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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.
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.”
Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”
Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."
The President's Brother. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "President Biden's brother [James Biden] has for decades benefited financially from his proximity to his powerful sibling, a relationship that is newly relevant today as congressional Republicans investigate whether President Biden assisted his family members' business deals. During Joe Biden's 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president and now three years as president, James Biden's private business work -- as a consultant for hire and behind-the-scenes political fixer -- has often intersected with his brother's public responsibilities.... As FBI agents circled in on [Richard] Scruggs ... -- a famed Mississippi trial attorney -- ... and his associates over a plan to deliver $40,000 in bribes to a local judge, they also secretly recorded conversations with James Biden -- who, at the same time, was trying to create a consulting firm with the Scruggs partners. Neither James Biden nor his brother was charged or accused of wrongdoing in the case, which led to prison for Scruggs and several of his associates, including James Biden's would-be partners.... Much of the material related to James Biden in the Mississippi case is not available in court files, but the recordings, transcripts and other material were collected by Curtis Wilkie, who wrote a 2010 book about Scruggs..., which reported a number of details about the Biden connections.... What emerges is a tale of money, politics and influence, stretching from Mississippi to the corridors of power in Washington...."
Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Army intends to remove a Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery next week as part of its ongoing work to rid Defense Department property of divisive rebel imagery, defying dozens of congressional Republicans who have vociferously protested the move.... This month, 44 Republican lawmakers cautioned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first African American to hold the post, that the Pentagon would overstep its authority by removing the memorial, and they demanded that all efforts to do so stop until Congress works through next year's appropriations bill.... A congressional commission had previously decided the memorial met the criteria for removal. The task will cost $3 million.... Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) ... plans to relocate it to New Market Battlefield State Park...." The AP story is here. MB: See also the stories about Donald Trump's New Hampshire rally. The stories are of a piece, demonstrating Republicans' antipathy for democratic principles and people of color as well as their sympathy for violent revolution against the United States.
A Show About Nothing Stunts. Paul Kane of the Washington Post looks at House Republicans and elaborates on how "the GOP move[d] away from its conservative policy roots to instead focus on political stunts. Rather than trying to work on policy through congressional committees and winning political support, they would find some looming fiscal deadline and threaten calamity unless their conservative demands were met. For 13 years, the House GOP has cycled between a far-right group of about 15 to 30 conservatives first holding things hostage, and then the leadership team getting ahead of the next hostage-taking by declaring that that was the preferred strategy." MB: It's a long-running show and not as funny as "Seinfeld," which ostensibly made fun of its buffoonish, nihilistic characters.
Amanda Terkel & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "Sen. Ben Cardin's office has parted ways with a staffer who conservative news outlets alleged was shown in a leaked video having sex in a Senate hearing room. 'Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate,' the Maryland Democrat's office said in a statement to NBC News on Saturday, which was first obtained by Politico. 'We will have no further comment on this personnel matter.'... NBC News was not able to identify the staffer in the interaction." See yesterday's Conversation for a related link.
Presidential Race 2024
News from the Dictators' Club. Maggie Haberman & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trumpon Saturday [at a rally in New Hampshire] invokedVladimir V. Putin to support his case that the four criminal indictments he is facing are political payback..., [and suggesting that Mr. Putin is] a credible observer of the U.S. political system..... 'Even Vladimir Putin says that Biden's -- and this is a quote -- politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.'... There is no evidence that [President] Biden has meddled in the prosecutions of Mr. Trump.... [Mr. Trump] also revived a widely condemned comment about immigrants 'poisoning the blood of our country,' noting that immigrants are coming not just from South America but also Africa and Asia. He did not mention Europe." ~~~
I don't call them prisoners, I call them hostages. They're hostages. -- Donald Trump, Saturday, describing the January 6 insurrectionists ~~~
~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trumpapprovingly quoted autocratsVladimir Putin of Russia and Viktor Orban of Hungary, part of an ongoing effort to deflect from his criminal prosecutions and spin alarms about eroding democracy against President Biden.... Trump called [Orban] 'highly respected' and welcomed his praise as 'the man who can save the Western world.'... And he used the term 'hostages' to describe people charged with violent crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. The comments came as experts, historians and political opponents have voiced growing alarm about Trump's rhetoric, ideas and emerging plans for a second term, pointing to parallels to past and present authoritarian leaders.... The speech ended with an instrumental track that Trump has continued using at rallies despite becoming associated with the QAnon online extremist movement." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I hope it's clear that Donald Trump is teaching Americans to despise Western democracy and revere repressive authoritarian governments like those of Russia and Hungary. He's also teaching them to believe violence against democratic processes is justified and non-European immigrants are sub-human. And millions of American nitwits are learning his lessons. Trump is probably the most successful malignant individual in the history of the U.S. The Washington Post's newish masthead declaration that "Democracy Dies in Darkness"; is passé; it turns out democracy dies in bright light.
