The Conversation -- September 8, 2023

Marie: Excellent commentary in today's thread, particularly in regard to the Supreme's ruling on the poor, mistreated praying football coach (well, one-time football coach). Also see Patrick's commentary on Donald the Sun King; it turns out Trump & Louis have more in common than their affinity for the rococo.

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, [Donald] Trump's former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court.... The ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for [other Georgia defendants who are expected to attempt to have their cases moved to federal court]" Meadows is likely to appeal the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So despite what we all may have assumed, even in a Trump administration, criminal activity is not a part of the written job description for chief-of-staff.

Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' after having taken an oath to support the Constitution."

Justice Alito's decision to dress up some misguided views of his ethical obligations as a formal Court opinion doesn't make the missive any more correct or any less imperious. -- Gabe Roth of Fix the Courts ~~~

~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sharply rejected calls from Democratic senators that he not participate in an upcoming tax case where one of the lawyers involved also participated in recent Wall Street Journal interviews of the conservative jurist. Alito, in a court filing Friday, said the argument for him to recuse was 'unsound' and that there was 'no valid reason' for him not to participate in the case. 'When Mr. Rivkin participated in the interviews and co-authored the articles, he did so as a journalist, not an advocate,' Alito wrote, referring to David B. Rivkin, the opinion journalist in question who is representing one of the parties in the tax case.... Alito on Friday contended that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Chairman who led the calls for Alito to sit out in the case, was apparently pushing a theory for recusal that 'fundamentally misunderstands the circumstances under which Supreme Court Justices must work.'" MB: I don't know why all you little people can't see that Sam is the reincarnation of Caesar's wife.

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of ... Donald J. Trump's main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood. ~~~

~~~ CNN: "A Georgia judge has released the full final report from the special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. The panel recommended charges against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not charge them in the indictment last month against Trump and 18 other co-defendants." The linked page is a CNN liveblog that covers this & other matters related to the Georgia RICO case. ~~~

"The Georgia special grand jury had recommended charges against 39 people as part of their 2020 election interference probe. Ultimately, 21 people on the list were not charged. One other person -- Michael Roman, whose name did not appear in the report -- was also charged by the Fulton County district attorney." This entry lists all the people the special grand jury recommended for indictment. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read the full special grand jury report here, via Politico. (CNN also has republished the report on its liveblog, but you'll have to scroll down to find it.

Paul Kane & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus."

Texas. So Much for Minimally Humane Treatment. Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A federal appeals court Thursday put on hold a judge's order from earlier this week requiring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed Abbott, a Republican, to leave in place for now the 1,000-foot barrier the state installed to deter illegal migrant crossings. The order was issued by a three-judge panel of two Democratic appointees and a Republican appointee."

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Katie Rogers & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden is set to arrive in New Delhi on Friday for a global summit meeting where he will present the United States as an economic and strategic counterweight to China and Russia, taking advantage of the absence of leaders from those two countries, who are skipping the gathering. Mr. Biden is bringing with him the promise of up to $200 billion in new development funds for climate change, food security, public health and other infrastructure needs in less developed countries through revamped international financing institutions like the World Bank, leveraged by a relatively small investment by the United States."

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Biden's decision on Wednesday to block drilling on millions of acres of Alaskan tundra was the latest in a series of aggressive actions recently taken by the administration to curtail fossil fuel extraction on public land and in federal waters. Over the past several months, the administration has moved to bar drilling on 1.8 million acres of sagebrush steppe in Wyoming and on more than a million acres of public land in Colorado. It insulated more than 336,400 acres of public land around Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing and mining claims for the next two decades. And last month, it said it would remove about six million acres of potentially oil-rich areas from an upcoming federal lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico that is required by law.... Several people close to the administration said Mr. Biden was personally stung by the outraged response in March from climate voters, particularly young environmentalists, after he approved the enormous Willow oil project in Alaska and that he is eager to win them back.... It's a strategy that comes with political risks as oil prices rise and Republicans and at least one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, seek to paint Mr. Biden as a radical environmentalist."

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Jill Biden, the first lady, tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday, the White House said, putting an apparent end to a minor health scare that had threatened to upend President Biden's trip to a Group of 20 summit in India. The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden departed the White House for his trip to New Delhi, where he plans to lobby world leaders on matters that include condemning Russia's war with Ukraine and curbing China's financial influence over poorer countries. The president also tested negative for the virus on Thursday, as he had throughout the week."

Lauren Feiner of CNBC: "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Democrat Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, breaking the deadlock at the agency that has lasted the entirety of the Biden presidency. The vote in favor was 55-43. Gomez's confirmation comes after a protracted battle to confirm [President] Biden's initial pick for the commissioner seat, Gigi Sohn. As senators remained split on her confirmation, the FCC was left in a 2-2 deadlock of Republican and Democratic commissioners, limiting its agenda to items that both sides could agree on. With the arrival of Gomez, a telecom attorney who's previously worked in several positions at the FCC and in the private sector, the agency has the opportunity to pursue actions without the support of the Republican commissioners. That could include a push to return to net neutrality rules...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Cockeyed Optimist David Brooks of the New York Times: "Two megatrends have shaped American life since the 1980s: The rise of China and the hollowing out of American industry.... But it's beginning to look as if those two megatrends are reversing.... As the Chinese economy deflates, American industry is looking less hollow.... There's a lot of resilience and dynamism in America's brand of broadly free market capitalism.... Bidenomics is working -- big time. President Biden promised to help America outcompete authoritarian China and to heal some of the economic divides at home. Both those goals are being achieved.... Right-wing populists are hopelessly outdated." ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "If President Biden loses his bid for re-election, a key factor will be the widespread perception that the economy is doing badly on his watch.... The strange thing is that these bad ratings are persisting even as the economy, by any normal measure, has been doing extremely well.... While most Americans feel that they're doing OK, they believe that the economy is doing badly, where 'the economy' presumably means other people.... What explains negativity about a good economy? Partisanship is surely a factor: Republicans' assessment of the current economy roughly matches what it was in June 1980, when unemployment was twice as high and inflation four times as high as they are now."

