The Commentariat -- February 1, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Claims that conservative voices are being censored online by social media platforms are not backed by evidence and are themselves a disinformation narrative, according to a report released Monday. The NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights' report concluded that anti-conservative bias claims, boosted by some top Republican lawmakers including former President Trump, are not based on any tangible evidence. 'The claim of anti-conservative animus is itself a form of disinformation: a falsehood with no reliable evidence to support it. No trustworthy large-scale studies have determined that conservative content is being removed for ideological reasons or that searches are being manipulated to favor liberal interests,' the report stated.... Despite the repeated accusations by Republicans, the report found that by 'many measures, conservative voices -- including that of the ex-president, until he was banished from Twitter and Facebook -- often are dominant in online political debates.'" MB: You knew this already, of course, but an independent study won't cause any wingers to quit whining; they will simply discount any study coming out of a New York City (the Village yet!) university.

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Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Ten Republican senators announced plans Sunday to release an approximately $600 billion covid relief package that could serve as a bipartisan alternative to President Biden's $1.9 trillion plan, and requested a meeting with the president to discuss it. The senators, led by Susan Collins (R-Maine), said they would release additional details of the package on Monday. In a letter to Biden they said they were offering their proposal in recognition of the president's 'calls for unity.'... Their move comes as Democrats prepare to move forward on Monday to set up a partisan path forward for Biden's relief bill, which Republicans have dismissed as overly costly.... The GOP proposal is expected to jettison certain elements that have drawn Republican opposition, such as increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. It would also significantly narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks Biden wants to send to individual Americans. Biden's plan would cap eligibility for the checks at individuals making $75,000 a year and couples making $150,000. A $600 billion plan that is a fraction of the size of Biden's proposal is unlikely to draw much if any Democratic support." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden on Sunday invited a group of Republican senators to meet with him at the White House early this week after they proposed a more targeted economic relief package, but the administration gave no indication it is ready to budge from its original $1.9 trillion proposal."

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Biden on Sunday sent a letter to congressional leaders reversing former President Trump's last-minute attempt to freeze $27.4 billion in government programs. Trump had moved, with less than a week left in his term, to freeze the billions in federal funding using a budget maneuver called rescission. 'I am withdrawing 73 proposed rescissions previously transmitted to the Congress,' Biden said in the letter. The 73 budget reductions that Trump had called for were spread across almost every Cabinet-level agency and mostly lined up with his proposed cuts to domestic program spending in the 2021 federal budget that were rejected by Congress."

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: Senate "Democrats are faced with a choice. Protect the filibuster or protect democracy.... They will never get 10 votes [to break a filibuster] from a GOP that can't even find a way to exile white-supremacist extremists from its ranks.... There is genuine urgency because Republican legislators throughout the country have been moving rapidly to rig the 2022 elections by throwing new obstacles in the way of voters. When it passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 -- with the support and leadership of many Republicans -- Congress recognized that defending democracy requires national action. The proposed For the People Act lives squarely in that tradition. Congressional leaders underscored its significance by designating it H.R. 1 and S. 1. The bill takes direct aim at voter suppression by giving all Americans easy access to postage-free mail voting under a set of clear national rules, requiring drop boxes to make casting ballots easier and guaranteeing at least 15 days of early voting. It allows for Election-Day registration and constrains voter purges that often throw legitimate voters off the rolls." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Dionne makes an irrefutable case. But Manchin, Sinema.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "The Lincoln Project is condemning co-founder John Weaver in the wake of allegations that the longtime GOP strategist made unsolicited sexual overtures to several young men, including one who was 14 years old at the time he received sexual messages from Weaver.... The Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans who opposed ... Donald Trump, rose to prominence last year as they campaigned against Trump and others who supported him. Weaver, 61, helped co-found the group. Weaver previously worked on the presidential campaigns for John McCain and John Kasich. The New York Times published a report Sunday morning based on interviews with 21 men who alleged that Weaver sent them unwanted provocative messages or solicited them for sex, often in exchange for the promise of professional help."

Remembering the Kaiser, Ctd.

** "77 Days: Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election." Jim Rutenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "Thursday the 12th [of November] was the day Mr. Trump's flimsy, long-shot legal effort to reverse his loss turned into something else entirely -- an extralegal campaign to subvert the election, rooted in a lie so convincing to some of his most devoted followers that it made the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol almost inevitable.... A New York Times examination of the 77 democracy-bending days between election and inauguration shows how, with conspiratorial belief rife in a country ravaged by pandemic, a lie that Mr. Trump had been grooming for years finally overwhelmed the Republican Party and, as brake after brake fell away, was propelled forward by new and more radical lawyers, political organizers, financiers and the surround-sound right-wing media. In the aftermath of that broken afternoon at the Capitol, a picture has emerged of entropic forces coming together on Trump's behalf in an ad hoc, yet calamitous, crash of rage and denial.... Throughout, [Trump] was enabled by influential Republicans motivated by ambition, fear or a misplaced belief that he would not go too far." ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Rosenberg & Jim Rutenberg of the Times has a "key takeaways" report here, summarizing the larger report linked above.

Shane Goldmacher & Rachel Shorey of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party entered this year having stockpiled more than $175 million from fund-raising in November and December based on his false claims of voter fraud, spending only a tiny fraction on lawyers and bills for his effort to overturn the presidential election, according to new campaign finance reports filed on Sunday night. The picture that emerges in the new Federal Election Commission reports is of Mr. Trump mounting a furious public relations effort to spread the lie and keep generating money from it, rather than making a sustained legal push to try to support his conspiracy theories.... All told, Mr. Trump's campaign spent only $10 million on legal costs -- about one-fifth of what it spent on advertising and fund-raising, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings from Nov. 4 through the end of the year." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This follow-the-money report is more evidence for the argument that Trump is not as delusional as he pretends to be: all of his I-wuz-robbed complaints are P.R. He plans to use even his impeachment trial to make the I-wuz-robbed case, but that doesn't mean he believes it. Not that it matters. Whether he's crazy-nuts or crazy-cunning (like Vincent Gigante, the NYC mob boss who walked the streets of the Village mumbling incoherently), Trump was and is a danger to the nation. IOW, Trump's main plan was to retain the presidency by extra-legal means; that is, violently, by popular demand.

