September 21, 2022

Late Morning Update:

** Kara Scannell of CNN: "New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil fraud lawsuit Wednesday against ... Donald Trump, according to court records. The case docket indicates the defendants are Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey Mcconney, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, Inc., and other businesses associated with Trump. This story is breaking and will be updated."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "For those flabbergasted and dismayed by Judge Aileen M. Cannon's absurd ruling granting ... Donald Trump a special master's review of the sensitive documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday's hearing before the special master himself, Judge Raymond J. Dearie, came as a breath of fresh air -- and a reminder that not every judge is an unabashed partisan. As a preliminary matter, Dearie made clear that this was a civil case in which Trump had the burden to show he had some claim to get back documents seized under a properly served search warrant. That was already an improvement over Cannon, who seemed never to consider that vital prerequisite to any further ruling." And so forth.

The Washington Post publishes an excerpt of a book by its reporters Rachel Bade & Karoun Demirjian. The excerpt outlines how Mitch McConnell & most Senate Republicans quickly folded & decided against convicting Trump of his second impeachment.

AirLive: "Russian airlines have stopped selling tickets to Russian men aged 18 to 65 unless they can provide evidence of approval to travel from the Ministry of Defense. All flights from Russia to available foreign destinations were sold out Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin declared a 'partial' mobilization of the country's 25 million reservists."

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Via Scott Lemieux.

Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "On Monday evening, lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump insisted that he should not have to formally declare in court whether, as he has claimed publicly, he had used his power before leaving office to declassify sensitive documents seized from his Florida home last month. But on Tuesday, in a separate court filing, Mr. Trump's lawyers argued that the Justice Department has not proved that those same documents ... continue to be classified, coyly hinting Mr. Trump might have declassified them. Mr. Trump, in other words, wants it both ways: He is arguing that he and his legal team should not have to state in a legal proceeding, where they could become subject to perjury charges or other penalties, that he declassified the documents, while also telling the courts that they should not accept the Justice Department's word that they remain classified." (Also linked yesterday.) This story has been updated to describe the hearing held yesterday. More on that by Politico, linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A WashPo story, linked yesterday, indicates that the Trump lawyers argued that Trump should not have to reveal his fake declassification excuse because they might want to use that fiction in his defense if he's indicted. In today's filing, according to the NYT story linked above, "The president has broad authority governing classification of, and access to, classified documents." So I'll just point out that Trump is not the president. Maybe his attorneys are planning an insanity defense: he thinks he's president so he thinks he can access and/or declassify whatever he wants. Trump's incarceration could end up being nothing more onerous than a short stay in an upscale mental-health facility. ~~~

The government gives me prima facie evidence that these are classified documents.... As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it. -- Judge Raymond Dearie, Tuesday ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The senior federal judge tasked with reviewing the materials seized by the FBI from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate sharply questioned the former president's attorneys Tuesday during their first hearing before his courtroom. Judge Raymond Dearie pushed Trump's lawyers repeatedly for refusing to back up the former president's claim that he declassified the highly sensitive national security-related records discovered in his residence. "You can't have your cake and eat it,' said Dearie.... Dearie bristled at the effort by Trump's lawyers to resist his request for proof that Trump actually attempted to declassify any of the 100 documents that the Justice Department recovered from his estate. Without evidence from Trump, Dearie said his only basis to judge the classification level of the records was the fact that they all bear markings designating them as highly sensitive national security secrets.... Dearie ... noted that ... the burden of proof is on Trump to back up any assertion of privilege or other protected interest in the documents." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ As Greg Sargent of the Washington Post wrote before the hearing: "This episode reveals the perils of lawyering by Fox News: If you tailor arguments to a forum where damning facts are never admitted as evidence and Trump's defenses never face real scrutiny, eventually you'll hit a wall of legal reality.... Dearie essentially asked Trump's lawyers to put up or shut up. And they chose Door No. 2.... What's darkly amusing here is that Trump's own claims that he declassified the documents are what led the special master to demand that Trump&'s lawyers put up or shut up." (Also linked yesterday.)

