The Commentariat -- April 11, 2021

"Clear the Capitol!" Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "From a secure room in the Capitol on Jan. 6, as rioters pummeled police and vandalized the building, Vice President Mike Pence tried to assert control. In an urgent phone call to the acting defense secretary, he issued a startling demand. 'Clear the Capitol,' Pence said. Elsewhere in the building, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were making a similarly dire appeal to military leaders, asking the Army to deploy the National Guard.... 'We must establish order,' said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a call with Pentagon leaders. But order would not be restored for hours.... The timeline ... contained in a previously undisclosed document prepared by the Pentagon ... adds another layer of understanding about the state of fear and panic while the insurrection played out, and lays bare the inaction by ... Donald Trump and how that void contributed to a slowed response by the military and law enforcement.... With Trump not engaged, it fell to Pentagon officials, a handful of senior White House aides, the leaders of Congress and the vice president holed up in a secure bunker to manage the chaos."

Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A Texas man who boasted that he was at the United States Capitol when a pro-Trump mob stormed the building in January has been charged with plotting to blow up an Amazon data center in Virginia, the Justice Department said on Friday. The man, Seth Aaron Pendley, 28, of Wichita Falls, was arrested on Thursday after he took what he believed were explosive devices from a bomb supplier but were in fact inert objects provided by an undercover F.B.I. agent in Fort Worth, prosecutors said.... Federal officials said they had begun investigating the plot after a concerned citizen contacted the F.B.I. on Jan. 8 about alarming statements posted on MyMilitia.com, a forum dedicated to organizing militia groups."

Onward, Christian Soldiers! Jason Wilson of the Guardian: "A data breach from Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo has revealed that millions of dollars have been raised on the site for far-right causes and groups, many of whom are banned from raising funds on other platforms. It also identifies previously anonymous high-dollar donors to far-right actors, some of whom enjoy positions of wealth, power or public responsibility. Some of the biggest beneficiaries have been members of groups such as the Proud Boys, designated as a terrorist group in Canada, many of whose fundraising efforts were directly related to the 6 January attack on the United States Capitol."

