The Ledes

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. "Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast."

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To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Wednesday
Aug022023

The Conversation -- August 3, 2023

The Washington Post is live-updating Trump's arraignment, not that you and I will be able to see the proceedings. Ken Delanian of NBC News said this morning that the courtroom/secret chamber provides seating for 5 members of the public and 11 journalists. (Scroll on down to Dan Mangan's post to learn who did get seats in the courtroom.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates Thursday are here: Glenn Thrush: "... Donald J. Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he conspired to remain in office despite his 2020 election loss, appearing before a judge in a Washington courthouse in the shadow of the Capitol, where his supporters rampaged in an effort to undermine the peaceful transfer of power.... The same courthouse where Mr. Trump appeared before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya to face the charges brought by the special counsel, Jack Smith, has already hosted a stream of trials for Trump supporters accused of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Savage: Prosecutor Thomas "Windom tells the judge that the parties have agreed that, as a condition of release, Trump must not violate federal or state law, must appear in court as directed and must sign an appearance bond. He must not communicate with anyone he knows to be a witness, except through his lawyers or in the presence of his lawyers.... Upadhyaya ... [warns] Trump against violating the conditions of release.... If he fails to comply, a warrant may be issued for his arrest, the conditions of release may be revoked, and he may be held pending trial and receive a longer sentence. He could also be charged with contempt of court." MB: Not mentioned here, but emphasized during MSNBC coverage as a condition of bail, is the requirement that Trump not tamper with a jury member. Andrew Weissmann said this condition along with the condition that the Defendant not commit any crimes were, well, unusual. ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The magistrate judge handling former President Trump's arraignment on charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election warned him Thursday against bribing or influencing witnesses. U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya reminded Trump during the arraignment proceedings that bribing, influencing or retaliating against witnesses is a crime.... The warning to Trump is notable given the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol alleged the former president and his allies tried to contact and influence a witness in that probe. Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said at a hearing last summer that Trump tried to call an unnamed witness. She separately described a case of a witness describing receiving phone calls reminding them that Trump was paying attention to who said what." ~~~

     ~~~ Joy Reid of MSNBC pointed out on air that these instructions -- don't commit a crime, don't tamper with a jury member, don't speak to or mess with witnesses -- sound like instructions a judge would give a mob boss. ~~~

~~~ Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Seven federal judges sat in the D.C. courthouse and watched while Trump was arraigned by their magistrate judge colleague. The group included Chief Judge James Boasberg, and judges Amy Berman Jackson and Randy Moss, who were with four others in the back row of the room. Jackson has presided over a number of criminal cases involving Trump associates. Trump, while president in 2020, blasted her in a tweet as she prepared to sentence his longtime advisor Roger Stone, the notorious Republican self-described trickster...." This is part of a liveblog.

Mikey Is Getting Downright Voluble. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday said that ... Donald J. Trump and his advisers had tried to get him 'essentially to overturn the election' and that the American people needed to know it. The remarks, made in an interview with Fox News, are some of Mr. Pence's most pointed to date about what he experienced in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when he presided over the congressional certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory.... 'It wasn't just that they asked for a pause. The president specifically asked me and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers asked me to literally reject votes.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Context. Robert Farley of FactCheck.org: "In an interview hours after ... Donald Trump was indicted for an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, one of his attorneys said that all Trump had ultimately asked his vice president to do was 'simply pause' the Electoral College count at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. On Fox News the following night, Aug. 2, former Vice President Mike Pence called that claim 'completely false.' Pence said Trump and his 'gaggle of crackpot lawyers' asked him 'to literally reject votes.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian fills out Pence's remark: "The president specifically asked me, and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers asked me, to literally reject votes, which would have resulted in the issue being turned over to the House of Representatives, and literally chaos would have ensued."

We're going to have all of these deep state people, you know, we are going to start slitting throats on day one. -- Ron DeSantis, Sunday ~~~

