June 5, 2023

Evening Update:

A Little Good News. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Donald Trump went to the Justice Department on Monday morning to make their case that the government should not charge the former president in connection with his possession of classified documents after leaving office, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump lawyers Lindsey Halligan, John Rowley and James Trusty spent about two hours at the Justice Department and left without speaking to reporters. They met with Justice Department personnel including special counsel Jack Smith and a senior career official, but not Attorney General Merrick Garland or Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, said people familiar with the matter.... While it is not uncommon in high-profile cases for defense lawyers to get such a meeting with Justice Department officials toward the end of an investigation, current and former officials say such presentations rarely change prosecutors' minds. Two Trump advisers ... said they are preparing for a potential indictment of the former president, and the meeting did not change their expectations." The CBS News report, which broke the story, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Devlin Barrett, one of the reporters on the above-linked story, said on MSNBC Monday night that it was his understanding that "the meeting did not go particularly well" for Trump's lawyers. Meanwhile, Andrew Weissmann, also appearing on MSNBC, said he expects an indictment in the documents case this week. Since it's likely that Weissmann, a former top federal prosecutor, has sources inside DOJ, so his opinion could be more than an educated guess.

Plan C: Let's Drain the Pool & Flood the Servers! Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "An employee at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence drained the resort's swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. While it's unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake, the incident occurred amid a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious. At least one witness has been asked by prosecutors about the flooded server room as part of the federal investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents, according to one of the sources.... Prosecutors have heard testimony that the IT equipment in the room was not damaged in the flood, according to one source.Yet the flooded room as well as conversations and actions by Trump's employees while the criminal investigation bore down on the club has caught the attention of prosecutors. The circumstances may factor into a possible obstruction conspiracy case, multiple sources tell CNN...." MB: These are not Ocean's 11.

Presidential Race 2024. In a Washington Post op-ed, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) explains why he is not running for president: "I believe I can have more influence on the future of the Republican Party and the 2024 nominating process not as a candidate but as the governor of the first-in-the-nation primary state.... If [Donald Trump] is the nominee, Republicans will lose again.... The microphone afforded to the governor of New Hampshire plays a critical role in an early nominating state. I plan to endorse, campaign and support the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November 2024." A CNN story is here.

Twitter Was Always Stupid. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared to endorse anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Democratic presidential nomination over the weekend. Dorsey retweeted a video of Kennedy saying he could beat former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who announced his bid for the White House on Twitter last month. Dorsey captioned the video with, 'He can and will.'" MB: It is not surprising that there's no transfer from technical acumen to political or philosophical intelligence, but many of these Silicon Valley guys seem to demonstrate that technical competence and critical thinking are mutually incompatible.

Caitlin Yilek, et al., of CBS News: "Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who was one of the most damaging spies in American history, was found dead in his prison cell Monday morning, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Hanssen, 79, was arrested in 2001 and pleaded guilty to selling highly classified material to the Soviet Union and later Russia. He was serving a life sentence at the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado.... Hanssen appears to have died of natural causes, according to two sources briefed on the matter."

Sarah Brumfield & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "The pilot of a business jet that flew over Washington and crashed in a remote part of Virginia appeared to be slumped over and unresponsive, three U.S. officials said Monday, recounting observations by fighter pilots who intercepted the wayward flight. The revelations came as federal investigators trudged through rugged terrain to reach the site where the plane slammed into a mountain Sunday, killing four people."

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Justin Moyer, et al., of the Washington Post: "Fighter jets from Joint Base Andrews were scrambled to intercept a private plane over Virginia on Sunday afternoon, causing a sonic boom that reverberated across the area, North American Aerospace Defense Command officials said. The jets were responding to a Cessna that crashed later in Southwest Virginia, NORAD said in a statement issued Sunday night. F-16 jets from Andrews were scrambled, and the Cessna was unresponsive when hailed by authorities. It is unclear why the Cessna did not respond or why it crashed later. Three people with knowledge of the event ... said the military did not shoot the plane down and there is no indication that the military caused the crash. The jets used flares to try to get the Cessna pilot's attention, NORAD said." ~~~

     ~~~ Natasha Bertrand & Haley Britzky of CNN: "No survivors were found at the crash site of a plane whose pilot was unresponsive as it flew near the Washington, DC, area Sunday, prompting military fighter jets to attempt to intercept the aircraft before it ultimately crashed, authorities say. First responders reached the site Sunday evening, about four hours after state and local authorities launched a ground and air search for the crashed aircraft, Virginia State Police said. State police said they have suspended their search and will identify the plane's passengers when the information becomes available."

