June 16, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times is live-updating developments related to Thursday's January 6 committee hearing: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans on Thursday to present new details of the intense pressure campaign ... Donald J. Trump and the conservative lawyer John Eastman waged against Vice President Mike Pence to try to get him to overturn the election, which the panel says directly contributed to the violent siege of Congress."

Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Thursday's January 6 committee hearing will begin at 1pm ET.... Retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig, a Republican who is testifying at Thursday's January 6 committee hearing, will provide a sharp condemnation of ... Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, saying Trump and his allies 'instigated' a war on democracy 'so that he could cling to power,' according to a written statement he intends to submit for the committee's record obtained exclusively by CNN. Luttig outlined in his statement how close he believed democracy came to the brink." A printout of Luttig's prepared statement, via CNN, is here.

Andrew Solender of Axios: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack plans to seek testimony from conservative activist Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the panel's chair said Thursday.... 'We think it's time that we, at some point, invite her to come talk to the committee,' Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters." See related NYT report by Broadwater & Haberman & WashPo report by Alemany, et al., both linked below.

Ukraine, et al. Loveday Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the European Union's three largest economies on Thursday said they were backing Ukraine's candidacy to join the 27-member bloc, a move that President Volodymyr Zelensky has fiercely advocated as his country loses ground in the face of Russia's invasion. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi pledged the backing after traveling by overnight train to Kyiv. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is also visiting Kyiv to meet with Zelensky, accompanied them. 'We are at a turning point in our history'" said Draghi, calling the visit 'an unequivocal confirmation of our support.'"

Georgia. Herschel Walker Has a Lot of Children. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker (R) has confirmed that he has a third son and an adult daughter, a revelation that comes just a day after his campaign acknowledged he had a second son previously unknown to the public. In a statement from his campaign to The Hill, Walker acknowledged he had four children total: one son with his first wife, Cindy Deangelis Grossman, and three other children reportedly with other women, according to the Daily Beast. 'I have four children. Three sons and a daughter. They're not "undisclosed" -- they're my kids. I support them all and love them all,' he said."

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Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday launched its biggest broadside yet against inflation, raising benchmark interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994. Ending weeks of speculation, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee took the level of its benchmark funds rate to a range of 1.5%-1.75%, the highest since just before the Covid pandemic began in March 2020. Additionally, members indicated a much stronger path of rate increases ahead to arrest inflation moving at its fastest pace going back to December 1981, according to one commonly cited measure." The Washington Post's story is here. The New York Times report, part of a liveblog, is here.

Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on U.S. oil refining companies to produce more, saying they need to help alleviate the burden of high prices on consumers. 'At a time of war -- historically high refinery profit margins being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable,' the president said in a letter to oil companies including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. '[C]ompanies must take immediate actions to increase the supply of gasoline, diesel, and other refined product,' the letter added.... Refining capacity has dropped since the pandemic took hold, which is a factor in the rapid advance of fuel prices.... Loss of Russian refined products has exacerbated the imbalance, with Europe now looking elsewhere for fuel."

Lisa Mascaro & Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The 1/6 committee is set to plunge into Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to salvage the 2020 election by pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral count.... With two live witnesses Thursday, the House panel intends to show how Trump's false claims of a fraudulent election left him grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote.... The committee will hear from Greg Jacob, the vice president's counsel who fended off [attorney John] Eastman's ideas for Pence to carry out the plan; and retired federal judge Michael Luttig, who called the plan from Eastman, his former law clerk, 'incorrect at every turn.' Thursday's session is also expected to divulge new evidence about the danger Pence faced that day as the mob stormed the Capitol shouting 'hang Mike Pence!'..." ~~~

     ~~~ According to CBS News, the hearing is to begin at 1:00 pm ET Thursday.

Garrett Haake & Zoë Richards of NBC News: "... Donald Trump knew violence had taken hold at the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he tweeted that Mike Pence wasn't willing to overturn the election, according to a member of the House committee investigating the insurrection who told NBC News the panel will show the former vice president was in more physical danger than previously known. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif..., [said] that Pence was 'evacuated in just the nick of time' from the quickly advancing mob after a disparaging tweet from Trump. Aguilar said that just minutes after the doors to the Capitol had been breached, while Pence was in his ceremonial office, Trump tweeted that his second-in-command didn't have the courage to overturn the election results. Moments later Pence was whisked to an evacuation area by Secret Service agents, Aguilar said. 'We notice right away, you know, within 90 seconds, the vice president is being evacuated right after that Trump tweet,' Aguilar said in an interview...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We know that Trump denies any hint of wrongdoing in anything, but he also seems to be quite aware of how to set up "plausible deniability." For instance, here's the text of the tweet he sent out as the danger to pence became imminent: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!" He's not standing on the balcony haranguing "Hang Mike Pence!" but in a far more subtle way, he is urging his army to do just that.

"The Plot Thickens." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... for the first time, we have real detail on what evidence the Jan. 6 committee ... [has on a 'reconnaissance' tours of the Capitol the day before the insurrection]. And while far from conclusive, it further calls into question the misleading denials and explanations offered by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.). The Jan. 6 committee on Wednesday morning released new details about the group Loudermilk led around the Capitol complex on Jan. 5.... According to surveillance footage, the letter says, Loudermilk led a tour of 'approximately ten individuals' through a trio of House office buildings and near entrances to the tunnels to the Capitol. The committee indicates participants acted in an unusual manner, taking photographs of areas 'not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints.' It says one of those people ... marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6. While near the Capitol, someone the committee identifies as the same man recorded a video with threatening words for Democratic members of Congress. 'There's no escape, Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler; we're coming for you,' the man says in footage provided by the committee." A Politico story is here. A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's no publicly-released evidence that Barry was anything but a dupe in this guy's plan to assault Nancy Pelosi & others, but Barry's shifting stories make him seem, well, shifty. A normal person would cooperate with the committee to get to the bottom of this man's motives to go on a Capitol tour & take photos of areas that to you & me would be of no more interest than the stairwell in our local parking garage. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Rachel Maddow said twice that the "tour" went on for hours and that Loudermilk himself acted as tour guide. Unless these constituents were deep-pockets donors (and there was nothing about their appearance to suggest they might be), it is inconceivable to me that a Congressman would spend hours giving ordinary Americans a tour of the fairly unremarkable House office building. So I amend my remarks. The FBI should question Loudermilk and that guy taking photos of security checkpoints. ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Loudermilk said the committee was engaging in a smear campaign against him, causing his family and staff to receive death threats.... But the committee said that several people who participated in Mr. Loudermilk's tour attended President Donald J. Trump's rally on the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6."

