March 18, 2023
Morning Update:
Putin Thumbs His Nose at the ICC. AP: "Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine on Saturday, the day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader accusing him of war crimes. Putin visited an art school and a children's center that are part of a project to develop a historical park on the site of an ancient Greek colony, Russian state news agencies said. The ICC accused him Friday of bearing personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion of the neighboring country that started almost 13 months ago."
Minnyvonne Burke & Julie Tsirkin of NBC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several MAGA Republicans rallied around Donald Trump on Saturday ahead of the former president's possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.... 'Here we go again -- an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,' McCarthy wrote in a tweet. 'I'm directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,' McCarthy added." MB: You know, Kevin, that sounds to me an awful lot like jury tampering, jury-pool tampering and attempting to impede the course of justice. But I'm not a lawyer.
** Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump said Saturday [in a fake Twitter post that] he expects to be arrested in connection with the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney next week and called for protests as a result. In a social media post on Saturday, Trump, referring to himself, said the 'leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.... Protest, take our nation back,' he wrote.... Trump's US Secret Service detail would deliver him to the Manhattan district attorney's office for fingerprinting and then taking mugshots in offices of the district attorney's detective squad. As is customary in cases where a defendant is allowed to voluntarily surrender, after arrest processing, the former president would be brought directly to an arraignment before a judge where he would likely be released on his own recognizance." This is a developing story at 9 am ET. MB: As usual, Trump behaves in a dangerous & completely irresponsible. As Rep. Maxine Waters said on MSNBC, "it's almost as if he is organizing domestic terrorists to protest his arrest." Andrew Weissmann, also appearing on MSNBC, noted that Trump did not urge his fans to protest "peacefully" and that the "take out nation back" language is particularly provocative. ~~~
~~~ According to MSNBC, the Manhattan D.A.'s office or other officials have not formally notified Trump of his impending arrest, and Trump has made his remarks based on leaks (or as Trump put it, "ILLEGAL LEAKS") & public reporting. Garrett Haake of NBC News says Trump is trying to scoop his own arrest. ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump made the declaration on Truth Social at 7:26. a.m., in a post written in all capital letters.... There was no immediate indication as to why the former president appeared confident that he would be arrested Tuesday. People with knowledge of the matter have said that at least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury.... Three people close to Mr. Trump said that the former president's team had no specific knowledge about when an indictment might come or when an arrest could be anticipated. One of those people ... said that Mr. Trump's advisers' best guess was that it could happen around Tuesday, and that someone may have relayed that to him, but that they also had made clear to one another that they didn't know a specific time frame.... Mr. Trump's post urging his supporters to 'PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!' carried unmistakable echoes of the incendiary messages he posted online in the weeks before the attack on the Capitol."
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A Pocketful of Shamrocks. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Friday evening, [President] Biden hosted a shamrock presentation and reception at the White House for ... Leo Varadkar, Ireland's prime minister, or taoiseach and others..., capping a day celebrating the Irish.... Mr. Biden is only the second Irish Catholic to occupy the White House, after John F. Kennedy.... But the current president may be the most unabashedly proud of his Irish roots, saying often that he got his 'Irish values' from his mother, who told him to treat people with respect and dignity.... He has also been an ardent supporter of the efforts to secure peace in Northern Ireland. The treaty that created the framework for that peace, known as the Good Friday Agreement, turns 25 years old this year and will serve as the reason for Mr. Biden's first visit to Ireland as president in April.... The president was introduced at the luncheon by its host, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, another Irish American politician and Mr. Biden's chief adversary in Washington...." More on Kevin's St. Patrick's Day blarney linked below.
Today in Trumpy Fraud News
Jared Gans of the Hill: "An attorney for Donald Trump says the former president would not refuse to surrender to authorities if he is indicted in the Manhattan district attorney's probe into a hush-money deal from his 2016 presidential run. 'There won't be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA's office,' Joe Tacopina told The New York Daily News." MB: Sounds like an effort to preempt a traditional perp walk, which -- to my great disappointment -- is unlikely to occur.
Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has at least partially granted a request from U.S. prosecutors to force an attorney for Donald Trump to testify before a grand jury about the former president's possession of classified documents after leaving office, according to two people briefed on the decision. The lawyer, Evan Corcoran, had refused to answer investigators' questions about his interactions with Trump, invoking attorney-client privilege.... U.S. prosecutors argued that there are exceptions to the privilege, including when there is evidence that a client used the attorney's legal services in furtherance of a crime. In secret court filings and a hearing held behind closed doors last week, people familiar with the matter said, prosecutors sought to show Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington that there were grounds for a 'crime-fraud exception.' Howell agreed.... Trump's team is expected to ask incoming Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who succeeds the term-limited Howell as of midnight Saturday, to stay her order while they appeal, the people familiar with the matter said." CNN's report is here. The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Thief-in-Chief. (Allegedly)!) Jacqueline Alemany & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Federal officials cannot find two gifts received by ... Donald Trump and his family from foreign nations, including a life-size painting of Trump from the president of El Salvador and golf clubs from the Japanese prime minister, according to a new report from House Democrats. The gifts are among more than 100 foreign gifts -- with a total value of nearly $300,000 -- that Trump and his family failed to report to the State Department in violation of federal law, according to the report, which cites government records and emails. The 15-page report, a result of a year-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee..., revealed that the Trump family did not disclose dozens of gifts from countries that are not U.S. allies or have a complicated relationship with Washington. That includes 16 gifts from Saudi Arabia..., 17 gifts from India..., and at least five gifts from China. Trump reported zero gifts entirely the final year of his presidency, according to the report....
"Trump repeatedly told advisers that gifts given to him during the presidency were his and did not belong to the federal government, former chief of staff John F. Kelly and other aides have previously told The Washington Post.... Any gifts to the Trump family that were not memorialized in written communications by administration officials could still be outstanding. Republicans did not appear to participate in the investigation, which began while Democrats controlled the House.... The report also raises concerns about whether the unreported gifts may have been used by foreign governments to influence U.S. policy positions toward those countries." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times report, which adds other details, is here. CNN's report is here.
Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "When Donald Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, in a now-infamous bid to overturn the 2020 election, he alleged that thousands of dead people had voted in the state.... But a report commissioned by his own campaign dated one day prior told a different story: Researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' of only nine dead voters in Fulton County, defined as ballots that may have been cast by someone else in the name of a deceased person. They believed there was a 'potential statewide exposure' of 23 such votes across the Peach State -- or 4,977 fewer than the 'minimum' [5,000 dead voters] Trump claimed. In a separate failed bid to overturn the results in Nevada, Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that 1,506 ballots were cast in the names of dead people and 42,284 voted twice. The researchers paid by Trump's team had 'high confidence' that 12 ballots were cast in the names of deceased people in Clark County, Nev., and believed the 'high end potential exposure' was 20 voters statewide -- some 1,486 fewer than Trump's lawyers said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jonathan Dienst of NBC News: "Local, state and federal law enforcement and security agencies are preparing for the possibility that ... Donald Trump will be indicted as early as next week, according to five senior officials familiar with the preparations. Law enforcement agencies are conducting preliminary security assessments, the officials said, and are discussing potential security plans in and around the Manhattan Criminal Court, at 100 Centre Street, in case Trump is charged in connection with an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and travels to New York to face any charges." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
BUT Look for the Silver Lining. For all the bad news showered upon the former Dear Leader, the Googles come to the rescue, offering a ray of sunshine on a dark, gloomy day: ~~~
~~~ Nico Grantof the New York Times: "YouTube suspended ... Donald J. Trump's account on the platform six days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The video platform said it was concerned that Mr. Trump's lies about the 2020 election could lead to more real-world violence. YouTube, which is owned by Google, reversed that decision on Friday, permitting Mr. Trump to once again upload videos to the popular site. The move came after similar decisions by Twitter and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram." The ABC News story is here.
Trump Goes Full Pogo. The greatest threat to Western Civilization today is not Russia. It's probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible, U.S.A.-hating people that represent us. -- Donald Trump, in a video posted Thursday on Fake Twitter, seeking to regain his status as top Putin spokesman in the U.S. ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC comments on the full three-and-a-half-minute video: "As visions go, this is more a weird and paranoid rant than the basis for a major party presidential platform. In fact, if one were to read the transcript..., a typical person might think it was an unhinged tirade from some random person with a YouTube channel that has four followers.... As a practical matter, it's likely that Vladimir Putin will celebrate the clip and prepare new efforts to help return the former American president to the White House in order to advance the kind of agenda Moscow desperately wants to see."
Justine McDaniel & Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "U.S. Capitol Police only learned from the media that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had provided access to security footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to television personality Tucker Carlson, and the police then were shown just one of about 40 clips before Carlson aired them earlier this month, the police department's lawyer said in an affidavit Friday. The police had asked House Republicans to let them review every clip that would be made public for security reasons, Capitol Police general counsel Thomas DiBiase said in the six-page declaration. But DiBiase said he only viewed a single clip.... On Feb. 28, McCarthy told reporters that he had been consulting with U.S. Capitol Police about the release of the footage. Carlson said on air that 'before airing any of this video, we checked first with the Capitol Police. We're happy to say their reservations were minor and for the most part, they were reasonable.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Following his SOP to deflect and/or deny, “At the Capitol on Friday, McCarthy said he had not read the police department's court filing and he instead reiterated his past claims that House GOP officials worked with the Capitol Police to determine which video clips were sensitive to security issues...." ~~~
~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read DiBiase's declaration here.
