January 28, 2023

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Friday that Jeffrey D. Zients, who served as the coronavirus response coordinator and a chairman of Mr. Biden's transition, would take over as the White House chief of staff. The formal announcement came several days after it was reported that Mr. Zients had been tapped to replace Ron Klain, the longtime Biden adviser and skilled political operative who has served the first two years of the president's term." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, which is worth reading.(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In his official resignation letter, outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain recounted what President Biden has accomplished so far during his tenure, as is typical of such documents. But Klain also offered a rare glimpse into how his many years of service alongside Biden, in multiple capacities, has affected him personally and been ]woven into the tapestry of the Klain family.' Klain, 61, became the White House chief of staff in January 2021 after serving in the same role for Biden at the start of his vice presidency. In his letter, Klain noted that he first became a Biden staffer 36 years ago, when Biden was a senator representing Delaware. Klain recounted that his first day on the job was the day after his honeymoon."

Benjamin Weiser & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Friday that it had charged three men in a plot hatched in Iran to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an American human-rights activist in Brooklyn who has criticized the country's repression of women. The men, Rafat Amirov, of Iran, Polad Omarov, of the Czech Republic, and Khalid Mehdiyev, an Azerbaijani man living in Yonkers, were charged with murder-for-hire and money-laundering conspiracy counts, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan. The three men are members of an Eastern European criminal organization, known by its members as Thieves-in-Law, which has ties to Iran and last year was tasked with carrying out Ms. Alinejad's killing, the indictment says. Mr. Mehdiyev, 24, was arrested in July, after he was found with a loaded AK-47-style assault rifle outside Ms. Alinejad's house.... Mr. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic on Jan. 4, and the United States will seek his extradition, prosecutors said. Mr. Amirov, 43, was taken into custody overseas in the past week, according to a senior law enforcement official, and was arraigned in Manhattan on Friday."

Courtney Kube & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "A four-star Air Force general sent a memo on Friday to the officers he commands that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years and tells them to get ready to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head.' In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, said, 'I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025.' Air Mobility Command has nearly 50,000 service members and nearly 500 planes and is responsible for transport and refueling. Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be 'distracted,' and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan. The Washington Post's story, by Dan Lamothe, is here.

He Done Her Wrong. She Turned Him In. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Retired FBI counterintelligence chief for the New York Office Charles McGonigal was arrested earlier this week and charged with violating U.S. sanctions against a Russian oligarch -- one of the highest-ranking FBI officials in U.S history to ever be charged with a crime. And according to a new report [firewalled] by The Daily Beast on Friday, he was nailed in part because an angry ex-lover turned him in. 'In an interview with Insider, Allison Guerriero said she dated McGonigal for a year, unaware he was married,' reported Rachel Olding. 'He spent far more lavishly than an FBI salary would typically allow, she recalled, and she once found a bag of cash in his apartment. But after their fling ended, he revealed he was married and had no plans to leave his wife.'... It's unclear what came of the email [she wrote to McGonigal's boss at the FBI,] but the feds turned up on her doorstep three years later to ask her about McGonigal and some of her allegations regarding Albania appeared in last week's indictment.'"

Tim Arango of the New York Times: "A San Francisco court on Friday released police body camera footage showing the frenzied seconds when an intruder wielding a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, in the foyer of the couple's home in Pacific Heights in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022." The report includes the video. This is a liveblog. An earlier entry reports, "Capitol Police surveillance video from outside former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home in San Francisco, released publicly on Friday, shows the man who attacked her husband in October breaking in." That post includes the surveillance video. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

I have absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband's life. I won't be making any more statements about this case as it proceeds, except to again thank people and inform them of Paul's progress. -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to reporters, Friday ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The New York Times' full story, by Annie Karni & Tim Arango, is here: "The body camera video and separate surveillance footage from outside the home that captured the minutes before [the attacker David] DePape gained access to the Pelosi home disproved groundless claims circulated on the far right and amplified at all levels of Republican politics that the assault was an inside job or a cover story for a sordid situation involving Mr. Pelosi. But rather than quell such conspiracy theorizing, the documentary evidence only fed the cycle that began in the immediate aftermath of the attack, when ... Donald J. Trump and Republican lawmakers were among those questioning the official account.... Mr. DePape himself was clearly influenced to carry out the attack by right-wing conspiracy theories he learned about online."

     ~~~ Politico's report, by Jeremy White, also includes both videos. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The audio of the 911 call is here:

     ~~~ Marie: Am I the only one who thinks that 911 operator was dangerously clueless?

Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York..., according to two people familiar with the request. The request, which came from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, is the clearest sign to date that federal prosecutors are examining Santos's campaign finances. The request also asked that the FEC provide any relevant documents to the Justice Department.... Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday interviewed two people about Santos's role in Harbor City Capital, an investment firm that was forced to shut down in 2021 after the SEC accused it of operating a 'classic Ponzi scheme.'" ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The campaign of embattled Republican Rep. George Santos is facing new scrutiny from the Federal Elections Commission after a person listed as Santos' campaign treasurer [-- Thomas Datwyler --] denied that he had taken the job.... 'It has come to the attention of the Federal Election Commission that you may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information' in a recent filing, read the letter dated Thursday.... The letter gave the Santos campaign a March 2 deadline to respond. The FEC warned that 'knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency' would lead to criminal charges.... Numerous other political committees linked to Santos received the same letter after they also listed Datwyler as the new treasurer, news outlets have reported." ~~~

~~~ Looks Like Mrs. Ima Fraud Was George's Biggest Campaign Contributor. Noah Lanard & David Corn of Mother Jones: "We Tried to Call the Top Donors To George Santos' 2020 Campaign. Many Don't Seem To Exist.... [There are] more than a dozen major donations to the 2020 Santos campaign for which the name or the address of the donor cannot be confirmed, a Mother Jones investigation found. A separate $2,800 donation was attributed in Santos' reports filed with the Federal Election Commission to a friend of Santos who says he did not give the money. Under federal campaign finance law, it is illegal to donate money using a false name or the name of someone else.... These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 the Santos campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, have not been previously cited in media reports." ~~~

