The Conversation -- February 26, 2024

Lauren Herstik & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Alexander Smirnov, the former F.B.I. informant charged with falsely claiming that President Biden and his son Hunter had accepted bribes, will be held in custody indefinitely because he poses a significant flight risk, a judge in California ruled on Monday.... Judge Otis D. Wright II of Federal District Court found fault with a decision by a federal magistrate in Las Vegas who last week released Mr. Smirnov, 43, a confidential informant since 2010, and dismissed the argument by prosecutors that he would try to escape to Russia. Prosecutors working for David C. Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, offered new details about the circumstances of Mr. Smirnov's rearrest last week in the office of his lawyer.... A prosecutor for Mr. Weiss, Leo Wise, explained that the sheer number of guns [officers found during a search of the condo where Smirnov lived] prompted Justice Department officials to make an arrest at [Smirnov's lawyer's] office, rather than Mr. Smirnov's home, which they believed would not be safe."

Here's video of a Jimmy Kimmel segment RAS linked earlier today. The voters interviewed take IOKIYAR to a whole new level:

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Manhattan prosecutors on Monday asked the judge overseeing the criminal case against Donald J. Trump to prohibit the former president from attacking witnesses or exposing jurors' identities. The requests, made in filings by the Manhattan district attorney's office, noted Mr. Trump's 'longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him.'... The gag order in the Manhattan case, if the judge approves it, would bar Mr. Trump from 'making or directing others to make' statements about witnesses concerning their role in the case. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, also asked that Mr. Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case -- other than Mr. Bragg himself -- as well as court staff members.... In a separate filing..., prosecutors asked that Mr. Trump be barred from publicly revealing [the jurors' identities. And although Mr. Trump and his legal team are allowed to know the jurors' names, Mr. Bragg asked that their addresses be kept secret from the former president." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, the D.A.'s asks are perfectly reasonable, but it remains stunning that ordinary citizens must be protected from a dangerous former POTUS*. He's a mobster & a monster.

Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Hungary's Parliament voted on Monday to approve Sweden as a new member of NATO, allowing the Nordic country to clear a final hurdle that had blocked its membership and held up efforts by the military alliance to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. The measure passed after a vote of 188 for and only 6 against in the 199-member Parliament, which is dominated by legislators from the governing Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Friday, after his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, made a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, Mr. Orban declared the end of a monthslong spat with Sweden over its membership of NATO."

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Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Congressional leaders have failed to reach a deal on legislation to keep federal funding going past Friday, with Republicans insisting on adding right-wing policy dictates to the spending bills, pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown within days. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Sunday that despite 'intense discussions' that were continuing among top lawmakers to break the impasse, Republican recalcitrance was raising the prospect of a 'disruptive shutdown' at midnight on Friday.... With no sign of a breakthrough, President Biden summoned congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the spending legislation, as well as the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel that the Senate passed earlier this month, which Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to take up." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the one must-do job that the Constitution demands of the Congress, yet Republicans refuse to do it. This is dereliction of duty on the highest. However, these same jamokes are amenable to making sure women (and their partners) have to pay a huge price for enjoying "recreational sex." ~~~

~~~ ** Majority of House Republicans Support Total U.S. Abortion Ban. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Prominent congressional Republicans are coming out in support of in vitro fertilization days after the Alabama state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and therefore that someone can be held liable for destroying them. But many of the same Republicans who are saying Americans should have access to IVF have co-sponsored legislation that employs an argument similar to the one the Alabama Supreme Court used in its ruling. The congressional proposal, known as the Life at Conception Act, defines a 'human being' to 'include each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.' The bill would also provide equal protection under the 14th Amendment 'for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.'

"The measure has no provisions for processes like IVF, meaning access to the procedure would not be protected. It would ban nearly all abortions nationwide. The legislation is co-sponsored by 125 Republicans in the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who, in the wake of the Alabama ruling, said in a statement ... that he supports efforts to allow IVF treatments because he believes 'the life of every single child has inestimable dignity and value.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Sabrina Malhi of the Washington Post: "A cancer diagnosis often comes with a host of difficult decisions, including what to do about the impact of treatment on a person's fertility. Many individuals grappling with this dual burden turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to preserve their reproductive options. That's why cancer patients and oncologists are expressing shock and anxiety about the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children under the law.... Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, can have a significant impact on fertility in both men and women. Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells, but they can also harm healthy cells in the body, including those involved in reproductive functions [of both women and men].... Many physicians today say that egg and embryo freezing can be used as safety nets for people with cancer in case they decide to have a family in the future." ~~~

~~~ Sam Levine of the Guardian: "California's governor, Gavin Newsom, is launching a series of new advertisements in Republican states targeting Republican efforts to criminalize having an abortion and 'a war on travel' for reproductive care. The first advertisement by Campaign for Democracy, Newsom’s political action committee (Pac), will air this week in Tennessee, where lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it illegal for anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion without permission from their parents. Anyone found guilty of the offense could face between three and 15 years in prison.... The Pac plans to air them in other states like Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma that are considering similar measures." ~~~