GOP State AGs File a "Yo Mama" Brief. Andrew Jeong & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Texas's Ken Paxton and 10 other GOP state attorneys general came to the defense of ... Donald Trump on Tuesday in his legal fight over documents the FBI seized last month, filing an amicus brief in a federal appellate court that argued the Biden administration could not be trusted. In a 21-page document that repeated numerous right-wing talking points but that experts said advanced little new legal ground, the officials accused the Biden administration of 'ransacking' Mar-a-Lago ... during an Aug. 8 court-authorized FBI raid and of politicizing the Justice Department.... The amicus brief urges the appellate court to deny the appeal.... The GOP officials list a wide array of grievances against the Biden administration, including how it handled immigration law enforcement and its response to the coronavirus pandemic, that do not appear directly related to the case.... The brief is 'of course a political stunt,' said Jon D. Michaels, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.... 'The officials are playing to the fierce MAGA bases in their states,' he said." See also Patrick's comment below.

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "In May, New York passed a law giving adult sexual assault victims a one-time opportunity to file civil lawsuits, even if the statutes of limitations have long expired. Now, a writer who says former President Donald J. Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s plans to use the law to sue Mr. Trump, according to court papers made public on Tuesday. The writer, E. Jean Carroll, had already sued Mr. Trump in 2019 for defamation, claiming that he had harmed her reputation when he branded her a liar and denied having attacked her. She plans to file her new case against Mr. Trump on Nov. 24, the start of a one-year window in which the law allows such suits to be filed, Ms. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, wrote in a letter to the federal judge overseeing the defamation lawsuit." The Guardian's story is here.

David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Tuesday that a federal grand jury had indicted 44 people on charges that they ran a brazen fraud against anti-hunger programs during the coronavirus pandemic, stealing $240 million by billing the government for meals they did not serve to children who did not exist. The case, in Minnesota, is the largest fraud uncovered in any pandemic-relief program, prosecutors said, standing out even in a period when heavy federal spending and lax oversight allowed a spree of scams with few recent parallels. The Minnesota operation, prosecutors said, involved faked receipts for 125 million meals. At times, it was especially bold: One accused conspirator told the government he had fed 5,000 children a day in a second-story apartment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post story, by Tony Romm, has the grand jury indicting 47 people who defrauded the government of more than $250 million. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story has been updated to report that 48 people have been indicted. Maybe that grand jury just keeps on indictin'. The Guardian's story is here.

     ~~~ Say, ya wanna know another flagrant Covid scam? Cruel hoaxer Ron DeSantis used Covid money to pick up 48 asylum-seekers from Texas and dump them, under false pretenses, on Martha's Vineyard. (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "A group of Venezuelan migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard last week -- allegedly after being falsely promised work and other services -- have filed a class-action lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other officials who arranged the flights, saying the officials used fraud and misrepresentation to persuade them to travel across state lines. The migrants said they were approached outside a shelter in San Antonio by people 'acting in concert' with the Florida officials 'pretending to be good Samaritans offering humanitarian assistance,' according to a copy of the complaint. The supposed Good Samaritans told the migrants that if they were willing to board airplanes to other states, they would receive employment, housing, educational opportunities and other assistance, the complaint alleged." ~~~

     ~~~ AP: "The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were going to Boston or Washington, 'which was completely false,' and were induced with perks such as $10 McDonald's gift certificates." ~~~

~~~ Paul Blest of Vice: "A Texas sheriff [-- Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County --] announced Monday that he would investigate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration flying Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard last week. And now, his office says, it's received 'numerous threats.'" MB: Probably not all that smart to threaten law enforcement officers. ~~~

~~~ Flight of the Bumble-Head. Priscilla Alvarez, et al., of CNN: "Delaware officials and volunteers began to make preparations Tuesday after reports and flight plans suggested a plane chartered to take migrants to Martha's Vineyard last week was about to bring a group of migrants from Texas to the president's home state. By Tuesday afternoon, though, there was no sign of such a flight, and the plane expected to depart Kelly Field in San Antonio had not even arrived at the departure airport.... [Flight-tracking] sites listed a route from Kelly Field in San Antonio to a brief stop in Crestview, Florida, and on to Georgetown, Delaware.... Jill Fredel, the director of communications for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, said in a news conference Tuesday that ... the governor's office has not received any outreach from Florida or Texas, but noted the state is putting preparations in place just in case.... White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House has coordinated with Delaware officials...." ~~~

     ~~~ According to the Vice story linked above, "... the flight from east Texas rerouted to Nashville, and is now scheduled to land in Bergen County, New Jersey Tuesday evening." ~~~

     ~~~ So Then. Karen Yi of the Gothamist: "Within hours of hearing a plane carrying asylum seekers might land in New Jersey, volunteers and organizers had assembled at the Teterboro Airport -- ready with diapers, food and greeting signs stuffed in their cars. But no migrants ever arrived. Instead, Ultimate Air Shuttle 11 touched down in Teterboro[, N.J.,] with only crew on board." MB: Who could possibly have guessed Ron DeSantis just might be a chicken?

