The Commentariat -- April 29, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Sen. Tim "Scott's rebuttal 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 ... 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 a 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?"

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."

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The New York Times has the full transcript of President Biden's speech, as delivered. MB: The only "free" transcript of the speech as delivered that I could find is Politico's. It's interspersed with Politico reporters' commentary.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden laid out an ambitious agenda on Wednesday night to rewrite the American social compact by vastly expanding family leave, child care, health care, preschool and college education for millions of people to be financed with increased taxes on the wealthiest earners. Invoking the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mr. Biden unveiled a $1.8 trillion social spending plan to accompany previous proposals to build roads and bridges, expand other social programs and combat climate change, representing a fundamental reorientation of the role of government not seen since the days of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society and Roosevelt's New Deal.... After presenting himself during last year's campaign as a 'transition candidate' to follow the volatile tenure of Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden has since his inauguration positioned himself as a transformational president.... The president, who fist-bumped his way down the aisle, arrived amid tighter security than usual, with streets around the building closed and patrolled by swarms of police officers and National Guard troops.... The smaller audience produced a more intimate feeling in the chamber, and unlike previous presidents, who had to project their voices, Mr. Biden at times lowered his to a whisper, as he often does during speeches. He departed from his prepared text and ad-libbed more than most presidents do, and he lingered around the chamber afterward to chat with lawmakers.

"Not allowed to bring anyone to the first lady's box, Jill Biden hosted five guests online beforehand, including a transgender teenager, a gun control activist and an immigrant brought to the country illegally as a child." Here's White House video of Dr. Biden introducing & speaking with her guests. ~~~

~~~ The AP's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Politico's main "report" on the President's speech, which appears in the Magazine, is by John Harris. Harris seems quite exercised: "President Joe Biden's address to a joint session Congress was the most ambitious ideological statement made by any Democratic president in decades -- couched in language that made it sound as if he wasn't making an ideological argument at all." ~~~

     ~~~ Natasha Korecki & Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "In his first address before a joint session of Congress, the president embraced a tax-and-spend mantra to frame his next big legislative fight, walking right up to a third rail that has terrified Democrats for decades and forced his predecessors to triangulate and retreat to safer middle ground.... Biden's speech was, in its most direct form, an attempt to sell a host of agenda items, from massive spending on infrastructure and social welfare programs to calls for police reform, racial justice, gun control laws and, as he put it, ending 'our exhausting war over immigration.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The fear of the super-rich is so baked-in in this country that even reporters who probably are not among the super-wealthy seem rather breathless about remarks like this from the President: "I'm not out to punish anyone. But I will not add to the tax burden of the middle class of this country.... When you hear someone say that they don't want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent and on corporate America, ask them: Whose taxes are you going to raise instead, and whose are you going to cut?”

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "There were two moments during President Biden's address to the nation on Wednesday in which he obviously, if only indirectly, referred to the man who preceded him in his position.... 'America is rising anew,' Biden said, 'choosing hope over fear, truth over lies, and light over darkness.'... That tracks with Biden's past rhetoric and, frankly, Trump's own: Biden warned the country last autumn that a dark winter was coming because of the pandemic (and Trump's leadership failures), and Trump himself made fear a central part of his reelection bid.... From there, Biden turned his attention to an exhaustive list of policy priorities, one that, in its own way, differentiated his speech from any of Trump's.... It was also a reminder that Biden always ran on being a president who just sort of quietly went about presidenting, a promise that he has fulfilled in spades.... [Near the end of his speech, Biden said,] '... We have stared into an abyss of insurrection and autocracy, of pandemic and pain, and "we the people' did not flinch.'... Then: 'The autocrats will not win the future. America will.'" ~~~

~~~ Marie: My favorite line of the speech, which has received little or no attention, was this: "The question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent, as old as our republic, still vital today."

The New York Times is liveblogging President Biden's address to a Joint Session of Congress. Times reporters are providing analyses & fact-checks here; the page also includes a livefeed of the speech. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's liveblog of President Biden's speech is here. The video livefeed is featured on the Post's front page. CNN's live updates of the speech are here. It appears CNN's livefeed of the speech will appear on both its main Webpage & the analysis page.

Alan Fram of the AP: "Sen. Tim Scott accused Democrats on Wednesday of dividing the country and suggested they're wielding race as 'a political weapon,' using the official Republican response to President Joe Biden's maiden speech to Congress to credit the GOP for leading the country out of its pandemic struggles and toward a hopeful future. Scott, R-S.C., in his nationally televised rebuttal of Biden's address, belittled the new president's initial priorities -- aimed at combating the deadly virus and spurring the economy -- as wasteful expansions of big government." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's the transcript of Sen. Tim Scott's (R-S.C.) response, via the New York Times. I watched the whole thing, up till the time Scott knocked the President for the first time -- so for about 30 seconds. CNN has a transcript of Scott's remarks, as prepared. ~~~

~~~ Adam Gabbatt & David Smith of the Guardian: "Scott ... open[ed] with a solidly Republican criticism of 'socialist dreams' before taking aim at the president over some public schools having failed to reopen -- a decision which is taken at state-level, frequently by local districts, rather than by the federal government.... The extent to which Trump still looms over the Republican party was clear in Scott's speech, with the senator praising the Trump administration and on occasion using talking points that could have been lifted straight from a Trump stump speech." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republicans don't know what socialism is. According to the Googles, socialism is "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole." I don't know of any Democrats who advocate for the federal government's operating our manufacturing facilities and meting out washing machines & laptops to the folks back home. Forcing top earners, wealthy Americans & big corporations to pay taxes at a rate higher than middle-class Americans is not "socialism." It's called "progressive taxation." Right now, as we know, we have, to a large extent, regressive taxation: the rich are among the best tax avoiders & outright evaders, and some huge corporations -- like Amazon -- pay no federal taxes at all.

"It's About Time." Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) acknowledged the historical significance of President Biden's speech before Congress on Wednesday night when she and Vice President Harris will be the first two women to be seated behind the president at a joint address, saying 'it's about time.... I made history when I was the first Speaker to be standing behind President Bush and he made note of that,' Pelosi [told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News], referring to former President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in 2007. Bush began his speech by noting it was the first time a president was addressing 'Madam Speaker.' 'Now this is just -- just so exciting.'"

Jim Tankersley & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Wednesday detailed a $1.8 trillion collection of spending increases and tax cuts that seeks to expand access to education, reduce the cost of child care and support women in the work force, financed by additional taxes on high earners. The American Families Plan, as the White House calls it, follows the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package President Biden introduced last month, bringing his two-part package of economic proposals to just over $4 trillion. He will present the details to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The proposal includes $1 trillion in new spending and $800 billion in tax credits, much of which is aimed at expanding access to education and child care." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Tami Luhby, et al., of CNN on what's in the $1.8 trillion plan. A CNBC report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mitch Teaches Old Chuck a New Trick. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to effectively reinstate an Obama-era regulation that sought to clamp down on the release of methane, a powerful, climate-warming pollutant that will have to be controlled to meet President Biden's ambitious climate change promises. Taking a page from congressional Republicans who in 2017 made liberal use of a once-obscure law to roll back Obama-era regulations, Democrats will invoke the law to turn back a Trump methane rule enacted late last summer. That rule had eliminated Obama-era controls on leaks of methane, which seeps from oil and gas wells. The vote will be the first time congressional Democrats have used the law, called the Congressional Review Act, which prohibits Senate filibusters and ensures one administration's last-minute regulations can be swiftly overturned with a simple majority vote in both chambers of Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "The Senate voted on Wednesday to effectively reinstate an Obama-era regulation designed to clamp down on emissions of methane, a powerful, climate-warming pollutant that will have to be controlled to meet President Biden's ambitious climate change promises.... Three Republican senators -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rob Portman of Ohio -- joined Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to vote for the measure." The vote was 52-42.

This Is Rich. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday pronounced President Biden's first 100 days a massive disappointment and accused the president of breaking his campaign promise to bring the nation together in the wake of a tumultuous 2020." Then, of course, Kumbaya Mitch goes on to show his commitment to unity by lambasting the President: "'Behind President Biden's familiar face, it's like the most radical Washington Democrats have been handed the keys, and they're trying to speed as far left as they can possibly go before American voters ask for their car back,' he said. McConnell took aim at Biden's handling of the surge of migrants crossing the southern border...," his coronavirus relief package and even his administration's distribution of vaccines. And other stuff. The only things Mitch missed were Meatless Joe & book-pushing Kamala. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hawley's Very Fake Outrage. Dominic Rushe & Daniel Strauss of the Guardian: "Senator Josh Hawley (R) of Missouri accuses the US's biggest tech companies of committing the 'gravest threat to American liberty since the monopolies of the Gilded age' in his upcoming book. He rails that tech giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook 'have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power'. Hawley has also invested potentially tens of thousands of dollars in the very companies he denounces, according to public financial disclosure records examined by the Guardian.... The disclosures also show that Hawley is invested in another of his persistent targets: China. Hawley has between $1,000 and $15,000 invested in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, holds stakes in some of China's biggest companies including Alibaba, Ping An Insurance group and Tencent.... Last year Hawley launched an attack on China, claiming 'imperialist China seeks to remake the world in its own image, and to bend the global economy to its own will'."

Weird News. Katie Williams & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Federal agencies are investigating at least two possible incidents on US soil, including one near the White House in November of last year, that appear similar to mysterious, invisible attacks that have led to debilitating symptoms for dozens of US personnel abroad. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that while the Pentagon and other agencies probing the matter have reached no clear conclusions on what happened, the fact that such an attack might have taken place so close to the White House is particularly alarming."

From the Smoldering Trumpster Fire

** William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal investigators in Manhattan executed a search warrant on Wednesday at the Upper East Side apartment of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became ... Donald J. Trump's personal lawyer, stepping up a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, three people with knowledge of the matter said. One of the people said the investigators had seized Mr. Giuliani's electronic devices. Executing a search warrant is an extraordinary move for prosecutors to take against a lawyer, let alone a lawyer for a former president.... The United States Attorney's office in Manhattan and the F.B.I. had for months sought to secure a search warrant for Mr. Giuliani's phones. Under Mr. Trump, senior political appointees in the Justice Department repeatedly sought to block such a warrant.... After Merrick B. Garland was confirmed as President Biden's attorney general, the Justice Department lifted its objection to the search." The Hill has a summary report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos, in LG&$, excerpts key passages of the NYT story. ~~~

     ~~~ NYT Report Update: "F.B.I. agents on Wednesday morning also executed a search warrant at the Washington-area home of Victoria Toensing, a lawyer close to Mr. Giuliani who had dealings with several Ukrainians involved in seeking negative information on the Bidens, according to people with knowledge of that warrant, which sought her phone. Ms. Toensing, a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official, has also represented Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the United States whose help Mr. Giuliani sought." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems quite likely that the request for a warrant went up the DOJ chain to Garland. Garland serviced as chief judge of the D.C. circuit court. He would not have approved the warrant because Borat. There's some there there. ~~~