Robert Legare of CBS News: "In the week leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol assault, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio received a nine-page memo titled '1776 Returns' that laid out detailed plans to occupy congressional office buildings to protest the counting of the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election. The memo, which was filed in court as part of a recent motion made by one of Tarrio's co-defendants, outlined a goal to 'maintain control over as select few, but crucial buildings in the DC area for a set period of time, presenting our demands in unity.... We must show our politicians We the People are in charge,' the memo said. Targeted buildings allegedly included the three Senate and House office buildings, the Supreme Court of the United States, and CNN -- to 'at least egg doorway,' according to the filing." The person who sent the document is unknown." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rachel Maddow linked Barry's Tours with the 1776 memo. I don't know that there's any direct connection between the two, but I do know that the 1776 memo makes a mockery of Barry's excuse that he couldn't be culpable of conducting -- or aiding & abetting -- reconnaissance because he never took his tourist group into the Capitol building proper. The 1766 memo talks about occupying other buildings, including the one Barry's tourists surveilled.

Michelle Cottle of the New York Times writes about something we discussed in Tuesday's thread: In snippits of an interview the January 6 committee released Monday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said, "'I didn't mind being characterized as being part of Team Normal ... I've built up a pretty good -- I hope -- a good reputation for being honest and professional. I didn't think what was happening was necessarily honest or professional at that point in time. So that led to me stepping away.'... A more accurate, less self-aggrandizing way might be to say that he slunk away ... in the hopes that no one would notice him fleeing the spiraling freak show to which he had sold his services and his soul. And he has since taken pains to stay on Mr. Trump's good side: In the 17 months after the Jan. 6 insurrection, he has served as a consultant to the former president's Save America PAC and signed on to work with Trump-backed candidates who have peddled, or have at least flirted with, the election-fraud fiction.... He is apparently cool with Mr. Trump's basic plan to burn down the nation by advancing conspiracy theories about a rigged election.... This, apparently, is what constitutes 'normal' in today's Republican Party." Cottle gives props to Bill Barr, too, as the most craven representative of this bunch of reprobates. (Also linked yesterday.)

Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A lawyer advising ... Donald J. Trump claimed in an email after Election Day 2020 to have insight into a 'heated fight' among the Supreme Court justices over whether to hear arguments about the president's efforts to overturn his defeat at the polls, two people briefed on the email said. The lawyer, John Eastman, made the statement in a Dec. 24, 2020, exchange with a pro-Trump lawyer and Trump campaign officials.... 'So the odds are not based on the legal merits but an assessment of the justices' spines, and I understand that there is a heated fight underway,' Mr. Eastman wrote.... The pro-Trump lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, replied that the 'odds of action before Jan. 6 will become more favorable if the justices start to fear that there will be "wild" chaos on Jan. 6 unless they rule by then, either way.'... Mr. Chesebro's comment ... was striking for its link to the potential for the kind of mob scene that materialized at the Capitol weeks later. And Mr. Eastman's email, if taken at face value, raised the question of how he would have known about internal tension among the justices about dealing with election cases. Mr. Eastman had been a clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas. The committee is also reviewing emails between Mr. Eastman and Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Thomas." ~~~

     ~~~ Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has obtained email correspondence between Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and lawyer John Eastman, who played a key role in efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory, according to three people involved in the committee's investigation. The emails show that Thomas's efforts to overturn the election were more extensive than previously known, two of the people said."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Wednesday denied Stephen K. Bannon's motion to dismiss his criminal contempt case, rejecting arguments that he was legally protected from having to appear before a House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.... At a three-hour court hearing in Washington, [U.S. District Judge Carl J.] Nichols, a 2019 Trump appointee, repeatedly challenged Bannon's claims and ultimately decided in the Justice Department's favor."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Delaware man who flew a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was convicted with his son on Wednesday by a federal judge of the top count in their indictment: obstructing the certification of the 2020 presidential vote. The two men, Kevin and Hunter Seefried, were also found guilty at the bench trial by Judge Trevor N. McFadden of four misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct and illegally entering a restricted area.... A key witness at the trial was Officer Eugene Goodman, whose actions on the day of the attack were captured in a widely circulated video recorded by a reporter in the Capitol.... Officer Goodman ... testified that he had attempted to prevent Kevin Seefried from progressing toward the Senate chamber and that Mr. Seefried 'jabbed' at him three times with the Confederate flag." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So even Judge McFadden, a Trump appointee, figures that poking a Black man with a pole holding a Confederate flag is not standard behavior for "ordinary tourists."

Reid Epstein & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "The potential for far-right Republicans to reshape the election systems of major battleground states is growing much closer to reality. As the halfway point nears of a midterm year that is vastly friendlier to Republicans, the party's voters have nominated dozens of candidates for offices with power over the administration and certification of elections who have spread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential contest and sowed distrust in American democracy.... With Republicans widely predicted to make gains in November, it is possible that 2023 will bring newly installed far-right officials willing to wield their influence to affect election outcomes and a possible Supreme Court ruling that could give state legislatures unchecked power over federal elections."

GOP Mobilizes Vast Voter Intimidation Squad Made Up of Election Deniers. Isaac Arnsdorf & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee is spending millions this year in 16 critical states on an unprecedented push to recruit thousands of poll workers and watchers, adding firepower to a growing effort on the right to find election irregularities that could be used to challenge results. The RNC was until recently barred from bringing its substantial resources to bear on field operations at polling sites because of a decades-old court order.... The RNC has so far signed up more than 14,000 poll workers and 10,000 poll watchers nationwide, and political director Elliott Echols said the party plans to have more than 5,000 in each state for the November midterms.... While Democrats have set up legal hotlines and mobilized volunteers by stressing a need to help those denied a chance to vote, the Republican operation is centered on challenging ballots, spotting potential fraud -- and for poll watchers, reporting those concerns directly to party attorneys on Election Day, according to the RNC." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marie: I still think the day the floodgates opened and we began to become not-a-democracy was the day Antonin Scalia dropped dead, and Mitch McConnell & Chuck Grassley decided not to fill his seat with an Obama nominee. With Trump's election (by a minority of voters), the process escalated, and now we seem to be at a point of no return. The decline & fall of the American experiment seems almost inevitable.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal from several states led by Republicans that had sought to step in to defend a Trump-era immigration policy that the Biden administration has abandoned. The court's decision was one sentence long and said only that the states' petition seeking review was 'dismissed as improvidently granted.' In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the case had presented 'a host of important questions.' But he added that a 'mare's nest' of procedural issues stood in the way of a clean resolution of those questions. Chief Justice Roberts stressed that the dismissal 'should not be taken as reflective of a view' on how the questions should be answered, and he suggested that the court may resolve them in another context.... The Trump-era policy at issue in the case revised the 'public charge' rule, which allows officials to deny permanent legal status, also known as a green card, to immigrants who are likely to need public assistance." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "The number of abortions in the United States has increased, reversing what had been a three-decade decline, according to a new report. The uptick began in 2017 and, as of 2020, one in five pregnancies, or 20.6 percent, ended in abortion, according to the report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. In 2017, 18.4 percent of pregnancies ended in abortion." An AP report is here.

