;)
The Conversation -- December 14, 2023
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, records show.... 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.” ~~~
~~~ 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 endorsing Donald 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.
Lauren del Valle & Kara Scannell of CNN: "A New York appellate court rejected Donald 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."
From ABC News live updates: The defamation case against Rudy Giuliani has gone to the jury. The attorneys have made their closing statements and Judge Beryl Howell has instructed the jury, emphasizing "that the court has already determined Giuliani's statements to be defamatory and untrue." ~~~
~~~ Hmm, It Seems Rudy's Lawyers Muzzled Him. Devan Cole & Holmes Lybrand of CNN: "... Rudy Giuliani will 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." ~~~
~~~ 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 all we got was radio silence.
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** House Votes for Impeachment About Nothing. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House voted on Wednesday to formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, pushing forward with a yearlong G.O.P. investigation that has failed to produce evidence of anything approaching high crimes or misdemeanors. Republicans said the vote was needed to give them full authority to continue carrying out their investigation amid anticipated legal challenges from the White House. Democrats have denounced the inquiry as a fishing expedition and a political stunt." The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A Republican congressman was caught on camera giving away his real goal at the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), one of Donald Trump's strongest allies in the U.S. House, was asked Tuesday on Capitol Hill what he hopes to gain from the inquiry into the president and his family's business dealings, and video obtained by Rolling Stone shows him appearing to admit it's political theater. 'All I can say is: Donald J. Trump 2024, baby!' Nehls replied." ~~~
~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite (Dec. 12): Fox "News" host Bret Baier pulled a clip of Speaker Mike Johnson when he complained four years ago about Democrats impeaching Donald Trump: "The Founders of this country warned against single-party impeachment for good reason. They feared it would bitterly and irreparably divide our nation.... I hope and pray future Congresses can and will exercise greater restraint." So Brer Bret, he asks, "So, the moderates in your caucus would say, 'Why not exercise greater restraint now?'" Without skipping a beat, Mike, he answers, "Well, we've shown great restraint. I mean, there are a lot of people who are frustrated this hasn't moved faster. But there's a big distinction ... between what's happening now and what the Democrats do. Those were rushed, sham impeachments." MB: Right. Another big difference: Democrats had ample evidence against Donald Trump (much of which Trump himself provided) that he had committed impeachable offenses; Republicans have bupkus on Joe Biden.
~~~ President Biden's statement, via the White House, is here.
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden, the president's son, appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning to offer to publicly testify in House Republicans' impeachment investigation into his father, though he insisted he would not appear for a private deposition they scheduled over his refusals. The younger Mr. Biden, who has been served a subpoena to testify, spoke to reporters in a hastily called news conference outside the Capitol near the Senate, across the complex from a House office building where Republican lawmakers were waiting to question him behind closed doors. It was a dramatic moment that came just hours before House Republicans were to hold a vote to formalize their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, after a year of investigation that has turned up no concrete evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors. They have pursued Hunter Biden for years, searching for evidence that his father was involved in corruption related to his business dealings with foreign entities...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "The Republican chairman behind the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden said Wednesday they will start contempt of Congress proceedings against Hunter Biden for not participating in his closed-door deposition on Wednesday, after he demanded to testify publicly. 'Hunter Biden today defied lawful subpoenas and we will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,' said House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan in a joint statement. 'We will not provide special treatment because his last name is Biden.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed an $886 billion defense bill that would set Pentagon policy and provide a 5.2 percent pay raise for military personnel, defying the demands of Republicans who failed to attach a raft of deeply partisan restrictions on abortion, transgender care and diversity initiatives. The vote was 87 to 13 to approve the legislation, which would expand the Defense Department's ability to compete with China and Russia in hypersonic and nuclear weapons. It would also direct hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to Ukraine and Israel. The Ukraine and Israel programs authorized by the bill are distinct from a $111 billion spending bill to send additional weapons to those countries, among other expenditures, that is currently stalled in Congress. The defense bill would also extend into 2025 a program that allows the intelligence community to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign individuals outside the United States. The program has come under fire because of how the F.B.I. has handled the private messages of Americans." Politico's story is here.