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu Thursday criticized special counsel David Weiss' planned gun charge against Hunter Biden in an article for The Daily Beast, accusing him and the DOJ of 'casting about' for any excuse to make an indictment stick to the president's son amid political pressure. 'Special Counsel Weiss' plan to indict Hunter Biden now over the gun charges is both ill-timed and ill-advised. It's ill-timed because it comes in the wake of a federal court of appeals striking down as unconstitutional the very gun federal law that Biden may be charged with violating -- a decision that was pending at the time of the failed plea deal in July, but which has since been decided,' wrote Wu.... 'Now, however, Biden's defense team is likely to challenge the constitutionality of the charges.' Additionally, Wu argued, the new gun indictment 'is also ill-advised because the defense has a colorable argument that DOJ cannot renege on the diversion agreement.'"

Trump Crime Family Blotter

Marie: I'm leaving the links to the stories about Peter Navarro just as I came upon the reports yesterday afternoon because the bottom line brought me so much pleasure. So I apologize for the prequel. Sort of: ~~~

     ~~~ Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Washington began deliberating on Thursday in the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, a top aide to ... Donald J. Trump, who is charged with contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena last year from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. In delivering closing arguments, prosecutors and defense lawyers largely agreed on the facts in the case: that Mr. Navarro balked when ordered to cooperate with the panel. But in contention was whether that act amounted to a willful defiance of Congress, or a simple misunderstanding between Mr. Navarro and the committee's staff.... 'The defendant chose allegiance to President Trump over compliance with the subpoena,' [prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi] said. 'That is contempt. That is a crime.' Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer for Mr. Navarro, countered that the government had simply failed to show that Mr. Navarro's decision not to comply was anything other than 'inadvertence, accident or mistake.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What? He "accidentally" failed to comply with a lawful subpoena? Well, oopsies. ~~~

     ~~~ Later That Same Afternoon. Oh look, the story has been updated: "Peter Navarro ... was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in Federal District Court in Washington, made Mr. Navarro the second top adviser of Mr. Trump's to be found guilty of contempt for defying the committee's inquiry. Stephen K. Bannon, a former strategist for Mr. Trump who was convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and is appealing his conviction, as Mr. Navarro has also vowed to do." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Navarro's loser lawyer here is the ubiquitous Trump-approved attorney Stanley Woodward. If I were, for instance, Walt Nauta, whose lawyer also is Stanley Woodward, I'd be a'wondering if I should follow in the footsteps of fellow Mar-a-Lardo employee Yuscil Taveras who flipped when he switched lawyers -- from Woodward to a public defender -- and cut a cooperation deal with Jack Smith that spares Taveras prosecution. As far as we know, Taveras did not have direct contact with Trump about the scheme to obstruction justice in the classified documents case. But Nauta did get instructions directly from Trump, so he has something significant to sell to Smith.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in ... Donald Trump's orbit discussed the possibility that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- rather than Mike Pence -- would preside over the Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress. During several hours of sworn testimony in a California disbarment proceeding, Eastman said discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege. When pressed about which client of his he was referring to, Eastman replied: 'President Trump.'... Despite his criminal risk, Eastman fielded dozens of questions for hours on Wednesday, declining to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and only occasionally asserting attorney-client privilege.... The exchange [about Grassley] underscores that there are still significant unknown details about the behind-the-scenes planning by Trump and his allies ahead of Jan. 6. Grassley started a furor on Jan. 5, 2021, when he told reporters of Pence 'we don't expect him to be there, I will be presiding over the Senate.' His comments prompted an urgent rush by Pence's staff to correct the record, eventually resulting in a statement from Grassley's office indicating the senator had been 'misinterpreted' and was merely saying he might fill in for Pence during some portions of the proceedings that day." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~  Marie: Worth reading if, like me, you forgot or never knew of how deeply Grassley may have been in on the insurrection plot. I was aware there was "talk" about Grassley's replacing pence as President of the Senate but not about Grassley's accidentally sharing his plans to preside over the Electoral College count.

With Due Respect, You Ignorant Nitwit, Up Yours. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Soon after the [Fulton County, Georgia,] district attorney, Fani T. Willis, a Democrat, announced last month that she was bringing a racketeering case against [Donald] Trump and 18 other defendants for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, [Rep. Jim] Jordan, a Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that he was going to investigate Ms. Willis over whether her prosecution of Mr. Trump was politically motivated. In [a] letter [to Mr. Jordan], Ms. Willis accused Mr. Jordan of trying 'to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations,' and of not understanding how the state's racketeering law works. 'Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,' she added. 'The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.'" A CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Willis's letter to Jordan appears in the CNBC story; it's easier to read here, via CNBC. And it's a doozy, nearly every sentence dripping with contempt for Jungle Gym. Marie: I heard a sober former prosecutor fault Willis for her tone. I don't fault her at all. She, her family and her staff have been harassed & threatened by the Trump Crime Family, and she has a right to be furious with the whole criminal enterprise, from Trump to Jordan to the crybaby Proud Boys. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I wonder if Willis's withering letter taught Gym Jordan a lesson. Hahahahahaha. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday asked special counsel Jack Smith to turn over information relating to attorney Stanley Woodward, who has represented numerous Mar-a-Lago employees in dealings with prosecutors. Woodward is in the midst of a battle with the Justice Department as it seeks a so-called Garcia hearing to review potential conflicts as Woodward represents Walt Nauta, former President Trump's co-defendant in the classified records case.... Woodward railed against prosecutors in a late Tuesday filing, complaining the cooperation agreement was only offered to Taveras once he spoke with outside counsel."

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "In a December 2020 radio interview..., Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan charged by the state attorney general for the alleged scheme [to overturn the Electoral College results], detailed the Trump campaign-directed plan and said the crucial decision on which electors to use would ultimately rest with a constitutional attorney and Vice President Mike Pence and Congress. The newly uncovered interview reveals Maddock's detailed knowledge of the Trump campaign's involvement in the plot and undermines her more recent comments claiming only a 'vague' recollection of [the plot].... Her newly uncovered comments about Pence show her understanding that the slate of fake electors could eventually usurp the legitimate elector votes on January 6, 2021. Despite Trump losing the state by more than 150,000 votes, Maddock and 15 others signed phony certificates claiming to be the legitimate electors from the state just days before the interview and attempted to enter their state capitol to deliver the votes." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

Mike Memoli of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is highlighting the most high-stakes journey of his presidency -- a surprise visit to Ukraine in February -- to make the case for what it calls the 'quiet strength of a true leader' while drawing a major foreign policy contrast with the GOP. The new, 60-second advertisement will air in battleground states this weekend during the prime-time broadcast of '60 Minutes' while Biden is due to attend the G-20 Summit here, a gathering of leaders of the world's largest economies that won't include two geopolitical rivals, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Joe v. the Biggest Liar. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "'Manchurian candidate.' 'Stone-cold thief.' 'Dumb son of a b----.'... Donald Trump is, by his own admission, attacking President Biden in increasingly vicious terms. The attacks on Biden center on allegations that are exaggerated or unfounded, frequently drawing on right-wing media reports about the foreign business dealings of Biden's son Hunter Biden. The president has denied any involvement in his son's affairs, and no evidence has emerged proving otherwise."