Marie: Last year, former prosecutor James Zirin wrote in a Hill opinion piece: "In Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito gleefully declared that any recognition of abortion was surely 'calculated to perpetuate give-it-a try litigation' before judges 'assigned an unwieldy and inappropriate task.' Continued adherence to that standard,' he said, 'would undermine, not advance, the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles.' That's legalese for getting the courts out of the abortion business." But, it turns out, Alito was just kidding. He and his Supreme pals were not at all interested in "getting the courts out of the abortion business." ~~~
~~~ ** Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Religious fanatics on the Supreme Court have yanked America back to back alleys. American women are punished, branded with Scarlet Letters, forced to flee to get procedures.... The Savonarola wing of the Supreme Court -- all Catholics except Neil Gorsuch, who was raised Catholic and went to the same suburban Washington Catholic prep school as Brett Kavanaugh -- could go to even more extreme lengths. The court announced Wednesday that it will consider curtailing the availability of a pill used to terminate first-trimester pregnancies.... Conservative judges who assured the Senate that Roe was settled law in their confirmation hearings could barely wait until Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died to throw it in the constitutional rights rubbish bin. The more we learn, the more infuriating it is that our lives and choices about our bodies are determined by conniving radicals. The Supreme Court is way, way out of order." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv after the Israel Defense Forces mistakenly killed three hostages carrying a white flag in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a 'terrible tragedy.' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin embarked on a trip to Bahrain, Qatar and Israel, where he will discuss the next 'operational milestones' with his Israeli counterparts, the Defense Department said.... British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, called for a 'sustainable cease-fire' in Gaza, signaling a shift in tone as support for Israel's offensive slips in some Western countries. 'Too many civilians' have been killed, they said. The World Health Organization said it delivered health supplies to al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. After most of its staff and patients evacuated in the wake of the IDF's raid on the facility in November, al-Shifa 'needs to urgently resume at least basic operations' as new patients are 'arriving every minute,' the WHO said." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Sunday are here: "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III will visit Israel and two Persian Gulf nations this week, as Biden administration officials push Israel to end its large-scale ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip within weeks and transition to a more focused phase in its war against Hamas.... The fatal shooting by Israeli soldiers in Gaza of three unarmed men who turned out to be Israeli hostages could give momentum to those pushing for a new cease-fire to allow for more hostages to be released."
Aaron Boxerman, et al., of the New York Times: "The Israeli military on Saturday said three hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli troops had been shirtless, unarmed and bearing a makeshift white flag.... The military, which acknowledged that the killings violated its rules of engagement, announced the deaths on Friday, hours after saying it had recovered the bodies of three other Israeli hostages in Gaza. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy, the Israeli military chief of staff, said on Saturday..., 'It is forbidden to shoot at those who raise a white flag and seek to surrender.'... Some families of the hostages seized on the shootings to urge the government to make securing the captives' freedom its highest priority.... One soldier, believing the [three] men posed a threat, opened fire, killing two of them and wounding the third, the early investigation found. The third hostage fled into the building, from which a cry in Hebrew for help could be heard, the military said. The battalion commander ordered the forces to hold their fire. But the wounded hostage later re-emerged, after which he was shot and killed, the military statement said."
Libya. Yonette Joseph of the New York Times: "More than 60 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Libya, an international migrant agency said on Saturday, another chapter in the unrelenting toll in the Mediterranean Sea as people in Africa flee famine, conflict and other upheavals for distant shores.... The boat had set off from the Libyan city of Zwara with about 86 people, the agency said, citing survivors of the shipwreck. It was unclear exactly when it began its voyage." The article doesn't say who rescued the survivors.
Marie: Last year, former prosecutor James Zirin wrote in a Hill opinion piece: "In Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito gleefully declared that any recognition of abortion was surely 'calculated to perpetuate give-it-a try litigation' before judges 'assigned an unwieldy and inappropriate task.' Continued adherence to that standard,' he said, 'would undermine, not advance, the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles.' That's legalese for getting the courts out of the abortion business." But, it turns out, Alito was just kidding. He and his Supreme pals were not at all interested in "getting the courts out of the abortion business." ~~~
~~~ ** Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Religious fanatics on the Supreme Court have yanked America back to back alleys. American women are punished, branded with Scarlet Letters, forced to flee to get procedures.... The Savonarola wing of the Supreme Court -- all Catholics except Neil Gorsuch, who was raised Catholic and went to the same suburban Washington Catholic prep school as Brett Kavanaugh -- could go to even more extreme lengths. The court announced Wednesday that it will consider curtailing the availability of a pill used to terminate first-trimester pregnancies.... Conservative judges who assured the Senate that Roe was settled law in their confirmation hearings could barely wait until Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died to throw it in the constitutional rights rubbish bin. The more we learn, the more infuriating it is that our lives and choices about our bodies are determined by conniving radicals. The Supreme Court is way, way out of order."
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Edward Wong & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has 43 presidential nominees still awaiting confirmation in the Senate as Congress prepares to break for the holidays, a delay that is putting American national security and foreign policy interests in jeopardy around the world, the State Department said on Friday. Any nominee not confirmed before the Senate ends its session, which is expected as soon as next week, will have to be renominated by the White House next year, leading to further delays.... The blockade of diplomatic nominees has continued as many Republicans in Congress have sought to condition support for [President] Biden's foreign policy priorities on winning right-wing policy concessions.... A single senator can hold up a nomination, and several G.O.P. senators have put holds on the nominees, similar to what Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, did for months with at least 425 nominees to Pentagon positions, before senators in his own party rebelled against him.... Republican senators who have placed holds on ambassador nominees during Mr. Biden's presidency include J.D. Vance of Ohio, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky."
MEANWHILE, in a Senate Hearing Room. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "A congressional staffer filmed a gay porn video in a Senate hearing room, according to footage leaked to the Daily Caller on Friday. In the footage, a nude man can be seen engaging in anal sex before the cameraman shows that the act is taking place in a Senate hearing room. 'A source identified the room to the Daily Caller as Senate room Hart 216- The Judiciary Room. The Caller blurred out his face because his identity has not been confirmed,' reported Daily Caller chief national correspondent Henry Rodgers, who added, 'It appears to be unprotected sex.' The video was reportedly 'shared in a private group for gay men in politics,' where it was then leaked to the Daily Caller. While the report stated that it could not confirm the identities of either man in the video, Rodgers went on to retweet several posts identifying one of the men...." MB: The report names the alleged porno star, but I won't do so here.