Lindsey Tanner & Mike Stobbe of the AP: "The Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids. The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks for children under 5 -- that's roughly 18 million youngsters. They are the last age group in the U.S. without access to COVID-19 vaccines and many parents have been anxious to protect their little children. If all the regulatory steps are cleared, shots should be available next week." ~~~

~~~ Florida. Michael Wilner of McClatchy D.C.: "Every state has placed an order with the federal government to ensure coronavirus vaccines for young children are delivered as soon as regulators authorize their use -- except for one. Florida missed a Tuesday deadline to request delivery of COVID-19 pediatric vaccines for children under 5, guaranteeing a delay in access for parents across the state, according to two U.S. government sources.... Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, confirmed the department 'chose not to participate' in the vaccination program because the state health department is not following federal public health recommendations.... Florida's surgeon general and secretary of the state department of health, Joseph Ladapo, has long criticized vaccination requirements for adults. In March, he recommended against vaccinating healthy kids, and the News Service of Florida reported Wednesday that Ladapo would not support inoculating the state's youngest children either -- frustrating pediatricians who say the need for COVID vaccines is clear."

Mark Osborne of ABC News: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, a senior adviser to the president on the pandemic, has tested positive for COVID-19.... Fauci, who has mild symptoms, tested positive via a rapid antigen test, according to the NIAID.... He's fully vaccinated and received two boosters, the NIAID said in a statement. Fauci's office told ABC News that he's taking Pfizer's antiviral treatment Paxlovid."

Beyond the Beltway

New Mexico. The Ghost in the Machine Was Hugo Chavez. Or Something. Morgan Lee of the AP: "New Mexico's secretary of state on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to order the Republican-led commission of rural Otero County to certify primary election results after it refused to do so over distrust of Dominion vote-tallying machines. Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Olive's request came a day after the three-member Otero County commission, in its role as a county canvassing board, voted unanimously against certifying the results of the June 7 primary without raising specific concerns about discrepancies. The commission's members include Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin, who ascribes to unsubstantiated claims that ... Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Griffin was convicted of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds ... amid the riots on Jan. 6, 2021, and is scheduled for sentencing later this month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Annie Gowan of the Washington Post: "New Mexico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the county commissioners in rural Otero County to do their jobs and certify election results, two days after they refused, citing unsubstantiated concerns about fraud. The court granted the emergency motion by New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, who earlier this week asked the court to intervene and compel the three-member board to approve vote totals from a June 7 primary. The commission had voted on Monday not to do so." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ja'han Jones of MSNBC espies a preview of things to come: "A New Mexico county run by Donald Trump loyalists is putting the disgraced former president's fascist election-undermining schemes to the test." MB: Otero County is leans hard Republican. So I'm not sure all those nice white MAGA people will be pleased if turns out that many of the votes their "leaders" throw out are their own. Had Cowboy Couy & his dimwitted co-commissioners prevailed, that's exactly what would have happened.

New York. Carolyn Thompson of the AP: "The white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket was charged Wednesday with federal hate crimes and could face the death penalty if convicted. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Payton Gendron coincided with a visit to Buffalo by Attorney General Merrick Garland. He met with the families of the people who were killed and placed a bouquet of white flowers tied with a yellow ribbon at a memorial outside the store, which has been closed since the attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "In a diplomatic show of support for Ukraine, the leaders of France, Italy and Germany -- all members of the European Union -- arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning.... French President Emmanuel Macron said the leaders brought a 'message of unity.' Ukraine has pressed for E.U. membership, which is seen by some European leaders as a somewhat lofty goal and one that cannot be realized in the near term.... President Biden on Wednesday responded to calls from Ukraine for more weapons as he announced another $1 billion in security assistance to the country, which is struggling to hold back intense attacks.... The United States said Chinese President Xi Jinping risked being 'on the wrong side of history' after he declared his support for Moscow's 'sovereignty and security' during a call with ... Vladimir Putin. Two U.S. military veterans have gone missing in Ukraine, and it is feared they have been captured by Russia, family members of the missing Americans said."

News Lede

AP: "A fisherman confessed to killing a British journalist and an Indigenous expert in Brazil's remote Amazon and took police to a site where human remains were recovered, a federal investigator said, closing out 10 days of suspense as teams searched for the missing pair. Authorities said Wednesday night without giving any details that they expected more arrests would be made soon in the case of freelance reporter Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira of Brazil, who disappeared June 5."

June 15, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday launched its biggest broadside yet against inflation, raising benchmark interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994. Ending weeks of speculation, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee took the level of its benchmark funds rate to a range of 1.5%-1.75%, the highest since just before the Covid pandemic began in March 2020. Additionally, members indicated a much stronger path of rate increases ahead to arrest inflation moving at its fastest pace going back to December 1981, according to one commonly cited measure." The Washington Post's story is here. The New York Times report, part of a liveblog, is here.

Carolyn Thompson of the AP: "The white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket was charged Wednesday with federal hate crimes and could face the death penalty if convicted. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Payton Gendron coincided with a visit to Buffalo by Attorney General Merrick Garland. He met with the families of the people who were killed and placed a bouquet of white flowers tied with a yellow ribbon at a memorial outside the store, which has been closed since the attack."

GOP Mobilizes Vast Voter Intimidation Squad Made Up of Election Deniers. Isaac Arnsdorf & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee is spending millions this year in 16 critical states on an unprecedented push to recruit thousands of poll workers and watchers, adding firepower to a growing effort on the right to find election irregularities that could be used to challenge results. The RNC was until recently barred from bringing its substantial resources to bear on field operations at polling sites because of a decades-old court order.... The RNC has so far signed up more than 14,000 poll workers and 10,000 poll watchers nationwide, and political director Elliott Echols said the party plans to have more than 5,000 in each state for the November midterms.... While Democrats have set up legal hotlines and mobilized volunteers by stressing a need to help those denied a chance to vote, the Republican operation is centered on challenging ballots, spotting potential fraud -- and for poll watchers, reporting those concerns directly to party attorneys on Election Day, according to the RNC."

"The Plot Thickens." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... for the first time, we have real detail on what evidence the Jan. 6 committee ... [has on a 'reconnaissance' tours of the Capitol the day before the insurrection]. And while far from conclusive, it further calls into question the misleading denials and explanations offered by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.). The Jan. 6 committee on Wednesday morning released new details about the group Loudermilk led around the Capitol complex on Jan. 5.... According to surveillance footage, the letter says, Loudermilk led a tour of 'approximately ten individuals' through a trio of House office buildings and near entrances to the tunnels to the Capitol. The committee indicates participants acted in an unusual manner, taking photographs of areas 'not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints.' It says one of those people ... marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6. While near the Capitol, someone the committee identifies as the same man recorded a video with threatening words for Democratic members of Congress. 'There's no escape, Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler; we're coming for you,' the man says in footage provided by the committee." A Politico story is here. A CNN story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's no publicly-released evidence that Barry was anything but a dupe in this guy's plan to assault Nancy Pelosi & others, but Barry's shifting stories make him seem, well, shifty. A normal person would cooperate with the committee to get to the bottom of this man's motives to go on a Capitol tour & take photos of areas that to you & me would be of no more interest than the stairwell in our local parking garage.

