The Ledes

Friday, September 27, 2024

New York Times: “Maggie Smith, one of the finest British stage and screen actors of her generation, whose award-winning roles ranged from a freethinking Scottish schoolteacher in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' to the acid-tongued dowager countess on 'Downton Abbey,' died on Friday in London. She was 89.”

The Washington Post's live updates of developments related to Hurricane Helene are here: “Hurricane Helene left one person dead in Florida and two in Georgia as it sped north. One of the biggest storms on record to hit the Gulf Coast, Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area on Thursday night as a Category 4 colossus with winds of up to 140 mph before weakening to Category 1. Catastrophic winds and torrential rain from the storm — which the National Hurricane Center forecast would eventually slow over the Tennessee Valley — were expected to continue Friday across the Southeast and southern Appalachians.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here.

Mediaite: “Fox Weather’s Bob Van Dillen was reporting live on Fox & Friends about flooding in Atlanta from Hurricane Helene when he was interrupted by the screams of a woman trapped in her car. During the 7 a.m. hour, Van Dillen was filing a live report on the massive flooding in the area. Fox News viewers could clearly hear the urgent screams for help emerging from a car stuck on a flooded road in the background of the live shot. Van Dillen ... told Fox & Friends that 911 had been called and that the local Fire Department was on its way. But as he continued to file the report, the screams did not stop, so Van Dillen cut the live shot short.... Some 10 minutes later, Fox & Friends aired live footage of Van Dillen carrying the woman to safety, waking through chest-deep water while the flooding engulfed her car in the background[.]”

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The Ledes

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The New York Times:' live updates of Hurricane Helene developments today are here. “Hurricane Helene was barreling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday en route to Florida, where residents were bracing for extreme rain, destructive winds and deadly storm surge ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The storm could intensify to a Category 4, if not higher, before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area. Areas as distant as Atlanta and the Appalachians are at risk for heavy rains.... Many forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch....” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has forecasts for some cites in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee that are in or near the probable path of Helene. ~~~

     ~~~ This morning, an MSNBC weatherperson said Tallahassee (which is inland) would experience wind gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. and that the National Weather Service said expected 20-foot storm surges near the coast would be “unsurvivable.”

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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

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

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

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Tuesday
May092023

May 10, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

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.

From the New York Times liveblog, also linked below: "[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." ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has made no move to penalize or marginalize Representative George Santos even in the face of mounting allegations of misconduct and lies by the first-term New York Republican, has signaled that Mr. Santos will be allowed to continue to serve in Congress even after being indicted on federal charges. 'I'll look at the charges,' Mr. McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday, before an indictment charging Mr. Santos with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to Congress was unsealed. 'If a person is indicted, they're not on committees. They have the right to vote, but they have to go to trial.'... 'He was already removed from all his committees,' Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and majority leader, said during a morning news conference.... Other top Republicans in the House ... said Wednesday that they were focused instead on rooting out unemployment fraud during the pandemic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now, wait a minute. Those "other Republicans" are confusing me. They can't think about George Santos because they're "focused instead on rooting out unemployment fraud during the pandemic"? But among the charges against Santos are that he engaged in "an unemployment insurance fraud scheme" under a Covid-19 unemployment benefit program. (See Rebecca O'Brien's item, linked below.) Even their excuses aren't excuses.

** 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. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times liveblog is here. It also 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."

~~~ 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." ~~~

~~~ 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? ~~~

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.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Sleaziest President* Ever Found Liable for Sexual Battery & Defamation

** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "A Manhattan jury on Tuesday found ... Donald J. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. More than a dozen women have accused Mr. Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, but this is the only allegation to be affirmed by a jury. In the civil case, the federal jury of six men and three women found that Ms. Carroll, 79, a former magazine writer, had sufficiently proved that Mr. Trump sexually abused her nearly 30 years ago in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The jury did not, however, find he had raped her, as she had long claimed. The jury, in returning the verdict shortly before 3 p.m., also found that Mr. Trump ... defamed Ms. Carroll in October when he posted a statement on his Truth Social platform calling her case 'a complete con job' and 'a Hoax and a lie.' His lawyer said he intended to appeal." The NBC News report is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The jury voted no on rape, but yes on sexual assault. Jury awarded Carroll $2MM + $1MM + $1.7MM + $20KK + $280KK. You do the math, but looks like about $5MM. ~~~

** ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here: "Donald Trump, who did not testify or show up in court, wrote on his social media platform: 'I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE -- A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Obviously I'd rather have a president that isn't found liable for battery. It's not a disqualifier, but it's certainly not a check in the plus column. -- Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)

-- [Trump has] been amazing in his ability to weather these sorts of attacks and the American public has been amazing in their support through it. -- Bill Haggerty (R-Tenn.)

Politico has more reactions. ~~~

Then there's Mitt, who is nearly unique among elected Republicans in being unafraid to stand up to Trump:

I hope the jury of the American people reach the same conclusion about Donald Trump. He just is not suited to be president of the United States and to be the person who we hold up to our children and the world as the leader of the free world.... At some point when the people who work with you, your cabinet secretaries, and juries conclude that you've done something severely wrong, it's time for us to recognize that the great majority of those who've worked with him are right and he's wrong. -- Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)

~~~ Dasha Burns & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Former Vice President Mike Pence subtly defended ... Donald Trump in an interview Tuesday, hours after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. 'I would tell you, in my 4½ years serving alongside the president, I never heard or witnessed behavior of that nature,' he said.... Pence sidestepped the question of whether the jury's verdict affects his view of Trump's fitness for the presidency. 'I think that's a question for the American people,' Pence said. 'I'm sure the president will defend himself in that matter.' Pence was in Cincinnati to speak at a gala for the Center for Christian Virtue." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No surprise that pence is a two-faced chickenpoop who has decided it's strategically advantageous to defend a sexual batterer and liar. But what's this about a gala for an outfit labeling itself a model of Christian virtue? While there are various lists of what constitute the seven Christian virtues, "temperance" makes all the lists. A gala is, by definition, more bacchanalia than temperate gathering. It's almost as if these people are hypocrites.

Michael Chapman of the Raw Story: "Following the verdict..., one-time White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham opened up on CNN's 'OutFront' Tuesday about an incident she first described in her book in which she had to go out of her way to prevent one of her staffers from being put in situations where Trump could sexually harass the staffer.... 'There was one specific staffer that worked for me, and [Trump] would request for her to be on constant trips when it wasn't her turn -- I would rotate the staffers to go on foreign trips, especially,' said Grisham. 'He one time had one of my other deputies bring her back "so that they could look at her ass" is what he said to him.... I tried everything I could to ensure she was never alone with him.... I did take it to a couple of different chiefs of staff, including Mark Meadows.... And I think, at the end of the day, what could they do other than go in there and say, this isn't good, sir, and Donald Trump will do what Donald Trump wants to do.'"

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The #MeToo movement is why E. Jean Carroll wrote the memoir in which she revealed that Trump violated her in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room in the mid-1990s.... The movement is the reason that in 2022, New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which created a window during which sexual assault survivors could sue their attackers even beyond the statute of limitations.... Because of the #MeToo movement, the man who started it all gets some measure of comeuppance.... Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina ... tried the case as if #MeToo hadn't happened."