~~~ Azi Paybarah, et al., of the Washington Post: "Here's a look at how [Rep. George] Santos defined and redefined himself in his biography on his campaign website. Below is an analysis of how that biography was rewritten from 2020 through 2023.... Three version of [his] campaign 'About' page included fewer and fewer biographical details." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Henry Gomez of NBC News: "A Republican technology firm says it is asking Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to correct yet another apparent error on his campaign spending records. Santos reported paying WinRed more than $206,000 to process donations to his 2022 campaign, records show. But that amount doesn't match up with how much money Santos actually raised. A Republican fundraising platform, WinRed charges candidates a 3.94% fee for contributions made online by credit card. At that rate, Santos would have had to have raised more than $5.2 million through WinRed to warrant a $206,000 payment to the firm. Through November, however, his campaign reported total contributions of $1.7 million, including donations that didn't come through WinRed.... 'At this point,' [campaign finance lawyer Brett] Kappel said, 'nothing that appears on Rep. Santos's FEC reports can be taken at face value.'" MB: Hey, if you can make up your entire biography, why not make up numbers (and a treasurer!) for a silly little FEC report? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Après Anthony. Sarah Ferris & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Just months after [George] Santos' win helped seal a GOP majority, New York Democrats and Republicans are drafting contingency plans for a potential special election in the battleground district, despite the currently high likelihood that the incumbent stays put. No matter what Santos does, the freshman fabricator's toxicity has forced House members and campaign hands to think about 2024 months before they otherwise would. 'We're preparing because that should be a Democratic seat. And we're going to make sure that whoever gets the Democratic line is in a position to win,' said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Queens party boss." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "With a sea of uniformed police officers looking on, a New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to shooting pepper spray into the face of Officer Brian D. Sicknick during the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol was sentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison. The 80-month sentence handed down against the man, Julian Khater, brought an end to one of the wrenching cases involving Officer Sicknick, who died one day after he was doused with pepper spray in the melee outside the Capitol. At the same hearing, George Tanios, a second man who was accused in the attack, was sentenced to time served, having already spent five months in jail as his case moved through the courts. In July, Mr. Tanios pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after the government agreed to drop an assault count against him. While early reports suggested that Officer Sicknick died of his injuries, an autopsy later showed that he died of natural causes, after suffering multiple strokes that were not directly related to the violent pro-Trump riot." The CBS News story is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to threatening to use explosives during a four-hour standoff with police in 2021 outside the Library of Congress near the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Floyd Ray Roseberry, 52, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in June, the Department of Justice said in a news release. In August 2021, Roseberry parked outside the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress and threatened to detonate a bomb, according to court documents. FBI and local police responded to the threat, and found Roseberry, claiming to have a detonator, inside a black pickup truck with no license plates.... The incident prompted authorities to evacuate several buildings in the area. Officials later said that while Roseberry did possess suspected bomb-making material in his truck, the device was not capable of detonating."

Cameron Joseph of Vice: "It's hard to imagine a dumber way to protect our national intelligence.... Experts and sources describe the classification process as messy and cumbersome, with far too much information needlessly marked classified. And they complain that when the handful of people at the top of the government mishandle classified information, they're treated very differently than the (literal) millions of other people with security clearances would be treated if they accidentally misplaced classified material.... Most [experts] argued that it was unsurprising that Pence's and Biden's teams had screwed up and brought a few classified documents with them when they left office -- and that the documents themselves were likely pretty innocuous.... Part of the problem is that there's just way too many things being unnecessarily classified." One of the classified documents that wound up in Hillary Clinton's infamous emails was a copy of a newspaper article. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "America has a crisis of 'overclassification', critics say. Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington has been overzealous in defining government secrets. Politicians and officials can too easily fall foul of this secrecy-industrial complex but the biggest losers are the American people denied democratic accountability.... The government classifies about 50m documents every year -- at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $18bn -- while not declassifying them at anything like the same rate.... Classification can be useful for a government official seeking to conceal incompetence, preserve a bureaucratic monopoly on a particular set of facts or keep a rival government agency in the dark. Conversely there is no penalty for keeping information -- however trivial or unnecessary -- secret and no mechanism for declassifying in the public interest."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's administration executed 13 federal inmates in his last six months in office -- a stunning increase over three executions in 60 years.... Six of the 13 executions came after Trump lost the 2020 election as his Justice Department accelerated the schedule ahead of the incoming Joe Biden administration, which halted federal executions, but the former president has already promised to resume -- and increase -- executions in he wins back his old office."

If you don't have a New York Times subscription, Andrew Prokop of Vox covers a great deal of the Times report, linked early yesterday & late the previous day, on the Bill Barr/John Durham plot to finger the FBI for picking on Donald Trump. (Prokop's recap also linked yesterday.)

Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Days before ... Donald Trump left the White House, federal prosecutors in New York discussed whether to potentially charge Trump with campaign finance crimes once he was out of office, according to a new book from CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York developed significant evidence against Trump when they charged his former attorney Michael Cohen in 2018 over a hush money scheme paying two women claiming affairs with Trump, including adult film star Stormy Daniels, Honig writes.... With Trump about to leave office in January 2021, however, Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney, held multiple discussions with a small group of prosecutors to discuss its evidence against Trump. They decided to not seek an indictment Trump for several reasons, Honig writes, including the political ramifications and the fact that Trump's other scandals, such as efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, insurrection, 'made the campaign finance violations seem somehow trivial and outdated by comparison.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Inasmuch as the worst thing that's happened to Trump as a result of leading an insurrection is that he got kicked off Twitter & Facebook for a few years, it seems to me Audrey and her team miscalculated. Besides, if you commit multiple crimes, you will usually be prosecuted for all of them, not just the worst one.

Schlock Social. Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances ... on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by [Donald] Trump in late 2021..., [are] many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site. Ads from major brands are nonexistent on the site. Instead, the ads on Truth Social are for alternative medicine, diet pills, gun accessories and Trump-themed trinkets...." Thompson goes to to explain why major brands stay away from the site, then reports on and reproduces some of the ads that appear on the site. (Also linked yesterday.)

Guess Who -- Possibly Unlawfully -- Partially Funded the Arizona Fraudit. Brendan Fischer & Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "One of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election 'audit' in Arizona?... Now the Guardian can reveal that the person who partially bankrolled the failed attempt to prove that the election was stolen from Trump was ... Trump. An analysis by the watchdog group Documented has traced funding for the Arizona audit back to Trump's Save America Pac.... In September 2021, as Cyber Ninjas was preparing to deliver its findings, the New York Times reported that unnamed 'officials' had denied that Trump had played any part in securing the funds.... Documented's analysis pierces through that denial.... Bill Gates, the Republican vice-chair of the Maricopa county board of supervisors at the time of the Cyber Ninjas audit ... pointed out that under Arizona law, electoral candidates are not allowed to fund vote recounts which have to be financed with taxpayer dollars."

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal judge on Friday delayed the contempt of Congress trial for former Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro, likely for months, to allow for additional pre-trial debate over the role executive privilege could play when the case goes to a jury. Over the course of a nearly two-hour hearing Friday, US District Judge Amit Mehta grilled Justice Department prosecutors on the position the department has taken, in previous internal Office of Legal Counsel opinions, that close aides to a president can be immune from congressional subpoenas. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday. With the questions Mehta is raising about executive privilege, the Justice Department has been put on the spot to clarify its murky interpretations about the scope of presidential immunity." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Fix Was Always In. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "The Supreme Court did not disclose its longstanding financial ties with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff even as it touted him as an expert who independently validated its investigation into who leaked the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The court's inquiry, released last week with Chertoff's endorsement, failed to identify who was responsible for the unprecedented leak. The decision to keep the relationship with Chertoff quiet is a reflection of a pattern of opacity at the nation's highest court.... CNN has learned ... that the court in recent years has privately contracted with The Chertoff Group for security assessments, some broadly covering justices' safety and some specifically related to Covid-19 protocols at the court itself. The estimated payments to Chertoff's risk assessment firm, for consultations that extended over several months and involved a review of the justices' homes, reached at least $1 million.... Chertoff, whose financial ties to the court have not been previously reported, already had well-known personal connections to the justices through his Ivy League education, prior judicial clerkships and tenure in the two Bush administrations." (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, the Suspense Is Over. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee on Friday voted to reelect Ronna [Romney] McDaniel to a fourth two-year term as its chair, opting not to punish her for the GOP's recent string of electoral defeats,in a contested race that exposed fissures in the party. McDaniel fended off a challenge from Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer who has represented ... Donald Trump and the unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, seizing on grass-roots furor demanding new leadership. McDaniel positioned herself as a steady hand and honest broker who can hold together the party's factions and continue building out the RNC's financial and field resources. She prevailed on the first ballot, 111-51. After her win, McDaniel told Fox News this will be her final term. 'It's done,' she said."

Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The 168 members of the Republican National Committee will vote Friday morning in California on their next party chair, choosing between handing their current leader, Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, a fourth term or turning her position over to hard-line challengers who say new blood is needed after three disappointing national elections." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Officials in Memphis released roughly an hour of video on Friday that captured how a traffic stop involving Mr. Nichols on Jan. 7 turned deadly during a second encounter after he fled on foot. The video, which was posted online in four segments just before 6 p.m., provided a degree of long-awaited clarity for the many people in Memphis and around the country who have demanded to know what happened. Yet it also failed to answer essential questions, including why the police pulled over Mr. Nichols, who was Black, to begin with.... The police officers kicked Tyre Nichols in the head, pepper-sprayed him and hit him repeatedly with a baton, even as he showed no signs of fighting back. At one point, after Mr. Nichols stood up, one officer struck him with at least five forceful blows while another held Mr. Nichols's hands behind his back. Soon, Mr. Nichols, 29, was on the ground -- not far from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather -- crying out in anguish: 'Mom, Mom, Mom.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The video is here. A New York Times liveblog of developments related to the release of the video is here. The Washington Post's main story is here. An NBC News story is here. NBC News live updates are here. CNN's main story is here.

Georgia. Timothy Pratt of the Guardian: When does a "protester" become a "terrorist"? The state of Georgia is testing that. "... a strident rhetoric from police and politicians in Georgia, seeking to define a largely peaceful protest movement -- often focused on environmental and racial justice issues -- as terrorism and those who participate in it as terrorists.... On Saturday night, six activists in Atlanta were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism, bringing the total since December to 18. All have been charged under a Georgia statute, marking the first time state law has been used this way in the history of environmental movements in the US.... Eli Bennett and Joshua Schiffer, two Atlanta attorneys representing some of the activists, both told the Guardian the state statute is 'overly vague'. Four of the 18 cases brought under federal domestic terrorism charges during the 2000s were dismissed due to allegations being too vague, according to the Intercept.... Bill McKibben, author of 20 books on climate change and other subjects, wrote this week that, according to Georgia's domestic terrorism law, lie down in front of a police car and you're a terrorist who could spend many many years behind bars'." Another expert, Ryan Shapiro, said, "even writing pro-animal slogans on the sidewalk in chalk" could be construed as terrorism. ~~~

     ~~~ These two young terrorists on a rampage pause to show off the havoc they have wrought: ~~~

New York. AP: “New York state should pay former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legal bills as he defends himself against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a state trooper, a judge ruled Friday. Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James in August arguing she violated state law by denying him public assistance for his defense. Cuomo said the trooper's allegations stem from a time when 'he was acting within the scope of his employment or duties.'... Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler said it is for a judge or jury to determine if Cuomo sexually harassed the state trooper, and that his state-funded defense can't be denied, according to the New York Post."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The Guardian's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "At least three people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting near Beverly Hills, Calif., early on Saturday morning, the police said. The Los Angeles Police Department said that the shooting took place at a short-term rental around 2:30 a.m. in the upscale Beverly Crest neighborhood, which borders Beverly Hills."

January 27, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Tim Arango of the New York Times: "A San Francisco court on Friday released police body camera footage showing the frenzied seconds when an intruder wielding a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, in the foyer of the couple's home in Pacific Heights in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022." The report includes the video. This is a liveblog. An earlier entry reports, "Capitol Police surveillance video from outside former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home in San Francisco, released publicly on Friday, shows the man who attacked her husband in October breaking in." That post includes the surveillance video.