~~~ First, Kill All the Bureaucrats. Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Sunday said he would 'start slitting throats on day one' when it comes to taking on the 'deep state.' DeSantis made the remarks at a barbecue campaign event in Rye, N.H., hosted by former Sen. Scott Brown (R-N.H.)." MB: Actually, that's (R-Mass.).

~~~~~~~~~~

American Carnage. He leaves in his wake ruined lives.... The people who went up to Capitol Hill, these individuals, many of the people who served him in government that got sucked into things, he just leaves all this carnage in his wake. -- Bill Barr, in a CNN interview Wednesday

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: The top story in the New York Times today, by Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman, is a gigantic gift to Donald Trump in the same way Schmidt's stories about Hillary Clinton's emails were a gigantic gift to Donald Trump. The story's headline is "Trump Election Charges Set Up Clash of Lies Versus Free Speech," and most of the story is about Trump's defense claiming he has a First Amendment right to lie. Any reader who gets as far as Paragraph 16 (i.e., almost no one) will learn that "Legal experts were skeptical about the strength of those [First Amendment] claims as a defense." That is, the part of the story that most readers will absorb is that part that makes Trump's fake argument for him. And even way down the story where a "legal expert" gets a say, the story poses him as a toady for the prosecutor, a Duke professor who is himself a former prosecutor. He is cast as the second side of he-said/they-said. It's merely the prosecutors' and expert's opinion that masterminding a bank robbery is not protected speech. And, wow, this pointy-headed, elite prosecutorial "expert" -- in concert with the "deranged, deep-state Biden DOJ" -- seems to oppose your Bill of Rights freeeedoms! I wonder if Trump has Schmidt & Haberman on retainer. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Devlin Barrett & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's trial for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election may hinge on a long-debated aspect of the former president's mind-set: How much, or if, he believes his own false claims.... Central to special counsel Jack Smith's case is the accusation that Trump knew his claims were lies. Evidence of a defendant's intent is often critical to criminal prosecutions, and it may be the most crucial element of Smith's case against Trump." The reporters then cite "a veteran D.C. lawyer" named Robert Kelner who claims Smith "needs to show that all of the false statements Trump made about the election ... were understood by Trump to be false; otherwise, it becomes a case about political speech and First Amendment rights, and that's not where the government wants to be." MB: I'm not sure that's true, either. If, as in my hypothetical example above, you mastermind a bank robbery, nobody cares whether or not you thought robbing the bank was the right thing to do. Your instructions to your criminal crew are not protected speech. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Speaking to Chris Hayes of MSNBC Wednesday, Rick Hasan provided a more closely analogous example: If Trump had told Pence that he would break Pence's legs & murder his children if Pence accepted Wisconsin's slate of Biden electors, that would still have been a crime, even if Trump really, really believed he Trump had won the election in Wisconsin.  

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post points to a better Trump defense: Trump's "defense lawyer, John Lauro, went on Fox News and telegraphed his coming strategy.... He declared that Trump merely acted on what he thought was reasonable advice from his lawyer, John Eastman.... This suggests that an 'advice of counsel' argument will be central to Trump's defense.... 'I've always thought this might be his strongest argument,' New York University law professor Ryan Goodman, who has written extensively about the case, told me. Though Goodman believes this 'won't work,' he said it deserves more attention.... Clearly Trump knew Eastman's theory was baloney. But the rub is getting 12 jurors to agree -- not to mention, perhaps, five Supreme Court justices."

Maggie Haberman & others at the New York Times find evidence that Co-conspirator 6 is Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn. unwashed noted the other day that Marcy Wheeler had speculated Co-conspirator 6 was Mike Roman. Wheeler since has updated her post to note the NYT speculation.

At long last, it dawns on Mikey that Donald is not qualified to be president* (also embedded yesterday afternoon): ~~~

Marie: The most surprising thing to me about the latest Trump indictment is how little of it is new. The indictment does fill in some blank spots in the narrative with a few -- significant -- bits of information. Some of these new bits obviously came from Mike Pence. Otherwise, there is little in the indictment that the House January 6 committee and the new media have not covered.

     If the Mar-a-Lago indictments incorporated some cliffhangers, the entire coup indictment is cloaked in mystery. It doesn't name the co-conspirators (which is standard DOJ practice for unindicted co-conspirators). It doesn't tell us whether or not these co-conspirators will be indicted. Why, maybe they'll cop a plea and cooperate!

     It tells us almost nothing about Mark Meadows, a critical player in the scheme. He is not among the co-conspirators cited, yet the House committee findings as well as public reporting suggest he was deeply involved in the conspiracy to find election fraud and otherwise aided and abetted Trump's crime spree. Meadows gets only glancing mention in the indictment (p. 14), and only that entry on page 14 suggests he might have been a source. But we do know he appeared before the grand jury; we just can't be sure whether he spilled the beans or if his time in the hot seat was a Fifth Amendment lollapalooza.

     And what about that January 6 phone call between Trump and Kevin in which Trump tells Kevin the insurrectionists were "more upset about the election than you are"? Jose Pagliery of the Daily Beast points out that the two-person conversation is one of the few incidents cited in the indictment without sourcing? Did My Kevin flip? Was there a recording? Is Meadows the source?