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Sen. Lindsey Graham's national 15-week abortion ban would likely force many women to undergo invasive transvaginal ultrasounds before terminating pregnancies, according to doctors. Under the bill, which Graham introduced last week, physicians could be prosecuted for terminating pregnancies after 15 weeks, except in a handful of scenarios.... Doctors would be on the hook to ask each patient about the timing of her pregnancy 'and perform or cause to perform such medical examinations and tests' as needed to 'make an accurate determination of gestational age.' Because violations of Graham's proposed 15-week ban would be punishable by up to five years in prison, doctors say the legislation would create a powerful incentive to perform transvaginal ultrasounds to make an age judgment." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Is there any clause in the bill that says Lindsey gets to watch? Getting that probe shoved up your wazoo can be "uncomfortable," so I'll bet Lindsey would like to see that.

Even Alex Jones' Lawyers Are Crooked (Allegedly). Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "A federal bankruptcy judge in Houston ordered new personnel to oversee the bankruptcy of Alex Jones's Infowars late on Tuesday, citing an ongoing lack of transparency, including over Mr. Jones's lavish personal spending. Judge Christopher Lopez dismissed Mr. Jones's attorney and chief restructuring officer in the bankruptcy of Free Speech Systems, Infowars' parent company, and expanded the duties of a Department of Justice-appointed trustee already monitoring the case. The judge authorized the trustee to hire additional legal and other help, specifying that any new hires must have 'no connection to any of these cases,' he said, citing a need to investigate 'insider relationships.'"

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al.

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. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Wednesday are here: "... Vladimir Putin announced a 'partial mobilization' of troops in an address to his nation on Wednesday, framing the move to call up reservists as an attempt to defend Russian sovereignty against a West that seeks to use Ukraine as a tool to 'divide and destroy Russia.' His speech comes as Ukraine is in the midst of a counteroffensive and as Kremlin-backed officials press ahead with staged referendums that could result in Moscow annexing occupied parts of Ukraine -- an act that would mark a major escalation in the conflict. World leaders gathering in New York for the U.N. General Assembly have widely condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a threat to global order and world peace."

Melissa Eddy of the New York Times: "The German government on Wednesday announced that it was taking over Uniper, previously the country's largest importer of Russian gas, to ensure the supply of energy to homes and businesses. The German state will spend 8 billion euros ($7.9 billion) to acquire shares in Uniper it does not already own, giving it a 99 percent stake. Fortum, a Finnish energy company, will sell its majority stake to the German government for €1.70 per share, a fraction of what Uniper's stock was worth before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, when it traded at around €40 per share. In July, the German government took a 30 percent stake in Uniper and agreed to a €15 billion rescue package to keep it from going under. The company is responsible for supplying about 40 percent of all gas used in Germany, including to hundreds of municipalities that provide heating to homes across the country." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I couldn't see how buying Uniper would help ensure a supply of gas, but it seems the company has purchased liquified natural gas from countries other than Russia.

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland and his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Kostin, signed an agreement Tuesday aimed at formalizing cooperation over joint efforts to prosecute alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine. The two men signed the memorandum of understanding after meeting at Justice Department headquarters in Washington, a show of partnership to step up international pressure amid evidence of new mass atrocities discovered after Ukrainian forces took back wide swaths of territory in recent weeks."

News Lede

New York Times: "Hurricane Fiona was slowly moving north toward Bermuda as a Category 4 storm early Wednesday after battering the Turks and Caicos Islands, largely knocking out Puerto Rico's power grid and drenching parts of the Dominican Republic earlier this week. The storm was more than 100 miles north of the northernmost island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago as it churned through the Atlantic Ocean at about 8 miles per hour on Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center said in a forecast. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 m.p.h and was forecast to approach Bermuda late Thursday after strengthening and shifting to the north-northeast."