     ~~~ Politico's report, by Jeremy White, also includes both videos. ~~~

~~~ The audio of the 911 call is here:

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Friday that Jeffrey D. Zients, who served as the coronavirus response coordinator and a chairman of Mr. Biden's transition, would take over as the White House chief of staff. The formal announcement came several days after it was reported that Mr. Zients had been tapped to replace Ron Klain, the longtime Biden adviser and skilled political operative who has served the first two years of the president's term." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, which is worth reading.

Cameron Joseph of Vice: "It's hard to imagine a dumber way to protect our national intelligence.... Experts and sources describe the classification process as messy and cumbersome, with far too much information needlessly marked classified. And they complain that when the handful of people at the top of the government mishandle classified information, they're treated very differently than the (literal) millions of other people with security clearances would be treated if they accidentally misplaced classified material.... Most [experts] argued that it was unsurprising that Pence's and Biden's teams had screwed up and brought a few classified documents with them when they left office -- and that the documents themselves were likely pretty innocuous.... Part of the problem is that there's just way too many things being unnecessarily classified." One of the classified documents that wound up in Hillary Clinton's infamous emails was a copy of a newspaper article.

Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The 168 members of the Republican National Committee will vote Friday morning in California on their next party chair, choosing between handing their current leader, Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, a fourth term or turning her position over to hard-line challengers who say new blood is needed after three disappointing national elections."

The Fix Was Always In. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "The Supreme Court did not disclose its longstanding financial ties with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff even as it touted him as an expert who independently validated its investigation into who leaked the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The court's inquiry, released last week with Chertoff's endorsement, failed to identify who was responsible for the unprecedented leak. The decision to keep the relationship with Chertoff quiet is a reflection of a pattern of opacity at the nation's highest court.... CNN has learned ... that the court in recent years has privately contracted with The Chertoff Group for security assessments, some broadly covering justices' safety and some specifically related to Covid-19 protocols at the court itself. The estimated payments to Chertoff's risk assessment firm, for consultations that extended over several months and involved a review of the justices' homes, reached at least $1 million.... Chertoff, whose financial ties to the court have not been previously reported, already had well-known personal connections to the justices through his Ivy League education, prior judicial clerkships and tenure in the two Bush administrations."

Azi Paybarah, et al., of the Washington Post: "Here's a look at how [Rep. George] Santos defined and redefined himself in his biography on his campaign website. Below is an analysis of how that biography was rewritten from 2020 through 2023.... Three version of [his] campaign 'About' page included fewer and fewer biographical details."

Henry Gomez of NBC News: "A Republican technology firm says it is asking Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to correct yet another apparent error on his campaign spending records. Santos reported paying WinRed more than $206,000 to process donations to his 2022 campaign, records show. But that amount doesn't match up with how much money Santos actually raised. A Republican fundraising platform, WinRed charges candidates a 3.94% fee for contributions made online by credit card. At that rate, Santos would have had to have raised more than $5.2 million through WinRed to warrant a $206,000 payment to the firm. Through November, however, his campaign reported total contributions of $1.7 million, including donations that didn't come through WinRed.... 'At this point,' [campaign finance lawyer Brett] Kappel said, 'nothing that appears on Rep. Santos's FEC reports can be taken at face value.'" MB: Hey, if you can make up your entire biography, why not make up numbers (and a treasurer!) for a silly little FEC report?

Après Anthony. Sarah Ferris & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Just months after [George] Santos' win helped seal a GOP majority, New York Democrats and Republicans are drafting contingency plans for a potential special election in the battleground district, despite the currently high likelihood that the incumbent stays put. No matter what Santos does, the freshman fabricator's toxicity has forced House members and campaign hands to think about 2024 months before they otherwise would. 'We're preparing because that should be a Democratic seat. And we're going to make sure that whoever gets the Democratic line is in a position to win,' said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Queens party boss."

If you don't have a New York Times subscription, Andrew Prokop of Vox covers a great deal of the Times report, linked below, on the Bill Barr/John Durham plot to finger the FBI for picking on Donald Trump.

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal judge on Friday delayed the contempt of Congress trial for former Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro, likely for months, to allow for additional pre-trial debate over the role executive privilege could play when the case goes to a jury. Over the course of a nearly two-hour hearing Friday, US District Judge Amit Mehta grilled Justice Department prosecutors on the position the department has taken, in previous internal Office of Legal Counsel opinions, that close aides to a president can be immune from congressional subpoenas. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday. With the questions Mehta is raising about executive privilege, the Justice Department has been put on the spot to clarify its murky interpretations about the scope of presidential immunity."

Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Days before ... Donald Trump left the White House, federal prosecutors in New York discussed whether to potentially charge Trump with campaign finance crimes once he was out of office, according to a new book from CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York developed significant evidence against Trump when they charged his former attorney Michael Cohen in 2018 over a hush money scheme paying two women claiming affairs with Trump, including adult film star Stormy Daniels, Honig writes.... With Trump about to leave office in January 2021, however, Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney, held multiple discussions with a small group of prosecutors to discuss its evidence against Trump. They decided to not seek an indictment Trump for several reasons, Honig writes, including the political ramifications and the fact that Trump's other scandals, such as efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, insurrection, 'made the campaign finance violations seem somehow trivial and outdated by comparison.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Inasmuch as the worst thing that's happened to Trump as a result of leading an insurrection is that he got kicked off Twitter & Facebook for a few years, it seems to me Audrey and her team miscalculated. Besides, if you commit multiple crimes, you will usually be prosecuted for all of them, not just the worst one.

Schlock Social. Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances ... on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by [Donald] Trump in late 2021..., [are] many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site. Ads from major brands are nonexistent on the site. Instead, the ads on Truth Social are for alternative medicine, diet pills, gun accessories and Trump-themed trinkets...." Thompson goes to to explain why major brands stay away from the site, then reports on and reproduces some of the ads that appear on the site.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden sharply rebuked House Republicans on Thursday for trying to slash seniors' retirement benefits and hold hostage the nation's finances, stressing that the new majority's agenda -- and its staunch demands for spending cuts -- threatened to plunge the United States into an economic crisis. On a day when the administration received a burst of positive news, with the nation's economic growth exceeding expectations last quarter, Biden took to a union facility in Springfield, Va., to highlight the political stakes: Pointing to the country's recent turnaround, the president stressed a need to battle back GOP lawmakers 'who are trying to destroy this progress.'... Biden on Thursday again called on Republicans to raise or suspend the [debt ceiling], stressing he is unwilling to negotiate over one of the country's most important fiscal obligations. 'I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip,' Biden said. 'In the United States of America, we pay our debts.'"

Timothy Puko of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is banning mining for 20 years in a giant watershed near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the president's latest effort to deliver on conservation pledges that would shape the future of America's wild lands. The move, announced Thursday, extends a temporary decision from a year ago to block copper, nickel and other hard-rock mining that the Trump administration had tried to greenlight near the Canadian border. Officials said they determined the potential toxic leaching from mining would be too threatening to nature, local Native American communities and a growing recreation economy. Boundary Waters is the most heavily visited wilderness area in the country, according to the Interior Department. And Thursday's decision will affect 225,000 acres of federal lands and waters in the Rainy River Watershed, which abuts the wilderness area northwest of Lake Superior."

Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI and law enforcement in Europe have shut down a major ransomware operation accused of extorting more than $100 million from organizations across the world by encrypting victims' computer systems and demanding payments to provide a key to unlock them, top U.S. officials said Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ransomware group -- called Hive -- attacked hospitals, school districts, financial firms and other entities, stealing and sometimes publishing their data." (Also linked yesterday.)

Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post: "Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships will no longer be forced to abstain from sex to donate blood under federal guidelines to be proposed in coming days, ending a vestige of the earliest days of the AIDS crisis. The planned relaxation of restrictions by the Food and Drug Administration follows years of pressure by blood banks, the American Medical Association and LGBT rights organizations to abandon rules some experts say are outdated, homophobic and ineffective at keeping the nation's blood supply safe. The new approach eliminates rules that target men who have sex with men and instead focuses on sexual behaviors by people, regardless of gender, that pose a higher risk of contracting and transmitting HIV...."

Glenn Thrush & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The National Archives has asked former presidents and vice presidents to check their personal files for classified or presidential records that might have been missed in previous searches.... The responsibility to comply with federal records law 'does not diminish after the end of an administration,' William J. Bosanko, the chief operating officer with the National Archives and Records Administration, wrote in the letter.... The letter was sent to representatives for former Presidents Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle, according to CNN, which reported on the letter earlier on Thursday. Former President Jimmy Carter did not receive a request because the Presidential Records Act took effect after he left office in 1981."

Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee are urging the director of national intelligence to provide the panel with access to the documents marked classified that were found in the homes of President Biden and ... Donald Trump." MB: I guess they're not interested in mike pence's papers.

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The State Bar of California intends to seek the disbarment of ... Donald Trump's election attorney John Eastman for his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a statement, the office of California bar Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said Eastman faces 11 disciplinary charges, all arising from allegations that he was behind Trump's plan to obstruct the count of electoral votes.... In the explanation of the charges, the California bar directly connects Eastman's speech [at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021,] to the insurrection, saying he 'contributed to provoking a crowd to assault and breach the Capitol to intimidate then-Vice President [Mike] Pence and prevent the electoral count from proceeding.'... If the State Bar Court decides that Eastman's actions warrant a disbarment or suspension, the recommendation would be forwarded to the California Supreme Court, which will determine Eastman's fate."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Former Trump-era Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli is testifying before a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Thursday.... Cuccinelli was a notable figure in Donald Trump's attempts to use his administration to pursue unfounded election fraud claims after the 2020 election and was a frequent presence around Trump's Oval Office.... The House select committee reported that Cuccinelli fielded an inquiry from Trump and his top advisers about the executive branch seizing voting machines after the election, but Cuccinelli said his department didn't have that authority. Yet Cuccinelli had also messaged then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in November 2020 about Dominion voting machines, which Trump's advisers falsely believed were part of a fraud conspiracy in the election...."

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Egged on by [Donald] Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr set out in 2019 to dig into their shared theory that the Russia investigation likely stemmed from a conspiracy by intelligence or law enforcement agencies. To lead the inquiry, Mr. Barr turned to a hard-nosed prosecutor named John H. Durham, and later granted him special counsel status to carry on after Mr. Trump left office. But after almost four years -- far longer than the Russia investigation itself -- Mr. Durham's work is coming to an end without uncovering anything like the deep state plot alleged by Mr. Trump and suspected by Mr. Barr.... Interviews by The Times with more than a dozen current and former officials have revealed an array of previously unreported episodes that show how the Durham inquiry became roiled by internal dissent and ethical disputes as it went unsuccessfully down one path after another even as Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr promoted a misleading narrative of its progress." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: The main reason to appoint a special counsel is to keep the attorney general -- a political appointee -- at arms'-length from a politically-sensitive inquiry. But Barr ignored that. He constantly kept tabs on Durham's investigation, even traveling with Durham to Europe to try to dig up dirt on supposedly anti-Trump investigators. Barr also made false public statements claiming Durham was finding all kinds of dirt on federal officials. At the same time, he withheld the fact that by the summer of 2020 -- i.e., during election season -- Durham had turned up nothing. Still, Barr pressed Durham to write a pre-election interim report implicating Hillary Clinton's campaign at the same time he & Durham publicly contradicted a report by the department's inspector general. (Durham urged the IG to change his report and implicate the FBI.) ~~~

     ~~~ But wait! There's more! During one of their European excursions, "Italian officials -- while denying any role in setting off the Russia investigation -- unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes (emphasis added). Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore." So Barr told Durham to open a criminal investigation. "The extraordinary fact that Mr. Durham opened a criminal investigation that included scrutinizing Mr. Trump has remained secret." ~~~

     ~~~ P.S. Merrick, Dear, you need to appoint a special counsel to investigate the investigation of the investigators. At the very least, the DOJ inspector general must open a case. Barr is gone, out in the world slamming his old boss, and Durham is on the way out, but this corruption of the DOJ will happen again if you don't at least shame Hans & Fritz. Just what did Fritz turn up about those "suspected financial crimes" and why wasn't anybody charged? ~~~

     ~~~ Marcy Wheeler: "There are a lot of questions about why Durham remains at DOJ. But one potential reasons is that [Deputy AG] Lisa Monaco believes [the report he is required by regulation to write] could be a worthwhile thing: basically a long list of conspiracy theories that Barr had Durham chase that turned out to be conspiracy theories. And this story may put some pressure on DOJ to make sure that happens."

Stephen Neukam of the Hill: "House Republicans are planning their first hearings on the Biden administration's COVID-19 response, summoning top federal health officials to Congress to testify in the coming weeks. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is planning to interrogate officials from federal agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), according to Bloomberg [firewalled]. The hearing is set for Feb. 8."

Computer-Savvy Ted Lieu Puts AI to Work. Kate Santaliz & Julie Tsirkin of NBC News: "Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif..., [is] introducing a nonbinding measure Thursday that would direct the House to take a look at artificial intelligence, a bill that was written entirely by the online AI chatbot ChatGPT.... Lieu is also pushing for Congress to establish a nonpartisan commission that would provide recommendations about how to regulate AI. 'The rapid advancements in AI technology have made it clear that the time to act is now to ensure that AI is used in ways that are safe, ethical and beneficial for society,' ChatGPT wrote in an op-ed Lieu published in The New York Times this week. 'Failure to do so could lead to a future where the risks of AI far outweigh its benefits.'"

The Party of Violence. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Newly elected Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) passed out [dummy] grenades Thursday to other members of Congress, along with a note on his office letterhead emphasizing that the ordnance was made in Florida.... [The grenades were] stamped with the GOP logo.... Mills, who was endorsed by ... Donald Trump..., is among several new House members who deny that President Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election. A veteran and defense contractor, Mills also bragged in his campaign that he 'sold tear gas used on Black Lives Matter protesters.'" Mediaite has an item here.

Keith Alexander of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors said Thursday they have dropped the charges against Ashli Babbitt's mother, Micki Witthoeft, who was arrested for blocking traffic on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 -- the two-year anniversary of when her daughter was fatally shot by a police officer as she tried to storm the building. Witthoeft had been arrested for failing to obey police orders and blocking and obstructing roadways, according to a statement from U.S. Capitol Police. She was processed and released the same day, police said. A spokeswoman for the D.C. attorney general confirmed Thursday that the office declined to prosecute the case, but would not give a reason."

2024 Presidential Election. Meredith McGraw of Politico: "... Donald Trump is unveiling a 2024 education policy plan, one focusing heavily on the culture war components that have animated conservatives. The plan ... calls for cutting federal funding for any school or program that includes 'critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children.' It also calls for opening 'civil rights investigations into any school district that has engaged in race-based discrimination,' particularly against Asian American students, and promises to 'keep men out of women's sports.'... Trump also calls for making significant cuts to administrative personnel and the end of teacher tenure and the election of school principals." MB: This looks to me like an attempt to out-DeSantis DeSantolini. The GOP's 2024 presidential primaries may shape up to be a Fascists on Parade extravaganza.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona Legislature Goes Dark. Patrick Marley & Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "Arizona Republicans shielded legislators from the state's open-records law this week -- a move that comes months after the release of thousands of documents detailing extensive efforts to undermine Joe Biden's victory here in the 2020 presidential >election. Documents that have surfaced over the past two years include correspondence describing the inner workings of a partisan review of the 2020 election by the Cyber Ninjas, as well as emails by Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urging lawmakers to overturn ... Donald Trump's narrow defeat in the state. The new rules will greatly limit the public release of lawmakers' communications. State senators will not have to disclose any text messages sent on personal devices, even when dealing with state business. For lawmakers in both the Senate and the House, emails and other documents will be destroyed after 90 days -- in many cases, well before members of the public know to ask for them."

California Senate Race 2024. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who emerged as one of ... Donald J. Trump's chief congressional tormentors from his perch atop the House Intelligence Committee, announced on Thursday that he would seek the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.... Mr. Schiff, 62, is the second member of California's Democratic congressional delegation to join the 2024 race, after Representative Katie Porter." (Also linked yesterday.)

California. Steven Myers of the New York Times: "A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked enforcement of a new state law allowing regulators to punish doctors for spreading false or misleading information about Covid-19 vaccinations and treatments to their patients. The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, had been intended to address the waves of misinformation that have churned through the course of the pandemic. Though the wording of the law had been narrowly tailored, the judge, William B. Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, ruled on Wednesday that its definitions of misinformation and the uncertainty about its enforcement were 'unconstitutionally vague.' The case is one of two legal challenges facing the law, the first of its kind in the nation to try to address a problem that the U.S. Surgeon General, the American Medical Association and others have said has cost unnecessary illnesses and lives." MB: Shubb is a Bush I appointee.

Colorado. Colleen Slevin of the AP: "The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple's wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which was to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of speech. It also found that the state law that makes it illegal to refuse to provide services to people based on protected characteristics like race religion or sexual orientation does not violate business owners' right to practice or express their religion."