Jim Acosta, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial, a day after CNN first reported that five members of his defense left and his team effectively collapsed. One point of friction with his previous team was Trump wanted the attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president. Trump has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case as he refuses to budge from his false claims. Trump's advisers have been talking to him about his legal strategy and he keeps bringing up election fraud for his defense, while they have repeatedly tried to steer him away from that, according to a source familiar with those discussions. It's unclear whether Schoen and Castor will go along with what Trump wants.... Schoen was on the team of lawyers representing Roger Stone in the appeal of his conviction related to issues the former Trump adviser took with the jury.... Castor, meanwhile, is a well-known attorney in Pennsylvania who previously served as Montgomery County district attorney. While in that position in 2005, Castor declined to prosecute Bill Cosby after a woman reported the actor had touched her inappropriately at his home in Montgomery County, according to a news release from his office at the time. Cosby was later tried and convicted in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Schoen & Castor make the perfect Trump legal team. One is famous for representing a life-long subversive, lying dirty-trickster & convicted criminal, and the other is best-known for letting a serial sex-abuser off the hook. They should changes their names to Crooks & Cox and start a new firm. ~~~

~~~ Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Two people familiar with the discussions preceding the departure of the original legal team said that Trump wanted them to make the case during the trial that he actually won the election. To do so would require citing his false claims of election fraud -- even as his allies and attorneys have said that he should instead focus on arguing that impeaching a president who has already left office is unconstitutional.... It is also unclear whether Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), who will preside at the trial, will permit the president's team to introduce claims of alleged voter fraud.... But Trump ... has continued to insist that he actually won the election...." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: Trump's tossing his legal team "shows that Trump understands what [Butch] Bowers didn't: this isn't a trial, it's a TV show. Trump knows that his control over the Republican Party is still strong enough that he faces no chance of conviction, which means that legal arguments are unnecessary. Instead, he wants this to be a nationally televised opportunity for him to persuade the public that the 2020 election was teeming with Democratic fraud that cheated him out of reelection. He will, of course, be aided in this via coverage from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and all the rest of the right-wing media empire. I predict high ratings." MB: To Trump, his entire presidency* was a TV show, in which he was both star & producer, with the ability to hire & fire those in the cast & crew who didn't do enough to make him look great. And he could drop a few nuclear bombs if things got boring.

Zach Montellaro & Elena Schneider of Politico: "... Donald Trump amassed $31.2 million in his new political operation by the end of 2020, giving him a powerful tool to keep the Republican Party in his grip as he left office. Save America, a leadership PAC created in the aftermath of the 2020 election, is set to play a key role in Trump's plans to keep a strong hand in party politics -- both to boost loyalists and also to seek retribution against Republicans he believes have wronged him, such as the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in mid-January. Trump cannot spend the PAC funds directly on any future campaign of his own, but he can use it to wield influence in campaigns in the midterm elections, pay his political advisers and travel the country."

Zachary Petrizzo of Mediaite: "The Lincoln Project's legal counsel sent a scorching letter to& Rudy Giuliani after he falsely accused the group of helping plan the January 6th Capitol riot, demanding that Giuliani retract his statement and publicly apologize by February 3. Giuliani made the comments in an appearance on Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast, accusing 'antifa' and 'some right-wing groups that operate for the Lincoln Project or have been working with the Lincoln Project at various times' of being responsible for instigating the riot." MB: Wait, wait. Steve Bannon is running a show called the "War Room" & Rudy goes on it to blame the opposition for planning the "war"? (Also linked yesterday.)

Martyn McLaughlin of the Scotsman: Members of the Scottish Parliament "will be asked to vote this week on whether the Scottish Government should pursue an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) to investigate the source of financing for Donald Trump;s Scottish resorts.... A vote by MSPs calling on ministers to seek an UWO would not be binding, but it would substantially increase pressure on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to act in line with Holyrood;s will.... The Scotsman revealed last month how Aidan O;Neill QC, one of Scotland;s leading advocates, said Scottish ministers alone had responsibility for pursuing one of the so-called 'McMafia' orders, a legal mechanism designed to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through the UK."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

** Nicholas Florko of STAT News: "Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall -- despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn't have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation. The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators. Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared." (Also linked yesterday.) 

New York. David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "Even as the pandemic continues to rage and New York struggles to vaccinate a large and anxious population, [Gov. Andrews] Cuomo [D] has all but declared war on his own public health bureaucracy. The departures [of top officials] have underscored the extent to which pandemic policy has been set by the governor, who with his aides crafted a vaccination program beset by early delays. The troubled rollout came after Mr. Cuomo declined to use the longstanding vaccination plans that the State Department of Health had developed in recent years in coordination with local health departments. Mr. Cuomo instead adopted an approach that relied on large hospital systems to coordinate vaccinations not only of their own staffs, but also of much of the population. In recent weeks, the governor has repeatedly made it clear that he believed he had no choice but to seize more control over pandemic policy from state and local public health officials, who he said had no understanding of how to conduct a real-world, large-scale operation like vaccinations. After early problems, in which relatively few doses were being administered, the pace of vaccinations has picked up and New York is now roughly 20th in the nation in percentage of residents who have received at least one vaccine dose."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Myanmar. AP: "Myanmar military television said Monday that the military was taking control of the country for one year, while reports said many of the country's senior politicians including Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained. A presenter on military-owned Myawaddy TV announced the takeover and cited a section of the military-drafted constitution that allows the military to take control in times of national emergency. He said the reason for takeover was in part due to the government's failure to act on the military's claims of voter fraud in last November's election and its failure to postpone the election because of the coronavirus crisis. The announcement follows days of concern about the threat of a military coup -- and military denials that it would stage one -- and came on the morning the country's new Parliament session was to begin." the New York Times story is here.

News Lede

Weather Channel: "Winter Storm Orlena will snarl travel in the Northeast into Monday night as it brings heavy snow and strong winds from parts of New England to the northern mid-Atlantic, including parts of the Boston, New York City and Philadelphia metro areas. Orlena is producing snowfall this morning from portions of southern New England to the New York Tri-state area southward into Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee." MSNBC reported that one-third of the country's population is either under snow-storm warning or watch -- and based on reports -- in it.

The Commentariat -- January 31, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Ten Republican senators announced plans Sunday to release an approximately $600 billion covid relief package that could serve as a bipartisan alternative to President Biden's $1.9 trillion plan, and requested a meeting with the president to discuss it. The senators, led by Susan Collins (R-Maine), said they would release additional details of the package on Monday. In a letter to Biden they said they were offering their proposal in recognition of the president's 'calls for unity.'... Their move comes as Democrats prepare to move forward on Monday to set up a partisan path forward for Biden's relief bill, which Republicans have dismissed as overly costly.... The GOP proposal is expected to jettison certain elements that have drawn Republican opposition, such as increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. It would also significantly narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks Biden wants to send to individual Americans. Biden's plan would cap eligibility for the checks at individuals making $75,000 a year and couples making $150,000. A $600 billion plan that is a fraction of the size of Biden's proposal is unlikely to draw much if any Democratic support." Politico's story is here.

Zachary Petrizzo of Mediaite: "The Lincoln Project's legal counsel sent a scorching letter to Rudy Giuliani after he falsely accused the group of helping plan the January 6th Capitol riot, demanding that Giuliani retract his statement and publicly apologize by February 3. Giuliani made the comments in an appearance on Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast, accusing 'antifa' and 'some right-wing groups that operate for the Lincoln Project or have been working with the Lincoln Project at various times' of being responsible for instigating the riot." MB: Wait, wait. Steve Bannon is running a show called the "War Room" & Rudy goes on it to blame the opposition for planning the "war"?

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

** Nicholas Florko of STAT News: "Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall -- despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn't have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation. The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators. Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared."

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Remembering the Anti-President*

Illustration by Jason Seiler for Politico.~~~ Michael Kruse, in Politico Magazine, compares Trump to Benedict XIII, the last anti-pope of Avignon -- who also became power-hungry & refused to concede he had been voted out. ~~~

