The Conversation -- April 22, 2024

Matthew Haag of the New York Times : "The New York attorney general's office and representatives for Donald J. Trump agreed in court on Monday to slightly modify the terms of a $175 million bond posted by the former president in his civil fraud case after the state questioned the qualifications of the company that provided it and sought to have it rejected. The deal will keep the bond largely unchanged, with the $175 million in cash that Mr. Trump deposited as collateral remaining in a money-market account, while adding new terms stipulating that the $175 million must remain as cash, and not be transferred into mutual funds, for example. The two sides also agreed to give the California firm that provided the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, exclusive control over the money-market account."

Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times : "Manhattan prosecutors delivered a raw recounting of Donald J. Trump's seamy past on Monday as they debuted their case against him to jurors, the nation and the world, reducing the former president to a co-conspirator in a plot to cover up three sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. Their opening statement was a pivotal moment in the first prosecution of an American president, a sweeping synopsis of the case against Mr. Trump, who watched from the defense table, occasionally shaking his head. Moments later, Mr. Trump's lawyer delivered his own opening, beginning with the simple claim that 'President Trump is innocent.'... The former president lied 'over and over and over' again, [prosecutor Matthew] Colangelo emphatically said, casting him as a conniving criminal. But Mr. Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche sought to undercut the prosecution's lofty rhetoric with a more innocuous distillation of the case: a 'business records violation.' He called it 'just 34 pieces of paper.'"

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump has portrayed his legal jeopardy as a threat to America itself, and he has suggested that the country would not put up with it. But the streets around the courthouse on Monday were chaos-free -- well-patrolled and relatively quiet. As his motorcade made its way to the courthouse, the few Trump supporters gathered in the park were outnumbered by Trump detractors, who waved signs about his alleged liaison with a porn star.... Shortly after 7 a.m., he posted on his social media website that 'America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses' and he followed this lament with a call for his supporters to 'GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!'... Mr. Trump had made no secret of the fact that he wanted a circus to accompany his trial." MB: I do wonder why the Trumpettes & their ilk have not followed Trump to town to play a part in what has turned out to be barely a one-ring circus. Maybe it's because you can't set up a camper in Manhattan (as far as I know).

Jonathan Alter of the New York Times: "In the prosecution's opening statement, Matthew Colangelo outlined what his team calls the August 2015 'Trump Tower conspiracy' hatched by Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker, boss of The National Enquirer.... Colangelo previewed a large amount of evidence that will corroborate Cohen's testimony about the falsified business records (including handwritten notes) that will most likely be damaging to Trump.... Todd Blanche, Trump's lead attorney, seemed to be setting up a defense partly based on Trump not wanting the Stormy Daniels story made public in order to protect his family. But Cohen and others are expected to testify that Trump tried to avoid paying the hush money on the theory that it wouldn't matter if the story came out after the election. So much for shielding Melania.... By insisting that Trump is completely innocent, his lawyers have made it harder for the jury to convict him of just misdemeanors, not felonies. But it will be a few weeks before the jury understands all of that."

Lachlan Cartwright in the New York Times Magazine (April 3) describes what went down at the National Enquirer, where he was an editor of "catch-and-kill" stories. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, the New York court systems plans to publish daily transcripts of the Trump trial proceedings "online and publicly available before the end of the next business day." Links to the daily transcripts will be on this page. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: I know the transcript of Monday's proceedings was published several hours ago, but I'll be damned if I can see the link to it.

Here's the New York Times' liveblog of proceedings in the Trump trial du jour. The Times' liveblogs usually include some pretty frank appraisals of the subject at hand. However, if you want to save a lot of time, Akhilleus has got his hands on Trump's opening statement and reports it at the top of today's Comments. ~~~

Susanne Craig: "Trump is struggling to stay awake. His eyes were closed for a short period. He was jolted awake when Todd Blanche, his lawyer, nudged him while sliding a note in front of him."

Jonah Bromwich: "The judge reads his ruling on the Sandoval hearing aloud. This determines what prosecutors can ask Trump about if he testifies. Justice Merchan says he will allow the prosecution to bring up six different determinations from four other cases, including his loss in the civil fraud trial earlier this year.... Justice Merchan will also let prosecutors ask about Trump's attack on a law clerk in that case, in violation of a gag order.... Prosecutors will also be allowed to ask Trump about having been found liable twice for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll."

Alan Feuer: "... the judge just handed the prosecution a fairly heavy legal cudgel to use against Trump if he does decide to testify."

Bromwich: "The trial will only go until 12:30 p.m. today, Justice Merchan tells the jurors. Tomorrow, the day will start at 11 a.m and end at 2 p.m."

Bromwich: "Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors, stands up to deliver his side's opening statement.... He begins by telling the jury that Trump lied 'over and over and over' again by disguising business records."

Maggie Haberman: "Colangelo is saying that Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker 'formed' a conspiracy at a meeting early in the campaign to help Trump get elected."

Kate Christobek: "As Matthew Colangelo says that Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election, Trump shook his head."

Haberman: "Trump has attacked Colangelo on Truth Social repeatedly. He worked at the Department of Justice before being hired to work on this case in 2022. Trump has used that fact to baselessly claim the existence of a widespread conspiracy against him."

Bromwich: "Matthew Colangelo has a conversational, easy-to-follow style. This is all very easy to understand thus far, as he explains Michael Cohen's job, which he says was 'to take care of problems for the defendant.' A fixer, in other words, he says."

