May 13, 2023

Another GOP Show Hearing Goes Awry. Stephen Groves of the AP: "An ex-prosecutor who once oversaw Manhattan's investigation of ... Donald Trump declined to substantively answer questions at a closed-door deposition Friday of the House Judiciary Committee, according to a Republican lawmaker in the meeting. The prosecutor and his boss said he was merely abiding by grand jury rules. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, exited the meeting after roughly one hour and said Mark Pomerantz, the former prosecutor, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment that protects people from providing self-incriminating testimony.... Issa ... told reporters, 'This is an obstructing witness who has no intention of answering any questions.'... Pomerantz in a written opening statement called the committee's inquiry itself 'an act of political theater.' He also explained he was invoking the Fifth Amendment because the Manhattan District Attorney's office had previously warned him before he published a book on the investigation that he could face criminal liability if he revealed grand jury material or violated a provision of the New York City Charter dealing with misuse of confidential information."

Robert Legare of CBS News: "In the same Washington, D.C., courthouse where the Justice Department has been convening grand juries to investigate ... Donald Trump's actions around the 2020 presidential election and his handling of classified documents, federal prosecutors managing a separate case were successful Friday in their request to delay a Trump deposition that had been scheduled for later this month in a four-year-old civil lawsuit filed by former FBI officials. Former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and a one-time attorney at the Bureau, Lisa Page, sued the Justice Department after they were both fired during the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In the course of the investigation, text messages exchanged by the two revealed anti-Trump sentiments.... In a minute order issued Friday evening, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in favor of the Justice Department's request that FBI Director Christopher Wray be deposed before Strzok has a chance to question Trump."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post notices how Republican lawmakers all over the country have suddenly become anti-business, Soviet-style economic planners.

** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The problem of the Supreme Court isn't that its members are mired in ethics scandals (although they are). It isn't that it's been captured by a network of conservative apparatchiks and right-wing billionaires (although it has). No, the problem of the Supreme Court is that it is a powerful and unaccountable branch of government whose traditional role has been to protect the rights of property and the prerogatives of the privileged above all other concerns. And on those rare occasions where the court has worked for the interests of ordinary Americans -- for workers, for Black Americans, for sexual minorities -- it has been to either reverse previous decisions (such as Brown v. Board of Education's reversal of Plessy v. Ferguson) or free Congress to enforce the Constitution as written.... If the court appeared liberal -- or at least friendly to liberalism -- in the first decades after the Second World War, it was because of the hegemony of New Deal liberalism over American politics, not because of any inherent quality of the Supreme Court itself.... [And] without court expansion or other serious reforms to the structure of the court -- and absent unforeseen circumstances like an inopportune death -- Republicans can expect to hold a majority on the Supreme Court until 2065, according to a recent [academic] paper...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bouie's analysis may sound radical to you, but I think he's got it just right. And when you think about it, any institution that fairly demands its members come up through the ranks of Harvard & Yale Law School alumni is not likely to be egalitarian in nature.

