The Commentariat -- March 31, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Day 3 of the Derek Chauvin murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates of Day 3 are here. CNN's live updates are here.

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

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "A top adviser privately urged ... Donald Trump to acquire critical medical supplies in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak -- and after the warning was ignored, pursued his own ad hoc strategy that committed more than $1 billion in federal funds and has since prompted multiple probes, according to newly released documents from congressional investigators. Peter Navarro, who served as Trump's trade adviser, warned the president on March 1, 2020, to 'MOVE IN "TRUMP TIME"' to invest in ingredients for drugs, handheld coronavirus tests and other supplies to fight the virus, according to a memo obtained by the House's select subcommittee on the coronavirus outbreak. Navarro also said that he'd been trying to acquire more protective gear like masks, critiquing the administration's pace.... [In dodgy deals,] Navarro ... steered a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak to produce ingredients for generic drugs, a $354 million sole-source contract for pharmaceutical ingredients to a start-up called Phlow, and a $96 million sole-source contract for powered respirators and filters from AirBoss Defense Group."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Biden intends to pay for the $2 trillion package of infrastructure spending he will propose on Wednesday with a substantial increase in corporate taxes, people briefed on the plan said Tuesday. The scale of the infrastructure program -- one of the most ambitious attempts in generations to shore up the nation's aging roads, bridges, rail lines and utilities -- is so big that it will require 15 years of higher taxes on corporations to pay for eight years of spending, they said."

Kate Bennett of CNN: "The Bidens' dog Major has been involved in another biting incident that required medical attention, two people with knowledge of the incident tell CNN. The incident, which involved a National Park Service employee, took place on the White House South Lawn on Monday afternoon. The employee was working at the time and needed to stop in order to receive treatment from the White House medical unit. First lady Jill Biden's press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN that Major is 'still adjusting to his new surroundings.' 'Yes, Major nipped someone on a walk. Out of an abundance of caution, the individual was seen by WHMU and then returned to work without injury.'... Major, a 3-year-old German shepherd adopted by the Bidens in 2018, received training within the last two weeks, according to the White House, following a separate biting incident earlier this month."

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration allowed reporters for the first time Tuesday to go inside the crowded border tents where record numbers of migrant teenagers and children have been held in recent weeks after crossing into the United States without their parents. Department of Homeland Security officials permitted the Associated Press and a camera crew to tour the Donna, Tex., temporary processing facility run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where 3,400 unaccompanied minors were in custody Tuesday along with 700 members of migrant families. The reporters allowed inside described extreme levels of overcrowding, including one detention 'pod' with 516 minors despite a pandemic-rated capacity of 32 people. Another pod had 676 minors, and a third had 567, officials said. The Biden administration is on pace to take in more than 17,000 unaccompanied minors this month, far higher than the previous record of 11,861 in May 2019." ~~~

     ~~~ Elliot Spagat & Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "More than 500 migrant children were packed into plastic-walled rooms built for 32 people, sitting inches apart on mats with foil blankets Tuesday at the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection holding facility for unaccompanied children. Overall, CBP's main child processing center, a compound of white tents in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, held over 4,100 migrants, more than 3,400 of them children who traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border alone. The rest of the migrants being housed were families. The facility, designed for 250 people under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the coronavirus pandemic, has had to adapt amid a spike in families and unaccompanied children crossing the border.... Children, most of them between 13 and 17, are separated by age. Families occupied a separate pod that was less crowded than the jam-packed rooms for olde children. A room for 'tender age' children from 3 to 9 years old consisted of a walled playpen with mats on the floor and far more space than the eight pods for older children."

Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Women's access to contraceptives and reproductive care is a global human right that will be monitored by the United States, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken declared on Tuesday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had overlooked discrimination or denials of women seeking sexual health services worldwide. The announcement was one of several departures Mr. Blinken made from the previous administration's approach as the State Department issued its annual report on human rights violations, even while he similarly condemned abuses and state-sanctioned oppression from China to Syria to Venezuela that have continued for years. The report was completed during the Trump administration and, Mr. Blinken said, did not include examples of women who were refused health care and family planning information in nearly 200 countries and territories in 2020. He has directed officials to compile that data and identify violators this year...."

Republicans Find a New Stupid War on Government. Annie Linskey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Republicans are opening a new front in the pandemic culture wars, attacking efforts by the Biden administration to develop guidelines for coronavirus vaccination passports that businesses can use to determine who can safely participate in activities such as flights, concerts and indoor dining. The issue has received an increasing amount of attention from some of the party's most extreme members and conservative media figures, but it has also been seized on by Republican leaders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.... 'It's completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society,' [DeSantis said].... Some conservative activists comparing it with Nazi policies to identify Jews.... [The attack] ... taps into a long-standing warning from the right: that a powerful federal government will try to control the population."

