The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

The Washington Post's live updates of Hurricane Milton developments are here: “Hurricane Milton, which has strengthened to a 'catastrophic' Category 5 storm, is closing in on Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane, which could bring maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 mph with bigger gusts, poses a dire threat to the densely populated zone that includes Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. As well as 'damaging hurricane-force winds,' coastal communities face a “life-threatening” storm surge, the center said.” ~~~

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

Washington Post: “The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to David Baker at the University of Washington and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind.... The prize was awarded to scientists who cracked the code of proteins. Hassabis and Jumper used artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins, one of the toughest problems in biology. Baker created computational tools to design novel proteins with shapes and functions that can be used in drugs, vaccines and sensors.”

Sorry, forgot this yesterday: ~~~

Reuters: “U.S. scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries and inventions in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. Heralded for its revolutionary potential in areas ranging from cutting-edge scientific discovery to more efficient admin, the emerging technology on which the duo worked has also raised fears humankind may soon be outsmarted and outcompeted by its own creation.”

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The Ledes

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments Tuesday as powerful Hurricane Milton moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Central Florida.

New York Times: “Cissy Houston, a Grammy Award-winning soul and gospel star who helped shepherd her daughter Whitney Houston to superstardom, died on Monday at her home in Newark. She was 91.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Saturday
Dec072019

The Commentariat -- December 8, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "Officials said on Sunday that federal investigators were working on the presumption that the attack in Pensacola on Friday was an act of terrorism. Sailors from Alabama, Florida and Georgia were killed, and eight others were injured.... Rachel Rojas, the special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Jacksonville field office, said on Sunday that the presumption of terrorism allows law enforcement agencies to more quickly identify and eliminate any potential threats to the community. None have [has!] been identified so far, she said.” ~~~

~~~ Brendan Farrington & Mike Balsamo of the AP: "The Saudi gunman who killed three people at the Pensacola naval base had apparently gone on Twitter shortly before the shooting to blast U.S. support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, a U.S. official said Sunday as the FBI confirmed it is operating on the assumption the attack was an act of terrorism. Investigators are also trying to establish whether the killer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone or was part of a larger plot."

Darlene Superville of the AP: “A top Republican ally of ... Donald Trump went a step further than the White House on Sunday by calling for Saudi Arabia to be suspended from an American military training program after a student pilot from the kingdom shot and killed three sailors at a U.S. naval base in Florida. Trump had called for the program to be reviewed but Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he wanted more. 'We need to suspend the Saudi program until we find out what happened here,' he said, adding that he likes the idea of training foreign pilots and helping them understand how the U.S. system works.”

Max Boot in the Washington Post: “President Trump has long held a double standard when it comes to terrorist attacks: When the perpetrator is a white supremacist, he offers anodyne expressions of sympathy for the victims (often 'thoughts and prayers'), while typically failing to label the attack an act of terrorism. When the perpetrator is a Muslim, however, he is vitriolic in his denunciations and his calls for a massive response, such as stopping all Muslims from entering the United States.... It turns out that Trump actually has a triple standard, because he treats attacks by Saudis differently than those from other Muslim nations.... Instead of expressing outrage or vowing vengeance [for the Pensacola attack], or even waiting for all the facts to come in, Trump sounded as if he were auditioning for the job of press secretary at the Saudi Embassy.... This is, of course, only the latest example of Trump’s suspicious partiality to Saudi Arabia — the site of his first trip abroad as president.... Trump’s suspicious relationship with Saudi Arabia is merely another example of what happens when a president decides to run the U.S. government as if it were a family-owned business whose only objective is to benefit his bottom line.”

Trump Trots Out Pardoned Soldiers at Campaign Event. Samantha Gross & David Smiley of the Miami Herald: “... during a closed-door speech to Republican Party of Florida donors at the state party’s annual Statesman’s Dinner..., [Donald Trump brought] on stage Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who[m] Trump pardoned last month for cases involving war crimes.... The dinner ... raised $3.5 million for the state party....” ~~~

     ~~~ Al Vicens of Mother Jones: "Lorance was serving a 19-year prison sentence for murder after ordering soldiers to open fire on three unarmed Afghan men in 2012, killing two. Golsteyn had been charged with premeditated murder after admitting to shooting a detained, unarmed Afghan man in 2010. Golsteyn killed the prisoner off-base and buried his body, only to dig it up later, bring it back to the base, and burn it in a pit used to dispose of trash, according to the Washington Post." Mrs. McC: Are these guys really great campaign props? Did they get a standing O at the "Statesman's" Dinner? I'd like to think at least some dyed-in-the-wool Republicans think "convicted/accused war criminal" is not an admirable descriptor.


Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article238150139.html#storylink=cpy

Devan Cole, et al., of CNN: "With sources telling CNN a vote in the Judiciary Committee to impeach ... Donald Trump is expected as soon as this week, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said Sunday that he sees the Ukraine evidence as part of 'a pattern' of conduct by the President. But, in an interview Sunday with CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union,' Nadler would not commit to including the evidence of obstruction of justice outlined in Robert Mueller's special counsel report as part of the articles of impeachment. Nadler said he was confident in Democrats' 'solid' case for impeachment, expressing optimism about the matter as the party moves closer to drafting articles. He thinks his party's case 'if presented to a jury would be a guilty verdict in about three minutes flat.'"

State of the Union Denial. Zachary Basu of Axios: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) falsely claimed on CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday that President Trump did not ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival on a July 25 phone call.... As CNN's Dana Bash points out, President Trump specifically asked Zelesnky on the July 25 phone call to investigate Joe Biden, who was at that point seen as the likely frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic primary. Trump did not raise any broader concerns about corruption in Ukraine.... The leading Trump ally's defense illustrates the degree to which House Republicans will dispute key facts in the impeachment inquiry...."

Jacob Knutson of Axios: “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday that Ukraine 'blatantly interfered' in the 2016 election, repeating a conspiracy theory that experts warn has been promoted by Russian intelligence services.” ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has spent his entire adult life touting the West’s defeat of communism in the Cold War.... [Cruz harshly criticized President Obama for not having harsher words for Russia's attack on Ukraine.] Cruz, Cold Warrior, Obama critic and anti-Putin hawk..., now declares there is evidence of Ukraine interference in our election because an op-ed was written criticizing Trump’s campaign rhetoric about Ukraine. This is what Cruz is now reduced to — making excuses for a president willing to stab Ukraine in the back to the utter delight of Putin.... Cruz, like virtually every other Republican in Congress is a coward, is afraid of a tweet or of the Trump mob. The formerly tough-on-defense Republican Party would rather contribute to the Kremlin propaganda machine and enable Trump (Putin’s best friend) than incur the wrath of the right wing.... In comparison to [Trump & Cruz], Obama was Winston Churchill.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "House Democrats released a report on Saturday intended to lay out the legal and historical underpinnings of their case for impeaching President Trump while also countering Republican accusations that the investigation of the president’s conduct in office has been unfair and illegitimate. Democrats have accused the president of abusing his power by trying to pressure the Ukrainian government to announce investigations into his political rivals. They also claim that Mr. Trump obstructed the congressional inquiry by blocking witnesses from testifying and refusing to provide documents. The 52-page report by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee argues that the framers of the Constitution intentionally provided a way to remove the occupant of the Oval Office for just such misconduct." The CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Chairman Jerrold Nadler described the 55-page analysis as the heir to the only similar report produced by the Judiciary Committee, which was released during the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon. That document was updated during the Bill Clinton impeachment but not fully rewritten. Democrats view the new, Trump-era document as a touchstone in the nation’s centuries-long struggle to define and apply the most charged tool the Constitution provides to Congress: the power to remove a president. It is also a key step toward an impeachment vote later this year...."

     ~~~ The report, via the Judiciary Committee, is here.

David Jackson of USA Today: “The office of Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday turned down a Democratic request for information on a call between Pence and the president of Ukraine, saying it doesn't know exactly what impeachment investigators are seeking. 'Because Adam Schiff continues to operate in an underhanded manner, the Office of the Vice President does not even know what he wants declassified,' said Pence spokeswoman Katie Waldman. 'It’s simply further proof that this shoddy committee is pursuing a sham investigation.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Obviously a decent veep would not respond to a Congressional request with an insult, but mike pence is not a decent person.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “President Trump all but assured his own impeachment Friday night, but not without kicking out two more legs of the defense of him Republicans had been making in the House. For much of the past week, Republicans in Congress have been demanding that the House majority slow down the impeachment process.... And for the past couple of months, Republicans in Congress have been demanding that Trump have the opportunity to defend himself in the proceedings.... But White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in his letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler ((D-N.Y.) on Friday, undermined both complaints: The letter served as a formal answer from Trump refusing the Democrats’ invitation for him to defend himself in the House proceedings, and it instructed Democrats to hurry up. 'House Democrats have wasted enough of America’s time with this charade. You should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings,' it said, adding: 'As the president has recently stated: “If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.”’”

Anna Nemtsova of the Daily Beast: Rudy Giuliani is producing a “documentary” “for OAN, the One America News Network, a conservative channel now favored by Trump. OAN is publicizing the two-part broadcast this weekend.... 'Watch top Ukrainian officials testify under oath the side of the story [Adam] Schiff doesn’t want you to hear,” proclaims the YouTube promo for the broadcast. But 'top officials' they definitely are not. Indeed, Giuliani’s choice of guest stars in his would-be reality show, and his wider cast of sources, caused shock among many in Kyiv’s establishment who know their questionable backgrounds in considerable detail.” ~~~

