The Ledes

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Washington Post: “Rescue teams raced to submerged homes, scoured collapsed buildings and steered thousands from overflowing dams as Helene carved a destructive path Friday, knocking out power and flooding a vast arc of communities across the southeastern United States. At least 40 people were confirmed killed in five states since the storm made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 behemoth, unleashing record-breaking storm surge and tree-snapping gusts. 4 million homes and businesses have lost electricity across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, prompting concerns that outages could drag on for weeks. Mudslides closed highways. Water swept over roofs and snapped phone lines. Houses vanished from their foundations. Tornadoes added to the chaos. The mayor of hard-hit Canton, N.C., called the scene 'apocalyptic.'” An AP report is here.

The Wires
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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[.]”

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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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


Saturday
Mar182023

March 19, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Andrew Sorkin, et al., of the New York Times: "UBS has agreed to buy Credit Suisse, its beleaguered rival, the Swiss government said on Sunday, in a hastily arranged deal meant to shore up the global financial sector after a week of turmoil. Swiss government leaders and regulators said that the deal was the most effective way of reassuring investors after Credit Suisse's shares tumbled following the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month.... Credit Suisse's troubles were largely of its own making, tied to years of scandals and financial missteps that have cost it billions of dollars in trading losses and legal fines."

The Fed Repeatedly Warned SVB It Had Serious Weaknesses. Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Silicon Valley Bank's risky practices were on the Federal Reserve's radar for more than a year -- an awareness that proved insufficient to stop the bank's demise. The Fed repeatedly warned the bank that it had problems, according to a person familiar with the matter. In 2021, a Fed review of the growing bank found serious weaknesses in how it was handling key risks. Supervisors at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which oversaw Silicon Valley Bank, issued six citations. Those warnings, known as 'matters requiring attention' and 'matters requiring immediate attention,' flagged that the firm was doing a bad job of ensuring that it would have enough easy-to-tap cash on hand in the event of trouble. But the bank did not fix its vulnerabilities. By July 2022, Silicon Valley Bank was in a full supervisory review -- getting a more careful look -- and was ultimately rated deficient for governance and controls. It was placed under a set of restrictions that prevented it from growing through acquisitions.... It became clear to the Fed that the firm was using bad models to determine how its business would fare as the central bank raised rates.... By early 2023..., [a Fed] checkup identified additional deficiencies -- but at that point, the bank's days were numbered."

Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "Former Vice President Mike Pence faced an intense interview from ABC News's Jon Karl -- during which he was forced to directly respond to Donald Trump defending his supporters who wanted to hunt him down and execute him.... In one part of the conversation, Karl asked Pence about Trump attempting to blame him for the siege Trump's supporters launched on the U.S. Capitol.... [After Pence responded,] Karl followed up by rolling audio from an interview he conducted with Trump back in 2021 -- during which Trump defended the Capitol rioters chanting 'Hang Mike Pence' because the vice president refused Trump's unconstitutional demand that he overturn his 2020 election defeat.... [Pence responded,] '... There is no excuse for the violence that took place at the Capitol on January 6th, and I'll never diminish it as long as I live....'" Includes video of the interview.

Marie: Michael Cohen said on MSNBC that the Manhattan D.A.'s office has asked him to be available Monday to appear as a "rebuttal" witness before the grand jury. Cohen did not know (or did not reveal) any details, but MSNBC commentators have hypothesized that Trump's attorneys have brought a witness (or witnesses) before the grand jury to try to disprove some of the prosecutor's case. I'll put up a link to a print story if one becomes available. ~~~

     ~~~ Ah, the Explanation. Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "A Manhattan grand jury that is expected to vote soon on whether to indict Donald J. Trump may hear testimony Monday attacking the prosecution's star witness, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The testimony would come from a lawyer, Robert J. Costello, who would appear at the request of Mr. Trump's lawyers, the people said. Mr. Costello was once a legal adviser to Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer, who has been a key witness for the Manhattan district attorney's office. Mr. Costello and Mr. Cohen had a falling out, and Mr. Costello would appear solely to undermine Mr. Cohen's credibility, the people said.... Mr. Trump's lawyers have asked that Mr. Costello testify, but the final decision rests with the grand jury; it is unclear whether they have made a decision."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump said Saturday [in an Untruth Social post that] he expects to be arrested in connection with the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney next week and called for protests as a result. In a social media post on Saturday, Trump, referring to himself, said the 'leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.... Protest, take our nation back,' he wrote.... Trump's US Secret Service detail would deliver him to the Manhattan district attorney's office for fingerprinting and then taking mugshots in offices of the district attorney's detective squad. As is customary in cases where a defendant is allowed to voluntarily surrender, after arrest processing, the former president would be brought directly to an arraignment before a judge where he would likely be released on his own recognizance.... Another witness is expected to testify Monday before the grand jury investigating the hush money payments, according to a source familiar with the investigation. It is not clear whether this would be the final witness before it votes on a possible indictment." This was a developing story at 9 am ET Saturday, and I have quoted a few parts of the story added later Saturday. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As usual, Trump behaves in a dangerous & completely irresponsible. As Rep. Maxine Waters said on MSNBC Saturday morning, "it's almost as if he is organizing domestic terrorists to protest his arrest." Andrew Weissmann, also appearing on MSNBC a few minutes later, noted that Trump did not urge his fans to protest "peacefully" and that the "take out nation back" language is particularly provocative. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ According to MSNBC, the Manhattan D.A.'s office or other officials have not formally notified Trump of his impending arrest, and Trump has made his remarks based on leaks (or as Trump put it, "ILLEGAL LEAKS") & public reporting. Garrett Haake of NBC News says Trump is trying to scoop his own arrest. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump made the declaration on Truth Social at 7:26. a.m., in a post written in all capital letters.... There was no immediate indication as to why the former president appeared confident that he would be arrested Tuesday. People with knowledge of the matter have said that at least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury.... Three people close to Mr. Trump said that the former president's team had no specific knowledge about when an indictment might come or when an arrest could be anticipated. One of those people ... said that Mr. Trump's advisers' best guess was that it could happen around Tuesday, and that someone may have relayed that to him, but that they also had made clear to one another that they didn't know a specific time frame.... Mr. Trump's post urging his supporters to 'PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!' carried unmistakable echoes of the incendiary messages he posted online in the weeks before the attack on the Capitol." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Erica Orden of Politico: "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered a private retort to Donald Trump's message Saturday urging supporters to protest his expected indictment, telling office employees in an email that 'we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.'... In his email, Bragg didn't identify Trump by name, referring only to the 'public comments surrounding an ongoing investigation by this office.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "language [in his Untruth Social text], along with a fundraising pitch sent out by his 2024 presidential campaign, echoed rhetoric that Trump used in advance of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.... 'MANHATTAN D.A. COULD BE CLOSE TO CHARGING TRUMP,' one pitch Saturday morning read. 'Patriot -- With the Deep State gunning for President Trump with phony witch hunts like never before, we had to be sure you saw the *private and secure* message he wrote for YOU....' Secret Service officials were caught by surprise Saturday morning by Trump's post predicting a Tuesday arrest.... Trump wrote a second post on Truth Social later in the day calling on his supporters to 'PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST' in what appeared to be complaints about the Biden presidency. The Secret Service officials also expect that the district attorney's office would negotiate terms under which Trump could voluntarily turn himself in. The lawyers have provided no such notification.... Trump also wants to force Republicans to defend him against the investigation publicly.... A Trump-aligned PAC, MAGA Inc., sent a news release tracking which of Trump's fellow 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls had come to his defense and which had not." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The WashPo report makes clear that Trump made up the Tuesday arrest date (which is not to say it couldn't happen on or about Tuesday), and his posts were designed to rile his base into another revolutionary fervor and to fundraise. The fact that the grand jury still has at least one more witness to hear Monday means that they almost certainly have not yet formally recommended charges. ~~~

