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, with two statewide candidates being New Jersey natives and longtime residents. Gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano was a registered voter in New Jersey for 28 years until July 2021 when election officials changed his status to inactive. Records show that Mastriano voted from his family's Hightstown home from 1982, when he turned 18, through the 2010 general election. He remained on the voter rolls until a sample ballot was returned roughly six months after the death of his mother last year. Dr. Mehmet Oz lived and voted in New Jersey until 2021, when he moved to Pennsylvania to seek a U.S. Senate seat. He remains on New Jersey's voter rolls as a resident of Cliffside Park and could legally vote in his home state this November if he chose to not vote in Pennsylvania." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the name David Wildstein sounds familiar to you, it should. Think, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

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** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday rejected the Justice Department's request to resume a key part of its inquiry into ... Donald J. Trump's handling of sensitive government records and appointed an outside arbiter to review thousands of documents seized last month from his Florida residence. The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, declined to lift any part of an order she issued last week that barred the department from using the documents, including about 100 marked classified, in its investigation until the arbiter, known as a special master, had completed a review. In her 10-page decision, Judge Cannon appointed a special master suggested by the Trump legal team and agreed upon by the government: Raymond J. Dearie, a semiretired judge from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York.... But as part of her order, Judge Cannon permitted the government to continue using the documents for a national security risk assessment and a classification review.... The move was a blow to the Justice Department, almost certain to significantly delay its investigation into whether the former president unlawfully retained national defense records or obstructed repeated attempts by federal officials to retrieve them.... The department is now planning to appeal the decision, and top officials were meeting to discuss the timing of their filing, according to a senior law enforcement official." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not mentioned in the NYT article: Cannon has also ordered that Trump & his lawyers could have access to all of the classified documents under review. As Barbara McQuade pointed out on MSNBC, that means that people without classified clearance -- including Donald Trump -- would be able to review documents that under any other circumstances, they could not view and potentially compromise. She noted that Trump could choose any lawyers he wanted, including, say, Rudy Giuliani. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In her opinion, Cannon responded to criticism that she had put too much emphasis on Trump's status as a former president* who could suffer "reputational harm" if the DOJ indicted him, by noting that "the principles of equity require the court to consider the specific context at issue, and that consideration is inherently impacted by the position formerly held" by Trump. Andrew Weissmann noted on MSNBC that Cannon came right out & said that the position that a litigant held gives him extra weight in any dispute. This, Weissmann notes, is an abuse of the U.S. legal system & the rule of law that everyone receives equal treatment. Ben Rhodes, also on MSNBC, noted that "There are two systems of laws: one for Donald Trump and one for everyone else." Trump & Cannon are playing right out of the authoritarian playbook, Rhodes said, in which a politician appoints judges to rule in his favor. Cannon's "main qualification is that she would be a rubber-stamp for Donald Trump," Rhodes said.

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... Cannon refused to accept department officials' contention that the records they are trying to review as part of an ongoing criminal investigation remain highly classified or contain extraordinarily sensitive defense information that could damage national security if released.... In a signed filing released by the court on Thursday night, [Judge Raymond] Dearie accepted the [special master] task. Cannon urged him to complete his review by Nov. 30 -- more than a month after the Oct. 17 deadline the Justice Department had most recently asked Cannon to set. While Cannon's timeline appears to extend Dearie's review well past the November midterm elections, she did instruct him 'to prioritize review of the approximately 100 documents marked as classified (and papers physically attached thereto).'... The judge also emphasized that she was giving Justice Department personnel some leeway to participate in the national security assessment even as she maintains her order blocking the use of any of the documents in the criminal probe.... In one nod to the Justice Department, Cannon ordered Trump to shoulder the full cost of Dearie's review, as well as that for any staff or associates he hires." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Cannon's refusal to accept that the documents the DOJ asked to except from her order were classified or "highly classified" is a fairly amazing "alternative-fact" take. It may be true that some of the documents are not as sensitive as the government contends -- perhaps they're nothing but John Podesta's tips for creamy risotto -- but they are clearly classified. (BTW, I make risotto the way Podesta makes risotto [although I usually make it with porcini], and that's the way to do it.) Just look at the photo of the jackets. Also, so unfa-a-a-ir Trump has to spend his own money on a special master, attorneys, etc. Oh, wait ~~~

     ~~~ Betsy Swan of Politico: "Donald Trump's outside spending arm has paid $3 million to cover attorney Chris Kise's legal work representing the former president, according to three people familiar with the arrangement.... Kise is representing the former president on both the Justice Department's probe of the Jan. 6 attack and on the investigation of the sensitive documents Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency ended.... Kise left the firm Foley and Lardner and set up his own firm, Chris Kise & Associates, in order to take Trump as a client.... Save America itself is facing scrutiny from the Justice Department. Last week, numerous grand jury subpoenas asked people in Trump world about the PAC's fundraising and spending activities.... In the [House January 6] panel's second public hearing, as NPR detailed, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) noted that Trump urged donors to support an 'Official Election Defense Fund.' She said the committee learned that the fund did not exist, and that instead much of the money Trump raised in the wake of the election went to Save America.... [Lofgren said,] 'So not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Rip-off.'"

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump warned that if he were indicted on a charge of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, there would be 'problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we've never seen before.' Trump, speaking Thursday to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, added, 'I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it.'... Trump's comments Thursday came hours before officials from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security briefed Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee about threats against federal officials. After the briefing, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee's chairman, described Trump's rhetoric as dangerous." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So what we have here is (1) a Trump-appointed judge expressing great skepticism about the DOJ's integrity and asserting that Donald Trump is above the law & would unfairly suffer "reputational harm" if he were indicted, and (2) Donald Trump himself promising some sort of massive rebellion against the government if he is indicted. This looks less like a normal legal dispute than a conspiracy to undermine the federal government & foment revolution unless the DOJ backs off its investigations. P.S. Don't know why the WashPo & Politico overlooked this part of Trump's interview with Hewitt: ~~~

     ~~~ The Magic Wand. Tierney Sneed of CNN: "... Donald Trump claimed on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Thursday that he declassified the government records that were taken to Mar-a-Lago -- an assertion that his attorneys have avoided making in the litigation around the FBI's seizure of the materials. Hewitt asked Trump about an account given by his former White House aide Kash Patel that Patel witnessed Trump's giving a verbal order to declassify the documents taken to Mar-a-Lago. (Patel, in an interview with Breitbart, said the materials Trump declassified had to do with the Russia probe, the Ukraine impeachment proceedings and 'major national security matters of great public importance.') 'That's correct,' Trump said. 'And not only that, I think it was other people also were there. But I have the absolute right to declassify, absolute -- a president has that absolute right, and a lot of people aren't even challenging that anymore.' Trump added later in the interview that 'everything was declassified.' In a court filing earlier this week, the Justice Department drilled down on the absence of any such assertion from Trump's legal team in court, while also arguing to the court that, even if he did declassify the materials, it would still be irrelevant to the legal dispute over the search." MB: Uh, apparently Trump's own lawyers are "questioning that." Keep talking, Donald; with any luck, the DOJ is taking notes.