Haberman: "Colangelo is now describing the practice of 'catch and kill,' in which The National Enquirer bought stories that were problematic to Trump and then buried them.... One of those catch-and-kill deals involved a story that turned out to be false about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock."

Christobek: "Trump is visibly displeased at the mention of the alleged out-of-wedlock child and strongly shakes his head."

Bromwich: "Colangelo is now describing the second 'catch-and-kill' deal in question, relating to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump.... Colangelo says David Pecker will testify that $150,000 [paid to McDougal] was more than The National Enquirer would typically have paid for such a deal, and that Pecker had trouble being reimbursed for it. Crucially, Colangelo says, Pecker will testify that he spoke to Trump about it."

Haberman: "Colangelo then continues the narrative, saying the Access Hollywood tape's emergence was the precursor to a story from a porn star named Stormy Daniels that was about to become public. 'So at Trum's direction, Cohen negotiated a deal to buy Ms. Daniels's story in order to prevent American voters from learning that information before Election Day,' he says."

Bromwich: "'It was election fraud, pure and simple,' Colangelo says bluntly."

Bromwich: "'President Trump is innocent,' are the first words of [Trump attorney Todd] Blanche's opening. 'President Trump did not commit any crimes.'"

Haberman: "'I have a spoiler alert: There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,' Blanche says. 'It's called democracy.'"

Bromwich: "Blanche now tries to tell the jury that Cohen has perjured himself. Colangelo objects and the objection is sustained.... [After a bench conference, it appears the judge has ruled] that Blanche will not be allowed to accuse Cohen of perjury directly. But he will say that Cohen lied under oath."

Haberman: "Blanche is now trying to portray The National Enquirer's practices as similar to how other news outlets operate, in terms of deciding when and how to publish a story. That is not correct."

William Rashbaum: "David Pecker is the first witness for the prosecution, and their choice looks to be a good one for them."

Haberman: "'We used checkbook journalism, and we paid for stories,' Pecker says of his time at The National Enquirer. Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks him whether he had 'final say' over editorial decisions. Anything over $10,000 for a story, Pecker says, had to be approved by him."

Haberman: "Pecker is dismissed from the stand. We expect him back tomorrow." That's it for today's testimony.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: The headline planted on Stephen Markley's opinion piece in the NYT -- "A Planetary Crisis Awaits the Next President" -- made me suspect Markley would use his precious Sunday NYT space to make mild mitigation, both-sider suggestions to whoever got the top job next time around. Well, I was wrong. Markley really lets fly what a disaster Trump would be: "... everyone will fall short -- and, surely, I've fallen short --in describing just how frightening a second Trump presidency could actually be...." And his attitude toward Biden is similar to what yours may be: "I fully admit, Mr. Biden was not my first, nor even my seventh, choice in the 2020 Democratic primary. Yet when it came to the immense challenge of confronting this crisis, I am forever grateful that he proved me wrong, delivering a game-changing victory with the narrowest of congressional margins." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "President Biden will travel to a national park in Virginia on Monday, Earth Day, to spotlight his clean energy investments, with an eye on bolstering support among young voters disillusioned with their choices for the 2024 election. Against the backdrop of the park, Prince William Forest, Mr. Biden will announce $7 billion in grants to fund solar power for hundreds of thousands of homes in primarily disadvantaged communities, according to the White House. He will be joined by future members of the American Climate Corps, a new work force for young people hoping to combat climate change. Mr. Biden's top officials will also fan out across the country to promote his environmental policy. Mr. Biden hopes Monday's event can build enthusiasm among young people, a crucial constituency for his re-election bid that includes some who have expressed disappointment with the White House on economic and foreign policy matters but that also cares deeply about environmental policy." The AP story is here.

Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Growing up in a proud Irish Catholic middle-class family, Joe Biden idolized the Kennedys. He and his family saw the Kennedys -- successful, wealthy, attractive Irish Catholics -- as the embodiment of the American Dream. Biden says Robert F. Kennedy Sr., whose bust sits in the Oval Office, inspired him to become a public defender and ultimately run for office. 'The Kennedys were, as a group, the people he patterned his life after,' said former senator Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who was Biden's longtime chief of staff and remains his close friend. 'Not just his political life, but his life.' So when the Kennedy family rallied behind Biden last week in Philadelphia with a full-throated endorsement of his reelection campaign, pointedly choosing him over one of their own -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent -- it was not just politically helpful. It was also a hugely personal victory for Biden."

Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House denounced Columbia University's pro-Palestinian protests as 'blatantly anti-Semitic and dangerous.' Over the last week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered to demand an end to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The student protesters set up what they called a 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' and included tents, signs, and more. The actions have led to hundreds of activists being arrested, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I do realize that hot war and mass murder are not the best circumstances under which to try to foster nuance, but to folks on both sides: there is a stark difference between antisemitism and anti-war. And it is quite possible to be pro-Israel and anti-Bibi.