~~~ Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump cast aside a federal judge's stern warning by claiming falsely on Tuesday that he was 'not allowed to speak or defend' himself in court against E. Jean Carroll's battery and defamation allegations, when he actually declined the chance to testify days earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan had warned Trump's attorneys that posting to social media about the case could end up hurting him. Defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said last month that he would ask the 2024 presidential candidate to 'refrain' from posting about the case, according to the legal news site Law & Crime.... [But] As Kaplan prepared to instruct jurors..., Trump took to Truth Social to complain, saying he was 'waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation.'... Trump continued: 'I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think Trump is precisely lying as Boboltz claims. He thinks he should be allowed to say whatever he wants about the trial and the principals outside of court. And Judge Kaplan said he could not. Trump did not claim, as Boblotz asserts, that he was not allowed to defend himself in court. Trump believes he should be able to tell his lies in the manner he sees fit, unfettered by court control or in the form of cross-examination.


Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a critical meeting at the White House on Tuesday with no consensus on how to end their impasse over the federal debt and spending just weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. With the economy hanging in the balance, the two leaders stuck to their opening positions, with Mr. Biden demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling unconditionally to avoid a default and Mr. McCarthy insisting such a move be accompanied by serious spending restraints. But the two agreed to have aides meet later in the day and to reconvene themselves on Friday.... 'I made clear during our meeting that default is not an option,' Mr. Biden said after the session in the Oval Office. 'I repeated that time and again. America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills and avoiding default is a basic duty of the United States Congress.... I'm prepared to begin a separate discussion about my budget and spending priorities but not under the threat of default.'" ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was 'considering' the use of the 14th amendment as a means to circumvent the debt ceiling standoff he currently finds himself in with House Republicans. But he cast some doubt on whether it could work, saying it would 'have to be litigated and in the meantime without an extension it'd still end up in the same place.' The president said he would look at the issue of invalidating the debt ceiling through the 14th amendment 'months down the road.' The amendment states that the public debt of the United States 'shall not be questioned.' Biden also refused to rule out a short-term debt limit increase. 'I said I would come back and talk,' he said. 'The one thing I'm ruling out is default, and I'm not going to pass a budget that has massive cuts.'" A New York Times story is here.

** Mark Morales, et al., of CNN: "Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York's eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal. The exact nature of the charges couldn't immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos' campaign finance filings and other claims.... House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will look at the charges before determining if he thinks Santos should be removed from Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here.

Morgan Rimmer & Manu Raju of CNN: "Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who has been away from the Senate since February while recovering from shingles, will return to Washington on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court could hand down a decision any day now in National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville, a case that could legalize assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in all 50 states. The case challenges a Naperville, Illinois, ordinance and a similar Illinois state law, both of which ban assault weapons, which the state law defines to include certain semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s and AK-47s. Additionally, the state law prohibits the sale of a 'large capacity ammunition feeding device,' which the statute defines as long gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or handgun magazines that hold more than 15 bullets. The plaintiffs, which include a gun shop owner and a gun rights group, claim the two statutes violate the Second Amendment. Should the Supreme Court accept that argument and overturn these laws, it would have sweeping implications for the entire country. That decision would need to be followed throughout the entire nation -- which would most likely mean that neither any state nor the US Congress could ban assault rifles or high-capacity magazines."

Emily Guskin of the Washington Post: "Two-thirds of Americans say the abortion drug mifepristone, used in the majority of abortions in the United States, should remain on the market, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll finds that 66 percent of U.S. adults say mifepristone should remain on the market, while 24 percent say it should be taken off the market. Just under half, 47 percent, say access to mifepristone should be kept as is; 12 percent say it should remain on the market but be more restricted than it is now.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Somehow I don't think the three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, which is hearing an appeal of the decision to radically curb the availability of mifepristone, will care about public opinion. ~~~

~~~ Susan Rinkunas of Jezebel, republished by Yahoo! News: "We regret to inform you that the nonsense abortion pill lawsuit ... will be heard next on May 17 by a very unfortunate group of judges -- including James Ho, who has connections to both Justice Clarence Thomas and his Republican megadonor benefactor, Harlan Crow. Ho is the Federalist Society/MAGA darling of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who's written very aggressive opinions, including one from 2019 in which he said that 'abortion is the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life.'... Donald Trump nominated the Texas judge to the appeals court in 2017, and Ho was sworn in in January 2018 by Justice Thomas himself -- in Crow's private library.... The other two judges on the panel are Trump appointee Cory Wilson, who voted for a six-week abortion ban as a Mississippi state lawmaker, and George W. Bush nominee Jennifer Elrod, who said Obamacare was a 'fraud on the American people.'" Thanks to Forrest M. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: After a leisurely tour of the gardens where they admired the tastefully-placed statues of brutal dictators, the party returned to the Crows' palatial dining room to enjoy a light lunch served on Adolf Hitler's personal dinner plates. During the luncheon, Sen. Cruz reminisced about his father's part in the assassination of President Kennedy not far from the site of Mr. Crow's stately Dallas home.

Thomas Pays Up. Julia Rock & Andrew Perez of the Lever: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas changed his position on one of America's most significant regulatory doctrines after his wife reportedly accepted secret payments from a shadowy conservative network pushing for the change. Thomas' shift also came while he was receiving lavish gifts from a billionaire linked to other groups criticizing the same doctrine -- which is now headed back to the high court. The so-called 'Chevron deference' doctrine stipulates that the executive branch -- not the federal courts -- has the power to interpret laws passed by Congress in certain circumstances. Conservatives for years have fought to overturn the doctrine, a move that would empower legal challenges to federal agency regulations on everything from climate policy to workplace safety to overtime pay. Thomas wrote a landmark Supreme Court opinion upholding the doctrine in 2005, but began questioning it a decade later, before eventually renouncing his past opinion in 2020 and claiming that the doctrine itself might be unconstitutional. Now, Thomas could help overturn the doctrine in a new case the high court just agreed to hear next term. Groups within the conservative legal movement funded by Leonard Leo's dark money network and affiliated with Thomas' billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow have organized a concerted effort in recent years to overturn Chevron."

Kenny Stancil of Common Dreams: "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday sent a letter asking Harlan Crow ... to provide a full accounting of his financial ties to [Clarence] Thomas and any other judges on the high court. It comes as 'no surprise' that none of the panel's nine Republicans signed the letter, Accountable.US declared Tuesday, because they have collectively accepted nearly half a million dollars in campaign cash from Crow since the turn of the century.... Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee ... have attempted to downplay the seriousness of the court's growing crisis of legitimacy.... '[During a hearing last week, Sen. Ted] Cruz claimed the hearing was not about judicial ethics, but instead, was an attempt to attack Justice Thomas for having rich friends," [Accountable.US said.]" Crow has given Cruz $23,500 in campaign donations....

"... as Common Dreams reported last week, an Americans for Tax Fairness analysis of campaign finance data shows that after Thomas provided a deciding vote in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, the Crow family's average annual campaign contributions soared by 862%, from $163,241 before 2010 to $1.57 million since. This massive increase ... underscores how the 5-4 ruling that effectively legalized unlimited political spending has strengthened the wealthy's ability to shape electoral outcomes, further undermining U.S. democracy." ~~~