     We also know from public reporting that DOJ investigators and the grand jury heard from many witnesses whose input is not reflected in the indictment. A huge blank in the indictment is what-all happened surrounding Trump's January 6 speech at the Ellipse. The indictment does not include any mention of Trump's behavior immediately before and after his notorious remarks, although some remarks themselves are covered in the indictment. Cassidy Hutchinson described this behavior in dramatic detail, and the prosecutors later spoke with first-hand witnesses to Hutchinson's second-hand testimony. Maybe the additional information is superfluous to this particular indictment -- or maybe another indictment or indictments are in the offing. We have no idea. Clearly, the indictment is not an exhaustive review of the evidence prosecutors have against the Conspirator-in-Chief.


MEANWHILE, in Florida. Perry Stein & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Jack Smith has asked Judge Aileen M. Cannon for a hearing to discuss whether the lawyer who represents one of Donald Trump's co-defendants in the classified documents case has too many conflicts to provide adequate legal advice to his client. In a court filing Wednesday, prosecutors said Stanley Woodward -- the lawyer for Trump valet Waltine 'Walt' Nauta -- has represented at least seven other clients whom prosecutors have interviewed about Trump's alleged efforts to keep classified documents in defiance of the government's demand they be returned. Two of Woodward's clients could be called as government witnesses in the trial, the filing said.... Prosecutors said in the filing that they told Woodward earlier that at least one of his clients had incriminating information against Nauta. That client appears to be a Mar-a-Lago IT worker named Yuscil Taveras. The Washington Post has previously reported that Taveras retained a new lawyer July 5 and eventually offered information implicating Trump, Nauta and [Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos] De Oliveira in the alleged effort to delete surveillance footage." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Isn't it odd how people have to get new, non-Trumpy lawyers to tell the truth? The ostensible question here is whether Nauta can get a fair trial with adequate assistance of counsel, which is his Sixth Amendment right. But what about Taveras -- or the other government witness Woodward represents or represented? While Woodward was his counsel, it's certainly possible that Taveras told the lawyer negative things about himself. Maybe Woodward asked, for instance, "Is there anything about you or in your background that could help prosecutors make you seem like an unreliable witness?" Taveras might then have given Woodward information that could make him seem untruthful. Woodward, armed with that attorney-client privileged information, could still manage to "find" it and use it against Taveras during the trial.

Dinner for Three at the Bedminster Club. Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Shortly after learning he was being indicted a third time..., Donald J. Trump had a private dinner with the top leadership at Fox News as they lobbied him to attend the first Republican presidential primary debate this month, three people familiar with the event said. The dinner between Mr. Trump, the Fox News president Jay Wallace and the network's chief executive, Suzanne Scott, was held in a private dining room at Mr. Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J...."

Another TuKKKer Conspiracy Theory Bites the Dust. Ryan Reilly of NBC News: ";A Donald Trump fan who participated in the Jan. 6 attack and then was the subject of a conspiracy theory on Tucker Carlson's former Fox News show was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday. Rally Runner, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly Jr., was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri, according to court records. Runner faces five federal charges, including obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Back in 2021, Joseph McBride, a lawyer who was then representing several Jan. 6 defendants, said on Carlson's show that Runner was 'clearly a law enforcement officer' and an 'agent provocateur' who had only dressed up as a Trump fan as part of a scheme to make Trump fans look bad. In fact, Runner was a real Trump fan, as well as a St. Louis Cardinals fanatic who ran around the stadium during home games, thus his name change."


Could Either of These Kids Be President When He Grows Up? Maggie Astor of the New York Times: Ron DeSantis has agreed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's challenge to a debate on Fox "News" hosted by Sean Hannity. The debate may happen in early November of this year.

Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Despite going on cable news Monday to tout the 'bombshell' testimony Devon Archer, a longtime business partner of President Joe Biden's son Hunter, would present to his House Oversight Committee, chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) skipped the hearing, The Daily Beast reported. Sources speaking to The Beast said Comer was neither present on Capitol Hill for the interview, nor did he participate remotely." MB: Wait! This was the bombshell interview that would get Joe Biden impeached, convicted, sent to prison for life or maybe hanged by the neck from the nearest cherry tree -- and Comer was MIA? Well, I nevah!

If You Thought It Was Winter in South America.... Ian Livingston of the Washington Post: "It's the middle of winter in South America, but that hasn't kept the heat away in Chile, Argentina and surrounding locations. Multiple spells of oddly hot weather have roasted the region in recent weeks. The latest spell early this week has become the most intense, pushing the mercury above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while setting an August record for Chile.... Weather historian Thierry Goose tweeted that this was an 'extraordinary winter heatwave' for Chile as the temperature climbed to 101.7 degrees (38.7 Celsius), a national record for August."

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Tuesday
Aug012023

The Conversation -- August 2, 2023

At long last, it dawns on Mike that Donald is not qualified to be president*: ~~~

Marie: Last night all the serious teevee pundits were saying what a sad day it was for America. Me? I'm with Hillary (thanks to Patrick for the link): ~~~

