The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Tuesday
Jun042024

The Conversation -- June 5, 2024

** Georgia Court Halts Election Interference Case. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday stayed the criminal election interference case against ... Donald J. Trump until an appellate panel could resolve the matter of whether the district attorney in Fulton County should be disqualified from prosecuting the case based on a conflict of interest. In a one-page order, the court stated that any movement at the trial-court level pertaining to Mr. Trump and eight other defendants who have appealed a ruling allowing the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis, to remain on the case was 'stayed pending the outcome of these appeals.' Earlier this week, the appellate court set a tentative date for oral argument of Oct. 4. Legal experts expect the appeals will take months to resolve."

Nicholas Liu of Salon: "GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, placating Donald Trump and the right-wing of his caucus, appointed Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, to fill two open slots on the House Intelligence Committee, granting MAGA loyalists regular access to sensitive, highly classified government material. The selection of Perry, who is the target of a federal investigation over his and Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election, has set off alarms even among Republican politicians who see him as spoiled goods. Five anonymous lawmakers who opposed Perry's appointment told Politico that he was 'all but ineligible,' especially in light of the lawmaker's efforts to block the FBI from probing his phone records. The Intelligence Committee has oversight over the FBI.... In 2022, a Department of Defense investigation found that [Jackson] had gotten regularly drunk and abused subordinates during his service as rear admiral. Although the Navy demoted him to captain, Jackson continues to refer to himself as an admiral on his official bio." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These two jokers could not get security clear to be night watchmen at a landfill. They are walking national security risks who should never be given access to U.S. and our allies' secrets. Our intel agencies do require oversight. But the decision-makers inside those agencies likely are smart enough not to cooperate with subversives like Perry and Jackson.

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "lies about the F.B.I. being prepared to kill him during the search of Mar-a-Lago took his attacks on the justice system and the rule of law to another level.... According to court papers, there was little drama as they hauled away a trove of boxes containing highly sensitive state secrets in three vans and a rented Ryder box truck.... Even though the court-authorized warrant was executed while he was more than 1,000 miles away in the New York area, the former president in recent weeks has repeatedly promoted the blatantly false narrative that the agents had shown up that day prepared to kill him, when the instructions in fact laid out strict conditions intended to minimize any use of deadly force.... Mr. Trump's warped version of the Mar-a-Lago search has also triggered a new legal battle between his lawyers and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith.... It remains unclear how Judge [Aileen] Cannon will rule on Mr. Smith's request [to rein in Mr. Trump]. In a prickly preliminary ruling, she temporarily rejected the move on procedural grounds last week. Mr. Smith then refiled his request to her after going through the necessary procedural steps. He repeated his assertion that Mr. Trump had lied and that 'the F.B.I. took extraordinary care to execute the search warrant unobtrusively and without needless confrontation.'... [Trump's] mischaracterizations provoked the ire of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who rarely inserts himself into the cases filed by Mr. Smith...."

     ~~~ Good News! The New York Times lets on on its online front page that Donald Trump is liar.

More Good News! Akhilleus has come up with some more run-out-the-clock topics for hearings in Judge Aileen's court. See today's Comments.

New York Times reporters are liveblogging developments in Hunter Biden's criminal trial in Delaware. NBC News live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "For nearly four years, Republicans have delved into the darkest corners of Hunter Biden's life, seeking to tie his troubles to his father, President Biden. But as the younger Biden stands trial in Delaware on gun charges, the case's glaring political contradictions have rendered the G.O.P. largely mute, from ... Donald J. Trump on down.... The baseless claim that the Biden Justice Department is running a political persecution of Mr. Trump is somewhat undermined by the department's prosecution of the president's son. It is also hard to make much of allegations that Hunter Biden lied about his drug use to purchase a handgun when your party is sponsoring legislation to ease gun-purchasing restrictions for veterans struggling with mental illness, not to mention the case before the Supreme Court that could allow domestic abusers to buy firearms.

Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's "successive explanations -- in a statement, an interview with Fox News and letters to Congress -- have raised additional questions, and in some cases conflicted with known facts. Alito has yet to fully explain some key aspects of the controversy.... Here are the major discrepancies in Alito's telling and what he still has not fully answered."

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone, a solvent in many products used by both consumers and workers, ranging from arts and crafts supplies to paint remover, that is linked to serious health effects. The chemical, also known as NMP, is used to make semiconductors and lithium ion batteries, and is also found in plastics, paints and consumer cleaning products. It has been found to cause miscarriages, reduced male fertility and damage to the liver, kidneys and immune and nervous systems. If finalized, the E.P.A.'s rule would ban some commercial uses of NMP, such as in automotive and cleaning products, and limit the concentration of NMP allowed in some consumer products, such as glue. It would also establish safeguards, including requirements for protective equipment, for workers exposed to NMP."

Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Boeing's Starliner spacecraft finally carried a pair of astronauts into orbit Wednesday, a key milestone in the company's troubled quest to provide NASA with a spacecraft capable of flying crews to the International Space Station. An Atlas V rocket, operated by the United Launch Alliance,a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, lifted off from its pad at 10:52 a.m., lighting up the sky of Florida's Space Coast in what was heralded as a triumphant beginning to a test of how the spacecraft operates with a crew on board."

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Tuesday Primary Results

The New York Times' liveblog of results is here. ~~~

Kellen Browning: "Tim Sheehy, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Montana on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, setting him up for a November showdown against Senator Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent." [He's the fake gun wound guy.]

Browning: "Montana also has a semi-competitive House race. Representative Ryan Zinke, a Republican, and Monica Tranel, a Democrat, will officially face off in November in a rematch of their 2022 contest, which Zinke won by 3 percentage points. Zinke is the favorite again, and the race is considered 'likely Republican."

Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Representative Andy Kim, a lawmaker who has turned New Jersey politics on its head since entering the race to unseat Senator Robert Menendez, won the Democratic nomination for Senate on Tuesday after a campaign marked by a watershed ballot-access ruling. The victory makes Mr. Kim, 41, a favorite to become New Jersey's next senator.... The results, announced by The Associated Press minutes after polls closed, capped a tumultuous campaign that began a day after Senator [Bob] Menendez, a Democrat, was accused in September of being at the center of a sprawling international bribery scheme.... The senator did not compete for the Democratic nomination, but on Monday he ... [filed] to run for re-election in November as an independent. Voters said Tuesday that they were skeptical he had any political future at all.... The senator's criminal case thrust his son, Representative Rob Menendez, 38, into a suddenly competitive race for re-election to a second term. But the younger Menendez managed to hold on, winning a Democratic primary over Ravi Bhalla, the mayor of Hoboken, N.J., by a decisive margin."

Kelly Cho of the Washington Post: "Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D) of New Jersey won the Democratic primary election in the state's 10th Congressional District on Tuesday -- more than a month after he suffered a fatal heart attack. Payne was running for reelection unopposed in the deep-blue district, but because the filing deadline to run in the primary had already passed by the time of his death, his name still appeared on the ballot. The party has not yet declared a new nominee, and his name had already been printed on mail-in ballots.... Last month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered a special primary to be held on July 16 and a special general election to be held on Sept. 18 to fill the remainder of Payne's unexpired term."


