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.”
To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.
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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."
A Crowd of 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."
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 th 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."
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.
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Hunter Bidenwill 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...."
Not So Funny. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The question of how to create an empowered executive without making him an unaccountable monarch absorbed the framers when they designed the Constitution.... [But] as hard as they worked to establish checks and balances, the system they constructed to hold wayward presidents accountable ultimately has proved to be unsteady.... The notion that 34 felonies is not automatically disqualifying and a convicted criminal can be a viable candidate for commander in chief upends two and a half centuries of assumptions about American democracy. And it raises fundamental questions about the limits of power in a second term, should Mr. Trump be returned to office. If he wins, it means he will have survived two impeachments, four criminal indictments, civil judgments for sexual abuse and business fraud, and a felony conviction. Given that, it would be hard to imagine what institutional deterrents could discourage abuses or excesses.... After leaving office, he advocated 'termination' of the Constitution to allow him to return to power right away without another election and vowed to dedicate a second term to 'retribution.'"
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump "has already outlined a plan to appeal a verdict that on Friday he labeled 'a scam.' But ... several legal experts cast doubt on his chances of success, and noted that the case could take years to snake through the courts.... Appeals courts typically frown upon overturning jury decisions, barring some glaring error or misconduct." The reporters outline some of the possible bases for appeals. ~~~
~~~ Marie: There are many reasons Felonious Don will not serve jail time. Because he is (legally, if not actually) a first-time offender, the judge very well could let him off with a suspended sentence or no jail sentence at all. Trump could win a New York state appeal overturning his conviction. Trump -- and the court system -- could delay his incarceration with endless appeals till the day he dies or becomes too ill and enfeebled to live in jail. The Supreme Trumplodytes could step in and overturn his conviction. Trump could become president* again -- or president* for life -- and delay incarceration. Trump could abscond to a country that won't extradite him. I don't expect Donald Trump to go to jail, but I do think Justice Merchan could sentence him in such a way that he would end up under the court's supervision for the rest of his life as he negotiates maneuvers to avoid jail time.
Reid Epstein & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Post-verdict interviews with more than 50 Democrats -- including current and former members of Congress, statewide elected officials, veteran strategists, Democratic National Committee members and local officials -- revealed a party hungry to tell voters that Mr. Trump's conviction makes him unfit and worried that [President] Biden might not use the bully pulpit of the presidency to press that argument.... [Many] Democrats were much less cautious [that Mr. Biden], and happy to say what Mr. Biden did not. 'That Trump paid hush money to a porn star and jurors found he falsified business records to cover it up is just one short, tawdry chapter of a much bigger story: Trump is an aspiring tyrant who intends to rule, not lead, the United States,' said Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia.... Mr. Biden's comments on Friday about the conviction indicated that he plans to stick with his strategy: Leave the most biting attacks on Trump's legal troubles to allies and outside groups while emphasizing the rule of law." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Lisa Mascaro & Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Embracing Donald Trump's strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution as the GOP runs to reclaim the White House. Almost no Republican official has stood up to suggest Trump should not be the party's presidential candidate for the November election -- in fact, some have sought to hasten his nomination. Few others dared to defend the legitimacy of the New York state court that heard the hush money case or the 12 jurors who unanimously rendered their verdict.... The swift, strident and deepening commitment to Trump despite his felony conviction shows how fully Republican leaders and lawmakers have been infused with his unfounded grievances of a 'rigged' system and dangerous conspiracies of 'weaponized' government, using them in their own attacks on President Joe Biden and the Democrats."
Ruth Marcus, Karen Tumulty & Dana Milbank of the Washington Postdiscuss the implications of the crimes Donald Trump committed.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times -- and her siblings -- have some thoughts about Trump's criminal conviction and his toadies' reactions to it. "The party of law and order evidently doesn't like any law it didn't order." (Also linked yesterday.)
Lois Beckett of the Guardian: "Donald Trumphas spent years complaining that American police and the criminal legal system should be 'very much tougher', arguing that some criminals should not be protected by civil liberties, police should rough up suspects and a much wider range of people should face the death penalty for breaking the law.... Here's a recap of some of Trump's notable comments about 'felons' and 'criminals' -- and a look at how the convict himself has actually been treated." The contrast between the harsh treatment Trump recommends for felons and the kid gloves with which he has been treated is remarkable. Yet he's still a whiney baby as are his supporters.
~~~ Watch to the end (or at least watch the end). Thanks to RAS for the link.
This would be a good time to give some attention to one of the heroes of the day: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg:
~~~ Here's a New York Times profile of him, by Michael Gold & Jonah Bromwich, dated April 13, 2023. ~~~
~~~ Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post writes that the verdict vindicatesAlvin Bragg, who "had weathered a tide of criticism for bringing charges against" Trump.
~~~~~~~~~~
Montana. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Law enforcement officers say they were pressured to lie when Gov. Greg Gianforte of Montana killed a [trapped] black wolf in 2021.... [Initially,] Mr. Gianforte was recorded as the killer of the animal ... and given a warning for not having taken a required trapping course. A spokeswoman for the governor said Mr. Gianforte had 'immediately rectified the mistake' by taking the course. A spokesman for the department said at the time that the matter had been handled as it would have been for anyone.... Law enforcement officers involved with recording Mr. Gianforte's wolf ... now say the procedures were anything put typical. They say that officials leaned on them to record the governor's hunting buddy, rather than governor himself, as the shooter..., and that the officials bristled when the [game] warden and his boss refused.... [After that, rumors disparaging the head of law enforcement for Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department, Dave Loewen, began to circulate. The department put Loewen on administrative leave.] Since the Montana Legislature was in session in Helena, the capital, at the time of Mr. Gianforte's kill, wolf experts doubt the governor could have set the trap and then made the 177-mile trip to shoot the wolf quickly enough to satisfy regulations designed to minimize suffering. [Gianforte, who should have received a fine and lost his hunting license, received neither punishment.]" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Weisman does mention that Gianforte is a dick. Well, he puts it more politely, writing that he is "a famously temperamental man who in 2017 was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger-management classes for assaulting a reporter the night before he won a seat in the House of Representatives." Gianforte body-slammed a Guardian reporter, knocking him to floor and breaking his glasses because the reporter asked the candidate a standard question about healthcare policy.
