August 23, 2022

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "A series of high-profile races will unfold on Tuesday in New York and Florida as the 2022 midterm primaries arrive in two of the nation's most populous states." Politico's story is here.

The Democrats are trying to overturn the Supreme Court's West Virginia vs. E.P.A. victory. -- Sen. Ted Cruz, on Fox Business, ahead of the Senate vote on amendments to the Clean Air Act

Ted was right. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "When the Supreme Court restricted the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to fight climate change this year, the reason it gave was that Congress had never granted the agency the broad authority to shift America away from burning fossil fuels. Now it has. Throughout the landmark climate law, passed this month, is language written specifically to address the Supreme Court's justification for reining in the E.P.A., a ruling that was one of the court's most consequential of the term. The new law amends the Clean Air Act, the country's bedrock air-quality legislation, to define the carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels as an 'air pollutant.' That language, according to legal experts as well as the Democrats who worked it into the legislation, explicitly gives the E.P.A. the authority to regulate greenhouse gases and to use its power to push the adoption of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.... This month, in the hours before the bill passed the Senate, Republicans waged a last-minute, mostly unsuccessful predawn battle to remove the language from the legislation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I recall reading, on occasion, some confederate Supreme saying of a particular decision, "Well, if Congress doesn't like the ruling, they can change the law." Such remarks were made with a big helping of snide, inasmuch as the justice knew full well that Democrats would not be able to get 60 votes to override a GOP Senate filibuster. They didn't get 60 votes in this EPA matter, either, but it passed under reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority.

Katie Shepherd, et al., of the Washington Post: "Two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, about 20.9 million women have lost access to nearly all elective abortions in their home states, and a slate of strict new trigger laws expected to take effect in the coming days will shut out even more. Texas, Tennessee and Idaho all have existing restrictions on abortion, but the laws slated to begin Thursday will either outlaw the procedure entirely or heighten penalties for doctors who perform an abortion, contributing to a seismic shift in who can access abortion in their home states. At least 11 other states have banned most abortions, prohibiting the procedure with narrow exceptions.... Five more states have similar bans temporarily blocked by the courts. If those injunctions are lifted, abortion could soon be inaccessible for millions more -- in total, 36 percent of U.S. women between the ages of 15 and 44 would be largely unable to obtain an elective abortion in the state where they live."

I am particularly proud to have served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden since the very first day of his administration. -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a statement, Monday

Funny, no mention of Trump. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's preeminent infectious-disease expert who achieved unprecedented fame while enduring withering political attacks as the face of the coronavirus pandemic response under two presidents, plans to step down in December after more than a half-century of public service, he announced Monday. Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He joined the parent agency, the National Institutes of Health, in 1968 as a 27-year-old doctor who had just finished medical residency and was quickly identified as a rising star. Most recently, Fauci has also served as President Biden's chief medical adviser since the start of his administration." The Hill's report is here. Dr. Fauci's statement is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Joseph Menn, et al., of the Washington Post: "Twitter executives deceived federal regulators and the company's own board of directors about 'extreme, egregious deficiencies' in its defenses against hackers, as well as its meager efforts to fight spam, according to an explosive whistleblower complaint from its former security chief. The complaint from former head of security Peiter Zatko, a widely admired hacker known as 'Mudge,' depicts Twitter as a chaotic and rudderless company beset by infighting, unable to properly protect its 238 million daily users including government agencies, heads of state and other influential public figures. Among the most serious accusations in the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is that Twitter violated the terms of an 11-year-old settlement with the Federal Trade Commission by falsely claiming that it had a solid security plan. Zatko's complaint alleges he had warned colleagues that half the company's servers were running out-of-date and vulnerable software and that executives withheld dire facts about the number of breaches and lack of protection for user data, instead presenting directors with rosy charts measuring unimportant changes." CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Faiz Saddiqui & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk alleges Twitter is vastly undercounting the number of spam and bot accounts on its platform. A new whistleblower complaint from a recently fired top Twitter executive could add ammunition to that argument, though it provides little hard evidence to back up a key assertion.... And [the whistleblower] lays out another argument that could give Musk a potential boost in his fight to prove Twitter broke its contract when he agreed to acquire the company for $44 billion: that Twitter deceived regulators regarding its defenses against hackers.... Any new allegations that Twitter misled shareholders and regulators could bolster Musk's case in Delaware Chancery Court in October, according to half a dozen legal experts....

