October 20, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday struggled to answer questions about his communications with ... Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, telling a House panel that he doesn't recall the number of times he spoke with Trump that day. The statement from Jordan, a staunch Trump ally and a potential witness in the House's investigation of the attack, came during a Rules Committee meeting on whether to hold former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon in contempt for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. 'Of course I talked to the president,' Jordan told members of the Rules Committee on Wednesday, in response to questioning from the panel's chairman, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). 'I talked to him that day. I've been clear about that. I don't recall the number of times, but it's not about me. I know you want to make it about that.'... In the months since the attack, Jordan has given conflicting answers as to his communications with Trump that day." MB: A subpoena of Jordan's phone records might help his memory.

Ari Berman of Mother Jones: "In March 2021, before the Senate held its first hearing on the For the People Act, the Democrats' sweeping democracy reform bill, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told me that her party had a 'once-in-a-century moment to protect people's right to vote.' But that historic opportunity to pass voting rights legislation is rapidly disappearing. And many Democrats and voting rights advocates are growing increasingly frustrated with the Biden Administration's lack of urgency and prioritization concerning threats to democracy, as Republicans across the country aim to consolidate their power for at least a decade to come through brazen gerrymandering and voter suppression laws. On Wednesday, the Senate will vote on the Democrats' new voting rights bill, the Freedom to Vote Act (a retooled version of the For the People Act), but when Republicans unanimously oppose it that will mark the third time this year that the GOP has blocked a voting rights bill from reaching the Senate floor." MB: That Senate bill is going down in flames now (3:15 pm ET Wednesday.)

David Corn of Mother Jones: "In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an 'American Independent.' And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure." MB: As much as we may think so, this is not good news. OR, it may just be Manchin seeking Even more attention.

Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "An Army reservist charged in the Justice Department's sweeping investigation of the U.S. Capitol riot was demoted and discharged earlier this year, becoming the first known service member to be forced out of the military after officials learned of an alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to personnel records.... Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 31, was working part-time as an Army Reserve sergeant in human resources. In May, he was demoted to private -- the enlisted force's lowest rank -- and given an other-than-honorable discharge the next month, terminating a 12-year military career, said his attorney Jonathan Crisp. Federal authorities have accused Hale-Cusanelli of illegally entering the Capitol, using hand and arm signals to advance rioters forward and harassing police officers.... Several colleagues told investigators about his wearing of a 'Hitler mustache' while at work, court papers show." MB: Hale-Cusanelli also reportedly made a particularly disgusting anti-Semitic remark, which I won't republish here but which Horton reports.

William Rashbaum & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's family business, which is already under indictment in Manhattan, is facing a criminal investigation by another prosecutor's office that has begun to examine financial dealings at a golf course the company owns, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In recent months, the district attorney's office in suburban Westchester County, N.Y., has subpoenaed records from the course, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, and the town of Ossining, which sets property taxes on the course, a sprawling private club that is perched on a hill north of New York City.... The district attorney, Mimi E. Rocah, appears to be focused at least in part on whether Mr. Trump's company, the Trump Organization, misled local officials about the property's value to reduce its taxes, one of the people said. Ms. Rocah, a Democrat, has not accused anyone at the company of wrongdoing, and it is unclear whether the investigation is examining Mr. Trump's conduct or if it would ultimately lead to any charges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's the fun part of the NYT report: "In seeking to cut the tax bill -- sometimes by as much as 90 percent -- the club has argued that the property was worth much less than Ossining officials had determined.... In one year, the Trump club put the property's value at about $1.4 million, while the town assessed it at roughly $15 million.... Mr. Trump ... declared in federal disclosure forms when he was president that the club was worth more than $50 million." Rachel Maddow reported that in the very same year -- 2016 -- Trump declared the property worth the $1.4 million for tax purposes and $50 million on the financial disclosure forms. According to Zillow, the average price of a single-family home is about $725,000 (which admittedly would have been somewhat less in 2016). Still, it is risible that a property that covers 140 acres, has a humungous clubhouse with upscale amenities and 16 townhouses, each larger than 3,000 sq. ft., is worth only about twice the price of one average house.

Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House on Wednesday announced plans to distribute vaccines to a huge group that has been ineligible so far to receive the coronavirus shots -- 28 million children aged 5 to 11. The operation is slated to begin as soon as federal health officials sign off on a reduced dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which the Biden administration anticipates as soon as the first week of November[.] White House officials said they have already acquired enough doses to vaccinate the entire group and are planning to make the specially packaged children's vaccine available at more than 25,000 pediatricians' and doctors' offices, hospitals, pharmacies, community health centers, and school- and community-based clinics. They also plan a campaign to educate parents about the vaccines and answer their questions."

Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "Federal regulators are seriously considering authorizing coronavirus vaccine boosters for everyone 40 years old and older, a move that could sharply increase the number of people eligible for the shots, according to two federal officials familiar with the plans. Action would not occur until next month, after the Food and Drug Administration deals with two big items on its agenda, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I got a booster this morning, and it was even more painless than the shots I got late last winter. If I think about it, I can feel a teensy bit of soreness when I move my arm in a certain way, but as I sit here typing, I can't feel it at all. Otherwise, I feel no symptoms at all.

Jessica Garrison, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "Over the past dozen years, at least 28 people who currently hold elected office joined or financially supported the Oath Keepers, the extremist group that figured prominently in the violent Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol, a BuzzFeed News analysis of data from the organization shows. In the months since the Capitol insurrection, as two dozen people linked to the Oath Keepers have been charged with crimes, including conspiracy, for their roles, several of those elected officials have continued to voice support for the organization. And at least two officials -- David Eastman and Mark Finchem of the Alaska and Arizona Houses of Representatives, respectively -- were in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6 to protest the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory. Neither of the men has been charged."

