WSB-TV Atlanta: "President Joe Biden came to metro Atlanta on Thursday to hold a rally to celebrate his first 100 days in office. The drive-in event was held in Duluth at Infinite Energy Center. Biden came to Georgia to talk about his administration's accomplishments, including vaccinating more than 200 million Americans. During his speech, Biden thanked Georgians for helping elect him.... 'We promised to deliver emergency relief to the millions of Americans who were in financial distress,' Biden said. 'We've already sent more than 160 million checks out the door. And I want to stop here and give thanks to both your senators, Sens. Ossof and Warnock, for making it happen, because those two votes, had we not come back and you elected them, those two votes made the difference.'" ~~~
~~~ Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "At a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee, the first in-person political event for Biden since he took office, the president infused more politics into the message he delivered Wednesday night in his speech to a joint session of Congress.... As the president gears up for a high-stakes legislative push for his ambitious infrastructure package, he is hitting the road to garner support from the American public as Republicans raise opposition to the expansive approach Biden is taking."
Alana Wise of NPR: "President Biden met with former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter on Thursday in their hometown of Plains, Ga. The trip, which comes on Biden's 100th day in office, is part of an effort to celebrate his early accomplishments in office and make the push for trillions in new spending that would reshape the nation's economy."
Lisa Lerer & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Now 100 days into his presidency, Mr. Biden is driving the biggest expansion of American government in decades, an effort to use $6 trillion in federal spending to address social and economic challenges at a scale not seen in a half-century. Aides say he has come into his own as a party leader in ways that his uneven political career didn't always foretell, and that he is undeterred by matters that used to bother him, like having no Republican support for Democratic priorities. For an establishment politician who cast his election campaign as a restoration of political norms, his record so far amounts to the kind of revolution that he said last year he would not pursue as president -- but that, aides say, became necessary to respond to a crippling pandemic. In doing so, Mr. Biden is validating the desires of a party that feels fiercely emboldened to push a liberal agenda through a polarized Congress." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's something Biden & Trump have in common. When each ascended to the presidency, he said to himself, "Wow, I'm the President now, and I can do whatever I want." For Trump, there was an addendum to that thought: "... for myself." He immediately set about to become the biggest grifter (and worst administrator) in the history of the U.S. presidency. Biden, on the other hand, used his new power (1) to clean up his act, which over the years has been uneven, and (2) to reimagine the federal government as one that does favor the middle class and those trying to get there. Clearly, he decided that nibbling at the edges -- a la Clinton's school uniforms -- was not going to cut it. Joe Biden believes in the BFD.
Cleve Wootson & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: Sen Tim "Scott [R-S.C.], delivering the official GOP response Wednesday, suggested that liberals are using race as a political weapon, defining all White people as oppressors and seeking to use the language of civil rights to rig elections. 'Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,' Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said in the televised GOP rebuttal to [President] Biden's speech." Marie: Scott went on to describe racial discrimination he had experienced. ... "many Black activists, who publicly criticized Scott into the wee hours Thursday morning, deemed him the latest in a line of Black apologists who give political and racial cover to White grievance. On Twitter..., the hashtag #UncleTim began trending not long after Scott finished his remarks."
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Sen. Tim "Scott's rebuttal [to President Biden's speech to Congress] is notable for having nothing to say as an answer to [President Biden's] vision of a rebalanced political economy, let alone its underlying assessment of what's gone wrong. Instead, Scott employed a two-step. He portrayed the GOP as favoring government spending amid crisis by citing spending Republicans supported under President Donald Trump, while falling back on bromides about big government to dismiss spending proposed by Biden.... This hints at how badly on the defensive Republicans are. Scott needs to portray the GOP as committed to using government to help people, at time when large majorities favor Biden's plans. But this GOP simply doesn't exist.... Even more tellingly, Scott hailed the wonders of the pre-coronavirus economy. But what about the current economy?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The number of unaccompanied migrant children held in jail-like conditions by US Customs and Border Protection dropped nearly 84% in the span of a month, according to a White House official, underscoring the significant progress made by the administration after reaching record high custody figures. As of Wednesday, there were 954 children in CBP facilities, down from a peak of 5,767 on March 28, the official told CNN.... The volume of arrivals weeks into President Joe Biden taking office, combined with an unprepared administration, left thousands of children languishing in Border Patrol facilities often for longer than the 72-hour limit set by federal law.... In recent weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for the care of migrant children, has opened up a string of temporary shelters to accommodate minors.... The average time that kids are in CBP custody is now 28 hours, compared to 133 hours on March 28, the official said, a nearly 80% reduction in time spent in Border Patrol detention."
Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration promised Thursday to issue new rules within a year that would ban menthol in cigarettes and small cigars, a longtime goal of civil rights and anti-tobacco groups, which contend aggressive marketing of the products has disproportionately harmed Black communities. The move also would ban flavorings in cigars and small cigars, which are popular with young people."
Marc Caputo of Politico: "Matt Gaetz is going on tour. With Marjorie Taylor Greene.... Together, they plan to attack Democrats and call out Republicans they deem as insufficiently loyal to ... Donald Trump, such as the 10 GOP House members who voted for his second impeachment after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots." More on Matt linked below.
Montana Congressional Race 2022. Reid Wilson of the Hill: "Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to seek a new term in Congress, six years after leaving office to join the Trump administration. Zinke, 59, a Republican, won two elections to represent Montana's lone congressional district, in 2014 and 2016. He was the first Navy SEAL to serve in the House of Representatives, and he won a spot in former President Trump's Cabinet after bonding with Donald Trump Jr. In office, Zinke courted controversy, coming under investigation for using private planes to travel to events and to raise funds for Republican causes. He cited the investigations into what he called 'false allegations' in a statement announcing his departure in 2018."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government must comply strictly with a requirement that immigrants receive detailed notices about their deportation hearings. The 6-to-3 decision featured unusual alliances, with the three conservative justices most committed to interpreting statutes according to their plain words -- Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett -- joining the court's three-member liberal wing to form a majority.... The question in the case was whether the government had to provide all of the information at once or could do so piecemeal. Justice Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said the statute's use of the article 'a' in 'a notice to appear' was crucial.... 'To an ordinary reader ... "a" notice would seem to suggest just that: "a" single document containing the required information, not a mishmash of pieces with some assembly required,' he wrote.... The decision means that Agusto Niz-Chavez, an immigrant from Guatemala who entered the United States unlawfully in 2005, may apply to seek permission to stay." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must ban a widely used pesticide linked to neurological damage in children from being sprayed on food crops, unless the agency can demonstrate safe uses for the chemical. The 2-to-1 ruling by judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit comes nearly two years after the Trump administration's decision to keep chlorpyrifos on the market despite appeals by environmental and public health groups."
Ashes of the Smoldering Trumpster Fire
** Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: Rudy "Giuliani's push to oust the [U.S.] ambassador [to Ukraine], Marie L. Yovanovitch, not only became a focus of ... Donald J. Trump's first impeachment trial, but it has now landed Mr. Giuliani in the cross hairs of a federal criminal investigation into whether he broke lobbying laws, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The long-running inquiry reached a turning point this week when F.B.I. agents seized telephones and computers from Mr. Giuliani&'s home and office in Manhattan, the people said. At least one of the warrants was seeking evidence related to Ms. Yovanovitch and her role as ambassador, the people said.... At issue for investigators is a key question: Did Mr. Giuliani go after Ms. Yovanovitch solely on behalf of Mr. Trump, who was his client at the time? Or was he also doing so on behalf of the Ukrainian officials, who wanted her removed for their own reasons?" ~~~
~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden was not given advance notice of an FBI raid on Rudy Giuliani's apartment, he told NBC News on Thursday, vowing he wouldn't meddle in Justice Department matters. 'I made a pledge I would not interfere in any way, order or try to stop any investigation the Justice Department had underway,' Biden told NBC's Craig Melvin in an interview. 'I learned about that last night when the rest of the world learned about it....' Biden added that he hasn't been briefed on any investigation into Giuliani, nor has he asked to be briefed. 'That's the Justice Department's independent judgment,' Biden said. 'The last administration politicized the Justice Department so badly. So many quit, so many left because that's not the role of a president to say who should be prosecuted, when they should be prosecuted, who should be not prosecuted. That's not the role of the president. The Justice Department is the people's lawyer.'" ~~~