~~~~~~~~~~
China. The Far Side of the Moon. Liz Lee, et al., of Reuters: "China landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the far side of the moon on Sunday, overcoming a key hurdle in its landmark mission to retrieve the world's first rock and soil samples from the dark lunar hemisphere.... The successful mission is China's second on the far side of the moon, a region no other country has reached. The side of the moon perpetually facing away from the Earth is dotted with deep and dark craters, making communications and robotic landing operations more challenging."
Israel/Palestine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: "A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was 'time for this war to end,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retains governing and military power. In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out in an unusually detailed address on Friday. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden's proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel's war cabinet.... 'Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,' Mr. Netanyahu's office said in the statement released on Saturday morning." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here are President Biden's remarks, as delivered, regarding the Israel/Hamas peace plan. Via the White House. Includes his brief remarks, at the top, regarding the criminal conviction of Donald Trump. (Also linked yesterday.)
Aaron Boxerman of the New York Times: "A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was 'time for this war to end,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retains governing and military power. In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out in an unusually detailed address on Friday. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden's proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel's war cabinet.... 'Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,' Mr. Netanyahu's office said in the statement released on Saturday morning." ~~~
~~~ Here are President Biden's remarks, as delivered, regarding the Israel/Hamas peace plan. Via the White House. Includes his brief remarks, at the top, regarding the criminal conviction of Donald Trump.
National Crime Blotter
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times -- and her siblings -- have some thoughts about Trump's criminal conviction and his toadies' reactions to it. "The party of law and order evidently doesn't like any law it didn't order."
~~~ Watch to the end (or at least watch the end). Thanks to RAS for the link.
~~~~~~~~~~
Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state case, not a federal case. And it was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you, like millions of Americans who've served on juries. This jury was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen. There's a process that Donald Trump's attorney was part of. The jury heard five weeks of evidence -- five weeks. And after careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts. -- President Joe Biden, in remarks Friday ~~~
~~~ President Remarks on Convicted Felon. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden took on his newly convicted opponent on Friday, declaring that a New York jury's guilty verdict against ... Donald J. Trump should be respected and denouncing efforts to undermine the justice system as 'reckless,' 'dangerous' and 'irresponsible.' Breaking his long silence over Mr. Trump's legal troubles, Mr. Biden directly and unambiguously characterized the putative Republican nominee as a lawbreaker whose conviction amounted to a victory for the rule of law. And he rejected assertions that the prosecution was a political witch hunt, noting that it was not a case brought by his own administration.... Mr. Biden focused on the orchestrated efforts by the former president and his allies to discredit the prosecution and the judgment of the jury by painting the process as a political persecution that supposedly treated Mr. Trump unfairly... 'Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America. Our justice system ... should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down...." ~~~
Michael Gold & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: On Friday, Donald "Trump, in a rambling and misleading 33-minute speech, derided the trial as 'rigged' and made numerous false statements about what had taken place in court.... Mr. Trump, who said he would appeal the verdict, continued to attack people who testified against him in the seven-week trial, specifically his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, the star witness for the prosecution. He also admitted that he had gotten 'very upset' with his lawyers. He called the judge, Juan M. Merchan, the 'devil.'" This was the pinned item in a liveblog, also linked yesterday. Here are a few of the reporters' observations:
Gold: "Trump starts by claiming that 'if they can do this to me, they can do this to everyone' and calls the prosecutors in his trial 'bad' and 'sick' people. Then he immediately retreats to his dark rhetoric on immigration.... Trump is now complaining about the gag order in the case, which he falsely attributed to President Biden.... The court, he says, 'is in total conjunction with the White House and the D.O.J.,' a claim for which there is no evidence[.]"
Jonah Bromwich: "Prosecutors had asked that Trump be placed under a gag order for the duration of the trial, so it is not totally unsurprising that the former president has seemed to violate it here, lashing out his former fixer, Michael Cohen.... But this could be dangerous for Trump, who still has to undergo sentencing, where a judge often takes a defendant's post-verdict conduct into account."
Benjamin Protess: "Trump claims that Michael Cohen got into legal trouble not because of his affiliation with the former president, but because of his own crimes. While it's true that Cohen pleaded guilty to personal financial crimes, he was also charged with his role in paying hush money for Trump. And federal prosecutors concluded that Cohen did so at Trump's direction."
Jonathan Swan: "Trump claims, implausibly, that he never thought of Michael Cohen as a fixer. He says he thought of him purely as a lawyer. In reality, Trump assigned Cohen to do many jobs that had nothing to do with lawyering, such as threatening contractors and trying to rig an online CNBC poll to make Trump seem more popular than he really was."
Maggie Haberman: "Trump is now doing a sweeping rejection of all investigations into him, including the investigation into his efforts to thwart the transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election."