Oklahoma. Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "An Oklahoma law that educators say restricts discussions of race and sex in classrooms is unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The civil rights organization and groups of students and educators say in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against the state's governor, attorney general and top education officials that the law violates students' and educators' First and 14th Amendment rights. They are seeking a preliminary injunction that would block the law from being enforced."

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Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden told Democrats during a private meeting Tuesday that he believed they could secure a deal on a new tax-and-spending proposal between $1.75 trillion and $1.9 trillion, far less than some in the party initially sought, even as some lawmakers later maintained it still would allow them to accomplish broad swaths of their vast economic agenda. The early outline -- shared at least with liberal lawmakers in the House -- appeared to offer one potential avenue for the White House to broker a truce among Democrats' warring left-leaning and moderate factions." ~~~

~~~ Manu Raju & Phil Mattingly of CNN: "President Joe Biden informed House progressives Tuesday afternoon that the final bill to expand the social safety net is expected to drop tuition-free community college, a major White House priority, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Moreover, he indicated that the child tax credit -- a key Democratic priority -- would likely be extended for one additional year, much shorter than what many in their party wanted, one of the sources said. The child tax credit will also likely be means tested, keeping with what West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin had wanted. Biden also indicated to the group that they would reduce the proposed funding for so-called homecare for the elderly and disabled -- down to less than $250 billion, sources said. Democrats had wanted to keep the funding at $400 billion." MB: Thanks, Joe Manchin. Who cares about kids & old folks, anyway?

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "White House officials have explored in recent weeks whether the National Guard could be deployed to help address the nation's mounting supply chain backlog, three people with knowledge of the matter said."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "A senior Biden health appointee who made history when she became the nation's highest-ranking openly transgender official has also become its first openly transgender four-star officer. Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health, was sworn in Tuesday as an admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a 6,000-person force that responds to health crises on behalf of the federal government, including administering coronavirus vaccines and delivering care after hurricanes. Levine is also the organization's first-ever female four-star admiral."

Mr. Bannon's, and Mr. Trump's privileged arguments do ... appear to reveal one thing. They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of Jan. 6 and this committee will get to the bottom of that. -- Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), Vice-Chair, House January 6 Committee, Tuesday evening session ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: The House January 6 Select Committee "on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend charging [Stephen] Bannon with criminal contempt of Congress for defying its subpoena, sending the matter to the House, which is expected to approve the move and hand the matter over to the Justice Department for prosecution.... One day before a mob of ... Donald J. Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol..., Bannon ... made a prediction to listeners of his radio show. 'Now we're on, as they say, the point of attack -- the point of attack tomorrow,' Mr. Bannon said on Jan. 5 as he promoted a plan hatched by Mr. Trump and far-right Republican lawmakers to try to overturn President Biden's victory the next day, when Congress would meet to formalize the election results. 'It's going to kick off. It's going to be very dramatic.' It is because of comments like that, which foreshadowed the violence that played out during the Capitol riot, that the House committee investigating the assault is interested in questioning Mr. Bannon. But the former counselor to Mr. Trump has refused to cooperate with the inquiry, citing the former president's claim of executive privilege." The AP's report is here.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a Republican member of Congress from Nebraska with lying to the F.B.I. during a campaign finance investigation, an allegation that the lawmaker vowed to fight. The Justice Department accused the lawmaker, Representative Jeff Fortenberry, of lying to the F.B.I. twice about whether he knew that he had received illegal campaign donations, including during an interview with the government that his lawyer attended, according to the federal indictment. Anticipating that the department intended to charge him, Mr. Fortenberry said in a video posted online on Tuesday morning that F.B.I. agents unexpectedly came to his home two years ago to question him about the possibility that he had received illegal campaign donations. 'I told them what I knew and what I understood,' Mr. Fortenberry said. 'They've accused me of lying to them and are charging me with this.' He called the possibility of criminal charges shocking and stunning.... The government said in court filings that in spring 2018, one of Mr. Fortenberry's fund-raisers told the congressman that he had funneled $30,000 from [a Washington lobbyist] to the 2016 re-election event, but that the money 'probably did come from Gilbert Chagoury[.' a Lebanese Nigerian businessman].... Mr. Fortenberry did not take appropriate action..., the indictment said.&" ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's story is here. The Omaha World-Herald's report is here.

Washington Post Editors: "Dilawar Syed, President Biden's nominee to be deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, embodies the American Dream. He came to this country 30 years ago from Pakistan in pursuit of education and opportunity and built a successful career as an entrepreneur, starting and running companies specializing in software, health care and artificial intelligence. If confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking Muslim in government. But Republicans have frozen his nomination in a Senate committee, and some of his backers -- including prominent human rights and faith-based groups -- say it is precisely because of his background and religion.... The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship ... voted his nomination out of committee by a voice vote. But the parliamentarian ruled a roll call was required, and Republicans have repeatedly refused to show up for votes, denying the evenly split committee the needed quorum.... They [are taking] the coward's way out." In the meantime, they have come up with a series of fake objections to Syed's confirmation, which the editors outline.

Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "In unusually pointed comments about a member of President Biden's Cabinet, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says he'vehemently' disagrees with Attorney General Merrick Garland's failure so far to aggressively investigate ... Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and other matters.... '... I disagree with it most vehemently when it comes to what I consider even more serious offenses. For example, a taped conversation of Donald J. Trump on the phone with Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state from Georgia, trying to coerce him into fraudulently finding 11,780 votes. Because I think if you or I did that, we'd be under indictment by now,' Schiff [said]."

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "In the spring of 2020, Mark T. Esper, the defense secretary, was alarmed to learn of an idea under discussion at a top military command and at the Department of Homeland Security to send as many as 250,000 troops -- more than half the active U.S. Army ... -- to the southern border in what would have been the largest use of the military inside the United States since the Civil War.... Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trump's immigration agenda, had urged the Homeland Security Department to develop a plan for the number of troops that would be needed to seal the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico.... The concept was relayed to officials at the Defense Department's Northern Command, which is responsible for all military operations in the United States and on its borders [but not to Mr. Esper].... Officials said the idea was never presented formally to Mr. Trump for approval, but it was discussed in meetings at the White House.... After a brief but contentious confrontation with Mr. Miller in the Oval Office, Mr. Esper ended consideration of the idea at the Pentagon.... Around the same time..., Mr. Trump also pressed his top aides to send forces into Mexico itself to hunt drug cartels, much like American commandos have tracked and killed terrorists in Afghanistan or Pakistan...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Say, why not invade Canada, too?

