June 26, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

AP: "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday blasted organizers of a weekend revolt as 'traitors' who played into the hands of Ukraine's government and its allies.... Putin said the nation had stood united, and he praised the rank and file mercenaries for not letting the situation descend into 'bloodshed.' Earlier in the day, the rebellion's leader, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, defended his short-lived insurrection. He taunted Russia's military, but said he hadn't been seeking to stage a coup against Putin. Putin did not name Prigozhin in his televised address but said organizers of the mutiny had tried to force the group's soldiers 'to shoot their own.' Putin blamed 'Russia's enemies' and said they 'miscalculated.'"

Kevin Liptak of CNN: “President Joe Biden on Monday sought to distance the United States from the weekend rebellion in Russia, insisting in his first public remarks since the episode that the West had nothing to do with the mutiny. Speaking from the White House, Biden suggested it was too early to say how the situation would unfold going forward. And he said he may speak again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to coordinate their response after conferring in a phone call Sunday.... Biden's statement reflected a carefully calibrated American response to the brief uprising by the Wagner Group that amounted to the biggest threat in years to Russian President Vladimir Putin.... In his remarks Monday, Biden laid out the thinking behind his approach, which some Republicans have criticized as overly cautious. 'We had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO. We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within the Russian system,' Biden said."

Will McDuffie & Hannah Demissie of ABC News: "Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he would seek to eliminate the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States. So-called 'birthright citizenship' has long been considered protected under the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all individuals 'born or naturalized in the United States.'... In a detailed list of immigration objectives he released on Monday, DeSantis, who also spoke to supporters and reporters in the Texas border town of Eagle Pass, pledged to take action to end the idea that the children of illegal aliens are entitled to birthright citizenship if they are born in the United States.'... Donald Trump in 2018 promised an executive order to eliminate it, a threat on which he never followed through. Trump, the current frontrunner in the Republican primary, has again promised to strike the protection if elected." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We get that you fascists don't think you have to obey the Constitution, your oath to protect the Constitution notwithstanding. But the clear language of the 14th Amendment on this point gives you no wiggle-room. You'll have to suspend the Constitution and declare marshal law to pull this off.

"Decimation!" Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Former President Trump railed against the electric vehicle industry during a speech to Michigan Republicans on Sunday, warning them that the state's auto industry is at risk under President Biden. 'Biden is a catastrophe for Michigan and his environmental extremism is heartless and disloyal and horrible for the American worker and you're starting to see it,' Trump said in a keynote address to Oakland County Republicans in Michigan on Sunday. 'Driven by his ridiculous regulations, electric cars will kill more than half of U.S. auto jobs and decimate the suppliers that they decimated already -- decimate the suppliers, and it's going to decimate your jobs and it's going to decimate more than anybody else, the state of Michigan,' he added. 'It's is going to be decimation. It's going to be at a level that that people can't even imagine.... The state of Michigan is going to be decimation,' he added." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm sure Trump's "concern" about Michigan's "decimation" has nothing whatever to do with his and Jared's ties to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries. Oh, and never mind that Michigan's auto workers are quite as capable of building EVs as they are of building gas-guzzlers. See also Forrest M.'s comment below.

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Louisiana congressional map to be redrawn to add another majority-Black district. The justices reversed plans to hear the case themselves and lifted a hold they placed on a lower court's order for a reworked redistricting regime. There were no noted dissents. 'Today's decision follows on the heels of the court's 5-4 ruling earlier this month holding that Alabama also has to re-draw its congressional district maps to include a second majority-minority district,' said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst.... 'And like the Alabama ruling, it doesn't explain why the court nevertheless had issued emergency relief to allow Louisiana to use its unlawful maps during the 2022 midterm cycle,' Vladeck added. 'It puts the court's interventions last year into ever-sharper perspective.'"

Tobi Raji, et al., of the Washington Post: "Newly released and previously unreported court documents that belonged to Justice John Paul Stevens, who led the [Supreme Court]'s liberal wing, show just how aware the justices were of charges that the appearance of impropriety could shake the public's faith in the institution. They also show just how quick they were to push back against these concerns." MB: The reporters fail to point out one jarring difference between then and now: even when the confederate justices back then decided their own ethics were fine, they at least debated issues of recusal with their colleagues. Clarence & Sam take their filthy lucre in secret, then decide all on their own that they're above reproach -- at least as far as we know.

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Jesse Eisenger & Stephen Engelberg of Propublica examine Justice Sam Alito's Wall Street Journal "prebuttal" to their report on the gift of a luxury Alaska vacation by hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, who would soon have business before the Court. "It does not appear that the editors at the Journal made much of an effort to fact-check Alito's assertions.... Journalists [including former WSJ reporters] were ... sharply critical of the decision to help the subject of another news organization's investigation 'pre-but' the findings[,] especially since some of Alito's assertions didn't make much sense to the public who had not read ProPublica's report]." Moreover, Patricia McCabe, the Supreme Court's spokesperson, was cagey in her contacts with ProPublica, such as when she asked the reporters to tell her when their story would go to print. MB: Clearly, Alito has brought more shame upon a court that already was in trouble. How now, John Roberts? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has been arguing for years that a flood of 'dark money' flowing through right-wing front groups has corrupted the Supreme Court. Never has there been more evidence to bolster his claim.... [In a phone conversation with me,] the senator ticked off the problems with Alito's [WSJ] argument: factual omissions (e.g., the standard for exempt gifts does not include transportation); Alito's lame effort to turn an airplane into a 'facility' to jam it into an exempt-gift category ('It doesn't pass the laugh test,' Whitehouse said); Alito's plea that he couldn't possibly have known Singer had a financial stake ($2 billion) in the outcome of a case before the court (although it was widely reported in the media); and the insistence that yet another billionaire was a 'friend,' which somehow absolved him from his obligation to report gifts of 'hospitality.' And, Whitehouse argued, it strains credulity that Alito (like Justice Clarence Thomas) could be confused about reporting requirements when there is a Financial Disclosure Committee expressly set up to help judges navigate these issues.... The best argument for court reform comes from Alito, whose arrogant, slipshod and unconvincing defense makes him the poster boy for serious court reform." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Randy is so disrespectful! ~~~