Trumpettes Say Leading a Violent Attempt to Overturn a U.S. Presidential Election Is Not So Bad. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "At least two Republican presidential candidates [-- Ron Desantis & Vivek Ramaswamy --] are criticizing as excessive recent prison sentences for members of the far-right Proud Boys involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, casting the defendants as victims of an unfair justice system rather than leading participants in an effort to disrupt the peaceful transition of power."

Nnamdi Egwuonwu of NBC News: "Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican presidential candidate, suggested at a Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire that recent headlines about his relationship status were the result of his opponents' planting stories." MB: Tim, nearly every elected official in your party -- including you -- is a corrupt liar, so of course your opponents are "planting" stories. It's how you-all roll.

Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: "At Columbia University..., former secretary of state [Hillary Clinton] is teaching a class and starting an institute on global decision-making."

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Pennsylvania. Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "With [convicted murderer Danelo] Cavalcante eluding authorities for more than a week now, scrutiny has turned to the jailbreaks at Chester County Prison. The key failing in last week's escape was that an officer in the tower, charged with watching over the inmates in the exercise yard, did not appear to notice Mr. Cavalcante.... The officer who was in the watchtower at the time of the escape had been placed on administrative leave, [acting warden Howard] Holland said.... In a country full of jails and prisons, staffing issues are the central challenge facing corrections facilities, experts say, and prison officials have cited them as a primary factor in some escapes.... In Pennsylvania, the number of escapes from county jails seems to have ticked up this year."

Kate McGee & Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "Ryan Bangert did not want to report his boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, to the FBI. A bona fide ultraconservative and former Paxton donor, the onetime deputy first assistant attorney general believed in Paxton and the office, calling it a national 'beacon' of the conservative legal movement. But, as Bangert detailed in crisp, riveting testimony during Thursday's impeachment trial proceedings, he reluctantly concluded that Paxton's repeated and escalating use of the office to help his friend and political donor Nate Paul left him and other senior staff with no option but to report the behavior to the FBI.... Over two days of testimony, Bangert walked senators through nine months of Paxton's 'alarming' 2020 behavior, saying he repeatedly expressed concerns with Paxton over his demands to work on Paul's behalf."

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** Elon Musk Is a Horrible Human Being, Episode 287. Christian Davenport & Joseph Menn of the Washington Post: "SpaceX cut off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukrainian submarine drones last year just as they were launching an attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, according to a new biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk.... Ukrainian and American officials scrambled to get service restored, according to the report, appealing to Musk directly. Musk eventually agreed.... The new details of the previously reported incident underscore how dependent multiple governments have become on a man who controls both a dominant means of high-speed communication and a major platform for public discourse, X.

News Lede

Washington Post: "Hurricane Lee intensified with breakneck speed Thursday over record-warm Atlantic waters, its peak winds catapulting from 80 to 160 mph in just 18 hours. Lee is now a top tier Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, and will probably strengthen even more. The Hurricane Center described Lee's intensification as 'exceptional' and predicted the storm's peak winds will close in on 180 mph by Friday morning -- joining some of the most infamously strong hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.... Lee's long-term forecast track is uncomfortably close to eastern New England, which should continue monitoring the storm as shifts in its course are probable." The Weather Channel's report is here.

The Conversation -- September 7, 2023

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Washington began deliberating on Thursday in the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, a top aide to ... Donald J. Trump, who is charged with contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena last year from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. In delivering closing arguments, prosecutors and defense lawyers largely agreed on the facts in the case: that Mr. Navarro balked when ordered to cooperate with the panel. But in contention was whether that act amounted to a willful defiance of Congress, or a simple misunderstanding between Mr. Navarro and the committee's staff.... 'The defendant chose allegiance to President Trump over compliance with the subpoena,' [prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi] said. 'That is contempt. That is a crime.' Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer for Mr. Navarro, countered that the government had simply failed to show that Mr. Navarro's decision not to comply was anything other than 'inadvertence, accident or mistake.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What? He "accidentally" failed to comply with a lawful subpoena? Well, oopsies. ~~~

     ~~~ Later That Same Afternoon. Oh look, the story has been updated: "Peter Navarro ... was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in Federal District Court in Washington, made Mr. Navarro the second top adviser of Mr. Trump's to be found guilty of contempt for defying the committee's inquiry. Stephen K. Bannon, a former strategist for Mr. Trump who was convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and is appealing his conviction, as Mr. Navarro has also vowed to do."

Lauren Feiner of CNBC: "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Democrat Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, breaking the deadlock at the agency that has lasted the entirety of the Biden presidency. The vote in favor was 55-43. Gomez's confirmation comes after a protracted battle to confirm [President] Biden's initia pick for the commissioner seat, Gigi Sohn. As senators remained split on her confirmation, the FCC was left in a 2-2 deadlock of Republican and Democratic commissioners, limiting its agenda to items that both sides could agree on. With the arrival of Gomez, a telecom attorney who's previously worked in several positions at the FCC and in the private sector, the agency has the opportunity to pursue actions without the support of the Republican commissioners. That could include a push to return to net neutrality rules...."