     ~~~ Update. So a Little Nuance. Kyle Melnick of the Washington Post: "President Biden condemned antisemitism on college campuses in a statement on Sunday, three days after more than 100 people protesting the Gaza war on Columbia University's campus were arrested. Biden's statement, which came as part of a lengthy Passover greeting he issued from the White House, didn't name Columbia directly but said there had been 'harassment and calls for violence against Jews' in recent days.... The president and the White House often issue holiday greetings for various faiths, but the latest statement was notable for its political references. It noted that Passover was coming at a difficult time for Jews still processing the Oct. 7 attacks, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 in Israel and took numerous hostages." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For the first time in my life, I am beginning to wonder if the very premise of a Jewish state is past its sell-by date. A more tolerant model of government could do a much better job at maintaining the peace by guaranteeing equal protection to Jews & non-Jews alike. I never thought I'd feel that way, but Netanyahu has showed me the cracks in my traditional views of Israel. If this be the Promised Land, I'd rather be in Sweden! Of course I don't think my Kumbaya premise holds much chance in a land buffeted by war after war going back to pre-history, so in the meantime, I'll go with the less-than-ideal two-state "solution."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times reports the official version of how Mike Johnson got to "yes" on aid to Ukraine: "Mr. Johnson's decision to risk his speakership to push the $95 billion foreign aid bill through the House on Saturday was the culmination of a remarkable personal and political arc for the Louisiana Republican.... As a rank-and-file hard-liner, Mr. Johnson had largely opposed efforts to fund Kyiv's war effort.... Mr. Johnson attributed his turnabout in part to the intelligence briefings he received, a striking assertion from a leader of a party that has embraced ... Donald J. Trump's deep mistrust of the intelligence community.... 'I want to be on the right side of history,' Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, recalled the speaker telling him." In yesterday's Comments, Ken W., Akhilleus & I expressed more skeptical views of the impetus for the Conversion of Saint Michael of Shreve. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Besides, there's this: ~~~

~~~ The Shadow Speaker. Andrew Solender of Axios: "Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) found himself in an unusual position for a minority leader last week: It was he, not the House speaker, who had the ultimate power to decide whether legislation came to the floor.... Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a master legislative tactician, heaped praise on her successor: 'He is fabulous. We're so proud of him.' One senior House Democrat told Axios: 'It easily could have fallen apart ... He played the cards the way you'd want to play them.'... Jeffries' message to his members leading up to the foreign aid fight was to stay unified behind him and not commit themselves to positions on saving [Mike] Johnson that might box the party in."

It's Showtime! Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times : "The first criminal trial of an American president will debut on Monday for a jury of 12 New Yorkers, as prosecutors and defense lawyers deliver opening statements that provide dueling interpretations of the evidence against Donald J. Trump.... Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office are expected to say that Mr. Trump orchestrated a scheme to suppress stories that could have damaged his 2016 campaign.... The defense ... will try to poke holes in that narrative.... His lawyers will most likely focus on [former Trump lawyer Michael] Cohen, calling him a serial liar with an ax to grind against Mr. Trump. They are also expected to argue that Mr. Trump was not personally involved in the falsification of the records at his company. And they may assert that Mr. Trump's motive for pursuing the hush-money deals was not political, and that he was trying to protect his family from negative publicity." ~~~

~~~ Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: In the 2016 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump, "... prosecutors for Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, will try to show that the payment [to Stormy Daniels] was part of a larger effort to suppress negative news about Mr. Trump to sway the election. That scheme, they will contend, resulted in not just the hush-money payment at the center of the trial, but two others. Though the other episodes are not part of the formal indictment in the case, prosecutors will use them to argue that the true purpose of the Daniels payment was related to the election, making it a federal campaign finance violation, and that his company's records were falsified to cover it up. The accusation that Mr. Trump concealed another crime elevates charges that would normally be misdemeanors into felonies." Based on numerous sources, including court records, Rothfeld traces the schemes to quash stories that might hurt Trump's chances to win the 2016 presidential election. Rothfeld, who previously worked for the Wall Street Journal, was the lead reporter on the WSJ's Pulitzer Prize-winning reports on Trump's hush-money payments in 2018. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ OR, you could just go with Patrick Fitzgerald's explanation:

Liz Cheney in a New York Times op-ed: "On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Donald Trump's arguments that he is immune from prosecution for his efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election. It is likely that all -- or nearly all -- of the justices agree that a former president who attempted to seize power and remain in office illegally can be prosecuted.... If the trial is delayed past this fall and Mr. Trump wins re-election, he will surely fire the special counsel, order his Justice Department to drop all Jan. 6 cases and try to prevent key grand jury testimony from ever seeing the light of day.... The Supreme Court should understand this reality and conclude without delay that no immunity applies here."

Still Crazier. Derek Hawkins, et al., of the Washington Post: "On Truth Social, [Donald Trump] is serving up an even more extreme version of his online [Twitter] self. His following is diminished, but his posting has accelerated. He has traded combative tweets for even more belligerent screeds. Diatribes against his perceived enemies have drawn gag orders from judges in multiple cases. His media diet has become almost exclusively right-wing. And above all, he persists in spreading lies about his 2020 election loss, deep into his campaign for another term.... It's here that Trump ... offers an intimate view of what his second term could look like: isolated, vitriolic and vengeful.... On a typical day, Trump's feed is a flurry of polls and links interspersed with a drumbeat of attacks and dire warnings about the state of the country[.]... He also is now more likely to write in all caps[.]... At least 570 posts since he announced his presidential bid in November 2022 have contained insulting language directed at someone.... In between all that, Trump reposts bizarre AI-generated art and crudely doctored images. And the site abounds with fringe companies peddling diet supplements, political-themed knickknacks and gold bars."