~~~ Michael Sisak, et al., of the AP have independently confirmed the NYT report: "Federal agents raided Rudy Giuliani's Manhattan home and office on Wednesday, seizing computers and cellphones in a major escalation of the Justice Department's investigation into the business dealings of ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges. Agents searched Giuliani's home on Madison Avenue and his office on Park Avenue, people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "In the months since [the Capitol insurrection, police officer Michael] Fanone ... [who] suffering a mild heart attack and a concussion as he was shocked with a stun gun and beaten ... said it has been 'difficult' to listen to politicians like ... Donald Trump, who last month falsely claimed rioters were actually 'hugging and kissing' police, downplay the severity of the insurrection.... In an emotional interview on 'CNN Tonight,' Fanone described in vivid detail the terror he experienced defending the Capitol from a mob intent on stopping certification of the election, and called out elected officials who have tried to obscure that reality -- a position that some GOP officials have embraced as they seek to defend Trump.... Fanone, a 40-year-old who joined the force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was among the 850 D.C. police officers who responded on Jan. 6 as rioters threatened to overwhelm the Capitol Police. He joined a group of officers at the West Terrace facing what he described to The Washington Post as a 'medieval battle scene.'" CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Republicans Choose Capitol Insurrectionist as County Precinct Chair. Ed Lavandera of CNN: "A Texas man arrested for storming the US Capitol and assaulting police officers on January 6 also serves as a Republican Party precinct chair and has been an election poll worker in north Texas. Mark Middleton, 52, was appointed as the chair of Precinct 14 in Cooke County in December, just a month after the presidential election, according to Chris McNamara, chairman of the Cooke County Republican Party. A precinct chair is a low-level elected position in local party politics. However, Middleton was not elected. He was appointed by a committee of local Republicans to fill the vacant precinct officer position.... Middleton and his wife, Jalise Middleton, were both arrested and face seven federal charges each. They have pleaded not guilty."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Brendan Hunt, a Trump supporter who called for killing members of Congress days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, was found guilty Wednesday of making a death threat against elected officials. The jury, which took about three hours to reach its verdict, found that comments Hunt made in a disturbing video posted online two days after the U.S. Capitol riot amounted to a genuine threat to murder lawmakers in Washington. He faces up to 10 years in prison.... Hunt, 37, was charged with one count of making a threat to assault and murder a U.S. official. He was arrested Jan. 19, a day before President Biden's inauguration, after the FBI received a tip about his video, titled 'KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.' The clip had been posted on BitChute, a hosting site popular with far-right conservatives, after the deadly riot in Washington.... [Hunt's] prosecution in Brooklyn federal court has been seen as a test of how far violent speech can go before it crosses a line into criminality and comes as such politically charged rhetoric on social media has come under increasing scrutiny." The New York Times report is here.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge Tuesday ordered the release from jail pending trial of a man who was photographed with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, citing an appeals court decision making it harder to detain riot defendants not accused of violence. Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Ark., had been denied bond and jailed for nearly four months on charges including obstructing Congress, violent entry into the Capitol while armed with a stun gun and stealing a piece of government mail that he later displayed to media outlets." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arkansas. Alex Bollinger of LGBTQ Nation: "The father of a transgender teen was arrested while testifying against an anti-trans bill in the Arkansas House because his speech went 30 seconds over his allotted time, even though he said that far-right representatives of hate groups were allowed to talk for nearly an hour over their allotted times.... Video has been shared online of [Chris] Attig being dragged out of the legislature last month by officers while defending the rights of transgender minors who, like his son 22-year-old did, need access to gender-affirming medical care.... Attig said that he was taken to jail, where he stayed for several hours and now faces a charge of disorderly conduct. He said that representatives from the SPLC designated hate groups Alliance Defending Freedom and Family Research Council were allowed to talk for up to 40 minutes and that only opponents of H.B. 1570 were held the the two-minute time limit."