No Surprise Here. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy was reportedly scolded by his boss Chris Licht, the chairman and CEO of the network, over his critical coverage of the network's Trump town hall on Wednesday night. Puck's Dylan Byers reported Friday that Licht 'summoned' Darcy 'and his editor to a meeting with himself and top executives in which they told him that his coverage of Trump town hall had been too emotional and stressed the importance of remaining dispassionate.'... 'Darcy stood by his work and pushed back on the "emotional" characterization, one source with knowledge of the meeting said. But afterward two sources who heard about the meeting described him as visibly shaken,' Byers reported.... Darcy took over Brian Stelter's Reliable Sources newsletter after Licht ousted Stelter at the network." MB: Licht fired Stelter and some other CNN personalities, supposedly because they were "too liberal." ~~~

~~~ Anderson Drinks the Kool-Aid, Passes Out Free Samples. Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: "CNN star Anderson Cooper defended his network's widely reviled town hall with ... Donald Trump, condemning 'ridiculous lies' Trump told at the event, but also admonishing critics who feel that CNN should have never held it.... Cooper said on his show late Thursday..., '...do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Anderson, do you think giving a platform designed to make the popular leader of a coup look good is going to make him go away? ~~~

     ~~~ Late yesterday in the Comments section, Akhilleus wrote a very good “and another thing' about CNN's The Trump Show disaster. One of the perps Akhilleus mentioned was this guy: "CNN is now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Discovery's largest shareholder, who now has a seat on CNN's board, is John Malone, a right-wing media billionaire who has publicly stated that his goal is to remake CNN in the mold of Fox News." Yes, you say, but maybe Malone is among those right-wing billionaires who don't like Trump. Well, whaddaboud this:

A frequent donor to Republican candidates and causes, [Malone] chipped in $250,000 to Trump's inauguration fund, tens of thousands of dollars to Trump's 2020 campaign and political committees focused on his reelection, and even 'contributed to Trump's "Save America" PAC, which funded the January 6 rally' at which Trump encouraged the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, as my former colleague Parker Molloy reported. -- Matt Gertz of Media Matters, a column worth reading in full

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "Many audience members at CNN's town hall with ... Donald Trump on Wednesday were 'disgusted' and 'bewildered' by the spectacle, but were told to be respectful and not to boo, according to a report. 'The floor manager came out ahead of time and said, Please do not boo, please be respectful. You were allowed to applaud,' claimed Republican political consultant Matthew Bartlett in an interview with Puck News senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri on Thursday.... He estimated that while around half of the audience expressed vocal support for Trump, the other half sat in silence. Bartlett also alleged that Trump repeatedly 'lost the audience' when he spoke about topics like January 6 or the results of the 2020 election, despite the appearance on CNN that the audience was consistently on his side." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If it's true the show's floor manager went out of his way to make the audience look more Trumpish than they actually were, CNN looks even worse.

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was willing to threaten lower-level company employees he felt were hurting the Fox brand by running critical stories about Donald Trump, newly-revealed text messages obtained by The Daily Beast show.... 'I'm happy to start threatening people individually,' [Carlson wrote in November 2020 in a text to his producer Justin Wells, whom Fox also terminated]. 'It's too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.'" The issue at hand was a print story about Trump's doing the annual turkey pardon despite being a lame duck president*.

Beyond the Beltway

Nevada. Gideon Rubin of the Raw Story: "A group of Nevada Republican electors who submitted paperwork that falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the Silver State's 2020 election will not face state charges, KLAS-TV Las Vegas reports. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said Thursday that the fake electors won't face charges because the state doesn't have a statute under which they can be prosecuted. Former Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, oversaw the official certification of the state's six electoral votes for Joe Biden, who won the state by more than 33,000 votes. On the same day the election was certified, the Nevada GOP's six electors signed paperwork indicating their support for Trump in a symbolic ceremony. Nevada GOP Party Chair Michael McDonald and 2024 U.S. Senate candidate Jim Marchant were among those who signed on." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, I'll bet Ford could have found a state statute that would have worked. According to the KLAS story, "Upon receiving the fake electoral votes from the Nevada GOP, the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian noted the document contained 'no seal of the state' and 'no evidence votes were delivered by the executive of the state for signature by electors,' the committee's final report said." That is, Nevada's fake electors submitted their fake certification notice to the U.S. Parliamentarian. It's almost certain Nevada has a general statute outlawing the signing of false documents. Without it, people would be signing false statements whenever it was to their advantage to do so.

New York. Hurubie Meko & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who choked and killed Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on the subway last week, surrendered on Friday to face a charge of second-degree manslaughter. Mr. Penny, 24..., walked through the front doors of the Police Department's Fifth Precinct at around 8 a.m. Hands cuffed behind his back, Mr. Penny was led out of the precinct at 10:38 a.m. He was put into a waiting black police car to be taken to Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was to be arraigned later Friday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "Daniel Penny, who while riding the subway last week choked Jordan Neely, a homeless man, to death, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, taking his first formal steps as a defendant in a case that has stunned New York City."

Way Beyond

Pakistan. Sophia Saifi, et al., of CNN: "Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been granted bail by the Islamabad High Court, days after his dramatic arrest over corruption charges set off a deadly outpouring of anger against the country's military. Khan left the court on Friday under police protection to return to Lahore. Before leaving, he predicted he could be arrested again, despite a court order barring authorities from arresting him on any charges until Monday."

Russia. Welcome to Trumpingrad! Tim Hume of Vice: "Plans are underway in Russia to build a settlement for conservative American and Canadian immigrants seeking to leave the West 'for ideological reasons,' at least according to a Moscow-based immigration lawyer. Timur Beslangurov, a partner in the law firm VISTA Immigration, claimed that construction would begin next year on a village in the Moscow region for about 200 families from North America, financed by the immigrants themselves.... VICE News contacted Beslangurov asking for further information on the reported project, and to speak with some of the hundreds of potential Western immigrants he said existed to help verify his claims, but he replied that he wasn't able to provide further information 'at this stage.' Russian President Vladimir Putin has wooed Western right-wingers and conservatives by positioning himself as a staunch defender of a traditionalist, Christian European identity, resulting in pro-Russian narratives about the invasion of Ukraine becoming widespread in far-right and conspiracist networks."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Rome Saturday, where he will hold meetings with Italy's president and prime minister. He is also set to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican. It is the first time he is meeting the pontiff since Russia's invasion, though ultimately Francis' influence over the conflict may be limited. Ukrainian officials announced air alerts throughout the country early Saturday, reporting multiple injuries."

May 12, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "Many audience members at CNN's town hall with ... Donald Trump on Wednesday were 'disgusted' and 'bewildered' by the spectacle, but were told to be respectful and not to boo, according to a report. 'The floor manager came out ahead of time and said, Please do not boo, please be respectful. You were allowed to applaud,' claimed Republican political consultant Matthew Bartlett in an interview with Puck News senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri on Thursday.... He estimated that while around half of the audience expressed vocal support for Trump, the other half sat in silence. Bartlett also alleged that Trump repeatedly 'lost the audience' when he spoke about topics like January 6 or the results of the 2020 election, despite the appearance on CNN that the audience was consistently on his side." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If it's true the show's floor manager went out of his way to make the audience look more into Trump than they actually were, CNN looks even worse.

New York. Hurubie Meko & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who choked and killed Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on the subway last week, surrendered on Friday to face a charge of second-degree manslaughter. Mr. Penny, 24..., walked through the front doors of the Police Department's Fifth Precinct at around 8 a.m. Hands cuffed behind his back, Mr. Penny was led out of the precinct at 10:38 a.m. He was put into a waiting black police car to be taken to Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was to be arraigned later Friday."

~~~~~~~~~~

Reyes Mata & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Illegal border crossings have topped 10,000 per day this week, the highest levels ever, as the Title 42 border policy expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Thousands of migrants forded the Rio Grande into the Brownsville, Tex., area, or arrived elsewhere, including more than 800 miles away on the dusty strip of U.S. land between the riverbanks and the border wall east of downtown El Paso. With Border Patrol stations and processing centers maxed out, officials authorized the release of migrants without court dates at locations where facilities exceeded 125 percent of their holding capacity or other thresholds were surpassed. But a federal judge stepped in late Thursday to block the release plan, granting a temporary restraining order sought by Florida's attorney general....