With Due Respect, You Ignorant Nitwit, Up Yours. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Soon after the [Fulton County, Georgia,] district attorney, Fani T. Willis, a Democrat, announced last month that she was bringing a racketeering case against [Donald] Trump and 18 other defendants for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, [Rep. Jim] Jordan, a Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that he was going to investigate Ms. Willis over whether her prosecution of Mr. Trump was politically motivated. In [a] letter [to Mr. Jordan], Ms. Willis accused Mr. Jordan of trying 'to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations,' and of not understanding how the state's racketeering law works. 'Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,' she added. 'The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.'" A CNBC story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Willis's letter to Jordan appears in the CNBC story; it's easier to read here, via CNBC. And it's a doozy, nearly every sentence dripping with contempt for Jungle Gym.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in ... Donald Trump's orbit discussed the possibility that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- rather than Mike Pence -- would preside over the Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress. During several hours of sworn testimony in a California disbarment proceeding, Eastman said discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege. When pressed about which client of his he was referring to, Eastman replied: 'President Trump.'... Despite his criminal risk, Eastman fielded dozens of questions for hours on Wednesday, declining to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and only occasionally asserting attorney-client privilege.... The exchange [about Grassley] underscores that there are still significant unknown details about the behind-the-scenes planning by Trump and his allies ahead of Jan. 6. Grassley started a furor on Jan. 5, 2021, when he told reporters of Pence 'we don't expect him to be there, I will be presiding over the Senate.' His comments prompted an urgent rush by Pence's staff to correct the record, eventually resulting in a statement from Grassley's office indicating the senator had been 'misinterpreted' and was merely saying he might fill in for Pence during some portions of the proceedings that day." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Worth reading if, like me, you forgot or never knew of how deeply Grassley may have been in on the insurrection plot. I was aware there was "talk" about Grassley's replacing pence as President of the Senate but not about Grassley's accidentally sharing his plans to preside over the Electoral College count.

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "In a December 2020 radio interview..., Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan charged by the state attorney general for the alleged scheme [to overturn the Electoral College results], detailed the Trump campaign-directed plan and said the crucial decision on which electors to use would ultimately rest with a constitutional attorney and Vice President Mike Pence and Congress. The newly uncovered interview reveals Maddock's detailed knowledge of the Trump campaign's involvement in the plot and undermines her more recent comments claiming only a 'vague' recollection of [the plot].... Her newly uncovered comments about Pence show her understanding that the slate of fake electors could eventually usurp the legitimate elector votes on January 6, 2021. Despite Trump losing the state by more than 150,000 votes, Maddock and 15 others signed phony certificates claiming to be the legitimate electors from the state just days before the interview and attempted to enter their state capitol to deliver the votes."

Presidential Race 2024. Mike Memoli of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is highlighting the most high-stakes journey of his presidency -- a surprise visit to Ukraine in February -- to make the case for what it calls the 'quiet strength of a true leader' while drawing a major foreign policy contrast with the GOP. The new, 60-second advertisement will air in battleground states this weekend during the prime-time broadcast of '60 Minutes' while Biden is due to attend the G-20 Summit here, a gathering of leaders of the world's largest economies that won't include two geopolitical rivals, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping." ~~~

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All of the Presidents. v. Donald J. Trump. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "A coalition representing nearly every former president from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama issued a collective call on Thursday to protect the foundations of American democracy and maintain civility in the nation's politics. The alliance of presidential centers and foundations for U.S. leaders dating back nearly a century, both Democrats and Republicans, is a historic first. Never before has such a broad coalition of legacy institutions from former administrations joined together on a single issue. The statement is largely anodyne in its prose.... But some of its wording, and its timing, appear to serve as a subtle rebuke of ... Donald J. Trump.... The coalition says that 'civility and respect in political discourse' are 'essential,' a contrast for a politician known for demeaning nicknames and occasionally violent messaging.... The Eisenhower Foundation was the only organization in the lineage of presidents from Mr. Hoover to Mr. Obama to not sign the statement, and the organization did not detail its reasoning."

     ~~~ Here's the statement. The AP story is here.

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "In its most aggressive move yet to protect federal land from oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it would prohibit drilling in 13 million acres of pristine wilderness in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and cancel all drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The new regulations would ensure what the administration called 'maximum protections' for nearly half of the petroleum reserve but would not stop the enormous $8 billion Willow oil drilling project in the same vicinity, which President Biden approved this year.... The Biden administration had promised some new protections in the Arctic when it approved the Willow project. The policies announced on Wednesday, however, go significantly farther by canceling the refuge leases and explicitly prohibiting new oil and gas leasing in 10.6 million acres of the petroleum reserve."

Andrew Kramer & Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Ukraine's capital on Wednesday and met with President Voloydmyr Zelensky, delivering a U.S. vote of confidence -- and the promise of more aid -- even as Russia made one of the deadliest attacks of the war on civilians. A Russian missile struck Kostyantynivka, an eastern city near the front lines, killing at least 17 people and wounding at least 32 others, and more might still be trapped in the rubble, according to Ukrainian officials. They said the attack hit an outdoor marketplace at about 2 p.m., when it was busy with vendors and shoppers, while Mr. Blinken was in Kyiv."

Amy Wang & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged lawmakers Wednesday to continue supporting Ukraine, more than a year and a half after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the country and as some Republicans have wavered in their commitment to sending aid.... Congress is weighing a roughly $40 billion supplemental funding request put forward last month by the Biden administration that includes aid for Ukraine, border security and domestic disaster relief."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime Republican leader whose recent medical episodes have raised questions about his ability to continue steering his party in the Senate, declared on Wednesday that he had no intention of relinquishing his top post or leaving Congress ahead of schedule. 'I'm going to finish my term as leader and I'm going to finish my Senate term,' Mr. McConnell, wan in appearance and defiant in tone, told reporters at the Capitol as he took questions outside the Senate chamber. In a crowded news conference, Mr. McConnell's first at the Capitol since two alarming episodes in which he froze midsentence on camera while addressing the media, the 81-year-old minority leader refused to engage with questions about his health or his political future, even as he appeared to leave the door open to giving up his leadership post after 2024."

What Leadership? Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has spoken critically of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for putting a total blockade on confirming military appointments and promotions -- but he doesn't appear willing or able to actually do anything about it. And Tuberville 'thumbing his nose' at the leadership is a sign that McConnell's once-legendary mastery and power over Senate institutions is slipping, argued Eleanor Clift for The Daily Beast on Wednesday. 'McConnell in his prime would have ended the Alabama senator's siege in a millisecond. He told reporters in early May, four months ago, he didn't support what Tuberville is doing,' wrote Clift.... '... McConnell is no longer invincible, and it's a rube like Tuberville that has driven that point home,' concluded Clift."