Casey Gannon of of CNN: "A US Air Force veteran who entered the Senate chambers in military gear during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison. Larry Brock, 55, was found guilty on six charges, including the felony of obstruction of an official proceeding, during a bench trial in November 2022. 'It's really pretty astounding coming from a former high-ranked military officer. It's astounding and atrocious,' US District Judge John Bates said Friday as he explained his sentence."
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Hunter Biden has filed a sweeping countersuit against the computer repair shop owner who said that Biden dropped his laptop off and never claimed it, a legal action that escalates the battle over how provocative data and images of the president's son were obtained nearly five years ago. In the counterclaim, filed on Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Delaware, Biden and his attorneys say that John Paul Mac Isaac had no legal right to copy and distribute private information. They accuse him and others of six counts of invasion of privacy, including conspiracy to obtain and distribute the data.... The move is a response to a suit filed by Mac Isaac himself last year and amended several times since, alleging that Hunter Biden defamed him by saying he had illegally accessed the data -- when in fact, Mac Isaac contends, the laptop became his property when it was abandoned in his shop." Read on. The part at the end concerning Keith Ablow -- Hunter Biden's psychiatrist, who also was a friend of Steve Bannon's -- strikes me as, um, significant, considering that Bannon was one of the people who allegedly was passing around data from the laptop. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's story is here.
Michelle Chapman of the AP: "The parent of Silicon Valley Bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a week after the tech-focused bank failed and was seized by the U.S. government. The filing from SVB Financial Group on Friday is not a surprise, with much of the company now under the control of U.S. banking regulators." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2024. Dan Christensen of the Florida Bulldog (March 13): "A second ex-Guantanamo detainee has stepped forward to say that Gov. Ron DeSantis, while a U.S. Navy JAG officer in 2006, watched and allowed the brutal forced feedings of detainees that U.N. human rights authorities, an international physician's group and others have condemned as a form of torture. In January, Florida Bulldog reported ex-prisoner Mansoor Adayfi's account of being force-fed via a painful nasal tube inserted down his throat by Gitmo authorities.... According to Adayfi, DeSantis, a Navy lawyer who told Guantanamo detainees he was there to make sure they were treated humanely, watched in amusement on more than one occasion as he was strapped to a 'feeding chair' and cans of Ensure were poured into him as he screamed. Now, Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz, known in Guantanamo as detainee #757 during his 13-year internment there without charges, has told Florida Bulldog he repeatedly witnessed DeSantis and 'the feeding people' entering cell blocks where 'barbaric' force feedings were taking place." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Somehow, somehow I think Ron's cruelty toward prisoners he was supposed to protect helps explain why, years later, he eats chocolate pudding with his fingers.
Beyond the Beltway
Marie: Looks like Friday was Hate Crime Day in Right Wing World. Unfortunately, the hate crime bill proposed, passed or signed into law were not against hate crimes, but were in and of themselves hate crimes -- against Blacks, young girls, transgender people, all women of child-bearing age & men who might impregnate them.
Florida. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "... one [Florida] GOP lawmaker acknowledged this week that his proposed sexual health bill would ban girls from talking about their menstrual cycles in school.... House Bill 1069 [-- proposed by state Rep. Stan McClain --] would also require that instruction on sexual health, such as health education, sexually transmitted diseases and human sexuality, 'only occur in grades 6 through 12,' which prompted [state Rep. Ashley] Gantt [D] to ask whether the proposed legislation would prohibit young girls from talking about their periods in school when they first start having them.... McClain responded, 'It would.'... The bill ended up passing [in committee], 13-5, on Wednesday in a party-line vote...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So what is the school nurse supposed to do when a 10-year-old girl comes to her, terrified that she is bleeding and having no idea why? (Add to this that the little girl may be in pain.) Under this law, I guess the nurse is supposed to respond, "Well, ain't that something." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. For No Apparent Reason, Kids, a Bus Driver Told a Lady to Move to a Different Seat. Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "Now, the state is reviewing curriculum in what is perhaps the most contentious subject in education: social studies.... A prominent conservative education group, whose members volunteered to review textbooks, objected to a slew of them, accusing publishers of 'promoting their bias.'... The Florida Citizens Alliance, a conservative group, has urged the state to reject 28 of the 38 textbooks that its volunteers reviewed, including more than a dozen by McGraw Hill, a major national publisher.... In an attempt to cater to Florida, at least one publisher [-- Studies Weekly --] made significant changes to its materials, walking back or omitting references to race, even in its telling of the Rosa Parks story.... In the current lesson on Rosa Parks, segregation is clearly explained: 'The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.' But in the initial version created for the textbook review, race is mentioned indirectly. 'She was told to move to a different seat because of the color of her skin,' the lesson said. In the updated version, race is not mentioned at all. 'She was told to move to a different seat,' the lesson said, without an explanation of segregation."
