August 12, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

So here's Politico's banner headline: ~~~

Trump Under Investigation for Potential Violations of Espionage Act

Wall Street Journal reporters got hold of the search warrant & inventory of documents sought & retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. I myself, for reasons unknown was able to breach the WSJ firewall! ~~~

Alex Leary, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "FBI agents who searched ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home Monday removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump's ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the 'President of France,' according to the three-page list. The list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the premises which was granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida. The list includes references to one set of documents marked as 'Various classified/TS/SCI documents,' an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn't provide any more details about the substance of the documents. Mr. Trump's lawyers argue that the former president used his authority to declassify the material before he left office. While a president has the power to declassify documents, there are federal regulations that lay out a process for doing so.... The search and seizure warrant, signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, shows that FBI agents sought to search 'the 45 Office,' as well as 'all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by [the former president] and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.'" A CNN report, which has been expanded since first linked, is here. An NBC News story is here. ~~~

The New York Times is once again live-blogging developments in Trump's theft of highly-sensitive national security documents. ~~~

"Federal agents who executed the warrant did so to investigate potentia' crimes associated with violations of the Espionage Act, which outlaws the unauthorized retention of national security information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; a federal law that makes it a crime to destroy or conceal a document to obstruct a government investigation; and another statute associated with unlawful removal of government materials.... The most informative and sensitive document, an affidavit detailing the 'probable cause' evidence that prompted Judge Reinhart to approve the search, will not be released now, or probably ever, department officials said on Thursday....

"The search warrant for Trump's residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified....

"Shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern, the Justice Department notified the court that 'counsel for former President Trump -- M. Evan Corcoran, Esq., and James Trusty, Esq. -- have informed the government that the former President does not object to the government motion to unseal' the search warrant and the inventory list."

Marie: Sooner or later, the two unsealed docs will be published, and I'll link to copies.

Zoë Richards of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Friday denied a report from The Washington Post that said FBI agents were looking for classified documents related to nuclear weapons, among other items, when they searched his Mar-a-Lago home this week. On his Truth Social platform, Trump said that 'Nuclear weapons is a hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax,' referring to then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Trump attacked the officials involved with the search of his home, calling them 'sleazy.' MB: Given that Trump knew we were about to find out that he had stolen top-secret docs, this is an extraordinary denial. Of course it's true that Trump didn't lift any "nuclear weapons" as he mentions; on the other hand, the WashPo article did not suggest he was storing a nuclear bomb in the Mar-a-Lardo basement. So Trump is denying something that no one asserted.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Republicans who days ago united in preemptive defense of Donald Trump are struggling to stay on the same page following new questions about documents that the former president was holding at his Florida residence. The FBI's daylong search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this week, personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland, sparked near-universal GOP outrage and allegations of a politicized Justice Department. In the wake of reports that the search was tied to concerns Trump may have improperly taken highly classified White House documents related to nuclear weapons and so-called special access operations, however, Republicans are politically diverging. While some GOP lawmakers acknowledged Friday that a scenario in which Trump withheld nuclear-related documents would be problematic, House Republican leaders are still rallying behind him and suggesting without evidence that President Joe Biden sought to weaponize DOJ against a political rival."

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "Leadership at the Justice Department forcefully pushed back against attacks on the bureau, with Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray issuing statements condemning such rhetoric just hours apart on Thursday. Wray made clear Thursday that he sees the attacks as undermining not just the bureau, but the role law enforcement plays in a democracy. 'Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,' Wray said in a statement.... [Donald] Trump has repeatedly referred to the FBI's search as a raid and suggested multiple times, without evidence, that agents may have been 'planting information.'"

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "On few previous occasions has the Trump movement so embraced Stephen K. Bannon's strategy (paraphrased here) of flooding the zone with garbage as after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago....But ... it's difficult to top the latest entry." After several Fox "News" hosts latched onto a story that President Obama had "had 30 million records shipped to Chicago for his presidential library," Trump got out the muck spreader & fake-tweeted, 'What happened to the 30 million pages of documents taken from the White House to Chicago by Barack Hussein Obama? He refused to give them back! What is going on? This act was strongly at odds with NARA. Will they be breaking into Obama's "mansion" in Martha's Vineyard?'... But ... the Obama team was transferring the records to Chicago through the National Archives.... There isn't the faintest hint of legal violations -- nor does the New York Post's story suggest as much.... And on Friday, after Trump raised the issue again, the Archives sought to put an end to the charade [and clarified that they, not President Obama, has retained control of those records]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So if I were Trump, I would rob a bank cashier's till, then complain that you were worse than I because you had gotten more money when you made a cash withdrawal from your bank account. Unfortunately, "Barack Hussein Obama stole 30 million documents & the FBI ignored it" will soon become a true thing among the Trumpbots.

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: Department of Homeland Security Inspector General "Joseph V. Cuffari [--a Trump appointee --] and his staff have refused to release certain documents and tried to block interviews, effectively delaying ... [an investigation], which has now stretched for more than 15 months and evolved into a wide-ranging inquiry into more than a dozen allegations of misconduct raised by whistleblowers and other sources.... That probe, for now, does not include an investigation into the missing Secret Service texts [sent around Jan. 6, 2021], which instead are the subject of multiple congressional inquiries. Some Republican senators have also raised stiff resistance to the wider investigation into Cuffari -- which is being overseen by a panel of federal watchdogs from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).... Led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) the senators have demanded that investigators scale back records requests from Cuffari's office and pressed them on their motives...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Needless to say, any sentence that begins with the phrase, "Led by Sen. Josh Hawley," can only end in nonsense or worse, unless what is being led by Josh Hawley is cute little puppies.

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "A Manhattan state court judge on Friday declined to throw out the criminal case against Donald J. Trump's family business and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, clearing the way for a trial in the case scheduled for the fall. Mr. Weisselberg and the business, the Trump Organization, were charged last year by the Manhattan district attorney's office with having engaged in a 15-year scheme in which executives were compensated with hidden benefits so that they could evade taxes. The charges stemmed from the office's long-running investigation into the company's business practices. In February, Mr. Weisselberg and the company filed motions to dismiss the charges, arguing that the case was politically motivated and that the defendants were charged only because of their link with former president Donald J. Trump. The decision marked the latest legal blow to Mr. Trump in a week full of them." Here's a Law & Crime story.

Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "The polio virus has been detected in wastewater from New York City, suggesting the virus is likely circulating in the city, New York's health authorities said Friday. The announcement came after a man in Rockland County, N.Y., north of the city, was stricken with polio that left him with paralysis. Health officials fear that the detection of polio in New York City's wastewater could be followed by other cases of paralytic polio. The vaccination rate across the city fell slightly during the pandemic, as children's pediatrician visits were postponed. But most adults were vaccinated against polio as children. Across New York State, nearly 80 percent of people have been vaccinated. The spread of the virus poses a risk to unvaccinated people, but the polio vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective in people who have been fully immunized."

