;)
June 13, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Jan. 6 committee used its second hearing to lay out evidence that Donald Trump must have known better: that he was repeatedly informed that his claims of widespread voter fraud were bogus and that he had lost the 2020 election -- and he pressed forward in trying to overturn the result regardless. The question is crucial when it comes to determining whether Trump's effort meets the legal definition of acting 'corruptly.'... Former attorney general William P. Barr featured prominently.... On Monday, [the committee] played video of Barr saying that he had debunked specific allegations to Trump.... Former deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue also [on video] ran through a litany of allegations in significant detail, saying he informed Trump that there was nothing to them.... Donoghue added that 'there were so many of these allegations that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn't fight us on it, but he would move to another allegation.'; That sounds a lot more like a guy who is looking for a pretext to overturn an election than one who is legitimately worried about election integrity." Campaign manager Bill Stepien testified (via video interview) that Trump threw "Team Normal" under the bus & replaced them with Rudy & the Irregulars.
The New York Times' live updates of Monday's hearing are here. Marie: I guess my favorite entry is the one by Michael Shear describing how on the early morning after the election, Trump's down-at-mouth advisors were advising him against declaring victory inasmuch as he was not likely to win, but Trump decided to go with the advice of a drunken Rudy Giuliani to just declare victory. In his videotaped testimony, Rudy seems a bit hazy on what-all he might have advised Trump to do. ~~~
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Donald Trump has been claiming voter fraud for years. In every circumstance where he didn't do well in 2016, it was because of rampant voter fraud. "By early 2020, Trump refocused his claims [on mail-in ballots].... Two days before the election, Axios reported that Trump had a plan: If the election was close enough, he would simply declare victory before the voting was done [and the mail-in votes, which always favored Democrats, were counted].... What all of this reinforces, of course, is that Trump's claims of fraud were independent of the actual votes."
Georgia Senate Race. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker falsely claimed at least three times to have served in law enforcement. The Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidate made the false claims in three speeches delivered before he entered politics, according to a new analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'I worked in law enforcement, so I had a gun,' Walker said in 2013 at a suicide prevention event for the U.S. Army. 'I put this gun in my holster and I said, 'I'm gonna kill this dude.'" Walker was describing a 2001 incident when he took a gun to pursue a man who was late delivering a car, which he later said led him to seek mental health treatment.... 'I work with the Cobb County Police Department,' Walker said five years ago, 'and I've been in criminal justice all my life.' Two years later, in 2019, Walker told soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington that he had been a federal agent."
Ohio. Because It's "Impractical" for Teachers to Know How to Handle the Guns They Carry onto Campus. Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "Teachers and other school employees in Ohio will be able to carry firearms into school with a tiny fraction of the training that has been required since last year, after Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law on Monday. While employees have for years been allowed to carry guns on school grounds with the consent of the local school board, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peace officer training as law enforcement officials or security officers who carry firearms on campus — entailing more than 700 hours of instruction. That ruling, Mr. DeWine said on Monday, had made it largely impractical for Ohio school districts to allow staffers to carry firearms. Under the new law, a maximum of 24 hours of training will be enough for teachers to carry guns at school, though the local board will still need to give its approval."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.
Iraq. Jane Arraf of the New York Times: "Efforts to form a new government in Iraq [have descended] to chaos. Seven months of efforts to form a new government in Iraq were in turmoil on Monday, a day after the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr directed members of Parliament who are loyal to him to resign from the seats they won in an October election. Mr. Sadr, who has become one of the biggest political forces in Iraq since emerging in 2003, has no formal role but commands the allegiance of the single largest bloc in the 329-seat Parliament. The 73 lawmakers of his movement submitted their resignations on Sunday after the collapse of months of negotiations by Mr. Sadr to form a coalition government with Sunni and Kurdish partners."
U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Britain moved ahead on Monday with plans to scuttle the post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, risking a clash with the European Union, a rift with neighboring Ireland, and tensions with the United States. But the long-anticipated legislation may be most revealing for what it says about the altered political landscape since Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote in his Conservative Party last week. Mr. Johnson faces a tricky path navigating the bill through a Parliament emboldened by the revolt against him. Some of the Tory rebels are expected to oppose the legislation on the grounds that it violates international law. It would unilaterally eliminate border checks on goods flowing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland."
U.K. Alex Marshall of the New York Times: "The actor Kevin Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault on Monday in London, the city's police force said in a news release. Mr. Spacey, 62, who was also charged with one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent, is scheduled to appear in court in London on Thursday where he will confirm his identity and that he understands the charges."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A hearing of the January 6 committee will begin Monday at 10:00 am ET.