"Worst. Congress. Ever." Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "What do House Republicans have to show the voters for their year in power? A bipartisan debt deal (on which they promptly reneged) to avoid a default crisis that they themselves created. A pair of temporary spending bills (both passed with mostly Democratic votes) to avert a government-shutdown crisis that they themselves created. The ouster of their speaker, nearly a month-long shutdown of the chamber as they sought another, and the expulsion of one of their members, who is now negotiating himself a plea deal.... On Thursday, the House, exhausted from its labors, recessed for a three-week vacation, leaving behind a pile of urgent, unfinished business...." Read on. Milbank has a good deal to say on the Impeachment About Nothing, like how Jim Comer said he would bring in Hunter Biden to testify in a deposition or committee hearing, whichever he chose. But when Hunter chose a public hearing, Comer said no, and he & Gym Jordan announced they would charge Hunter Biden with contempt of Congress. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: RAS has some breaking news that could (but won't) shut me up about the Impeachment About Nothing: "James Comer announces that they have proof that Christmas presents Hunter Biden received in 1976 were actually from Joe Biden and not in fact from Santa Claus. Several elves are expected to give depositions."
** A Binder Full of Secrets. Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump's presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.... The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.... The binder was last seen at the White House during Trump's final days in office. The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI's Russia investigation." Cassidy Hutchinson fingered Mark Meadows, testifying she saw him leave the White House with the unredacted file, but Meadows denies it. The file was not found among the stolen files the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump "suggested, during an April 2021 interview for a book about the Trump presidency, that Mr. Meadows still had the material. 'I would let you look at them if you wanted,' Mr. Trump said in the interview. 'It's a treasure trove.' Mr. Trump did not address a question about whether he himself had some of the material. But when a Trump aide present for the interview asked him, 'Does Meadows have those?' Mr. Trump replied, 'Meadows has them.'... A court filing ... submitted in August described the binder as about 10 inches thick and containing about 2,700 pages. The publicly released version includes fewer than 600 pages, many heavily redacted; it is not clear what accounts for the discrepancy."
~~~ Marie: I have a theory about this, and I'm only half-kidding. Last night, contributor Jeanne wrote, "So who has it? My money is on Meadows, since he has lied on several occasions about his residence, his kid's wedding during Covid lockdown, he vows his 'work' was all federal work, and he was burning stuff in the fireplace at work ... again, WTF??" And why did Meadows agree to be chief-of-staff when he had what was probably a secure seat in the House, he was a founder of the Freedumb Caucus and was popular with members of Congress. Even Democrats liked him, so he was bound for a significant House leadership slot.
By contrast, the job of chief-of-staff to Trump was humiliating, and -- like all of his predecessors -- Meadows was likely a very temporary chief. But he stuck like glue to Trump and jumped every time Trump said jump. He knocked himself out helping Trump try to effect a coup, which -- if successful -- would have created a nearly-unprecedented destabilization of the quasi-democratic republic, possibly leading to civil war & in any event, radically diminishing the position of the U.S as a world leader. Subsequently, he appeared to cooperate with the House January 6 committee, then he suddenly stopped, without explanation. Now he's doing everything he can to avoid coming clean about what he knows about the insurrection. This all makes sense if Meadows had some kind of nefarious ulterior motive. I would not be surprised if he was a foreign operative, probably for Russia. And I won't be shocked if Meadows suddenly disappears, either of his own volition or with the help of Russians who dissolve his body in a vat of acid.
** Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudolph W. Giulianito pay two former Georgia election workers more than $148 million for destroying their reputations and causing them extreme emotional distress by spreading baseless lies that they had tried to steal a victory from ... Donald J. Trump after the 2020 presidential election. The award came after Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court in Washington had ruled that Mr. Giuliani, who helped lead Mr. Trump's efforts to remain in office after his defeat, had defamed the two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The jury in the civil trial had been asked to decide only on the amount of the damages.... Mr. Giuliani's net worth is unknown because he refused to comply with routine trial disclosures." The story has been updated & expanded. The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: After the verdict, Rudy went out & told reporters a bunch of lies. He said, for instance, that he "was not allowed to put in one piece of evidence in defense." No, (1) for months, he chose not to participate in the case-in-chief, forcing the judge to issue a judgment against him and (2) his lawyer chose not to mount a defense in the damages aspect of the case because he didn't have one. He said he didn't testify because the judge threatened him, maybe with jail time, if he made one little mistake during testimony. It's true Rudy might have been charged with perjury because he's a raving liar, but the judge didn't threaten to jail him if he misspoke & said it was raining the day he held a presser at Four Seasons Landscaping. And he said his comments implicating Freeman & Moss "were supportable." ~~~
~~~ Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, has some of Giuliani's response to the verdict, including his telling reporters, "My country had a president imposed on it by fraud." And this anecdote: Giuliani's lawyer, John "Sibley left the courthouse by another door shortly after the verdict and was not at his client's side as he spoke to reporters." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ bmaz on emptywheel: "This was absolutely a damning verdict, and there is no way for Rudy to hide from it. Nor Trump, who will blithely act like he never knew Rudy. Fun times, but there is a LOT ahead. Stay tuned." ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Please send donations of Johnnie Walker Black to the Super 8 Motel in Yonkers. Your periodic reminder that 'what happened' to Rudy is 'nothing.' Indeed, he was a canary in the authoritarian coalmine[.]"