William Rashbaum & Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "F.B.I. agents on Tuesday morning searched homes linked to the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska in New York's Greenwich Village and on Washington's Embassy Row as part of an investigation into whether he violated sanctions imposed on him by the United States, according to people with knowledge of the matter and a spokeswoman for Mr. Deripaska.... Mr. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was a client of Paul Manafort, who served for several months as Donald J. Trump's campaign chairman in 2016 and was convicted in 2018 of financial fraud and other crimes.... After Mr. Manafort joined Mr. Trump's campaign in 2016, he instructed his deputy to periodically provide confidential Trump campaign polling data to an associate that the deputy understood would be shared with Mr. Deripaska.... Property records show that the homes searched by the F.B.I. on Tuesday -- a sprawling mansion in an affluent neighborhood in Northwest Washington and a three-story historic Greenwich Village townhouse that was once a speakeasy called the Pirate's Den and later home to Mayor Jimmy Walker's paramour -- are owned by opaque limited liability corporations." The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ As Rachel Maddow noted at some length Tuesday night, the Village townhouse the FBI raided was also home to Walter Gibson (d. 1985), a pulp fiction writer who wrote 300 novels featuring the Shadow, a popular radio drama character. It is pure -- if eerie -- coincidence that we discussed the Shadow in yesterday's Comments thread.

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Upending centuries of medical dogma, a team of South African researchers has found that breathing may be a bigger contributor to the spread of tuberculosis than coughing, the signature symptom. As much as 90 percent of TB bacteria released from an infected person may be carried in tiny droplets, called aerosols, that are expelled when a person exhales deeply, the researchers estimated. The findings were presented on Tuesday at a scientific conference held online. The report echoes an important finding of the Covid pandemic: The coronavirus, too, spreads in aerosols carried aloft, particularly in indoor spaces -- a route of transmission that was widely underappreciated as the pandemic began to unfold."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here.

Geneva Sands of CNN: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is vaccinated against Covid-19, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday morning, according to department spokesperson Marsha Espinosa. 'Secretary Mayorkas tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus after taking a test as part of routine pre-travel protocols,' Espinosa said in a statement. 'Secretary Mayorkas is experiencing only mild congestion; he is fully vaccinated and will isolate and work at home per CDC protocols and medical advice. Contact tracing is underway.'"

Ovetta Wiggins & Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), a practicing anesthesiologist, said he has prescribed ivermectin, a medication typically used to treat parasites in livestock and humans, as a covid-19 treatment, and he lashed out at pharmacies for not making the drug readily available, according to a recent radio interview.... Last month, the American Medical Association, the American Pharmacists Association, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists released a statement strongly opposing the ordering, prescribing or dispensing of ivermectin to prevent or treat covid-19 outside of a clinical trial.... Harris practiced at Johns Hopkins Hospital for nearly three decades.... Earlier this year, Harris was outspoken in support of coronavirus vaccines, even appearing at community centers to administer shots himself. But he subsequently encouraged parents not to allow their children to be vaccinated, at least not until the vaccines received full FDA approval for children. He has been vocal in opposing vaccine and mask mandates...."

David Sharp of the AP: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to block a vaccine requirement imposed on Maine health care workers, the latest defeat for opponents of vaccine mandates. It was the first time the Supreme Court weighed in on a statewide vaccine mandate. It previously rejected challenges of vaccine requirements for New York City teachers and Indiana University staff and students. Justice Stephen Breyer rejected the emergency appeal but left the door open to try again as the clock ticks on Maine's mandate. The state will begin enforcing it Oct. 29. The Maine vaccine requirement that was put in place by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills requires hospital and nursing home workers to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto has tested positive for Covid-19. Cavuto, who has been public about his health challenges over the years, including a nearly 25-year journey with multiple sclerosis, was off his afternoon Fox program on Tuesday as a result of the diagnosis. 'While I'm somewhat stunned by this news, doctors tell me I'm lucky as well,' Cavuto said in a statement released through Fox News Media. 'Had I not been vaccinated, and with all my medical issues, this would be a far more dire situation. It's not, because I did and I'm surviving this because I did.'"

Brazil. Gabriela Sa Pessoa & Erin Cunningham of the Washington Post: "A special Senate committee investigating Brazil's response to the pandemic will accuse President Jair Bolsonaro of committing crimes against humanity for his role in the public health disaster that killed hundreds of thousands of people, a senior lawmaker said Tuesday. A draft version of a report detailing the committee's findings had included calls for authorities to indict the president, other senior officials and three of his sons on charges of mass murder and genocide against the Indigenous population, whose communities were particularly vulnerable to the virus. But the president of the special committee, Sen. Omar Aziz, said Tuesday that senators involved in the probe will remove the genocide and homicide allegations from the report. Aziz said senators would keep in the report accusations of crimes against humanity and the crime of causing an epidemic that led to deaths." An AP story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Iowa's Democratic Party chair said on Tuesday that he received a lynching threat and several other racist phone and email messages after he wrote a column in the state's largest newspaper denouncing ... Donald J. Trump and Republicans. The party chairman, Ross Wilburn, the first Black person to lead the Democratic Party in Iowa, the presidential proving grounds, said that he turned the messages over to the police in Ames, Iowa, and planned to press charges if the people who sent the messages were identified." MB: On the upside, anyone who criticized Donald Trump would have received threats to his life & obnoxious messages.

Way Beyond

Haiti. Andre Paultre, et al., of the New York Times: "A million dollars a head. That is the demand from kidnappers in Haiti who seized 17 people tied to Christian Aid Ministries, a U.S.-based missionary group, over the weekend, a Haitian official said Tuesday.... American laws generally do not prohibit the payment of ransom, said Rob Saale, the former head of the F.B.I.-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell. But it is different when the kidnappers are terrorists. In that case, paying ransom is a considered to be providing material support to a terrorism organization, and is illegal.... Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the State Department was working with the F.B.I., the Haitian national police, churches and other groups to get the hostages released."

North Korea. Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "North Korea appeared to have fired a short-range ballistic missile from a submarine on Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, the latest development in Pyongyang's barrage of weapons tests in recent weeks. The launch came as envoys from the United States, South Korea and Japan gathered Tuesday in Seoul to discuss how to jump-start dialogue with Pyongyang after nuclear talks collapsed in 2019. Officials in Japan also confirmed the ballistic missile test...."

October 19, 2021

Lara Seligman, et al., of Politico: "The State Department's inspector general is launching a series of investigations into the end of the Biden administration's diplomatic operations in Afghanistan.... The reviews by the internal watchdog will focus on the State Department's Special Immigrant Visa program; Afghans processed for refugee admission into the U.S.; resettlement of those refugees and visa recipients; and the emergency evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul 'to include evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals,' according to an Oct. 15 action memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.... The Pentagon's inspector general also has at least three reviews related to the evacuation that are underway, and it's possible other agencies and departments' watchdog units, too, will probe exactly what happened." ~~~