Brian Stelter of CNN: "In addition to thorough coverage on cable, the big three broadcast networks -- ABC, NBC, and CBS -- are planning to preempt regular programming for special reports about the hearing. Spokespeople for the broadcast news divisions confirmed that all stations are expected to carry the specials. PBS is lining up live coverage as well.... As LA Times reporter Stephen Battaglio noted here, 'Fox News plans to cover the hearings on its main channel when they resume on Monday.'"
The New York Times' live updates of the January 6 committee's hearing & related issues are here.
Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol plans to use the testimony of ... Donald J. Trump's own campaign manager against him on Monday as it lays out evidence that Mr. Trump knowingly spread the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him in an attempt to overturn his defeat. The committee plans to call Bill Stepien, the final chairman of Mr. Trump's campaign, who is expected to be asked to detail what the campaign and the former president himself knew about his fictitious claims of widespread election fraud.... [Mr. Stepien is appearing under subpoena.... A second panel of witnesses will include Byung J. Pak, a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta who resigned abruptly after refusing to say that widespread voter fraud had been found in Georgia." The AP's story is here Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "Aides said that the hearing would show how Trump's team pursued legal challenges in court and lost those cases, and that Trump then chose to ignore the will of the courts and continued to try to overturn the election. The hearing will also seek to connect Trump's lies about the election to the violence at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, aides said, including how rioters echoed the former President's baseless allegations that the election was being stolen."
Daniella Diaz of CNN: "Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who is on the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, said Sunday he believes Attorney General Merrick Garland knows 'what's at stake here' when it comes to a possible indictment of ... Donald Trump from the Department of Justice.... Rep. Adam Schiff, another Democratic member of the select committee, went a step further Sunday, saying he believes the DOJ should investigate potential criminal activity from Trump as it relates to January 6. 'I would like to see the Justice Department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump or anyone else,' he said on ABC's 'This Week.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Brad Dress of the Hill: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday said former President Trump is 'politically, morally responsible' for the Jan. 6 riot last year and called for Republicans to do some 'soul-searching' after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Hutchinson told 'Fox News Sunday' guest host Bret Baier that while he did not believe Trump was criminally responsible for Jan. 6, he does think the former president shares blame for the insurrection. 'Trump is politically, morally responsible for much of what has happened, but in terms of criminal liability, I think the committee has a long way to go to establish that,' the governor said of the House select panel investigating Jan. 6." See also Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Cheryl Teh of Yahoo! News: "... Steve Bannon melted down on his podcast over the possibility of a Trump indictment in connection with January 6.... [Bannon] raged at the possibility that Trump might face an indictment in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, and threatened Attorney General Merrick Garland with impeachment.... 'We don't care what you have to say. And I dare Merrick Garland to take that crap there last night and try to indict Donald J. Trump,' Bannon said, referencing the first of six hearings on the January 6 riot. 'We dare you because we will impeach you. We're winning in November and we're gonna impeach you and everybody around you. Fuck -- screw the White House. We're going to impeach you and everybody in the DOJ.'..."
Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "... the sedition continues. That should not be lost as the bipartisan House panel lays its case before the American people. Jan. 6 ... was the opening salvo of a movement to undermine democracy. Congress has yet to act on changing the vague language in the archaic Electoral Count Act, which sets the rules for how Congress tallies the electoral votes in presidential elections. The rioters chanting 'Hang Mike Pence' on Jan. 6 believed that the then-vice president had the power to throw out electoral votes at will.... Trump ... has suffused his party, top to bottom, with fealty to the lies and conspiracy theories that ignited his supporters who breached the Capitol.... All around the country, Republicans have not only embraced Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, but are also running on promises to further undermine the electoral process." If these candidates win, they'll pull stunts like this in future elections: ~~~
~~~ Emma Brown & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A cybersecurity executive who has aided efforts by election deniers to investigate the 2020 vote said in a recent court document that he had 'forensically examined' the voting system used in Coffee County, Ga. The assertion by executive Benjamin Cotton that he examined the county's voting system is the strongest indication yet that the security of election equipment there may have been compromised following Donald Trump's loss.... In May, The Washington Post reported that former county elections official Misty Hampton had opened her offices to a man who was active in the election-denier movement to help investigate after the 2020 vote. Recounting the incident to The Post, Hampton said she did not know what the man, bail bond business owner Scott Hall, and his team did in her office.... [Cotton did not] explain how he gained access to voting system data from Coffee or provide evidence of his examination...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "On Friday, America will mark the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. The scandal's ... legacies have shaped the conduct of politics and public attitudes toward government ever since.... Though not a straight line by any means, the links between former president Richard M. Nixon and ... Donald Trump also are clearly identifiable, from their ruthlessness to the win-at-any-cost calculus of their politics. That their presidencies played out differently ... is testament to a more deeply polarized electorate, the erosion in the strength of democratic institutions and the transformation and radicalization of the Republican Party.... Garrett M. Graff, author of the book 'Watergate: A New History,' describes Watergate as a dividing line in history -- the event that moved Washington from a sleepy capital dominated by segregationists, veterans of World War I and print newspaper deadlines to a capital ruled by a new breed of politicians, a more adversarial media now in the digital age and a country deeply skeptical of government and politicians."
Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "In the wake of three crashes, two of them fatal, the U.S. Navy has said it will ground all nondeployed aircraft for a day on Monday to focus on safety protocols. The aircraft grounding comes after crashes within a seven-day period in California this month resulted in six deaths. The day will be used to 'review risk-management practices and conduct training on threat and error-management processes,' the Navy said on Saturday."
The Prairie Dog Exception. In my state, they use [assault rifles] to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints. And so I think there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them. -- Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Minority Whip ~~~
~~~ Ten GOP Senators Realize They're on the Wrong Side of Public Opinion. Emily Cochrane & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senate negotiators announced on Sunday they had agreed on a bipartisan outline for a narrow set of gun safety measures with sufficient support to move through the evenly divided chamber, a significant step toward ending a yearslong congressional impasse on the issue. The plan, endorsed by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats, would include funding for mental health resources, boosting school safety and grants for states to implement so-called red flag laws that allow authorities to confiscate guns from people deemed to be dangerous. It would also expand the nation's background check system to include juvenile records for any prospective gun buyer under the age of 21. Most notably, it includes a provision to address what is known as the 'boyfriend loophole,' which would prohibit dating partners -- not just spouses -- from owning guns if they had been convicted of domestic violence. The framework says that convicted domestic violence abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders would be included in criminal background checks. The outline, which has yet to be finalized, falls far short of the sprawling reforms that President Biden, gun control activists and a majority of congressional Democrats have long championed, excluding ban on assault weapons. And it is nowhere near as sweeping as a package of gun measures passed nearly along party lines in the House last week...." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's worthwhile to consider John Thune's logic: "Some people in South Dakota (total state population 880,000) are such bad shots they need an assault rifle to hit a prairie dog; therefore, children, churchgoers, shoppers, and so on throughout America will have to die."
David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "John R. Allen, the retired four-star general who once commanded American troops in Afghanistan, resigned on Sunday as president of the Brookings Institution, six days after a court filing revealed evidence that he had secretly lobbied for Qatar. His resignation is the latest indication of the seriousness of the federal investigation involving the general. Brookings, a 106-year-old research center and a pillar of Washington's liberal establishment, had placed General Allen on administrative leave last Wednesday." A CNN report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Alaska Congressional Race. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska leads the 48-candidate field in a special primary election for the state's sole congressional seat, according to a preliminary count of ballots on Sunday. The top four candidates in the race will advance to the special election in August. Ms. Palin has nearly 30 percent of the vote tallied so far; Nick Begich, the scion of an Alaskan political dynasty, has 19.3 percent; Al Gross, a surgeon and commercial fisherman who ran for Senate two years ago, has nearly 12.5 percent; and Mary S. Peltola, a former state legislator, has about 7.5 percent.... The special election will be held on Aug. 16, which is also the day of Alaska's primary contest for the House seat's 2023-2025 term. So, voters will see some candidates' names twice on one ballot: once to decide the outcome of the special election and once to pick candidates for the fall's general election for the full two-year term."