Presidential Race 2024

"You're Fat!" "Yeah? You're Fat!" David Cohen of Politico: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday mocked Donald Trump ... for Trump's recent quips about his weight. 'Oh, like he's some Adonis?' he said to host Howard Kurtz on Fox News' 'Media Buzz'... Calling Trump 'a bully on the schoolyard,' Christie added: 'Here's my message to him: I don't care what he says about me, and I don't care what he thinks about me, and he should take a look in the mirror every once in a while -- maybe he'd drop the weight thing off of his list of criticisms.'" MB: This is the perfect debate to have in a party that doesn't care a whit about ordinary Americans.

Shane Goldmacher & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Facing multiple intensifying investigations..., Donald J. Trump has quietly begun diverting more of the money he is raising away from his 2024 presidential campaign and into a political action committee that he has used to pay his personal legal fees.... When Mr. Trump kicked off his 2024 campaign in November, for every dollar raised online, 99 cents went to his campaign, and a penny went to Save America. But internet archival records show that sometime in February or March, he adjusted that split. Now his campaign's share has been reduced to 90 percent of donations, and 10 percent goes to Save America."

Ret. Judge Michael Luttig (Very-R) in a New York Times op-ed: Republicans' "fawning support since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has given Mr. Trump every reason to believe that he can ride these [espionage] charges and any others not just to the Republican nomination, but also to the White House in 2024.... As only the Republicans can do, they are already turning this ignominious moment into an even more ignominious moment -- and a self-immolating one at that -- by rushing to crown Mr. Trump their nominee before the primary season even begins.... It's finally time for [Republicans] to put the country before their party and pull back from the brink -- for the good of the party, as well as the nation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Steve Contorno of CNN: "In his early outreach to Republican voters as a presidential candidate, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis [R-Fla.] has portrayed himself as a fighter and, crucially, a winner in the cultural battles increasingly important to conservatives. If elected to the White House, he'll take those fights to Washington, he has said.... But back in Florida, the agenda at the centerpiece of his pitch remains unsettled. Still ongoing are more than a dozen legal battles testing the constitutionality of many of the victories DeSantis has touted on the campaign trail. Critics say DeSantis has built his governorship around enacting laws that appeal to his conservative base but that, as a Harvard-trained lawyer, he knows are unconstitutional and not likely to take effect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "A worker at San Antonio's international airport died after being sucked into a jet's engine late on Friday, officials said. A source briefed directly on the case told the Guardian on Sunday that it appeared the worker had 'intentionally stepped in front of the live engine' on the jet and that police were investigating that aspect. But the cause of the worker's death hadn't officially been determined on Sunday.... Officials added that the worker --; whose identity has not been publicly released -- was ingested into the one engine which the plane in question had on at the time."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "The brief rebellion in Russia 'raises profound questions' about the country's stability, [U.S. Secretary of State Antony] Blinken said. Blinken and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attributed the revolt, at least in part, to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.... Rescuers in Kyiv on Sunday were searching for people trapped underneath the rubble of a building after an airstrike that killed five people over the weekend." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here: "Russia on Monday released video of Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu for the first time since the short-lived uprising by the Wagner mercenary group over the weekend, saying he had met with forces in occupied Ukraine. The Defense Ministry did not specify when or where the visit occurred." ~~~

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

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, a day after Russian mercenary forces reversed their plans to march on Moscow, Zelenskky said. The White House confirmed the call on Sunday afternoon. Zelenskyy and Biden discussed 'the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia,' Zelenskyy said in a post on Twitter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Confusion and uncertainty pervaded Russia on Sunday, with neither President Vladimir V. Putin nor Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of a mutinous mercenary group, appearing anywhere in public a day after the most profound government crisis in three decades -- an open military rebellion -- appeared defused. Even as state television tried to trumpet the fact that Russian unity and 'maturity' had prevailed, independent commentators assessing the damage concluded that Mr. Putin's aura of infallibility and invincibility had been punctured.... Aside from Mr. Putin, neither Sergei K. Shoigu, the minister of defense, nor Valery V. Gerasimov, the military chief of staff, had put in a public appearance since the uprising started on Friday night. Many heads of the country's security services also proved invisible.... The rebellion, even if aborted, may now affect Russia's global standing as partners like China reassess the strength of Mr. Putin's authority." ~~~

~~~ Anthony Faiola, et al., of the Washington Post: "Within Russia, hard-line military bloggers, meanwhile, lampooned the harried 'defense' of Moscow. And in Western capitals, intelligence analysts pondered whether Putin had declined to arrest Prigozhin because he feared his officers might refuse his order.... The fact that Moscow relied on [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko, seen by some as a pale puppet of Putin, to defuse the crisis raised eyebrows and questions about long-standing assumptions on the extent of Putin's authority." ~~~

~~~ AP: "... the short-lived revolt has weakened President Vladimir Putin just as his forces are facing a fierce counteroffensive in Ukraine.... It was not yet clear what the fissures opened by the 24-hour rebellion would mean for the war in Ukraine. But it resulted in some of the best forces fighting for Russia being pulled from the battlefield: the Wagner troops, who had shown their effectiveness in scoring the Kremlin's only land victory in months, in Bakhmut, and Chechen soldiers sent to stop them on the approach to Moscow. The Wagner forces' largely unopposed, rapid advance also exposed vulnerabilities in Russia's security and military forces. The mercenary soldiers were reported to have downed several helicopters and a military communications plane."