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Dozens of subpoenas issued last week show that the Justice Department is seeking vast amounts of information, and communications with more than 100 people, as part of its sprawling inquiry into the origins, fundraising and motives of the effort to block Joe Biden from being certified as president in early 2021. The subpoenas, three of which were reviewed by The Washington Post, are far-reaching, covering 18 separate categories of information.... Taken together, the subpoenas show an investigation that began immediately after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has cast an ever-widening net, even as it gathers information about those in the former president's inner circle. 'It looks like a multipronged fraud and obstruction investigation,' said Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor.... Trump's team is arranging lawyers for at least some of the aides under subpoena, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. Trump himself has not received a subpoena, according to a person close to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter." ~~~

~~~ Meredith McGraw & Jonathan Lemire of Politico: Donald "Trump's allies and aides have been left angry and a bit shaken this week over the Department of Justice's issuance of some 40 subpoenas targeting people in Trump's inner orbit over their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and their connections to events on Jan. 6. Cell phones were confiscated from at least four people. A few trusted text chains among Trump vets were ignited with speculation about shoes soon to drop, while others went quiet. 'Every day feels like something else is piling on,' said one former Trump official. Gone, for most in Trump World, was the bravado that this probe too would pass and that the 45th president would emerge stronger. Instead, there was growing anxiety about what could be next, as well as fears that those in the inner circle may flip on their friends to save themselves."

Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "The Justice Department is seeking information about at least seven people in connection with a breach of a Colorado county's voting system as part of efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, according to subpoena documents obtained by CNN that reveal new details about the breadth of the investigation. The subpoena issued to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell earlier this week lists the names of people considered 'subjects' in the investigation -- including people involved in efforts to seize voting machine data in several states as ... Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn his electoral loss. Lindell has not been charged with any crimes or wrongdoing."

McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "A Virginia man who wore a sweatshirt with the words 'Camp Auschwitz' across his chest as he breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to 75 days in prison, officials said. Robert Keith Packer, 57, of Newport News, was arrested about a week after the insurrection and pleaded guilty in January to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. In addition to his prison time, which aligned with what prosecutors had requested, Mr. Packer must pay $500 in restitution. Judge Carl J. Nichols of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia said during a virtual court hearing that although there was no evidence that Mr. Packer had used violence against officers, his sweatshirt was 'incredibly offensive,' according to NBC News. The judge also said he felt that Mr. Packer's apology was lacking, compared with those of other defendants who were charged in the riot." Politico's report is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden convened a summit meeting at the White House on Thursday to denounce white supremacy and other forms of bias, calling on Americans to speak out against prejudice and taking a veiled swipe at former President Donald J. Trump for in his view countenancing hate-fueled violence.... While Mr. Biden did not mention Mr. Trump by name, he derided his predecessor's response to the Charlottesville violence. 'When the last guy was asked what did he think, he said he thought there were some fine people on both sides,' Mr. Biden said."

Josh Boak & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a nationwide strike that could have been devastating to the economy before the pivotal midterm elections.... The president brought business and union leaders to the Oval Office on Thursday morning, then hailed the deal in remarks in the White House Rose Garden. 'This agreement is validation of what I've always believed, unions and management can work together -- can work together -- for the benefit of everyone,' Biden declared." (This is an update of a story linked early yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post describe how President Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg & Labor Secretary Marty Walsh engaged in the negotiations to avert an impending rail strike. "Four decades after President Ronald Reagan fired thousands of striking air traffic controllers, Biden took a markedly different tack, often defending the workers' demands in private discussions."

Republicans Afraid to Guarantee Same-Sex Marriage Rights. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats decided on Thursday to postpone a planned vote on legislation to provide federal protections for same-sex marriage until after the midterm elections in November, amid dimming hopes of drawing enough Republican support to ensure its passage with tight races on the line. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin and the lead sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, said that delaying action would increase the chance of getting the 10 Republican votes needed to push it through the evenly divided Senate, where 60 would be necessary to move it forward. The decision to do so came as a relief to Republicans, the vast majority of whom oppose the measure and were worried that voting against it so close to the elections would alienate voters."

Mariana Alfaro & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) appeared to kick an unarmed demonstrator during a confrontation outside the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. Videos posted to Twitter by Greene and the Gen Z activist group Voters of Tomorrow show Greene leaving a news conference while being questioned by activists about gun violence. As Greene approaches a crosswalk, she appears to kick one of the activists, who was walking in front of her.... 'Excuse me,' Greene says while at first appearing to step on demonstrator Marianna Pecora's foot. 'Excuse me,' Greene says again, this time after appearing to intentionally draw back her foot and aim for Pecora's leg. 'Oh my God,' Pecora, 18, is seen saying in the videos. 'You can't block members of Congress,' Greene's communications director, Nick Dyer, told Pecora, even though Greene was engaging her in conversation." Includes video.

I thought I was coming to Boston. I ended up on this little island. -- Ardenis Nazareth, a migrant from Venezuela, dumped on Martha's Vineyard ~~~

~~~ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, et al., of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday defended flying migrants from Texas to a Massachusetts resort island unprepared to receive them.... In interviews with The Washington Post on Thursday, several migrants who had recently crossed the southern border said they boarded the planes after a woman approached them in San Antonio, offering work and a place to stay. They said they did not know they were headed for Martha's Vineyard -- a tiny island where wealthy vacationers spend the summer months -- and believed instead that they were going to large cities. Authorities in Massachusetts said they received no heads-up and scrambled to help. Two charter flights took dozens of migrants from San Antonio to the island on Wednesday afternoon, making stops in Florida and other states along the way, according to local officials on Martha;s Vineyard.... Democratic leaders denounced DeSantis's move Thursday, with Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) calling on the Justice Department to investigate." A New York Times story is here. A second, related, New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Former HUD Secretary [& Joaquin's twin brother] Julián Castro also has called on the Department of Justice to investigate Republican governors dumping immigrants in blue states. Castro agrees with me that these governors are engaging in human trafficking for their own political gain. Castro appeared on MSNBC to discuss his concerns. No link.

     ~~~ P.S. If Ron DeSantis & Greg Abbott were hoping their crimes against humanity would prove that liberals don't care about immigrants any more than the governors do, they've been disappointed. People on the Vineyard, Massachusetts authorities & Washington, D.C., charitable groups rushed to the aid of the immigrants the governors dumped in Martha's Vineyard & near the Naval Observatory in D.C., despite the fact that DeSantis & Abbott dropped off the immigrants without warning (well, except to Fox "News").