"As the midnight expiration time passed, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas posted a video statement to Twitter, warning that 'people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum.' He also warned that 24,000 Border Patrol agents and officers and thousands of troops and contractors are on hand to enforce the policy. 'Do not believe the lies of smugglers,' he said. 'The border is not open.'" ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "U.S. officials were striving to maintain order on Thursday along the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico as migrants waded across the Rio Grande, lined up at international bridges, filled federal immigration processing centers and huddled on the sidewalks of American border towns. The images of desperate migrants and overburdened border facilities played out in the hours before the lifting of a Covid-era policy, known as Title 42, that for more than three years has allowed the government to swiftly expel many people who crossed the border before they could apply for asylum. The order was set to expire along with the national Covid health emergency at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time." This was the pinned item on a liveblog. Also published in Spanish. ~~~

~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "House Republicans pushed through a sweeping border security bill on Thursday that would crack down on unlawful immigration, blowing past solid Democratic opposition and narrowly avoiding an embarrassing mutiny within their own ranks on one of their signature midterm campaign promises. Republicans timed approval of the measure, which has no chance in the Democratic-led Senate, to spotlight their hard-line stance on immigration just as President Biden is facing a potential border surge with Thursday night's expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era rule allowing for swift expulsion of migrants. The bill would revive and codify a variety of border policies championed during the Trump administration, including construction of a border wall, the 'Remain in Mexico' practice of keeping migrants seeking asylum either in detention facilities or on the opposite side of the border and expedited deportation of unaccompanied children. It also would mandate that companies verify their employees are legally eligible to work in the United States through a program known as E-Verify, and criminalize visa overstays of more than 10 days."

Carl Hulse, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden and top congressional leaders on Thursday postponed a second meeting on the debt limit crisis to give staff members more time to explore a budget deal before the two sides convened again. People familiar with the decision cast the move as a positive development. Preliminary budget talks among senior White House officials and congressional aides have been underway for two days, with both sides attempting to find a path to an agreement on lifting the government's debt limit and avoiding a default." An NPR story is here.

Exhibit 1: Fraudster George Santos. Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "House Republicans passed a symbolic bill Thursday that would clamp down on unemployment insurance fraud. And one of the bill's sponsors, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), demonstrated the need for the legislation by getting indicted for unemployment insurance fraud this week.... The legislation, which is unlikely to pass the Senate, would give prosecutors more time to bring fraud charges against bogus unemployment claimants and create stronger incentives for state workforce agencies to claw back bogus benefits."

Santos Confesses. Grace Ashford & Leonardo Coelho of the New York Times: George Anthony Devolder "Santos and Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday agreed to resolve a criminal charge that involved a pair of shoes and a stolen checkbook. Mr. Santos, who appeared remotely, accepted responsibility for his actions and agreed to pay 24,000 Brazilian reais (about $4,850), some of which will go to the victim, and some to charity, according to documents viewed by The New York Times. In exchange for his confession, prosecutors dropped the case against him, according to his lawyer and another person familiar with the case." The Hill has a report here. MB: Hey, Brazil. Get a cashier's check.

Supremes Continue to Encourage Public Corruption. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In a pair of unanimous decisions in cases involving defendants convicted of fraud for actions during Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration in New York, the Supreme Court on Thursday again limited federal prosecutions of public corruption. One case concerned Joseph Percoco, a former aide to Mr. Cuomo convicted of taking illicit payments to benefit a Syracuse-area developer. The other involved Louis Ciminelli, the owner of a Buffalo construction firm convicted of fraud in a bid-rigging scandal in connection with Buffalo Billion, a development project championed by Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. The rulings were the latest in a series of setbacks for prosecutors from a court that has become increasingly skeptical of federal charges of public corruption in state government." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Judge Rules That What This Country Needs Is More Kids with Guns. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A judge in Virginia has struck down federal laws blocking handgun sales to buyers over 18 and under 21, in a ruling that might augur the rollback of regulation prompted by the Supreme Court's sweeping expansion of gun rights last year. Judge Robert E. Payne of Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Wednesday that statutes and regulations put in place over the past few decades to enforce age requirements on sales of handguns, like the semiautomatic Glock-style pistols, by federally licensed weapons dealers were 'not consistent with our nation's history and tradition' and therefore could not stand. A citizen's Second Amendment rights do not 'vest at age 21,' he added. In his 71-page ruling, Judge Payne, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, repeatedly cited the majority opinion in the landmark case New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a New York State law that put tight limits on carrying guns outside the home.... The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling.... 'This decision is not a surprise...,' said Jonathan Lowy, a lawyer and gun violence activist.... 'Bruen gave license to any judge who has an inclination to strike down any gun law.'" CNN's report is here.