~~~ ** Lordy, I Hope We See Rudy. Trump's Top Impeachment Lawyers Out. Gloria Borger, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's five impeachment defense attorneys have left a little more than a week before his trial is set to begin, according to people familiar with the case, amid a disagreement over his legal strategy. It was a dramatic development in the second impeachment trial for Trump, who has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case. And now, with legal briefs due next week and a trial set to begin only days later, Trump is clinging to his election fraud charade and suddenly finds himself without legal representation. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are no longer on the team. A source familiar with the changes said it was a mutual decision for both to leave the legal team. As the lead attorney, Bowers assembled the team. Josh Howard, a North Carolina attorney who was recently added to the team, has also left, according to another source familiar with the changes. Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, from South Carolina, are no longer involved with the case, either.... A person familiar with the departures told CNN that Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office. Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard. The attorneys had not yet been paid any advance fees and a letter of intent was never signed." This is an update of a breaking story linked earlier. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course Trump didn't pay his lawyers. A New York Times story is here. A Washington Post story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "In the end..., Trump is who he is. He's a broken, dangerous and irredeemable man. Our greater contempt should fall on the cowards in the Republican Senate who will refuse to hold him accountable in spite of his own efforts at self-sabotage."

Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "As racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year..., Donald J. Trump, struggling to find a winning campaign theme, hit on a message that he stressed over and over: The real domestic threat to the United States emanated from the radical left, even though law enforcement authorities had long since concluded it came from the far right. It was a message that was quickly embraced and amplified by his attorney general and his top homeland security officials, who translated it into a shift in criminal justice and national security priorities even as Mr. Trump was beginning to openly stoke the outrage that months later would culminate in the storming of the Capitol by right-wing extremists.... The effect of his direction was ... substantial, according to interviews with current and former officials, diverting key portions of the federal law enforcement and domestic security agencies at a time when the threat from the far right was building ominously.... The pressure from Mr. Trump was unrelenting." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why, it's almost as if Trump determined to keep intelligence agencies' eyes off the ball in order to give his violent backers free rein.

MTG Is No Anomaly; She's the Face of the GOP. Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: Marjorie Taylor "Greene's widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements. Greene was 'exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left,' declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump's chief of staff, gushed, 'We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.'... While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her ... despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene's success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party's most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene's ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ What a Friend She Has in Donald. Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Saturday that she spoke with former President Trump as she faces growing bipartisan criticism over past social media posts in which she expressed support for violence against Democrats. 'I had a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump! I'm so grateful for his support...,' Greene tweeted."