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell before a Republican National Committee donor retreat Saturday evening, deriding him as a 'dumb son of a bitch.' Trump veered off his prepared [remarks] during a roughly 50-minute speech before several hundred well-heeled GOP donors at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida, saying that he was 'disappointed' in former Vice President Mike Pence, calling last year's presidential election a 'fraud' and mocking Dr. Anthony Fauci.... Trump also went after McConnell's wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, for resigning her cabinet post after the Jan. 6 insurrection.... Much of Trump's Saturday night speech was aimed at relitigating the election results, on which the former president has remained fixated." ~~~

~~~ Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "'A tremendous complication' was how Fred Zeidman, a veteran Republican fund-raiser in Texas, described Mr. Trump's lingering presence on the political scene.... 'He's already proven that he wants to have a major say or keep control of the party, and he's already shown every sign that he's going to primary everybody that has not been supportive of him,' Mr. Zeidman said. 'He complicates everything so much.'... 'It is very important the Republican Party puts Donald Trump as far into the past as possible,' said William Oberndorf, an investor in California who has given millions to G.O.P. candidates but said he would now only give to Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach Mr. Trump."

Shayna Jacobs, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald Trump's company paid a skating rink manager more than $200,000 in annual salary, $40,000 yearly bonuses and provided free company-owned apartments for his family, according to testimony of the employee, Barry Weisselberg, and his financial documents. Such payments and perks, as well as other financial support provided to Weisselberg and his family, have drawn new scrutiny from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) as a potentially key component of his ongoing criminal investigation into the former president's business activity and finances. Barry Weisselberg is the son of Trump's longtime confidant and chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, whose cooperation prosecutors are maneuvering to secure, a person familiar with the investigation said, as they evaluate whether there is sufficient evidence to charge Trump, or members of his family or inner circle."

Douglas Martin of the New York Times: "Ramsey Clark, who championed civil rights and liberties as attorney general in the Johnson administration, then devoted much of the rest of his life to defending unpopular causes and infamous people, including Saddam Hussein and others accused of war crimes, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "Emergent BioSolutions, the troubled manufacturer at the heart of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine production problems, gave its chief executive officer a 51 percent increase in total compensation in 2020, to $5.6 million, according to a public filing Friday. The annual proxy disclosure by the publicly traded company said CEO Robert Kramer received $893,000 in salary, a $1.2 million bonus, $2.1 million in stock awards, and $1.4 million in stock options." MB: If there's a company that makes some useless product that will have no impact on people's lives, I will be happy to accept $5MM to screw up production. My contact info is at the bottom of the right-hand column. Write me, MyPillow Guy!

Marie: BTW, I had to take a Covid test yesterday of the up-your-nose-with-a-rubber-hose variety, and it wasn't nearly as bad as the tales I've heard. The technician used a flat, stiff paper "stick" about 3/16" wide & maybe 6" long. I closed my eyes the better to miss her probing the crevices of my brain, and it took only 5 seconds. I'd say the probe stung a little, but it was by no means intolerable, especially because of the brevity of the test. So, really, nothing to worry about.

Beyond the Beltway

A Florida Woman. Dan Scanlan of the Florida Times-Union, republished in Yahoo! News: A "woman seen in a viral video giving the finger to another shopper then coughing in her face at a Jacksonville mall has been sentenced to 29 days in jail for assault." Although the perp -- Debra Jo Michele Hunter of toney Fernandina Beach -- had negotiated a plea deal with the prosecutor that avoided jail time, Duval County Judge James Ruth sentenced the woman to jail. Ruth said, "... I have yet to see any expression, or a significant expression on her regret about the impact it had on the victim in this case."

Maryland. Ovetta Wiggins & Erin Cox of the Washington Post: "Maryland enacted historic police accountability measures Saturday, becoming the first state to repeal its powerful Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights and setting new rules for when police may use force and how they are investigated and disciplined. The Democrat-dominated legislature dealt Republican Gov. Larry Hogan a sharp rebuke, overriding his vetoes of measures that raise the bar for officers to use force; give civilians a role in police discipline for the first time; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate body cameras; and open some allegations of police wrongdoing for public review. Each bill had been hailed by criminal justice advocates as having the potential to make policing in the state fairer and more transparent." The New York Times' story is here.

Washington State. Shoot First, Cover Up Later. Mike Baker & Evan Hill of the New York Times: "When a U.S. Marshals task force killed a self-described antifa activist in Washington State in September, the Trump administration applauded the removal of a 'violent agitator' who was suspected of murder. Last week, local investigators concluded a monthslong homicide inquiry with the announcement that the activist, Michael Reinoehl, had most likely fired at authorities first, effectively justifying the shooting. But a review of investigation documents obtained by The New York Times suggests that investigators for the Thurston County Sheriff's Office discounted key pieces of contradicting evidence that indicate Mr. Reinoehl may never have fired or pointed a gun.... The handgun ... recovered from Mr. Reinoehl had a full magazine, according to multiple photos compiled by Thurston County authorities showing Mr. Reinoehl's handgun. The gun was found in his pocket.... One of the witnesses that Thurston County investigators relied on to reach their conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl had fired his gun was an 8-year-old boy. His father, Garrett Louis..., has consistently said he believed that officers opened fire first without shouting any warnings. Of the two other witnesses who investigators cited to support the conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl fired his gun, one did not see it happen and the other was not sure."