Katherine Faulders & Mike Levine of ABC News: Attorney Evan "Corcoran's recollections, captured in a series of voice memos..., help illuminate [Donald] Trump's alleged efforts to defy a federal grand jury subpoena, and appear to shed more light on his frame of mind when he allegedly launched what prosecutors say was a criminal conspiracy to hide classified documents from both the FBI and Corcoran, his own attorney.... ABC News has reviewed copies of transcripts of the recordings, which appear to show the way Trump allegedly deceived his own attorney, and how classified documents, according to prosecutors, ended up at Mar-a-Lago in the first place." (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Goudsward of Reuters: "A key witness in the case accusing ... Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents after leaving office has entered into a deal with prosecutors to provide testimony, his former attorney said in a Wednesday court filing. The deal was reached after U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith's office threatened to prosecute the witness, who is the head of information technology at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida resort, for lying to a grand jury, the attorney, Stanley Woodward, said in the filing.... Prosecutors previously said that the witness, who has been identified by media outlets Politico and CNN as Yuscil Taveras, had information about efforts by Trump's personal aide [Walt] Nauta [whom Woodward represents] and others to obstruct the classified documents investigation."

So Much Losing. “Decline to Sign.” Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "A New York judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump;s request to delay his sweeping civil fraud trial, calling the former president's request 'completely without merit.' One day earlier, attorneys for Trump, his two adult sons and his businesses had asked the judge to stay the case until three weeks after he has ruled on competing motions for summary judgement. The trial is currently scheduled to begin Oct. 2.... 'Decline to sign,' [Judge Arthur] Engoron wrote in a brief, handwritten note at the bottom of Trump's proposed order for a stay. 'Defendants' arguments are completely without merit.' The order keeps the case on track to become Trump's first trial since he left the White House in 2021."

So Much Losing. Dan Mangan of CNBC: "A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump is civilly liable for defamatory statements he made about writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 when she went public with claims he had raped her decades earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan, as part of that ruling, said the upcoming trial for Carroll's lawsuit against Trump will only deal with the question of how much the former president should pay her in monetary damages for defaming her. Normally, a jury would determine at trial whether a defendant is liable for civil damages claimed by a plaintiff. But Kaplan found that Carroll was entitled to a partial summary judgment on the question of Trump's liability in the case." IOW, Carroll doesn't have to prove again in the second case against Trump that he defamed her; Kaplan says it's a given. The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

So Much Losing. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: “A state judge denied Kenneth Chesebro's attempt to sever his charges in the Georgia election interference case from Sidney Powell on Wednesday. But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signaled he is skeptical of prosecutors' request to try alongside them the other 17 co-defendants, including former President Trump, though McAfee has not yet made a final ruling on that question." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Prosecutors rested their case on Wednesday in the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, who served as ... Donald J. Trump's trade adviser, saying he willfully ignored lawmakers in refusing to appear last year before the House committee investigating the Capitol attack. After delivering their opening statement, government lawyers took just three hours to introduce all their evidence, arguing that convicting Mr. Navarro revolved around one straightforward question: Did he show contempt for Congress when he disregarded the committee's subpoena for documents and testimony?... The defense also rested, calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence, with closing arguments expected to begin Thursday morning."

Betsy Swan & Kyle Cheney of Politico: Katherine Friess, a top consultant to Rudy Giuliani during the campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, seems to have "vanished." Oh, and even though she charged modest rates for her work, the Trump campaign paid her only a fraction of what she was owed.

More on the Misadventures of Donald Trump filed under "Presidential Race 2024."

Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel David Weiss intends to seek an indictment against President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, relating to gun charges by the end of the month, the Justice Department said Wednesday.... The probe appeared to be winding down in June, when Weiss announced a two-pronged agreement where Hunter Biden would plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors, and enter into a 'diversion agreement' where the gun charge would be dropped in two years if he passed drug tests and stayed out of legal trouble. But at a stunning court hearing in July, the deal collapsed under scrutiny from the federal judge overseeing the case.... Prosecutors did not say how many charges would be brought.... In addition to the gun case, Weiss is still weighing whether to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes. He said in a court filing last month that 'a trial is now in order' on the tax offenses ad that he 'may bring tax charges' possibly in California or Washington, DC.... House Republicans made their first official ask to Hunter Biden's attorneys for documents on Wednesday related to the defunct plea agreement, two sources told CNN, laying the groundwork for a potential subpoena down the line." This is an update of a developing story linked yesterday. The New York Times story is here.

Presidential Race 2024

Joe Jacquez of the Hill: "Chris Christie slammed GOP presidential rival Ron DeSantis for 'playing politics' after the Florida governor chose not to meet with President Biden during his trip to the Sunshine State to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia.... Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who met with then-President Barack Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, said DeSantis failed in his job as governor of the state. 'You're the governor of the state, the President of the United States comes and you're asking .. the Congress for significant aid.... You should have been there with the president to welcome him,' Christie said.... 'Fortunately, [Sen.] Rick Scott ... who knows what it means to be governor, showed up and made sure the president saw what he needed to see,' Christie said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Mike Pence devoted an entire speech on Wednesday to what he called a 'fundamental' and 'unbridgeable' divide within the Republican Party -- the split between Reaganite conservatives like himself and propagators of populism like ... Donald J. Trump and his imitators.... [Mr. Pence cast] casting Mr. Trump's populism as a 'road to ruin.' 'Should the new populism of the right seize and guide our party, the Republican Party as we have long known it will cease to exist,' Mr. Pence said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. 'And the fate of American freedom would be in doubt.'... He said populists trafficked in 'personal grievances and performative outrage.' And he said they would 'abandon American leadership on the world stage,' erode constitutional norms, jettison fiscal responsibility and wield the power of the government to punish their enemies." MB: Once in a while, mike pence acts as if he's not as dumb as he pretends to be.

Hannah Demissie & Isabella Murray of ABC News: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a Washington-based watchdog group, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of a handful of voters seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in Colorado under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The suit -- quickly dismissed by Trump's team -- marks one of the first serious challenges to his qualifications as a presidential candidate based on a 14th Amendment argument.... Wednesday's suit against Trump was filed, with CREW's attorneys, by six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, including former state, federal and local officials. The suit accuses Trump of inciting and aiding the mob that stormed the Capitol two years ago." (Also linked yesterday.)