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents around the country are working to unravel the various motives, relationships, goals and actions of the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some inside the bureau have described the Capitol riot investigation as their biggest case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and a top priority of the agents' work is to determine the extent to which that violence and chaos was preplanned and coordinated. Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally -- which is protected by the First Amendment -- and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.... The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren't part of any formal organization." The report cites social-media chatter that preceded the siege. For instance, "Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in." read one posting, according to the report. And, "Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A criminal complaint against two Montana brothers and a detention memo against a prominent member of the Proud Boys help explain how, the government believes, one segment of a mob overran a small, poorly defended line of Capitol Police officers. In these and other filings, prosecutors trace the actions of possible key instigators in the storming of the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys...." The story outlines the known actions of Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who has been indicted on a number of charges, & some of those he appears to have led, including two brothers from Montana, Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A related story in the Hill is here. ~~~

~~~ Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Federal authorities arrested two women in Pennsylvania on Friday on charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building after the FBI said one of the women expressed an intent to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).... Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were identified by law enforcement after the FBI said it received a tip on Jan. 12 with a video purportedly capturing the two women as they left the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 amid a large mob of people, according to a criminal complaint. 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' Bancroft said in the video she sent to her children, according to the FBI. 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.' The women -- who the FBI said initially lied to authorities -- face three federal charges...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An NBC News story is here. ~~~

Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Far-right radio show host Alex Jones and a prominent GOP donor reportedly played a larger role than previously known in the pro-Trump rally held near the White House before the Capitol riot. Jones was involved in pledging money and getting others to donate money for the Jan. 6 event, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Infowars founder originally planned to give $50,000 in seed money to secure a 'top speaking slot of his choice,' according to a funding document reported by the newspaper. strong>Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, reached out to Jones and asked to donate for the Jan. 6 event, organizers told the Journal. Jones reportedly helped Fancelli donate $300,000 through a fundraising official who helped with former President Trump's campaign. Fancelli's donation represented a majority of the funding for the $500,000 rally at the Ellipse, where Trump spoke before chaos erupted later in the day at the Capitol. During the 2020 election cycle, Fancelli donated nearly $1 million to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party, the Journal noted.... A spokesperson for Publix noted to The Hill that Fancelli is not an employee of the supermarket chain and 'is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Stern of the Washington Post: "... as the Biden administration settles in, some close allies of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky are opening up about one of the longest-running dramas from the Trump era -- the blitz of meetings, messages and public statements in Ukraine by ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.... The new disclosures from Ukraine do not offer any bombshell revelations about Giuliani's dealings. But they help fill in some blanks on his frantic -- and unsuccessful -- quest to press Ukraine to make statements seen as potentially helpful to the Trump reelection bid. Giuliani's overall goal, according to the accounts, was to have Zelensky's government validate the Trump campaign's unsupported claims -- including that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine and that then vice president Biden attempted to cover it up. Giuliani, saying he was acting on President Trump's behalf, also was promoting a false narrative that the Ukrainian government colluded to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections against Trump -- an unproven claim that sought to deflect attention from Russia's interference in the campaign.... The Zelensky team's decision to talk about Giuliani's tactics coincides with efforts for a reset in relations with President Biden, who dealt closely with Ukraine during his eight years as vice president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jill Filipovic of the Guardian: "In 2021 legislative sessions (which six states haven't even yet begun), [Republican] lawmakers in 28 states have pushed a whopping 106 bills that would restrict voting access.... Each one of these 106 bills aims to make voting harder, either by scaling back vote-by-mail, imposing stricter voter identification laws, limiting policies that successfully registered large numbers of voters, or allowing states to more easily and aggressively purge their voter rolls.... Republicans trying to restrict voting rights is not new..., but the context after the Capitol riot is different: Republicans now cannot deny the serious, deadly and democracy-threatening costs of exploiting lies about voting fraud to the advantage of Republican politicians.... It's not all bad news on the voting front, though. Appalled by conservative malfeasance, newly emboldened by the success of mail-in voting during Covid, and heartened by hard-won wins in Georgia, more Democrats are latching on to what leaders and organizers like Stacey Abrams have been doing for years: fighting for expanded voting rights. Legislators in 35 states have introduced a total of 406 bills that would make voting easier for more people."

Georgia. WSB-TV Atlanta: "A west Georgia police chief has resigned and an officer has resigned after body camera video shows them making racist comments ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest last year. According to the Assistant to Hamilton Mayor Julie Brown, Chief Gene Allmond and Patrolman John Brooks have both been removed from their positions with the Hamilton Police Department. Chief Allmond reportedly resigned, while Patrolman Brooks was terminated, WTVM in Columbus reported. The footage was obtained by WTVM-TV in Columbus after a city official there was made aware of the it.... WTVM said after viewing the video, it took city leaders about an hour and a half to take action, letting the chief and the officer know they would be fired if they did not resign." The article includes some of the mens' "conversation." We'll skip it here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

"It's a Mess." Tyler Pager, et al., of Politico: "After a week on the job, [President] Biden's team is still trying to locate upwards of 20 million vaccine doses that have been sent to states -- a mystery that has hampered plans to speed up the national vaccination effort.... Only a small percentage of ... unaccounted for doses -- roughly 2 million, two officials said -- is due to lags in data reporting, the Biden team believes. That would mean the rest of the crucial supply is boxed away in warehouses, sitting idle in freezers or floating elsewhere in the complex distribution pipeline that runs from the administration to individual states.... They're searching for new ways to boost production of a vaccine stockpile that they've discovered is mostly empty. And they're nervously eyeing a series of new Covid-19 strains that threaten to derail the response.... In the days since taking over, the Covid response team has confronted a situation that officials described as far worse than expected -- and that has prompted public assessments so dour they surprised some who had worked on the administration's former transition team. On Tuesday, Biden warned that the 'vaccine program is in worse shape than we anticipated or expected,' echoing complaints from his chief of staff, Ron Klain, that a 'plan didn't really exist.'"

Carla Johnson, et al., of the AP: "A racial gap has opened up in the nation's COVID-19 vaccination drive, with Black Americans in many places lagging behind whites in receiving shots, an Associated Press analysis shows. An early look at the 17 states and two cities that have released racial breakdowns through Jan. 25 found that Black people in all places are getting inoculated at levels below their share of the general population, in some cases significantly below. That is true even though they constitute an oversize percentage of the nation's health care workers, who were put at the front of the line for shots when the campaign began in mid-December. For example, in North Carolina, Black people make up 22% of the population and 26% of the health care workforce but only 11% of the vaccine recipients so far.... Experts say several factors could be driving the emerging disparity, including deep distrust of the medical establishment among Black Americans because of a history of discriminatory treatment; inadequate access to the vaccine in Black neighborhoods; and a digital divide that can make it difficult to get crucial information. Vaccination sign-ups are being done to a large degree online." ~~~

~~~ Yes, well, maybe the problem is that they didn't donate a wing to their local hospital. ~~~

~~~ Russ Bynum, et al., of the AP: "While millions of Americans wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors around the country have gotten early access to the scarce drug or offers for vaccinations, raising complaints about favoritism tainting decisions about who gets inoculated and when.... [For instance,] the Seattle Times has reported that Overlake Medical Center & Clinics emailed about 110 donors who gave more than $10,000 to the hospital system, telling them that vaccine slots were available. The email gave the donors an access code to register for appointments 'by invite' only. At the same time, the public Overlake registration site was fully booked through March... Overlake shut down online access to the invite-only clinic after getting a call from [Gov. Jay] Inslee's [D] staff, and CEO J. Michael Marsh issued an apology."

California. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "A Los Angeles coronavirus vaccination site was temporarily forced to shut down after protesters blocked the entrance. David Ortiz, a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department, told The Hill that the department temporarily closed the gates of Dodgers Stadium between 1:50 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. because there were protesters outside. About 50 anti-vaccine and far-right demonstrators gathered at the entrance on Saturday afternoon, The Los Angeles Times first reported.... One social media post shows protesters not wearing masks and carrying sings that said '99.6% Survival Rate' and 'I only like muzzles in the bedroom.'" The LAPD claims that no appointments were affected. MB: That's not possible unless the vaccination team had already planned a lunch break between 1:50 & 2:45 & had scheduled no appointments during that time. The First Amendment does not give me a right to block you from receiving medical care just because I believe that care is useless or harmful.

Florida. Speaking of Publix.... Sharon Zhang of Truthout (Jan. 28): "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing criticism after deciding this month that he would revoke COVID-19 vaccine access at health centers in Palm Beach County and instead, funnel the states' vaccine supply through Publix, a regional grocery chain. His decision comes just a few weeks after Publix donated $100,000 to his PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis. After the county runs out of its current supply, which health officials say will happen early next month, officials confirmed this week that the state would no longer distribute vaccines through Palm Beach's health department and will be giving them directly to Publix. DeSantis says that the county will be a 'test site' for the pilot program to funnel the state's vaccines through Publix.... Some of the county's residents live 40 miles away from a Publix. Florida's vaccine administration has thus far been rocky and, in some ways, discriminatory, some report, and many worry that the distribution of the vaccine through Publix will only cause further disparities.... According to data from the state, approximately 4.9 percent of the people who have been vaccinated so far are Black despite Black people making up 16.9 percent of the population. In Palm Beach, Black people make up 3 percent of the vaccinated population and 19.8 percent of the population overall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: During the time I lived in Fort Myers, Florida, Publix closed down at least two stores that served minority communities and opened up at least four that served affluent areas of the city & county.

Beyond the Beltway

Alaska. Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News in ProPublica: "Acting Alaska Attorney General Ed Sniffen's abrupt resignation was announced Friday as the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica were preparing an article about allegations of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl three decades ago. Nikki Dougherty White, now 47, recently contacted the news organizations with a detailed account of how she and Sniffen began a sexual relationship in 1991 while she was a student at West Anchorage High School. At the time, he was a 27-year-old attorney with a local law firm and a coach of her school's mock trial competition team.... Under an Alaska law enacted in 1990, months before Sniffen and White traveled to New Orleans for the national mock trial competition, it was illegal for an adult to have sex with a 16- or 17-year-old whom he or she was teaching, counseling or coaching.... Public records show White and Sniffen lived at the same address in Anchorage after she turned 18.... Sniffen is the second Alaska attorney general to step down within the past six months amid a Daily News and ProPublica investigation into their interactions with women. Former Attorney General Kevin Clarkson quit in August, hours after the newsrooms revealed he had sent hundreds of unwanted text messages to a junior colleague."

Way Beyond

Russia. The New York Times is live-updating developments in protests across Russia Sunday: "Thousands of people took to the streets to show support for the jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny for a second weekend, despite mass arrests and an imposing show of force by the police.

The Commentariat -- January 30, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents around the country are working to unravel the variou motives, relationships, goals and actions of the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some inside the bureau have described the Capitol riot investigation as their biggest case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and a top priority of the agents' work is to determine the extent to which that violence and chaos was preplanned and coordinated. Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally -- which is protected by the First Amendment -- and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.... The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren't part of any formal organization." The report cites social-media chatter that preceded the siege. For instance, "Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in." read one posting, according to the report. And, "Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A criminal complaint against two Montana brothers and a detention memo against a prominent member of the Proud Boys help explain how, the government believes, one segment of a mob overran a small, poorly defended line of Capitol Police officers. In these and other filings, prosecutors trace the actions of possible key instigators in the storming of the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys...." The story outlines the known actions of Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who has been indicted on a number of charges, & some of those he appears to have led, including two brothers from Montana, Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes." ~~~

