The Conversation -- September 20, 2023

Farnoush Amiri & Lindsay Whitehurst of the AP: "House Republicans clashed with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, accusing him and the Justice Department of the 'weaponization' of the department's work in favor of President Joe Biden's son Hunter.... Republicans on the committee -- led by chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio -- set the tone with accusations that the Justice Department is favoring the Biden family while targeting his likely 2024 opponent, [Donald] Trump.... Questioning in the Republicans' arsenal focused on allegations that the Justice Department interfered in the yearslong case into Hunter Biden and that the prosecutor in charge of that case [-- whom Trump appointed --] did not have the full authority he needed to bring necessary charges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I listened to about a half-hour of the hearing until I couldn't stand it anymore. Jordan, as usual, was outrageous in his disrespect for Garland and his refusal to let Garland answer the "questions" (okay, accusations) he raised.

Karoun Demirjian & Kayla Guo of the New York Times: "The Senate was expected on Wednesday to confirm three generals to serve on the president's top military advisory council, steering around a monthslong blockade of military promotions by Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, who has held up hundreds of nominees in protest of a Pentagon abortion access policy. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, moved on Wednesday to force votes on confirming Gen. Eric Smith of the Marine Corps and Gen. Randy George of the Army as the chiefs of staff for their respective services, and Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. of the Air Force as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the move left hundreds more military promotions in limbo, still stymied by Mr. Tuberville's objections. Mr. Schumer had been reluctant to force votes on individual nominees for fear of being seen as capitulating to Mr. Tuberville."

Dareh Gregorian & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., on Wednesday offered to 'save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week' if House Republicans 'stop trying to shut our government down.' Fetterman issued the statement poking at congressional Republicans -- or as he put it, 'those jagoffs in the House' -- as he was presiding over the Senate in shorts, a short-sleeve button-down shirt, and no tie. His relaxed attire while presiding comes just days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly changed the Senate's informal dress code to allow lawmakers to casual attire on the floor.... The loosened dress code has been ridiculed by Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who joked that she planned to wear a bikini instead."

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, a decision that gives policymakers more time to assess whether they have raised interest rates enough over the past 18 months to fully wrestle inflation under control. But policymakers also released a fresh set of economic projections suggesting that they still expect to make another rate increase before the end of 2023 -- and that borrowing costs are likely to remain higher than officials had previously expected in 2024. In all, the Fed's decision and its outlook suggested that a resilient economy is keeping central bankers both optimistic about growth and firmly in inflation-fighting mode." The AP's report is here.

Amy Gardner & Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Lawyers for three [Georgia] electors who were charged in a sweeping indictment along with [Donald] Trump and 15 others made their first appearance in court Wednesday with ... [this] argument: that the electors were acting as federal officers, empowered by the U.S. Constitution and federal law -- and therefore immune from state-level prosecution. At the very least, the lawyers argued, the three are entitled to prosecution in federal, not state, court.... A key element of their defense Wednesday was that federal law -- as well as the Constitution -- expressly allows states to send more than one slate of electors in the event of a contested election. When they convened, voted and signed electoral certificates that were then sent to Washington, they were acting within the law to preserve Trump's legal remedies while a lawsuit contesting the Georgia election made its way through court, their lawyers said." An NBC News story is here.

Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Pro-Donald Trump lawyer Lin Wood is a 'witness for the state' in the Georgia election subversion case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed Wednesday. The reference to Wood was buried in a new court filing by the DA's office that raised potential conflicts of interest for six defense attorneys because they previously represented witnesses or other defendants in related proceedings. Wood was previously subpoenaed by prosecutors in the Georgia probe but his status as a witness for the state was not previously known."

Eewww! Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Cassidy Hutchinson, the former Trump aide turned crucial January 6 witness, says in a new book she was groped by Rudy Giuliani, who was 'like a wolf closing in on its prey', on the day of the attack on the Capitol. Describing meeting with Giuliani backstage at Donald Trump's speech near the White House before his supporters marched on Congress in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, Hutchinson says the former New York mayor turned Trump lawyer put his hand 'under my blazer, then my skirt'."

Akhilleus is right: This is a super translation, and I'm sure the subtitles are 100% accurate:

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Tyler Pager, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden outlined his vision for tackling global challenges in his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, seeking to use the marquee speech to bolster cooperation from allies and partners amid signs of shifts and strains in the world's alliances. 'The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people because we know our future is bound to yours,' Biden said. 'And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.'... Biden tried to catalyze world opinion behind continuing to supply Ukraine with arms and other aid. 'If we abandon the core principles of the [U.N. Charter] to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?' he said. 'If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I'd respectfully suggest the answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.'... Beyond Ukraine, Biden focused on a wide range of global development issues, such as climate change and infrastructure, that are particularly important to less-wealthy nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, regions that are often referred to as the Global South." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

For decades, it would have been unthinkable for an American president to stand in Hanoi alongside a Vietnamese leader and announce a mutual commitment to the highest level of countries partnership. But it's a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future. -- President Joe Biden, speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 19