Cleve Wootson, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden arrives in France on Wednesday to join world leaders in commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, an election-year visit where he plans to draw on the memory of allies united against tyranny to highlight the stakes of his campaign and draw a pointed comparison with Donald Trump. Biden will join more than two dozen heads of state descending on Normandy along with dozens of World War II veterans, some more than a century old. They will honor troops from the United States, Canada and Britain who landed in France on June 6, 1944, in an offensive that laid the groundwork for the defeat of the Nazis. Biden is also scheduled to deliver a speech on democracy and freedom on Friday, according to the White House, giving him an opportunity to put the struggle against authoritarianism in a global frame. A day later, he will meet President Emmanuel Macron for his first state visit to France as president."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "President Biden issued an executive order on Tuesday that temporarily prevents migrants from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border when crossings surge, seeking to ease pressure on the country's immigration system and address a major concern among voters. The dramatic election-year move is the most restrictive border policy instituted by Mr. Biden, or any other modern Democrat, and echoes an effort in 2018 by ... Donald J. Trump to cut off migration that was blocked in federal court." Related story by the same reporters linked earlier. The NBC News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "'The simple truth is, there is a worldwide migrant crisis,' [President] Biden said in remarks at the White House, 'and if the United States doesn't secure our border, there's no limit to the number of people who may try to come here.' Mr. Biden's announcement is a stunning reversal for a president and a party that spent years arguing that America was a country of immigrants.... Critics say Mr. Biden is adopting the tactics of [Donald] Trump and Stephen Miller, his immigration czar, to end asylum, even using the same clause in the Immigration and Nationality Act that Mr. Trump cited to justify a travel ban on Muslim countries.... The president correctly notes that he has ruled out some of his predecessor's extreme policies, such as separating children from their parents at the border.... But the politics of immigration have shifted as record numbers of migrants have crossed into border communities and spread to cities far beyond. Mr. Biden has adjusted accordingly." ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Tuesday it planned to sue the Biden administration over a newly unveiled policy that will restrict asylum claims at the southern border.... 'This action takes the same approach as the Trump administration's asylum ban. We will be challenging this order in court,' [the ACLU said on X]."

More Performative Outrage. These Are Not Serious People. Marianna Sotomayor & Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "staunchest supporters are focusing on what they allege is a weaponized justice system by ramping up House investigations and stalling regular business in the Democratic-led Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) broadly outlined a 'three-pronged approach' Tuesday during a weekly conference meeting on how the Republican majority can target the Justice Department, New York and other jurisdictions for investigating Trump -- vowing to use House oversight powers while cutting funds in the government appropriations process and taking other unspecified legislative measures.... Across the Capitol, a faction of 11 conservative senators led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) pledged to slow down Senate business by voting against all of Biden's judicial and political nominees and refusing to speed up consideration of any 'Democrat legislation.'" Oh, and Miss Margie has decided to bring another impeachment resolution against President Biden.

Garland Finds His Inner Anger Translator. Glenn Thrush & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, facing the prospect of a contempt vote in Congress, lashed out at House Republicans on Tuesday, accusing his critics of seeking to undermine the rule of law, peddling 'conspiracy theories' and spreading falsehoods. The usually mild-mannered Mr. Garland pushed back against the false accusation that the Justice Department was somehow behind the prosecution and subsequent conviction of ... Donald J. Trump on 34 felony counts.... The case was brought by Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who as a local prosecutor is not under the control of Mr. Biden or his administration. 'That conspiracy theory is an attack on the judicial process itself,' Mr. Garland said in an opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee.... Mr. Garland told Republicans that [their attacks] were feeding 'heinous' threats against individual career agents and prosecutors. 'These attacks have not, and they will not, influence our decision making,' he said." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jack Forrest of CNN: "Dr. Anthony Fauci said he sees a direct link between the rise in death threats made against him and his family and public figures connecting him to Covid-19 conspiracy theories, which he noted happened earlier Monday during a contentious House hearing about the government's response to the pandemic.... '... When you have performances like that unusual performance by Marjorie Taylor Greene in today's [Monday's] hearing, those are the kinds of things that drive up the death threats because there are a segment of the population out there that believe that kind of nonsense,' Fauci said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jim Comer Imported Weed from China. M.L. Nestel of the Raw Story: "A hemp deal that Rep. James Comer (R-KY) could hail as a win for Kentucky ended in a swiftly buried Chinese pot bust, according to a new report. The Daily Beast Tuesday revealed a sweeping expose about the House Oversight Committee chair -- known for lobbing accusations against President Joe Biden's son Hunter over ties to a Chinese energy company -- and his snafus importing Chinese hemp while running for the governorship of his state. Citing emails pulled from official state documents, the Daily Beast reveals the legal hemp Comer tried to import the country was 'essentially Chinese pot, containing illegally high levels of THC.'... Comer himself has lauded the hemp sourcing efforts when he attempted to sponsor 'Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017.'..."

National Crime Blotter

Jonah Bromwich & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trumps lawyers on Tuesday asked the judge who oversaw the former president's criminal trial to lift a gag order on their client as the presidential campaign intensifies. The lawyers said in a letter to the judge, Juan M. Merchan, that the end of the trial on Thursday nullified the need for the gag order, which bars the former president from attacking witnesses, the jury and others involved in the case.... During the seven-week trial, the judge found that Mr. Trump had violated the order 10 times, attacking jurors -- who the former president said were 'mostly all Democrat' -- and witnesses.... In an interview that aired Monday on ... a Fox News podcast, Mr. Trump also criticized the makeup of the jury, saying the jurors were 'you know, from a certain persuasion.'..."

Trump Travel Ban. Kyler Alvord of People: "Thirty-eight nations, counting the United States, bar felons from entry, according to World Population Review. Those bans stand regardless of whether someone is allowed to retain their passport after conviction. Countries that turn felons away include several of the United States' strongest allies, like the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada -- the final of which will host the G7 summit of world leaders in 2025. The list also includes a number of nations at the center of pressing foreign policy issues, such as China, Israel and Mexico.... George W. Bush, who was arrested for drunk driving in the 1970s, ran into issues with Canadian travel restrictions during his presidency while planning an official state visit and, after applying for a special waiver, he was ultimately allowed to enter.... crime happened decades [before he became president], was only categorized as a misdemeanor and was never tried in a court of law...."

Ian Millhiser of Vox: "On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social ... that the Supreme Court 'MUST' intervene after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.... He appeared to float two separate theories that could justify tossing out his conviction: that the judge was impermissibly biased and that the prosecutor was out to get Trump.... It's hard to imagine a legitimate reason why the Supreme Court might get involved in Trump's New York case.... [But t]he Roberts Court also has a history of embracing legal arguments that were widely viewed as risible by the legal community after those arguments were adopted by the Republican Party. So, with a wide range of elected Republicans now calling for Trump's conviction to be tossed out, there is a real risk that the GOP-appointed justices will leap on this bandwagon." Millhiser examines the possibilities. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his remarks in yesterday's thread.