The Fascists Have Always Been with Us. Paul Rosenberg of Salon interviews author David Austin Walsh on the history of the far right in the U.S. Walsh tells Rosenberg: "... even after the so-called purge of the racists and the Nazis and antisemites in the mid-1960s, you still see these elements very close to the so-called mainstream of American conservatism.... [William F. Buckley, Jr.] is the conduit through which I found all the characters in my book.... Joe McCarthy ... doesn't emerge out of nowhere.... You already have, immediately after World War II, the growing power of the farthest fringes of the right.... There's a real danger in 2024 of nostalgizing the 20th-century conservative movement as 'responsible,' 'respectable' and 'about ideas.' The same features of what became MAGAism were embedded in the movement from the very beginning, and were broadly tolerated by conservative elites even if they found them to be slightly distasteful." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The head of intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces said he will step down and retire over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in what Israeli media reported is the first departure of a general because of the failures that allowed the assault to happen.... In a resignation letter shared by the IDF, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva wrote that the military intelligence directorate did not live up to its mission under his command on the day of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 'I have been carrying that black day ever since, day and night,' he said. The attack was preceded by several intelligence failures, including internal warnings that were downplayed or dismissed.... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed alarm that the United States is considering imposing sanctions on an IDF unit, describing it as the 'height of absurdity' at a time when his troops are battling Hamas in Gaza.... Netanyahu was responding to a report by Axios that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against Netzah Yehuda, an ultra-Orthodox military unit accused of human rights violations in the occupied West Bank. Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz told Blinken in a call that the move would 'harm Israel's international legitimacy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here.

The Conversation -- April 21, 2024

Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House denounced Columbia University's pro-Palestinian protests as 'blatantly anti-Semitic and dangerous.' Over the last week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered to demand an end to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The student protesters set up what they called a 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' and included tents, signs, and more. The actions have led to hundreds of activists being arrested, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I do realize that hot war and mass murder are not the best circumstances under which to try to foster nuance, but to folks on both sides: there is a stark difference between antisemitism and anti-war. And it is quite possible to be pro-Israel and anti-Bibi.

On the other hand, for the first time in my life, I am beginning to wonder if the very premise of a Jewish state is past its sell-by date. A more tolerant model of government could do a much better job at maintaining the peace by guaranteeing equal protection to Jews & non-Jews alike. I never thought I'd feel that way, but Netanyahu has showed me the cracks in my traditional views of Israel. If this be the Promised Land, I'd rather be in Sweden! Of course I don't think my Kumbaya premise holds much chance in a series of wars that predate history, so in the meantime, I'll go with the two-state "solution."

The Fascists Have Always Been with Us. Paul Rosenberg of Salon interviews author David Austin Walsh on the history of the far right in the U.S. Walsh tells Rosenberg: "... even after the so-called purge of the racists and the Nazis and antisemites in the mid-1960s, you still see these elements very close to the so-called mainstream of American conservatism.... [William F. Buckley, Jr.] is the conduit through which I found all the characters in my book.... Joe McCarthy ... doesn't emerge out of nowhere.... You already have, immediately after World War II, the growing power of the farthest fringes of the right.... There's a real danger in 2024 of nostalgizing the 20th-century conservative movement as 'responsible,' 'respectable' and 'about ideas.' The same features of what became MAGAism were embedded in the movement from the very beginning, and were broadly tolerated by conservative elites even if they found them to be slightly distasteful."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times reports the official version of how Mike Johnson got to "yes" on aid to Ukraine: "Mr. Johnson's decision to risk his speakership to push the $95 billion foreign aid bill through the House on Saturday was the culmination of a remarkable personal and political arc for the Louisiana Republican.... As a rank-and-file hard-liner, Mr. Johnson had largely opposed efforts to fund Kyiv's war effort.... Mr. Johnson attributed his turnabout in part to the intelligence briefings he received, a striking assertion from a leader of a party that has embraced ... Donald J. Trump's deep mistrust of the intelligence community.... 'I want to be on the right side of history,' Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, recalled the speaker telling him." In today's Comments, Ken W. & I are more skeptical of the impetus for the Conversion of St. Michael of Shreve.

Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: In the 2016 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump, "... prosecutors for Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, will try to show that the payment [to Stormy Daniels] was part of a larger effort to suppress negative news about Mr. Trump to sway the election. That scheme, they will contend, resulted in not just the hush-money payment at the center of the trial, but two others. Though the other episodes are not part of the formal indictment in the case, prosecutors will use them to argue that the true purpose of the Daniels payment was related to the election, making it a federal campaign finance violation, and that his company's records were falsified to cover it up. The accusation that Mr. Trump concealed another crime elevates charges that would normally be misdemeanors into felonies." Based on numerous sources, including court records, Rothfeld traces the schemes to quash stories that might hurt Trump's chances to win the 2016 presidential election. Rothfeld, who previously worked for the Wall Street Journal, was the lead reporter on the WSJ's Pulitzer Prize-winning reports on Trump's hush-money payments in 2018.

