April 13, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Yellin Steps Up. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Wednesday urged China to persuade Russia to end its war in Ukraine and warned that staying on the sidelines could jeopardize China's standing in the global economy.... 'Going forward, it will be increasingly difficult to separate economic issues from broader considerations of national interest, including national security,' Ms. Yellen said in a speech to the Atlantic Council, a think tank. 'The world's attitude towards China and its willingness to embrace further economic integration may well be affected by China's reaction to our call for resolute action on Russia.' Ms. Yellen added that Russia's actions were at odds with China's longstanding public commitments to sovereignty and territorial integrity and called on China to use its influence with Russia to end the war.... Ms. Yellen singled out countries such as China and India that have continued to engage with Russia despite the global backlash against the atrocities it has committed in Ukraine.... 'And let's be clear: The unified coalition of sanctioning countries will not be indifferent to actions that undermine the sanctions we've put in place,' she said."

Rachel Maddow had quite a good segment Tuesday night on Finland's many efforts to fend off Russian aggression, the latest being a likely decision to join NATO. If, like me, you know little or nothing about the "Winter War," you will find the story illuminating:

     ~~~ Early last month, only a week after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Washington Post published historian Gordon Sander's brief story of the Winter War, highlighting its parallels to Putin's war on Ukraine.

Manu Raju of CNN: "In the weeks after he lost the 2020 election..., [Donald] Trump was certain he could subvert the election outcome, telling [Mitch] McConnell, then the Senate majority leader, and other top Republicans that he had personally been on the phone with officials in Pennsylvania and Michigan -- and they told him they would move to keep him in power, despite the results showing [Joe] Biden had won their states..., according to a soon-to-be-released book by New York Times political reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.... The phone call was one of the final conversations McConnell had with Trump. Their ​relationship ... effectively ended after McConnell went to the Senate floor on December 15, 2020, and acknowledged Biden's victory following states' certification of the electoral results. The two haven't spoken since...."

A Different Kind of Mexican Standoff. Aaron Nelsen, et al., of the New York Times: "Trucks attempting to enter Texas loaded with goods from Mexico sat motionless for hours on Tuesday as lengthy vehicle inspections ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott in a clash with the Biden administration over immigration snarled traffic at major commercial crossings. In the city of Pharr, a major international bridge over which about $12 million in produce is shipped to the United States daily has been effectively shut down in both directions since Monday as scores of drivers in Mexico set up a blockade of their own in protest over the new inspections. A similar protest by truckers also blocked a bridge into El Paso.... Mr. Abbott has sought novel strategies to insert the state into immigration enforcement.... The vehicle inspections are part of that effort: a carefully constructed policy aimed at smugglers and migrants but carried out under powers available to the state, namely vehicle safety.... Calls for the governor to end the inspection policy came not just from Democrats [like his rival in the gubernatorial race Beto O'Rourke]. The state's conservative agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller, also urged Mr. Abbott to reverse course." A related Texas Tribune story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "The White House on Wednesday slammed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for the delays at the state's border with Mexico after he ordered state troopers to step up truck inspections.... 'Governor Abbott's unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country,' [Press Secretary Jen] Psaki said in a statement." ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "A group of undocumented migrants arrived in the nation's capital Wednesday on a bus sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, part of the Republican governor's strategy to oppose the Biden administration's rescinding of a Trump-era border policy. 'By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border,' Abbott said in a statement Wednesday, adding that another busload of people are en route.The migrants, from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, were being dropped off between Union Station and the Capitol as 'part of Governor Abbott's response to the Biden Administration's decision to end Title 42 expulsions,' his office said." MB: I'd like to see Abbott charged with human rights violations.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff in the Trump White House, has been removed from the voter roll in North Carolina as the state investigates allegations that he committed voter fraud in the 2020 election.... State investigators in North Carolina launched a probe into Meadows's voter registration last month after news organizations reported he had registered to vote in 2020 using the address of a mobile home in Scaly Mountain, N.C. The former owner of the mobile home claimed Meadows never stayed there, prompting the state attorney general to request an investigation." CNN's report is here. MB: If a Texas woman can be sentenced to five years in jail for voting in an election in which she thought she was eligible to vote, it seems the chief of staff to the president* ought to be sentenced to at least 10 years for knowingly casting an illegal vote. Throw the book at him. Lock him up.

Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Two Florida men charged with filing ballots in two states in the 2020 presidential election confessed to voter fraud, according to court records. Charles F. Barnes and Jay Ketcik, residents of The Villages in Sumter County, Fla., pleaded guilty to casting more than one ballot in the election. Voter fraud is a third-degree felony that can result in a maximum five-year prison sentence. Barnes, 64, and Ketcik, 63, will be able to defer prosecution if they abide by the court-ordered requirements that State Attorney Bill Gladson set, according to pretrial intervention documents.... Ketcik, a registered Republican, was among three Central Florida residents who had expressed support for ... Donald Trump before being arrested in December.... Barnes, who has no party affiliation, was arrested in January and faced similar charges." A Raw Story report is here.

A friend sent along this handy guide for those of us less socially-aware than he:

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The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Wednesday praised President Biden for accusing Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine, describing the remarks as 'true words of a true leader,' as investigators accelerated their efforts to collect evidence of alleged Russian atrocities outside Kyiv.... [Mr. Biden said] his remarks ... were based on his personal belief 'that Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian.'... Mr. Putin on Tuesday dismissed the mounting evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces as 'fake' and vowed to carry out the invasion to its 'full completion.' In his latest address, Mr. Zelensky offered to exchange a detained pro-Russian politician for Ukrainians being held captive by Moscow's forces. Ukraine's security service said on Tuesday that officers had detained Viktor Medvedchuk, who has long been considered one of Mr. Putin's closest allies in Ukraine. The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said they were on their way to Kyiv to meet with Mr. Zelensky on Wednesday, in the latest solidarity visit by European leaders to the Ukrainian capital." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "Satellite images captured in recent days by U.S. firm Maxar Technologies show Russian forces repositioning in Ukraine's east, likely supplying more troops and military equipment in preparation for a fresh round of offensives in the region. A bird's-eye view of several towns in Kharkiv and Luhansk, two provinces that sit near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia, revealed Russian convoys with more than 200 vehicles traveling along the highway. Meanwhile, the United States is readying a dramatic expansion of its weapons assistance to Ukraine, U.S. officials told The Washington Post.... As the United States, Britain and Australia monitor unconfirmed reports that Russia may have used chemical weapons during its siege of Mariupol, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons notes that Russia and Ukraine are part of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits developing, acquiring or using chemical weapons."

Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Tuesday referred to Russia as committing a 'genocide' in Ukraine, a significant escalation of the president's rhetoric and a notable shift that comes as U.S. officials have avoided using the term, which suggests an effort to wipe out all or part of a specific group. Biden's initial comment came at an event in Menlo, Iowa, where he was decrying the effects of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine on the higher prices Americans are paying for gas and food. 'Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,' Biden said. He later told reporters he intentionally used the word genocide in his speech, though he added that he would 'let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies.' But he said, 'It sure seems that way to me.'"

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Tuesday that governments around the world, including in Russia and China, grew more repressive last year, as the State Department released its annual report on global human rights. The department's 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices echoes President Biden's warnings that authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide. Its introduction cites 'continued democratic backsliding on several continents, and creeping authoritarianism that threatens both human rights and democracy -- most notably, at present, with Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine.' The report covers the past year and thus does not include details about Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. But it singled out Russia's government as a leading rights abuser, citing reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, physical abuse of suspects by the police and other offenses, along with frequent impunity for accused security officials."

Dan Lamothe & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is poised to dramatically expand the scope of weapons it is providing Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, with the Pentagon looking to transfer armored Humvees and a range of other sophisticated equipment.... Preliminary plans circulating among government officials and lawmakers in Washington also included Mi-17 helicopters, howitzer cannons, coastal defense drones and protective suits to safeguard personnel in the event of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, the officials said, though they cautioned that it was not immediately clear if all of those items would end up in the final aid package.... The prospective new delivery [worth perhaps $750 million], first reported by Reuters, comes on top of the more than $2.4 billion in U.S. security assistance provided to Ukraine since President Biden took office last year, including $1.7 billion in id since Russia launched its invasion Feb. 24."