~~~ BUT. Benjamin Guggenheim of Politico: "Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday accused billionaire Harlan Crow of 'stonewalling' for refusing to comply with a request for a complete accounting of Crow's gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.... Ryan Carey, a spokesperson for Wyden (D-Ore.), said the Senate tax chief received an 'obstructive letter' from a lawyer for Crow late Monday night declining to answer a series of questions about the billionaire's financial arrangements with Thomas that Wyden posed to Crow in an April 24 letter.Wyden had asked for details on the gifts Crow lavished on Thomas for over two decades, as reported by ProPublica.... The committee's next steps could include subpoenaing Crow for the requested records or using a section of the tax code that vests the chairs of Congress' tax committees with the authority to obtain a private citizen's tax returns directly from Treasury...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Jeremy Peters, et al., of the New York Times: "The former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, declaring, 'We're back,' said on Tuesday that he was starting a new show on Twitter, a sign that negotiations to reach an amicable separation with the network, where he is still under contract, had broken down. Mr. Carlson offered no details of when his new program would begin or what kind of content it would have. The many unanswered questions highlighted the uncertainties surrounding his future -- a career in which he would be deprived of a prime-time platform on Fox News. Among the possibilities: Fox could ultimately block any attempt by the host to return to a prominent role in conservative media.... Mr. Carlson's remarks on Tuesday, posted on Twitter -- a platform run by Elon Musk, a provocateur in a similar mold as the combative, contrarian host -- consisted of a three-minute monologue delivered directly to the camera ..., [which] could violate the terms of his contract with Fox...." ~~~

     ~~~ Jeremy Barr, et al., of the Washington Post: "Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted late Tuesday that there was no deal with Carlson...."

Presidential Race 2024. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has vowed to do everything she can to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House, launched a television ad Tuesday warning viewers that the former president 'is a risk America can never take again.' The ad is running on CNN before and during a high-profile town hall scheduled Wednesday night on CNN featuring Trump -- now a 2024 candidate -- taking questions from voters in New Hampshire. The 60-second spot, which Cheney narrates but in which she does not appear, is funded by her political action committee." ~~~

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Sarah Mervosh & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "Florida has rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and worked with publishers to edit dozens more, the state's education department announced on Tuesday, in the latest effort under Gov. Ron DeSantis to scrub textbooks of contested topics, especially surrounding contemporary issues of race and social justice."

Texas Senate Race. Amy Wang & Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D), a longtime lawmaker whose district includes Uvalde, Tex., intends to join the U.S. Senate race to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in 2024, according to three people familiar with Gutierrez's plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not yet been made.... Gutierrez would become the second Democrat to join the race, after Rep. Colin Allred (D-Tex.) announced his campaign last week."

Utah. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "When she published a children's book almost a year after her husband's death, Kouri Richins wanted to help kids struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one. The Utah mother of three was facing her own grief when she wrote the picture book after her husband, Eric Richins, died in March 2022, she said. 'It completely took us all by shock,' Richins said in April while promoting her book, 'Are You With Me?' In an interview with KTVX, an ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City, she added: 'It's -- you know -- explaining to my kid just because he's not present here with us physically, doesn't mean his presence isn't here with us.' But after a month of praise from local media for helping children deal with grief, Richins's story took a dark turn. She has been charged with her husband's murder, accused of poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group that has been engaged in intense combat against Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, added to a string of videos attacking Russian military leaders, accusing their soldiers of fleeing the battlefield and causing hundreds of Wagner casualties. A Ukrainian assault brigade later posted on Telegram, saying Russia's 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade had escaped from the city.... In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly promised continued support for Ukraine regardless of the outcome of Kyiv's anticipated counteroffensive.... The United States announced a fresh $1.2 billion military assistance package for Ukraine." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Anushka Patil of the New York Times: "A video journalist working for Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, was killed by rocket fire near the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse said on Tuesday. Some of the heaviest battles of the war are being fought in and around the nearby city of Bakhmut. The journalist, Arman Soldin, 32, and four colleagues were with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under a Grad rocket attack on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said. Mr. Soldin was killed. No one on the rest of the team, which included a security adviser, was injured. Mr. Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists."

News Lede

New York Times: "Inflation slowed for a 10th straight month in April, a closely watched report on Wednesday showed, good news for American families struggling under the burden of higher costs and for policymakers in Washington as they try to wrangle rapid price increases. The Consumer Price Index climbed 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier, less than the 5 percent that economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected Inflation has come down notably from a peak just above 9 percent last summer, though it has remained far higher than the 2 percent annual gains that were normal before the pandemic." This is part of a liveblog.

Comments Off
Monday
May082023

May 9, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Mark Morales, et al., of CNN: "Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York's eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal. The exact nature of the charges couldn't immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos' campaign finance filings and other claims.... House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will look at the charges before determining if he thinks Santos should be removed from Congress."

Morgan Rimmer & Manu Raju of CNN: "Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who has been away from the Senate since February while recovering from shingles, will return to Washington on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson."