Josh Dawsey & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The decision by ... Donald Trump's campaign to spend more than $1 million for two firms to study whether electoral fraud occurred in the 2020 election has become an increasing focus of federal and state investigators in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent days, the district attorney in Georgia's Fulton County has asked both firms to provide research and data as investigators intensify their probe into Trump's attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.... On the federal level, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is questioning witnesses about the companies' work and has obtained hundreds of pages of emails and research, two people familiar with the matter said.Both firms, Berkeley Research Group and Simpatico Software Systems, are said to be cooperating with the inquiries."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "When CNN reported on Wednesday night that special counsel Jack Smith has a recording of ... Donald Trump boasting at his Bedminster, N.J., club in 2021 that he had a highly classified multipage document relating to war plans against Iran, months of punditry that Trump would never be indicted went out the window.... This evidence effectively destroys whatever defense Trump was trying to concoct (he didn't know there were classified documents, he declassified them, he thought they were not classified).... News reports now indicate the federal grand jury hearing the documents case will meet this week. An indictment, if there is one, could come within days.... To make matters worse, reporting suggests there are other recordings of Trump that could further implicate him." MB: The more often I read and hear that an indictment is just around the corner, the less confident I am that the DOJ will ever charge Trump.

Julia Shapero of the Hill: "Several Republican presidential hopefuls slammed former President Trump for his comments praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, after the country received a seat on the World Health Organization's (WHO) executive board. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all criticized the former president, who offered his congratulations to Kim in a Truth Social post on Friday." Asa Hutchinson also criticized Trump for the birthday greetings. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2024. Marie: Okay, time to pick on the Missus. Digby republishes a big block of a wicked Daily Beast profile of Mrs. Rhonda Santis by Katie Baker. Blind ambition is never attractive, is it?

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "On Sunday night, [Nikki Haley] had a fresh opportunity to make the case for her candidacy during a 90-minute CNN town hall in prime time, in an effort to emerge from the low single digits in polls where she has been mired. Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump, was well versed on policy issues, consistently upbeat and evenly tempered. Although she drew contrasts with Mr. Trump, she dodged opportunities to make him -- or even President Biden -- into a political punching bag. At the end of the night, an audience member praised her demeanor as 'a breath of fresh air,' earning applause from the house full of Iowa Republicans. But that also meant that there were few shoot-out-the-lights moments...."

Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "Last week, in a video posted on Truth Social, [Donald Trump] rolled out his latest Big Idea: a yearlong, nationwide celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.... As campaign gimmicks go, Mr. Trump's proposed Salute to America 250, as he plans to name the related task force, is exquisitely on brand: an intoxicating blend of nostalgia, spectacle and performative patriotism -- with lots of sharp edges, of course. Even as Mr. Trump hawks the project as an opportunity for national uplift, he has woven in themes and language seemingly designed to provoke discord.... It is a sad commentary on our political climate that something as potentially unifying as a national birthday party comes loaded with divisive cultural baggage.... With Mr. Trump as the guiding spirit, any 1776 tribute seems destined to descend into a culture-war cage match."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Michael Sainato of the Guardian & Agencies: "A rights group has said 16 migrants had been 'lied to' and deceived after being transported from Texas to California and dropped off outside a church in Sacramento. The migrants from Venezuela and Columbia entered the US through Texas reported the Associated Press. They were flown to California from New Mexico via a private chartered plane, but it's unclear who paid for the travel. The California department of justice and California governor's office is currently investigating who paid for the travel and 'whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Shawn Hubler, et al., of the New York Times: State officials have accused "a contractor for a state-funded Florid program of transporting the group from outside a Texas migrant center under a false promise of jobs if the migrants agreed to be taken to California. 'We're confident it was Florida,' California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, said in an interview on Sunday, citing documents the migrants showed authorities upon their arrival that indicated their travel had been 'administered by the Florida Division of Emergency Management' and its contractor, Vertol Systems Company.... Vertol Systems was the company used for transport in the fall when Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida directed two planeloads of South American migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard.... On Sunday, Mr. Bonta ... vowed to aggressively pursue the possibility of criminal or civil charges for those involved in the transport, calling the action 'morally bankrupt.'... Mr. Bonta and [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, both Democrats, met with the migrants on Saturday, pledging to take care of them while they remained in the state." Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Rhonda Santis "frequently highlights his decision to send migrants to Martha's Vineyard."

California. Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "California property owners hoping to open new insurance policies are no longer able to do so with one of the nation's largest homeowner insurance companies. Allstate, the state's fourth-largest property and casualty insurance provider, has stopped selling new home, condominium or commercial insurance policies in California, the company said in an emailed statement. It is the latest insurance giant to say it will no longer offer coverage, citing worsening climate and higher building costs that have made it harder to do business in the nation's most-populous state. California's largest homeowner insurance provider, State Farm, made a similar decision last week, pointing to 'rapidly growing catastrophe exposure.' Allstate stopped accepting new policies in the state last year, according to the statement."

Florida. Thalia Beaty, et al., of the AP: "Debate surrounding Florida's new restrictions on gender-affirming care focused largely on transgender children. But a new law that Republican presidential candidate and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last month also made it difficult -- even impossible -- for many transgender adults to get treatment.... The new law that bans gender-affirming care for minors also mandates that adult patients seeking trans health care sign an informed consent form. It also requires a physician to oversee any health care related to transitioning, and for people to see that doctor in person. Those rules have proven particularly onerous because many people received care from nurse practitioners and used telehealth. Another new law that allows doctors and pharmacists to refuse to treat transgender people further limits their options."

Way Beyond

India. Sameer Yasir, et al., of the New York Times: "Officials intensified the investigation into the cause of the crash [of trains], saying that while they were looking into the malfunction of an electronic signaling system, they did not rule out human error -- or even sabotage.... What is known so far: A high-speed passenger train collided with a parked freight train around 7 p.m. Friday and derailed. Some of its cars slammed into another passenger train, leaving a sprawling tableau of twisted metal, crushed limbs and splattered blood.... The disaster cast a pall over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to modernize the country's infrastructure, which he has made central to his campaign for a third term. Mr. Modi's government has frequently publicized its investments in expanding infrastructure, but a recent official audit noted a glaring imbalance in the budgets. While India was drastically increasing overall spending, including for a fleet of new semi-high-speed trains, the amount it has invested in safety for the rest of the fleet of more than 13,000 trains was decreasing, the audit said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most "populists"/authoritarians are fake and flashy. So Modi plays out of the same, tired playbook. Fancy new trains rolling on dangerous old tracks might be more substantial than Donald Trump's fake year-long party, but both projects come from the same chapter of "The Dictator's Handbook," (which apparently someone read aloud to Trump).

Poland. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Warsaw on Sunday in a huge display of opposition to the governing party before an October general election, summoning memories of Poland's rejection of Communist Party rule decades before. The event, organized by the government's political rivals, sought to deprive Poland's deeply conservative Law and Justice party of its claims to the legacy of Solidarity, the trade union movement that led the struggle against a Communist system imposed by Moscow after World War II. Large protests also took place in Krakow, Szczecin and other big cities controlled by the opposition, which is strong in urban areas but struggles in the countryside."

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Russia thwarted a Ukrainian attack in the eastern Donetsk region, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said in a video published Monday by the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.... Ukraine reported 29 clashes in Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk on Monday and denied Russia's claim to have deterred an attack. Tensions remain high in Russia's western Belgorod region, where anti-Kremlin militias have carried out drone attacks and shelling in recent days, with the governor reporting a fresh attack overnight.... In Belgorod, a power facility caught fire after a drone attack, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Monday on Telegram. Earlier, opposition militias who had captured Russian troops had invited Gladkov for talks in exchange for the prisoners, but no meeting took place, they claimed.... A peace envoy from the Vatican [-- Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna --] traveled to Kyiv on Monday, tasked by Pope strong> Francis with listening to Ukrainian officials on how to formulate a lasting peace plan."

Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "Ukraine has cultivated a network of agents and sympathizers inside Russia working to carry out acts of sabotage against Russian targets and has begun providing them with drones to stage attacks, multiple people familiar with US intelligence on the matter told CNN. US officials believe these pro-Ukrainian agents inside Russia carried out a drone attack that targeted the Kremlin in early May by launching drones from within Russia rather than flying them from Ukraine into Moscow. It is not clear whether other drone attacks carried out in recent days -- including one targeting a residential neighborhood near Moscow and another strike on oil refineries in southern Russia == were also launched from inside Russia or conducted by this network of pro-Ukrainian operatives."

New Zealand. Natasha Frost of the New York Times: "Jacinda Ardern was awarded the title of dame on Monday for service to New Zealand, barely four months after ending her term as prime minister, during which she became the global face of a compassionate brand of liberal politics. The accolade -- Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit -- is the country's second highest and was granted as part of an annual tradition of awarding honors for the King's Birthday holiday. The honorees are usually chosen by the prime minister and approved by the British monarch, King Charles III, who is New Zealand's head of state."

June 4, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Julia Shapero of the Hill: "Several Republican presidential hopefuls slammed former President Trump for his comments praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, after the country received a seat on the World Health Organization's (WHO) executive board. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley Ron DeSantis all criticized the former president, who offered his congratulations to Kim in a Truth Social post on Friday." Asa Hutchinson also criticized Trump for the birthday greetings.

Michael Sainato of the Guardian & Agencies: "A rights group has said 16 migrants had been 'lied to' and deceived after being transported from Texas to California and dropped off outside a church in Sacramento. The migrants from Venezuela and Columbia entered the US through Texas reported the Associated Press. They were flown to California from New Mexico via a private chartered plane, but it's unclear who paid for the travel. The California department of justice and California governor's office is currently investigating who paid for the travel and 'whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.'"

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Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 into law on Saturday, ending for now the threat of economic calamity from a default on the nation's debt and putting limits on spending for two years. The White House issued a statement saying that Mr. Biden had signed the legislation, days after it was passed by the House and the Senate following weeks of sometimes bitter negotiations with Republicans. Mr. Biden's signature came just two days before the so-called X-date, when Janet L. Yellen, the Treasury secretary, had said the government would run out of cash to pay its debts. Economists had predicted that if it did so, the resulting collapse in faith in America's financial promises would cause economic instability around the world." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here.

Evan Perez & Jamie Gangel of CNN: "The US Secret Service implemented tougher disciplinary measures after preliminary findings from an internal investigation found agents missed an intruder at national security adviser Jake Sullivan's home in part because they were using their personal phones, people briefed on the matter said. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in recent days ordered increased penalties for employees who violate policies on duty, including the use of personal devices while on the job."

Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A New Hampshire man has been charged with threatening to kill a senator, allegedly telling investigators he was upset after seeing news reports of a lawmaker 'blocking military promotions.' Federal prosecutors announced Friday that Brian Landry, 66, was charged with threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a U.S. official in connection with the official's performance of official duties in connection with a voicemail he left last month for the unidentified senator.... About 200 defense-related promotions have been stalled in the Senate over Sen. Tommy Tuberville's opposition to a Pentagon policy that provides paid time off and travel expenses for service members and dependents seeking abortions." MB: I have such lovely neighbors. And let us just stipulate that Tommy Tuberville thinks it's a good idea to arm this guy, who describes himself as "a veteran sniper."

Laura Jarrett, et al., of NBC News: "The federal grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the Justice Department's investigation of ... Donald Trump's handling of classified documents is expected to meet again this coming week in Washington, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation. Prosecutors working for Special Counsel Jack Smith have been presenting the grand jury with evidence and witness testimony for months, but activity appeared to have slowed in recent weeks based on observations at the courthouse and sources. It's unclear whether prosecutors are prepared to seek an indictment at this point."