     ~~~ Scoop! Marie: I don't know how he did it, but Akhilleus has managed to come up with Donald Trump's prepared statement, to be delivered from a Manhattan jail. The text appears at the top of today's Comments, along with a parallel excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. ~~~

~~~ The Chickens Come Home to Root (for Trump). Guardian & Agencies: "Top Republicans, including some of Donald Trump's potential rivals for the party's 2024 presidential nomination, rushed to his defence after the former president said he expected to be arrested next week." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why isn't it obvious to everyone that a person who can't stand up to Trump can't stand up to Putin, Xi and other anti-American leaders? Would this be so hard?: "President* Trump believes he will be indicted in New York City. In our great American justice system, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is, of course, my presumption, too. President Trump, like all American citizens, will get his day in court." But none of Trump's potential rivals for the presidency* has the guts to put out even a mealy-mouthed statement like that.

~~~ Minnyvonne Burke & Julie Tsirkin of NBC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several MAGA Republicans rallied around Donald Trump on Saturday ahead of the former president's possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.... 'Here we go again -- an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,' McCarthy wrote in a tweet. 'I'm directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,' McCarthy added." MB: You know, Kevin, that sounds to me an awful lot like jury tampering, jury-pool tampering and attempting to impede the course of justice. But I'm not a lawyer. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Gerrit DeVynck, et al., of the Washington Post (March 17): "Donald Trump posted on Facebook and YouTube on Friday for the first time since the platforms had suspended him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol -- and just hours after YouTube lifted the suspension. 'I'M BACK!' the former president announced on both platforms, accompanied by a video clip from CNN from when he was elected president.... YouTube said in a tweet it had 'carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.'" MB: YouTube's statement is particularly ironic -- and shortsighted -- in light of the "risk of real-world violence" Trump generated only hours later.

Spencer Hsu, et al., of the Washington Post: Washington, D.C.'s "federal court system is bracing for many years more of trials stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, with new charges possible against as many as 1,000 more people.... 'It's an enormous, enormous case and, by almost any measure, the largest case the Justice Department has ever had,' said Randall Eliason, a former federal prosecutor.... Eliason said that while the riot cases may be about halfway over, there are indications some of the other branches of the investigation -- like the false electors scheme or efforts to use Justice Department officials to undo the election results -- appear to be further along, because the witnesses now being subpoenaed include some of the most thorny legal matters and the people closest to ... Donald Trump." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Too bad the rubes don't recognize the high cost of investigating, charging, trying, sentencing & jailing the January 6 "patriots," another legacy of Trump's presidency*.

Devlin Barrett & Julian Mark of the Washington Post (March 17): "The Justice Department and FBI have been investigating the company that owns TikTok, the popular video application that is coming under increasing criticism from the U.S. government, according to people familiar with the matter. At issue is whether ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, may have violated any laws by inappropriately gathering the data of some of its users, including journalists who cover technology companies.... It was not clear what potential federal crimes were at issue, but the Justice Department's fraud section is involved in the investigation...."

Elizabeth Williamson & Emily Steel New York Times: "The Infowars conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones, who faces more than $1.4 billion in legal damages for defaming the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, has devised a new way to taunt them: wriggling out of paying them the money they are owed. Mr. Jones, who has an estimated net worth as high as $270 million, declared both business and personal bankruptcy last year as the families won historic verdicts in two lawsuits over his lies about the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators.... A New York Times review of financial documents and court records filed over the past year found that Mr. Jones has transferred millions of dollars in property, cash and business deals to family and friends, including to a new company run by his former personal trainer, all potentially out of reach of creditors. He has also spent heavily on luxuries.... 'If anybody thinks they're shutting me down, they're mistaken,' Mr. Jones said on his new podcast last month.... Mr. Jones's continued obfuscation about his net worth has given him leverage over the families, who are also fighting an American bankruptcy system that makes the survival of businesses a priority and has so far given Mr. Jones an advantage in court."

The October Surprise. Peter Baker of the New York Times on how, in 1980, former Texas Gov. John Connolly (R) went on a mission to the Middle East to sabotage President Jimmy Carter's re-election. Ben Barnes, then a prominent young Texas Democratic politician, accompanied Connolly & now tells all. "Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don't release the hostages before the election. [Ronald] Reagan will win and give you a better deal. Then shortly after returning home, Mr. Barnes said, Mr. Connally reported to William J. Casey, the chairman of Mr. Reagan's campaign and later director of the Central Intelligence Agency, briefing him about the trip in an airport lounge. Mr. Carter's camp has long suspected that Mr. Casey or someone else in Mr Reagan's orbit sought to secretly torpedo efforts to liberate the hostages before the election, and books have been written on what came to be called the October surprise."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Russian forces sent 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian facilities around Kyiv and western parts of the country overnight on Saturday, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat. Ukrainian forces struck down 11 of the 16 drones, he added, despite poor nighttime visibility.... A Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine was extended on Saturday, although the two parties gave differing accounts for how long it would last: 60 or 120 days, respectively." ~~~

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

Putin Thumbs His Nose at the ICC. AP: "Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine on Saturday, the day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader accusing him of war crimes. Putin visited an art school and a children's center that are part of a project to develop a historical park on the site of an ancient Greek colony, Russian state news agencies said. The ICC accused him Friday of bearing personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion of the neighboring country that started almost 13 months ago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Andrés Martínez & Ivan Nechepurenko New York Times: "resident Vladimir V. Putin of Russia traveled to Mariupol, a Ukrainian city his forces captured after a devastating siege, in a defiant and highly symbolic move that came two days after an international court issued a warrant for his arrest.... It was Mr. Putin's second unannounced trip of the weekend to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and the closest the Russian leader has been to the front lines since the full-scale invasion last February. His trip on Saturday to Crimea was timed to coincide with the ninth anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of the peninsula."