~~~ Bermet Talant of the Kyiv Post: "... the only people Giuliani could find to meet with were the same resentful former prosecutors and several lawmakers of questionable repute.... Giuliani arrived at Kyiv’s Zhuliany airport unannounced on Dec. 4 on low-cost airline Wizz Air. He came from Budapest, where he had met with former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko.... They were joined by Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat-turned-political fixer and a commentator for the pro-Trump media; his client and former Ukrainian lawmaker Andrey Artemenko and Giuliani’s spokeswoman Christianne Allen. Giuliani also met with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin for three days in a row, Telizehnko said. Like Lutsenko, Shokin had also previously supplied Giuliani with information that fueled conspiracy theories about former U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden.... Trump’s attorney also found new sources of dirt in Kyiv: two Ukrainian lawmakers, Oleksandr Dubinsky and Andriy Derkach. Dubinsky is a scandalous social media persona and former host on television channel 1+1, which is owned by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.... Derkach ... [was in the Ukraine] secret police and graduating from the KGB academy in Moscow." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm laughing now, but it won't be so funny if Giuliani Wizzes some of these reprobates to D.C. to testify to all kinds of invented horsepucky in Trump's impeachment trial, making a mockery of the whole thing. It is not inconceivable that McConnell & CJ Roberts would allow this sort of crap as Trump's "defense." ~~~

~~~ Update. As I Was Saying.... Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: “President Trump said his personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani planned to issue a report to the Justice Department and Congress detailing what he’d learned from his investigations in Ukraine. Trump claimed not to know what Giuliani was doing in Ukraine this week or what he found out while there.... 'He’s going to make a report, I think to the attorney general and to Congress,' Trump told reporters Saturday outside the White House. 'He says he has a lot of good information. I have not spoken to him about that information yet.' 'I hear he has found plenty,' Trump added.” An AP report is here.

Peter Stone of the Guardian: “Talks about a potential plea deal are under way between federal prosecutors and an attorney for Lev Parnas, a Rudy Giuliani associate indicted for making illegal campaign donations...[.] The talks appear to be in early stages.... [A] lawyer familiar with the investigation ... said: “There are some plea negotiations under way with regards to Parnas,” and the federal prosecutors in New York’s southern district which brought the charges; but he noted that 'a proffer by Parnas’ attorney [has] not been accepted at this time'. Ex-prosecutors say a plea deal would probably require Parnas to offer more information about Giuliani and probably others he had contacts with, including possibly Trump and the Republican congressman Devin Nunes.”

** Laurence Tribe in a USA Today op-ed: “... it’s not just 'the United States' that has this 'compelling interest' [in limiting foreign interference in U.S. elections]. It is each and every citizen of this great land. That’s why, as Professor [Pamela] Karlan wisely emphasized in her [House Judiciry Committee] testimony, this impeachment process isn’t just about separation of powers and checks and balances and other matters that might seem nerdy and theoretical. This impeachment process is about the right to vote. Your right to vote. Our right to live in a free country, governing our own lives. Nothing less is at stake.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Tribe's point is obvious to you and me, but I don't think most Americans are capable of making the leap from Trump's illegal efforts to skew the election to the threat he poses to their own right to make informed decisions. And every time Trump tells a whopper that makes him look better than he is (15,000 times & counting since he lied in taking the oath, I think) or his opponents look worse, the same applies. 

Terry Gross of NPR interviewed Time reporter Simon Shuster after he spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. A transcript of Gross's interview is here. (A transcript of Shuster's interview of Zelensky was linked here last week.) Thanks to Anonymous for the link:

Trump Insults Two Ethnic Groups in One Line. Eric Cortellessa of the Times of Israel: “... Donald Trump told a pro-Israel conference Saturday night that some American Jews don’t love Israel enough. He also noting that he did not have to worry about getting his audience’s votes, because they would cast ballots with business interests in mind. Those comments, to the Israeli American Council advocacy group in Florida, drew quick criticism from opponents and were derided as anti-Semitic.... Nonetheless, the vigorously pro-Israel crowd in Hollywood, Florida, cheered the president with chants of 'Four more years!' and loud applause.... Trump said the crowd would not vote for one of his potential Democratic opponents because she would take their wealth away. 'You have to vote for me, you have no choice,' Trump said. 'You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that,' referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in a dig at her claiming Native American ancestry.... Speaking about finding a location for the US Embassy in Israel, he told the audience, 'A lot of you are in the real estate business.' 'I know you very well, you’re brutal realtors.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Never mind the lies, Trump's prejudice is jaw-dropping. "You're brutal realtors"?? WTF??? "A lot of you..."?? He's put Jews is a box, then applied negative stereotypes to the people in the box. He makes me sick.

David Sanger of the New York Times: “When a Saudi Air Force officer opened fire on his classmates at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday, he ... exposed anew the strange dynamic between President Trump and the Saudi leadership: The president’s first instinct was to tamp down any suggestion that the Saudi government needed to be held to account.... Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that he had received a condolence call from King Salman of Saudi Arabia.... On Saturday..., Mr. Trump told reporters that 'they are devastated in Saudi Arabia,' noting that 'the king will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones.' He never used the word 'terrorism.' What was missing was any assurance that the Saudis would aid in the investigation, help identify the suspect’s motives, or answer the many questions about the vetting process.... Or, more broadly, why the United States continues to train members of the Saudi military even as that same military faces credible accusations of repeated human rights abuses in Yemen, including the dropping of munitions that maximize civilian casualties.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There's no "strange dynamic" here. Trump is simply adhering to his hard-and-fast rule: "If you keep sending me money, I'll cover for you."