Marie: It was a windy day in my part of the USA yesterday. The power went out several times, but otherwise, I was none the worse for wear. I did go outside, but my hair looked fine, IMO. MEANWHILE, however the breezes blew in the Sunshine State, things were not going well for two Florida men who seem to put extraordinary stock in their coifs. ~~~

~~~ Matt's Very Bad Hair Day

Unpossible! Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: "Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a close ally of ... Donald J. Trump, is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter. Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.... The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William P. Barr.... Given Mr. Gaetz's national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington -- including some appointed by Mr. Trump -- were notified of the investigation, the people said.... ~~~

"... the examination of Mr. Gaetz, 38, is part of a broader investigation into a political ally of his, a local official in Florida named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on an array of charges, including sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was an underage girl. Mr. Greenberg, who has since resigned his post as tax collector in Seminole County, north of Orlando, visited the White House with Mr. Gaetz in 2019, according to a photograph that Mr. Greenberg posted on Twitter." The report also links Greenberg to Roger Stone & the Proud Boys. MB: These sleazebags are all friends. There's a club of sorts, and Mar-a-Lardo would seem to be a good clubhouse. An AP story on Gaetz is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "... the probe [of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)] has been complicated by the congressman's assertion that his family is being extorted.... Axios published an interview in which Gaetz confirmed the probe but claimed the allegations against him were 'rooted in an extortion effort against my family.'... Gaetz repeated the extortion claim in a statement, alleging that a former Justice Department employee, whom he did not identify, had been 'seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name.' Gaetz asserted that his family had been cooperating with the FBI, and that his father had even worn a wire. 'No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation,' Gaetz said." A Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ Here's the Axios interview of Gaetz, conducted by Jonathan Swan. Gaetz says, "I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy.... I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated. You know, I've paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I've been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.'" MB: Kind of a non-denial denial, IMO. I think we're going to find out that Gaetz had "no idea that girl was younger than 18." ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day. Alayna Treene of Axios: "Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has privately told confidants he's seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax, three sources with direct knowledge of the talks tell Axios." MB: Actually, Matt may be leaving Congress early for a job in a federal pen. I'll bet the boys will like him. ~~~

~~~ Martin Comas, et al., of the Orlando Sentinel: "Federal authorities are investigating potential sex trafficking violations by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a probe that emerged from the prosecution of former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg.... Greenberg, who faces a slew of charges including sex trafficking of a child..., is currently slated to stand trial in June.... Greenberg resigned as tax collector in June, after he was arrested at his home by federal agents. He faces 14 charges, including allegations that he stalked a political opponent, illegally used a state database to create fake IDs and sex trafficked a minor.... Prosecutors said in a grand jury indictment that Greenberg, as tax collector, took surrendered drivers licenses before they were shredded by office staff and created new IDs with his photograph but with the personal information of residents.... Greenberg also is charged with producing 'a false identification document and to facilitate his efforts to engage in commercial sex acts,' according to federal indictments...." The story is firewalled, but hey, it's the end of the month. The Washington Post has a story here. ~~~

~~~ Steve M. "[Joel Greenberg] engaged in a staggering array of sleazy activities, up to and including pedophilia. He was indicted nine months ago. So why have I never heard of him until now? If there were a close associate of prominent Democrats who'd done a tenth of what Greenberg has done and had visited the White House during a Democratic presidency, there would have been several hundred stories about him on Fox News. Your right-wing relatives would have dropped his name in conversation as if he were as famous as Tom Brady.... I don't want to be exactly like Republicans. But I think we'd be winning over more voters if there were more demonization of Republicans who deserve it." ~~~

~~~ Blake Montgomery & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: Matt "Gaetz told Fox that the former DOJ employee going after him was David McGee, now a lawyer at Beggs & Lane. In an interview with The Daily Beast late Tuesday night, McGee said any reports of extortion involving him or his firm were 'completely, totally false.... This is a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that Matt Gaetz is apparently about to be indicted for sex trafficking underage girls,' McGee said.... Gaetz proposed to his girlfriend Ginger Luckey at Mar-a-Lago in December.... Gaetz's romances with younger women have attracted some scrutiny. In 2018, a college student confirmed to HuffPo reporter Matt Fuller -- who is now a Daily Beast editor — that she was dating the congressman.... In 2019, Mother Jones reported that a staffer admonished Gaetz via text about his relationship with a camera-happy 21-year-old...." ~~~

~~~ Aris Folley of the Hill: "Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to be suspended from the House Judiciary Committee, on which they both serve, pending the outcome of a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe reportedly investigating whether the Florida lawmaker had sexual relations with a teenager. 'Rep Matt Gaetz should be taken off the @HouseJudiciary Committee until the @TheJusticeDept investigation is completed,' Lieu tweeted shortly after news broke of the investigation on Tuesday. 'He should not be sitting on a Congressional Committee with oversight over the DOJ while the Department is investigating him,' Lieu added."