Joshua Goodman of the AP: "Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained. Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest. His condition was not immediately known." MB: According to Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, Rushdie suffered a stab wound to the neck. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments.

~~~~~~~~~~

Harper Neidig & Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Thursday moved to unseal a warrant authorizing a search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this week following escalating demands for answers about the unprecedented investigation. 'The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,' Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing submitted Thursday afternoon. The filing coincided with a public statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland, his first since FBI agents executed the search warrant on Monday. Garland said he personally signed off on the decision to apply for and execute search warrant, and that the decision was not made 'lightly.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Garland's full remarks, as delivered, are here (via the DOJ site). Here's is the DOJ's motion to unseal the search warrant & property receipt, via CNN. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging reactions to Garland's remarks: Here's one entry from Katie Benner: "Trump allies are discussing the possibility of challenging the Justice Department's motion to unseal the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. They have contacted outside lawyers about helping them, according to a person briefed on the discussions."

To the AG & FBI Dir: RELEASE THE WARRANT NOW. The American people deserve to see it. NOW. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Twitter

At a minimum, Garland must resign or be impeached. The search warrant must be published. Christopher Wray must be removed. And the FBI reformed top to bottom. -- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) ~~~

     ~~~ Calling the Trumpists' Bluff. Kyle Cheney & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Some [of Donald Trump's allies] even developed a rallying cry as they attacked the [Justice D]epartment: Release the warrant! On Thursday, the Justice Department responded to the deluge with a simple 'OK.' Then, just before midnight, Trump -- who has had a copy of the search warrant since Monday -- announced he too supported the release, all but ensuring it is likely to be revealed as soon as Friday.... Though Trump has had the option to release the search warrant since Monday, it took a DOJ gambit to force the issue."

Dear Trumpbots, the Gestapo did not go to Trump's house. This is not like Nicaraqua, Marco. It is not a Third-World raid, Rick Scott. The agents did not go rogue, Steve Scalise. The Nazis did not plant evidence, Li'l Randy. ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump received a subpoena this spring in search of documents that federal investigators believed he had failed to turn over earlier in the year, when he returned boxes of material he had improperly taken with him upon moving out of the White House, three people familiar with the matter said.... The subpoena suggests that the Justice Department tried methods short of a search warrant to account for the material before taking the politically explosive step of sending F.B.I. agents unannounced to Mar-a-Lago.... Two people briefed on the classified documents that investigators believe remained at Mar-a-Lago indicated that they were so sensitive in nature, and related to national security, that the Justice Department had to act. The subpoena was first disclosed by John Solomon, a conservative journalist who has also been designated by Mr. Trump as one of his representatives to the National Archives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The reporters note that "The existence of the subpoena is being used by allies of Mr. Trump to make a case that the former president and his team were cooperating with the Justice Department in identifying and returning the documents in question and that the search was unjustified." Say what? Are Trumpbots just that flat-out stupid? Trump wasn't "cooperating." When caught, he returned some of the stuff he stole but not all of it. The FBI obtained the warrant because Trump did not fully comply with the subpoena. It's as if I robbed you, then when the cops found my fingerprints all over your house, I returned some of the stuff to you but kept your most expensive jewelry. Oh, and then I whined to the local newspaper that the police chief & the mayor were Nazis or third-world dictators.

** Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of ... Donald Trump's Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation. Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So, Republican "leaders," are you really okay with Trump's leaving nuclear secrets lying around the place? Just asking. (Maybe I should remind you that a Chinese spy carrying four cellphones & other electronic equipment once gained entrance to the property.) ~~~

     ~~~ John Brennan said on MSNBC last night that when he was a national security advisor to President Obama, he sometimes handled nuclear weapons documents that were secured in the White House, & the procedure to access them was exacting. When he was promoted to CIA director, however, he no longer had access to these documents because they were made available only on a need-to-know basis. And these types of docs, to secret for the CIA director to access, are what Trump secreted off to Mar-a-Lardo for anyone who attends any of the club's social events to find. I get why Trump stole some mementos, but there is certainly a more sinister reason for stealing top-secret nuclear docs. Brennan & Ali Velshi also establish that the way in which these docs are monitored, a person could not "accidentally" stuff them in his briefcase & "accidentally" carry them upstairs. BTW, now that the FBI has secured these documents, hasn't it ever occurred to anyone that there's a photocopying machine at Mar-a-Lardo? (I suppose it's possible that some of these documents can't be copied.) That is, just because the FBI retrieved most or all of the documents doesn't mean Trump doesn't still have copies of them. ~~~

     ~~~ OR, as mistermix of Balloon Juice puts it, "'Falling into the wrong hands' LOL. Those fucking documents weren't going to 'fall' or be 'misplaced'. Trump was going to sell or trade them. It looks like what happened is that Trump first turned over some documents voluntarily, then he was subpoenaed for some more, then a little bird told the FBI that there were still more documents, so they executed a search warrant and carried them away. I'll bet there are some more documents squirreled away in his laundry hamper or hidden under one of his packages of adult diapers."

Dareh Gregorian & Marc Caputo of NBC News tackle the question of whether or not a president* can wave a magic wand & declassify bunches of unspecified classified documents in boxes. Why, Trump's people say yes. And responsible people say no. In fact, Mark Meadows -- who is not a responsible person -- accidentally once said no: "The president indicated to me that his statements on Twitter were not self-executing declassification orders and do not require the declassification or release of any particular documents."

Trump Hires #BillionDollarLawyer. Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has hired a high-powered Atlanta lawyer to represent him in an inquiry into election interference in Georgia. The lawyer, Drew Findling, has represented an array of rap stars including Cardi B, Gucci Mane and Migos, and is known by the hashtag #BillionDollarLawyer. But he has not been a fan of Mr. Trump; in one 2018 post on Twitter, after Mr. Trump criticized LeBron James, Mr. Findling referred to Mr. Trump as 'the racist architect of fraudulent Trump University.' In 2017, after Mr. Trump fired the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, Mr. Findling said on Twitter that it was 'a sign of FEAR that he would aggressively investigate the stench hovering over this POTUS.' He has also called Mr. Trump's history of harsh comments about the five Black and Latino men who as teenagers were wrongly convicted of the brutal rape of a jogger in Central Park 'racist, cruel, sick, unforgivable, and un-American!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Death Comes to the Trump Believer. Marie: This story started out linked under News Ledes because I anticipated it would be a standard crazy-man-with-gun story. But no ~~~

~~~ New York Times liveblog: "After a lengthy standoff, police officers shot and killed an armed man accused of trying to break into the F.B.I.'s Cincinnati office on Thursday, officials in Ohio said, but the motives of the man remained unclear. Investigators are looking into whether the man had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. In what appeared to be one of his social media accounts, the suspect posted a message earlier this week, just days after federal agents searched the Florida home of ... Donald J. Trump, threatening to kill employees of the F.B.I.... The suspect, identified by the officials as Ricky Shiffer, 42, seems to have appeared in a video posted on Facebook on Jan. 5, 2021, showing him attending a pro-Trump rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington the night before the Capitol was stormed." Shiffer also claimed he was present at the insurrection but claimed in May only to have watched what he called "goons" scaling the Capitol's walls. ~~~

     ~~~ A Washington Post story is here. A CNN report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Collins, et al., of NBC News: "A man identified by two law enforcement sources as Ricky Shiffer, who died in a confrontation with police after firing a nail gun at an FBI Cincinnati building, appeared to post online in recent days about his desire to kill FBI agents shortly after ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence was searched.... On Truth Social, a social media platform founded by Trump's media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, Shiffer appeared to have posted a message detailing his failed attempt to gain entry to the FBI building.... Shiffer posted to Truth Social multiple times in the days after the FBI searched Trump's residence about wanting to engage in violence. One post called for people to arm themselves and be ready for 'combat.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Keegan Hamilton & Tess Owen of Vice: "Two days ago, after the Mar-a-Lago search, Shiffer posted, 'People this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/ Army-Navy store/ pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one. They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and we must respond with force.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have heard that Trump's platform does not allow commentary critical of Trump. But apparently messages that threaten to kill FBI agents are A-OK. I thought Trump's fake-Twitter platform was stupid; now I am beginning to see that it could become the public platform for a violent revolution. Update: according to the Vice report, Truth Social deleted Shiffer's entries Thursday evening. So Shiffer's calls for violence were okay until he became a national story. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe none of us, including the now-dead Trump follower, would have known about the search warrant on Mar-a-Lago if Donald Trump had not chosen to complain about it. If Trump's lackeys had not then expressed outrage about the FBI's retrieving items Trump stole from the American people, the dead guy might not be dead. I suppose nobody but his family cares about the dead guy, but if the nascent news stories about his motivation prove true, he is definitely a victim of the right-wing liars & screamers consortium.

Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "A federal judge sentenced a former police officer on Thursday to more than seven years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, equaling the longest punishment handed down so far in the Justice Department's sprawling investigation into the Capitol riot. The man, Thomas Robertson of Ferrum, Va., was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, by Judge Christopher Cooper of U.S. District Court in Washington. A federal jury found Mr. Robertson, 49, guilty in April of five felonies, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, and carrying a weapon in a restricted building, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors said the Army veteran, who had wielded a large stick and donned a gas mask during the riot, had confronted police officers...."

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "It took many accidents, catastrophes, misjudgments and mistakes for Donald Trump to win the presidency in 2016. Two particularly important errors came from James Comey, then the head of the F.B.I., who was excessively worried about what Trump's supporters would think of the resolution of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.... Comey's attempts to pre-empt a conservative firestorm blew up in his face. He helped put Trump in the White House, where Trump did generational damage to the rule of law and led us to a place where prominent Republicans are calling for abolishing the F.B.I. This should be a lesson about the futility of shaping law enforcement decisions around the sensitivities of Trump's base. Yet ... some intelligent people have questioned the wisdom of subjecting the former president to the normal operation of the law because of the effect it will have on his most febrile admirers.... We already know, however, that the failure to bring Trump to justice ... has been disastrous.... No doubt, Trump's most inflamed fans might act out in horrifying ways; many are heavily armed and speak lustily about civil war. To let this dictate the workings of justice is to accept an insurrectionists' veto." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The right-wing scream machine is a political tactic as much as are leftist peaceful protests. Wingers used mob violence to stop the vote count in Miami in 2000, putting Bush in the White House. They used violence & fake outrage to put Trump in the White House the first time, as Goldberg points out, and they ramped that up to try to effect a coup. And in the meantime, they have used it in hundreds of other instances, from disrupting school board meetings to intimidating lawmakers imposing mask mandates. Behaving badly is what they do. And it works.

Lena Sun & Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday loosened many of its recommendations for battling the coronavirus, a strategic shift that puts more of the onus on individuals, rather than on schools, businesses and other institutions, to limit viral spread. No longer do schools and other institutions need to screen apparently healthy students and employees as a matter of course. The CDC is putting less emphasis on social distancing -- and the new guidance has dropped the 'six foot' standard. The quarantine rule for unvaccinated people is gone. The agency's focus now is on highly vulnerable populations and how to protect them -- not on the vast majority of people who at this point have some immunity against the virus and are unlikely to become severely ill. The new recommendations signal that the Biden administration and its medical advisers have decided that the lower fatality rate from covid-19 in a heavily vaccinated population permits a less demanding set of guidelines." Access is free to nonsubscribers. A CNN report is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Mississippi. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch told a federal court last week that U.S. law already makes mailing abortion pills a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and even racketeering charges. She made the argument on the behalf of the State of Mississippi as a defendant in a case against GenBioPro Inc., a generic manufacturer of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved abortion pill mifepristone. In the case, GenBioPro, Inc. v. Edney, the pharmaceutical company is arguing that the State's trigger law banning almost all abortions at any stage 'prevents GBP from selling its product in Mississippi' and that it 'prevents access to an FDA-approved medication that has been deemed safe and effective.'... A June 27, 2022, article in Reason cited Professor David S. Cohen, an expert on gender and law at Drexel Kline School of Law, who said 'the circuit courts long ago declared [the federal laws Fitch cited] only apply to unlawful items.'"

Texas Gubernatorial Race. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: "Beto O'Rourke on Wednesday railed against Texans' easy access to AR-style rifles like the one used in May to massacre 19 students and two of their teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex.... A heckler cackled." And it wasn't long before Beto responded. (Also linked yesterday afternoon. ~~~

“It may be funny to you mother f*cker, but it’s not funny to me.”@BetoORourke did not hold back when a supporter of Greg Abbott laughed loudly as Beto discussed the mass shooting in Uvalde. pic.twitter.com/ETJssUFZxS

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 11, 2022

     ~~~ Oh, Dear. Dustin Jones of NPR "weigh[s] the pros & cons of ... dropping an f-bomb on a heckler."

Way Beyond

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

News Lede

Washington Post: "The actress Anne Heche, who had been in a coma since a car crash last week, has been declared brain-dead and is being kept on life-support to see if her organs are viable for donation, one of her representatives said Friday. Ms. Heche, 53, was critically injured on Aug. 5 when she crashed the Mini Cooper she was driving into a home in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, the authorities said. She sustained a severe anoxic brain injury and was being treated at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital, according to a statement released on behalf of her family and friends Thursday night."

August 11, 2022

Reality Chex was down for a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon, so don't be all surprised if it goes down again. If worse comes to worst, I'll post a few entries on Twitter @CONSTANTWEADER. In the meantime, if all goes well, it's bizniz as usual. -- Marie

Afternoon Update:

Harper Neidig & Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Thursday moved to unseal a warrant authorizing a search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this week following escalating demands for answers about the unprecedented investigation. 'The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,' Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing submitted Thursday afternoon. The filing coincided with a public statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland, his first since FBI agents executed the search warrant on Monday. Garland said he personally signed off on the decision to apply for and execute search warrant, and that the decision was not made 'lightly.'"

Dear Trumpbots, the Gestapo did not go to Trump's house. This is not like Nicaraqua, Marco. It is not a Third-World raid, Rick Scott. The agents did not go rogue, Steve Scalise. The Nazis did not plant evidence, Li'l Randy. ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump received a subpoena this spring in search of documents that federal investigators believed he had failed to turn over earlier in the year, when he returned boxes of material he had improperly taken with him upon moving out of the White House, three people familiar with the matter said.... The subpoena suggests that the Justice Department tried methods short of a search warrant to account for the material before taking the politically explosive step of sending F.B.I. agents unannounced to Mar-a-Lago.... Two people briefed on the classified documents that investigators believe remained at Mar-a-Lago indicated that they were so sensitive in nature, and related to national security, that the Justice Department had to act. The subpoena was first disclosed by John Solomon, a conservative journalist who has also been designated by Mr. Trump as one of his representatives to the National Archives." ~~~

     ~~~ The reporters note that "The existence of the subpoena is being used by allies of Mr. Trump to make a case that the former president and his team were cooperating with the Justice Department in identifying and returning the documents in question and that the search was unjustified." Say what? Are Trumpbots just that flat-out stupid? Trump wasn't "cooperating." When caught, he returned some of the stuff he stole but not all of it. The FBI obtained the warrant because Trump did not fully cooperate. It's as if I robbed you, then when the cops found my fingerprints all over your house, I returned some of the stuff to you but kept your most expensive jewelry. Oh, and then I whined to the local newspaper that the police chief & the mayor were Nazis or third-world dictators.

Trump Hires #BillionDollarLawyer. Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has hired a high-powered Atlanta lawyer to represent him in an inquiry into election interference in Georgia. The lawyer, Drew Findling, has represented an array of rap stars including Cardi B, Gucci Mane and Migos, and is known by the hashtag #BillionDollarLawyer. But he has not been a fan of Mr. Trump; in one 2018 post on Twitter, after Mr. Trump criticized LeBron James, Mr. Findling referred to Mr. Trump as 'the racist architect of fraudulent Trump University.' In 2017, after Mr. Trump fired the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, Mr. Findling said on Twitter that it was 'a sign of FEAR that he would aggressively investigate the stench hovering over this POTUS.' He has also called Mr. Trump's history of harsh comments about the five Black and Latino men who as teenagers were wrongly convicted of the brutal rape of a jogger in Central Park 'racist, cruel, sick, unforgivable, and un-American!'"

