June 18, 2023

Late Morning Update:

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "As President Biden ramps up his re-election campaign, his team is focused not on the various investigations into ... Donald J. Trump but rather on spotlighting the ways, however mundane, his administration can assist Americans in their daily lives.... While Republican candidates bicker over the case of Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden hopes to showcase his governing. While his opponents attack -- or promise to pardon -- Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden would rather discuss infrastructure and cracking down on undisclosed fees."

Jonathan Landay of Reuters: "Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president's claim. The secret document, listed as No. 19 in the indictment charging Trump with endangering national security, can under the Atomic Energy Act only be declassified through a process that by the statute involves the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.... The special status of nuclear-related information further erodes what many legal experts say is a weak defense centered around declassification. Without providing evidence, Trump has claimed he declassified the documents before removing them from the White House.... Not everyone agrees that the president lacks the power to declassify nuclear data." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to some (mostly right-wing, I think) experts, the Congress cannot constrain the president. Evidently, this is what Trump meant when he said, "Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president."

~~~~~~~~~~

Matthew Lee of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday kicked off two days of high-stakes diplomatic talks in Beijing aimed at trying to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge. Blinken opened his program by meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for an extended discussion to be followed by a working dinner. He'll have additional talks with Qin, as well as China's top diplomat Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping, on Monday."

Being a sociopath really works for him. -- David Axelrod, on Donald Trump ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times on the mad king Donald. Dowd posits that "my boxes" are a security blanket.

Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Not since the Vietnam War in the 1960s or perhaps the mid-19th century before the Civil War has the country's governing structure faced such disunity and peril, given the unprecedented nature of a federal criminal indictment of a former president compounded by the fact that Trump has been charged by the Justice Department in the administration of the Democrat who defeated him in 2020 and who is his likeliest general election opponent in 2024, if Trump is nominated again by the Republican Party." ~~~

"When law enforcement officials searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022, the warrant listed three crimes that may have been committed to justify the search of the former president's residence. The law that bars someone from being president, U.S. Code 2071, was one of them. Ultimately, however, in the indictment, federal prosecutors did not accuse Trump of committing this crime. None of the crimes that federal prosecutors formally accused Trump of committing would prevent him from being president." The article goes on, in characteristic Balzian fashion, to treat right-wing radicalism as a rather normal reaction to a political schism and takes Balz's usual dip into both-siderism: see, liberals are mad at the Supreme Court, too. But it also covers a few legal issues, one of which are interesting.

David Bauder of the AP (June 16): "A longtime producer for Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News after he was deemed responsible for the on-air headline that referred to President Joe Biden as a 'wannabe dictator' because of the indictment of ... Donald Trump. The producer, Alex McCaskill, confirmed his exit in an Instagram post. Fox News did not comment on Friday.... The producer offered to resign with two weeks' notice, but was told to clean out his desk and leave immediately, he said.... McCaskill was named this spring in a lawsuit filed by a former Fox producer, Abby Grossberg, who also worked on Carlson's staff. Her lawsuit said McCaskill 'habitually belittled female employees' at Fox."

Presidential Race 2024

Kevin Liptak of CNN: “President Joe Biden kicked off his reelection campaign Saturday at a union rally in his frequent haunt of Pennsylvania, the state that remains an intersection of his personal and political identities that he hopes can propel him to a second term. The first official rally of his final political campaign was a moment for Biden to underscore recent economic wins that undergird his argument for another four years in the White House.... To a roaring crowd, who repeatedly cheered 'four more years,' the president touted several accomplishments, including the bipartisan infrastructure law, a coronavirus relief package, a bipartisan semiconductor chip manufacturing law and the recently negotiated debt ceiling deal that helped avert a US default.... First lady Jill Biden, who spoke shortly before her husband, highlighted the president's optimism."

GOP Candidates Honor "Merciless Tyrant." Ronald Shafer of the Washington Post: "The enslaving Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg suddenly has become a Republican primary rallying cry, after Fort Bragg in North Carolina was renamed to Fort Liberty earlier this month. 'We will end the political correctness in the hallways of the Pentagon, and North Carolina will once again be home to Fort Bragg,' former vice president Mike Pence told a state GOP convention. 'It's an iconic name and iconic base, and we're not gonna let political correctness run amok in North Carolina,' vowed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.... Bragg was a 'merciless tyrant...,' wrote Sam Watkins, who served under the man historians call the South's worst and most hated general." Shafer goes on to provide numerous examples of Bragg's cruelty, hubris and stupidity. This is what Republicans want.

Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former Vice President and 2024 candidate Mike Pence said he would 'clean house' in federal law enforcement if he was elected president.... Alongside a wave of new hires at the Justice Department, Pence said the first person he would fire would be FBI Director Christopher Wray." MB: Donald Trump appointed Wray, a Republican.

Marie: In case you didn't notice, Biden is appealing to all Americans. Pence & DeSantis are appealing to racists & right-wing fantasists.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: Barry Lee "Jones, who denied guilt for the nearly 28 years he was on death row in Arizona, was freed Thursday after a judge tossed out his 1994 conviction on charges that he sexually assaulted and murdered his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter, Rachel Yvonne Gray. Jones ... was surrounded by family on his release from death row, which comes just over a year after the Supreme Court issued a polarizing decision that would have allowed Arizona to execute him despite strong evidence to support his innocence claims. Federal public defenders said he was wrongfully convicted due to the ineffectiveness of his court-appointed and state-appointed lawyers in his 1994 criminal trial and appeal. His murder conviction and death sentence were tossed as part of an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder for not taking Gray to the hospital the night before she died. He was resentenced on the lesser charge and released on time served."