Way Beyond

Russia. Isabelle Khurshudyan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russia is steadily massing its largest military presence in years near the Ukrainian border -- on land and at sea -- as the Kremlin tests Western support for Kyiv and its battles against pro-Moscow separatists less than three months into the Biden administration.... Moving forces from as far away as Siberia -- more than 2,000 miles distance -- to near Ukraine and onto the Crimean Peninsula has injected new levels of alarm in a region that has been a flash point between the West and Moscow since 2014.... [But] Russia's sudden military surge [this year] appears to be more about sending messages than launching a fresh offensive, analysts said."

The Commentariat -- April 10, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Douglas Martin of the New York Times: "Ramsey Clark, who championed civil rights and liberties as attorney general in the Johnson administration, then devoted much of the rest of his life to defending unpopular causes and infamous people, including Saddam Hussein and others accused of war crimes, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93.

Shayna Jacobs, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald Trump's company paid a skating rink manager more than $200,000 in annual salary, $40,000 yearly bonuses and provided free company-owned apartments for his family, according to testimony of the employee, Barry Weisselberg, and his financial documents. Such payments and perks, as well as other financial support provided to Weisselberg and his family, have drawn new scrutiny from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) as a potentially key component of his ongoing criminal investigation into the former president's business activity and finances. Barry Weisselberg is the son of Trump's longtime confidant and chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, whose cooperation prosecutors are maneuvering to secure, a person familiar with the investigation said, as they evaluate whether there is sufficient evidence to charge Trump, or members of his family or inner circle."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Friday asked Congress to authorize a massive $1.5 trillion federal spending plan later this year, seeking to invest heavily in a number of government agencies to boost education, expand affordable housing, bolster public health and confront climate change. The request marks Biden's first discretionary spending proposal, a precursor to the full annual budget he aims to release later in the spring that will address programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The president's early blueprint calls for a nearly 16 percent increase in funding across nondefense domestic agencies, reflecting the White House's guiding belief that a bigger, better-resourced government in Washington can help address the country's most pressing political and economic challenges." An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: "Not since Lyndon Baines Johnson's momentous civil rights and anti-poverty legislation has an American president so pointedly put racial and economic equity at the center of his agenda.... Yet as ambitious as [Joe Biden's] efforts are, academic experts and some policymakers say still more will be needed to repair one of the most stubborn and invidious inequalities: the gap in wealth between Black and white Americans. Wealth -- one's total assets --is the most meaningful measure of financial strength. Yet for every dollar a typical white household has, a Black one has 12 cents, a divide that has grown over the last half-century. Latinos have 21 cents for every dollar in white wealth." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Cohen's number may be skewed by the super-wealthy -- Jeff Bezos, Bill & Melinda Gates, etc. -- almost all of whom are White. One would not consider these families to fit into the "typical white household" box. Nonetheless, if you correct for super-rich White people, I assume there will still be a startling difference between the wealth of "typical" White & minority American families.

Michael Shear & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday ordered a 180-day study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, making good on a campaign-year promise to establish a bipartisan commission to examine the potentially explosive subjects of expanding the court or setting term limits for justices, White House officials said. The president acted under pressure from activists pushing for more seats to alter the ideological balance of the court...." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here.

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Roberta S. Jacobson, the former ambassador to Mexico whom President Biden chose as his 'border czar' on the National Security Council, will step down at the end of the month, she said on Friday, even as the administration struggles to confront a surge of migrants at the nation's southwestern border. Ms. Jacobson, who had been described as one of the Biden administration's key players in dealing with the governments in the Northern Triangle area of Central America, praised what she called Mr. Biden's efforts to repair and recast the nation's immigration system after four years under ... Donald J. Trump.... Ms. Jacobson said that her appointment as a special assistant to the president and as the border coordinator in the White House was always intended to last for only about 100 days -- a period that will expire at the end of April, when she intends to leave government."; UPI's story is here.

Jeremy Herb & Annie Grayer of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee said Friday it was opening an investigation into the allegations surrounding embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican facing a federal investigation into whether he violated sex trafficking laws. The top Democrat and Republican on the Ethics Committee said they were examining Gaetz for a host of potential offenses, including both potential illegal activity and violations of House rules. 'The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct,' Ethics Chairman Ted Deutch of Florida and ranking Republican member Jackie Walorski of Indiana said in a joint statement Friday." ~~~