Marie: Maybe the DOJ doesn't have time to prosecute Donald Trump because it is still too busy defending him in court: ~~~

~~~ Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department said Thursday that it will ask a U.S. appeals court to stop former president Donald Trump from being questioned under oath on May 24 by attorneys for two former senior FBI employees who have alleged that they were targeted for retribution after the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The decision was disclosed in an urgent court filing in which department attorneys wrote that U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar on Thursday approved an appeal unless U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson revisits her decision. On Feb. 23, the judge allowed Trump and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray to be deposed by attorneys for former senior FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who exchanged politically charged text messages criticizing Trump while they were having an affair. Strzok seeks reinstatement and back pay over what he alleges was his unfair termination. Page alleges officials unlawfully released the trove of messages to reporters."

Michael Sisak of the AP: "Donald Trump was ordered Thursday to appear by video at a May 23 hearing in his Manhattan criminal case after a judge this week set rules barring him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan scheduled the hybrid hearing -- the former president on a TV screen, his lawyers and prosecutors in court -- to go over the restrictions with Trump and to make clear that he risks being held in contempt if he violates them. The case is continuing in state court even as Trump's lawyers seek to have it moved to federal court. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is considering the transfer request, issued an order this week setting paperwork deadlines and a hearing for late June. Merchan, still in charge while that drama plays out, agreed to instruct Trump on the rules by video, rather than in person, after a prosecutor reminded him last week that bringing Trump to court would present mammoth security and logistical challenges." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, this is 4th-grade stuff, wherein the judge plays the school principal & the former POTUS* is the class bully: "Now, Donnie, if you say bad things about the other kids, we're going to have to give you detention." It is my person hope that Donnie gets detention. And if the Secret Service guys don't care for the detention facilities, well, they deserve the discomfort for deleting all the insurrection-related messages from their devices.

Confessions of a Classified Docs Thief. OR Jack Smith Gets a Break in the Case. Alan Feuer & Maggie Hamberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump admitted more directly than before on Wednesday that he knowingly removed government records from the White House and claimed that he was allowed to take anything he wanted with him as personal records, appearing to misstate the law and undercut some assertions by his own lawyers.... Answering questions from the CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Mr. Trump appeared at times to be kicking up sand as he offered an array of excuses for -- and distractions from -- the key issue of whether he improperly held on to sensitive government records after he left the White House. 'I took the documents; I'm allowed to,' he told Ms. Collins at one point, asserting that he had 'the absolute right' to do so under the Presidential Records Act. The law, enacted in 1978 after the Watergate scandal, gave control of presidential records to the government itself -- not to individual presidents....

"'When we left Washington, we had the boxes lined up on the sidewalk outside for everybody,' he said. 'People are taking pictures of them. Everybody knew we were taking those boxes.'... In a letter [to Congress] last month..., [Trump's] lawyers argued that 'White House institutional processes,' not 'intentional decisions by President Trump,' were responsible for sensitive material being hauled away.... When Ms. Collins asked Mr. Trump if he had ever shown classified documents to anyone after leaving the White House, he said, 'Not really.' When she pressed him on what he meant, Mr. Trump gave an equivocating answer: 'Not -- not that I can think of.'" An NBC News story is here.

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: Donald "Trump, in response to questions from the CNN moderator about the Manhattan jury's verdict Tuesday, called [E. Jean] Carroll a 'wack job' and said her civil trial was 'a rigged deal.' The audience had been drawn primarily from Republican groups, and his comments drew applause and laughter.... Ms. Carroll, 79, is now weighing whether to file a new defamation lawsuit against Mr. Trump, said her lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan. In addition to the case that ended Tuesday, Ms. Carroll has an earlier defamation suit against Mr. Trump, 76, that is still pending. Mr. Trump has argued in that case that he cannot be sued because he made those comments in his official capacity as president." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Just sue the SOB once a week or so. Kaplan can create a standard form complaint & each week fill in the dates and venues where Trump defamed Carroll. Kaplan will only occasionally have to change the defamatory remarks in each new complaint, because Trump is not good at coming up with original material. ~~~

     (~~~ MEANWHILE. Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has begun the process of appealing the $5 million verdict reached Tuesday in a sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. A notice of appeal was filed late Thursday afternoon by Trump's attorney, Joe Tacopina, less than 24 hours after Trump denounced Carroll during a CNN town hall as a 'whack job' who peddled 'a fake story.'")

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "In little over an hour, Donald J. Trump suggested the United States should default on its debts for the first time in history, injected doubt over the country's commitment to defending Ukraine from Russia's invasion, dangled pardons for most of the Capitol rioters convicted of crimes, and refused to say he would abide by the results of the next presidential election. The second-term vision Mr. Trump sketched out at a CNN town-hall event on Wednesday would represent a sharp departure from core American values that have been at the bedrock of the nation for decades: its creditworthiness, its credibility with international allies and its adherence to the rule of law at home.... His performance ... signaled an escalation of his bid to bend the government to his wishes as he runs again for the White House, only this time with a greater command of the Republican Party's pressure points and a plan to demolish the federal bureaucracy."

Here's the full transcript of CNN's Trump Show.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Paul Farhi & Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "CNN's prime-time broadcast of a raucous town hall with Donald Trump propelled a tsunami of criticism from inside and outside the network Thursday -- and renewed questions about how the news media will handle the challenge of covering the serial falsehoods of the Republican Party's leading candidate going into the 2024 election.... The telecast proved to be a ratings disappointment, with Nielsen reporting just 3.1 million viewers overall.... It also raised questions about the future prospects of chief executive Chris Licht.... Licht defended the decision to host Trump in this format during his regular morning meeting with network staff on Thursday.... Licht defended the decisions that led to a cheering, partisan audience: 'That was also an important part of the story because the people in that audience represent a large swath of America. And the mistake the media made in the past is ignoring those people exist.'... 'I can't believe anyone thought this was a good idea,' said one staffer...." A Guardian story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Licht seems to be of the misapprehension that giving a demagogue & his followers an hour-plus of free air-time is "journalism." The actual journalism you're seeing in relation to the CNN Trump debacle are the reports, analyses & critiques of Licht's bad-faith charade.

The indispensable Dan Froomkin of Press Watch posts some tips on how to handle a lying demagogue like Donald Trump: "You cannot treat Trump like a normal politician, no matter how he is doing in the polls. You can't ignore him. But you can't let him play by his rules, either. The next president of CNN should learn from [CNN CEO Chris] Licht's mistakes." ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "It's hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening.... It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump's unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage.... Trump frequently ignored or spoke over [Kaitlan] Collins throughout the evening as he unleashed a firehose of disinformation upon the country, which a sizable swath of the GOP continues to believe. A professional lie machine, Trump fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins, stealing command of the stage at some points of the town hall.... CNN and new network boss Chris Licht are facing a fury of criticism -- both internally and externally over the event." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most commentators are giving Kaitlan Collins props for trying (but failing!) to fact-check Trump. To that, I say bull. If Collins wanted a thumbs-up from me -- and I first thought this anticipating the fiasco, not after the fact -- she would have had to tell Licht she was not going to sit there as Trump & the Gang's patsy & punching bag. No real journalist would have agreed to participate in that forum in that format with that audience.