Florida. Karen Murphy of the (Tallahassee) Capitolist: State Senate "Democrats ... found themselves Wednesday morning squabbling in a backroom.... Once they emerged, the 16-member Florida Senate Democrat Caucus announced it had unexpectedly ousted its party's leader. With only three days left in the legislative session, Senator Gary Farmer, (D-District 34) was removed from his post as Senate Minority Leader and replaced by either Senator Lauren Book (D-District 32), who was on deck to take over as leader next year or Senator Bobby Powell (D-District 30), the Leader Pro Tempore, depending on who you ask. Book's spokesperson Claire VanSusteren told the Sun-Sentinel, a no-confidence vote on Farmer, taken during that private meeting, was the culmination of issues that had been building through the 2021 legislative session that ends on Friday."

Florida. Nick Corasaniti & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "A bill that would impose a raft of new restrictions on voting in Florida cleared the State House of Representatives on Wednesday after hours of contentious debate. Democrats denounced the legislation as overly stringent and unnecessary, and Republicans argued that it would install necessary 'guardrails' for securing elections, despite their acknowledgment that the state's election last year had been a 'gold standard' without fraud. The bill passed on a 78-to-42 vote, largely along party lines. Because the House added significant amendments to the bill, which had previously passed the State Senate, the legislation now faces a final vote in the full Senate before it heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who is expected to sign it." MB: I hope the bill makes it too difficult for old Republicans to vote.

Florida. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "After he was charged with lying to a grand jury earlier this month, Robert W. Runcie insisted he would 'be vindicated.' The schools superintendent in Broward County, Fla. had spent years battling accusations tied to his leadership before and after the Parkland school shooting -- and the indictment, he claimed, was simply another politically motivated attack tied to the massacre. Yet, less than 24 hours after saying as much in a video on Tuesday, Runcie appeared to change his tune. 'I will step aside so you can have the peace you are looking for,' he told Broward school board member Lori Alhadeff in a meeting later that night. Her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was one of 17 people killed in the mass shooting in February 2018." (Also linked yesterday.)

Georgia. Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Three Georgia men were indicted on federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot to death while jogging through a South Georgia neighborhood last year, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The deadly encounter helped fuel nationwide racial justice demonstrations last year, and the charges are the most significant hate crimes prosecution so far by the Biden administration, which has made civil rights protections a major priority. The suspects -- Travis McMichael, 35; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65; and William 'Roddie' Bryan, 51 -- were each charged with one count of interference with Mr. Arbery's right to use a public street because of his race and with one count of attempted kidnapping. Travis and Gregory McMichael were also charged with one count each of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm. Travis McMichael is accused of shooting Mr. Arbery." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here. The DOJ's press release is here.

Georgia. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Last February, two detainees sat side-by-side in a Georgia jail cell, strapped into restraint chairs. As hours passed, the two were not allowed respite, including a chance to use the bathroom. One man ended up urinating on himself and the chair, according to prosecutors. 'I'm a sit your a-- in that chair for 16 hours straight,' Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill allegedly said. 'I need to hear from both of y'all that y'all not gonna show y'all's a-- in my county no more.' Hill, 56, now faces federal civil rights charges in the Northern District of Georgia, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday, for allegedly ordering his deputies to use excessive force against four detainees last year by strapping them into restraint chairs as punishment." (Also linked yesterday.)

Georgia. Defeated U.S. Senator Still Beating the Drum for Trump. Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is calling on Georgia's top law enforcement official to investigate Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) for his handling of the 2020 election. Loeffler sent a letter on Wednesday to state Attorney General Chris Carr [R] requesting a probe into whether Raffensperger used his office to advance his personal political interests during the 2020 election cycle, alleging that he 'politicized and minimized voters' legitimate concerns about changes to Georgia's elections' that came about in response to the coronavirus pandemic."

Illinois. Julie Bosman, et al., of the New York Times: "City officials in Chicago released body camera footage on Wednesday showing a police officer fatally shooting Anthony Alvarez, 22, after an early-morning foot chase on the city's Northwest Side in March. The killing of Mr. Alvarez was the second police shooting in a month to prompt an outcry from the public and renew calls for an overhaul to the Chicago Police Department.... Video from the body cameras and from residential security cameras appear to show that Mr. Alvarez was holding a cellphone in his left hand and a gun in his right hand. After he was shot, he dropped the gun, which fell several feet in front of him."

Michigan. Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "Three of the six men charged in the kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) have been hit with additional charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in a superseding indictment on Wednesday. New federal firearms charges have been leveled against another two of the men. The development represents a sharp escalation of charges against Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., and Daniel Joseph Harris, whom federal authorities first indicted last December, along with Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta, and Ty Garbin. Garbin pleaded guilty to the kidnapping plot since that time and faces the possibility of life imprisonment upon his sentencing. Prosecutors accuse the men of plotting how to 'seize, confine, kidnap, abduct and carry away, and hold for ransom and reward, or otherwise, the Governor of the State of Michigan.'"

Minnesota. Andy Mannix of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "... with [Derek] Chauvin's state trial out of the way, federal prosecutors are moving forward with their case [against Chauvin & three other officers]. They plan to ask a grand jury to indict Chauvin and the other three ex-officers involved in George Floyd's killing -- J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao -- on charges of civil rights violations, a source said. If the grand jury voted to indict, the former officers would face the new civil rights charges on top of the state's cases, meaning all four could be headed toward yet another criminal trial in federal court." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