MSNBC reports that the jury in the E. Jean Carroll case against Donald Trump has reached a verdict. The verdict will be announced at 3:00 pm ET. ~~~

Update: The jury voted no on rape, but yes on sexual assault. Jury awarded Carroll $2MM + $1MM + $1.7MM + $20KK + $280KK. You do the math, but looks like about $5MM. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: My only regret is that I cannot call Donald Trump a rapist. ~~~

** ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here: "A jury has found that Trump sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, and awarded $5 million in damages. Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her during a chance encounter at a Manhattan department store. He has denied her allegations, calling her a liar. Carroll sued him last year for battery and defamation." ... ~~~

~~~ "Donald Trump, who did not testify or show up in court, wrote on his social media platform: 'I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE -- A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!'"

~~~ The New York Times live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Sara Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump cast aside a federal judge's stern warning by claiming falsely on Tuesday that he was 'not allowed to speak or defend' himself in court against E. Jean Carroll's battery and defamation allegations, when he actually declined the chance to testify days earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan had warned Trump's attorneys that posting to social media about the case could end up hurting him. Defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said last month that he would ask the 2024 presidential candidate to 'refrain' from posting about the case, according to the legal news site Law & Crime.... [But] As Kaplan prepared to instruct jurors..., Trump took to Truth Social to complain, saying he was 'waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation.'... Trump continued: 'I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think Trump is precisely lying as Boboltz claims. He thinks he should be allowed to say whatever he wants about the trial and the principals outside of court. And Judge Kaplan said he could npt. Trump did not claim, as Boblotz asserts, that he was not allowed to defend himself in court. Trump believes he should be able to tell his lies in the manner he sees fit, unfettered by court control or in the form of cross-examination.

Here's an ad Liz Cheney is running in New Hampshire, beginning Wednesday:

Emily Guskin of the Washington Post: "Two-thirds of Americans say the abortion drug mifepristone, used in the majority of abortions in the United States, should remain on the market, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll finds that 66 percent of U.S. adults say mifepristone should remain on the market, while 24 percent say it should be taken off the market. Just under half, 47 percent, say access to mifepristone should be kept as is; 12 percent say it should remain on the market but be more restricted than it is now." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Somehow I don't think the three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, which is hearing an appeal of the decision to radically curb the availability of mifepristone, will care about public opinion. ~~~

Susan Rinkunas of Jezebel, republished by Yahoo! News: "We regret to inform you that the nonsense abortion pill lawsuit ... will be heard next on May 17 by a very unfortunate group of judges -- including James Ho, who has connections to both Justice Clarence Thomas and his Republican megadonor benefactor, Harlan Crow. Ho is the Federalist Society/MAGA darling of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who's written very aggressive opinions, including one from 2019 in which he said that 'abortion is the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life.'... Donald Trump nominated the Texas judge to the appeals court in 2017, and Ho was sworn in in January 2018 by Justice Thomas himself -- in Crow's private library.... The other two judges on the panel are Trump appointee Cory Wilson, who voted for a six-week abortion ban as a Mississippi state lawmaker, and George W. Bush nominee Jennifer Elrod, who said Obamacare was a 'fraud on the American people.'" Thanks to Forrest M. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: After a leisurely tour of the gardens where they admired the tastefully-placed statues of brutal dictators, the party returned to the Crows' palatial dining room to enjoy a light lunch served on Adolf Hitler's personal dinner plates. During the luncheon, Sen. Cruz reminisced about his father's part in the assassination of President Kennedy not far from the site of Mr. Crow's stately Dallas home.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Baker & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden will meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Tuesday in a critical face-to-face confrontation that will frame their showdown over the federal debt and spending in the weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time in history. With the American and perhaps the global economy hanging in the balance, the meeting will be the first sit-down session between the Democratic president and Republican speaker since February. But even the terms of the discussion are in dispute: Mr. McCarthy insists the president negotiate a debt ceiling deal with him, while Mr. Biden insists the meeting will just be an opportunity to tell the speaker that there will be no negotiations over the limit."

** Laurence Tribe, in a New York Times op-ed, explains why he has changed his mind about whether or not the president can invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to raise the debt ceiling. Tribe realized he had been asking the wrong question. It's not whether the president can do it but whether the Congress "can invoke an arbitrary dollar limit to force the president and his administration to do its bidding. There is only one right answer to that question, and it is no.... Mr. Biden must tell Congress in no uncertain terms -- and as soon as possible, before it's too late to avert a financial crisis -- that the United States will pay all its bills as they come due, even if the Treasury Department must borrow more than Congress has said it can.... For a president to pick the lesser of two evils when no other option exists is the essence of constitutional leadership, not the action of a tyrant." MB: I'm sure glad Larry finally got as smart as I am (ha ha). (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The debt ceiling has never made sense. Congress passes laws to take in and spend certain amounts of money. Congress cannot, logically or ethically, decide after the fact that it will refuse to make payments it has already authorized -- just as you can't make a credit purchase, use the item you bought, then choose not to pay for it because the payment would be over your "limit." Any federal "debt limit" must precede, not follow, spending authorizations.

Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would seek to require airlines to compensate passengers for extensive flight delays and cancellations. The proposed rule would require airlines to provide cash payments rather than merely refunds for significant travel disruptions that were within the airline's control. No airline currently guarantees cash compensation for delays or cancellations in the United States, according to the Transportation Department. 'When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,' Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in a statement. 'This rule would, for the first time in U.S. history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Liz Goodwin & Marianne LeVine of the Washington Post: "The Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter Monday asked billionaire Harlan Crow to provide a full accounting of the free travel and other gifts he has made to Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas or any other justice, marking an escalation of the powerful committee's efforts to convince the Supreme Court to adopt stricter ethical standards for itself. Judiciary Committee Chair Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and the committee's 10 other Democrats [including Dianne Feinstein] signed on to the letter asking Crow to provide an itemized list of gifts worth more than $415 that he's made to Thomas, any other justice or any justice's family member, as well as a full list of lodging, transportation, real estate transactions and admission to any private clubs Crow may have provided.... The Judiciary Committee also sent letters Monday to three companies associated with the Republican donor's travels that facilitated the private resort, private jet and superyacht travel where Thomas has joined Crow, asking those companies to provide a list of other guests whose travel overlapped with Thomas's or that of any other justice." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... if you look closely at [Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick] Durbin's [D-Ill.] comments this weekend, you begin to see him applying some pressure [on Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) to resign].... While Durbin offered general and sympathetic comments about how this is up to Feinstein, 89, he also undercut her defense for holding out. And he even seemed to question her pledge that she would be back.... 'I don't want to say that she's going to be put under more pressure than others have been in the past,' he said. 'But the bottom line is: The business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.'... [And] 'I hope she does what's best for her and her family and the state of California and makes a decision soon as to whether she's coming back,' he said.... Durbin's comments, importantly, indicate even top Democrats don't appear to have clarity on when Feinstein might be able to return." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Mighty subtle. Durbin should have been a diplomat to some very pesky ally. BTW, while I was running around doing something, I vaguely heard some Democratic senator (Wyden or Blumenthal??) on the teevee say that he felt another Senate committee, one with a clear majority of Democrats, could subpoena Clarence Thomas. Sorry I can't be more definitive on this.