Pennsylvania. Colbi Edmonds of the New York Times: "Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said on Saturday he was 'confident' the portion of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia that collapsed last weekend will open within the next two weeks. 'We are going to get traffic moving again,' Mr. Shapiro said on Twitter, crediting an 'all hands on deck approach.' Initially, he had said he expected the repairs to take months.... On Saturday, President Biden took a helicopter tour of the collapsed portion of the highway and met with construction crews and emergency workers who responded to the crash. Mr. Biden said that people were working to get the project done 'in record time' and that I-95 was critical to the local economy and quality of life. He added that the federal government had released $3 million in emergency funds to offset the cost of repairs and that 'a lot more' federal funding was coming."

Texas. Cruelty Is of the Essence of the Scheme. Francisco Uranda & Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune: "In a week when parts of the state are getting triple-digit temperatures and weather officials urge Texans to stay cool and hydrated, Gov. Greg Abbott gave final approval to a law that will eliminate local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers.... The law will nullify ordinances enacted by Austin in 2010 and Dallas in 2015 that established 10-minute breaks every four hours so that construction workers can drink water and protect themselves from the sun. It also prevents other cities from passing such rules in the future.... Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.... This problem particularly affects Latinos because they represent six out of every 10 construction workers, according to U.S. Census Bureau data."

Way Beyond

Uganda. Abdi Dahir of the New York Times: "At least 37 people were killed — many of them students -- and eight others were wounded when militants with an extremist group attacked a secondary school in western Uganda, the authorities said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the East African nation in years.... Three people were rescued, but six students were abducted, a military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, said in a statement. The attack, which began around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, was carried out by about five militants.... Militants from the same group staged an attack in Uganda in late 2021, when suicide bombers set off coordinated explosions in the capital, Kampala, that killed three people, sowing fears about the Allied Democratic Forces' reach and posing a vexing challenge for the Ugandan authorities."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian fighters driving Kyiv's counteroffensive operations are making 'small advances' in several areas, including the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions and around Bakhmut, Britain's Defense Ministry said Sunday, noting that both sides are experiencing high casualties.... African leaders met Putin with a plea for peace after a trip to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.... Ukraine and Russia's conditions for peace talks are vastly different: Kyiv wants Russia to withdraw all troops from all occupied territories, while Moscow wants Ukraine to accept Russia's illegal claim to some Ukrainian territories. Russia's deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is 'totally irresponsible,' President Biden said as he boarded Air Force One Saturday, one day after Putin confirmed that Russia has transferred some of the weapons."

June 17, 2023

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "President Biden made a forceful case on Friday for stronger gun laws, saying American children caught up in school shootings are suffering from the same trauma as soldiers in war. Speaking at a firearms safety summit in Hartford, Conn., attended by victims of gun violence, Mr. Biden marked one year since the passage of a bipartisan bill intended to prevent dangerous people from accessing guns. But he said there was more to be done. 'What's the difference between the post-traumatic stress that a soldier meets in the hills of Afghanistan,' Mr. Biden asked, and the kind of trauma a 'fourth-grade kid meets in a classroom when they have to duck and cover?' Mr. Biden's call for action comes at a time of deep pessimism about the prospects for significant legislative action on gun control, despite one mass shooting after another in the United States." An AP report is here.

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Leading congressional Republicans excoriated Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday for traveling to China this weekend, accusing him of undermining national security by attempting to normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing as they press for a more hard-line approach. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, threatened to subpoena Mr. Blinken if he failed to produce documents by Friday evening detailing the list of retaliatory actions the U.S. government has considered against China, and when they were applied. 'The Biden administration's weak actions on the global stage continue to embolden the C.C.P.,' Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 Republican in the House, said in a statement. The secretary of state's trip, she added, will 'legitimize' the Chinese Communist Party's 'continued subversion of our sovereignty.'" MB: If it undermines U.S. security, but also undermines the Biden administration, Republicans will do it. They are not legislators; they are performing monkeys. And like Melanie, they really don't care, do u?

The Insurrection, Ctd. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump could not have asked for a nicer arraignment-day celebration. During the very same hour in which the former president surrendered to federal authorities in Miami, his Republican allies in the House were, in their most visible and official way yet, embracing as heroes and martyrs the people who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in hopes of overturning Trump's election defeat. In the Capitol complex, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), with sidekick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and four other far-right lawmakers, held a 'hearing' that honored participants in the riot, family members of Jan. 6 rioters and organizers of the attempted overthrow of the 2020 vote. Technically, Gaetz couldn't call such a hearing, because he isn't a committee chairman. But ... Gaetz did his all to make the proceedings look official." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Alex Wagner of MSNBC on the fake hearing:

Philip Bump of the Washington Post on allegations that Fox "News" and other right-wing outlets constantly cover: that Joe Biden took a bribe from a Ukrainian when Biden was vice president. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) characterized the charge like so: "a three-year-old, secondhand, hearsay, uncorroborated rehashing of Rudy Giuliani's bogus allegations that he got from corrupt Ukrainian officials." After reviewing walk-backs by some of Biden's accusers like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) & Rep. Jim Comer (R), Bump writes, "Even a number of Republicans aren't willing to vouch for it much more than that." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court. -- From text of proposed protective order in U.S. v. Trump & Nauta ~~~