Thanks, Elon! Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Ever since Meta lifted its two-year ban on ... Donald Trump earlier this year, its Facebook and Instagram platforms have emerged as a key element of Trump's presidential campaign fundraising plan, according to data from Meta's archives and interviews with campaign strategists and Trump advisors. Meta's platforms offer Trump a vital resource that he can't get from his own social media site, Truth Social, or via his countless mass emails: Access to millions of potential donors who may not be part of his traditional political base of supporters." (Also linked yesterday.)

** World Meteorological Association: "Earth just had its hottest three months on record, according to the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF. Global sea surface temperatures are at unprecedented highs for the third consecutive month and Antarctic sea ice extent remains at a record low for the time of year."

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Florida. Okay, Kids, Write Out Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "An alternative to the SAT and ACT for only a small number of mostly religious colleges, the [Classical Learning Test] is known for its emphasis on the Western canon, with a big dose of Christian thought. But on Friday, Florida's public university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State University, is expected to become the first state system to approve the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, for use in admissions.... It's the latest move by Gov. Ron DeSantis to shake up the education establishment, especially the College Board, the nonprofit behemoth that runs the SAT program.... The company [that developed & administers the CLT] ... describes the CLT as part of 'the larger educational freedom movement of our time' -- language that echoes that of conservative supporters of private-school vouchers and tax credits for home-schoolers.... While there is no single definition of classical education, the CLT celebrates canonical works from Western civilization, with an emphasis on Greek, Roman and early Christian thought. Memorization, logic and debate are considered important skills." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tennessee Senate Race. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

Holy shit. THIS is how you launch a campaign for US Senate in deep Red Tennessee. Gloria Johnson is running, she’s not pulling back any punches, & she’s going to make Marsha Blackburn & Tennessee Republicans find out. This ad is amazing. Watch & share👇 pic.twitter.com/d8yLPDKDjB

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) September 5, 2023

Texas. A Victory (However Shortlived) for Human Decency. Paul Weber of the AP: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas to move a large floating barrier to the bank of the Rio Grande after protests from the the U.S. and Mexican governments over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's latest tactic to stop migrants from crossing America's southern border. The decision by U.S. District Judge David Ezra of Texas is likely to be appealed by the state, which for the past two years has aggressively pushed legal boundaries to curb the the flow of migrants under a sprawling mission known as Operation Lone Star. The judge said the state must move the barrier by Sept. 15. Dozens of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys have created a water barrier longer than a soccer field on a stretch of river where migrants often try crossing from Mexico. Texas also has installed razor wire and steel fencing on the border, while also empowering armed officers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges."; (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Texas. The Girlfriend. Zach Despart of the Texas Tribune: "At the end of September 2020, it finally made sense to Jeff Mateer why his boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, was devoting so much of the agency's attention to Paxton's friend, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul...., [even after] repeated warnings that assisting Paul in his business disputes was an improper use of state resources. And then, as the office was erupting in crisis when senior deputies learned that Paxton had quietly hired an outside lawyer to conduct an investigation on Paul's behalf, Mateer said he learned ... Paul had hired the woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair, allowing her to move to Austin, where the attorney general could more easily visit her.... As expected, the attorney general's affair with Laura Olson, the former Senate aide Buzbee identified by name during the trial, took center stage in the trial." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: List five reasons you, or a woman you know, would have an affair with Ken Paxton. Couldn't think of even one, could you?

News Lede

Pennsylvania. New York Times: A resident discovers that prison escapee & convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante is in his house. "In a news conference on Wednesday, Howard Holland, the acting warden of the prison, described for the first time how Mr. Cavalcante escaped. A little before 9 a.m., while a basketball game was going on outside in the exercise yard, he said, Mr. Cavalcante crab-walked up two parallel walls -- putting his hands on one wall and his feet on the other and quickly climbing to the roof, a feat captured on video that was shown at the news conference."

The Conversation -- September 6, 2023

Marie: Go to the bottom of the page, where you will find out that it is not necessary to stage a violent insurrection to overturn the results of an election. In fact, Republicans in Congress are trying the same tack against President Biden, and if it doesn't work, they'll just shut down the government so you won't get your Social Security check or be able to take the kids to a national park.

A Victory (However Shortlived) for Human Decency. Paul Weber of the AP: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas to move a large floating barrier to the bank of the Rio Grande after protests from the the U.S. and Mexican governments over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's latest tactic to stop migrants from crossing America's southern border. The decision by U.S. District Judge David Ezra of Texas is likely to be appealed by the state, which for the past two years has aggressively pushed legal boundaries to curb the the flow of migrants under a sprawling mission known as Operation Lone Star. The judge said the state must move the barrier by Sept. 15. Dozens of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys have created a water barrier longer than a soccer field on a stretch of river where migrants often try crossing from Mexico. Texas also has installed razor wire and steel fencing on the border, while also empowering armed officers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges."

Kara Scannell of CNN: "Special counsel David Weiss intends to seek an indictment against President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, relating to gun charges by the end of the month, the Justice Department said Wednesday.... This story is breaking and will be updated."

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "A state judge denied Kenneth Chesebro's attempt to sever his charges in the Georgia election interference case from Sidney Powell on Wednesday. But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signaled he is skeptical of prosecutors' request to try alongside them the other 17 co-defendants, including former President Trump, though McAfee has not yet made a final ruling on that question."

Joe Jacquez of the Hill: "Chris Christie slammed GOP presidential rival Ron DeSantis for 'playing politics' after the Florida governor chose not to meet with President Biden during his trip to the Sunshine State to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia.... Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who met with then-President Barack Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, said DeSantis failed in his job as governor of the state. 'You're the governor of the state, the President of the United States comes and you're asking ... the Congress for significant aid.... You should have been there with the president to welcome him,' Christie said.... 'Fortunately, [Sen.] Rick Scott ... who knows what it means to be governor, showed up and made sure the president saw what he needed to see.'..."

Hannah Demissie & Isabella Murray of ABC News: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a Washington-based watchdog group, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of a handful of voters seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in Colorado under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The suit -- quickly dismissed by Trump's team -- marks one of the first serious challenges to his qualifications as a presidential candidate based on a 14th Amendment argument.... Wednesday's suit against Trump was filed, with CREW's attorneys, by six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, including former state, federal and local officials. The suit accuses Trump of inciting and aiding the mob that stormed the Capitol two years ago."