Brandy Zadrozny, et al., of NBC News: "A social media page appearing to belong to a gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area outlet mall had shared extremist beliefs with rants against Jews, women and racial minorities posted since September, as well as posts about struggling with mental health." ~~~

~~~ Jack Douglas, et al., of the Washington Post: "The gunman who killed eight people at an outlet mall in suburban Dallas posted photographs of the shopping center three weeks before the attack on a social media account where he fantasized about race wars and the collapse of society. The social media posts, the last of which went online Saturday shortly before he stormed into the shopping mall, included violent, hateful references that included singling out Asians with slurs. Mauricio Garcia, 33, also used his account on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social media platform, to reference 'the noble war,' a phrase that many white supremacists use to describe their belief in an impending race war. On Monday, as Texans grieved over the state's second mass killing in a little more than a week, authorities largely avoided discussing a possible motive for Garcia's rampage. But details of his background continued to trickle out, including news that he briefly received military training but was discharged from the U.S. Army over a mental health condition after three months of service." ~~~

~~~ ** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "'When it came to guns,' writes Jeffrey Toobin in 'Homegrown,' his compelling new book about the Oklahoma City attack, '[Oklahoma City bomber Timothy] McVeigh ... joined an ascendant political crusade, which grew more extreme over the course of his lifetime and beyond.' Reading Toobin's book, it's startling to realize how much McVeigh's cause has advanced in the decades since his 2001 execution. McVeigh, who was a member of the K.K.K. and harbored a deep resentment of women, hoped that blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building would inspire an army of followers to make war on the government.... Mass shootings are increasingly part of the background noise of life in a country coming apart at the seams.... Many politicians have views on guns that aren't far afield from McVeigh's.... The normalization of both right-wing terrorism and periodic mass shootings by deranged loners is possible only because McVeigh's views have been mainstreamed.... The Republican Party's fetishization of guns and its fetishization of insurrection -- one that's reached a hysterical pitch since Donald Trump's presidency -- go hand in hand." ~~~