~~~ Brendan Farrington of the AP: "The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday. .. The official ... said one of the three students who attended the dinner party hosted by the attacker recorded video from outside the classroom building while the shooting was taking place. The official spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said. The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.... Officials investigating the deadly attack were working Saturday to determine whether it was motivated by terrorism, as both ... Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper indicated that they would review policies governing foreign military training in the United States. Family members on Saturday identified one of the victims as a 23-year-old recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who alerted first responders to where the shooter was even after he had been shot several times." ~~~

~~~ Nic Robertson & Paul Cruickshank of CNN: "Two law enforcement sources told CNN that the shooter, who was killed by responding law enforcement agents, has been identified as Saudi national Mohammed Alshamrani. Just minutes before authorities were first alerted to the deadly shooting, a Twitter account aligning with his name posted a message that raises the possibility the attack was inspired by al Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden. The message, addressed to the American people, repurposed words used by bin Laden and the American al Qaeda terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.... Twelve minutes before [the first call alerting law enforcement to the incident] at 6:39 a.m., a Twitter account with the handle @M7MD_SHAMRANI posted a message addressed to the American people, declaring hate for Americans because of their 'crimes' against Muslims. CNN has been unable to verify the source of the tweet...."

John Gambrell & Matthew Lee of the AP: "A Princeton scholar held for three years in Iran on widely criticized espionage charges was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange that saw America release a detained Iranian scientist, a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington after months of tensions. The trade on the tarmac of a Swiss airport saw Iranian officials hand over Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang for scientist Massoud Soleimani, who had faced a federal trial in Georgia over charges he violated sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to Iran.... Western detainees from the U.S. and elsewhere remain held by Tehran, likely to be used as bargaining chips for future negotiations.... [Donald] Trump ... acknowledged Wang was free in a statement from the White House, thanking Switzerland for its help. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran looks out for America’s interests in the country as the U.S. Embassy there has been closed since the 1979 student takeover and 444-day hostage crisis." A New York Times story is here.

Dan Diamond of Politico: “A top Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing and other possessions, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, that were stolen while in her luggage during a work-related trip.... Seema Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, after her bags were stolen while she was giving a speech in San Francisco the prior month. The property was not insured, Verma wrote in her filing to the Health and Human Services department. The federal health department ultimately reimbursed Verma $2,852.40 for her claim, a CMS spokesperson said.... A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes CMS, said the department has a longstanding policy of paying for certain goods when they are lost during a work trip, so long as they 'are not inherently for other uses,' which is why Verma was partially reimbursed.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This seems sort of stupid. If Verma has homeowner's or renter's insurance -- as any sensible person of means would -- the loss probably is covered by her policy. When I had a suitcase stolen from the trunk of my modest little Mazda while it was parked on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, my New Jersey homeowner's policy covered the cost of the theft, minus whatever deductible we had.

Presidential Race 2020. Dan Alexander of Forbes: "The Trump campaign is spending big money at the president’s properties, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Yet the records show that Donald Trump still has not donated any of his own funds to the campaign. That means America’s billionaire-in-chief has shifted $1.7 million from campaign donors into his private business."

Senate Race 2020. Brian Slodysko of the AP: "An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign. And a condo owned by a former aide — who was recently hired to lead the group — was used as Iowa Values' address at a time when he worked for her. Political nonprofits are often referred to as “dark money” groups because they can raise unlimited sums and are not required to reveal their donors. But they must take steps to keep their activities separate from the candidates they support. Additionally, while such tax-exempt groups can do political work, they can’t make it their primary purpose. The documents reviewed by the AP, including emails and a strategy memo, not only make clear that the group’s aim is securing an Ernst win in 2020, but they also show Ernst and her campaign worked in close concert with Iowa Values." ~~~

     ~~~ Joan McCarter of Daily Kos: "This is very, very stinky. But Ernst doesn’t have to worry about it too much. Her boss, Moscow Mitch McConnell, has ensured that the Federal Election Commission has no teeth to do anything about these kinds of violations. It doesn’t have a quorum of commissioners to act now because he hasn’t allowed votes for new ones." Mrs. McC: Worth noting: making sure the FEC can do nothing to stop illegal campaign activities is one more of the multitude of ways Republicans are making sure we don't have "free and fair" elections.

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Friday
Dec062019

The Commentariat -- December 7, 2019

Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "The House Judiciary Committee formally received the impeachment report from three other panels as the House continues to ramp up its investigation into President Trump. The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees officially sent the judiciary panel their impeachment report, along with the GOP 'minority views' as the House formally crafts articles of impeachment against the president."

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "The White House on Friday rejected an invitation to take part in impeachment hearings befjackore the House Judiciary Committee. In a brief letter to Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., White House counsel Pat Cipollone sharply attacked the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump as 'completely baseless' and said House Democrats had 'violated basic principles of due process and fundamental fairness.'... Nadler sent a letter to the president last Friday asking if his counsel would be participating in the panel's impeachment hearings, setting a 5 p.m. ET deadline Friday for a response."

Lisa Mascaro & Mary Jalonick of the AP: "House Democrats are bringing the impeachment focus back to Russia as they draft formal charges against ... Donald Trump. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is connecting the dots -- 'all roads lead to Putin,' she says -- and making the argument that Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine was not an isolated incident but part of a troubling bond with the Russian president reaching back to special counsel Robert Mueller's findings on the 2016 election. 'This has been going on for 2 1/2 years,' Pelosi said Friday. 'This isn't about Ukraine,' she explained a day earlier. 'It’s about Russia. Who benefited by our withholding of that military assistance? Russia.'... 'Sometimes people say, "Well I don't know about Ukraine. I don't know that much about Ukraine,"' Pelosi said Thursday after announcing the decision to draft formal charges. 'Well, our adversary in this is Russia. All roads lead to Putin. Understand that.'... Democratic lawmakers and aides are working behind closed doors over the weekend as the articles are being drafted and Judiciary Committee members are preparing for hearings and votes expected next week.... Democrats expect there will be two to four articles of impeachment against the president. Merging the Mueller findings into the overall charges by making the direct link to Ukraine might be one way to reach all sides [of the House Democratic caucus]."

The fact that Giuliani is back in Ukraine is like a murder suspect returning to the crime scene to live-stream themselves moon dancing. It's brazen on a galactic level. -- Dan Eberhart, prominent Republican donor and Trump supporter ~~~