Frank Bajak of the AP: "Russian military hackers attempted to knock out power to millions of Ukrainians last week in a long-planned attack but were foiled, Ukrainian government officials said Tuesday. At one targeted high-voltage power station, the hackers succeeded in penetrating and disrupting part of the industrial control system, but people defending the station were able to prevent electrical outages, the Ukrainians said.... The hackers from Russia's GRU military intelligence agency used an upgraded version of malware first seen in its successful 2016 attack that caused blackouts in Kyiv, officials said, that was customized to target multiple substations. They simultaneously seeded malware designed to wipe out computer operating systems, hindering recovery.... A deputy energy minister, Farid Safarov, said '2 million people would have been without electricity supply if it was successful.'"

Cate Cadell, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the war in Ukraine a 'tragedy' but insisted the invasion will continue unabated.... Putin said there was no clear end to the conflict and 'no choice' but to forge ahead with the invasion, brushing off the impacts of punitive sanctions during a visit to the Amur region in Russia's far east where he met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.... '... We had no choice. It was just a matter of time' before an attack on Russia, he added. Putin also said peace negotiations had reached a deadlock, blaming the Ukrainian side."

Newer Planes, Please. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "While Kyiv's forces have perhaps even outperformed Moscow's on the ground, Russia has continued to inflict heavy losses on Ukraine from the sky.... President Volodymyr Zelensky ... is pushing for more advanced air-defense systems and jets.... For Ukrainian pilots, more MiG-29s aren't the answer.... [One Ukrainian pilot] who is in the United States as part of a training program, said it would probably take Ukrainians [only] about two weeks to learn the nuances of the U.S.-made F-series planes. Many of the pilots already speak English and have participated in joint exercises with the U.S. Air Force, so they're familiar with the terminology of those planes' systems, [pilots] said.... If Western countries are hesitant to give Ukraine modern jets its pilots haven't trained on, [a pilot] said they should at least consider sending more advanced air-defense systems."

Michael Lipin & Igor Tsikhanenka of the Voice of America: "The scale of Russia's looting of Ukraine has become clearer with new photos indicating Russian theft of hazardous materials from a site near Chernobyl's nuclear power plant, and another image from Belarus adding to evidence that Russian soldiers mailed looted goods home. VOA has obtained exclusive photos of a nuclear laboratory from which a Ukrainian official says Russian troops stole radioactive material that could be harmful if mishandled.... [A Ukrainian state agency that manages the Chernobyl exclusion zone said in] a Saturday Facebook post [that] occupying Russian troops stole samples of fuel-containing materials from the lab in addition to ... radioactive calibration instruments [which are about the size of coins].... [Likely] they kept items as 'souvenirs.'"

Washington Post Editors: "Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician who has been a strong critic of ... Vladimir Putin and his disastrous war against Ukraine, arrived at his Moscow apartment building Monday evening, hours after saying in a CNN interview that Mr. Putin's government is 'not just corrupt, it's not just kleptocratic, it's not just authoritarian, it is a regime of murderers.'... Mr. Kara-Murza, a Post opinion contributor..., was still in his car at about 6:30 p.m. when five policemen approached him. He asked them to show identification, which they refused, at which point he was immediately detained on charges of disobedience of the police. On Tuesday, Mr. Kara-Murza was taken to court and sentenced to 15 days in jail on this spurious charge.... He must be released, and given liberty to go on telling the truth...."

Kim Bellware & Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova has been hired by the German media company Die Welt, a month after she drew worldwide attention for bursting onto the set of a live broadcast on Russian state television to protest the war in Ukraine. Ovsyannikova, 43, was hired as a freelance correspondent for Die Welt's newspaper and TV channel, publishing firm Axel Springer said Monday."

The Party of White People. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "A bill to name a federal courthouse in Tallahassee after Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, the first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme Court -- sponsored by the state's two Republican senators and backed unanimously by its 27 House members -- was set to pass the House last month ... with broad bipartisan support. But in a last-minute flurry, Republicans abruptly pulled their backing with no explanation and ultimately killed the measure, leaving its fate unclear, many of its champions livid and some of its newfound opponents professing ignorance about what had happened.... A right-wing, first-term congressman [-- Andrew Clyde (Ga.) --] mounted an 11th-hour effort on the House floor to persuade his colleagues that Judge Hatchett, a trailblazing judge..., was undeserving of being honored.... Shortly before the House vote, he began circulating an Associated Press article from 1999 about an appeals court decision that Judge Hatchett wrote that year that struck down a public school policy allowing student-approved prayers at graduation ceremonies in Florida." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Kudos to Karni for describing Clyde as "right-wing" rather than "conservative." And, no, I don't think Clyde would have bothered to Google Justice Hatchett if Hatchett had been white.

Paula Reid & Kara Scannell of CNN: "Federal prosecutors may soon reach a charging decision regarding Rudy Giuliani's foreign lobbying efforts involving Ukraine, after he helped investigators unlock several electronic devices that were seized by the FBI, according to multiple sources.... Giuliani has also offered to appear for a separate interview to prove he has nothing to hide, his lawyer told CNN, renewing a proposal that federal prosecutors have previously rebuffed. Investigators seized 18 devices during high-profile raids on Giuliani's home and office last April. Since then, a court-appointed special master has been reviewing materials on devices to shield from prosecutors any materials that could be personal or protected by attorney-client privilege. The review has been long-running, in part, because investigators haven't been able to unlock several of the devices. In recent weeks, Giuliani met with prosecutors and during the meeting he assisted them in unlocking three devices that investigators had been unable to open.... Prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani violated US foreign lobbying laws when he sought the ouster of the US ambassador to Ukraine and an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How come in the police procedurals I watch, the detectives (sometimes with the aid of one techie) figure out how to open up password-protected phones & computers in 30 seconds or less?

Betsy Swan, et al., of Politico: "Two of Donald Trump's top White House lawyers are slated to speak with the Jan. 6 select committee Wednesday, according to one person with knowledge of the arrangement. Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel, and his deputy Patrick Philbin, are expected to speak informally with the panel, a potential precursor to more formal transcribed testimony later.... Cipollone emerged as a central source of pushback in the frantic final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency.... Cipollone and Philbin had ... been part of a Oval Office meeting on Jan. 3, 2021, with Trump where they made it clear officials would resign if Trump installed Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general to replace Jeffrey Rosen, according to [a] Senate Judiciary Committee's report...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I find the lede here to be kind of, well, misleading (misleding??) or at least confusing. While it's true that the White House counsel serves at the pleasure of the president* and advises & defends the president*, the counsel serves the White House's interests, not the president*'s. That's why the two lawyers "pushed back" against Trump's wilder plans. It was in Trump's interest to remain president forever, but it was not in the presidency's interest.

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "One week before an angry mob stormed the Capitol, a communications expert named Jason Sullivan, a onetime aide to Roger J. Stone Jr., joined a conference call with a group of ... Donald J. Trump's supporters and made an urgent plea. After assuring his listeners that the 2020 election had been stolen, Mr. Sullivan told them that they had to go to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 -- the day that Congress was to meet to finalize the electoral count -- and 'descend on the Capitol,' according to a recording of the call obtained by The New York Times. While Mr. Sullivan claimed that he was 'not inciting violence or any kind of riots,' he urged those on the call to make their presence felt at the Capitol in a way that would intimidate members of Congress, telling the group that they had to ensure that lawmakers inside the building 'understand that people are breathing down their necks.'... 'If we make the people inside that building sweat and they understand that they may not be able to walk in the streets any longer if they do the wrong thing, then maybe they'll do the right thing,' he said [in the call]." Read on. The way the January 6 committee got the recording is interesting.