United States of America v. Donald J. Trump

The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. It was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant. -- Jack Smith, August 1 ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "A grand jury indicted ... Donald Trump on Tuesday for a raft of alleged crimes in his brazen efforts to overturn Joe Biden's election victory -- the latest legal and political aftershock stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol two and a half years ago. The four-count, 45-page indictment accuses Trump ... of conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiring against people's civil right to have their vote counted.... 'Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power,' the indictment charges, accusing Trump of unleashing a blizzard of false claims about purported mass voter fraud and then trying to get state, local and federal officials to act to change the vote results. 'These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,' the indictment states. 'In fact, the Defendant was notified repeatedly that his claims were untrue -- often by the people on whom he relied for candid advice on important matters, and who were best positioned to know the facts -- and he deliberately disregarded the truth.'" The AP's story is here. The New York Times story is here.

According to MSNBC, Trump has been summoned to appear in court Thursday. Update: at 4:00 pm ET.

@6:30 pm ET, MSNBC reports that AG Merrick Garland will speak within the hour. Update: Here's what Garland said, which was not much. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "In brief remarks outside an event in Philadelphia [Tuesday night], Attorney General Merrick Garland said that career employees of the Justice Department 'engaged in what has become the largest investigation in our history. In order to underline the department's commitment to accountability and independence, Mr. Smith and his team of experienced principled career agents and prosecutors have followed the facts and the law wherever they lead,' Garland ... told reporters. 'Any questions about this matter will have to be answered by the filings made.'" From the NBC News liveblog.

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump was indicted on Tuesday in connection with his widespread efforts to overturn the 2020 election following a sprawling federal investigation into his attempts to cling to power after losing the presidency to Joseph R. Biden Jr. The indictment was filed by the special counsel Jack Smith in Federal District Court in Washington. It accuses Mr. Trump of three conspiracies: one to defraud the United States, a second to obstruct an official government proceeding and a third to deprive people of civil rights provided by federal law or the Constitution.... The indictment said Mr. Trump had six co-conspirators, but it did not name them." This is a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Goldman: "Prosecutors said that Trump and his co-conspirators devised fraudulent slates of electors in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Some of the fake electors, the indictment said, were 'tricked' into participating in the scheme." ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Protess: "It's hard to imagine a more consequential case against a former president." MB: What makes it especially consequential is that for the first time in U.S. history (as far as I know) the indictment charges a president* for criminal acts committed while in office, answering the question, "Can a president* be held responsible for abuse of power?" Apparently so. ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Savage: From the indictment: "... on the pretext of baseless fraud claims, the defendant pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote; disenfranchise millions of voters; dismiss legitimate electors; and ultimately, cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors in favor of the defendant." Savage: The indictment alleges Trump is guilty of "recruiting fake electors in swing states won by Biden, trying to use the power of the Justice Department to fuel election conspiracy lies, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to delay the certification of the election or reject legitimate electors, and then exploiting the disruption caused by the Jan. 6 riot to redouble 'efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater: "... the Justice Department charged Mr. Trump with four federal crimes, including deprivation of rights under the color of law. The 45-page indictment read like a summarized version of the select committee's sprawling 845-page tome detailing Mr. Trump's myriad attempts to stay in office."

     ~~~ Maggie Astor: "Trump likened the indictment to the actions of 'Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes,' in a statement on Truth Social. [MB: Projection!] He again accused the Justice Department of corruption and said, 'These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.'" ~~~

     ~~~ William Rashbaum: "The prosecutors charged that Trump and his co-conspirators told copious lies about election fraud. These 'prolific lies' included 'dozens of specific claims that there had been substantial fraud in certain states,' they said, and 'that large numbers of dead, non-resident, non-citizen, or otherwise ineligible voters had cast ballots or that voting machines had changed votes for the defendant to votes for Biden.'"

** Here's the indictment against Trump, via CNN. The New York Times has an annotated indictment here. ~~~

     ~~~ Indictment Code: Andrew Weissmann guesses Conspirator 1 = Rudy Giuliani; Conspirator 2 = John Eastman; Conspirator 3 = Sidney Powell; Conspirator 4 = Jeff Clark; & Conspirator 5 = Kenneth Chesebro; not sure about Conspirator 6. MB: On the other hand, Weissmann mixed up COS Mark Meadows & pence's COS Marc Short & made some false assumptions based on that misreading. ~~~

     ~~~ Mystery Man. In a New York Times article identifying five of the conspirators, Alan Feuer writes, "... co-conspirator 6 is described as a 'political consultant' who helped to devise and implement the fake elector scheme. It could apply to several people who worked closely with Mr. Trump after the election." The Washington Post also cannot identify this person. CNN can't decide, either. MB: There are so many possibilities.

NBC News live updates are here.