Florida. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A legal battle over Florida's ban on Medicaid spending for gender-affirming medical care spilled into Washington on Thursday as a federal judge partially granted an urgent request by 18 American medical and mental health groups to quash subpoenas sent to them by the state after they opposed the prohibition. The professional associations accused Florida of targeting members such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the Endocrine Society after they expressed the widely accepted medical view that care such as puberty blockers, hormones and gender transition surgery can be appropriate treatment for transgender youth and adults. The groups spoke out last fall in support of a lawsuit filed by four transgender patients and their parents to overturn the ban in federal court in Tallahassee. But the organizations said state officials responded with a 'highly inappropriate and invasive' fishing expedition for internal documents and communications about their policy positions."

New York. Benjamin Weiser & Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "A man who raced a truck down a Hudson River bike path in 2017, killing eight people in what the authorities have called the deadliest terrorist attack in New York City since 9/11, was convicted of murder charges on Thursday by a federal jury and could now face the death penalty. The man, Sayfullo Saipov, a 34-year-old Uzbek native, said after his arrest that he was inspired to carry out the attack by Islamic State videos that he watched on his phone and that he chose a truck to inflict maximum damage against civilians. Mr. Saipov is the first defendant to face a federal death penalty trial during the administration of President Biden, who had campaigned against capital punishment."

South Carolina Gothic, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "When the first sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene of a grisly double murder in South Carolina, Alex Murdaugh, whose wife and son had been slain, said right away that he knew the killer's motive.... 'My son was in a boat wreck months back; he's been getting threats.'... Mr. Murdaugh's initial encounter with the police was heard publicly for the first time on Thursday in a courtroom where he is now on trial accused of murdering his wife, Maggie, and the younger of his two adult sons, Paul, in June 2021. Prosecutors played police body camera footage from the scene and suggested in court that Mr. Murdaugh had been trying to throw investigators off his trail when he offered up an explanation for the crime.... Later in the day, Capt. Jason Chapman of the Colleton County Sheriff's Office said ... that Mr. Murdaugh had not appeared to have any blood on him when they arrived, even though he had told a 911 dispatcher that he had checked both victims' pulses. Both victims were bloody, the police witnesses testified, and Captain Chapman said that it would have been particularly difficult to check Paul Murdaugh's pulse without coming into contact with his blood."

Tennessee. David Li of NBC News: "At least one former Memphis, Tennessee, police officer has been indicted in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, his attorney said Thursday. Emmitt Martin III surrendered to authorities, the attorney, William Massey, told NBC News. Five officers in total -- Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith -- were fired Friday after police Chief C.J. Davis said they violated department policies during the Jan. 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols' death." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Five fired Memphis police officers have been charged with murder following the death of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died following an encounter with officers that the city police chief described as 'heinous, reckless and inhumane.'" This is part of a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Rick Rojas & Jessica Jagois of the New York Times: "Five Memphis police officers were charged on Thursday with second-degree murder for the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, after a traffic stop that escalated into what the authorities have described as a display of staggering brutality. The city has been bracing for more than a week for the release of video footage that officials say depicts in agonizing detail how a stop this month for suspicion of reckless driving ended with Mr. Nichols being hospitalized in critical condition on Jan. 7 and dying three days later.... A grand jury returned indictments on Thursday against the five officers -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith -- with charges that include kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, in addition to second-degree murder, prosecutors said. The officers, all of whom are Black, were fired last week."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed defiance against the Kremlin after another barrage of Russian missiles hit targets throughout Ukraine on Thursday, in the wake of Western pledges to ship heavy battle tanks to Kyiv.... U.S. government auditors are in Kyiv this week as part of broader measures aimed at ensuring 'no aid or weapons' sent to Ukraine are diverted, Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department, told lawmakers Thursday. The remarks came after senior Ukrainian officials resigned or faced dismissal this week due to allegations of corruption.... The Wagner group appears to have suffered heavy losses in recent battles in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported Thursday. Videos and photographs of a gravesite in southern Russia show a formerly empty plot of land steadily being filled with freshly-dug graves.... International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned that 'powerful explosions have been occurring outside' the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant."

Israel/Palestine. Sufian Taha, et al., of the Washington Post: "Israeli forces conducted a huge raid on the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank on Thursday, engaging in a lengthy shootout that left extensive destruction and was one of the deadliest operations in nearly two decades. Palestinian officials said nine people were killed Thursday. Israel said six 'terrorists' were killed, while another surrendered, adding that reports of other deaths were being 'looked into.' No Israeli casualties were reported. The Israeli military described the raid as a 'counterterrorism operation' against Islamic Jihad militants involved in attacks against Israelis, which spiked this past spring and led to more than a dozen deaths.... According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, seven of the dead in Jenin were 30 or younger and included an 18-year-old. A civilian man and a 61-year-old woman were also killed in the violence in the densely populated urban refugee camp, Palestinian officials said."

January 26, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Egged on by [Donald] Trump, Attorney General William P. Barr set out in 2019 to dig into their shared theory that the Russia investigation likely stemmed from a conspiracy by intelligence or law enforcement agencies. To lead the inquiry, Mr. Barr turned to a hard-nosed prosecutor named John H. Durham, and later granted him special counsel status to carry on after Mr. Trump left office. But after almost four years -- far longer than the Russia investigation itself -- Mr. Durham-s work is coming to an end without uncovering anything like the deep state plot alleged by Mr. Trump and suspected by Mr. Barr.... Interviews by The Times with more than a dozen current and former officials have revealed an array of previously unreported episodes that show how the Durham inquiry became roiled by internal dissent and ethical disputes as it went unsuccessfully down one path after another even as Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr promoted a misleading narrative of its progress."

     ~~~ Marie: The main reason to appoint a special counsel is to keep the attorney general -- a political appointee -- at arms'-length from a politically-sensitive inquiry. But Barr ignored that. He constantly kept tabs on Durham's investigation, even traveling with Durham to Europe to try to dig up dirt on supposedly anti-Trump investigators. Barr also made false public statements claiming Durham's was finding all kinds of dirt on federal officials. At the same time, he withheld the fact that by the summer of 2020 -- i.e., during election season -- Durham had turned up nothing. Still, Barr pressed Durham to write a pre-election interim report implicating Hillary Clinton's campaign. But wait! There's more! During their European excursion, "Italian officials -- while denying any role in setting off the Russia investigation --; unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes (emphasis added). Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore." So Barr told Durham to open a criminal investigation. "The extraordinary fact that Mr. Durham opened a criminal investigation that included scrutinizing Mr. Trump has remained secret." ~~~

     ~~~ P.S. Merrick, Dear, you need to appoint a special counsel to investigate the investigation of the investigators. At the very least, the DOJ inspector general must open a case. Barr is gone, out in the world slamming his old boss, and Durham is on the way out, but this corruption of the DOJ will happen again if you don't at least shame Hans & Fritz.

Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI and law enforcement in Europe have shut down a major ransomware operation accused of extorting more than $100 million from organizations across the world by encrypting victims' computer systems and demanding payments to provide a key to unlock them, top U.S. officials said Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ransomware group -- called Hive -- attacked hospitals, school districts, financial firms and other entities, stealing and sometimes publishing their data."

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who emerged as one of ... Donald J. Trump's chief congressional tormentors from his perch atop the House Intelligence Committee, announced on Thursday that he would seek the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.... Mr. Schiff, 62, is the second member of California's Democratic congressional delegation to join the 2024 race, after Representative Katie Porter."

Tennessee. David Li of NBC News: "At least one former Memphis, Tennessee, police officer has been indicted in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, his attorney said Thursday. Emmitt Martin III surrendered to authorities, the attorney, William Massey, told NBC News. Five officers in total -- Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith -- were fired Friday after police Chief C.J. Davis said they violated department policies during the Jan. 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols' death." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Five fired Memphis police officers have been charged with murder following the death of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died following an encounter with officers that the city police chief described as 'heinous, reckless and inhumane.'" This is part of a liveblog.

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Officials across the country reported several Russian strikes, including in the capital and the regions of Vinnytsia and Odessa, with at least 11 deaths and 11 injuries as a result, according to the spokesman of the State Emergency Service, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi.... Russia launched '55 air and sea-based missiles' at Ukraine, said Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's armed forces commander, calling it a 'massive missile attack.' Ukraine's air force also said 24 Iranian-made drones were shot down."~~~

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