Tools or Traitors? Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Are Republicans easy marks or willing participants in Russian anti-Biden operations? That's a troubling question raised by the Feb. 14 grand jury indictment of a former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, on charges of concocting a tale about President Biden's supposed involvement in his family members' business dealings.... [House Republicans] championed him as their star witness [against Biden].... They're vowing to plow ahead on this cock-and-bull mission that never got off the ground. Not only did multiple witnesses testify that Biden had no involvement with his son's business dealings, but previous allegations that Biden acted on his son's behalf had also already been thoroughly repudiated.... 'DOJ must investigate whether and when Grassley, Comer or Jordan knew that Smirnov was spreading Russian disinformation,' Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) warned." ~~~

~~~ Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Former CIA Director John Brennan pounced on the House GOP leadership for using a now-indicted Russian purveyor of lies about President Joe Biden to be their central witness in their bid to impeach the president. During an appearance on MSNBC's 'The Weekend,' Brennan said it doesn't matter if they knew they were being played or not by their informant Alexander Smirnov who is now in custody for lying to the FBI.... 'I think it's unclear whether they knew or not, quite frankly.... Based on what I've seen, they really don't care if these things are true or not. They will just try to use them to advance their efforts to undermine the integrity of President Biden, as well as to advance their impeachment process.... So, therefore, they seized upon something that was clearly on un-evaluated information, it was raw, it was obtained by the FBI. Director Christopher Wray initially tried to resist them being provided to the Hill, but then the pressure increased and it was eventually shared with them.'"

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan declined a request to grant a stay after a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million for defamation. 'Twenty-five days after the jury verdict in this case, and only shortly before the expiration of Rule 62's automatic stay of enforcement of the judgment,' Kaplan noted. 'Mr. Trump has moved for an "administrative stay" of enforcement pending the filing and disposition of any post-trial motions he may file. He seeks that relief without posting any security.... The Court declines to grant any stay, much less an unsecured stay, without first having afforded plaintiff a meaningful opportunity to be heard,' the judge wrote in his one-page order. Kaplan said Carroll must file a motion by Thursday. Trump will also have a chance to respond." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump, who built his business and political identities around boasts of financial savvy, now faces an immediate cash crunch of more than a half-billion dollars -- the combined cost of two legal battles that will now test the limits of his personal wealth. According to state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's final judgment, entered Friday, Trump now owes New York at least $454 million -- the $355 million penalty plus interest, which is now accruing at a rate of $112,000 per day. Separately, he faces an $83.3 million judgment in a federal defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.... To keep both judgments from being enforced while he appeals, he must put up the entire amount in either cash or bonds, according to legal experts.... Most of Trump's wealth is tied up in real estate, and it's not clear whether he has enough cash on hand to cover what he now owes." The article goes on to outline some of the obstacles Trump faces in putting up the cash or bonds to cover the judgments.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyers see a major opportunity this week to use his criminal document mishandling case in Florida to create an impasse on his calendar for the two federal judges overseeing his major criminal cases.... The ultimate goal, his team has said openly, is to prevent Trump from being tried in federal court before voters cast their ballots in the 2024 general election. A primary aim for Trump's legal team, according to people familiar with the strategy, is to put the judge in DC overseeing the 2020 federal election obstruction case, Tanya Chutkan, in a position where she can't start a trial before Election Day. 'Meaning, ice her,' said a person familiar with Trump's trial schedule strategy. 'Making it impossible for her to jam a trial down before the election, by things that are out of her control.'... A gradually shifting calendar could ... [shield] Trump from other trials through the summer, multiple sources familiar with the former president's legal strategy told CNN."

Presidential Race

Michigan. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Two days before the Michigan Democratic primary, speakers at a rally on Sunday in Dearborn, Mich., urged voters to withhold their support from President Biden over his policy on the war in Gaza -- and said that only Mr. Biden and Democrats who support his Israel policies would be to blame if the protest vote helped ... Donald J. Trump win in November. 'You all know Trump is an existential threat to our democracy,' said one of the speakers, Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, 'and President Biden is risking another Trump term over his support for the most right-wing government, most extremist government in the history of Israel.'" ~~~

~~~ Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Arab Americans, irate over [President] Biden's support for Israel, are pushing Democrats to select 'uncommitted' on the state's primary ballot on Tuesday. Several recent general election polls show Mr. Biden running behind ... Donald J. Trump in Michigan, while another shows Mr. Biden leading. Prominent Democrats in Detroit and Lansing say they are worried not just about losing Arab Americans, but also about Black men and union workers and young people. That leaves [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer, one of eight national co-chairs of Mr. Biden's campaign, who is seen by many Democrats as a future contender for the presidency, facing perhaps the biggest electoral test of her career even though her name is not on the ballot. Ms. Whitmer is particularly strong with moderate voters and suburbanites, and has forged deep ties with Black leaders in Detroit. But it remains to be seen whether she can help much with those most frustrated with Mr. Biden, including voters further to the left and Arab Americans." MB: The Michigan primary is Tuesday.

Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "Steve Kramer, a veteran political consultant working for a rival candidate, acknowledged Sunday that he commissioned the robocall that impersonated President Joe Biden using artificial intelligence, confirming an NBC News report that he was behind the call. In a statement and interview with NBC News, Kramer expressed no remorse for creating the deepfake, in which an imitation of the president's voice discouraged participation in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary. The call launched several law enforcement investigations and provoked outcry from election officials and watchdogs.... Kramer said he has received a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission, suspected he might get sued by a half dozen people and said he could even face jail time.... Kramer said ... it had nothing to do with his client, Biden's long-shot primary challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. Phillips had paid Kramer over $250,000 around the time the robocall went out in January, according to his campaign finance reports. Phillips and his campaign have denounced the robocall, saying they had no knowledge of Kramer's involvement and would have immediately terminated him if they had known."

Shane Goldmacher & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The political network created by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers announced on Sunday that it was suspending its support for Nikki Haley in the presidential primary after her latest defeat in South Carolina. The group, Americans for Prosperity Action, had spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elevate Ms. Haley and prevent the renomination of Donald J. Trump, but it had already slowed its spending in the G.O.P. race dramatically after Ms. Haley fell short in the New Hampshire primary last month. The organization made its decision official on Sunday." Politico's story is here.