Katherine Faulders & Mike Levine of ABC News: Attorney Evan "Corcoran's recollections, captured in a series of voice memos..., help illuminate [Donald] Trump's alleged efforts to defy a federal grand jury subpoena, and appear to shed more light on his frame of mind when he allegedly launched what prosecutors say was a criminal conspiracy to hide classified documents from both the FBI and Corcoran, his own attorney.... ABC News has reviewed copies of transcripts of the recordings, which appear to show the way Trump allegedly deceived his own attorney, and how classified documents, according to prosecutors, ended up at Mar-a-Lago in the first place."

Dan Mangan of CNBC: "A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump is civilly liable for defamatory statements he made about writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 when she went public with claims he had raped her decades earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan, as part of that ruling, said the upcoming trial for Carroll's lawsuit against Trump will only deal with the question of how much the former president should pay her in monetary damages for defaming her. Normally, a jury would determine at trial whether a defendant is liable for civil damages claimed by a plaintiff. But Kaplan found that Carroll was entitled to a partial summary judgment on the question of Trump's liability in the case." IOW, Carroll doesn't have to prove again in the second case against Trump that he defamed her; Kaplan says it's a given. The New York Times story is here.

Thanks, Elon! Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Ever since Meta lifted its two-year ban on ... Donald Trump earlier this year, its Facebook and Instagram platforms have emerged as a key element of Trump's presidential campaign fundraising plan, according to data from Meta's archives and interviews with campaign strategists and Trump advisors. Meta's platforms offer Trump a vital resource that he can't get from his own social media site, Truth Social, or via his countless mass emails: Access to millions of potential donors who may not be part of his traditional political base of supporters."

Florida. Okay, Kids, Write Out Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "An alternative to the SAT and ACT for only a small number of mostly religious colleges, the [Classical Learning Test] is known for its emphasis on the Western canon, with a big dose of Christian thought. But on Friday, Florida's public university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State University, is expected to become the first state system to approve the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, for use in admissions.... It's the latest move by Gov. Ron DeSantis to shake up the education establishment, especially the College Board, the nonprofit behemoth that runs the SAT program.... The company [that developed & administers the CLT] ... describes the CLT as part of 'the larger educational freedom movement of our time' -- language that echoes that of conservative supporters of private-school vouchers and tax credits for home-schoolers.... While there is no single definition of classical education, the CLT celebrates canonical works from Western civilization, with an emphasis on Greek, Roman and early Christian thought. Memorization, logic and debate are considered important skills."

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, President Biden awarded [Larry] Taylor the Medal of Honor at the White House, citing his 'conspicuous gallantry' for rescuing the soldiers 'under heavy enemy fire and with complete disregard for his personal safety' more than five decades ago.... Flying in his two-man Cobra helicopter, which was nearly out of ammunition, Mr. Taylor landed in the middle of [a Vietnam] firefight, extracting the four men who hung onto the helicopter's skids and rocket pods as the helicopter carried them to safety. It was the first time a rescue like that had even been attempted during the war."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Tuesday and will wear a mask while around others indoors after first lady Jill Biden tested positive for the virus a day earlier, the White House said. The first lady is experiencing 'mild symptoms' after testing positive Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. She will remain in Delaware to quarantine."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Hoping to reassure his colleagues that he is physically able to continue as minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell released a letter on Tuesday from the attending physician of Congress declaring that an examination and tests had ruled out a stroke or seizure as causes of his recent on-camera medical episodes. In the letter, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Navy rear admiral who serves as the on-site doctor in the Capitol for members of Congress and the Supreme Court, said his examination of Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky-- along with a brain M.R.I., an electroencephalogram study and a neurological consultation -- had found no sign of a seizure disorder or stroke.... As he entered the Senate chamber on Tuesday [-- the first day Congress was in session after an extended August break --] Mr. McConnell did not respond to questions from reporters about his health, but he obliquely addressed it on the floor as he talked about the busy schedule he kept in Kentucky during the past month. CNN's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The only senator Hulse cites as questioning McConnell's fitness for office is Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Hawley looks like an effete snob among the rich Harvard boys at the college glee club, but -- as long as he isn't personally threatened with violence -- he's more like a rabid pit bull, due respects to puppies.

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is demanding that Chief Justice John Roberts take action over an unusual interview in which conservative Justice Samuel Alito questioned whether Congress has the power to impose ethics rules on the Supreme Court. Whitehouse's complaint, submitted Monday, focuses on a July 28 interview published by The Wall Street Journal, conducted in part by the conservative lawyer David Rivkin, in the wake of recent news articles raising questions about Supreme Court ethics. 'No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court -- period,' Alito said. Whitehouse said in his letter that Alito's comments bear on legislation he has sponsored to impose an ethics code. Whitehouse wrote the letter to Roberts in part to highlight how the Supreme Court does not have a formal mechanism for handling ethics complaints. Alito's comments violate the code of conduct lower court judges follow in part because he gave an opinion about a legal issue that might come before the court, Whitehouse said."

The Trials of Trump

Dan Mangan of CNBC: "'Daily' statements by ... Donald Trump 'threaten to prejudice the jury pool' in the federal case where he is charged with crimes related to trying to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors made that claim as they pushed back on a call by Trump's lawyers to allow a three-week briefing process for Judge Tanya Chutkan to decide whether 'every ordinary' court filing that refers to sensitive materials should be placed on the court's public docket." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jack Smith Keeps on Keepin' on. Zachary Cohen & Paula Reid of CNN: "Special counsel Jack Smith is still pursuing his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election a month after indicting Donald Trump for orchestrating a broad conspiracy to remain in power, a widening of the probe that raises the possibility others could still face legal peril. Questions asked of two recent witnesses indicate Smith is focusing on how money raised off baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by Joe Biden.... In both interviews, prosecutors have focused their questions on the role of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. According to invoices obtained by CNN, Powell's non-profit ... hired forensics firms that ultimately accessed voting equipment in four swing states won by Biden: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. Powell faces criminal charges in Georgia.... Powell has also been identified by CNN as one of Trump's un-indicted co-conspirators listed in Smith's federal election indictment." (Also linked yesterday.)