~~~ Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: "Federal agents have, in recent months, been examining [Matt] Gaetz's connections to several other influential Florida political figures. They include Florida state senator Jason Brodeur; Halsey Beshears, the state's former top business regulator; Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist who had served in the state House of Representatives; and Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and Gaetz campaign donor who served on the board of the Orlando Airport Authority, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.... Gaetz, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, has retained two prominent New York attorneys while facing a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls.... a spokesperson for Gaetz said attorneys Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner will lead his legal team.... During a high-profile appearance Friday night at ... Donald Trump's Doral golf club in Miami, he vowed, 'I have not yet begun to fight.'"

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "Trump appointees in the Department of Health and Human Services last year privately touted their efforts to block or alter scientists' reports on the coronavirus to more closely align with ... Donald Trump's more optimistic messages about the outbreak, according to newly released documents from congressional investigators.... Even as career government scientists worked to combat the virus, a cadre of Trump appointees was attempting to blunt the scientists' messages, edit their findings and equip the president with an alternate set of talking points." ~~~

~~~ Among those cited in Diamond's report is Michael Caputo, then HHS's public affairs director. ~~~

~~~ I Forgot??? Scott Stedman & Matt Bernardini of Forensic News: "Michael Caputo, a former senior aide to Donald Trump, who spent decades working in Russia and former Soviet states, failed to disclose a lavish painting gifted to him by a Ukrainian lobbying group in 2020. The review of Caputo's lobbying comes after a recent report from the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election which revealed that Russian intelligence assets 'helped produce' a documentary created by Caputo and aired on One America News Network (OANN) in January 2020. The documentary ... spread numerous unfounded theories about the uprising in Ukraine in 2014 that ousted the pro-Russian President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, as well as Hunter and Joe Biden's dealings in Ukraine.... The failure to report his gift to the Justice Department ... coupled with the fact that he was paid just $1 for his lobbying efforts, has raised numerous questions about the true purpose of Caputo's work given his concurrent work with Russian spies ... Konstantin Kilimnik and Andriy Derkach" on the so-called documentary.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Karen Weise & Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "Amazon appeared to beat back the most significant labor drive in its history on Friday, when an initial tally showed that workers at its giant warehouse in Alabama had voted decisively against forming a union. Workers cast at least 1,608 votes against a union, giving Amazon enough to defeat the effort, as ballots in favor of a union trailed at 696, according to a preliminary count. Hundreds of votes remained to be tallied, but are not enough to bridge Amazon's margin of victory. Once the count is complete, the results will still need to be certified by federal officials." MB: First, I'm gonna vote for Donald Trump; second, I'm gonna vote for Jeff Bezos; third, I'm gonna whine about Blacks & Latinos keeping me from getting ahead. (Also linked yesterday.)

It's Not Easy Being White -- Tucker the Toad

Nikki Ramirez of Media Matters: "For decades, white nationalists have invoked the specter of nonwhite immigration, multiculturalism, and declining birthrates to argue for the existence of a vast conspiracy aimed at eliminating white populations as a dominant demographic. On Fox News, Tucker Carlson is distributing the language, grievances, goals, and inherent call to action of the conspiracy theory to massive audiences. On the April 8 broadcast of Fox News Primetime, Carlson offered perhaps his most explicit justification yet for the core belief of the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory: that a wave of 'Third World' invaders is coming to replace you and reshape your environment, and that you, the audience, should do something about it. The Fox News host claimed that 'what's true' is that 'the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World,' and no one should 'sit back and take that.'"

Max Boot of the Washington Post: "On Thursday night, [Tucker] Carlson moved even closer to white supremacist ideology by explicitly endorsing the Great Replacement theory, which holds that shadowy elites are orchestrating a plot to replace native-born White people with immigrants of color. The New Zealand shooter's manifesto was literally headlined 'The Great Replacement,' and the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville chanted 'Jews will not replace us.'" Boot name-checks a number of "senior directors and managers of Fox who are immigrants -- and even more who are the children or grandchildren of immigrants," including of course Rupert Murdoch. "The irony, of course, is that, by their very success in America, so many senior Fox leaders disprove Carlson's bigoted assumption that immigration is a source of weakness for this country."

You Will Not Replace Us. Brian Stelter of CNN: "The Anti-Defamation League is calling for Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson. 'Given his long record of race-baiting, we believe it is time for Carlson to go,' ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says. There is zero indication that Fox will take such a step -- or even reprimand Carlson. But the ADL's call, delivered in a letter to Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott, underscores the extreme and unsettling nature of Carlson's anti-immigration commentary.... No one is being 'replaced.' Existing voters are not being exchanged for the 'more obedient' migrants Carlson imagines. But Carlson has raised this notion repeatedly on his own 8 p.m. program. In Friday's letter to Fox, Greenblatt said 'at ADL, we believe in dialogue and giving people a chance to redeem themselves, but Carlson's full-on embrace of the white supremacist replacement theory on yesterday's show and his repeated allusions to racist themes in past segments are a bridge too far.' The letter pointed out that 'replacement theory' is what 'undergirds the modern white supremacist movement in America.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court late Friday night lifted California's restrictions on religious gatherings in private homes, saying they could not be enforced to bar prayer meetings, Bible study classes and the like. The court's brief, unsigned order followed earlier ones striking down limits on attendance at houses of worship meant to combat the coronavirus. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court's three liberal members in dissent."

Julie Bosman & Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Nowhere in America is the coronavirus pandemic more out of control than in Michigan.... Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. Officials are reporting more than 7,000 new infections each day, a sevenfold increase from late February. And Michigan is home to nine of the 10 metro areas with the country’s highest recent case rates. During previous surges in Michigan, a resolute Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down businesses and schools as she saw fit -- over the din of both praise and protests. But this time, Ms. Whitmer ... [said,] 'Policy change alone won't change the tide,' Ms. Whitmer said on Friday, as she asked -- but did not order -- that the public take a two-week break from indoor dining, in-person high school and youth sports. 'We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility here.' It is a rare moment in the pandemic: a high-profile Democratic governor bucking the pleas of doctors and epidemiologists in her state and instead asking for voluntary actions from the public to control the virus's spread."