September 20, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "On Monday evening, lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump insisted that he should not have to formally declare in court whether, as he has claimed publicly, he had used his power before leaving office to declassify sensitive documents seized from his Florida home last month. But on Tuesday, in a separate court filing, Mr. Trump's lawyers argued that the Justice Department has not proved that those same documents ... continue to be classified, coyly hinting Mr. Trump might have declassified them. Mr. Trump, in other words, wants it both ways: He is arguing that he and his legal team should not have to state in a legal proceeding, where they could become subject to perjury charges or other penalties, that he declassified the documents, while also telling the courts that they should not accept the Justice Department's word that they remain classified." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The WashPo story, linked below, indicates that the Trump lawyers argued that Trump should not have to reveal his fake declassification excuse because they might want to use that fiction in his defense if he's indicted. In today's filing, according to the NYT story linked above, "The president has broad authority governing classification of, and access to, classified documents." So I'll just point out that Trump is not the president. Maybe his attorneys are planning an insanity defense: he thinks he's president so he thinks he can access and/or declassify whatever he wants. Trump's incarcerations could end up being nothing more onerous than a short stay in an upscale mental-health facility. ~~~

The government gives me prima facie evidence that these are classified documents.... As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it. -- Judge Raymond Dearie, Tuesday hearing ~~~

     ~~~ Update: According to Tom Winter of NBC News, (speaking on-air on MSNBC), Judge Dearie told the parties in a hearing Tuesday that he had no ability or authority to question the government's classification of documents. Barbara McQuade, also speaking on MSNBC, said Dearie also accused the Trump lawyers of "gamesmanship" for refusing to say whether or not Trump was claiming he declassified some classified documents. So win-win for the DOJ. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The senior federal judge tasked with reviewing the materials seized by the FBI from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate sharply questioned the former president's attorneys Tuesday during their first hearing before his courtroom. Judge Raymond Dearie pushed Trump's lawyers repeatedly for refusing to back up the former president's claim that he declassified the highly sensitive national security-related records discovered in his residence. 'You can't have your cake and eat it,' said Dearie.... Dearie bristled at the effort by Trump's lawyers to resist his request for proof that Trump actually attempted to declassify any of the 100 documents that the Justice Department recovered from his estate. Without evidence from Trump, Dearie said his only basis to judge the classification level of the records was the fact that they all bear markings designating them as highly sensitive national security secrets.... Dearie ... noted that ... the burden of proof is on Trump to back up any assertion of privilege or other protected interest in the documents."

     ~~~ As Greg Sargent of the Washington Post wrote before the hearing: "This episode reveals the perils of lawyering by Fox News: If you tailor arguments to a forum where damning facts are never admitted as evidence and Trump's defenses never face real scrutiny, eventually you'll hit a wall of legal reality.... Dearie essentially asked Trump&'s lawyers to put up or shut up. And they chose Door No. 2.... What's darkly amusing here is that Trump's own claims that he declassified the documents are what led the special master to demand that Trump's lawyers put up or shut up."

David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Tuesday that a federal grand jury had indicted 44 people on charges that they ran a brazen fraud against anti-hunger programs during the coronavirus pandemic, stealing $240 million by billing the government for meals they did not serve to children who did not exist. The case, in Minnesota, is the largest fraud uncovered in any pandemic-relief program, prosecutors said, standing out even in a period when heavy federal spending and lax oversight allowed a spree of scams with few recent parallels. The Minnesota operation, prosecutors said, involved faked receipts for 125 million meals. At times, it was especially bold: One accused conspirator told the government he had fed 5,000 children a day in a second-story apartment." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post story, by Tony Romm, has the grand jury indicting 47 people who defrauded the government of more than $250 million.

     ~~~ Say, ya wanna know another flagrant Covid scam? Cruel hoaxer Ron DeSantis used Covid money to pick up 48 asylum-seekers from Texas and dump them, under false pretenses, on Martha's Vineyard.