New York. A Conspiracy of Secrets, Lies & Abuse of Power. David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "The effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office to obscure the pandemic death toll in New York nursing homes was far greater than previously known, with aides repeatedly overruling state health officials over a span of at least five months, according to interviews and newly unearthed documents. Mr. Cuomo's most senior aides engaged in a sustained effort to prevent the state's own health officials, including the commissioner, Howard Zucker from releasing the true death toll to the public or sharing it with state lawmakers, these interviews and documents showed. A scientific paper, which incorporated the data, was never published. An audit of the numbers by a top Cuomo aide was finished months before it became publicly known. Two letters, drafted by the Health Department and meant for state legislators, were never sent. The actions coincided with the period in which Mr. Cuomo was pitching and then writing a book on the pandemic, with the assistance of his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, and others." ~~~

~~~ Steve M. writes a funny, cynical post on why the subpoena of Rudy's electronic devices is good news for Andrew Cuomo.

North Carolina. Richard Fausset & Giulia Nieto del Rio of the New York Times: "For a week now, protesters in Elizabeth City, a small, majority-Black community in eastern North Carolina, have taken to the streets, demanding to see the body camera video of the fatal encounter between county sheriff's deputies and an African-American man. Many had hoped that a court hearing on Wednesday would prompt the release of the footage and bring some clarity to the matter. Instead, Judge Jeff Foster of Pitt County Superior Court delayed the public release of the videos for at least 30 days, citing concerns that their release could compromise the investigation into the April 21 killing of the man, Andrew Brown Jr.... Judge Foster denied the release altogether to the media outlets, saying they did not have legal standing to request the video.... But Judge Foster also ruled that authorities must show the footage to Mr. Brown's adult son, Khalil Ferebee, and his immediate family within one degree of kinship, plus one lawyer licensed to practice law in North Carolina. The judge said the family could receive redacted versions of the videos from four body cameras and one dashboard camera within 10 days."

News Ledes

Another Murderous Win for the NRA. New York Times: "Two sheriff's deputies were among four people who were killed in a 13-hour standoff in Boone, N.C., that the authorities said started on Wednesday morning when they were called to the home of a man who had not shown up for work. Deputies from the Watauga County Sheriff's Office arrived at a house at 9:44 a.m. on Wednesday after the homeowner's employer called to report that the person had not come to work or answered telephone calls, the sheriff's office said. When the deputies went inside, two of them were shot as they descended the basement steps, Sheriff Len Hagaman said. Sheriff Hagaman told reporters it was fair to say his deputies had been ambushed by the gunman, who was later identified by officials as Isaac Alton Barnes, 32. He is also suspected of killing his mother, Michelle Annette Ligon, 61, and his stepfather, George Wyatt Ligon, 58, before killing himself, according to a statement Thursday afternoon from the sheriff's office."

Another NRA Win. New York Times: "Five people have been arrested and charged in connection with a violent attack in February in which a man who was walking Lady Gaga's French bulldogs in Hollywood was shot and two of the dogs were stolen, the Los Angeles police said on Thursday."

CNBC: "Economic activity boomed to start 2021, as widespread vaccinations and more fuel from government spending helped get the U.S. closer to where it was before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the economy, jumped 6.4% for the first three months of the year on an annualized basis. Outside of the reopening-fueled third-quarter surge last year, it was the best period for GDP since the third quarter of 2003.... In a separate report Thursday, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to a pandemic-era low last week, but the number was higher than expected.... Another 553,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week. That marked another pandemic-era low...."

The Commentariat -- April 28, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Three Georgia men were indicted on federal hate crime and attempted kidnapping charges in connection with the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot to death while jogging through a South Georgia neighborhood last year, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The deadly encounter helped fuel nationwide racial justice demonstrations last year, and the charges are the most significant hate crimes prosecution so far by the Biden administration, which has made civil rights protections a major priority. The suspects -- Travis McMichael, 35; his father, Gregory McMichael, 65; and William 'Roddie' Bryan, 51 -- were each charged with one count of interference with Mr. Arbery's right to use a public street because of his race and with one count of attempted kidnapping.Travis and Gregory McMichael were also charge with one count each of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm. Travis McMichael is accused of shooting Mr. Arbery."

** William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal investigators in Manhattan executed a search warrant on Wednesday at the Upper East Side apartment of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became ... Donald J. Trump's personal lawyer, stepping up a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, three people with knowledge of the matter said. One of the people said the investigators had seized Mr. Giuliani's electronic devices. Executing a search warrant is an extraordinary move for prosecutors to take against a lawyer, let alone a lawyer for a former president.... The United States Attorney's office in Manhattan and the F.B.I. had for months sought to secure a search warrant for Mr. Giuliani's phones. Under Mr. Trump, senior political appointees in the Justice Department repeatedly sought to block such a warrant.... After Merrick B. Garland was confirmed as President Biden's attorney general, the Justice Department lifted its objection to the search." The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~

     ~~~ NYT Report Update: "F.B.I. agents on Wednesday morning also executed a search warrant at the Washington-area home of Victoria Toensing, a lawyer close to Mr. Giuliani who had dealings with several Ukrainians involved in seeking negative information on the Bidens, according to people with knowledge of that warrant, which sought her phone. Ms. Toensing, a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official, has also represented Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the United States whose help Mr. Giuliani sought." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems quite likely that the request for a warrant went up the DOJ chain to Garland. Garland serviced as chief judge of the D.C. circuit court. He would not have approved the warrant because Borat. There's some there there. ~~~

~~~ Michael Sisak, et al., of the AP have independently confirmed the NYT report: "Federal agents raided Rudy Giuliani's Manhattan home and office on Wednesday, seizing computers and cellphones in a major escalation of the Justice Department's investigation into the business dealings of ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges. Agents searched Giuliani's home on Madison Avenue and his office on Park Avenue, people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press."