Sean Burch of the Wrap: "YouTube has deleted a video in which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a handful of medical experts questioned the effectiveness of having children wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19." MB: One of the "medical experts" was Scott Atlas. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Tim Arango, et al., of the New York Times: "In a trial where many key figures have spent hours on the stand, the prosecution whipped through one of their most anticipated witnesses, the doctor who performed George Floyd's official autopsy, in a mere 50 minutes on Friday. The reasons for their haste became clear as the witness, Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner, refrained from placing the sole blame for Mr. Floyd';s death on the police as he testified in the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former officer charged with murder. In his testimony, Dr. Baker said police restraint was the main cause of Mr. Floyd's death, but he also cited drug use and heart disease as contributing factors, saying that Mr. Floyd died 'in the context of' the actions taken by three police officers as they pinned Mr. Floyd to the street for more than nine minutes." The AP's report is here.

Virginia. D.W.B. Emma Ockerman of Vice News: "Caron Nazario was driving his newly-purchased Chevy Tahoe home when two police officers pulled him over in Windsor, Virginia, whipped out their guns, and started barking orders. With their weapons raised, the officers demanded that Nazario, a Black and Latino man, get out of the SUV. Nazario ... placed his cellphone on his dashboard to film the December 5 encounter. He repeatedly asked to know what was going on. At one point, he even admitted to being afraid to leave the vehicle. 'Yeah, you should be,' one of the officers responded. Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, was coming home from work and in full uniform at the time.... By the end of the incident, the cops would threaten Nazario, pepper-spray him in the face, and knee-strike him in the legs, according to body camera footage, Nazario's cellphone video, and legal filings." Nazario was pulled over supposedly because his new vehicle did not have a permanent plate. However, the car had visible temporary plates taped to the windows.

Way Beyond

Russia. Washington Post Editors: "Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime is slowly but very intentionally murdering his leading political opponent, Alexei Navalny.... The Kremlin has done this before. In 2009, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had uncovered a massive fraud perpetrated by a group of senior government officials, died in prison following gross mistreatment like that Mr. Navalny is enduring.... The United States and other Western governments have taken some steps to support Mr. Navalny.... But if his life is to be saved, much stronger action is needed. [William Browder, who has sought justice for Mr. Magnitsky,] argues that the right targets are the 35 oligarchs whom Mr. Navalny himself has identified as the holders and protectors of Mr. Putin's massive private fortune. Start freezing assets and applying visa bans to those tycoons and their families, he advises, and keep going until Mr. Navalny is released."

U.K. Tina Brown, in a New York Times op-ed, remembers Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died Friday morning. MB: Rather fun, reading avid snobs applauding the monarchy. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cause of Death: Black Woman. Kaity Assaf of Salon: "On Friday, "Fox and Friends" host Brian Kilmeade wasted no time in placing the blame of 99-year-old Prince Philip's death on none other than Meghan Markle. Kilmeade seemed to indicate that Markle and her husband's interview with Oprah Winfrey while Philip was ill, affected his recovery process which ultimately led to his death. Kilmeade said on Friday's show: 'There are reports that [Philip] was enraged after the interview and the fallout from the interview with Oprah Winfrey, so here he is trying to recover and he's hit with that.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead.~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's really great about white people is that we don't have to play "Six Degrees of Separation" to find the connection between minorities & whatever ill may befall us. Nope, it only takes one degree. I lost my job ... because a Mexican took it. Prince Philip died ... because a black woman upset him.

The Commentariat -- April 9, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' liveblog of developments on Day 10 in the Derek Chauvin murder trial is here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's updates are here.

Michael Shear & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday will order a 180-day study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, making good on a campaign-year promise to establish a bipartisan commission to examine the potentially explosive subjects of expanding the court or setting term limits for justices, White House officials said. The president acted under pressure from activists pushing for more seats to alter the ideological balance of the court...."

Karen Weise & MIchael Corkery of the New York Times: "Amazon appeared to beat back the most significant labor drive in its history on Friday, when an initial tally showed that workers at its giant warehouse in Alabama had voted decisively against forming a union. Workers cast at least 1,608 votes against a union, giving Amazon enough to defeat the effort, as ballots in favor of a union trailed at 696, according to a preliminary count. Hundreds of votes remained to be tallied, but are not enough to bridge Amazon's margin of victory. Once the count is complete, the results will still need to be certified by federal officials." MB: First, I'm gonna vote for Donald Trump; second, I'm gonna vote for Jeff Bezos; third, I'm gonna whine that Blacks & Latinos are keeping me from getting a better job & a raise.

Sean Burch of the Wrap: "YouTube has deleted a video in which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a handful of medical experts questioned the effectiveness of having children wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19." MB: One of the "medical experts" was Scott Atlas.