Carol Leonnig & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Secret Service leaders are downplaying any risk to national security after four of its employees -- including an agent assigned to protect first lady Jill Biden -- were allegedly hoodwinked by two men impersonating federal agents and plying them with gifts, telling congressional committees and allies that the severity of the breach has been overblown by prosecutors and the media.... But several former Secret Service officials warn that the alleged infiltration of the elite protection agency reveals a major vulnerability extending well beyond this particular case. They said the revelations suggest that agents who had regular access to the White House and the Biden family -- and who are supposed to be trained to spot scammers or spies seeking to ingratiate themselves -- were either too greedy or gullible to question a dubious cover story. The case is the latest in a string of embarrassing security breaches and incidents of misconduct involving the Secret Service over the past decade." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It would seem we need a whole new Secret Service that's more secret and more into service.

~~~ Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "A U.S. judge on Tuesday declined to jail two men..., Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35..., accused of impersonating federal agents and supplying Secret Service personnel with gifts, dealing a blow to prosecutors who had argued that the defendants pose a danger and should be detained.... 'There's been no showing that national security information has been compromised,' U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey said. Harvey ordered both men to remain in home confinement, subject to GPS monitoring, with their parents and that they surrender their passports and stay away from airports and embassies. Harvey agreed to stay his order until Wednesday morning while the government mulls whether to appeal.... Harvey said neither defendant is charged with a violent crime and neither one faces a stiff prison term if convicted - all elements that work against the prosecution's claims they pose a danger to the community." There's more: about how the Secret Service tipped off the defendants that the FBI was surveilling them.

Joshua Zitser of Business Insider, republished in Yahoo! News (April 10): "Speaking at a rally in Selma, North Carolina on Saturday evening..., Donald Trump claimed that he is one of the most honest human beings to walk on earth.... 'I think I'm the most honest human being, perhaps, that God ever created.' There were ripples of laughter from his supporters as he said it.... Trump became the first president to be impeached twice. According to The Washington Post's Fact Checker database, he made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidency. He told 21 lies a day on average, per The Post. During his time as president, Trump also promoted several conspiracy theories[.]..." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his commentary -- and others' -- in Tuesday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

Reed Albergott & Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk's sudden decision this weekend to decline a board seat at Twitter coincided with a prolific tweetstorm, providing clues to the dramatic reversal.... Musk aimed tweets at Twitter's most popular users, its San Francisco headquarters and its process for authenticating accounts. Before he was done, he made a lewd joke about the company where he is now its largest shareholder.... Musk 'liked' a tweet from another user early Monday that posited the theory: 'Elon became the largest shareholder free Speech. Elon was told to play nice and not speak freely.'... On Tuesday, Musk was accused of securities fraud in Manhattan federal court by a Twitter shareholder. The case centers on Musk's late disclosure of his ownership stake in Twitter.... The suit claims that Musk had motive to delay disclosure because he continued to acquire millions of shares after the [SEC-required] disclosure date.... Musk reached that benchmark March 14, but waited until April 4 to disclose the holdings, when the disclosure caused the stock to jump roughly 30 percent. The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, alleges that anyone who sold Twitter stock during that window missed out on the price increase and are thus owed compensation."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Mark Zuckerberg, who donated nearly half a billion dollars to election offices across the nation in 2020 and drew criticism from conservatives suspicious of his influence on the presidential election, won't be making additional grants this year, a spokesman for the Facebook founder confirmed on Tuesday. The spokesman, Ben LaBolt, said the donations by Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were never intended to be a stream of funding for the administration of elections. The couple gave $419 million to two nonprofit organizations that disbursed grants in 2020 to more than 2,500 election departments, which were grappling with a shortfall of government funding as they adopted new procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.... Critics ... frequently claimed, without evidence, that the money was used to help secure Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory. Several states controlled by Republicans banned private donations to election offices in response." ~~~

~~~ Republicans Want Unreliable Election Results. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The founder of a nonprofit that has become a target of Republican ire for funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to election administrators in 2020 announced this week that her organization will spearhead a similar new effort starting this year. Tiana Epps-Johnson, who leads the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), said Monday evening that the new U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence would send $80 million in the next five years to election departments across the United States in need of basic funding for equipment replacement and other resources.... In [a] TED talk, Epps-Johnson noted that election resources are designated critical infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security, putting it 'on par with things like the power grid and water supply.' Yet counties spend half of 1 percent of their budgets on elections, she added -- about the same proportion as they spend on parking facilities.... Sparked by backlash to [Mark] Zuckerberg and [Priscilla] Chan's [2020] donations, 16 GOP-controlled state legislature have banned private funding of elections.... On top of that, Republicans have balked at a Democratic proposal in Congress to pump $5 billion into election administration in the coming year's federal budget." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republicans' opposition to secure election systems is further evidence that they place a high value on anti-democratic (small "d") activities. The more insecure election systems are, the more they can (1) claim voter fraud, and (2) disrupt free & fair elections. The Republican party is a corrupt, sinister organization whose goal is to destroy the democratic elements of our society and our system of government.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.: Earth has exceeded 500 million known cases of Covid-19. "The number is most likely an undercount, with many cases going undetected or unreported, and the reporting gap may only grow wider as some countries scale back official testing."

Frances Sellers, et al., of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus cases are again climbing in the Northeast as the BA.2 omicron subvariant -- which is even more contagious than its predecessor -- becomes the predominant strain in the United States.... The Northeast recorded at least 126 new infections per 100,000 people last week, double the rate one month ago.... New infections in the Northeast were more than twice as high as in the West, Midwest and southeast last week, according to federal data."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Marie: I didn't think I could learn much from the Third Way, but in yesterday's thread, RAS proved me wrong: ~~~

~~~ Kylie Murdock & Jim Kessler of the Third Way (March 15): "The rate of murders in the US has gone up at an alarming rate. But, despite a media narrative to the contrary, this is a problem that afflicts Republican-run cities and states as much or more than the Democratic bastions. In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden. [Eight] of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century.... Murder rates are far higher in Trump-voting red states than Biden-voting blue states. And sometimes, murder rates are highest in cities with Republican mayors.... Many of the states with the worst murder rates -- like Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, and Arkansas -- are ones that few would describe as urban.... Not a single one of the top 10 murder states registers in the top 15 for population density.... These red states are not generating 'murder is out of control' national headlines." ~~~

~~~ So Georgia. Fox 5 Atlanta: "Gov. Brian Kemp [R] signed a bill allowing Georgia residents to carry handguns in public without a license or background check into law Tuesday. The governor signed a second measure that gives concealed weapons permit holders from other states the ability to carry legally in Georgia as well." MB: Apparently Kemp & his legislative colleagues are dismayed Georgia doesn't have quite the murder rates of other southern states.

Georgia Senate Race. Timothy Evans of the Raw Story: "A new investigation by The Daily Beast finds that [Herschel Walker,] the longtime friend of Donald Trump - who bestowed upon him his 'complete and total endorsement' - habitually inflates his success in the business world since his retirement from football in 1997. While Walker's business record has been scrutinized before -- including in an Associated Press review of 'exaggerated claims of financial success' -- the new Daily Beast review found documents and other records that 'shine new light on previously unexamined, and particularly egregious, false claims.' 'Those [false] claims include running the largest minority-owned food company in the United States; owning multiple chicken plants in another state; and starting and owning an upholstery business which was also, apparently, at one point in his telling, the country's largest minority-owned apparel company,' according to the [Beast] report." The title of the Daily Beast report which is here (and firewalled) is 'Herschel Walker Claims to Own Companies That Don't Exist.'