As the Worms Turn. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The finger-pointing among Donald Trump's inner circle has begun. And as his four criminal cases march toward trials, some of his aides, allies and co-defendants are pointing at the former president. In court documents and hearings, lawyers for people in Trump's orbit ... are starting to reveal glimmers of a tried-and-true strategy in cases with many defendants: Portray yourself as a hapless pawn while piling blame on the apparent kingpin.... In late August, an information technology aide at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort dramatically changed his story about alleged efforts to erase surveillance video and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Jack Smith.... Then, three GOP activists who were indicted alongside Trump in Georgia ... asserted that their actions were all taken at Trump's behest. And last week, Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows -- also charged in the Georgia case -- signaled that his defense is likely to include blaming the former president as the primary driver of the effort." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sara Murray, et al., of CNN: "Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the remaining defendants in the election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, have pleaded not guilty and have waived their arraignments, new court filings show. Misty Hampton, who faces charges related to the Coffee County voting system breach and was the last holdout among the 19 defendants changed in District Attorney Fani Willis' case, entered her plea early Tuesday afternoon. The other defendants have been filing their pleas in recent days." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal appellate court on Monday blocked Justice Department access to the phone records of a Republican lawmaker as part of the investigation charging ... Donald Trump with trying to undo the 2020 election results. While the details remain under seal, the ruling stymies federal Jan. 6 investigators who have been fighting for a year to review thousands of documents from Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). The legal fight has been conducted largely in secret, and Monday's ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. was likewise under seal. But the public order vacates a lower-court ruling that gave the Justice Department access to thousands of texts, emails and attachments it sought from Perry's phone, which was seized by investigators in August 2022. The appellate court ... upheld the district court's ruling on Perry's other communications." Politico's story is here.

Daniel Barnes & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the far-right Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday afternoon following his conviction on a seditious conspiracy charge in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His sentence is the longest so far in a Jan. 6 case so far, surpassing the 18 years given to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy. Tarrio was one of four Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Enough Already. Dan Mangan of CNBC: "New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge Tuesday to sanction Donald Trump, other defendants and their lawyers for rehashing the same failed legal arguments in James' big civil fraud lawsuit against the former president.... In her filing Tuesday, James said that since last October, the defendants have made the same legal arguments against her lawsuit five separate times.... James asked that all the defendants be fined $10,000 collectively, and that another fine of $10,000 be imposed on their lawyers collectively. James' request came four weeks before trial in the lawsuit is set to begin in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: In today's Comments, there's a good discussion of Project 2025: the Heritage Foundation's manifesto on how Donald Trump, upon resuming office, should take control of the federal government, dismantle it and replace career employees with people "loyal" to him and an extreme right-wing "vision." As Patrick notes, the "plan looks more Soviet than Stalin." Here's some more background on Project 2025 from the AP (Aug. 29). It even sounds Orwellian, doesn't it?

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Alabama. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A panel of federal judges rejected Alabama's latest congressional map on Tuesday, ruling that a new map needed to be drawn because Republican lawmakers had failed to comply with orders to create a second majority-Black district or something 'close to it.' In a sharp rebuke, the judges ordered that the new map be independently drawn, taking the responsibility away from the Republican-controlled legislature while chastising state officials who 'ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy.'" NPR's story is here. MB: I believe the order ran along the lines of, "Don't you be fucking with federal judges, you weanie bigots." (Also linked yesterday.)

Georgia. Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "Dozens of activists who oppose a controversial police and fire training facility in Georgia known as Cop City have been charged with racketeering, appearing to confirm fears from civil rights groups that prosecutors are stepping up an aggressive pursuit of environmental protesters. A total of 61 people -- most not from Georgia -- were indicted for violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act last week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Some of the defendants face additional charges of money laundering and domestic terrorism, the newspaper reported. In July, a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote to the Department of Homeland Security decrying tactics used in authorities' surveillance of the environmental protesters, and their use of the label 'domestic violence extremism' for opponents of the $90m facility under construction on 85 acres of the South River Forest near Atlanta."

Rhode Island Congressional Race. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Gabriel Amo, a former White House aide to President Biden, won a special congressional primary Tuesday for Rhode Island's 1st District, the Associated Press projected. Amo is heavily favored to keep the 1st District in Democratic hands in blue Rhode Island. On the Republican side, political newcomer Gerry Leonard, a Marine Corps veteran, won the special primary. If he wins the general election in November, Amo will become the first Black lawmaker to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. House. Rep. David N. Cicilline took the Democratic Party by surprise when he announced in February that he would leave his House seat to run Rhode Island's largest philanthropic organization. Shortly afterward, more than 20 Democrats filed to run for his seat. On Tuesday, 12 of them appeared on the ballot in what has become a turbulent special primary in the 1st Congressional District."

South Carolina. Shawn Nottingham, et al., of CNN: "Attorneys representing Alex Murdaugh, the notorious South Carolina fraudster who was convicted earlier this year of murdering his wife and son, filed a motion with the South Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday demanding a new trial and alleging jury tampering by the Colleton County Clerk of Court. The filing states that the Clerk of Court, Rebecca 'Becky' Hill, 'tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.'... The motion cites at least three sworn affidavits, including one from a juror and one from a dismissed juror, as well as excerpts from Hill's book..., which was published last month." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Texas. David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: ";Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and bribery Tuesday on the opening day of his impeachment trial before the State Senate, the first such proceeding for a statewide officer in more than a century. Mr. Paxton, a third-term incumbent championed by hard-core conservatives and ... Donald J. Trump, is facing trial on 16 articles of impeachment related to accusations, primarily by his former top deputies who became whistle-blowers, that he had abused his office for the benefit of himself and an Austin real estate investor who was said to have assisted Mr. Paxton with home renovations and an extramarital affair.... On Tuesday, a majority of Republican Senators began the proceedings by voting to move forward with the trial, dispatching by wide margins multiple attempts by Mr. Paxton's lawyers to have the entire case dismissed."

** Wisconsin. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Republicans in Wisconsin are coalescing around the prospect of impeaching a newly seated liberal justice on the state's Supreme Court, whose victory in a costly, high-stakes election this spring swung the court in Democrats' favor and threatened the G.O.P.'s iron grip on state politics. The push, just five weeks after Justice Janet Protasiewicz joined the court and before she has heard a single case, serves as a last-ditch effort to stop the new 4-to-3 liberal majority from throwing out Republican-drawn state legislative maps and legalizing abortion in Wisconsin." Emphasis added.~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For Republicans, impeachment is not the price of violating laws, acting unethically or failing to carry out the duties of office, as it has been since the founding. Nope. It's one way to thumb your nose at democracy -- and specifically at voters -- and overturn the results of an election that didn't go your way. This is an astounding turn.