Beyond the Beltway

Arkansas. Andy Rose, et al., of CNN: "Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are under investigation, their departments confirmed, after bystander video captured at least two of them punching and kneeing a suspect during an arrest Sunday. At one point in the 34-second video, one of the officers also appears to lift the suspect's head and slam it into the pavement. A Crawford County Sheriff's Department Facebook post identifies the law enforcement personnel involved in the arrest as sheriff's deputies Zack King and Levi White and officer Thell Riddle of the Mulberry Police Department. CNN has reached out to the deputies and officer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Colorado. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Republican Colorado State Sen. Kevin Priola on Monday announced that he was leaving the GOP to become a Democrat -- and he said that ... Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 election were a major factor. In a letter Priola released on Monday, the one-time Colorado Republican said that his former party's reaction to the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol made it impossible for him to continue identifying with it. 'I cannot continue to be a part of a political party that is okay with a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen,' he wrote. He also said he's been dismayed by the way that the GOP has tried to hound out anyone within the party who has tried to hold Trump accountable." Update: A Guardian story is here.

Georgia Senate Race. "Enough Trees." John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In an appearance Sunday..., [Republican Senate nominee Herschel] Walker reiterated his opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, signed by [President] Biden last week, that invests in curbing global warming, among other things. 'They continue to try to fool you that they are helping you out. But they're not,' Walker said. 'Because a lot of money, it's going to trees. Don't we have enough trees around here?' It's possible Walker might have been referring to a provision in the law that allocates $1.5 billion to the U.S. Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry Program." MB: Well, Georgia does have more privately-ownered timberland than any other U.S. state, and it's a global leader in the forest industry. And a couple of national forests, too. So yeah, lots of trees around there.

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Tuesday are here: "Russia is preparing to launch more strikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv warned ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day on Wednesday. The Pentagon is set to send more weapons to Ukraine to help fight Russian troops at closer ranges.... [The father of Daria Dugina -- who was killed in a car explosion last week --] Alexander Dugin, an ally of ... Vladimir Putin, called for 'more than just revenge' after his daughter's killing. Hundreds attended a memorial ceremony Tuesday, and Dugina's father said her 'ultimate sacrifice, the highest price we pay, can only be justified by victory' in Ukraine."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A woman shot and killed two people and injured a third in Midtown Atlanta on Monday, prompting an extensive search by multiple law enforcement agencies that led to her arrest at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the police said. The daytime shooting drew heavily armed police officers to busy midtown on Monday afternoon and briefly led the police to urge residents to stay off the streets as they searched for the person responsible for the shooting. About two hours after shooting, the Atlanta Police said that a woman had been arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and that officers had recovered a handgun. The police did not immediately release the woman's name or a possible motive."

Washington Post: "Streets and highways around Dallas[, Texas,] remained waterlogged Monday afternoon after flash floods struck the Dallas-Fort Worth area overnight, leaving at least one person dead. Signs of flooding lingered even after the rain mostly cleared from the metroplex."