Michelle Cottle of the New York Times writes about something we discussed in yesterday's thread: In snippits of an interview the January 6 committee released Monday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said, "'I didn't mind being characterized as being part of Team Normal ... I've built up a pretty good -- I hope -- a good reputation for being honest and professional. I didn't think what was happening was necessarily honest or professional at that point in time. So that led to me stepping away.'... A more accurate, less self-aggrandizing way might be to say that he slunk away ... in the hopes that no one would notice him fleeing the spiraling freak show to which he had sold his services and his soul. And he has since taken pains to stay on Mr. Trump's good side: In the 17 months after the Jan. 6 insurrection, he has served as a consultant to the former president's Save America PAC and signed on to work with Trump-backed candidates who have peddled, or have at least flirted with, the election-fraud fiction.... He is apparently cool with Mr. Trump's basic plan to burn down the nation by advancing conspiracy theories about a rigged election.... This, apparently, is what constitutes 'normal' in today's Republican Party." Cottle gives props to Bill Barr, too, as the most craven representative of this bunch of reprobates.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal from several states led by Republicans that had sought to step in to defend a Trump-era immigration policy that the Biden administration has abandoned. The court's decision was one sentence long and said only that the states' petition seeking review was 'dismissed as improvidently granted.' In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the case had presented 'a host of important questions.' But he added that a 'mare's nest' of procedural issues stood in the way of a clean resolution of those questions. Chief Justice Roberts stressed that the dismissal 'should not be taken as reflective of a view' on how the questions should be answered, and he suggested that the court may resolve them in another context.... The Trump-era policy at issue in the case revised the 'public charge' rule, which allows officials to deny permanent legal status, also known as a green card, to immigrants who are likely to need public assistance."

New Mexico. The Ghost in the Machine Was Hugo Chavez. Or Something. Morgan Lee of the AP: "New Mexico's secretary of state on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to order the Republican-led commission of rural Otero County to certify primary election results after it refused to do so over distrust of Dominion vote-tallying machines. Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Olive's request came a day after the three-member Otero County commission, in its role as a county canvassing board, voted unanimously against certifying the results of the June 7 primary without raising specific concerns about discrepancies. The commission's members include Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin, who ascribes to unsubstantiated claims that ... Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Griffin was convicted of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds ... amid the riots on Jan. 6, 2021, and is scheduled for sentencing later this month."

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BTW, today is the day quarterly estimated tax payments are due.

Zach Montague of the New York Times reports on the schedule of upcoming January 6 committee hearings: "The next hearing is set for Thursday, with a tentative start time of 1 p.m. Eastern, though that could change if committee members opt to move their presentation into prime time. The committee also plans to hold two more hearings next week, on Tuesday and Thursday, both at 1 p.m."

Annie Grayer of CNN: "The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol has postponed its hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a member of the committee, told reporters that the reason for the rescheduling was due to 'technical issues' and 'not a big deal.' 'It's just technical issues,' she said. 'You know the staff, putting together all the videos.... It was overwhelming. So we're trying to give them a little room.' Lofgren said Wednesday's hearing topic, which was focused on the Department of Justice, will get moved to another day, and Thursday will still focus on ... Donald Trump's efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the election results." (Also linked yesterday.)

Neal Katyal, in a New York Times op-ed: "... a [Justice Department] investigation [of some of the January 6 committee's findings] is virtually inevitable, given the evidence generated by the committee. How could Attorney General Merrick Garland ignore the facts the American people are now learning about?... But we've seen no signs of such an investigation." Katyal looks at the charges that might be filed against Donald Trump: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, & seditious conspiracy. "Based on the evidence presented so far, it seems as if the most likely charges are obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy, and not seditious conspiracy."

Ken Vogel & Rachel Shorey of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is suggesting that there might be criminal exposure in one particular strain of [Donald] Trump's misleading fund-raising appeals -- those urging his supporters to donate to efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. In a hearing on Monday, the panel highlighted fund-raising solicitations sent by Mr. Trump's campaign committees in the weeks after the election, seeking donations for an 'Official Election Defense Fund' that the Trump team claimed would be used to fight what they asserted without evidence was rampant voter fraud favoring candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. 'The select committee discovered no such fund existed,' a committee investigator said in a video shown at the hearing.... Campaign finance experts expressed mixed opinions about the prospects of any potential prosecution.... The experts said that any investigation of Mr. Trump's fund-raising would likely target his aides, not the former president himself."

Isaac Stanley-Becker & Beth Reinhard of the Washington Post: "Kimberly Guilfoyle, a fundraiser for ... Donald Trump and the fiancee of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., spoke for less than three minutes at the rally on Jan. 6, 2021, that preceded the Capitol riot. For her appearance, she was compensated $60,000 by Turning Point Action, a conservative nonprofit led by Charlie Kirk, according to two people with knowledge of her compensation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity. The two people said the sponsoring donor was Julie Fancelli, the 72-year-old daughter of the founder of the Publix grocery store chain.... Guilfoyle's speaking fee, for her remarks introducing her fiance, was disclosed in a Monday appearance on CNN by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Lofgren pointed to the payment as an example of what she described as a misleading marketing effort run by the Trump campaign, which raised roughly $250 million in the weeks after the Nov. 3 election.... But the payment did not come from the campaign or affiliated political committees." CNN's report is here.

Liz Cheney provdes a fun clip of former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann's interview before the January 6 committee. This is an extension of the clip aired during Monday's hearing:

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Team Trump descends into vicious, post-hearing infighting. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zachary Cohen & Whitney Wild of CNN: "US Capitol Police have concluded after reviewing security footage that 'there is no evidence' GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk led a reconnaissance tour with Trump supporters trying to learn more about the Capitol complex the day before the deadly January 6 insurrection. The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, raised the issue publicly in a letter last month asking Loudermilk to explain the purpose of his January 5 meeting with a group of constituents.... 'There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,' Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote in a letter on Monday to Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. 'We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious. 'The Capitol Police review was done at the urging of Davis." (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden plans to appoint Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, to his White House staff as a senior adviser charged with managing relations with pivotal constituent groups heading into the midterm campaigns, a White House official said on Tuesday. Ms. Bottoms will succeed Cedric Richmond as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and serve as the president's ambassador to community and business organizations at a time when Mr. Biden is struggling with low approval ratings and his party faces the loss of one or both houses of Congress in the fall elections." An NBC News report is here.