~~~ Donald's Bad Hair Day

Marshall Cohen & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Two US Capitol Police officers who say they were injured during the January 6 insurrection are suing ... Donald Trump for inciting the crowd. The officers -- the first police to sue in court following the riot -- say they suffered physical and emotional damages because Trump allegedly 'inflamed, encouraged, incited (and) directed' the violent mob that stormed the Capitol. Capitol Police Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, who have been with the force for a combined 28 years, said they were injured during the attack. Hemby 'was crushed against the doors' of the Capitol, was 'sprayed with chemicals' and bled from his face, the lawsuit says. Blassingame claims he was slammed against a stone column, injuring his head and back." ~~~

~~~ Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The legal issues facing ... Donald J. Trump compounded on Tuesday when the highest court in New York State allowed a defamation suit from a former contestant on his reality television show 'The Apprentice' to proceed. The suit was filed by the contestant, Summer Zervos, in 2017, after Mr. Trump said that she had lied when she accused him of having groped and kissed her against her will years earlier. Mr. Trump had tried to stop the suit, arguing that as president, he was protected from legal action. Two courts had decided against him before his lawyers appealed the case to the State Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York. But before the court heard the case, Mr. Trump ceased to be president." ~~~

~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a broad non-disclosure agreement that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign required employees to sign is unenforceable. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Gardephe's ruling generally steered clear of the constitutional issues presented by such agreements in the context of political campaigns. Instead, the judge -- an appointee of President George W. Bush -- said the sweeping, boilerplate language the campaign compelled employees to sign was so vague that the agreement was invalid under New York contract law."

Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post: "G. Gordon Liddy, the undercover operative whose bungling of the Watergate break-in triggered one of the gravest constitutional crises in American history and led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, died March 30 at his daughter's home in Fairfax County, Va. He was 90.... A theatrical personality whose event-filled career included more twists and turns than a fictional potboiler, Mr. Liddy was at various times an FBI agent, jailbird, radio talk-show host, best-selling author, candidate for Congress, actor and promoter of gold investments." Liddy's New York Times obituary is here. The AP's obituary is here.

Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "When Simon J. Levien found [a photo of Harvard men dressed in KKK robes & hoods gathered around the statue of John Harvard on Class Day 1924] last spring, he dove into reporting that resulted in a 4,500-word feature published last week in the Harvard Crimson, culminating nearly a year of research.... The Harvard branch of the Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1921, according to university archives.... Levien said he and professors who study Harvard's history were disappointed with how little Harvard appears to have reckoned with its racism in the modern era -- especially when he considers how much of the information he pieced together was hiding in plain sight in archives, student newspaper clippings and other documents as recent as 2014."

Marie's Free Advice to All Fugitives: Do not make yourself a star of YouTube videos. ~~~

~~~ Buon Appetito! Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "Marc Feren Claude Biart was always careful to hide his face in his Italian cooking tutorials, filming the YouTube videos while laying low from police on a sandy beach in the Caribbean. But Biart, an alleged member of southern Italy's powerful 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, had failed to obscure his tattoos on tape -- a clue authorities say they used to track down the mobster in the Dominican Republic. Biart, 53, was arrested Monday at Milan's Malpensa Airport after arriving on a flight from Santo Domingo, according to the Italian state broadcaster Rai, the latest episode in a sprawling, international effort to fight the 'Ndrangheta."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Florida. Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News: "New research published earlier this month in the American Journal of Public Health argues that Florida is undercounting the number of people who died from COVID-19 by thousands of cases, casting new doubt on claims that Gov. Ron DeSantis navigated the coronavirus pandemic successfully. Conservatives have celebrated DeSantis for his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 30,000 residents of the state. Critics of the combative governor, meanwhile, say that many of those death would have been prevented if he had listened more diligently to health experts. DeSantis resisted lockdowns, downplayed masks and has made it increasingly difficult for localities to institute public health measures of their own. And the state could be on the cusp of a new coronavirus surge."

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: Darnella Frazier, "the teenager who filmed the viral video of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck. tearfully recalled Tuesday how the Black man begged for his life and the 'cold look' on the face of the White police officer accused of killing him. In deeply emotional testimony, Darnella Frazier, who was just 17 when she came across Floyd being restrained by the police, testified of the lingering anxiety and guilt she feels about Floyd's death and not doing more to intervene.... Frazier was one of several eyewitnesses called to the stand Tuesday, including four girls who were under 18 when they saw Floyd being held to the ground by Chauvin and two other officers during a May 25 police investigation into an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. The jury also heard from firefighter Genevieve Hansen, who was off-duty and came across the scene while on a walk. Hansen burst into tears as she recounted begging officers to check Floyd's pulse but being rebuffed." The AP's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ As RAS pointed out yesterday, not much has changed in the last 30 years:

     ~~~ Marie: On the TV police procedural shows I watch, the cops sometimes beat up "suspects." But they don't do so in broad daylight on a busy street. And really, that is the most audacious part of the story: that not one, but several, cops thought it was all right to murder a Black man in the middle of the day even as they knew people were watching & videotaping the murder.