~~~ DOJ Tries to Control Trump. Good Luck with That. Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion seeking to block former President Trump from releasing any classified materials that will be shared with his legal team during his prosecution for the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago, noting that some are still being used in the course of their investigation. The documents 'include information pertaining to ongoing investigations' which could be used to further cases against uncharged individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote. The suggested protective order, which will be reviewed by Judge Bruce Reinhart, would allow Trump to review the 31 documents the DOJ is using in the case only while in the presence of his attorneys.... Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Trump's previous challenge to the investigation, referred the motion to Reinhart, who approved the initial search of Mar-a-Lago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: While Beitsch describes the protective order as one that proscribes release of classified information, CNN's reporting is different:

     ~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "... [Special Counsel Jack] Smith's team said in the filing that the 'government is ready to provide unclassified discovery to the defense.'... [The team] said that among the unclassified materials that prosecutors are set to turn over to the defense is 'information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.'... 'The discovery materials include sensitive and confidential information,' including personal and financial data, information that reveals 'sensitive' investigative techniques and information about potential witnesses, according to the filing. Some of that information could be in grand jury transcripts or recordings of witness interviews.... Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta do not oppose the requested protective order, according to the filing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Dave Aronberg, the Palm Beach County D.A., said on CNN that the most interesting part of the proposed order is the indication that there are "ongoing investigations." Jack Smith, Aronberg says, is putting the Trump team on notice that he ain't done yet. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times took up Aronberg's argument: ~~~

     ~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The court papers -- a standard request to place a protective order on the discovery material -- contained no explanation about what those other inquiries might be or whether they were related to the indictment.... Still, the reference to continuing investigations was the first overt suggestion -- however vague -- that other criminal cases could emerge from the work that the special counsel Jack Smith has done...."

     ~~~ AND Feuer writes this: "Shortly after the government requested the protective order, Judge [Aileen] Cannon asked the federal magistrate judge assigned to help her with the case, Bruce E. Reinhart, to handle the question of whether to impose it. It is common in the Southern District of Florida for magistrate judges, not district judges like Judge Cannon, to handle pretrial motions.... Last summer, [Judge Reinhart] issued a warrant used by the F.B.I. to search Mar-a-Lago.... It could be a significant development moving forward if Judge Reinhart handles the more substantial legal motions that will be filed by Mr. Trump's lawyers in the months to come, given that Judge Cannon was widely criticized for making rulings favorable to Mr. Trump in an early stage of the investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Damned significant, IMO. By employing Reinhart to handle pretrial motions, Cannon avoids tipping her hand about how biased toward Trump her own rulings will be in the case-in-chief. One of the theories I hear pundits on the teevee put forth is that if Cannon sets out making stupid or biased rulings, the prosecution could use those rulings to ask her to recuse, or if she refuses, to go to the 11th Circuit and ask them to force her to recuse. Well, gosh, if she doesn't make any rulings, that option is out. Once she empanels a jury, however, jeopardy attaches, so it's too late to ask for a forced recusal. That is, the prosecution is stuck with her or Trump gets off scot-free. I suspect somebody smarter than Judge Cannon gave her the bright idea of hiding behind Judge Reinhart. If the prosecution wants her to recuse, they'll have to ask her right now, when they have less of a case against her than they might later on. ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico cites a health-fraud case Judge Aileen Cannon is currently overseeing that has presented a few of the same complications the Trump case does. In some disputes in this case, Cannon has ruled for the prosecution.

"Irreconcilable Differences." Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A lawyer who was representing ... Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit against CNN said Friday that he was withdrawing from the case, in the latest sign of the break-up of the Trump legal team since the lawyer, Jim Trusty, and another Trump attorney stopped representing the former president in the criminal documents case against him. 'Mr. Trusty's withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,' Trusty said in a filing requesting the court's permission to withdraw." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Steve Benen of MSNBC has more on Donald Trump's invocation of "The Clinton Socks Case": In an all-caps social media post, Trump said "he should now be in the clear thanks to 'the Clinton Socks case.' He made the same point during his weird speech on Tuesday night in New Jersey[.]... Bill Clinton, during his White House tenure, spoke at some length with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, and as part of the project, there were many recordings of their conversations. According to one 2007 account, tapes were at one point stored in a sock drawer. A conservative group called Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit, demanding that Clinton be forced to turn over the recordings. In 2012, a federal court rejected the organization's claims, concluding that the tapes were personal records, not official presidential materials.... The 2012 court ruling 'explicitly states that the Presidential Records Act distinguishes presidential records from "personal records," defined as documents that are "purely private or nonpublic character."' In contrast, Trump took highly sensitive national security secrets to his glorified country club. To see the two as comparable is to overlook every relevant detail.... Trump will need to think of something else the next time he wants to pretend he's been 'exonerated.'" ~~~

    ~~~ Marie: Trump's sock-drawer defense is more evidence that Trump has no real defense. Sorta like if you got fired and left the office with your own framed photo of your mom and a proposed company patent application you'd been reviewing. You stole the patent draft, but the photo belongs to you.