~~~ ** CNN is reporting on-air that Trump has been indicted in four counts in the election interference case. The key charge is "conspiracy to defraud the United States." Jack Smith is expected to make a public statement within the hour. (It's now 5:40 pm ET). The other charges include "corruptly obstruct an official proceeding," and "conspiracy against the right to vote." This is a 45-page speaking indictment with new info. Six co-conspirators are designated by not named; they are not (yet) indicted.~~~

     ~~~ The judge assigned to the case is U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is an Obama appointee with a background as a public defender.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "At the core of the United States of America v. Donald J. Trump is no less than the viability of the system constructed during [the] summer [of 1787] in Philadelphia. Can a sitting president spread lies about an election and try to employ the authority of the government to overturn the will of the voters without consequence? The question would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, but the Trump case raises the kind of specter more familiar in countries with histories of coups and juntas and dictators. In effect, Jack Smith ... charged Mr. Trump with one of the most sensational frauds in the history of the United States, one 'fueled by lies' and animated by the basest of motives, the thirst for power.... The indictment wove together all the intrigue between the Nov. 3, 2020, election and the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration into a damning tale of a president who pushed in seemingly every possible way stop the handover of the White House to the challenger who beat him.... Now the justice system and the electoral system will engage in a 15-month race to see which will decide his fate first -- and the country's. The real verdict on the Trump presidency is still to come."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: As I was clicking through the "dial" Tuesday evening, I noticed that PBS News Hour was on. "Hey, let's see how the 'independent journalists' at PBS are covering the Trump indictment story. They weren't. Instead, there appeared on my teevee an extended story about how Ohio is handling the expenditure of funds allocated for anti-smoking programs. Not that this long-running tale isn't important, but I would not call it the news of the day. Rather, it reminded me of the much-ridiculed 1950s BBC stories about various rodents and rare animals that were the stock subjects of early British taxpayer-supported broadcast teevee. (In fairness to PBS, I believe they did open with a report on the indictment.)