New York. Wowza! William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin of New York, the state's second-in-command to Gov. Kathy Hochul, surrendered early Tuesday morning to face a federal indictment charging him with bribery, fraud and falsification of records in connection with a scheme to funnel illegal donations to a previous campaign. The five-count indictment accused Mr. Benjamin of conspiring to direct state funds to a Harlem real estate investor in exchange for orchestrating thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Mr. Benjamin's unsuccessful 2021 campaign for New York City comptroller.... The investor was arrested on federal charges in November.... There is no suggestion that Ms. Hochul was aware of Mr. Benjamin's alleged criminal conduct, which prosecutors said occurred when he was a state senator. Still, she took office last year promising to end an era of impropriety in Albany, and selecting Mr. Benjamin, 45, was among her first major decisions as governor.... Even if he were to step down, [Mr. Benjamin] will likely remain on the ballot in June, when he faces two spirited primary challengers." An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Benjamin Resigns. New Lede: "Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin of New York resigned on Tuesday, hours after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment implicating him in a brazen scheme to enrich his political campaigns with illegal donations." ~~~

~~~ Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: Gov. Kathy Hochul swiftly chose Brian Benjamin as her lieutenant governor "despite a string of ethics questions that had followed Mr. Benjamin and that centered on some dubious campaign finance practices during his time as senator and his unsuccessful run for city comptroller last year.... The criminal case against Mr. Benjamin could undermine the governor's efforts to seek her first full term this year, and may be a campaign distraction as the Democratic primary in June nears. Ms. Hochul has led the field comfortably in early public polls, but Mr. Benjamin's arrest and resignation could throw the race ... into flux.... Ms. Hochul must now decide who will fill the lieutenant governor vacancy. It was unclear on Tuesday whether she would also seek to remove Mr. Benjamin from the Democratic ballot, an extremely complicated task because of the timing of his resignation and New York's archaic election laws." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, there are many politicians of color in New York. Couldn't Hochul have found one who was not pulling "a string of ethics questions"?

New York. Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "The man whom the police have identified as a person of interest in the subway attack in Brooklyn appears to have posted dozens of videos on social media in recent years -- lengthy rants in which he expressed a range of harshly bigoted views and, more recently, criticized the policies of New York City's mayor, Eric Adams.... The videos featured a man -- who appeared to be the same man in a picture released by the police -- delivering extended tirades, many of them overtly concerned with race and violence, often tying those subjects in with current events, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the policies of Mr. Adams.... In a long, frequently digressive and bigoted rant, the man in the video elaborated on the ease of committing crime in the subway, saying that even with numerous police officers deployed to the subway, 'I'd still get off.'... The man, Frank R. James, 62, has addresses in Wisconsin and Philadelphia, the police said." Related live updates linked under Tuesday's News Ledes.

Oklahoma. Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Tuesday signed a bill that makes performing an abortion in the state illegal, as Republican-led states across the country rush to restrict abortion access while the Supreme Court weighs the fate of Roe v. Wade. 'I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hits my desk, and that's what we're doing today,' said Stitt, who described himself as a father of six. 'We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma.'... The bill, which passed the Senate last year and the House earlier this month with more than 80 percent support in both chambers, makes performing an abortion a felony. Anyone convicted could face up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.The law makes an exception if the life of the woman is in danger but has no exception for rape or incest."

South Dakota. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The South Dakota House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to impeach the state's attorney general, Jason R. Ravnsborg, who fatally struck a man with his car in 2020. The impeachment vote, which split the Republicans who dominate South Dakota politics, suspended Mr. Ravnsborg from his official duties while he awaits a trial in the State Senate that could result in his permanent removal from office. 'I believe impeachment should be reserved only for grave and exceptional circumstances, and I believe this is one,' State Representative Will Mortenson, a Republican, said on Tuesday on the House floor." The AP's report is here.

Virginia Is for Haters. Laura Vozzella, et al., of the Washington Post: "Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) continued to stoke partisan rancor this week with a flurry of unusual vetoes and bill amendments that political opponents and analysts saw as punishing Democrats and agitating culture-war talking points. Youngkin vetoed 25 bills that had bipartisan support in the General Assembly, throwing sharp elbows particularly at lawmakers who represent blue areas of Northern Virginia. For instance, he vetoed nine of the 10 bills sponsored by Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) while signing identical House bills in six of those cases. Typically a governor signs both versions, allowing both sponsors bragging rights for getting a bill passed into law. Longtime state legislators said they could not think of a case in which a governor signed one bill and vetoed its companion."

Way Beyond

U.K. Police to Fine Downing Street Lockdown Party Animals. Ivana Kottasová & Amy Cassidy of CNN: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak have been told they will be fined by police over lockdown-breaking parties held on UK government premises, a Downing Street spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. London's Metropolitan Police said earlier Tuesday they had issued more than 50 fines as part of their ... investigation into gatherings held on government premises in Downing Street and Whitehall while the rest of the country was living under strict pandemic restrictions. Revelations of the parties sparked national outrage." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "In recent weeks Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain has revived his fortunes at home by becoming Europe's most aggressive supporter of Ukraine's fierce fight against Russian invasion. But on Tuesday Mr. Johnson was battling for his own survival again, after police fined him for attending a lockdown party in Downing Street that broke coronavirus laws made in the very same building. Mr. Johnson said on Tuesday night that he had paid the fine, though he did not say how much it was, insisting that he would continue in his job despite calls for his resignation, including from the opposition Labour leader. He added: 'I once again offer a full apology.' The announcement earlier Tuesday by London's Metropolitan Police made Mr. Johnson the first holder of his office in living memory to be found in breach of the law, and provoked anger from Britons who obeyed strict coronavirus rules that sometimes even forbade contact with dying relatives. It also prompted opposition politicians to accuse Mr. Johnson of lying to Parliament by denying that breaches of coronavirus rules occurred in Downing Street or other government buildings. That is dangerous territory for Mr. Johnson because, in Britain, ministers are normally expected to resign if they mislead their fellow lawmakers."

News Ledes

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the mass-shooting yesterday on a Brooklyn subway train during yesterday morning's rush hour. According to CNN on-air, Frank James, whom authorities had designated a "person of interest" is now considered a "suspect." ~~~

     ~~~ Update @2:04 pm ET. According to NBC News' Pete Williams, NYPD has James in custody; he was apprehended in the East Village near Tompkins Square Park. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "The man accused of shooting 10 people on a Brooklyn subway train was arrested Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense after the suspect called police to come get him, law enforcement officials said.... James was due to appear in court Thursday on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent attacks against mass transit systems and carries a sentence of up to life in prison, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said."

April 12, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

New York. Wowza! William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin of New York, the state's second-in-command to Gov. Kathy Hochul, surrendered early Tuesday morning to face a federal indictment charging him with bribery, fraud and falsification of records in connection with a scheme to funnel illegal donations to a previous campaign. The five-count indictment accused Mr. Benjamin of conspiring to direct state funds to a Harlem real estate investor in exchange for orchestrating thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Mr. Benjamin's unsuccessful 2021 campaign for New York City comptroller.... The investor was arrested on federal charges in November.... There is no suggestion that Ms. Hochul was aware of Mr. Benjamin's alleged criminal conduct, which prosecutors said occurred when he was a state senator. Still, she took office last year promising to end an era of impropriety in Albany, and selecting Mr. Benjamin, 45, was among her first major decisions as governor.... Even if he were to step down, [Mr. Benjamin] will likely remain on the ballot in June, when he faces two spirited primary challengers." An AP report is here.

Joshua Zitser of Business Insider, republished in Yahoo! News (April 10): "Speaking at a rally in Selma, North Carolina on Saturday evening..., Donald Trump claimed that he is one of the most honest human beings to walk on earth.... 'I think I'm the most honest human being, perhaps, that God ever created.' There were ripples of laughter from his supporters as he said it.... Trump became the first president to be impeached twice. According to The Washington Post's Fact Checker database, he made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidency. He told 21 lies a day on average, per The Post. During his time as president, Trump also promoted several conspiracy theories[.]..." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his commentary in today's thread.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here.

U.K. Police to Fine Lockdown Party Animals. Ivana Kottasová & Amy Cassidy of CNN: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak have been told they will be fined by police over lockdown-breaking parties held on UK government premises, a Downing Street spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. London's Metropolitan Police said earlier Tuesday they had issued more than 50 fines as part of their ... investigation into gatherings held on government premises in Downing Street and Whitehall while the rest of the country was living under strict pandemic restrictions. Revelations of the parties sparked national outrage."