Jason Morris, et al., of CNN: "A federal appeals court appeared skeptical of former Donald Trump White House chief of staffMark Meadows' attempt to move his Georgia election interference criminal case to federal court during a hearing Friday morning. Meadows attorney George Terwilliger argued that he should be protected because the Fulton County racketeering charges against him stem from his time in the White House and therefore were part of his role as a federal official. Moving the case to federal court could let Meadows get the charges dismissed altogether by invoking federal immunity extended to certain individuals who are prosecuted or sued for conduct tied to their US government roles.... Previously, US District Judge Steve Jones, an Obama appointee, found that his alleged actions in the sprawling Fulton County indictment weren't part of his federal responsibilities." (Also linked yesterday.)
AP: "The apology letters that Donald Trump-allied lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro were required to write as a condition of their plea deals in the Georgia election interference case are just one sentence long. The letters, obtained Thursday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request, were hand-written and terse. Neither letter acknowledges the legitimacy of Democrat Joe Biden's win in Georgia's 2020 election nor denounces the baseless conspiracy theories they pushed to claim Trump was cheated out of victory through fraud. 'I apologize for my actions in connection with the events in Coffee County,' Powell wrote in a letter dated Oct. 19, the same day she pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties. 'I apologize to the citizens of the state of Georgia and of Fulton County for my involvement in Count 15 of the indictment,' Chesebro wrote in a letter dated Oct. 20, when he appeared in court to plead guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents.... The letters written by the other two defendants to plead guilty -- Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis and bail bondsman Scott Hall -- were longer and more specific." ~~~
~~~ Axios reproduces images of Chesebro's & Powell's "apology" letters, which are handwritten on grade-school lined paper. They look like something Bart Simpson wrote, but Bart had to write his apologies 100 times. And his "apologies" were more on point: ~~~
~~~ Marie: Chris Hayes & his guests Shan Wu & Josh Marshall agreed last night that neither the district attorney nor the judge overseeing the plea deals should accept these fake apologies as meeting the conditions of the deals.
Sebastian Murdock of the Huffington Post, republished by Yahoo! News: "A Florida Proud Boy who claimed he was trying to help police on Jan. 6, 2021, by throwing a rock at the Capitol doors was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday. Anthony Sargent, 47, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony charge of civil disorder and six misdemeanor charges including engaging in physical violence in a restricted building and disorderly conduct. The day of the Capitol attack, Sargent could be seen on video repeatedly throwing a rock at the Capitol doors and encouraging others to attack the building. Sargent also 'physically separated a law enforcement officer' from a rioter and 'prevented the officer from apprehending the rioter,' according to the Justice Department."
Michael Schaffer of Politico Magazine: For some reason, "Former first lady Melania Trump [is] slated to be the honored guest speaker today at a naturalization ceremony for new citizens in the rotunda of the [National] Archives' headquarters.... How did it happen that a resident of the same Mar-a-Lago estate whose bathrooms were used to store thousands of allegedly ill-gotten Archives documents won an invite to speak in the same room as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence? For that matter, how is it that a federal agency is giving the spouse of any presidential candidate a star turn in a heart-warming photo-op less than a month before the Iowa caucuses?" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Early this week (Dec. 11), Akhilleus wrote, in part, "First, Melanie ain't in no way, no how, in any conceivable universe, an exemplar for immigrants hoping to become American citizens. She cut the line by being Donald Trump's girlfriend and was given an Einstein Visa.... 'In March 2001, she was granted a green card in the elite EB-1 program, which was designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields ... who demonstrated "sustained national and international acclaim." Also included are applicants who demonstrate 'exceptional abilities'. I'm pretty sure 'national and international acclaim' doesn't extend to 'nice ass' and 'exceptional abilities' don't include getting naked and rolling around on a rug.... As soon as Melanie became a citizen, she used chain migration to bring her parents here. But as soon as her fat asshole of a husband slithered into the White House, he put the kibosh on immigration of all kinds, including the EB-1 program and chain migration." ~~~
~~~ Update. Olivia Renaldi of CBS News: "Former first lady Melania Trumpmade a rare public appearance Friday at a naturalization ceremony in Washington, D.C., to congratulate 25 new American citizens at the National Archives -- which happens to be at the center of one of the federal indictments against her husband ... Donald Trump. Melania Trump spoke candidly about the difficulties she faced in becoming a citizen after she emigrated to the United States from Slovenia for her fashion career in 1996, recalling the 'labyrinth of organizing paperwork' she had to navigate."
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Ohio Congressional Race. Ally Mutnick & Olivia Beavers of Politico: "House Republicans are scrambling to fix a potential nightmare that's unfolding in a must-win race in northwestern Ohio. The GOP is eager to block J.R. Majewski from winning its nomination to challenge veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Majewski lost his previous bid for Congress last year, after a news report on his military records indicated he lied about combat duty in Afghanistan. Republicans turned to former state legislator Craig Riedel to beat Majewski in this cycle's primary. But last week, an audio tape surfaced of Riedel calling Donald Trump 'arrogant' and vowing not to endorse the former president. Now the primary looks poised to become a referendum on which is worse in today's GOP: criticizing Trump or allegedly lying about one's military valor." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Pardon me for laughing at the GOP's quandary because for the good of the republic, it isn't all that funny. Ohio Republicans redrew the district's lines before the 2022 election, shifting its voter makeup from blue to purple, so one of these two reprobates could become a member of Congress. Still, these two guys are illustrative of the quality of the GOP's handpicked candidates. Trump backed Majewski in the 2022 GOP primary, after Majewski "gained public attention after painting a giant mural in support of ... Donald Trump across his lawn." Still Majewski has other qualifications, like he's a "hip-hop performer and promoter of QAnon...."
