December 21, 2022

~~~ As a holiday gift, the goddess Marie promises to everyone residing in the Northern Hemisphere that she will make each day grow a little longer. This gift expires in six months.

Afternoon Update:

Zeke Miller, et al., of the AP: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked President Joe Biden, U.S. lawmakers and 'ordinary people' of America for their support as he visited the White House on Wednesday. Biden told Zelenskyy that Ukrainians 'inspire the world,' before the two leaders began an Oval Office summit that was Zelenskyy's first known trip outside his home country since Russia invaded in February." ~~~

Presidents Biden & Zelensky meet in the White House (a tearjerker):

     ~~~ Terry Moran of ABC News noted that "the White House hasn't seen anything like this since December 1951 when Winston Churchill sailed across submarine-infested seas ... and arrived to spend weeks with FDR...":

Marie: It's impossible not to notice that today's top U.S. news is about a man who is one of the world's great fighters for democracy (Zelensky) and one of the world's most determined destroyers of democracy (Trump).

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI officials had a lot to worry about in late July as they discussed whether to search one of Donald Trump's homes for evidence of crimes. Two concerns were paramount: Any search warrant should be authorized by the attorney general himself, and they did not want the former president to be at Mar-a-Lago when it happened. The FBI also was wary of the remote possibility of a 'blue on blue' confrontation -- between the federal agents searching the location and the Secret Service agents who guard the former president, according to people familiar with the matter, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions." This is a blow-by-blow account of why it took so long for agents to conduct a search of Mar-a-Lago; the big hold-up, according to the report, was caused by FBI agents in the Washington, D.C. field office who didn't want to conduct a criminal investigation of the White House papers thief.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: I haven't figured out yet what time President Zelensky will address Congress, but according to the Washington Post, it will be after his presser with President Biden, which is to be held at 4:30 pm ET. Speaker Pelosi's page indicates the date is today but there's no indication of the time. Update: According to NBC News, the joint session is to begin at 7:30 pm ET.

I've long felt Donald Trump didn't want his tax return information released because it exposes him as a wildly unsuccessful businessman. In 2019, we obtained a printout of Trump's official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts from 1985 to 1994, when Trump lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer. That's right -- more money than any other individual in the country. -- Susanne Craig of the New York Times, from the liveblog ~~~

~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to publicly release the tax returns of ... Donald J. Trump, the culmination of a yearslong battle during which he defied modern tradition by keeping his finances confidential during his campaign and while in office.... After debating behind closed doors for about three hours and 20 minutes on Tuesday, the Democrat-controlled committee approved the release of six years' worth of Mr. Trump's tax returns 24 to 16. But it could take some time before anything is available to the public. Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat on the committee, told CNN that release of the full cache of tax documents could be delayed for 'a few days' in order to carry out redactions of personal information, such as Social Security numbers. The chairman of the committee, Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the decision to release the information 'was not about being punitive. This was not about being malicious.' He also praised the panel's members because there were no leaks of sensitive information. The ranking member, Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas, condemned the decision after the vote. 'So regrettably, the deed is done,' he said. 'What was clear today is that public disclosure of President Trump's private tax returns has nothing to do with the stated purpose of reviewing the I.R.S. presidential audit process.'" This is a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday evening.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's report is here. CNN's main report is here. ~~~

~~~ The main House Ways & Means Committee report, via the committee, is here (pdf).

The Biggest Failure. Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times: "In his first three years as president, Donald J. Trump paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes before paying no tax as his income dwindled and losses once again mounted in 2020, according to tax data released Tuesday by a House committee. The data, which includes details of Mr. Trump's federal tax returns from 2015 through his full term in the White House, shows that he began his presidency suffering the sort of large business losses that had defined much of his career and paid almost nothing in income tax. But his fortunes changed in 2018, as he reported $24.3 million in adjusted gross income and paid nearly $1 million in federal tax.... The raw tax returns ... are expected to be released in coming days. The new information adds to what is publicly known about Mr. Trump's income tax history, something he had fought for years to keep hidden.... His reports to the I.R.S. portrayed a businessman who took in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, yet racked up chronic losses that he aggressively employed to avoid paying taxes.... Tuesday's report also raises questions about some of Mr. Trump's business practices, and the committee has requested that the I.R.S. investigate some of them further. Among them are his charitable contributions."

** Oh, How Could This Have Happened? Benjamin Guggenheim of Politico: "The IRS didn't audit the personal tax returns filed by ... Donald Trump during his first two years in office, despite an agency program that mandates scrutiny of every president's tax information, a House committee said Tuesday. Trump filed his 2015, 2016 and 2017 tax returns during his first two years as president, which should have triggered an IRS examination of those returns under a Watergate-era policy, according to the report by the House Ways and Means Committee. However, the agency did not initiate an audit of any of the returns that Trump filed while in office until April 3, 2019. That was the same day that committee Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) first asked IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig to provide Neal six years of Trump's tax returns and any audits of those returns. Only one such examination -- that of the former president's 2016 return -- was flagged as a mandatory president audit. And three personal tax returns that Trump filed while in office for tax years 2017, 2018 and 2019 weren't selected for scrutiny until after he left the White House. The report reveals glaring problems for a program that is supposed to assure Americans that the president is abiding by the law, Joe Thorndike, a longtime tax historian, said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Donald Trump in the biggest tax cheat to ever have sat his butt behind the Oval Office desk, and the only one whose eponymous company has been found criminally liable for cheating on its taxes. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: "... the committee revealed that the Internal Revenue Service did not audit Trump's returns during his first two years in office, despite a rule mandating such reviews, and never completed any audits while he served. The IRS began its first audit of Trump's returns on the same day that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) sent a written request in April 2019 for the information and then assigned the bulk of the work to just one agent, the panel said. Democrats on the committee said their investigation suggests Trump had not been correct in claiming during his 2016 campaign that he could not release the records himself because of an ongoing IRS audit. They also urged Congress to adopt a new law ordering mandatory IRS reviews of presidential taxes and the public release of some information. That IRS's inaction came despite the fact that Trump's tax forms raise serious questions about how he used deductions to avoid paying taxes in some years, according to a separate report released on Tuesday by the Joint Committee on Taxation. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said in a CNN interview that the returns showed there were 'tens of millions of dollars in these returns that were claimed without adequate substantiation.'"