~~~ Conser-vo-tive Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark: "Critics had worried that giving the indicted, twice-impeached, coup-plotting, chronically lying sexual predator an unedited, live television forum might turn out badly. The reality, however, was far ghastlier: a sh*tshow for the ages, and a moment that captured the thorough degradation of both our politics and the media. 'It was a f**king nightmare,' remarked one savvy observer, 'and it was programmed to BE a f**king nightmare.'... As Mehdi Hasan writes today, the 'ridiculous town hall format and an audience seemingly recruited "from the Mar-a-Lago parking lot"', put its own anchor in a position to fail.' Her bosses at CNN should have known that, but they made it clear last night that they had learned nothing. Or simply didn't care. Increasingly, Chris Licht is to CNN what Elon Musk is to Twitter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What Mehdi Hasan said, perhaps in jest, was apparently true. Some pundit on the teevee said today that he recognized some of the audience members as former Trump operatives & campaign workers. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump said a lot more horrible things than this, but the one that got me was his claim that he had finished the wall. A wall is a physical thing, and the vast spaces between the few shoddily-built sections of border wall that went up during Trump's reign of terror are irrefutable proof that he did not finish the wall. He barely began it. Moreover, a lot of ink was spilled over the failures to build a wall (or to build any structure that was in any way a practical deterrent to unauthorized immigrants). The wall was not built. The wall is not there. Yet Trump just says it is there, and for his hallucinating MAGA masses, apparently it is there. This is an insane expression and acceptance of authoritarianism at its most stark.

Presidential Race 2024. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) said Thursday that he does not plan to support Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, citing Trump's refusal to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal during a televised town hall and broader concerns about the former president's ability to win another general election. 'Where do I begin?' Young, a veteran lawmaker who previously led the Senate GOP's campaign arm, told reporters at the Capitol when asked about his reservations about Trump.... To date, 11 of the Senate's 49 senators have publicly expressed support for Trump's return to the White House."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old Marine veteran who choked and killed a homeless man on the subway last week, will face a charge of second-degree manslaughter and is expected to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday.... Mr. Penny encountered [Jordan] Neely, 30, on an F train on May 1 and placed him in a chokehold, killing him. Witnesses told the police that Mr. Neely had been shouting at passengers, but there has been no indication that he physically attacked anyone." The AP report is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Wagner head Yevgeniy Prigozhin shared conflicting reports on the much-anticipated Ukrainian spring counteroffensive, with Zelensky saying his country needed to wait for more equipment to arrive.... Prigozhin, meanwhile, said the Ukrainians were 'in full swing,' attacking his forces' flanks in Bakhmut. 'Unfortunately, in some places they are successful,' Prigozhin, meanwhile, said the Ukrainians were 'in full swing,' attacking his forces' flanks in Bakhmut. 'Unfortunately, in some places they are successful,' Prigozhin said. Prigozhin said.... The U.S. ambassador to South Africa on Thursday accused his host country of shipping weapons to Russia in December, in violation of its self-proclaimed policy of nonalignment.... In a first, the U.S. Justice Department has transferred millions of dollars seized from a Russian oligarch for use in rebuilding Ukraine. The funds were taken from a U.S. bank account traceable to sanctions violations by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, the Justice Department said." ~~~

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

May 11, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Michael Sisak of the AP: "Donald Trump was ordered Thursday to appear by video at a May 23 hearing in his Manhattan criminal case after a judge this week set rules barring him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan scheduled the hybrid hearing -- the former president on a TV screen, his lawyers and prosecutors in court -- to go over the restrictions with Trump and to make clear that he risks being held in contempt if he violates them. The case is continuing in state court even as Trump's lawyers seek to have it moved to federal court. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is considering the transfer request, issued an order this week setting paperwork deadlines and a hearing for late June. Merchan, still in charge while that drama plays out, agreed to instruct Trump on the rules by video, rather than in person, after a prosecutor reminded him last week that bringing Trump to court would present mammoth security and logistical challenges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, this is 4th-grade stuff, wherein the judge plays the school principal & the former POTUS* is the class bully: "Now, Donnie, if you say bad things about the other kids, we're going to have to give you detention." It is my person hope that Donnie gets detention. And if the Secret Service guys don't care for the detention facilities, well, they deserve the discomfort for deleting all the insurrection-related messages from their devices.

Supremes Continue to Encourage Public Corruption. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In a pair of unanimous decisions in cases involving defendants convicted of fraud for actions during Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration in New York, the Supreme Court on Thursday again limited federal prosecutions of public corruption. One case concerned Joseph Percoco, a former aide to Mr. Cuomo convicted of taking illicit payments to benefit a Syracuse-area developer. The other involved Louis Ciminelli, the owner of a Buffalo construction firm convicted of fraud in a bid-rigging scandal in connection with Buffalo Billion, a development project championed by Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. The rulings were the latest in a series of setbacks for prosecutors from a court that has become increasingly skeptical of federal charges of public corruption in state government."