Marie: The headline planted on Stephen Markley's opinion piece in the NYT -- "A Planetary Crisis Awaits the Next President" -- made me suspect Markley would use his precious Sunday NYT space to make mild mitigation, both-sider suggestions to whoever got the top job next time around. Well, I was wrong. Markley really lets fly what a disaster Trump would be: "... everyone will fall short -- and, surely, I've fallen short -- in describing just how frightening a second Trump presidency could actually be...." And his attitude toward Biden is similar to what yours may be: "I fully admit, Mr. Biden was not my first, nor even my seventh, choice in the 2020 Democratic primary. Yet when it came to the immense challenge of confronting this crisis, I am forever grateful that he proved me wrong, delivering a game-changing victory with the narrowest of congressional margins." Thanks to RAS for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House voted resoundingly on Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line to advance the long-stalled aid package by marshaling support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats. In four back-to-back votes, overwhelming bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers approved fresh rounds of funding for the three U.S. allies, as well as another bill meant to sweeten the deal for conservatives that could result in a nationwide ban of TikTok.... Minutes before the vote on assistance for Kyiv, Democrats began to wave small Ukrainian flags on the House floor, as hard-right Republicans jeered. The legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.

"It would direct the president to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance, a concept supported by ... Donald J. Trump, who had pushed for any aid to Kyiv to be in the form of a loan. But it also would allow the president to forgive those loans starting in 2026. It also contained a measure to help pave the way to selling off frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, and a new round of sanctions on Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation as early as Tuesday and send it to President Biden's desk, capping its tortured journey through Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) An NPR story is here.

Maria Kostenko, et al., of CNN: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu have thanked US lawmakers after they voted in favor of new aid packages for their countries worth billions of dollars."

David McAfee of the Raw Story: According to David Frum of the Atlantic, the Ukraine vote shows that "'... Trump's party in Congress has rebelled against him -- and not on a personal payoff to some oddball Trump loyalist, but on one of Trump's most cherished issues, his siding with Russia against Ukraine.'... Trump still has strong GOP support, but 'the cracks in unity are visible,' according to [Frum]."

Jill Colvin of the AP: “Over the past week, Donald Trump has been forced to sit inside a frigid New York courtroom and listen to a parade of potential jurors in his criminal hush money trial share their unvarnished assessments of him. It's been a dramatic departure for the former president and presumptive 2024 GOP nominee, who is accustomed to spending his days in a cocoon of cheering crowds and constant adulation.... [At] Mar-a-Lago..., he is surrounded by doting paid staff and dues-paying members who have shelled out tens of thousands of dollars to be near him. Many days, Trump heads to his nearby golf course, where he is 'swarmed by people wanting to shake his hand, take pictures of him, and tell him how amazing he is,' said Stephanie Grisham, a longtime aide who broke with Trump after ... Jan. 6, 2021. When he returns to Mar-a-Lago in the afternoon, members lunching on the patio often stand and applaud. He receives the same standing ovation at dinner, which often ends with Trump playing DJ on his iPad, blasting favorites like 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World' by James Brown."

Presidential Race

Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "At least 10 men wearing the uniform of the Proud Boys, a violent extremist group, appeared outside the entrance of a rally [in Wilmington, N.C.,] for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.... A spokesman for the Biden campaign condemned Trump for emboldening violent extremists.... It was not clear if the Proud Boys entered the event, which was subsequently canceled because of severe weather.... The crowd awaiting Trump on the airport tarmac was similar in size to the audience during a rally here in 2022. Vendors sold T-shirts, posters and lawn signs bearing varied renderings of Trump's mug shot; as well as vulgar signs; bumper stickers and shirts directed at Biden; knives; Confederate flag bedsheets; shirts for the QAnon online extremist movement; and MAGA visors with attached orange poufs."

Maeve Reston & Clara Morse of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "legal expenses continue to be a tremendous burden on his campaign and its allied groups, the latest campaign finance records show, accounting for 26 percent of the spending in March by his political committees. New Federal Election Commission filings released Saturday show that Save America leadership PAC, a Trump-aligned group he has used to pay some of his lawyers, took in $5 million during March and racked up $4.6 million in legal bills for Trump and some of his associates.... Trump's political committees have spent at least $16.7 million on legal bills so far this year, and owe another $900,000 to various firms as of the end of March, bringing his overall legal fees since starting his campaign to around $86 million." CNN's report is here.