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Priscilla Alvarez, et al., of CNN: "Two buses carrying migrants arrived Thursday at the US Naval Observatory -- the vice president's residence in Washington, DC -- from Texas, surprising volunteers who were not prepared to receive them there, volunteers in the district said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been busing migrants to the nation's capital to protest the Biden administration's immigration policies, said Thursday in a tweet that his state intentionally sent the buses to Vice President Kamala Harris' residence.... Thursday's passengers included families and young men. Around 70% to 80% of the migrants are from Venezuela, according to volunteers. They had a few belongings in trash bags and some documents.... SAMU First Response, one of the groups helping migrants in Washington, was not provided a heads up, according to the group's managing director, Tatiana Laborde." A photo accompanying the story shows migrants left sitting on the sidewalk outside the Observatory. MB: Republican cruelty knows no bounds. P.S. Vote Beto! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

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: "A mass grave discovered by Ukrainian authorities in the recently liberated city of Izyum appears to be the lates atrocity left by retreating Russian troops, adding to apparent war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol. Officials are expected to announce more details Friday on the burial site, which reports indicated could contain hundreds of bodies.... A top police official for the Kharkiv region told Sky News that more than 400 bodies were discovered at the burial site.... Also on Friday, President Biden is expected to meet with family members of two U.S. citizens held in Russia, WNBA player Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan. The United States considers them wrongfully detained though the White House indicated that negotiations on their release had not advanced.... The International Atomic Energy Agency called on Russia to 'immediately cease all actions against, and at'the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in a resolution passed by its Board of Governors on Thursday. Twenty-six countries voted in favor, while only Russia and China opposed it, according to Reuters."

Anton Troianovski & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "... Vladimir V. Putin acknowledged on Thursday that China had 'questions and concerns' about Russia's war in Ukraine, a notable, if cryptic, admission that Moscow lacks the full backing of its biggest, most powerful partner on the world stage. Mr. Putin met China's leader, Xi Jinping, on Thursday in their first in-person meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, and as Mr. Xi traveled abroad for the first time since the start of the pandemic. But rather than put on a show of Eurasian unity against the West as Russia struggled to recover from last week's humiliating military retreat in northeastern Ukraine, the two leaders struck discordant notes in their public remarks -- and Mr. Xi made no mention of Ukraine at all.... It was a moment, on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan, that showed the daunting political straits Mr. Putin finds himself in nearly seven months into his invasion of Ukraine.... The Russian president on Thursday saw Mr. Xi -- who had pledged a friendship with 'no limits' just three weeks before Russia invaded -- conspicuously withhold any public support for Mr. Putin's war." MB: Apparently Xi doesn't like a loser.

Siobhán O'Grady & Anastacia Galouchka of the Washington Post: "About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles. The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story residential house where Russians were squatting and later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to The Washington Post for review. They paint a portrait of dejected troops desperate for rest and concerned about their health and morale after months of fighting."

Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "To address Russia's shortage of soldiers to send to war in Ukraine, the Wagner mercenary group seems to be making an offer that it hopes convicted criminals can't refuse: a get out of jail card. 'After six months [at war] you receive a pardon, and there is no option for you to return to prison,' a man dressed in tan-colored fatigues said, addressing a crowd of Russian inmates.... 'Those who arrive [at the front line] and say on Day 1 it's not for them get shot,' the man added. The recording pitch, captured on video, surfaced Monday night on Russian Telegram channels, and the man in fatigues making the offer appears to be Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the billionaire nicknamed 'Putin's chef' who is also the reputed financier of the Wagner private military company.... Russia's shortage of reinforcements was apparently part of the reason Moscow's troops were unprepared for a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent days that ousted Russian occupying fosters from most of the northeast Kharkiv region." Putin is afraid to impose a military draft, "a move [which] would be politically toxic."

U.K. The Guardian's live updates of events & developments related to memorials to Queen Elizabeth II are here.

September 15, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Josh Boak & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a nationwide strike that could have been devastating to the economy before the pivotal midterm elections.... The president brought business and union leaders to the Oval Office on Thursday morning, then hailed the deal in remarks in the White House Rose Garden. 'This agreement is validation of what I've always believed, unions and management can work together -- can work together -- for the benefit of everyone,' Biden declared." This is an update of a story linked earlier today. ~~~

Priscilla Alvarez, et al., of CNN: "Two buses carrying migrants arrived Thursday at the US Naval Observatory -- the vice president's residence in Washington, DC -- from Texas, surprising volunteers who were not prepared to receive them there, volunteers in the district said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been busing migrants to the nation's capital to protest the Biden administration's immigration policies, said Thursday in a tweet that his state intentionally sent the buses to Vice President Kamala Harris' residence.... Thursday's passengers included families and young men. Around 70% to 80% of the migrants are from Venezuela, according to volunteers. They had a few belongings in trash bags and some documents.... SAMU First Response, one of the groups helping migrants in Washington, was not provided a heads up, according to the group's managing director, Tatiana Laborde." A photo accompanying the story shows migrants left sitting on the sidewalk outside the Observatory. MB: Republican cruelty knows no bounds. P.S. Vote Beto!

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Jim Tankersley & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Biden, desperate to avert a damaging freight rail strike that could exacerbate rapid inflation, is pushing rail companies and unions to reach an agreement ahead of a Friday deadline, while exploring whether he can do anything unilaterally to assuage workers' concerns. Mr. Biden and his economic team have been inserting themselves into final-hour negotiations between rail unions and large rail companies, which are at loggerheads over scheduling and sick time. Labor groups have insisted that employees be able to take unpaid time off for physician appointments, a request railroad companies have been unwilling to grant. On Wednesday, in anticipation of a strike, Amtrak said it would cancel all long-distance passenger trains beginning on Thursday in order to avoid possibly stranding people given that many of its trains run on tracks operated and maintained by freight carriers. Also on Wednesday, members of a small rail union, whose leaders had reached a tentative deal with freight companies, voted down the agreement, signaling more difficulty in negotiations to come." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update. Josh Boak & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a strike that could have been devastating to the economy before the pivotal midterm elections. Railroads and union representatives had been in negotiations for 20 hours at the Labor Department on Wednesday to hammer out a deal, as there was a risk of a strike starting on Friday that could have shut down rail lines across the country. Biden made a key phone call to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh at 9 p.m. as the talks were ongoing after Italian dinner had been brought in, according to a White House official.... The president told the negotiators to consider the harm to families, farmers and businesses if a shutdown occurred.... [The] tentative agreement that will go to union members for a vote after a post-ratification cooling off period of several weeks." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions and peace of mind around their healthcare costs, all hard-earned. The agreement is also a victory for railway companies who will be able to retain and recruit more workers for an industry that will continue to be part of the backbone of the American economy for decades to come. I think the unions and rail companies for negotiating in good faith and reaching a tentative agreement that will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy. -- President Joe Biden, on the tentative agreement