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Austria's chancellor visited Mr. Putin on Monday -- the first European leader to see him in person since the war began -- and said he came away feeling not only pessimistic about peace prospects but also fearing that Mr. Putin intended to drastically intensify the brutality of the war.... A Ukrainian unit in Mariupol asserted Monday on social media that Russian invaders had already used chemical weapons there. Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine's Parliament, made a similar charge. But those reports could not be independently confirmed." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "... Vladimir Putin will meet his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, for talks Tuesday about Ukraine and ways to 'counter' pressure from sanctions by the West, Russian news agencies reported. Putin flew to Russia's far-east Amur region for the talks -- as his military sends reinforcements and supplies to troops positioned in Ukraine's east.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky charged that Russia's forces retreating from the north have left behind mines 'everywhere.' Zelensky said Russian troops 'deliberately did everything to kill or maim as many of our people as possible, even when they were forced to withdraw from our land.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here: "... Vladimir Putin has justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying he had taken 'the right decision'. Visiting Vostochny Cosmodrome, he said: 'On the one hand, we are helping and saving people, and on the other, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself. It's clear that we didn't have a choice....'"

Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: "Ukraine and its international partners are bracing for Russia to launch a new offensive, with the Pentagon on Monday saying there are signs that the Kremlin has begun reinforcing and resupplying its forces in the eastern Donbas region as a top official in Moscow vowed there would be no letup in hostilities before the next round of peace talks.... U.S. intelligence has observed a massive Russian military convoy making its way south toward Izyum, a strategically important town in northeast Ukraine that Russia seized earlier this month and may use now as a staging point to carry out assaults on larger cities to the south, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.... The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, said in an interview with the Associated Press that 10,000 civilians there have been killed."

Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in his latest address seized on an apparent Russian threat to use chemical weapons against the remaining defenders of Mariupol, as they prepare for what he called a 'new stage of terror against Ukraine.' Mr. Zelensky's comments came after Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the Kremlin-backed, separatist Donetsk People's Republic, said on Russian television that Russia should bring in 'chemical forces' to use in Mariupol, the besieged southern city. He said the remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol were dug in at a steel plant and that Russia should encircle it and 'smoke out the moles.' Referring to those remarks, Mr. Zelensky said in his latest video address, 'We take this as seriously as possible.'"

Michael Shear & Mujib Mashal of the New York Times: "President Biden on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India not to increase his country's reliance on Russian oil and gas, officials said, part of a global effort by the United States to maintain economic pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Biden also emphasized growing defense cooperation with India in a virtual meeting with Mr. Modi -- a line U.S. officials have increasingly highlighted in the hopes of convincing New Delhi to come off the fence over Russia's invasion. In the meeting between the two leaders, Mr. Biden offered to help Mr. Modi acquire oil and other energy from other sources.... But Mr. Biden stopped well short of pressuring India to stop buying Russian oil, which amounts to about 1 percent of its imports. And American officials said the president did not ask India to condemn Russia by name for the brutal military campaign against its neighbor, a step that India has been unwilling to take since the beginning of the invasion."

Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he had a 'direct' and 'tough' conversation with Vladimir Putin on Monday as he became the first Western leader to meet with the Russian president since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Following their 75-minute meeting in Moscow, Nehammer said that he had pressed for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian corridors. 'This is not a friendly visit,' he said in a statement. 'I have just come from Ukraine and have seen with my own eyes the immeasurable suffering caused by the Russian war of aggression.'... Austria has backed European sanctions against Russia, but it has been one of several E.U. countries that opposed adopting tougher measures on Russian energy."

Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Christo Grozev, executive director of Bellingcat, is reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a mass purge at his intelligence agencies amid his country's floundering invasion of Ukraine. As relayed by the London Times, which described the purge as 'Stalinist,' Grozev said he has learned over 100 intelligence agents have been dismissed from the Federal Security Bureau, including some who have even been arrested. What's more, Grozev claims that 68-year-old former FSB chief Sergei Beseda has been sent to a prison in Moscow after being put under house arrest last month."

Pjotr Sauer of the Guardian: "A prominent Russian opposition activist and outspoken critic of the invasion of Ukraine has been detained in Moscow, his lawyer told the independent news outlet Sota on Monday evening. Vladimir Kara-Murza, 40, is a veteran Kremlin critic who says he was deliberately poisoned in Moscow in 2015 and 2017 as retaliation for his lobbying efforts to impose US and EU sanctions against Russian officials accused of human rights abuses. A close friend of the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot and killed in 2015, Kara-Murza nearly died from kidney failure in the first incident." ~~~

     ~~~ MSNBC's Ali Velshi interviewed Kara-Murza this past Sunday (video).

Anna Cooban of CNN: "Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt because it offered bondholders payments in rubles, not dollars, credit ratings agency S&P has said. Russia attempted to pay in rubles for two dollar-denominated bonds that matured on April 4, S&P said in a note on Friday. The agency said this amounted to a 'selective default' because investors are unlikely to be able to convert the rubles into 'dollars equivalent to the originally due amounts.' According to S&P, a selective default is declared when an entity has defaulted on a specific obligation but not its entire debt." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Cora Engelbrecht of the New York Times: "Two days after a Russian missile strike hit a train station in eastern Ukraine's city of Kramatorsk, killing more than 50 people, volunteer drivers across the Donetsk region are coming forward to help residents still looking to flee before an anticipated onslaught from Russian forces.... Yuroslav Boyko, who is from Kramatorsk..., heads Everything Will Be Fine, a Ukrainian aid organization that has been working to evacuate people from Donetsk since the start of Russia's invasion.... Two train stations are still operational in the Donetsk region -- in the towns of Sloviansk and Pokrovsk -- but residents have become wary of gathering in stations since the attack [on the Kramatorsk station].... The volunteer fleet consists of at least 400 vehicles -- including city buses and private vans -- operated by approximately 1,000 volunteer drivers, who fan out daily to towns and villages across Donetsk to retrieve passengers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "... questions are mounting about how a Russian leader steeped in security policy and known for railing against the folly of regime-change wars could have sleepwalked into a such a strategic morass.... Putin rushed headlong into Ukraine, confident in his ability to secure a quick victory and weather any blowback within the authoritarian system he erected at home, [observers] said. Underpinning his assumptions: misconceptions about Ukraine fundamentally rooted in Moscow's colonial past.... The [failed war] operation, analysts said, bore the personal fingerprints of Putin. 'It's clear this was a military operation designed by spooks, not generals,' said Mark Galeotti, a Russia analyst...."

Jon Henley of the Guardian: "Sweden's ruling party has begun debating whether the country should join Nato, and neighbouring Finland expects to reach a decision within weeks, as Moscow warned that the Nordic nations' accession would 'not bring stability' to Europe. Both countries are officially non-aligned militarily, but public support for Nato membership has almost doubled since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to about 50% in Sweden and 60% in Finland, multiple opinion polls suggest. Sweden's centre-left Social Democrats, led by prime minister Magdalena Andersson, said their 'security review' was about more than just joining the 30-nation alliance, adding that the party could decide to apply even without the backing of members."

Glenn Thrush & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "President Biden nominated a former federal prosecutor, Steven M. Dettelbach, on Monday to run the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- part of a renewed effort to combat gun violence and jump-start a stalled gun control agenda. Mr. Biden, facing pressure from gun safety groups to take bolder action, also announced completion of a rule to ban the unregulated online sale of 'ghost guns,' untraceable firearm components without serial numbers that are often sold in ready-to-assemble kits. Yet the president was visibly frustrated as he spoke in the Rose Garden during an appearance with victims of shootings and their families. He acknowledged that his core agenda -- renewing the ban on assault weapons and instituting universal background checks on gun buyers -- has been blocked by Congress, forcing him to take more modest actions." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What a bad break for us former needleworkers who had switched to the satisfying craft of fashioning ghost guns from those nice kits.

Will Weissert of the AP: "President Joe Biden is visiting corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday to announce he'll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer as his administration tries to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during Russia's war with Ukraine. Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow widespread sale of 15% ethanol blend that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures." ~~~