Gold: "Trump is now falling back on very familiar territory: his screed against migrants who are crossing the border illegally, who he broadly depicts as criminals, mentally ill people and terrorists. Border authorities have said most of those crossing are families fleeing poverty or conflict."
Bromwich: "Trump seemed to be seeking to draw a connection between his points about migrants and the judge in his case. Justice Merchan was born in Colombia but raised in Queens, the same borough as Trump."
Swan: "We're now in the phase of the speech when Trump is falsely claiming that kids can't have Little League games any more because undocumented immigrants are setting up too many tents."
Gold: "After 33 minutes, Trump walks away without answering questions from the dozens of reporters here."
Reid Epstein: "Michael Tyler, a spokesman for President Biden's campaign, said that Trump's remarks today showed that he was 'confused, desperate, and defeated' following his felony conviction. 'Trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution,' Tyler said. 'He thinks this election is about him. But it's not. It's about the American people: lowering their costs, protecting their freedoms, defending their democracy.'"
[MB re: the gag order: Some on-air commentators have noted that Justice Merchan has not lifted the gag order, so it is still in effect. Trump himself seems to think he is still subject to the gag order because during his fake press conference, when he defamed Michael Cohen, Trump said he could not say Cohen's name because he was under a gag order. Trump then described Cohen without uttering his name, leaving no doubt about who he was disparaging, just as a bratty eight-year-old might do after his mom told him not to say bad things about the neighbor's kid.]
Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Donald Trumpsaid he was going to hold a 'press conference' on Friday in the wake of his Thursday conviction in Manhattan on felony charges of falsifying business records. Instead, Trump delivered a rambling monologue that was filled with false claims on subjects ranging from the Manhattan trial to immigration to tax policy. Here is a fact check of some of the inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims he made." Read on.
Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed witnesses in his hush money trial were 'literally crucified' following his criminal conviction by a New York jury.... [Trump said,] 'You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man [i.e., Justice Merchan] who looks like an angel. But he's really a devil.'" MB: Even though I oppose capital punishment, I would like to have seen those crucifictions Judge Merchan ordered. Definitely need cameras in the courtroom. (Also linked yesterday.)
Bad. Republicans Attack U.S. Justice System. Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted ... Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a 'shameful day in American history' and the charges were 'purely political.' Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a 'disgrace to the judicial system.' And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was 'a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Stephen Neukam of Axios: "A top Trump advisor warned Maryland RepublicanLarry Hogan that his Senate campaign in the state is over after the state's former governor told voters to 'respect the verdict.'... Former President Trump initially planned to refrain from attacking Hogan, despite their strained past.... [But] Hogan's call to respect the rule of law seems to have incensed at least one top Trump advisor. 'You just ended your campaign,' said Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump advisor, on X in response to Hogan's comments." MB: Chris Hayes noted last night that Hogan released the tweet during the half-hour or so that the court had notified the public that the jury had reached a verdict but before the jury announced the verdict; that is, Hogan didn't know what the verdict was when he urged people to respect whatever the jury concluded. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Worse. Jonathan Nicholson of the Huffington Post: "Eight Republican senators said Friday they would try to slow down the Senate's business in response to the verdict.... 'The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart,' said the eight senators in a letter. Signatories included Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is remarkably nonsensical. No one in the federal government had any control over what a Manhattan D.A. and a Manhattan jury did. A normal senator would blame Donald Trump for breaking the law and embarrassing their party by paying off a porn star to cover up a one-night stand with her in order to win the 2016 election; instead, these ridiculous senators pout and stamp their baby feet and blame "corrupt Democrats." Or something.
Worst. Friends in High Places. Andrew Solender of Axios: "House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called for the U.S. Supreme Court to 'step in' to overturn the guilty verdict against former President Trump in his New York hush money trial.... 'I think that the Justices on the court -- I know many of them personally -- I think they are deeply concerned about that, as we are. So I think they'll set this straight,' the Louisiana Republican added.... 'It's going to take a while ... this will be overturned, guys, there's no question about it....'" MB: So forget the entire U.S. criminal justice system. Abandon all of it. Rather, Mike Johnson's "friends" will find an excuse to erase the verdict. Gare-an-teed. There's no appeal to actual justice or accountability here. It's all about who ya know.
Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's campaign announced on Friday evening that he had raised nearly $53 million in the 24 hours after his felony conviction, shattering online records for Republicans and raking in enough cash to help him close what has been a substantial financial gap with President Biden.... It would nearly match, in a single day, the $58 million that Mr. Trump's main fund-raising arm raised online in the last six months of 2023, according to federal records."
Brian Beutlerhas some thoughts on Trump's conviction. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: I have no idea* what caused Donald Trump to decide to turn on Michael Cohen. But it was one of the biggest miscalculations of his ignominious career. It dwarfs the Trump "University" grift and other Trump scams. Cohen was a thug who would have continued to serve Trump. But Trump abandoned Cohen, so Cohen turned on Trump. Cohen met with investigators from the Manhattan D.A.'s office at least 20 times, providing the D.A. with the basic framework of the criminal case against Trump. And it was Cohen's Congressional testimony that caused New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesto open an investigation into Trump's business practices. That investigation resulted in civil fraud charges and eventually a judgment against the Trump Organization in the amount of $454 million, plus other penalties. That is to say, if not for Michael Cohen, Trump might not yet be a convicted criminal and he would likely be half-a-billion dollars richer. ~~~
~~~ *Update: Cohen said on MSNBC yesterday that Trump dumped on him because Trump figured he could get away with the hush-money payoff by placing all the blame on Cohen. This makes sense because Trump would not have known at the time that investigators would find evidence that Trump had engineered the conspiracy to quash Stormy Daniels' story.