Notes from the Cloakroom. Watch to the end; it's short:

Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Russia on Tuesday was pushing ahead with plans to annex occupied regions of Ukraine, as Moscow's puppet authorities set dates to stage referendums on joining Russia -- moves that could dramatically escalate the war. Officials in the self-declared statelets of Luhansk and Donetsk and in the occupied region of Kherson in south Ukraine announced 'referendums' to be held from Friday to Tuesday. Such votes, which are illegal under Ukrainian and international law, have been widely derided in advance by Western officials as a sham, and merely a precursor to the violation of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. After annexing the territories, Moscow would likely declare Ukrainian attacks on those areas to be assaults on Russia itself, analysts warned, a potential trigger for a general military mobilization or a dangerous escalation such as the use of a nuclear weapon against Ukraine."

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Trump Lawyers Say He Could Be Indicted. Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department and lawyers for Donald Trump filed separate proposals Monday for conducting an outside review of documents seized at the former president's Mar-a-Lago home, with key disagreements over how the process should work and Trump's team acknowledging that the criminal probe could lead to an indictment. Both sides referenced a 'draft plan' given to them by Judge Raymond J. Dearie, the newly appointed special master. Trump's lawyers expressed concern that Dearie posed questions about the documents that the judge who appointed Dearie has left unasked, arguing that Trump might be left at a legal disadvantage if he answered them at this stage of the process. Specifically, the legal team objected to what it said was Dearie's request that it 'disclose specific information regarding declassification to the Court and to the Government.'... Trump's lawyers wrote that they don't want Dearie to force Trump to 'fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment without such a requirement being evident in the District Court's order' -- a remarkable statement that acknowledges at least the possibility that the former president or his aides could be criminally charged."~~~

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Trump's team also raised concerns about Dearie's request for information about whether any subsequent Fourth Amendment litigation filed by Trump to reclaim the documents should be filed with the magistrate judge who authorized the search in the first place: Bruce Reinhart, who Trump has assailed without basis as biased against him."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A onetime White House lawyer under ... Donald J. Trump warned him late last year that Mr. Trump could face legal liability if he did not return government materials he had taken with him when he left office, three people familiar with the matter said. The lawyer, Eric Herschmann, sought to impress upon Mr. Trump the seriousness of the issue and the potential for investigations and legal exposure if he did not return the documents, particularly any classified material, the people said.... In January, not long after the discussion with Mr. Herschmann, Mr. Trump turned over to the National Archives 15 boxes of material he had taken with him from the White House.... But Mr. Trump continued to hold onto a considerable cache of other documents, including some with the highest security classification...."

Danny Hakim, et al., of the New York Times: "Newly released videos show allies of ... Donald J. Trump and contractors who were working on his behalf handling sensitive voting equipment in a rural Georgia county weeks after the 2020 election. The footage, which was made public as part of long-running litigation over Georgia's voting system, raises new questions about efforts by Trump affiliates in a number of swing states to gain access to and copy sensitive election software, with the help of friendly local election administrators. One such incident took place on Jan. 7 of last year, the day after supporters of Mr. Trump stormed the Capitol, when a small team traveled to rural Coffee County, Ga. The group included members of an Atlanta-based firm called SullivanStrickler, which had been hired by Sidney Powell, a lawyer advising Mr. Trump who is also a conspiracy theorist.... Investigators from [Georgia Secretary of State Brad] Raffensperger's office also appear in the new videos, raising questions about what they knew." ~~~

     ~~~ Uh, I Forgot. Jon Swaine & Emma Brown of the Washington Post: "Under questioning last month for a civil lawsuit, a former Georgia Republican Party official named Cathy Latham said in sworn testimony..., 'I didn't go into the office.'... She said she had seen in passing a pro-Trump businessman who was working with the experts. She said they chatted for 'five minutes at most' -- she could not remember the topic -- and she left soon after for an early dinner with her husband. Surveillance video footage ... shows that Latham visited the elections office twice that day, staying for more than four hours in total. She greeted the businessman, Scott Hall, when he arrived and led him into a back area to meet the experts and local officials, the video shows. Over the course of the day, it shows, she moved in and out of an area where the experts from the data forensics firm, SullivanStrickler, were working.... She took a selfie with one of the forensics experts.... In response to questions from The Post, Latham's lawyers said, 'Failing to accurately remember the details of events from almost two years ago is not lying.'" Latham was a local GOP official. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Blacking out four hours of a big day in which everything you did broke the law, and "remembering" a fictional dinner, is lying.