New York. Graham Kates of CBS News: "New York Attorney General Letitia James' office says it is ready to proceed with a trial stemming from its $250 million lawsuit claiming ... Donald Trump, two of his children and his company engaged in widespread fraud.... The lawsuit is seeking $250 million and sanctions that would effectively cease the company's operations in New York.... Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump have all sat for depositions in the case. During Trump's first deposition, in August 2022, before the lawsuit was filed, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination more than 400 times.... The case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2, a date the the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, previously described as 'set in stone.' Engoron has rejected repeated attempts by Trump attorneys to push that date back."

Michigan. Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "Matthew DePerno, a key orchestrator of efforts to help ... Donald J. Trump try to overturn the 2020 election in Michigan and an unsuccessful candidate for state attorney general last year, was arraigned on four felony charges on Tuesday, according to documents released by D.J. Hilson, the special prosecutor handling the investigation. The charges against Mr. DePerno, which include undue possession of a voting machine and a conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to a computer or computer system, come after a nearly yearlong investigation in one of the battleground states that cemented the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president. Former State Representative Daire Rendon was also charged with two crimes, including a conspiracy to illegally obtain a voting machine and false pretenses." The AP's story is here.

How to Respond to Trump's Defenders. Marie: (1) If someone tells you that Trump didn't commit any crimes (for whatever reason), ask him if he's read the indictment. If the answer is "no," politely tell him he can't possibly know what he's talking about. Tell him the indictment is available online.

     (2) If someone says Trump was just exercising his First Amendment right to free speech -- as apparently Fox "News" stars & guests are currently arguing -- explain that (a) the indictment states outright that Trump has a right to lie to the public, but when he (b) switches from false statements to criminal conduct -- which the indictment spells out -- he's a criminal. That is, you can tell a lie, but you can't act on it; e.g., "I think the Vice President has the power to reject slates of electors" is protected speech. Conspiring to manufacture and submit fake slates of electors is not. You can say you would like to rob the bank; you can't rob the bank.

     (3) If someone says the whole case is a hoax devised by Joe Biden to defeat Trump in 2024, (a) tell him Joe Biden didn't pick Jack Smith, that Smith was chosen for his independence. When that fails to convince your acquaintance, (b) tell him all of the witnesses cited in the indictment are Republicans, many of them appointed to their jobs by Donald Trump. They all voted for Donald Trump, they wanted him to win, many worked to re-elect him.


New Jersey. Tracy Tulley of the New York Times reports on the sudden death of the state's Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.