Greece. Elinda Labropoulou of CNN: "Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greece's center-right New Democracy party, has won a second four-year term as prime minister. Mitsotakis is now set to return to the prime minister's office in a stronger position with his party's resounding victory in Sunday's elections, which were dominated by financial stability and cost-of-living issues.... Mitsotakis, at the helm during the Covid-19 pandemic and Europe's energy crisis, had positioned himself as a safe pair of hands to boost growth in difficult global circumstances. His government staged a stunning turnaround in the economy, now on the brink of returning to investment grade on the global market for the first time since it lost market access in 2010." The New York Times story is here.

News Lede

CNN: "James Crown, a billionaire businessman who held several leadership roles including board member of JPMorgan Chase, died Sunday in a racing accident in Colorado. Crown, who also turned 70 on Sunday, died in the single-vehicle crash after colliding with an impact barrier at Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colorado, The Colorado Sun reported. Among his many roles, Crown was chairman and CEO of his family business, the investment firm Henry Crown and Company. In addition to serving on the JPMorgan board, he was also a board director at General Dynamics. Crown had served on JPMorgan's board since the early 1990s." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently the way we're reducing the number of billionaires is that they're killing themselves in feats of derring-do. It seems to me it would be better to just tax the hell out of them so they might live on with the rest of us.

June 25, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, a day after Russian mercenary forces reversed their plans to march on Moscow, Zelenskky said. The White House confirmed the call on Sunday afternoon. Zelenskyy and Biden discussed 'the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia,' Zelenskyy said in a post on Twitter."

Ret. Judge Michael Luttig (Very-R) in a New York Times op-ed: Republicans' "fawning support since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has given Mr. Trump every reason to believe that he can ride these [espionage] charges and any others not just to the Republican nomination, but also to the White House in 2024.... As only the Republicans can do, they are already turning this ignominious moment into an even more ignominious moment -- and a self-immolating one at that -- by rushing to crown Mr. Trump their nominee before the primary season even begins.... It's finally time for [Republicans] to put the country before their party and pull back from the brink -- for the good of the party, as well as the nation."

Jesse Eisenger & Stephen Engelberg of Propublica examine Justice Sam Alito's Wall Street Journal "prebuttal" to their report on the gift of a luxury Alaska vacation by hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, who would soon have business before the Court. "It does not appear that the editors at the Journal made much of an effort to fact-check Alito's assertions.... Journalists [including former WSJ reporters] were ... sharply critical of the decision to help the subject of another news organization's investigation 'pre-but' the findings[,] especially since some of Alito's assertions didn't make much sense to the public who had not read ProPublica's report]." Moreover, Patricia McCabe, the Supreme Court's spokesperson, was cagey in her contacts with ProPublica, such as when she asked the reporters to tell her when their story would go to print. MB: Clearly, Alito has brought more shame upon a court that already was in trouble. How now, John Roberts? ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has been arguing for years that a flood of 'dark money' flowing through right-wing front groups has corrupted the Supreme Court. Never has there been more evidence to bolster his claim.... [In a phone conversation with me,] the senator ticked off the problems with Alito's [WSJ] argument: factual omissions (e.g., the standard for exempt gifts does not include transportation); Alito's lame effort to turn an airplane into a 'facility' to jam it into an exempt-gift category ('It doesn't pass the laugh test,' Whitehouse said); Alito's plea that he couldn't possibly have known Singer had a financial stake ($2 billion) in the outcome of a case before the court (although it was widely reported in the media); and the insistence that yet another billionaire was a 'friend,' which somehow absolved him from his obligation to report gifts of 'hospitality.' And, Whitehouse argued, it strains credulity that Alito (like Justice Clarence Thomas) could be confused about reporting requirements when there is a Financial Disclosure Committee expressly set up to help judges navigate these issues.... The best argument for court reform comes from Alito, whose arrogant, slipshod and unconvincing defense makes him the poster boy for serious court reform."

Steve Contorno of CNN: "In his early outreach to Republican voters as a presidential candidate, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis [R-Fla.] has portrayed himself as a fighter and, crucially, a winner in the cultural battles increasingly important to conservatives. If elected to the White House, he'll take those fights to Washington, he has said.... But back in Florida, the agenda at the centerpiece of his pitch remains unsettled. Still ongoing are more than a dozen legal battles testing the constitutionality of many of the victories DeSantis has touted on the campaign trail. Critics say DeSantis has built his governorship around enacting laws that appeal to his conservative base but that, as a Harvard-trained lawyer, he knows are unconstitutional and not likely to take effect."

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The New York Times has a tick-tock of how the shortest revolution went. ~~~

~~~ Here's the New York Times liveblog for today on the shortlived insurrection of Yevgeny Prigozhin: "The strongest challenge to President Vladimir V. Putin's rule was defused, but there were new questions about his authority and the country's war in Ukraine. In many ways, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Wagner chief who led an armed uprising against the military's leadership for nearly 24 hours, punctured Mr. Putin's strongman authority and aura of infallibility. His blistering criticism and brazen actions called into question Russia's justifications for its war in Ukraine and the competency of its military leadership.... Both Mr. Putin's and Mr. Prigozhin's current locations remain unknown.... The future of the Wagner group and Mr. Prigozhin's continued role in it remains unclear." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for today are here: "Some 12 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin described the rebellion by Wagner mercenaries as 'a stab in the back' for Russia and a 'betrayal,' promising to crush them, group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin left the southern town of Rostov-on-Don with a column of tanks and armored vehicles to cheering crowds.... On Saturday night, people dashed forward to shake Prigozhin's hand as he departed the city or clamored for selfies, an upwelling of what appeared to be spontaneous support of a kind rarely seen in Russia after more than 20 years of Putin's authoritarian rule.... Video also emerged of the return of Russian police to the streets of Rostov early Sunday to restore control after Wagner's departure. A crowd chanted 'Shame! Shame!' and some yelled that the police were 'Traitors!'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's liveblog for Sunday is here. The Guardian's main story is here. ~~~