Lost Causes 2024. Tom Sullivan in Hullabaloo: "Nikki Haley hopes to be lying around when the GOP finds its nominee convicted and facing jail. It is her only path forward.... What strikes me is the parallel magical thinking on the Democratic side. Digby wrote last week (agreeing with Josh Marshall), 'The brouhaha over Ezra Klein's article agitating for [President] Biden to drop out at this late date has been overwhelming and it's not helpful. The idea of choosing a new candidate at the conventions is downright fanciful. Not gonna happen.' But on this point, Haley and her supporters are thinking along the same lines as Klein and his. Klein's article promotes yet another Lost Cause." ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times explains why Ezra Klein's bright idea of dumping President Biden at the Democratic National Convention would be a big mistake: "... an attempt to hold an open, brokered convention would immediately run into the basic issue that no candidate would be able to claim any kind of democratic legitimacy, especially if the delegates were free agents unaccountable to the public. The nominee who would come out of this process would have little basis, given the norms since 1968, to say that he or she was any better or more viable than any other candidate. The odds of alienating large parts of the Democratic Party coalition would be just as large as the odds of finding an able and competent nominee.... It would be difficult for the Democratic Party to win the November election with an unpopular incumbent at the top of the ticket. It would be even more difficult to do so with a divisive nominee -- who had neither earned the votes of Democratic voters nor weathered the vetting process of a primary campaign -- and a fractured coalition." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The only way, IMO, that a brokered convention would work for either party is if the nominee voters chose in primaries & caucuses around the country (1) dropped out of the race & supported the process of nominating a candidate at the convention or (2) was completely incapacitated or (3) dead.

Former Intel Officials Sound the Alarm. Erin Banco & John Sakellariadis of Politico: "Former top officials from Donald Trump's administration are warning he is likely to use a second term to overhaul the nation's spy agencies in a way that could lead to an unprecedented level of politicization of intelligence. Trump, who already tried to revamp intelligence agencies during his first term, is likely to re-up those plans -- and push even harder to replace people perceived as hostile to his political agenda with inexperienced loyalists, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who worked in his administration.... An overhaul of the type Trump is expected to attempt could undermine the credibility of American intelligence at a time when the U.S. and allies are relying on it to navigate crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. It could also effectively strip the intelligence community of the ability to dissuade the president from decisions that could put the country at risk."

Kaitlan Collins & Avery Lotz of CNN: "Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel will officially step down from her position on March 8, days after Super Tuesday."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, may turn on a single question: Do platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X most closely resemble newspapers or shopping centers or phone companies? The two cases arrive at the court garbed in politics, as they concern laws in Florida and Texas aimed at protecting conservative speech by forbidding leading social media sites from removing posts based on the views they express. But the outsize question the cases present transcends ideology. It is whether tech platforms have free speech rights to make editorial judgments." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, but what did the Founders say about Facebook? Since the Federalist Papers were first published in New York newspapers, and not on Facebook or Twitter, won't the Supreme originalists have to conclude that social media are not protected by the First Amendment? But as Liptak reports, "'It is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies,' Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote in a 2022 dissent when one of the cases briefly reached the Supreme Court." Oh, Sam, Sam, what a quandary!

Denise Chow & Evan Bush of NBC News: "Climate change is throwing the water cycle into chaos across the U.S. The water cycle that shuttles Earth's most vital resource around in an unending, life-giving loop is in trouble. Climate change has disrupted that cycle's delicate balance, upsetting how water circulates between the ground, oceans and atmosphere. The events of 2023 show how significant these disruptions have become. From extreme precipitation and flooding to drought and contaminated water supplies, almost every part of the U.S. faced some consequence of climate change and the shifting availability of water." See also Mexico City water crisis; story linked below.

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Florida Man! Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: A St. Ausgustine, Florida podcaster, Pete Melfi, has launched a Florida Man Games competition "with a series of zany events: A mullet contest. A 'mud duel' with pool noodles. An 'evading arrest' obstacle course, with real sheriff's deputies pursuing the contestants.... If ... the rest of the world is going to make Florida the punchline, then those who call it home might as well be in on the joke.... The phrase has entered the political lexicon, transforming from a generic term for a nonpublic person -- Florida Man as John Doe -- to a stand-in for ... Donald J. Trump.... The first-ever Florida Man Games were held at the fairgrounds of a historic district [in St. Augustine -- the oldest continuously settled city in the nation --], with tickets going for $55 a pop on Saturday. Sponsored by a Florida apparel company and others..., the competition awarded $5,000 to one winning team, based on its performance in events throughout the day."

Texas Man. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "A Texas man pleaded guilty to insider trading after he was accused of making $1.7 million in illegal profits by purchasing and selling stocks based on his wife's work conversations, which he had overheard while she was working remotely at home, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. The man, Tyler Loudon, of Houston, bought 46,450 shares of stock in the truck stop and travel center company TravelCenters of America after he heard his wife discuss her employer's proposed acquisition of it, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Loudon's wife, who is not named in court documents, was a mergers and acquisitions manager at BP, a British oil and gas company, the complaint said."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli media reported that an Israeli delegation is expected to head to Qatar to move forward discussions over a potential cease-fire and hostage deal, following negotiations in Paris last week.... Officials involved in ongoing negotiations agreed to the 'basic contours of a deal,' White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday. He added that the United States hoped to firm up a final agreement 'in the coming days.'... On CBS's 'Face the Nation,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza, and he said he hopes Hamas will abandon what he called 'crazy demands.'... 'Very little' aid has entered the Gaza Strip in February, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said, noting a 50 percent reduction in delivered supplies compared with January."

Thomas Fuller & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to pause the fighting that appear to have been making some progress in recent days.... Mr. Netanyahu did say that if a cease-fire deal was reached, the move into Rafah, which during 20 weeks of war has served as a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Gazan families forced from their homes, would be 'delayed somewhat.'"

Ali Sawafta of Reuters: "Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel's war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. The move comes amid growing U.S. pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Palestinian Authority as international efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war."

Mexico. Laura Paddison, et al., of CNN: "Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world's biggest cities, is facing a severe water crisis as a tangle of problems -- including geography, chaotic urban development and leaky infrastructure -- are compounded by the impacts of climate change. Years of abnormally low rainfall, longer dry periods and high temperatures have added stress to a water system already straining to cope with increased demand. Authorities have been forced to introduce significant restrictions on the water pumped from reservoirs.... Some experts say the situation has now reached such critical levels that Mexico City could be barreling towards 'day zero' in a matter of months -- where the taps run dry for huge swaths of the city." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Russia. Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Negotiations were underway on a prisoner exchange that would have involved swapping Alexei Navalny and two Americans for a Russian agent imprisoned in Germany, when the Russian opposition leader died in prison, one of his associates said Monday. Maria Pevchikh, who chairs Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said in a video address on YouTube that negotiations were in their final stages on Feb. 15 just before his death in the 'Polar Wolf' prison colony in the Yamalo-Nenets region of northern Russia. She alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin, having gained Germany's agreement to include Vadim Krasikov in a prisoner swap, then decided to 'get rid of the bargaining chip,' by having Navalny killed, so that the agent imprisoned for murder could be exchanged for someone else." The Guardian's story is here.

