January 31, 2023

Late Morning Update:

Meryl Kornfield, et al., of the Washington Post: "Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) told House Republicans on Tuesday that he will step down temporarily from his committee assignments amid multiple investigations into his campaign finances after he lied about key aspects of his biography. Santos ... said in a closed-door meeting of House Republicans that he would remove himself from his assignments on the House Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. Santos told the meeting he will step down because 'he's a distraction,' according to a Republican lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. The conversation comes one day after Santos met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)."~~~

     ~~~ Marie: But totally Santos' magnanimous idea, and I'm sure it had nothing to do with this:

     ~~~ Olivia Beavers & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "... even those lower-profile Santos assignments quickly became a political liability for Speaker Kevin McCarthy's conference, particularly as Republicans scrape for the votes they need to yank Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee."

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William Booth & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "On one topic, Israelis and Palestinians appear to agree: Both are deeply skeptical, even scornful, of renewed calls being made by the Biden administration for a two-state solution here. Many called the gesture -- at this moment of violence and radicalism -- feeble, even farcical. On his first trip to the region after the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken promoted the long-held dream of two states side by side -- one Israeli, one Palestinian -- as the best guarantor of peace. In a joint news conference with Netanyahu on Monday, after days of escalating bloodshed, Blinken said that maintaining the 'vision' of a two-state solution was 'the only way forward.' Blinken did not call for a new round of talks. He called for calm.... On Tuesday, Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, now in his late 80s and struggling for relevance. Blinken was expected to appeal to Abbas to condemn violence." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Israel & Palestine are skeptical of the possibility or wisdom of a two-state solution, they need only look to our own history: Americans did not accept a two-state solution in the 19th century, and that has left us a country so divided that even a president* instigated a revolution. Some people just can't get along.

~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times:"As Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stood beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday in Jerusalem, the two men spoke of an enduring bond between their countries -- even as deepening differences on a series of fundamental issues are placing that unity under enormous stress. In the context of a relationship troubled by Israel's political lurch rightward and escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence, along with disagreements on matters including Iran's nuclear program and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the familiar affirmations of a vital alliance almost seemed defensive, as if the two men recognized how difficult sustaining that bond has become. Mr. Blinken pleaded with Israelis and Palestinians to prevent a cycle of retribution...."

Ellen Nakashima & Rebecca Tan of the Washington Post: "The U.S. military is poised to secure expanded access to key bases in the Philippines on the heels of a significant revamp of U.S. force posture in Japan -- developments that reflect the allies' concern with an increasingly fraught security environment in the region and a desire to deepen alliances with the United States, according to U.S. and Philippine >officials. While negotiations are still ongoing, an announcement is expected as soon as this week when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets in Manila with his counterpart and then with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr."

Adam Entous & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has informed John R. Allen, a retired four-star Marine general, that federal prosecutors have closed an investigation into whether he secretly lobbied for the government of Qatar and that no criminal charges will be brought against him in the case, according to a statement by General Allen's lawyer. The investigation of General Allen became public in June, when an F.B.I. agent's application to search his electronic communications was unsealed, possibly by accident. Days after the revelations, General Allen resigned as president of the Brookings Institution, a left-leaning think tank in Washington."

Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who stored files with classified information at his Florida home is set to plead guilty in February to one count of unlawful retention of national defense information, according to court documents. The defendant, Robert Birchum, served in the Air Force for more than 30 years and previously held top secret clearance. According to his plea agreement, he stored hundreds of files that contained information marked as top secret, secret or confidential classified outside of authorized locations. In 2017, investigators found a thumb drive, two hard drives and paper documents containing classified information in Birchum's possession, including at his home, court documents state. Two of the files on the thumb drive at Birchum's home contained information on the National Security Agency's 'methods of collection, and identify targets' vulnerabilities,' according to the plea.... Separately, in a temporary residence overseas..., investigators say they found another hard drive containing 117 files with classified national defense information." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So it took something like six years to resolve this case against a mere colonel. This does not bode well for a timely resolution of the big Trump docs case. ~~~

Kaitlan Collins & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Two people who found two classified documents in a Florida storage facility for Donald Trump have testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that's looking at the former president's handling of national security records at his Mar-a-Lago residence, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The two individuals who were hired to search four of Trump's properties last fall were each interviewed for about three hours in separate appearances last week.... The development comes at the same time federal prosecutors are pushing to look at files on a laptop of at least one staff member around Trump at Mar-a-Lago, according to multiple sources.... Special counsel Jack Smith and prosecutors who now work for him have used the federal grand jury nearly weekly to question witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago investigation." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times on how the White House handles classified documents: "Current and former officials who have been part of that process, under Democratic and Republican presidents alike, described an elaborate National Security Council tracking system for highly sensitive documents like the P.D.B. but a more casual dissemination of the churn of classified documents that are used every day by officials from the president to junior national security aides.... The rules governing the handling of classified documents have been in place at the White House for decades, according to people familiar with them, though how strictly to follow them is up to each president and his aides." Shear goes through the nitty-gritty of how the tracking process works -- and how slip-ups are bound to occur. ~~~

     ~~~ See also Patrick's comment near the end of yesterday's thread for why the FBI isn't just passing out classified docs as favors to Senators, even to those on the Intel Committee. Patrick's explanation is quite helpful.