CBS News/AP: "President Biden, a gearhead with his own vintage Corvette, showcased his administration's efforts to promote electric vehicles during a visit Wednesday to the Detroit auto show, where he announced hundreds of millions of dollars to build roughly 500,000 charging stations across dozens of states. Mr. Biden arrived at the massive North American International Auto Show to plug the huge new climate, tax and health care law that offers tax incentives for buying electric vehicles. He toured a mix of American-manufactured hybrid, electric and combustion vehicles from Chevrolet, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis on a closed-off convention center floor, and greeted union workers, CEOs, and local leaders.... In Detroit, Mr. Biden announced approval of the first $900 million in infrastructure money to build EV chargers across 53,000 miles of the national highway system and 35 states." ~~~

Kylie Atlwood of CNN: "President Joe Biden plans to nominate Lynne Tracy, a career diplomat currently serving in Armenia, as the next US ambassador to Russia, according to three sources.... Tracy, who speaks Russian and was the No. 2 diplomat in Moscow from 2014 to 2017, would be the first female to serve in the role. She has been ambassador to Armenia since 2019." (Also linked yesterday.)

As the Noose Tightens. Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department's investigation into events surrounding January 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation. Meadows turned over the same materials he provided to the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack, one source said, meeting the obligations of the Justice Department subpoena, which has not been previously reported.... In addition to Trump's former chief of staff, one of Meadows' top deputies in the White House, Ben Williamson, also recently received a grand jury subpoena, another source familiar with the matter tells CNN. That subpoena was similar to what others in Trump's orbit received. It asked for testimony and records relating to January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Williamson previously cooperated with the January 6 committee."

Tierney Sneed & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department is investigating felony violations of false statements, conspiracy and obstruction as part of its January 6, 2021, probe that led to a recent search of former Trump administration official Jeffrey Clark's home, according to an account of the criminal investigation made public Wednesday in a separate proceeding. Clark's legal team wrote that on June 20 'approximately a dozen armed agents of the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General executed a criminal search warrant at [Mr. Clark's] home at around 7 a.m. and seized his electronic devices' as part of an investigation into violations of laws concerning false statements, conspiracy and obstruction, according to a report published Wednesday by a committee of the DC Bar's Board on Professional Responsibility. This is the first time a document has named the specifics of what the Justice Department is considering as possible crimes.... Separate from the criminal investigation -- in which Clark has not been charged -- the DC Bar's disciplinary counsel brought an ethics complaint against Clark for the role he played in seeking to use his department to promote Trump's bogus election fraud claims at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. This is the first time a document has named the specifics of what the Justice Department is considering as possible crimes, as it looks at the top circle of political players around ... Donald Trump before January 6."

An Offer She Could Refuse. Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "The New York attorney general's office has rebuffed an offer from Donald J. Trump's lawyers to settle a contentious civil investigation into the former president and his family real estate business, setting the stage for a lawsuit that would accuse Mr. Trump of fraud, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The attorney general, Letitia James, is also considering suing at least one of Mr. Trump's adult children, the people said. Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., have all been senior executives at Mr. Trump's company, the Trump Organization."

Donald Trump, International Diplomat. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "President Trump once offered what he considered 'a great deal' to Jordan's King Abdullah II: control of the West Bank, whose Palestinian population long sought to topple the monarchy.... The unreported offer to Abdullah is among the startling new details about Trump's chaotic presidency in the book 'The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021' by Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, and Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker.... The offer to Abdullah of the West Bank -- which is bordered by Israel and Jordan, and which Trump had no control over -- came in January 2018. Trump thought he would be doing the Jordanian king a favor, not realizing that it would destabilize his country, according to the book." The article runs down a number of other Trump disasters.

Here's one I missed: ~~~

~~~ John Bowden of the Independent, republished by Yahoo! News (Sept. 12): "Donald Trump was spotted on the greens of his Virginia golf course on Monday.... Pictures appeared to indicate that Mr Trump was inspecting or giving a tour of his club's golf course with Trump Organization figures.... [Nixon whistleblower John Dean tweeted,] 'This is much like a mob meeting, right out of the movies! Golf shirts so no wires. Move around so no unseen electronic fixes. Way out of camera range so no lip reading.'... 'So, Donnie Soprano and da boys got together at da Banda Bing golf club to sort though some ... problems,' quipped Glenn Kirschner, an MSNBC legal analyst.... [Trump's one-time fixer Michael Cohen tweeted,] '... My sources say he was meeting with 2 lawyers in secrecy and didn't trust being at their offices. Notice there are no golf clubs on the cart!!!'...."

Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: John "Durham appears to be winding down his three-year inquiry without anything close to the [explosive] results [Donald] Trump was seeking. The grand jury that Mr. Durham has recently used to hear evidence has expired, and while he could convene another, there are currently no plans to do so, three people familiar with the matter said.... Over the course of his inquiry, Mr. Durham has developed cases against two people accused of lying to the F.B.I..., but he has not charged any conspiracy or put any high-level officials on trial.... After Mr. Durham's team completes its report [on the inquiry], it will be up to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to decide whether to make its findings public.... Mr. Durham and his team used a grand jury in Washington to indict Michael Sussmann, a prominent cybersecurity lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's campaign.... Mr. Sussmann was acquitted.... A grand jury based in the Eastern District of Virginia last year indicted a Russia analyst who had worked with Christopher Steele.... The analyst, Igor Danchenko, who is accused of lying to federal investigators, goes on trial next month.... In the third case, Mr. Durham's team negotiated a plea deal with an F.B.I. lawyer..., [which] resulted in no prison time." See also yesterday's Comments. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Andrew Solender of Axios: "The chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack said Wednesday that the panel has received 'thousands of exhibits' from Secret Service agents in response to its July subpoena of the agency.... Uncovering information from the Secret Service has been a major focus for the panel since testimony during its public hearings in June and July revealed the agency's role in key events on Jan. 6.... Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters that the materials obtained are 'a combination of a number of text messages, radio traffic ... thousands of exhibits.' Thompson said the the materials consist "primarily" of texts from agents on Jan. 5 and 6, but declined to go into further detail because the committee is still reviewing them."

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A man who wore a 'Trump 2020' hat as he beat one officer and dragged another down the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6 has pleaded guilty, admitting telling officers 'you're gonna die tonight' and repeatedly assaulting law enforcement. Jack Wade Whitton, 32, from Georgia, bragged in a message obtained by the government that he had 'fed' a cop 'to the people.' He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.... Whitton admitted that he hit an officer with a crutch when the officer was on the ground, kicked another officer and then dragged the officer he'd hit with a crutch down the stairs in a prone position. Other rioters then beat the officer with a flagpole and baton. Whitten then returned to the police line about 20 minutes later, kicked at officers, kicked a riot shield held by an officer, and yelled 'you're gonna die tonight,' he acknowledged in his plea." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Perhaps Whitton is one of the people Donald Trump says has "been treated very, very unfairly." ~~~