~~~ From Saturday's the New York Times liveblog on the shortest Russian revolution, a skirmish which seems not to have lasted long: "The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, minutes after the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, said he had successfully negotiated with the Wagner boss. The statements offered the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia's government could be resolved without armed fighting between Russian authorities and Mr. Prigozhin's forces. But Mr. Prigozhin did not say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a Russian military hub he has seized. In an audio statement posted to Telegram, Mr. Prigozhin said his forces were within 200 kilometers, or about 125 miles, of Moscow, and had reached that point without any bloodshed among his fighters. 'Now the moment has come when blood could be shed,' Mr. Prigozhin said. 'So, understanding all responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be spilled, on one side, we are turning around our column and are leaving in the opposite direction to field camps in accordance with the plan.'" The liveblog includes a map that shows how far the Wagner troops had got on the road to Moscow before the stand-down. It appears they were more than half-way there. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ NYT liveblog update: "... Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped. The Wagner fighters who didn't participate in the uprising would be given the option of signing Russian Defense Ministry contracts, Mr. Peskov said, and the rest would avoid prosecution, considering their 'heroic deeds on the front.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "American intelligence officials briefed senior military and administration officials on Wednesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, was preparing to take military action against senior Russian defense officials, according to officials familiar with the matter. U.S. spy agencies had indications days earlier that Mr. Prigozhin was planning something and worked to refine that material into a finished assessment, officials said.... The information that the long-running feud between Mr. Prigozhin, who got his start as 'Putin's chef' in St. Petersburg, and Russian defense officials was about to devolve into conflict was considered both solid and alarming. Mr. Prigozhin is known for his brutality, and had he succeeded in ousting the officials, he would likely have been an unpredictable leader. And the possibility that a major nuclear-armed rival of the United States could descend into internal chaos carried with it a new set of risks." CNN's story is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... even with the apparent end to the immediate threat posed by Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellious mercenary army, the short-lived uprising suggested that Mr. Putin's hold on power is more tenuous than at any time since he took office more than two decades ago. The aftermath of the mutiny leaves President Biden and American policymakers with both opportunity and danger in perhaps the most volatile moment since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine. Disarray in Russia could lead to a breakdown of its war effort just as Ukrainian forces are mounting their long-awaited counteroffensive, but officials in Washington remained nervous about an unpredictable, nuclear-armed Mr. Putin feeling vulnerable.... The armed standoff on the road to Moscow, brief as it was, represented the most dramatic struggle for power in Russia since the 1991 failed hard-liner coup against Mikhail Gorbachev and the 1993 showdown between Boris Yeltsin and parliament....

"[President] Biden responded to the crisis by not responding, opting for caution rather than speaking out, which would risk giving Mr. Putin ammunition to claim this was all a foreign plot.... Mr. Biden delayed his departure for Camp David to convene a secure video briefing with top advisers in the Ward Room of the White House -- a makeshift Situation Room while the real one is being renovated -- and also spoke with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Appearing at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gala in Washington on Saturday night, [Donald Trump] cited his appointment of three of the six justices who voted to strike down the law as a capstone of his presidency. And he cast himself as an unflinching crusader for the Christian right in a meandering speech that lasted nearly 90 minutes. 'No president has ever fought for Christians as hard as I have,' he said, adding, 'I got it done, and nobody thought it was even a possibility.'... Several times in his speech on Saturday night, Mr. Trump sought to align himself with the faith community and said that it was under attack, much like he was. 'Together, we're warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists and the Marxists,' he said. In a speech at the gathering a day earlier, [Mike] Pence called on the entire 2024 Republican presidential field to pledge support for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks -- a ban more extreme than what Mr. Trump has backed so far." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump characterizes himself as "fighting for Christians," but a significant number of Christians oppose the repeal of Roe.

Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "At least seven cars from a freight train tumbled into the Yellowstone River in Montana on Saturday after a derailment and a bridge collapse, causing asphalt and molten sulfur cargo to spill into the water, the authorities said. Officials were investigating whether the derailment or the bridge collapse happened first, as well as how much of the cargo had spread into the river." The ABC News story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Colbi Edmonds of the New York Times: "Three San Antonio police officers were charged with murder on Friday after police shot and killed a 46-year-old woman, who swung a hammer in their direction and appeared to be in distress, in her home, officials said. The three officers, Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos, have been suspended without pay and were taken into custody on Friday. They have been with the San Antonio Police Department for 14, five and two years."

Way Beyond

Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "The story of how as many as 750 migrants came to board a rickety blue fishing trawler and end up in one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks is bigger than any one of the victims.... About half the passengers are believed to have been from Pakistan. The country's interior minister said Friday that an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board, and that many may have died.... This account of what pushed them to risk a notoriously dangerous crossing is based on interviews with survivors in Greece and relatives of the dead in Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

June 24, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Here's the latest news from the New York Times liveblog (also linked below) on the latest Russian revolution, a skirmish which seems not to have lasted long: "The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, minutes after the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, said he had successfully negotiated with the Wagner boss. The statements offered the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia's government could be resolved without armed fighting between Russian authorities and Mr. Prigozhin's forces. But Mr. Prigozhin did not say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a Russian military hub he has seized. In an audio statement posted to Telegram, Mr. Prigozhin said his forces were within 200 kilometers, or about 125 miles, of Moscow, and had reached that point without any bloodshed among his fighters. 'Now the moment has come when blood could be shed,' Mr. Prigozhin said. 'So, understanding all responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be spilled, on one side, we are turning around our column and are leaving in the opposite direction to field camps in accordance with the plan.'" The liveblog includes a map that shows how far the Wagner troops had got on the road to Moscow before the stand-down. It appears they were more than half-way there. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ NYT liveblog update: "... Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped. The Wagner fighters who didn't participate in the uprising would be given the option of signing Russian Defense Ministry contracts, Mr. Peskov said, and the rest would avoid prosecution, considering their 'heroic deeds on the front.'"

Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "The story of how as many as 750 migrants came to board a rickety blue fishing trawler and end up in one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks is bigger than any one of the victims.... About half the passengers are believed to have been from Pakistan. The country's interior minister said Friday that an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board, and that many may have died.... This account of what pushed them to risk a notoriously dangerous crossing is based on interviews with survivors in Greece and relatives of the dead in Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt...."

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Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden denounced on Friday new restrictions on abortion imposed in Republican-led states in the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and warned that the right to privacy, which has been the foundation for other rights like same-sex marriage and access to birth control, could be at risk next if Democrats do not win next year's elections. Marking Saturday's anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision eliminating a national right to abortion for women, Mr. Biden decried its 'devastating effects,' telling an abortion rights rally that women had been deprived of basic health care and noting that some leading Republicans, not content to leave the issue to the states as they had long advocated, are now seeking a national ban on the procedure. 'They're not stopping here,' said Mr. Biden, who was joined at the rally by his wife, Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff. 'Make no mistake, this election is about freedom on the ballot.' The president collected the endorsement of the nation's leading abortion rights groups, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America. While the endorsement was hardly a surprise, the early timing underscored the role that Democrats believe abortion rights will play in next year's election." More on the effects of Dobbs linked below.

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland defended the Justice Department's five-year investigation of Hunter Biden on Friday, forcefully rebutting claims promoted by House Republicans that he blocked federal prosecutors in Delaware from expanding the inquiry to encompass a greater range of crimes. On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two I.R.S. officials who said that David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware who has overseen the inquiry, told them that Justice Department officials prevented him from bringing cases in Washington, D.C., and California. The I.R.S. officials also claimed in their testimony that Mr. Weiss told them that he was rebuffed in his request to be appointed a special counsel.... Mr. Garland denied both assertions during a news conference at the department's headquarters, saying he had given Mr. Weiss 'complete authority' to 'continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.'... Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss have both made public statements that Mr. Weiss had full authority over the case." Read on for more details. (Also linked yesterday.)

Niall Stanage of the Hill: "A quixotic push by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to impeach President Biden was placed on the back burner Thursday. But even some Republican insiders fear the damage might already have been done. Boebert, one of the fiercest among the GOP's right-wing firebrands, surprised many of her colleagues by introducing an impeachment resolution earlier this week. The move caused disarray in the House Republican conference and the furor was only defused with a deal to send the resolution for consideration by committees.... But [Boebert] is insistent that, if it becomes clear the gambit is solely about delay, she will bring up her resolution 'every day for the rest of my time here in Congress.'... Democrats are ... convinced that the politics of the matter will play to their advantage." (Also linked yesterday.)

Everybody Is Fed Up with Sen. Potato Head. Al Weaver of the Hill: "The chance that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) will lift his hold on military promotions over the Pentagon's abortion policy anytime soon has dimmed drastically as Senate Republicans struggle to make a deal with him to end the months-long saga.... As of this week, Tuberville is holding up 250 promotions for general and flag officers that are normally approved on the Senate floor via unanimous consent, and the anger among Democrats has not dissipated.... President Biden and the Pentagon also heaped more pressure on Tuberville this week. The president referred to the 'former football coach from Alabama' during a fundraiser in Los Gatos, Calif., earlier this week, calling his hold 'bizarre.'" MB: Maybe if the Senate dining room served baked potato heads, Tuberville would take the hint. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Michael Roman, a top official in ... Donald J. Trump's 2020 campaign, is in discussions with the office of the special counsel Jack Smith that could soon lead to Mr. Roman voluntarily answering questions about a plan to create slates of pro-Trump electors in key swing states that were won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a person familiar with the matter. If Mr. Roman ends up giving the interview -- known as a proffer -- to prosecutors working for Mr. Smith, it would be the first known instance of cooperation by someone with direct knowledge of the so-called fake elector plan. That plan has long been at the center of Mr. Smith's investigation into Mr. Trump's wide-ranging efforts to overturn the 2020 election."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... A parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.... Prosecutors have played hardball with some of the witnesses in recent weeks, refusing to grant extensions to grand jury subpoenas for testimony and demanding they comply before the end of this month, sources said. In the situations where prosecutors have given witnesses immunity, the special counsel's office arrived at the courthouse in Washington ready to compel their testimony after the witnesses indicated they would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment, the sources added.... The two Nevada Trump electors who were given the limited immunity -- the state's Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and another Nevada GOP official, Jim DeGraffenreid -- both testified before the grand jury last week." (Also linked yesterday.)

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Attorney John "Eastman faces 11 charges from the California State Bar, most concerning his lawyerly lies about election fraud. Importantly, the bar also accused Eastman of advising Vice President Mike Pence that a fabricated legal rationale empowered him to reverse or delay the presidential electoral count in Congress.... If Eastman is disbarred for that charge, it would be genuinely novel.... In a dramatic moment, lawyer Greg Jacob -- who advised Pence to resist pressure from Trump to halt the electoral count -- testified that Eastman's invented legal theory had inspired the Jan. 6 rioters.... Trump's coup-plotters carried out all manner of other corrupt acts, yet none has faced serious professional discomfort."