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 21, 2020. Bernie Sanders: "... supplies like personal protective equipment for health care workers -- seen as essential if coronavirus surges re-emerge -- remain in dangerously short supply. An intense and chaotic scramble continues to unfold as hospitals, cities and states go out on their own to compete for masks and gowns, with uneven and shifting coordination by the federal government." ~~~

~~~ Top News in the NYT, April 20, 2020. Bernie Sanders: "We are the richest country in the history of the world, but at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, that reality means little to half of our people who live paycheck to paycheck, the 40 million living in poverty, the 87 million who are uninsured or underinsured, and the half million who are homeless. In the midst of the twin crises that we face -- the coronavirus pandemic and the meltdown of our economy -- it's imperative that we re-examine some of the foundations of American society, understand why they are failing us, and fight for a fairer and more just nation." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Sunday is the Israel/Hamas war are here: "At least 14 people, including one child, have been killed in an Israeli military operation in Nur al-Shams refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The military said the operation, which appeared to be one of the largest in the occupied West Bank since October 7, had killed 10 'terrorists.' Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli settlers killed an ambulance driver trying to transport Palestinians who had been attacked, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. A spike in violence by extremist settlers in the occupied territory has led to more sanctions by the US and EU. Officials in Tehran have sought to play down the Friday morning strike on Iran -- which has been attributed to Israel -- as tensions simmer from a significant escalation between the regional powerhouses."

News Lede

New York Times: "Terry Anderson, the American journalist who had been the longest-held Western hostage in Lebanon when he was finally released in 1991 by Islamic militants after more than six years in captivity, died on Saturday at his home in Greenwood Lake, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley. He was 76."

The Conversation -- April 20, 2024

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House voted resoundingly on Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line to advance the long-stalled aid package by marshaling support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats. In four back-to-back votes, overwhelming bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers approved fresh rounds of funding for the three U.S. allies, as well as another bill meant to sweeten the deal for conservatives that could result in a nationwide ban of TikTok.... Minutes before the vote on assistance for Kyiv, Democrats began to wave small Ukrainian flags on the House floor, as hard-right Republicans jeered. The legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. It would direct the president to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance, a concept supported by ... Donald J. Trump, who had pushed for any aid to Kyiv to be in the form of a loan. But it also would allow the president to forgive those loans starting in 2026. It also contained a measure to help pave the way to selling off frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, and a new round of sanctions on Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation as early as Tuesday and send it to President Biden's desk, capping its tortured journey through Congress."

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 20, 2020. Bernie Sanders: "We are the richest country in the history of the world, but at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, that reality means little to half of our people who live paycheck to paycheck, the 40 million living in poverty, the 87 million who are uninsured or underinsured, and the half million who are homeless. In the midst of the twin crises that we face -- the coronavirus pandemic and the meltdown of our economy -- it's imperative that we re-examine some of the foundations of American society, understand why they are failing us, and fight for a fairer and more just nation."

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Ellen Nakashima & Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "Laboring into the early hours of Saturday morning, Congress reauthorized for two years a surveillance program that U.S. spy agencies regard as one of their most valuable tools and that critics on the left and the right say intrudes on Americans' privacy. The 60-34 vote in the Senate came a week after the House renewed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which enables U.S. intelligence agencies to gather without a warrant the digital communications of foreigners overseas -- including when they text or email people inside the United States. The measure now goes to President Biden's desk for a signature." CNN's report is here.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "The House took a critical step on Friday toward approving a long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other American allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be considered on the floor. The 316-94 vote cleared the way for the House to bring up the aid package, teeing up separate votes on Saturday on each of its parts. But passage of those measures, each of which enjoys bipartisan support from different coalitions, was not in doubt, making Friday's action the key indicator that the legislation will have the backing needed to prevail. The rule for considering the bill -- historically a straight party-line vote -- passed with more Democratic than Republican support, but it also won a majority of G.O.P. votes, making it clear that despite a pocket of deep resistance from the far right, there is broad bipartisan backing for the $95.3 billion package.

"The vote was an enormous victory in the long effort to fund to Ukraine as it battles against Russian aggression, a major priority of President Bidenthat has met with bitter resistance from the right. It was a triumph against the forces of isolationism within the G.O.P. and a major moment of bipartisan consensus in a Congress that for the past year has been mostly defined by its dysfunction." (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.

Finally, MTG Gets the Respect She Deserves. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Russian state TV broadcasters who once treated Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as a joke now believe she's worthy of being taken very seriously. The Daily Beast's Julia Davis reported that Kremlin-approved broadcasters have been ecstatic at the ways the Georgia congresswoman has taken a lead role in trying to block Congress from passing more military aid to Ukraine, which has been trying to fend off an unprovoked Russian invasion for the past two-plus years. According to Davis, broadcasters have felt especially gratified that Greene has been reciting Kremlin propaganda about the Ukrainian government being filled with 'Nazis,' despite the fact that the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish."

The Trials of Trump & the Trump Mob

Jesse McKinley & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The final jurors for Donald J. Trump's criminal trial were selected on Friday, with lawyers preparing to offer opening statements on Monday in a landmark proceeding.... The day was marked by an intensity of emotion from the start. Several prospective jurors asked to be excused, and some became upset, with one saying she had become too nervous to continue the process. Then word quietly began to spread about the man who had set himself on fire in a park across the street from the courthouse. The courtroom proceedings continued, but the stir was noticeable.... An afternoon hearing at which the judge was to determine the questions prosecutors could ask the former president if he were to testify proceeded as scheduled.... Even as jury selection was concluding, Mr. Trump filed an appeal for another emergency pause of the trial, arguing that the case should be stopped until a full panel rules on his bid to move the trial out of Manhattan. An appeals court judge denied the request. Justice [Juan] Merchan seemed weary of the defense's efforts to continually file motions that might delay the trial."

New York Times reporters liveblogged developments on Friday, Day 4 of the Trump 2016 criminal election interference case brought by the Manhattan district attorney. Bedtime for Bonzo started awfully early. According to a couple of Maggie Haberman's observations: "Trump has taken his seat. His hair is uncharacteristically messy.... [AND] Trump appears to have fallen asleep in court again. It happened several times just now. His eyes were closed for extended periods and his head dropped down twice."

MB: But my favorite remark came via Jesse McKinley at the other end of the court day: "'Sir, can you please have a seat?' the judge says to Trump, as he rises before court is adjourned." According on on-air reports I heard later, Trump did sit down as ordered to do. You will notice that it turns out that at least one official does indeed call Trump "Sir," so perhaps it is no longer a reliable signal of a fictional account. YET the judge calls Trump "Sir" in the same way a cop would tell a vagrant to move along: "Sir, you can't lie down on a bench next to the children's playground." That is, "Sir' is used in this case not as an address showing special respect but as a generic address designed not to convey disrespect, and perhaps employed ironically. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nate Schweber & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: "A man set himself on fire on Friday afternoon near the Lower Manhattan courthouse where jurors were being chosen for the criminal trial of ... Donald J. Trump. The man doused himself with accelerant at around 1:35 p.m. in Collect Pond Park, across the street from the courthouse. Onlookers screamed and started to run, and soon, bright orange flames engulfed the man. It was unclear what motivated his action. People rushed over to try to extinguish the fire, but the intensity of the heat could be felt several hundred feet away. After a few minutes, dozens of police officers rushed over and tried to smother the flames. The man, who appeared to be alive, was loaded into an ambulance and rushed away." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Rebecca Shabad, et al., of NBC News: "A man who set himself on fire Friday outside the courthouse where ... Donald Trump's hush money trial is taking place has died, New York City police said early Saturday. The man, whom police identified as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, was in the designated protest area outside."