Ukraine, et al.

Carlotta Gall & Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "Some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, acknowledging for the first time in the war a concrete figure for Ukraine's toll.... But he declined to disclose the number of wounded or missing, saying that Russia could use the information to gauge the number of Ukraine's active forces."

Ivana Kottasová & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Former US President Donald Trump will be 'against Americans' if he chooses to support Russia over Ukraine, the war-torn country's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. Speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins in Kyiv, Zelensky said he 'can't understand how Donald Trump can be on the side of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.' 'It's unbelievable,' he added."

Stephanie Halasz & Ivana Kottasová of CNN: "'Millions' could die in Ukraine's war with Russia if US lawmakers don't approve President Joe Biden's $60 billion aid request for Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN on Sunday. Asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins about a claim made by the US Senator J.D. Vance that the outcome of the war would not change even if Ukraine receives the money, Zelensky said he wasn't sure Vance 'understands what is going on here.'"

The Conversation -- February 25, 2024

Presidential Race

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump easily defeated Nikki Haley in South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, delivering a crushing blow in her home state and casting grave doubt on her continued viability. Mr. Trump's victory, called by The Associated Press right as polls closed at 7 p.m., was widely expected, and offers fresh fodder for his contention that the race is effectively over.... In her election-night speech in Charleston, S.C., Ms. Haley congratulated Mr. Trump on his victory. But she said the results -- he was beating her by 60 percent to 39 percent as of late Saturday -- demonstrated that 'huge numbers of voters' were 'saying they want an alternative.'" This is the pinned item in a liveblog. The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: With 5% of the vote counted, Trump is ahead 54.8% to 44.5% for Haley, but the projected split, according to the NYT, is 61% for Trump, 38% for Haley. Update: With more than 95% of the vote counted, the split is 59.8%-39.5% Trump-Haley. ~~~

~~~ See also Akhilleus' commentary below on the press's coverage of the outcome.

Adriana Licon & Jill Colvin of the AP: "... Donald Trump cast November's presidential election as 'judgment day' and declared himself a 'proud political dissident' during a speech before conservative activists outside of Washington Saturday as he again cloaked his campaign in religious imagery. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference ahead of his win in the South Carolina Republican primary, Trump painted an apocalyptic vision of the future if President Joe Biden wins a second term as the two prepare for an expected rematch election.... He cast himself as a savior standing between his supporters and near-anarchy as he spoke of 'hoards of illegal aliens stampeding across our borders,' warned the country's social safety net and education system would 'buckle and collapse,' and claimed that, 'the gangs will be invading your territory.... These are the stakes of this election: Our country is being destroyed and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,' he declared, casting Biden's leadership as 'an express train barreling toward servitude and to ruin.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Gustaf Kilander & Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: "Donald Trump compared migrants to Hannibal Lecter as he claimed that they are coming from 'insane asylums' during his almost 90-minute meandering and ominous speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland." This is an item in a liveblog.

Heil Trump! Ben Goggin of NBC News: "Nazis appeared to find a friendly reception at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Throughout the conference, racist extremists, some of whom had secured official CPAC badges, openly mingled with conference attendees and espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories.... In previous years, conference organizers have ejected well-known Nazis and white supremacists such as Nick Fuentes. But this year, racist conspiracy theorists didn't meet any perceptible resistance at the conference where Donald Trump has been the keynote speaker since 2017. At the Young Republican mixer Friday evening, a group of Nazis who openly identified as national socialists mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed so-called 'race science' and antisemitic conspiracy theories."

Cheyanne Daniels of the Hill: "Black leaders are condemning former President Trump's recent comments about Black voters as 'racist.' Speaking at the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) annual gala in South Carolina on Friday, Trump said his legal woes have earned him the support of Black voters around the country.... 'The NAACP is outraged, but not surprised by yet another racist remark from the former President,' Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, told The Hill in a statement.... The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also blasted Trump.... 'This might come as news to Trump, but pushing tired tropes, wannabe Jordans, and mugshot t-shirts isn't going to win over Black voters who suffered through record high unemployment and skyrocketing uninsured rates under his leadership,' Sarafina Chitika, the DNC's national press secretary, said in a statement.... The Biden-Harris campaign issued a scathing response Saturday, calling the former president 'an incompetent, anti-Black tyrant.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday I noted that Trump was too ignorant to realize his comments were racist. Well, if he had a "very good brain," these reactions to his remarks would be very helpful in explaining to him why the remarks were racist. Unfortunately, he's stupid, so no attempts to educate him will help.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A veteran Republican National Committee member has initiated a long-shot effort to prevent Donald J. Trump from taking over the party committee before he has enough delegates to become the presumptive presidential nominee in an effort to prevent the R.N.C. from paying his legal bills. Henry Barbour, a committee member from Mississippi, has sponsored two resolutions, one that would require the committee to remain neutral in the primary and another that would assure it does not spend committee funds to assist Mr. Trump in his legal battles. The proposals, which would not be binding even if passed, come as Mr. Trump seeks to install new leadership in the organization, including Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, who has said she would be open to the committee paying his legal bills. The resolutions, which were first reported by The Dispatch, have come under fire from the Trump campaign." The NBC News story is here.

** Chauncey DeVega of Salon: "The claim that President Biden is old and therefore so diminished mentally and physically that he is incapable of being an effective leader has taken on a life of its own. In many ways, this narrative is immune to the facts and evidence and may be a deciding factor in the outcome of the 2024 election and the future of the United States.... In this conversation, [Dr. John] Gartner [-- a psychologist and former professor at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School --] argues that it is actually Donald Trump and not President Biden who is showing diminished mental acuity and dangerous behavior related to aging.... Gartner warns that given Trump's dangerous personality and emotional state..., he is almost certainly plotting revenge and how to make his 'enemies' suffer as revenge for finally being held accountable by the courts and the rule of law. At the end of this conversation, Gartner explains how even on his worst day as an older person, President Biden is a far superior leader and decision-maker (and human being) than Donald Trump." Read on. MB: Gartner makes a compelling case, with many examples, that "Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing." And is a dangerous "malignant narcissist." ~~~