~~~~~~~~~~~

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Democrats are seizing on a Republican proposal to impose a national sales tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service as a cudgel against the GOP, even though the bill has few fans even among Republican lawmakers. The Fair Tax Act, sponsored by Rep. Earl L. 'Buddy' Carter (R-Ga.) and introduced this month, would do away with income, payroll, estate and gift taxes, and instead impose a 23 percent national sales tax. It would also eliminate funding for the IRS after fiscal 2027.... On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appeared to respond to a question about whether he supported the Fair Tax Act by telling reporters, simply, 'No.'... In a joint news conference Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blasted the Fair Tax Act, saying it would result in dramatic tax hikes for almost every American, create a particular burden for seniors and 'detonate' Social Security."

My Kevin Says He's Found a Red Line. Andrew Solender of Axios: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday said Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) will be removed from Congress if the House Ethics Committee finds he broke the law.... It's the closest McCarthy has come to outlining potential consequences for the Long Island freshman amid a battery of investigations into revelations he fabricated huge swaths of his resume." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case you're relieved that Kevin has found the vestiges of his spine, think again. The Ethics Committee, unlike other House committees is equally divided. (I don't think this Congress's committee members have been named.) That means Republicans (or Democrats) on the committee can veto any measure the committee considers. So, let's say one or more of the entities finds that George Anthony has broken the law, an eventuality that seems likely. The Ethics Committee, at Republicans' behest, may still decide not to decide. And My Kevin will just have to support keeping George Anthony on his back bench. ~~~

