July 13, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Marie: None of the teevee pundits I heard indicated they agreed with me that Trump's running for president* should have no effect on his criminal trial schedule, but Jack Smith & his deputy David Harbach do: ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Special counsel Jack Smith's team sharply rebuked Donald Trump's bid to postpone until after the 2024 election his criminal trial for allegedly hoarding classified documents, characterizing the former president's call for delay as unfounded and one of his key legal arguments as 'borderline frivolous.' In an 11-page filing signed by assistant special counsel David Harbach, prosecutors said..., 'The Defendants ... should not be permitted to gesture at a baseless legal argument, call it "novel" and then claim the court will require an indefinite continuance in order to resolve it.'... [Prosecutors asserted that] federal law and the Constitution require the trial to be put on as soon as practical -- not with an 'open-ended' date built around Trump's political calendar.... The demands of Defendants' professional schedules do not provide a basis to delay trial in this case,' Harbach wrote. 'Many indicted defendants have demanding jobs that require a considerable amount of their time and energy, or a significant amount of travel. The Speedy Trial Act contemplates no such factor as a basis for a continuance, and the Court should not indulge it here.'

"The filing also provided a new glimpse into the volume of evidence prosecutors obtained, describing 4,500 pages of 'key' documents that they have flagged for Trump's attorneys out of a larger 800,000-page batch of unclassified evidence. About a third of those 800,000 pages -- a figure Trump cited as a basis to delay the trial -- are content-free email headers and footers, the special counsel team indicated.In addition, prosecutors have turned over the vast majority of unclassified information to Trump's legal team...."

Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors investigating ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election have questioned multiple witnesses in recent weeks -- including Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner -- about whether Mr. Trump had privately acknowledged in the days after the 2020 election that he had lost, according to four people briefed on the matter.... Others in Mr. Trump's orbit who interacted with him in the weeks after the 2020 election, who have potentially more damaging accounts [than may Mr. Kushner] of Mr. Trump's behavior, have been questioned by the special counsel's office recently. Among them is Alyssa Farah Griffin, the White House communications director in the days after the 2020 election. Repeating an account she provided last year to the House select committee on Jan. 6, she told prosecutors this spring that Mr. Trump had said to her in the days after the election: Can you believe I lost to Joe Biden? 'In that moment I think he knew he lost,' Ms. Griffin told the House committee.... Some aides and allies [-- including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley --] who interacted with Mr. Trump in the days after the election have previously disclosed that Mr. Trump indicated that he knew he lost the election."

Steve Holland & Essi Lehto of Reuters: "President Joe Biden on Thursday gave his assurance that the United States would stay committed to NATO despite 'extreme elements' of the Republican Party, in remarks during a visit to Finland to welcome it as the alliance's latest member. 'I absolutely guarantee it,' Biden told a press conference when pressed by a Finnish reporter about the U.S. commitment to NATO given political instability in the United States.... Donald Trump, threatened to take the United States out of the alliance.... Concern lingers in Europe about the reliability of U.S. pledges and global alliances, years after Trump's norm-busting presidency ended. Trump clashed with NATO leaders over funding the alliance and threatened to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany." ~~~

~~~ Michael Mitsanas of NBC News: "President Joe Biden denounced Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade of hundreds of military nominations during a joint press conference with Finland's president on Thursday, calling the Republican's actions 'totally irresponsible.'... 'I expect the Republican party to stand up -- stand up and do something about it,' Biden [said].... Biden's remarks come as criticism of the Senator's blockade continues to mount and shortly after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CNN on Thursday that the impasse is affecting both national security and military readiness."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Democrats in Congress are making a fresh push for the nearly century-old Equal Rights Amendment to be enshrined in the Constitution, rallying around a creative legal theory in a bid to revive an amendment that would explicitly guarantee sex equality as a way to protect reproductive rights in post-Roe America. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Cori Bush of Missouri are set to introduce a joint resolution on Thursday stating that the measure has already been ratified and is enforceable as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. The resolution states that the national archivist, who is responsible for the certification and publication of constitutional amendments, must immediately do so.... While almost 80 percent of Americans supported adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in a 2020 Pew Research Center poll, there is little chance that the effort will draw the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster in the Senate.... In April, Senate Republicans blocked a similar resolution that sought to remove an expired deadline for states to ratify the amendment." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I get that a lot of Republicans -- especially men, but not only men -- are misogynists, but like racism, that's something elected politicians usually try to hide. What rationale can they say out loud to oppose equal rights for women?

** Matthew Perrone of the AP: "U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill.... The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it cleared Perrigo's once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it the first such medication to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company won't start shipping the pill until early next year, and there will be no age restrictions on sales.... 'This is really a transformation in access to contraceptive care,' said Kelly Blanchard, president of Ibis Reproductive Health, a non-profit group that supported the approval.... Forcing insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control would require a regulatory change by the federal government, which women's advocates are urging the Biden administration to implement." Update: A New York Times report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Alisha Gupta of the New York Times has more on the over-the-counter pill.

Carol Leonnig & Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Secret Service has closed its investigation into who may have brought a plastic bag of cocaine into the White House this month after lab results were inconclusive about possible suspects, according to two people briefed on the probe. The Secret Service sent the bag that had contained the powder to an FBI lab to look for traces of DNA and fingerprints, but neither form of testing yielded definitive results, the agency said. Nor was any surveillance video found that provided any investigative leads, officials added." CNN's report is here. MB: If only the Secret Service had asked Jim Comer's "investigators" for help, they probably would have found, right where the baggie was found, a leather razor blade case embossed "Hunter."

Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump disclosed new details about roughly $1 billion in earnings in a revised financial filing covering 2021 through part of this year, including money from foreign ventures, speaking fees and a Florida golf course.... Trump's detailing of the more than $1 billion came from sources including hotel sales, golf revenue and licensing fees in the July disclosure. His April filing, which did not provide exact numbers on his income, reported more than 25 sources of income over $5 million." The fact that the director of the Office of Government Ethics did not sign off on Trump's original April filing suggests that the original filing was not satisfactory. MB: Yeah, there's kind of a difference between $1BB & $5MM.

Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "Arizona's top prosecutor is ramping up a criminal investigation into alleged attempts by Republicans to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state by signing and transmitting paperwork falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner, according to two people familiar with the investigation. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) assigned a team of prosecutors to the case in May, and investigators have contacted many of the pro-Trump electors and their lawyers, according to the two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe the probe. Investigators have requested records and other information from local officials who administered the 2020 election, the two people said, and a prosecutor has inquired about evidence collected by the Justice Department and an Atlanta-area prosecutor for similar probes."

~~~~~~~~~~~

David Sanger & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden concluded a meeting of NATO allies on Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, with an address to that country, and the world, comparing the battle to expel Russia from Ukraine with the Cold War struggle for freedom in Europe, and promising 'we will not waver' no matter how long the war continues. His speech seemed to be preparing Americans and NATO countries for a confrontation that could go on for years, putting it in the context of momentous conflicts in Europe's war-torn past. And he cast it as a test of wills with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has shown no interest in giving up on an invasion that has not gone according to plan, but has locked him in a war of attrition.... The speech, at Vilnius University, came after a series of important victories for Mr. Biden as NATO's de facto leader, at a time of rapid change for the alliance.

His success in cajoling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to drop his objections to Sweden's admission as the 32nd member of NATO makes it possible to turn the Baltic Sea into a region bounded almost entirely by the alliance.... NATO nations committed to boosting military spending that the United States has long complained was inadequate.... Mr. Biden managed to quash an effort by Ukraine, with the support of Poland and several of the Baltic nations, to give a timetable for Ukraine to formally enter the alliance. Under NATO's policy requiring collective defense, the president has said that admitting Ukraine with the war underway would put the United States in direct conflict with Russia." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: While I agree with everyone who thinks President Biden should not run for a second term, he also is probably the most effective U.S. president since FDR (or, an argument can be made, since LBJ). As for his speech in Vilnius, it was met by wild cheers.

Michael Birnbaum & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "... [President] Biden faces an increasing challenge holding together the transatlantic alliance, as other countries increasingly push plans for helping Ukraine that rush past the lines the White House believes could trigger a Russian escalation.... The calculus of wanting to contain the conflict inside Ukraine's borders and avoid nuclear escalation imbues every action the administration takes, including a complicated effort to distance NATO, as an organization, from the billions of dollars in lethal aid supplied to Kyiv. That insistence means that military aid is coordinated among the members nations outside of official NATO directives.... [President Zelensky's complaint that NATO was not doing enough for Ukraine] made members of the U.S. delegation 'furious,' one official said."

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian: "Britain's defence secretary [Ben Wallace] and the US national security adviser [Jake Sullivan] have suggested Ukraine ought to show more gratitude for the help it has received from the west, in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy's complaints that his country has not been issued a firm timetable or set of conditions for joining Nato. Their unscripted remarks -- at two different events on the margins of the second day of the Nato summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius -- appeared to prompt a change of tack from the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday, who later said he was 'grateful to all leaders of Nato countries' for their support and help."

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "A group of right-wing House Republicans pushing to load up the annual defense bill with socially conservative policies on abortion, race and gender have another demand: severe restrictions on U.S. military support for Ukraine. The pressure raises the prospect of a divisive floor fight over America's backing for the war effort.... The group's proposals on military aid stand no chance of passing the House, where there continues to be strong bipartisan support for backing Ukraine's war effort, or going anywhere in the Senate. But the far right's insistence on casting votes on the matter anyway has further imperiled the defense legislation and transformed what is ordinarily a broadly supported measure...."

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Thursday is here: "President Biden is in Finland -- NATO's newest member state -- for a summit with Nordic leaders. It follows a two-day NATO summit this week that 'put to rest any doubts' about Ukraine's future membership in NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address, despite the lack of a concrete timeline that Zelensky had earlier described as 'absurd.' Kyiv instead received promises of long-term military support aimed at 'defending Ukraine now and deterring Russian aggression in the future.'... At the NATO summit, President Biden sought to bridge the gap between those who want Ukraine to join the military alliance quickly and those who harbor concerns that a hasty Ukrainian accession to NATO could complicate fragile global alliances and spark a broader conflict. After a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky, Biden said the conversation went 'very well. We accomplished every goal we set out to accomplish.' NATO exempted Ukraine from the Membership Action Plan, one of two steps needed to join the alliance. The move shortens the process for Ukraine's accession to NATO....

In Russia, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov claimed he was forced to retire after highlighting problems with the army fighting in Ukraine, according to a voice message published by a Russian lawmaker. 'In the name of you and our fallen combat friends, I had no right to lie, so I outlined all the problems existing in the army,' Popov said. He cited a lack of artillery and 'mass deaths and injuries' of soldiers. Senior officials ;sensed danger in me and promptly, in one day, made up an order and got rid of me,' he said.... The Wagner mercenary group has handed over thousands of tons of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Russian army, Moscow said. The move shows that Russia is working to break up the mercenaries' influence, The Washington Post reported.... Russia launched a drone strike on Kyiv for the third day in a row, officials in the Ukrainian capital said early Thursday. At least two people were injured, they said. A body was also found by those extinguishing an apartment fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said."

Paul Sonne of the New York Times: "Gen. Sergei Surovikin of Russia, a onetime ally of the Wagner chief who hasn't been seen publicly since a short-lived mutiny last month, is 'taking a rest,' one of the country's top lawmakers said Wednesday, when pressed by a reporter." MB: Golly, I wonder if he's taking that rest anywhere near a window in a high-rise building. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Inflation data released on Wednesday showed a pronounced cooling and offered some of the most hopeful news since the Federal Reserve began trying to tame rapid price increases 16 months ago. The Consumer Price Index climbed 3 percent in the year through June, less than the 4 percent increase in the year through May and just a third of its roughly 9 percent peak last summer. That overall metric catches big declines in gas prices and a few other products that could prove ephemeral, which is why policymakers closely watch a different measure: the change in prices after stripping out food and fuel costs. That measure, known as the core index, offered news that was even better than what economists had expected, sending stocks higher as investors bet that the news would allow the Fed to raise interest rates by less than they otherwise might have." This is part of a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Emma Kinery of CNBC: "President Joe Biden on Wednesday celebrated new data that showed inflation cooling more quickly than expected. 'Good jobs and lower costs: That's Bidenomics in action,' Biden said in a statement. 'Today's report brings new and encouraging evidence that inflation is falling while our economy remains strong.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Julie Weil of the Washington Post: "About 10 million people type their personal financial information into H&R Block, TaxSlayer and TaxAct websites every year to prepare their taxes, trusting the companies to keep their information safe. Instead, the companies shared that personal information with Google and Facebook, some going as far back as 2011, members of Congress wrote in a new report.The congressional investigation, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), follows a report last year about such data-sharing with Facebook by the technology journalism website The Markup. Warren and six other lawmakers wrote to the Justice Department on Tuesday urging criminal charges against the companies for violating laws that prevent tax preparers from sharing their clients' personal information." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978, an effort to eliminate exposure to lead that could require millions of property owners to pay for abatement. Lead is a neurotoxin and exposure can damage the brain and nervous system, particularly in babies and small children. If finalized, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the regulation would reduce exposure to lead for as many as 500,000 young children per year. 'There is no safe level of lead,' said Michal Freedhoff [of the EPA]...."

Julian Barnes & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "Chinese hackers penetrated the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other State and Commerce Department officials in the weeks before Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Beijing in June, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The investigation of the efforts by the Chinese hackers, who likely are affiliated with China's military or spy services, is ongoing, American officials said. But U.S. officials have downplayed the idea that the hackers stole sensitive information, insisting that no classified email or cloud systems were penetrated."

Adam Goldman & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Republicans bombarded Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, with criticisms about his role in the Trump documents investigation, efforts to address extremist violence and the bureau's surveillance practices during a grim and contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. Republicans on the committee, led by the chairman, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, treated Mr. Wray as if he were a hostile witness -- repeatedly interrupting his attempts to answer their rapid-fire queries. Most of the Republicans sought to portray the nation's premier law enforcement agency, and Mr. Wray, who was appointed by ... Donald J. Trump, as political tools of the Democrats.... Mr. Wray, a registered Republican, forcefully rejected accusations that he had sought to protect President Biden, or his son Hunter Biden, or that he had targeted Mr. Trump -- describing the F.B.I.'s role in the search at Mar-a-Lago last August as lawful, restrained and prompted by a court order.... Anticipating the questioning to come, the top Democrat on the committee, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, described the hearing as 'little more than performance art.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post story, by Devlin Barrett, is here. CNN's story, by Alayna Treene & others, is here.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Justice Department on Wednesday appealed the sentences handed down to seven members of the Oath Keepers -- including founder Stewart Rhodes -- for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a signal that prosecutors are not satisfied with the severity of the jail terms delivered by the federal judge overseeing the case. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Rhodes to 18 years in prison -- the harshest sentence for any Jan. 6 defendant -- reflecting his leadership of what Mehta characterized as a dangerous criminal conspiracy aimed at violently derailing the transfer of presidential power. Nevertheless, the sentence for the Yale Law School graduate and disbarred attorney was seven years shorter than the 25-year prison term prosecutors recommended and four years below an agreed-upon 'guidelines range' based upon Rhodes' conduct." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann said on MSNBC that it was highly unusual for the DOJ to appeal a sentencing decision & reflects the importance the Department attaches to an attempt to overturn a presidential election.

The DOJ Framed Me! Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: A number of right-wing (alleged!) miscreants claim that the DOJ framed them. Among those making the claim: "exiled Chinese mogul Guo Wengui, who had been arrested ... on fraud charges...; fabulist Congressman George Santos (R-N.Y.)... [arrested] arrest on campaign finance charges...; former Trump aide ... Steve Bannon..., [arrested on] fraud charges...; Oath Keepers' founder Stewart Rhodes, imprisoned for seditious conspiracy and other crimes..."; and fugitive Gal Luft, whose multi-part indictment was unsealed Monday. "Republicans like [Sen. Ron] Johnson [Wis.] and [Rep. James Comer [Ky.], however, profess to accept Luft's whole, self-serving story. Their credulousness is a tribute to the ineluctable resilience of MAGA logic prevailing in the closed loop of Fox News and pro-Trump lawmakers." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I learned something this week while watching the teevee. I think it was Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) who explained it: the reason Congressional wingnuts are passing out official whistleblower ID cards to fake informants like Luft is that if an informant has whistleblower status, Republican "investigators," under House rules, do not have to share with committee Democrats interviews or documents the GOP obtains from the informants. Otherwise, the parties are required to share such information with members of the other party, or at least with the chair or ranking member of the committee or subcommittee.

Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Federal prosecutors interviewed Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for 'several hours' in March as part of the ongoing criminal probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Benson told CNN Wednesday.... While Benson did not reveal the specifics of the interview -- including whether she was asked about ... Donald Trump and whether [special prosecutor Jack] Smith was present at the meeting -- she said among the areas investigators seemed focused on was 'the impact of the misinformation on [election workers'] lives and the threats that emerged from that from various sources.' Benson's interview came after her office complied with a subpoena from Smith late last year, turning over a broad swath of documents that included communications between Michigan election officials, former Trump lawyers and individuals working for the former president's campaign. Benson told CNN Wednesday that she and her team have been in 'near constant communication with officials.'"

Craig Mauger of the Detroit News: "Laying the groundwork for potential criminal charges in a high-profile case, Oakland County[, Michigan,] Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen ruled Wednesday it is illegal for someone to take possession of a voting tabulator without authorization from the Secretary of State's office or a court order.... The decision was sought by Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson, who's currently weighing whether to bring criminal charges against a group of supporters of ... Donald Trump who allegedly obtained voting machines after the 2020 election as they advanced false claims of widespread voter fraud. In August, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office named nine people who had allegedly conspired to gain improper access to voting machines. Nessel's office has previously said the group convinced local officials in three counties -- Barry, Missaukee and Roscommon counties -- to hand over five tabulators and then took the tabulators to hotels or rental properties in Oakland County. There, members of the group broke into the machines, printing fake ballots and performing tests on the equipment. At the time, Nessel was the Democratic incumbent running for a second term as attorney general against one of the nine people, Republican Matt DePerno. So she sought the appointment of a special prosecutor to decide whether charges should be brought."

Covert Ops. David McAfee of the Raw Story: "A former CIA official has reportedly been accused of conning an aspiring operative into having sex with him under the guise of a training program to teach her how to use her body as a weapon. Shaun Wiggins was named in the explosive new lawsuit, according to a report from the Daily Beast on Wednesday."

Cat Zakrzewski & Caroline O'Donovan of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Tuesday allowed Microsoft to move forward with its $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision, in a resounding blow to U.S. regulators' efforts to block consolidation in the tech industry. The Federal Trade Commission had asked the court to intervene in the deal after it brought an administrative lawsuit last year that alleged the acquisition was anticompetitive.... In a 53-page redacted decision, Northern California District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said the FTC had not demonstrated it was likely to show that the deal would substantially limit competition." Corley is a Biden appointee. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeffrey Fisher in a New York Times op-ed: "Add this to the ways in which the Supreme Court is increasingly resembling just another political institution: Only one side of the ideological divide has the power to set the institution's agenda.... Under longstanding tradition, it takes four votes to put a case on the court's docket.... And the Democratic appointees now seem to find themselves one vote short in case after case.... For the court to reverse a lower court decision refusing to honor a civil liberty, the case first has to be put on its docket. And that seems no longer to be happening in cases involving established rights favored by the liberal wing of the court." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Alan Feuer & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Ray Epps, the man at the center of a widespread conspiracy theory about the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Fox News and its former host Tucker Carlson of defamation for promoting a 'fantastical story' that Mr. Epps was an undercover government agent who instigated the violence at the Capitol as a way to disparage ... Donald J. Trump and his supporters.... After the unfounded accusations about Mr. Epps were aired on Mr. Carlson's show, they quickly spread to online communities of Trump supporters and to the political world as Republicans in Congress tried to link Mr. Epps to a fictitious conspiracy theory that he was involved in planning the Jan. 6 attack. They included Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, both of whom made Mr. Epps -- a two-time Trump voter -- a focus of concern at public hearings." A CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As several MSNBC hosts pointed out, a number of Republicans on Wednesday grilled FBI Director Chris Wray about Epps, either indirectly or by implication, and they accused Wray of being less than forthcoming in answering their accusations even as he attempted to respond. Wray shot down as "ludicrous" the allegation/conspiracy theory that federal agents or informants orchestrated the insurrection. Update: Philip Bump of the Washington Post elaborates on accusations Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Tex.) made against Epps & the FBI.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Escalating its feud with an assertive reporter, the White House on Tuesday issued a formal warning to Simon Ateba that he is at risk of losing his entry pass if he continues to disrupt daily press briefings. The warning -- a first for President Biden's press office -- followed run-ins between press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the journalist from Cameroon who has interrupted her briefings to demand that he be recognized to ask a question.Jean-Pierre has declined to call on Ateba for months and has repeatedly admonished him for speaking out of turn. Ateba, the owner and White House correspondent of a news site called Today News Africa, has portrayed himself as a victim of 'racism and discrimination' by the administration."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. The Kids Are All Right. Laura Wagner of the Washington Post: How Northwestern's student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, broke the story of systemic sexual hazing in the football program that led to head football coach Pat Fitzgerald's firing.

Presidential Race 2024

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) plans to headline an event in New Hampshire next week sponsored by the bipartisan group No Labels, a move that has stoked speculation that he could mount a third-party presidential bid in 2024 that Democrats fear could be damaging to President Biden. Manchin is scheduled to appear Monday at the group's 'Common Sense' town hall at St. Anselm College alongside former Utah governor Jon Huntsman (R). No Labels is eying a potential 'unity' ticket in 2024, though organizers say no decision has been made." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Frankenstein Effect. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Rupert Murdoch is realizing that he is stuck with the monster he created: Donald Trump.

A Methane Moment. Marie: So here's what it's like to attend a Bobby Kennedy, Jr. fundraiser. Admittedly, the report comes from the New York Post's Page Six. But hey, I'll accept it, if only because this is the first time I can recall reading about a "debater" who employed fart bombs to win his argument.

Elections 2022. Hannah Hartig, et al., of the Pew Research Center: "In midterm elections that yielded mixed results for both parties, Republicans won the popular vote for the U.S. House of Representatives largely on the strength of higher turnout. A new Pew Research Center analysis of verified voters and nonvoters in 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2016 finds that partisan differences in turnout -- rather than vote switching between parties -- account for most of the Republican gains in voting for the House last year." MB: Yo, Democrats: time for some serious GOTV efforts.

Emily Baumgaertner & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "A new United Nations analysis of Black women's experiences during pregnancy and childbirth in the Americas has concluded that systemic racism and sexism in medical systems -- not genetics or lifestyle choices -- are the main reasons they are more likely to experience serious complications or even death. The report, published Wednesday..., surveyed data from countries in the Americas, including the United States. It found that Black women were more likely than their white counterparts to report denial of medication or physical and verbal abuse in health care settings, leading to more severe complications, delayed treatment and worse."

Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "The world is hotter than it's been in thousands of years, and it's as if every alarm bell on Earth were ringing. The warnings are echoing through the drenched mountains of Vermont, where two months of rain just fell in only two days. India and Japan were deluged by extreme flooding. They're shrilling from the scorching streets of Texas, Florida, Spain and China, with a severe heat wave also building in Phoenix and the Southwest in coming days. They're burbling up from the oceans, where temperatures have surged to levels considered 'beyond extreme.' And they're showing up in unprecedented, still-burning wildfires in Canada that have sent plumes of dangerous smoke into the United States. Scientists say there is no question that this cacophony was caused by climate change -- or that it will continue to intensify as the planet warms."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Kate Brumback of the AP: "The Georgia State Election Board is asking a judge to order a conservative voting organization to produce information to help investigate its claims of ballot trafficking in the state. The Texas-based True the Vote group filed complaints with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in November 2021, including one saying it had received 'a detailed account of coordinated efforts to collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes across metro Atlanta' during the 2020 general election and in a runoff election in January 2021. True the Vote's assertions were relied upon heavily for the film '2000 Mules,' a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza. The film featured surveillance video from drop boxes in Atlanta's suburbs showing people depositing multiple ballots. A State Election Board investigation found that those people were submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law."

Georgia. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "A Democrat who represents part of Atlanta in Georgia's House of Representatives defected to the Republican Party on Tuesday, saying she was subject to a campaign of intimidation by onetime political allies after breaking with them on school vouchers, policing and prosecutorial oversight. Mesha Mainor, a two-term representative from the 56th District in Fulton County, announced she was switching parties during a news conference outside the Capitol in Atlanta. Republicans now have a 102 to 78 majority in the House." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Idaho. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The University of Idaho said on Wednesday that it would hold off on demolishing the house near its campus where four students were stabbed to death last fall, reversing its initial plan after pressure from some of the families of the victims.... The university's president, Scott Green..., said he was trying to balance the needs of students forced to walk by the house every day with those of the victims' families and others who have expressed concern that demolishing the house might hinder the prosecution of the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, who was a graduate student at a nearby university."

News Lede

New York Times: "Sweatier-than-normal summer heat is building across the southern third of the United States, with temperatures and heat index readings reaching dangerous levels. A heat dome of high pressure over the Southwest will strengthen into the weekend, raising temperatures to well above 100 degrees from portions of California to Texas. While the air will be dry, temperatures could reach record heat values, creating an extreme risk of heat-related illness. Coastal states in the South will experience above-average temperatures combined with high humidity, made worse by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean, creating dangerous conditions, especially along the coasts from South Texas to the Carolinas. Urban areas can often be several degrees hotter than surrounding areas, with less relief at night."

Comments

[P.D.Pepe]

" While I agree with everyone who thinks President Biden should not run for a second term, he also is probably the most effective U.S. president since FDR (or, an argument can be made, since LBJ). As for his speech in Vilnius, it was met by wild cheers." Marie

As much as I'd like Biden to be younger, more articulate, and not have this age thing front and center, he's our only hope for sanity given the alternative of a Trump or a DeSantis. Remember when Obama had the comedy actor play as his Anger doppleganger at a press ceremony –--apparently because people didn't think Obama showed enough fury. Perhaps we could find a Biden stand-in who could fill in the gaps. FDR was a very sick man during his last term and yet managed to run the country pretty darn well. It seems we continue to need rock stars or dare I say Trtump-like creatures that spew lie after lie but oh, are SO charismatic.

And speaking of dimwits. Watching part of the circus with Chris Wray yesterday put me in mind of the doggy park that we take Onyx to every morning (we are taking care of hm for two weeks). There are always a few dogs that simply refuse to play, that snarl and bite the others and usually they are the smaller dogs–-little yappy things that run around causing unrest. Gym Jordan and his ilk presented exactly like these little yappy dogs–--it's apparently in their nature to act like creatures who just run around in circles , their words signifying nothing.

Meanwhile the earth burns and according to some, it ain't goonna get better.

[Ken Winkes]

Hard to tell how sincerely our Congressional Kooks believe the nonsense they spout, since they obviously benefit politically from spouting it, but there is a long tradition in American politics of beating the conspiracy drum.

I remember the John Birch Society whose message had a Communist hiding under every bed and the Stormer book "None Dare Call it Treason," I think it was, on my father's bookshelf.

That was back in the 1950's and 60's, but the Right's tendency to fall (leap?) into the conspiracy abyss never really stopped, did it?

"Slate" summarizes some more recent goofiness.
https://www.salon.com/2015/11/12/10_right_wing_conspiracy_theories_that_have_slowly_invaded_american_politics_partner/

So what's changed?

The fringes are now front and center. And nuts is all Republicans have left to offer.

Something about the inmates now in charge of the asylum?

We know it in 2023 as the House of Representatives.

[pat]

Thank you PD Pepe. I can't imagine another person who could possibly be a decent candidate. As much as I like Kamala Harris, I fear she will never be elected. And Biden knows what he's doing and knows how to get things done!

The reelection of trump would spell the end of our country as we know it, and probably make us a pariah in the western world. And don't think the repubs won't try to steal the election. They will use every tactic they have been accusing the dems of. Every accusation is an admission for these clowns.

We must get out the vote!
pat

[NiskyGuy]

The US and the Brits think Ukrainians should be more grateful? The Ukrainians are fighting the war and suffering inhumane attacks on civilians. It seems as if they are given just enough firepower to not lose. I am grateful that my children are not being sent to fight against Russia.

On another front, I left Phoenix this morning after three days there. It was oppressive, even though I knew I always had shelter available.