~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "One problem I have with the whole 'mental illness' frame for talking about mass shooters, is that the 'mental illness' often appears to be garden variety authoritarian ethno-nationalist misogyny, with the misogyny being the really critical ideological lynchpin (h/t commenter Karen from Texas)[.]... Sexual frustration is an almost universal human experience, but in the last couple of decades the Internet has allowed sexually frustrated young men to transform that experience into a politics of misogynistic resentment, that quickly morphs into a violent hatred of all women, and most especially women who deviate in some way from traditional gender roles, by for example going to college and getting professional employment of some sort.... That fascism is a wildly misogynistic ideology is not exactly some sort of coincidence." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The fact that Campos cites Umberto Eco, a lifelong friend of my husband's, may be why it occurred to me that most serious literature is about or partly about frustrated love. Hanging out on chat rooms & whining about mean women doesn't allow young men time to read literature and learn that, as Campos writes, "Sexual frustration is an almost universal human experience...," much less to find ways to sublimate that frustration (in socially-acceptable and productive ways). As the Eco citation emphasizes, "the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters." There have always been fascists, of course, so we can't blame the Internet as anything more than a catalyst for spreading an ideology that arises out of ignorance, resentment and lack of creativity. (BTW, if you read Wikipedia's summary of the properties Eco ascribes to ur-Fascist ideology, you will recognize Donald Trump in all but one of the 14 properties. It's uncanny.) ~~~

~~~ Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: “As an ex-police and US army officer, Steven Spainhouer is comfortable around firearms and goes so far as to describe himself as a 'gun lover'. But Spainhouer is now passionately arguing in favor of meaningful gun control after witnessing a rifle-wielding man murder several people before being shot to death by police outside a suburban Dallas shopping mall Saturday.... 'The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes,' he told CBS. 'So I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face.... It wasn't mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets.'" MB: How lacking in imagination is someone who has to see a child with her face shot off before it dawns on him that ordinary people don't need assault weapons? Can't we at least force lawmakers to look at the photos of victims of assault-rifle killers? ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: What gun advocates have created "is a world of fear and alienation, where people live in a state of heightened awareness, even anxiety. It is not a world of trust or hope or solidarity or any of the values we need to make democracy work as a way of life, much less a system of government." ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: "MSNBC contributor and Texas resident Matthew Dowd recounted how the federal government took action after three children died from playing lawn darts in the 1980s, yet thousands of Texans are being killed by guns each year without any movement on gun control."

Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "The Trump National Doral resort will host two antisemites who have promoted pro-Adolf Hitler propaganda and spread virulently antisemitic conspiracy theories. They will be speaking at an event in Miami alongside numerous Team Trump personalities, including Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and Devin Nunes. Trump Doral speaker Scott McKay, who has a streaming show on Rumble, has claimed that Jewish people orchestrated 9/11 and were responsible for the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and William McKinley. He has also said that Jewish people routinely torture children and eat their hearts. He has praised Hitler for supposedly trying to take down a Jewish banking system and said, 'Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we're trying to take down today.' Trump Doral speaker Charlie Ward, who also streams a show on Rumble, has shared posts praising Hitler for supposedly 'warning us' about Judaism; claiming that 'VIRUSES are Man (JEW) made'; and attacking the alleged Jewish media for supposedly lying about the Holocaust." ~~~

~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "MSNBC host Rachel Maddow began her Monday show with a list of pro-Nazi speakers that are being welcomed to the Trump Hotel in Miami for an event where a number of former White House officials will also be speaking.... The event is part of Michael Flynn's new Christian nationalism cult." ~~~

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, the jurors [in the Donald Trump rape case] are to begin deliberations after the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, instructs them on the law. [E. Jean] Carroll's lawsuit, brought under a New York law that provides a one-year window for sexual abuse victims to sue, seeks damages for battery and defamation: Mr. Trump on his Truth Social website had called Ms. Carroll's case 'a complete con job' and 'a Hoax and a lie.'... As closing arguments began Monday morning, Roberta A. Kaplan, Ms. Carroll's lead lawyer, took the jury through the evidence, Ms. Carroll's testimony and witnesses' statements that she said supported it.... [Mr. Trump's attorney, Joe Tacopina,] called Ms. Carroll's lawsuit a 'scam' and said that she had brought her false claim 'for, amongst other things, money, status, political reasons.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments in the rape case against Donald Trump: "'Donald Trump's defense here is essentially that there is a vast conspiracy against him,' [E. Jean Carroll's attorney Roberta] Kaplan said [in her closing argument]. 'Donald Trump wants and needs you to disregard all the evidence that you heard in this case.' Mr. Trump's lawyers, who called no witnesses in his defense, began their appeal to the jury in the afternoon, portraying the accusations as improbable, because the store was a public place and Mr. Trump was already famous." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Reiss & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The New York state judge presiding over the criminal hush money case against Donald Trump issued an order Monday restricting the former president from posting about some evidence in the case on social media. Judge Juan Merchan largely sided with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg by limiting what Trump can publicly disclose about new evidence from the prosecution before the case goes to trial. The order says that 'any materials and information provided by the People to the Defense in accordance with their discovery obligations ... shall be used solely for the purposes of preparing a defense in this matter.' Merchan's order said anyone with access to the evidence being turned over to Trump's team by state prosecutors 'shall not copy, disseminate or disclose' the material to third parties, including social media platforms, 'without prior approval from the court.'"

Zachary Cohen & Sara Murray of CNN: "Lawyers representing David Shafer, the embattled chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, are arguing their client should not be charged with any crimes for his actions following the 2020 election because he was following advice provided by attorneys working for ... Donald Trump, according to a letter sent to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week. Specifically, Shafer's attorneys say their client was relying on 'repeated and detailed advice of legal counsel' when he organized a group of 'contingent' electors from Georgia and served as one himself, thus 'eliminating any possibility of criminal intent or liability,' according to a copy of the May 5 letter."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A Navy reservist assigned to do intelligence work in Northern Virginia was sentenced Monday to four additional years in prison for obstructing Congress's confirmation of the 2020 election results and committing four other misdemeanor offenses in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by Trump supporters. Hatchet M. Speed, a petty officer first class formerly assigned to Naval Warfare Space Field Activity at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va., was convicted in March after a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden.... U.S. prosecutors said Speed was a Nazi sympathizer with top-level U.S. government security clearance who breached the Capitol with members of the Proud Boys extremist group." ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "A military veteran [Hatchet Speed] who told an undercover FBI agent about his admiration for Adolf Hitler and discussed a plan to 'wipe out' the nation's Jewish population was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol.... He ... 'outlined a plan to enlist Christians to wipe out the country's entire Jewish population,' prosecutors said in a court filing.... He told [an] undercover agent that he believes Jewish people control [President Biden."

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A woman who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 while wearing a pink beret and was recently identified to the FBI by an ex-romantic partner was charged with four federal counts Monday. As NBC News first reported, an ex identified Jennifer Inzunza Vargas Geller of California and reported her to the FBI after the bureau featured her in a viral tweet last month. She faces four misdemeanor counts: entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings and unlawfully parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. She was not in custody Monday, a law enforcement source said, but there is now a warrant out for her arrest."

Beyond the Beltway

The Stealth Campaign of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy. Nick Corasaniti & Alexandra Berzon of the New York Times: "The first recent wave of legislation tightening voting laws came in 2021, when Donald J. Trump's false claims of voter fraud spurred Republican lawmakers to act over loud objections from Democrats. Two years later, a second wave is steadily moving ahead, but largely under the radar. Propelled by a new coalition of Trump allies, Republican-led legislatures have continued to pass significant restrictions on access to the ballot, including new limits to voting by mail in Ohio, a ban on ballot drop boxes in Arkansas and the shortening of early voting windows in Wyoming. Behind the efforts is a network of billionaire-backed advocacy groups that has formed a new hub of election advocacy within the Republican Party, rallying state activists, drafting model legislation and setting priorities. The groups have largely dropped the push for expansive laws, shifting instead to a strategy one leader describes as 'radical incrementalism' -- a step-by-step approach intended to be more politically palatable than the broad legislation that provoked widespread protest in 2021."

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "What had for years been a solid wall of opposition among Texas Republicans to gun control showed small signs of cracking on Monday as a bipartisan committee of the State Legislature voted to advance a bill raising the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style rifles. The preliminary vote was remarkable in a State Capitol dominated by Republicans, all the more so because it had been entirely unexpected: When the day began, the 13-member committee had not been scheduled to meet at all.... The bill, which would raise the age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21, must still be considered by the entire Texas House, with deadlines to do so looming this week. Even if it were to pass -- still an unlikely prospect -- it would face almost certain rejection by the State Senate, where the hard-right lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, holds powerful control." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And Rachel Maddow pointed out Monday that Gov. Greg Abbott (Arrr!) said last year that raising the minimum age requirement for purchase of assault rifles would be "unconstitutional" and he would veto it.

Texas. James Barragan of the Texas Tribune: "Rep. Bryan Slaton resigned from the Texas House on Monday after an investigation determined that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old woman on his staff, providing her with enough alcohol before their encounter that she felt dizzy and had double vision. Pressure had mounted on the Royse City Republican to resign since Saturday, when the House General Investigative Committee released a 16-page report finding Slaton, who is 45 and married, had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with his aide. The committee of three Republicans and two Democrats recommended that Slaton be the first state representative expelled from the body since 1927. Slaton's resignation, however, may not stop a planned Tuesday vote on a House resolution expelling him from office.... Slaton was among the most socially conservative lawmakers in the chamber and had been one of this session's loudest voices for cracking down on drag shows and decrying drag artists as 'groomers' who want to sexualize kids.

"The committee report said Slaton had invited the 19-year-old woman to his Austin apartment late March 31 and gave her a large cup of rum and coke, then refilled it twice -- rendering her unable to 'effectively consent to intercourse and could not indicate whether it was welcome or unwelcome.'" MB: Sounds like rape to me.

Way Beyond

Canada/China. Amanda Coletta & Christian Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Beijing on Tuesday ordered a Canadian diplomat to leave China, in a swift retaliatory move after Ottawa expelled a Chinese diplomat who allegedly had targeted a Canadian lawmaker. The moves threaten to further inflame ties between Ottawa and Beijing, which were locked in a diplomatic dispute for three years over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Mélanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, on Monday said she was expelling Zhao Wei, a Chinese diplomat based in Toronto. Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail reported last week that the diplomat was involved in a campaign to punish Michael Chong, a Conservative lawmaker, and his family in Hong Kong because of his support for a parliamentary motion that called China's treatment of its Uyghur minority a 'genocide.'... China's foreign ministry responded with a formal diplomatic protest and asked Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, a diplomat at the Canadian consulate in Shanghai, to leave the country before May 13."

Israel/Palestine. Steve Hendrix, et al., of the Washington Post: "Israel launched surprise airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing three leaders of the Islamic Jihad militant organization and several other civilians, prompting promises of retaliation from militant groups and leaving the region braced for an escalation of violence. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes -- which came a week after a cease-fire with Palestinian armed factions -- targeted ... three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who it said were responsible for recent rocket fire and attacks against Israelis."

Pakistan. Christina Goldbaum & Salman Masood of the New York Times: "Pakistan's ousted prime minister, Imran Khan, was arrested on Tuesday in a major escalation of a political crisis that raises the prospect of mass unrest by his steadfast supporters.... The military on Monday accused the former leader of making false accusations against a senior intelligence official. He was at a court hearing in Islamabad when he was arrested by paramilitary troops. Mr. Khan, who was removed from office in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April last year, is facing dozens of court cases on charges that include terrorism and corruption. The arrest instantly intensified a showdown between the current government and Mr. Khan, a populist former cricket star, who has staged a political comeback in the months since his removal from office. His party has drawn tens of thousands to political rallies across the country, at which Mr. Khan and others have called for fresh elections and accused Pakistan's powerful military establishment of orchestrating his ouster."

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Russia celebrated Victory Day on Tuesday, a holiday commemorating the Soviet Union's role in the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. In a brief address at a scaled-down parade in Moscow's Red Square under tight security, President Vladimir Putin claimed that 'real war' is being waged against Russia and accused Western nations of stoking conflict and treating Ukraine as a 'bargaining chip.' The traditional flyover was canceled, as were celebrations in at least 20 cities due to security concerns, after what Moscow alleges was a drone attack on the Kremlin last week.... The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, issued a blistering statement denouncing Russia's defense leaders for 'treason' and 'destruction.' He repeated a claim that his troops had 'no ammunition' and that Russian troops were fleeing their positions in Ukraine.... 'Victory Day is the victory of our grandfathers. We don't deserve this victory one millimeter,' [Prigozhin said]." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: ""Britain, which has prided itself on being ahead of its Western allies in introducing new weapons systems to Ukraine, now appears poised to send Kyiv the long-range missiles the Biden administration has long denied it.... Ukraine has long pleaded with Western nations for longer range missiles, arguing that such weapons could change the course of the war by allowing its forces to target Russian command centers, supply lines, ammunition and fuel dumps deep inside Crimea and Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine."

Comments Off
Monday
May082023

May 8, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would seek to require airlines to compensate passengers for extensive flight delays and cancellations. The proposed rule would require airlines to provide cash payments rather than merely refunds for significant travel disruptions that were within the airline's control. No airline currently guarantees cash compensation for delays or cancellations in the United States, according to the Transportation Department. 'When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,' Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in a statement. 'This rule would, for the first time in U.S. history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay.'"

Laurence Tribe, in a New York Times op-ed, explains why he has changed his mind about whether or not the president can invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to raise the debt ceiling. Tribe realized he had been asking the wrong question. It's not whether the president can do it but whether the Congress "can invoke an arbitrary dollar limit to force the president and his administration to do its bidding. There is only one right answer to that question, and it is no.... Mr. Biden must tell Congress in no uncertain terms -- and as soon as possible, before it's too late to avert a financial crisis -- that the = United States will pay all its bills as they come due, even if the Treasury Department must borrow more than Congress has said it can.... For a president to pick the lesser of two evils when no other option exists is the essence of constitutional leadership, not the action of a = tyrant." MB: I'm sure glad Larry finally got as smart as I am (ha ha). ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The debt ceiling has never made sense. Congress passes laws to take in and spend certain amounts of money. Congress cannot, logically or ethically, decide after the fact that it will refuse to make payments it has already authorized -- just as you can't make a credit purchase, use the item you bought, then choose not to pay for it because the payment would be over your "limit." Any federal "debt limit" must precede, not follow, spending authorizations.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... if you look closely at Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin's [D-Ill.] comments this weekend, you begin to see him applying some pressure [on Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) to resign].... While Durbin offered general and sympathetic comments about how this is up to Feinstein, 89, he also undercut her defense for holding out. And he even seemed to question her pledge that she would be back.... 'I don't want to say that she's going to be put under more pressure than others have been in the past,' he said. 'But the bottom line is: The business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.'... [And] 'I hope she does what's best for her and her family and the state of California and makes a decision soon as to whether she's coming back,' he said.... Durbin's comments, importantly, indicate even top Democrats don't appear to have clarity on when Feinstein might be able to return." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Mighty subtle. Durbin should have been a diplomat to some very pesky ally. BTW, while I was running around doing something, I vaguely heard some Democratic senator (Wyden or Blumenthal??) on the teevee say that he felt another Senate committee, one with a clear majority of Democrats, could subpoena Clarence Thomas. Sorry I can't be more definitive on this.

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the rape case against Donald Trump: "'Donald Trump's defense here is essentially that there is a vast conspiracy against him,' [E. Jean Carroll's attorney Roberta] Kaplan said [in her closing argument]. 'Donald Trump wants and needs you to disregard all the evidence that you heard in this case.' Mr. Trump's lawyers, who called no witnesses in his defense, began their appeal to the jury in the afternoon, portraying the accusations as improbable, because the store was a public place and Mr. Trump was already famous."

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Jack Douglas, et al., of the Washington Post: "The 33-year-old gunman who opened fire on an outlet mall in a Dallas suburb Saturday, killing at least eight people, had an apparent fascination with white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs that are now being examined by investigators as a possible motive for the attack, people familiar with the investigation said Sunday. Mauricio Garcia, a local resident, had multiple weapons on him and five additional guns in his car nearby, said people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe. Authorities have not released a motive, but a patch on his chest said 'RWDS,' an acronym that stands for Right Wing Death Squad, according to people familiar with the investigation. The phrase is popular among right wing extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, they said...." An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ken Dilanian & Jonathan Dienst of NBC News: "Texas mall shooting suspect Mauricio Garcia interacted with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online, two senior law enforcement officials said." This is part of a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