Missouri. All-White Jury Does Not Convict White Cops Who Allegedly Beat Black Undercover Cop. AP: “No convictions were returned for three white St. Louis police officers accused of beating a Black undercover colleague so severely during a protest over another officer's acquittal that he had to undergo multiple surgeries. A jury on Monday acquitted officer Steven Korte of charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and of lying to the FBI in connection to the attack on officer Luther Hall. It happened when Hall was mistaken for a protester during demonstrations that erupted after former police officer Jason Stockley, who is white, was found not guilty in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was Black.... The former officer Christopher Myers also was acquitted of a deprivation of rights count but the jury could not reach a verdict on a charge of destruction of evidence against Myers for allegedly smashing Hall's cellphone. The jury also deadlocked on the deprivation of rights charge against the former officer Dustin Boone, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on counts where the jury could not agree.... The verdicts reignited criticisms that an all-white jury was picked to decide the case. 'If an undercover cop can't get justice, how will the rest of us who have been maced, shot, beaten, and brutalized ever get justice?' Tweeted Cori Bush, a Black congresswoman who represents the Missouri district that includes St Louis."

Texas. Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "A Texas grand jury indicted two former sheriff's deputies on manslaughter charges Tuesday related to the 2019 death of Javier Ambler, a Black man whose death in law enforcement custody was captured by a television film crew. Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced the charges against former Williamson County deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden, who resigned earlier this year. Both men were being held on $150,000 bond and prohibited from seeking any law enforcement or security work. This is the second high-profile indictment against Texas law enforcers in March for Garza's office, which also secured first-degree murder charges against an Austin police officer in the 2020 shooting death of Michael Ramos. That was the first murder indictment ever returned against an Austin city police officer stemming from a use-of-force incident."

Way Beyond

Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "Jair Bolsonaro's crisis-stricken administration has been rocked by the sudden sacking of Brazil's defence minister [Gen Fernando Azevedo] and the subsequent resignation of the heads of all three branches of the armed forces. The commanders of the Brazilian army, navy and air force -- Gen Edson Leal Pujol, Adm Ilques Barbosa and Lt-Brig Antônio Carlos Bermudez -- met with the president's new minister on Tuesday morning and reportedly tendered their resignations during a dramatic and heated encounter. On Tuesday afternoon the defence ministry confirmed all three would be replaced, a political earthquake that rattled a country already grappling with one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks. The Folha de São Paulo newspaper said that never before in Brazilian history had the heads of all three branches of the military resigned out of disagreement with a president."

The Commentariat -- March 30, 2021

The New York Times' live updates of Day 2 of the Derek Chauvin murder trial are here. The Washington Post's live updates of Day 2 are here. NBC News live updates are here.

The Wind Beneath Our Wings. Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The White House announced on Monday an ambitious plan to expand wind farms along the East Coast and jump-start the country's nascent offshore wind industry, saying it hoped to trigger a massive clean-energy effort in the fight against climate change. The plan would generate 3 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade -- enough to power more than 10 million American homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. To accomplish that, the Biden administration said, it would speed permitting for projects off the East Coast, invest in research and development, provide low-interest loans to industry and fund changes to U.S. ports. 'We are ready to rock-and-roll,' national climate adviser Gina McCarthy told reporters in a phone call Monday. She framed the effort as being as much about jobs as about clean energy." (Also linked yesterday.) Common Dreams' report is here.

Marianne Levine, et al., of Politico: "The White House is expected to release its first slate of judicial nominees as early as Tuesday, according to three sources.... President Joe Biden plans to tap 11 nominees for the federal bench, including three Black women, sources said. At least two of those women will be named to the appeals courts, according to allies of his administration briefed on the selections." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Ann Marimow & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced his first slate of judicial nominees on Tuesday, elevating U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the influential appeals court in Washington to succeed Merrick Garland as part of the largest and earliest batch of court picks by a new administration in decades. Jackson, often mentioned as someone who could become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, is among Biden's 11 nominations that include three Black women for appeals court vacancies and the first Muslim American to serve on a District Court. The group is designed to send a message about the administration's desire for more diversity on the federal bench and how rapidly the president wants to put his mark on it." The story names all the nominees.

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A newly surfaced recording shows a senior adviser to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell conspiring with the Koch brothers' network and other conservative groups to torpedo sweeping voting rights legislation. The Jan. 8 recording obtained by The New Yorker reveals leading conservative activists are alarmed by public support for House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1, commonly known as the For The People Act, and they privately admitted they had no effective way to counter the argument that billionaires should not be able to buy elections." MB: Apparently even many white Republicans aren't gullible enough to support a bill that gives them more rights, too.