     ~~~ A transcript of the President's speech, as delivered, is here (via the White House). Lawrence O'Donnell cited the section on Vietnam -- which begins the remarks -- as a sign we should not give up hope.

~~~ Richard Pérez-Peña, et al., of the New York Times: "The entire world has a vested interest in helping defeat the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, casting his appeal for more allies and aid as a matter of security -- even survival -- for many other nations. Delivering one of the most anticipated speeches of the annual gathering of world leaders, Mr. Zelensky painted Russia as a habitual aggressor, citing Moscow's military interventions in Moldova, Georgia and Syria, its increased control over Belarus and its threats against the Baltic States. 'The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources, into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,' he said." ~~~

     ~~~ Wolf Blitzer of CNN interviewed President Zelensky yesterday. This was my favorite part: ~~~

Blitzer: ... former President Trump ... [said] -- if he were elected president again -- he would get you and Putin together and make what he called a fair deal. He said something could have been negotiated with Crimea and other parts of the country. What's your reaction....?

Zelensky: ... If he's got some smart ideas, he could share it with us, of course.... He can publicly share his idea now. Not waste time. Not to lose people.... Otherwise, he is not, I mean, presenting a global idea of peace. So the idea is how to take the part of our territory and to give Putin? That is not the peace formula.

Blitzer: So you're not ready to negotiate a territorial compromise with Putin?

Zelensky: We're not ready. But the question is to Trump..., what [is the] United States really ready to give to Putin from your territories?

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland &-- a prime target for House Republicans seeking to push unproven claims that the Justice Department is protecting President Biden and his son Hunter Biden -- is set to defend himself at a high-stakes, high-volume hearing on Wednesday. Mr. Garland will appear before the House Judiciary Committee for a routine oversight hearing that, in years past, would center on policy, crime, law enforcement initiatives and civil rights. These days, it is a forum for lawmakers to air their grievances and to bolster an impeachment inquiry against the president grounded, thus far, in inconclusive evidence. 'I am not the president's lawyer,' Mr. Garland is expected to say, according to excerpts from his opening remarks released hours ahead of his testimony. 'I will also add that I am not Congress's prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.'" CNN's report is here.

Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Hardline conservatives in the House sank a procedural vote on a Pentagon funding bill Tuesday, a significant setback for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Five Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the rule for the appropriations bill, bringing the final vote to 212-214 -- short of the majority support needed." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Melanie Zanona, et al., of CNN: "Tensions are flaring inside the House Republican conference as it barrels toward a government shutdown, with the infighting spilling out into public view and growing increasingly nasty.... At the center of much of the drama: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, attacking Speaker Kevin McCarthy in personal terms. But he's also engaged in social media spats with fellow hardline conservatives who helped broker a House GOP plan to fund the government first revealed on Sunday evening.... [Meanwhile,] moderate Republicans are privately discussing teaming up with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown if the House GOP plan to temporarily fund the government fails on the floor this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "The Republican Party's war on itself has turned its inoperative House majority into a 'clown show' and a 'dysfunction caucus' and is handing wins to the Chinese Communist Party -- and that's just what some of its own members say about it. Days of recriminations between far-right hardliners, moderates, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his nihilistic tormentors reached a new peak on Tuesday in extraordinary scenes of inter-party infighting on the south side of the US Capitol.... In a sign that Democrats are considering their options, their leader Hakeem Jeffries will meet the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus on Wednesday. The group has a bipartisan plan to fund the government by temporarily extending current spending levels and include aid for recent domestic national disasters, Ukraine funding and some border security provisions.... Weighing on Republican moderates will be the risk they could cost the speaker his job. A bill that passed the House with Democratic votes could be the final straw for McCarthy's enemies and cause a vote to unseat him." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hey, here's something that would work: a half-dozen or so GOP House members who represent districts Biden won could switch parties, then vote with the new Majority Leader Jeffries. A win for everybody -- oh, except My Kevin, MTG, Matt Gaetz, et al.

Impeachment. Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Annie Grayer & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials casts doubt on key claims from an IRS whistleblower who alleges there was political interference in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden's taxes. According to transcripts provided to CNN, several FBI and IRS officials brought in for closed-door testimony by House Republicans in recent days said they don't remember US Attorney David Weiss saying that he lacked the authority to decide whether to bring charges against the president's son, or that Weiss said he had been denied a request for special counsel status. Those twin claims, made by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, form the basis of Republican accusations that the Justice Department's investigation into Biden's taxes was tainted by political influence and that Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to protect Hunter Biden in the investigation. The new testimony comes as House Republicans begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family, potentially undercutting one element of that effort." Shapely testified that Weiss made the comment in a meeting which five other agents attendants. Three of the five have testified now, and all three disputed Shapely's claim. Weiss, too, previously pushed back on Shapley's claim. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, House Republicans think it's a good idea to impeach Joe Biden based on a claim about the Hunter Biden case that four other officials have testified is false. But, undeterred ~~~

     ~~~ Spencer Kimball of CNBC: "The House Oversight Committee will hold the first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Sept. 28, a committee spokesperson said Tuesday. 'The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the President's involvement in corruption and abuse of public office,' the spokesperson said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)

Is It "Chutzpah" or "Hutzpah"? Al Weaver of the Hill: "Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told senators that he will attempt to force a one-off vote Wednesday to confirm Gen. Eric Smith to become the new commandant for the Marine Corps, while he maintains his blockade on more than 300 other military promotions. Tuberville told Senate Republicans on Tuesday during their weekly conference lunch that he will go to the floor and attempt to bring Smith's nomination up for consideration, which would tee up a cloture vote unless Senate Democrats object to his effort."

Marie: The other day I linked an ABC New report that said, "Sources said that after [Donald] Trump heard the FBI wanted to interview [aide Molly] Michael last year, Trump allegedly told her, 'You don't know anything about the boxes.' It's unclear exactly what he meant by that." This pretense of ignorance irritated me because it's perfectly clear that Trump was instructing Michael to lie to federal investigators. "t turns out that even the Gray Lady is familiar with mobspeak: ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "A former assistant to Donald J. Trump has informed investigators that the former president told her to say she did not know anything about the boxes containing classified documents that he had stashed at his private club in Florida after leaving the White House, according to a person briefed on her comments. The assistant, Molly Michael, who worked for Mr. Trump in the area outside the Oval Office and then in his post-presidential office, told the investigators about Mr. Trump's comments when she was interviewed as part of the inquiry into his handling of sensitive government documents. 'You don't know anything about the boxes,' Mr. Trump told Ms. Michael when he learned that federal officials wanted to talk to her in the case." MB: Michael knew plenty about the boxes, and was one of the people who took photographs of the boxes being stored around Mar-a-Lago. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's another piece of the Haberman-Swan report that is of interest, and they drop the ball here. When the NYT reporters contacted Trump for a statement about their impending report, they got this: "'These illegal leaks are coming from sources which totally lack proper context and relevant information,' said Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump. 'The Department of Justice should investigate the criminal leaking, instead of perpetrating their baseless witch hunts.'" As Andrew Weissmann noted on-air on MSNBC, the report from Michael or someone associated with her is not a "leak," much less an "illegal leak" that warrants DOJ investigation. Under the law, witnesses are allowed to tell the public what their testimony was. ~~~

... Donald Trump told [Molly Michael] straight up, "You are to lie to investigators. You are to tell them you know nothing about boxes or documents," which was untrue.... That is textbook obstruction of justice. That is textbook witness tampering. Potentially, really devastating evidence [against Trump] here. -- Elie Honig, CNN legal analyst ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not sure it's completely clear from either the ABC News report or NYT report precisely what Trump was doing with the classified documents Trump handed her. "... Molly Michael told investigators that -- more than once -- she received requests or taskings from [Donald] Trump that were written on the back of notecards, and she later recognized those notecards as sensitive White House materials -- with visible classification markings," ABC News reported. IOW, Trump was so cavalier with classified documents that he was jotting down to-do lists for his secretary on the backs of some classified docs that one supposes he didn't want to save to show off to various people who visited him. He must be too cheap to buy note paper.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Ray Epps, a Jan. 6 participant whose removal from the FBI's Capitol Violence webpage sparked conspiracy theories that he was a federal informant, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Tuesday. Epps is charged with one misdemeanor count, disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds. He was charged by information, suggesting that he plans to enter a plea deal. Not long after he was charged, a virtual plea agreement hearing was set for Wednesday, Sept. 20 before Chief Judge James Boasberg." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) speaks (hypothetically!) on the Senate floor about "creepy billionaires" buying Supreme Court justices:

Kara Scannell of CNN: "President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, he said in a court filing Tuesday. He is also asking for his initial court appearance to be held remotely. In a letter to Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter Biden will plead not guilty to the three felony gun charges relating his possession of a revolver in 2018 whether the appearance is held over video or in person. 'Mr. Biden is not seeking any special treatment in making this request. He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required,' Lowell wrote Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "A former U.S. congressman from Indiana was sentenced Tuesday to 22 months in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information while working as a consultant and lobbyist after he left office. Former U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, 64, a House Republican from 1993 to 2011, was also ordered to forfeit $354,027, representing the amount of illegal gains, and to pay a $10,000 fine. Buyer, a lawyer and Persian Gulf War veteran, once chaired the House Veterans' Affairs committee and was a House prosecutor at ex-President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment trial." MB: I don't recall Buyer at all, but I'll bet he was in high dudgeon over Bill Clinton's misdeeds. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "Five Americans freed from Iranian detention this week returned to US soil early Tuesday following an initial stop in Doha, Qatar, two US officials told CNN. Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, along with two Americans who have not been publicly named arrived at Fort Belvoir's Davison Army Airfield for an emotional reunion with their family members. The freed Americans, who were released Monday as part of a wider deal that includes the US unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds, will have the option to participate in a Department of Defense program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help them acclimate back to normal life now that they are back in the United States." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024. Brian Slodysko, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Monday told a packed Broadway theater full o big-name stars hosting a fundraiser in his honor that he was running for reelection because Donald Trump was determined to destroy the nation. Democracy is at stake, he told the audience at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. Hate groups have been emboldened, he said. Books are being banned. Children go to school fearing shootings. 'Let there be no question, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy,' he said...."

Marie: Over the weekend, I linked a story which quoted a wacky portion of a speech by Donald Trump. In it, he talked about "people doubles." I thought maybe he was talking about "body doubles," though that didn't seem to make sense in context, if the random words surrounding "people doubles" qualify as context. Contributor Patrick, however, closely examined the text and decided -- correctly, I think -- that what Trump meant by "people doubles" was "using the same derogatory sobriquet for two different people," as in "crooked Hillary" and "crooked Biden." Well, now, thanks to Chris Hayes, I learn that a great swath of the GOP believes in "body doubles" conspiracies. During Trump's presidency, for instance, there was a popular conspiracy theory that a body double replaced Melania Trump for many or all appearances. Now, the right has popularized a theory that Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) uses a body double when he has to speak because he could not have so thoroughly recovered his speech and comprehension faculties after suffering a debilitating stroke last year: ~~~

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North Carolina. This Week's Winner of the Dumbest Criminal Prize. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "A North Carolina man charged with rape came up with what he thought was the perfect plan, reported The Daily Beast: fake his own death, then disappear with the authorities none the wiser. The only problem? He forgot he was still wearing an ankle monitor. Melvin Emde, age 41, was due in court in Brunswick County to answer charges of statutory rape of a child on August 7, when his son called deputies in Louisiana and told them his father had been lost overboard in a kayaking accident on the Mississippi River. Police, however, were still tracking his ankle monitor, and could tell he was at a Walmart buying two prepaid phones. Police decided to pretend to fall for the ruse to catch him off guard.... Meanwhile, Emde tried to cross the Georgia state line on a motorcycle with no plate, leading a Georgia state trooper on a chase that ended when he crashed the bike. He gave authorities a false name, but his fingerprints identified him."

Pennsylvania. David Chen of the New York Times: "Democrats kept control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday after winning an open seat in a special election in the Pittsburgh area. The state's lower chamber had been split 101-101 between Democrats and Republicans since July, when former Representative Sara Innamorato, a Democrat, stepped down from her seat representing the 21st House District to run for Allegheny County executive. And while Republicans had hoped for an upset in Ms. Innamorato's former district, which includes part of Pittsburgh and its northern suburbs, that did not happen: Lindsay Powell, a Democrat who has strong ties to party leaders in Washington -- including Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader -- easily defeated Erin Connolly Autenreith, a Republican who is the chairwoman of a local party committee. With 95 percent of the vote counted, Ms. Powell had 65 percent, and Ms. Autenreith 34 percent." An NBC News story is here.

Pennsylvania. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "Pennsylvania announced Tuesday that it has implemented automatic voter registration to ease the process of casting a ballot, joining 23 other states and the District of Columbia. Residents who are eligible to vote and who obtain or renew a driver's license or identification card at Pennsylvania's Department of Motor Vehicles now will be guided through the voter registration process by default. If they don't want to be added to the voter rolls, they have to actively opt out. The change fulfills a campaign promise for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), whose state is likely to be crucial to the 2024 presidential race. He promoted the new system Tuesday as a 'common sense' step to make elections more secure and less costly for taxpayers." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gee whiz. Democratic-led states keep getting better as Republican-dominated states get worse.

The Conversation -- September 19, 2023

Kara Scannell of CNN: "President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, he said in a court filing Tuesday. He is also asking for his initial court appearance to be held remotely. In a letter to Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter Biden will plead not guilty to the three felony gun charges relating his possession of a revolver in 2018 whether the appearance is held over video or in person. 'Mr. Biden is not seeking any special treatment in making this request. He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required,' Lowell wrote Tuesday."

Tyler Pager, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Bidenoutlined his vision for tackling global challenges in his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, seeking to use the marquee speech to bolster cooperation from allies and partners amid signs of shifts and strains in the world's alliances. 'The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people because we know our future is bound to yours, Biden said. 'And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.'... Biden tried to catalyze world opinion behind continuing to supply Ukraine with arms and other aid. 'If we abandon the core principles of the [U.N. Charter] to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?' he said. 'If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I'd respectfully suggest the answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.'... Beyond Ukraine, Biden focused on a wide range of global development issues, such as climate change and infrastructure, that are particularly important to less-wealthy nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, regions that are often referred to as the Global South."

Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Hardline conservatives in the House sank a procedural vote on a Pentagon funding bill Tuesday, a significant setback for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Five Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the rule for the appropriations bill, bringing the final vote to 212-214 -- short of the majority support needed."

Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "Five Americans freed from Iranian detention this week returned to US soil early Tuesday following an initial stop in Doha, Qatar, two US officials told CNN. Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, along with two Americans who have not been publicly named arrived at Fort Belvoir's Davison Army Airfield for an emotional reunion with their family members. The freed Americans, who were released Monday as part of a wider deal that includes the US unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds, will have the option to participate in a Department of Defense program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help them acclimate back to normal life now that they are back in the United States."

Melanie Zanona, et al., of CNN: "Tensions are flaring inside the House Republican conference as it barrels toward a government shutdown, with the infighting spilling out into public view and growing increasingly nasty.... At the center of much of the drama: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, attacking Speaker Kevin McCarthy in personal terms. But he's also engaged in social media spats with fellow hardline conservatives who helped broker a House GOP plan to fund the government first revealed on Sunday evening.... [Meanwhile,] moderate Republicans are privately discussing teaming up with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown if the House GOP plan to temporarily fund the government fails on the floor this week, according to multiple sources...."

Impeachment. Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Annie Grayer & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials casts doubt on key claims from an IRS whistleblower who alleges there was political interference in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden's taxes. According to transcripts provided to CNN, several FBI and IRS officials brought in for closed-door testimony by House Republicans in recent days said they don't remember US Attorney David Weiss saying that he lacked the authority to decide whether to bring charges against the president's son, or that Weiss said he had been denied a request for special counsel status. Those twin claims, made by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, form the basis of Republican accusations that the Justice Department's investigation into Biden's taxes was tainted by political influence and that Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to protect Hunter Biden in the investigation. The new testimony comes as House Republicans begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family, potentially undercutting one element of that effort." Shapely testified that Weiss made the comment in a meeting which five other agents attendants. Three of the five have testified now, and all three disputed Shapely's claim. Weiss, too, previously pushed back on Shapley's claim. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, House Republicans think it's a good idea to impeach Joe Biden based on a claim about the Hunter Biden case that four other officials have testified is false. But, undeterred ~~~

     ~~~ Spencer Kimball of CNBC: &"The House Oversight Committee will hold the first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Sept. 28, a committee spokesperson said Tuesday. 'The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the President's involvement in corruption and abuse of public office,' the spokesperson said in a statement."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "A former U.S. congressman from Indiana was sentenced Tuesday to 22 months in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information while working as a consultant and lobbyist after he left office. Former U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, 64, a House Republican from 1993 to 2011, was also ordered to forfeit $354,027, representing the amount of illegal gains, and to pay a $10,000 fine. Buyer, a lawyer and Persian Gulf War veteran, once chaired the House Veterans' Affairs committee and was a House prosecutor at ex-President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment trial." MB: I don't recall Buyer at all, but I'll bet he was in high dudgeon over Bill Clinton's misdeeds.

Brian Slodysko, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Monday told a packed Broadway theater full of big-name stars hosting a fundraiser in his honor that he was running for reelection because Donald Trump was determined to destroy the nation. Democracy is at stake, he told the audience at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. Hate groups have been emboldened, he said. Books are being banned. Children go to school fearing shootings. 'Let there be no question, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy,' he said...."

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Ray Epps, a Jan. 6 participant whose removal from the FBI's Capitol Violence webpage sparked conspiracy theories that he was a federal informant, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Tuesday. Epps is charged with one misdemeanor count, disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds. He was charged by information, suggesting that he plans to enter a plea deal. Not long after he was charged, a virtual plea agreement hearing was set for Wednesday, Sept. 20 before Chief Judge James Boasberg."

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Michael Shear & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "Five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran were allowed to leave the country on Monday, President Biden said, after two years of high-stakes negotiations in which the United States agreed to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue and dismiss federal charges against five Iranians accused of violating U.S. sanctions. The announcement that the Americans took off in a plane from Tehran just before 9 a.m. Eastern came as Mr. Biden and Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's president, were to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York on Tuesday. The five Americans -- some of whom had been held for years in Evin Prison, one of the most notorious detention centers in Iran -- flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a Cold War-style exchange with two of the five Iranians. Three others declined to return to Iran, according to U.S. officials. In a statement, Mr. Biden said that 'five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home.'" CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)"

Last night's proposal in the House can be boiled down to two words: slapdash, reckless. Slapdash because it is not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown, and reckless because if passed it would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people. -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ~~~

~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy's bid to gain the upper hand in a battle over federal spending hit stiff opposition from within his own ranks on Monday, leaving him with dwindling options and little time to find his way out of a funding impasse that could lead to a government shutdown in less than two weeks. Roughly a dozen Republicans made it clear that they were staunchly opposed to the proposal unveiled on Sunday, which combines a stopgap spending measure with steep funding cuts and new border controls, indicating they could not be induced to change their votes through leadership pressure.... With Mr. McCarthy's slim majority, opposition from a dozen Republicans would make it impossible for him to advance the bill, as Democrats are uniformly opposed and so far are in no hurry to bail out the speaker.... Given the [spending] cuts, the immigration provisions opposed by Democrats and the lack of assistance for Ukraine, the stopgap proposal has no chance of passing as is in the Senate....

"[MEANWHILE.] After weeks of bipartisan progress, the Senate ran into roadblock on Thursday when Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, objected to a plan to consider three different spending bills together. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, announced on Monday that the Senate would vote later this week to suspend its rules and overcome Mr. Johnson's objection so the spending package could move forward, a maneuver that would require 67 votes.... Some G.O.P. senators seemed open to the idea, but Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, indicated that they would likely discuss the issue at a private party meeting on Tuesday." MB: Ditch the filibuster, Chuck.

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: Trump "aide Molly Michael told investigators that -- more than once -- she received requests or taskings from [Donald] Trump that were written on the back of notecards, and she later recognized those notecards as sensitive White House materials -- with visible classification markings.... The notecards with classification markings were at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate when FBI agents searched the property on Aug. 8, 2022 -- but the materials were not taken by the FBI, according to sources familiar with what Michael told investigators. When Michael, who was not present for the search, returned to Mar-a-Lago the next day to clean up her office space, she found the documents underneath a drawer organizer and helped transfer them to the FBI that same day, sources told ABC News.... Sources said that after Trump heard the FBI wanted to interview Michael last year, Trump allegedly told her, 'You don't know anything about the boxes.' It's unclear exactly what he meant by that." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's unclear? It's unclear? It's perfectly clear to everone who's ever been told to lie about something: Following news that investigators are about to interview you about "the boxes," "You don't know anything about the boxes" is a order not to reveal to the FBI what you know about the boxes. If the ABC News reporters really "aren't clear" about the meaning of Trump's remark, they should go see a mob movie, any mob movie. ~~~