MEANWHILE. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday began presenting evidence to a grand jury about Donald J. Trump's role in paying hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign, laying the groundwork for potential criminal charges against the former president in the coming months, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The grand jury was recently impaneled, and the beginning of witness testimony represents a clear signal that the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, is nearing a decision about whether to charge Mr. Trump.... The developments compound Mr. Trump's legal woes in the early days of his third presidential campaign." NPR's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump sent a barrage of Freedom of Information Act requests to the IRS in an attempt to get a behind-the-scenes look at the agency's preparations to turn his tax records over to Congress, Bloomberg reports." MB: Bloomberg's lede is, "Donald Trump demanded reams of information from the Internal Revenue Service as it was preparing to turn over his personal tax returns to a congressional committee, papering the agency with a deluge of [FOIA requests]." The Bloomberg story is firewalled.

AND Trump Still Loves Putin. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "In a post on his Truth Social account..., [Donald Trump] attacked former officials at the FBI and CIA whom he accused of trying to undermine his presidency.... 'Remember in Helsinki when a 3rd rate reporter asked me, essentially, who I trusted more, President Putin of Russia, or our "Intelligence' lowlifes,"' he wrote. 'My instinct at the time was that we had really bad people in the form of James Comey, McCabe (whose wife was being helped out by Crooked Hillary while Crooked was under investigation!), Brennan, Peter Strzok (whose wife is at the SEC) & his lover, Lisa Page. Now add McGonigal & other slime to the list. Who would you choose, Putin or these Misfits?" MB: Had a few more Americans in a few battleground states voted for Trump, Ukraine would be under Russian control today.