Kentucky. Andrea Sacedo of the Washington Post: "In a matter of hours on Thursday, Republican legislators in Kentucky passed an anti-transgender bill that would allow teachers to misgender their students and bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth in what advocates called the latest among a string of GOP-pushed anti-transgender legislation. The new bill not only forbids trans youth from receiving gender-affirming care, a practice that professional medical associations have deemed safe and effective for children with gender dysphoria, but takes it a step further by mandating doctors set a timeline to de-transition children already taking puberty blockers or undergoing hormone therapy. Under the bill, teachers would not be allowed to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age. School districts would also be required to craft policies that forbid transgender students from using the restroom tied to their gender identities.... [Kentucky's House passed a similar bill.] Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who is running for reelection this year, now has 10 days to either veto or sign Senate Bill 150 into law. Even if he did veto it, Kentucky's legislature would be able to override his decision."
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of tax evasion and was ordered to pay nearly $38,000 in restitution. Derek Chauvin entered the plea before a Washington County, Minn., judge Friday morning. The ex-officer appeared via video from a federal prison in Tucson, where he is serving a 22-½ year sentence for Floyd's murder and a 20-year sentence for violating the man's federal civil rights. The sentences are running concurrently. Chauvin and his now ex-wife, Kellie Chauvin, were charged in July 2020 on multiple counts of underreporting and failing to pay Minnesota state taxes. The couple was accused of underreporting more than $464,000 in joint income between 2014 and 2019 -- including at least $95,000 Chauvin allegedly earned while working as an off-duty security guard.... Last month, Kellie Chauvin pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion as part of a plea deal, telling the judge she had relied on her husband to manage their finances and file taxes." She too will have to pay about $38,000 in restitution. The AP's report is here.
Wyoming. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) late Friday signed into law a ban on abortion pills, as the state adopted what appears to be the nation's first such state law. The new law says that it will be 'unlawful to prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.' The law includes penalties of up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to $9,000. But it exempts people who take abortion pills from criminal liability. It also allows drugs to be used in case they are needed to treat 'natural miscarriages.'"
Way Beyond
France. Quel Désastre! Silvie Corbet & Barbara Surk of the AP: "Protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change maintained their resolve to get the government to back down. Striking sanitation workers blocked a waste collection plant that is home to Europe's largest incinerator to underline their determination, and university students walked out of lecture halls to join the strikes. Leaders of the influential CGT union called on people to leave schools, factories, refineries and other work places." (Also linked yesterday.)
Turkey, Finland, Sweden. Emily Rauhala & Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "On Friday..., Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... announced that Finland's [NATO] membership request was being sent to Turkey's parliament for ratification, paving the way for the alliance to grow. But Erdogan will not sign off on Sweden's bid without additional steps.... At a joint news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Friday in Ankara, Turkey's capital, Erdogan credited Finland with taking 'sincere and concrete steps' to fulfill security commitments it made to Turkey nearly a year ago at a NATO summit in Madrid.... Erdogan said ... that talks with Sweden would 'continue on the basis of the principles of our alliance and our approach to the fight against terrorism.'" The AP's story is here.
Ukraine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Biden said the International Criminal Court was 'justified' in issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has 'clearly committed war crimes.'... While the warrant is unlikely to land Putin or commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in court, it could make it difficult for them to travel to countries that cooperate with the Hague-based tribunal, which include several of Russia's neighbors.... The United States said it would oppose any cease-fire proposal that could emerge from talks between the Chinese and Russian leaders. 'A cease-fire now is, again, effectively the ratification of Russian conquest,' White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday, according to the Associated Press.... Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials held a video call to discuss the battleground situation and U.S. support, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.... A group of European Union countries will sign an agreement Monday to buy artillery rounds for Ukraine, Reuters reported...."
Mike Corner & Raf Casert of the AP: "The International Criminal Court said Friday that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The ICC said in a statement that Putin 'is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marlise Simons, et al., of the New York Times: "Here's a closer look at the court, the warrant and what it could mean for Russia's leader.... The court says that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.... The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who has been the public face of a Kremlin-sponsored program in which Ukrainian children and teenagers have been taken to Russia.... Many democracies joined the International Criminal Court, including close American allies like Britain. But the United States has long kept its distance, fearing that the court might one day seek to prosecute American officials, and Russia is also not a member. The Biden administration has been engaged in an internal dispute over whether to provide the court with evidence gathered by the U.S. intelligence community about Russian war crimes."
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