Donie O'Sullivan & Sean Lyngaas of CNN: "On online forums that have previously been linked to mass shootings, people are threatening violence and attempting to publicly identify the 12 New York jurors who on Thursday decided to convict ... Donald Trump. The calls for retribution began immediately after the verdict was announced. Experts who track online extremism told CNN the volume of violent rhetoric in the last 24 hours is as high as it was after the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022.... Overnight..., anonymous internet users on sites that are known havens of hate and harassment began sharing names, home addresses and other personal information belonging to people they say might have been members of the jury, a practice known as doxxing."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors tried for a second time on Friday to ask the judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's classified documents case to bar him from making any statements that might endanger F.B.I. agents involved in the proceeding. The move by the prosecutors came three days after the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, denied their initial request to keep Mr. Trump from attacking the agents on the procedural grounds that they had failed to properly inform Mr. Trump's lawyers about their intentions. The dispute ... began about 10 days ago when Mr. Trump falsely claimed on social media that the F.B.I. had authorized agents to kill him during their August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.... The motion prosecutors filed on Friday was nearly identical to their initial submission. It included [a] statement from Mr. Trump's lawyers that Judge Cannon had asked for...."
Dan Mangan & Anthony Cusumano of CNBC: "The Florida federal judge overseeing the criminal classified documents case against ... Donald Trumphas been the target of more than 1,000 complaints in just one week this month raising allegations of her handling of the case, a top appeals court judge revealed in an order. The complaints against Judge Aileen Cannon have come to light amid renewed criticism by some legal observers and Trump opponents that she is slow-walking the criminal case against the former president to ensure it does not go to trial before the presidential election. 'Many of the complaints' against Cannon filed with the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 'request that the Chief Circuit Judge remove her from the classified-documents case and reassign the case to a different judge,' Chief Judge William Pryor wrote in a May 22 order posted on the appeal court's website.... Pryor, in his May 22 order..., wrote that he 'has considered and dismissed four of those orchestrated complaints as merits-related and as based on allegations lacking sufficient evidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred.' He also wrote that neither he nor the appeals court's Judicial Council has the authority to remove Cannon from the case under the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings."
Keith Alexander of the Washington Post: "The D.C. board that oversees attorney discipline recommended Friday that Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal attorney to ... Donald Trump, not be allowed to practice law in the nation's capital. The decision by the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility followed lengthy hearings in 2022 and follow-up court filings last year in which a law licensing discipline committee determined that Giuliani violated the terms of his license to practice law in the nation's capital when he filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania trying to block certification of the results in the 2020 presidential election."
Tracey Tully & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "In May 2019, a top official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture got a call on his cellphone from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The conversation was brief, the senator was curt, and the message was clear: 'Stop interfering with my constituent.' Ted A. McKinney, then the under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, testified about the exchange on Friday during the third week of Mr. Menendez's bribery trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan.... At the time of the call, Mr. McKinney and others at the U.S.D.A. had been publicly sounding the alarm about a deal Egypt had brokered that granted a halal meat monopoly to a New Jersey startup run by Wael Hana, a longtime friend of the senator's wife, Nadine Menendez.... It was the first time that jurors had heard directly from a witness who attributed conduct to the senator that is central to the government's claim in an indictment that alleges a sprawling bribery conspiracy: that Mr. Menendez was willing to flex his political muscle to win favorable treatment for allies.... Mr. Menendez, in a brief comment to reporters outside the courthouse, said, 'You wait for the cross and you'll find the truth.'"
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Navys former second-highest-ranking officer and commander of naval forces for Europe and Africa was arrested Friday on federal bribery charges for allegedly awarding a sole-source contract to a company in 2021 in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job and stock options, the Justice Department announced. Retired four-star Adm. Robert P. Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Fla., faces the prospect of becoming only the second U.S. admiral to be found guilty of committing a federal crime while on active duty, after he was arrested on a five-count indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington. Burke was arrested with Yongchul 'Charlie' Kim, 50, and Meghan Messenger, 47, founders of the New York-based technology services firm Next Jump, prosecutors announced." CNN's report is here.
Presidential Race. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "The Ohio General Assembly has passed a legislative fix that ensures President Biden will be on the state's ballot in November, averting a crisis that had been brewing for weeks over what is typically a minor procedural issue. The secretary of state in Ohio, a Republican, had said that he planned to exclude Mr. Biden from the ballot because the president would not be officially nominated by his party until after a state deadline for certifying presidential nominees.... The General Assembly resolved the issue by passing a bill that pushes back the deadline to accommodate the date of the Democratic nominating convention. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill over the weekend, pending a legal review, according to a spokesman.... Mr. DeWine [had] ... called a special legislative session to fix the problem, saying that legislators had failed 'to take action on this urgent matter.'"
Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Social Security Administration's inspector general is resigning after five tumultuous years capped by a new draft report by an independent watchdog group that found she tried to obstruct the largest of multiple investigations into her office. Gail Ennis, a Trump administration appointee who took office in January 2019, announced her departure in an email to her staff of 500 early Friday. Bipartisan pressure had been building in Congress for President Bidento fire her after reports of falling productivity and morale, complaints of whistleblower retaliation and blowback from her handling of an anti-fraud program run by her office...."
Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, officially filed as an independent Friday. 'My commitment to do everything I can to bring out country together has led me to register as an independent with no party affiliation,' Manchin posted on the social platform X. Manchin announced in November that he wouldn't be running for reelection this year, after serving in the Senate since 2010. Before coming to Congress, he served as the governor of West Virginia from 2005-10.... Manchin did not say what he plans to do after he leaves office at the end of this term.... The West Virginia senator, 76, had long toyed with the idea of a possible third-party bid for the White House but ruled it out this cycle...." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here.
Andrew Gumbel of the Guardian: "Neighbors of Samuel Alito and his wife described how a disagreement over political lawn signs put up in the wake of the 2020 presidential election quickly devolved into 'unhinged behavior towards a complete stranger' by the supreme court justice's wife.... Then a large black car, part of the Alitos' security detail, started parking in front of [Emily Baden's] mother's house instead of theirs.... Baden and her husband both say that the security detail's car showed up in front of her mother's house again two weeks ago, after the New York Times broke the story about an upside-down American flag hanging on the Alitos' flagpole.... 'I couldn't say who was in the car because of the tinted glass, and nobody ever said anything. I took it as a general threat,' [Emily Baden] said. 'The message was, we could do terrible things to you, and nobody would be able to do anything about it. When it comes to justices at the supreme court, they make the laws, but the laws don't apply to them.'"
Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother and a linchpin of the Obama family who moved into the White House and provided stability and care for the family's two young daughters during a tumultuous time in Washington, died on Friday. She was 86. Her death was announced in a statement by Ms. Obama, former President Barack Obama and other members of the family." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Texas v. Women. Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "The Texas Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected a challenge to the state's strict abortion ban, ruling against a group of 22 women and abortion providers who sought to expand the exceptions for medical emergencies under the law. While the challenge will continue in trial court, the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, would almost certainly appeal any loss there, and the high court's decision Friday made clear that he would ultimately prevail.... While the case revolves around the question of what counts as an exception -- unlike other lawsuits, it did not seek to overturn a state ban -- it has changed the political debate around abortion by underscoring the potentially devastating medical consequences of abortion bans even for women who were not seeking to end unwanted pregnancies."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
Aamer Madhani & Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Friday that Hamas is 'no longer capable' of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire. Biden addressed the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war as the Israeli military confirmed on Friday that its forces are now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. 'This is truly a decisive moment,' Biden said as he spoke of a three-phase deal that Israeli officials have offered Hamas. 'Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "The top four congressional leaders formally invited Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Friday to address a joint meeting of Congress, in a show of bipartisan unity that masked a fraught behind-the-scenes debate over receiving him. The invitation, which set no date, came amid deep political divides in the United States over the war between Israel and Hamas, which has intensified after Israel's recent attacks in Rafah. Speaker Mike Johnson had been pressing to issue the invitation for weeks, seeking to hug Mr. Netanyahu closer.... Even before the invitation went out on Friday afternoon, the prospect of Mr. Netanyahu's visit to the Capitol had divided Democrats."
Ukraine, et al. Edward Wong of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinkenleft open the possibility on Friday that President Biden could allow Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike at a broader array of targets inside Russia, going beyond attacks he has approved on launch sites the Russians are using for their current assault on the Kharkiv area. 'Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is: As necessary, adapt and adjust,' Mr. Blinken said at a news conference in Prague at the end of a two-day meeting of top diplomats from member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Mr. Blinken was responding to a reporter's question on whether the United States might give permission for Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deeper into Russia. The phrase 'adapt and adjust' is one that Mr. Blinken used in a news conference on Wednesday in Chisinau, Moldova, to suggest that Mr. Biden was about to make a major policy shift and grant Ukraine permission to use the weapons to strike in Russia...."
News Lede
New York Times: "Darryl Hickman, who worked with top directors as a child actor in the 1940s, shifted to television roles in the '50s, and succeeded Robert Morse as the star of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' in the early '60s, died on May 22 at his home in Montecito, Calif. He was 92."
Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother and a linchpin of the Obama family who moved into the White House and provided stability and care for the family's two young daughters during a tumultuous time in Washington, died on Friday. She was 86. Her death was announced in a statement by Ms. Obama, former President Barack Obama and other members of the family."
Aamer Madhani & Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Friday that Hamas is 'no longer capable' of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire. Biden addressed the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war as the Israeli military confirmed on Friday that its forces are now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. 'This is truly a decisive moment,' Biden said as he spoke of a three-phase deal that Israeli officials have offered Hamas. 'Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.'" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, officially filed as an independent Friday. 'My commitment to do everything I can to bring out country together has led me to register as an independent with no party affiliation,' Manchin posted on the social platform X. Manchin announced in November that he wouldn't be running for reelection this year, after serving in the Senate since 2010. Before coming to Congress, he served as the governor of West Virginia from 2005-10.... Manchin did not say what he plans to do after he leaves office at the end of this term.... The West Virginia senator, 76, had long toyed with the idea of a possible third-party bid for the White House but ruled it out this cycle...."
GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
** President Biden on Donald Trump's conviction:
Zachary Leeman of Mediaite: "MSNBC's José Díaz-Balartdeclined to describe a speech before cameras by Donald Trump as a 'press conference' on Friday, dismissing it as a campaign event after the network cut away early to offer fact checks of the former president. 'Donald Trump was all over the place at the start of this press conference and throughout really. It would seem like stream of consciousness a little bit. He talked about coming across the border, he talked about how they want to take away your cars.[' ']That's a direct quote,' MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera said when describing Trump's speech moments after MSNBC dumped out of the event.... MSNBC offered multiple fact checks of Trump, including his declaration at one point that he could be facing more than 120 years behind bars." Tim Miller, for his part, called Trump's remarks "a ramble" and "pretty incoherent."
Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed witnesses in his hush money trial were 'literally crucified' following his criminal conviction by a New York jury.... [Trump said,] 'You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man [i.e., Justice Merchan] who looks like an angel. But he's really a devil.'" MB: Even though I oppose capital punishment, I would like to have seen those crucifictions Judge Merchan ordered. Definitely need cameras in the courtroom.
Michael Gold & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: On Friday, Donald "Trump, in a rambling and misleading 33-minute speech, derided the trial as 'rigged' and made numerous false statements about what had taken place in court.... Mr. Trump, who said he would appeal the verdict, continued to attack people who testified against him in the seven-week trial, specifically his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, the star witness for the prosecution. He also admitted that he had gotten 'very upset' with his lawyers. He called the judge, Juan M. Merchan, the 'devil.'" This is currently (12:30 pm ET) the pinned item in a liveblog. Here are a few reporters' observations:
Gold: "Trump starts by claiming that 'if they can do this to me, they can do this to everyone' and calls the prosecutors in his trial 'bad' and 'sick' people. Then he immediately retreats to his dark rhetoric on immigration.... Trump is now complaining about the gag order in the case, which he falsely attributed to President Biden.... The court, he says, 'is in total conjunction with the White House and the D.O.J.,' a claim for which there is no evidence[.]"
Jonah Bromwich: "Prosecutors had asked that Trump be placed under a gag order for the duration of the trial, so it is not totally unsurprising that the former president has seemed to violate it here, lashing out his former fixer, Michael Cohen.... But this could be dangerous for Trump, who still has to undergo sentencing, where a judge often takes a defendant's post-verdict conduct into account."
Benjamin Protess: "Trump claims that Michael Cohen got into legal trouble not because of his affiliation with the former president, but because of his own crimes. While it's true that Cohen pleaded guilty to personal financial crimes, he was also charged with his role in paying hush money for Trump. And federal prosecutors concluded that Cohen did so at Trump's direction."
Jonathan Swan: "Trump claims, implausibly, that he never thought of Michael Cohen as a fixer. He says he thought of him purely as a lawyer. In reality, Trump assigned Cohen to do many jobs that had nothing to do with lawyering, such as threatening contractors and trying to rig an online CNBC poll to make Trump seem more popular than he really was."
Maggie Haberman: "Trump is now doing a sweeping rejection of all investigations into him, including the investigation into his efforts to thwart the transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election."
Gold: "Trump is now falling back on very familiar territory: his screed against migrants who are crossing the border illegally, who he broadly depicts as criminals, mentally ill people and terrorists. Border authorities have said most of those crossing are families fleeing poverty or conflict."
Bromwich: "Trump seemed to be seeking to draw a connection between his points about migrants and the judge in his case. Justice Merchan was born in Colombia but raised in Queens, the same borough as Trump. The former president's effort to tie Merchan's background to the migrant crisis may speak to some of his supporters."
Swan: "We're now in the phase of the speech when Trump is falsely claiming that kids can't have Little League games any more because undocumented immigrants are setting up too many tents."
Gold: "After 33 minutes, Trump walks away without answering questions from the dozens of reporters here."
Reid Epstein: "Michael Tyler, a spokesman for President Biden's campaign, said that Trump's remarks today showed that he was 'confused, desperate, and defeated' following his felony conviction. 'Trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution,' Tyler said. 'He thinks this election is about him. But it's not. I's about the American people: lowering their costs, protecting their freedoms, defending their democracy.'"
[Marie: According to MSNBC, Trump said the judge might sentence him to 100 years in jail. (The maximum sentence for the crimes he committed is four years, and most experts speculate Trump won't be sentenced to any jail time.)]
Republicans Attack U.S. Justice System. Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted ... Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a 'shameful day in American history' and the charges were 'purely political.' Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a 'disgrace to the judicial system.' And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was 'a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.'" ~~~
~~~ Stephen Neukam of Axios: "A top Trump advisor warned Maryland RepublicanLarry Hogan that his Senate campaign in the state is over after the state's former governor told voters to 'respect the verdict.'... Former President Trump initially planned to refrain from attacking Hogan, despite their strained past.... [But] Hogan's call to respect the rule of law seems to have incensed at least one top Trump advisor. 'You just ended your campaign,' said Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump advisor, on X in response to Hogan's comments."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The Trump campaign brought in roughly $35 million after former President Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in a New York hush money trial Thursday, as his campaign argues the verdict supercharged support among grassroots donors. 'From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and despite temporary delays online because of the amount of traffic, President Trump raised $34.8 million dollars from small dollar donors,' Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a joint statement Friday."
Brian Beutlerhas some thoughts on Trump's conviction. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
Marie: I have no idea what caused Donald Trump to decide to turn on Michael Cohen. But it was one of the biggest miscalculations of his ignominious career. It dwarfs the Trump "University" grift and other Trump scams. Cohen was a thug who would have continued to serve Trump. But Trump abandoned Cohen, so Cohen turned on Trump. Cohen met with investigators from the Manhattan D.A.'s office at least 20 times, providing the D.A. with the basic framework of the criminal case against Trump. And it was Cohen's Congressional testimony that caused New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesto open an investigation into Trump's business practices. That investigation resulted in civil fraud charges and eventually a judgment against the Trump Organization in the amount of $454 million, plus other penalties. That is to say, if not for Michael Cohen, Trump might not yet be a convicted criminal and he would likely be half-a-billion dollars richer.