     ~~~ The House Ways & Means Committee's report on the mandatory tax audit, via the committee, is here (pdf).

Say, let's see what Trump's "top ethics lawyer" has been up to: ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "The January 6 committee made a startling allegation on Monday, claiming it had evidence that a Trump-backed attorney urged a key witness to mislead the committee about details they recalled. Though the committee declined to identify the people, CNN has learned that Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the Trump White House, is the lawyer who allegedly advised his then-client, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, to tell the committee that she did not recall details that she did, sources familiar with the committee's work tell CNN. Trump's Save America political action committee funded Passantino and his law firm Elections LLC, including paying for his representation of Hutchinson, other sources tell CNN. Hutchinson asked about the financial set up at the time but was never told the details, according to the committee.... Before her public testimony, Hutchinson dropped Passantino and got a new lawyer. When asked about pressure on Hutchinson after Monday's hearing, committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren told CNN: 'She was advised to say that she didn't recall something when she did. So that's pretty serious stuff.'" (Also linked yesterday evening.) ~~~

     ~~~ In today's Comments, we learn that Akhilleus is all surprised by this. ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "A former lawyer [-- Stefan Passantino --] for a White House aide [-- Cassidy Hutchinson --] who became a key witness for the House Jan. 6 committee took a leave of absence from his law firm on Tuesday and defended himself against what he said were false insinuations by the panel that he had interfered with his client's testimony."

Robert Costa, et al., of CBS News: "Nick Luna, a former White House aide to ... Donald Trump, told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol that he witnessed Trump 'tearing' documents, according to audio files of Luna's deposition that were obtained by CBS News.... According to the Presidential Records Act, federal law requires that presidential records are carefully preserved and then handed over to the National Archives.... The audio files also reveal that Luna testified that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had instructed him to not enter the room ahead of a meeting with state Republican legislators who wanted to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 'There was one instance where it would normally be my job to go in and make sure that [the] president is comfortable in wherever the situation is,' Luna told the committee. 'And I remember, specifically, this instance [Meadows] had said, 'Do not, don't come in, don't come into the room today.'"

Michael Shear & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will meet with President Biden at the White House on Wednesday and later deliver a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress, a daring trip abroad intended to reaffirm American support for his country, White House officials announced late Tuesday night.... Senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about Mr. Zelensky's safety, said the risks involved in such a visit -- with the wartime leader leaving his country for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February -- were high, and that planning for his arrival had been conducted under intense secrecy." ~~~

     ~~~ Phil Mattingly, et al., of CNN: "President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the planning underway, in what would be a surprise visit that could change based on security concerns. The visit, which hasn't been finalized and has remained tightly held due to security concerns, will coincide with the administration's intent to send the country a new defense assistance package that will include Patriot missile systems. It would mark Zelensky's first trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February of this year. His potential visit to Washington could also include an address to Congress. The White House declined to comment on a potential visit or Biden announcement or new security assistance announcements. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn't confirm reports Zelensky would be coming to the Capitol on Wednesday, saying, 'I don't know that that's going to happen.'" (Also linked yesterday evening.)

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it has seized more than 379 million potentially fatal doses of illegal fentanyl this year, as Mexican drug-trafficking organizations continue to flood the United States with the cheap synthetic opioid responsible for record numbers of U.S. overdose deaths. The agency said it has confiscated more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder and 50.6 million illegal fentanyl tablets so far in 2022. That was twice the number of tablets seized in 2021, when more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Two-thirds of those deaths were caused by fentanyl, according to U.S. public health data. Anne Milgram, the DEA administrator, said the seizures recorded by the agency this year contained enough fentanyl 'to kill everyone in the United States,' home to about 330 million residents."

A Bloodless Coup-Preventive. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "The omnibus spending bill has been released, and buried inside it are provisions that would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how Congress counts presidential electors. Trump's effort to subvert his presidential reelection loss exploited many weaknesses in the ECA that would be fixed if the omnibus passes, as expected. Strikingly, all this is happening with little noise from right-wing media or MAGA-loyal lawmakers. A bipartisan group of senators negotiated these reforms for months with the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and they will likely be backed by many or even most GOP senators. Trump himself has been surprisingly mute.... Just about every main ECA reform in the omnibus responds directly to what Trump did [in 2020 & 2021].... This is an easy way for Republicans to do something about the Trump threat. It's highly technical and doesn't require direct condemnation of Trump himself.... No one should confuse this with a full-scale outbreak of pro-democracy sentiment among Republicans."

Why, it's almost as if Republicans are in disarray: ~~~

~~~ McCarthy, House Wingers Threaten Senate Republicans. Lauren Fox & Clare Foran of CNN: "As House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy forges ahead in his quest to secure 218 votes to be the next speaker of the House, he is vowing to take a hard line in the future against any GOP senator who votes to pass the $1.7 trillion spending bill this week. McCarthy wrote on Twitter, 'when I'm Speaker,' bills from any senator who votes for the spending package will be 'dead on arrival' in the House of Representatives.... [McCarthy was responding to Rep Chip] Roy and 12 other Republicans sent a letter to GOP senators on Monday saying that if the government funding bill passes, they would oppose and whip against 'any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill.'... While McCarthy made similar comments during a press conference last week, it's just the latest sign of the lengths to which the House Republican leader is going in an attempt to pacify and win over conservatives who are still on the fence about voting for him for speaker.... Senate GOP Whip John Thune on Tuesday downplayed the threat by McCarthy that he would block bills in the next Congress backed by senators who vote for the spending package." ~~~

     ~~~ Al Weaver of the Hill: "GOP senators had a message for a group of current and incoming House Republicans threatening to stop any bill supported by someone who votes for the omnibus spending package in its tracks: We don't care.... 'That doesn't sound like a recipe for working together in the best interest of the country, so I think this is just words spoken during the heat of passion,' Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is an 'aye' vote for the omnibus." ~~~

~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "... Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) dropped a 25-tweet thread on Tuesday in support of Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) embattled bid to become House speaker. In the thread, Greene took aim at her 'friends' in the House GOP conference and offered them some very tough words. 'It's time for my friends in the Never Kevin Caucus to stop lying to the base just bc they don't like Kevin McCarthy,' Greene wrote at the end of the thread.... Greene's thread came a day after she hit back at fellow MAGA hardliner Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) who took a jab at Greene over her support for McCarthy."

Ryan Mac & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he would resign as Twitter's chief executive when he found 'someone foolish enough to take the job,' two days after he had asked his 122 million Twitter followers whether he should step down as the leader of the social media site and a majority of respondents answered yes." The Guardian's story is here. MB: Oh, pick me, Elon. I am an obnoxious know-it-all who knows squat about running an employee-friendly business, knows less about Twitter but am vaguely in favor of the free exchange of ideas. I should fit right in. ~~~