Kelly Hooper of Politico: "A Minnesota District Court judge on Monday denied MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's motion to throw out a lawsuit brought by a voting technology company that claims he defamed it by pushing the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen. Smartmatic, a company that provided election technology and services to Los Angeles in the 2020 election, alleges in the complaint that both Lindell and MyPillow defamed the voting tech company by falsely promoting the theory that its machines had been hacked or rigged in favor of President Joe Biden."

Edith Lederer of the AP: "Warning that the world is in 'great peril,' the head of the United Nations says leaders meeting in person for the first time in three years must tackle conflicts and climate catastrophes, increasing poverty and inequality -- and address divisions among major powers that have gotten worse since Russia invaded Ukraine. In speeches and remarks leading up to the start of the leaders' meeting Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited the 'immense' task not only of saving the planet, 'which is literally on fire,' but of dealing with the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. He also pointed to 'a lack of access to finance for developing countries to recover -- a crisis not seen in a generation' that has seen ground lost for education, health and women's rights."

Haq Khan, et al., of the Washington Post: "American Mark Frerichs, a civilian contractor who was abducted in Kabul over two years ago, was freed in exchange for an Afghan detainee held in U.S. federal prison, U.S. and Afghan officials said Monday.... President Biden applauded the freeing of Frerichs, who U.S. officials said was now in U.S. care in Doha, Qatar.... U.S. officials said Frerichs's release capped months of negotiations between senior U.S. officials and the Taliban.... To obtain his freedom, the official said, the U.S. government released detainee Bashir Noorzai (also known as Haji Bashir Noorzai) -- a warlord and drug trafficker with ties to the Taliban -- who was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in federal prison after being lured to the United States and arrested in 2005." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

AP: "A U.S. law banning those under felony indictments from buying guns is unconstitutional, a federal judge in West Texas ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge David Counts, whom ... Donald Trump appointed to the federal bench, dismissed a federal indictment against Jose Gomez Quiroz that had charged him under the federal ban."

Beyond the Beltway

Edgar Sandoval & Eliza Fawcett of the New York Times: "A county sheriff in Texas announced on Monday that he had opened a criminal investigation into flights that took 48 migrants from a shelter in San Antonio to the island resort of Martha's Vineyard last week. Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, said that he had enlisted agents from his office's organized crime task force.... He said it was clear that many of the migrants had been misled and lured away from Texas to score political points.... 'They had a right to walk around the streets just like you and me, and they had a right not to be preyed on and played for a fool and transported halfway across the country, just for the sake of a media event or a video opportunity,' Sheriff Salazar, a Democrat, said. 'That's a tragedy.'" A CBS News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Gary Fineout of Politico: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended flying nearly 50 mostly Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Vineyard in part by saying that Florida lawmakers gave him $12 million for such transports. Yet the transports ... sparked ongoing questions about whether DeSantis had carried out the program as the Republican-controlled Legislature intended. Specifically, state Democrats and others are questioning whether the flights were legal since they originated in Texas and not Florida. According to the budget language, the $12 million DeSantis is using was specifically earmarked to 'facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state consistent with federal law.' The law also specified that the flights should be used to transport 'unauthorized aliens' -- but lawyers speaking on behalf of the migrants say many who were flown to Martha's Vineyard are seeking asylum, which puts them in a different category legally."

Maryland. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "In a remarkable reversal, Adnan Syed walked out of prison on Monday for the first time since he was a teenager, having spent 23 years fighting his conviction on charges that he murdered his former high school girlfriend, a case that was chronicled in the first season of the hit podcast 'Serial.' Judge Melissa M. Phinn of Baltimore City Circuit Court vacated the conviction "'in the interests of justice and fairness,' finding that prosecutors had failed to turn over evidence that could have helped Mr. Syed at trial and discovered new evidence that could have affected the outcome of his case. Prosecutors have 30 days to decide if they will proceed with a new trial or drop the charges against Mr. Syed, who was ordered to serve home detention until then." An NBC News story is here.

Puerto Rico. Laura Sánchez & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Hurricane Fiona deluged Puerto Rico with unrelenting rain and terrifying flash floods on Monday, forcing harrowing home rescues and making it difficult for power crews to reach many parts of the island. Now the island is once again in darkness, five years after Hurricane Maria inflicted more damage on Puerto Rico than any other disaster in recent history. While Fiona will be the direct culprit, Puerto Ricans will also blame years of power disruptions, the result of an agonizingly slow effort to finally give the island a stable grid."