~~~ Maroosha Muzaffar of the Independent, republished by Yahoo!: "... Donald Trump spoke to the mother of Ashli Babbitt on speakerphone on Tuesday as she rallied for Jan 6 defendants outside of a Washington DC jail.... 'Its a terrible thing that has happened with a lot of people that have been treated very, very unfairly. We love Ashli and so horrible what happened to her.... We are with you. We are working with a lot of different people on this. We can't let this happen,' he can be heard saying in the video. 'You look at all of the riots that took place -- for a long period of time, not just 2020, the last long period of time, and almost nothing has happened to those people,' he continued." MB: Yeah, "those people." They get away with everything, don't they?

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it would let stand for now a ruling that Yeshiva University must recognize an L.G.B.T. student group. The vote was 5 to 4, with the majority saying that the university, a Modern Orthodox Jewish institution in Manhattan, must first pursue challenges to the ruling in state court. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the four dissenters, said that further challenges were pointless and that the majority had inflicted grave harm on the university's right to religious freedom. 'A state's imposition of its own mandatory interpretation of Scripture is a shocking development that calls out for review,' he wrote.... Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined Justice Alito's dissent.... The order dissolved an interim stay entered last week by Justice Sotomayor." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not going to seek out & read the background material, so I could be wrong here. But I'd be mighty surprised if the trial judge actually based her decision on Scripture she had "interpreted." From the Times report, it appears -- as you would expect --that what she interpreted was existing law. Update: The Washington Post's story suggests I'm right: it was the university, not the court that interpreted the Torah. Alito, et al., seem to be blinded by religious fervor. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "On Monday, [Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan] let loose a burst of refreshing clarity during a talk at Temple Emanu-El in New York. 'Judges create legitimacy problems for themselves ... when they instead stray into places where it looks like they're an extension of the political process or when they're imposing their own personal preferences,' she said. She added that the public has a right to expect that 'changes in personnel don't send the entire legal system up for grabs.' That's as clear an indictment of the six right-wing justices as you are going to hear. Indeed, Kagan made a few irrefutable points while eviscerating Roberts's feigned cluelessness.... The dissenters [in Dobbs -- Kagan, Sotomayor & Breyer --] called the majority opinion for what it is: partisan hackery. 'The majority has overruled Roe and Casey for one and only one reason: because it has always despised them, and now it has the votes to discard them,' they wrote. 'The majority thereby substitutes a rule by judges for the rule of law.'" ~~~

~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Justice Elena Kagan warned again on Wednesday that unsound reasoning and politically convenient conclusions have infected the Supreme Court's recent opinions and are doing damage to the court's standing with the American public. 'When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them as trying just to impose personal preferences on a society irrespective of the law, that's when there's a problem -- and that's when there ought to be a problem,' Kagan said during an event at Northwestern University School of Law.... The recent criticisms from Kagan ... now seem more pointed because they come just days after Chief Justice John Roberts expressed concern publicly that the court's reputation is being unfairly battered."

David Gelles of the New York Times: "A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away. Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company's independence and ensure that all of its profits -- some $100 million a year -- are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.... Because the Chouinards donated their shares to a trust, the family will pay about $17.5 million in taxes on the gift....

"Barre Seid, a Republican donor, is the only other example in recent memory of a wealthy business owner who gave away his company for philanthropic and political causes. But Mr. Seid took a different approach in giving 100 percent of his electronics company to a nonprofit organization, reaping an enormous personal tax windfall as he made a $1.6 billion gift to fund conservative causes, including efforts to stop action on climate change."

Sonia Rao & Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "A Chicago jury on Wednesday convicted R. Kelly of multiple child pornography and child sex abuse charges in the second federal trial looking into sexual assault allegations against him, according to the Associated Press. In June, the 55-year-old former R&B singer received a 30-year prison sentence from a Brooklyn judge."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Graeme Massie of the Independent, republished by Yahoo! News: "Florida governor Ron DeSantis has sent two planes of undocumented migrants to Martha's Vineyard.... Florida&'s Republican-controlled state legislature has handed the governor $12m to remove migrants from the state and transport them elsewhere." Update: The New York Times story is here.

Joe Henderson of Florida Politics: Sen. "Marco Rubio ... is a co-sponsor of a bill from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for a national abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.... Key Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, don't even support this bill. McConnell said most GOP Senators 'prefer this be handled at the state level.' That makes Rubio's decision to wade into this lava-hot issue even more puzzling.... A Florida Atlantic University poll in May showed 67% of Floridians believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.... Rubio routinely calls Democrat Val Demings an extremist on the issue, but it's not hard to imagine thousands of Florida women saying, 'Yeah? And your point?'"

Indiana. Poppy Noor of the Guardian: "A sweeping abortion ban went into effect in Indiana on Thursday, containing only extremely narrow exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest and making it the latest state to largely outlaw the procedure in the US. The ban is being challenged in court by the ACLU and several abortion care providers, with hearings set to start on 19 September. Indiana lawmakers passed the legislation during a special legislative session in early August, with a six-week pause before it came into effect."

Massachusetts. McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "A package exploded inside a campus building at Northeastern University on Tuesday night, injuring an employee and spreading fear among Boston's many college campuses, the police said. Officers were called just after 7:15 p.m. to Holmes Hall at 39 Leon Street, which houses the writing center on the private university's campus, for a suspicious package that had detonated, the authorities said. A further search revealed a second package, which was rendered safe by the Boston Police Department's bomb squad." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Local Boston TV news is reporting that the bomb may have been a hoax, perpetrated by the person who was injured.