~~~ Alex Marquardt & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "The Biden administration's top envoy for Afghanistan is leaving his position, the US State Department confirmed in a Monday announcement, less than two months after the US withdrew from Afghanistan in a chaotic -- and deadly -- evacuation process. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, who led Afghan policy for the Biden presidential transition team and has been working closely with Khalilzad for months."

Brady Dennis & Darryl Fears of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration moved Monday to regulate a group of long-lasting, human-made chemicals that pose health risks to millions of Americans, >even as they continue to be used in an array of products such as cosmetics, dental floss, food packaging, clothing and cleaning supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency said it will move with urgency to set enforceable drinking water limits on certain polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, more commonly known as 'forever chemicals,' which do not break down naturally and have turned up in the water supplies of communities across the country."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats on Tuesday will unveil a scaled-back version of a Biden administration proposal to crack down on wealthy tax cheats after conservative groups and the bank industry raised major privacy concerns, three people with knowledge of the coming announcement said. Initially, the Department of Treasury and Senate Democrats had proposed requiring financial institutions to provide the Internal Revenue Service with additional information on bank accounts with more than $600 in annual deposits or withdrawals. After a backlash, the new proposal will instead require the provision of additional information for accounts with more than $10,000 in annual deposits or withdrawals, a measure Democrats have been considering for weeks but have not formally endorsed, the people said. The revised version of the bank reporting proposal will also weaken its scope by exempting all wage income from counting toward the $10,000 threshold withdrawal, intending to ensure it applies to only larger account holders...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Like most retirees, none of my income comes from wages, so I guess I'm in the potential "wealthy tax cheat" bucket. It's a mighty big bucket.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday for an emergency halt to the Texas law that has practically stopped access to abortion in the nation's second-largest state. The action means the court will again have to confront the controversial law, which generally outlaws the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. In a divisive 5 to 4 decision last month, the court allowed the law to go into effect, although dissenters said it violated the nearly 50-year-old precedent in Roe v. Wade that guaranteed a right to abortion before fetal viability. DOJ raises new arguments in its filing, and says the court must intervene to prevent an end run around its authority and the Constitution." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to a request from abortion-rights advocates and providers to quickly consider taking up their challenge of a restrictive Texas law that bans most abortions after as early as six weeks of pregnancy.... If the court agrees to consider the case on an expedited basis, it could accept briefs, hear arguments and deliver a ruling much faster than if the case had to wind through the normal court channels.... The high court directed the respondents in the case to file a response by noon on Thursday. That's the same time Texas is due to file its reply in a separate challenge of the law, which the Department of Justice brought to the Supreme Court earlier Monday."