Jim Tankersley & Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Wednesday detailed a $1.8 trillion collection of spending increases and tax cuts that seeks to expand access to education, reduce the cost of child care and support women in the work force, financed by additional taxes on high earners. The American Families Plan, as the White House calls it, follows the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package President Biden introduced last month, bringing his two-part package of economic proposals to just over $4 trillion. He will present the details to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The proposal includes $1 trillion in new spending and $800 billion in tax credits, much of which is aimed at expanding access to education and child care." ~~~

~~~ Tami Luhby, et al., of CNN on what's in the $1.8 trillion plan. A CNBC report is here.

Mitch Teaches Old Chuck a New Trick. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to effectively reinstate an Obama-era regulation that sought to clamp down on the release of methane, a powerful, climate-warming pollutant that will have to be controlled to meet President Biden's ambitious climate change promises. Taking a page from congressional Republicans who in 2017 made liberal use of a once-obscure law to roll back Obama-era regulations, Democrats will invoke the law to turn back a Trump methane rule enacted late last summer. That rule had eliminated Obama-era controls on leaks of methane, which seeps from oil and gas wells. The vote will be the first time congressional Democrats have used the law, called the Congressional Review Act, which prohibits Senate filibusters and ensures one administration's last-minute regulations can be swiftly overturned with a simple majority vote in both chambers of Congress."

This Is Rich. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday pronounced President Biden's first 100 days a massive disappointment and accused the president of breaking his campaign promise to bring the nation together in the wake of a tumultuous 2020." Then, of course, Kumbaya Mitch goes on to show his commitment to unity by lambasting the President: "'Behind President Biden's familiar face, it's like the most radical Washington Democrats have been handed the keys, and they're trying to speed as far left as they can possibly go before American voters ask for their car back,' he said. McConnell took aim at Biden's handling of the surge of migrants crossing the southern border...," his coronavirus relief package and even his administration's distribution of vaccines. And other stuff. The only things Mitch missed were Meatless Joe & book-pushing Kamala.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "In the months since [the Capitol insurrection, police officer Michael] Fanone ... [who] suffering a mild heart attack and a concussion as he was shocked with a stun gun and beaten ... said it has been 'difficult' to listen to politicians like ... Donald Trump, who last month falsely claimed rioters were actually 'hugging and kissing' police, downplay the severity of the insurrection.... In an emotional interview on 'CNN Tonight,' Fanone described in vivid detail the terror he experienced defending the Capitol from a mob intent on stopping certification of the election, and called out elected officials who have tried to obscure that reality -- position that some GOP officials have embraced as they seek to defend Trump.... Fanone, a 40-year-old who joined the force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was among the 850 D.C. police officers who responded on Jan. 6 as rioters threatened to overwhelm the Capitol Police. He joined a group of officers at the West Terrace facing what he described to The Washington Post as a 'medieval battle scene.'" CNN's story is here.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge Tuesday ordered the release from jail pending trial of a man who was photographed with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, citing an appeals court decision making it harder to detain riot defendants not accused of violence. Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Ark., had been denied bond and jailed for nearly four months on charges including obstructing Congress, violent entry into the Capitol while armed with a stun gun and stealing a piece of government mail that he later displayed to media outlets."

Florida. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "After he was charged with lying to a grand jury earlier this month, Robert W. Runcie insisted he would 'be vindicated.' The schools superintendent in Broward County, Fla. had spent years battling accusations tied to his leadership before and after the Parkland school shooting -- and the indictment, he claimed, was simply another politically motivated attack tied to the massacre. Yet, less than 24 hours after saying as much in a video on Tuesday, Runcie appeared to change his tune. 'I will step aside so you can have the peace you are looking for,' he told Broward school board member Lori Alhadeff in a meeting later that night. Her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was one of 17 people killed in the mass shooting in February 2018."

Georgia. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Last February, two detainees sat side-by-side in a Georgia jail cell, strapped into restraint chairs. As hours passed, the two were not allowed respite, including a chance to use the bathroom. One man ended up urinating on himself and the chair, according to prosecutors. 'I'm a sit your a-- in that chair for 16 hours straight,' Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill allegedly said. 'I need to hear from both of y'all that y'all not gonna show y'all's a-- in my county no more.' Hill, 56, now faces federal civil rights charges in the Northern District of Georgia, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday, for allegedly ordering his deputies to use excessive force against four detainees last year by strapping them into restraint chairs as punishment."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Conservative Max Boot of the Washington Post: "When it comes to evaluating his first 100 days, Joe Biden has an unbeatable advantage: He is not Donald Trump.... Even looking only at Trump's first 100 days ... the comparison is lopsidedly, preposterously tilted in Biden's favor. Biden has been scandal-free. Biden has picked well-qualified appointees who know what they are doing. Trump stocked his administration with relatives..., far-right extremists..., clueless rich people ... and ethical disasters.... Biden is making real progress on the biggest issues facing America -- the unemployment rate is declining while the number of vaccinations is skyrocketing. Oh, and the stock market has gone up more than twice as fast as it did under Trump, despite GOP predictions of doom.... Biden is reasserting America's international leadership.... Biden is turning down the temperature on our politics."

Eli Rosenberg & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "President Biden plans to sign an executive order Tuesday that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all federal contractors by 2022, while eliminating a lower minimum wage for tipped contractors. The move will bring the minimum wage for contractors up from the current $10.95, under rules set during the Obama administration. The current minimum wage for federal contractors who are tipped is $7.65 an hour. That will be phased out by 2024 under the new directive. The $15 wage will be mandatory in new contracts by the end of March 2022. Senior administration officials briefed on the plan said they estimated that hundreds of thousands of workers who do contract work for the federal government -- including cleaning staff, maintenance workers, nursing assistants in veteran care facilities, cafeteria and food workers, and laborers -- would see wage increases as a result of the policy change." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Guardian Update: "Joe Biden has signed an executive order that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, providing a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers. Biden administration officials said that the higher wages would lead to greater worker productivity, offsetting any additional costs to taxpayers."

Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "President Biden has nominated a critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies to run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of the federal government's most polarizing agencies. The White House announced that Biden's pick for ICE director is Harris County, Tex., Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a veteran law enforcement officer who transformed the sheriff's office in the Houston metropolitan area from one of the agency's staunchest allies into a reluctant partner. Gonzalez withdrew his department from a voluntary federal program that for years helped to detain and deport immigrants, and has expressed concern tha involving local law enforcement in civil deportation efforts 'silences witnesses & victims' by making immigrants afraid to report crimes.... The Biden administration has signaled that it wishes to reform ICE, not abolish it, and Gonzalez is an example of how the agency's relationships with local police can change."

Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit the 39th president, Jimmy Carter, and his wife, Rosalynn, while in Georgia this week, the White House said Tuesday. The White House had previously announced that Biden would attend a drive-in rally in Atlanta on Thursday to mark his 100th day in office, which comes a day after his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The Bidens will now add in a trip to Plains, Georgia, to visit the Carters."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. The Murdoch Empire's Lie of the Day. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "The conservative mediascape has been in an uproar for days over a New York Post report alleging that undocumented minors are being welcomed to the United States with copies of a children's book authored by Vice President Harris. A slew of prominent Republicans shared their outrage over the supposed giveaway of 'Superheroes Are Everywhere' at migrant shelters after the story appeared on the New York tabloid's front page Saturday. Even the White House press secretary was grilled about it. And then on Tuesday, in a one-sentence note at the bottom of the original online article, the Post acknowledged that almost none of it was true.... Two articles about the books were deleted without explanation Tuesday morning, before reappearing a couple hours later with correction notes." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: But the sourcing for the story was impeccable: a single photo of a bed at a Long Beach, Calif., shelter. The Harris book "was one of many items, including toys and clothing, donated by residents in a citywide drive, Long Beach officials said." When you're a Murdoch "journalist," you can just make up stuff based on your impressions or speculation, write it up, and hope you get a raise when Fox "News" & Jim Jordan tout your tall tale. ~~~

     ~~~ Oops! There's More to the Story. (There Usually Is.) Maxwell Tani of the Daily Beast: "The New York Post reporter whose byline was attached to a false story that kicked off a days-long right-wing media outrage cycle has quit.... Reporter Laura Italiano posted [her resignation announcement] to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. 'The Kamala Harris story -- an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against -- was my breaking point....'" ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "I’m sure that Hunter Biden story no Post reporter was willing to put their byline on will totally hold up, though." ~~~

     ~~~ Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post: "Fox News was forced to walk back its false claims about the Biden administration for the second day in a row Tuesday after it pushed the baseless story that Vice President Kamala Harris's book is being given to migrant kids in 'welcome kits.' However, even after 'Fox & Friends' co-host Ainsley Earhardt pointed to a report debunking the story, her colleague Steve Doocy immediately went on to push the narrative anyway, questioning whether the government was paying for the books.... On Monday, Fox News issued an on-air correction over a separate story that was shown to be false. The network promoted a claim that President Joe Biden's climate change plan would cut U.S. red meat consumption by 90%, when in fact Biden's proposal makes no mention of that."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The fanatical Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol in January are facing an unexpected obstacle to their freedom: Trump himself. Trump's refusal to accept the reality that he lost the 2020 election --reflected in a torrent of recent statements renewing discredited claims about a 'rigged' vote -- has become a feature of prosecutors' latest attempts to jail Capitol riot defendants they deem too dangerous to release pending trial. Judges have started citing this argument -- as part of broader analysis -- in cases where they've decided to detain defendants for presenting a threat of future violence, and even in some cases where they've agreed to let defendants go free, pending trial. They've agreed that Trump's rhetoric could spur his most radicalized supporters to attack again."

"I Don't Recall." David Corn of Mother Jones: "On February 11, Donald Trump Jr. sat in front of his computer for a video deposition. He swore to tell the truth. But documents and a video obtained by Mother Jones -- and recent legal filings -- indicate that his testimony on key points was not accurate. The matter at hand was a lawsuit filed in 2020 against Donald Trump's inauguration committee and the Trump Organization by Karl Racine, the attorney general of Washington, DC.... In short, the attorney general has accused the Trump clan and its company of major grifting.... In several exchanges, [Junior] made statements that are contradicted by documents or the recollections of others and that appear to be false." For instance, Junior claimed not to know of have any "involvement' with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who was heavily involved in organizing & funding the inauguration. But video shows Junior profusely praising her & text & phone messages show the two conferred with each other, and Wolkoff wrote that she had dinner with Junior and other family members."

Sonia Mogue of CNN: "A former White House senior adviser for the Obama administration who helped found a network of charter schools is accused of allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the schools and attempting to launder the funds in order to get a lower interest rate on a mortgage for a Manhattan apartment, according to federal prosecutors. Seth Andrew was charged by prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to a bank.... Andrew was taken into custody Tuesday in Manhattan and released on a personal recognizance bond after an initial appearance...." MB: "... accused of allegedly..." is redundant. We get it. The guy is innocent till proved guilty.

>Alexandra Alter & Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: "W.W. Norton said in a memo to its staff on Tuesday that it will permanently take Blake Bailey's biography of Philip Roth out of print, following allegations that Mr. Bailey sexually assaulted multiple women and behaved inappropriately toward his students when he was an eighth grade English teacher. The announcement came after the publisher decided last week that it would stop shipping and promoting the title, which it released earlier in April. It wasn't immediately clear what would happen with existing copies of the book or the digital and audio versions.... Norton's president, Julia A. Reidhead..., also said that Norton would make a donation in the amount of the advance it paid to Mr. Bailey, who received a mid-six-figure book deal, to organizations that support sexual assault survivors and victims of sexual harassment."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "President Biden and federal health officials said Tuesday that Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer need to wear masks outdoors in most situations except for large gatherings -- a step, the president said, toward getting 'life in America closer to normal' by his target date of the Fourth of July."

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Federal health officials said Tuesday that fully vaccinated people can go without masks outdoors when walking, jogging or biking, or dining with friends at outdoor restaurants -- a milestone development for tens of millions of pandemic-weary Americans after more than a year of masking up and locking down. President Biden touted the relaxation of restrictions as another reason for people to get vaccinated, urging them to move forward not just to protect themselves and those around them, but so they can live more normally, by 'getting together with friends, going to the park for a picnic without needing a mask.'... The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention comes as more than 52 percent of eligible people in the United States have gotten at least one shot, but the pace of inoculations appears to be slowing in the face of vaccine hesitancy, especially among rural residents and Republicans who believe the risks from the virus are overblown." The article is free to nonsubscribers. It includes a CDC "mask chart." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. ~~~

PSA: What to Do if You See a Child Wearing a Mask. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Requiring children to wear masks outside should be illegal, [Tucker Carlson] insisted.... 'Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart,' Carlson said on his Monday show. 'Call the police immediately, contact child protective services. Keep calling until someone arrives.... What you're looking at is abuse, it's child abuse and you are morally obligated to attempt to prevent it.' Carlson, who brands himself as someone deeply invested in individual liberties, nonetheless urged his viewers Monday to confront strangers wearing masks outdoors and request they bare their faces by telling them, 'Your mask is making me uncomfortable.'" ~~~

You know, it's either trolling, or it's someone in the midst of a genuine breakdown, or it's evil. Or some combination of all three. We all recognize that's psychotic, right? -- Chris Hayes of MSNBC, Tuesday, on TucKKKer's unmask mandate ~~~