Texas. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: "Beto O'Rourke on Wednesday railed against Texans' easy access to AR-style rifles like the one used in May to massacre 19 students and two of their teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex.... A heckler cackled." And it wasn't long before Beto responded: ~~~

“It may be funny to you mother f*cker, but it’s not funny to me.”@BetoORourke did not hold back when a supporter of Greg Abbott laughed loudly as Beto discussed the mass shooting in Uvalde. pic.twitter.com/ETJssUFZxS

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 11, 2022

~~~~~~~~~~

** Michael Scherer, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden paused last week, during one of the busiest stretches of his presidency, for a nearly two-hour private history lesson from a group of academics who raised alarms about the dire condition of democracy at home and abroad. The conversation ... on Aug. 4 unfolded as a sort of Socratic dialogue between the commander in chief and a select group of scholars, who painted the current moment as among the most perilous in modern history for democratic governance.... Comparisons were made to the years before the 1860 election when Abraham Lincoln warned that a 'house divided against itself cannot stand' and the lead-up to the 1940 election, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt battled rising domestic sympathy for European fascism and resistance to the United States joining World War II." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As someone who has held high-level Washington jobs for all but four years since January 1973, Joe Biden is the best-informed president in American history. Donald Trump, who has never held a real job since his father had him collecting rents when he was a very young man, came to the presidency as the most uninformed person to hold the office. And yet, and yet. It is Joe Biden who has been holding meetings without outside experts to increase his knowledge of the bigger picture. Trump, on the other hand, whose defense of ignorance was to claim he had a very good brain, told experts -- rather than ask them -- what he thought the big picture was. For instance, we learned earlier this week that Trump told John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, that Hitler's generals were loyal to Hitler, unlike Trump's generals who didn't bend to his will. When Kelly informed Trump that Hitler's general were so disloyal that some of them tried to assassinate Hitler, Trump told Kelly he was wrong (NYT link). And that, kids, explains why Joe Biden has tried -- and mostly succeeded IMO -- to be a good president, and Donald Trump, who never gave good governance a thought, was the worst. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Also see Akhilleus' commentary on this in today's thread. Akhilleus has me enraged because every word he writes is true -- and infuriating.

Trumpidy-doo-dah, Trumpidy-ay, My Oh My ...

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Throughout his four years in the White House, [Donald] Trump tried to turn the nation's law enforcement apparatus into an instrument of political power to carry out his wishes. Now as the F.B.I. under [Christoper] Wray has executed an unprecedented search warrant at the former president's Florida home, Mr. Trump is accusing the nation's justice system of being exactly what he tried to turn it into: a political weapon for a president, just not for him. There is, in fact, no evidence that President Biden has had any role in the investigation. Mr. Biden has not publicly demanded that the Justice Department lock up Mr. Trump the way Mr. Trump publicly demanded that the Justice Department lock up Mr. Biden and other Democrats. Nor has anyone knowledgeably contradicted the White House statement that it was not even informed about the search at Mar-a-Lago beforehand, much less involved in ordering it. But Mr. Trump has a long history of accusing adversaries of doing what he himself does or would do in the same situation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Baker cites Michael R. Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, who echoes something I said yesterday: "Trump simply doesn't understand people like Garland and the top leadership of D.O.J. and the F.B.I. because their values are so alien to him."

The Mole at Mar-a-Lardo. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "In a telling exclusive for Newsweek, Government officials revealed that a 'confidential informant' helped provide the basis for the FBI search of ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-lago resort home.... [Newsweek reports that] 'The raid on Mar-a-Lago was based largely on information from an FBI confidential human source, one who was able to identify what classified documents former President Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents, two senior government officials told Newsweek.'... According to the two sources[, t]he raid had nothing to do with the January 6 investigation or any other alleged wrongdoing by the former president.'" ~~~

~~~ Alex Leary, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "Monday's search [of Mar-a-Lago] came after weeks of internal deliberation among senior Justice Department and FBI officials and marked an escalation of their investigation into [Donald] Trump's handling of classified material, people familiar with the matter said.... The [search] warrant, signed by a judge in Palm Beach County, refers to the Presidential Records Act and possible violation of law over handling of classified information, according to Christina Bobb, a lawyer for the former president. The warrant hasn't been made public by Mr. Trump nor has the inventory of documents retrieved by the government. FBI officials showed up with instructions to keep the search as unobtrusive as possible, with agents dressed in plainclothes and told not to take any weapons, people familiar with the plan said.... In the days since then, Mr. Trump's associates have been reaching out to defense attorneys to see if they would represent Mr. Trump in the matter, a sign of concern over the former president's potential legal trouble." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As you no doubt know, WSJ stories are subscriber-firewalled, but I was able to access the story. If you can't access the story via the link above, try Googling a short quote. The Guardian has a related story here.

Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "... Donald Trump has so far declined to release the search warrant served at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, prompting various third-party efforts to unseal the document in federal court even as his supporters have taken to issuing an avalanche of death threats against the magistrate judge who issued the writ authorizing the unprecedented law enforcement visit. On Wednesday, conservative legal nonprofit group Judicial Watch filed a motion to unseal the Trump search warrant with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.... The judge overseeing the case, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart, quickly directed the U.S. Department of Justice to respond to Judicial Watch-s motion to unseal by the end of next Monday, Aug. 15, 2022.... Two media organizations -- the Albany, New York-based Times Union and The New York Times -- filed their own motions in the case regarding the warrant."

David Gilbert of Vice: "Far-right extremists on pro-Donald Trump message boards and social networks are making violent, antisemitic threats against the judge who reportedly signed the warrant that allowed the FBI to search the former president's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. Multiple members of these toxic online communities are even posting what appears to be Judge Bruce Reinhart's home address, phone numbers, and names of his family members alongside threats of extreme violence.... These threats of violence and antisemitic slurs [appeared] on a range of platforms, including 4chan, Telegram, Gettr, Gab, and Trump's own platforms called Truth Social.... A message board where a number of these threats were posted also happens to be the same one where many of those involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot posted threats of violence in the lead-up to Jan. 6.... As Trump has scrambled to explain why his home was searched, he has also pushed conspiracy theories about the FBI supposedly planting evidence there. Right-wing news outlets have also tried to connect the judge to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, [a friend of Trump's]." Reinhart once represented some of Epstein's employees, not Epstein himself. Some commenters said or implied Reinhart himself was a pedophile.

The mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? -- Donald Trump, September 2016 (WashPo link) ~~~

~~~ Trump Surprised Constitution Can Come in Handy. From the New York Times liveblog, also linked below: "Donald J. Trump declined to answer questions from the New York state attorney general's office on Wednesday, a stunning gamble in a high-stakes legal interview that is likely to determine the course of a civil investigation into his company's business practices. In a statement released shortly after the questioning began on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, explaining that he 'declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.' After the deposition began, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that he was refusing to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment." The Hill's report is here. The Guardian has a story here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: As Ken pointed out yesterday, there's a bit of irony in this development -- Trump spent four years as president* (and in his telling, he is still president) ignoring the laws & the Constitutution, but suddenly he finds something in the venerable document he likes. I suppose Ken & I are being a bit unfair inasmuch as Trump was fond on that part of the Article II -- apparently written in invisible ink, as no one else has seen it -- that said he could do whatever he wanted. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times now has a stand-alone story covering the nation's Number 1 Mob Boss & his pathetic deposition appearance: ~~~

     ~~~ Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has long derided public figures who invoke their constitutional right against self incrimination, but on Wednesday he took full advantage of the Fifth Amendment. For hours under oath, Mr. Trump sat across from the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, responding to every question posed by her investigators by repeating the phrase 'same answer' over and over again.... Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right while openly questioning the legitimacy of the legal process -- as he has with the nation's electoral system -- and insulting a law enforcement official sitting just a few feet away. Mr. Trump's only detailed comment, people with knowledge of the proceeding said, was an all-out attack on the attorney general and her inquiry which he called a continuation of 'the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.... I once asked, "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?"' he said while reading from a prepared statement, which overlapped significantly with one he released to the public. 'I now know the answer to that question.' He said that he was being targeted by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media, and that left him with 'absolutely no choice' but to do so." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Nothing shocking about Trump's insulting Letitia James. She's a Black woman who has power over him. Over the years, Trump has made it apparent he can't stand that. BTW, invoking the Fifth has consequences in a civil case, as this one is. As the NYT reporters note, "Jurors in civil matters can in many cases draw a negative inference when a defendant invokes his or her Fifth Amendment privilege, unlike in criminal cases, where exercising the right against self-incrimination cannot be held against the defendant." According to Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC, Trump invoked the Fifth 440 times over the course of four hours.

Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "While the [New York] case involves Trump's personal business, Business Insider noticed that the ex-president used taxpayer dollars in his response that attacks New York Attorney General Letitia James. Four email messages were sent out from the official Office of the Former President of Donald J. Trump, all of which lashed out at Trump for what he deemed a 'radical witch hunt.' He then posted videos on the anything-goes video site Rumble attacking [James] further.... Read the full report at Business Insider (firewalled)."

Irony Stacked Upon Irony. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "If Trump is found to have violated federal law in removing and retaining classified documents without authorization, he could be convicted of a felony punishable by five years in prison. And that conviction would be a felony carrying that punishment because of a law signed by President Donald Trump.... During his first year in office, a central tool used for surveillance by the intelligence community -- Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act -- was set to expire. Shortly before it did, Congress passed an extension of the authority for another five years.... [Trump criticized the extension, but] on Jan. 18, 2018, he signed it into law.... [The bill, as signed, included a provision that escalated the punishment for improperly retained classified documents, specifying that a person who does so]: '... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.' And with that, it became a felony." Former administration official Kash Patel claimed on Fox "News&" Tuesday that Trump has declassified all the material he took from the White House. "... it is conceivable that Trump's defense against his potential possession of classified material at Mar-a-Lago may be that he declassified it while still president, even if no formal record of the declassification was made." ~~~

     ~~~ AND Hillary Gets the Last Laugh. Marie: Bump adds a fun coda: Accurately describing Patel as "one of the [Trump] administration's most loyal defenders during Trump's presidency," Bump reminds us that Patel had previously served as a staffer to Rep. Devin Nunes during the infamous period in which Nunes made an hilarious midnight White House run in an attempt to absolve Trump from the Russia scandal. Nunes also was a prominent critic of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. So ... "H.R. 4478, the legislation that became S. 139 and which escalated the punishment for the retention of classified material, was introduced in the House by Nunes." ~~~

Marie: The "I declassified all this stuff" defense may not prove to be convincing. First, a former president or president* has no ability to declassify classified material. Even as Patel claims Trump declassified the docs while he was still president*, numerous reports have asserted that the classified docs retrieved at Mar-a-Lardo were not properly recorded as declassified & were not marked as such. There's no evidence, IOW, that Trump declassified the docs -- other than his say-so. Which is worthless. Moreover, since Trump is still president* only his own mind, the real President -- Joe Biden -- can reclassify documents Trump has declassified. (It occurs to me that since Biden doesn't necessarily know what-all Trump stole, Biden may not have been able to reclassify documents he doesn't know Trump claims to have declassified.) And then there's this: Neal Katyal pointed out on MSNBC that Trump, unlike former real presidents, does not have security clearance because President Biden determined Trump could not be trusted to safely handle classified information. In addition, as Bump points out, Trump signed a bill making what he did a felony, so he can hardly assert ignorance of a law of his own making. In short, IMO, Trump not only had no right to retain classified documents that belong to the federal government, he has no right to read or otherwise access them.

Jan Murphy & Charles Thompson of the (Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News: "Federal investigators delivered subpoenas or paid visits to several House and Senate Republican offices in the Pennsylvania Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to multiple sources. At least some of the individuals receiving subpoenas were told they were not targets of an investigation..., but that they may have information of interest to the FBI. The information being requested centered around U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and the effort to seek alternate electors as part of ... Donald Trump's efforts to remain in office after the 2020 election, several sources said.... Perry, in a post to his re-election campaign's Facebook page Tuesday evening, called the seizure of his phone ... 'banana republic tactics.... I'm outraged -- though not surprised -- that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland's DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting member of Congress,' he said. If the telephone was seized under the cover of a search warrant, however, it would have had to have been approved by a federal magistrate judge.... Perry, in a [new] statement..., said that he has been told he is not a target of the probe that resulted in the seizure of his phone." Perry also invoked the Constitution's speech & debate clause. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Would that be where Article I says you can do anything you want, Scotty? I don't see where a cellphone record, unless it records something you said into an open mic on the House floor, is protected under the speech & debate clause. You people need to grow up & take responsibility for your actions. ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "The F.B.I.'s seizure of Representative Scott Perry's phone this week was at least the third major action in recent months taken in connection with an escalating federal investigation into efforts by several close allies of ... Donald J. Trump to overturn the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter.... While the [DOJ] inspector general's office had initial jurisdiction in the probe because [former DOJ official Jeffrey] Clark [-- also part of the scheme Perry allegedly advanced --] was an employee of the department, there have been signs in recent days that the investigation is increasingly being run by prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington.... Mr. Perry was instrumental in pushing Mr. Trump to appoint Mr. Clark as his acting attorney general over the objections of several other top officials at the Justice Department. At one of its presentations, the House committee released text messages in which Mr. Perry repeatedly pressured Mark Meadows ... to reach out to Mr. Clark."

Tiffany Hsu & Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: [Calls for voter drop-box stakeouts] "were galvanizing people in at least [ten] states, signaling the latest outgrowth from rampant election fraud conspiracy theories coursing through the Republican Party. In the nearly two years since ... Donald J. Trump catapulted false claims of widespread voter fraud from the political fringes to the conservative mainstream, a constellation of his supporters have drifted from one theory to another in a frantic but unsuccessful search for evidence. Many are now focused on ballot drop boxes ... under the unfounded belief that mysterious operatives, or so-called ballot mules, are stuffing them with fake ballots or otherwise tampering with them. And they are recruiting observers to monitor countless drop boxes across the country, tapping the millions of Americans who have been swayed by bogus election claims.... Some online commenters discussed bringing AR-15s and other firearms, and have voiced their desire to make citizens' arrests and log license plates." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Love the photo accompanying the story. That little old lady inserting what appears to be a single ballot into a drop box doesn't look much like a "ballot mule." But, hey, appearances can be deceiving!

Jordan Williams of the Hill: "President Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill to expand benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during war and are suffering illnesses as a result. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act also expands presumptions of service connections for a variety of conditions related to toxic exposure -- meaning veterans don't have to prove their illness was service-connected." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has charged a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with a plot to murder former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, accusing him of attempting to pay individuals $300,000 to kill Bolton in D.C. or Maryland. The suspect, Shahram Poursafi, 45, remains at large abroad, the Justice Department said. If found and convicted, he would face up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, and up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot. Federal officials said the attempted assassination of Bolton would have been retaliation for the U.S. military killing in January, 2020 of Qasem Soleimani, a top commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a branch of Iran's military. Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: This essential DOJ assertion has been added to the story: "Officials said Poursafi was acting on behalf of the IRGC's elite Quds Force." An AP story is here.

Kate Sullivan of CNN: "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday directed the Internal Revenue Service not to use any of the new funding allocated in the Democrats' new health care and climate bill to increase the number of audits of Americans making less than $400,000 a year, according to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by CNN. The letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig comes amid attacks from Republicans that the $80 billion the Inflation Reduction Act would give to the IRS over the next 10 years would result in more middle-class Americans and small businesses getting audited. The Biden administration has repeatedly said the IRS would focus on increased enforcement activity on high-wealth taxpayers and large corporations and not target households who earn less than $400,000 a year."

Happy Holidays! Hamza Shaban of the Washington Post: "Sending loved ones packages this holiday season will get more expensive, based on a planned rate hike from the U.S. Postal Service. The mail agency's board of governors approved a peak-season plan to up the costs of commercial and retail parcels from early October through late January to capture the bustling holiday shopping season when packages crisscross the country. Postal officials said the surcharge was necessary to keep rates competitive. The Postal Service generally does not receive taxpayer funding, but Congress restructured its finances this year to relieve $107 billion in past-due and future obligations. The agency relies on the sale of postage products to fund its operations, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday that the agency was facing a $60 billion to $70 billion shortfall over the next decade without substantial revisions and price hikes."

Jasmine Hilton of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors allege that a special deputy U.S. Marshal from Marylandwas part of a network that defrauded seniors out of almost $2 million in 'romance scams' over several years. Isidore Iwuagwu, 35, of Upper Marlboro, [Maryland,] has been charged with conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney's office for Maryland. Between October 2015 and July 2021, Iwuagwu was a part of romance scams where individuals engaged in online relationships with more than 20 victims via social media platforms and dating websites and swindled them out of large sums of money, prosecutors alleged. Victims reported a combined loss of $1.9 million,according to an affidavit, and at least $585,180 was connected to accounts belonging to Iwuagwu." MB: Well, see, Trump is right; you can't trust federal law enforcement officials. (Okay, never mind that Trump himself has scammed nitwits out of $millions.)

Beyond the Beltway

Indiana. One Way to Steal an Election. And It Works! Meryl Kornfied of the Washington Post: “Two Indiana officers were suspended after a stunning courtroom revelation that police thought a potential town council candidate was anti-police and arrested him, stopping him from running for office. During a July 19 hearing, Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp dropped charges that included drug possession against Trevin Thalheimer after an officer and witness recounted how Brookville police talked about Thalheimer. Huerkamp, who also did not pursue a rape charge police had investigated, said he was 'disturbed beyond words' by the alleged police conduct and reported the incident to the Indiana State Police, which launched a criminal investigation. Brookville Police Chief Terry Mitchum and the investigating officer, Ryan Geiser, were suspended with pay from the nine-person force Thursday by the town’s council, which ordered them to stay away from other officers and town property.” Thalheimer said his arrest caused him not to seek election to the town council.

Minnesota House Race. Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: “Republican Brad Finstad, a former state lawmaker, won the special election for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, defeating Democrat Jeff Ettinger in a closely watched race. The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning, with Finstad holding a narrow lead of 51.1 percent to 46.9 percent with 98 percent of precincts reporting. The seat had been held by Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), who died in February after a battle with kidney cancer. A member of a family that has farmed for generations, Finstad is the former director of rural development in Minnesota for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 46-year-old Minnesota native was appointed to the position by ... Donald Trump.”

New Mexico. Ava Sasani, et al., of the New York Times: “The Afghan man accused of killing two Muslim men in Albuquerque had been charged in a series of assaults in recent years, accused of beating his wife and son and attacking a man whom his daughter was dating, according to police records released on Wednesday. Each time, prosecutors dismissed the charges against the man, Muhammad Syed, 51, who is now the leading suspect in the shooting deaths of four Muslim men — three of them over a recent 10-day stretch — that have shaken the tight-knit Muslim community in Albuquerque. Mr. Syed, who is also Muslim, was arrested on Monday by police officers who stopped his car about 100 miles from the Texas state line.”

Way Beyond

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: “Craters can be seen near a runway in aerial images of the Saki Air Base in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The pictures by U.S.-based Planet Labs emerged as a Ukrainian official ... told The Washington Post that Ukrainian special forces were behind the attack on the Russian base. While Kyiv claimed nine warplanes were destroyed, Moscow said an ammunition explosion caused Tuesday’s blasts.... Two separate explosions at the Crimea base suggest a potential attack rather than an accident in Tuesday’s incident, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.... Russia and the United States are negotiating a prisoner exchange, a Russian foreign ministry official said, confirming talks on a swap are ongoing, without providing further details.... Russia requested a U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday over the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine. The head of the U.N. atomic energy watchdog has appealed for access to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and warned of the need to avert 'nuclear disaster.'... China’s ambassador to Moscow called Washington the 'main instigator' in the war.”

News Ledes

New York Times: “An armed man accused of trying to break into the F.B.I.’s Cincinnati office on Thursday morning exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers after fleeing the area. He remained in a standoff hours later, officials said. The attack came three days after F.B.I. agents served a search warrant at the Florida home of ... Donald J. Trump, and a day after the F.B.I. director told reporters that online threats against federal law enforcement were 'deplorable and dangerous.' There was no immediate indication that the incident in Ohio was related to the Trump search.” This is a liveblog.

New York Times: “Gas prices in the United States fell below $4 a gallon on Thursday, retreating to their lowest level since March, a drop that has brought relief to Americans struggling with the skyrocketing cost of everything from groceries to rent. The national average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline now stands at $3.99, according to AAA. That’s higher than it was a year ago but still well below a peak of nearly $5.02 in mid-June.”

August 10, 2022

Reality Chex was down for a couple of hours today, so don't be all surprised if it goes down again. If worse comes to worst, I'll post a few entries on Twitter @CONSTANTWEADER tonight & tomorrow morning. In the meantime, if all goes well, it's bizniz as usual. -- Marie

Trumpidy-doo-dah, Trumpidy-ay, My Oh My ...

Late Morning Update:

The mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? -- Donald Trump, September 2016 (WashPo link) ~~~