August 22, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The federal magistrate judge who authorized the warrant to search Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate emphasized Monday that he 'carefully reviewed' the FBI's sworn evidence before signing off and considers the facts contained in an accompanying affidavit to be 'reliable.' Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart offered his assessment in a 13-page order memorializing his decision to consider whether to unseal portions of the affidavit, which describe the evidence the bureau relied on to justify the search of the former president's home. Reinhart ruled last week that he would consider unsealing portions of the affidavit after conferring with the Justice Department and determining whether proposed redactions would be sufficient to protect the ongoing criminal investigation connected to the search. But in his order, Reinhart emphasized that he may ultimately agree with prosecutors that any redactions would be so extensive that they would render the document useless." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh yeah? That's what Politico says. Bearing in mind that Politico is somewhat right-wingy, it is not nearly right-wingy enough. The headline on the Fox "News"' report covering the same judge's same ruling is, "Judge Reinhart formally rejects DOJ argument to keep Trump affidavit sealed, calls raid 'unprecedented.'" This is largely bull. The written order backs up Judge Reinhart's oral order delivered last week, telling the prosecution to produce a redacted copy of the affidavit for his consideration. In the order, Reinhart acknowledges that it's possible that "partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion...." As for a "raid" on Mar-a-Lardo, I did a wordsearch of the judge's order, and the only reference to a "raid" is a Business Insider headline & link about how Breitbart & a former Trump aide have doxxed FBI agents involved in the search. Judge Reinhart does not use the term "raid." As for "unprecedented," well, yeah. Reinhart does refer to "an unprecedented search of a former President's residence." That's because law enforcement has never had to search the home of a real president. Since the passage in 1978 of the Presidential Records Act ( in response to \ Nixon's plan to retain his papers [and tapes!]), no real president has been suspected of stealing documents & other items from the White House.

I am particularly proud to have served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden since the very first day of his administration. -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a statement, Monday

Funny, no mention of Trump. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's preeminent infectious-disease expert who achieved unprecedented fame while enduring withering political attacks as the face of the coronavirus pandemic response under two presidents, plans to step down in December after more than a half-century of public service, he announced Monday. Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He joined the parent agency, the National Institutes of Health, in 1968 as a 27-year-old doctor who had just finished medical residency and was quickly identified as a rising star. Most recently, Fauci has also served as President Biden's chief medical adviser since the start of his administration." The Hill's report is here. Dr. Fauci's statement is here.