Dan Mangan of CNBC: "The New York Attorney General's office on Friday asked a judge to effectively void a $175 million bond posted by ... Donald Trump to secure a much larger monetary damage award in his civil business fraud case as he appeals the judgment. The AG's office in a filing said Trump and other defendants in the case had failed to show there is enough identifiable collateral to back the bond for the judgment in Manhattan Supreme Court. The filing notes that the surety Trump used to obtain the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, is 'a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state's insurance department, had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million.'... Lawyers for AG Letitia James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require Trump and other defendants to put up a replacement bond within seven days of ruling on the issue.... A hearing on the bond dispute is set for Monday."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has handed down her harshest Jan. 6 sentence to date -- five-and-a-half years -- to Scott Miller, a Maryland man and former Proud Boys leader who assaulted multiple officers in a violent attempt to breach the Capitol. Chutkan based her sentence, delivered on Friday, in part on Miller's 'aggressive' actions at the Capitol but also on his private writings that called for racial and religious violence against minorities and Jews. She said the evidence of his 'violent ideology' -- his embrace of Nazism and his purported belief that Washington, D.C., residents should be executed -- troubled her despite Miller's insistence that he had disavowed those beliefs soon after Jan. 6.... Chutkan, who is in line to preside over the criminal trial of Donald Trump for his bid to subvert the 2020 election, emphasized her belief that the Jan. 6 mob attack was 'close to as serious a crisis as this nation has ever faced.'"

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Three [Four??] California men who were associated with the 'Three Percenter' militia group and convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were taken into custody Friday after a judge ordered them to serve sentences ranging from 21 to 33 months in federal prison, far below what the government had requested. Erik Scott Warner, Felipe Antonio Martinez, Derek Kinnison and Ronald Mele were all found guilty of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges after a trial last year.... The felony charge they were convicted of -- obstruction of an official proceeding -- is currently before the Supreme Court, where some of the justices seemed skeptical of the way the government had used the charge.... If the Supreme Court guts the charge, two of the defendants could end up only serving 12 months in prison on their misdemeanor convictions."

Presidential Race

"Sleepy Don." Patrick Svitek of the Washington Post: "The [Biden] campaign has increasingly put a spotlight on reports that Trump has appeared to doze off during his hush-money trial in New York.... 'A feeble and tired Donald Trump once again falls asleep in court,' the campaign said Friday on X, responding to a New York Times live blog entry saying Trump 'appears to have fallen asleep in court again.' Later Friday, Biden's campaign labeled Trump 'Sleepy Don' in a news release saying he had a 'nightmare week' that included getting 'some shut-eye.' The digs are notable because Biden's campaign and the White House have otherwise avoided commenting on the trial itself."

** Michigan. Shane Goldmacher & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "The prospect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatening to upend the presidential race went from an idea to a reality in one of the country's most consequential battlegrounds on Thursday, when Mr. Kennedy qualified for the ballot in Michigan. The decision by the Natural Law Party to grant Mr. Kennedy its ballot line in November ensures he will be a factor in a pivotal swing state where the presidential election is expected to be incredibly close and where President Biden has already shown vulnerability with key Democratic constituencies.... Mr. Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat and the scion of perhaps the nation's most famous Democratic family, is running as an independent in 2024 and polling higher in early surveys than any third-party candidate since Ross Perot, the self-funding billionaire who ran in the 1990s. His independent candidacy has earned him the estrangement of his own family -- who campaigned this week with Mr. Biden in Pennsylvania -- and many of his previous colleagues from the environmental movement, who denounced his candidacy publicly on Friday." ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: By accepting the fake nomination of Michigan's Natural Law Party, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got on the Michigan ballot "without having to gather a single signature, avoiding a costly and arduous organizing effort, not to mention the possibility of having to fight court challenges to those signatures.... [It is primarily the project of Doug Dern, a Michigan bankruptcy lawyer.] Mr. Kennedy was formally nominated at a brief convention held Wednesday morning in Mr. Dern's law office. The only two attendees were Mr. Dern and the party's secretary."

Trump Plans Massive Voter Intimidation Squad. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's political operation said Thursday that it plans to deploy more than 100,000 attorneys and volunteers across battleground states to monitor -- and potentially challenge -- vote counting in November. The initiative -- which the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee described as 'the most extensive and monumental election integrity program in the nation's history' -- will include training poll watchers and workers as well as lawyers."

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 19, 2020: "Sloppy laboratory practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caused contamination that rendered the nation's first coronavirus tests ineffective, federal officials confirmed on Saturday." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Jeanne Whalen & Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: "Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed a historic vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union said Friday, becoming the first Southern auto factory to approve a union with an election since the 1940s. The union's unofficial vote count, which still must be confirmed by federal labor officials conducting the ballot, showed 73 percent of workers had voted yes by 10 p.m. E.T. on Friday night. It will take a simple majority for the vote to pass. The vote marks a victory for the UAW and for organized labor, which has faced years of difficulty organizing factories in Southern states."

Jonathan Edwards, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than 100 people protesting the war in Gaza were cleared off Columbia University's campus, arrested and charged with trespassing on Thursday. The arrests came a day after the university's president pledged during a congressional hearing on antisemitism to balance students' safety with their right to free speech. Having been summoned by Columbia President Minouche Shafik in what she described as 'an extraordinary step' to keep the campus safe, New York Police Department officers in riot gear entered the encampment with zip ties in the early afternoon and systematically arrested protesters, who offered little resistance.... Columbia's gates have been closed all week, so only people with a university identification can get in; it was a peaceful student protest, [student body president Tejasri Vijayakumar] said.... Students who participated in the encampment would be suspended, Shafik said in a letter to New York police." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Apparently strongly committed to not being the latest pelt for angry donors, Columbia's leadership appeared before Congress yesterday and agreed to various investigations and firings without even suggesting that academic freedom might be an important consideration in the process. Today, they demonstrated that they got the campus free speech 'speech members of Congress disagree with' message[.]... If there's any evidence that this protest was a threat to student 'safety' that would justify an immediate and recently unprecedented crackdown by armed police, the administration certainly doesn't seem to be providing it." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Moira Donegan of the Guardian: At the GOP-run House hearing, "Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president..., made only tepid defenses of academic freedom, instead favoring wholehearted condemnations of the protesters, assents to bad-faith mischaracterizations of the students as antisemitic and genocidal, and public, apparently on-the-spot, personnel decisions that removed some pro-Palestinian faculty and staff from their positions.... The police raid against Columbia students that followed the next day can be seen as an extension of the policy of appeasement and pre-emptive compliance with the anti-Palestinian, anti-student Republican right that Shafik adopted in her testimony.... It is worth stating plainly what happened at Columbia: the raid was nothing less than the product of collusion between a university administration and rightwing politicians to suppress politically disfavored speech." Thanks to RAS for the link. See also the discussion in Friday's Comments thread. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, and this from Donegan's column: "The arrested students were charged with 'trespassing' on the campus that they are charged more than $60,000 a year to attend." ~~~