Dressed for Success Arrest. Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Garret Miller didn't speak to the law enforcement officers who arrested him on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, but the T-shirt he was wearing at his Dallas home that day sent a clear and possibly incriminating message. Miller's shirt had a photograph of ... Donald Trump, and it said 'Take America Back' and 'I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021,' federal prosecutors noted in a court filing Monday.... On a recorded call immediately after his arrest, Miller told his mother, 'I don't feel that I've done anything wrong and now I'm being locked up,' according to prosecutors. Like many of the more than 300 people facing federal charges in connection with the siege, Miller thoroughly documented and commented on his actions that day in a flurry of social media posts."

Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "The proportion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll from Gallup released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73 percent. In recent years, research data has shown a seismic shift in the U.S. population away from religious institutions and toward general disaffiliation, a trend that analysts say could have major implications for politics, business and how Americans group themselves." The Gallup report is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Gina Kolata of the New York Times: "The coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are proving highly effective at preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic infections under real-world conditions, federal health researchers reported on Monday. Consistent with clinical trial data, a two-dose regimen prevented 90 percent of infections by two weeks after the second shot. One dose prevented 80 percent of infections by two weeks after vaccination."

Maegan Vazquez, et al., of CNN: "President Joe Biden announced on Monday that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine within the next three weeks as well as have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. 'For the vast, vast majority of adults, you won't have to wait until May 1. You'll be eligible for your shot on April 19,' Biden said. The President previously said he was directing states to open eligibility to all adult Americans by May 1. Biden said the US would increase the number of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy vaccination program from the current 17,000 locations to 40,000. He also announced a record 33 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be made available to vaccination sites this week -- a surge in availability that the administration hopes will mean newly eligible adults can find shots. The President, however, stressed that the country's battle against Covid-19 is 'far from won' as cases are once again on the rise and called on every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain -- and in some cases reinstate -- mask mandates." Video of President Biden's full speech is here. ~~~

~~~ Sharon LaFraniere & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Biden, facing a rise in coronavirus cases around the country, called on Monday for governors and mayors to reinstate mask mandates as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of 'impending doom' from a potential fourth surge of the pandemic. The president's comments came only hours after the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, appeared to fight back tears as she pleaded with Americans to 'hold on a little while longer' and continue following public health advice, like wearing masks and social distancing, to curb the virus's spread." ~~~

"Impending Doom." Nicholas Florko & Andrew Joseph of STAT News: "As Covid-19 cases begin again to spike throughout the United States, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued an urgent plea to Americans Monday to continue following public health measures. 'We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I'm scared,' said Walensky, who noted she has begun experiencing a 'recurring' feeling of 'impending doom.' The plea came amid news that positive Covid-19 cases have increased by 10.6% compared to the previous seven-day period. Hospitalizations and deaths, which are a lagging metric, also rose over the last seven-day period, by 4.2% and 2.6%, respectively."

Ali Zaslav of CNN: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday encouraged 'all Republican men' to get the Covid-19 vaccine, as new polls indicate many in the group are skeptical of getting the shot. 'I can say as a Republican man, as soon as it was my turn, I took the vaccine. I would encourage all Republican men to do that,' said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, on Monday, when asked what kind of messaging he can push as the GOP leader to help encourage people, specifically Republican men, that the vaccine is safe and they should get it. McConnell added that there is 'no good argument not to get the vaccination. I would encourage all men regardless of party affiliation to get the vaccination,' at a news conference in Hazard, Kentucky, outside a health care clinic for an event focusing on the state's vaccination efforts. In a CNN poll released earlier this month, 92% of Democrats said they had gotten a dose of the vaccine or planned to get one, while just 50% of Republicans said the same."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post has a new report on CNN's interviews of top Trump administration Covid-19 response officials."... the finger-pointing and portrayals of some episodes prompted critics to say that former Trump administration officials who managed the pandemic response have turned to a new project: managing their legacies.... Some of those officials also have compared notes and aligned their recollections, a dynamic detailed by Politico last week, as they work to rehabilitate their reputations and shape future perspectives on the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Monday went on a tirade against Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, two of his former top medical advisers on the COVID-19 pandemic, excoriating their decisionmaking during his administration on the day after CNN aired previews of comments by the top government health experts. Trump issued a lengthy statement in which he argued that he ignored both Fauci and Birx while in office as a benefit to the country and boasted that he was responsible for getting vaccines rapidly developed and approved."

Ken Moritsugu & Jamey Keaten of the AP: "A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is 'extremely unlikely,' according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered, though that was as expected. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Troy Closson of the New York Times: "New York must immediately begin to offer Covid vaccines to all incarcerated people in the state's prisons and jails, a judge ruled on Monday, making the state one of few in the nation to provide doses to such a broad population behind bars. The order, the first involving any of the country's largest correctional systems, comes as the coronavirus continues to roar through facilities in New York. At least 1,100 people living behind prison walls have tested positive for the virus since the start of last month, and five have died."