** Robert Reich in the Guardian on how Donald Trump & the Republican party exemplify these five elements of fascism: "1. The rejection of democracy, the rule of law and equal rights under the law in favor of a strongman who interprets the popular will.... 2. The galvanizing of popular rage against cultural elites.... 3. Nationalism based on a dominant 'superior' race and historic bloodlines.... 4. Extolling brute strength and heroic warriors.... 5. Disdain of women and fear of non-standard gender identities or sexual orientation." Reich distinguishes between fascism & authoritarianism.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Friday found Kellye SoRelle -- an attorney for the Oath Keepers and girlfriend of the right-wing group's leader, Stewart Rhodes -- mentally incompetent to stand trial as scheduled next month on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of D.C. postponed SoRelle's trial indefinitely, finding -- based on reports by defense and government medical experts -- that she was suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering her unable to understand the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense.... The reports and the nature of SoRelle's condition were not made public."

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who after experiencing a sobbing antiwar epiphany on a bathroom floor made the momentous decision in 1971 to disclose a secret history of American lies and deceit in Vietnam, what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, died on Friday at his home in Kensington, Calif., in the Bay Area. He was 92." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Alex Kingsbury of the New York Times: "Months before his death, Mr. Ellsberg agreed to speak with Times Opinion at his California home about the lessons he's learned." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2024

Seung Min Kim & Will Weissert of the AP: "President Joe Biden will tout his pro-labor bona fides on Saturday at his first major political rally since he formalized his reelection campaign, appearing alongside union members to make his case that his economic agenda is boosting the middle class. His campaign says Biden, who will appear at the Philadelphia Convention Center, will 'lay out the core principles of his economic message' in his remarks. Biden also plans to talk about how a sweeping climate, tax and health care package he signed into law last year has cut the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums, as his administration focuses on his achievements his first two years the centerpiece argument for his reelection. Ahead of the event, several of the nation's most powerful unions -- including the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- officially endorsed Biden's campaign. The first-of-its-kind joint endorsement among the unions and the backdrop of hundreds of workers are all part of a meticulously choreographed effort to show the support of labor behind what Biden himself calls the most pro-union president in history." ~~~

~~~ Arlette Saenz & Betsy Klein of CNN: "First lady Dr. Jill Biden is emerging as a prominent voice taking on Republicans and ... Donald Trump since his indictment -- even as the White House has maintained a stay-silent strategy on the legal case. In her first solo events of the campaign, the first lady has not shied away from critiquing the former president and offered a rare comment related to his legal woes as she reflected on Republican support for Trump despite his indictment. 'My heart feels so broken by a lot of the headlines that we see on the news,' she said during an off-camera fundraiser in New York City Monday.... 'Like I just saw, when I was on my plane, it said 61% of Republicans are going to vote, they would vote for Trump.... They don't care about the indictment. So that's a little shocking, I think.'... In a pair of Democratic fundraisers in California Tuesday evening, she warned of the impact 'MAGA Republicans' would have on the country and framed the presidential election as a choice between the 'corruption and chaos' of the Trump administration and stability offered by her husband. 'We cannot go back to those dark days,' the first lady said at a fundraiser in Marin County, California." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Indiana. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Indiana largely blocked that state's ban on transition medical care for youth from taking effect on July 1, the latest in a series of courtroom wins for transgender-rights advocates.... The preliminary injunction, issued on Friday by Judge James Patrick Hanlon, allows transgender children in Indiana to continue receiving hormone treatments and puberty blockers while a lawsuit opposing the state's ban progresses. Gender-transition surgeries for minors, which are rare, remain banned in the state."

Minnesota. David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Minneapolis Police Department engaged in the systemic use of excessive force and discriminated against racial minorities in the years leading up to the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020, federal authorities said Friday. In a scathing 89-page report released following a more than two-year federal civil rights investigation, the Justice Department excoriated the Minneapolis police force as an agency that put officers and local residents at unnecessary risk and failed to act upon repeated warnings about biased behavior. Specifically, the report criticizes the Minneapolis police for: using 'dangerous tactics and weapons' -- including neck restraints and Tasers -- against people for petty offense or no crimes; punishing residents who criticized the police; patrolling neighborhoods differently based on their racial makeup; and discriminating against those with behavioral health disabilities." (Also linked yesterday.)

New Hampshire. David Enrich of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Boston unveiled criminal charges on Friday against three men accused of vandalizing the homes of journalists in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in retaliation for an investigation into a local businessman. The charges stem from a string of incidents last spring after New Hampshire Public Radio aired an exposé about sexual misconduct allegations against Eric Spofford, who until recently had owned the state's largest network of drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. Mr. Spofford later sued the news organization for libel. Mr. Spofford was not named in the criminal complaint. But a person repeatedly named by prosecutors as 'Subject 1' is Mr. Spofford, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The complaint said that a 'close personal associate' of Subject 1 'solicited' the three men to attack the homes."

Pennsylvania. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "A Pennsylvania man was found guilty Friday on federal charges of fatally shooting 11 people and wounding seven others at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a verdict that makes him eligible for the death penalty for what authorities say was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. A 12-member jury in federal court in Pittsburgh convicted Robert G. Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, Pa., on multiple counts after two weeks of searing testimony from dozens of prosecution witnesses, according to the Associated Press. Among those who testified were survivors, including police officers, who had been shot during the attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "An African delegation led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is traveling to Russia, where they will try to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek peace with Ukraine. The peace mission -- which also includes officials from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, the Comoros, Egypt, Uganda and the Republic of Congo -- met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday as the capital was hit by a Russian attack that combined ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.... Ukraine has advanced up to two kilometers, or about 1.25 miles, in the south, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said late Friday.... Russia has already transferred some tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus and will complete its deployment of the weapons by the end of the year, [Putin] said. ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

June 16, 2023

Afternoon Update:

The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court. -- From text of proposed protective order in U.S. v. Trump & Nauta ~~~