~~~ Simon Shuster of Time: "By the time federal investigators searched the Manhattan home of Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday, they had amassed a trove of evidence from his associates in Ukraine, focusing most intently on Giuliani's ties to Ukrainian oligarchs, three witnesses in the case told Time. The witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described lengthy interviews with investigators in Europe, Manhattan and Washington, starting in the fall of 2019 and continuing through February. The calls and meetings with investigators grew more frequent and 'intense' after Joe Biden's victory in last fall's presidential election, says one of the witnesses. Two of the witnesses say they were working with Giuliani while cooperating with federal investigators.... What interested investigators most of all was the relationship between Giuliani and the Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash, who is wanted in the U.S. on corruption charges, this witness says.... As part of his defense, Firtash hired two lawyers in July 2019 who are close associates of Giuliani: Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova, a married couple known for their staunch allegiance to Trump. The couple then sought Firtash's help in their effort to discredit the Biden family." ~~~
~~~ Josh Kovensky of TPM: "Rudy Giuliani gave his first interview on Thursday following the FBI searches of his home and office, telling Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the DOJ had 'spied on me.' During a sprawling interview, the former lawyer to the former president spun a yarn in which the DOJ was engaged in a multi-year, politically motivated prosecution.... If that doesn't kill the prosecution, Giuliani said, 'we might as well be in East Berlin before the wall fell. This is tactics only known in a dictatorship.'" MB: It is worth noting that when Giuliani was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, he most certainly "spied on" targets of his investigations in precisely the manner today's SDNY has "spied on" him. ~~~
~~~ Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Speaking to CNN this Thursday, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, addressed the recent raid by federal agents on the home and office of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.... '... Rudy's an idiot,' Cohen said. 'And that's the problem -- Rudy drinks too much. Rudy behaves in such an erratic manner that who knows what's on those cellphones or what's on those computers.... Do I think Rudy will give up Donald in a heartbeat? Absolutely,' Cohen said."
Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI warned Rudolph W. Giuliani in late 2019 that he was the target of a Russian influence operation aimed at circulating falsehoods intended to damage President Biden politically ahead of last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. The warning was part of an extensive effort by the bureau to alert members of Congress and at least one conservative media outlet, One America News, that they faced a risk of being used to further Russia's attempt to influence the election's outcome, said several current and former U.S. officials.... The warning, made by counterintelligence agents..., reflects a broader concern by U.S. intelligence and federal investigators that Giuliani -- among other influential Americans [including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)] and U.S. institutions -- was being manipulated by the Russian government to promote its interests and that he appears to have brazenly disregarded such fears. Despite the alert, Giuliani went forward in December 2019 with a planned trip to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, where he met with a Ukrainian lawmaker who the U.S. government later labeled 'an active Russian agent' and sanctioned on grounds he was running an 'influence campaign' against Biden." Johnson acknowledged receiving the briefing, but called it vague and "completely useless" because the briefers did not supply him with specific intelligence and because he suspected its purpose was "to offer the biased media an opportunity to falsely accuse me of being a tool of Russia despite warnings."
Spencer Hsu, et al., of the Washington Post: "Video footage released Wednesday of the January attack on the Capitol shows the moments when rioters appeared to spray an unknown substance at Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, forcing him to retreat behind police lines. Sicknick, 42, was among the vastly outnumbered officers attempting to hold back a violent crowd on the west side of the Capitol at around 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6. He died the next day of natural causes, officials said, and has been hailed as a hero. The video has been played in federal court at hearings for men charged with assaulting Sicknick by spraying a chemical irritant. Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of W.Va. are charged with assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to impede or injure an officer and other related counts.... The videos show the moments when Sickick was sprayed and capture him trying to wash his eyes after being hit." Includes video. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "The family of Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot while participating in the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, plans to sue the police department and the officer who fired the gun for at least $10 million. News of the forthcoming lawsuit, first reported by Newsweek, came more than two weeks after the Justice Department said it would not file criminal charges against the officer who killed Babbitt."