Presidential Race 2024. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... politicians and Republican Party officials tossed out the red meat on Saturday at an event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.... The event, called 'Roast and Ride' -- an annual motorcycle and barbecue-infused political rally sponsored by Iowa's junior Republican senator, Joni Ernst -- laid bare divisions in the party, with some attendees focusing on pocketbook issues and tone and others looking for a candidate who will take on Democrats on a social and cultural front. Saturday's gathering featured eight presidential hopefuls, prominent and obscure, declared and undeclared.... For the presidential hopefuls, winning over Iowa Republicans -- with their strong religious bent and tradition of political engagement -- is the imperative first step toward wresting the G.O.P. from the front-runner for the nomination, Donald J. Trump, the one major candidate who did not make the trip on Saturday."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Suppose if I told you that while the dear leader of the state was far, far away warning Iowa farmers of the dangers of child-bearing women, Black & brown people, gays, teachers, and mask-wearing germophobes (ai-yee, what about a mixed-race, pregnant, masked lesbian teacher!), giant blobs of flesh-eating beasties were attacking a state with the most coastline in the Continental U.S.A. You might call me a partisan, conspiracy-theorizing, science-fiction-spewing nutcase hack. But then suppose you found out I was telling the truth? ~~~

     ~~~ Make America Florida! Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "... giant clumps of [a] 13m-ton..., 5,000-mile wide blob of murky seaweed ... labeled the Great Atlantic sargassum belt are washing up on Florida's beaches, [and] scientists are warning of a real-life threat from the piles of decomposing algae, namely high levels of the flesh-eating Vibrio bacteria lurking in the vegetation. The alarming discovery by marine biologists at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) lends a dangerous new aspect to the brown seaweed onslaught, which is already threatening to spoil the state's busy summer tourism season as coatings of decaying goop exude a pungent aroma akin to that of rotting eggs. Even more worrying, the researchers say, is the role of ocean pollution in the proliferation of the bacteria, which can cause disease and death if a person gets infected.... The seaweed belt stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the African coast provided the perfect breeding ground for 'omnivorous' strains of the bacteria that target both plant and animal life...."

Tennessee. Caroline Anders of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has struck down a Tennessee law that banned drag shows in public or where children could watch them, writing that the unconstitutional measure was passed 'for the impermissible purpose of chilling constitutionally-protected speech.' In his ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote that the law violates First Amendment freedom of speech protections and was 'unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.'... Parker, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee by ... Donald Trump, had issued a preliminary injunction at the end of March to block the law from taking effect." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, signed a bill on Friday to ban hormone and puberty blocking treatments, as well as surgeries, for transgender minors. Set to go into effect on Sept. 1, the measure would make Texas the largest state to ban transition medical care for people under 18. The bill would prohibit a doctor from performing mastectomies or surgeries that would sterilize a minor or remove otherwise healthy tissue or body parts, and from prescribing drugs that would induce transient or permanent infertility.... There is a debate among medical professionals about the age at which adolescents should have access to these treatments. But leading medical groups in the United States, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, say this care should be available to minors and oppose legislative bans.... The law reflects an effort in Texas and in much of the country by Republican elected leaders to restrict transgender rights." MB: I'm grateful the Times had the fortitude to describe the law as Republicans restricting human rights & didn't try to couch it in some both-siderism light.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "A Russian attack in the Dnipro area of central-eastern Ukraine has killed a toddler and left at least 20 people injured, including five children, according to the regional governor. Rescuers searched overnight for survivors in the rubble of what was a two-story residential building.... Ukrainian air defenses successfully repelled a series of missiles aimed at Kyiv overnight, the head of the capital's military administration said on Telegram.... Ukraine is ready to launch its highly anticipated counteroffensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.... Air-raid shelters in Kyiv are being audited after residents were unable to enter some sites during overnight attacks on the capital last week. Nearly a quarter of the 4,800 shelters inspected Saturday were unusable or closed, the Ukrainian National Police Telegram page said, citing Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko.... Protests are planned in Russia and around the world Sunday in support of detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, marking his 47th birthday. Here's the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe." ~~~

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

News Lede

Washington Post: "Thomas Buergenthal, an international law jurist and human rights defender who witnessed the horrors of Nazi concentration camps as a boy, and oversaw cases that included restoring assets to Holocaust survivors and probing atrocities in Central America by U.S.-backed governments, died May 29 at his home in Miami. He was 89."

June 3, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 into law on Saturday, ending for now the threat of economic calamity from a default on the nation's debt and putting limits on spending for two years. The White House issued a statement saying that Mr. Biden had signed the legislation, days after it was passed by the House and the Senate following weeks of sometimes bitter negotiations with Republicans. Mr. Biden's signature came just two days before the so-called X-date, when Janet L. Yellen, the Treasury secretary, had said the government would run out of cash to pay its debts. Economists had predicted that if it did so, the resulting collapse in faith in America's financial promises would cause economic instability around the world."