Jada Yuan of the Washington Post: "For five years after the death of her son, Jill Biden says, she lost her faith in God.... She had stopped going to church or even praying, she told the congregants of Brookland Baptist Church late Sunday afternoon. But she found her way back, and over the weekend traveled nearly 500 miles to surprise the woman who'd helped her get there. Robin Jackson, the wife of the church's pastor, is that woman, and in 2019, Biden said, she 'changed my life.' That's when Jackson approached Biden during a service and said she'd like to become her 'prayer partner.' Biden didn't know what a 'prayer partner' was, she told PBS in 2020, but she was intrigued. They've kept in regular contact, and have been praying together, ever since."

Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock from his personal account on October 1, 2020, according to disclosure forms reviewed by the Prospect. Powell's sale of shares from a Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund has not been previously reported. This sale occurred right before the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered a significant drop.... Three other senior Fed officials have faced serious criticism for making stock trades during the pandemic. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren were compelled to take early retirements as a result of the disclosure of their trades. Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida also came under fire for stock trading. The other trades are now the subject of investigations by the Fed's own inspector general and the SEC."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Sen. Joe Manchin III ... is making new demands that could badly impair our ability to combat child poverty and global warming, by shrinking two key components of the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill. Manchin's new moves reveal the folly of arbitrary centrism. This posture is essentially that any effort to restrain liberal governance is an inherent good, with no serious acknowledgement required of the real-world trade offs it entails.... Manchin has even suggested to colleagues that he doesn't particularly care which progressive priorities get jettisoned; he just wants to see some of them gone." ~~~

~~~ Manchin Throws Grannie Under the Bus. Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) has been advocating work requirements for anyone receiving child benefits under the Build Back Better bill, a policy that would hurt families where a grandparent is head-of-household. "These households have swelled over the past decade.... As of 2019, roughly 6.2 million children lived with grandparents; within that population, 1.1 million had no parents present in the household. The numbers have likely grown since covid-19 struck.... Most grandparents responsible for their grandchildren are no longer in the labor force. They're often retired, disabled or both.... The [temporary] program [-- which ends in December --] has already lifted millions of children out of poverty; if extended, its long-term effect is estimated to slash child poverty by nearly half."

Joseph Choi of the Hill: Donald "Trump blasted Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Monday after the senator said in an interview he would not vote for the real estate mogul if he ran for president again in 2024. On Sunday, Cassidy said during an interview on 'Axios on HBO' that he did not believe Trump would be the GOP presidential nominee again. 'President Trump is the first president, in the Republican side at least, to lose the House, the Senate and the presidency in four years. Elections are about winning,' Cassidy told Axios' Mike Allen. When Allen noted that it was 'clear' that Cassidy would not be voting for Trump in any case, Cassidy responded, 'I'm not.' In a statement on Monday, Trump called Cassidy a 'RINO' ... and reiterated a notion he had hoisted on other Republicans that Cassidy had 'begged' for his endorsement in 2020 'and used it all over the place to win re-election.' 'Now, Wacky Bill Cassidy can't walk down the street in Louisiana, a State I won by almost 20 points,' the Trump statement read. 'He could not even be elected dog catcher today, the great people curse him.'"

Another Bad Hair Day for Matt. David Shortell of CNN: "Joel Greenberg, the former Florida official whose crimes in the state ensnared Rep. Matt Gaetz in a federal sex trafficking investigation, has been providing the Justice Department with new information as he continues to cooperate with authorities following a guilty plea earlier this year. At a brief hearing in Orlando federal court Monday, Roger Handberg, an assistant US attorney, said that Greenberg has made allegations to investigators that 'take us to some places we did not anticipate.' 'What investigators do is they follow up on that to try to corroborate the information that's been provided,' Handberg said."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In two unsigned decisions without noted dissents, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of police officers accused of using excessive force. The rulings were a signal that the court continues to support the doctrine of qualified immunity, which can shield police misconduct from lawsuits seeking damages. The doctrine has been the subject of criticism across the ideological spectrum, and it became a flash point in the nationwide protests last year over police brutality, with activists and lawmakers calling for its reconsideration. The doctrine requires plaintiffs to overcome a daunting hurdle. They must not only show that the official accused of misconduct violated a constitutional right, but also that the right had been 'clearly established' in a previous ruling." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is suing to block the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol from receiving records it has requested regarding his role and the role of his aides in the events of that day. The lawsuit argues that the records request is overly broad and has no legislative purpose." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's story is here.

How Many Lies Can You Tell Under Oath in Four-and-a-Half Hours? David Fahrenthold & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was questioned for four and a half hours Monday by lawyers for a group of protesters who have sued him, alleging that Trump's security guards assaulted them in 2015, one of the lawyers said. Trump's testimony was recorded on video so that it could be played at a trial in the suit. That arrangement allowed Trump to avoid testifying in person.... Benjamin N. Dictor, an attorney for the four protesters..., said that Trump largely answered his questions -- though he said Trump declined to answer 'a handful.' Dictor said he would ask the judge in the suit, Doris M. Gonzalez, to order Trump to answer those questions later."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "The Metro system in Washington pulled more than half of its subway cars from service before the Monday morning commute as federal investigators scrutinized a surge in train-alignment'failures' and the derailment of one train at least three times in a single day last week, officials said. The removal of about 60 percent of the system's cars prompted service reductions that paralyzed commuters across the capital region on Monday, forcing them to take buses, work from home or endure long waits for what many riders described on social media as overcrowded trains." ~~~

     ~~~ Justin George, et al., of the Washington Post: "Wheel assemblies on Metro rail cars like the one at fault in last week's Blue Line derailment had failed 31 times since 2017 -- and renewed inspections last week identified almost two dozen similar defects, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority pulled the 7000 series cars from service Sunday night, leaving the agency down more than half its fleet as service reductions and crowded trains were expected through the week."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Sharon LaFraniere & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration is planning to allow Americans to receive a different Covid-19 vaccine as a booster than the one they initially received, a move that could reduce the appeal of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and provide flexibility to doctors and other vaccinators. The government would not recommend one shot over another, and it might note that using the same vaccine as a booster when possible is preferable, people familiar with the agency's planning said. But vaccine providers could use their discretion to offer a different brand, a freedom that state health officials have been requesting for weeks."

Joel Achenbach & Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who died Monday of what his family described as complications from covid-19, had been treated for the blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and was due to get a coronavirus booster shot when he suddenly became ill and was hospitalized, his longtime assistant, Peggy Cifrino, said Monday. Powell, who was 84, received his second Pfizer shot in February but was immunocompromised as a result of his cancer and suffered from Parkinson's disease, Cifrino said in an interview. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that severely impairs the immune system, lowering the effectiveness of vaccines." ~~~

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha.

     ~~~ Summer Concepcion of TPM: "On the morning of ... Colin Powell's death from complications of COVID-19, Fox News anchor John Roberts boosted vaccine skepticism in a now-deleted tweet. Roberts failed to acknowledge Powell's battle with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that impairs the body's ability to fight infections." "The fact that Colin Powell died from a breakthrough COVID infection raises new concerns about how effective vaccines are long-term," Roberts tweeted. Concepcion links to some tweeted responses, like this one by Jason O. Gilbert: "Thank you for this perfect tweet to send people when they claim that Fox News is a legitimate news organization because they have real reporters like John Roberts". And this one by Molly Knight: "'The fact that she died even though she was wearing a seatbelt means we shouldn't wear seatbelts.'" ~~~

     ~~~ David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Fox News host Will Cain and network contributor Tomi Lahren also used the opportunity of Powell's death to rail against vaccine mandates." ~~~

     ~~~ As Philip Bump of the Washington Post writes, "... instead of demonstrating that the vaccine isn't 100 percent effective in preventing death, which was known, [Colin Powell's] death better serves to show the need to tamp down on coronavirus cases more broadly to help protect those most at risk." ~~~

     ~~~ AND Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Some prominent conservative media figures on Monday dishonestly used the death of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died of Covid-19 complications, to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines....Powell's cancer .. did not make it into the monologue of Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Carlson, the right-wing talk network's highest-rated star, instead used Powell's death on Monday night to suggest Americans are 'being lied to' about the vaccines. Throughout his monologue, Carlson, who has declined to say whether he is vaccinated, cast doubt on the effectiveness of vaccines." TuKKKer, dishonest? Oh, Oliver, how could you?