Mississippi. Cindy Boren of the Washington Post: "Former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant helped Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre obtain welfare funds to help build a volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi, according to an investigative report by Mississippi Today.... The texts allegedly show Favre, New and Bryant conferring on how to divert at least $5 million for a volleyball stadium at Southern Miss, where Favre played college football and his daughter played volleyball at the time some texts were sent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New Hampshire Senate Race. Colby Itkowitz & DaveWeigel of the Washington Post: "Republican primary voters nominated Don Bolduc for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, selecting a far-right candidate over an establishment-backed rival to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a key midterm battleground. Bolduc has echoed Donald Trump's false claims that the former president won the 2020 election; he has voiced openness to abolishing the FBI; and he has accused party leaders of 'rigging' a 2020 primary that he narrowly lost. The retired U.S. Army brigadier general defeated state Senate President Chuck Morse -- an outcome that was a blow to Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and an outside group with ties to Senate Republican leadership, which sought to elevate the state Senate president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Sweden. Christina Anderson & Isabella Kwai of the New York Times: "Sweden's right-wing parties combined to win a remarkable, if slim, election victory on Wednesday, buoyed by surging support for a far-right nationalist party, the Sweden Democrats, an electoral convulsion expected to shake national politics and likely end eight years of rule by the center-left. With over 99 percent of ballots counted, the Swedish Election Authority reported that the right-wing bloc had won 176 of the 349 seats in Parliament. The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the main party in the current governing coalition, grabbed the highest percentage votes as an individual party, but together with its allies, had secured 173 seats in Parliament, not enough to stay in power.... The new government is expected to be led by Ulf Kristersson, head of the Moderates, who would become prime minister in a minority administration." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Russia is warning the United States not to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, saying such an act would make Washington a 'direct party to the conflict' and breach a 'red line.' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a somewhat personal retaliation amid Ukraine's stunning counteroffensive, Russian forces hit Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine overnight, shelling a dam and leaving hundreds of homes flooded and citizens without water, according to Ukrainian authorities.... Zelensky said the dam hit in his hometown had 'no military value at all.'... Zelensky was in a car crash Wednesday but did not sustain major injuries, press secretary Sergii Nykyforov said in a statement on Facebook.... Zelensky made a surprise visit to Izyum, a strategic city in the northeastern Kharkiv region, on Wednesday, which he said was mostly recaptured from Russian control. He said in remarks overnight that there have been reports of 'murders, tortures and abductions by the occupiers' and that some of the scenes being uncovered were similar to what was found in Bucha, where Ukrainian civilians suffered some of the worst atrocities of the war at the hands of Russian troops.... Vladimir Putin met with President Xi Jinping of China in Uzbekistan, signaling the strength of their ties."

U.K. "The Queue." Isabella Kwai of the New York Times: "Thousands of people waited in line -- a very long line -- to pay homage at the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, who will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.... On Wednesday night, and into Thursday morning, [the queue] was three miles long and ever-moving, with initial waits as long as 30 hours, officials warned, making it a feat of endurance, an all-night and all-day marathon." ~~~

~~~ Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Borne on a gun carriage and saluted by the boom of artillery cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was carried on Wednesday from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, a last transfer of the sovereign's body from her family to the British state.... The queen will lie ... in state [at Westminster Hall] until her funeral on Monday. King Charles III, in dress uniform and carrying a field marshal's baton, walked behind the coffin, joined by his sister, Princess Anne, and their two brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. His elder son and heir, Prince William, newly named as the Prince of Wales, walked behind him, next to his brother, Prince Harry."

September 14, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Christina Anderson & Isabella Kwai of the New York Times: "Sweden's right-wing parties combined to win a remarkable, if slim, election victory on Wednesday, buoyed by surging support for a far-right nationalist party, the Sweden Democrats, an electoral convulsion expected to shake national politics and likely end eight years of rule by the center-left. With over 99 percent of ballots counted, the Swedish Election Authority reported that the right-wing bloc had won 176 of the 349 seats in Parliament. The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the main party in the current governing coalition, grabbed the highest percentage votes as an individual party, but together with its allies, had secured 173 seats in Parliament, not enough to stay in power.... The new government is expected to be led by Ulf Kristersson, head of the Moderates, who would become prime minister in a minority administration."

Kylie Atlwood of CNN: "President Joe Biden plans to nominate Lynne Tracy, a career diplomat currently serving in Armenia, as the next US ambassador to Russia, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Tracy, who speaks Russian and was the No. 2 diplomat in Moscow from 2014 to 2017, would be the first female to serve in the role. She has been ambassador to Armenia since 2019."

Cindy Boren of the Washington Post: "Former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant helped Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre obtain welfare funds to help build a volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi, according to an investigative report by Mississippi Today.... The texts allegedly show Favre, New and Bryant conferring on how to divert at least $5 million for a volleyball stadium at Southern Miss, where Favre played college football and his daughter played volleyball at the time some texts were sent."

Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: John "Durham appears to be winding down his three-year inquiry without anything close to the [explosive] results [Donald] Trump was seeking. The grand jury that Mr. Durham has recently used to hear evidence has expired, and while he could convene another, there are currently no plans to do so, three people familiar with the matter said.... Over the course of his inquiry, Mr. Durham has developed cases against two people accused of lying to the F.B.I..., but he has not charged any conspiracy or put any high-level officials on trial.... After Mr. Durham's team completes its report [on the inquiry], it will be up to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to decide whether to make its findings public.... Mr. Durham and his team used a grand jury in Washington to indict Michael Sussmann, a prominent cybersecurity lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's campaign.... Mr. Sussmann was acquitted.... A grand jury based in the Eastern District of Virginia last year indicted a Russia analyst who had worked with Christopher Steele.... The analyst, Igor Danchenko, who is accused of lying to federal investigators, goes on trial next month.... In the third case, Mr. Durham's team negotiated a plea deal with an F.B.I. lawyer..., [which] resulted in no prison time." See today's Comments below.

Massachusetts. McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "A package exploded inside a campus building at Northeastern University on Tuesday night, injuring an employee and spreading fear among Boston's many college campuses, the police said. Officers were called just after 7:15 p.m. to Holmes Hall at 39 Leon Street, which houses the writing center on the private university's campus, for a suspicious package that had detonated, the authorities said. A further search revealed a second package, which was rendered safe by the Boston Police Department's bomb squad." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Local Boston TV news is reporting that the bomb may have been a hoax, perpetrated by the person who was injured.

New Hampshire Senate Race. Colby Itkowitz & DaveWeigel of the Washington Post: "Republican primary voters nominated Don Bolduc for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, selecting a far-right candidate over an establishment-backed rival to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a key midterm battleground. Bolduc has echoed Donald Trump's false claims that the former president won the 2020 election; he has voiced openness to abolishing the FBI; and he has accused party leaders of 'rigging' a 2020 primary that he narrowly lost. The retired U.S. Army brigadier general defeated state Senate President Chuck Morse -- an outcome that was a blow to Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and an outside group with ties to Senate Republican leadership, which sought to elevate the state Senate president."

~~~~~~~~~~

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "On Tuesday evening, President Biden voted. The process involved a hasty announcement to the press, multiple motorcades and two jet flights. In a last-minute move that demonstrated how the presidency complicates even the most mundane of tasks, Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, flew home from the White House to Wilmington, Del., arriving at the polls less than an hour before voting in the state's primary contests ended at 8 p.m. About an hour after they landed, they climbed back aboard Air Force One and jetted back to Washington. The trip had not been on the president's publicly released schedule.... The one contested primary for a statewide office in Delaware on Tuesday was for state auditor -- a race in which Lydia York, a lawyer, defeated Kathleen K. McGuiness, the scandal-plagued incumbent." The AP's report is here.