~~~ Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Reports about the mysterious Covid-related inflammatory syndrome that afflicts some children and teenagers have mostly focused on physical symptoms: rash, abdominal pain, red eyes and, most seriously, heart problems like low blood pressure, shock and difficulty pumping. Now, a new report shows that a significant number of young people with the syndrome also develop neurological symptoms, including hallucinations, confusion, speech impairments and problems with balance and coordination. The study of 46 children treated at one hospital in London found that just over half -- 24 -- experienced such neurological symptoms, which they had never had before."

Florida. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Last week, leaders at the Centner Academy, a Miami private school, sent teachers an email with a stark warning: Skip the coronavirus vaccines or else you're not welcome in the classroom. 'We cannot allow recently vaccinated people to be near our students until more information is known,' the school's co-founder Leila Centner said in a letter.... Centner cited debunked misinformation to justify the policy, suggesting that 'reports have surfaced recently of non-vaccinated people being negatively impacted by interacting with people who have been vaccinated,' despite medical consensus that the coronavirus vaccines effectively prevent serious infections and carry few risks. The school's decision alarmed public health experts and demonstrated the pervasive reach of misinformation about the vaccines...." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: Dear Parents: You're spending $15K to $30K to give your child a crap education. Congratulations, Suckers.

West Virginia. Under the direction of the state's governor, Jim Justice (R), West Virginia is offering people aged 16-35 a $100 savings bond to get the Covid-19 vaccine. "The $100 proposition announced this week by West Virginia -- which is available retroactively to young people who already got the shot -- is just one of many incentives now being proposed by states, hospitals, schools and private employers to persuade unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated."

Beyond the Beltway

California. When Will They Ever Learn? Will Wright of the New York Times: "Body camera footage was released on Tuesday of a 26-year-old man who died in police custody after officers in Alameda County, Calif., pinned him facedown on the ground for five minutes. The footage from the Alameda Police Department shows the man, Mario Arenales Gonzalez, becoming unresponsive while in handcuffs and police officers quickly beginning chest compressions. Mr. Gonzalez died on April 19, one day before Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted of murdering George Floyd by restraining him for nine minutes and 29 seconds.... An initial police report from Alameda, south of Oakland, said that 'a physical altercation ensued' when officers tried to detain Mr. Gonzalez and that 'at tha time, the man had a medical emergency.' The report said Mr. Gonzalez had died in a hospital later that day." MB: Judging by how much this reads like the Minneapolis police report of Floyd's death, this seems to be a standard police format for reporting death-by-cop.

North Carolina. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Lawyers for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., who was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies in coastal North Carolina last week, said on Tuesday that a private autopsy paid for by Mr. Brown's family showed that he was hit by five bullets and killed by a shot to the back of the head. The results of the autopsy, which the lawyers described in a news conference, came as the F.B.I. announced that it was opening a civil rights investigation into the April 21 shooting, and as Gov. Roy Cooper called for a special prosecutor to take over a case that currently rests with the local district attorney.... A hearing on whether to release the body camera footage was scheduled for Wednesday morning."

Oregon. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "After almost a year of near-continuous protests..., Portland's city leaders are signaling that it may be time for a more aggressive crackdown on the most strident street actions. Mayor Ted Wheeler, himself a target of many of the protests as he oversaw a police department that has repeatedly turned to aggressive tactics, last week put into place a state of emergency that lasted six days and vowed to 'unmask' those demonstrators who engaged in repeated acts of vandalism or arson, saying it was time to 'hurt them a little bit.'... Mr. Wheeler's call for crowdsourced surveillance has alarmed civil rights advocates, and critics say the city has failed to bring an end to acts of violence by the Portland Police Bureau, a demand echoed by hundreds of demonstrators who have not destroyed property.... Mike Schmidt, the Multnomah County prosecutor, has taken a forgiving attitude toward protesters who remained peaceful.... His office has been focused on protesters who have committed violent crimes or those involving property...."

News Lede

New York Times: "strong>Michael Collins, who piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft Columbia in orbit 60 miles above the moon while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Col. Buzz Aldrin, became the first men to walk on the lunar surface, died on Wednesday at a hospice facility in Naples, Fla. He was 90."

The Commentariat -- April 27, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Eli Rosenberg & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "President Biden plans to sign an executive order Tuesday that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all federal contractors by 2022, while eliminating a lower minimum wage for tipped contractors. The move will bring the minimum wage for contractors up from the current $10.95, under rules set during the Obama administration. The current minimum wage for federal contractors who are tipped is $7.65 an hour. That will be phased out by 2024 under the new directive. The $15 wage will be mandatory in new contracts by the end of March 2022. Senior administration officials briefed on the plan said they estimated that hundreds of thousands of workers who do contract work for the federal government -- including cleaning staff, maintenance workers, nursing assistants in veteran care facilities, cafeteria and food workers, and laborers -- would see wage increases as a result of the policy change."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden, in an effort to pay for his ambitious economic agenda, is expected to propose giving the Internal Revenue Service an extra $80 billion and more authority over the next 10 years to help crack down on tax evasion by high-earners and large corporations, according to two people familiar with the plan. The additional money and enforcement power will accompany new disclosure requirements for people who own businesses that are not organized as corporations and for other wealthy people who could be hiding income from the government. The Biden administration will portray those efforts -- coupled with new taxes it is proposing on corporations and the rich -- as a way to level the tax playing field between typical American workers and very high-earners who employ sophisticated efforts to minimize or avoid taxation. Mr. Biden plans to use money raised by the effort to help pay for the cost of his 'American Families Plan,' which he will detail before addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday."

Mistakes Were Made. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "The early days of Joe Biden's presidency reveal a man who remembers the Obama presidency -- and doesn't necessarily want to repeat it. Both presidents inherited a crisis-ravaged economy, but their signature 100-day achievements look markedly different: Biden's stimulus plan was about 2½ times the size of President Barack Obama's. It was easy for voters to understand, centered on popular $1,400 cash payments for most people, while Obama's stimulus program was criticized as being too small and complicated, delivering small-dollar benefits in paychecks that polls showed many people didn't even notice. While Obama pared back his stimulus to win Republican votes, Biden met with Republicans once before he opted for a special process to go it alone. While conservative deficit hawks reined in Obama, Biden has brushed them off, arguing that now is the time to spend big. While Obama was hesitant to brag about his achievements, Biden's team regularly takes credit for the receding pandemic -- and voters give him high marks."