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "A tentative bipartisan deal to toughen federal gun laws picked up momentum in the Senate on Tuesday after Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lent public support to a framework that negotiators released this week. McConnell's backing provided further evidence that the current round of gun-law negotiations, which kicked off after last month's deadly shooting inside a Texas elementary school, might just have what previous attempts at bipartisan compromise did not -- sufficient GOP support to overcome a filibuster."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would extend police protection to the immediate families of Supreme Court justices, clearing the bill for President Biden at a time of rising concern about threats to justices as a potentially momentous abortion ruling looms. The vote was 396 to 27, with all of the opposition coming from Democrats, who tried unsuccessfully to extend the protections to the families of court employees. The action sent the measure to Mr. Biden for his signature." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "An expert committee advising the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday unanimously recommended Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for use in children and adolescents ages 6 to 17, an important step before emergency authorization. The F.D.A. will most likely follow the panel's advice in the coming days, as it has done consistently during the pandemic, and grant authorization. But doing so may have little immediate impact, since the age group has had access to Pfizer-BioNTech shots since last year. To date, Moderna's shots have been authorized only for adults."

Beyond the Beltway

The New York Times is live-updating Tuesday's primary election results here: "In Nevada, Trump loyalists prevailed in statewide contests. G.O.P. voters in South Carolina ousted Representative Tom Rice, but Representative Nancy Mace beat a Trump-backed rival.... Republican voters in Nevada on Tuesday elevated conservative candidates who have ardently embraced Donald J. Trump's false claims of election fraud.... Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff who oversees the Las Vegas area and was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, has won Nevada's Republican primary for governor.... Adam Laxalt, a former Nevada attorney general, has won the state's Republican primary for Senate and will face Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, in what is likely to be a highly competitive November general election.... ~~~

"Jim Marchant, one of the organizers of a Trump-inspired 'America First' slate of candidates who continue to question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, easily won the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Nevada, a key political battleground.... Mr. Marchant, who was also a member of Nevada's alternate slate of pro-Trump electors seeking to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory in the state in 2020, has said he would have refused to certify that year's election had he been in office." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story on Jim Marchant's win is here. ~~~

     ~~~ South Carolina Congressional Race. Meg Kinnard of the AP: "U.S. Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina has been ousted from Congress in his Republican primary after voting to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. He is the first of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump to lose a reelection bid. Rice, a five-term congressman, was defeated Tuesday by state Rep. Russell Fry, who was endorsed by Trump. Rice was a strong supporter of Trump's policies in Washington but said he was left no choice but to impeach Trump over his failure to calm the mob that violently sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden's victory."

Georgia Senate Race. Maya King of the New York Times: "Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for Senate from Georgia, who has often spoken out against absentee fathers, particularly in Black households, on Tuesday publicly acknowledged having fathered a second son with whom he is not in contact. The admission came in response to a report by The Daily Beast, which said it had confirmed the 10-year-old boy's parentage bu withheld his name and that of his mother. It said the child's mother had sued Mr. Walker a year after giving birth to obtain a declaration of paternity and child support, and that the suit lasted until August 2014, when Mr. Walker was ordered to pay child support. The boy, by then more than 2 years old, took Mr. Walker's last name." The Raw Story's report is here. MB: How can you tell Walker is a Republican? He's a hypocrite & he lies a lot. ~~~

     ~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post goes into the lies-a-lot part.

Texas Congressional Race. Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "A U.S. House district in South Texas will send a Republican to Congress for the first time in its 10-year history. Mayra Flores, a Republican and respiratory-care health aide, scored a significant victory in a special election on Tuesday for the party, which has been trying to capitalize on its successes in 2020 in the Democratic stronghold of the Rio Grande Valley. She will be the first Latina Republican from Texas in Congress. Ms. Flores defeated three opponents in the special election to replace former Representative Filemon Vela, a Democrat who retired this year before the end of his term." Politico's report is here.

Washington State. Cashing in on Bigotry. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: “The City of Kent, Wash., will pay more than $1.5 million to an assistant police chief to resign after he was disciplined for displaying a Nazi insignia on his office door. The officer, Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell, taped the symbol of oak leaves and diamonds, signifying the rank of Obergruppenführer, a high-ranking SS officer, to his office door in September 2020, according to the city of Kent, which is south of Seattle.... The settlement follows months of negotiations and an investigation of Chief Kammerzell, conducted by a private law firm, that was ordered by the city.... The Jewish Federation said the payout was the 'best possible outcome' because it ensured Chief Kammerzell would not return to his role in law enforcement." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

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

News Lede

New York Times: “The Brazilian authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested a second man in the disappearance of a British journalist and a Brazilian expert on Indigenous people deep in the Amazon, confirming that their efforts were shifting from a search-and-rescue operation to a homicide investigation.... The missing men -- Dom Phillips, 57, a freelance writer for the British news organization The Guardian, and Bruno Araújo Pereira, 41, an expert who worked extensively in the region -- were last seen on June 5 while traveling in a boat on the Itaquaí River in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, near the borders with Peru and Colombia. Mr. Phillips was reporting on patrol teams that Mr. Pereira had helped create to crack down on illegal fishing and hunting, an initiative that had led to threats against Mr. Pereira."

June 14, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times is live-updating Tuesday's primary election results here. CNN's live updates are here.

Liz Cheney provides a fun clip of former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann's interview before the January 6 committee. This is an extension of the clip aired during Monday's hearing:

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Team Trump descends into vicious, post-hearing infighting.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would extend police protection to the immediate families of Supreme Court justices, clearing the bill for President Biden at a time of rising concern about threats to justices as a potentially momentous abortion ruling looms. The vote was 396 to 27, with all of the opposition coming from Democrats, who tried unsuccessfully to extend the protections to the families of court employees. The action sent the measure to Mr. Biden for his signature."

Zachary Cohen & Whitney Wild of CNN: "US Capitol Police have concluded after reviewing security footage that 'there is no evidence' GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk led a reconnaissance tour with Trump supporters trying to learn more about the Capitol complex the day before the deadly January 6 insurrection. The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, raised the issue publicly in a letter last month asking Loudermilk to explain the purpose of his January 5 meeting with a group of constituents.... 'There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,' Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote in a letter on Monday to Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. 'We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.'" The Capitol Police review was done at the urging of Davis.

Washington State. Cashing in on Bigotry. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "The City of Kent, Wash., will pay more than $1.5 million to an assistant police chief to resign after he was disciplined for displaying a Nazi insignia on his office door. The officer, Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell, taped the symbol of oak leaves and diamonds, signifying the rank of Obergruppenführer, a high-ranking SS officer, to his office door in September 2020, according to the city of Kent, which is south of Seattle.... The settlement follows months of negotiations and an investigation of Chief Kammerzell, conducted by a private law firm, that was ordered by the city.... The Jewish Federation said the payout was the 'best possible outcome' because it ensured Chief Kammerzell would not return to his role in law enforcement."

Four states -- South Carolina, Nevada, Maine & North Dakota -- are holding primary elections today. There is a special election in Texas. ~~~