~~~ For the edification of reporters without a clue, here's another example of Trump's mob-speak: ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump said he hoped Mark Meadows ... was still 'loyal' to him. Mr. Trump made his comment during a lengthy interview with Kristen Welker, the new moderator of NBC's 'Meet The Press,' broadcast on Sunday morning. Mr. Trump has been warned by the federal judge in a case also stemming from his efforts to stay in office, brought against him by the special counsel Jack Smith, to avoid saying anything that might affect the testimony of witnesses. His comment about Mr. Meadows could attract new interest." MB: Got that, Mark? ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Andrew Weissmann reacting to Trump's ask for Meadow's "loyalty."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Aaron Rupar of Public Notice: "Kristen Welker's whitewashing of [Donald] Trump began in the opening seconds of her debut as Chuck Todd's replacement on 'Meet the Press.' 'I sat down with the former president at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey -- his first network interview since leaving office,' she said, walking alongside Trump on his golf course, and omitting the real reason for his banishment: not that he left office, but that he incited a violent insurrection in an attempt not to leave. And Trump's return to NBC only got more problematic from there.... Instead of coming ready for a fight, Welker conducted herself as though she's Trump's therapist.... When she wasn't trying to get Trump in touch with his feelings, Welker was overwhelmed by his nonstop lying." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I continually come away from media coverage of Trump with the impression that people in the news business -- especially those in teevee "journalism" -- just don't give a flying fuck. It's their job to get ratings, not to serve as the Fourth Estate and mete out checks on bad behavior or bad practices of public officials. They think that "polite" and "personable" are better qualities than "confrontational" or "probing." And the so-called behind-the-scenes editors and producers are just as bad, if not worse. When a politician tells a big fat lie and the interviewer doesn't adequately push back, there should be flashing chryons on the screen calling out the lie. The Welker interview was pre-recorded, so there's no excuse for airing it without on-screen fact-checks.

Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "A federal judge was skeptical Monday of former Trump-era Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark's efforts to move his Georgia election subversion case to federal court.... Clark wasn't present at the hearing, an absence that became especially notable after US District Judge Steve Jones said he would not accept a sworn statement from Clark as evidence in the case. The hearing ended after about three hours with no ruling from the judge, who seemed visibly frustrated and annoyed at times. At one point, his probing questions directed at one of Clark's attorneys led Trump attorney Steve Sadow, who was in the courtroom, to whisper, 'This is not good.'.... Even if his official job description didn't include most election litigation, those matters were in his lane because 'the president put it in his lane,' [his attorney] said.... [In December 2020,] Trump considered installing Clark as acting attorney general so he could send a letter to the state officials falsely claiming the Justice Department found widespread 'irregularities in the 2020 election.... Former Justice Department official Jody Hunt testified at the hearing and bolstered [Fani] Willis' case by saying that the person in Clark's role wouldn't have been involved in investigating election fraud. Hunt was head of the DOJ's Civil Division under Trump before Clark took over the role in an acting capacity in 2020." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Amy Gardner & Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "As a Justice Department lawyer after the 2020 election, Jeffrey Clark drafted a letter to top Georgia officials declaring that the agency had reason to doubt the legitimacy of the state's election only after he was pressed to do so by ... Donald Trump, Clark's lawyer [Harry MacDougald] told a skeptical federal judge Monday.... U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones appeared wary of the claim, pressing MacDougald for evidence that Trump had directed Clark to act. MacDougald did not offer any and even appeared uncertain when Jones asked him whether Clark's draft letter was written after a meeting between him, Trump and several other senior Justice Department officials." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: It may be that Trump's attorney Steve Sadow said "This is not good" because Clark's lawyer fingered Trump as the person who told Clark to lie to state officials.