Where's the Beef? Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "To White House aides, the wholly fictional Biden-will-ban-hamburgers story line was in part an amusing flare-up perpetuated by Republicans who have struggled to find ways to successfully attack the president.... But the not-quite-red-meat attack also offers a case study in how a falsehood can rapidly metastasize among Republicans -- pushed not only by the party's fringe but also by more mainstream voices, like ... Nikki Haley. The argument dovetails with a common claim on the right that Democrats are out to ban meat-eating, whether for reasons of health or climate. And the episode underscores how the shadow of Donald Trump's presidency -- rife with misinformation and mistruths and lies -- still lingers, providing Republicans with a mendacious road map for demonizing a political rival." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe Republicans can prove Joe Biden has a subscription to Epicurious. David Tamarkin & Maggie Hoffman of Epicurious: "For any person -- or publication -- wanting to envision a more sustainable way to cook, cutting out beef is a worthwhile first step.... Today Epicurious announces that we've ... cut out beef. Beef won't appear in new Epicurious recipes, articles, or newsletters. It will not show up on our homepage. It will be absent from our Instagram feed.... This decision was not made because we hate hamburgers (we don't!). Instead, our shift is solely about sustainability, about not giving airtime to one of the world's worst climate offenders. We think of this decision as not anti-beef but rather pro-planet." ~~~

~~~ More in GOP Shoot-from-the-Hip Accusations. Andrew Desiderio & Burgess Everett of Politico: "Republicans on Monday called on John Kerry to resign from President Joe Biden's National Security Council over claims that he revealed sensitive information about Israeli military operations to Iran. According to leaked audio revealed Sunday by The New York Times, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Kerry told him that Israel attacked Iranian assets in Syria 'at least 200 times.' Zarif added that he was surprised that Kerry would reveal that sensitive information to him, according to the audio.... Zarif's version of events has not been independently corroborated. His remarks to an Iranian academic were leaked by a London-based media outlet. It is also unclear whether Kerry allegedly revealed the Israeli operations to Zarif before they were publicly reported by Israel itself in 2018." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times: "John Kerry ... said on Monday that he had never discussed covert Israeli airstrikes in Syria with Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, contrary to Mr. Zarif's claim in a leaked conversation.... 'I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened -- either when I was Secretary of State or since,' Mr. Kerry wrote [in a tweet]." The report is an item in a political liveblog.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced on Monday a sweeping Justice Department investigation into the Louisville, Ky., police and the county government there, the second time in a week that the department has opened a civil investigation into a police force that prompted national furor over the killing of an unarmed Black person. The Louisville police came under scrutiny after officers shot to death a Black medical worker named Breonna Taylor in March 2020 during a botched raid of her home. Her killing helped fuel nationwide racial justice protests, but an investigation elicited no charges in her death, only an indictment on a lesser count against one detective."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The Department of Homeland Security will undergo an internal review to root out white supremacy and extremism in its ranks as part of a larger effort to combat extremist ideology in the federal government, officials said on Monday. The task of identifying extremists throughout the United States, and specifically in government agencies, has come to the top of President Biden's agenda since Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Many of the rioters were found to be members of extremist groups.... The review comes shortly after the Pentagon completed a 60-day 'stand down' to address extremism after a number of veterans were found to have taken part in the Capitol riot.... It is also a pivot from the approach taken by ... Donald J. Trump, who pressured federal agencies to divert resources to target the antifa movement and left-wing groups, even though law enforcement authorities concluded that far-right and militia violence was a more serious threat."

Hamza Shaban of the Washington Post: "During the final minutes of the Trump presidency, an obscure company in South Florida announced to the world's computer networks that it would begin managing a massive swath of the Internet owned by the U.S. military. In the months since, the company has claimed control of nearly 175 million IP addresses ... with no public explanation of what had taken place.... Brett Goldstein, the director of a Pentagon unit called the Defense Digital Service, said that his team had authorized the activation of the IP addresses as a 'pilot effort' to improve cybersecurity.... 'This pilot will assess, evaluate and prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space. Additionally, this pilot may identify potential vulnerabilities.'" MB: I guess this is an explanation of a popular WashPo story I didn't understand last week.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The legal battle over gun control opened a new front Monday at the Supreme Court, as the justices announced they will consider an important National Rifle Association-backed lawsuit asserting the constitutional right to carry a weapon outside the home. The court will hear the challenge to a century-old New York law in the term that begins in October. The restriction requires those who seek a permit to carry a concealed weapon to show a special need for self-defense, and is similar to laws in Maryland, Massachusetts and elsewhere that the court in the past has declined to review." ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court could make the NRA's dreams come true.... The plaintiffs in Corlett include a New York state gun rights group and two New York men who applied for a license to carry a handgun in public and were denied that license. They claim that 'law-abiding citizens' have a Second Amendment right to carry a gun in public -- and the Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, could agree with them. Indeed, Corlett could potentially dismantle more than a decade of judicial decisions interpreting the Second Amendment, imposing prohibitive limits on lawmakers' ability to reduce gun violence."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday said it would take up a request by a Guantánamo Bay terrorism suspect for more information about his CIA-sponsored torture, a disclosure the U.S. government opposes, calling it a threat to national security. The prisoner is Abu Zubaida, once a prized capture whose torture after the 9/11 terrorist attacks has been extensively documented. But the government has invoked the 'state secrets' privilege to oppose his efforts for additional information about foreign intelligence officials who partnered with the CIA in detention facilities abroad."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "For a second year, the nation's surveillance court has pointed with concern to 'widespread violations' by the F.B.I. of rules intended to protect Americans' privacy when analysts search emails gathered without a warrant -- but still signed off on another year of the program, a newly declassified ruling shows. In a 67-page ruling issued in November and made public on Monday, James E. Boasberg, the presiding judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, recounted several episodes uncovered by an F.B.I. audit where the bureau's analysts improperly searched for Americans' information in emails that the National Security Agency collected without warrants."

Sabrina Tavernise & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "Over the past decade, the United States population grew at the second slowest rate since the government started counting in 1790, the Census Bureau reported on Monday, a remarkable slackening that was driven by a slowdown in immigration and a declining birthrate. The bureau also reported changes to the nation's political map: The long-running trend of the South and the West gaining population -- and the congressional representation that comes with it -- at the expense of the Northeast and the Midwest continued, with Texas gaining two seats and Florida one, and New York and Ohio each losing one. California, long a leader in population growth, lost a seat for the first time in history." An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~Here's a related New York Times story on the states that gained and lost Congressional seats. A Guardian story is here. Politico's report is here. ~~~

~~~ BTW, if you're someone who was way too busy to complete your Census form, it turns out the form matters as much as your vote. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "New York's congressional delegation will shrink by one seat after the 2022 election, the Census Bureau announced on Monday.... If New York had counted 89 more people last year than the 20,215,751 who were tallied, it would have held on to the House seat. Instead, it went to Minnesota.It was the narrowest margin by which a state lost a seat in the modern era, according to census data."