Arkansas. Andy Rose, et al., of CNN: "Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are under investigation, their departments confirmed, after bystander video captured at least two of them punching and kneeing a suspect during an arrest Sunday. At one point in the 34-second video, one of the officers also appears to lift the suspect's head and slam it into the pavement. A Crawford County Sheriff's Department Facebook post identifies the law enforcement personnel involved in the arrest as sheriff's deputies Zack King and Levi White and officer Thell Riddle of the Mulberry Police Department. CNN has reached out to the deputies and officer."

~~~~~~~~~~

Nick Miroff & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "The Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that public pressure to unseal the affidavit used in the search of ... Donald Trump's Florida home could put FBI agents at personal risk or be used by Trump's attorneys to intimidate witnesses. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN's 'State of the Union' that he understood the public interest in seeing the affidavit "is real" but cautioned of the unintended consequences of releasing the document. 'I think the government makes a powerful case that at the early stage of the investigation, when it could jeopardize the pursuit of justice, this is not the time to be giving essentially the Trump lawyers a road map into how to intimidate witnesses or how to derail a legitimate investigation,' Schiff said.:

Short-time Insurrectionist. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has refused to speak to the Jan. 6 Committee because his participation in a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election only lasted 'a couple seconds.'.... [Matt Smith of WISN (Milwaukee) asked Johnson about his participation in an effort to pass a slate of fake electors to Vice President Pence on January 6, 2021.] The senator said that he 'fielded three texts and sent two and talked to my chief of staff that somebody wants to deliver something.... I knew nothing about it,' he added.... Johnson insisted that it was wrong to look at the plot to overturn the election as a 'massive conspiracy.' 'I had virtually no involvement!' he asserted. 'Literally, my involvement lasted seconds. OK?' Johnson initially denied having any knowledge of the alternate electors." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The lede appears to be misleading. As far as I can tell from the rest of the report, the committee has not asked Johnson to testify. Smith asked Johnson if he would testify, and Johnson gave a non-answer answer: "What would they ask me to testify about?"

Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on Sunday from testifying in the investigation into efforts by ... Donald J. Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The appeals court instructed a lower court to determine whether Mr. Graham should be exempt from answering certain kinds of questions, given his status as a federal lawmaker. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit gives a temporary reprieve to Mr. Graham, who has been fighting prosecutors' efforts to bring him before a special grand jury.... Mr. Graham has argued, among other things, that he should be exempt from testifying under the U.S. Constitution's speech and debate clause, which prohibits asking lawmakers about their legitimate legislative functions. The appeals court laid out further steps on Sunday that must be taken before Mr. Graham gives any testimony." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ According to a Politico story by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, two of the judges were Trump appointees & one was a Clinton appointee. "The appeals court called its Sunday morning action a 'limited remand' and said the subpoena would essentially be put on hold while the possibility of constraints on the scope of questioning of Graham is hashed out at the district court." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm sorry, but "Throw out a bunch of votes in your Democratic-leaning counties" is not a legislative function of the U.S. Congress.

Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has endorsed more than 200 candidates for state and federal office during the 2022 midterm elections, an unusually wide-ranging effort by a former president to consolidate and enhance his personal political influence.... His endorsements fall into two major categories: election deniers who have openly spread the lie that he won in 2020, and incumbents whose likely victories == in some cases uncontested -- help sensationalize his power inside the party." The article IDs some of the candidates Trump has endorsed.

The Worst Supreme Court Since Dred Scott. KK Ottesen, in the Washington Post, interviews Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe: In response to questions, Tribe says, "I have no doubt that the court is at a point that is far more dangerous and damaging to the country than at any other point, probably, since Dred Scott. And, in a way, because we even find Justice [Clarence] Thomas going back and citing Dred Scott favorably in his opinion on firearms, the court is dragging the country back into a terrible, terrible time.... And when they've got the votes, they don't even care if they have the reasoning.... I think there are five Robert Borks on the court right now.... And they are, in fact, probably to his right -- that is, Robert Bork at least seemed to believe in preserving those aspects of free speech that conduced to meaningful democratic self-governance. That is, I didn't see in Robert Bork the disregard for democracy, writ large, that I see in the current Supreme Court majority led by Clarence Thomas."

Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Putin's Door. Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Former NBA player Dennis Rodman said Saturday that he plans to visit Russia to seek the release of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges earlier this month. 'I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,' Rodman told NBC News at a restaurant in D.C. 'I'm trying to go this week.' He is more likely to hurt than help, said a senior Biden administration official." MB: It isn't clear who gave Rodman this "permission" inasmuch as the State Department has issued a blanket advisory warning Americans not to travel to Russia.

How to Cover Trumpolini. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "This is my last column for The Post.... The media has come a long, long way in figuring out how to cover the democracy-threatening ways of Donald Trump and his allies, including his stalwart helpers in right-wing media.... Journalists ... have to be willing to show their readers, viewers and listeners that electing him again would be dangerous.... Journalists simply can't allow themselves to be megaphones or stenographers.... If Trump runs [for president again], as [Jonathan] Karl put it, he will be running 'against the very democratic system that makes this all possible.' And he's bringing the vast bulk of the Republican Party along with him. So my prescription -- and it's only a start -- is less live campaign coverage, more context and thoughtful framing, and more fearless straight talk from news leaders about what's at stake and why politics coverage looks different." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Political coverage always should have "looked different." I recall begging Peter Baker of the New York Times years ago to stop with the both-sides, he-said/she-said reports, and he said he didn't know what I was talking about. He looked dumbfounded when I explained, a la Stephen Colbert, that just writing down what a politician says is stenography, not reporting. He clearly thought I was a crazed woman. But over the past decade, even Baker & his cohort have learned to write, "claimed without evidence." I guess that's progress.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Jill Biden, the first lady, left isolation after testing negative for the coronavirus on Sunday, nearly a week after she tested positive while on vacation in South Carolina. Dr. Biden had been isolating in a private residence there, but joined President Biden in Rehoboth, Del., on Sunday, according to a statement from Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director.... Dr. Biden, who was up to date on vaccines and has received two booster shots, only experienced mild symptoms, according to her office. She had also been prescribed the antiviral pill Paxlovid, a treatment that reduces the effects of a coronavirus infection."

Beyond the Beltway

Kansas. Heather Hollingsworth & John Hanna of the AP: "A decisive statewide vote in favor of abortion rights in traditionally conservative Kansas was confirmed with a partial hand recount, with fewer than 100 votes changing after the last county reported results Sunday. Nine of the state's 105 counties recounted their votes at the request of Melissa Leavitt, who has pushed for tighter election laws. A longtime anti-abortion activist, Mark Gietzen, is covering most of the costs. Gietzen acknowledged in an interview that it was unlikely to change the outcome."

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has drawn another red line in potential negotiations with Moscow to end the war. Russian-backed authorities are reportedly planning to hold a trial on Aug. 24 -- Ukraine-s Independence Day -- for the fighters captured during their final defense of the Azovstal steel plant in the battle for Mariupol. Here's the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.... A number of theories, as yet unsubstantiated, are circulating about the cause of a car bomb that killed the daughter of Putin ally Alexander Dugin outside Moscow on Saturday. It could create a flash point, even as Ukrainian officials denied any involvement in the blast and suggested it could be the result of an internal dispute within Russia."

Pakistan. Salman Masood & Christina Goldbaum of the Washington Post: "Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, was charged under the country's antiterrorism act on Sunday, in a drastic escalation of the tense power struggle between the country's current government and its former leader that threatens to set off a fresh round of public unrest and turmoil. The charges came a day after Mr. Khan, the former cricket star who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in April, gave an impassioned speech to hundreds of supporters at a rally in the capital, Islamabad, condemning the recent arrest of one of his top aides and threatening senior police officers and a judge involved in the case. 'We will not spare you,' Mr. Khan said, vowing to file legal cases against them. The police report detailing the charges against the former prime minister said that his comments amounted to a deliberate and illegal attempt to intimidate the country's judiciary and police force, local news outlets reported." An AP report is here.

South Korea/U.S. Kim Tong-Hyung of the AP: "The United States and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years Monday as they heighten their defense posture against the growing North Korean nuclear threat.... The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises will continue through Sept. 1 in South Korea and include field exercises involving aircraft, warships, tanks and potentially tens of thousands of troops. While Washington and Seoul describe their exercises as defensive, North Korea portrays them as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Stocks on Wall Street slid on Monday, with the S&P 500 dropping by the most it has in over two months, as a speech this week by Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, loomed over investors who are focused on the path for interest rates in the months ahead. The benchmark index fell 2.1 percent, its sharpest daily decline since June 16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 2.5 percent, nearly erasing its gains for August."

New York Times: "One person who had been hiking Friday at a national park in Utah remained missing on Sunday and about 200 people at a national park in New Mexico were trapped for several hours on Saturday amid heavy rain and flash flooding in parts of the Southwest."

August 21, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on Sunday from testifying in the investigation into efforts by ... Donald J. Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The appeals court instructed a lower court to determine whether Mr. Graham should be exempt from answering certain kinds of questions, given his status as a federal lawmaker. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit gives a temporary reprieve to Mr. Graham, who has been fighting prosecutors' efforts to bring him before a special grand jury.... Mr. Graham has argued, among other things, that he should be exempt from testifying under the U.S. Constitution's speech and debate clause, which prohibits asking lawmakers about their legitimate legislative functions. The appeals court laid out further steps on Sunday that must be taken before Mr. Graham gives any testimony." ~~~

     ~~~ According to a Politico story by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, two of the judges were Trump appointees & one was a Clinton appointee. "The appeals court called its Sunday morning action a 'limited remand' and said the subpoena would essentially be put on hold while the possibility of constraints on the scope of questioning of Graham is hashed out at the district court." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm sorry, but "Throw out a bunch of votes in your Democratic-leaning counties" is not a legislative function of the U.S. Congress.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Last Days of the Donald. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "unwillingness to let go of power, including refusing to return government documents collected while he was in office, has led to a potentially damaging, and entirely avoidable, legal battle that threatens to engulf the former president and some of his aides. Although the White House Counsel's Office had told Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump's last chief of staff, that the roughly two dozen boxes worth of material in the residence needed to be turned back to the archives, at least some of those boxes, including those with the Kim [Jong-un] letters and some documents marked highly classified, were shipped to Florida. There they were stored at various points over the past 19 months in different locations inside Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's members-only club, home and office, according to several people briefed on the events." The article goes on to describe what staff did & mostly did not do to preserve documents strewn around the offices Trump used. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One of the photos accompanying the article is of a couple of young men in suits, each carrying two unsealed boxes out of the White House, on Trump's last day in the White House. If, by chance, there are officers guarding the boxes, those officers are out-of-shot. Are there classified docs in those boxes? Do these young men have the appropriate security clearance to handle classified docs? I don't know. But unless the contents of those boxes in nothing but tschotskes (Russian nesting dolls?) that are the personal property of Donald & Melanie, there is a security breach AND a theft of public property happening in plain sight. Moreover, once the clock strikes noon and Joe Biden takes the oath of office, Donald Trump has no right to view any classified docs that might be in the boxes. ~~~