New York Gubernatorial Race. The New York Times endorses Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary. ~~~
~~~ Jess McKinley of the New York Times: "With the first Republican debate in the governor's race scheduled for Monday night on WCBS-TV, the roster of in-person candidates has shrunk by one, as Andrew Giuliani -- proudly unvaccinated against the coronavirus -- announced on Sunday that he will not be allowed to attend. Mr. Giuliani, the son of ... Rudolph W. Giuliani, said on Sunday that he had been informed late last week that the station would not permit him in the studio unless he sent proof of his vaccination status -- something he said he would not do and suggested might be unconstitutional."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces battering key eastern city Severodonetsk have pushed Ukrainian troops out of the city center, the Ukrainian military said early Monday.... Russia is bombarding the city's Azot chemical plant, where Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Monday that hundreds of troops and civilians, including 40 children, are sheltering.... Russia has repeatedly used cluster munitions -- a type of weapon that drops explosives indiscriminately on a wide area -- in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to a new report by Amnesty International.... McDonald's in Moscow is no longer McDonald's. It's "Vkusno i Tochka," which translates to 'Tasty and that's it.'" ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marie: I never heard of John Cena. (Update: But I thought he looked familiar. I remembered this morning that I had seen him in papertowel ads.) He's a wrestler & an actor, it turns out, and a mensch: ~~~
Misha, a non-verbal teen with Down’s Syndrome, didn’t understand why his family had to flee Mariupol this year.
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 11, 2022
To placate him, his mother told him they were travelling to meet John Cena.
Cena heard… and went to Amsterdam to oblige.
Just brilliant. pic.twitter.com/vix2OhkXZs
U.K. Haroon Siddique of the Guardian: "The multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks has lost his libel action against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, which was criticised as an attack on free speech. Banks, who funded the pro-Brexit Leave. EU campaign group, sued Cadwalladr personally over two instances in which she said the businessman was lying about his relationship with the Russian state -- one in a Ted Talk and the other in a tweet. Her lawyer Gavin Millar QC had argued the case was an attempt to silence the journalist's reporting on 'matters of the highest public interest', namely campaign finance, foreign money and the use of social media messaging and personal data in the context of the EU referendum."
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Reader Comments (16)
There are, in this land of dip-wads and dodgy dimwits, people like John Cena who display the kind of humanity and fortitude that make us grateful and thankful for their actions. Yes, truly a mensch!
P.D.
Yes, to the Cena I'd never heard of either. It's heartening to know there are thousands like him I'll never know or meet.
But then there are the likes of Bill Steptien, who apparently didn't think Chris Crisco was greasy and slimy enough for his taste, so he went to work for the Pretender. Hope he enjoyed every moment.
Whatta creep.
Stepien...Otto can be a kind of creep, too.
More creeping:
See Stepien can't come to the hearing. Has a "family emergency."
Probably unfair, but call me skeptical...
Looks like the bipartisan gun control bill is missing some teeth––the two main incisors –––banning assault weapons–––period! Several days ago I mentioned that those who are privy to the kind of shooting not only prairie dogs but pigs and raccoons need these weapons to keep those critters at bay and I ask: WHY? Aren't rifles enough to do the job or are these shooters so short sighted they need to blow these varmints to pieces? And I would say that the word "varmint" pertains to them there shooters, not to these animals who are just looking for some crub or whatnot in their natural habitat.
My mister, ace farmer in spare time, grumbles about chipmunks eating our strawberries and bunnies nibbling on his tomato plants but he just fixed the fencing to make it more difficult for these sneaky Petes. The idea of shooting these creatures is way off the chart plus he has a wife who would , if she could, feed the whole family of creatures that roam our domain––and that's enough to curtail any idea of gun remedy –-man knows which side his bread is buttered.
Now that I hear Bill Stepien's wife just went into labor, should I feel badly about my former remark?
Can a mentally disturbed moron be convicted?
Thus far, in the committee hearing, we’ve heard that plenty of people told the Fat Traitor that he lost, that there was no fraud, that his claims were 100% wrong.
BUT…at this point, if you need to prove that Trump knew, categorically, that he had lost but continued to maintain the Big Lie, leading to his attempted coup, to chaos, blood, and deaths, I’m almost entirely sure that will not happen.
Don’t forget, Trump’s NPD militarizes his hatred of inconvenient facts. If you need to prove intent, that bar is raised significantly by what looks to be (whether real or contrived, but how to prove the latter?) a form of insanity.
Merrick Garland is thanking the heavens that, in the absence of additional proof, he won’t have to do a thing about Fatty’s attempted coup d’etat.
Seems relevant:
https://criminaldefense.com/what-is-willful-blindness/
@Akhilleus: I think @Ken Winkes' link there should force Garland's hand. According to the entry,
"Willful blindness (also referred to as deliberate ignorance, willful ignorance, and conscious avoidance) is a criminal state of mind that translates to putting your head in the sand. Lawyers call it the ostrich instruction, and ... it is a well-established aspect of federal criminal law. As determined by the U.S. Supreme Court, criminally-culpable willful blindness exists where:
"The defendant subjectively believed that there was a high probability that illegal activity took place, and
"The defendant took deliberate action to avoid learning about the illegal activity.