Oliver Darcy of CNN: "It's hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening.... It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump's unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage.... Trump frequently ignored or spoke over [Kaitlan] Collins throughout the evening as he unleashed a firehose of disinformation upon the country, which a sizable swath of the GOP continues to believe. A professional lie machine, Trump fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins, stealing command of the stage at some points of the town hall.... CNN and new network boss Chris Licht are facing a fury of criticism -- both internally and externally over the event." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most commentators are giving Kaitlan Collins props for trying (but failing!) to fact-check Trump. To that, I say bull. If Collins wanted a thumbs-up from me -- and I first thought this anticipating the fiasco, not after the fact -- she would have had to tell Licht she was not going to sit there as Trump & the Gang's patsy & punching bag. No real journalist would have agreed to participate in that forum in that format with that audience.

~~~ Conser-vo-tive Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark: "Critics had worried that giving the indicted, twice-impeached, coup-plotting, chronically lying sexual predator an unedited, live television forum might turn out badly. The reality, however, was far ghastlier: a sh*tshow for the ages, and a moment that captured the thorough degradation of both our politics and the media. 'It was a f**king nightmare,' remarked one savvy observer, 'and it was programmed to BE a f**king nightmare.'... As Mehdi Hasan writes today, the 'ridiculous town hall format and an audience seemingly recruited "from the Mar-a-Lago parking lot"', put its own anchor in a position to fail.' Her bosses at CNN should have known that, but they made it clear last night that they had learned nothing. Or simply didn't care. Increasingly, Chris Licht is to CNN what Elon Musk is to Twitter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What Mehdi Hasan said, perhaps in jest, was apparently true. Some pundit on the teevee said today that he recognized some of the audience members as former Trump operatives & campaign workers. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I know Trump said a lot more serious horrible things, but the one that got me was his claim that he had finished the wall. A wall is a physical thing, and the vast spaces between the few shoddily-built sections of border wall that went up during Trump's reign of terror are irrefutable proof that he did not finish the wall. He barely began it. Moreover, a lot of ink was spilled over the failures to build a wall (or to build any structure that was in any way a practical deterrent to unauthorized immigrants). The wall was not built. The wall is not there. Yet Trump just says it is there, and for his hallucinating MAGA masses, apparently it is there. This is an insane expression and acceptance of authoritarianism at its most stark.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Baker & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "President Biden sought to drive a wedge among Republicans in their escalating dispute over spending and debt on Wednesday, effectively reaching out to moderates in hopes of convincing them to break away from Speaker Kevin McCarthy rather than risk triggering a national default that could throw the economy into a tailspin. Appearing in a competitive suburb with a vulnerable House Republican in his sights, Mr. Biden accused Mr. McCarthy of pursuing a radical strategy at the behest of the "extreme" wing of his party loyal to ... Donald J. Trump, putting the country in economic jeopardy in a way that he said reasonable Republicans of his own era in the Senate would not have done."

Jared Gans of the Hill: "President Biden trolled former President Trump on Wednesday over a contentious appearance at a CNN town hall on Wednesday, with Biden asking for supporters to donate to his reelection campaign if they don't want 'four more years of that.'... The White House press pool traveling with Biden reported that the president did not watch the town hall while on Air Force One on his way back from a trip to New York. The report indicated that televisions were tuned in to CNN on the plane's flight to the destination earlier on Wednesday but were switched to MSNBC on the way back." ~~~

Marie: Today is hardly the first day I've had to weigh which GOP reprobate gets top billing.

They were there proud. They were there with love in their heart. That was unbelievable and it was a beautiful day. -- Donald Trump, CNN appearance May 10, 2023, speaking of January 6, 2021, insurrection ~~~

~~~ Shane Goldmacher & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald Trump is still Donald Trump. His 70 minutes onstage in New Hampshire served as a vivid reminder that the former president has only one speed.... CNN's decision to give him an unfiltered prime-time platform was a callback to the 2016 campaign, even as the moderator, Kaitlan Collins, persistently interjected to try to cut him off or correct him.... The audience's regular interruptions on behalf of Mr. Trump were like a laugh track on a sitcom. It built momentum for him in the room -- and onscreen for the television audience -- and stifled Ms. Collins as she repeatedly tried to interrupt him with facts and correctives.... 'You're a nasty person,' Mr. Trump said to her at one point.... No matter how vulgar, profane or politically incorrect Mr. Trump was, the Republican crowd in New Hampshire audibly ate up the shtick of the decades-long showman." Worth reading, if you have the stomach for it. Best section: the one headlined, "He deepened his legal jeopardy with comments on investigations." ~~~

     ~~~ The Party of Misogynists. Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones: "As soon as journalist Kaitlan Collins mentioned the verdict [in the E. Jean Carroll case] during this evening's CNN town hall with the former president, the audience of Republican-leaning New Hampshire voters started to laugh. 'I never met this woman. I never saw this woman,' Trump said, before launching into a mocking retelling of Carroll's allegations about what Trump did to her in a New York department store. 'What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes you're playing hanky-panky in a dressing room?' Trump swore 'on my children' that the alleged attack never happened, despite a jury of nine people unanimously finding otherwise. He also repeated an insult he has frequently lobbed at Carroll, calling her a 'wack-job,' to rapturous laughter from the audience." ~~~

     ~~~ In case you're interested but refuse to watch, the New York Times liveblogged Donald Trump's CNN fake town-hall appearance, which he lied his way through. ~~~

     ~~~ Akhilleus, in yesterday's thread: "Please tell me what kind of town meeting excludes all members of one of the two major political parties? That's not a town meeting, that's a rally. I heard that CNN was inviting Rape and Treason Boy because they wanted to hear 'all sides'. If you invite only Republicans and the chimerical independents, how is that getting all sides?" ~~~

     ~~~ Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "John King, the network's veteran political analyst, hinted at the emptiness of the evening: 'He is who he is, and he is who he was.'... This is what CNN does. Town halls, debates, live coverage on location -- CNN is a breaking-news colossus that loves nothing more than making its own breaking news.... [Their] team of top-notch professionals, as it turns out, can't design a format that does two things at once: present a live interview with Trump while at the same time providing viewers with a comprehensive inventory of true and false claims." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "Appearing at a CNN town hall, Donald Trump immediately launched into a series of debunked, nonsense claims about election fraud, speaking nearly non-stop for more than five minutes. Trump steamrolled over attempted interruptions from Kaitlan Collins, the CNN interviewer, as the town hall immediately turned into what many had feared: an opportunity for Trump to lie about dozens of topics, almost completely unfettered, across 60 minutes of primetime television. From 8pm to just after 9pm, there was never a moment when CNN or Collins had any semblance of control. Trump lied about election fraud and about the January 6 insurrection. He obfuscated on trade tariffs and the aims of abortion advocates, and claimed, wrongly, that he had 'finished' the wall.... According to CNN, the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, was made up of 'New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters', but in reality the crowd [-- almost all men and mostly white --] might as well have been scooped up from a Trump campaign rally. They laughed, whooped and applauded as Trump dished out a stream of his greatest hits." ~~~

     ~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "The nausea came gradually, then suddenly, and with disconcerting familiarity. We had been flung back in time to the political hellscape of 2016. Only the second time around, it was somehow worse. Donald Trump..., appearing on CNN for the first time since that fateful election year, lied and lied and lied. He was a leviathan of lying, a juggernaut of junk, an ocean liner of mendacity that left little boats of truth spinning and overturning in its wake.... What may have come as a rude awakening to the pundit class is that many in the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, were lapping it up and cheering him on." MB: Even though I didn't watch the Trumpfest, reading about it makes me feel sick, too.