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Holly Bailey & Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Derek Chauvin violated his oath as a police officer when he knelt on George Floyd's neck for over nine minutes and ignored Floyd's cries for help 'until the very life was squeezed out of him,' a prosecutor said Monday as testimony began in the landmark trial set to be a defining moment in the nation's reckoning over race and policing.... As the video [of Floyd's death] played on television monitors set up around the socially distanced courtroom, several jurors visibly reacted, including one who drew a sharp breath as Floyd was heard saying, 'I can't breathe.'... Prosecutors opened their case with testimony from three eyewitnesses -- including a 911 dispatcher who phoned a Minneapolis police supervisor after she saw Chauvin and the other officers kneeling on Floyd on a police surveillance camera that overlooks 38th and Chicago.... 'Something was not right,' [dispatcher Jena Scurry] said, testifying she had a 'gut instinct' that she needed to phone a police supervisor to make sure he was aware of the situation."

Georgia. Maya Prabhu of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Two weeks after eight people where gunned down in three Atlanta-area spas, the Georgia Senate on Monday approved legislation to loosen the state's gun laws. House Bill 218 passed 34-18 on a party-line vote, with Republicans in support of the measure.... Canton Republican Rep. Mandi Ballinger initially proposed HB 218 to make it legally easier for travelers to bring their guns into the state. Senators amended the legislation during the committee process to allow probate judges to process gun carry licenses and license renewals online. Currently, applicants must go to the court in person. The legislation also prohibits the governor from closing weapons manufacturers or shooting ranges during a public emergency. The Senate also voted 34-18 to amend HB 218 to include a proposal ... to bar the governor from enacting any guidelines that 'specifically limit the practice of any religion' during a declared state of emergency." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Looks like that last amendment is designed to prevent a governor from imposing safe-distancing rules in churches during a communicable-illness emergency.

Michigan. James Dickson of the Detroit News: "Three men accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not face false report or threat of terrorism charges, a Jackson County judge ruled Monday. Judge Michael Klaeren of 12th District Court in Jackson dismissed the charge against Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico, both of Munith, and declined a request by prosecutors to add it to the charges against Paul Bellar, of Milford.... Klaeren on Monday ordered Bellar, Morrison and Musico to stand trial on three remaining charges, gang membership and providing material support for terrorism, both punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as felony firearm, punishable by up to two years in prison." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Another woman has accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of 'unwanted, unwelcome physical contact,' the latest in a series of allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct levied against the governor. The woman, Sherry Vill, said during a press conference on Monday afternoon that the governor 'suddenly grabbed her face and kissed her' in 2017 outside of her home in the town of Greece, which borders Lake Ontario. Cuomo was visiting the area to survey flood damage in the wake of a storm. She said that Cuomo commented on her appearance and kissed her two times with other family members present, advances that she alternately described as being in a 'highly sexual' and 'highly aggressive' manner.... Vill presented ... a screengrab captured by her daughter from video footage taken by Vill's son that appeared to show the governor grabbing her by the face and kissing her."

Way Beyond

Isabel Debre & Samy Magdy of the AP: "Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week had clogged one of the world's most vital maritime arteries. Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since last Tuesday. After hauling the fully laden 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the salvage team was pulling the vessel toward the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will undergo technical inspection, canal authorities said." See Victoria's comment in yesterday's thread. Funny. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- March 29, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times is liveblogging Derek Chavin's murder trial. Video of the trial appears on the front page of the Times (so it's free to nonsubscribers). The Washington Post's liveblog with video is here. The Post also has video in its front page. CNN & MSNBC are covering most of the proceedings live. NBC News has live updates here, along with video. NBC News also has video on its front page.

Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The White House announced on Monday an ambitious plan to expand wind farms along the East Coast and jump-start the country's nascent offshore wind industry, saying it hoped to trigger a massive clean-energy effort in the fight against climate change. The plan would generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade -- enough to power more than 10 million American homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. To accomplish that, the Biden administration said, it would speed permitting for projects off the East Coast, invest in research and development, provide low-interest loans to industry and fund changes to U.S. ports. 'We are ready to rock-and-roll,' national climate adviser Gina McCarthy told reporters in a phone call Monday. She framed the effort as being as much about jobs as about clean energy."

James Dickson of the Detroit News: "Three men accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not face false report or threat of terrorism charges, a Jackson County judge ruled Monday. Judge Michael Klaeren of 12th District Court in Jackson dismissed the charge against Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico, both of Munith, and declined a request by prosecutors to add it to the charges against Paul Bellar, of Milford.... Klaeren on Monday ordered Bellar, Morrison and Musico to stand trial on three remaining charges, gang membership and providing material support for terrorism, both punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as felony firearm, punishable by up to two years in prison."

Dan Diamond of the Washington Post has a new report on CNN's interviews of top Trump administration Covid-19 response officials."... the finger-pointing and portrayals of some episodes prompted critics to say that former Trump administration officials who managed the pandemic response have turned to a new project: managing their legacies.... Some of those officials also have compared notes and aligned their recollections, a dynamic detailed by Politico last week, as they work to rehabilitate their reputations and shape future perspectives on the pandemic."

Isabel Debre & Samy Magdy of the AP: "Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week had clogged one of the world's most vital maritime arteries. Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal's sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since last Tuesday. After hauling the fully laden 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the salvage team was pulling the vessel toward the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will undergo technical inspection, canal authorities said." See Victoria's comment in today's thread. Funny.

Ken Moritsugu & Jamey Keaten of the AP: "A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is 'extremely unlikely,' according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered, though that was as expected. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers' conclusions. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis."