~~~ President Biden, in a statement: "Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time.... Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug.... Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's my suggestion, Joe. This is a national emergency. Call Congress into session and don't let them go home till they pass an assault weapons ban. ~~~

~~~ Mass Murders Are God's Will. Maya Boddie of AlterNet: "CNN's Paula Reid interviewed Texas State Rep. Keith Self (R-Allen) on Saturday night to get his reaction to the shooting, zeroing in on what Self believes the next steps should be. 'Now, you know, congressman..., many people argue that prayers aren't cutting it, prayers are not preventing the next mass shooting. What is your response to that criticism?' Reid asked. 'Well, those are people that don't believe in an almighty God who, who has, who is absolutely in control of our lives. I'm a Christian. I believe that he is....'"

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times:"A New York Times analysis of about 30 false business records cases brought by [Manhattan D.A. Alvin] Bragg and his predecessor -- based on court records, interviews and information the office provided -- shows that ... the case against [Donald] Trump stands apart [in this respect:] In all but two of the indictments reviewed by The Times, the defendant was charged with an additional crime on top of the false records charge. The decision to charge Mr. Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records -- and no other crimes -- highlights the unique nature of the case...." MB: Hey, NYT, maybe you could quit doing the Trump legal team's work for them.

Larry Newmeister of the AP: "... Donald Trump rejected his last chance Sunday to testify at a civil trial where a longtime advice columnist has accused him of raping her in a luxury department store dressing room in 1996. Trump ... was given until 5 p.m. Sunday by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to file a request to testify. Nothing was filed. It was not a surprise.... Without Trump's testimony, lawyers were scheduled to make closing arguments Monday, with deliberations likely to begin on Tuesday." MB: What? What? You mean when Trump said last week that he was cutting short his European vacation to "confront" Carroll, he was lying?

Aileen Graef of CNN: "Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin said Sunday that 'everything is on the table' as the panel scrutinizes new ethics concerns around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. 'The bottom line is this: Everything is on the table. Day after day, week after week, more and more disclosures about Justice Thomas -- we cannot ignore them,' the Illinois Democrat told CNN's Jake Tapper on 'State of the Union.' 'The thing we're going to do first, obviously, is to gather the evidence, the information that we need to draw our conclusions. I'm not ruling out anything,' he added.... Durbin made clear Sunday that he hasn't reached 'any conclusion' on pursuing subpoenas in relation to Supreme Court ethics issues, but he acknowledged that the absence of Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein of California would pose a challenge to the committee 'if we go down that path.... Right now, with her absence, it's a 10-to-10 Committee, and the majority is not there, and a proxy vote doesn't count in this circumstance,' Durbin said." MB: Yeah, "the table" is where everything is going to sit until Feinstein resigns & Gov. Gavin Newsom can appoint a new Democrat. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "Sen. Kyrsten Sinema [I-Az.] ... is 'absolutely' done with parties and will never join the Republican Party, she said Sunday during a pre-taped interview on CBS' 'Face the Nation.'... 'You don't go from one broken party to another.' Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December 2022, has not said whether she plans to run for reelection in 2024." MB: In an ideal political world, she's right. In the real world, she stupid, thoughtless and dangerous.

Marie: I don't do polls, but this is shocking: ~~~