~~~ Marie: As we read the many diverting stories about what Trump is now calling the "break-in" at Mar-a-Lardo, we should keep a couple of things in mind. The first is that the documents & other items Trump stole from the White House, he stole from us. The second is this: Donald Trump does not have a right to even look at secret government documents, much less to keep them "in different locations inside Mar-a-Lago." Trump never had security clearance per se. Nobody vets the president to "clear" him for access to secret material; rather, every POTUS or POTUS* can view classified documents by virtue of his Constitutional position. But the day a president leaves office, that right disappears. In modern times, every past president could receive classified briefings when and if he needed them, say, when he was planning to travel abroad. Every past president, that is, except Donald Trump. President Biden "took the unprecedented step early in his term of cutting off Trump's access to intelligence briefings, a courtesy previously extended to all former presidents." In a November 2020 article, Ken Dilanian of NBC News surveys some former intelligence officials who explain why Biden would cut off Trump's access to briefings.

Little mike pence
Sat on a fence,
Eating his humble pie.
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I." ~~~

~~~ Thomas Beaumont of the AP: "Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he didn't take any classified information with him when he left office."

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Donald Trump is expected to seek the appointment of a special court official to determine whether materials that the FBI seized from his Florida resort can be used in a criminal investigation, according to his lead attorney Jim Trusty and two sources familiar with the matter. The motion would be the first formal legal action by the former president after federal agents last week confiscated about 30 boxes of highly-sensitive documents from his Mar-a-Lago resort in connection with an investigation into the unauthorized retention of government secrets. Trump would argue that the court should appoint a special master -- usually a retired lawyer or judge -- because the FBI potentially seized privileged materials in the search, and the justice department should not itself decide what it can use in its investigation, the sources said."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "An associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani ... tried to pass a message to Mr. Trump asking him to grant Mr. Giuliani a 'general pardon' and the Presidential Medal of Freedom just after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a new book. The associate, Maria Ryan, also pleaded for Mr. Giuliani to be paid for his services and sent a different note seeking tens of thousands of dollars for herself, according to the book ... by Andrew Kirtzman, who had covered Mr. Giuliani as a journalist. The New York Times obtained an advance copy of the book, which is set to be released next month. Bernard B. Kerik, Mr. Giuliani's close adviser and the New York City police commissioner for part of his time as mayor, stopped the letter from getting to Mr. Trump. And it is unclear if Mr. Giuliani, who ... has repeatedly insisted he did not seek a pardon shielding him from potential charges, was involved in the request."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Blake Hounshell & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: Chris Stirewalt was part of the Fox "News" team that called Arizona for Joe Biden in 2020, much earlier the AP & other networks did. The call infuriated Donald Trump & his supporters, and Fox subsequently laid of Stirewalt. Now Stirewalt has written a book in which "he describes how, over his 11 years at the network, he witnessed Fox feeding its viewers more and more of what they wanted to hear, and little else. This kind of affirming coverage got worse during the years that Trump was president, he says, and turbocharged the reaction of Trump supporters once Fox called Arizona for Biden.... Stirewalt ... [takes] particular aim at Tucker Carlson...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It occurs to me that the country's two Biggest Whiney Babies -- TuKKKer & Trumper -- both have little whiney-baby voices. Maybe there's a reason for that. Back in the good ole days when men were men & so forth, America's reprobates looked to fake he-men like John Wayne & Charlton Heston as their role models & fake heroes. Our generation(s) of reprobates seems to prefer Whiney Babies. These 21st-century reprobates don't dream of charging up San Juan Hill or around the Colosseum or whatever; they would rather just bitch & moan in comfort. Pathetic.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. In Ever-so Loco Parentis. Steven Walker of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: "Hundreds of dictionaries earmarked for donation from a Venice [Florida] Rotary Club sit collecting dust, precluded from being given to Sarasota County students.... Ahead of the 2022-23 school year, the Sarasota County School District stopped all donations and purchases of books for school libraries while it waits for additional guidance from the Florida Department of Education about how to navigate the effects of new education laws.... The freeze comes as HB 1467 took effect July 1, requiring all reading material in schools to be selected by an employee with a valid education media specialist certificate. The district was still looking to hire three media specialists to vet books as of Friday." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In yesterday's thread, Akhilleus expressed somewhat bemused amazement that schools would ban dictionaries the Rotary Club had donated. But Akhilleus is just not thinking this through. I mean, what if some preciously kid was looking up "trans-por-ta-tion" in his Rotary Club dictionary and came across "transgender"? Oh, my. Or an innocent child was looking for "radio" when he came upon "racism"? Or "koala bear" only to find "Koran"? Dictionaries are subtle but dangerous woke indoctrination tools, and school districts are so right to protect the children. From words.

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "The daughter of the key Putin adviser Alexander Dugin referred to as 'Putin's brain' was killed in a car explosion overnight in the Moscow region, according to Russia's main investigative authority, which said it was opening a criminal murder investigation. Daria Dugina, 29, was reportedly driving her father's car from a festival they attended when the vehicle erupted in flames, per Russia's state-run media outlet Tass. Dugina was sanctioned by the United States as part of a list of Russian elites and Russian intelligence-directed disinformation outlets, alongside her father who has been designated for sanctions since 2015. Drone attacks, including one on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet, were reported in Crimea on Saturday.... Ukraine paraded defunct Russian tanks through the streets of Kyiv on Saturday. The display of 'rusty Russian metal is a reminder to all dictators how their plans may be ruined by a free and courageous nation,' Ukraine's armed forces said."

Marina Lopes of the Washington Post: "One of the worst droughts on record in Europe has parched the continent's major waterways, revealing relics such as a long-submerged village and World War II-era battleships. This week, low water levels on the Serbian section of the Danube River exposed a graveyard of sunken German warships filled with explosives and ammunition. The vessels, which emerged near the port town of Prahovo, were part of a Nazi Black Sea fleet that sank in 1944 while fleeing Soviet forces. More ships are expected to be found lodged in the river's sandbanks, loaded with unexploded ordnance.... In July, a Roman bridge built during the first century B.C. was uncovered in the Tiber River, and ... earlier this week, the unrelenting heat wave that left the Iberian Peninsula drier than any time in the last 1,200 years also exposed dozens of prehistoric stones [known as the 'Spanish Stonehenge' --] in a reservoir in central Spain."