     ~~~ In any event, it appears Kevin's day of reckoning with George Anthony may come sooner rather than later: ~~~

~~~ Soo Rin Kim of ABC News: "On Wednesday, several fundraising committees associated with [Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.] filed amendments to their statements of organizations, notifying the Federal Election Commission of a new treasurer. But the newly listed treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, a veteran campaign finance treasurer who has served on multiple other political organizations, says he does not work for the Santos campaign and that the filings were signed under his name without his consent.... Nancy Marks of Campaigns Unlimited, the previous treasurer listed for Santos' campaign committee as well as various other affiliated committees, did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.... 'I'm not at all surprised that they're changing treasurers given that the campaign has legal exposure and Nancy Marks has legal exposure, and they're presumably all lawyering up," [former FEC counsel Adav] Noti said." Hardly surprisingly, Noti says that signing someone's name on a federal filing without his consent is "completely illegal."

Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: detail how George Santos, alias George Devolder, tried to recruit investors in various Harbor City Capital schemes. Al "Conard, a 60-year-old real estate agent from Minnesota, said he lost $50,000 in Harbor City." Part of the con apparently was to make up stories about how he rubbed elbows with the rich and famous. One of George's marks described himself as being "pretty street-smart" and told the Post, "I think George is an honest and upright guy." He was gobsmacked when the Post reporter told him his long-time acquaintance George Devolder was George Santos. MB: So I'm guessing George Whoever can be quite a pleasant con man. You might like him if you met him.

Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "A judge in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that footage of a home intruder's attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could be released publicly over the objections of prosecutors. The decision was made in Superior Court by Judge Stephen M. Murphy, said Thomas R. Burke, a lawyer representing a group of news organizations, including The New York Times, that pushed for the evidence to be released.... The attack, which occurred on the cusp of the 2022 midterm elections, fueled wild rumors and misinformation on social media about the circumstances. In arguing to keep the footage secret, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office said publicizing the videos would only fuel more distortions of the facts and harm [the alleged assailant's] right to a fair trial. But Judge Murphy pointed out that the footage had already been aired at a preliminary court hearing last month...."

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "Former transportation secretary Elaine Chao issued a rare public comment about former president Donald Trump -- whose Cabinet she served in -- and criticized his string of racist attacks aimed at her and other Asian Americans.... 'Does Coco Chow have anything to do with Joe Biden's Classified Documents being sent and stored in Chinatown?' Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday. 'Her husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China.' In a statement, Chao said, 'When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name. Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation. He doesn't seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Meredith McGraw of Politico: Trump's "personal attacks on Chao have stood out above [his other attacks on her husband Mitch McConnell and her], both for their overt racism and the relatively little pushback they've received." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I didn't know what Trump meant when he complained that Biden's papers were "stored in Chinatown." But a search of Google turned up this Daily Mail scoop: "The documents were moved in the summer of 2017 after spending about six months at a government transition office near the White House once Biden left the vice presidency. The space, in DC's Chinatown neighborhood, was overseen by the Penn Biden Center while its prized location near the Capitol was being readied." I have no way to assess whether or not all or part of this is true.

How to Rig a Golf Tournament. Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post: Donald "Trump announced on his social media platform on Tuesday that he won the Senior Club Championship at Trump International Golf Club in unincorporated West Palm Beach last weekend, despite not playing the first round of the tournament. Members arrived the second day surprised to see Trump with a five-point lead, according to the Daily Mail. But Trump never played the first round as he was attending a funeral in North Carolina.... Trump told tournament organizers he played a strong round on the course Thursday, two days before the tournament started, and decided that would count as his Saturday score for the club championship. That score was five points better than any competitor posted during Saturday's first round." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I guess I'd find this less amusing if I were the real winner and had paid to play in a tournament in which the course's owner snatched the trophy out of my hands. Anyway, if you want to be sure to win a golf tournament, first buy yourself a golf course, then give yourself a winning score in a round you didn't play.

Sheera Frenkel & Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Just over two years after Donald J. Trump's accounts were suspended from Facebook and Instagram, [link fixed] Meta, the owner of the platforms, said on Wednesday that it would reinstate the former president's access to the social media services. Mr. Trump, who had the most followed account on Facebook when he was barred, will 'in the coming weeks' regain access to his accounts that collectively had hundreds of millions of followers, Meta said. In November, Mr. Trump's account was also reinstated on Twitter, which had barred him since January 2021, collectively giving the former president more of a megaphone as he campaigns for the White House in 2024. Meta suspended Mr. Trump from its platforms on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after hundreds of people stormed the Capitol in his name, saying his posts ran the risk of inciting more violence." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, First Amendment. Fine. As if Mark Zuckerberg & Elon Musk were experts. I don't know how much it would help (I'm guessing not much), but it seems to me Congress should pass a law requiring that Facebook, Twitter, et al., carry warnings similar to those the FDA requires cigarette companies to slap on their packages & ads. Each pack or ad must contain one of 11 warnings like, "WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children;" "WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers;" and "WARNING: Smoking causes head and neck cancer." Each warning must be accompanied by a "photo-realistic image depicting the negative health consequences of smoking..." Appropriate warnings should go at the top of every single social media entry. ~~~

     ~~~ Jordan Pearson of Vice: "Twitter has censored links to a BBC documentary critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the request of the Indian government, despite CEO Elon Musk's previously stated commitments to free speech on the platform.... Musk once called himself a 'free speech absolutist' and said that 'some governments' were demanding that satellite internet company Starlink block Russian news sources, but that it would not unless 'at gunpoint.'... Twitter's closeness with authoritarians has been called into question since the Musk takeover; Saudi Arabia remains the firm's second-largest shareholder, for example.

Margo Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "A record 16.3 million Americans have signed up for health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces during this year's open enrollment period, beating last year's sign-ups by 13 percent, the Biden administration said on Wednesday. The growing enrollment follows the passage of legislation during the coronavirus pandemic to increase federal subsidies for people buying the plans -- substantially lowering prices for nearly every American who buys their own insurance. Around 3.6 million people selected plans in the Obamacare marketplaces who did not receive coverage through them last year."

Fodder for Miss Margie. Benjamin Mueller & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The National Institutes of Health made significant errors in its oversight of grants to a nonprofit group [EcoHealth] that has come under fire from congressional Republicans for its research collaborations in China, an internal federal watchdog agency said on Wednesday. The findings, outlined in a 64-page report describing missed deadlines, confusing protocols and misspent funds, reinforced concerns about the federal government's system for monitoring research with potentially risky pathogens." Dr. Anthony Fauci directed the NIH institute NIAID, which the report criticizes.

Beyond the Beltway

Mary Astor of the New York Times: "Over the past three years, Republican state lawmakers have put forward a barrage of bills to regulate the lives of transgender youths, restricting the sports teams they can play on, bathrooms they can use and medical care they can receive. But even by those standards, the start of the 2023 legislative season stands out for the aggressiveness with which lawmakers are pushing into new territory.... The flood of legislation is part of a long-term campaign by national groups that see transgender rights as an issue on which they can harness voter anger ... though the midterm elections provided little evidence of it.... The potential consequences for transgender people, for whom harassment and threats have become common and suicide rates are high, are profound." MB: These legislators are engaging in child abuse, and their motivation is personal gain.

Florida. Laura Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing mounting backlash regarding his administration's decision to prohibit an Advanced Placement high school course on African American studies, with Black leaders rallying in the capital, a prominent civil rights lawyer threatening to sue and state lawmakers urging him to reverse the decision. Attorney Ben Crump accused DeSantis of violating the federal and state constitutions Wednesday by refusing to permit the course. His legal team noted that a federal judge found a 2010 law in Arizona that banned a Mexican American studies program from Tucson schools unconstitutional and officials 'motivated by racial animus.'"

Hawaii. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: Based on newly-discovered DNA evidence, a judge in Hawaii released Ian Schweitzer, who has served 23 years in jail for the rape and murder of a woman in 1991.

Illinois. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "A man accused of firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Peoria, Ill., earlier this month told investigators that he had done so after recalling an abortion a former girlfriend once had against his wishes, adding that he hoped the fire would delay others in having abortions, according to federal authorities. The man, Tyler W. Massengill, 32, was arrested and charged this week with malicious use of fire and an explosive to damage, and attempt to damage, the Planned Parenthood building, the Justice Department said in a news release on Wednesday." A CBS News story, which covers Massengill's arrest, is here.

Louisiana. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has found that Louisiana's longstanding practice of detaining more than a quarter of its inmates beyond their court-ordered release dates violates the Constitution. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections 'is deliberately indifferent to the systemic overdetention of people in its custody,' according to a copy of a report obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday.... Louisiana officials, who cooperated with federal investigators, are discussing a possible agreement with the Justice Department to overhaul the system. But the department ... concluded that the state has known about the problem for at least a decade and has done little to address it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

South Carolina Gothic, Ctd. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "A prosecutor painted a damning portrait on Wednesday of the evidence against Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina legal scion who has been charged with murdering his wife and son, saying in court that Mr. Murdaugh had texted and called his dead wife after committing the brutal killings and driven to his mother's house, all in an effort to build an alibi.But to Mr. Murdaugh's lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, the viciousness of the killings was just one of many reasons Mr. Murdaugh, 54, whom he described as a loving father and husband, could not be responsible.... Each side pulled back the curtain on a mountain of evidence that jurors will have to pick through as they weigh whether a man whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather all served as prosecutors should be sent to prison."

Virginia. Paul Bibeau & Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "In the hours before a 6-year-old boy shot his first-grade teacher in Virginia this month, school leaders were warned three times that the boy might have a gun, a lawyer for the teacher said on Wednesday, including an account from another child at the school who tearfully reported that the boy had shown him the gun at recess. The lawyer, Diane Toscano, announced the teacher's intent to file a lawsuit against the school district in Newport News, Va., laying out a series of escalating warnings that unfolded on the day of the shooting, when the police say a 6-year-old boy took his mother's gun from home, brought it to Richneck Elementary School and fired at his teacher, Abigail Zwerner." MB: If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, the school administration's negligence is inexcusable. (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will send 31 of its premier battle tanks to Ukraine, following agreement with Germany to deliver scores of its Leopard 2 tanks from across Europe. The decisions end months of debate among Western allies and pave the way for a major shift in the balance of power on the Ukrainian battlefield. President Biden said after morning calls with European leaders that the decisions belied Russian President Vladimir Putin's belief that the West would eventually tire of its commitment to Ukraine and 'break up' their coalition." Related story linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Ledes

CNBC: "The U.S. economy finished 2022 in solid shape even as questions persist over whether growth will turn negative in the year ahead. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced for the October-to-December period, rose at a 2.9% annualized pace, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a reading of 2.8%." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times: "The economy remained resilient last year in the face of inflation, war and a Federal Reserve intent on curbing the pace of growth.... U.S. gross domestic product, when adjusted for inflation, increased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That was down from 3.2 percent in the third quarter, but nonetheless a solid end to a topsy-turvy year in which the economy contracted in the first six months, prompting talk of a recession, only to rebound in the second half.... The recovery from the pandemic recession has slowed from the frenetic pace of 2021, but it has retained momentum thanks to a red-hot job market and trillions of dollars in pent-up savings that allowed Americans to weather rapidly rising prices."