Tennessee. Caroline Anders of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has struck down a Tennessee law that banned drag shows in public or where children could watch them, writing that the unconstitutional measure was passed 'for the impermissible purpose of chilling constitutionally-protected speech.' In his ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote that the law violates First Amendment freedom of speech protections and was 'unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.'... Parker, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee by ... Donald Trump, had issued a preliminary injunction at the end of March to block the law from taking effect."

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John Wagner & Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Friday expansively praised the rocky, 11th-hour passage of legislation to suspend the debt ceiling, cut federal spending and avoid a government default, claiming victory for the bipartisan philosophy that is likely to be central to his reelection argument. Speaking from the Oval Office in a 13-minute address, Biden said the nation had narrowly avoided economic catastrophe and that the wide-ranging agenda he had pushed through during his first two years in office would not be derailed.... [Despite touting the bipartisanship demonstrated during negotiations,] it was not all bipartisan comity. Biden's remarks also provided an opening version of the tougher side of his campaign message, including an emphasis on making the wealthy pay more in taxes and a denunciation of those he depicted as radicals on the other side.... Biden said he would sign the bill Saturday, after the House and Senate complete the technical actions needed to send the legislation to his desk."

How Joe Biden & Shalanda Young Owned the Rebs. Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "In pursuit of an agreement, the Biden team was willing to give Republicans victory after victory on political talking points, which they realized [Kevin] McCarthy needed to sell the bill to his conference. They let Mr. McCarthy's team claim in the end that the deal included deep spending cuts, huge clawbacks of unspent federal coronavirus relief money and stringent work requirements for recipients of federal aid. But in the details of the text and the many side deals that accompanied it, the Biden team wanted to win on substance. With one large exception -- a $20 billion cut in enforcement funding for the Internal Revenue Service -- they believe they did. The way administration officials see it, the full final agreement's spending cuts are nothing worse than they would have expected in regular appropriations bills passed by a divided Congress." Read on.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Work requirements for federal assistance programs do not, well, work.... But Republicans still want them, so much so that they threatened to crash the global economy to get them. Why? The obvious answer is that work requirements are an effective way to cut programs without actually cutting them. With a little extra paperwork and another layer of bureaucracy, states can keep thousands of people who qualify from getting access to benefits. Does any of this save money? Not really. It cost states tens of millions of dollars to institute work requirements... For [Republicans]..., the state of the real economy is less important than that of the moral economy, which is to say the conservative vision of the proper order for the distribution of rights and privileges in society." (Also linked yesterday.)

Chris D'Angelo of the Huffington Post: "President Joe Biden's administration on Friday ordered a 20-year ban on new drilling and mining around New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, a high-desert landscape rich in Indigenous cultural sites. The action applies to all federally managed lands within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, but does not affect existing oil and gas leases or any mineral development on private, state or tribal lands. Biden first moved to protect the area in November 2021.... First established as a national monument in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt, Chaco Culture National Historical Park spans more than 30,000 acres of northwestern New Mexico, and it is home to some of the most significant Ancestral Puebloan cultural sites in the U.S. The landscape is sacred to Native American tribes that for years have sought more permanent protections for the surrounding area, where oil and gas development has surged in recent decades."

Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the United States, has officially been renamed Fort Liberty, following a ceremony Friday. The North Carolina post's new name is part of a congressionally mandated plan to rename military bases, ships and streets that previously honored Confederate leaders. The plan is the culmination of a years-long effort that intensified in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and the reckoning it brought over the nation's history of racism. A panel established by Congress recommended the Army rename nine installations that honored Confederate military officers."

Miss Margie Has Second Thoughts Because Lefties. Jared Gans of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has changed her position on the public release of the tapes documenting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, warning Friday that their release could 'put the security of the Capitol at risk.'... She said she is concerned about left-wing groups that would use facial-recognition technology to identify those seen in the videos to 'hand them over' to the FBI and Justice Department.... Greene has previously called for the public release of the tapes so 'everyone knows what did or didn't happen.' She announced Wednesday that that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) planned to release the tapes to three outlets that would receive 'unfettered access.' She said two of the recipients of the tapes would be Just the News founder John Solomon, who interviewed Greene on Friday, and American Greatness senior writer Julie Kelly."