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Michael Sisak, et al., of the AP: "Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Jurors deliberated for 9.5 hours over two days before convicting Trump of all 34 counts he faced. Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below -- where supporters and detractors of the former president were gathered -- could be heard in the hallway on courthouse's 15th floor where the decision was revealed." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ "Queens Man Convicted." Jacob Kaye of the Queens Daily News: "Former Jamaica Estates resident Donald Trumpwas convicted by a Manhattan jury on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up a sex scandal he feared would ruin his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. The jury's verdict, which came after only two days of deliberations, makes Trump the first president from Queens -- or anywhere in the United States, for that matter -- to become a felon.... The trial was overseen by another man from the World's Borough, Justice Juan Merchan, who was raised in Jackson Heights. Despite their shared hometown, Trump had no love for his fellow Queens man following the trial's conclusion on Thursday. 'This was a disgrace,' Trump said. 'This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.'... Trump was released on his own recognizance Thursday, being spared a trip to Rikers Island, the home of the city's notorious jail complex which happens to be part of the same borough the former president was raised in." ~~~
~~~ Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "The guilty verdict in Manhattan -- across the board, on all 34 counts -- will reverberate throughout the nation and the world as it ushers in a new era of presidential politics. Mr. Trump will carry the stain of the verdict during his third run for the White House as voters now choose between an unpopular incumbent and a convicted criminal. While it was once unthinkable that Americans would elect a felon as their leader, Mr. Trump's insurgent behavior delights his supporters as he bulldozes the country's norms. Now, the man who refused to accept his 2020 election loss is already seeking to delegitimize his conviction, attempting to assert the primacy of his raw political power over the nation's rule of law.... The judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, released Mr. Trump on his own recognizance and set his sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention convenes and anoints him as the presidential nominee. Alvin L. Bragg, the prosecutor who brought the case, declined to reveal Thursday whether he would seek a prison term."
New York Times reporters liveblogged yesterday's proceedings. For details, see yesterday's Conversation. The reporters' observations are divided into two parts, before and after the court announced that the jury had reached a verdict. (Also linked yesterday.)
Links to courtroom proceedings in the Trump criminal case, up through May 29, are here. Links to evidence are here. All via the New York courts system. (Also linked yesterday.)
Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "The [Trump] campaign quickly responded to the verdict with a fundraising solicitation that declared, 'I'M A POLITICAL PRISONER!' -- adapting the term that Trump has been using to describe his supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. [Trump] advisers said the verdict produced a spike in campaign contributions.... The Trumpcampaign is seeking to turn the verdict into a factor that hardens the intensity of his supporters.... Trump appeared flushed as he walked out [of the courtroom] grimacing. He stopped just outside the courtroom doors to huddle with his aides.... Then he approached the stakeout camera set up in the hallway to address reporters, as he did throughout the trial. His words were similar: criticizing the judge, the venue, the prosecutors. But this time he held his head a little lower, hissed a little more on the word 'disgrace,' spat a little more as he repeated the word 'rigged.' 'I'm a very innocent man,' he insisted."
New York TimesEditors: "The jury's decision, and the facts presented at the trial, offer yet another reminder -- perhaps the starkest to date -- of the many reasons Donald Trumpis unfit for office.... The greatest good to come out of this sordid case is the proof that the rule of law binds everyone, even former presidents.... That 12 Americans could sit in judgment of the former and potentially future president is a remarkable display of the democratic principles that Americans prize at work.... Justice Merchan was scrupulous in ensuring that Mr. Trump received a fair trial.... And yet throughout the trial, the judge was forced to deal with Mr. Trump's attempts to undermine the legal system.... Justice Merchan put a limit on what Mr. Trump could say to prevent him from attacking and threatening jurors, witnesses, court personnel and even the judge's family.... Only the threat of a jail sentence finally seemed to keep Mr. Trump in line." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "False reports about the jury instructions in ... Donald Trump's hush money trial have been spreading across right-wing media, leading to threats against the judge overseeing the case. Several conservative news personalities, including some affiliated with Fox News, falsely claimed that Judge Juan Merchan, as one Fox News anchor put it in a viral post on X, 'told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict' Trump. That's not true.... Jurors have to agree unanimously that Trump committed a crime by engaging in a criminal conspiracy to falsify records with the intent to commit one or more other crimes in order to convict him. But jurors can choose from three options about what those other crimes were...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "'IT IS RIDICULOUS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND UNAMERICAN that the highly Conflicted, Radical Left Judge is not requiring a unanimous decision on the fake charges against me,' [Donald] Trump wrote.... 'Judge in Trump case in NYC just told jury they don't have to unanimously agree on which crime was committed as long as they all at least pick one. And that among the crimes the [sic] can pick from are ones Trump WASN'T EVEN CHARGED WITH!!! This is exactly the kind of sham trial used against political opponents of the regime in the old Soviet Union [-- Sen. Marco Rubio].... Rubio is a lawyer. He went to law school. He practiced law before beginning a lengthy career as a lawmaker.... Rubio -- who ... really should've known better -- pushed a wildly misleading claim that both undermines public confidence in the judicial system and seems likely to increase threats against the judge who did nothing wrong.... No one should want to be vice president this badly." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Postrelayed some other stuffTrump has been posting lately; e.g.: "On Sunday, he shared a video of a vulgarian shouting at Joe Scarborough, the former conservative Republican congressman who is now an MSNBC host: ''He'll get rid of all you f---ing liberals. You liberals are gone when he f---ing wins. You f---ing bl---job liberals are done. Uncle Donnie's gonna take this election. Landslide, coz. Landslide, you f---ing half a bl-- job. Landslide. Get the f--- out of here, you scumbag.' Scarborough's reply: 'He's your uncle?'"