Olivia Olander of Politico: "... Donald Trump sued journalist Bob Woodward on Monday, alleging that an audiobook published using interview tapes from their conversations violated his rights and copyright interests. The lawsuit accuses Woodward of 'systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio,' by publishing 'The Trump Tapes,' Woodward's 2022 audio compilation of his conversations with Trump.... The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Florida. It also named as defendants Simon & Schuster -- the audiobook's publisher -- and Paramount, Simon & Schuster's parent company. Woodward and Simon & Schuster said in a joint statement on Monday evening that the lawsuit was 'without merit,' since the interviews were recorded on the record with Trump's consent." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The suit argues that Woodward "repeatedly informed [Trump] that such interviews were for the sole purpose of a book." But, uh, The Trump Tapes is a book, albeit an audio book. Did Woodward promise Trump he would release only one book? I doubt it. So it appears Trump has not given up on his longstanding practice of bringing frivolous lawsuits.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats, prepare to investigate the investigations of the investigators.... The New York Times disclosed extraordinary new revelations this past week about prosecutor John Durham's years-long quest to delegitimize the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In 2019, this obsession of ... Donald Trump was initiated by his attorney general, William P. Barr, but as the Times found, Durham's effort was itself profoundly tainted.... In an emailed statement, [Senate Judiciary Committee chair Richard] Durbin [D-Ill.] said that reports of Durham's 'abuses' are 'outrageous,' and 'one of many instances' in which Trump and Barr 'weaponized the Justice Department.'... We also need to know how Attorney General Merrick Garland approached the situation and how much he knew about it. That could be very awkward for Democrats.... It's already clear [the House's 'weaponization of government committee' will be pursuing the same phantoms Durham chased." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you didn't read the Times report, linked in Sargent's post, try to find the time to do it if you have a NYT subscription. ~~~

~~~ David Firestone of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William Barr has spent the last year in a desperate salvage operation for what's left of his legal and ethical reputation. During his 22 months in office, he allowed his Justice Department to become a personal protection racket for his boss, Donald Trump, and left prosecutors, the F.B.I. and other law enforcement officials subject to the worst impulses of the president. But then, in his 2022 memoir, Mr. Barr did an about-face, bashing Mr. Trump for lacking a presidential temperament and singling out his 'self-indulgence and lack of self-control.'... The hollow and self-serving nature of this turnabout was always apparent.... [And last week's Times] reporting demonstrated a staggering abuse of the special counsel system and the attorney general's office, all in a failed attempt by Mr. Barr to rewrite the sour truths of Mr. Trump's history.... His efforts came to naught, and so will his campaign to be remembered as a defender of the Constitution." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "This squalid episode is a note-perfect example of how Republican scandal-mongering operates. The right ascribes to its adversaries, whether in the Democratic Party or the putative deep state, monstrous corruption and elaborate conspiracies. Then, in the name of fighting back, it mimics the tactics it has accused its foes of using.... [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy has stacked the Oversight Committee, central to the House's investigative apparatus, with flame-throwing fantasists, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert. Further, as Politico reported in a 'field guide' to the coming Republican inquiries, McCarthy has urged Republicans to treat every committee like the Oversight Committee, meaning all investigations, all the time.... These ['investigations'] all promise to be congressional equivalents of the Durham inquiry.... It remains to be seen whether our political media is up for the task of making ... distinctions [between investigating a political matter based on reality and one] ... meant to troll for dirt and reify Fox News phantasms."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court panel has put a secret hold on the Justice Department's effort to access the phone of Rep. Scott Perry as part of a broader probe of efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election. In a sealed order issued earlier this month, the three-judge panel temporarily blocked a lower-court ruling that granted prosecutors access to Perry's communications. The Dec. 28 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell was the product of a secret, monthslong legal battle by prosecutors who have been fighting the Pennsylvania Republican's attorneys on the matter since August.... The fight has intensified in recent weeks and drawn the House, newly led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, into the fray.... The House's decision to intervene in legal cases is governed by the 'Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group,' a five-member panel that includes [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy, his Democratic counterpart Hakeem Jeffries, and other members of House leadership. The panel voted unanimously to support the House;s intervention in the matter, seeking to protect the chamber's [Article I] prerogatives....:

The Pandemic, Ctd. Tyler Pager & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "President Biden told Congress on Monday that he will end the national emergencies to combat the coronavirus outbreak on May 11, a move that will restructure the federal government's response to the pandemic nearly three years after the virus first arrived in the United States. The declaration came as Biden announced his opposition to House Republicans' efforts to end the emergency declarations immediately, a move the White House argued would cause chaos and disrupt efforts at an orderly winding down of the emergency status.... Still, an average of more than 500 Americans are dying every day from the virus." The AP's report is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "Arizona's top election official has asked the [state] attorney general to investigate Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who lost her bid for governor in 2022, over potential campaign violations involving the disclosure of voter signatures. The complaint could set up a legal showdown in the battleground state between a prominent conservative election denier backed by Donald Trump and two newly elected Democrats who campaigned with messages of strengthening public trust in elections. The referral from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) to Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) comes as Lake has doubled down on her unproven claims that administration of the state's midterm elections resulted in her loss.... [In a grievance tweet, Lake] included a graphic containing images of 16 voter signatures.... In his letter, Fontes pointed to state law ... that .. says records containing voter signatures 'shall not be accessible or reproduced by any person other than the voter.' Violation of that law, he wrote, is a felony."