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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israeli military said its forces shot the three hostages after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, and expressed 'deep remorse.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was an 'unbearable tragedy,' while the White House described the news as ;heartbreaking.'... The announcement that Israeli forces had mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza brought grief and outrage, with hundreds gathering outside a military compound Friday in protest. A group of the families of hostages is meeting urgently on Saturday, planning to raise pressure on Israeli leaders to secure the release of all hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.... U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is visiting the Middle East this weekend, with stops in Israel, Qatar and Bahrain. He is expected to discuss 'next steps in the conflict' with Israeli military leaders, including when and how the war will move to less intense ground operations and airstrikes, the Department of Defense said."
** Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudolph W. Giulianito pay two former Georgia election workers more than $148 million for destroying their reputations and causing them extreme emotional distress by spreading baseless lies that they had tried to steal a victory from ... Donald J. Trump after the 2020 presidential election. The award came after Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court in Washington had ruled that Mr. Giuliani, who helped lead Mr. Trump's efforts to remain in office after his defeat, had defamed the two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The jury in the civil trial had been asked to decide only on the amount of the damages.... Mr. Giuliani's net worth is unknown because he refused to comply with routine trial disclosures." The story has been updated & expanded. The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: So after the verdict, Rudy went out & told reporters a bunch of lies. He said, for instance, that he "was not allowed to put in one piece of evidence in defense." No, his lawyer chose not to mount a defense because he didn't have one. He said he didn't testify because the judge threatened him, maybe with jail time, if he made one little mistake during testimony. It's true Rudy might have been charged with perjury because he's a raving liar, but the judge didn't threaten to jail him if he misspoke & said it was raining the day he held a presser at Four Seasons Landscaping. And he said his comments implicating Freeman & Moss "were supportable." I'm sure a real reporter will write a real story about this, and I'll link it when it become available. ~~~
~~~ Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, has some of Giuliani's response to the verdict, including his telling reporters, "My country had a president imposed on it by fraud." And this anecdote: Giuliani's lawyer, John "Sibley left the courthouse by another door shortly after the verdict and was not at his client's side as he spoke to reporters."
Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump's presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.... The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.... The binder was last seen at the White House during Trump's final days in office. The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI's Russia investigation." Cassidy Hutchinson fingered Mark Meadows, testifying she saw him leave the White House with the unredacted file, but Meadows denies it. The file was not found among the stolen files the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago.
Jason Morris, et al., of CNN: "A federal appeals court appeared skeptical of former Donald Trump White House chief of staffMark Meadows' attempt to move his Georgia election interference criminal case to federal court during a hearing Friday morning. Meadows attorney George Terwilliger argued that he should be protected because the Fulton County racketeering charges against him stem from his time in the White House and therefore were part of his role as a federal official. Moving the case to federal court could let Meadows get the charges dismissed altogether by invoking federal immunity extended to certain individuals who are prosecuted or sued for conduct tied to their US government roles.... Previously, US District Judge Steve Jones, an Obama appointee, found that his alleged actions in the sprawling Fulton County indictment weren't part of his federal responsibilities."
"Worst. Congress. Ever." Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "What do House Republicans have to show the voters for their year in power? A bipartisan debt deal (on which they promptly reneged) to avoid a default crisis that they themselves created. A pair of temporary spending bills (both passed with mostly Democratic votes) to avert a government-shutdown crisis that they themselves created. The ouster of their speaker, nearly a month-long shutdown of the chamber as they sought another, and the expulsion of one of their members, who is now negotiating himself a plea deal.... On Thursday, the House, exhausted from its labors, recessed for a three-week vacation, leaving behind a pile of urgent, unfinished business...." Read on. Milbank has a good deal to say on the Impeachment About Nothing, like how Jim Comer said he would bring in Hunter Biden to testify in a deposition or committee hearing, whichever he chose. But when Hunter chose a public hearing, Comer said no, and he & Gym Jordan announced they would charge Hunter Biden with contempt of Congress. ~~~
~~~ Marie: RAS has some breaking news that could (but won't) shut me up about the Impeachment About Nothing: "James Comer announces that they have proof that Christmas presents Hunter Biden received in 1976 were actually from Joe Biden and not in fact from Santa Claus. Several elves are expected to give depositions."
Michael Schaffer of Politico Magazine: For some reason, "Former first lady Melania Trump [is] slated to be the honored guest speaker today at a naturalization ceremony for new citizens in the rotunda of the [National] Archives' headquarters.... How did it happen that a resident of the same Mar-a-Lago estate whose bathrooms were used to store thousands of allegedly ill-gotten Archives documents won an invite to speak in the same room as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence? For that matter, how is it that a federal agency is giving the spouse of any presidential candidate a star turn in a heart-warming photo-op less than a month before the Iowa caucuses?" ~~~
~~~ Earlier this week (Dec. 11), Akhilleus wrote, in part, "First, Melanie ain't in no way, no how, in any conceivable universe, an exemplar for immigrants hoping to become American citizens. She cut the line by being Donald Trump's girlfriend and was given an Einstein Visa.... 'In March 2001, she was granted a green card in the elite EB-1 program, which was designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields ... who demonstrated 'sustained national and international acclaim.' Also included are applicants who demonstrate 'exceptional abilities'. I'm pretty sure 'national and international acclaim' doesn't extend to 'nice ass' and 'exceptional abilities' don't include getting naked and rolling around on a rug.... As soon as Melanie became a citizen, she used chain migration to bring her parents here. But as soon as her fat asshole of a husband slithered into the White House, he put the kibosh on immigration of all kinds, including the EB-1 program and chain migration."