Jeremy Herb & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department has closed its investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents found at former Vice President Mike Pence's home and will not bring any charges, according to a letter from the DOJ obtained by CNN.... In January, Pence's attorney found about a dozen documents marked classified in Pence's Indiana home after the former vice president asked his lawyer to search his records following the disclosure of classified documents in Joe Biden's possession in Delaware. Pence turned over the classified records to the FBI following their discovery, and the FBI and Justice Department's National Security Division launched a review of how they ended up at Pence's home. Pence has said that he had been unaware the documents were at his home but said that 'mistakes were made' and took responsibility for it. The Justice Department is still investigating the handling of classified records by Trump and Biden. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel in each investigation, citing the fact that they are candidates for president." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Friday argued he should be cleared of wrongdoing for his handling of classified documents after the Justice Department said it would not bring charges against former Vice President Mike Pence on the issue, despite vast differences in their cases. 'Just announced that they are not going to bring charges against Mike Pence on the document hoax,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'That's great, but when am I going to be fully exonerated, I'm at least as innocent as he is.'"

Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "A recording like the voice memo [Donald Trump's attorney Evan] Corcoran made last year -- during a long drive to a family event ... -- is typically shielded by attorney-client or work-product privilege. But in March, a federal judge ordered Mr. Corcoran's recorded recollections -- now transcribed onto dozens of pages -- to be given to the office of the special counsel Jack Smith.... The decision by the judge, Beryl A. Howell..., set aside [those protections] under what is known as the crime-fraud exception, a provision that allows prosecutors to work around attorney-client privilege if they have reason to believe that legal advice or legal services were used in furthering a crime. Judge Howell, in a sealed memorandum that accompanied her decision, made clear that prosecutors believe Mr. Trump knowingly misled Mr. Corcoran about the location of documents that would be responsive to the subpoena.... Mr. Corcoran's notes, which have not been previously described in such detail, will likely play a central role as Mr. Smith and his team move toward concluding their investigation...."

Yeah, Trump Is Still Hiding Documents. Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "Attorneys for Donald Trump turned over material in mid-March in response to a federal subpoena related to a classified US military document described by the former president on tape in 2021 but were unable to find the document itself, two sources tell CNN. Prosecutors issued the subpoena shortly after asking a Trump aide before a federal grand jury about the audio recording of a July 2021 meeting at Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. On the recording, Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran.... The special counsel's office complained late last year to a federal judge that they couldn't be sure Trump had turned over all documents with classified markings in his possession, even after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last August, CNN previously reported. The dispute resulted in several sealed court proceedings where the prosecutors sought to hold Trump in contempt, but the judge declined at that time, and Trump's team hired two people to search his properties." The New York Times story, by Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "An Atlanta-area investigation of alleged election interference by former president Donald Trump and his allies has broadened to include activities in Washington, D.C., and several other states, according to two people with knowledge of the probe -- a fresh sign that prosecutors may be building a sprawling case under Georgia's racketeering laws. Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) launched an investigation more than two years ago to examine efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his narrow 2020 defeat in Georgia. Along the way, she has signaled publicly that she may use Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute to allege that these efforts amounted to a far-reaching criminal scheme. In recent days, Willis has sought information related to the Trump campaign hiring two firms to find voter fraud across the United States and then burying their findings when they did not find it, allegations that reach beyond Georgia's borders, said the two individuals.... At least one of the firms has been subpoenaed by Fulton County investigators." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Spencer Hsu & Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "Four Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy in a second trial following the conviction of leader Stewart Rhodes were sentenced to terms of 3 to 4½ years in prison this week for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack -- all far less than the 10- to 17-year terms sought by the government. Tattoo artist Roberto Minuta, 38; chiropractor Joseph Hackett, 52; neurophysiologist David Moerschel, 45, and Army veteran Edward Vallejo, 64, were convicted in January of multiple additional felony counts including conspiring to obstruct Congress's confirmation of the 2020 election results and actually obstructing the proceeding."