~~~ Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Federal authorities arrested two women in Pennsylvania on Friday on charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building after the FBI said one of the women expressed an intent to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).... Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were identified by law enforcement after the FBI said it received a tip on Jan. 12 with a video purportedly capturing the two women as they left the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 amid a large mob of people, according to a criminal complaint. 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' Bancroft said in the video she sent to her children, according to the FBI. 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.' The women -- who the FBI said initially lied to authorities -- face three federal charges...."

Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Far-right radio show host Alex Jones and a prominent GOP donor reportedly played a larger role than previously known in the pro-Trump rally held near the White House before the Capitol riot. Jones was involved in pledging money and getting others to donate money for the Jan. 6 event, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Infowars founder originally planned to give $50,000 in seed money to secure a 'top speaking slot of his choice,' according to a funding document reported by the newspaper. Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, reached out to Jones and asked to donate for the Jan. 6 event, organizers told the Journal. Jones reportedly helped Fancelli donate $300,000 through a fundraising official who helped with former President Trump's campaign. Fancelli's donation represented a majority of the funding for the $500,000 rally at the Ellipse, where Trump spoke before chaos erupted later in the day at the Capitol. During the 2020 election cycle, Fancelli donated nearly $1 million to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party, the Journal noted.... A spokesperson for Publix noted to The Hill that Fancelli is not an employee of the supermarket chain and 'is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way.'"

~~~ Speaking of Publix.... Sharon Zhang of Truthout (Jan. 28): "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing criticism after deciding this month that he would revoke COVID-19 vaccine access at health centers in Palm Beach County and instead, funnel the states' vaccine supply through Publix, a regional grocery chain. His decision comes just a few weeks after Publix donated $100,000 to his PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis. After the county runs out of its current supply, which health officials say will happen early next month, officials confirmed this week that the state would no longer distribute vaccines through Palm Beach's health department and will be giving them directly to Publix. DeSantis says that the county will be a 'test site' for the pilot program to funnel the state's vaccines through Publix.... Some of the county's residents live 40 miles away from a Publix. Florida's vaccine administration has thus far been rocky and, in some ways, discriminatory, some report, and many worry that the distribution of the vaccine through Publix will only cause further disparities.... According to data from the state, approximately 4.9 percent of the people who have been vaccinated so far are Black despite Black people making up 16.9 percent of the population. In Palm Beach, Black people make up 3 percent of the vaccinated population and 19.8 percent of the population overall." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: During the time I lived in Fort Myers, Florida, Publix closed down at least two stores that served minority communities and opened up at least four that served affluent areas of the city & county.

David Stern of the Washington Post: "... as the Biden administration settles in, some close allies of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky are opening up about one of the longest-running dramas from the Trump era -- the blitz of meetings, messages and public statements in Ukraine by ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.... The new disclosures from Ukraine do not offer any bombshell revelations about Giuliani's dealings. But they help fill in some blanks on his frantic -- and unsuccessful -- quest to press Ukraine to make statements seen as potentially helpful to the Trump reelection bid. Giuliani's overall goal, according to the accounts, was to have Zelensky's government validate the Trump campaign's unsupported claims -- including that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine and that then vice president Biden attempted to cover it up. Giuliani, saying he was acting on President Trump's behalf, also was promoting a false narrative that the Ukrainian government colluded to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections against Trump -- an unproven claim that sought to deflect attention from Russia's interference in the campaign.... The Zelensky team's decision to talk about Giuliani's tactics coincides with efforts for a reset in relations with President Biden, who dealt closely with Ukraine during his eight years as vice president."

MTG Is No Anomaly; She's the Face of the GOP. Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: Marjorie Taylor "Greene's widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements. Greene was 'exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left," declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump&'s chief of staff, gushed, 'We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.'... While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her ... despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene's success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party's most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene's ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive."

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

~~~~~~~~~~

Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden and his top economic aides brushed aside criticism from Republicans on Friday about the administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus package and vowed to forge ahead with the proposal, saying the bill was critical for a flagging economic recovery and overwhelmingly popular with voters. The comments came as Mr. Biden was briefed by aides on the need for more fiscal help and the state of the economy, and as new analysis from the Brookings Institution suggested the Biden proposal, if enacted, would vault the economy above its prepandemic path by the second half of this year. A team of top economic officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, met with Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office on Friday to underscore the challenges facing an economy that recorded decelerating growth at the end of last year. They were joined by Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey of the Council of Economic Advisers.... On Friday afternoon, as he was departing the White House to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr. Biden said..., 'I support passing Covid relief with support from Republicans if we get it, but the Covid relief has to pass.'..." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Freking of the AP: "The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden's ability to bridge Washington's partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory. Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools reopen. Biden argues that anyone who holds a full-time job shouldn't live in poverty, echoing progressives in the Democratic Party...."