California. Lisa Bonos & Joyce Lau of the Washington Post: "More details have emerged about the workplace dispute that led Zhao Chunli, 66, to allegedly kill seven people and attempt to kill another at two mushroom farms in Northern California a week ago. Zhao told investigators that his Half Moon Bay shooting was sparked after his boss asked him to pay a $100 repair bill for damage that had been done to heavy construction equipment, according to local news reports confirmed by San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. After confronting his supervisor and a co-worker, whom Zhao thought were responsible for the collision between his forklift and a bulldozer, he allegedly shot them, according to reports confirmed by Wagstaffe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Florida. Matt Dixon of Politico: "Florida is set to become the 26th state to allow citizens to carry firearms without a permit under legislation outlined Monday by Republican House Speaker Paul Renner. Conservatives and gun rights groups in Florida have long pushed to give Florida residents to ability to carry firearms with a permit, known by supporters as 'constitutional carry,' but past legislation has routinely gotten bogged down. This year's efforts are bolstered by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has repeatedly said he would sign a permitless carry bill if lawmakers sent it to his desk.... The state also won't mandate other provisions, including a training requirement needed to get a permit. Permits would still be an option for gun owners who want to get them, something needed to be able to legally carry a gun in states that do not have permitless carry. The proposal does not address whether people will be allowed to openly carry firearms in public."

Florida. Javier Manjarres of the Floridian: "A Leon County[, Florida,] circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public-records requests about controversial state-funded flights of illegal migrants to Martha's Vinyard in Massachusetts. Judge Angela Dempsey last week issued two similar decisions rejecting the lawsuit that the non-profit Florida Center for Government Accountability filed in October against the Department of Transportation and Vertol Systems Company, Inc. The center contended that the department and the contractor violated the state's public-records law by not fully providing requested documents about the September flights of about 50 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard. The flights, engineered by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration, have drawn national scrutiny. Dempsey concluded that the center did not prove the department and Vertol had withheld documents."

Tennessee. Jessica Jaglois of the New York Times: "The Memphis Police Department confirmed on Monday that a sixth officer had been taken off duty in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. Five officers were fired by the department earlier this month, soon after being placed on leave, and charged last week with second-degree murder in connection with Mr. Nichols's death. The sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, has been placed on administrative leave; it is not clear exactly what role he played in the encounter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Adrian Sainz has the AP story. In an update, Sainz writes, "Also Monday, Fire Department officials announced the firing of emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge and fire[person?] Lt. Michelle Whitaker in connection with Nichols' death. Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed.... Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, 'failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,' the statement said Whitaker and the driver remained in the engine. An investigation determined that all three violated 'multiple' policies and protocols, the statement said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Maham Javaid, et al., of the Washington Post: "A seventh Memphis police officer has been 'relieved of duty' during the investigation of Tyre Nichols's death after a beating by police. The Memphis Police Department said in a statement Monday evening that the 'actions and inactions' of Officer Preston Hemphill and another officer, whom the department did not name, were the subject of an administrative investigation."

     ~~~ Marie: Am I alone in wondering if there was some other, perhaps personal, motivation here? All of these perps knew what happened to the killers of George Floyd. Why would they risk the same fate? This looks like a conspiracy among at least nine ten city officers to beat one man to death and/or to facilitate the murder. It's hard to believe the only reason is a shared general assumption they could get away with it. Update: Akhilleus gives us what might be the answer at the end of yesterday's Comments. ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "American police officers have extraordinary power to work their will as they see fit.... The police have no obligation to either protect or assist you, even in the face of a credible threat to your life, and they are virtually immune to legal consequences for their actions under the doctrine of 'qualified immunity,' with so few exceptions ... that it essentially proves the rule. What little accountability exists for American police is easily subverted. Internal-affairs departments are often more interested in exonerating colleagues than investigating misconduct, and police unions do everything they can to shield bad actors.... To give power and authority without responsibility or accountability -- to give an institution and its agents the right and the ability to do violence without restraint or consequence -- is to cultivate the worst qualities imaginable, among them arrogance, sadism and contempt for the lives of others."

Way Beyond

Eshe Nelson of the New York Times: "After a succession of crises, investors, economists and policymakers have begun grasping onto the brighter spots in Europe's economy: a few weeks of warmer winter weather, lower natural gas prices, and an upturn in German investor sentiment. Just a few months ago, governments were planning for power outages and gas rationing as the continent faced winter without Russian gas. Now, the headline rate of inflation appears to be at or past its peak and consumers have been surprisingly resilient to the economic turmoil.... For now, the imminent risk of recession has been forestalled. The eurozone economy grew 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2022.... It was another small piece of good economic news to add to a modest pile." ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that it expected the global economy to slow this year as central banks continued to raise interest rates to tame inflation, but it also suggested that output would be more resilient than previously anticipated and that a global recession would probably be avoided. The I.M.F. upgraded its economic growth projections for 2023 and 2024 in its closely watched World Economic Outlook report, pointing to resilient consumers and the reopening of China's economy as among the reasons for a more optimistic outlook. The fund warned, however, that the fight against inflation was not over and urged central banks to avoid the temptation to change course. 'The fight against inflation is starting to pay off, but central banks must continue their efforts,' Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the I.M.F.'s chief economist, said in an essay that accompanied the report."

Brazil. Fiddling While Brasília Burns. Meg Kelly & Imogen Piper of the Washington Post: "A Post examination of more than 150 videos and images from Jan. 8 -- including CCTV and body-camera footage -- reveals that rank-and-file members of PMDF [Polícia Militar do Distrito Federal], tasked with securing the streets surrounding governmen buildings, did little to stop the initial assault. The visuals, chronologically synchronized by The Post, while not comprehensive, show few, if any, rank-and-file members supported other security forces in the first hours of their efforts to re-secure the government complex.... Multiple analysts who reviewed footage at The Post's request questioned the PMDF's preparation, noting that the initial rank-and-file officers did not appear to be prepared for crowd control, as they were not wearing riot gear and appeared to have erected only a small number of physical barriers. They said the PMDF are often better prepared and implement greater crowd control measures at soccer games." ~~~