David McAfee of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's ally and attorney Sidney Powell is among those who Friday largely lost their bid to overturn sanctions related to frivolous claims made in election fraud lawsuits challenging the 2020 results in Michigan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a lower court mostly got it right when it sanctioned Powell and other attorneys in connection with false claims made in an attempt to reverse the election in favor of Trump. The news comes a month after Powell and other attorneys were hit with a lawsuit by a Michigan attorney regulations agency alleging they committed professional misconduct."

Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Infowars host Owen Shroyer, who promoted baseless claims of 2020 election fraud on the far-right internet platform, pleaded guilty on Friday to joining the mob of Donald Trump supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol. Shroyer, who didn't enter the Capitol but led rioters in chants near the top of the building's steps, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering a restricted area.... U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly scheduled a Sept. 12 sentencing hearing for the 33-year-old Shroyer, who has hosted a daily show called 'The War Room With Owen Shroyer' for the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones."

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Jack Smith, the special counsel, has asked a federal judge to move back the start of the trial of ... Donald J. Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in the classified documents case from August to Dec. 11, according to a Justice Department filing made public late Friday. The Justice Department proposal still calls for a relatively speedy timetable; Judge Aileen M. Cannon's earlier ruling set the initial trial date at Aug. 14, but it was considered something of an administrative place holder, with both sides anticipating significant procedural delays.... Mr. Smith and his team argued in the filing that the trial should still be fast-tracked despite its enormous political implications, because it 'involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law,' nor is it particularly 'unusual or complex' from a legal perspective."

Vaughn Hillyard & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Former President Trump spoke on Thursday at a fundraiser on behalf of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... 'I'm going to make a contribution,' Trump told the gathering hosted at his own private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The group, Patriot Freedom Project, included at least one actual defendant along with multiple family members of those charged in the attack. An attendee of the fundraiser verified a video posted online of Trump's remarks. The former president heralded the defendants.... Trump said ... that 'BLM and antifa' were behind the Capitol attack." MB: Don't hold your breaths, you reprobates, waiting for the contribution. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Mangan of CNBC: “Donald Trump put up $5.6 million as security while the former president appeals a civil verdict that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her decades later, a court filing Friday revealed. If Trump loses the appeal, Carroll will collect the $5 million a jury awarded her in the case in May, or any adjusted judgment, according to a joint stipulation submitted by his lawyers and attorneys for Carroll.... Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the arrangement later Friday afternoon. After news of the deal broke, the attorney George Conway, a harsh critic of Trump, tweeted 'He. Couldn't. Get. A. Bond.'... Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina ... said Trump 'didn't want to waste the money on securing a bond,' which would have required Trump to pay the bond guarantor a premium for the service, which typically is 1% of the value of the bond."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday boosted President Biden's authority to focus the government's immigration enforcement policies on those who are a threat or recently entered the country, and said states generally lacked the legal standing to challenge the federal government's priorities on whom to arrest or prosecute. It was the court's second decision in a year that affirmed the executive branch's power in matters of immigration. In this case, the justices said the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to focus on arresting recent border crossers and those who commit violent crimes, rather than the millions of other noncitizens who have lived here for years. The Biden administration policy is a departure from that of the Trump administration, which said anyone in the country illegally could be targeted for deportation.... Friday's decision was 8-1, with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. the lone dissenter." Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion. CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court avoided a difficult First Amendment question on Friday, ruling that an unusual 1986 federal law that makes it a crime to 'encourage' or 'induce' unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States should be read narrowly to require complicity in a criminal conduct. A broader interpretation of the law would give rise to constitutional concerns, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in the 7-to-2 decision. She added that the law's key words were terms of art used in a 'specialized, criminal-law sense' and mean something different than they do in ordinary usage. For purposes of the law, she wrote, the terms require proof of solicitation or facilitation of a crime.... In dissent on Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor, rejected the majority's approach and said the court should have struck down the law on First Amendment grounds. She gave ... examples of the law's sweep if its words bore their ordinary meaning."

Confederate Supremes Knock Down Part of the Sixth Amendment. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of an American who participated in a plot to assassinate a real estate agent in the Philippines in 2012, rejecting his claim that his constitutional rights had been violated in allowing testimony about a confession from an accomplice.... The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's Republican appointees in the majority and its Democratic appointees in dissent." Thomas wrote the majority opinion.... 'Now, defendants in joint trials will not have the chance to confront some of the most damaging witnesses against them. And a constitutional right once guaranteeing that opportunity will no longer. It will become, in joint trials, a shell of its former self,' [Justice Kagan wrote.]"