Biden Cleans up Another Trump Screw-up. Helena Evich of Politico: "Millions of low-income households with children are about to get more help buying groceries during the pandemic under a new policy released Friday by the Biden administration. Congress last spring launched Pandemic EBT, a program that aims to replace free and subsidized meals kids normally get at school. After schools broadly shut down last year, billions in aid was sent out to low-income families with school-aged children on debit-like EBT cards that can be used to buy food, but this school year the program has been bogged down in bureaucracy.... The vast majority of households eligible for assistance haven't seen any P-EBT payments several months into the school year, even though Congress re-upped the program in September -- a failing that has kept roughly $2 billion in aid from going out to families each month. The Agriculture Department, which oversees school meals and P-EBT, released guidance today that makes it easier for states to get aid to more families -- and at a higher payment rate than under the Trump administration." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A lot of emphasis rightly has been placed on President Biden's efforts to undo Trump's draconian policies, but it is also true that the Biden team has a lot of work to do in fixing programs Trump did not officially oppose but that his cruel and incompetent appointees could not or would not manage. EBT card access is one example.

Remembering Comrade Donova

David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to 'the Cambridge five', the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. Now 67, Shvets is a key source for American Kompromat, a new book by journalist Craig Unger." MB: Although there is a great deal of fit between what we know about Trump & what Shvets claims, I would rate Shvets' assertions as "possibly true." AND it seems likely that the CIA would have known something about Trump's contacts with Russian agents. If so, didn't the public have a right to know before the 2016 election? What about Mike Pompeo, who headed the CIA? How about members of Congress, like Pelosi & McConnell? I'll be interested to see if there's follow-up to the story. Thanks to unwashed for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: I'll bet Brian Williams got an A+ on the day they practiced deadpan in his news-anchor class: ~~~

Luke Broadwater & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Nearly 150 House Republicans supported ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims that the election had been stolen from him. But [Rep. Paul] Gosar [R-Az.] and a handful of other Republican members of the House had deeper ties to extremist groups who pushed violent ideas and conspiracy theories and whose members were prominent among those who stormed the halls of Congress.... Their ranks include" Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Az.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), & Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). "It is not clear whether any elected officials played a role in directly facilitating the attack on the Capitol, other than helping to incite violence through false statements about the election being stolen from Mr. Trump.... In signaling either overt or tacit support, a small but vocal band of Republicans now serving in the House provided legitimacy and publicity to extremist groups and movements as they built toward their role in supporting Mr. Trump's efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election and the attack on Congress.... To some degree, the members of Congress have been reflecting signals sent by Mr. Trump. During a presidential debate in October, he made a nod toward the Proud Boys, telling them to 'stand back and stand by.' Two months earlier, Mr. Trump described followers of QAnon ... as 'people that love our country,' adding that 'they do supposedly like me.'" The story details some of the wacko forays these Congressmembers have made into the dark side. (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Cantor, former Republican House Majority Leader (who lost re-election to a Tea Party nut), in a Washington Post op-ed, has had an epiphany: "Our elected officials work for us, and they fail us when they decline to tell us truths that we, the people, don't want to hear. Even worse, they fail us when they set up false expectations we desperately want to believe." In 2013, that failure led to a government shutdown. In 2021, it led to insurrection. "If the majority of Republican elected officials work together to confront the false narratives in our body politic -- that the election was stolen (it wasn't), that there is a QAnon-style conspiracy to uproot pedophiles at the heart of American government (there isn't), that a Democratic-controlled government means the end of America (it doesn't; it may produce worse policy, but the republic has survived 88 years of Democrats occupying the White House) -- all Republicans will be better off." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When Eric Cantor is the reasonable guy, Republicans have a lot to worry about.

** The Party of Violence. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The supposed civil war within the Republican Party is over. The neo-Confederates have won.... Thanks to the cowardice of [Kevin] McCarthy and the perfidy of [Mitch] McConnell, the GOP now comprises two relatively harmonious factions: those who actively sabotage democracy, and those who tacitly condone the sabotage. Trump is gone; Trumpism reigns.... Republicans think they'll save their political hides by capitulating to Trump. But, inevitably, that also means capitulating to his violent supporters. And democracy can't function at the point of a gun."

Melanie Zanona of Politico: "House GOP leaders are facing mounting pressure to take action against freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), with key outside groups calling on party officials to condemn her and House Democrats pushing for Greene's removal from Congress or committees. Amid the firestorm, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will sit down for a conversation with Greene next week, his office said. But whether McCarthy decides to punish Greene will depend on how that meeting goes.... And so far, Greene has remained publicly defiant: 'I will never back down. I will never give up,' she said in a statement Friday. Greene has, however, started to scrub some of her old social media posts.... The Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, both put out statements Friday condemning Greene's rhetoric. RJC also said it is 'working closely with the House Republican leadership regarding next steps in this matter.... We opposed her as a candidate and we continue to oppose her now,' RJC said." ~~~

~~~ Colby Itkowitz & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Rep. Cori Bush, a freshman Democrat from Missouri, said Friday that she was moving her office at the U.S. Capitol complex away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for safety reasons, after claiming Greene accosted her without a mask. Meanwhile, Greene -- a conspiracy theorist who has a history of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks -- called Bush a liar and accused her of leading a 'terrorist mob' because she supported Black Lives Matter. The allegations, which escalated throughout the day Friday, underscored the degree to which relations have deteriorated to the point of open hostility between congressional Republicans and Democrats after pro-Trumprioters overran the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent insurrection.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reportedly ordered the office move at Bush's request...." CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Violent. Mark Follman of Mother Jones: "... previously unreported video footage obtained by Mother Jones reveals that [Marjorie] Greene continued using violent rhetoric just before the November elections. On October 27, one week before Election Day, Greene sat down for a live interview with pro-gun activist Chris Dorr broadcast on Facebook from a Pennsylvania gun shop. In the 22-minute video posted by the Pennsylvania Firearms Association, the two held forth about the Second Amendment and the necessity of backing Trump and other far-right Republicans in the election. Greene warned ominously about fending off 'socialists' like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, claiming they would confiscate Americans' guns. 'If this generation doesn't stand up and defend freedom, it&'s gone,' Greene said, addressing viewers. 'And once it's gone, freedom doesn't come back by itself. The only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood.'" ~~~