~~~ Eric Bradner & Gregory Krieg of CNN: "Two South Carolina Republicans will attempt to hold on to their seats in primaries Tuesday after breaking with ... Donald Trump over his lies about the 2020 election and his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. Nevada, meanwhile, showcases Trump's effort to take over the election machinery in a series of battleground states, as his endorsed candidates attempt to win a slate of statewide primaries. In Texas, voters in the Rio Grande Valley will fill a seat in Congress in a special election. In Maine, they will tee up two midterm races that are expected to be hard-fought battles. And in North Dakota, Republican Sen. John Hoeven is poised to be nominated for another term."

Annie Grayer of CNN: "The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol has postponed its hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a member of the committee, told reporters that the reason for the rescheduling was due to 'technical issues' and 'not a big deal.' 'It's just technical issues,' she said. 'You know the staff, putting together all the videos.... It was overwhelming. So we're trying to give them a little room.' Lofgren said Wednesday's hearing topic, which was focused on the Department of Justice, will get moved to another day, and Thursday will still focus on ... Donald Trump's efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the election results."

~~~~~~~~~~

Zoë Richards of NBC News: "The chair of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Monday night that the panel will not make any criminal referrals, even though its leaders have previously hinted at the possibility of doing so. 'Our job is to look at the facts and circumstances around January 6 -- what caused it -- and make recommendations after that,' Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters as he left the House chamber after the second day of public hearings by the panel.... 'We don't have authority.' While Democrats have hoped the congressional hearings would lead to criminal prosecutions, making a criminal referral -- instead of simply inspiring the Justice Department to act -- comes with the risk of making the committee's entire investigation appear political." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: Rep. Bennie Thompson's "statement drew quick reactions from members of the committee, revealing the panel is split over how to handle a potential referral of the former President and his associates for prosecution.... Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the committee, released a statement contradicting the chairman's comments. 'The January 6th Select Committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time,' the Wyoming Republican tweeted. The comment marked a rare public break between the two leaders of the committee.... Committee member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, appeared surprised later Monday when asked about the chairman's comments."

Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's attorney general testified that he believed the president had grown delusional as he insisted on pushing false claims of widespread election fraud that he was told repeatedly were groundless, according to a videotaped interview played on Monday by the special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. 'He's become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff,' William P. Barr, the former attorney general, told the panel, adding, 'There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.' In a hearing focused on the origins and spread of Mr. Trump's lie of a stolen election, the panel played excerpts from Mr. Barr's testimony, as well as that of a chorus of campaign aides and administration officials who recounted, one after the other, how his claims of election irregularities were bogus.... Then the panel laid out how Mr. Trump's initial lie gave way to more falsehoods of election fraud, which grew more outlandish as time wore on.... At one point during his deposition, Mr. Barr could not control his laughter at the absurdity of the claims, which included defense contractors in Italy using satellites to flip votes and a scheme orchestrated by the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013.... ~~~