Tina Brown, in a New York Times op-ed, remembers Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died Friday morning. MB: Rather fun, reading snobs applauding snobbery.

~~~~~~~~~~

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden, calling gun violence in the United States 'an international embarrassment,' took a set of initial steps on Thursday to address the problem, starting with a crackdown on the proliferation of so-called ghost guns, or firearms assembled from kits.... While the moves the president announced fall far short of the broad legislative changes long sought by proponents of making it harder to buy guns, especially semiautomatic weapons often used in mass shootings, they addressed narrower issues also of intense concern to many Democrats and supporters of gun regulations." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "President Joe Biden announced a series of executive actions on Thursday to reduce gun violence and urged Congress to pass broader gun-control legislation.... 'This is an epidemic, for God's sake, and it has to stop,' Biden said in a Rose Garden speech. The White House's moves include directing the Department of Justice to craft a rule addressing the spread of untraceable 'ghost guns' and publish an example of 'red flag' legislation for states to follow." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Washington Post Editors: "Kudos ... to Mr. Biden for using his limited unilateral authority, for calling on Congress to do more and for nominating the well-qualified David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency has not had a permanent director since 2015 and has been hobbled by the national gun lobby and its Republican allies.... His resolve was heartening...." MB: What's most heartening to me is that once again we have a President who gets up every day to work for the American people, something we have missed since noon on January 20, 2017.

Joe to Joe. Jim Tankersley & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia flashed a warning sign for President Biden's infrastructure ambitions this week, renewing his pleas for fellow Democrats not to ram through a large spending bill without first working to compromise with Republicans who have panned the president's plans.... Mr. Manchin's calls for bipartisanship were less an insurmountable obstacle for Democrats than a road map for Mr. Biden if he wants his party's tiny congressional majorities to deliver him another economic policy victory. It involves reaching out to Republicans to explore possible areas of compromise while laying the groundwork to steer around them if no such deal materializes. Mr. Biden has already begun the outreach to Republicans, while senior Democrats in Congress are exploring a budget maneuver that would allow the infrastructure bill to pass quickly with only Democratic votes."

Patricia Mazzei & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "A former local official in Florida who faces an array of federal charges, including a sex trafficking count, is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer said on Thursday in an indication that the defendant could cooperate as a key witness against Representative Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation. A plea by the former elected official, Joel Greenberg, could significantly strengthen the Justice Department's hand as it investigates Mr. Gaetz and others.... The prosecutor, Roger Handberg, made the disclosure about Mr. Greenberg's case at a six-minute status hearing at the federal courthouse in Orlando, as did Mr. Greenberg's lawyer, Fritz Scheller. Mr. Greenberg had been scheduled to go on trial in June, but both sides set a May 15 deadline for a plea deal. If they do not reach an agreement, the case would go to trial, they agreed.... 'I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,' Mr. Scheller told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing."; CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hmm. If Greenberg wasn't prepared to flip on Gaetz, I doubt Greenberg's lawyer would have tagged Gaetz. So another bad day for Congressman Elvis. BTW, much has been made of the fact that Bill Barr approved the Gaetz investigation. But it's my opinion -- not shared by anyone whose opinion I've read -- that Barr didn't have much of a choice, once Gaetz's name came up in connection with evidence previously gathered against Greenberg. So I would not give Barr any props for applying "equal justice under the law" to a Trump supporter. Rather, he was stuck with evidence inadvertently obtained against Gaetz. ~~~

Each time a new revelation surfaces in the Gaetz/Greenberg sex scandal, Matt's office puts out a statement that begins, "Rep. Gaetz has never paid for sex, nor has he had sex with an underage girl." Well, what about this, Matt? ~~~

     ~~~ Jose Pagliery & Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast: "In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900.... In the second [transaction, Gaetz] wrote 'hit up ___.' But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients.... Greenberg and Gaetz are also connected on Venmo to at least one other woman that Greenberg paid with taxpayer funds using a government-issued credit card. Seminole County auditors flagged hundreds of those payments as 'questioned or unaccounted for,' and in total found more than $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses.... Gaetz and Greenberg share two direct Venmo connections with women who received payments from Greenberg. In 2018, Greenberg paid one of those women several thousand dollars using his taxpayer-backed Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast. Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they 'do not know what it was for.'" MB: This story is firewalled. I copied it before the firewall went up. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case Matt doesn't understand the implications here, paying somebody to pay somebody to have sex with you is called a "conspiracy"; it's not a get-out-of-jail card.

~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "A second senior aide to Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, abruptly quit in recent days as the congressman tries to fend off a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation and mounting public scrutiny, according to three people familiar with the decision. The aide, Devin Murphy, resigned as Mr. Gaetz's legislative director on Friday. He told associates that he was interested in writing bills, not working at TMZ -- equating the work that Mr. Gaetz's aides were now handling to the tabloid publication, according to one of the people, who all asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive personnel matter." ~~~

~~~ Gabby Orr & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "A boutique conservative consultancy group working on behalf of Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to sue journalists for their coverage of the embattled congressman. MB: Yeah, when in deep trouble, the best course is to follow Devin Nunes' playbook & bring nuisance lawsuits against everybody.