Way Beyond

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 is here.

Marc Santora of the New York Times: "A powerful Russian missile exploded less than 900 feet from the reactors of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant early Monday, according to Ukrainian officials, a reminder that, despite battlefield setbacks, Russia can still threaten disaster at any of Ukraine's four active nuclear plants. The strike on Monday landed near the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, some 160 miles west of another nuclear complex that has been a focus of global concern, the Zaporizhzhia plant, where the United Nations sent a team of experts to stabilize the situation this month. Unlike the Zaporizhzhia plant, which sits in an active battlefield, the South Ukraine site is far from the frontline fighting, and the strike on Monday appeared to illustrate Russia's long reach, and the catastrophic potential of an attack on such a plant."

United Kingdom. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest on Monday after a majestic state funeral that drew tens of millions of Britons together in a vast expression of grief and gratitude, as they bade farewell to a sovereign whose seven-decade reign had spanned their lives and defined their times. It was the culmination of 10 days of mourning since the queen died on Sept. 8 in Scotland -- a highly choreographed series of rituals that fell amid a deepening economic crisis and a fraught political transition in Britain.... Tens of thousands of people lined the route of the cortege past the landmarks of London.... Thousands ... cheered, many strewing flowers in the path of her glass-topped hearse, as the queen's coffin was driven to Windsor Castle, where she was buried next to her husband, Prince Philip.... On Tuesday, Britain will return to wrestling with the gravest economic crisis in a generation." ~~~

News Lede

AP: "A strengthening Hurricane Fiona barreled toward the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as it threatened to strengthen into a Category 3 storm, prompting the government to impose a curfew. Forecasters said Fiona could become a major hurricane late Monday or on Tuesday, when it was expected to pass near the British territory."

September 19, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Haq Khan, et al., of the Washington Post: "American Mark Frerichs, a civilian contractor who was abducted in Kabul over two years ago, was freed in exchange for an Afghan detainee held in U.S. federal prison, U.S. and Afghan officials said Monday.... President Biden applauded the freeing of Frerichs, who U.S. officials said was now in U.S. care in Doha, Qatar.... U.S. officials said Frerichs's release capped months of negotiations between senior U.S. officials and the Taliban.... To obtain his freedom, the official said, the U.S. government released detainee Bashir Noorzai (also known as Haji Bashir Noorzai) -- a warlord and drug trafficker with ties to the Taliban -- who was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in federal prison after being lured to the United States and arrested in 2005."

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Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday evening that ... Donald J. Trump had been 'totally irresponsible' for keeping top-secret documents at his residence and private club in Florida, but he said he had not asked for specifics about the documents in order to stay out of the Justice Department's potential decision to charge Mr. Trump criminally.... Mr. Biden told [Scott] Pelley that he had not been briefed on the documents that F.B.I. agents seized last month during their search of Mr. Trump's home..., and that he had not spoken to anyone about what national security secrets might have been revealed by the documents' storage in Mr. Trump's home. He also reiterated that he had not been notified of the search ahead of time....

"In the interview, Mr. Biden expressed optimism over inflation, which hit a 40-year high this summer. The president stressed falling gasoline prices and focused on the monthly rate of price increases, which slowed in July and August, even though annual inflation continues to top 8 percent.... 'We still have a problem with Covid,' he said, according to a transcript provided by '60 Minutes.' 'We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.... Mr. Biden told Mr. Pelley that he had not made a 'firm decision' on whether to seek a second term in the White House, though he said it remained his intention. Asked whether, as the nation's oldest president, he was fit for the job, Mr. Biden replied, 'Watch me.'" A Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ CBS News: During the interview, President Biden said the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China attacked the island. "After the interview, a White House official said U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed. Officially, the U.S. maintains 'strategic ambiguity' on whether American forces would defend Taiwan, but the Taiwan Relations Act obligates the U.S. to help equip Taiwan to defend itself." ~~~

     ~~~ "60 Minutes"' transcript of the interview is here. Includes video.