** Judge Aileen Keeps on Keepin' On. Dan Berman & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Judge Aileen Cannon is planning on holding a sprawling hearing on Donald Trump's request to declare Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel invalid, signaling the judge could be more willing than any other trial judge to veto the special prosecutor's authority. The planned hcearing also adds a new, unusual twist in the federal criminal national security case against the former president: Cannon on Tuesday said that a variety of political partisans and constitutional scholars not otherwise involved with the case can join in the oral arguments on June 21. It's an extraordinary elevation of arguments in a criminal case first filed a year ago this week that likely won't see trial until next year, if at all." MB: Cannon has scheduled a hearing in August on whether the temperature in the courtroom is suitable for a 77-year-old man of a certain girth, and another in September on whether or not the restrooms in the courthouse are of appropriate calibre to accommodate said gentleman. She is soliciting more ideas for frivolous hearings. Email her at JusticeAileen@TrumpMail.com.

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Oral arguments in ... Donald Trump's appeal of a decision to allow an Atlanta area district attorney to continue prosecuting an election interference case against him is now scheduled for Oct. 4, virtually ensuring that a trial will not begin before the presidential election a month later. The Georgia Court of Appeals announced Monday that arguments would take place in October in the case. Trump and eight co-defendants are seeking to reverse the trial judge's decision to keep Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) and her office on the case despite their claims that she had engaged in an improper relationship with an outside attorney she had appointed to lead the investigation." (Also linked yesterday.)

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin's attorney general filed charges Tuesday against a former aide and two attorneys who advised ... Donald Trump over a meeting of Republicans claiming to be the state's 2020 presidential electors even though Trump had lost the state. The charges are the first in Wisconsin related to the meeting of electors. Prosecutors have separately charged Republicans who were involved in similar efforts in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) charged Trump campaign aide Michael Roman and attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and James Troupis with one felony count of forgery each, according to online court records. Copies of the criminal complaints were not immediately available." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Stakeout at the Steakhouse. Benjamin Weiser & Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The extraordinary scene of a U.S. senator under F.B.I. surveillance in an upscale restaurant, Morton's The Steakhouse, not far from the Capitol was detailed by [F.B.I. investigator Terrie] Williams-Thompson in testimony at [Sen. Bob] Menendez's [D-NJ] federal corruption trial in Manhattan.... Mr. Menendez[, his future wife Nadine] and his group ... also included an Egyptian government official.... Williams-Thompson testified that at one point, she overheard Ms. Menendez, referring to the senator, ask the group, 'What else can the love of my life do for you?'... Prosecutors also presented testimony Tuesday from Anna Frenzilli, an F.B.I. special agent who had executed a court-authorized search of a safe deposit box belonging to Ms. Menendez at a New Jersey bank. Inside the box, she testified, agents found 10 envelopes -- some with 'Nadine' written on them -- containing nearly $80,000 in cash and expired passports for her and her two children.... One of Mr. Menendez's lawyers, Avi Weitzman, seized on her testimony in an apparent attempt to distance the senator from his wife's financial dealings...."

It Depends on What the Meaning of "Is" Is. Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "The first day of testimony in Hunter Biden's trial on gun-related charges kicked off Tuesday with the surreal sound of the defendant's own voice ringing through the courtroom, narrating his descent into drug addiction, when prosecutors played the audiobook of his memoir. It ended with bitter written words: the introduction of expletive-laced, panicked texts to Hallie Biden, his brother's widow and his onetime girlfriend, berating her for disposing of his handgun and warning, perhaps presciently, that it might set off a federal investigation. The government's case against President Biden's son ... is fairly straightforward: proving that Mr. Biden was abusing drugs when he filled out a federal firearms application claiming he was not an 'unlawful user' of controlled substances. Prosecutors stressed that point in their 15-minute opening statement before a packed courtroom that included Jill Biden, the first lady....

"Mr. Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he would disprove the government's core contention that Mr. Biden 'knowingly' broke the law by answering 'no' on a question asking applicants whether they were using drugs at the time they sought to purchase a gun. He implied that the present tense of the question about drug use -- the verb 'is' -- meant the government must prove Mr. Biden was getting high at the exact time he bought the gun.... The law, he said, was not intended to punish 'mistakes.'... After Mr. Biden bought the gun, he never loaded it, never removed it from its lock box in his truck and never used it during the 11 days he owned it, Mr. Lowell said." An AP story is here.

Presidential Race

Trump Envisions Leading a Banana Republic. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized his conviction in New York and suggested that his political opponents might face similar prosecution.... Trump made the comments Tuesday night on the conservative network Newsmax.... 'I said, "Wouldn't it really be bad? ... wouldn't it be terrible to throw the president's wife and the former secretary of state '' think of it, the former secretary of state &-- but the president's wife into jail?"' Trump mused Tuesday.... 'But they want to do it,' Trump said, appearing to refer to his opponents. 'So, you know, it's a terrible, terrible path that they're leading us to, and it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them.' 'It's a terrible precedent for our country,' he said of the New York case against him at another point in the interview. 'Does that mean the next president does it to them? That's really the question.'" The NBC News story is here.

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link. Marie: This seemed so preposterous I checked for photos of the Ho Chi Minh City skyline, and sure enough, that's it. It appears the RNC has since removed the Scene from Vietnam from its main convention Webpage.

Are We Better Off Now Than We Were Four Years Ago? Let's Check. New York Times, June 4-5, 2020: "Mr. Trump's threat to use the 1807 Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops on American soil against protesters has laid bare the chasm in the national security community that was forming even when he ran for office in 2016. Back then it was only a limited group of 'Never Trumpers' -- establishment Republican national security professionals repelled by Mr. Trump's description of how American power should be wielded around the world -- who wrote and spoke of the dangers. He 'lacks the character, values and experience' to be president, they wrote, and 'would put at risk our country's national security.' This week, it was his former defense secretary [Jim Mattis], a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [Adm. Mike Mullen] and a range of other retired senior officers who were saying in public what they previously said only in private: that the risk lies in the fact that the president regards the military, which historically has prized its nonpartisan, apolitical role in society, as just another political force to be massed to his advantage."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Oh, Why Can't We Get Better Journalists? Colby Hall of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden is ... starting to show signs of mental decline, according to a damning Wall Street Journal report that relies heavily on criticism from House Republicans. Published late Tuesday evening, the article's thesis is stated clearly in the headline, 'Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping.'... The WSJ reporters and editors made a curious decision, however, in reporting for this piece in that they heavily relied -- almost exclusively, in fact -- on anonymous House Republican criticism."

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Michigan. Maria Paúl of the Washington Post: "Last week, Corey Harris became an internet meme after he attended a court hearing about his suspended license via Zoom while driving. The clip, featuring a befuddled judge and Harris sighing as he said, 'Oh, my God,' quickly went viral. But the case that made Harris famous online -- which was covered by The Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN and Fox News, among others -- is more complicated than it first appeared. As local ABC affiliate WXYZ first reported, the 44-year-old Michigander's license suspension, which was tied to a child-support case, had already been lifted by a judge in 2022, court records show." But Harris had not paid the fee that goes with reinstatement, and it isn't clear that he knew about the fee. MB: Whatta way to wreck a good story: with facts.