~~~ The Epitome of Stupid. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Radio talk show host Dennis Prager informed his audience on Monday that not only does he have Covid-19, but he was trying to get infected in order to achieve 'natural immunity.' The 73-year-old said he tested positive last week and has not required hospitalization, thanks in part to receiving monoclonal antibodies. These can be effective in treating Covid for people with mild to moderate symptoms who also have a high risk of progression. But Prager also rattled off the unproven Covid Treatments They Don't Want You To Know About™ that have become popular among many conservatives.... '...I have engaged with strangers, constantly hugging them, taking photos with them knowing that I was making myself very susceptible to getting Covid, which is, indeed, as bizarre as it sounded, what I wanted, in the hope I would achieve natural immunity and be taken care of by therapeutics. That is exactly what has happened....'" MB: Whatever radio station or network carries Prager should not have aired his show. ~~~

~~~ Walk Away, Dan. Walk Away. MEANWHILE. Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "In late May, the massively influential radio network Westwood One debuted a new daily talk show from Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and New York City cop who gained stature in conservative media during the presidency of Donald Trump. The show occupies the noon-3 p.m. time slot once dominated by Rush Limbaugh, setting Bongino up as one of the key challengers for his audience.... Now, Bongino is threatening to walk away completely. He has taken issue with a vaccination mandate imposed in August by Westwood One’s owner, Cumulus Media." The report is part of the WashPo's Tuesday Covid-19 updates, so free to nonsubscribers.

Washington State. Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post: "... Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich was dismissed Monday, the school announced, after not adhering to a statewide order issued by Gov. Jay Inslee in August. He was the state's highest-paid employee at $3.2 million per year, and he had remained unvaccinated up to the state's vaccination deadline of Monday. Four of his assistants -- Ricky Logo (defensive tackles), John Richardson (assistant head coach/cornerbacks), Craig Stutzmann (co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) and Mark Weber (offensive line) -- also lost their jobs, the school said. Defensive coordinator Jake Dickert will serve as acting head coach." MB: Yes, but they're big, hunky he-men, and they don't need no stinkin' shots.

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Not as Bad as the Headline & Lede Read. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The chair of the New York State Democratic Party apologized Monday after comparing Buffalo mayoral nominee India Walton, a Black woman, to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The party chair, Jay Jacobs, made the comparison in an interview with Spectrum News. He doubled down in a defiant statement issued through the state party before eventually issuing an apology amid criticism from other Democrats, including some calls to resign. Walton, a self-identified socialist, won the Democratic nomination for Buffalo mayor in June, in a victory over four-term incumbent Byron Brown. Brown has since launched a write-in campaign, and several top New York Democrats, including Jacobs and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have so far declined to endorse a candidate in the race. In the interview with Spectrum News, Jacobs was asked what type of precedent it sets if he and other leading Democrats refrain from endorsing Walton, the winner of the primary. Jacobs responded that it is not necessary for state party chairs to endorse the primary winner, citing the white supremacist Duke as an example." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie. Actually, no. Jacobs did not compare Walton to Duke. He compared one party's response to another's. He said, in effect, "It's not uncommon for parties to reject a nominee for any number of reasons, and racism is one of them." Jacobs even said in his initial remarks that Duke was "very different" and that Walton is "not in the same category" as Duke. Using their response to David Duke's win as an example was reasonable inasmuch as he's one of the few local candidates listeners would be familiar with. Jacobs is apologizing because some people, including the WashPo reporter Sonmez & Chuck Schumer, enjoy fake outrage too much. Better lede: "... after some Democrats mistakenly thought he compared ... Walton ... to ... Duke...."

New York. Jeffrey Mays & Zachary Small of the New York Times: "For more than 100 years, a 7-foot-tall statue of Thomas Jefferson has towered over members of the New York City Council in their chamber at City Hall, a testament to his role as one of the nation's founding fathers and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. But for the last two decades, some Black and Latino Council members, citing Jefferson's history as a slaveholder, called for the statue to be banished -- a push that gained significant momentum in the last year, as the nation has broadly reconsidered public monuments that can be viewed as symbols of systemic racism. On Monday, city officials voted unanimously to remove the statue from Council chambers, but delayed a decision on where to put it."

North Carolina. Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may continue using race as a factor in its admissions process, a federal judge ruled on Monday, rejecting the argument of a conservative nonprofit legal group that is trying to dismantle college affirmative action policies across the country. In her ruling, which came down decidedly against the plaintiff, Judge Loretta C. Biggs said that the university's use of race in deciding which students to admit was narrowly tailored, and that the university had made an effort to consider race-neutral alternatives.... The plaintiff, a group called Students for Fair Admissions, vowed to appeal if necessary all the way to the Supreme Court...." MB: Gosh, I'll bet those "Fair" students are so white they glow like the angels in heaven.

Way Beyond

Russia, et al. "Russia Allows Methane Leaks." Steven Mufson, et al., of the Washington Post: "Today, the second-biggest natural gas producer is Russia, fed by the prolific Yamal region, followed by Iran and its Persian Gulf gas fields. Next come China, Canada and Qatar, with its flotilla of liquefied natural gas tankers. The United States, bolstered by horizontal fracking in the Permian Basin across west Texas and eastern New Mexico, remains the world's largest natural gas producer. Scientists say that rapidly cutting methane 'is very likely to be the most powerful lever' to slow the rate of warming. But they have also documented a disturbing and surprising spike in atmospheric concentrations in recent years that they have not yet pinned down.... Given Russia's sprawling oil and gas industry, climate summit watchers say persuading President Vladimir Putin to plug his nation's leaking pipelines and dial back plans to grow natural gas exports will be important. The White House's chief climate negotiator, John F. Kerry, has spent hours with top Russian officials in search of a 'road map,' said Ruslan Edelgeriyev, special presidential envoy on climate issues for the Russian Federation.... So far, Russia's numbers don't add up, a Post analysis has found[.]" ~~~