Shawna Chen of Axios: "Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third highest-ranking House Republican, publicly broke from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Monday, telling reporters a proposed independent commission should focus solely on the deadly Capitol insurrection, Reuters reports.... Cheney's remarks reflect a widening gap between the two high-profile Republicans. McCarthy has said the bipartisan commission should broaden its scope to include other instances of political violence, citing Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests.... 'What happened on Jan. 6 is unprecedented in our history, and I think that it's very important that the commission be able to focus on that,' Cheney told reporters at the House GOP's annual policy retreat.... Her comments support Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) position on the matter."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Kathleen Kingsbury of the New York Times: "The first Op-Ed page in The New York Times greeted the world on Sept. 21, 1970. It was so named because it appeared opposite the editorial page and not (as many still believe) because it would offer views contrary to the paper's.... It's time to change the name. The reason is simple: In the digital world, in which millions of Times readers absorb the paper's journalism online, there is no geographical 'Op-Ed,' just as there is no geographical 'Ed' for Op-Ed to be opposite to. It is a relic of an older age and an older print newspaper design. So now, at age 50, the designation will be retired." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is why I have always referred to "opinion pieces" published in media outlets that don't have print editions, though the designation "op-ed" is commonly used for any "guest essay" published in any outlet, whether it comes in hard-copy format or not. I've done the same with magazine opinion pieces; when Time publishes an opinion piece, it doesn't appear opposite the magazine's editorial page. The NYT plans to refer to op-eds as "guest essays"; that's awkward. What's the short-form? "Guessays"? Not so good.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Biden, under intense pressure to do more to address the surging pandemic abroad, including a humanitarian crisis in India, intends to make up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine available to other countries, so long as federal regulators deem the doses safe, officials said Monday. The announcement came after Mr. Biden spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and the two pledged to 'work closely together in the fight against Covid-19.' It is a significant, albeit limited, shift for the White House, which has until now been reluctant to make excess doses of coronavirus vaccine available in large amounts." MB: Just this morning I saw Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on the teevee urging the administration to release those vaccine doses to other countries. Squeaky wheel. Good for you, Congressman.

This Week in Book World

Rudy Takala of Mediaite: "More than 200 employees at Simon & Schuster are asking the publishing giant to stop working with former Trump administration staffers. Employees submitted a petition on Monday containing 216 signatures demanding the company stop publishing books from members of ... Donald Trump's administration. The petition claims the company treated 'the Trump administration as a "normal" chapter in American history,' according to copy obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The brouhaha follows a thus-far unsuccessful effort by the employees to cancel a deal to publish former Vice President Mike Pence's two-part autobiography."

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "In a new book, the Republican senator Josh Hawley of Missouri attacks what he calls 'woke capitalism' and claims to be a victim of cancel culture over his actions around the Capitol attack of 6 January. Hawley, 41, is a leading figure on the far right of the Republican party, jostling to inherit Donald Trump's populist crown and with it the presidential nomination in 2024.... Publisher Simon & Schuster dropped Hawley's book, only for it to be swiftly picked up by Regnery, a conservative imprint for which Simon & Schuster handles distribution." MB: According to Pengelly, there's a whole lot of whining going on here. As for the raised fist seen 'round the world, Hawley doesn't mention it, but he definitely did "not encourage the riot." Maybe he was adjusting his shirt sleeve or exercising his fingers. Accompanying the article is a photo of Josh trying to look pensive while holding a pencil to his chin.

And Other Thoughts of GOP "Intelligentia"

Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "The former US senator and CNN political commentator Rick Santorum has sparked outrage among Native Americans, and prompted calls for his dismissal, by telling a rightwing students' conference that European colonists who came to America 'birthed a nation from nothing'. 'There was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans but candidly there isn't much Native American culture in American culture,' Santorum told the ultra-conservative Young America's Foundation's summit, entitled standing up for faith and freedom, and shared by the group to YouTube.... Santorum's comments, effectively dismissing the millennia-long presence of Native Americans and the genocide inflicted on them as the Christian settlers transformed and expanded their colonies into the United States of America, angered many within the Native American community, and beyond." MB: Must be tough for Rick to take the kids to the school Thanksgiving play where Native Americans are portrayed saving the ignorant Pilgrims from starvation. See also Akhilleus' commentary below.

Steve M. analyzes a New York Post op-ed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in a post titled, "Marco Rubio Will Only Get Worse."

Marie: One of the most damaging effects of the ascendant right-wing media is that Republicans who used to make up stuff to own the masses now seem to believe their own swill. If there's anything worse than a demagogue, it's a "sincere" demagogue. ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times explains wingers' tales of Meatless Joe in terms of Bernie Madoff: "Madoff defrauded wealthy Jews by convincing them that he was just like them. A similar approach has long been an essential part of the Republican political strategy. As the party's economic policies have become ever more elitist, ever more tilted toward the interests of the wealthy, it has sought to cover its tracks by running candidates who seem like regular guys you'd like to have a (meat-based?) beer with. The flip side of this strategy is a continual attempt by the G.O.P. to convince voters that Democrats, who represent a much more diverse set of voters than Republicans, aren't people like them; call it disaffinity fraud. The goal is to portray Democrats as woke feminist vegetarians who don't share the values of Real Americans."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Andrew Oxford of the Arizona Republic: "Lawyers for Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company the Arizona Senate hired to lead a recount of Maricopa County's 2.1 million general election ballots, are asking a judge to keep secret its procedures for the recount and shut out the public as well as the press from a hearing in which the documents might be discussed. Judge Christopher Coury asked the company on Friday to turn over its plans and procedures amid concerns about the security of the county's ballots and voter privacy. But the company argued on Sunday that filing the documents in court publicly would compromise the security of its recount. And it argued that the records include protected trade secrets." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Ken was wondering just what those "trade secrets" might be. One is apparently handing counters blue pens so they can, you know, "correct" ballots than voters might accidentally have marked for Joe Biden. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rachel Maddow said Monday night that the only "reporters" allowed to observe the proceedings were those who worked for One America "News" Network. The same reporters, Maddow said, also raised money for the recount. Seems fair.

California. Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "Fueled by partisan fury and a backlash against pandemic shutdowns, a Republican-led campaign to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has officially qualified for the ballot, setting the stage for the second recall election in the state's history, officials said on Monday. In a widely expected filing, the California secretary of state's office found that recall organizers had collected 1,626,042 signatures on their petition, more than the roughly 1.5 million required to ask voters to remove Mr. Newsom from office. The announcement sets in motion a series of procedural steps that will culminate in a special election. No election date has been scheduled, but it is expected to be sometime in November. Between now and then, the state will review the cost of the election, and voters who signed the petition will have 30 business days to ask to have their names removed if they so choose." An NBC News story is here.

North Carolina. David Li of NBC News: "The family of a North Carolina man shot and killed by sheriff's deputies said Monday that they were shown just 20 seconds of body-camera video that appeared to show the man with his hands on the steering wheel of his car before he was killed. Loved ones of Andrew Brown Jr., 42, expected to be shown the bodycam video just before noon Monday, but the viewing was pushed back several hours because of redactions sought by the county attorney, family attorneys said. But even in 20 seconds of video, Brown's loved ones said, it was clear that he wasn't a threat to law enforcement and shouldn't have been gunned down."

Way Beyond

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "... as [Queen Elizabeth II] faces the future alone, her son and heir, Prince Charles, is reshaping the family to carry on after her. [Prince] Philip's death has given new urgency to a transition already underway in the House of Windsor. With the queen's reign in its twilight, Charles has moved to streamline the royal family and reallocate its duties -- a downsizing forced by the loss of stalwart figures like Philip, as well as by the rancorous departure of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, and the messy internal exile of Prince Andrew.... As always with the royal family, details about its internal deliberations are elusive and befogged in speculation.... Charles ... had already taken over some of his mother's duties, including overseas trips and investiture ceremonies.... He accompanies her to the state opening of Parliament; the next one is scheduled for May. And he spoke up after the furor over his brother Andrew's ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, pressing to have him banished from public duties."