Francesca Ebel of the Washington Post: "... a flood of new videos ... have surfaced since mid-February, in which recent Russian conscripts have complained about how they are being sent to fight and die on the front lines in Ukraine, using phrases such as 'criminal orders' and 'senseless assaults.' One Russian media outlet, Vyorstka, calculated that in one month, recruits from at least 16 regions across Russia have appeared in videos appealing for Putin's intervention. Scores of conscripts say they are being forced to storm Ukrainian positions as part of Russia's eastern offensive, without sufficient training, ammunition or weapons.... The flurry of videos signals that the problems that plagued Russia&'s invasion throughout its first year are far from resolved, and they offer further evidence that Moscow is relying on a grim tactic of sending waves of soldiers to certain death to soften up Ukrainian positions, ahead of sending in elite, experienced fighters to then gain ground."

Comments Off
Friday
Mar172023

March 18, 2023

Morning Update:

Putin Thumbs His Nose at the ICC. AP: "Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine on Saturday, the day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader accusing him of war crimes. Putin visited an art school and a children's center that are part of a project to develop a historical park on the site of an ancient Greek colony, Russian state news agencies said. The ICC accused him Friday of bearing personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion of the neighboring country that started almost 13 months ago."

Minnyvonne Burke & Julie Tsirkin of NBC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several MAGA Republicans rallied around Donald Trump on Saturday ahead of the former president's possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.... 'Here we go again -- an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,' McCarthy wrote in a tweet. 'I'm directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,' McCarthy added." MB: You know, Kevin, that sounds to me an awful lot like jury tampering, jury-pool tampering and attempting to impede the course of justice. But I'm not a lawyer.

** Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump said Saturday [in a fake Twitter post that] he expects to be arrested in connection with the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney next week and called for protests as a result. In a social media post on Saturday, Trump, referring to himself, said the 'leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.... Protest, take our nation back,' he wrote.... Trump's US Secret Service detail would deliver him to the Manhattan district attorney's office for fingerprinting and then taking mugshots in offices of the district attorney's detective squad. As is customary in cases where a defendant is allowed to voluntarily surrender, after arrest processing, the former president would be brought directly to an arraignment before a judge where he would likely be released on his own recognizance." This is a developing story at 9 am ET. MB: As usual, Trump behaves in a dangerous & completely irresponsible. As Rep. Maxine Waters said on MSNBC, "it's almost as if he is organizing domestic terrorists to protest his arrest." Andrew Weissmann, also appearing on MSNBC, noted that Trump did not urge his fans to protest "peacefully" and that the "take out nation back" language is particularly provocative. ~~~