** Zachary Cohen & Whitney Wild of CNN: "A scathing report by the US Capitol Police watchdog ... reveals that there were even more law enforcement failures prior to January 6 than previously known, including new details about expired ammunition, ineffective shields and a previously unreported warning more than two weeks ahead of the insurrection about a map of the Capitol's underground tunnels that was posted on a pro-Donald Trump website.... Specifically, the summary [report] highlights significant problems with the department's vigilance when it came to equipment maintenance, policies for the Civil Disturbance Unit, and handling of intelligence prior to the attack."

Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "Kevin Seefried, who was photographed carrying a Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots in Washington, has been indicted by a grand jury on five counts related to obstruction, entering restricted property and disorderly conduct. Seefried's son, Hunter Seefried, was also indicted. The younger Seefried faces the same five counts as his father in addition to three charges related to destruction of government property and violence on Capitol grounds."

Kara Scannell of CNN: "A former FBI forensic accountant key to ... Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election is one of several accountants working on the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into the Trump Organization, people familiar with the matter say. Morgan Magionos, who was a lynchpin to the prosecution of ... Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is a member of the team of outside experts from FTI Consulting aiding New York prosecutors. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance brought on FTI Consulting last year as part of his office's wide-ranging investigation into possible insurance fraud, fraud involving lenders, and tax fraud." ~~~

~~~ Shayna Jacobs & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, acting on a grand jury subpoena, took possession of financial records Thursday morning from the apartment of Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of a top Trump Organization officer. Jennifer Weisselberg was married to Barry Weisselberg -- the son of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg -- from 2004 to 2018. She has previously said that she had seven boxes of financial records from both her ex-husband and his father, some of which were obtained through divorce litigation. On Thursday, she loaded three boxes and a laptop computer onto a valet cart and wheeled them from her building to a black Jeep with dark-tinted windows that was waiting outside." (Also linked yesterday.)

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Former Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, says in a new memoir that he regrets supporting the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, calling it a partisan attack that he now wishes he had repudiated. In his book 'On the House: A Washington Memoir,' a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Boehner blames Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, then the No. 2 Republican, for leading a politically motivated campaign against Mr. Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.... 'I was on board at the time,' Mr. Boehner went on. 'I won't pretend otherwise. But I regret it now. I regret that I didn't fight against it.' Mr. Boehner's memoir, whose cover is a photograph of the former speaker holding a glass of merlot, with a lit cigarette in an ashtray beside him -- his natural habitat for decades -- is full of colorful stories from his time in Congress.... Mr. Boehner also details on the record some of Capitol Hill's most talked-about exchanges, including the time that Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, pulled a knife on Mr. Boehner on the House floor after a critical speech about sweetheart projects going to Alaska." ~~~

~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones: "So now we have to hear John Boehner whine about what happened to the Republican Party?... What he did not say ... is that he shares the blame for the rise of extremism in the Republican Party.... Boehner became speaker in 2011 because of the tea party.... Boehner never tried to to tamp down conservative anger and paranoia. He did not tell the birthers to knock it off. He egged on the Obama hatred, allowing the Benghazi-istas to run free and wild. He whipped up extremism on the right to achieve power and then discovered he couldn't ride that tiger. In 2015, he left the House for calmer days as a merlot-sipping (gulping?) lobbyist.... The beast Boehner fed ... became the base for Trump and Trumpism." Thanks to unwashed for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) For context, see this NYT story by Maggie Haberman, also linked here yesterday. Corn also summarizes the Times' story in his post.