~~~ About That "Stalker." David Ingram & Andrew Blankstein of NBC News: "Police in Southern California said Tuesday they were seeking additional information about an incident last week that Twitter CEO Elon Musk said prompted him to crack down on accounts that track whereabouts of private jets -- including his.... In a statement Tuesday, police in South Pasadena said that the incident involved a member of Musk's security team, whose vehicle hit the car of a man he alleged was following him. The police called the security team member a 'suspect.' They did not say what crimes they suspected him of committing, but said they were investigating a report of 'an assault with a deadly weapon involving a vehicle.'" MB: IOW, there was no "stalker," and Musk's own security person was the one who allegedly committed a potentially-deadly crime.

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Wells Fargo will pay a $3.7 billion penalty -- including $2 billion to consumers -- to resolve claims that it bungled borrowers' auto and mortgage loans, charged illegal overdraft fees and seized account holders' funds, federal regulators announced Tuesday. The payments ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settle claims of wrongdoing that extend as far back as 2015 and harmed as many as 16 million consumer accounts, officials said. 'Wells Fargo's rinse-repeat cycle of violating the law has harmed millions of American families,' CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. 'The CFPB is ordering Wells Fargo to refund billions of dollars to consumers across the country. This is an important initial step for accountability and long-term reform of this repeat offender.'... [The settlement] comes after the CFPB disciplined the bank in previous years for violations regarding student loan servicing, mortgage kickbacks, fake accounts and illegal auto loan practices." CNBC's story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. April Rubin of the New York Times: "A former Fort Worth police officer who was found guilty of manslaughter last week for killing a woman by firing a shot through a window of her home was sentenced on Tuesday to almost 12 years in prison. The former officer, Aaron Dean, 38, was sentenced to 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in prison by a jury in Tarrant County District Court in the October 2019 killing of Atatiana Jefferson, 28.... The officer, who is white, was responding to a call from a concerned neighbor who reported that doors to Ms. Jefferson's house were open late at night. Ms. Jefferson, who was Black, was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew and had left the doors open to ventilate smoke after burning hamburgers. Ms. Jefferson, hearing a strange noise outside the house, grabbed the gun she kept in her purse and went to look out her bedroom window. Mr. Dean yelled at her to put her arms up and immediately fired a single shot through her window, body camera footage released two days after the shooting showed."

Virginia Congressional Race. Meagan Flynn & Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: "Democrats came out in droves across the 4th Congressional District on Tuesday to nominate a successor to Rep. A. Donald McEachin, who died last month -- turnout that exceeded expectations at jampacked voting sites all day.... The Democratic Party of Virginia, which had initially printed 25,000 ballots, had to print 5,000 to 10,000 more after it became clear midway through the day that turnout wasn't slowing. More than 26,400 people came out to vote in the party-run firehouse primary at eight locations across the Richmond-anchored district, a party spokesman said.... The truncated campaign -- with no TV ads, very little campaign infrastructure and almost no time for anything but getting out the vote -- unfolded rapidly based on the date Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) set for a special election: Feb. 21. Under state law, nominees must be chosen at least 60 days before the special election -- so by Friday.... Ballots will not be counted until Wednesday starting at 10 a.m.... Republicans selected their nominee, Leon Benjamin, who twice lost to McEachin by more than 20 points, at a party canvass on Saturday."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. See related stories linked above, about President Zelenky's visit to Washington, D.C.

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

Afghanistan. Hikmat Noori of the Guardian & Agencies: "Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country's women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.... The ban on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women sat university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to choose engineering and medicine as future careers."

News Lede

Washington Post: "A massive storm system is set to snarl holiday travel and bring an onslaught of wintry weather to millions across the Plains, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Northeast and even interior Mid-Atlantic. The developing cyclone will deliver heavy snow and blizzard conditions to some and downpours to others between Wednesday and Friday night, all coming at a time of year when more than 110 million Americans are expected to take to the roads and air. The potential exists for serious travel disruptions at major airport hubs in the Midwest and Great Lakes, including Chicago's O'Hare International, where heavy snow and howling winds are expected -- with the worst conditions late Thursday into Friday. The combination of snow and wind will bring visibility down to near zero at times."

December 20, 2022

Evening Update:

I've long felt Donald Trump didn't want his tax return information released because it exposes him as a wildly unsuccessful businessman. In 2019, we obtained a printout of Trump's official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts from 1985 to 1994, when Trump lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer. That's right -- more money than any other individual in the country. -- Susanne Craig of the New York Times, from the liveblog ~~~

~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to publicly release the tax returns of ... Donald J. Trump, the culmination of a yearslong battle during which he defied modern tradition by keeping his finances confidential during his campaign and while in office.... After debating behind closed doors for about three hours and 20 minutes on Tuesday, the Democrat-controlled committee approved the release of six years' worth of Mr. Trump's tax returns 24 to 16. But it could take some time before anything is available to the public. Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat on the committee, told CNN that release of the full cache of tax documents could be delayed for 'a few days' in order to carry out redactions of personal information, such as Social Security numbers. The chairman of the committee, Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the decision to release the information 'was not about being punitive. This was not about being malicious.' He also praised the panel's members because there were no leaks of sensitive information. The ranking member, Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas, condemned the decision after the vote. 'So regrettably, the deed is done,' he said. 'What was clear today is that public disclosure of President Trump's private tax returns has nothing to do with the stated purpose of reviewing the I.R.S. presidential audit process.'" This is a liveblog.