The Trials of the Trump Mob
** Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday put on hold all of the proceedings in ... Donald J. Trump's trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election as his lawyers asked an appeals court to move slowly in considering his claim that he is immune from prosecution in the case. The separate but related moves were part of an ongoing struggle between Mr. Trump's legal team and prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, over the critical question of when the trial will actually be held.... On Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump's lawyers asked the federal appeals court to avoid setting an expedited schedule as it considered whether to dismiss the election subversion charges based on the former president's sweeping claims of executive immunity. In a 16-page filing that blended legal and political arguments, the lawyers asked a three-judge panel of the court not to move too quickly in mulling the question of immunity, saying that a 'reckless rush to judgment' would 'irreparably undermine public confidence in the judicial system.'... On Wednesday afternoon, the trial judge overseeing the election case, Tanya S. Chutkan, handed Mr. Trump a victory by suspending all 'further proceedings that would move this case towards trial' until the appeal of the immunity issue is resolved." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
The lawyers of Whoville could have a bleak Christmas, I guess is the argument. -- Jake Tapper of CNN ~~~
~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump's legal team compared Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Grinch in an official legal filing urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit not to honor Smith's request that it quickly decide whether or not Trump is immune from prosecution in the 2020 election interference case.... They complained that Smith's 'proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans.'... It is as if the Special Counsel "growled, with his Grinch finger nervously drumming, 'I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming.... But how?'"'... In a filing with the Supreme Court earlier this week, Smith made the case for the judicial system's expedited review of Trump's claim to immunity[.]... In a separate filing with the D.C. Circuit, Smith has submitted that 'the public has a strong interest in this case proceeding to trial in a timely manner.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: BUT. It turns out the Appeals Court judges were not concerned that Trump's lawyers -- who may be billing his PACs as much as $2,000/hour -- have to work during the holidays. ~~~
~~~ Zoe Richards & Daniel Barnes of NBC News: "A federal court on Wednesday granted special counsel Jack Smith's request for an expedited appeal in the election interference case against ... Donald Trump. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit set several deadlines for prosecutors and the defense to file briefs laying out their positions on Trump's argument that the case should be dismissed on presidential immunity grounds. No date for oral arguments has been set. The decision to take up the appeal threatens to push back the trial's start date, currently scheduled for March 4. The third of three briefs requested by the appeals court is due Jan. 2. The appeal will be considered by Judge Karen Henderson, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and Judges J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, both Biden appointees. The three-judge panel is the same group who granted the motion to expedite.... Smith has also asked the Supreme Court to quickly step in on the immunity claim."
That's No Gavel; It's a Monkey Wrench. Alan Feuer & Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to decide a question at the heart of the federal election-interference case against ... Donald J. Trump and hundreds of prosecutions arising from the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Can the government charge defendants in those cases under a federal law that makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct an official congressional proceeding? The decision to hear the case will complicate and perhaps delay the start of Mr. Trump's trial, now scheduled to take place in Washington in March. The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling, which may not arrive until June, is likely to address the viability of two of the main counts against Mr. Trump. It could severely limit efforts by the special counsel, Jack Smith, to hold the former president accountable for the violence of his supporters at the Capitol. The court's eventual decision could also invalidate convictions that have already been secured against scores of Mr. Trump's followers who took part in the assault. That would be an enormous blow to the government's prosecutions of the Jan. 6 riot cases." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here.
Adam Reiss & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday shot down ... Donald Trump's attempt to use presidential immunity in the upcoming E. Jean Carroll defamation trial, finding he'd waited too long to raise the defense. Trump had argued he couldn't be sued for comments he made in 2019 about the writer and her sexual assault claims against him because he was president at the time and, he contended, they related to his duties because he needed to speak out and assure the public her accusations were untrue. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Trump had waited too long -- three years -- to raise the defense." (Also linked yesterday.)
Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "Hours after testimony ended in ... Donald Trump's civil fraud trial, a fire at the courthouse prompted evacuations and led to more than a dozen minor injuries, officials said. Among those evacuated was Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the civil fraud case against the former president and his company, according to a person familiar with the matter. Engoron's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The fire was started by someone who lit some papers aflame and then doused the fire with an extinguisher, according to Office of Court Administration spokesperson Al Baker. The person is in custody and believed to be a litigant, not a court employee, the person familiar with the matter said. Officials have not yet detailed a possible motive."
** Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Before a group of supportive lawyers entered the Oval Office for a photo-op with ... Donald Trump in December 2020, they were given a clear instruction [by whom is unclear]...: Don't get Trump's hopes up about overturning the election. One attorney, Jim Troupis..., bluntly told the president it was over in that state. But ... attorney Kenneth Chesebro ... told Trump he could still win -- and explained how the 'alternate electors' he helped assemble in Arizona and six other states gave Trump an opening to continue contesting the election until Congress certified the results on January 6, 2021. Chesebro's optimistic comments ... apparently [gave] Trump renewed hope that he could still somehow stay in office.... This dramatic account comes from Chesebro, who sat for an interview last week with Michigan state prosecutors investigating the fake electors plot.... The 'photo-op ... gone south,' as Chesebro called the December 16, 2020, meeting, reveals a previously unknown instance of Trump hearing directly that he lost -- which could factor into his federal election subversion trial....
As often happened, Trump heard what he wanted to, ignoring Troupis and embracing Chesebro's theories.... Despite being told there was no way to undo Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin, Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the state's Democratic electors on January 6, while he presided over the congressional certification of the 2020 results. At Trump's infamous speech on January 6, he told the crowd that 'we won Wisconsin' and falsely claimed Democrats facilitated 91,000 'unlawful votes' via dropboxes and 170,000 'illegal' votes through mail-in ballots." The report includes audio clips of Chesebro's testimony to Michigan prosecutors. Extraordinary reporting.
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "Ruby Freeman, a former Georgia election worker, sat in a federal courtroom on Wednesday and told a jury: 'Giuliani just messed me up, you know.' She was referring to Rudolph W. Giuliani ... as she described how her life has been upended since Dec. 3, 2020. That was the date Mr. Giuliani ... directed his millions of social media followers to watch a video of two election workers in Fulton County, Ga., asserting without any basis that they were cheating [Donald] Trump as they counted votes on Election Day. The workers were Ms. Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss. Ms. Freeman, who is Black, recounted what followed: a torrent of threats, accusations and racism; messages from people who said she should be hanged for treason, or lynched; people who fantasized about hearing the sound of her neck snap. They found her at her home. They sent messages to her business email and social media accounts. They called her phone so much that it crashed, she said.... The F.B.I. told Ms. Freeman she was not safe in the home where she had lived for years.... [Mr. Giuliani's lawyer] declined to cross-examine Ms. Freeman." MB: Apparently the lawyer figured beating up on an elderly woman would not win Rudy points with jurors.
Presidential Race 2024
Marie: Maybe you remember, as Akhilleus reminded us recently, how aggravating it was to witness Mitt Romney in 2012 tell lies about President Obama and his policies. Oh, for those good ole days. Romney never had a "shadow online ad agency" producing fake videos of Michelle Obama as a porn star or showing women in the Obama administration with red knees, suggesting they spent time giving blow jobs. Then along came Trump. ~~~
~~~ ** Trump's Meme Team. Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "... a small circle of video meme-makers ... have effectively served as a shadow online ad agency for [Donald Trump']s presidential campaign. Led by a little-known podcaster and life coach, this meme team has spent much of the year flooding social media with content that lionizes the former president, promotes his White House bid and brutally denigrates his opponents. Much of the group, which refers to itself as Trump's Online War Machine, operates anonymously, adopting the cartoonish aesthetic and unrelenting cruelty of internet trolls. Cheered on by Mr. Trump, the group traffics freely in misinformation, artificial intelligence and digital forgeries known as deepfakes. Its memes are riddled with racist stereotypes, demeaning tropes about L.G.B.T.Q. people and broad scatological humor. Their most vulgar invectives are often aimed at women, particularly those seen as enemies of Mr. Trump.... Dan Scavino, Mr. Trump's social media adviser; Steven Cheung, the campaign's spokesman; and Donald Trump Jr. frequently share the memes on their social media accounts." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "Former House Speaker Paul Ryan tore into Donald Trump in a recent interview, denouncing the former president as an 'authoritarian narcissist,' and claiming that more Republicans in Congress wished they had been bold enough to stand against him when they had the chance. Ryan, who worked with Trump when he served in Congress and now serves on the board of Fox News parent company Fox Corp., spoke with Teneo Political Risk Advisory Co-President Kevin Kajiwara about his belief that Trump drags Republicans down in elections and will lose to President Joe Biden in 2024." Ryan went on to praise Liz Cheney & Adam Kinzinger for sacrificing their political careers to call out Trump. "So I think there's a lot of people who already regret not getting him out of out of the way when they could have. So I think history will be kind to those people who saw what was happening and called it out, even though it was at the expense of their personal well being." MB: Gosh, Paul, how is it you forgot to remark on how you yourself were once Donald Trump's No. 1 enabler?