     ~~~ According to MSNBC, the Manhattan D.A.'s office or other officials have not formally notified Trump of his impending arrest, and Trump has made his remarks based on leaks (or as Trump put it, "ILLEGAL LEAKS") & public reporting. Garrett Haake of NBC News says Trump is trying to scoop his own arrest. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump made the declaration on Truth Social at 7:26. a.m., in a post written in all capital letters.... There was no immediate indication as to why the former president appeared confident that he would be arrested Tuesday. People with knowledge of the matter have said that at least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury.... Three people close to Mr. Trump said that the former president's team had no specific knowledge about when an indictment might come or when an arrest could be anticipated. One of those people ... said that Mr. Trump's advisers' best guess was that it could happen around Tuesday, and that someone may have relayed that to him, but that they also had made clear to one another that they didn't know a specific time frame.... Mr. Trump's post urging his supporters to 'PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!' carried unmistakable echoes of the incendiary messages he posted online in the weeks before the attack on the Capitol."

~~~~~~~~~~

A Pocketful of Shamrocks. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Friday evening, [President] Biden hosted a shamrock presentation and reception at the White House for ... Leo Varadkar, Ireland's prime minister, or taoiseach and others..., capping a day celebrating the Irish.... Mr. Biden is only the second Irish Catholic to occupy the White House, after John F. Kennedy.... But the current president may be the most unabashedly proud of his Irish roots, saying often that he got his 'Irish values' from his mother, who told him to treat people with respect and dignity.... He has also been an ardent supporter of the efforts to secure peace in Northern Ireland. The treaty that created the framework for that peace, known as the Good Friday Agreement, turns 25 years old this year and will serve as the reason for Mr. Biden's first visit to Ireland as president in April.... The president was introduced at the luncheon by its host, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, another Irish American politician and Mr. Biden's chief adversary in Washington...." More on Kevin's St. Patrick's Day blarney linked below.

Today in Trumpy Fraud News

Jared Gans of the Hill: "An attorney for Donald Trump says the former president would not refuse to surrender to authorities if he is indicted in the Manhattan district attorney's probe into a hush-money deal from his 2016 presidential run. 'There won't be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA's office,' Joe Tacopina told The New York Daily News." MB: Sounds like an effort to preempt a traditional perp walk, which -- to my great disappointment -- is unlikely to occur.

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has at least partially granted a request from U.S. prosecutors to force an attorney for Donald Trump to testify before a grand jury about the former president's possession of classified documents after leaving office, according to two people briefed on the decision. The lawyer, Evan Corcoran, had refused to answer investigators' questions about his interactions with Trump, invoking attorney-client privilege.... U.S. prosecutors argued that there are exceptions to the privilege, including when there is evidence that a client used the attorney's legal services in furtherance of a crime. In secret court filings and a hearing held behind closed doors last week, people familiar with the matter said, prosecutors sought to show Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington that there were grounds for a 'crime-fraud exception.' Howell agreed.... Trump's team is expected to ask incoming Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who succeeds the term-limited Howell as of midnight Saturday, to stay her order while they appeal, the people familiar with the matter said." CNN's report is here. The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Thief-in-Chief. (Allegedly)!) Jacqueline Alemany & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Federal officials cannot find two gifts received by ... Donald Trump and his family from foreign nations, including a life-size painting of Trump from the president of El Salvador and golf clubs from the Japanese prime minister, according to a new report from House Democrats. The gifts are among more than 100 foreign gifts -- with a total value of nearly $300,000 -- that Trump and his family failed to report to the State Department in violation of federal law, according to the report, which cites government records and emails. The 15-page report, a result of a year-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee..., revealed that the Trump family did not disclose dozens of gifts from countries that are not U.S. allies or have a complicated relationship with Washington. That includes 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia..., 17 gifts from India..., and at least five gifts from China. Trump reported zero gifts entirely the final year of his presidency, according to the report....

"Trump repeatedly told advisers that gifts given to him during the presidency were his and did not belong to the federal government, former chief of staff John F. Kelly and other aides have previously told The Washington Post.... Any gifts to the Trump family that were not memorialized in written communications by administration officials could still be outstanding. Republicans did not appear to participate in the investigation, which began while Democrats controlled the House.... The report also raises concerns about whether the unreported gifts may have been used by foreign governments to influence U.S. policy positions toward those countries." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times report, which adds other details, is here. CNN's report is here.

Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "When Donald Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, in a now-infamous bid to overturn the 2020 election, he alleged that thousands of dead people had voted in the state.... But a report commissioned by his own campaign dated one day prior told a different story: Researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' of only nine dead voters in Fulton County, defined as ballots that may have been cast by someone else in the name of a deceased person. They believed there was a 'potential statewide exposure' of 23 such votes across the Peach State -- or 4,977 fewer than the 'minimum' [5,000 dead voters] Trump claimed. In a separate failed bid to overturn the results in Nevada, Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that 1,506 ballots were cast in the names of dead people and 42,284 voted twice. The researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' that 12 ballots were cast in the names of deceased people in Clark County, Nev., and believed the 'high end potential exposure' was 20 voters statewide -- some 1,486 fewer than Trump's lawyers said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Dienst of NBC News: "Local, state and federal law enforcement and security agencies are preparing for the possibility that ... Donald Trump will be indicted as early as next week, according to five senior officials familiar with the preparations. Law enforcement agencies are conducting preliminary security assessments, the officials said, and are discussing potential security plans in and around the Manhattan Criminal Court, at 100 Centre Street, in case Trump is charged in connection with an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and travels to New York to face any charges." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

BUT Look for the Silver Lining. For all the bad news showered upon the former Dear Leader, the Googles come to the rescue, offering a ray of sunshine on a dark, gloomy day: ~~~

     ~~~ Nico Grantof the New York Times: "YouTube suspended ... Donald J. Trump's account on the platform six days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The video platform said it was concerned that Mr. Trump's lies about the 2020 election could lead to more real-world violence. YouTube, which is owned by Google, reversed that decision on Friday, permitting Mr. Trump to once again upload videos to the popular site. The move came after similar decisions by Twitter and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram." The ABC News story is here.

Trump Goes Full Pogo. The greatest threat to Western Civilization today is not Russia. It's probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible, U.S.A.-hating people that represent us. -- Donald Trump, in a video posted Thursday on Fake Twitter, seeking to regain his status as top Putin spokesman in the U.S. ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC comments on the full three-and-a-half-minute video: "As visions go, this is more a weird and paranoid rant than the basis for a major party presidential platform. In fact, if one were to read the transcript..., a typical person might think it was an unhinged tirade from some random person with a YouTube channel that has four followers.... As a practical matter, it's likely that Vladimir Putin will celebrate the clip and prepare new efforts to help return the former American president to the White House in order to advance the kind of agenda Moscow desperately wants to see."

Justine McDaniel & Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "U.S. Capitol Police only learned from the media that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had provided access to security footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to television personality Tucker Carlson, and the police then were shown just one of about 40 clips before Carlson aired them earlier this month, the police department's lawyer said in an affidavit Friday. The police had asked House Republicans to let them review every clip that would be made public for security reasons, Capitol Police general counsel Thomas DiBiase said in the six-page declaration. But DiBiase said he only viewed a single clip.... On Feb. 28, McCarthy told reporters that he had been consulting with U.S. Capitol Police about the release of the footage. Carlson said on air that 'before airing any of this video, we checked first with the Capitol Police. We're happy to say their reservations were minor and for the most part, they were reasonable.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Following his SOP to deflect and/or deny, “At the Capitol on Friday, McCarthy said he had not read the police department's court filing and he instead reiterated his past claims that House GOP officials worked with the Capitol Police to determine which video clips were sensitive to security issues...." ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read DiBiase's declaration here.

Casey Gannon of of CNN: "A US Air Force veteran who entered the Senate chambers in military gear during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison. Larry Brock, 55, was found guilty on six charges, including the felony of obstruction of an official proceeding, during a bench trial in November 2022. 'It's really pretty astounding coming from a former high-ranked military officer. It's astounding and atrocious,' US District Judge John Bates said Friday as he explained his sentence."

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Hunter Biden has filed a sweeping countersuit against the computer repair shop owner who said that Biden dropped his laptop off and never claimed it, a legal action that escalates the battle over how provocative data and images of the president's son were obtained nearly five years ago. In the counterclaim, filed on Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Delaware, Biden and his attorneys say that John Paul Mac Isaac had no legal right to copy and distribute private information. They accuse him and others of six counts of invasion of privacy, including conspiracy to obtain and distribute the data.... The move is a response to a suit filed by Mac Isaac himself last year and amended several times since, alleging that Hunter Biden defamed him by saying he had illegally accessed the data -- when in fact, Mac Isaac contends, the laptop became his property when it was abandoned in his shop." Read on. The part at the end concerning Keith Ablow -- Hunter Biden's psychiatrist, who also was a friend of Steve Bannon's -- strikes me as, um, significant, considering that Bannon was one of the people who allegedly was passing around data from the laptop. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's story is here.

Michelle Chapman of the AP: "The parent of Silicon Valley Bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a week after the tech-focused bank failed and was seized by the U.S. government. The filing from SVB Financial Group on Friday is not a surprise, with much of the company now under the control of U.S. banking regulators." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024. Dan Christensen of the Florida Bulldog (March 13): "A second ex-Guantanamo detainee has stepped forward to say that Gov. Ron DeSantis, while a U.S. Navy JAG officer in 2006, watched and allowed the brutal forced feedings of detainees that U.N. human rights authorities, an international physician's group and others have condemned as a form of torture. In January, Florida Bulldog reported ex-prisoner Mansoor Adayfi's account of being force-fed via a painful nasal tube inserted down his throat by Gitmo authorities.... According to Adayfi, DeSantis, a Navy lawyer who told Guantanamo detainees he was there to make sure they were treated humanely, watched in amusement on more than one occasion as he was strapped to a 'feeding chair' and cans of Ensure were poured into him as he screamed. Now, Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz, known in Guantanamo as detainee #757 during his 13-year internment there without charges, has told Florida Bulldog he repeatedly witnessed DeSantis and 'the feeding people' entering cell blocks where 'barbaric' force feedings were taking place." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Somehow, somehow I think Ron's cruelty toward prisoners he was supposed to protect helps explain why, years later, he eats chocolate pudding with his fingers.