~~~ The committee asserted that Mr. Trump used the lie of a stolen election to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, duping his donors and ultimately fooling his supporters into showing up at the Capitol to press his bogus claims of a massive election 'steal.' The committee presented evidence that there was not, in fact, an 'Election Defense Fund' for the Trump campaign, despite the campaign soliciting millions in donations for one. 'The big lie was also a big rip-off,' said Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, who was leading the presentation on Monday."

Marie: Lofgren knows impeachments. Alex Rogers of CNN (Jan. 22, 2021): "The California Democrat ... is the only member of the House and Senate involved in the three impeachment investigations of the modern era, serving as a staffer to Rep. Don Edwards, a member of the House Judiciary committee, in 1974, before being elected to the same seat two decades later." She was a member of the House during Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1999, and she was an impeachment manager for Trump's second impeachment in 2021.

The Washington Post's top report on the hearing, by Mike DeBonis & Jacqueline Alemany, is here: "Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees prosecutors who are evaluating potential federal charges against Trump and other officials, said Monday that the Justice Department is monitoring the hearings closely. 'I'm sure I will be watching all of it, and I can assure you the January 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings, as well,' he said. Asked Monday whether [President] Biden supported charging Trump with a crime based on what has come out of the hearings, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the decision would be up to Garland. 'The president has been very clear,' she said. 'The Department of Justice is independent.'" An NPR story the DoJ's teevee-watching practices is here.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Jan. 6 committee used its second hearing to lay out evidence that Donald Trump must have known better: that he was repeatedly informed that his claims of widespread voter fraud were bogus and that he had lost the 2020 election -- and he pressed forward in trying to overturn the result regardless. The question is crucial when it comes to determining whether Trump's effort meets the legal definition of acting 'corruptly.'... Former attorney general William P. Barr featured prominently.... On Monday, [the committee] played video of Barr saying that he had debunked specific allegations to Trump.... Former deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue also [on video] ran through a litany of allegations in significant detail, saying he informed Trump that there was nothing to them.... Donoghue added that 'there were so many of these allegations that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn't fight us on it, but he would move to another allegation.' That sounds a lot more like a guy who is looking for a pretext to overturn an election than one who is legitimately worried about election integrity." Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien testified (via video interview) that Trump threw "Team Normal" under the bus & replaced them with Rudy & the Irregulars. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: In the early morning hours on the day after the 2020 election, a "definitely intoxicated" Rudy Giuliani, according to Trump aide Jason Miller, "was spouting conspiracy theories. 'They're stealing it from us,' Mr. Giuliani told the president.... 'Where do all the votes come from? We need to go say that we won.'... Several times that night, Mr. Trump's own family members and closest advisers urged him to reject Mr. Giuliani's advice.... But in the end, Mr. Giuliani was the only one that night who told the president what he wanted to hear. Mr. Giuliani's rantings about stolen ballots fed into the president's own conspiracy theories about a rigged election, nursed in public and private since long before the votes were counted. They helped spark a monthslong assault on democracy and -- in the committee's view -- led inexorably to the mob that breached the Capitol hoping to stop the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president." ~~~

     ~~~ To summarize: Trump had been advised more than once that the early vote totals would look better for him than the final vote totals because the late-counted votes would likely lean heavily Democratic. All his paid advisors and some family members advised him not to declare victory while votes were still being counted. Trump then turns to the drunk at the end of the bar (hair dye dripping into the bowl of Cheetos) who says, "Go ahead and say you won." Trump goes to the podium, declares himself the winner and says he wants all the vote-counting to stop. ~~~

     ~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post also found Rudy's performance bizarre: "... thanks to the select committee, we now know that people inside the Trump administration and campaign also thought him preposterous -- with one key exception: Trump. The committee relived some of Giuliani's most ludicrous claims, sometimes accompanied by footage of his wild-eyed TV appearances. Votes 'in garbage cans' and in 'shopping baskets' being wheeled in for counting under orders from Frankfurt, Germany. Eight thousand dead people voting in Pennsylvania. A suitcase full of ballots pulled from under a table in Georgia. Votes manipulated via Italy, the Philippines and a deceased communist dictator in Venezuela.... Trump disbanded [Bill Stepien's] Team Normal the second week after the election. Instead, he arranged for 'Mayor Giuliani to be moved in as the person in charge of the legal side of the campaign, and, for all intents and purposes, the campaign.'"

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Donald Trump has been claiming voter fraud for years. In every circumstance where he didn't do well in 2016, it was because of rampant voter fraud. "By early 2020, Trump refocused his claims [on mail-in ballots].... Two days before the election, Axios reported that Trump had a plan: If the election was close enough, he would simply declare victory before the voting was done [and the mail-in votes, which always favored Democrats, were counted].... What all of this reinforces, of course, is that Trump's claims of fraud were independent of the actual votes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Tim Miller of the Bulwark: "Team Normal. How about that for some self-flattery. Bill Stepien spent 5 years watching Donald Trump's cruelty, pathological duplicity, irrationality, narcissistic personality disorder, buffoonery, and criminality. After that half-decade of evidence, this 'professional' decided to accept a role as the campaign manager for Trump's flagging re-election campaign.... He chose to sit in the big-boy chair as the man-child responsible for getting Trump four more years in power.... Bill said that in the days after the election he 'stepped away' from the crazy because he is 'honest,' and thus couldn't be a part of it.... So what did 'stepping away' entail, exactly, for Stepien? Did he resign in protest? Did he go to the press with all the evidence that his boss was deluded? Did he call cabinet officials to tell them to consider the 25th Amendment? Did he go to Congress, like Chris Krebs? Did he testify against his boss at the impeachment hearings? No. No. No. Nope. Uh-uh." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Stepien "stepped away" from Trump the way he "stepped away" from his girlfriend Bridgit ("Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.") Kelly. Chris Christie tried to save his own butt by firing Stepien from two top New Jersey GOP jobs on account of Stepien's "lack of judgment." (WashPo link) Stepien's judgment has not improved. Ladies & gents, before you make a romantic commitment to a GOP poohbah, bear in mind that your main job as his or her helpmate will be to convincingly utter, "You did nothing wrong, darling."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Monday issued a 12-page rebuttal to testimony and evidence presented by a House committee investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, accusing Democrats of seeking to distract from a series of domestic issues facing the country.... In the 12-page document, Trump repeats a handful of disproven claims to assert the 2020 election was stolen from him and rigged in favor of Democrats, including some that were brought up during testimony by former Trump campaign and administration officials. One section of Trump's statement focuses on ballot trafficking claims, for which he cites the Dinesh D'Souza documentary '2000 Mules.' In testimony shown earlier Monday, former Attorney General William Barr laughed at the mention of the film, saying he was 'unimpressed with it' and dismissed the idea that it proved widespread fraud. Another section asserts that President Biden could not have won the states of Pennsylvania, Arizona or Georgia because he got more Black votes and Hispanic votes than former President Obama. ~~~

~~~ "Trump in one section claimed states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan took additional time after Election Day to count ballots because it was part of an elaborate scheme to ship in fraudulent votes so Biden could erase Trump's narrow leads in those states. But former Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt testified in person on Monday to dismiss that very theory, known as the 'red mirage.'" ~~~

~~~ Marie: Super that Trump managed to insert a dollop of racism into his rebuttal.

Jackson Richman of Mediaite: "Former Fox News host and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle was paid $60,000 for a two-minute-and-thirty-second speech on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, shortly before the attack at the U.S. Capitol, according to a member of the House committee investigating that day. The committee alleged at a hearing on Monday that ... Donald Trump raised more than $250 million from his supporters for an 'official election defense fund' -- a fund that did not exist. CNN anchor Jake Tapper said in an interview with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) on Monday ... that '... you and the committee members thought that some of Trump's supporters are victims of this, even some of those who got swept up on Jan. 6.'... 'I think the average donation from those email -- false email requests was something like $17. These were people that weren't rich people. They were conned by the president whose was a Big Lie was also a Big Rip-Off,' [Lofgren said]. The money went to fund some fairly pricey expenditures, Lofgren said, including" the $60K that went to Guilfoyle.

Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "Three days before Congress was slated to certify the 2020 presidential election, a little-known Justice Department official named Jeffrey Clark rushed to meet ... Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a last-ditch attempt to reverse the results. Clark ... had outlined a plan in a letter he wanted to send to the leaders of key states Joe Biden won. It said that the Justice Department had 'identified significant concerns' about the vote and that the states should consider sending 'a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump.'... In fact, Clark's bosses had warned there was not evidence to overturn the election and had rejected his letter days earlier.... Clark's letter and his Oval Office meeting set off one of the tensest chapters during Trump's effort to overturn the election.... His plan could have decapitated the Justice Department leadership and could have overturned the election.... A reconstruction of the events by The Washington Post ... shows how close the country came to crisis three days before the insurrection."

Amy Gardner & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "About a third of the way through the 2022 primaries, voters have nominated scores of Republican candidates for state and federal office who say the 2020 election was rigged, according to a new analysis by The Washington Post. District by district, state by state, voters in places that cast ballots through the end of May have chosen at least 108 candidates for statewide office or Congress who have repeated Trump's lies. The number jumps to at least 149 winning candidates -- out of more than 170 races -- when it includes those who have campaigned on a platform of tightening voting rules or more stringently enforcing those already on the books, despite the lack of evidence of widespread fraud."

Mohammed Hadi & Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "On Monday, the S&P fell 3.9 percent, closing the day nearly 22 percent below its Jan. 3 peak and firmly in a bear market -- a rare and grim marker of investors' growing concerns for the economy. A crucial report on Friday showed inflation in the United States was accelerating and creeping into every corner of the economy. Earlier last week, the World Bank issued a dire warning that global growth may be choked, especially as the war in Ukraine drags on. Together, the data undercut optimism that the Federal Reserve, as it raises interest rates, would be able to keep price gains under control without damaging the American economy and sending ripples throughout the globe."

Myah Ward of Politico: "President Joe Biden will travel to the Middle East next month, making stops in Israel, the West Bank and then Saudi Arabia, where he'll seek to rebuild relations after vowing to make the kingdom a 'pariah.' The president's travels will have him in the region July 13-16, and he'll meet with more than a dozen of his counterparts, a senior administration official said."

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The Air Force has cleared the crew of an American military C-17 cargo plane that took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last August with people hanging onto the wings, during the frenzied days of the Afghanistan evacuation. Twin reviews of the harrowing incident, in which human body parts were later discovered in the wheel well of the plane, concluded that the aircrew was 'in compliance with applicable rules of engagement,' Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in a statement on Monday."

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "What's missing from [Democratic] party leaders, an absence that is endlessly frustrating to younger liberals, is any sense of urgency and crisis -- any sense that our system is on the brink. Despite mounting threats to the right to vote, the right to an abortion and the ability of the federal government to act proactively in the public interest, senior Democrats continue to act as if American politics is back to business as usual.... The current generation of Democratic leaders, including the president and many of his closest allies ... came into national politics in an age of bipartisan consensus and centrist policymaking, at a time when the parties and their coalitions were less ideological and more geographically varied.... Millions of Democratic voters can see and feel that American politics has changed in profound ways since at least the 1990s, and they want their leaders to act, and react, accordingly. Standing in the way of this demand, unfortunately, is the stubborn -- and ultimately ruinous -- optimism of some of the most powerful people in the Democratic Party." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While I agree with Bouie, I should like to remind him that age is a state of mind. Just look at Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren. They get it.

Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "Covid is making flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways."

Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, days after meeting with President Biden and several other world leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Senate Race. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker falsely claimed at least three times to have served in law enforcement. The Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidate made the false claims in three speeches delivered before he entered politics, according to a new analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'I worked in law enforcement, so I had a gun,' Walker said in 2013 at a suicide prevention event for the U.S. Army. 'I put this gun in my holster and I said, "I'm gonna kill this dude.'" Walker was describing a 2001 incident when he took a gun to pursue a man who was late delivering a car, which he later said led him to seek mental health treatment.... 'I work with the Cobb County Police Department,' Walker said five years ago, 'and I've been in criminal justice all my life.' Two years later, in 2019, Walker told soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington that he had been a federal agent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ohio. Because It's "Impractical" for Teachers to Know How to Handle the Guns They Carry onto Campus. Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "Teachers and other school employees in Ohio will be able to carry firearms into school with a tiny fraction of the training that has been required since last year, after Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law on Monday. While employees have for years been allowed to carry guns on school grounds with the consent of the local school board, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peace officer training as law enforcement officials or security officers who carry firearms on campus -- entailing more than 700 hours of instruction. That ruling, Mr. DeWine said on Monday, had made it largely impractical for Ohio school districts to allow staffers to carry firearms. Under the new law, a maximum of 24 hours of training will be enough for teachers to carry guns at school, though the local board will still need to give its approval." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

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

The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Iraq. Jane Arraf of the New York Times: "Efforts to form a new government in Iraq [have descended] to chaos. Seven months of efforts to form a new government in Iraq were in turmoil on Monday, a day after the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr directed members of Parliament who are loyal to him to resign from the seats they won in an October election. Mr. Sadr, who has become one of the biggest political forces in Iraq since emerging in 2003, has no formal role but commands the allegiance of the single largest bloc in the 329-seat Parliament. The 73 lawmakers of his movement submitted their resignations on Sunday after the collapse of months of negotiations by Mr. Sadr to form a coalition government with Sunni and Kurdish partners." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Britain moved ahead on Monday with plans to scuttle the post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, risking a clash with the European Union, a rift with neighboring Ireland, and tensions with the United States. But the long-anticipated legislation may be most revealing for what it says about the altered political landscape since Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote in his Conservative Party last week. Mr. Johnson faces a tricky path navigating the bill through a Parliament emboldened by the revolt against him. Some of the Tory rebels are expected to oppose the legislation on the grounds that it violates international law. It would unilaterally eliminate border checks on goods flowing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. Alex Marshall of the New York Times: "The actor Kevin Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault on Monday in London, the city's police force said in a news release. Mr. Spacey, 62, who was also charged with one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent, is scheduled to appear in court in London on Thursday where he will confirm his identity and that he understands the charges. A date for a full trial has not yet been announced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Zimbabwe. Declan Walsh of the New York Times: "A court in Zimbabwe on Tuesday convicted a freelance reporter for The New York Times on charges of breaching the country's immigration laws, in another blow for the free press in the increasingly authoritarian southern African country. The journalist, Jeffrey Moyo, has been accused of obtaining fake press credentials for two Times journalists who entered Zimbabwe last year on a reporting trip. Mr. Moyo's lawyers said the charges were baseless, and even one lawyer for the government had said the case was 'on shaky ground.' The court fined Mr. Moyo 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars, about $615, and imposed a two-year suspended sentence that could be imposed if he is convicted of a similar offense in the next five years. His lawyers said they would appeal the verdict."