Trump Thinks Cyber Ninjas Will Prove He Wuz Robbed. Rosalind Halderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Several advisers said [Donald Trump] has become fixated on the unorthodox process underway in Phoenix, where the GOP-led state Senate took ballots and voting equipment from Maricopa County and turned them over to Cyber Ninjas, a private contractor whose chief executive has echoed baseless claims that the election was fraudulent.... Ensconced at his private club in Florida, Trump asks aides for updates about the process multiple times a day, advisers said, expressing particular interest in the use of UV lights to scrutinize Maricopa's ballots -- a method that has bewildered election experts, who say it could damage the votes.... Trump's embrace of the Arizona effort -- which he and his allies claim will prove that the election was stolen -- has come amid mounting anxiety among election officials that similar partisan vote counts could become the norm." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So maybe Cyber Ninjas' secret "proprietary methods" are UV lights, perhaps the same lights Trump thought would cure Covid-19 if you beamed them up your nose or something. ~~~
~~~ David Link of USA Today (April 28): "As a controversial 2020 election recount continues in Maricopa County, Arizona, some Donald Trump loyalists are using the occasion to rekindle false conspiracy theories about watermarked ballots.... This claim references a QAnon-related, election-fraud conspiracy theory that USA TODAY debunked in November. Proponents argued Trump had secretly watermarked mail-in ballots before the election so he could have evidence of widespread Democratic fraud...' On April 27, [the president of the printing company that printed Maricopa County's ballots] ... said 'there are no watermarks on the ballots' and there was no possibility the Trump administration could have added these watermarks without him knowing," as did local officials. Marie: It is these nonexistent, QAnon-invented watermarks that the Cyber Ninjas are using UV lights to "detect." ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror: "Following a judge's ruling that the Arizona Senate's election audit team can't keep its policies and procedures secret, lead audit contractor Cyber Ninjas submitted nearly two hundreds pages to the court detailing its practices.... The policies shed some light [MB: ha ha] on the processes that auditors are using to count the ballots, a process ... [that includes] checking the ballots for folds..., examining the thickness and feel of the paper, checking for discrepancies in the printing and scanning ballots with ultraviolet lights to 'compare to representative specimens.' The policy documents don't elaborate on what exactly the lights are supposed to show. Through Wednesday morning, audit employees had been shining UV lights on each ballot, though they haven't been using the lights since later that afternoon. Auditors are also using technology purportedly invented by Jovan Pulitzer, an inventor and treasure hunter, that he says can detect fake ballots by examining the folds, or lack thereof, in the paper." ~~~
~~~ Rachel Maddow reported Thursday that a judge has ordered that "real" observers must be allowed to watch the fake Maricopa County recount. Maddow's opening segment Thursday was a review of what-all was going on in the recount; she could not stop laughing.
Annie Karni of the New York Times: In a speech in South Carolina Thursday, mike pence spoke "fondly" of Donald Trump. MB: Warms my heart.
Jose Pagliery & Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast: "A confession letter written by Joel Greenberg in the final months of the Trump presidency claims that he and close associate Rep. Matt Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women -- as well as a girl who was 17 at the time. 'From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.' The letter, which The Daily Beast recently obtained, was written after Greenberg — who was under federal indictment -- asked Roger Stone to help him secure a pardon from then-President ... Trump.... In his confession letter, Greenberg also admitted he facilitated Gaetz's interactions with college students -- and paid them on his behalf. 'From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.' [Greenberg wrote].... On Nov. 20, 2020, Stone told Greenberg he had received 'the document' and would show it to the team that 'got me my commutation.'... I will review it with them and give you a budget. This is very doable and the time is now,' Stone wrote. [On January 13, Stone wrote,] 'I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident.'" The story is firewalled. MB: I copied it before the firewall went up. ~~~
~~~ Marie: There's no way to tell from the article who would ultimately receive the $250K (Greenberg later bid that up to $300K before his effort failed) if Trump granted a pardon to Greenberg (or Gaetz), but the messages make it obvious that Stone was running a for-profit pardon mill. This does not necessarily implicate Trump, but it could. I don't think Trump gave Stone a blanket pardon, so he could be prosecuted, and if Trump was party to the conspiracy to profit from the pardons, he too may have committed a crime.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.
Kevin Collier & Ben Collins of NBC News: "Specific directions showing how to forge Covid-19 vaccination cards have proliferated on conspiracy, pro-Trump and anti-vaccination forums throughout the internet in recent weeks, as users have exploited a largely makeshift verification system. The cards, distributed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have been handed out to the more than 140 million Americans who have already received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccination. The Biden administration has declared it wouldn't create a federal vaccination database, citing privacy concerns, paving the way for the cards to become the country's default national way to verify if someone has been vaccinated.... In March, the FBI released a public warning that creating or buying a fake vaccine card is illegal.... The CDC has since delivered guidance to states to pull the templates from their sites, citing 'misuse' by the anti-vaccine community, according to state officials."