~~~ David Biller of the AP: "Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a request for a six-month visitor visa to stay in the U.S., indicating he may have no immediate intention of returning home, where legal issues await.... Bolsonaro is being investigated for whether he had any role in inciting [the January 8] uprising. It is just one of several probes targeting the former president and that pose a legal headache upon his eventual homecoming, and which could strip him of his eligibility in future races -- or worse."

Pakistan. Riaz Khan of the AP: "The death toll from the previous day's suicide bombing at a mosque in northwestern Pakistani rose to 83 on Tuesday, officials said. The assault on a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years. More than 300 worshippers were praying in the mosque in the city of Peshawar, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest on Monday morning. The blast ripped through the mosque, killing and injuring scores and also blew off a part of the roof." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Haq Khan & Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "After frantically combing through the debris of the devastated mosque throughout the night and Tuesday morning, police called off the search for survivors of a terrorist suicide bombing in the highly guarded site where several hundred police and army men had gathered for afternoon prayers. The acting chief minister of this northwestern province, Muhammad Azam Khan, announced that 95 people were killed and 221 injured, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out against Pakistan's security forces. The blast Monday signaled the brazen revival of violent tactics by the extremist Pakistani Taliban group, which had once been quelled by a military crackdown and until recently was in peace talks with the government."

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Biden said the United States will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, rejecting renewed calls by Kyiv officials for these advanced weapons to turn the tide of the conflict and boost Ukraine's command of its own airspace. Buoyed by long-sought commitments last week from the United States and Germany to send tanks, a Ukrainian official described fighter jets as Kyiv's 'next big hurdle.'... France has not ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine but would do so only under certain criteria, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, including a condition that would bar Kyiv from using the aircraft to attack Russian territory.... The Pentagon announced Monday the first shipment of Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. More than 60 Bradleys departed from North Charleston, S.C., last week, the U.S. Transportation Command said in a statement.... Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence boss, was one of the only top Ukrainian officials who correctly warned that Russia would invade the country.... In an interview with [the WashPo's] Ukraine bureau chief Isabelle Khurshudyan, Budanov predicted that annexed Crimea would be returned to Ukraine and that Russia would not use nuclear weapons to fight for the land. 'It all started in Crimea in 2014, and it will all end there,' he said."

Former British PM Boris Johnson, in a Washington Post op-ed: “The result [of failing to invite Ukraine to join NATO] is the worst war in Europe for 80 years. Russian President Vladimir Putin has destroyed countless lives, homes, hopes and dreams. He has also destroyed the slightest reason to sympathize with him or to humor him in his paranoia. Along the way, he has vaporized the case against Ukrainian membership of NATO.... People used to argue that the prospect of Ukrainian membership in NATO was 'provocative' to Putin and to Russia. In truth, we should never have accepted this argument.... I admit that for a time I accepted it.... We should have insisted on the reality -- that the Kremlin had nothing to fear from NATO because it is a defensive alliance."

January 30, 2023

Afternoon Update:

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday began presenting evidence to a grand jury about Donald J. TrumpAlvin L. Bragg, is nearing a decision about whether to charge Mr. Trump.... The developments compound Mr. Trump's legal woes in the early days of his third presidential campaign." NPR's story is here.

California. Lisa Bonos & Joyce Lau of the Washington Post: "More details have emerged about the workplace dispute that led Zhao Chunli, 66, to allegedly kill seven people and attempt to kill another at two mushroom farms in Northern California a week ago. Zhao told investigators that his Half Moon Bay shooting was sparked after his boss asked him to pay a $100 repair bill for damage that had been done to heavy construction equipment, according to local news reports confirmed by San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. After confronting his supervisor and a co-worker, whom Zhao thought were responsible for the collision between his forklift and a bulldozer, he allegedly shot them, according to reports confirmed by Wagstaffe."