~~~~~~~~~~

Biden's Big ... Deal. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The biggest expansion of the federal government in a generation is underway, a pandemic-inspired shift in resources and responsibilities that will challenge President Biden and the Democrats to demonstrate that they can make government work.... For liberal Democrats, Biden's early initiatives represent the fulfillment of a long-sought goal, which is to marshal the full resources of the federal government to attack big problems, from the threats posed by climate change, income and wealth inequality, the country's aging infrastructure and the cost of higher education. Add to that his intention to tackle immigration and voting rights, and it adds up to the most expansive and ambitious agenda in half a century.... Now, the party's liberal wing is cheering a president whom many of them criticized as too centrist, too moderate and too temperate during the 2020 Democratic nominating contest." Balz credits Sen. Bernie Sanders with shifting the party leftward. MB: Oh lordy, we are all socialists now. Eat your hearts out, Republican Scrooges.

Lindsey Walter Mitty Graham. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "As Democrats push again to ban assault weapons after mass shootings in Boulder, Colo., and Atlanta this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday reiterated his opposition -- and said he has a personal reason for doing so. He needs his own AR-15, he said, in case disaster strikes and he needs to defend his home against a roving 'gang.' 'I own an AR-15,' Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace. 'If there's a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can't protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because I can defend myself.'" MB: Lindsey, who rose to the rank of colonel as an Air force JAG, was apparently not fully satisfied with his prestigious desk job. Instead, he imagines himself as a soldier or fighter pilot strafing the bad guys. ~~~

~~~ MB: Hmm, I think I know what color the "gang" is. Lindsey Jim Crow Graham. Evan Semones of Politico:"Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday accused President Joe Biden of playing the 'race card' by slamming Republican efforts to suppress voting across the country.... Graham went on to disparage Democrats and a package of election and government reforms, known as H.R. 1, that passed the House earlier this month and which seeks to counter Republican efforts to stymie voting, calling the sweeping legislation 'the biggest power grab in the history of our country.' It awaits action in the Senate. 'Every time a Republican does anything, we're a racist. If you're a white conservative, you're a racist. If you're a Black Republican, you're either a prop or Uncle Tom'; Graham said. Democrats 'use the racism card to advance a liberal agenda, and we're tired of it. H.R. 1 is sick, not what they're doing in Georgia.'" MB: You know, Lindsey, the term "playing the race card" implies that racism was not actually a factor but was invoked as a pretense. There's no pretense here. Your team is working overtime to ensure that people of color have minimal access to the vote.

Robert McCartney of the Washington Post: "Opponents of D.C. statehood have at most three arguments that deserve any respect. They involve the Founders' intent, retrocession to Maryland and the 23rd Amendment. But none stands up to scrutiny, as I'll discuss below. It's hard to accept that Republicans and other critics believe that these arcane constitutional claims count for more than respecting the nation's founding rallying cry of 'no taxation without representation.' Instead, as GOP leaders are increasingly willing to admit publicly, they care primarily about preventing the deep-blue District from sending two additional Democrats to the Senate and one to the House. Many of the objections raised at last week's House hearing on statehood were plainly laughable." MB: Oh yeah? Among the arguments McCartney calls "laughable": D.C. residents have the advantage of being able to post yard signs that Congressmembers will see; D.C. doesn't have a landfill; D.C. doesn't have enough car dealerships. Strangely, the great majority of states were admitted to the U.S. without any car dealerships at all. Now, Hawaii & Alaska, those are real states. Virginia and Illinois, for instance, not so much.

Ha Ha. Matt Binder of Mashable: After boasting that it "referred violent content and incitement from Parler's platform over 50 times before January 6th" to law enforcement agencies, right-wing social media platform Parler got so much blowback from its base of "Constitutionalist" and "free speech" users that it had to try to explain the First Amendment to them.

Brenna Smith, et al., of USA Today: "Defendants accused in the Capitol riot Jan. 6 crowdfund their legal fees online, using popular payment processors and an expanding network of fundraising platforms, despite a crackdown by tech companies. The Capitol riot extremists and others are engaging these companies in a game of cat-and-mouse as they spring from one fundraising tool to another, utilizing new sites, usernames and accounts. In one case, a crowdfunding website set up in late 2020 has been adopted by a defendant charged with storming the Capitol, who used it to raise almost $180,000. His was one of eight fundraisers on the site as of last week, and his donations accounted for 84% of the money raised on the platform.... In the wake of the insurrection, the popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it banned fundraising for travel to political events that have a 'risk for violence.