They're Not Ignorant; They're Just Nuts/Stupid. Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "For years, scientists and doctors have treated vaccine skepticism as a knowledge problem.... But as public health officials now work to convince Americans to get Covid-19 vaccines as quickly as possible, new social science research suggests that a set of deeply held beliefs is at the heart of many people's resistance, complicating efforts to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.... What [epidemiologists have] discovered was a clear set of psychological traits offering a new lens through which to understand skepticism -- and potentially new tools for public health officials scrambling to try to persuade people to get vaccinated. Dr. [Saad] Omer and a team of scientists found that skeptics were much more likely than nonskeptics to have a highly developed sensitivity for liberty -- the rights of individuals — and to have less deference to those in positions of power. Skeptics were also twice as likely to care a lot about the 'purity' of their bodies and their minds.... Conspiratorial thinking is another predictor of vaccine hesitancy...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Tavernise doesn't say so, but it seems to me the real problem these anti-vaxxers have is an inability to make rational choices. I share some of the skepticism some of them articulate, but I weigh that skepticism against other factors. For instance, one person said she didn't trust drug companies. I don't either. But I balance that skepticism against other factors like the coronavirus is killing hundreds of thousands of people, the feds are looking over the drug companies' shoulders, and there's empirical evidence that the vaccines work. It wasn't even slightly difficult for me to decide to go to some trouble to get the vaccine as soon as possible. Numerous other factors far outweigh my general disdain for Big Pharma CEOs.
Beyond the Beltway
California. Brittany Shammas of the Washington Post: "For eight months, investigators worked to determine the cause of the Markley Fire [in Northern California], which merged with nearby blazes in what became one of the largest wildfires in state history. On Wednesday, authorities announced they had found an answer: The blaze was set intentionally to cover up a killing. Police arrested Victor Serriteno within weeks of the August 2020 fire, charging him with killing Priscilla Castro, 32, of Vallejo, Calif., who he had met for a date. Prosecutors now plan to file additional murder charges against the 29-year-old in connection to the blaze, including the two men it killed: Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon 'James' Bone, 64."
Florida. Ben Kamisar of NBC News: "Florida's Legislature passed an election bill Thursday that includes restrictions on drop boxes and voting by mail over the concerns of Democrats and voting rights activists that the restrictions would amount to voter suppression. Both the House and the Senate passed the bill Thursday after weeks of negotiations between Republicans in both bodies. The bill is poised to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has already blessed efforts to enact restrictions along these lines. The bill passed the Senate 23-17 and the House 77-40. The legislation would make a slew of changes to the state's election laws." The New York Times story is here.
Georgia. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "According to the Belleville News-Democrat, a former Georgia sheriff's deputy arrested on multiple gun charges bragged in private texts that he would charge Black people with felonies to prevent them from voting." The Washington Post's story is here.
Ohio. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "Eight people have been indicted in connection with the death last month of a sophomore at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, days after he had attended an off-campus fraternity event where school officials have said 'alleged hazing activity' took place, prosecutors said on Thursday. A grand jury indicted the men, seven of whom are Bowling Green students, on charges that included involuntary manslaughter and hazing in the death of Stone Foltz, 20, said Paul A. Dobson, the Wood County prosecuting attorney. Most of the defendants, who range in age from 19 to 23, were also charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to underage people and obstructing official business. Two face charges of reckless homicide, the authorities said."
Way Beyond
Russia. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Associates of Aleksei A. Navalny said they were shutting down their nationwide network of regional offices on Thursday even as the imprisoned Russian opposition leader vowed, in an online court appearance, to keep fighting the 'emperor with no clothes' in the Kremlin. Disbanding Mr. Navalny's 40 regional offices became inevitable in recent weeks, an aide to Mr. Navalny said, amid the Kremlin's latest efforts to stifle political dissent. Prosecutors are seeking to have Mr. Navalny's movement declared an extremist organization. A Moscow court this week ordered Mr. Navalny’s groups to halt all public activity pending a final ruling in the extremism case.... Many of Mr. Navalny's associates have been jailed or forced into exile, while the extremism case against his organization could turn the faintest expression of support for him into a crime.... On the courtroom video screens, Mr. Navalny appeared gaunt...." ~~~
~~~ Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Russian authorities have jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, arrested his staff and supporters and even independent journalists who covered protest rallies last week in his support. On Friday at about 6.40 a.m., agents from Russia's internal security agency, the FSB..., [arrested] his attorney, Ivan Pavlov."
News Lede
Guardian: "At least 44 people have been killed and about 150 injured in a crush at a Jewish religious gathering in northern Israel attended by tens of thousands of people, in one of the country's worst peacetime disasters. Children were among the dead, Eli Beer, the director of an Israeli volunteer ambulance service, United Hatzalah, said. 'Unfortunately, we found small children trampled there, and we performed CPR. We were able to save some of them,' he told Army Radio." The New York Times story is here.
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