~~~ Because. Paul Wiseman of the AP: "With ever-rising costs for food, gasoline, housing and other necessities squeezing consumers and threatening the economy, inflation in the United States likely set yet another four-decade high in March. The government's consumer price index being released Tuesday is expected to show that prices shot up 8.4% from 12 months earlier, according to economists surveyed by the data firm FactSet. That would mark the fastest year-over-year inflation since December 1981. And it would surpass the 7.9% 12-month increase in February, which itself set a 40-year high."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A former police officer from Rocky Mount, Va., whose bond was revoked last summer after he stockpiled firearms and endorsed political violence, was found guilty on all counts Monday at the second jury trial of a participant in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. After a three-day trial, a federal jury in Washington deliberated a day and a half before convicting Thomas Robertson, 49, on six counts including obstructing Congress as it met to confirm President Biden's 2020 election victory, interfering with police during a riot, destroying evidence, and trespassing and disorderly conduct at the Capitol while armed with a dangerous weapon." An NBC News report is here.

Marie: I skipped linking the following story, published April 10, because I'm really sick of stories about how the Trump Crime Family is profiting, but listening to the teevee tonight, I realized I should have linked it: ~~~

~~~ David Kirkpatrick & Kate Kelly of the New York Times: "Six months after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the Saudi crown prince, a close ally during the Trump administration, despite objections from the fund's advisers about the merits of the deal.... Those objections included: 'the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management' the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for 'the bulk of the investment and risk'; due diligence on the fledgling firm's operations that found them 'unsatisfactory in all aspects' a proposed asset management fee that 'seems excessive'; and 'public relations risks' from Mr. Kushner's prior role as a senior adviser to ... Donald J. Trump.... But days later the full board of the $620 billion Public Investment Fund -- led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and a beneficiary of Mr. Kushner's support when he worked as a White House adviser -- overruled the panel. Ethics experts say that such a deal creates the appearance of potential payback for Mr. Kushner's actions in the White House -- or of a bid for future favor if Mr. Trump seeks and wins another presidential term in 2024." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC was way surprised that all those Republicans who have been screaming about Hunter Biden's shady international dealings (and Hunter never held a government position) have been absolutely silent about the Saudis' $2 billion gift to the risky, inexperienced & unsatisfactory Kushner boy. I would add that way worse than whatever schemes Hunter & his pals cooked up were Donald Trump's holding back & threatening not to deliver military aid to Ukraine unless President Zelensky produced some fake dirt on Hunter & Joe Biden. It's one thing to trade on your connections (and, no, that's not a good thing) but quite another to use your own vast power to manipulate another government and threaten European peace, all to enhance your own political position.

Beating a Dead Horse. Will Steakin, et al., of ABC News: John "Eastman, a right-wing lawyer who drafted a plan for ... Donald Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject legitimate electors during the 2020 presidential election, was part of a small group of Trump allies who secured a private meeting last month to try and convince the Republican leader of the Wisconsin state Assembly to decertify President Joe Biden's win.... On March 16, Eastman and others spent nearly two hours behind closed doors pressuring Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to nullify the 2020 election and reclaim the electors awarded to Biden, the sources said, which legal experts say is impossible.... The Wisconsin meeting is just one instance among many in an ongoing effort by Eastman and other Trump allies who, even 15 months into President Joe Biden's tenure, have continued to push for the results of the 2020 election to be overturned despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad Eastman wasn't a subject of the study cited in this next report. Maybe it would have helped him lose the crazy. ~~~

~~~ ** Fox "News" Viewers Can Be Deprogrammed! Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "In an unusual, and labor intensive, project, two political scientists paid a group of regular Fox News viewers to instead watch CNN for a month. At the end of the period, the researchers found surprising results; some of the Fox News watchers had changed their minds on a range of key issues, including the US response to coronavirus and Democrats' attitude to police. The findings suggest that political perspectives can be changed -- but also reveals the influence partisan media has on viewers&' ideology.... David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, political scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale university, respectively, paid 304 regular Fox News viewers $15 an hour to instead watch up to seven hours of CNN a week during the month of September 2020." MB: I think Akhilleus mentioned this study last week in the Comments. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "America's attempt to vaccinate the world against Covid is about to come to an end.... Such funding does not appear to be forthcoming.... Even for a body as broken and ineffectual as Congress, this level of self-sabotage is hard to fathom.... Because of the filibuster, Senate Democrats need 10 Republicans to support a stand-alone Covid bill, and Republicans are balking at more money for international Covid programs.... [Republicans are] re holding up authorization of any more Covid aid unless the administration reinstates Title 42, a policy adopted in 2020 to rapidly expel migrants without letting them apply for asylum, all in the name of protecting public health." MB: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of Congressional Republicans."

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Tucker Carlson told a group of churchgoers in San Diego he is not vaccinated against the coronavirus. Speaking at Awaken Church on April 2, the Fox News host mocked the idea of getting a second booster shot. 'I skipped the first three, I'm not getting that one either,' Carlson said, according to the Voice of San Diego.... [The Daily Beast reported that Tucker said that he had grown up] 'next to the Salk Institute in La Jolla' as evidence that he is 'obviously' not opposed to vaccines. 'I've had like a million of them.'.." MB: I grew up next to the town dump. Obviously, I oppose recycling. Yeesh! Maybe all that stupid isn't an act.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. DeSantis Prevails Against Black Residents' Voting Rights. Steve Contorno of CNN: "Republican legislative leaders in Florida have given up trying to draw new congressional boundaries that can win Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature and, in an unprecedented move, announced Monday that they intend to essentially cede this constitutional power to the executive branch.... Last month, DeSantis vetoed the new district boundaries approved by lawmakers -- a rare public display of contention between the governor and a state legislature controlled entirely by his own party. DeSantis has demanded the legislature join his fight to eliminate two districts where Black residents are a plurality.... [DeSantis' map] was critiqued by opponents as a clear violation of a state constitutional amendment known as Fair Districts, which requires lawmakers to give minority communities an opportunity to 'elect representatives of their choice.'"

Way Beyond

Mexico. An Election about Nothing. Oscar Lopez & Natalie Kitroeff of the New York Times: "Pitched by [Mexico's] president as a landmark exercise for Mexico's democracy, Sunday's recall referendum gave voters the chance to remove their head of state from office for the first time. But with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's popularity still high and the opposition largely boycotting the event, the results of the referendum were almost assured. Instead, like so much in the country's polarized politics these days, the vote became one more trench from which each side of the political spectrum could do battle. On Sunday, almost 18 percent of the electorate cast their ballot, far less than was needed for the result to become binding, making the outcome largely symbolic."

News Ledes

CNN: "America's inflation problem didn't abate in March. Prices kept creeping up, hitting a fresh 40-year high, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Tuesday. The Consumer Price Index rose 8.5% for the year ended in March, not adjusted for seasonal swings. That outpaced February's elevated reading of 7.9% and marked a level not seen since December 1981 when the CPI stood at 8.9%. Tuesday's March data was slightly higher than the 8.4% economists had predicted."

New York Times: "Several people were shot on the platform of a Brooklyn subway station during the Tuesday morning rush, officials said, a violent episode that heightened simmering fears about public safety that have hindered New York City's push to recover from the pandemic. Preliminary reports indicated that five people were shot, a law enforcement official said. The police were seeking a man with a gas mask and an orange construction vest, the official said. Police officers were called to the 36th Street subway station, where the D, N and R lines pass through the Sunset Park neighborhood, at around 8:30 a.m., a Police Department spokeswoman said. They had also received reports of smoke inside the station." This page is a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: "At least 16 people were injured, 10 of them by gunfire, in the subway in Brooklyn during the Tuesday morning rush, officials said, after a man released a canister of smoke and opened fire on an N train. Just before 8:24 a.m., as the train pulled into the 36th Street Station in the Sunset Park neighborhood, a man in a construction vest put on his gas mask before firing shots that hit people on the train and the nearby platform, said Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell. The Fire Department said that five people were in critical condition, but none of them had suffered life-threatening injuries." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: "Five miles away from where a man opened fire in a subway train in Brooklyn and shot 10 people during the morning rush, the police recovered a rented U-Haul van late Tuesday afternoon that they believed had been driven by the gunman, a senior law enforcement official said. But the van was empty, the official said, and the shooter remained at large, as agents from dozens of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies searched for him, more than eight hours after he donned a gas mask on a crowded N train, released a canister of smoke and began shooting." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Fortunately, America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani was there to help: "The U-Haul was found after a man who lives in the Highlawn, an apartment building on the street, called the police to report it.... The man said his superintendent had complained to him that morning about a van with Arizona plates blocking the driveway, preventing him from moving his car. The tenant said he later heard about the hunt for the van on Rudy Giuliani';s radio show." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: From the NYT liveblog: A "high-ranking police official said that the attack appeared to have been planned...." During an evening news conference officials said the perp had left behind quite a bit of stuff, including a Glock, the key to the U-Haul van & a credit card. This struck me, because a law enforcement expert who appeared on MSNBC this morning said that these bozos may plan their attack but they often don't plan the getaway. (Of course it's possible that this is all a masterful example of misdirection & the perp has stolen the identity of an innocent person.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: "The police in New York on Tuesday evening identified a man they called a 'person of interest' in the mass shooting on a crowded subway train.... The police said that the man, Frank R. James, 62, had rented a U-Haul van in Philadelphia. A key to the van, they said, was found in a collection of belongings on the train that they believed belonged to the gunman, including a Glock 9-millimeter handgun, three ammunition magazines, a hatchet, fireworks and a liquid believed to be gasoline."

April 11, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Anna Cooban of CNN: "Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt because it offered bondholders payments in rubles, not dollars, credit ratings agency S&P has said. Russia attempted to pay in rubles for two dollar-denominated bonds that matured on April 4, S&P said in a note on Friday. The agency said this amounted to a 'selective default' because investors are unlikely to be able to convert the rubles into 'dollars equivalent to the originally due amounts.' According to S&P, a selective default is declared when an entity has defaulted on a specific obligation but not its entire debt."

Cora Engelbrecht of the New York Times: "Two days after a Russian missile strike hit a train station in eastern Ukraine's city of Kramatorsk, killing more than 50 people, volunteer drivers across the Donetsk region are coming forward to help residents still looking to flee before an anticipated onslaught from Russian forces.... Yuroslav Boyko, who is from Kramatorsk..., heads Everything Will Be Fine, a Ukrainian aid organization that has been working to evacuate people from Donetsk since the start of Russia's invasion.... Two train stations are still operational in the Donetsk region -- in the towns of Sloviansk and Pokrovsk -- but residents have become wary of gathering in stations since the attack [on the Kramatorsk station].... The volunteer fleet consists of at least 400 vehicles -- including city buses and private vans -- operated by approximately 1,000 volunteer drivers, who fan out daily to towns and villages across Donetsk to retrieve passengers."