Trump Is Still Defaming Carroll. Lola Fadula of the New York Times: "'This is another scam,' Mr. Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social platform, one of a series of posts that continued into Wednesday morning. 'It's a political witch hunt.' Mr. Trump said in the video that Ms. Carroll had been financed 'by Democrat operatives,' and that 'she totally lied about it.' He appeared to be referring to Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn who has a long history of funding Democratic candidates and causes, and who helped pay for certain costs and fees associated with Ms. Carroll's lawsuit.... Mr. Trump also criticized Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court, who presided over the case, calling him a 'terrible person' who was 'completely biased, and should have recused himself.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' main story on George Anthony Devolder Santos' indictment, by Grace Ashford & Michael Gold, is here. ~~~

~~~ ** Adrienne Vogt & Aditi Sangal of CNN: "Rep. George Santos has been charged on a 13-count indictment, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday. The charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.... Santos is now in federal custody, according to a spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York. Santos was taken into custody in Melville, Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source tells CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip." One item in this liveblog includes a facsimile of the grand jury indictment. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Saving George Anthony's Vote. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Since the day he set foot in Washington, Representative George Santos of New York has been shunned by some of his fellow Republicans and protected by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has consistently defended his right to serve in Congress despite the fictional persona he created and the geyser of falsehoods he told to win election. His wide-ranging indictment on Wednesday, in which Mr. Santos was charged with wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying to Congress in federal disclosure forms, did nothing to change that dynamic. Some rank-and-file Republican lawmakers intensified their calls for his resignation, but Mr. McCarthy and other House G.O.P. leaders, operating with a slim and fractious majority, said Mr. Santos should be allowed to continue to serve in Congress." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Because George Santos is the kind of guy you want to have making decisions for the American people. ~~~

~~~ From the New York Times liveblog: "[Rep. George] Santos, 34, pleaded not guilty to all charges at a hearing in federal court on Long Island on Wednesday afternoon.... Santos was released on $500,000 bond secured by three individuals, whose identities are not public. He will be confined to New York, Washington, D.C., and places in between. He may travel to other places with advance approval." The liveblog includes a copy of the indictment. ~~~

~~~ Rebecca O'Brien: "Broadly, George Santos has been charged in three schemes outlined in the indictment: First, a fraudulent political contribution solicitation scheme, in which prosecutors say Santos and an unnamed Queens-based political consultant induced donors to give money to an LLC he controlled. He then used the money for personal expenses, including to buy designer goods and to pay off personal debts. Second, an unemployment insurance fraud scheme: Prosecutors say that in June 2020, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Santos applied for government assistance in New York, even though he was at the time employed by a Florida-based investment firm and drew an annual salary of $120,000. And, finally, the indictment says Santos misled the House of Representatives about his financial condition. In May 2020 -- during his first, unsuccessful campaign -- he is accused of overstating one source of income while failing to disclose his investment firm salary. And in September 2022, when he ran a second time, Santos is accused of including a number of falsehoods in his financial disclosure form." ~~~