Bret Stephens of the New York Times: "... the staggering gains Ukrainian forces have made against Russia are a victory for Joe Biden, too." MB: You could knock me over with a feather, Bret.

If we take back the House and Senate, I can assure you that we'll have a vote on our bill. -- Lindsey Graham on his proposed abortion-ban bill, Tuesday ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang & Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy nationwide, the most prominent effort by Republicans to restrict the procedure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.... The White House criticized the bill, saying it is 'wildly out of step with what Americans believe.'... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the bill the 'latest, clearest signal of extreme MAGA Republicans' intent to criminalize women's health freedom in all 50 states and arrest doctors for providing basic care.'... The timing of Graham's announcement is curious -- two months before the midterm elections, after abortion has already shown to be a galvanizing issue for some Democratic voters." Politico's report is here. MB: Maybe Lindsey wants to help Democrats win the midterms, which is very bipartisan of him. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Thanks, Lindsey! Christopher Cadelago & Jonathan Lemire of Politico: "So obvious was the apparent ill-timing of the bill's introduction that one White House aide said a Republican lobbyist friend joked that Graham appeared to be working for the Biden administration.... 'Dems might need to send gift baskets and champagne to Graham and other Republicans for their selfless act of service today,' another Democratic official told Politico.... There was widespread anticipation that the Graham bill would quickly find its way into Democratic fundraising solicitations.... The immediate response to Graham's legislation, which would not just establish a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy but also allow states to keep and pass more restrictive laws, was a microcosm of the way abortion politics has wholly upended the midterm sprint." ~~~

     ~~~ Lisa Lerer & Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "... when Senator Lindsey Graham came ahead on Tuesday with a proposed 15-week national abortion ban intended to unite his party, the result was only more division. Mr. Graham's Senate allies swiftly distanced themselves from the plan, reflecting a lack of consensus in the party, as well as deep resistance to being drawn into any debates over abortion while economic issues hold more sway with swing voters. The rapid rejection of Mr. Graham's gambit was the latest misfire in the party's struggle to unite behind a clear strategy on an issue that has reshaped campaigns across the country. Despite decades of Republican efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, when the Supreme Court ultimately took that step in June, the G.O.P. was caught flat-footed, with no unified national abortion strategy ready to put into place.... When pressed on the details of Mr. Graham's bill, [minority leader Mitch] McConnell sought to distance himself, saying, 'You'll have to ask him about it.'... [Sen. McConnell] told reporters on Tuesday that he thought the issue should be left up to the states and that most members of his conference agreed."