BBC News: "has warned Finland and Sweden against joining Nato, arguing the move would not bring stability to Europe. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that 'the alliance remains a tool geared towards confrontation'.... US officials expect the Nordic neighbours to bid for membership of the alliance, potentially as early as June."

Glenn Thrush & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "President Biden is expected on Monday to nominate a former federal prosecutor from Ohio ... Steven M. Dettelbach ... to run the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, administration officials said, part of a series of measures meant to demonstrate the White House&'s modest progress on gun control. The moves include the completion of a rule banning online sales of 'ghost guns' -- untraceable firearms without serial numbers, assembled from components bought online -- and come as Mr. Biden faces intensifying pressure from gun control groups to revive a key element of his policy agenda that has been stymied in Congress."

** Fox "News" Viewers Can Be Deprogrammed! Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "In an unusual, and labor intensive, project, two political scientists paid a group of regular Fox News viewers to instead watch CNN for a month. At the end of the period, the researchers found surprising results; some of the Fox News watchers had changed their minds on a range of key issues, including the US response to coronavirus and Democrats' attitude to police. The findings suggest that political perspectives can be changed -- but also reveals the influence partisan media has on viewers' ideology.... David Broockman and Joshua Kalla, political scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale university, respectively, paid 304 regular Fox News viewers $15 an hour to instead watch up to seven hours of CNN a week during the month of September 2020." MB: I think Akhilleus mentioned this study last week in the Comments.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "... Vladimir Putin will meet with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday in the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and a European leader since his country's invasion of Ukraine. Austria has been militarily neutral since the 1950s, but Nehammer has spoken against Russia's war. In a tweet announcing the Moscow meeting, he called for 'humanitarian corridors, a cease-fire & full investigation of war crimes,' adding that Putin 'has to stop!'... Evacuees have been trickling out of the seaside city of Mariupol, which faces continued heavy assault. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that 213 Mariupol residents were evacuated on Sunday, among 2,824 evacuees total across the country that day. Russian forces 'made territorial gains' there this weekend but struggled farther inland in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to an assessment by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here: "Ukrainian authorities are urging citizens in the separatist east to flee as the military battens down for a renewed assault by Russian forces to capture the region. But the road out is a dangerous one, with reports across the country of civilians being killed as they try to escape. On a highway near Kyiv, the capital, as many as 50 bodies of civilians were discovered, according to a local mayor who captured photos of the apparent massacre." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here.

Taylor Telford, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian forces bombarded several towns in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, destroying an airport and damaging several civilian targets, as the war careens toward a pivotal new phase. The shift of the war and fears of full-scale military confrontation on open terrain prompted Ukrainian officials to again call for Western alliances to step up weapons supply efforts to strengthen Ukraine's position on the battlefield. Ukraine is preparing for a 'massive attack in the east,' its ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, warned Sunday on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' Of the Russian forces, she said: 'There are so many of them and they still have so much equipment. And it looks like they're going to use all of it. So we are preparing for everything.'... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on CBS's '60 Minutes' again called on Western countries to step up in providing arms. 'They have to supply weapons to Ukraine as if they were defending themselves and their own people,' he said in an interview recorded Wednesday and broadcast Sunday." ~~~

     ~~~ Video & transcript of Scott Pelley's "60 Minutes" interview of President Zelensky is here. Pelley went to Kyiv for the interview.

Emma Bubola, et al., of the New York Times: Russia's war on Ukraine has "reached deep into the fertile plains of a region known as Europe's breadbasket, paralyzing harvests, destroying granaries and crops, and bringing potentially devastating consequences to a country that produces a large share of the world's grain. Ukraine has already lost at least $1.5 billion in grain exports since the war began, the country's deputy agriculture minister said recently. And the economic fallout from the war has also disrupted supplies from Russia, the world's leading grain exporter. The combination is creating a global food crisis 'beyond anything we've seen since World War II,' the chief of the United Nations World Food Program has warned. In Ukraine, warehouses are filled with grain that cannot be exported. Russia has blocked access to the Black Sea, Ukraine's main export route, cargo trains face logistical hurdles, and trucking is stymied because most truck drivers are men aged 18 to 60 who are not allowed to leave the country and cannot drive agricultural exports across the border."

Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "We visited Bucha, documented dozens of killings of civilians, interviewed scores of witnesses and followed local investigators to uncover the scale of Russian atrocities." Photos by Daniel Berehulak.

Dusan Stojanovic of the AP: "Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region. Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade's civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.... The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China's growing global reach.... Although Serbia has voted in favor of U.N. resolutions that condemn the bloody Russian attacks in Ukraine, it has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or outright criticize the apparent atrocities committed by the Russian troops there."

In the course of his presidency..., Trump would come more to resemble Putin in political practice and predilection than he resembled any of his recent American presidential predecessors. -- Fiona Hill

She doesn't know the first thing she's talking about. If she didn't have the accent she would be nothing. -- Donald Trump, on Fiona Hill ~~~

Robert Draper in the New York Times Magazine interviews Fiona Hill, who has been an administration expert on Russia, off and on, since Dubya's administration. Trump saw Ukraine as an enemy and a plaything. He spoke with others, too, about Donald Trump's relationships with Russia & Ukraine. "'In real time, I was putting things together,' [Hill] said. 'The domestic political errands, the way Trump had privatized foreign policy for his own purposes. It was this narrow goal: his desire to stay in power, irrespective of what other people wanted.'... [Watching the January 6 insurrection on television, Hill said] a burst of horrific clarity overtook her. 'I saw the thread,' she told me. 'The thread connecting the Zelensky phone call to Jan. 6. And I remembered how, in 2020, Putin had changed Russia's Constitution to allow him to stay in power longer. This was Trump pulling a Putin.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: An interesting (and long) read throughout. What struck me, though, was how long it took most of these "experts" to figure out Trump's intention to hang on at all costs and by any means. I think most of saw this back when Trump started "joking" about a third term or a "presidency for life" as early as March 2018. This was Trump, not just saying the quiet part out loud but priming the pump. And a lot of Americans were read to rev the engine.

