;)
March 28, 2023
Afternoon Update:
** Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "A federal judge has decided that former Vice President Mike Pence must testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, 2021, according to multiple sources familiar with a recent federal court ruling. But the judge said -- in a ruling that remains under seal -- that Pence can still decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself, when he was serving as president of the Senate for the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to one of the sources." At 1:20 pm ET, this is a breaking story. ~~~
~~~ Update: Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A federal judge has ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to appear in front of a grand jury investigating ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, largely sweeping aside two separate legal efforts by Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump to limit his testimony, according to two people familiar with the matter. The twin rulings on Monday, by Judge James E. Boasberg in Federal District Court in Washington, were the latest setbacks to bids by Mr. Trump's legal team to limit the scope of questions that prosecutors can ask witnesses close to him.... While Judge Boasberg issued a clear-cut ruling against Mr. Trump's attempts to assert executive privilege, his ruling on the 'speech or debate' clause was more nuanced.... The judge affirmed the idea that Mr. Pence had some protection under 'speech or debate' based on his role in overseeing the certification of the election.... But Judge Boasberg also said that Mr. Pence would have to testify to the grand jury about any potentially illegal acts committed by Mr. Trump...."
Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "Frank Yiannas, the [Food and Drug Administration's] deputy commissioner for food policy until his resignation earlier this year, testified before a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee that the agency was slow to act when concerns about sanitation arose at the Abbott Nutrition formula plant in Sturgis, Mich., sparking a chain reaction that dramatically reduced the U.S. supply of formula. The agency also failed to monitor the food supply chain, despite glaring deficiencies exposed by the pandemic, he said in written testimony.... The testimony comes during a period of upheaval at an agency that has been accused of giving short shrift to its role overseeing of the nation's food supply in favor of its drug approval side. Yiannas resigned in February, citing shortcomings in the FDA's ability to handle foodborne illness crises. His was among several recent departures of top officials at the FDA."
The New York Times is liveblogging a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures.
Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors added a foreign bribery charge to the growing list of crimes already pending against the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a new indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said that in 2021 Mr. Bankman-Fried instructed those working for him to pay a bribe of $40 million to one or more Chinese officials to help unfreeze trading accounts maintained by Alameda Research, FTX's sister company, that held about $1 billion in cryptocurrencies. The bribe money was paid to the Chinese officials in cryptocurrency, the document said. The indictment said the effort to pay off the unnamed Chinese officials was successful in getting the trading accounts unfrozen." The AP story is here.
Shawn Boburg & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "A little-known conservative activist group led by Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, collected nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations to wage a cultural battle against the left over three years, a Washington Post investigation found. The previously unreported donations to the fledgling group Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty were channeled through a right-wing think tank in Washington that agreed to serve as a funding conduit from 2019 until the start of last year, according to documents and interviews. The arrangement, known as a 'fiscal sponsorship,' effectively shielded from public view details about Crowdsourcers' activities and spending, information it would have had to disclose publicly if it operated as a separate nonprofit organization, experts said."
~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: “President Biden on Monday signed an executive order restricting American government use of a class of powerful surveillance tools that have been abused by both autocracies and democracies around the world to spy on political dissidents, journalists and human rights activists. The tools in question, known as commercial spyware, give governments the power to hack the mobile phones of private citizens, extracting data and tracking their movements. The global market for their use is booming, and some U.S. government agencies have studied or deployed the technology. Commercial spyware, including Pegasus, made by the Israeli firm NSO Group, has also been used against American government officials overseas." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "The United States and Japan have reached an agreement over supplies of the critical minerals used to make car batteries, a deal that will likely put to rest a contentious issue in the relationship with Japan and could be a model for resolving similar disputes with other trading partners.... While the scope of the agreement is limited, the Biden administration has also promoted the deal as the beginning of a new framework that the United States and its allies hope to build with like-minded countries to develop more stable supply chains for electric vehicles that do not rely as heavily on China."