~~~ DOJ Tries to Control Trump. Good Luck with That. Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion seeking to block former President Trump from releasing any classified materials that will be shared with his legal team during his prosecution for the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago, noting that some are still being used in the course of their investigation. The documents 'include information pertaining to ongoing investigations' which could be used to further cases against uncharged individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote. The suggested protective order, which will be reviewed by Judge Bruce Reinhart, would allow Trump to review the 31 documents the DOJ is using in the case only while in the presence of his attorneys.... Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Trump's previous challenge to the investigation, referred the motion to Reinhart, who approved the initial search of Mar-a-Lago."~~~

     ~~~ Update: While Beitsch describes the protective order as one that proscribes release of classified information, CNN's reporting is different:

     ~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "... [Special Counsel Jack] Smith’s team said in the filing that the 'government is ready to provide unclassified discovery to the defense.'... [The team] said that among the unclassified materials that prosecutors are set to turn over to the defense is 'information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.'... 'The discovery materials include sensitive and confidential information,' including personal and financial data, information that reveals 'sensitive' investigative techniques and information about potential witnesses, according to the filing. Some of that information could be in grand jury transcripts or recordings of witness interviews.... Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta do not oppose the requested protective order, according to the filing." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Dave Aronberg, the Palm Beach County D.A., said on CNN that the most interesting part of the proposed order is the indication that there are "ongoing investigations." Jack Smith, Aronberg says, is putting the Trump team on notice that he ain't done yet. ~~~

~~~ “Irreconcilable Differences.” Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A lawyer who was representing ... Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit against CNN said Friday that he was withdrawing from the case, in the latest sign of the break-up of the Trump legal team since the lawyer, Jim Trusty, and another Trump attorney stopped representing the former president in the criminal documents case against him. 'Mr. Trusty's withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,' Trusty said in a filing requesting the court's permission to withdraw."

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who after experiencing a sobbing antiwar epiphany on a bathroom floor made the momentous decision in 1971 to disclose a secret history of American lies and deceit in Vietnam, what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, died on Friday at his home in Kensington, Calif., in the Bay Area. He was 92." ~~~

~~~ Alex Kingsbury of the New York Times: "Months before his death, Mr. Ellsberg agreed to speak with Times Opinion at his California home about the lessons he's learned."

Arlette Saenz & Betsy Klein of CNN: "First lady Dr. Jill Biden is emerging as a prominent voice taking on Republicans and ... Donald Trump since his indictment -- even as the White House has maintained a stay-silent strategy on the legal case. In her first solo events of the campaign, the first lady has not shied away from critiquing the former president and offered a rare comment related to his legal woes as she reflected on Republican support for Trump despite his indictment. 'My heart feels so broken by a lot of the headlines that we see on the news,' she said during an off-camera fundraiser in New York City Monday.... 'Like I just saw, when I was on my plane, it said 61% of Republicans are going to vote, they would vote for Trump.... They don't care about the indictment. So that's a little shocking, I think.'... In a pair of Democratic fundraisers in California Tuesday evening, she warned of the impact 'MAGA Republicans' would have on the country and framed the presidential election as a choice between the 'corruption and chaos' of the Trump administration and stability offered by her husband. 'We cannot go back to those dark days,' the first lady said at a fundraiser in Marin County, California."