~~~ Want More Evidence? We Oblige. Marie: Back in 2018, Donald Trump welcomed his wife back from a hospital stay. We all thought Mrs. Trump's given name was "Melania." But in the 2018 welcome-home tweet, Trump called her "Melanie." Then, in an October 2022 deposition, Trump identified the woman with him in an old photo as his ex-wife Marla Maples. The woman in the photo was E. Jean Carroll. Okay, an old photo; all blondes look alike, & so forth. Now, in 2024, Donald has forgotten his current wife's name altogether. Instead of calling her "Melanie" -- a one-letter misspelling that could be explained away as a typo -- at CPAC on Saturday, Donald Trump introduced his wife as "Mercedes." Thanks to contributor Gonzo for the lead:

But the Laptop! Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The Justice Department's assertions this week that a longtime FBI informant was seeking to 'spread misinformation' designed to hurt President Joe Biden after speaking to Russian intelligence operatives has put a new spotlight on an old debate: To what extent, if any, has the Russian government manufactured or amplified unproven allegations of corrupt Ukraine dealings by Joe and Hunter Biden?... [During the 2020 campaign, Rudy Giuliani gave derogatory information to the New York Post,] purportedly from Hunter Biden's laptop.... Soon after [the Post reported on the laptop material,] 51 former intelligence officials signed and blasted to the media a letter warning that the laptop story 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.'... After mainstream news organizations verified portions of the laptop material, the letter became a focus of anger among Donald Trump and his supporters.... Now, many of those former officials say they feel vindicated by the allegations against the FBI informant....

"NBC News reported in October 2020 that the CIA and other spy agencies gathered intelligence on Giuliani's dealings with alleged Russian intelligence agents as he searched for dirt on Biden and passed his findings on to the Trump White House.... recent court filing by the lead prosecutor in the case, special counsel David Weiss, says investigators authenticated the laptop material...." MB: Recent (and earlier) commentators (linked earlier on Reality Chex) have opined that the laptop story never made sense. So Weiss's "authentication" seems pretty dicey to me. ~~~

     ~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones has much more on the Russia/Trump disinformation campaign: "... According to Trump administration officials, the Biden-Burisma allegations were in part (if not wholly) the work of Russian operatives. Yet Trump, the MAGA right, and their media allies have been beating this drum for years, and once the GOP won back the House in 2022, it became impeachment fodder. Then Comer, Jordan, and the rest of their crew embraced [Russian operative Alexander] Smirnov's charges, even though they were not substantiated and even though they were in sync with a known Russian disinformation plot that targeted Biden to aid Trump. Moreover, it was highly suspicious that Smirnov shared his allegations with his FBI handler in June 2020 -- after not mentioning them for years -- just when Giuliani and other Trumpers were striving to tar Joe Biden with this false tale [that Joe & Hunter Biden each extracted $5 million from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma to end a U.S. investigation of Burisma].... The Smirnov case ... shows not only that Trump and the GOP are Putin dupes; they are willing dupes."

Former Speakers: Get Off Your Ass, Mike Johnson! Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Two early March deadlines on government funding are looming [before the House of Representatives], as is the ongoing dispute over funding Ukraine's defenses. On these and other issues, two veteran Republicans believe that ... [Mike Johnson] has been too timid.... 'I don't think you can be good at these jobs unless you're willing to lose [far-right members],' former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday.... In a podcast also released Wednesday, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) delivered a more blunt assessment of Johnson's tenure by saying that his tendency to wait so long before making a decision cuts into his leverage with Senate Democrats and President Biden. In the process, those poorly negotiated deals further empower the far-right antagonists, who already ousted his predecessor, ex-speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).... The speaker has largely wasted three months haggling over these spending bills, which were all but certain to land in the exact spot they are now given Democratic control of the Senate and White House."

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "Justice Clarence Thomas has hired Crystal Clanton to be one of his law clerks, the most elite assignment a young law school graduate can secure.... In 2015, when Clanton was 20 and working for a conservative group allied with the justice's wife, Ginni Thomas, Clanton apparently sent racist texts to a fellow employee. 'I HATE BLACK PEOPLE,' one text read. 'Like f[uck] them all ... I hate blacks. End of story.'... [After being fired by the far-right organization Turning Point USA for the racist texts,] Clanton was hired by Ginni Thomas and lived with the Thomases in Virginia for almost a year before attending the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. Thomas then recommended Clanton to Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Pryor is one of the most conservative members of the federal judiciary...." Marcus goes on to summarize how the courts, Turning Point & Clanton stonewalled & almost certainly lied to the Judicial Conference ethics committee to prevent it from sanctioning Clanton. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Thomas, there aren't that many white people who hate Black people more than Clarence Thomas does. It's uncanny.

Shocking News! As Akhilleus pointed out yesterday morning, digby has dug up documentary evidence of the right's opposition to "recreational sex" (what one might call "normal sex"). Now Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has let on that President Joe Biden AND Jill Biden are regular practitioners. (Also linked yesterday.)

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Missouri. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Abortion rights activists in the state are working to get an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot in November. But the GOP-controlled Missouri state Senate on Thursday approved a measure that could make such things significantly more difficult -- at least for the left. The proposal, which passed along party lines, would require amendments to receive not only a majority of the vote statewide -- as is currently required -- but also a majority in five of eight congressional districts. This would be a much bigger hurdle for those on the left, because Missouri has five very Republican congressional districts."