Phil Mattingly, et al., of CNN: “President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the planning underway, in what would be a surprise visit that could change based on security concerns. The visit, which hasn't been finalized and has remained tightly held due to security concerns, will coincide with the administration's intent to send the country a new defense assistance package that will include Patriot missile systems. It would mark Zelensky's first trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February of this year. His potential visit t Washington could also include an address to Congress. The White House declined to comment on a potential visit or Biden announcement or new security assistance announcements. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn't confirm reports Zelensky would be coming to the Capitol on Wednesday, saying, 'I don't know that that's going to happen.':

Say, let's see what Trump's "top ethics lawyer" has been up to: ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "The January 6 committee made a startling allegation on Monday, claiming it had evidence that a Trump-backed attorney urged a key witness to mislead the committee about details they recalled. Though the committee declined to identify the people, CNN has learned that Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the Trump White House, is the lawyer who allegedly advised his then-client, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, to tell the committee that she did not recall details that she did, sources familiar with the committee's work tell CNN. Trump's Save America political action committee funded Passantino and his law firm Elections LLC, including paying for his representation of Hutchinson, other sources tell CNN. Hutchinson asked about the financial set up at the time but was never told the details, according to the committee.... Before her public testimony, Hutchinson dropped Passantino and got a new lawyer. When asked about pressure on Hutchinson after Monday's hearing, committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, told CNN: 'She was advised to say that she didn't recall something when she did. So that's pretty serious stuff.'"

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Mary Jalonick, et al., of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers on Monday declaring that they have assembled a 'roadmap to justice' to bring criminal charges against ... Donald Trump and his allies.... The committee alleged violations of four criminal statutes by Trump, in both the run-up to the riot and during the insurrection itself, as it recommended the former president for prosecution to the Justice Department. The charges recommended by the committee are conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement and insurrection." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here. The Washington Post report is here. ~~~

~~~ Here's the committee's video of Monday's hearing:

~~~ ** The committee has released its 160-page introduction to its report. According to on-air reporters, the introductory material includes information that has not previously been released to the public. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York Times reporters are liveblogging the House January 6 committee hearing. CNN's liveblog is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times outlines 17 specific findings of the committee. MB: Here are a couple of points Feuer doesn't cover but that MSNBC hosts highlighted: (1) The intelligence community was ready for a typical protest to take place on January 6, but they were not ready for the POTUS* to instigate the "protesters" to attack the Capital to try to stop the certification of Electors; (2) Trump attempted, apparently successfully in a number of cases, to get witnesses to prevaricate; Trump succeeded in this effort by providing lawyers, promising jobs or threatening witnesses with bad outcomes.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post enumerates seven takeaways from the committee's introduction to its report. Much of the information is new, like the number of weapons officials seized at the Ellipse magnetometers.

Marie: Most reports I've read over the last nearly two years, including Blake's, seem to give Trump "credit" for finally succumbing to the many entreaties to call off his troops. But I don't think efforts to behave responsibly have anything to do with his decision to make a mealymouthed statement after 187 minutes. Rather, I think that he saw that police forces opposing his little army had finally, no thanks to him, grown large enough in number to defeat the insurrectionists. That is, Trump called off the troops because the police reinforcements ensured that his own troops were bound to lose, not because he suddenly came to his senses.

Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "A theme in the [committee's introduction to its report] is that the committee believes numerous figures close to ... Donald Trump were being less than candid during their testimony, either through evasions or claims that they couldn't remember the answers to questions. In some cases, the committee said the purported memory lapses were not credible and appeared to be an attempt to conceal information." Among the suspected evasive witnesses: daughter Ivanka Trump, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, & advisor Hope Hicks. Among the "forgetful": Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows, Deputy Chief-of-Staff Tony Ornato. "The panel alleges Trump also reached out to witnesses, without naming names: 'The Select Committee is aware of multiple efforts by President Trump to contact Select Committee witnesses. The Department of Justice is aware of at least one of those circumstances.... The committee report alleges that 'although [Rudy] Giuliani repeatedly had claimed in public that Dominion voting machines stole the election, he admitted during his Select Committee deposition that "I do not think the machines stole the election,"' according to the summary. 'Other Trump lawyers and supporters, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Phil Waldron and Michael Flynn, all invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when asked by the Select Committee what supposed proof they uncovered that the election was stolen,' according to the executive summary."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Mr. Trump is significantly diminished, a shrunken presence on the political landscape. His fade is partly a function of his own missteps and miscalculations in recent months. But it is also a product of the voluminous evidence assembled by the House committee and its ability to tell the story of his efforts to overturn the election in a compelling and accessible way. In ways both raw and easily digested, and with an eye for vivid detail, the committee spooled out the episodic narrative of a president who was told repeatedly he had lost and that his claims of fraud were fanciful. But Mr. Trump continued pushing them anyway, plotted to reverse the outcome, stoked the fury of his supporters, summoned them to Washington and then stood by as the violence played out."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Top lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a sprawling government spending package that would keep the government open through next fall after reaching a compromise on billions of dollars in federal spending, including another round of emergency aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion. The legislation would increase federal spending from the last fiscal year, providing $858 billion in military spending and more than $772 billion for domestic programs for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends in September, according to a summary released by Senate Democrats. With Republican support needed for the measure to pass the Senate, Democrats bowed to conservative opposition to approving a larger increase that would have kept funding levels equal for the health, education and other domestic programs that President Biden and his party have prioritized. The release of the legislation came around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, just days ahead of a midnight Friday deadline to fund the government or face a shutdown...." ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan bill that would make changes to how members of Congress could object to electoral will be included in the omnibus spending bill lawmakers need to approve in the coming days, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Monday night. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Collins and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress where electoral college votes are counted. The measure would also raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state's electors.... The bill was driven by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of ... Donald Trump's supporters seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden's win. Lawmakers have warned a similar effort to disrupt future electoral counts could happen without changes to the process.... Both Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came out in support of the legislation in September." ~~~

~~~ Marie: No one ever seems to notice the most bizarre premise of Trump's fake Electors scheme: that is, according to the plan, a vice president can re-elect him/herself, no matter what the outcome of the election. That is exactly what would have happened if mike pence had gone along with the scheme to throw out the slates of Electors from several states Joe Biden & Kamala Harris won. "Maybe the vast majority of people voted for you, Kamala, but only one vote counts, and that vote is my vote. And I pick myself."

Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post: "Congress has clinched a deal to avert a lapse in critical dollars for Puerto Rico's Medicaid program for five years and permanently beef up federal dollars for the other U.S. territories, according to two people familiar with the negotiations." MB: More sloppy both-sides reporting. You won't be surprised to find out that it wasn't "Congress," but "Democrats," who "clinched the deal"; to get Republicans to sign on to a short-term measure funding Medicaid. Of course Democrats had to make major concessions to Republicans to get there. But the lede and headline seem to imply that Democrats & Republicans were working together to try to get a good deal for Puerto Ricans. That's misleading.

More Fake Than Trump. Grace Ashford & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "By his account, [Representative-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.)] catapulted himself from a New York City public college to become a 'seasoned Wall Street financier and investor' with a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties and an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats. But a New York Times review of public documents and court filings from the United States and Brazil, as well as various attempts to verify claims that Mr. Santos, 34, made on the campaign trail, calls into question key parts of the résumé that he sold to voters. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Mr. Santos's campaign biography, told The Times they had no record of his ever working there. Officials at Baruch College, which Mr. Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year. [And so forth,]... At the same time, new revelations uncovered by The Times -- including the omission of key information on Mr. Santos's personal financial disclosures, and criminal charges for check fraud in Brazil -- have the potential to create ethical and possibly legal challenges once he takes office." Recently, Santos did work for an investment company that the S.E.C. has accused of running a $17MM Ponzi scheme. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "Representative-elect George Santos on Monday faced a barrage of questions, as well as an uncertain future, after an article in The New York Times revealed that he may have misrepresented key parts of his résumé on the campaign trail." ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: "The chairman of New York's Democratic Party on Monday called for a House ethics investigation into George Santos, a Long Island Republican elected last month, following a report questioning whether he misled voters about key details in his background.... [Democratic rival Robert] Zimmerman, [whom Santos defeated,] in an interview with The Post, echoed [state party chairman Jay] Jacobs's calls for a probe into whether Santos made false statements on the personal financial disclosure form that candidates are required to file with the clerk of the House.... With the slim Republican majority in the House, some ethics experts doubted whether Santos would face any serious repercussions in Congress."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued an order on Monday temporarily maintaining a Trump-era public health emergency measure that allows the government to expel migrants seeking asylum who cross the southern border unlawfully. The chief justice's order, known as an administrative stay, was provisional and meant to give the Supreme Court time to consider the question of whether to maintain the program, Title 42, which a trial judge had ordered to be ended by Wednesday. The court is likely to act in the coming days. The order was prompted by an emergency application filed on Monday by 19 states led by Republicans." CNN's report is here.