Allison McCann & Amy Walker of the New York Times: "In the year since Roe fell, 20 states enacted laws banning or restricting abortion, forcing a rapid shift in the country's patchwork of abortion access. Clinic owners scrambled to adjust, canceling appointments and helping patients travel elsewhere. Some clinics relocated, while others stayed open to provide the services they still could. Many simply closed, leaving behind empty buildings.... At least 61 clinics, Planned Parenthood facilities and doctors' offices stopped offering abortions in the last year. Most were in the 14 states that banned abortion outright. But the uncertainty surrounding laws in several other states also caused providers there to shut down. Physicians said the laws in some states were unclear. Others pointed to the possibility of criminal penalties, including prison time, making the prospect of offering abortion services risky. About half of the clinics have shifted their focus to other services, such as birth control and prenatal care.... At least a dozen providers moved and opened new clinics in friendlier states." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Alito Five Don't Care about Truth OR Consequences. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The crisis in reproductive health care that Dobbs propelled is acute and growing. There have been, in other words, alarming consequences.... And so the question: A year after sowing so much chaos and misery, are any of the five members in Justice Samuel Alito's Dobbs majority sorry? Even a little?... Valuing fetal life over the lives of women and girls was no doubt a feature, not a bug, in the majority's view; that was, after all, the point of Dobbs.... So, no, I don't think the Dobbs justices are sorry. They did what they were put there to do, what they wanted to do, and they were quite explicit in washing their hands of the consequences." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Earlier this week, ProPublica, which had previously exposed the bottomless corruption of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, scored another big hit on Justice Samuel Alito, who is best known for citing a medieval witch-burner as a legal authority in his Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.... The details are infuriating, but not surprising because Alito tried to get ahead of the story by writing a 'prebuttal' for the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, which ended up reading as a confession to deep and long-standing corruption.... What was really remarkable to me was just how whiny Alito's op-ed read.... Alito expects women to stoically undergo forced childbirth as penance for the sin of fornication, but when asked to be a little less greedy, he reacts like he just got framed for murder.... But while Alito is an especially comical example, the grim truth is that 'petulant crybaby' is the dominant personality trait of the conservative justices, now a majority." Marcotte points out how Leonard Leo is acting as matchmaker between confederate justices and billionaires. "Slate's Dahlia Lithwick concurs: 'It's like the oligarch Big Brothers program for underprivileged jurists who just want to live large on the hog.'... Well-heeled puffery makes it much easier to buy your own hype. The side effect, of course, is a dramatically weakened ability to handle criticism."

** Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "On one vessel, five people died on a very expensive excursion that was supposed to return them to the lives they knew. On the other, perhaps 500 people died just days earlier on a squalid and perilous voyage, fleeing poverty and violence in search of new lives. After contact was lost with the five inside a submersible descending to the Titanic, multiple countries and private entities sent ships, planes and underwater drones to pursue a faint hope of rescue. That was far more effort than was made on behalf of the hundreds aboard a dangerously overcrowded, disabled fishing trawler off the Greek coast while there were still ample chances for rescue. And it was the lost submersible, the Titan, that drew enormous attention from news organizations worldwide and their audiences, far more than the boat that sank in the Mediterranean and the Greek Coast Guard's failure to help before it capsized.... The contrast between the two disasters, and how they were handled, has fueled a discussion around the world in which some see harsh realities about class and ethnicity." ~~~

~~~ Ben Brasch, et al., of the Washington Post: "The catastrophic implosion that killed all five people aboard a submersible vessel is likely to intensify calls for stronger regulations and oversight of an industry that has long operated in a legal gray area, experts say.... Maritime regulation experts and experienced mariners say the material and shape of the vessel gave them concern. They also said OceanGate shouldn't have eschewed the typical inspection process by independent agencies, which is not legally mandated but routinely followed by others in the submersible community. Past lawsuits also raised questions about OceanGate's safety standards.... The company's missions fell outside any single country's jurisdiction, said Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime historian with Campbell University. The American-made Titan was diving into international waters after launching from the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday that it had dispatched a team to investigate the Canadian ship's involvement." ~~~

Alex Horton & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "It appears ... that the Canadian government deployed more assets to the search area than the United States did, a function of Canada's proximity to the site and the time required to dispatch vessels.... The complete costs, and who ultimately pays them, are unknown and depend on several factors. The search employed private companies and research vessels carrying remote operated vehicles, including the one that ultimately found the Titan. It is unclear if the U.S. government will pay those entities, but it is possible if the Defense Department put them under contract..."

Okay, Class, Give Us an Example of “Dripping with Irony.” Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: “Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School ... [has been accused of fabricating] results in multiple studies, including at least one purporting to show how to elicit honest behavior.... Maurice Schweitzer, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School..., said that he was now going through the eight papers on which he collaborated with Dr. Gino for indications of fraud, and that many other scholars were doing so as well.”

Presidential Race 2024. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s supporters created a super PAC last month called 'Heal the Divide,' touting the 2024 presidential candidate as the only one who can 'unite the Nation to start healing America.' But, while RFK Jr. is running as a Democratic, the PAC's founders have deep ties' to far-right Trump-supporting Republicans, Rolling Stone reported.... Rolling Stone reports that other MAGA figures are backing RFK Jr.'s run against [President] Biden. 'MAGA influencers and longtime Trump associates such as Roger Stone have praised Kennedy's candidacy as a way to "soften Joe Biden up,'" Rolling Stone's report stated. 'Former top Trump political adviser and campaign strategist Steve Bannon also reportedly spent 'months' encouraging Kennedy to run...."

The Pandemic, Ctd. Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Freshly declassified U.S. government intelligence about the origins of the covid-19 pandemic reveals some new insights into China's virus research but no additional clarity about how the global outbreak began and is unlikely to settle that debate, which has exacerbated tensions between Washington and Beijing and fueled a heated dispute among scientists, lawmakers and government officials."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona on Friday stripped local prosecutors of the power to criminally charge abortion providers, a move aimed at protecting abortion rights in a narrowly divided political battleground. An executive order signed by Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat, would take authority away from elected county attorneys, a largely Republican group, and transfer it to Arizona's attorney general, a Democrat who has vowed not to prosecute abortion providers. Abortion-rights groups applauded the governor's move as a 'promising and welcome' measure in a state with a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy." The Hill's report is here.

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida temporarily blocked a new law allowing the state to penalize businesses that admit children to 'adult live performances' such as drag shows.... Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the Federal District Court in Orlando issued a preliminary injunction blocking the new law, which went into effect last month.... The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the measure in April. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is running for president and has made anti-L.G.B.T.Q. policies central to his agenda, signed the legislation in late May.... Judge Presnell's ruling ... on Friday found that existing obscenity laws already gave the state the authority necessary to protect children. In the 24-page ruling, he also found that the state failed to narrowly tailor the law, and that its broad attempt to regulate content would very likely violate the First Amendment's free speech protections." An NBC News story is here.

New York. Jonah Bromwich & Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Amid a suicide crisis in New York City's jails, a correction officer falsified records to show that scores of her peers had taken a suicide prevention course that they had not actually completed, Bronx prosecutors and the Department of Investigation said on Friday. The Rikers Island officer, Vinette Tucker-Frederick, was said by the Bronx district attorney's office to have awarded credit for the course to 74 officers who were on leave in 2021. She gave their login information to colleagues and told them to take the digital training in the place of the absent officers, prosecutors said.... A nine-year veteran of the Department of Correction, Ms. Tucker-Frederick, 41, was charged with tampering with public records and identity theft and has been suspended indefinitely without pay." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: “President Vladimir V. Putin vowed 'decisive actions' early Saturday to quell what he called an armed rebellion by the outspoken mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, whose forces had claimed control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and were threatening to march to Moscow. In a five-minute address to the nation, Mr. Putin called the rebellion by Mr. Prigozhin treasonous and 'a stab in the back of our country and our people.' Mr. Putin said that Rostov's military and civilian functions had 'essentially been blocked,' appearing to acknowledge some success by Mr. Prigozhin.... Security forces were scrambled across western Russia as regional governors urged residents to stay off the roads, and a 'counterterrorist operation regime' was declared in Moscow, giving the authorities expanded legal powers." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Saturday is here: "... Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin .... told the country's military commanders that he would march on Moscow unless he could confront his enemies in Russia's Ministry of Defense.... The U.K.'s defense ministry said Saturday that Wagner units were 'moving north'..., 'almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow.'... Minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his five-minute urgent address..., scores of officials began posting videos and messages pledging support to the country's leader.... At 7.30 a.m. Saturday..., Prigozhin recorded an astonishing video from within Russia's Southern Military District headquarters, a key command center, claiming to have everything under control -- something he has repeatedly accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, of failing to manage.... Russian forces launched one of their biggest overnight missile barrages in weeks against Ukrainian cities early Saturday morning, firing some 51 cruise missiles and two self-destructing drones, the Ukraine's air force said in a Telegram post.... Three people were killed when a rocket fragment struck a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv early Saturday, as Russian forces targeted the capital and several other cities with air strikes, Ukrainian officials said. Fourteen others were injured."

Mike Ives of the New York Times tries to summarize what-all is happening.

Robyn Dixon & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Russia's Federal Security Service late Friday announced a criminal case against Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, accusing him of 'incitement to armed rebellion' after he declared an open conflict with Russia's military leadership and called on Russians to join 25,000 Wagner fighters against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top commanders.... At least one senior general, Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia's military intelligence, accused Prigozhin of attempting a 'state coup' but there was no evidence of an attempted overthrow of the government.... Security was tightened in Moscow at government facilities and key infrastructure, and the Russian National Guard and security forces were on alert, Tass, the state-owned news agency, reported." MB: What began as what looked like Prigozhin -- a/k/a "Putin's chef" -- is now looking rather serious. NBC News is airing unconfirmed reports that Prigozhin has led a column of troops from Ukraine into Russia in the direction of Moscow. ~~~