~~~ AND Crazy. Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Marjorie Taylor Greene said in February 2019 that then-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- who died in September 2020 -- didn't really make a public appearance, implying she was replaced by a body double.... Greene had a relatively short but horrific career as a right-wing commentator before successfully running for Congress.... In early 2019, conspiracy theorists -- including QAnon supporters -- claimed that Democrats were hiding Ginsburg or covering up that she was dead so they could hold on to her Supreme Court seat." ~~~

~~~ ** AND Crazier. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Marjorie Taylor Greene had just finished questioning whether a plane really flew into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and flatly stating that President Barack Obama was secretly Muslim when she paused to offer an aside.... 'That's another one of those Clinton murders,' Ms. Greene said, referring to John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death in a 1999 plane crash, suggesting that he had been assassinated because he was a potential rival to Hillary Clinton for a New York Senate seat. Ms. Greene casually unfurled the cascade of dangerous and patently untrue conspiracy theories in a previously unreported 40-minute video that was originally posted to YouTube in 2018. It provides a window into the warped worldview amplified by the freshman Republican congresswoman from Georgia.... Republicans are now facing calls from Democrats to expel Ms. Greene from Congress, pressure from a prominent group of Jewish Republicans to discipline her, and private consternation from within their own ranks.... [Minority Leader Kevin] McCarthy's silence so far reflects, in part, the sway Mr. Trump still has over the Republican Party and its leaders. The former president has praised Ms. Greene effusively and refused to condemn QAnon, despite being asked to disavow it repeatedly while in office." Edmondson ticks off many other insane beliefs Greene espouses. MB: The woman belongs in a mental institution, not in the Congress.

~~~ Laura Barron-Lopez of Politico: "The anti-Trump Republican Accountability Project is kicking off a $1 million billboard campaign Thursday that targets 12 Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.... The nine other Republicans targeted in the campaign are: Reps. Devin Nunes (Calif.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Louie Gohmert (Texas.), Madison Cawthorne (N.C.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Mo Brooks (Ala.) and Dan Bishop (N.C.).... The billboards call on the dozen congressional Republicans to resign for spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election. 'You lied about the election. The Capitol was attacked,' the billboards read.... All of the lawmakers on the list voted Jan. 6 -- hours after the Capitol insurrection -- to reject state electors Joe Biden won in November.... The effort is part of a larger $50 million campaign by a coalition of 'Never Trump' groups, which plan to support GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach or convict ... Donald Trump in the House and Senate and to target Republicans who've continued to side with Trump."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors investigating the violent riot at the Capitol this month announced their first conspiracy charges against the Proud Boys on Friday night, accusing two members of the far-right nationalist group of working together to obstruct and interfere with law enforcement officers protecting Congress during the final certification of the presidential election. In a brief news release, the Justice Department said that an indictment had been filed against two Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, of Rochester, N.Y., and William Pepe, of Beacon, N.Y. But by late Friday night, the charging papers had not yet appeared in the Washington federal court database. Both Mr. Pezzola, a former boxer and Marine, and Mr. Pepe, an employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, already had been facing lesser charges connected to the Capitol attack." CNN's story is here.

Dalton Bennett, et al., of the Washington Post: "The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person's arrest from $50,000 to $75,000.... On Friday morning, the FBI released additional information that confirmed The Post's reporting about the timing of the placement of the bombs and raised the reward offered to $100,000." Includes some new video. MB: When I watched the way the person walked, I thought I was probably looking at a woman. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ali Breland of Mother Jones: "In the days ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot..., users of TheDonald.win, a major online pro-Trump forum, were preparing for a fight, posting maps of the Capitol and swapping messages about being ready to die. In the wake of the carnage, law enforcement identified TheDonald.win as a key planning platform for the insurrectionists. And on Inauguration Day, the forum established a new domain, rebranding as Patriots.win. Alongside that transition, thousands of posts from lead up to the riot have disappeared from the site.... The posters' deleted content included maps of the Capitol, manifestos about their intentions upon arriving, discussion about flouting D.C.'s strict gun laws, and praise of extremist groups like the Proud Boys.... Bennett Gershman, a criminal and constitutional law professor at the Pace University School of Law says..., 'Destroying evidence after you've committed a crime might itself be a crime. We're talking about potentially tampering with evidence,' he says." MB: It's impossible to believe the FBI, & possibly other intelligence organizations, didn't know about these plans.

David Corn of Mother Jones: "Weeks before the murderous mob of insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol on January 6..., a leader of the so-called Stop the Steal movement stood before a crowd of angry Donald Trump loyalists in California and called for the 'execution' of those who had supposedly plotted against Trump. Afterward, he posted video of his demand for blood on YouTube.... Alan Hostetter, a police-chief-turned-yoga-instructor ... last year became a prominent opponent of COVID shutdowns in the Golden State.... [Reading from a prepared text,] he said, 'President Trump and his ground troops here with the patriots -- we're going to fix this.... There must, absolutely must be a reckoning. There must be justice. President Trump must be inaugurated on January 20.... The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, must be held accountable.... There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.'... Weeks after urging the killing of Trump's rivals, Hostetter was part of the Trump Resistance infrastructure that organized events in Washington leading up to the ... raid on the Capitol.... Hostetter was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol."

AP: "Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died at the hands of the mob that besieged the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, will lie in honor next week in the building's Rotunda, congressional leaders said Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying: 'The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.'"

Randi Kaye, et al., of CNN: "The use of Mar-a-Lago as ... Donald Trump's permanent home is under legal review by the town of Palm Beach and the arrangement may be discussed at the upcoming town council meeting, the town manager told CNN. When Trump turned the private residence into a social club, he had agreed with the town to limit his stays at Mar-a-Lago, and now some Palm Beach residents say he is violating that agreement.... [Under the agreement,] Trump ... could not spend more than seven consecutive days at Mar-a-Lago, or no more than three weeks total a year.... His signature is on the agreement.... The Trump Organization insisted in a statement to CNN in December, 'There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-A-Lago as his residence.'"

Ed Shanahan & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Friday increased pressure on ... Donald J. Trump's family business and several associates, ordering them to give state investigators documents in a civil inquiry into whether the company misstated assets to get bank loans and tax benefits.... In December..., the judge, Arthur F. Engoron of State Supreme Court in Manhattan..., ordered ... the Trump Organization, to produce records that its lawyers had tried to shield, including some related to a Westchester County, N.Y., property that is among those being scrutinized by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James. On Friday, Justice Engoron went further, saying that even more documents, as well as communications with a law firm hired by the Trump Organization, had to be handed over to Ms. James's office. In doing so, he rejected the lawyers'claim that the documents at issue were covered by attorney-client privilege."