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Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed an $886 billion defense bill, clearing the measure for President Biden after pushing past a revolt from the far right over the exclusion of restrictions they had sought to abortion access, transgender care, and racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon. The 310-to-118 vote reflected the bipartisan nature of the bill, which earned the support of a majority of Democrats and Republicans despite the vocal opposition of hard-liners, who staged a last-ditch rebellion on the House floor to try to block its passage. Mr. Biden is expected to sign the measure into law, maintaining Washington's six-decade streak of approving military policy legislation on an annual basis." The Hill's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Trump-Proofing NATO. Laura Kelly of the Hill: "Congress has approved legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress. The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which passed out of the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Biden.... Trump's critics say the former president's rhetoric weakens the unity and force of purpose of the alliance. And they expressed concerns that Trump would abandon the U.S. commitment to the mutual defense pact of the alliance or withdraw the U.S. completely."
Connor O'Brien of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday approved legislation to grant back pay to senior military officers whose promotions were delayed for [about ten] months by Sen. Tommy Tuberville's hold on nominations.... The bill passed by unanimous consent before the Senate left for the week.... The measure must still pass the House, but will likely have to wait for a vote there. Lawmakers from the lower chamber left earlier Thursday for the rest of the year, but could take up the measure in January when they return to session."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Now that the House has voted to initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) & his cronies are trying to conjure up a list of (largely imaginary) crimes supposedly committed by Joe Biden and "the Bidens." Bump knocks down the efforts. ~~~
~~~ Brian Slodysko of the AP: "Rep. James Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, boasts of being one of the largest landholders near his rural Kentucky hometown.... But there are 6 acres (2.4 hectares) that he bought in 2015 and co-owns with a longtime campaign contributor that he has treated differently [from his other landholdings], transferring his ownership to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife.... [Comer's] ... finances and relationships have begun to draw notice..., including his ties to prominent local figures who have complicated pasts not all that dissimilar to some of those caught up in his Biden [impeachment] probe.... The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms.... [In an appearance on Fox, Comer] also falsely claimed that the donor, Darren Cleary, 'wasn't a campaign contributor' at the time the property was purchased. Cleary and his family have donated to Comer's political campaigns since at least 2010.... Interviews with allies, critics and constituents ... reveal a fierce partisan who has ignored wrongdoing by friends and supporters if they can help him advance in business and politics." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: This isn't even a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Joe Biden has not been embroiled in any of the type of shady deals and political relationships that Comer is trying to hide from the public.
Questions for a Situationally "Concerned"TM Susan Collins Member of Congress. After Rep. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) made hay of asking university presidents to provide some "moral clarity" about antisemitism on college campuses. So Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), in a CNN opinion piece, challenged Stefanik to provide "moral clarity" to how she would answer five yes/no questions about presidential* antisemitism: Sample questions: "Is a candidate qualified to be president who hosted at his home for dinner Nick Fuentes, an avowedly pro-Hitler, Holocaust revisionist calling for a 'holy war' against the Jewish people, and Kanye West, who vowed to go 'death con 3' against Jews? Yes or no, Ms. Stefanik?... Do you regret endorsingDonald Trump for president in 2016 just days after he tweeted an image of the Star of David superimposed over Hillary Clinton's face and a thick pile of cash? Yes or no, Ms. Stefanik?" CNN adds Stefanik's "answer," which unsurprisingly does not respond to the questions. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Door Hit Him on the Way Out. Mia McCarthy of Politico: "On Thursday, [former House Speaker Kevin] McCarthywrapped up his 2023 on Capitol Hill with a farewell speech [on the House floor].... 'It's kind of bittersweet,' McCarthy told reporters Thursday. 'It's not the timing I wanted.'" ~~~
~~~ John Parkinson of ABC News: "As the House embarks on a three-week holiday recess, McCarthy's resignation will take effect at the end of the year. But with no more votes anticipated in the lower chamber this year, Thursday was effectively the end of an era.... Thursday afternoon, McCarthy invited a half-dozen congressional reporters to the ornate office for an off-camera exit interview. For more than an hour, McCarthy shared his final thoughts on everything from his place in history to the rivals who brought him down."
Former Fraudster-in-Chief Made Fraud Victims Pay. Michael Laris of the Washington Post: "To find savings to cover some of the cost of [Trump's] deep tax cuts in 2017, GOP lawmakers scaled back or eliminated many itemized deductions that targeted specific groups of taxpayers, including those that help crime victims like Florida retirees Suzy and Dennis Gomas. In a succession of scams tied to a pet food operation..., the couple was defrauded out of nearly $2 million by Suzy Gomas's daughter, who is serving a 25-year sentence, according to federal court filings in Tampa. In a July decision, U.S. District Judge Tom Barber, who was appointed by ... Donald Trump, ruled that, 'astonishingly,' the couple was required to pay federal income tax on the stolen money. He cited the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed in 2017, which temporarily repealed deductions for losses from storms, fires, earthquakes -- and theft.... Former law enforcement officials and some tax experts said the real-world results of Congress's actions have been unfair."