~~~ Russia. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Russia is scrambling to retain the wealth and power that come from selling fossil fuels to the world, even as the Kremlin increasingly acknowledges climate change to be a human-made crisis that the country needs to do more to address. Last week, President Vladimir V. Putin said Russia would stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2060. It was a remarkable reversal since Mr. Putin has long dismissed climate science and many in his country see international efforts to combat global warming as part of a Western plot to weaken Russia. His announcement comes two weeks before world leaders are set to converge in Glasgow for a pivotal U.N. climate summit. But it's unclear if Russia is sincere in its new pledge.... Russia's climate contradictions are on display on the 600-mile-long island of Sakhalin, just north of Japan. The relatively wealthy region of 500,000 people is rich in hydrocarbons, the backbone of its economy. But the regional government last year pledged to make Sakhalin Russia's first 'carbon neutral' region by 2025 -- one that absorbs as much carbon out of the air as it emits."

October 18, 2021

Late Afternoon Update:

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is suing to block the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol from receiving records it has requested regarding his role and the role of his aides in the events of that day. The lawsuit argues that the records request is overly broad and has no legislative purpose."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday for an emergency halt to the Texas law that has practically stopped access to abortion in the nation's second-largest state. The action means the court will again have to confront the controversial law, which generally outlaws the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. In a divisive 5 to 4 decision last month, the court allowed the law to go into effect, although dissenters said it violated the nearly 50-year-old precedent in Roe v. Wade that guaranteed a right to abortion before fetal viability. DOJ raises new arguments in its filing, and says the court must intervene to prevent an end run around its authority and the Constitution."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In two unsigned decisions without noted dissents, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of police officers accused of using excessive force. The rulings were a signal that the court continues to support the doctrine of qualified immunity, which can shield police misconduct from lawsuits seeking damages. The doctrine has been the subject of criticism across the ideological spectrum, and it became a flash point in the nationwide protests last year over police brutality, with activists and lawmakers calling for its reconsideration. The doctrine requires plaintiffs to overcome a daunting hurdle. They must not only show that the official accused of misconduct violated a constitutional right, but also that the right had been 'clearly established' in a previous ruling."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Colin L. Powell, who in four decades of public life served as the nation's top soldier, diplomat and national security adviser, and whose speech at the United Nations in 2003 helped pave the way for the United States to go to war in Iraq, died on Monday. He was 84. He died of complications from Covid-19, his family said in a statement. He was fully vaccinated and was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, his family said." The AP report is here.

Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times: "Climate change is warming the air, allowing it to hold more moisture, which causes more frequent and intense rainfall. And no state in the contiguous United States is more exposed to flood damage than West Virginia, according to data released last week.... [Sen. Joe] Manchin has rejected any plan to move the country away from fossil fuels because he said it would harm West Virginia, a top producer of coal and gas. Mr. Manchin's own finances are tied to coal: he founded a family coal brokerage that paid him half a million dollars in dividends last year. But when it comes to climate, there's also an economic toll from inaction. The new data shows [show!] that Mr. Manchin's constituents stand to suffer disproportionately as climate change intensifies. Unlike those in other flood-exposed states, most residents in mountainous West Virginia have little room to relocate from the waterways that increasingly threaten their safety.... The measure that Mr. Manchin opposes, a clean electricity program, may be the last chance for Congress to reduce planet-warming emissions before the effects of climate change become catastrophic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: West Virginia is one of the top five "taker" states; that is, it's one of the states that get far more in federal assistance than they give back in tax revenues. This will be even more true if the Build Back Better plan is enacted. All Joe has to do is forget about his personal interests (fat chance!), tell his constituents he's voting for the bill because it helps them so much (true!), and vote for it. It's that easy, Joe. ~~~

~~~ Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "The transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg delivered a blunt warning on Sunday to Joe Manchin and other Senate Democrats who are forcing Joe Biden to scale back his climate crisis agenda: your resistance is going to cost lives.... 'The longer you take to do something about it, the more it's going to cost in livelihoods as well as lives,' he said. 'The administration and the president are committed to bold climate action, exactly what legislative form that takes is what's being negotiated right now. But the bottom line is we have to act on climate for the good of our children and for the good of our economy. This is kind of like a planetary maintenance issue.'... Buttigieg's criticism was more veiled than that of the progressive Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who lambasted Manchin last week in an opinion piece in the Charleston Gazette-Mail. 'Poll after poll shows overwhelming support for this legislation. Yet ... in a 50-50 Senate we need every Democratic senator to vote "yes." We now have only 48. Two Democratic senators remain in opposition, including Manchin.' he wrote."

Lucien Bruggeman & Matthew Mosk of ABC News: "Former British spy Christopher Steele is stepping out of the shadows to 'set the record straight' about his bombshell dossier for the first time since his name splashed across headlines in early 2017, defending his work, his name, and the decision to include some of its most controversial elements.... In his first major interview, Steele described how and why he wrote the 17 reports that made up the so-called 'Steele dossier,' which accused ... Donald Trump's campaign of conspiring with the Russians to tilt the result of the 2016 election.... In many ways, [the dossier] proved prescient. The Mueller probe found that Russia had been making efforts to meddle in the 2016 campaign, and that Trump campaign members and surrogates had promoted and retweeted Russian-produced political content alleging voter fraud and criminal activity on the part of Hillary Clinton. Investigators determined there had been "numerous links -- i.e. contacts -- between Trump campaign officials and individuals having ties to the Russian government." And, proof emerged that the Trump Organization had been discussing a real estate deal in Moscow during the campaign. All were findings that had been signaled, at least broadly, in Steele's work."

Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton was released from a California hospital on Sunday after being admitted on Tuesday for treatment of a urological infection that developed into sepsis, officials said." The AP's story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "Police officers and others responsible for public safety should view vaccination against Covid-19 as a key part of their role, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor, said during an interview on Fox News Sunday.... Police unions in cities across the country are urging members to resist Covid vaccine requirements for their jobs."

Florida. Ron's Big Cover-up. Ian Hodgson of the Tampa Bay Times: "For 105 days this summer, while COVID-19 deaths soared across the state, Floridians had no idea how many of their neighbors were dying.... The number of people dying in each Florida county went missing from June 4 through Sept. 17.... In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis' office declared that the pandemic had receded to the point where daily reports were no longer necessary. The state also took down its COVID data website, known as an online dashboard.... On June 4..., state officials stopped releasing daily pandemic data, switched to weekly reports and started withholding data once available to the public. Instead of including county deaths in its weekly reports, the state directed the public to find that information via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the CDC relied on Florida's online portal of COVID data -- which the state also took down in June. The CDC's tally of deaths for Florida went blank."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Matthew Brown of the AP: "Investigators believe a 1,200-foot (366-meter) cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline and pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line fouled the Southern California coastline with crude.... Investigators believe [the] anchor [of the Panama-registered MSC DANIT] dragged for an unknown distance before striking the 16-inch (40-centimeter) steel pipe, Coast Guard Lt. j.g. SondraKay Kneen said Sunday.... Still undetermined is whether the impact caused the October leak, or if the line was hit by something else at a later date or failed due to a preexisting problem, Kneen said."

Way Beyond

Haiti. Maria Abi-Habib of the New York Times: "... few Haitians, rich or poor, are safe from the gangs of kidnappers that stalk their country with near impunity. But the abduction this weekend of 17 people associated with an American missionary group as they visited an orphanage shocked officials for its brazenness. On Sunday, the hostages, five of them children, remained in captivity, their whereabouts and identities unknown to the public. Adding to the mystery was a wall of silence from officials in Haiti and the United States about what, if anything, was being done to secure their release." ~~~

     ~~~ Danica Coto & Evens Sanon: "A notorious Haitian gang known for brazen kidnappings and killings was accused by police Sunday of abducting 17 missionaries from a U.S.-based organization. Five children were believed to be among those kidnapped, including a 2-year-old. The 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped the group in Ganthier, a community that lies east of the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne told The Associated Press. The gang was blamed for kidnapping five priests and two nuns earlier this year in Haiti."