Kate Kelly, et al., of the New York Times: Ninety-seven "current senators or representatives ... reported trades by themselves or immediate family members in stocks or other financial assets that intersected with the work of committees on which they serve, according to an extensive analysis of trades from the years 2019 to 2021 by The New York Times. The potential for conflicts in stock trading by members of Congress -- and their choice so far not to impose stricter limits on themselves -- has long drawn criticism, especially when particularly blatant cases emerge. But the Times analysis demonstrates the scale of the issue: Over the three-year period, more than 3,700 trades reported by lawmakers from both parties posed potential conflicts between their public responsibilities and private finances.... Both the House and the Senate have been trying to develop legislation to tighten the rules, but whether a bill will be passed by both chambers and make it to President Biden's desk this year remains in doubt, despite rare bipartisan support." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Justice Department criminal prosecutors are now examining nearly every aspect of ... Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election -- including the fraudulent electors plot, efforts to push baseless election fraud claims and how money flowed to support these various efforts -- according to sources and copies of new subpoenas obtained by CNN. The investigation is also stretching into cogs of the sprawling Trump legal machine that boosted his efforts to challenge his electoral loss -- with many of the recipients of 30-plus subpoenas that were issued in recent days being asked to turn over communications with several Trump attorneys.... The Justice Department previously obtained grand jury testimony, conducted searches and nabbed extensive documents about rally organization and fundraising, about efforts in and around the White House to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the election results, and about the fake electors. This new round of subpoenas drills down with more specific requests about the baseless claims of mass election fraud that were being peddled to legislators, law enforcement and others." ~~~

~~~ Katie Benner & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "From outside the walls of the Justice Department, the sprawling investigation into efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election seems only to be accelerating, with prosecutors last week subpoenaing about 40 associates of ... Donald J. Trump and seizing phones from at least two of his aides. But that flurry of activity should not be mistaken for a signal that Mr. Trump will imminently be prosecuted for his attempts to remain in office or the impact that those actions had on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to two people familiar with the investigation. They noted that prosecutors are still going through evidence and are far from determining whether any charges could be brought against the former president.... The department could consider potential charges against Mr. Trump much sooner in the documents case than in the Jan. 6 investigation, the people familiar with the inquiries said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I see no reason why investigation of Trump, other high-level schemers & organizers of efforts to overturn the election results was not started at least a year ago. It's as if the DOJ brass never read the newspapers, had no idea what-all was going on & finally got a vague clue from watching the January 6 special committee hearings. The "bottom-up" theory of investigative techniques is not an excuse. With a few exceptions, the dopes who stormed the Capitol had no idea of the general plot orchestrated by Trump & Co., and therefore could not reveal it or flip during their interrogations.

Kelly Weill & Zachary Petrizzo of the Independent, republished by Yahoo! News: "MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell told The Daily Beast on Tuesday night that the FBI seized his cellphone while he was at a Hardee's restaurant. Lindell also posted on social media a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor in Colorado and what appears to be a search warrant. 'They took my phone,' Lindell told The Daily Beast on Tuesday evening via phone. 'The FBI did!'... Lindell also expounded on his legal situation in a Tuesday night video. 'The FBI came after me and took my phone,' he said on Facebook. 'They surrounded me in a Hardee's and took my phone that I run all my business, everything with. What they've done is weaponize -- the FBI, it's disgusting. I don't have a computer. Everything I do [is] off that phone. Everything was on there. And they told me not to tell anybody. Here's an order: "Don't tell anybody!" "OK, I won't!" Well, I am.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Charles Homans, et al., of the New York Times: "Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of 2020 election misinformation, was served with a search warrant, and his cellphone was seized, by F.B.I. agents who questioned him about his ties to a Colorado county clerk who is accused of tampering with voting machines, Mr. Lindell said. Tina Peters, the county clerk in Mesa County, Colo., is under indictment on state charges related to a scheme to download data from election equipment after the 2020 presidential contest. Ms. Peters has pleaded not guilty to the charges.... It is not clear if Mr. Lindell is a target of the investigation.... A letter handed to Mr. Lindell by the F.B.I. asked that he not tell anyone about the investigation, but he displayed a copy of the letter and the search warrant on his online TV show Tuesday evening, reading portions of it aloud." According to Lindell, FBI agents surrounded him in several vehicles at the drive-through windows at a Hardee's in Mankato, Minnesota, as Lindell was returning from a duck-hunting trip to Iowa.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The National Archives has informed congressional aides that it is still unsure whether ... Donald J. Trump has surrendered all of the presidential records he removed from the White House as required, even after months of negotiations, a subpoena and a search of his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, according to the House Oversight Committee. The archives staff 'recently informed the committee that the agency is not certain whether all presidential records are in its custody,' Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the committee, wrote in a letter on Tuesday to Debra Steidel Wall, the acting national archivist.... In her letter, Ms. Maloney requested a formal assessment from the archives of what presidential records, if any, removed from the White House by Mr. Trump remain unaccounted for and whether the archives believes they are potentially still in his possession." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I know he hasn't returned them all, because I saw his staff moving the papers around this past Sunday. (Okay, a slight exaggeration.) See note attached to Independent story linked yesterday.

Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Four men were convicted Tuesday of assaulting or impeding police officers in some of the most violent attacks in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol, including a case in which one D.C. officer was pinned to a door and another in which an officer was dragged down steps and beaten with poles and sticks. Three of the men were convicted at a bench trial in front of U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden but had other counts against them dropped, making McFadden the first federal judge in Washington to acquit members of the mob of felony charges. He found that while all three battled police, only one was clearly intending to obstruct Congress as it met to confirm President Biden's election victory. In a separate case, a fourth man pleaded guilty to assault.... The judge ... directed blame at political leaders as well as the rioters, opining that the trial showed 'the chaos and violence that can occur when senior government leaders fail to support law enforcement officers,' and suggesting that police should have been more aggressive and had more support on Jan. 6." MB: McFadden is a Trump appointee.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Ken Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation uncovered a White House sex scandal that riveted the nation and led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment for lying under oath and obstructing justice, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Houston. He was 76." The AP's Starr obituary is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Iowa. Is This Justice??? Margery Beck of the AP: "A teenage human trafficking victim who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her accused rapist to death was sentenced Tuesday in an Iowa court to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man's family." The story leaves the details somewhat hazy, but the girl claimed the man she stabbed to death had raped her several times. Prosecutors argued that killing the man meant "leaving his kids without a father." Well, yes.

New Hampshire & Delaware. The New York Times' live updates of primary election results in these states are here.

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo filed a lengthy state ethics complaint on Tuesday against Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, accusing her of deliberately mishandling the investigation that found he sexually harassed multiple former and current government employees. Mr. Cuomo, who resigned in August 2021 shortly after Ms. James unveiled the investigation's findings, filed the complaint with a committee in the state's court system tasked with disciplining lawyers found to have violated professional conduct rules. The committee could dismiss the complaint because of insufficient evidence, move to investigate the charges or even initiate disciplinary proceedings. Disciplinary actions could range from a confidential or public letter of admonishment to censure, disbarment or suspension from practicing law." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York Election Fraud. Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "A Rensselaer County elections official was arraigned on Tuesday, accused by federal authorities of fraudulently obtaining absentee ballots last year, using personal information of voters without their consent. The indictment of Jason Schofield, a Republican elections commissioner, emerged from a lengthy federal inquiry into potential ballot fraud across Rensselaer County, just east of Albany. The indictment accused Mr. Schofield or an employee acting at his direction of using an online portal to apply for absentee ballots on behalf of at least eight people in 2021, when county elections were being held for Rensselaer county executive, clerk and legislature, as well as for the mayor of the City of Rensselaer and the Troy City Council. The charging papers contain details on four of those absentee ballots prosecutors say Mr. Schofield obtained. Mr. Schofield did not 'ask or permit' the voters to weigh in, other than to have them sign the back of the ballots -- which would have allowed him to fill them out himself. The ballots were then delivered back to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections for processing." Schofield's alleged fraudulent activities came to light when he allegedly helped another Republican, a former Troy city councilwoman, cast three absentee ballots in other people's names.

West Virginia. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "The West Virginia legislature Tuesday passed a bill to prohibit nearly all abortions, making it the second state to pass a new ban since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in June. The state Senate passed the bill 22-7, after a brief debate Tuesday. The state House concurred and passed the bill in a 78-17 vote. The ban will take effect 90 days after passage.... Abortion had been legal up to 20 weeks in West Virginia since July, when a state judge blocked a pre-Roe ban that dated back to the 19th century.... The bill they passed, which now goes to Republican Gov. Jim Justice's desk, bars abortion from implantation with narrow exceptions to save the pregnant person's life or in cases of rape or incest, so long as the victim reports the crime. Justice has indicated that he will sign a bill tightening state restrictions on abortion."

Way Beyond

Russia. Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Russia has secretly funneled at least $300 million to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen countries since 2014 in an attempt to shape political events beyond its borders, according to a new U.S. intelligence review. Moscow planned to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more as part of its covert campaign to weaken democratic systems and promote global political forces seen as aligned with Kremlin interests, according to the review, which the Biden administration commissioned this summer. A senior U.S. official ... said the administration decided to declassify some of the review's findings in an attempt to counter Russia's ability to sway political systems in countries in Europe, Africa and elsewhere." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll bet the still-secret part of the report implicates Trump & Co..

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: "The European Union will push ahead with emergency measures to tackle the energy crisis, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during the annual State of the European Union address Wednesday -- where Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska was a guest of honor.... Ukraine has made 'significant progress' in the war, according to President Biden but he cautioned, 'I think it's going to be a long haul.'... Around 8,000 square kilometers (over 3,000 square miles) of land has been 'liberated' in northeast Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address -- nearly the size of Puerto Rico. He added that 'collaborators' were being detained and security restored in the areas."

United Kingdom

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in events following Queen Elizabeth's death are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Megan Specia of the New York Times: "King Charles III continued his tour of the nations of the United Kingdom on Tuesday with a visit to Northern Ireland before a planned return to London in the evening to meet Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Buckingham Palace alongside other members of the royal family." (Also linked yesterday.)

"You're Fired!" Pippa Crerar & Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "Dozens of Clarence House staff have been given notice of their redundancy as the offices of King Charles and the Queen Consort move to Buckingham Palace after the death of the Queen, the Guardian has learned. Up to 100 employees at the King's former official residence, including some who have worked there for decades, received notification that they could lose their jobs just as they were working round the clock to smooth his elevation to the throne. Private secretaries, the finance office, the communications team and household staff are among those who received notice during the thanksgiving service for the Queen, at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday, that their posts were on the line." (Also linked yesterday.)