~~~ Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani departed Kyiv after meeting with a range of Ukrainians who have been feeding him unproven allegations against former vice president Joe Biden and helping construct a counternarrative that is taking hold in the Republican Party. The purported purpose of the trip was to conduct interviews for a documentary on a right-wing media network. But Giuliani's travel also appeared designed to send a broader and more brazen signal of the disregard that he and Trump have for the unfolding impeachment process.... Giuliani used his Twitter account while on the trip to describe the impeachment hearings as a 'witch hunt,' attack the former U.S. ambassador whom he helped oust earlier this year, and assert that Trump's demands for politically beneficial investigations by Ukraine's government were appropriate.... Giuliani's trip also represented an affront to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose government was welcoming a high-level State Department diplomat at the same time and hoping to return relations with the United States to normal after more than two months at the center of an American political maelstrom. Zelensky, who didn't meet with Giuliani, is preparing for a high-stakes summit on Monday in Paris, where he is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside the leaders of Germany and France in a renewed attempt to bring an end to the war between Russia-backed proxies and Ukrainian forces in the nation's east." ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani just confessed to the crime in broad daylight -- or, more precisely, in broad cyber-daylight. Yet he did so defiantly, with a middle finger unfurled in our faces, without the slightest concern that it would harm him or ... President Trump.... 'The conversation about corruption in Ukraine was based on compelling evidence of criminal conduct by then VP Biden,' Giuliani tweeted, referring to Joe Biden, the intended target of 'investigations' Trump and Giuliani pressured Ukraine to announce. To empirically grounded observers, this will blow up a key Trump defense: that in conditioning official acts on getting Ukraine to announce investigations he wanted, he was correctly concerned with cleaning up corruption there.... The disinformation employed by Giuliani, Trump and his GOP defenders in many ways overlaps with Russian disinformation. They share tropes and narratives, and some common goals.... Trump may not care if we're more vulnerable to Russian disinformation, since he benefited from it so extensively last time, and is now heavily trafficking in its offshoots himself. As Giuliani's latest confession shows, their commitment to employing and benefiting from it is only escalating." ~~~

~~~ Rudy on the Road to Russia. David Stern & Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post (Dec. 5): "... Rudolph W. Giuliani met Thursday in Ukraine with one of the key figures working to build a corruption case against Hunter Biden, the Ukraine lawmaker said, after posting Facebook photographs of himself with the former York mayor. Andriy Derkach said he pressed Giuliani on the need to set up a joint U.S.-Ukraine investigation into corruption in Ukraine at the meeting in Kyiv.... Derkach, an independent lawmaker who was formerly a member of a pro-Russian party in parliament, went to the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB in Moscow. He is the son of a KGB officer who later served as head of Ukrainian intelligence.... Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigner Daria Kaleniuk, director of the nonprofit Anti-Corruption Action Center, described Derkach on Twitter as having associations with Ukrainian security services and an allegedly corrupt pharmaceutical firm." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post (Dec. 5): "Derkach's name is a big one in Ukraine. A story about him might have even helped spark that country's 2004 Orange Revolution. That story involved a murder plot that implicated his father. The story is from 2000, and it suggested the younger Derkach could the 'Ukrainian Putin.' At the time, that label -- a reference to Russian President Boris Yeltsin'0 handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin...." In recorded conversations, Leonid Derkach, then-head of Ukraine's security services, & former Ukraine president Leonid Kuchma discussed disposing with online journalist Georgiy Gongadze. "Gongadze would soon claim he was being followed, and by September he was killed, his headless body discovered in a forest near Kyiv.... Soon after, the ... recordings ... were released. They sparked protests calling for Kuchma's ouster. Kuchma would survive it, but his governing coalition collapsed, and he was forced to fire Leonid Derkach.... In 2005, a Ukrainian parliamentary commission labeled Kuchma, Leonid Derkach and two other senior officials as being the masterminds of the plot." ~~~

     ~~~ Rudy "in a Den of Kremlin Agents ... at Midnight." digby republishes much of Sargent's post linked above. She also, via a tweet by Jack Laurenson of the Kyiv Post, places Giuliani in the thick of it: "Here are @AndriyUkraineTe [Andrii Telizhenko] and RudyGiuliani here in Kyiv, #Ukraine. At midnight, they are in lounge bar of the Premier Palace Hotel, owned by close Putin ally, Russian oligarch Alexander Babakov. Hotel known as den for Kremlin agents & Babakov is alleged Russian intel himself." Mrs. McC: Yeah, & I'll bet Rudy was calling Donald on his cellphone at the bar with all the KGB agents listening in. Was it a Skype call? Were KGB agents standing behind Rudy & waving to Trump? ~~~

~~~ Rudy Will Have to Visit This Source in Jail. Betsy Swan & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: "A former Ukrainian member of parliament who has claimed to have dirt on a company linked to the Bidens was arrested earlier this week in Germany.... As the impeachment proceedings against President Trump took hold in October, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who worked closely with Ukraine's previous president before fleeing the country after being accused of embezzlement, has been living in Europe for several years.... Onyshchenko claimed to have inside information about Hunter Biden and his work for Burisma. He told Reuters that his friend Mykola Zlochevsky, who founded Burisma, had placed the vice president's son on Burisma' board as insurance against criminal investigations. The claim echoes those made by Rudy Giuliani and former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko.... Onyshchenko made other fantastic claims, including that Burisma had paid $10 million to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign through 'big bags of cash' sent instead of wire transfers."

The Gaslight Defense. Mrs. McCrabbie: So it looks as if Trump's impeachment "defense" will be to counter facts with fictions promulgated by shady Ukrainians with Russian ties. This would be a lot funnier if Republican lawmakers laughed it off, too. But it looks as if the majority are buying into it. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Apparently So. Katie Glueck & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump's re-election campaign has run menacing and misleading ads this fall accusing Joseph R. Biden Jr. of corrupt dealings with Ukraine. Republicans in Congress are scrutinizing Mr. Biden's son, pressing the State and Treasury Departments for information about his work for a Ukrainian energy company. The president himself has unleashed a stream of unfounded accusations against the Bidens and pushed for them to appear at a potential impeachment trial in the Senate. As Mr. Trump faces impeachment for allegedly pressuring Ukraine to investigate Mr. Biden, he and his allies are now turning those same claims about Mr. Biden and his son into a key element of their defense. And they plan to continue to hammer at the Bidens' Ukraine dealings as impeachment proceedings move into the new year."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post points out that Trump's use of a private cellphone is not just some careless but convenient violation of security protocols & the federal records act: Rubin cites a WashPo report, linked here yesterday: "When Trump realized that this enabled [chief of staff John] Kelly to compile daily logs of his calls, and the identities of those he was speaking to, Trump became annoyed and reverted to using his cellphone, officials said. 'He was totally paranoid that everyone knew who he was talking to,' a former senior administration official said." That is, Trump purposely uses his private cell so no one will know whom he talks to & there will be no official record of his clandestine calls. Rubin finds this practice "about the best evidence of consciousness of guilt you are ever going to find," and says it should be worked into articles of impeachment & possibly subjected to further congressional investigation. Mrs. McC: After all the trouble created by his July 25 call to Zelensky, it wouldn't surprise me if Trump has started using his cell for calls to foreign leaders like Putin, Erdogan & the Saudi royals. With any luck, the FBI is listening in (legally) along with hackers from around the world.

Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence submitted additional classified evidence to House impeachment investigators about a [September 18] phone call between Pence and Ukraine's president, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff revealed Friday. In a letter to Pence, Schiff (D-Calif.) asked the vice president to declassify supplemental testimony from the aide, Jennifer Williams, about Pence's Sept. 18 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, arguing that there is no 'legitimate basis' to keep it secret." ~~~

     ~~~ Cody Fenwick of AlterNet, in the Raw Story: "Schiff reminded Pence's office that an executive order requires that in 'no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified' for reasons of embarrassment or illegality.... Schiff also pointed out that Pence has previously said publicly that he would have no problem with the Sept. 18 call transcript being released. The office's decision to now claim the call is partially classified is 'contradictory of your public avowals in favor of transparency,' Schiff wrote."

There is overwhelming evidence that President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to use presidential power to pressure a foreign government to help him distort an American election, for his personal and political benefit.. His conduct is precisely the type of threat to our democracy that the Founders feared when they included the remedy of impeachment in the Constitution. -- 500+ Legal Scholars ~~~

~~~ Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "More than 500 legal scholars have signed on to an open letter [to Congress] asserting that President Trump committed 'impeachable conduct' and that lawmakers would be acting well within their rights if they ultimately voted to remove him from office. The signers are law professors and other academics from universities across the country.... The group noted in particular that Trump's conduct seemed to be directed at affecting the results of the 2020 election, and thus it was not a matter that could be left to voters at the polls." A Law & Crime story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The full letter, including a list of signers is here, via Medium.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In yesterday's comments, I suggested, not quite seriously, that the House could pass articles of impeachment but not forward them to the Senate, leaving impeachment hanging over Trump's head during high campaign season. Last night I heard that a number of pundits, including John Dean, thought that was a good idea.

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday put a one-week hold on a lower court's order for President Trump's bank records to be turned over to Congress. The stay issued by Justice Ginsburg came just three days after the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said that Deutsche Bank and Capital One must cooperate with subpoenas of two Democratic-controlled committees in the House of Representatives.... Mr. Trump's lawyers made an emergency request for the stay while their appeal is considered by the Supreme Court, which has also been thrust into similar legal battle over access to Mr. Trump's accounting records." The Hill's story is here.


Timothy Gardner & Makini Brice of Reuters: "... Donald Trump said on Friday he has directed his environmental regulators to find answers to what he said is a big problem - water-conserving showers, faucets and toilets. 'We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms,' Trump told a meeting of small business leaders at the White House. 'You turn the faucet on in areas where there's tremendous amounts of water ... and you don't get any water,' he added.... The fixtures 'end up using more water,' Trump told the roundtable where U.S. officials also reviewed his agenda of slashing regulations such as those on efficient light bulbs. 'People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once,' he said." Scatological comments acceptable.

All the Best People, Ctd. Em Steck, et al., of CNN: "A senior adviser at the State Department once said he thought then-President Barack Obama was a Kenyan and called House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi a Nazi whose Botox had worn off. Frank Wuco, a former conservative speaker and radio host who is now a senior adviser at the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, also said it would be tough for a 'solid, practicing' Muslim to be a good American and made unfounded claims that some Muslims in America were practicing Sharia law to create 'Muslim land.'... Wuco has a history of peddling conspiracy theories, pushing for extreme American action in warfare and spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric.... Wuco was previously a White House adviser at the Department of Homeland Security." Mrs. McC: Hey, what kinda name is "Wuco" anyway? It sounds "foreign" to me, or totally made-up. Maybe this Wuco guy is really a Mooslum or a commie.

The Party of White Supremacists. Republicans Don't Even Pretend They Want to Protect Minorities' Right to Vote. Sheryl Stolberg & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House voted on Friday to reinstate federal oversight of state election law, moving to bolster protections against racial discrimination enshrined in the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights statute whose central provision was struck down by the Supreme Court. Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, who was beaten in 1965 while demonstrating for voting rights in Alabama, banged the gavel to herald approval of the measure, to applause from his colleagues on the House floor. It passed by a vote of 228 to 187 nearly along party lines, with all but one Republican opposed. The bill has little chance of becoming law given opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and by President Trump, whose aides issued a veto threat against it this week. The measure is a direct response to the 2013 Supreme Court decision in the case of Shelby County v. Holder, in which the justices invalidated a key portion of the law."

Presidential Race 2020

Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg on Friday brushed back critiques about his wealth and bristled at the suggestion that he was using it to buy success in the 2020 presidential race, arguing that other Democrats who have complained about his entry into their party's primary could have taken it upon themselves to earn their own personal fortunes, as he had done.... In his interview, Mr. Bloomberg said he did not come from money and noted that his 'father made $6,000 the best year of his life.' 'Nobody gave me a head start,' he said.... Discussing his reasons for entering the race, he said he worried that if other Democrats took on President Trump in a general election, Mr. Trump would 'eat 'em up.'" ~~~

~~~ Bloomberg Finds Another Black Guy Who Has Mastered Standard English. Kate Sullivan of CNN: "New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Friday he was 'taken aback' by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg calling him 'well-spoken,' and said Bloomberg played into a tired trope about African Americans.... In an interview that aired Friday morning, Bloomberg told CBS This Morning, 'Cory Booker endorsed me a number of times. And I endorsed Cory Booker a number of times. He's very well-spoken. He's got some good ideas. It would be better the more diverse any group is.'"

Elena Schneider & Alex Thompson of Politico: "Long-simmering tensions between Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren, the two ascendant Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, burst into the open this week. Warren and Buttigieg's campaigns each called the other out in a flurry of back-and-forths on the candidates' tax returns, past corporate clients, campaign bundlers and opening fundraisers to the news media." They accused each other of being corporate shills.


Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), who pleaded guilty in federal court this week to misusing campaign funds, announced Friday that he will resign from Congress 'shortly after the holidays.'" A San Diego Union-Tribune report is here. Maybe he's not resigning now because he expects a Christmas bonus. ~~~

~~~ Charles Clark of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "On the day Rep. Duncan Hunter pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds in federal court..., former Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican insider who once chaired the powerful House oversight committee, talked seriously about presidential clemency should Hunter be sentenced to prison on March 17.... '... I would certainly say the commuting of sentencing ... has a certain ability to balance the public good. Are we better off spending $60,000 a year to put him behind bars or are we better off with him doing community service and going on with his life with the likelihood of him committing a crime in the future being pretty low?'"

AOC Gets the Last Laugh (and a $3BB Bonus for NYC Taxpayers). Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was one of the progressive leaders in New York City credited with blocking $3 billion in public subsidies for Amazon to open an additional headquarters. But Amazon is moving into NYC despite the lack of subsidies.'The giant online retailer said it has signed a new lease for 335,000 square feet on the city's west side in the new Hudson Yards neighborhood, where it will have more than 1,500 employees,' The Wall Street Journal reported. 'Amazon is taking the space without any of the special tax credits and other inducements the company had been offered to build a new headquarters in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City, the company said.' 'The new lease represents Amazon's largest expansion in New York since it stunned the city by abandoning those earlier plans. Amazon pulled back after facing a backlash from some politicians and activists over the roughly $3 billion in financial incentives the city and state had extended to woo the company and the 25,000 new jobs it had pledged to create,' The Journal explained.... 'Won't you look at that: Amazon is coming to NYC anyway -- *without* requiring the public to finance shady deals, helipad handouts for Jeff Bezos, and corporate giveaways,' [Ocasio-Cortez] tweeted."p>

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Thursday
Dec052019

The Commentariat -- December 6, 2019

Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Monday morning to receive presentations of evidence from investigators as it moves forward with crafting articles of impeachment against President Trump."

"Don't Mess with Me...." ~~~