~~~ Grace Ashford: "Away from the prying eyes of reporters in a secure wing of the federal courthouse, Santos is getting the full perp treatment. Likely that includes fingerprinting, photographs and a preliminary interview. He will be arraigned at 1 p.m." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, in Brazil. Grace Ashford & André Spigariol: "... Brazilian law enforcement authorities will conduct a hearing on Thursday on an allegation of check fraud. The matter, which stemmed from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook, had been suspended for the better part of a decade because the police were unable to locate him. The case was revived earlier this year and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Scott Lemieux notes that not only has the greatest volleyball player in CUNY history been indicted, he is counting on Matt Taibbi "to get to the bottom of this Deep State conspiracy." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Steven Attewell in LG&$: "There's nothing novel or complicated ... about these crimes: in all these cases, Santos just lied to people about money and then when they gave him money, he took it and spent it. The campaign finance scheme is depressingly basic -- rather than playing the usual (and these days pretty much legalized by the Supreme Court) game of using no-show 'consultant' positions and the like to turn campaign finance dollars into personal funds, Santos just lied to people that a shell company was a 501(c)(4) independent expenditure organization, got them to wire money to that shell company, and then spent the money on himself. The Unemployment Insurance fraud is both deeply ironic -- Congressman Santos is a co-sponsor of a bill to crack down on UI fraud [MB: see Tony Romm's report, linked below] -- and similarly unoriginal. Santos had a no-show job that paid him $125k a year and then lied to the Department of Labor and the state of New York in order to collect a comparatively piddling $24 grand. He couldn't even manage to pull off a proper PPP scam like the cool kids in Congress." ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'd like to point out to Merrick Garland that the New York Times first raised questions about George Santos' fake biography on December 19, 2022; this is, fewer that five months ago. Later reporting by the Times and other outlets brought to light some of Santos' suspect financial stunts. So five months ago, Garland's DOJ knew nothing about the matters on which it led a grand jury to indict him yesterday. That is to say, the DOJ can move fairly quickly to bring indictments against elected officials. So how come, Merrick, we're still not seeing any indictments against Donald Trump for leading an open rebellion against the United States -- a rebellion viewed by millions of people around the world -- two years and five months ago? ~~~

~~~ Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The House is preparing to vote this week on a Republican-backed bill that would clamp down on fraud in the nation's unemployment insurance program, mere days after Rep. George Santos &-- ... a co-sponsor of the legislation -- was indicted in federal court for allegedly bilking the benefits. The Republican proposal seeks to empower government officials to recover funds stolen during the coronavirus pandemic, when criminals laid siege to historically generous federal jobless aid, contributing to an estimated $190 billion in taxpayer losses. While Democrats share a desire to combat fraud, they largely oppose the GOP measure, arguing that it is likely to harm innocent Americans. The White House, meanwhile, has threatened to veto the proposal, which for weeks had not garnered much attention in a capital that finds itself enmeshed in a fiscal crisis."

Bupkis on Biden. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption. At a much-publicized news conference on Capitol Hill to show the preliminary findings of their premier investigation into Mr. Biden and his family, leading Republicans released financial documents detailing how some of the president's relatives were paid more than $10 million from foreign sources between 2015 and 2017.... But ... their presentation underscored how little headway top G.O.P. lawmakers have made in finding clear evidence of questionable transactions they can tie to Mr. Biden, their chief political rival." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Asked directly by reporters whether there was any evidence of the president's involvement, [House Oversight Committee Chair James] Comer [R-Ky.] fell back on insinuations. 'We're pretty confident that the president was very knowledgeable of what his family was doing,' he claimed at one point -- which, of course, is very different from Biden's being a beneficiary of foreign contributions himself. If it's even true, which Comer didn't assert.... Then, of course, there's the question of [Donald] Trump and his family. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington estimates that Trump's various business interests pulled in as much as $160 million when he was president, cash mostly flowing in through overseas properties. But there was also foreign money coming in domestically, as when Saudi interests repeatedly booked large blocks of rooms at his hotels.... That's just Trump himself, mind you. His family also benefited from that spending.... In articulating the nefarious things Hunter Biden allegedly did, they can't help but demonstrate how Trump and his family engaged in similar behavior."

Look! A White Hood Perfectly Fits Mr. Potatohead! Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said people identified as 'white extremists' and 'white nationalists' should be allowed to serve in the U.S. armed forces. 'We are losing in the military, so fast, our readiness in terms of recruitment,' Tuberville told radio station WBHM in an interview published online Monday. 'I can tell you why. Because the Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists' and others who do not believe in President Biden's 'agenda.' In response, the reporter asked Tuberville, 'Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?' Tuberville said, 'Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.'... [Later,] Steven Stafford, a spokesman for Tuberville, wrote in an email to The Post that the senator 'resents the implication that the people in our military are anything but patriots and heroes.'" An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Wednesday that he does not support Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) blanket hold on more than 180 non-political military promotions, which Democrats say is keeping qualified people out of key roles. 'I don't support putting a hold on military nominations, I don't support that,' McConnell told reporters.... Asked whether there is a way to resolve the impasse, McConnell said: 'You'll have to ask Sen. Tuberville about that.'... The GOP leader's comments came after seven former secretaries of Defense sent a letter to the Senate last week warning the hold on promotions is 'harming military readiness and risks damaging U.S. national security.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Jim Rutenberg & Steven Myers of the New York Times: "Fox News was hit on Wednesday with another defamation lawsuit, this one from a woman who said the network promoted lies about her that generated serious threats to her safety and harmed her career prospects. The suit was filed on behalf of Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of a short-lived Department of Homeland Security division assigned with coordinating efforts to monitor and address disinformation threats to national security. Right-wing pundits and politicians falsely portrayed her group as part of an Orwellian bid to control the speech and thought of ordinary Americans. Ms. Jankowicz, a prominent specialist in Russian disinformation and online harassment, became the primary subject of their attacks. In 300 mentions over eight months on Fox last year, she was repeatedly demeaned and defamed in highly personal language, the lawsuit asserts. Hosts including Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity said her job was 'to silence anyone who criticizes the Biden administration' and possibly even, as Mr. Carlson warned, 'get men with guns to tell you to shut up.'" An NBC News story is here.

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Wednesday that the benefits of making a birth control pill available without a prescription outweigh the risks, a significant step in the decades-long push to make oral contraception obtainable over the counter in the United States. If the F.D.A. approves nonprescription sales of the medication, called Opill, this summer, it could significantly expand access to contraception, especially for young women and those who have difficulty dealing with the time, costs or logistical hurdles involved in visiting a doctor, reproductive health experts say. Approval is not a foregone conclusion, however." Read on if you're a potentially affected person. (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukraine needs more time before launching its long-anticipated spring counteroffensive against Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Speaking to the BBC and European public broadcasters, Zelensky said the offensive could proceed now 'and be successful' but would incur an 'unacceptable' level of loss. Ukraine has reclaimed more than a mile of territory near Bakhmut, military officials said Wednesday, marking a crucial breakthrough after months of pitched battles for control of the besieged front-line city.... Donald Trump refused to say whether he wants to see Ukraine or Russia triumph.... The former president also claimed he would end the war in a single day if he were reelected to the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump says he wants to end the war so people will stop dying. Good reason, and very humanitarian, especially for a guy who doesn't care about anyone but himself. Now, if you had a viable idea about how to abruptly end a war so people would "stop dying" (-- an idea might even garner you that Nobel Peace Prize you've obsessively coveted! --) wouldn't you rush your idea to the real President, to the Pentagon, to the editorial pages, to anyone in authority who would listen? Yes, you would. Even without the Nobel Prize incentive.

News Lede

AP: "The chief suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway is poised to face charges linked to the young woman's vanishing for the first time after the government of Peru authorized his extradition to the United States.... [Dutch citizen Joran] Van der Sloot is in a maximum-security prison in the Andes serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of a Peruvian woman. Holloway, who lived in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to the Caribbean island of Aruba.... She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island. Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and detained weeks later, along with two Surinamese brothers. Holloway's body was never found, and no charges were filed in the case. A judge later declared Holloway dead. [U.S.] federal charges filed in Alabama against van der Sloot stem from an accusation that he tried to extort the Holloway family in 2010, promising to lead them to her body in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A grand jury indicted him that year on one count each of wire fraud and extortion, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Also in 2010, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day after Holloway's disappearance."