Tennessee. Jessica Jaglois of the New York Times: "The Memphis Police Department confirmed on Monday that a sixth officer had been taken off duty in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. Five officers were fired by the department earlier this month, soon after being placed on leave, and charged last week with second-degree murder in connection with Mr. Nichols's death. The sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, has been placed on administrative leave; it is not clear exactly what role he played in the encounter." ~~~

~~~ Adrian Sainz has the AP story. In an update, Sainz writes, "Also Monday, Fire Department officials announced the firing of emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge and fire[person?] Lt. Michelle Whitaker in connection with Nichols' death. Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed.... Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, 'failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,' the statement said. Whitaker and the driver remained in the engine. An investigation determined that all three violated 'multiple' policies and protocols, the statement said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Am I alone in wondering if there was some other, perhaps personal, motivation here? All of these perps knew what happened to the killers of George Floyd. Why would they risk the same fate? This looks like a conspiracy among at least nine city officers to beat one man to death and/or to facilitate the murder. It's hard to believe the only reason is a shared general assumption they could get away with it.

David Firestone of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William Barr has spent the last year in a desperate salvage operation for what's left of his legal and ethical reputation. During his 22 months in office, he allowed his Justice Department to become a personal protection racket for his boss, Donald Trump, and left prosecutors, the F.B.I. and other law enforcement officials subject to the worst impulses of the president. But then, in his 2022 memoir, Mr. Barr did an about-face, bashing Mr. Trump for lacking a presidential temperament and singling out his 'self-indulgence and lack of self-control.'... The hollow and self-serving nature of this turnabout was always apparent.... [And last week's Times] reporting demonstrated a staggering abuse of the special counsel system and the attorney general's office, all in a failed attempt by Mr. Barr to rewrite the sour truths of Mr. Trump's history.... His efforts came to naught, and so will his campaign to be remembered as a defender of the Constitution."

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Why Biden Won't Negotiate the Debt Limit: Been There, Done That. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "In 2011, after faltering debt limit negotiations with House Republicans brought the U.S. to the brink of economic calamity, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sat by the fireplace in the Oval Office, with their top aides on the couch.... Obama and Biden made a vow: Never again. They agreed that going forward, 'Nobody can use the threat of default or not increasing the debt limit as a negotiating tool,' said a former Obama official involved in the fiscal discussions, who recounted the Oval Office meeting and the 'lesson of 2011' they all discussed." ~~~

     ~~~ But Kevin Is Optimistic! Olivia Olander of Politico: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday he thinks President Joe Biden will come to an agreement with him regarding the debt ceiling, despite the Biden administration's previous assertions that they wouldn't negotiate with House Republicans on the issue. 'His staff tries to say something different, but I think the president will be willing to make an agreement together,' McCarthy said on CBS" 'Face the Nation.' The pair are scheduled to meet Wednesday, McCarthy said."

Merrick the Unready, Ctd. Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Justice Department has told lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee that it is working to satisfy their demands for information about classified documents found at properties of President Joe Biden and ... Donald Trump without harming ongoing special counsel investigations into both matters, according to a new letter obtained by CNN. The DOJ letter, dated Saturday, responds to the committee's August request for information about the documents recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and follow-up inquiries by the panel about classified material found at the Penn Biden Center as well as Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home." MB: Wait, wait! Senators first asked for some of this info last August, and the DOJ is just now getting around to saying it's working on it? Based on actuarial tables, all of the DOJ principles involved in these investigations will be dead before any charges are brought. ~~~

     ~~~ Olivia Olander & Nicholas Wu of Politico: “Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, jointly said they spoke for their entire committee in demanding access to documents found in the possession of President Joe Biden and ... Donald Trump. 'I don't know how congressional oversight on the documents, actually knowing what they are, in any way impedes an investigation,' Rubio (R-Fla.) said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS" 'Face the Nation,' referring to the ongoing Justice Department investigations of the storage and handling of the documents."

2016 Presidential Election. Joe Conason in Commentary, republished by the Raw Story: "The arrest of Charles McGonigal, chief of the FBI counterintelligence division in New York from October 2016 until his retirement in 2018, reopens festering questions about the troubled election that put Donald Trump in the White House.... During his FBI career, McGonigal oversaw investigations of [Russian oligarch & Putin pal Oleg] Deripaska and other oligarchs suspected of various crimes, including espionage. Now the exposure of his illegal connection with Deripaska may provide fresh insights into Trump's tainted victory.... A month before Election Day, FBI director James Comey appointed McGonigal as special agent in charge of the FBI counterintelligence division in New York City.... What followed ... were two seemingly separate incidents, occurring days before the election, that had a fateful impact. On October 28, Comey sent a letter to the Congress publicly announcing that the bureau had resumed its investigation of [Hillary] Clinton.... Meanwhile, on October 31, 2016, the New York Times published a front-page story on that other FBI investigation..., which unlike her emails had gotten no public attention (and inspired no leaks). The headline was declarative and conclusive: 'Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia.' That false story, exonerating Trump of Kremlin connections that we now know were extensive and incriminating, was pushed by Trump operatives and agents and clearly originated in the New York FBI counterintelligence division...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Conason is a long-time left-wing firebrand, but he's often right. I do think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg in McGonigal's arrest. So, one again, thanks, Jim Comey! And thanks, New York Times!

So Unfa-a-a-air! Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "In an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC News' 'Meet the Press,' [Rep. Jim] Jordan, R-Ohio, [the House Judiciary Committee chair,] suggested that there was a double standard between the discovery of classified documents held by [Donald] Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and the vice presidential papers found at [President] Biden's Delaware home and a Washington office. Jordan accused the FBI and other agencies of being 'weaponized': 'The FBI raided the home of a former president 91 days before an election, took the phone of a sitting member of Congress and on and on.' Todd pushed back, saying: 'There was nine months between the initial action. ... the [National] Archives requested documents before they even turned it over to the Justice Department. The subpoena was issued 60 days before they actually executed a subpoena. And more importantly, the only time the public found out about it is because Donald Trump told the public about it.... It was actually a year and a half of Donald Trump not complying with any of the requests from National Archives,' Todd said. 'This is not some sort of proof that somehow they've been weaponized and playing politics.' Jordan said: "They raided Trump's home. They haven't raided Biden's home.' 'Because Biden didn't defy a subpoena, congressman,' Todd said, adding that Trump had 60 days to comply before the FBI executed a search warrant." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe what's newsworthy here is that Both-Sider Chuck stood up to a Republican. ~~~

~~~ If Only We Had More White Cops. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that there are not enough 'good people' applying to be officers, citing the 'defund the police' movement as a reason. 'The other thing that needs to frankly happen is we're not getting enough good people applying because of the of the disparagement on police officers,' Jordan told Chuck Todd on NBC's 'Meet the Press' in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols. 'They don't get enough people applying, taking the test to enter the academy, to be an officer because there's been this "defund the police" concept out there,' he continued." MB: Akhilleus did a nice job translating Jungle Gym in yesterday's Comments: Black cops and Black protesters are the real problem. ~~~

~~~ Now, here's something Jordan can endorse: an Ohio-bred homeschooling curriculum: ~~~