Texas. David Montgomery of the New York Times: "A Texas prosecutor said on Tuesday that he would seek to have a court overturn Gov. Greg Abbott's pardon of a man convicted of fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in the summer of 2020. The Republican governor's pardon last month of the man, Daniel S. Perry, who had argued that he was acting in self-defense against an armed protester, was cheered by conservatives as a recognition of the state's 'stand your ground' protections. But it was also met with outrage by the protester's family, civil rights groups and José Garza, the Travis County district attorney whose office had secured the conviction. On Tuesday, Mr. Garza, a Democrat, said he would petition the state's highest criminal appeals court to overturn the pardon on the grounds that the governor had violated the constitutional separation of powers doctrine by intervening with a court's actions."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

Alexander Ward of Politico: "There is 'every reason' for people in Israel to conclude their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is prolonging the war against Hamas to stay in power, President Joe Biden said in a Time interview published Wednesday.... Asked whether Netanyahu wanted the war to continue for his own political self-preservation, Biden initially replied, 'I'm not going to comment on that.' But then he said: 'There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.'... Biden also said that Israel made the 'mistake' of conducting a Gaza campaign in destructively similar ways to the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.... Those are among the harshest comments Biden has leveled at Netanyahu since Israel's retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. The interview with Biden, conducted on May 28, days before he called on Israel and Hamas to broker a cease-fire, confirms the president no longer reserves his broadsides for private phone calls." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Dadouch, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden said he was 'uncertain' whether Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza, telling Time magazine in an interview published Tuesday that 'a lot of innocent people have been killed' and that Israel was investigating alleged war crimes itself."

Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging..., according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation. The covert campaign was commissioned by Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.... The ministry allocated about $2 million to the operation.... The campaign began in October and remains active on the platform X. At its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats, such as Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel's military."

Lebanon. Kareem Chehayeb of the AP: "A gunman was shot and captured by Lebanese soldiers after a shootout outside the U.S. Embassy outside Beirut on Wednesday morning, the military said.... The Lebanese military in a statement said that soldiers shot an assailant, who they only described as a Syrian national. The gunman was wounded and taken to a hospital. The shooter's motives were not clear. However, Lebanese media have published photos that appear to show a bloodied attacker wearing a black vest with the words 'Islamic State' written in Arabic and the English initials 'I' and 'S.'"

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Tuesday
Jun042024

The Conversation -- June 4, 2024

Alexander Ward of Politico: "There is 'every reason' for people in Israel to conclude their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is prolonging the war against Hamas to stay in power, President Joe Biden said in a Time interview published Wednesday.... Asked whether Netanyahu wanted the war to continue for his own political self-preservation, Biden initially replied, 'I'm not going to comment on that.' But then he said: 'There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.'... Biden also said that Israel made the 'mistake' of conducting a Gaza campaign in destructively similar ways to the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.... Those are among the harshest comments Biden has leveled at Netanyahu since Israel's retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. The interview with Biden, conducted on May 28, days before he called on Israel and Hamas's to broker a cease-fire, confirms the president no longer reserves his broadsides for private phone calls."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "President Biden issued an executive order on Tuesday that temporarily prevents migrants from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border when crossings surge, seeking to ease pressure on the country's immigration system and address a major concern among voters. The dramatic election-year move is the most restrictive border policy instituted by Mr. Biden, or any other modern Democrat, and echoes an effort in 2018 by ... Donald J. Trump to cut off migration that was blocked in federal court." Related story by same reporters linked earlier. The NBC News report is here.

Garland Finds His Inner Anger Translator. Glenn Thrush & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, facing the prospect of a contempt vote in Congress, lashed out at House Republicans on Tuesday, accusing his critics of seeking to undermine the rule of law, peddling 'conspiracy theories' and spreading falsehoods. The usually mild-mannered Mr. Garland pushed back against the false accusation that the Justice Department was somehow behind the prosecution and subsequent conviction of ... Donald J. Trump on 34 felony counts.... The case was brought by Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who as a local prosecutor is not under the control of Mr. Biden or his administration. 'That conspiracy theory is an attack on the judicial process itself,' Mr. Garland said in an opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee.... Mr. Garland told Republicans that [their attacks] were feeding 'heinous' threats against individual career agents and prosecutors. 'These attacks have not, and they will not, influence our decision making,' he said." The AP's report is here.

Jack Forrest of CNN: "Dr. Anthony Fauci said he sees a direct link between the rise in death threats made against him and his family and public figures connecting him to Covid-19 conspiracy theories, which he noted happened earlier Monday during a contentious House hearing about the government's response to the pandemic.... '... When you have performances like that unusual performance by Marjorie Taylor Greene in today's [Monday's] hearing, those are the kinds of things that drive up the death threats because there are a segment of the population out there that believe that kind of nonsense,' Fauci said."

New York Times reporters are liveblogging Hunter Biden's trial for illegally purchasing a handgun.

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Oral arguments in ... Donald Trump's appeal of a decision to allow an Atlanta area district attorney to continue prosecuting an election interference case against him is now scheduled for Oct. 4, virtually ensuring that a trial will not begin before the presidential election a month later. The Georgia Court of Appeals announced Monday that arguments would take place in October in the case. Trump and eight co-defendants are seeking to reverse the trial judge's decision to keep Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) and her office on the case despite their claims that she had engaged in an improper relationship with an outside attorney she had appointed to lead the investigation."

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin's attorney general filed charges Tuesday against a former aide and two attorneys who advised ... Donald Trump over a meeting of Republicans claiming to be the state's 2020 presidential electors even though Trump had lost the state. The charges are the first in Wisconsin related to the meeting of electors. Prosecutors have separately charged Republicans who were involved in similar efforts in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) charged Trump campaign aide Michael Roman and attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and James Troupis with one felony count of forgery each, according to online court records. Copies of the criminal complaints were not immediately available." CNN's report is here.

It's the Tuesday after the Monday after the Thursday Donald Trump became a convicted felon, so the late-night comedy gang was on high alert: ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Stephen Colbert, who polled his audience to find out if -- as Trump asserted -- "the public" wouldn't stand for Trump's being sent to prison.

     ~~~ Here's Jimmy Kimmel, explaining climate change to Donald Trump with a bathtub analogy.

     ~~~ Here's Jon Stewart, wanting to protect Magadonians from the harsh glare of reality.

     ~~~ Here's Jimmy Fallon: "They were going to put him in an orange jump suit, but it felt redundant."

     ~~~ And here's Seth Meyers, who joins the others in wondering why Trump is pretending he never said, "Lock her up." MB: BTW, the most pathetic part of Trump's lie about never saying "lock her up" is that, as part of his exposition on his feelings about jailing Hillary Clinton, he said, "And then this happened to me." No, Donald, this is not something that happened to you. You committed the crimes. And now maybe the judge will lock you up. And, yes, we the public will stand for it.