The Trials of the Trump Mob
Lauren del Valle & Kara Scannell of CNN: "A New York appellate court rejectedDonald Trump's challenge of the gag order in his civil fraud trial Thursday. Trump's attorneys petitioned the court over the gag order that bars him and the attorneys from speaking publicly about Judge Arthur Engoron's court staff. In rejecting the challenge Thursday, the appeals court said Trump didn't use the proper legal vehicle to challenge the gag order and sanctions." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Trump & the (Alleged) Stalker. Adam Klasfeld of the Messenger: "The saga of ... Donald Trump's first gag order began with a social media post by an account called 'JudicialProtest.' 'Why is Judge Engoron's Principal Law Clerk, Allison R. Greenfield, palling around with Chuck Schumer?' @JudicialProtest wrote on Sept. 27, 2023, showing the clerk and the Senate Majority Leader posing for a picture.... On Oct. 3, 2023, the second day of his civil fraud trial, Trump attached a screenshot of that post to his own social media website Truth Social, with a message falsely labeling Greenfield the 'girlfriend' of Schumer. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to delete the 'untrue' and 'disparaging' post, leading to an unprecedented gag order against a former U.S. president.... An investigation by the Messenger has found that 40-year-old Wisconsin resident Brock Fredin -- the man behind the @JudicialProtest account on X ... -- has a prolific history of civil and criminal litigation over his harassment of women that echoes his attacks on Greenfield. Fredin has been hit with 50-year restraining orders barring him from contacting three women, and he has been criminally convicted multiple times for violating two of those orders. He is currently under criminal investigation for more suspected restraining order violations and possible stalking." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The Trump mob just keeps looking sleazier & sleazier. And so, of course, does Trump.
Craig Mauger of the Detroit News: "Testifying in court Thursday, top Michigan Republicans linked the organization and execution of a false certificate saying Donald Trump won the state's 2020 presidential election directly to Trump's campaign. While the Trump campaign has previously been tied to the overall strategy of crafting electoral certificates in seven battleground states, the testimony Thursday described campaign staffers as being involved in recruiting attendees and running the meeting of the false electors in Lansing on Dec. 14, 2020.... The revelations came on the second day of preliminary examinations for six of the Republican electors as Attorney General Dana Nessel's office pursues criminal forgery charges against those whose names appeared on the false certificate." The question here is whether or not the fake electors had the intent to defraud when they signed the fake certificate. One fake elector, Meshawn Maddock, said outside of court that "the Republicans signed only one page of the false electoral certificate that was later submitted to Congress. The first page, which claimed Trump won Michigan's electoral vote, wasn't presented with the signature page in the basement [meeting of Dec. 14, 2020]."
He has no right to offer defenseless civil servants up to a virtual mob in order to overturn an election.... The cost that has [been] imposed on Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, on all those he has deceived, and to the public confidence in our democracy are incalculable. -- Plaintiffs' attorney Michael Gottleib, in closing arguments in the civil defamation case against Rudy Giuliani, yesterday ~~~
~~~ Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A Washington jury is considering how much to award two Georgia election workers who became targets of violent threats and smear campaigns after Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump falsely accused them of manipulating ballots in the 2020 election. The eight-member jury deliberated for 3.5 hours on Thursday after closing arguments in Giuliani's trial. Jurors will return on Friday morning to continue deliberating.... [Giuliani's attorney Joseph Sibley] rested his case without calling any witnesses.... In an unusually concessionary closing, Sibley seemed to admit that some of Giuliani's statements about the election workers and election fraud -- including things he said this week -- were out of touch with reality. 'Rudy Giuliani's a good man,' Sibley said. 'He hasn't exactly helped himself with some of the things that have happened in the last few days.'" MB: Sibley described Giuliani to the jury as a bitter old man. That seems right. ~~~
~~~ Hmm, It Seems Rudy's Lawyer Muzzled Him. Devan Cole & Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "... Rudy Giulianiwill no longer testify in his defamation damages trial over how much he should pay two Georgia election workers millions of dollars in damages for spreading conspiracy theories about them after the 2020 election.... The decision not to appear comes after the Georgia election workers -- Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss -- provided gut-wrenching testimony over the course of two days about how the lies spread by him damaged their reputations and upended their lives." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Just two days ago, Rudy told reporters outside the courtroom, "When I testify, the whole story will be definitively clear that what I said was true, and that, whatever happened to them -- which is unfortunate about other people overreacting -- everything I said about them is true." Giuliani also asserted that Moss and Freeman "engaged in changing votes." And when a reporter argued there was no proof the women tampered with ballots, Giuliani shot back, "You're damn right there is.... Stay tuned." Well, Rudy, we tuned in and we got radio silence. Two things stand out here: (1) Rudy's attorney obviously thinks his client is to senile and out of touch with reality to testify; and (2) a senile, out-of-touch lawyer was one of Donald Trump's chief advisors in Trump's efforts to retain power by force. ~~~
~~~ Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: "But jurors still heard the words of ... [Rudy Giuliani], dating back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and extending to as recently as this week.... [Plaintiffs' attorney Michael] Gottlieb said Giuliani continued to lie about Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye 'Shaye' Moss, mother and daughter election workers who testified that they were inundated with vicious threats and racist insults after he falsely accused them of helping fake the Georgia election results to the detriment of Republican incumbent Trump.... He said Giuliani's defense strategy was to convince jurors he was more important than the women he defamed: 'Rich famous people have valuable reputations, and ordinary people are irrelevant, replaceable, worthless. Mr. Giuliani's defense is his reputation, his comfort and his goals are more important than those of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. That is a fiction, and it ends today.... He called them drug dealers and criminals.'..."
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Federal prosecutors don't appear to be done withJohn Eastman just yet. On Monday, a paralegal for special counsel Jack Smith's office ordered transcripts from the recent disbarment trial of the former Donald Trump attorney.... Eastman is one of six alleged co-conspirators in the federal indictment that Smith obtained againstTrump in August in Washington, D.C. Eastman has not been charged in that case, but he has been charged alongside Trump and other allies in a separate criminal case involving election interference in Georgia."