Shannon Liao of the Washington Post: "In a viral video with over 300,000 views since it was posted to Twitter April 6, professional esports player Lee 'Fearless' Eui-seok spoke out against hateful, anti-Asian acts he has experienced since coming to the United States. His comments have attracted attention across the esports industry and provided another example of the harassment and violence Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have faced throughout the country, particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. Lee, a professional esports player and a member of the Overwatch League's Dallas Fuel team, was asked by a fan during a live stream what it's been like for him since moving to Texas this year. 'Being Asian here is terrifying, seriously,' he said in comments translated from Korean. 'People keep trying to pick fights with us. Every time they see me, it's like Americans will come up to us and there's even people who cough on us.... It's my first time ever experiencing racism. And it's always -- it's pretty severe. And ... lots of them just try to scare us.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Hannah Sampson of the Washington Post: "... Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday that the state has filed a lawsuit against the federal government demanding that cruises be allowed to resume from the United States immediately.... The lawsuit against the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls the agency's actions 'arbitrary and capricious' and asks the court to 'set aside the CDC's unlawful actions and hold that cruises should be allowed to operate with reasonable safety protocols.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat: "The top lawyer for the Florida commission that investigates and prosecutes election law violations is facing charges of possession of child pornography. Eric M. Lipman, general counsel for the Florida Elections Commission, was arrested Wednesday on 11 counts of the crime. [After receiving a tip,] nvestigators obtained 19 files allegedly sent by Lipman's email account and confirmed that each one contained child sexual abuse material, according to the arrest report. They also found a number of internet searches on his work laptop involving child sexual abuse, pedophiles and ;children between the ages of 3 and 5, the report says.... [Lipman] also served as an officer with the Capital Soccer Association, a nonprofit soccer league for boys and girls ages 4 to 17, according to Florida corporate filings."

Georgia. Sara Murray & Jason Morris of CNN: "A top Georgia Republican said Wednesday that Rudy Giuliani's false claims of election fraud -- which were presented before state lawmakers -- created momentum for a package of voting rights restrictions that recently became state law. 'This is really the fallout from the 10 weeks of misinformation that flew in from former President Donald Trump,' Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said on CNN's 'New Day.' 'I went back over the weekend to really look at where this really started to gain momentum in the legislature, and it was when Rudy Giuliani showed up in a couple of committee rooms and spent hours spreading misinformation and sowing doubt across, you know, hours of testimony.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Kansas. Sherman Smith & Tim Carpenter of the Kansas Reflector: "Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop [R] reeked of alcohol, struggled to speak or walk, and threatened the Kansas Highway Patrol officer who stopped him in the early hours of March 16 for driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 in Topeka. The details of the arrest were made available Thursday following the release of his charging affidavit in Shawnee County District Court.... Suellentrop ... faces a felony charge for fleeing a police officer, misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving, and traffic infractions for driving the wrong way on a divided highway and speeding." Driving westbound in an eastbound lane on I-470, Suellentrop "narrowly missed multiple vehicles while fleeing police at 90 mph."

Minnesota. Shaila Dewan of the New York Times: During testimony Thursday in Derek Chauvin's murder trial, "Dr. [Martin] Tobin, a pulmonologist who specializes in the mechanics of breathing, presented the prosecution's first extended testimony on a central question in the murder trial of Mr. Chauvin: how George Floyd died. 'You're seeing here fatal injury to the brain from a lack of oxygen,' Dr. Tobin said[, explaining a snippet of video]. Dr. Tobin said that Mr. Chauvin and other police officers had restricted Mr. Floyd's breathing by flattening his rib cage against the pavement and pushing his cuffed hands into his torso, and by the placement of Mr. Chauvin's knees on his neck and back.... After two days of sometimes tedious law enforcement testimony on procedures and policy, jurors appeared to be riveted by Dr. Tobin's ability to break down complex physiological concepts, at times scribbling notes in unison." The AP's story is here.

Texas. The GOP's Racist Voter Intimidation Plan. Teo Armus & Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "In a leaked video of a recent presentation, a man who identifies himself as a GOP official in Harris County, Tex., says the party needs 10,000 Republicans for an 'election integrity brigade' in Houston. Then he pulls up a map of the area's voting precincts and points to Houston's dense, racially diverse urban core, saying the party specifically needed volunteers with 'the confidence and courage to come down here,' adding, 'this is where the fraud is occurring.' The official cites widespread vote fraud, which has not been documented in Texas, as driving the need for an 'army' of poll watchers to monitor voters at every precinct in the county.... 'It's very clear that we're talking about recruiting people from the predominantly Anglo parts of town to go to Black and Brown neighborhoods,' Anthony Gutierrez..., executive director [of Common Cause Texas], told The Washington Post."

Way Beyond

Marilyn Berger of the New York Times: "Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, father of Prince Charles and patriarch of a turbulent royal family that he sought to ensure would not be Britain's last, died on Friday at Windsor Castle in England. He was 99." ~~~