~~~ You've Got to Be Carefully Taught. David Gilbert of Vice: Since the ['Dissident Homeschool' Telegram channel] began in October 2021 it has openly embraced Nazi ideology and promoted white supremacy, while proudly discouraging parents from letting their white children play with or have any contact with people of any other race. Admins and members use racist, homophobic, and antisemitic slurs without shame, and quote Hitler and other Nazi leaders daily in a channel open to the public. Vice News joined the group simply by clicking on a link, though the list of members was not publicly visible.... The [Ohio] couple who run the channel are not only teaching parents how to indoctrinate their children into this fascist ideology, they're also encouraging them to meet up in real life and join even more radical groups.... Katja Lawrence, who is in her mid-30s, launched the channel in October 2021, because she 'was having a rough time finding Nazi-approved school material for [her] homeschool children,' as she told the neo-Nazi podcast 'Achtung! Amerikaner' last year." Read on.

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "Videos of the Jan. 7 beating [of Tyre Nichols] released on Friday have ... turned the public's attention to the emergency medical workers who first arrived on the scene after the beating, raising the question of whether they should or could have done more to help Mr. Nichols.... Both of the medical workers who arrived first to tend to Mr. Nichols appeared to be emergency medical technicians with the Memphis Fire Department.... A spokeswoman for the Fire Department said on Friday that the department had suspended two of its E.M.T.s who had treated Mr. Nichols and that an investigation was expected to wrap up early this week.... U.S. officials said they believed this strike was prompted by Israel's concerns about its own security, not the potential for missile exports to Russia."

Way Beyond

Israel/Iran. Ronen Bergman, et al., of the New York Times: "A drone attack on an Iranian military facility that resulted in a large explosion in the center of the city of Isfahan on Saturday was the work of the Mossad, Israel's premier intelligence agency, according to senior intelligence officials who were familiar with the dialogue between Israel and the United States about the incident. The facility's purpose was not clear, and neither was how much damage the strike caused. But Isfahan is a major center of missile production, research and development for Iran, including the assembly of many of its Shahab medium-range missiles, which can reach Israel and beyond."

Israel/Palestine. Matthew Lee of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and the Palestinians on Monday to exercise restraint and ease tensions amid a spike in violence that has put the region on edge.... The latest spate of violence erupted last week with an Israeli military raid on a militant stronghold in the West Bank city of Jenin last week that killed 10 people, most of them militants, and a Palestinian shooting attack in an east Jerusalem Jewish settlement that killed seven Israelis. And, on Monday, shortly before Blinken's arrival, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the flashpoint city of Hebron, bringing the toll of Palestinians killed in January to 35."

Pakistan. Haq Khan of the Washington Post: "An explosion ripped through a mosque in the police compound in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, bringing down the roof and killing at least 18, according to the hospital.... A spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshar [sic.??] said there were 18 dead and 65 wounded, mostly policemen, but the toll is expected to rise as rescuers work through the mosque debris.... The Capital City Police compound in Peshawar is high security zone in this provincial capital.... The compound includes the headquarters for the counterterrorism and investigations departments." The AP's report, which has the death toll at 28 and the number of injured at 150, is here.

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for Russian athletes to be barred from competing in next year's Olympics while his country remains under attack.... The president said he has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to convey his request, after the International Olympic Committee reaffirmed last week that it will allow 'neutral athletes' from Russia and Belarus to participate without representing their state through flags, colors or anthems.... Ukrainian tank operators have arrived in the United Kingdom to receive training on how to use the Challenger 2 tanks that London recently pledged to send Kyiv.... -- including long-range weapons, advanced air defense systems and battle tanks -- have hampered Kyiv's ability to mount larger counteroffensive operations and take advantage of opportunities offered up 'by flaws and failures in Russian military operations,' analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in their latest report.... Russian artillery struck a hospital, a school, residential buildings and municipal facilities in Kherson on Sunday, Zelensky said in his nightly address."

Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Former British prime minister Boris Johnson says Russian President Vladimir Putin personally threatened him with a missile attack in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The accusation came in excerpts of a BBC documentary on Putin and the West set to air later Monday, and Johnson conceded that the Russian leader might have been joking. Johnson said Putin made the remarks during a 'very long' call in early February last year, as Russian troops were massing along the Ukraine border. Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, had recently visited Kyiv to show Western support for Ukraine. 'He sort of threatened me at one point and said, "Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute,” or something like that. You know ... jolly,' Johnson said." MB: Yeah, very jolly. The AP's story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Cindy Williams, the actress best known for her role on the 1970s slapstick sitcom 'Laverne & Shirley,' died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She was 75."