He just done that because he knew the news would go crazy with it. -- Clyde Carson, an Iowa caucus captain
I don't think he meant what everybody is saying, being a dictatorship -- and actually you know right now under Biden, that's probably what we got.... He said he was only going to do it for a day. Like if you had a home that was in disrepair and your parents came in and they were firm and they wanted to get it done, and when you got done you had this beautiful home, how could you be mad? -- Leann Reed, another Iowa GOP voter
He's not going to be no dictator. -- John Russell, an Illinois voter
If you think I'm picking on these people because they can't put together a grammatical sentence, well.... -- Marie Burns ~~~
~~~ Marianne LeVine & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "Many of Trump's supporters [in Iowa] ... said they appreciated his comments [about being a dictator on Day One] and did not take them to be a literal declaration of an intent to govern as a dictator.... [Trump's] repetition and clarification amounts to an potential attempt to downplay or desensitize the public to what he is saying and showing he will do, some experts said. Trump has a track record of suggesting he is joking, including on matters where he was not.... The repetition could be an attempt to numb people to criticism of Trump as a would-be dictator or a threat to democracy, according to [Kim] Scheppele [of Princeton Univesity], an expert on Hungary's slide into authoritarianism under Viktor Orban, who Trump referred to on Wednesday as a 'very powerful man, very respected.'"
Is This an About-Face? Or Is Trump Just Confused? Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump endorsed a Republican congressional candidate just days after saying his opponent is 'going to be a Congressman very shortly.' On Wednesday, Trump posted to Truth Social that he is giving his 'Complete and Total Endorsement' to Addison McDowell (R-NC) for North Carolina's sixth congressional district.... On Saturday, Trump had kind words for [McDowell's opponent] Bo Hines at the New York Young Republicans Gala. Hines had even posted the video of Trump's shoutout to social media.... 'Bo Hines, he's going to be a congressman very shortly,' Trump said. 'Bo Hines, thank you!'"
Marie: Gosh, I miss all the good shows. Here's another one, brought to us by CNN: ~~~
~~~ Eric Bradner, et al., of CNN: "Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told a crowd of Iowa voters in a CNN town hall Wednesday night that the federal government has 'lied systematically' to Americans. The Ohio entrepreneur's parroting of a series of far-right conspiracy theories -- and his pushback against CNN moderator Abby Phillip -- showcased his efforts to appeal to a Donald Trump-aligned, conspiracy-minded element of the GOP electorate just weeks before the January 15 Iowa caucuses kick off the party's 2024 presidential nominating process. In the town hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Ramaswamy turned a question about medication abortion into a critique of the federal bureaucracy. He also staked out conservative positions on immigration enforcement and railed against affirmative action efforts. Here are takeaways from the town hall[.]"
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would decide on the availability of a commonly used abortion pill, the first major case involving abortion on its docket since it overturned the constitutional right to the procedure more than a year ago. The move sets up a high-stakes fight over the drug, mifepristone, that could sharply curtail access to medication that is used in more than half of all pregnancy terminations in the United States. It could also have implications for the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration, which approved the pill more than two decades ago.... The Biden administration had asked the court to take up the cases involving challenges to the pill after a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision that would curb the availability of the drug." MB: Millions of women have used mifepristone; that is, there is irrefutable proof about its safety even above and beyond FDA approval. (Also linked yesterday.)
Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its final meeting of the year on Wednesday, as financial markets eagerly await any sign that the central bank is done raising borrowing costs -- and might even start lowering rates in 2024. The Fed's announcement was expected, on the heels of encouraging economic data on inflation, the job market, wages and consumer spending." (Also linked yesterday.)
Abah Bhattarai & Eli Tan of the Washington Post: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high Wednesday, reflecting new optimism that the economy is slowing just enough to bring down inflation without triggering a recession. The Dow closed at 37,090 -- up more than 500 points, or 1.4 percent, for the day -- surpassing a record in January 2022, fueled by the Fed decision to hold rates steady due to progress on inflation. The milestone caps a banner couple of weeks for the U.S. stock market, including the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500, bolstered by health-care stocks and promising earnings from technology companies."
David Chen & Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "The turmoil at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard ... illustrates a new playbook for how the wealthiest Americans are exerting influence in higher education. There is a new class of donors who are often in the prime of their career, having amassed fortunes in finance or tech, who are more outspoken about politics and willing to wage war on social media to effect change. Their pressure campaigns have resembled winner-take-all Wall Street investment strategies, threatening to pull their money from schools that have become increasingly beholden to their largest donors.... 'Unelected billionaires without scholarly qualifications are now seeking to control academic decisions that must remain within the purview of faculty in order for research and teaching to have legitimacy and autonomy from private and partisan interests,' the American Association of University Professors Penn Executive Committee said in a statement.... 'Very large donors tend to be white, older and male,' said David Callahan, author of 'The Givers: Wealth, Power and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age.' These are the people in revolt.'"
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Michigan. Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "A man was charged on Wednesday in the killing of Samantha Woll, a synagogue president who was found stabbed to death in October outside her Detroit home, the authorities said. Ms. Woll's death appeared to have taken place during a break-in at her home, Kym L. Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, said at a news conference.... Ms. Worthy said..., 'there are no facts to suggest that this defendant knew Ms. Woll and there are no facts to suggest that this was a hate crime. 'Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, was charged with first-degree felony murder, a charge that carries a penalty of life in prison without parole. He was also charged with home invasion and lying to a peace officer. Mr. Jackson-Bolanos was being held in custody on Wednesday evening...." MB: We live in a country in which we're relieved to learn that what might have been an antisemitic assassination was a "merely" a violent murder of a beloved community leader. Ewe-Ess-Aye!
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Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to land in Israel on Thursday, shortly after President Biden said Israel was beginning to lose support around the world due to its 'indiscriminate bombing' in Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, described Gaza as a 'living hell,' as conditions continue to deteriorate in the Strip.... Biden met Wednesday with relatives of U.S. nationals held captive in Gaza, including Aviva Siegel, who was released by Hamas last month and whose husband is still thought to be in captivity. Officials say there are at least eight remaining hostages with American citizenship. Almost half the population of Gaza -- about a million people -- are now in Rafah at the Egyptian border, Lynn Hastings, the top U.N. humanitarian official for the Palestinian territories, said Wednesday. The health system has collapsed, she said, and Gaza is experiencing a 'public health disaster.'" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Kareen Fahim, et al., of the Washington Post: "As photos and video ... of the Palestinian men, stripped to their underwear, forced to kneel, some bound, some blindfolded in the custody of Israeli soldiers ... spread on X, Facebook and other platforms last week, they were picked up by Israeli media. 'Images circulate of dozens of Hamas terrorists surrendering in Gaza,' the Jerusalem Post trumpeted in a typical headline. Israel's military, which censors the Israeli media, did not object to the characterization or prevent the images' spread. Many in Israel viewed the images as evidence of victory over the militants who rampaged through Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people. Or righteous vengeance. Quickly, though, claims that the detainees were Hamas militants were challenged. Palestinians in Gaza identified relatives who they said were not fighters. Some of them were released. The images, rights activists say, began to convey something different, and darker: an attempt to humiliate and dehumanize Palestinians. This week, the United States, Israel's closest ally, called the images 'deeply disturbing.'"
Ukraine, et al. Valerie Hopkins & Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is more than four hours into his year-end news conference on Thursday, and has stated clearly that his goals in Ukraine have not changed -- the 'demilitarization' and 'denazification' of the country. He reiterated that he was open to peace talks, but offered no hint of a willingness to compromise."
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