The Insurrection, Ctd. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump could not have asked for a nicer arraignment-day celebration. During the very same hour in which the former president surrendered to federal authorities in Miami, his Republican allies in the House were, in their most visible and official way yet, embracing as heroes and martyrs the people who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in hopes of overturning Trump's election defeat. In the Capitol complex, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), with sidekick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and four other far-right lawmakers, held a 'hearing' that honored participants in the riot, family members of Jan. 6 rioters and organizers of the attempted overthrow of the 2020 vote. Technically, Gaetz couldn't call such a hearing, because he isn't a committee chairman. But ... Gaetz did his all to make the proceedings look official." Read on.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post on allegations that Fox "News" and other right-wing outlets constantly cover: that Joe Biden took a bribe from a Ukrainian when Biden was vice president. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) characterized the charge like so: "a three-year-old, secondhand, hearsay, uncorroborated rehashing of Rudy Giuliani's bogus allegations that he got from corrupt Ukrainian officials." After reviewing walk-backs by some of Biden's accusers like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) & Rep. Jim Comer (R), Bump writes, "Even a number of Republicans aren't willing to vouch for it much more than that."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "A Pennsylvania man was found guilty Friday on federal charges of fatally shooting 11 people and wounding seven others at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a verdict that makes him eligible for the death penalty for what authorities say was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. A 12-member jury in federal court in Pittsburgh convicted Robert G. Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, Pa., on multiple counts after two weeks of searing testimony from dozens of prosecution witnesses, according to the Associated Press. Among those who testified were survivors, including police officers, who had been shot during the attack."

David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Minneapolis Police Department engaged in the systemic use of excessive force and discriminated against racial minorities in the years leading up to the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020, federal authorities said Friday. In a scathing 89-page report released following a more than two-year federal civil rights investigation, the Justice Department excoriated the Minneapolis police force as an agency that put officers and local residents at unnecessary risk and failed to act upon repeated warnings about biased behavior. Specifically, the report criticizes the Minneapolis police for: using 'dangerous tactics and weapons' -- including neck restraints and Tasers -- against people for petty offense or no crimes; punishing residents who criticized the police; patrolling neighborhoods differently based on their racial makeup; and discriminating against those with behavioral health disabilities."

~~~~~~~~~~

SO NOW THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT, PLUS THE CLINTON SOCKS CASE, TOTALLY EXONERATED ME FROM THE CONTINUING WITCH HUNT BROUGHT ON BY CORRUPT JOE BIDEN, THE DOJ, DERANGED JACK SMITH, AND THEIR RADICAL LEFT, MARXIST THUGS, WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST ME, APOLOGIZE, AND RETURN EVERYTHING THAT WAS ILLEGALLY TAKEN (FOURTH AMENDMENT) FROM MY HOME? THIS WAS NOTHING OTHER THAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!! -- Donald Trump, social media post, June 15

(If you've never heard of THE CLINTON SOCKS CASE, the AP explains it here and shows that it in no way parallels THE TRUMP STOLEN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE. -- Marie Burns)

Trump Vows to Make America Great a Banana Republic. Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "When Donald J. Trump responded to his latest indictment by promising to appoint a special prosecutor if he's re-elected to 'go after' President Biden and his family, he signaled that a second Trump term would fully jettison the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence.... In his first term, Mr. Trump gradually ramped up pressure on the Justice Department, eroding its traditional independence from White House political control. He is now unabashedly saying he will throw that effort into overdrive if he returns to power.... Two of the most important figures in this effort work at the same Washington-based organization, the Center for Renewing America: Jeffrey B. Clark and Russell T. Vought. During the Trump presidency, Mr. Vought served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Clark, who oversaw the Justice Department's civil and environmental divisions, was the only senior official at the department who tried to help Mr. Trump overturn the 2020 election.... They are condemning Mr. Biden and Democrats for what they claim is the politicization of the justice system, but at the same time pushing an intellectual framework that a future Republican president might use to justify directing individual law enforcement investigations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That is to say, there is a striking irony in (a) wingers promoting a DOJ controlled by the president* as Trump promises to use the DOJ to rain retribution down on his political opponents for unspecified crimes, while (b) falsely accusing President Biden of being a horrible "wannabe dictator" for controlling the DOJ & using it to persecute Trump. Do these people even listen to themselves? ~~~

~~~ Speaking of ironies, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post posits that Trump's plot to avoid prosecution by announcing a run for president* backfired because it caused Merrick the Unready to name a special prosecutor, "and that special counsel proved to be a bulldog, chasing down every lead, pursuing all needed appeals and empaneling multiple grand juries." Rubin goes on to enumerate reasons she thinks Jack Smith is likely to prosecute Trump (and some of his cronies) for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Worth a read.

My Boxes. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: While he was still president*, Donald Trump's "aides employed [the term '"beautiful mind" material'] to capture a type of organized chaos that Mr. Trump insisted on, the collection and transportation of a blizzard of newspapers and official documents that he kept close and that seemed to give him a sense of security. [Aides used the term 'beautiful mind' in reference to the title of a book and movie about John Nash, the schizophrenic mathematician.] One former White House official ... said that while the materials were disorganized, Mr. Trump would notice if somebody had riffled through them or they were not arranged in a particular way.... Mr. Trump was generally able to identify what was in the boxes most immediately around him.... When Mr. Trump left the White House..., he knew the contents of the boxes around him.... [According to the indictment..., 'Trump was personally involved in this process' [of packing the boxes he would take with him].... Mr. Trump's attachment to the contents of the boxes has now left him in serious legal peril, but it appears to be in keeping with a long pattern of behavior. Mr. Trump has always hung onto news clippings, documents and other mementos, according to more than a half-dozen people who have worked for him over the years...."