"When these two requirements are satisfied, willful blindness can, in some jurisdictions, substitute for actual knowledge."
As the committee laid out today, Trump had more than one reason to pretend he won in 2020: (1) so he could keep his day job (MB: even though he didn't actually do it or know how to do it); and (2) so he could fund-raise off it.
Marie: Yes, your ".... (1) so he could keep his day job (MB: even though he didn't actually do it or know how to do it); and (2) so he could fund-raise off it. From what we heard today seals the 1 and 2 pretty clearly. Am wondering whether all those who donated $$$$ to his campaign , after hearing this testimony, realize they had been duped!
@Ken Winkes: It wasn't Stepien who rejected Gov. Crisco: Crisco dumped Stepien after it came out that Stepien was involved in Bridgegate.
@Marie,
Yeah, the way I took it, Stepien took the fall for Crisco...but my poorly-stated point remains: A long-time Republican operative, he moved on to the Pretender even after Christie fired him (for doing what he'd been told?), which means to me that he really likes slipping and sliding around in slime.
Just can't summon any sympathy or respect for him.
And am now wondering if a child raised by a man like him (any Republican political operative?) has a chance of turning out to he a human being...
At the end of today's hearing, a committee staffer provided a brief review of where the $quarter-billion "Stop the Steal" contributions went. Rep Lofgren noted it is the "Big Rip Off," and surely will follow up with more detail in future sessions.
That's a lot of moolah to give to a con man. Maybe his grassroots folks will finally get the message about Porky when they see who got their money and that it did not go to the purpose for which they gave it. At some point you figure out where the pea ain't.
Yes, yes, yes, the willful blindness thing is certainly in play, but I seriously doubt it would serve as the linchpin to stuffing the Fat Traitor into an XXXL orange jumpsuit.
The other day, the NPR weekend show “This American Life”, dealt with an interesting idea about rights, real and perceived, especially for the rich and famous. The jumping off point was a look at how big stars in the NBA rarely pay for egregious fouls against opposing teams. The idea is that, because of their exalted status, they feel not only empowered, but obliged to hack away at opponents with no fear of consequences.
This is an all too common complaint from sports fans whose teams are bludgeoned by cheaters who are rarely if ever called for their fouls. There are simply too many examples of this laissez faire approach by referees where the high and mighty are concerned. The other night, in the NBA championship series, Golden State superstar Draymond Green hacked a Celtics player in a particularly obvious foul situation. It was so bad it demanded a technical foul which, if properly called, would have been Green’s second T of the game and cause for immediate expulsion.
The call was never made. After the game, the official who could/should have tossed the great man complained that he couldn’t possibly have called that technical: “He’s Draymond Green! It’s the Finals. I couldn’t do it!”
More proof of how the “rich” get special treatment? NBA hall of fame superstar Wilt Chamberlain, who was famous for hammering opponents, never once, in a 15 year career, fouled out of a game. Not once. Ever.
Trump has always seen himself as special, the kind of guy for whom rules don’t apply. Unfortunately for Americans, too many others believe rules don’t apply for Trump. Or for Republicans in general.
If Trump is indicted, I’ll applaud wildly. But if they ever actually foul him out of the game, I’ll be stunned. Is Merrick Garland the kind of referee who will send Fatty to the showers? Will he find a jury that will go along with that call?
I just don’t see it.
@Akhilleus
Yes, in sports double standards are often obviously on display. But wish you hadn't brought up that Green play. Left coast guy that I am, I'm rooting for the Warriors.
Throw the book at the Pretender, but please cut me a little slack.
Doubly yours.
Ken,
Slack granted. Haha.
But as a lifelong Celtics fan (we used to sneak into the Boston Garden as kids to watch games by climbing up the fire escape on the side of the building), you must regard my partisan umbrage with the fanaticism from whence it springs.
As for the Fat Traitor, yes, throw the book at him. The single volume OED if it can be launched with enough force. Throw old fashioned window weights, boar spears, maces, burnt out car alternators, seventeen Bob Feller fastballs, and Three Stooges brand cream pies (he’s got that weird-ass cream pie phobia). Throw whatever can be properly hoisted at his pretentious person.
But hold out hope for a criminal guilty verdict with the same sanguinity reserved for the reversal of GOP supported global warming.
(But seriously…no second T?)