     ~~~ Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "I don't need a black robe to hand down a judgment on the Supreme Court. It's corrupt, rotten and hurting America.... It is in the hands of a cabal of religious and far-right zealots, including a couple of ethical scofflaws with MAGA wives. Chief Justice John Roberts, who dreamed of being remembered as a great unifier of the court, is refusing to rein in Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas, who are thumbing their noses at the public and their own oaths to dispense fair and impartial justice."

~~~~~~~~~~

Hamed Aleaziz & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday allowing him to temporarily seal the U.S. border with Mexico to migrants when crossings surge, a move that would suspend longtime protections for asylum seekers in the United States.... The restrictions would kick in once the number of illegal crossings exceeds 2,500 in a day, according to several people who have been briefed on the order. Daily totals already exceed that number, which means that Mr. Biden's executive order could go into effect immediately. The border would re-open to asylum seekers if the number of crossings stays below 1,500 for a certain period of time...." The AP's report is here.

No Good Deeds Go Unpunished. Benjamin Mueller & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... on Monday forcefully denied Republican allegations that he sought to cover up the possibility that the pandemic originated in a laboratory, calling the accusation 'absolutely false and simply preposterous.' In a tense appearance before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Dr. Fauci read out an email from February 2020 in which he encouraged a scientist worried about the possibility of a lab leak to report his concerns to the F.B.I. 'It is inconceivable that anyone who reads this email could conclude that I was trying to cover up the possibility of a laboratory leak,' Dr. Fauci testified.... In half a million pages of documents and more than 100 hours of closed-door testimony, [Republicans on] the panel has so far found nothing linking the 83-year-old immunologist to the beginnings of the Covid outbreak in China. But the panel has turned up emails suggesting that Dr. Fauci's former aides were trying to evade public records laws at the medical research agency he ran for 38 years until his retirement in December 2022." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was reprimanded by the GOP committee chair after she refused to refer to Anthony Fauci as a doctor as an insult to his work during Covid-19.... [Greene's largely baseless attacks on Dr. Fauci elicited] a series of points of order and calls for decorum from largely Democratic members of the subcommittee, and Dr. Brad Wenstrup, the Republican chair of the hearing, repeated inserting himself to reprimand Greene, who continued to hector Fauci before ending her time by calling for his imprisonment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Old conspiracy theories never die. They just fade into the congressional record. Last fall, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, made an incendiary public accusation that, 'according to information gathered by the select subcommittee,' Anthony Fauci 'was escorted into Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters -- without a record of entry -- and participated in the analysis to "influence" the agency's review' to say that covid-19 did not originate from a lab leak.... Another Republican on the panel, Rep. Richard McCormick (Ga.) declared definitively: 'We now know that Fauci had a secret meeting with the CIA.' The subcommittee came up with no evidence to support the claim ... and nothing to challenge Fauci's testimony that he hadn't been to the CIA in 20 years. Appearing before the panel in a public hearing on Monday, Fauci ... ridiculed the idea that 'I was parachuted into the CIA like Jason Bourne and told the CIA that they should really not be talking about a lab leak.'" Read on.

No, They Did Not Bring the Receipts. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than 300 House lawmakers were reimbursed at least $5.2 million for food and lodging while on official business in Washington last year under a new, taxpayer funded program that does not require them to provide receipts. The program, which kicked off last year after a House panel passed it with bipartisan support, was intended to make it easier for lawmakers to cover the cost of maintaining separate homes in D.C. and their home districts. But critics argue that its reliance on the honor system and lack of transparent record-keeping makes it ripe for abuse." MB: No kidding. ~~~

     ~~~ The Reality Chex Challenge: Guess which member of Congress took the most in supposed reimbursement expenses out of your pocket. Answer, courtesy of the Washington Post, at the bottom of the page.

National Crime Blotter

Shocking News! Trump Is Bent! ~~~

~~~ ** Mob Boss at Work. Robert Faturechi, et al., of ProPublica: "Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against ... Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump's media company. The benefits have flowed from Trump's businesses and campaign committees, according to a ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee [Allen Weisselberg] got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign's top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee. These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump's social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.... To prove witness tampering, prosecutors would need to show that perks or punishments were intended to influence testimony." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Threatens ProPublica. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "ProPublica .. got a cease-and-desist letter from Trump attorney David Warrington, demanding that the article [linked above] not be published and warning if ProPublica and its reporters 'continue their reckless campaign of defamation, President Trump will evaluate all legal remedies.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Republicans Tacitly Acknowledge Trump Is Guilty. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post urges Trump to withdraw from the presidential race, which of course he won't, even though back before 2015, any candidate for public office who had been convicted of crimes would have withdrawn from consideration. "It seemed to me that somebody would tell Trump to walk away. After all, chin-stroking pundits and hand-wringing Democrats have been advising President Biden to step aside -- for the apparently unforgivable crime of living to 81.... [None did, BUT] There is one thing that I have not heard Trump's overcaffeinated defenders claim: He didn't do it. I haven't heard one Republican official argue that Trump did not sleep with a porn star four months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son Barron; that he did not have [Stormy] Daniels paid to keep quiet about the tryst; that he did not cause his company's books to be falsified to hide the payment; or that he did not buy Daniels's silence because he worried her story would hurt his chances of winning the election."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "The jury foreperson in the Manhattan criminal trial convicting ... Donald Trump had barely finished reciting 'guilty' as to each of 34 felony counts when the newly convicted felon and virtually an entire political party began trashing the verdict -- and, implicitly, the 12 jurors and judge.... The MAGA crowd has moved from attempting to delegitimize an election to attempting to delegitimize the judicial system -- from defaming election workers to defaming jurors. In keeping with other fascist movements, the MAGA cult attempts to undermine every institution and person resisting its authoritarian leader.... As the nation's chief executive, sworn to uphold the rule of law, [President] Biden properly stood up for the rule of law and defended jury service.... Meanwhile, Democrats must denounce the MAGA movement's coordinated assault on the rule of law.... It also might behoove America’s chief prosecutor, Attorney General Merrick Garland, to condemn those vilifying judges and juries." (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, guess what? State and federal investigators are still probing the fake electors scheme (the Detroit News story Rachel Maddow highlights is firewalled):

Another Far-Right Crook. Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The chief financial officer of conservative global news outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and charged with leading a yearslong scheme to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds, federal prosecutors said Monday. The scheme -- which involved cryptocurrency, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information -- fueled a massive increase in The Epoch Times' reported annual revenue, prosecutors alleged. Weidong 'Bill' Guan, 61, is charged in U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud. Guan was arrested Sunday morning, and pleaded not guilty on Monday afternoon before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan, according to a court notice. He was released on a $3 million personal recognizance bond, and his travel is restricted to parts of New York and New Jersey, among other restrictions." ~~~

     ~~~ Ken Bensinger & Charles Homans of the New York Times: "In recent years the [Epoch Times] transformed itself into a prominent supporter of Donald J. Trump and his allies on the right.... During the 2016 election, the publication embraced Mr. Trump's candidacy, in the hope that as president he would bring down the Communist Party, former Epoch Times staff members told The New York Times in 2020. After Mr. Trump's victory, the news organization served as an enthusiastic supporter, amplifying the administration's messaging and establishing itself as a prominent outlet on the right. It also became a prominent spreader of right-wing conspiracy theories, particularly on social media, and especially on Facebook.... In January, Ron Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin, hosted a screening of 'The Real Story of January 6,' a film produced by The Epoch Times's streaming platform that promotes a variety of right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol."

Presidential Race

Marie: Hard to tell a National Crime Blotter story from a Presidential Race story, innit?

Ryan Brooks of NBC News: "President Joe Biden called ... Donald Trump a 'convicted felon' who 'snapped' after the 2020 election at a campaign event Monday. 'For the first time in American history, a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,' Biden told the crowd at the fundraising event in Greenwich, Connecticut. 'But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice.'"