Put Democrats in Prison or Shoot Them, Prominent Winger Urges. Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "Sean Davis, the CEO and co-founder of the right-wing website The Federalist, called on Republicans to draw up lists of Democrats to 'put in prison' in a social media post reacting to Donald Trump's conviction.... 'In 2016, the presidential race was decided based on candidates releasing lists of potential Supreme Court nominees,' wrote Davis. 'In 2024, I want to see lists of which Democrat officials are going to be put in prison. This is what happens when you cross the Rubicon.'... 'Frederick Douglass wrote that three boxes were essential to American liberty: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box...,' declared Davis in another post reacting to the verdict. 'Democrats stole the 2020 election, and then they ran a Soviet show trial with a rigged jury to throw their top political opponent in prison in 2024. Understand what they're coming for next, and why.'" Emphasis added. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Li Zhou of Vox: "An explosive new essay published in Slate on Thursday raises new allegations about ... Donald Trump's behavior on the set of The Apprentice, renewing focus on his history of racist comments and misconduct toward women. The piece, by Bill Pruitt, a former producer on the reality show, claims Trump used the n-word to describe a Black contestant named Kwame Jackson, and describes how he openly commented on women's appearances.... According to Pruitt, Carolyn Kepcher, one of Trump's employees who advised him on the show, argued that Jackson did a strong job with the season's final challenge, and he deserved to win. 'Yeah,' Trump allegedly said, 'but, I mean, would America buy a n-- winning?'... Pruitt's essay focuses on how Apprentice producers were able to make Trump appear like a successful and commanding businessperson despite his bumbling persona and well-established history of scamming those he worked with. Pruitt's Slate essay is here."
Marie: In case the Manhattan jury's verdict against Donald Trump is making you feel all dewy-eyed and optimistic about the U.S. system of justice, where "no man is above the law," let me point out that there are nine powerful people in this country who literally sit above the rest of us. Now their titular leader has declared in writing that the seating arrangement is more than symbolic: these nine have certain immunity from rules and laws that constrain the rest of us. ~~~
~~~ ** Supreme Court Chief Justice Gives Country the Finger. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Thursday declined requests to have Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after provocative flags flew on the justice's properties. The justices make those calls on their own, Chief Justice Roberts wrote in a letter to Democratic senators.... The chief justice also rejected a request to meet with Democratic senators to discuss ethics at the Supreme Court, writing that doing so would raise concerns about separation of powers and judicial independence." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Given the audacious authoritarian attitudes expressed by Roberts, Alito and Thomas, we should not be at all surprised if they rule that a Republican ex-president is immune from prosecution from ordinary and extraordinary crimes against the public. (I'll admit there is a good chance they and their fellow confederates will not immediately rule outright on the immunity case but instead will try to hide their opinion by sending the case through a long -- i.e., way past the election -- and winding road through the court system they control.)
Julie Weil of the Washington Post: "The IRS is making its free tax-filing platform permanent and open to all 50 states and D.C., the Biden administration announced Thursday, following the successful launch of the first-of-its-kind website. This tax season, more than 140,000 taxpayers in 12 eligible states made use of Direct File -- which allows users to submit simple tax returns directly to the government. Republicans have criticized it as a costly and unnecessary government alternative to private-sector offerings from Turbo Tax, H&R Block and others, while Democrats praise the effort as a cost-saver for consumers. 'Meeting your tax obligations and claiming the credits and deductions for which you're eligible should be easy,' Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Thursday. 'We will make Direct File a permanent IRS service and invite all states to participate in Direct File starting next year.'" An Axios report is here.
Santul Nerkar of the New York Times: "The Labor Department on Thursday sued Hyundai over the use of child labor in Alabama, holding the car manufacturer liable for the employment of children in its supply chain, including a 13-year-old girl who worked up to 60 hours per week making car parts. In the suit, filed in a federal court in Montgomery, Ala., the department said Hyundai was responsible for the employment of children at a Smart Alabama factory in Luverne, Ala., which produces parts like body panels that are shipped to a Hyundai factory in Montgomery. The suit also claimed a staffing agency, Best Practice Service, recruited the children to work at the supplier's plant.... The suit comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Times documented the use of child labor by the suppliers of car companies."
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A Queens man pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening to kill a congressional aide and to making more than 12,000 harassing phone calls to members of Congress over an 18-month period in 2022 and 2023, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. announced." MB: Turns out it wasn't that Queens man, but given that Queens man's penchant for harassing politicians, one could be forgiven for suspecting he was the guy.
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NEW: Man with a suspended license joins court Zoom call while driving in his car.
This is the funniest video I've seen in a long time.
Judge Cedric Simpson can be seen dumbfounded after defendant Corey Harris dialed into the meeting from his car.
Ukraine, et al. Edward Wong of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has decided to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with U.S.-made weapons with the aim of blunting Russia's attacks in the Kharkiv area, senior American officials said on Thursday. The decision follows weeks of discussion with the Ukrainians after Russia began a major assault on Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. Because Kharkiv is near Russia, in the northeast of Ukraine, the Russian military has been hitting the area around the city with artillery and missiles fired or launched from inside Russian territory, and the Ukrainians have asked the Americans to give them greater leeway in defending Kharkiv, an American official said. The permission from President Biden is intended solely for Ukraine to strike military sites in Russia being used to attack the Kharkiv area, U.S. officials said." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here.
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