~~~ Presidential Race 2024. Today, a Majority of American Voters Are Fascists. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Former President Trump leads President Biden by 7 points in a hypothetical 2024 matchup between the two, according to a new survey. The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 49 percent of Americans said they would definitely or probably vote for Trump or are leaning toward casting their ballots for him in a hypothetical matchup with Biden in 2024 if Trump and Biden are the Republican and Democratic nominees. About 42 percent said they would definitely or probably vote for Biden or are leaning toward supporting him in 2024. When asked who they would vote for if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were the Republican nominee instead of Trump in a matchup with Biden, the governor also led the president by 7 points." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: "As he begins his campaign for reelection, President Biden faces substantial and multiple challenges, according to a Washington Post-ABC News survey. His overall approval ratings have slipped to a new low, more Americans than not doubt his mental acuity, and his support against leading Republican challengers is far shakier than at this point four years ago.... Even among fellow Democrats, most say they prefer that their party nominate 'someone other than Biden,' a view that has been consistent in polls since before the midterm elections in which Democrats performed far better than expected."

Beyond the Beltway

Nebraska, etc. Colby Itkowitz & Sabrina Rodriguez of the Washington Post: "In the days since state Sen. Merv Riepe [R] cast the lone vote that blocked a near-total abortion ban in his conservative state, he's faced protests at his office, the cold shoulder from irate colleagues and calls for his resignation. A stranger left an angry note inside his home mailbox. Yet the 80-year-old Republican has also raked in accolades, becoming an unlikely hero for those fighting to protect abortion access in Nebraska and around the country in the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.... 'I've told the party this. My vote belongs to the people of my district, not to the Republican Party.'... Riepe's vote reflects a growing realization among some Republicans that staking out extreme positions on abortion might be politically perilous.... On the same day Riepe, who describes himself as 'pro-life,' bucked his party here, three Republican women in South Carolina blocked a near-total abortion ban in that state. Republicans in the North Carolina state legislature backed off a total abortion ban, and instead voted on Thursday for a 12-week ban, swayed by what had happened in other states." An AlterNet story, relying on the Post's reporting, is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Several people were injured in a spate of early-morning drone attacks Monday in the Ukrainian capital, according to Kyiv officials. Air raid sirens rang out across the city days after Ukraine's air force cheered the apparently successful downing of one of Russia's most feared weapons, a hypersonic missile, in the skies above Kyiv. Military officials said 35 Iranian-made drones were shot down across Ukraine. Nearly 1,700 people -- including 660 children -- have been evacuated from areas surrounding Europe's largest nuclear plant, according to a Moscow-installed official, amid warnings from United Nations officials that the situation around the Zaporizhzhia plant is becoming 'increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous' because of increased military activity.Meanwhile, Russia has apparently agreed to provide the weapons and ammunition needed for Wagner mercenaries to continue the bitter battle for Bakhmut, the head of the mercenary group said Sunday."

News Lede

AP: "The driver of an SUV that killed eight people when it slammed into a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas has been charged with manslaughter, police said Monday as investigators tried to determine if the crash was intentional. Authorities believe driver George Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, lost control after running a red light Sunday morning and plowed into a crowd of Venezuelans outside a migrant center." The New York Times report is here.

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