** Marbury, on Steroids. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The conventional critique of the Supreme Court these days is that it has lurched to the right and is out of step with the public on many issues.... But a burst of recent legal scholarship makes a deeper point, saying the current court ... has rapidly been accumulating power at the expense of every other part of the government. The phenomenon was documented last month by Mark A. Lemley, a law professor at Stanford, in an article called 'The Imperial Supreme Court' in The Harvard Law Review.... [Lemley wrote,] 'It is a court that is consolidating its power, systematically undercutting any branch of government, federal or state, that might threaten that power, while at the same time undercutting individual rights.'... In a similar vein, Justice Elena Kagan noted the majority's imperial impulses in a dissent from a decision in June that limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to address climate change. 'The court appoints itself -- instead of Congress or the expert agency -- the decision maker on climate policy,' she wrote. 'I cannot think of many things more frightening.'... A second study, to be published in Presidential Studies Quarterly, concentrated on cases involving the executive branch and backed up Professor Lemley's observations with data."

Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited to the United States, one of his lawyers said on Monday, after a chaotic morning of legal maneuvering in which Mr. Bankman Fried was shunted back and forth between court and prison in the Bahamas. Jerone Roberts, a local defense lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried, told reporters that his client had agreed to the extradition voluntarily, defying 'the strongest possible legal advice.'... But the hearing [in which Bankman-Fried was expected to say he would not fight extradition] descended into chaos: Mr. Roberts said he was 'shocked' to see his client in court, and requested at least one 45-minute break to confer privately with Mr. Bankman-Fried.... The judge presiding over the matter ordered the crypto entrepreneur returned to the Fox Hill jail in Nassau." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated, with new lead reporter Royston Jones. New lede: "The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited to the United States, one of his lawyers said on Monday, after a chaotic morning of legal maneuvering in which Mr. Bankman-Fried was shunted back and forth between court and prison in the Bahamas. Mr. Bankman-Fried is facing fraud charges in the United States related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, which was based in the Bahamas."

Eshe Nelson of the New York Times: "Elon Musk ... had asked his Twitter users on Sunday whether he should step down as the leader of the social media site. More than 17 million votes were cast and delivered a clear verdict: 57.5 percent said he should quit, in a Twitter 'poll' that closed after 12 hours on Monday. Mr. Musk had said he would abide by the results of the vote. But hours after the vote closed, there was no acknowledgment from Mr. Musk on Twitter." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: It Was a Rigged Election! Alex Hern of the Guardian: "Elon Musk has tweeted for the first time since more than 10 million people voted in favour of him stepping down as Twitter's chief executive, saying that only paid Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to vote in future policy-related polls.... Twitter Blue is a paid-for subscription that allows anyone to buy a blue tick verified badge for their account."

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times on "why petulant oligarchs rule our world: ... I'm not shocked by the spectacle of Elon Musk's reputational self-immolation. Fascinated, yes; who isn't? But when an immensely rich man, accustomed not just to getting whatever he wants but also to being a much-admired icon, finds himself not just losing his aura but becoming a subject of widespread ridicule, of course he lashes out erratically, and in so doing makes his problems even worse.... Part of the answer [to why oligarchs rule], surely, is the sheer scale of wealth concentration at the top.... Beyond that, many of the superrich, who as a class used to be mostly secretive, have become celebrities instead.... Oh, and if this column gets me banned from Twitter -- or if the site simply dies from mistreatment -- you can follow some of what I'm thinking, along with the thoughts of a growing number of Twitter refugees, at Mastodon." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think I've ever seen anyone with "deader" eyes than Musk. In photo after photo he looks barely alive.

Andrew Dalton of the AP: "Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape at a Los Angeles trial in another #MeToo moment of reckoning, five years after he became a magnet for the movement. After deliberating for nine days spanning more than two weeks, the jury of eight men and four women reached the verdict at the second criminal trial of the 70-year-old onetime powerful movie mogul, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York. Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving an Italian model and actor who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013. The jury was unable to reach a decision on several counts, notably charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The jury reported it was unable to reach verdicts in her allegations and the allegations of another woman. A mistrial was declared on those counts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here.

Way Beyond the Beltway

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 for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report (on Day 300 of the invasion) is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Tuesday is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday made an unexpected visit to Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Donetsk region, his office told The Washington Post, adding that he spoke to soldiers and gave them medals.... Zelensky had singled out Bakhmut a day earlier, calling it 'the hottest spot on the entire front line' at the moment, with 'more than 1300 km of active hostilities.'... Earlier Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare admission that Russian forces were finding it 'extremely difficult' to operate in the four regions of Ukraine that Russia illegally claimed to annex in September.... U.S. lawmakers unveiled a roughly $1.7 trillion deal to fund the U.S. government through most of 2023, a measure that would include an additional $44.9 billion in emergency military and economic assistance for Ukraine."

Anatoly Kurmanaev, et al., of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia made a rare visit to Belarus on Monday to strengthen his bond with the country's president and his closest regional ally, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a fellow strongman who has been under growing pressure from Moscow to provide more support for the war in Ukraine. Appearing together at a palace in Minsk after their talks, Mr. Putin and Mr. Lukashenko spoke about the need to withstand Western economic pressure. Mr. Putin said the two had also discussed the formation of a 'unified defense space,' without describing what that would entail, and had agreed to continue joint military exercises. Mr. Putin's visit took place as Russia continued its nighttime bombardment campaign against Ukraine's power plants and other crucial infrastructure, deepening the country's misery. And the trip seemed certain to escalate concerns in Kyiv about the possibility of a fresh ground offensive that could use Belarus as a launching pad."

Germany. Kate Connolly of the Guardian: "A 97-year-old former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 people imprisoned there and handed a two-year suspended sentence. Irmgard Furchner, who has been on trial in the northern German town of Itzehoe for more than a year, had spoken to the court on one occasion earlier this month to say she was sorry for what had happened, but stopped short of admitting her guilt. The start of her trial was delayed in September 2021 when she briefly went on the run. Having failed to turn up at court, she was found by police hours later on the outskirts of Hamburg, after which she was held in custody for five days and fitted with an electronic wrist tag.... She is the first civilian woman in Germany to have been held responsible for crimes committed in a Nazi concentration camp."

Vatican. Elizabetta Povoledo & Alex Marshall of the New York Times: "Pope Francis will return to Greek hands three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon that have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for two centuries, the Vatican said in a statement on Friday. The fragments -- a head of a horse, a head of a boy and a bearded male head -- will become the property of Archbishop Ieronymos II, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the statement added.... Although the Vatican fragments will belong to the church rather than the state, [an Acropolis Museum] spokeswoman said they would be 'reunited in their positions.'... The pope's gesture comes amid reports of negotiations between Greece and Britain on a potential deal for the return of other temple fragments [-- MB: the Elgin Marbles --] that were removed by a British aristocrat in the 19th century and that are held by the British Museum in London. Those artifacts, which are a centerpiece of the museum's collection, are probably the world's most famous disputed museum items."

News Lede

CNN: "A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Northern California's Eureka area early Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, shaking people from their sleep, leaving thousands without electricity and damaging at least one bridge. The quake, striking at 2:34 a.m. PT, was centered in the Pacific just off the coast, about 7.5 miles from the Humboldt County city of Ferndale, the survey said. That's about a 20-mile drive southwest of Eureka and a 280-mile drive northwest of Sacramento. Most homes and businesses in Humboldt County were without power early Tuesday. More than 71,000 outages were reported shortly after 4:30 a.m. PT -- out of 99,000 customers tracked in the county -- according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us."

December 19, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Mary Jalonick, et al., of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers on Monday declaring that they have assembled a 'roadmap to justice' to bring criminal charges against ... Donald Trump and his allies.... The committee alleged violations of four criminal statutes by Trump, in both the run-up to the riot and during the insurrection itself, as it recommended the former president for prosecution to the Justice Department. The charges recommended by the committee are conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement and insurrection." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Here's the committee's video of Monday's hearing:

~~~ ** The committee has released its 160-page introduction to its report. According to on-air reporters, the introductory material includes information that has not previously been released to the public.

New York Times reporters are liveblogging the House January 6 committee hearing. CNN's liveblog is here.

More Fake Than Trump. Grace Ashford & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "By his account, [Representative-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.)] catapulted himself from a New York City public college to become a 'seasoned Wall Street financier and investor' with a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties and an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats. But a New York Times review of public documents and court filings from the United States and Brazil, as well as various attempts to verify claims that Mr. Santos, 34, made on the campaign trail, calls into question key parts of the résumé that he sold to voters. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Mr. Santos's campaign biography, told The Times they had no record of his ever working there. Officials at Baruch College, which Mr. Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year. [And so forth,]... At the same time, new revelations uncovered by The Times -- including the omission of key information on Mr. Santos's personal financial disclosures, and criminal charges for check fraud in Brazil -- have the potential to create ethical and possibly legal challenges once he takes office." Recently, Santos did work for an investment company that the S.E.C. has accused of running a $17MM Ponzi scheme.

Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited to the United States, one of his lawyers said on Monday, after a chaotic morning of legal maneuvering in which Mr. Bankman Fried was shunted back and forth between court and prison in the Bahamas. Jerone Roberts, a local defense lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried, told reporters that his client had agreed to the extradition voluntarily, defying 'the strongest possible legal advice.'... But the hearing [in which Bankman-Fried was expected to say he would not fight extradition] descended into chaos: Mr. Roberts said he was 'shocked' to see his client in court, and requested at least one 45-minute break to confer privately with Mr. Bankman-Fried.... The judge presiding over the matter ordered the crypto entrepreneur returned to the Fox Hill jail in Nassau."

Andrew Dalton of the AP: "Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape at a Los Angeles trial in another #MeToo moment of reckoning, five years after he became a magnet for the movement. After deliberating for nine days spanning more than two weeks, the jury of eight men and four women reached the verdict at the second criminal trial of the 70-year-old onetime powerful movie mogul, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York. Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving an Italian model and actor who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013. The jury was unable to reach a decision on several counts, notably charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The jury reported it was unable to reach verdicts in her allegations and the allegations of another woman. A mistrial was declared on those counts."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After more than five years of dramatic headlines about controversies, scandals and potential crimes surrounding ... Donald J. Trump, the coming week will be among the most consequential. On Monday, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by Mr. Trump's supporters will hold what is almost certainly its final public meeting before it is disbanded when Republicans take over the majority in the new year.... On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet privately to discuss what to do with the six years of Mr. Trump's tax returns that it finally obtained after nearly four years of legal efforts by Mr. Trump to block their release.... And on Wednesday, the Jan. 6 committee is expected to release its report on the attack, along with some transcripts of interviews with witnesses. Taken together, this week will point a spotlight on both Mr. Trump's refusal to cede power and the issue that he has most acutely guarded for decades, the actual size of his personal wealth and his sources of income."

Dear Lord of the Fairy Tales: In the week of the Solstice, the Saturnalia, Hanukkah and anniversaries of the births of Zarathustra, Buddha, Mithras, Jesus & numerous other demigods & messiahs, please let this also be the week that the impish anti-god Trumpelstiltskin rends himself in two. -- Marie

Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers expected to cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory with an extraordinary recommendation: The Justice Department should consider criminal charges against ... Donald Trump. At a final meeting on Monday, the panel's seven Democrats and two Republicans are poised to recommend criminal charges against Trump and potentially against associates and staff who helped him launch a multifaceted pressure campaign to try to overturn the 2020 election. While a criminal referral is mostly symbolic, with the Justice Department ultimately deciding whether to prosecute Trump or others, it is a decisive end to a probe that had an almost singular focus from the start." MB: The hearing begins at 1:00 pm ET, with coverage on CNN & MSNBC beginning at noon ET.

Victoria Bekiempis of the Guardian: "California congressman Adam Schiff [D] said Sunday [on CNN] that he believes there is 'sufficient evidence' to criminally charge Donald Trump in relation to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... Schiff said he was worried, however, that 'it may take until he is no longer politically relevant for justice to be served. That's not the way it should be in this country, but there seems to be an added evidentiary burden with someone who has a large enough following.... That simply should not be the case, but I find it hard, otherwise, to explain why, almost two years from the events of January 6, and with the evidenc that's already in the public domain, why the justice department hasn't moved more quickly than it has,' Schiff also said." Schiff is a former prosecutor.

Marie: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) appeared on MSNBC yesterday and made a point so fundamental that it had more-or-less slipped my mind. If Trump was not trying to instigate an insurrection, why did he plan his Ellipse extravaganza for January 6, the day Congress, by law, was set to certify Biden's election? Why not some other date? The obvious answer is that Trump hoped to get his minions to stop the certification by violence if mike pence & the Congress did not do so in session. Since pence had told Trump he would not halt the certification, nor were there enough members of Congress to stop the process, a violent insurrection was Trump's Last Chance. And he took it.

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "Nov. 22 dinner ... [with the antisemite Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes] neatly encapsulates Trump's post-presidential life -- a reminder of how a former president who worked steadily to dismantle the government guardrails imposed by his elected office is now almost entirely without restraint.... In the two years since he left office, Trump has re-created the conditions of his own freewheeling White House -- with all of its chaos, norm flouting and catering to his ego -- with little regard for the law.... These days, he is served almost exclusively by sycophants, having replaced successive rounds of loyal yet inexperienced aides with staffers even more beholden and novice.... This behind-the-scenes account of Trump's post-presidential life is based on interviews with 23 people...."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "... the notion that the Proud Boys wanted to provoke violence among the 'normies' -- or the normal people -- in the crowd that day rests at the heart of the government's case against five members of the group who are facing trial on charges of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack. At the trial, which begins with jury selection on Monday, prosecutors intend to argue that the five defendants turned the mob into a weapon on Jan. 6 and pointed it at the Capitol, where lawmakers had gathered to certify the results of the 2020 election, according to court papers and pretrial hearings. It was all part of a plot, the government will say, to stop the lawful transfer of power and ensure that ... Donald J. Trump remained in office." The AP story is here.