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Russia. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The Russian authorities have transferred the body of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said on Saturday, ending a grim battle for custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will get a funeral that the public can attend." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. Abbey Fenbert of Kyiv Independent: "Howard Buffett, the son of American billionaire Warren Buffett, has promised that his philanthropic foundation will donate $300 million in aid to Ukraine this year. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has already donated over $500 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. The combined funds exceed the humanitarian aid contributions of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada. In an interview with Business Insider published Feb. 24, Buffett praised President Volodymyr Zelensky's wartime leadership and said it would be a mistake for the United States to withdraw support for Ukraine at this critical time.... Buffett's foundation has helped repair agricultural infrastructure in Ukraine, aid demining efforts, and provide essential supplies to healthcare facilities. Funding for the foundation comes primarily from ... Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO and seventh-richest person in the world."

The Conversation -- February 24, 2024

The South Carolina Repubican presidential* primary is today.

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The Russian authorities have transferred the body of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said on Saturday, ending a grim battle for custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will get a funeral that the public can attend."

Shocking News! As Akhilleus pointed out this morning, digby has dug up documentary evidence of the right's opposition to "recreational sex" (what one might call "normal sex"). Now Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has let on that President Joe Biden AND Jill Biden are regular practitioners.

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Alan Rappaport of the New York Times: "The United States on Friday unleashed its most extensive package of sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, targeting Russia's financial sector and military-industrial complex in a broad effort to degrade the Kremlin's war machine. The sweeping sanctions come as the war enters its third year, and exactly one week after the death of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, for which the Biden administration blames President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... Announcing the sanctions on Friday, President Biden reiterated his calls on Congress to provide more funding to Ukraine before it is too late." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jonathan Lemire & Matt Berg of Politico: "The bulk of the sanctions were already in the works for the invasion anniversary, though a few were added this week to target those involved in Navalny's death at an Arctic penal colony.... The Treasury Department will impose additional price cap sanctions that will make it more costly for Russia to get around sanctions, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters in a Thursday night call previewing the sanctions.... In December, Politico reported that Moscow has been successful in skirting some oil sanctions imposed by G7 nations and the European Union." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Luke Broadwater & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, ... strode to the Senate floor ... [and] said ... a document in the F.B.I.'s possession ... could reveal 'a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.' But what neither Mr. Grassley nor any of the other Republicans who amplified the claims said in their breathless statements was that F.B.I. officials had warned them repeatedly to be cautious about the accusation, because it was uncorroborated and its credibility unknown.... Over the next few months, Mr. Grassley's quest to make public the allegation -- laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 -- became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats' treatment of ... Donald J. Trump.... All that the form proved, federal law enforcement officials explained, was that a confidential source had said something, and they had written it down. And now federal prosecutors say the claim was made up. But the cautions Republicans received from the start about the materials did not stop them from repeating the unverified allegation hundreds of times over many months, in official settings and interviews on right-wing media outlets." Read on. A condemnation of the impeachment-Biden gang. ~~~

~~~ Jordain Carney of Politico: "Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a vulnerable purple-district incumbent ..., estimated that as many as 30 House GOP lawmakers may be currently opposed to impeaching the president because they haven't seen evidence of any crime. Private briefings to update members on the investigation haven't swayed those holdouts, and Republicans know it only gets politically riskier to try to impeach Biden as they head deeper into an election year -- possibly giving the president a polling boost even if they succeed.... Conservatives [MB: i.e., far-right Trump cultists], however, are still hoping to eke out new momentum from next week's scheduled deposition of Hunter Biden and a March hearing with Special Counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents.... [Republicans] had hoped impeaching [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] would be an easy way to vent anger about Biden's handling of the southern border; instead, it became the latest warning sign that the GOP's so-far thin case against the president is going nowhere." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It bears remembering that when Democrats voted (twice) to impeach Donald Trump, they did so after he had committed obviously impeachable offenses. Republicans, on the other hand, have knocked themselves out searching vainly for crimes Mayorkas & Biden might have committed.

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. They Can't Handle the Truth. Michael Grynbaum & Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, a few hours after the credibility of a key source boosting Republican efforts to impeach President Biden collapsed in spectacular fashion, the Fox News host Jesse Watters ... [said,] 'It's a smear job.'... in [the right-wing] worldview, news of [Alexander] Smirnov's deceptions was merely part of a conspiracy to protect Mr. Biden at all costs.... Miranda Devine, a columnist for The New York Post, dismissed Mr. Smirnov as a 'straw man' and said the evidence against Mr. Biden remained 'overwhelming.' Maria Bartiromo, on Fox Business, described the Justice Department's filing as 'an intimidation tactic' and accused the government of 'taking this guy down.'... Kimberley Strassel, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal's opinion section[, wrote,] '... it's the F.B.I. that ought to have to explain the steaming pile of trash.'... Margot Cleveland, a correspondent at The Federalist, a right-leaning online outlet, argued that David C. Weiss, the special counsel who has been investigating Hunter Biden and who charged Mr. Smirnov last week, is the guilty party."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee notes that "A majority of House Republicans, including so-called 'moderates' like Rep. Michelle Steel, are endorsing legislation that advocates for a nationwide abortion ban. The 'Life at Conception Act' would also impose similar restrictions on IVF and fertility treatments as the Alabama ruling at the national level. According to a new report from Business Insider, the House version of the 'Life at Conception Act' -- introduced last year -- dismisses the IVF exception that has been included in newer Senate versions of the bill text, going a step further to restrict reproductive rights for families across the nation." The release republishes the Business Insider story. Speaker Mike Johnson is one of the cosponsors. ~~~

~~~ He Was For It Until He Was Against It. Josh Marshall of TPM: "Sen. Steve Daines (R) of Montana heads the Senate Republican campaign committee, which today sent out a memo to all its candidates instructing them to vigorously defend IVF fertility treatments which the Alabama Supreme Court just effectively outlawed in the state.... But Sen. Daines himself recently cosponsored (along with numerous Senate colleagues) a law based on precisely the same theory used by the Alabama court. Senate bill S.99, introduced in early 2021 and cosponsored by Daines, claims that all homo sapiens, born and unborn are entitled to the full protections of the 14th amendment. While the bill states that law does not 'require' the 'prohibition' of IVF it states very clearly that it requires the full panoply of constitutional rights for embryos. To quote the law, it holds that the term 'human person' applies to 'each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including [from] the moment of fertilization.'" More on the IVF ban linked under "Alabama" below.