Beyond the Beltway

Marie: Looks like Friday was Hate Crime Day in Right Wing World. Unfortunately, the hate crime bill proposed, passed or signed into law were not against hate crimes, but were in and of themselves hate crimes -- against Blacks, young girls, transgender people, all women of child-bearing age & men who might impregnate them.

Florida. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "... one [Florida] GOP lawmaker acknowledged this week that his proposed sexual health bill would ban girls from talking about their menstrual cycles in school.... House Bill 1069 [-- proposed by state Rep. Stan McClain --] would also require that instruction on sexual health, such as health education, sexually transmitted diseases and human sexuality, 'only occur in grades 6 through 12,' which prompted [state Rep. Ashley] Gantt [D] to ask whether the proposed legislation would prohibit young girls from talking about their periods in school when they first start having them.... McClain responded, 'It would.'... The bill ended up passing [in committee], 13-5, on Wednesday in a party-line vote...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So what is the school nurse supposed to do when a 10-year-old girl comes to her, terrified that she is bleeding and having no idea why? (Add to this that the little girl may be in pain.) Under this law, I guess the nurse is supposed to respond, "Well, ain't that something." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. For No Apparent Reason, Kids, a Bus Driver Told a Lady to Move to a Different Seat. Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "Now, the state is reviewing curriculum in what is perhaps the most contentious subject in education: social studies.... A prominent conservative education group, whose members volunteered to review textbooks, objected to a slew of them, accusing publishers of 'promoting their bias.'... The Florida Citizens Alliance, a conservative group, has urged the state to reject 28 of the 38 textbooks that its volunteers reviewed, including more than a dozen by McGraw Hill, a major national publisher.... In an attempt to cater to Florida, at least one publisher [-- Studies Weekly --] made significant changes to its materials, walking back or omitting references to race, even in its telling of the Rosa Parks story.... In the current lesson on Rosa Parks, segregation is clearly explained: 'The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.' But in the initial version created for the textbook review, race is mentioned indirectly. 'She was told to move to a different seat because of the color of her skin,' the lesson said. In the updated version, race is not mentioned at all. 'She was told to move to a different seat,' the lesson said, without an explanation of segregation."

Kentucky. Andrea Sacedo of the Washington Post: "In a matter of hours on Thursday, Republican legislators in Kentucky passed an anti-transgender bill that would allow teachers to misgender their students and bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth in what advocates called the latest among a string of GOP-pushed anti-transgender legislation. The new bill not only forbids trans youth from receiving gender-affirming care, a practice that professional medical associations have deemed safe and effective for children with gender dysphoria, but takes it a step further by mandating doctors set a timeline to de-transition children already taking puberty blockers or undergoing hormone therapy. Under the bill, teachers would not be allowed to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age. School districts would also be required to craft policies that forbid transgender students from using the restroom tied to their gender identities.... [Kentucky's House passed a similar bill.] Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who is running for reelection this year, now has 10 days to either veto or sign Senate Bill 150 into law. Even if he did veto it, Kentucky's legislature would be able to override his decision."

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of tax evasion and was ordered to pay nearly $38,000 in restitution. Derek Chauvin entered the plea before a Washington County, Minn., judge Friday morning. The ex-officer appeared via video from a federal prison in Tucson, where he is serving a 22-½ year sentence for Floyd's murder and a 20-year sentence for violating the man's federal civil rights. The sentences are running concurrently. Chauvin and his now ex-wife, Kellie Chauvin, were charged in July 2020 on multiple counts of underreporting and failing to pay Minnesota state taxes. The couple was accused of underreporting more than $464,000 in joint income between 2014 and 2019 -- including at least $95,000 Chauvin allegedly earned while working as an off-duty security guard.... Last month, Kellie Chauvin pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion as part of a plea deal, telling the judge she had relied on her husband to manage their finances and file taxes." She too will have to pay about $38,000 in restitution. The AP's report is here.

Wyoming. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) late Friday signed into law a ban on abortion pills, as the state adopted what appears to be the nation's first such state law. The new law says that it will be 'unlawful to prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.' The law includes penalties of up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to $9,000. But it exempts people who take abortion pills from criminal liability. It also allows drugs to be used in case they are needed to treat 'natural miscarriages.'"

Way Beyond

France. Quel Désastre! Silvie Corbet & Barbara Surk of the AP: "Protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change maintained their resolve to get the government to back down. Striking sanitation workers blocked a waste collection plant that is home to Europe's largest incinerator to underline their determination, and university students walked out of lecture halls to join the strikes. Leaders of the influential CGT union called on people to leave schools, factories, refineries and other work places." (Also linked yesterday.)

Turkey, Finland, Sweden. Emily Rauhala & Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "On Friday..., Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... announced that Finland's [NATO] membership request was being sent to Turkey's parliament for ratification, paving the way for the alliance to grow. But Erdogan will not sign off on Sweden's bid without additional steps.... At a joint news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Friday in Ankara, Turkey's capital, Erdogan credited Finland with taking 'sincere and concrete steps' to fulfill security commitments it made to Turkey nearly a year ago at a NATO summit in Madrid.... Erdogan said ... that talks with Sweden would 'continue on the basis of the principles of our alliance and our approach to the fight against terrorism.'" The AP's story is here.

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Biden said the International Criminal Court was 'justified' in issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has 'clearly committed war crimes.'... While the warrant is unlikely to land Putin or commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in court, it could make it difficult for them to travel to countries that cooperate with the Hague-based tribunal, which include several of Russia's neighbors.... The United States said it would oppose any cease-fire proposal that could emerge from talks between the Chinese and Russian leaders. 'A cease-fire now is, again, effectively the ratification of Russian conquest,' White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday, according to the Associated Press.... Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials held a video call to discuss the battleground situation and U.S. support, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.... A group of European Union countries will sign an agreement Monday to buy artillery rounds for Ukraine, Reuters reported...."

Mike Corner & Raf Casert of the AP: "The International Criminal Court said Friday that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The ICC said in a statement that Putin 'is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marlise Simons, et al., of the New York Times: "Here's a closer look at the court, the warrant and what it could mean for Russia's leader.... The court says that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.... The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who has been the public face of a Kremlin-sponsored program in which Ukrainian children and teenagers have been taken to Russia.... Many democracies joined the International Criminal Court, including close American allies like Britain. But the United States has long kept its distance, fearing that the court might one day seek to prosecute American officials, and Russia is also not a member. The Biden administration has been engaged in an internal dispute over whether to provide the court with evidence gathered by the U.S. intelligence community about Russian war crimes."

Comments Off
Friday
Mar172023

March 17, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has at least partially granted a request from U.S. prosecutors to force an attorney for Donald Trump to testify before a grand jury about the former president's possession of classified documents after leaving office, according to two people briefed on the decision. The lawyer, Evan Corcoran, had refused to answer investigators' questions about his interactions with Trump, invoking attorney-client privilege.... U.S. prosecutors argued that there are exceptions to the privilege, including when there is evidence that a client used the attorney's legal services in furtherance of a crime. In secret court filings and a hearing held behind closed doors last week, people familiar with the matter said, prosecutors sought to show Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington that there were grounds for a 'crime-fraud exception.' Howell agreed.... Trump's team is expected to ask incoming Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who succeeds the term-limited Howell as of midnight Saturday, to stay her order while they appeal, the people familiar with the matter said.&" CNN's report is here. The New York Times story is here.

Thief-in-Chief. (Allegedly)!) Jacqueline Alemany & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Federal officials cannot find two gifts received by ... Donald Trump and his family from foreign nations, including a life-size painting of Trump from the president of El Salvador and golf clubs from the Japanese prime minister, according to a new report from House Democrats. The gifts are among more than 100 foreign gifts -- with a total value of nearly $300,000 -- that Trump and his family failed to report to the State Department in violation of federal law, according to the report, which cites government records and emails. The 15-page report, a result of a year-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee..., revealed that the Trump family did not disclose dozens of gifts from countries that are not U.S. allies or have a complicated relationship with Washington. That includes 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia..., 17 gifts from India..., and at least five gifts from China. Trump reported zero gifts entirely the final year of his presidency, according to the report....

"Trump repeatedly told advisers that gifts given to him during the presidency were his and did not belong to the federal government, former chief of staff John F. Kelly and other aides have previously told The Washington Post.... Any gifts to the Trump family that were not memorialized in written communications by administration officials could still be outstanding. Republicans did not appear to participate in the investigation, which began while Democrats controlled the House.... The report also raises concerns about whether the unreported gifts may have been used by foreign governments to influence U.S. policy positions toward those countries."

Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "When Donald Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, in a now-infamous bid to overturn the 2020 election, he alleged that thousands of dead people had voted in the state.... But a report commissioned by his own campaign dated one day prior told a different story: Researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' of only nine dead voters in Fulton County, defined as ballots that may have been cast by someone else in the name of a deceased person. They believed there was a 'potential statewide exposure' of 23 such votes across the Peach State -- or 4,977 fewer than the 'minimum' [5,000 dead voters] Trump claimed. In a separate failed bid to overturn the results in Nevada, Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that 1,506 ballots were cast in the names of dead people and 42,284 voted twice. The researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' that 12 ballots were cast in the names of deceased people in Clark County, Nev., and believed the 'high end potential exposure' was 20 voters statewide -- some 1,486 fewer than Trump's lawyers said."