The Woes of Rudy, Ctd. Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani, already under criminal indictment and at risk of losing his law license for his effort to keep Donald J. Trump in office after the 2020 election, is now being sued by his own lawyer. The lawyer, Robert J. Costello, who had been leading Mr. Giuliani's defense against an onslaught of legal woes, signed onto the lawsuit brought by his firm on Monday to recover more than $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees. The development deals a stunning blow to Mr. Giuliani, as he nears a financial breaking point." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the AP report: "Giuliani's last payment, according to the lawsuit, was $10,000 on Sept. 14 — about a week after Trump hosted a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for Giuliani at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club." The AP's story covers some of Rudy's other financial difficulties.

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "President Biden is coming under increasing pressure from some Democratic lawmakers to do something none of his predecessors appear to have done in office: join striking workers walking a picket line. As the United Auto Workers strike against all three of the nation's biggest automakers, numerous Democrats in Michigan and around the country have expressed concern as Biden's likely rival in next year's election..., Donald Trump, tries to woo union voters and weaken a crucial Democratic constituency by making his own visit to a strike site. Trump is planning a rally in Detroit next week with union workers, including autoworkers, during the next GOP primary debate, although it is unclear if he will also visit the picket line.... Biden has applauded the UAW's targeted strike against Detroit's Big Three manufacturers, and on Friday called on General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis to improve their wage proposals to the union. The president's aides believe he has already gone above and beyond backing labor through numerous executive orders and legislation aimed at bolstering worker outcomes."