~~~ Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had just concluded her weekly news conference Thursday and was about to exit the room when a reporter shouted out a question. 'Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?' James Rosen, a [winger] reporter for [righty-right] Sinclair Broadcast Group, called out from a seat in the front row. Most times, Pelosi ignores questions shouted at her in the hallways and briefing rooms of the Capitol. But Rosen's query appeared to strike a nerve with Pelosi, who stopped in her tracks, turned to face the reporter and delivered an extraordinary rebuttal." Watch it. "The exchange appeared to do little to change Republicans' messaging on the matter. Minutes after Pelosi's news conference concluded, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent out a tweet in which he declared, 'Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats are clearly ... blinded by their hate for the President.'" ~~~

     ~~~ So Trump Responded with a False, Sexist Accusation. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out in anger on Thursday at a reporter who asked whether she hated President Trump, prompting Mr. Trump to accuse her of having 'a nervous fit.'... Less than an hour [after Pelosi's exchange with the 'conservative' reporter], Mr. Trump posted his response on Twitter.... 'Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit. She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more. Stock Market and employment records. She says she 'prays for the President.' I don't believe her, not even close. Help the homeless in your district Nancy....'" Mrs. McC: Worth noting: Trump had a "nervous fit" just the day before when he found out world leaders were laughing at him, causing him to abruptly end his NATO trip & cancel a previously-scheduled press conference. (More on this from the WashPo linked below.)

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'm reposting Pelosi's speech asking committee chairmen to draw up articles of impeachment. Pelosi delivered the speech yesterday morning. In case you missed it, I recommend listening; it's pretty powerful: ~~~

     ~~~ If you can't watch, NBC News has the text of Pelosi's speech here.

Don't Mess with Joe: ~~~

~~~ Marc Caputo of Politico: "Joe Biden lashed out at an Iowa town hall Thursday after a man suggested the former vice president helped his son get a sweetheart deal in Ukraine and was 'selling access' like ... Donald Trump does.... The 83-year-old man said he had two problems with the 77-year-old Biden: that he's 'too old' and the Ukrainian issue.... [When the man brought up Biden's Ukraine dealings, Biden walked up to him menacingly & said,] 'You're a damn liar, man. That's not true. And no one has ever said that.'... As the two talked over each other, a staffer tried to take the man's microphone. But Biden waved him away and let the man keep the mic. 'Let him go. Let him go,' Biden said.... Returning to the issue of his age and fitness, Biden then laid down the challenge: 'Let's do push-ups together here, man. Let's run. Let's do whatever you want to do. Let's take an IQ test.' The man was speechless." ~~~

~~~ Mariam Khan & Molly Nagle of ABC News: Donald "Trump reiterated his demands for [Joe & Hunter] Biden to testify in a Thursday morning tweet: 'We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is.' [Joe] Biden said, however, that he does not plan to attend a Senate trial voluntarily.... '"The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes, and I'm not going to let him divert from that. I'm not going to let anyone divert from that. The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes, and I'm not going to let him divert from that. I'm not going to let anyone divert from that.' Eric Ueland, White House legislative affairs director..., suggested the White House wants live witnesses as part of the trial, instead of relying on videotaped depositions like the ones entered into evidence during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999.... The Republican-controlled Senate also released its 2020 calendar without anything scheduled for the month of January due to the uncertainty surrounding what happens next in the impeachment trial."

Maggie Haberman & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials, seeking to weaken Democrats' case for impeachment, disputed on Thursday some of the details in the House Intelligence Committee's report about calls between ... Rudolph W. Giuliani and White House aides. As part of its portrait of Mr. Trump's campaign of pressure on Ukraine, the committee's report released this week listed several calls between Mr. Giuliani and White House phone numbers, including one' associated with' the White House's Office of Management and Budgetcited in the report simply as 'O.M.B. number.'... But the phone number is a generic White House switchboard number, '(202) 395-0000,' people familiar with the phone records said, making it difficult to tell whose desk it came from.... A review of budget office call logs showed that no one spoke with Mr. Giuliani around the times of the calls in April and August, an O.M.B. official said."o; ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This morning a CNN reporter faulted Democrats for not being "more careful" in disseminating the calls report. Really? Really? The White House stonewalls all Congressional requests & subpoenas, and it's the Democrats' fault for not knowing who was using which phone? Bull. Also too, I see they're not disputing who "'1" is in Giuliani's call records.

But the E-mails! Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by Russian and other foreign intelligence services, current and former U.S. officials said. Phone records released this week by the House Intelligence Committee revealed extensive communications between Giuliani, unidentified people at the White House and others involved in the campaign to pressure Ukraine, with no indication that those calls were encrypted or otherwise shielded from foreign surveillance. The revelations raise the possibility that Moscow was able to learn about aspects of Trump's attempt to get Ukraine to investigate a political rival months before that effort was exposed by a whistleblower report and the impeachment inquiry, officials said. Trump is not identified by name in the House phone records, but investigators said they suspect he may be a person with a blocked number listed as '-1' in the files. And administration officials said separately that Trump has communicated regularly with Giuliani on unsecured lines.... Trump and Giuliani have effectively 'given the Russians ammunition they can use in an overt fashion, a covert fashion or in the twisting of information,' said John Sipher, former deputy chief of Russia operations at the CIA." The Raw Story has a summary report here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: First, there's the irony of Trump's centering his 2016 campaign on "Lock Her Up" on account of her having communicated a handful of low-classified matters over a private server even as he regularly yaps over phones known to be monitored by Chinese & other hackers. Second, there is the irony of his chatting over unsecured phones with a guy who is chatting back over an unsecured phone and who happens to be Trump's "cybersecurity advisor." (As reported in the linked article, "Mozilla Observatory, an online site-scanning service operated by the nonprofit company behind the Firefox web browser, rates Giuliani Security & Safety's website an 'F' for basic connection security, with a score of 0 out of 100. In a suite of 11 tests, the Giuliani Security & Safety site passes just 3, according to Mozilla." Cybersecurity "expert" Giuliani also has been called out for his laughable claim that Twitter "allowed someone to invade my text" and going to an Apple store to get some random employees to help him when he locked himself out of his iPhone. It is impossible to decide who is the more incompetent old coot, Giuliani or Trump.

Where's Rudy? Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Rudy Giuliani's decision to travel to multiple European countries this week, during the height of an impeachment probe involving his client President Trump, was so startling to senior administration officials and national security brass that they began tracking his movements in an effort to get a read on his objectives abroad. Other officials in the West Wing and numerous Trump associates learned about his latest foreign adventure, which included a stop in Ukraine, by reading the news.... Senior U.S. officials in the State Department and in the national security apparatus were concerned that Giuliani was speaking with politicians in both Budapest and Kiev who have interests in domestic American politics. According to five sources with knowledge of the situation, there is renewed fear that the president's lawyer is still shopping for dirt about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well as speaking with foreign officials who, against all evidence, have promoted the idea that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidential election."