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Some of the best-known retired military officers in the United States have joined a grass-roots effort to pass legislation to bolster support for Afghans who assisted the American war effort, calling for Congress to act immediately and include it in a spending bill that lawmakers are expected to approve within days. 'We are convinced that the Afghan Adjustment Act furthers the national security interests of the United States,' the officers wrote in a letter to senior lawmakers on Saturday. 'It is also a moral imperative.'... The letter was addressed to the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate and organized by #AfghanEvac, a coalition of more than 180 nonprofits and other organizations that are supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. The senior officers called for Congress to attach the legislation to the upcoming omnibus, which will provide funding for federal agency budgets through Sept. 30...."

Natalie Allison & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "As she seeks a rare fourth term as RNC chair, [Ronna Romney] McDaniel is facing fierce criticism from a horde of right-wing media figures who reach millions of GOP faithful.... The contentious chair's race playing out in the public eye follows Republican disappointments the last three election cycles.... Some of the most prominent instigators of the wave of anti-McDaniel sentiment have been Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson.... So far, the pressure campaign from inside and outside the RNC has not diminished McDaniel's support. The question is whether she can maintain that support until the RNC's leadership election Jan. 27."

The Erratic Whims of the Lords of the Tweets, Ctd. Kate Conger & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "High-profile Twitter users were suspended without warning or explanation, then abruptly reinstated. A new policy to prevent users from sharing links and user names from other social platforms was rolled out, then apparently curtailed. And Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, posted a flurry of messages to his 122 million followers asking them if he should step down as the head of the social media service while lamenting that no one else wanted the job. It was another chaotic 48 hours on Twitter, which has been mired in turmoil since Mr. Musk completed a $44 billion buyout of the company in late October. His tenure has already been marked by mass layoffs, executive resignations and unpaid bills at the company. Advertisers have balked, rival services have pounced and many of Twitter's users have feared that the service would simply cease to work." A related NBC News story is here.

Marie: Another reason to rid the superrich of the burden of their billions: their psychoses & meltdowns also can harm or inconvenience untold numbers of other people.

No, @ElonJet Did Not Lead to an Assassination Attempt. Drew Harwell & Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post: "A confrontation between a member of Elon Musk's security team and an alleged stalker that Musk blamed on a Twitter account that tracked his jet took place at a gas station 26 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and 23 hours after the @ElonJet account had last located the jet's whereabouts. The timing and location of the confrontation cast doubt on Musk's assertion that the account had posted real-time 'assassination coordinates' that threatened his family and led to the confrontation. Police have said little about the incident but say they've yet to find a link between the confrontation and the jet-tracking account. The incident last week ... underscored how Musk's personal concerns can influence his governance of a social media platform used by hundreds of millions of people around the world." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is most likely the story that Lorenz believed so irritated the Boy Billionaire that he pulled her Twitter account when she asked for comment. One must not question the judgment of the Lord of the Tweets. However, it is likely her account was banned because in other tweets, she promoted her presence on other social media.

Elizabeth Dias & Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "A well-known Catholic priest an incendiary leader of the anti-abortion movement was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican, according to a letter from Pope Francis' representative to the United States that was obtained by The New York Times. Frank Pavone, who leads the advocacy organization Priests for Life, and was once a religious adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, was dismissed from the clergy on Nov. 9 with no possibility of appeal, the letter states. The letter included a statement about the removal, called laicization, that it said was approved by the Dicastery for the Clergy, a Vatican office." The AP's report is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Paradise Afshar & Christina Maxouris of CNN: "El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening following a surge of migrants who have recently arrived in the community and he says are living in unsafe conditions. The mayor, who had previously declined to issue a state of emergency, said 'hundreds' of migrants are on the streets in unsafe conditions while temperatures are beginning to drop, and things could get much worse when a Trump-era border policy is lifted Wednesday, which federal officials expect will lead to an increase in migrant arrivals."

Way Beyond

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, came under attack again early Monday. The city's military administration said drones were shot down in Kyiv's airspace but some critical infrastructure was hit.... Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Minsk on Monday for talks with his regional ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Analysts suggest Putin could be trying to set conditions for a renewed offensive against northern Ukraine or Kyiv, after a failed attempt to seize the capital early in the war.... Northern European leaders will gather Monday to discuss Ukraine. The Joint Expeditionary Force, a military and political coalition led by the United Kingdom that includes Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, will meet in Riga, Latvia.... Ukrainian officials are preparing for a 'peace summit' this winter, [President Volodymyr] Zelensky said during his nightly address. Kyiv's formula for peace will create a 'new, globally important security architecture' that is applicable to Ukraine and a guarantee for other nations, he said."

China. Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "A fast-spreading covid-19 outbreak in China has researchers predicting a surge in virus-related deaths next year, with several analyses forecasting more than 1 million fatalities in a country that until now has largely kept the coronavirus in check. Earlier this month, China dramatically loosened its strict 'zero covid' policies following a wave of protests in towns and cities where residents were fed up with years of stringent lockdowns, mass testing and centralized quarantines. The demonstrations marked the most significant show of public dissent in China in years. But many of China's 1.4 billion people remain vulnerable to the virus because of limited exposure, low vaccination rates and poor investment in emergency care. And now, funeral homes and crematoriums in Beijing, the capital, are struggling to keep up with demand, Reuters reported." Access to this article is free to nonsubscribers.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Three dozen people were hurt -- 11 of them seriously -- when a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu was rocked by severe turbulence on Sunday, the authorities said. The Hawaiian Airlines flight, which carried 238 passengers and 10 crew members, landed at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu at about 11 a.m. local time, according to the airline. Medical personnel provided care to passengers and crew members who were injured, according to Honolulu Emergency Medical Services."

Guardian & Agencies: "Five people have been shot and killed in a residential unit in the Greater Toronto Area before the gunman was killed by police, authorities have said. Police were called to a residential building in Vaughan, north of Toronto, at about 7.20pm on Sunday to reports of an active male shooter who had shot several victims at a condo in in the Ontario city. Mass shootings are rare in Canada and Toronto has long prided itself as being one of the safest big cities in the world."