Jonathan Dienst of NBC News: "Local, state and federal law enforcement and security agencies are preparing for the possibility that ... Donald Trump will be indicted as early as next week, according to five senior officials familiar with the preparations. Law enforcement agencies are conducting preliminary security assessments, the officials said, and are discussing potential security plans in and around the Manhattan Criminal Court, at 100 Centre Street, in case Trump is charged in connection with an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and travels to New York to face any charges."

Mike Corner & Raf Casert of the AP: "The International Criminal Court said Friday that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The ICC said in a statement that Putin 'is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.'"

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Hunter Biden has filed a sweeping countersuit against the computer repair shop owner who said that Biden dropped his laptop off and never claimed it, a legal action that escalates the battle over how provocative data and images of the president's son were obtained nearly five years ago. In the counterclaim, filed on Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Delaware, Biden and his attorneys say that John Paul Mac Isaac had no legal right to copy and distribute private information. They accuse him and others of six counts of invasion of privacy, including conspiracy to obtain and distribute the data.... The move is a response to a suit filed by Mac Isaac himself last year and amended several times since, alleging that Hunter Biden defamed him by saying he had illegally accessed the data -- when in fact, Mac Isaac contends, the laptop became his property when it was abandoned in his shop." Read on. The part at the end concerning Keith Ablow -- Hunter Biden's psychiatrist, who also was a friend of Steve Bannon's -- strikes me as. um, significant, considering that Bannon was one of the people who allegedly was passing around data from the laptop.

Michelle Chapman of the AP: "The parent of Silicon Valley Bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a week after the tech-focused bank failed and was seized by the U.S. government. The filing from SVB Financial Group on Friday is not a surprise, with much of the company now under the control of U.S. banking regulators."

France. Quel Désastre! Silvie Corbet & Barbara Surk of the AP: "Protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change maintained their resolve to get the government to back down. Striking sanitation workers blocked a waste collection plant that is home to Europe's largest incinerator to underline their determination, and university students walked out of lecture halls to join the strikes. Leaders of the influential CGT union called on people to leave schools, factories, refineries and other work places."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "President Biden will designate a sacred tribal site in southern Nevada as a national monument in the coming days, according to two people briefed on the decision, creating the largest protected area of his presidency yet. Biden will sign a proclamation putting hundreds of thousands of acres around Spirit Mountain -- known as Avi Kwa Ame (ah-VEE-kwah-may) in Mojave -- off limits to development under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the two individuals said."

Leo Shane of the Military Times: "Veterans Affairs leaders are changing the department's mission statement from the current male-only focus to be more welcoming to women veterans, officials announced Thursday. The current motto -- in use by VA and the Veterans Administration since 1959 -- is based on an excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address: 'To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans.' It's displayed prominently at about half of all VA hospitals, cemeteries and office buildings across the country. The new motto will still be based on Lincoln's words but instead reads: 'To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.'"

Amy Wang & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "The Senate has advanced a bill that would repeal decades-old authorizations for use of military force for the Iraq and Persian Gulf wars, in an overwhelming show of bipartisan support for legislation that the White House has signaled it will back. The Senate voted 68 to 27 on Thursday to end debate on the bill, clearing the way for amendments and a final vote next week. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the 1991 Gulf War authorization and the 2002 Iraq War authorization. A bipartisan group of lawmakers who support the legislation argue that it is necessary to prevent abuse by presidential administrations that have -- and still could -- use the old authorizations to launch unrelated combat operations without congressional approval."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Thursday released financial records showing that Hunter Biden and other relatives of President Biden received more than $1 million in 2017 from an associate who had entered into a business deal with a Chinese energy company, as they hunted for evidence that the president and his family have profited improperly from his position. The disclosure came as the House Oversight Committee ramps up its investigation into the international business transactions of Mr. Biden's family, obtaining more than a decade of bank records through subpoenas and drawing accusations from Democrats of intruding into the lives of private citizens."

Marie: Gosh, I've missed hearing from Miss Margie for about two days. She's back. With a bomb. ~~~

     ~~~ Sandbagged. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday, [Marjorie Taylor] Greene and a GOP colleague floated sending the U.S. military south while citing ... [an 'explosive device' U.S. Border Patrol had found]. At a field hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee near the Texas-Mexico border, multiple Republicans pointed to the alleged explosive device. 'Chief Ortiz, are you aware that there was an explosive device found by border patrol agents on no man, in an area called no man's land?' Greene asked Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz. Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Tex.) cited 'this explosive device that was discovered by one of you border patrol agents.' Rep. Dale W. Strong (R-Ala.) labeled it an 'improvised explosive device being used against U.S. law enforcement.' Greene also tweeted a picture of the 'explosive,' accusing Mexican cartels of 'planting bombs.' Ortiz ... and another witness even seemed unfamiliar with what the Republicans were talking about. But by Wednesday afternoon, Ortiz tweeted that the item was merely a 'duct-taped ball filled with sand.'" Luttrell complained later that agents did not properly report the bomb. MB: I guess not. Finding a bag of sand, even one wrapped in duct tape, in a sandy desert probably doesn't merit an all-points bulletin. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Victoria Bekiempis of the Guardian: "Federal prosecutors in Washington have reportedly told court officials a thousand more people could be charged in relation to the deadly January 6 Capitol attack. Matthew Graves, the US attorney in Washington DC, sent a one-page letter to the chief judge of Washington DC federal court, apprising her of the potential deluge of defendants, Bloomberg News reported.... Graves said in the letter that justice department officials estimated that another 700 to 1,200 defendants could face charges.... The prosecutor also said he did not know the exact proportion of misdemeanor and felony cases to come but thought there would be a larger proportion of felonies, Bloomberg said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "At least two dozen people -- from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Donald Trump's inner circle at the Florida estate -- have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that's investigating the former president's handling of classified documents, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. On Thursday, Trump's communications aide Margo Martin, who worked in the White House and then moved with Trump to Florida, appeared before the grand jury in Washington, DC. One of special counsel Jack Smith's senior-most prosecutors was involved in the interview.... Many of the Mar-a-Lago staffers are being represented by counsel paid for by Trump entities, according to sources and federal elections records.... Meanwhile, Smith continues to pursue Trump defense lawyer Evan Corcoran. In an earlier appearance before the grand jury, Corcoran declined to answer questions about his conversations with Trump..., citing attorney-client privilege. Prosecutors are asking a judge to find that he must answer because the conversations may have been part of advancing a crime or fraud. A ruling is expected from the DC District Court on Corcoran as early as this week."

Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: Fulton County, Georgia, D.A. Fani Willis has at least three recordings of phone calls Donald Trump made to Georgia officials in an attempt to change the state's election results. Those are (1) the infamous call Trump made to Secretay of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump threatened & cajoled Raffensperger into finding 11,780 votes for him. (2) "Trump also called Frances Watson, a top investigator in Raffensperger's office, urging her to uncover 'dishonesty' as she examined absentee mail ballots...." And (3) the call Trump made to Georgia's House Speaker "David Ralston (R), in which Ralston resisted Trump's requests to convene a special session of the legislature to overturn Biden's narrow election win," a recording grand jurors revealed this week to Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporters. MB: We'll have to leave it to Fox "News" to identify innocent explanations for these calls. Maybe TuKKKer can find snippets where Trump asks the officials about the weather or how the family is.

Sarah Ellison & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: Sidney Powell made a dozen appearances on Fox "News," beginning November 8, 2020, a day after the major networks had called the presidential election for Joe Biden. In these appearances, Powell "helped inject far-fetched and debunked claims of widespread fraud into the mainstream -- and which are now at the heart of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox, court documents show.... She would even appear on Fox programs after a Fox Corp. senior vice president said he had privately begged the White House to disavow Powell. 'We encouraged several sources within the administration to tell reporters that Powell offered no evidence for her claims and didn't speak for the president,' executive Raj Shah wrote to his bosses on Nov. 23 -- a day after Trump lawyers issued statements saying that Powell was not a member of their team. One day later, though, Powell was back in front of Fox's cameras, telling host Lou Dobbs that in Arizona, 'there were 35,000 votes added to every Democrat candidate just to start their voting off....'" Powell's source turned out to be an email from an artist who claimed in the same email that Antonin Scalia was murdered in a human hunting expedition, that she herself was capable of time travel and that 'the wind tells me I am a ghost.'"

Bankers Saving Bankers. Rob Copeland, et al., of the New York Times: "In an extraordinary effort to stave off financial contagion and reassure the world that the American financial system was stable, 11 of the largest U.S. banks came together on Thursday to inject $30 billion into First Republic Bank, a smaller peer on the brink of collapse after the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank last week. Hatched on Tuesday during a call between Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, the plan has each bank depositing at least $1 billion into First Republic. It is meant as a show of support for First Republic and a signal to the market that the San Francisco lender's woes do not reflect deeper trouble at the bank." An NBC News story is here.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Rebecca Crosby, et al., of Popular Information: "Tuesday night on Fox News, host Jesse Watters asserted that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) 'donated $74 million to Black Lives Matter.' That was why, Watters claimed, federal regulators did not pursue more aggressive oversight of SVB's business practices. According to this theory, SVB was treated with kid gloves because it was 'woke.' Watters' claim is false. The actual amount that SVB donated to Black Lives Matter was zero. But that didn't stop similar claims from being made repeatedly on Fox News, conservative websites, and social media.... The [fake] reports are based on a database produced by the right-wing Claremont Institute." The reporters explain how Claremont came up with its fake numbers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd. Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "An international team of virus experts said on Thursday that they had found genetic data from a market in Wuhan, China, linking the coronavirus with raccoon dogs for sale there, adding evidence to the case that the worst pandemic in a century could have been ignited by an infected animal that was being dealt through the illegal wildlife trade. The genetic data was drawn from swabs taken from in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market starting in January 2020, shortly after the Chinese authorities had shut down the market because of suspicions that it was linked to the outbreak of a new virus. By then, the animals had been cleared out, but researchers swabbed walls, floors, metal cages and carts often used for transporting animal cages.... The new evidence is sure to provide a jolt to the debate over the pandemic's origins, even if it does not resolve the question of how it began."

Presidential Race 2024. Why are Republican voters so enamored of men who behave like little babies, throwing their food at the wall (Donnie) and eating pudding with their fingers (Ronnie)? ~~~