Part of Trump's Election Strategy: Terrorize Voters. Assert that "there will be riots in the streets" if Trump doesn't win the November election, scaring voters into voting for him to avoid civil unrest. Rachel Maddow elaborates, pointing out that "there isn't a civil war"; rather Trump is "targeting specific people to try to cow all of us":

     ~~~ Here Are Some of Those "Specific People." Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "The addresses and phone numbers of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's family members were posted to a doxxing website after ... Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in connection with a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.... Trump supporters tried to dox jurors last week after his conviction, and they also targeted prosecutors and the judge in the case with threats." Cohen testified against Trump in the case. ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump "continues to not-at-all-subtly raise the specter of unrest and violence as a political bargaining chip. The most recent example: In his first interview since being convicted on 34 felony counts in Manhattan, Trump this past weekend addressed the possibility of being imprisoned or put under house arrest by saying, 'I'm not sure the public would stand for it.' 'I think it would be tough for the public to take,' Trump told Fox News. 'You know, at a certain point, there's a breaking point.'... [This was] merely the latest in a long line of suggestive comments. The context is key, and the track record is unmistakable.... The problem is that we've seen how supporters can take his comments as a call to action. (And Trump's comments, crucially, almost never come with an admonition to stay peaceful.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: AND there's the rub. Trump is both inviting violence and threatening violence. The only way to prevent widespread violence is to give him what he wants when he wants it.

Jill Colvin of the AP: "Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee say they raised $141 million in May, a massive fundraising haul that includes tens of millions of dollars raised in the aftermath of his guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial. Trump's campaign is not required to publicly disclose its fundraising to the Federal Election Commission until later this month. But its decision to release the numbers early underscores how it sees the wave of contributions as evidence that last Thursday's verdict has energized the former president's supporters and as a sign that it will not hobble his efforts to return to the White House."

David Smith of the Guardian: Dutch professor Henk De Berg has written a comparative study of the political techniques of Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler: "... De Berg compares and contrasts Hitler and Trump as political performance artists and how they connect with their respective audiences.... Above all, De Berg argues, Hitler and Trump were and are political performance artists who speak only vaguely about policies -- Make Germany/America great again -- but know how to draw attention using jokes, insults and extreme language.... Along with its headline-grabbing potential, the extremist language also plays well with many voters.... Many such voters are ready to blame a scapegoat, 'the other'.... Trump's incoherent, meandering and zigzagging mode of speech adds to the effect. '... this vague way of tying all these people together actually gives different sections of the electorate different things they can identify with...'." De Berg credits Hitler with coming up with the big lie [große Lüge], a lie so outrageous that no one would tell it unless it were true. He warns that there is "method in Trump's madness: the buffoonery, chaos and word salad speeches may be more calculated than they appear." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Dumber Speaks. Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, claimed his father's conviction on 34 felony charges last week is making 'certain segments' of the population more likely to vote for him. 'For the first time, they realize that the system's coming down, that he's the victim, he's the victim that oftentimes some of their communities were,' he told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. 'You see them swinging. Look at the African American vote, right? That's swinging over to Donald Trump in spades.'" MB: Many commentators recoiled at Eric's invocation of the racial slur "spades." I'm also wondering about that "swinging over." All they, like, swinging over on jungle vines? (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Laura Meckler & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Billions in taxpayer dollars are being used to pay tuition at religious schools throughout the country, as state voucher programs expand dramatically and the line separating public education and religion fades. School vouchers can be used at almost any private school, but the vast majority of the money is being directed to religious schools, according to a Washington Post examination of the nation's largest voucher programs. Vouchers, government money that covers education costs for families outside the public schools, vary by state but offer up to $16,000 per student per year, and in many cases fully cover the cost of tuition at private schools." See also Akhilleus' commentary on the Holy Grift in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

Minnesota. You Might Think These Defendants Are Guilty. AP: "A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.... These seven are the first of 70 defendants expected to go to trial in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. Eighteen others have pleaded guilty, and authorities said they recovered about $50 million in one of the nation’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases.... The 23-year-old juror said she immediately turned over the bag of cash to police. She said a woman left it with her father-in-law Sunday with the message that she'd get another bag of cash if she voted to acquit, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.... Before allowing the trial to continue with more closing arguments on Monday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel questioned the remaining 17 jurors and alternates, and none reported any unauthorized contact. Brasel decided to sequester the jury for the rest of the proceeding as a precaution."

New Jersey Senate Race. Really, Bob? Gregory Krieg & Eric Bradner of CNN: "Indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey is expected to file for reelection as an independent, two sources familiar with the matter said Monday. His decision to file as an independent, first reported by The New Jersey Globe, comes the day before a New Jersey primary in which three Democrats and four Republicans are vying for their parties' nominations for the seat he currently holds. Menendez, who is facing federal corruption charges and is currently on trial in New York City, had announced in March that he would not run for a fourth full term as a Democrat, but left open the possibility of an independent bid if exonerated. He faces a Tuesday deadline to file as an independent." (Also linked yesterday.) The story has been updated to reflect the fact that Menendez did file for re-election. ~~~

     ~~~ Obviously. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "The specter of Mr. Menendez, 70, trying to mount a comeback campaign raises the possibility of a splintered Democratic vote in November's election, creating a wider lane for the Republican nominee at a time when Democrats are struggling to retain their narrow majority in the Senate."

Texas. Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The Texas Republican party has gone off the deep end.... Just a few of the platform's planks: that the Bible should be taught in public schools.... That noncitizens who are legal residents of this country should be deported if they are arrested for participating in a protest that turns violent. That name changes to military bases should be reversed to 'publicly honor the southern heroes.' That doctors who perform abortions should be charged with homicide. That the United States should withdraw from the United Nations and that the international organization should be removed from U.S. soil. Then there is this audaciously undemocratic provision: To be elected to state office, a candidate must win not only a majority of votes, but also more than half of Texas's 254 counties.... This system would effectively mean Democrats -- who, as it is, haven't won a statewide office since 1994 -- would be shut out forever." (Also linked yesterday.)

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India. The New York Times is liveblogging election results. Pinned item: "Early results in India's general election on Tuesday suggested a surprising setback for the two-term prime minister, Narendra Modi, who was on a narrower course to secure another five years in office than exit polls had forecast. Mr. Modi's party appeared likely to lose a significant number of seats in Parliament, meaning it would need to rely on smaller parties in its coalition to form a government. It would be the first election since 2014 in which Mr. Modi, India's most powerful leader in decades, did not lead his party to an absolute majority on its own."

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. More news linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)

Steve Hendrix & John Hudson of the Washington Post: "Eight months into Israel's war in Gaza, a string of standoffs, schisms and ultimatums have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency war cabinet to the brink of collapse and raised the prospect that his own coalition could follow, possibly leading to new elections. Externally, the embattled prime minister is under growing pressure from the public to bring home Israel's remaining hostages and from the Biden administration to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. Within his unity government, formed less than a week after the deadly militant attacks on Oct. 7, he is contending with rebellions by allies and opponents alike. Conservative hard-liners openly pledged over the weekend to pull out of the government if Netanyahu agrees to the deal that President Biden promoted Friday as 'an Israeli proposal.'"

The New York Times updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. More news linked below. (Also linked yesterday.)

Answer to the Reality Chex Challenge: WashPo: "Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the program's overall top spender, was reimbursed for nearly $30,000 in lodging expenses and more than $10,000 for food in 2023."