The Lying Cheapskate. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump reportedly left a restaurant within 10 minutes without paying for any food -- after telling his supporters there, 'Food for everyone!' on Tuesday. Following his arraignment in a Miami federal courthouse over his retention of government documents, Trump visited a restaurant full of his supporters in Little Havana.... According to a report from the Miami New Times, while Trump declared 'Food for everyone!' during his visit to Versailles restaurant, 'It turns out no one got anything. Not even a cafecito to-go.'" MB: This is SOP for Trump. For instance, he is infamous for making big shows of pledges to charities, so the charities give him positive publicity, after which he reneges on the pledges (WashPo link).

Aileen Is on the Job. Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "The judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's indictment on charges of illegally retaining national defense information[,] issued an order on Thursday instructing any lawyer who wants to take part in the case to start the process of obtaining a security clearance to handle classified material by early next week. The brief order by the federal judge, Aileen M. Cannon, instructed the lawyers to reach out to the Litigation Security Group at the Justice Department by Tuesday to 'expedite' the process for getting a clearance.... The order by Judge Cannon, who faced a barrage of criticism last year for issuing rulings favorable to Mr. Trump at an early stage of the investigation, suggested that at least for now she has no plans to recuse herself from the case. It was also a preliminary indication that she has decided to move things forward relatively briskly." CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, that's nice. But Andrew Weissmann, appearing on MSNBC, said the "brief order" was fairly incomprehensible. First, it required lawyers whom Trump has not yet employed to self-identify and contact the Litigation Security Group by today. Second, the order demands these unidentified, not-yet-employed lawyers to "be in compliance," but it doesn't specify what constitutes "compliance."

Merrick Thwarts the Revolution. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Twice in recent months, allies of ... Donald J. Trump have used violent language to criticize the criminal charges brought against him, calling for vengeance and encouraging Mr. Trump's supporters to respond to the indictments as though they were acts of war.... Both times -- first in April in Manhattan and then on Tuesday in Miami -- ... the crowds that actually showed up for Mr. Trump were relatively tame and fairly small. But ... scholars of political violence said ... that after the cataclysmic events of Jan. 6, 2021, many Trump supporters have become more reluctant to act on statements by Mr. Trump's allies suggesting that a second American Revolution might be coming or calling for civil war.... One reason for the absence of conflict in Miami, [scholar Rachel] Kleinfeld wrote in an email, was that the prosecutions of Jan. 6 protesters ... have had 'a real deterrent effect' on those who might have once considered violence. She also said that many people remain 'angry at Trump for failing to provide monetary support for those jailed on his behalf after Jan. 6.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "There are obvious parallels in the political tempests convulsing Britain and the United States, but also stark differences: ... Donald J. Trump faces federal criminal charges [for stealing top secret documents] while Boris Johnson was judged to be deceitful about attending parties. And yet, Britain's Conservative Party has regularly stood up to Mr. Johnson while the Republican Party is still mostly in thrall to Mr. Trump."

Michael Sisak of the AP: "A suburban New York prosecutor said Thursday that she has closed a multiyear investigation that focused in part on whether the twice-indicted former president [Trump] or his company misled authorities to reduce taxes on properties they own. Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah [D] said in a statement that she reached the decision after an investigation that was conducted 'objectively, and independent of politics, party affiliation and personal or political beliefs.' No charges were filed against Trump or his company, the Trump Organization.... In an all-capitals post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that ending the investigation was 'the honorable thing to do in that I did nothing wrong, but where and when do I get my reputation back? When will the other fake cases against me be dropped?'" MB: Oh, your reputation is intact, Donald.

Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "A federal judge on Thursday set the trial date in E. Jean Carroll's initial defamation lawsuit against former President Trump for January 15, 2024.... On Tuesday, [Judge Lewis] Kaplan ruled to accept an amended lawsuit in this defamation case. The amended lawsuit includes comments Trump made during a CNN town hall in May, just one day after being found liable in Carroll's other lawsuit. He claimed not to know Carroll while calling her a 'whack job' and calling the case 'fake news.'"

Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox News is on the verge of settling another major lawsuit. Abby Grossberg, the former network producer who filed an explosive complaint against the company earlier this year, is in the final stages of ironing out a settlement with the company, people familiar with the matter told CNN. The settlement will mark the fourth case in a string of lawsuits that the billionaire owners of Fox News, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, have moved to put an end to in recent months.... Among many of the bombshell allegations included in her complaint was the charge that Fox News lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony when she was deposed as part of Dominion's billion-dollar lawsuit. She later accused Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott of being complicit in the alleged coercion and claimed Fox's lawyers deleted messages from her phone. Grossberg also made a number of eye-popping allegations about the workplace environment at Fox News, accusing the network of rampant sexism."