~~~ Gabriel Gavin, et al., of Politico: "Vladimir Putin is facing a major military crisis after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on Moscow's own defense ministry, claiming Kremlin officials had killed thousands of his soldiers. In a statement issued Friday night, the FSB security agency said it had 'legally and reasonably begun criminal proceedings' against the Wagner Group warlord 'for the organization of armed insurrection.' Prigozhin, meanwhile, claimed he had pulled his troops back from Ukraine and into Russia's Rostov, and vowed: 'If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything!'" ~~~

~~~ Tara John, et al., of CNN: "Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of private military group Wagner, has vowed to retaliate after accusing Russia's military leadership of killing a 'huge amount' of his forces in strikes -- prompting Russia's domestic intelligence service to open a criminal case against him. In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin -- who has frequently criticized Russia's traditional military hierarchy – ... said strikes were launched 'on our camps' and that 'a huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours.' Russia's Ministry of Defense has denied the claims, calling it an 'informational provocation.' The mercenary then warned that retribution would be meted out." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Patrick Reevell of ABC News: "The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the Kremlin's justifications for its invasion of Ukraine are based on lies, in another extraordinary attack on the country's military and political leadership. Prigozhin, a key ally of Putin, in a video posted Friday, contradicted the public explanations for the war, including the central claim made by Putin that the 2022 invasion was necessary to prevent an attack from Ukraine.... But in his video address, Prigozhin, whose fighters have played a leading role in the war, said that was not true and there had been no imminent risk of attack from Ukraine.... He blamed [Sergey] Shoigu, the defense ministry and a 'clan of oligarchs' for starting the war. He accused Shoigu of seeking glory and wanting 'to rob' Ukraine and divide up its assets." (Also linked yesterday.)

U.S./Syria. Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "The Rukban [refugee] camp, a few miles from the United States base at al-Tanf in southeastern Syria, ended up almost cut off from aid largely because of closed borders and a Syrian government policy to block almost all relief efforts for areas outside its control. That has left many of its 8,000 residents, who live in tents or mud homes, struggling to survive without sufficient food and health care. One Syrian-American aid group worked for years to find a way to ease their plight. In recent days, the group has sent a first wave of critically needed supplies with the help of an obscure United States military provision known as the Denton Program. It lets American aid groups use available space on U.S. military cargo planes to transport humanitarian goods such as food and medical supplies to approved countries."