Corrupt Intent. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "One of the strongest arguments made by experts testifying against President Trump is that he poses a present and continuing threat to our democracy.... The latest nefarious doings of none other than William P. Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani have now forcefully underscored this very point. In so doing, Trump's attorney general and his personal lawyer -- whose roles Trump views as one and the same -- have helpfully strengthened the case against Trump. Two new investigative reports demonstrate that Barr and Giuliani are, in effect, continuing to carry out elements of the very same corrupt scheme for which Trump is currently getting impeached.... Barr, who is gearing up to cast doubt on [DOJ inspector general Michael] Horowitz's conclusions, is continuing to use the levers of government to carry out Trump's overall corrupt project -- which Trump is actively cheering on.... Giuliani has traveled to Budapest and Kyiv, where he's meeting with shadowy Ukrainian figures to keep building the case that Joe Biden and his son Hunter acted corruptly in Ukraine.... Even as Trump is getting impeached for using the power of his office to falsify the story of his corruption of our last election and to corrupt the next one, he's still trying to accomplish both goals. And in Barr's case, he's cheerfully continuing to rely on the manipulation of the levers of government to do so."

Andrew Rice has a long piece in New York on Bill Barr's representation of Donald Trump: "... over the past year, with bureaucratic dexterity and bluff self-assurance, Barr has effectively turned the Justice Department to face down Trump's adversaries. In the spring, he brought a muffled conclusion to special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, managing the release of his report in a way that limited its impact and declaring the evidence did not show Trump committed obstruction of justice. Barr then initiated a secretive internal probe of the origins of the Russia investigation, headed by veteran prosecutor John Durham, who is scrutinizing the FBI and CIA. Barr, who claims there was 'spying' on Trump's campaign, has played a hands-on role in Durham's work, traveling the world to convince foreign intelligence services to cooperate in his investigation of the investigation." Mrs McC: The bits I've had time to read were quite interesting.

Fresno Bee Editors: "As has been true for nearly all of Trump's first term, [Devin] Nunes has relinquished his proper role as an independent representative of Congress and has instead acted like a member of the Trump 2020 re-election team. On Tuesday, House Democrats released phone records that show Nunes made multiple calls to ... Rudy Giuliani and one of his associates, the now-indicted Lev Parnas. The calls came last April during a period when Giuliani was leading a pressure campaign to remove the American ambassador to Ukraine.... The attorney for Parnas has also said Nunes had meetings with a Ukrainian prosecutor to get political dirt on Democrat Joe Biden's son Hunter.... As the ranking Republican on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, Nunes holds one of the top posts in Congress. Nunes should have disclosed to his committee colleagues that he had those phone calls last spring. One expert on government ethics took it a step further and said Nunes should have recused himself from the impeachment hearings...."

Kelly McLaughlin of Business Insider: "Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested impeaching former President Barack Obama on Wednesday during a hearing in the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump.... After questioning the Democratic-invited witness Pamela Karlan ... on her donations to Democratic campaigns, Gaetz ... [said,] 'If wiretapping political opponents is a political offense, I look forward to reading that inspector general's report because maybe it's a different president we should be impeaching.'... Gaetz was likely referencing an incident in 2013, when it was revealed that the National Security Agency was monitoring the calls of 35 world leaders during the Obama administration. The White House said at the time that Obama had no knowledge of the wiretapping. A former president can actually be impeached.... Legal scholars told Slate that impeached former presidents could be barred from serving in any future federal-government positions, elective or appointive."

Elie Mystal in the Nation: "Jonathan Turley's testimony [at Wednesday's Judiciary Committee hearing] was so inconsistent, it contradicted his own previous statements on impeachment."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear a second case concerning a subpoena to his accounting firm for his financial records. The new petition, objecting to a subpoena from a House committee, follows a petition filed last month about a similar subpoena from Manhattan prosecutors. Both cases are moving fast, and the court could announce as soon as Dec. 13 whether the justices will hear them. If the court agrees to weigh in, it will probably issue a decision by June.... In both cases, Mr. Trump sued to stop his accounting firm, Mazars USA, from complying with subpoenas for records. Federal appeals courts ruled against Mr. Trump in both cases.... In cases involving Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, United States v. Nixon in 1974 and Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the court granted review but in the end handed both presidents unanimous losses." The Hill's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a good time to remind ourselves that every recent major-party presidential nominee has voluntarily turned over multiple years of tax returns during the campaign period. Trump is not only hiding his returns, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep them secret even though he intends to run for re-election. There's definitely some there there. And Americans have a right to know what that is. I don't think it's, "... overstated a deduction in 2015, making him subject to a $736 penalty."

Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Donald Trump before he was elected President, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Fox News alleging the news organization defamed her. In the lawsuit, which was filed in a New York state court, McDougal accused host Tucker Carlson of acting with a 'reckless disregard for the truth' when he suggested on a December 2018 episode of his show that she extorted Trump.... Carlson ... said on his show that it was an "undisputed" fact that two women 'approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family' if he didn't provide them money. Carlson said it sounded 'like a classic case of extortion,' and later referred to them as 'extortion payments.' Carlson did not name McDougal, but an image of her was later shown on the screen."


Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "That Trump slunk out of the NATO summit [in Watford, England,] Wednesday after hastily canceling his planned news conference underscored just how unsettling he found his two-day visit.... But in many respects, Trump's abrupt departure was typical for a president who has routinely upended foreign visits during his first three years in office -- blustering, bullying and attempting at all times to keep the world's attention squarely on himself. He has criticized his hosts and issued global threats. He's hobnobbed with dictators and feuded with allies. And, as he did this week in Watford, he has sometimes sulked when things aren't going his way -- part of the taxonomy of behaviors that make up Trump's overseas adventures as president." The reporters reprise other instances of Trump's bad behavior on the world stage.

Robert Moore, et al., in ProPublica: "Video obtained by ProPublica shows the Border Patrol held a sick teen in a concrete cell without proper medical attention and did not discover his body until his cellmate alerted guards. The video doesn't match the Border Patrol's account of his death.... In a press release that day, Customs and Border Protection's acting commissioner at the time, John Sanders, called Carlos [Hernandez Vasquez]' death a 'tragic loss.' The agency said that an agent had found Carlos 'unresponsive' after checking in on him. Sanders said the Border Patrol was 'committed to the health, safety and humane treatment of those in our custody.' But the record shows that the Border Patrol fell far short of that standard with Carlos. ProPublica has obtained video that documents the 16-year-old's last hours, and it shows that Border Patrol agents and health care workers at the Weslaco holding facility missed increasingly obvious signs that his condition was perilous. The cellblock video shows Carlos writhing for at least 25 minutes on the floor and a concrete bench. It shows him staggering to the toilet and collapsing on the floor, where he remained in the same position for the next four and a half hours."

Criminal Duncan Hunter Still Has His Job. Haley Byrd, et al., of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee urged Rep. Duncan Hunter in a letter on Thursday to stop voting on legislation and other matters on the House floor after he pleaded guilty earlier this week to campaign finance violations. The committee notified the California Republican that his plea brings into effect a House rule stating that members convicted of certain crimes should refrain from voting. The letter noted that the rule exists 'to preserve public confidence in the legislative process when a sitting Member of Congress has been convicted of a serious crime.' Although the rule is not mandatory, the committee said, 'we emphasize in the strongest possible terms that if you violate the clear principles of this provision -- that is, for example, by voting in the House -- you risk subjecting yourself to action by this Committee, and by the House, in addition to any other disciplinary action that may be initiated in connection with your criminal conviction.' Duncan most recently voted on the House floor Wednesday, according to the House clerk, the day after he had pleaded guilty. He did not vote Thursday."