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who posted dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a social media server, on six counts of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information. The filing of criminal charges in Boston federal court against Airman Teixeira, 21, comes about two months after F.B.I. agents arrested him at his home in North Dighton, Mass., and paves the way for a trial stemming from one of the most damaging national security leaks in recent history.... Airman Teixeira's disclosures -- exposing secrets of the United States, its allies and its adversaries -- have bared rifts between the United States and its allies and given Russia information about intelligence-gathering methods, as news organizations have divulged some of the material. And Justice Department lawyers have said the extent of the information he leaked 'far exceeds what has been publicly disclosed.'" NPR's story is here.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions, handing a victory to tribes that had argued that a blow to the law would upend the basic principles that have allowed them to govern themselves. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion. She was joined by six other justices. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented." A Guardian story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sean Lyngaas of CNN: "Several US federal government agencies have been hit in a global cyberattack by Russian cybercriminals that exploits a vulnerability in widely used software, according to a top US cybersecurity agency.... Aside from US government agencies, 'several hundred' companies and organizations in the US could be affected by the hacking spree, a senior CISA official told reporters later Thursday, citing estimates from private experts. Clop, the ransomware gang allegedly responsible, is known to demand multimillion-dollar ransoms. But no ransom demands have been made of federal agencies, the senior official told reporters in a background briefing. CISA's response comes as Progress Software, the US firm that makes the software exploited by the hackers, said it had discovered a second vulnerability in the code that the company was working to fix. The Department of Energy is among multiple federal agencies breached in the ongoing global hacking campaign, a department spokesperson confirmed to CNN."

Presidential Race 2024. Vaughn Hillyard & Dan Gallo of NBC News: "The co-chair of No Labels, the political organization trying to mount a third-party presidential campaign in 2024, vowed on Thursday to end the group's effort if polling next spring shows President Joe Biden 'way, way out ahead' of ... Donald Trump. 'No Labels is not and will not be a spoiler in favor of Donald Trump in 2024,' said Dr. Ben Chavis, the Democratic co-chair of No Labels, in an interview on Thursday." MB: Of course this makes no sense. If Biden is "way, way out ahead" of Trump, then a No Labels candidate would not be a spoiler. The spoiler problem arises if Biden and Trump are close, as they are apt to be, what with the millions of stupid voters.

Beyond the Beltway

Pennsylvania. Campbell Robertson & Jon Moss of the New York Times: "After three weeks of wrenching testimony, the prosecution and the defense delivered closing arguments on Thursday in the first phase of the federal trial of the man charged with carrying out the deadliest antisemitic attack in the country's history. Robert Bowers, 50, the man charged in the October 2018 killing of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue, faces the possibility of a death sentence if convicted. The phase of the trial that concluded on Thursday in federal court here was to determine whether Mr. Bowers was guilty, and the outcome of this stage of the proceedings has not been in significant doubt."

Tennessee. Adam Edelman of NBC News: "The two Democratic state representatives in Tennessee who were expelled by Republicans over gun violence protests won their primary races for their old seats Thursday night. Justin Jones won in Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson won in Memphis. Pearson had faced a Democratic challenger, David Page, while Jones ran unopposed. Unofficial results showed that Pearson and Jones won overwhelmingly."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "Senior officials from NATO members and partner countries are in Brussels for a second day of defense ministerial meetings. On the first day of the program, the United States and its allies were briefed by Ukrainian officials, discussed F-16 training plans for Ukrainian pilots and talked about efforts to help Kyiv maintain German tanks.... U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill that would authorize using confiscated Russian assets to pay for aid to Ukraine and help finance the country's reconstruction. The bill aims to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to pay for the damage caused by his invasion, 'not U.S. taxpayers,' the lawmakers said.

"Sweden will probably not join NATO before next month's gathering of the military alliance, said Jeff Flake, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey. His remarks, in an interview with Axios, come as Turkey continues its opposition to Sweden's membership, saying Stockholm has been too lenient toward militant Kurdish groups, which Ankara views as threats. Flake, a Republican former senator from Arizona, said U.S. lawmakers have withheld the sale of F-16s to Turkey to pressure Ankara to ease its demands against Sweden.... U.S. authorities charged a Russian national for participating in deploying ransomware and cyberattacks. Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov, 20, directly executed at least five attacks against computer systems in the United States and abroad, the Justice Department said. Astamirov is the third person charged in the LockBit ransomware campaign and the second to be apprehended, the department said."

News Ledes

Texas. New York Times: "A storm system that swept through Texas on Thursday evening killed three people and injured dozens of others, an official said, as the state braced for a weekend of brutal heat. The three deaths and more than 75 injuries happened in Perryton, a city where a mobile home park took a direct hit from a tornado, the local fire chief, Paul Dutcher, told NBC News. He told CNN that one person died in the trailer park and two others died downtown, and that one person was missing. About 200 homes and the town firehouse were destroyed...."

Greece. Guardian: "Survivors from an overcrowded fishing boat that capsized and sank on Wednesday off the Greek coast in one of the worst disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years have told doctors and police that women and children were travelling in the hold of the vessel. Seventy-eight people have been confirmed dead, but there are fears the number of victims could run into the hundreds. 'Right now everything is guesswork but we are working on the assumption that as many as 500 are missing,' said Nicolaos Spanoudakis, a police inspector. 'Women and children, it seems, were in the hold.'"