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things.... Their number is negligible and they are stupid. -- President Dwight Eisenhower (R), letter to his brother Edgar, 1954 ~~~

~~~ ** The Hydra Monster That Ate Its Cynical Creators. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "It's good to see [Mitt] Romney speaking up now, but the party he's criticizing is in large part a monster that people like him helped create. For the basic story of the Republican Party, going back to the 1970s, is this: Advocates of right-wing economic policies, which redistributed income from workers to the wealthy, sought to sell their agenda by exploiting social intolerance and animosity. They had considerable success with this strategy. But eventually the extremists they thought they were using ended up ruling the party." Read on.

Working from Home Is Great for the Environment. Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post: "In an analysis of various work scenarios, people's behaviors and sources of emissions, researchers found that switching from working onsite to working from home full time may reduce a person's carbon footprint by more than 50 percent. Hybrid schedules where people work remotely for two to four days a week could also cut emissions by 11 to 29 percent, according to the study."

Elon to Bibi: Hate Speech Is Free Speech. Will Oremus & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday publicly pressed tech billionaire Elon Musk to condemn antisemitism and find a way to combat it on his social media platform X as the pair met at a Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif.... While the meeting [-- which was live-streamed on X-Twitter --] was largely cordial, Musk sidestepped Netanyahu's call to forcefully denounce anti-Jewish hatred, which research shows has spiked on the platform since Musk bought it nearly a year ago. Musk has restored accounts previously banned for hate speech and has repeatedly criticized a prominent Jewish human rights organization, stoking a recent wave of antisemitic attacks. Musk told Netanyahu that, while he's personally against antisemitism, 'free speech does at times mean that someone you don't like is saying something you don't like. If you don't have that, then it's not free speech.' He did not address his own role in promoting it." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Musk's position is nothing more than a flawed excuse to promote his own antisemitic views. While the First Amendment protects some hate speech from government censorship, it does not prevent a private company from promoting or condoning hate speech. I doubt Walmart employees are allowed to wear Nazi armbands, for instance, or the New York Times moderators accept white supremacist public comments. Despite Musk's troubling ability to conduct his own pro-Russia international policy, his social media platform is not bound to publish hateful rhetoric. ~~~

     ~~~ Why, here's YouTube barring accused sexual predator Russell Brand from making money from his YouTube channel(s). Brand denies the accusations and has not been charged, much less convicted, of anything.

A reminder that people seldom suddenly become jerks: ~~~

~~~ Paul Farhi & Will Sommer of the Washington Post: "... the reaction to [Jann] Wenner's comments [denigrating female & Black artists] crystallized criticisms that have periodically swirled around him and the magazine for decades. Rolling Stone long promoted rock's male superstars -- and personal Wenner favorites -- such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger over newer artists and genres such as grunge, metal, R&B and hip-hop.... During its 1970s heyday, the magazine developed a 'boys' club' reputation, with just one female writer on its masthead -- Robin Green, who stayed only three years.... Rock critic Ellen Willis refused to write for Rolling Stone, telling Wenner's co-founding editor that the magazine 'habitually refers to women as chicks and treats us as chicks.'... 'The thing about Jann, the thing that made him successful but also is his Achilles' heel, is that he's a narcissist who lacks self-awareness,' said [Wenner biographer Joe] Hagan.... 'This is how he talks inside the bubble he lives in. He receives a lot of affirmation for it, and he thinks it's okay.'"

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** Alabama. Bill Britt of the Alabama Political Reporter: "APR has now identified connections between Alabama officials who led the 2023 redistricting process - which disregarded the U.S. Supreme Court's order -- with far-right power broker Leonard Leo's dark money network, described this past week by Politico as 'a billion-dollar force that has helped remake the judiciary and overturn longstanding legal precedents on abortion, affirmative action and many other issues.'... Alabama's calculation to defy the Supreme Court was made not simply by state legislators in Alabama but has been driven by nationally connected political operatives at the center of the well-documented right-wing effort to reshape the composition and jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and to overturn the remaining key protections established by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.... With few exceptions, the justices Leo has ushered to the bench have reliably voted to permit the partisan gerrymanders and strict restrictions on voting access that have proliferated in recent years from red-state legislatures, which themselves work in tandem with -- and sometimes under the direction of -- Leo's dark money groups.... There now appears to be a significant connection between Alabama's ... map redrawing process, Leo's powerful national dark money network, and [Justice Brett] Kavanaugh[, who voted with the majority in the original case to force the legislature to draw another majority-minority district]." Thanks to RAS for the link.

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Canada, India. Ian Austen & Vjosa Isai of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Monday that 'agents of the government of India' had carried out the assassination of a Sikh community leader in British Columbia in June, an explosive allegation that is likely to further sour relations between the two nations. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Trudeau said that he had raised India's involvement in the shooting of the Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Group of 20 summit meeting earlier this month 'in no uncertain terms.' He said the allegation was based on intelligence gathered by the Canadian government. 'Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,' Mr. Trudeau told lawmakers." ~~~

     ~~~ Gerry Shih & Karishma Mehrotra of the Washington Post: “India expelled a Canadian diplomat on Tuesday in a tit-for-tat move after Canadian officials accused Indian government operatives of gunning down a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and threw out an Indian diplomat they identified as an intelligence officer." An AP story is here.

Ukraine. Matthew Bigg & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after replacing its defense minister, Ukraine dismissed all six of its deputy ministers on Monday, deepening the housecleaning at a ministry that had drawn criticism for corruption in procurement as the military budget ballooned during the war. The shake-up in President Volodymyr Zelensky's wartime leadership team came as he headed to the United States, keen to demonstrate to American officials and other Western leaders that his government is not squandering -- on either graft or mismanagement -- the tens of billions of dollars in aid they have sent to Ukraine."

The Conversation -- September 18, 2023

Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "A federal judge was skeptical Monday of former Trump-era Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark's efforts to move his Georgia election subversion case to federal court.... Clark wasn't present at the hearing, an absence that became especially notable after US District Judge Steve Jones said he would not accept a sworn statement from Clark as evidence in the case. The hearing ended after about three hours with no ruling from the judge, who seemed visibly frustrated and annoyed at times. At one point, his probing questions directed at one of Clark's attorneys led Trump attorney Steve Sadow, who was in the courtroom, to whisper, 'This is not good.'.... Even if his official job description didn't include most election litigation, those matters were in his lane because 'the president put it in his lane,' [his attorney] said.... [In December 2020,] Trump considered installing Clark as acting attorney general so he could send a letter to the state officials falsely claiming the Justice Department found widespread 'irregularities in the 2020 election.... Former Justice Department official Jody Hunt testified at the hearing and bolstered [Fani] Willis' case by saying that the person in Clark's role wouldn't have been involved in investigating election fraud. Hunt was head of the DOJ's Civil Division under Trump before Clark took over the role in an acting capacity in 2020." ~~~

     ~~~ Amy Gardner & Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "As a Justice Department lawyer after the 2020 election, Jeffrey Clark drafted a letter to top Georgia officials declaring that the agency had reason to doubt the legitimacy of the state's election only after he was pressed to do so by ... Donald Trump, Clark's lawyer [Harry MacDougald] told a skeptical federal judge Monday.... U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones appeared wary of the claim, pressing MacDougald for evidence that Trump had directed Clark to act. MacDougald did not offer any and even appeared uncertain when Jones asked him whether Clark's draft letter was written after a meeting between him, Trump and several other senior Justice Department officials."