~~~ Trump Surprised Constitution Can Come in Handy. From the New York Times liveblog, also linked below: "Donald J. Trump declined to answer questions from the New York state attorney general's office on Wednesday, a stunning gamble in a high-stakes legal interview that is likely to determine the course of a civil investigation into his company's business practices. In a statement released shortly after the questioning began on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, explaining that he 'declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.' After the deposition began, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that he was refusing to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment." The Hill's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: As Ken points out in today's Comments, there's a bit of irony in this development -- Trump spent four years as president* (and in his telling, he is still president) ignoring the laws & the Constitution, but suddenly he finds a part he likes. I suppose Ken & I are being unfair inasmuch as Trump was fond on that part of the Article II -- apparently written in invisible ink, as no one else has seen it -- that said he could do whatever he wanted.

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has charged a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with a plot to murder former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, accusing him of attempting to pay individuals $300,000 to kill Bolton in D.C. or Maryland. The suspect, Shahram Poursafi, 45, remains at large abroad, the Justice Department said. If found and convicted, he would face up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, and up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot. Federal officials said the attempted assassination of Bolton would have been retaliation for the U.S. military killing in January, 2020 of Qasem Soleimani, a top commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a branch of Iran's military. Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad."

Jordan Williams of the Hill: "President Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill to expand benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during war and are suffering illnesses as a result. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act also expands presumptions of service connections for a variety of conditions related to toxic exposure -- meaning veterans don't have to prove their illness was service-connected." ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months before the FBI's dramatic move to execute a search warrant at ... Donald Trump;s Florida home -- and open his safe to look for items -- federal authorities grew increasingly concerned that Trump or his lawyers and aides had not, in fact, returned all the documents and other material that were government property, according to people familiar with the discussions.... Over months of discussions on the subject, some officials also came to suspect Trump's representatives were not truthful at times.... On Tuesday, a lawyer for Trump said the agents who brought the court-approved warrant to Mar-a-Lago a day earlier took about 12 more boxes after conducting their search.... By [this past spring], officials at the National Archives had been aggressively contacting to people in Trump's orbit to demand the return of documents they believed were covered by the Presidential Records Act.... [A Trump lawyer] said the Justice Department officials commented [in June 2022] that they did not believe the storage unit was properly secured, so Trump officials added a lock to the facility." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The search carried out on Monday by the F.B.I. at ... Donald J. Trump's Florida home, a law enforcement action with explosive legal and political implications, was the culmination of a lengthy conflict between a president proud of his disdain for rules and officials [of the National Archives] charged with protecting the nation's records and secrets.... [Mr. Trump's] habit of transporting material around [the White House public spaces & residence] in cardboard boxes, with either a personal aide or a valet carrying them, was well known, but the contents were not always clear. Discussions were held within the White House by top staff members about how to get Mr. Trump to surrender his boxes.... When he left the White House, Mr. Trump took the boxes with him to Mar-a-Lago, packed with paperwork including letters from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his 'Sharpie-gate' map of the path of a hurricane, along with personal items like golf balls and a rain coat and various other things stuffed in. The National Archives ... determined last year that many important presidential documents that archivists knew existed were missing and believed to be in Mr. Trump's possession. That set off a lengthy back and forth between the National Archives and Mr. Trump's lawyers...." The details in both the WashPo & NYT stories are interesting.