Tots and Prayers. And Children's Blood on His Hands. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), who represents the Nashville district where the Covenant School is located, said Monday in a statement that he was 'utterly heartbroken' by the shooting that left six people dead, including three children.... 'We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost,' he said.... Gun-control advocates and Democrats highlighted another post from Ogles -- a 2021 Christmas photo of his family posing with firearms.... The 2021 photo, which Ogles shared on Facebook, showed him, his wife and two of his three children holding weapons and smiling in front of a Christmas tree. 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!' Ogles wrote, adding a line that is often -- and dubiously -- credited to George Washington: 'The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference -- they deserve a place of honor with all that's good.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: The shooter reportedly had two AR-15-type weapons and a pistol. There were no wounded victims. I heard a firearms expert say on TV that the reason all of the victims died is that the assault rifle bullets that hit them "tore them apart." Would some of them have survived had the killer had to rely on a typical handgun? I don't know. But I blame their immediate deaths on Andy Ogles and every other member of Congress who fetishizes lethal weaponry and refuses to vote for an assault rifle ban. In the 16 years I went to school more-or-less consecutively, I never once worried my childish head about getting murdered at school. Now, every schoolchild in the U.S. bears the burden of that concern. That, in itself, is an assault. And for that too Andy Ogles, et al., are responsible. ~~~
~~~ Hayes Brown in an MSNBC opinion piece: "... in the state of Tennessee, lawmakers have been working to make it even easier to own guns. Not that there's much more room to lower that bar. The state already has few restrictions in place as it is: no waiting period between between purchasing and receiving a firearm; no license or permit required to own a gun; no need to register a gun with the state; no need for a permit to carry a handgun, open or concealed, if you're over the age of 21.... That matches with the rhetoric around 'constitutional carry,' the gun lobby's lofty way of saying that no permit should be needed to carry a concealed firearm.... Much of our gun policy is presaged on the idea that guns are cool. That they're fun to own, fun to shoot and fun to pose with in the family Christmas card, like Rep. Andy Ogles did last year."
Brave GOP Senators Oppose Insurrection. But They're Good with Trump. Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump's extraordinary tribute over the weekend to people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was a step too far for some Republican senators, including one of his top allies in Congress. 'I think the best thing for President Trump to do is to focus on the problems people are facing today. There is no way you're going to convince the American people that Jan. 6 was anything less than a horrible day,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is supporting Trump's 2024 campaign despite the former president's role in inciting the attack on Congress, told HuffPost on Monday.... 'I was disappointed to see the way that he utilized clips of that day. That was a bad day for this country,' [Sen. Mike] Rounds [R-S.D.] told HuffPost. 'What happened on that day was as close to an attempted insurrection as we've seen in a very long time, and I don't think any of us should be proud of that day.'" Rounds would not say whether or not he will support Trump if he wins the nomination. ~~~
~~~ Oh, and this from Sen. Potatohead: "... Hey, it's all about motivation and getting people fired up for a common cause.... Now is he right or wrong? I don't know.... The voters have to answer that.&" MB: What's the "common cause," Tommy? More mob violence? Another insurrection attempt? "Death and destruction," as Trump puts it?
Olafimihan Oshin of the Hill: "Authorities said that a suspect is in custody after a member of Sen. Rand Paul's (R-K,y.) congressional staff was the target of an attack in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.... The victim was ... transported to a local medical facility to be treated for life-threatening injuries. Authorities arrested Southeast, D.C. native Glynn Neal, 42, on Monday and charged him with Assault with Intent to Kill (Knife), according to the release."
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The reality of the 'parents' rights' movement is that it is meant to empower a conservative and reactionary minority of parents to dictate education and curriculums to the rest of the community. It is, in essence, an institutionalization of the heckler's veto.... 'Parents' rights.' in other words, is when some parents have the right to dominate all the others. And, of course, the point of this movement -- the point of creating this state-sanctioned heckler's veto -- is to undermine public education through a thousand little cuts.... The screaming over 'wokeness' and 'D.E.I.' is just another Trojan horse for a relentless effort to dismantle a pillar of American democracy that, for all of its flaws, is still one of the country's most powerful engines for economic and social mobility. Ultimately, then, the 'parents' rights' movement is ... about whether this country will continue to strive for a more equitable and democratic system of education...."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday seemed divided over whether a federal law that makes it a crime to encourage undocumented immigrants to stay in this country might be so broad it would jeopardize charitable groups that feed the hungry or a family's plan to have a grandmother keep living nearby. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found the decades-old law 'overbroad and unconstitutional' because it potentially outlawed more free speech than needed to meet the law's goals. And during their nearly 1 1/2-hour hearing Monday, some justices had no trouble pinging Deputy Solicitor General Brian H. Fletcher, representing the Justice Department, with examples of who might fall on the wrong side of an immigration law that penalizes a person 'who encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: See link to an opinion piece about a related and more draconian Florida bill, under Beyond the Beltway. Yesterday's discussion of the Florida bill in the Comments section also is illuminating.
William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The former publisher of The National Enquirer testified on Monday before the Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence about Donald J. Trump's role in a hush-money payment to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The publisher, David Pecker, also testified in January, soon after the grand jury was impaneled by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg.... Mr. Pecker, who was seen leaving the building where the grand jury sits at about 3:30 Monday afternoon, was a key player in the hush-money episode. He and the tabloid's top editor helped broker the deal between the porn star, Stormy Daniels, and Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's fixer at the time." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Shayna Jacobs & Elizabeth Gowen of the Washington Post: "A Manhattan grand jury considering possible criminal charges against Donald Trump, involving $130,000 paid to an adult film actress before the 2016 election, adjourned Monday without voting on whether to indict the former president, multiple people familiar with the case said.... The secret proceedings are expected to continue Wednesday.... It is possible that the panel will hear other matters that aren't related to the Trump probe." CNN's report is here.
Jeff Amy of the AP: "A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the Fulton County district attorney's office to respond to a motion by ... Donald Trump to throw out a report by a special grand jury that investigated attempts to interfere in the state's 2020 presidential election. The motion by Trump's legal team also seeks to toss out all testimony from the inquiry and to bar Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to respond by May 1...."
The News about Fox "News":
Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Fox News Media has fired a producer who last week accused the network of discrimination and of coercing her into providing misleading testimony in a blockbuster defamation case, according to court documents filed on Monday. Lawyers for the producer, Abby Grossberg, who had worked for the hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, said in the complaints that she was fired on Friday in retaliation for a pair of lawsuits she had filed against the company several days earlier." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "A woman on Monday hijacked a Fox News live broadcast of a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, to make an impassioned case for gun safety legislation. As Fox News carried a live feed of the aftermath of a shooting at Nashville's Covenant School that left at least six people dead, Ashbey Beasley started speaking to reporters and asking them why they weren't tired of covering mass shootings involving school children. Beasley said ... that she has been lobbying for stricter gun safety measures for months after she survived a mass shooting last year. 'How is this still happening?' she demanded to know. 'How are our children still dying and why are we failing them? Gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens -- it has overtaken cars! Assault weapons are contributing to the border crisis -- we are arming cartels with our guns and our loose gun laws! And these mass shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation!'" Includes video. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Fox & Friends" co-anchor Brian "Kilmeade really tore into [Donald] Trump for his celebration of January 6th rioters, calling it 'absolutely awful' and 'insane' that he would do such a thing.... '... the United States former president opened up with January Six video,' Kilmeade noted, adding, 'which is insane!... He should be running from that, period,' he continued. 'I don't care his point of view, that is not a good thing for him. I thought that was absolutely awful. Even though he is winning in the polls, that will not help.' Trump appeared for a political rally in Waco, Texas, this past weekend and opened with an anthemic pro-Trump song that is currently at the top of the iTunes charts. Images of January 6th were played on the video screens at that time, which many outlets deemed to be something of a celebration of the event." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Hundreds of banks in the United States would be in danger of failing if they were hit by runs similar to the one that recently brought down Silicon Valley Bank, according to a study published Friday. Economists at Stanford, University of Southern California, Columbia and Northwestern found that because of rising interest rates hurting the value of certain assets such as bonds, U.S. banks hold $2 trillion less in assets than they appear to have on paper. As a result, the study found, some banks would not survive a scenario in which many customers withdrew some or all of their uninsured deposits." ~~~
~~~ Christopher Rugaber of the AP: "The nation's top financial regulator is asserting that Silicon Valley Bank's own management was largely to blame for the bank's failure earlier this month and says the Federal Reserve will review whether a 2018 law that weakened stricter bank rules also contributed to its collapse.... Michael Barr, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, said in written testimony that will be delivered Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee..., [cited] the bank's 'concentrated business model,' in which its customers were overwhelmingly venture capital and high-tech firms in Silicon Valley. He also contends that the bank failed to manage the risk of its bond holdings, which lost value as the Fed raised interest rates." The New York Times story is here.
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post:"'Wokeness' is winning, according to an illuminating new poll that should -- but probably won't -- make Republican politicians wary of hitching their wagon to the anger-fueled culture wars.The survey -- conducted this month by the nonpartisan research institute NORC at the University of Chicago, with funding from the Wall Street Journal -- found that on several hot-button issues related to 'wokeness', substantial majorities of Americans believe our progress toward inclusion and diversity is on the right track."
Paula Span of the New York Times: "Older people across the country describe ... maddening efforts to find 'door-through-door' escorts for outpatient surgery and screenings that involve anesthesia -- especially if facilities require those escorts to remain on the premises until the patient's discharge.... Doctors explain that door-through-door requirements are a safety measure. With a colonoscopy, for instance, patients often receive an anesthetic, like propofol, or a narcotic such as Demerol or fentanyl, combined with anti-anxiety medication like Versed or Valium.... Is such caution truly necessary? 'A very hard question,' said Thomas Oetting, an ophthalmologist at the University of Iowa School of Medicine...." MB: This already has happened to me. It was a costly requirement & one that required me to "scramble," as the reporter writes. I'd like a better solution than the one I put together. And I was just lucky to be able to find people to help.
Presidential Race 2024. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "... on Monday night during a visit [to New Hampshire, former New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate, made [a pitch] to the state, a testing-the-2024-waters trip in which he sharply criticized Donald J. Trump and waxed nostalgic for his own short-lived primary campaign seven years ago.... Ever since ... Mr. Trump signaled his intent to subvert the democratic results ... on election night in 2020..., he said, Republicans have been dragged into 'a sinkhole of anger and retribution' by the former president.... He blamed Mr. Trump's extreme divisiveness and vindictive style, along with his embrace of election falsehoods, for Republican losses in three straight cycles.... He lashed Gov. Ron DeSantis, Republican of Florida, for downplaying Russia's invasion of Ukraine and for saying the United States should not get into a 'proxy war' with China."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida, the Cruelest State. Prof. Elizabeth Aranda in a Tampa Bay Times op-ed: "If passed, [Florida bill] SB 1718 would criminalize lending a helping hand if the object of that help is an undocumented immigrant.... Many believe SB 1718 will likely become law.... U.S. citizens [and DACA immigrants] could be convicted of a felony for simply taking their parents to the grocery store under this bill.... Understandably, religious leaders, lawyers and landlords are among those who are deeply concerned about this bill.... The medical community in particular, should also be alarmed.... But we should all be worried -- how do you even know that someone you are helping is undocumented?" Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. See also commentary in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: This bill strikes me as not only immoral, as commentators have pointed out below, but also essentially unconstitutional. If it passes, courts may strike it down, but think of all the harm that will transpire before that happens.
Mississippi. Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Rural hospitals are struggling all over the nation because of population declines, soaring labor costs and a long-term shift toward outpatient care. But those problems have been magnified by a political choice in Mississippi and nine other states, all with Republican-controlled legislatures. They have spurned the federal government's offer to shoulder almost all the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage for the poor. And that has heaped added costs on hospitals because they cannot legally turn away patients, insured or not. States that opted against Medicaid expansion, or had just recently adopted it, accounted for nearly three-fourths of rural hospital closures between 2010 and 2021, according to the American Hospital Association.... In Mississippi, one of the nation's poorest states, the missing federal health care dollars have helped drive what is now a full-blown hospital crisis." See related North Carolina story, linked below.
New York. Ed Shanahan & Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "New York State has agreed to pay $5.5 million to a man who spent 16 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of raping the author Alice Sebold when she was a college student in Syracuse, N.Y. The agreement would end a lawsuit filed by the man, Anthony J. Broadwater, 62, after his rape conviction was vacated in November 2021 by a state court judge who concluded that the case against Mr. Broadwater was deeply flawed."
North Carolina. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "North Carolina on Monday became the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the latest sign of how Republican opposition to the health measure has weakened more than a decade after President Barack Obama signed it into law. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed legislation expanding the state's Medicaid program during a sunny afternoon ceremony on the lawn of the Executive Mansion, days after the Republican-controlled legislature gave final approval to the measure. He was surrounded by patients, advocates and some of the same Republican leaders who had previously blocked expansion in the state.... Recently, progressives have helped to expand Medicaid in seven states -- all of them with either Republican-controlled or divided governments -- by putting the question directly to voters; in November, South Dakota adopted Medicaid expansion via the ballot box."
Way Beyond
Israel. Bibi Blinks. Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he was delaying his government's campaign to exert greater control over the judiciary, backing off in the face of furious public protest that has plunged Israel into one of the deepest crises of its history. In recent weeks, Mr. Netanyahu had been unyielding in his pursuit of the court overhaul, even as protests drawing hundreds of thousands have erupted across the country. On Sunday, he fired his defense minister for even suggesting that the plan be delayed. But on Monday, with civil unrest at new heights, with work stoppages hitting hospitals, airports and schools, and with dissent growing in the military, he relented -- if only for the moment." ~~~
~~~ Oliver Holmes of the Guardian & Agencies: "Israeli politics has descended into disarray with questions over whethe a fired defence minister is refusing to step down and concerns Benjamin Netanyahu may have promised too much to far-right politicians in exchange for a deal aimed at quelling nationwide demonstrations.... While Netanyahu's announcement [that he was delaying his campaign for 'judicial reforms'] has temporarily placated seething anger -- the country's main labour union called off the strike after his speech and Israeli streets were mostly quiet on Tuesday -- it has by no means ended the crisis.... Aides to the fired defence minister said that despite his dismissal, [Yoav] Gallant would remain in his post.... Meanwhile, protest organisers have promised to continue to rally, accusing the prime minister of deception."
Mexico. Suspicious. Mike Ives of the New York Times: "At least 39 people were killed on Monday night and 29 others injured when a fire broke out at a government-run migration facility in northern Mexico, near the border with the United States, the authorities said. The fire broke out at the National Migration Institute in Ciudad Juárez, a border city across from El Paso, Tex., shortly before 10 p.m. in the facility's accommodation area, according to a statement by the institute.... Several news outlets said that personnel from the institute had been cracking down on migrants in the city earlier in the day, and that there had been tension at the institute between migrants and the staff." An AP story is here. MB: I'm not saying there isn't a quasi-innocent cause of the fire, but Juarez is right across the bridge from El Paso, and many Americans go there to shop.
Scotland. William Booth of the Washington Post: "Humza Yousaf, the grandson of a Pakistani immigrant who arrived barely speaking English to work in a sewing machine factory in Glasgow, was named as the new leader of the Scottish National Party on Monday. Because of his party's majority, Yousaf will almost certainly be chosen as first minister -- the leader of Scotland -- by the Parliament on Tuesday. At age 37, Yousaf would be the youngest first minister of Scotland and the first Muslim to run the nation.... He promised Monday to continue his party's push to leave the United Kingdom and become a fully independent nation. 'We will be the generation that delivers independence,' he vowed. But the way forward is unclear. A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said that [U.K. Prime Minister Rishi] Sunak will not support another referendum."
Ukraine, et al.
The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was 'the worst thing that could happen in the history' of Europe's nuclear energy sector. Russia is using the plant for 'radiation blackmail,' he said Monday. Russia claimed to annex the Zaporizhzhia region, in violation of international law, late last year, even though parts of the region including its capital remain under Ukrainian control.... Zelensky met with Rafael Mariano Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, touring areas near the Zaporizhzhia plant, the president's office said....
“Russian forces have made gains in and around Bakhmut in recent days, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late Monday.... Ukraine received its first batch of British Challenger tanks, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Monday. Ukraine has also received Stryker armored vehicles and Cougars, a mine-resistant ambush-protected infantry mobility vehicle, from the United States, as well as Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany, he said. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also confirmed a delivery of 18 Leopard tanks to Ukraine."
~~~ The Guardian's live briefings for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: "The United Nation's chief nuclear energy official met on Monday with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss what he describes as increasingly dire fears about a battle-scarred nuclear plant on the front line of the war, ahead of his first visit to the plant in almost seven months. The official, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Mr. Zelensky in the battered Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, about 35 miles northeast of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which invading Russian forces have held for more than a year. The plant, on the Dnipro River, is the first in the world to be engulfed by a war zone, raising fears of a catastrophic release of radiation. Shelling and shooting have repeatedly damaged the plant and temporarily knocked out vital supporting equipment. And reports that Ukraine is planning a major counteroffensive to retake southern territory that includes the plant have heightened fears of a disastrous strike, whether accidental or intentional."
Share Article