~~~ Dinner with Ron. Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "A new report on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) provided further detail on his well-documented struggles with personal public engagement, a quirk that reportedly includes unorthodox table manners. A new Daily Beast report on DeSantis ... tackled concerns about his aloof persona, aversion to public interactions, and the distance he keeps from voters and reporters alike. The reporting on the governor's personality and social graces delved into 'unflattering stories' that the Beast uncovered about him from over the years...: '"He would sit in meetings and eat in front of people," a former DeSantis staffer told The Daily Beast, "always like a starving animal who has never eaten before ... getting shit everywhere."... During a private plane trip from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C., in March of 2019, DeSantis enjoyed a chocolate pudding dessert -- by eating it with three of his fingers, according to two sources familiar with the incident.'" The Beast report is firewalled. ~~~

     ~~~ Unpresidented. Marie: This could be the first time in American history we get a genuine food fight for a major party presidential nomination rather than than the usual metaphorical one.

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "... much of the rhetoric from the declared and potential Republican candidates [for president*] so far is remarkable for its dystopian tone. In many high-profile moments, these Republicans portray the nation as locked in an existential battle, where the stark combat lines denote not just policy disagreements but warring camps of saviors vs. villains, and where political opponents are regularly demonized."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Marisa Sarnoff of Law & Crime: "Public university professors in Florida may continue to share their opinions about racism, sexism, and discrimination in the classroom -- at least for now -- after three federal judges upheld a [lower-court] ban on enforcement of a controversial [anti-'woke'] law.... [The] panel upheld an injunction against the so-called 'Stop W.O.K.E. Act,' which [Gov. Ron] DeSantis has said provides teachers with 'tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination.'" Two of the appellate judges are Trump appointees.

North Dakota. Ava Sasani & David Chen of the New York Times: "North Dakota's Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to block a ban on abortions in the state, and said the state Constitution protects abortion rights in some situations. The ruling means abortion in the state remains legal until nearly 22 weeks after a women's last period, while the case proceeds in a lower court.... In a majority opinion, the ruling said that [the lower-court] judge was within his rights but added that the state Constitution protects 'the right to enjoy and defend life and a right to pursue and obtain safety,' which includes the right of a pregnant woman to 'obtain an abortion to preserve her life or her health.'" A CBS News report is here.

Ohio. Tom Perkins of the Guardian: "Newly released data shows soil in the Ohio town of East Palestine -- scene of a recent catastrophic train crash and chemical spill -- contains dioxin levels hundreds of times greater than the exposure threshold above which Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists in 2010 found poses cancer risks. The EPA at the time proposed lowering the cleanup threshold to reflect the science around the highly toxic chemical, but the Obama administration killed the rules, and the higher federal action threshold remains in place.... The levels found in two soil samples are also up to 14 times higher than dioxin soil limits in some states, and the numbers point to wider contamination, said Linda Birnbaum, a former head of the US National Toxicology Program and EPA scientist.... The data likely confirms fears that the controlled burn of vinyl chloride in the days after the train wreck in the town created dioxin and dispersed it throughout the area, experts say, though they stressed the new data is of limited value because only two soil samples were checked."