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "In interviews broadcast on CNN Sunday night..., Donald J. Trump's pandemic officials confirmed in stark and no uncertain terms what was already an open secret in Washington: The administration's pandemic response was riddled with dysfunction, and the discord, untruths and infighting most likely cost many lives. Dr. Deborah L. Birx, Mr. Trump's coronavirus response coordinator, suggested that hundreds of thousands of Americans may have died needlessly, and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, the testing czar, said the administration had lied to the public about the availability of testing.... Admiral Giroir said that the administration simply did not have as many tests as top officials claimed at the time.... The comments were among a string of bombshells that emerged during a CNN special report that featured the doctors who led the government's coronavirus response in 2020." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "The former and current officials described a federal government [ostensibly run by Donald Trump] in such disarray that hundreds of thousands of people may have needlessly died as a result. Much of the administration's dysfunction played out in the open, but the insider accounts provided additional confirmation of the chaos and underscored the devastating effects the political polarization had on public health measures."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "After weeks of decline followed by a steady plateau, coronavirus cases are rising again in the United States. Deaths are still decreasing, but the country averaged 61,545 cases last week, 11 percent more than the average two weeks earlier. Scientists predicted weeks ago that the number of infections would curve upward again in late March, at least in part because of the rise of variants of the coronavirus across the country. The variant that walloped Britain, called B.1.1.7, has led to a new wave of cases across most of Europe. Some scientists warned that it may lead to a new wave in the United States. The rise in infections is also a result of state leaders pulling back on mitigation measures, and large social interactions, like spring break gatherings in Florida, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration's chief science adviser, said on the CBS program 'Face the Nation' on Sunday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials -- often referred to as 'vaccine passports' -- that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen. The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden's pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies -- from cruise lines to sports teams -- saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again.... The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Michelle Au, a Georgia state senator, in a Washington Post op-ed, describes the scene as the state Senate was debating the voter suppression bill: most Republican senators could not be bothered to even show up to hear the debate, but in a "small, clubby" anteroom off the chamber, GOP senators could be heard laughing & chortling among themselves. MB: May the people have the last laugh. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Egypt. A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats. The New York Times (Monday) is liveblogging the progress of dislodging the cargo ship stuck in the sand of the Suez Canal: "The mammoth cargo ship blocking one of the world's most vital maritime arteries was wrenched from the shoreline and set partially afloat again early Monday, raising hopes that traffic could soon resume in the Suez Canal and limit the economic fallout of the disruption. Salvage teams, working on both land and water for five days and nights, were ultimately assisted by ... the moon and the tides. As water levels swelled overnight, the hours spent digging and excavating millions of tons of earth around the Ever Green paid off as the ship slowly regained buoyancy, according to officials. While shipping officials and the Egyptian authorities cautioned that the complicated operation was still underway, they expressed increasing confidence the ship would soon be completely free. The stern was now some 300 feet from shore, according to the Suez Canal Authority." ~~~

~~~ Slowly, Slowly, She Turns. The New York Times (Sunday) liveblogged the progress of the attempts to move a huge Japanese cargo ship that has been grounded for nearly a week in the Suez Canal and is completely blocking the vital international shipping lane. "Late Saturday, tugboat drivers sounded their horns in celebration of the most visible sign of progress since the ship ran aground late Tuesday. The 220,000-ton ship moved ... just two degrees, or about 100 feet...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Sudarsan Raghavan & Jennifer Hassan of the Washington Post: "Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi ordered preparations to be made for the unloading of the Ever Given cargo carrier that is blocking the Suez Canal, the head of the canal authority said Sunday. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, told Egyptian television that officials were preparing for the 'third scenario' of unloading containers from the massive ship so it can be refloated, opening up one of the world's busiest waterways. The canal has been blocked since Tuesday, leaving more than 300 ships waiting to pass through. Unloading some of the 18,000 containers from the towering ship would require special equipment, so the president authorized its acquisition even as dredging continued, Rabie said. So far, 27,000 cubic feet of sand have been removed from around the vessel to a depth of 18 meters, or about 59 feet." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

AP: "Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama's Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old. Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village. She passed away around 4 a.m. local time while being treated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city in the country's west, according to her daughter Marsat Onyango."