New York Times: "Bobby Hull, one of the National Hockey League's superstars of the 1960s, whose blond hair, lightning fast slap shot and furious, rink-length offensive rushes earned him the nickname 'the Golden Jet,' died on Monday. He was 84."

January 29, 2023

Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Prosecutors say [Russian] oligarch [Oleg Deripaska] recruited one of the bureau's top spy catchers, just as he entered retirement, to carry out work that they say violated U.S. sanctions. The charges unsealed this week against Charles McGonigal -- who ran the counterintelligence unit at the bureau's New York field office and investigated Russian oligarchs, including Mr. Deripaska, according to the indictment -- showed the extent of the oligarch's reach into the highest levels of U.S. power." O'Brien attempts to establish how Deripaska turned McGonigal. Well, with money, of course.

Merrick Garland and FBI agents discuss developments in the classified documents scandal: ~~~

In other news: ~~~

Presidential Race 2024. Michael Bender & Mei-Ling McNamara of the New York Times: "More than two months after formally opening his White House comeback bid..., [Donald Trump] held his first two public events on Saturday. Both were the type of textbook campaign stops he mostly skipped in his first two runs for office. In New Hampshire, Mr. Trump spoke in a high school auditorium in Salem, where he addressed an annual state party meeting. In South Carolina, where he has previously attracted thousands to rallies, Mr. Trump introduced his state leadership team at the State Capitol.... Mr. Trump's attempt to drape himself with the trappings of a traditional campaign is an unspoken acknowledgment that he begins the race in one of the most politically vulnerable positions of his public life." MB: Of course his speeches were replete with his usual lies and grievances. CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~ More Crazy After All These Years. Ken Bessinger & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In September..., Donald J. Trump ... deliver[ed] what amounted to an unmistakable endorsement of the [QAnon] movement, which falsely and violently claims that leading Democrats are baby-eating devil worshipers. Even as the parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced this past week that Mr. Trump would be reinstated -- a move that followed the lifting of his ban from Twitter, though he has not yet returned -- there is no sign that he has curtailed his behavior or stopped spreading the kinds of messages that got him exiled in the first place. In fact, two years after he was banished from most mainstream social media sites for his role in inciting the Capitol riot, his online presence has grown only more extreme.... Since introducing his social media website in February 2022, Mr. Trump has shared hundreds of posts from accounts promoting QAnon ideas. He has continued to falsely insist that the 2020 election was stolen and that he is a victim of corrupt federal law enforcement agencies. And he has made personal attacks against his many perceived enemies, including private citizens whose names he has elevated."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: "Through its savvy but legal exploitation of the U.S. patent system, [the anti-inflammatory drug] Humira's manufacturer, AbbVie, blocked competitors from ... selling knockoffs. For the next six years, the drug's price kept rising. Today, Humira is the most lucrative franchise in pharmaceutical history. Next week, the curtain is expected to come down on a monopoly that has generated $114 billion in revenue for AbbVie just since the end of 2016. The knockoff drug that regulators authorized more than six years ago, Amgen's Amjevita, will come to market in the United States, and as many as nine more Humira competitors will follow this year from pharmaceutical giants including Pfizer. Prices are likely to tumble. The reason that it has taken so long to get to this point is a case study in how drug companies artificially prop up prices on their best-selling drugs.... The [AbbVie] strategy has been a gold mine for AbbVie, at the expense of patients and taxpayers."

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "The Memphis Police Department said on Saturday that it had disbanded a specialized group known as the Scorpion unit after five of its officers were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was shown on video being kicked, struck and pepper-sprayed by those officers. Mr. Nichols's family and activists in the city had demanded that the Police Department dismantle the unit, which deployed officers to patrol higher-crime areas of the city and had drawn scorn in the communities it served even before Mr. Nichols's death this month."

Way Beyond

Czech Republic. Robert Tait of the Guardian: "Petr Pavel, a retired general and former senior Nato commander, has swept to the Czech presidency after a landslide victory over the former prime minister Andrej Babiš in an election overshadowed by rows over the war between Russia and Ukraine. With nearly all the votes counted, returns showed Pavel prevailing by the emphatic margin of 58.3% to 41.68%, the largest ever recorded in a Czech presidential poll and reflecting an advantage of more than 958,000 votes nationwide. Pavel's supporters immediately hailed the result as a victory for liberal democracy over oligarchic populism, which they believe Babiš represents."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea for Western nations to supply Ukraine with more potent weapons, including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, to help Kyiv defend against Russian attacks from places far from the front line.... Kyiv has long argued that it needs the U.S.-made weapons to strike Russian targets in places such as Crimea.... Intense fighting continues on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where Western and Ukrainian officials and military analysts have warned that Moscow is probably gearing up for a major offensive in the spring.... Germany and Poland are set to begin tank training programs for Ukrainian forces in days, as they rush deliveries for spring.... Ukraine's energy system remains under heavy strain." ~~~

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

See today's Comments for context: