December 29, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The House January 6 committee has released another batch of witness transcripts. Links to the newly-released transcripts are here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Heidi Przybyla of Politico: "The Biden White House launched its first major broadside in response to incoming House Republicans likely to spearhead aggressive oversight of the administration. A top lawyer for the president ... said that oversight demands made by congressional Republicans during the last Congress would have to be started over. In respective letters to Reps. James Comer (R-Ky) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), White House Special Counsel Richard Sauber said that the Biden administration had no immediate plans to respond to a slew of records requests that both men made the past several weeks. In those letters..., Sauber described such requests as constitutionally illegitimate because both Jordan, who is expected to chair the House Judiciary Committee, and Comer, who is expected to head the Oversight Committee, made them before they had any authority to do so.... White House officials ... point to long-standing practice, going back to President Ronald Reagan's administration, that ranking members in the minority do not jump-start the accommodations process on formal investigative requests." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not my idea of a "major broadside." It would be akin to telling a president-elect he can't issue executive orders until he's sworn in. Just stating the obvious.

Adam Goldman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "In a letter sent this month to Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, [a group of agents who had been placed on leave and called themselves 'the Suspendables,] surfaced persistent accusations against the bureau, saying it had discriminated against conservative-leaning agents. The group's letter also falsely suggested that [a highly-decorated agent named George] Piro, who once ran the F.B.I.'s office in Miami, had played a suspicious role in the bureau's search this summer of Mar-a-Lago..., Donald J. Trump's private club and residence in Florida.... The attacks on Mr. Piro, and his angry rebuttal of them, are ‌e‌mblematic of a toxic dynamic that is increasingly central to Republican Party politics. Mr. Trump's supporters -- among them, Republicans poised to take over the House next month -- have seized on the letter's accusations and stepped up their assaults on the F.B.I., seeking to undermine the bureau just as it has assumed the lead in an array of investigations of Mr. Trump.

Representative Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who will be the Judiciary Committee's chairman next month, has pledged to investigate what he describes as the politicization of the F.B.I. as well as that of the Justice Department. In a taste of what is to come, the committee's Republican staff released a 1,000-page report last month that asserted that the F.B.I. hierarchy 'spied on President Trump's campaign and ridiculed conservative Americans.'... The Suspendables' letter and the House Republicans' report were both apparently drawn from statements by former F.B.I. agents who left the bureau under a cloud and then came forward as self-described whistle-blowers." ~~~

~~~ They Can't Handle the Truth. Hannah Allam of the Washington Post: "Republican leaders portray the far left and far right as equally dangerous, an assertion contradicted by White House assessments that 'the most persistent and lethal threats' to the country come from the violent right.... 'Any sober look' at the Buffalo shooter's hate-filled manifesto, Oren Segal of the Anti-Defamation League told [House] lawmakers, 'would recognize that attack as clearly a white-supremacist attack.'... Nevertheless, at a congressional hearing this month on the threat of violent white supremacy, two Republican lawmakers cherry-picked a word in the Buffalo killer's screed -- 'socialist' -- to cast him as a radical leftist. They did not note that the shooter was referring to National Socialism, the ideology of the German Nazi Party, as Democrats and witnesses on the panel pointedly clarified.... Once Republicans assume control of the House, [analysts] expect that GOP leaders will mute domestic-terrorism talk and steer the focus of inquiries toward 'radical leftists,' who are nowhere near as lethal or active, according to attack data."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee's finding that Donald Trump lured followers to storm the Capitol does not absolve them of legal responsibility for their actions, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, the first opinion to cite the congressional panel's criminal referrals of the former president. U.S. District Court Judge John Bates cited the select committee's report and criminal referrals to swat down a Jan. 6 defendant's claim that he believed Trump had authorized him and other rioters to enter the Capitol when he urged the crowd to march down Pennsylvania Avenue. Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, ruled that defendant Alexander Sheppard should be prohibited from making the 'public authority' defense because there's simply no evidence Trump told his followers that entering the restricted grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was legal. In fact, his incendiary rhetoric -- especially telling his supporters to 'fight like hell' -- may suggest Trump was asking them to break the law, Bates said. His words 'could signal to protesters that entering the Capitol and stopping the certification would be unlawful,' Bates found.... 'Thus, the conclusions reached here -- that even if protesters believed they were following orders, they were not misled about the legality of their actions ... is consistent with the Select Committee.s findings,' Bates wrote."

Another Win for the Obstructionist-in-Chief. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Wednesday withdrew the subpoena it had issued to ... Donald J. Trump, conceding that the lawmakers had run out of time to obtain his documents or testimony. The committee is set to dissolve on Jan. 3. It waited until October to issue a subpoena to Mr. Trump, who promptly sued the panel to try to block it.... Harmeet K. Dhillon, one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, celebrated the development on Twitter. 'After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee's illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president -- the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena,' she wrote.... [Committee chair Bennie] Thompson is sending similar letters to other witnesses as the panel wraps up its work,' including to Pennsylvania reprobate Doug Mastriano. CNN's report is here.

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "The January 6 committee released another batch of transcripts Tuesday, including two more of its interviews with blockbuster witness Cassidy Hutchinson and testimony from several other Trump White House officials.... The new batch of transcripts show the deepening divide between Hutchinson, the former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and [her attorney Stefan] Passantino[, who was paid by Trump allies,] just weeks before she hired hew new lawyer. The two bicker several times, according to the transcript of her May deposition, and Passantino cut off Hutchinson on a few occasions, interrupting her with warnings about her testimony, and sometimes trying to finesse what she said.... After Hutchinson parted ways with Passantino, her new attorney [Jody Hunt] told the January 6 committee during her June deposition that she needed to clarify and 'correct' some of her previous testimony, according to the newly released transcript....

"[In a later inteview, with Hunt as her attorney, Hutchinson] told the committee that she saw Meadows burn documents in his office fireplace around a dozen times -- about once or twice a week -- between December 2020 and mid-January 2021. On several occasions, Hutchinson said, she was in Meadows' office when he threw documents into the fireplace after a meeting. At least twice, the burning came after meetings with GOP Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, who has been linked to the efforts to use the Justice Department to overturn the 2020 election." MB: So, uh, violation of the Official Records Act AND obstruction of justice AND maybe conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Nice work, Mark. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: We have all commented at one time or another, on how uninterested Donald Trump was in learning the basics of the president* job, or even the most elementary, essential aspects of White House operations. Still, knowing all we know, the following story is remarkable: ~~~

     ~~~ "Many Calls & Many Meetings." Victor Nava of the New York Post: "Donald Trump spent nearly his full term as president before learning that his daily schedule was being made public -- at which point he ordered a stripped-down version of the document, a former aide testified. The surprising revelation was shared by former White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere in his testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee that was made public on Tuesday.... The White House daily schedule notably changed around Jan. 5, 2021, with details of Trump's daily comings and goings at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. omitted and replaced with 'boilerplate' language saying that the president would have 'many calls and have many meetings.'" MB: It's amazing he could find the toilet where he flushed the official presidential* records. ~~~

     ~~~ Alicia Menendez of MSNBC held up a typical daily schedule for a real president -- in this case, Biden -- and of course the page listed about a dozen events, each with a brief description. Then she held up a Trump "schedule" for January 6, 2021: "President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings. The President will depart for the Ellipse at 10:50am to deliver remarks at the Save America Rally."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, announced on Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with a 'serious but curable' form of cancer. Mr. Raskin, 60, who is a member of the House Jan. 6 committee and was recently chosen to become the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said he had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and would soon begin a course of outpatient chemo-immunotherapy. 'I expect to be able to work through this period but have been cautioned by my doctors to reduce unnecessary exposure to avoid Covid-19, the flu and other viruses,' Mr. Raskin said in a statement.... Few members of Congress have been as aggressive in trying to hold ... Donald J. Trump accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as Mr. Raskin, a former constitutional law professor at American University and Maryland state senator."

Olivia Beavers of Politico: "While some of George Santos' soon-to-be colleagues are encouraging investigations into his many resume fabrications, Kevin McCarthy's speakership battle in a narrow majority is complicating his fate. The New York Republican, who has admitted to fabricating much of his personal and professional biography, is set to be sworn into Congress the same day the House will start votes for a new speaker. But House GOP leader McCarthy, with only four party votes to spare and an open rebellion among a handful of House conservatives, needs all the support he can get -- even if it comes from a member-elect steeped in scandal.... Right now, the Republican leader has five members threatening publicly to oppose his speakership bid on Jan. 3, which happens to be the same number required to block him from reaching the needed 218 votes."~~~

~~~ Pamela Brown, et al., of CNN: "Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating the finances of Rep.-elect George Santos, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The news of the probe, being undertaken by the US attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York, comes as the Republican has admitted to lying about key parts of his biography. Santos has faced questions over his wealth and loans totaling more than $700,000 he made to his successful 2022 campaign." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the prosecutors want an easy win, they should call Santos in for an interview. They'll have him on "making false statements to a federal agent" at his first sentence. ~~~

~~~ Michael Gold, et al., of the New York Times: "Days after Representative-elect George Santos admitted misrepresenting his background, a Long Island prosecutor said she would investigate whether he had committed any crimes.... Anne Donnelly [R], the Nassau County, N.Y., district attorney, said in a statement that the 'numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-elect Santos are nothing short of stunning.'... In making his admissions, he has sought to explain his dishonesty as little more than routine résumé padding.... House Republican leaders have so far been silent amid the persistent questions about Mr. Santos, but he has gotten a tougher reception close to home. Ms. Donnelly is just one of several Long Island Republicans to show a willingness to examine him closely.... On Tuesday, Representative-elect Nick LaLota, a Republican who won election in a neighboring Long Island district, said the House Ethics Committee should investigate Mr. Santos. Nassau County's Republican Party chairman, Joseph G. Cairo Jr., said he 'expected more than just a blanket apology' from Mr. Santos. Another incoming member of New York’s Republican House delegation, Mike Lawler of Rockland County, sounded a similar refrain." ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated to reflect the federal prosecutor's inquiry. An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Funny Money. David Corn of Mother Jones: "... what's most intriguing [among George Santos' tall tales] is the story he has told about his personal finances: how [he] went from making $55,000 a year in 2020 to scoring between $3.5 million and $11.5 million in 2021 and 2022 and being able to funnel $700,000 into his recent campaign. Santos tried to explain this in an interview this week with Semafor.... Santos declared on financial disclosure statements that he made his millions through a company called Devolder Organization LLC, formed in May 2021. (His full name is George Devolder Santos.) This was weeks after the Florida investment firm called Harbor City Capital where he was working had been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of running a Ponzi scheme. (Santos was not implicated in that purported con.)... [Santos' statements to Semafor do] not square with his initial description of Devolder as an $80 million fund that he managed -- nor with his earlier statement that the firm was dissolved prior to April 2022. And the numbers don't add up." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's pretty unlikely that someone who kept getting evicted for nonpayment of rent would suddenly -- and legally -- make millions of dollars in a year. There's an explanation here, and I'll bet it's not pretty. If the Eastern District or Nassau County doesn't figure it out quickly, I hope reporters can. Maybe Georgie Porgie amassed his small fortune via fake GoFundMe pleas: ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "CNN also reviewed more instances of Santos providing additional false history of his family's background. In one interview, Santos said his mother's family's historical Jewish name was 'Zabrovsky,' and later appeared to operate a GoFundMe campaign for a pet charity (which he falsely claimed was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) under that alias. Genealogists CNN previously spoke with found no evidence of Jewish or Ukrainian heritage in his family tree." ~~~

~~~ Sadly, George's Mother Died. Again. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Rep.-Elect George Santos (R-NY) claimed his mother died in the Sept. 11 attacks, but just five months later tweeted she died in December 2016." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ~~~

~~~ Every Word He Says is a Lie, Including 'And' and 'The.' Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "News of the investigation came as another detail in Santos's biography unraveled Wednesday. During his 2020 congressional race, he told a dramatic story on a podcast.... In the October 2020 interview, which resurfaced on social media Wednesday, Santos, referring to his parents, said: 'They sent me to a good prep school -- which was Horace Mann Prep in the Bronx. And in my senior year of prep school, unfortunately, my parents fell on hard times.' Santos went on to say that at the time his family couldn't 'afford a $2,500 tuition' and 'I left school [with] four months till graduation.' But a spokesman for the Horace Mann School told The Post that the school has no record of Santos attending the institution." ~~~

     ~~~ MB: See, George, Walter Mitty kept his fantasies to himself. The Thurber story is titled, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The idea that immigrants carry infections into the country echoes a racist notion with a long history in the United States that associates minorities with disease.... In the early days of the pandemic..., the Trump administration turned to an obscure public health law to seal the southern border to migrants. Ostensibly, the rationale was that the restriction was needed as a way to control the pandemic. But nearly three years in, both the Trump and Biden administrations have instead relied on it as a tool to limit record numbers of migrants -- often fleeing persecution and violence -- from crossing into the country.... Now it is being treated almost exclusively as a stop-gap measure for a surge of border crossings.... Justice Neil Gorsuch accused the government of using the law as a pretext when the Supreme Court halted a trial judge's ruling that would have lifted the measure on Tuesday night.... The Biden administration, which first announced it would lift the policy last spring before it was stymied by litigation from Republican-led states, said the decisions over whether to extend or lift the rule fall solely to public health officials." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Justice Jackson joined Gorsuch in his dissent. Justices Sotomayor & Kagan also dissented. Gorsuch is right, a three-word sentence I will not likely often repeat. The rest of the confederate Supremes are behaving like the ghosts of Donald Trump & Stephen Miller, who at least had the authority to invoke Title 42. The justices don't. And they don't care, as long as they can limit immigration by any means, fake or not.

Epic Clusterfuck. Robert Chiarito, et al., of the New York Times: "Southwest [Airline]'s unique model -- including its 'point to point' system that does not return planes to major hubs, as many other airlines do -- has come under intense scrutiny after a winter storm last week disrupted travel plans across the United States. Southwest has been uniquely unable to get its planes back in the air after the storm. Some observers have also blamed outdated computer systems for Southwest's failures. Nearly 11,000 Southwest flights have been canceled since last Thursday, according to FlightAware. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said on 'Good Morning America' on Wednesday that 'meltdown' was 'the only word I can think of to describe what's happening at Southwest Airlines.... We are past the point where they could say that this is a weather-driven issue,' Mr. Buttigieg said. He added: 'What this indicates is a system failure, and they need to make sure that these stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they are provided adequate compensation.'" ~~~

Ian Duncan & Justin George of the Washington Post: "Southwest Airlines' pilot and flight attendant unions warned for years that the company's rickety computer systems left the airline vulnerable. The carrier stuck with outdated technology and never heeded those warnings, they say.... The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said Wednesday the collapse of the airline's operations was avoidable.... The Transport Workers Union, whose Local 556 represents flight attendants at Southwest, likewise said on Twitter on Wednesday that the meltdown was avoidable, and said that the airline should have invested in passengers and workers, rather than paying dividends to shareholders.... Meanwhile, Southwest's troubles may have been foreshadowed in a Dec. 21 internal company memo that highlighted a worker shortage in Denver, where Southwest has significant operations and which was pounded by the storm."

The Pandemic, Ctd. Sheryl Stolberg & Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "The Biden administration, fearful that a surge of coronavirus infections in Beijing could spawn a new and more dangerous variant, announced on Wednesday that it will require travelers from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to present negative Covid-19 tests before entering the United States. The requirement will take effect on Jan. 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which made the announcement. Officials at the agency say they are deeply concerned over China's lack of transparency about its outbreak -- and, in particular, its failure to track and sequence variants and subvariants that are circulating within its borders. C.D.C. officials said the requirement for testing will apply to air passengers regardless of their nationality and vaccination status. It will also apply to travelers coming from China who enter the United States through a third country, or who connect through the United States to other destinations. Italy and Japan have already imposed similar restrictions, and India has mandated negative Covid-19 test reports and random screening at airports for passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand."

Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Nearly three years into the pandemic, Covid-19 remains stubbornly persistent. So, too, does misinformation about the virus. As Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in parts of the country, myths and misleading narratives continue to evolve and spread, exasperating overburdened doctors and evading content moderators. What began in 2020 as rumors that cast doubt on the existence or seriousness of Covid quickly evolved into often outlandish claims about dangerous technology lurking in masks and the supposed miracle cures from unproven drugs, like ivermectin. Last year's vaccine rollout fueled another wave of unfounded alarm. Now, in addition to all the claims still being bandied about, there are conspiracy theories about the long-term effects of the treatments, researchers say.

"The ideas still thrive on social media platforms.... Twitter is of particular concern for researchers. The company recently gutted the teams responsible for keeping dangerous or inaccurate material in check on the platform, stopped enforcing its Covid misinformation policy and began basing some content moderation decisions on public polls posted by its new owner and chief executive, the billionaire Elon Musk.... Mr. Musk himself has used Twitter to weigh in on the pandemic, predicting in March 2020 that the United States was likely to have 'close to zero new cases' by the end of that April. (More than 100,000 positive tests were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the last week of the month.) This month, he took aim at Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.... Mr. Musk said Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted."

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Joey Cappelletti of the AP: "A Delaware trucker described as a co-leader of the conspiracy to kidnap Michigan's governor was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison Wednesday, a day after an accomplice received 16 years behind bars. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Barry Croft Jr., 47, who was the fourth and final federal defendant to learn his fate. Croft and Adam Fox were convicted in August of conspiracy charges in Grand Rapids. Croft also was found guilty of possessing an unregistered explosive. They were accused of hatching a stunning plot to abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home just before the 2020 presidential election. The conspirators were furious over tough COVID-19 restrictions that Whitmer and officials in other states had put in place during the early months of the pandemic, as well as perceived threats to gun ownership."(Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

New York. Justin Sondel of the Washington Post: "The city of Buffalo's response to the massive blizzard that left at least 34 people across the region dead came under growing attack Wednesday, as emergency responders continued to search for survivors and plows moved mini-mountains of snow that kept the city under a driving ban for a sixth consecutive day. Speaking at a daily briefing, Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, which includes Buffalo, slammed city leaders for failing to clear streets quickly and accused Mayor Byron W. Brown's administration of being disengaged in the coordinated local and state response. Poloncarz said the county 'took over' cleanup in one-third of Buffalo and had discussed with state officials the possibility of assuming responsibility for all plowing inside city limits during future large storms.... The blame-casting threatened to hamper coordination during the aftermath of the worst storm to hit the region since 1977 and drew fresh scrutiny to Brown, who has led the city for nearly 17 years. Brown was reelected in 2021 to a fifth term as a write-in candidate despite corruption scandals at City Hall and complaints about mismanagement in a deeply impoverished city."

New York. More Republican Criminals. Brendan Lyons of the Albany Times Union: "Jason T. Schofield, Rensselaer County's Republican elections commissioner, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal criminal charges in January in connection with an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice.... Schofield's scheduled guilty plea to felony charges on Jan. 11 would mark the second conviction in the federal investigation that's being spearheaded by the FBI and has focused on the harvesting of absentee ballots in elections over the past two years. A source close to the case said Schofield's plea agreement includes a pledge to cooperate in the wide-ranging investigation that has also examined the use of county resources and employees to gather absentee ballots.... The FBI's ongoing investigation of voter fraud is running parallel to a similar investigation by the state attorney general's office.... The federal grand jury probe ... [also] led to the guilty plea of a former Troy city councilwoman, Kimberly Ashe-McPherson, a 61-year-old Republican who had been a councilwoman in North Troy for more than seven years." Other officials have been implicated. MB: So there's some voter fraud for ya, Donald. Too bad they're Republican fraudsters.

U.S. Virgin Islands. Emily Flitter of the New York Times: "The attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands is accusing JPMorgan Chase of helping Jeffrey Epstein illegally exploit women and girls, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan. The suit says JPMorgan provided banking services to Mr. Epstein after he had been convicted of sex charges and failed to report his suspicious activities. The lawsuit said the bank should have known about Mr. Epstein's illegal activities at a villa on Little St. James Island, an island he owned in the territory, and should have reported them to the authorities as part of its adherence to anti-money-laundering laws."

Way Beyond

Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the most right-wing government in Israel's history on Thursday, launching a turbulent chapter of national division that pits newly influential ultrareligious, ultranationalist politicians against an opposition that warns the country's democracy is in peril.... [Netanyahu's coalition has] already begun to pursue plans to legislate discrimination against minorities, alter the system of checks and balances, hollow out the Israeli judiciary, exert influence over the army and security forces, and allow harsher treatment of Palestinians in both Israel and the occupied territories.... Netanyahu has refused to hold the traditional transfer-of-power ceremony with [outgoing Prime Minister Yair] Lapid."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Ukraine's armed forces said they shot down many of the Russian missiles that rained down Thursday morning and triggered air defense systems from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to the southern port city of Odessa.... Ukraine's military said air defenses brought down 54 of 69 cruise missiles."

How the Ukrainian Military Redrew the Battle Lines. Isabelle Khurshudyan, et al., of the Washington Post: "After Russia's invasion began on Feb. 24, Ukrainian troops forced Russia's retreat from Kyiv in an underdog triumph that ended the first stage of the conflict. Thwarted from conquering the capital, Russia concentrated its power in the south and east, pummeling Ukrainian forces until new, longer-range weapons arrived from the United States and Europe and helped stall Moscow's advances. Ukraine had survived but, after a half-year of war, one-quarter of its territory was still occupied and its military had failed to show it could launch an offensive to retake substantial ground. That was about to change. In early September, Ukrainian forces would steamroll across hundreds of square miles, routing the Russians and surprising themselves. The Kharkiv offensive revealed the inability of an undermanned and underequipped Russian force to hold territory across a vast front. It shocked the Kremlin, and it proved to Ukraine's supporters that they were not wasting billions in weapons and economic aid.... Kyiv's forces in November recaptured the only regional capital that Putin had seized since the start of the war.... Deepening cooperation with NATO powers, especially the United States, enabled Ukrainian forces -- backed with weapons, intelligence and advice -- to seize the initiative on the battlefield, expose Putin's annexation claims as a fantasy, and build faith at home and abroad that Russia could be defeated." The Guardian has a related story on the battle for Kyiv.

Vatican. Frances D'Emilio of the AP: "The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and doctors are constantly monitoring the frail 95-year-old's condition, the Vatican said Wednesday. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Pope Francis, who asked the faithful earlier Wednesday to pray for Benedict, went to visit his predecessor in the monastery on Vatican grounds where the retired pontiff has lived since retiring in February 2013." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "Pelé, one of soccer's greatest players and a transformative figure in 20th-century sports who achieved a level of global celebrity few athletes have known, died on Thursday in São Paulo. He was 82.... A national hero in his native Brazil, Pelé was beloved around the world -- by the very poor, among whom he was raised; the very rich, in whose circles he traveled; and just about everyone who ever saw him play." The AP's obituary is here.

Comments

[Akhilleus]

I see that this latest GQP fraudster (latest of a multitude of crooks and con artists who call the Party of Traitors home, sweet home), George Santos, in a story linked above, claimed to have gone to a prestigious prep school and was on the verge of graduating (no doubt with the highest grade point average in school history) when…oops! Something, something, something, family finances, blah, blah blah, big problem, no graduation. 😞

Let’s see…this particular GQP crook and liar was born in 1988. If he were on the verge of graduating high school, that would have been 2005 or thereabouts. But according to a tweet he published in 2021, his dear old mum died in the 9/11 attacks. I’m guessing she saw the plane coming and bravely pulled out the AR-15 all Republicans keep in their desks and tried to blast those Democrat-loving terrorists out of the sky.

Mom died on 9/11. But several years later came the big family problem. What? Dying in the fiery inferno of the worst terrorist attack on US history (thank you, George Bush!) wasn’t a big enough problem?

Oh, but wait. Looks like George’s mum came back to life 😃 only to die again in 2016 😢, according to another tweet. Wow. Talented family!

Just like that other congenital serial liar, Donald Trump, Santos tells so many lies he can’t keep them straight.

But he’ll be sworn in to serve in Congress alongside many, many, many other liars and grifters in his party, welcomed with open arms and hands always ready for a little pocket picking.

The Party of Traitors. Real ‘mericans, right?

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/george-santos-claimed-his-mother-died-in-the-9-11-attacks-five-months-before-saying-she-died-in-december-2016/

[Ken Winkes]

The false equivalency of "so are you" the Right relies on to excuse their bad behavior and which today's RC leads highlight remind me of something I almost caught on MSNBC last night.

Can't locate a clip of it this morning but caught the revelation? rumor? on MSNBC last night that the Jan. 6 report was scrubbed of most if not all pointed references to the twin motivators of white supremacy and Christian nationalism for the insurrection.

Ms. Cheney was the scrubber. She's apparently still very much a Republican--and for that reason she still scares me.

In lieu of the MSNBC clip I can't find, here's a presentation by the talking head I saw for a minute or so on the tv last night who was commenting on the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3aA19cwI3s

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: Yeah, I heard that, too, when I was doing something else in another room. I think (but am not 100% sure) it was at the end of Chris Hayes' show and was an assertion made by a woman who monitors the Christian nationalist movement. She sounded level-headed to me, at least from my vantage point in the next room, so I take the claim as "likely true" unless I learn otherwise.

[Akhilleus]

I heard pretty much the same thing about how white supremacy and Christian Nazi, er, nationalism were both largely excised in order to point every finger possible at the author of the insurrection, Donald Jerkoff Trump. I’m guessing the idea might have been that by presenting a plethora of potential suspects and ideologies (which nonetheless contributed mightily to that deadly day’s work), the report’s focus might waver somewhat.

In effect, even though the committee was not a legal body, they were making a legal case for a jury comprised of the American people with the jury foreman being Merrick Garland. A further guess would be that because the Proudflesh Boys and Oaf Keepers were already getting theirs in court, there may have been the sense that brother Merrick might say, “Job well done. Nothing more to do”.

I’m thinking that if this was the doing of Liz Cheney, and it certainly seems likely, that it was more her fervent desire to make Fatty pay than to cover up the evil deeds of the many other actors pulled into the vortex by president* will be wild.

The rise of fascist groups within and surrounding the Party of Traitors poses an existential problem for the nation and deserves full attention. The J6 committee likely felt it was best, right now, to go for the head of the snake,

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: I have always wondered (though perhaps without applying an appropriate level of curiosity) what that "J" in "Donald J. Trump" -- the appellation the NYT insists upon settled on the former president* -- stood for. Thanks for letting us know. I should have guessed it was "Jerkoff." Also, thanks for being the sole writer who correctly spells "Oaf Keepers." You must have won your fifth-grade spelling bee.

[P.D. Pepe]

AK: "I’m thinking that if this was the doing of Liz Cheney, and it certainly seems likely, that it was more her fervent desire to make Fatty pay than to cover up the evil deeds of the many other actors pulled into the vortex by president* will be wild." That was my thinking also. Jerkoff was her prime suspect in this game of thrones.

So sorry to hear about Raskin––-the gods are so cruel, ain't they?

[NiskyGuy]

I think this is the segment discussed above, from the Alex Wagner show:

https://youtu.be/rgmY3yVBaMg

[Marie Burns]

@NiskyGuy: You're right. That's the one, and it's all the more frightening when you give it your full attention.

[Jeanne]

Did not hear segment at son’s home but I recall clearly that it would be Trump-centered and that there was major dissent within the committee and the various teams about this. This was weeks before the report was to come out. Perhaps Liz was trying to save her party by scapegoating only the Chief Culprit. Also the withdrawal of subpoenas is all suspect. This is another Mueller report and we are screwed again.

[Akhilleus]

Jeanne,

We are well and truly screwed if Creampuff Caspar Garland decides it’s too jiggery-pokery to indict the clearly criminal traitor Trump. This reticence to charge obvious crooks is why criminal con artists like this Santos anal cyst get elected and go to Washington to instruct, under pain of legal peril, which never obstructs their own jiggery-pokery, how rest of us are to live.

Or else.

[Ken Winkes]

On the Times account of those suspended and former FBI agents:

After reading their complaints, I'd say "good riddance."

Guess they favored the Pretender's theft of government (public) property and other criminal behavior.

No surprise. The Right has been stealing public property for generations. Everything from unpaid taxes to sweet deals on public lands and resources. That's where many of them got their money.

BTW, saw a bumper sticker on an old truck yesterday. Said "taxes are theft."

The nitwit was driving on a public road. At least he stopped at the publicly financed red light.