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Monday
Jul312023

The Conversation -- August 1, 2023

United States v. Donald J. Trump ~~~

~~~ ** CNN is reporting on-air that Trump has been indicted in four counts in the election interference case. The key charge is "conspiracy to defraud the United States." Jack Smith is expected to make a public statement within the hour. (It's now 5:40 pm ET). The other charges include "corruptly obstruct an official proceeding," and "conspiracy against the right to vote." This is a 45-page speaking indictment with new info. Six co-conspirators are designated by not named; they are not (yet) indicted.~~~

     ~~~ The judge assigned to the case is U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is an Obama appointee with a background as a public defender.

     ~~~ MB: I'm moving this to the August 2 Conversation page.

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Here's where you are supposed to carry the load. If you've been checking in for a decade and seldom contributing, get to work. You can use any handle you please -- real, imaginary or deceptive; nobody who has put up with my typos cares about spelling, and colloquial language -- including obscenities -- is fine with me. Two rules: (1) Thou shall not speak ill of other contributors; confront their ideas and assertions, but not them; (2) if you make an assertion of fact that might be questioned, Google around for at least a quasi-reputable source and slap in (i.e., cut and paste) the URL to your source.

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Afternoon Update:

Joe Brandt of CBS News Philadelphia: "New Jersey's Lieutenant Governor, Sheila Oliver, died at age 71, her family and Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday. Oliver had been filling in as acting governor while Murphy was out of the state on a family vacation in Italy. Then on Monday, she was taken to a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue. Oliver made history in New Jersey. She was the first Black woman to be Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and only the second Black woman to lead any state legislature. Under the state constitution, Democratic Senate President Nicholas Scutari was set to serve as acting governor when Oliver became indisposed."

In the Red. Jessica Piper & Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Donald Trump's joint fundraising committee reported raising $53.8 million in the first half of the year, a long-teased figure that blows all of his Republican opponents out of the water. But the committee and its two affiliates -- the former president's official campaign and his leadership Save America PAC -- have collectively spent $57 million over the same period, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings. The spending rate threatens to put a significant strain on Trump's finances as the election gears up."

For former 20-percent-off shoppers, see Patrick's comments -- and links -- in today's Bed, Bath & Beyond/Overstock news.

Florida. As criticism erupted against Florida's public school curriculum mandates, Ron DeSantis distanced himself from the program he had championed and signed into law. All of a sudden, DeSantis blamed the new school teaching standards on "scholars." Judd Legum & others at Popular Information invite you to meet the "scholars," whom DeSantis chose to develop the black history curriculum. Not surprisingly, the "scholars" are right-wing crackpots.

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Lolita Baldor & Tara Copp of the AP: "President Joe Biden has decided to keep U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama. The choice ended months of thorny deliberations, but an Alabama lawmaker vowed to fight on. U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday that Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson's view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move."

Yes, Trump Owns "My Kevin." Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is under intense pressure from the right to do all he can to protect Donald Trump from justice and accountability. The former president's backers want McCarthy (R-Calif.) to direct the House to defund Justice Department prosecutions of Trump and to impeach President Biden, apparently to muddy the waters around Trump's culpability. A new poll from the New York Times and Siena College helps explain why McCarthy might struggle to resist this pressure. Large percentages of likely GOP primary voters appear convinced of Trump's innocence -- and a big reason for this appears to be Fox News and right-wing media." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The most corrupt aspect of this massive House effort to excuse & obscure the crimes of Donald the Dumbest Mob Boss: your tax dollars are paying for his defense.

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's political action committee, which began last year with $105 million, now has less than $4 million left in its account after paying tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for Mr. Trump and his associates. The dwindling cash reserves in Mr. Trump's PAC, called Save America, have fallen to such levels that the group has made the highly unusual request of a $60 million refund of a donation it had previously sent to a pro-Trump super PAC. This money had been intended for television commercials to help Mr. Trump's candidacy, but as he is the dominant front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, his most immediate problems appear to be legal, not political." ~~~

~~~ In fairness to Trump's PAC, it was not just wasting Trumpbots' hard-earned money on legal fees for Trump & Associates Criminal Conspiracy, LLC, it also paid $108,000 to one Hervé Pierre Braillard for "strategy consulting." That might sound reasonable until you find out that Braillard is a fashion designer who has designed gowns for Donald's wife Melanie. MB: The fee looks even less reasonable when you consider that Melanie has been mostly MIA this campaign season; I've seen a couple of "Where's Melania?" stories in the recent press.