Adam Reiss, et al., of NBC News: "A clerk in New York has officially entered a more than $464 million fraud judgment against ... Donald Trump and top executives at his company -- an amount that will grow by over $111,000 a day until it's paid. The action starts the clock on the amount of time Trump has to file an appeal and to post a bond for the award. If he does not do so, the New York attorney general's office will be able to begin collection proceedings against Trump and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case. The vast majority of the $464,576,230.62 judgment -- $454,156,783.05 of it, to be exact -- is against Trump and his companies. The rest of the judgment is against his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who've been running the Trump Organization since 2017, and former top executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marcy Wheeler parses Trump's defense for stealing, hiding & retaining classified documents, as laid out in filings to Judge Aileen Cannon this week: "First..., Trump intended to take those boxes and boxes of classified documents.... And..., because Trump stole those boxes and boxes of classified documents while he was still Commander-in-Chief, he has immunity from prosecution for doing so."

** Georgia. Uh-oh. Dinged by Pings. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "According to cellphone data submitted to court Friday, Nathan Wade visited Fani Willis' home at least 35 times before she hired him to be the lead prosecutor in Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case. Willis had previously claimed that their romantic relationship didn't begin until after Wade was hired into the case, and the filing raises new questions as to the truthfulness of her claims. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the data seems to contradict testimony from Willis last week, in which she said he had visited her condo in Hapeville no more than 10 times before he was hired in November of 2021. The data also shows that he arrived late at night at her home and left early the next morning, long before she said their romantic relationship began. Both Wade and Willis testified that he did not spend the night at her Hapeville condo.... The filing includes an affidavit from Charles Mittelstadt, a longtime investigator for defense attorneys, who used a subpoena to obtain the data from AT&T, and then used the online tool CellHawk to track Wade's movements." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story, by Kate Brumback, is here. Brumback reports it was Wade, not Willis, who testified that he had visited Willis' neighborhood fewer than 10 times before she hired him as a special prosecutor. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So I'm right back to where I was before Willis testified: she must recuse herself. Fast. Maybe you can think of a good explanation for Wade's cellphone pings -- "I was baking cupcakes in Fani's kitchen"; "I had another girlfriend in Hapeville"; "I kept my cell in Fani's briefcase" -- but I can't. Update: Barbara McQuade, speaking on MSNBC, said these data "don't prove anything at all," just that Wade was in the vicinity of Willis' home, so he might have been at a nearby restaurant or nightclub near Willis' home. Okay then. ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has filed her official response to ... Donald Trump's allegations that she and special prosecutor Nathan Wade lied on the stand about their relationship.... Willis is now alleging ... that not only do the latest allegations 'not prove, in any way, the content of the communications' or that the two were in the same place at the same time, but that Trump may have broken the law in obtaining the data used to make the allegations. 'Moreover, the state questions whether Defendant Trump legally obtained cell site location information, which is generally only obtainable after a finding of probable cause and issuance of a search warrant,' read the filing...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: After I read the original stories on the cellphone pings, I too questioned whether or not the records were legally obtained. So naturally I consulted the Internet, where I learned that, generally speaking, the service provider owns the records. Trump's investigator swore that he obtained the raw data under a subpoena to AT&T. I did not find what Georgia law says on the subject, but unless it's unlawful for AT&T to release cellphone data to a private investigator, it looks as if the records were lawfully obtained.

Presidential Race

Trump Makes Racist Appeal to Black Republicans. Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former President Trump sought to appeal to Black voters on Friday night in South Carolina by repeatedly citing the 91 felony charges he faces and comparing them to unfair treatment from the criminal justice system toward minorities in America.... He also cited his mug shot in Georgia -- taken last summer after he was charged for trying to overturn the state's election results -- as a reason that Black voters would gravitate toward him in November. Trump said he now saw Black Americans wearing mug shots on their T-shirts. 'When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is number one,' Trump said. He added that the Black population 'embraced it more than anyone else.' He also said: 'I'm being indicted for you, the Black population.'... 'Joe Biden and the radical left have abandoned everything Black Americans care about,' Trump said, calling Biden a 'racist' and attacking him for the 1994 crime bill." The New York Times story is here. MB: And at the dentist, he asks for the watermelon-flavored mouthwash. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Trump, when he says, "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world," it's because he is so flat-out ignorant he doesn't know what racism is.

Joe Sommerlad of the Independent: "Donald Trump appeared on stage more than 90 minutes late in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday night, where he delivered a speech that was as wild as it was incoherent. The Republican presidential front-runner appeared flushed and visibly exhausted as he arrived to address the National Religious Broadcasters' (NRB) International Christian Media Convention, tripping over simple words like 'evangelical' during an address littered with verbal miscues and false claims. At various points, Mr Trump declared that he had made 'Israel' the capital of Israel during his presidency (presumably confusing the decision to move its US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem), said that he planned to close down the Department of Education and praised the Capitol rioters, whom he again characterised as political prisoners and referred to as 'the J6 hostages', for their 'tremendous spirit'." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You know, I read stories this morning about the same speech in the NYT, WashPo & AP. No mention of Trump's confusion & incoherence. Yet they sure made a big deal a couple of weeks ago when President Biden said (once) "Mexico" when he meant "Egypt." What gives?

Believe What They Say. Alex Woodward of the Independent: "Far-right activist and prominent 'Pizzagate' influencer Jack Posobiec hailed the 'end of democracy' at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where prominent Republicans and GOP officials trotted out January 6 conspiracy theories and downplayed the attack on the US Capitol to overturn 2020's election results. 'Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely,' Posobiec said during a panel moderated by former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon on Thursday. 'We didn't get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this, right here,' he added." (Also linked yesterday.)