Larry Neumeister of the AP: "A former top FBI counterintelligence official was ordered Thursday to spend over four years in prison for violating sanctions on Russia by going to work for a Russian oligarch seeking dirt on a wealthy rival after he finished his government career. Charles McGonigal, 55, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison in Manhattan federal court by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who said McGonigal harmed national security by repeatedly flouting sanctions meant to put economic pressure on Russia to get results without military force. He was also fined $40,000 and ordered to forfeit $17,500."
** Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak of the New York Times piece together how Sam Alitoengineered the plot to overturn Roe v. Wade: "Justice Alito appeared to have pregamed it among some of the conservative justices, out of view from other colleagues, to safeguard a coalition more fragile than it looked.... The most glaring irregularity was the leak to Politico of Justice Alito's draft. The identity and motive of the person who disclosed it remains unknown, but the effect of the breach is clear: It helped lock in the result, The Times found, undercutting Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Breyer's quest to find a middle ground."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Former New York Times editorial-page editor James Bennet, in an essay in the Economist, criticizes Times leadership for "illiberalism." If you don't care to read a 16,000-word essay by a conservative, disgruntled former employee -- publisher A.G. Sulzberger and former executive editor Dean Baquet forced Bennet to resign -- then Ian Ward in Politico Magazinesummarizes Bennet's complaints. Ward's piece also includes a statement from the Times.
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Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Republican leaders in Florida are expressing outrage over a reported proposal that party chairman Christian Zieglerbe paid as much as $2 million before he'll step down amid a sexual assault investigation. Ziegler is battling to keep his powerful position despite dual scandals, one of which has also ensnared his wife, Bridget Ziegler, a Moms for Liberty co-founder who sits on the Sarasota County School Board. The couple, whose political influence has grown along with the ascent of the Florida GOP, have been asked to quit their jobs, even by friends and allies as well as political opponents. Each has refused. Party members say a buyout for Christian was floated more than a week ago.... On Tuesday, Bridget Ziegler sat through a heated meeting of the Sarasota County School Board as her colleagues, as well as many speakers from the community, pressed her to resign." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Republicans should stop acting all surprised & outraged when one of them tries to shake down the party or otherwise behaves, well, deplorably. They're all greedy bastards.
Pennsylvania. Lab Rats. Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "Republicans in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives voted this week to withhold millions of dollars from the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school amid an uproar over the school's response to antisemitism on campus. The money, more than $30 million, would have been part of an annual appropriation to the School of Veterinary Medicine, which is partly funded by the state. The rest of the private university does not receive state appropriations." MB: Reflecting the legislators' reasoned belief, no doubt, that quite a few lab rats are antisemites.
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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The United States agrees with Israel that the war against Hamas 'is going to take months,' White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday in Tel Aviv, adding that he had discussed with Israeli leaders plans to transition from the 'high intensity phase' of Israel's offensive to 'more targeted operations.' Sullivan did not specify a timeline for the transition, but said that while Israel had the intention of reducing civilian casualties, 'we want to see the results match up to that.'... President Biden said earlier that he wants Israel 'to be focused on how to save civilian lives' and to 'be more careful,' amid growing international criticism of the toll of Israel's assault. The Israeli military said Friday that its forces in Gaza recovered the bodies of three hostages taken captive during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and returned them to Israel, including two abducted soldiers and 28-year-old Elia Toledano. Israeli media reported that Toledano was taken in the attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Ukraine, et al.
Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats announced on Thursday that they would put off their upcoming holiday break and stay in Washington next week to press for passage of a bill pairing military assistance for Ukraine with a crackdown on migration at the U.S. border with Mexico, as lawmakers on both sides of the talks reported progress toward a compromise. The move, announced by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, was a bid by Democrats to intensify the pressure on Republicans to drop their opposition to the Ukraine funding bill, after House G.O.P. leaders left Washington for the year without acting on the matter. It also reflected fresh optimism among Senate negotiators who had been haggling over a border enforcement package that they were inching closer together...." An AP report is here.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff & Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Hungary on Friday blocked the European Union from approving a financial aid package for Ukraine, though E.U. leaders agreed to officially open accession negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc, an important breakthrough for Kyiv as it tries to bolster support from its allies. Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said that all but one of the E.U.'s 27 countries backed the package of 50 billion euros, about $52 billion, in financial support for Ukraine. 'One leader couldn't agree on this,' Mr. Michel said at an impromptu 3 a.m. news conference, referring to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary." A Reuters story is here. MB: Orban, of course, is one of the leaders of the Western Dictators Club, along with Vladimir Putin & dictator hopeful Donald Trump. In the U.S., Speaker Mike Johnson is bidding for membership in the Dictators' Little Helpers Club.
U.K. Alexandra Topping of the Guardian: "Prince Harry has landed a significant blow in his battle with the British tabloid press, after winning a substantial part of his phone-hacking case and damages against the Daily Mirror. In a judgment that will have profound implications for the British media landscape, a high court judge has ruled that there was 'extensive' phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers from 2006 to 2011, 'even to some extent' during the Leveson inquiry into media standards. Mr Justice [Timothy] Fancourt found that 15 out of 33 articles related to the Duke of Sussex [i.e., Harry] which were focused on during the trial were the product of hacking from his mobile phone or unlawful information gathering. He concluded that Harry's phone was hacked 'to a modest extent' from the end of 2003 to April 2009, which was carefully controlled by senior individuals at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People newspapers.' Recognising the 'distress' caused to Harry as a result of published articles containing information that had been illegally gathered, the judge awarded him £140,600 in damages."
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