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Monday
Jun032024

The Conversation -- June 3, 2024

Benjamin Mueller & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... on Monday forcefully denied Republican allegations that he sought to cover up the possibility that the pandemic originated in a laboratory, calling the accusation 'absolutely false and simply preposterous.' In a tense appearance before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Dr. Fauci read out an email from February 2020 in which he encouraged a scientist worried about the possibility of a lab leak to report his concerns to the F.B.I. 'It is inconceivable that anyone who reads this email could conclude that I was trying to cover up the possibility of a laboratory leak,' Dr. Fauci testified.... In half a million pages of documents and more than 100 hours of closed-door testimony, [Republicans on] the panel has so far found nothing linking the 83-year-old immunologist to the beginnings of the Covid outbreak in China. But the panel has turned up emails suggesting that Dr. Fauci's former aides were trying to evade public records laws at the medical research agency he ran for 38 years until his retirement in December 2022." ~~~

     ~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was reprimanded by the GOP committee chair after she refused to refer to Anthony Fauci as a doctor as an insult to his work during Covid-19.... [Greene's largely baseless attacks on Dr. Fauci elicited] a series of points of order and calls for decorum from largely Democratic members of the subcommittee, and Dr. Brad Wenstrup, the Republican chair of the hearing, repeated inserting himself to reprimand Greene, who continued to hector Fauci before ending her time by calling for his imprisonment."

Laura Meckler & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Billions in taxpayer dollars are being used to pay tuition at religious schools throughout the country, as state voucher programs expand dramatically and the line separating public education and religion fades. School vouchers can be used at almost any private school, but the vast majority of the money is being directed to religious schools, according to a Washington Post examination of the nation's largest voucher programs. Vouchers, government money that covers education costs for families outside the public schools, vary by state but offer up to $16,000 per student per year, and in many cases fully cover the cost of tuition at private schools." See also Akhilleus' commentary on the Holy Grift in today's thread.

Lisa Neeham of Public Notice: "The morning after [Donald Trump's] conviction, [Speaker of House Mike] Johnson went on Fox & Friends to ... [say,] 'I think that the justices on the court -- I know many of them personally ... [will] set this straight, but it's going to take awhile.' Johnson went on to say 'this will be overturned, guys, there's no question about it. It's just going to take some time to do it.'... This remarkable statement highlights how Republicans have come to -- correctly -- count on the federal courts to ensure they stay in power.... Trump himself on Sunday evening pleaded for SCOTUS to prevent his sentencing next month, falsely claiming on Truth Social that the justices 'MUST DECIDE!']... All of this highlights how fragile American democracy is and how ill-equipped we are to deal with those who simply refuse to follow rules and norms."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "The jury foreperson in the Manhattan criminal trial convicting ... Donald Trump had barely finished reciting 'guilty' as to each of 34 felony counts when the newly convicted felon and virtually an entire political party began trashing the verdict -- and, implicitly, the 12 jurors and judge.... The MAGA crowd has moved from attempting to delegitimize an election to attempting to delegitimize the judicial system -- from defaming election workers to defaming jurors. In keeping with other fascist movements, the MAGA cult attempts to undermine every institution and person resisting its authoritarian leader.... As the nation's chief executive, sworn to uphold the rule of law, [President] Biden properly stood up for the rule of law and defended jury service.... Meanwhile, Democrats must denounce the MAGA movement's coordinated assault on the rule of law.... It also might behoove America's chief prosecutor..., Merrick Garland, to condemn those vilifying judges and juries."

Dumber Speaks. Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, claimed his father's conviction on 34 felony charges last week is making 'certain segments' of the population more likely to vote for him. 'For the first time, they realize that the system's coming down, that he's the victim, he's the victim that oftentimes some of their communities were,' he told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. 'You see them swinging. Look at the African American vote, right? That's swinging over to Donald Trump in spades.'" MB: Many commentators recoiled at Eric's invocation of the racial slur "spades." I'm also wondering about "swinging over." All they swinging over on jungle vines?

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The Texas Republican party has gone off the deep end.... Just a few of the platform's planks: that the Bible should be taught in public schools.... That noncitizens who are legal residents of this country should be deported if they are arrested for participating in a protest that turns violent. That name changes to military bases should be reversed to 'publicly honor the southern heroes.' That doctors who perform abortions should be charged with homicide. That the United States should withdraw from the United Nations and that the international organization should be removed from U.S. soil. Then there is this audaciously undemocratic provision: To be elected to state office, a candidate must win not only a majority of votes, but also more than half of Texas's 254 counties.... This system would effectively mean Democrats -- who, as it is, haven't won a statewide office since 1994 -- would be shut out forever."

Really, Bob? Gregory Krieg & Eric Bradner of CNN: "Indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey is expected to file for reelection as an independent, two sources familiar with the matter said Monday. His decision to file as an independent, first reported by The New Jersey Globe, comes the day before a New Jersey primary in which three Democrats and four Republicans are vying for their parties' nominations for the seat he currently holds. Menendez, who is facing federal corruption charges and is currently on trial in New York City, had announced in March that he would not run for a fourth full term as a Democrat, but left open the possibility of an independent bid if exonerated. He faces a Tuesday deadline to file as an independent."

Marie: Sorry, I have to go to the bank because there's a bank robbery is progress. That is to say, the bank is robbing me. But it's Bank of America, so what can I expect. So far, they've managed to extract thousands of dollars, and they can't figure out where the money went or exactly how much they stole. Don't know how long I'll be gone.

Shocking News! Trump Is Bent! ~~~

~~~ ** Mob Boss at Work. Robert Faturechi, et al., of ProPublica: "Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against ... Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump's media company. The benefits have flowed from Trump's businesses and campaign committees, according to a ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee [Allen Weisselberg] got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign's top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee. These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump's social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.... To prove witness tampering, prosecutors would need to show that perks or punishments were intended to influence testimony." ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Threatens ProPublica. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "ProPublica .. got a cease-and-desist letter from Trump attorney David Warrington, demanding that the article [linked above] not be published and warning if ProPublica and its reporters 'continue their reckless campaign of defamation, President Trump will evaluate all legal remedies.'"

Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. More news linked below.

~~~~~~~~~~

National Crime Blotter

David Smith of the Guardian: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), a watchdog organisation, analysed more than 13,000 messages published by [Donald] Trump on his Truth Social platform and found him vowing revenge, retaliation and retribution against his foes.... [Trump] has threatened to use the federal government to go after [President] Biden during a second Trump administration 25 times since the start of 2023, the study found. These threats include FBI raids, investigations, indictments and even jail time. He has also threatened or suggested that the FBI and justice department should take action against senators, judges, members of Biden's family and even non-governmental organisations.... Many of his threats to Biden reflect Trump's now familiar tactic of reversing charges against his opponents, conjuring a mirror world in which he claims they are guilty of the very offence of which he is accused." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: In an interview that aired Sunday, "... Donald Trump ... told Fox News that he never called for his 2016 presidential campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, to be sent to jail.... 'I didn't say "lock her up," but the people said lock her up, lock her up,' Trump said.... However, there are several instances in which Trump did agree with calls for Clinton's jailing.... 'Every time I mention her, everyone screams, "Lock her up, lock her up,"' Trump told the crowd. 'You know what, I'm starting to agree with you.' In the weeks before the 2016 election, Trump even said he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton and seek to put her in jail for her use of the private email server.... In September 2020, Trump said 'I agree' during chants to lock up Clinton." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN finds more instances where Trump supported jailing Hillary Clinton, who has never been charged with a crime. For instance, "'You should lock her up, I'll tell you,' he said at a January 2020 rally in Ohio. At an October 2020 rally in Georgia, after the crowd chanted 'lock them up' in relation to the Biden family, Trump said, 'You should lock them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary.'"