Daysia Tolentino & David Ingram of NBC News: "On Thursday, Twitter was roiled by an organized pressure campaign by conservative pundits seeking to promote a 95-minute anti-transgender video called 'What Is A Woman?' [Elon] Musk, who has staked out views hostile to transgender advocates, initially responded in ways that seemed to satisfy no one before he eventually relented and agreed to promote the video himself. The incident resulted in two high-level departures within 24 hours. The episode was another window into Musk's improvisational approach to rewriting Twitter's rules. The chief of Twitter's trust and safety division, Ella Irwin, left the company that same day, after a tenure leading its efforts around content moderation. A second executive, A.J. Brown, whose job was to reassure advertisers that Twitter was a safe place for their brands, also decided to quit, The Wall Street Journal reported. A third person, a program manager who worked on brand safety, said on her Twitter profile that she was now 'ex-Twitter.' Musk said in a tweet Friday that the departures were related to his decision to allow the conservative outlet The Daily Wire to post 'What Is A Woman?'"

YouTube Is Good with Trump Election Lies Again. Todd Spangler of Variety, republished by Yahoo! News: "On Dec. 9, 2020, YouTube enacted a ban on videos that falsely claimed then-President Trump won the U.S. presidential election. Since then, according to the platform, it has removed 'tens of thousands' of videos that violated the policy. As of June 2, 2023, YouTube has reversed that decision: The video giant announced that it 'will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections.'... The Google-owned service, in an unsigned blog post Friday, tried to explain [the reversal] this way: 'In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian reports on Tim Alberta's Atlantic profile of CNN CEO Chris Licht., which includes Licht's catastrophic airing of a Trump "town hall/rally." If you can access the Atlantic, Alberta's lengthy profile is here. According to Pengelly, the profile is brutal: "Bill Grueskin, a Columbia Journalism School professor, said: 'It wouldn't be fair to say a trained seal could do a better job running CNN than Chris Licht. It's just that, after reading this piece, it feels like we should give the trained seal a shot.'"

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times recalls the old Washington Times-Herald's "Inquiring Camera Girl," Jacqueline Bouvier.

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Gus Garcia-Roberts of the Washington Post: "Churchill Downs, one of the most famous horse racing tracks in the world and the home of the Kentucky Derby, announced Friday it is suspending racing following 12 horse deaths, including seven in the run-up to the sport's premier race last month. The decision followed a recommendation by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the newly installed watchdog overseeing thoroughbred racing, which said time was needed to investigate the spate of horse deaths that marred the Kentucky Derby and have persisted since. The suspension is a historic move for the fabled, 148-year-old track and signals a potential sea change in the regulation of horse racing. HISA, created by a federal act in 2020, was fully implemented late last month." CNN's story is here.

Utah. Bible Gets the Heckler-Veto Treatment. Logan Stefanich of KSL Salt Lake City: "The Bible has been removed from all elementary and middle school libraries throughout the Davis School District after someone challenged its contents. A committee tasked with reviewing books that fall under review for sexual content last week determined that the Bible will be retained at district high schools, but removed from all elementary and middle schools, Christopher Williams, Davis School District's director of communication, told KSL.com. In lieu of the initial ruling -- which came last week -- a new appeal to the ruling was filed Wednesday, asking for the district to retain the Bible in all district schools, meaning the religious book will again be reviewed by a committee."

Way Beyond

Haiti. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida sentenced businessman and former drug trafficker with Haitian and Chilean citizenship to life in prison on Friday for his role in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti. Rodolphe Jaar is the first person to be convicted and sentenced in what federal prosecutors have described as a sprawling conspiracy to murder the Haitian leader and seize power, aided by Haitian officials, Colombian mercenaries and illegal arms shipments from the United States. The killing unraveled the already fragile Haitian government, giving rise to lawlessness and extreme violence as gangs have stepped into the power vacuum."

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

News Lede

Guardian: "... on Friday evening the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata in West Bengal to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, [India,] collided with a freight train in the eastern state of Odisha. The freight train in turn derailed some carriages of the Howrah Superfast Express train, which was travelling in the opposite direction. As of Saturday morning, the death toll stood at 280, with 900 more injured, but the authorities said it was likely to rise as rescue efforts continued with thousands deployed to the scene to help. Rescue dogs and metal cutters were used to try to locate and reach those trapped in the mangled carriages."