     ~~~ In yesterday's Comments thread, Akhilleus speculated that a safe was "the last place Trump would stash documents. He'd leave that stuff lying around on coffee tables and pinned up on the walls so guests could marvel at the wonderfulness of the Dear Leader who had all those papers stamped 'top secret' and 'eyes only' in his possession." Right again! According to the NYT reporters, agents "cracked a hotel-style safe that was said by two people briefed on the search to contain nothing of consequence to the agents." AND "For the rest of 2021..., Mr. Trump would wave things like the North Korean leader's letters at people, as if they were collectors' items he was showing off." MB: When you joke about something stupid Trump might do, Trump obliges & actually does the stupid thing. ~~~

     ~~~ Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN have composed a timeline of the DOJ's criminal inquiry into Trump's theft of classified documents that incorporates some of the info included the the WashPo & NYT stories linked above. MB Note: I realize journalists are not calling Trump's actions "theft." But if you (or some of your henchmen) put something in your luggage that doesn't belong to you and refuse to return all or part of it when asked nicely, what is that but theft? And the fact that you flagrantly flash around some of the prized items in your booty does not make the theft an "appropriation" or some other euphamistic characterization.

     ~~~ Marie: I heard on TV Tuesday that among the items Trump stole from the White House were a model of Air Force 1 as Trump had redesigned it -- and some paper cocktail napkins. If true, here's this supposed billionaire who could easily afford to have another model made & could buy his own damned napkins down at the Palm Beach Publix (although I don't suppose any Publix napkins sport the presidential seal, as the ones Trump lifted may have). But no. So besides just a few other shortcomings you might have noticed, Trump is also a petty thief. Pathetic! I hope the plane model & napkins are returned to the White House. Joe & Jill's grandchildren can play with the model, and Joe himself, after enjoying some savory canapés, can delicately wipe his mouth with the napkins.

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post looks at some of the implications of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago: "Prosecutors could be probing whether the former president or his aides violated the Presidential Records Act, mishandled classified material or lied to investigators about whether they returned all the material to the archives when they were asked to do so.... For the FBI to search someone's home -- let alone a former president -- requires the government to show an extraordinary amount of evidence that they have reason to believe a crime has potentially been committed. That evidence was presented to a federal judge, who signed off on a court order okaying the search.... The relevant law regarding public documents says that a violator 'shall forfeit his office and and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.' [But there would certainly be a challenge if the government attempted to apply that law] because the Constitution sets the qualifications for president -- and nowhere does it say that being convicted of a crime -- including one involving public documents -- would bar someone from holding office." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katie Benner & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. had scarcely decamped from Mar-a-Lago when ... Donald J. Trump's allies, led by Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, began a bombardment of vitriol and threats against the man they see as a foe and foil: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. Mr. Garland, a bookish former judge who during his unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination in 2016 told senators that he did not have 'a political bone' in his body, responded, as he so often does, by not responding.... 'Garland has said that he wants his investigation to be apolitical, but nothing he does will stop Trump from distorting the perception of the investigation, given the asymmetrical rules,' said Andrew Weissmann, who was one of [Robert] Mueller's top aides in the special counsel';s office.... 'Playing by the Justice Department rules sadly but necessarily leaves the playing field open to this abuse.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While Weissmann certainly is right, the problem is grotesquely exacerbated by Republicans' complete lack of integrity & respect for the truth. I'm sure they can't fathom why people would ever govern themselves by a moral compass. Republicans' idea of "honor" is a teenager shooting protesters. BTW, I heard Weissman on the teevee earlier in the day expressing the opinion that the purpose of the raid on Mar-a-Lardo was to retrieve & secure presidential* documents & that it was unlikely DOJ would bring criminal charges against Trumpolini or his mob for stealing government property. ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux, in LG&$, republishes some Q&A from New Yorker writer Isaac Chotiner's interview of Andrew Weissmann. Weissmann explains why he thinks AG Merrick Garland approved a search warrant for Trump's Florida residence. As Lemieux writes, "... , the idea that [Trump] would comply voluntarily with a subpoena is absurd."

Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "The FBI and Justice Department have declined comment [on the search of Mar-a-Lago], following their typical procedure for press requests confirming active federal investigations. Trump is using that information vacuum to put his own spin on the events, describing himself in his release as the victim of 'prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President.' And his loyal henchmen at Fox News quickly adopted his talking points, denouncing the judge-approved search in the most demagogic terms imaginable on their Monday night programs as they sought to poison the well against any potential consequences for their beloved president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Gilbert of Vice: "After news broke that the FBI searched ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday, his supporters openly called for an armed violent response, and ultimately, civil war. 'Civil War 2.0 just kicked off,' one user wrote on Twitter, with another adding, 'One step closer to a kinetic civil war.' Others said they were ready to take part: 'I already bought my ammo.' MAGA, QAnon, and far-right message boards and Telegram channels lit up Monday night with calls for a violent response to what some extremists see as a political attack directed by the Biden administration.... Within hours of the FBI search..., the term 'civil war' was already trending on Twitter, and hundreds of Trump supporters had already gathered outside Mar-a-Lago. Some claimed on Telegram channels that they were there to protect the former president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Collins & Ryan Reilly of NBC News have more on the violent rebel yells responding to the the Mar-a-Lago search. ~~~

     ~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... the reckless response by the GOP-Fox News axis to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago makes it feel as though we're falling into the abyss. The threat of political violence from far-right extremists has been growing for years, but calls to arms reached a fever pitch in pro-Trump social media after Monday's court-ordered search at ... Donald Trump's Florida compound.... Fox News and other conservative outlets exploded with talk of 'war' and 'assassination,' an 'attack' on the country and Trump supporters, and calls for revenge against a 'corrupt' American 'KGB.' Elected Republicans erupted in cries about the 'weaponized politicization' done by a Democratic 'Gestapo' and a 'tyrannical FBI,' and about the need to 'make sure these tyrants pay the price.' They called for retribution: 'Destroy the FBI.' 'No one is safe.' 'You’re next.' 'They're coming for YOU.'... These are open invitations to the violent and the unstable to take matters into their own hands."

New York Times liveblog: "Donald J. Trump will face questioning under oath from the New York attorney general's office on Wednesday, a crucial turning point in a long-running civil investigation into his business practices.... "In New York City tonight. Seeing racist N.Y.S. Attorney General tomorrow, for a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history!' he wrote. 'My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!'[, he added, as if to demonstrate his great self's misapprehension of the use of reflexive pronouns. Perhaps his penchant for employing the royal 'we' has confused him. -- MB]" ~~~

     ~~~ A CNN report is here.

** Nicholas Wu, et al., of Politico: "Rep. Scott Perry, a top ally of ... Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that FBI agents seized his phone.... Perry's statement didn't detail what the FBI wanted from his phone, but he has been a figure of interest to congressional investigators probing Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election. Perry, a key ally in that effort, pressed Trump to replace Justice Department leaders and install a little-known official, Jeffrey Clark, atop the department.... 'This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone,' the Pennsylvania Republican said in a statement issued through his office. 'They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish.'" MB: "Also, that would have given me time to toss the phone in the Susquehanna." An AP story is here.