Michael Schmidt & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The leaders of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack have grown divided over whether to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department of ... Donald J. Trump, even though they have concluded that they have enough evidence to do so, people involved in the discussions said. The debate centers on whether making a referral -- a largely symbolic act -- would backfire by politically tainting the Justice Department's expanding investigation into the Jan. 6 assault and what led up to it.... The shift in the committee's perspective on making a referral was prompted in part by a ruling two weeks ago by Judge David O. Carter of the Federal District Court for Central California ... found that it was 'more likely than not' that Mr. Trump and Mr. Eastman had committed federal crimes.... [Some committee members and staff felt that] the judge's decision would carry far greater weight with Mr. Garland than any referral letter they could write...." See Patrick's comment in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Cheney: We've Got the Goods on Trump. Christina Zhao of NBC News: "The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has enough evidence to refer ... Donald Trump for criminal charges, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Sunday. 'It's absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing -- what a number of people around him were doing -- that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,' Cheney, the vice chair and one of two Republicans on the committee, said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'... 'I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well-planned effort that used multiple tools to try to overturn an election,' Cheney said. The committee has 'got a tremendous amount of testimony and documents that I think very, very clearly demonstrate the extent of the planning and the organization and the objective.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: Cheney "disputed [the New York Times] report which said the panel was split over whether to refer Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal charges regarding his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, leading to the Capitol attack. 'There's not really a dispute on the committee,' the Wyoming representative Liz Cheney told CNN;s State of the Union.... Cheney said: 'We have not made a decision about referrals on the committee....' 'The committee is working in a really collaborative way to discuss these issues,' she said, adding: 'We'll continue to work together to do so. So I wouldn't characterise there as being a dispute on the committee ... and I'm confident that we will we will work to come to agreement on on all of the issues that we're facing.'"

~~~ MEANWHILE. House Team Trump Is in the Dark. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "One by one, Republicans eviscerated the work of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, each one bemoaning the fact that the chief congressional security officials had not been subpoenaed to examine that day's security lapses. Not interviewing these key officials was proof, they suggested, that the committee was just out to score political points against Republicans. Finally, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) shut down that line of debate on Wednesday with some information these Republicans did not seem to know. 'We have in fact interviewed precisely the people they set up as a test for the validity of our investigation,' Raskin said. Those top security officials 'didn't need a subpoena' to testify..., Raskin said. 'They came voluntarily.'... Dozens of GOP lawmakers are left in the dark about what evidence the committee has collected involving their own contacts with Trump and his senior advisers in the run up to, and during, the attack on the Capitol." Why don't Republicans know what's going on? -- Because Kevin McCarthy decided not to put any semi-rational members on the committee & he iced out the two Republicans who are on the committee. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is an example of how dumb House Republicans are. Story after story has emphasized the hundreds of people the committee has interviewed without need for subpoenaes. Some specifically mention the committee's interviewing security personnel, like this CNN report from March 23, 2022 that ledes with, "More than 80 officials from law enforcement and federal agencies have testified to the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, including members of the Secret Service, in what investigators believe will be the most extensive review yet of security failures that led to the US Capitol breach." Yet somehow it doesn't occur to anyone on this team of bozos that maybe, just maybe, top security officials were among those people who sat for interviews.

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's once iron-clad grip on the Republican Party appears to have weakened as prominent conservatives are openly griping about his endorsement of Dr. Mehmet Oz in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. But, um, some of the gripers are blaming Trump's staff, not Trump himself. "The ongoing need to blame everyone but Trump for Trump's own choices is striking given that Brooks, who Trump dumped, is one of those doing it," Maggie Haberman of the New York Times tweeted. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mysterious News, Ctd. Somebody Tipped Off the Fake Feds. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Two men pretending to be Homeland Security agents were arrested this week after being caught and manipulating Secret Service agents and other law enforcement by giving them gifts, free apartments, and other things. Now it's being revealed that someone tipped the men off that they were about to be raided. According to the Daily Beast, federal prosecutor Matthew Graves wrote in a Sunday filing that investigators are still discovering more information about the efforts by the two men. It's still unknown why the men were manipulating the law enforcement and their ultimate end game.... The two men ... were observed trying to ditch incriminating items through a Secret Service agent who is assigned to protect the White House, the filing says. 'This ... suggests that [Arian] Taherzadeh and/or [Haider] Ali shipped the package to the USSS Uniformed Division Officer in an attempt to corruptly enlist him in secreting evidence,' the filing also said."

Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: "Elon Musk is not joining Twitter's board after all, a reversal following last week's revelation that he had become Twitter's largest shareholder -- and had received a subsequent appointment to the panel. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted the news Sunday night, including a memo sent to his staff. 'Elon's appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning he will no longer be joining the board,' Agrawal wrote. 'I believe this is for the best.' The surprise move came less than a week after Twitter had said the outspoken Tesla CEO would become a board member, following his quietly amassing a 9.2 percent stake in the social media company. But Twitter employees and others agitated over the move, worrying Musk might wield outsize power to undo some moderation decisions that were made -- including banning ... Donald Trump."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "The unemployment rate is at an encouragingly low point.... But if you ask regular Americans about the jobs climate, a surprising number of them seem to think the opposite is true. This lack of knowledge matters. Political fortunes rise and fall in part on the health of the job market.... In his last post before his tragic death last week, the media critic Eric Boehlert argued that journalists are purposely putting President Biden's accomplishments, including job growth, in a negative light; he asserted that the press is actually 'rooting against Biden.'... The public's lack of knowledge on jobs ought to sound an alarm bell for journalists.... [The media should] find some balance in the current economic coverage, which has pounded away relentlessly at soaring inflation but mentioned job growth or wage increases only in passing.... [They should] examine the knee-jerk media narrative, which goes like this: Biden's approval numbers are down, and that's because the economy is bad." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As far as I can tell, the media generally cover the state of the jobs market only once a week, when the Labor Department reports jobs number, and the reporting is often done in a very pedestrian, formulaic fashion. What's more, even excellent jobs news often gets negative coverage: a lede will read something like, "... the number of Americans filing for unemployment last week was worse than expected"; the report goes on to state that (unnamed) analysts expected 300,000 people to apply for unemployment insurance, but 325,000 people applied. Who cares what unnamed analysts expected? In fact, these analysts could be purposely predicting super-rosy numbers so the reports look bad. I don't know.

Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Mimi Reinhard was being held at a Nazi concentration camp near Krakow, Poland, in 1944, but because she spoke flawless German and could take shorthand, she was allowed to work in the camp office. One of her jobs was to compile a list of Jewish prisoners working in factories owned by industrialist Oskar Schindler. Mrs. Reinhard, then known as Carmen Weitmann, typed the names of more than 1,000 Jewish people -- including her own and those of two friends -- to create what became known as 'Schindler's List.' She called herself a 'schreibkraft,' or typist.... As a result, she and more than 1,000 other Jews were saved from near-certain annihilation in the Nazi death camps of World War II. Mrs. Reinhard, who later became Schindler's secretary, has died in Israel at age 107." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Christina Zhao & Molly Roecker of NBC News: "Sixty-eight attendees have tested positive for Covid-19 after attending the Gridiron Dinner in Washington last weekend, including members of the Biden administration and reporters. Gridiron Club President Tom DeFrank said Saturday that the group had reported 67 cases out of the hundreds of people who attended. On Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was also at the dinner, tested positive. This is the first that the Gridiron Dinner has taken place since 2019, before the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Giulia Heyward & Sophie Kasakove of the New York Times: "The murder charge against a woman in Texas in connection with a 'self-induced abortion' will be dismissed, a Texas district attorney announced Sunday. Gocha Allen Ramirez, the district attorney of Starr County, said in a statement that, after reviewing the case, he will file a motion on Monday to dismiss the indictment against the woman, Lizelle Herrera, 26. 'It is my hope that with the dismissal of this case it is made clear that Ms. Herrera did not commit a criminal act under the laws of the State of Texas,' Mr. Ramirez said." (Also linked yesterday.) The Texas Tribune's report is here.

Utah. Ed Scarce of Crooks & Liars: "... there were more proven instances of voter fraud among Salt Lake County Republicans than 'has been proven in Utah's entire 2020 election.' [From the (firewalled) Salt Lake Tribune:] 'For Salt Lake County Republicans, warnings of voter fraud came from inside the party on Saturday. The vote to nominate a GOP candidate for Salt Lake County Clerk was marred when a pair of delegates were caught attempting to vote more than once, with one extra vote making it into a ballot box at Saturday's county nominating convention.'" MB: In fairness to Republicans, perhaps one reason they're so "concerned" about voter fraud is that Republicans themselves are such cheaters. The vast majority of proven cases of intentional fraud during the 2020 election, as far as I recall, were Repubicans, not Democrats, voting twice, voting for their dead relatives, voting in places they don't live (Mark Meadows). It's about projection. (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

France. John Leicester & Sylvie Corbet of the AP: "Incumbent Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency, after they both advanced Sunday in the first round of voting in the country's election to set up another head-to-head clash of their sharply opposing visions for France. But while Macron won their last contest in 2017 by a landslide to become France's youngest-ever president, the same outcome this time is far from guaranteed. Macron, now 44, emerged ahead from Sunday's first round, but the runoff is essentially a new election and the next two weeks of campaigning to the April 24 second-round vote promise to be bruising and confrontational.... With most votes counted, Macron had just over 27% and Le Pen had just under 24%. Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon was third, missing out on the two-candidate runoff, with close to 22%.... ~~~

~~~ "The election outcome will have wide international influence as Europe struggles to contain the havoc wreaked by Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Macron has strongly backed European Union sanctions on Russia while Le Pen has worried about their impact on French living standards. Macron also is a firm supporter of NATO and of close collaboration among the European Union's 27 members.... [As one Macron voter noted, Le Pen's] long-standing hostility to the EU could see her try to take France out of the bloc, even though she has dropped that from her manifesto." The Washington Post's story is here. The New York Times story is here.

News Lede

Another Saturday Night in Drunk-Shooting America. AP: "A shooting inside a crowded Cedar Rapids nightclub left a man and a woman dead and 10 people wounded early Sunday, authorities said. Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said investigators believe two men fired more than a dozen shots inside the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday. He said officers who were just outside the club because of an earlier incident rushed inside just as 100-150 people streamed out of the bar and found the victims." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If I were young & looking for a good time on a Saturday night, I definitely would not seek out fun in an American nightclub or bar.