~~~ Update. Sharon Otterman & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "A day after Columbia's president, Nemat Shafik, called in the police to arrest some 100 students and take down their encampment, the activists showed little sign of losing steam. There were heaps of blankets and deliveries of water bottles and food. Dr. Shafik's decision drew criticism on Friday from the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a professional faculty organization. 'We have lost confidence in our president and our administration, and we pledge to fight to reclaim our university,' the group said in a statement Friday. In addition, a pro-Palestinian coalition of faculty and staff at Columbia, Barnard and Teachers colleges called upon faculty to boycott graduation and academic events, until the university lifts student suspensions and withdraws financial support from Israel, among other demands. But not all faculty members agreed with the criticism. Vincent A. Blasi, a Columbia law professor who has spent decades studying civil liberties issues, said the university had articulated a 'reasonable' policy to govern protests and had every right to punish students who violate it."

The Effects of the Epistle of Saint Samuel to the Women of Jackson, Mississippi: ~~~

~~~ ** Amanda Seitz of the AP: "One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal."

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Pennsylvania Senate Race. Hee-Haw. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, is soon to become Pennsylvania's GOP candidate for U.S. Senate. "Interviews in Mr. McCormick's hometown, as well as a review of public records, news coverage from his childhood and his own words, suggest that he has given a misleading impression about key aspects of his background. He has explicitly said and strongly implied that he grew up on a farm, claimed in 2022 that he had 'started with nothing' and that he 'didn't have anything,' and he and his campaign have recently described his parents as schoolteachers. In fact, Mr. McCormick is the son of a well-regarded college president who later became chancellor of higher education systems in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. He largely grew up in the president's sprawling hilltop residence, which students called the president's mansion, at what is now Bloomsburg University.... The family did own a farm several miles from the school.... But it was also often known locally as a place where his mother raised Arabian horses...."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel carried out a military strike on Iran early Friday, a US official told CNN, in a potentially dangerous escalation of a fast-widening Middle East conflict that Iranian officials have so far sought to play down. Israel has not commented and Iran has not identified the source of the attack. An Iranian official said air defenses intercepted three drones close to an airbase in Isfahan province, where explosions were reported. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the G7 countries are 'committed to de-escalating' tensions between Israel and Iran. Meanwhile, the US has imposed sanctions on two organizations for fundraising on behalf of violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank, and the EU also sanctioned 'extremist settlers.'"

Niger. Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "More than 1,000 American military personnel will leave Niger in the coming months, Biden administration officials said on Friday, upending U.S. counterterrorism and security policy in the tumultuous Sahel region of Africa. In the second of two meetings this week in Washington, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell told Niger's prime minister, Ali Lamine Zeine, that the United States disagreed with the country's turn toward Russia for security and Iran for a possible deal on its uranium reserves, and the failure of Niger's military government to map out a path to return to democracy, according to a senior State Department official...."