Tierney Sneed & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday signed off on a House Ways and Means Committee request to obtain ... Donald Trump's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service. The 3-0 ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is a blow to Trump, who has argued for years in court against releasing his tax returns to any investigators. A trial-level judge he appointed while president previously rejected his arguments in the case. But Trump still could appeal, making the litigation unlikely to end at this time. The court said the judgment would not issued for seven days, giving Trump time to appeal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: :Rudolph W. Giuliani..., a central figure in the investigation into election interference in Georgia, has been telling = prosecutors that he cannot travel to the state to appear before a = special grand jury because he is not healthy enough to fly. But - on Tuesday, a judge in Fulton County, Ga., said that Mr. Giuliani, who = had two coronary heart stents implanted in early July, could travel from New York to Atlanta some other way, and tentatively ordered him to show up to deliver in-person testimony on Aug. 17. 'Mr. Giuliani is not cleared for air travel, A-I-R,' Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court said. '... So one thing we need to explore is whether Mr. Giuliani could get here without jeopardizing his recovery and his health. On a train, on a bus or Uber, or whatever it would be,' he said.... In a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, the judge also told prosecutors they should let Mr. Giuliani, 78, know whether he was a target of the criminal investigation.... If Mr. Giuliani is considered to be a target, that could prompt him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right and decline to give testimony after potentially making a lengthy road trip."

MEANWHILE, a Real President Was at Work. Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden signed measures on Tuesday approving the expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland, an effort to bolster the Western alliance after President Vladimir V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. 'Today, we see all too clearly how NATO remains an indispensable alliance for the world of today and the world of tomorrow,' Mr. Biden said from the White House. 'Our alliance is closer than ever,' he added. 'It is more united than ever. And when Finland and Sweden bring the number of allies to 32, we'll be stronger than ever.'... Last week, the Senate voted 95 to 1 to give its approval [to the expansion of NATO], with only Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, opposing the move.... The approval in Washington was another pivot away from the foreign policy of ... Donald J. Trump, who openly criticized the alliance."

Wilfred Chan of the Guardian: "The conservative campaign against LGBTQ+ rights has found a new fixation for its hatred: monkeypox. On TV, rightwing commentators openly mock monkeypox victims -- the vast majority of whom are men who have sex with men -- and blame them for getting the disease. On social media, rightwing users trade memes about how the 'cure' to monkeypox is straight marriage while casting doubt on monkeypox vaccines' efficacy. This aggressive stigmatization of monkeypox -- reminiscent of the homophobic response to HIV/Aids in the 1980s -- poses a serious challenge to public health advocates and community leaders trying to have honest conversations about the disease with the gay and bisexual men who are most at risk during the current outbreak." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It does seem to me that -- if they have not already done so -- it's time for mental health professionals to start labeling -- and treating -- this and other forms of bullying as mental disorders & register these disorders in the DSM. You have to be one sick fuck to make fun of people who are suffering from a painful physical illness.

Beyond the Beltway

Primariy Elections. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in primary races in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont & Wisconsin. MB: A big night for the Trumpettes:

"Wisconsin. Republican primary voters upended their party's establishment in Wisconsin on Tuesday, choosing a Trump-backed candidate for governor who has entertained overturning the 2020 election results as the challenger to Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, in one of the most consequential November contests in the country. Tim Michels, a wealthy construction magnate endorsed by ... Donald J. Trump, defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who had support from former Gov. Scott Walker, former Vice President Mike Pence and dozens of state legislators, as well as the state's largest business organizations.... Mr. Trump's followers gave a serious scare to the powerful Republican speaker of the State Assembly, Robin Vos. In recent weeks, Mr. Vos had become the former president's chief antagonist among Wisconsin Republicans because he refused to indulge Mr. Trump's false claims that the 2020 results can still be decertified. Mr. Vos inched past a far-right challenger and political neophyte who was desperately short on money but was buoyed by a Trump endorsement just a week before the primary....

     ... "Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has won Wisconsin's Democratic primary for the Senate. Barnes was widely expected to prevail after his three leading opponents dropped out of the race and endorsed him late last month. [An NBC News story is here. MB: Oh, let us all hope that in the Land of Joe McCarthy, a man named Mandela dispatches with the Stupidest Senator, a/k/a Ron Johnson.] ...

"Connecticut. A late endorsement from ... Donald J. Trump helped catapult Leora Levy on Tuesday from a second-tier Senate candidate to the Republican nominee in Connecticut. Levy, a Republican National Committee member from Greenwich who called Trump 'vulgar' in 2016 but eventually embraced his movement, defeated the party-endorsed moderate Themis Klarides, the former Connecticut House Republican leader....

"Minnesota. Kim Crockett, who called the 2020 presidential election a 'train wreck' and cast doubt on the counting of the votes during the pandemic, won the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Minnesota on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. She will face Steve Simon, the Democratic incumbent, in the November general election that will determine who will be the state's top election official.... [A Huffington Post story is here.]

"Washington State. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, a Republican who voted to impeach ... Donald J. Trump and sharply criticized his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, conceded her primary Tuesday in a crowded race that included a Trump-backed challenger and other 2020 election deniers. Marie Perez, a Democrat, and Joe Kent, the Republican endorsed by Mr. Trump, were leading in the race, which had not yet been called. The eventual winners will square off in November to represent Washington's Third Congressional District, which encompasses the southwestern corner of the state." A Politico story on Herrera Beutler's loss is here.

Maryland Gubernatorial Race. Ovetta Wiggins & Erin Cox of the Washington Post: "Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox on Tuesday called the FBI search of ... Donald Trump's residence 'criminal' and said if elected he would use the full force of government -- including the state police and Maryland National Guard -- to oppose President Biden."

Mississippi Is Still Mississippi. Michael Goldberg & Allen Breed of the AP: "A Mississippi grand jury has declined to indict the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, most likely closing the case that shocked a nation and galvanized the modern civil rights movement. After hearing more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses, a Leflore County grand jury last week determined there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, Leflore County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson said in a news release Tuesday."

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 updates for Wednesday are here: "Tuesday's airfield explosion in Crimea was the work of Ukrainian special forces, a Ukrainian official told The Post.... The Ukrainian air force said in a separate statement that nine Russian aircraft were destroyed in the blast, without any claim of responsibility. A Ukrainian attack in Crimea would mark a dramatic escalation in the war. It would demonstrate a remarkable ability by Ukrainian forces, or their allies, to strike at Russia far from the front lines."

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Ukraine ... has adapted a wide array of small [drone] craft ranging from quadro-copters, with four rotors, to midsized fixed-wing drones, using them to drop bombs and spot artillery targets. Ukraine still uses advanced military drones supplied by its allies for observation and attack, but along the frontline the bulk of its drone fleet are off-the-shelf products or hand-built in workshops around Ukraine -- a myriad of inexpensive, plastic craft adapted to drop grenades or anti-tank munitions."

News Ledes

New York Times: "For days, the news that someone might be killing Muslim men in Albuquerque spread fear among the city's Muslim residents some of whom were so afraid of becoming the next target that they fled town or hunkered down in their homes. On Tuesday, the police said they had arrested a man who was himself Muslim and who may have targeted at least two of the victims because he was angry that his daughter had married a man from the other major branch of Islam. The police said the man Muhammad Syed, 51, would be charged in two of the killings and that he was a suspect in the other two deaths."

CNBC: "Prices that consumers pay for a variety of goods and services rose 8.5% in July from a year ago, a slowing pace from the previous month due largely to a drop in gasoline prices. On a monthly basis, prices were flat as energy prices broadly declined 4.6% and gasoline fell 7.7%. That offset a 1.1% monthly gain in food prices and a 0.5% increase in shelter costs." A New York Times report/liveblog is here.