     ~~~ Marie: It may be that Trump's attorney Steve Sadow said "This is not good" because Clark's lawyer fingered Trump as the person who told Clark to lie to state officials.

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: Trump "aide Molly Michael told investigators that -- more than once -- she received requests or taskings from [Donald] Trump that were written on the back of notecards, and she later recognized those notecards as sensitive White House materials -- with visible classification markings.... The notecards with classification markings were at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate when FBI agents searched the property on Aug. 8, 2022 -- but the materials were not taken by the FBI, according to sources familiar with what Michael told investigators. When Michael, who was not present for the search, returned to Mar-a-Lago the next day to clean up her office space, she found the documents underneath a drawer organizer and helped transfer them to the FBI that same day, sources told ABC News.... Sources said that after Trump heard the FBI wanted to interview Michael last year, Trump allegedly told her, 'You don't know anything about the boxes.' It's unclear exactly what he meant by that." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's unclear? It's unclear? It's perfectly clear to everone who's ever been told to lie about something: Following news that investigators are about to interview you about "the boxes," "You don't know anything about the boxes" is a order not to reveal to the FBI what you know about the boxes. If the ABC News reporters really "aren't clear" about the meaning of Trump's remark, they should go see a mob movie, any mob movie.

Mostafa Salem, et al., of CNN: "Five Americans who have been imprisoned in Iran are expected to be released Monday, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, as part of a wider deal with the United States that includes the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds. The US government has designated all five Americans as being wrongfully detained. Speaking at a press conference which was shown on state-affiliated Press TV on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the release 'will hopefully be completed' alongside the other elements of the deal. The detainees are being transported to a Qatari jet, which is on standby in Iran to bring the five Americans to Doha, a source briefed on details of the matter told CNN on Monday afternoon local time." The story has been updated. ~~~

     ~~~Update: Michael Shear & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "Five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran were allowed to leave the country on Monday, President Biden said, after two years of high-stakes negotiations in which the United States agreed to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue and dismiss federal charges against five Iranians accused of violating U.S. sanctions. The announcement that the Americans took off in a plane from Tehran just before 9 a.m. Eastern came as Mr. Biden and Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's president, were to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York on Tuesday. The five Americans -- some of whom had been held for years in Evin Prison, one of the most notorious detention centers in Iran -- flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a Cold War-style exchange with two of the five Iranians. Three others declined to return to Iran, according to U.S. officials. In a statement, Mr. Biden said that 'five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home.'"

Aaron Rupar of Public Notice: “Kristen Welker's whitewashing of [Donald] Trump began in the opening seconds of her debut as Chuck Todd's replacement on 'Meet the Press.' 'I sat down with the former president at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey -- his first network interview since leaving office,' she said, walking alongside Trump on his golf course, and omitting the real reason for his banishment: not that he left office, but that he incited a violent insurrection in an attempt not to leave. And Trump's return to NBC only got more problematic from there.... Instead of coming ready for a fight, Welker conducted herself as though she's Trump's therapist.... When she wasn't trying to get Trump in touch with his feelings, Welker was overwhelmed by his nonstop lying." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I continually come away from media coverage of Trump with the impression that people in the news business -- especially those in teevee "journalism" -- just don't give a flying fuck. It's their job to get ratings, not to serve as the Fourth Estate and mete out checks on bad behavior or bad practices of public officials. They think that "polite" and "personable" are better qualities than "confrontational" or "probing." And the so-called behind-the-scenes editors and producers are just as bad, if not worse. When a politician tells a big fat lie and the interviewer doesn't adequately push back, there should be flashing chryons on the screen calling out the lie. The Welker interview was pre-recorded, so there's no excuse for airing it without on-screen fact-checks.

~~~~~~~~~~

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "House Republicans considered a new stopgap funding proposal on Sunday aimed at averting a government shutdown at the end of the month, but it was unlikely that the plan, which would slash spending for most federal agencies and resurrect tough Trump-era border initiatives, could break the deep impasse on Capitol Hill. The legislation presented to rank and file lawmakers in a conference call on Sunday night was the latest effort by House Republican leaders to find a way out of a daunting funding logjam that left their plans to consider annual spending bills in chaos last week and has put Congress on a path to a government closure on Oct. 1." MB: The message here is, "We need more time to jerk off; in the meantime, if you ask nicely, we might be willing to jerk around the country." These are not serious people.

Julie Tsirkin of NBC News: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has quietly changed the Senate's informal dress code to allow senators to wear whatever they want on the floor, a person with direct knowledge said. A notice went out to the Senate sergeant-at-arms and relevant staff members late Friday, and the change will go into effect starting Monday, the source said.... [Senate staff] are still required to wear business clothes under the old dress code. People other than senators who walk on to the Senate floor will also need to wear business attire, which for men means a jacket and a tie."

Trump confesses on-air again, and here he gets to the crux of his crime:

     ~~~ Jason Lange of Reuters: "... Donald Trump said he dismissed the views of his own lawyers in continuing to challenge his 2020 defeat because he did not respect them, saying in an interview aired on Sunday that he had made up his own mind that the election had been 'rigged' - a false claim that he continues to make.... 'It was my decision,' Trump told NBC's 'Meet the Press' program, that the election was 'rigged' against him, adding that he relied heavily upon his own 'instincts' in coming to that conclusion.... His comments on Sunday could undermine one of his possible legal defenses - that he relied on the advice of his lawyers in continuing to challenge his defeat." ~~~

~~~ But Trump did balk at confessing to his actions and inaction on January 6, 2021:

     ~~~ Michelle Price of the AP: Donald Trump "refused to say on NBC's 'Meet the Press' how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy. 'I'm not going to tell you. I'll tell people later at an appropriate time,' Trump told moderator Kristen Welker after she asked if he spent that afternoon watching the attack on television in a dining room at the White House.... In the interview, taped Thursday at Trump's golf club in New Jersey, Trump refused to say who he called as the violence unfolded. 'Why would I tell you that?' he said. Trump said in response to Welker's pressing him about his public silence during the violence that he had made 'beautiful statements' on the day of the attack.... Trump also said he was pleased to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent remarks praising Trump.... 'Well, I like that he said that. Because that means what I'm saying is right,' Trump said on NBC." MB: IOW, the top enemy of the U.S. -- and of democracy and self-determination -- is the arbiter of rectitude. ~~~

     ~~~ You can read the full exchange in this transcript of the interview.