Wisconsin. What? Unethical? Felonies? You Don't Say! Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "The [bipartisan] Wisconsin Ethics Commission this week found probable cause that [Donald] Trump's Save America committee and several state and local Republican officials committed felonies and recommended several district attorneys investigate and prosecute them, according to records released Friday. The commission's investigation centers on the 2022 primary race between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the most powerful Republicans in Wisconsin, and Adam Steen, a political newcomer who embraced Trump.... The commission alleges Steen, Steen's campaign and three county Republican parties arranged to sidestep campaign finance laws by having donors give money to one of the county parties, which would then steer it to Steen's campaign or his vendors, according to the records released Friday." A Wisconsin Politics story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "A Democratic consultant who worked for a rival presidential campaign paid a New Orleans magician to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall that is now at the center of a multistate law enforcement investigation, according to text messages, call logs and Venmo transactions the creator shared with NBC News. Paul Carpenter says he was hired in January by Steve Kramer -- who has worked on ballot access for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips -- to use AI software to make the imitation of Biden's voice urging New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in the state's presidential primary. 'I created the audio used in the robocall. I did not distribute it,' Carpenter said in an interview in New Orleans, where he is currently residing."

** Jonathan Edwards & Maria Paúl of the Washington Post: "The National Rifle Association and its former CEO were found liable Friday after the New York attorney general's office sued them, saying they misspent millions of dollars on extravagant perks. A New York jury found that Wayne LaPierre, who led the NRA for three decades, squandered millions on vacations, private jets and expensive clothes, and said he was liable for $5.4 million in damages. Jurors also determined that the NRA failed to include or misrepresented information in tax filings and broke New York law by not adopting a whistleblower policy.... New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who had sued in 2020 over allegations that the group violated state law governing how charities registered in New York can operate, hailed the verdict as 'a major victory.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. The AP story is here.

Odysseus Has Landed -- Sideways. Jackie Wattles of CNN: "The Odysseus lunar lander is sideways on the moon, Intuitive Machines, the company that built the vehicle, said during a news conference Friday. The revelation comes after Intuitive Machines had initially described Odysseus, also called 'Odie' or IM-1, as 'upright' in an update posted to the social media platform X just after the historic mission made its touchdown on the lunar surface Thursday. But the company's CEO, Steve Altemus, said data later showed that the spacecraft was likely tilted on its side after having caught one of its feet on a lunar rock."

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Alabama. Elizabeth Wolfe, et al., of CNN: "A bipartisan effort is underway in the Alabama House and Senate to draft 'clarifying' legislation that would 'protect' in vitro fertilization treatments following the court's ruling, state legislative sources told CNN. Alabama House Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would establish fertilized human eggs stored outside a uterus are not considered human beings under state law. Republican state senators are soon expected to file similar legislation, one source said, but they were unsure of the exact timing.... Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall ... on Friday ... said he 'has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,' in a statement from Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm not sure any of these efforts protects IVF clinics, doctors, patients & facilities from prosecution. First, the basis of the state supremes' ruling was the state constitution, (although it referenced state laws), and laws must comply with the constitution. Second, just because this one AG says he won't prosecute, that doesn't mean that county prosecutors couldn't bring charges or that future AGs could not do so. When old men start messing with women's parts, there will be trouble. Too bad Sam Alito, medieval enthusiast, didn't figure that out (or didn't care). ~~~

Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory. -- Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker, concurring opinion ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Alito and his conservative colleagues did not just open the door to new abortion restrictions; they took aim at broader rights to bodily autonomy and personal freedom while laying the groundwork for the divisive notion of fetal personhood -- an idea that, for all the court's talk of democracy, is fundamentally incompatible with any modern notion of equal citizenship.... The [Alabama supreme court's] majority's decision was possible only because of Dobbs, since to free states to outlaw abortion is also to free them to touch an even larger set of rights and freedoms.... The goal of the anti-abortion movement was not to return the question to the states but to outlaw the practice, as well as roll the clock back on reproductive freedom writ large.... A standard that ties personhood to the moment of conception -- the creation of a single-celled zygote -- is a standard that may well make it illegal to take any form of birth control that alters the hormonal balance of the patient to reduce the odds of pregnancy.... The main effect of fetal personhood is ... a profound attack on the dignity and equality of women."

~~~ And the Lord Spake. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Friday broke his silence on the Alabama Supreme Court's declaration that frozen embryos are entitled to legal protection, distancing himself from the staunchest abortion opponents in calling on the state's Legislature to 'act quickly' to protect in vitro fertilization treatments, which he said should remain legal in every state. The remarks, after days of silence on the topic, come as he seeks to contain damage from the ruling, which has highlighted divisions in the Republican Party between those who say life begins at conception and those who want to protect reproductive services like I.V.F. 'We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America,' Mr. Trump said in a statement...."

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** Europe/North America. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary on Friday declared an end to a monthslong spat with Sweden over the expansion of NATO, saying that a visit by his Swedish counterpart had rebuilt trust and paved the way for the Hungarian Parliament to vote on Monday to ratify the Nordic nation's membership in the alliance. 'We are ready to fight for each other, to give our lives for each other,' Mr. Orban said at a joint news conference in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, with the visiting Swedish leader, Ulf Kristersson. Hungary has been the last holdout in formally endorsing Sweden's NATO membership." (Also linked yesterday.)

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

John Hudson & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a reversal of the Trump administration's position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Friday, saying they are 'inconsistent with international law.' The decision -- which was also announced at the White House -- was in immediate response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion, according to a U.S. official, one of several who discussed the decision on the condition of anonymity under administration rules. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans late Thursday for approval of 3,000 new settlement homes after Israeli police said Palestinian gunmen opened fire near the existing Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five. The expansion plans, he said, were part of 'deepening our eternal grip on the entire Land of Israel.'"