Speaking of "Totally Irresponsible," Not to Mention, Totally Crazy. Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump appeared to more fully embrace QAnon on Saturday, playing a song at a political rally in Ohio that prompted attendees to respond with a salute in reference to the cultlike conspiracy theory's theme song. While speaking in Youngstown in support of J.D. Vance, whom he has endorsed as Ohio's Republican nominee for the Senate, Mr. Trump delivered a dark address about the decline of America over music that was all but identical to a song called 'Wwg1wga' -- an abbreviation for the QAnon slogan, 'Where we go one, we go all.' As Mr. Trump spoke, scores of people in the crowd raised fingers in the air in an apparent reference to the '1' in what they thought was the song's title.... What was once a flirtation with a movement that the F.B.I. has warned could increasingly turn violent now appears to be a full embrace.... Mr. Trump's speech in Ohio ... seemed intended to delegitimize officials in the F.B.I. and Justice Department.... 'We are a nation that has weaponized its law enforcement against the opposing political party like never ever before,' Mr. Trump told the crowd. 'We've got a Federal Bureau of Investigation that won't allow bad, election-changing facts to be presented to the public.'... Those complaints were followed by series of other false claims." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Last week, former SDNY prosecutor Geoffrey Berman revealed in a new book that Trump & Bill Barr had repeatedly attempted to get him to help Trump's political buddies & prosecute his political enemies. The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked the DOJ to investigate.

Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "... organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women's March [of January 2017]. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women's March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans." The article goes into detail about how the trolls operated, particularly on how they attacked one leader of the march movement, Linda Sarsour. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Ascent of the Crazy. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A dozen Republican candidates in competitive races for governor and Senate have declined to say whether they would accept the results of their contests, raising the prospect of fresh post-election chaos two years after Donald Trump refused to concede the presidency. In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark. While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond. On the Democratic side, 18 said they would accept the outcome and one did not respond to The Post's survey." A New York Times story is here.

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.

United Kingdom

The Guardian's live updates of event surrounding the funeral of Elizabeth II are here. The Guardian's schedule of events (BST) is here. The Order of Service for the state funeral is here. MB: This will probably be one of the best funeral services in the history of the world. I think I'll watch. ~~~

     ~~~ Although Guiseppe Verdi's funeral was pretty terrific:

     ~~~ Marie: Can't recall, but I may have embedded the Met's synchronized recording of "Va, pensiero," performed during the pandemic, because it's pretty amazing.

Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "An elaborate plan is set for Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral Monday, when a service will take place at London's Westminster Abbey before her coffin is buried at Windsor Castle. The proceedings will begin at 10:44 a.m. British Summer Time (5:44 a.m. Eastern), when the Royal Navy will hold a procession to transport the queen from Westminster Hall, where she is 'lying at rest,' to nearby Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth got married there in 1947 and was crowned there in 1953." The article provides info on where to watch. MB: A friend of mine watched a service honoring Elizabeth last week on C-SPAN, which the article doesn't mention. My friend said the C-SPAN feed provided some voice-over info on what-all was going on, but otherwise there was no talk. So if you want to watch without listening to the incessant blather of news anchors, you might try C-SPAN.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "With a framed photograph of Queen Elizabeth II perched to his right, President Biden on Sunday paid homage to a monarch he had twice declined to bow to on the advice of his mother, but one he had also admired. 'She was the same in person as her image: decent, honorable and all about service,' Mr. Biden said one day before the queen's funeral, after writing a message in the official book of condolences at Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace in London and attending a viewing of her coffin at Westminster Hall. 'It's a loss that leaves a giant hole.'" A related Guardian story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: “As the eye of Hurricane Fiona barreled west into the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico was left early Monday with a knocked-out energy grid, widespread flooding and continued heavy rains, with conditions remaining too dangerous for officials to assess the scope of the crisis. But it was immediately clear that the island would have a difficult recovery process, with as much as 30 inches of rain in some places."

New York Times: "Maximilian Lerner, an Austrian-born Jew who during World War II was among the many soldiers recruited to a secret military intelligence and psychological warfare training center, where they learned espionage and intelligence skills that helped the United States Army as it swept across Europe, died on Sept. 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 98.... Mr. Lerner was one of the last 30 or 40 of the so-called Ritchie Boys, a group named for the secret Army camp in Maryland that served as an intelligence training center during the war. An estimated 11,000 soldiers -- 2,000 to 3,000 of them European Jews, mostly from Germany -- graduated the full course from Camp Ritchie, where they learned to interrogate prisoners of war and civilians, interpret and translate for foreign officials, and read codes and ciphers."