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "On Sunday [NBC News] used [an] interview with [Donald Trump] to introduce new 'Meet the Press,' host Kristen Welker> who took over for the much-maligned Chuck Todd. To some political observers, the new interview -- where Trump talked over his questioner and received little pushback -- was yet another debacle that led American Enterprise Institute scholar and Atlantic contributor Norman Ornstein to declare it was a huge error in judgement.... After viewing clips from the 'Meet the Press' interview, media critic Dan Froomkin complained, 'In these clips, Trump utters about 30 different lies, and there's zero pushback from Kristen Welker, who instead calls him "fired up" and "defiant" -- and "the president." This is, actually, worse than the CNN town hall in terms of normalizing a maniac.'... Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger added, 'Allowing Trump to lie on @MeetThePress and leaving "fact checking" to the website is not how we should be treating a man who launched an insurrection. It's 2023, we should have learned this lesson over 7 years. Ratings aren't worth our democracy.'" And so forth. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Welker's deference to Trump, who repeatedly talked over her, was sickening. After the interview, Welker ran a roundtable of milquetoasts who, IMO, went pretty easy on Trump, too.

Another Co-Conspirator Who Should Have STFU. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: Mark Meadows' voluntary testimony in federal court last month "may have given ammunition to Georgia prosecutors as they prepare to try him, [Donald] Trump and the 17 other defendants. Legal experts say that Mr. Meadows may have damaged his credibility while weakening his claim to immunity from state prosecution as a federal official, given his struggles to articulate how the actions ascribed to him in the indictment were part of his official duties rather than in service of the Trump campaign.... [In response to his testimony,] the prosecutor ... introduced into the record a December 2020 email that Mr. Meadows wrote to a Trump campaign staff member. In it, Mr. Meadows wrote, 'We just need to have someone coordinating the electors for the states.'... Every word of Mr. Meadows's testimony may now be used against him at trial.... In early September, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones declined to move his case to federal court. Mr. Meadows has appealed."

Sam Rosenfeld & Daniel Scholzman in a New York Times op-ed: Recent action by Republican federal and state officeholders "depict a party that is preoccupied with antics that crash into the guardrails of American political life and conspicuously lacks a coherent, forward-looking vision for governing. A modern political party has devolved into a racket. The country needs a right-of-center party. But today, as the G.O.P. has lost a collective commitment to solving the nation's problems and become purposeless, the line separating party politics from political conspiracy has frayed. [Donald] Trump, in this way, is the product more than the author of that collective party failure.... The sheer array and specific identities of those indicted in the [Georgia election] case highlights how easily a conspiracist approach to political life, unconstrained by a party now incapable of policing boundaries or channeling passions into a larger purpose beyond raw hardball, can justify and compel illicit machinations.... Conspiracism has a long provenance on the American right.... So does a ruthlessly mercenary view of political parties."

Marie: If you think the purpose of governance is problem-solving, it's quite clear that the U.S. political system is dysfunctional. This is true for hard-to-solve issues like immigration policy and adherence to standards of equality and civil rights, but it's also true of aspects of governance that are entirely soluble. When I took 9th-grade civics, we learned that gerrymandering was a corrupt, anti-democratic practice. And gerrymandering wasn't a new abuse even then; it's as old as the Constitution. Congress could easily fix the problem on a federal level (if not on the state level) by outlawing gerrymandering of Congressional districts and establishing nonpartisan boards to establish districts after every Census. Sixty-five years later, gerrymander is worse than ever.

Hunter Strikes Back. Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "President Biden's son Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit Monday against the Internal Revenue Service, charging that when agents who were investigating him told Congress and news reporters about their concerns that the case was not being managed properly, they violated his privacy rights as a taxpayer.... Biden charges in the lawsuit that when two IRS agents went to Congress and news organizations complaining of alleged mishandling of the investigation by Justice Department officials, they disclosed information about the investigation, and about Biden's taxes, that the law aims to keep secret.... The disclosures included 'detailed allegations regarding the specific tax years under investigation, the amounts of deductions, the nature of those deductions, and allegations of liability regarding specific tax years and the amount thereof, that could only be known to them based on a review of the physical tax returns themselves,' the lawsuit contends." CNN's story is here.

Presidential Race 2024. Dean Obeidallah in a CNN opinion piece: Trump's gaffes and lapses "should raise questions about his fitness for office. For instance, "... at a September 8 rally in South Dakota..., [Trump] abruptly stopped mid-speech for 40 seconds as he awkwardly looked at the audience, his eyes darting around. Or his recent claim that President Biden was leading us into World War II. Then of course there's his grand delusion that he won the 2020 presidential election. ~~~

Seth Borenstein of the AP: "Yelling that the future and their lives depend on ending fossil fuels, tens of thousands of protesters [gathered in New York City] on Sunday [to] kick off a week where leaders will try once again to curb climate change primarily caused by coal, oil and natural gas. But protesters say it's not going to be enough. And they aimed their wrath directly at U.S. President Joe Biden urging him to stop approving new oil and gas projects, phase out current ones and declare a climate emergency with larger executive powers.... The March to End Fossil Fuels featured such politicians as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actors Susan Sarandon, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon. But the real action on Broadway was where protesters crowded the street, pleading for a better but not-so-hot future. It was the opening salvo to New York's Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts gather to try to save the planet, highlighted by a new special United Nations summit Wednesday."

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Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "The American Library Association is facing a partisan firefight unlike anything in its almost 150-year history. The once-uncontroversial organization, which says it is the world's largest and oldest library association and which provides funding, training and tools to most of the country's 123,000 libraries, has become entangled in the education culture wars -- the raging debates over what and how to teach about race, sex and gender -- culminating in Tuesday's Senatorial name-check.... Politicians and parents on the right increasingly paint the association, known as the ALA, as a defender of pornographic literature for children -- tying their allegations into a broader conservative movement that asserts school libraries are filled with sexually explicit, inappropriate texts.... Over the summer, state libraries in Montana, Missouri and Texas announced that they were severing ties with the ALA, imperiling their libraries' access to funding and training."

California, a Nation Unto Itself. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said on Sunday that he would sign a landmark climate bill that passed the state's legislature last week requiring major companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, a move with national and global repercussions. The new law will require about 5,000 companies to report the amount of greenhouse gas pollution that is directly emitted by their operations and also the amount of indirect emissions from things like employee travel, waste disposal and supply chains."