Deplorable Men Cheers Trump. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: "Sixteen thousand people erupted into rapture when Donald J. Trump walked into the Prudential Center in Newark at 10 p.m. Saturday to attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship match. He stayed until the grisly end, at 1:15 a.m.... He walked out to Kid Rock's 'American Bad Ass,' a rock-rap trailer park anthem that ... has become the unofficial soundtrack of Mr. Trump's quest to recapture the White House.... A moment after Mr. Trump took his seat, the stadium took up a spontaneous chant of President Biden's name preceded by an expletive.... Mr. Trump had designed his appearance on Saturday as a reset -- cheaper than staging a campaign rally and possibly just as effective in casting him as a persecuted hero. His campaign quickly cut his triumphant march into the arena into a video that it used to launch his new TikTok account.... The crowd ... was almost entirely male." (Also linked yesterday.)

Bloodshed, He Wrote. Rachel Leingang of the Guardian: A user wrote to right-wing talkshow host Dan Bongino, "'I see no way out of all this mess without bloodshed. When you can rig an election, then weaponize the government and the courts against a former President, what other alternative is there? I'm almost 70 and would rather die than live in tyranny.' That's a common version of how many people on the US right reacted to the Trump verdict, drawing on a 'mirror world' where Trump is seen as the selfless martyr to powerful state forces and Joe Biden is the dangerous autocrat wielding the justice system as his own personal plaything and a threat to American democracy. Calls for revenge, retribution and violence littered the rightwing internet as soon as Trump's guilty verdict came down.... Some posted online explicitly saying it was time for hangings, executions and civil wars.... For some, the convictions provide another reason to take matters into their own hands during a time when support for using violence to achieve political goals is on the rise." (Also linked yesterday.)


Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden will go on trial on gun charges on Monday in Delaware within walking distance of his father's campaign headquarters in Wilmington, less than a week after ... Donald J. Trump's felony conviction in New York.... It is relatively rare for such gun charges to be brought against a first-time, nonviolent offender like Mr. Biden.... [Another trial], set to begin in September, involves a series of tax offenses related to his failure to file returns for a number of years.... The spectacle of Hunter Biden's trial, and its timing, creates significant headaches for President Biden's campaign, as it seeks to maximize the effect of Mr. Trump's conviction...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Biden Family Drama Will Play out in Court. Matt Viser of the Washington Post: In 2018, "when [Hallie Biden, Beau Biden's widow], found a newly purchased Colt Cobra .38 handgun in [Hunter Biden's truck], she ... put the gun in a shopping bag and drove a few miles to a high-end grocery store, where she tossed it into a trash can. That set off a chain of events that would trigger a flurry of frantic text messages, launch another dark chapter in a doomed and difficult romance -- and lead to Hunter Biden's federal trial beginning Monday.... The text messages, submitted by federal prosecutors as part of their case against Hunter Biden for lying on a gun purchase form, reflect the tortured nature of a Biden family drama that unfolded after the death of Joe Biden's son Beau of cancer in 2015." ~~~

     ~~~ Marshall Cohen of CNN: "The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's gun trial dealt his defense two setbacks Sunday, on the eve of jury selection, by blocking one of his expert witnesses and excluding a key piece of evidence the president's son hoped to use. The rulings from Judge Maryellen Noreika ... could make a tough case for Hunter Biden even more challenging to win. President Joe Biden's son has pleaded not guilty to illegally buying and owning a gun while abusing illicit drugs."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post has some ideas on how to curb the effects of Supreme Court arrogance. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Maryland Senate Race. RNC Rejects American Rule of Law. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Lara Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, slammed former Maryland governor Larry Hogan on Sunday after he'd urged Americans to 'respect' the verdict in the former president's hush money trial. Hogan is running for a Senate seat in Maryland and represents one of the GOP's best chances at taking back control of the chamber. Still, Lara Trump ... said on CNN's 'State of the Union' that Hogan 'doesn't deserve the respect' of any Republican for his comments. On Thursday, before the jury verdict was delivered, Hogan posted on X that Americans should 'respect the verdict and the legal process.'... CNN host Kasie Hunt asked the RNC co-chair if her comments meant that the committee would withhold money from Hogan's Senate campaign. Lara Trump did not answer directly." CNN's report is here.

Puerto Rico Governor's Race. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi of Puerto Rico lost his bid for a second term on Sunday, suffering a rare defeat by a sitting governor on the island after a rancorous primary. Mr. Pierluisi was defeated by Representative Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico's nonvoting member of Congress, in the primary for the governing New Progressive Party, which supports Puerto Rican statehood, The Associated Press reported. Four years ago, Mr. Pierluisi and Ms. González-Colón ran as allies on the same ticket, promising unity after a tumultuous period that included the resignation of a former New Progressive governor. But in challenging Mr. Pierluisi, her former ally, Ms. González-Colón cast his administration as out of touch and ineffective."

Texas. Jalen Beckford of CNN: "Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas announced Sunday that she's been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and warned her constituents that she'll likely be 'occasionally absent' from Congress while undergoing treatment.... The 15-term congresswoman, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for Houston mayor last year, faced a primary challenge from a onetime congressional intern earlier this year for the deep-blue 18th Congressional District. She prevailed with 60% of the vote."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

Bibi's Choice. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu... now appears to be facing a stark choice between the survival of his hard-line, hawkish government and bringing home hostages held in Gaza while setting himself and Israel on a new course away from growing international isolation.... On Friday, [U.S. President] Biden outlined broad terms that he said were presented by Israel to the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators who have been pushing for a deal to pause the fighting and free hostages in Gaza. Israeli officials confirmed that the terms matched a cease-fire proposal that had been approved by Israel's war cabinet but not yet presented to the Israeli public.... The leaders of two far-right parties in the coalition -- Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's minister of finance, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister -- have pledged to bring Mr. Netanyahu's government down if the prime minister goes along with the deal outlined by Mr. Biden before Hamas is fully destroyed. At the same time, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, two former military chiefs who joined the emergency government for the duration of the war, have threatened to withdraw the support of their centrist National Unity party by June 8 if Mr. Netanyahu fails to come up with a clear path forward. And opposition parties have begun organizing to try to topple the government."

Mexico. Natalie Kitroeff, et al., of the New York Times: "Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won her nation's elections on Sunday in a landslide victory that brought a double milestone: She became the first woman, and the first Jewish person, to be elected president of Mexico. Early results indicated that Ms. Sheinbaum, 61, prevailed in what the authorities called the largest election in Mexico's history, with the highest number of voters taking part and the most seats up for grabs. It was a landmark vote that saw not one, but two, women vying to lead one of the hemisphere's biggest nations. And it will put a Jewish leader at the helm of one of the world's largest predominantly Catholic countries. Ms. Sheinbaum, a leftist, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of Mexico's current president and her mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which delighted their party's base -- and raised alarm among detractors. The election was seen by many as a referendum on his leadership, and her victory was a clear vote of confidence in Mr. López Obrador and the party he started.

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