Presidential Race 2020

Ben Kamisar, et al., of NBC News: "John Kerry, the former senator from Massachusetts, secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, threw his support behind former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential bid on Thursday.... The endorsement comes as Biden has amplified his qualifications to be commander-in-chief, given his foreign policy experience.... Kerry will campaign with Biden on Friday in Iowa and in New Hampshire on Sunday."

From everyone who has been given better poll numbers, much will be demanded. -- Jesus' internal pollster ~~~

~~~ Michael Forsythe of the New York Times on Pete Buttigieg's work for the secretive consulting firm McKinsey & Company: "... as he gains ground in polls, [Buttigieg's] reticence about McKinsey is being tested, including by his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator Warren, responding last month to needling by Mr. Buttigieg that she release more than eight years of her tax returns to account for her private-sector work, retorted,' There are some candidates who want to distract from the fact that they have not released the names of their clients and have not released the names of their bundlers.' The firm has long advocated business strategies like raising executive compensation, moving labor offshore and laying off workers to cut costs.... And over the last couple of years, reporting in The New York Times and other publications has revealed episodes tarnishing McKinsey's once-sterling reputation: its work advising Purdue Pharma on how to 'turbocharge' opioid sales, its consulting for authoritarian governments in places like China and Saudi Arabia, and its role in a wide-ranging corruption scandal in South Africa. (All of these came after Mr. Buttigieg left the firm.)... The Buttigieg campaign says he has asked to be let out of his nondisclosure agreement...." Interviews with some of Buttigieg's coworkers at McKinsey fill in some of the blanks. ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "Pete Buttigieg worked nearly three years for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, and he has presented that experience as a kind of capitalist credential -- distinguishing him from some rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, and inoculating him against Republican attacks.... Mr. Buttigieg has said precious little about his time at McKinsey. He has not named the clients for whom he worked, nor said much about what he did.... Mr. Buttigieg owes voters a more complete account of his time at the company.... The Times reported this week that the consulting firm has advised the Trump administration on the logistics of its cruel crackdown on immigration."

The Downside of Macroeconomic Ignorance. Charles Pierce: "According to Liz Goodwin of the Boston Globe, Pete Buttigieg said, 'I believe every Presidency of my lifetime has been an example of deficits growing under Republican government and shrinking under Democratic government, but ... my party's got to get more comfortable talking about this issue... And we shouldn't be afraid to demonstrate that we have the revenue to cover every cost that we incur in the investments that we're proposing.'... Leave aside the fact that Buttigieg's basic political assessment is dead wrong; Presidents Obama and Clinton pulled us out of Republican deficits and, arguably, their choice to commit their economic plans to do that crippled their ability to move on more progressive policies.... It makes the McKinseyite criticism of him grow some real teeth, and it makes him very hard to trust with what could be a progressive populist moment.... Right now, based solely on observation on the road, I slot him in somewhere between Bill Clinton and John Kasich." Mrs. McC: Kasich, FYI, is a macroeconomics idiot. His main claim to fame is unwavering support for a balanced budget amendment, which is as good an idea as storing cash in the mattress. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Buttigieg's original statement, before a New Hampshire audience was worse than the one Pierce cites. In fact, the remark cited above seems to have been an attempt at a cleanup of Buttigieg's first remarks. Lawrence O'Donnell got very exercised about Buttigieg's claims:


     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I got a phone call today from a voter opinion survey group, and the questioner asked about how convincing I found a number of Buttigieg's policy positions, positions which appear to have come from his Website. Every one was kumbaya crap, except one that demonstrated his ignorance of the history of public education. The bottom line is that someone Buttigieg's age, who has not spent his adult life immersed in national political issues, is bound to be ignorant of significant policy matters. I don't fault him for that; I fault him for having the hubris of running for president without knowing enough. He's a very smart guy, and he can learn. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what he doesn't know, so it isn't clear he will learn.


Bobby Allyn of NPR: "Federal law enforcement officials have announced criminal charges against two Russian nationals who operate a hacking organization known as Evil Corp., a group officials say is responsible for one of the most sweeping banking fraud schemes in the past decade. The criminal indictments were unsealed in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Lincoln, Nebraska, against Maksim Yakubets, 32, and Igor Turashev, 38, both of whom live in Russia. The duo are accused of bank and wire fraud and computer hacking, among other counts.... Operating from the basements of Moscow cafes, investigators say Yakubets' group targeted victims in some 21 municipalities in one of the most widespread malware campaigns U.S. authorities have ever encountered."

Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: "Uber has disclosed that 3,000 sexual assaults were reported on its U.S. rides last year, the first time it has revealed the scale of the safety problem that exists at ride-hailing companies.... In the lengthy report, which divides sexual misconduct into 21 categories but focuses on the five most serious, Uber said it recorded 235 rapes last year and thousands more reports of assault that could involve unwanted touching, kissing or attempted rape. The reports involved drivers and passengers. The company tallied roughly 6,000 reports of those types of assault in 2017 and 2018. The report also examined other safety categories, including motor-vehicle deaths and violent crimes such as physical assaults. Uber said there were 107 motor-vehicle fatalities in 2017 and 2018, with a total of 97 fatal crashes involving users on the app. The company also said there were 19 fatal physical assaults over the same time period, during which it said an average of more than 3.1 million trips took place each day."

Beyond the Beltway

West Virginia. Jake Zuckerman of the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette-Mail: "Several West Virginia state employees have been suspended after a photo emerged depicting a training class of roughly 30 correctional officers performing a Nazi salute. Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Director Jeff Sandy sent a letter to all employees Wednesday describing the photo as 'distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive, and completely inappropriate.' The photo, on state letterhead, shows almost all of Basic Training Class No. 18 displaying the Nazi salute. Text above the photo reads: 'HAIL BYRD!' Sandy's letter states that the employees have been suspended and are under investigation, although it does not describe the photo itself. Brian Abraham, an attorney for Gov. Jim Justice, said Thursday the 'Hail Byrd' line refers to the trainees' instructor."

Way Beyond

Ken Dilanian & Michele Neubert of NBC News: "A group of elite Russian military intelligence officers, including some of those who planned the poisoning of a defector in Britain, have been operating out of picturesque villages in the French Alps, Western intelligence officials tell NBC News. Confirming a report in France's Le Monde daily that could have been ripped from the pages of a John le Carré spy novel, the officials said European and American intelligence agencies had been tracking up to 15 members of the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU who had lived for a time in France.... Le Monde reported that among the Russians who stayed in France's Haute-Savoie department in the Alps were Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov -- the alleged cover names of the two GRU agents accused of carrying out the [poisoning] attack on [Sergei & Yulia] Skripal. French officials told the newspaper they considered the area to have been the unit's rear base for covert operations in Europe."

News Ledes

CNN: "A gunman opened fire inside Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring several others, according to authorities. The shooting is over, the Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said, and the shooter has been confirmed dead." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN has updates here. Four are dead, including the shooter. "A member of the Saudi military training at US Naval Air Station in Pensacola is the suspected shooter in today's incident, according to five US defense officials and another person familiar with the investigation. The investigators are looking into whether it was terror-related, but it is early in the probe."

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