Marie: In case you're thinking, "Yeah but, maybe Trump at least kept those classified documents safe from, like, foreign spies: ~~~

Marie: I'm thinking cute cat videos may be the way to go. How about this one? ~~~

In Case You Missed It Yesterday Afternoon:

Another "Star" GOP Witness Reveals ... an "Illusion." Zachary Cohen & Kara Scannell of CNN: "Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee on Monday that his former business partner, Hunter Biden, was selling the 'illusion' of access to his father, according to a source familiar with the closed-door interview, the latest development in the Republican-led congressional investigations into the president's son. The source also reiterated that Archer provided no evidence connecting President Joe Biden to any of his son's foreign business dealings. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat on the panel who sat through the portion of Archer's interview where he was questioned by Republicans, also said there was a lack of evidence connecting the president to his son's foreign dealings. Goldman said Archer told the panel that Hunter Biden did put his father on speaker phone in the presence of business partners, but that business was never discussed.... Goldman told reporters during a break in the hearing that Archer later said that Hunter Biden putting his father on speaker phone with business associates was 'part of the daily conversations' between father and son, adding, 'The witness was very consistent that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions." Goldman said that it is 'kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello to the people that a son is at dinner with and that is literally all the evidence is.'" Archer is awaiting incarceration on an unrelated fraud case. The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House roasted Republicans over a 'much-hyped witness' they say ended up 'debunking' claims against Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer testified for Congress behind closed doors Monday, and while Republicans have not had much to say, Democratic New York Congressman and House Oversight Committee member Rep. Dan Goldman has been outspoken in making the case that the testimony backs up the president." ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Fox News host Sean Hannity got a less-than-emphatic answer when he flat-out asked House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer if he will be able to prove allegations that President Joe Biden is guilty of participating in a bribery scheme. ~~~

Hannity: '... Do you believe that this is now officially the Joe Biden bribery allegation? And do you believe that you will be able to prove that?...'

Comer: 'I sure hope so.... And I do believe that there's a lot of smoke.'

Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "... the installation of orange security barriers near the main entrance of the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta ... was the most visible sign yet of the looming charging decision in a case that has ensnared not only [Donald] Trump but several high-profile Republicans who could either face charges or stand witness in a potential trial unlike anything seen before in this Southern metropolis.... Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis took the unusual step of publicly telegraphing that she plans to announce a charging decision in the Georgia case during the first three weeks of August, a period that opens Monday. 'The work is accomplished,' Willis (D) told Atlanta's WXIA-TV Saturday. 'We've been working for two-and-a-half years. We're ready to go.'... The county courthouse has already been subject to enhanced security because of ongoing threats to Willis and her staff -- including racist, threatening phone calls related to the election investigation....” ~~~

~~~ Sara Murray & Jason Morris of CNN: "A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, on Monday rejected efforts by Donald Trump's legal team to toss evidence in the criminal investigation into the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and to disqualify the district attorney investigating him. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney also rejected efforts by Cathy Latham, who served as one of the GOP fake electors in Georgia, to join Trump's push." The New York Times story is here.

Second Trump Co-conspirator Just Can't Find a Florida Lawyer. Shayna Jacobs & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Carlos De Oliveira -- the second person charged alongside Donald Trump in a case involving the alleged hoarding of sensitive government materials at Mar-a-Lago -- made his first court appearance here on Monday morning and was released on a personal surety bond, with an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 10. Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres read De Oliveira the charges against him and informed him of his legal rights. De Oliveira did not have an attorney who is accredited to practice in Florida, so he was unable to enter a plea before the judge. His Washington, D.C.-based attorney, John Irving, was in court with him." CNN's report is here.

So Unfa-a-a-air! David Klepper of the AP: "X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk. An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit's research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH's research publications seem intended 'to harm Twitter's business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.' Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies." MB: So free speech for racists & liars but not for anyone who writes about racists & liars. That seems reasonable.

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