Utah. Mary Kekatos of ABC News: "Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has signed a bill into law banning abortion clinics in the state, making it the latest to restrict the procedure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Cox, a Republican, signed H.B. 467 after it passed the state Senate on March 2 and state House on March 3, both along party lines. Abortion clinics will be required to close either by the end of the year or when their licensee expires, whichever comes first."

Virginia. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A Virginia judge relied in part on a 19th century law that defined enslaved people as property in a recent decision to allow a divorced woman to pursue using embryos that she shared with her former husband -- a ruling that has drawn criticism.... 'It is logically possible that he could treat [sharing the embryos] as a distribution of property, but he doesn't have to go into the slave law. So that was a jump, [U.C. Davis bioethics professor Lisa] Ikemoto said. 'In a sense, he is reviving the use of a law that treated humans as property, in the 21st century. It is reprehensible and offensive.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Washington. Justine McDaniel of the Washington Post: "A train derailed and spilled diesel fuel on tribal land in Washington, state officials said Thursday. The BNSF train derailed on the Swinomish Reservation in Anacortes, Wash., around midnight. Though it occurred next to a bay, the spill did not appear to have affected water or wildlife, the Washington Department of Ecology said Thursday afternoon. Crews installed a boom on the shoreline to contain potential pollution and were emptying and removing rail cars."

Way Beyond

Jennifer Hassan, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the past few months, numerous countries have already put restrictions on TikTok, fearing that it could be used to gain access to their citizens' data or to spread pro-Beijing propaganda. But the bans have run into free speech concerns, as well as opposition from the Chinese government. ByteDance has denied claims it is controlled by a government entity, pointing to its founding by entrepreneurs and its funding from international institutional investors. Here are some other countries that have moved to restrict or ban TikTok at home."

France. Sylvie Corbet of the AP: "French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power. Lawmakers were shouting, their voices shaking with emotion as Macron made the risky move, which is expected to trigger quick motions of no-confidence in his government. Riot police vans zoomed by outside the National Assembly, their sirens wailing. The proposed pension changes have prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January. Macron, who made it the flagship of his second term, argued the reform is needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France's population ages and life expectancy lengthens. The decision to invoke the special power was made during a Cabinet meeting at the Elysee presidential palace, just a few minutes before the scheduled vote, because Macron had no guarantee of a majority in France's lower house of parliament." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Libya. Euan Ward of the New York Times: "More than 2.5 tons of natural uranium is missing from a site in war-torn Libya, the director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, telling member states that the agency was searching for the material. The uranium ore itself poses little radiation hazard, said Sinead Harvey, a spokeswoman for the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. But she said the material, contained in 10 drums, still requires safe handling and may present 'a radiological risk as well as nuclear security concerns' if it were not found. The nuclear material was discovered to be missing on Tuesday during an inspection in Libya by the U.N. watchdog, Ms. Harvey said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow next week and meet with ... Vladimir Putin.... Slovakia has joined Poland in announcing it will supply Kyiv with fighter jets, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Friday. Heger said his government approved a decision to send 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 jets, a day after Poland said it would send four in the coming days. Agreement to transfer the fighter jets marks a new level of Western aid to Ukraine, and Poland and Slovakia have called on other countries to follow their lead as part of an international coalition.... Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave state awards to the pilots who forced down a U.S. drone earlier this week, according to his ministry, which claimed the pilots had prevented the drone from 'violating' the airspace of Russian military activity in Ukraine.... Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is in Turkey for the second day, where he is expected to hold talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Finland requires Turkey's approval to join NATO...." ~~~

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

AP: "Poland's president said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfill the Ukrainian government's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes. President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes 'within the next few days' and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number can mean between 11 and 19. 'They are in the last years of their functioning, but they are in good working condition,' Duda said of the aircraft." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Erin Banco & Sarah Aarup of Politico: "Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor.... The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by Import Genius, a customs data aggregator. China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country's largest state-owned defense contractors, sent the rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military. The CQ-A rifles, modeled off of the M16 but tagged as 'civilian hunting rifles' in the data, have been reported to be in use by paramilitary police in China and by armed forces from the Philippines to South Sudan and Paraguay."

Rebecca Wright of CNN: "Guiding us through [an eastern Ukraine] woodland on foot, Ukrainian soldiers eventually brought us to a clearing where they showed us the wreckage of a weaponized drone which they said they shot down with their AK-47 automatic weapons over the weekend. The drone was a Mugin-5, a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by a Chinese manufacturer based in the port city of Xiamen, on China's eastern coast. Some tech bloggers say the machines are known as 'Alibaba drones' as they have been available for sale for up to $15,000 on Chinese marketplace websites including Alibaba and Taobao. Mugin Limited confirmed to CNN that it was their airframe, calling the incident 'deeply unfortunate.' It's the latest example of a civilian drone being retrofitted and weaponized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a sign of the rapidly shifting patterns of warfare."

Luis Martinez of ABC News: "U.S. European Command has released dramatic declassified video taken by the MQ-9 Reaper drone that shows the moment that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with it after attempting to spray the drone with jet fuel. The video was taken from a camera on the drone's underside and shows two different passes taken by the jets to spray the drone, the second one being the collision with the propeller at the rear of the drone, which is visible in the footage.... Communications with the drone were down for a minute [where] the image can be seen pixelating into color bars.... When the video feed resumed one of the propeller blades can be seen damaged from the collision with the Russian fighter. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Tim Lister of CNN: "A secret plan drawn up by Russia's security service, the FSB, lays out detailed options to destabilize Moldova -- including supporting pro-Russian groups, utilizing the Orthodox Church and threatening to cut off supplies of natural gas. The document appears to have been drawn up to thwart Moldova's tilt to the West, which includes closer relations with NATO and an application to join the European Union. It repeatedly refers to the importance of preventing Moldova from joining NATO. It was obtained and first disclosed by a consortium of media, including VSquare and Frontstory, RISE Moldova, Expressen in Sweden, the Dossier Centre for Investigative Journalism, Yahoo News and Delfi." MB: Putin definitely wants his Soviet Union back.


U.K. Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Britain on Thursday became the latest Western country to prohibit the use of TikTok on 'government devices,' citing security fears linked to the video-sharing app's ownership by a Chinese company. Speaking in Parliament, Oliver Dowden, a senior cabinet minister, announced the ban with immediate effect, describing it as 'precautionary,' even though the United States, the European Union's executive arm, Canada and India have already taken similar steps." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Lance Reddick, a prolific actor who gained fame playing a police commander on the Baltimore crime drama 'The Wire' and later had prominent roles in the 'John Wick' movie franchise and the Amazon series 'Bosch,' died on Friday. He was 60."

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