Where Reprobates Alight (Because They Can't Get Real Jobs). Alayna Treene & Stef Kight of Axios: "Chad Wolf, Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan, three of former President Trump's biggest immigration policy defenders, will join the Heritage Foundation on Monday as fellows.... All three former Homeland Security officials consistently backed Trump and were key in implementing his strict immigration agenda. Now, they will continue to shape conservative policy ideas on national security and foreign policy from the outside."

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The former FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring an email that other officials relied upon to justify secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser was sentenced Friday to 12 months of probation, with no time behind bars. Prosecutors had asked that Kevin Clinesmith, 38, spend several months in prison for his crime, while Clinesmith's attorneys said probation would be more appropriate. Clinesmith pleaded guilty last summer to altering an email that one of his colleagues used in preparing an application to surreptitiously monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page during the bureau's 2016 investigation of Russia's election interference. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ... said ... he believed Clinesmith's contention that he thought, genuinely but wrongly, the information he was inserting into the email was accurate. On top of his probation sentence, Boasberg ordered Clinesmith to perform 400 hours of community service." The AP's story is here.

Arizona. End Democracy Now! Liz Dye of Wonkette: "Arizona House Ways and Means Committee Chair Shawnna Bolick is saying the quiet part out loud. On Wednesday, she introduced a bill to allow Arizona legislators to award the state's Electoral College votes to their preferred candidate at any time up until a new president is sworn in on January 20, irrespective of the will of the voters.... 'The legislature retains its legislative authority regarding the office of presidential elector and by majority vote at any time before the presidential inauguration may revoke the secretary of state's issuance or certification of a presidential elector's certificate of election,' she wrote.... Aside from the whole overturning the election thing, Bolick made sure to specify that 'The legislature may take action pursuant to this subsection without regard to whether the legislature is in regular or special session or has held committee or other hearings on the matter.' Note that she doesn't say there has to be a quorum present when they have this little ... confab to override the vote. So, under this bill, Arizona's Republican legislators could huddle up in the basement and agree to award the state's electoral votes to the Republican candidate without even inviting Democrats to the party -- something they tried to do this year. Only this time, their slate of cosplay electors would magically become real. Hooray!" Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bolick's bill isn't as crazy as it may seem, and some Republicans around the country have embraced it. In the matter of choosing Electors, Article II (Section 1.2) states, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors...." While state & federal law as well as the Supremes -- and "tradition" -- have effectively rejected the concept of legislatures overriding the popular vote within states, it seems to me any state legislature could give it a try, and the courts, state & federal, would be left to decide. Yet another reason to abandon the Electoral College in favor of popular election of the president & veep.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Erin Cunningham, et al., of the Washington Post: "As governments around the world grapple with the spread of a more virulent variant of the coronavirus -- first identified in South Africa -- top health officials in the United States said Friday the new coronavirus variants present a 'wake-up call' to move faster on vaccinating the population.... The emergence of new, mutant versions of the virus was expected, said Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they warned that more are likely to come. Those mutations also will challenge the ability of existing treatments and vaccines to curb the virus' spread." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Another Important Way Biden Has to Play Catch-up Because of Trump Incompetence. William Wan & Ben Guarino of the Washington Post: "The United States is doing so little of the genetic sequencing needed to detect new variants of the coronavirus -- like the ones first identified in Great Britain and South Africa -- that such mutations are probably proliferating quickly, undetected, experts said.... Now is when genetic sequencing -- a process that maps out the genetic code of the particular virus that infected someone so it can be compared with others -- would do the most good, while such variants are less prevalent in the U.S. population and action can be taken against them.... The problem echoes the country's catastrophic stumbles early in the pandemic, when a lack of testing allowed the virus to spread widely.... For months, scientists have been sounding alarms and trying to ramp up genetic sequencing of test samples, but the effort has been plagued by lack of funding, political will and federal coordination, health experts and state officials said.... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that the government is increasing the level of sequencing nationwide.

Trains, Planes & "Any Conveyances." Michael Laris of the Washington Post: "Masks must be worn at train and subway stations, bus terminals and airports nationwide, as well as on planes, trains and other types of public transportation in the United States, according to a far-reaching federal public health order issued late Friday. The order, which will take effect Monday at 11:59 p.m., adds details to the mandate President Biden signed on his first full day in office. The order goes beyond the 'masking for interstate travel' previously announced by the White House.... People are ordered to wear masks 'while boarding, disembarking, and traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States,' as well as 'at any transportation hub that provides transportation within the United States,' the order said.... The CDC prepared a transportation mask requirement last year, but was blocked by the Trump White House." Reuters' story is here.

Remembering the Incompetent "King of Ventilators.' Yeganeh Torbati & Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration spent $200 million to send more than 8,700 ventilators to countries around the world last year, with no clear criteria for determining who should get them and no way to keep track of where many ended up, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The effort, driven by the Trump White House, was an unusual top-down initiative with little decision-making by experts at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which carried out the administration's orders.... Donald Trump last year boasted about U.S. success in manufacturing the machines and declared the U.S. 'the king of ventilators,' promising donations to foreign countries.... The GAO was unable to identify how the Trump White House made its decisions on ventilator allocations, and White House officials did not respond to the watchdog's questions, which came before President Biden took office last week. For instance, while Sri Lanka had just three new coronavirus cases per day when it received 200 ventilators, Bangladesh, which had 1,409 new cases, received just 100 of the machines, the report found." MB: Sounds like a Kushner-directed project to me.

New York. Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "For most of the past year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has tried to brush away a persistent criticism that undermined his national image as the man who led New York through the pandemic: that his policies had allowed thousands of nursing home residents to die of the virus. But Mr. Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, reported on Thursday morning that Mr. Cuomo's administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands. Just hours later, Ms. James was proved correct, as Health Department officials made public new data that added more than 3,800 deaths to their tally, representing nursing home residents who had died in hospitals and had not previously been counted by the state as nursing home deaths. The state's acknowledgment increased the overall death toll related to those facilities by more than 40 percent.... The findings do not change the overall number of Covid-19 deaths in New York -- more than 42,000, the most of any state -- but the recalculation in the number of nursing home deaths illustrates how unprepared the nursing home industry was in the first and deadliest weeks of the pandemic." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)